The sniper quirked an eyebrow, though his smile was a bit less cocky and slightly more genuine this time around. "Hey now, none of those rainclouds. Didn't you know? A pretty girl always looks best when she's smiling."

"Your friend could show up in a few months, or a year from now. There's a lot of people down in those pods, you know."

He caught the little past-tense slip-up but said nothing. After all, this friend of hers wouldn't be the only dead man walking on the ship, would he?