“I assure you, Doctor, your child is in no danger. Her vomiting is indicative of stomach upset. However, there is no suggestion of viral infection.”

Lianna stroked the top of Gita’s head. She’d been seated beside her cot ever since she puked in the pilot house that morning. Lianna was still in the pink bathrobe that she’d flung over herself as she carried Gita to bed, her trunk draped over Lianna’s arms and dragging at her ankles. The Medical bot reported to the ship five minutes after she summoned him, babbling several kilometers a minute.

“You’re sure there’s no fever?’ she persisted.

“None,” the ‘bot said.  “You reported none when you took it yourself. “

“Yeah, I-I don’t know what’s the matter with me.”

“Overprotective motherly instinct is my diagnosis. I believe the prescription would be to relax.” He seemed to spend a few moments too long scrolling through his most recent scan. “Curious. The food Gita regurgitated was only partially digested. Her stomach appears to be retaining a considerable amount of proteins. And she appears to be digesting these items at a slower rate than is normal, for a human child of her apparent age.”

Why hadn’t she seen this before? She’d been feeding Gita like a horse since she met her, on the assumption that was what you did with a child. She hadn’t considered that as a naga child, she’d digest her meals at the equivalent rate of a reptile—if that WAS the way the digestive rate worked with a naga child? “I’m sorry, Doc. Could you scan her stomach?” The ‘bot ceased his bending over Gita and faced Lianna stiffly. “Please. It’s important.”

Dutifully he did so. He studied the results. Rapped the side of his portable scanner, then examined Gita again. “Doctor Jensen, you are aware your child has two stomachs?”

“T-two….Yeah,” she lied. “She’s more than human, Doc. Listen, I know this is unusual, but there are some paranoid people on this station. Can I rely on your discretion on this matter?”

“I have taken an oath, Doctor Jensen. I have never violated that trust. And I am aware of the prejudice Miss Gita may face as an alien. Since this appears to be her normal anatomical configuration, I can promise you both that discretion. For now, I suggest you feed Gita not so often. We’ll see if that improves her stomach upset.”

“Thanks, Doc.” She saw the medic off at the hatch. As he was leaving, Cassie arrived. Twice in one night. Before she’d gone to sleep Cassie had stopped by to inform her formally that her symposium, the reason she’d come to Uranus in the first place, had been suspended indefinitely over security concerns. “Welcome back,” Lianna mumbled as she brushed past.

“Good morning,” Cassie nodded. In her hands floated an official looking tablet. “I brought you a registry padd. Fill it out as soon as possible. This will make your adoption of Gita official. “

“Maybe later.” Her eyes were focused on her cabin, where Gita wiggled her fingers at her from under her blanket.

“It’s best to get this red tape over with quickly.”

“My baby was sick this morning, do you mind?” Lianna yanked the padd from where it floated between them and slapped it on the pilot’s console. A shrill chirrup erupted in protest.

Cassie raised her palms. “Okay. I’m just saying, the longer you put this off, the easier it’ll be for some hairlip like Pastor Ludden to threaten you.”

“How?”

“I DON’T KNOW! WE BOTH KNOW WE CAN’T—!” Cassie’s jaw clenched, tighter than Lianna’s, tight enough she thought she’d break her teeth. “We both know she’s an alien. I don’t care about that, okay? How long do you think it’ll take one of those freaks to figure it out? Get it done.” Spinning on her heel, Cassie showed herself out.

Lianna huffed, staring at the tablet. The hatch had slammed after her several minutes before Lianna could bring herself to approach the task. ‘Mother’ was easy enough. ‘Father’? ‘Place of Birth’? Would anyone recognize Patala for what it was? Well, who would know it existed in a separate dimension ? The other questions…

After a half hour of nibbling her lip and chasing the fog in her brain, Lianna padded to her cabin. She thought Gita was sleeping, but she rolled over straightaway once Lianna took the stool beside her cot. “Baby, who is your father?”

She signed that she was proud of her parents and the two siblings born in the same clutch. “Does he mind that I’ll be taking care of you for a spell?” Gita shook her head, adding by sign, if you fail he will not hesitate to crush you in his coils. Lianna could only hope she was kidding. The other questions would have to wait, as there was yet another rap on the hatch.

I can’t take two steps away from my baby’s room, she fumed as she keyed the hatch open, and immediately regretted it. “Good morning,” Pastor Ludden breezed past her so quickly she couldn’t tell if his grin was genuine or not. “Is everyone well here? My parishioners say the Medical ‘bot paid a call.”

“Gita had an upset stomach. She’s in bed sleeping.”

“Would that have anything to do with that outburst in the Commander’s office yesterday?”

“Word travels fast.”

“It is a small station. One wouldn’t need large ear lobes to hear the pair of you shouting through the bulkheads.”

Somehow Lianna kept both fists from balling. She crossed her arms across her chest, which somehow didn’t seem better. “She’s right in there. Would you like to see how she’s doing?”

“If you’ll permit me.” He followed at a discreet distance as she led him to her cabin. Gita was still in her humanoid mode, but her eyes widened until Lianna signed that it was okay, the pastor was her guest. “Is she incapacitated?” Ludden queried.

“Of course not, she just prefers signs. She doesn’t know you yet. Say hello, sweetie.”

Gita flicked her gaze from the pastor to Lianna. But she did as she was told, adding something Lianna wasn’t about to repeat. “Doctor, tell me. Will you be raising her in the word of the Lord?”

“Not without asking her parents first. They might have something to say about that.”

Ludden frowned. “Aren’t you concerned with the salvation of her eternal soul?”

“Why would I? You’re not going to tell me you believe every child is damned from the cradle? Don’t you find that a horrid concept?”

“I would never imply such a thing. Is she at least aware of the story of the Serpent tempting Eve?”

Gita sat up, puffing the pillows behind her. Her hands flowed in a fluid motion. Lianna hesitated before relaying her question. “Gita was wondering if the Serpent ate Eve after he tempted her.”

“Wha—No! It’s a metaphor! The Devil wanted her to eat from the Tree of Knowledge—”

More signs. “She says she ate a tree?” With the pastor at her back, Lianna smiled and signed, “Baby, you’re just kidding around now, aren’t you?”

Gita grinned and signaled back: “I could do this all day.”

“No,” Ludden flustered, “I meant the fruit from the tree, my mistake…”

“Gita wants to know now what’s the point of that? If it was a real serpent he would’ve just ate her. That’s what she would’ve done…if she was the serpent, that is.”

“It’s a story—OUR stories! These are what define us, defines our moral—” Ludden suddenly seemed to become aware of his hands, flurrying in a blur under his chin. He forced both arms into immobility by his sides. “Clearly you’ve been neglecting our history.”

“She’s a child. There’s plenty of time to learn it yet.” Lianna trailed off as Gita’s hands steepled beneath her chin, and her mouth worked in silent prayer. “What’s she doing now?’

“Praying to Brahma that her stomach will heal soon, that she can have a little peace and quiet so she can get some sleep.”

“Brahma?”

“Yeah, Brahma. He’s the highest of the gods in her pantheon.”

His face flushed scarlet. “Is this what you’re teaching this child? What other pagan blasphemies are you bringing to this outpost?”

“Pastor, it’s a vast universe. There are higher realities, other dimensions we can’t even imagine. Surely you understand this. You believe in an omnipotent being you can’t see but is supposedly everywhere and everything all at once. “

“But you don’t believe in this Brahma, do you? You’re talking about this—this being as though he’s an entity you’ve met.”

“I’ve never seen Brahma.” Not yet anyway, she said to herself. “I’m a scientist, I accept the evidence of things observed. What I have seen is that there are bigger things you’re not ready for, yet. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like my child to get some rest. Would you please leave now?”

As he stormed off the ship, Lianna realized she may have gone too far, but she wasn’t sure at what point she’d done so. She’d barely tapped into the experiences of her last ten years in space in her symposiums. If he’d lived a tenth of what she had…

After the pastor has left, Ernie greeted her with a slip of hard bound paper—a card, was it? That’s quaint, Lianna smirked. No one’s used one of these for hundreds of years. “This arrived while you were conversing with Pastor Ludden,” he said. “It is very unusual.”

Lianna lifted it to the ceiling lights. “Please join Jamai Fatima Hadebe at Iva’s for a luncheon at noon Greenwich Time. Your sweet nagini is invited.” She lowered the card with a huff. “At least she has the terminology right. What’s so unusual about a lunch date?”

“Apart from the possibility that she knows Miss Gita’s true nature, there is also the fact that this person literally disappeared off the face of the Earth over 20 Terran years ago.”

“I’m still not getting it. What’s so important about this—this Ja-May?”

“Ja-Mii,’ Ernie corrected. “Miss Hadebe, if this is indeed who she is, was a well-known spiritualist of great power and, for many decades, a councillor for troubled youths. Many attributed her disappearance to the death of her husband not long before.

“Of more immediate concern is your own relations on the ship. Miss Amba has been sulking in the cargo lounge. She won’t eat or reply to inquiries. I suspect she is jealous of the attention you have been lavishing on Miss Gita.”

“What does she have to be jealous of?”

“Hmm. It has been many years since I have had to do this.”

“Since you’ve had to do what—OWW!” His explanation was a smack into the back of Lianna’s head. Not a severe blow, but modulated with just enough force to get her attention.

“Miss Amba,” Ernie replied with what seemed more force to his voice, “may feel left out of the decision making process. Until yesterday she had only to share you with Miss Stavros, a being not unlike herself. Now there is a new lifeform which requires your upmost attention. Miss Amba may be miffed that you had not consulted her before bringing Miss Gita into your life.”

“Ernie, this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me! Her mother is a goddess, for Christ sakes, and she’s trusting ME with her upbringing! Don’t you know what a gift that is?”

Ernie contemplated this for the longest time. “Apologies. It is my role to play what humans call ‘Devil’s Advocate’. Nevertheless, your happiness is my happiness. My suggestion regarding Miss Amba is, before you go to lunch, that you express these sentiments for her benefit.”

“Okay,” Lianna nodded.

The cargo lounge appeared empty at first. Oddly a pleasing blue-green aura suffused the area. After sealed the hatch behind her, Lianna glanced up. Her eyes focused on a series of thick gooey stalagmites clinging to the domed ceiling. “Hey sweetie,” Lianna smiled. Strangely, this was almost exactly the state in which she first encountered Amba.

A pseudopod oozed down from the central pillar, the tip curling up to face her. This swelled into a pair of rounded cheeks and an ameboid wig. Her mouth was not at all pleased. “Ernie thinks I didn’t ask before I made this big decision, but I didn’t have time. What I mean is, Gita kind of dropped into my lap and I couldn’t refuse her—”

–You didn’t want to, the thought accused.

“That’s not–!” Her protestations died before she could voice them. Even in her mind they sounded hollow. “No, I didn’t. You know, I’m kind of envious of your kind. You’re part of a huge family. We call it a colony, but you’re connected to thousands of cells, just like you. All sharing their thoughts and impressions, even over countless star systems.” Lianna stared at her fidgeting hands. Usually she didn’t need to express herself verbally. They understood each other intuitively, as she did with Stavros.

“I can’t have that. They won’t even allow us to adopt, any of us from the Lost Ship. We’re too unstable, too prone to violence. It’s legal, literally all legal.”

Two aquamarine hands clasped hers. While she’d been talking, stalagmites had tapered down from the ceiling, spooling around Lianna’s waist, clasping both legs. The face on a tendril had swollen into a chest and neck to support Amba’s head, and the arms that held Lianna.

“I knew I’d never have that from a young age. So, I buried any hope of having a child in my work. Then I met Stavros, and I met you, and I wasn’t alone. I had my parent’s journals, so that was something to make myself useful, hey?” The last of her pseudopods flopped onto Lianna’s shoulders. Thick gelatinous folds pooled around her lower body, exerting a gentle pressure, pushing up beneath her armpits. “I can’t give her up. I want you to be part of this. I’ve never done anything like this, anything…”

–Responsible?

Lianna nodded. Amba’s face was foggy from the warm moisture burning in her eyes. “Please give her a chance. Will you do that for me, beloved?” Assent came in the form of her ameboid arms draped over Lianna’s neck. Amba’s lips brushing hers, and an echoing –beloved—in her thoughts.

Gita indicated she felt well enough to accompany Lianna, though she might not eat much today. Lianna understood and promised to ease her through this lunch. She’d shimmied out of her robe and into a facsimile of her mother’s skinsuit. The original had been destroyed; the scars from that encounter were left all over her body. This suit was supposed to be indestructible, as it should be since it was a gift of the gods.

Sleek and supple, it had only one patch topping her right shoulder. This was a grooved imprint of a rounded gold key, a yoni she supposed represented her mother. She’d applied a portion of her stipend from the observatory to request extra saris for Gita. That morning they chose colors and styles. The tailor promised her new outfits would be printed and delivered by early evening, Terran time. 

The maitre’d had been expecting them. They followed him to a booth far to the rear of the restaurant, dimly backlight by the aquariums encircling the main seating area. The same dark woman from the night before rose and indicated a seat beside her. She seemed to have done a fresh brush job to her hair. Lianna and Gita slid onto the bench. “Is this a social call, or are you stalking me?” Lianna began.

The woman chuckled. “I’m sorry your symposium has been suspended. I found your presentation fascinating.”

“You came to see me?’

This-Jamai?- nodded. “The last three days. You seem to have quite an affinity for children.”

Lianna shrugged. “They’re inquisitive, perceptive…”

“And not so quick to judge as adults?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“So. Lianna. Is that like the vine?”

“No, that was my parents being cute. It’s a contraction of my father’s name, Lee, with my mother’s, Anna.”

“What a thoughtful gift.”

“Thanks. Sooo…how do you know about Gita?”

“I saw her on the day she arrived. The two of you were beautiful together. I’m curious whether you know what you’ve let yourself in for.”

Their drinks had arrived atop a service ‘bot with drink inserts set into its flat top. Gita patted the ‘bot as it departed. They raised glasses of fresh lemonade. “Her mother’s been my therapist for many years,” Lianna said. Jamai’s glass froze at her lips, greenish liquid dribbling down her chin. “Have you ever encountered a nagi in her native environment?”

“In fact I’ve met two.” It was her turn to grin as Lianna and Gita both spit-taked. Some of the other patrons lifted their eyes from their menus. “I took it upon myself to wrestle them. I was lost at the time, it wasn’t long after the death of my husband. It wasn’t the brightest thing I’d ever done.”

“Huh. And you survived that.”

“No.”

“Have you told anyone about Gita?”

“No. Why would I? I’ve spent the last twenty years dealing with fools who didn’t give a—” Her fingers had started tip-tapping on the tabletop. Apparently she noticed she was doing it at the same time Lianna did and dropped her hands under the table. “I’d never endanger a child. Any child. Is something wrong?”

Lianna blinked. While her host was speaking, her boobs seemed to jiggle. No, she must have imagined it. “Look, maybe it’s none of my business, but my android Ernie told me you just vanished, like say, twenty years ago. Where did you go?”

A small sad smile pursed her full lips. Her hands stroked the cup facing her. “I was invited on a peace mission. I needed something like that after my husband passed away. It was important to our success that we operate under a cloak of anonymity.”

“You were part of some non-governmental body or something?”

“Yes. It was the first time I’d worked with a team. I liked that. We rescued a lot of people. Some of us fell in love…”

“Then why are you here? It’s a long way from Terra.”

“I’ve…” She closed her eyes, sucking in a deep breath. “I had a troubling spiritual experience. I needed a sabbatical.”

A chirrup erupted from—her? Then Lianna noticed her boobs jiggling again. She hadn’t meant to, but she couldn’t help staring, especially after a triangular head poked over the top of her bosom, its pointed ears unfolding.  “Excuse me, I don’t mean to pry, but have you got a bat nestled in your bosom?”

Jamai glanced down, then peeled half a slice of orange from her plate and held it to its snout. It nibbled voraciously at it before tucking itself back in its warm spot. “It’s okay, they’re friends,” she cooed. Then she noticed Lianna and Gita both gawking. “The station had a visit from warriors of the Antarian Empire. Some Antarian space bats had hitched a ride on their warship. A colony took up residence on the upper level, including Commander Stephensen’s quarters. I assisted her in rounding them up for relocation to one of Uranus’ moons. This sweetheart needed some extra loving care. I’ve been nursing him back to health, and I’m afraid he’s grown quite attached to me.”

Lunch arrived on a glass platter loaded with diced tomatoes and cucumber mixed with parsley and spices. The maitre’d squeezed juice from a lemon sifter while his waiters laid down platters of fried pita as a side dish. Gita picked at vegetable pieces while Lianna nibbled the pita. “Have you given any thought to her schooling?” Jamai asked.

Lianna guffawed around a mouthful of pita bread. “I’m not letting her out of my sight. I’ll probably home school her. Such as it is,” she added, thinking of her ship.

“Are you sure that’s what her mother intended? Associating with your own kind may be exactly what she—”

“I’m not human.”  Hot steam rose inside her skinsuit, seemingly under her very skin. Why does everyone want to interfere with how I’m raising her? “I just got her. Can’t you people give me a chance to try raising her the right way?”

Her host’s lip trembled. “That may be how you feel now, but you can’t stand apart from what you really are. Trust me, I know.”

“Lady, you don’t know me at all. You don’t know what I’ve had to survive. Given what’s happened this past week—who the hell are you to judge me? Did Cassie push you into this? Did those freaks haunting my ship?”

“Doctor, you need to calm down. People are staring—”

“I DON’T CARE! Do you know how many ‘aliens’ I’ve met who’ve tried to kill me because I was different or weird or—whatever? NONE! NEVER! NOT ONE TIME! I’ve been welcomed—I’ve been loved more deeply than any human was ever capable of! I’ve been cared for better than any human could bother to! If I never see another asshole human it’ll be—fuck!”

The glass was in her hand without her thinking of it. It shattered into broken fragments, sparkling brightly across the table. One fragment stuck in her palm. Every eye in the café seemed to be on her as she pulled it out. Blood pulsed from the puncture, but that was soon overwhelmed by an aquamarine bubble spreading into the wound and sealing it. Every eye, including Jamai’s, was wide and staring. “Come on, baby,” Lianna said quickly, taking Gita’s offered hand with her uninjured one. Together they padded quickly from the silent café.

“That was a little over the top, wasn’t it?’ Lianna asked Gita shortly in the infirmary. She nodded vigorously. “Sorry, baby, it just came out of nowhere. With her and Cassie and that damn pastor hounding me all in the same morning…” she stopped when Gita lunged in for a hug. “Okay, I’ll try to do better.”

“At this rate you may as well take up residence in my infirmary, Doctor.” Lianna tightened her lips as the Medibot sprayed a healing patch over her broken skin. The glass had penetrated the muscle in her palm, but the nanobots inserted into her when she was a child were already repairing that damage. “Did anyone see the protoplasm fill your wound?”

“What?”

“Did anyone see what happened?” The Medibot repeated.

“I-I don’t know,” Lianna admitted, “That wasn’t my biggest priority.” Gita shrugged, so she guessed she hadn’t been paying attention either.

“This should heal in a few days,” the ‘bot continued. “In the interim I suggest you maintain a low profile on your ship. Why would you do such a stupid thing?”

Lianna hunched up on the exam table. It always seemed to strike deeper when an android criticized her than when a human did. “She pissed me off,” she mumbled. “She was trying to give me some BS about acting more human.”

“You ARE human!” His words made her cringe even more. “It is one thing if you don’t wish to socialize with them, but that is who—what!—you are! It cannot be helped!”

“I just wish…I just want people to forget I was ever on the Lost Ship.”

“I can’t treat that illusion,” the Medibot spoke, more softly. “Rest. See me in two days. My intern will need your thumb scan for the supplies you requested.” Lianna nodded. Gita took her hand as she slid off the cot.

Outside the clinic’s Auxiliary Station, where supplies were regularly delivered, the intern dispensed a cargo pod. His was a generalized design, an upright floating bowling pin with a egg-shaped pod on top with a sensor band for sight, Lianna peeled the glove back on her left hand and pressed her thumb over a sensor pad. A green light acknowledged receipt of her supplies. “Here we are, 500 kilos of crystallized silicate. I’m at a loss as for why you would require this.”

“Crew,” Lianna replied breezily. “Thanks, doc.”

She got behind the handles of the antigrav buffers framing the cart’s chassis and pushed. Gita was in front of her, also leaning on the handles. Lianna grinned; with those buffers it took almost no effort. Of course, by the time they reached the docking bay, Gita was riding on top of the cart in front, swinging her legs right and left.

The usual mob surrounding her ship was restive, maybe a bit too quiet. But they parted for the cart’s approach like—what sea was it in old Earth mythology? Gita bounded off the top of the cart as Ernie opened the ship’s cargo hatch. There was little to it, two dark grey metal doors curving up and down with a magnetic track to ease large loads onto the ship. The problem was, this time the cart seemed to be stuck.

Lianna frowned as she pushed once, twice. It wouldn’t slide more than half a meter inside the hold. She had to bend down and lift it from the bottom a few centimeters to slide it the rest of the way inside the ship so that Ernie could maneuver it to its proper cubbyhole.

Her relief was jolted out of her by the feral scream behind her. The pastor’s son Nick was dashing toward her, and the rest of the mob was surging behind him. Lianna ducked the pipe he swung at her, and as he staggered past she dropped him with a chop to the neck. She landed a kick to another man’s groin before he reached Gita. The mob was on top of them before she could shoo a screaming Gita up the hatch. Lianna threw herself over her as fists pummeled her back. That wasn’t important, she was still pushing them through a sea of legs toward—

Metal crashed into the back of her skull. Stabbing pain flashed all through her nervous system. The second blow brought another flash and—did something crack? Amid every agonizing pulse, goo flowed toward her damaged skull plates. Only instinct enabled her to cover Gita with her body as hands tore at her, trying to dislodge her.

Flaming bushes roared around them—no, flame throwers, frightening the crowd back, gushing from the gauntlets of Cassie’s security patrol. The pillars of fire weren’t actually pointed at her attackers, Lianna realized. The ‘bots had waded into the mob, using the flames to drive them away. She suddenly found herself in a heap on an empty space on the deck with Gita shaking her, trying to rouse her.

Frigid metal clamps took hold of her arms and lifted her as though she were nothing. The sudden motion brought on a fresh roil of nausea. The deck spun as they dragged her back toward the entry hall outside the docking area. “Gita,” Lianna called, weakly at first, but when she couldn’t locate her, “GITA!”

One of the five ‘bots surrounding her raised a clamp, then dropped to one knee and leaned forward so that Gita could wave to Lianna from her safe perch on his back. “Thank you,” Lianna panted as a black hole closed on her thoughts. The smelling salts shoved under her nostrils solved that, temporarily. Everything seemed to be draped in gauze. She could hear things but her mind, her body seemed to float through them. “Medic, prepare to receive patients,” the Chief Security ‘bot called, a bit too shrill.

“Negative, Infirmary is in lockdown,” came the reply. “There are an unknown number of rioters attempting to access the Infirmary. Recommend you take the patients to a safe area until it is possible to administer aid.”

The Chief ‘bot stepped away from the comm panel set in the bulkhead. “Doctor Jensen…? Stay with us, Doctor. We appear to be cut off from your ship and any immediate medical aid. Is there any place we can take you for safety?’

She couldn’t for the life of her think of anyplace. She didn’t know anybody here except Cassie, and that other lady. And after she went half cocked on her only an hour ago…Gita was tapping on her escort’s back. Once she dropped to the deck, she showed them a card she was carrying. The little scamp must’ve picked it up while Lianna wasn’t looking.

Their feet clanked like regimental soldiers as they marched through silent echoing breezeways. A lift deposited them on an upper level. The air seemed cleaner, even warmer here than in the lower levels. She sensed a lot of these staterooms were vacant. Neither Uranus nor its moons held Terra’s cultural romance with either the Jovian or Saturnian systems. Lianna had blacked out again, but she awoke at a door which seemed to emanate the scent of jasmine and orchids. The Chief ‘bot buzzed the door repeatedly until a familiar voice groused, “What? Do you know what goddamn time—”

The door whisked open and there she was, her dark body lightly wrapped in a pink nightgown adorned with imprints of rainbow butterflies. Lianna met her eyes, expecting some lingering resentment. Perhaps there was a flash, for a second, until she frowned, either at her escorts or her dropsy gaze. “Doctor Jensen?” she asked.

“Forgive us for calling at this late hour, Ms, Hadebe,” the Chief ‘bot said, “but a situation has arisen. Would you assist us?”

She ignored him, her gaze seeming to bore into Lianna. “Doctor, what’s going on?”

Lianna supposed she ought to apologize. All she could manage was, “I can’t get to my ship. Please, I’ve got to protect Gita…” Her head dropped, at least partly from shame. Suddenly two large brown hands clasped hers, rubbing them gently.

“Hey.” Her voice was warm with an exotic lilt. A blanket settled around Lianna’s shoulders. “Come on. No one will harm you here. I’ll keep you safe.”

They were at the threshold of her quarters when the Chief ‘bot blared, “We can’t make that promise, Ms. Hadebe.”

Her host glared back, and it seemed her eyes could’ve melted steel. Yet her voice held an icy calm: “I can.”

For the first time in days Lianna felt she was truly safe. Gita had already skipped inside when the Chief said, “That may be. Nonetheless—” and then Jamai snapped her fingers, and the doors slammed shut on her escorts.

She eased Lianna onto a luxurious two-seater lounge. That’s as far as she got before her stomach retched all over her dining room floor. The room spun wildly as Lianna pitched forward…

TBC