Teresa nodded. Naomi took a bite of her kibble and wondered if they were going to sit in silence. Teresa shook her head. “There are people everywhere. And there’s nowhere to go. Back home I could be alone. No one’s ever alone out here.”
“There are ways,” Naomi said, thinking of her cargo container. “But there are usually fewer people here. It does get a little full.”
“You should have a crew of twenty-two.”
“We usually made do with six. Sometimes four.”
“I don’t like it here,” Teresa said, standing up. “I’ll want to find someplace else once we leave.”
She walked away without saying anything else. She didn’t put her uneaten bowl in the recycler, so when Naomi was finished with her own meal, she cleaned up after both of them, then walked down the corridor to her cabin.
To theirs.
Jim was in the crash couch. His jumpsuit was drenched in sweat at the armpits and down the back. He looked at her and shook his head.
“I will never, ever get this out of shape again,” he said. “This is miserable.”
“You’ll get better,” she said, and lay down beside him. The couch shifted to account for her added weight. Every time she saw him, she felt herself not quite trusting it. Not quite letting herself believe he was really back, in case it was all a dream or a false reprieve. As if the universe would take him away from her again. It was getting better, but she wasn’t sure it would ever completely go away.
“I saw your friend in the galley,” she said. “She’s having some trouble adjusting, I think.”
“Well, she was the only child of a galactic god-emperor, and now she’s eating oatmeal in a half-antique gunship. That’s got to be a hard transition.”
“What are we going to do with her once we get to the supply depot? You know she’s too important to just let her go, right?”
“I don’t know that we can make her stay. Not unless we’re talking about throwing her in a prison. But there are other options.”
“Are there?”
“There were plenty of Martians who didn’t take off with Duarte back in the day. Some of them will be cousins of hers. If we’re luc
ky, some of them may be counselors and therapists. Or… I don’t know. Run rehabilitation centers.”
“If not?”
“If there aren’t, some can be made. Everyone’s related to everyone, if you go back far enough. We’ll just go back until the right people are connected to her.”
“You sound like Avasarala,” Naomi said.
“I’ve been thinking about her a lot. I feel like I built a little version of her in my head. You ever have that feeling?”
“I know the one,” Naomi said. And then, “Teresa doesn’t just need a place to land and some sort-of relatives. She needs love.”
“She had love. Her father loved her. He really did. What she didn’t have was a sense of proportion.”
“And then you brought her here.”
“She brought herself,” he said. “Just like we all do. And it’s a pain in the ass for each and every one of us, every time it happens. Outgrowing your family? Hard work under the best of circumstances. Which these aren’t.”
She lay down, snuggling into his arm. He was sweat-damp, but she didn’t care. She stroked her fingertips across his forehead and down his cheek. He turned his head, pressing into her hand like a cat that wanted petting.
“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Naomi asked.
“No idea. She will or she won’t. Either way, it’s going to be up to her. I’m pretty sure she’ll be herself while she does it, though. That’s a victory for her. We’ll help if we can. If she’ll let us.”
The alert went on. Ring passage in five minutes. Jim sighed, stood, and started changing into fresh clothes.
“What about you?” Naomi said.