Page 181 of Commander’s Mate

Zoe smiled.

“Laundry detergent.”

Nora looked at her.

“What?”

“The blue kind my mom used. I hated it.”

Scarlet stared at the market.

“Dog hair.”

Nobody joked.

Billy.

Of course.

Nora said, “Rain on asphalt.”

I looked at her.

“Halor has rain.”

“Wrong rain.”

Exactly.

We sat with that.

Not parents.

Not siblings.

Not the dramatic parts of home. Tiny things.

Things nobody would put on a rescue manifest.

Scarlet finished the unidentified food.

“What happens if Earth says no?”

I frowned.

“No to what?”

“Us.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

She looked around.

“We come back with alien implants, warships, bonded aliens, knowledge that slavery exists across space. What if some government decides we’re contaminated? Or security risks?”

Zoe’s smile disappeared.