Page 37 of Commander’s Mate

“If it means people only give what they actually need to give, yes.”

Tivid looked at Scarlet.

She shrugged.

“She delivered mail.”

He looked back at me.

“Apparently that was advanced governance training.”

“Finally, someone appreciates the United States Postal Service.”

Scarlet laughed.

A few women looked over.

One smiled.

Small.

Still something.

Tivid left with the slate.

I sat down on the floor.

Nora handed me water.

“You okay?”

“No.”

“Good.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“Because if you said yes, we’d know you were lying.”

Fair.

Zoe had fallen asleep against the wall with her knees tucked up.

Scarlet was helping a woman fold a blanket into a barrier between two sleeping spaces.

Nora sat beside a teenager who could not stop checking the door.

The room looked terrible—too crowded, too bright, too temporary.

But no one was chained.

No one was being priced.

No one was being told where they would be sent next.

Not yet.

I pulled the slate back when Tivid returned with a copy.