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I did.

She lowered herself into the chair across from me with the kind of concentration usually reserved for difficult mechanical work.

“No one tells you how inconvenient having a person or persons pressed against your organs becomes.”

“I would have guessed very.”

“Extremely.”

Lunch arrived shortly afterward. Warm bread, roasted meat, vegetables, fruit.

Actual food.

Not compressed field rations that technically met nutritional requirements.

For a while, we just ate.

No Veil.

No records.

No questions about how I escaped or what Veyr had done.

I noticed the absence and appreciated it.

Eventually Ryleigh leaned back and reached for another piece of fruit. “What do you miss?”

I looked at her. “About Earth?”

“Yeah.”

That was not what I expected.

I looked down at my plate and thought about it. “Rain.”

Her face softened. “Real rain.”

“Yes.”

“The smell after.”

“Dirt.”

I smiled. “Exactly.”

She looked toward the window. “I miss thunderstorms.”

“Zuna has storms.”

“Not the same.”

“No.”

She peeled a section of fruit apart with her fingers. “What else?”

“Coffee.”

“Bad coffee?”