Leo took the hint. “You didn’t try to find me either,” he said. Though that wasn’t necessarily on her. For a while the Fenders had to stay in hiding, just to make sure no one else was coming after Leo’s dad. Even now they had two security bots at home—one stationed inside and one out, spidery-looking things with laser cannons and long-range scanners. He wondered if maybe he should try to hook Skits up with one of them; they were definitely her type.

“No, you’re right,” Kat admitted. “After the nullifier everything happened so fast. First the pardon, then all that stuff with the Aykari, the break with the Coalition, the withdrawal—it seemed better to just lie low for a while.”

“And open a bar?” Leo said.

Kat shrugged. “Honestly, Leo, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. No ship. No captain. I was on my own again. And I’d been away for so long. Then I saw this place for sale and used the reward the UPE gave me for helping rescue your dad to buy it.”

Leo didn’t even know there was a reward. Zennia’s voice echoed in his head: Just as long as he’s worth it. Worth enough to purchase a run-down pub situated next to a pond, at least. “You settled down?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I thought about traveling again, maybe checking up on Boo, but it’s not as easy to hitch a ride as it used to be. Have you seen how much a core of V costs these days? What little Earth can get is reserved for medicine and research, not for visiting old friends. Though I probably could get my hands on some if I tried hard enough.” Her eyebrow arched slyly. Leo didn’t doubt it. “I miss that four-armed fleabag terribly,” she added. “I hope he’s happy.”

Leo thought about all of the little Orin hanging off Boo’s arms. Of the two of them with their backs to the stones they’d stacked, their faces to the breeze. A place and a purpose. “I bet he is. But I miss him too,” Leo said; then, after a breath, “I miss them both.”

Kat went quiet, taking in the sunlight glittering across the surface of the pond. When she spoke again the sadness had slipped in.

“He’s the whole reason I bought this place, you know. I mean, I still think he would have hated it, but it was something he said he wanted. A place of his own. Or maybe it was just something he wanted me to have. . . . Speaking of which . . .” She reached behind her with her flesh-and-blood hand and undid a clasp, revealing a medallion that had been hidden beneath her shirt. “Here,” she said.

Leo stared in disbelief. “Is that . . . ?”

Kat nodded. “They found it in the wreckage. There wasn’t much left of the Icarus, to be honest. Everything else in that trunk of his was ruined, but this survived somehow. It’s a little tarnished, and I replaced the ribbon with a cheap chain.” She hesitated. “I know he tried to give it to you once.”