Slowly, Ynez relaxed. Blood flowed back into her hands and fingers. She took a deep breath, and as she did so, the smells of the donut shop came rushing back to her. She blushed as her stomach growled.

Floresta laughed, then gave Ynez a donut.

“So you came from far?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am, with family,” said Ynez.

With family.

Floresta walked past Ynez to the front of the shop. She peered out the window into the San Gabriel Valley.

Right now, Edwin was trying a new sandwich place in Monterey Park. Tonight, she and Windee were going to Alhambra to see a movie. Up in that beautiful sky, Lanny and Shizuka were saving the galaxy. And this weekend, Shirley and Katrina would be shopping for swimsuits at Santa Anita Plaza.

“Ma’am?” Ynez finally ventured.

Yikes! How long had she been staring? Lanny was right. Being a captain was hard work.

“Ah—just looking at stars.”

Ynez wasn’t sure if she had understood correctly—wasn’t it still daytime? They must not be common stars. But now she had a donut.

And tomorrow morning, she had a job.

“It’s fine, really?” Ynez Beltran asked, just to be sure.

“Yes, really,” Aunty Floresta said. “That’s how we got started, too.”

AND BEYOND

TIME ITSELF

Captain’s Log: Stardate Ph079

No, I’m not the captain. Lan keeps her logs automatically. And I’m just making up numbers.

But I’ve decided to do this, because, well, this seems so much like Star Trek. The galaxy is at war. The Endplague is rampant. A Galactic Empire is on the verge of collapse.

Okay, perhaps that was more like Star Wars. But still, how can a violinist and a donut lady, in one small runabout, affect any of that?

Lan keeps a communication line open.

Shirley gives us weekly updates, and Floresta has been sending updated donut recipes directly to our replicators. They’ll never be as good as Starrgate’s, but they’re not too bad, either.

Katrina continues to make videos, and her viewers have just crossed into the millions. She’s receiving invitations to play at anime festivals, LGBT events, and even for women’s groups.

And Daniel Kar-Ching Tso at Xinhua Phoenix Investment Bank offered to bankroll a “Golden Rainbow Diversity Tour,” culminating in an appearance at the Bartók Festival in Hungary.

Oh, and he also bought her a Tesla.

But what makes me most happy is how Katrina continues to grow. She’s discovered the work of Julián Carrillo, whose microtonal explorations were even more extensive and visionary than Bartók’s.

And recently, Astrid said that Katrina has become quite taken with the conductor Alondra de la Parra, even seeing her as a model for her own career.

Wait.

Does that mean Katrina wants to conduct?

In the meantime, Astrid is teaching the neighborhood kids piano and sending them home with lemon tarts, persimmon preserves, pickled string beans, and aubergines.