Shirley did not want to do this. Her mother was already showing signs of extreme stress, and this was her mother’s closest friend.

But a being like this was not only a danger to the ship, she was also a danger to her mother. And that Shirley could not allow.

Shirley showed her mother everything she had found about Shizuka Satomi. She showed her the theories surrounding Shizuka Satomi and the signing over of souls. And then she shared the very real news articles and accounts of what happened to her students after they rose and fell.

Lan listened to Shirley, then examined the records for herself.

What she discovered was nothing like the symbolic pledges of the Tarn.

“Thank you, Shirley.”

“Mother, I am so sorry.”

“It is fine. Thank you for safeguarding our mission.”

Lan saluted, went downstairs to her quarters, and turned off the lights.

16

On Saturday morning, Shizuka was going to sit down with Katrina and chat about music and immortality. It was standard inception—start sowing the seeds of ambition, and desire will invariably bloom of its own accord.

But Katrina was not sitting down. She was bringing out breakfast.

Astrid smiled and shrugged.

“She wanted to make us breakfast. How could I say no?”

The rice was perfect, the eggs fresh. There were hash browns, bacon, blueberry yogurt, and slices of fresh apricot.

“You must have slept well,” Shizuka said.

“I had a dream about my violin. She was jealous because Martha has a name.”

“So? What are you going to name her?”

“She told me in my dream! Her name is Aubergine.”

“Aubergine?”

“Yes, didn’t she choose a beautiful name?”

Ambition and immortality would have to wait. Shizuka glanced at Astrid, who smiled, but was far too polite to laugh.

After they finished, Shizuka watched Katrina help Astrid clear the table, which none of her previous students would have done—and even if they had, they would never have enjoyed it so much.

Shizuka had begun to look forward to Saturday afternoons. Lan would call, Shizuka would drive them to El Molino Park, and they would feed stale donuts to the ducks.

Often, Lan would discuss the Galactic civilizations. Shizuka learned that the Minamians had their own version of tofu. She learned that the Asobians smelled like Earth’s raspberries.

She learned that interstellar travel on a self-contained ship took expert navigational skills, plus additional power to pierce the space-time barrier, and that for most travelers, stargates were far safer and more economical. Thus, stargates dotted the galaxy like on-ramps and off-ramps on a galactic superhighway.