Kayros gasped. The aftermath of the Midoren City disaster on Denobula had been all over the news for almost a week, so Sulu’s words prompted her to imagine the same calamities befalling her home and family—and her own firsthand experience of the Argelius flare added vivid detail to her imaginings. The rational part of her mind took a moment longer to engage, reminding her of the improbability of two such direct strikes so close together.

Sulu’s next words, directed mainly at her, reaffirmed this. “The homeworld is fine. It was a large flare, but well removed from the planet and the lunar colonies.” He paused. “However, there were casualties. A civilian transport with twenty-four people aboard was in the vicinity. They were vacationers returning home to Tiburon from a tour of the outer ice giants. They apparently decided to divert closer to the vacuum flare so they could get a better look at it—it’s not clear yet whether it was the pilots’ idea or if the passengers talked them into it. Either way, they didn’t anticipate this flare being larger than the previous ones, so they were caught in a sudden microflare burst. The microflares breached their reactor… the transport was lost with all hands.”

After a moment, he went on. “The families have already been notified. I guess that means you’re in the clear, Zirani.”

She nodded, taking it in. There were also friends and classmates to consider, but the odds that two dozen people out of an entire planetary population included anyone she knew were minuscule. Still, she would not truly know until she called home.

Sulu seemed to divine her thoughts—no doubt because a Starfleet veteran like him had extensive experience with disaster and loss. “If you’d like to be excused from class today, I understand.”

Kayros cleared her throat. “No, sir. It’s okay. Thank you, though.”

She did her best to focus on his lesson in celestial navigation, hoping it would make an effective distraction from the news. Still, her mind drifted a few times over the following hour. She thought she’d put her vacuum flare experience at Argelius behind her. It had been three months ago, after all, before the phenomenon had even been named. But this latest incident had struck close to home in more ways than one, it seemed.

After class, several of Kayros’s fellow students clustered around her to offer support, including Michael Ashrafi, who rubbed her shoulder kindly. “I’m here if you want to talk, Zee. I… probably don’t have anything helpful to say, but I can listen.” She patted his hand briefly, appreciating the gesture.