Welga floated through it in a slow-motion, headfirst dive. She experienced a few seconds of vertigo as her brain tried to figure out which way was up. The world came into focus as her perspective adjusted. A corridor lined with neatly labeled compartments and handholds stretched ahead of her for two body lengths. A second hatch lay open at the end. Another push, this one against her feet, sent her through.

A welcoming committee of seven people waited in a wide, egg-shaped chamber. The dakini grabbed her arm from behind and yanked her to a stop. They detached Welga’s helmet. Noses wrinkled as the stale odor of her vomit circulated into the room.

Welga gazed at the faces arrayed around her. All looked to be forty to sixty years of age. They wore their hair cut close to the scalp or shaved off. Saffron-colored cloth looped across formfitting orange jumpsuits and drifted at the ends. Monks. In the center stood Ao Tara, the only face Welga recognized.

“Olga Ramírez,” the dakini announced. “She is unenhanced except for a zip.”

Ao Tara spoke. “Is it still active?”

“From what I’ve seen, yes.”

“Flush her.”

“Wait—!” Welga cried.

The dakini’s hand slapped Welga’s neck with a patch before she could say more. Then the warrior opened Welga’s suit pockets and emptied the contents, including her pills.

“Without the zip in my system, I will have epileptic seizures,” Welga said. “Please, if you can make more, let me have them. You approved my residency. I’m unarmed. You can see that!”

“You’ve arrived here unannounced, through subterfuge,” Ao Tara said. “You’re also a trained soldier and government agent. We have watched you capture one of our dakini. We have no proof that you’ve left the JIA, but we will be fair and judge you on your behavior here. You’ll have to earn our trust. Be patient.” Then, to the dakini, “Put her in the empty room on level C.”

The dakini moved forward and towed Welga across the open space by grabbing the neck of her suit frame.

“Make sure she won’t injure herself if she does seize,” Ao Tara said.

“Please, I need Josephine Lee,” Welga called out, craning her neck to watch the woman’s reaction. “She has information that can help me.”

The tiniest flicker of the eyes, then, “We’ll speak again soon.”

A slowly moving doorway aligned with an opening in the central docking hub, and the dakini pulled Welga through, into another tunnel-like corridor. Microdrones swam through invisible currents, and a gentle breeze followed them along the passageway. As they traveled, the sensation of weight returned to Welga’s body, though not as much as on Earth. Blood began to move into her neck and head. They were approaching the outer ring of the station, which rotated to simulate gravity.