Nithya sighed after the call ended. Bloody Americans and their conservative ways. Luis wouldn’t give his consent. She buried her face in her hands. What to do now? Another ten minutes and Carma would have her first recess.

“Sita, what are the regulations on flow usage per my doctor’s instructions?”

“You are allowed two per day until five weeks of gestational age, one per day for week six, none after that.”

She had ten days before the cutoff. That meant nine to convince Luis plus one day to abort and recover if she didn’t want to lose flow time. With a heavy sigh, she pulled up the data for the Synaxel project. No sense putting it off if she was down to two pills per day anyway.

That night, as Nithya returned from her second trip to the bathroom, Luis rolled toward her. Moonlight reflected off the lenses of his glasses.

“What are you watching?” she asked as she lay down.

“The hospital feed.” Luis sighed and took her hand in his. “The only time Welga’s been hurt this bad was when she survived that mission in Marrakech. Shield work isn’t supposed to be dangerous. If this Machinehood thing is serious, if she dies… what will we do? Who’s going to look after Papa? And when he’s gone… it’ll just be me.”

Nithya gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, then scooted closer to lay her head on his chest. Both of her parents had died after she became an adult, and their loss still grieved her, but it hadn’t left the kind of scars that Luis and Welga carried. Their mother, Laila, had died when Luis was ten, Welga thirteen. He bore the grief of that in his insecurity about his family, especially after Welga barely returned alive from the Maghreb. Nithya and Luis had been married only two years at that point. She’d learned since then how to reassure her husband.

“We can have your father move in here,” Nithya said. “Now that my parents are gone, there’s enough space. But why borrow so much trouble? Your father’s health is good. Welga will heal. The Machinehood can’t stay hidden for long, not in this day. Governments are already involved. I doubt that Welga will be in harm’s way again, and she has only three months of this work remaining.”

“I suppose so.” Luis shook his head as he placed the glasses on the wall cradle. “This crazy idea of hers to do a food business—I don’t know what she’s thinking. I wish she would see reason and build a gig reputation like the rest of us. It’s like she’s stuck as a teenager, wanting to make a difference in the world and having no idea how. First the Marines, then shielding. Now food.”

“You’re the stable one. She can be the risk-taker,” Nithya said lightly.