It gave Surit the perfect opening to interrogate Tennal about what he’d done. It was bubbling at the top of Tennal’s head: drugs, organized crime rings, a fucking liability.

Then Surit said, “Because you have that covered?” and Tennal choked on the first real laugh he’d had since Orshan.

“Was that a joke, Lieutenant?” Tennal said, when he’d finished coughing. The pain in his chest eased a fraction. “Shame on you.”

“Absolutely not,” Surit said. “Let’s focus, please. I thought I’d have a few days to come up with something, since I doubt there are any other Rank Ones on this ship to sync you, but I didn’t realize the confinement effect would get this bad, this fast.” He looked as if he’d come to some resolution. “You have to leave the army.”

“Leave the army?” Tennal said incredulously. “What a thought. This must be the kind of bright idea that gets you into officer academy. I’ll just find a spacesuit and stroll out the nearest airlock, shall I?”

“Can’t readers breathe in space?” Surit said, so earnestly that Tennal nearly fell for it.

“Lieutenant,” Tennal said severely.

Surit raised his eyes to glance at Tennal’s face. For the first time, there was something hesitant in it, as if he hadn’t been sure if Tennal could take jokes about this. Tennal loathed being pitied, but this wasn’t pity. Tennal didn’t have time to work out what it was before Surit carried on, as if nothing had passed between them. “This fleet is on a salvage mission. That means three weeks in chaotic space. When we’ve completed the mission, we’ll have to return to a station, where there’ll be other ships and chances to travel. Then we’ll get you temporary movement papers and—”

Surit came to a halt. Tennal got the impression he had just come up against the same problem that had occurred to Tennal: Tennal would need a fake identity to travel, and he didn’t know how to get one. Maybe this was the first illegal thought Surit Yeni had ever had in his life. Tennal watched in dark fascination as Surit squared his shoulders and said, “We’ll find you another identity.”

“You have no idea how to do that.”

Surit’s tone brooked no opposition. “I’ll find out when we get there. First we figure out how to get out of this room.”