“Sit,” he said pointedly, shoving Maren back into her chair. “Cool it,” he instructed Holly, pushing her in the opposite direction.

“You’re going to fire her for that, right?” Holly yelled, turning her anger towards Suriya. “She assaulted him!”

Suriya didn’t seem to be completely aware of what had just happened. Her back was as straight as a poker, and she was examining her hands, which were folded on the table in front of her. She’d eaten even less of her dinner than Maren had.

“Well?” Holly’s voice rose in pitch and volume. “You seemed pretty damn happy to throw threats around earlier, so how about acting on them?”

The older woman turned her hands over then licked her lips before looking up. “Holly, get out of my station.”

“What?” Holly and Mark said together.

“You’ve outstayed your welcome. The lockdown will be lifting in a few minutes. I expect you to be in your buggy, ready to drive out those doors as soon as they unlock. Understood?”

Holly was pale. She was trembling with fury, but she knew better than to argue with a superior. “Fine.”

“Saul, make sure she leaves. I don’t want to ever see her again. Not today. Not ever.”

When Saul tried to nudge Holly’s shoulder, she shrugged his hand off and stalked out of the kitchen’s door, head held high, long sandy hair swinging behind her.

“Bye!” Mark called, but she didn’t respond.

Suriya scraped her chair back, turned, and left through the opposite door without another word. Maren and Holly exchanged a glance as Mark stared at his plate.

Maren knew she was lucky. It was well within Suriya’s rights to fire, or at least parole, her workers for striking another team member. She was grateful that, as little as Suriya liked Maren’s company, she at least hated Holly more.

The footsteps in the hallways faded until the only thing Maren could hear was the distant creaking metal of the station’s outer layer, which was relaxing now that the gamma flare had passed. Then there was a quiet beep, and the small screen in the corner of the room, which had been red, turned green, signifying the lockdown was over.

“I hope you’re happy.” Mark pushed his chair out and left through the same door Suriya had taken. The station’s regular white lights turned on with a quiet hum, and Maren blinked against the sudden brightness.

“I’m really not, that’s the whole point,” she said, but she doubted Mark heard her as he slammed the door.

She sighed, shoved aside her uneaten meal, and dropped her forehead onto the cool table. “I screwed up,” she said, her voice muffled by the table. “He’s going to hate me forever now, isn’t he?”

Gin sighed as she patted Maren’s shoulder. “Ehh, he’d probably forgive you for hitting him. He was being kind of a jerk. But yeah, getting Holly sent away is going to be tough to recover from.”

“Well.” Maren sat up, gave her friend’s hand a squeeze, and pushed out from the table. “I’ve caused enough damage today. Better go see what the flare managed to do.”