Nancy was stabbing at her plate. “Did I ever tell you, you need acting lessons?” She glanced up with raised brows over her violet eyes.

Fred was more obvious. “You told Atlas you were out ‘walking’. Are you serious?”

Romy’s cheeks warmed. “I’m not good at lying.”

“Is that an enhancement thing?” Freya asked.

Romy shrugged. “Could be.” Though Phobos and Deimos never had any problem with it. But then, they were unlike many aboard the orbitos.

Someone was calling her name. She turned to see Houston jogging towards her.

“Romy. Glad I caught you.” Houston waved her over to one side.

Anger flared within Romy. She hadn’t forgotten Atlas’s slip. Houston had told on her, plain and simple.

“How could you tell him?” she asked when they were out of the Hull.

Houston sighed, taking off his glasses. For the first time since she’d met him, the lively doctor appeared as weary as his long hours should make him. It made her irritation grow.

“I trusted you.” She frowned.

The man looked at his feet. “I’m sorry. But my duty as a doctor is to keep people safe. Even from themselves. You were asking questions about sexual harassment. For all I knew, you’d been raped.”

Finally a word for what Lucas threatened her with. Rape. The word was just as disgusting as the man himself.

“Was I supposed to ignore that? Would you have wanted me to ignore it if, say, Elara, had come to me?”

Romy looked into his tired eyes, deflating with the mention of Elara.

“No. But I wish you would have gone to someone else, Houston. Now Atlas thinks I’m an idiot.”

Long, thin fingers tilted her chin upwards. “I can assure you he doesn’t.”

Romy fell silent.

Houston replaced his glasses. “And seeing as you won’t tell anyone who the dog is, I need to ask you an uncomfortable question.”

Romy nodded and swallowed.

“Have you been raped?”

She avoided his gaze. Her knot was watching through the window of the Hull. Why had Houston decided to have this conversation here? Away from Atlas? Away from Tina? Or was it just coincidence?

“No.”

Houston continued. “Whatever it is you won’t tell me about, I want you to know none of it is your fault. It is theirs, not yours. Never yours.”

She blinked rapidly and cleared her throat. She didn’t trust her voice not to crack.

“If you wish to talk more about this, my door is always open.” Houston’s tone was decisive. “And Atlas has found other tasks for you to do, to assist him. Away from the storage room.”

Joy and confusion simultaneously competed for first place.

“Why?”

Houston smiled. “You’re asking me why Atlas does the things he does?”

Romy laughed louder than she normally would at such a statement. A by-product of the tense nature of the conversation.