The Rec was the largest room on the station. It could fit all five hundred members if needed, which only happened during rare assemblies. Any announcement from the control deck could be heard throughout Orbito One, negating the need for such a large gathering place, but the original designers had wanted a social area.

There were a lot of soldiers present tonight, many more than usual.

The still-sweating group got in the massive queue for food.

“What’s it gonna be?” asked Elara, her voice tight with excitement. “Dehydrated potatoes?”

“I wish!” Deimos said darkly. “It’s probably that buckwheat stuff.”

The knot pulled similar faces at that.

A whisper rumbled down the line. The only thing better than guessing the menu was deciding whether the rumours from the front of the line were true.

Romy heard the whisper of “chocolate cake” from three rows ahead.

“Lie!” Romy cried. “The only time they give us chocolate cake is on Retreat Remembrance Day.”

“Or when officials visit,” Phobos said.

“Hey, look,” Thrym whispered in Romy’s ear.

Romy glanced over her shoulder. Four women and three men in black fatigues had entered the Rec and were moving to the front of the line. One of the men was Commander Cronus of Orbito One. He was smiling kindly at a knot, clapping one of the space soldiers on the back.

Only the orbito commanders wore black. All others wore white fatigues when off duty.

Each orbito contained a transmission platform for communication between the eight stations. But only two stations could be linked at one time, so the command officials often travelled to the other orbitos. It wasn’t unusual to see them together, just rare to see so many in one place simultaneously. Usually the commanders split in half to congregate at Orbito One and Orbito Three—whichever was closer—to discuss strategy against the Critamal.

“Buttholes,” muttered Elara. The rest of the knot looked at her askance.

“What?” she said. “I’m hungry! And they’re pushing in.”

“It is chocolate cake!” Thrym said as they reached the food ten minutes later. His face remained still, aside from his eyes, which closed in bliss.

The knot grabbed their meals, Deimos and Phobos somehow wheedling extra dessert.

The meal was one of the better ones: dried beef, mashed potato and beans, and dessert. The commander was either putting on a show or had bad news. The knot whittled away at their food until only the extra chocolate cake in front of Phobos and Deimos remained.

“So. . . ,” Elara drawled out. She looked around their knot and back at the cake.

“So what, Ellie dear?” Deimos asked after she completed the cycle twice.

“You know what.” She shot him a withering glare. “You gonna share that?” Her fists clenched on the table.