“Less than an hour. I’m glad Drake is getting some sleep. No one else seems to be. I heard Elena murmuring to the computer in her room, Stephen is lying awake, and Ashok and Lantern are deep into a heavy discussion about Axiom technology, with no sign of ever coming out the other side. I told them all to catch some rack time. Nobody follows orders worth a damn on this boat.”

“I can’t help but notice you’re awake too, captain.”

“I probably only have about eight more hours left to live. I’m not about to spend any of them sleeping.”

“What would you like to spend them doing instead? And who would you like to be doing it with? Because I’m pretty sure it’s not me, lovely and charming as I may be. I think you’re looking for someone who’s a little younger than me but also a whole lot older than me at the same time, if you know what I’m saying.”

“Ugh. Does everyone know about my little crush?”

“We know you well, captain, so probably. Except for Ashok. Maybe if you had a crush on an industrial mining robot, then he might notice. Oh, and probably not Doctor Oh herself. So why don’t you go tell her?”

“This isn’t exactly the right time to start pitching woo at someone.”

“You’re alive, and maybe not for much longer. I don’t personally get the appeal of touching other people or having them touch you or being all squishy-faced at each other, but whatever. I had a friend who liked eating those peppers that are so hot they make your tongue melt and your eyes water. That didn’t make sense to me, either, but it made her happy, so I went to her Ganymede Ghost Pepper parties and cheered her on. Rah, rah. Go get her. Et cetera.”

“You are the worst at girl talk, Janice.”

“Thank all the available gods. I’ve spent a lifetime trying to cultivate that quality.”

Callie went slowly back down the ladder to the crew quarters. She hesitated outside Elena’s door, then rapped gently on the doorframe.

“Come on in,” Elena called.

The door slid open, and Callie stepped into the dimness. “You can’t sleep either, huh?”

“Too many thoughts about too many things, captain.”