“Assuming nothing new and terrible happened to her, I think so.”

“OK. I’ll set you up in my quarters on the station – they aren’t fancy, but there’s food, and a bed, and access to the Tangle, so you can start catching up on the past few centuries worth of–”

“What are you talking about? I’m going with you.”

Callie crossed her arms and scowled. “Doctor, I have a lot of respect for you – you’ve been through a lot, and you came out intact, and that’s saying something, but I’m a trained security contractor. Drake and Janice used to fly military expeditions for Earth, back before their accident. Stephen got his start as a doctor when the battlefield medic on his squad during the first Ionian uprising took a kinetic bolt to the head, and Stephen had to start patching people up with the assistance of a weak AI helperbot in his visor display. He found out he liked putting people back together way more than taking them apart. Active duty was a long time ago for him, but he still knows what he’s doing. Even the computer has military firing solutions and engagement and evasion protocols in his database. You’re a total non-combatant. It’s not safe.”

Elena scowled, saw an opening, and took it. “What about your mechanic, Ashok?”

She hesitated. “He hasn’t had military or police training, true, but he has other useful qualities.”

“So do I. Mainly, I’m the only one who’s been to this space station. I know what to expect, and what we should look out for. I’m a source of valuable intelligence. You aren’t leaving me behind. That’s non-negotiable.”

Callie stared her down, but Elena just stared her back up, and the captain finally grinned. Most people probably wouldn’t call Kalea Machedo pretty, not with that nose and that great frizzy cloud of hair barely tamed into braids, but her smile was a dazzler. “All right, Elena. You’re the client, so you call the shots. Let the record show I agree under protest. Who’s the intimidating one now?”

“Ha. You’ve got, what, a quarter of a meter on me? You could throw me over your shoulder like a bag of feathers.”

Callie shrugged. “Some of that height is just the boots. You are kind of pocket-sized, though. They grew people real small back in the Paleolithic.”

“Don’t be rude. I’m at least Neolithic.”

“Definitely a valuable antique. All right, get some rest, or some food, or poke around on the Tangle. Explore the station if you want – you can take an earbud to stay in contact with the computer. I’m going to see about getting us properly outfitted for this rescue mission.”

“Aye aye.” Elena snapped off a salute.

“Definitely no military training,” Callie said, and left the room.