“Not usually. Especially not at a ship tagged with a TNA transponder. The corporation takes such things seriously, and there will be an investigation. We assume it was pirates, but they weren’t very bright, since the ship itself was the main thing worth scavenging. I’m sorry. I know the Anjou was important to you.”

“In a way,” Elena said. “It was my home for centuries, after all, but on the other hand, I only spent a few days there, conscious, anyway. I’m honestly already more at home on the White Raven.”

That gave Callie a little thrill she didn’t bother to analyze too closely. “I’m glad to hear that. You’re very welcome here.”

“You’ve made me feel nothing but. I guess the loss of income is a problem, but not having any – what do you call it? lix? – seems like the least of my troubles right now.”

“Maybe we can work something out, after all this is over.”

“What, I can swab the decks?”

Callie grinned. “Or something. You’re paying way over any reasonable rate by giving us the bridge generator. I might feel so guilty I cut you in on my share of the proceeds. See if we can help you, and your crewmates once we rescue them, get your feet under you.”

“You’re so nice to me, Callie. Thank you. I hope I can repay you someday.”

Callie tried not to think about what such repayment might entail. “So. Want to meet the rest of the crew?” Callie said. “Since we’re going into the wild mysterious black together?”

Elena nodded. “I would have gone around and introduced myself earlier, but Shall said everyone was quite busy.”

“They were busy, but we also wanted to, ah, ease you into the modern era a bit. I guess you probably saw some pretty unusual people on the station, though.”

“I’m only sorry I didn’t get to see any of the aliens. Terrible timing for the Liars to leave – I’m supposed to be a xenobiologist, and I’ve never even observed any xenobiology.”

“You didn’t encounter anyone too alarming on the station, though?”

“There were plenty of… well, posthumans, from my point of view, anyway. Augmented, upgraded, and genetically engineered. I did find it a little overwhelming, but it was the crowds as much as the variations. The only people I’d seen before that were you and Stephen, and you seem much like the baseline humans of my day.”

“Mostly, though we’ve both had some work done under the hood – mine in the womb, Stephen when he was a boy. Little tweaks to make long-term travel in space less physically damaging, adjustments to our metabolisms, disease resistance, things like that. We both come from pretty conservative backgrounds, though. Ashok’s appearance is a lot more radical, probably stranger than anything you encountered on Meditreme. It might be a little shocking.”