Her anger made her want to march over, grab a wine bottle, and drink the whole thing in a single go. Just to force the issue. Just to prove that she could.

But she didn’t. After what had happened that day, it terrified her to think of what the Soft Blade might do if she were drunk. And then too, she didn’t want to get hammered. Not really.

So she didn’t ask for more wine, content to hold and wait and not to tempt misfortune. And Kira noticed that although Falconi poured out a second round for everyone else, he didn’t offer one to her. He understood, and she was grateful, if still a little resentful. Dangerous or not, she wanted the choice.

“Anyone want the rest?” Falconi asked, holding up the last bottle. It was still about a quarter full.

Hwa-jung took it from him. “Me. I will. I have extra enzymes.” The crew chuckled, and Kira felt relieved that she no longer had to think about the wine.

She turned the stem of the glass between her fingers, and a faint smile crept onto her face. With it she felt a sense of lightness. Nielsen had been right; it was good she’d come out to face the crew. Hiding hadn’t been the answer.

It was a lesson she needed to remember.

6.

A green light was glowing at the desk console when Kira finally arrived back at her cabin, late that night. She stubbed her toe on the corner of the bed as she walked to the desk. “Ow,” she muttered, more out of reflex than any actual pain.

As expected, the message was from Gregorovich:

I know what you can do, but still I know not what you are. Again, I ask and asking wonder: what are you, O Multifarious Meatbag? – Gregorovich

She blinked and then typed her response.

I am what I am. – Kira

His reply was nearly instantaneous:

Bah. How pedestrian. How boring. – Gregorovich

Tough. Sometimes we don’t get what we want. – Kira

Heave and bluster, boil and froth; you can’t conceal the void within your words. If knowledge were yours, then confidence too. But ’tisn’t, so isn’t. Cracked the pedestal, and perilous the statue that stands above. – Gregorovich

Blank verse? Seriously? Is that the best you can do? – Kira

A long pause followed, and for the first time, she felt as if she’d one-upped him. Then:

Amusements are hard to find when one finds oneself bounded in a nutshell. – Gregorovich

And yet, you might rightly be counted as a king of infinite space. – Kira

Were it not that I have bad dreams. – Gregorovich

Were it not for the bad dreams. – Kira

… – Gregorovich

She tapped a fingernail against the console.

It’s not easy, is it? – Kira

Why should it be? Nature has no regard for those who squirm and crawl within its tainted depths. The storm that batters, batters all. None are spared. Not you, not I, not the stars in the sky. We bind our cloaks and bend our heads and focus on our lives. But the storm, it never breaks, never fades. – Gregorovich