The Commander and I make eye contact.

“You pay me?”

“Of course, I pay you. I pay you the same as any other servant. Your payment is in your GC account.”

“I have a GC account?” I ask.

“Yes,” he looks at me seriously. “It is late now, but I will have someone show you tomorrow.”

I don’t speak for fear of losing control of my emotions again.

“I do not think you should spend too much time with the other Water woman. It makes you upset. I would advise you to see her as a ghost and nothing more,” he says.

“I want to spend time with someone of my own species,” I say. “It may be the last time I see another Water person.”

“It is your decision, but I would caution you not to taint your name with hers.”

“Is that an order?”

“You know very well that even I cannot dictate who you spend your free time with if they are members or guests on this ship.”

“But you dictate every other part of my life,” I say.

He looks at me questioningly.

“Computer access,” I say.

“You are not ready.”

“Why?”

“Have I ever harmed you or led you astray? Have I ever let others harm you in any way?”

“No,” I answer.

“Trust me when I say you are not ready, then. Go spend time with this other Water woman who lives in the shadows of her past if you want. You are not an idiot. You will soon see that she is no freer than you were on that farm.”

“I,” I begin, then hesitate, steading my emotions and meeting his sharp eyes, “I know, I should be grateful that you took me from the farm, but seeing this Water person and listening to what she has to say, and comparing it to my own life, has made me want to reconsider how I feel about what’s happening here.”

“I have never been away from my people, so it is difficult for me to fully understand how you feel. I can confidently say that I have never hurt you and have only wanted the best for you, given the circumstances. So I will repeat myself if you want to spend time with this Water woman to work out what is blindingly obvious to everyone else, go ahead. But I would advise against it. I would advise you to take the doctor’s advice.”

“You knew I was in sickbay?”

“I always know where you are,” he says. “I know when you are doing the laundry, studying, chatting with your friends, and when you are in your quarters.”

“I want to see the other Water woman. I want to be allowed to have a proper talk with her. You can have someone monitor it if you want. I think that will help me. I need to talk to another Water person about being forced off my planet.” I touch my chest over my heart and look at him sincerely, “I still carry this pain, and it has nothing to do with you.”