She stood there for a while, breathing loudly. She could feel her heartbeat throbbing in her fingertips. Why hadn’t she brought a weapon? And why wasn’t METIS responding to her requests for guidance, some kind of map?

“Shit,” she said again, and it sounded as if her voice came from someone else: she did not recognize it.

After a moment she began to shuffle forward, balling her fists. She would run into someone eventually, she thought. They had to be looking for her.

But no, Park thought then. I told Fulbreech that I went to bed.

There was a shuffling noise in front of her. Someone moving around. Park stopped, closed her mouth, and strained to listen.

Suddenly a shape resolved itself before her in the darkness. A human shape, tall and still, assessing her. Park had to choke down a scream. She came to a dead stop, waiting, unsure if it was an android or a crewmember—or something else.

Then: “Park.” A familiar voice, to Park’s short-lived relief. Sagara’s voice.

“Captain Sagara?” She hated that she used his official title. It was a fear reflex, she told herself. She wanted an authority figure.

He clicked on a small utility light. Park closed her eyes against the sudden glare, but before she did she caught a glimpse of his dark hair, his fine-boned face looking damply unimpressed. “What are you doing here?” he demanded.

“I—” She cleared her throat. “I got turned around. Lost. My inlays seem to be malfunctioning.”

“So are everybody’s.” He frowned at her. “Are you alone?”

“Yes.” She hoped he wouldn’t ask her why. “Are you? Why did you come down here?”

“Fulbreech said you went off somewhere.” Sagara sounded annoyed. “Everyone else is accounted for. You weren’t in your bunk, so I went looking for you. Why did you leave the medical bay?”

“I was hungry,” she told him, biting back a defensive tone. The exchange calmed her, somewhat; it was familiar, almost comforting. It made her forget to be afraid. “Is that a crime? To need food?”

“You should have told me. You left Hunter unguarded.”

“I left three androids with her.”

“They weren’t there when I checked.”

“I assumed as much. I don’t know where they’ve gone. Hunter—?”

“Sedated, for now,” he said darkly, switching his light to his other hand. “I’ve left her in Chanur’s care.”

She made an exclamation, shielding her eyes against the beam. “She’s as good as frozen, then!”

“Maybe,” he snapped. “But it’s not as if I had a choice. Who else was going to go looking for you?”

“Oh,” Park said. She cleared her throat and tried to bank the sudden ember of shame in her stomach. “I see. That is . . . unfortunate.”