Alarm surged up Park’s spine like a lightning rod; she nearly jolted out of her seat. “What?” Then she quelled the sudden rush of panic and said in a somewhat calmer tone: “You mean—I’ll be managing the patients alone?”

“I’m afraid so,” Keller said, looking resigned. “Trust me, I know it’s not an ideal situation, but—”

“Ideal?” Park didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or cry. “I wasn’t trained for this scenario. At all. I was never meant to take on the primary role—I’m here for observation, monitoring, not diagnosis and treatment—”

Keller held up her hand, cutting Park off. “I know, Park,” she said gently. “I know, but there’s nothing that can be done about it.” Then she glanced at something on her inlays and said, “It’s nearly eight. Who’s scheduled to meet with you next?”

Park consulted the dossier on her own inlays, then felt as if the room had lurched. “Sagara,” she said, taking a breath. “Next is Captain Sagara.”

“Well, good!” Keller exclaimed, beaming in a false way. Park had not yet gotten the chance to tell her about the escape pod disaster. “I always thought you two should get to know each other better. There could be a sense of—camaraderie between the two of you, I think.”

Camaraderie? Park thought. Sagara was about as social as a praying mantis, and she didn’t know how she felt being compared to him. “Why do you think that?”

“Well, you’re very similar,” Keller said bluntly. “And considering how the others view both of you . . . I thought you might bond over your shared experience.”

Park tried not to pull a face. Keller was referring, rather tactlessly, to the fact that the other crewmates openly considered Park and Sagara’s positions to be redundant. It was why Chanur made jabs about her having nothing better to do; it was why no one knew whom to be more afraid of, Boone or Sagara. In Park’s case, Keller was already the main psychologist of the Deucalion, so the question had to be asked: What was Park’s role? Why was she there, if she wasn’t interacting directly with the patients? What was the purpose of having two psychologists on the ship?

And the conclusion that had spread around was that Keller was there primarily for the crewmates’ wellbeing: she was the one who talked with the patients, counseled them, prescribed their treatments and medications. But Park was a background presence, usually only observing, monitoring. That meant that she was not there to help the other crewmembers—but to spy on them for the ISF.