Then Park reminded herself that Natalya had raised her six younger siblings in the wildernesses of southern Russia before picking up an ISF contract to get them all to the colony on Luxue. That was impressive. The hardships of her life must have forged her into this . . . unyielding, unforgiving creature. In any other situation Park might have admired her steeliness. But because they clashed so much, she could only view the other woman as a nuisance. A wounding presence—like a dagger in her side.

“You’re useless,” Natalya declared finally, shaking her head and folding herself into her bunk. Park didn’t answer; she turned instead to tend to Elly’s unconscious figure. After a few moments she heard someone’s footsteps in the corridor. When she looked up, she saw Hunter stepping through the threshold again—and Chanur following expressionlessly behind her.

“She’s scratched her left arm heavily, but no other injuries,” Park said as Chanur brushed past her. “I’ve given her three sedation tabs. Could you keep her separate from Eric Holt?”

“Holt is gone,” Chanur said as she bent over Elly’s supine body. “Somehow he left the ward, despite being sedated and watched by one of the bots. I’ve informed Wick and Captain Sagara. They’re searching for him now.”

That explained why Sagara hadn’t shown up when Elly started screaming, Park thought. The way she was going on, he’d think she was being murdered. Then Chanur’s words registered. “Wait, Holt is gone? What do you mean? Where could he even go?”

Chanur gave her a venomous look. “If I knew that, then he wouldn’t be missing, would he?”

Missing, Park thought as Hunter drew her aside. Of course. Of course Elly’s episode would somehow trigger an episode of Holt’s, from the other side of the ship. Of course Holt would somehow vanish into thin air. That would all make sense, considering how this day was going.

She shook her head. Hunter was saying, “Someone had better inform ISF.”

“I don’t think there’s any need for that,” Chanur said from the ground, where she was reading Elly’s vitals with a bioscanner.

“Bullshit there isn’t,” Hunter rapped out. “People are going to pieces. We can’t locate a crewmember. They need to know.”

“Yes,” Park said, trying to shake off the out-of-body giddiness that was threatening to take hold. There was that swaying feeling in her head again, as if she might be space-sick—even though they’d already landed. “Yes, I agree with Hunter. I’ll go tell them now.”