“We’re not supposed to know,” Thorn said, “but you’re like a princess, just a different word. Sometimes the captain forgets how sharp our ears are. We hear things when she’s talking to Dabry, sometimes, and she said that.”

She hesitated, unsure how to reply.

“That’s why you should practice with us. What if someone tried to kidnap you?”

What indeed, she wondered. Was that what had happened, had it all been some bizarre plan to get her off-planet? There hadn’t been any point where she’d felt as though she could resist, though. She said stiffly, “I have had training in personal defense. Quite a bit of it.”

Thorn reached out and poked her in the ribs with a finger, not particularly gently, making her flinch back. He withdrew his hand and raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? Then shouldn’t I not have been able to do that?”

She could see his twin parsing the sentence in his head. She flushed, anger rising. “You took me by surprise!”

“That’s the point,” he said. “Usually kidnappers take you by surprise.”

“We won’t hurt you,” Talon said earnestly. “We’re very careful about that. Skidoo’s got all sorts of soft bits, but she plays and she’s wicked good at it.”

That was true. Atlanta had witnessed how the Tlellan’s tentacles could be used to maneuver in the game, swinging her at high speeds that were dizzying to watch, particularly when she retracted other tentacles and became a tightly wrapped ball.

“I’m not worried that you’re going to hurt me,” she said, although it was true that they both dwarfed her. But there was an innocent quality about the twins that was reassuring; not that of the simple-minded, but of the good at heart.

“Do you have anything better to do?” Thorn asked.

“That’s it,” she said. “I feel like we should be planning or building or something, anything. Not playing a game.”

Talon shook his head. “Captain and Dabry will have a plan.”

“Sometimes several,” Thorn added. “So what we do is make sure we’re ready to do our part. Including being combat ready.” He reached out and tugged at her elbow. “An’ you don’t worry so much, when you’re playing.”

The space the twins had found was indeed huge. And perfectly suited for warball, full of odd pillars and ledges, and with a scoring niche at either end. The twins each bounced a ball impatiently as the others they’d gathered sorted out the teams: Thorn with Dabry, Lassite, and Milly; Talon with Niko, Skidoo, and Atlanta.

Lolola entered and settled into a spectator’s bench.

Niko raised an eyebrow at her. “We’re not entertainment,” she said.

“Spectators make things better if they cheer, Captain,” Talon said. Niko let the topic go but gave Lolola a meaningful look.