Ohan made an irritated sound. “We awoke to find the engine stopped. Then we found the shuttle gone. We know what region of space this is, and you will tell us now if Ashby has gone to see the Heretics.”
Rosemary swallowed hard. Following Ashby’s instructions was one thing, but there was no use in lying now. “Yes,” she said.
A growl rose from Ohan’s throat. “Why?” they cried, panicked.
“Kizzy needed some tech,” Rosemary said, keeping her voice steady. She thought that maybe, if she could stay calm enough, she could bring Ohan back down. “Something for the stasie broke. They went to get a replacement part.”
Puzzlement drove some of the fire out of Ohan’s eyes. “Tech?” they said. “They went to get tech?”
“Yes.”
Ohan threw their head back. “It does not matter! They will fill their heads full of lies!”
“Who will?”
“The Heretics!” A look of horror crossed their face. “Our crewmates. They’ll be contaminated when they return.”
“They’ll get flashed on their way back in, just like always.”
“Yes, but…” Ohan shook their head and paced. “I must speak to Lovelace, she will need to update her contaminant database.” Without warning, Ohan’s legs went limp. They crumpled down, grabbing the edge of Rosemary’s desk as they went, gasping for breath.
“Ohan!” Rosemary dashed to their side. She instinctively reached out, but stopped as she remembered who she was dealing with. No physical contact without permission. “Can I help you up?”
“No,” Ohan wheezed. “We’re fine.”
The vox switched on. “I’ll get Dr. Chef,” Lovey said.
“Please, don’t,” Ohan said. They pulled theirself to their feet with shaking hands. “It is just the Wane. This is how it must be.” They drew in a shuddering gulp of air. “Call Ashby. Tell him—tell him to get his tech and leave. Tell him to not listen to the Heretics’ lies. They are poison. The Heretics—the Heretics will wish to end me.”
Rosemary could hear Dr. Chef’s heavy footsteps hurrying down the hall. From the noise, it sounded as if he were running on six. “Ohan, no matter what those people say, no one on this ship is going to hurt you.”
Ohan swung their big, dark eyes to Rosemary. “You might not mean to. But you could.”
“I don’t like this place,” Kizzy said, her mouth full of fire shrimp. “It feels sad.”
Ashby worked the navigation controls, adjusting their approach toward the rogue planet. It was frozen over, cased in a cracking lattice of ice. The warming light of the satellites was concentrated on one large, circular patch of bare rock, too perfectly shaped to be natural. From their vantage point up above, Ashby could see one cluster of opaque bubble-like buildings, built where the light was strongest. There were no other settlements, not that he could see. “I dunno,” he said. “They’ve got those sun satellites, and they’re clearly doing well enough to have a space elevator. Space elevators aren’t a high priority if you’re hungry or without shelter.”
“Sure,” Kizzy said. “But they’re still all alone out here. No star or moon to keep ’em company. They’ve got an empty sky.” She shaped the edges of the fire shrimp bag into a spout, tipped her head back, and poured the bag’s contents into her mouth.
“You’re getting crumbs all over the place.”
“Who’s responsible for cleaning out the shuttle?” She jabbed a thumb at her chest. “This girl.”
“That’s not the point.” Ashby looked back at her. “Remember that time you had to clean fire shrimp out of an air filter?”
Kizzy’s face fell in grave remembrance. She solemnly rolled the bag shut. “Until later, my delicious friends.”
The vox crackled on. An AI began speaking in Ciretou, the soft, haunting language of the Sianats. “Sorry,” Ashby said. “We don’t understand.”
The AI paused, and switched to Klip. “Greetings, travelers. Please bring your shuttle to docking port 4. Once you have docked, proceed to the elevator entryway. If you are unable to walk on your own, or if you require medical attention, please let me know at this time. If you are unable to speak, please activate your shuttle’s emergency—”
“We’re all fine here, thank you,” Ashby said.
“Please dock safely,” the AI said. “Your journey has come to an end.” The vox switched off.
Kizzy pulled her feet off of the dash and stared at the vox. “That was weird. Why wouldn’t we be able to—” She nodded. “Right. Some of the Pairs who wind up here must be pretty sick.”
“I think you were right, Kiz,” Ashby said, as he eased the shuttle into the docking hatch.
“About what?”
“This is a sad place.”
Once the shuttle came to a full stop, they put on their exosuits and stepped into the airlock. After a short scan, they were allowed through. They walked down an empty corridor, and into one of the elevator cars.
“I can’t get over this,” Kizzy said, her voice tinny through the exosuit vox.
“What? How close it is?” The length of the elevator cables were the shortest Ashby had ever seen, by a long shot. He doubted it would take them more than an hour to reach the surface.
“Yeah. It’s just… I mean, holy shit, how did they do this? This thing shouldn’t work at all. I’m not even talking about tech, I’m talking about gravity.” She pressed her nose against the window. “I want to take this thing apart and see what’s in it.”
“Please wait until we’ve reached the surface, at least,” he said, settling back onto one of the benches. He fidgeted, trying to get comfortable. The curve of the hard cushions was not designed for Human spines.
With a jarring rush, the elevator shot downward. An hour passed, uneventfully. As the elevator got closer to the surface, a violent swirl of snow hit the window. The sight made him shiver, despite the warmth of his exosuit.
“Damn,” Kizzy said. “Good thing we didn’t bring Sissix.”
“She would’ve had a suit, too.”
“Yeah, but I think she finds the very idea of snow offensive,” she said. “Look at this place.” Ashby saw it. All around them, great swaths of ancient ice sat sharp and uninviting. The air was so thick with snow that it almost obscured the settlement below. There were no roads, and if there were doors, Ashby could not see them. The elevator was descending straight into the settlement itself—a cluster of armored shells, set into black rock. He had a feeling that the sun satellites were less about providing visible light than they were about keeping the settlement thawed out.
“Why here?” Kizzy said. “Why live here?”
Heretics. Exile. “I don’t think they have a choice.” The light changed as the elevator entered the settlement, transitioning into something more inviting. Through the window, Ashby could see a round corridor, made of smooth, silvery metal. It felt very clean. A light inside his helmet indicated that the air surrounding them was breathable, but they left their suits on all the same. A fringe planet meant there was no handy GC data on local diseases. No telling what kind of bugs these folks might pass on to them, or vice versa.
The elevator doors opened. Kizzy and Ashby stepped out. Mas was there, waiting. Ashby noticed right away how much her body differed from Ohan’s, and not just in terms of sexual dimorphism. Despite the hollows of age, there was no doubt that this was a healthy individual. Ohan looked waifish by comparison.
“Welcome to Arun,” Mas said, bobbing her head. “You must forgive, I do not know Human greetings.”
“We shake hands,” Ashby said.
“Show me,” Mas said. Ashby took Kizzy’s hand in demonstration. Mas laughed. “Here,” she said, extending her long fingers. Ashby wrapped his hand around them and shook. Mas laughed again. “These are short hands, soft hands,” she said, pressing Ashby’s palm through the thin exosuit glove.