Starsight

I was hooked up to tubes and monitors and . . . and I was in a hospital. I sat up, trying to piece together how I’d gotten here.

“Ah!” a familiar voice said. “Spensa?”

I turned to find Cuna, wearing their official robes, peeking in through the door. My translator pin, fortunately, was clipped to my hospital robe.

“The doctors said you’d be waking,” Cuna said. “How do you feel? Explosive decompression nearly killed you. I’d recommend against going into space without a helmet in the future! It’s been three days since the delver incident.”

“I . . .” I touched my face, then felt at my throat. “How did I survive?”

Cuna smiled. And actually, they were getting better at that. They settled down on a stool beside my bed, then got out their tablet and projected a holoimage for me. It showed a shuttle flying down and landing on the docks inside Starsight.

“The city’s shield went down,” Cuna said, “but emergency ES gravitation kept the atmosphere from escaping. Morriumur says you appeared in space once the delver vanished, and they were quick-witted enough to grab you and pull you into their cockpit.”

I watched a projected Morriumur dock at Starsight, pop their canopy, then stand up, holding me, unconscious. They were met with cheers. I really was getting better at reading dione expressions, because I immediately recognized the befuddlement on Morriumur’s face.

“Morriumur thought everyone was going to be angry, didn’t they?” I said. “They assumed they’d get in trouble for flying into battle.”

“Yes, but for no reason,” Cuna said. They swiped the holoimage to another: this one showed two dione parents holding a small purple baby. I could see Morriumur’s features in the parents—at least, half of them on each face. “It turns out, relatives who were advocating for a redraft changed their minds quickly once the draft became a celebrity. My culture has its first war hero in centuries! It will be a few years before Morriumur develops enough to enjoy their notoriety though.”

I smiled and settled back into my pillow, feeling worn-out—but not in pain. Whatever they’d done to heal me had been effective; Superiority medical technology was obviously beyond our own.

“I can’t stay long,” Cuna said. “I need to speak at the hearings.”

“Winzik?” I asked. “Brade?”

“It’s . . . complicated,” Cuna said. “There is still some support for Winzik in the government, and there are conflicting accounts of the events a few days ago. Winzik is trying to claim that your people summoned the delver, and a brave dione—Morriumur—was our salvation.

“However, I’m confident in my case. I’ve insisted on being allowed contact with your people. Always before, Winzik’s people have been the only ones authorized to interact with the humans in the preserve.

“How surprised some of our officials were to get such calm, rational messages from your Admiral Cobb! This has proven that free humans aren’t the ravening terrors that everyone expected. I think Winzik will be forced to step down, but it will help if you can speak to the press. I’m afraid . . . I may have nudged the doctors to wake you early for that reason.”

“It’s all right. I’m glad that—” I bolted upright. Wait. M-Bot! “My ship, Cuna! I flew here on a ship that’s very important. Where is it?”

“Don’t worry,” Cuna said. “Winzik’s department raided your embassy after you fled the city, but I’m working to get all of your things restored to you. Your leader, Cobb, mentioned the ship specifically.”

I settled back, unable to shake a sick sense of worry for M-Bot. Still, I doubted that I could have hoped for a better outcome, all things considered.

“The delver is really gone?” I asked.

“So far as we can tell,” Cuna said. “Odd, as once they appear, they usually linger for years causing mayhem. Whatever you did saved more than just Starsight. Plus, casualties were remarkably low for an event of this magnitude. Morriumur and Vapor explained what they could, though we’re still uncertain about . . . how exactly you dismissed it.”

“I changed its perspective,” I said. “I showed it that we were people. Turns out, it didn’t want to destroy us.”

Cuna smiled again. Yes, they were getting good at that. It almost wasn’t creepy.

Something about the entire situation still put me on edge, but I forced myself to relax. We’d figure this out. It seemed . . . the war might actually be over, or close to it. If the Superiority was talking to Cobb, that was a huge step forward. And here I was, sitting in a Superiority hospital without my hologram on, and it was fine.

I’d done it. Somehow, I’d actually done it. I smiled back at Cuna, then held out my hand. They took it. Hopefully I could leave most of the details from here to the diplomats and politicians. My part was done.

I closed my eyes.

And found that everything just felt wrong. I let go of Cuna’s hand, then stood up, pulling the tubes from my arm.

“Spensa?” Cuna asked. “What is it?”

“Where are my clothes?”

“Your things are over on that shelf,” Cuna said. “But it’s all right. You are safe.”