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over there.” She waved with her pincers and eye stalks. “Stay away.”
    On that cheery note, she crawled away. Not that Hsissh minded. This particular species wasn’t sociable.
    He skittered down his side of the reef, cracking open tiny mollusks and sucking them into his primary orifice. The waters weren’t dark, even though the sun was a distant dream, cut off from them by meters of ice. The seas of this moon were alive with bio-luminescent organisms that drew their life’s energy from the heat that poured through the vents to the moon’s raging magma core.
    Food was plentiful. Shissh had already taken care of all potential predators. Company was available if he wanted it. But he didn’t. It was the perfect place to explore, live, and not hurt.
    He lasted only three rotations of the moon.

    “ Y ou’re an idiot ,” Shissh said.
    Hsissh flexed the claws of the new werfle hatchling’s body he’d acquired. “Probably,” he agreed. Shissh’s consciousness floated away. He didn’t say goodbye. Blinking awake from his nap, he got up and resumed tunneling through the underbrush. He was barely weaned from this body’s third. None of this body’s three parents had been host to a member of The One. They were sweet, kind, and boring. Hsissh would miss them, the third especially; but he remembered Noa kicking Jacob across the room, and then sobbing for a creature that wasn’t her species. He missed Noa more—the tightening in his hearts was unmistakable. As he hopped toward the Sato family, he felt elation in his sorrow. It felt so good to feel again.
    Hearts pumping, he increased his speed. Time on the crustacean moon had passed more slowly, due to a difference in gravity. Noa was several cycles older and would be taking exams soon. He had to reach her, and be there to sit on her shoulder and her lap while she studied to offer moral support. He had to snuggle with her at night so she wouldn’t be afraid of rats and could get enough sleep. He had to see her get off this planet before his kind unleashed the Fourth Plague—more and more humans were arriving every day, and many of The One were pushing to advance the date.
    Hsissh had chosen his hatchling’s body for its proximity to the Sato’s homestead. He was at the edge of the trees, dirt stained and exhausted, just past sunset. He came to an abrupt halt before he entered the garden. There were boys outside of Noa’s window. He felt venom pool on his tongue. Were they there because of some human “elopement” ritual?
    A voice rose among the boys—it sounded like Jacob’s, but deeper. “You’re not going to race your brother’s new antigrav bike?”
    Noa was silhouetted by light and he couldn’t read her facial expressions. But through the wave he felt her fury. “I’ve already beaten your ass twice, Jacob. Now I’ve got to study.”
    “Waste of time,” said Jacob.
    “If you’re only interested in being in the Luddeccean Guard, sure,” Noa hissed.
    “Nothing wrong with joining the Guard,” said another voice … again, familiar but deeper. Hsissh sniffed. It was Sergei! He’d grown since Hsissh had been gone. Noa’s silhouette turned to Sergei and Hsissh could feel the war within her. He rushed through the garden, all ten legs pumping.
    “She’s lost her edge,” said Jacob. “Let’s go.”
    The boys turned away.
    “Wait!” said Noa, her eyes on Sergei.
    Hsissh leaped into the ivy on the side of the house and began climbing the vines.
    “Noa?” Sergei said.
    “I heard something!” Noa said, and Hsissh could feel her concentration had left the boy.
    “A wild werfle!” Jacob cried, “Kill it!”
    Noa shouted, “Stay away from him or I’ll kill you!” Before Hsissh could blink or think, she was soaring through the window above his head and landing lightly on the ground.
    “It’s your funeral if he bites!” Jacob said.
    Dad’s voice roared through the night. “Who’s there!”
    Hsissh took the opportunity to sneak in the