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floated ahead of them down a short hallway. “I wanted to make sure you were not in need of anything...”
        “Nothing, no,” Antares answered.
        “Then I will take my leave. We will discuss these matters further in the morning. Good night.” Jeaves left them at the door to their quarters.
        They entered a modest-sized room that contained a resilient, matlike floor and a single sleeping pad large enough for two people to stretch out on comfortably. The door materialized closed behind them. Bandicut sat on the sleeping pad and looked up at Antares. “You okay? Just tired?”
        “And overwhelmed.” She came and sat beside him, smoothing out the red, satiny fabric of her pantsuit. He squeezed her hand. “So much to think about,” she said, her breath hissing out. “Can we talk about something other than thinking stars, and missions to places we might rather not go to?”
        “Sure.” He was certain she did not have physical intimacy on her mind, but he felt her empathic touch at the edge of his thoughts. “Anything in particular?”
        “I don’t know. Bandie John Bandicut, so much has happened to us, so quickly. How long have we actually known each other?”
        Not that long. Only a short time on Shipworld, in the midst of chaotic and near-catastrophic events, before they were hurled to the Neri world—and similarly perilous events—until the Maw of the Abyss hurled them away again.
        Antares made a soft murmuring, almost purring sound. “And here we are, being asked to intervene in cosmic events. Stars with lifetimes of millions of years! What could we have to do with them? What could they have to do with us, even if they are awake and intelligent?”
        “I don’t know,” he murmured. I thought we weren’t going to talk about this.
        Antares leaned her head on his shoulder; her thick mane of auburn hair tumbled over him. “It’s just so hard even to know how to think about these things. I could grasp it when the Neri were in danger. And I could grasp it, on Shipworld, when the iceline was in peril from the boojum—and you and your friends, too. But stars and worlds?” She raised her hands in a gesture of helplessness.
        “Is it too hard to imagine their pain?”
        “To imagine their pain? No. But to feel their actual pain—that would be very different. I do not know how I can become a part of that.” She raised her chin, and her golden-irised eyes caught his. And he suddenly realized, this wasn’t just about making a rational decision: smart mission, dumb mission. This was about being part of something .
        “Then—”
        “I feel as if I need to grasp this before I can even consider what we should do.”
        “I understand,” he said, and it was almost true.
        “And Ik and Li-Jared’s pain and anger and frustration were so strong...that is why I needed to get away.” She closed her eyes and breathed slowly and deeply. “I could not get it clear in my own mind.”
        “Does their presence bother you?”
        “What? No, my dear Bandie John Bandicut. They are my companions—” rasp “—friends. I would do anything for them.” Her hand turned and grasped his tightly, and he felt a wave of her feelings for Ik and Li-Jared. He also felt her feelings for him, which were... different.
        “As I would for you,” she added.
        He nodded, swallowing.
        “And you, John—what do you feel about this?”
        “You mean, what Jeaves—?”
        “Yes— no. About that, but not only that.” She shifted position to sit cross-legged, facing him directly. “Where do you  belong?”
        “Well, I don’t know exactly what you—”
        She stopped him. “John.” Her golden-eyed gaze was intent. “Tell me...” She pressed her lips together. “Tell me, who did you love? Who did you leave behind? Who do you miss ?”
        He felt a sudden upwelling of buried