Page 281 of Commander’s Mate

I took the slate.

Meya Maktu.

Probable.

Transferred.

Julconi.

Not rescued.

Not dead.

Still moving through the system that had swallowed half a world.

“What about Taren?”

“No confirmed Breskaa match. One similar identifier among the dead, but insufficient confidence.”

I swallowed.

“Deyan asked for truth.”

“Yes.”

“So does Zared.”

“Yes.”

I saved the record.

Deyan emerged from surgical intake twenty minutes later.

Her face looked wrecked and luminous.

“She knew me.”

My throat closed.

“That’s good.”

“She said my hair is ugly.”

I blinked.

Deyan laughed through tears.

“She always hated this cut.”

I started laughing too.

Maybe because it was funny.

Maybe because it was ordinary.

Maybe because ordinary insults between mother and daughter felt like the most beautiful thing in the galaxy.

“Can I put that in the registry?” I asked.