With Kelang and Argalax off-world, Lunai moved to sleeping in the now vacant room next to Entropi’s. The connecting door remained open to give the cats more room. They had already done a number on the hotel furniture, something Entropi brushed off as a fee she could pay for. The elevator doors the enforcers broke would surely cost the hotel much more. Lunai hoped they wouldn’t pin the cost on Bliss or Dr. Crux.

  Her detached ear continued to do its job as she wilted away in her room, worrying about the lack of activity she could feel on Bliss’s end. Perhaps it was a good thing. Nothing too bad could be happening if she wasn’t feeling it. Bliss still felt alone, which was probably for the best despite the oppressive vibe of loneliness that made it back to her.

  “Any updates?”

  Lunai turned her head to find Entropi peeking into her room. It had become a common occurrence over the last few days on Novrun. It was getting very, very old. Lunai was already worried enough and didn’t appreciate being bothered every twenty minutes. Entropi somehow mastered the art of being both a helicopter parent and the kind to throw someone into the void of space as “training” at once.

  She’s impressively inconsistent. Maybe I shouldn’t choose her as a new mentor. Someone who deals more with the apocalypse service would be better anyway.

  Her options in that regard weren’t the greatest. The only hero she could think of off the top of her head that fit that description was Fail-Safe, and the woman just didn’t seem like a good match for her based on the last time they talked. She just seemed too callous for someone dealing with dying worlds.

  “No, for the fifth time today, no updates.” Lunai touched her forehead where a nasty headache was building and sat up on her bed. “I told you I would let you know if something happened. Do you think I’m lying to you?”

  “No, but if you were sleeping when something happened you wouldn’t go to me immediately…”

  “Entropi, please. I’m trying very hard not to go insane in here!”

  “Then let’s go do something!” She walked over to Lunai and grabbed her arm, trying to forcibly yank her to her roots. The woman’s human frame was much too weak to compete with Lunai’s without using her powers, so she just kept uselessly pulling. “We could go investigate on our own! Crux may have the ability to be everywhere at once, but he’s operating within Novrun’s laws. Let’s go sneak into some fucking offices and find whatever documents exist on this incredibly obvious setup!”

  “With my incredibly obvious and not sneaky wooden body?”

  “Yeah, you’re right.” Entropi let go of her arm and took a step back, turning her head away from Lunai. “You’d just slow me down.”

  With that, she opened up the window and flew right out, leaving Lunai to stew in the hotel room by herself. She resumed her rightful place lying face-first on the bed.

  I’d just slow her down? That’s the first time she’s ever said something like that to me. For what, because I don’t want to break the law and make a bad situation worse? Because I’m the only one who cares about what Dr. Crux says? The man has been running the GSA for two thousand years, he probably knows what he’s talking about!

  She felt the weight of two cats settling on her back. They were determined to keep their only guardian sane for the time being, but with the days counting down, she’d have to return to space soon. Ashetana would have to take care of the cats, or maybe Argalax since he was benched for the time being. Entropi took care of them after the incident on Rengues, but she wasn’t sure the woman was in the right mind for it at the moment.

  That assessment was confirmed when Entropi didn’t return to the hotel room that night. Whatever mission she was on, she was committed. Lunai checked her CellPulse for any news about a crazy lady breaking into the minister’s office just in case. She then took a look at the messaging app, hovering over Entropi’s name and considering whether or not she should even bother trying to reach out.

  If I say something, that implicates me in whatever scheme she’s planning. I’m just an intern. My people are running on borrowed time. I cannot get looped into her nonsense. I don’t have the same clout she has to get away with fucking around.

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  The lack of sleep was really getting to Lunai, but perhaps she needed it to be that way. Her people should come first in her mind. Staying in Dr. Crux’s good graces was the best thing she could do for them at the moment. She didn’t intend to stop now, not even for Bliss. Not even for the hope that he represented. He would be fine in the end. That’s what she decided to keep telling herself.

  Entropi hadn’t returned by the end of the fifth day. Lunai gathered the cats in their carriers and hurried past the front desk without checking out, leaving Entropi to deal with the hotel’s rage at the unauthorized pets in the rooms. She found her way to the nearest GSA satellite building, met with the same unsettling silence that cursed the streets the day of Bliss’s arrest.

  One of Dr. Crux’s fragments was there to greet her right in the lobby. Good morning Lunai. Are you ready to get back to work?

  “Uh…ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

  I apologize that I was unable to get Bliss out of jail before you left again. I can’t share the results of my investigation with you at the moment, but know things are moving slowly but surely.

  “Do you still think there’s a chance he did it?”

  I’m afraid I cannot share that with you. Either way, I should be able to get him out. My request for bail was unsurprisingly denied, but there’s some routes available to me even if he did kill the tour guide. The minister can claim reasonable force all she wants, but a tour guide attempting to assault the one and only Bliss would be a PR nightmare for this fine planet.

  A PR nightmare didn’t sound like the win Dr. Crux seemed to think it was. Lunai hoped from the bottom of her heart they could do better than that. Maybe Entropi would actually uncover the massive conspiracy she knew this had to be. Doing that without getting caught was what Lunai was truly worried about. If Entropi was banished from Novrun, she wouldn’t be able to get Bliss out in a pinch if needed.

  Lunai checked her CellPulse one last time as she entered the teleportation pod. Her finger hovered over Entropi’s name as she tried to think of a goodbye message that did not imply she knew what the woman was up to.

  [Lunai]: Didn’t see you today. I’m going back to base. Will call if my ear tells me something’s wrong.

  She also started a group chat with Ashetana and Argalax, hoping to find a suitable cat sitter for the foreseeable future. Both agreed to take turns with them and to follow the extensive list of instructions Lunai sent for their care. Ashetana would obviously be getting them first, since that meant Lunai would be going to her place to drop them off.

  The pod dropped her in the standard teleportation room in the main office building. She made her way back the apartments, somewhat happy to see them after such a long time. Ashetana gave Lunai her building number, which she was surprised to find was right across from her own. A small win nestled in the catastrophe that had been her life for the last few weeks.

  Lunai walked up the steps to Ashetana’s door and rung the doorbell. Her roots were tapping with anticipation at finally seeing inside the woman’s apartment. She pictured fiery decorations among practical furniture choices. Maybe the fire theme was a little too presumptuous. It would be like imagining her apartment filled with plants, though in all fairness, it was.

  Ashetana was out of her hero costume, wearing a pair of leather pants and a black tank top. Smoke drifted out of the room and gently brushed by Lunai’s mane. The best form of pollution there could possibly be in the whole galaxy.

  Lunai wandered inside as if it were instinct. She gently lowered the cat carriers to the floor and fell into Ashetana’s arms. The ash on her skin hit Lunai’s plant cells and she felt a small wave of energy pulse through her body as it absorbed the nutrients. Lunai wasn’t quite crying, but she took a few heavy breaths as she tried to let go of last week’s stress.

  “Things just keep getting weirder for you, huh?”

  Lunai let out a laugh that was far too goofy for her current situation. “You could say that. Never a dull moment when you’re in Bliss’s shadow.”

  “How much time do you have? Wanna drink some hot chocolate and talk about it? Or…not talk about it?”

  Lunai really thought about it for a few minutes. Technically she wasn’t scheduled to depart until the next day, but the responsible thing to do was go home and get a good nights rest beforehand. Then again, no one around her seemed to be doing the responsible thing, so why not just give in?

  “How about all three? All three sounds good.” She reached out and brushed a bit of soot sitting on the top of Ashetana’s lips. “Hot chocolate, then talk, then not talk.”

  The plan was set in stone and hot chocolate boiled on Ashetana’s stove. The heavenly scent found its way into the darker recesses of Lunai’s mind, allowing her to settle down on Ashetana’s couch with her roots sprawled awkwardly over its backboard. Ashetana sat next to her and leaned into the empty space between Lunai’s arm and body.

  The hot chocolate went by quickly. So did Lunai’s explanation of what happened on Novrun. They set aside their empty mugs and walked over to Ashetana’s bedroom. Bed drapes hung over a bar connected to her ceiling and rested just below the mattress. Ashetana pushed them aside and grabbed Lunai’s hand.

  Nothing else mattered that night. Lunai’s troubles didn’t fully melt away, but they were turned down to a low whisper. All she could hear was the sizzle of Ashetana’s skin on hers. The faint smell of ash and smoke filled the air, something Lunai’s plant biology welcomed in moderation.

  Lunai was never one to compartmentalize her feelings. That changed the second they were in bed together. Everything else could wait. The world could wait. Even Cromble and Sorebel could wait, though they would wait less than anything else. The night belonged to the two women and only them.