What Happens in Orbit

The first of the reports from Milarish were concerning, to say the least.

The planet was the same size as Roshak, but with fifty times the population. Small and medium cities were walled and domed, her troops meeting aggressive masked and hazard-suited sentries. This was expected. The Foshar hadn't breached these areas, their people living in relative peace. They were updated on the situation and left alone.

The first major city they found, however, was a disaster zone in the most horrifying sense.

Mary stood in front of the board, using a stick to point out mapped locations. "We were right. The Emperor's faction is being attacked by a newer, more aggressive faction from around here. A new strain, if you will."

She turned back to the board, swiping at it. "Here is video from last sunrise."

It was definitely a city. Tall buildings packed together, tons of windows. They had been brightly colored at some point but were all faded.

No, that wasn't right. Cora leaned in, squinting. "What is that?"

The buildings were covered in a fine powder. "Spores," answered Mary, tapping the board. Her pointer was a wooden stick with a pointing hand on the end. Cora wondered if that was standard for briefing.No, it doesn't matter. I'm getting distracted.

She racked her brain for where she'd been.Ah."Any signs of life?"

"Not the ones we're looking for."

Cora chewed at her thumbnail. This would not be easy. "We'll have to use the planes. Damn."

"So you'll authorize it?"

Cora sighed. It would be an ecological disaster, as if the Foshar weren't already. "We can't send our guys into that on foot. Too many dark corners.Waytoo many spores. When did they start doing all that?"

The other war council members shifted uncomfortably. Cora resisted the urge to look around.

"It's a new tactic. One we haven't seen before. But," she paused, tapping the pointer against Cora's knee. "One that you were prepared for, my queen."

"I assumed in the beginning that they would behave like this. This is standard behavior for their kind," said Cora, like she wasn't just thinking of the mold in her old bedroom. "But I didn't think it would happen on such a scale. We need to make sure we're tracking weather patterns. Wind will carry them. Stay on everyone's ass about following contamination protocol. With there being almost no actual combat yet, there is zero excuse for casualties."

Corpses littered the ground in the feed shown. They were split open, pulsing gray-brown veins meandering out of their bodies and into the buildings. She shuddered. "Yeah. We're using the planes. But... we need to make sure the treatment permeates everything. Suggestions?"

One of her higher captains raised their hand. "We could create a steam that would rise through the buildings?"

Ray shook his head. "We can't. The solution degrades when it reaches boiling point. We may not be able to avoid it, Cora. We can't guarantee that they haven't permeated the building material itself."

"Ugh," she sighed, leaning forward. "It's going to take them years to come back from this."

"And I'm not approving complete social support for them. We go over a certain threshold, the Grand Mother will take issue."

"But you'll approve leveling their cities?" Cora turned to Miedzna.

They shrugged. "Once evacuated. It can be justified, unfortunately. Ray is right. Knowing what we know about how they spread, we have no choice but to do so. I'll approve aid, but we are not completely funding their rebuilding."

"Who will? It seems unfair to pretend we're not to blame.Even ifwe're helping them, Miedzna."

"We could use this as an opportunity, Cora. An olive tree, if you will." Ray spoke, writing furiously.

"For who?"

"Their, ah, neighboring planet.Theyhave a convenient surplus of building materials and no reliable buyers."

"An olive tree? For Mar? Oh, you mean an olive branch. I wouldn't give that jackass an oliveleaf.But..." she sighed. "Would he even be down for that?"

Mary leaned over the table to look at Ray's notes. "If we frame it correctly."

Ray held up his tablet. "We let it seem like the Foshar Monarch's idea. Once we treat him, of course. We should receive the next shipment of Amphotericin B within a rotation. Actually," he looked up at Mary. "Didn't we get a transmission about that this morning?"

Mary jumped. "We did. I apologize, my queen."

"For what? It's still inbound, yeah?"

"I should have brought it to your attention sooner. It is! The Yarlott emperor is sending five of his starskimmers from Earth to deliver them."

"Oh. Of his own volition?" Cora cringed. He wasn't the manipulative type, as far as she knew. But he'd want something in return. She hoped it didn't concern the Yarlott population boom in Mendoza. "We didn't order from them. We routed that order through the Space Commerce Ministry in Beijing, right?"

"It was too large an order. They actually said that they'd reject the order, that was, until payment value was assessed. Thirty-six billion Yuan worth of lithium. They then had to push this order out to their largest warehouses in Taiwan and India, who were... also overwhelmed." He chuckled nervously. "We... might have created asituationon Earth."

Cora held her hands up, closing her eyes. "Will it affect us?" When he shook her head, she nodded. "Okay. Later. Let's finish here."

Cora sat at the dining table, her spoon hovering above her curry. "Wewhat?"

"Allegedly, there was global uproar over Beijing ordering record amounts of antifungal medication. Humans started developing conspiracy theories about a coming fungal plague. Ah, humans. So funny." When he saw Cora's look of intense concern, he shook his head. "Sorry. The amount of money changing hands downstream motivatedsomeonetoleakthe purchase information."

"So... How much does everyone know?"

"Not so much that we should be concerned, but because we had to provide reasoning for ordering another hundred-thousand bulk vials of Amphotericin B, they...allknow about the Foshar parasites now."

"Oh my God." Cora set her spoon down. "Ray, that entire planet is probably losing its marbles right now."

"On the contrary!" Ray patted his hands together, smiling. "Their marbles remain in their possession. The humans united in their panic and managed to collect the entire amount needed to treat the Milar. I watched a speech that the Yarlott emperor gave to the Human press, in front of the departing starskimmers in Argentina. It was wonderful. His grasp on the human Spanish language is quite impressive."

Cora looked down at her curry. She didn't want to think about what that meant.Lord, they're probably prioritizing travel research and development as we speak. This is what the Grand Mother did not want happening.

She ate in silence, trying to form a logical series of events. At the end of every thread, there was only one possibility. Well, two. One, there'd be more humans in space. Two, there'd be more Americans. Regular humans, she could probably tolerate.

But Americans?

"Ugh. We need to enjoy the spaceports while we still can," she groaned.

Ray tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Food is about to getexpensive.I can feel it. Let's plan a trip to Port Seven once we're at about sixty percent completion. I won't feel guilty, my officers need a break, too. Mary looks like she could shatter like glass."

On Port Seven, in the diplomatic sector,

Tor waited until everyone else had left the ship. There were still staff remaining, but they were busying themselves elsewhere. Mel and the others were in the ship's nursery, asleep.

Most importantly, Cora and the others had left and were well out of sight when Tor ducked through the airlock.

He hoped he wouldn't regret this.

The ship was docked in the diplomatic zone of the port, forcing Tor to find his way to the tram that would take him to the other end of the spaceport.

He hadn't done this in a very long time. The tram never fully stopped unless someone requested it, but unless youreallyneeded it, it was embarrassing. If you were able, you simply needed a running start.

He stuck the landing into the car, but painfully shoulder-checked a spiked Orn in the process. There would be a bruise.Damn it.

He'd have to explain it to Cora if she saw it. Tor made his way to the rear of the tram car, thinking hard. He hated lying, and he knew he was bad at it.

As the car crossed into the shadow of the mercantile zone, Tor resolved to simply hide it from her as best her could.

That was, if he even made it back.

This is so stupid. Why did I agree to this?

The lights inside the car flickered on. Tor sighed, trying to catch a glimpse of the progress bar. He'd only been given a time and building number. One-five-six-three-three.

Technically, I didn't agree to anything.That excuse wouldn't hold up if Cora found out.

His heart began to race as the progress bar neared the fifteen-thousand block.I could stay on and ride all the way back. She'd never know I left. I don't have to get off here,thought Tor just as he jumped through the exit.

Well, he'd done it.

Numbers embossed in the ground with arrows directed him to the left. He was starting to get the jitters. This wouldn't work. He needed to go in calm. Confident. Assertive. Tor paused in a narrow alleyway, trying to take a deep breath. When he'd managed at least one, he peered back out into the street. His destination was adjacent to the alley he was hiding in, an unoccupied storefront.

What if this is a trap?He leaned back into the dark.It's one thing to lie about not going out. It's something else to get taken and held for ransom in the middle of her first operation as queen.His heart was beating a painful tango. "Why did I come here?" he whispered to himself, shakily.

"I don't know, why did you?"

Tor shot the nastiest glare he could manage into the thick shadows behind him, hoping his heartbeat wasn't audible. "Go sneak around the back. I'm not gonna be seen walking in with you."

He walked up to the door, hoping it was unlocked. It was. It swung open easily, jangling behind him as it shut.

"Lock that door."

"You lost the right to tell me what to do six rotations ago," he snapped, turning the lever. It didn't sound like there was anyone else here. Footsteps thumped above, but he'd seen the stairwell outside. They were probably alone.

When Mar didn't respond, he walked towards the back of the shop, between dusty shelves. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

Tor crossed his arms, interlacing both pairs. "Talk, then."

"Your sister said you were sick."

"I was."

"Are you okay?"

Tor tried to sigh, but it came out as a snarl. "Am I okay? Youlied, Mar. You made a choice without us. You lied! And you're acting like it's Cora's fault that you got Takkan rain-poisoning."

"The children-"

"The kids were fine! They have just as much Sheevae DNA as Cora. Even Tai is better now. You're the only one still- still like this."

"You don't understand."

Tor was trying not to shout. Reflected sunlight streamed in through the front, making hazy squares on the wall. He could see the illuminated outline of Mar, his eyes glinting.

There was a lot of dust. Motes drifted through the beams, stirred up by his gesturing. He couldn't see Mar's face, but he was imagining some sort of calm, smug expression. This irritated him even more.

"You think you're doing the right thing, but if you were actually doing the right thing, you wouldn't have hid it from us. Just stop, Mar."

He stepped forward, backing Tor against the wall of a shelf. "Just because Cora doesn't like it, doesn't mean it isn't right. You wouldn't doanythingto go against her, even if it meant helpingme."

"I came here. And you don't need our help. Clearly."

Mar growled. "What I need is my Engineer."

"Sure. There are no other engineers in your crew?" Tor was considering aiming a sharp punch directly at the source of Mar's voice.

"None of them like you." He sounded as if he, too, was getting annoyed.

Tor snatched blindly, getting a fistful of Mar's vest to pull him closer. "If you valued your crew, your fuckingfamily, you wouldn't be doing this."

Surprising him, Mar leaned forward, burying his face in Tor's neck.

"Youfucker." He shoved Mar back. "Talking at me won't work so you trythat?"

"I'm nottryinganything."

"Sure. You and your stupid plans."

"I didn'tplanthis," he grumbled, back still against the wall.

Tor had suddenly lost his taste for pacifism. "You think I'm stupid. I was so sick, and stressed- You split our family and you think everything can be okay? You come here and act pathetic becauseyoufucked up? You think you can lay back and look at me like- Oh,fuckyou!"

A patch of light had crossed Mar's face, showing not only his expression but a perfect target for Tor's fist. He'd lashed out before he'd even finished speaking, catching himself and Mar off guard. Cartilage crackled under his now-aching knuckles. "Don't look at me like that again," he hissed as Mar's head thudded back against the wall.

He took a deep, shaky, breath. "Tor, I'm sorry-"

"This cannotbe what you asked me to come here for."

"I wanted to ask you to come with me. But-"

"But I won't. So now thebrave rulerof Roshak wants what? None of your crew good enough? I thought you were smarter than this."

Mar spoke through a pinched nose. "I didn't plan on this."

"Right! Your plans are useless. So,brave ruler,tell me what you fucking want from me." He punctuated his sentence with a step forward.

Mar began to sink to his knees, tossing his crutches aside. In a moment of clarity, Tor looked around, only to catch sight of a suspicious glinting shadow to his right. "Hold on," he muttered, yanking the shelf aside to let more light flow to the back of the shop.

Light and dust washed over the old shop counter, illuminating Tai seated there, a look of malevolent interest in his eyes.

Tor cringed internally, hoping he didn't look as guilty as he felt. "Were you going to sit there and watch the entire time?"

"I had no intentions of interrupting you two. It looked prettypersonal."

"Not really. How did you know I was here?"

Tai rocked back, uncrossing his legs with a stifled groan. "Dicembre came to me this morning. She asked me about a strange transmission she was supposed to route to Tor. Several numbers, she said, and nothing else. She was worried about you."

"And you saw a time and place."

"I did. I've been sitting here this entire time. Just watching. You argue with him just as much as Cora does. To the same end, it looks like."

Tor looked down at the dimly lit Mar. His eyes stayed fixed on the ground.

He'd had all the panache in the galaxy giving that press conference, disparaging Cora and all her hard work.

But now, nothing.

He looked back up to Tai, who hadn't moved. "Tai, didn't he plan to have you killed?"

"He did," replied Tai.

Returning his gaze to Mar, Tor put a finger under his chin, tilting it up. Blood still trickled from his nose. "You want to do anything about that?"

He slid off the counter. "I could. But you looked like you already had something in mind for him. Are you sure you don't want me to just watch?"

Mar's silence was damning.

"I've never seen him like this before," Tai purred, sidling up to Mar's kneeling form.

Tor didn't look up from Mar. "I hope not. He's useless like this."

"Almost makes you want to hurt him less, hm?"

"Not really," retorted Tor, swiping a finger through the blood running down Mar's chin.

"There's this damn band again," laughed Cora, pointing them out to Della. "I swear, they only do covers of Primus songs."

He listened, nodding along as they waited in line to order food. Autumn peeked out from behind him. "You listen to Primus, Cora?"

"I donot. My dad's brother did. He watched me a lot as a kid. Lived in a trailer in Pinetta."

"Better than making you listen to Kid Rock," she shuddered.

"I like this song," spoke Della softly.

"American Life. I bet Dicembre can get you an audio file for your tablet."

Cora zoned out of the conversation, looking at Della with gentle concern. He hadn't been the same since she'd picked him up from Roshak. He was like a rescue dog, always hesitant to leave her side.

And he always looked so sad.

She knew the business with Mar messed him up, but he'd done or said something that really hurt Della.

When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna gut him like a fucking fish.As the rush went through her, she shook her head. It wouldn't help. Maybe Della just needed time.

Ray was coming back now, a shopping tote hooked over one of his elbows. "Have any of you seen Tai?"

"I thought he was with you," said Autumn, leaning over to look at Cora. "Didn't he leave with Ray?"

"Yeah," said Cora, turning most of her attention to the menu. "He's probably gone off to do something either completely innocuous or something adrenaline-y that he'll regret. There's no in-between with him."

"I choose to assumeinnocuous. I like that word," said Ray, fetching a tray and joining them. "Cora, you all should come to the street market in the mercantile district. The deals are justincredible. The Noxis artisan's union is passing through this region, so there's quite a bit of fine clothing to choose from."

"The mercantile district? How far away is that?" Cora looked up at the time overlay. It was just after noon. "I don't want to leave Tor by himself all day."

"I'm sure Tor is entertaining himself. The market starts at the front of the fifteen-thousand block. We can take the tram and arrive there rather quickly!"

They ate before making their way to the tram ring.

Autumn and Savannah's tablets pinged.

"Oh," said Savannah, frowning as she read the message. "They're doing a recall. Foshar military personnel spotted on the port."

"That can't be right." Cora turned to Ray. "There's been no movement from RoshakorMilarish."

"None reported. They are probably contract workers, defense or trade."

"We'll still head back," sighed Autumn. "Tarina will have our hides if we don't."

"I'm sorry, ladies. I'll bring you back something."

Della looked around warily.

"I'm sure it's fine. We need a fucking break," muttered Cora, reaching up to run a hand across the back of his neck. "Let's head on, Ray."

"I prefer to hold on to the outside railing," chattered Ray, making an oval shape with his hands. "The interior has the progress bar with your location, but it is always quite crowded. One can simply watch for the right numbered plate. Oh, and you have to jump. They becomeveryangry when you request the tram car to stop." He looked off in the distance, clearly reliving a rough morning.

Cora cringed, looking at Della. He gave her a funny look. "What?"

"Is your leg gonna be okay?"

He looked down at it. "It will, or I suppose I'll be waiting for the next one."

She pursed her lips. "Della, please be careful."

They followed Ray's example, leaping as it chugged past to cling to use-polished golden rails. There were plenty of easy footholds. Della, to Cora's relief, had no trouble.

"Who knows," shouted Ray over the traffic noise. Motorized carts and miniships bobbed and weaved between the tram cars like swarming insects. "Maybe Tai has found something interesting!"

Interestingwould not be the right word.