What Happens in Orbit

Cora was exhausted. Now in clean clothes, she made her way back to the room.

I could sleep for a while.

She crawled into the bed, her eyes heavy. Tor came in at one point, curling up behind her.

Oh, this is so nice.

An odd noise roused her. It sounded like a

click

, maybe like the door latch. It wasn't loud enough to completely wake Cora, though, and she dozed back off.

Some time later, she woke up on her back. It wasn't comfortable. She shifted, aiming to roll over. The warm, cat-sized weight that had settled itself on her chest at some point shifted with her.

Wait.

Cora held her breath, freezing in place.

There's something on me. Oh, jeez.

Tor was no longer next to her, his spot cold.

Damn it, Tor.

Cora reached up, gingerly placing a hand on whatever was curled up on her chest.

It was soft, and made a tiny

squeak

under her hand.

There is SOMETHING on me.

Cora waited for the panic to set in. It never did.

Okay. I'm brave now, I forgot. I'm brave now.

Cradling the creature against her chest, Cora pushed herself into a seated position and looked down.

"Oh, my God."

Her brain spun in circles, failing to process what she was holding. She glanced at the crate, swallowing hard as she counted only two eggs, and a pile of fragments.

Am I not supposed to have instincts? Where the fuck are my instincts? Mama lied to me. Motherly instincts, my ass!

Panic finally set in.

No, this is fine. I'm fine. Babies are just tiny human- no, that's not right. Fuck!

It was impossibly tiny, much smaller than any human baby Cora had seen before. It was about the size of a kitten, its tiny hands grasping her shirt.

Cora felt herself tearing up. "You're so small," she murmured, running a finger over its head. She'd always called it hair, but that wasn't quite right. It felt more like fingernails, the edges rounded but hard. Cora found herself grateful for it, as the tiny creature sleeping against her seemed so defenseless otherwise.

I should go find Tai.

As she stood, it opened its eyes, stretching with a shiver. "Oh- hello."

A girl? I think so.

Her eyes were the same color as Cora's, a dark brown that she hadn't seen on any Roshak so far. "Oh," she breathed, smiling despite her panic.

Cora peeked out into the main room, relieved to find it empty. She grabbed a clean shirt, holding it over the baby before stepping out.

Gotta keep you warm.

The main room was not as empty as she needed it to be. Della walked out of the kitchen, holding a sealed bowl of food. Cora swerved around him. They made awkward eye contact, Della tilting his head. He began to ask her a question, but Cora wasn't stopping. She found Tai's room, quietly knocking on the door, sliding it open, and stepping in before Della could get a complete sentence out.

There was a groggy noise from above her.

"Tai?"

"Hm?" He rolled out of the hammock he slept in, barely getting his limbs under him before he hit the ground.

"I need help."

Tai rubbed at his face, stretching. "With what?"

Cora looked down at the tiny hands grasping her shirt. "There's uh, someone new."

His eyes lit up. "Already?" He stepped forward, cautiously extending a hand. "Can I see?"

She frowned, unsure. "I don't know. It's awfully cold in here."

He moved closer, smiling reassuringly. "The child is fine. I'm worried about

you

trying to kill me again."

"Ah." Cora let him move closer. He scooped her up in his hands, checking her ears and teeth.

He looks like he's done this a lot.

The still-nameless infant wriggled in his grasp, whining.

I don't even know where to start for naming her. Shit.

"She's bigger than I expected. But she's healthy."

"Bigger? She's barely the size of a football." Tai gave her an odd look. "Oh, sorry. It's okay, you don't need to know what a football is."

"Come on, she needs to eat-" Tai hissed, stiffening. [Ouch.] "That was my fault." He held up his hands, gently prying the baby's jaws from the webbing between his index finger and thumb. [Ouch, ouch-] "I forgot they hate being handled like that."

Cora took her, holding her back against her chest. "Is your hand okay?"

Surprising her, Tai laughed. "Yes. It is. Look." He held out his hands, splaying his fingers. There were several faint, identical crescent-shaped scars on each hand. "They've got knives for teeth and hate being checked like that. And I forget

every

single time."

"I would bite, too, if someone shoved their fingers into my mouth like that." Cora followed him as he slid past her, heading to the kitchen.

Della knew. Immediately, he headed for the maintenance tunnels after Cora walked past. Further in, near the engine, several crew members were patching cables under Tor's supervision. Della found him, talking to the ship's captain in a hushed voice. The captain was nodding, taking notes on his tablet.

[Hey, Tor.] Della stood a few steps back, unsure. The Engineer really did look like the biting type.

Tor turned, raising an eyebrow. [Yeah?]

[Can you-] Della gestured down the tunnel, feigning nonchalance. Internally, he was screaming. [Your human is looking for you.]

Tor looked back at the captain, who waved. He followed Della back down the tunnel, overtaking him.

[Wait.] Della hissed, cursing his lack of a plan. [I- She isn't looking for you.]

[What the fuck are you bothering me for, then? There's so much shit to fix, I don't have-]

[Just trust me, you'll want to see this.] Della opened the door, rounding the corner. Tai's room was empty, so he headed for the kitchen. When he approached the doorway, he held out a hand. [Quiet.] He peered into the kitchen, where Cora sat with Tai, speaking in low voices.

[Look, look on her left shoulder.] Della whispered, unable to contain his excitement. However, when Tor peeked around the corner, he immediately flung himself back, flattening against the wall by Della.

[Shit-]

[What?]

Tor buried his face in his hands. [Agh. Hold on.]

He snuck around the doorway and ducked into their room. Della followed, peeking his head in after him.

[What the fuck- I need to go find Mar.] He pushed Della to the side, breaking into a jog.

He returned quickly, dragging a concerned Mar behind him.

[I thought you knew what to do,] Mar whispered.

Tor was gesturing wildly, his whisper becoming shrill. [I know what to do with eggs! I don't know shit about what happens after they hatch! That was up to the mother!]

"Tor? Are you okay?" Cora called from the kitchen.

[How the fuck can she hear me?]

Della raised his hands. [You're being kind of loud, Tor.]

Mar put a hand over Tor's forehead. [You stay out here and calm down.]

He turned to walk into the kitchen, immediately changing his mind and spinning back around. [No, I'm sure she's fine. We don't need to be in there.]

[Yeah, you don't know shit, either.]

Cora and Tai were standing in the doorway, watching this. The baby was clinging to her shoulder, taking tiny bites from the cooked vegetable slice in her hand.

"What's wrong?"

Tai ducked around her, heading to his room. "I'll be right back."

Mar spoke quietly, just above a whisper. "Tor didn't think any of them would hatch."

Tor glared at him for a split second, then sighed. "They don't, normally. Not the first eggs. Especially not if they're moving around and they're just sitting in a box. Everything was wrong."

Tai returned, fiddling with some bandages. "You did fine, Tor."

Cora nodded in agreement. "But why didn't you tell me any of that?"

He looked at Mar, then back to her. "It doesn't matter. You have to give them a chance."

Handing the baby another bit of food, Tai scooped a hand under her stomach. "Cora, we'll have to do this for now." He had fashioned a diaper from the clean bandages. [Oh, by the way, she's a girl.]

Tor's eyes lit up. [Oh, we can name her-] He cut himself off, panic washing over his features. [Oh, no. Hold on. How am I supposed to do this out here?]

Cora lifted her hair out of the way as the baby crawled along her shoulder, nestling against her neck. "What's wrong?"

[I forgot about that.] Tai folded the remaining cloth bandages together. "We have a tradition, for naming females. The child gets a part of the names of her grandmothers, but it's- they have to be there for it."

Cora thought of her mom, and cringed. "That's gonna be a problem."

Tor pulled out his tablet, his mouth a thin line. "I can call her-"

"Please tell me that you at least told her about the eggs." Tai crossed his arms.

"I don't want to- I don't think she knows about the bounty, yet."

Groaning, Tai ran a hand over his head. "Tor."

"I know it's bad luck. I'll risk bad luck over my mother finding out that I'm a criminal."

Cora couldn't help but laugh. Some things were universal.

"You can't give a child her name without her permission!"

Tor walked over to the desks and monitors, plugging his tablet into a terminal. "Fine, but- fine." His hands trembled slightly as he typed something into it.

Della was speaking quietly to Mar, who looked vaguely uncomfortable. Tai noticed her concern and leaned down, whispering in her ear. "He grew up in one of the cities, so he wasn't raised by a colony. He's never met his parents and wouldn't even know if he did."

Cora nodded. "Tor told me a bit about that. So, that means all of this is completely new to him?"

"It is."

A voice crackled from a small speaker near the monitor. [Hello?]

Tor turned purple, interlacing his fingers. [Hey, Mom.]

Leaning carefully to the side, Cora caught a glimpse of a Roshak woman sitting at a table with several others. She had the same soft green eyes as Tor, with tusks that gracefully curled out and around her lips. Her shoulders were broad and well-muscled, a dark brown vest belted around her waist.

[Sorry it took me so long to answer. Bee had to help me figure this strange thing out.] A smaller Roshak sitting to her left waved. [Why haven't you called? You're not in trouble, are you?]

Smoothing his hands over his hair, Tor took a steadying breath. [No! No, I'm not in trouble. I was thinking-]

[Uh-oh. Your father lost an arm that way,] his mother interrupted, laughing.

He offered a dry laugh. [Yeah, yeah he did. I, uh, let's say that, in theory, I needed a name from you.]

Cora had never heard Tor ramble like this.

He's really nervous.

[What? A name?]

[Mom, can I-] Tor swatted at the screen. [Can I talk to you alone?]

[Sure, but I'll have to call Bee back in here when we're done. I don't have my Engineer at home to help me with this stuff.] She shooed the others out of the room. [Now. Stop dancing around the truth and talk to me. Your ears only go that dark when you've done something bad.]

Tor pushed his ears back. [What truth? Everything is going just fine. I just wanted to know what part of your name you'd give, if you had to.]

[Oh? When did they start allowing women on your missions?]

Tor cringed. [They didn't, I swear it's- Damn it.]

[Clean language with your mother, Tor.]

He glanced at Cora, fidgeting. [I'm sorry. You know the conspiracy that the royal family was doing genetic experimentation on other species to fix the population problems they caused?]

His mother nodded, tilting her head.

[I was thinking, what if I were on one of

those

conspiracy missions, and say the experiment worked, and as a result, I was theoretically a wanted criminal, but you had a theoretical grandaughter that needed naming? It's a complex situation, and I wouldn't be able to come home because I'd be a fugitive-]

[Well.] His mother cut him off, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. Cora knew that tone.

Tai put his hand over his forehead. [Tor, you're really bad at this.]

She spoke sternly, but a smile played on her lips. [Let me

theoretically

see my new

theoretical

family, please, Tor.]

He shrank in his chair. [Okay.]

Tai pressed a hand to Cora's back as Tor gestured to her. She pointed to herself, her mouth going dry. "Me?"

He nodded and gestured again. "Come on, Cora."

[Cora? That's a solid Roshak name.] As she stepped into view, Tor's mother leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands. [Does she speak our language?]

[She's not fluent yet, but she understands almost everything. She learned fast.]

Cora kept her eyes down, closely inspecting the lines on her palms. Meeting someone else's parents was bad enough; now she was doing it in space, wearing a threadbare gray sweatsuit. She pulled her hair back, wincing as a tiny fist tugged on the loose strands. "Hey, now," she murmured.

Tor answered his mother's many questions, watching nervously as Cora freed the child from her hair, holding her close to her chest. Immediately, she whined, pulling at Cora's shirt as she tried to go back to her hiding place.

[Oh, she's shy. Come closer, let me see her face, then I'll leave her be.]

Tor waved Cora closer, guiding her into frame.

His mother beamed. [She's perfect.]

Cora stood back, looking to Tor.

[Has she- can she speak to her mother at all? I imagine that the rumors are true and she was taken.]

Cora shook her head.

Tor took a deep breath. [No, she can't. We can't access Earth's network from here. And her mother doesn't know anything.]

[That's awful. Poor thing. You can have as much of my name as she needs. Just let me know so I can put it in the records.]

Tor leaned down, speaking quietly in Cora's ear. "Her name is Merimeli. Is that-" He trailed off, looking at Cora. "Do you want to wait until you can talk to your mother?"

Cora shook her head. "It wouldn't change anything. We can-" She turned the name over in her mind, finally feeling resolute. "It's perfect."

His mother came back into frame, holding what looked like a well-worn book, bound with countless silver rings along the spine.

Tor relaxed, smiling. [All of it.] With a quiet cheer, she flipped the book open to a marked page.

Cora wondered how they were given their nicknames. Did they choose them?

The captain walked into the room, stepping back when he saw them on a call. He sidled over to the three Roshak waiting by the kitchen doorway, saying something in a hushed voice.

"Cora, you'll have to pick out a part of that name to be- to be what she'll be called."

Ah.

"Is Mel okay?" He nodded quickly. "Yes."

The captain spoke up. [Tor, you're needed in the engine bay. Shar damaged a fuel cable.]

Tor stood up, hissing a swear. [I have to go.]

His mother nodded, calling out to her left. The one she called Bee came back into view, his eyes going wide as he saw the book in her hand. [Oh sh-] He was cut off with a swat to his head.

[Don't wait so long to call me, Tor. Especially not when you're in trouble. Don't try to do this on your own. Ask for help! Do you hear me?]

He nodded.

[Good. Now go do what you need to do.] She waved to Bee, who walked off screen just before it went dark. [Sorry, Cora. It's urgent.] Tor moved quickly, heading back to the maintenance tunnel, followed by the captain.

She cleared her throat, secretly pleased that she fully understood him. [Okay.]

Della was anxiously fidgeting, lacing and unlacing his fingers. [What's her name?] Tai jabbed a finger into his ribcage. [Don't be rude.]

"It's Mel. What's rude about asking?"

Mar shrugged, looking to Tai.

"It's custom. You're not really supposed to ask at first."

"That makes sense." A wave of nausea hit her. "Yuck. I need to eat."

After eating, Cora sat in the main room with Della, listening to the echoing noises from the engine bay. With no warning, he sat up and rolled off the couch.

"Della?" Cora leaned over to check on him, just as he sat back up with a gun in hand.

What the hell?

He held it out to her, brushing dust off it. [Don't worry.] Gesturing to the back of it, he showed her an exposed port. To Cora, it looked like something should have been there, and wasn't.

Della confirmed her suspicions when he reached into a pocket, pulling out a battery cartridge, the same kind that kept the egg crate warm. He set it aside after showing her how they lined up.

[Look.] He sat down again, slowly sliding the two gray halves apart, revealing a reflective metal cylinder with a thick copper-colored cable wrapped around it. [Always take the battery out first.]

Cora wasn't sure about the word [battery], so she repeated it to him as a question. Nodding encouragingly, Della pointed to the battery he'd set aside.

Ah. I can't imagine how much it would suck to forget that.

He unwound the cable from the cylinder, unplugging it from the cylinder. He handed the metal cylinder to Cora. It was much heavier than she expected, and she nearly dropped it. Della disconnected the other end of the cable from the battery port. After laying all the pieces out flat, he looked up at her.

Oh, he wants to see if I can put it back together.

Pondering the pieces for a second, Cora picked up the cable. It coiled back into a spiral, remembering the shape of the cylinder. Mel shifted, pulling herself up and nestling her face against Cora's neck with a sigh.

As she plugged the ends of the cable in, Cora realized that she had no interest in going back to Earth. She missed her family, of course, but she couldn't imagine going back there now.

Somehow, this didn't upset her.

The cable easily returned to its position around the cylinder, nestling into the right half of the gun with a little effort. Cora lined up the track with the notches in the left half, sliding them together. Della nudged the battery towards her.

Like he showed her, Cora lined up the battery with the port, pushing it in until she heard a metallic click.

[Good!] Della took it from her, showing her a switch on the underside. He pushed it in, sliding it back toward the trigger. As it slotted into place, she could hear a faint electric whine.

She was relieved when he slid the switch back and disconnected the battery, setting them aside and pulling her close.

Cora sat in bed, the blankets wrapped around her as she read a book Erie had given her. It wasn't easy, and she occasionally had to stop to translate a word she couldn't recognize. Thankfully, Roshak script was easy to learn, and there wasn't much that she couldn't sound out.

She was sure that the book was intended for children, as it had hand-drawn pictures of animals and plants with simple descriptions. The names of the plants and animals never seemed to have more than two syllables to them, either. As she struggled through a particularly difficult sentence about the venomous Meer, a shout from the main room startled her. It sounded like the meeting call, but it was loud and harsh.

Disentangling herself from the blankets, Cora peeked outside. The captain met her eyes, and Cora's heart sank into her stomach. He looked stressed. Della was the first in the room, stopping behind the couch. The rest of the crew followed, circling around the captain. Cora sidled up to Tor, Mar behind her. Mar's hands were balled tightly into fists.

The captain spoke, his voice low and steady. [A Foshar ship will be arriving shortly. They claimed it's for a routine inspection.]

Tai, Leo, Erie, and Della each glanced at Cora, then back to him.

Shit.

Mar was the first to speak. [An inspection?]

Cora had understood enough. Tor rested a hand on her shoulder, moving closer to her.

[Yes.]

Mar frowned, looking to his left. One of the crewmates she hadn't been introduced to, spoke up. [We don't have inspections. They found out about the fugitives and the human, didn't they?]

The captain nodded, rubbing at the back of his neck. Erie looked over at Tai, who groaned loudly. [Alright. Mar, you need to tell everyone the truth.]