“Don’t worry,” River said, drawing her knees up to her chin as she stared into the fire. “Daddy will come for us soon and take us home.”

“I know.” Zoë glanced at the darkened shuttle a hundred paces away. It was fully functional, with plenty of fuel to break atmo and make orbit, but there was no one to meet it. Serenity was gone. “Don’t know how he’d take to bein called ‘Daddy,’ though.”

“He is what he does.” The moonbrained child cocked her head like a dog. “But you’re no Mommy.”

Zoë scoffed and looked up at the night sky. The little moon they were on turned fast enough to see the stars moving; that was something the terraformers had never found a way to fix. She wondered how many of the little points of light were really worlds, and whether one of them was the Alliance cruiser whose sudden appearance had chased their contraband-laden ship out of orbit and into the Black.

River swept a hand up and pointed to a spot in the sky. “Earth-that-Was.” Her finger moved slightly, tracking the movement of the starfield.

“Thought the home star was too faint to see.”

River dropped her hand. “Just because you can’t see a thing, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.” She returned her attention to the fire. “Quiet. No one around but us, yours the only voice.”

Zoë felt the tiny hairs on the back of her neck rise. She knew the girl wasn’t talking about her real voice. It was creepifying to know her every thought was knocking at the door to River’s conscious mind. Especially knowing hers were the only ones presently requesting entry.

“Easy to filter,” the girl said. “Hardly have to think about it.”

Only, how did she know what was on my mind if she wasn’t reading it?

“You’re staring at me.” River’s eyes never strayed from the fire. “What else would you be thinking of?”

Zoë decided to let it go. She shivered. Short the night might be, but the temperature was dropping fast in the thin dry air, and being left behind made her feel even colder. Getting separated from her squad in strange territory was a familiar experience, but never