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I can hear shuffling noises froh the door Victria kneels in front of Orion’s cryo chas to the skin on the back of her neck, and her hands shake as she tucks a strand behind her ear The chair that usually stands beside it is knocked over, as if she’s slid froet closer to him

"How do you stand it?" she asks in a hollow voice

"Stand what?"

"Your parents are still frozen, right? How do you stand not waking the There’s soe in her voice, scary

"I could do it," she says "I could do it right now It can’t be that hard to unfreeze someone You were unfrozen"

I stop

"What does itsoon I can just unfreeze him"

So, Elder’s told them about the planet

"I need hi an octave "I need hiently

"Because I’ht? I’; she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a square green erous," I say

"Everyone has them; everyone uses them" Victria’s voice sounds like a chant "Just not et this?" I ask warily Kit had told s as she tries to rip one open, but the package twists instead of tears, and she throws it down She sits down fully on the tile floor, and reen patches spill from her pockets, at least a dozen I raise h I do want to knohy she has sothe patches cos and buries her head into her knees

"Why are you so scared?" I ask, scooping up thethem into my own pocket, out of Victria’s reach

"It was so huge"

"What was?"

"The planet"

My heart sinks Elder showed everyone else the planet? Why didn’t he tellto? Maybe it would have been worth the risk, if I could have finally seen it for myself Orhe could have shown me before

"It was pretty," Victria says Her eyes rove over e"

"You’ll like the new planet," I say

"How do you know?"

"Well--there won’t be walls"

"But I like the walls," Victria whispers

And I realize, to her, theher into a claustrophobic existence No--to her, the walls are the walls of a co outside--that terrifies her

"Orion used to say we don’t knohat’s down there It could be anything"

"The probes and scans all say the planet is habitable," I start, but she cuts me off She drops to her knees and leans forward, her panicked eyesmine

"Orion used to show me stuff, forbidden records There were dinosaurs on Sol-Earth Monsters that eat you Anier than people Sinkholes and volcanoes and tornados and earthquakes"

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my," I say softly, but Victria doesn’t see it as a joke--she nods in agree her stomach so much that she reminds me of the shiny-bellied Buddha at the Chinese restaurant Jason took me to for our first date, back before I even knehat Godspeed was

"I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe," Victria chants Her hand clutches convulsively against her chest

"Let’s get you in the chair," I say, offering her my hand to help her stand Victria shakes her head so violently that her entire torso turns She jerks away fro, and I can see beads of sweat building on her face, tre her legs closer to her chest, gasping for breath

"I’!" Victria chokes out

"You’re not," I insist, forcinga panic attack Victria, you’ve got to calm down The baby--"

"Oh, stars, the baby!" Victria wails, rocking faster "I can’t have a baby! Not here! Not there!" She wheezes, trying to drag air back into her

"Victria Victria! Cal," I say, desperately "What’syou so scared?"

All I can " and "Orion" and "planet" and "no"