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“Well, this sucks,” he said

The security announceed Medina like dye dropped into water The rolling curfew meant no one in public spaces off-shift, and three one-hour periods each cycle when no one could be out of their quarters A congregation ban—no roup Anyone with a weapon would be arrested Anyoneunauthorized use of the comm system would be arrested Anyone that the security forces deemed a threat would be arrested With every new edict, the nature of the station itself shifted, and the fragile thought thatwould work itself out, that ht, receded

He knew the station architecture hadn’t really changed The walls were still at the sales as before, the hallways curved around the drum the same as they ever had The air smelled the way air smelled anywhere It was only the faces of the people thatseem smaller, closer, more like a prison The faces and the checkpoints

They reached their rented quarters, and Naomi tapped in the manual override code, since their hand terminals were still locked out The door slid open When it slid closed behind thee of collapse Holden sat at the little built-in table and unpacked the bag in silence Pad thai and red curry, both with tofu and both spiced enough to make his eyes water a little bit just at the smell of them On another day, it would have felt like a luxury

Naomi went to the bath, washed her face in the little sink, and ca to her hair and eyelashes She dropped down across from him and scooped up a fork

“Any thoughts?” she asked

“About?”

She waved the fork in a s the room, the station, the universe Then she speared a cube of tofu and popped it in her mouth

“Not yet,” he said “I’ve got to say, I wish that those assholes hadn’t tried to kill this Singh fella”

“Or that they’d done a better job,” Naout Was station securityto get the? Naomi saw it in his face

“Sorry,” she said, half for hiht not have been there “Bad joke”

“I’s off the table, though”

“Seems like it And Titan”

“That’s a shame I would have liked Titan”

“If only we’d gotten out a week earlier,” Naos were different then”