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asks me.
    My nod’s a little shaky. “For now. Where’s Bear?”
    â€œHe’s working the launch yard. Regular patrol,” Mary says. I don’t reply, but raise an eyebrow as she slides atray of bloody instruments under the sterilizer panel.
    â€œEmergency appendectomy.” She tilts toward the curtained patient area, where the air smells like heat and disinfectant. “Captain Nandan’s boy. He’ll be fine.”
    My foster mother says it casually, like this kind of procedure’s nothing. I know better. “Thought you didn’t handle the knife. Back home, you always referred surgeries to someone else.”
    â€œAnd who, exactly, would I refer patients to now? There’s no one else here with better medical training than Hal and me. The boy needed his appendix removed, so I did it. The scar won’t be pretty, but he’ll live to show it off.”
    When Mary crosses the room, Miyu and Hank move out of her way.
    Mary shoves a pile of clean linens into my arms. “We do what we have to do to save a life or preserve a limb,” she says. “Sometimes we fail, and sometimes it’s not enough, but the gamble’s worth taking. I don’t fear the hard choices, Phee.”
    When I don’t answer right away, she adds, “Fold those, please. Then stack them on the shelf. The one below the oxygen cells.” Then she crosses the room again, stopping at the sink.
    For a second, I nearly slip into my old role of clinic assistant. Then Hank clears his throat, and I rememberwhy I hustled through the door in the first place. Our fate’s twisting on the hook, yet a few words with my foster mother and I’m completely derailed. I start to drop the crisp whites onto a nearby gurney, but Miyu steps in and takes over. She’s a quick, efficient folder. Mary’s going to like her.
    â€œI don’t have a lot of time,” I begin. “The Cyanese council . . . I don’t know what they’re going to do. They could be coming for me any second.”
    Immediately, Hal moves to my side. Mary’s still at the sink, but I see the muscles in her shoulders pull tight.
    â€œAnd what did they say?” she asks quietly, her back still turned.
    Hank answers before I have the chance. “They discussed the rebellion. They questioned Phee, and to say she spoke her mind, that’d be putting it mildly. Now they’re weighing their options.”
    Mary shifts, not quite turning around, her hands still anchored over the lip of the sink. Slowly, she nods.
    â€œIf it comes to it . . .” Hank looks at me. “I won’t let them take you. One way or another, by reason or by force, I’ll convince them to let you go on your own. And I’m not standing by while the Cyanese deliver you or anyone else, gift-wrapped, to Benroyal. If we have to, we’ll cover your exit. You can leave with Miyu or—”
    â€œI’ll take them,” Miyu says quickly. “I’ve got plenty of room, and I can get them back over the border quietly enough.”
    â€œHow soon can you be ready?” I ask.
    â€œHow fast can you pack? I’ve already refueled, and the vac is on standby.”
    â€œIs there another option?” Hal asks. “We can’t just leave the infirmary. What about all our patients? What will you do if we’re gone?”
    â€œWe’ve talked about this,” Hank says, looking at Hal, then Mary. “You knew this day might come.”
    They say nothing, and for a moment, the room is so still, as if it’s holding an exhale. But I can already taste the anger. It builds, a hard little knot in my throat. “Wait. You all knew ? About the hearing?”
    â€œI’m sorry,” Hank says, far too calmly. “We didn’t want you to worry. We thought the council visit might turn out to be nothing. It would’ve just upset you.”
    â€œYou knew the Cyanese were