They stayed in separate rooms, in different hallways. She didn't try to stop them from becoming separated this time. It didn't matter anymore.

He waited into the night, wondering, hoping she would come. She never did.

Alone in her room, she waited for the night to end. But night never really ends in space.

The room was completely black. She wished it wasn't, so that she wouldn't feel so alone with her thoughts. It was strange, not to hear his breathing in the dark, to have nothing to distract her.

Going to headquarters meant seeing Fayt again, face to face. Sophia would be there too. Maria growled and buried her face in her pillow. How frustrating. How stupid.

"I don't want to go."

She figured she was in trouble, for running away again, even if that wasn't her intention this time. She certainly looked suspicious. She would get in trouble for the way she had handled things on Rezerb; they didn't support any kind of murder in the Federation. And she had destroyed a shuttle. Things didn't look good for her.

In her mind she went over the possibilities. She had killed several men that day on Rezerb. She could go to prison for that, or she could be exiled. There was always the chance that she wouldn't get in much trouble, because she was a hero once, but she couldn't see it happening, even in her imagination. This new Federation needed just a little corruption for her to make it out of this unscathed, and unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the corruption just wasn't there.

Well, maybe Mirage would be there. She always had a way of making Maria feel safe, and sane. Almost normal. She could use the comfort.