After getting accurate data on their exact whereabouts, it was not long before Mr Ash arrived at their location with a regular sedan and drove them to where the first group of Rommys escapees were waiting to take the shuttle up to the ship.

"I'd best stay down here one more day, just in case," he informed Solaris, nodding in the vague direction of where she and three others had been displaced.

The boarding of the shuttle was, for the most part, an orderly process, for all that the group – the bulk of the Rommys research team and their families – continued their pointless, annoying conversations the whole time. They spoke of multi player games and reruns of audio visual programming constantly. One of them tried to get Solaris to join their conversations with a question about her opinions on some sort of semi-famous property she had no interest in knowing the details of. Her raised eyebrow in his direction was enough to stop him attempting again and get the conversation to reduce in volume, at least until they reached the shuttle bay of The First Breath of Spring, at which point the team began asking much louder questions about their space-faring vessel, the food it carried, which species served aboard, and other such mundane things that Solaris did not care to answer.

Solaris let the group go ahead with Lieutenant Abdulaziz and fell slightly behind with Captain Li.

"They certainly are energetic," Captain Li said.

"Indeed. I find myself considerably less energetic in this moment." Solaris pinched at the bridge of her nose, hoping to ward off the headache threatening to close in.

"You too? I'm considering bothering Dr Pill about this headache."

"I don't believe I will need Dr Pill's services for so minor a matter," Solaris said.

Captain Li looked up at her, and smiled with only one side of her mouth. Solaris assumed this was intended to look friendly.

"In that case, you should play a game with me," the Captain said.

"I don't believe that would be wise."

"Don't believe anything Mr Murray says about my game playing skills."

"I have no interest in playing card games, with you or anyone else."

In the hallway ahead of them, Ramamurthy was surrounded by their evacuees, who all seemed to be pestering him to socialise. His voice raised above the crowd: "No, I only want to go to eat right now. No, I haven't had the luxury of viewing that show."

"I suppose I should rescue him," Captain Li said with an exaggerated sigh.

She strode forward, and with a commanding voice suggested that the crowd find their temporary quarters before they attempted to explore more of the ship and its inhabitants. There were nods all round, but even as the group departed one way and Ramamurthy another, one of them called out, "What equipment do your labs have? Can we have a tour?"

Captain Li turned around again, still with that small smile on her face.

"It's not card games I wish to play, it's Go. I rarely find anyone at this end of the sector that likes to play it. I assure you, I'm a formidable opponent," the Captain said.

"I only play against the computer," Solaris said.

Captain Li shrugged. "Your loss." Then turned and walked off.

*

The First Officer quarters on The First Breath of Spring were truly more luxurious than anything Solaris had to sleep in on the Moving Along Silently. There was room enough for Solaris to pace up and down by the dim light of her lamp. The room was too bright a white with the overhead light on; already she planned to put up what decoration she was allowed against one wall to make it feel less like a large white box and more like home.

Of course, all the quarters on this ship were more impressive than on any ship Solaris had had the pleasure of travelling on. She had looked through the entirety of this section of the ship with Richards before they departed North Port in an attempt to memorise the whole structure. The pods for the rest of the crew had patterned walls and bright white ceilings above their bed space, with small shelves above the bed-head for keepsakes. Nonetheless, they were still numbered sleeping pods, set up in rows that led to shared bathing facilities. Solaris's quarters had the greater luxury of an en-suite.

She sighed, dressed for bed and turned off the lamp. She knew what was causing the Captain's headache – the same thing that felt like it was pressing against her skull. Pressing against her mind, trying to be let in. It was that thing crackling hundreds of kilometres beneath them. She used every skill her spiritual leader had taught her to guard her mind against enemies and forced it out.

Sleep would not be an option until they'd left the area. She would have to stay constantly on guard against the anomaly's deceptive visions.

*

The Captain was silent the next day as they descended to Rommys again.

Murray and Fortuna met them shortly after they landed, Fortuna squinting against the brightness of the sun. The light on Rommys wasn't nearly as stark as it had been on Westroia, Solaris's childhood home. But as she looked around, she had to admit it was a harsher light than Fortuna must have accustomed herself to on Acquatica.

"I suggest sunglasses," Solaris said.

"Did the doc look at you?" Murray asked Captain Li.

"He didn't see anything seriously wrong with me," the Captain replied.

"You were zapped with electricity by a mysterious tear in space-time. How could there not be damage?" Murray asked.

"Dr Pill suggests the likelihood of damage is stronger for people who remain in long-term proximity to the anomaly than those who have a brief encounter with it," Solaris said.

"Like that lunatic Lily Bow," Murray said.

"That's enough, Mr Murray. She is a sweet woman and I find that word inappropriate from an officer on duty," Captain Li said.

Murray crossed his arms and scowled. "Then I'll wait until we're off duty. She creeps me out."

"Where is Richards?" Captain Li asked.

"He stayed with Ms Bow and the remaining researchers to discuss the visions he had," Fortuna said. "He claims to have seen something more vibrant from this anomaly than from his previous experience with it."

"It's as ridiculous as dream interpretation," Murray said.

"That's not for you to decide," Captain Li said.

*

The pressure pushed against Solaris's mind more strongly than it had the day before.

In the bland, brown office Joseph Ash held in the town hall, she and Captain Li stood on one side of the table, while Richards, Mr Ash and Ms Bow stood on the other. In the light streaming through the window Solaris could see more clearly the damage that living in proximity to the anomaly had wrought on the councilman's face, the skin hanging soft against his hollowed out places. And yet Ms Bow looked vibrant.

"Have you left behind your fear about the anomaly?" Captain Li asked.

"I have a bit. I mean, it's still a bit scary, sir, and I don't entirely trust it, but not everything it showed me this time was so bad," Richards said.

"I'm pleased to hear it, lieutenant," Captain Li said.

Lily Bow watched the Captain intently, a soft smile on her face. Ash, on the other hand, looked out the window for the whole conversation, his face grim.

"I will say, though, sir, it has gotten bigger than it did the day before, so we should probably hurry it up," Richards said.

*

Solaris followed the Captain out into the hallway, where they met Murray on the way to the outbound communications area of the town hall building.

Murray closed the door. "What's your judgement, Captain?"

"I believe we'll have to contact the Bureau of Time Investigation to see if they can get agents here to cordon off the area quicker. We don't want to risk the anomaly swallowing up too much of the surrounding space. Your opinion, Solaris?"

"I agree. The risks of leaving it unattended involve great danger to surrounding satellites."

"Alright." Captain Li stood up straighter and reached for the handset. "I won't need either of you to listen to me beg the time cops to help the UAP faster. Get out there and make sure the remaining residents are ready to leave."

Solaris waited for Murray to leave the room first, before following and closing the door behind them.

Murray coughed. "So, Commander... uh..." He rubbed at his face, over the ruddy stubble prickling through his skin. "You're a little intimidating."

"Say what you need to say."

"Have you noticed Lily Bow staring at the Captain? What do you think that's about?"

Solaris reviewed the information she had gathered about the situation. "I believe Ms Bow has a romantic interest in the Captain."

"Okay, well, that's less creepy than I thought. She's still worse than Abby. I can't let that happen."

"I don't believe you have any say in the matter."

They set to helping the remaining residents on the shuttle bus with their luggage. One of the residents carried nothing but a weekend travel bag and a small cat.

"I should have gone up on last night's trip after all," Ash said. "I'm sad to be leaving almost everything I've ever owned but I shall be quite glad to see the last of this place."

The Captain came out of the building, Lily Bow following.

"Is that everyone?" Captain Li asked.

"I can't see Adrian," Ash said, and then a murmur of voices in the shuttle bus echoed him.

"Maybe he took one last look at the anomaly?" Lily Bow said. "He was one of the most dedicated researchers. He probably wants to take measurements right up to the last moment."

"In that case, we better look for him," Captain Li said.

*

They didn't have to go to far to find Adrian, a dead body lit by the light of the anomaly, his shirt scorched. The anomaly had grown fast enough over night to swallow up the entirety of the Time Institute, with only the sign dislodged onto the road to prove it had once stood.

Captain Li knelt down to look at the body without touching.

"We don't have time to have Dr Pill look at him," she said.

"He doesn't smell fresh enough for revival attempts to be worth it," Murray said.

"Did this Adrian have any self-destructive tendencies?" Fortuna asked, looking at Ms Bow.

Lily Bow swallowed. "Adrian wasn't like that. He must just have gotten too close." She looked up at the anomaly, raging violet above them, and her face smoothed out.

"There is no evidence that getting to close to time-space anomalies such as this one regularly lead to death," Solaris said. "Leading researcher Alex Cho suggests the centre of the anomaly may be a wormhole or..."

"It's coming," Lily Bow said, eyes wide, and threw her arms up.

Once again Solaris felt the crack of the anomaly reaching out and the discomfort of displacement. But this time, when she looked around at her new surroundings, she found herself alone.