Presea took his hand and shook once, and then bowed in her own greeting. "It's nice to meet you, Kang," she said. "Nice fighting back there, by the way. We all really made a good team."

It was nice to know that people who went back into the pods were not forgotten. Sometimes she worried about something like that happening, about one of her friends getting too close to something and ending up back in that prison of sleep. That was much less likely now that Stacey was of her own mind, but still something she thought about sometimes. Her gaze softened.

"I'm sure she'll be glad to know you're keeping it for her," she said. "It seems like a lovely place. I've walked by here several times but never managed to come in yet."