I wander around the Lee home ship for what feels like hours. This place is massive, and even just staying in the public corridors, I could walk for days and not see everything. I pass a small Catholic church right past an Italian bakery, then stumble upon a school classroom. The ship feels disorganized and charming. No wonder Hera relied on Jinzo to show her guests around. They could easily get lost in the crowds. But getting lost in the crowd is how I’ll process what I learned from Hera Lee.
I always wondered what Jinzo and Cressida had in common, and it was ships like this that had drawn them together. When they were younger, they probably had even more in common, before the urge to be famous took over Cressida. I remember that feeling, late in my teens. I had also wanted the popular kids to accept me, kids like Alipha and her sort. I gave up on that dream swiftly, though. There was nothing about me back then that appealed to the popular kids.