River’s knees were killing her. She had crawled through what seemed like a ton of small vents off the main ones, looking for Jo and Star. She had finally found Star on the level below the one she had been taken to.
“Star,” River called softly. The room was dim with only a small light shining from the bathroom. “Star, are you awake?”
“River? What are you doing in the vent?” Star asked, puzzled, looking up from the bed at River who was gazing down at her through the grill.
“I, uh, I kind of beat Torak up, and he, uh, kind of got upset about it,” River whispered back down at Star.
“You beat up the captain of the ship?” Star gasped before she started laughing. “Oh, River, what did he do to deserve that?”
“He said he claimed me or some such nonsense. You remember Billy Myers?” River whispe
