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Like the Death Star, Station Eternity was the size of a small moon. Unlike the Death Star, it had no planet-killing ability (that she knew of, anyway).

Mallory moved the station around until she found a small glowing dot. "Now, where are you?" she asked, trying to puzzle out the map. She ran her finger over about three-fourths of the sphere, dulling the brightness. The dot lay amid a large open area on the station, one of the places that tried to mimic various planet biomes to give the illusion of home to visitors. This one looked extremely hostile for humans and—

"Oh, come on, red snow?" she said aloud. "Is that even a thing? Can I survive that?"

The globe spun in front of her, mute. After a moment, an image of Pluto popped up, along with a paragraph about the red methane snow in the Cthulhu region.

She shook her head. "Methane atmosphere and red snow? I can't survive on Pluto."

Another image popped up of a full-body protective suit. She rolled her eyes. A suit? She wasn't going into total vacuum or anything.

Eternity wouldn't kill her. She grabbed a jacket and an oxygen breather from the closet by the door and headed out.

*  *  *

Mallory put the last of her strength into galumphing through the snow to the cave. As she reached it, her legs gave out and she collapsed onto a dirt floor beside a campfire.

Mrs. Brown strode over to her and stood above her head, looking down. She looked slightly ridiculous in a big puffy coat and a homemade knitted cap. "Well?" she asked.

Panting, Mallory didn't move, just glad to be out of the wind. The fire's heat penetrated faster than a normal campfire would have, underscoring that, despite the exhaustion and the frigid temperatures, the station kept her as cold or as hot as it wanted to. She slowly sat up.

"What do you mean?"

Mrs. Brown frowned. Her light brown skin creased further and she pulled her cap off. Mallory sat back, sliding away from her a little bit. Mrs. Brown was a tiny prim grandmother who was also a three-time murderer—or a three-time self-defense killer, depending on whom you asked. She had been visiting Eternity with her granddaughter when the station's last host had been murdered. The station needed a host to communicate with its many residents and visitors and was in shock and distress after the murder. Mrs. Brown had stepped in to take over before the station could tear herself apart and kill everyone on board in a panic.

Mrs. Brown was always perfectly pleasant to Mallory, despite the two of them having a "history," as Mrs. Brown liked to call it. She was polite and proper, and Mallory knew she would suffer zero fools. She defended herself and her loved ones with deadly efficiency, and she both inspired Mallory and scared the shit out of her.

"I mean that the station is making this frozen hellscape for us to meet in," Mrs. Brown snapped, gesturing to the weather outside the cave.

"You didn't instruct her to do this?" Mallory asked.

"I hate snow, why the hell would I do that?" She glared at Mallory. "Why aren't you wearing a suit?"

"I— Why are you asking me? Can't you ask the station?"

"The station is saying that everything is fine," Mrs. Brown said. "She just said we had to meet here. She won't tell me why."

"Why did you want to see me?" Mallory asked, scrambling to her feet. "Maybe that will shed some light on the issue."

Mrs. Brown bent over and a tree stump rose from the floor to fit exactly where her butt landed when she sat back. Mallory shook her head in wonder.

"I wanted to tell you I was leaving for a bit, and I'm taking Infinity." 

"You couldn't tell me this in your office?" Mallory asked. "Or mine?"

"I asked Eternity to give us a place where I could talk to you in private," Brown said, gazing out at the blizzard.