The ship was mostly silent when Callista woke.

She stretched her legs with a quiet groan and rolled onto her side. Her head throbbed, the muscles in her shoulders and arms were sore, and her stomach was still twisted uneasily and raw from the sea sickness. But she was alive. And, for the first time in a long time, she felt warm.

The blanket draped over her still smelled like Sam. She tugged it tighter for a moment before finally sitting up, squinting at the low golden light filtering in through ...