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F rank showed up half an hour later. He was in jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his hair damp from the quick shower he must have taken. He smelled like soap and his cologne, a masculine, comforting smell that made me feel better.

“You okay?”

I nodded. “I’m fine. Worried about Zanya, but that’s all.”

“All right. Let’s head to Sten’s and see what we can find out.” We took the elevator to his deck, then Frank led the way.

“Have you been here before?”

He nodded. “Once. I walked him home one night to make sure he got back all right because he’d had a few too many, but I didn’t go inside.”

At the door, Frank pushed the button, then stepped back. We waited about two minutes, then Frank pressed it again. No answer the second time. He sighed and looked at me. “We could go in and check.”

“I don’t know if we should. I want to, but what if they’re in there?” I grimaced. “You know, in bed .”

“Could be, but wouldn’t one of them have answered their text messages by now? Even just to say everything was all right? At least to keep us from showing up?”

I nodded. “Yeah, maybe. How about we text them again and tell them we’re going to check in their quarters if we don’t hear back? Then at least we’ll have given them warning.”

“Fair enough.” He lifted his wrist and started typing.

I did the same. Zanya, if you’re reading this, you need to know Frank and I are worried about you and Sten. Neither of you are answering your messages or your doors, so if you don’t answer this in 60 seconds, we’re coming in.

I hit Send and waited. Frank was doing the same thing. “Thanks for coming with me,” I said.

“You’re welcome.”

“I went by La Patisserie earlier, thinking I could take some goodies to Zanya’s, that she might welcome some sweets. Guess I’ll have to eat them myself.”

He smiled. “I like that you’re willing to sacrifice for your friends.”

I laughed, giving him a nudge with my elbow. “I’ll share them with you. Do you like date cake?”

“Love it.” He looked at his wristband, although it hadn’t made a sound. “Nothing yet.”

“Me either. I guess we’re going in.”

Frank stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out the little green key he’d used to open doors before. He held it up. “Good thing I brought this.”

“Good thing.” It was also a good thing Sten lived on a quiet deck. There was no one around. I gave Frank a nod. “All right. Let’s do this.”

He opened the keypad box, inserted the plastic rectangle, and the door whooshed open. We slipped inside. Sten’s quarters resembled Zanya’s, which were a copy of mine minus the office space.

“I don’t hear anything,” Frank said. “Computer, how many occupants are in these quarters right now?”

“There are currently two occupants in these quarters,” the computer voice answered.

Frank frowned as he looked at me. “They must be at Zanya’s then. Unless they’re out doing something.” He turned to face me. “That could be what’s going on, you know. They might be on a simdeck, or having a meal, or in the botanical gardens. They might even be at the spa. They could be anywhere.”

I let out a deep sigh. “You’re right. I overreacted.”

“No, not saying that. It’s never an overreaction to be worried about a friend, but if they’ve made some kind of connection, they might just be completely wrapped up in each other.” He shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.”

“True. Sorry I dragged you into this.”

He smiled. “You didn’t drag me. I came willingly. And there’s nothing to apologize for. You’re a good friend who actually cares.” He took my hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before Sten comes back and finds us trespassing.”

“Yeah, okay.” I squeezed his hand. “Thanks for being so understanding.”

We left Sten’s quarters and walked back to the elevator bay.

“Hey,” Frank said softly. “Do you want to have a wander around on the cruiser decks? See if we can find them?”

“Nah. If they don’t want to talk to us, they certainly don’t want to see us.

We should just let them be.” The sinking feeling was gone, now replaced by something far stranger.

It was a weird mix of sadness and embarrassment and something else I couldn’t name.

I felt dumb for being so worried about her when she was probably off having a great time and not thinking about me at all.

Nor should she be. Just having that thought made me feel small and petty. Zanya wanted to be in love, she wanted to be in a relationship, and while I was happy for her, I couldn’t shake the sense that it was all happening so fast.

That maybe she was letting her heart make decisions her head never would have. But it wasn’t my business either. She was a grown woman. She could do what she wanted with whomever she wanted.

I exhaled as the elevator arrived. “I feel dumb.”

“Don’t,” Frank said. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Els. Caring about someone is never wrong.”

The elevator doors opened, and we got on. There was only one other occupant. We gave him a nod and took spots on the other side. Frank pressed the button for my floor.

“Hey,” Frank said. “You want to get something to eat? Or did you have lunch already?”

“No, I didn’t eat. What are you in the mood for?”

His eyes narrowed. “Space Wok all right? We could make it a late lunch, early dinner.”

“Sounds good.” I smiled, even though I was still in a funk. I knew he was trying to cheer me up.

Frank tapped the button for that deck, then pressed the one for mine to cancel that request.

I was hungry. Or at least I should have been. Worrying about Zanya was killing my appetite, even if my worry was now for a different reason. I really had to let it go, but some things were easier said than done.

We stepped off on the cruiser deck, which was practically empty compared with how it usually was, and made our way toward Space Wok.

There was no one else in there, so we took a booth. A robot server came over to greet us and bring us glasses of water.

I scanned the code on the tabletop placard to bring up the menu on my wristband’s holoscreen as Frank did the same.

He stared intently. “I know I ordered this the last time we were here, but I’m getting the Singapore noodles with shrimp again. They were really good.”

“I’m getting something different. Orange chicken.” It came on a bed of steamed rice with apparently no vegetables, so I was good with that.

“Hmm. That sounds good, too.”

“I’ll share.” I winked at him as I turned my holoscreen off and sat back.

When the robot server returned, we ordered a pot of jasmine tea and our entrees.

I still loved the look of the place. It had a comic-book kind of techno vibe with its neon blues, splashes of yellow, rounded edges, and bold lines.

“You want to do something with the rest of the afternoon?” Frank asked. “We could go bowling. Real bowling, not simdeck bowling. Or we could go to the gardens. Or anything, really. There’s a new virtual gallery on display. Van Gogh. Have you seen that yet?”

He was trying so hard to distract me from Zanya. I couldn’t help but love him for it. “We could do something.”

“We could go to the Red Lion and watch drunk people.”

I snort-laughed, unable to stop myself. “I think I’ll pass on that.” I sat up a little straighter. “Hey, does Sten go there? Maybe he took Zanya there, too.”

“Els…” Frank shook his head.

“I know. I need to let it go. Sorry.” I held up my hands. “I’m done now. No more, I swear.”

The server returned with a steaming pot of tea and two small, handleless cups. The robot skimmed the tray onto our table, bowed its head, and reversed several inches. Its oval face screen displayed a smile. “May I get you anything else before your food arrives?”

“You good?” Frank asked me.

“I’m good.”

It motored off.

“So.” Frank poured tea for each of us. “How would you like to spend the rest of your day? It’s okay if you say alone. I won’t hold that against you. Everyone needs time to themselves.”

“Do you want time to yourself?”

“I’d rather spend it with you right now.”

“Okay.” I smiled and blew across the surface of my tea. “I don’t really know what I want to do. Except maybe not be around people. Which reminds me, I should bring Vashti and Benni up to date on the Zanya situation.”

“Go ahead,” he said as he slid out of the booth. “While you do that, I’m going to the restroom.”

I tapped voice-to-text and added them to a new group chat because our usual one had Zanya in it, and I couldn’t very well talk about her in there.

“Frank and I went to Zanya’s and Sten’s quarters, and there was no answer at either of them.

No one in Sten’s either, although I’m not going to tell you how we figured that out.

Best we can tell, they’re out having fun and don’t want to be bothered.

I’ve decided to let it go. She’s an adult and can make her own decisions.

If you hear anything, keep me posted? I’ll do the same. Love you guys.”

I meant it, too. They were my family on this starliner. Of course, so was my actual daughter, and Frank was obviously a very important part of my life, but close female friends were something special.

I didn’t want to lose any of them.

And suddenly I realized why I was feeling the way I was feeling.

I kind of felt like I was losing Zanya. Or, worse, that I’d already lost her.