Anna is the captain of an organic spaceship who fell in love with a human. Anna's done everything she can to help, from recommending Casian for the Academy to recruiting her as soon as she graduated. Casian is a member of Anna's crew now, with a place on the ship she loves for as long as it stays in service.

The program that manages living ships and the humans who travel with them is based on Elkensin. Every year, ships, captains, and their crews return to share their research and their time. This is the first time Casian will see Elkensin, and more importantly, the first time anyone there will see her interacting with Anna's ship.

Anna worries that Casian's illicit romance with her ship will become public knowledge, drawing Academy attention and ending the ship's service for good. She isn't the only one who's concerned, but it turns out there's more than one captain on Elkensin with a secret. Humans occasionally know when to keep gossip to themselves.

Ships are a different story.