"I'm only half at home here now," Ulla admits. "It took... I met Warren six months after arriving, and then spent the next year and a half trying my best not to care about him or fully give in to trusting him. I spent most of my time equally tempted to trust him or stab him. Frankly it's a miracle I never did the latter. I love him, but he's a very infuriating person."

She shakes her head. "Now I miss him so badly it aches. And I still hate being beached all the time. I miss the sea, too."

Still, she doesn't hate the Barge. Not after what it's given her. "But a lot of the people here are good. And less inclined to rejection or bigotry than anyone back home."