Nick looked up into the tapestry of stars and then down at the bowl of ice cream in his hands.

It was his fourth bowl.

Nick had never eaten ice cream before - he had never understood the appeal. He had taken its name from the context he knew, and had been confused at the human notion that a frozen version of the coffee additive might make a delicious treat.

Two pints of mint chocolate chip later and he was a believer.

None of his problems were solved, but at least life felt marginally worth living.

He took another bite and studied the sky.

Raina was right of course - the evidence of time’s passage was right there for him to see. If only he hadn’t been hypnotized by her smile.

Generations had come and gone while he slept on this ship.

He ached, thinking of his brothers.

The dome looked outward, away from the other ships and whatever trap held them all in place. He wished he could see the other two ships in the caravan.

He wasn’t sure whether he wished his brothers had escaped, lived their lives, and died. Or whether it would be better to know they lived on, if only in stasis, trapped in the web of this thing that had caught them.

For now at least, he was alone.

He closed his eyes, trying to picture his grandmother’s face.

She had raised Leo, Nick and Peter, making every place they camped feel like a home, feeding their young minds with magical stories of the barbarians’ old home world.

When she died, his worst fear was that he would forget her. He had been closing his eyes to imagine her advice for longer than he could remember.

But she always appeared in his mind’s eye, comforting and kind.

She smiled at him now, eyes crinkling, wearing one of her favorite forms - a witchy looking human shaped woman with a sharp nose, jet colored hair and moth-like wings.

Family is who you make it, Nick, she reminded him with a wink.

I don’t want that grasping human to be my family, he thought to himself.

How well do you know her? his grandmother asked. Is it possible you have misjudged her?

He opened his eyes and took another bite of ice cream.

Why would his bond call to someone who wasn’t a perfect match?

Was that even possible?

Outside, the hull of the ship still shone silver in the starlight. Around it, just above the dome, tendrils of the thick smoky stuff bound them in place, all but invisible against the inky blackness of space.

A light buzzing sound behind him drew his attention from the dome.

BFF20 hovered in the doorway, as if uncertain.

“Do you need something?” Nick asked.

Needing no further encouragement, the little drone sailed into the room. “I thought you should know she’s trying to dismantle part of the ship and electrify it,” he said in his clipped accent.

“She’s what?” Nick asked, heading for the door.

“She thinks the web is an electromagnetic field that has the whole ship magnetized, and that if she can reverse the polarity of the ship—” BFF20 began.

“—The whole thing will pop right out like a wet bar of soap,” Nick breathed. “Genius.”

“That’s exactly what she said,” BFF20 noted drily. “But if she kills herself trying to pull the chandelier off the ceiling we’ll never find out if she was right.”

“Gods,” Nick said, dashing into the living room.

Raina hovered near the ceiling, one foot braced on the wire that held the sofa suspended. She was furiously battling with the enormous crystal chandelier that was attached to the ceiling panel.

Nick felt all his anger dissipate as he watched the little human struggling valiantly to save herself, and him, and the baby.

Maybe his grandmother had a point.