Nina had not expected this answer. “You’re going out to a space colony—and you don’t plan on teaching spacer kids?”

“As far as I know,” I said, “the colonists bound for Eris V are farmers—algae farmers at that. I don’t think there’s too much overlap between your basic farmers and spacers.”

Not satisfied with that answer, Nina tried a different tack. “So what do you know about teaching kids on algae farms?”

“I know how to teach kids in remote areas. Used to have six hundred students across the Nebraska Desert.”

“And I,” Brenda chimed in, “used to work for orbital education feeds for Malaysia and central Africa.”

“So what do you know about teaching spacer kids?” I asked.

Nina blinked.

“Who teaches you?”

She shrugged. “I’ve got some programs and I do things.”

“Uh-huh. Why is it that I don’t think your father, the captain, let’s you run wild on his ship?”

Nina narrowed her eyes. “Who told you he’s my dad?”

“Why you did,” I said. “Just now.”

“Oh, you’re good,” she replied with a smirk.