Her shoulders slump in dejection at the question. How long? She doesn't even know.

'This place doesn't keep to my calendar,' Tayrey answers quietly, 'but it has to be more than half a standard year.' She's spent longer as a prisoner than she had working as a certified lieutenant astrogator.

Then she looks up again, her eyes a blaze of desperate obstinacy. 'My primary objective - my sole objective - is escape from this nightmare.'