In de Bodard's Xuya Universe, there are many space habitats and communities of space habitats. Near one of them is the Mausoleum, the wreckage of several ships from a massive collision. They are crunched and melted together, intruding into each other, but much of the space is still habitable.
Thuận Lộc spent her childhood there, working under the supervision of the Architects, doing jobs only children were small enough to do. Then she escaped, leaving behind her two closest friends--something she still regrets.
Now, she's going back for them.
