‘As little as possible. But for one of my little brothers . . . You’re almost the only one left, you know that? Demi Ulo’s with the Cartography Corps still, and Chassan’s on Berlenhof with Hugh. But they’re old, both of them, just like me. You’ll outlive all of us . . . unless you keep pulling stunts like that.’
‘No promises.’
She regarded him then, expecting something and seeing he plainly didn’t know what. At last she said, ‘You don’t have any message for me?’
‘For you?’ He frowned. ‘I didn’t even know I was going to run into you. What—？’
‘I was told . . . At the planetside elevator link, when we were waiting for the car. An old friend turned up, said you’d have something to say.’
‘I have no idea what you mean,’ he confessed. ‘I . . . Old friend? But not one of the “family”？’
She nodded, eyes flicking to her escort.
He made a little dumbshow for her, two hands up, one with fingers spread, one making a ‘talk-talk’ gesture with fingers and thumb. A mime for an alien of a particular shape. Ash, the Harbinger.
Xavienne’s nod was all he needed. Abruptly his fragile sense of wellbeing was entirely gone. His hallucination of the Harbinger in unspace had been quite enough. He didn’t want Ash, of all things, to be paying him any heed. Just want to disappear, get back into space, move on before anyone catches up with me. Except events had well and truly headed him off at the pass, and here he was.
‘Nothing you haven’t already heard,’ he told her, and then there was a babble of voices from outside – he recognized Olli’s strident tones – and Xavienne stood suddenly.
‘We’ll talk again,’ she said. ‘Think, Idris. There must be something.’ Then she was gone, and her escort with her, just before the others piled in. Idris caught Kris looking back as though to say, Wasn’t that . . .? But the rest were more concerned with making sure their navigator was in full working order.
‘Well, look at you. Awake and everything.’ Olli was in a motorized wheelchair, presumably of Partheni issue. He expected there’d been a fight about whether or not she could walk around in the Scorpion. The very thought was exhausting. Idris was glad he’d been dying right then.
The others looked well. Kris was beaming from ear to ear. Kittering’s arm-screens were advertising what looked like some kind of Hanni pharmaceutical, so possibly he’d cut a deal with his physician. Solace hung back and let them have their moment, shifting aside to let Trine duck in too.
Idris nodded at the academic. ‘I’d have thought you’d have abandoned us by now.’
‘We’ve putting on a unified front,’ Kris said firmly. ‘Trine, us. I think even Solace is being coy with her bosses.’ Snickering at the Partheni’s expression. ‘We were waiting for you and Kit to wake up, so we’ve said just about nothing.’
‘We’ve still got the . . . the things?’ Idris asked, wide-eyed.
‘Ah, no, not exactly. The Partheni have the things.’ Kris shot a look at Trine.
‘What precisely was I supposed to do?’ the archaeologist demanded tartly. ‘They knew what I was carrying. I couldn’t just pretend to have lost them down the back of my internal backups, could I?’
‘Well they’re not our problem then,’ Idris said, feeling weirdly relieved. ‘Was there any money in it?’
‘Now we have Kit back we are damn well going to try for it,’ Kris assured him. ‘If for no other reason than the Vulture needs fixing up. But first . . . Solace was saying something about a hearing?’
‘A hearing?’ Idris looked blankly at her, then at the Partheni beyond. ‘That wasn’t what I . . .?’
‘Not a disciplinary or something criminal, but . . .’ Solace spread her hands. ‘A lot’s happened. Everyone wants to hear from all of you, and they want to hear it together. Because right now, there’s not a lot of trust going round. So, yes. A hearing. You speak, they hear. And then you can get paid and . . . go.’
She’ll stay, of course, because she’s a good soldier. Idris was surprised at the stab of unhappiness he felt at that – and when he met Solace’s eyes, he reckoned she shared it. She’d liked being a freelance spacer. There was even an off-chance she’d liked meeting up with him again. The universe was big enough for such slender possibilities. He wondered if she’d go back on ice now, or if they’d have some other mission for her. Get paid and go, remember. No more war work messing with your head. Except it seemed peace work could do that just as well. He realized he’d been staring at Solace for long enough that everyone was shifting awkwardly.