"Honored," Gissella nodded, getting to her feet and walking around the foot of the bed. "Excuse me, but I was to let my Aunt Ivria know if you awakened in your right mind."
She stepped to the door and what looked like an intercom set into the wall next to it, and as she got her connection and delivered her news Jin took a quick inventory of her injuries.
It was astonishing. The deep gashes on arm and cheek were already covered with pink skin, and the deep bruises left across her chest by the shuttle safety harness were completely gone. Her left knee and elbow were still tender, but even they were in better shape than she would have expected from the way they'd felt right after the crash. Either the injuries had been more transient than she'd thought at the time, or else-
No. No or else about it. Qasaman medicine was as advanced as that of the Cobra
Worlds, pure and simple. Possibly more so.
Gissella finished her conversation and stepped to a wardrobe cabinet on the opposite side of the door. "They'll be here shortly," she said, withdrawing a pale blue outfit and holding it out for Jin's approval. "Aunt Ivria suggested you might like to get dressed before they arrive."
"Yes, I would," Jin nodded, pulling back the furry blanket and swinging her legs out of bed.
The material, she quickly discovered, was markedly different from that of the best-guess Qasaman clothing the team had landed with, but the design was similar. Still, Jin took no chances, feigning trouble with her left arm in order to let Gissella do as much of the actual fastening and arranging as possible.
Fortunately, there were no major surprises. Which means I ought to be able to dress myself adequately from now on, Jin thought as she straightened the hem of the short robe/tunic. At least until they switch styles on me. Trying to relax, she listened for the others to arrive.
She didn't have to wait very long. Within a few minutes her enhanced hearing picked up the sound of three sets of footsteps approaching. Taking a deep breath, she faced the door... and a moment later the panel swung open to reveal two women and a man.
The first woman was the one in charge of the party-that much was abundantly clear from both her rich clothing and her almost regal bearing. She was a woman,
Jin recognized instinctively, who commanded the respect of those around her and would demand nothing less from a stranger in her household. The second woman was in sharp contrast: young and plainly dressed, with the air of one whose role was to go unnoticed about her duties. A servant, Jin thought to herself. Or a slave.
And the man-
His eyes were captivating. Literally; it took Jin a long second to free her gaze from those dark traps and give the rest of him a quick once-over. He was young-her age, perhaps a year or two younger-but with the same regal air as the older woman. And some of the same features, as well. Related? she wondered. Very possibly.
The older woman stopped a meter away from Jin and ducked her head a few degrees in an abbreviated bow. "In the name of the Sammon family," she said in a cool, controlled voice, "I bid you greeting and welcome."
Something expectant in her face... on impulse, Jin repeated the fingertips-to-forehead gesture Gissella had already shown her. It seemed to work. "Thank you," she told the older woman. "I am honored by your hospitality."
The verbal response wasn't the prescribed one-that much was quickly apparent from the others' faces. But they seemed surprised, rather than outraged, and Jin crossed her mental fingers that the story she'd concocted would cover these slips well enough. "I am Jasmine, daughter of Justin Alventin."
"I am Ivria Sammon," the older woman identified herself. "Wife of Kruin Sammon and mother of his heirs." She gestured to the youth, now standing beside her.
"Daulo, first son and heir of Kruin Sammon."
"I am honored by your hospitality," Jin repeated, again touching fingers to forehead.
Daulo nodded in return. "Your customs and manners mark you as a stranger to this part of Qasama," Ivria continued, eyes holding unblinkingly on her. "Where is your home, Jasmine Alventin?"
"I have spent time in many different places," Jin said, working hard at controlling her face and voice. This was the stickiest part; no matter what she said now, the lie could be eventually run to ground if they were persistent enough. Given that, her best chance lay with one of the half-dozen cities dotting the western curve of the Crescent, where the higher population density should make any investigation at least a little harder. "My current home is in the city of Sollas."
For a single, awful moment she thought she'd made a mistake, that perhaps something unknown had happened to Sollas in the years following her father's first visit to Qasama. The hard look that flicked across Ivria's face-
"A city dweller," Daulo said sourly.
"City dweller or not, she is our guest now," Ivria replied, and Jin started breathing again. Whatever they had against cities, at least it wasn't something that immediately branded her as an offworlder. "Tell me, Jasmine Alventin, what has brought you to Milika?"
"Is that where I am, then?" Jin asked. "Milika? I didn't know where it was I was brought-the accident that wrecked our car..." She shivered involuntarily as images from the shuttle wreck rose unbidden before her eyes.
"Where did this accident happen?" Ivria asked. "On the road from Shaga?"
Jin waved her hands helplessly. "I don't really know where we were. My companions-my brother Mander and two others-were searching the forest for insects to take back to their laboratory."
"You were in the forest on foot?" Daulo put in.
"No," Jin told him. "Mander studies insects, trying to learn their secrets and put them to use. He has-or had; I suppose it's ruined now-a specially built car that can maneuver between trees and through a forest's undergrowth. I was just along for the trip-I wanted to see how he worked." She let a note of puzzlement creep into voice and face. "But I'm sure he knows much more about where the accident happened. Can't you just ask him about it when he awakens?"
Ivria and Daulo exchanged glances. "Your companions are not here, Jasmine
Alventin," Daulo said. "You were alone when my brother found you on the road."
Jin stared at him a long moment, letting her mouth sag in what she hoped was a reasonable semblance of shock. "Not... but they were there. With me. We-we all walked to the road together-Mander killed a krisjaw that attacked me-no, they have to be here."
"I'm sorry," Ivria said gently. "Do you remember if they were still with you when you reached the road?"
"Of course they were," Jin said, letting her voice drift toward the frantic.
"They were still with me when I was carried into the truck. Surely they saw-it was your brother, Daulo, who found us? Didn't he see them?"
Daulo's cheek twitched. "Jasmine Alventin... you were suffering the effects of several monote bites when Perto found you. Hallucinations are sometimes among these effects. My brother wouldn't have left your companions if they'd been anywhere nearby-you must believe that. And after you were safe here he took several men and went back to do an even more thorough search, covering both the road and the forest areas flanking them, all the way back to Shaga."
Thorough enough to find the packs I hid? Jin's stomach tightened; and immediately relaxed. No, of course the packs were still hidden. If anyone had found them she'd have awakened in a maximum-security prison... if she'd been allowed to awaken at all. "Oh, Mander," she whispered. "But then... where is he?"
"He may still be alive," Daulo said, his voice steady with forced optimism. "We can send more people to look for him."
Slowly, Jin shook her head, gazing past Daulo into space. "No, Five days... If he's not out by now... he's not coming out, is he?"
Daulo took a deep breath. "I'll send more searchers, anyway," he said quietly.
"Look... you've had a bad time, and I doubt that you're fully recovered. Why don't you have a warm bath and something to eat and then rest for a few more hours."