"Procrastination is good," Sue said, positively. "Maybe even smart, since you might spark some kind of bidding war."
"That sounds—" Alyssa shook her head.
"I think it’s the idea that they’d go and build an entire skating rink just for Lyss to teach in. And the amount of money they’re willing to pay…" Nick shook his head slowly. "I can only do the basics and they’re still waving ridiculous amounts at me."
"The value of scarcity," Laura said. "Is it that you don’t think you’d like teaching?"
"That would probably depend on the brat-quotient in the class," Alyssa said. "But I think it’s more there seems to be an expectation that I can train people to Olympic level. I couldn’t even make the State finals."
"So tell them how far you think you can take them," Sue said, shrugging. "It’s not like anyone—except maybe Zee, who I’d believe anything of—could get to your level in less than a bunch of years. And by that time maybe they’ll really have found the deep-space route to Earth, and can import top-tier coaches."
"At which point the exorbitant salary will drop," Nick noted. "I guess we should make hay, etcetera."
"What about joining KOTIS?" Alyssa asked.
"We can do that later."
Alyssa hesitated, then nodded. "You’re right, of course. I think it’s the idea of being the one in charge that’s scaring me." She put a hand against her helmet, smiling wryly. "It’s stupid to feel like a fake, isn’t it? And at least, if we go with Pandora Shore’s offer, we’ll be covered by the school’s security and won’t have to worry about that complication."
She glanced at the upper level of the amphitheatre, and Laura managed to stop herself from following the line of her gaze, knowing that Sixth Squad would be there, similarly suited, but alert and unfailingly on duty. There were around two dozen squads, counting Kolar and Tare’s, and despite Laura’s best efforts of memory, everyone outside First, Second and Fourth Squad tended to blur into interchangeable black-clad figures.
"Even if I’d planned to do more than sample aether, that would be off-putting," Alyssa said. "I keep thinking how dull it must be for trained monster-hunters to play bodyguard."
"I expect seeing moonfall close up is a nice treat for them," Laura said. "Since trained elemental talents aren’t allowed to get drunk, they would usually have to stay well away from any free-floating aether."
"Good point."
"I wonder if untrained elemental talents have the same restrictions?" Sue said. "A Fire talent could do plenty of damage, even if they weren’t at pillar-of-flame level."
As this question was settled via Kaoren, Laura looked about for Julian, and for a moment couldn’t see him. But then she saw his outline before the central column of light and, coming closer, was surprised to see that he, too, had resealed his suit.
"Not going to demonstrate your new adult status?"
"By zonking out in front of everyone?" Julian shot his sister a disgusted glance. "That’s just what Cass thinks I’m going to do. I should moon the guy in charge just to make her feel she was right."
"The ten minutes it’d take you to get that suit off would take the fun out of it," Laura said, trying not to laugh. Sibling rivalry hadn’t gone away, no matter what else had changed.
"Maybe. But then she could tch at me for months. She’d like that."
"I know this isn’t as fun as it would be going with your friends," Laura said, offering up an apologetic smile.
"Bleh. I probably wouldn’t have gone. Too much risk that they’d find out who I am. And then it’d be all weird and stuff. Maybe I’ll go to that avatar café to meet up with them."
"I can see why you like that guild, though. The Star Claw went down neatly, and Haelin’s very happy with the new teszen she got out of it."
"Who?"
"One of Gidds' daughters. You’ll meet her this weekend."
Julian briefly showed the whites of his eyes, but he only said: "I thought you were playing with Cass' kids."
Laura was starting to suspect that the topic of Mum Sex was going to be more challenging than she expected, but they were both rescued from further attempts by Cass, who came to ask if they wanted to follow the aether down as it drained toward the teleport platform below the amphitheatre.
"Not that we’ll see much except glowy mist. And make sure you don’t actually get on the platform, or you’ll end up back in Kalasa."
"Tell us something we don’t know," Julian said.
"Wouldn’t put anything past you, brat," Cass said, and they traded amiable barbs until the sheer wonder of the moonfall caught up with them again, and the three of them stepped together into the rising pillar of light and held each other’s hands and stared through the vivid glow at the moon, in all its fractured glory.
Awkward conversations could wait. Today, they were together in wonder.
Chapter Sixteen
In the nature of careless wishes, Laura’s desire to see how Gidds dealt with stress was gratified the day before their weekend trip. She woke, not long after midnight, feeling strangely cold and oppressed and, shifting, saw Gidds sitting on the edge of the bed. In the bare light of the stars, Laura could make out no detail, so she raised the room lights to a dim partial visibility.
His back was rigid.
This was such a contrast to Gidds' usual composed calm that for a moment Laura just blinked at him. What had happened?
Thought caught up with astonishment, and Laura realised that of course he must be talking to someone over the interface. Not wanting to interrupt what was probably an important conversation, Laura rose and slipped on her robe before heading out to the kitchen to make something to drink.
She had barely poured out when Gidds came out of the bedroom, shrugging into his uniform jacket. She lifted a mug of perfectly-warmed spider milk enquiringly, and was pleased when he accepted it.
"I’m sorry for waking you, Laura," he said. "There is a situation at Liriath."
He was still…not visibly angry, but very tense, and somehow remote. Locked down.
"Is it something you can tell me about?" she asked, as he drained the mug.
"A group of children overdue at their homes, with no location trace visible through the interface. A sibling confessed that they’d discovered a cave system in the hills south of the city, and gone exploring. The caves appear to be extensive, and the children must be far enough in that the rock is blocking any signal from their interface uplink. A number of Kalrani were in Liriath for a training exercise, and their supervisor volunteered them for the retrieval." His jaw tightened. "They, too, are now non-contactable."
"Are these caves outside the Ionoth-clear zone around the settlement?" Laura asked, biting down on sudden horror. All the platform towns were kept free of Ionoth by powerful constructs called ddura, but the vast majority of Muina was still considered too dangerous for unarmed travel.
"They are on the edge of the ddura’s range. But there are also native predators, and adapted Ionoth."
Laura hesitated, for she was still negotiating an understanding of his Sights, and how much her own feelings might distract or interrupt much-needed focus. That sense of separateness that was very much a part of him was particularly to the fore just now. But then she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him.
"I’ll hope for the best result for the search, then."
The right decision. His arms closed around her, fierce and tight, and he let out his breath as if the contact had helped. Then he brushed her cheek with a kiss, and was halfway to the door before she even caught the faint hum of an approaching flyer.
Laura drank her spider milk slowly, activated the cleaning unit, and returned to her bedroom, but only to dress and walk down to the bottom of the hill, leaving the path to head directly to the island’s stony shore.