"I have told you the law of this place," said Elemak. "Nobody leaves this town without my permission. And you don't have my permission."
"And if I disobey your presumptuous, illegal command?" said Volemak.
"Then you're no longer part of Dostatok," said Elemak. "If you're caught skulking around here, you'll be treated as a thief."
"Do you think the others will consent to this?" asked Volemak. "If you raise a hand against me, you'll earn only the disgust of the others."
"I'll earn their obedience," said Elemak. "I advise you… don't force the issue. No one takes food to Nafai. He comes home, and the charade about starships ends."
Volemak stood in silence, Zdorab beside him. Their faces were inscrutable.
"All right," said Volemak.
Elemak was surprised—could Father be giving in so easily?
"Nafai says he'll come home now. He has the first robots recommissioned and working. He'll be home in an hour."
"In an hour!" said Meb, who was standing nearby. "Well there it is. This Vusadka place was supposed to be a whole day's journey away."
"Nafai only just got the paritkas working. If they function well enough, we won't have to move the village."
"What's a paritka?" asked Meb.
Don't ask, you fool, Elemak said silently. It just plays into Father's hands.
"A flying wagon," said Volemak.
"And I suppose you're talking to Nafai right now?"
"When we don't have the Index with us," said Volemak, "his voice is as hard to distinguish from our normal thoughts as the Oversoul's voice normally is. But he's talking to us, yes. You could hear him yourself, if you only listened."
Elemak couldn't help laughing. "Oh, yes, I'm sure that I'm going to sit here and listen for the voice of my faraway brother, talking in my mind."
"Why not?" asked Zdorab. "He already sees everything that the Oversoul sees. Including what's going on in your mind. For instance, he knows that you and Meb plan to kill him as soon as he gets back here."
Elemak leapt to his feet. "That's a lie!" Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Meb getting a panicked look on his face. Just keep your mouth shut, Meb. Can't you recognize a wild guess when you hear one? Just don't do anything to confirm their guess. "Now get back to your house, Father. You too, Zdorab. The only way Nafai will be in any danger is if he attacks us or tries to mutiny."
"This isn't the desert now," said Volemak. "And you're not in command."
"On the contrary," said Elemak. "Desert law still applies, and I am the leader of this expedition. I have been all along. I only deferred to you, old man, out of courtesy."
"Let's go," said Zdorab, drawing Volemak out of Elemak's house.
"And deprive Elemak of the chance of showing exactly how malicious he really is?"
"Not malicious, Father," said Elemak. "Just fed up. It's you and Nyef, Rasa and Luet and your group who started this. Nobody asked you to start this stupid business about traveling out among the stars. Everything was going fine—you're the ones who decided to change all the rules. Well, the rules have changed, and for once they don't favor you. Now take your medicine like a man."
"I grieve for you," said Volemak. Then Zdorab had him out the door and they were gone.
"They knew," said Mebbekew. "They knew what we were planning."
"Oh, shut up," said Elemak. " They guessed,and you nearly blurted out a confirmation of their guess."
"I didn't," said Meb. "I didn't say a thing."
"Get your bow and arrow. You're a good enough shot for this."
"You mean we aren't going to wait and talk to him first?"
"I think Nafai will talk more reasonably if he has an arrow in him, don't you?"
Meb left the house. Elemak rose to his feet and reached for his bow over the fireplace.
"Don't do it."
He turned and saw Eiadh standing in the doorway to the bedroom, holding the baby on her hip.
"Did I hear you correctly, Edhya?" asked Elemak. "Are you telling me what to do?"
"You tried to kill him once before," said Eiadh. "The Oversoul won't let you. Don't you realize that? And this time you might get hurt."
"I appreciate your concern for me, Edhya, but I know what I'm doing."
"I know what you're doing, too," said Eiadh. "I've watched you with Nafai for all these years, and I thought, at last, Elya has learned to give Nafai his proper respect. Elya's stopped being jealous of his little brother. But now I see that you were just biding your time."
Elemak would have slapped her face for that, except that the baby's head was in the way, and he would never harm his own child. "You've said enough," he warned.
"I'd beg you to stop because you love me," said Eiadh, "but I know that would never work. So I'm begging you to stop for your children's sake."
"For their sake? It's for their sake that I'm doing this. I don't want their lives disrupted for the sake of Rasa's conspiracies to get control of Dostatok and turn this into a village of women like Basilica."
"For their sake," said Eiadh again. "Don't make them see their father humiliated in front of everyone. Or worse."
"I can see how much you love me," said Elemak. "Apparently your bets are on the other side."
"Don't shame them by letting them see that you're a murderer in your heart."
"Do you think I don't understand this?" said Elemak. "You've had a yen for Nafai ever since Basilica. I thought you'd outgrown it, but I was wrong."
"Fool," said Eiadh. "I admired his strength. I admired yours, too. But his strength has never wavered, and he's never used it to bully other people. The way you treated your father was shameful. Your sons were in the other room, listening to how you talked to your father. Don't you know that someday, when you're old and frail, you may hear that same kind of disrespect from them? Go ahead, hit me. I'll set down the baby. Let your sons see how strong you are, that you can beat up a woman for no greater crime than telling you the truth."
Meb burst through the door. He had his bow and arrows. "Well?" he said. "Are you coming or not?"
"I'm coming," said Elemak. He turned to Eiadh. "I'll never forgive you for that."
She smirked at him. "In an hour you'll be asking for my forgiveness."
Nafai knew as he approached exactly what to expect. He had the memories of the Oversoul. He had heard the conversations between Elemak and his fellow plotters. He had listened as he ordered everyone to keep the children in their houses. He had felt the fear in everyone's hearts. He knew the damage Elemak was doing to his own family. He knew the fear and rage that filled his heart.
"Can't you make him forget this?" asked Nafai.
(No. That wasn't one of the powers I was given. Besides, he's very strong. My influence over him is oblique at best.)
"If he had chosen to follow you, he would have been better for your purposes than I am, wouldn't he?"
(Yes.) It might as well speak plainly, since it could keep no secrets from Nafai now.
"So I'm second choice," said Nafai.
(First choice. Because Elemak doesn't have it in him to recognize a purpose higher than his own ambition. He's far more crippled than Issib.)
Nafai sped south, the paritka skimming over the ground, automatically finding a smooth route at a pace Nafai found unimaginable. He cared nothing for the miracle of this machine. It was all he could do to keep from weeping. For now, as he focused on the people of Dostatok instead of the labors of restoring a starship, he "remembered" things that he had never guessed. The struggles and sacrifices Zdorab and Shedemei had made for each other. The cold hatred Vas felt for Obring and Sevet, and, ever since Shazer, for Elemak. Sevet's bitter self-loathing. Luet's and Hushidh's pain as their husbands treated them more and more like Elemak's idea of what wives should be, and less and less like the friends they were supposed to be.