“So are we heading for Celwis now?” Yomie asked, a hint of resignation in her voice.
Haplif and Yoponek exchanged looks. “I thought you wanted to stay here and watch the migration,” Yoponek said.
“I thought you wanted to go to Celwis,” Yomie countered.
“We can discuss all that later,” Haplif put in quickly. The last thing he wanted was to have Yomie making demands when Yoponek’s emotions were all tangled up in her illness. “Right now, as Yoponek said, you need rest.”
“All right,” Yomie said, closing her eyes. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Yoponek promised, squeezing her hand once and then turning to the hatch. Haplif gave her an encouraging smile and followed.
Yoponek had retired to his room to think—and, knowing him, probably worry—when Shimkif finally returned.
“I couldn’t find a way to disrupt the migration this time,” she said, sinking into a chair and taking the drink Haplif handed her. “So I did the next best thing and disrupted her. Hopefully, that will be the end of it.”
“Maybe,” Haplif said doubtfully. “We’ll see what she has to say in the morning.”
“You don’t understand,” Shimkif said. “I dropped in on her before coming in here. You know how twitchy she is about being touched? Well, not right now she isn’t.”
Haplif crinkled his forehead skin. “You realize readings taken while the subject is asleep aren’t reliable.”
“Ah, but she wasn’t asleep,” Shimkif said. “That’s the point. She was a little dozy, but conscious. It turns out we were wrong.” She considered. “Or I was, anyway. See, she doesn’t want Yoponek to give up all his hopes and dreams for her. She just wants him to be willing to give them up. Once she’s satisfied that he would do that for her, he can go charging on to fame and fortune on Celwis, and she’ll stand by smiling and being all proud of him.”
“That’s great,” Haplif said, sifting rapidly through the possibilities. If he could maneuver Yoponek into making that commitment clear to her, they could be out of here by tomorrow.
“Maybe it’s great,” Shimkif cautioned. “The problem is that we don’t know what it’ll take to persuade her. Theoretically, Yoponek should be the best source of information, but to be honest I’m not convinced he knows his betrothed any better than we do.”
“Maybe I can get something from him in the morning,” Haplif said. “Or maybe from her.”
“Just be careful not to push them,” Shimkif said, draining her drink. “The girl especially. She’s smarter than she seems—I’ll guarantee you that. If she even suspects we’re trying to slip something past her, she’ll pull them both out so fast you’ll wonder if they need a navigator for the trip.”
“I’ll be careful,” Haplif promised. “Go get some rest. With luck, tomorrow—or the day after at the latest—we’ll be off this miserable planet.”
Yomie was sitting up in bed, working with her questis, when Haplif arrived. “Good morning,” he said cheerfully as he stepped into the compartment. “How are you feeling?”
“Much better,” she said, looking at him over the top of the questis. “I was just reading up on greenstripes. It says they almost never attack Chiss.”
“That’s what the medics said, too,” Haplif agreed. “They told us attacks are rare, but they happen a couple of times a year.” He smiled as he stepped closer. “That means you’re one in a million, which of course we’ve always known. Where’s Yoponek?”
“I sent him to the viewing grounds,” Yomie said, still eyeing him. “No sense both of us missing out on the day.” She lowered her gaze, focusing again on the questis. “I was searching for other migrations on Shihon. Turns out there are more than I realized.”
“Interesting,” Haplif said, taking a final step to put himself beside her bed. “Maybe after we’ve visited Celwis we can come back and watch one or two of them.”
“Maybe.” Yomie closed her eyes and stretched back, as if adjusting her spine and neck. Haplif reached forward and brushed her head with his fingertips.
Hatred!
He jerked the hand away, the unexpected flash of emotion nearly knocking him back off his feet. He blinked away the sensation and looked back at Yomie.
To find her staring hard at him, the hatred and revulsion he’d just felt now plastered across her face.
And there was something else there, too: understanding and a bitter-edged validation. “I knew it,” she said, her voice digging into Haplif like shards of broken ceramic. “I knew it. You’re telepathic. You’re all telepathic.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Haplif insisted.
But the words were pure reflex and far, far too late. Her little trap had nailed him, all right. Nailed him right to the deck.
“You’ve been manipulating us ever since we met, haven’t you?” she accused, ignoring his protest. “Making us jump to your music. Leading us by the nose.” Her face went suddenly rigid. “No. Leading Yoponek by the nose. Why? What possible use is he to you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Haplif repeated. “Yomie—this is the toxin talking. You’re not well. You’re—”
“And who made me that way?” Yomie snapped. “Who poisoned—” She broke off, her eyes going wide. “The Grand Migration. Did you poison that, too?”
“Yomie—”
“Never mind,” she said, dropping the questis onto her lap and snagging her comm from the side table. “No more lies. As soon as I tell Yoponek—”
And with that, of course, Haplif no longer had a choice.
Option three.
“She left?” Yoponek asked, frowning at the message Haplif had given him. “Just … left?”
“Not permanently,” Haplif hastened to assure him, brushing his fingertips across the boy’s head. Yoponek was surprised, confused, and unhappy. But there was no suspicion. “As you see, she’s just going to spend some time at the migration and two or three of the others in the area, then connect up with us again once we return from Celwis.”
“But that could be months,” Yoponek protested. “How can she leave when she hasn’t even recovered from her poisoning?”
“It won’t be months before we’re back,” Haplif soothed. “Six weeks, eight at the most. And the medics came by again while you were gone and checked her out. I’ve got their report right here, if you want to read it. Don’t worry, she’s fine.”
“I suppose,” Yoponek said, still frowning.
“And even on Celwis we’ll only be a few days’ journey from here,” Haplif pointed out. “If she starts feeling bad, or wants to leave, she can message you and we’ll send the ship back to get her while our spices are growing.”
“I know,” Yoponek said. “It’s just … leaving me behind doesn’t sound like something she’d do.”
“How little we truly know other people,” Haplif said philosophically. “Did you realize she was this interested in bird migrations, for example? I didn’t think so. No, I think she’s been looking for a way she could watch her birds while you met with Councilor Lakuviv, and this was her solution. Now both your hopes and dreams will be satisfied.” He shook his head in admiration. “Very clever girl.”
“She is that,” Yoponek said, his face clearing. “Well, if that’s what she wants, I guess she’s old enough to make that decision. When do we head for Celwis?”