She wiped her face and clamped her lips together. “You will try.”
“I shall do it.”
That brought a very small spark. A slight smile. “Here is all right.” The smile died. “If the kyo do not attack.”
“Nand’ Bren will fix things,” he said, and added: “And there is good news! Nand’ Bren says it is definitely Prakuyo an Tep, and I shall be glad to see him! He said he would come to see us, and I shall talk to him, right along with nand’ Bren and mani, and solve everything!”
It was a little immodest, if it had been under less scary circumstances. But Irene took courage from it.
Nand’ Bren and mani had both gone to bed. Mani had simply dismissed them all to Lord Geigi’s care the instant she reached her apartment, saying she had given instruction for her own dinner. Jase-aiji had gone off duty—well, he had been off-duty since the whole search of the tunnels began, but now he had to explain everything to Ogun-aiji and Sabin-aiji, who were not necessarily on the best of terms. So Jase-aiji was not having a pleasant evening, and they had not seen him at all.
Lord Geigi, too, had disappeared with his aishid a little while ago, and one rather suspected he had gone to bed, because he had been on duty in Central and only sleeping in small naps for days.
Now their party was winding down in exhaustion. They had not that much energy left. Mani’s physician, nand’ Siegi, had had a look at everybody who had been in the tunnels, and patched the cuts on Gene’s fingers—Gene had gotten them bending a piece of metal out of the way, so he could pull his mother up a very difficult ladder. Gene’s mother was a very little woman, who by no means looked strong, but she had made it. And she had had one little glass of vodka, that was all, and nand’ Siegi had said he wanted to see her tomorrow morning.
They were all strangers, all to get to know.
And Gin-nandi was coming to help them, on the shuttle that was coming in. Gin-nandi would talk to the Mospheirans and she would talk to the Reunioners and calm everybody down.
Secretly there was a plan by which everybody could come down to the world. But he was strictly warned not to mention that.
He wished he could tell Irene more than he had said, but he had already pushed the edge of what he could say.
“When everybody goes to bed,” he said to Irene, once people began to talk about going to their rooms, “come with me to mani’s apartment. We shall be very proper. There is a room for you, next to mine. Veijico will give you her bed, and Veijico and Antaro can take Jegari’s and Lucasi’s, and Jegari and Lucasi can sleep with me. Everybody will be glad if you come.”
Irene thought about it a moment. “Will your great-grandmother be upset? Or Lord Geigi?”
“By no means. Come. Tomorrow mani will sleep late, and likely nand’ Bren will sleep until Gin-aiji comes; and Lord Geigi will go back to Central early, because his people are still holding on there—they have to do that until Gin-aiji can call the Mospheirans back to order, and until they get all the door locks proper again. But Lord Geigi told nand’ Bren that is almost done. Come stay in mani’s apartment and we shall come back here for breakfast with everybody.”
Gene came over. And Artur. And Bjorn, who was with them for the first time.
They were all together, all worried about Irene.
But Irene was going to be with them, and right then he made up his mind he was going to see to it that, whatever Irene’s mother wanted, or whatever her associations turned out to be, none of it ever separated them.
Nand’ Bren would say exactly the same. He was absolutely sure of it.
Contents
Also by C.J. CHerryh
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18