- Prologue

as low as might be heard in the cramped room.

'We are not in competition.' His shoulders moved in what might be a shrug as he weighed his words with care. 'We are, however, working on multiple balances and necessities, which might put us at odds, and so should not be dealt with in a place as distracting as this one, nor in a place—'

'First, you said you wanted some place quieter.'

He didn't argue, his left hand making an exaggerated and unformed attempt at acknowledged.

'We can use a comm booth then, or a conference room.' The thought that had been niggling at her back brain surfaced and spoke itself: 'What are you doing here, anyway?'

'Speaking with one of my favorite people.'

Theo frowned.

'This is complex.' He pursed his lips. 'I am willing to have you choose a location, Theo, but really, no more, here, if I may be so bold. I'll order another tray of tea and—'

Theo motioned, not at Win Ton but at the waiter.

'Guild conference room? Is one available?'

The waiter looked at Win Ton, in uniform, and at the other Scouts, again at Theo in her leather, and hitched his neck in an odd motion, using his head to point.

'Upper left quad of the display. Looks like there's two available—the blue lights. One's clear until next shift, the other's got . . . a while, that's the numbers on the right column. Other four are solid. Show your card at the desk.'

'So, yes, it is complex. I am at fault in some things, for which I will plead necessity and also admit that I have overstepped, and offer to hear your balance on the issues as time permits.'

They were seated, just the two of them, across the table of the conference room. There'd been an awkward moment when the door closed, leaving the Scouts with their weapons and awareness behind, and Theo'd wanted to fling herself into his arms, a moment made more awkward by his apparent realization and careful half turn offering her the choice of seats, and the fact that she carried the tray with the tea and snacks.

'I, who, why . . .' she began, and sputtered out; the look of intense concentration on Win Ton's patched face silencing her.

'I honor you, Theo Waitley, I honor you immensely. You quite properly have many questions, and I will attempt to answer them as quickly as I may, in as clear a fashion as I may. I request your patience. Please believe me in all ways eager to explain a situation that is as complex as it is nearly inexplicable.'

Theo danced in her mind, calling on the routine she called inner calm. She hadn't realized before how many cues about Win Ton she took from his hands and shoulders. Now, with his hands—not fully operational . . .

There on the chair, she centered herself, and looked to his face, with patience.

'Would you like some tea?' she asked.

He inclined his head. 'I would very much like some tea. Thank you.'

She poured for both of them, and sat back, cup held in one hand.

'I'm ready when you are,' she said.

He smiled weakly, though to Theo's eye, with honest intent, and sipped his tea, some of the tension easing out of his shoulders.

'The easiest questions may be your most recent. The Scouts I travel with are, as a unit, security and support. One is a med tech, each is a specialist. Consider them for argument sake, if you will permit yourself a moment of absurdity, my bodyguards.'

Theo thought about that; sighed and acknowledged, accept.

'Excellent. I am here, we are here, because it was likely that in fact you would be here or within hailing distance, and because the task I am set to by the Scouts has a thread which runs through Volmer. As a haven for Juntavas in the past it has been a place where Scouts and the even less reputable might from time to time have discourse on many subjects.

'So, that is the immediate why of here and who.'

He paused, and surprised her by reaching inside the collar of his shirt and pulling out a necklace matching her own. Made clumsy by the wrist shields, he pulled the chain over his head and placed it on the table between them, one finger on the pendant cylinder. He looked into her eyes.

'This, my friend, and the one you wear, are the start of all of it, as well as I can manage the story. I will tell it to you, requesting you share the information only on a true need-to-know basis.'

She nodded, but he was already moving on, seeming to look at her and through her at the same time.

'In my travels immediately after my contract wedding, I was started as a courier to deliver a ship, before my long-term assignment was to begin. I had cause to visit a—let me call it a site—requiring periodic maintenance of various reporting equipment. This site is one where, in the distant past, various objects and devices of doubtful source and design were sequestered from polite commerce, and in that distant past the planetary site was manned. My duties were simple: to be assured that the airlocks still functioned, that the holds still held, and that the sovereignty of our organization over it was not in doubt. This particular assignment was one of what they call the 'garbage runs' that Scouts must make from time to time, personal observations being important, and besides, Scouts need to be kept busy and in training, even between long-term assignments.'

Theo tried to concentrate on Win Ton's words and not on his face. There was something there she wasn't used to seeing in him, a reserve beyond simple attention to his own story, or a distraction.

Impulsively she asked, 'Are you in pain?'

Win Ton bowed slightly to her.