After Tennama had been taken to his cell, Jane returned to the interrogation room. Reyer was in the outer area, staring at nothing, lost in her own thoughts.

Jane waited, but as the silence stretched on, she realized this was going to be one of those silences that could stretch on indefinitely if not interrupted.

“Do you even know what a zygote is?”

Reyer put a hand to her face. “Really, Jane?”

“When the sperm and the egg meet, before the cell undergoes cleavage—”

“Jane!”

“It was a specific question, Alix!”

“Not now! Please!”

“Oh, you’d rather we talk about the elephant in the room?”

“What elephant?”

“It was getting pretty weird in there.”

“Yeah. Thanks for that.”

“Oh? It’s my fault?”

“You’re the one that wrote down a dozen sex questions.”

“It’s an essential biological function, Alix! It’s not like we can ignore it. And it’s not like you were sticking to the script! I don’t think you can pretend the questions were the problem.” Jane paused. “The robots didn’t stop him.”

Reyer looked away.

“When he touched you. The robots didn’t stop him. I know you noticed. I was watching.”

“They’re standard bots.”

“They’re not junk, Alix. Half their programming is borrowed from Ciro’s work on Lynx. They know human body language.”

“So they knew he wasn’t moving to harm me.”

“They’re programmed to look at you. They were cuing off your behavior.”

“You know what? You win. Let’s talk about zygotes.”

“I don’t want to talk about zygotes!”

“You did a minute ago.”

“Look, it was either me asking you a bunch of personal questions, or I could berate you for changing one of mine. I figured you’d rather get yelled at.”

“Well, you’re right.”

“Doesn’t that give you a moment’s pause?”

“No.”

“Now you’re being stubborn.”

“What do you want from me, Jane?”

“I want to know what’s going on! I’m worried about you, and you won’t talk to me! You’re so up and down. Some days you walk out early, others you seem fine. Either way, you never tell me what’s happening.”

“Jane.”

Jane stopped when she heard the plea in Reyer’s voice. When the doctor spoke again, her voice was mellow. “Alix, I know this is hard on you, but maybe this means it’s getting better. Maybe this means you don’t see him as a threat anymore.”

“He doesn’t look like Tennama.”

Silence did not come naturally to Jane, so she bit the inside of both lips to keep her mouth shut.

Reyer went on, “He talks like him, but not all the time. It’s…confusing.”

“It sounds like it would be hard to deal with.”

“Sometimes.”

Jane gazed into the empty interrogation room. “Do you hate him?”

“I don’t think I do.”

Jane noted the slight emphasis on the word “think.”

Reyer continued, “I don’t like torture, but I understand that he needed information. And…”

Alix remembered the face of old Tennama. His fine hair brushed back. The lines around his mouth deepening as he frowned. Harlan had stared at her, leaning in, hungry for what he wanted, but Major Tennama had fixed his eyes away from what was happening.

“And I think he hated himself for it,” she finished.

“But it still must be upsetting.” Jane sighed. “I’m sorry, Alix.”

Reyer stood up. “Don’t be. We need all the information we can get.”

“We could simply write the questions down—”

“No.”

“Alix—”

“It’s better this way, Jane. You know that, and I know that.”

“Better how? If all we need is information—”

There was a quiet beep from Reyer’s wrist. She glanced at her watch.

“I’m meeting, Ito,” she said. “I have to go.”

As she watched Alix leave, Jane let out a breath. A growl from deep in her throat came with it.

It wasn’t only about information. Alix knew that. So did Jane.

[https://i.imgur.com/6iM8gcI.png]

Ito was already making tea when Reyer entered her quarters.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Hello, little warrior,” the general called after glancing over her shoulder.

Reyer crossed over to her. “Mom-Ito.” She put her arm around the general’s shoulders and leaned down to kiss her head. “Any word?”

“No.”

The uneasy silence was broken by Reyer. “This isn’t like Grandpa.”

Ito stopped, mid-pour, and looked off at some inner vision. “No. It isn’t.”

Reyer watched the general as she continued to stare at nothing. It looked as if her thoughts were traveling down a familiar path, catching the trail, being sure of the way…planning something.

“Ito?”

The general shook herself, then quietly swore in Japanese when she realized she’d been neglecting the tea.

“How long?”

“Seconds.”

“The cups?”

Reyer touched the side of one of the small vessels. “Still warm.”

Ito finished pouring the water over the leaves. “Go sit down, sweetie. We’ll talk when I’m done with this.”

Reyer walked over to one of the small couches and sat. She groaned as her back protested the change in position. When Ito came over, Reyer pushed the chess set aside so there’d be room for the tea tray on the modest coffee table.

Without a word, they each took a cup.

Reyer was halfway done with her first cup before Ito spoke.

“How are you?”

Over time Ito had grudgingly accepted that some planets used that question as a greeting, but she never approved. All through Reyer’s childhood, she’d hear occasional comments about how stupid it was. While Ito had learned to answer the polite greeting with the standard “fine,” she never used the question herself, and she taught Reyer not to use it. If Ito wanted to greet you, she’d wish you ‘good day’ or use a more formal hello. If she asked you how you were doing, she wanted a real answer.

“I don’t know,” Reyer admitted.

Ito waited.

“Right now, I think I’m okay.”

The general sipped her tea. “Has anything happened with Tennama?”

“Not today.” Reyer took a deep breath. “You’re right. It’s getting easier.”

“Good.” Ito watched her. “And how is he?”

“I’m not a psychologist.”

“Neither am I, and yet, here we are.”

“You should’ve been a psychologist. You know how to work with people better than anyone I know.”

“Hmm. And you know how to observe people. So, how is he?”

“Bad.” Alix put down her teacup and sat back. “Every day he seems more restless and agitated. I think his insomnia is getting worse. Did you have someone check the videos?”

“Yes,” Ito said. “There are times when he seems upset after waking from a dream.”

“Violent?”

“No.”

Reyer couldn’t understand why Ito was hesitating.

The general finally elaborated: “He weeps. He puts his head in his hands, and he weeps as quietly as he can.”

Now Reyer understood. She felt almost ill. It was like kicking at a puddle, then finding yourself dropping into a fathom-deep pool. Knowing that was an almost unforgivable violation of his privacy.

Alix picked up the pot and poured herself another cup. She tried to sound unaffected. “Is it every night?”

“No. But I wonder if he’s trying to avoid it.”

Alix communicated her question with a glance.

“Lawson said that he won’t go to sleep,” Ito said.

“As in, he can’t sleep? Like, he lays in bed awake?”

“He won’t lay down at all until he’s almost stumbling with exhaustion.”

“What does he do?”

“He paces. Sometimes he mutters to himself.”

“Did Lawson catch what he was saying?”

Ito shook her head. There was a pause in the conversation long enough for her to claim the last of the tea from the pot.

“I think I’m going to offer him something to write with,” Reyer said. “A pen and some paper.”

“I think that’s a good idea, Alix. You’ll have to run it by Vas, but I can’t imagine he’d object.”

“He won’t object.” Reyer drank her tea in three long hot gulps.

Ito had noticed her ward’s slight frown before she could hide it with the cup. “Alix, may I ask you a question?”

“Always.”

“Are you going to do it because you want to find out what Tennama’s thinking or because you feel bad for him?”

“Maybe both.”

“Which part of that is bothering you? The part where you’re reading his papers, or the part where you’re empathizing with him?”

Reyer put her teacup back on the tray. “Maybe both.”

Both of them smiled with weary humor. As Ito used to say, “It isn’t easy being human. Sometimes all you can do is laugh.”

“I’m sorry,” Alix said. “I’ve been sitting too long already.”

She stood up and pushed her fingers into the small of her back.

Ito ignored the unnecessary apology. “Alix, we’ll hear from the assembly any day now. Are you ready to give me your evaluation of Tennama?”

“I think he’s no more of a mess than the rest of us.” Alix had been wandering behind the couch but stopped when she heard her own comment. “No, that’s probably not true. But I think that he can work as well as any of us.” She shivered at the memory of their conversation. “And he’s motivated. He’ll be useful. Whatever happens, if he offers his help, I think we should accept it.”

The general looked down at the coffee table and nodded.

“But…” Reyer began.

Ito looked up again.

“I think you have to be careful who he works with,” Reyer said.

“You heard?”

Reyer nodded.

“We transferred her as soon as we found out.”

“Does Tennama know?”

“He has enough to worry about,” Ito said. “I’ll worry about his safety.”

“Spence won’t be the only one. The xenos aren’t popular around here.”

“I suspect they aren’t popular anywhere.”

Alix grimaced.

“Do you think Adan could work with him?” Ito asked.

Reyer laughed. “Oh, yes. He’s not one to hold a grudge.”

“Are you sure?”

“He says that ‘war is war,’ and lots of people have tried to kill him. He says the only one he won’t forgive is the one that manages to do it.” Alix shook her head with exasperation, but there was a hint of a smile when she said, “I don’t know how that man has survived this long.”

Ito stared down at the flecks of leaf in the bottom of her cup.

She had invited the captain in for tea the previous night.

War was war. Sometimes you did things you didn’t like, and she needed to know if Reyer was telling her the truth. Ito’s mind winced at the memory of how all of Vas’s good humor had vanished when she’d ordered him to tell her if Alix was having more nightmares. In that moment, there’d been a loss of trust that would take a long time to repair. But he answered her question.

She watched as he talked about Reyer’s mental scars and how she was coping. By the end, his hand was gripped so tightly around the cup, his fingertips had turned white.

Ito said to Reyer, “What if it was about you?”

“What?”

“What if he’s mad at Tennama because of you?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. Adan does what it takes to get the job done.”

Ito had to admit the truth of that statement. You couldn’t count on Captain Adan Vas to follow orders, but you could always count on that.

Which, come to think of it, was why he was so damn useful.

“What about you, Alix? Could you work with Tennama?”

Reyer hadn’t been expecting that question. To buy herself some time, she pushed away from where she’d been leaning on the couch and returned to her seat. After she was settled, she said, “What do you mean?”

“It’s a simple question. If you had to, could you work with him?”

“I’m a mechanic—or I was, until all this came up. Now I seem to be a spy and an interrogator.” She picked at the arm of the chair. “Mom-Ito, I’m a mechanic. I’m an injured mechanic. I can’t even work without a bot to do the heavy lifting. Why are you asking me this?”

Ito swallowed the lump in her throat. “It’s important to know about yourself. Isn’t that why you wanted to face him?”

There was a pause.

“I could work with him,” Reyes said. “But we’d have to be pretty desperate if I was being considered for the team.”

Ito nodded. It was hard to know how else to respond.

In an offhand voice, Reyer added, “The assembly will have to do something. We have a hard enough time fighting one war. We can’t afford to let the xenos become a threat.”

There was a soft hum from the general. “Is that really your first concern, little warrior?”

“Not really.” Reyer thought about the fourteen-year-old girl who must have gone missing, who must have died confused and terrified, and whose parents were probably devastated. “People are dying, and more are going to die unless we do something.”

“Now that sounds more like you.”

Reyer looked quizzically at her guardian.

“You were always a good girl, Alix. You’ve always had this strong sense of right and wrong. You could break rocks on that sense of morality. It was all black and white.”

“Life isn’t that simple.”

“Ah! The little warrior has grown up! Despite the best efforts of the Supremacy. Imagine that.”

Reyer laughed.

“But I agree with you,” Ito said. “Something has to be done. Innocent people are dying, and that matters more than politics.”

“Then we’re half way there. ‘First you ask yourself, what is the right thing to do.’”

Ito smiled. “That isn’t the line, Alix.”

Reyer’s eyes screwed up to the ceiling as she struggled to recall the text. “Oh. You’re right. It’s ‘you must first know yourself,’ and then ‘ask yourself, what is the right thing to do.’”

“So, by that reckoning, we’re two-thirds of the way there.”

“Well, that’s encouraging.” Reyer sighed. “Do you think the assembly’s ever read that book?”

“Given how hard it is to get them to look at our reports, I’ve occasionally wondered if they can read at all.”