"What about the others?" Teeg asked.
"Not knowing. We not find any piece of them. We look, as soon as heat gone." Farzi's common speech was more garbled—I felt it was the aftereffects of nearly being killed. I knew, even if the others didn't, that the firebombs were courtesy of the Alliance. Regular Alliance Army, or RAA, used them to destroy drug fields. I wondered if it had been ordered by the ASD. Had Lendill learned where we were and sent in the bombers, thinking I was expendable? It wouldn't surprise me.
"I wasn't able to contact Reah last night, and now I learn that the RAA has firebombed Urdolus?" Lendill wanted to yank his hair out.
"They're not obligated to contact us if they find something and have the ships nearby," Norian snapped. He was nearly as frustrated at the news as Lendill was. "All our agents know the risks."
"Reah didn't."
"Well, there wasn't much time to tell her."
"We didn't because we're cowards."
"There's that." Norian raked a hand through his hair. "I can only handle that accusing look for so long."
"Aurelius will kill us."
"No. Aurelius will kill you. Tory will kill me. He's High Demon and immune to poison. Have you tried to reach Reah again?"
"I was afraid to."
"Try."
Nothing was left—of the plantation or anything around it. I'd heard that about firebombing—that only skeletons might be found, if that, and perhaps melted or twisted metal. Anything else flammable would be reduced to ash. It shocked me as I kicked ash aside in the ruins of Xiri's bungalow. His bones were there and I found them just as Lendill's mindspeech found me.
Reah? I thought for a moment about not answering.
What? I'm sure he read the sullenness in my mental voice.
Reah, thank the gods. I thought the RAA may have bombed where you were.
They did. A moment's silence followed my statement.
Reah, were you anywhere near that?
In the middle of it. Somebody shoved me into the pool. The whole thing went to steam before the heat abated. Just about everybody else died.
San Gerxon?
Not sure. He was surrounded by wizards.
Reptanoids?
Still here—all of them. They went into the river.
Reah, I know you're not happy with us right now, but we didn't order the firebombing. RAA moved without consulting us.
And I'm supposed to believe that?
Reah, you're being disrespectful with a superior. I didn't answer him. If he knew how disrespectful I wanted to be—I was staring at Xiri's bones, after all. I sobbed. Reah? Reah, are you still there?
You be respectful, Vice-Director, the next time a friend's bones lie beneath your hand. I cut off the communication. Lendill didn't try again.
"She's still alive, but didn't tell me what her condition is," Lendill looked at Norian. He didn't say that Reah had cut off the mindspeech. "She doesn't know about San Gerxon—the reptanoids are still alive—they jumped into the river when the bombing started.
"Who'd have guessed about Urdolus?" Norian sighed.
"I guessed about Urdolus." Gavril stood in the doorway to Norian's office. "If you'd read the message I sent on your comp-vid two days ago, you'd have known, too." Gavril looked as if he were ready to cry. He ran down the hall.
"How did he?" Norian lifted his comp-vid and scrolled through unread messages. Selecting the one from Gavril, he opened it. "Fuck," Norian shouted.
"What?" Lendill came over to look. He found a list of all the fruit Lendill had given him, combining those elements with the green nuts and palaca meat, then listed all the planets where those items were available in the same location. Six held too much population to harbor drakus seed fields. That left only Urdolus. Gavril had sorted it out—Lendill had ignored it.
"Fuck," Lendill sighed.
"I don't have any tools to bury Xiri," Teeg knelt beside me. I nodded; I wasn't able to speak at the moment.
"Farzi, I'm so glad to see you're alive, my friend." Arvil's blustering voice came from behind. Teeg pulled me to my feet. Arvil's eyes widened as he saw we'd made it, too.
"The river, Master Arvil," Farzi stepped over piles of ash and rubble to reach Arvil, who was (no surprise) surrounded by all his wizards. "That one," Farzi indicated Teeg, "pool saves him." Farzi included me with the river jumpers. Just as well; I couldn't explain how I'd gotten to the pool the night before.
"My brother?" Arvil knew the answer before we told him. He didn't sound heartbroken.
"Reah, we'll find more help for you," Arvil was back to bluster. "We can go home, now—I hear the Alliance is looking elsewhere. Better to be away from here, anyway; they may come to inspect their work."
Arvil didn't even ask Farzi and the other reptanoids if they wanted to go back to Campiaa; his wizards took us there before we had time to think.
"Take two days off—we'll eat at the casino," Arvil told us. I nodded blankly, feeling numb. Teeg, who kept a hand and a close eye on me, herded me through the door. We got plenty of stares as we made our way to his apartment.
"Reah, we only frightened small dogs and babies on our walk here—they'll rebound." Teeg's head appeared above mine as I stared at myself in the mirror. "Come on, sweetheart, let's get cleaned up and go to bed."
I don't think I'd ever appreciated clean sheets and a soft bed so much in my life after spending the night on burned and cracked flagstones. I must have been unconscious most of that time—I couldn't remember anything other than pain and discomfort. My lungs still felt coated in soot, and I coughed at times. Teeg didn't—I suppose he'd gotten it all out of his system already.
"Go to sleep, baby," Teeg's words were whispered against my skin. My eyes closed immediately.
"Sweetheart, your stomach is growling." That was such a romantic statement to wake to.
"Is it keeping you awake?" I stretched against Teeg—he was leaning on an elbow and looking down at me.
"Reah, I'm tempted to ignore our hunger and love you instead."
"I'll fix you something." I sat up in bed. It hit me, then. All those people. Still just as dead.
"Don't think about it," Teeg pulled my hand away from my forehead and slid me across the sheets until I was huddled against him. "It'll be all right," he soothed. I hoped he was right—even if I had no idea when everything might be all right. "You don't have knobby knees," he smoothed a large hand down my legs. "You lied to me."