There was no need to push the kitten on Ecryua. Jint turned to leave her.
“Wait,” she said, grabbing him by the arm. “Is that cat cute?”
“Yeah. Super cute. Among the kittens are raigh (pure white), striped just like Dyaho, and cnasraigh (black-and-white) fur patterns. But the striped one already has someone lined up.”
“Did you name them?”
“No, not yet. I think their owners have that right.”
Ecryua was staring a hole into him.
“Do you, uh, want one?”
“No,” she said, letting go of his arm. “I’ll be able to see your cat again soon.”
“I don’t know if you will, actually...”
They were called “Abh cats,” but they lived no longer than other cats.
“I know I will,” she declared.
“What makes you say that?”
“Vice Hecto-Commander Abliar will soon return, which means you’ll also soon return. Along with your cat.”
“That’s silly. Lafier reenlisting is her business, and me reenlisting is mine. I’m not Lafier’s accessory.”
“You just don’t understand.” And with that, Ecryua turned on her heels.
Jint watched as she walked away. The Star Forces was a vast institution. Jint figured that even if both of them ended up returning, there was no guarantee they’d be able to be together.
“Forgive my sneaking suspicion, Your Highness, but might you want to stay here, deep down?” asked Samson.
“Huh?” Lafier turned to look at him. “No, that’s not true. Why do you think that?”
“It’s just a hunch.”
“I got the same feeling,” said Sehrnye, concerned. “Your Highness seems listless, somehow. Is the current situation not to your satisfaction?”
“Your concern is unnecessary,” she said sternly.
“Three minutes until abordage,” announced the ship speakers. This time around, he was scheduled to transfer directly from ship to ship, as opposed to boarding a conveyance ship as a ferry.
“What is Jint doing?” said Lafier, happy to use the announcement as an excuse to change the subject.
Jint was here now, accompanied by his automated luggage. The starpilots of the Flicaubh assembled for a patfocechoth (gangway sendoff). After exchanging some ceremonial remarks, the Hyde Countdom group transferred to the Baucbiruch.
Over on the Baucbiruch, Investigator Yestesh and his subordinates, the top officials of the ship, lined up to salute him. Lafier stole a peek at Jint, who was standing beside her. He seemed a touch dispirited. Anger flared inside her; had it been a mistake, for her to be here?
“Chest out, Jint!” she whispered. “This is your battlefield.”
“My... ‘battlefield’?”
“Isn’t it? If it’s not, then I’m going back,” she said, and she meant it.
“No, you’re right,” said Jint, sticking his chest out. “If I fail here, I won’t die, but others might. And if my thoughtlessness ever makes victims out of decent people, then I’ll spend the rest of my life hating myself. I’m not going to live as long as you, but I still plan on living a hundred more years. And a century of misery is a long, long century.”
“I don’t need a soliloquy.”
“Right, right. But thanks for reminding me. The Countdom of Hyde is absolutely my battlefield.” His expression now cheerier by half, Jint strode forward. But Lafier got the sense both his face and his gait were a brave front.
Atop the chaise, the kittens were a tangled ball of frolicking fur. Meanwhile, their mother, Sercruca, was grooming on the carpet. It was difficult to believe that until very recently, the members of that litter would mewl betrayal when taken mere inches from their mother. Their father, Dyaho, was napping on the table. Jint reckoned he was overthinking it, but damned if it didn’t look like Dyaho was sulking.
One of the kittens slipped down from the chaise. With the typical Abh cat cry that so tickled the soul, it called out — for what, Jint didn’t know.
A hand reached for the kitten. The hand of a certain Abliar, who was seated beside the chaise.
The Royal Princess didn’t even look at it as she carried it back up onto the chair. It carried on playing with its siblings, evidently forgetting its embarrassing slip-up in a matter of seconds.
“If that isn’t the picture of peace,” said Jint.
“This isn’t ‘peace,’” Lafier stated, not taking her eyes off the screen projected from her wristgear. “This is just time in need of killing.”
“Oh, c’mon. A little leisure time’s a good thing.” Jint gazed out the window at the snowy scenery.
Suddenly, Sehrnye’s face took up part of the wall. “Your Highness, Your Excellency. A reply has arrived from the landworld administration.”
“Please send it to my wristgear,” said Jint.
“At once, sir,” she said, lowering her head. “Do you have any other requests?”
“Call Mr. Yestesh to the office, if you could. That’s it.”
“Understood,” said Sehrnye, before disappearing.
“Has that woman become your personal secretary?” asked Lafier.
“Yeah, but only temporarily,” said Jint. “Her job is antimatter fuel tank overseer, but here in ‘mine countdom,’ there aren’t any to oversee, so she’s got nothing to do. So she’s playing messenger for me, just to kill time.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Lafier. “I should have been the one doing that.”
“You?” said Jint, startled. According to most, Lafier would have exhibited much less psychological resistance to the idea of just barging in on him unannounced with whatever news, rather than playing messenger.
“What will you do now?”
“Work, of course.” Jint operated his wristgear, and the window, the snow, and the brick wall vanished, replaced by an inorganic wall and door. Beyond that door lay the office. Jint stepped through.
“An orbital tower construction base, you say? Oh, of course,” said Yestesh. “I forgot, this territory-nation doesn’t have an orbital tower yet.”
In the Empire, every landworld had an orbital tower, save for one. But the construction plan was exceedingly concrete. It was why the construction base existed. The war started right around when the base was completed, and it had been summarily abandoned. Martin’s star system government had proposed the construction base as a meeting place.
“I’ve never been there, but it seems like it ticks the boxes for a conference venue,” replied Jint, perusing the files attached with the proposal document. “The orbital tower construction plan is alive, and the base is being maintained, so it remains airtight. It also seems easy enough to guard.