"Plasticized penthrite is useful, too, but we don't hand it out as modeling clay." Sasha shifts, remembering all her oldest lessons--sit up straight, control the space around you, green saint, do not look at Reshad's hands on that screen--and meets Seyli's eyes.

"There is no way for us to be safe. There cannot be, as long as Quill is coordinating with heptarchate or hexarchate agents. The only question is whether we move first, or react to our opponents. With Jedao, we must--the proverb I learned is, 'spin the web and watch for scissors'. We listen to what he tells us, and what he omits, and check everything we can. The judgment on what to do with him is not ours alone." Stars in hell, will Ashari have opinions. "But we have some time, on the way to Autumn Pyre, and I expect on the journey through the rift, as well. We can watch, and learn."