"Hey, I'm trying to be a respectable colonist here."

"Try harder, then." She kissed him on the mouth.

Rlinda didn't tell him about her real mission, not wanting to mar their quiet dinner together in his dwelling, which had been built by Ildiran colonists. She had brought some of his favorite foods, a nice bottle of wine, new entertainment packages, and a fancy shirt she knew he would never wear. She had called it a "colony-warming" gift.

"To tell the truth, I'm not surprised to see that you found an excuse to come here." BeBob took a bite of the tenderized stew she had prepared in his small kitchen area. "If I didn't think you'd figure out my coded message, I would never have risked sending it. I assume General Lanyan isn't too happy about any captain who goes AWOL."

"Aww, he had no right to conscript you in the first place, and I've never forgiven him for confiscating my merchant fleet. How's my ship, by the way?"

He raised his eyebrows. "TheBlind Faith is only ten percent yours. She's fine-except for the empty fuel tank. Not much more than a big lawn ornament right now."

"Prop her struts up on creteblocks and let the weeds grow all around," Rlinda said. "Then you'll be a real dirt-bound homebody."

He sipped the dark red wine she had poured for him. "I'm happy here, you know. Crenna's a nice place, good weather. You should hear the wind through the flutewoods. Could be an ideal place to settle down-by choice rather than necessity. I, uh, wouldn't mind having you around, Rlinda-and not just for your wonderful cooking, either."

She laughed with warm delight. "I knew I came here for a reason. In tough times, flattery is hard to come by."

He set his wineglass down. "But, much as my ego would like to believe it, visiting me wasn't your only reason for traveling here. Need any help?"

She wasn't surprised that he had guessed, and so she told him everything.

Davlin Lotze was already waiting outside theCuriosity when Rlinda returned to her ship an hour after dawn. Hands empty, he stood like a statue, the left side of his face scratched with faint scars as if some predator had tried to claw his eye out. He was muscular, exuding intelligence, watchfulness, and a demeanor of utter competence. "I believe Chairman Wenceslas sent you for me," he said. "Even so, bringing the medicine was a nice gesture."

She measured him with her eyes. "You don't believe in simple human charity?"

"I don't believe inBasil's simple human charity." He ran his gaze over theCuriosity. "Looks like a good ship. Is it well supplied?"

"The Chairman had me put aboard everything we'd need for our little expedition: digging and analysis tools, a survival camp, food supplies, water extractors. Ten thousand clean crossword puzzles in the database."