“Nothing.” She bent down to pet Juno. “Korgan is being Korgan. He’s off trying to save the world all by himself and didn’t want anyone to get in his way. I just let him know that wasn’t necessarily how it was going to play out and there was always a step two. It made him a little uneasy.” She straightened and turned toward the fire. “Coffee? And have you fed Juno yet?”

“Yes. And yes, Juno ate before we boarded the helicopter in Casablanca. Not much. She was a little sad at leaving Jeanne. But she knows Lili will take good care of her. Did I tell you that Jeanne talked to her mother on the phone last night?” She smiled. “It went well. They talked about Lili, the new puppy, and nothing else.”

“Because you spoke to her and told her what to say.”

“I gave a few suggestions. But her mother will know herself when she sees Jeanne with Lili together. There’s such a thing as maternal instinct.” She took the cup from Alisa, and her gaze lifted in the direction of where the copter had disappeared. “Korgan’s uneasy? I thought there was something going on. Yet he wasn’t uneasy enough to take you with him to Samlir. From what you told me on the phone this morning, that’s where the action may be starting.”

“Starting, not ending. It’s where you end up that counts.” She shrugged. “He probably would have taken me with him, if I’d pushed it. I didn’t, because I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist trying to mold the situation the way I wanted it to go. But this is Sasha, and I couldn’t take the chance of a wrong move.” She smiled wryly. “Especially not when I had Korgan in the wings, who’s an expert at molding and persuading and making events happen on a planetary scale. Of course I had to use him to take the first step.”

“First step,” Margaret repeated, her gaze on Alisa’s face. “And what’s the second step going to be? You said Korgan wasn’t willing to give up saving the world.”

“Whatever we choose it to be once we get to Jubaldar. We’ll have to see what Korgan and Gilroy come up with at Samlir today.” Alisa tried to make her voice sound casual. “Korgan seemed to have some idiotic idea about going in and contacting Sasha himself. Very impractical.”

“Completely,” Margaret said. “Unless he could find a way to—”

“Masenak would kill them both,” Alisa interrupted harshly. “He’s clever enough to have found out that it was Korgan who ruined everything for him in the Szarnar Jungle. He’ll want to cut his throat. There’s no ‘unless’ about it.”