The Armsman accepted a coffee bulb but shook his head at the seat, preferring to lean against the balcony rail and gaze around, appearing, alas, exactly like a bodyguard trying to look like a tourist.  Roic was not fond of these exposed positions.  Miles always enjoyed this cafe, when passing through here—this addition to the station was about ten years old, he recollected.

Mark appeared, spotted him—well, Roic—waved, and trod over.  Miles's commercial ship was not leaving for some hours, so Mark had delayed catching the hourly downside shuttle in favor of a few more minutes with his brother.  Sharing the same ship from Kibou-daini had thrown them together for a longer stretch of time than they'd had in years, even if they'd both spent much of the time en route in their separate cabins devising detailed directives to send ahead to their respective associates.  Busy and absorbed was, on the whole, good.  Beat the hell out of insane and dead, for example.

Mark sat down, swept up the last bulb, popped the cap with his thumb, took a swig, and grimaced.  When he had time, Mark was a bit of a gourmet, finicky in his tastes for food and drink.  Miles didn't think the flavor was so bad, for transfer station bulb coffee.  As a practical matter, you had to allow the modifiers.

"Sorry I'm late," said Mark.  "At the last moment before disembarking, I got a message from Kareen, and I wanted to play it right away."

In the privacy of his cabin.  Miles nodded understanding.  Mark had left Kareen and Raven behind to start the setup for the new Durona clinic, and incidentally keep an eye on the progress of Jin's affairs, while Mark went ahead to deal with the details on the Escobar end.  The separation from his partner, temporary though it was, left him notably cranky.  Miles thought of Ekaterin and sighed.

"News good or news bad?" Miles asked.  Though if there were anything very bad, he should have received a tight-beam from Vorlynkin.

"Not bad.  Kareen reports Raven successfully revived those two missing friends of Madame Sato's, and they've given some useful testimony to their authorities.  Legal actions against NewEgypt proceed apace, by legal standards, which means glacially by human standards, but they are apparently moving in the right directions, so far.  With the murder charges laid, the NewEgypt execs remain in custody.  The locals accepted a plea bargain of some sort from your friend Oki, whatever you call it when you rat out your comrades in exchange for a lighter sentence."  Mark didn't sound especially disapproving.

Roic, listening, raised his coffee bulb in salute and drank.  Oki hadn't been the worst of the bunch, to be sure.

"I trust my name hasn't turned up in the proceedings," said Miles.