Kira's pistol lined up on a young man in the jacket of a Mechanic apprentice. She stared at him as he stared back, wordless.

"Gari," Kira said.

"Kira?" Gari stared at her pistol. "Why are you threatening me?"

"I need to know that you won't give us away," Kira said, the words almost sticking in her throat.

"You don't need to hold a pistol on me to know that," Gari said, offended.

"I guess not." Kira set the safety and put away her weapon.

"You know this guy?" Jason asked.

"Yeah. Gari is one of Aunt Alli and Uncle Calu's boys. He's sort of my big brother."

Gari shook his head at her. "Do you know what my mother would say if she knew you'd pointed your pistol at me? What are the rules, Kira? Don't point unless you're willing to shoot!"

"I was willing to shoot," Kira said in a low voice. Gari stared at her again, this time in shock. "I'm sorry. This is really, really important. We can't get caught, and we can't get stopped."

Gari's eyes shifted to Jason, appraising him with cold distrust. "We. That's the guy from the ship from Urth?"

"Yes. His name's Jason. What do you know about this, Gari?"

"What the Urth ship has broadcast several times. And my father got a far-talker message to us telling me and Andi not to help the Urth people."

"Which means you have to help me," Kira said.

"No, it doesn't. What are you doing out alone, sneaking around a rail yard, threatening people, with some guy—"

"I'm not with him," Kira said. "It's not like that at all. I have a job to do."

Jason spoke in that self-mocking way. "She doesn't even like me."

"Neither do I," Gari said. "Not if you've gotten her into some mess."

"Excuse me," Kira said. "I am perfectly capable of getting myself into a mess. Isn't that what the Senior Mechanics tried to say about my mother? That someone else was leading her astray? I'm in this mess because of my decisions." Somehow that didn't sound as good as she had thought it would. "There are lives riding on this, Gari. Millions of lives."

He paused, eyeing her. "Millions? How?"

"Jason has a device from the Urth ship that tells how to use Mage skills to create new weapons. The ship was going to take it back to Urth so they could make lots of those weapons. That's why Jason stole it, and that's why we have to stay hidden until the ship has to leave."

Gari frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Are you sure that's true?"

"I'm positive."

"I…guess I have to not interfere."

"Don't tell anyone you saw us," Kira added.

"Uh-uh. I'm going to tell my parents as soon as they get back to Danalee. Don't even try to convince me otherwise."

Kira shrugged. "Aunt Alli and Uncle Calu should understand. But my mother can't get involved. You know why."