“You want to go right now?” I had so many other questions. For instance, I wanted to know where the Druff gathered. Walking around Camrose, you only saw Druff when they were engaged on an errand. They never seemed to stop to pass the time of day with their fellows, and I couldn’t recall ever seeing one in a bar or café. Did they have their own designated spaces, or simply congregate in the station’s dusty maintenance ducts?

“Work underway. Ship healing. Much to do.”

I noticed a grease smudge on one of its legs, a smear of dust on another. Nod spent most of its time crawling through access panels and wiring channels, keeping the Trouble Dog fit and flying, and it asked very little in return—just the chance to use scraps and bits of old wire to build itself a nest in the engine room. The least I could do was let it out to spend a couple of hours with its brethren.

“Go on, then.”

“Aye, Captain.” Nod dipped its heads in gratitude, then turned and slouched away on four legs. It held the other two aloft, turning them this way and that as it took in its new surroundings.

I watched Nod follow Clay through the door connecting our hangar bay with the rest of the station. When they had both gone, I tapped my hand against the side of the ship.

“Be good while I’m gone.”

* * *

When I arrived at the House of Reclamation’s embassy on the upper concourse, a harassed-looking adjutant in a crisply ironed uniform ushered me through the foyer and into a back office. He was young and had little drops of sweat on his upper lip.

“You’re expected,” he said, and showed me into the ambassador’s office.

Framed prints graced the walls, depicting snub-nosed naval carriers shaped like baton rounds. A fish tank bubbled in one corner, diaphanous jellyfish wafting in its artificial currents.

“Sally.”

Ambassador Odom rose from behind his desk and we shook hands.

“Ambassador.”

He gestured me to a seat, and then returned to his chair. A pot of tea was waiting. He poured two cups and pushed one over to me. It was green and steaming.

“I was sorry to hear about George Walker.”

“Thank you.” I cleared my throat. “He was a good man. We’ll miss him very much.”

He dropped a sweetener into his drink and stirred it with a spoon. The metal clinked against the inside of the china cup. He frowned at me across the wooden desk. “Was it your fault?”

I clasped my hands in my lap. “I didn’t have him in sight when the creature took him.”

“He was on his own, then?”

“I was with him.” My lips and tongue were dry, but I couldn’t face the tea. “I had my back to him. I warned him not to get too close to the water’s edge, but…”