“You’ve been waiting since yesterday?” asked Woolf. He turned on Vinci. “Morgan is killing our people—we are dying, in war and in hospitals, every day. Every hour. You have to get us in sooner.”

“But not before me,” said the Partial doctor. “We all have business that can’t be delayed.” She looked at Vinci. “Are you her assistant? Can you get her a message?”

“I’m just a soldier, ma’am.”

“Is she not here?” asked Marcus. “I mean, is she out on the front lines or something? Is she in a different city? We can go to her if that’s easier.”

“She’s here,” said the doctor, pointing at a set of wide double doors on the northern wall. “She just . . . isn’t available.”

“What is she doing that she can’t even see us?” asked Woolf. “Is she busy? Who is she talking to if she isn’t talking to any of the people who need her?”

“We’re in the middle of a war,” said Vinci. “She’s leading that war from a central hub; she can’t just leave it for everyone who comes to visit.”

One of the human soldiers sneered, a huge man rippling with muscles. “We could force our way in.”

“That’s not the best tactic when we’re trying to be diplomatic,” said Woolf.

“Is there anything you can do to hurry it up?” asked Marcus. He gestured to the doctor. “I mean, I know you’ve probably thought of everything already, but . . . I don’t know, can we send her a message? Can we tell her why we’re here? We’re the first humans in the city in twelve years, proposing a peace treaty and a medical alliance, that’s got to pull some weight.”

“I know it’s important,” said Vinci. “That’s why I brought you here. But I warned you it would be hard, and you’re going to have to be patient.”

“That’s entirely reasonable,” said Marcus. “We’ll wait.”

“Except it’s the same story they told me yesterday,” said the doctor, raising her eyebrow. “My report is just as vital, almost certainly more so, but Trimble sees people on her own schedule, when she wants to, and not before.”

“Then we’ll wait,” said Woolf. “As long as it takes.”

Marcus wondered how many people would die, both here and at home, while they waited.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE