Nolan rose to his feet and tossed a few bills on the table to cover his portion of the meal. “I think it’s too bad when an unfortunate gulden girl has to make money from pleasing a prick like you,” he replied coolly. “I’ve got things to do. I’ll see you later.”

So that left a fairly silent party behind him; and, once back at the Biolab, he discovered that silence had descended upon the offices as well. All the others were working in a solitary state in their own labs, and no one looked up as he passed door after door.

He was checking on Melina, but she was nowhere to be found. He hesitated, then sought out Pakt, who was alone in his own office, studying something under a microscope.

“Pakt,” Nolan said quietly, and the big guldman looked up. He was wearing a neutral expression, and Nolan kept his voice formal. “I was wondering if Melina was all right, but I can’t find her. Do you know where she is?”

“I sent her home for the day. And Colt. For today and tomorrow, in fact. As far as I can tell, they were equally at fault, but I can’t tolerate such behavior from either of them. From any of you.”

Nolan nodded. “I understand. Some of the others—” he paused, feeling disloyal, and plunged on. “Some of them are pretty upset.”

Pakt nodded and ran a hand through his copper hair. “That’s true on both sides of the color line,” he said gravely. “That’s why I sent each of them home. I cannot allow this to recur or get out of hand. And I’m not going to play favorites.”

“Are you going to tell Cerisa?”

“I’ll have to. If she finds out from someone besides me, it will create distrust between us, and I can’t do my job without Cerisa’s trust. But she won’t want to know the details as long as everything’s under control.”

“Melina might go to Cerisa, you know. If she’s mad enough.”

“She might. I don’t think she will. And Colt certainly won’t.”

Nolan knew he should leave, but Pakt’s voice had grown friendlier the longer they spoke, and he had questions only Pakt could answer. “Why does he care, anyway?” he burst out, stepping a little deeper into the room. “Colt? Why does he care who Melina takes for a lover? Nobody pays any attention to all of his women, though he seems to have hundreds of them.”

“Hardly hundreds,” Pakt said, sounding a little amused. “But Colt certainly does like to play the field.”

“So? How can he set himself up to judge somebody else?”