“Joy to you, yes, I’m here, yes, but go inside now. You can tell everyone I’m here and I’ll come in and talk to them, but I need to speak to my brother first.”

They protested, of course, but Pytheas shooed them inside, some laughing and some crying. He closed the door and turned back to us. The garden seemed very dark and quiet without the children and the bar of light from the door. I realized that Pytheas was much better lit than anything else, as if the starlight were concentrating itself on him.

“Necessity?” Pytheas said to Hermes, as if there had been no interruption.

“Your step-granddaughter Marsilia is the mother of my daughter Alkippe, but I’ve never been here before today. So I need to discover how this came to be and set it straight.”

Pytheas winced. “I appreciate how uncomfortable this is, but—” he began.

“No, wait,” I said, wanting to clarify things. “You died, and you’re here, and that’s not the most important thing that’s happened today. I’ve found out the father of my daughter is the god Hermes, and that’s not the most important thing that’s happened today either. Even this time loop, disconcerting as it is, isn’t the most important. You have to know, there’s a human ship in orbit.”

Both gods looked at me with the same infuriating lack of expression, the same air of fathomless calm indifference.

“A human ship!” I repeated. “Recontact with the wider universe! A chance to rejoin the human mainstream and influence it!”

“Yes,” Pytheas said, with a wave of his hand. “But you can deal with that perfectly well yourself.” I gasped. “You’re a Gold of the Just City, you can deal with it, or what have we been doing here? Hermes, I can’t find Athene.”

“Can’t find her?” Hermes looked down shiftily.

“Try reaching for her.”

“Can’t I sort out this mess first?” He gestured towards me, sounding petulant.

“It’ll take less time than arguing. If you can find her, then—”

Hermes shook his head. “Nothing.”

“Go outside time and try.”

“Look, let me talk to Marsilia for five minutes and then stay here for two heartbeats while I sort this out, and I’ll do all the running around looking for Athene you want,” Hermes said.

“She’s missing?” I asked. I had a really bad feeling about this. “Lost?”

Suddenly I had all of their attention. Hermes seemed particularly intent.

“It seems so. Have you seen her?” Pytheas asked.