Neleus blushed at that, which meant that, given the color his skin was to start off, he turned almost purple.

“You were always telling us to sort things out for ourselves,” Neleus said. “You never wanted to hear anything about negotiations with the aliens.”

“You don’t think the name of Athene would have got my attention?”

“Too much of it,” Neleus said.

Hermes laughed aloud.

“And she had asked the girls specifically not to tell you,” Neleus went on. “Hilfa didn’t seem dangerous. We could have told you any time there was need. We didn’t tell my brothers or Arete either.”

“What’s this about Hilfa?” I asked. It wasn’t really my place to speak in that kind of company, and they’d been ignoring me so far, but I wanted to know what kind of trouble Hilfa had managed to find, so that I could help the dear dunderhead out of it. How could anyone imagine he might be dangerous?

And that’s why I found myself with Marsilia and Thetis and the two gods an hour later, after a lot of talking and a walk in the cold, on the green basalt street outside Hilfa’s house down by the harbor, three streets over from my own sleeping house. Neleus had gone off to take Alkippe to bed and then go himself to the spaceport, but all the rest of us were there. They had shared an unlikely story about Athene giving Hilfa to Marsilia and Thetis in a box, and beyond that a lot of questions and not enough answers. The only way to get the answers was to talk to Hilfa, seemingly. I insisted on coming along to look out for Hilfa, and Thetis backed me up until Pytheas gave in and let us come along, trusting her social judgement.

Down in the harbor, instead of sconces there’s a strip of light running along the sills of all the buildings, lighting everyone’s faces from underneath. On Hilfa’s street, where a lot of Saeli lived, the lighting ran a little green, which made Thetis and Marsilia look as if they were made out of gold, while Pytheas and Hermes seemed as if they were made out of marble. I could see this really well, because they all turned to look at me. I’d insisted on coming along; now they wanted me to announce that we were there.

It was easier to do it than say anything, so I scratched on the door.