“Two broken collarbones, three broken ribs. Lots of bruises, sprained joints from the impact. Raya just finished pinning his collarbones and taping his ribs. They were rolling him into good old Room 7 when Dek and I left for the aircar gate. He was feeling lots better as the painkillers took effect.”

At another slight lull in the conversation, Talina turned to see Cinque almost skipping down the steps. The man was a study in black with his inky garb, his dark gaze taking in the room—no doubt reading the unrest from the tone in the voices, the defiant postures.

He turned in their direction and settled himself on Dek’s corner of the bar, resting on an elbow as he took in the room. “You people never seem to have a boring moment. Quetzal raids, murdered nobles, downed shuttles, dramatic rescues gone bad”—he gestured theatrically toward the room—“not to mention talk of grabbing the Board Appointed Inspector General, and . . . excuse me? Tossing him out to die in the bush?”

Talina gave him her most humorless smile. “There are faster ways to piss people off here, but not many. Leaving Kylee and Falise out there to die? The good Inspector General doesn’t really understand Donovanian etiquette.”

“Indeed.” Cinque gestured to Inga, pointing at Talina’s half-empty stout and tossing a coin out on the bar. “Nor does he seem to understand Transluna’s. When word gets back that he also flew off and abandoned a high-ranking Taglioni to her fate? I wonder what Derek will do when he hears?”

“He’s on the way out to find them,” Kalico told him as she lifted her whiskey. “Cinque, make light of it as you will, Soukup just did the equivalent of lighting a fuse atop a one-ton block of magtex. Depending on what Dek finds out there, Soukup could find himself locked on the other side of the fence with an armed mob standing at the gate to make sure he doesn’t get back in.”

“Ah, but Supervisor, you can order them—”

“Not here, she can’t.” Talina glared to make her point. “And I’m still making up my mind what I’m going to do about that silly Corporate toilet-licker.”

“Ah,” Shig said in that evenly balanced voice of his, “Talina, your tamas is speaking, since both Dek and Kylee have now been put at risk. How do you expect Inspector General Soukup to find his tao unless he has time for reflection?”

“By kicking his ass right back into samsara,” she growled. “He can start over as a rat’s liver.”