“We always keep our word, Natalie. Can I call you Nat? You Earthlings have this ridiculous idea that agreements made under duress should have no validity, but we have a more practical attitude. If you don’t keep your word in this kind of situation, you have no negotiating power in any future confrontations.”

“And you have the authority to make offers like this?”

I glanced at Nat, frowning. Was she actually considering the offer?

Karen laughed. “Kae-Ah and I—that’s Arley Montrose to you—are the founders and lead architects of this project. If we can’t make commitments, no one can.”

Nat looked at me and made a sideways motion with her head. She said to Karen, “We’ll need to talk about this,” then marched off toward the central elevator. Patrick and I hurried to catch up.

Not a word was spoken until we were seated in the conference room. Nat looked up into the air. “Sheldon, is that statement about Loranna keeping their word true?”

“Yes, but only in the same way as deals with the devil or wishes to genies in your literature. You’d want to make sure the terms were very, very clearly defined.”

Patrick gaped at Nat, horrified. “You’re not seriously considering taking—”

“Jesus, Patrick,” Nat said, cutting him off. “I’m trying to figure out how much we can trust what she says. For instance, that thing about being one of two lead architects … ”

“Yeah, I was wondering about that myself,” I replied. “Sounds kind of small-time. I’d assumed that the entire Lorannic race was behind this. Sheldon, any thoughts?”

“It does seem like a very small footprint for the operation, if you assume even a single Lorannic tribe is involved. You’d think—”

“Tribe?” I interjected.

“Like your nations, but not as geographically well-defined. Tribes are made up of clans, which you could think of as large families. They are loyal to the tribe, but pursue their own interests.”

“Weird.”

“Not all intelligent species use the same social structures, Jack.”

Nat frowned. “How small can clans be?”

“Possibly as few as a couple dozen Loranna. Below that, they would be unable to defend themselves and would likely be raided and absorbed. However … ”

“Yes?” I prompted.

“However,” Sheldon continued, “we discussed earlier that the whole operation seemed very efficient and practiced. This is inconsistent with a small, marginalized, and possibly desperate clan.”

Nat’s frown deepened. “We need to get into the Harris computer systems. We need answers.”

Chapter Thirty-One: Reaction

Chapter Thirty-One: Reaction

Day 24. Sunday

I was awakened by Sheldon’s voice over the cling-on. “Alert! Activity in the Harris office.”

I sat up. “What?”

“Was I not speaking English? Perhaps I spoke too swiftly for you. Let me try again. Accccccttttivvvvvittttty innnnnnnn ttttthhhhhhhe—”

“All right, Sheldon. Jesus. What’s happening? Specifically?”