It was Wednesday before Brigadier General Porter met with her. She was so used to being blown off and disrespected by this man, she actually stopped in surprise when she entered the conference room and saw him seated at the front of the table. In uniform, surrounded by his underlings, as well as Sol and Dr. Sev.

“Have a seat,” he said, scratching some notes on a notepad and not looking up at her.

Cora obeyed, taking the seat next to Sol, who also seemed keen not to look at her. After a few moments of awkward note-scratching silence, Porter began. “Okay. According to your report, you have not received any communication from Scio since last Friday.”

“That’s correct, sir.” It was only mostly a lie; technically, Saturday had been the last she’d heard from him, but eh.

“Is it common for Scio to go this long without communicating?” he asked, still not looking at her. Cora knew he was doing this on purpose to get under her skin, to show how little she mattered in his esteem. Knowing that this was his tactic did not mean it wasn’t effective.

“Obviously, I can’t read his mind, but he seems upset at . . . the implication that the army would force him to do anything he didn’t want to do.”

“I cannot help but notice that, as his interpreter, you seem just as eager to keep him from cooperating as he is.”

“It’s not my job to try to convince him to do anything,” said Cora. “Everyone at ROSA knew that if you push them too far, they’ll stop cooperating. You cannot bully him into doing what you want.”

At long last, the man looked at her. “And you honestly want to tell me that Scio is sitting in his quarters, with a rogue ETI running around out there, doing nothing?”

“I say this with complete honesty; I do not know what he is doing. He won’t tell me.” It was refreshing to be able to say something true for once.

“Okay, well, we don’t have the resources to deal with an aggressive ETI—”

“Aggressive?” she countered. Sol shot her a look to zip it.

“I don’t know how else you’d describe what he did,” said Porter. “Breaking every window in sight and immediately reconstituting them was a display of power. A warning. Of course the DOD is going to see that as an act of aggression. Moreover, we still have little understanding of why they behave the way they do, or what might precipitate it.”

“Yes, we do . . . sir.”

Porter turned his head robotically. “If we do, Sabino, then it might behoove you to clarify.”