Nikola requested that Kaveh ride with him in the armored car back to Los Alamitos, alone, if you please. It took some convincing that it was Nikola’s request, and not his, before they would oblige.

“He needs a new surname,” said Ghasabian, after Nikola had already been boarded. “The one Cora gave us, we can’t use.”

“Why not?”

“Atheatos is fine, but Celaeno apparently means ‘the dark one’ in Ancient Greek. It’s the name of one of the harpies in The Aeneid. Cute joke, but we can’t use it.”

Kaveh laughed. “What did you have in mind?”

“Find out if he has a preference. If he doesn’t, he’ll be assigned a surname.”

“What are they hoping for? Nikola Smith?”

Ghasabian didn’t seem in the slightest bit amused. Clearly, this was a big point of contention. “Just find out if he has a preference. Try not to push him in any direction.”

Kaveh arched an eyebrow. “So . . . what they’re saying is, nothing ‘ethnic.’”

Ghasabian drew his mouth into a thin line, then turned to go, his Captain Picard bald head shining in the afternoon sun.

The inside of the armored car was clearly designed for cargo, for giant bricks of gold bound for Fort Knox, not for human occupants (or alien, for that matter), and so both Kaveh and Nikola stayed awkwardly seated on the floor of the vehicle. There was plenty of room for both of them, but it did make it difficult for Kaveh, who slid around when the vehicle made any sharp turns.

“You’ve been very cooperative since Pershing Square,” Kaveh observed not long after the car started moving. “Doing everything they ask you to do.”

Nikola’s bright eyes dimmed a bit, and the crest on the back of his head folded in. “I DO NOT WISH TO CAUSE MORE HARM.”

“But if we’re all doomed, anyway, why go along with this bureaucracy? Why worry about whether or not you hurt any humans? Why not just do whatever you want?”

“I SEE LITTLE HOPE IN THE LONG TERM. REGARDLESS, IF IT IS YOUR WISH THAT I STAY IN THEIR CUSTODY UNTIL THE MATTER OF OUR LEGAL STATUS IS RESOLVED, THEN I WILL COMPLY.”

Kaveh smiled slyly. “There it is. Little hope. Not no hope.”

Nikola’s head tilted like a dog that had heard a strange noise. “YOU ARE UNABLE TO IMPREGNATE MY LITTLE COUSIN. WHY, THEN, DO YOU MATE WITH HER?”

!!!!

Kaveh’s jaw dropped. What the hell? “Uh . . . I . . . don’t know if we are really alone at the moment. They might have surveillance on us. I can’t talk about that.”

“WHY IS THAT RELEVANT? WOULD THERE BE PUNITIVE MEASURES IF YOUR GOVERNMENT WERE TO FIND OUT? HAVE YOU DONE SOMETHING IMMORAL? HAVE YOU DONE HER HARM?”

“No!” he snapped. “It’s a private matter. It’s none of their business. But no, it doesn’t cause harm.”