“Under normal conditions, maybe. Given the Auditor already suspects Taam was murdered, it seems likely he would take this as a further sign that Iskat and Thea are not stable enough to sign a Resolution treaty.”

“So that would be a great way to screw things up,” Kiem said grimly. “Even better than killing Taam.”

Jainan shook his head. It gave his stomach a painful twist to even consider the idea, but he couldn’t fault Kiem’s logic.

Kiem broke another square off with his teeth. “Did you see anyone near our flybug at the base?”

“No.”

“I guess we were inside most of the time. And Heaven knows I don’t keep tabs on my flybug at home.”

Jainan glanced at their tent and noticed for the first time that Kiem had picked a site where they weren’t that visible from the air. The overhang provided some cover. “For what it’s worth, it would have been easier to carry out the sabotage at the palace,” Jainan said. “More people come and go from the garages there.

But it could have been either.”

“Or it was an accident.”

“Yes.” Jainan didn’t bother saying any more.

Kiem thoughtfully flicked some crumbs off his leg. “I hope Internal Security does a better job with this investigation than the last one.”

He broke off another ration square and leaned against the backpack, which shifted to reveal something poking out of the top. It was wrapped in Kiem’s spare sweater. The part that was sticking out glinted.

Jainan leaned over and disentangled what looked like a trowel. It was either made of gold metal or convincingly gilded. He raised his eyebrows at Kiem.

“Gardening?”

“Ah,” Kiem said. He looked faintly guilty. “Um. That’s the school prize. I thought we’d better not lose it.”

Jainan weighed it in his hand. It had a solid heft and must have contributed to the weight of the bag. “So we are instead … carrying it over kilometers of trackless tundra?”

“Well. It belongs to the school.”

Chapter 17

“They could get a new one.”

“But this one has all the names on it, see?” Kiem took it and turned it over. “It might be important to someone.”

“A school prize.”

“Just because it’s not important doesn’t mean it’s not important to someone, ”

Kiem said. He must have mistaken Jainan’s look for doubt, because he looked faintly stubborn and said, “I’ll carry it.”

“Mm, no,” Jainan said. He took the trowel back, wrapped it up in the sweater, and stowed it carefully back in the rucksack. “I think it’s a good idea.” It would not have occurred to him to do it. It had obviously not occurred to Kiem not to do it.