“Yes,” Professor Audel said. “You see, planning failures aside, we—my students and I—think all the Thean sector extraction could be done at half the cost. We’ve started to reach out to the military, but you know what they’re like.

The only way to get them to listen is to beat them over the head with something.

So we need a regolith expert, and then here you came—ah!” She pushed herself up from her desk. “I just remembered where your thesis abacus might be.”

She disappeared into the inner room. Jainan opened his mouth to disclaim any expertise, but she was gone before he could get it out. He was suddenly very aware of Gairad’s eyes on him.

“So,” Gairad said conversationally. “Are you going to skip out on this like you’ve apparently skipped out on everything else?”

Jainan placed his hands very carefully on his knees and said nothing.

“I only ask,” Gairad said, “because I should probably warn Professor Audel. I told her you’ve flaked out on everything you started since you came here, but you saw her. She doesn’t listen to anything that doesn’t involve pressure equations or reptiles.”

Jainan only realized then how much the nausea in his stomach had faded in the last few days, because it was coming back now. Limit the damage. Kiem had trusted him with this and wouldn’t be pleased if he fell at the first hurdle.

“Where did you get that from?”

“It’s common knowledge in the expat circle,” Gairad said. “Which you’d know if you didn’t treat all Theans like we were radioactive.”

Jainan swallowed. “It’s not that.”

“Isn’t it? What is it, then? You’re too good for us since you became an Iskaner?” Gairad crossed her arms. “I thought you just didn’t have time for clan ties to a student, but everyone says you cut them off. Even Lady Ressid. She’s been pissed with you for three years now, by the way.”

Jainan fought the urge to flinch. “I’m sorry,” he said. “There have been diplomatic considerations.”

“The Ambassador didn’t believe you’d see Professor Audel either,” Gairad said. “He’ll be shocked.”

“I’m sorry,” Jainan said again.

Miraculously, that seemed to take some wind out of her sails. “You should

tell Lady Ressid that.”

Jainan just shook his head. He felt his hands were perilously close to shaking; he gripped the edge of the crate to stop them.

“I don’t see why you’re so attached to the Iskaners,” Gairad said. “They’re technically our enemies. Were our enemies.”

“We’ve been unified for decades now,” Jainan said. He knew the lines. He’d had this conversation before, mainly with friends of Taam who didn’t seem to understand the difference between unify and assimilate and why that might matter to Thea. “It was peaceful.”

“Maybe it shouldn’t have been,” Gairad said. She’d picked up her cup again and was pretending to fiddle with it, but Jainan could see her glance at him.

“Maybe we should have fought them off.”