“You should go into production with those reflector bracelets,” he told Eazi. “Battle Center would be interested.” And he would forever be grateful that Eazi had given her the only one he had. It had saved her life numerous times on this trip alone.
“I’m still figuring out how it works,” Eazi told him. “But when I do, that’s not a bad idea.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault people want me out of the way, especially as I had no say in being here in the first place.”
Fiona’s comment made Hal’s chest seize up a little. Shehadn’thad any say in being here, but he was glad that she was. She didn’t talk very often about Earth anymore, and now he wondered if it was because she knew she couldn’t return, and notbecause, as he’d thought, she’d embraced her new life with the Grih.
Fee picked up the other garment bag and unzipped it. “Ooh, Eazi. This looks really nice.”
She held it up against her, and then eyed him. “What are you wearing? The formal clothes you wear to our fancy dinners?”
“No, my captain’s dress uniform. That’s the way we have to do things on Balco, given the relationship we have with them.” Hal picked up his own garment bag. “And because Eazi had to wait for theIlliumto get back to Larga Ways so I could pick up the outfits he’d made for you, we’ve only got half an hour to get ready.”
“At least I won’t have to put the false ears back on,” Fiona said, touching the rounded curve of her ear. “I’ve been pretending to be Grihan for the last two days and to be honest, I was getting irritated by them. I can be me again.”
He would never want her to be anyone else.
They were ten minutes late,but Hal realized that didn’t matter. There were still plenty of people arriving at the city hall.
Massive arched windows flanked the entrance, reflecting the runners and the flashes of color as guests proceeded up a shallow staircase bathed in silver light.
Hal had never been to Distani before, and he was impressed.
Trayla had managed to slip into her dress and disappear before he and Fiona had left the hotel, and he guessed she was already inside, mingling.
When they reached the massive, open doors, Fiona was greeted warmly by a member of staff and they were led inside to a table near a raised hexagonal stage.
One of the organization’s top administrators was waiting for them at the table and gave Fee an approximate time she would be called to stand and make her announcement.
After a few minutes of small talk, the administrator rushed off and they were left to their own devices.
As Fee draped her wrap over the back of her chair, Hal looked around the room. It didn’t seem as if Leader Baruke had arrived yet, but there were people he knew standing near another table—Battle Center commanders he’d dealt with before. They weren’t the only Grih in the room, but they made an impression in their dress uniforms.
“I’ll introduce you to my colleagues,” he murmured to Fee as she stepped close, her hand warm against his back. “It will seem strange if I didn’t.”
She glanced across, saw the Battle Center table. “It will be nice to meet the Battle Center commanders down on Balco. It makes sense for me to know them. They must surely come through Larga Ways, or at least visit.”
That was true. They should have been introduced to her beforehand, but Hal knew most people didn’t really know how to proceed when it came to Fiona.
She and Eazi had carved a place for themselves out of nothing, and there was no precedent for what the protocols were when it came to them.
He looked down at her as he escorted her across the floor toward his fellow Grih, and as it usually did, his heart did a little leap in his chest.
Eazi had made her a floor-length dress of pale green, as light and frothy as the waves on the ocean shores of Xal, his home planet.
The color contrasted with her dark hair—a heavy swing of brown shot through with copper—and her big dark brown eyes.
She was wearing shoes that elevated her height a little, so her head came just above his shoulder.
“Vakeri.” The head of station for Balco, General Olna, raised her hand as they approached.
“General.” Hal gave a Grihan salute and then placed his hand on Fee’s back. “I’d like to introduce you to Fiona Russell, the manager of Larga Ways. Fiona, this is General Olna.”
Fiona and the general murmured their hellos, and a few other senior officers, realizing who was being introduced, crowded closer.
“I didn’t realize you would be here, Vakeri,” one of them said, eyes going from Olna to Hal with interest.
“It was a last minute plan,” Hal said easily. “Fiona had already been invited but I wasn’t sure if theIlliumwould make it back in time. We cut things a little fine, but we made it.”
