“I want to fight.” She puffed up as if to make herself bigger. “I’m tough as any of you.”
Behind me, Tregen suddenly found the harbor view extremely interesting. Pasek cleared his throat.
“I know you are,” I said.
“I’m a good shot.” Her lower lip popped out. “You said so.”
This was technically accurate. I had put a small training blaster in her hands once, at Salie’s explicit permission, and she had hit the target twice out of four attempts. “You are,” I said.
“Then I should fight.”
That couldn’t have been more out of the question. The mere thought of this precious little girl anywhere near danger made my gut turn inside out. “Not this time, Aila. I need you for something else.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What?”
I bent down to her level, then picked her up, because she was within arm’s reach. She allowed this without protest, which meant she was at least willing to hear the offer before rejecting it.
“You’ll have the most important job in this village,” I said. “Taking care of Silli.”
She looked at me. “Silli?”
“While I’m dealing with whatever’s coming, I need to know he’s fed and safe and not doing anything naughty near the water.” I met her eyes. “I’m assigning you, specifically.”
The crossed arms loosened slightly. “What does he eat?”
“Fish,” I said. “He prefers the eyes.”
She recoiled so hard I had to tighten my grip to keep her from going over backwards. “Theeyes?” Aila said.
I nodded. “He loves them. He’d eat only them and toss the rest of the fish if he could.”
She wrinkled her nose. “That’s disgusting.”
“He doesn’t think so.”
She stared at me for a moment and then, slowly, the objection left her face. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll take care of Silli. But I’m not picking the eyes out of fish for him.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “He can do that part himself.”
I set her down. She dropped off the wall and headed back across the square with her chin up.
Maive took my hand as we walked on. The conversation moved to other things, like patrol rotations, the location of the second medical kit, whether Pasek and Tregen’s cousin in the east cluster could be trusted to stay put when the timecame. Pasek’s considered opinion was not entirely, but probably enough.
I didn’t say the rest of what I’d thought when I told Aila she had the most important job. I’d meant every word. I just hadn’t told her the other part: that I wasn’t certain I’d be back for Silli when it was over.
I hoped I was wrong about that.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Wake up before your enemies do
No alarms had goneoff in the night.
I lay there taking stock of that, which had become a habit. No alerts from the perimeter devices. Nothing from the wrist comm or B2. I got up, pulled on my clothes, and walked out to the deck. Now, we were all in a state of waiting. Alert vigilance was what it would be until the Rivonok arrived.
The morning was cool and clear. The ocean below looked invitingly calm. Silli rolled over in the little fluffy bed I’d made for him in the living room.
