Page 163 of Commander’s Mate

Then he touched two fingers to his chest in some Farseek gesture I did not know and inclined his head.

Ari stared.

After a moment, she copied the gesture.

He smiled.

Then walked away.

Ari looked at me.

“What does this mean?”

“I don’t know.”

Tivid, passing behind us, answered.

“It means he acknowledges you as a free equal under protection.”

Ari touched her chest again.

“Equal.”

“Yes.”

She looked back at the charter.

“Words become law?”

“Sometimes.”

She considered that.

“Then words matter.”

I thought of names.

Addresses.

Lot numbers.

Missing coordinates.

“Yes,” I said.

“They do.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Harper

We lost a woman for three hours.

Not physically, which was almost worse.

Her name was Kaeli Sar.

Except medical had her as Kayli Saar.