Page 149

Tavi's mouth curved. “I have no evidence. Regrettably.”

The image of the enormous, scarred Kharovian commander performing voices for children was so unexpected that Kesta stored it carefully away for future use. Especially the part about the voices.

She carried the clay tablet to the infirmary the next morning. Sera's expression changed before Kesta finished placing it on the workbench. The healer rested both hands beside it without touching the names.

“You found the roof.”

“I found your escaped patient first.”

“That is an ongoing problem.”

“You knew the children were tracking orbital passes.”

“Yes.”

“And keeping extraction records.”

Sera nodded.

Kesta looked at the columns again. “Why are children being extracted?”

“I do not know.”

“Families shouldn't even be here.”

A tired sadness moved over Sera's face. “None of us should be here, Kesta.”

“That isn't what I meant.”

“I know.”

Sera pulled a stool closer and lowered herself onto it. Morning light from the upper vent caught the pale scars across her hands and the missing smallest finger on her left.

“The empire sometimes condemns bloodlines along with individuals. Some species carry territorial memory across generations. Some produce abilities the empire cannot reproduce reliably. Others simply come from populations it would rather disperse than govern.”

Kesta's stomach tightened.

“Children make the adults easier to control.”

“Yes.”

“And they make a long-term population.”

Sera's eyes lifted to hers. Kesta thought of Horan's endocrine implant, the compatibility records that had sent her toward Dreven, and the orbital platforms changing pattern above camps the empire officially ignored.

“A test population.”

Sera did not answer. She didn't need to.

Kesta leaned against the workbench. “You've seen signs.”

Sera's fingers curled slightly against her skirt.

“I have seen infants examined by machines that were not looking for illness. I have watched fertility rise after certain supply shipments and fall when those shipments stopped. Children from unrelated species have developed tremors during the same orbital windows.”

“How long?”

“Years.”