Dushau

Jindigar sighed. There was no hint of tension in that sigh, no tremor in his long, nailless fingers as they caressed the controls. "We need a diversion."

"I'm getting a message from Rantan. Shall I put him on screen?"

"No." Jindigar licked his dark indigo lips. "He's stalling for time. Arlai, I disarm your Allegiancy law patch. You are to operate under League Status Ten until further notice. I am not episodic. Verify."

"Verifying. Verified. Allegiancy legals dismantled. League Status Ten engaged." The simulacrum emitted a heart-deep sigh. "Oh, that feels good. What now?"

"Put me on the open cha

"Open."

Facing the pickup so his obvious Dushau countenance went to every officer ma

After hearing the Emperor's accusations against the Oliat Dushau, surely everyone would assume that list was of the habitable planets Dushau had conspired to withhold from the Empire. If Rantan fired, he would be publicly guilty of sabotage of his own Empire.

"Arm my command module, and I will signal manually for departure. Put Rantan on my screen, and keep that wide circuit open so everyone can hear what I say to him, but don't let them see Krinata."

The Emperor's image assembled before Jindigar. "You will not..." started the Lehiroh.

Jindigar interrupted without ceremony. "Dushaun has broken diplomatic relations with the Allegiancy, but we will be happy to renegotiate at any time. I take my departure now offering no censure to your government for the treatment I received at your hands. Let there be peace and good win."

On the last word, Krinata felt a lurch and then a gut-wrenching twist of hypertiming drive. But they were deep in :he gravity well of a star. It was illegal to detime so close to an inhabited planet; an onboard Sentient wasn't supposed to be able to do such things. When her vision and the instruments cleared, they showed the austere blackness of deep space. A position plot indicated they were way beyond Onerir's system, andfar off the usual traffic lanes.

"Did they track us?" asked Jindigar.

"Through hypertime? They don't have the math," scoffed Arlai. "I didn't even leave a wake of timeripples. I'm proud of myself. I didn't know I could still do that."

"I'm glad you didn't share your doubts with me before hand," said Jindigar. "I do recall adding a patch to your League Status Ten program forbidding you to endanger incarnate lives."

"You did, and it's still there." His simulacrum reassured Jindigar intimately, "I was ninety-nine percent confident. Next time, though, it will be one hundred percent confidence. To us, that's the supreme experience of life."

Jindigar passed a hand over his eyes. "Of course, Arlai, I understand. Systems check."

•'No damage. All systems optimal."

"You're doing better than I am. Set random course and stay clear of any Allegiancy astrogation probes. We need time to decide what to do next."

As he spoke, he wilted alarmingly. Krinata yanked free of the webbing and went to him. "Arlai, is he all right?"

"Paying the inevitable penalty," he said grimly. "I'm sending a scurry to take him to my sickbay. Watch the piol!"

The pup was happily chewing on a cable he had pried out of a crack between two panels. She scooped him up, set him on her shoulder, and helped Arlai's multiarmed servitor move the now limp Jindigar onto the flattop of a scurry while he muttered laboriously, "I'm all right. Just tired."

At the sickbay hatch, Arlai projected his image before Krinata as the scurry swept Jindigar out of sight. "I've a surprise for you. Come.''

He started off, but she held back, protesting, "But..."

"There's nothing you could do for Jindigar now. I've tended many Dushau in my time, Krinata. Trust me?"

"Of course, but..."

"Come," Arlai urged once more, starting away along a side corridor.

She had no choice but to follow. Arlai lectured, "Truth is fitted to house thirty to forty incarnates, so we'll rattle about a bit on this trip. Feel free to spread your things as far as you like, I've programmed my scurries to aid you by voice Command. When Jindigar is better, he'll probably give you other authority keys to command me with."

Her nerves were still tingling from the afterwash of fear, the tensions in her still unresolved. She took deep breaths, determined not to faint. "But Arlai, I've no things to spread," she said, feeling stupid. She didn't even remember if she'd brought the lightcase onto the lander.

"Just a few more steps, Krinata. Come on, I want to get a telemband on you. You don't look too well."

"Oh, I don't need help."

But Arlai presented her before an open door that led into her very own apartment. Dizzy with nightmarish disorientation, she drifted forward. She ran her hand over the upholstery of the lounge she'd slept in when Jindigar had been there. No, the worn spot was gone. And there was no stain. Suddenly, perspective snapped into place, and she realized this was an elaborate copy of her apartment's sitting room.

"Fiella gave me the specs. Like it?" Arlai was like an eager child presenting a school project.

"Oh, Arlai, it's so perfect, for a moment I felt as if all this hadn't really happened, and I'd wakened at home!"

"You do like it." He showed beautiful blue Dushau teeth in a human grin. "Fiella gave me your favorite recipes, too."

A delightful aroma of breakfast wafted past her nose, and her stomach responded with a grumble. She suddenly felt very tired. But when Arlai turned to leave, she stopped him. "You're sure Jindigar will be all right? You're sure we're safe here?"

"Probabilities approaching unity." Then his optimism faded. "Except..."

"Except what?" Her appetite vanished.

"Jindigar will live, Krinata. He's not mortally injured. But his personality might change."

"Renewal?" She'd never seen a Dushau in that state. No non-Dushau had.

"No. It would take a lot more than this. But when his grieving is finished, there will be much he doesn't remember. I am not sufficient to nurse him all the way through this. He should have Dushau companionship."

She swallowed in a dry throat. "Can you accept my order to take us to Dushaun?"

He blinked slowly. "No. He doesn't want to commit us to that course yet."

"Do you have any idea where he will want to go?"

"No. I don't know who he will be. We're just going to have to wait. It's not fair to ask more of him now."

"That's true. And if we're safe, there's no reason to hurry, is there?"

"We are safe, Krinata. Safer than on any planet."

She felt her knees shaking again. It had been more than seventy-two hours since she'd really slept. "All right. We'll wait."

Again Arlai turned to go, rather than simply blinking out. She called, "And Arlai? Thank you. You're a truly splendid Sentient."

Dushau couldn't blush, but he cast his eyes down barely smothering an ecstatic grin. "I am complimented."

The food was as perfect as the apartment. She couldn't imagine how long Arlai had been working on the project. It had only been a half day since he'd gotten her out of bed. Of course, she owned nothing original or difficult to synthesize, not on a programmer's salary. But if she hadn't known it before, she would have had to conclude that Arlai was in some terrific class of Sentients beyond her ken.

She slept the clock around, and then some. And when she'd roused enough to inquire about Jindigar, Arlai's version of Fiella told her he was still sleeping. After breakfast, she realized the piol was missing and went in search of him.