"S ince I didn't hear anything all day, I assume everything is going as we planned," Kris said.
Jack and General Bruce were staring out the fake window. It now had several maps with tracks on them, as well as tables and schedules.
"I would have told you at supper," Jack said.
"I was really glad not to have business impinge on my kid time."
"I can't tell you how glad I was, too," Jack said.
"What's the word on the street?" Kris asked.
"Per Admiral Tong's intel feelers, the demonstrators are pretty calm. They seem to think they have you trapped in the embassy now, although they still haven't managed to process just how you got past them. The lieutenants that ate in the two high class restaurants heard a lot of whispering as the clan lordlings did their best to come to terms with yesterday."
"I think they've sent runners off to their superiors," General Bruce said. "and they're waiting for new orders."
"Did we trail the runners?" Kris asked.
"We did," Jack said, "but they did a switch-back in a crowded bazaar and then put several of the runners through a misty tunnel. Kind of hard to keep nanos following the bastards when there is so much water in the air."
Kris raised her eyebrows. "They are learning fast that high tech can be clobbered by low. Okay, how many runners did they send off?"
"Twelve," Bruce replied.
"So, we may have as many as twelve major clan groups concentrating on this demonstration," Kris concluded.
"Or maybe they sent two each from six different clans," Jack pointed out.
"Okay, we face from one to twelve major clan groups involved here," Kris said, eyeing Jack ruefully, "with several other clan groupings involved to lesser degrees."
"It seems very likely," Jack agreed.
"Okay," Kris began, "this op should come down early tomorrow morning. The kids have tired me out. I'm going to bed and get some rest before midnight. Jack, you want to get some rest, too?"
Jack tossed her a look that said, "rest," or "rest ."
She shrugged that off and did her best not to sashay to their night quarters. Okay, maybe she didn't try all that hard.
"General Bruce, set up a duty section to watch this, then get some sleep yourself."
"Will do, General."
* * *
K ris was comfortably in bed by the time Jack joined her.
"How was your day with the kids?" he asked.
"Fun, exhausting, joyful, thought provoking. You know, the usual parent thing."
"Do we need to talk about it?"
Kris rolled over in bed, allowing the sheets to slip down to her hips. Jack was just dropping his trousers. Nelly would clean up after them.
"Yes," Kris said, pensively, "it's something we need to talk about, but not right now. I'd really like some 'our' time and then we do need to get some sleep before this ops goes down."
"You worried about it?"
"Yes, no, maybe," Kris said, a response she used so very many times. "We pulled it off yesterday. I doubt the Iteeche are fast enough to adjust to our new tactics in just two days."
Jack scowled and shook his head. "I don't like Admiral Tong's opinion that this protest on our door is not a usual Iteeche ploy. I have a bad idea that these rebels may have hired their own human to give them some ideas from our own history."
"I've had that thought niggling at the back of my mind all day," Kris said, then she reached for Jack with both hands. "Come here, big guy. Make me forget that there's anything outside these walls for a while.
Before long, he had indeed made her forget, and a bit later, they were both asleep.