Fate did not give Ekatya as many choices as Andira did.
When she let herself back in the suite that night, she found Lhyn standing at the wall of glass, staring out at the lights of Blacksun. Even from the door she could see the tension in her stance.
She crossed the room and wrapped an arm around Lhyn’s waist. “What’s wrong?”
Lhyn sighed. “I forgot I have a life.”
“Could you be a little more specific? Because I don’t see you having a life as a bad thing.”
“My year is up,” Lhyn said in a monotone. “The Institute is recalling me.”
Ekatya sucked in a breath. Of course. Of course they’d recall her. “We lost track of time.”
“Completely. I was thinking it’s only been a moon and three days since we landed, but I’ve gotten so used to Alsean timekeeping that I never converted. And now I’m told there’s a shuttle on its way to pick us up in twelve Alsean days.”
Ekatya did the math in her head. “Two stellar months,” she said. “We’ll have been here two months.”
“My year is up,” Lhyn repeated. “And Chancellor Tlesik called me personally to make sure I understood just how excited everyone is to see my full report. The last time Chancellor Tlesik was excited was when he finally cured his hemorrhoids.”
Ekatya couldn’t help chuckling, and even Lhyn cracked a smile. “Well, if anything could make that man dance a jig, it would be knowing that his Institute has a lock on your data. You’re going to be in great demand, you know.”
“I know. They’re already scheduling talk shows. Talk shows! I haven’t seen my team except by quantum com in almost two months, and I’ve gathered so much data here on the surface that it’s going to take me another half year just to go through it all, and they’re expecting me to pull conclusions out of my ass on live broadcasts. How am I supposed to do that? Not to mention the fact that I don’t want to leave.”
“I don’t either. But you have to, don’t you? The Alseans have blown the Protectorate apart politically, and they’ve turned a lot of disciplines upside down. Theology, xenobiology, military strategy… They’re a technologically inferior race that didn’t just defeat the Voloth, but annihilated them. The Assembly did a complete about-face and tossed the Non-Interference Act out the airlock for them. And on top of everything else, they’re empathic and not even fully Gaian. And you’re the only one who really knows about them.”
“That’s not true. If you think I’ll be in demand, what do you think they’ll want from the Fleet captain who became best friends with the Lancer of Alsea?”
“Stars and Shippers,” Ekatya said in sudden realization. “That’s what the admiral meant.”
Lhyn looked at her knowingly. “You got a call, too.”
“I was just coming to tell you about it. They’re offering me a new Pulsar-class ship, as soon as it comes off the construction line. But until it’s ready, I’m supposed to liaison with a new task force headed by Minister Staruin.”
“The leader of the Reform Party is heading a task force focused on Alsea? That’s big.”
“She didn’t say it would focus on Alsea. She said it would be reviewing the Non-Interference Act, and I was the perfect military liaison since I shattered the Act into a thousand pieces. But I think you’re right; it’s mostly going to be about Alsea.” Ekatya leaned against the window. “I was going to ask you to help me decide what to do. But if you’re going back, so am I.”
“You were going to ask me?”
She remembered Lhyn saying There was always this little voice and decided it was time to put a nail in that coffin. “Of course I was going to ask you. I told you once that I was married to my ship, and it wasn’t much of a joke then. But two months ago, I was lying in a field looking at my crashed ship and realized that there was something much more important in my life.” Reaching out for Lhyn’s hand, she added, “I know it didn’t seem like it when I tried to leave. But looking back now, I didn’t have a chance. Did I ever tell you that I heard your voice up there?”
“Well, I was talking to you on the wristcom…”
“No, I’d cut off communication by then. We were in the middle of giving the orders for the Caphenon to self-destruct, and right after the ship said my command code was required, I heard you plead with me not to do it. For a moment I thought I’d left the com open; it was that clear.”
Lhyn was looking at her oddly. “I did beg you not to do it. Out loud. I was standing right next to Andira and talking to the sky.”
Ekatya felt a chill. “I think I heard you.”
“Holy Shippers.”
They stared at each other in silence until Lhyn squeezed her hand and said, “I guess we’re stuck with each other.”
“I guess we are.”
“So we’re going back?”
“We have to, don’t you think? If you don’t, you’ll lose your position at the Institute and your reputation—”
“I don’t care about—”
“—and the Alseans need you to advocate for them,” Ekatya finished. “They need me, too. Think about it. How fine is the line between fascination and fear? The Alseans are an empathic species who destroyed the Voloth with nothing but their minds. How long would it take some reactionary politicians to paint them as an even greater threat than the Voloth?”
Lhyn stared at her. “I never thought of that. Sometimes I hate your military mind. That’s horrible.”
“But it’s reality. And the only way we can fight it is if we get out there with the truth. With the details. The more familiar we make them seem, the better it will be. And who better to tell their story than us? You’re the scientist who learned their language and know more about their culture than anyone in the Protectorate. I’m the Fleet captain who fought the Voloth with the help of Alsean warriors. Alsea needs us, but they need us out there more than here.”
“But I’d rather be here,” Lhyn said. “Shekking Mother, I hate this.”
“It’s not forever. We’ll come back.”
“You’d better believe it. My life’s work is here. You need to understand that. I’ll go back because you’re right, we have to. But I’m only staying as long as I can be that advocate you talked about. When the data is out there, when my book is published and I’ve done the talk show circuit, I’m coming back.”
“Then so will I.”
Lhyn nodded, a single tear slipping down her cheek. “I’m going to miss them.”
Ekatya folded her into a hug. “Me too. But they’ll have the quantum com on the shuttle, not to mention that Kameha repaired the quantum com on the Caphenon. Andira has a pad and you can give one to Lanaril, too. We’ll always be in contact.”
“It’s not the same.”
“No, it’s not. But it’s better than nothing.”
“We won’t have any more Sharings.”
“Yes, we will. Just not for the next year or two.”
“I’ll miss her,” Lhyn whispered.
“I know,” Ekatya said, squeezing her more tightly. “So will I.”