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.The fight has been there and gone.But I won’t take you into the middle of it.”Ruby shrugged.“Then we’ll find our own way.”The Jackman crossed his arms and looked at Conroy, not needing to ask his question out loud.Conroy nodded.53: The TableRuby’s belly screamed hunger and her feet hurt.It seemed like she was always standing or walking lately, and her feet always hurt.She glared at The Jackman’s back, bent now, looking as tired as she felt.He’d kept them walking through random corridors and tunnels and maintenance hallways full of dirty robots.Maybe he meant to keep her from being any use to anybody.After all, he’d never liked her, and he’d never made that a secret.Given the way her feet hurt and her belly had started screaming for food again, they’d been walking and hiding and walking a long time.They’d heard fighting, or what might be fighting—raised voices and running feet—twice.The Jackman had deftly turned them away from it.She could feel the fight.It existed in the way the mood within the ship had changed, in the way they walked differently through the corridors, more watchful, maybe even a bit afraid.There was even a change in the way the ship smelled, although when she tried to find words for it, they weren’t there.Whatever else she thought about him, The Jackman knew the back warrens of the Fire.Marcelle had stayed behind to take care of Lya.She’d clung to Ruby for a long while.Both thinner and dirtier and scrappier than ever.Conroy was still waiting for orders, but he’d sent Ruby and Onor and Ani with The Jackman.It was as if her time of being a well-dressed blue was days or even a week behind her instead of only hours or maybe a day.To keep her feet moving, she started planning the words to a song about change.The ship was going to need one.The Jackman opened a door, and she expected it to open on another dusty, empty corridor, just like the other twenty or thirty doors he’d led them through.Just beyond the door, KJ stood ready, hands at his side, clearly prepared to fight.When he recognized them, he stopped and gaped.Blinked.And then relaxed.He stepped aside.Ruby looked closely, trying to tell if he was glad to see her.KJ gave no clue.The room was big, with red couches and chairs bolted to silver walls and a square table with a vid screen embedded in the middle.There were no chairs around the table.Instead, about ten people stood around it, looking down.Joel stood across the table from her.He looked up, a momentary lightness crossing his features.He waved and then returned to a conversation he was having with Par.Thank god.Her doubts about The Jackman melted.She turned and planted a kiss on his right cheek, which felt stubbly and wrinkly and dry under her lips.The Jackman flinched and took a step away from her.She frowned but didn’t take time to worry.She had already recognized Joel and KJ and Par.She looked closer, half expecting Colin, but he wasn’t here.There were four others she didn’t recognize: two men and two women.Both women were older than Ruby, but one of them—a gray-haired matron—was much older.Only Joel and the oldest woman wore green.Everyone else in the room was male, and neat, and looked confident.Clearly none of them had been fighting or running through corridors.The table drew her.As Ruby stepped toward it, KJ stepped between her and the table.He blocked her, but he spoke to The Jackman.“What’s she doing here?”Ruby tried to step around KJ to glimpse the table, but he blocked her again.She stepped on his foot.“She’s rather difficult,” The Jackman said dryly as KJ lifted his foot and leaned into Ruby, one arm around her waist in an imprisoning caress.Ruby struggled.“She’s also rather hard to say no to,” The Jackman said.Joel spoke from across the room.“Let her come.”The Jackman said, “See?”KJ grinned at her.There was no anger.If anything, the crook in his smile suggested tenderness and worry.“If you’re caught here, Garth will have you killed.”Ruby smiled.“It’s no different for you, right? He’d kill you, too?”KJ nodded.As she stepped past him she said, “I hope your foot’s okay.”“It’s fine.”As she stepped up to the table, a set of blinking colors disappeared [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]