“That’s gross. Are they poisonous?”
She seemed to think he was joking. Darman wondered whether to blurt out that Sull had been under a death sentence, but decided that kind of thing needed saying in per-son. “It’s okay, I just sucked out the venom and shot him. Anyway, Fi wanted his armor. Hey, I miss you. What’s happening on Qiilura?”
Another pause. “It’s not good. Most of them went quietly but some dug in, and … well, you know.”
“Casualties?”
“Yeah.”
“Ah.”
“Not me, obviously.”
“I’m glad.” He caught a note in her voice that said she was holding back; maybe there was someone with her. The holovids showed clandestine love affairs as exciting, but Darman just found the secrecy miserable. “What’s Level like?”
“Solid guy.”
“We’ll be working with his battalion pretty soon. Does that mean you’ll be coming back to Triple Zero? Sorry-I shouldn’t ask. Just thought you’d be finished there, and …”
“It’ll be a few more months. Three, maybe.”
“Oh.” Where? Why? “Okay.”
“I miss you too, Dar. Think of something you’d like to do when we meet up. I’m not good at planning things like that.”
Darman wasn’t, either. He suspected she didn’t mean a drink from a grimy glass at Qibbu’s sleazy cantina for old times’ sake. “Mereel might have some ideas. He seems to know every tapcaf between Galactic City and the Outer Rim.”
“Okay. I don’t mind as long as you’re there.”
“Me, too.” Darman worried that he didn’t have any smart talk or witty lines. He sounded like a total di’kut, he knew it.
There was a loud rapping on the door. “Dar?” It was Fi. Dar, are you in there?”
Darman rolled his eyes and addressed the ether. “What, Fi?”
“Are you going to be in there all day? I’m not going to dig a latrine because you’re still doing your hair …”
“Okay, okay. Give me a moment.” He lowered his voice. “I’m sorry, cyar’ika, I have to go.”
“I’ll call you in a while. Stay safe. I love you.”
“Look after yourself.” Darman was working up to saying that he loved her, too, when the link closed from her end of the channel, and the moment was gone. He took a deep breath before yanking the door open, brokenhearted that he might never get the chance to tell her. He had a bad feeling about the coming assault on Eyat. It was vague and nagging, probably just his growing awareness and resentment of the way things were, but possibly-just possibly-an omen. Mixing with Jedi made you almost believe in that kind of stuff. “Fi, I’m going to break your shabla neck …”
Fi stepped back with his hands held up in mock submission. “Steady on, ner vod.”
“You really pick your moments.”
“I want to use the ‘freshers.”
“Yeah, and I was-” Darman stopped himself. There was no point ranting at Fi for interrupting a call to Etain. It would be particularly tactless. “Okay.” He patted his brother’s cheek with exaggerated care, and realized he was doing a very Skirata-like thing. “I’m going to check the ordnance again.”
“Atin’s been through it twice.”
“Then I’ll do it a third time.”
“Dar…”
“What?”
“You can talk about Etain, you know. I’m not going to burst into tears or anything.”
Fi closed the door behind him, and Darman heard the sound of running water. Fi wasn’t stupid and he’d probably heard every word anyway, but Darman still felt guilty at having a part of his limited life that put any kind of barrier between them.
Outside the hut, Niner and Atin were laying out equipment, checking it, and taking no notice of A’den’s spirited argument with one of the Marits. It was another dominant one with a red frill at its throat, but it wasn’t Cebz. The lizards were gathering: where there had been fewer than a hundred in the camp, there were now a few thousand in the area, coming to the rendezvous point from villages scattered through-out the countryside.
Darman stared at the pile of ordnance. There were enough thermal detonators to remove a large chunk of planet.
“Overkill,” he said.
Atin looked up. “Whatever happened to P for plenty?”
“You’ve seen Eyat. They’ve got triple-A and traffic cops, not Acclamators. So we hammer them with the Thirty-fifth and then the lizards overrun them. Don’t you think that’s a waste of resources?”