Tafari was at Valentin’s hotel early enough that Valentin was still finishing breakfast. He sat down across from xer, waving away the server who approached with coffee. “Before we get started this morning, you should come back to my place. There’s something I need to show you.”

Valentin looked up from xer breakfast, lifted one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Do you have etchings?”

Tafari fought down the grin that wanted to break through. Just being in proximity to Valentin was making him want to smile more than was seemly. Giddy. That was the word he would die before saying out loud.

“What I have is classified transponder records tracing the movements of one Nita Philippe.”

Valentin sipped xer coffee, gave a slight nod. “And they say romance is dead.” Xie set down the cup, patted at xer mouth primly with a napkin, then stood. “Come along, then. Let’s go see this intelligence of yours.”

Tafari appreciated that Valentin didn’t question how he’d obtained it. Partially because answers to that question would have brushed against the lie the Tafari was getting more uncomfortable with every day that passed, but also because the conversation had simply been unpleasant.

Because he’d never been officially reprimanded—or court-marshaled—he still had access to the military communication channels. He hadn’t touched them for years, but it meant when he needed the secure line, it was there.

Lukas had been, unsurprisingly, at his desk, looking tired as ever. A weariness that only deepened when he saw Tafari’s face on his console.

Tafari didn’t waste time with pleasantries that would only have rung hollow. “I need a favor.”

“Really? That’s how you start?”

“You owe me, Lukas.”

Lukas sighed. It was a painfully familiar sound. “I know you think that.”

Tafari said nothing. This argument had played out so many times between them, it wasn’t like he needed to respond. Either of them could have fluently argued either side by now.

“What’s funny,” Lukas said in a tone that clearly communicated it was anything but, “is that both of you are like this. You’re angry at me for taking her side. She’s still angry at me for taking your side. And both of you are too stubborn to…what is it you need?”

“There’s someone here on Cradle I need to track down. A Dragon scholar of some sort asking untrustworthy questions. He’s got a flyer checked out. I need to see where he’s going—and where he’s been.”

Lukas had responded to that with a flat stare. On the screen, Tafari couldn’t see more than Lukas’s face, but he caught the twitch at Lukas’s temples that meant he was probably making a fist that way he always did when he was frustrated. “Let me be clear.” Lukas spoke slowly, over-annunciating every word. “You’re asking me to open you an illegal tunnel into a system that no one has access to anymore because of you.”

“If I thought for a minute Ghislaine had dismantled it like I told her to, I wouldn’t ask. But I’m pretty sure it’s still there. And if it is still there, well, technically I’m the one person in the clan who still has the clearance for it.”

“Only because you blackmailed Lord Faust into letting you keep your rank.”

It hadn’t been blackmail. That was what Ghislaine had called it, of course, and to hear Lukas repeat the words—it hurt. It was also getting off track. “You know I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important.”

“Tell me what else I know, because I always loved so much when you did that.”

“Lukas. Please.”

“You know what I hate?” The soft taps of Lukas typing came through. “I’m going to do this for you. And you knew I was going to do this for you. Because I do still feel guilty, and you know it, and you’re more than happy to take advantage.” More typing. “But consider this. One of these days, I’m going to wake up, and I’m not going to feel guilty anymore. One of these days I’m going to move on. So you should really think hard about what you’re going to do when that day comes.”

It was, in its own way, the same speech that Tafari had heard from Lifen any number of times. Everyone thought he should move on. No one bothered with any suggestions for where or what exactly he should move on to.

But that was absolutely not a discussion he wanted to have with Lukas, so all he had said was, “Thank you.”And only winced a little when Lukas just hung up.

Not fun. But it had gotten him what he needed.

As they stepped into his house, Valentin stopped, looking all around. “Well this is…a choice.”

Tafari had never thought much about his house. That was probably very clear to outside eyes. The limited space of life at the Hub had translated to a minimalist lifestyle, and now that he had space, Tafari had never taken the time to find ways to fill it. It was something he planned to do…someday. For now, it meant that his living room was nearly empty, with a single chair under a single light over in one corner, and a rug that matched nothing laying all alone in the middle of the floor.

“If you’re done judging…” Tafari gestured towards his office.

“I am only getting started.” But Valentin followed.

This space looked a little more lived in, if only because it contained all the things he’d needed to do his job back at the Hub--things he’d brought with him for lack of any other instruction. A desk, a bookshelf, several screens attached to the wall that made it easy to bring up the data stream he’d plugged back into. A long list of numbers scrolled quickly by, filling all three.

“What am I looking at?” Valentin asked.

“Location pings from every ship on Cradle. One moment.” Tafari opened the app he needed, typed in the tracking number associated with the ship they’d tied Philippe to. The numbers stopped, replaced with a map. “This is where he is now.” Tafari pointed to the soft blue dot pulsing in Lower Danube, halfway across the continent. “But look at this.” Another few taps and a line appeared, full of kinks and bends but ultimately tracing from Weissberg to Philippe’s current location. “Most of this is pretty standard flight noise. Refueling station here,” he pointed to one of the bends, “and here. But this—this is what I wanted to show you.”

What looked to be a single line until Tafari zoomed in enough they could see it had been a trip both out and back. A line leading up into the mountains, to the middle of nowhere. “Tracking says he flew up there in the middle of the night, stayed a few hours, then came back.” Tafari expanded the length of time the data was showing. Three more lines appeared. “Four times, he flew up to the same spot, in the middle of the night, and stayed a while before coming back.”

“Oh this is very good,” Valentin murmured, staring at the map.

The compliment sent a ripple of warmth through Tafari, followed by an almost immediate annoyance with himself. Had he done all this just hoping to get that pat on the head? Had he really become…this?

“What’s he doing out there?” Tafari asked.

“I have no idea.” Valentin sounded sincere. And it wasn’t as though xie had hesitated to say so when xie knew the answer but didn’t want to share.

And maybe Tafari had truly earned his place now, because there was no question Valentin was including him when xie said, “I do believe we should find out.”