KES HAD SET UP A DINNER for them in the reproduction room. The plates looked like they were about to slide off the bench, but he had placed rubber mats beneath them to give them some traction on the smooth surface. All he’d had to work with were dishes and cutlery from the refectory and food from storage, but he’d managed to create an attractive spread. As Cariad surveyed the scene, she thought all that it was missing was candles and flowers.
“You made it,” Kes said as he looked up from his interface. Then his expression turned solicitous. “Are you okay?”
Cariad realized she was definitely not okay. All through her journey down from the upper levels of the ship she’d been thinking over Brent’s words. Somehow they sounded more real and credible than when Strongquist had told her the same
