“No.” She smiled. “I don’t speak for animals or dreams.…They speak for me.”
Heavy silence.
“Not literally, of course.”
Then she held up something small and said, with an affected innocence, “Did someone lose this? It came flying through the air as I ran up to the ruins. Landed right beside me. Thought it might be important.”
The Blight Clip.
Ranglen took it from her, saw it was unhurt by Riley’s bullet. Even with its stasis field gone, a Clip was incredibly durable.
Then Ranglen and Riley looked at each other, as if silently acknowledging a mutual decision. Riley said, “Barinda, we feel that you, the Alcherans, should decide whether the Blight Clip is destroyed or not, whether you want it back in place and working, or whether you prefer it ‘killed.’ It should be your decision. Not Sa
