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Jelaza Kazone
Surebleak


“Delm’s got a letter from Jen Sin,” Miri said. “He’s got a question.”

Val Con lifted an eyebrow.

Miri grinned at him.

“Oughta be simple enough to answer,” she said. “All he wants to know is if the delm wants Tinsori Light to be sentient.”

Val Con closed his eyes.

“You gotta admit, he comes up with innerestin’ questions,” Miri said.

“I have no intention of disagreeing,” Val Con said. “However, the lesser half of the delm finds himself at a stand.”

“Don’t know where to buy baby AIs?”

“Doubtless, the Uncle’s sister will be willing to shop for us,” he said dryly. “No, I fail before that point. Who is the delm of Korval to make such a decision?”

“Well, salvage law says Tinsori Light’s ours. All those letters Ms. dea’Gauss wrote, and sent wide—she hasn’t got even a ‘maybe’ yet, never mind an outright ‘no.’ If I didn’t know you have everything in hand, I’d be a little unsettled about how many people’re so eager for Korval to have that station in inventory.”

“So you suggest that the question is merely one of the delm deciding to increase the clan.”

“Pretty much in the job description, ain’t it?”

“It is. However, it is a weighty decision, requiring study and analysis. If we decide to welcome a new child, we will of course need to address her education, provide her with companions that challenge and comfort her, ensure that her kin are not strangers, and that her voice is heard in the clan’s decisions…”

He stopped, eyes narrowed.

Miri waited.

“I think,” Val Con said slowly, “that the delm ought not rush into a decision.”

Miri frowned. Val Con had a tiny bit of precognition, himself—nothing like Anthora, or Ren Zel in his heyday. Just a knack for lucky hunches. She’d seen it in action more than twice, and she was seeing it again right now, she thought, looking at the pattern of him inside her head. There was just the faintest bit of glow—fading now…

And gone.

She sighed, and gave him a grin when he looked up.

“So,” she said brightly, “we stall?”

Val Con raised an eyebrow.

“Certainly not,” he said severely. “Delms do not stall. Delms consider and weigh.”

“Right,” Miri said, filing Jen Sin’s letter. “We stall.”


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