Krinata watched the fight for life, glancing occasionally at the dead form of Kamminth surrounded by two traumatized Dushau men, and feeling their awesome age. What was it like to have invested five or six thousand years in building a life, to feel the beginnings of maturity, and to have it all ripped away in death? Her tears gathered for Kamminth, and her whole body yearned to help the drowned man.

When he finally coughed and choked and drew breath, his teeth taking on the healthy blue cast of the living Dushau, his body convulsed, head thrown back, spine arched. Jindigar gathered him in as he had Kamminth, then reached out to sweep Krinata into their huddle. He grabbed her leptolizer from her belt hook and forced it between the man's jaws. Then he just held on, damping the thrashing with his weight and hers. As Jindigar offered solace to his Oliat mate, he also clutched at her again, as if she were his lifeline to sanity.

She never knew how long it lasted, but the Emperor and his guards still stood by the archway when the Dushau relaxed and began to breathe normally. Jindigar flashed her a smile, his teeth pale, but still a living blue. He returned her leptolizer, and went to the three other figures.

One of the other two Dushau was slumped bonelessly over Kamminth's corpse. The remaining one huddled upon himself. Jindigar put an arm around him, murmured something, and gently urged him toward Krinata and his half-drowned colleague. As he joined them, the Dushau touched Krinata and said, "I'm sorry you had to witness that."

That he could speak to her meant the Dissolution was complete. "I haven't been harmed," she answered.

Then as the new Dushau turned to his fallen comrade, Jindigar confronted the Emperor. "Fedeewarn is dead. Kamminth and Lelwatha are dead. Kamminth's Oliat is dissolved. The survivors are at the imperial command, but may we beg medical attention first?"

"Your right, without question," answered the Emperor distantly, but Krinata sensed an underlying delight in the man. Impossible. I must be misreading a Lehiroh trait. The Allegiancy Emperor must think of all of us, not the few who inevitably die each day in his service. Zinzik sent one of his guards for the medics. Before Jindigar had composed the dead for their final journey, covering Kamminth's terror-twisted features with his own surplice, a team of medics brought five anti-grav stretchers.

With two corpses and the two surviving Dushau laid out on the anti-grav stretchers, the medics came after Jindigar. His teeth were paler, but he refused to move. "The piol?"

The creature was perched on the edge of the fountain, sleek with wetness from its swim, happily nibbling one of the Emperor's most expensive decorative fish.

Seeing this, the Emperor roared, "Get that... that thing out of here!"

His voice startled the piol. It dropped the half-eaten carcass and fled. Jindigar smacked his hand loudly against the fountain edge. The piol halted, measured the distance between the Emperor and Jindigar, then scampered around the fountain and leaped into Jindigar's arms, mewling and licking Jindigar's chin.

Two medics caught the unsuspecting Dushau while he was consoling the piol and sat him down on the stretcher. With firm hands, they pressed him down onto the floating sickbed, connected Finemar's monitoring probes, and set out for the infirmary.

The Emperor and his entourage departed through another arch leaving Krinata alone, stunned. She shook herself and dashed after Jindigar, catching up with them at a cargo lift. "How bad is it? Is he going to be all right?"

One of the medics, a human man about her own age, smiled charmingly at her and said, "You aren't claiming to be next-of-kin, are you?"

"Hardly," she replied, "but I'm his debriefing officer. The Emperor expects rapid completion of this debriefing."

A Cassrian who was managing Finemar's probes and muttering over the readouts, looked up, ''I didn't know humans were that heartless."

Jindigar, barely conscious, roused himself. "Oh, don't think that of her. I've never met a more generous soul."

Krinata, speechless, crowded into the lift with them as it took them down to the sub-basement level where they could get a transport tube to Survey's building. Seeing Jindigar's hands falling weakly away from the piol, she reached for it. He raised his trunk slightly to hand her the creature, pulled her head down and whispered, "Allow a couple of hours, then get us out of that infirmary. Krinata, please!"

His eyes were big, dark indigo pools. She nodded, swallowing against her dry throat, and took the piol. Jindigar crumpled onto the white sheets as the medication they'd given him took effect.

She stood in the bleak, underground tunnel watching them disappear, feeling as if her only friend in all the world were being taken to jail.

Bereft and confused, her nerves in turmoil, Krinata dragged herself back to her own office and locked the door behind her, extinguishing her on-duty indicators so nobody would bother her.

Trying to steady her breathing and calm herself enough to think rationally, she fed the piol from her own– lunch. Her appetite had fled.

She'd never seen death—dead bodies—before. Warm, scented flesh turning stiff and cold within arm's reach of her skin had felt very different from seeing it on a news holo. And Dushau—they never died in public.

Scared to death. An Oliat could die like that in the field, survivors returning to report it. But on the floor of the palace? She shuddered and huddled over the piol as it alternately groomed itself and her. Kamminth's Oliat had been torn apart, their minds lacerated by that savage ripping. She could imagine – what it must have felt like.

Her admiration for Jindigar redoubled. He'd kept his head through all of it. He deserved to rest in the infirmary. But he'd begged her to get him out. How? He's obviously in critical condition just like Fedeewarn.

She sat up, pushing the piol aside. "Fedeewarn!" She died in the infirmary!

Suddenly, Jindigar's desperate fear became real to her. Whatever had been done to Fedeewarn had decimated the Oliat. But Jindigar himself had warned her of the delusions that could afflict an Oliat in Dissolution.

What were the facts? Was it rational to suspect Finemar, a Sentient computer, of not understanding the proper way to treat sick Dushau? And if it wasn't ignorance... no! No. It couldn't have been murder!

She dismissed all thought of extricating Jindigar from the care that could help him overcome the mental warping of the Dissolution. Returning to her desk, she sat down and powered up to get some work done in the remainder of her day.

But no sooner had she brought up a file than her thoughts centered on Jindigar. What if he died?

Time turned bleak, barren.

And then, of course, there'd be no hope of retrieving the in-depth data on their new planet They'd have only the holocordings and data arrays; nothing to attract prospective settlers. It took an Outreach to provide that.

What would I feel like, abandoned helpless in the hands of the murderers of those closest to me?

She groaned an oath, and punched up the Dushaun ambassador's office. The screen flipped images and settled on the rotating mobius-strip symbol of Dushaun. A cultured voice announced, "The Embassy offices are closed and will reopen at midmorning tomorrow. Thank you."

The deep sinking in the pit of her stomach prompted her to punch up the infirmary directly, telling herself, Ifs my duty to find out what's going on.

Finemar came on the screen smiling benignly. Seeing her, he drew his expression into solemnity. "I hope you've not been unduly disturbed by what you witnessed this afternoon, Krinata. The survivors are doing well."