"Nice metaphor," Gretchen murmured as Harenn all but yanked Kendi out of the room. He decided to pretend he hadn't heard, and Ara laughed in his memory again.

Tiq's spaceport was middle-sized and fairly well-appointed. The usual announcements blared from hidden speakers, and the smells of low-quality, high-cost food filled the air. People walked, rushed, strolled, or lounged everywhere. The vast majority of the crowd was human, but that was normal, in Kendi's experience. Most people preferred the company of their own kind, and it was rare for colony worlds to mix species.

Harenn strode through the crowds with single-minded determination, and Kendi had to hurry to keep up. He finally caught her by the sleeve.

"Slow down, Harenn," he warned. "I don't want to lose you in this crowd."

Harenn obeyed with obvious reluctance. "We are close, Kendi. I have been searching for nine years and it seems as if I can feel Bedj-ka's presence, even hear his voice. I want to push these idiots out of my way and run. I want to know if my baby is all right."

"He won't be a baby anymore," Kendi said.

"I know that. It is merely the way I think of him. It is not something I can help."

Kendi wet his lips uncertainly. He was afraid Harenn had pinned her hopes on a joyous reunion of mother and son and that she was setting herself up for disappointment-a position Kendi could empathize with. Kendi knew he should say something, but he didn't know what. An added complication was that Harenn was ten or fifteen years older than Kendi, not someone he would normally reproach or advise. Ara would have known how to handle the situation, and he felt an irrational flash of anger that she wasn't here to do so.

In the end, he decided to be direct.

"Harenn, please don't take this the wrong way, but I want you to be careful," he said as they approached the spaceport's main entrance. "We're going to get Bedj-ka back, I promise you, but don't think he's going to throw himself into your arms and cry 'Mama!' He won't. I hate to say this so bluntly, but Harenn-he won't even recognize you. He may not believe you when you tell him who you are."

"I am not a fool, Kendi," Harenn snapped. Then she closed her dark eyes for a moment. "All the things you have just said are the things I tell myself over and over. For every night since Sejal told me where Bedj-ka is, I have lain awake thinking about what it would be like to find him again. And I have thought long and hard about what I would do to Isaac Todd for taking Bedj-ka away from me."

"Is Isaac Todd your ex-husband?" Kendi said. "I don't think I've ever heard you mention his name."

"Whenever I say it, I want to wash my mouth and my body," Harenn growled.

Outside the port building, the golden sun of Klimkinnar shone with tropical warmth, and the air was heavy with humidity. For a moment, Kendi was transported back to the muggy frog farm where he had spent three years as a slave, and he forced himself to shake off the memories.

The streets were paved, if that was the word for it, with lush emerald grass. Tiny purple flowers and gray mushrooms peeked between the blades. Green shrubs lined the low buildings and gray sidewalks, and Kendi realized with a start he didn't know the name of the city. Steady streams of people moved up and down the walks, and groundcars buzzed over the grass, not quite touching the tender green blades. No flitcars crossed the sky-Klimkinnar didn't allow much private air traffic.

A series of empty groundcars queued up near the curb, each with a name printed on the side. Kendi moved down the line until he came to one marked "Weaver." He pressed his thumb to the lock of the vehicle and it popped open. The name erased itself.

"Here we go," Kendi said, and climbed into the driver's seat. Harenn, her blue veil fluttering slightly in the breeze, got in on the passenger's side. Directions to the Markovi farm flashed across the car's onboard computer-Kendi made a mental note to thank Ben later-and Kendi maneuvered carefully into the heavy traffic surrounding the spaceport terminal.

After a moment, Harenn said, "I must admit that I do not understand why we are here."

"Turn left at the next intersection," the computer said in a pleasant, friendly voice.

"Huh?" Kendi scooted around a cargo hauler and made the turn. "We're rescuing your son. What have we been talking about for the last-"

"I mean," Harenn said, "I do not understand why we are here instead of looking for your family."

"Oh." Kendi concentrated on driving for a moment. They reached the edge of the city, whatever its name was, and the buildings grew sparser, as did the traffic. "I didn't explain that?"

"No, and I was… I was afraid to press in case you changed your mind. Even on the bridge before we landed, I was afraid you would change your mind." Harenn tugged at her veil. "For many years when we were part of Mother Ara's team, I watched you jump every time you thought you had something that would lead you to your family. I know that you and they were sold because you were Silent, but-"

"That's not quite right," Kendi interjected. "My family and I were colonists on a ship that was captured by slavers. I was twelve. A woman named Giselle Blanc bought me and my mother, but someone else bought my dad and my sister and brother. I never saw them again. Three years later, Blanc found out that Mom and I were both Silent, and she decided to sell us for a hefty profit. My mom was sold, and I never saw her again, either. Then Ara bought me and set me free. After the Children of Irfan taught me how to use my Silence, I looked for my family everywhere in the Dream but no luck. Then the Despair hit, and Sejal touched almost every Silent mind in the universe. He told me he felt a man and a woman who are sure to be my relatives-though I don't know which relatives-and that he felt Bedj-ka, too. That's why we're here."

"This is not what I am asking, Kendi. You are a hero of the-"

"Stop saying that," Kendi said. Traffic cleared and he sped up.

"— of the Despair, and it is true whether you deny it or not. Padric Sufur's twisted children failed to destroy the Dream because of you-"

"And because of Ben and because of Sejal and Katsu and Vidya and Prasad and a whole mess of other people," Kendi pointed out.

"But you are the only one who took advantage of your status," Harenn continued, ruthlessly pursuing the point. "Vidya and Prasad and Katsu and Sejal were content to become a family again and settle among the Children of Irfan. Ben seems to be happy following you wherever you go. But you-well, I do have to say that I have never thought of you as a modest person-"

"Thanks."

"— but you went beyond mere immodesty. You bullied the Council of Irfan into giving you an expensive ship-"

" Loaning me an expensive ship."

"— something which usually only a Father Adept is granted, and then you staffed it with not one but two so very priceless Silent who can still reach the Dream-"

"Yeah, well Ben threatened to quit his consulting job, and the Council didn't want to lose him, especially since he's Silent now and they're hoping he'll become a Brother one day."

"— and then you took this expensive ship off to find not your family, but mine. So I am asking-why are you doing this?"

Kendi drove in silence for several moments. Then he said, "It's because of Ben."

"This you need to explain."

"When I go home at night-or back to my quarters, anyway-Ben is there. I have somebody, and you-" He stopped and felt his face turn hot.