"This is insane," Phipps said.

"I take it that means you're saying 'no' to ruling New Zealand," Schroeder said.

"I'm saying you need to rethink what you're doing," Phipps said. "You're going to hand your entire species over to war and subjugation. That's insane. I can't condone that. Jean, tell me where the woman is and we can all still get out of this with our hides intact. Otherwise I can't guarantee anything."

"Dave," Schroeder said. "You can't guarantee anything, anyway. You have nothing I need. Last chance, pal. Join the club."

"Or what? You're going to kill me?" Phipps said. "Be serious, Jean. If it came to that, I could break your neck while you were still trying to get up off of that chair."

"Oh, yes, you were Special Forces, and I'm just a soft Ivy Leaguer," Schroeder said. "I remember that. You're right, of course. I could never kill you. It would be foolish of me to try. I could never get away with it. But I know someone who could."

Phipps felt pressure a fraction of a second before he saw the tip of the Nidu spear emerge from just below his ribcage.

"Narf, for example," said Schroeder, conversationally. "He has diplomatic immunity."

Phipps grasped at the protruding spear tip and was caught off guard when the second spear came through his abdomen, in a bilaterally symmetrical position from the first. He grasped that one as well and tried to stand up, and looked for a moment like a skier with his poles stuck through his kidneys.

Narf-win-Getag came around from behind Phipps and stood in front of him. "These spears are said to have been used in battle by Zha-win-Getag, the noble founder of my clan line," Narf-win-Getag said. "You should be honored to the upon them."

Phipps burbled up blood and collapsed to his knees, pitched forward, and died. The spears caught in the chair and kept Phipps from falling forward completely.

"You were right," Narf-win-Getag said to Schroeder. "He would have upset our plans."

"I know," Schroeder said. "It's important to know what people are thinking before they do."

"What would you have done if he said he wanted to join us?" Narf-win-Getag said.

"I would have had you kill him anyway," Schroeder said. "He took bribes. He couldn't be trusted."

"He took bribes from you," Narf-win-Getag said.

"Precisely," Schroeder said. "So I know exactly how little he could be trusted." He looked down at Phipps. "That's a shame, though."

"That you couldn't trust him," Narf-win-Getag.

"No, that you had to spear him," Schroeder said. "Now there's blood all over that rug. That shit never comes out."

The first thing Creek and Robin did was sleep. They found their way to their cabin, an economy job on one of the lower decks, by the engine and the crew quarters, and squeezed their way through the door. They collapsed onto their respective single bunks and were out, dreamless, for 12 hours.

The second thing they did was shop. Fixer had graciously provided Creek with a sweatshirt to swap out for his torn and bloody shirt (although not so graciously that he didn't charge Creek a ridiculous amount for it) and gave Robin her promised hat for free, but aside from that the two of them had as their possessions only their fake passports and what they had on their bodies. The Neverland was not one of the high-end cruise liners—it belonged to the Haysbert-American cruise line, which specialized in economy package tours for large groups—but it featured a reasonably nice clothes store on the Galaxy Deck. Robin picked out clothes and shoes for the both of them while Creek made inane conversation with the clerk, describing how their luggage had somehow been routed to Bermuda.

The third thing Robin did was get her hair done. The third thing Creek did was get a massage. Both of them winced through their respective procedures but were pleased with the results. The fourth thing they did was sleep some more, waking up ravenous and just in time for the evening's assigned-seat dinner. They found their seat assignment slipped under the door table 17.

"It says that dress is semi-formal—military dress uniforms preferred," Robin said, reading the assignment.

"I'm afraid we're going to disappoint them," Creek said. "At least I got you a nice suit jacket and tie," Robin said. "Incidentally, don't get used to me shopping for you. This is a once in a lifetime deal. I hope you don't mind me saying I plan never to go into a mall with you again."

"Understood," Creek said. "I hope you don't mind me saying I share the sentiment."

"Good to have that out of the way, then," Robin said, then looked at the invitation again. "But you have a dress uniform, right? Back at home? You're a veteran."

"I am," Creek said. "I do. But I don't think I've put it on since I got out."

Robin smiled and waved airily, signifying the cruise. "You mean you've never done one of these before? Or even just a parade on Veteran's Day?"

"I'm not much for a parade," Creek said. 

"I'm getting that from you," Robin said. "That whole loner" vibe."

"It's not that," Creek said. "Well, it is. But it's also that the best thing about my military service is that it's over. I put away the uniform because I was done with it."

"Are you going to be okay with this cruise?" Robin asked. "Because I get the feeling the rest of these guys aren't done with it yet. It's kind of why they're here."

"I'll be fine," Creek said. "I'm a loner by inclination but it doesn't mean I can't fake sociability."

"There's my trooper," Robin said. "I bet you're going to be the only guy there not in uniform, though. Just you wait and see."

"What, no uniform?" asked the bald man at table 17, as Creek and Robin took their seats.

"Our luggage got sent to Bermuda," Creek said, sitting.

"Boy, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that excuse," the bald man said, and held out his hand. "Chuck Grade, and this is my wife Evelyn."

"Hiroki Toshima," Creek said, taking it.

"Come again?" Gracie said.

"Adopted," Creek said.

"Ah," Gracie said.

"And this is my fiancee, Debbie," Creek said, pointing to Robin.

"Well! Congratulations to you two," Evelyn Gracie said.

"Thanks," Robin said. "It was quite sudden."

"Well, you'll have to tell us all about it," Evelyn said. "I love a good engagement story."

"We met in a mall," Robin said, deadpan. "We ran into each other. There were parcels everywhere."

Before she could go on two other couples arrived and introduced themselves: James Grower and his wife Jackie, and Ned and Denice Leff. As handshakes were offered all around, one final couple arrived: Chris Lopez and her companion Eric Woods. This precipitated another wave of handshakes and Creek explaining that he was adopted. A waiter came by and filled wine glasses.

"Now that we're all here," Grade said, "are there any officers at the table?" Everyone shook their heads. "Good!" Grade said. "Then this is a salute-free zone. I say we get drunk and eat like pigs through the entire cruise."

Next to Grade, Evelyn rolled her eyes and smacked her husband on the arm. "Settle down, Chuck," she said. "This is your commanding officer speaking."

"Yes, ma'am," Grade said, and grinned at his tablemates. "You can see who's in charge here."

"I hear the captain of the Neverland is a veteran of Pajmhi," Chris Lopez said. "Does anyone know if that's true?"

"I can answer that," Ned Leff said. "It's true. He was a Marine lander jockey there. It's one of the reasons we picked the Neverland for this cruise."

"That and it's cheap," Grade said.

"That doesn't hurt," Leff admitted. "But there were cheaper. I was on the steering committee for this cruise. Captain Lehane came to us and made the pitch for his ship. It sealed the deal. He was a hell of a pilot at Pajmhi, you know. His lander took a direct hit and he still managed to get it and his squad back to their ship."