“I’ll go with you,” said H’lim and she paused. “Maybe I can find someplace to sit down and work on that message you wanted, Abbot. It’s a challenge to make it that short and still convincing. What’s the matter, Titus?”

Abbot’s serene expression had frozen. Titus asked, not taking his eyes off Abbot, “What message, H’lim?”

H’lim’s gaze shifted to Abbot who said, “Basically, the same message Carol wanted drafted. Nothing remarkable.”

A great silence blanketed the room. H’lim asked, “It is a point of disagreement between you? I thought-”

“Nothing’s changed,” said Titus. “Earth belongs to the humans, and it’s up to them what message to send.”

“They won’t send any, not now, not under threat of war,” said Abbot. “And we will die. All of us. You know it, Titus. They’ve learned too much about luren from H’lim. Someone will spot us soon and we’ll all be hunted down and killed. Don’t interfere, son.” The air congealed with Abbot’s Influence. It was an order.

Inea moved to Titus’s side. H’lim’s gaze flicked from Titus to Abbot. Inea, oblivious to the tension, said, “Abbot doesn’t understand people. If I were you, H’lim, I wouldn’t take Abbot’s Word for anything.”

Abbot’s lips twitched, as if he were suppressing a snarl, Titus, keep a reign on your stringer.“

Teeth clenched and throat tight with the effort of defying Abbot, Titus whispered, “She’s right. H’lim, Abbot’s got to translate your message into burst-code and provide a decode template for whoever receives it. He knows enough of the language to make your message say anything he wants. You’ll never be able to check if-”

“I’ve figured out Kylyd’s communications protocols,” said Abbot. “You can see for yourself if I change anything.”

“Can you read burst-code, even your own people’s code?”

“No,” H’lim answered Titus, “but Abbot’s repaired the machines that can. Carol Colby knows this. Using proper galactic protocols instead of one of Earth’s digital codes, the message will be readable by anyone.”

Titus had heard they were working on Kylyd’s electronics, but he hadn’t heard of their success. Perhaps it had been bumped from the meetings agendas in order to focus on the problem of H’lim’s escapade. “But Colby doesn’t know that Abbot understands the protocols and the language, does she?”

“No, Titus, she doesn’t,” answered Abbot.

Titus skewered H’lim with a finger, “And you won’t know exactly what message Abbot actually sends! You said yourself the legal position of Earth’s luren was questionable. Abbot wouldn’t stop at tying you into our fate in the galactic community, if he knew a way to do it.”

H’lim paled, if that were possible for one so chalk white to begin with. Titus watched his stiff shock and suddenly doubted everything H’lim had implied about how luren would treat humans and Earth luren. H’lim did, after all, want their help in sending a message home. He wouldn’t have mentioned anything that might deter them from helping him.

Titus added, “And if I know Abbot, I’ll bet he does know a way to do it. Does that bother you, H’lim?”

“Not really. I just wouldn’t want to be tied up in law courts for years. I have a business to run. I could go bankrupt waiting to testify for you.”

It sounded almost plausible, but Titus felt there was more to it than that. Abbot said, “I wouldn’t trap you into an untenable situation, not after all the help you’ve given us. I only want to program your message into my transmitter and make sure it’s in the probe when it’s launched. That way, even if the humans make the probe nothing but a receiver, your message will go out and you can go home.”

Titus’s neck hairs stirred. Abbot’s Influence was still a palpable force in the room, but Titus suspected he was lying and H’lim believed every word of it. “H’lim, as a father to you, I want you to understand that the only message you are to compose is the one for Carol Colby.”

“I don’t really need him to write it, you know,” said Abbot, his Influence growing heavy and invasive, “but it would be safer if he did. I might make some error that would bring battleships instead of merchants here. Would you want to risk that?” Abbot’s Influence clutched at Titus. “You wouldn’t oppose your First Father, would you? You wouldn’t order your son to oppose your father, would you?”

Despite himself, Titus shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t want to risk any of that.”

“Titus!” protested Inea, but he hardly heard her.

“Stop!” snapped H’lim. “Abbot, he’s your son!”

The pall of Influence lifted, but Titus was still held rigidly silent, emotions distanced, knowing intellectually that he’d gone too far this time.

Abbot said, “He has defied me.”

H’lim asked, “Is everything a matter of hierarchy for you? Well then consider this. Titus is not my first father, but my fourth. I owe prior loyalties, stronger ones, and to fulfill those I must do my best to call for help no matter how Titus feels about it, or for that matter how you feel about it, Abbot.” He faced Abbot again and H’lim’s power throbbed through the room, clashing with Abbot’s.

They stood silently, locked in a battle of wills until H’lim’s Influence blotted out Abbot’s, who staggered back, gasping. Suddenly Titus gulped air again, free.

H’lim said, “If strength is your only criterion, then only my prevails, for I’m strongest here. If Law is your only criterion, then you can’t displace my First Father or his needs. But I prefer to conduct business as business. Trade translates across all boundaries of custom and law, and in trade value replaces strength. You have given me value-my life, sustenance, a chance to go home. In return, I offer you value-some bits of science, sustenance, and a chance to contact your ancestral roots. Surely it makes better sense to bargain than to fight.”

“It sounds very civilized,” said Titus, his throat dry and aching from Abbot’s clutch of Influence. “But around here, the only ones authorized to trade with you regarding that message are the owners of the hardware that’ll carry it, Earth’s humans.”

“If the probe doesn’t go at all,” said Abbot, “you’ll be stuck here with us until you die. Do you want that, H’lim? Isn’t this place-alien?” He gestured at the walls, but encompassed the whole installation.

H’lim followed the gesture thoughtfully, then turned somber eyes back on them. “Not as much as you might expect,” he murmured cryptically.

Before Titus could ask what he meant, Carol Colby entered, trailed by Mirelle de Lisle carrying a stack of book cartridges. Mirelle had circles under her eyes, and her fingers danced as if with caffeine jitters. She’d lost weight, and the angular planes of her body showed through the loose uniform. Her hair seemed to have lost luster, too, or perhaps it simply wasn’t as well cared for. But Titus knew the signs of depletion and silently cursed Abbot for it.

As Colby greeted everyone, Inea inspected Mirelle with a grim twist to her mouth.

Colby turned to H’lim. “I’ve cleared an apartment for you, as agreed. You can move in anytime. Inea requisitioned you an Exec terminal so you can tap into your lab’s files fron. the apartment, so I had to put you next to Abbot.” She handed him a key, white and glossy with its code strip showing.

He ran a finger along the strip, musing, “On the other hand, the philosophy behind the technology is very odd.”

“Have I missed something?” asked Colby.

“Not at all,” said Abbot, proffering the notepad in his hand.

“I’ve got the complete equipment list now, so I’ll go get Mintraub on it right away.” He filled Colby in on their proposed schedule and she signed the requisition.

As Abbot departed, he caught Titus’s eye then glanced at Inea, lips compressed in disapproval. H’lim followed the exchange silently. Titus said, “Inea, I’ll show H’lim to his room while you get his computers installed, all right?”