"The first one won't fail. You damn sure won't lose two. You're sure of your coming down where you want. They've got that figured. Just don't use the old targeting. You'll land on Mospheira for sure."
Another nervous laugh. " I'll be right on the mark, if the parachute opens. If we go to the backup chute, well, I'll fax you the charts and figures. Can you receive those where you are?"
"No trouble. Just use the protocols I gave you, and I'll walk down the hall and get it."
"Then we're go for launch. Or drop. Or whatever. Landing's due for thirty-two some hours from now, Taiben's dawn, 0638 hours local. Right? Daybreak after tomorrow?"
Less than two days. He took a breath. "0638, dawn, day after tomorrow. I hear you. — That fast, Jase?"
" They're ready. We're ready. They're going to tow us in close before they drop us, a chance to back out, I guess, down to the point they cut us loose. — At which point we trust to atevi hospitality and the gods of gravity wells."
Atevi hospitality. Taiben. Everything Jase was saying indicated the ship had ignored the President's offer to cut atevi out of the deal. Which was incredible to him.
And in a dizzying two seconds of trying to sort out the implications, he'd bet any amount of money the ship knew it would have the same deal out of Mospheira without giving Mospheira a single one of its requests —
Mospheira being the ally they could always have made it completely unnecessary to risk the ill will of atevi, whose reactions they didn'tknow as well — and, thank God, somebody on the human side had thought down a train of logic. Excitement made it hard to keep his voice calm. "Sounds good," he said, he hoped without missing a beat. "There'll be somebody out there to meet you. I'll be there to meet you if I can talk the aiji into ferrying me out to the estate. What do you need from us on landing?"
" Get my partner onto the island as soon as possible. Me— I'm at your disposal, I guess. Next several years."
"Well, it's your partner's choice, a good dinner at Taiben, a personal intro to atevi leadership and a night's sleep — or a quick pickup and no-frills rush to the airport at Taiben, then straight on to Mospheira. You, on the other hand, absolutely get the deluxe dinner, the personal intro, and a whole night's sleep before they expect you to be fluent."
Nervous laughter. " Sounds fine to me. I'll take the fancy deal. I'll put it to the captains and Yolanda about the ace-all treatment. Any requests from space?"
"Just pack walking boots. Something real comfortable. There are places you can land where there are no roads. You'll get a welcome committee. But even after they meet you, you may have to walk to a road, even to a place where we can get overland vehicles, if you happen to drop in somewhere truly inconvenient. It's kilometers of grass out there, dust and heat with no sanitary stops. At worst case, you come down in some woods and we have to cut you out of the trees first. Please be on target. It's much easier. My mark was in an area where they can drive right in and pick you up in fine style."
"As long as they don't shoot at me and as long as that parachute opens, I'm happy."
"So are we all. If you shouldsee wildlife, by the way, don't panic; there's no animal out there in the grassland that's going to attack you, and we'll be tracking you all the way down. We'll be there — hopefully I will — but if anything intervenes, trust the atevi, be very polite, bow if they bow, and don't worry about where they're taking you. The aiji will have every ranger on the estate warned to watch out for you and to take good care of you. That's a promise."
" I' ll take it. Deal."
"I really hope to be there. With luck, I will."
"I'd really feel better."
"I don't blame you in the least — but with me or without me, you'll make it fine. Keep me posted on progress. If I do go out to Taiben, it may take some moments to get to the phones, but I'm almost never out of reach of radio. You can get to me."
" I appreciate that. — And I'd better sign off, now, and quit tying up the chair. Com's got some people working to link with the pod, I'm just cargo at this point, and I really don't want to annoy the techs. See you. I really mean see you."
"Yeah. Good luck. Good luck, Jase, good wishes from me andfrom Tabini-aiji. Kaginjai'ma sa Tabini-aijiu, na pros sai shasatu. All right?"
He was looking at Tabini when he said the latter. And Jase signed off with, gained from the material he'd sent up, a courteous repetition, kaginjai.
Tabini lifted a brow. Damiri and Saidin stared in evident amazement as he hung up the receiver. Banichi, arms folded, listening from the side of the room, also lifted an eyebrow as if to say, well, there it was, suns might be stars and stars might be suns, and neither bothered him, but a paidhi falling out of the sky into Tabini's estates was about to become real, and for good or for ill within his man'chi.
So now Banichi cared about stars, and suns, and people from them.
"Landing at dawn," he said to Tabini. "Day after tomorrow, at the Taiben site. They want one of them possibly to go immediately to the airport after landing and on to Mospheira, but I proposed a slower schedule and an overnight at Taiben, and they're going to present that idea to their authorities. They could well, referring to the information I sent you, aiji-ma, have agreed to deal with Mospheira. And haven't, so far as what the young man just said."
"This suits very well," Tabini said. "Well done, Bren-ji. This young man — Jase Graham — Jase, is that the name?"
"Yes, aiji-ma."
"A long way from fluency. But comprehensible."
"Aiji-ma. Also — I promised him I'd be there to meet him. Knowing I hadn't your confirmation, I told him it might not be possible, but that it was my hope to be at Taiben when the pod touches down… I want very much to do this, aiji-ma, in spite of events tonight. If security is going there — I'd like to be with them."
It seemed all unreal to him. With the breakfast room in ruins. With Hanks — alive or dead or God knew where, in the proceedings of atevi and human politics. And the lander coming down in a game reserve he'd hunted in not so long ago.
He feared he was, at least in Tabini's reckoning, far too protected a piece, if shooting had begun. But — damn, to see events to change all their lives, and to try to make sure there was no glitch in understanding —
"What does the paidhi's security think?"
"No question," Banichi said. "Nai-ma. One could much easier guarantee security there than here."
"Certainly less breakage," Naidiri said wryly.
"More range of operation," Banichi said.
"Though," Naidiri said, "those who've kidnaped Hanks-paidhi certainly haven't made their last move. Best we secure Taiben tonight. One assumes they've attempted to intercept communications."