“You're the pilot.” Ume.

The underground tunnels were eerily silent as Besh stepped into control and found Ume seated at Mack's console. Her hair was a black cascade around her shoulders; she wore a sheer print dress, and even from the door, Besh could smell the lavender. Ume did not look up but nodded as she worked.

“Just finishing up,” she said.

Besh asked, “Where is everyone?”

She switched off the console, stood, and walked toward him with a smile; Besh could feel himself tensing; Ume was beautiful.

Ume said, stopping before him, “They're moving us to the vacation lodge on Coolah Lake. You and I will leave when I get you fed.”

Ume took his hand and pulled him down the hall. The kitchen was empty, but food sat on one of the tables. Ume sat and Besh followed. She pried up the lid on her tray with a fork and leaned over to inhale the aroma of hot sausage and eggs.

“Don't let it get cold,” she said.

As they ate, Ume asked, “Is it the Pirini that wipes you out?”

Besh paused with fork to mouth, and answered thoughtfully, “I'm not sure; maybe. Sometimes, my swing is weak. Sometimes, I overstrike. I can't say whether the Pirini is acting up or if it's me. The only one I could ask about it is Sam, and he's out of range.”

Ume swallowed and asked, “Sam the pirate?”

Besh answered, “Pirate, yes, but he also has a Pirini.”

Ume looked past Besh; Besh turned to see Plume standing at the door. She set cloth-tied bundles beside the door and said, “A skid is in the alley. You should leave before the sun comes up.”

Plume left, and Besh turned back to Ume. Ume took their trays to a wall bin. She cleared the table, and when she turned to him, smiling, he asked, “What's in the bundles?”

Ume answered, “Light clothing for Coolah Lake. It's warmer there. Have you never been?”

Besh said, rising, “Marq and I used to go there on leave. May I fly?”

Ume walked around the table, stood close, and looked into his eyes. There was that tension again, and the warm scent of lavender. She held him in her gaze, and at last gave a ready nod. A broad smile brightened her face as she said, “You're the pilot.”

Besh packed the bundles in the back seats and took the controls. Ume strapped in beside him. Console lights revealed long smooth legs, and Besh knew that the scent of her would weigh on his thoughts; he was only a man. He forced her from his mind with pre-flight checks and took the skid up. The rising sun of Terra was a thin red line on a distant horizon. He turned south and kept his speed down until he reached the city limit.

He sped along country roads, skirting the Megafarms. In the early hour, there was little traffic; the roads were his. Besh looked at Ume, who sat with her eyes closed. She seemed asleep, her face in angelic repose. Besh checked, making slight adjustments, then turned up the cabin temperature two degrees. Ahead were trees; driveways to rich estates came and went. His course would take him south to junction 54, where he would turn due west on highway T-54.

Coolah Lake was a small inland sea; its salty mineral waters were renowned for their restorative qualities. Coolah Lake was also a vacation resort popular with both tourists and servicemen. It sat between the city of Irilac and the Devil's Diadem. Southwest of the lake were the Bloodlands, now restricted, and south of that was Thael.

Besh said softly, “We'll be coming up on Irilac soon.”

Ume opened her eyes to Besh and said, “That reminds me.”

Ume unstrapped and turned in her seat to rummage in the back. She leaned between the two seats, stretching to reach. Her body pressed close, and her dress fell alluringly to highlight smooth round plains. Besh tried not to look and failed. He turned back to his console with a shake of his head. He had been weak, but he had to admit, it had been worth it.

Ume returned to her seat and strapped in. She unpacked a small synth case and opened it to look inside. From the case, Ume pulled two folded reading glasses. “Here they are,” she said. “Every city intersection, at every traffic level, has FR cameras. These glasses disrupt the facial recognition.”

Besh took glasses from her and placed them with one hand. Looking through them, he noted no magnification; they were for show, or non-show, as the case may be. He said lightly, “That clears it up.”

Ume put on her glasses and grinned at Besh, saying in a mischievous manner, “The better to take a peek.”

Besh cleared his throat, embarrassed, and replied, “Sorry.”

Ume laughed and removed her glasses. She said, “We see what we want to see. I'm flattered.”

Besh studied Ume's happy face and shook his head, but her merriment was infectious, and Besh could not resist. He smiled and shook his head again. “Okay. Okay,” he said. “Tell me where the lodge is.”

Ume took a breath, and toyed with her glasses before saying, “South end of the lake.”

Irilac sped by, its many towers gleaming in the morning sun. Besh navigated the early traffic, choosing street level. Happy tourists rode the moving sidewalks, snapping images with shiny new palm streamers. Street vendors, ever the same, set up their wares. Then, came the suburban sprawl, houses and small shops similar and unimpressive. Traffic turned southwest through hotels and restaurants with gaudy signs, and Coolah Lake glimmered in the distance. Majestic pines surrounded the inland sea as Besh followed Ume's directions. The Devil's Diadem glowed a faint pink on the western horizon. Pulling around to the southwestern end of the lake, Besh set down behind a large log cabin sporting a broad veranda and a tennis court. Two rentals were parked nearby, and Besh saw Elin and Donnelly carrying boxes from the skids to the cabin.

Ume disembarked and stretched lavishly, inhaling the moist salty air with evident relish. Besh tucked his glasses in his shirt and pulled out the bundles from the back seats. As he joined Ume, Elin returned from the cabin, waved, and ran over. She was flushed and smiling.

“Hi, boss,” said Elin. “Everyone took off and left us to unpack.”

Ume embraced Elin, and said, “My runners. You are the backbone of the Shades.”

Donnelly jumped from the veranda to join Elin. He said, “And, that's where we're feeling it.” He acknowledged Besh with a nod, and Besh returned it.

“Show us in,” said Ume.

Donnelly answered, “Right.” He turned with Elin to lead the way inside. “This place is grand,” he said over his shoulder. “It has two bedrooms on the ground floor and a bath. Top floor has two beds and a bath. The basement game room also has a bath. The living area is huge, and so is the kitchen and dining room.”

Besh and Ume followed Donnelly and Elin through a spacious living room complete with sofas and loungers. There was an inactive fireplace and an entertainment corner. A central stairwell connected to an upper balcony. Elin turned to extend an arm upstairs.

Elin said, “We left the top floor for you and Besh. We put double bunk beds in the rooms down here.”

Mack struggled to free herself from the underside of the entertainment corner. “Oh, hi, boss,” she said. “Just setting up the interface.”

Ume asked, “How's the rental?”

Mack answered, “Standard but serviceable.”

Ume said, “We should have a meal ready for the others when they return.”

Donnelly, beaming admiration, said, “The kitchen is state-of-the-art. Let me show you.”

Besh said, as Ume turned, “I'll toss these upstairs and come back to help with the lifting.”

Elin said, “Wow. Thanks.”

The cabin had a woody aroma. Besh stopped by the first room and dropped the bundles. He peeked into the bedrooms and found them lavish but identical. He dropped the reading glasses on one of the bundles and took a deep breath. Things were moving along.

Besh brought the last box from the skids and set it on the bedroom floor in front of Elin. He dusted his hands perfunctorily and watched the runner on her knees as she rifled through open boxes.

Exasperated, Elin said to herself, “No order at all. I told them they need a system. Nobody listens.”

Besh turned and left quietly. He wandered through the living room looking for the door to the kitchen. In the end, he followed his nose. Mack passed him as he entered the kitchen; she turned in the doorway with a steaming cup of coffee and a cursory smile. Besh marveled at the colors of Coolah Lake. Everything seemed brighter, even the synthetic brick border around the kitchen floor. Ume stood over a stove accepting the ingredients that Donnelly passed to her and dropping them into a soup pot.

Besh saw everything; a vacation lodge, rented skids, food, and even a new apron. He knew the expenditure was steep. He was unsure why Ume and the Shades put so much into his search for Heaven, but he would not question them. He stepped to Ume's side with a smile on his face.

“Can I help?” he asked.

Ume turned to him with a pleased expression on her face, but before she could answer, Mack called from the living room. “Team one's back.” Besh could hear Mack speaking at a lesser volume. She said, “In the kitchen.”

A moment later, Tory ran into the kitchen, breathless and focused. He stopped in the doorway and inhaled before he advanced. “Smells good,” he said. “One down.” He peeked in the pot and turned to Ume. “Can't stay. I just need to get something before I head back out.”

“Be safe,” cautioned Ume.

“I will,” he said, taking a stalk of celery from the table on his way out.

Donnelly said, “I'll go check on Elin.” He handed Ume a bowl of chopped onions and left.

Turning to Besh, Ume said, “He likes her. I told him to tell her.” Ume added the onions to the soup and set the bowl aside. “You know,” she said, “I don't often get to cook. It feels good. Are you up to cutting the meat?”

Besh found a three-kilogram cut of beef on the table. He searched the table drawers and discovered cut gloves and knives. He worked quickly and quietly, preferring to hear Ume humming a sweet tune to anything he might say. He sauteed the meat and Ume added it to the soup pot. Ume searched the cupboards for spices and kept a happy smile on her face. The time flew by, and returning members ran in and out of the kitchen reporting their progress to Ume. Besh saw that Ume always offered praise.

Besh was washing the cut board when Ume stopped humming and spoke. “We have a stew,” she said brightly. You and I make a good team. Am I right?”

Besh answered with a question. “Aren't you afraid you'll spoil them?”

“They deserve it,” said Ume. “Let's cut some bread.”

Most of the Shades had returned. They sat in happy disarray around the walnut table discussing missions. Besh had listened quietly to the exchange between individual Shades and Ume. She praised them and encouraged them in a manner nothing less than genuine. Marq had not returned; his seat was empty, as were the seats of Alastair and Audra. Besh noticed that the Shades were dressed in a variety of clothing that fairly shouted, Tourist here! Some of them, lost in conversation, had forgotten to remove the FR scrambling eyewear.

Besh took the scrap of bread from his plate and ran it around the inside of his empty bowl. It was an idle gesture as he sat just outside the boundary of in-talk. Then, above the happy din, Besh heard someone stamp through the living room in an angry manner. The person spoke to himself, and although Besh could not make the words, he could clearly sense anger in the voice; it was the voice of Alastair. A moment later, the voice returned, going back the way it came, angry words trailing.

Carter sat on the other side of Ume, his ball cap cocked back. In his hand was a military-grade charge for a pulser handgun. He explained the position of the nodes, and how to cross the polarities to achieve an explosion. Kalle sat beside Carter, nodding as he spoke. At the far end of the table, Tory was spinning a yarn to the delight of Plume and Lexi. Among all the bright touristy clothing, Besh felt somber and out of place.

Besh thought about the anger in Alastair's voice. He knew Marq was involved. He should have already spoken with Marq but had let it slide for his own concerns. He should have pulled Marq aside and handed him a stern warning, Marq was young, after all, and young men are notoriously dense. Besh wanted to give his friend the benefit of the doubt, and elbow room to make the right decisions on his own. As he thought about it, Besh stared at the piece of bread he held.