Haunted, Avery said, “I have to, Janx.”
“But ... Ani ...”
Forcing out the words, Avery said, “She has a new family. One better suited to her needs.”
Janx’s face turned to stone. His grip tightened. “Doc. No. You can’t.”
Making sure his face was turned from Sheridan, Avery mouthed the words, Have me followed. Trust me.
Janx’s eyes went flinty.
“Let him go,” Layanna said, in her flattest voice. If Avery hadn’t known better, he would have believed she meant it.
Slowly, Janx released his grip. Avery moved up the gangplank. He took Sheridan’s hand, feeling the deck of the airship tilt and sway beneath his feet.
“Don’t do this, bones,” Hildra said. “Ignore the bitch and come back.” She meant Layanna, Avery knew, not Sheridan.
“I’m afraid this is goodbye,” Avery said. “For now.”
“For ever,” Sheridan said, and nodded to the pilot. The dirigible began to lift off and drift away from the Starfish’s back.
Avery traded a nod with Layanna, who did not nod back. She was playing her part a little too well.
“Doc, no!” Janx shouted, and Avery was shocked to see moisture in his eyes.
What am I doing? Avery asked himself. Why am I REALLY doing this? He turned away, unable to look at Janx.
Sheridan directed the dirigible up, speaking into a radio, and minutes later another ten airships descended from the clouds. Avery gaped: were they all aligned with her? The ships turned about, escorting Sheridan, a sort of honor guard, and rose in a solid body toward the dark clouds, which broke suddenly, revealing a zeppelin. Its sides glimmered in a flash of lightning.
“A zeppelin,” Avery muttered. “And you don’t fear being pursued?”
“We have few extradimensional weapons left to us now, but we do have devices, and they can stymie your people long enough for us to be away,” Sheridan said.
Avery glanced back at the Starfish. Layanna and the others were invisible against its vastness. He realized that he was very, very alone.
The dirigibles docked with the zeppelin, and a woman—in an Octunggen uniform—greeted Sheridan on the other side of the boarding ramp. The woman had strange eyes with bifurcated pupils, like the eyes of a frog, and she snapped her heels and saluted.
“You are most welcome, Colonel,” she said, and Avery remembered that Sheridan was only a colonel in the Octunggen military.
“Thank you, X.O.”
The woman was the Executive Officer of the zeppelin, then, come to honor Sheridan personally. An Octunggen X.O. Somehow Sheridan had snuck a whole crew of the enemy right up among the Ghenisan ships. Avery was floored.
The X.O.’s gaze took in Avery. “And this?”
“This is Doctor Francis Avery.”
The X.O.’s strange eyes widened slightly. “The doctor ... well. That is quite a victory. I’m assuming ...”
“He’s a guest,” Sheridan said.
“Good. Good! Excellent. I will give you rooms, baths, clothes. You are just in time. The officers meet for dinner in one hour. I will arrange seats for you both.”
There was some more talking after that, but it was in Octunggen, and Avery was too tired to process it. His knees sagged, and it was all he could do not to simply curl up on the floor. He was spent. Utterly. What have I done?
When Sheridan was done with the others, she led Avery to a gilded stairwell and up two flights, then down a richly carpeted hallway.
“You act like you’ve been here before,” he said.
She glanced sideways at him, just briefly, the first time she had looked at him since leaving the Starfish. “I have arranged for us to have ... adjoining rooms. Is that suitable?”
He straightened, though he knew he must look a mess. “It is.”
“Good.”
She arrived at a cabin door, unlocked it and pushed it open, handing him the key. “This will be yours,” she said, stepping in and indicating the richly appointed cabin. A door to the left presumably led to her cabin.
Cautiously, he stepped inside—
Sheridan spun to him, slamming him up against the door—closing it in the process—and shoving her face in his. Her eyes were livid, her lips drawn back.
“What are you up to, Doctor?”
“I—I—”
She slammed him against the door again. “I know you didn’t come here just to be with me. How stupid do you think I am? What’s the real reason?”
“I assure you, I—”
