AS CARIAD WENT TO THE meeting that Strongquist had called, her wish for easy solutions to the problems that dogged the colony was peppered with pessimism. Anahi’s behavior was unhinged, yet Cariad doubted that she could convince the woman of that, nor any of the Woken who supported her. She’d tried speaking to them as individuals but she hadn’t made much headway. Rather, she seemed to have turned some of them against herself. And after the confrontation over the weapons, the Gens were also unlikely to be in a conciliatory mood.
When she reached the room aboard the Nova Fortuna they were using for the meeting, Anahi had already arrived. She was the only person there, but she didn’t acknowledge Cariad when she went in, preferring an icy disregard, no doubt due to Cariad’s interference in th
