Ten minutes later, a young pivot, so new he squeaked, delivered a briefcase-sized box that flipped open to reveal a keyboard of preprogrammed speech tags as well as direct input.

"Here," Esmay said. "Try this."

Brun peered at it, and began tapping the buttons. "It looks like the one Lady Cecelia used on

Rotterdam," said a deep bass voice.

Esmay jumped, then started laughing.

"Let's see what this one sounds like," the box said, this time in a soprano.

"I didn't like that one, let's try this . . ." came out in a mezzo; Brun shrugged. "I'll keep this

one."

"I wonder why they didn't do this first," Esmay said. "If they had a speech synthesizer aboard, why not give it to you right away."

"Arrogance," Brun keyed in. "They knew what I needed; why ask me?"

"Brun, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't waste time. Thank you. You saved my life."

Esmay was trying to think how to answer that one when Brun's next message came out.

"And by the way, who's doing your hair? It looks good even after being squashed in a suit."

"Sera Saenz-Marta Saenz-took me to this place, Afino's."

"Raffaele's Aunt Marta? You must have impressed her if she took you there. Good for you."

Esmay could not believe how fast Brun was keying in the words, as if she'd used one of these for years. "You're good with that thing," she said.

"Practice," Brun keyed. "With Cecelia. And you cannot know how good it feels. Now-what's going on

with Fleet and the planet? Hazel wants to get the other kids out."

"And your babies," Esmay said. "Your father's adamant about that: he's not leaving his grandchildren there."

"He can have them." Brun's expression dared Esmay to question that, and she didn't.

"I don't know what the whole situation is," Esmay said. "Because, since I'm in disgrace for letting you know I was here, they won't tell me. You're on a search-and-rescue ship; there's a

task force with us, but what we're doing is microjumping around keeping out of the way of the Militia warships."

"Who can I talk to?" Brun keyed. "Who's giving the orders?"

"On this ship, Captain Solis. For the task force, Admiral Serrano."

"Good. I need to talk to her."

"Admiral Serrano?" Esmay remembered in time that Brun already knew the admiral . . . she might in

fact listen. "I can get you as far as Captain Solis, but there's a blackout on communications with

the task force."

"Captain Solis first," Brun keyed in. Esmay nodded and led the way without another word. Brun glanced at Esmay. Besides the more effective haircut, there was something else different. She realized, as Esmay led her through the ship and she saw others defer to her, that Esmay might indeed be in disgrace but she was far more than Brun had imagined. This was what she'd been like at Xavier, or on Koskiusko? Her own idiocy struck her again, the way she had condescended to this woman, the way she had assumed that Esmay was no more than any other student, no more than, for instance, herself. That man in the combat veterans' bar had been right-she had not understood at all.

They paused at a cross-corridor while what looked to Brun like huge people in armor moved past.

"Feeling better, Lieutenant?" one of them asked.

"Fine, thanks," Esmay said. She turned to Brun. "They were on the team that got you out."

"Thank you," Brun keyed quickly. She hit the controls to save that phrase; she was going to need

it a lot.

Captain Solis stood as Brun came in and reached to shake her hand. "We are so glad to have you back!"

"I'm glad to be back." Brun had anticipated the need for that phrase, and had it loaded.

"Your father did not want you bothered by Lieutenant Suiza, but I understand that you wanted to see her-?"

"Yes." This had to be done word by word, carefully, and Brun took her time. "I wanted to apologize to her for my behavior on Copper Mountain. It was made clear to me during my captivity just how badly I had misjudged her. And I wanted to express my profound gratitude for her efforts on my behalf."

"You don't know most of it," Captain Solis said. "She is the one who insisted that you were probably still alive after your escape shuttle blew up-that you could have engineered that as a decoy-and said we had to go find you." He spared Esmay a glance that Brun could tell was more approving than usual. "I could almost change my mind."

"I changed mine," Brun keyed in.

"Well, now that we've got you and the other-Hazel Takeris, is that her name?-we can jump safely back to the task force and get out of here with no more disruption."

"No." Brun keyed, and switched to the masculine voice output for emphasis.

Captain Solis jumped; she bit back a grin. It would not do to laugh at the man. "But-what-?"

"We must get the other children," Brun keyed. "From the ship Hazel was on."

"I don't see how," Captain Solis began.

"We must," Brun said.

"But Hazel said they were safe-that they had adjusted to their new family-"

"We cannot leave little girls, Familias citizens by birth, to be brought up in a society where

they can be muted like me for saying the wrong thing."

Solis looked at her. "You're naturally overwrought," he began.

Brun stabbed at the keyboard with such emphasis that his voice trailed away, and he waited. "I am

tired, sore, hungry, and extremely tired of having no voice, but I am not overwrought. Could you define the right amount of 'wrought' for someone in my position? Those children were stolen from their families-their parents were murdered horribly-and they're in the control of people who were willing to kidnap, rape, and abuse me. How dare you suggest that they are safe enough where they are?"

"Sera-it's not my decision. It will be the admiral's, if she can make it without authorization from the Grand Council, which I doubt."

"Then I will see the admiral," Brun said.

"It will be some time before we can rendezvous safely," Solis said. He gave Esmay a long look.

"And for the time being, Lieutenant, could you find quarters for our guest? I know we're crowded with extra crew, not to mention prisoners-"

"Yes, sir," Esmay said.

"Prisoners." That came out in a flat baritone, after they'd left the bridge.

"Two groups," Esmay said. "Three different shuttle loads came up to the station after you; one

blew itself up, but we caught two."

She wanted to see them. She wanted to let them see her, free and healthy and-no. She would get her

voice back first, and then she would see them.

"Something to eat?" she keyed.

"Right away," Esmay said, and led her to the wardroom. Brun sat revelling in food which someone else had cooked-flavors she was used to, condiments she liked, anything she chose to drink, while watching Esmay covertly. What had Afino's done to her hair? And for that matter, what could she do about her own hair, which she'd hacked off so blindly with a knife?

Several days later, with her hair once more a riot of tousled curls, thanks to the crew's barber, she was ready to tackle Admiral Serrano.

"You are coming with me," Brun said. "I need you; I trust you."

"You could take Meharry-"