A Seeker Betrayed

32. Sabos / Playtime

"Who are we calling on tonight?"

The three friends were eating at their favorite drinker, Sabos, which was close to their evening's final destination in Open Quarters. Gamman rolled the bottom edge of his glass along the table. "Tonight I think I'll just watch — call whoever."

"Whoa... what?" Tellurin leaned forward suddenly. "What's this? Are you sick?"

Gamman glanced at him, and then to Sur'ten, at his right, who looked mildly surprised. All he said in reply to his friend's question was, "I've been thinking about some things — that's all."

"Do tell?" Tellurin's tone was lilting and playful. Gamman scowled at him.

"The trip to Thurina wore me out, is all. And on the way back I-" He stopped suddenly. He didn't really want to explain to everyone that the seeker part of him was going out on its own and bringing him back weird experiences. On the trip back from meeting with Satza Chidak he had suddenly felt that Shamma was in danger, but he couldn't actually see why. It was an unnerving feeling and he had worried the entire way back, unable to talk to even Lord Durban about it.

He had gone straight to the underground when he got back but by the time he made it to Nai Sector 1 Shamma was already out getting breakfast. Looking around the table now he said, "I'm taking over most of what my pa has been doing. Aya warned me the other night to do a little less playing and a lot more work. I can't lean on Shamma, either — something went wrong at Eminence the other night."

Sur'ten sipped at the plain water he'd gotten and looked out the window. The sun was going down, and Gamman watched him watching their reflection in the glass. The Tharig was haunting them in the background, silent but ready for them if they decided to make use of any of its enhancements.

Without looking at them, Sur'ten quietly said, "Shamahan's in trouble, right?"

Gamman regarded his workmate. They had worked together for a long time, and he would be the first to sense Gamman's emotions, so he was probably feeling agitated. "That's right. And it was bad enough that Aya won't tell me what it was. Have you heard anything from Ro'bard or the others?"

Sur'ten shook his head, then swiveled towards the table and shook it again. "Nope. It's unlike him though — he's a lot more responsible than you are." He grinned, adding, "I suspect whatever it is, is going to cost a lot to fix.... I've never heard of someone being sent into candidacy five months ahead of schedule like that."

Gamman chuckled. "You should have seen him when Lord Andyne told him. I wouldn't be surprised if he runs away — he is not enthusiastic about working underground at all. Plus," Gamman turned thoughtful, "whatever it was he did, he didn't view it as a problem."

"No?" Surten asked. Gamman tipped his head to the side and returned the ken's searching gaze.

"No. Whatever it was, he must have been thinking he'd found a good opportunity. Aya smacked him down."

Tellurin, who was originally from Osroes and who helped his family ship goods to Ginnie, laughed and said, "I look forward to working with him. He's the type who's on the ball, not distracted by drugs and pretty asses, unlike some people I know."

"You mean my pa, right?" In an effort to lighten the mood Gamman added, "I can't help it if guys are shaking their pretty asses in my face all the time... guess I"ll just have to keep it down to one a night."

"Right! So who'll it be tonight?"

✾

An hour later, the three had showered and stripped down, and joined a couple of friends in one of Kiyiya's private suites upstairs. Gamman ran his hand through Surten's black hair and watched.