Tali waited at the freight elevator with one hand on the door release. She had been there for sixteen minutes, listening to a channel the Hacker had patched her into without telling Caleb. That should have bothered him. Later, maybe it would.
When they came up the corridor, Tali saw Caleb's brother and stepped forward without speaking. She put her arms around him. The brother did not cry yet; he only held on while Tali held on too, face turned away from Marcus as if grief needed privacy even when it happened in public.
Soma came over the comm at oh-six-thirty-six.
[Soma: Iseul did not make it.]
The elevator stayed still. No one told it to move.
[Soma: Wound through the chest. I held him for the last forty-one seconds. He gave me the line he had been saving for Caleb. I will deliver it in person. I will not deliver it on a channel.]
Marcus's voice stayed level.
"Where is the body?"
