"I don't think so."

"Then I shouldn't keep you any longer."

"You don't want your whole hour?"

"I enjoy your company, but I really wasn't expecting I'd get to see you again and I'm really not clear on why you feel obliged."

"Kib wanted me to."

"That, uh, just pushes the confusion back a step."

"He said you were helping with Midnight."

"They're nervous about him. They don't need to be."

"No?"

"He's not confident it's in his interests to be convincing on this point but he's not going to let people get hurt and any meaningful getting-in-the-way-of-the-peal gets lots of people hurt."

"That's us, going around becoming irritatingly essential."

"The Yeerks thing wasn't a close call - well, it was a close call in that the Yeerks could have taken him instead of recruiting him, it wasn't in a close call in that he was tempted."

"That's good."

"So I feel rather like I'm getting paid for nothing."

"Peace of mind's something."

"You seem fairly handicapped by the unwillingness of your people who are good at understanding people to go anywhere near this."

"Yeah. That's why Kib asked you."

"The rest of them should get over it - I know some of them have trauma, that's different, but everyone else involved has seen the 'having preferences you endorse' thing up-close enough that they should have a handle on it."

"A Space one visits Midnight sometimes."

Nod.

"I apologize for not issuing orders so you could get out as soon as Melkor was dead."

"Thanks."

"It was negligent of me. Thank you for having my head fixed."

"You're welcome."

"Apparently Miranda's husband was incredulous at her about the extrapolation from my not having previously put a hole in your head."