A memory unit.
From Horizon's Mercy.
For Veyrhold, it was not just salvage. It was a piece of origin pulled from the dead ship's closed hand.
For Rohan, it was possibility.
He sat apart after dinner, staring at the sealed salvage case where it rested beside Maerin. Pell's charm clicked softly at his belt in the night wind.
Liora came to sit beside him.
"You look as if you are trying to see through the case."
"I am considering whether staring hard enough might repair old technology."
"If it works, Bryan will make you stare at ledgers next."
"That would be cruel."
"He would call it efficient."
They sat shoulder to shoulder in the dim heat-stone glow.
After a while, Liora said, "You did well today."
"I nearly argued to keep going."
"But you did not."
"Only because Veska said greed gets people buried."
"That sentence has stopped many bad decisions."
"It should be carved above the gate."
"It probably is somewhere."
Rohan smiled faintly.
Then the smile faded.
