Reclamation

Caril nodded. "Then you may need information about his activities. I can make that my work and I will. I'll have the quarters ready when the Witness arrives. We will be remembered well, Basq. I swear it."

"I swear it as well, Caril. I will see you with unaided eyes within the hour." She smiled at him and Basq shut the lines down.

Basq realized how lucky he'd been to find Caril. Most contracted support staff would not go beyond official duty and would move on as soon as a better contract came their way, but Caril had abiding ambitions and love as well as duty in her soul. Basq had offered to make her a permanent part of his life gladly. She had accepted at once, even though permanent subservience to one person meant a relative demotion. She had known Basq would rise, even when he had doubted it. She would rise with him and she truly deserved to do so.

Basq did not let himself think about what she would have done if the contracts had not come and the white robe had become a reflection of his permanent status. Instead, he opened the lines to the transport coordination section and requested a shuttle back to the Grand Errand. The display informed him that the shuttle was available and the Witness was awaiting his arrival at the Home Hall.

Good to know, Basq thought as he closed the lines and shut the terminal's power off. I will be ready to receive them into my life. He savored the thought. The Reclamation of the Home Ground was first and foremost, of course, but it would not be a bad thing to assure a good place for Caril and himself when the Rhudolant Vitae walked there. Being favorably remembered by a Witness was the surest course to such a place, especially if his Contractors and Ambassador Ivale could say they shared that memory.

The Home Hall was filled with activity when Basq got there. Members of the committee were being escorted down the docking corridors by entourages numbering between six and ten Beholden. Residents of the core greeted arrivals from the encampment's ships.

The only still figure in the room was the Witness. A dark-skinned woman several centimeters taller than Basq and at least ten kilos heavier, she stood like a single-phase statue. The movements of the other people in the hall did not so much as ruffle the hem of her jade robe or the ends of her black hair. She had a soft-sided case slung over one shoulder. The lens of her camera's eyepiece glinted with reflected light.

Basq concentrated on keeping his face smooth and devoid of emotion while he racked his brains trying to remember the etiquette for greeting the Witness one had been assigned. Before he had to resign himself to making his first remembered action a public display of ignorance, the Witness moved. With more grace than even a Contractor, she glided toward him. As she neared, Basq realized she was an Amputant, but a much more devout one than even Contractor Kelat. She raised a flexible, silicate hand toward him in greeting.

Why should I be surprised? Most Witnesses are fanatics. That would be especially true for any Witness Uary agreed to. Basq tried not to frown. / will have to find a way to remind Caril how careful we must be.

"Ambassador Basq, with your permission I will present you my name." Her voice was deep and had an oddly musical quality about it. "I am Formal Witness Winema Avin-Dae Uratae. Do you accept that I am the Witness contracted to you by the Reclamation Advisory Committee or do you require verification?"

The words triggered the memory of a lesson from his graded schooling. To ask for proof was to impugn the Witness. Impugning the Witness might skew the observation. So, Basq said, "I accept that you are my contracted Witness."

"Then accept that my memory carries you. On the memory of my own self I swear I will remember accurately." Winema said the words with such fervor it might have been her first time uttering them. Basq doubted that was the case. Uary would not let a novice be assigned to him.

Now came the difficult part. He had acknowledged and accepted the Witness. With the formalities observed, he had to ignore her completely. Supposedly, that would become easier with time, but for now maintaining that attitude was going to be a fight. Basq pivoted and started for the docking corridor that connected the shuttle to the core. Winema fell into step behind him, as silent as his shadow. He climbed aboard the shuttle and took a seat near the front. He heard the slight creak as the Witness sat behind him. He imagined he could feel the point on the back of his head where her camera was directed. His scalp began to itch.