At the man who had come to this settlement with twelve operatives and two ECD personnel and sat at a memorial field for forty minutes listening to thirty names.
"What are you going to do," Cael said.
Caldris looked at the markers.
"I'm going to go back to my team," he said. "I'm going to give them a specific instruction." He paused. "And then I'm going to go home and write something in the administrative record that will cause me significant professional difficulty."
"What instruction," Cael said.
Caldris stood.
"You said you wanted the window," he said. "When I go back, the sequence pauses for assessment. You'll have the window." He looked at Cael. "Say what you came to say."
He walked back toward the gate.
====
Mira Vale held the team for ninety-four minutes.
Not because she was uncertain. Because Caldris's signal was hold and hold meant hold.
