Snippet #2815980

"This is ... well. It's a bit out of my wheelhouse," said Andrijana, smiling with a nervous edge. She glanced at Drulović, then quickly away again. "I'm only responsible for what happens here at Ĭtpraṽmår, not for anything involving foreign affairs. I don't even know what I'd say if someone else asks. I guess ... I'd say nothing. I didn't know."

"A wise response to be sure," Drulović nodded to Andrijana, her tone reassuring, in an odd way. "Besides, you hadn't known that Keiko Takayama had even been here in the first place. That she's now left had nothing to do with your capabilities - or lack thereof." Something soured a bit in her voice but her face remained neutral, impassive. Her gaze drifted back toward Yukiko. "Perhaps you may see it as a turning," she said. "Certainly, you wouldn't be the only one to hold that impression of things. I see this, too, as a service. My government now asks of me that I serve by remaining here for a time. Of course, some would like for me to die here. I'm old enough. But I mean to outlive such trifling grudges against me. This ought to be my last service now."

But the old woman had acted to ensure Keiko's freedom, and even now, Andrijana seemed to defer to her despite their positions. This could not be her last means of serving Terra.