He stood.
"He'll burn it," Cael said simply. "If he can't take the head, he'll burn the body. Leave nothing standing that can be pointed to and called a model."
He walked to the door.
Stopped.
"I've spent seven years learning how Caldris thinks," he said, without turning around. "He is the most methodical man I have ever known. He does not improvise. He does not make emotional decisions. He plans three moves ahead and executes exactly what he planned." He paused. "Which means if we know what he's planned, we can address each move before it lands. That's the advantage we have that he doesn't know we have."
He left.
Senna stood.
"I'll get them," she said.
=======================
Satou sat alone in the command post for three minutes.
The morning sounds continued outside. Ordinary and persistent and present.
He reached into his pack.
The carved Fenryn figure. He turned it over in his hand — worn smooth, a child's toy preserved by an old woman's love for seventy years.
