Page 28 of Skinwalker's Bane
The man grinned as he sat down and pulled out the chair beside him. “You’re the reason we’re here today, then.”
Devin stared at him. “Excuse me?”
“You’re here to talk about the shard, aren’t you?” the woman asked.
“I was here to talk to the Captain about the shard. She suggested I sit in on this meeting to hear what was said, so I don’t think I’m here to talk at all.”
“You’re the reason the meeting was called. You and that Caver,” the woman said.
“Do you mean Dhaval Bull?” Devin asked.
“The bald one, yes.”
“I was just trying to keep the crowd from turning into a lynch mob. They didn’t like what he was saying. I only suggested we should verify the shard exists before dropping into hysteria about aliens.”
“A perfectly reasonable response,” the man said. He leaned across the table and held out his hand. “I’m Dennis Meyrick.”
Devin looked at his hand.
“You shake it,” the woman said. “Take his hand with yours and shake.”
Devin did as she said. The man pumped her hand, squeezing firmly, then let it go.
Devin laughed. “Quaint. I haven’t seen anyone do that except in the archives.”
“Theydid it back then to test an opponent’s strength before taking him on in battle,” the woman said. “I’m Lizette, by the way. You should ask Cai about the hand shake. Only, don’t ask if you don’t have an hour to spare. He’ll talk your ear off.”
“Cai?”
“Cai Lessie,” Dennis said. “By designation, a mechanical engineer—”
“Like most of us are,” Lizette added.
“—but he’s actually a self-trained historian, linguist and all-round smart-ass. If you like the handshake thing, you’ll enjoy listening to him and he’ll enjoy telling you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about anything.”
Devin realized she had heard the name before. Adam had mentioned the man when he had spoken about Lincoln.
“Is Cai coming to this meeting too?” she asked.
“Everyone is,” Lizette said simply. “You stirred things up.” She grinned. “This is the first full-spectrum meeting we’ve had on the Bridge for nearly a year. It’s about time we did, anyway, so don’t look as though we’re about to eat you.”
“Sorry,” Devin said. “It’s unsettling to hear one is responsible for disrupting people’s lives.”
“You don’t like disruptions?” Dennis asked curiously.
“I have no objection to change,” Devin replied. “As long as it isgoodchange.” As she said it, she realized that it was perhaps one of the truest things she had ever said about herself. The feeling ofrightness, the strength of her belief that positive change was a good thing, ran through her veins, making her feel warm and strong.
“That sounds like remarkably good sense,” said a third voice, from the open doorway. The man who came in was wrinkled, with jowls and gray hair. His brown eyes twinkled with astonishing good cheer.
“Anselm Bannister,” Dennis announced. “One of the few of us whoisn’ta mechanical engineer.”
“Wash your mouth out,” Bannister told Dennis. “Just because I’m only a theoretical physicist is no reason to be rude.”
“Says the physicist to the ordinary organic coder,” Lizette said, with a smile.
Dennis blew her a kiss as Bannister settled at the table and leaned toward Devin with his hand out. “Bannister, as Red just announced. You’re Devin, right?”
Devin shook his hand, already liking the old-fashioned custom. As they shook, more people came into the room. She knew their faces. One of them was the woman with short black hair who ran the External Engineering Institute. The man who sat next to her was one of the lead skinwalkers, Haydn something. More people came in and soon the room was filled with chatter and laughter. There was no tension in the room, none of the watching-my-back attitudes a lot of people in the meetings Devin had attended in the past seemed to hold.
