"The captain would like to have a chance to speak to everyone here," Lamont explained. "That's why I wanted to make sure Miss Anna was here too. Can you at least wait until we've called an assembly before you make a final judgement?"
Abner Wade looked at the older woman with surprise, and then at Lamont. The newspaperman was wearing his many-pocketed gray expedition jacket over a coppery, close-fitting Martian vacuum suit, as if he had come to the tower braced for the unexpected. The captain, for his part, was dressed in his normal uniform.
"The ship," Abner asked, "has been repaired?"
Lamont's eyes flickered appraisingly between the thickly-built young man and Constance, whose eyes were locked on him. "They're still working on that," he admitted. "But the senior staff has agreed that getting you lot back on board should take top priority."
Constance put her hands on her hips. "The senior staff. You don't say. Well, I just can't tell you how darn pleased I am that the senior staff of Westward has come to decide that we're not such a burden after all."
Captain Carter cleared his throat. "Miss Beckett, can we talk about this?"
Constance regarded him angrily. "We are talking about it. So I'll speak plainly. This ain't your ship, and we ain't your crew. If you came here thinking that you could intimidate us with a show of authority…"
"I came here," Carter interrupted, lifting a hand, "to apologize."
His admission stopped Constance short. She hesitated, uncertain how to respond.
"The captain would like to have a chance to speak to everyone here," Lamont explained. "That's why I wanted to make sure Miss Anna was here too. Can you at least wait until we've called an assembly before you make a final judgement?"
"I don't see as my judgement should matter to you one way or another," Constance snapped, tipping her head in Carter's direction. "Much less to the captain here."
"We went to visit the camp as soon as we arrived," Carter explained, looking toward the structures that had recently been raised. "There was unanimous agreement that they wouldn't hear me out until you were present."
Constance glanced around the edges of the clearing, where a dozen or so refugees watched the proceedings with curiosity. Their eyes were mostly fixed on her, gauging her reaction. She took a deep breath. She needed time to formulate her thoughts better. Finally, she shrugged and gestured in the direction of the path that would lead them toward the grove. "Well, if that's how it is," she said, "let's not keep them waiting any longer."
Carter nodded and strode out of the clearing, onto the path. He limped slightly, the tip of his cane sinking into the mossy floor until it found the hard surface of the translucent and subtly luminescent flagstones. He was preceded by the murmuring onlookers, and followed by Abner, who had politely taken Miss Anna's arm and was speaking to her in tones too quiet for Constance to make out. Since Anna Lightfoot-Owens had become something of a hermit among the refugees, Constance happened to know that Abner was one of her more frequent visitors. It was a point of annoyance.
She waited until they had proceeded a decent length along the trail before following. Lamont, noticeably, waited with her, watching her thoughtfully. "This change of heart," she said to him, nodding in the direction of the captain. "I don't suppose you had anything to do with it."