Part Three

Paolo said decisively, "What comes next is the Forge. You helped design it, didn’t you?"

"I wouldn’t go that far. I played a minor role."

Paolo grinned. "Success has a thousand parents, but failure is an orphan."

Yatima rolled vis eyes. "The Forge was not a failure. But the Transmuters won’t want to hear about my towering contribution to analytic methods in relativistic electron plasma modeling."

"No? Well, I was never an insider at all, so whatever we tell them will have to come from you."

Yatima thought it over. "I knew the two people who really mattered." Ve smiled. "You could say it’s a love story."

"Blanca and Gabriel?"

"Maybe I should have said triangle."

Paolo was baffled. "Who else was involved?"

"I never met her myself. But I think you can guess who I mean."