"No. And neither will you, after a while."

She shrugged easily. "Till then, then." She handed him the parts of the disintegrated machine. He inspected them while a group of young men passed, heading for the firing ranges.

"Mr Gurgeh?" One of the young males stopped, looking at Gurgeh quizzically. A fleeting expression of annoyance passed across the older man's face, to be replaced by the amused tolerance Yay had seen before in such situations. "Jernau Morat Gurgeh?" the young man said, still not quite sure.

"Guilty." Gurgeh smiled gracefully and — Yay saw — straightened his back fractionally, drawing himself up a little. The younger man's face lit up. He executed a quick, formal bow. Gurgeh and Yay exchanged glances.

"An honour to meet you, Mr Gurgeh," the young man said, smiling widely. "My name's Shuro…I'm…" He laughed. "I follow all your games; I have a complete set of your theoretical works on file…"

Gurgeh nodded. "How comprehensive of you."

"Really. I'd be honoured if, any time you're here, you'd play me at… well, anything. Deploy is probably my best game; I play off three points, but—"

"Whereas my handicap, regrettably, is lack of time," Gurgeh said. "But, certainly, if the chance ever arises, I shall be happy to play you." He gave a hint of a nod to the younger man. "A pleasure to have met you."

The young man flushed and backed off, smiling. "The pleasure's all mine, Mr Gurgeh…. Goodbye… goodbye." He smiled awkwardly, then turned and walked off to join his companions.

Yay watched him go. "You enjoy all that stuff, don't you, Gurgeh?" she grinned.

"Not at all," he said briskly. "It's annoying."

Yay continued to watch the young man walking away, looking him up and down as he tramped off through the sand. She sighed.

"But what about you?" Gurgeh looked with distaste at the pieces of missile in his hands. "Do you enjoy all this… destruction?"