"You may ask," she says, nodding, half distracted, admittedly, by the thought of Oriencor's work. It sets her a little on edge just to think of it. The older woman would preserve life in a vacuum; Aeriel's life work will be, she knows, to keep that vacuum from coming to pass. Here is life, the ocean, not merely that within it. She wants conservation, not modification.

"I cannot promise I can give you an answer."