The message from Tharuk arrived at Yohan seven days after the probe event at the Arch, carried by a highland runner who had come down from the build site in three days of hard travel. The runner was young, barely sixteen, with the rangy build of a highland youth who had grown up on mountain terrain and had not yet filled out to his adult size. He had not rested at the midpoint waystation because Tharuk had told him to come fast, and he had taken the instruction with the seriousness that Tharuk applied to most of his instructions, which was considerable.
Sakh'arran received the message in the intelligence building's front room. He read it twice. He set it down on his desk. He read it a third time.
