Joey turned to face Brandy. “Serpentine, you are Green River Repair?”

She nodded through her host, apparently understanding that this was now Joey speaking.

“Well, that implies to me your faction thinks that under some circumstances the River needs repairs, right?”

She paused. “That’s an oversimplification. We include large parts of many entire species. But yes.”

Joey went on, “Well, nobody seems to have expected this, so could there be something wrong with this particular chunk of the River?”

She frowned. “Some pieces are better than others for certain tasks, but I haven’t seen any symptoms of outright malfunctions.”

Now Joey addressed the River itself. “You have to tell the Eightfold if something is wrong with you, don’t you?”

There was an embarrassing silence. It occurred to Joey that if the River knew it was him speaking, it might feel no obligation to respond. He was about to call Emerald back, but then realized that having refused to acknowledge him as the representative of Green Sword Honor, it might decide it didn’t have to answer him either.

Then Joey had another thought. He said out loud, “You know, Sapphire and the other members of the Blue alliance don’t seem to be too surprised by any of this – or worried about what would happen if the Green Alliance started working together. Is there any way to find out if this particular piece of the River has had any dealings with these particular members of the Blue Alliance that we don’t know about? Perhaps as a group?”

A shocked silence fell, and for a moment Joey wondered if he had made them stop and think, or merely alienated them. Then he heard Diopside ask in Jake’s voice, “River, have you ever dealt with any of the representatives present from the Blue Alliance before meeting them on Earth?”

“That is irrelevant.”

Most of the Green Alliance remained speechless. Diopside said, “Nevertheless, it is unusual for you to fail to answer one of the Eightfold representatives.”

The strange voice said, “There are reasons.”

“Are there indeed,” Diopside asked.

Then he turned to the woman on his left. “Tourmaline?”

She turned towards him coolly. Joey didn’t want to jump to conclusions, didn’t know if the host’s body language represented her elder.

Diopside said, “While we’re part of different alliances, the two River Friend factions have worked together at need across alliance lines. Will you ask the River to tell us all together what it might be hiding from us?”

She shook her head, her face expressionless. “And you call yourself Green River Friend. I trust the River, which has always advised us well. I don’t think it’s concealing anything major, and I trust it has it’s reasons.”

Without prompting Serpentine spoke on the other side of the table. She addressed the man on her right. “Sometimes we see the weaknesses of the River Friend perspective. Something is wrong here. Competition between factions should strengthen the Eightfold as a whole. We need a representative from each faction to diagnose the problem and fix it effectively. The River is supposed to serve us all impartially. It might seem to favor the Blue Alliance now, but if we succeed many Eightfold, and other pieces of the River, will look at our work. The River should not be collaborating with one faction to pit Eightfold against Eightfold, and push multiple human hosts to their destruction. Will you help me fix it?”

He shook his head. “My elder doesn’t think anything is wrong. You’re just unhappy with the results – of the rules your alliance set.”

Brandy’s voice said quizzically, “You really don’t think so? Because if Earth is opened to the Eightfold, many elders will come to look at how it happened. They will be able to read human minds, and sometimes the minds of other elders. You really think all this will look good?”

Joey cleared his throat. “Let’s not overemphasize that, two humans have died already. I wouldn’t want to give anyone the idea that the best way to fool an audit would be to off more of us.”

They all stared at him. He continued, “I gather the tradition is for human hosts to be respectful and subservient to their elders. I admire that sort of dedication, I really do. The thing is, I don’t remember choosing to become a host, and I seem to have lost a lot more than I’ve gained.

“Also, I might not be doing him any favors. I think he’s smart, strong, and tough, but also stubborn. I also think if I die while I’m his host, he might die as well, weakened as he is. Maybe on consideration he’ll come to agree with me.

Joey tried not to think about how Emerald would be reacting to all this, but it was too late. He was suddenly prisoner in his own head. He wanted to scream for Emerald not to get them both killed for nothing, but he couldn’t even do that. There was no point antagonizing Emerald further.

Emerald said, “As my host was saying, I might be willing to cede my role to Peridot. Obviously none of the Blue Alliance wants me here. To the two members of the Green Alliance who have come to oppose my being forced to fight a series of endless duels, I thank them, but since I’ve already had to deal with two attempts on my life on my own, I don’t feel like I owe them anything. Try not to mess up this planet too much, it will be interesting to see how elders react to your work if this planet is opened to the Eightfold.”

So Emerald had backed him up. If Joey had been in control of the body his jaw would have fallen open. Belatedly he wondered what would happen to humanity as a whole. For all he knew his death would make it worse though. Besides, humanity hadn’t done much for Joey lately.