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“You absolutely did.”

Veyr left the window and came to the table. He had learned enough by now not to stand over me while I worked. Instead, he pulled out the chair beside mine.

That was new.

I turned the terminal toward him. “Look at these three records.”

He scanned them quickly. “Khar’en. Deceased. Two others. One deceased, one unavailable.”

I nodded once. “Right.”

“What am I looking for?”

“That’s what I’m trying to decide.”

His attention stayed on the screen while I pointed at the date fields.

“These changes didn’t happen when the compatibility tests were originally run.”

“No.”

“They happened later.”

“Yes.”

“And not randomly later.”

Veyr leaned closer. His shoulder brushed mine.

The contact lasted less than a second, but I still noticed the faint warmth of him beside me and hated that my body had apparently chosen now to become observant in entirely useless ways.

I shifted toward the screen instead. “Look here.”

He followed my finger.

“Khar’en’s compatibility history changed after his death registration.”

“Yes.”

“This one changed after the warrior was transferred off-world.”

“Yes.”

“And this woman’s record changed after her original match was marked unavailable.”

Veyr’s gaze narrowed. “Unavailable is not the same as dead.”

“I know.”

“Could mean injury. Disappearance. Assignment conflict.”

“Or reassignment.”

He looked at me.

I tapped the screen. “That’s what I mean. The changes keep happening around moments when somebody’s status changes.”

His expression hardened slightly. “Warrior status.”