[ she's noted the tape recorder, of course. it's a smart move, this is something that should be on record. but it also means she needs to be very clearly where the distinction lies between what she knows and what she thinks.

narga is an especially important case of the latter. ]

As I said, I hadn't spoken with him myself, I'd only seen the way he spoke with others. But the fact that he avoided me and others who registered at that time seemed telling.

Similarly telling are the absence of any attempts on his end to contact imPorts further. The impression I came away with, stronger in retrospect now than it was at the time, is that his concern didn't lie so much in helping imPorts as undermining the government's initial reception.

At best, he probably saw us as nothing better than ammunition to fuel his own grudge. Possibly against the government as a whole, but perhaps against Holiday in particular. I don't know the man's history of motivations well enough to distinguish between the two.

[ but, even on record, this doesn't have to be strictly professional. it's always interesting to see how import social circles fit together, especially if someone clark knows has been here since the beginning. and so, she changes course with a question. ] Who was the friend, if you don't mind my asking?