Al sighed. Batshit was annoying, but she was right. This verbal one-upmanship was a loser’s game.

Then he got Becky’s message, which complicated the two questions he’d already meant to ask.

The first thing to do was get off speaker. Flicking the comm to regular telephonic mode, he spoke quietly to the ork. “Listen, I am open to goin’ huntin’. But three things. First, what exactly do you mean by ‘secure’ the children? An’ think real hard about yer answer. Second, pardon me fer not keepin’ up on yer family tree, but are you sayin’ you got another daughter besides Silky? One that was gittin’ tortured along with the rest o’ these kids? An’ third, point of infermation, jist got word Gossamer says they’s some trouble with Silky herself or her assets or somethin’…>>

While he spoke, he tapped in a quick text back to Becky: <<Gossamer’s cool. Get more info on Silk.>>