I am out on the Veranda, where Juliet has put me, and told me to stay. There is a slight briskness in the air tonight, and the stove pot has been lit. Juliet comes clattering through the doorway from the house will her arms full of things, and I rise to help her, but she tells me to sit, and I do. She manages to bring all of it to the table intact.

She has brought a kettle, and the sugar pot, and a can of something. She has brought the press, and it is already filled with course grounds. She is sweating lightly from grinding them. She has brought two mugs. The kettle goes on the stove pot. She curls her lip a little in concentration as she punches through the lid on the can with a chiave. The syrupy white liquid in the can leaps a little bit from the violence and coats her thumb. She offers it to me. It is thick and sweet, and seasoned by her skin.

I ask her, "coffee?"

"Café Cubano," she says. She is pouring from the can and the sugar pot into mugs. She is using a lot of each.

I tell her that it's getting late for coffee.

"Café," she says. The water is ready and she fills the press. She looks at me. "I wasn't planning on sleeping tonight."

I am saved from having to think of anything to say to that by Marco, who arrives quietly. He sits down.

He is hesitant to begin. "Jacobo," he says. He starts again. "Jacobo works for me at the laboratory. He is something of a consultant for us. He is a very gifted troubleshooter, I think it is. We were having some worries with the valve array of recomb-". He looks at us. I do not know if he thinks we will understand what he is saying. "There is a room," he says, "with many valves." He waves his hand. "Hundreds. They act as a whole, but they were not acting as expected.

"Jacobo has a talented ear for sifting. He enjoys the symphony, but because he can hear each instrument individually, yes? We could not find fault with any of the valves mechanically, but we hoped Jacobo could lead us to the misbehavior in the system."

Marco has stopped, and is mulling the press. I ask him if Jacobo did it; Juliet asks him if Jacobo can hear us talking.

Marco shrugs. "Certainly, he can. Do not worry yourself. I have told him I would be telling you. He has adjusted." Juliet clears her throat. Marco says to me, "it was not any one valve. The failure moved from apparatus to apparatus, and they chased it around the room. So." Marco reaches out to the table and lets the weight of his hand press the coffee for us. He fills our cups. "The thing about it," he says, "the interesting thing is that the valve was whispering words."

Marco stands and hands us our mugs. "I will likely be at the laboratory a good deal for a few weeks. I trust you both with the house. I would humbly ask that you see to the comforts of our guests as best as you are able."

"Of course," Juliet says.

He puts a key on the table. "This will start the cars, if you have need of them." He is quickly gone, and we are alone again on the veranda.

The coffee is very sweet, and we say nothing.