Chapter 9: Former Addresses

"There's Veldin," Ratchet began listing his previous addresses, "Endako..."

"That is not correct, Ratchet," Clank interrupted. "Technically, the apartment on Endako was in Abercrombie Fizzwidget's name."

"He's right, Ratchet," Rich agreed. "Veldin, Kerwan and the Apogee Space Station are the only ones in the virus. New Fastoon was not mentioned either."

"I wonder why," Ratchet mused. "And I wonder how they found out about the station."

Jasmine shook her head. "The station's common knowledge. Everyone knows that it's the lombax embassy in this dimension, and that you and Talwyn rent it to the LCC. And it's not like we broadcast information about New Fastoon."

"Ratchet," Rich began, and his voice was rather concerned, "I'm gonna send some deputies out there via Dimensionator. They'll stay with you until..."

"No!" Ratchet quickly interrupted. "I won't be able to get anything done with a squad on my tail."

"This isn't optional, Ratchet."

"Please, Rich. I've got Jason here. Isn't that enough?"

Rich thought about it for a few moments, and then suspiciously replied over the link. "Okay, Ratchet. But you owe me one. Keep Jason with you. If this virus is as bad as 3X7 thinks, every infected drone and bot out there will be looking to obliterate you."

"I'll be careful," Ratchet promised. "Besides, you'll have enough to do, distributing the patch. Jason and I'll keep in touch." Ratchet disconnected the link, but immediately reestablished a new one with Captain Waterman, patching in the others one by one.

"Lemme guess," Nicholas said, "yer gonna ditch Jason the first chance ya get."

"Was I that obvious?" Ratchet asked, blushing slightly in infrared.

There was a chorus of "YES!" from Clank, Nick, Jaz and Captain Waterman.

"Clank, is there any news from Veldin or Metropolis?" Ratchet asked.

The antenna on Clank's head pulsed. "Unfortunately yes, Ratchet. There have been pirate sightings on Veldin. A small group of them appears to be destroying a cluster of buildings around the Kyzil Plateau. There have been no reports of unusual activity in Metropolis at this time."

"Alright," he replied. Looking around the control deck, he saw that Jasmine and Nicholas were staring at him, waiting. They were standing very close together... "Captain Waterman?"

"Yes, Minister?"

"Please, call me Ratchet. I'd like your opinion on this. What if I asked you and The Wrench to remain here, guarding the station. Nicholas will need some time to get the sigma three generator and defense systems online." Nick nodded. "With the station listed in the virus, it'll be a target. Stay here at least until the station's repaired. Clank and I'll take Aphelion and go t' Veldin. We're gonna try t' snap the pirates out of it if we can. If not... well... We'll keep ya informed every step of the way. What d' ya think o' that?"

Captain Waterman gave a tiny burst of static over the link. "If you are asking for my input, I would say that your plan appears to be sound, in most regards. The embassy will require both defense and repair services for the duration of this crisis. I see only two flaws in your approach. The first is Deputy Jason Positron. He is likely to follow you at the first opportunity. The second is that you are putting yourself into a significant amount of jeopardy by doing this."

"It's nothin' we haven't done before," Ratchet replied. "As fer Jason... Just keep 'm busy. He can work with Rich on the patch. Don' get me wrong - he's good 'n all, but Clank 'n I'll be faster alone."

"Mmmm..." Waterman muttered. "Clank, do you agree to this?"

"Yes, Captain," Clank replied. "Ratchet and I have done this on many previous occasions. He is correct in his analysis of the situation."

"Very well," Waterman said. "Minister Ratchet, I agree with your proposed plan and await your orders. I would also like to thank you for providing me the opportunity for input as well."

Ratchet nodded. "You've got lots of experience and I appreciate your advice, Captain..." Ratchet's voice became a bit formal, for him. "Captain, you and The Wrench are to stay with the Apogee Station. Provide any technical help you can, and protect it from attack until the patch is released. Keep Jason with you to work with Rich on the patch. With your permission, Clank and I'll take Aphelion and help out on Veldin. We'll be in touch."

"Yes, Minister," Waterman replied very crisply. "Good luck." He disconnected the link.

Ratchet glanced back to Jaz and Nick. "Will you be okay here?"

"We'll be fine," Jasmine answered.

"Don' worry, Ratchet," Nicholas added with a relaxed smile, "I'll get the station fixed in no time."

"That's just it," Ratchet said, shaking his head slightly. "Take all the time ya need. I don't want The Wrench leavin' the station until its defense systems are online." He looked at Jaz. "Plus, I'm sure the ambassador has some projects she wanted done; maybe some upgrades t' the ecodomes or the living quarters..."

Jasmine looked away briefly, flushing brightly in infrared. Nick's eyes took on the yellowish look of bright sunlight as he looked at her face. Jaz nodded. "There were a few projects I wanted to do... Adding a few spare bedrooms and storage closets for visiting dignitaries; upgrading the main terrarium's hydrofiltration system; that kind of thing."

"Not a problem," Nick said, smiling. Then he looked back at Ratchet. "How can I help?"

"Just stay here and take care of the station," Ratchet answered.

Nicholas nodded. "Thanks. Tell dad I'm okay 'n that I'll stop by when The Wrench gets back. We've gotta give the results to the CALR 'n they're gonna wanna check 'er over fer themselves."

Ratchet nodded. Clank was still attached to the connecting bolt, but the backpack harness was hanging behind him. Ratchet walked over to the desk Clank was standing on and looked into his optics. After Clank nodded, Ratchet and Clank turned back to back. Ratchet carefully bent down, pulled the harness onto his back and across his chest. The lombax refastened it securely and straightened up, adjusting the straps slightly so they were back in their original and comfortable positions. Ratchet looked at Nicholas and Jasmine, said "Later..." and thought of the central teleportation hub and Aphelion.

Ratchet piloted Aphelion carefully away from The Wrench, the Apogee Station and the Nundac Asteroid Belt. Once he reached clear space, he turned to Clank, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, saying "Here we go..." The lombax engaged the wormhole and increased the additive ratio; the fighter shot forward, speeding down the tunnel of hyperspace.

"Ratchet," Aphelion began. Her cultured voice sounded significantly pleased with herself, as it had from the moment the lombax had awakened her before departing. "I estimate that we will reach the perimeter of the Solana galaxy in approximately three hours."

"Cool," Ratchet answered. Tilting his head a little, puzzled, Ratchet finally had to ask. "Okay, Aphelion. Why so smug?"

"I do not know what you mean, Ratchet," she said innocently. She paused for a moment. "Although, I must admit that I am happy we are leaving Deputy Positron and his dreadful Perigee behind. While I am not at all pleased with the added jeopardy this puts you into, it is very welcome not to have to listen to her bragging and prattle for the entire journey."

Clank chuckled slightly and Ratchet smiled. "I'm glad too, Aphelion," the lombax said softly, reminiscing. "This reminds me o' the ol' days... before New Fastoon and the LCC..." Ratchet grew silent, the smile still on his muzzle and his eyes fixed on the swirling colors of the wormhole. "It was so different then..." he muttered.

"Ratchet," Clank said, looking up at the lombax, "Why did you recommend that Nicholas delay completing the repairs to the Apogee Station, and that Ambassador Parallax itemize the enhancements she wished to have completed?"

Ratchet chuckled and his smile changed into a slight leer. "T' give 'em a bit o' time on the station together. Alone."

"Oh... I understand," Clank said.

Aphelion sounded shocked. "Matchmaking? You?"

Ratchet shook his head, still with that leering grin on his muzzle. "From what I saw, they don't need my help!"

"Ratchet's assessment is quite accurate," Clank added. "Nicholas and the ambassador appear to have the situation well under control."

There was a brief, amused chortle from Aphelion's speakers before the audio generators were cut off. They flew on in silence for a while, each occupied with his or her own thoughts.

After a few minutes, Clank broke the stillness, "Ratchet, I recommend that you try to sleep if possible. It is likely that we will encounter difficulties on reaching Veldin, and your rest was disrupted previously."

Ratchet did feel a little tired, but there was still a lot that he had to do. "Thanks, Clank. I'm okay. Aphelion, open a channel to Kerwan and see if you can get the mayor's office. And whatever you do, don't listen to any music channels."

Ratchet was not able to get Sasha directly, but did get her message system. The lombax carefully described the situation, including details of the virus and that they were working on a patch. He also asked the cazar to try to block any future broadcasts or sales of the album. Ratchet personally thought that she would not have much luck with the media monoliths, but maybe they would listen to reason, especially if their own bots were becoming infected.

Ratchet also tried to contact Big Al, but got his message system as well. He again left detailed instructions, all he knew about the virus and what was happening. Clank downloaded a complete technical breakdown of how he had fought off the override codes to Al, along with what to look for and a promise to provide him with the patch as soon as ACLR had it ready for distribution.

The lombax twisted in his seat as best as his harness would allow and grabbed the open box of Stylus Shavings he kept in the rear compartment. It was a little stale because it had been opened for a while, but it still tasted good to the lombax. Ratchet snacked on the cereal for a while, thinking to himself that he had to remember to stash better rations in his manifestor for the next time he travelled, when his gloved fingers touched something strange in the box. Digging carefully, Ratchet removed another tracker, sealed in a protective shell, similar to the one he found on his neobond trip to Saphria with Talwyn. Chuckling to himself, he showed it to Clank. "I didn't think Rich would repeat himself," the lombax said.

"That is probably why he did so," Clank answered. "Perhaps he felt that you would not look there a second time."

Ratchet shook his head. "Or maybe Rich thought I'd stop looking if I found one. Aphelion, do a full scan. Are there any more trackers on board?"

"Not that I can detect, Ratchet," she replied after a few moments. "However, there are some areas of my chassis that are shielded; I am not able to scan within these blind spots."

"Do you believe that Rich would plant multiple tracking devices on Aphelion?" Clank asked.

"I'm sure of it," Ratchet replied. "But there's nothin' we can do about it now. 'N he knows where we're goin' anyway."

Time passed quickly for Aphelion and her passengers. Clank continued to monitor the news bands for information about the virus while Ratchet deliberately downgraded his omega VX lightning ravager to a significantly more benign power level. He really did not want to kill the pirates if he could avoid it; after all, they were technically his crew. But he needed to incapacitate them or at least break the virus's hold over them, and the lombax hoped that a nice jolt from the ravager would do the job.

Aphelion settled gently on what was left of the small landing pad outside Ratchet's old garage. The building itself had been leveled by the Galactic Rangers and the Tyhrranoids years ago, but the broken rubble still formed a casual outline of the place Ratchet spent his lonely pre-adolescent years, dreaming of escaping to the stars. The lombax carefully climbed out of the ship, his mind full of memories. Clank leapt from Aphelion, landing and latching on to the backpack straps and the connecting bolt as usual. Ratchet winced, not just from the sudden weight, but also from the scene around him.

His adopted parents' house, the one he had sealed in his grief after they moved on, had been intact the last time he was here. Now it was in ruins, flattened to the ground from what appeared to be a highly targeted pounding from both above and from the planet's surface. The still smoldering remains gave off a thin choking chemical vapor that stung Ratchet's eyes and seared his lungs. The lombax looked at the debris in disgusted sadness: nothing appeared to be salvageable.

Turning in a slow circle and surveying the scene, Ratchet just shook his head slowly, his ears and tail drooped, trying to process the stark reality around him. His only consolation was that the thorntree was still alive, even though its thorns looked very pale and anemic, almost as brown as the wooden vines themselves. Very slowly, Ratchet reached out with his gloved hand and caressed the main trunk of the thorntree: the only aspect of his days as a kit that still remained.

Down the path, near the crater where Clank originally crash landed into the lombax's life, came the sound of rather bad singing - a mix of pirate shanties and Courtney Gears hits. Ratchet shook his head, blocking out the memories to focus on the present. "Clank," he said, a trace of emotion still in his voice, "ya might wanna turn off yer audio sensors again. If this is anything like the station, they'll be blastin' the virus at full volume."

"I agree, Ratchet," Clank responded. "I will maintain an open comm link with you. In the event that I require your attention, I will signal you as I do in the council chamber."

"Okay," Ratchet said, knowing that Clank would zap him in the back with a small electric shock if he needed anything. The lombax activated his comm link. "Ready?" he asked out loud.

"I am ready," Clank responded, his voice echoing in Ratchet's mind.

"Let's go," the lombax said grimly, moving away from the wreck of his former home.

Ratchet moved slowly down the path, cautiously looking ahead and watching for resistance. He did not encounter anything until he came to the skeletal ruins of Clank's old ship, where he saw five pirates pounding with their bare fists on one of the small storage structures along the path. Even though he had been expecting it, the brutality and mindless determination of the pirates still stunned Ratchet. They had weapons at their sides, but did not give any indication that they intended to use them; they merely wanted to batter the building flat.

Ratchet took out his lightning ravager. "This be yer only warning," he shouted at the pirates, a deep growl in his throat. Even with the scowl on his face, Ratchet had to admit that he felt a little better - for all of the pirates' yoga and relaxation techniques, maybe Petrov had the right idea after all...

At the sound of his voice, the pirates turned to face him. Their eyes were lifeless and flat. The song they were singing suddenly altered, becoming reminiscent of the Courtney Gears track that they found looping in the Apogee Station. It was a far from perfect rendition, but it was close enough that Ratchet began to worry. "Are you okay, Clank?" he asked.

"I am fine, Ratchet," Clank replied. "My audio inputs are disabled."

"Good," Ratchet answered. "Their singin's pretty bad."

The pirates lurched toward him, ignoring their weapons in favor of their fists. When they got within range, Ratchet let loose with the lightning ravager. It struck the closest of the pirates, the electrical charge driving him to his knees. There was no other reaction though and the pirate continued to stare at him with empty eyes.

"Damn," Ratchet muttered. "I thought it would work."

Ratchet continued to flail with the downgraded ravager. Eventually, all five of the pirates were on the ground, convulsing with current. There was still no sign of any intelligence or recognition in their eyes. When they were all at least partially disabled, Ratchet moved carefully towards the nearest of the pirates. Looking very closely, the lombax noticed a white nanowire running between a pocket on the pirate's shirt and a pair of tiny audio generators wedged inside the robot's audio sensors. Ratchet manifested his switztool and cut the conductive strand.

There was no immediate result; the pirate continued to stare blankly ahead, not noticing anything around him. Frustrated, Ratchet took out his lightning ravager and shocked the robot yet again. This time he finally got a reaction. The pirate blinked and a tiny light of intelligence began to grow in his eyes. "'ere," he said, "whu'd ya go 'n do that fer?"

Ratchet grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled his face close to his own muzzle. Growling angrily at the damaged pirate, he shouted as loud as he could, "What 'n the name o' Angstrom's Ghost d' ya think yer doin'?" Ratchet personally had no idea who Angstrom was or what his ghost was doing these days, but if Sprocket used the phrase, it had to mean something good.

The pirate's eyes ever so slowly focused on the lombax. "Capt'n Ratchet!" the pirate groaned. He began to tremble. "Mercy!"

"What's yer name?" Ratchet barked at the terrified pirate.

"Roberts."

"What's the last thing ya remember, Roberts?"

"I was at a party wi' me mates. We was singin' t' a song Pete's wench brung us."

Ratchet's eyes narrowed. Pete and Courtney Gears? Could it really be? "Go on..."

"Thassit! Then I was 'ere. 'onest, Capt'n! I swear!"

Ratchet hauled the robot to his feet. Roberts could barely stand. "Look at yer mates now!"

Roberts saw the inert bodies of the other pirates and shook even more violently. "Whu'd ya do to 'em, Capt'n?"

"'Tweren't me," Ratchet explained. "Pete's wench put a virus in 'er music." The lombax moved forward. As he expected, all of them had audio generators plugged into their sensors. He snipped each of the wires. "Stand back," he warned Roberts as he took out his lightning ravager once more. Ratchet struck each one in turn, bringing loud groans and curses from the robots on the ground in front of him.

When the four pirates were all sufficiently coherent to understand him, Ratchet told them about the virus in the music. The lombax felt a series of three tiny shocks on his back. "Roberts!" he barked without turning around; the first pirate freed had tried to slip away unnoticed. "Get back 'ere!" The pirate slunk back and joined the other four, sitting on the ground rather nervously. "You lot 'r in deep! Where's yer ship? How many o' ya are there?" Sadly, none of the pirates knew anything more. "How many o' ya were at that party?"

"Just us, Capt'n" Roberts answered.

Clank's voice sounded over the open comm link. He did not speak verbally, or if he did the pirates did not give any indication that they heard him. "Ratchet, I have re-enabled my audio inputs. What do you propose to do with them?"

"I dunno, Clank," Ratchet said, muttering as low as he could under his breath so the pirates would not hear him.

"You do not need to speak aloud, Ratchet," Clank explained. "Communication link crystals take their input directly from the speech center of the brain. Or, in my case, from my audio output pre-processor."

"Cool!" Ratchet thought, forming the words, but not speaking them. "I always wondered about that."

The lombax growled menacingly. "I got no time fer this," Ratchet muttered, deliberately loud enough for the pirates to hear. He glared at the robots huddled quaking before him. "Gimme yer weapons!" The robots hastily unfastened their blasters and cutlasses, tossing them with a rather loud clatter into a small pile in front of the lombax's boots. Ratchet carefully put them into his manifestor. "On yer feet!" The robots slowly stood up. Most of them were still a little unsteady. "Now, move!"

Ratchet marched the small band of pirates back up the path to his old garage. Once there, he ordered the pirates to sit down and wait. To add a little extra emphasis to his command, he had Aphelion adjust her weapon array so that the pirates were staring down the barrels of her ion cannons.

While Ratchet was getting the pirates settled, Clank gave him a quick shock on the back. "Uh, Ratchet," he said in a slightly warning tone. Not wanting to turn his back on the pirates, even though they were unarmed, Ratchet spoke into the link, "What is it, Clank?"

"A dimensional portal has opened behind you," Clank answered. "Based on the size and shape, it appears to have been created by Talwyn's door glove."

Talwyn? Ratchet shouted at the pirates, "Move 'n my ship atomizes ya. Got it?" Most of the pirates nodded. Roberts was sitting very still, practicing a yoga relaxation exercise, chanting "aaaarrrr..." quietly to himself.

"Ratchet!" Aphelion's voice came through Ratchet's open link. "You do not really want me to gun down unarmed pirates, do you?"

Ratchet shook his head slightly. "It's tempting," he thought over the link. "No, Aphelion. I just want 'em t' stay put. Just look threatening."

Aphelion took his instructions quite literally. She charged up her ion cannons, causing the barrels to glow slightly and vent plasma. Ratchet knew she wouldn't actually do it, but even he had to admit that she looked rather fierce. The pirates took one look at the glowing weapons array: three of them joined Roberts in his relaxation exercises, the last one's optics dimmed and he fainted, tumbling to the ground unconscious.

Satisfied, Ratchet turned to face the dimensional portal. Looking through the shimmering plane of energy hovering in the air in front of him, he could see Talwyn standing Rich's region nine office. Talwyn stepped through the doorframe and the portal closed behind her.

"Ratchet!" she said, moving towards him, embracing him in a tight hug and kissing him on the muzzle.

Behind him, the lombax heard one of the pirates (Roberts, he thought) mutter, "The Captain's Wench..." to his companions.

Unfortunately for him, Talwyn heard him too. Without even a second thought, her blaster manifested in her hand, she spun around Ratchet and fired a single shot directly into the right shoulder of the speaker. There was a hissing of electricity arcing and the robot's right arm fell limply to his side, useless. Talwyn glared at the pirates. "That was your only warning," she said menacingly. The pirates immediately returned to their relaxation chants, somewhat more frantically than before.

Ratchet used his matrix to activate her comm link, joining it with his and Clank's. "Talwyn!" the lombax thought over the link. "What 'r you doin' here?"

Talwyn smiled as she realized how the link was working. Nodding, she 'said', "Rich knew you'd leave Jason behind the first chance you had. He knows you don't want a squad of deputies, but he also thought you probably needed help anyway. He called me and let me know what was going on. I came through as soon as I could, locking onto you with the door glove."

"How's Melody?"

"She's fine. So is Crystal. Mel's back to normal. From what Nichole told me, it gets easier with each kit; it didn't even last a full day. When I left, she was apologizing to Reg for all of the horrible things she said about him." Talwyn looked at Ratchet carefully. "Reg told her you promised to treat them to a trip to Saphria."

"Yeah," Ratchet replied. "I thought it'd be nice."

"Don't forget, we're supposed to go as soon as we get back. For our anniversary."

"I didn't forget," Ratchet said into the link very quickly. "We're already booked. Clank made all the arrangements. As soon as this is over, we've got an entire week there."

"Good," she said. Then she glanced over at the pirates. "What's with them?"

"They were victims of the virus," Clank explained over the link.

"Yeah," Ratchet said sadly. "But I dunno what t' do with 'em. I can't just leave 'em here..."

"Doctor 3X7 was looking for victims to test his patch on. Maybe we can send them to Rich?"

"Worth a shot," Ratchet said. "Clank, can you add Rich in with your transD?"

Clank was still attached to the backpack straps, but nodded anyway. "Rich Quantum."

"Rich, Ratchet."

"Hey. I guess Talwyn found you okay."

"Yes, Rich," she said over the link. "I told you I could track him down whenever I felt like it."

"Huh?" Ratchet grunted over the link. For some reason, the thought of them having a conversation about Talwyn 'tracking him down' sent a cold spot down his spine. Especially because he knew that she was very capable of doing it.

"Don't worry about it," she quickly said. "Rich, we've got some test subjects for 3X7. Ratchet caught a few pirates that had the virus. Somehow, they've broken out of it..."

"I shocked it out of them," Ratchet said, manifesting his lightning ravager and showing it to Talwyn.

"Oh," she said with a bit of distaste, then politely let it drop. "Anyway, can we send them to you? 3X7 might want to verify his patch. And we can't just leave them on Veldin."

"Okay," Rich said. "Give me a minute to get a squad in here, then send 'em through. We'll take care of it from this side. Once they're patched, we'll send them back to The Wrench in Polaris."

"I will need a copy of the patch for my own systems," Clank said. "I have already had one encounter with the virus, and I do not wish to repeat that experience."

"You've got it, Clank," Rich said. There was dead air for a moment, and then Rich continued, "Look, I know you don't want help. But if you need anything, contact me; I'll have a team waiting, just in case."

"Thanks, Rich," Ratchet said. "We'll be okay."

"I've heard that before," Rich said darkly. "Give me a minute, then send them through."

Rich disconnected the transD aspect of the link. Ratchet turned to glare at the pirates.

"On yer feet!" he barked. The four meditating ones did so. The fifth remained unconscious where he fainted. "Pick up yer mate. Yer goin' t' see the doctor. He's gonna fit ya with a patch that'll knock out the virus. After yer patched, they're gonna send ya back t' Sprocket in Polaris." Ratchet glared at them again. "Consider yerselves lucky," he said ominously.

Talwyn activated her door glove, focusing in on Rich. Once the portal formed, she and Ratchet could see at least eight deputies on the other side, waiting with weapons drawn. Ratchet gestured with his lightning ravager. "Through the portal!" he commanded. "'n don' give me friends any trouble, 'r yull be scrap in microseconds. Got it?!?"

The four conscious pirates nodded, the fifth suspended between them.

"Now move!"

The pirates passed through the door frame, single file. They had to turn the unconscious robot on his side to fit through the portal, but eventually they all crossed over into Leonid and were taken into custody by Tim and the Region Nine Deputy Squad.

Rich moved to the doorway and tossed a blue software patch crystal to Ratchet. The lombax caught it automatically, handing it to Clank. Rich waved and the plane of energy began to shimmer as the portal collapsed and winked out of existence.

Talwyn picked through the rubble that had once been Ratchet's home. Unfortunately, the pirates had been extremely thorough; there was little remaining that was even recognizable. Talwyn shook her head and muttered darkly to herself, cursing quietly at the pirates and wishing that she had aimed for something more permanent than that one's shoulder.

Ratchet could not watch. Instead, he busied himself carefully checking Aphelion's 'blind spots', those shielded areas that she could not directly scan herself. The lombax was lying face up on the ground, his feet sticking out from underneath his ship's forward weapon array.

Clank was in the co-pilot's seat, examining the software patch crystal, evaluating the anti-virus software contained on it. "Ratchet," he said, "the patch looks stable. It is fully compatible with both my systems and with Aphelion's. I will install the software for both of us."

"Okay," Ratchet muttered, somewhat distracted. This was a really tight spot to work, just where the power feeds for the plasma array joined with the primary energy converter. "Is that okay with you, Aphelion?"

"That would be lovely, thank you," Aphelion replied. "I trust Clank's ability and his evaluation of the patch."

"Lemme know if ya need a hand," Ratchet answered, pulling himself further under the ship to check the primary thrust coupler.

"I am installing the upgrade now," Clank said. There was a short pause, followed by, "Installation completed. Everything appears to be functioning properly." Clank chuckled slightly. "Apparently, Doctor 3X7 has a sense of humor..."

"What'd'ya mean?" Ratchet asked. There was a small protective case, less than three centicubits square, attached on Aphelion's chassis near the thrust coupler. Given its difficult to reach location, it was not something that would be easy to find unless he was looking for it. One thing Ratchet was certain about; he did not put it there, and it did not look like it was part of Aphelion's design.

"There are alternative music recommendations, labeled as 'superior selections' embedded in the patch, along with numerous sample datastream clips."

Ratchet chuckled. Nice touch. "That's funny. I wonder what they sound like. Aphelion, can you scan where my fingers are?"

"No, Ratchet," she replied. "I cannot."

"There's a small box, about three by three by one, wedged by your thrust coupler. I didn't put it there, and I don' think it's normal. Can ya check yer specs?"

Aphelion paused for a moment as she studied her internal system design. "No, Ratchet," she said. "That is not part of my original construction."

"Figures," Ratchet muttered. He was finally able to get his fingers around the box and pulled. At first it did not come off, but finally broke free after repeated attempts. There were no power leads or any visible interconnection with Aphelion's systems, and there was a residue of Zany Stik on the back of the square box. Ratchet looked at it carefully; it appeared to be relatively new - the metal was still smooth and there was no trace of wear. It was however, coated with a dark lubricant, possibly as camouflage, possibly to make it more difficult to remove.

"Aphelion," Clank said, "I am ready to install the software patch into your systems."

Aphelion acknowledged. "Thank you, Clank." There was a slight pause. "Will it be painful?"

Clank chuckled slightly. "No," he said.

There was a gentle sigh from Aphelion's speakers. "Go ahead." There was a pause, and then Aphelion said, "Installation completed."

"Are the clips any good?" Ratchet asked, working his way out from underneath the ship.

"Surprisingly, yes," Aphelion answered. "There are two that I am particularly taken with."

"Buy the albums and download 'em. I'll check 'em out later."

"I shall, Ratchet," she said. "Thank you."

The lombax had finally crawled out from under his ship, with a square box in his right glove. The gloves' autoclean systems had already removed the traces of lubricant, conductive grease and general grime from Ratchet's hands. "Clank," he called out. "Can you scan this?"

Clank leapt out of Aphelion and landed somewhat heavily on his feet, flexing his knees to cushion the sudden impact. He walked over to Ratchet and took the small box from him. His antenna pulsed. "You are correct, Ratchet," he said. "This rather heavily shielded box contains a tracking device. It is similar in design to the one you located earlier, but appears to be significantly more advanced. It even contains some transD circuitry."

Ratchet nodded. Typical. The lombax retrieved the tracker he had found earlier in the cereal box from his manifestor and the shielded one from Clank. Ratchet walked over to the thorntree. Looking up at its height, Ratchet was pleased to see that it was growing reasonably well, but even he had to admit a little disappointment at the anemic muddy brown of its thorns. The lombax began digging a small hole in the loose soil at the base of the tree with his gloved hands.

"Ratchet!" Talwyn called out.

The lombax looked over to her; she was standing amid the ruins of his adopted parents' house, with something in her hands. "Gimme a minute," he said. Turning his attention back to digging, he buried both tracker components in a shallow hole at the base of the thorntree. "Track this, Rich," he muttered. After he had covered over the components and compacted the soil, he stood and moved toward the ruins of his house. From her location compared to the foundation outlines, she would have been standing approximately in his parents' bedroom.

Very sadly, the lombax slowly made his way to Talwyn, his large, booted feet crushing down on the scraps of charred materials. The sound made the lombax cringe. Ratchet did not even look down; he did not want to know. But his ears and tail lowered with each step he took.

Talwyn looked up from the item she was holding and read the look in his eyes. Very quickly, she moved through the debris of the house to meet him where he stood. She grabbed Ratchet by the upper arm, tightly gripping the lombax above his right glove and pulling him around, away from the house, leading him towards Aphelion. In a light voice that tried to hide how much she regretted calling him over and making him wade in the rubble, she said, "Look what I found!" She offered the item to Ratchet.

It was a still image of two beings that were generally humanoid / canine in appearance. One of the beings, the taller of the pair, had flame red fur, orange eyes, a pair of small, pointed, almost conical ears on either side near the top of his head. He had his right arm affectionately around the shoulders of the smaller being; his left arm was pointed straight out, away from him, as though he was holding the image recorder at arm's length to capture the scene. The smaller female had slightly darker fur that was a little more brownish than red, somewhat less angular features and yellow eyes that seemed very bright and moist. She held a third creature cradled carefully in her arms: a tiny orange puff that seemed to be mostly ears and feet with a thin, threadlike tail that stood out yellowish against the female's fur. Both the male and female were smiling happily on their elongated muzzles; the small puff looked like it was asleep nestled against its adopted mother's fur.

Ratchet took the still image and immediately forgot the ruins of the house. His ears and tail perked a bit and he walked over to sit at the base of the thorntree. Talwyn followed and sat down next to him; Clank stood to his right.

Ratchet looked at Clank and Talwyn in turn, then stared back down at the still image. "My parents," he said, unnecessarily, his voice a million cubits away. Even though both Talwyn and Clank realized this immediately without his assistance, they both nodded anyway. "They took this when they first adopted me. They wanted t' have pups o' their own, but never could. They were so happy..." The raw emotion in Ratchet's voice caused the lombax to choke up a little and he fell silent.

Clank studied the image carefully. "Ratchet," he said very quietly, "there is a small datamark in the corner of the image. It reads, 'Cogswell, Millicent and Ratchet'. There is a time stamp as well, but I suspect that it is invalid - 00:00 01/001/000.01..."

A small grin broke out on Ratchet's muzzle. "Mom's the only one that called dad 'Cogswell', 'n only when she was really mad at him. He hated it; he thought it sounded pretentious. His friends all called him 'Cog'..." Ratchet's voice trailed off again.

"Based on your size in this photograph," Clank said still in that same somewhat hushed voice, "you must have been approximately two weeks old."

"That fits," Talwyn said. "We always figured your father brought you to Solana about then." Talwyn looked closely at Ratchet, his eyes fixed on the familiar image. Smiling slightly, she reached over and lightly scratched the fur at the base of his left ear, knowing full well how much it annoyed him. "You looked so cute back then," she mused, mockingly. "What happened?"

Ratchet chuckled. "I grew up," he said. "It's hard t' believe, but in less than a year, they'd be chasin' me 'round the house, tryin' t' get dad's wrench outta my hands..." Ratchet smiled fondly at the still, then looked up at the ruins of the house. Talwyn stared into his eyes a bit worried, but the smile never left the lombax's muzzle. "Outta everything in the house," Ratchet said, "this's the only thing that really mattered." Meeting Talwyn's eyes, his grin grew a little wider. "As long as yer in Solana, wanna see our old apartment in Metropolis?"