Interlude 4 - A New View

by Wedjatqi

ALLIANCE FIC – Set immediately after the dramatic events of 'On Common Ground', Atlantis and the Alliance must now deal with the consequences, facing new threats and significant injuries, but also bright new beginnings.

35. Holding The Line

DAY 32 – Exploration

Chapter 35 – Holding The Line

"No! That's not right!" Massa exclaimed loudly at the pad's screen as the female Earth athlete hung her head in disappointment and probably no small amount of grief. "She cleared the bar!"

"It bounced out the cradles," Oneakka shrugged.

"But she cleared it," Massa glared at the screen. "See," he gestured to the slowed down close up replay of the woman's back arching over the high bar, the pole she'd used to vault up to that height falling away in the background.

"Her hip grazed it," Oneakka pointed as they watched the bar vibrate inside its two cradles and then bounce out.

Massa made a loud scoffing noise, annoyed his favourite was clearly not going to progress further in the competition.

Oneakka reached for his other smaller electronic pad. "That's another box of the frosted cookies you owe me."

"That was just pure bad luck," Massa muttered.

Oneakka didn't offer any response to that and just increased the number of boxes on his list. They'd started betting on the Earth sports a few days ago, and he was making some good wins, though he did owe Massa some currency. He could have won it back today, but he had plans for the boxes of cookies.

Massa muttered with dissatisfaction as he leaned away to check on the dozing Aki lying contentedly today in the spare crib that had been living in here recently. Though Massa wasn't staying in here overnight anymore, Oneakka had offered that the spare babe crib could stay for when Massa and Aki visited. Today's visit was a little unusual though, as Aki hadn't cried at all and Massa had an odd bouncy excitement to him. Oneakka had asked him about the change, and Massa said it was because he and Aki had actually had a near full of night of sleep. Clearly it was doing Aki good, though Massa seemed a little manically cheerful.

As the results of the latest round in the pole vault played down the larger pad's screen, the Earth commentators discussing the results so far, Oneakka decided it was time for him to do another walk around the room. He pushed the moveable Healing Bay table further down the bed and shifted his backside towards the left side of the bed. There he turned himself carefully, his wound a little tight and his legs aching, but he was well practiced at the procedure now. Though, maybe he'd just do this last session for the day, then rest for the remainder of the evening. Sat on the edge of the bed, his feet on the floor, he paused to glance at his time display. It wasn't long before Seeal would be here, but he still had plenty of time to get this his walk in before she arrived.

He reached out to the nearby empty chair and, bracing his abdomen as gently as he could, he pushed himself upright. It wasn't comfortable, but it wasn't the blazing pain of recent weeks. He'd learned that if he did everything slowly and carefully, he was usually okay now. He was progressing well in the rehab schedule, running a little ahead in fact, but it was his stamina that was still shot. The regular laps around his quarters were helping, but the longer walks to and from the Rehab Gym in the mornings were still frustratingly difficult and some days it felt like somehow the distance there had gotten five times longer. But, at least the exhaustion and muscle aching wasn't pain-filled anymore.

In fact, he'd had a full body scan and progress review yesterday with Meiyo and his Physical Therapist, Rehab Coach, and the Lead Surgical Healer who had been the one who had performed his surgery initially after his injury. They'd all been pleased with his progress and his scan had shown that he was now fully healed up inside. The next stage of his recovery was building strength and dealing with the large amount of scar tissue that he had inside. He had been officially discharged from the Surgical Healing Bay, and was now solidly set on the return to rotation pathway, so they had set out his next stage recovery plan, focusing on him regaining strength, flexibility and stamina. He'd insisted on some alterations to the plan, which they had agreed to with surprising speed.

Though they hadn't been as accommodating on adjusting their original prediction on his full recovery and return to battle rotation. Meiyo had wanted to stubbornly hold to her two months review point from now, only at which point she'd properly allow him to return to non-battle rotation. He'd argued the timing and, after ten minutes of pushing the matter and reminding her of all the times he'd returned to rotation far sooner than predicted, she'd finally agreed to review him in three weeks as he wanted. If by that point he could meet the non-battle criteria, he could return to working in the Facility in research and administrative duties, but, far more importantly, he could then be allowed back into the main gyms. That would allow him to get back to sparring and weapons training, then he'd given himself another three to four weeks to pass all recertification targets, so that by six, maybe eight, weeks from now he could return to full battle rotation. Meiyo had looked doubtful still, but she was on the record now to his preferred timescale.

He was used to people doubting him, the important thing was that he had his targets clearly set and he was going to meet every single one of them. Because he was needed out there. Once they found wherever the Skerti were hiding, the Alliance would be facing two threats: Wraith and Skerti, and he needed to be out there helping. If it took weeks of pushing himself to get there, he would do it. The sooner he was back in armour the better.

In preparation, he'd had his long knives retrieved from salvage storage following their retrieval from the Rogue Hive where he'd fallen. After talking with Seeal about his people and cleaning her guardian knife, seeing the detail of Father's careful and skilled work, he was determined to take care of his own blade spirits. Seeing his old blades had been an oddly disturbing experience though, since they had been caked in his own dried blood and one had been broken clean in half. It had only been scabbards and his body armour that had stopped the shards from being embedded into his back from the fall. He'd sent the knives to his preferred Elite Blacksmith to be repaired, with only one minor change. He'd asked for the Ugun inscription that had been on Seeal's blade to be added to both blades near the hilt. It was a tradition of his people that he would now continue, and he'd do the same with his other smaller blades on the Sythus once he was back on rotation. Having images of Seeal's blade had been particularly useful, as it had provided clear pictures of the Ugun glyphs for the Blacksmith, and it had felt right that Father's etched inscription was the template for his blades.

He had also had his broken body armour assessed, but it had been deemed too compromised from the damage. He'd put the broken armour in storage though rather than throwing it away, as it was a reminder of what he'd survived, and, maybe, because it had felt like it had a spirit of its own. He'd worn that favourite armour for almost a decade, and it was covered in the scratches and gouges of many remembered battles survived. He had a second set of body armour on the Sythus, but it had never felt quite as comfortable, so he'd decided to get new amour made, though he needed to first regain his usual strength and size before it could be made to fit him correctly. He was thinking of having at least one Ugun glyph added to the armour too, but he'd not decided on the inscription yet.

So, his plan was that once he was able to start sparring in three weeks time, his blades would be ready; then, once he was recertified in all weapons and through final assessments, he would have new armour ready for his return to battle rotation. At which point, he would be useful again. Which was his focus as he started his walk around the circumference of his quarters. He tried not to use the wall or furniture for support when he did this, but his legs were feeling a little rubbery from the push weight machine he'd started on this morning. It had been a low weight and a poor number of reps, but he'd still done several more than the Rehab Coach had set him.

"Just do one lap," Massa delivered his opinion from across the room.

Oneakka didn't reply but pulled a face at the nagging, though the high chest of drawers that was the headboard to his bed probably stopped Massa from seeing it. Moving slow and steady, Oneakka reached the back right corner of his room and followed along the bare rock back wall towards the back left corner. This part was the toughest psychologically because there weren't any good handholds on the bare wall and no furniture within reach across this short distance. So he moved slowly. After all, a warrior won every battle through assessment and careful approach. Those rules didn't mean action had to be fast, though it helped you find speed and make fast tactical decisions born from that calm steady practice.

His wound wasn't painful anymore, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling. A kind of deep pinching tightness that felt somehow both dull but also sharply present at the same time. As he reached halfway across the bare wall, he could feel a tremor starting through his middle which was mirroring the more subtle wavering sensation in his thighs. Muscle fatigue.

Maybe Massa was right, just one lap. He would then rest for the rest of the evening so that he could push himself a little further tomorrow.

He'd reached the new corner without incident and he reached out to grab one of the shelves on the long side wall. That little support was a sudden rush of relief and he paused, giving his legs and middle a brief break. Except his stomach didn't relax, but then he was standing up. He'd never realised how much effort it had taken to just be upright before this injury. He turned slowly, looking down the long line of shelving and started carefully forward again.

The drawers and headboard were still blocking his view of Massa and Aki, but as he progressed along the shelves, they came into view again. Massa leaned out from his chair, watching him with a faint frown. "Just one lap," Massa insisted again.

"I'm only planning one," Oneakka informed him as he kept moving forward, one hand solidly on the shelves as he walked. Not for the first time recently was he pleased with how well supported he'd made these long shelves when he'd installed them.

"You're pushing yourself too much, as usual," Massa commented. He'd stopped the Earth sports, so the background noise had dropped away and Oneakka could now hear Aki making little noises from his crib. "How many boxes of the frosted cookies do I owe you now?" Massa asked as he reached down to the floor around his chair, collecting up fallen toys and packing them away in Aki' day bag. "Two?"

"No," Oneakka gave him a disbelieving look as he passed level with Massa's chair. "Four boxes."

"Four?" Massa repeated doubtfully.

"Yes, four," Oneakka repeated, knowing this game.

"You sure I couldn't interest you in something else? How about some of that marking ink you love," Massa tried to negotiate.

"I've got plenty. I'll stick with the cookies."

"I've only got one box of the cookies," Massa reported.

"There's no urgency, you can go buy some more," Oneakka grinned as he reached the doorframe of his bathroom. The door was open, but it was only a small distance to go without support.

"I don't want to go to Athos right now," Massa complained. "It's thick snow."

Oneakka chuckled at Massa's complaint as he made it across the open doorway and got a hand on a shelf again.

"Maybe I could convince Seeal to go for me, she's Glisi, she doesn't mind the cold," Massa considered.

"The last place Seeal ever wants to go is somewhere with snow," Oneakka corrected him. He'd reached his desk, completely unused for weeks now, and moved out around its chair, having reached a front corner of the room. "Ask Emmagan to get some for you."

"She's so busy, I don't like to ask."

"Atlantis contract?" Oneakka asked as he started across the front wall of his quarters, passing by the closed main door as he quickly reached for the support of the display cabinet on the far side of the door.

"Apparently the sticking point is the territory we're asking them to hold, pushing the Wraith back."

"They don't want the responsibility," Oneakka interpreted as he eased carefully around the cabinet. He was starting to feel out of breath, the effort of actively supporting his abdomen starting to wear. The tremor had now worked its way around to his sides as well, his lower back starting to ache. He eyed the last distance he needed to make then glanced towards his time display. He still had time to do it and rest a bit before Seeal arrived, because if she saw him like this he'd be subjected to another lecture about him overdoing things.

"Though," Massa said thoughtfully, "in all fairness, they only have two ships and they clearly don't want to expand their reach." Massa's voice shifted as he reached down and lifted Aki up out of his crib.

Aware that his strength was definitely starting to fail, Oneakka decided to cut the last corner of the room and, with a bracing breath, he headed as quickly as he could across open floor towards the low bookcase that was against the last wall left of his lap. He made it and paused to breathe heavily, his arms now feeling wobbly too. He glanced along this last stretch of wall back towards where he'd started. It was all of two metres, but it looked and felt really far right now.

"Certainly proves those wrong who think Earth is in this galaxy to take over and establish an empire," Massa continued on.

Oneakka moved slowly around the end of the bookcase and his large potted plant, and, with one hand on the glass of the thick porthole window, started his way along the last part of the walk.

"I'm thinking of maybe trading with them. Bring in some more of the teething rings; see if I can sell them on," Massa reported.

With one further step, legs visibly shaking now, Oneakka reached out and caught hold of the chair that he'd first used to help him up from the bed. Two small side steps took him to the side of the mattress back where he'd started, successfully completing his lap.

"Maybe start separate currency savings for Aki' future," Massa continued.

Oneakka carefully and with barely held control, lowered himself back down on the edge of the mattress and let out a shaking breath of relief. His entire middle had started contracting from the muscle fatigue, so he set his palms on the bed and shifted himself back enough that he could do a sideways lean against the wedge and pillows, letting his belly relax, his legs still draped over the side of the bed.

"I've written to Atlantis' Healer, Dr Beckett, who sent them to me."

The contraction in his middle started to relax a bit, so Oneakka shifted his backside round, dragging his legs up onto the bed, and blindly tried reaching for his blankets. Massa's hand appeared in view though and began pulling the blankets up over his legs for him.

"One lap was too many," Massa declared as Oneakka rested properly against the pillows, letting his head hang back against them.

"I did it," Oneakka argued, still feeling faintly out of breath.

"What do you think?"

Oneakka lifted his head to look round at Massa. "I did plenty of laps today; this was just the last one." Definitely the last one of the day.

"Not about you pushing yourself to stupid levels, I mean the trading to save currency for Aki?"

"Oh, seems good idea," Oneakka looked down at little Aki grinning up at him from Massa's lap. "You're off battle rotation now, so you'll be providing for him anyway though."

"But he might want to go to a career college on another planet somewhere, that will need currency," Massa considered. "Or maybe start up a business somewhere."

His breathing returning to normal-ish, Oneakka glanced round at the other side table. Seeal would arrive any minute now and he needed to be presentable so she wouldn't gang up with Massa with their opinions on his rehab.

He looked back round to Massa. "Or he may want to become an Elite," he said what had to be obvious. "He's going to grow up surrounded by Recruits and his mother was one." He looked down at Aki again, the little boy's cheeks rather pink but he wasn't crying yet. "If his rapid teething is any indication, he might be naturally advanced like her."

Massa frowned, his arms moving further around Aki protectively. He'd not talked about Aki' future much so far, outside of the inevitable difficult conversations he would have to have with Aki about the Traitor, but it was already clear to Oneakka that Massa really didn't want Aki to become an Elite. It probably made some sense given what had happened to Mera and their unborn babe, or maybe there was some fear at the back of his mind that Aki could become like his mother. Either way, avoiding the subject wasn't going to help.

"You're pushing yourself too much again," Massa stated, turning the conversation away from him and Aki.

"I know what I'm doing," Oneakka let out a breath. He was feeling better now, his belly relaxed and the mattress was feeling seriously comfortable under him.

"You say that every time," Massa pushed.

"And I return to battle rotation earlier than predicted every time," Oneakka pointed out. Why did everyone argue this with him?

"This is going to be different," Massa countered. "You're older now, you've never been impaled right through before, and you practically bled to death."

"We're the same age," Oneakka argued the one point he could.

"And we're getting older."

This was a new tactic Massa was using.

"We have to start making adjustments to that," Massa continued, "change our attitude and maybe take on new challenges in life."

Oneakka frowned at him, sensing something suspicious happening; a trap brewing perhaps. He knew his old friend too well, so he ran a quick counteroffensive. "You're already starting to sound like a Tutor."

"I haven't decided to become one yet," Massa took the distraction bait.

"You'll do it," Oneakka told him with confidence.

"Taking on Tutor duties will take more of my time and energy; I've got Aki to take care of now."

"If you turn it down, you'll be annoyed you did," Oneakka added. "Plus as we get older, we need to make adjustments, take on new challenges," he quoted Massa's own point back at him with great pleasure.

Massa pulled a face at him, clearly not having seen that coming.

Oneakka looked round at the time display again. Seeal would arrive any minute now. He was feeling hungry again even though it wasn't that long since he'd had Late Meal, but his appetite had been increasing with all the extra rehab. Plus, now he was discharged from the Surgical Bay, Meiyo didn't have strict control over what food he was given, so he could make his own choices now. Maybe he'd order something extra from the canteen like he and Seeal had done yesterday evening in celebration of his food freedom.

"She may be late this evening," Massa said. Oneakka looked back round at him. "Seeal," Massa supplied what was obvious, as was the glimmer of something definitely brewing in his eyes.

"Fine, I was just thinking of ordering something else to eat," Oneakka explained as he reached for his personal pad, tapping it awake but Raven hadn't sent him any text links while he'd been walking round the room.

"You could see if they have any berry biscuits left," Massa suggested eagerly.

"Aren't you leaving now?" Oneakka replied. "Go get some more biscuits yourself. Cram them in." The berry biscuits served today were Massa's particular favourite and since they weren't served that often, Massa had already eaten several peoples worth today.

"I will," Massa smiled. "But my point was that Seeal might be late getting here this evening."

Oneakka considered Massa and his mischievous look. Seeal always sent a text link if she was expecting to run late, so Oneakka didn't believe him for a second.

"Okay," Oneakka replied as he reached for the Healing Bay table he'd pushed down the bed earlier, rolling it back up to him and leaned his personal pad against the larger pad that held the paused Earth sports.

"It's actually something I wanted to talk to you about," Massa added.

Oneakka tapped the pad screen, linking it up to the Facility's department systems.

"About you and Seeal."

Oneakka sighed.

Well that explained the mischievous glimmer in Massa's eyes. Why couldn't he let this subject go? Any opportunity for some sort of insinuation or sly teasing comment and Massa took it.

Oneakka looked round at him. "For the last time," he stressed clearly, plainly, and slowly, "Seeal and I are friends."

"Good," Massa's face shifted into a very smug looking grin, "because that's what I told him."

Oneakka frowned at him. "What?" He asked, annoyed that he was clearly being baited into something.

"I certain male member of the Facility staff approached me earlier today," Massa replied, "and asked me about you two."

"And?" Oneakka prompted, willing patience.

"I told him exactly what you just said: that you and Seeal are simply friends," Massa replied with a smile.

"Good, glad you agree," Oneakka concluded what was hopefully the end of the conversation and looked back to the pad, which had gone dark while he had been distracted by Massa's clear attempt to get some sort of reaction out of him.

"He was certainly pleased to hear the news," Massa unfortunately continued on though. "He seems very interested in her."

Massa's plan was obvious now, he was hoping for some sort of jealous reaction. Well, he could wait all day for all Oneakka cared.

"Sexual interest," Massa added unnecessarily about this apparent male.

"Sure," Oneakka tapped on the pad's screen to again link up to the department systems.

"You don't believe me?" Massa asked.

Oneakka let that hang in the air as he found the canteen department and tapped into the ordering system.

"Ask Halling, he was there too," Massa added.

Okay, that added some credence to the story; Halling would never lie about something like that if he was asked. Not that Oneakka was going to ask him. Which Massa knew, so it might all be a bluff...?

"I was pretty sure this male in question was intending to ask Seeal to share Late Meal with him this evening," Massa continued. "And a pair of eyes in the canteen informed me that he did, which is why I think she could be late."

The unidentified male hadn't wasted any time then.

"I don't mind if she's late," Oneakka told him as he started scrolling through the list of food what was still available to order this evening. He went straight through the main meal selections to find the sweet puddings.

"And I don't think he's the only one showing interest in her," Massa pushed. "I've spotted a few noticing her."

Well, Raven was hard to miss.

There was some of the sticky sponge pudding left, so Oneakka selected two of them. If Seeal didn't want hers, he'd have both.

"I mean she's an impressive female," Massa continued on. "Attractive in all kinds of ways."

Oneakka slid his gaze from the pad to Massa.

"I'm not interested in her," Massa stated quickly. "I'm just saying others are."

Oneakka slid his gaze back to the food list. He could do with a hot drink to help his belly relax. He selected a mug of Athosian day tea for Seeal, and then made it an order for two. He quite liked the drink.

"I just thought you'd like to know."

"That you're not interested in Seeal?" he purposefully misunderstood Massa. "Hardly news." He confirmed the canteen order. As it ran through, he glanced at the time displayed in the corner of the screen. She wasn't even a minute late yet.

"No, that other males are interested in her," Massa corrected.

"Fine," Oneakka looked at Massa again, keeping his gaze level and fixed.

"Fine?" Massa frowned.

"It's none of my business," Oneakka stated.

Massa's frown deepened. "Well, I'll just leave that information with you to think about."

"Nothing to think about," Oneakka replied. "Seeal and I are friends, and, as her friend, maybe you should respect her privacy."

"I'm just letting you know some gossip that you might need to hear."

"Why?"

"In case you want to do something about it?" Massa stated like it was an obvious fact.

"Like what exactly?" Oneakka challenged him.

"Like make an offer of your own," Massa stated.

"Seeal and I are friends," Oneakka repeated, leaning towards Massa and putting some threat into his voice to make his point clear.

Why Massa couldn't grasp this made no sense. He and Seeal had a nice clear line between them and their friendship had become something very real of late. Neither of them wanted more and the situation worked well for them.

Attraction didn't require action.

For all he knew, she'd been bedding males in the Facility since she'd gotten here. Though, he'd kind of trusted that Massa would have reported on that fact, just like he was doing now.

"That's your choice then," Massa muttered, clearly annoyed that his plan was failing miserably.

"There's no choice to make," Oneakka countered. The pad lit up, fortunately giving him something else to focus on. He tapped the screen awake and saw a confirmation from the canteen staff that they were preparing his food delivery.

And no text links had arrived from Seeal.

He glanced at the time display in the screen's corner again. It was barely a minute past her usual arrival time, but that was hardly running late. And it didn't matter if Raven arrived late because she and Massa didn't need to trade off babysitting duties anymore. He could be left by himself. It didn't matter if she wasn't here dead on time.

She was free to do whatever she wanted.

With whomever she wanted.

"I'm just trying to be a good friend."

"No," Oneakka looked back round at Massa, "you're trying to butt into other people's business."

"Fine," Massa stated. "I'll not say anything else about it."

"Good."

Aki was fussing now, his bright cheeks looking uncomfortable and the babe's interest in his toys was fading. Massa lifted Aki, setting him against his shoulder, patting the boy's back and rocking side to side.

"I won't tell you any other gossip about Seeal at all then," Massa stubbornly carried on.

"Good," Oneakka repeated forcefully.

He didn't need to hear about what she did in her own time.

"Nothing at all," Massa repeated, like it was a threat.

Oneakka glared at him. "Fine," he stated between clenched teeth.

Massa had managed to calm Aki' protests, the room falling silent.

Oneakka looked back to the pad. Still no text link.

It really didn't matter to him who this male was who had intentions towards Raven.

In fact, he'd not even thought about what she might be doing in her social time with any males, well outside of being aware of Engineer Ru's clear crush on her that she seemed oblivious to, and Edfu.

"It's not Edfu is it?" He asked Massa. "Because that wouldn't be appropriate." The Facility's Security Co-Lead hadn't been all that careful about hiding his appreciation of Seeal.

Massa looked up from where he was now bouncing Aki in his hands. "Why not?"

"Because he and Maja are in charge of security and watching her computer use."

"I'm sure he can watch her nice and closely from bed," Massa joked distastefully.

"No, he's in charge of security and it would be inappropriate," Oneakka stressed the obvious. "And Maja wouldn't have it; she still thinks Seeal might be a planted mole in the Facility."

"Stop freaking out about it. It's not Edfu," Massa stated.

"I wasn't 'freaking out' about it," Oneakka argued, annoyed at Massa's barely suppressed smile. "It would be a clear security breach."

"Well, it's not Edfu."

"Good," Oneakka replied. "That's fine then."

"Anyone else you think might be an inappropriate match for her?" Massa asked, with no small amount of innuendo.

"No," Oneakka stated meeting Massa's eyes directly. "Just Edfu would be a problem, no one else."

"Okay," Massa smiled calmly as he bounced Aki up and down into the air, the little boy giggling.

Oneakka looked back to his pad, but it had gone dark. He wasn't going to tap it awake to check the time, or look round at the time display, because then Massa would know.

At least it was a Facility staff member and not Myrtle. That really would be annoying and irritating. Not that he believed for a second that Raven would fall for Myrtle's obvious overt sliminess.

And it clearly wasn't a member of her Sythus Strays social group, so it wasn't Ru.

The door to his quarters abruptly slid open and Seeal walked in. Oneakka instantly fixed his gaze on her face, looking for...he wasn't sure what. Signs that she was happier than normal maybe?

She looked her usual self though as she walked in, her electronic pad under one arm, her jacket draped over it. She'd occasionally wear the jacket in the evenings now when she sat with him, not because she was cold, but because she said she liked the warm comfort of it. He'd offered her one of his spare blankets before, but she'd turned it down, saying she wasn't cold. She could be contradictory like that.

Maybe she was contradictory in other ways he hadn't considered before now.

He realised he'd assumed that her natural mistrust of people had kept her at arm's length from others here, but that didn't necessarily mean that she hadn't had casual lovers. He remembered how she danced, free and uninhibited in a way he hadn't predicted. Maybe she lived a larger life than he realised.

He'd just assumed she was like him: that sex had its occasional place, but that work and friendships took full priority.

But she'd been living here in the Facility for awhile now, so maybe she had made more friends and connections with people here than he knew about; maybe she was letting her guard down.

Which was good.

It meant she felt safer, happier here.

It was what he wanted for her.

"Evening," she smiled at him and Massa as she walked across his room, looking entirely normal.

"Seeal," Massa replied instantly, and Oneakka could hear the delighted grin in his voice. "Did you have a nice Late Meal?"

Oneakka worked hard not to roll his eyes or show any of the anger that bubbled up inside at Massa's very obvious attempt to now get a reaction out of Raven.

"I did until I tasted those horrible blue spotted biscuits," she answered dramatically though, her entire face screwing up with disgust.

"What?!" Massa asked, shocked, and completely thrown off his former game. "You don't like the berry biscuits?"

"They're disgusting," she emphasised with feeling as she reached the side of the bed and stopped, Massa still sat in her seat. "I threw the thing right down the waste chute. Had to clean my teeth just to get rid of the taste," she said her gaze switching to Oneakka. "Which is why I'm a bit late, sorry."

"Doesn't bother me," Oneakka said quickly and firmly, though it had sounded a little weird. She had just been talking about being a few minutes late. Nothing else.

She frowned faintly at him bemusedly, but her attention switched back to Massa.

"But those biscuits are a delicacy," Massa argued. "The berries can only be harvested a few times a year. They're really expensive."

Seeal frowned at Massa's overreaction. "Expensive doesn't automatically equal good taste."

"Everyone loves them," Massa insisted.

"Not everyone," Oneakka corrected him.

Massa stood up from his chair, Aki making fussy noises of protest again, or maybe he'd picked up on Massa's grumpy disbelief at Seeal's opinion of his favourite food. "Did the biscuit go far down the waste chute?" He asked as he moved away from his seat, allowing Seeal space to head to the vacated chair. "Do you think you can retrieve it?"

As she sat down, Seeal looked round at Oneakka with a 'what's with him?' look.

"They're his absolute favourite food," he explained for her.

"Disgusting food," Seeal repeated her assessment.

"He also holds the Facility record for the most he can fit in his mouth in one go. Five unbroken and stacked in his mouth," Oneakka added.

Seeal's frown moved into instant amusement. "Five?" She repeated doubtfully. "But they're big biscuits."

"Big mouth," Oneakka replied and she laughed.

She really didn't look any different than normal, not that he guessed there were any clear signs of when someone had been asked to share a romantic meal. Or maybe had a passionate roll around another male's bed before she'd gotten here. Her hair was tidy, but she looked like she had fresh clothes on. She hadn't had a shower though; he could normally smell the extra flowery scent on her when she did. He caught himself taking a deeper breath as if checking if he could detect some male perfume on her.

She glanced up at Massa, a mischievous look of her own now showing. "He does talk an awful lot. Even when he's eating."

Oneakka nodded as he looked at Massa as well. "Doesn't know when to shut up either."

Massa frowned at him and then Seeal and back, clearly not liking that they were teaming up to tease him for a change.

"It's technique as much as space," Massa explained as he adjusted Aki against his shoulder.

"Sure," Seeal replied teasingly as she held up the strap of Aki' bag for Massa.

He took it from her, his dark eyes focusing on her. "Outside of the biscuits, did you enjoy the rest of your meal?"

Oneakka glared threatening up at Massa, but the man was carefully avoiding his gaze, focused solely on Seeal's face.

"I did," Seeal answered him, but she looked down as she spoke, leaning forward to set her electronic pad down against the leg of her chair. "They had a great selection today," she added as she turned and laid her jacket over the back of the seat.

She either had no idea what Massa had been implying with his question, or she was purposefully not reacting to it.

"I've ordered us some of the sticky sponge pudding," Oneakka told her to cut across anything else Massa might ask her.

"Ooo," she smiled brightly as she looked round at him. "Thank you."

He held her gaze, realising he was still looking for hints that something had changed for her today.

Or maybe males asked her to share a meal all the time? It would make some sense. She was a beautiful woman, a strong and vital warrior, and she was building a reputation in the Facility to be respected. Halling had told him that people had become more accepting of her since the broadcast of the re-enactment of the Skerti fight, and that Elite who had previously been uncertain of her were now more convinced. So maybe as her respect grew in the Facility, males would, as Massa suggested, be taking more interest in her.

Which was fine.

She deserved as normal a life as she could after the hard start to her life. And, for normal non-Elite people, having romantic relationships was standard.

It wasn't a life he would ever live, but Raven had the chance to have stability and normality in her life, and...actually he wasn't overly sure what people wanted from their chosen mates outside of sex and respect. A pooling of currency and responsibilities, of sharing chores and childrearing? He'd never really stopped to think about it all that much, since it wasn't something he would ever have.

Whatever she wanted from a male in her life, she deserved it all and he wanted that for her. Of course the male was going to have to be willing to be bossed around and would have to be of a suitable standard. Someone who would be a strong and supportive partner for her.

She might even have children one day. He probably wouldn't live long enough to see that, but he knew people found it fulfilling.

He slid his gaze from Raven's dark eyes to little Aki against Massa's shoulder, the little boy fussing again.

In his mind he formed the imagined future moment of holding Raven's child in his arms, the babe's father looking on proudly...

A strange painful ache formed in his chest.

And, as occasionally happened when he thought of babes, he was reminded of all those that had been on Ugun when it had been destroyed. That he had had at least one baby niece who had been killed.

A child he had never known.

Children he would never bear of his own.

Raven deserved what he would never have. What had been torn from Massa when Mera and their unborn young had been killed.

The life of an Elite was painful and short, and oddly empty too; but Seeal was free, as she had rightly named herself, and she deserved whatever normal things life could provide for her.

He looked back to her.

She was eyeing him with suspicion. "Have you been overdoing things today?"

The daily interrogations from her and Massa were suddenly a welcome subject.

"No," he told her, though admittedly it was stretching the truth a little.

"Yes," Massa disagreed quickly. "He has. He's not allowed to do anymore walking around the room tonight."

"Understood," Seeal nodded up at Massa.

"I'd already decided that," Oneakka pointed out sternly. "Myself."

Seeal nodded as she leaned back in her chair, an amused smile on her face.

She had been smiling a lot more lately, so much so that it was almost normal now. He remembered days when a single smile from her had felt significant. Now though, she was relaxed in her chair and trying to enforce some control over his own rehab. She was changing in all the right ways, and she deserved all the further new changes that would arrive in her life.

Hopefully a life with no more trauma or grief.

She smiled at him, holding his gaze, but there was a touch of a question in her expression now.

"Well," Massa said into the silence, "I'll leave you two alone."

Oneakka glared up at Massa, to which Massa just grinned as he switched his gaze to Raven.

"I'm glad you had a nice Late Meal," Massa told her with what was obviously a wink before he quickly turned and headed towards the exit. "Have a nice evening," Massa added brightly as he breezed out the door, Aki starting to cry against his shoulder.

The door slid shut.

"What was that about?" Seeal asked, but he could tell from her tone that she had probably worked it out.

"Being his usual annoying self," Oneakka answered as he looked back round at her, making sure to hold her gaze steadily. It was important that she see he was fine with the whole thing. "Butting into other people's private business."

He saw her eyes widen a fraction and then shift away to the closed door though which Massa had left. "Yours or mine?" She asked, her gaze meeting his again, but he saw a myriad of things there. He realised that somewhere in these last weeks that she'd stopped wearing her 'in control' face to hide her expressions. He had no idea when that had happened.

"Yours," he told her plainly.

"Oh," her gaze shifted away, a look of casual indifference showing, but he wasn't convinced by it. He'd seen her without the emotional mask enough now that he could easily recognise when she tried to wear it again.

He realised that he didn't know how she would react to learning that her private life was being talked about within her new community, since that probably hadn't been a huge part of her life before. Growing up a Recruit, he was more than used to hearing, and being subject to, the gossip vine that spread information on everything within whichever Facility he'd been stationed in.

"He's your friend now, so you need to prepare for him to have an opinion on everything," Oneakka told her.

Her dark eyes met his again.

"My advice is set clear boundaries with him or punch him in the nose, I've found that works too," he told her.

A smile spread across her face, but her lips were closed with it. "I learned today that the Recruits get into fights a lot here, I didn't realise you Elite still do it when you're older."

She was making a joke - that was good.

Everything was fine.

"Not as much," he answered. "But if you need me to punch him in the nose for you, just ask." Her smile widened. "He means well," he added. "His friends are very important to him."

She nodded and she looked like she meant it.

Good. She didn't seem upset.

And it was good that she knew that he knew about the new male taking interest in her. It made things clear, and proved that the line was still strong.

That they were friends and that was good.

Except she looked a little uncomfortable, her gaze sliding away to the door where Massa had left again. Maybe she was tempted to leave?

"You saw Recruits fighting today then?" He asked, grabbing onto that piece of information she had provided.

Her eyes shifted back to him. "No," she answered, "though I did break up a fight between two of them recently."

"I imagine they got a telling off," he guessed.

She smiled. "I had a few words with them."

He nodded, smiling back at her. He had no doubt that the two Recruits in question had had an earful from her, probably been scared by the Security Lead tone she must have used.

Though, if she'd not seen a fight, but had learnt about regular fights today, then someone must have told her. Perhaps the unnamed male? If so, then it probably meant he was either a member of Security or someone from the Healing Bay.

"So," she said as she leaned back in her chair, relaxing once again, "you've been overdoing it again today?"

"Not that much," he disagreed.

"Mmm," she murmured suspiciously, her gaze shifting over his face, no doubt looking at the signs of the tiredness he could feel in his bones. Suddenly, out of nowhere, he felt acutely aware that he had quite a way to go in his recovery, that he was still weak, and that he probably didn't look his best.

Not that such a thing mattered.

"How was your day?" He asked to get her away from the subject, only to realise the question could be an invitation for her to tell him about the male with intentions.

He was fine about the whole thing, but he didn't want to hear any details about it.

She crossed one long leg over the other. "I know what you're going to ask me."

She did?

"Whether I used the guardian knife today?" She answered his questioning look.

"I was going to ask you that," he confirmed with touch of relief, because he had been intending to ask her this evening.

"I did use it," she confirmed.

"Good," he replied, pleased.

"So will you stop asking me every day about it now?" She asked, a soft smile across her features. She was looking her normal relaxed self now.

He pretended to consider his answer. "No."

She rolled her eyes dramatically. "An Elite warrior friend seemed a good idea," she muttered.

She'd used the word 'friend': good.

They were friends.

Actually now he thought about it, maybe her having a male would be a good thing. It would help keep their friendship clear and unambiguous, and stop all the gossip about them in the Facility. Prove to everyone, including Massa, that they were both happy with their current situation. As he wasn't about to want a permanent female around, having no interest in that kind of depth of relationship, and she hardly needed a military warrior as a mate, someone likely to be impaled by a Hive ship at any moment.

And, as she had so eloquently summarised once before, an Elite warrior and a pit fighter would never work.

"There is something I do need to talk to you about," she added into his thoughts.

He froze slightly. "What?" He asked her cautiously.

"There's no need to ask like that," she objected. "Like I'm going to tell you something horrible like I hacked into something I shouldn't."

It was their usual banter. "Did you hack into something?" He asked.

"No," she insisted with an eye roll. "Some of the goatlings broke part of the enclosure fence today."

He blinked, surprised at the subject.

"I think they were trying to jump over it," she continued. "Neligan and I replaced the broken panels, but they're fast outgrowing the hut and enclosure space."

It could be Neligan the Gardener. He hadn't considered the Hydroponic Bay staff, and she did spend a lot of time with Neligan. The man had repeatedly told Oneakka in his reports on Belka and her young that he was grateful for Seeal's help in taking care of the goatlings...

"So, Neligan is drawing up some ideas he'd like to discuss with you," she continued. "I said you probably have some ideas of your own, but Neligan and I can build whatever you want."

"Okay," he agreed. It was important for Belka and her family to have proper accommodation.

"Though obviously not some two storey building or anything too fancy," she joked. "I don't think I could help build that."

He smiled at her little joke. "I'll talk with Neligan, though the goatlings won't all be staying here once they're grown," he reminded her.

Her eyes slid down and away. "Of course," she replied. She'd grown really attached to the herd family. "You'll keep a couple here though won't you?" She asked, trying to sound casually interested, but he could hear the hope in her voice.

"Yes," he agreed. Actually he was due to talk to the Hydroponics Lead of Mil Hub, who Neligan had put him in touch with about this very subject. He'd started to rethink his plan on sending the goatlings to the Sythus and Hastos Son. Having seen the reports on the damage the Sythus had sustained in the Nest Battle, he'd reconsidered the animals' safety being on a battleship. So, he'd started to consider lending the goats once they were a little older to the bigger well kept and research focused Hydroponics Bays in military bases and space stations. The Mil Hub Hydroponics Bay Lead in particular was eager to receive some of the goats into her care.

"I'll text link Neligan about it," he told Seeal. "He can come here for a discussion about it maybe tomorrow and we can make some decisions." And he would see if he could work out if it was Neligan who had invited her to Late Meal.

"Good," Seeal nodded, but her smile was a little tight. He suspected she wanted all the goats to stay here, but he didn't want to tell her his plans for the goats until he was certain.

"The goatlings are okay though?" He asked. She usually provided some sort of update on them each evening.

"Yes, other than one of them knocked me over today," she smiled. "Then all the rest of them climbed all over me like it was a game."

He chuckled at the image and her grin. Clearly she hadn't hurt herself, and it explained her change of clothes.

The chimes to his door rang out and he broke the eye contact to look towards the closed door.

"That'll be the food," he guessed.

"Good, I'm still hungry," she replied eagerly as she got up and headed towards the door. "Stupid evil biscuits."

The door slid open for her, revealing indeed the promised food and tea.

"Thank you," Seeal smiled at the man on the other side. He smiled back like he knew her, but she didn't say anything else to the male as she took the offered canteen tray and turned away.

Oneakka frowned as the canteen assistant turned away and the door closed. He'd not included canteen staff in his consideration.

Or even someone from the teaching staff.

"You got my tea," she smiled as she set the tray on the Healing Bay table above his legs. He reached out and moved his pads aside to make room for it.

"You always drink it," he noted of her favourite Athosian tea.

"I didn't know you like it," she lifted the lid off the second large mug and set it closer to him.

"I don't have it very often," he answered. "But, it's comforting."

"Exactly," she smiled at him like he'd said something significant. "Do you like the weird berry biscuits?" She asked as she pulled her chair closer to the side of the bed, her bowl of sticky pudding balanced in her hand.

"I'm not mad about them like Massa, but I do enjoy them," he answered. Oddly, it felt kind of nice to find something they didn't have in common for a change. He picked up his own pudding bowl, it was all warm and a light steam was rising from it.

"Halling is like you though," he told her as he started on the pudding. "He really doesn't like them."

"Though," she considered as she carefully scooped up a large spoonful of the sponge covered in thick sticky sauce, "thinking about it, I did have the biscuit wrapped up in a napkin, so I might be able to retrieve some of it from my waste chute for Massa."

He smiled at her thoughtful idea for his old friend. And she'd said her chute, so she hadn't been in the male's quarters when she had tried the berry biscuit. That the biscuit had been wrapped implied she'd carried it from the canteen, so the shared Late Meal had just been in the canteen.

She set her spoon down in her bowl and held up her hand. He watched her hold her index and thumb just over a half inch apart, which was about the width of a berry biscuit, and then she drew her finger and thumb apart, estimating the thickness of the five that was Massa's record.

"That's actually pretty impressive," she looked round. "All in his mouth at the same time, none of them broken?"

He nodded as he scooped up the last piece of his pudding. "The trick," he told her as he chewed, "was to make him laugh while he was doing it. Crumbs went everywhere," he demonstrated the arc the crumbs and broken bits of biscuit had made. "Though, he did almost choke on some once," he recalled. He and Kane had hammered on Massa's back until he'd coughed up all the pieces, but he'd been laughing afterwards.

"Tell me this wasn't just last week," Seeal asked.

"No, long time ago," Oneakka confirmed. "But no one has beaten his record since."

She smiled as she shook her head.

He scraped his spoon around the inside of his pudding bowl, trying to get up the remains of the sauce, but he'd pretty much finished it already. The sponge hadn't been that big really.

Seeal's spoon suddenly appeared into his view and a large piece of sponge and sauce dropped into his bowl.

He looked round, surprised at the gift of some of her own pudding. He frowned towards her bowl to make sure she still had plenty left.

"I had a bigger piece than you," she told him, but he was pretty sure the sponges all came from the same size small moulds, and she was angling her bowl away from him slightly so he couldn't see for sure. Still, it was really good pudding...

"Thank you," he told her and then devoured the extra pudding.

"You want to watch Earth Olympics or get going on the new jigsaw game?" She asked as she started scraping around her own bowl.

"Let's do Sheppard's new game," he decided. "I've watched enough Earth sports today."

"Won a lot from Massa today?" She asked as she stood up and picked up the canteen tray, pausing as he put his empty bowl on the tray beside hers and then picked up his Athosian tea.

"Plenty, though there are a few more things I need," he answered. As she moved away to put the tray aside, he lifted the cloth he had on the Healing Bay table, revealing the latest jigsaw they had started working on yesterday evening.

"Need?" She asked as she set about shifting her chair right up against the side of his bed into the usual position to work on the jigsaw.

"I've got some plans for things," was all he would divulge just yet.

He separated the game's box, setting the lid on the table and the lower part full of the game pieces on his lap under the table. Seeal folded herself cross-legged onto her chair, one leg spilling onto his bed beside his leg, and she leaned her closest elbow on the table so she could review their work from yesterday. She was well and truly within his personal space, but he was used to it now and she seemed comfortable as well.

Their friendship no longer felt like an idle description, but something very real. She'd been by his bedside all through his recovery, had spoken direct truths to him regardless whether he wanted to hear them, and she was one of his Whisperers.

And had helped bring Father's sign to him.

It was a connection that should survive her finding other male companionship for certain activities.

Whoever he was...

"We're missing part of the edge that side still," she noted reaching in front of him to point out the gap in the outline they had formed yesterday. Though she hadn't had a shower before coming here, he could still detect the flowery scent off her, especially sat this close. Maybe it wasn't just her soap then.

"Maybe just one or two missing pieces," he considered. "We'll find them as we go."

"I'll see if I can finish this section of trees up here," she reached forward for the little piles of green pieces she'd separated out yesterday.

"I'll look for more of this orange section here," he decided as he picked up the lower part of the box.

"Good idea," she considered as she set her chin on her hand, her elbow on the edge of the table still, her other hand moving pieces in the top right corner, trying to find how they connected together.

He started combing through the box, picking out orange coloured pieces.

A contented quiet fell, broken only by the sound of game pieces moving and Raven's occasional muttering sounds when pieces didn't match up for her.

"You have any ideas on what the new enclosure should be like for the goats?" He asked her, thinking she would like to be included in the plans.

"I think we should build platforms at different heights for them to climb up onto," she answered.

"That's a good idea. You said they jump up on everything."

"They do jump on everything, including me," she smiled into her hand as she worked.

"I'm looking forward to seeing them in person," he said idly as he set several orange pieces into a growing pile. Though he could walk to the Rehab Gym once a day, the Hydroponics Bay was too far away for him. But hopefully he'd get there soon enough. He'd only seen the goatlings in the pictures and recordings Seeal had brought him, and he really wanted to see Belka again. "Hopefully Belka will remember me," he considered.

"Of course she will," Seeal replied. "You're very memorable."

"I'm taking that as a compliment," he told her profile barely inches from him. She was focused down on the jigsaw, but he saw her cheek lift with what looked like a big grin.

He considered her profile, noticing how black her eyelashes were as she looked down at the jigsaw. He thought she had a slight tan too, possibly from her daily visits to the Hydroponics Bay. She said she visited in her Midday Meal breaks as well as before Late Meal, so the artificial sunlight would be brightest then and her skin had clearly absorbed some of it. She shifted her chin in her hand and he quickly looked back to the jigsaw, but he shifted his gaze back to her again out the corner of his eyes.

Whoever this mystery male was, he had better be worthy of her.

It was a judgement that Oneakka decided he would have to make before he left the Facility once he was back on battle rotation.

Make it clear to this male, or any that followed, that she had influential Elite friends who would defend her instantly if she was treated poorly.

That he'd keep a very close eye on the male in question.

Whoever he was.

He returned his attention to the jigsaw. The picture was of bright countryside below a flying Earth airship. He considered the box's lid and the final image with its bright green fields.

The type of fields a farmer would love to work, living a life he'd never have despite Massa's previous jokes that he should change professions. No farmhouse with a happy wife and children running around. But maybe Seeal could have that one day with a male of her choice. To live surrounded by wide open spaces on an Alliance planet safe from Wraith or Skerti. And there'd be massive trees in her garden that she could climb. Hopefully he'd live long enough to get to see her find a safe home like that.

He shifted his focus back on the task of finding more orange pieces.

There was no point dwelling on things that he would never have, but he was pleased that Raven might have started on her path to finding her own happy future.

He pressed two pieces of orange together and one even fitted into the outer frame of pieces from yesterday.

At least it wasn't Ru or Myrtle.

00000

The Valse's initial emergency broadcast link had arrived two hours ago and had changed everything.

Suddenly the Facility had become a bustling burst of activity, despite the late hour. Halling had received the alert just as he'd been retiring to bed, so he'd thrown his clothes back on and rushed to the security centre of the Facility, finding it crammed with his fellow Elite who were currently not on mission. He hadn't missed anything though, since that initial broadcast from the Valse had simply been their alert and data dump. Halling had spent the next hour pouring over the details of the scans and images of the drifting Salvager ship the Valse had found, until the next broadcast had arrived with more information and confirmation that the Valse was still in one piece.

Though, it was only now, two hours later, that they were finally in real-time live communication with Seifer and Commander Ara on the Valse. Both warriors looked tired in their space ready suits, only their helmets removed to enable the conversation, and Halling knew well the exhaustion that came from being in those protected enclosed suits for a prolonged time.

"...the Salvager Ship Commander's last entry is a panicked hurried mess," Seifer was reporting, his image and voice shaky from the weak temporary link connection. "But it's all we've got for the time being as we can't access anything further of the Salvager computer database. It's literally shut off and locked down and we've not been able to access it at all. Without a correct data key into the main console, we're worried the system might do an emergency wipe and we'll lose all data."

Halling nodded. Salvagers liked to keep their databases secret. "We are in contact with Division already trying to identify the drifter ship. We'll ask their agents to find Salvagers who might help us access the computer."

"What exactly did the Ship Commander say on the last message?" Aedii asked Seifer's fuzzy image.

Seifer wiped one gloved hand over his hair that looked slicked back from sweat. "He said that monsters had come aboard, snuck in on one of the ship's own ore collection freights and started murdering his crew," Seifer replied. "He said he had ordered a jump into hyperspace and the crew was abandoning ship, that's all."

"Why jump into hyperspace?" Someone asked.

"Presumably there were more monsters on the way?" Aedii suggested. "Perhaps Skerti ships inbound and jumping away with a small group of them onboard was preferable."

"There are no shuttles, craft, ore collection freights, or anything else left in the main shuttle bay or the secondary smaller bay," Commander Ara stated. "There's no ship-wide camera system that we've found, so I'm not convinced, even once we get into the computer database, that we'll have much other than where the ship was when it was attacked. If we hadn't known what a Skerti attack looked like, there's no evidence here of what did this."

"We believe the Skerti started their attack in the main shuttle bay," Seifer explained, "as there's blood splatter across the floor and back wall in there. From there, there's damage to the main lighting powerline down the main central corridor. We think the Skerti purposefully shorted it out, preferring the dark for their attack. They then proceeded down the central corridor, killing as they went. We found fifteen bodies in that initial part of the corridor, then thirteen more in a side storage room, and then the thirty seven in the canteen. The Ship Commander on the recording was not among them, so we know that at least he was able to abandon ship."

"There's no sign that the Skerti infiltrated further into the ship from the canteen," Commander Ara took up the story. "So it's possible they just turned around and went back to the shuttle bay from there to leave the ship."

"While they were killing in that central area, presumably it allowed the rest of the ship's crew time to get to the shuttle bays to abandon ship, hence the lack of shuttles," Seifer continued.

"Or the Skerti took all the ships themselves and the remaining crew were blown out the back of the shuttle bay," someone across the room suggested a more gruesome alternative story.

"If the Skerti have Salvager ships," Halling considered, "Maybe that's how they've been going unseen so far."

"They used an ore collection freighter to get on that ship," Aedii nodded. "But they couldn't take the whole ship as the computer system was locked down, so they took whatever smaller craft they could."

"We need to put out an alert on that," Halling stated and various faces nodded around the room.

"You are certain there are no Skerti still aboard?" Aedii asked Seifer and Ara.

"We've covered more than eighty percent of the ship, visually inspecting each room and cupboard, and there's nothing so far," Seifer replied.

"Nothing has shown on any scans either," Commander Ara added. "And, as stated, there are no signs of any further infiltration beyond the canteen."

"And we have no idea how long the ship was in hyperspace?" Aedii asked.

"None," Seifer replied. "It could have been minutes or days, and the date setting on the Ship Commander's last entry was from two months ago, so we have no idea how far it's travelled and if its direction was altered by any gravity systems on the way."

They had little right now then, not until they could get into the Salvager computer database.

"We've set up a forensics space on the Salvager ship and are starting to analyse the bodies, see if we can identify them and find further evidence," Ara stated. "Hopefully some genetic samples of the Skerti."

"Do we have any idea how many of them were aboard?" Halling considered.

"We have some preliminary guesswork considering bloody footprints and angles of weapons fire," Seifer replied. "It all suggests at least five, probably more."

"For all we know, the Skerti Queen could have been among them," Aedii considered, "Before she took over the Wraith Hive."

"Genetic tests will hopefully answer that question," Commander Ara replied over the crackling link.

"How long until you have those results, Commander?" Halling asked.

"Give us two days. We need to collect what we can from the bodies, then run and compare the samples," she replied.

Halling nodded. "We will speak with Division now on the computer access issue and put out the warning that the Skerti may been in possession of multiple Salvager ships."

"We are setting up more stable relays between here and the border," Ara replied. "We should have a more reliable connection within a few hours."

"Excellent," Halling nodded.

"We'll continue checking through the ship and seeing if there's any more evidence we can find," Seifer added.

"Contact us back on the hour every hour," Halling instructed.

"We will," Seifer nodded.

"And watch yourselves," Halling added. "For all we know that ship only drifted through the local neighbour."

Seifer and Commander Ara nodded and the link shutdown.

Halling straightened up from the console and looked out across the sea of Elite faces. "It's not a lot so far, but it's a start."

"And likely proof now that the Skerti Queen wasn't just a last sole survivor of her species," Aedii noted.

"True," Halling nodded. "We just need to get into that Salvager computer as fast as possible."

"I'll contact Division now," Aedii turned away to another console.

Halling looked across at the rest of his colleagues. "We need full analysis on the Valse's latest data and images, let's use the Incident Room for that. We also need the Mad Moon involved, get the images of the attacked victims to Imseti immediately, and I'll contact the Fleet Commanders to prep more support vessels and warn about the Salvager ships."

The room transformed instantly into action, his colleagues filing out to head into the Incident Room.

Halling tapped on the console, pulling up the gruesome images once again. Many were all too familiar from the dead Wraith found on the Rogue Hive, but some of the victim's throats had been viciously torn apart. As Commander Ara had said, if they hadn't know about the Skerti, the murders looked more like a rabid animal had been set loose on the ship's poor crew.

Sitayi' prophecy circled his mind.

Her warning had helped save his life, but had also led them to this discovery. Their first true clue to where the Skerti were hiding and what they were doing unseen among the stars.

000000
TBC