Chapter 2

"I hate that thing," Mel sighed after the teleporter had deposited them in the Vault's antechamber.

"It is not pleasant," Olia agreed. "But it grows tolerable after time."

"Are you okay, Mel?" Cole asked gently, touching her cheek.

"Yeah. Fine. Let's do this..." Mel frowned faintly. "What is that sound?"

"It sounds like music," Cole said, frowning faintly.

"You're right." Her frown deepened as she tried to place the tune. Following Olia into the Vault, it was immediately recognizable as, of all things, 'Under the Boardwalk'.

Blinking, she looked around for the source of the singing in the bustling chamber. It was not hard to spot. A cheerful-looking man in his late thirties was sitting with his feet on one of Cole's worktables, singing along with a radio as he fiddled with something in his hands.

"Some things never do change," Cole murmured, smiling faintly and shaking his head.

All around them there was activity. Men and women of various ages and races, wearing everything from suits to cut-off shorts, worked to set up tables and computers and calibrate equipment, or moved into and out of the Vault itself with determined expression as they hurried to establish a working Field Office. The man singing stopped abruptly and glanced up, his boyish face breaking into a wide smile. He brushed a mop of red hair out of his round face and rose, half-jogging over to them.

"Daggon, my friend!" he greeted him, patting his arm for a moment before turning his attention to Mel. "And, of course, his stunningly beautiful mate," he added, catching her hand and raising it to his face. Smiling at her over her hand, he winked once before gently kissing it. "Even more lovely in person, aren't you?" he inquired smoothly. "My, my, Daggon. Your taste in women remains absolutely impeccable..."

Mel frowned uncertainly at him for a moment, then broke into a smile to match his. "Bendal!" she realized.

"One in the same, milady." He stepped back and bowed with flourish. "May I give you the grand tour?" he offered.

"Uh… sure." Mel nodded faintly.

Bendal smiled and offered his arm. "This way, please. Thank you, Olia."

Olia shook her head, her expression faintly disapproving, before half-bowing and walking off.

Smiling and shaking her head, Mel accepted the Nodulian's arm and followed.

"We'll have four work-stations in total when we're fully established," Bendal told her, gesturing to a cluster of desks where a young man with ebony skin was busy setting up a series of what Mel thought were computers, though undeniably not Terrestrial in origin. "Each of which will be capable of accommodating one to three individuals at once depending on their respective tasks. But with only one master electrician, that could take a few days. In the meantime, we'll be too busy establishing ourselves to worry about the lack. Isn't that right, Ro'ahn?" he asked the man at the computer.

The young man looked up, his expression startled. Golden-brown eyes, the color of caramel regarded Mel uncertainly for a moment. "I'll… uh, I'll have this work station done... fairly shortly and then I... I think I'm supposed to... run a diagnostic on the scrubbers before I start on the others…" he stammered.

Bendal nodded faintly, giving him a reassuring grin. "Olia!" he called. "Come help Ro'ahn."

"And could you bring the spot-welder?" Ro'ahn added so quietly that Mel, standing right next to him, had trouble hearing him over the other noise.

"Here you go," Olia said, joining them and handing Ro'ahn a device about the size and shape of a ballpoint pen. "I'll handle the gross assembly if you calibrate," she offered.

He smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

"Miss Porter," Bendal said as the two became immersed in their respective tasks.

"You can call me Mel, you know."

"Of course, fair Mel." He winked at her, then gestured for her to follow him. "The Vault is, of course, a self-sustained environment in its own right, but we thought it wise to bring additional generators and air reclamation systems." He nodded towards a man who was half-concealed behind a large metallic canister roughly the size and shape of a water-heater.

"This isn't an air-filter!" a clipped voice grumbled from behind it. He emerged from behind the canister with a thin, flat unit the size of a laptop in one hand. He was tall, rugged, and blonde, with a face that looked used to smiling. Right now, though, he was frowning deeply. "Who has my other air-filter?" he demanded of no one in particular.

"Ten to one, Shana," Bendal said, smiling, "Leila is in the other room trying to make it fit into the generator..."

"Oh, for the love of…" he grumbled, shaking his head and stalking off through the archway into the Vault.

"Ignore him. He's just upset because he doesn't get to start on the rehydration tank until he's done fitting out the air reclamation system."

"I see," Mel lied.

"Not even the same size!" Shana's voice rang through the Vault room. Ro'ahn and Olia jumped to their feet and scuttled in that direction. "Could have shorted the entire system…"

Bendal smiled and shook his head. "And we will be setting up a temporary barracks in the Vault itself until we can get everyone settled into outside housing. The barracks area will also prove useful for situations which require one or more of us to be on call for extended periods of time. Care to see it?"

"Sure," Mel agreed, following him into the Vault.

She was a little startled that it seemed so much smaller than she remembered, until she realized that the area she was looking at, scattered with chairs, couches, and tables, was only a small part of the Vault itself. Doors spaced evenly along both walls told her that they had, somehow, managed to erect a number of small rooms inside. A large blue banner emblazoned with a sun and six planets had been hung over the common-area. Tracker-blue, Cole called the peculiar shade. The picture could only represent the planets of the Migar alliance.

"The banner of the Migar Tracker Corps," Bendal provided, noticing the direction of her gaze. "We haven't unpacked the Alliance flag yet. The individual rooms are less for privacy than for each of us to have a place to call our own," Bendal explained, conscientiously ignoring Shana as he stalked by, muttering to himself in Nodulian with an air-filter clutched against his chest. "There will also be extra rooms should yourself, Daggon, or his human friend wish to stay here overnight."

"Nice set-up," Mel said, looking around. "How'd you get all this stuff down here?"

"The miracles of modern technology," Bendal intoned gravely. Breaking into a grin, he shrugged and confessed, "I honestly have no clue. You'd want to ask the chip-heads about that."

"Chip-heads?" Mel repeated.

"He means people who are good with technology, Mel," Cole explained, joining them. "Like me," he added, shooting a sideways glance at Bendal.

The Nodulian laughed and shook his head. "Oh, that's right! You are, aren't you? Must have forgotten because you're so much fun at parties." Still laughing, he walked across the common area and tapped on one of the doors.

"Parties?" Mel asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're fun at parties, Cole?"

"I can be," he answered, his eyes laughing down at her.

"Someone's in a good mood," she noted with a faint smile.

"What is there not to be in a good mood about?" Cole asked. "I am here with the woman I love and enough people to make my job substantially easier. And Jess will be visiting us tomorrow," he added.

"Jess. That's right." She sighed softly. "Cole, how are we going to handle Jess visiting at the same time as you're setting up down here? And what are we going to tell her about all your friends here?"

"We will tell her the truth, Mel." He smiled. "They are friends of mine from work."

"Guess that works," she admitted. "But I still don't see how we're going to keep her from… Cole, are you listening?" she asked, realizing that his attention was firmly fixed on Bendal and the woman he was talking to.

"What, Mel?" he asked absently.

"I asked if you were listening."

"Oh, sorry, Mel. No, I wasn't."

"Ah. Why?"

He pointed to the person talking to Bendal, a dark regal-looking woman wearing a sun-dress in varying shades of red and yellow.

"Kallissa..." he breathed.

"Your friend from Cirron?" Mel asked. "The one who was your partner?"

"Yes."

"So go say hi," she suggested, gently nudging the shocked Cirronian in that direction.

He nodded absently and closed the distance to the quietly conversing pair.

"Daggon." Kallissa looked up, smiling slowly. "Your life-force seems well."

"As does yours." He reached up and lightly touched his hand to her heart. "I have missed you."

"Migar has been darker without you."

"I heard about your husband. I'm sorry."

She nodded almost imperceptibly. "I finally begin to understand how it must have been for you when Nallia was taken."

"I wish I knew words that could comfort you."

"There may not be such words. Still, I carry on."

"I had not expected to see you here. I thought that in such a time you would want to be close to your children."

Kallissa frowned faintly, her eyes flashing. "We do the things we do as much for our children as for the children of strangers. My actions are born of my love for them."

Cole stared at her for a moment, startled. The years had changed her from the tranquil, even-tempered woman she had once been. Sighing, he reached up and cupped her cheek with one hand. "I did not mean to imply otherwise, Kallissa. Your love for your offspring serves as an example for all parents."

She sighed and bowed her head. "Forgive my harsh words. These times are troubling ones to live in."

"They are," he agreed.

"The years have changed us both," she apologized.

"You are still my friend. This will never change."

She smiled faintly. "Friendship is forever. You are a brother to me, Kedriss Daggon."

"Only a brother?" he teased. Once upon a time, when both had been young and the universe had been a better place, Kallissa had wanted far more from Cole than his friendship or brotherhood. It had always been a source of amusement for all parties, including his wife and her husband.

Kallissa smirked, shaking her head. "Amazingly enough, yes." Looking up at him, she added, "Your mate seems a lovely creature and it is clear in spite of the sorrow you bear that she makes you a happy man."

"She has filled the void within my soul and allowed me to feel and to love again, Kallissa."

She smiled. "Well, if a Cirronian may find love again, perhaps there is hope for us all. Your joy brings me pleasure, my friend."

Cole smiled, glancing over his shoulder to where Bendal was chatting lightly with Mel. "We may have changed, but it seems that some people never change."

"He always has been a flirt," she agreed. "But his attentions are generally harmless."

"Generally," he chuckled.

Bendal may have been a womanizer, but he was invariably quite benign about it. He enjoyed the company of all females equally and never expected more of them than a few hours spent in conversation and merry-making.

"Perhaps Bendal is one of the lucky ones," Kallissa noted softly.

"Kallissa?"

"He is as he has always been. Us, though..." She shook her head faintly. "Do you remember the time before? When we were young and the universe was ours? There was nothing we could not have done."

"They were good years," he admitted.

"Yes, they were. That arrogance has been well punished..."

"Confidence is not arrogance," Cole informed her gently. "You at least may be forgiven those sentiments. You were young and I encouraged you to feel indestructible. I was too old to use age as an excuse."

"You blame yourself?"

"In a way." He shook his head. "But you were always the more realistic."

"Realistic or not, I was a fool. I once honestly believed in the inherent good of all sentient forms."

"You don't any more?" he asked, startled.

"Rhee and Kaehto showed us the true shape of the universe, Daggon." Kallissa turned, staring at one of the others as he worked. "Well, you were the older and wiser. Perhaps Kaehto alone was sufficient to show you..."

"Kallissa," Cole sighed, resting his hand on her shoulder. She tensed, exactly as any Cirronian would have in answer to unexpected or uninvited contact, even from a close friend. "If there is evil in the universe... maybe it just makes the good that much more precious."

"And correspondingly rare." She shrugged off his hand and walked through the door she had emerged from. "Nallyn wanted me to give you this," she told him, pulling a small wooden chest from among her belongings. "She would have sent it earlier, but conditions were not favorable for a wormhole."

"What is it?" he asked, accepting the offered box.

"Your personal effects. All of them. She wishes you all happiness with your new mate."

"She understands, then?"

Kallissa smiled reassuringly. "Of course she does, Daggon. You're her brother-in-law." She looked up as Ro'ahn appeared in the doorway. "Yes?"

"Shana requires your assistance with the diagnostic battery."

"Tell him I'll be there in a moment."

"Yes, ma'am." Bowing, he turned and hurried off.

"If you will excuse me?"

"Of course, Kallissa. But... if you ever wish to talk..."

"Then I will surely remember that my closest friend is no longer separated from me by the distance of stars." She smiled at him. "As soon as we are finished here, Bendal and I will introduce you to the others."

"Okay." Cole watched her go for a moment before dropping onto the room's sleeping platform and opening the box Kallissa had given him.

"Cole?" Mel asked gently from the door.

"Hello, Mel." He smiled up at her. "Come in."

"Everything okay with you and Kallissa?" she asked gently, dropping onto the bed next to him.

"Yes, Mel. We are very happy to see each other again."

"Oh. Didn't look like the emotional reunion I was expecting..."

He shrugged. "Cirronians are not a demonstrative race."

"Guess not. Judging by you, I always kind of assumed that you were."

"No, Mel. Physical displays are only typical between blood relatives and mates."

She smiled faintly. "And here you've been all over me almost since the beginning," she chuckled, shaking her head.

Cole bowed his head, smiling shyly. "With you, Mel, from the very beginning, it felt nothing but natural to touch you."

Mel flushed slightly. "What's in the box?" she asked to change the subject.

"My possessions from Migar."

"Wow. What's in there?"

"Many things. Remembrances, mostly, and some baubles. We can look at them together later if you'd like."

"That sounds like a great idea," she told him. "Bendal says they're almost done here."

He smiled and nodded. "Bendal tolerates nothing but efficiency from those under him."

"He's not how I imagined he'd be. When you said 'administrative genius', I was expecting more of a CPA type."

"He takes getting used to," Cole allowed, smiling down at her. "But he is a genius, Mel, and a talented administrator. His behavior is casual, but never his work."

"Well, if he managed to coordinate all this, I guess I can't argue with you there. He always that much of a flirt, though?"

"No, Mel. Generally he is far worse."

Her eyes widened faintly. "You're kidding?"

"No, Mel. He restrains himself with you because of me." He smiled at her and brushed a stray curl out of her face, gently tucking it behind her ear. "He really is very fond of you."

"Really?"

"Yes." He nodded. "He asks about you every time we speak and talks about you more than his own daughter."

"He has children?"

"One daughter. She is grown with children of her own now."

"He's married?"

"His wife died."

"How?"

"Disease took her. She had never been a healthy woman. When the time came, he had already made his peace. They will rejoin each other in the next life."

"I thought your people believed in reincarnation."

"Cirronians do. Other races have their own beliefs. The Nodulian afterlife is a temperate island with abundant tidal pools. The ocean water is pure and rich enough in nutrients and minerals to insure that no one will ever want for anything. Talliana waits for him there."

"Indeed she does," Bendal agreed from the door, a fondly reminiscent smile on his face. "I suggested to Kallissa that she introduce you to the others now so that your fair mate can have the rest members of her race require."

Cole smiled and nodded. "It was kind of you to consider Mel's needs."

Bendal smiled, winked at Mel, and gestured towards the common area. "If you will..."

"Of course." Cole rose and offered Mel his hand as she climbed to her feet.

The two followed Bendal from the small bedroom to the common area where the others had assembled under the Migar flag. Kallissa and Olia, along with a darkly attractive man who Mel had not seen before, stood in the front, forming a slightly staggered row with a large gap in it between Kallissa and Olia. The others were arrayed behind them in a neat line, standing at what looked suspiciously like parade-rest to Mel. Bendal looked them over once before nodded and moving to fill in the gap in the front row.

"Tracker Kedriss Daggon, Trainee Porter, I present to you the newly commissioned Terran Tracker Corps," Olia said quietly. "You will, of course, recognize Team Leader May'n Kallissa and Administrator Bendal by your prior associations. I am Olia, daughter of Endi, team Surveillance and Covert Ops specialist. The Dessarian standing on Kallissa's right is Mylik, team Intelligence specialist."

Mylik inclined his head politely. "It is my honor to have been included among such prestigious men and women on a detail of such import."

"Serving in support positions," Bendal said as the others in the front moved back to allow Mel and Cole a clear view of the back row. "Teya and Taya of Orsus, Search and Retrieval specialists." He gestured towards a Hispanic-looking man and woman, who nodded sharply in response to his introduction. "Shana of Nodul is our Medical specialist." The Scandinavian-looking man who had been in such a bad mood earlier smiled widely and genuinely at them. Grinning back at him, Bendal continued. "Ro'ahn of Varda is our Electrician and Explosive Ordinance specialist," he added, gesturing towards him. Not noticing Mel's shocked reaction to the fact that Ro'ahn was Vardian, Bendal nodded towards a petite, dark-haired woman. "And finally, Leila of Dessaria, an experienced Intelligence technician and senior Field Tracker with over thirty years of active duty." He bit his lower lip and stared at his shoes.

Unlike the others, Leila did not smile. Instead, she glanced at Cole with a wry expression and said, "Go ahead. I know you're thinking it."

"I would not have commented," Cole answered gently, shaking his head. "For a Dessarian, it is a fine name."

"Then may the ancestors be blessed that I am not Cirronian," she answered with an ironic smile.

Cole chuckled softly. "Cirronians may also use it as an endearment," he pointed out.

"Ah, then I must be very dear indeed," she laughed.

Cole laughed and nodded. Mel frowned faintly, aware that she had missed something. It did not take long, though, before her attention returned to the fact that Bendal had introduced one of the Trackers as a Vardian. Glancing at him now, she saw him watching her. He looked away the moment their eyes met, staring at his shoes and shifting slightly.

"I will consider it both a pleasure and an honor to serve with you all," Cole said. "I welcome you to Earth. If you should require anything at all, I am most humbly and gratefully at your disposal. I look forward to reacquainting myself with those of you I have had the pleasure to meet in the past, and I am most impatient to come to know those of you I have not yet met." Glancing at the young Vardian staring at his shoes, Cole added, "Perhaps starting with you, Specialist Ro'ahn?"

His head shot up and he stared at Cole with wide eyes. "If... If it pleases you, sir."

"It will please me to come to know each of you as a friend," Cole told him gently. Aware that Mel's life-force was unsettled, he added, "But I understand that each of you still has much to accomplish and that many of you likely require rest as well. I must accompany Mel to her sleeping-chamber now."

"Oh, Cole, that's okay if you want to help--" Mel began, stopping abruptly. "Have you guys eaten?" she asked.

Cole smiled faintly at her consideration, even in light of her obvious discomfort. The others were already beginning to disburse and return to their individual tasks.

"We have rations sufficient for several days," Kallissa told her. "We would not tax the resources of your household."

"Uh... it really wouldn't be any bother," Mel assured her, wondering what her weekly grocery budget would look like if she really had needed to feed all these additional people.

"Perhaps not, but we are provided for. There is no need for you to inconvenience yourself, especially not on this night. Your fatigue is quite obvious."

"Um... okay." Mel nodded slightly. "If you're sure."

"We are." Kallissa inclined her head faintly, smiling at Mel. "We are, however, gratified by your concern."

"Right."

Taking a step towards Mel, Kallissa added, "I look forward to coming to know you, Melah en'i I'in Porter."

"Thanks." Mel smiled at her. "Me, too."

"May your rest be undisturbed."

"Thanks. Have a good evening. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Indeed so. I look forward to it. Good night, miss Porter."

"Night."

Smiling over her shoulder at the woman, Mel allowed Cole to usher her from the Vault.