A/N: Sorry again. I've been working overtime and been too tired to write for awhile now. Hopefully this extra long chapter makes up for a bit of that.

Chapter Eight

Lost and Searching

Slowly everyone drifted away from the plaza. Many of the women stayed to clean up a bit, the serious cleaning would be done in the morning, but the food needed put away so it didn't attract animals. Wysteria appeared again and offered to take the Mall Rats to their rooms. "I need to get home. I should get at least a couple hours of sleep before patrol tomorrow." Mercedes stood up and stretched. "I'll stop by in the morning to see how you slept. Good night." She nodded to them and headed off towards the residential part of South where she shared a home with her sister.

Two of the minders came over with a sleeping Bray and Brady, gently passing them to their mothers with a warm smile. "Follow me." Wysteria said and turned to lead them back to the Hall. Mostly they were quiet, either from being full and sleepy, or lost in thought about what Mercedes had told them about Victor being Ghost's brother.

"Poor Ghost." Salene sighed. "It must be hard on her what with her brother being turned against her. Then coming just to torment her about it."

"I know, but what do you think they were arguing about. It didn't sound very friendly." May whispered. Salene looked at her and shrugged.

"I don't know about you guys, but that's not the only thing the worries me." Amber spoke up, falling into step with them. "The way Mercedes spoke of the Red Sisterhood, it makes me think they are afraid of them. If they are really slavers, you have to wonder where they get their people from." All three of them supressed a shudder. "It's horrible to think about, I know, but it's still something to keep in mind." They all nodded, then fell silent for the rest of the walk.

Upon reaching the doors, Wysteria pushed them open without hesitation. She led them a few feet down the main corridor and stopped. "This way." She opened another door and revealed a short hall ending in a staircase. The stairs were metal and spiraled up to the second level of the building. She stopped at the foot of the stairs. "The guest quarters are up there. There are ten rooms, five on the left side of the corridor with two beds each and five on the right with one bed each." She turned to Amber and Trudy. "The first room on either side are each equipped with a crib for your children. Sleep well. Breakfast will be served at sunrise in the courtyard. Just take the path to the left of the main doors and follow it around." With that she yawned and turned around, leaving the companions to choose their rooms.

They slowly climbed the steps, each more than ready for a good long rest. Jay and Amber opened the door to their room, first on the right. "Wow." Jay breathed. "I didn't expect them to be this big." A comfy-looking bed sat against one wall, with the crib a few feet away. There was also a mirrored dressing table, a carved wooden wardrobe, and a sink with a pitcher of water next to it.

"It's beautiful." Amber said, moving over to the crib and placing Bray in it. "Look at this view Jay. We can see the sunrise from here." The shutters were thrown wide to let in the soft breeze, and curtains, made of strings of shells, were tied back.

Each room was slightly different. Trudy placed Brady in the crib in her room. She stepped out into the hall again. "Ruby? Would you and Lottie like to room with me and Brady? There's two beds after all."

"Sure Trudy. That'd be great." Ruby replied with a smile.

May and Salene chose the room next to Trudy and Ruby's. "Hey Sal. What do you suppose this is for?" She pointed to two poles spaced several feet apart close to one wall.

"I'm not sure, but I've seen them in each room so far." She bent and picked up a rolled up piece of thick cloth near the base of one of the poles. "Hang on maybe it has something to do with this?" They unrolled it and it dawned on them. "Hammock!" they said in unison.

"That does explain the lack of enough beds." May chuckled.

Gel picked her room for the sheer reason that the bedding was pink. Sammy tried to share a room with her, but she kicked him out and closed the door. Lex got an even more violent response, and ended up rooming with Ram across the hall. Jack and Ellie, and Ebony and Slade, chose the last two single rooms. The last room accomodated Darryl, Sammy, and the Trader.

"Oh it feels so good to actually be able to sleep in a real bed again." Ebony sighed as she reclined back onto the soft matress.

"You sure got that right." Slade agreed, climbing in beside her. "So, honestly, what do you think of this place?"

She paused before answering. "I'm still not so sure. It all seems too goo to be true. We leave a psychotic computer and end up in a tropical paradise? I don't know. there has to be something else to it? Like that Victor character. He really had Ghost on edge about something."

Slade nodded. "That's true. Although I'm going to keep an ear open, but like you said, this is a tropical paradise. So I'm intent on enjoying myself as well." He pulled a fruit out of his jacket pocket and grinned. "On top of that, I'm gonna enjoy all this food. Who knows when I may not get meals like that anymore." He took a big bite and made Ebony laugh as juice spurted down his chin.

"You do have a point about the food. I've never been so full in my life."

Several hours later, while most everyone slept, a door creaked open, and Amber stuck her head out. Quietly she slipped out into the pitch black hall. She turned and closed the door behind her, trying not to wake anyone. The point was moot as she turned back around and ran into Gel. She gasped and Gel yelped a bit louder than she probably meant to. "Oh sorry Gel. I didn't know anyone else was out here." She whispered.

"Amber? What are you doing?" Gel whispered back.

"I was going to try and find a bathroom."

"So was I."

Two more doors creaked open, letting Salene and Ruby out into the hallway. "Is someone else out here?" Salene asked quietly.

"Yeah. So far Gel and I." Amber replied.

"Now me too." Ruby said slipping up next to them.

"Are you guys looking for a bathroom too?" Gel asked.

"Yeah, I was going to wait until morning, but I heard noise and thought maybe someone else was going too." Salene whipered.

"I guess we should go instead of just standing around in the hallway." Amber said turning to find the stairs.

"Hey wait for me." Ebony's voice came at them from the darkness.

The five of them made their way down the stairs, and into the short corridor on the lower level. Once they made it to the main corridor, they had more light, as the open windows let in the moonlight and starlight. Closing the door quietly behind them, they crept quietly along the lower hallway, in case anyone was sleeping in the rooms. About halfway down the hall, Amber stopped. "I hear voices."

"You might want to get that checked out." Ebony replied dryly.

"No really." She looked down the hall and pointed at the receiving room's door. "There's light coming from under that door." She began to creep closer to it. "I thin they're still having their meeting."

"I wonder what's so important that it would take so long?" Salene whispered. Amber shrugged.

"Maybe we should go find out." Ebony said, heading closer to the door.

"Hey! We shouldn't eavesdrop. It's not fair to them." Ruby protested.

"I agree." Amber said. "They have been gracious hosts to us. It's violating their trust."

Ebony snorted and made her way to the door and knelt close to it. After a couple moments, her eyes widened and she turned to Amber. Unable to take it anymore, the rest of the group followed suit and huddled near Ebony. She moved close to Amber and barely whispered. "They're talking about some interesting things. Information we may need." They all leaned in and listened closely.

Ghost paced. "He actually had the nerve to question my partolling of the western forest. It's well within the borders we set up three years ago!"

Elyan shook her head. "He is just trying to get under your skin."

"Well he's succeeding!"

Graf stood up and went to the window. "What about our visitors? You said there was also something concerning two of them you wanted to address." He turned back to them.

Ghost nodded slowly. "Yes, indeed there is. It concerns the ones with the 'T' on ther foreheads. The two former Technos as they call themselves. Jay and Ram I believe their names are."

Amber drew back with a soft gasp and Ebony caught her eyes. She frowned and nodded back to the door. Quickly, not wanting to miss a beat, they leaned back in.

"Sylhira is a fool. She should not have decided to deal with them." Ghost sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Slavery is a cruel practice. I would never have allowed it." Her voice betrayed her growing anger.

"Ghost, it's getting very late. Perhaps we should continue this later." Elyan said, barely suppressing a yawn.

She nodded. "You are right, my apologies to all of you. Go seek your rest." Elyan turned with a nod and went to the door first.

The eavesdroppers froze as Elyan opened the door. She styared at them for a split second before using her eye to tell them to go into the room on the right. She slipped in after them and shut the door quietly. "What are you guys doing?"

"Um..well.." Amber began.

"We were looking for the bathroom and heard voices." Salene finished quickly. They each looked a bit guilty and worried.

Elyan simply stared at them for a moment before breaking out in giggles. "I must admit, your expressions were priceless when I opened that door. Come, I'll show you where to go." She stepped back out into the hallway.

"Can I ask you what.." Ebony began stepping up beside her.

"Now's not really the time. Meet me for breakfast in the morning and I will explain what I can, alright?" She stopped in front of a door and pushed it open. "Through here. I assume you know the way back?" They each nodded. "I will see you in the morning, then."