"Lots goodgood stuff at fo-rest place..." Amara told Talannah tiredly when she and her parents had climbed out of their Stryker and down to the flight deck "More men-tal test things for 'Mara. Nice fo-rest test things. Nice swi-mings test things. Nice Del-vian friend not know I help someone who not a men-tal per-son to talk in my head 'fore, auntie 'Lannah – nice Sor-fil friend do lar-fings when that ha-ppen".
Talannah laughed as well, which Amara loved to hear and see, after which she asked about the swimming – Amara admitted she couldn't swim unaided yet, though she did add "I do goodgood when mama hold her 'Mara, auntie 'Lannah – mama say I learn moo-vings for water then flo-tings. When I do both I show you it in PTR ri-ver, auntie 'Lannah?"
"It will be good to see" Talannah replied, nodding her acceptance of the invitation "If you learn things about forests, we might be able to test you on some of them in the PTR as well – unless they are about living things. Nothing lives in our PTR".
~Want to learn to swim un-der wa-ter best, mama ((excitement))~ Amara told Caseya ~Seen De-ress friend do that. Seen Jash friend an' Ni-rin friend do it. Seen Fray-ner friend do it an' go fastfast with men-tal trick ((laughter))~
~((interest, praise, happiness))~ Caseya replied before she even realised Amara was helping her mindtalk, after which she hugged Amara tight and stroked her brow-ridges.
"Goodee..." Amara said quietly, leaning against Caseya's shoulder "Mama like it when her 'Mara help her talk in 'Mara head...".
When they arrived back in their family quarters, the room's main screen showed a number of messages present in the communal family inbox – all but two were general advisories for all unit members, but two held specific interest, one for both of them and one for Trannak only.
"Ah..." Trannak said with a smile, reading the second one "Rulok and his teams are less than a day's travel from Kalian".
Caseya felt very tense when she heard that, but Trannak hugged her and rumbled softly until her tense mood eased – Amara did the same, looking up at both of them afterwards for approval.
"A very good rumble" both of them told her, before Trannak added "Your mama likes hearing both of us rumble to her, Amara, I think".
" 'Mara like doing rum-blings for mama, papa" Amara replied as Trannak laid her down on the big bed before getting her ready for bed " 'Mara like doing rum-blings for you too, papa" before she looked towards the refresher section of the room and asked "Small per-son bath time, papa?"
"I think you are too big for that now, Amara" he replied, smiling, while Caseya watched them "That means you can come in the shower with your mama or with me". Amara loved her first time in an adult refresher unit, especially when Caseya showed her how it could be used to dry her as well as wash her.
"All OK, mama an' papa..." Amara whispered tiredly, getting a slight laugh from Trannak as he put her to bed "I all good an' ready for nice slee-pings. We go see Troll man an' auntie 'Rana in tank when we 'wake 'gain?"
"We will" Trannak confirmed, nodding "We can do that on the way to the sick bay since it's on the route. If we are lucky, your friend the nice doctor will be there too".
"I call nice doc-tor in head first, papa" Amara replied "Then he know we be there so he come". Both Caseya and Trannak wondered if she had the power and the control to reach almost half the length of the ship to one person without straining herself, but neither of them said anything about it.
Next day, Caseya had to wake Amara up herself – Amara muttered and grumbled a bit at the shock of waking, but smiled and rumbled when she opened her eyes and saw Caseya looking down at her.
~Love you, mama~ Amara called quietly ~It eating time for papa ((query)) ?~
"We will see your friends in the tanks at the sick bay first, Amara" Caseya reminded her "When we get there, you said you would try and contact your friend the nice doctor in his head – so I will hold you while you try. That way you do not have to think about standing up and mindtalking at the same time".
Amara was still half-asleep by the time she and her parents were all in the car and on their way to the sick bay – though she smiled and clapped when they actually arrived.
"Goodee..." she called " 'Mama hold her 'Mara while I do bigbig talk in doc-tor head...".
Amara concentrated hard, her brow crinkling a little with effort and sweat running down her face – but a few microts later she smiled and said "Nice doc-tor hear his friend 'Mara... I help him talk in my head too..." before she dropped back in Caseya's arms and closed her eyes, though Caseya was less worried when she found Amara was breathing well.
"Heeheehee..." Amara cooed, clapping when she woke up with Nrakal looking down at her "I all good, nice doc-tor... you like it that I talk in your head? You like it that your friend 'Mara help you talk in my head?"
"You barely managed it, I think..." Nrakal replied, taking notes on his PDA while Amara watched "... but you did very well, Amara, to reach that far" – he explained the distance involved in terms of distances between places on the ship she knew well, after which Amara rumbled quite loudly and happily before saying "Nice doc-tor say I do goodgood, mama an' papa, an' lots goodgood stuff go in ar-kyve 'bout me 'gain 'cause I do that".
Nrakal opened the sick bay door and led the three of them to the tanks. Amara looked with interest at both of them, asking if he could tell the change was adding things by looking at them from outside the tank yet.
"Not yet, Amara" Nrakal replied with a smile "We will be able to see external evidence of the change before the stage 2 items are applied... that means they will look a little different in less that five weeken, Amara... but not until then" before he showed the three of them the diagnostic readout panels for each tank.
Caseya was surprised that Trannak had unofficial medical training, but Nrakal wasn't and said "That kind of training was not compulsory where Trannak was... but it was encouraged for those kind of people and the other special forces units".
Amara clapped when this was explained to her, though Trannak added "I don't know how to do all the special extra things your friend the doctor can do, Amara... but I can fix people a bit".
"Your 'Mara learn when I ol-der" Amara replied, nodding "I help people lots then an' I being like you, papa".
News about Amara's record mindtalk range soon got around at the galley, which Amara loved since it meant people came over to congratulate her often.
"Goodee" she told Caseya and Trannak "All friends like it that I talk in heads from longlong way 'way. 'Mara like it too".
"Well done, Amara" Juroch told her in Kalish, which made Amara smile and clap "That is a notable achievement indeed to hold a two-way conversation at that range both when you are relatively new to mentalism and when you are very young – as you are".
Trannak explained this in much more simple terms for her, after which she hugged Juroch and curled up in his lap.
"I will get your Kalish food, Juroch..." Trannak told his Command Specialist "...if you hold Amara while she rests. She likes you, Juroch – especially when you speak in the Kalish language to her and talk about Kalish things to her".
"I have noticed this" Juroch replied in Modern Scarran "It appears to me that you and Caseya have decided her primary language should be the Kalish language... so since we only have two adult Kalish here, I should help her learn to speak Kalish. I should, as a Master of the Kalish art, teach her what I know of Kalish culture as well".
"This is why you taught her the way you lay out the foods of an eating time?" Caseya asked with interest "Is this the culturally accepted way from old times, or solely from your own homeworld? Did you learn this living with the Kalish family you were raised in?"
Juroch smiled and nodded before replying "I do not know if it is the way of your people from old times, Caseya... but it is the way generally used by the Kalish of my world. I do not know how far those two cultures have diverged since my homeworld was settled".
When Trannak got back with Juroch's Kalish food, as well as his own more general choices, Juroch tested Amara on where the dishes should go – he did not help her at all, but watched and rumbled softly as she pointed to each one and directed him where to put it. He told her if one was in the wrong place, but not which place that was, so it did take a while for Amara to correctly arrange them all.
"Goodgood ee-tings test for 'Mara" Amara decided after that "I 'member it, mama an' papa, so whisper Scarran give me test 'gain next ee-tings time too an I do it better".
"OK, bit of a status update..." Harrigan called while the kitchen staff were cleaning up between courses and eating their own food "Rulok's mission's about to make entry at Kalian... so we'll not hear from them until they've made the pickup and are well out of range of retribution from there or nearby Scarran military bases – or until they get back here and report in person". Caseya worried a lot about that, but also knew there was nothing she could do about it – They are skilled professionals she knew well able to complete even what must be a very hard retrieval mission such as this one on a heavily-fortified world. I hope they do well and retrieve my parents and my brother successfully – preferably without hurting themselves too much doing so.
The other report concerned reports from both other unit members as well as local security concerning the increasingly regular if not frequent riots and other disturbances – the general consensus of the unit seemed to be that outside assistance was being provided but no one could decide who was providing it or even if such assistance was being provided indirectly through intermediaries.
Harrigan spent a few momens talking to Karroch before smiling and telling him "You've been doing good so far, mister... but I think we need an officer from the Bloodstars to help out an' we're making do with junior officers and a few more senior Specialist Troopers here, so we haven't got anyone to teach you what they know".
Karroch smiled and nodded, saying "Advice from an experienced Bloodstar officer would be welcome, sir... though the help I've been given from Captains Lazarus and Trannak has been good to have, too. I expect a general message through the Kingdom comm network would reach an officer who can be spared to come here – perhaps several officers might compete for the position, since serving with the War Commander would confer respect and status on them".
Harrigan asked a number of Irregulars if they might be able to make contact with anyone of influence to ask about it – but only Sturk and Juroch proved to have the right kind of contacts that might be useful.
"No disrespect to your background with Councillor Shuljek, Sturk..." Harrigan decided "but I think I'll get Juroch to phone home and ask about this first".
"Fine by me" Sturk replied "Prob'ly less chance of being interrupted by a Hierarchy raiding party bringing an officer from there as well. Never met an officer from Sholphaur either".
"I will head directly to the bridge after the meal, then" Juroch decided "I would prefer to make the call unassisted, Commander, to preserve homeworld security – if need be I can splice you into it, or you can come to the bridge yourself once the call is connected, without revealing my homeworld's location".
"Just sort it out, mister" Harrigan replied "Call me if the governor wants a chat, but until then I got stuff to do". Juroch just nodded and smiled briefly before getting back to his bouhl – Amara watched him eat with the same interest that she always did, though when he asked if she wanted to share his food, she replied "You more hungry 'cause you a Scarran, whisper Scarran – so you eat all goodgood Ka-lish food up an' your friend 'Mara have coo-bee things from papa pocket".
Trannak smiled and told Amara she could share with Juroch if she had the energy to crawl over to his lap unaided – she immediately asked Juroch about that, looking up at him for approval.
Juroch nodded and told her "Crawl over, Amara. If there are too many people, shift to the underside of the table and I will pick you off at the other side". Amara loved that idea and promptly shifted before crawling upside down to where Juroch sat, where he rumbled softly and praised her in Kalish.
"I will not be hungry if I share a little with you, Amara" he explained "Besides, you used a lot of energy not so long ago, I hear…".
Once Trannak explained what Juroch meant for her, she nodded and told him "I do bigbig talking in nice doc-tor head, that right. I at sick bay with mama an' papa but nice doc-tor in quar-ters".
"Have some more bouhl, then…" Juroch replied, which got a clap from Amara before she opened her mouth.
"We're just beyond the outsystem navsats" Rulok told his teams "Anyone not already at their posts, go there now. Team two will, however, be on standby for the ground part of the mission – much though I'd prefer to be a part of that, only Lirak and I are rated to fly the ship and we didn't bring either that Nebari or the War Commander with us" before turning to Novia and asking "Got a speed course preplotted for us?"
"In the system, labelled 'evac K' , sir" Novia replied "All the way from here to Tal IV".
Rulok nodded his approval before asking Shellek "How's the ship going? Anything I need to know?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary" Shellek replied "Internal comm was the last thing I checked, and that's good as well. No need to send DRDs with orders for people – or even shout from one end of the ship to the other".
After the expected laugh from most of them, Rulok nodded and told Lirak "Send whoever you need to drive a Scimitar down to the drop deck to find one and get it ready, mister Lirak… I think we can spare one trooper from a turret on the way in. Once the Scimitar is ready, the driver's going to stay in it until you get back here with the target family – if you want Judduk for the gunner's position, you can have him".
"A good suggestion" Lirak replied "though one I hope I won't have to take advantage of. Krynak's volunteered himself to take point, so that's covered…".
Not all the navigation satellites insystem at Kalian scanned them, but those with scan capability did so – the greater worry was the manned military and civilian stations, of which there were several, and all of them were armed. Rulok had a very hard time indeed outwitting the flight controllers Shellek couldn't hide them from, and couldn't quite tell if the civilian flight controllers were more suspicious than the military ones.
"We got some Organisation students on duty, whoever you are" one of the civil controllers snapped "Can't say I much like it either, but we have to train them somewhere on real ships an' you're the lucky fekkik that's giving them a bit of practical experience – and making sure they got to change their trousers a few times, I think…" before laughing a bit and discomming.
"Ministry?" Krynak wondered aloud "Wouldn't surprise me if some of those trainees were…".
"Unknown" Lirak replied "I'd expect some, since Kalian's never been totally pacified… but I don't know which ones they'd be. That's partly the point, of course".
"True, sir" Krynak grumbled "Can't smell the truth of anything they say over a comm either, an' if they're Ministry they know that".
The next hail was from a sector none of them entirely expected, Kalian police.
"We's tryin' to clear out your landin' zone, whoever you's are" came a grumpy Charrid voice "Bit difficult with that square, it's a major route between public transport stops, more public services work blocks than I can count, an' shopping centres for anyone an' everyone – but we're on it".
"Just do your best" Rulok told him "The sight of my ship dropping out of the sky right onto the square should do the rest nicely enough".
The Charrid snorted before nodding and saying "Should do, right enough – if you's weren't who the Lieutenant says you are I'd film a close-area landing like that – but either your officers or mine will thrash me badly if I do that" before discomming.
"There's going to be Kalian police around" Rulok told everyone over the comm as he and Lirak approached atmosphere "Not sure if we'll find Hierarchy Law Command, military police, Ministry interior guard, or Organisation commandos – but local police could be enough of a problem on their own" before he gave Novia the contact details for the Hand contact Harrigan passed onto him and told her to alert them.
"Yes?" a wary voice asked, after authentication codes were given and verified.
"Inbound Hand mission on behalf of the War Commander" Novia explained "We shouldn't need active assistance… but a few eyes in the right place to tell us if anyone not so friendly starts to take an interest would certainly help…".
"True enough" the original voice agreed "We got a few people who know a few others who can help out – I'll pass on our current comm freq so they can ask for favours if they need to" before discomming.
"Successful atmo entry" Lirak reported.
"Seeing Stryker patrols" Lirak replied "Mostly just around the port. A few Raiders, probably attached to local police or Hierarchy Law Command, over outer districts of the capital city. No hostile air cover over target zone that I can see" before tuning into the public broadcast bands for a security alert.
"Three districts in the capital have active lockdown alerts" Novia reported "Eight more have travel restrictions during daylight arns".
"Target district?" Rulok asked, and to everyone's relief Novia shook her head – even though Lirak remained wary when she explained that one of the adjacent sectors did have travel restrictions in place.
"I…instructor…?" a young Kalish voice asked the Scarran standing close by.
"Yes?!" came the irate reply of a Scarran instructor on a reprimand assignment.
"I am not entirely assured that what we have been told about that Switchblade is the entire truth, sir" the Kalish replied.
The instructor growled quite loudly before leaning right in front of the Kalish in question and telling him "Of course it isn't, student… you do remember who usually flies that class of ship, don't you? You had it drilled into that orange head of yours what the ident broadcast means in detail?"
"Yes, sir" the Kalish replied, in a manner which suggested to his fellows that he had a highly-developed desire for personal nullification "but I believe a friend from my younger cycles has been assigned … where they might find out more. At this time of day I might safely enquire if they could assist us and help you with this matter".
The instructor rumbled nastily – but for once, the Organisation trainees realised, his irritation was not directed at any of them.
"Do it" the instructor ordered "Have you been taught the basics, at least, about this kind of thing?"
"I have contacted my friend before" came the reply "I know not to remain connected for long. Neither you or I will be discovered. If we uncover a criminal then there will be commendations and positive reports for you and for me".
The instructor could tell the student was dropping a hint there – but he just laughed a bit before nodding and barking "Be quick about it!"
"We have received a request for assistance from an occasional ally of convenience…"
"What do they want? Quite a few districts are heavily patrolled at this time! Are we going to have to risk valuable operatives' lives for a cause not our own?"
"A contact from this ally is outside at this very microt – if we invite them inside, they can explain personally".
Everyone in the meeting looked on with no small amount of fear as a large individual clearly of Scarran origin entered – but one female walked right up to him and examined his shoulderboards and asked him a few questions. The Scarran smiled and rumbled softly before actually kissing the woman briefly, after which he chuckled a little and said "A ship sent by one of our highest-ranked military officials is landing close by in an open square – they intend to extract a family of interest to them before returning the way they came as quickly as possible".
This generated a lot of interest and more than a bit of discussion about why they would consider any Kalish worth such a risk.
"I didn't ask" the Scarran told them "I don't need to know, anyway. I did say I'd ask your movement to at least keep a lookout – and I have a comm frequency for the ship if you feel like asking for anything in return".
"Yes?" Shellek asked, answering a hail on the comm "Make it quick".
"We have been asked to assist you" the voice replied "…and politely as well, which is unusual in the extreme. I think friends of yours talked to friends of ours, and one of them explained your situation to us – I am not opposed to instructing our operatives to assist you, but I would ask to send an operative of ours aboard your ship to a meeting point they need to reach. As close to it as you can get them, anyway".
"Something simple, at least" Rulok said, cutting in "I command this mission, whoever you are. Get your operative to our landing site before we leave and they can come with us. Just make sure they aren't late".
"They have agreed to our request" one Kalish, wearing a headset, announced.
A middle-aged Kalish woman turned to a much younger man and told him "I know you will not like this, Reganto – but whether any of us like it or not, we have to make the best of the situation as it is with the resources we have to hand. Right now, these …people… are positively disposed to helping our people and our movement by assisting you to get to the meeting point. I know they are Scarrans… but for now, at least, we are allies of convenience and they find it convenient to take you with them".
"Yes, mam" Reganto replied, nodding "I have what I need. I have the highest athletic proficiency rating of the entire Organisation class you had me placed in – I will make it, and before this ship leaves, too".
"I doubt your exit will be entirely uncontested" the woman replied "We know both local police and Hierarchy Law Command can deploy units on short notice – what we don't know is-"
"-if the Ministry has interior guard" Reganto finished "that can capture or kill all of us before we leave".
"Just so" the woman said, nodding grimly "You and I both know the Ministry will want to interrogate you vigorously should they capture you – and most likely those agreeing to take you with them as well. Those people's welfare is the same as your welfare, mister Reganto – and that of our people. For reasons of their own they are willing to help us – Scarrans, real Scarrans, want to help our people's struggle for freedom. We should not give them any cause to regret that decision".
"Sometimes you need a Scarran to fight a Scarran" Reganto replied – all the Kalish in the room nodded, although anyone could tell they did so reluctantly.
"Contact our ally" the woman told the headset-wearing Kalish "Advise them an agreement has been made. I do not know if they will commit any of their own forces to this venture – but in case they do, they should be prepared. The sooner the better".
Elsewhere in the city, a Scarran turned away from communications gear and called "It's done – the Kalian resistance, reluctantly or not, has agreed to let the kingdom get their man where he needs to go!"
Another Scarran, wearing black armour with the insignia of Tactical Command, nodded before calling "Get units in concealed positions overlooking as many points of entry into that square as we can! Right now we're lucky since there's no control drones or airborne troop units around there – but you and I all know that can change in an eyeblink if army intel or Ministry find out what's happening".
"Least local army's not got PA" one trooper called "Tanks an' AFV's aren't gonna be a problem, not in an urban environment – what will be is walkers, powered-armour of any level".
"Don't put Organisation commandos out of the picture either" their leader replied, shaking her head "Organisation headquarters are close enough that they deploy a team or two if they feel they need to. Sure, Kalish aren't so solid as we are – but as you also know, they're more than willing to fight and they're very fast and mobile" before turning to face some of the Kalish close by that she could see before smiling briefly and adding "Just like our own Kalish are".
"The War Commander's personnel are linked in again" the Kalish by the comm gear announced "What should I tell them?"
"What are you doing, young woman…" a wary and suspicious Scarran, wearing a plain but no less frightening dull black uniform asked.
"I have been asked, sir…" she replied, her voice quavering with fear no matter how hard she tried to suppress any reaction "… by a colleague in Law Command… to assist in identifying a ship about to land. Since that individual will know they are taking a risk contacting me here, it must be important, sir. May I query the ship's IFF?"
"Law Command asked us for help…" the Scarran thought aloud, not even bothering to suppress his own grin at the Kalish's show of fear "Not officially, from the way you're talking… but that's fine, we can use that" before turning to face the woman and telling her "Since this can be made to work in our favour I'll ignore the breach of security – this time. Let it happen again and you're going downstairs for a session with Unit 19".
The interrogation and torture section of the complex, she knew well.
"As you command, sir" she replied.
"Plok!" Shellek called "Forcible IFF interrogation!" – right as Rulok sighted the public square he would need to land the Switchblade in.
"Army?" he replied, making the transition to a steeper angle of approach and slowing down in preparation for landing "Law Command? Local police?"
"Unknown at this point" Shellek replied "Managed to get a brief and general location trace – but all that says is that it came from a police sector house".
"Lirak?!" Rulok shouted over the comm.
"Sir?" Lirak replied, down on the drop deck "We're all ready to go – all I need to do is-"
"-prepare for a contested landing and exfiltration, mister" Rulok finished "Someone's caught on to the fact we aren't who we say we are…so this is going to be a hot and fast drop. I'll lower the ramp while we're still airborne – the microt we come to a hover before landing, you get your eemas moving to the target location. I want you in through the door in less than five microts after your Scimitar stops, mister Lirak".
Outside, despite the police's attempts to clear the square, there were still quite a large number of people moving around – but since no one in authority had issued a lockdown alert or travel restriction order, the police couldn't make them leave. It wasn't too many momens, however, before the Switchblade's mass caused wind to blow up dust and bend small trees and bushes as it came in to land.
"Look and see!" an Organisation tutor told her small group of students on the edge of the square "These ships are only used by the elite of our Scarran comrades' military forces! Watch them act with discipline and precision as they make their landing! See how not a thing is out of place – for them to have the status to use such a ship as that one, their record will be exemplary. Honours reward deeds, students – serve well, as those forces do, and you too will be rewarded!"
"We will watch and see" the students replied, nodding.
A Scarran towards the rear of the room where the Ministry personnel had just received the comm call made as hasty an exit as they could get away with before tasking a deep breath and trying to contact fellow members of the Blood Hand by mentalism.
The Ministry do not believe I have even a trace of mentalism the older man knew and since I am a cloudwalker of some skill it'll stay that way!
~We hear you~ came the reply ~The situation must be dire indeed for you to call at this time of day~
~It is ((anxiety))~ the man replied, before passing on what he had heard.
~Noted!~ his contact told him ~Get back to your post before you're discovered! We'll handle this from here~
The ministry Kalish's fingers flew over their keyboard almost faster than their overseer could follow, after which she announced "The vessel is a Switchblade variant, sir – listed as being assigned to someone named Harnak, but believed to be missing in action for some cycles now".
"Could you get its ident or name?" the overseer snapped, in no better a mood now than when the current situation had coome to his attention.
"No official army or Ministry ident" came the reply "Vessel name … HMS Phobos" before she looked back at her overseer and added "I do not know that name nor the prefix to it, sir".
"Which is the way it is going to stay" the overseer replied, striding out of the room – once he was sure none of the Kalish could see him he broke into a run and headed up one floor to the interior guard unit ready room.
There were maybe fifteen Scarrans in the room at the time, all of whom turned to face him and looked at him as they might look at some vermin that just crawled out of an airduct.
"Enough of that, you lot" he barked "It looks like we have a real problem to deal with. One of the Kalish, quite by accident, located a Kingdom warship making landfall – here! In the capital city!"
That got the informal baiting stopped in microts.
"Get in your vehicles" their commanding officer ordered smoothly "We could leave this to the Praetorian, it is true… but their own garrison is too near to the largest spaceport and, to be honest, they have troubles of their own in two adjoining districts. Our friend here-" before nodding briefly to the overseer and adding "-will alert the Law Command units we know to be more amenable to Ministry oversight in the two nearest sector houses in order to bolster our numbers, in addition to alerting the PDF Stryker duty flight".
"Skulker Command just made contact, sir" Shellek told Rulok "They just received a call from an operative inside the Ministry. They know we're here and are sending both interior guard and Law Command to try and stop us".
"We're past the point of no return" Rulok replied, lowering the front drop ramp before bringing the Switchblade to a hover "As long as we move fast the initiative still lies with us. The only unknown at this point is whether Caseya's family will agree to come with us before the Ministry come to kill us".
The Scimitar shot out of the Switchblade while it was still five metras above ground – a sight that drew much interest from the Organisation students now sheltering behind walls and public fixtures.
"The elite of Scarran military might!" their tutor shouted over the sound of the Switchblade's engines "A mobility unit of one of their Special Forces – the very best of those trained in the arts of mechanised warfare! Even when deploying their vehicle from such a height, students, it still made a proper landing on all eight wheels without suffering crippling damage or even slowing down to any appreciable degree before continuing on for its occupants to carry out their orders!" before lowering the volume of their voice and beckoning the students over.
"Take notes" she urged them "Remember this clearly. I do not know if their superiors will require an independent outside account of this deployment, but you should be ready in case they do. A full and accurate account may gain you a positive report and commendation if they are pleased with what they hear".
"What is all that commotion outside, Feltano?" a Kalish woman of early middle age asked her husband "Is there a disturbance? Are local or Scarran police being deployed?"
The man thus addressed peeked out of the window briefly before telling his wife "A ship has just landed right in the middle of the public square – and if that wasn't enough, a vehicle drove out of it at extremely high speed before it had properly landed".
A young boy peeked over the edge of the window before his parents could stop him, after which he squeaked "Switchblade-class, papa! I could not see insignia, papa, not one I could recognise! It is painted in atmospheric-pattern camouflage!"
"Devin…" his mother told him in fearful reprimand "Stay away from the window! Not only could flying debris from that ship's landing break the plastic – but you know even more than we do that the Scarran military do not like people watching them operate – especially our people!"
"Straight ahead!" Lirak called from the navigator's seat at the front of the speeding Scimitar.
"Target in sight!" Nopthak replied as the Scimitar crushed a park bench on one side and damaged a public transport departure shelter on the other "I'll turn us around so we're facing back towards the ship, sir… so hold on…" – after which he performed the difficult task of putting an armoured personnel carrier through a bootlegger's turn without rolling it over, then backed right up to the habitation block door.
Each Tactical Command squad checked in, after which the Command Specialist told his officer "Everyone's ready, sir. No one's getting past us. Every sector's covered".
"Good" came the reply "If I understood the garbled Kalish speech over the comm a momen ago, their operative is running as fast as he can – and will come right past our position".
"I'll look for a Kalish running like there's a pack of brindz hounds on his heels" the Command Specialist replied, getting nothing more than a soft grunt from his officer "He'll likely have someone after him, even though we're not officially under lockdown or even travel restrictions".
Reganto kept to the less-travelled streets as much as he could, but the closer he got to the square the more he had to used heavily-populated streets and walkways. He dared not risk shifting to the walls of surrounding buildings, not in the middle of the day, since doing so at speed was instant grounds for arrest whether local police or Law Command had anything to charge him with or not.
Unfortunately, his luck took a turn for the worse when someone in uniform spotted him – and it wasn't local police either but a Scarran officer from Law Command.
"Everyone's making good time" the interior guard officer told his superior "but we just caught a call from some Law Command trooper – not even one of ours, either – who spotted a Kalish running pleebin' quick. I didn't get everything he said, I think he discommed so he could use both hands to hold a weapon – but from what I did hear that Kalish is heading the same way we are".
"A secondary problem only" came the response "at least at this stage. If you can apprehend this Kalish then do so – but not at the expense of preventing that ship from leaving".
"Copy that" the officer called before discomming.
"Leave the Kalish alone for now" he told his Command Specialist "Local enforcement can handle him. We get the bigger prize".
"The ship" the Command Specialist replied "and its King-loving crew".
"The ship" the officer confirmed "and its crew" before comming the inbound Law Command units and telling them "Just make sure none of them leave the square or board the ship. Once we arrive, cover our approach but do not – do not – attempt to talk to the enemy or apprehend them. The interior guard has jurisdiction here".
"Sixth floor" Lirak told Krynak "Number 14584. Take point – and remember not to use the levelators".
Lirak and his seven-man team ran up the stairs with as much speed as they could muster – but there were still unavoidable delays as the inhabitants of the block went back and forth about their normal daily business. Most of these people, of either Scarran or Kalish species, simply stayed back against the walls while Lirak's people ran past – with most of the others ducking back inside their dwellings and locking the doors.
"Sixth floor!" Krynak called, opening the door quietly and peeking around the frame – before he shot two block security staff "Clear to proceed".
"They are coming up!" Devin told his parents "I can hear them! Loud footsteps coming closer!"
"Stay inside the dwelling" Feltano told his son "Should they require assistance, stay out of sight and I will talk to them and find out what they want. Under no circumstances will I risk your health or your mother's if they are not in a diplomatic mood".
"I remember, papa…" Devin replied softly, his treblin hand moving to his cheek – his mother hugged him and called "You are safe, dear son… these soldiers have not even come close to our own dwelling. They are not requiring us to assist them, nor have we broken any law".
Both Devin and his mother squeaked with fear as Lirak's footsteps and those of his team came closer – and his mother hugged her son before the pair of them retreated to the main living area.
"Open the door!" came Lirak's loud voice from outside "Dwelling 14584…. Open the door!"
"I am here" Feltano announced after he did just that before identifying himself and adding "I am the master of this dwelling, sirs… how may I assist?"
Lirak took an image capture with his helmet cam before comparing it to the description Shellek had pulled from civil records earlier.
"Ident please" Lirak asked firmly but – to Feltano – surprisingly kindly.
Lirak made a show of checking it before nodding and deploying the rest of his team in protective overwatch around the dwelling door, after which he accompanied Feltano back inside the dwelling.
"Feltano Duleno…" he said quietly "We have been sent to collect you and take you to safety. Please collect minimal possessions and come with us".
"Why do we need to move, sir?" Feltano asked, genuinely confused "I am not aware than any of my family are in trouble with the authorities in even the smallest way. Have one of us been charged with anything? Might we help you with some investigation in progress?"
Lirak removed his helmet before passing over the memory card Rulok had given him some time ago.
"This card contains a message recorded for you" Lirak explained "I was ordered to give it to you in the event you did not take me at my word and come with me immediately – but please, watch it quickly, before our exit from this place becomes more …tricky… than anyone would like".
"May my family see also, sir?" Feltano asked "We will, of course, cooperate with the law as required – but if they are to have some part in assisting our leaders they should see everything".
"They can see if you want them to" Lirak replied, a little sadly at the fearful manner shown to him.
The contents of the message surprised all three Kalish.
"Hello mother, father…little brother" the recording of Caseya announced "Whatever the authorities might have told you… I am not incarcerated, nor have I been given a secret job assignment, and I have certainly not been nullified".
The image of Caseya stayed still, caught her breath, then explained the major details of her whereabouts and history over the space of about thirty microts.
"That is big sister?!" Devin asked softly but in great amazement "I have not seen big sister for almost four cycles… I miss her a lot…".
"You argue with big sister a lot as well, Devin…" his mother replied "But enough of that – there is more of the message to hear".
"By the time you hear and see this…" Caseya's recorded image told them "it is likely that Law Command or other forces will have been despatched to apprehend you and those now with you. Do not fear them, they are friends of mine and they are there to help you – I asked them to come and collect you and see, here they are in our family dwelling. If you must pack anything, pack only the essentials that you can carry unassisted. Trust whoever gives you this message implicitly, mother and father – they will keep you and Devin safe until we can be reunited".
"Get two changes of clothes, Devin…" Feltano told his son "…pack them in your Organisation pack… and prepare to leave. Your mother and I will be doing the same. Whether your sister saw to these people coming here is now immaterial – Law Command will not likely place much credence in our account of why these people came to our habitation block, let alone to our level and our dwelling, so we must leave before they arrive".
It took fifteen anxious momens before all three Kalish returned, wearing backpacks containing whatever they felt they could not leave behind.
As they headed for the emergency stairs, Lirak raised a hand as his comm came to life.
"Local Kingdom personnel are calling in sightings of Law Command units very close by!" Novia reported anxiously "Several Tactical Command units are in running battles with either Law Command or interior guard! Get out of there fast!"
"Move!" Lirak called firmly, after discomming "Down the stairs! Stay behind the man with the rifle and do not move ahead of him! Keep at least one member of my team between you and the outside world at all times!"
Thankfully the trip down to ground level was uncontested – at least once word had passed around the block's inhabitants and everyone knew to stay well out of the way.
Once the door opened, heavy gunfire could be heard from several directions.
"Get in!" Krynak urged "Find a seat and strap down, this is going to be rough!"
Feltano helped his wife and his son strap their webbing on, after which he did the same before telling the nearest trooper "We are safely settled" – so as soon as the rear door was sealed and the last trooper was strapped in, Krynak called "All OK – now punch it!"
Reganto's own exit strategy had met with a little more opposition than the Duleno family's had, though he didn't know that. He'd had to evade seven local police and actually shoot three more before reaching the square – where his pulse pistol finally melted and became completely nonfunctional. Dropping it, he leaped off the edge of the streetside walkway and ran across the road before leaping back into a grassed area of the public square. The ship was in sight. This might actually work.
"Kalish in nonregulation clothing in sight" one of the interior guard commed in "Moving at extreme speed even for one of them. Heading for the ship".
"Nullify them" came the immediate response "I would prefer to take this Kalish alive for interrogation… but if he reaches the ship and leaves we'll all answer for this to people I have no intention of answering to for anything".
The order was promptly passed along to Law Command, and soon Reganto came under heavy fire.
"Some Kalish running really fast right this way!" one of the lower turret gunners reported "Can't give covering fire here, we'd do more harm than good!"
"Get out there and escort him in" Rulok replied "I think he is the local man we agreed to take with us".
Good Reganto decided Not only am I close to my extraction point – but it looks like two people are prepared to escort me aboard! I will put aside the fact that they are Scarran until we are well away from Kalian, and only then will I ask why they decided to assist me – if I have time – shortly after which he took a number of hits across his chest and arms and fell to the ground at the base of the ramp. A trooper was close by, so he was dragged out of sight before being carried to Darrek's sick bay – where the combat medic gave him basic first aid and stabilised his injuries before turning back and asking when everyone else would be aboard.
"Looks like they've just boarded the Scimitar" came the reply "But somehow the Ministry got on our case, so time's not in great supply right now".
"Enemy forces have boarded a Scimitar armoured personnel carrier or a close copy thereof" one Law Command trooper called over the comm "Driver's got the reactor humming but not moving just yet. Orders?"
"Keep them occupied" came the reply "Only the interior guard have plas with them – we didn't have time to draw cannon from the armoury before we left" – before the trooper dived for the deck, dropping his comm.
"What is going on?!" his irate superior bellowed.
"Almost got my plokking head blown off by that Scimitar!" came the equally irate reply "There's about a dozen fist-size holes in the square behind me thanks to that small pulse cannon on top!"
"Open fire!" the Ministry officer interrupted "Any Law Command or interior guard units that can see the Scimitar… disable or destroy it!"
"Unit two in heavy combat with soldiers identified as Blood Hand Tactical Command" came the reply of one trooper "Heavy armour and plasrifles like ours. No PA. I'm down to five people including me. Only two of us aren't wounded. Two probable enemy dead".
"Law Command's tied down fighting these Kingdom soldiers that just popped up out of nowhere" came another trooper's announcement "Maybe ten people got through the ambushes. Would have been more, but three light poles just bent over and one overpass collapsed right on top of our people, meaning that Kingdom forces brought a combat mentalist with them. No survivors in a fit condition to do anything except the ten I mentioned earlier".
"Kill as many as you can…" Tactical Command's senior officer on-scene ordered "… but all we need to do is keep their attention on us for long enough for the Scimitar to be retrieved and the Switchblade to get offplanet! Casualties?"
"Only three actually killed in action" came the response from his second after a few microts' comm calling "You can thank the Ministry's goons for that. A lot more are going to be spending time in one sick bay or another, though. Let's hope our offworld brethren make it out of here soon!"
Nopthak spun the wheels as the Scimitar took off across the square. By now there were quite a few small craters, burning trees or grass, along with destroyed fixtures impeding progress – so every few microts a number of shots from varied locations woul hit the Scimitar. Judduk tried his best to return fire, but less than ten microts later he dropped down into the body of the vehicle before franctically strapping in and calling "Main gun's down! Nop, it's down to you!"
"You're almost half way" Rulok called them over the comm "Not far to-Ministry plasgunner to your treblin, coming out of a side street!"
Nopthak tried to evade, but the plasma rifle shot hit the main drive transaxle and tipped the Scimitar over, while heavy pulse fire made a number of large holes from back to front.
"Drendrendren!" Nopthak called "Everyone out – we're going to have to make the last two hundred metras on foot! For plok's sake get out of this thing before we end up buried in it!"
Judduk raised his plasma rifle and blew the locking bars off the rear door, after which Krynak climbed out and shot the first enemy he saw.
"One down" he called "Ministry interior guard, I'm pleased to say. But I can see Law Command comi-oops, firing on is from behind several vehicles and alleyways while more move in to try and get us!"
The three Kalish were helped out of the wreck with care but speed before everyone formed up and ran as fast as they could – this was made considerably harder by the huge amount of pulse fire coming their way from several directions. Krynak picked off one or two of the enemy whenever he could, but this still left far too many for the rest of the team to easily deal with.
"If you get the chance…" Judduk told Feltano "You and your family run for the ship – and I do mean run! Run your orange feet off! We'll follow just as soon as we can!"
"Our ally have lost their vehicle" a Kalish commed in, on the highest vantage point they could find overlooking the square "but are retreating to their ship in good order. Three Kalish are with them – and the Scarrans appear to be deployed in protective formation around them".
"Our operative only managed a partial transmission" came the response "but he reached the ship alive if not in good health. Their doctor is preparing to provide medical care for him – and he is a Scarran, did you know that?"
"I did not" the first Kalish replied "Whatever the final result of this battle is… we have found that an ally of convenience may be of more use than we first thought…"
All three Kalish – mother, father, and son – were running even faster than they thought possible.
"Keep running, dear son!" the boy's mother called out in encouragement "Not long to go! Do not worry about the gunfire, just run!"
"Save your energy, both of you!" Feltano called back "Both you, Devin, and you too Maranno! I know we are all exhausted, but better that than shot!"
While both adult Kalish were exhausted by both the running and dodging gunfire, their flight had taken a much heavier toll on the young boy Devin – who twisted his ankle on a tree and fell, screaming "PAPA! HELP!"
Before Feltano could even draw breath, Lirak turned and ran back from his place almost at the foot of the ramp and headed right for Devin.
"Get aboard!" he ordered "I'll bring your son with me! Judduk, you and Krynak try to cover me as long as you can!" before he ran out of vocal range.
I will not let this boy die Lirak promised himself I lost my own wife and son… but I will not put this family through the same sorrow and torment I have been through, whatever species they are.
"That one has shown a weakness" the Ministry commander said over the all-units comm band "He returns for the boy when he could see to his own safety far more easily. Kill him".
"Plok…" Krynak whispered, before shooting anyone with a weapon as soon as he saw them. Both he and Judduk took a number of extra hits doing that since their enemy had numbers on their side and was clearly using that for as much advantage as they could get out of it.
More troopers could see Lirak, however, and although he was clearly in a lot of pain and bleeding quite extensively by the time he reached Devin he picked him up and started to run back for the Switchblade with the young boy in his arms – doing his best to keep his own body between Devin and the enemy.
He could hardly keep a steady course as he half-ran, half-staggered back to the Switchblade – and he cried out in pain a number of times as he took his to his back and legs that might have hit Devin otherwise. By the time he was within twenty metras of the ramp even Devin was frightened for him, calling to him and asking him if he was well – but once he had made fifteen more metras, Lirak screamed in pain before collapsing to the concrete, Devin trapped underneath him.
Four of his team converged on him despite orders to make ready for takeoff, lifting him off Devin for long enough for the boy to rush the last few metras to safety – Lirak was carried none too gently aboard as well after that, and although he and his escorts took a number of hits all of them were alive when the ramp was raised and sealed.
"My husband…" Maranno Duleno called in relief "My son…" before hugging them both.
"We both live, my love" Feltano replied, before asking "Devin, where are you going?!"
Devin had ran over to where a barely groaning and copiously bleeding Lirak was being carried to a levelator.
"He…" Devin asked, fear in his voice and a few tears on his cheeks "He is going to live? I do not want him to die… he risked his own life to save me…I have not seen a Scarran who would risk pain and death to save any Kalish before…"
"He'll have as good a chance as anyone…" Judduk said "…if you'll stand aside so we can get him to the levelator. We gotta get him to sick bay".
"May I talk to him after surgery?" Devin asked again, still a little tearful "He risked himself for me… he should know his risk paid off… he should know I am properly thankful…".
"That's up to the doc" Krynak added as the levelator door opened and they carried Lirak inside it "We'll call you when we know how he's going".
"Come with me" Nopthak told the small family "I'll see you to your quarters in the bow-" – before the ship shook a bit and wobbled as Rulok dodged incoming fire from the nearby port, after which Nopthak added "-but we'd better be quick about it since they're two decks up and almost right at the bow!"
Once Lirak had been stabilised, Rulok fed in as much throttle as he felt same doing inside atmosphere.
"We're taking fire from the occasional foolhardy air defence pilot…" Rulok called over the comm "but so far luck's with us for once on this mission and the army hasn't been able to mobilise their Strykers very fast. We make orbit in less than ten momens, they aren't ever going to catch us".
Back on the ground, the surviving Law Command troopers were simply trying to see how many people they had lost – while two Ministry people were walking around questioning everyone they could find.
Eventually they found the Organisation study group.
Despite the male of the pair being the most heavily-scarred individual any of the Kalish youngsters had ever seen alive and upright, they stood to attention when he came within five metras of them and the senior student called "Study group ready for orders, sir".
The man rumbled a little irritably before nodding – at least this lot have some sense of respect for their betters he decided unlike far too many Kalish these days. Though I really feel like shouting at them, better I don't do that right now – for all I know they might have seen something useful.
"Are you all well…?" he asked as calmly as he could manage "None of you were hurt by those madmen and criminals?"
"We are not, sir" the youngest girl reported, shaking her head "We are all fully ambulatory and able to serve the Hierarchy however we may. Do you have a directive for us, sir?"
"Kalish people like to see things, I hear…" he said as carefully as he could, despite wanting to scream at his partner – who was snickering under his breath as he watched him try calm and reason on a group of students "Perhaps you saw interesting things recently, yes? Perhaps some of you saw things when these enemies of the Empire landed here, killed the protectors of your world, and kidnapped blameless citizens from their homes…?"
"A number of us kept notes, sir" the senior student told him, giving him a small sense of personal satisfaction as his partner coughed in surprise "Might you wish to read them? We would all be pleased if our notes proved helpful in capturing dangerous criminals".
"Transfer your notes from your own PDAs to mine" the man ordered the students, pleased to be making progress at last "First transfer your notes to your group leader there, and she will transfer the collected notes to me. Make sure to attach your names and ident codes to your notes so proper credit can be given where due".
Those last few words got the students moving quickly and proficiently, and within four momens the Ministry trooper had all the students' notes in his own PDA.
I'll write a brief positive report for each of them he decided, before doing just that It costs me nothing and may help prevent at least some of this generation of Kalish becoming future terrorists. My partner and my superiors might laugh at my methods today, but they can't argue with my results – and that's enough for me.
"Get Lirak to surgery!" Krynak hissed "Changed or not, the way he's groaning and shuddering and leaking blood all over the decks he won't last long unless Darrek sorts him out fast!"
"Here!" Darrek ordered as soon as the sick bay doors opened "Two of you stay right here, I'll need assistants. Get out of your armour and wash all the muck off – the sooner I start the sooner we see if Lirak makes it through the night!"
Lirak's grievous wounds weren't helped by Darrek and Krynak having to cut all his armour and clothing and gear off with small cutting torches – but as soon as he could, Darrek dug out shards of armour, the occasional hard-round slug, and anything else that shouldn't be inside a living body.
Almost twelve arns of gruelling non-stop surgery later, Lirak was unconscious but alive with several drips feeding nutrient solution into him – every so often, Darrek would have to move fast and put new ones in, since Lirak's change was destroying the old ones, but another weeken later Lirak was able to sit upright and eat even if he could not yet summon the energy to feed himself.
Much to everyone's surprise, the young boy Devin insisted on coming every two arns and helping Lirak eat – with his parents being the most surprised of all.
"Our Devin has been more than usually fearful of your people for almost two cycles, sirs" Maranno told Darrek, bowing slightly and briefly "Though I am pleased to see he wishes to help those who helped us, I am nonetheless surprised to see him devote himself to it so wholeheartedly. Please do not let him strain himself after his ordeal, even though it may ease the strain on one or more of you".
"We…" Lirak murmured, barely loud enough to be heard, from his bed "will not… we will not. I… glad…. help…" before he pressed the button to raise his bed a bit more and wheezed "…hungry…".
"I am here, Lirak!" Devin called, carrying a number of cans "See, I have brought twelve cans of savoury self-heating rations for you! I do no know why you need to eat so much and so often… maybe I will learn later… but if it helps you then it must be good!" – after which he dumped them on the sick bay floor before opening the first one he could reach and starting to feed Lirak personally.
"Thank…you…" Lirak said, actually smiling a little after making his way through half of the cans "Thank you… Devin… I… need more help… than I should…".
"You risked yourself for me…" Devin replied, still surprised by that, even after over a weeken of flight from Kalian "I have never met a Scarran who would risk themselves for me before… even less one who would risk their life for me! You have talked to me nicely…you have even told me a few stories and tales of people you know… it is the least I can do to help you eat!" before he stuck his tongue out at his mother before adding "It means mother and father will not be able to tell me off either! Heeheehee!"
Lirak managed to summon the energy to rumble softly with amusement before dropping off to sleep.
After all three Kalish left the sick bay, Darrek told Rulok "I've stabilised this other one… he won't be dying any time soon… but that's only the start of it. He's been extensively modified and I don't know how or why – if he needs to stay alive, I'd say we'd better put him in a stasis coffin until Nrakal can look at him. Maybe he can make sense of this Kalish's internal systems, because I can't".
"Record any scans or tests you've made" Rulok decided after a few microts' thought "When we pass Chena'ia in a couple of weeken or so, we'll send it on ahead so Nrakal has something to look at".
"How's the ship running?" Darrek asked as he and Rulok carefully placed Reganto inside a stasis coffin and sealed it "Did we take any hits? Will we need to make repairs?"
"Some damage" Rulok replied "Unavoidable. Not enough to force a repair stoppage. Hyperwave comms are down, two turrets are out of commission, and we're minus one of the four flight control networks until we get back to the Havoc as well"
"More men-tal test things…" Amara replied happily but tiredly "More swi-mings too. Swi-mings all fun, mama an' papa, an' it mean I not hot too 'cause I in wa-ter".
"You are doing well, Amara" Caseya encouraged her, smiling when she felt a small burst of happiness at the parental approval "Especially at mentalism… but also at swimming. I think you like swimming so much because you have Scarran bits in you, Amara – Scarrans like physical things like that which make them strong".
Trannak nodded confirmation when Amara looked his way, adding "We do like physical tests, Amara – your mama is right about that. While I am good at swimming, Amara, I think you might be better at it than me when you are older – perhaps you might be as good as your friend the whisper Scarran if you try hard enough".
Amara clapped at the praise, though she still said "I learn lots goodgood stuff from you, papa, 'cause you my papa" before she looked up and asked "Whisper Scarran like it that I goodgood at swi-mings, papa? Whisper Scarran teach your 'Mara lots good stuff too".
"I am sure he does" Trannak told her, rumbling softly "I know your mama and I like to see you do well at everything, Amara".
"Mama an' papa happy with their 'Mara…" Amara said, broacasting both happiness and relief "That goodgood… like it that mama an' papa happy" before smiling and calling "It time to see friends in tanks, mama an' papa! We not seen them to-day! We go an' see, mama an' papa! Your 'Mara want to see if Troll man or auntie 'Rana look diff-rent 'cause special stuff gone in!"
"You are sure you want to do that so soon after we return to our home, Amara?" Caseya asked "Even more so that it is eating time – for both of us?"
"See friends in tanks!" Amara confirmed loudly and happily "Then eat lots, mama!"
"There will be a slightly different and shorter route for us, Amara" Trannak explained for her as they walked to the flight deck transit platform door "once we get in a car. This flight deck is not near our home quarters – it is quite near the galley, Amara, and a little further away from the sick bay".
Amara clapped and ran over to the pedestal, where she shifted to it and ran up to the button before pressing it with her treblin foot and jumping down to the platform surface – both Trannak and Caseya laughed at that, which got Amara laughing back as she returned to Caseya and leaped up for a hug.
"Well done, Amara" Caseya told her, wrapping her arms around her "It was funny to see you press the button with your foot like that because you wanted to keep moving, too!"
"Heeheehee!" Amara laughed back, clapping "Your 'Mara think it funny too, mama!"
It took almost ten momens before a car arrived, which Trannak told her was due to the imminent meal sitting.
"We not be longlong time, papa" Amara replied, nodding "We see friends in tanks for bit an' then we go too an' eat lots an' see friends!" before all three of them stepped inside the car and Caseya got the car moving.
Another car was arriving at the sick bay just as theirs was – Amara was fascinated by how their car came to a halt and doors opened on the opposite side from usual, leading to a smaller platform with stairs on one side, and laughed and clapped as she leaped up those stairs to the top.
"Don't go through any of the doors, Amara" Trannak told her, shaking his head "Go down the corridor and wait for us when you find more stairs going down. Those stairs will take us to where the other car stopped".
"Aye aye cap-tin papa!" Amara replied, after which she skipped down the corridor as she sang about exploring and playing – she stopped when she saw the stairs going down, shouting "STAIRS HERE, MAMA AN' PAPA! YOUR 'MARA WAIT FOR YOU!"
Trannak picked her up when he arrived, which Amara loved – and she shrieked in laughter when he put her under one arm and walked down to the transit platform with Caseya.
"Ah, you are coming…" Nrakal said, at the door "My loud, small helper is here as well" before he asked Amara "Have you come to see the people in tanks?"
"We do that, nice doc-tor" Amara replied once Trannak put her down "Then it eating time for mama an' 'Mara so we go an' eat lots".
Once inside, Amara looked around for several microts before pointing to the secured area and calling "That where tanks are. They in there".
"They are" Nrakal confirmed, walking ahead of them "I will open the secured area, Amara, and then we can go inside at check on each tank and the subject inside".
Amara watched Nrakal open the doors to the secure area, but shook her head when Trannak asked if she saw how to open them herself.
"I not done that, papa – you not mind?" Amara replied, to which Trannak rumbled softly and lifted her up for a hug before assuring her "I don't mind, Amara – this is a special part of the sick bay, so only doctors need to know how to open those doors and we are not doctors".
"We not doc-tors" Amara confirmed "We wait an' nice doc-tor let us in to see".
Amara was both curious and excited when she saw two more tanks were at least partially ready – but Nrakal just smiled and told her "It would spoil the surprise if I told you about who might go in them, Amara – and those people have not asked me to tell anyone else yet, either".
"It a nice see-krit?" Amara asked, mildly mangling the last word as she occasionally did "It a goodgood see-krit that help nice friends?"
"It is" Nrakal confirmed, before calling "Over here, Amara – this is where your friends Troll and Urana are".
"Oooo…." Amara cooed when she saw the tanks "Look, mama…look, papa… Troll man bigger… auntie 'Rana bigger… an' skin bit like yours an' mine, mama!"
"It is!" Caseya replied, grinning at Amara's excitement before looking more closely "I think Troll is actually bigger and his skin is thicker, Amara… do you think so?"
Amara climbed up Caseya's back and looked at the tank Troll was in before giggling and nodding and saying "You right, mama! Nice doc-tor – come an' see!"
To Amara's surprise but also delight, Nrakal came quite quickly and checked a number of readouts on Troll's tank as well as bringing up an internal scan image on the tank's display.
"You are correct, Amara" Nrakal told her, getting happy claps in return "Troll's change… his special things… are actually going in a little faster than Urana's for some reason".
"That not hurt Troll friend?" Amara asked hopefully, projecting reliefhappinessthanks to all of them when Nrakal said "It isn't hurting him, no… his body likes these new things, Amara, which I think means that they can go in quicker. I will check on him more often to make sure".
