SSV Cambrai, Silean Nebula

Day 1, 0455

The mood around the war room table was… subdued, to say the least. The remaining members of Alpha team were clustered around, heads bowed, nobody really saying much. Eventually, it was Yui who broke the silence:

"Captain almost died. We almost got blown up. Real nice job you found for us, salarian."

He growled, and glared at Kass. The information broker scowled back, and opened his mouth to retort, but Sam cut him off.

"It's not his fault," the C-Sec man sighed. "The job was easy on paper. Airlift supplies, get out by a deadline…"

"It just got a little… messy," Kan nodded, in agreement. "Didn't expect that kind of reprisal for such a small asset."

"Shock and awe," Kass muttered, bitterly. "Maximum response, even for a 'small asset'. Should have seen that coming."

"Yeah, maybe you should," Yui grumbled, although he seemed more grumpy than outright angry. "What now?"

"There's a convoy waiting on the edge of the Kypladon system," the salarian explained, quietly. "Emmet's crew should have given them the signal when they jumped clear. They'll meet us en route to the relay, take the cargo, and get it where it needs to go."

"I damn well hope that ain't some black market," Alec grunted.

"Please. I don't break contracts idly, human. It'll go where it needs to go - fleets and manufacturing centres."

The marine nodded, gruffly.

Pregnant silence followed for a minute or so, as the war room table continued to flicker, the holographic display idling. Eventually, however, it was broken by the hiss of a door opening, off to the left, and the room seemed to turn as one to face it. To Vimes' mild surprise, it was Alicia Carter who stepped through the door, not the captain or the doctor. She looked… a little tired, to be honest, and as she drew up to the table, she leant against it with a weary sigh, arms folded.

"Everything alright?" the detective muttered, cautiously.

"Yeah," she replied, quietly. "Everyone's alright."

Vimes decided not to point out the switch from everything to everyone. It was probably subconscious, and no bad thing, to be honest.

"Captain Murphy's out of surgery," the medic continued, reaching up with one hand to brush an errant strand of hair out of her eye. "He's sedated, but stable. Shot's removed, no major organ damage. It wouldn't be the first time he's taken a bullet."

"Guess not," Sam nodded, with a single, mirthless chuckle. "What about the two idiots?"

"Way I hear it, the two idiots saved your asses," she smiled, wryly. "They're fine, anyway. The hypothermia was moderate at best, no lasting effects."

Acting as one once again, the room breathed a sigh of relief. Eventually, with concern giving way to curiosity, Sam spoke up again, to ask:

"Where's Dr O'Leiph? I kinda expected her to be telling us all this…"

"I put her in the crew quarters," Alicia laughed, weakly. "Bed rest. She almost burst a blood vessel back there."

"Not my fault."

Sam just smirked a little, eyes drifting up to the ceiling as Akito's voice came down through the intercom.

"Whaddya mean it wasn't your fault?" Alec frowned. "You're the one who pissed her off."

"Well, maybe if we'd all been a little quicker on the 'getting the fuck out of there' thing, we wouldn't have had to dodge past Reapers," the co-pilot retorted.

"Our apologies," Kan muttered, sarcastically. "Clearly, being in the line of fire was just too much fun."

"Clearly. Think I'll stick to orbit, myself. Much safer."

"When you're… not being chased by Reapers," Sam pointed out.

"Yeah. That."

A dull murmur passed around the table, vague chuckles and weak smiles passing from one person to the next. As usual, there was a morbid sense of relief now they were out of the fire…

"I wonder if they're having more fun than us on Kahje?" Alicia laughed, weakly.

"They'd better not be," her brother grumbled. "If the old man's sunning himself on a beach, I'm gonna kill him."