Local Cluster
Earth, Citadel

The common grouse often bruited about was how and why the Presidium was given restoration precedence. Discrimination was the oft used reason. Exploitation was the other. All of which were often laid at the feet of the Council. To Langdon, it was a case of steam venting and misperception. The general populace did not fully grasped the principle behind the Keepers' modus operandi; the Presidium would always be the first place they see to.

It was their stomping ground. It was where they were found in abundance compared to other wards. It was of no surprise to those who understood the function of the Keepers to find that the Presidium was repaired faster. The other place that received as much attention was Foundations which no one in the upper wards paid any mind to. If they had, they would have been surprised. The denizens of Foundations however, didn't much care, as long as their bellies were full and nothing fell on their heads.

Walking through the Presidium Commons now, it was hard to imagine what it was like five years ago. The restoration was faultless. The reservoirs were cleansed and filled with fresh clear water. Hydroponic facilities and gardens were blooming, surviving flocks of birds once more added their warbles to the gentle breeze and sprinkling soft splashes of the fountains. Shops were opened, most trading in commodities than luxury goods and entertainment. Several small outlets dealt with miscellaneous merchandise.

It was not crowded along the commons. With lunch hour over, most people had returned to their offices and resumed their work shift while others lingered over drinks at the restaurants and cafes, chatting with their companions. Langdon took his time, strolling and taking in the surroundings which were more enlivening than the stark bleakness of his office. An occasional passing Systems Alliance marine or C-Sec officer would throw him a salute which he acknowledged.

Many strolling along the commons were browsing at the shops. Pausing for a moment at a bridge, he looked across the reservoir. The Conduit monument gleamed in the artificial sunlight. Of all the monuments, it was the only one that was not destroyed. Only a few knew what it was and why it was left untouched. It was not a monument but a prototype mass relay built by the Protheans.

That's a ticking time bomb. One of these days, some idiot will think it a fine idea to blow it up to make some sort of stupid statement, never knowing what it will do.

He fervently hoped it would never happen. With no one proficient in mass relay systems, it was left alone after the Battle of the Citadel though the Council had discussed removing it. Any attempt would have to be made in the future. The access conduit on Ilos was guarded though hardly anyone, except selected scientists were allowed on the planet and even they, had limited access. It was to be hoped no one would figure out this vulnerability, this back door to the Citadel.

He continued on to his destination, the Capollo Cafe. He was tired of having cold sandwiches in his office and opted to take a walk to pick up freshly cooked hot food. It was an opportunity too to relax and think of something else than the problems plaguing the Systems Alliance. The cafe attendant threw up a holographic menu display when he stopped at the sales counter. Three years ago, he would be asked for his ration chit. With the stabilization of food yield and supply, eateries could once more offer a variety of dishes instead of dry rations, energy bars and paste. Whistling soundlessly, he scrolled through the selection, hesitated and opted for an Asari orlio lunch set; stewed fish, salad and fruits.

As he waited for his order to be filled, he glanced around the cafe. His eyes lingered on a few couples, a mixture of human and Asari pairings and recalled how he had often visited cafes such as this one on the Citadel with his wife. What times they had. The ache in his heart didn't cut so deep now as it did five years ago but how he missed her when he allowed himself to remember. He turned away to fix his eyes on the apartments across the reservoir. Most of the owners and tenants would never return, leaving a number of empty apartments. Despite the vacancies, security concerns curtailed any plans to market them out. Sometimes, he felt he was moving through a building filled with ghosts when his footsteps echoed through the corridors.

His omni-tool beeped. Irritably, he moved to cut off the call; he had told his assistant to hold all messages. He changed his mind after another look at the code of the caller. Hitting the answer key, he said, "Councilor."

"Admiral, if you have some time to spare, could you come to my office? I have that contact you want," said Tevos.

He nodded. "I'm on my way."

The timing of her call was perfect. He flashed his omni-tool at the payment scanner to pay the bill, grabbed the lunch carton the cafe attendant placed in front of him and made for the elevator that would take him to the embassies. The lift, when it arrived, was empty. He leaned against the wall, assembling his thoughts.

The contact was Aria of course. Trust Tevos to get in touch with the pirate queen herself than give him a number. He wasn't surprised Aria preferred to keep a low profile, leaving her flunkies to run interference although he'd hardly put the councilor in that category. Given all that clan network he heard about the Asari, they were likely friends. Up until five years ago, he had never heard of Aria T'Loak. He was sure the old man hadn't either till Shepard presented him the surprise reinforcements Aria had gathered towards the war effort. Riffraff he wouldn't have thought capable of standing up to the challenges but with their backs up against the wall, they didn't have a choice. That's the one good thing about the Reapers, they slammed armageddon down everyone's throats irregardless of who they were and shook up the entire galactic community out of their cloying existence and made everyone fall into step.

He tugged at his tunic as the lift came to a stop, exited smartly and walked down the corridor with measured steps, carefully avoiding embassy staff and passers-by. It would not do to have an accident with the lunch carton. Tevos's assistant smiled when he entered the Asari embassy and conducted him courteously to Tevos's office door.

Tevos looked up from her console at his entrance. "Admiral, I've someone here who is most keen to have a word with you," she said without preamble, turning the console screen to face him and waving him to sit at the chair before her desk at the same time. She moved away to the window at the far end of the office, leaving him to converse alone.

Feeling a little out of his depth now he was facing the pirate queen, he wasn't sure how he should start off. Purple hued with graceful facial markings but with a pair of steely grey eyes, the pirate queen's face was forbidding. Not someone who suffered fools gladly. As if she knew of his discomfiture, Aria smiled faintly.

"Let's cut to the chase, Admiral," she said. "An equatable exchange to suit each other's needs."

What makes you think you have what we need? He shoved the irate response down and asked instead, "What are you proposing?"

"You need information on possible Cerberus sightings and movements. I can provide several months of data for the Systems Alliance to peruse, including a more recent scoop which should be of great interest."

He stamped down on the desire to ask about the scoop. Not without knowing the terms of the exchange. "What do you want in return?"

"One item of note." She leaned closer to the pickup on her end. "Omega."

Incredulity swept over him. The gall of this woman to demand such a thing! She lost Omega to Cerberus and now she wanted the Alliance to help her get it back. To do what she asked was to pull away valuable resources, put Alliance personnel at risk. Derision welled up but he forced it down.

"The System Alliance have no interest in the Sahrabarik System. Neither do Omega have any relevance in our current policies," he said woodenly.

"Policies are as fickle as the solar winds. Omega is relevant, to everyone whether they choose to admit it or not."

"From your point of view. In your bolthole?" He couldn't help himself, her smug confidence was punching all his pique buttons.

A soft cough behind him brought his head around. Tevos looked at him and shook her head emphatically. Despite the attempt to shut herself from the conversation, she could hear every word. She should have left the office if she wanted to grant him complete privacy but she knew how the human would react to Aria so she stayed. As she expected, the human was not taking to Aria positively. In light of his inexperience, she was not surprised. A hint of caution would be beneficial, for everyone's sake. She wondered if he would take the warning or continued to blunder on.

The sour look in his eyes cleared as he gazed at her. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to the screen. Aria looked on with amusement as he visibly struggled with his emotions. He tried again, toning down his aggravation. "What about Omega?"

Her smile widened slightly. "I can use some muscle in throwing out unwanted tenants."

"That is difficult. Omega is-," he began, ignoring the gibe. The size of that space station was daunting. The Alliance would be hard put to spare enough ships and personnel to take the station.

"I am well aware of the difficulties," she interrupted. "I am flexible-," her brow raised suggestively, "to any suggestion."

He wished the old man hadn't thrown it to him. Ten to one, this tawdry Asari vamp would adopt a different approach if she were negotiating with Hackett.

"I have to discuss this with my superiors," he said, hiding his dismay with his inability to get any fingertip of control over the dialogue. Damn it, he had no leg to stand on right from the start and he had let his emotions rattled him off his perch and down at her feet. She had all the cards and he had none.

"Time is relative," she settled back against her seat. "As a token of anticipation of our forthcoming cooperation, the latest data is available to you."

"That is much appreciated," he said evenly.

"The councilor has the information," Aria looked aside, seemingly bored. "Give my regards to Admiral Hackett and tell him I can use Shepard's aid."

The vid went blank. He stared at it as Tevos returned to her desk. Shepard eh? Why wasn't he surprised?

"Would you like to sit down, Admiral?" she said, looking up at him.

It was then he realised he had conducted the entire conversation on his feet, with the lunch carton in his hand. Seeing Aria had set his instincts to gain the high ground. Sitting would have been akin to an invitation for her to walk all over him. Much good it did him. Snorting mentally at his own initial presumption that the dialogue would be under his domination, he sat down.

"It is well you-," Tevos hesitated, "come to an understanding because the Systems Alliance must know what has occurred."

He tensed, feeling that he was not going to like what she was going to tell him. "What do you mean?"

"Twenty-four hours ago, an engagement was observed at the asteroid belt in the the Dirada System. The transponder beacon identified the ship that was destroyed as a Systems Alliance frigate."

"What?!" He leaped to his feet. "That's impossible. No report of any missing Alliance ship had..."

He froze. He hadn't checked in for the last twelve hours. Tired out by his long stint at the office the previous day, he had told his staff not to disturb him, short of a return of the Reapers, and had slept like the dead. Inwardly, he cursed at himself. An Alliance frigate? It had to belong to one of the two flotillas sniffing for the Cerberus trail. Were they found by their quarry instead?

"This is the data that was sent." She proffered a datastick. He stared at it blankly for a moment before taking it.

"Can this be-," he began doubtfully. How much credence should he put in that Asari? How did she come by this information?

"Aria T'Loak has no cause to dispense misleading data to the Systems Alliance. Not when she herself is in need of aid," Tevos said matter of factly. "She has sufficient resources to gather credible intelligence."

"But not enough to retake Omega," he said grimly, looked down at the datastick and clenched his fingers around it. An Alliance frigate destroyed. That meant the entire crew died as well. Anger began to burn.

"Thank you, councilor. Your aid is much appreciated." He turned to go before remembering the lunch carton he was still holding. He had no appetite any more so why let it go to waste?

"Have you had lunch, Councilor?"

His question caught her off guard. "No," she said and looked at the lunch carton he placed before her.

"A token of my thanks, councilor." He nodded to her and strode quickly out of the office before she could stop him.

Behind him, Tevos checked the contents of the carton and was surprised to find a orlio lunch set. It was probably meant to be his midday meal, she guessed rightly. The human was obviously too upset to eat. She empathised. She regarded the food for a moment. It was still piping hot. She messaged her assistant not to bother with getting lunch for her and settled down to enjoy a free meal. She preferred to deal with the tasks piling up each day fully fortified than with an empty stomach. A thought crossed her mind. Impromptu though his gift was, she would have to return it in kind. Eventually.

Ilos

No. We are descending. Look.

At April's gesture, Liara looked back at the junction of the walkway where it was connected to the hatch and saw her bondmate was right. The hatch was now at a height above them and getting higher. How far down would they go? Around them, the columns continued to rise. When they were towering three storeys above them, the walkway halted.

"How are we to reach them?" Liara wondered anxiously for the columns were several metres away.

"I've no-," began April, eyeing the pedestal which had gone dark and turned when Kedar sidled to the edge. For a moment, she thought he was going to jump off but he halted and retreated when the walkway trembled.

As they looked around them uneasily, a circular floor with several dark terminals ranged around the perimeter rose into view. Metallic snaps were heard as the bolts snicked home to couplings beneath the platform. The railing around the platform sank down, allowing them access. Without fanfare, the terminals and the columns glowed dimly as connections were made. Eyes wide, Liara let go of April's hand and stepped onto the floor.

Kedar leaped past her for one of the terminals. He couldn't read Prothean script but their omni-tools were recently updated with basic Prothean words by Liara. The timing of the addition was suspicious but he didn't care. It was enough leverage for him to work with provided he didn't run into encrypted data that required codes. As in the case of accessing the terminals before this. Wasn't it fortunate Shepard was around? He hung back from meddling for he recognised both Liara and Shepard had more experience and authority with Prothean encryption. He appreciated the fact that Shepard bypassed the lock outs smoothly but the ease in which she did so was highly suspicious. If he didn't know better, he'd say she was a Prothean reborn with all the memories of the race. If there was such a thing.

He knew she was hiding something. It didn't trouble him. As long as they achieved their objective, find a way to remove the TI as soon as possible, he didn't care how she did what she did. Tapping cautiously at one of the terminals, he gazed hopefully at the screen. To his disappointment, after fiddling with the translator, he found himself balked by a single displayed line. Mainframe degradation. So close!

"Problem, Kedar?" Peliar asked archly, observing his sudden inactivity.

It was amusing to watch him gloom and moped about the past two days, held captive by necessary security measures. The Salarians' incessant industry, Kedar's especially, and contentions were trying in such close quarters that her colleagues were tempted to try working from the Alliance cruiser instead. At least the humans kept reasonable hours.

"Of the moment." He blinked at her, eyelids drawn up.

Liara moved to the nearest terminal, carefully bringing a console online. "There is damage within the mainframe. Sub systems are also not accessible." She tried to bring up another table of contents and shook her head when that failed. "Unless it is repaired, I do not think we can gain access to anything."

"Let's hope the hard circuits are not fried," April said, visually examining the terminals. They were all directly beneath and individually matched to a column. Were the columns the repositories?

"I don't think we have the hardware for any replacements, much less the technical expertise to do it." She approached the central terminal. It was beneath the largest column of the group. "I'd say this is the doorway to the mainframe." To be absolutely certain, she checked the console was active and keyed in the required code. Her frustration with her inner demon was momentarily forgotten as a list of errors appeared.

"It's your ball game, Module." April stepped back, yielding her place to the Prime.

"I shall do my best to hit a home run," it said, its eyeflaps wavering circularly at her before turning to the console as the rest watched keenly.

Was that levity? She smiled sadly when Module brought its hands over the console and tiny electric charges began to roam over it. The sight reminded her of Legion in the derelict Reaper's mass effect core. How much of Legion was in Module? She had caught the Prime making moves reminiscence to Legion's quirky steps when the squad was on downtime. When questioned, Legion had said it was a form of an old human dance that mimicked the locomotion of automatons. She thought it rather charming but bizarre; a machine aping the clunky obsolete motions of machines. Module had said it was something it had picked up and refused to elucidate when prodded further.

So, Legion, I guess that dancing part of you still lives on among the Geth.

She wondered if Module's program could work with the mainframe. The reaper code had transformed each individual Geth's gestalt algorithm into a living network, self replicating and adapting. No two Geth would have the same kind of systems. Legion had said they would be neither A.I. nor V.I. Yet, they were still programs, weren't they? She wasn't sure what to call them.

"Sub programs uploaded successfully," Module announced. The group heaved a sigh of relief at that statement. Prematurely. "Initial diagnosis shows extensive damage in all capacity. More measures are required," it added.

"Is it software or hardware?" Liara asked, moving closer to look at the data. It was going too fast for her to discern more than a word or two.

"System software are fragmentary and required splicing." Removing its hands from the console, Module turned to face April. "I will have to upload into the mainframe."

"Have you considered that your programs might be too disparate?" Liara put in before April could say anything.

"We have discussed this possibility." Module examined the expressions on their faces.

Such an interesting assorted display. After centuries of isolation behind the Perseus Veil, observing and stripping every available data to learn more about the organics, interacting first hand with them was a stimulating augmentation to comprehension about the life form. Organics were so expressive, from words to postures. Even if they said nothing, much could be gleaned from their silence and posture. The ones who would say the least tend to be older and composed whilst the younger ones were more articulate, freely giving vent to their passions.

It could not define which particular part of itself was creating the set of algorithms that helped it to discern emotions. As curious as it was about organics, they were as fascinated with it. For those who were willing to accept its presence, they found they could converse about anything with Module. It was like a sponge. Absorbing readily whatever they threw out, even if it was offensive. One of the marines in the expedition had taught cat's cradle to while the time. No one tried to play poker with Module however; that flashlight was too deadpan. One wit had suggested putting slips of coded coloured paper on those lifting eyeflaps so they would know what it was thinking. Humans were indeed varied and fascinating.

Right now, it correctly gauged the atmosphere as one of expectation with much apprehension and anxiety from Liara and Shepard. It knew those emotions was on its behalf and it was gratified, if it could be called that.

"This is the only option?" April felt she had to ask again, not liking the idea since there was a chance it would fail. They might lose Module altogether if something went wrong and it failed to withdraw from the mainframe intact.

"No, but it is the fastest path to restore the entire system." Module waited patiently for a decision.

"Willing to do it, should take," Kedar urged and crossed his arms when April glared at him. He thought to add more but decided to keep his peace. Peliar, as usual, said nothing. Seemingly indifferent. An attitude April found to be most baffling. Thus far, she hadn't been able to engage her in any significant discourse

"How long would the process take," April asked finally.

"I estimate several hours."

April knew she was waffling to no purpose. This outcome was anticipated and what steps they would have to take had been discussed onboard the Glasgow. It was just that, she didn't much like the idea of losing the Geth Prime, or anyone else on the mission. She caught Liara's eye. There was an encouraging gleam in them. She sighed.

"All right," she said and added as Module turned back to the console, hands raised. "Be careful in there. Good luck."

"Acknowledged."

Thessia
Kelice, Perimeter Tower Five

Three hours to dawn. The chair creaked softly as Pulchia leaned back, stretching stiff muscles. Finding it insufficient, she got up and began to do a series of bends to limber up. From her neck, to her fingers to the toes. It felt good to be moving after sitting for so long. Keeping one eye on the sentry consoles, she began a series of floor exercises. A noise from the door brought her to her feet in a flash. Her gaze met a pair of laughing brown eyes. She almost missed the flying package thrown at her.

"Hungry?"

Corporal Gallia grinned at the Asari as she dropped her helmet into the nearest vacant chair before moving to check the readouts on the consoles. She began to whistle softly after seeing the green status of the security sensors. Behind her, Pulchia opened the package. The aroma of hot crumbly buttery jam biscuits drifted to the Asari's nose, tickling her appetite. She sank her teeth into one with gusto. It was hours since an early dinner.

Without turning around, Gallia knew Pulchia was already munching away at a second and grinned. The Asari were initially suspicious of the biscuits she offered to them when she reported in on her first day but now, they had developed quite a taste for biscuits, fruit tarts and pies and often importunate her to bake whenever she was off duty.

"Where's Nervia?"

"Taking a break," Pulchia managed to mumble past a mouthful of biscuit, reaching past Gallia for the flask of water on the small counter and took a long drink.

"She's gonna be mighty piss if you finish all that," Gallia warned, dropping into an adjacent chair before bringing up a feed from the nearest sentry drone.

"Not if you tell her." Pulchia moved Gallia's helmet to the mounting rack on the wall, munching more slowly as she sat down. She closed off the package and put it beside the flask. "Strawberry?" She licked a bit of jam off her lips.

"Close." Gallia grinned at her before turning her attention back to the screen. "Cherry. I managed to trade for some with the mess hall chef."

"With what?"

"Some crates of fresh tomatoes I picked up at the spaceport."

"And how many hours rack time did you throw out to make the biscuits?" Pulchia said reprovingly, pausing to scrutinise the human, especially the faint shadows around the eyes.

"Ah, who cares about that," Gallia snorted. "I sleep when I want."

"Gallie-," Pulchia began worriedly but the swishing sound of a opening hatch interrupted her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Nervia who wagged a flask at her.

"Aspia in tower three send this with her compliments." She handed it to Pulchia. "Something to take the blunt off Armali."

"I heard something about that." Gallia swivelled her chair to face the two of them. "Why'd the hell you people pulled the Geth off?"

"If I knew the answer, I wouldn't be sitting here." Face darkening with unhappiness, Pulchia uncapped the flask and took a sip. "Here." She thrust the flask at Gallia.

Sniffing at it, Gallia's brows shot up at the smell of alcohol. "You're kidding, we're on duty-."

"So pass it to Nervia," Pulchia snapped. The mention of Armali was a touchy subject to her nowadays. "They don't care about Thessia, why should I care about getting drunk on duty."

"C'mon, maybe they ran into a little bit of a problem," Gallia said soothingly.

"We seem to be running into a lot of them right from the on start. How else to explain the great disparity of recovery between Thessia and the other homeworlds?"

"I heard it whisper that the old ones are behind it," Nervia murmured unhappily as she sat down.

"By the Goddess, when have they ever not been behind anything?" Pulchia retorted. "From taking their time to decide whether to accept the Geth's offer to help with the cleansing to deciding whether we ought to push back the TI. How long did they take to decide which zone to recover first?"

She stared at the both of them who wisely offered no answer.

"Three months. Three months in which practically everyone else on their homeworlds have already cleared their first district and resettling. Do they sound like they're making rational decisions? No! I say, no, they're not. Instead of fighting to take back our home, we're trying to hang on to what we have with-."

The strident blare was a shocking disruption. Before they could recover, several thunderous booms went off outside. Gallia grabbed her helmet off the rack and jammed it on while the others dove for their own.

"Red One!" Gallia shouted, hitting the console before her. The display was awash with red icons of gunships extremely close to the perimeter. The sentry drones should have seen them coming and screamed a warning. Why didn't they?

"Drone 26 to 38 disabled." Her rage forgotten, Pulchia concentrated on the status of the defenses. "Turrets hot."

"All towers report they're also under attack. Gunship units are engaging enemy vehicles," Nervia reported.

"Shit, they're rousing the mobs," Gallia muttered, eyes wide at the number of TI that were rushing the perimeter. "Going up top."

She leaped from her chair and climbed the ladder at the back of the watch tower. A blast went off above her. She ducked instinctively. Nothing reached her however, the tower kinetic shields prevented projectiles from reaching it. She hurried to the observation post and saw an all too familiar sight. The sky filled with lights from the watch towers playing over the battlefield, enemy skycars, gunships and flying debris. Strobes of light pulsed everywhere as Gardian turrets fired on them. Several TI gunships exploded or slammed into the ground but the rest kept coming. She scanned left and right. The sky was full of fireflies on fire. At this rate, the Gardian turrets would soon go offline. Down below, hordes of TI soldiers were fighting their way to the barricades.

Gallia got on the comm to Command and Control. "Tower Five to Control, request ground reinforcements (GR),"

"Tower Five, GR23 en route, ETA two minutes," came the reply.

She fervently hoped the troops would arrive even faster. The TI ground forces were so close she could almost eyeball the nearest approaching troopers. Turret gun crews were already firing on them. Just by number alone, the TI could easily surmount the barricades if they piled onto one another. More Asari military gunships screamed over her head, joining in the fray.

"Tower two reports barricade breach," came Nervia's voice over the comlink. "Ground forces engaging."

Shit. Fuck. If they failed to push them back, they would lose the spaceport and everything else. Gallia anxiously scanned the ground, linking in to the turret gunners to feed them updates on hot spots. A flurry of movement behind the barricade drew her attention. To her relief, it was the GR23 unit, reserved Systems Alliance marines pulled from the spaceport. They took up positions and began to add their firepower to the gun turrets. She couldn't tell how many TI had gone down, the darkness obscured them but she knew there were still many relentlessly approaching. The multitude of explosions going off like fireworks was continuous.

"Gardian turrets offline!" Pulchia warned.

Gallia threw herself down behind the buffers when she saw several enemy gunships converging on the tower, shouting over the comlink to the others to buckle in. The tower shook again and again as rockets slammed against the kinetic shields. It reminded her of the time when she was caught up in the tree when she was a child, with a large brown bear at the bottom, growling and batting away at the tree trunk. She had clung on in terror as the tree shook so violently that she thought it would fall down and she with it. Fortunately, her parents came to look for her and drove off the bear.

The tower shook with the same intensity. She wondered who was coming to pluck them out of the fire this time. A different thrumming in the air caught her attention. On looking up, she grinned. Geth dropships had dropped in on the action. As if aware they didn't have a chance, the TI began to withdraw and the sounds of battle lessened. The tower creased to shake. Jumping to her feet, she made for the ladder and skimmed down to fall on top of Pulchia who was coming to check on her.

"Ouch!" Pulchia huffed, clutching her middle.

"Sorry." Gallia sat up, rubbing her ankle, certain she had twisted it. "Damn." She hastily got off Pulchia when the Asari pushed at her.

"That was-." Nervia looked stun, as if she couldn't believe what had happened.

"Tower Five, this is Control."

Hitting her helmet comlink, Gallia said, "Tower Five, go."

"Zone report."

Getting to her feet, Gallia checked the readings and affirmed that all hostiles had retreated.

"Search and rescue units en route, coordinate ground forces actual."

After acknowledging the order, Gallia removed her helmet and raked her sweat drenched hair back. She spotted the wine flask on the floor and picked it up. Shaking it, she uncapped it and took a mouthful before handing it to Nervia who took a long swig.

Pulchia stared into the flask after drinking her share. "They've never attacked with such ferocity before," she muttered.

"Or in such numbers." Nervia rubbed her crest thoughtfully.

"You know what," Gallia said gravely. "You guys have better get your act together or man, you're gonna not have a home."