They worked the streets and asked whoever they met about Craid and his friends.

"Mr. Warden, did Gilappus come home last night?" Mycerra asked the unusually short turian. "He went to the theatre with his friends to watch a movie, Blasto 8."

"No. He said he would stay with Mihal Lidan overnight." Mr. Warden said. "He's not at the Lidan household?"

She recognized the critical tonal shift and cringed. She pitied Mihal when he returned home. When, not if.

Mycerra held up a hand and called Mihal Lidan's mother. "Mrs. Lidan, this is Mycerra Colton."

"The babysitter." A distracted female turian said. "Yes, I know you."

"Craid Voldek and Gilappus Warden are missing. I know they left the theatre, Doson Cinema, last night between seven and eight. Is your son home and accounted for? Quincent Lassoss was with them. Four of them." She tapped her foot impatiently.

"No. He did not come home last night." The woman spoke clearly. "Should I start looking?"

"That would be wise." Mycerra advised. "I'm calling Ms Lassoss."

Mr. Warden activated his omni tool and called his wife. "We'll start looking." He promised Mycerra and closed the door.

Bohai turned to Mycerra. Mycerra's call to Ms. Lassoss went unanswered. "Keep asking people on the street?"

She nodded, her pulse rate faster.

They split up. Mycerra's throat started to hurt after two hours of walking the streets and asking everyone they met on the way. She checked the time on the omni tool, called Amani to inform her they were working late on a missing persons search and promised to keep in touch.

"Boss, is it possible that they're off the station?" Bohai asked the dreaded question.

She wrung her hands. "Yes and no. Pirates and Slavers and mercenaries. And that's the tip. You think people like Mr. Warden are clean? Everyone on Omega has a story and broken a few laws. Stealing, that's not worthy mentioning. Murder? Hardly out of the ordinary here."

Bohai hit air and paced aggressively.

"Short of contacting Aria, the best we can do is keep looking. We can find leads. If it were Yu missing, wouldn't you want someone to keep looking for her?" She asked him.

He huffed. "I hate this."

"Fair doesn't exist on Omega, Bohai. Never did. Let's keep going." She tugged him along.

A half hour later, a turian prostitute pointed them in the direction of the shipyard where decommissioned shuttles were repurposed and repaired.

A hanar street preacher on the way told them a turian and an asari followed the four friends.

Mycerra hastened to the Doson Shipyard.

"Why the rush?" Bohai demanded, hot on her heels. "What's so important about a turian and asari? Turians and batarians can have asari parents, right?"

She hailed a taxi and caught her breath. "None of Craid's friends have an asari mother."

"One of their fathers or mothers could have an asari friend." Bohai rationalized.

"Nope." A taxi lowered onto the platform. She stepped in before the door fully lifted. Bohai hopped in after. "I escort Craid and his friends to school on a semi regular business. I know none of them have asari friends that follow the kids after school hours."

Bohai gripped her arm.

"I learned Omega, Bohai. I've been here four months. When I say it's bad, it's bad."

The mech drove them to the shipyard.

"And right now, they have twelve plus hours head start." Her heart raced. "Craid was supposed to go to pilot school. Have a long life ahead of him. Not-this." She gestured crudely.

The taxi dropped altitude and glided into the taxi station down the street from Doson Shipyard.

They hopped out, credits passing from omni tool to taxi computer.

She snagged the neared dock worker, an elcor. "Have you seen a group of kids- no, never mind." She ran past the elcor toward an asari. "Excuse me. Yes, hi. Excuse me."

Bohai stayed with the elcor while Mycerra tried to hold the asari's attention and the asari tried to focus on fixing a generator. "Have you seen four kids between the hours of eight last night and now? A batarian and three turians?"

"Informative – No. I have not. Question – Why?" The elcor droned.

"They're missing." Bohai maintained his patience.

"Alarmed – Children are missing?" The elcor intoned.

"Did you see anyone who shouldn't be at the shipyard?" Bohai glanced around at the many shuttles parked strategically to allow for maximum transport capacity. The orangish lighting of Omega backlit it in a nostalgic manner.

"Relieved – no."

Bohai bowed his head quickly and joined Mycerra attempting to talk to an asari in maintenance overhauls.

"Look, lady, I just work here." The asari brushed her off.

"Sorry about my boss here. We're looking for a few kids." Bohai put on an easy smile. "Forgive her. She's twitchy. Surviving the reapers will do that to a person."

The asari rolled her eyes. "And neither of you have seen an adjutant in person. I didn't see any kids. Now. Yesterday. Or last week. Now bug off."

"Bullshit." Mycerra grabbed her arm. "There are four kids, one confirmed missing by their parents. This was the last place they were headed to. Were they here? Were you sleeping off your shift? You don't care? You hiding something? What?"

The asari jerked her arm free. "LOOK, lady, I don't know anything, and if I did, I don't make enough to tell a rando like you."

Rando? Her? Rando?

"You're humans. No one trusts you. Newcomers like you trying to grab everything while the real estate is prime for the picking." The asari dragged on.

Bohai faced Mycerra. "You go left, I go right?"

Mycerra shook her head. "Too dangerous." She said. "We start at the front. Work as a team."

"I have extra thermal clips." He showed her his ammo pouches. "My aim improved."

"You don't necessarily need to shoot anyone. Let's hope and pray, okay?"

"I hate that phrase, Boss." Bohai held out his fist.

She bumped fist to fist. "Good luck."

"Hate that phrase too." Bohai said while walking away.

The asari watched them walk away before accessing her omni tool and sending a message. She returned to working on the generator.

They cleared the front half of the shipyard in the first hour. "Almost like the old days." He joked.

She opened another shuttle door, visually scanned another empty transport shuttle, and shut it again. "I'm sleeping in tomorrow." She warned Bohai.

"You're assuming there's a tomorrow."

He cleared the last functioning shuttle.

They weaved through carts on wheels filled to the top with recyclables. The carts bled into stacks of larger parts – doors, seats, and panels.

Bohai stretched. They pushed onward into mind numbing nothingness. Mycerra almost fell down steps descending into a bunker. Bohai pulled her back before she pitched forward.

"You want to stay up top and keep watch?" Mycerra offered and covered a yawn with her hand.

"I can go. You stay up here." Bohai volunteered.

She nodded slowly. "Don't take too long, alright?"

"Comm check." He pinged her omni tool. She pinged his. "Comm check successful."

She posted up in a corner partially concealed by mobile carts. Leaning on the side of the bunker, her eyes closed. Heavy eyelids and easy sleep waded in. She jerked awake, guilt skipping in and keeping her from falling asleep again.

Bohai descended into the darkness and activated the invisibility cloaking device at the last second.

He removed a visor from one of the ammo pouches and fit it snugly in place. Pressing a button on the side, night vision lit up the darkness.

The green outline of the hallway stretched deeper into the access tunnels. He plodded along cautiously. He reached a door to the right and tried the handle. Locked. He plodded further along taking the corner with his pistol readied.

A krogan and a turian argued in hushed voices.

He crept closer.

"If the Maw isn't FTL ready, we're going to disrupt our schedule and you know that- "

"If you say his name one more time, Krud, I will kill you." The turian threatened.

Bohai held his breath.

"Fix the Maw, and I won't need to." The krogan said. "It's your job, Atticus."

Past the pair, Bohai spotted a heavily fortified door with a keypad and biometrics scanner on it.

He pressed against the wall. Two salarians marched past him, missing him by inches. "We have a problem, Krud. The search for the kids is underway. We need to leave now with everyone or release them." The salarian in black armor addressed the krogan.

"The Maw isn't FTL ready."

"We can travel without it. We'll be floating in space with limited life pods. Nowhere to run."

Bohai caught his breath.

"We can move the cryo pods to the Maw no problem, but we have an extra eight people with no extra pods."

"Then knock them out. Tie them up. Stuff them in crates. I don't care how they get on the ship." The salarian berated the krogan. "Just do it."

The turian marched to the bunker door and pressed his large hand to the screen. The screen flashed yellow. He punched in the five-digit key code.

Bohai mentally repeated it back.

"You have an hour. I want off this station by then." The salarian ordered. "Tell Yusa to call off her husband's attack varren."

Yusa.

Bohai made a mental note to try and access consensus and population data later.

Yusa.

Attack varren? Same as attack dog?

The two salarians retreated past him back into Doson Shipyard.

He triggered the silent alarm.

Mycerra received the alarm a second later.

She hunkered deeper into her corner, counted to three, and popped out in time to place three bullets into the face the closest salarian. She slammed her fist into the second salarian's throat before stabbing him with her omni blade twice. She stepped over his crumpled body and walked coolly into the tunnel.

A krogan reeled around the corner and charged toward her.

Bohai raised his pistol and aimed at the back of the turian at the bunker door. He hesitated to pull the trigger.

The bunker door opened. The turian rushed into the room and tried to close the door. Bohai sprinted through the gap and stuttered to a violent stop. Cryo pods lined up in rows connected to power sources. Eight people sat in a glass cage locked by a biometric scanner and keypad.

He raised the pistol on the turian and fired. The turian turned in shock.

He fired several more times.

Loud thudding and yelling reached him from the corridor. A krogan roar sputtered.

He dropped the cloak and advanced forward. Bohai glanced back and dragged the body over to the lock. With effort, he hoisted up the turian and placed the dead man's hand over the palm print scanner.

"Just a moment." He promised the people trapped inside. "Craid Voldek?" He called out casually.

No one stepped forward.

"Craid Voldek." He repeated himself.

A batarian kid stepped forward. "Who are you?"

"Call me a friend." Bohai said. "Your father was worried. We'll help you get home."

The scanner screen turned yellow.

Bohai dropped the dead turian like a sack and keyed in the five-digit code. The door unlocked. "No one get wild. We still have a small krogan problem to handle. I think Boss handled it but better safe than sorry." He smiled at everyone.

Craid stepped forward hesitantly.

Mycerra entered the room, blood speckling her armor. "One less obstacle."

"Craid Voldek?" He pointed at the batarian kid.

She held out her palm to Craid. He high fived it. "We'll get you home to Mom and Dad soon." She promised. "Your friends here too?"

Three turians tall as her stepped forward.

"Sorry." Mihal said, head bowed in shame. "We should have tried to escape."

"Don't apologize to me. Don't apologize at all. You're safe and that's what is important." Mycerra smiled at the boy. "You turians grow like weeds. As tall as me and you're barely twelve. Amazing."

Mihal put his arm around Gilappus. "We're sorry. We should have been more careful."

Mycerra frowned. "Bohai, if a turian and an asari followed them, and we only killed two salarians, a krogan, and a turian, where is the asari?" She asked carefully.

He activated his cloaking device without a word.

She nodded to the four boys, then took stock of the other four individuals. "Let's move out before anyone's suspicious." She ordered everyone. The four adults cooperated. The boys fell in line behind her. She handed over her pistol to Mihal. "Until we get you home."

Mihal gripped the weapon tightly. "Yes, Ma-am."

"Don't ma-am me. I'm not that old." She patted his head. She pulled out her shotgun. "Anyone know how to work the pods? Wake those people up?"

"It's not that hard." Gilappus said. "It's simple tech. If it's not broken, push a few buttons, wait for the dethawing, and boom. Good to go."

"Yes or no, Warden?" She countered seriously.

"Yes. My mother builds the pods. I know how to operate them." He nodded to the pods.

"Alright. Pop to it then, Warden. Make it quick. I want out of here before the back up arrives." She ordered.

She paced.

Focused on the door.

Paced more.

Leaned on the wall and trained her eyes on the door.

Paced.

Checked the omni tool.

"Warden- "

"Salarians wake up faster." Warden answered her. "Turians and asari are slower to recover."

She paced again.

Fifteen minutes.

Bohai reappeared outside the door. "Boss, we should hurry- "

A salarian rose out of the horizontal pod and gripped the sides.

"Only ten more to go." Bohai quickly counted. "They're sending back up. That maintenance person you talked to. She's one of them."

"And the elcor?"

"Employee not connected."

"Warden, I appreciate the work, but work faster." Mycerra ordered with more bite.

The tween started to argue and stopped. "Yes, Ma-am."

Bohai matched her energy. "Common issue?" He asked Mycerra with a hint of sarcasm.

"This?" She motioned to the bunker room and the pods. "This is flavor. Common is your pockets being picked and your omni tool being hacked. That's common. This is flavor."

"I'd hate to see what you consider serious."

"I told you to leave Omega. You did not." She reminded him curtly. "Warden, progress?"

Two more people rose from the pods, reacting slower than the salarian.

Bohai advanced closer until their heads almost touched. "Boss, I'm not saying I don't know how to pull a trigger. I do. But this is different. It has a different energy to it. There's something predatory about this station. It has a vibe of its own that's carnivorous. Steals your happy and sense of ease." He whispered.

She cocked her head. "I know that. My favorite friend is this shotgun for a reason, Bohai."

"That's sad."

"And the truth. They may be young, but they are not innocent. And there are good people, but you need to be discerning."

He backed away. "Warden?"

"I'm working on it." The boy snapped.

Another two pulled themselves out of pods groggily.

"Five more to go!" Gilappus reported.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor. Bohai readied his weapon.

She lined up with him on the opposite side.

Mihal Lidan took cover behind a pod. The others hid in the back of the room between pods. "Miss Colton? The glass is rigged to blow. I thought you might want to know." He jerked his thumb back toward the glass cage. "Microfilaments on the glass."

She flashed a thumbs up.

Bohai cloaked himself.

"Come out come out, filthy human. We know you're there." A feminine voice called out singsong like. "You think you can win this? You're wrong."

"I think you're forgetting something!" Mycerra called back. "I don't need Aria T'Loak to win my wars."

"You think this is a war?" A clicking sound triggered behind them.

Glass shards exploded outward. Mycerra threw up the shield seconds too late. Small shards bounced off her armor and grazed her cheek. The collection of shards cascaded in a half circle at their feet. She picked a piece of glass off her cheek. "Ow."

Bohai shook off the shards, his cloak rippling.

"I'm still breathing!" Mycerra shouted back. "You have to kill me first!"

"I'm not afraid of you, human!" A grenade bounced their way. Mycerra launched a singularity to catch it and threw up a shield. The fragments bounced off her shield harmlessly. A bullet clipped past her shoulder and impacted the wall.

"You couldn't hit the broad side of a space vessel." Mycerra yelled back.

Another grenade lobbed down the corridor. She threw up another shield.

Biotic energy throbbed in her palms.

"This is just pathetic! Are you even an asari?"

"Bitch, I will kill you!" The asari rounded the corner and unloaded an assault rifle onto Mycerra's shield. She dropped the bubble and fired the shotgun point blank range. The kinetic shields absorbed the blow. She slammed the butt of the shotgun into the asari's face and kicked the pirate into the torso as hard as she could. Bohai unloaded three rounds into the asari's neck and helmet. The asari pirate fell to the ground in a pool of blood.

Mycerra's breathing rapidly increased.

Bohai charged down the corridor. She followed on his heels.

"Shit, shit!" He pulled back in time to avoid the pistol firing explosive rounds. "Fuck."

Mycerra tossed a singularity at the end of the corridor followed by blind firing of the weapon.

He inhaled sharply.

"Should have left when you had the chance, Bohai." She rapidly ejected the thermal clip and reloaded the new clip. "Now, get your shit together and figure it out after we're safe."

He grabbed her by the armor. "Charge and shoot?"

She poked her head around. "More like AoE? Six to two."

Bullets sprayed the far wall nearest them.

"I have a few flashbangs."

"About to have no flashbangs." She counted down on his hand. "Count of three."

"One, two- "

"Three." She launched around the corner the exact moment he tossed the two flashbangs.

She advanced through the bright light, hopped over the dead krogan, and unloaded the shotgun blindly into the figures. Instinct drove her strikes. She felt her hand break on armor before pain shot up her arm. She dropped the shotgun entirely and pummeled with a biotically charged fist onto the unsuspecting target.

Her armor shields collapsed.

Gun fire echoed in her ears. A body to her right fell, the barrel of the assault rifle an inch from her face. She vaguely counted the bodies in her fury.

The corridor fell silent.

"Your hand, boss." Bohai said through the deafening silence.

She looked down at her crumpled hand. "It's fine."

Bohai mag locked his weapons. "One, two, three, four, five, six."

"I hate Omega." She mumbled contemptuously.

He reached for her hand. She jerked it out of reach. "On your six."

"You take point. Let's get these people home." She said and yawned. "Damnit. I need sleep."

Bohai followed her back to the bunker. "Good work, boss."

She glared at him. "You do realize I'm going to get yelled at for playing hero, right?"

They filed out of the bunker two at a time, Bohai leading the charge with Mihal Lidan at his side.

Mycerra brought up the rear, her injured hand throbbing. The swelling and discoloration made it impossible to use in any capacity.

The adults chose a safehouse to spend the night.

"Mister Warden, Mr. Lidan, Mr. Lassoss, Mr. Voldek, no more throwing graxen at the cinema, yes?" Mycerra said.

They stood on the corner of the street in plain view of the block where two of the kids lived.

Bohai resisted the urge to break the serious mask in place. Mycerra resembled his mother in posture, tone, and wording. She wasn't even aware of how normal she acted.

They raised their hands to swear on it.

"Next time pirates come knocking, you run. I know turians can run like the wind. No excuse for getting caught." She looked at the turians. "Craid, I know you're smarter than that."

Craid hung his head.

"We're all going to be smarter and safer, yes?" She nodded emphatically. "No more late-night movies without an escort."

"No more late-night movies without an escort." Quincent promised.

Mycerra looked to the other three. They mumbled along in agreement.

"When you get home, you hug your parents and tell them you love them, and you missed them." She instructed them in a lowered voice. "Or whatever the turian and batarian equivalent is."

"Yes, Ma-am." Gilappus sighed.

She ignored the other concerns stacking up. She ushered the boys to their homes and shook hands with each set of parents. She promised to walk the kids to school the following morning as a measure of confidence. Mihal handed over the pistol before she forgot she gave it to him. She pressed it back into his hands.

"Learn how to shoot it, clean it, and mod it. It's yours. And use it wisely." She patted his shoulder. "I'll be by in the morning. You will not miss school."

She smiled at his parents, their anxiety thrumming in their goodbyes.

They ended the night at Craid Voldek's home. The door swept open, and Yusa Voldek collected her son in a big hug. "Yusa, hi. I wanted you to know Craid is in good health. I'll be by in the morning to walk him to school."

Bohai eyed up the female batarian curiously. Other than the four eyes and deeper voice, Bohai didn't see a different evolutionary tree aside from skin color.

"I'll wait for you, Miss Colton."

She held out her fist to Craid. He bumped his to hers. "Don't forget to pray to the pillars. You were lucky today." She smiled at Craid, but the smile disappeared the moment her gaze lifted to Yusa's flat expression. Why wasn't the woman more ecstatic?

Bohai pulled Mycerra back after an intense moment of scrutiny.

"And that's Mayor Colton." Bohai corrected Craid. "By decree of Hans."

"Miss Colton." Mycerra confirmed for Craid and guided Bohai away from the Voldek apartment. "Hans still on the election kick?"

"They're going to hold public elections for offices next year. The Council is going to help and ensure that the voting process is fair and equal." Bohai explained. "You were floated as a viable candidate for Mayor of Haven 1. Diyal Bakshi said he wanted to reach higher. Has a taste for helping people and wants to take it a step further."

"Good for him. He has my vote. How high is his aspirations?"

"I believe he mentioned the words Governor and State." Bohai teased. "He's already padding the resume for the campaigning."

She laughed. "I hope he wins the election, Bohai. He's a good man."

"He's going to lose his hair if he keeps pushing himself as hard as he is." Bohai joked. "I think he's lost half an inch of the hairline since your absence and my departure."

She laughed again. "What's worse? Thin hair or a receding hairline?"

"If you're cursed with both, it's the ultimate nightmare."

They joked more on the way to the clinic, lingering on the topic of hairlines, hard work and government positions. The doctor at Doson Clinic cleaned, iced, and splinted her hand and scheduled a check up in two weeks. Her feet throbbed, her eyelids hurt, and she wanted to sink into a nice ice bath.

A taxi and quick walk delivered them to Amani's front door.

The door opened to Amani standing with her arms crossed wearing a robe and silky pajamas.

"I can explain." Mycerra put up both hands.

Amani nodded to the splinted hand. She played the footage on the apartment video screen wedged over the cubicle shelf. The grainy footage displayed the parade of people escorted back to their homes or safe places of their choosing. "I should tattoo the word Tiamna on your forehead." Amani threatened.

"First of all, I was asked to find a missing kid- "

"I know."

"And we found the missing kid, along with his friends."

"I know."

"And I have my right hand again. Wei Bohai, Amani Ysett."

"I know who you are." Amani uncrossed her arms. "I took the liberty of arranging for you to have your own apartment close by. You'll have to pay protection fees. You're expected to earn your keep on Omega. Aria demands that, at the least."

Bohai leaned toward Mycerra. "Big bad Aria T'Loak?"

"Works with the best." She quipped. "Only the best."

Amani tapped her foot. "Tonight, he can have the couch." The look she gave Bohai bordered on disrespectful.

"You have a couch?" Mycerra tried to step into the apartment. Amani allowed them three steps in so the door could close.

"With the baby on the way, I bought one. Sitting in the kitchen booth won't be convenient when the baby bump is bigger. I needed to rearrange the apartment and you always slept on a couch. Thought it fitting. Of course, mine is better quality."

Bohai laughed. "Was the last one falling apart?"

Mycerra sighed. "I'm tired. I'm showering. Bohai, I'll leave you hot water."

"And tomorrow morning?" Bohai asked.

"We walk Craid to school." She answered. "Amani, play nice with Bohai. We had a tough day."

Amani sized the young man up. "He has much to learn about Omega."

"We'll start teaching him the ropes tomorrow." Mycerra said. "Tonight, we rest." She ordered both.

With her back to them, Bohai extended his hand.

Amani shook it.

They death gripped.

"We can share her." Amani agreed coldly and let go.

Bohai facepalmed. "I prefer red heads. Thank you for the couch." He stepped past her, removed his boots, and stripped off his armor. He piled it next to his boots and apologized for the feet odor.

Amani prayed for them all.