It was a grey, rainy day as Sara got off the bus. She was hoping she wouldn't have to wait too long, but the hope wasn't huge. Kalran was often late these days, even to meet her, which was uncharacteristic. At least she usually showed up eventually now: there'd been occasions, a couple of months ago, where she'd missed out on their meet-ups entirely. And she did seem to be doing a little better the last few weeks.

Given her expectation that Kalran might be late, Sara almost didn't notice at first as she entered the mall that Kalran had got there first and was waiting for her. It was a Saturday morning, and busy, easy to miss one person. But something made Sara turn as she walked in, and she saw her stood close to the white-tiled wall by the entrance.

Sara smiled. Turning to make a bee-line for her Yeerk, she said: "Hey, sweetie."

Kalran smiled back, an encouraging sign. "Hey." Pushing herself off from the wall she was leaning on, she offered Sara a hug, which Sara eagerly took. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?" Sara let her inflection show that this was more than just a polite enquiry.

"Better."

Sara hoped Kalran was telling the truth: the one disadvantage of having her Yeerk outside her head was how hard it could be to read her emotions sometimes. "That's good. You want to get coffee first, or start on the shopping?"

"You decide. You probably have more presents to get than me."

"I don't know about that. At least not if you insist on getting every single one of those snails you live with something again, like you did last year."

Kalran sighed. "They're really not that bad. They're all fine with me now, anyway."

Sara shrugged, turning to walk further into the mall. "Let's get a few presents first, then," she decided, opting not to pursue the subject further. She was too worried about Kal to push her.

About half an hour later, the two stood in a jewlry store, Sara trying to pick out some earrings for her brother's wife, while Kalran wandered around the store, seemingly aimlessly. Sara looked critically at a pair of silver studs in a display cabinet.

"You want me to get them out for you?" The attendant bustled over, clearly noticing Sara's interest.

Sara nodded, pointing out a few pairs she wanted to look at. Seen more closely, the silver ones weren't quite the right style, and she turned her attention to another pair: delicate heart outlines, rose-gold in colour.

"What d'you think of these, Kal? For Helena?" There was no answer. "Kal?" Sara turned, glancing around the store. Kalran had stopped, stooped over a display case and seemingly fascinated by its contents.

Sara sighed. She'd just have to make her own decision, then. "I'll take these. Thanks."

Once she'd paid for the earrings and they were safely stowed in her purse, Sara was not entirely surprised to find Kalran still staring at the same case. Occasionally something would catch her Yeerk's eye, even now, that fascinated her, in a way it simply wouldn't do for a human. It wasn't always something as obvious as jewlerry: once, famously, it had been a full bin liner that had, in Kalran's words, 'caught the light beautifully'. Sara had never let Kal live that one down.

"What is it this time?" she muttered, once she was close enough not to risk being overheard. "Please at least tell me it's the bracelets themselves and not the price tickets or something."

Kalran smiled softly, acknowledging the joke. "It's this one," she said, pointing out a heavy silver one, patterned with twists and swirls but otherwise unadorned. "I was thinking it might make a good present."

Sara frowned. "Who for? Your sister?" Tilniss, one of Kalran's two close siblings, lived some distance away, but Sara couldn't think of anyone else who'd warrant a present like that. There was a possibility Kal might buy something like that for her, she'd gotten gifts for Sara that were far too much in the past, but Sara'd put her foot down after the first year Kal had morphed, and she'd been more careful since.

Kalran shook her head. "It doesn't matter," she said quickly.

Sara was now even more curious. "You're not dating again, are you? Or whatever you call it."

Kalran shook her head again, looking distressed. "No. Why?"

"Who else would you get something like that for? It's not exactly cheap."

Kalran shrugged again, beginning to walk away towards the door. "You don't want to know. It's a silly idea, anyway. You're right, it's too much, it wouldn't go down well."

Frowning, Sara followed Kalran out of the store. She was completely stumped as to what the Yeerk meant, but decided to leave it for now. Kal seemed more cheerful than she had done for a while, and Sara didn't want to risk that by talking about something she'd clearly rather keep quiet.

A few minutes later, the two were sitting in a coffee shop: Sara sipping at a green tea while Kal scooped her way through the thick layer of cream topping the caffeinated syrup that masqueraded as a gingerbread latte. Sara had enough of a sweet tooth, but Kalran seemed to have multiplied it by ten since getting her own body.

"So, what's new?" Sara asked, setting down her teacup.

Kalran shrugged. "Not much," she said, non-committally. "Or at least, not much that you'd want to hear about."

That stung a little: had Sara really seemed disinterested in her Yeerk's life? Nothing could be further from the truth: she'd been really worried about Kal, especially since she'd said she'd been having counselling, and had to hold back from asking about every little detail of Kalran's day, just to be sure she was okay. "What do you mean?" Sara asked, her voice coming out high-pitched, pained. "Of course I'd like to hear about it."

"Oh," Kalran replied quickly, looking guilty. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean I didn't think you were interested. You're a good friend to me, Sara."

A small smile appeared on Sara's face, and she relaxed slightly. "So are you," she said gently. "I'm still grateful for what you've done for me. Don't forget that, will you?"

"I don't think I did much, really," Kalran murmured. Her voice increasing in volume again, she added: "It's just that it's about people you'd probably rather not hear about."

Sara thought for a moment. "You've met up with Akhir?" She was quite pleased that she managed to say the name calmly, without her voice dripping with disgust. She still didn't like the Yeerk, but once she'd calmed down she'd reflected that more contact with other Yeerks who weren't hostile to her could only be a good thing for Kalran.

Kal nodded. "Yes. Several times."

She smiled slightly as she said it, and Sara felt the tiniest drop of her resentment towards Akhir ebb away.

"You have fun?" Sara asked, keen to keep Kal talking.

Kalran nodded. "You know, she isn't as much of an 'uppity, arrogant Empire Yeerk' as you had me believe," she said hesitantly, with a slight, wry smile.

"Sorry." Sara genuinely was sorry: while she still wasn't Akhir's biggest fan, she was pleased Kalran'd enjoyed the time with her, and felt a bit guilty for how she'd acted when she'd met the Yeerk. Not for Akhir's sake, really, but she should have held her emotions in check better for Elsa... it must have been really hard for her.

"Was she... Empire-y... when she met you?"

Despite the prickle of guilt in her heart, Sara laughed. "Empire-y? Is that a word now?"

Kalran grinned. "Couldn't think of a better description." Becoming more serious, she added: "Was she? Arrogant, or... because I'm struggling to imagine her being like that."

Sara shrugged. "She thought buying a coffee was enough of an apology. For me and Elsa."

"Ah," Kalran said, sounding discomforted. "I'm sorry."

Sara shook her head, sighing. "Kal, how many times, what your people choose to do isn't your fault." She sighed. "She wasn't too bad otherwise, all things considered, but I still can't forgive her. I know she never did anything to me, but..."

"Sometimes it's harder to forgive people for what they've done to others than what they've done to you," Kalran murmured slowly. "I can understand how you feel."

Sara nodded, feeling the knot of guilt that had grown in her since she'd met Akhir dissolve a little. Kal had always had that effect on her. Even before she'd joined the movement, there'd been a tiny hint of it, and afterwards, once their relationship was no longer hostile, it had been much stronger. Kalran had seen every one of Sara's secrets, of course, heard every ungenerous thought, but she'd always understood them, without judgement, and that had helped Sara forgive herself.

"I'm glad she's been kind to you, anyway. And I guess she's helping Oglud, too, in her own way."

"You don't even know the half of it," Kalran said, surprising Sara. "She... I don't know what she did, but she came to dinner the other day, and... well, she's managed to change Alniss' mind."

Sara immediately let out a snort of derision: she couldn't help it. "About what? About it not being okay to call you a traitor, or has she decided to let the voluntary help us?"

"She hasn't called me a traitor in years. Although she has been kinder to me recently. And not only has she told Carla it's okay to help, she asked me the other day if I'd mind her supporting the campaign too. To the extent that you and Elsa and the others would let her be involved, of course, she realises you might not wish to, but it's very good of her to try and help at all."

"Either that or it's just a way of keeping a closer eye on her lapdog," Sara said cynically.

"Don't." Kalran's voice was as cold as ice, a tone Sara had never heard from her, and certainly not directed at Sara herself.

The anger was gone as quickly as it came, however, as only a few seconds later Kalran added: "Please. I'm sorry, I shouldn't snap at you, but... would it be asking too much of you to call Carla by her name, at least in front of me? And at the very least don't call her that."

A hint of the iciness returned in that last sentence. It was so unusual from Kalran that Sara didn't even think of arguing back. "I'm sorry," she said, after a moment. "You're right, that... I shouldn't call another human being that, even if..."

Kal nodded, giving her a soft smile. "Thank you, Sara. It's not like you, to say something like that."

Sara looked down, taking a sip of her drink. She felt a little ashamed, which was silly, really: Carla hardly deserved that emotion, not when she'd chosen to walk past people like Sara and just let them be enslaved. Despite that, Sara couldn't help but feel she'd gone too far.

"You know, Carla's really helped me," Kalran said slowly, hesitantly, her eyes searching Sara's face as though ready to stop at the slightest hint of anger. "When I've... I've not been well, she..."

Sara raised her eyes to meet Kal's with mixed emotions. She hated seeing Kalran so down, so miserable, and so she was overjoyed to hear Kal had received any help, no matter how little or where it came from. But a part of her was also wary, even irritated, that that help had come from a voluntary. "You know you can always come to me, don't you?" Sara asked earnestly.

"Of course I do. And you've helped me, too, it's just... well, Carla lives in the same house, so sometimes it just happens that way. And she's a wonderful listener."

"What, and I'm not?" Sara questioned, though she hardly needed to. She knew listening wasn't her strongest point, she always wanted to leap in and solve the problem, and besides, other people's feelings made her uncomfortable.

"That's not what I'm saying," Kalran sighed.

"I note you haven't contradicted me," Sara said with a slight smile. "It's OK, I know I'm no good at that."

"I wouldn't say 'no good'," Kalran said softly. "It's maybe not what you're best at."

There was a short silence. Sara took the opportunity to think, as well as take a sip of the now almost-cold coffee that she'd somehow remembered was still there. Putting aside her hurt that Kal hadn't wanted to come to her, and the anger at voluntaries that still burned inside her, she had to admit she was happy there was someone Kalran felt she could talk to.

"I'm glad she helped," Sara admitted eventually. "Even though I don't like her."

Kalran looked a little surprised, but then nodded slowly. "Thanks."

As the two of them left the coffee shop a short while later, Sara asked: "so, with all these people joining the campaign... I don't suppose you're about to change your mind, too? 'Cos we're having a meeting later today, if you want to come?"

Kalran shook her head hesitantly. "I... I still don't think I can."

Sara sighed. "If you'd just try..."

"Sara, no. I'm sorry, I'm just not ready yet."

Later that day, Sara sat beside Kelly in the car, looking out across rain-soaked fields to the mountains beyond. They were heading out of town to Elsa's place... well, her parents' place, really. Sara'd been only once before: it wasn't too far out of town, as far as she remembered, but it was far enough to feel rural, a small ranch house surrounded by open land. Getting a bus certainly wasn't an option, not if you didn't want a three-mile walk at any rate, and Kelly had kindly offered to give her a lift.

"I've been meaning to say thanks," Kelly said suddenly, interrupting the silence that had descended on the two of them mid-drive. "For going with Elsa when she met that..." Kelly trailed off, her fingers tightening involuntarily around the steering wheel, pale against the dark plastic.

"When she met Akhir?" Sara finished for her. "No problem. I don't think I was that helpful, really."

Kelly shook her head. "No, you were. Elsa thinks she could have managed on her own, but even she admits it'd be a close-run thing. I don't think she could have done, personally." Kelly shuddered slightly. "I don't think I could."

Sara looked down at her hands, clutching at a fold of her skirt where they sat on her lap. "Oh, Kelly, I think all I did was make things worse."

There was a short silence. "How so?"

"I... well, I kept bringing it back to how angry I was with Akhir, I kept snapping at her, which wasn't really that helpful. Elsa kept having to rein me in."

"She deserves a good snapping at," Kelly said, with emphasis. "I wouldn't worry. Elsa won't speak her mind to her at the moment, but that's not because she doesn't want to. I wish I could say that was all in aid of the campaign, but I don't even think it's just that any more." Kelly sighed. "At least Akhir is among the more acceptable of pool guards, as they go, but I still can't believe Elsa's got the stomach to sit in the same room without punching her."

At Sara's continued silence, Kelly looked round, glancing away from the road for a split second. "Really, Sara, you've nothing to feel guilty about."

Ten minutes later, the two of them entered Elsa's surprisingly relatively tidy bedroom. It wasn't exactly neat, either: there were some suspiciously tall and haphazard stacks of books and papers on the desk which made Sara pretty sure they had been recently shoved into piles to make room for the coffee and homemade mince pies that now sat on a tray in the middle of the desk. The room was a sunny yellow, containing a bed, desk, closet and large bookshelf, which despite its size was still not quite big enough to fit all the volumes neatly. Books were stacked on top of the rows on the shelves and a few were placed on the spare bit of shelf space in front of the rows, facing outwards.

Elsa was flopped on the floor as they came in, her back resting against the wall, while the others perched on the bed, a couple of chairs and a beanbag.

"Hey guys. Grab a seat, if you can still find one. Oh, and get coffee, too. Maybe not in that order."

Kelly grinned, sitting on the bed for a couple of seconds before heading across to get coffee. "Never say I don't listen to you."

Once they were all seated with coffee, Elsa began. "So... well, I've got loads of news, actually, but does anyone else have anything they want to say first?"

"I said everything I wanted to on the phone." Kelly's voice was wary. "I know I said yes, but I don't trust that Yeerk as far as I could kick her. You will be careful, won't you?"

Sara frowned. "Which Yeerk?"

"Sorry, Sara. I phoned everyone else to get their permission, but as you were there..." seeing Sara's continued puzzlement, Elsa added: "Akhir."

Kelly's face went sour at the name, her body tensing. Sara felt her own stomach tighten in sympathy.

"You know, Kal wouldn't want you to do anything you're not comfortable with," Sara said quickly, looking at Kelly. "She'd understand if... we'd all understand if..."

"Sure we would," Elsa cut in, looking searchingly at her friend. "You say the word anytime and I'll tell Akhir we don't want her help."

"Kalran and Oglud risked starvation for me." Kelly still looked upset, but her voice was firm. "I can cope with this for them. If I can avoid meeting the slimeball that would be preferable, but if you can manage to meet her, Elsa, then I will if I have to."

"I'm sure Kalran would agree with me that you don't owe us anything." Illim's expression was serious. "To have done anything other than what we did would have been deeply wrong. It wasn't a favour."

Kelly shook her head. "I know it wasn't, but it still took a lot of courage. It wasn't easy. I can do this."

Elsa nodded. "Thanks, Kelly. You can change your mind anytime. Speaking of... it turns out irritatingly helpful Yeerks are two for the price of one at the moment. Does anyone have objections to a Yeerk named Alniss seven-five-four?"

Sara rolled her eyes. "Plenty of objections, but not to her helping. As long as I'm allowed to be very sarcastic if I have to be in the same room with her."

Elsa grinned. "Sarcasm is actively encouraged. As are slug puns. And annoying songs."

Smiling back, Sara tried to match Elsa's light mood, hoping it would make the conversation easier for some of the others. "No can do. I address Kal mainly by slug puns, they're a form of affection for me."

"How sweet. How's she doing?"

Sara's smile grew wider. "A bit better."

"Oh?" Illim leaned forward. "That's good."

It didn't take too long for the rest of the group to agree to Alniss' involvement; after all, only Sara and Elsa had any kind of connection with her. Elsa soon moved on to other news, and Sara settled a little more comfortably into the cushion behind her. Elsa's bed was covered with so many cushions, soft animals and other paraphernalia that Sara was surprised she managed to fit onto it.

"So, apart from those two we've got a few other new helpers as well. Illim and Adam, I know you've done some recruiting, so I'll let you talk about them. We've got another voluntary now, too, so we're no longer just relying on Jasmine to represent people who might actually be willing to act as hosts. Alma, did you have something to raise about that?"

Alma nodded. "I've got an interview for them. It's only the local paper, but they've said they're interested in running an article on their perspective... I thought it might get us more publicity."

"It certainly would." Elsa took a sip of her coffee. "I called Jasmine after you spoke to me yesterday. She's not sure, it's kind of a scary thing for her I think, but she said she'd be willing to at least find out more about it. She did want it to be anonymous, though, she was very clear about that. She said she'd ask Carla, too- that's the new person who's joined us- and see what she thought. I don't know if Carla'll feel any more confident about it."

"You can give her my number," Alma said softly. "If she'd prefer to talk about it directly."

"Thanks." Elsa glanced hesitantly across at Sara, Kelly and Huan. "She might not want to, she's really shy. It took me about three weeks to get a response to 'hello'... but we can give it a shot. If not, I'm happy to act as messenger."

Sara exchanged a glance with Huan, who looked both troubled and irritated. He looked as though he might even comment, quiet as he usually was, but Elsa's next words drove all other thoughts out of Sara's head, and probably out of the others', too.

"Moving on, I've got some really great news," Elsa said, shifting a little so she sat up straighter. "We've got funding. Like, serious funding."

"How?" Kelly asked, sounding as surprised as Sara felt. "I wouldn't have thought this would be a priority for charity donations. Not that the peace movement don't deserve it, but I don't think most of the world thinks that way."

"Illim? Adam? This is probably your announcement to make, really," Elsa responded, looking across to them.

Adam leant forward. "Do any of you remember... did any of you hear of, rather, a Yeerk named Aftran Nine-Four-Two?"

Sara certainly did. She was one of Kalran's heroes... Kalran went in for tragic stories of that kind. Poor Aftran... escaping from the Visser's clutches, likely only to die of Kandrona starvation a few days later, if she'd managed to survive the trip out of the Pool. "She's dead, isn't she?"

Illim looked suddenly miserable, and Sara immediately regretted saying anything.

"As far as we know," Adam said gently, giving Illim's arm a squeeze. "It's not her, it's her host. She had a human host that she set free when she joined the movement. Karen's family are very rich, well-connected... that helped her get away, I think they moved to some Italian mountain somewhere, but she's back now, and she's heard about the campaign. She got in touch with Cassie Williams, who got in touch with us. This is big for us: her father's a billionaire, and from what Karen said he fully supports the campaign, too. It'll be a massive change in funding."

"That's great!" Huan said, looking more animated.

"We'll need to set up a proper bank account and everything. Get ourselves registered... as a political lobby group, probably, we're not exactly a charity."

"Ooh, we could make badges," Elsa piped up. "Or T-shirts."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Only you could hear 'donation from a billionaire' and then have your most ambitious marketing idea be badges. Besides, you'd probably get yourself beaten up for wearing them."

"Fine," Elsa responded, with a self-deprecating laugh. "I'll leave the marketing to Alma, and stick to making the snacks. That's more my level."

Illim smiled. "That and dealing with people. I can't imagine it was easy to gain those voluntaries'

trust, or their Yeerks'."

"I'm not sure I've done that," Elsa responded, though she smiled slightly at the praise. "I certainly haven't got Alniss' trust, and I'm pretty sure I haven't got Carla's either. I haven't spoken directly to either of them. I think it went something like: Carla told Alniss to tell Akhir to tell Jasmine to tell me that she can help but she's not meeting me in person."

Sara snorted. "They sound like kindergarteners."

"Not a hugely helpful way of thinking, but I do see your point," Elsa acknowledged. "They sound way too reliant on communicating through Yeerks, too, but I'm trying not to let on to Jasmine how much that weirds me out."

"You're not the only one," Kelly muttered. "Can we please just stop talking about them?"

"Sorry," Elsa said, quickly changing the subject. "Karen, on the other hand, is perfectly happy to come meet with us, right? She might know more about setting up all the finance stuff, and I'm sure she'll have some other ideas."

"I know a bit about that," Huan interjected. "But it'd be good to have some new ideas."

Illim nodded. "She's on vacation right now, but she'll be back in a couple weeks. I'll invite her along then."