Nyryntha was here, here on Earth, here in this city. Why though, what would bring her here? My heart thundered in my chest as Shepard and Anderson shouted above my head, the words lost like low mumbles. Nyryntha... if it wasn't for her, then mum would still be here. If that damn Reaper didn't exist, mum wouldn't be dead, she wouldn't be in a cryo-pod! She would still be alive! My eyes squeezed shut, muscles taut and trembling. It was her fault, all her fault, all the Reaper's fault. Why, why did the Reapers go after mum, why?! It wasn't fair! Uncle Julian had been a Saboteur longer and he was still alive! My eyes snapped open, following the Reaper as she trampled everything in her path. What was she... mum. Was she looking for mum's body? Was that why she was here?! Could she still track mum's body despite her death? She already took her life, she wasn't taking anything else! My gaze brushed past the gauntlets, to the grappling hook system. A building across the way was closer to Nyryntha, and had a door to the roof. My jaw tightened. Had to protect mum, had to keep her safe! The yellow omni-blade snapped free, crashing into the window until it shattered before me. Shepard's cry sounded, but the wind drowned out his words. As the blade vanished, the grappling system flew across to the roof, encircling a large ventilation fan sitting on top. The secure light turned green. The winch flew me across the distance.
"GIDEON!" Shepard screeched as the wind battered me. His flailed grab missed by a hair. My gaze fixed onto the roof. Once over the roof, the winch disconnected. It left me rolling over the roof, crashing into a round metal pipe for the ventilation. My body whined, but the pipe collapsed under the strain and crumbled under the hit. My head shook, vision swimming before my resolve kicked in. Mum, save mum, gotta distract Nyryntha. My feet thrashed under me until it found solid ground and stumbled forward towards the trudging Reaper. Ok… she was bigger than I thought… no! Focus! With desperation burning in my chest, my chest swelled with air.
"NYRYNTHA!" I screamed. My heart slammed into my chest as the Reaper stopped marching away from me. Three seconds later, a leg reached out, the massive body swinging around. An air shattering robotic roar trembled the air, pooled my blood in my toes. My body trembled as she completed her turn, focusing on me. My jaw tightened, if quivering still. "Give me back my mum, you bitch!" I barked as the Reaper thundered to a stop. Jesus she was really big…
"The Advocacy has fallen, spawn," Nyryntha said, the sky vibrating with her words. My resolve quivered. "Do my words hurt, spawn? Do you miss your talks, the time you spent together? All for naught; you weren't even in her last thoughts. All she cared about was her own survival... before I fried her brain's nervous system,"
"FUCK YOU!" I screamed. "You're a lying sack of shit! I will destroy you for what you did! Just you wait!" Nyryntha let loose a screech of robotic rage, the air pulsating against my skin.
"And the cycle continues," she said. "You're species has a proverb; 'Like parent like child'. Your species' mentality is not dissimilar to ours, spawn. You claim otherwise. You take up the mantle after your predecessor's failure. Will your spawn continue it after you fall?"
"No, because you Reapers will be just a myth by the time they I have kids!" I snapped. "All you care about is pettiness! Coming all the way here just for mum!"
"To what use do I have for a corpse, spawn? No. My quarry revealed itself under its own accord," she said.
My mouth opened to thunder another response. The words died. My eyes snapped to the ridge of the building as hands and sickles grasped the edge. My heart stopped. A second later, the roof flew beneath me, eyes pinned for an escape root in my mad sprint. The Paladin clicked free from my hip. A Hunter poked out from behind the ridge, screaming. Two hands on the hilt, the Paladin roared in my hand. The pistol jolted back hard, fingers aching to keep it in my grasp. The Hunter died, an explosion of green blood pouring over the building. My hand grabbed the door, yanking on until a dark stairway greeted me. The sound of my thundering heart drowned out the clatter of my feet on the metal stairs, the screams echoing around me as husks burst into the building. Just at a door to the 46th floor, a Husk turned from a lower floor. My shoulder rammed into the door beside me as it made a grab for me, bursting me out into a room filled with screaming people, Hunters and Husks. The Reaper slaves charged for me, their target now visible. My eyes landed on a window, legs sprinting for all they were worth. The Paladin rang in my ears. A Hunter leapt on me, sickles cutting through a gap in the armour to pin an arm to the floor. Desperation blinded me, the Paladin swinging upwards to punch a hole in the Hunter. The force jerked it away but smashed the pistol into my face, blood pooling under my armour as my legs launched me up, running for a window. My right eye struggled open after the pistol recoil. A glimmer of a shuttle caught the patchwork sunlight. Safety, help! A bound, a leap and the ground beneath me vanished, leaving 46 floors of air between me and the ground.
Hands grabbed me from in the shuttle, pulling me away from the abyss. The husks and Hunters screeched, scurrying around the invested floors as the shuttle pulled away. Air burned my dry throat as massive gulps filled my chest. My eyes swung up to my rescuers. A light tan woman with short dark hair, red staining the underside, and hazel eyes smiled, an N7 insignia on the chest. My heart thundered over a beat. Megan Prosser, Keneiloe. Saboteur. Sensory Overload. Beside her, a dark toned man in a suit, 3 scars stretching from left temple to right cheek. His dark brown eyes smiled as he and Keneiloe shared a look. My heart stopped. Was he… a Saboteur too? Fuck! Kala launched an overload from my omni-tool, sending Megan, the man and the group of humans around her flying. My fingers grasped the emergency release for the door, the wind howling once the door popped open. The shuttle swung to a stop, enough time to leap out and grab the ribbing on the rear side of the door. My hands grasped metal and air until they pulled me onto the roof. My heart swelled, on the cusp of bursting. As a pale haired female crawled out after me, her head exploded, body tumbling through the air. My eyes flew down, a faint pop echoing up the valley of buildings. Sassy reloaded the sniper on the ground, Kala bouncing around his feet. Air clogged my throat as Nyryntha swung around, a red glow radiating from the base of her front leg. Sassy and Kala sprinted to the side just as she let loose a red laser that blinded me, the air cracking under the power. The ground crumbled, smaller buildings erupted into fire. Sassy and Kala made it safety though.
A new hand grabbed my attention. Megan pulled herself onto the roof, eyes narrowed. My body trembled, staring down the abyss of air to the ants on the ground. She drew a pistol, cocking it. The Paladin raised in my hand, firing. A blink later, my gaze stared at the building I had escaped from, about 40 degrees right of Megan. My eyes squeezed shut, raising the gun as Kala's voice droned out directions. The Paladin fired, a growl surfacing from the other side of the shuttle. Pain emptied my lungs, my injured arm jerking back. My hand clutched the Paladin, my only link to mum, for dear life. That grip spared it from a tumble down the abyss. Footfalls sounded behind me.
"Pangestu! Cut the AI before it troubles us further! And you can cease your struggles, spawn," she said. My head snapped to face her, too close to the edge of the shuttle for comfort as she stood over me. The Paladin's lights died, my visor flickering before it lost power. Kala's voice vanished. Tech Incap! Oh fuck!
"H-How is he blocking Kala and not knocking the shuttle out the sky?" I asked, voice trembling. Megan's slow smile curled my toes until my brain wanted to jump off the shuttle, damn the fall.
"You underestimate what our powers can do, spawn," she said, grabbing hold of me by the collar of the armour. My legs flailed as she lifted me off the ground. "The deceased Advocacy's ship continues the hunt, much sooner than expected. Palalrian has not yet fallen. You have ties to both and more. What a useful little servant you will be. We have plans for you, spawn," she said. My teeth grit, kicking at her as hard as possible. With so few options. My legs pressed against her chest plate, freeing a hand to grab the metal blade behind my boot. Megan didn't let me draw it. She punched the back of my knees until the caved, then slammed me into the roof of the shuttle with a punch to the face. My head swam.
A shadow fell over the shuttle. A second later, Megan flew backwards. Her hand grasped the edge of the roof, clinging on. Shepard landed hard on the roof, scrambling to his feet as a shuttle above us dropped lower. Megan snarled, a robotic rumble of discontent as Shepard grabbed me and leapt onto the new shuttle. Before I found the air to speak, to warn Shepard, the shuttle shut down, tumbling from the air. My lungs emptied in a scream as we tumbled through the air. Pangestu's shuttle dived, slamming the shuttle into the building swarmed with husks. The force threw me through the glass, rolling on the sharpened floor. A heartbeat later, husks leapt atop me, sickles scratching at my armour for a hold. My arms flailed, the Paladin's lights blinking alive. A Hunter's head erupted before me, but 10 more waited behind. There was no getting up from the weight alone. Their creaking 'purrs' rumbled beside my ear, sending every hair to attention. My omni-tool burst into life. The Overload sent the husks sprawling with a pitched scream. My feet scrambled up, rushing back to my feet. No sign of Shepard, no sign of anyone! The husks crowded close, more pouring in from the windows. My back hit a piece of unbroken glass.
A small metal ball bounced between the husks. It blinked before a beep rang out. My throat closed. An explosion rocked the room, the floor heaving as husks flew in all directions, the glass behind me cracked as my back thrust against it. Marruns sprinted across the room, charging through husks. A second later, he charged into me, through the window and we tumbled through the air. We spun in the air for the 20 floor drop until Marruns orientated himself. Jets on his armour burst into life, slowing us down and breaking our fall. We tumbled onto the tarmac. My lungs wheezed, relieved to feel solid ground beneath me. Marruns grunted as he found his feet.
"You boy, are so fucking dead! I will kick your ass so hard you'll be eating the inside your colon-!" he thundered.
He snapped his head around just as fist thick cables punched him. Marruns soared over my head. He crashed through the windows on the ground floor of the building behind us. My head snapped around as cables slammed me into the ground, choking me. My lungs pleaded for air as Megan stalked closer. Her advanced stopped when Shepard leapt from the third floor of the building with omni-blade out. Megan snarled as she whipped around, but Shepard's course didn't change and they pair crashed into each other. The tables tangling me eased enough to free myself. The cables flew as my feet found solid ground beneath me again. Marruns leapt out of the building to join Shepard in his fight against Megan. For me, it was time to run again. Husks clambered down the building walls towards me, screeching like creaking metal. The downed shuttle provided cover from the fight as my hunt for Kala's mech began. The street I tore up had a massive gouge taken from it from Nyryntha's layer, spewing slabs of road and rock all over the remaining road. Husks tore after me up the road, a hoard of monsters waiting to kill me. Kala's visor blinked. The familiar 'tap' of her metal feet registered and within a few seconds, the mech ran beside me. The husks closed in. Desperate for some distance, a vault later my stomach pressed into Kala's back as the mech tore off down the street at max speed bearing weight. The husks tumbled away as Kala used her boosters to leap a few metres ahead.
Around the next corner, however, the mech tumbled until a heap, sending me flying across the tarmac. Her visor died. My head snapped up as Pangestu closed in, wires flicking out from his arms. My throat closed, struggling to my feet to flee. He lifted an arm, the cable shooting out of his hand and locking around my neck. Air gagged, my hands clawing at the cables. Darkness spread from the edges of my vision as my lungs screamed, unable to catch a breath. The world sunk away. Only a sharp robotic cry and the sound of struggling snapped me back. The cable loosened, dropping my limp body onto the ground. Kala's visor blinked alive, the mech stirred. Through the blurry vision, Pangestu thrashed, Sassy locked onto his back with a metal blade jammed into the back of the neck. His second hand, between fending off cables attempting to choke him or rip his limbs off, hacked at the connections between Saboteur and spine. Kala shook herself, rushing to help manage the choking cable situation. With a screech, Sassy leapt off, the last connection of the spine popping free to sprawl on the ground. He rasped, green blood pooling from a gash over his brow.
Nyryntha's air shattering cry shook the air, the ground trembling under her rage. Sassy grit his teeth as he sprinted back towards me, grabbing me off the ground and over his shoulder. The ground thundered as Nyryntha approached. Before she could get close, the Alliance fighters descended from the sky, frigates and cruisers dotting the sky behind them as they approached at full speed. Nyryntha roared at the bug bites, the fighters swarming around her. As the frigates fired, Nyryntha realised time was up. With a discontented thunder, her massive knees kicked her off the ground, thrusters blasting thick black smoke down the streets as she took the sky. The fleet pursued, but they wouldn't be able to keep up. The Reaper, despite her size, was still faster as she fled through the clouds. Sassy grunted, readjusting me on his shoulder as his finger reached his ear.
"Delern to Bellum. How is the situation?" he asked.
"Megan has fled. The Alliance has boots on the ground now and they are swarming the area," he said, panting. "The boy?"
"I have him. I killed the other Saboteur. One good thing about Kala is the Saboteurs make it damn obvious when they have Tech Incap and are around Gideon," he said. "Where are the Alliance troops? We still have husks inbound,"
"Shepard here. Forwarding the coordinates now," he said. "We'll meet you there,"
Sassy snatched up the spine, dropping a drone to mark the Saboteur body for pickup. He jogged down the street to the coordinates, giving me enough time to recover from my near blackout. Kala ran by my side, reading the data streaming from my suit. What she found made her emoticon fret. Her complaining about my safety was the last thing my exhausted body needed. With Sassy here, there was no way he was letting me off without a huge lecture. As we rounded the corner down the avenue leading to the Alliance HQ. Soldiers crawled over the street, Makos and Grizzlies trundling past. Once the HQ building towered over us, a swarm of Alliance soldiers poured in and out of the building. The scream of husks echoed in the now empty city. We saw no sign of Megan. Minutes later, a battered Marruns and Shepard jogged up the street to join us. Sassy refused to relinquish me, despite the masses of people around us. Shepard patted Sassy's free shoulder and led him into the building. From there, he searched the crowd.
"Anderson!" he cried. Sassy's grip on me tightened as we paused beside the Admiral. "What's the situation?"
"The Reaper is moving on, the fleet is in pursuit but I don't think we'll be able to catch it. We have husks and these salarian things tearing through civilians in 3 quadrants," Anderson said.
"Hunters. Those salarian husks are Hunters," Sassy said. Anderson frowned.
"Anderson, we have to go. That Reaper is after the boy and if Megan is still in the area, we're all still in danger," Shepard said. Anderson's eyes passed over me as Sassy shuffled me on his shoulder. "Anderson, we have a Reaper out there and it's attacking homeworlds. I need to get back out there,"
"Shepard, if I could get you back out there, I would. But with the batarians demanding blood, we can't risk it. We must trust the other species to deal with this Reaper," Anderson said.
"Oh please," Marruns snorted. "They're protecting their own borders. No one is trying to 'deal' with her,"
"Her?" Anderson said.
"Long story. Short story is that Reaper is running around unchecked. We need to kill her quick before she weakens us and help the Reapers," Sassy said. "Shepard, you deal with this shit. We need to get Gideon off this planet,"
"Is the Starquake nearby?" he asked, searching the skies.
"We're not with the Starquake," Marruns said. Shepard snapped his head towards him. "The boy planned on running away to make his own way here in a shuttle to get your help. We tagged along," Shepard's jaw dropped.
"You're here in a shuttle? You'll never get away Nyryntha!" he gawked. Sassy shrugged.
"We'll make do with that we have. Although with Dell's body, evading her will be difficult," he said. Shepard turned white, eyes flicking over all of us.
"You have Dell's body with you?" he wheezed. His teeth caught his lower lip, gnawing at it as he assessed his options. "Anderson, you can't let them go out there like this,"
"Shepard, there is nothing I can do. My orders are to secure you, put you back under house arrest and deal with these husks," Anderson said. Shepard narrowed his eyes.
"Let me speak to the brass," he said. Anderson straightened.
"You think you can convince them to let you go?" he asked. Shepard rolled his shoulders back.
"Damn straight I can," he said, eyebrows drawn down. Anderson glanced down the street as gunfire popped through the air. He tensed his jaw.
"Do it. The sooner you are back in action, the better our chances for survival are. Dammit, Sovereign took the strength of the 5th fleet, I do not want a repeat this close the Reapers arriving, if what you found in batarian space to be correct," he said. Shepard nodded as he marched towards the building. Sassy strode over to a quiet corner of chairs as pops rang through the air like distant fireworks. He breathed deep.
"Let's get Gideon assessed before I scold him. I'd rather he didn't drop dead on me before he's heard the whole lecture," Sassy said. Marruns chuckled, Sassy dropped me on the line of hard cushioned chairs, away from the gunfire.
"And while I'm at it, who the hell allowed you to use a grappling hook? They are experimental, dangerous and you are not trained, strong enough or intelligent enough to use one!" Sassy snapped.
My eyes locked to the ground while the combat medic tended to my arm, the final injury to treat after my run in with the husks. Her smile only grew as the salarian's grilling continued. Rage burned his cool exterior burned away. Was this what it was like for mum when she messed up, did Sassy yell at her like this too? His words recoiled every muscle in me as he moved onto my behaviour with Nyryntha. An hour and he had only covered breaking into the building. My eye twitched as the medic touched a nerve, paralysed through anaesthetic. Finishing the vein stitching, she felt happy enough to close the long, thin wound that cut into the underside of the triceps. That would leave a scar... Marruns leaned against a wall, smirking as Sassy paced, listing off another rant of how stupid I am. Kala sat beside me, calming now someone was tending to me. The medic grabbed a bandage, protecting the stitches. She patted my good shoulder as she scurried away with a grin on her face. Sassy stopped before me, frown wrinkling his face.
"Even your mother didn't do shit like this! ...No, wait, I lie, she did. Dammit, why did you pick that trait of her up?" he demanded.
"I'm a Shaik?" I said. Sassy frowned, the pistol flashing in his hand. My yelp sounded louder than the pistol bang. The surrounding Alliance soldiers jumped to attention, hands on weapons. When they realised no blood pooled on the floor, they flicked their eyes around the room.
"That is not a good thing at this point!" he snapped, waving the Predator in my face. "Wheel weave, boy," My eyes narrowed before turning away. "What does getting yourself killed do for you at this point? The Reapers want you, but they don't need you."
"I know that," I muttered. "I... just... she's the reason mum's..."
"All the more reason not to charge head first into danger. We do not know what Nyryntha's intentions are, or we didn't, so leaping before her without a plan and without a small army behind you is more stupid than when your mother got lost on Illium and nearly signed an indentured servant form after I told her not to sign shit!"
"She did what?" Marruns asked, suppressing a laugh. Sassy grit his teeth.
"Are Shaik's always this stupid?" he muttered.
"Yes?" I said. Sassy's brows snapped down. Another pop rang out, my thigh stinging from the air bullet. the soldiers gawked. "You asked!"
"It was a rhetorical question!" he snapped.
"Do you have to shoot him?" a voice grumbled. Sassy's eyes snapped to the voice. Shepard marched over, dog tags around his neck. "He's a kid, you don't need to shoot him,"
"He's also a Shaik, shooting them is the only way they learn," Sassy said, tone chilling. Shepard's eyes narrowed as he stopped between us, turning towards me as my hand rubbed the stinging thigh. He put his hands on his knees as he leaned down.
"I talked the Alliance brass into putting me back into action, saying 'the safety of Earth is under threat'. With Nyryntha floating around, they need me out there since I'm the only one here with Reaper experience. Once she's gone, however..." he shook his head. "I'll deal with that then," My face scrunched up at his words. "The Normandy is in dry dock, but all the exterior work finished a week ago. Only the interior refurbishments remain. They can do that while we fly around, we just need to stop in Alliance bases every now and then. You lot are coming with me,"
"With you?" I asked. "But... what about mum?"
"I'm sure the Spectre or the salarian can go get the shuttle, we have space for her. We won't leave her behind," he said. My eyes dropped. He moved closer to my ear. "I'll tell you more later," he said. My eyes flicked up. Shepard winked as he straightened. "Because Dell's body is a Saboteur, we must cut her off, shielding and whatnot. Between that and the Normandy's stealth drive, we should be able to escape the Reaper's detection," Sassy raised his chin.
"Marruns will get the shuttle. Where are we heading?" Sassy asked. Marruns' twitched, mandibles snapping to his cheeks.
"Here are the coordinates," Shepard said, his omni-tool lighting up his face. "We'll see you there, Spectre," Marruns growled, marching out the building, a grumble echoing from him. Sassy smirked before glowering down at me. My eyes dropped to Kala. "C'mon, let's head out to the ship, we'll take a sky car,"
Sassy remained by my heel as we walked out of the Alliance HQ, the tanks still rolling as the army secured the city. Until they verified they had gotten every husk, no one took chances. Shepard summoned a sky car, watching the shuttles and tanks weave through the area. When the car arrived, Sassy shoved Kala and me into the back, sitting in front with Shepard. Shepard's lips pressed together, but otherwise, he stayed silent. Shepard steered the sky car around the military vehicles consuming the sky like bats, the sun disappearing behind dense cloud. My eyes trailed over the sights, the carnage of Nyryntha's attack; the destroyed buildings, the craters in the ground, the trail of destruction from husks and Reaper alike. And that was one Reaper. Then they all came here… when the Reaper army descended… what would remain? My eyes dropped. Nyryntha wanted me... wanted to turn me into a monster. My eyes squeezed shut. Was this what mum was protecting me against? Why she never wanted me on missions? Dammit all, why didn't I learn this when she was here, when I could say 'you're right, I'll stay on the ship'? or maybe she did and I never listened. Or was it because now she was gone, the one shield that had protected me from this side of life had gone? Mum... protected me from my own instincts, without me even guessing. Was that why she took Kala away too for a while? Looking at it from the outside, the things I did and said to her after… I'm so stupid. So fucking stupid. My hand trailed over the bandaged arm, emotion bubbling below the surface. Dammit it all...
The sky car landed with a light thud, snapping me awake. My eyes flew around the cab as the doors popped open, frigates floating high above us. Kala nudged me as she jumped out, encouraging me to follow. The cab closed up when I stepped out, staring over the docks of frigates. In the distance, a familiar ship waited. My heart thumped. Sassy steered me with a stern chill in his aura to follow Shepard, disappearing inside the building linking the docks together. Ships of all sizes and shapes filled the scene before me. There was no reception, no nice hallways, just an open building with dock after dock after dock, able to take 2 frigates on two vertical layers or one cruiser. Shepard led us down the gangway, ignoring the bustle of people as they restocked or repaired the ships from the scuffle with Nyryntha. A few wouldn't be back yet either after chasing her to the relay. The Normandy loomed up, a new blue and black paint job to replace the Cerberus colours. The activity picked up as people piled inside, machinery stocking the cargo hold. Sassy held my shoulder as the bustle tightened. Even inside the ship, the swell only worsened. Shepard took us to the elevator, squeezing us in as equipment blocked large chunks of it. We emerged on the top deck, devoid of life.
"I'd recommend staying here until things calm down. We need to stock the ship with supplies and dealing with additional equipment to keep the retrofit going. It'll take a few hours. I've told the ground crew to make space for the shuttle to land. We'll offload everything and then we'll park it in Alliance docks. The Starquake can pick it up later," he said. Sassy nodded.
"Let us know when Marruns arrives. Gideon has some... equipment he needs to offload," he said. Shepard frowned, but didn't press. He disappeared down the engineering tunnels. My ass landed on a box, staring at the floor.
It took 3 hours before they allowed Marruns to bring the shuttle in for landing, even then, they only let him land dockside. Out of the quiet officer's room and back into the press of people, Sassy guided me through the swell of humans until we reached the cargo door on the dock. Marruns popped the door open, watching the humans shove the last of the waiting equipment on board. Shepard joined us, eyes brushing past the shuttle. He paused mid-step when he saw the head of the cryo-pod. My hands reached for the servers after stepping inside, shuffling between pod and seats. Shepard's sharp intake of air pulled my attention back.
"Gods... I had hoped you were wrong..." he muttered, hand fluttering over the glass before pressing down. His fingers curled into a fist.
My heart pulled, gaze snapping to the servers. Unplug, turn off, wrap here, lift there. Anything to distract me while Shepard ordered the pod onto the Normandy. With mum's pod gone, Sassy brought a hover table for my servers. Marruns salvaged what equipment they needed from the shuttle before tossing the codes to an Alliance dock hand to take the shuttle to the holding area. Shepard took Mum to the med bay, to prepare the shielding to ensure Nyryntha couldn't track us. The crew told me of a quiet area below the engineering deck that was free. On the 5th deck, a set of stairs curled down. The red stained hole held some storage equipment, but an old bunk remained. While Shepard got the ship prepped to leave, it gave me the time to get Kala's servers up and running. Kala remained by my heel, watching the entrance to the cubby hole. Everything connected, Kala gave me the green. The ship quivered as it lifted from the dock. After sitting down on the bunk, my eyes trailed over Paladin at my hip, my fingers brushing over the gun with trembling fingers.
The Saboteur Sheet has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.
A/N: Well, good news and bad news! Good news is that Homecoming is finally edited! So it should just be silly mistakes now. The bad news is that Starquake is moving into a random release period for the near future until I sort myself out. Don't worry, Starquake is dying (yet). Not when I only have this book and next book to do!