GAME PLAN

While Riyo spoils her new godson, the rest of Defections sets out on another mission. Little do they know their game plan is going to change.

Phee glanced over from the ship's controls. Then she looked again with a huff. "Would you put that thing down? You're worse than he was."

Genna rolled her eyes, switched off the data pad and dropped it into her lap. "He didn't know about the girls. I'm sure if he did he would have been ten times as bad."

"They're gonna be just fine with Shep and Lyanna." Phee smiled back at the viewport. "And yeah, you're right. He would have been."

"You said we have to make a stop on the way there?"

"Yep," Phee grinned. "A quick pick up and drop off. You'll like Suu. The two of you have a lot in common."

Genna nodded toward the door where Omega had gone. "And Meg's not going to the game with us because…"

"She wanted to visit with her niece and nephew."

Genna stared at her incredulously.

"What, you didn't think your girls were the only ones?"

"What are the odds of that with a million or so drop dead gorgeous brothers-in-law?" Genna chuckled.

"Well, these two, Shae and Jek, were actually Suu's before she met her soldier boy. Cut adopted them."

"So I have another sister-in-law," Genna mused. "We should have invited Riyo to join the party."

"I would have if she wasn't busy with another defection. But this trip isn't all about fun and games you know. Suu's got skills that will come in handy on our mission as well."

"Right." The plan was simple enough. They were going to grab Phee's defector from among the crowd during a limmie match. Genna was going to take her into the fresher and give her a quick makeover so nobody would recognize the former Imperial leaving with a couple of other fans, and then they would be on the way to the spaceport. "And what are these skills that my sister-in-law adds to the mix?"

"Oh," Phee shrugged. "She's a twi'lek."

That could go several different directions. Genna waited a moment for the rest. "And?"

Phee sobered. "She was a slave, so she knows a thing or two about removing tracking chips."

"A slave?" Genna took a moment to process the idea. "You mean our defector was enslaved as well? I mean working for the Empire is pretty much slavery for all of them."

"You might say that. The Empire is starting to keep a closer eye on some of their employees."

"That's osik!"

"What's osik?" Omega returned to the cockpit from her trip to the shuttle's fresher.

"Genna was just voicing her opinion on the Empire's practice of implanting chips into the bodies of their personnel."

Omega shrugged. "It's what the Republic did with the clones."

How could she have forgotten? Genna thought back to the scar on Tech's temple that she had found the first time she cut his hair.

"Yep," Phee agreed. "But now it's an aftermarket addition instead of coming factory standard."

Genna shuddered at the idea. And she was the one who had sat in a tattoo parlor multiple times to decorate the surface of her skin.

"Am I going to need to cover a chip removal scar with makeup or styling or something?" She wondered if she had brought all the right equipment for the job.

"Nah, it should be in the shoulder or somewhere easily covered by clothing. And the defector is human so one of your regular skin tones should be sufficient."

…

"Two tickets, please." Lieutenant Romana Adell stuck a credit chit through the hole in the stadium's ticket booth with a bright smile.

"Of course ma'am." The Rodian manning the booth didn't even look her in the eye. She completed the transaction as quickly as possible and handed over the tickets and Romana's change. "Enjoy the game."

Romana counted the chits. "Here, I think you gave me too much change."

"Military discount," The booth attendant chirped and pulled back from her extended hand.

She knew there was no such thing, but the sparkle of fear in the attendant's eyes told her everything she needed to know.

"Thank you," her companion said, reminding her that she had more serious things to worry about than a few credits. She stuck the change and the tickets in her pocket and rejoined her friend.

"Loosen up, Eve. We're supposed to be having fun and you look like you're going to pass out," she whispered.

Eve gulped and straightened her cap. "I'm not sure about this uniform. What if they don't buy it?"

"They will." Romana paused the conversation while they passed through the turnstiles and passed through the crowd of limmie fans. "Usually people are trying to avoid anyone in the uniform, so they don't pay much attention. No one will notice."

"Did you tell them I was coming?"

It would be too simple if they were a group of friends meeting up for a day out, but in truth the stakes were far higher. "Not exactly," she admitted. "But I did make sure that they would bring along someone who can help us get what we need."

…

"Our defector's name is Romana Adell. She's originally from Serenno." Phee gave Genna and Suu the rundown before they left the ship. "She's a Lieutenant, wearing her uniform, and she's got dark hair and eyes as you can see from the holo."

"Won't be after I get through with her." Genna grinned.

"She's your age, Gen. And looks like from this she was playing limmie when the empire recruited her. Have you seen her before?"

Genna shook her head. "We never got to play Serenno when I was on the Onderonian team."

"You played limmie?" Suu asked.

"I haven't been to a real game in years. Started up a little league on Pabu for the kids though. The girls love it."

"Do any of the grown-ups love it?" Suu asked. "Male grown-ups?"

Genna rolled her eyes and turned her ire on Phee. "Are you enlisting Suu in your 'let's find a new man for Genna' scheme?"

"What kind of friend would I be if I didn't? Come on, check out the guys here. You'd have something in common with them."

"Besides," Suu agreed, taking Genna's arm and ushering her towards the stadium gates. "It's been an absolute age since I had any time away from Cut and the kids and I would find it entertaining."

There were plenty of men to choose from in the crowd while they waited for the match to begin. Genna merely smiled, shook her head, and laid out her ground rules: number one she wouldn't date defectors. That was easy in this case. Number two, nothing long term. Phee was glad to chip in on a hotel for the night if that was all it was going to take. And number three, Genna absolutely refused to have her daughters get mixed up in her love life.

"Well, that is why we're here and they're at home waiting for their mother to return. All the better for getting the chance to blow off some steam."

Suu patted her shoulder. "Now which do you prefer: tall, dark, and handsome or maybe that broad shouldered, green skinned gentleman over there?"

Genna furrowed her brow in mock consideration. "I just can't decide. That pantoran has rather nice shebs."

"I hate to break up the fun but I think our defector is over by the column on your left." Phee nodded slightly in that direction and the other two swiveled around to look.

"Uh, Phee," Genna frowned. "I thought you said she would be alone. Unless that's not the one you showed us in the holo."

"No, it's her alright and it looks like she has brought a friend." Phee left them and went to find out what the mix up was all about.

"You ready to get to work?" Suu asked Genna.

"I'm always ready. What about you?"

"Well, I can't say it's something I really enjoy doing but if it enables another being's freedom, I don't mind."

"How do you even learn to do something like that?"

"Necessity, in the beginning." Suu smiled wanly. "I had to remove the chips the Hutts had implanted in my children so that we could escape."

Genna had been watching Phee's progress with the defector but now Suu had her full attention.

"That's when the clone trooper found us. I could not remove my own chip and I couldn't speak much Basic at the time. I just held out the vibroblade handle first and said, 'Cut'."

"And that's how he got his name?" Genna realized. "Then did you return the favor?"

"We didn't find out about the clones' inhibitor chips until after the war was over. Cut had a bad headache when the rest activated but we weren't anywhere near any Jedi for him to do anything about it and then as soon as he was able, Rex came to Saleucami where we used to live and … well, to answer your question, no. There are chips and there are chips. The standard tracking variety I can usually take care of with no problem but if they are integrated into the body systems I'm afraid it takes more sophisticated instruments and knowledge than what I possess."

Genna would have liked to continue the conversation, but Phee returned with both of the women and steered them all to the emptiest part of the stadium.

"Ladies, may I introduce Romana and Eve." She gestured to the new arrivals with a wave.

"We have two joining us?" Suu raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you ahead of time," Romana said. "But I was afraid to go alone."

"It all happened really fast," Eve explained.

Suu and Genna looked to Phee, who as the handler was technically in charge. She looked torn.

"Okay," she said after a tense pause. "I guess we have two seats. Let's get this show on the road."

Suu took out a scanning device from her purse and moved toward Romana. "If you could remove any clothing from the chip insertion site, I can begin the removal procedure."

"Oh, that's not for me." Romana stepped back and gestured Eve forward. "You can scan me if you like, but Eve's the one who has a chip."

They didn't even need to look at Phee to know that was not what she'd been told over the comm. "Then Genna will get started with your makeover." The handler inserted herself between the two defectors, effectively splitting them up. "Suu, will you take Eve to start the procedure?"

…

"So, how long have you two known each other?" Phee asked.

"Not that long," Eve admitted and slipped off her uniform tunic. "We met working at the garrison."

"Nice," Phee replied and walked the short distance to where Genna was weaving extensions into Romana's newly blonde hair.

"So, best friends since basic training?".

"That's us," Romana chuckled. "We've been inseparable ever since."

Well if that wasn't a bright red flag, Phee didn't know what was. She snuck a suspicious look in Genna's direction when the stylist stepped aside to prepare more extensions.

Genna's job was not altogether much more difficult, adding an extra walk-in appointment to her schedule, but she'd realized that something was up when she noticed how ill-fitting Eve's uniform was.

"I thought they were stricter about appearance," she murmured to Phee.

Phee nodded. "I didn't want to ask too many questions till we could get out of here but yeah, I noticed it too. She might have lost some weight while she was out on a mission or something but the quartermaster would have provided a more regulation outfit when she returned to base."

"We could get her a team jersey or something…"

"Phee." Suu called her over in a voice that could only mean she had encountered another hiccup.

She was holding the scanning device near the back of the extra defector's neck and staring at the readout. "This isn't just a tracking chip."

That meant it was one of the other sort that Suu couldn't take out. Phee crossed the commandeered space in a moment and pulled her aside.

"How bad is it?"

"It's in her spine. I- I don't dare even touch it," Suu announced helplessly. "And it's not just that."

"What?"

"The Empire doesn't use this model of chip. They don't want their resources blowing up."

And there it was, the nail in the coffin. Phee turned on her heel and stalked over to the overturned bucket where Eve was seated

"You wanna tell me why there's an explosive slave chip in your neck?" She barked.

Eve's face screwed into a terrified mask at the mention of explosions. "They said I'd die if I ever tried to take it out," she cried.

"Who did?" Suu demanded in the same voice Genna used to extract information from her daughters. "Eve, who put this in your neck?"

"The Hutts," Eve, if that was even her real name, broke down. "They put it in when I was three."

Phee felt a pang but forced her toughest expression. "Tell me everything."

"I'm not an officer," Eve blubbered. "I…I work in one of the factories that the garrison oversees. My master has a contract with the Empire, and that's where I met Romana. She said her friends could take my chip out and help me escape, and I had to try. I couldn't be a slave any longer."

Eve's confession had grown loud enough to catch Romana's attention, despite the distance. She hopped up from the seat where Genna was still working on her hair, nearly undoing all of the work that the stylist had already accomplished.

"We can't leave her!"

"It's not like we want to." Phee crossed her arms over her chest, frowning.

"We can't," Romana repeated. Then she seemed to have a sudden inspiration. "If she doesn't go, then I don't go either. And if you try to take me without her I'll- I'll make a scene. I will let this entire stadium know that there are agents of the rebellion here and none of you will get away either."

Genna handily defused the current situation. "Well nobody's going anywhere until I finish your hair so why do you come back and sit down. Eve can sit with us if you like while these two figure out how we're gonna get all of us out of here in one piece."

Phee nodded her thanks while Genna led the defector and the slave girl back to her makeshift salon chair.

"So, what are we going to do?" Suu asked quietly.

"I guess we comm Dalla." Phee got out her comm unit and prepared to punch in the channel.

"Or Echo…" mused Suu, mostly to herself, but the idea was forming in her mind.

"I have a doctor friend who could help. They helped me get my spinal surgery." Genna jumped in again trying to be helpful.

"Damn, Dalla's not picking up. I'm going to have to leave a message."

"Are you sure Dalla wouldn't just tell you to leave the spare and knock out and drag out the defector?" Suu murmured so that only Phee could hear her. "From what you've told me about her, I don't think it would even be a question."

Phee took a deep breath. "But I don't know what else to do and we can't just leave the girl here."

"I think we should try to contact Echo. He's had experience with getting his brothers' chips removed and he might know of a way for us to put Eve's chip on ice so to speak until we can get her somewhere to have it removed."

"But where would we go? One of the rebellion's doctors?"

"We could comm them and see if they can give me any advice for what I can do here." Suu shrugged.

They both looked over to where Genna had resumed adding extensions to Romana's hair. Eve was holding one of the defector's hands in both of hers and trying to look hopeful.

"Alright," Phee took up the comm unit and typed something into it.

"What are you doing?" Suu looked over her shoulder.

"Making sure the Mollymauk doesn't try to stop us from saving this girl's life."

…

"Okay," the rebel doctor said in the tone doctors used when they really wanted to say "oh shit." "Can you show me a lateral view?"

Suu moved the scanner into position and the doctor exhaled.

"How long has that been in there?"

"Over twenty years," Suu said. "We haven't touched it. As soon as I realized where it was, I stopped the procedure."

"You did the right thing. The chip is implanted on the third cervical vertebra, and it's been in there so long that the other structures have grown around it. Muscles, blood vessels, but I'm most concerned about the nervous structures. One wrong move, and you could damage the cervical nerves or the spinal cord."

"That doesn't sound good," Eve whispered.

"The fourth cervical nerve is only a few millimeters away. If it's damaged, it'll paralyze the diaphragm." Clearly that hadn't sunk in on a slave with no formal education, so the doctor elaborated. "You use your diaphragm to breathe."

Eve squeaked and Phee laid a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "What can we do?"

"Getting that out will require precise skill and extensive training. The only person who has any chance of doing it is a neurosurgeon."

"And it's not like those grow on trees," Phee sighed.

"My nurses are calling around, but it's going to be a stretch."

"I told you I know somebody," Genna called over.

"You know a neurosurgeon?" Phee asked.

"Kriff, I was paralyzed for over a standard year before I had my surgery and as you can plainly see." She did a little dance step. "I'm back up and kicking now."

"Who is that who was speaking?" The doctor asked from the comm.

Phee carried the unit over nearer to the stylist.

"Me." Genna waved a free hand.

"Where did you have your surgery done?"

"Kuat University teaching hospital. I had a friend who was studying orthopedics there and she made the introductions. Mollymauk footed the bill." She smirked. There was a time when Genna wasn't able to share the identity of her benefactor but since everyone here knew who she was and it seemed likely that the funding for this endeavor might be coming from the same place, she thought it was probably safe to say.

"Kuat is galactically known for their neurology department." The doctor in the holo stroked his chin. "And if you know someone who is sympathetic to the cause… of course there's still the matter of transferring the patient to Kuat."

Suu stepped forward. "I still say Echo is our best hope for making that happen."

"You're probably right." Phee closed out the comm with the doctor and opened her text messaging app. "You call him. Dalla's gonna love this."

…

It didn't look like Dalla was going to get any sympathy from Yularen when she called him, but she was still going to try. "Spare a moment for some managerial advice?"

"What kind of managerial advice could I possibly give you?"

"How would you handle a couple of subordinates who sent you a text message to tell you that they were ignoring protocol to do something both dangerous and stupid, and then blocked your number so you couldn't talk them out of it?"

"Really?" Yularen looked more amused than anything. "In that case, all I can say is 'karma's a bitch.'"

Dalla's jaw dropped and Yularen smirked.

"I was never this bad."

"No, you were worse."

"They're trying to defuse a bomb with a scalpel and some tinfoil. I never did anything that dumb."

"Getting married for convenience." Yularen ticked them off on his fingers. "Selling your ex-boyfriend's family heirlooms on the HoloNet, poking at a squad of elite clones, ticking off the Partisans, making deals with ISB colonels, need I go on?"

He didn't. "Okay, maybe I was that bad."

"To be frank, this is classic Defections. You do your best work when you're improvising, so have faith that your handlers know what they're doing."

"I don't like this, Colonel. It's the first rule of Defections that the defector's life is priority one. You don't go on side quests."

"And your handlers know that as well. I don't agree with or understand everything my agents do, but I trust that they're intelligent beings who know what they're doing. If they take a risk or branch out on a mission, it's because they believe they can still meet their primary objective." He sighed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get your brother out of the anniversary celebration for the Siege of Lasan."

"They're throwing a party for a mass murder?" Dalla asked. "That's the tackiest thing I've ever heard."

"Agreed, which is why I have no plans of attending or allowing Alexsandr to attend. Do you mind staying away from Kuat for a while? I'd like this to be an easy mission."

A text notification popped on Dalla's comm screen from Phee, who no doubt had immediately re-blocked Dalla right after sending the message.

She read it. "Which brother are you sending to Kuat again?"

"Alexsandr Kallus, your eldest brother." Yularen spoke as if the siblings would know the other from a bantha burger if he saw each other on the street. The truth was they had never met and Kallus didn't know Dalla existed. Nevertheless Yularen's biological son, his ISB charge, and his fence informant held equal footing in his heart.

"Send him somewhere else."

"Do I want to know why?"

"Let's just say things could get a little explosive."

Yularen aged years in a matter of seconds. "Damn it, Dalla."

"It's not me, it's the handlers."

Yularen groaned and reached for his decanter.

"Naboo is really nice this time of year."

He groaned again, pouring a shot from muscle memory.

"I'll get you another bottle of that." She knew which brand was his favorite too. She'd had to replace a fair amount of Yularen's brandy.

"You're going to give me a premature heart attack," he muttered and knocked back the shot.

…

Echo told them over the comm that foil and one of Phee's jammers would hopefully disrupt the chip's signal long enough for them to get out of range. They made do with food wrappers from the concession stand.

"What did you say the defector's name was again?" He asked seemingly for no reason while they were padding Eve's neck with wrappers and trying to hide it underneath a limmie sweatshirt. "And she's from Serenno?"

Meanwhile, Genna was speaking to her old Kuati friends, Mr. and Dr. Nathon and Vivian Skelari. As soon as they heard what was going on, the couple ran around like whirling dervishes until they called back with the news that a sympathetic surgical team was waiting on Kuat.

Phee piloted them all to the medcenter, and now Eve was in surgery while Genna took Romana for a walk around the university campus to blow off some steam.

Romana ran her hand over her newly woven blonde hair as she entered the establishment with Genna. She was unused to the length or the startling pale color that she kept catching sight of out of the corner of her vision.

"It looks great if I do say so myself," Genna called out over the pounding beat of the music from the live band in the corner. "And no one will recognize you. We look like we could be sisters."

"Eve said she liked it."

Genna gave her a knowing glance and flagged the bartender, who slid two beers across the bartop. "You're worried about her."

"You didn't see the place she came from. I was only supposed to be cataloging the output of her master's production. I asked for the assignment because I knew it would take me away from the Core and make it easier for Phee to get me out. But then, when I saw her…"

Genna took a drink listening intently.

"They were going to sell her. I would have bid on her myself to try to get her out legally, but I didn't have the credits and I didn't want to support the practice anyway. And then I got the comm that Phee was coming so I didn't have much time."

"So you had already decided to get out before you witnessed the empire sponsoring the slave trade?"

Romana nodded and took a sip of her own drink. "It's just another symptom of the rot that's eating up the whole system."

"Can't argue with you there. What made you want to sign up in the first place?"

"It was a recruitment drive directed at college athletes. I guess they thought since we were academic and physically fit that transitioning us into officers' training would be barely an inconvenience." She shrugged. "I didn't really have much of a choice. I didn't have a home to go to after the orbital bombardment of Serenno."

"Ah. We were supposed to play on Serenno if we didn't have to forfeit during the war."

"I thought you said you had an injury that ended your career?"

"Well, it was the forfeit first, but I was at school on a limmie scholarship. A building fell on me during the Siege of Iziz and I was paralyzed from the hips down. And my brothers died and I had to take over the family business."

"You ran a business while you were paralyzed?"

"Mmmhmm," Genna took another swallow of her drink. "Yeah, until I met my husband."

"You're married?" That seemed to successfully get her mind off the current situation.

"Long enough to have our twins and then he - he died."

"I'm sorry."

That was not a subject Genna particularly wanted to dwell on. She nodded and lifted her glass. "It was a long time ago and Phee's pretty determined to help me move on."

That didn't help to improve either of their moods. Genna decided to change tact. "My husband was there when I woke up from my surgery and you'll be there for Eve." She reached over and patted Romana's hand.

Romana blushed. "Well, I mean we're not… we haven't known each other that long."

"My husband and I hadn't known each other that long either. We actually said our vows right there in my hospital bed."

"In the bed?" Romana's eyebrows rose.

"Yeah." Genna grinned. "Hey, what do you say we get out of here and do something crazy while we wait?" She hopped up and grabbed her purse.

"Like what?"

Genna pushed up her sleeve to show off the inked designs that were traced up and down her arm. "Ever thought of getting a tattoo?"

"We weren't allowed in the empire…" she reached out a tentative finger to touch one of the designs.

"That's a better reason than any to get one now!" Genna dragged her up from her barstool and pushed her towards the door.

"What are you going to get? You've got so many already."

"Well, you've got me thinking about playing limmie and my surgery and all and I think I need a little something in honor of all that."

It wasn't hard to find a tattoo parlor that was open late in the same area as the bar they had just left.

"Maybe I could get a little something on my ankle," Romana decided.

"That's where I got my first." Genna lifted her pant leg a bit to show her new friend the aurebesh ninety-nine and the skull that she'd added to it after the twins were born. "It was my husband's squad."

She was a little unsteady on her feet after their previous stop and staggered to the side. Romana caught her before she fell and they both laughed.

"I could get something for Eve. Maybe a butterfly, since we're both free."

"I think that's a marvelous idea!"

"And you should get a Ruping because you played for Onderon!"

"I could get it on my back where I had my surgery!"

"A reminder that you could get back up and fly after all that you've been through!"

"Another truly marvelous idea."

It probably wasn't the best idea in the galaxy for two very buzzed women to have an image permanently etched onto their flesh, but it was a university town and the tattoo artist had worked on customers who were far drunker than these two. Not to mention that for one of them at least this obviously was not her first time under the needle.

Genna lay on her stomach cheering Romana on and arguing in strongly worded language with one of the other employees of the place about how much better Onderon was than any other school in the league. And when they finished, both limping and wincing but still laughing at themselves, it was conveniently just in time for Genna to receive the comm that Eve was just getting out of surgery, the procedure was a complete success, and they could come right up to recovery to be there when she woke up.

"Would you like me to go in with you, or would you rather be there on your own?" Genna asked.

"I think maybe I'd like to go in alone."

"Good luck."

…

"Hoo boy." Phee cringed at her comm screen.

Genna already knew but here she was asking. "You unblocked Dalla?"

"Yeah."

"She's mad?"

"Oh, yeah," Phee whistled. "She wants to talk to the defectors."

"Right now? Eve just had surgery." Suu gestured to the women who were still holding hands.

"If either of you want to tell her that, go ahead, but I'm not ticking off Dalla three times in one day. No thanks, I choose life," Phee quipped. She knocked on the door to the recovery room and let herself in.

"Eve, Romana, I've got a call for you from the boss."

"The leader of the cell we're going to?" Romana asked hopefully.

"No, my boss."

"Oh." Romana winced.

Eve squeezed her hand. "It can't be worse than what we came from. Let's hear it."

"Brace yourselves." Phee rested the link on the bedside table and activated the call.

Dalla's secure hologram materialized, an androgynous figure with no face or expression. It didn't need it.

"Do you realize how many lives you've put at risk today?" she demanded. "This network relies on careful planning. If we don't know what we're getting into, people die! Defectors die!"

"It's my fault," Romana interrupted. "Eve didn't know about any of you; I just told her I was getting her out and to put on my spare uniform."

"Don't throw yourself under the speeder for me!" Eve protested. "I went along with it. Any fault lies equally with me."

"I don't care whose fault it was, only that you two did it in the first place. You realize you're not our only clients? We've got defections running across the galaxy, and all of it could have gone up in flames." She sighed. "Luckily for you all, I understand what it's like to make stupid, short-sighted decisions. What I want to know is why you made them."

Romana swallowed hard. "When the Empire talks about you all, they say you don't believe in no man left behind. That you're honorless." She looked away from the hologram and to Phee. "I was afraid that if I told you I was rescuing Eve, you would make me leave her behind."

Dalla had the grace not to refute the statement, but Phee laid a hand on her defector's shoulder. "We're here to save lives," she said. "And we're happy we could help you help Eve. The doctor is rushing the discharge so we can have you two out of here and to your original destination by tonight."

"Unless you have any more surprises."

"No," Romana replied, finally allowing herself to relax a little. "It's just us two. My dad died when the Empire bombarded Serenno, and Eve doesn't know where her family is."

"We've been separated so long I wouldn't know them from a ration cube if I saw them anyway," Eve shrugged, then winced.

Romana went to fuss over the other woman when Phee interrupted. "Romana, your father escaped the bombardment. I found him when I was putting your file together. Well, technically Echo found him when he and his squad were on a mission to Serenno years ago but I put it together and we contacted him and he's willing to follow you to your cell."

"What? He's alive?" Romana's jaw dropped.

"That's wonderful!" Eve exclaimed. "Rom, we can go together. All three of us?"

The starry-eyed look she got in return left no question that they would.

…

A call from Yularen was not to be ignored, even at the unholy hours of the night. Dalla squinted at her comm and rolled over in bed, careful not to wake Bernard. "Hello?"

At the first sound of Yularen's voice, she knew this wasn't a social call.

"Young lady," he growled, "You had better not be responsible for this, but on the off chance you are, please explain to me why you almost blew up your brother!"