Chapter 7

Sergeant Tami Corez was a geek. While a petite and pretty woman now, she certainly wasn’t that way for a good deal of her life. She was also buried behind thick corrective lenses for years before her parents could afford the laser surgery. She also was a good deal heavier then she is now. The combination of glasses that gave her fish eyes and a weight problem did not make her the most popular person. To fill the void of a social life she took an early interest in computers. By the time she hit her teens she was hacking government databases just to see if should could. While she had outgrown her awkward looks, she was much happier spending the night in front of a screen then in a crowded bar. It was a preference she was showing at the Guild, even though she was actually hard at work. Her equipment had captured an encrypted tight burst transmission while still aboard the Renaissance. While it so far had eluded her, she was still trying to crack its encryption.

Sitting next to Tami was Mekita D’Amico. If Tami looked completely disinterested, Mekita looked miserable. There was a mostly untouched cup of caff in front of D’Amico as she tried her best not to stare at the Guild’s patrons. As if being shoved in bar that was far from what she was used to wasn’t bad enough, they had to rely on Skeng Cooper and Dara Lin’Say to find them passage off the planet. Mekita shifted uncomfortable in her chair as Dara and Skeng flitted from table to table as they were just enjoying a night off. Under her black cloud Mekita looked around and noticed a squat blue Ortolan staring at her. The little blue elephant like man was heavily pierced, tattooed, and apparently armed for war. While puffing out a thick cigar the little man, little being a relative term, he was as thick as he was tall, winked at her. Mekita tried her best not to cringe, but she wasn’t ready to start fending off the advances of alien men.

From outside reports, the Imperials had finally just left the system, having stayed about an hour later then the Renaissance had. The crowds were just now returning, although the Guild had been busy that entire time. Skeng dropped back into a chair across from Mekita with a large grin on his face. In one hand was a long thin glass full of a blue bubbling liquid. Mekita pulled her attention away from the amorous Ortolan and threw her gaze over to Skeng. “You found us a reliable ship?”

Skeng took a drink and nodded. “Yeah, she sounds like a beauty. Of course it all depends on how good a job Tami can do.”

Corez looked up from her datapad and gave a confused look. Mekita fired out the question before Tami could. “What do you mean it depends on what kind of job she can do?”

Skeng scratched the back of his head for a second and looked around. The rest of the bar was so loud there was no chance anyone could be ease dropping. “Well we need a slicer to get into the ship don’t we?”

Mekita restrained herself from jumping out of her chair. “Skeng, you were supposed to book us a charter. You were not supposed to case star ships to steal. I told you, no more stealing.”

“I really think we’ll have better luck this way though.”

“Cooper!”

“And think about how much money we’ll save.”

“Cooper!”

Skeng’s ever-present grin dimmed a few notches. “You know Mekita, you really aren’t any fun.”

“That’s the point. The next time you see something fun to do, do the exact opposite. Now go see if you can help Dara charter us a ride out of here.”

Lightning filled the skies and flashed brief seconds of illumination onto the jagged spires of Luvius’ Black Peak Mountains. Thick dark clouds reduced visibility greatly and the very ground seemed to be rising up as if it was trying to impale the Renaissance. The large Gallowfree transport moved cautiously through the mountain range. Inside the ship’s bridge the crew shared yet another tense moment. Captain Sardina stood over his helmsman. Colonel Sloan and Captain Darkmere stayed near the bridge terminal and watched Sloan go to work. Both men knew he certainly didn’t need added distraction at this point. In the Renaissance’s hold Captain Ikner and the remaining X-Wing pilots stood ready. There had been little chance for planning on their way to Luvius, but at this point there options were severely limited. The fuel in Mekita’s and the two damaged X-Wings was drained and evenly distributed between the combat ready fighters. The pilots were strapped into their cockpits just waiting for the launch order to tear out of the hangar.

They were heading for one of the few Alliance outposts on Luvius that could actually support the Renaissance. The transport was dangerously low on fuel itself, so much so that they couldn’t have reached any system outside the Rios Cluster if they had wanted to. If they were noticed entering the system, the Imperials had shown no signs of it yet. The Luvium’s weren’t as tightly quarantined on their home world as the Volmi were, but their reliance on breathing masks on most other worlds curbed many of the native population’s wanderlust. For the most part the Imperials were happy just controlling the refining plants on the base. The Tibanna refineries were massive and numerous on the planets rocky surface. With such a valuable resource under Imperial command the populace was given certain freedoms, as long as they didn’t challenge the Emperor’s sovereignty.

Dropping as low as it could, the Renaissance finally reached its destination. On the outermost lip of the Black Peaks a roof of canvas and netting was drawn back, giving the transport an entrance into the hangar. The base was built into one of the outermost mountains, before it were miles of rocky, yet flat ground while the Black Peak range surrounded its rear and sides. There was no doubt that their landing could endanger the Black Peak base, but all sides were prepared for the worst. Nihil Rem sat in the cramped confines of his X-Wing. Of all the pilots he was the most nervous at the moment. The others were simply making a dangerous landing, he was returning home. The anxiousness was setting in. He wrung his gloved hands as he waited. If nothing else he was going to be able to get a deep lungful of Luvius air. His breather worked fine, but it gave the air a slight metallic taste. As much as he longed to see more of his own kind, he longed to take a deep breath of fresh air.

Over the ship’s intercom and the com channel came Colonel Sloan’s voice. “We’ve just set down on in the hangar and will be deboarding soon. Everyone remember to secure your breathing masks before entering the hangar.” Halla Caster slid on her own breather mask and grimaced in concentration. Her mind raced as she tried to figure out where the damned Rebels had taken her now. Breathing masks had been the clue. She tried furiously to put the pieces together in her mind as she tightened the straps on her breather. Well it would only be a few more minutes and she’d be able to find out where she was for herself.

Captains Rian Ikner and Jace Darkmere were the first two on the entrance ramp. They were greeted by three figures in the hangar. Rian squinted, trying to better distinguish their hosts through the smoky atmosphere of Luvius. The figure in the middle spoke first as he approached, their lack of breathing gear showing them to be Luvium. “Greetings, please make yourselves at home.”

Rian smiled, it was going to be hard to get comfortable while wearing a breather. “Thank you. Colonel Sloan wanted you to know he’ll be with you shortly. I hope our stop here isn’t too much of an inconvenience.”

To Rian, the Luvium speaking looked much like Nihil; their black closed cropped brush cuts were nearly identical. He silently tried to find small differences, so he could tell the Luviums apart. The thick smog that filled atmosphere did little to help him notice the more subtle differences. The other two Luvium men flanking the speaker were easy to discern from each other. One was nearly the size of Tak with scraggily red hair; the other was short, rail thin, and bald. “We are all on the same side Captain. Please tell your crew they are all welcome to the facilities we have.”

“Thank you again. I’m sorry I didn’t get your name.” Rian and Jace headed down the ramp as the Renaissance’s hangar doors opened with a rumble. The remaining members of the Void Spiders and Problem Squadron stood watching as the doors locked in place, Nihil could be seen taking a deep breath with a huge grin chiseled on his visage.

“Oh were are my manners? My name is Minic.” Minic gestured to the larger man, “This is Lessek and my other companion is Wvaver.” Nihil was the first to jump to the hangar floor his eyes met with Minic’s. The surprise was easy to read on the Luvium’s features as he loudly questioned his sight. “Nihil? Ro-Saatas, it’s really you!” Rian watched with a smile as the two men hugged; obviously they knew each other. The rest of the crew drifted out seconds later, Jace waiting patiently at the bottom of the ramp for the fake Doctor Towar. She greeted him quickly, her eyes taking in the entire hangar with what appeared to be a sense of awe. Before anyone could relax though, Colonel Sloan emerged on the top of the exit ramp. “Before we engage in any more pleasantries, I believe we all have work to do. Agent Minic, if you’d be good enough to have a talk with me and my Captains, I believe it’s of the utmost importance.”

Skeng leaned against the bar as Kavik slid him another glass of lum. The Carthain gave a grin to the obese Rodian and slid him the handful of credits Skeng had just lifted from another spacer. A leggy female still in a flight suit slid into the empty space on his right. Skeng brushed a few errant strands of black hair out of his eyes and looked her over. Even with safety straps, a flight suit was not the most flattering attire. It had the tendency to bulge in all the wrong places, but still the woman beside him managed to show she had a desirable figure. One half of her head was shaved, the other half a curly brown mass that went down her back. Her lips were done in a light blue that matched her eyes. Cooper sipped his drink and prepared his opening in his head when his eyes glanced back to his table. Shock instantly filled his body and his jaw went slack. He vaguely heard the woman saying hello to him, but his body was already on autopilot. There was a crash of breaking glass as he dropped his drink on the floor and headed towards the table.

Dara had returned back to the table and brought someone with her. The man was at least two inches taller then Skeng, and while just as slim, he was a good deal broader. Long dirty brown hair was tied into a ponytail and covered with the same wide brimmed hats that many nerf herders use to keep the elements out of their eyes. A battered leather flight jacket covered a black shirt and sat above a low-slung belt and heavy blaster pistol. Grimy pants and boots evidently made of a rather large reptile’s skin rounded out his clothing. Skeng had recognized the man almost instantly and it wasn’t a good thing. He grabbed Mekita’s arm before she even saw him approaching and dragged her out of her chair. D’Amico’s face contorted a little as her eyes bore into Skeng. “Cooper, what the hell are you doing? Can’t you see I was talking to some one?”

Skeng tried his best to keep his voice down, the last thing he wanted to do was let the subject of the conversation hear them. “Yeah, I noticed. Don’t you recognize who that is?”

Mekita let her gaze drift over to the man talking with Tami and Dara. His face was covered with stubble and he was a good deal dirtier then what she normally considered attractive, but there was still something about him she liked. Certainly she’d like to know him; however she couldn’t see any reason why she should recognize him. “What are you talking about?”

Skeng moved closer, so she could hear him clearly over the rest of the bar’s din. “Think back to those Imp days. You’ve had to see that face on the bounty posters.”

“Really Cooper, we don’t have time for this non-sense. Who is he?”

“He’s a bounty hunter that goes by the name Caz. Tell me you don’t recognize him now.”

Mekita turned to the table and watched the man talking to Dara and Tami. She had heard of him, the man was responsible for killing a Moff. Rumor had it that the Moff was killed because he refused to pay Caz for performing a service, but that was of course just rumor. Skeng certainly did bring up a good point. Caz had gotten a reputation of being an unstable killer in charge of a group of cutthroats. Mekita let out a long sigh. This certainly complicated things. She definitely didn’t want to trust the man now that she knew of his reputation, but they were seriously lacking in options at this point. She turned back to Skeng, the Carthain looked nervous, obviously he had heard more rumors then she had. “I don’t like it Skeng, but we don’t have a choice at the moment.” She could see him about to protest and cut him off. “We’re not stealing a ship. Come on.”

Caz looked up to the duo as they retuned to the table. “So do we have a deal here or what? I’ve got some business to take care of before take off and I need to know if I have passengers or not.”

Mekita nodded grimly. “We have a deal.”

Readjusting his hat as he slid out of his chair Caz offered a large smile. “Be at the blue hangar bay 15 at exactly seven in the morning or you’ll find yourselves without a ride.” As he was moving he slid a finger down Dara’s cheek. “And I don’t think any of us want that.” The Twi’lek smiled, watching him as he walked off.

Once the bounty hunter had left the bar Mekita gave them all a hard glance. “I want all of you to know that man and his crew are hardened criminals. While aboard his ship I want your guard up at all times. I don’t trust him and I don’t want any of you to either.”

Tami merely nodded as she looked over the screen on her data pad. Dara on the other hand looked a little annoyed as she sipped her drink. “That’s jumping to conclusions isn’t it? I mean just cause we found him here doesn’t mean he’s any worse then the rest of us.”

Mekita narrowed her stare so it only focused on Lin’Say. “First off, I’m in command of this mission. I would think you’d trust my judgment on this one, but if you must question it I have some information you might find interesting. The ship were taking is owned by a known bounty hunter and assassin. If we weren’t desperate to make our timetable we wouldn’t be stepping in the same hangar with him. Does that answer your concerns Dara?”

The Twi’lek did her best not to cuss the woman across from her. Instead she took another long drink and focused her glare elsewhere in the room. Her lekku twitched angrily, a gesture most humans missed completely. There was a possibility Mekita was right, but at the moment she was much happier thinking that Mekita was an uptight dictator trying to spoil any chance Dara had of having a nice time. Skeng’s eyes met hers and he happily winked at her, which only managed to worsen her mood.

The main meeting room of the Black Peak base was filled with a tense electricity that everyone felt rushing through them. There could be no question about now, some how the Empire was following them. Captain Sardina adjusted the straps on his breather mask as he spoke. “The chances of it being a member of my crew are slim. The Empire made it to Holo Base before we even reached it.” There was a general mumbling of acceptance to his claim. Atros smiled; at least his crew was safe from the witch-hunt. Most of them had been with him long before they joined forces with the Alliance and he considered them more like family them co-workers. Minic listened quietly to the conversation, just like he had to the twenty minutes of talk that had preceded the statement. He wasn’t sure they were making much progress.

Colonel Sloan rolled his chair back and stood up. He preferred to stand when he spoke; it forced everyone to look up when replying to him. It was a small method to show his dominance, but one he found brought results. “I think it’s painfully obvious who the spy is. The ex-Imperial pilot clearly hasn’t severed her ties with the Empire.”

Rian stood up so fast his chair skidded halfway to the wall. “You can’t prove that and you know it Colonel.”

“Oh please Captain, your loyalty to your pilots was charming at first, but now it just makes you look the fool. She is our spy. She’s probably sitting aboard a Star Destroyer this very moment and laughing at you over a cup of caff.”

Darkmere shook his head. “Colonel, you’re way off base.”

“Okay then Jace. Exactly how is the Empire meeting us at every turn? Really I’d love to hear your conclusion.” It was impossible to see through the smoke and breather, but Avery Sloan’s face had taken on a decidedly red tint.

Minic’s gaze drifted from speaker to speaker and casually wondered if they were going to kill each other. When his comlink clicked twice he smiled wide with relief. “Gentlemen, feel free to use the council chambers as long as you wish, but at the moment I have business I have to attend to.”

Sloan lost a bit of his momentum by quickly switching emotional gears. “Of course sir. Please don’t let us keep you from anything.” Minic heard the others echoing the statement as he slipped through the door and took a deep breath. Then he smiled wide, he had not only got out of the argument, but he also had a very big surprise for his cousin. He hurried to another of the base’s command rooms to greet his newly arrived guests.

Zwick Staamas sat at the table, eyed his cards, and tried not to let a smile creep onto his features. Peering over the edge of his hand he took a look at the others playing. Tak was easy to read, he had the tendency to tap his foot when he had a good hand. Ruade was more difficult, especially with the breather masks. Staamas had no idea how to read the alien’s eyes, which made the Volmi his largest threat in the game. Vied and Shiel lay somewhere in the middle. While they sometime giggled when they had good hands, a lot of the time it was due to some inside joke. Skifter beeped once to hurry him along and he looked down at the cards again. He had a twenty. It was nothing to bet his paycheck on, but still a formidable hand. Skifter beeped again, for being Zwick’s own droid he wasn’t cutting him any slack. For those sitting around him, he let out a long sigh and then threw two credits onto the center of the table.

Both Shoe and the Void Spider demolition expert, Sava Nox, had already bowed out of the Sabbac game. Nox was a female Rodian with a bright red mohawk of hair that fell down to the side she didn’t have the time to properly fix it. She was thinner then most of her kind and was capable of moving a good deal faster then the rest of the Spiders. Like the medic, she was not a good gambler. Both had lost, and lost badly early enough in the game that they decided to take on the role of spectators. It was a role they both found preferable when Zwick was at the table. It had quickly become apparent that the young man had an almost supernatural ability to control the table at any Sabbac game he joined. While Steno was enjoying the anguish of the other players, Nox was watching Staamas. Her specie’s encoded behavior had kicked in. She was now a hunter and the man who had easily bested her was her prey. She watched every move as he played; looking for weaknesses in his abilities and taking careful mental notes on what happened on the few hands that he lost.

The rest of the crew had spread out after landing in the hangar. The Renaissance wasn’t the largest ship and everyone was happy to have some personal space. Thrash had taken the opportunity to jog around the hangar. The others had been happy to see him do so. Latha always seemed as if he was ready to explode into a maelstrom of violence, and although he was growing on them, there was something behind those wild eyes that scared them. To Talos, he was happy just to be able to move around without bumping into anyone. Especially Najah. The big Void Spider still deserved a nasty beating, although Ikner had warned Talos against such actions, Thrash was just looking for an opportunity. Taking his forty-third lap around the hangar he stopped when he noticed a something on the wall, partially hidden behind stacks of supply crates. It was only a flash of color, but it was out of place with the rest of the building. Talos stopped and moved closer. Someone had been busy, but how did they do it without him noticing? There on the wall, identical to the one in the Renaissance, was the Problem Squadron crest. As if the painting didn’t spell it out enough, the painter had added, “Problem Squadron was here,” underneath it. Thrash laughed and the sound echoed through the hangar. If nothing else, there were starting to leave their mark on the Rebellion, even if it was a literal one.

Halla Caster moved into the hallways of the base. The Luvium’s had set up an oxygen airlock for their visitors in that wing of the base, but most of the personal declined its use. She needed a place away from prying eyes of Rebel agents. Of course they all saw it as being friendly, but to her it was annoying. There always seemed to be a swarm of them around her, trying to cater to her needs. Little did they know she needed them to choke on their blasters. Jace was different though; his nervous schoolboy approach when around her was charming. She couldn’t help but find her thoughts drawn to him. Still, she needed to move deeper into the base and transmit a message to the Empire. Just inside the hallway she had seen the crazy one, his fingertips were yellow. She didn’t know why, nor did she want to. Deeper down the hall was the drunk. It was easier keeping track of them that way. The drunk, the gambler, the crazy, the psychopath, they were all out to drive her crazy; at least until she got to watch them die.

Ash and Nihil were hard at work. The mechanic didn’t want to use the Luvium but they both knew no one else knew exactly the parts and equipment the Renaissance needed. The mechanic had become pretty dependant on the fighter pilot, something that Ad Rem didn’t seem to mind. At the moment they were both looking through a large crate of spare parts. To their dismay the parts didn’t seem to have been discarded with any type of order. Nihil held up a JT-243 stabilizer and ignored the thick oil that dripped onto his already caked fingers. Ash looked up and shook his head, “We shouldn’t need anything that heavy duty.”

Nihil laughed as he tossed it into the unwanted corner. “Lets hope not anyway.”

The clank of the motivator hitting the pile was followed by a decidedly feminine voice. “Nihil?” He recognized the voice of course. It had just burned deep into the core of his being and sent all of his reasoning into a tailspin. His mind told him it wasn’t possible. He licked his lips and noticed every muscle in his body had tensed up. He slowly turned and his eyes grew wide.

The Malevolence sat adrift from Ciadel starport as if it were watching the giant space station like a hungry dog watches its next meal. The station was actually a good deal larger then the Star Destroyer, although not nearly as well armed. The station was home to the Rios Trade Alliance a union of legitimate businessmen and smugglers. The RTA, as it was called, was formed over a hundred years ago when trade routes were first being mapped through the area. The port was little more then a refueling station at the time, but traders there began swapping jobs with others of their kind. The practice grew into a bulletin board, and then into a larger job referral system. Before long it had grown large enough that people had to be hired full-time just to keep up with the bookkeeping. Membership fees started fairly reasonable, and the access to so many jobs made it an invaluable tool. Then the Hutts entered.

Despite their efforts to, the Hutts could not get control of the Vasper spaceport. Ciadel and the RTA though, were much easier targets. There presence started with offering cheaper mechanics then the competition on any other station could keep up with. They followed hiring smugglers and other transport pilots to lucrative multi-year contracts. It was a slow and costly process that few others would have the patience to follow through on. Now the Hutts not only controlled the entire station, but the RTA also. A relatively young Hutt known as the Prince had taken control of the Ciadel from an older, less devious Hutt who had become complacent. His true name was Tavard, but few knew the name and those who called the Hutt that to his face were disposed of painfully. Admiral Liam sat across from the massive alien and noted that despite the size of the Hutt, his body seemed more muscle then fat. The Imperial officer noted that the Prince’s tapered tail could become a lethal weapon if one strayed too close to him; Liam carefully made a mental note never to do so. He was loath to even deal with the crime lord, but the order had been given directly Moff Dryden and the Moff’s whims were nothing to question.

The Prince himself while a gracious host and seeming pliable to the Moff’s plans, refused to speak anything but his native language. The Prince’s Major Domo, a Duros known only as Page, did the translating between the two parties. Seated to the left of Liam was a young captain who also spoke the slime tail’s language, but neither Imperial officer had offered that bit of information to the crime lord or his men. The Captain did his best to look impatient through the proceedings, and tapped his index finger on the table the three beings were seated at; the Prince himself was on a dais/throne throne that rested a few meters from the table. As long as Page truthfully translated to his master, the Captain continued to tap his index finger. If a lie were told, then the man would switch to thumb, a switch that he hadn’t had to make yet. Liam smiled inwardly, things were going well and the Moff would be very pleased, enough that he might even overlook the first failure in the Ra-vel system.

Cron Sar Teas looked over the maps in his resistance cell headquarters and shook his head. “I can’t believe they would allow such a security leak.” The other members of his team were crowded around him looking over the maps of a remote Imperial garrison on the planet. One of the resistance spies had found out that the complete plans to the Dianoga prison was in the databanks of the facility. Apparently the building housing the material was often used by the Imperial stormtrooper commander, a man the resistance identified as a Captain Ven Sheerk. Cron didn’t like the mission. Too many things seemed convenient, a sure sign that it was an Imperial trap. The first thing that alerted him was the importance of the plans. It was well known that the resistance was desperately trying to obtain a copy of them; in Sar Teas’ opinion, the bait was too perfect. The other factors involved also made him take caution. The remoteness of the garrison made it sound like an easy target; the fact the Sheerk was supposed to be across the planet at the time for a meeting with Kiatt Jorus made it seem even more so. The surveillance reports on the garrison over the last month show it to be staffed by far less troopers then any other of the remote bases. It was a mission where Cron could easily loose half of his cell and yet he still thought of it as too easy to be true.

He would have refused the mission, had it not been for Lont Ress Callum. Callum’s grave tone and the resistance’s need for those plans had convinced him to take on the mission. Cron’s cell had the highest success rate in the field and the Volmi desperately hoped that record would hold up after this mission. The men and women around him looked over the maps carefully some pointed out areas to the others as they tried to plan their best route of attack. When he met their gazes, he could tell that they also thought it was a trap. None complained though, they didn’t even question his decision. It was that loyalty that pushed them on. Even if the white shells would be waiting for them, they would succeed. His gaze went over to Ara Kev Atlan. The woman had nearly been killed not long ago; a blaster bolt had burned into her stomach. She met his gaze with a warm smile, the three fins on top her head subtly flexing, a gesture clearly only meant for Cron. The movement surprised Sar Teas, since fin gestures were reserved only to show interest in a mate. Cron smiled, the gesture had come as a surprise but it was not unwelcome. He flexed the single fin that ran across his head and then looked back down to the map.

“I want everyone to go home and spend the night with their families. We all know what this mission means and how dangerous it is. Go see the ones you love, just be back by sunrise.” There was a rumble from the eighteen Volmi around him as they prepared to leave. Ara stayed near the map. Cron knew her story well enough, it mirrored his own. The white shells had taken their families and they had been made slaves in the underwater prison. Ara’s family had been one of the first groups taken and even she had little hope left that they would be found alive. Instead she fought so no one else would have to loose their family.

She looked up to him, as if she had felt his gaze upon her form. “You aren’t going to send me away tonight are you?”

He laughed and pulled her close. For him, the attraction had always been there. She was beautiful, funny, and possessed a strong spirit that pulled him in like a magnet. Even though he had admired her, he had never voiced the opinion. There had never been an opportune time. Ara had lived alone for a long time and now they could all be facing their deaths. Cron thought about how horrible it would be to die alone, and wondered if that was why Ara had finally breached the subject. Feeling her pressed against him he decided the reason behind her motivations wasn’t important. His voice echoed a miniscule bit as he spoke, “No, I think you are still needed here.”

Nihil Rem had turned around seconds before he felt the impact. A body slammed into his and he felt the arms snake around his neck. Before he could even speak, lips were pressed tight against his. His eyes stared in disbelief as he kissed his wife. It was almost as if he were dreaming it had been so long. She parted from him slowly, pale white hair falling into her face as she did so. Behind her Minic laughed, in his arms was a small girl with hair the color of her mother’s pulled back into a loose ponytail. Nihil’s grin spread wide across his face as he saw the little girl. Then another projectile, this one smaller then the first one that hit him, but it had been moving a good deal faster. The impact sent him stumbling back, and he looked down to see a young boy. His hair was the same white his other child had inherited and the boy looked up at his father with wide eyes. He was nearing the age of ten and had almost doubled in size since last he saw his father. Squeezing the boy to his body he looked over to his cousin, “I take it I have you to thank for this Minic?”

Still holding Mida, Minic tussled the four year old’s hair and grinned. “It had been too long since you were home cousin. I couldn’t think of a better way to welcome you back.”

With his son Laynig still attached to his side, Nihil reached out and took his daughter into his arms. She had only been two when he left his home to fight for the Alliance. “Look at how you’ve grown princess.” His daughter cooed back at him and he looked down at his son. “You too Laynig. You’re turning into a man.” Both his children began to talk, and although Nihil would love to hear all they had to say, his eyes rested on his wife. Qume stare back at him, beaming with pride as she watched her children climb their father. The clatter of metal drew him back into the real world and he looked over to see Ash discarding another piece of machinery. The man gave him a smile, but obviously was trying to mind his own business. “Qume, I’d like to introduce you to my best friend aboard the Renaissance. Ash, I’d like to introduce you to my wife.”

The mechanic’s dark skin darkened even more in the cheeks as he looked up. He set down a small fuel pump on a pile of other equipment and then wiped his hands on his coveralls. “It’s real nice to finally meet you, Nihil talks about ya’ll an awful lot.” Ash looked down to his hands, trying to wipe them clean had only resulted in smearing the grease over a wider area.

Qume laughed gently as Ash pulled back his dirty hands. “I’m envious of anyone who gets to spend enough time with my husband as to be called his best friend.”

Nihil smiled and kissed her cheek. “You’re still first in my heart love.”

She leaned against him, despite the fact his children both still clung to him. “That’s what you keep telling me,” she teased.

Ash laughed as he watched. “I’ve got this taken care of Nihil. Why not give the family a grand tour of the place?” The mechanic was lying of course, he still had a lot of work ahead of him, but Nihil actually did talk about his family all the time. Ash smiled as he watched the Luvium walk away with his family. Rem had fast become his best friend too, and he was overjoyed to see the Nihil so happy, even if it meant more work for him.