The Armored Carrier settled down in front of them, pelting them with sand and grit, as Diggs appeared at her side, clutching her leg in fear. “It’s okay!” she shouted over the din. “They’re friends!” The boy remained unconvinced as he looked at the metal beast, hiding behind her when it began disgorging troops, each one of them armed to the teeth. They fanned out and took positions, setting up a perimeter, as Blye reappeared alongside one mercenary who was cradling a long gun, waving at the group as they came forward.

“Look who I found!” she grinned, as they halted in front of them. “This is Maggie, of the Tinker Clan, and Sixième Prashant Dibra, a fellow Knight. That little one peeking out behind them is Diggs. He’s an orphan, near as we can tell. We’re hoping to locate his people.”

The mercenary nodded, eyeing them carefully...and Maggie noticed Blye no longer had the rifle she’d taken from the To’uuk soldier. “Sergeant Agilmar Kai, 1st Platoon, Golf Company, of the 2/2,” he replied, his manner wary. “What’re you doing way out here?”

“It’s a long story, Sergeant,” she sighed, as she held out a clenched fist. Kai raised an eyebrow, but he bumped knuckles with her just the same.

“I see you’ve spent some time with us,” he said, his tone easing off.

“You know us Tinkers, we get around,” she smiled. “Look, I’m happy to give you a debrief, but we’re dead on our feet. We need water, food...and rest.”

“And medical attention,” Prash added, holding up his arm.

Kai considered their situation for a moment and then nodded. “Come on then,” he told them, “I figure we can find you a spot. Hell, you’re lucky you found us, we were just getting ready to pull out.” He stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled, then whipped his hand around in a circle over his head. The other mercenaries were on their feet an instant later, falling in around them as they escorted them back to the carrier.

“Where are you headed?” Blye asked.

“Old spaceport, about fifteen klicks from here,” he told them, as all three adults groaned. “What?”

“We just came from there,” Prash snorted. “Place was deserted, so we took a chance. Diggs spotted smoke in this direction, so we hiked all night to get here.”

The sergeant barked out a laugh. “Yep...sounds like the Crotch, all right.”

Blye blinked. “I’m sorry...the what?”

Maggie chuckled. “Old Terran slang for the Marines.” She turned to the sergeant. “Sorry...you were saying?”

“Well, higher designated it as our alternate LZ,” Kai continued, “Primary got shot up a bit. I’m guessing that’s the smoke you spotted.”

“You’re probably right,” Blye agreed. “That’s where the To’uuk dumped us.”

“Fucking bastards,” Kai growled. “I hate those assholes.” There were grunts of assent from the other mercs as they stepped around to the back of the carrier, walking up the ramp to the entrance.

“They murdered my Knight and stole our gear, so you won’t hear any arguments from me,” Blye snarled, ducking as they entered the hold.

“Typical,” he concurred, shaking his head. “Move along, you filthy Terran, move along.”

“Amen to that,” Maggie mumbled, as they led her and Diggs to a row of seats. A young woman...a PFC, by her stripes...moved to assist, only Maggie was already at work strapping them in. Diggs struggled against the restraints, but she gave him a hard look. “You hush now,” she told him, “they’re to keep you safe.”

The private took a canteen from her web gear instead and uncapped it, handing it over. “Thank you,” the Tinker said, pressing it to the boy’s lips. He drank greedily, so much so she had to force him to stop before he made himself sick. Then she took her turn, swallowing from the flask as well, the two of them soon draining it before she passed it back.

“I’ll get you another one,” the PFC promised, as she went to assist Prash.

“So why were you hitching a ride with the To’uuk?” Kai asked. “Can’t imagine it was by choice.”

“It wasn’t,” Blye agreed, after drinking from a canteen of her own. “The Azha-Xaak evicted us and made a deal with the Bugs to take us off-world.”

The sergeant sighed, locking his weapon in its rack and strapping in, before removing his helmet and running his fingers through his hair. “Man...this fuckin’ galaxy…” he mumbled, “...if we just had a world of our own...” He grimaced, shaking his head once more. “Hell...might as well wish for chocolate. About as likely.”

Prash nodded his thanks to the PFC as she finished strapping him in, before glancing over at Kai. “Sergeant...can you tell us where we are? What planet?”

“Aya’Bhkhoz,” he replied.

The three looked at one another in confusion. “Never heard of it,” Maggie said at last.

“I’m not surprised,” Kai snorted. “It’s a fucking backwater. The Indigs barely scrape by. Only reason we’re here is they found a vein of Fragorcite.”

The Tinker’s eyebrows raised sharply. “Damn...bet that got someone’s attention.”

“Yep...you find boom-rocks, everybody wants a slice. A couple of the big consortiums slugged it out for a while, til one came out on top. They tried to convince the locals to sell...at a reduced rate.”

Maggie shook her head. “Let me guess...they said no.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” the sergeant shrugged. “They handed over a case for analysis to the Broker...only they forgot to mention they’d rigged a detonator on a timer. Ship blew while it was still in orbit. That’s when they called us. Been putting down a nasty little guerrilla war ever since...” He started to say something else, when he put his hand to his ear. “Wait one...go for Golf One-Three,” he spoke into his mic. He listened for a minute and then nodded. “Copy, Six-Six, we’re lifting now. One-Three Out.” Tapping his headset, he switched frequencies. “Just got the call from upstairs...button her up and make for the LZ.”

The turbofans whined as the bay doors closed. “Make damn sure your shit’s wired tight!” he yelled at the squad. “If your crap ain’t secured, I’m gonna be very unhappy. Oorah?”

“OORAH SERGEANT!” they shouted back.

“Out-fucking-standing,” he grinned.

Diggs shrank back into his seat as the squad howled, prompting Maggie to lay hands. “I told you, they’re friends,” she reassured him, patting his head. “Noisy friends, but they won’t hurt you. I promise.” He looked up at her, his eyes wide, as she smiled back. “They’re gonna take us somewhere safe...away from all the nasty aliens.” Saying that, she turned back to Kai. “Where are we goin’?” she asked him.

“We’ll link up with the transport at the LZ, and from there?” His grin widened. “We’re headed for Freya.”

Maggie and the others shared a quick look. “The Corsair flagship? Why?”

Kai chuckled. “I guess you haven’t been paying attention to the calendar,” he smirked, before turning to his squad. “Hey, chowderheads...what time is it?”

“RENDEZVOUS!” they screamed, hooting and hollering with glee, as they felt the carrier lifted off. A chant started as headed for the spaceport.

“REN-DEZ-VOUS!”

“REN-DEZ-VOUS!”

“REN-DEZ-VOUS!”

The trio had to laugh; the squad’s merriment was infectious as hell. Even Diggs managed a brief smile. “I’ve been out of the loop for so long, I’d almost forgotten,” Maggie admitted before looking to Blye. “If you’re right about his DNA, Freya is the best place to start lookin’ for his kin.”

“There should be other Knights there,” she nodded. “We can check in and see where we stand.”

“Business? You two are thinking about business?” Prash smirked. “Me, I’m gonna get drunk and find me a Protean gal...and see what tricks she can show me.” He leaned back, a beatific smile on his face as the squad cheered his decision.

Maggie and Blye rolled their eyes in unison. “Men,” they snorted.

What had taken them all night to hike they traversed in a matter of minutes by hover carrier. The four of them had polished a like number of canteens by the time they landed at the spaceport, now bustling with activity as other units and vehicles arrived. The field medic attached to Sergeant Kai’s squad promised Prash they’d get his arm looked at, once they reached orbit, and Maggie was beginning to relax, adjusting to their new circumstances.

She should have known better.

The squad leader stood, taking up his weapon once more. “All right...walk me through it,” he ordered, giving the new arrivals a hard glare. “Step by step, from when the To’uuk ship landed.”

“Is there a problem, Sergeant?” Blye asked.

“Two Knights, a Tinker, and a kid show up unannounced in the middle of nowhere, just as we’re finishing Counter-Insurgency operations over an ore deposit worth millions, maybe billions, of credits?” He jerked his head out towards the bay door. “Let’s just say I got superiors who have questions, and they want the I’s dotted and T’s crossed.”

“You think we’re spies?” Prash said in shock. “That’s crazy!”

“Crazy or not...we’re still doing this,” he said. “Now, this will go a lot faster if you cooperate. If it’s like you say, we can wrap this up in short order. If not…” He shrugged. “...then things get...complicated.”

Diggs bared his teeth and glared at the Valkyrie, growling like he had with the Azha. “Don’t, little man,” Kai said as a warning. “I know what you’re thinking...and you ain’t fast enough.”

Maggie squeezed his shoulder, hard enough to get the boy’s attention. “We’ll cooperate,” she said.

“Glad to hear it,” he replied, before easing back somewhat. “Look, I’m not the bad guy here. I’m just doing my job.”

“Yeah...where have I heard that before?” Prash snorted, as he rose to his feet. “I’ll bet you said the same thing to the locals.”

“Prash! That’s enough!” Blye admonished him. “Once we show him the dead To’uuk, and Joona’s grave, that will prove we’re him telling the truth.” She bobbed her head in apology. “Forgive us, Sergeant. We’ve been through a rather trying ordeal.”

“It’s all right,” Kai said after a moment, as he faced off against the Sixième. “Not all of us have the luxury of choosing our battles,” the sergeant said aloud to the group, though his full attention was on Prash himself. “And yeah...sometimes we take contracts that might turn your stomach. But at the end of the day?” He leaned in, his nose almost touching the Knight’s. “We do what we have to to survive...cause it’s a hard old universe, and it doesn’t give a flying fuck about us.” He turned on his heel and marched down the ramp, leaving Prash speechless, as the rest of the gathered around the quartet to provide encouragement.

Ensuring she had a firm grip on Diggs, Maggie paused for a moment by the Knights. “Little tip...don’t piss off the people who have all the guns,” she told them, shaking her head, before leading the boy outside.

The young Knight bowed his head to his mentor. “My apologies, Troisième,” he said with reverence. “I let my anger take hold of me.”

“As do we all, from time to time,” she sighed, placing a hand on his arm. “All we can do is learn from our mistakes and strive to do better.” Blye offered him a brief smile and received one in return. “Come...let us ease the concerns of our hosts,” she told him, as they walked down the ramp to join the others.

It took more than an hour to put Sergeant Kai’s questions to rest. The dead To’uuk lay where it fell, covered in the dust and dirt blasted free by the ship’s sudden departure. The Valkyrie toed the corpse with his boot but performed no other examination. The mercenaries showed Joona’s grave the proper respect, removing their helmets and bowing their heads, as the Knights said a brief prayer.

Maggie relented and allowed Diggs to scale the same building he had before, soon joined by Kai and his corporal, though they required climbing gear to mount the structure. The boy bounced back quick after getting rehydrated and fed and was glaring daggers at them both before scampering back down, with the Tinker holding her breath the entire way. She wasn’t sure which had worried her more...the possibility he might fall, or that he would try to shove the Valkyries over the edge.

Whatever bonhomie that had existed between the two groups was nowhere to be found, when Kai approached the group at last. His demeanor had changed though; removing his helmet, he appeared almost apologetic. “Look...we had to know,” he said in acknowledgment. “But you have to admit, you showing up way out here is...odd.”

“Maybe not,” Maggie said after a moment. “Was this little revolution you were puttin’ down Declared?”

“Of course,” the Valkyrie nodded. “Posted and Bonded, per SOP.”

“Well, there you have it,” she continued. “I don’t know what kind of deal the Bugs made with the Azha-Xaak, but I ain’t surprised they wanted to get rid of us soon as they could. Just how far is Azhakom from here, anyway?”

Kai furrowed his brow as he dragged out a handheld minicomp and punched up the data. “Six light-years, give or take,” he said after a moment.

“Any Terran settlements that’re closer?” she continued. That took more searching, but in the end, he shrugged and put the device away.

“It doesn’t look like it,” he said at last. “You think they looked for the nearest bunch of humans to dump you with?”

“I do,” she agreed. “It fits, considerin’ how much they hate us. Six light-years is nothin’ to them. They must have seen your Bond on the Net, plotted the course, and brought us here. Who knows, maybe they were even gonna let us have our stuff back...but when that Bug went rogue…”

The sergeant nodded. “That you saved them the trouble of doing it themselves is likely the only reason you’re still breathing,” he agreed, before looking to Blye. “You kill most aliens...unless you’re getting paid to...they usually end you quick.”

“So I’ve been told,” Blye concurred, glancing back at Maggie.

Sighing, Kai put the helmet back on his head. “Transport ship will be here soon. The offer to take you to Freya stands...if you’re still interested. I’m sorry about all this.”

“It’s all right, Sergeant,” Blye smiled. “We understand. Like you said...it’s a hard universe we live in.”

Maggie looked down at Diggs, who was still giving the mercenaries the evil eye. “Yeah...ain’t that the truth.”