The entire operation took less than twenty minutes. Each team had almost immediately found their assigned tasks, the only thing taking time was trasnporting the wounded Glint and scanning the facility for any hidden entities. The two new aliens had been immediately taken to the brig's infirmary, where a team of AI and xenobiologists were going from theoretical work to immediate hands on. The Glint where taken to the main Infirmary, and Surveyor Eliijah Duilim was under guard with the Vesuvian Guild Representative.

———Midship Infirmary———

Saule was burnt out, his blue eyes almost lightless with apathy. Everything had happened before he could make any choices. His crew had been abducted not once but twice, injured by exotic energy and explosions and lastly. It had possibly been the worst period for a Glint Commander ever. He'd make a bet he'd keep the record for a while too.

Yet it wasn't all bad news. Because of the Tharg and self proclaimed Jeweller, the Glint had to rescind their request for isolation from the Humans. Apparently the galaxy had a history they didn't know and held more alien species than they had thought.

Saule watched as the human doctor as she consulted with a Glint doctor that had been brought aboard to help with his team's burns and injuries. Humans were so similar to them but much more different. Their individual differences tended on the subtle side, apart from skin tone. He leaned back on the bed and let himself rest. He had done what he could and his crew was safe. Nothing could have prepared him for space.

The perils did remind him of old P.O.I. sailor stories, discovering new islands with primitive Glint that hadn't developed with the rest or monsters in the deep ocean. Maybe this ordeal would spawn a new myth, of living gods, demons and shipwreck. Thinking about it, he remembered the stories his group mother would tell him about how brave ship captains were, how they put their crew and ship above all else while still out doing their rivals. How those had been the seed that started his path. Maybe he could start a new era of ship captains, sailing the black ocean of space.

———

"Surveyor Duilim, how are you doing? We found your hull drifting with other asteroids that the Tharg had pierced with those weapons." asked Captain Radamere, who stood in front of a chair. Where the thought to be deceased digital person Elijah Duilim sat.

On the Captain's left stood the red android body of the Vesuvian Guild's representative, and Eli's close friend Finn Feirmeoir. The room they stood in was a clean powder blue with very little in the way of furniture apart from the chair, a bunk, and a desk with a terminal on it.

Eli sighed and leaned forward in the chair. His holographic face inside the suit's helmet looked at his hands with a downcast expression, "I'm alright, I think. As for how, I made a copy of myself into the blackbox program and then incorporated the blackbox housing into this suit. I know we digitals are barred from copying ourselves but I had no other options."

"We're going to need to access the black box Mr.Duilim. We can't do that with your mind overlayed on top of it," stated the Captain, "We will have to deactivate you while we do that. I have been made aware that deactivating an uploaded mind is unpleasant. I hope you'll agree to it, we need the data stored there."

Eli balked at the question then glanced at Fin who gave a slight nod in agreement with the Captain. He sighed and said, "I agree to be deactivated while you access the data. Please don't take too long however."

"Thank you Mr. Duilim, there is also the matter of a debriefing with the Guilds but that is for later. For now please rest, thank you for what you've done."

———

Silghen Morseg and Rass Misiun had been taken to separate ships in the fleet. Silghen was held on the destroyer Miranda, while the body of Rass Misuin was on the support ship Clarksville.

The recumbent body of Rass Misiun was being studied in a reformatted maintenance hangar. Several technicians and scientists were examining it to determine if the Guo'Saphyrn still lived or was truly dead. So far they couldn't tell.The Miranda had combined two cells by knocking out a wall to give Silghen an appropriate amount of space. Silghen hadn't spoken since being captured but his four red eyes burned with a hatred that transcended facial expressions. The guards around him kept extreme care in watching his movements. Both were already enroute to Sol.

With the two aliens contained, that just left a problem of a more diplomatic nature. What to do with the facility on Hirst that Rass Misiun controlled, and Silghen's crashed ship and traveling field of asteroids and wrecked unknown ships. The combined Guilds of Sol used the Aperio's wormhole generation to send a team of representatives to Plinth, to meet with the three governments of the Glint. The previous agreement of isolation wasn't going to work. Now it was time to join hands and work together, against any future problems and moving towards the horizon.

———