Juste groaned as he sat up and held his hand over his nose. He was wearing the same kind of clothes as Recke’s people and his hat and collar hid his face, no wonder she hadn't known it was him. She handed him a kerchief of hers.

"Nice hook," he commented as he held it up to his nose to try and stifle the bleeding a bit. "Sorry for the handling, but I'm undercover at the moment. Though I thought you'd at least recognize my voice."

"Sorry, when all I heard was Alemanian, I panicked."

"Well, at least you only got my nose. That's easy enough to explain away." He stood up and picked his hat off the ground. "So, Recke wants to establish a working relationship with the Echelon?"

"Maybe. It's hard to tell. But I doubt she's off to a good start with Dave. Speaking of which, I should get back to the port. I hope the others are okay."

By now, whatever had been in the smoke had worn off and her eyes stopped watering, though her throat was a bit dry. But she didn’t see where the others had gone, which made her worry.

“Sorry, I lost track of them in the smoke. But I’m sure they got out. It looks like Recke’s group had an exit plan.” He removed the kerchief and examined it. “I don’t suppose you want this bloody thing back, Sarah?”

“No, you can go ahead and keep it. It came in a pack, so it’s not a fancy one or anything. Will you be alright?”

He nodded as he stuffed it into his pocket. “Yeah, it’s not the first time I’ve gotten punched in the nose. Though I’m not sure how long I can stay undercover thanks to this incident. But I think I’ve gotten enough information on Recke’s group for my article. I think I’ll head over to Ostrurgay next and mill around with the Liberation front. I know a secret way to the docks if you need to get back quickly.”

Sarah accepted his offer. Without the map, she didn’t know the way back. And honestly, she was glad for the company, just in case they did run into someone. But with how empty these back streets seemed to be, there didn’t appear to be much of a chance for that.

“So, you’re writing an article on the resistance groups against the League?”

Juste nodded and put on his cap and popped his collar. They started walking. “Yes, though I’m not going to name any names or any of the groups. Don’t want to give Aleman too much information after all. I’m just mainly writing about the kinds of struggles they face and the conditions they find themselves in.”

“Isn’t that pretty dangerous? And where’s LouLou?”

“I left her with a friend for a few days. And yes, it’s dangerous. I’m not sure which would be more dangerous, getting caught by soldiers with one of these groups or getting found out by one of these groups.” He wiped the area under his nose a little bit, trying to get the dried blood off. “A lot of them are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, including holding reporters for ransom or forcing them to do some work for them. Mel is lucky Recke decided not to keep him. They knew if he disappeared suddenly, your captain would probably go to the authorities. That and his personality isn’t suited for the environment. He’d be more trouble to keep than he’d be worth. That and some of the groups don’t like outsiders at all.”

Sarah could see how that would be true. She couldn’t imagine Mel hunkering down in an abandoned warehouse attending to someone with limited supplies while gunshots went off over his head. He had been the one that nearly fainted when he saw the snipers that had surrounded them. And he seemed quite gun shy too. Granted, all the gun shots she had witnessed him being around were more or less threatening them.

“So is Recke’s group radical? I’m wondering if we should toss that cigar. It could be dangerous.”

Juste pondered Sarah’s question for a moment. The answer was probably more complicated than what she was hoping for. That seemed to be the norm.

“They’re walking a pretty fine line, to be honest. Clearly, they aren’t against outsiders seeing that they do business with pirates and clearly they had nothing against an Aboloanian doctor treating their wounded. But they also aren’t afraid to pull punches, at least not very much. While I don’t think they ever target civilian areas, I don’t think they try avoid civilian collateral damage on the places they do target. I’d advise Dave to be very careful and not to get very involved with them. Just deliver the cigar and refuse any other future jobs.”

Sarah nodded. Seeing that Juste had been hanging around the group some (how he knew all of that in a couple of days, she wasn’t sure), he probably was a reliable source of information. Recke did seem to be excusing their concerns quickly, as if they weren’t important. Well, with any luck, they’d never have to see her again.

“So, I take it your Aleman is passable now?”

“Apparently so, though I don’t talk much. I think most of them assume I’m from the border area, where there’s lots of people who are part Paradisian and part Alemanian. They speak Alemanian with a Paradisian accent and Paradisian with an Alemanian inflection. I’ve never bothered to correct them for obvious reasons.”

“I don’t blame you. I’ve never informed Colonel Smirnov that I can understand Syrealian.” But she had a feeling it was going to come out eventually. It would not be pleasant. “It seems easier not to, to let him think I don’t understand what he’s saying to his fellow Syrealians.”

“He’ll probably accuse you of being a spy, if he hasn’t already.” Juste looked at the water. They were by the port, but hadn’t gotten to the docks quite yet. “Though fortunately for you, it’s not illegal for a Liban to know Syrealian in Paradis. He’d need more cause than that to take you into custody according to Paradisian law.”

Sarah had to wonder how long the Colonel would continue to remain within Paradisian law. Syrealians had a tendency to follow their own laws over native ones. The one who had taught her Syrealian in the first place that was a bit like that too, though she was pretty sure she never actually broke any laws. She certainly got on people’s nerves though, including her own children’s.

Juste came to a stop and pointed to a path. “If you keep on going down this path, you’ll reach the docks without running into anyone. I’ve got to get going if I want to at least try and rendevous back up with Recke’s group.”

It saddened her a bit to think that he was already leaving again, but it seemed like he was determined to see this story through. Yes, Sarah might’ve thought it was foolish, but it didn't matter what she thought. She nodded.

“All right, Juste. Be careful. You still have a lot to teach me about Paradisian.”

“And I have a lot to learn from you about Alemanian. So I’ll make sure to come back in one piece.” He gave her a reassuring wink. “And you be careful too. As you’ve seen, things can get dicey without warning.”

They waved to each other as they went different ways. The path was fairly easy to follow, although it dipped a couple of times. But after some walking, Sarah spotted the docks. Now, she didn’t know how easily she could sneak back to the Echelon or what she would say if she ran into anybody when she probably was supposed to be in the ship doing something.

She didn’t have much time to come up with something as she rounded the corner and nearly ran into someone. Fortunately, he managed to stop before the could collide.

“Sarah, I never expected you to come back this way.” Dave stated as he looked behind her. “I assume the rest of our wayward crew isn’t too far behind?”

“They aren’t back yet?” A pit settled in her stomach when he shook his head. She had been hoping that they'd make it back before she did. “Oh dear.”

“I take it by your look and tone that something went wrong.” His face grew concerned. “Well, come on. You can tell it to us on the ship. Wulf and Karl went to report the incident and they left us with a couple of greenhorns who are even more limited in Aboloanian than they were. I think we managed to convince them that you were scraping barnacles off the ship and that the others were in the engine room.”

If they were as bad at understanding Aboloan as he claimed, they probably didn’t even know he was making up an excuse. But it was still concerning that the others weren’t back yet. Once Dave led her into the ship (the soldiers were around her age she noticed), she explained what had happened to Heather and Dave.

“So, neither you or Juste have seen them since.” Dave noted as he sat in the pilot’s seat. He played with the handle of his cane. “I mean, they could just be taking a different route and taking longer to get here. I hope they aren’t much longer or someone’s going to get suspicious. We were in such a hurry to leave and now we’re just sitting here. That’s bound to draw some attention. Glad you’re okay though. Sometimes, that tear gas can be pretty nasty.”

Heather handed her a glass of water. “Here, this will help. And I’m sure they’re on the way. Ash would never leave us in a lurch if he could help it. Do you know what’s in the cigar this Recke handed him?”

Sarah shook her head and downed the whole glass of water. “No idea. I figure it’s a hollow cigar with something inside, since she said it was a special blend, and that she wanted us to take it to Aboloan with us. No instructions on who to deliver it to or anything.”

“Which means someone is expecting us there.” Dave concluded as he finally set his cane aside. “I have to wonder who. Guess we’ll deal with it when we get there. We have other business to take care of first.”

Just as Sarah was wondering if they would need to tell someone about their missing companions, they came up the ramp and entered. None of them looked worse for the wear, though all of them were tired. Mel didn’t say a word and went straight to the infirmary.

Ash hugged and kissed Heather before pulling the cigar out of his pocket and handing it over to Dave. He tucked it into his own pocket.

“I hope we never see that group again.” Claire leaned against the table where the radio was as everyone took their places on the bridge. She had apparently checked everything that morning in case they needed to take off right away after the meeting. “First they take Mel, then they concoct this meeting scheme, then they give us something to take, and then the meeting spot gets attacked and we’re forced to go through the sewer to escape. When you disappeared, they wouldn’t even let us look for you.”

“Juste was there and he helped me.” Sarah explained before contacting the tower for permission to take off. “I guess his route was shorter than the sewer one.”

“Or she led us through it to take up more time.” Claire sighed a bit. “I guess I’ll go take a shower if anyone needs to find me. I’ve got to get the stench off.”

Soon they were once again in the air and heading back to Lum. Sarah turned back to her notes, particularly the tips Juste had left her. Hopefully, she would see him again someday under better circumstances. And LouLou too. And she hoped they never had to see anyone they’d met here for a long, long time.