The camera on the screen panned left then zoomed in on the situation unfolding in the plaza before Milan’s central police station. Roderick was glued to the screen, the human traffic controller had barely left his chair in his Luna hotel since this all started unfolding.
He was meant to be enjoying a final few days of his vacation before returning to Jupiter and his job but he couldn’t look away. His phone was full of messages, his friend group were all watching the drama unfold. It has been amazing to see the video feeds of the Odyssey in full battle mode advancing on low earth orbit. Amazing and a bit terrifying as the whole world realised they had no way to stop the Odyssey and that their own governments had caused this.
As a traffic controller Roderick could appreciate the utter devastation the Odyssey’s unscheduled advance through the middle of Earth’s Orbital traffic lanes had caused. He also found it extremely amusing, living in space had given him a wider, broader idea of Earth’s utter insignificance in the grand scheme of the Galaxy. But back on Earth they still harboured the deep seated human belief that the universe revolves around them and the Earth.
Even now with regular traffic was utterly disrupted and Earth’s defence fleet was totally outclassed and out of position certain aspects of Earth’s community online believed all it would take is some belief and gumptions to defeat the Odyssey. Now however the studio he was watching was focussing on events unfolding on the ground and those vocal voices were starting to fade into befuddled confusion as it became clear that no one could stop the Avali.
“Can you hear us Carys?” The studio anchor spoke calmly, moments before they had all been running for cover as Firi Trail and her weapons bracketed the city ready to unleash who knew what on them all, “Can you give us an update from there on the ground?”
The camera focussed on the young brunette and she waved a hand directing their view across the plaza, “I hear you Paul, as you can see Defender Firi Trail and the Mayor are still in discussion with the security agents behind the kidnapping, apparently the Mayor is trying to defuse the situation peacefully before Firi Trail decides to take action herself.”
“Do we know what their current conversation is about?” the studio anchor asked.
“Not at current,” the reporter replied, “We are not allowed any closer, the police cordon is being quite strict,” Roderick could hear the frustration in her voice. Like all reporters she probably thought it was her god given right to be up close and butting in on the Avali Defender directly, “The latest report we received is that they are discussing terms of their surrender into the Mayor’s custody not the Avali’s.”
“Wait a moment… sorry to interrupt Carys but we have breaking news,” Paul back in the studio suddenly said as the screen flicked back to the studio anchor behind his big desk, “The Avali Embassy has just started releasing the names and positions of everyone who ordered this kidnapping, it turns out despite the Italian Governments protestations of innocence their security forces are behind the kidnapping.”
“What’s the veracity of these documents?” Carys asked since she was still on the air with the studio.
“They are… the government's own email communications, signal messages and peer to peer encrypted messages between the commander of the operation and their field team,” Paul said, “We don’t know how they got them but we will start an analysis of this straight away, apparently this goes all the way to the top and…”
“Paul! PAUL!” Carys shouted, the excitement in her voice louder than anything, “Cut back to me at once! Pan up, Pan up! A space ship is coming down!”
The camera view flicked back to the plaza and the view was of the underside of a shuttle. It was sleek, a navy blue and bronze craft unlike anything the Avali usually flew. It was all sleek swept back wings and spurs along the engine cowlings that looked like massive feathers. It turned slowly in mid-air, making barely a hum of sound before drifting down slowly to float a few inches above the surface of the plaza before it settled down with a definite thump.
“Look at that, it doesn’t look like the usual Avali ships, this could be a Defender specific craft,” Carys said, composing herself and resuming her “Professional anchorwoman” persona, “No wait, we are receiving information from the studio that this is the Momentum, Captain Selenu’s personal shuttle, the ship she has used to claim numerous first place positions in Galactic space races. We don’t know who will be onboard but we are expecting the captain and maybe another member of her pack, it is unlikely Ambassador Ka’er has come down in person but Diplomat Seinu may be aboard.”
She peered over the plaza through the deepening gloom of evening, “Wait, looks like something is happening… a group is emerging from the Police station. Defender Firi and the Mayor are approaching them with a group of police officers.”
Roderick watched with fascination as the camera zoomed in revealing a group of about five people in dark suits emerging from the police station. They all had their collars up and were trying to hide their faces and the police hustled them all into the back of a van pretty quickly. The reporters were all pushed up against the barriers screaming questions but Carys remained where she was with her camera crew. So maybe she wasn’t the sort of gutter trash reporter who’d try to shove themselves in the faces of everyone. Either that or she’d given up on trying against the crowd and didn’t want to lose the pretty good vantage point she’d secured for her camera crew by running around.
“We are receiving word that the field team behind the kidnapping have as you just saw been taken into custody, we are being informed that they are cooperating with the Mayor who is now de-facto in charge of Milan’s police forces after the chief and his deputy were arrested earlier this afternoon. It has been verified that both of them were aware of the operation and co-operated with the security forces request for resources.”
“What news off the kidnap victim Cal Trail?” Paul asked back in the studio. “No news yet but ah there she goes, Defender Trail has just gone inside the station accompanied by the mayor. It looks like she took her large hammer with her.”
“Back to you in the studio Paul, I’ll call out if there are any updates.”
The camera feed switched back to the studio where the anchorman was sitting straight and looking at the camera with a warm and friendly smile. “Whilst we wait for news I wanted to just take a moment to talk to you about Avali Defenders, several of you are expressing curiosity on social media over who they are, what they are and why Defender Trail can operate on Earth.”
The screen behind him shifted to show a picture of a group of five Avali wielding weapons, posing for some sort of publicity shot, “The Avali Defenders are the elite special forces segment of the Illuminate Military, there are only five of them in active service right now and their rank is the highest any military Avali can achieve.”
The picture changed to show a close up of Firi Trail in her armour, her hammer held casually in both hands, “Think of them as Illuminate special forces, like the Navy Seals or SAS but their fame, skill and code of conduct transcend national boundaries. The Illuminate Government has agreements with most of the galactic coalitions they do business with, allowing the Defenders to remain armed and to act as independent units representing the Illuminate Director in special circumstances.”
He took a deep breath, a serious look on his face, “Our local Milky Way coalition is one who has an arrangement with the Avali Illuminate, and one of Earth’s governments orchestrating the kidnapping of a visiting Illuminate citizen under a diplomatic visa is a really bad look for us. Said kidnap Victim is Cal Trail,” the image behind the anchorman changed to show a close up of a vampire bunny. He was wearing a sky themed hat and scarf and wearing an Avali Visor. The next picture showed him wearing Avali battle armor and wielding a very impressive looking Avali spear.
“He is a member of the Babu species who are under the protection of the Avali Illuminate as their society is being uplifted by the Illuminate directly. He is also officially a member of the Trail pack and the Odyssey’s crew, as well as Defender Trail’s student, not responding to such an attack would have been a dereliction of their duty of care toward the Babu species and one of their own citizens.”
Paul cut in from back in the studio at this point, “ Babu is the official short name for what we would call the Vampire Bunny species in English. Some of you will know them as the same species as the intergalactic metal sensation MMF, whose lead singer Sher Böhnchen created the band here on Earth fifteen years ago.”
Roderick was only half listening as he messaged his friends, excitedly exchanging ideas and theories, offering up opinions and thoughts about what would happen next. It was clear however Earth had embarrassed itself in front of the Avali Illuminate and the local Milky Way Coalition. Kidnapping a tourist on a Diplomatic Visa and getting caught red-handed at it was not a good look for the solar system or Earth as a whole.
The Secretary General was trying to distance themselves from the scandal, blaming it on national governments going rogue. But no amount of spin was going to hide that an Earth Government just kidnapped a member of a visiting Diplomats entourage. It was a huge embarrassment and massive news.
“Ah we have some movement at the edge of the cordon…” Cary’s voice cut through and Roderick turned his attention back to the screen, “A car just arrived and climbing out of it are an avali, a human and a vampire bunny…. Yes we are receiving word this is Ki Trail, Cri Trail and Kathy Cambrelsa, heiress to the Cambrelsa Dynasty of Fashion. They have been, according to local reports, staying aboard the Orient Express at the station, something must be happening for them to have all come out here now.”
The camera panned around, following the black and white Avali with the cybernetic arm, the fluffy copper and grey vampire bunny with a copper tail and the tall human dressed in a long, flowing, fashionable dress emerging from the car.
“Ah, the hatch to the momentum just deployed, there is Captain Selenu and… holy crap what the hell are they!”
The camera showed the white and lime Avali moving down the ramp to meet her pack-brother accompanied by two massive creatures. They had to be over twenty feet tall, with soft fur covered bodies, shiny gelatinous hair wearing long formal capes that flowed and fluttered behind them. They were walking a few steps behind the Avali as she came down the ramp and both of them were carrying huge spears that were taller than both of them.
“Ok,” Paul cut in, “We are receiving word those are the Sleriki from Hastalan Waste Removal,” the anchorman in the studio said, “They must have agreed to accompany the Captain and yes there is Diplomat Seinu Trail… this is even worse for the local government if they felt like they had to co-opt the two Sleriki for protection on top of bringing in an Avali Defender.”
“Thank you for the information Paul,” Carys said breathlessly as the camera panned over the two massive aliens, their strange gel-like hair reflecting the light of the many cameras going off around the perimeter of the square. “As you may know Hastalan Waste Removal is a trans-galactic corporation that opened their local cluster headquarters in orbit of the Moon, I mean Luna a few years ago. They are experts at cleaning up pollution and their Sleriki employees are natural toxic removal specialists whose unique biology can clear up any pollution.”
Cary’s turned and the camera followed her to zoom in on Seinu as he joined his siblings and laid a hand on Cri’s hat, clearly talking to the vampire bunny, “Diplomat Seinu is currently in our system with the Odyssey to assist the HWR in building new ships to expand their operation in this sector of the galaxy.”
Then the camera swung around as the doors to the police station slammed open and the Mayor of Milan and his escort of police officers raced down the steps. They charged away from the building and dove for cover behind a police van just in time. The whole building was shaking, they could literally see it vibrating and then it came apart at the seams. Walls, windows, doors, they all just separated from each other and fell forward, collapsing into a scree of rubble. For a second the unbelievable sight of the roof just hanging above where the former art-deco building had been before filled the screen then it crumpled down into the building's footprint in a cloud of dust.
Somehow despite the fact the entire building had just come down the dust seemed contained. It should have flowed across the plaza and engulfed the crowd. Yet somehow the dust was staying contained within the footprint of the building and not spreading out. In fact the dust cloud seemed to be reducing, being absorbed or stopped from spreading somehow. The sound of rubble falling and smashing glass still filled the air but this just somehow made it eerier as without the accompanying cloud of dust the rubble could easily be seen as bricks, slate, wood and glass slumped out in all directions from the building's footprint.
For a moment there was just silence and then Firi trail strode out of the rubble, her hammer orbiting her body crackling with energy as she carried a smaller figure in her arms. As she walked out of the crowd it became clear that the dust cloud was somehow being pulled into the hammerhead which had opened up several vents along its side, glowing with dark, baleful purple energy that was pulling in the dust.
“There she is,” Carys whispered into her microphone, “Defender Trail and her hammer, the Armageddon. What we are seeing is the hammers mass controller, it's similar to a device popular with demolition companies and planetary terraformers to make sure dust and dangerous particles do not spread… so she is showing us great consideration right now.”
Carys turned slowly back to the camera, her face pale, “The Armageddon is the recorded weapon of Defender Trail, on the surface it looks like a normal hammer in the Avali style. But the information being fed into my ear is that the Armageddon has so much alien and unique tech hidden inside of it that all on its own it could outclass most standing armies. Most of it is secret but I think from what we’ve seen today is that the local security forces seriously made a mistake in picking a fight with Defender Trail.”
Carys trailed off, seemingly unsure what to say next as the Avali climbed down the rubble of the police station's former front wall. There was a moment of stunned silence as she plucked her hammer out of the air and stowed it across the back of her armour before she crossed the square to the group near the Momentum. The crowd erupted into a huge cheer as she set the vampire bunny down and Cri and Cal hugged one another.
“There you have it,” Carys crowed down the mic, “Defender Firi has finished retrieving Cal Trail, it seems something she saw inside the building offended her, what a show!”
After that there was a surge by the barriers but the police still refused to let anyone through. Questions were shouted, Firi raised her hammer in salute to the Mayor who waved back nervously and then the whole group boarded the Momentum and the ramp hissed shut. Everyone watched as the shuttle took off silently, drifting back up into the air and vanishing up through the clouds as the studio's information team started to feed information into Cary’s earpiece.
“Official release from the Mayor is that Defender Trail and her pack will now be returning to the Odyssey to review their security.” Carys said. “Diplomat Seinu says that whilst he understands the people of Italy are not to blame for what has happened, he does not feel he or his family and friends can remain whilst the nation's own security forces are working against their safety.”
She shook her head as she read out the statement, “Cal Trail is safe but somewhat dehydrated and needs minor medical attention. But for now the immediate danger has passed but the diplomatic fallout from this is going to re-shape the nation and the planet,” she looked seriously into the camera backdropped against the pile of rubble that just minutes before had been Milan Central Police station.
“A coalition investigator has already arrived and they are accompanied by Monet, the Kasvane Security Director, which is bad news for the Secretary General if the Kasvane decide to withdraw their Fold-Way gate over this incident….”
Cary continued rambling, a mixture of update and news as the camera focused on the crumbling rubble of the police station. The immediate crisis was over but it was going to send shocks all throughout the system.
The Momentum was rising up through the clouds, leaving Milan behind. Firi was standing by one of the windows looking back down at the ground below. Behind her Seinu was sitting in a chair with Cri and Cal, the bunnies had been hugging each other since they left the ground behind.
“Did you have to bring the building down?” Chantelle asked over the communications link; her and Taran were up on the wall panel looking down at them all as they had remained aboard the Odyssey with the Ambassador and his pack, “It’s the one thing that people are questioning as the security service people had surrendered.”
Firi turned back to look at her sister, “They were holding Cal in a cage, I needed to send a message that we would not stand for such things,” she shrugged, “Besides I needed to provide cover for the special ops pack to retreat, there were too many reporters with cameras on the building so I made it spectacular and no one saw them depart.”
“It is fine,” Ka’er said from besides Chantelle, “It was exactly the sort of message Ck’akk wanted to say and the majority of the population are on our side, even the xenophobic talk shows and “news” is on our side, it's hard to defend kidnapping a visiting tourist by government agents.”
“Thank you Firi,” Cal said suddenly interrupting everyone, “It was getting real boring in that cage.”
“Boring?” Cri chirped in confusion, “How was it boring?”
Firi quirked a brow and lifted her helmet visor to look at the bunny. Cal smirked back, “Humans are pussies, no offence Kathy,” he grinned at his friend, “But I just kept talking at them, mostly insults and casting aspersions on their manliness, they stank of confusion and fear.”
“Good on you,” Kathy laughed, “They deserved it and worse, I am just sorry this has ruined our train trip.”
“Are you sure you are ok?” Cri asked, sounding worried, “I mean you got kidnapped.”
“It wasn’t nice, sure,” Cal said with a shrug, “And it wasn’t fun to be thrown in a cage. But after I hid my phone and it was clear things were going wrong for them I just started tossing comments at them like Ty’kr taught us, never give your captors any respect.”
“I… what,” Cri seemed confused but Seinu lay a paw atop the bunnies head and smiled.
“I am just glad you are safe Cal,” the silver Avali said softly, “Once we get back to the Odyssey we can all decompress and catch up, it has been very stressful for everyone.”
“Yes we all need some time to relax and recuperate,” Ka’er said, “Chantelle and I have already cleared all of our schedules for the next couple of days. Besides a few press conferences and public statements we might have to put out.”
“Sounds good,” Firi responded, “Soon as we get back I need to debrief with you and send a field report to K’ask.
“Who’s K’ask?” Kathy asked curiously as she started to pull pins out of her elaborate hairstyle to let it down.
“K’ask is the pack-leader of the Defenders,” Firi said, “Our leader, so I need to send him an after action report.” she chuckled softly, “I was in the middle of a call with him when this emergency started so he’ll be really curious about it. He even offered to send some other Defenders to me as back up if I felt I needed them, a few of them aren’t far away.”
Ka’er’s ears wilted at that, “Oh lord, that would have been a disaster… though admittedly the Italian government deserves it at this point. But we shall see you all soon.”
Ka’er ended the call and Firi turned back to regard the others. Selenu was focusing on flying and Seinu was quietly talking to Cri and Cal whilst Kathy was sitting next to them, joining in the conversation. Since everyone else was busy she made her way across to where Ki was watching the group.
“Hi bro, you ok?”
He jumped, ears flicking back as he started then reached up with his organic hand and gripped her arm, “I am ok… just… glad he’s safe. We were meant to be having a quiet train ride across Europe then this happened on my watch… I have barely been holding it together.”
Firi smiled and embraced him tightly, “Hey you did ok, you couldn’t have known that the humans would pull this crap.”
He sighed and rested against her, “I wanna just fall all to pieces. But between Cri being on the verge of flying apart and reporters all over it has been impossible to get any quiet time.”
“Well once we get home you can lock yourself in your room and have a big scream.”
“I’d like that I think,” Ki sighed, “Part of me wanted to just open the drinks cabinet and try all those tiny bottles the humans left in our fridge, but I resisted.”
“Good on you,” Firi smiled at him and ruffled his head feathers, “But it worked out ok and the humans are in a real mess,” she continued to hold onto Ki, letting him just rest against her as she glanced across the cabin to where the two huge Sleriki were squished in at one end, “I wanted to thank you both for coming down to join us Reilan, Fildan, that was unexpected.”
“We didn’t really do much,” Reilan said softly, “We just accompanied Captain Selenu, and let the humans draw their own conclusions.”
“It was the least we could do,” Fildan added, “Seinu is a friend, and we wanted to show our solidarity and support.”
“Well it was a big help,” Seinu said softly as he held onto the twins gently, “It was very nice to have you along and as you said it sent a message to the humans,” he sighed softly, ears flicking back, “ I hope the humans do not give you grief over it.”
“I doubt it,” Reilan said with a soft chuckle, “They seem really focused on staying on the good side of the Sleriki,” they shook their head, gelatinous hair swaying, “Mostly because they are constantly trying to lure us over to work for them instead, they really struggle with accepting no as an answer.”
“Lots of aliens do,” Fildan grumbled, “It gets very annoying, I am working the job I enjoy, I don’t want to change jobs but some of them act like they are doing me a favour when offering me a different job.”
“That sounds like a very us response,” Kathy sighed as she shook her head, then she glanced at Seinu, “Is me being along going to cause problems? I sort of didn’t check out through the borders or anything”
“We’ll sort that,” Seinu said with a frown as he rests his head atop Cal’s, holding the bunny in his lap, “The Orient Express is due to deliver all your luggage and belongings to London so you should be able to collect everything there.”
“What about your schedule?” Cal asked, “Didn’t you have lots of stuff to do over the next four or five days?”
“Most of it is cancelled,” Seinu said as he looked over the inside of his visor, “We’re expecting the next few days to be focused on dealing with the fallout from you being kidnapped and, you know, spending time together” he pushed his visor up and looked at Cri, “We have lots to talk about, and I think you and Cri need some time to talk too.”
Cri lowered his head and nodded quietly, just holding onto Cal’s tail tightly, “Yeah… we need to talk.”
Cal glanced down at his brother then plapped a paw atop his head, “Yeah we do, but love you brother, but for now… let's just get home.”
Ki sighed and peeked past Firi and murmured softly, “At least this whole thing may have solved that issue… so that’s something, but when we get home I am going to sleep for a week.”
“You’ve earned it brother,” Firi said with a smile, “We’ll be home soon.” She turned back to watch the screens as the Momentum retreated back to the lumbering white and orange hulk of the Odyssey, safety, home and security.
Selenu sat in the pilot's seat, fingers flicking switches, shutting down the engines and putting the Momentum into standby mode as it plugged in to recharge itself. Everyone else had left the ship and the lime feathered Avali sighed softly and took a moment for herself, leaning back in her chair.
“How are you holding up Selenu?” a voice asked her and she started, twisting around to look at the Avali who’d come aboard quietly. “Be'te,” she said with a soft smile, “You startled me, I am doing ok.”
He moved over to lean against the command console and quirked his ears towards her curiously. He was an older Avali, the same age as Ka’er and their sisters, the leader of the Ambassador’s pack. Selenu shook her head and smiled ruefully, “I am a bit tired, and could do with a week or two where nothing exciting happens.”
“I thought as much,” he smiled, “I feel the same way sometimes, especially when Ka’er and the girls are busy doing something exciting and energetic and diplomatic in their games with the humans.”
Selenu smiled at her fellow pack leader and sighed, “At least you can hide out in the embassy, I noticed you don’t tend to join them in public.”
“It’s easier for me,” Be'te said with a smile, “As far as the humans are concerned I’m their shy, retiring, non-public facing brother who just runs the Embassy administration. They really struggle to understand pack dynamics and that I’m the pack leader not Ka’er.”
Sel smiled, “I’ve noticed that, to them I am just the Captain of the Odyssey, they can’t seem to wrap their heads around the fact that just because Firi is the Defender or Seinu is the Diplomat they aren’t in charge of the pack.”
“It’s useful, “Be'te smiled, “Lets me stay out of the public eye and keep an eye on things and offer Ka’er and our sisters advice and help without being pulled directly into the human intrigues."
“I should have taken a quieter career path,” Selenu chuckled and she stood up and shook out her wing feathers, “Being the Captain of the Odyssey makes it hard to stay so behind the scenes.”
“Still if you want to talk I am around,” Be'te offered as they disembarked from the shuttle, “You have had more than this little kidnapping show to deal with from what I’ve been told.”
“Hah,” Selenu paused to seal the Momentum, watching the hatch swing shut and then ran over the final security protocol, sealing it properly, “Which one have you heard about? Seinu’s sudden upgrades from the Sleriki? Or having to convince some of Firi’s colleagues not to fly on over to give Firi back up”
Be'te quirked his ears and chuckled, “I’d heard about that, their communication signal came through the Embassy.”
“They are all very enthusiastic and love to help each other,” Selenu sighed, “Firi adores them of course. I had to promise they could stop by for a visit after we leave Sol for our next destination.”
“Probably wise,” Be'te chuckled, “Though the sheer level of panic and havoc if two Avali Defenders turned up,” he laughed softly, “I have to admit after living here for the past few years I would have loved to see them panic over that.”
Selenu groaned, “I think we’ve caused enough havoc, the humans are scrambling to deal with the coalition inspector now, at least I can push that work off on Seinu and Ka’er.”
“Yes,” Be'te frowned, “You have to wonder what they hoped to gain from this? I mean we were never going to sit by and let them kidnap a member of your pack without consequence.”
“I thought that too,” Selenu replied, “But I believe the original plan was to grab Cal, mug him, steal his Avali tech then leave him someplace.”
Be'te nodded, “That would have been more in keeping with their behaviour, I guess Cal hiding his phone from them threw a huge wrench in their plan.”
“That is about what I can surmise,” Selenu replied, “They could make lots of apologetic sounds but blame it all on criminals and bad luck if Cal just got mugged. But all of this blew it out of the water into a big thing.”
“Well it all sort of worked out in our favour,” Be'te smiled, “We now have official and rather open-ended approval for a new embassy on Europa in writing not just promises and words. Ka’er made some off hand comments about how “If the Sol system is so unwelcoming and dangerous maybe I really do need an Odyssey class ship as an embassy.” and the Secretary General fell all over himself to approve Europa before the call was over.”
Selenu chuckled, “Well that’s something, and the trade concessions Ka’er is ringing out of them for this affront will be a bonus as well.”
Be'te laughed and smiled, “It helps, I’d say your visit here has been a success, albeit we’d all have preferred it if they had not kidnapped Cal.”
“At least he is safe,” she shook her head, “Though I am expecting Seinu to be difficult due to some interesting biological things he just learnt from the Sleriki.”
“I was meaning to ask about that,” Be'te tilted his head and frowned, “I only know a bit about Seinu’s odd biology, what is mentioned in his official file. How can the Sleriki teach him things?”
“It’s complicated and classified,” Selenu grimaced, “You’ve all probably learnt more than you should have so I can’t say any more.”
“Understood,” Be'te smiled, “If I am used to anything it’s classified information. One less thing to worry about, or…” he trailed off at Selenu’s expression, “Or is there more to it then that?”
“It’s a good thing,” Sel said as they left the shuttle bay behind them, “But he will want to experiment and learn and understand and that’s not something we can do with our schedule right now.”
Be’t nodded, “I understand, so as pack leader make arrangements for a time when he can do that,” the older avali suggested, “Then you can say to him, we can’t drop everything to indulge right now but then you can tell him when he can do that.”
Selenu paused for a moment and nodded, “That’s not a bad idea, I had not thought of that.”
“It’s hard I know,” Be'te smiled, “You want to accommodate your family all the time, but we have to realise there is a time and a place to indulge, so just be upfront and clear about when they can do the thing they want to do.”
“I will try that, thank you” Selenu smiled and reached out for the lift control, “Thanks for dropping by, I really should get up there and join the debriefings.”
“Me too, come on, let's corral our siblings into behaving and hopefully we can bring these crazy days to an end for the rest of your visit.”
Sel nodded and selected the living quarters and settled back, feeling somewhat calmer and relaxed as they headed off to join their packs. It had been a crazy series of events but everyone was home safe and sound and now it was time to clear up the remaining mess and move on.
To be continued…