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"Well fuck, that could have been us," I said.
"We need to get out in the open," J'avet said. "Somewhere they can see us."
"If they bother to look." I hadn't seen Zarex look worried before, but he did now. And scared. Fair enough; I was about ready to pee my pants.
"What about the ship Brinley found?" I asked. "Can we get off here?"
"Not without the IF shooting us down," J'avet said. He didn't look scared, he looked furious. "We need to convince the IF we're us, or they'll keep on shooting."
As if on cue, another laser blasted a small building close by.
"There's a field that way." Slek pointed east. "Away from any ships or buildings. Away from anywhere they might aim, hopefully."
"Lead the way," J'avet said.
Normally Slek would stop for a wisecrack, but not today. Now, he simply led us at a slow jog away from the buildings, toward what looked to be farmland. If it wasn't for lasers from the sky, it would be a nice place to rest for a day or three. Maybe build a cottage. Import some cows and chickens.
Another laser took out another building.
"The nanobots have all been deactivated," J'avet was saying into his watch. "If you look at your scanners, you'll see several hundred Freytauri, a couple of Parvorans, some Agusians, a Garvian or two and some humans. IF citizens, every one of us. No Iritauri."
"Stand by," a voice replied.
"Standing by," J'avet muttered angrily.
We reached the middle of a field of grain and many of us flopped to the ground, too tired to move another step, or even stand. If the IF didn't believe us, we were dead anyway, so we might as well be comfortable.
I leaned again Danec, who looked utterly spent. The Freytauri I was helping leaned against me.
We waited.
"Commander J'avet." A new voice came through both his watch and Zarex's.
I jerked upright. "Captain Marshall?" Relief flooded through me. I didn't know how the Gamma survived and I didn't care. I was just happy it had.
"This is J'avet," he said simply. "Good to hear a voice we recognise." He didn't add, 'and who recognises me.' The sentiment was obvious.
"Commander Zarex here too, Captain." Zarex sounded cheerful but he, too, looked tired.
I suspected I only knew a fraction of what he'd been through in the last few weeks. Only now, out in the light, I saw bruises which had almost faded on his cheeks and neck. His antennas were intact, but they both drooped slightly as though showing his exhaustion in a way the rest of him couldn't.
"Nice to hear your voice too," Marshall said. "J'avet says you're all bot-free."
Slek leaned over and spoke into Zarex's watch. "Bot-free and feelin' fine."
"Reports are coming in of deactivated nanobots all over the galaxy," Marshall said. "Was that anything to do with you?"
Slek, in true Slek style, pretended she was giving him the chance to claim all the glory. "That was everything to do with me, Captain, but I had a bit of help from my friends."
J'avet rolled his eyes, but almost smiled. "We would appreciate it if you didn't destroy all the ships, so we can get off this planet."
"We thought about that," Marshall said slowly.
My heart sank. Surely the IF wasn't going to leave us out here, alone, with no way off? I mean, I guess we could make a life here, if we had to. I had my guys and Brinley, crops, water…
"We thought we'd bring Gamma to you," Marshall finished.
The ship burst through the atmosphere above us and began a slow descent.
