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Amadine nodded. “This is where I was during the attack. I did all my speaking through a microphone system while I watched the attackers. Well, and you.”
Titan went to the canister and crouched. A few light touches to the wall and the canister was encased in a metal shield. “And off we go.”
Titan walked to the wall, and it slid back. Amadine picked up her bags, and Geero picked up Ondine’s. “Thank you.”
“Well, lifting and carrying is one of the many services I offer.”
He took Amadine’s bags as well, and they walked down a hall to a silver wall. It parted and opened as they walked into the small shuttle. “That is very secure.”
Titan chuckled. “Thanks. We will pick up your transport in a moment. The study has returned to its position now that the weight has returned to empty.”
They settled in the vessel, and Titan pulled another chair out of the metal.
Amadine chuckled. “She likes you. Normally, she just pulls handles out if someone has to travel with us.”
Titan put her feet in grooves and gripped her own handholds in the ceiling. The shuttle moved and eased through a tunnel until they were outside, looking down at the cabin in the bloody snow.
She spotted the single-rider vehicle and lowered the vessel over it, on top of it. Geero tensed until the ship enveloped it, and the outline bulged up through the rear of the shuttle, wrapped in liquid metal. Titan asked, “Anything else?”
“Nope. That’s it.” Geero grinned. “I am at your disposal.”
She nodded and headed for the city on the edge of the horizon. Amadine was good at shielding herself now, but that wasn’t something that they wanted to be made public. If folks were watching out for her, it meant they brought equipment that was heavy and obvious.
Titan asked Geero, “Where was the equipment?”
“What?”
“The attackers. Where did they come from?”
“Portal.”
“Fuck.”
Portals were expensive. They were charged by the body, and that was a lot of bodies. There were at least twenty tipped into the crevice that she could count. She nodded to Amadine. “We need to look into that.”
“As soon as we are settled and get the baby hooked up.”
Titan nodded, and the ship shuddered. They cruised slowly around the city to a rural area that hadn’t been cleared of all trees. The long farmhouses in the area were well-worn but in good shape. Yalida had bought her farmhouse with an eye to hosting more folk from Uradda. She had a few rooms ready when the actives were freed, and the kids had helped fix things.
The household was out when they landed near the guesthouse. When Titan emerged, the teens cheered; when Amadine walked out, they greeted her; and when Geero walked out of the ship, everyone froze.
Titan walked toward her friend. “He’s fine. He’s BDC-verified.”
Yalida smiled weakly. “You have a partner?”
“No. Of course not.”
Amadine shouted, “Yes, she does!”
Yalida snorted. “Well, if Amadine Heckler says you do, you do. Now, come on out for a hug.”
After a sweep of the area, Ondine nodded, bent forward slightly, and opened her chest to swing out and to the ground. Eight people hugged her at the same time. She winced as some of the young actives squeezed a little hard, but when they were all met and she touched their cheeks with her hand, Yalida smiled. “Clavia wanted to be here but got called to work.”
“I will see her later. Can I help with dinner?”
Yalida laughed. “Of course, you can. Let’s get you settled in the guesthouse, and you can get security in place.”
The teens converged on the ship and brought out everything. One of the young men carried the encased canister very carefully. Ondine walked him into the building and into the study on the main floor. She held out her hand, and a column of rebar smacked into it. She placed it on the ground and liquified the metal before she pulled the metal into strands all around the room and then wrapped the building and the farmhouse. No portal was going to be opened in the vicinity of her protection. Faraday cages rocked.
