“Acolytes, close up and lift,” Ahek ordered, and the three ships obeyed, hovering off the table and flying into the middle of the room. “We’re prepared for egress on your order.” “Yes, Embassy-Guard-Leader,” Embassy-Guard signaled. She wouldn’t miss this place, but she would never forget its importance. She walked to the center of the room, and looked around one last time. “Ma’am,” said Nasti, breaking her reverie, “we’re ready.” And glad that others had made sure she could. But she was looking forward to the chance to work more with these people. The most pressing matter was getting the frak out of here. It wasn’t the most pressing matter right now. She had supported human emancipation, and agreed that they were probably her equals – but she had not supported it with the urgency it deserved, and that made her wonder if she really had believed in equality back then. She wondered, to her shame, how many other Titans like her had been busy with other things, while these people waited patiently for their chance for mere equality. Mpola had too, she supposed, but she’d been busy with other things. And he’d worked with the Imperial Ambassador to Earth a few times, as the Sol Earth system was by far the closest one with another ambassador. He’d always respected the Floor Leader, of course – Zeramblin could do no wrong in his book. When emancipation had been passed into law, she hadn’t celebrated or anything she’d thought it was probably nice, and then gone back to work. Those few times it had come up, she’d been supportive, more or less, she supposed, but it wasn’t a big deal to her. Mpola had never cared much about human emancipation. They’d blown the borehole shut, and while it could still be found – indeed, probably would be found, eventually – it would take the insectoids more time, and more effort, and that would give them more of a chance to use the data she had downloaded before the Insectoids realized they had it. Uɉa had led a team of engineers along the cable line, and set small thermal incendiary charges. Though they were mostly pilots – a group never known for its rigid adherence to military protocol, no matter what their size or species – they had sprung into action, and when she’d explained how the tap had been connected, Col. That was in no small part due to the work of the humans, who had immediately hopped-to as soon as they began to disassemble the base.

In ten hours, they’d managed to erase the most sensitive data remaining, and while the insectoids could still trace the tap on their communications network if they found it, they had done a better job than she’d hoped of camouflaging its existence.

Mpola looked around the cramped saferoom with no small amount of satisfaction.

Zhe-minus four hours to start of ingress.” Not that we’ll necessarily need you to, just want you to be prepared. Not enough for interstellar travel, but enough to bounce through the system.” “Not a problem, Crewmate,” Lauren Wilson said. If we need you to launch and return to the Bass on your own power, can you?” “If they’re all healthy, then yeah…maybe. “We’re picking up eight people,” Utti Larasin said. “Can’t blame her, but would be nice to know their condition.” “Vidol’s playing it close,” Olthympo said. “Hold on, quick burst…’Eight Pick.’ Not sure what that means.” “Any following data?” Shagda Olthympo asked.

Titan saferoom