?


    "How are we going to get through though? That opening isn''t nearlyrge enough for our shuttle." Dahlia pointed out.


    "We will have to go on foot. The shuttle can remain here inside the barrier that we are going to ce over the camp. In fact, it can help power it since it''s thergest power source here. We will pass through on foot, and then there is a muchrger ship waiting for us on the other side that will take us to our home vessel.


    The Hunters will remain here in case they are needed back at the camp, but we can depart for a while until things sort themselves out here." Max exined.


    "Oh, that makes sense. I would love to see this huge spaceship that you talk about. If it''s half as amazing as your food, it could be one of the wonders of the known universe." Sheughed.


    She was definitely easy to please if a few snacks qualified as a universe-level wonder. But she would slowly get used to the scale of new things that were beyond her homeworld once they got to Absolution.


    [How is the packing of the camp going?] Khan asked as they disembarked from the shuttle near the edge of the camp.


    [Five minutes topletion, Huntress. All of the tents will be left behind to give the impression that the camp is still active. We just need to program the barrier, and then we can depart.]


    The first of the Hunters were already moving through the Anomaly with their gear to prepare to set up on the other side, and Khan''s assistant had packed her gear for her, so they didn''t have to do anything but walk away and hope that the ship was still intact when they returned.


    [Should I set it to self-destruct if someone breaks in and tries to steal the technology?] Nico asked as they reached the Anomaly.


    [That would be for the best. We can rece everything that is in there, but allowing it to fall into the hands of another species would be a real pain.] Max agreed.


    Nico set the parameters of the ship and left the Android pilot in charge, with a simr self-destruct program added in so that if what wasing was like the Arisen, it couldn''t take over the pilot to get to the ship.


    The moment that it lost contact with the Androids that were left on the other side or a loss of control of its motor functions was detected, the Android would internally g itself, rendering it no more than a crumbled pile of metal.


    That was the best they could do on short notice without actually remaining present for the whole event. Max had considered staying here to wait and see, but they coulde back in a hurry if they were needed, and they would just be in the way on this crowded citadel if there were arge-scale breach of the Anomaly.


    "This is our ride. We will have to catch a ride back up to our ship in orbit. The is too crowded to keep the ship on the surface." Max exined as they took a transit pod through the citadel toward the spaceport.


    "Look at all these different species. Do they work together like this all the time, or is there something special about this ce?" Dahlia asked.


    Nico took her by the shoulders with a smile. "Sit here, and I will regale you with tales of the Alliance and how the species in this part of the universe are getting along."


    [All equipment is disassembled, and the camp is now clear of life. Thest remaining technology on the surface is the shuttle left behind to power the barrier from that side.] The Hunters'' Camp Supervisor announced as they were boarding the shuttle.


    "Finished in plenty of time. That''s good. Now that everyone is off the, they can barricade the Anomaly if they need to without sacrificing anyone." The shuttle pilot remarked happily.


    "Hopefully, it won''te to that, but we couldn''t determine what the threat was, only that it was enough to make the most dangerous of the local species flee the region," Max informed him.


    The pilot understood and remained silent for the rest of the trip. There wasn''t anything left to say when the threat level couldn''t be determined. He only spoke again when they reached the Cutter in orbit.


    "Commanders and Envoy, here we are. It had been my honour to escort you back to your vessel." He informed them as the shuttlended in the cargo bay.


    "Thank you. We will be headed back to the World Ship for a while, and we will call you when we return."


    Nico led Dahlia away with a wink, intending to give her the grand tour of the Cutter to get her mentally prepared to face the reality of Absolution and theparative luxury that the Reavers were living inpared to her homeworld, so Max went to the bridge and set the course to the edge of the sr system where the designated Portal location was.


    Ship traffic was chaos in the area, with none of the ships paying any attention to the directions of traffic control, so Max made the decision to abort the Portal and move off the main transport pathways to exit the system at Warp Speed.


    Once they were well clear of the area, he would open a Portal home.


    It turned out to be the right choice, as not long after he turned away, all traffic in the area came to aplete halt, with Alliance Military vesselsing in and ordering no more traffic movement until everything was back on route.


    The problem was that none of them had been paying attention to traffic control, so none of the supply ships had any idea where they were supposed to be, and they were all lined up to try to poach a free portal ride on another ship''s trip to the right region of space.


    "Ah, the joys of budget transport contracts and Alliance Portal taxes." Max chuckled as the Cutter made its way out of the system. They could keep their traffic since they didn''t want to upgrade to the Human designed drive modules with enough power that everyrge ship could open a portal themselves.