Maggie’s first concern was Diggs. Considering how he felt about the Azha already this would only make the situation worse, and if he went after them again…

“Start prioritizin’,” she told the Knights in a rush. “Figure out what you can jettison, cause they ain't gonna give you much time.” She thought for a moment. “Make sure all the provisions you can carry are number one on the list.”

“Medical supplies should go first,” Blye argued.

“They said they were puttin’ you on a ship,” she countered, glancing back at the watching Azha. “They didn’t say whose, but I’ll bet you just about anything it ain’t the Corsairs. You take passage on an alien vessel, sometimes they forget little details when it comes to Terrans. Like food.”

The medic closed her eyes and nodded. “Right. Prash...food and water. Joona, diagnostic and support equipment. I’ll get started on the pharmaceuticals.” She looked to Maggie. “If you could start with the gear in the supply room…”

“Two steps ahead of you,” she replied, already moving, “but first I got a tiny situation to deal with.” Maggie hurried back to where she’d left the kid, just thankful he hadn’t come looking for her. She found Diggs hovering by the door, doing as he’d been told, but she wasn’t sure how much longer his patience would have held out.

“We’re going on a trip,” she told him, plastering a fake smile on her face, “but first we gotta help Blye and the others pack up their stuff. Can you give me a hand?”

He nodded, as she got down to business. “Put that stuff you were playin’ with back in the box,” she ordered, “while I crate up the rest of this.” Most of the equipment was modular, which helped, but her biggest worry was what the two of them would do once the Knights departed. Azhakom was looking mighty unfriendly all of a sudden, which meant they’d have to get off-world themselves. Course, that left her with the nagging questions of Where and How. With the right ship, she could work their passage easy enough...Tinkers were always in demand...but it could be months before a good prospect docked at the spaceport.

She had a nagging suspicion the Azha wouldn’t wait months.

But even if she found the right berth in time, their destination would still be a crapshoot. Well, there was damn all she could do about that. Stay flexible, keep her eyes open...and be ready to scoot at a moment’s notice.

...just another day in the life of a Terran.

She snorted as the two of them kept at it, getting everything ready for transport, when there was a tap at the door. Diggs froze for a moment, before grabbing up his stick and brandishing it, ready to go on the offensive.

“It’s okay,” she chuckled, “bad guys wouldn’t have bothered knockin’.” She opened the door to find Blye on the other side, who pressed a hypo into her hands.

“We’re moving as fast as we can,” she explained, “but when we get ready to leave…” She shrugged, dismissing her concerns. “It’s fast-acting and should keep him calm long enough to get through the worst of this.”

“Got it,” Maggie nodded, slipping the spray into her pocket. “Thanks.”

“I’ll try to let you know when it’s time,” the medic said over her shoulder, hurrying off, as she closed the door behind her.

Diggs watched the exchange before turning to her, those big screwy eyes of his filled with distress. He knew something was wrong, even if he wasn’t sure what. “It’ll be okay, kid,” she promised, pulling him to her for a moment, as he latched on for dear life. Looking down at him, all the old fears and hurts came roaring back, but she shoved them aside and locked them away. She needed to keep her focus on the task at hand.

Back to packing then. What she really was doing was stalling, waiting on word from Blye. She’d left him alone once and gotten away with it, but she didn’t dare count on twice. If the young Knight couldn’t get to them in time, if Diggs slipped past her...there were a hundred ways it could all go bad. All there was for her to do now was to stay between him and the door...that and pray she could dose him fast enough if their plans went awry.

Which they did.

It was the sound that warned her...multiple entities approaching, and the gait was all wrong for humans. But the kid’s hearing was just as good as hers...better, most likely...and his reaction was everything she’d feared. Snatching up his stick he snarled at the door, his eyes filled with hate as he braced himself to charge the door the instant it opened.

So she tackled him. Again.

Maggie was even less gentle this time than she’d been with the breathing tube. He hadn’t been expecting her to jump him, which was the only reason it worked at all. Diggs whoofed as he exhaled a lungful of air when they hit the floor, taking the fight right out of him. The shock of her assault slowed his reactions enough for her to get the hypo out and jam it into his thigh, injecting him with the sedative...as the door slammed wide open.

The kid gasped, struggling to inhale, but he’d had the breath knocked out of him. The lack of oxygen distracted him better than anything else she might have come up with, while the Azha looked on the struggling pair in puzzlement.

With a gasp, Diggs started breathing again, before a coughing fit wracked his thin body, as the aliens weighed in at last. “Terrans leave,” they said once again...seriously, were they being charged for every word used?...as Maggie frantically checked him for signs the drugs were taking effect.

He blinked at her, still trying to understand why she’d scuffled with him, but she could already see hints the tranquilizer was working. His pupils were contracting, his movements becoming lethargic and uncoordinated. Taking a chance she climbed back off him, helping him to stand...as he spotted the Azha intruders at last.

His hostility towards the aliens hadn’t changed one iota, even with the sedative coursing through his system, but his ability to do anything about it had taken a serious blow. Diggs glared at the Azha but was having difficulty maintaining focus. His arm came up as if he were ready to take a swing but given how floppy the appendage had become it looked more like he was waving hello.

“...thank God,” she whispered, as Maggie turned to face the aliens. She spotted Blye in the background, peering past the throng, and she gave her a nod to show they were okay. Several dollies were lined up, most being handled by the soon-to-be-former Azha patients, the caste-less individuals who’d had the temerity to lose their symbiotes and then live to tell about it. It seemed their betters had press-ganged them into service...which told you everything you needed to know about the Azha-Xaak, and how they viewed everyone else.

She gave the aliens a wide berth as she bustled Diggs out of the supply room, eager to put as much distance between them as she could. She came to a halt before Blye, pausing just long enough to say their farewells.

“We’re leavin’, before they get any ideas,” Maggie told her. “Sorry about not gettin’ everything done.”

“Not your fault,” Blye shrugged, before crouching down to Diggs. “You look out for her, okay?” she said with a smile.

He was slow to respond but managed a sloppy grin and nod of his own. “...bye…” he said in a tiny voice, as both women looked at him in amazement. Maggie tousled his hair again, beaming at him, as she waved to Prash and Joona across the ward, hauling gear to the dollies.

“Time to go, kid,” she told him, as they headed for the exit...only to come to a screeching halt as another squad of Azha blocked their way.

“Terrans leave,” they said once more, as Maggie rolled her eyes.

“That’s what I’m tryin’ to do,” she said in exasperation.

“Ship waits,” the Azha repeated, “Terrans go ship.”

A light was beginning to dawn...and she didn’t like what it was displaying. “Wait a second...we’re not with them,” she tried to explain, but even as the words left her mouth, she knew it was useless. The Azha didn’t give a damn about Clans, or families, or any of the internal divisions humans used. They were all “Terrans” to them; one big unwanted race...and nothing more. One alien gave her a shove, pushing her back into the ward, and she tensed with sudden anger...only to clamp down on it as hard she felt the grubby little hand in hers.

It wasn’t just her ass on the line...not anymore.

Diggs was still too doped up to react, or they would have been in real trouble. Dragging him out of harm's way she moved over to one side, near where the orderlies were still stacking crates. “Looks like our escape might have been a mite premature,” she sighed. “Suspect we’ll be sharing a cargo hold.”

“So it would seem,” Joona agreed. “We’ve got the essentials nearly loaded...another ten, fifteen minutes, and we’ll be finished. After that?” He shrugged. “I guess we wait and see.”

“At least they’re lettin’ ya pack,” Maggie pointed out. “Had to leave my luggage behind more than once since I was a sprout.”

“Thank God for small favors,” Prash grimaced. “Come on, let’s get this done,” he told the other Sixième, clapping him on the arm as they went to retrieve another load.

There was very little for her to do, so Maggie took Diggs over to one of the cots they were being forced to leave behind and sat them both down. “Looks like we’ll be goin’ on a trip,” she told him, faking yet another smile. “Blye and Joona and Prash will all be there with us. Won’t that be fun?”

Diggs looked over at the Azha, and then back at her. Even stoned, he wasn’t buying it. With a heavy sigh, she tried another tack. “Look...ships can be dangerous if you ain’t careful, so I want you to promise you’ll stay with us. Don’t go off by yourself. You understand?”

It took him a moment, his wits being dulled and all, but the kid nodded. “Then I guess we wait,” she said, holding him close, as he rested his head on her shoulder.

Joona’s estimate was a little off. It was almost twenty minutes, as they were chasing down the last bits, that the Azha’s patience wore out. “Enough,” the leader announced, signaling to the others. “Terrans leave,” he said yet again, in a stunning lack of originality, as he pointed his slender arm towards the door. The symbiote-less Azha were already moving the dollies, as Maggie and Diggs joined the others.

“So what happens now?” Blye asked as they headed outside. Several cargo transports were waiting for them, as they began loading.

“I’d guess they take us to the spaceport, hand us over to whoever’s transporting us...and then we see where we stand,” she shrugged.

“It could still be a Corsair ship,” Joona said.

“Sonny...they have bounced me from more worlds than I got fingers and toes,” she snorted. “Trust me...it’s never a Terran vessel.”

“Then who should we be hoping for?” Prash asked.

Maggie chewed on that one for a moment. “Well…the Oivu ain’t bad,” she admitted, “but it ain’t likely we’d get that lucky.”

“Why not?” Blye inquired. “Weren’t they the race that first contacted Earth, back before the Great War?”

“They were,” the Tinker agreed, as the Azha motioned for them to board the trucks. “Sold us our first FTL drive, too...a shitty drive, and they charged us through the nose for it.” She sniffed. “They’re decent folk...even if they do creep me out...but they’re all about making a tidy return on their investments.”

“So why aren’t they an option?” Prashant pressed her.

She gave him an old-fashioned look. “Cause when you’re transporting undesirables...you don’t ship ‘em First Class.”

No one had a response as the vehicles pulled out, heading for the spaceport.

They made the journey mostly in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Maggie focused on keeping Diggs close by, worrying the meds would wear off before they boarded the ship. Who their new hosts would be, where they were going, she couldn’t think about that. Nothing *she* could do to change their fate, and besides...they’d be finding out soon enough.

At least the kid was content to nestle in next to her, and not get anxious. She had Blye’s hypo to thank for that, but she’d take what she could get. But the next leg...yeah. Maggie took a deep breath and tried calming her nerves.

Sadly, with little success.

She’d nodded off at some point, the humming of the transport lulling her to sleep. Maggie woke with a start when they came to an eventual halt, her first thought being of the kid. She let out a sigh of relief when she found him still tucked in beside her, but her movements brought him back to wakefulness. His movements were less languid than they’d been before, his focus more intense, as she felt the bottom drop out of her stomach.

The sedative was wearing off.

“Stay here,” Maggie told him, as she made for where Blye was sitting up. “I need another dose,” she explained in a rush, “the last one is fadin’ fast.”

“I couldn’t get another hypo in time,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.” She bowed her head in regret.

“Damnit,” the Tinker hissed, cursing her lack of foresight. She should have planned for this. “Then I need you and the others to keep an eye out for Diggs,” she said in urgency, “cause if he breaks loose, or starts something’...”

“You have my word, we’ll watch over him,” Blye vowed, clasping the older woman’s arm. There was cold steel in her eyes. “By Holy Mother Terra, by the murdered Earth, by my Sacred honor, I swear it will be so.”

Maggie rocked back, thunderstruck at her words. The Knight hadn’t only given her word...she’d sworn a Blood Oath. She and the other Chevalier’s would protect him, all right. According to the pledge she’d just given her, they’d safeguard Diggs at all cost.

...or they would die in the attempt.

She had no idea how to respond to that. What the hell do you tell someone who’s said they’d give up their very life for you? “...thank you,” she stammered, “...but I hope it don't come to that.”

Blye gave her a nod, as she went to inform the others, while Maggie crawled back to Diggs. “Listen to me,” she warned him, “we’re gonna be gettin’ out soon. I don’t know who’s waitin’ for us, or what they look like...so don’t you look at them at all. You keep your eyes on the ground, you hear me? You look at the ground and nothin’ else. You don’t see nothin’, you don’t hear nothin’.” She stared into his mismatched eyes, pleading with him. “Tell me you understand.”

Diggs’ eyes went wide as he nodded back to her. Maybe he didn't understand the Why, but he could sure tell something had her spooked. “Good. You hold my hand, and you don’t let go.” Gripping his palm she tensed as the Azha opened the transport, gesturing for the humans to get out. Blye took the lead, with Prash and Joona flanking them, surrounding the Tinker and her charge with a wall of protective flesh.

Stepping down to the tarmac, she got her first look at the ship they were being herded towards...and blanched. “...fuck me,” she whispered, staring in horror at the grotesque-looking craft.

“What is it?” Blye hissed, as Maggie pulled Diggs in tight against her body.

“...it’s a fucking To’uuk ship,” she said in dismay, as the Knight sucked in her breath.

“Are they as bad as they say?” she asked, her body already tensing for a fight.

“Worse,” she said. “They’re psychotic assholes who fucking hate humans.” She paused for a moment and then reconsidered. “Actually, they hate everybody...but they really have it in for us Terrans.”

“So what are we supposed to do?” Joona asked as the Azha marched them towards the waiting ship. Already Maggie could see To’uuk guards scuttling about, weapons at the ready.

“Keep your eyes lowered, and whatever you do, don’t challenge them,” she warned. “They take anything resembling a challenge as a duel to the death, and even if you kill one...the rest will finish the job.” She looked to the three Knights, as she covered the young boy’s eyes.

“If you got any prayers...I’d start queuin’ ‘em up right quick.”