The crew dragged themselves off the Echelon once they touched down in Aboloan. Ash carried a basketful dirty clothes to be washed at Heather’s parents' house on his back. They barely had enough water on the ship for drinking, taking brief showers, and a toilet, so there was none to spare for laundry. Heather’s parents had a pretty nice washing machine, so laundry often got done there. They passed by a newsstand.

“Extra, extra, read all about it!” A young boy held up a newspaper. He reminded her of the one who tried to pickpocket here, but she couldn’t tell if it was the same kid or not. “Syreal declares a blockade of all vessels going to and from Liba!”

Dave tossed the hawker a coin and took a copy. “So, Syreal went and did it. They’ve blockaded both air routes and sea routes to Liba, or at least the ones that aren’t dangerous.”

“So the rumors were true.” Sarah wasn’t surprised. After meeting a few of the Syrelian military leaders, she’d learned that nothing was too petty for them. Still, there was a sting of disappointment and a bit of fear over what might be coming next. “Why isn’t Aboloan doing anything about it?”

“International waters and airspace. No one has jurisdiction over there.” Dave opened it up to continue reading the article. “And if someone attacks them, they’ll declare war on them. Aboloan would probably stand a good chance, but Syreal has the numbers. The higher-ups probably think it’s more trouble than it’s worth to fuss over.”

“I’m sorry you’re stuck here,” Mel told her. “If you hadn’t stayed to help us out, you would’ve been home by now.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Claire assured him. “I looked at the departure schedule before we left. Every transport back to Liba was book solid, probably even over capacity with some ships. Unless she decided to stow away, there’d be no chance of her getting passage.”

“Besides, she’s got a place to stay with us.” Dave threw the newspaper into a trash can as they passed by and looked back to Sarah. “That is if you want to continue working with us. I’d understand if you wanted a job that was more stable than what we have, maybe a job with less exposure to Syrealian military officers?”

Sarah mulled over it as they walked along. Dave had a point. There was no telling what their schedule would be like or if they would have a constant enough job. And the less she saw of people like Smirnov, the happier she would be. But on the other hand, there was no guarantee she’d be able to find another job all that soon. If she were better connected, she could get work as a translator somewhere. But her lack of expertise in [Faux French language] would hurt her chances in Aboloan. That and she found herself enjoying the travel, even with the pirate raids, spies, haughty military officers, and freedom fighting groups with questionable means.

“I think I’ll stick with you.” She replied. “At least it is a job, I have a place to stay, and you aren’t strangers to me. I can always keep an eye out for another job in the meantime.” To be honest, Sarah knew she wouldn’t look that hard unless traveling safely became impossible as opposed to just inconvenient.

“I wonder if we need to open a bank account for you.” Heather mused as they all boarded the bus that would take them to her old neighborhood. “I don’t know how easy it is for a foreigner to do. I will be going tomorrow to deposit the money from our last job.” Sarah wasn’t sure where she was carrying the money at the moment. “Or you could just keep using my parents safe. Given the circumstances, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”

Ash glanced behind them as they sat down. Once the bus started, he leaned forward so that he was partially hanging on the bench where she, Dave, and Mel sat. She assumed that was so they could have a better conversation. Claire simply stared out of the window. It looked like she had a lot on her mind, rare for the mechanic.

“Don’t look now, but someone’s following us.” He stated quietly. Sarah leaned over so she could glance behind them. Ash shook his head. “No, don’t look at him. It’s bad enough that I did. That fellow’s been following us since the docks.”

“How do you know he’s just not going the same way we are?” Mel questioned. “M-maybe it’s just a co-coincidence.”

“It could be, but he seems to be traveling the same path as us. He didn’t wander off at all.”

“Do you think it could be the Thespian?” Heather questioned as she too had to resist looking behind them to see the one supposedly following them. “Or someone working for him? Maybe he’s not done with us.”

“It could be, but he knows where we live, he doesn’t need to have us followed.” Ash looked at Dave. “What do you think we should do, Dave?”

Dave tapped the handle of his cane a couple of times as he thought it over. “I think that maybe some of us need to get off sooner and then some of us get off at Heather’s neighborhood and see which group he follows. I don’t like the idea of splitting up, but it’s better than all of us ending up in trouble. At least there’ll be some around to come looking for the other group later.”

She noticed that he put a hand in his inner pocket where he was keeping the cigar that Recke had insisted that they take with them. Now how they were supposed to get it to him, she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t like Yager could stay in the port of Kingsgrove. After all, he was very much wanted here. She was surprised that Dave didn’t toss it away once they landed, but maybe he felt like it was too risky to cross the group. After all, they hadn’t hurt Mel or even indicated that they threatened him. Maybe he felt like he owed them something for that.

After a few minutes of discussion, they decided that Dave, Mel, and Claire would get off sooner while Heather, Ash, and Sarah would go onto her parents’ house. The other three got off a couple of stops before the one that would reach Heather’s house. The man also got off. Still, so did several people. Perhaps it was just a coincidence like Mel had hoped. Sarah hoped the group would be okay. At least Dave had his cane blade and she was sure that Claire had a weapon somewhere in her overalls, even if it was just a wrench or a tool or some kind. But there was only one person, so maybe they would have a chance if it came down to a fight.

“If Dave doesn’t call us in fifteen minutes, I’m going to go look for them.” Ash confirmed once they came to their stop and got off the bus. “I want you two to stay here, in case they come back here and I manage to miss them.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Heather replied as she retrieved her house keys from her purse. “It’s possible that nothing will happen.”

She got the door unlocked and opened it. Oddly, there was no Hawthrone to greet them. Heather must’ve thought so too by the look of concern on her face. She walked through the entranceway.

“Mum, Da, Hawthorne!?” She called out as she looked around. “We’re home! Are you somewhere in the house?”

There was no reply and no movement. Ash started to head to the kitchen.

“Maybe they went visiting or on an errand.” He stated, trying to reassure her. “They’ve done it before. Let’s see if they left a note in the kitchen like they usually do. There’s no need to panic if…”

He suddenly turned around and started ushering Heather and Sarah back to the door. “Go! Hurry! Get to a phone and call the police!”

“Sweetheart, what’s going on?” Heather tried to stop her husband from pushing her out. “Talk to me? Is it a robber? The door was locked…”

“No time to explain. Just go!”

“Or how about you stay?” A voice came from the door. A man stood in front of it with a cocky grin. “After all, you just got here. It’d be a shame for you to suddenly leave.”

Ash came to a stop and pulled back his fist. There was no doubt about what he was planning to do to the man in their way. A loud click stopped him in his path. The gun pointed at his face also probably gave him a clue that he shouldn’t follow through with the punch. Ash lowered his hand.

“That’s right, your guns don’t beat this kind of gun.” He then motioned back to the kitchen with the gun. “Go on, all of you. If there’s no funny business, then none of you have to worry about getting hurt.”

Sarah followed the other two’s lead. The person with the gun didn’t look like a robber. Sarah thought that she recognized him from somewhere, but she wasn’t coming up with any names. Ash eyed the two men taking up residence in the kitchen. That was probably what set Ash off in the first place. If he had told them that, then maybe they would’ve moved faster. Where had that man come from anyways? Sarah could only conclude he had been in the coat closet. That was the only way he could’ve beat them to the door so quickly. They were ushered to the dining room.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Ash remarked to the man sitting at the head of the table.

The man was cutting some slices of cheese with a dagger that was much too big for the task. It must’ve taken skill not to slice open his finger when the knife got to the edge of the cheese. He had both feet on the table and was leaning back in the chair. One foot had a boot (a very dirty boot judging by the dirt on the table) and the other one was bandaged up. She assumed that was her handiwork from the last time they had met. He ate a slice of cheese before speaking.

“‘Tis nice that we still surpreso each other after all this timo.” Captain Yager cracked a smile. “Bienventos home-a, weary troubladores.”