Trace's sense of apprehension hadn't completely dissipated yet but even he had to admit that so far, almost everything had gone their way. His concern that they would either be found out before getting to the surface or experience some sort of cataclysmic transit landmine during their journey between the Capitol City of Tujir and his hometown outer province of Xiron had somewhat receded at this point. Remarkably, the Sympathizer network had somehow managed to insert competent assistance at every checkpoint along the way. Without their help, it would have been very unlikely that they would have made it this far. He knew that this truly was a remarkable feat, especially for an organization that had a track record that was inconsistent at best. Trace realized that all of this could not be attributed to good fortune. A much more reasonable explanation for today's incredible success was that the Sympathizers were the beneficiaries of considerable external assistance. Trace had lived on Zeta his entire life and had never witnessed anything close to the coordinated effort he had seen so far. As it turns out, Cairo was listening in and concurred with his conclusion.

"Well, I can't speak to the Sympathizer's track record, but I am quite certain that Quin's hand was all over this," she replied to his thoughts telepathically.

"What the-?" Trace nervously mumbled before realizing where the stealth mental transmission was coming from. "Please don't do that..." he responded. "My nerves are already frayed!"

"I'm sorry about that. TP is just so natural to me and being boxed up like this...well, isn't."

Trace laughed. He knew that all of this had to be tough on her. He also realized that they had no choice but to take extreme precautions. Their current situation puts them both at considerable risk. Cairo was a Human stowaway on a planet whose dominant species wanted to eradicate her species. They were also transporting a highly efficient bioweapon specifically engineered to kill Zetas on contact. If the authorities managed to uncover either of these facts, their journey, and lives would come to an abrupt end...immediately.

Trace and Cairo weren't the only ones under the gun. Each of the Hybrids was wearing biofilm which itched endlessly and made it feel as if their skin was crawling. Actually, Trace knew that there was no "if" about it since the stuff did in fact make the surface epidermal layer move! For the 1st day or so, the partially alive exo-covering was continuously in motion on the molecular level as it adjusted and attempted to perfectly conform to the existing contours of the face and other body lines. As gross as it sounded, Trace also knew it was absolutely necessary. Just as necessary as keeping Cairo and the deadly bio-slurry continuously concealed. While the 15 and 31 Hybrids looked the part of being native, the risk of setting off genetic anomaly markers at the various checkpoints was too great, even with Sympathizer "plants" in place. The film was specifically designed to make sure that would not happen. As for Trace, he needed to hide his identity for a different reason. Soon after the murders of his father and Teek Bitrall, several members of both families were placed under "obvious" surveillance so as to "visibly" discourage them from attempting anything that could be construed as retaliatory against the State. Given that reality, altering his appearance with the biofilm allowed Trace to temporarily avoid any unwanted scrutiny during their critical transit to Xiron. On the bright side, all of this subterfuge would soon be coming to an end. They were now less than 100 km from their final rendezvous point. Even so, Trace was still not willing to take any chances given how much they had to lose. One more hour of creepy skin and solitary confinement wouldn't end up killing anyone.

This time, Cairo broke the silence audibly.

"So what's next?" she asked

Trace wasn't exactly sure what she meant but answered her question anyway. "Not much longer. You will be stretching those cramped legs of yours soon enough, don't worry."

"Actually, that's not what I asked, and being stuck in here for a bit longer won't be a problem. I just figured that this was probably a good time to get us out of the dark. Figuratively speaking in my case, of course..." she said.

Once again Trace had to laugh. The kid had some wit about her, no doubt about it. If he was going to be completely honest though he didn't want any distractions while they were still in transit...

Oh what the hell, we're through the worst of it, why not.

"Ok, fine. One ground rule though, no mentalics. With audible comms, all six of us can communicate. At this point, I don't want to repeat myself or have things misconstrued. Deal?"

Cairo mentally replied in the affirmative while the 15s and 31s also shook their heads in agreement.

Trace shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Do I really need to define what I mean by A-U-D-I-B-L-E ?"

To which, they all audibly laughed.

"Much better," he added with a chuckle.

"Ok, let's get down to business. What's next you ask? First and foremost we have to finish this trek. We're not there yet obviously, and until we are I will maintain some level of paranoia. Sorry, but that part is unavoidable. And it's why Cairo is still locked up in a box. All of that will end in about 20-25 minutes once we enter Xiron province. Once there, we will proceed to our agreed-upon rendezvous point and wait until our point of contact shows up. I was told to look for an orange transport, at which point we will approach and ask 'where the nearest refueling station is located'. Yes somewhat arbitrary and ridiculous, but that's the plan. From there, you five will join the transport and proceed to the Bitrall compound where–"

"Wait, you won't be joining us?" male 31 Hybrid jumped in, which was well out of character for him or any of the normally reticent Hybrids for that matter.

For almost the entire trip, the Hybrids had kept to themselves and rarely initiated conversation of any type with either Cairo or Trace. At first, Trace was uncomfortable using the names they provided. What disturbed him even more was the fact that they voluntarily chose to go by such callous designations. However, for them, for the Hybrids, the names were the only "designations" they ever had and were perfectly normal...and apparently, acceptable. Weird, but who am I to judge...

The suddenly vociferous 31 followed up with a second comment.

"You, more than anyone, are the reason we have made it this far. I don't think it's a good idea if we separate now," he added. The three other Hybrids were in obvious agreement as they shook their heads in unison.

"You have nothing to worry about," Trace replied almost dismissively. "The Bitrall and Flireen families have known each other for more than a generation. Our fathers lived together and in the end, died together. You will be going to an extremely safe place and will be in good hands at all times. As I was going to say, you all need to go to the Bitrall extended residence since that is where all of the logistical details and mission planning will be sorted out. There is much work for each of you to do and we have little time to waste. It is why we must get you there as- "

Once again, 31 jumped in mid-sentence.

"That is precisely why you must join us!" he added emphatically.

This time Trace exhaled and closed his eyes in frustration.

"No, no, no...and please let me finish."

"The fact that you will not let me bring out is that I am being actively followed by Capital agents. It is not safe, under any circumstance, for me to remain with you much longer. The same can be said for Teek's son Jabnir, who I will soon be meeting in the outskirts of Xiron. Some of these State officials think that we are unaware of their surveillance. We plan to take full advantage of their stupidity and lead them on a meaningless and highly-circuitous adventure. This will provide you and the others the cover and time you will need. Once you are all safely on your way, I'll have to find a safe place to neutralize and remove this wretched biofilm before meeting with Jabnir. There is no question that he will arrive with an active tail, and once the agents see us together we will have the State's full attention. At that point, Jabnir and I will have a lot of fun with these fools, that much I can assure you!"

Trace paused, but to his surprise, no one jumped in. Looks like that put it to rest once and for all...even for Cairo! Given this apparent green light to continue, Trace added, "There is nothing to fear my friends. My role, for now, is nearly complete. My job was to do everything I could to get each of you here, safely and in one piece. And despite the heavy odds against us, it now appears that we are very likely to meet that objective. And when the time comes for our paths to cross again I will do everything in my power to literally and figuratively safely escape Zeta Reticulon's powerful orbit. In the end, my contribution will pale in comparison to the potential seismic shift your actions are likely to produce. Soon, each of you will be part of an incomprehensibly important mission designed to free billions of oppressed beings across Sektor V. It would be an accomplishment of unparalleled import that would end centuries of suffering and outright enslavement. If successful, you will have wrested control from the undeserving few in order to return it to the rightful many. From where I stand, there is no greater good than that."