"Uncle has the private room at the cafe reserved for us. He wants to work with Marc on a new muffin infusing qehve grains." Luke reported.
"Excellent, Tsee Toma agreed to meet at First Shift Ninth Kasse. We will leave in small groups, staggered so as not to attract a crowd too soon." Tsee Blackbourne decided.
"Oh, Uncle will be glad for the extra business, once someone recognizes one of us. I am just surprised no one has made the family connection yet," North said.
Tsee Blackbourne nodded, saying, "Yes, you all have done a good job at being discreet, but the Setari Watchers are rather adept at rooting out that kind of information. However, I am confident Tsa Taylor will have no trouble dealing with any overzealous fans, if it comes to that. Tsens Lee and Taylor, you will head out first, followed by Tsets Korba and Coleman. Then Miss Sorenson with Tsets Griffen and Taylor."
"Qehve?" I asked Nathan and Luke who I waited with to leave for the cafe.
"It is a hot beverage with a mild stimulant. It's very popular for squads with First Shift assignments and MedBay Third Shift," Ista Green answered. He, Gabriel and Tsee Blackbourne would be the last group to leave.
"The Dining Hall qehve is fair, but Marc's brew is so much better. He takes it seriously. You will have to try the iced qehve that he mixes chocolate in," Nathan mentioned and Lukes eyes widened.
"Oh, yes. Chocolate Iced Qehve, Sang, you will love it!" Luke exclaimed.
Our groups left in five joden increments and Luke and Nathan were leading me in a circuitous route through Konna's shopping areas towards Uncles cafe. Once there we entered through a side door, Uncle waving us in and directing us to a private room near the back.
"Little Ave, it is good to see you again," he said warmly as I passed by. I smiled back at him. "Lucian, you take good care of her," he added when Luke draped an arm around my shoulder.
After all of Fourth Squad arrived there was only a short delay and the Second Squad member started trickling in. I was only slightly surprised to see that Corey did indeed have a twin who came in with him and Raven first.
"Sang, nice to see you again," Corey greeted me with a bright smile. "This is my brother Brandon." I took note of the different color shirts they wore to remember who was who. Though, there might be something different about their eyes. I hoped that their Setari rank stripes would be different colors if we ended up on-mission together. Raven wore a sleeveless top that displayed tattoos all along his arms. When I went to the mall with Jessica, several people had virtual body art which would flicker and shift, but Ravens tattoos were actually inked into his skin. He noticed me looking at the tribal pattern that ran down one shoulder to his elbow.
"See South, I tell you girls like sexy ass," he said to North.
"Don't you mean sexy art?" North replied, "And my name is North."
"Same," Raven said, shrugging, then sat down in the seat across from mine. "You wanted to meet Little Ave, so here we are. Has South given you fruit yet?"
I looked over at North quizzically and nodded, saying, "Yes, he has brought me a couple meals with fruits and vegetables."
Raven nodded, then asked, "What about Nathan or Silas? Did you eat fruits they give you?"
"Um." I pressed my finger into my lip and Nathan, sitting next to me, pulled it away linking our hands together. "Yes, I guess most of Fourth Squad bring me a meal that had some fruit." Pretty much everything I had eaten while on Tare was either from the sea or the hydroponic garden. Where was he going with this?
"Good," Raven said. "You and my Little Thief will have much in common. Now what do you want to know about us?"
I was saved from immediately answering when the next group of Second Squad members swept into the room. In the lead was a dark-haired figure with dark serious eyes and a commanding presence that definitely had Squad Captain written all over it. Tsee Blackbourne and he acknowledged each other with respectful head nods. He was followed by another guy with lighter brown hair and two different colored eyes, then a girl with dark hair and green eyes.
"Tsee Axel Toma, Marc Weiland and Kayli Winchester," the dark-haired man introduced them as moved to take seats nearby. Marc was grinning, Kayli looked like she might wear a bit of a chip on her shoulder.
"Is this really necessary?" she asked plopping down.
"Kayli," Axel leveled a warning toward their female member.
She crossed her arms and looked at me "Sorry, I havent had any qehve and I am damned..."
"Hungry," Raven finished her sentence, then jumped up, pulling Marc with him and left for the kitchen.
He really had something about feeding girls. Small talk was shared between the guys as we waited for the last member of Second Squad to arrive. Raven returned with a couple of plates piled high with the bacon-like protein strips and a variety of other breakfast foodstuffs. He placed it in front of Kayli but others grabbed some. Marc, aided by Luke and Gabriel, came out with cups of his qehve. The aroma from the hot beverage was far richer and inviting than the coffee my father would make and take with him to work. Kayli was inhaling the food and qehve as fast as the guys, while I watched in wonder.
She noticed me watching and paused, "Hey, you should eat some too, especially if we are going to test this enhancement ability of yours. Here." She handed me a protein strip.
"Thank you," I said and began nibbling on the food as the last Second Squad member slipped in. Kayli looked happy to see him, but the others were more or less apathetic to his arrival. He had hazel eyes and smoothly combed blondish hair that hung longer at his neck.
"Blake Coalter, at your service," he introduced himself. "Apologies for my tardiness," he said eyeing the now almost empty plates on the table. "Seems I was misinformed of the location," he said with a strained glance at Axel, at which Kayli punched Marc in the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?" Marc asked.
"I can't reach Axel right now," she replied.
Kayli glared at Axel, who huffed out a breath and turned to Blake then said, "Sorry Coalter, won't happen again."
"Sure," Blake replied, offhandedly.
The tension was broken when Uncle called out for Marc and some of the others to help with the muffin recipe. Most of the gathering moved off either to help with the muffins or clean up, the two captains relocating to a nearby table to talk about captain things, I suppose. Nathan stayed at my side with Kayli and Brandon at the table.
"So, what was Muina like?" Brandon asked.
"When I came through Gate I was in forest. It all pretty, but scary being alone and lost. I have to find food and water. I am glad when I find river that lead to village. I most scared on night that I woken by sniffing noises when I hide under leaf blanket. Sounded like very big animal and I do not know if eat me or not."
Nathan squeezed my knee with the hand resting on my lap and Kayli and Brandon gave sympathetic looks.
"I work hard at village to make shelter. I worried about winter if I stay long enough. I worried about if evil aliens find me." I had used the English term aliens.
"Aliens?" Kayli asked.
"People or people-like creatures not from Earth," I explained.
"Well, I guess the aliens did find you," Brandon said the normal weariness in his eyes brightening some.
"I would be alien to you," I added.
"So, we are both aliens then," Kayli said, adding, "My brother and I are not from Tare. We are actually from Channa. One of Tares exploration teams caught us using psychic talents to steal from their observation site. Channa is pretty primitive and backwards. Our mother had died and our father was glad to sell us to the Tarens for fermented klavi juice. We were turned over to KOTIS and have lived there ever since."
"Giving Tsur Buble plenty of headaches over the years," Marc said as he approached and overheard the last of the conversation. "Between you and Luke with your ongoing Best Steal Challenge, I am not sure if he will ever lose that scowl."
"What can I say? With all those Sight Talents Tsur Buble is the biggest challenge. Neither of us has even managed to pull something from his mini-me over there," she said nodding to Tsee Blackbourne. There might have been the flicker of a millimeter smile, though he did not act as if he heard Kayli mention him. Yet, I doubted Tsee Toma had said something funny considering his serious expression.
I realized I was feeling fairly relaxed around this Setari Squad. The ease continued as the group moved around and I had a chance to chat with each of them. Blake Coalter was charming, Axel Toma serious but mellow, all of them making me feel comfortable and welcome. One of the Fourth Squad boys was always by my side, switching in and out as the meeting progressed.
Eventually, Kayli proposed, "So Sang, are you ready to give this enhancement testing a try with us?" She was using telekinesis to balance and spin a knife upside down with the point to her fingertip.
Marcs head snapped to our direction and he warned, "Don't do it Kayli."
"What, this?" She asked now the knife pointed in Marcs general direction. Then quicker than anyone could move to stop her, she swiped her hand on my exposed shoulder and the knife went shooting forward.
"AGHHHHH!!!" Marc screamed. We all turned to see it protruding from his leg and blood already oozing.
"Oh Shit! I am so sorry," Kayli gasped, and everyone leapt into action.
Soon, I was in Uncle's back office space with Sean to help tend the injury. He had given Marc some sedative that he had on hand, and had me inject the Restorative Nanocytes that were now visibly stitching the flesh back together on Marcs leg. Marc had not been very pleased when Sean tease-dared me to pull the knife out.
"Good job, Medic Pookie," Sean said patting my back. "Looks like all that time in MedBay has taught you something."
Once the crisis was passed and Kayli had been assured by Marc that he knew she didn't mean it, plans were made for us to meet and test the enhancement ability with Second Squad the following day. We mostly avoided Setari groupies on the route back home and I was glad to enjoy a quiet night at Kota, Nathan and Victor's apartment.