“It looks quiet,” Lana commented as she looked through the windows. “We haven’t seen a single Warped in the ten minutes we’ve been driving.”

“Something tells me we got all the ones in this area,” Nori said. “The Broodmother kept them on a tight leash. The lone ones we encountered earlier were probably her scouts.”

“I hope you’re right. It means people might be able to finally leave the shelters.”

Nori nodded, turned the wheel sharply, and pressed on the brakes. The wheels screeched as they came to rest in front of a big moving truck. The truck slowed down, stopping just before ramming into the Hummer. A dozen armed guards rode the roof.

“Goddamn, girl, have you never heard of a speed limit?” Diamond’s voice came over the comms.

“Sorry.” Nori grinned, not looking sorry at all. “I didn’t expect your guys to figure out how to fix cars so quickly. Is Martin with you?”

“I’m running a little late,” Martin’s voice came over as well. “We’ll reach the rendezvous in five minutes.

The truck’s doors opened and Diamond, along with several other guards, came out. Nori, Lana, and Nathan stepped outside to meet them.

“I’m glad we have a few minutes to ourselves,” the rotund shelter leader said. “I wanted to give you this.” He held up a large crystallized piece of piTec.

piTec: 25,000

“It’s your cut from the Warped horde that attacked our shelter,” he added. “With everything that happened, I sorta forgot to give it to you.”

“Thanks.” Nori pocketed the item. “We should have enough now to pay back our loan and fix the ship.”

Diamond nodded. “I also wanted to thank you, in private. Without you kids, we’d all have been dead. Maybe not today, or in a week, but eventually the Warped would have gotten us all. Thanks, kid.”

“You’re welcome,” Lana said lightly.

“Everything went as planned back at the shelter?” Nori asked.

Diamond nodded. “With all the piTec we collected from the fort, we’ve managed to level up another two thousand people—more than half our population.” He grinned at her. “And we’ve all joined the Earth Force faction.”

Nori’s eyes widened in amazement.

“That’s right, kid, with Martin’s people included, you now have over eight thousand people standing behind you. We now have Machinators, Technicians, Soldiers, and many others who will be critical for rebuilding our civilization.” He patted his truck. “They even got a few cars running, but don’t go asking me how all that techno-mumble works. Point is, the future is starting to look a bit brighter. You guys aren’t alone anymore. We’re all in it together.”

Nori nodded gratefully. “That’s actually what we wanted to talk to you about.”