Nori shook her head. “You keep it. You’re obviously better suited to wield it than me and it can help protect your people.”

“I’m betting that if we get back to the freighter I can use the workbench to fashion some power cells,” Bulco said.

“Ship? You have another one of those?” Martin asked in surprise.

Lana nodded excitedly. “Yes, it's a crashed spaceship, we found a ton of alien stuff there, and this shuttle, we even--”

“That’s enough, girl,” Bulco grunted. He looked at Martin. “Think you can keep your people safe while we’re gone?”

The man smiled and tucked the gun into his belt. “With this alien ray gun? You bet. At least until it runs out of power.”

“We’ll see what we can do about that,” Nori said. “When you kill a Warped, make sure to share the Tec you extract from it with level zero people. The first time seems to grant the most Tec. Once you have several more people with Paths, surviving should become a lot easier.”

“Yeah, you could start using our old technology again,” Lana said eagerly. “Like computers, security cameras, and other stuff.”

Martin looked at her in surprise. “That would be immensely helpful. We’re lucky you decided to drop in on us. I don’t know how to repay you. Can I invite you inside? We don’t have much food left, thank god we almost don’t need to eat now, but I’d like to invite you over for a thank-you dinner.”

Nori and Bulco exchanged looks, then both shook their head.

“Another time,” she said. “There are more shelters that could probably use our help. And at the rate the Warped are getting stronger, we shouldn’t delay. We’ll try to bring you more power cells if we can get them.”

Martin nodded. “That would be great. You’ve given us hope. We thought we were done for. Thank you so much … umm … what do you call yourself?”

“Haven’t thought about that one,” Bulco grinned. “But I like having a team name. How about the A-Team?”

Nori rolled her eyes. “Please, you look nothing like Mr. T. How about Earth’s Defenders?”

“So now you think you’re in a Marvel movie?” Bulco chuckled. “I got one: Bulco’s Roughnecks.”

“Definitely no,” Lana said. “But I like Nori’s idea to have ‘Earth’ in the name. Maybe something like … hmm ... Earth Force? Sounds like Air Force, but cooler. And people will trust us.”

“I like it.” Nori smiled at her genuinely. “And you’re right—everyone loves the Air Force.”

“I don’t,” Bulco grunted. “I was a Marine. We hated those guys. The Navy was better.”

“Well, unless you can sail a spaceship through water, we’re going with Earth Force,” Lana said with surprising heat. “You got that?”

Bulco chuckled and raised his hands. “Yes, ma’am.”

A text message flashed in front of each of them.