“All right, girl, we’ll do as you say.” Bulco got to his feet. “Just don’t take too long. Nori has a point.”

Lana nodded. “I know, I won’t.”

The two left the apartment. Lana turned to the bewildered alien and smiled. “Now, where were we?”

***

“Can you believe that girl?” Bulco huffed as he and Nori scouted the mostly empty platform.

“Lana’s not as simple as she appears,” Nori said with a curved smile. “She might seem timid most of the time, but there’s fire inside of her.

“Still, kicking us out like that,” Bulco grumbled. “I’m a forty-year-old man, she could be my daughter …”

His voice broke, and he became silent.

“I’m sorry,” Nori said quietly. “Before, when you told us about your family … it was a tight situation. I’m truly sorry for your loss.”

“Not your fault,” the large man said gruffly. “It’s those damned aliens who sent the Tec to us. That’s what brought on the Calamity. I’m sure you lost people you loved too.”

Nori kept her eyes down. “I moved to the US from Brazil to teach martial arts. My whole family is still there …” She swallowed and carried on with a tone of forced detachment. “I lost contact with them when everything stopped working. I ... I hope they’re alright, but I know there’s a good chance they didn’t make it.”

Bulco looked at her in surprise. “So why didn’t you take the shuttle there? With its speed, you could have made it in an hour or so.”

Nori shook her head. “Everything just happened so fast … we’ve just managed to fly the shuttle, then we found Martin and we had to save him. How can I leave everyone behind and run to the other side of the continent, wasting our shuttle’s remaining energy, knowing there are people here who need help? My parents would not have approved. And besides …” she lowered her head. “I know better than to get my hopes up.”

Bulco shook his head. “Damn, you’re tough, girl. You’re right, though. We need to do what we can, use the home field advantage. Once we stabilize the situation here, we could use it as a base to spread out from and bring order to everyone else.”

“That’s what I’ve been thinking too. What’s taking Lana so long?”

“Hey, guys!” Lana called out from the other side of the promenade, waving at them across the open chasm. “Come over here. I’ve got great news.”

The two hurried over to her. Lana and Nathan approached to greet them, followed by the tall Exhar who was carrying a large box.

“Alzigo agreed to sell us his crate of twenty Zappers at cost—two hundred piTec a piece. He even threw in twenty energy cells plus another one that matches the Disruptor. He’s willing to take a loss to support our cause.”