You were in Port Gabriel at the time? said a young woman sitting next to Stiles, now staring at Gabrielle. Shit. And you survived that?

She managed to make it to higher ground, Megan said quickly.

Gabrielle nodded uncertainly, glancing from Megan to Stiles. Yeah, she said. It was pretty bad.

She managed to get word to me that she was okay, said Megan. I was on an orbital station at the time, so I managed to borrow a dropship and fly down to pull her off.

And your friend? asked Stiles, nodding at Bash. Where did he come from?

To Megans surprise, Gabrielle spoke up. We found him just wandering on his own in the middle of all the devastation, out in the middle of nowhere. We dont have any idea how he got there. He hasnt said one word yet to either of us.

Megan eyed Stiles uncertainly, now quite convinced the woman didnt believe one word of their increasingly elaborate story.

So where were you flying to, when you crashed? asked a plump-looking man. Youre a heck of a long way from the Demarchy out here.

We were on our way back into orbit when something went wrong with our fuel containment, said Megan. We tried to send out an alert for help, but the comms traffic was overloaded.

Thats true, muttered the girl next to Stiles. The Tabernacles been severely hit all over. A lot of communities are completely cut off.

We had no choice but to come back down, Megan finished. We were in serious trouble.

And I guess you didnt have much choice about where you put down, said Stiles, her face impassive. Am I right?

Thats exactly it, said Megan, mentally damning the woman for toying with her. And I cant even begin to tell you how deeply, hugely grateful we are that you came out there and found us. We owe you our lives.

Well, youre damn lucky we found you when we did, said Stiles. A storm systems been building up for a couple of days north of the Frenezo range, and it looks like its heading this way.

I think I can handle a bit of bad weather, said Megan stubbornly.

Stiles shook her head. Youre not from here originally, are you?

No, Im not, Megan admitted.

This is more than just some wind and snow were talking about, said Stiles. When blizzards hit at this time of year, believe me, nothing moves and not much flies either. Wind speed can top two hundred and thirty kilometres an hour out here in the middle of nowhere. And on top of that, starting tomorrow, half of Redstones going to be a no-fly zone for anything except Accord gunships, troop carriers and ground-to-orbit ambulances. What that means is that you can figure on being our guests here for at least the next week if not quite a bit longer.