It is confusing. But following protocol and assisting in a retrieval are familiar. I told her, “I want to do this.”

She nodded. “Thank you. If you can get SecUnit back—well, a lot of people will be very grateful.”

I had read the HelpMe.file and accepted it as truthful. But there was a difference between accepting data as accurate and experiencing it. The humans would not abandon this SecUnit even though part of our function was to be disposable if necessary.

There is a lot about what is going on here that I don’t understand. But I am participating anyway.

I check our secure feed and comm connections, and then signal to Arada to open the hatch. The intel drones I had attached to the back of my armor peel off and exit the shuttle in a cloud. They spread out, shift into stealth mode, and deploy toward the installation. They are using a code to project the same type of interference emitted by the Targets’ protective gear. They will not be able to detect the targetDrones, but they will not be detected, either. I am projecting the same code, so hopefully the targetDrones will not detect me, but this is untested and it is better to avoid them altogether.

Outside the surface dock, on the wide terrace of the east side entrance, Perihelion’s drone sends video to our secure feed of the five Targets arriving to meet Overse, Thiago, and Iris.

Oh, there is also an armed pathfinder on the terrace.

The Targets are not armed, and are dressed in work clothing and not the more familiar protective suits they use for combat. Two of the Targets exhibit the gray skin on face, hands, and other exposed areas and the other three have blotches of gray on human-normal ranges of skin tones.

On the feed, Ratthi says, Oh, I hope this works.

Hush, Arada says, don’t distract them.

Overse taps her feed in acknowledgment.

The first Target (designated Target One) says, “You can’t detonate the device while you’re here, why threaten us with it?”

Perihelion is feeding the translation to the feed. The language had been identified as the same one used on the space dock’s signage. That’s the Adamantine colony’s language, Iris confirms on the feed. I think this is the same faction as the colonist who helped us on the explorer.

Thiago tells the Targets, “It’s a threat to us, too. The transport is forcing us to meet with you on its behalf.”

(During the initial planning stage aboard Perihelion, Ratthi had voiced an objection: “Are we sure they’re going to buy this? That we’re prisoners of an evil transport who is forcing us to do this?”

Perihelion: I can be very convincing.)

Target One says, doubtfully, “The transport?”

Thiago: “You attacked it, tried to upload a foreign system to it, and took away some of the humans aboard.”

Target Two: “That was the infected group. We aren’t responsible for their actions.”

Thiago: “That may be, but the transport holds all of you responsible. If we knew more about your situation, perhaps it would relent.”