I had just a moment to kiss each man hello before the boys were on them. They said their greetings and then they wanted to know where Hodlen and his Brothers were. Mycah's family was watching the door intently for their other family.

“An alien broke Kee's sword with one of those beams," Bane said ruefully shaking his head, it had been a fine strong blade, losing it had been a shame. "They went to see the smiths to check about a replacement. His family will meet us for the evening meal."

The casual comment had my attention and I was able to delve into their memories. The fighting that broke Kee's favorite weapon had been intense. In my opinion, they were Lucky they'd only lost a sword to it. My men just grinned at the memory. The battle had been fun and necessary.

I was worried as I looked at them. Without my family, I would feel lost on this world. Something happening to them was unfathomable. Kein shook his head as I received gentle, comforting touches from the whole family.

“You would survive and we would go to The Great Harmonious Spirit,” Kein said.

“The boys would stay with you and our surviving extended family. We cannot hide from this battle, wife. The aliens would take everything we had if we let them."

He was right, I knew he was. It didn't mean I had to Like the danger they put themselves into everyday.

“Better us than them," Christof said gesturing to Mycah's family who was back to wrestling with one another.

We watched as the boys practiced the simple moves Hyun and his Brothers had taught that afternoon. Aiden was very, very good. He'd never suffer in hand to hand combat, even my untrained eyes were sure of that. Jonathan and Rees both seemed to have a slight weight advantage, if they could figure out how to use it. Their human ancestry gave them heavier bones and a smaller stature. They both had a lower center of gravity. My men watched them all with critical eyes, knowing what we would have to do to train them to reach their full potential.

For everything the men had done today, all the excitement and battling, this was more important. The moment they stepped next to Mycah's family, the boys were the focus of their attention. Damien and his Brothers had not realized how good it would feel to be responsible for their young.

The halls were again crowded with men as we moved toward the eating area. I saw huge boxes of something stacked outside the dining hall. Bags the women had brought were also stacked there. Mycah's family tried to climb on them and Damien's family quickly told them no.

“That is our food," Damien said pulling Niah and Mycah back, “it isn't a place to play."

Abram's family was at one end inspecting a bag and they greeted us as we walked by. I noted Rue and his Brothers at another bag and saw Arik's family inspecting a crate further down. Other men I wasn't familiar with were loading the different items onto transports. The bags they loaded were all marked with symbols that meant “checked” or “clean", unmarked items were not touched.

"They tried to poison us?!" I said louder than I meant to.

Rue's family heard me and they all snorted before turning to Look at me. My truce with them was tenuous, but my outburst gave them reason to act superior. Usually we were just polite and professional around one another.

“The human that suggested the food may have been tampered with told us this was how wars have been won on your own planet. Don't you know your own history?!" Rue asked in a mocking voice.

Rue kept his voice down, because he was being rude. He knew he was being inappropriate, but he apparently couldn't help himself.

Damien wanted to hit the man for being this way, but settled for just staring angrily. His arms crossed in a gesture I was very familiar with. We didn't want to create more conflict for the Administrators when so much else was going on, best to just walk away. My family would have kept moving, but I was curious.

"I seem to remember Tosu was part of the delivery group," I said defending my surprise. "I can't imagine she would have allowed them to hurt us.”

Rue's puffed a little knowing something I hadn't known. The delivery was made by Nu-reeh, but it had been arranged by several groups of slaving women. Tosu seemed to think it possible the other slavers would not tell Nu-reeh what she was delivering, if it were tainted. Had Nu-reeh and Dinah been detained, there would have been no lie when they said the food was good.

Abram's family approached and heard the Last of the conversation.

"It all appears to be fine so far," Abram said to Damien. "We'll go through everything and make sure it is safe for the camp. There's been nothing so far we've found that could be harmful. Still, I'm grateful to Rhonda for telling us it could be a risk."