Editing Toyhammer (section)

=Chapter 25=

Alright.

I was in a mindscape. Since accelerated reality = more time to think, it was obvious that I had been brought here to get advice. The Librarian – Vasili – that strode out of the murky brightness which enfolded the two of us was a giant; towering over me in his bright blue armor with a two-head advantage. Scriptures and prayers were either written on strips of parchment sealed by bright red wax seals or written onto the ceramite armor. They were – as far as I could tell – details of past glories and achievements. His thundering footsteps shook the ground as he moved parallel to a massive shelf that would make most normal librarians weak at the knees. He closed his tome, and shelved it in the bookcase beside him.

Looking towards me, Vasili sighed.

"We have deliberated, and we have come to a conclusion. She – your kin - is a sensitive."

I blinked a few times, trying to process things. "... she's a what?"

"A sensitive." Explained Vasili. "This is a rare case, Michael. Sensitives are what we call a certain demographic of the very weakest of psykers. They are those that can see and sense the Warp, if you could call such 'unrefined guesswork' a sense, but they are unable to manipulate the Warp. Think of it as a man who can read but cannot write. Those people cannot survive well in this world; there are a few in Eldar society, according to the Loremaster that I consulted, but our own human sensitives do not last very long when put under the gaze of daemons. They die out a long, long time before we can find them, so few have been recorded, I believe, but archives for them do exist when they... crop up."

Messily, I could assume. Verbally, I could only make one noise; "Ah."

Vasili nodded, and smiled warmly. "She poses little threat to us, should you handle her carefully. Back to reality you go, then. Lets see how you dig yourself out of this one, Michael."

"A lesson in manipulation, huh?"

The Librarian grinned. "Pretty much."

"Do I get to die creatively this time?"

"Nope." He pointed the bolt pistol at my head, and stroked the trigger.

I shook my sister's shoulder, her head rolling back and forth. "Hey, sis. Wakey wakey."

"Hmm?" A murmur, a blink. The eyes of my sister tracked up and locked onto mine.

"You're awake?" I asked.

"Duh." My sister giggled, smiled briefly, then nodded. Her discomfort was apparent, and she began shuffling around. I watched as my sister curled her arms around her knees, hugging her legs close as she sat on the couch.

"You had a nasty bump on your head." I supplied. Her hand instantly went up to the back of her head, and she began to rub the aching spot that she would no doubt have felt from being given the equivalent of psychic tasering. Jane shifted about uncomfortably, and then looked up at me, questions already racing around inside of her head.

"So... what happened?"

"You missed the top step." I explained, then hesitated. "You went down, hard. Miles managed to catch you when you were going down, so you'll be alright. Just try not to move around too much, or you might do something to yourself." Again.

Jane thought about this for a moment, and frowned. "I don't remember hitting the stairs." Her twisted eyebrows deepened, her face inquisitive as she looked around me.

Vincent – under his own power and presumably of his own will, it seemed – had returned with a pair of mugs, both filled nearly to the top with cool water. He nodded to Jane, who accepted a cup before the second went to me. He was nervous, twitchy.

Jane's glances seemed to act like a whip, making him flinch as she directed her gaze to him – not visibly, but I could feel something jump inside of him whenever she turned to look at him. Well, that was exaggerating things a little, but whoever she reminded him of scared him. A lot. Like, more than Batel's step-father kind of scared, since all he did there was smash my fence palings over his head. Sighing, I rubbed at sore eyes and tried to settle down the best that I could while the awkward silence stretched on.

Well, this was Jane. That, and he had just found out that she was psychic (kind of). That must have been even more worrying for him. Maybe I should hold off telling him about the fact that she couldn't pry into his mind?

Nah, that would be too cruel.

Zara. Tell him, please.

Jane raised an eyebrow at me. Vincent shivered visibly now, like someone had poured ice down his back. Trust me on that one; I know how he reacts to ice going down his back.

"Okay." Jane blurted. She stood, shaking a little, but remaining upright. "Something is wrong here..."

"Huh?" Queried Vincent. He was nervous. So was I. The minis were tense, silent as they slowly crept back and away from the girl – going deep into the depths of my house.

"Yeah... as in, weird things..." My sister bit her lip, something that had once been adorable but now chilled me. "Oh, God, you'd think that I had gone crazy if I told you."

"You weren't crazy?" Quipped the bespectacled one, who suddenly got a dope slap to the back of the head.

I rubbed at my palm, now rather sore from the slap, and put up my best front, trying to seem concerned at Jane.

Actually, it wasn't that hard to look concerned at the moment. She was my sister, after all had been said and done; there wasn't any way that I was going to leave her out to dry like that. Massaging my palm from its recent meeting with Vincent's head, I did my best to look inquiring as I faced my sister. "What's wrong?"

Jane shook her head, sending white-blond strands out around her. "Just... things. Half-remembered. Its like... something else happened before I fell down the stairs. Voices... and stuff. I don't know... something definitely didn't - and still doesn't - feel right."

Yeah. Put that way, it sounded like a police-abuse cliché. Alice drifted into the room now, and sat down. She left the door open, to where I could see into the hallway beyond. There stood Emma. I looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. She looked thoughtful for a heartbeat, and then held up a sign for me to read.

Tell her.

I turned back to Jane, who was contemplative as she stared at the floor, trying to think her way through this problem; I could empathize with that, seeing as I had some problems getting over the fact that I was a psyker too.

"Well..." I drew in a breath, and exhaled.

"You're hearing voices, right?"

My sister jumped, then nodded nervously.

Zara.

Jane looked at me questioningly. Nothing was happening... oh for goodness sake. Closing my eyes, I grit my teeth and clenched a fist.

Zara? Zara, you missed your cue. That was it right there...

Still nothing. Licking my lips, I relaxed and let out a breath. A brief pulse of energy rippled across the room. Jane jumped, her skin prickling as Vincent gulped.

Zara, please.

Can you hear me, mon-keigh?

Jane jumped.

You have been hearing voices in your head, haven't you? They're ours, sister of Michael.

My sister blinked once, twice, three times. Yeah, she heard Zara alright. Her eyes narrowed into pinpricks as Zara called out to her once more. A sound that was not heard, but felt with the person's very soul. It must have been creepy, you know...

Jane. Allow me to introduce myself. I am a woman of far sight and grace.

I coughed, loudly, and saw Jane's lips curl into an amused smile.

And your brother is a stupid little... oh, the orks would call him a 'git'. Your brother is a git, who likes to ruin any attempts at dramatic introductions.

The sensitive seemed to get it, and turned from me, whipping her head around so fast that I feared that she would need a neck brace, to the figure that was now climbing up and out of the kitchen cupboard that she had been in.

Ah well, lets try this again: Allow me to introduce myself. I am a woman of far sight and grace. I am the Farseer of Ulthwe, Zara the Evenmaker.

This particular model of Vyper heavy jetbike was one that had been custom built to carry the Eldar 'heavy artillery' when it came to psychic attack power; Zara sometimes rode into battle on the platform that normally housed a gunner and their turret, her hands gripped firmly to the railing that made it seem more like a high-tech chariot than a fast attack craft.

You can hear me, sister of Michael, because you are a psychic.

My sister dropped to the floor, her eyes rolling up into the back of her head as I scrambled to catch her.

… a fragile one, at that.

Zara. I did my best to send a bad vibe through the air, thinking bad thoughts in her direction. Not that kind of bad thoughts, though, because they would have gotten me killed.

Sorry, sorry... look, Michael, you don't have to look at me like that!

Jane stirred, and woke again. She looked around her, to the concerned faces of Alice, Batel, Miles, Vincent and myself. Emma wasn't concerned, but she was there. It was the thought that counted, right?

"Uh... hi?"

"Yeah... that was our fault this time."

"Huh?"

Zara stood on my shoulder, pushing aside strands of my hair like vines, and the entirety of her training in the art of deception was now straining as she tried to keep her stance apologetic.

"Well, I suppose you weren't aware of the fact that you could detect psychic activity, have you?"

"Uhm... well..." She was staring at her and the half-dozen minis that had come out of the woodwork – sometimes literally – and fidgeted.

I wasn't sure about this. Should I really be enjoying my sister's discomfort? It was a rare event, something I hadn't seen in years, and was utterly adorable. I swear, she could weaponize that expression. Also confusing me was whether to remain detached and aloof or just hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

No, seriously.

"Jane, just put aside the fact that Zara is a fully functional and intelligent humanoid that is two or three inches tall for the moment. We'll explain how that is possible at a later time."

"O... okay..."

"Alri-ight." I stretched out a little, and settled back down. "We'll start with blunt and simple: You're psychic. That's the basic thing."

A nod.

"Uh... well, that's about all I know about it." I admitted sheepishly. "Vasili and Amadeus are the experts here, so... Librarian? Justicar?"

Both the figures approached, striding out from behind my stereo and stepping onto a Wave Serpent to ride the skimmer out to Jane.

"Yes, Michael." Vasili answered for the two of them, his voice still carrying as he called out to us

But it was the Grey Knight that explained what Jane was.

"M'lady, my name is Amadeus, Justicar of the Space Marine Grey Knights chapter." The silver-white armor that encased the Space Marine bowed slightly. "From what I am aware of, you are a sensitive. You aren't that powerful; you can see, but not shine, so to speak."

A slight nod. "Y-yeah."

"However, aside from that, I think you may be more concerned about the fact that there are three inch tall miniatures that are talking to you. Oh, and by the way; these weapons are functional, so please don't try anything uncivilized towards us."

Jane paled a little, and then nodded. "Uh huh. Sure..."

"Any questions?"

Silence.

I really hated the fact that I was enjoying this a little too much...

Twenty minutes later.

"So... these guys came alive?" Jane poked a Space Marine in the chest, causing him to stagger back. Incensed, he cocked his bolt pistol and pointed it at my sister's face. She peered at the tiny barrel, which I knew would really, really hurt if it ever shot her in the eye. Seeing as these guys lived by the maxim of any professional soldier, which was 'plan to kill anyone you meet', he was no doubt already pointing at her eyeballs, which were roughly the size of a small car to him.

"Oi, cool it." I warned.

Assault Marine Sergeant Vinters grimaced, then stepped back, slapping his bolt pistol onto the magnetic plate fixed to the side of the assault pack that he wore and did the Space Marine equivalent of running into a corner and adopting the fetal position by slamming the visor of his ancient helmet down and crossing his arms over his chest.

I turned to my sister, then shook my head. "I've never had that many models in the first place, Jane. They sure as hell didn't come alive from any of my collection, or Vincent's. Miles collects guns, last I heard, so he's out. Alice's clothes coming to life would be straight-up creepy, so yeah. Batel... I don't know. Batel, what do you collect?"

"..."

"Right. Batel doesn't collect miniatures either. Maybe its just better off asking these guys themselves? They are intelligent – more intelligent than I am, actually – and they can talk... Its about time we compared notes about this."

Back in the early days, the lot of us had been more eager to share weapons fire than notes about where we had come from.

Librarian Vasili stepped forward, indicating that he would pick up the explanation from where he was. "Many of the Space Marines here were all a splinter group that had been operating near the Cadian Gate during the Thirteenth Black Crusade. I myself had been investigating a Chaos temple, preparing it for purification when I stumbled across a sorcerer and his artifact. The rest of us claim similar fates, such as a squad of Ultramarines encountering a daemon summoning, an assault group of the Crimson Fists swallowed up by a new Chaos weapon, a scout group tasked with recovery the armor of their Initiates finding their former masters turned against them... the stories go on, and will be collated in time."

"I come from a Devastator Squad of Salamanders making their final stand with their backs to the doors of an Imperial medicae facility." Put in another Marine. His name was Brother-Sergeant Jorj, a Marine who I was told was most notable for the fact that he could drop the quarter-kilogram shells from his heavy bolter down the throat of a target with an almost delicate grace.

An Imperial Fist Terminator raised his arm. "My brothers and I hail from the center of a Space Hulk, I am certain that we had encountered something Chaotic within the warp... again, like the others, we experienced something that sent us here, but I was unable to remember what."

"We were engaged with an Imperial force suspected of Chaos taint." Explained Vinters, who pulled off his helmet and began to idly clean the eye pieces with the tip of his pinky finger, which had been modified with the addition of a toothbrush like surface to the tip. "They had taken root in the central block of a spire. From what we were able to gather, they planned on dropping the spire down onto the hive city below. We landed in Thunderhawks preceded by a brace of drop pods, and then my recollection ends when we reached a public transport hub-station.

"Squad Dallus of the Iron Snakes were performing an undertaking in the coreward edges of the Reef Stars. We were retrieving an artifact that had been stolen by Chaos and then... well, we found ourselves here soon after we destroyed the artifact."

Amadeus now chipped in his story. "We, a combined force of Grey Knights and Sisters of Battle, had been investigating an artificial structure in the from the advice of a cabal of Inquisitors from the Ordo Hereticus and Ordo Malleus, who were working in concert with each other regarding a heretical daemon summoning... Inquisitor Danilov and his retinue were our on-site Inquisitorial presence there. The place – a ring-like structure approximately ten thousand kilometers in diameter, orbiting a gas giant much like Jupiter, was curiously close to the Dulemid system that the Cadians had been on when they had disappeared, but about a half century before they had disappeared."

"How about you guys?"

General Faust chuckled, limping forward to put in his own two bits as he thumbed his way through a dataslate. He looked in askance to the leaders of the Space Marines and Sisters of Battle, and with a deferential nod, Vasili and Samisha stepped back to let him take the stage.

Faust tapped once more on the dataslate, and began to speak. "We... that is, the 918th Cadian of the Imperial Guard and attached elements, all came from what looked to me like some warp-storm that broke out on the surface of a planet named Dulemid IV. About thirty, maybe forty five percent of our force is actually amalgamated from other regiments, but the main thing is that we were all within lobbing distance of a Chaos stronghold when we went feet-first into the Warp. All of our forces were concentrated around the central continent here, trying to capture or destroy a collection of artifacts that had been stolen from us and desecrated by the Chaos forces. We believe that someone in there had triggered a warp storm that swallowed the entire system whole. Now, our regiment's got elements from all over the place; we have mostly Cadians from other regiments, though. No other elements in real numbers."

Colonel 'Jim' Angruss of the 1337th Supply Corps saluted smartly. "Same story as the others in the Cadian regiments, except that we were a rear-line unit, making a supply run through a town that had been supposedly secured, but then our units were ambushed. Thankfully, we were transporting a load of heavy bolters and ammunition, so those were used against the Great Enemy."

I turned to the Farseer.

Zara pitched in now. "The Eldar under my leadership were using the webway to strike out at a Chaos incursion that I foresaw in the near future. Our venture was successful, and we made off with a few icons of power that would have been the core of their strength; we could not risk any surviving if we attempted to destroy them, so we took them with us. The majority of my forces were almost out of when the gate on the other side was damaged, collapsing in on itself and throwing us into the warp. We had been trapped for nearly a week before we found ourselves here in your living room."

All heads now turned to the Tau.

"The warriors of Vior'la were experimenting with new faster-than-light drives." Firestrike explained, a drone opening up the holographic projector and beaming up a sphere – the planet they had last been on, apparently. The graphic zoomed in on one particular continent, then traced a jagged lightning bolt from somewhere in a mountain range out to the coast nearer the equator. "We were an escort force to transport the drive across the surface from the research facilities to the shipyards, as there had been attacks on the continent across what was known as the 'Kandor sea'." The appropriate region flashed briefly. His optical mount – his head was actually closer to the ribcage of the battlesuit he wore – cocked to the side. "They were there, and we suddenly found ourselves here after the transport took a hit. We assume that the drive activated from the energy of the lascannon that penetrated the hull of the transport skimmer, and transported us through to here."

"And what about you guys?" Almost a thousand eyes turned to the Orks. "How did you get here?"

"Dunno." Chuckled Madork Gunna, shrugging. "Me an' da boyz wuz waaghin' it a' sum 'toom wurld' dat dem Chaos boyz were at. Found sum big ship dat been razzed up an' pranged on de surfes'. Waagh! Merglock – dat's da Warboss dat Big Boss Mikkey stomped – gone up an' gave dat ship a big smackin' and right proppa razzin' up again." He scratched his jaw, an action that sent sparks flying. "Sum of dem loota boyz gotz some good stuff – moloko wid da buzzies, deyz call it." Madork was starting to fiddle with his Waagh!Gun now, shoving mini shotgun shells into one of the holes in the side of the weapon.

"One second we'ze was laughin' cuz one o' da wierdboyz drank sum o' dat moloko stuff an' was fartin' like someone shoved a rokkit up his grothole, an' den da next fing we'z knows, da grass was huge." Spreading his arms wide for emphasis, Madork grinned as he remembered that particular string of events. He chuckled darkly as he flexed his power klaw.

"O' course, we blamed da weirdboy fer dat wun."

"Wait." Jane held up a hand, and most of the conversation died away. "Wait wait wait... so... all of you were fighting over an artifact or artifacts of some description, and then you guys turned up here?"

Silence.

'Uhm... yeah.' was the general response. Turning to my sister, I nodded as well. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Wait a second. So all of you got here because of some Chaos forces, an artifact, and an accidental... something?"

The denizens of the Warhammer 40,000 universe scratched their heads at that one.

"Correct." Agreed the scholastic Ork. Skoola boy.

Danilov shrugged. "I say that there was something about those Chaos artifacts."

"Just artifacts, Inquisitor." Contradicted the weirdboy. "Some had been in Imperial hands for quite a while, so it is safe to assume that they are not completely Chaos owned. Perhaps corrupted by the pointy boys, yes, but not their own."

"Artifacts, then."

"What were they?"

"Various." Justicar Amadeus said. "These incidents happened all over the known universe, sister of Michael. I doubt that they were... connected."

"Then why did all these unconnected incidents – across several centuries, too, it seems – bring you all here in one place at the same time?"

"..."

I grinned, pride bubbling me up into a pleasant euphoria as Jane stumped detectives that were backed by decades of experience. She really was a sharp one. She chewed on one lip, casting her gaze over the rest of the others.

"Well, it just seemed so unlikely..." The Grey Knight found himself trailing off, and falling into a sullen silence as he stroked his helmet's jawline thoughtfully.

Another voice murmured from the group. "It is improbable."

"But still possible." Drawled Danilov. "We shall look into it later. But for now, what other questions do you have?"

Jane nodded. "About where you came from..."

Over the next two hours, stories were bandied about, and Jane got to know the miniature warriors better past them pointing weapons at her.

The Eldar told her of the Craftworlds. Giant, continent-sized ships that held together the last of the Eldar; from an empire of hundreds of trillions reduced to a few million in what was a cosmic blink of an eye – a scream that had torn open a hole in reality itself.

The Space Marines had regaled her with tales of their Fortress Monasteries, the massive structures that housed the majority an entire Chapter's capability; though while the assets of the Chapter were abroad, the bulk of their armories, workshops, homes and shrines, their libraries, museums and miscellanea were found in the fortress-monasteries. Imperial Guardsmen told her of the locales they went to on break; the upper Hives of Armageddon, the fields of Jumael and the giant granaries that lined each spaceport. More spoke of the death worlds; spiders and scorpions that were the size of tanks, trees that you could build a skyscraper inside and how much my own backyard had found itself with both at one stage. The Tau attempted to educate her about the Greater Good, something she found herself admiring yet disbelieving, since she was completely unable to grasp. Humans were selfish like that.

She had changed a lot, and she was still a little shaken when she stepped out front and sat down on the steps. I came out with drinks, and passed one along to her.

We both sat there, simply enjoying the silence as she soaked in the

"So... I guess this is why I haven't been able to get at you for a while, huh?"

"Yeah. They shot the telephone on the third day. Complete accident, mind you. They didn't mean to. We only got a new one a couple of days ago, actually."

"How long have they been here?"

"Couple of months now. Oh, and they've pretty much made sure there are no rats or anything in the house; somebody got bored, and decided that cockroaches, flies and rats were good target practice." I chuckled. "We're part of an extermination company now, clean out a house a day, make decent extra money for repairs and anything else we need."

Which reminded me; I had called in sick the past two days. Needed to get back to work tomorrow... gah...

Jane was grinning again. I found my own lips curling into a soft smile.

"Can I come back here?"

Shaking my head, I sighed. "We're at war at the moment, so I'd say that you'd want to stay away from here unless you can't help it."

"Huh?"

"You know those Chaos guys that they were talking about?" Waiting for Jane to confirm it, I found a bitter smile creeping onto my lips as I explained myself. "Yeah, some of them ended up here. We've been fighting them starting last weekend."

Laughing sourly, I felt my head fall down between my knees. "Our casualties ran up almost twelve percent during that one engagement. Almost a hundred fifty something dead. Our ratio was something like four or five kills for every one we loss. Thing is, we've been working on ways to lopside the kill-death ratio further."

"I... I see."

Thoughtful, we sat in silence for a little while. Jane chuckled as she held a hand to her mouth.

"Something to do with that thing Vincent was trying to put together in the garage?"

"Is trying to put together." I corrected her. Jane shot me an inquisitive look. Thinking about it... I sighed, and nodded in resignation.

"... sort of."

My sister giggled, and returned her attention to the drink in her hands. "But... uh... yeah. It's dangerous for me to be around, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Thank God and whoever for understanding younger siblings. People who ignored other people's warnings and opinions were the cause of grief for far too many. I smiled, and gave my silent thanks. "We don't know when or if they'll be attacking again. Or if we're going to be attacking them, actually. We're not sure about anything anymore, except that we're going to fight. The rest? I don't know. I just don't know. We're... we're at war." I grimaced, and felt another sigh escaped my lungs.

There was a squeeze on my shoulder; Jane's hand rested on it, comforting me. I found a pressure on my back. Emma was there, arms wrapped around my neck as she hugged me from behind. Alice sat down on the steps beside us.

"Do not worry, Michael." Her voice was quiet, raspy and hoarse. Yet strong; it calmed, soothed. I wondered if there was a psychic component to it, but decided against it. There was raw power, but... something else.

The other Terran friends of mine padded out to the front, Vincent coughed from behind me. "We will be here. We will be helping you too. You are not alone."

"Damn straight." Grunted Miles, stepping out from inside.

"Agreed." Croaked Alice.

Laughing, I turned to the others. "I know you guys were eavesdropping, you know that, right?"

"Yea, don't worry about it." Miles shrugged. "We know that you knew that we were eavesdropping."

Vincent groaned in mock agony, play-punching Miles on the shoulder. "Really, Miles? Do we need to go into that? Because the last time you and Michael did the 'you know that I know that I know' debate, it took you five minutes to give that last answer."

I know that you know that I know that you know that I know that you know that I know that you know that I know that you know... yeah.

Rinse, repeat, finish after five minutes and two drinks of water. Heheh. Fun times. The challenge was keeping track of the number of times you said 'I know that you know that'. If you went over to stayed under the number of times the other person said it, then you lost. And the two of us hated losing.

Miles grinned, and shrugged. Jane brightened up, giggling a little at the comedy sketch that was unfolding before her.

"Yeah, I remembered that one!" She chuckled, smiling with her teeth showing.

Though smiling, I groused a little as I muttered: "Well, ain't as funny as what happened with the minis."

"Oh?" Curiosity piqued, Jane turned around to face me.

"They set fire to all kinds of things." I explained. "Especially Alice's friends." Glaring pointedly at Alice, who simply stuck the tip of her tongue out to me. I returned the gesture.

Vincent contributed: "And they shot his alarm clock."

Jane did her best 'omg' face, though there were splashes of laughter throughout the portrait of disbelief. "Shot?"

"Railgun." Miles elaborated this time, waving inside. "I think its got about the same power as a decent rifle round; went right through the floor and up into his bedroom, through the table and then gave the alarm clock a case of religion."

Raising an eyebrow, my sister gave a little chuckle. She ventured forth. "Made it holy?"

"Yep."

"Not quite as fun as those ork stikk bombs that they gave you yesterday, though." Grinned Miles. "That was a frikkin' hand grenade right there."

"Stick bombs?" Jane looked at me, and then gasped as her face lit up. "Not quite as fun? What about that time with Henry? The one time at the river with that can of spaghetti?"

My friends laughed.

"Oh God, that was a bad idea if I ever had one." Vincent groaned, palming his face a little. Being a pyromaniac was a problem unless you happened to be a demolition/mining explosives expert. The younger brother of my bespectacled buddy happened to be latter while he himself was the former, and we had gone about making a big small hand grenade made up of fireworks and a soup tin. Entertaining as it had been, the explosion had been quite... spectacular.

Jane was laughing as well, and I smiled slightly as she did.

If anything, this circle of friends knew how to cheer each other up.

Such... hm... I don't quite know your language's word for this...

Fun. Try fun.

I shall think on it, Michael.

"So, I guess this is goodbye?" My sister looked up at me, and then frowned as I shook my head.

"Nah. See you later, more like." I chuckled. "Goodbye sounds a little too final, to me."

Jane smiled, ruefully, and glomped me. I hugged my sister back, and then let go, walking her out to the car.

"I'll see you around, then?" I asked.

Her eyebrows furrowed into a frown. "What about the war?"

"Call ahead. We'll make sure not to start anything with you coming around, or better still warn you away if we're in trouble. And make sure you stay away, and do not call anyone. We can handle ourselves out here."

Jane nodded, understanding, and then paused as she slotted the keys into the car. Deflated, melancholy and much less... vibrant... than she had been when she first arrived here today, my sister gave me one last smile, and then slipped into her Toyota.

"I will."

''Thought for the Day: "Two are better than one: they get a good wage for their labor. If the one falls, the other will lift up his companion. Woe to the solitary man! For if he should fall, he has no one to lift him up." - Ecclesiastes 4 : 9-10''