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Life was busy in Mss'ranaw. It always was. There was always something that needed to be done, and the bustle of the fleet never stopped. The Mrr'tani Pride was moored on one of the outer edges of the fleet, secured to one of the larger asteroids by a complicated structure that had pylons and girders sticking out every which way from the huge rock. There were others that were moored to the same asteroid, but the pride was one of the only ships on Mss'ranaw that was still fully functional. Many of the other ships had long-since been salvaged and added to one of the many structures that made up the refugee haven. The cluster to which the Pride was moored was the main hub of the fleet, the place where the administration and the day to day management of the thousands of refugee Mrr'tani was handled.

With every Mrr'tani pitching in and doing their part, the hallways were always alive any time of the day or night, with furry bodies moving hither and yon, crowding through the small hallways on their way to some task or another. Strong Soul still hadn't gotten the hang of staying out of their way, and today seemed to be busier than most. Eventually she found herself outside a familiar hatch. She'd been brought here the first day they arrived, Stargazer, Night Star and First Spark right behind her, and she'd yet to spend a day without a visit.

"Come in, Keeper," the Mrr'tanah on the other side called.

She smiled and reached out to open the door. Night Star had gone his own way to get supplies and equipment to make sure they could go about their way when they were ready, so she entered the room alone. Seated behind the desk on the far side was the same Mrr'tanah who had greeted her when she arrived, the first face that she saw, and no matter how many others she'd met around the fleet, she always thought of Fire Thrower as the face of the free Mrr'tani.

"Hello, Fire Thrower," Strong Soul said as she walked towards the desk. She felt the swell of genuine happiness in Fire Thrower's mind, the same one that greeted her every time they were together. She hadn't known what to expect when they'd first arrived, and she was grateful beyond words that they worked so well together. Something about the way that they thought about things made them an instant complement to the other.

"You're early, Keeper," Fire Thrower said softly, walking around the desk. When others were present, she kept to the decorum that was expected, but here with no others, she pulled Strong Soul into her arms in a warm and friendly embrace. It was an embrace that Strong Soul willingly returned with a glow of gratitude down the string of thought that connected them.

"It's been a busy morning and I wanted to make sure that whatever you heard, you heard from me, instead of the Mss'ranaw rumor mill."

"Well, tell me about it, then," Fire Thrower said, gesturing to the seating in one corner of the office. Most of the rooms on Mss'ranaw were spartan and small at best, and Fire Thrower's office wasn't much different. It couldn't hold a candle to Marcus' study on Silverwell. It had once been an admiral's quarters on a captured Allied Planets cruiser. Most of the furniture and opulent fixtures had been removed and long ago sold for salvage aboard a Mrr'tani cargo ship and now it was just as spartan as the rest of the fleet. The only luxury that Fire Thrower allowed was a pair of comfortable couches and a small table in the corner for her to meet more informally with whatever citizen of Mss'ranaw came calling.

Strong Soul took a seat in the couch furthest in the corner, an old and worn piece of furniture that was probably older than half the Mrr'tani on the fleet.

"I have to leave," she started. No sense in being circumspect. She shared a powerful link with Fire Thrower, and she knew that the elder Mrr'tanah would have felt any attempt to talk around the issue. One of the many things she'd come to learn about the administrator of Mss'ranaw was that she always liked others to be fully honest and straight with her. She might be upset by what she heard, but she'd never be upset with the delivery.

"I see," Fire Thrower said, leaning back on her own couch. "I trust it's not something that's happened here?"

"No, nothing like that." Strong Soul rubbed her fingers together in her lap and flicked her ears as she thought of how to say what she wanted to say and have it make sense to a Mrr'tanah who didn't feel the same things that she did.

"Then why, Keeper?" Fire Thrower asked, leaning across the table to fold her hand around Strong Soul's.

"I know you've felt it, Fire Thrower," Strong Soul said, finally deciding to cast off the lengthy explanation. "There are more Mrr'tani here than I've ever been exposed to, and even though you can't feel them like I can, I know that you've felt the effect that I've had on them."

"Can't say you're wrong on that, Keeper. We've gotten more done since you got here than the previous two months combined. Everyone's working better, sleeping better..." she laughed, "Hell, I haven't even had to arbitrate a bar fight. You're making my job really easy."

"And that's why I can't stay now, Fire Thrower. All these connections, they're like strings of lights. One little string from a hundred kilometers away, you'll never notice. But if you roll a thousand strings up in a big ball, you can see the light from many times further."

"I see. And we're the ball of light strings?"

"Yes," Strong Soul said, nodding, "and I can't take the chance that a tracker will see the beacon that we've become. No one knows about this place, and I don't want to be the one that brought the Allied Planets here."

Fire Thrower nodded and squeezed Strong Soul's hands.

"Well, I can't argue with you. I'd do about anything to keep Mss'ranaw safe and secret, though I'll admit that I'll miss you."

"Mss'ranaw is amazing," Strong Soul said. "It's more than I ever thought it would be. Even with so little, everyone's been willing to give what they have. I'm just happy that we could provide a little bit to the fleet while we were here. I'm sure that Marcus won't mind those crates going missing, and Night Star's already figuring out what he can say that'll get us back here sooner with more. Now that we can tell Father that you actually exist, I think we're going to be back more often than you can stand."

"Somehow I doubt that, Keeper. I could stand a lot more of you."

Strong Soul smiled and bowed her head in respect to the older Mrr'tanah. When she lifted her eyes once again, she found a warm and friendly smile on the adminstrator's face.

"Will you be taking First Spark?" Fire Thrower asked.

"Yes," Strong Soul answered. "I promised her father that I would look after her and help her handle what she's about to become, and there aren't any other mothers here for her to learn from."

"Something I've found very odd, to be honest," Fire Thrower commented. "I've had the few medically trained Mrr'tani that we have on hand looking into it in their spare time, but to be honest, there isn't a lot of that here, and we're pretty short on supplies, so it's hard to earmark things for research when we have to use most of what we have for pure survival."

"Send me a list of what you need, and between me and Night Star, we'll find a way to track down at least some of it."

"You're too kind, Keeper, as always."

"Just send it to Micah, and he'll make sure that I get it."

"I wonder about you and him, you know. I've never seen anyone as close to a ship's AI as you are."

Strong Soul nodded, bowing her head. It took a great deal of her willpower to keep from letting her emotions show down the link to Fire Thrower when she answered.

"He was the first AI that I met, and we've been through a lot together," she said. It was at least partly the truth, she'd become friends with the AI before she'd melded with it, so there was no trace of deceit along the link. She didn't know how to explain the link that she had with Micah, and she didn't fully understand it herself. Given the reaction she'd gotten from Stargazer and even Catcher of Souls, she decided when she landed on Mss'ranaw that she would not disclose the link with anyone but the crew of the Pride.

"Well," Fire Thrower said, standing, "what do you need from us to get on your way?"

Strong Soul stood with her and smiled.

"We're fully stocked still, and we're light on the cargo, so we're going to have a slightly shorter trip back to Silverwell, so all we need from you is your permission to depart, and your blessing if you're willing."

"You have both, Keeper of Hearts."

Fire Thrower walked around the desk and stood in front of Strong Soul, taking both the younger Mrr'tanah's hands in hers.

"Keeper of Hearts," she said solemnly, "you have been a great inspiration for this crew, and I am a better being for having met you and worked with you. May the waves travel where you want to go, and may the Mother of all watch over you."

Strong Soul bowed her head and laid her ears back as Fire Thrower's words of blessing washed over her. She felt the genuine warmth behind them through the link, and even though they were simply words and feelings, she could feel them bolstering her inner strength, adding a glow to the one that was already there. Somewhere deeper inside, she felt Catcher of Souls smiling, lending her approval to the decision she'd made.

"You have a wonderful place here, Fire Thrower," Strong Soul said, lifting her head. "I am your servant as I am the servant of the Mrr'tani. If you have need of anything, you have only to ask, and I will do everything I can to make it happen."

"I know you will, Keeper. Though I have one request for the time being."

"Name it."

"Will you deliver something to my sister on Paradis Vert?"

Strong Soul paused a moment, letting the link to Micah brighten. The AI, as always, had attention to spare for her with nothing else to do on the fleet, and he'd heard the request. She saw the maps that he presented with their planned course and the location of the planet Fire Thrower was requesting they visit.

"It's only a day or two off our course, and I think I'd lock Night Star in the cargo bay if we didn't go visit a planet called 'Green Paradise.'"

"I'll have it delivered by the end of the hour, then. Thank you. You're the first band of free Mrr'tani who have ever left the fleet. We're kind of the last stop for the desperate, and none of the others have ever had the means or the desire to go back into the Humans' worlds."

"Believe me," Strong Soul said, finally letting go of Fire Thrower's hands, "I'd much rather stay. I've never felt so at home and so welcome as I do here. But we'll be back, you have my word."

"I know you will, Keeper. For now, though, travel safely. Don't take any unnecessary risks, and we will all pray for you."

Strong Soul nodded. There was much to say, much that she wanted to or could tell Fire Thrower, but she felt the dimming of the link as Fire Thrower adjusted her thinking to accept the fact that she was leaving. It was subtle, and no one but her would have felt it, but it was there, and it told her that the time was right to take her leave. With a bow and a smile for her friend, she turned and strode from the office, not quite able to tell herself whether the lump in her throat and the tightness in her chest was from sadness at leaving the fleet or apprehension about what was waiting for them outside the safe zone of Mss'ranaw.