The knocking was muffled but very persistent.

Nick lifted his head in irritation, and then blinked as he registered his whereabouts.

It came back to him, the exhaustion of clearing the Dalcart Building, dealing with the bodies, and then spending the rest of the day until his eyes were burning in his head looking for connections between anyone in any of the three buildings that had been hit.

He'd been standing in front of his door, getting up the enthusiasm to walk through into his mess of an apartment, when Tila had simply taken him in, fed him, and . . . he lifted himself up and grabbed the blanket lying over him before it fell to the ground . . . tucked him in, by the looks of things.

He smiled a slow, sly smile.

Well, how about that?

Whoever was knocking seemed to give the door they were knocking on a kick, and it jerked him back to the reason he'd woken up in the first place.

The knocking wasn't coming from Tila's door, so it must be--

He jumped up and opened the door just as Cris spun around, screen in hand.

She glared at him. “It's fine. I've located him. I'll call you back now.” She lowered her hand. “We've been trying to get hold of you since 4am.”

He frowned, and then remembered he'd set his bag inside his door last night before he'd joined Tila for dinner.

“What the hell are you doing next door, and where is your communicator?” Cris's eyes were narrowed in fury.

“Nick, are you okay?”

Nick turned, saw Tila peering out into the hallway, barefoot but in a smart, slim, cream dress, her dark blue hair swinging forward as she caught sight of Cris.

He cleared his throat. “This is my colleague, Cris. I left my communicator in my apartment last night, and they got worried when they couldn't get hold of me.”

She smiled then, a sweet, open smile that seemed to catch Cris completely by surprise. “I'm Tila. Would you like to come in for some jah? I'm about to make some.”

“I need a quick shower,” Nick said to Cris, aware there had to be a reason she'd been dispatched to fetch him from home, but knowing she wouldn't say anything in front of a stranger. “You might as well.”

Cris nodded, her gaze darting between him and Tila in a way that had alarm bells ringing in his head, and he edged past her, opened his door, and nearly tripped over his bag as he stepped into his apartment. He took out his communicator and saw there had been ten attempts to contact him since four this morning.

Definitely something going on.

He showered and dressed as fast as he could, made it back down to Tila's, and knocked lightly.

Cris answered.

“That was quick.” She stepped back to let him in. “Tila is making us breakfast.”

He frowned at her.

“We've got time.” She smiled at him serenely. “Now we know you're safe and sound.”

“Why wouldn't I be?”

She shook her head in a quick move that had him burning with curiosity and then she walked back to the kitchen to continue setting places at the small table in the kitchen.

Tila turned with a pile of pancakes on a plate, and gestured him to the table.

“I made you some jah.” She sat down beside Cris and he joined them, feeling strange with Cris here, like the smallest mistake could lose him his chance.

“Thank you.” He wanted to thank her for last night, too, but that was private, and none of Cris's business.

Tila looked up at him and smiled, that same sweet smile she'd given Cris earlier, and he felt a pang of disappointment. He wanted something more from her. Something . . . else.

“So where do you work, Tila?” Cris cut into her pancakes with a murmur of approval.

“I work in the Hub, in a building designed by Guan. Similar to this one, actually.” She smiled as she said it, her affection for the dead architect clear. “It's called Freya's Puzzle.”

“Another Puzzle building, huh?” Cris waved her hand. “How did that happen?”

“I worked at Freya's Puzzle before I came to live here. I'd been in my old place for the minimum two years and wanted a change, so I put my name down for Garma's Puzzle. I had to wait a year, but I eventually got it.”

“And what about that picture?” Cris gestured to the image of Nortri with her fork. “Were you friends?”

Tila shook her head. “We were cousins. He was older than I was, and when we were rescued, we were all that was left of our family.”

There was silence for a moment, because there was nothing more to say about the destruction of Halatia and certainly nothing more to say about Nortri. He'd been the symbol of the plight of the Halatians, his emaciated body and injuries telling the story of the cruelty of the smugglers, and equally, the lack of charity and compassion of the seven remaining planets of the Verdant String.

They'd watched Halatia implode and they had been too slow to act, and that delay had nearly wiped out an entire people.

They were all saved from the moment by a chirp from both Cris and Nick's communicators.

Nick gulped down the last swallow of jah, stuffed the last bite of pancake into his mouth and stood.

“We've got to go.”

“Be careful,” Tila said, standing herself. “Both of you.”

Cris leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks for breakfast, Tila, I look forward to hanging out with you soon.” She moved to the door, and Nick leaned forward himself.

His lips brushed her cheek. “Well, it seems Cris is good for something, after all.” He spoke almost against her ear, still leaning close in.

Tila laughed. “What's that?”

“Forging the way,” he murmured, and then kissed the other cheek, too.

“Goodbye, Nick.” Tila drew back, but her eyes danced with humor.

“See you later.” He walked out the apartment, and found Cris waiting for him, eyebrows raised, in the hallway. He pointed a finger at her.

“Not a word.”

She rolled her eyes. “Like that's going to happen. But moving on to more urgent matters, Drake was attacked last night. It looks like he was specifically targeted, which is why we were trying to make sure every member of the team was okay.”

“Is the commander all right?”

Cris nodded. “He's fine. We didn't know about you, though. You gave us quite a turn.”

Nick glanced at her. “You going to blab about where I was?”

Cris gave him an evil smile. “What do you think?”

Shit.