"No more arguing." I spoke the words to Nadira’s rigid back. "You don't know what was done to me, to the others. Until we know it really is Connor, and he really is himself, you have to stay away, stay safe."

She faced me, but only to glare. Time to play dirty.

"If I'm worried about you, I could miss something important." I lowered my voice, stroked the side of her face. “Someone could get hurt."

One slim finger thrust into my chest. "When we get off this nightmare, you and I are having a long talk about this nonsense."

She stomped off, Lorcan trailing behind her. They'd stay on the bridge of the Legacy until the rest of the Pack and I were sure about Connor's sudden reappearance.

Nadira could stay angry with me, I could live with that. But there was a risk we’d be so desperate to welcome another lost brother that it could turn into a trap.

I couldn't allow that to happen.

The small shuttle landed into the secondary docking bay. As the doors sealed, and its atmosphere re-flooded the bay, the Pack silently surrounded the shuttle.

It took longer than it should have for a small ramp to descend from the side of the shuttle, for the hatch to open.

None of us needed to wait for full atmosphere. So why was Connor being so careful?

Warily, he stepped off the ship, looked at all of us ranged against him.

"Is there a problem I don't know about?" he asked

"We don't know. A lot's happened in the last while."

Xander stepped forward. He and Connor had always been close. "Where were you when the attack came?"

Connor frowned. "In medbay, stuck in one of the healing chambers." He tilted his head to the side, studying us all. "Man, you should know that. You put me there."

Xander nodded. "So I did. Just wanted to see if you knew." He stepped back, and everyone waited, eyes on me.

It looked like Connor, smelled like him, had his memories. And I'd be damned if I was going to suspect every single one of my brothers of having been corrupted by the Hunters’ poisons. They'd already done enough to us.

I stuck my hand out. “Welcome aboard."

Conner looked around. “Is this all that’s left of us?”

His words stabbed at my chest. But he deserved to know the truth. "It's a long story, but, yes, we're it."

He started down the ramp, then froze, eyes going distant. I tensed, suddenly on alert.

A woman, long curly dark hair spilling down her back, stepped out of the hatch. He whirled to face her, anger on his face, but he was strangely silent.

She patted his arm, then pushed past.

"Hi. He thought I should stay in the ship. If you guys are at all like him, I'm pretty sure you think he's right. Seriously, you all need to relax a little.”

I studied her, then Connor, and then tapped the comm in my ear. "Lorcan, Nadira, come back over and greet our guests."

* * *

We gathered in the conference room for what looked to be one last time. Nadira and the woman Connor had introduced as Eris were seated, the rest of us standing around the perimeter. Connor stood right next to his mate, one hand protectively on her shoulder.

"Before we get started, I know we've got a lot to tell and it looks like you do, too," Eris said. "There's a third member of our crew, and she'd really like to meet everyone."

Connor stared down flatly at her.

She shook her head. "We agreed to use voices. It’s only polite. Besides, you know she'll just find a way to listen in.”

Lovely. More surprises.

"Does she need an escort from the shuttle or is she back on your ship?”

“She is, but she's also here." Eris brought a silver cube from her pocket and set it on the arm of her chair. Blue lights twinkled.

"Hi! I'm Nixie! Do you mind if I run through your ship's databases?"

“Nixie, we talked about this. That’s not polite either."

Eris looked up apologetically. "She kind of has a problem, thinking that anybody's information should be her information.”

Connor spoke up. "Best AI I’ve ever seen, even if it is a pain in the ass."

"She." Eris’ tone made it clear they'd had this discussion before.

"If it can get anything off the ship- she,” I corrected at Eris’ sharp glance, “she’s welcome to try. We’ve worked on it, but Hunters made this their base for so long, it’s hard to know what information to trust."

"Base.” Conner said excitedly. “That's what the Hunter kept repeating, and how we found you. ‘The results of the Daedalus Experiment are to be returned to Base.’"

I looked around at our diminished numbers. "Yeah, they returned as many of us as they could.”

The hell with it. We were going to be here all night. I lifted Nadira off her chair, settled myself in with her in my lap, and started talking.

* * *

At the end of Connor’s report I sat back. "Telepathy. That could be useful."

Aedan looked over. "Maybe we should arrange for a stop on that planet for a while. We wouldn’t need to bother the colonists."

"It has advantages but also creates some awkward moments." Connor was blushing. I did not want to think about what could make one of the Wolves blush. "And we’re not entirely certain how it works. Eris might have had a natural disposition for psi-talents and none of us ever knew exactly what Doc did to our individual genomes."

I was okay with stopping at whatever it was that had made him blush.

"Noted. We'll keep it as an option, but maybe not for immediate execution." But what did need immediate implementation? I wondered.

"Hey, AI."

“Nixie.” Nadira elbowed me lightly, reminding me.

Whatever.

"While you're in the Star's files, can you do a couple of things?"

The little box chirped. This was gonna take some getting used to. But, looking around at our recreated Pack, new members, and the holes where old comrades should have stood, there were a lot of things to get used to. We’d survive.

"Sure, if Eris agrees."

The strange woman rubbed her eyes. "It's all right. Unless you think that a request from Ronan or any of Connor's brothers is going to endanger the ship, go ahead and run it."

"All right! I'm the one who found you guys, you know."

I looked at Connor, one eyebrow raised.

"She pulled the coordinates for Base from a Hunter’s Dart.”

"Sounds like you missed a few things in your report."

"Sorry, it's been a little crazy. I tried to hit the highlights but I'm sure there are facts that have fallen through, or been forgotten.”

His AI, or his mate’s AI, been able to raid the files on a Dart. And that wasn't one of the high points. Well, this should be exciting.

"Yeah. We hear that." I turned my attention back to the little box. "Nixie, in the files and communications of this ship, please look for a way to unlock the doors to the bridge. Also, we’d like it if you can find the coordinates of the place referred to as the compound."

"Ooooh! I can put the idiot child onto the coordinate search. That's about his level. I'll play with the lock. I like puzzles.”

* * *

“Sounds like we won’t be leaving for a little while yet,” Nadira said.

“We’re not in danger, and with the AI, we can find more information. We’ve been on the defensive long enough. Time to change strategies and bring the battle to them.”

“Agreed.”

Eris took Nixie’s box off to the side to talk with Quinn. He’d be best able to explain what we’d run up against. No doubt the AI could do the work twice as fast, but it couldn’t hurt to give them an overview.

Connor stepped around to stand in front of us.

“You’re a doctor, right? Do you have equipment here?”

Nadira slid out of my lap. “Nothing like what you would have been used to on the Daedalus, but we have enough for the basics. Are you injured?”

“No, not me.” He glanced over to Eris. “When she was kidnapped, she took a couple of hard blows. She says she’s fine, but there’s something she’s not telling me. I’m worried.”

“How long ago was the attack? Is she experiencing any dizziness, blurred vision, or confusion?”

“It’s been a few weeks.” He frowned. “We were both pretty confused, getting used to the whole being-in-each-other’s-head thing. And if she’s had dizzy spells, it might have been because she doesn’t like being on-planet, it makes her anxious.”

“You know that whatever I find, if there is anything to find, it’s her decision to tell you, right?”

His throat worked as he swallowed, hard. “I know. I don’t have to like it, but it’s more important to have someone qualified check her out. There was a medic on Skarth, but what if she missed something, what if something’s changed?”

Nadira shook her head and started across the room. “You’re all going to be like this, aren’t you? You ought to come with a warning sign: ‘Caution, obsessive over-protectiveness ahead.’”