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Sonia knelt down by Yedan and smiled gently. “If you’re sure,” she said. “But we’ll need to find somewhere for you to stay until I’ve made a pocket for you on Earth. I don’t want you getting sick.”

“He can stay here, if he wants,” Alaryia said.

“I’d be grateful, Alaryia-miria.” He turned back to Sonia. “Do you want me to swear now?”

Sonia gave a half smile and tilted her head as she considered the question. Finally, she shook her head. “No, let’s wait until I have a home for you. If nothing else, it will keep Mitakrian and Xantaria guessing.” She looked over at Alaryia. “These formalities people have mentioned – how large does my court have to be before I can challenge Mitakrian? And are there any others?”

“Three’s a bit small. You might get away with five but eight or ten is more common for a guard… though common is perhaps the wrong word. And you need recognition of your court by at least three other miriri – that at least is not a problem since you already have recognition from four of us.”

“And that’s it?” Sonia asked.

“Well the challenge itself is a bit of a ritual dance,” Alaryia said. “We’ll coach you on that when we get to it. And Mitakrian probably won’t respect it anyway.”

“No, he doesn’t seem the sort to respect formalities,” Sonia said. “But I bet I’ll have to?”

“Until he breaks them, yes,” Alaryia said. “I wish he wouldn’t. We formalised the challenges for a reason. Wars are messy.”

Sonia nodded and turned her attention back to Yedan. “I’ll make a home for you as soon as possible, young man, but for now we need to get back.”

***

“Ah! They’re back!” James said. “Hopefully Matt will let you through the wards soon and you can tell us why you’re here.” He paused. “Won’t your bosses miss you?”

Sophie shook her head. “My direct boss knows I’m here and agrees with what I’m doing. My other bosses think I’m investigating what caused that and the related phenomena.” She gestured to the glowing tear in the sky. “I am, of course, but I’m not passing everything I learn on. Like the fact it was you who got those two kids out of that mess in Birmingham.”

“You know about that?” Sarah stared at her. “We were concealed.”

Sophie nodded. “You were, but my boss has some interesting toys.”

“Who’s your direct boss?” Sarah asked. “Not that it will mean anything to us.”

“Oh, it might,” she said. “His name is Doctor Edwin Lauder and he’s been on TV enough the last couple of days.”

“That guy?” Hannah said. “He works for the government? He seemed like a crank pulled in because people were desperate for any explanation.”

“It’s his cover,” Sophie said. “And there is some truth to what he’s saying – as I’m sure you know, dear.”

“I thought he seemed a bit too knowledgeable to be your run of the mill conspiracy theorist.” Matthias appeared just inside the gate. “Please do come in. I’m interested to hear what you have to tell us.”

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