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A pause, and then: “Overwhel relief: Yes, yes, absolutely Enthusiastic cultural reference: A suit, a suit, dom for an immuno-environmental suit Uncertainty: But not if there is a quarian in it”

“No, it is an adolescent suit, row into it while suit fabrication spins up in Andromeda I don’t think she would mind if we borrowed it”

“With sincere gratitude: I will replace all of her things that I am about to break”

“Standby, medbay,” the drell said as they pushed their box of hope and backdoor science into the cargo elevator Anax ran her hand over the young girl’s environmental suit They did love their suits More like a friend than a piece of clothing to a quarian Therion’s eyelids slicked closed and she was back in the hold on packing day, surrounded by twenty thousand souls stowing their entire lives in chest-high crates, hoping to open theain on new lives

She whispered: “Little bird hops along the steel, herin one hand, her plush toy keeper green as new life in the other The song of the little bird drifts through the cavern like snow falling into shadow:

Oh, I love ht

And I love ht

Oh, I love ht

And I love the hoht

But what do I love like a lock loves a key?

What holds fast my heart, head, shoulders and knees?

I love my suit and my suit loves me

“May Amonkira walk beside you in your quest and secure your prey with swiftness, friend elcor,” Anax said, and opened an access pad on the wall to return the elevator totoward command and control, and lers didn’t see her command code as she entered it

“Noe’re getting to the good stuff,” Borbala said, rubbing her are hatch “Sar Carbine? Terminator Assault Rifle? Maybe a Banshee or Hurricane IV?”

“Those are hardly s her body to shield her coain as she opened the hatch for them She didn’t trust batarians and she certainly didn’t trust this one Yes, they were in this together, but that was no reason to get sloppy “How can you be so cheerful?”