Skori did not take kindly to being awakened prematurely from his sleep mode, and Sedriil knew that on the rare occasions that he was forced to do so, his reactions were never pleasant. Unfortunately, neither Jenius nor Tescadji were privy to this.

And so to Tescadji, it came as a surprise -of the unpleasant variety- to find himself at the business end of a particle cannon extending from an open groove Skori's wrist, while his unoccupied hand pinned him down by his throat atop the bed. Had Jenius not reacted with combined gravity and paralysis spells, Tescadji supposed that he would more than likely have been returned home in a box -of the shoe variety.

"I'd demand combat pay if I weren't already getting it," Tescadji grumbled, gingerly rubbing his neck after Skori's surprise assault.

Once Skori was fully awake, Jenius gave him a cursory explanation of what he had done. Skori, now more lucid and aware of what had just happened, uttered profuse apologies to Tescadji.

"Where is the rest of your family?" Jenius asked, glancing briefly towards the door.

"Noroa and Garen are in their room," Skori replied, rummaging through his suitcase for fresh clothes. "And Sedriil and Alaema are in the living room. You ought to have seen them when you came in."

"Unfortunately, we had to use a more discreet means of travel, considering the situation," Tescadji said. We'll fill you in on the details later. As soon as you get dressed, you need to wake them all up."

"Why? What's going on?" Skori said, pausing in the middle of pulling one leg through a pair of beige pants. "What's this all about?"

"Questions, questions," Tescadji said, slightly annoyed. "Get dressed, and we'll explain it all in good time." He glanced briefly outside the window at the street below. By the look on his face, Skori could tell that he was nervous about something. But this sense of apprehension was not exclusive to Tescadji. Even Jenius' normally calm demeanor was replaced by a heightened alertness.

He had buckled one shoe on his foot, but stopped just short of putting the next one on.

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"What is it now?" Tescadji asked, more impatient than ever.

"Listen," Skori said, holding still as a statue. "Do you hear anything?"

"Hear what?" Jenius said.

"That's just it." Skori stood up, and headed towards the window from which Tescadji had spied for the fourth time. One shoe off, the other on, he threw the olive green curtains wide open, and looked down towards the front lawn of the house.




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