After showing Ger'ron how to manage his new crutches, Em'brel helped him beat a hasty retreat from the arguing siblings. As soon as they crossed the threshold into the main living area, they had to stop so he could take in everything he'd passed through while unconscious not so long ago.

She never got tired of seeing people's reaction to the place, but there was something extra special about seeing such a look of childlike wonder on an old man's face. She silently stood behind him and watched as his head slowly turned and took everything in.

Once she was finally able to coax him into movement again, Em'brel sat him at the table and started cooking up some of the kovaack that currently filled their stores. If she was honest, she was getting a little tired of this particular meat, but judging by the look on the old guard's face, he did not suffer from a similar issue.

Apparently, Jack didn't either. Soon he dragged his unsteady form out of the med-bay to sit at the table. Em'brel gave him a once over as she finished the meal. He certainly looked better than when he arrived, but she could tell he was far from rested. For that matter, Ger'ron didn't look much better. Clearly, these two needed some looking after if they weren't going to take care of themselves.

Setting down a plate in front of both men, she focused on Jack first. "You need more sleep!"

Jack held up both hands and replied. "And I'll get more, I promise! I simply told Angela to try and wake me in the event our guest started feeling better. I thought I should be on hand to greet him if I was able. Now that that's taken care of, I plan to get a bit of food, clean myself up a little more, and then I'll go back to sleep until morning. I swear!"

Em'brel glared at him a moment longer. "You'd better!"

Ger'ron watched the interaction with interest. Even only understanding half the conversation, it definitely wasn't what he expected. "I find it odd that you allow your concubine to speak to you in such a manner..."

Jack immediately started choking on his food, and Angela appeared to save him the prospect of trying to explain while catching his breath. "Em'brel is like family to us! She's no one's concubine! No member of our family has ever laid a finger on her in that manner, nor will we allow anyone else to!"

After calming everyone down a little, Em'brel took the opportunity to explain. "They took me in after I was orphaned by my father's death. Honestly, they are more like an older brother and sister to me than anything else. I'm very grateful for their generosity."

Ger'ron chuckled as he responded to Jack. "I suppose that explains why you haven't gotten your skull caved in by S'haar. I'm sorry, I was merely repeating some of the rumors I've heard around the village."

At this, Angela literally turned red. "What rumors? Who? Where? If I ever find out how those rumors started, someone is going to be facing some serious draconic wrath!"

Em'brel had never seen Angela turn red before and began trying to talk her down before the AI went and did something impulsive. The old guardsman turned his attention back to Jack. "So you mentioned a job. You think an old broken guard like myself might be good enough for... whatever you have in mind?"

Jack shook his head before responding, and now that she'd calmed down and returned to her usual shade of blue, Angela translated. "Ok, first off, I doubt you're all that broken. Even missing a leg, I'm pretty sure you're more than a match for everyone here put together." Well, maybe not Angela if she really got involved, but he wasn't going to mention that.

Ger'ron grimaced. "A female child, a malformed male, and a tiny spirit. If a band of disabled raiders ever graced your door, I suppose I could handle that for you, but otherwise, you'd be better off hiring someone still whole."

Jack laughed at the old man's attempt to discourage him. "Ok, now I know you're being intentionally difficult. We both know being female has nothing to do with that equation. I've yet to see a male that can match S'haar in combat!"

The old guard laughed. "Alright, you caught me, but my point stands. You can hire far better guards than myself. I'm just dead weight."

Jack's head tilted to the side. "Well, it's not your sword arm I'm interested in, at least not directly. It's the mind behind that arm. From what I understand, you were one of S'haar's most influential instructors. I'd like you to do the same thing for all the workers at this outpost."

When Ger'ron laughed this time, it was with incredulity. "What, you think I can train an army of S'haars? She has a natural talent that would make her the most lethal fighter I know, regardless of her instructors. Are you planning to create a frontline of woodworkers and blacksmiths? Because I won't help you get my people killed with such insanity!"

Jack shook his head. "No, I'm not looking for frontline fighters. What I'm looking for is people good enough to buy some time if a raider makes it past the front line into the camp. Maybe good enough to handle a raider if they team up two or three against one. I want everyone in this camp to train with you for at least an hour a day. I want you to teach them every dirty, underhanded, and dishonorable trick you know that might buy them a minute or two. That should be long enough that the real guard can get there in time to save their lives. Honestly, I hope your training is never used, and that every second they spend with you is wasted. But if it means that even one person that would otherwise be a victim might live through a raid, then I'm willing to invest a little time and energy to make that happen."

Em'brel had a surprisingly severe yet earnest expression on her face. "If you really want to make this camp secure, you could do it much easier than all that. I've seen first hand what that weapon of yours can do, why not similarly arm the camp guards?"

Jack was silent a moment before speaking up. "I've considered that, or something similar, but I don't think guns are the way to go, not yet at least. It would do the job, but we would also have an entire community whose survival depends on me making weapons and ammunition for them. Even if it means greater risk to myself and this camp, I'm not at all comfortable with becoming some kind of merchant of death."

Jack felt a number of his thoughts recently bubbling to the surface. "Remember, my goal is to get back home. While that might take me a long time, once I do, I might not be able to return for some time, or at all. Even if I never get home, I will still die eventually. Whatever we build here, I want it to be self sustaining, and I don't want it to be the start of some empire that rules through force."

Returning his attention to Em'brel, Jack smiled. "That's not to say I don't have any plans to make this camp more secure. There are a few things I can teach you all that'll definitely make this camp one to be reckoned with even if we find ourselves badly outnumbered, but the first steps are still building our palisade," Jack turned his attention back to Ger'ron. "and providing everyone in this camp some sort of basic training.”

Ger'ron sat silently, judging Jack's words before responding. "Your idea has merit, but I'm still not the man you need. Even with these crutches, there's no way I can teach anyone to fight properly. You'll need someone who can stand on his own two feet."

Jack looked at the crutches, then back at the tired old man. "Oh, you didn't think I was going to make you use those forever, did you? You'll be using the crutches for about two weeks while your leg heals up, then we'll get you a temporary prosthetic. After a couple of months, your leg should finish healing and settle into its permanent shape, and we'll get you properly fitted for a permanent one. It might not be quite as good as your old foot was, but you'll be up and about and able to kick any woodworker's butt in no time!"

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Jack looked distracted for a moment. "I forgot, I'll need to run this all past S'haar since she's in charge of the outpost now, but I'm fairly hopeful she'll agree."

Ger'ron looked more confused than ever. "What's a prosthetic? And when did S'haar take charge of the outpost?"

Jack hid a large yawn behind his hand before taking a breath to explain. However, he found himself cut off by Angela. "I can take over from here. You get back to sleep! I don't want to have to explain to S'haar why her favorite teddy bear is sick, just because he was too stubborn to get some decent rest after all the stress he put his body through!" The last part was said in Basic, so Ger'ron didn't understand, but Em'brel still got a good chuckle at Jack's expense.

Jack surrendered again and hopped off his chair, having to catch himself as he did so, thus proving Angela's point. "Yeah yeah, I'm going."

He turned back to Ger'ron one last time. "We'll talk more in the morning. For now, consider yourself our guest. Angela and Em'brel will see to it that you get taken care of. If you need anything, just ask. With that being said, I'm going to get some more sleep. Good night!"

Angela and Ger'ron were still talking as Jack disappeared into his room.

-

Jack was having a hard time staying awake but wanted to get to one more thing before passing out for the rest of the night. It took a few moments before he could hear the familiar scraping of the headset being adjusted. Then S'haar's voice came through. "Hello? What's wrong? Did Jack find a way to get himself in trouble?"

Jack sighed in mock annoyance at her assumption. "It's me. I was just calling to see how things are going."

S'haar was silent a moment before responding. "What are you doing awake? Angela told me you'd probably have to sleep clear through to morning after the stunt you pulled!"

Jack shook his head. "Not you too! Listen, I just woke up to check on Ger'ron. He's up and about now, and you can tell Tel'ron he's going to be fine. After that, I grabbed a quick bite to eat, and now I'm headed back to sleep. I just wanted to check in on you first, make sure everything's going fine, and run an idea I had passed you for approval."

S'haar's voice softened a bit. "Well, we're doing good. Honestly, everything is going more smoothly than I expected. We'll probably be headed back home a day or two after the snow melts. So then, what's this idea of yours?"

Jack couldn't help but smile, hearing how natural it sounded for S'haar to call his ship "home." "Actually, it's about Ger'ron. I've been thinking, with all the trouble we've encountered and how uncertain our situation seems to be becoming, it might be a good idea to give everyone who stays here some basic martial training. I'm not expecting the woodworkers and blacksmiths to replace the guard or anything, but maybe we can provide them with enough training that they could make life difficult if any raiders did make it over our walls."

Jack was gathering steam as he continued. "From what you've told me about your days growing up, Ger'ron would be the perfect instructor for that. He could teach the workers all the dirty, dishonorable moves that might just surprise a raider who thought they had found some easy prey. All it'll cost us is a bit of time in the morning and room and board for one old guard who wants to find a way to be useful again, even if he won't admit it."

S'haar chuckled to herself. "Yeah, that sounds like old Ger'ron. Well, his first duty is to the guard here in the village, but if they and A'ngles agree to lend him to us, then I agree. It's a good idea, one that might save a life, or two... or ten."

Jack was suddenly confused. "Ten?"

This time S'haar outright laughed. "Yeah, turns out Fea'en has bent more than a few ears with tales of how good the room and board at the outpost are. On top of that, almost everyone seated at the central hall's outer ring feels they owe us their lives. We've got so many volunteers we're gonna have to pick and chose who gets to come back with us. We'll probably have to wait until spring to get everyone to the outpost safely."

Jack started worrying about the logistics of it all. "Will Lon'thul be able to provide enough food for everyone?"

S'haar's voice switched to one of exasperation. "I'm reasonably sure our young hunter has been spinning a tale or two as well. We've got woodworkers, hunters, smiths, weavers, tanners, cooks, and more volunteering. We'll be a small offshoot of the village itself at this rate."

Jack blinked several times as he processed everything. This was more than he'd hoped for, but it also brought with it a whole new set of issues. He was having trouble getting it all straight in his head. Then a large yawn reminded him of another factor probably clouding the issue. S'haar laughed again. "I'm sorry if I'm boring you so much!"

Before Jack could protest, S'haar continued, her amusement and affection evident in her voice. "Seriously though, there's no rush to this. Get some rest for now. We'll talk more in the morning."

A bit sheepishly, Jack agreed. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'm not exactly thinking clearly at the moment. Well, be sure to give Tel'ron the good news, and get some rest yourself."

With a fond but straightforward, "Goodnight." S'haar ended the call.

Jack was almost finally asleep when something else occurred to him. "Angela, you there? I'm assuming you overheard most of that call?"

The simmer of a blue glow appeared, directing Jack's gaze to the floating AI as she spoke. "Well, of course I did! Any connection through the headsets literally has to go through me! I can't not hear it!"

Jack's mind was just a little too sluggish at the moment to realize the ramification of that statement, so he just dove right into his concern. "With all the increased activity lately and the possible increase in heat pack demand, how are your energy reserves?"

His sister sat back and appeared to think a little as she ran a few numbers. "Well, the solar panels helped a lot, but with the increase in demand, we're going to have to supplement it further. Rough estimate, right now I'm good until mid-spring."

Jack nodded. "Well, we don't have the materials to make more solar panels at the moment, but maybe we could create a small wind farm? Or maybe dig deeper for some thermal power?"

Angela shook her head at Jack's stubbornness. "Yes, maybe, but this all can all wait until S'haar gets back. For now, get some rest!"

Jack nodded, then tilted his head. "Speaking of S'haar getting back..." Jack's face turned a bit red. "No... never mind."

Angela leaned in, her face sporting a grin rivaling of the most predatory of argu'n grins. "Oh? Come now, your an adult! Spit it out already!"

Jack sighed. "I was just wondering if I should...be aware of any oddities in argu'n physiology...in case...you know...if S'haar and I..."

Angela cut him off loudly and cut to the chase. "For when you and S'haar have sex?" Now it clicked. She'd overheard Jack's conversation with S'haar when he'd first gotten home...

Jack's face was a deeper shade of red than Angela had ever seen at this point, and she loved every moment of it! He merely muttered under his breath as he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Not how I was going to word it...but...yeah."

Angela laughed at Jack's sudden reticence before taking pity on him and answering. "Well, when it comes to STDs, your vastly different physiologies would make the transferal of any pathogens a virtual impossibility. And for better or for worse, you won't need to worry about any little Jacks or S'haars resulting from your time together. Also, as far as I can determine, neither of you should have any kind of significant chemical reaction when exposed to the other..."

Jack was starting to calm down. Something about the analytical nature of the conversation took the edge off the topic.

That's when Angela went in for the kill. "As for the act itself, well, you'll probably lack the intensity of a normal argu'n male, but you should be able to make up for it in the endurance department. I recommend you play to your strengths!"

Jack's face shot right back to a bright crimson. "Yeah, that's not really what I was asking about... Can we move on to another subject? Please?"

Angela laughed at the expression on Jack's face. "Fine, fine, but you'd better not be this prudish with S'haar! I expect you to represent humanity in their best light!"

The conversation finally came to an end when Jack reached his limit and started throwing whatever projectiles he could find through Angela's image. Pilows, boots, books, and more flew across the room until the AI faded and left him alone at last. Though in an homage to a particular literary cat, her toothy smile and laughter were the last things to disappear.