The bright, blue light of the warp gate lit up the entire room and startled and quieted everyone on the bridge of the command ship. From inside the gate first emerged Cubork holding the key, followed by Trissie and then Carlton Carver.

"Everything appears normal with the Star Viper's defenses" Cubork said. "They have no idea of what we are going to do. Everything is a go to proceed with this operation."

"How big is their fleet?" Yaferni Gall asked in a somewhat demanding tone.

"It is quite large, but much of them are grounded, and those that are in orbit are positioned to deal with threats from the outside, not ships warping in at the surface. If we are swift in carrying this out we should get away without a problem."

"And what do we do if this so-called 'Eden' isn't there?" Gall asked.

"If it's on Nateedra's map, it's there" Cubork said. No one said anything to challenge the grey. "Don't misunderstand me" Cubork continued, "this trip is definitely not completely risk free, but escaping the Star Viper's planet with the remaining Church of Saint Vernon members safely is the one thing I have supreme confidence of. There's no telling what could await us once we get to Eden. All of you should think hard about whether or not you want to make this journey."

"If this will be the front in the battle for the soul of the kingdom of elves, I will be on it" Zorthia said.

"As will I" Gall said.

"Obviously, I'm not going to miss out on this" Dalton Dover said.

"Very well" Cubork said pushing a few buttons on one of the panels. "Trissie, the warp gate should be ready to open." Cubork gave her the key and she left.

"All ships, prepare to enter the warp gate" Cubork said into the microphone in the captain's chair. Milo felt his anxiety rising. The next several minutes seem like they lasted forever until finally the relative silence was interrupted with a loud rumbling sound and the ground quaking all around them. Milo felt the ship being pushed backwards for a brief second before the thrusters adjusted.

"Not to worry" Cubork said. "The air pressure is a bit higher on their side, so the air is going to be blowing our way."

The warp looked a lot like the one of the small gate, with a light-blue glow that was almost too bright to look at. After a few minutes Trissie came back, and they were ready to go.

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"All right. Show time" Curbork said into the microphone. "It will close automatically soon, so let's go on through it." Dover's ship carrying the zalzok bugs went in first, followed by a pair of Zorthia's destroyers, and then the command ship. The ship went through the cloud and on the other side. The ship moved swiftly over what Milo guessed was about 15 miles of terrain before finally reaching,

The area within the town was complete chaos. Zalzok were flying everywhere, the Star Viper hoplites were running for their lives, and Zorthia's officers were running frantically gathering up people to get ready to board the transport ships. Milo's anxiety turned to a sort of sadness thinking about the people being told they needed to pick up only what they absolutely need to move on. People emerged with arms full of whatever they could carry, children screaming and crying. The phase of gathering up passengers lasted longer than Milo thought it would, and it made him nervous. As they left the atmosphere, they passed right by the wreckage of a few of the reptilian ships that were hit with missiles that the elven ships launched.

"Amazing" Dover said as they were leaving the system. "Not a scratch. All ships accounted for."

"I tried to tell you this was going to be the easy part" Cubork said hitting buttons on the computer.

"All ships, prepare for SPG activation" Cubork said. Milo felt an overwhelming sense of relief. He noticed that Kayla had left the room and left to go to the cabin he and Kayla were sharing. He found her sitting on the small, elf-designed bunk on her computer.

"I recognize that look" Milo said. You're doing some hacking, aren't you?"

"Not exactly" she said. "I'm looking at some files that I got from Lexi on Virgosaur, Prudasaur's predecessor as the Elder of the Singed Leaf Clan."

"Oh, so I suppose that Lexi isn't really a cartographer is she?" Milo asked.

"She is" Kayla nodded her head. "But as you suspect, she has a lot of friends within the outworld militias that stole a lot of Union intelligence files, and of course since I have CIA decryption keys I can read what they couldn't."

"Well, is there anything interested in them?" Milo asked.

"If you consider that the Singed Leaf did recon for Queen Tarissa and helped them arrest and even kill Bishop's in Saint Vernon's churches, yes." Milo felt a sick feeling down in his stomach.

"Well, that's just great" Milo said. He explained talking with Nadarska and witnessing his recording.

"Well, I suppose you seem a little more convinced now?" she asked.

"We shouldn't jump to conclusions right now. We're not even CIA anymore."

"But we are citizens of the Union" Kayla retorted. Shortly after she said that, she let off a sigh. "Why has the web of interests and loyalties become so confusing?" she said. It wasn't often that the opinionated Kayla seemed flustered and not knowing what to think.

"I'm honestly not sure it's ever simple" Milo posited. "I think it's more important now for us to remember who our friends are instead of trying to draw lines around allies and enemies." Kayla nodded her head. Milo sat down next to her and gave her a peck on the lips, unable to resist the temptation to grab some moisture from her lips. As he pulled his head away from her face, she reached out and pulled it back into hers. What followed was quite a satisfying workout and the pair completely forgot about the journey they were on.