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"I have a few suggestions."<br />
They showed each other quite a few over the next hour.<br />
It's the old pains that get you when you least expect them.<br />
~Guardian Mary Eilsen<br />
Chapter Nine<br />
The Human spirit was a strange and wonderful thing, at least from a Tiri perspective. The Tiri<br />
had been on Earth for over sixty years, and for the most part they had adapted to human kind, but<br />
it had taken a while. The never-ending ability of humans to adapt and not only survive in<br />
changing conditions, but thrive in them, was a constant source of amazement. Emily doubted that<br />
there were many Tiri who could have managed to adapt to such profound changes so quickly.<br />
In fact, she knew there weren't. Of the thousands of Tiri who had survived the Evacuation, many<br />
had been in a near state of comatose shock for months. Some had never recovered. They were<br />
still mostly comatose, watched around the clock at Mars Base.<br />
"First Guardian, all Guardian ships report ready for commencement of war games."<br />
"Thank you, Angwar."<br />
Emily smiled as she sank down into her command couch. These Guardians and the crews of the<br />
ships who had newly been assigned to there battle groups; they had not only adapted, but were<br />
thriving. She shifted slightly as she leaned back, letting her bond with her ship self increase<br />
slightly. The First Guardian grinned wryly; she was sore in some interesting places.<br />
"Com, give me a broad band link to all fleet ships."<br />
Simon, the on-duty Com officer, had been standing <strong>by</strong> for just such and order and only had to<br />
press a button to activate North Star's powerful communications systems.<br />
"Com channel's open, Ma'am, fleet wide signal."<br />
"Thank you, Simon."<br />
Emily knew she had a tendency to be a bit abrupt during stressful times, so she did her best to<br />
make up for that when things were working smoothly. Memories of last night had been<br />
ambushing her all day long now, and she felt an almost overwhelming urge to call up a picture of<br />
Julie. Dear Maker, I'm so gone.<br />
Hoping that her face didn't show what she had been thinking about, the head of Guardian<br />
Command addressed those assembled ships and crews. There weren't as many of them as she had
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