Late at night, the danger had largely passed. Zoe and Susie remained on standby at Kexi Workstation. Ende and Theresa headed to Hesta and Ligo's apartment to rest, taking the children and Eucali, who had come from the hospital, home along the way.
Victoria stood alone at the entrance to Kexi Workstation, intercepting Hesta as soon as she returned to pick everyone up.
"Jane, I have something to ask you."
Hesta did not stop walking. "Good, I have something to tell you too, but let me—"
"Your family has already gone home. Ende and Theresa escorted them personally," Victoria said. "You don't need to call and check. They should be asleep by now."
Only then did Hesta turn around. "Then let's go. Where to?"
"The courtyard," Victoria said. "Let's just walk around. Anywhere is fine."
There were hardly any people left at Kexi Workstation in the early hours. The small spotlights that usually stayed on all night to illuminate the entire complex had been switched off. The two walked around the oval stone path in the little garden between the workstation's two office buildings.
Hesta quietly recounted everything that had happened in the council chamber that night. Victoria listened with deep feeling, but she was not especially surprised.
"You already knew there was an armed base in Mother City?" Hesta asked.
"No," Victoria replied, "but it isn't strange. I have a device on my phone that can warn me of a Chelated Tide at any time. It usually goes unused, but if things become serious enough to threaten Mother City, then Mother City and the Quicksilver Needles nearby will react—so there must be contingency plans in place."
"There's a device like that?"
"You may have taken part in many operations, but you haven't really led many teams, have you?" Victoria