Solomon wanted Alexis to stay, permanently, and she wanted to stay. And so rather than wondering if she should ask, she went ahead and asked him to take her to get the last of her stuff. There wasn’t much: a few of Frigga’s things, a veterinary med kit, a shoe box in the top of the closet, and a couple odds and ends things. Just like the time before, Solomon had Frigga stand outside with her while he checked to make sure the room was empty and all the lights were on. Without needing to be told Alexis knew not to say anything. The only sign of the events of that night were a roundish dent in the bulkhead where Kane had slammed Soulis’ skill into it and the missing coffee table. There was no blood or tissue stains, no broken glass. The room looked like it was waiting for someone to move in.

Except for the flashing and beeping of the desk console. Alexis walked over and looked at it, there were at least a dozen messages which was strange because she’d routed her messages to her work station. These were not from her parents or from Hannah. These had no sender, no location, and required her voice authorization to open. What Alexis didn’t realize from the glance was they would open as soon as the computer detected her voice, whether she wanted to open them or not. She moved out of the way so that Solomon could look at them while she cleared the quarters of anything that was hers, whether she was keeping it or not.

Bonner