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shoes into the hardened plates.
    There was a sigh of regret from the Kiritas, but the
Humans moved immediately without any questions. The ‘puffs’ Donn referred to
were extremely low grade, light armor that also doubled as hazard suits. The
Archon armor did likewise with a filter upgrade, which they all had in place,
but until the medics confirmed that the recently identified contaminant was
truly only hazardous to Lacvamat they weren’t going to take any chances.
    They exited via airlock mode, with an energy shield
covering the exit point so as not to exchange atmosphere with the outside, with
Donn leading the group and getting a few meters past the foot of the ramp before
a pair of Lacvamat swooped in and landed nearby. Both were covered in a thin,
translucent material that was their version of a hazard suit.
    “ We will take
you where you need to go ,” one of them said without preamble.
    “ We need all the
information you have gathered, access to the ship fragments, and the ability to
roam around the area without interference. ”
    “ You will find
nothing that we have not already discovered ,” the other said.
    “ Maybe, maybe
not, but we came here to look and confirm your data. We can’t do that if we
can’t make an independent analysis of our own ,” Donn emphasized, picking up
on a few of their thoughts…which were that this was just a for show exercise to
give the Lacvamat analysis the credibility it needed with the rest of the
ADZ…ostensibly for a counterattack at whoever they fingered.
    “ He will search
from the air ,” Donn continued before they could object. “ The rest of us will search on the ground.
Please make sure that none of your security forces shoot him down .”
    “ Yes please ,”
Brad-7919 said, wearing a heavy backpack that stretched from above his
shoulders almost all the way down to his feet.
    The two Lacvamat looked at the awkward Human, not sure
what to make of him, but they relented and had a short conversation with a comm
device attached to their heads, coordinating with the rest of their security
forces that were several thousand strong and covering the area, most of which
were currently on the ground but many of the long winged avians were currently
in flight, soaring around with little whip-like tails trailing them through
every twist and turn they made as they glided about, rarely flapping their
ample wings as they surfed the air currents.
    A group of three redirected from their patrols, which
had reformed above them after the rover had landed, and dove down to the
surface meeting up with the pair as several more flew in and circled overhead.
    “ We must stay
with you at all times. Do not attempt to go off alone .”
    “ We’re here to
help ,” Donn reminded him. “ And we
won’t try to lose you, but it’s your responsibility to stay with us. ”
    The Lacvamat that had spoken huffed once through its
dragon-like nostrils and stared at the Archon’s brown helmet from its widely
set eyes, one each on the double lobes of its tiny skull. It had but a short
snout, but behind it was a cranium thick enough to double as a wrecking
ball…and the Lacvamat were notorious for head butts on their almost snake-like
necks.
    It didn’t say anything, merely waiting on the Human to
move.
    Donn turned and pointed Brad up into the air, then
looked back at the Lacvamat as the ranger shot up into the sky on his flight
pack. “ We need samples of the bioweapon
to study. Have you recovered any from the debris? ”
    “No need,” one of the medtechs said from behind him in
his aqua-colored armor as he was messing with a field kit attached to a
platform on his left arm. “It’s still in the air.”
    Donn frowned and turned towards the medic.
    “ There is none
remaining, except within the bodies of the sick and dead ,” the Lacvamat
said.
    The Archon’s head ping-ponged back, with him searching
the alien’s mind to see if he was being genuine or lying, but having little
prior