The confusion of whether it was night or dawn hung over the airport and for travellers the smell of coffee was the only anchor in a sleepless domain. ...It was his walk that she noticed from a distance, a slow press into the marble above which strange shoulders carried him forwards amidst the more insistent march of seasoned Europeans. Over fifty of them stood in the queue, snaked around temporary barriers and draped within the undulations of pillars and corners. Whether lemmings, penguins or. I thought of her, this little girl, so innocent, so helpless, so... mine. Never, not ever, would she feel alone. I’d always be there for her, and hell, I was a strong woman; if I could fill the role of a mother, I could damn well fill the role of a father too. What was there to it? Teach your kid how to throw a ball? Talk about how shitty boys were? Teach her how to change a tire?I could do all that.I didn’t need a man.But I wanted one. I wanted Wes.He just wasn’t mine anymore.Sometimes I’d lie. Still, we have what we came for, so let’s head back, ‘ I finally stated.Abi was waiting for us as the squad slowly made it back in dribs and drabs as they finished gathering information. All having observed members of the new Council and gathering odd pieces of data which confirmed the portal blockers would be up and running in about a week. Other than the creature posing as Chusok, however, none were aware that the blockers were also a homing beacon to the underpowered Vultoqi portal ring.“So. And it even continued when Andrews was re-elected. Bah!”“That doesn’t get us anywhere. What will we do in Sydney?”“My father said he’d spoken to Gordy and to someone in Parramatta. I’ve met several of them. They’re good people. Roy Ah See is a Windajuri man and Tina Williams is Bundjalung from the North Coast. They may help.”“I hope so. I don’t want to be on the wrong side of a myth or fairy tale!”“Calm down. Ravens and Eagles are all over. The Zuni in New Mexico consider Raven to be a.