224******The first sign something was coming was a tock sound, so insignificant that Alden didn’t even realize he’d heard it among all the other noise until Stuart spun, attention suddenly fixed on Emban’s back even though he had been in the middle of a sentence. Ryada-bess was landing, light-footed, on top of a crate beside Emban in the next second, and it was only a couple of blinks longer before Bithe was with them. All three squadmates were together, just that fast.