Because they were not going anywhere anytime soon, the commanders could afford to grant nonessential personnel more liberty than they had enjoyed since setting out in March. They would be off from Christmas until New Year's. Those who observed the former and wanted to spend the holiday with family were allowed to request additional leave a day or two in advance. Many remained, however, either because they could not afford the long journey home or because they really had no place to go back to.

To kick things off before liberty began at midnight, a dining-in was held on the Ticonderoga's observation deck. It was much like the one held after the Seven Deadly Sins were captured back in June. Admiral Mfume rose from his seat to commence the proceedings.

The look of surprise from several senior staffers indicated that he had not told them they would be dispensing with the usual speeches.

Not having to wait on any speeches, dinner was served promptly and as everyone finished eating, many of them left their seats to mingle. Many, but not all.

Matt stayed at his table with the senior staff of his squadron, but a lot of them had already left to go hither and thither. He sat there sipping at his drink, quietly looking forward to being dismissed, even though he had no particular plans for liberty. Home stopped being a place he could go back to ever since he joined the service.

A sudden jolt nearly made him spill his drink.

The jolt was Sean slapping him on the back in lieu of a simple hello. This got Sean a rather dirty look from Major Cespedes, who surprisingly was not out ingratiating himself to the higher ups.

Sean did not appreciate the intrusion into his conversation with Matt to say the very least.

Major Cespedes gave Sean an even dirtier look, if that were even possible.

Matt was still looking at his drink, but he could hear Sean snap to attention.

Glancing up at Cespedes, Matt said, "If you'll excuse me, Major."

Cespedes nodded, looking a little surprised at Matt taking a hard line to Sean's usual insubordination. Matt rose up from his seat and started walking. Sean followed along, walking stiffly, formally, until there was enough distance between them and Major Cespedes. He then relaxed his gait and slung his arm over Matt's shoulder.

Sean nodded approvingly. "Smart, man. Smart." He looked down at the ribbons on his chest and said, "With you watchin' my ass, I might just live ta see a second good conduct medal." He then glanced over to the ribbons on Matt's uniform. "Shit, look at those loops on yours, ya damn boy scout." He stopped for a moment and leaned in closer to get a better look. "Hey, wait a minute, you been in nine years, haven't ya? Where's the other loop?"

Matt looked away. He really did not want to get into the reason why he was missing a second loop on his good conduct medal.

Before Matt could tell Sean that it was not whatever amusing story he was cooking up in his head, a voice called out to him.

It was Lydia, with her wingmate, Lieutenant Trifkovic, in tow.

Sean grinned sardonically and replied, "Well, if ain't Cav's half-chink girlfriend? And it looks like she brought her lezzy side dish with her."

Thoroughly unamused, Trifkovic replied, "I don't see why I need to dignify that with a response."

Pointing to Trifkovic, Lydia said, "Check it out, Cav. Ya can't even tell they replaced her pipes." Holding her fist up to her throat, she made an exaggerated impression of an electrolarynx, saying, "Beats a damn robo-voice any day a' the week."

Lydia gave Trifkovic a playful punch to the arm.

Lydia held up her hands and wiggled her fingers, saying, "Ooh, big words." She stopped wiggling her finger, looking at them blankly for a moment before remembering her business. "Oh, right. Cav, what've ya got planned for liberty? Ya goin' somewhere?"

Lydia stopped herself and Matt almost thought he saw her cheeks flush a bit before she emphatically said, "Only not, 'cause, yeah." Quickly bouncing back from being momentarily flustered, she shrugged and said, "Well, shit, Curly an' the mick can hook up they want ta. She's even got the red hair. Just ignore the accent an' ya can pretend she's a mick chick."

He pulled out his dogtags and on the chain was a gold wedding band.

Lydia shrugged again.

Trifkovic rolled her eyes.

Undeterred, Lydia replied, "No time like the holidays ta fix that."

While a part of him did want to cut himself off from everyone else and stay cooped up on the ship, there was another part that craved the company of others and it was ultimately the latter part that won out.

Trifkovic did not look particularly impressed.

Even though it was hardly his ideal way to spend the holidays, Matt's brothers and sisters in arms were more family to him now than his blood relatives and the holidays are all about spending time with family.

It was about the last person he was expecting to see.

Jeff never thought he'd actually wonder if he was happier without Nehema's constant interference.

Jeff's visor was immediately flooded with data. As fast as he was, he struggled to process even a fraction of it as it went by. It couldn't possibly...

Jeff couldn't believe it. It was all there. Maybe not all there, but far more than he'd ever managed to get on his own, more than he'd ever be able to get on his own.

Her 'little bonus' was a full rip of the databanks of the Sheolite mothership, both the original files and translations Nehema helpfully provided. It wasn't enough for her to bring one front of the war to an end. With this information, the Sheolites could soon face the same fate as the Empyrean.

All Jeff could as was "Why?"

That certainly sounded like Nehema's kind of reasoning. Still, the end of the war could easily mean his freedom.

And as suddenly as she had come into his life, Nehema was gone. A part of him didn't think she'd be able to leave him alone for long, but perhaps that depended entirely on her current mode of existence.

Pushing thoughts of Nehema aside, he dove into the materials she left for him. He simultaneously started scanning through the reams and reams of documentation while distributing the files from Nehema's secret repository to multiple locations in his network.

This was huge. There was so much there. Rather than going through it all methodically, he wanted to jump straight to the material he cared about most. At long last, he was going to know the full story.

It was Eva. Jeff had let himself get so wrapped up with Nehema's 'present' that he didn't even notice her walk up to him.

He forgot, however, that Eva was more than willing to roll with his secrecy without asking too many questions.

Jeff had long been under the impression that females were all terribly meddlesome, but Eva never did stick her nose too far where it didn't belong. If he was going to fall for anyone, she was probably the best he could hope for.

Jeff had never been one for the holidays, but perhaps there was something to this Christmas thing, after all. As much as he wanted to spend time with Nehema's present, the one Eva was unwrapping was looking pretty inviting. The fruits of his lifelong search could stand to wait another hour or two.