CIVIE SECTION #2
The alert lights went off, and Roy looked up in response. "Take care of the touch-ups here, if you would, please," he said, with an apologetic grin for the maintenance crews. He gathered up the sponges, tossing them in the bucket before he picked it up.
He paused for a moment to rest a hand on Runner's shoulder. "I'm glad Roll has friends like you watching out for him down here. He's got more family than he knows what to do with, it's just that none of us call ourselves family." He gave Runner's shoulder a light squeeze, then gestured at the alert lights.
"Duty calls. Time to go take care of our own again, even if some of them are incredibly obtuse and obscenely ungrateful." He gave Runner a wink, and added, "When the time comes, look out for them in the shelter. I wish I had as much faith in the adults down there as I do in you Stem kids."
He glanced up at Zob. "Shall we, Sergeant? I'm pretty sure I know where we're going, but I have no idea what they're going to have us do yet...not even altogether sure they know, themselves, at this point. It's still pretty early..."