"We call it the Citadel, or the New Green Place, and sometimes the Green Towers." She nods. "Ace is...a little like family, to me. He taught me a lot of the the Blackthumb work I know, and how to hold onto a moving vehicle. And he was the first man I put on my Crew when I was named Imperator."

"The stories we could tell you," she smiles and shakes her head.

"You know how it is when you fight beside someone for a long time. Something kind of bond forms that's not quite like any other relationship a person can have."