Magic boxes

It's been another long day, but I can't say I didn't see it coming. With commerce picking up making Hale's becoming more active as a cargo transfer point, and a surplus of supplies from the rebuilding, it was only a matter of time before someone out there decided that they wanted what we had, but didn't want to pay for it.

A bunch of folk were lounging around Fook's when I noticed the boat inbound. I hadn't even bothered to get out of my PJ's. Probably the only expanse of cloth on Hale's Moon brighter than those awful floral print shirts Uncle Sobi favored. A bunch of folks were in from some of the other colonies too, so we had quite a crowd when the boat set down.

I think I was the only one not packing, which wasn't a big deal considering how much heat we had. Sabrina'd just gotten back home from Blackburne toting that crazy Tesla rifle of hers, so our little slice of the 'verse was better equipped than usual.

Gallagher was the first one to talk to whoever got out of that boat. Some harsh words about taking things that didn't belong to other people. Didn't catch much of the exchange, as how I wasn't wearing anything more than pajamas.

Not surprising, harsh words turned to gunfire, and most of the folk in Fook's got into it with the two or three guys who'd gotten off the boat. I did what I could, dropping the blast doors (Krenshar, remind me to kiss you for installing those things when the Alliance was still making us miserable) and tending the wounded. Didn't have a lot of that, fortunately. Alison and Sabrina both took a couple rounds, and I patched them up as best I could. Gallagher's actually a real Doc, and the infirmary's well stocked, so we weren't hurting too bad.

When the shooting stopped, the raiders were gone. Still not sure how much they got, but it was mostly small man-carryable crates from the transfer pad. Though General says he saw one of them was over by the hangar on the security feed.

A few hours later, after we'd gotten things cleaned up and the townsfolk calmed down, Lily came by looking for the box I'd managed to recover from her hide out by the mines. She was a little confused on whether she wanted to open it or not, but she did and started showing us all the pictures she had in it. She called it her Love Box. Filled with all the things she loved. Pictures of a lot of folk in there, including a few even she didn't recognize or understand.

I'm not sure what the exact effects were on Lily from reviewing the images. She seemed to be remembering a lot, and it looked to my completely unqualified eye like the images were helping her anchor what really mattered out of the jumble of memories she was dealing with.

Lily was still working through everything, but at Firefly's later that night she was getting closer to her old self. Not all of the memories were back in place, or even complete, but I could feel deep in my heart that we were going to get her back. The sweet kinda crazy not-cat that we all knew and loved.

All in all, the day could have been a lot worse. The raid didn't help us any, but Lily making steps to recovering gives me a gladness. I just have to remember to change out of my PJ's if I plan to get any work done. Sabrina does like the shiny silk, but it's not exactly professional Mayoring garb.