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how close he’d just come to getting skewered by a Skel.
    The man bowed. "Please forgive me, but I do not speak English. I am from Hamamachi."
    I stared at him in confusion regarding his claim that he couldn't speak English. Apart from his weirdly disturbing accent, he was doing just fine so far. "Oh, you're from the Japanese colony over near Inverloch," I said. From what I knew, the colony was established around the same time as Newhome, by a Japanese whaling fleet that had been working the South Pacific Ocean when the bombs rained down. Rather than return to Japan, which was said to have been completely destroyed, the fleet made landfall near Inverloch and established a colony there.
    I handed the Japanese man over to Shorty, and then turned to help the remaining passenger out of the car. And then I froze, dumbfounded. Sitting on the floor between the seats was a teenage girl: seventeen-years-old at a guess, and everything about her blew my mind. Over a black top and a pink-and-blue lace skirt she wore a faded light-blue jacket with black zebra stripes. Her knee-high black boots nearly covered torn pink leggings, and around her neck was a black dog's collar, from which hung a silver bell and a pair of golden rings.
    Her black hair barely reached her jaw and curled in to frame her face, while her dark pink bangs reached below her eyebrows. Two much longer locks of pink hair cascaded over her shoulders. The nose ring was another unexpected touch.
    However, it was her dark brown eyes that caught my attention – they were completely encircled by thick, black eyeliner, and were studying me intently.
    I don't know how long I stood there staring at her, and her me, but she finally flashed me a shy yet encouraging smile as she reached out a small, delicate hand. "I'm Nanako."
    "Nice to meet you, Nanako – I'm Ethan," I replied hesitantly as I helped her down. Nice to meet you? I berated myself. She had just watched Skel murder four of her companions and had been seconds away from meeting the same fate, and that was all I could think to say?
    I didn't realise just how petite she was until she stood beside me – the top of her head only just reached my chin. I stood there, holding her small hand, too confused by her strange appearance to form any coherent thoughts, – let alone speak.
    "Thank you for coming to our rescue, Ethan. I was terrified those Skel were gonna..." her voice trailed off. I noticed she spoke with the same, peculiar intonation as her companion, but I was able to understand her a bit better.
    "It's okay, it's all over now."
    "Did you shoot the Skel that was about to kill Councillor Okada?" she asked.
    "Yes, that was me. You speak English very well, by the way."
    She tilted her head slightly to one side, and this time spoke with a broad Australian accent. "I wasn't speaking in English."
    "You weren't? Then what language were you speaking?"
    "Japanese." She eyed me curiously.
    I looked at her, astonished. How on earth could I understand Japanese?
    "Jones, get over here!" bellowed Sergeant King, interrupting any further attempt at conversation. "Bring the girl. I need her to translate what this guy is trying to tell me."
    The sergeant was attempting to talk to the Japanese gentleman, Councillor Okada. Judging by the look on his face, he wasn’t getting anywhere. Nanako and I hurried over to them. Well, she hurried, I hobbled. Sergeant King had a huge, bloody gash along his arm. The other surviving Custodian was busy trying to bandage the wound, but King was making it difficult for him by refusing to stand still.
    “You’re limping, Ethan, are you hurt?” Nanako asked with genuine concern as we joined the others.
    “I’m fine, it’s just a bruise,” I assured her, surprised she had noticed.
    Nanako nodded, and then began to translate what her companion was saying to Sergeant King.
    Councillor Okada and Nanako were representatives from Hamamachi, and were on their way to Newhome in the hope of initiating