Not again, I thought bitterly. I'd just received word that more of those "new" Nomads had been spotted in Delta. Once again, though, I was a long way away on a supply mission. I was furious. Furious that I couldn't help, furious that I had again been denied the chance to fight for my friends. Welding and hauling supplies was important, I knew, but it just wasn't the same.
Since the Aedos doesn't have as large of a hold as many other ships working on Freeport 11, I found myself sent on more than my share of scavenger hunts for lots of random smaller items. My current list of stops was quite long, taking me through a dozen different systems. Somebody has to do it, I reminded myself. And you do have the best ship for the job.
The message from Leroy arrived soon after that. Summary: The "new" nomads have gotten more aggressive and more numerous. Several new "individuals" have been identified. Leroy is pretty sure they haven't found out about the Discovery Project yet, but is worried they might...if they did, it would end the brightest hope for humanity's future.
More to the point, I thought to myself as I contemplated Leroy's message, the Nomads are a threat to humanity, both present and future. Whatever is different about these new Nomads, the most important thing is still the same: for whatever reason, they want humanity exterminated.
They're going to have to get through Tannik Seldon and the Aedos first.
![[Image: aedos_mini.jpg]](http://students.cs.byu.edu/~sushi/aedos_mini.jpg)