The journey back to Sanctuary Ardent was much quieter than the trip to Veyra Nine.
Most of the recovered prisoners spent the first jump inside Neris's medical transports, where Vaela and Doctor Marr worked through the worst cases first.
The people who were healthy enough to move freely were given food, clean clothes, and access to a limited communication channel so they could speak with anyone Eirenne had already confirmed was waiting for them at the sanctuary.
That quickly became the busiest channel in the fleet.
Aurelian heard parts of it whenever Eirenne brought up a medical report.
Some conversations lasted only a few minutes because neither side knew what to say after so many years apart. Others continued until medical staff had to remind the patients to rest.
Serena Hal spoke with her father for almost an hour.
Aurelian did not listen.
He only checked that the connection remained stable, then left the rest to them.
