[ It's not just frustrating, it's foolish, in Jim's opinion. At this stage, it's clear that the Natha actively need, if not their help, then at least their cooperation and loyalty - and asking refugees to work blind is just stupid. ]

There were a lot of people in both cities who didn't like refugees. Our cover story [ god he sounds like he's repressing an eyeroll with that ] was that we were from war-torn, far-flung colonies looking for better lives, and plenty people in Wyver and Olympia already hate outsiders as it is. A terrorist cell ended up fixating on us, and it culminated in abducting dozens of refugees, holding them captive, and torturing them. There were deaths.

[ Not a fun time for anyone. ]

The thing is, the communicators we have are tech that nobody on planet is supposed to have. The tech, and network chatter on there jailbreaks the facade the Natha have built on a lot of levels. But miraculously, everyone who was taken ended up having theirs go dark and inoperable. And yet the Natha wouldn't help us find them.