Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"Be sure you positively identify your target before you pull the trigger."
~Tom Flynn
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Chapter 7: Collision
Alec"Hey Perce?" Shiloh asked as she took a bite of her fry. We were all seated at the lunch table. The Belkans didn't like to sit with us. We didn't really care. It's not like we'd be here for much longer.

"Hmm?" he replied, looking up at her.

"Who's Allison?"

My friend choked on his food. Will slammed his hand onto his back. Percy glowered at him. "Ow! Thank you for that." He shook his head and faced Shiloh. "What do you mean who's Allison?"

She nodded towards his phone. "Your phone is ringing. Allison is calling."

"Oh..." Percy hastily picked up his phone. Shiloh returned to her conversation with Lux but I could tell she was eavesdropping on the phone conversation. In all honesty, I was to. There were no secrets in our family, so why Percy hadn't told us about this Allison girl was suspicious.

"Hey Ally... yeah... awesome... uh, yeah... mmhmm... well have you tried... even the Osean government... uh huh, see, you didn't try everything... still a genius... talk to you later... let me know if you need any more help." Percy hung up. I stared at him inquisitively. "What?"

"Ally? Already have a nickname for her? And 'still a genius'? Something you want to share?" I inquired.

"No. It's a girl in one of my classes. She needs help on one of her assignments. Considering I know more about Osea than she does, she asked for my help. No big deal. If it was, don't you think I would've told you about her?"

"What about the 'still a genius' part?"

"She's one of the top in class. Brilliant student. Listen, I have to go. I promised my parents I'd Skype them after I ate lunch, wanted to make sure they both got to Yuktobania all right. I'll see you later." Percy excused himself from the table. We all watched him go. Once he was out of ear shot, Henry said, "Well he's acting weird."

"Think he might be dating that Allison girl and he doesn't want us to know?" Charlotte suggested.

"Why would he hide that? We're family! We tell each other everything!" Will pointed out.

"Not everything," Shiloh corrected.

The twins narrowed their eyes at their baby sister. "What are you hiding?"

"Nothing. On that note, I have to go. I have work to do before I go out later. Bye!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where are you going tonight?" Jem demanded.

She grinned. "You'll find out tomorrow."

"She has a date," Lux informed. "One of the Belkans asked her out."

"Which one?" I asked.

"Yeah, which one?" the twins echoed.

"I want to meet him," Will said.

"I want to talk to him," Jem added.

"I don't know. She just told me she had a date, no name, nothing. I think the bigger question is what is Percy hiding? There's something more than just that Allison girl. He wasn't smiling like he fancied her or anything when he was talking to her. I think it's a totally platonic relationship there. But why does he need her help and why didn't he come to us?"

"He's been off ever since the attack. I mean we're all pretty shaken up by it but he and Shiloh saw the guys. Maybe he's just still... I don't know, thrown by the whole thing. It was barely over two weeks ago," Tessa pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe we'll put Shiloh to the task. She can get anything out of anyone," I said.

"I'll talk to her when I go back to the room. In the meantime, Liam and I are working on a project so I'll see y'all later." Lux got up and left.

"Is everyone going on dates tonight or something?" Will remarked confusedly. "Percy and Allison, Shiloh and the mystery guy, Lux and Liam. Anyone else going?"

"Nope. I'm in studying all night. Lydia is working in the lab all day with Simon," Isabelle replied.

Will groaned. "I'm going to go find Sophie. Maybe she can give me some insight on what's wrong with everyone. She has a sixth sense for that sort of thing."

The twins both left after that. The rest of us got up too. I headed to my dorm where I plopped down on my bed and started doing homework. I wondered where Percy was. He was my roommate so unless he went off campus to Skype his parents, then what he said earlier was a lie.

As if echoing my thoughts, Henry came in and asked, "Where's Percy? I thought he was talking to his parents."

"So did I. There's something strange here. Want to help me find out what?"

"Of course. What kind of question is that?" Henry rolled his eyes at me. "Want me to hack into- oh wait, he took his laptop. Never mind. I was going to say I could hack into his laptop but he took it with him wherever he went. Maybe tonight."

"If we can't get anything out of him, then yes, you can hack into it tonight," I said. The two of us went to doing our homework. It wasn't bad, just tedious. I let myself have a fifteen minute nap after every five problems.

Five hours later, Percy entered the room. He appeared exhausted and almost... worried?

"You okay, man? You don't look so good," Henry commented.

My friend collapsed onto his bed. "Yeah, I'm just super tired. I was helping Allison on some of her work after I Skyped my parents. That girl is very thorough."

"Are you sure you're okay? You've been acting strange ever since the attack."

"I nearly got shot in the head Alec. If it hadn't been for that old man and Shiloh dragging me down, I wouldn't be here right now." He sighed. "Sorry, I'm not meaning to sound snappish. What I'm trying to say is that it's still getting to me. That's all."

"All right. Well if you need anything, let us know." Henry and I went back to our work but I wasn't letting this go. Whatever was bothering Percy was more than just the attack. Allison was involved somehow but in what way, I had no idea. And if she knew she was involved in the mess, she'd be hiding that she was helping Percy. Somehow I was going to find that secret. And that somehow was Shiloh.
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ShilohMy date, Ansel, picked me up right on time. He drove normally all the way to the restaurant which was an hour away (by normally I mean no speeding or crazy swerving in between cars). He opened doors for me. Ansel was pretty much acting the perfect gentleman. So I thought what could go wrong with tonight?

The answer: a lot.

Dinner started out fine. We were sitting close together in a booth, ate an appetizer that was to die for, and ordered our main courses. It was when we were finishing our main dish that things started to spiral downward. I had just put my fork down when he placed his hand on my knee. At first I was okay with it, I mean it was on my knee. But then he started moving it up my leg.

"Whoa there," I said, placing my hand firmly on his to stop his from moving it any further. "Stop."

"Oh come on, it's not like anyone can see what's going on," he whispered into my ear. He started to kiss my neck. Disgusted, I backed away from him and said firmly, "I said stop."

"Don't be like that. Do you want to take this somewhere else? Maybe in my car or something?" Ansel queried.

"I'd rather walk all the way back to base than get in your damn car," I growled.

"That can be arranged. Find a new way home bitch."

"That's Miss Bitch to you." I stood up. "And you're still paying for this meal."

Before he could respond, I walked off. When our waitress saw me, she quickly pulled me to the side and asked, "Are you okay, miss? Was your meal bad?"

"Oh, no, the meal was wonderful. It's my date that's bad. Thank you for such great service. Since I have a feeling he's not going to tip, here," I replied, handing her a wad of cash.

"Thank you! Do you have a ride home? Do you want me to call a cab for you?"

"No, I'm just going to call my family, but thank you for everything."

"At least let me get you some dessert, on the house. Come on, I'll show you the dessert menu. Connor, can you take over for me a few minutes?"

"Sure thing Elise." Elise led me to the back of the room and showed me the dessert menu. I ended up ordering an apple cobbler. While she put in my order, I called my brothers. Neither of them answer their phone. They were either asleep or they were with Sophie and Tessa. Lux was sleeping and if I called her, she'd sleep through it. One thing that ran in my entire family was our ability to sleep through anything and everything. My parents weren't as bad now that they had kids. They always woke up on the first ring.

My next best option was Alec. Like me he was always awake late at night. I dialed his number and waited impatiently for him to pick up.

"Hello?" Percy greeted.

"You're not Alec," I stated.

Percy laughed. "No, he's in the bathroom. What's up?"

"Um, it's a long story but I kind of need a ride home. I was hoping Alec would be up to driving an hour away to pick me up."

"What happened Shiloh?" He inquired seriously.

I sighed. "To make the story short, I had a date, the date went bad, I walked out on the date, and now I need a ride home."

"Where are you? I'm leaving now."

"Don't you have Alec's phone?"

"Oh... right. Text me the address on my phone and I'll head over there immediately."

"All right. Thank you Percy."

"Of course. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Be careful. The roads are icy."

"I will. Hang tight. Oh, Alec's out of the bathroom. He wants to talk to you. See you soon." There were a couple a seconds of silence before my cousin picked up. "What the hell happened?!"

"Bad date. Bad idea. Percy is coming to pick me up," I explained as I texted the address of the restaurant to Percy.

"Just wait until your brothers, me, Henry, and Perce get a hold of the guy," Alec growled.

"You don't even know the guy's name. I never told you it. And the latter had no idea I had a date tonight. Anyway, my waitress gave me a dessert on the house. So I'm just waiting for that and to be picked up. What are you doing?"

"Studying for my test. Lydia's helping me tomorrow. I'm not ready for this thing."

"Oh you'll do fine. You always do. I don't want to keep you from studying though so I'll let you go."

"Only if you don't mind. You're more important than studying you know."

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. You go study so you kick that test's butt and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Fine. But you can call me if you need absolutely anything. Be careful driving home. It's really throwing down snow here."

"It's just now starting to snow here but I hope it's not too bad. Percy and I will just have to be careful. Talk to you soon." The two of us hung up. Not long after, Elise brought me my apple cobbler. I'm pretty sure she gave me a piece double or triple the size of a normal serving because the thing was huge. I thanked her profusely for it. She went back to serving tables while I ate my dessert. For such a bad date, it was certainly a rather good end to it. I mean I got free dessert. Who doesn't love that?

As I waited for Percy, I pulled out my Kindle from my purse and began reading my favorite book: Pride and Prejudice.
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PercyAfter an hour and a half, I arrived at the restaurant. I ran inside, anxiously searching for Shiloh. I found her sitting in a corner in the waiting room reading her Kindle, ignoring everything around her.

"Hey, I'm so sorry it took me so long," I said, walking up to her.

She looked up at me. A smile spread across her face as she stood up and hugged me. "Hi! No, don't worry about it. Thank you so much for picking me up. I really appreciate it. I really did not want to call a cab home. That'd be so expensive. Was the drive bad?"

"Not awful but a little scary in some parts. We should start heading back before it gets worse. Come on." Grabbing her hand, the two of us left the restaurant. Once inside the car, I turned the heat on because it was absolutely freezing outside. In fact my windshield was fogging up when the heat turned on. Shiloh wrapped herself tightly in her coat.

I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the freeway. Traffic was slow due an accident that happened about a mile up ahead. I took that time to interrogate Shiloh about who the guy was and where he could be found. Her brothers would want to know. They were going to lose their minds when they found out what happened.

"Percy, calm down," Shiloh consoled. "There's no use getting riled up about it."

"I know but the guy was an ass. He's going to get what's coming to him."

"Karma will take care of that."

"Karma's initials are 'Will','Jem', 'Percy', 'Alec', and 'Henry'."

She smiled. "I do want to talk to you about something."

"What about?" I answered, looking at the wreck as I drove past it. The traffic went by much faster. I got into the left hand lane because the car in front of me was going about twenty miles an hour. The roads were bad but not that bad.

"I wanted to ask how you were doing since the attack in Parsberg. You've seemed... distracted lately."

My guard went up. How could this situation be explained without telling her everything? "I don't know. I guess I can't get it all out of my head. I want to know who it was and why they did it, but there's been no leads in the investigation."

"Our parents will figure it out. They always do. What happened was terrifying Percy, and I still have nightmares about it, but you can't keep thinking about it constantly. It will eat you up inside. Don't let the enemy do that to you."

"I'll try. I just wish our parents would tell us what's going on in the investigation."

"Honestly, I do too. I guess they're trying to protect us. I mean they've all seen things we couldn't imagine. I'm sure it's really scary for them to think that maybe someone is targeting them or their kids."

"You think someone's targeting us?"

"It's not a long shot really. We're the kids of the Razgriz. Our parents weren't called the Demons of Razgriz for nothing. I'm sure there's a lot of people who would like to harm them or those close to them. What better way to hurt a parent than to go after their kids? Then it also crossed my mind that whoever attacked us had no idea where we'd be that night and wouldn't have been able to organize a group like we saw on such short notice so my other idea is that it was a distraction. They needed a big distraction so they could get something they wanted of high security with having as little resistance as possible. Does that make sense?"

I tried to hide the excitement out of my voice as I agreed. I was pretty sure she had just said the exact reason why the terrorists had attacked Parsberg. Regardless of whether I and my family had been there that night or not, our parents would've been put on the case which meant the Razgriz would be involved. I needed to tell this to Allison as soon as I got back. She had to know. What the terrorists may've wanted, I had no idea, probably a file of information, but I'd have Allison look into that. She was a genius at that sort of thing.

"I have another question for you," Shiloh said.

"Shoot."

"Are you dating Allison?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"Oh, just the keeping secrets from us, not telling us who she is, going to her room for five hours," she remarked in amusement.

"How did you know about the last one?"

"Percy. Really? There are no secrets in this family. Alec and I were texting and he told me about it. So are you dating her?"

"No, I'm not. Like I said, I'm helping her with a project. The girl is very thorough and that requires a lot of time. Besides, I like someone else."

"Who?!" Shiloh demanded adamantly she made me jump.

"Geez," I laughed.

"That is not an answer."

"You're not getting an answer to it."

"Yes I am. You're going to tell me."

"I am not."

"Yes you are. You know I can get anything out of you if I prod enough."

"Not this time."

"Oh I think I can."

"You're so stubborn."

"You're Jack Bartlett's son. No one is as stubborn as you. Now tell me, does she go to the Osean academy?"

"Yes."

"Do I know her?"

"Yes."

"What year is she?"

"Your year."

"Hmm... well that puts Helena, Lux, and Fiona out of the running."

"You honestly think I like Helena? Helena Geller?" I laughed. "I mean don't get me wrong, she's beautiful, but no, not interested."

"Damn... okay, let me brainstorm a little bit. I'll get it." Shiloh sank down in her seat, biting her lip and staring intently at the dash board. I kept glancing at her every few seconds. It was amusing seeing her so intent on figuring it out. Just as I was about to ask if she really wanted to know who it was, something slammed into the back of my car. My tires hit an ice patch, instantly causing me to lose control of the car. My world was spinning. I tried seeing who it was that hit us while simultaneously attempting to regain control. All I could see was a black hummer but when I caught a glimpse of its grill, my blood went cold. Before I could think anything more of it, my car went off the freeway, rolling over and over down a hill. I blacked out before it stopped.
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AlecI'd just fallen asleep at one in the morning when my phone buzzed. I ignored it. For a few moments it stopped, but then it buzzed again. I ignored it again. It didn't go off a second time. I let myself relax again, falling back asleep until there was loud banging on my door.

"You're getting it," Henry grumbled.

"Why me?" I groaned.

"Because you're oldest," my brother responded.

"Shut up." I got up and answered the door. Jem stood there looking terrified. "Dude what happened?"

"Shiloh and Percy got in an accident. They're at the hospital right now," Jem rushed.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"We have to go. Will is getting the others."

I hurriedly got dressed. Henry, who had heard everything, did the same. The three of us ran to the front of the building. Isabelle, Charlotte, and Tessa were waiting for us.

"Where's Will?" Jem demanded.

"I'm here. Lux is going to call mom and dad and the Bartletts. She's going to handle everything for tomorrow since we're all going to be missing class. I ordered a cab that will take all seven of us. Lux will meet us there later," Will informed. As if on cue, the cab showed up. We all filed in. The hospital was only five minutes away but because the road conditions were so bad, it took us thirty minutes. We hopped out, running inside. Will reached the front desk first.

"You just had two people come in: Shiloh Davenport and Percy Bartlett. Where are they?" he asked breathlessly.

"Are you family?" the nurse queried, peering at the seven of us.

"Yes ma'am. I'm her brother, so is he." Will nodded towards Jem. "The others are close family friends. We're all at the Air Force Academy. Can you please tell us where they are?"

"They're in the emergency room. It says here that they're both undergoing surgery to have shrapnel removed and to fix broken bones. I'll lead you there. Follow me." The nurse got up and strode towards the elevator. We filed after her. The elevator was a tight fit but we managed. Upon getting to the correct floor, all was silent, strange for an emergency floor. I guess it was a slow night.

The nurse talked to another one quietly for a few seconds before turning to us and announcing, "Your sister and friend are still in surgery. We'll let you know when they get out."

"Thank you ma'am," the seven of us replied at the same time. We waited in the waiting room. Will and Jem were texting Lux to see what was going on. Apparently their parents and the Bartletts were going to take their fighter jets to get over here as soon as possible. Sometimes I forgot our families actually owned the Razgriz jets. A gift from Osea for their work.

Henry and Charlotte were talking quietly. Isabelle and Tessa closed their eyes but I knew they weren't asleep. Will and Jem were pacing up and down the room. I sat with my hands clasped in front of me, praying for a good outcome. We waited for hours before a doctor came in. He explained to us that Shiloh and Percy were in stable condition. They were keeping a careful watch on Shiloh who'd apparently hit her head pretty hard considering the size of the gash located on her hairline. That was stitched up the doctor said. Both of them had stitches all over the place from where glass lacerated their skin. Percy had a broken wrist and had had to have a shard of glass five inches long removed from his arm. Shiloh had a fractured foot. The breaks weren't serious so they wouldn't take too long to heal. Finally, both had whiplash. The more I heard, the more terrified I was of actually seeing my friends. I didn't want to see them injured. I worried for them though. I worried their injuries would prevent them from ever flying again. It'd kill them both. Flying was their passion, their life.

"That's all there is for me but the police would like to speak to you. Direct family preferred," the doctor said.

"Our parents are the Razgriz. We're all family here, blood or not," Jem declared. I was surprised he used the Razgriz card. None of us typically used that unless we wanted to stop someone from acting all high and mighty (because that usually did shut them up) or if we really needed something to go our way. The latter happened only a couple times but this time was definitely one of those times that it was needed.

The doctor nodded. "I'll send them in."

A few seconds later, the police entered. "Hello, I'm Klein and this is my partner Zimmerman. We were the ones who arrived on the scene a few minutes after it happened. The accident was a hit and run according to witnesses. The strange thing is, witnesses also said it looked like the person deliberately tried to hit your friends. I understand you are the children of the Razgriz so can you think of anyone who would want to harm you or get back at your parents?"

"No sir. My parents and Percy's are both flying in right now. They'll be here in a few hours so I can tell them you were asking," Will said.

"We appreciate. We're having guards on this floor just in case someone is for some reason targeting your family," Klein noted. The two policemen left. We sat in silence for a few moment before Isabelle asked, "Why would someone target us?"

"We're the Razgriz legacies. It's always been a possibility that someone who had a grudge against our parents would go after us but I thought it'd be when we were younger, closer to the time it all happened, not when we're all in college. If someone is targeting us, that means they've been biding their time coming up with the perfect plan, which is dangerous. That means they've had a lot of time to make sure all the details are perfect," I commented.

"Let's try not to think about that right now. For now, let's go see-" Jem stopped when we heard shouting in the hallway.

"That's my sister in there!" Lux's voice cried. We all ran outside.

"It's okay, she's our sister. Let her through," Will ordered. The policeman stopped blocking Lux. She ran over to us.

"Have you seen them yet?" she demanded.

"No, not yet. We haven't gotten the approval of the doctor," Charlotte answered.

"Where is he? I'll go find him." Before any of us could stop her, Lux was off in search of the doctor. All we could do was follow. She found him at the desk. She hadn't even started her sentence when he told us, "You can go see them. They're in rooms right next to each other."

"Okay, split up. Jem, Lux, Alec, and I will watch over Shiloh. Henry, Isabelle, Charlotte, and Tessa, watch over Percy. Got it?" Will asked. We nodded. We split into our different groups. Lux entered Shiloh's room first. We crashed into her because she halted dead in her tracks.

"Oh god," she choked out. I peered over head. Shiloh had a gash four inches long next to her hairline stitched up. The rest of her face had small cuts all over from glass. Her leg was in a cast and bruises lined her arms. Lux grabbed onto Will's hand before she headed inside. I hesitantly walked in with them.

"Shiloh?" Jem whispered. She didn't respond. He sighed. "Let's take shifts. Will and I will take the first one. Let's say two hours. Alec, you take the next one with Lux."

"There's no need to do that," Chopper said from the doorway. We all whirled around. Lux exclaimed 'Dad!' before running up and hugging him. Chopper hugged his daughter. Will, Jem, and I followed suit. "How long have y'all been here?"

"About six hours I guess, maybe longer. Although Lux just got here a few hours ago. She took care of us not being at school for today and tomorrow. Lydia, Sophie, Simon, and Liam are getting our homework for us. Where's mom?" Jem asked.

"She's with Percy. Bartlett and Nastasya are still on a plane over here. They'll be here in a few hours. You all go get some sleep. I'll stay in here with Shiloh. I'll come get you if she wakes up," Chopper said. We chose not to argue. Besides, the room was rather small and cramped. I guess Blaze must've told the others the same because in the waiting room. None of us said anything. What was there to say? I settled into a chair and got into a comfortable position. I had a feeling we'd be here for a while.

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PercyI forced my eyes open, albeit only to slits. Bright light flooded my vision telling me I was certainly not in my car anymore. I tried to turning my head but it hurt so I abandoned that. Instead, I croaked out, "Hello?"

"Percy? Oh thank god," a girl breathed.

"Shiloh? I-is that... you? Are you okay?" I wheezed out.

"It's not Shi. It's Blaze. She's still sleeping."

"How- how bad is she hurt?" I asked, opening up my eyes some more. Blaze sat next to my bed. She looked exhausted. Suddenly I wondered how long I'd been out. "What happened?"

"You were in a car wreck. Someone hit the back of your car and made you slip on a patch of ice. Your car rolled down a hill on the side of the freeway," she explained. It all came back to me quickly, including what I'd seen on the car that hit us.

"I remember the car. It looked like a black Chevy. It had an Iron Cross on its grill. Just like the people in Parsberg. Blaze what if-"

"Percy, calm down. The Iron Cross you saw was probably just the Chevy symbol."

"I'm so sorry Blaze. I nearly got Shi killed. I tried to protect her, I did."

"And you did protect her. Those stitches in your forearm are because you threw your arm in front of Shiloh's chest. A five inch shard of glass embedded itself into your arm. If you hadn't thrown your arm in front of Shiloh's chest, that shard of glass would've embedded itself into her chest, into her heart. You did save her Percy. I'm so grateful for that." Blaze let out a small laugh. "Besides, it's not the first time she's had a near death experience."

"And for some reason she's always with me when it happens," I grumbled. "Maybe I should stay away from her."

"I'm not talking about the Parsberg attack. I'm talking about when she was born."

"She was born in the middle of Emmeria when the Estovakians had it under their control. You, Chopper, Henri, and Geller were are stuck there. You had her in the middle of a war."

"That's... not the entire story. Lux, Jem, and Will know the entire story. It's why they've always been so protective of her. Shiloh knows too. It bugs her that we're all so protective but she gets it. She... does push her limits though."

"So she's like you?" I quipped.

My godmother snorted in amusement. "Yes. That is one of the many traits she got from me. Shiloh is kind of my mini-me. The thing is, well, the first thing is she was born two months premature. Most babies don't survive being born that young. Then I died, literally. The doctors shocked me back to life but that's not important."

"Uh, I think it's probably important to Chopper that you lived."

"I meant that it's not important to the story. It took two months for Shiloh to get out of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The hospital didn't have to supplies it typically did to take care of someone like her. I owe them so much for keeping her alive. The reason I'm telling you this is that there are some things you cannot control Percy. I could not control when Shiloh was born or if she would live or not, just like you could not control that person hitting your car, or the hit causing the car to slip on the ice. Do you understand me? This was not your fault."

I nodded. "Yes."

"Good. I'll go let the others know you're awake. Your parents should be here soon. I think they're in the car already. I'll be back." Blaze left my room. I appreciated the talk. I did feel a little better. But she wasn't totally right. I know what I saw. I know I saw the Iron Cross on the plate. I know that my 'accident' was not an accident. I was the target. I was looking into things that had sent up a red flag to the Gray Men. I'd been so close to telling Shiloh about what I'd discovered, but after tonight, that was out of the question. After tonight, no one could know until I had more than just pictures. I needed to know exactly what the Gray Men had planned before anyone in my family found out. I was not risking their lives like I was willing to risk mine.
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