5

James heard a vague sound and thought he felt someone touching him. The sound seemed pleasant and became slowly clearer.

"James? Wake up, please."

He felt like he had been in a deep comfortable sleep and was being made to wake up from it. Lifting his head and trying to open heavy eyelids, his vision was blurry at first. A face came into focus and he recognized it--Moira's android avatar was looking at him with concern. He wondered how long she had been on the bridge.

"M-Moira...?"

"I'm here, James," she said, passing a handheld medical scanner over him. "You and the others have been unconscious, though apparently unhurt."

James forced his mind into clarity and sat up in his seat. Tanya was still slumped over to one side, and turning a bit, he saw Sylvia, also slumped in her seat. The only thing keeping them in a semi-upright position were their seat restraint harnesses.

"The ship okay?" James asked, wiping a bit of drool from his lip.

"Apparently," Moira replied. "I took it upon myself to step down to Condition II since we do not seem to be in immediate danger. I scanned the Se'nika, and I believe her crew to have been similarly made unconscious. I will go over there shortly and make sure, but first I wanted to make sure you are alright. I awakened Mindy right away, and she is checking out the others."

"What happened?" James asked, noticing that his neck itched for some reason.

"We...are some distance from where we were. When I could get no response from anyone, I went to Sickbay and tended to Mindy. Once she was awake, we went about tending to the rest--I worked my way forward and she went aft. Mindy provided me with the means to awaken you quickly."

When James saw the micro-spray injector in Moira's hand, he understood then why his neck itched.

"Get everyone else awake, and then transport over to the Se'nika--take Mindy with you. Attend to Frer-Sha'an first if you can. We need to find out what happened and contact Command."

Moira's avatar kissed James on the lips and smiled gently, touching the right side of his face tenderly. Looking up and out the window, she said, "I believe that may have the answer to what happened."

James' expression changed from a loving smile to one of shocked surprise.

"What in the name of...is that?!?!"

A huge something was standing off their port forward quarter--given its size, and nothing in the immediate vicinity to compare it to, he couldn't tell if it was a large ship or a small station or what. It had to be an artificial construct, he surmised, but it looked disturbingly like--of all things--a huge wolf, sitting there, patiently watching and waiting. But for what?

* * * * *

Mindy and Moira's android avatar materialized inside the Chel-Sar Se'nika near its equivalent to a sickbay. Mindy sent a telepathic message to the ship, hoping that it would recognize her.

"Se'nika? This is Chief Mindy Sorrel from Nightwing_. I have Moira with me. We came to see if everyone is okay. I hope you can understand me._"

Mindy paused a bit, listening.

"Did you attempt to contact her, Mindy?" Moira asked quietly.

"Yeah. I have no idea if it worked or not."

They both stood still and listened, hoping the organic ship would give some recognizable clue that it would allow them to remain aboard. Shortly, they got a response. An odd scintillating light suddenly filled the space they were in for a few seconds and then switched off, followed by a soft, nearly musical sound.

"I believe we have been scanned and identified," Moira said quietly. "We should attend to Frer-Sha'an, if she is in their healing area."

They found the healer slumped in a corner on the deck. Mindy reached into her pouch, pulled out a micro-spray injector, and administered the medicine.

"She told me this would work if I ever needed to bring one of her people around," Mindy said, putting the injector away and pulling out her hand-held medical scanner. "Sha'an, can you hear me? It's Mindy...c'mon, wake up!"

Frer-Sha'an began to stir, and when she opened her eyes, she looked confused.

"How did you get here?"

Moira and I transported over when we couldn't get a response from anyone."

Moira proceeded to explain what had happened as best as she could while helping Sha'an to her feet.

"We should proceed to the Command Pit--start with Thir-Bre'an and work back; I will attend to our Madam Commander, and then we will attend to the rest of the crew."

Sha'an loaded two medicine injectors, giving one to Moira. They went forward and roused the Command Crew.

"We are in your debt, Madam Moira," Rhuw-Rha'an said aloud after learning what had happened.

"As Lilly would say, it is what friends are for," she replied with a smile.

"Indeed, so," Rha'an agreed, smiling in return.

While Frer-Sha'an, Mindy, and Moira went through the rest of the ship tending to the other members of Se'nika's crew, Thir-Bre'an activated the thrusters and brought the ship parallel to Nightwing. After making sure her ship and crew were okay, Rhuw-Rha'an went with Moira's android avatar and Mindy back to their ship.

"I will never get used to that thing," Rha'an commented with a shiver after they transported.

"I think it tickles," Mindy said.

"I feel nothing, though I do notice a slight lapse in time until I can resynch with the ship's computer," Moira's android avatar said, speaking of herself.

"For us, it is as if we cease to exist and then do again. It is a most unnerving feeling," Rha'an added.

"That's interesting. How do you feel when you teleport from one location to another?" Mindy asked.

"For us it is as if stepping through a doorway. We probe an area with our minds, and then will ourselves there. Depending on how we move, across or up and down, determines the amount of mental energy it takes. Relocating from a moving object to a stationary place--or its reverse, is dangerous, though it can be done."

"So, is that why you don't teleport from orbit to the ground and back?" Mindy asked.

"Yes. Relocating at orbital velocity to a stationary location on a planet's surface would be quite fatal. A ship or station in orbit must be perfectly matched to the rotation of the planet, or moon," Rha'an explained.

"Ah, the conservation of momentum," Moira observed.

"Yes. The universe tends to be quite ruthless in that requirement. It is best not to annoy it."

Moira agreed wholeheartedly with Rhuw-Rha'an's assessment.

"Who is our 'friend' out there?" Rha'an asked after she joined James on the bridge of Nightwing.

The huge wolf shaped object was still in a sitting position facing the two ships, though once in a while, its head would turn as if it were looking off into the distance for some unfathomable reason or another. It always returned its gaze to the two ships.

"No idea, Rha'an. Whoever they are, they have an odd sense of humor to have their ship, or whatever it is, shaped like a wolf."

"I know of no civilization that has made its vessels in the shape of animals such as that, except for the Ganthorens, though their ship designs are at least understandable given their own anatomies."

"That's true," James agreed.

"Have you determined our location yet?" Rha'an asked Tanya.

"Da, we are nearly half way between Élendor Prime and NGC-2359," Tanya replied, pulling the chart up on the main holo-display and highlighting their current position.

While James looked at the image of the nebula that was NGC-2359, it's common name came to his mind.

"Thor's Helmet."

"And a 'wolf of Odin'?" Sylvia asked, referring to what was watching them.

"Our ship's emblem," Tanya pointed to the patch on the right sleeve of James' combat flight suit.

Nightwing's emblem could be mistaken for a raven.

"This is getting to be too much," James said, giving himself a shake.

"Who are the two people you mentioned?" Rha'an asked.

"In ancient Norse mythology, Thor was the god of thunder and lightning. The nebula is said to resemble his helmet as viewed from our world. Thor's father, Odin, was the chief god, who was known as the All-Father. He had two ravens who traveled the nine worlds keeping watch on events. He also had two wolves that accompanied him, and his followers were known as The Wolves of Odin," Zach explained.

"That was nearly two and a half thousand years ago," James said.

"When we were on your homeworld, there were the four-footed beings you said were wolves, and the black birds. Your cousin, Cerri, I believe her name was, said that they had always been with your family, is that correct?" Rha'an asked.

"Yeah, that's right," James replied.

"And something in the shape of the four-footed ones is now watching us."

"Da, and we don't know how we got this far out so quickly," Tanya agreed.

"Moira is still trying to make heads and tails out of the sensor recordings from when we were near Élenswena's system to when we got here," Zach said.

"Well, we've been thrown or dragged this far out, and apparently our 'friend' out there may be wanting us to continue on our way, so I guess Læree'ahn won't be going home just yet. Zach, see if you can pick up that energy trail again."

"Um...we're...sitting right on top of it."

"Say what?" James asked incredulously.

"We are literally right on top of the energy trail. It's not strong, but...there it is," Zach said, putting it up on the main holo-display.

"If that's not a strong indication, I don't what is," Tanya said, leaning forward a bit to take another look at the huge alien wolf-like object.

James drummed his fingers a little, thinking for a moment.

"Syl, has our 'friend' made any response to our hails yet?"

"No sir, it's just...sitting there, watching us."

"Bridge to Crypto, anything yet, Lil?"

/* "Not a peep. They're being mighty quiet over there. It might as well be just a big chunk of rock sittin' out there. Cara's not getting anything, either." */

"Thanks, Lil. Bridge out." James looked up at Rha'an. "Has Chi'an been getting anything?"

Rha'an looked off into the distance for a moment and then sent, "She reports that aside from being made of substances she cannot identify, she says that it seems as inert as anything. Yet we have seen it move on occasion. It must have a source of power, but it eludes us."

James stared out the window at it for almost a whole minute.

"Alright, it's sitting there between us and where we came from--watching us, apparently. We've been dragged or tossed half way to where we were going, sitting on the energy trail left by The Heart, which is leading strait to NGC-2359. I'd say we might as well turn about and get back on course--we still have a way to go, and we're heading nowhere fast just sitting here," James decided.

"I agree, James," Rha'an sent. "I will return to my ship and inform you when we are ready."

James tried to think of something worth saying, but at the moment he found himself at a loss of words. Instead, he simply held out his hand. Rha'an saw it and held it for a moment while making eye contact with him. She let go, placed her hand on Tanya's shoulder momentarily, and then...*Bamf!* She was gone.

When all was ready, Rhuw-Rha'an called as she said she would, and both ships turned into the direction The Heart's energy trail lead. Sylvia sent an encrypted message off to Command, informing of their experience and what happened to them, and what their current location and heading were. Taking no chances, they began accelerating at one quarter impulse, and increased at fifteen-minute intervals to fifty percent and then to seventy-five percent. As they began to move, James pulled up a rear view to see what the huge wolf-like object was doing, but it sat as still as a proverbial stone until they passed beyond visual range. With nothing amiss after their recent experience, Nightwing and _Se'nika_both made the jump to hyperspace and sped on their way towards the nebula known as Thor's Helmet.

* * * * *

"So, they took our little hint. Good. Well, then, Char'ena, let's run along and stay just at the edge of their sensor range. If they bother to look for us, they might see us shadowing them, but I want them to keep their attention on what they're supposed to be doing and not on us."

/* "As you wish, Mistress. Would you like anything at the moment?" */

"Some music, if you don't mind, dear. Some early Skunatii songs, I think. It's been a while since I visited with my great granddaughter, and I remember she has been rather fond of the music that young friend of hers likes to dance to."

/* "The collection of traditional dance music from the village of M'yerrber-khis?" */

"Yes, that's it. Oh, I'd take a bowl of tea while you're at it...my usual."

/* "As you wish, Mistress." */

Naoia settled back into her lounge chair and sipped the hot, spicy tea, while she relaxed to the music and thought of her great granddaughter.

"Ah, my dear Ahnia, I'm sure you are still the pretty red-furred girl cub you've always been since you followed the son of A'aleen and Ghen-sa'hal right out of your parent's den and into his. He's been a good mate to you, I'll give him that, and your children's children have been busy adding to the family, too. Well, it will be time enough for visiting soon, but first I have to make sure my new young friends complete their own journey of the heart to The Heart, just as your friends and adopted daughter did long ago."

Char'ena stood from her position where she and her First One had been watching to see what the two ships of the younger races would do--try to go back or continue on. Satisfied that they chose to continue, Char'ena began her run to follow the mortals ahead of her to their next destination: the dead world she knew as Chenau-Ri.

* * * * *

"We're not going to Élenswena, ey?"

"I'm afraid not, Canberra. We've been dragged or tossed half way to NGC-2359 from there, so she's going to be stuck with us for the duration. I'm sure we could find something for Læree'ahn to do. Since you two are now officially a married couple, I'll see what can be done about getting you some private quarters--it may not be pretty, but at least you'll have some space to be alone together."

"Mind we do not, being with others," Læree'ahn said.

"Miss Ja'f'darwe gave me a quick explanation of Élendorian family life, so I have somewhat of an understanding. I mean no disrespect, Mrs. Canberra--this is a military ship, and my crew needs to stay focused, especially as we leave Federation space. We will be operating completely on our own, and we have no idea how long this mission will last. My crew was hand-picked for their ability to deal with the isolation of long-range scout ship duty, but the other people on this ship may or may not be able to handle it so well. I'm reasonably sure most of those on this ship know something about Élendorians and how they can affect others. All I'm saying is...just try to keep things toned down a bit," James tried to explain.

"Learned much I have about Terrans, Læree'ahn. Understand us completely they do not but try some do. Trained you are not--hold back we must when others we are near. Necessary for others it is," Miss Ja'f'darwe spoke in Élendi to Læree'ahn.

Bobbing her head, Felix's new wife said, "Understand, I think, Captain."

"Good," James said with some relief. "My Comm Officer has sent a message to your parents, Mrs. Canberra, explaining that--due to unusual circumstances--you are safe, and are accompanying your husband on his current duty assignment."

Læree'ahn bobbed her head again and said, "Thank you."

"Any further questions?"

"No, sir," Felix replied.

Læree'ahn simply shook her head to indicate that she had none.

"Very well, then. Dismissed."

Felix came to attention until James nodded his head, and then he hooked his arm around Læree'ahn's and they walked out of the captain's office.

James closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. He felt Læree'ahn's presence diminish, though there was still one other presence in his office that he was acutely aware of. There was a slight rustle and then he felt a pair of very warm hands on his shoulders.

"Thank you, Captain. I understand this will be a challenge, having two of our kind on your ship. I will do what I can to help her to hold her feelings in check. I was raised around your people, so I had to learn early on that Terrans still have...difficulties...in certain areas."

Although she spoke Terran Standard English as well as any native-born Terran when she chose to, Miss Ja'f'darwe's voice still had the unmistakable exotic sound quality peculiar to Élendorians and their cousins, the Keori.

James knew what she had meant about "difficulties"--Élendorians considered themselves to be a "sexually mature" race, one that is highly sensual, gregarious, and strongly empathic; a mix that many humans could find overwhelming. G.E.L.F.s who were based upon herd type four-footed animals, bats, birds, and certain others, seemed to be the best able to deal with Élendorians among Terrans. A.I. entities, of course, were totally immune to Élendorian empathic abilities and the pheromones they produced. So-called "near humans", such as James and Zach, had some ability to deal with the semiconscious empathic projection. However, the heightened sense of smell many near humans had tended to make Élendorians distracting. James definitely felt Miss Ja'f'darwe's presence whenever she entered the same area he was in, and her scent at times made being in close proximity with her a challenge. One other ability that Élendorians had was touch telepathy. Unlike the Terrans who had the gene that gave a limited form of telepathy, or the Mûr Tua'ansa who were true telepaths, Élendorians had to be in direct physical contact to share their thoughts.

And at this particular moment, Miss Ja'f'darwe Ræha'ahna was in very_close proximity _and in direct physical contact.

"Uh...Miss Ja'f'darwe..."

"You know my name--no need to be so formal when we are alone. Speak it...you know you want to. There is no need to hold back. We are going to be together on this ship for some time, I think. I have brought ashay'rin'ei[1] from my D'wena on the homeworld..."

James had no idea what the word was that Miss Ja'f'darwe used, though he assumed it was in Élendi. But then an image popped into his head--and he understood.

"Miss Ja'f'darwe..." James started to say, standing up, and then turning to face her. "I..."

"Of course, Captain. I understand." Miss Ja'f'darwe lightly touched his chest. "Perhaps I will see you at dinner, then."

With a resigned smile, she slipped away and glided towards the door. Before opening it, she paused briefly and looked over her shoulder. There was a hint of flirtation in her eyes, though it was short lived for James had already shifted his attention away.

"Still he guards his feelings from me. He does not_dislike _me, that is plain enough, but why does he hold back? He is usually much more open towards others," Ræha'ahna thought to herself as she exited the bridge and headed off to the crew's mess to get some hot tea.

* * * * *

When John walked into the stateroom he shared with Diwenzi, she was sitting at the small desk studying something intently on the computer monitor.

"What's up, Diz?" he asked, walking over to his locker.

When she didn't immediately start chatting about something, John paused a moment and looked over in her direction.

"What's got your nose welded to that screen?"

Diwenzi still didn't respond, so he walked over and touched her shoulder.

"Diz...?"

Startled, Diwenzi nearly shouted as she said, "Yiezwa!" She saw John's mouth move, but she didn't hear anything he said. She realized why and removed the ear buds from her ears. Speaking louder than necessary at first, she lowered her voice when John motioned with his hand for her to tone it down. "Sorry, I was having trouble making out some of the audio on this, so I had the noise-cancelling turned on."

"What are you watching?"

"Um...I found the mission records of what happened on Chandor-IV, back during the R'Hinsi Campaign, and..."

"And you were checking up on my cousin, James."

"Not just him, I found that Stewert and Sorrel were also part of that mess--your father, too! Yiezwa, Runway, how do we live up to that?"

John pulled up a chair and sat down.

"When I got accepted into Flight School, James told me something that I guess has been passed down from generation to generation of military people, 'Train like how you will fight, and then fight like you've been trained.' But then he added, 'Sometimes you'll have tried everything you've been taught, and it still can't shake the bogie off your tail--that's when you have get inspired and do something totally outrageous that your opponent wouldn't expect. The thing is, just don't do something stupid, because that will get you killed quicker than anything.' James is a damn good pilot, Diz--Tanya is, too. We wouldn't be here if we weren't good enough. Just lay off on the hero worship, okay? James doesn't like that. My little sister does, and it's kinda embarrassing."

"Oh. Um, your sister?"

"Yeah, I've got two sisters and a brother. There's me, Daisy, Ben, and Jonquil--we call her 'Jo' for short."

"You don't say much about your family. Don't you get along with them?" Diwenzi asked.

"Yeah, we all get along just fine, it's just...well, Dad's the head of JSOC, my sister Daisy is a Combat Craft Crewman, and Ben is in an intel unit," John explained.

"Oh...no wonder," Diwenzi said, understanding now why her SIO didn't speak much of his siblings.

"So, you had to be different and be a fly-boy, eh?"

"I suppose you can thank James for that--he got me interested in flying. Dad's okay with it because James took me under his wing and has been mentoring me. It was his idea for me to take a turn at being an SIO--he said it would help me understand how those systems work by getting actual hands-on experience, and how that would help make me a better pilot in the long-run. I think he'd like to see me fly a ship like Nightwing someday. That would be somethin', huh?"

Diwenzi stared at John.

"If you ever do, I hope you remember me..."

"Sure, Diz...why wouldn't I? Next rotation I'll request to be your wingman, whaddaya say, eh?" John offered with a grin.

"Ai-a, you can fly with me any day, John."

Still grinning, John gave Diwenzi a pat on the upper arm, stood up, and went back over to his locker. While he was rummaging through his stuff, he paused and thought, "Hey, she actually called me by my first name...what's up with that?" He looked back over his shoulder and saw Diwenzi suddenly look away, trying to act like she was looking at the monitor screen.

Just when he turned back to look at his locker, Diwenzi stated, "Ai-a, you never did say what your other sister does."

"Jo? Oh, she just turned eighteen--mom and dad are trying to talk her into going to college, but I don't know if she'll go or not."

"Why not?"

"She's a ditz." Seeing the confused look on Diwenzi's face, he added, "Got a little too much space between her ears...and she's got the hots for James." He rolled his eyes on the last part.

Diwenzi made the Veswan equivalent to an "ah" expression and turned back to the terminal, shutting it down.

"Ai-a, about time to go eat...ya comin'?"

"It is...? Jeez, yeah, gimmie a sec."

* * * * *

"Is our 'friend' still out there?" Rhuw-Rha'an asked Kfan-Hre'an.

"Yes, Madam Commander. Distance has not changed--still just within detection range of both our ships. Forward velocity matches our own precisely."

"It appears that our 'friend' wants us to know they are there, and yet makes no attempt to contact either of us or responds to our calls." Rha'an thought openly.

"Perhaps they are too different from us to understand our signals," Shen-Lir'an suggested.

"Or so far beyond us that they simply are not aware...or do not care," Aren-Tal'an added.

Thir-Bre'an turned to look for a moment at Tal'an, the white-haired Khea Mûr Tua'ansa who was their Navigator.

"Do you believe they may be one of The First?" Bre'an asked.

The attention of everyone in the Command Pit shifted to Tal'an. Rhuw-Rha'an also was interested in what her sensitive navigator had to say next.

"We know that the First Ones have not walked openly among the many worlds since our distant past, though if one listens carefully, there are still tales told among the many races we know of that speak of strange sightings among the stars of great beast-like things that move about, always at great distances, always watching. Who or what they may be, no one can say for sure, for they never openly appear or choose to communicate. We know that the First Ones have been to our world; we have learned that they have been to the Élendorian homeworld. I believe they may have even been to the Terr'ahn homeworld. Many have believed that the First Ones would return again when it was time. Many dark things have been happening--we have just experienced another one of those for ourselves. The Terr'ahns have twice been inspired to save us from doom, and a beast-like 'ship', I believe it to be, appeared and did things no vessel known could do. I could sense its presence...and that of another, much stronger, just before we lost consciousness," Aren-Tal'an explained.

"So, you do believe our 'friend' out there may be a First One," Rhuw-Rha'an said.

Looking up to where she sat, Tal'an sent openly, "Yes, Madam Commander...I do."

Rha'an sensed the sincerity in her Navigator's sending.

"I am inclined to believe as you do. But why would they be interested in_us?_" Rha'an asked, implying both ships in her sending, and not just her own.

No one among the Command Crew could think of a reason why that might be.

* * * * *

Hfel-Sri'an went to her rest chamber after checking over the various non-engine related systems of the ship to get some rest. She pulled off her boots and wiggled both toes on each foot in relief. While sitting on the edge of her bed, Sri'an pulled open a drawer and took out a translucent tube. Removing the endcap, she carefully withdrew the contents.

The shiny black feather that she held in her hand looked the same as the night it was given to her. It appeared to be an ordinary large bird feather, but ever since the visit to the glade near the Daugherty homestead in Alaska, Hfel-Sri'an knew in her heart that it was anything but.

"Are you still watching over us, so far away from the place you gave this to me?"

Sri'an wondered for a time, but then sleep started to overcome her. She reverently replaced the feather in the protective tube, sealed it, and then got ready for bed. Switching off the light, she laid down and pulled the covering over. Sri'an quickly fell asleep, with the tube still in her hand.

As the last of her conscious mind slipped into sleep, she imagined a large black shape settle down onto the edge of her bed beside her.

"I am with you even here," an old voice said gently.

Hfel-Sri'an slept peacefully through the remainder of her rest period, dreaming of flying among the stars on the back of a giant black bird.

* * * * *

"You should have seen that thing just sitting there--literally sitting--watching us, like it was thinking about what to do with us." Sylvia said rather animatedly after dinner.

"A clocked it oan th' external sicht in Fire Control," Ivor commented.

"We saw it out the window on the bridge. Moira opened the shutters, and there it was, this huge...wolf-looking thing, complete with the eyes. Just...looking at us! After seeing what it did to that enemy ship and thinking what it could do to us if it wanted to..." Sylvia looked at Ivor, and he could see that she had been rattled a bit by the events she witnessed on the bridge during the fight. If it bothered her, the most unflappable person on the ship other than Moira, then Ivor was glad he had been where he was at the time. He had seen ships "splashed" before, but he had never seen one literally ripped apart like a stuffed toy in the jaws of a wolf. Ivor thought it was quite understandable for one to have a hard time dealing with something like that. It could have been a primal reaction for all he cared.

Ivor put his arms around Sylvia and held her close until she relaxed.

"Sorry, I'm babbling like an idiot," she said after a bit.

"Tis okay, luv. Ah jalouse tis a guid thing it cam alang whin it did, fur we didnae hae muckle o' a chance against that enemy ship. Thare wur mair waiting tae come thro', 'n' that wid hae pat us in a ill wey if thay hud."

"I have to give the captain credit for trying something crazy to give our other ships a chance at taking that ship out. If it hadn't pulled that little trick that nearly shoved us into that rift, our guys might have taken it down. Whoever those ships belonged to, they sure had Commander Rhuw-Rha'an scared. There was something big on the other side that we caught a glimpse of--it was in pieces, but you could tell that it was something they intended on putting together on _our_side."

Ivor hadn't seen that from his GQ station--he was busy dealing with other things at the time.

"At least we're aye in yin piece, 'n' that ither thing doggin' us seems tae mean us na harm. We aye hae oor mission tae fin' that artifact 'n' we're back oan th' trail o' it."

Sylvia looked into Ivor's eyes and saw the gentle love in them. She smiled warmly and buried her face in his neck fur.

"Hold me..." she murmured.

"Aye, luv."

* * * * *

Tanya had taken a break to get some sleep so that she could relieve James later. After she woke up, Tanya showered, dressed, and went to the crew's mess to get some coffee and something to eat since she had slept through supper. When it was time, she went forward and entered the bridge.

" PrivEt [2]," she said, giving her mate a nuzzle.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," James said with little chuckle, kissing her on the cheek. "Ready to take over for a while?"

"Da. Anything new on our 'friend' out there?"

"No change."

"Hmpf. Anyone else nearby?"

"Not that Moira's seen so far."

"Any word from Command?"

"Nothing's caught up to us yet."

"Go get some sleep. I relieve you."

James slid his seat back, slipped out of the restraints, and then stood up.

Kissing Tanya on the lips, he said, "I stand relieved. 'Night, baby...anything changes, you know where to find me."

"Da, curled up where I wanna be!" she exclaimed mildly.

James stepped aside and let Tanya take the pilot's seat. He started to leave, but stopped and said, "Oh, Petty Officer Li is going to be joining you--she'll be keeping watch on the energy trail and our 'friend' out there. At least you'll have somebody to keep you company."

"Giving her some OJT[3], ah?"

"She is a Sensor Tech, so might as well put her to use. I figured it would give Zach a break and give her some useful shipboard experience."

"I take it Commander Williamson didn't mind you 'borrowing' his tech..."

"Hey, at least I asked...nicely. I ran the idea by Zach first, and he was for it, so I brought it up with Williamson and he agreed to it. I explained the situation with Li and asked if she would be interested--she jumped at the chance, so...she will be joining you tonight. Moira and Zach are going to see to her training and between the two of them, they'll have Li up to speed on scout ship sensor systems."

"And look good in her record, ah?"

"Better than having her twiddle her thumbs until she's needed for what she's here for."

"Da, now go get some sleep, dear," Tanya agreed, and then shooed him off to bed.

* * * * *

"Carmen...? Time to wake up."

There was a soft low-pitched grumble, followed by the small reading light switching on inside the rack being used by the Asian black bear G.E.L.F., and then one of the privacy panels slid open.

"It's twenty-three-hundred already?" Carmen asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yes."

"Gimme a min..."

Carmen slid the other privacy panel open, pulled the cover off of her, and worked her way out from the top rack. She could have had the middle or bottom rack in the stack, but she preferred the top one. The berthing compartment was illuminated only by the blue night lights since it was after lights out. Cara and Ivor were already up and getting their uniforms on since they would be relieving Lilly and Sonya respectively. The ship was still at Condition-II until the captain determined otherwise. Moira's android avatar waited patiently for Carmen to give herself a quick brushing and slip into her uniform. When all were ready, they proceeded to the crew's mess to get something to eat and drink before going on watch.

"Whaur urr ye standin' watch at, Carmen?" Ivor asked while he made himself some tea.

"The captain asked me if I'd be interested in working at the Science Station on the bridge, so I said, 'hell yeah', and Moira's going to start training me tonight. I'll eventually get some advanced instruction from Mr. MacCloud once I get proficient at operating the ship's sensors."

"That's nice of the captain to give you some temp duty while you're onboard," Cara said.

"Yeah, I'm the only one on the science team that can help out on a day-to-day basis; the others--a linguist, a geologist, an archaeologist, a chemist, a physicist, and a structural engineer--not much for them to do on a small ship," Carmen agreed.

"Ah kin juist see professor types swabbing th' heads," Ivor said with a mischievous grin.

His comment elicited mild laughter from Carmen and Cara, though Moira's avatar remained quiet. When it was twenty-five minutes until midnight, they put their trays in the cleaning chute, got refills, and headed off to their watch stations. Carmen had asked Moira before leaving the crew's mess if it was alright to take her drink with her.

"There should be no problem as long as you keep the lid on and closed. Since I know how Commander Dvoretsky likes her coffee, I will fix her some and bring something for her to snack on. She did not eat before relieving the captain and she needs to keep her mind sharp."

"Okay, great."

Carmen watched and was amazed at how quickly and efficiently Moira's android avatar got the XO's coffee and snack ready.

Carmen felt a twinge of nervousness when the door to the bridge opened and she got her first glimpse inside. The bridge of a ship was traditionally a restricted area while underway--only those who had business there were allowed. On long-range scout ships that typically meant the Pilot, Navigator, Science Officer, and Communications Officer, though there were two auxiliary stations that could be customized for different tasks by entering the proper sequence of commands. Tonight, Carmen would begin her training on the Science Station. Although Moira's avatar entered the bridge without hesitation, Carmen held back.

"Permission to enter the bridge?"

Both Tanya and Moira looked back at Carmen.

"Granted," Tanya said, motioning for Carmen to come in. "First time standing watch on a small ship, ah?"

"Yes, ma'am," Carmen replied.

"I brought you some coffee and a sandwich since you did not eat before taking over from James," Moira said as she handed the mug and plate over.

"Thanks, dear," Tanya said, taking a sip of her coffee. "Ahh, just what I needed." Putting the mug in a holder and setting the sandwich on her lap, she asked, "Did you get something to eat, Petty Officer Li?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"That's good. I hope this is going to be a boring night--we've had enough excitement for the day, ah?"

"We're currently about to enter the thickest part of the Perseus Arm, approximately ten thousand light years from Sol. Our present flight path will take us through a dark region of dust and gas clouds. Given that relatively few of our ships have been out this far, perhaps James will consider dropping to normal space for a time to collect some data while we can."

"I'll bring it up with him at breakfast and see what he thinks," Tanya said. "I'm sure Zach would love to spend some time nosing around."

"No doubt," Moira agreed.

"Um, how far is that nebula from us that we're heading to?" Carmen asked.

"At least ten thousand light years. It will take us a while to get there," Moira replied.

"Ten thousand? That...that would take years!"

"It would have been much longer if our 'friend' out there had not somehow dragged us and the Se'nika half the distance," Moira stated.

"Da, and how long did it take for Shauna's brother get out there, ah?" Tanya asked.

"That is a very good question. She was a small child when he left, yet there are ample records to prove he was actually on a dead world within or very near to the NGC-2359 nebula and was somehow able to get information transmitted back to Terra before he and the others disappeared from that world. Such a feat should not be possible within the accepted timeframe the events leading up to their disappearance, given the technology available at the time."

Carmen thought for a moment, recalling something she had heard earlier in the ship's day.

"Could they have passed through a wormhole or a gateway like those people were trying to bring through that rift?"

Moira's avatar raised an eyebrow.

"Although unlikely, that would seem to be the only plausible explanation...unless...something similar happened to them as had with us."

"You mean something like our 'friend' out there?" Tanya asked.

"As crazy as it would seem...yes. If the wolf ship, for lack of a better term for it, was able to bring us halfway to our destination in a very short amount of time, then it must possess a mode of travel we have not encountered before--or even thought of yet. I find it interesting that while our Mûr Tua'ansa friends know about so-called gateway devices, they do not have that technology themselves, despite being a much older civilization than Terran humans," Moira replied.

"This trail we're following...it goes right to that dead world you mentioned, right?" Carmen asked.

"It appears to, yes," Moira said.

"Is there any way we can find out how fast that Heart thing was traveling?"

"We have no idea where it is at the moment, only the direction it went. There is no certainty that it even made it as far as the nebula or remained on the course the energy trail currently points," Moira replied.

Tanya got a confused look on her face as she tried to put everything together in her mind.

"The Élendorians said The Heart disappeared while we were on our way back to Terra from Mûr Zhæn, which took us three weeks, and that was over half a year ago. Shauna's brother sent a letter for her to their grandfather before she moved in with her grandparents, but he died before she got it. Cameron hadn't left for NGC-2359 when he sent the letter. Survey ships are not particularly fast, so at their standard cruising speed, it would take over thirty years to reach NGC-2359 from Terra. Shauna was three years old when her brother was last home and she's twenty-eight now. Somehow Cameron managed to travel twenty thousand light years in a five-year period when it should have taken over thirty. He should still be at least two years from reaching that nebula, but we know he was already_there, twenty-five years ago from the photos and such he had sent _after the letter. Ah, it doesn't make sense!" Tanya said in frustration.

"Yet somehow we have been displaced over nine thousand light years in virtually a blink of the eye," Moira stated.

"Either something other than a normal survey ship took them there, or they stumbled upon one of those gateways or something," Carmen suggested.

"If only we knew what to look for, ah?" Tanya said.

"Indeed so," Moira agreed.

* * * * *

"Hey, picked up anything yet on that alien wolf-thing out there?" Cara asked when arrived to relieve Lilly.

"Nah, still nothin'. It hasn't done anything other than keep following us at max sensor range."

Cara pulled a chair over and sat down next to Lilly.

"Have you picked up anything else around us?" Cara asked, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Nothing for sure...I've gotten a few spikes, but they could've just been random noise. There's been no EM signatures from passing ships or habitable planets. This part of the galaxy seems pretty quiet so far."

"I guess that's good--nobody to mess with us."

"I dunno, if we're the only ones out here, it's gonna to get boring," Lilly said.

"How so?"

"I kinda like to tune up and down the spectrum, just to see what's out there. Sometimes you can pick up early comms from different worlds--might not have a clue what they're yammerin' about, but it's neat to just listen in on something that's way old by the time you hear it. When I was on the Bagley, one of the comm techs and I used to do that--it was a challenge to pick them out of the background noise and then try to clean them up enough to listen to," Lilly explained.

"Have you looked outside lately?" Cara asked.

"Yeah, just a sec..."

Lilly pulled up the forward external view on a side monitor.

"Looks like we're headin' for that dust and gas cloud. Maybe we'll drop to normal space and get to check it out for a bit. Might be somethin' interestin' hidin' in all that."

"Maybe. As long as it doesn't take pot shots at us."

"Who's gonna see us?"

"Just because we have a stealth field, it doesn't mean some advanced civilization can't see through it. We have no idea who might be out here or what they're capable of. We don't know who or what is following us, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have a problem finding us if they really wanted to," Cara argued.

Lilly thought about it for a few seconds and then said, "Yeah, I suppose. Well, anyway, you can take over--I'm gonna get some shuteye."

Lilly got up, stretched, and picked up her cup.

"I gotta pillow with my name on it," Lilly said with a grin.

"'Nite, Lilly."

Cara shook her head and moved over to where Lilly had been sitting and turned the speaker on.

"Yeah, at least you've got somebody to snuggle up with, girl," Cara thought to herself. "I can't believe Canberra got married. The way McElroy and Miss Stewert are, I bet they'll end up getting married someday. If they could, I wonder what kind of kids they'd have...heh, probably sly little jokesters that go around blowing up things!"

She chuckled at the thought and then turned her attention to the wolf-thing that was following them.

"You're being awfully quiet back there," Cara mused. "Hmpf, well, let's see if anyone else is in the neighborhood..."

* * * * *

"Must hide...where? They find me if stay here! Need find help, but who? Home too far...they find before others come! Must get to lander to call for help. Hope they not find already! Must be careful, if they find me..."

A shudder coursed through her body at the thought of what would happen if the Pliq raiders caught her. The others of her small group had already been captured and she was the last still free.

Elí[4]was still a young unjoined Fansq female--if she were taken, she would likely end up sold for amusement, or worse. She had heard many stories about what the Pliq raiders did to those they viewed as weak and knew families who had lost members to their predations. Fear was a strong motivator, but could she manage to get to the lander she and the others of her people who had come down to the planet as part of their extended education. Having nothing to protect herself with except for the fact that it was just past dark, Elí covered herself with a blanket and slipped out from the rocks where she had been hiding. Keeping close to the rock formation, she padded quietly, and tried to stay out of sight as much as possible.

Hoping that the location of the lander was hidden enough by the mineral deposits in the rocks, she crept along slowly, trying not to make any noise. The distance was not terribly far, but it might as well have been a day's journey in full sun as far as she was concerned at the moment. Two-thirds of the way to the lander, Elí froze in near panic--five of the raiders were standing near the temporary shelter that her people had set up upon landing. They were about forty paces away, and if they had been using their scanners, they might have spotted her. The clear night sky gave her an advantage for she could see well into the ultraviolet part of the visible light spectrum. The metallized film in the blanket--meant to reflect body heat towards oneself in cold temperatures, or hot sunlight away--helped to act as a shield to hide Elí from her would-be captors. The grayish color of the soft insulated side blended in with the rocks in the darkness. She could tell that they were haggling over something one of them held. Eventually, the five raiders went around the corner of the shelter and out of sight, so Elí began to move again.

Once she got close enough to the lander, Elí almost bolted towards it, but instead she hid as best as she could and waited, watching and listening for any sounds of the raiders. She waited for some time. Finally, Elí crept closer and closer to the lander, ready to bolt for the rocks at the first noise. Cautiously, she approached the lander and placed her ear against the shell. Hearing no movement, and not detecting any foreign scents, Elí slowly worked the hatch open and crawled inside. As soon as she determined that no one else was inside, Elí locked the hatch.

"Must find emergency beacon, then must go hide someplace safe..." Elí thought to herself.

She went into the control cabin and looked around until she found the controls for the emergency beacon. Fumbling with them for bit, Elí managed to record a simple message: "HELP! PLIQ COME! SAVE ME!" Pressing the control that would send out the repeating message and add a locator homing signal, Elí sat in the pilot's seat and hoped that help would arrive before the raiders detected the signal and came for her.

* * * * *

Cara was getting bored--nothing but the usual noise coming from the gas and dust clouds ahead. She set the equipment to auto scan up and down the frequency range for any signals that might be made by sentient beings. Eyeing what remained of her coffee, Cara slugged down the last of it and contemplated taking a break to get some more.

"I'll set this to send to my PAD so I can make a head call and then get a refill," Cara said out loud to herself, and linked the device to receive the audio.

After getting her business done and her hands washed, Cara entered the crew's mess where she met Sylvia who was in her pajamas.

"Miss Stewert, what are you doing up at this hour?" Cara asked lightly.

"Oh, hey, Bronski. Just getting something to drink. Miss Redhill was apparently having quite a dream and it woke me up. I was tempted to do something rude but decided to come down here to get some juice instead."

Cara smiled and chuckled a little.

"It's bad enough when Canberra and McElroy are both making noise while dreaming, but now we have Li bunking with us--talk about a snorer! Jeez."

Sylvia smiled, knowing quite well the snuffling noises Ivor made while dreaming. When Cara was stirring her coffee, Sylvia's ears picked up another noise.

"What's the heck is that?"

Cara bunched her eyebrows for a moment and then said, "Oh, it's my PAD." Fishing it out of the thigh pocket on her right leg, Cara held it up.

"I got bored, so I've been listening for any signals that aren't natural. I put the equipment on auto scan and have it piped to this so that I could get a refill."

Sylvia tilted her head forward a bit with her sensitive ears forward to better hear the audio.

"Where do you have it focused on?"

"Just that dust and gas region ahead of us. I've been getting the usual background noise--plasma waves and the like."

"There's something repeating in that, and it's got a rhythm to it. Short period pattern. I think there's another repeating signal...a little more complicated." Sylvia said, raising an eyebrow.

"It does?" Cara asked, surprised by what Sylvia was telling her.

"Yeah, can't fool these ears. C'mon, let's head up to the bridge so I can run it through my board."

Tanya and Carmen were surprised when the door opened onto the bridge and both Sylvia and Cara walked in, with Sylvia in her pajamas and Cara's PAD making odd noises.

"Commander, I think Petty Officer Bronski has picked up a weak signal ahead of us. I'm going to run it through my board and see if I can clean it up," Sylvia announced, taking her seat at the comm station.

"What kind of signal, ah?" Tanya asked, taking an interest.

"It's a faint signal, ma'am. Miss Stewert picked it out of the background noise," Cara said.

Sylvia quickly became totally focused on the signal, deftly touching various controls and then listening for a moment before adjusting something else. Slowly, a pattern emerged from the hiss, pops, and whistles emanating from the stellar objects in the dust and gas cloud region ahead. With more adjustments, the undulating pattern began to sound increasingly more like speech riding along with a data stream. Soon, Sylvia touched the control for the speakers and sat back in her chair.

/* "ha'EN! jhi PLIQ! glazi E'IN!" */

"It's not a language I've ever heard before and the translator isn't recognizing it either," Sylvia said after it repeated three times before she turned the volume down.

"Could it be a distress call?" Carmen asked.

"I think it might be," Sylvia said.

"Syl, call over to the Se'nika and see if Shen-Lir'an can identify it. Bronski, can you get range and bearing on that signal?"

"On it, ma'am!" Cara acknowledged, and quickly went back to her equipment space to get the location source.

A short while later, Cara called up to the bridge.

/* "EW Module to Bridge...sending coordinates of signal source to Navigation for plot." */

Tanya switched to the right seat and pulled up the data.

"Got it, Bronski. Keep an eye on it. Bridge out." Looking over to Sylvia, Tanya asked, "Anything yet?"

"Not yet, ma'am. They had to wake Lir'an up--I'm sure she'll get back to us ASAP."

"Let me know when she does. That signal is originating ahead of us, plus twelve degrees by plus one point two degrees by four light years--it'll take us just over six hours at max speed to get there," Tanya said grimly.

"A lot could happen in that amount of time if someone is _really_needing help," Sylvia added.

Tanya thought quickly and made a decision.

"Syl, inform the Se'nika we are changing course to intercept. Moira?"

/* "Yes, Tanya?" */

"Wake James for me, please. Tell him we've picked up what we believe to be a distress call that's four light years away, and I'm heading us for it."

/* "As you wish, Tanya. Should I wake the rest of the crew?" */

"Hold off on getting everyone else up--let's wait until we're closer so they can get as much sleep as possible. We don't know what we might be running into."

/* "As you wish, Tanya." */

"Commander, the Se'nika is hailing us," Sylvia announced.

"Put them through."

/* "Commander Dvoretsky, Thir-Bre'an here. Our Madam Commander agrees that the signal may be a distress call. Shen-Lir'an is working on the translation--she says there is a similarity to another language that is known to our Empire, though it has been long out of use. It is thought that those who once spoke it have left for different parts when an errant star passed too near to their system. Shen-Lir'an believes it may come from descendants of those people." */

"Acknowledged, Thir-Bre'an. Initiating course change and accelerating to maximum velocity. Nightwing out."

Tanya turned the ship towards the new heading and increased forward velocity to maximum.

James promptly came fully awake when Moira told him what was going on.

"Tell Tanya I'll be out shortly," he said as he pulled the covers off.

"Wha...Jamie? What's goin' on?" Lilly asked sleepily.

"We may have picked up a distress call, Lil. We're going to check it out."

"Oh," Lilly said, and she moved to get up, too.

"Might as well stay put for now, Lil--it'll take us at least six hours to get there. I'll be back in a bit," James said, giving Lilly a kiss.

"Ok, I'll keep your spot warm."

James smiled and kissed Lilly again. While he was slipping into his uniform, Shauna woke up.

"Uh...something going on?"

"Jamie needs to check something out. He'll be back," Lilly replied, reaching out to give Shauna a reassuring pat on the arm.

Shauna nodded her head and mumbled something, and started drifting back off to sleep, but then her ear perked up to the change in background sound of the ship.

Propping herself up on an elbow, she asked, "We've sped up...what's going on?"

James zipped up his uniform and said, "Possible distress call, six hours away. Tanya changed course to check it out. Hold tight, Shauna."

Shauna watched James head for the bridge through his office. When the door between his cabin and his office closed, she looked over at Lilly for a moment, sighed, and laid back down.

"How much you wanna bet this is going to go from SNAFU[5]to TARFU[6]the instant we drop to normal space?"

Lilly pulled the covers back over her and looked across to Shauna.

"Seems about normal for us."

Shauna gave a little snort and said, "And here we thought this was just going to be a little Easter egg hunt..."

"Status report," James demanded as soon as he stepped onto the bridge.

"We're at ahead full, Se'nika is matching speed, and we're keeping an eye out for possible hostiles," Tanya said.

"Sir, Petty Officer Bronski was scanning for non-natural signals when I happened to hear a faint repeating signal in the background noise. I processed the signal through my comm board...and, well, you can hear for yourself," Sylvia explained, turning up the speaker.

James listened to it all the way through a few times; Sylvia told him what Shen-Lir'an thought about it.

"Has it changed any since you first heard it?"

"No sir, still repeating at the same rate and tonal quality," Sylvia replied.

"Alright, let me know if anything changes before we get there. Good catch, Syl."

"Thank you, sir."

James went over to Tanya and leaned down to be closer.

"Good call, Tan. It may take us off course a way, but if it _is_a distress call, we're obligated to answer it. Being this far out...it's going to be a first contact situation, more than likely, so we'll need to be careful how we handle it."

"Da, as long as we have time to," Tanya said, alluding to how their first "First Contact" encounter went with the Mûr Tua'ansa crew sharing the mission with them.

"I'm going back to check on Bronski, and then I'm going to get a little more sleep. Have Moira wake me up when we're two hours out, or if something changes significantly in the meantime."

"Will do," Tanya acknowledged.

She reached up and pulled James' head closer, and then gave him a kiss.

"See you in about two hours."

James Headed aft and down to where Cara's station was. He gave two quick knocks on the door and then opened it.

"Petty Officer Bronski?"

Recognizing his voice, Cara promptly sat up straight and said, "Oh! Um, Captain...I didn't..."

"As you were, Bronski. Good thing you were doing a search to see who might be out there."

"Oh, um, yeah...yes sir."

James smiled lightly and asked, "Has anything changed?"

"No, sir, it's still the same. I haven't detected any other ships near the signal source yet."

"Very well, then. I hear Shen-Lir'an is working on a possible translation of the signal--it'll be interesting hear what was actually said in the message."

"Yes, sir."

James patted Cara on the shoulder and said, "Anything changes, tell the XO--I'm going back to bed for a while."

"Yes, sir. Good night, sir."

James smiled and said, "Thanks," and headed back to his cabin.

* * * * *

Elí was all alone in the lander, but if she didn't do something, that would change...quickly. The Pliq raiders had discovered that the emergency beacon had been activated, which could only mean that someone was inside--someone they had missed when they rounded up the learners and their teachers. The ruthless Pliq had summarily executed any males they found along with the teachers and herded the females into their ship to be sold later. They were quite upset to learn that one had somehow eluded them. It would only be a matter of time before they overcame the locking mechanism and gained entry to the lower part of the lander. The craft itself was not something they wanted--they would likely blow it up just to make sure it would be worthless to anyone else.

Elí did not know what to do--she had never operated any kind of craft before. She never had a reason to...until now. Elí did know that the lander was in two parts--the lower part had the main engines, energy source, cargo bays, and other mechanical things; the upper part contained the control cabin, the passenger area and facilities, and supplies. She strapped herself into the pilot's seat, and frantically searched for the controls that would make the craft fly. Almost by accident, she managed to press the correct control to start the engines. Shoving what she hoped was the speed control all the way forward, the lander blasted off, heading straight up, with two of the Pliq raiders clinging to the unretracted boarding ladder and attempting to fire their weapons at the hatch controls. One fell away screaming when he had lost his grip, the other's hand had locked its grip onto the handrail, where it remained in place even until the lander had made space. The owner of that hand, however, did not survive the transition to hypersonic flight.

All Elí could think about was to hide. The lander was traveling at full speed away from the planet it had just lifted from, in no particular direction. She knew nothing about gravity wells, very little about the motions of celestial objects, and no thought whatsoever about the possibility of hostile ships in orbit. She just wanted to get far away and hide. Perhaps the universe felt bit of compassion for Elí at that moment, for luckily, she was traveling more or less perpendicular to the system's plane of ecliptic and away from the other planets. However, that luck was short lived, for a point of light left the orbit of the world she had been on and began to follow.

* * * * *

"It's what?"

/* "It's moving, ma'am." */

"Display it on tactical."

/* "Aye, ma'am..." */

Cara sent the data she was receiving on the source of the distress signal to the bridge's main holo-display where it was presented in tactical format.

While Tanya studied the display, Cara added, /* "Ma'am, the signal source is coming from a small craft moving at sub-light, heading out of a star system ahead. I've detected another vessel, larger than the first, that seems to be closing on the one transmitting the distress signal. The first craft has crossed our flightpath, and is now at an oblique angle, negative one point zero two degrees by positive one point five six degrees; distance is two light years. Second vessel is following the first at a distance of...three hundred thousand kilometers, and slowly closing." */

"Damn! It'll take us at least three hours to intercept!" Tanya said with disgust. "Thank you, Bronski, let me know if anything changes."

/* "Yes ma'am." */

"Commander? If that smaller craft can make it into the dust cloud and kill all power, it might slow the pursuing vessel down enough for us to make it," Carmen suggested.

"True, but how to tell them? We have no idea what language they speak," Tanya countered.

"Draw them a picture."

Tanya thought on that a moment.

"Syl, can you send a tight beam signal to the smaller craft, showing a simple line drawing of what we want them to do?"

"I'm not much of an artist, but I'll give it a try, ma'am," Sylvia replied.

"That's all we can do for now, ah?"

"Um, maybe we can send a general message to let both vessels know we're coming. That might give the second one something to chew on," Carmen suggested.

"Might," Tanya agreed. "Thing is, though, we don't know what the situation is. The smaller craft could be an escaping criminal for all we know."

"Can't we go any faster?" Carmen asked.

"We're pushing it as it is," Sylvia replied. "This is the longest we've gone at this speed."

"When she wakes up, I'm sure our engineer is going to have plenty to say about 'abusing her engines'," Tanya added, knowing how Shauna can get. "Moira? I think you'd better wake James."

/* "As you wish, Tanya. Shall I fill him in on what is currently happening?" */

"Da."

A minute or so later...

/* "He is up and will be joining you shortly. I have informed him of the change in situation. Fifty-Nine-Seventeen will be bringing some fresh coffee forward." */

"Ah, thank you, dear."

/* "You're welcome, Tanya." */

James grabbed a quick shower before putting on a fresh uniform, and then headed for the bridge. When he stepped through the door from his office and onto the bridge, Carmen offered him a cup of coffee.

"Would you like some, sir?"

"Thank you, Li, I think I'm going to need some," James replied, taking the offered cup.

"We've got some cream and sugar, if you want."

Tanya piped up with a slight chuckle, "He takes two of each--might want to remember that."

"Yes, ma'am, I'll try to," Carmen replied, trying not to be openly embarrassed at not knowing that little fact beforehand.

James sensed the awkwardness she felt. While he fixed his coffee the way he liked it, he said quietly, "Don't worry about it, Li--it's a small ship, we pretty much know everyone's habits. Just be careful if our Engineer offers you a cup of her coffee." Seeing the confused look on Carmen's face, he added, "It's...potent."

"Uh, thank you, sir, I'll...try to remember that."

James gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder and went to stand next to Tanya. When he was standing next to her, Carmen felt something very unusual--a sudden desire that she couldn't figure out where it came from. She didn't know about the unusual effect the captain had on G.E.L.F. females. Sylvia, on the other hand, was definitely aware of the effect and she saw the look in Carmen's eyes. Sylvia made a mental note to take the bear aside and tell her about it, when she could get a chance to.

James did a double take on Sylvia, due to her still being in her pajamas.

"Have you been up all night, Syl?"

"I slept for a couple hours, sir."

"Better get a little more shut-eye while you can."

"Aye, aye, sir."

Sylvia put her special earpiece back in its charging compartment and headed for the door. When it opened, she paused a moment and turned to look behind her. James had turned enough to look behind him, making eye contact with Sylvia. She smiled slyly and continued on to her stateroom. James shook his head slightly and smiled a moment, before turning his attention back to Tanya.

From the corner of her eye, Carmen saw Sylvia stop and look back from the doorway. She wondered what that look was for, having guessed it was meant for someone other than herself.

"I'm not sure if I want to know what that was about," Carmen thought to herself.

James had the rest of his crew awakened and filled them in on the situation. He took over the piloting to let Tanya get some breakfast, and when she came back, she took over so that he could go eat. As expected, Shauna had a few things to say about putting so much strain on the engines and how much maintenance time it was going to incur.

When the ship was one hour away from the smaller of the two vessels, James asked Shen-Lir'an to begin attempting to make contact with it. When they were thirty minutes away, Zhir-Chi'an was able to make a thorough scan of both vessels.

/* "James, there is only one person on the lead vessel, which does not appear to be made for long range travel. The pursuing vessel is armed and has fifteen individuals. They do not appear to be the same species as the one being pursued. The person in the lead vessel is quite terrified of the other vessel. What is your recommendation for handling this situation?" */

Tanya looked at James in surprise at the level of detail Rhuw-Rha'an gave them, considering the distance.

"What kind of armaments and defenses does the larger ship have, can you tell?"

/* "Zhir-Chi'an says they appear to have plasma cannons, and rudimentary shields. She also says that your shuttle could easily...'blow them out of the sky.' I believe that may be something she picked up during her time on your world," */ Rha'an said with a bit of amusement in her voice.

James laughed and said, "Well, then, I suppose we can transport the individual off the small craft, send someone over to secure it and shut down its main drive, and then convince the other ship to be elsewhere once we find out why they're chasing the first."

/* "That seems prudent. Our sensors show that the lead vessel is beginning to overheat and its power source seems to be running low. We will deal with the larger vessel while you assist the other. My weaponeer believes she can disable the engines of the pursuer long enough to do what we need to do." */

"Rodger that. Have you been able to make contact yet with the small craft?"

/* "Shen-Lir'an says there has been no response. Perhaps they are unable to for some reason." */

"A possibility. I'll have someone ready to transport over. We'll drop to normal space in twenty minutes."

/* "Understood, James." */ Rha'an ended the call and then contacted Defensive Systems Specialist First Grade, Plel-Whu'an. "We need to select one from the larger vessel to interrogate."

"As you command," Plel-Whu'an sent.

She immediately went to a locker and began suiting up in her armor. When the last piece was in place and securely fastened, Whu'an hefted her weapon and put it into its carrier.

"I am ready, Madam Commander."

"Standby..."

As soon as they were within range, both ships dropped to normal space. With shields up and weapons hot, they raced to do their respective tasks. Sylvia stood ready in the MT, wearing her combat armor, and armed with her usual weapons for close quarter combat. Ivor and Mindy stood by, hanging on to something for the sudden de-acceleration that was coming.

/* "Attention all hands, combat drop to normal space in five..." */

The stomach churning lurch was followed by rapid braking. Nightwing_raced to the small craft to get within transport range, while the _Se'nika took aim on disabling the larger vessel. A quick pulse of disruptor energy was sufficient to make its engines inoperable. When James got alongside the small craft, he called down to the MT Room.

/* "Got a lock yet, Sonya?" */

"Got it skipper...transporting now!"

* * * * *

Elí did not know how close her pursuers were as her only thought was to hide in the dark dust and gas clouds ahead of her. Alarms were sounding, though she had no idea what they were for. Someone or something apparently had responded to the emergency beacon, for she heard a strange alien voice come from the speaker. The words it spoke were like an old--very old--dialect, which she could only make out a little of.

Elí thought it was becoming uncomfortably warm in the lander, but she figured she could try to do something about that once she was safe. Little did she know, the lander's engines were overheating and the fuel was running low--it simply was not meant for evading capture by dangerous raiders who had faster, more capable ships. The surveyor ship that had dropped her class off on the uninhabited world was due to come back soon--they had already been there learning about the native plants and their ecosystem for six day-cycles. This part of space was supposed to be safe.

All of a sudden, Elí felt a strange sensation crawling across her skin and heard a very odd hum that started low, but quickly scaled up in pitch. Lights in the control cabin flickered wildly and she began to panic when she could no longer move. Everything seemed to dissolve around her in a strange kind of fire. When her vision returned, what Elí saw was too much for her to comprehend.

She screamed.

---

[1]Ashay'rin'ei - a regional variety of the celebrated aphrodisiac-spiced Élendorian cheese balls.

[2]Tanya says, "??????" - "hello/hi" in her native Russian.

[3]OJT - On the Job Training.

[4]Elí - Elí Uchengi (pronounced: eh-LEE uh-che-nGI)

[5]SNAFU - "Situation Normal, All F'd Up."

[6]TARFU - "Things A Really F'd Up."