"Status report!"

"Explosion in secondary drive array! Charge dumps 2 through 6 are unstable! Phase bubble is beginning to resynchronize with real space! Twenty minutes until field collapse!"

"Commander we're almost two weeks out from the objective, there's no way we're going to make it in this condition. An unstable phase collapse will destroy us for sure."

"Navigation; I need a stopping spot. I don't care where and I don't care about the condition, point us to the closest star system."

"I have an old survey world. It's a yellow sun, close to our own in frequency. Gravity telescopes detected gas giants, but survey never followed up. It'll be tight, but we should be able to make it before the field give out."

"Get us there now."

OoOoOoO

"Let's start from the top. Damage report."

"Secondary drive array is totaled. It will take star dock support to repair it. The main array is still functional, but it's going to need to be handheld for the rest of the mission. We completely lost the 2nd and 5th charge dumps; I might be able to get the other damaged ones back to some degree of functionality after they are empty. Other repairs aren't so critical, but most of them are beyond my ability to repair without parts."

"Summarize our operation condition."

"Our drive endurance is less than 5 days; life support is strained, but functional. We lost about half our weapon systems but the barrier system is still charged. Scanners are still working, but at limited range."

"Speaking of scanners; Navigation, what's in our neighborhood?"

"It's a pretty crowded system. We have four rocky planets closest to the sun; then four gas giants with the usual mix of gases. Lots of lose space rocks and moons, so raw material shouldn't be a problem. Then we turned on our radio beacon and things got interesting."

"Interesting?"

"Third planet out has active radio broadcasts. We've stumbled into an inhabited system."

"Damn, don't tell me we violated the Accords on top of everything else?"

"Don't think so. There wasn't a marker beacon when we came in. I think we've stumbled onto a true first contact."

"Sir, if they're advanced enough to put radio signals out this far we might be able to adapt some of their equipment to improve our repairs. It'd increase our odds of completing the mission significantly."

"That's in total violation of the spirit of the Accords!"

"Only if reveal ourselves. Nothing in the Accords prevents us from taking supplies on as long as they don't know where the parts are going."

"I'm opposed…"

"I'm sorry counselor, but our mission is too vital, anything that increases our chances has to be done. Do even know if we can make meaningful contact?"

"The audio broadcasts have been easy so far, not that the language is the database of course, we reason to believe there is a visual component in many of the signals. Decoding it has been impossible, we simply don't have compatible equipment."

"Launch a drone. Have it ghost up to the planet and gather some real data."

"Roger."

OoOoOoO

"Agent D reporting as requested Commander."

"Agent D, good timing, sit down please. I'll get straight to the point; I need you to take on a potentially dangerous volunteer-only mission."

"Sir?"

"I'm sure you've heard the rumors; we are landing a small team on the inhabited planet to perform a supply survey. That team is going to need competent field support that can keep cool in completely unknown situations. You're one of the best qualified on the ship."

"Isn't Agent Y more senior?"

"Agent y is more senior, but YOU fit the local phenotype. You'll only need minimal reworking to blend in completely with what we think is a local standard. We have a real shortage of people qualified, but the mission's too risky to force anyone into it."

"Have you received any other volunteer's sir?"

"You're actually filling the last slot. Engineering has loaned us Lieutenant Jactof to perform the actual survey. Counselor He is going along to make sure we don't violate the Accords in any major way. Finally, your backup is going to be Agent Q."

"Agent Q and I aren't on the best of terms Sir, are you sure you want me along?"

"Simply put Agent D, you and Agent Q are the only two agents on board that can pass amongst the natives without major difficulties. Your support is going to be absolutely vital for this mission."

*Sigh* "I'll do it sir, but I'd like a report logged that I had objections to working with Agent Q."

"So noted. Thank you Agent D, return safely"

OoOoOoO

"Fortunately, Agent D, you only need a couple of cosmetic changes to blend in to the locals. We're changing the color of your hair and the tint of your eyes and that should cover all the changes."

"What about the others?"

"Lieutenant Jactof is Thorian too so his changes are minimal. Counselor He and Agent Q are Dipian though, and their natural skin tone has not been seen through our observations, so we are changing that to resemble your own."

*Wince* "I'm sure that went over well. What's our cover?"

"The protests were quite loud. As for cover, we've seen a lot of four member families in this region, 2 adult and 2 children per group. Because of differences in height, Agent Q and you have drawn the 'child' roles."

"Lovely. Does this family group have a name yet?"

"Some wag decided to call it the Dipian word for 'guest'. Morgendorffer I think."

OoOoOoO

"Agent D reporting in. How's the signal home base?"

"Spotty Agent D, but readable. What are conditions on the surface really like?"

"The air is a lot thinner here than what I would consider normal. At sea level it's the equivalent of 2,000 feet on my home world. We aren't having trouble yet, but we're going to have to stay out of the higher altitudes. The Lieutenant and I think its pretty damn cold too, but the counselor and Agent Q are comfortable enough."

"Meet any locals yet?"

"A few. They're pretty much like every other intelligent pre-Crisis species. Some are decent, some are jerks, and some are absolute idiots. I'm not finding any really good examples of the species at the education center I have been assigned to, but it could just be regional."

"Education center?"

"This region has mandatory joint education, and the covers assigned both Agent Q and myself are within the requirements. I'll need to thank the people who thought that up later. Regardless, it has given me a look at some of the 'official' history. Nothing that really stands out there; again fairly typical of a pre-Crisis species."

"As expected really. Any signs of psionic talent in the population?"

"Just a lot of natural resistance so far. The structure of their neural tissue is probably the most disorganized I've ever seen. I haven't had a lot of problems getting active thoughts or language reading, but trying to access anything else is like trying to use a reference database without an expert system. If I get anything relevant at all it was pure luck."

"Anything I need to alert the captain about?"

"Just one so far, but it's critical. Anything we get from the planet needs to be decontaminated every way we can think of before letting it onboard. EVERY way."

"Agent D?"

"Remember how I said their brains are disorganized? Well their immune systems are anything but. I haven't seen a better organized, or outright hostile, immune system in any intelligent species I've ever studied, even the carrion eaters."

"Are you sure about that Agent D?"

"We ran the mandatory health check after the first day and all of our pan-immunity treatments had ramped up to full power. This world has so many infectious agents we're going to have to drop a plague beacon when we leave. It doesn't bother the natives much because they evolved into it, but you need to outright forbid anyone without stage 3 immunization treatment from setting foot on this planet."

"So noted Agent D. Now, about the local technology…"

OoOoOoO

"Now 'Daria', 'Quinn' I know it will be hard getting use to a new area, but relocating here has halved the time I need to get all the components on our wish list. Do try to tolerate the locals; we don't need a repeat of the last incident." Lieutenant Jactof told his 'children' as he transported them to their new school.

"I stand by my actions," Agent D, aka Daria Morgendorffer, replied. "The species was nothing but improved with what I did to those two idiots."

"I hate to agree with Daria," said Agent Q, aka Quinn Morgendorffer, "But if I had more contact with them I probably would have done something drastic too, but a lot sooner. I could FEEL my intelligence dropping every time I went near them!"

'Jake' Morgendorffer sighed, "Regardless, please try to be a bit more subtle. If these humans are a hard to read as you say then we have to avoid anything that requires you having to try to remove memories."

"Ok 'dad' if I have time to I'll clear anything drastic with 'mom' first. But I make no promises if there is an emergency."

Jake's grin was rueful as he pulled up to Lawndale High School. "Since you both outrank me I guess that's the best I can ask for. But hey, maybe you'll find someone to talk to at this new school."

"I always find someone to talk to," Daria said as she and Quinn left the car, "The problem is finding someone worth talking to."

Daria watched Quinn approach a small group of students outside the school. With her psionic gifts turned up, Daria 'felt' as Quinn gained access to the language zones of the student's brains. "Not bad," Daria thought to herself, "Probably smoother than I would be with that many targets."

The powerful psionic began looking for someone to 'borrow' the language from, "But she really needs to learn that quality means more than quantity in most scenarios." Running a quick mental 'feeler' over the crowd of students Daria lightly synched herself to the student that she 'felt' the most mental activity from. They had formed language links for Jake and Helen already, but it never hurt to pick up the appropriate local slang.

OoOoOoO

After school she entered her English classroom and took a seat near the front in time and listened to the instructor going on and tried to take notes but quickly ran into a problem.

"This 'teacher' doesn't have a damn idea what he is talking about." Daria thought as she tried to follow Mr. O'Neil's speech through his thoughts.

"He doesn't know what it means. He's got the speech memorized. Just enjoy the nice man's soothing voice." A girl's voice came quietly from the desk behind her. Daria turned to look to the student, a dark haired female in bright red clothing.

"Sorry," the girl continued, "I noticed the look of confusion that everyone wears after listening to Timothy 'Crybaby' O'Neil. Name's Jane Lane, you?"

"Daria Morgendorffer. How does anyone expect to get anything out of this little social experiment if he doesn't know the material?"

Jane shrugged, "The only ones expecting anyone to get anything is Mr. O'Neil. This class is here to keep the undesirable busy. The students are just a bonus. I can fill you in later. I've taken this course six times."

"Agreed."

OoOoOoO

"I don't get it, Jane. You've got the entire course memorized. How come you can't pass the test to get out?" Daria asked intrigued.

"I could pass the test, but I like having low self-esteem. It makes me feel special." Jane answered.

Daria grinned both internally, but 'reached' for Jane anyway to verify the glib answer. To her shock Daria felt her probe begin slide to into Jane's mind with a suddenness she had never felt before.

"The hell?!" Daria thought while yanking her gift back. Withdrawing the mental probe took a sudden mental effort that left Daria unaware of her surroundings for just an instant, plenty of time for her still moving body to take a tumble.

"You ok amiga?" Jane asked.

"Mostly," Daria gritted out. Finding her left knee bleeding Daria was suddenly grateful that her species' blood was the same color as Jane's. "But I'm going to have to do something about the bleeding."

"My place is just around the corner. I've got a first aid kit that should have some Band-Aids in it. Think you can make it?"

Wincing, Daria climbed to her feet with Jane's help. Testing her leg Daria found it could bear her weight. "I think so."

A few minutes found Daria sitting on a counter as Jane preformed simple first aid. "That should do it," Jane said, examining her work, "I guess I owe you for not catching you. Want to share a pizza?"

"Afraid not," Daria wasn't able to hide a wince in time. "I have lots of food allergies; can't eat anywhere I haven't checked the ingredient list. Maybe I can take you up on it after I've checked them out."

Both Thorians had discovered that while they did share a close resemblance to humans that hadn't fully extended to their diet. Careful food tests made when they first landed had proved that several processed food additives could be potentially lethal to the pair. As Dipian's Quinn and Helen actually had better compatibility than Daria and Jake, they still had to be careful though.

"Damn. That must suck." Jane said after a quick confirming glance told her Daria wasn't joking.

"You learn to adapt. I've gotten pretty good at making bagged meals and even better at reading ingredient labels."

Jane nodded, "So what do you do for fun? Me, I paint and…"

OoOoOoO