DISCLAIMER: All characters from Dragonball Z belong to TOEI, FUNImation, Cartoon Network, and YTV. They're not mine, I'm just borrowing them. All other characters are figments of my imagination and kinda, sorta, belong to me. If you'd like to use them, let me know and we'll work something out.

NOTE: I've fiddled with the timeline a bit and have totally ignored the Bardock Special timeline. It did happen, just four years before the start of DBZ like Radditsu said at the beginning of the Saiyan Saga. Also, there's Japanese in this fic. I'll post up translations soon.

Kinrat - The Lost Scout
Part One

15 BF

The soft sound of running feet vibrated through the empty corridor. Seconds later, a small girl dressed in a black body-sleeve and bodysuit armor came skidding around the corner and hurtled down the hallway.

"She's in hallway 22J Section A!" A voice called over the loudspeakers. "Give it up kid, there's no where you can hide!"

She ignored him and kept running. He promised he'd be here! Wailed across her juvenile mind. There's no way I'm going until he gets here! She skidded around another hallway and then hit the brakes when she almost crashed into several large adults.

"Gotcha!" The tall male adult with dark spiky hair snarled as he lunged for her.

The girl ducked under his swinging arms and immediately reversed course, only to find her escape blocked by several more adults.

"Come on, brat, its time to go." A tall woman with close cropped hair growled.

The young girl vigorously shook her head, "No! Not until Tamotes gets here!" She replied defiantly, she took a few running steps and slid herself across the floor and slid right between the legs of one of the adults. With a laugh, she was back on her feet and sprinting back down the hallway.

"Kuso!" Spiky Hair swore, "For a second class brat, she sure is fast!"

The girl turned left, knowing right would just lead her back to the launching pads, quickly making her way deeper into the complex. She was just about to turn another corridor when her sensitive ears caught the angry murmur of adult voices. She pressed herself up against the wall and cautiously peeked around the corner.

"The King is going to have our heads if we don't find the brat and clear the launching pads!" It was Spiky Hair and Tall Woman.

"Forget the King, Frieza'll do the job if the Prince is late!" Tall Woman snarled.

"I don't know why they didn't just cull that brats family line a long time ago." Spiky Hair complained. "They're all abnormal anyway!" He shuddered.

The girl frowned and absently brushed her non-existent bangs back out of habit. Her frown deepened as her hand brushed across her close cropped head, first they'd cut off all of her long black hair, then they'd decided to shove her into her capsule early, and now they were insulting her family! A soft growl made its way up from her throat and an evil grin came to her face as an idea blossomed in her mind. She quickly unclipped her scouter from the back of her armor and settled it onto her face. Her grin grew as she tapped the button on the side and the palm of her right hand started to glow. She watched the reading until the numbers counted upwards and reached her own level. With the genetic knack of her family, she quickly twisted the built-up energy into a small compact ball which she quickly hurled down the hallway across from her.

She heard her two pursuers scouters beep wildly as the little ball skittered down the hallway. "She's down there!" Tall Woman exclaimed. Seconds later, the two of them went running down the hallway, following the phantom ki signature.

The girl suppressed a giggle as she took off down the hallway the two adults had just abandoned. Thank you Otousan for showing me that trick! But she didn't get far before she almost ran into another group of searching adults. Panicked, she hit the door release of the nearest metal door and dived through the opening door.

She found herself in a lavishly decorated apartment, her eyes widened at the amount of wealth that decorated the room. Whoever lives here, must be an Elite! She thought in awe and her dark eyes darted around the room, drinking it in. She was about to investigate the lush springiness of one of the chairs when the door opened. The girl let out a small yelp and dived behind the heavy draperies.

"I'm terribly sorry, Sire! I don't know what's causing the delay but I'm sure they'll work it out soon!" A whiny male voice was saying.

"It'd better be soon," A deep voice rumbled menacingly. "If the Prince is late, and all our plans are ruined, it'll be you who'll pay, toad!"

"Yes, Sire! I understand, Sire!" Whiny voice groveled.

"Wait here." Deep voice rumbled and then she heard the door hiss shut again.

The girl almost held her breath as she heard the soft rustle of the person who was left behind move around the room. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears and, for a moment, she could have sworn it was audible outside of her draped hiding place. She sighed softly and shifted to get more comfortable. Unfortunately, that stirred up some of the dust that had been missed by the servants and it came up and tickled her nose. The girl clamped both her hands over her ticklish nose, silently praying she wouldn't do what she was about to, and fought back the oncoming sneeze.

"Ah ah AAACCCHHHOOO!!!!" Whistled out from behind the curtains as the girls nose won the battle.

A split second later, the drapes were yanked back and the girl found herself being hauled out from her hiding place and violently tossed across the room. She did an awkward mid-air flip and managed to land on her hands and knees. She immediately sprang to her feet and crouched, ready to meet her aggressor.

And then she blinked. Her scouter bleeped and counted upwards.

Then blinked again as her mind registered what was standing across from her.

It was a boy, and judging from the power reading he was an Elite already. He looked to be a few years older than her, maybe eight or nine, and he was staring at her with an equal amount of surprise as she felt. Her eyes flickered across his fancier style of armor that included a cape that fell to his ankles, up to his gravity defying hair and then back down to his face.

The boy recovered quickly and his face shut down to a cool aloof gaze. "Who are you?" the boy asked, his tone cool.

The girl straightened out of her battle crouch and she smiled shyly, "I'm Kinrat." She replied. "That was a neat move you used, can you teach me it?"

The boy raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing here?" He asked, ignoring her request.

Kinrat frowned, she wasn't sure if she liked this boy. "Hiding." She told him, simply.

"From what?" The boys other eyebrow joined its mate.

"The adults." Kinrat snarled.

"Why?"

Kinrat looked up and saw a curious glint in his cold eyes, she grinned, "They want to shoot me into space and I don't want to go." She stated, bringing her small hands defiantly down on her hips. "At least, not yet." She added.

"Why not?" The boy asked. "Everyone goes out into space, even I'm going"

"I just don't want to go yet!" Kinrat snapped, startling him by her interruption. "My niisan said he'd be there when I went, but he's not here yet so I'm waiting for him to come!"

"Your niisan?" the boy actually sounded surprised.

Kinrat nodded, "Hai, he was sent away on a mission a few days ago but he said he'd be back for my launching." She told the boy, "He promised me, so I'm not letting them send me until he comes." Kinrat sighed and started to wander around the room, running her fingers across everything she could reach. "Stupid adults!" She muttered angrily.

Stupid baka! The boy thought as he watched her, "How come it's so important you see him before you go?" He found himself asking. Why am I asking her? Why do I even care!?

"Well," She said hesitantly and then she shrugged. "'Cause he's my oniisan, but I guess, being Elite Class, guess you don't understand." She said softly.

"No, I don't. Explain it to me!" the boy ordered arrogantly.

Kinrat looked at him curiously, "Sure?"

The boy nodded.

She came forward and fished her necklace out from under the top of her bodysuit. "See these?" She showed it to the boy.

The boy looked down at the necklace, attached to a short leather thong was two deadly looking, yellowish white, blunted claws from some huge animal, he nodded.

"'Kay, these are the claws of a beast called Deesurga on a planet that my brother was assigned to clear out." She ran her fingers across the large blunted claw. "Oniisan was attacked by one of them while he was clearing out a nest of the natives, who were putting up quite a fight. He killed the beast, and it was hard because it was huge!" She stood on her tiptoes and gestured just how huge it was with her hands. "After the natives saw my Oniisan kill it with his bare hands, they surrendered immediately. The natives on the planet thought that the Deesurga contained all the fighting spirit of their planet and to carry their claws would help a warrior in battle so my Oniisan took them and brought them back home. He gave one to my mother and one to my father and other brother, he gave me these two after he took to point off though." She trailed off and smiled. "Now we all have the fighting spirit and we'll all survive as a family!"

The boy blinked, incredulous, and then looked down at the claws curiously. "Do they work?" He asked. Could these things really give a warrior more power?

Kinrat nodded, "Yup! Otousan and Oniisan have been on lots of missions that have wiped out a lot of the Elites and they've come back alive, and stronger too!" She giggled.

"Can I? Can I have one?" the boy asked hesitantly.

Kinrat looked at him suspiciously for a moment and then her expression softened as she saw a bunch of emotions she'd never seen in an Elites eyes before, worry, concern, and a little bit of fear. She knew exactly what he was feeling but being Second Class she could at least show it. She suddenly felt very sorry for him. Kaasan always said I was too much of a throwback! She smiled at the boy and began to take off the necklace and untie the claw from the thong.

"Just where are you going, anyway?" Kinrat asked. "Must be someplace kinda scary if you wanna take a Deesurga claw with you."

The boy looked startled for a moment, then looked fearfully around the room before his shoulders slumped slightly and he let out a big sigh. "It is kinda. See, I'm being sent someplace to be trained" He started to say.

Just then the door opened. Both Kinrat and the boy looked guiltily towards the door and Kinrat let out a yelp. It was Spiky Hair and Tall Woman! Behind them she could see another tall man with the same upswept hair as the boy.

"There you are!" Tall Woman growled as she strode into the room. "Come 'mere, brat!"

"NO!" Kinrat shrieked and hid behind the boy. "Not until Tamotes gets here!"

Tall Woman and Spiky Hair exchanged exasperated glances and then looked back at Tall Hair behind them.

"What is this?" Tall Hair demanded, he was the deep voice she'd heard earlier.

"This is the child we told you about, Sire." Spiky Hair said angrily. "The stupid thing refuses to get into her pod."

Tall Hair pushed his way through the two warriors and glared at Kinrat, she started to tremble.

"Please!" She whimpered, clutching at the boys cape. "I don't want to go!"

Tall Hair's eyes narrowed, "You're Leekin's daughter, aren't you?" He asked.

Kinrat nodded, "Yessir!"

She could have sworn she heard Tall Hair sigh, "If your family wasn't so valuable, I would have culled your throwback family a long time ago!" He growled. "Now go with Tomros and Pundra and get into your pod!"

Kindra starting to vigorously shake her head, "Nooo!" She whimpered as Tomros and Pundra reached towards her. "I won't go!"

"Stop!" the boy commanded.

The two warriors froze and looked back over at Tall Hair. "What are you doing?" Tall Hair demanded.

"She doesn't want to go yet." The boy said, a steely edge to his voice. He stepped between them and her.

"What she wants doesn't matter!" Tall Hair growled. "Now get out of the way!"

The boy lifted his chin defiantly, "No." He said dangerously.

Tall Hair gave a low growl and quickly covered the distance between them. He grabbed the boy by the front of his armor and lifted him off of the ground until he was face level.

"I don't know where this came from, brat!" Tall Hair hissed. "But I am still your father and you're still on my planet so you still follow my orders, got it?"

Ohmigod! That's the KING!! Kinrat thought, panic stricken. I'm in trouble!

She darted between the Kings legs and tried to make a break for the door. Tomros was ready for her this time and snagged her tail as she passed. But instead of paralyzing her with pain like it would have with any other Saiya-jin, it just threw her into a rage. She spun around and started hitting, biting, kicking, hissing growling, and scratching at her captor. Tomros held the little hell-Saiya-jin child at arms length by the tail and laughed.

"Save some of that for your planet, brat!" He chuckled.

"How is she doing that?" Pundra wondered, her own tail aching in sympathy.

King Vegeta placed his son back onto the floor and looked at the enraged child thoughtfully. "I have heard of some of the lower class warriors working on desensitizing their tails," He explained. Kinrat was starting to wind down from her fit and just hung there upside-down glaring angrily at all of them. "Leekin must have done the same with his children." He looked down at his son. "If a lower class Saiya-jin can do it, so can you."

Prince Vegeta nodded, not taking his eyes off the girl, his expression unreadable. King Vegeta looked from his son, back to the girl, and then back to his son. He raised an eyebrow and quirked a small smile. He looked back at the girl and tapped the side of his scouter, curious as to what her level was. His eyes widened slightly as the numbers counted upward and then stopped. Hmmm, that's low-end first class, he thought, she just might make Elite by the time she's full grown. Perhaps then they can meet again Then he frowned, No, there's no time to be thinking about future match-making! I have a plan to set in motion.

"Take her to the launching pads." He ordered.

"NO!" Kinrat shrieked. "VEGETA-SAN, HELP ME!" She held her hands out to the Prince and her eyes looked pleadingly at him.

"Tou-sama!" the boy growled, his small body trembling with barely suppressed rage.

"Take her!" King Vegeta barked.

Tomros and Pundra nodded, and with her still hanging by her tail, started to leave. King Vegeta gave his son's shoulder a small shove and motioned him to follow. The boy shot his father a venomous glare before following the two warriors out of the room.

The five Saiya-jins made their way through the complex, not a word was exchanged between them and the only sound was Kinrats soft mewling sobs. They emerged out into the open air of the launching pads and several helmeted launch techs breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the runaway child. They rushed forward and snatched the child out of Tomros' grasp, spouting apologies to the King as they tried to place her into her space pod.

Kinrat had decided that she wasn't going to be helpful and did everything she could to keep them from putting her in. She braced her feet against the edge of the pod and made her legs rigid so they couldn't put her in. They tried to shove her in backwards only to find that they couldn't let go because of the death grip she had on one of their hands. Then they tried putting her in head first only to get a kick in the face as their reward. The tech peeled her fingers off of the face guard of his helmet for the fourth time, only to find not only her tail but both her legs wrapped around his forearm. He shook his arm violently, trying to dislodge the sticky youngster only to feel her small legs wrap even tighter around him.

He was about to slam the girl against the ground in hopes of stunning her long enough to get her into the pod, when Prince Vegeta suddenly yelled, "STOP!"

The tech froze and looked over his shoulder at the Prince.

"Put her down." The boy said dangerously. "NOW!"

Kinrat unwrapped herself from the tech's hand as he lowered her to the ground, and as soon as her feet touched the floor, she darted over to the Prince's side.

Prince Vegeta looked down at the small girl and then back up at his father who was glaring at him angrily. Vegeta knew that look, it was his fathers 'you have ten seconds to do the right thing or be prepared to be blasted into the Afterlife' look. He frowned, Why the hell do I care so much what happens to a second class brat? But there's something about what she said He thought and looked back down at Kinrat.

"You're Oniisan isn't going to make it." He told her harshly. "You have to go now."

Kinrat looked up at him, her lower lip trembling slightly, and then nodded slowly. She knew he was right, Tomates wasn't going to get there in time, and she had to go. She reached out, took his hand, and pulled him close to her.

"For the scary place." She whispered into his ear and bolted towards her pod.

Vegeta closed his hand around the claw she had pressed into his hand, he watched her settle herself in the pods seat and the hatch began to close.

"Be strong, Vegeta-san!" She called to him, waving. "Keep the fighting spirit with you!"

The pod closed with a soft hiss and through the glass, he saw the young girls eyes drift close as the computer initiated the stasis program. The engines roared to life and hers was the first pod to lift into the sky. Moments later, identical roars sounded across the launching pad as the other pods carrying children streaked into the sky.

Vegeta tracked her pod with his eyes as long as he could. His hand tightened around the puzzling girls gift. I'll keep the fighting spirit, Kinrat! He thought determinedly. And I'll be strong!

He could have sworn he heard her giggle in reply.

--

Kinrats pod sped through the inky blackness of space towards its pre-programmed destination, a small, not very technologically advanced planet in the Antilles sector of space where Kinrat was to wait for the full moon and let her Oozaru stage take care of the indigenous population. In two months time, an adult scout from a nearby system would join her and show her how to perform 'mop up' and then return with her back to Vegiitsae.

Little did the programmers know, a star had gone nova at the time of her launching, destroying all the planets in its system, creating a large asteroid field right in her path.

On the outer most edge of the field, the computer had no problem in avoiding the asteroids but as the field grew denser the system wasn't quick enough to avoid the fast moving rocks. It started by getting nicked by one medium sized asteroid that shoved the small pod off course enough into a rain of baseball sized particles, and then the computer had to try to change course as they came out of that almost right in front of a huge one. The pod dipped and the lower most edge of the asteroid caught the pod and sent it spinning out of control into the asteroid field like some cosmic pinball. As the pod bounced off one asteroid to another, the computers parameters told its system that it was in trouble and that the pods occupant was at risk. It initiated the homing beacon just before a golf ball sized asteroid embedded itself at the exact point where it was housed, silencing the lifeline forever. Then it plotted the shortest course out of the field as the pod skipped across the surface of a large asteroid, destroying one of the engine emitters.

The remaining engine flared, pushing the pod off of the asteroid. The capsule ducked and weaved jerkily through the field, only missing some of the asteroids by bare meters. Just as it reached the edge of the field, it encountered another rain of asteroid particles that managed to crack the already weakened hatch window. The computer adjusted the atmosphere accordingly and sent the pods occupant into a deeper state of stasis to preserve the air.

Once out of the asteroid field, the computer did a systems check and it reasoned that the pods systems would not take it to its preprogrammed destination. So it went through the star charts in its memory and found the closest habitable planet. It set a course to it and the remaining engine emitter flared.

Almost two days later, the space pod streaked through the upper atmosphere of the planet. Its systems were failing rapidly and it barely had enough power left to slow its descent. It ended up skipping and bouncing across several hillsides on various islands before it slowed enough and created a large furrow across the ground. It came to a rumbling halt on the edge of a tall cliff overlooking an enclosed valley, the pod teetered on the edge for a moment before slipping over the side and plummeting down the five thousand meters to the ground below.

It hit with a loud thud, and loud crack as the hatch window shattered, rolled across the grass and came to a rest against a tall tree. The hatch creaked, then it opened slowly with a groaning hiss and stuck a quarter of the way open. Eight small bloodied fingers wrapped themselves around the edge and the door creaked and moaned as the five year-old Saiya-jin girl struggled to release herself from the pod. Suddenly, a loud crack reverberated across the valley when the struts gave way under the strain and the hatch swung down to the ground with crash.

Kinrat came tumbling out of the pod and lay gasping and panting on the ground. Her breathing came out in wheezing gasps. She coughed and then spat out the blood that came to her mouth. Her face was bruised but, miraculously, her scouter was intact. A large gaping gash that started from the middle of her forehead and ran to almost the back of her head oozed blood. She looked like she'd been to Hell and back again.

The girl looked up at the gray/blue sky above her, her right hand crept up to the top of her armor and pulled out the Deesurga claw necklace, and she smiled.

"Ve-ge-ta!" She whispered and then her eyes closed.

--

"ALBERT! Don't do that!" She shrieked as he banked the air bus hard around another hillside. She gripped the arms of her seat as he sent the vehicle into tight circles as he examined the hillside below them.

"There's another one!" He said excitedly. "See, Martha? I told you it came down somewhere around here! Now, if we just follow this course, we should meet up with it soon"

Martha prayed to Kami as her companion jerked the air bus out of its circles and hit the accelerator. "Albert, I still say this is stupid! All this for some stupid hunk of space rock?" She growled sullenly, resettling herself back into her seat. And I had a date tonight too!

"Maybe space rock, maybe not!" He chuckled cryptically.

Martha looked at him amused, "Yeah, maybe it's a UFO. Whooooo!" She joked, waggling her fingers at him as she made old UFO B-movies sounds at him.

Albert rolled his eyes and gave an exasperatedly snort, "How I ended up with you as an assistant, I'll never know!"

"Well, lets list the reasons, shall we?" She said conversationally, "One: I'm the only one who's put up with your silly-ass scientist antics. Two: Who else can pack a months worth of equipment and supplies at five minutes notice? Three: Who's saved your butt from falling down every crevice and cliffside you've looked down in the past three years? And most importantly, four! I'm your sister, for Kami's sake!"

"Hey! The trail ends here!" Albert yelped suddenly.

Albert and Martha Trent were as different as identical twins could get. They both shared the same light red hair, emerald green eyes and they were both the same height but that's where the similarities ended. Albert was a scientist, an inventor, and working on becoming one of the youngest multi-billionaires at the age of 24. While Martha, not as smart as her brother was but not dumb either, was more of a jack of all trades and was working on her black belt in Karate.

Martha sighed, He didn't hear a word I said!

"Now, where did you go?" Albert muttered as he punched the buttons to set the bus in hover and then rummaged around in a large bag beside him. "Ah! Here you are!" He pulled out a sleek box like machine, pressed some buttons on the front of it, and pointed it down at where the long score mark ended on the ground. It hummed a beeped for a moment and then let out a series of steady tones. "Eureka!" Albert crowed and grinned over at his sister, his horn-rimmed glasses slipping down his long nose. "the hunt is afoot, dear Watson!"

Uh oh, he's got that look in his eyes! "Great Holmes, just try not to kill us in the process!" She replied sardonically as he put the box in his lap and disengaged the hover mode.

"Who, me?" He said innocently.

"Yes, yooooouuuuu!!!!" She shrieked as he sent the bus into a steep dive into the valley. "AAALLLLBBBBEEEERRRRTTTTT!!!!! DON'T DO THAT!"

After the first few thousand feet, he pulled the bus out of its dive and then descended down in lazy circles. "Oh, it's good to be alive!" He sang happily.

"Speak for yourself!" Martha muttered but kept her eyes peeled out her side of the window, just in case he actually found something this time.

About three hundred feet from the ground, she caught a glint of metal coming from under one of the trees. "Uh, Albert?!" She whispered, groping at his shoulder. The wind from their engines sent the trees whipping backwards and then the glint turned into a gleam. "Albert!" She grabbed his shoulder and shook it.

"What?!" He looked at her. Her face was pale and she was trembling slightly.

"I think I found your UFO." She croaked as she pointed out the window.

Albert practically stood up in his seat when he saw the same gleam of metal. "I KNEW IT!" He screamed ecstatically. "Yes! Do you know what this means, Martha? Proof! Actual proof that there's extraterrestrial life!"

It was then that Martha caught sight of the small body lying about a meter away from the pod. "Albert, land, now!" She barked, hastily undoing her seatbelt and crawling to the seats behind her.

"Huh? What?" He asked, confused at her sudden behaviour.

She started pawing through the pile of supplies on the seat, "That's no UFO, Albert. It's a car or something! There's a kid lying on the ground down there!" She told him hastily. "Where did I oh, there it is. DAMMIT ALBERT! LAND THIS KAMI DAMNED THING NOW!"

Alberts eyes widened slightly and then he nodded. He'd learned enough in the past three years that when Martha was like that, arguing wasn't a good idea. He quickly landed beside a small impact crater and cut out the engines. Martha was out of the bus in a flash and sprinted across the ground with the first aide kit she'd uncovered in the back of the bus.

Even at a distance Martha could both see and smell the blood that that covered the child. Please be alright, kid! She thought desperately as she came to a sliding halt beside the child. She flipped the tabs of the first-aide kit and started pulling out various medical capsules.

"Kami, kid! You're a mess!" She muttered and then silently thanked Kami for her EMT training as she uncapsulated the medical supplies.

"Is the kid going to be okay?" Albert asked shakily behind her.

"I don't know," Martha growled. "But if you don't want to lost you lunch, brother mine, don't come any closer."

"I won't," Albert replied as her inched his was around her. "I'm just gonna, Holy! Wouldja lookit this thing?"

Give the man a toy to figure out, and he's happy. She chuckled wanly as she started to wipe the child's face off. "Damn that cuts deep! It's going to have to be stitched up." She muttered as she pressed a wad of bandages across the gash and swaddled the childs head in gauze. She ran her hands appraisingly down the childs small arms, checking for any breaks.

"What's this?" Martha said softly in surprise as she picked a short piece of leather thong out of the right hand. "Wow! Wouldn't want to meet whatever owned this!" She exclaimed when she saw the large claw attached to it. She looked at the child, "What's a little kid like you doing with a big claw like this?" She chuckled, placing it into the first-aide box for safe keeping.

"Martha! You've gotta see this thing!" Albert called to her.

"Yeah, as soon as I make sure the kids going to live!" She snapped, "Just as soon as I figure out how to get you out of this funky outfit of yours kid!" She muttered exasperatedly, running her hands along the hard material. Her fingers brushed across the fuzzy brown belt and found it surprisingly soft and warm.

She followed it around to the back, hoping to solve the puzzle that way, and her eyebrows shot up almost to her hairline at what she found.

"What the?!" She exclaimed, jerking her hands back. "What what are you kid?"

Martha looked over at the small white-metal pod that her brother was practically crawling all over and a nerve on her forehead started to jump as a horrible realization dawned on her.

"Albert, I think you should come see this!" She called over her shoulder as she cautiously unwound the tail from the childs waist.

Albert just mumbled in reply and she heard a soft clanking noise.

"No, Albert, I REALLY think you should come see this!" A note of near panic in her voice.

"What?" Albert asked, extremely interested now. He came over and looked over her shoulder, "Hey, the kids got a tail!"

Martha nodded, "Is that pod-thingie what I hope its not?" She asked him shakily.

"A space ship?" He put his hand under his chin and thought for a moment, "Judging from her clothes, the tail, and the mess load of high-tech equipment in it I'd say that's a high possibility."

"Damn!" Martha swore, "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!"

"What?" Albert asked, startled.

"The kids an alien, Albert!" She explained, "Hurt pretty badly too, I was hoping we could take the kid to a hospital but we can't now."

Albert blinked confusedly, "Why not?"

Martha sighed, "Geez, Albert! You watched the same shows as I did! What do you think is going to happen when we explain where we found her and where she's from?"

"Uh" Albert blinked furiously and then he went very pale, "Uh oh"

"Exactly! They'd have her locked up in some Kami-forsaken government facility before you could say 'Bob's your uncle'!" She sighed, "And I'm not about to let that happen to the kid, even an alien one."

"So," Albert prompted, already knowing that his sister had a plan.

"So, this is what we're going to do, " She grinned, "We're going to take both her and the ship back to the lab. I'm going to call Karen along the way and ask her to meet us there. She's as much of a science fiction nut as you are, and being a med-student she'll be able to help me keep the kid alive."

"By Jove, I think she's got it!" Albert crowed in jubilation and started dancing around in circles.

"Stop that and help me, stupid!"