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Chapter 2

Dib watched the stars pass by the transparent glass-like encasement over their heads. He grinned, silently naming each planet and its accompanying moons. This grew to be more difficult, however, as they left the solar system, speeding through the depths of space. He returned his attention to the ship itself. Lacking a proper supply of construction materials, the 'ship' they were now in was merely a hodgepodge of Zim's voot cruiser and the remains of Tak's ship that had fallen back to earth.

He looked over at his sister, who was staring out the sheer dome, face resting in her hands. Gir, who had developed an uncanny liking for Gaz, was sleeping peacefully on her lap, tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth. He shifted a bit, and Gaz unconsciously wrapped an arm around him, preventing his falling from her knees. Feeling someone's eyes on her, she turned to Dib.

"Is there a reason you're staring at me?"

Dib thought about the possibility of her getting up to make him suffer. He decided it was pretty low. "Just admiring that horrific expression of yours. Really Gaz, are you daydreaming about murdering someone?"

She narrowed her eyes dangerously. "I am now." But she stayed where she was, turning back around once she was sure he caught onto her "bother me again and you die" look.

Dib resumed his vision-roaming, feeling slightly disappointed. Perhaps a comforting sibling brawl would have been fun. He was so utterly bored. Not coming up with anything else to do, he decided upon something he was tremendously good at.

"Hey Zim?"

"What?"

"Are we there yet?"

Zim turned around, fixing him with an insufferable stare. "Would we still be flying through space if we were?"

"Maybe."

"What do you mean, 'maybe'?"

"It means if we're actually aiming for a set location. And if you're capable of actually getting us there."

"What do you mean if ' I'm capable of getting us there'? I am ZIM! Do you dare dispute my capability to navigate."

"Maybe."

"Stupid earth-stink! I am far more capable at what I do than you will ever be at...what...you do!"

"Maybe."

"What?!"

"Maybe."

"STOP SAYING THAT!"

Even Gaz was snickering now. But she stopped quickly as Zim sent her a 'you're on HIS side?' look. She gave him a sympathetic glance. Then burst out laughing.

Zim turned around looking both abashed and peeved. How dare she laugh at HIM! He was about to turn around and give her a piece of his mind, but he felt a light weight on his shoulder. Looking around he saw Gaz standing beside him, a fathomless expression creasing her temple.

"Zim?"

"What?"

"It just occurred to me. How do you know which way to go? And why are you so positive we're going to..." She looked down temporarily, waiting for the mist in her eyes to clear up. "To find anything." She finished, eyes resolutely focused straight ahead.

"My base is capable of picking up otherwise undetectable distress signals from damaged or lost vessels. Like license plates, each vessel has a signature depicting its planet of origin."

Gaz and Dib's eyes lit up. "So you're picking up a signal from an earth-craft?" Dib asked, attempting to wrestle a life saver from Gir's grasp.

"Actually I've been picking it up since before I arrived on Earth." He looked surprised at their suddenly accusing expressions. "I didn't know your mother was missing in space!!!!"

"You didn't even mention it to a grown up or something?! They've been missing for six years!"

"Why would I help the enemy?! Of course I didn't tell anyone. I'm here on a mission of destruction, remember? Not 'help the planet's inhabitants'!!"

Gaz sighed. She wasn't in the mood for an actually serious fight between those two. "The point is, you're picking up a signal. From an earth-originated craft?"

Zim let his gaze pass from the seething Dib to Gaz. "Yes."

"And how can you pick up this signal when our own systems can't?"

"The signal is too faint for your inferior earth technology to register."

"Which means? The ship is still in working condition?"

"No."

Gaz forced herself to focus. "Then how can there be a signal?"

"The ship itself must be damaged, to the extent of non-activity. However, the signal it emanates is not an electrical one, but rather a sort of echo. Like a shadow darkening the path it took to get there, the stars it passed along the way. It lets me know precisely where the ship crashed."

Gaz's eyes looked glazed. "Crashed..." She turned and sat down, back against Zim's seat.

"I'm not finished!" Zim stooped beside Gaz. "The planet where the ship currently is has been displaying a decent amount of electrical activity. Which is strange, since it was abandoned by my own race hundreds of years ago, for an undocumented reason."

"Why would it be undocumented?" Gaz looked up, wiping a teary-eyelid.

Zim looked embarrassed. "Most likely an attempt to overcome the indigenous life forms was botched, or we failed to secure it for our own means. Or found it to be a lost cause." He shrugged. "Anyways, its active for some reason." He smiled gently, helping Gaz to her feet.

She walked over to the glass, pressing her forehead and palms to the cool surface. She closed her eyes, silently pleading with the stars. Do you remember me? Please let it be my mom on that planet. And please let her know I'm coming...

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Medea sat on the reddish dirt-like substance, looking up at the stars. Hearing a faint sliver of sound, she stood up, cocking her head to one side. She let her eyelids slip closed as she tuned into the celestial whispers. Something hurried and hushed echoed around her. A sound like a butterfly wings parting.

She couldn't fathom what these foreign stars were trying to tell her, but she felt profusely blissful as she bowed, raising a delicate wrist of pearl, and accepting the breeze's proposal for another dance.