It had taken the better part of half an hour for Jenny to stop crying and calm down. Keiko simply held her close, gently caressing her hair, and daubing away her tears. Jenny took a deep breath, sitting back in her chair, but still holding Keiko's hands in hers. "I'm okay, now," Jenny said softly.

"We can continue this tomorrow, if you like," Keiko offered. Jenny had been forced to process a lot this afternoon, and although they had been at it for less than an hour, she could see that Jenny was emotionally spent.

"I wanna get it over with," Jenny countered, still speaking softly. "I really don't know anything…and the more I don't know, the more it scares me….besides, how much more could they really ask of me?"

Keiko smiled gently. The little girl had really grown, she thought. "Okay," she said. "Let's go back."

The officers had switched seats and had been talking while they were gone, but stood as the ladies entered. "Are you all right, Miss Doolittle?" asked Foster.

"I'm fine," she said resolutely, and she and Keiko sat down again, once again holding hands under the table.

Foster began. "We're back on the record at 13:11. I believe the question was, do you know which members of the yacht club could have hacked the Stellar Military's database?"

"I don't know of ANY hackers in the yacht club," Jenny said with certainty. Harris then spoke.

"Do you have any idea who sabotaged your ship, or why?"

"I don't," Jenny replied. "I don't know why anyone would do that to anyone else."

Foster edged in. "Miss Devereaux must not have been too happy about being bumped out of the race in the last year she could compete…especially by some little rich, privileged underclassman."

Keiko squeezed Jenny's hand. "Are you asking a question, Commander Foster?" Keiko demanded.

"Just thinking out loud, Lady Takeda," Foster replied, finally realizing that they were signaling each other under the table. "Still, it's a good working theory for motive."

"My client is no more 'rich' or 'privileged' than anyone else at this school. You're welcome to pursue whatever theories you'd like, but I see no reason to fill this 'witness's' head with a bias against her classmates," Keiko chided. "If we're done here…"

"Just one last thing," Foster added, turning off the recorder. "Miss Doolittle, off the record, have you ever heard the term, Yggdrasil?"

Jenny had heard rumors, but she was steadfastly not going to testify to rumors, even off the record. "Only in old earth mythology…it's the tree that the Norse god Odin hanged himself from, right?"

Foster mused. He could tell she knew something. "Yes, that must be it. Thank you for your time, ladies. You're dismissed for today."

Jenny and Keiko rose together, and departed. Harris turned to Foster. "Yggdrasil? That shadowy conglomerate out of Orion? Are they involved in this?"

Foster waved his hand. "It's only a rumor, but I wanted to see if she knew anything. And I think she does."

Outside, Keiko and Jenny walked toward the transit kiosk, where Maddie was waiting. "Shane's not back yet?" Keiko shook her head, smiling. Maddie smiled back. "Probably having a drink with some bonnie lass in town and forgot all about us….I'm kidding…when I saw you come out, I paged him. He's on his way."

Keiko turned to Jenny. "Do you want us to take you home?"

"No," Jenny replied. "Say, where's Lynn?" she asked, not particularly to either Keiko or Maddie.

"She hurried off to her room to change back into a tomboy," Maddie chuckled.

Jenny turned to Keiko. "Is it okay if I go see her?" Keiko looked over to Maddie, who answered.

"It's fine, lassie. Just don't discuss anything from the investigation. Oh, and her room was bugged to high heaven before I zapped them all, but you never know. Don't assume that no one else is listenin'."

Jenny nodded and headed off to the middle school dorm, as Keiko and Maddie watched her retreating form. "She's just like her father," Maddie observed. Keiko nodded. "That she is. I hope it doesn't get her killed." Maddie nodded back knowingly, as Shane pulled up. "Sorry to keep you waiting, ladies. Just a few loose ends to tie up," He grinned as he got out and opened the door for them. "To the space port, lad!" Maddie intoned, as they got in.

Jenny found Lynn's room and stood outside for a moment. She had tried to prepare some kind of excuse about being in the area, and stopping by, but it just sounded like nonsense. She had to just tell her how she felt. Considering what Miss Holland had said the day before, there might not be many chances for her to see Lynn. She knocked on the door. "Coming!" came a call from within, and as the door opened, "..did you forget something, Maddie….?"

Lynn and Jenny just stood gaping at each other. Lynn was barefoot, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around her body and another one wrapped around her head. "….miss Doolittle…" she stammered.

Jenny pulled her mouth shut, and managed a smile. "It's Jenny, remember? I'm so sorry to drop in on you like this…I wanted to talk to you…may I come in?" And then she simply walked in, not waiting for an answer.

Lynn felt panic. Jenny's photos were all over the wall above her bed, just a few feet away, but Jenny hadn't looked in that direction. Lynn tried to maneuver her away from that wall. "..uh..sure.." Lynn continued to stammer.

"I wanted to stay in these dorms, but my father wouldn't allow it," Jenny started, trying to make conversation. "This is very cozy…" as she looked at the made-up, empty bed. "No room-mate?"

"She's off-world until tomorrow," Lynn finally managed, pulling the towel from her hair. To her horror, though, Jenny then turned and looked at her bed.

"Wow, you have pictures of me…" Jenny offered, sounding flattered. She pointed to one taken in the simulator where she was wide-eyed and gaping in terror. She laughed softly. "I remember that sim. I almost crashed!"

Lynn felt a lump in her throat. She didn't want Jenny to think she was some obsessed fan stalker type. "…yeah, I think you're very photogenic…and I admire you…a lot of us do…"

Jenny turned and could see how flustered she was. "Don't worry, I have pictures of you on my wall," she confessed with a broad smile.

Lynn's face reddened. "Are you mocking me…?" she pouted, a hint of ire in her voice.

Jenny suddenly realized how patronizing she had just sounded. "Oh, my God, no, not at all! I really do have pictures of you!" She pulled out her phone. "Look," she pointed, to a mural of Lynn photos, in a directory called 'Lynn'. Lynn stared at Jenny's phone in shock, seeing dozens of photos of herself. Studying, dancing, swimming, even sleeping on a blanket on the quad.

Lynn eyed Jenny suspiciously, trying to control the sagging towel around her body. "Why do you have all these?"

Jenny sat down on Lynn's bed, and pulled her by the hand down with her, and held her hand reverently. "Because I like you. Because I want us to be friends….because…you're so beautiful…"

Lynn wanted to believe her. She also wanted to put some clothes on. Jenny could see she was uneasy. "You should get dressed," Jenny suggested. "You'll catch cold." Lynn relaxed a little. "I'll just turn around," Jenny continued. "..promise I won't peek…" She stood and faced the other bed, pretending to cover her eyes, but her eyes looked off to her right at the full length mirror on the inside of the entry door. Lynn took off her towel and immediately grabbed a pullover sweat shirt and slid into a denim skirt and cotton panties. As she sat on the bed to pull on her leggings, she looked up at Jenny. "I'm decent."

Jenny came back and sat down beside her, as Lynn looked up at the mirror. She looked over at Jenny and smirked. "So did you get a good look?"

Jenny blushed, and did a brief double face-palm. "I'm caught!" She giggled. Lynn shared her laugh. It was the first honest to goodness laugh that she'd had since all the trouble started.

"What'd you want to talk about?" Lynn asked tentatively. Maddie had warned her not to talk to anyone about the investigation. Jenny took Lynn's hand again, but wrapped her other hand around it as well. She looked over at the empty bed. "You and your room-mate…I'm not getting into the middle of anything, am I?"

Lynn shook her head. "It's not like that." Then she realized what Jenny was asking her, and her eyes widened and her mouth fell open. "So that's what this's about?" She was starting to get flustered again.

Jenny smiled and shook her head. "I've always been very direct with people, but sometimes it rubs them the wrong way…but from afar you've always seemed like the kind of person I could be direct with…someone I could bare my soul to, if I wanted to…am I wrong?"

Lynn grew up on a spaceship, where the only answer was a straight answer. Where the difference between life and death was being direct and honest. Her awkward manners, her straightforward, direct demeanor had certainly put off many of her classmates and even some of her friends. And here in front of her, a kindred spirit, was asking her if it was okay to be direct. She could feel tears welling in her eyes. "…you're not wrong," she choked, forcing back her tears. "…I've wanted so much to get to know you…but I just felt someone like me could never be worthy of – "

Jenny interrupted her. "Don't ever put yourself down! And don't ever feel that anyone is better than you, or that you're somehow unworthy of someone! I'm here because I've seen within you something that I admire…something that I adore…we're still just children, so I'm not trying to confess my love for you, or anything like that. I want to get to know you, and be your friend, and learn everything there is to know about Lynn Lambretta…"

Lynn gushed. "With your connections, you could easily find out everything about me."

Jenny shook her head vehemently. "Absolutely not." She squeezed Lynn's hand in both of hers. "This…this is how I want to get to know you. Talking face to face, walking shoulder to shoulder." She paused for a moment, looking deeply into Lynn's eyes. "All that I've ever wanted since I noticed you was to see my reflection in your eyes."

Lynn felt the tears spilling down her cheeks. Jenny let go of her hand and gently brushed the tears away, then put her arms around Lynn's trembling shoulders. Neither spoke, but each reveled in the warm embrace. Lynn had never made a friend such as this. And in the midst of all this turmoil, by some miracle, the girl she wanted most was holding her in her arms. It had to be a dream. Yes, in the morning she would wake up and it will all have been a dream. "…this must be a dream…" she murmured. Jenny gently pushed her back to arm's length, and looked straight into her eyes. "It's not a dream," Jenny whispered. "This is real. My feelings for you are real." She reached around the back of her neck, and undid the catch on her necklace. She then put the necklace with the clover charm around Lynn's neck and fastened it. "My father said that on old Earth, people thought clover was a symbol of good luck. So here's to a new beginning. And when you wake up in the morning, this will prove that it wasn't a dream…"

Lynn blushed. "But your father gave you this…you shouldn't…"

Jenny gently pressed a finger over Lynn's lips. "This gift from my father is precious to me. And so are you. Please accept it."

Lynn nodded. Jenny was good at this. She was direct and honest and confident and not at a loss for words. Lynn could barely speak. But with someone like Jenny at her side, she would learn to speak up and gain confidence. "I accept," she said softly, once again hugging Jenny, this time holding her tightly. Jenny returned the embrace with fervor. "Say, would you like to see where I live? Curfew's not for another three hours."

Lynn's face lit up. "I'd love to! Should I wear something more appropriate?"

Jenny smiled. "I'm the only one that lives there, and as soon as we get there, I'm gonna change out of this monkey suit. And you always look great, no matter what you wear….although…I really did like the little girly girl getup you wore this morning….you looked so cute…"

Lynn made a face. "You've gotta be kidding. I can't believe I let Maddie talk me into that. But it was kinda fun the way you sort of look like a boy and I looked like a girl…"

Jenny rose, and put on her high heels, which she had slipped out of when she entered. Lynn also tied on a pair of sneakers, and the two left, holding hands.