Irma woke up feeling as if she had been sleeping for the past decade. It had been a while since she had sent herself into a sleeping trance like that one. She made a mental note to avoid doing it again... The memory of her son hit her like a ton of bricks causing her to almost jump out of her hospital bed. Zephyr! Where was he?! Come to think of it? Where was she? It took her a moment to recognise the infirmary of the legion cruiser. She wondered just how she had gone from being outside New Metropolis high school to the Legion cruiser.
"Hey there..."
A familiar voice drew her attention. It was Garth. The legionnaire was wounded, that much she could tell. He seemed to have some oxygen tubes going up his nose to allow him to breathe and he appeared to be in a little pain. Judging by the smile however he wasn't completely out of it. She cautiously sat up and looked around. Other than her old friend, the infirmary was completely deserted. She noted also that there wasn't the usual slight vibration or hum coming from the engines. They didn't seem to be moving.
"Brainy told me to ask you not to use TP."
"Why?" She asked him
"We're acting dead in the water, he doesn't want anybody to be able to tell that we're here." The legionnaire replied
"Are you okey?" She inquired concerned about her friend's wounds
"Me? Irma you should know by now I'll always bounce back!"
"Just asking." She smiled "What's going on?"
"We're in orbit over some planet. The ship's too badly damaged for us to move..." He replied "Irma, they've got the kids."
She had guessed that by now of course. Despite the strict no telepathy warning she hadn't been able to stop herself from scanning for the children's minds. Zephyr was worryingly absent. Her son was a fairy tough cookie however picking a fight with the Fatal Five and Legion of Supervillains might be a little bit too far out of his league. She was now torn, a part of her wanted to go and find out first hand just what was going on but she didn't like the idea of leaving her friend alone. He smiled as if he had been reading her mind.
"Go." He instructed "I'll be fine. Besides, there's a surprise for you."
"You get better Garth." She told him "Because we're going to get Zephy, Drake and Elbe back!.. What do you mean a surprise?!"
He simply smiked and didn't respond. Guess, I'll have to find out myself... She thought to herself. Given the severity of the situation, she hardly found it the time for surprises and guessing games. She decided to go and see if she could track down Brainiac 5. He would explain things to her minus the mystery, besides, Lightning Lad needed his rest. It was as she came around a bend in the corridor that she collided head on with someone wearing overalls. A little shaken, she noticed she had knocked him clean off of his feet and caused him to spill what looked like a bucket of some kind of grease all over himself.
"Damn it Tim! Look where you're going would you?"
Irma was flabbergasted. That didn't happen all that often but seeing her husbend on the ship was enough to shock her into momentary silence. He wipped the grease out of his eyes and managed to open them. His eyes widened and he went slightly red from embarassement upon realising who he had been yelling at. Steadily he rose to his feet getting rid of some of the rest of the gease. He starred at his wife for a moment.
"Irma..." He muttered
"Rokk. What?! What are you doing he-" She cut herself short giving him a massive hug which he returned
"I was too slow, I couldn't save Zephyr." He muttered
"We'll get him back..." She assured him "But what are you doing here?"
"Massive accident really." He declared "I was only supposed to give this thing back to the Legion but I got a little more than I bargained for."
"I can imagine... Rokk, I'm so sorry."
"Whatever for?" He asked
"You know what..." She told him telepathically "I know how hard being here must be for you."
"Hey, it's for Zephy. I'll do anything for our child and for you."
She looked up at him and gave him a brief kiss. Despite her concerns, she could sense that their son was very much alive and well. She didn't know how she knew it, she just did. That meant that even if there was a thousend enemies between them and their children, they would save them. That much was certain. Just how they went about it remained to be seen. Brainiac 5 came walking down the corridor, he must have been alerted by the yelling. All concern vanished from his face upon seeing them.
"Good to see you're awake." He said to her
"Good to be awake." She replied
"Have Rokk or Lightning Lad filled you in on our situation?" He asked
"Kind of." She answered "We're dead in the water aren't we?"
"Pretty much. We're orbitting Apocolipse. The good news is that in the three days we've been here, there's been no sign of life coming from the planet."
"What's the bad news."
"Well, it's about our reinforcements..."
/
"Chameleon boy here! I've got nothing."
"This is impossible! How could they just disappear?" Lightning Lord asked over the radio
The legionnaires had circled every inch of space where their cruiser had last been seen. There was nothing, not a blip. They had even began to start searching for debris and bodies. Still, no trace. It was as if the vessel and all those onboard had simply vanished into nothingness. The energy scans weren't exactly coming up with anything either. Some eye witnesses had reported a giant portal opening for a few split seconds and dragging the ship with them. Any satellites who would have been able to record the event had been destroyed by whatever had happened. They were basically running out of any possible leads.
"You don't think they're-" Ultra Boy paused
"No!" Phantom girl said firmly "They're alive."
"Then why haven't they made radio contact?!" Kell asked
"I don't know... But we can't give up searching!" She declared
"We just got word that the United Planets have sent half their fleet to help us search." Dawnstar informed them "They say they owe us that much."
The legionnaires turned just in time to see the mass of ships pass by. There had to be well over a hundred there... With that many ships? How could they possibly not finding their missing legionnaires or their children?
