Tails looked up from his instruments at the endless blue sky, shot through with wisps of cloud and the last tendrils of smoke left over from the siege. It was good to be back on the bridge where he belonged. Sure, Geoffrey and four armed guards were looking over his shoulder, and it was true that his fingers still avoided the tactical panel, but he didn't really need to worry about his nonexistent guns when all he was doing was flying.

And fly he did. He had managed to talk the skunk into pulling his gunners off the outer decks, and took full advantage of that and the repaired gravity plates to put the Blue Typhoon through the sort of barnstorming even the Tornadoes might have had trouble with. He'd put in forty hours of the last two days on repair work, and spent all but one and a half of the rest going over old footage with his friends, so he had more than earned this. Not only that but he was still awake enough to actually enjoy it after drinking a month's worth of purified water, and he'd only realized how hungry he'd let himself get when Sonic had to stop him from accidentally eating the plate.

And if he managed to unnerve his "host" and the soldiers, then that would just be an added bonus. Besides, Geoffrey was driving him out of his mind with his little "But whose side am I really on?" game; the least the fox could do was return the favor.

"You realize we have a time limit, right, boy?" Tails didn't even look back. He knew Geoffrey had a point, but with Sonic glaring at his back the skunk wasn't going to do anything too creative. Actually, that wasn't quite right. Creativity was his only option; that or just giving his brain a rest and enjoying the flight like everyone else.

"Hey, that's what we've got radios for," the fox told him breezily. "Besides, at least two of the groups at this meeting think you're on their side, so they'll want to wait for you before anything serious happens anyway."

The skunk mumbled something Tails was perfectly content with not hearing. As fun as this was, though, he'd pushed Geoffrey's patience far enough. It was time to settle in on a legitimate approach vector now, and to do that he'd need to get the ship upright again. Okay, so there was still time for a little fun, he reflected with a wicked grin as he scythed through a two-hundred-plus degree roll instead of taking the quick way up. Judging by the clatter of boots behind him he was the only one whose center of gravity had adapted to the nice system he'd reverse-engineered from Eggman. Everyone else was still stumbling around as if gravity still applied to them, which the fox found vastly more amusing than it probably was. Well, all right, he was strapped in to a crash chair, but still! His stomach was as level as it was going to get after watching the roots-under-the-skin scene six times the night before while Rouge cut it just right for their presentation.

Just thinking back to that sent waves of nausea washing through him, and Tails bit down on them hard and looked determinedly out the window as they settled. Spagonia really was a beautiful part of the world when it wasn't buried under an inch-thick layer of ash, and even though the skyline was ragged and several of the mightiest buildings had been shredded down to their skeletons the hills and seas and forests around them were worthy of one of the Thorndykes' resorts. "This is your show, Geoffrey," although I'm immensely enjoying my act in it, "so go ahead and call in. If they're helpful we can set down inside of ten minutes and get whoever they want to see in just as quick."

"Look who's suddenly the confident one, eh?" Tails could practically hear the skunk's lip curl. "All right, I'll make the arrangements." He crossed to the communications panel, below Tails and to his left, and slid himself into the seat expertly. It took him somewhere under a second to spin to the frequency they needed, and the fox felt it would be better not to ask how he knew that number so readily. Of course, he might just be used to working with Spagonia too – better I just stop chasing my tails before I give myself a headache.

Tails couldn't really follow the conversation since Geoffrey'd wired himself a headset – something he'd never seen the need for on his Blue Typhoon – and kept his voice low. Not like there ought to be any information exchanged that the fox wouldn't have to know eventually, but if keeping his secrets made the skunk feel better after his rough flight Tails wasn't going to complain about it.

Too much. "So, where're we headed?" the fox asked the second Geoffrey stopped talking.

"We've been asked to set down on the beach we're right on top of. It's not like there's an airstrip in the world built to handle this thing." Tails wasn't sure about that; from what little glimpses he had gotten of the Downunda fleet any one of their carriers could have fielded his, but he was frankly more concerned with the landing site itself.

"Really? You're not setting us up for something, are you, because that sounds like an awfully dangerous spot for us and for everyone around us. Like you just said the Typhoon isn't exactly small, and the water's awfully close."

This time he really did see Geoffrey's lip curl. "Not sure you're up to it anymore, boy?"

Tails shook himself vigorously. "No way! I just don't want to try and land somewhere the ship physically won't fit, especially not if some poor student or lifeguard's going to be underfoot."

"Well, I can only tell you what they told me, and if they're hosting Downunda's people they've probably got the campus locked down anyway. Sally tells me classes haven't exactly been normal since the war began anyway."

Tails felt his own lip rising into a snarl. He hadn't even considered that the war might interrupt people's education! "In that case I'll take us in. The sooner we get everyone back to class the happier we'll all be."

"You clearly haven't been a uni student yet," Geoffrey noted dryly.

Tails didn't pay any attention to him, instead focusing on his instruments and his view to guide the ship gently over the sand. The Typhoon shuddered to a halt nine hundred forty-eight feet above sea level according to his display. He reached for his attitude controls, ready to ease the ship down gently, when the lock-on alert started to blare. "Geoffrey, what's happening?"

The skunk glared up at him in confusion. "How should I know? We did exactly what they wanted."

"Shields!" Oh, wait. That's my panel too, isn't it? Except, it was the tactical panel that held the toggle, which meant – no. I'm not going near the gun. I'm not going near the gun. I'm not going…. His ear jerked like a living thing.

Repeating his little mantra made all the difference, apparently, and he flipped the little beige panel up and pressed the white switch beside it. True to his word he managed not to even touch the late and unlamented Sonic Driver's joystick. Oddly enough the warning siren snapped off almost before the big globe of semitransparent white hexagons managed to form. Wait. The same thing happened to our helicopter back in Soleanna, too. Do they seriously use the same wavelength everyone else I've met attaches to their missiles for tracking tests or something here?

That actually seemed to be the case, considering the distinct lack of fiery death wasting itself against his shields, and he let them spin back down. Yes, there was the alarm all over again. He massaged the base of his ear. "Sorry, everyone, false alarm. Spagonia's just got some dumb air defense tech." Offensive as that was he meant it, too; there was a reason everyone else he'd met used a nice standardized system. And with one crisis averted – and one mystery solved – it was time to ease his big old ship down and get this war over with.

"Does something seem off to you, Tails?" The fox had no idea why Geoffrey of all people was asking him that, but truth be told a few things did seem out of place. A few squat, tracked things with flat rectangular barrels that kept a watchful eye on the building instead of the new arrivals. The wide midday sun turned their flanks into gold and the fox's eyes skittered away from the glare.

"You're not thinking about those tanks there, are you?"

The skunk whistled. "Got it in one. Call me paranoid but I don't think they're just there for a photo shoot." Tails had to agree, especially since they'd passed at least six others on their way.

Rouge, however, didn't, although coming from her that didn't exactly confirm anything. "You're paranoid. These four were here the last time I was in town too." Just once Tails wanted to hear information like that from someone he could actually trust, but he supposed Knuckles hadn't exactly been watching this space for them.

Speaking of Knuckles..."Hey, Geoffrey. Why do you think they asked Knuckles to come along with us? Or Rouge, for that matter?"

Bizarrely enough it was Sonic who answered his question. "I think they're both there because they're supposed to be neutral. You know, so they can bash a few heads together if the bigwigs start arguing too loud."

"Works for me," Knuckles rumbled, getting a laugh from everyone present. The only one of his friends who wasn't there was Cream, and in just a moment that was even more true as a familiar pink hedgehog cannoned through one of the sets of double doors and flattened Sonic before he could react. "But I think I'll save it for later; right now I'm enjoying the show."

Tails was too. Even on their trip along the Spagonian boot before he and Sonic left for Angel Island Amy had been unusually subdued, probably a holdover from the Soleannan debacle. And maybe the same fear I had, that Sonic was about to blame her for what happened to me. Back in his workshop and on the Typhoon she just hadn't had the space to chase Sonic around properly. It did his heart good to see him blurring all around the University Mall with her only a few feet behind, and he laughed aloud at the bemused stares they drew from the tank crews.

Eventually Amy came to a halt next to Tails, panting heavily. "I've wanted to do that," she explained, "for so long." The fox nodded and offered her a tail to prop herself up on. She stroked the shaved fur and traced a finger along the worst of the cuts. "Oh, Tails, what happened to you this time? You're not even wearing the new things Sonic helped me pick out for you."

The fox rubbed the back of his neck. Trust Amy to notice that first. "It's a long story that still doesn't quite make sense, so you'll have to wait until after the meeting to find out."

She glared at him. "Just make sure I do. You keep ending up like this and I'm getting sick of it." Tails surreptitiously looked for her hammer – he couldn't see it, but that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't there. Better to stay on her good side for now.

And what better way to do that than by asking the most awkward question possible? "So, what are you doing down here, especially right now? I mean, the rest of us are only here because we ran into Geoffrey." She can get the details later.

"Funny thing, that. You remember who we ran into on the train?" Tails nodded. "Well, she asked me to come with her – brought the Chaotix along too. They're in the lobby with Miss Rabbot." Oh, right, long "O." "She's been asking me about where we'd been all week. It's like something out of a storybook – my princess asking me about my one true love!" She pressed on her cheeks for dramatic effect.

Geoffrey coughed and stumbled behind them. "Ah, that's certainly charming but we're in a little bit of a hurry now, so if you wouldn't mind?"

"Oh. You're, ah, Geoffrey John, right? When did you get back?" Amy's deliberately vapid tone told Tails more about her opinion of the skunk than any words could have. He flashed a quick grin at her and she winked back, clearly not caring that Geoffrey could actually see her.

"That's St. John, thank you very much," he replied waspishly. Tails found it hard to believe something as simple as that could get a rise out of someone as consummately deceptive as Geoffrey, but then again the skunk might just be playing along. Or maybe his nerves were shot from Tails's exuberant flight over. That could be either a good thing or a bad one depending on who he was actually working for. "Shall we?"

At least he was gentlemanly about the whole thing. He held the massive oak door open as everyone else filed through, although Knuckles pointedly opened the other half of the doorway and walked in unassisted. Tails gave the skunk a sympathetic eye-roll, which Geoffrey returned with interest. This is going to be an…enlightening little meeting.

That said, there was another meeting waiting for them, and Tails tucked his ears against the wall of noise as an explosion of green and gold rushed to meet him. "Captain! It's good to see you again."

"You too, Vector," the fox replied somewhat dazedly as he tugged his hand free. "I never got the chance to say this, so thanks for covering for me back at the helicopter."

The crocodile looked almost embarrassed. "Of course. Did you think the Chief of the Chaotix Detective Agency would just leave a friend to fight alone at a time like that?"

Now the embarrassment was on Tails's end. "No, no, nothing like that. It was just – I had no idea how to stop it, and there you guys were doing everything you had to like there was a checklist for that kind of thing. Um, is there?" he added hopefully. That would solve a lot of his problems in the future.

"Unfortunately not. Perhaps if there were you wouldn't be as badly damaged." Yeesh, was everyone going to notice that? Well, his injuries were hard to hide, but people didn't need to comment on them! "We are, however, used to observing the people, following newspapers for leads, that kind of thing. Vector or I could instruct you, if you'd like."

Tails's face cracked in a smile. "I'd love that, thanks! When can we –"

"Later." Geoffrey brushed past them. "It's a wonderful goal but reach it on your own time, all right? There's a council to attend and we've already kept them waiting far too long."

There wasn't much conversation after that, just the creak of old wooden stairs under the even older red rugs. After all, the skunk was right.

Tails had expected the conference room to be as dusty as the carpet outside, but it actually looked quite comfortable and well-used between its sun-dappled rugs and warm oval desk. In fact, he could have quite easily curled up with a book or a computer or just a cup of mint tea if not for all the fancy suits waiting inside. A very familiar wolf blocked the doorway. "I'd ask you to check your weapons, but you don't look like you can hide any right now. Gloves too tight, shoes too small, fur cut off…how'd you manage to get hurt even worse than you were in my city?" He waved Tails into the room and held up the next person in line, repeating the ritual.

Well, he had been right about the guests waiting on them, although now that he was here he started to regret clowning around in the Typhoon so much. "Sorry we're late," he offered. "I, uh, got distracted." Please don't ask for any more details. I need you guys to take me seriously.

The delegates didn't actually reply, so he took the chance to see who was actually there. It said something when the two humans weren't the most ostentatious people at the table. It was a smaller group than he'd expected, although he hadn't quite been sure what he'd been expecting – just two people on each side, plus his little group. There were Professors Pickle and Regis on his right, wearing even more formal clothes than normal. Tails knew that from the two or three – dozen – times Chris and Amy had tried to dress him in the same style back on Earth. The humans stared down what if he was not very much mistaken was a raccoon and a kangaroo – obviously Downunda's people, tucked into surprisingly dashing uniforms, all silvery silk and black and gold braid. But opposite him were the friendliest faces of all, wearing nothing particularly unusual for a refreshing change, Princess Sally and Bunnie Rabbot. And I'll actually get her name right this time!

Well, they presumably had decorum to maintain and Tails found himself stiffening to match, but Bunnie for one looked like she wanted to leap across the table and hug him. Come to think of that, she'd done exactly that when Sonic first introduced them. In fact, everyone but the kangaroo looked as concerned as their negotiating faces would let them be for a little moment – and that might just be the big man's unrecognizable body language – then Geoffrey loomed over his shoulder and the mood evaporated.

"So, which side are you going to say you're on, Colonel?" The raccoon's accent was solid enough to patch up the Typhoon with – much like that young woman he'd been working with over the last two days, come to think of it. Maybe there was some relation there.

"Simple enough, Marshal Firth." He walked straight past them, not even making eye contact, and came to a halt on Sally's left-hand side. "The same place I've always told you."

The kangaroo shook his head. "I see I've won our little bet, Justin." His voice was a lot clearer, although there was a husky edge to it that seemed a little off. Then the light dawned, and Tails quickly revised his pronoun choice. Weird creatures….

Sally was talking now, though. "It's good to have you back where you belong, Geoffrey." He bowed to kiss her hand almost immediately. "Not quite that good, though."

"You sure he's actually telling the truth, Princess?" Knuckles certainly knew how to make an entrance, and he sounded even more annoyed than usual. Probably at the implication that he might carry a weapon, although seeing Geoffrey treated well by anyone had to drive him up the walls too. Tails winced. Imagine what those two factors would do to Sonic!

Not too much apparently. "Hey, Sal, how've you been?"

"There's a time and place for that, Sonic the Hedgehog. This isn't it." Tails breathed a mental sigh of relief as he realized no one had actually taken offense. His brother might be important, but he clearly wasn't the best choice for a formal gathering. "And to you, Guardian, my answer is 'maybe.' I don't know that Geoffrey ever tells the truth so much as the most accurate lie possible, which works for me."

"You wound me, my Princess," the skunk mumbled just loud enough for the whole table to hear him. "My imagination is much broader than that."

"Indeed it is." There was a resounding slap and a particularly huffy Rouge fluttered into the room. "Seriously, soldier, I know it looks like a good hiding spot but a girl has limits." She adjusted her chestplate meaningfully and Tails went bright red.

Professor Pickle looked like he was choking back laughter himself. "Now that we're all assembled, is there anyone here who's unfamiliar with the others present? I'd rather we all know who we're addressing."

"Well, I don't have a clue who most of you are, and I bet these two aren't much better off." Well, Sonic probably knew everything, of course, but Tails was very glad he hadn't had to admit his own ignorance.

"Fine, fine," the raccoon grumbled. "Air Marshal Justin Firth, Oriental Union. And currently out of a job courtesy of a certain two-tailed fox whose name will go unmentioned."

The kangaroo leaned forward. "Michelle Aki, Admiral of the Green and commander of our Away Fleet. Please forgive my colleague here, he's been pulling twenty-hour shifts getting his planes rewired." Tails wasn't certain whether to be proud or sympathetic, so he settled for looking as innocent as possible.

"I don't think we've ever had the honor, Master Hedgehog. I am Lord Professor – or Professor Lord, I really don't care for the titles myself, let alone the order – Regis of Soleanna. Yes, we're both humans, and no, we don't know how we or your Robotnik ended up here, so there's no sense in asking."

"And I'm Professor Pickle! Oh, I'm the director of this university, as it happens, so I'm your host right now. But please don't worry on my account." Tails slid his eyes sideways to Sonic, who was clearly struggling not to roll his. Well, at least Professor Pickle's excited about something.

"And that leaves us, I suppose. Princess Sally Acorn – probably Queen now, not that that there's a difference all things considered. I think all of you have met my dear friend Bunnie at least once, and then of course there's Geoffrey."

"Could you go around one more time? I'm not sure I quite got that." Knuckles patted Tails's shoulder as the kit whipped around to look at him, an exchange masked by the sound of every other head in the room slamming into the desk. The fox gave him a sheepish grin.

And here I thought Sonic was going to be badly behaved. This is going to be a long meeting.

Tails found himself trying not to fall asleep once things went from being a learning experience to ear-bleeding tedium, which felt like it had taken an hour but the lying clock insisted had barely been fifteen minutes. Sonic and Knuckles hadn't even waited that long, although to be fair they had a much lower tolerance for such things. Sally was plainly nursing a headache, and the professors and Downunda officers had argued themselves in circles all the while. He wasn't even sure Rouge was still in the room, and Geoffrey – well, Geoffrey was still a cipher. He didn't look too bored but he hadn't been participating in the discussion either.

"Look," the fox finally said out of desperation, "we just keep chasing our tails. I'm not on anyone's side and neither are these two," he twitched a tail at his dozing brothers. "Downunda can't fight Spagonia, Spagonia can't fight Downunda, and there's not really much of Acorn to fight over. So why can't we just all call it enough and go home?"

"Hear, hear," Sally said distractedly. Bunnie patted her shoulder and the princess straightened up a little. Now that he had a clear look at her, she seemed not just irritated but actually dizzy, like she hadn't had enough to drink or gotten enough sleep the night before. Then again, he had no right to be going as strong as he was after everything that he'd been through, so he could certainly relate.

And that was the only impact he made. Admiral Aki replied while Marshal Firth was still puffing himself up. "After all we've done and all we've lost, you expect us to settle for the status quo? You're dreaming, Prower. We aren't leaving without at least exclusive research rights, and preferably a nice trade agreement too." What was it Doctor Constantine said? "Trying to claw their way into relevance," or something like that? I guess I can sympathize. He remembered the barren, listless landscape of the Shamari town they'd visited. I hope my greenhouse stood up long enough to do some good.

"And why should you expect anything in the first place, especially our trade secrets?" Regis demanded. Something about this situation had him fired up. "You launched an unprovoked and unannounced attack on our allies in House Acorn, and then lost your entire air fleet to us of the Soleannan coast. Where in that did you earn any spoils?"

"You had nothing to do with that, old man!" Definitely a sore spot for the air marshal, and Tails was seriously starting to regret opening his mouth. "That was all from your furry sidekick here, and when you tried to do it yourself we wrecked your entire submarine fleet." Tails felt Pietro stir behind him, which could be a good thing or a bad one. Undeniably bad, however, was that the conversation had looped around on itself – and this time the participants were shouting at each other.

And even worse, Sonic had woken up in time to catch Firth's last comment. "Hey, careful what you say about my brother there, pal." Oh, this was just getting better and better.

Sally slumped forward onto the desk. "You know," she moaned after a minute, "this would be so much easier if Spagonia had actually done something, or if you people hadn't done so much."

"Actually," Pickle looked sidelong at Pietro, "I think I might just have something to fix that. Condottiere?"

The soldier closed his eyes for a moment, during which time the Downunda delegates surreptitiously eased their chairs away from the table. Tails did the same. Even he could tell something was about to go wrong. "Yes, Sir." He pushed Tails aside and leveled his rifle across the table at the air marshal, who flipped his chair over backwards to get out of the way. "By the authority of the joint forces of Spagonia and Soleanna, I must place you in custody. You will be treated fairly and honorably as suits your stations." The words were flat and clipped, hardly the tone the fox expected from the bombastic captain he had known.

"Wait, what the hop? What are you two –"

Geoffrey cut Bunnie off with a single quiet word. "Treachery?"

Professor Pickle nodded and Tails felt something shrivel and die inside him. "Treachery," he confirmed just as softly.

"All right then." Geoffrey reached calmly into his jacket with both hands. They emerged holding two pre-spanned hand crossbows, and Pietro swung his rifle over with a snarl as the skunk twirled them into a ready position. "Treachery."

The fox tipped his own chair over to knock Knuckles safely aside as Geoffrey shot. The wolf may have been hesitant at first, but he brought his rifle sweeping up to knock the bolt aside.

And promptly threw it out the nearest window as the bolt chewed cleanly through it. "How'd you get those –" He launched a protective tackle of his own at the professors, sliding across the table and taking the skunk's second shot through his hat. Mercifully the silly cylinder put enough of a spin on the bolt that it passed harmlessly through the wall. Some kind of alarm went off as it broke the surface, a loud chattering bell that hurt Tails's ears no matter how well the fox covered them.

By the time the fox's mind broke the surface again the room was chaos. Sonic was braced for a jump, Knuckles looked ready to punch someone's skull in, the admiral was pulling some sort of handgun with a comically oversized magazine out of her pouch – probably smuggled that in the same way Rouge did – and Bunnie's robotic arm was holding Geoffrey by the scruff of the neck while she placed them both between Sally and danger.

"Put that down!" he snapped at Admiral Aki, and the surprised kangaroo actually complied. "You want to make things worse?"

"No, fuzzbrain, we just figure Spagonia might as well have a reason to arrest us!" Marshal Firth snarled. Pietro contorted awkwardly, trying to kick the air marshal's hand away from his companion's weapon, but he couldn't quite reach either.

A moment later he didn't have to, because Sonic was in action, humming across the table and splitting it cleanly in half, letting the gun fall somewhere into the mess of splinters. He hopped off the disintegrating furniture, used Bunnie's arm as a springboard, and landed right back where he had started. "Come on, bro, let's get out of here."

Tails shook his head. "Not happening, Sonic. We need to put things back together now or this is never going to end." He jumped over what was left of the table for at the two Downunda representatives. "Come on, we need to get you to the Typhoon. Come on, Sonic, Knuckles, grab the others. We're getting them all out!"

Confused squawks were his only answer, and then Rouge settled to the floor from wherever she had vanished to. "Hey, people!" She waved for attention with one hand while she fished under her chestplate with the other, and Tails ducked his head away to blush.

It was only after his ears finally gave up that he realized that had been the point. His eyes uncrossed very slowly as the pain receded from his skull, and mercifully he could still make out at least muffled sounds. Like, for instance, noise from the direction that was supposed to correspond to Sally. How she'd sorted things out that close to a flashbang he had no idea, but then again that was why she was a princess and he was just a sidekick.

But as his hearing – and the pain – slowly returned, he realized she didn't have it all together after all. "Wha – what's happening? What's going on?"

A train of extremely unpleasant thoughts rattled through Tails's head. Awake and functioning right after a stun grenade goes off in front of her, sounds more like she's waking up, dizzy all session, oh please let me be wrong!

"Um, Princess Sally?" He had to shout to hear his own voice. At least the diplomats were still clutching their eyes, so he had some time. And he had to admit, seeing Geoffrey sprawled in the rubble, rubbing his face and apparently mewling, was supremely cathartic. "I realize this is kind of a weird question, but, um," he rubbed his neck awkwardly, "how did you sleep?"

Sally looked at him uncomprehendingly, then her eyes rolled up in her head and she flopped to the ground on top of Geoffrey. He didn't look at all unhappy with the situation, but Tails had much bigger worries. Man, was that how I looked whenever that happened? I can ask Bunnie how long it's been going on when we're safe. No one but Rouge was focused again yet, so Tails spun himself up and grabbed the unconscious squirrel. Geoffrey muttered a protest, but he still wasn't coordinated enough to do anything with it, and the fox flew over towards the door. He felt rather than heard Rouge coming up behind him, and when he turned to look at her he saw she had scooped up the irate Marshal Firth. Tails gave her a wild grin. Sonic, Knuckles, and Bunnie could get the others; they had to get out of there now before Spagonia's military woke up.

To his surprise the admiral was back on her feet, and an immense hopping kick sent the doors crashing apart. Tails was out the door and away before the splinters had stopped bouncing.

"Stop blowing holes in my ship," the fox growled as he swung himself back into the command chair. Sally was still unconscious, and he'd let Bunnie web her into one of the crash seats. As for the diplomats, he'd asked Amy to start up the presentation, and given her free reign to use her hammer on anyone who tried to argue or walk out without a good reason. That meeting had frayed his more nerves than just the ones tied to his ears.

The rabbit pulled up next to him. "I reckon we didn't have much choice once the shooting started, sugar, but do you really want to choose Downunda over us?"

Tails didn't even need to think about that one. "Who's choosing? I'm trying to get things back to normal, that's all. That wasn't going to happen with everyone shooting at everyone else, so I'm just giving them all another chance."

Bunnie frowned. "That's sweet of you, but did you stop to think they might not see it that way? Besides, with Sally-girl still asleep up here they can't do anything."

Now it was Tails's turn to frown. Why wouldn't they all have appreciated a chance to simmer down and try again? He sighed. "I guess I'm starting to see that, yeah. Like, 'why should we even talk to you when you just tried to kidnap us,' right?"

"You're as sharp as ever."

Tails scuffed a shoe awkwardly. "No, I wouldn't even have thought of it without you pointing it out, so thanks, Miss Bunnie. Thing is, though, I'm really disappointed in the professors. They're supposed to be here to solve problems, not make more of them. I mean, that's their job, right?"

"Not quite." Oh boy, Geoffrey was here. "You've been too busy playing politics, boy. Spagonia's got its fighters in the air and coming after us." Trust the skunk to know that before his own sensors did. Then the ship shuddered from a distant impact – a little too distant considering what had happened the last time.

"You didn't…" but Tails saw the look on Geoffrey's face and didn't need him to finish. The intercom tab nearly cracked as he punched it. "Everyone, listen up. If there is a single gunner outside the ship in five minutes I will turn off the antigrav and flip you upside down. I'm serious, people – get those things off my ship!"

"Don't countermand my orders, Tails." But the fox had had it up to here with the skunk's mysterious behavior and bullying little aura of authority, and never mind that he'd actually been fairly gracious on their trip into town.

"We're in hot enough water already; do you really want to make it boil over faster? Now if you'll excuse me, Geoffrey, some of us actually have ships to fly!" Man, he hadn't even realized he was capable of barking like that.

I'm not going near the gun. I'm not! he reminded himself as he readied his shields. They wouldn't stop any opportunists from firing out, sadly, but if anyone was still on the deck when his time limit ran out it would at least stop their fall and bring them gently back to the ship. Plus, of course, the obvious benefits – and considering the spikes on the power readout he had cut that way too close. "Man, these guys are out of their minds. We've got their own leaders on board and we're already taking missile fire!"

"Tell that to them," Geoffrey spat. "They clearly aren't interested, and after what those two just tried to pull I'm not surprised."

Tails ignored the skunk again, focusing instead on his aft cameras. Come on, get out of the way so I can fire the main thrusters. He wasn't going to kick those in until he was sure no one was going to get caught in the exhaust. His warning clearly hadn't stuck for a few people, since he could see tracer storms tracking across the sky in both directions. Well, it was their vertigo.

It hadn't been five minutes, but the fox was no longer sure he had that long before his patience snapped. He took a firm grip of his manual controls and yanked the big ship through a series of maneuvers that should have been aerodynamically impossible. There were indeed a few unanchored soldiers dangling from his shields now, and their lives were about to get a lot more miserable, but for once in his life Tails didn't care. In fact, he had a growing suspicion that if the professors hadn't moved first Geoffrey's men would have done exactly the same thing, so right then anyone with a firearm was entitled to precisely zero sympathy. Hey, the crazier I fly the less likely they are to hit anything.

His nose was canted at an impossible angle to the hills beneath him, and he figured this was the best chance he was going to get. He reached for the intercom again, this time much less forcefully. "Main thrusters are going on. Antigrav is up, but hold on to something anyway." And with that and a five-second count, he flipped the switch.

The fighters, little jets with much less forceful engines than Downunda's interceptors, quickly fell away behind them. Hopefully they'd get the hint and keep their distance, but Tails wasn't too confident on that front. After a fifteen-minute burn he cut the thrusters again. Fuel was hard to come by when you couldn't just float up to the nearest star or gas planet and harvest some, and besides there was really no point to it. Just as he took his hand off the console the elevator dinged home and he turned around. "Doctor?"

"I heard about what happened to the Princess. May I see her, please?"

Tails shrugged. He wanted answers, but he wasn't going to go over anyone's head to get them. "Your call, Miss Bunnie."

"Well, that's sweet of you to ask, Captain. Go ahead!" She stepped back to give the doctor a clear look, but he barely needed it.

"You people are…acting, right? I was told there was an emergency, but you know what's going on."

"I think so, but I need to hear it from you." Tails was apparently the only one who was even that far along, considering the stunned looks on Bunnie's and Geoffrey's faces.

"Wait. You're being serious, aren't you? Except that makes no sense." The other fox looked so distraught that Tails had to offer him a supportive pat, even if he might very well be about to betray them all. "Because you of all people should know, since he said you were…he said…." He fell to his knees. "You're all supposed to know what was going on. Robotnik said it was a clinical trial!"

"Sugar-fox, if you honestly think Robotnik of all people's going to say something straight, I'm not really sure if anyone can help you."

Tails, for his part, was laughing. "You know, the funny thing is that if he'd bothered to ask I'd probably have said yes." His mind's ear could hear exactly the sales pitch Eggman must have given. "Greatest advancement in medical history and you can be part of it – just go along with this trial to make sure no one can tell the difference and your name's going on the paper!"

Somehow that made all the difference and Tails let his shoulders relax as his bad mood drained away. He'd never really been angry at the doctor, but it was good to get some real confirmation that he wasn't a bad person. "So, do you know where the real Princess Sally is?"

The doctor fidgeted with his gloves. "Ah, no. I'm sorry, I was just there to observe and make sure no one outside the experiment found out. If I can help you any other way, though –"

Tails waved his hand. "No need, just keep that robot tied down and explain things to it if it wakes up again – it'll probably be the real Sally." Bunnie still looked concussed, which the fox figured was only natural. After all, you didn't believe it for a few hours and you lived it.

Movement on his cameras caught his eye. "Wait, how'd they catch up with us so fast? We were on full boost for fifteen minutes!" He took grim hold of his controls again. "Find a seat, both of you. I'm going to have to get creative if we're going to lose them short of my workshop."

"Workshop?" Geoffrey muttered.

The fox shrugged as best he could. "I guess I figured it's time to come home."

Author's Note: And here we go! Hopefully I can focus well enough to get this thing done by next week - or, for that matter, to push ahead with the next chapter today - but my dying spacebar is really wrecking my rhythm. I'm still going for it, though!