Buzz and Mira put more fuel on the fire so they would stay warm during their stop. Mira kept yawning.

"I'll take the first shift, you get your rest," Buzz said. "You've been doing most of the heavy lifting today." A lot of ghosting too...

"No, Buzz, I can stay up-" she yawned, proving his point.

"I mean it."

"Fine... wake me up whenever you feel like it."

"Will do. Try to get a couple hours, alright?"

"Sure Buzz, I'll-" she yawned again. "I'll do that."

Buzz watched Mira nod off; he would have loved to press on, but they were spent from the day's excitement. He looked over at Rhyssa, who lay curled on the ground, and kept himself awake with planning and evaluating. Booster and XR were back on 42- he didn't dare call them out for pick-up. They stripped the land and tried to scrap our ship. Who's to say they're not waiting for them to leave again so they can finish the job? Granted, the Apocritans could still come back while those two were there, but at least there would be two people he knew for sure were watching their ticket out of here. It was better, he concluded, if they stayed put and kept any other sabotage from happening.

He checked on Ty again, worriedly. He didn't seem any different from earlier in the day, so at least he was stable. Ty's held on this long...

But there was no guarantee that wouldn't change. It was no good to keep moving, too tired to keep a steady pace, and take even longer than if they'd rested. As much as he hated it, they had to stop. Just a quick cat nap, then. No more than five hours here, then straight to the ship.

Then, once they left, they had to go to Lahila. It was the only place nearby with any medical facilities, and it was obvious Ty wasn't going to be well enough to travel back to Star Command for some time. Did the Lahilans know how to treat someone not their species? He assumed they at least had the standard information sent to them by now.

He spent the next two hours watching everyone else, occasionally making sure Ty was still alright. The blisters were mostly gone, leaving open pockmarks in their place. Buzz used a little water to rinse some of the larger ones out.

Mira stirred in her sleep, and soon Buzz felt his eyelids dragging themselves down. He thought of waking Mira, but then...

Mira opened her eyes sleepily, sensing something was wrong. The feeling got worse when she felt a chill on one side. She sat up and looked over at Buzz. Mira clearly hadn't slept enough- it was getting light out and she was still tired. Oh no. It was light out! We were supposed to have left hours ago! Her attention turned to the empty spot where Ty was supposed to be, and her eyes followed the swishing stinger-tip to its owner, who was already about to disappear into the rain and greenery. Mira's heart pounded and she hastily leaped to her feet, legs already protesting the sudden sprint. Too bad, they had work to do. She yelled behind her.

"BUZZ! SHE'S TAKING TY!"

Buzz's snores cut off. He coughed once or twice, getting the saliva he'd just choked on out of his windpipe, and joined Mira on the chase. This was among the least fun ways he'd woken up. They were following the faint trail after the Apocritan, sometimes catching a glimmer of green shell or puff of brown hair before losing sight of them again. "Rhyssa! Put him down, now!"

If she heard him, she didn't listen.

The two Rangers could feel they were catching up, and if they weren't so focused on the task at hand they'd have heard the drone of wings behind them sooner. Buzz used his laser to clear some plant life out of their way, and Mira was catching up with Rhyssa, ghosting through anything that hadn't been blasted away.

Buzz heard the sound coming closer, and stopped. "Keep going, I'll hold them off! When you get him back, just keep going!"

Mira didn't need to be told twice. He turned his attention back to the growing wing-beats, and soon saw flickers of orange and yellow weaving through the plants. He braced himself, and when she came in view Buzz launched himself at Macrurus. She seemed to be alone, and by her reaction had not been expecting him. When he reached her, the crash winded them both, but he recovered first and got her in a headlock. She sprang up like a murderous jack-in-the-box, whipping him around, and although he was out of range of the deadly mandibles everything else whirled and dug at him.

Buzz held on tighter, but a sleeper hold didn't work so well on someone whose blood vessels wouldn't be compressed by it and whose breathing had nothing to do with the face and neck. A sharp claw found his bicep and pulled down. He leaned his weight back, trying to defeat Macrurus or get her to surrender. She overcompensated and they landed with a splash, and he still kept his hold on her. She'd twisted just right and now he was hanging off her side while she tried to bite down on his head. Dodging one more snap, he quickly let go and rolled out of her reach, and she in turn pounced on him.

Macrurus and Buzz rolled around on the ground, each trying to get the upper hand. Buzz was doing frustratingly well against her- she'd expected a quick and easy victory. To his credit, he had escaped before, and someone had done a good job teaching him how to fight. It was infuriating- unacceptable! Those were novices and hunters she'd left him with, not this year's fledglings! When she got home there were going to be trembling wings and yowls all around at the very least.

The foreigner was on her back. He had his legs pinning her arms, and had her in a headlock, one hand tightly gripping her antenna. She raced wildly, clawing and screeching, as the delicate hairs bent and sent signals that were all wrong. Macrurus stung at him, the thin structure bouncing off the armor at first. Piercing his skin only made him hold on tighter, and the way he pulled on her head made her reconsider using venom... for the moment. She didn't want her neck snapped when his muscles went rigid. Don't you think I'll let you get away with this, foreigner! You're going to burn and shake just like your scrawny friend! She couldn't dislodge the Ranger, and he now had his feet on the ground. He was bending her backwards, stretching and revealing the thick connective membranes between the body segments. If he'd been a rival of hers, the exposed tissues would have been an irresistible target. She'd actually dispatched a few of hers that way... At least he'd stopped pulling on her poor feeler. He was clearly trying to flip her over.

Macrurus gave him what he wanted. She lifted her feet, knocking them both to the ground. Chitin and armor clattered together, and they wrestled again. He pushed away from her and she grabbed him by the ankles, pulling him back underneath her and diving at his stomach. Buzz caught the shredding mandibles before they could reach him, and held them shut. Macurus yanked her head free of his grasp and prepared to bite again, and he kicked a muddy boot into the delicate mouthparts the jaws shielded. She jerked back, wiping some of the mud out while he started to rise, and she attacked the chest armor. This time she was successful, scarring the emblem on the front and pressing a button. His helmet came down, and Buzz suddenly had to defend his face, adrenaline keeping him from noticing the heavy claws digging into his stomach. He angled his legs underneath her and kicked, then fired at her to keep her away while he raced to his feet. She turned the direction Mira had just gone, and Buzz blocked her path, breathing heavily. Craters, he was tired. But so was Macrurus...

"Get out of my way!"

"No!"

"Useless thief!" Macrurus flew at him, and he stopped her with a punch to the dent in her thorax. Buzz shook his hand- his knuckles were starting to hurt. Something caught his eye, and just in time he grabbed at the air, stopping a pair of muddy hands from reaching his throat.

The other set of claws raked his scalp. He shouted and covered the wounds, and she body-slammed him. He grunted and collapsed almost to the slippery ground- she grabbed his jaw roughly and forced him to look her in the eye before that.

"I'll be back for you, Lightyear, and when I do I'll bring you to Our Mother myself," she snarled. "And then I'll watch you go screaming down Her throat like you deserve." The orange and yellow terror squeezed his face and threw him down.

By the time he'd gotten back up she was gone. He rubbed his aching jaw and groaned in dismay, following the distant crashing sounds through the dense plant growth. He felt a sharp pain under his chest armor, and his hand came away bloody. She tried to gut me!

It was then Buzz realized Macrurus wasn't that interested in him or his team- aside from feeding them to her Queen, as she'd so graphically informed him. She wanted Ty back, probably so she could finish what she'd started, and she wouldn't stop chasing him until they were in space. If she could salvage the capture attempt on his team? That was a bonus. Buzz had only been a shiny distraction, and once he wasn't able to stop her she went straight back to her search.

Buzz's lip curled into a snarl, his competitive side joining his thoughts: So, she thought she'd beaten him, that she had him at her mercy, ready to be dragged off like a sack of potatoes whenever she got around to it? Not a chance, Macrurus. He was nearly offended. Don't count me out yet.

Booster and XR waited, watching for any sign of their teammates (or any Apocritans). In the meantime, XR had fallen asleep with an old copy of Victoria's Circuits on his helmet. Booster was rereading the files XR had taken from Talnak's computer. Some of it was really technical, but eventually he puzzled most of it out. He was focusing on a simpler document.

According to the piece of paper (a series of messages between Talnak and a friend of his), Talnak had been one of the many, many Lahilans opposed to abandoning their claim on Apocrita, and only gave up on pushing that agenda because he went into politics in a time when it was an unpopular opinion. He was still reliving the glory days with most of his business partners, and this particular friend of his was trying to convince him to allow a private expedition 'for old time's sake'.

Talnak only said no because he didn't want to lose his job.

Booster jolted upright when the screen next to him blinked on. A bloody-faced and panting Buzz barked at them. "Booster, XR! Be ready for take off, we'll be there in five minutes!"

XR flailed and fell out of his seat. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"I'll explain later- just be ready, we're being pursued so be ready for anything!"

"Right!"

"Got it, Buzz!"

Rhyssa's clawed feet squelched in the mud. It wasn't a nice thing to have stolen Ty from the camp, but the other Rangers were a very good distraction for whoever it was she'd heard coming. Soon she'd outstripped the others, and slowed to a walk. A few glum and soggy hours later, her goal was in sight.

There it was! The ship! All Rhyssa had to do now was dump him next to it, and she could go home and wash her hands of this whole nightmare. The others would take him away, and (if they were telling the truth) he would recover. And if it turned out he didn't make it anyway, it wouldn't be her fault. The downpour would hide her smell. Nobody would have proof of the crime. Ty would be gone, nothing more than a springtime oddity, and it wouldn't be because someone killed him. Everything would be alright. She wouldn't be caught. It would be her secret.

She rattled her mandibles cheerfully and shifted her grip. The rain was making him slippery. That done, she started flying. Something struck her back, and her face hit the ground. Luckily she kept Ty from splashing in the mud, and popped back on her feet before her attacker could do anything else. She bared her mandibles and flared her wings, hissing at whoever it was that dared ruin this moment.

It was Macrurus.