Chapter 1 - The Passing of Time

Jet sat up and yawned before looking at his watch. He slowly rubbed his eyes and looked at his watch again.

"Oh man!" he yawned, "It's three in the morning."

"Ah quit complaining kitty face." came a reply from one side.

Jet sleepily looked over to see Andrew fishing through a box of tools. Jet starred at the human and then looked away with a yawn. The pair of them was sat in the belly of an Earth Alliance transport, the same one that had carried Links and his group to the Phantom and back. The ship was pretty badly shot up and repair work had gone into overdrive during the last couple of months. Why? Simply put they needed it. It was now five months after Andrew had decided to stay on Little Planet and a mere few weeks after deciding to stay he had accomplished something that Jet had struggled with for months, the cracking of the codes given to them by the group of humans calling themselves the Higara Coalition. Needless to say once Andrew had found out the codes hadn't come from Robotropolis he had exploded. Jet remember the incident clearly, he had been looking down the business end of a rifle for the whole event. Finally Andrew had calmed down and things had settled back to their usual pace. Jet could still tell Andrew was angry at them for lying to him but everyone knew he couldn't go back to the Earth Alliance.

Jet had often found himself feeling sorry for Andrew. Yes he was from the Earth Alliance and they had caused way too much suffering already but Andrew seemed different to Morgan or the other officers. He reminded Jet slightly of what Francis had been like. Francis had been a good friend and he often wondered if Andrew could be a good friend also. Andrew was now stuck between worlds. After helping to stop Basanda he couldn't return to the Alliance without risk of a court marshal or execution, or both, and he wasn't really welcome within the furry world either. Jet continued to look at Andrew as the human finally turned to look at him.

"What you complaining about now eh?" he asked gruffly.

"I'm tired." yawned Jet.

"Tired! Bah! You don't even know what that means. At the academy I had to go on a seven day survival hike, I didn't get any sleep for three days on one occasion."

Jet just moaned slightly as he looked back at Andrew.

"But then I was twice your age. Fine, go get a few hours sleep, but I want you back here before eight ok."

Jet was about to complain but then realised if he did he'd probably be made to come back earlier. He slowly nodded and then staggered from the room. As he walked towards his room he started muttering to himself.

"Jeez! When they said it was my job to help Andrew I didn't think it'd turn out to be like a military camp. That guys a machine!"

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Sonic and Sally sat close to each other huddled over a holographic display Nicole was generating. It was late at night but both of them looked wide awake as they looked over the display. A number of empty coffee mugs sat next to them which Sonic slowly looked over at.

"Another coffee Sal?" he asked.

"Not right now Sonic. Give the last one time to work ok." she replied.

"You got it."

Sonic leaned back in his chair and leaned over, resting on the arm as he looked at the display.

"Any more thoughts?" he asked.

"You've been asking me that for weeks Sonic. Simply put no. Look what we have here is all we have."

"But don't you think its…well…a little too little?"

"Yes it is Sonic, and it worries me slightly."

"I know."

They both looked at the display. Nicole was displaying a large holographic image of space. In fact it was a large stellar map that had been included in the encoded transmission. At the moment two things were lit up, one was a small red dot labelled Mobius and the second was a pulsing red sphere somewhere in the blackness of space. Sonic reached forward and tapped the pulsing sphere making it expand, however even with the area expanded there was nothing evident at the point in question.

"Looks like empty space to me." he said.

"Yes I agree Sonic. But then anything could be waiting there. A ship, a base…an attack squadron."

"Sally these guys apparently saved Links and co last year. Remember what you said all that time ago when this first started? About how some of these humans might not actually be cruel and evil? I'm no expert but these guys may be the ones we're looking for."

"I hope so Sonic."

"You decided who's going yet?"

"I'm not sure Sonic. The message say six people maximum but we don't really have all that many options."

"I know Sal…but we'll puzzle about that later."

"Yeah."

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Petya sat with a small smile on her face as she watched the sun slowly rising out of the window. Beside her sat T2 who was watching her with a smile on his face. It had been a long road, nearly a year now, but finally Petya was starting to return to normal. She was still jumpy and scarred at times and was rarely seen in public without T2 at her side but still T2 felt happy. It may take another year, or longer, for her to regain her full personality but she would eventually, T2 knew it. Presently Petya turned to him and their gaze met. For a moment they looked at each other and then Petya turned away sharply with a smile.

"I want to go there." she said aimlessly.

"Where?" asked T2.

"There…out there."

"Space?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I dunno."

T2 sighed slowly, smiling as he did. Petya had gotten more and more mysterious lately and he didn't know why, frankly he didn't care though. He slowly got up and left Petya staring out of the window as he walked over to a sink at the other side of the room and poured himself a large glass of water. Just then there was a knock on the door making T2 glance over at it.

"Yes?" he asked.

"T2, it's Links." came the reply.

"Come on in."

The door slowly opened and the blue fox stepped through. Suddenly there was a yelp and a thud and both Links and T2 looked over to see what had caused it. Petya was on the floor behind the bed peeking out slightly. She was shaking slightly and her fur was bristling. T2 shot a glance back at Links to see he was carrying his staff with him, he quickly waved a hand a him.

"Links! The staff, quick!" he hissed.

Links looked at him and then quickly nodded. He placed his staff down on the ground in a corner of the room and unclipped the amulet from his shoulder pads before laying that down also. He then stood up fully and turned back into the room. T2 was now coaxing Petya out from behind the bed and slowly Links walked over to them.

"Sorry Petya." he said slowly, "It slipped my mind."

Petya just gave a few quick nods in response. T2 rose an eyebrow at him.

"Please be more careful Links. You know very well that Petya doesn't like any power source right now except for Lavender." he said.

"I'm sorry T2, when you're fifty two years old things tend to slip your mind occasionally."

T2 just nodded gruffly and turned back to Petya who was now snuggling into his side. Links sat down on the opposite side of T2 that Petya was at and looked at him, T2 looked back at him.

"So what you doing here?" asked T2, "It's still early you know."

"I know but I couldn't sleep. I've been thinking about things." replied Links.

"Like?"

"Many things T2, the events of a year ago have been heavy on my mind."

Petya made a small whimpering cry.

"Don't mention that too much Links." replied T2 gripping Petya's hand tighter to reassure her, "Petya here is still a bit sensitive about it."

"Yes I know T2, but still that's what I've been thinking about. Not what happened on the ship, but what happened afterwards."

"You mean the run in with those guys who gave you the message right?"

"Girl in this case but yes. I've been pondering over who they are."

"Well I guess you'll find out soon enough Links. It's only a few days until the year is up. I just hope that Jet and Andrew figured everything out alright."

"Jet is capable enough."

"And Andrew?"

Links just looked away and gave a grunt. He didn't approve of the human staying with them but had so far not challenged the decision.

"I'll make no comment on him. But what I'd like to know is who Sonic and Sally are going to pick to go on this mission."

"Me too."

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Miles stretched slightly as he lay on his back with the dappled sun fanning his face. After waking up that morning Miles had spent most of the day right here relaxing with a very special person. He sat up and looked over at her. Lavender lay on her front, with her head buried in a patch of grass, snoring happily to herself. Her tails stuck up into the air like a fountain and acted like a huge umbrella, protecting them both from the sun. Miles wondered how she managed to hold her tails up like that when she was asleep. Just then a pulling on his toe made him look down. Attached to his foot was a thin piece of line that led down a small bank and into a river.

"Looks like I got a bite." chuckled Miles giving his foot a flick.

The line tightened and then a small fish flew out of the water and landed next to him. He leaned over and picked it up.

"Ah jeez! Another small one!" he complained unhooking the fish and throwing it back, "Isn't there anything even remotely big in this river?"

"No."

Miles jumped and looked to his side to see that Lavender was waking.

"Jeez Lav you shocked me there."

"Aaaah, sorry." yawned Lavender.

"Good sleep?"

"The best."

Lavender rolled over and sat up, her tails folding down and removing the shade as she did.

"Hot day." she said.

"Yeah very." replied Miles.

"What we need is Links."

"Huh?!"

"He could make a few clouds for us."

"…oh yeah right. Eh heh."

"Silly, what did you think I wanted Links for?"

"I dunno…we could have shoved his staff in his stomach and made a tent out of him."

Lavender started giggling, screwing up her face as she did making her look like some sort of gerbil. Miles chuckled slightly too.

"Fancy some food?" he asked.

"Sure, mom should be home." replied the kitsune.

"Righto then."

Miles leaned over and undid the string from his toe before putting his shoes back on. Lavender meanwhile got up and stretched before using three of her tails to take off. She stretched again in mid air and then turned to Miles who smiled back at her. The pair set off back towards the house, Miles strolling and Lavender flying. They soon passed the huge dark form of the Earth Alliance transport. Outside of it a figure was snoozing in the sun. As they got closer they could see it was Jet. Lavender snickered.

"He was up to late last night." she said.

"Yeah I know. Bumbling fool woke me up when he finally did get to bed." replied Miles.

"Well it's not as if you've been doing anything today."

"Yeah true…I so feel like waking him up though."

"Miles…"

"Ok ok, just a joke."

The pair continued on soon making it to the house and stepping inside, finding Amy in the kitchen making a cup of tea. As they entered she noticed them and turned to look at them.

"Hello Lavender, having fun?" she asked.

Lavender gave a quick nod and smiled.

"And how are you Miles?" continued Amy.

"Oh the usual, fine I guess." replied Miles.

"Good good, let me guess, hungry?"

Both Lavender and Miles nodded a few times.

"Well you're in luck, Marian made a large tray of cookies this morning. They're in that tin there." said Amy nodding with her head.

Miles was at the tin before she had even finished speaking. Lavender meanwhile had raced over to the fridge to get some milk. She quickly poured a couple of glasses and raced over to where Miles was. Miles was now tucking into the biscuits with a vengeance.

"Hey Miles slow down! There'll be none left for me!" she cried virtually jumping into the tin.

Amy gave a sigh and shook her head.

"Something's never change."

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Alindel sat quietly on her bed reading. Outside it was starting to get dark but the sun hadn't completely set yet. Alindel was so engrossed in her book the person at the door had to knock three times before they got an answer.

"Y..yes?" said Alindel looking up at the third knock.

"It's Chalk, can I talk to you?" came a reply.

"Of course."

The door clicked and slowly opened to reveal Chalk. The rabbit stood for a moment scratching her arm in the doorway before sitting down next to Alindel. Alindel had now put her book away and was looking at her waiting.

"I'm worried Alindel." said Chalk finally.

"Chalk that's nothing new, you're always worried about something." replied Alindel smoothly.

"Yes but…I'm worried about Bunnie."

"Aah."

"It just seems like history is repeating itself. Remember I went off for weeks with Sonia?"

"I don't remember that Chalk, remember I wasn't here at that time, but yes I was told about that."

"We rabbits are a bit like this. Going of on our own from time to time but…this time Bunnie has gone by herself and with the Earth Alliance still prowling around…"

"Chalk you needn't worry about her. Granted I've not been here as long as you and I don't know her as well as some of the others but she seems capable enough."

"Yes but after what she went though, what we all went through, losing Knuckles and…and Sonia…"

"Hush child." said Alindel tapping a finger on her lips, "Just like you had to go off, so too now does Bunnie. It's just one of those things."

"Wish I'd gone with her."

"Chalk you're better off here. You're got more important things to do."

"Sure doesn't seem that way."

"Trust me Chalk. Everyone has a greater purpose, you'll find yours soon enough."

"I guess."

"Yes, now you go and scoot of back to your room and let me get back to my book. It's just getting interesting."

Chalk gave a small laugh.

"Well I best not keep you I guess." she said getting up, "Night Alindel, and thanks."

"Anytime deary, now go get some rest, we have big times coming up."

"I know…I know."