Trance walked through the village towards her house. She had been to all the houses whose inhabitants were ill. She thought she recognised the symptoms but the only way to know for sure was to check her ships database. She entered her home and was greeted by the rasping cough coming from her fathers room. She opened the door and entered. Her mother was sitting beside the bed trying to bring down his temperature. "Mother?"
The woman looked up at her. "Yes dear?"
"Um can I examine Father again? I think I know what's wrong with him I just need to double-check and then see if the symptoms match what's on the database on my ship."
"I can check that information for you. You can look after him. It will save you some time."
Trance nodded and turned back to her father checking his vital signs. Her mother left the house and walked to the ship. She entered the space craft and jumped at what she saw. A young human female with ginger-coloured hair and emerald-green eyes stared at her and yelled something she didn't understand. The woman yelled back in her own language and called for help. Others in the village heard her screams and came out to investigate. They grabbed the girl and dragged her into the village. Trance heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on. She saw Isis in the middle of a crowd of her people looking scared out of her wits. "Wait! Stop!" Trance yelled at them. She ran to the crowd and took hold of Isis' arm. "Are you OK?" she asked the girl.
"Trance? Trance what's going on? Where am I?" Isis said fearfully.
The people stared at the two of them. "Trance who is this?" Her mother questioned.
Trance looked at her. "This is one of my friends from the Andromeda. Her name is Isis and-"
"You brought her here?! Trance you know that no one from the other side is to come here. We can't risk her telling her people about this place. She must be dealt with accordingly and you as well my child."
Isis stared at the purple woman. She could tell she was angry even though she couldn't understand what was being said. Trance yelled something back at the woman. Isis' eyes scanned the rest of the crowd. All of them were staring at her with fear and hatred in their eyes, their tails moving angrily in the air. Isis looked at the ground. She didn't understand what was going on. All she knew was she had followed Trance to, firstly, apologise to her for what had happened at dinner and secondly, to tell her she didn't have to leave the Andromeda because Isis would leave her alone about where she came from. She didn't know how she had gotten here and she didn't even know where here was. She guessed she was on Trance's planet. There was a pause in the yelling and Isis looked up again. Trance whispered to her "You're going to have to go with them for now but I promise I'll get you out of this Isis. You have to trust me."
Isis nodded. She was too scared to do anything else. She was brought into a house and locked in the basement. She sat in the darkness, trying to figure out what would happen next.
Trance watched as Isis was being lead away. She couldn't believe this had happened. She turned to her mother and said "Mother she's just a girl. She can't harm us. Please let her go."
"No Trance. You know we can't do that, we have to follow the law. You must also be punished for bringing her here."
"But Mother. She's not even an adult yet. Isis is only sixteen. She has her whole life ahead of her and she'll do so many great things in the universe."
"She should have thought about that before she came here."
"She doesn't know where here is!" Trance turned on her heel and started towards the house they had taken Isis to. "Trance what are you doing?" her mother yelled at her.
Trance ignored her and headed towards the house. She entered and moved to the door to the basement. It was locked. Trance examined the possibilities and went into the kitchen. The key was hanging on a hook. Trance grabbed it and unlocked the door. Isis looked up. Fear was etched across her face. "Trance? Trance where are we? What's going on? Why was I put down here?"
"Isis it's OK."
"No it's not. Trance enough with the secrecy where are we?"
"You're in my world, Isis. This is my home."
"I sorta thought that when I saw all those people with purple or blue skin and tails. Not very friendly are they?"
"We don't like strangers. We first saw all the other races when they were in the middle of the war against the Nietzscheans. We were convinced that you were dangerous and cruel so we forbid anyone to leave this place."
"Then how did you manage to leave?"
"There was a disagreement in our.....government I suppose is the equivalent in your language. Neither side would budge and eventually it led to a war. I considered the possibilities and I saw that it would be better if I left. I wouldn't make a difference here but I could make a difference out in your world... so I left."
"Yes and then you left the Andromeda. I'm sorry Trance about what happened at dinner but you didn't have to leave because of it."
"I didn't. I got a transmission from my mother, telling me that the war was over and my father was sick. She said I could come home."
"You could have said something." Isis' voice was harsh.
"I couldn't....you would have asked too many questions."
"Yeah and you could've just blown them off like you did all the time." Isis was clearly becoming angry. She hadn't liked being locked in the basement. It reminded her too much of the time she had spent aboard Nietzschean slave ships.
A loud angry voice spoke from the doorway, saying something Isis couldn't understand. Trance turned to the voice and argued back. Five of Trance's people came down the steps and grabbed Isis. "Trance what's going on?" Isis said
"You're going to the village council. You're very lucky. I convinced them to give you a chance to defend yourself."
"But I don't understand what they're saying."
Trance followed the group. "I'll translate for you."
Isis was brought to a large building where she was put before a group of six people. They spoke to her and Trance translated.
"Human. You have come to our world where you are not welcome. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I didn't come here on purpose," Isis said shakily. "I saw Trance leaving and I followed her to try and convince her to stay. She's our friend and we need her on the Andromeda."
Trance translated what Isis had said. There was silence in the room. One of the council members asked Trance a question and Trance replied with a nod. The council member turned to Isis and said something that Trance translated as, "You said Trance was your friend. She says that's true. But what I am wondering is do you humans even know what friendship is and are you even capable of it?"
"I thought you said I was here to defend myself?" Isis said to Trance.
Trance nodded. "You are. They're trying to figure out if you are what I say you are. If you prove their idea of you wrong they might give you a light punishment."
"A lighter punishment? What's the harder punishment?"
Trance looked at the ground and then back at Isis. "Death."
