Tear in Your Hand

by Raederle

As the crew of the Christa continues their journey, they come upon a strange object in space. In the attempt to examine this mysterious object, they unconsciously bring upon themselves serious troubles. And when they discover an intruder aboard, an even d

2. Part One

Tear in Your Hand

Part One

<BGSOUND="acc/rainyday.mid" loop=infinite>

 

"What are you up to, Suzee?" Goddard walked calmly into the engine room. Suzee was under a panel.

 

"Trying to figure something out." Suzee replied without too much hostility. At least it wasn't Ms. Davenport bothering her.

 

"Like why Yensidian techniques are incompatible with Luminarian design?" He suggested, crouching down to her level. She slid out from under the panel and met his eye.

 

"You made the engines faster. You're not even an engineer." She accused.

 

"I was. For about three months."

 

Suzee shot him a skeptical look, so he continued.

 

"It's true. Our chief engineer got himself killed by an Andromedan and they needed an officer with ranking to take his place until we got back home." Goddard sighed almost comically. "And when I say got himself killed, I mean that. The dolt got run over by an Andromedan going somewhere at breakneck speed. And then when it turned out that he was lucky enough to be unscathed by that, the Andromedan came back to see if he was okay. He pulled a blaster on him. When the Andromedan raised his hand to defend himself, he accidentally knocked the blaster into the engineer's skull."

 

Suzee glared at him for a moment then started to laugh.

 

"What a story!" She exclaimed shaking her head at the Commander. "Was that during the war?"

 

"I have a million of them. I think Catalina's been forced to listen to about half. Let me see what you're working on." He took a CompuPAD that was lying near the tools Suzee had been using. "No, actually it was about ten years prior."

 

"I was trying to see if I could modify the engines to use the techniques I had before, but with less fuel consumption."

 

"Looks like it should work."

 

"In theory." Suzee muttered dejectedly. And as she had learned all too well, theories could be disastrously wrong.

 

"A lot of things work in theory. Communism worked in theory. Let's see if this works in reality."

 

Suzee looked at him in shock. The Commander shouldn't be that capricious, considering what had happened the last time. "What if it doesn't work?? Our fuel supply could be demolished."

 

He shrugged. "We're stopping for repairs soon anyway. Anything that could get us home faster would be appreciated."

 

"It could be an expensive mistake." Suzee warned.

 

"So could have the last one." He pointed out gravely. "We'll warn Harlan before we get started."

 

Suzee nodded.

 

* * *

 

"What? Was it moving at all?" Radu asked incredulously. Scientifically, the object had to be moving in some direction due to gravity.

 

"No, it wasn't." Thelma answered. She looked at him blankly for more questions.

 

Radu blinked hard. As the general confusion spread through the Command Post, Bova moved over to Radu's post. He punched a few buttons.

 

"Screen on. There it is." The Uranisu said pointing.

 

"That's not a planet." Harlan stated obtusely, staring at the crystallized gray ball floating in space.

 

"How'd you find it?" Radu asked.

 

"Whoever's on that thing used a random dispersal field to hide its presence. I think they noticed us coming towards them. They disappeared about three minutes after we changed course to their direction."

 

"Should we follow it?" Rosie asked innocently.

 

Radu shook his head vigorously. "No way."

 

"Sure!" Harlan said at the same time.

 

"We can't do that without the Commander's permission!" Radu admonished. "And he would definitely say no. They could be dangerous, and they obviously don't want to be found."

 

"Or they're lying in wait for someone stupid enough to come after them." Bova remarked.

 

"He told you to set a course, didn't he?" Harlan rationalized. "He trusts us to handle it."

 

Radu gave him a skeptical look. "I don't think we should, Harlan. I'd like to keep his trust."

 

"Come on, Radu. Show me where it's gone. What if we need to know about these guys to get out of the sector? What better way than an examination?"

 

Radu furrowed his brow pensively, then typed in the coordinates.

 

"Just... be careful." He said, licking his lips. "Keep a good distance."

 

"Gotcha." Harlan complied. Bova and Rosie looked on anxiously.

 

"It's moved again, Harlan. " Radu warned. "We have to stop this now. They know we can see them."

 

"Radu, don't be a chicken."

 

"It could already be too late. What if this is only a primary defense? We don't have any weapons."

 

"Radu's right Harlan, we'd better stay away." Rosie said looking over at Bova wondering why he wasn't standing up to Harlan instead.

 

"I don't think P4 is there." Radu said finitely. "Spock said that it might not be."

 

"What about the other places?" Rosie asked. "I set up about twenty."

 

"And they're all labeled as dangerous?" Harlan put in. "I thought planetside markets were safer."

 

"They are. I don't think there are many safe places to stop around here, Harlan." Radu remarked distastefully. "I'll set a course for Sandrines. I hear it's okay. It's a little farther away, but there's a station market nearby. I bet most of the troublemakers go there to do business. It's easier to escape a station."

 

"Sorry, Radu." Rosie said glancing sideways.

 

"Don't worry about it." Radu said smiling at her. "If Spock didn't know about it, I don't know who else could be expected to."

 

"We'd better tell Commander Goddard before we get there." Rosie said genially accepting Radu's explanation. Harlan nodded.

 

"I will. He should be back up here in a bit."

 

"We should tell him about that sphere, too." Radu mentioned. Harlan shook his head.

 

"Why should we? They aren't following us, are they? No blood, no foul."

 

"What?" Radu thought that Earthers must have an endless supply of euphemisms.

 

"I mean: it'll keep." Harlan sighed.

 

Radu frowned. "Um... whatever."

 

* * *

In the cargo bay, a dark figure slinked in between crates. It moved lithely, silently. Only an Andromedan could have heard its movements, if the Andromedan had been listening for it. Even then, the dark figure was like a shadow, an echo of a sound.

 

The dark figure approached the door. It did not open. Reaching into its pocket, the dark figure pulled out a circular device and attached it to the door, which promptly opened.

 

The dark figure slid into the hallway, perking pointed ears for the sounds of the crew. It found a shadow and disappeared.

 

* * *

 

"Commander." Thelma said suddenly. Goddard jumped and hit his head on the top of the console that he was under.

 

"What, Thelma?" He said with restrained irritation. Suzee wiped some grease from her face, smearing it, and smirked.

 

"There is apparently a malfunction in the doors to the cargo bay. They have opened and closed by themselves."

 

Goddard furrowed a brow. "Is this a serious malfunction?"

 

"No, Commander, but when the doors malfunction, the jump tubes generally follow. Their circuits run close to each other in the Master Protomix."

 

Goddard nodded. He turned to Suzee. "You think we should hold off on this until we can be sure the ship is in order?"

 

"Might as well." She shrugged. "We're not going anywhere."

 

"Okay. You tackle the Master Protomix. I'll go check the cargo bay to see if it's a centralized problem."

 

Suzee nodded and moved into the other chamber of the engine room.

 

"Lead the way, Thelma." Goddard said.

 

* * *

 

The dark figure stopped abruptly in the shadows. A tall, ominous figure was walking directly towards it. It remained perfectly still in observance.

 

"The circuits look fine." The deep voice boomed. The dark figure's ears quivered. "Wait."

 

The android beside him twitched, making a noise.

 

"The circuits were bypassed by something. This isn't a ship wide problem. Yet." He touched the wall. "Goddard to Suzee."

 

"Yes, Commander?" The sound came over the Comm.

 

"How's it going up there?"

 

"Fine. There's nothing with the circuits up here. Crystals are fine, too. I don't know what the problem is."

 

"I might. Let me examine this for a minute, then I'll meet you at the Command Post."

 

"Okay, Commander. Suzee out."

 

The man pulled a scanner from his pocket and ran it over the door. Did he know?

 

"Thelma, are their any new organisms aboard the Christa?" He did.

 

"No, Commander. The Christa is reading only us."

 

"Hmm." The man stood straight and a frown deepened in his face. "Let's go. I need to talk to Radu."

 

Suddenly the tall man stopped. He fell over into a slump against the wall. The dark figure rose out of the shadow and grabbed the crystal out of Thelma's head.

 

The dark figure pulled the Commander and the android into the cargo bay and shut the door, slipping into the shadows once more.

 

* * *

 

"Is Goddard back yet?" Suzee asked as she slid into the ComPost. She was a little late. She'd been tracking an EM fluctuation around the jump tubes that she'd found a moment after Goddard had cut communication.

 

"Nope. What are you guys doing?" Harlan said. He heard Rosie giggle.

 

"You have engine grease all over your face." Rosie said mirthfully. Radu grinned as Suzee shrugged as though she didn't care. He leaned over and got a cloth for her.

 

"Here. What's up?" He smiled softly. She smiled back.

 

"Goddard and I were trying to find a way to use my expertise to make the engines go faster. Then there was a door malfunction, and we decided to check that out before breaking the ship again." She leaned against Radu's console. "He said he was going to look the doors over a little before he came up here. He's probably still analyzing."

 

"Probably." Radu said. "We're only halfway there. It's going to take another day or so to get to a good station."

 

"Okay. Maybe we'll wait to mess with the Christa." Suzee frowned. She walked over to the helm and activated the Com system. "Suzee to Goddard. Still alive down there?"

 

"Impatient." Harlan accused, grinning.

 

"Damn straight." She said. "He's not answering. Radu, can you hear him down there?"

 

Radu inclined his head forward and perked his ears. Sounds filtered in harshly on his sensitive ears. He focused. A deep, familiar beating down in the cargo bay came to him.

 

"He's inside the cargo bay." Radu said. Another sound, unfamiliar, came to him. Probably because he'd never heard this heartbeat before. "There's someone else on the ship that wasn't here before."

 

"Are you sure?" Harlan asked.

 

"Yes. It's... it's hard to keep track of. It was in the cargo bay, but then it's on the other side of the ship." Radu shook his head. "This is weird. Commander Goddard would answer."

 

"Rosie." Harlan said firmly. "Why don't you and Radu go check in on him?"

 

Rosie nodded and looked to Radu, who was already heading towards the jumptubes.

 

The two students soon arrived in the cargo bay to find the Commander lying limply on the floor. Rosie gasped and ran over to him.

 

"Commander?" She lifted his head gently and felt the back. "There's something stuck in his neck, Radu."

 

Radu knelt down and took a look. "It looks sharp."

 

"I bet it is." Rosie kept his head aloft as she burrowed into the medical bag she'd taken to carrying around with her. She pulled out two vials, one yellow and one purple. "Hold his head up a minute."

 

Radu took the Commander's head gently, slightly afraid his "helping" would hurt the Commander in some way. Still, he kept silent as Rosie took off her gloves and wet a piece of gauze with the yellow liquid. She dabbed it on the back of the Commander's neck.

 

"This is an anesthetic. It should be perfect for Earthers."

 

"What are you going to do?" Radu asked attentively. Rosie bit her lip.

 

"I'm going to pull this thing out."

 

"Maybe I should."

 

Rosie looked up at him in surprise. "You think you can get it?"

 

"Well, you know more about medicine than me. And if you cut yourself on that thing, and you go unconscious... all I could do would be carry you both to the Medlab."

 

Rosie nodded severely, taking Goddard's head back. She half-hoped the Commander would wake up from all the roughing they were unintentionally giving to him. He didn't, and Radu firmly placed his thumb and index finger over the sliver protruding from Goddard's neck. At first it didn't budge, but soon it began to slide free, a thin rivulet of blood running down his skin and staining Radu's gloves. Goddard made an unconscious groan.

 

"Here it is." Radu said nervously, holding it up. It was little more than a hole-less needle. A round slice of metal covered in Goddard's blood. Rosie creased a brow in thought as she applied the purple liquid to the Commander.

 

"It doesn't look like it could do that much damage."

 

"It could be poisoned." Radu pointed out. He suddenly looked around. "Someone put this in him, Rosie. Be careful."

 

"I wonder where Thelma is. She could tell us if it has poison on it. Otherwise, I'm going to have to get him back to the Medlab to tell."

 

Radu nodded. Rosie handed him a case, and he carefully put the sliver in it. The last thing they needed was someone trying to carry him to the Medlab.

 

"Hey, guys." Radu pressed the Comm. "Commander Goddard is down here. I think we should stay in groups, or at least pairs. "

 

"What happened?" Harlan asked. Radu sighed.

 

"We're not sure, but we think someone poisoned the Commander. He's unconscious. We have to take him to the Medlab. Is Thelma up there?"

 

"No, she's not. I'll see if we can get Ms. Davenport to come and stay up here with us." Harlan replied.

 

"Good. And if you should probably start running scans of the ship. We need to find out who this is and if they mean us any harm."

 

"Gotcha, Radu. Suzee and Bova are on it."

 

"And Harlan?"

 

"What?"

 

"Tell everyone to be careful."

 

"You always say that." Harlan grinned. "I will."

 

"This is bad." Suzee said flatly. Bova looked at her.

 

"No kidding?"

 

"I mean, Radu's senses are telling him that there's someone on board, but the computers are denying it." Suzee looked over to Harlan. "It's like this person has a cloak on them."

 

Harlan shook his head. "Well, just have to hope nothing happens before we get to the station."

 

"I'd say something has already happened." Bova said darkly.

 

* * *

 

 

Back in the Medlab, Rosie and Radu had picked up Ms. Davenport on the way and were trying to awaken the Commander.

 

"Not poison. But a really strong sedative." Rosie concluded. Ms. Davenport covered her mouth.

 

"Is he in danger?"

 

"I don't think so, not immediately anyway. Though this stuff can't be good for his long-term health." Rosie prepared a hypospray. "I'm going to wake him up."

 

Radu pushed some gossamer fluff of hair behind his ears. The Commander had grown quite pale from the time they'd been in the cargo bay until they'd gotten to the Medlab. Whatever reason the intruder had for taking Goddard out, Radu wasn't comfortable with him looking so corpse-like.

 

Rosie pressed the hypospray to Goddard's neck. The next few seconds seemed like hours to Radu, but finally the Commander's heart began to speed up.

 

"Wha... what-?" Goddard tried to rise, but Rosie placed a hand over his chest.

 

"Not yet. Tell us what happened first."

 

As though the order had come from Dalia Ionni herself, Goddard responded. "I found some tampering with the doors. Radu?"

 

Radu leaned over the Commander so that he could see him.

 

"Radu, have you heard anything strange? Thelma couldn't pick out any new presences, but..."

 

"Yeah, Harlan just told us the same thing." Radu said quietly. "And I have been hearing someone else. Someone small."

 

"That's probably who attacked you." Davenport held up the sliver for him to see.

 

"Bloody-" Goddard muttered to himself. He tried to rise again, but Rosie caught his eye. "I fell for that one like a rookie. I didn't even hear anyone."

 

"I can barely hear it, Commander. " Radu said. "I'd hardly expect any of you to."

 

"Probably trained in stealth. " The Commander concluded finally winning and sitting up. "Well, we'll see if we can't ditch them on the station."

 

Rosie took a scanner and ran it over the Commander.

 

"Where's Thelma?" He asked frowning at the scanner as though it were its fault he had to stay still.

 

"We didn't see her." Rosie admitted. Radu nodded in accordance.

 

"She was with me." Goddard mused. "I wonder what happened to her."

 

Radu shrugged. "We should all go up to the ComPost and make a plan. By now, the intruder might have control of our Comm system and be listening to our messages."

 

"Good idea, Radu." Goddard stood uncertainly. Ms. Davenport grabbed his shoulder, to his dismay, to keep him steady. He pursed his lips. "Let's go."

 

Goddard tried to walk steadily. He was certainly glad they'd stopped meddling with the engines. He tried to shake the drowsiness from his head as they entered the jumptubes, frowning a bit and rubbing his temple.

 

* * *

 

Goddard paced nervously up and down the Command Post.

 

"Suzee, I want you and Radu to work together. If you can, tell her where the intruder is, she can analyze the computer readouts of every location. Hopefully we'll be able to find something to track him by."

 

Suzee nodded, head buried in the console. "First I should reroute the engine controls here. In case our stowaway decided to get cute with the engines."

 

Goddard nodded. "Maybe I should go down there and keep an eye on them. We also need to find Thelma."

 

"You shouldn't go alone, Commander." Rosie said with concern. "I'm not too familiar with that type of sedative. You could get hurt."

 

"Yeah, Commander." Harlan piped in. "Let me come along. I'll watch your back."

 

"I have serious misgivings about allowing a student out at a time like this." Davenport warned shrilly. Goddard hated to admit it, but he agreed.

 

"This could be very dangerous, Harlan. And besides," He cocked his head. "Who's going to fly the ship?"

 

"I can." Bova said quietly. "If we don't hit any rough patches. Of course, the way things are going today, we'll probably run into an asteroid field."

 

Goddard rubbed his chin for a moment and then looked to Ms. Davenport, who seemed none too happy about the turn of events. She frowned at him and sighed.

 

"You can't go alone. Even if I were certain you were in tip-top shape, and I doubt even then. We need Radu up here, and Harlan is a good fighter. Go on." Ms. Davenport pursed her lips to contradict her relenting tone.

 

"Alright." Goddard beckoned Harlan. "Let's see what we can find. Suzee, call us on the Comm in the engine room if you can find anything."

 

"If you guys find anything, just whisper." Radu said softly. "I'll be listening."

 

"Good idea." Goddard nodded, and Harlan followed him as they left.

 

Bova walked up to the helm and glanced back at Radu and Suzee, who were intent on their task of hunting the intruder down. He glared at the viewscreen and hoped that the course would stay steady. He'd probably mess it up, and Radu would have to take over, missing an important message from the Commander and Harlan. Then the intruder would kill them.

 

Why didn't the intruder kill the Commander when he had the chance? Bova wondered absently. It was awfully pacifistic to just sedate him and be on his merry way. It was almost like the intruder just wanted to observe them, and not hurt them. Bova couldn't hope that it could be true, however. Still, he'd had the perfect chance, he'd been on board at least since that morning, and he hadn't even tried to take over the ship! Or turn Thelma against them. Though he could imagine that the intruder was doing that this minute. Still...

 

"Hey, Suz." Bova said absently. Suzee didn't look up, but Radu and Rosie looked over at him.

 

"What do you want, Bova?" She said emotionlessly. Bova couldn't help but imagine that she was an android sometimes. With an attitude.

 

"It's probably nothing, but can you search for scattering fields while you're at it? Navigation should have a pattern in its memories."

 

"What are you thinking, Bova?" Radu said, tapping a few buttons on the Nav console to transfer the data. Bova shrugged.

 

"Like I said, it's probably nothing, but..."

 

"But?" Suzee asked with irritation.

 

"But the intruder's tactics seem a lot like those of the sphere we encountered. They could be watching us. To see if we need to be destroyed, of course."

 

Radu's eyes widened. "Oh, no."

 

Suzee jerked her head up. "What sphere? What are you talking about?"

 

"We... we may have aggravated the wrong people when we were first looking for a planet to land on." Radu answered uncertainly. "We could be in trouble."

 

"You think that might have been something the Commander would have wanted to know about?" Ms. Davenport chastised, flailing her hands.

 

"It's not like we thought they'd come after us." Bova said tartly to her. "Though I might have known. All they did was hide."

 

"Just like our little stowaway." Ms. Davenport put in tersely. "Should we tell the Commander?"

 

"They seem safe right now." Radu reported. The pair was still walking down to the engines. "They might not stay that way if the intruder hears what we know."

 

"We don't know anything yet." Suzee said firmly. "Let's find this twerp first, then discuss what to do."

 

"Right." Radu said. He perked his ears. He pointed to a spot on Suzee's screen. "There."

 

"Hmm..." Suzee paused for several minutes.

 

"Well?" Davenport inquired anxiously.

 

"Give me a minute. Urgh!" Suzee looked up accusingly at Davenport. "I lost him."

 

"We'll keep trying." Radu said soothingly, patting her arm in hopes of averting a small battle. He could almost see the lighting spark between them.

 

"What's important now is that we find a way out of this." Rosie reminded them. "And we will. It's just going to take some time."

 

Bova fought a morbid grin. Only Rosie could see the silver lining on a cloud that represented their deaths.

 

* * *

"Commander, you don't look good."

 

Goddard made a noise deep in his throat as an acknowledgement, but said nothing, pushing forward. His cheeks flushed in a disturbing contrast to his pale face. They were close to the engines and hadn't yet found Thelma.

 

"Maybe you should go back."

 

"No chance, Mr. Band." He stopped and looked around, running his fingers through his hair forcefully. "Did you just see something?"

 

Harlan stopped short and looked around. "No. Did you?"

 

"I didn't see anything. It was almost... the reflection of a shadow."

 

"What?" Harlan asked skeptically. Goddard stood alert, turning his head slowly in observance of his surroundings. Suddenly he moved, jumping towards a shadow.

 

"Oof!" Goddard landed hard. Harlan ran over to him.

 

"What was that?"

 

Goddard sat up dizzily. "That was our intruder."

 

"I didn't see anything. Are you sure your not still drugged?"

 

Goddard turned around slowly with a tense glare twisted upon his face. He held up his hand. In which a black cowl was held tightly.

 

"No. I'm sure that was our intruder. I almost had him."

 

* * *

 

"Oh!" Suzee exclaimed. "I found him. It's like half the cloak is gone."

 

"Where is he?" Ms. Davenport asked with earnest.

 

"He's practically on top of Harlan and the Commander. Kind of hovering there."

 

"The Commander fell a few seconds ago. He said that he'd seen the intruder." Radu reported.

 

"Should we tell them?" Bova asked anxiously.

 

"I don't think so." Davenport said. "They should be keen enough to take care of themselves. Radu, you'll hear if anything happens?"

 

Radu nodded as Bova sighed heavily. They were all going to die.

 

"Then we should wait." Davenport concluded.

 

* * *

 

"Dammit."

 

Harlan looked at the Commander in surprise. He'd always been very careful about swearing in from of the students. Harlan supposed he didn't count, since he wasn't a minor anymore.

 

"Did you find anything?" Harlan approached the Commander, who was crouched down near the Master Protomix.

 

"I found Thelma."

 

"That's good, right?" Harlan cocked his head.

 

"Should be. Except our intruder has taken her memory crystal." Goddard stood slowly, from Harlan's view, out of necessity rather than for effect. "I'm going to set up a force field around the engines, so our intruder can't get in here again. For whatever reason, the engines haven't been tampered with yet."

 

"Then why bother with Thelma?" Harlan couldn't help but think the intruder should at least try to turn Thelma against them. With a computer virus or something.

 

"I don't know. " Goddard bent over the console and started pushing buttons. "Here we go. Suzee will be able to shut it down from the Command Post, but nowhere else. Let's get Thelma back up there. The field will activate behind us."

 

Harlan picked up Thelma and helped the Commander drag her.

 

* * *

 

"This is just getting better and better." Goddard remarked tersely after having heard the whole story. "I don't suppose it occurred to you at any point that we don't have any weapons, should they start firing?"

 

"Actually, it did." Harlan said, taking the brunt of the Commander's wrath. To his surprise, the Commander just sat down on the floor and leaned against the engineering console.

 

"You kids are going to be the death of me." He muttered, rubbing his head. Davenport kneeled down.

 

"Are you alright?"

 

"I feel... weird." He shook his head vigorously. "You said that you could partially track the intruder now. We should try to contain him."

 

Radu nodded. "I can hear him, and Suzee can see him with the ship's sensors a little."

 

"Good. We need to get this under control. Where is he now?"

 

"As far as I can tell, in the boys' bunkroom." Suzee said. Bova frowned.

 

"What's he doing in there?"

 

"As far as I can tell, he's picking up different CompuPADs and reading them." Radu said. Harlan rolled his eyes.

 

"So far this guy doesn't seem to be taking his work seriously. I mean, who takes time off terrorizing a ship to get a little reading in?"

 

"Harlan, Radu, and Rosie, you need to go after him. Suzee can relay messages up here by speaking." The Commander said firmly, sounding a bit more like himself. The three began to leave, but waited a moment for Rosie to grab her medical bag, to which the two adults nodded in approval.

 

The shimmer of a sound preceded the movement. A slight flash shooting out of the shadow of the engineering console. Towards Goddard.

 

Radu, his ears already keened to the movements of the shadowy intruder, moved almost before the sound reached his ears. Goddard's surprised eyes burned with feverish brown awe as the Andromedan flung himself to the ground and grabbed the slender, black-gloved wrist. The small figure struggled as Radu pulled it out of the shadow.

 

"Going after the cowl." Goddard remarked with deep comprehension. "That's why the cloak ceased to be so effective."

 

Radu forcefully held the intruder for them to see.

 

"It's a little girl." Bova said with disbelief. Her face trembled in fear, and she did not speak. A jewel of moisture betrayed her, and slid down her creamy cheek. Her blue eyes blazed at him.

 

"Please... I... I meant no harm." She struggled a little more, then gave up, hanging limply in Radu's merciless grip.

 

"You call this no harm?" Suzee demanded, motioning to Goddard and Thelma.

 

"I... can give you her crystal. I just couldn't have her telling on me before I had the chance to look around. The same with him. The Sith wasn't supposed to make him that sick."

 

Bova looked at her critically. There couldn't be that much difference between her age and Radu's. She was young, and obviously scared. He found himself wanting to believe her. The lights bounced off her long black hair, creating an illusion of blueness to it. She was a very beautiful little girl with something in her eyes that told him this wasn't her first time playing the stowaway. Her pointed ears told him everything else. She was one of the Original Rigelians. Not from any of the planets in the Sol system. If they'd stayed in this sector, they would have to become very secretive. Very cautious with newcomers. It was that dangerous out there. But to send a child...

 

"Are you observing us?" Bova asked. The girl paled, began to open her mouth and then shut it. She tried to put a stern look on her face, but only a childish obstinacy came through.

 

"Were you observing us?" She demanded, her lower lip unconsciously slipping into a pout.

 

"We were looking for P4 of the Condrona system." Radu said gently. He didn't want to scare her anymore. A look of slight surprise crossed her face, then she forced the frown back.

 

"I can't tell you anything about us. It would be inappropriate, even though I've already failed my mission."

 

"You're awfully cocky for someone who can't get away." Suzee said, hand on hip. "Why don't you produce that crystal you promised?"

 

The girl gave her a malicious sideways glance and motioned with her head downward. "My inner-right pocket."

 

Rosie knelt down to the girl, figuring that, she, as the smallest and least threatening looking, should get the crystal. She slipped her hand under the girl's shirt and felt the hard bulge of Thelma's memory crystal. She grabbed it and pulled her hand out.

 

"Here." She said. Suzee took it and put it back into Thelma's head. The android powered up.

 

"Are you okay, Thelma?" Suzee asked, sending an irritable look back to the girl.

 

"I am fine, Suzee. Should I not be?"

 

Suzee rolled her eyes at the inappropriate cheerfulness. "What do we do about our little stowaway?"

 

"Let me go?" The girl suggested in a depressed monotone. Bova fought a grin.

 

"Why should we do that?" Harlan asked her arrogantly. The girl shrugged.

 

"Because you're not a threat, and I want to go home now."

 

"You realize we can't do that." Goddard intervened. "STARDOG regulations would have you locked up until we can reach some authorities."

 

"I realize that."

 

"If you'd be willing to explain, however, we might be able to help you." Goddard tried to lean closer to her. She shook her head wearily.

 

"I can't. I've already compromised security by letting you see me."

 

"Well, I suppose that's that." Goddard muttered. He knew he wasn't good at making children at ease but it had been worth a try. "Harlan, Radu, Subsection 3 of the Cargo Bay is empty. Have Thelma help you set up a forcefield. We'll put her there until we reach the market."

 

Harlan looked at Radu. "Jumptubes?"

 

"No, we'd better go by foot. We might lose her in the tubes."

 

The two boys walked out with Thelma.

 

"Have I met you before?" Radu asked after a moment or two.

 

"I've never met an Andromedan before. Do I look like someone you knew?"

 

"No. Actually you remind me of someone. But she's an Andromedan. She... has your aura."

 

The girl giggled. "Perhaps we have the same soul."

 

Harlan gave the two a skeptical look. Fraternizing with the enemy. "What now?"

 

"Rigelians believe that a soul can travel forwards and backwards in time. If she dies in the future, she could send her soul back to be born as someone in the same Karesh."

 

Harlan glared at her.

 

"A Karesh is a group of people who come together to make destiny happen." She sighed. They'd reached the Cargo Bay. Thelma began to set up the forcefield generator. "It doesn't matter what you do to me. I'm worthless to my people now. I've spent too much time with outsiders."

 

"Now that does sound like an Andromedan ideal." Radu said sardonically as he placed her inside the Subsection. "I'm sorry about this."

 

"There's nothing to be done. " The girl mused. "What's the name of your friend?"

 

"Mina'Une." He moistened his lips.

 

"You have a name?"

 

She arched an angular brow. "Sora."

 

"I think you know our names already." Harlan joked, guessing that she'd been reading their journals in the bunkroom. She gazed back at him blankly.

 

"I think you're right. I think I did know you sometime before." She said, inching towards the corner. "I'll see you again I suppose."

 

With that Sora slipped into the shadow of the forcefield generator. And disappeared.