Tear in Your Hand

Part Two

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"I can't believe they let her get away." Suzee complained. This had certainly been a disappointing day for her. First they hadn't been able to work with the engines, then this new girl appeared reeking havoc and diverting the boys' attention from her, then she got away!

 

"Oh, I don't think they let her get away on purpose." Rosie said, climbing into her bunk. Her thin pink legs flopped down as she swung herself around to talk to Suzee. "She's pretty slippery. I bet she won't try to hurt us anymore either."

 

"Wanna bet? I don't believe that Sith excuse for one minute." Suzee said propping her feet up on the wall. "Goddard's pretty old, but he's still in good shape, considering."

 

"Considering what we've put him through since we got on the Christa?" Rosie giggled. Suzee grinned.

 

"You could say that, I guess. I mean, he did have a ship land on him."

 

"I don't know. Sora seemed really innocent. Like the Sphere. Maybe she was just making sure we weren't dangerous." Rosie suggested. "After all, my ancestors had to get out of the place they were living because it would be too hard to live there anymore after the civil war. The ones who stayed must have had it really rough."

 

"Maybe." Suzee admitted. She still wasn't sure what to think of her. Those big innocent eyes had seen quite a bit; she could tell. Hopefully, Rosie's optimism would be right this time. "You know what?"

 

"What?" Rosie hugged a pillow.

 

"I miss Catalina."

 

"Me too. Hasn't she contacted you yet?"

 

Suzee sighed softly. "No. I wonder why. I hope she's okay."

 

"Have you told anyone else there might be something wrong?" Rosie looked at her with deep eyes. Suzee rolled her eyes.

 

"Are you kidding? What could Davenport and Goddard do? Or Harlan and Radu? They'd just get in the way and get themselves hurt. I'll just have to wait on her."

 

"I guess. I'm sure she's okay. Cat knows how to take care of herself."

 

"She sure does. Did I ever tell you what Catalina told me right before you guys found me?"

 

"No, what?" Rosie smiled. Suzee was feeling better.

 

"Warlord Shank's arm went on a magical journey with her when she went to my dimension. She said she was going to make a purse out of it."

 

Rosie burst out in uncontrollable giggles.

 

In the boys' bunkroom, Radu rolled over on his stomach and sighed, stretching out stiffly.

 

"What?" Harlan demanded in a muffle from under his pillow. Radu looked over at him in surprise.

 

"I thought you were asleep."

 

"Can't sleep. Today's been too weird. What up?"

 

"N-nothing. I just heard some loud giggling from No Man's Land."

 

"What about?" Harlan sat up in interest. He glanced over at Bova, who was drooling on his pillow.

 

"I don't know. I hadn't been listening for that. Must have been really funny, I guess. They're still laughing."

 

"Do they do that a lot?"

 

"What?"

 

"Talk and giggle before bed." Harlan leaned closer so Radu wouldn't have to speak loudly for him to hear.

 

"Not really. Rosie and Cat used to do that more. Well, right before she left. And she used to talk to Suzee every night regardless. I tried to tune out the words, but..." Radu grinned as his ears flushed a little in the dark. "You know... it's hard."

 

"Yeah, especially when you want to listen." Harlan leaned against the wall of the bunk he was sitting on. "You think we'll catch Sora again?"

 

"I don't know. Maybe. She doesn't have her cowl."

 

"But Bova said he still couldn't read her."

 

Radu shrugged stiffly and rested his head on his hands. Harlan frowned.

 

"What's up with you, man?"

 

"What do you mean?" Radu asked cautiously. He and Harlan were much closer than they had been when they'd started their mystery trip, but he still wasn't so certain he wanted Harlan knowing all of his secrets.

 

"You've been moving around here lately like you've pulled a hamstring or something. You hurt yourself?"

 

"Um... no." Radu drew in a breath with relief. "Just a little sore from ETE."

 

"Oh, come on, I don't believe that for a minute." Harlan scoffed rather loudly. Radu placed a finger to his mouth then motioned to Bova. Then Harlan grumbled: "Uranians can sleep through anything."

 

Radu began to get up. Though it was dark, Harlan noticed for the first time how slowly Radu was actually moving his legs. Easing them painfully into position. He looked at Harlan uncertainly.

 

"I don't come with a how-to guide, you know." He said finally, looking at the Earther face to face. He licked his lips nervously. Harlan narrowed his eyes obtusely and motioned for Radu to continue. "I know how my arms work. That was pretty simple to figure out, I mean... the Elders were there to teach me. But they didn't teach me to use my legs. I don't know how to use my muscles right to get that wonderful Andromedan strength out of them."

 

"So you been trying to figure that out?"

 

"Yeah, but I've.... I... I can't. And if I don't... my leg muscles will afixate."

 

"You mean atrophy." Harlan frowned suddenly in surprise. "What are you keeping something like that to yourself for? You should at least tell Rosie!"

 

Radu flushed again and hoped the dark would cover it. "She'd just worry. And there's nothing about how to raise a Hatchling in the Infocore, so there's nothing she could do."

 

"Dammit." Harlan muttered. "Have you looked on the Spacenet for that stuff?"

 

Radu gave him a Do you think I'm stupid? look. "Andromedans don't publish stuff like that on the Net. They don't even tell their allies how to take care of Hatchlings."

 

Harlan gazed hard at the floor beneath his bunk. "Would have been nice if they'd taught you that before you left."

 

"Definitely. But they were pretty eager to see me go. They probably just forgot."

 

"That sucks, Radu. You don't treat you kids like that."

 

"How different is that from how they treated us at the StarAcademy? They didn't seem to want us to pass anyway."

 

"True, true. But still, man." Harlan looked up at Radu suddenly. "Well, there's no way around it!"

 

"What?" Radu regarded him suspiciously.

 

"You're just going to have to train with me from now on!"

 

Radu blinked in shock. "I could hurt you, Harlan."

 

"So? I can hold my own. You wouldn't do it on purpose anyway, so it can't hurt to try. Tai Chi makes the most of your Chi, you know, spirit energy, while working you out and making you buff. Maybe what I know can add to what you know, and we can fix this. We don't need no stupid Elders."

 

Radu laughed. Harlan grinned. The last thing they needed was a lame Andromedan. He couldn't sit by and watch Radu hurt anyway. Harlan was actually surprise Radu'd admitted anything to him.

 

"Let's go to bed. I bet tomorrow's going to be even weirder."

 

"Okay." Radu yawned and eased himself back into a lying position. Harlan winced before closing his eyes.

 

"Crazy Andromedan." He whispered. Radu smiled.

 

* * *

 

I thought those two would never go to sleep, Bova thought irritably as he snuck down the hallway. He'd pretended to be asleep so they wouldn't suspect anything. And thought about a midnight snack so he could realistically drool on his pillow.

 

Man, Radu's got it rough, He pondered before he set his mind back to the matter at hand. He'd rigged one of the Christa's scanners to look for that random dispersal field that he'd associated with Sora's personal cloak when Goddard had first gotten her cowl.

 

He knew he should have told the others he could find her, but he didn't want to. He wanted to talk to her. To make her smile, and maybe get her to tell him what was going on. He wasn't sure why, but he definitely didn't want her locked up. Not that that seemed to be a problem for her.

 

Bova followed her pattern down the hallways for about an hour when he had to hide suddenly. Goddard was walking around, rubbing his temple, and muttering something under his breath.

 

"Damn insomnia."

 

Bova could only catch that part of it. He wondered how the Commander could have problems sleeping after having to deal with the Sith, but apparently the stimulant that Rosie had shot him up with had been pretty strong, too. Bova figured that with all that mixing medicine, Goddard would probably have a heart attack in a day or two. When Goddard had passed, Bova continued his search.

 

Her pattern was elusive. She would be going in one direction, then abruptly change. She probably knew he was hunting her and had one of those Siths ready for him.

 

Suddenly those big sapphire eyes met his. He fell backward at the sight. The Rigelian girl was half-hanging out of a shadow against the wall.

 

"Why don't you have the Andromedan helping you look? He'd probably have me caught in a few minutes with that scanner. It's pretty genius, you know. Most people couldn't figure out the subtle differences between the Home's field and mine."

 

"If I told him, he'd convince me to tell the Commander. And the Commander'd lock you up." Bova shrugged, still trying to figure out how she was halfway in that wall.

 

"I can teleport through shadows." She said to answer the look he was giving her. She slid softly and sleekly out of the wall and pulled her knees to her chest. "That's why I was chosen as a Scout."

 

"So you guys are just trying to see if we're dangerous, aren't you?" Bova said incredulously. She should have been stabbing him, or choking him or something.

 

"You saw through our defense. Only the Iegara have done that so far. And they're the ones that destroyed P4."

 

"Destroyed..." Bova sounded out the word.

 

"Annihilated!" She said stridently. "There was nothing left but a small asteroid field when they got done!"

 

"Why'd they do that?"

 

"They were hiding some fugitives. The Iegara like to wipe out species they think might keep them from possessing the universe."

 

"The Rigelians?"

 

"No, we're not on the hit list yet, but we still have to be real careful. We should have gone with you. To the colonies." Her eyes cast downward sadly. "It's really dangerous out here. You should be careful."

 

"Um... so." Bova messed with the keys on his scanner. "How do we get you back to that Home Sphere."

 

Bova suddenly wished he hadn't asked by the look on her face. It crumpled into a mask of hopelessness.

 

"I can't. I can never go back. I failed. They'd kill me!"

 

She'd make a good Uranisu. Bova thought. He set the scanner down and eased closer to her. She let her knees go and hit the floor hard with her palm as she let herself fall into a weakly supported position on the floor.

 

"But we don't want to hurt you guys. I'm sure they'd let you come back if they knew that." Bova almost rolled his eyes at himself. He sounded like Rosie.

 

She looked up at him. "No way. If I fail against those who don't want to hurt us, how can I succeed against those who do?"

 

"But, we're STARDOGS. I mean, STARDOGS are pretty hard to sneak up on, aren't they?"

 

Her wide glistening eyes lit up. "You're all STARDOGS? Our allies?"

 

"Yeah." Almost. She was almost smiling. "Well, we're just Cadets, but the Commander is the real deal. He's been an officer for almost thirty years."

 

"Maybe, if you could get him to say that I found out that he was a STARDOG and just wanted to tell him to be careful? I've never been caught before."

 

"That could work. Of course, we probably can't get the Commander to do it-"

 

Oh, Grozit, she's going to cry! Bova stopped himself and grabbed her shoulders.

 

"You just need to tell him what's going on, Sora. He's reasonable." When he wants to be. "He'll talk to them and you'll be able to go home."

 

Tears spilled over Sora's lids, and she leaned towards Bova suddenly. Bova fought the instinct to lurch backward, and she kissed him on his antenna.

 

"Thank you." She whispered. "You're a really great guy, you know that?"

 

"Um... well." He could feel his ears turning red. What am I thinking?!

 

Then there it was. Sora smiled brightly. He let her a hand to stand again, and she took it. The tears dried and the smile seemed to bright the dark corridor better than the flashlight he had with him.

 

"Come on." Bova said, pulling himself together. "I'll get Commander Goddard, and we'll straighten this out."

 

Sora walked closely to Bova through the corridor. She couldn't stop smiling, and though the dark hid it, neither could Bova. He'd never felt like someone's hero before.

 

* * *

Early that morning, the crew assembled in the Teamroom to discuss their prisoner, who was sitting stock still on a chair starring intently and emotionlessly at them. She seemed to have regained something within herself. No more unintended childish traits appeared. She could have been eleven or eleven hundred. The enigma had returned.

 

"We have to help." Bova insisted. He could feel Sora's sad eyes boring into his back. "She hasn't really done anything. And if we hadn't messed with the Home Sphere, she wouldn't be in this mess."

 

"No, offense." Ms. Davenport wasn't entirely comfortable with Sora sitting there in front of them while they discussed her fate. "But she came aboard our ship uninvited. Why should we treat her as anything more than an intruder?"

 

"The Rigelians are our allies." Harlan pointed out. "So she is, too. They didn't know we were their friends when they sent her. It was just a big mistake."

 

"They wouldn't have sent a corporeal being if they'd known an Andromedan aboard." Sora spoke up. Her voice was quiet, but confident. "By the way, if you contact them, don't let them know that. It would be hazardous to your health later."

 

"Why's that?" Goddard asked.

 

"The ones that destroyed P4... the Iegara... aren't fond of Andromedans. Someone might sell you out." She looked closely at Radu, who sighed.

 

"That's an understatement." He replied softly. The others looked at him questioningly. "The Iegara are the ones that trashed my home planet."

 

"Get rid of the nest, and the birds are easier to catch. Or easier to pay someone like the worthless Spungs to do it." Sora added wryly.

 

"They failed." Radu protested. Sora nodded and smiled slightly.

 

"They'll pay for that."

 

"So, what are we going to do with Miss Hide-and-Seek?" Suzee asked, forcing them back on topic. Sora began to swing her legs alternatively back and forth, since her little legs didn't quite reach the floor.

 

"How about what Bova and I proposed?" She arched a brow coolly at Suzee. Suzee rolled her eyes.

 

"Why should we trust you? How do we know you won't rat Radu out?"

 

"Because I could have killed you while you slept, and I didn't. And I told you about the Iegara, and I didn't have to." Sora slowly began to lean her head to the right as though trying to get better reception.

 

"You don't look that threatening." Harlan said amusedly. Sora straightened her body and hopped up out of the chair.

 

"Aside from my ability to teleport through any shadow in the universe, I can form psi balls to attack with." She pulled up her sleeves.

 

"Another fantastic mutation?" Suzee taunted. Sora frowned.

 

"No, see these gems." Sora held her wrists up to show them the two shining stones embedded in her risks. "They implanted these when I was six or so. They let me gather all the psi energy around me and use it as a weapon. I have one more in my neck."

 

Sora pulled the neckline of her black suit down just a bit so that they could see the blue jewel embedded in the recess between her collarbones and her neck.

 

"Suppose this is a trick. We help you and you people know we're dishonest." Suzee pointed out. "They won't believe us when we say we don't want any trouble."

 

"They'd know that anyway. They'll do a recall on me regardless of whether or not I get to stay." Sora explained. "I'm very good at censoring my recalls also. They don't have to know everything, since you are our allies."

 

"How about they not know we don't have weapons?" Bova asked. Sora smiled mischievously.

 

"They didn't ask for a tactical analysis. I can just give them the overview of intent."

 

"Do you think they'd take you back, Sora?" Goddard asked her seriously.

 

"I can only hope. If you do as I ask, they won't kill me. Still, I don't know if they'll still want me."

 

"Do you want to go back to them?" Radu asked. All eyes focused on Sora. She restlessly rolled her shoulders and fixed her eyes on an undefined point in space.

 

"I need to be with my people. It's hard to explain." Her face became a sad, unmoving mask. "But even though I'm... different from them, I have to try to be there for them. Things have to change sometime. And they need me. I'm their best scout. No one else has my abilities."

 

"I suppose that answers our questions." Goddard said. He leaned against the wall. "It is in the best interest of the STARDOGS and the Rigelians to have someone like you around."

 

Goddard gazed into the young girl's eyes. Sora's eyebrows rose hopefully.

 

"Mr. Band. Take us back to the Home Sphere."

 

* * *

 

Sora stood close to the tactical console as Harlan brought them closer to the coordinates where they had first seen the Home Sphere. Bova immersed himself in the data before him.

 

"They've probably changed the dispersal field frequency and moved away. We probably can't find them." He announced. He caught Sora's frown out of the corner of his eye and considered taking it back.

 

"You're probably right." She sighed. "But I know their tricks. And you're smart enough to get past whatever they try to do, you know that, Bova."

 

Harlan chuckled. Sora smirked.

 

"You a fancy flyer?" She asked, careening her head slightly.

 

"Of course." Harlan boasted.

 

"Good."

 

Suddenly the ship shook.

 

"We've been hit!" Bova said studying the readouts. "Someone's firing on us."

 

"Welcome home." Suzee said sarcastically.

 

"Rosie," She called running over to her console. "Try to open up a hailing frequency."

 

"I'm on it." She answered, working the console. The ship rocked again as she tried fervorently to get them on the line. "I can't... oh, wait, I've got someone. Is this the signal?"

 

"Yes. Let me try to talk to them."

 

"Okay, go." Rosie said.

 

"This is Agent Sora. Please desist in firing upon this vessel. Repeat. Desist." Her voice was steady and firm. Bova glance over at the girl who had been a shaking mass of fear the night before. She must have been having some problems before this assignment. "These officers are our legal allies. You mustn't act in aggression against them."

 

"Incoming." Bova stated. The ship shook again, and Thelma went flying across the room. "We're down to Level 2."

 

"Try these, Harlan." Radu said, quickly punching in some coordinates.

 

"Incoming." Bova said again.

 

Nothing happened. Sora jumped in joy.

 

"They missed. Keep that up."

 

"I don't know if I can. I -I'm trying to read where the shots are coming from."

 

"They aren't very maneuverable. They depend on the cloak to keep safe."

 

"I'll be passed that field soon, just keep them from killing us." Bova ordered.

 

"Got it. We've got twenty-five percent more power to the shields." Suzee added.

 

"Awesome." Sora said. "Open up the signal one more time."

 

Rosie nodded.

 

"Cease firing or I'll be forced to attack, in the name of our treaty with the STARDOGS!"

 

Harlan hit a switch, and they had to fight to stay upright.

 

"I don't think they're listening." Harlan shot at her. Sora looked up at the viewscreen. Her shiny black hair whipped around her and she gasped at the volley of photonic missiles being fired at the ship.

 

"Suzee, can you channel something outside the ship?"

 

"You mean, something from in here?"

 

Sora nodded.

 

"Yeah, give me a minute." Suzee ducked down and started to mess with the wiring. "Thelma, I need of a portal of some kind."

 

Thelma tottered over to a wall and knocked on it. The wall opened up, to the crew's surprise, and she pulled out a large mirror.

 

"Here you go, Suzee." She smiled inanely.

 

"Okay." Suzee attached a wired to a port in the mirror and then held it up for Sora to see. "Theoretically, you should be able to channel whatever you need through here."

 

"Right. How close are we, Bova?" Sora turned her head to him.

 

"Um... soon?"

 

"Speed it up, Mr. Bova." Goddard warned.

 

Bova studied the pattern on his console harder. "Screen on."

 

"That's it!" Rosie cried. Sora nodded and motioned for Suzee to hold the mirror up. It irised open to reveal the Home Sphere.

 

The Rigelian scout held her hands up, level with her nose, pressing the two iridescent gems on her wrists together. Her hands formed a small chalice and a light blue glow began to form in the cup. Her eyes began to glow the same color as she released the energy into the mirror.

 

On the viewscreen the ball of energy hurdled towards the Home Sphere, thwarting photonic missiles and careening in to the weapons array.

 

"Whoa." Harlan managed.

 

"Hail them now." Goddard said. Rosie hit the switch again and nodded.

 

"This is Commander Seth Goddard, STARDOG officer of the United Populated Planets. Please stand down and contact us. Your agent has informed us of the situation, and we have no wish for conflict."

 

"They're hailing us." Rosie said tentatively. Sora looked up at Goddard nervously as Rosie patched the message through.

 

A pale woman appeared on the screen with a sour look on her face.

 

"Agent Sora. Explain yourself." She spat. Sora stepped forward.

 

"These crewmembers are all part of the UPP. After discovering this, I had to reveal myself and explain ourselves. Protocol required diplomacy, Director."

 

"We'll see to that during Recall. You attacked us."

 

"I couldn't sit idly by and allow you to give our people an new enemy!" Sora growled at the woman. "We have enough, don't you think?"

 

"Granted. You totaled our weapons array. We don't have enough skilled officers to fix it."

 

"If I may," The Commander interrupted. "We could aid you in the repairs. My science officer and engineering officer could be very helpful."

 

"Perhaps. I shall ask my superiors." The screen went blank.

 

"That was quick, you know that?" Sora told Goddard grinning at him with awe. "They won't refuse help from a STARDOG. Combined with the fact I didn't wipe out the Home Sphere, they'll definitely take me back."

 

"Could you have destroyed it?" Suzee narrowed her eyes. An idea was forming in her head that she didn't like the sound of.

 

"Well, probably not destroyed, but I could ruin it if I used my third gem. I've destroyed ships before." Sora ignored that sickened look on Suzee's face and smiled. Suzee bit her lip and decided to sit on this for a while.

 

Who knows? I could be wrong once. She thought hopefully.

 

"I don't know how to thank you." Sora admitted. "You guys are pretty pro."

 

"Can you fill Radu in about dangers in this sector?" Goddard asked. Sora beamed.

 

"Certainly. I'm sure the Prime Minister would like that." She looked over at Bova and smiled brightly. "Maybe I'll be around for just a bit longer."

 

"We're glad to have you." Radu said generously. Bova was glad Radu had spoken because he'd been about to say the same thing.

 

Man, this is so unlike me. Why do I want to complement her? Bova thought. Oh what the Hell. Go for it.

 

"You're handy." He added to Radu's statement. "It's nice to be able to fight back when people try to nail us."

 

* * *

 

"Terribly sorry for the inconvenience, Prime Minister." Goddard said deeply a few days later. Sora stood closely to Bova, who seemed to give her strength, and vice versa.

 

"No, problem, Commander. We're actually grateful to see some familiar stripes, so to speak. And we couldn't begin to tell you how helpful that engineer of yours is. However, you really need to be more careful from now on. You're getting into some nasty territory, as Agent Sora may have explained." A graying Rigelian man beamed at them.

 

"We'll keep that in mind." Goddard nodded. He turned to Sora. "Are you ready for transport?"

 

"Oh, I don't need a transport. I can use the shadow by the helm." She smiled up at the impossibly tall man.

 

"Really? It's not too far for you?"

 

"Agent Sora can teleport any distance, so long as she has a shadow available." The Prime Minister said proudly. "It's a gift."

 

Sora turned to Bova and whispered in his ear. "I want to see you again. You're too kewl to let go. There aren't many kids back Home, and I don't have a lot of friends."

 

"I'll see you on the SpaceNet."

 

Sora leaned back and laughed like a little ringing bell. She spoke up. "That sounds great. Keep up the good work, Mr. Scientist!"

 

Sora waved cheerfully to all of the members of the Christa. Then dematerialized into the helm's shadow. She soon appeared on the viewscreen in the Prime Minister's office.

 

"Kathalla yo unmae!" She called as the Prime Minister placed a protective hand on her shoulder.

 

"Kathalla yo unmae, mugen-kae." Bova said, grinning a little. The viewscreen irised out.

 

"Well, that could have ended up much worse." Goddard boomed immediately. "From now on, I want you erring on the side of caution."

 

"Sorry, sir." Harlan grimaced. "I talked them into it."

 

"They shouldn't have let you." The Commander pointed out. He stifled a yawn and leaned against the engineering post.

 

"What did she say?" Rosie asked. "That was original Rigelian, wasn't it?"

 

"You don't know it?" Bova frowned. Rosie shrugged.

 

"I know dialects. Uranian, Mercurian... etc."

 

"She said Good journey." Bova replied in a monotone as he walked back to his post.

 

"Well, wasn't that sweet?" Ms. Davenport concluded.

 

"Yeah." Bova muttered. He wondered what she meant by the last part. Unmae. Destined. Good journey to my destined. Then he wondered why he'd replied with the familiar tag at the end. Mugen-kae. Eternal friend. "She's a really nice girl."

 

Bova heard Harlan making a scoffing noise.

 

"Shut-up, Harlan. You don't know anything about girls. Isn't that right, Suzee?"

 

"Sure is. Harlan's clueless." Suzee smirked. Harlan shook his head. He was out-numbered.

 

"That's enough. Let's get back to work." Goddard ordered. Suzee nodded and followed him to the engine room.

 

I don't know anything about girls either. Bova pretended to concentrate on his console. But at least I might be able to stay her friend. I hope. I want to see her smiling at me again.