AN: Gee, people. Don't overwhelm me with your enthusiasm...Sorry. It's hard not to be bitter with such little response. Eats a pound of chocolate. Ahh. That's better. On with the next chapter! Even if you hate it, please let me know that you looked over my pathetic attempt. :)

Chapter Two: Royal Space Pirates?

Two years later...

Aurora Station was the bustling hub of the Freon Galaxy's free trade system. Merchants from hundreds of systems brought their wares to sell, tourists with credits to burn came searching for the ultimate conversations pieces, and thieves came to help both of the former lighten their loads. A very special brand of thieves roamed the space around the station. Like sharks cruising for overstuffed fish, the pirates waited patiently in the dark.

"Oooh! What about that one! No, how about that one!" Maybe not so patiently...but they were definitely out there, and today the catch had been excellent. A single manta ray-like ship of polished onyx-colored alloy bounced in and around a small asteroid field. To any watchers, if there were any, it seemed that either a genius or a madman was at the controls. The ship executed one last physics defying barrel roll to barely miss a massive world killing asteroid before coming to a complete rest in the monster's dead zone where incoming sensor sweeps would be rendered useless. It seemed a genius was at the helm after all.

Amariah squealed as she leapt up from the pilot's chair, startling Craven from the half-faint he had been in since the beginning of her go at the controls. He glanced out of the view screens and felt his innards turn icy. "Ria, dear? Did you mean to put us so close that asteroid?"

"Asteroid?" she deadpanned. Amariah pranced out of the cockpit before Craven could tell if she was joking or not. Not that he could blame her for her excitement. While two larger ships had been fighting over possession for a smaller, disabled ship in had swept the Tide of Flames to steal the prize before either of the fighters realized what had happened. The pirate ship had had just enough room in its cargo hold to scoop up the smaller ship inside before making the leap to hyper space. Now was the time to discover just what sort of booty they had collected.

Inside the cargo hold, Amariah stood still for a moment to examine the unique structure of the mysterious ship. If she wasn't mistaken, it seemed to be made from...solid wood. If one suspended the disbelief that wood could be a space faring material, then the next obstacle was that the wood was completely seamless. It was like the ship was carved from a single piece of wood. Where in the Universe did trees, assuming it was from a tree, grow that big?

Craven joined his shipmate and tossed her Safe Suit over. "Let's hope there are no nasty surprises onboard, but better safe than sorry." Amariah sighed and rolled her eyes, but did as he said. He was the tactician of their little operation and his foresight had saved both of their hides more than once.

"No face-sucking parasites for me, thanks."

"Didn't you date one on Corinth once?"

"Yeah, but he paid for the Tide's new paint job."

"True." Their banter kept up until they'd both donned their suits and reached the captive ship's bay doors. A simple message written in three languages was burned into the wood of the doors. The last two languages they could understand, but the first was totally beyond their comprehension and they prided themselves on the fact that between the two of them, there were few languages that they couldn't at least guess at their meanings.

"Craven, just what is Jurai?"

AN: Sorry for the short chapter. Review and the next one will be that much faster in coming. I'd really like to know if this is a good idea or not. Help me out, if you will. Until later!