A/N: I'm sorry if I keep prolonging the inevitable... but it's too much fun! ::evil Ayeka laugh::

If you don't like my stuff, tell my muse over there... ::points to Frodo eating some mushrooms::

Frodo looks up innocently with his huge blue eyes (as if I couldn't make you feel even guiltier.. Hey! I could have used Yukito!):: What did I do, again?




Chapter Five




Harlan woke up again, feeling far worse than he had before. Treya had ceased to beat him, but he still hurt all over from her kicks and her fists. He had no clue why she was hitting him like this and not doing anything to Suzee, either. That was what really made him curious.

He sat up as well as he could. He saw Suzee sitting up against the opposite wall. She was rocking back and forth, muttering things that he could barely hear. Her blue eyes stared around wildly.

"Suzee... are you alright...?" Harlan asked.

"They can't take us... We won't give them away..." Harlan heard her say.

"Suzee... what's the matter..."

She continued to rock back and forth, he knees were pressed up against her chest. Her hair had dust in it and it looked as though she had been trying to tear it out. "They want them... you see? They used me to get them...."

Harlan didn't understand anything she said. He shook his head and she gave great sigh of defeat. "Don't you see... the answer is in my head!"

"Suzee... don't worry... we'll get out of here and you will be all better once THELMA gets to you...." Harlan said in as soothing a voice as he could conjure.

"No... Don't you see... that's what they want! That's what HE wants... He wants them...." Suzee said. She was on her knees now, her eyes pleading with Harlan.

"Suzee... as soon as we find the others... I mean... surely they'll have noticed we're not back yet...." Harlan said.

"No! No! No! He can't have them!" Suzee said. She pounded her fists on the bars separating her from Harlan. "He won't!"

Harlan scooted over to the bars as beck as he could. He leaned against them and laid his head on one of her hands. "Calm down... don't worry... we'll get out of here... I promise...." He looked up into her eyes with his good eye. "I'm sure the others are trying to get to us...."

"That's what we're waiting on...." said Treya, who had been hiding in the shadows. "Don't worry... when we find them and extract the information we want, they'll be killed quite quickly...."



Elmira gasped as Treya's words came into her head. She knew she had to tell Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport about this. Harlan and the others were in a lot of trouble. She ran out of the galley to the nearest jumptube. She hoped that she could find them in time to tell them.



Night time was falling over the forest. The trees were alight with little lights everywhere. The four crewmen walked into Derek's tree loft. There were designs everywhere like spider webs.

Then, they reached Derek's main room. There was a boy of no more than possibly sixteen standing in robes of white feathers. His long black hair had violet in it and was tied back into a low ponytail. His blue eyes had an innocent look to them. He glanced over to them. "Hello... and who do we have here?"

"Four crew members of the ship... uh.." Tavik started.

"The Christa..." Rosie corrected.

Freya wasn't paying any attention. She was too busy staring at the boy known as Derek. Radu rolled his eyes at her and turned back to the situation at hand.

Derek smiled cheerfully and waved his hand. "Please… no formalities…. Please stand up, Tavik… Feera…."

Tavik and Feera, who had been kneeling, stood up and smiled. Freya made a sudden jerk next to Radu. She was smiling blankly now. She smiled at Radu cheerfully. "Who are you?"

Radu sighed and hit Freya on the back of her head. She grunted as the implant went back online. "Sorry…" Radu apologized.

Derek raised an eyebrow at Freya and Radu. "What's this…?"

Radu gulped. Freya smiled and stepped forward. "Sir… My name is Freya Zeetsil…. I have a malfunctioning implant at the base of my skull that needs to be hit every now and then…. He was just trying to help…."

"Indeed…." Derek said. He smiled at Freya. "You are interesting, Miss Zeetsil…. I'm sure your …. Implant caused some kind of stir when you came here…."

"In so many words…." Bova drawled.

Derek's gaze fell on Bova. He smiled at him. "And your name would be….?"

"Bova…. That's it…" Bova said flatly.

Derek glanced to Radu with a smile. Radu gulped again. "M-My name is Radu….."

Rosie smiled cheerfully. "My name is Rosie Ianni…"

"It is very nice to meet you all… I am Derek… I am the leader of the Tirateem Tribe… I welcome you all… please… join me for dinner tonight…."

"With that kind of invitation, who can say no… I'm in…." Freya said.

Rosie smiled. "I'll be here…."

"Hello! Does anyone else remember that we're supposed to find Harlan and Suzee?!" Bova said.

Freya suddenly jerked and her expression went blank. "Who's Harlan...? Who's Suzee....?"

Radu hit Freya on the implant and she jerked again with a pained expression. "Damned thing is going to drive me nutty!"

"Where are your friends..." Derek said to Rosie.

"We all split up... I went with Bova to a lake that I thought was somewhere around here.... Radu and Freya went into the woods.... and Harlan and Suzee walked into the small town that we saw." Rosie noticed Derek's expression change to that of pain. "Sir... What's wrong...."

"The city is a dangerous place.... The Zeeks wish to destroy every other tribe they can find.... so that they are the only ones...." Derek said. "I have lost a few of my people to them... other tribes have lost more...."

"Oh aweful!" Rosie said.

"I concur..." Freya agreed.

"W-What do we do, then...." Radu said.

"The only thing I can suggest is that you stay tonight and we go into the city in the morning to retrieve your friends.... hopefully...." Derek said. "Are there anymore of you....?"

"Only one girl by the name of Elmira and two adults.... Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport...." said Rosie.

There was a look of horror on Derek's pale features. "A-Adults...?"

Radu was confused. "Yeah... adults..." He watched Derek carefully. "They are our teachers....."

"What's wrong with adults...?" Freya asked.

"Adults nearly destroyed our planet.... none of us lives past the age of twenty-five, anyway....." said Tavik. He had the expression of a scientist reading his notes.

"Why don't you all live longer....?" Bova asked.

"There's a virus that activates in us all... to age us rapidly until we are nothing but dust...." Tavik said.

"That and the Zeeks kill us as well..." Feera said with a grim expression.

"Is it in the air...?" Freya asked.

"No... it is in us...." Derek said.

"You mean it's genetic...." Freya corrected him. He looked as though he didn't understand. "It's a part of your family... it's a part of your body...." Derek nodded.

Derek suddenly went quiet and solemn. Then, he glanced up at the four sharply. Then, he smiled at them pleasantly. "Come... enough questions..." He clapped his hands and two girls and two boys appeared from behind him. "My friends here will dress you up..."

Bova protested some as one of the boys led him off. "But... I hate dressing up! I look so horrible!"

Radu was escorted by another boy. The boy had brown eyes and blue streaks in his black hair. "Come... I will help you get dressed for the dinner...." The boy said cheerfully. "My name is Traval..."

"R-Radu...."

Rosie got a small girl with pink streaks in her black hair. The girl giggled as she walked forward and took Rosie's hand. "Come along! We don't have long!"

Freya was escorted by a tall girl with red streaks in her hair. She was severe looking, but pleasant all the same. "My name is Derdema... I will help you get dressed for dinner with our great leader..."

Radu was pinched and prodded by the boy named Traval. He stood patiently as the boy put markings of some sort on his face. He had even taken out a knife. "Let's see if I can shorten this hair up a bit... do you mind...?"

"I wouldn't suggest doing that...My hair will dull that knife of yours..." Radu said.

"We'll see...." Traval said cheerfully.

Ten minutes later, Traval have almost no edge left on his knife. HE whimpered at his knife. "M-My knife!"

"I told you..." Radu sighed.


Miss Davenport hid under her desk. It was a childish thing to do, but she didn't want Commander Goddard to find her before the children got back.

She reached up and slowly pulled the compupad off of her desk. She checked the time. The students had been away for nearly three hours. She growled as her lips thinned.

She looked up and saw a face staring at her with his fingers in his mouth, pulling the edges and making a crude face at her. Commander Goddard stuck out his tongue at her. "Ppfft! Found you!"

Miss Davenport poked him in the eye. "You can't be serious!"

Goddard jumped back and got to his feet. "That fricken hurt, TJ…"

"Oh boo hoo…. The students are late, Seth…. We need to call them back…." Davenport said sternly. She was in teacher mode again.

Goddard straightened his jacket and looked at her. "How long…?"

"About three hours since the last transmission….." She said and as she glanced at the compupad again.

"Three hours…? What on Earth could they be doing for three hours…." Seth said incredulously. Then, he slapped his forehead as something came into his brain. "Six teenagers…. Running around who knows where……" He trailed off.

"Well at least Elmira stayed behind…." Davenport said as she crossed her arms in front of her.

Seth glanced up at her. "Where is Elmira, anyway… I haven't seen her since the mess hall….."

"Probably off meditating or soul searching or whatever it is that she does….." Davenport said harshly.

Elmira walked into the classroom at that moment. "There you two are…." She said in a relieved manner.

"What's wrong, Elmira…." Davenport said.

Elmira walked over to them. "They need help….."

Goddard took over. "What do you mean…."

"They need you… They are in trouble…."

Goddard tugged at the hem of his coat. He ran a hand through his hair and thought about what they should do. He didn't know what Elmira saw, so he didn't know what he was getting into. Elmira never told gave a straight answer.

Miss Davenport gave him a worried glance. Goddard gave her a reassuring nod. "Miss Davenport and I will go out together and find them…. You stay here….."