Chapter 6:

The mist of the clouds was thick and wet. It was hard to navigate within them. Shayera knew that it would be difficult for the Thanagarians to find her in the clouds. If they were out there they would have to come in and get her.

She needed to get her hands on a weapon. The wooden spear that she made wouldn't stand a chance against Thanagarian weaponry. She listened intently, while gently flapping her wings to maintain her position. How long had she been in here? Has it been an hour, two hours? Shayera wasn't sure. She didn't hear any sounds of any kind or anything that told her that her pursuers were close by.

Patience... she smiled to herself, was never one of her virtues. If there were any Thanagarians in the clouds with her, she would have to be very silent when dealing with them. She'd prefer a one-on-one confrontation that would give her the best chance to disarm and take his weapon. That would tilt the odds a little more in her favor, ...but, only a little. Still, she knew that this would be more dependent on luck.

Then she heard something... a voice. Coming from her left. Maybe twenty yards away from her position. She froze, concentrating on flapping her wings a silently as possible.

"We're in the cloud base, now... we have spotters at each corner of this basin. If she leaves it we will know. Haven't seen anything yet," The voice said.

"Excellent... do a two by two search pattern... do not let her slip by you. She has nowhere else to go or no one to help her. You should have no trouble catching her," the voice responded through the soldier's communicator. "One more thing, if she gives you any trouble... kill her, all we would need is her body ."

"Acknowledged..." the other voice responded.

Hawkgirl realized that the voice on the communicator did not sound like Talek. She was right. This was someone else, someone who's looking to boost his career by delivering the head of the traitor to the Thanagarian populace.

Two by two search... she thought, meant forming a sensor net in between each man using the nth energy between each of their weapons. Not only could they cover more space, she could not get through unless she trips the net.

"This doesn't seem to be my day..." Shayera muttered, not liking the odds. Since they believed they could easily take her down, that might work to her favor. "Well, who wants to live forever? Not that I have anything to live for now anyway," she pondered with remorse.

Shayera took a deep breath. She was tired of running, she was tired of being treated like a criminal, but most of all she was tired of the guilt she was carrying. Wooden spear in hand, she was going to take the fight to them.

Just before she could let out her warcry, a strange thing happened. All of sudden she was encompassed inside a green energy bubble, and she was yanked upward. She was moving so fast she didn't see any of the Thanagarian soldiers that were searching for her.

All of sudden the stars broke into view. Shayera looked up and she couldn't believe her eyes. She saw John Stewart carrying her into space.