The sneaking back to Kiah's apartment was uneventful and the biggest problem I had was remembering the way. Once I got back inside the apartment I went to sneak back into my room when I heard a voice call out "Bobby?"

I looked to my left and saw Kiah emerging from her secluded room. I couldn't make out her face at first because it was pitch-black but I could tell it was her.

"Bobby, what are you doing?" she asked and yawned.

"Uh... I was kind of exploring." I said embarrassingly.

Kiah looked at me quizzically. I quickly told her about my little quest to learn about Halla. She seemed to understand a little better and said "The flume shined gold? That means there is something about Halla that we were never told about by the last generation of Travelers. Maybe they didn't know either…"

While Kiah was contemplating this I felt tempted to ask Kiah "Who was the last Traveler from Aploshion? Before you I mean."

Kiah seemed a little sad and said "My uncle. His name was Pends. He was the one who took care of me after my parents died."

Whoa, Kiah's parents died? That was something she had never told me. I was about to ask her how they died without causing too much grief but she answered the question for me.

"They died in the destruction of Aploshion. They were both scientists and they joined a group of scientists who were desperately trying to save Aploshion from destruction. They stayed on Aploshion in its final hours once we had all been evacuating looking for a solution because they loved Aploshion so much…"

"My Uncle Pends took me aboard this space station during the evacuation. My parents had told him to do so. And in the chance that they died he was to look after me. Uncle Pends then trained me to be a Traveler. I believe from the stories that he told me that he and your Uncle Press were great friends. However a few years ago Pends was killed by Saint Dane. I don't know what was going on."

I yawned. It was then that I realized how tired I was and I think Kiah was pretty tired too. So we both retreated to our separate rooms for the remainder of the night.

The next morning I woke up with the crazy bed alarm again. I got dressed in normal Aploshion garbs and headed out to the main room. Kiah had already prepared breakfast and was eating at the table. I trudged over and took a plate of those little nut things called darenties. Kiah greeted me with a cheerful expression. I then remembered something I had meant to ask Kiah.

"Hey Kiah, yesterday at the lab you mentioned to Shewin that I was from Hene-something. What did you mean?"

Kiah then openly explained to me "Henethet Bobby? Well back in the days of the evacuation from the dying Aploshion they also built a space station for the poor titled Henethet. As you probably could have guessed, poverty existed on Aploshion too. But anyways I guess Henethet had been built cheaply and some of the citizens on board experienced some radiation from the explosion and such. So some of the people on Henethet have the same darkish skin like you do."

Well at least there were other people like me so I wasn't a total loner. I guess some people like Shewin just weren't used to seeing a lower-class citizen on board a middle-class station like this. Well, he would have to get used to it.

The rest of the week went by without much going on. I still just faked working the hours at Shewin's lab. To tell you the truth I felt stupid doing nothing and really wished I could help. In fact a few times I did try to help Birt but ended up either getting a headache from research or one time when we were helping cleaning up the vials, drop one and have a bunch of orange liquid come out and almost burn a hole through the floor. Eventually I just gave up and I think Birt knew that I didn't understand what I was doing at all. I was kind of embarrassed but Birt was sympathetic. He gave me easier tasks like rearranging the techbooks in alphabetical order on the shelves. Kiah also seemed embarrassed, not because of me but because I had to put up with seeming like a dunce.

One day we were walking through the halls of Okil (Okil is the name of the space station we were on if I forgot to mention it) and Kiah appointed me to go to a local shop and purchase some more techsheets while she was busy meeting with another fuel scientist named Dr. Kumare. I was happy to oblige and was eager to explore more of Okil since I hadn't yet seen much of it in the week that I had been here. Kiah gave me a list of a certain techsheet brand and the name of the shop that carries them. She then gave me directions and some Aploshion money and sent me off.

After a few moments I found myself in the giant main room of Okil. Many people walked about as usual. I saw a few stands carrying techsheets but they didn't have the specific type that stored more information like Kiah wanted. I took the time to look down on the list and on it said:

Techsheet Brand 12

Kibo's Shop

I easily remembered the directions Kiah had given me. I started walking down one of the halls and followed the correct intersections. I soon arrived at a door in the Eastern Market District which sure enough said: KIBO'S SHOP.

I pushed the button on the side and the door automatically opened. I was then greeted by an eccentric robot which said "Greetings and welcome to Kibo's Techsheet Emporium! Would you like to see our new bigger techsheets? We also have a Deluxe Techsheet Kit that has techsheets in seven different colors!"

I edged my way past the weird little guy and saw behind a sale counter was Kibo himself. He looked to be about in his early thirties and looked the same as all the other Aploshionians I had seen so far as far as basic features go. He was pretty tall, pale skin, gray hair. Kibo himself though, seemed about as eccentric and excited about making a sale as his little robot assistant did.

Kibo looked at me and announced "Hello there good sir! We have just the techsheets and techbooks that you need here! Did my assistant Dooty mention that we also carry new voice-activated personal techbooks? Very top-of-the-line if I do say so myself. Now please look around at our marvelous selection!"

I didn't want to look around his one-room shop because he had shelves and shelves of techsheets and techbooks. I just plain out asked him "Uh, do you have any Techsheet Brand Twelves?"

Kibo didn't take any time to hesitate. "Of course! It wouldn't be Kibo's Techsheet Emporium without them now would it?"

Kibo then led me to a shelf where he let me choose a big, fat stack of techsheets. I then paid for them and thanked him. As I left I heard him shout behind me "Don't forget to come again!" I was relieved that Kibo then turned his attention to a new customer that had just walked in.

I then stopped into a few of the other shops. I didn't buy anything but I was curious to look at some of the other technological marvels of Aploshion. I saw some awesome stuff including a sleek, silver chair that could hover about five feet above the ground, a strange object that looked vaguely like a light bulb except it was used for the same functions as a cordless telephone, and a complex burglar alarm system that would stun the criminal with jolts of electricity until the patrol robots arrived.

To a Second Earthling like me I found it almost a little disturbing of how much trust and authority the people of Aploshion gave their robots. Although maybe I was just freaked out because I had seen the movie "The Terminator" when I was like five years old. But I was young enough to get freaked out so much that I wouldn't even go near the TV, computer, or telephone for fear that they might come alive and attack me for the next few weeks. But the bottom line is I was actually getting used to the robots. I would pass them in the halls occasionally and I wouldn't notice them any different than I would a real human being. That's what scared me.

Eventually I returned to Kiah's apartment to find that Kiah was already back from her meeting with Dr. Kumare.

I gave her the bundle of techsheets and said "I guess that meeting wasn't too long."

Kiah looked at me in distress and said "The meeting never happened Bobby. Dr. Kumare is dead."

I was bewildered even though I had never met this Dr. Kumare. "Dead, how?" I asked Kiah.

Kiah said "Dr. Kumare was murdered. He was shot with a deadly shocker gun. I don't know how this could have happened. Dr. Kumare was Dr. Shewin's best friend and partner. This could jeopardize our whole research and put an end to Shewiphite."

Kiah looked very distressed and there was nothing I could have done to comfort her. I could have just walked away to my room to leave Kiah alone. That wouldn't have been cool. I just sat down with her on the couch and stared at the ground. At least she knew that my presence was still there in case she needed help. I have to admit that sitting there with her really did make me feel like the Lead Traveler. A leader.

That night was I was in a deep sleep. The beds on Aploshion were awesome and you could just sleep on them for days. Although this was also a bad thing because I was in such a deep sleep I didn't notice five robots sneaking into my room and lifting me onto a flat cart that hovered gently above the ground. I also didn't notice them sneaking me back out through Kiah's apartment and into the halls of Okil.

Then I finally woke up and realized I wasn't in my cozy bed anymore. Unfortunately before I could do anything one of the robots sensed I was awake and shocked me with one of its little robotic hands. My whole body went numb and I couldn't move or yell. It didn't feel weird or anything but I didn't have senses in any part of my body except my eyes and brain. I could still breath too so I didn't have to worry. Only wait to see where they were going to take me.

The little robot brigade and the hovering cart with me in it seemed to wander through the halls for at least half an hour. Then we finally stopped in a giant room. I couldn't look up until the robots finally shocked me gently again. I then regained all my senses and body functions.

What I saw when I looked around stunned me. This giant room was filled with cannons, guns, and missiles. This room must have been a weapon warehouse. All the guns looked nicely polished and I assumed that with all the other futuristic stuff on Aploshion I had seen so far those things didn't shoot bullets.

As the robots let me scan the room I then looked to the opposite end of the room about fifty feet away. There was a giant window where the whole wall section would have been and you could see a perfect view of the stars and some chunks of Aploshion.

The view was ruined by something that stood in front of it though. I recognized the figure at once. It was Saint Dane.

I grimaced as he chuckled and said "Long time Pendragon. Hope you haven't forgotten about me."

His eyes were burning with a menace that I had never seen before. He had a long, silver gun in his hand. He started to laugh his maniacal laugh again.

He then said "You can't beat me here Bobby and you know you can't. This is my home and I know it well. But Bobby I will save you the trouble of having to go through any more of your little heroic victories. Let's end this right here and now."

Saint Dane then grinned a bigger grin larger and more sinister than I had ever seen. He then aimed his gun at the wall and shot. A small but powerful lightning bolt shot out and hit the wall, leaving a black mark. I looked down to see that the robots had brought me an identical lightning gun from the shelf.

I had never technically fought Saint Dane and truthfully, I was dead scared to do it. But I could tell that Saint Dane meant business. The fight was on.