The Lexx had never had the best lighting system in either universe, but this was getting unreasonable. Kai found himself pressed against the wall in the passageway leading to the bridge, hoping that he hadn't taken a wrong turn in the thick darkness, and wouldn't suddenly plummet into one of the ship's many stomachs. Coming upon the end of the passageway, the only thing lighting the bridge was the viewscreen, with its slight glow from all of the stars reflecting through it. It gave everything on the bridge a ghostly blue glow, adding to the pure confusion and eeriness. "Lexx!" Stan called out urgently. "Hello, hello, Lexx ol' pal, c'mon wake up!"

Stan was already at his post, staring up at the screen. "Lexx!" Stan hissed angrily. "Wake up now or I'll...or I'll...I'll make sure you never eat again!"

"Your priorities mean nothing," said Vlad, almost invisible in the dark. "I cannot hear his mind. It is not destroyed, however it is quiet,"

"Well, yeah, be that as it may Vlad, but I really don't get what you're saying right now!" Stan said in irritation. "So just let me handle this, huh? Me and Lexx understand each other, don't we pal?"

"Your great insect understands nothing but its own stomach," said Vlad. "To think it is your friend is folly. I am the Time Prophet, and nothing can be hidden from me,"

Kai looked down and zipped his shirt back up again as Stan still received no answer from the ship. "I believe that we have collided with something larger than the Lexx," he said. "Causing trauma to the Lexx's front end,"

Kai took hold of one of the iron arms of the dais, and locked eyes with Vlad, who was holding onto the opposite side of the pedestal. She looked extremely disappointed, since the ship's sudden behavior hadn't thrown him off into a crevice somewhere (of course, in his human state, he couldn't help thinking the same about her). Xev came stumbling out onto the bridge, and fell to the ground before she made it to the command pedestal. Kai offered her a hand, and pulled her up. The sudden yank from his arm made her fall off the platform portion of the bridge, and against Kai's chest. She looked up and sheepishly looked away, letting go of his hand and taking hold on the pedestal. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine," she said quietly. "You?"

"I am all right," he said.

"Are you sure? " Xev asked, gently turning his head. "You look banged up. Your neck's bleeding, too,"

He pulled away, wiping the blood off with the back of his hand. "It happened...when the Lexx came into contact with whateverhas hurt it," he said, letting go of her.

Even though Xev hadn't consciously detected it, she could still tell he was lying. Vlad, on the other hand, knew he was lying for sure, but wasn't about to give him the benefit of the doubt like Xev. She smirked at him knowingly, as if to say "I could tell her, assassin. And then all of your pathetic lies will become clear to her...and she will wash her hands of you like so many others," She would absolutely love to do that sort of thing as well, but surprisingly enough, she didn't say a word; a rarity for Vlad, since she always had something on her ill mind. Kai shot her a warning glance, which she only smirked at, and then returned her attention to the viewscreen.

Meanwhile, Stan was completely ignoring everyone as he tried to rouse his ship from its apparent coma. "Lexx!" he hissed sharply, barely visible in the pitch black. "Why is so dark in here all of a sudden?"

Still no answer, causing the captain to become more impatient. "Lexx!" said Stan, now on the verge of screaming. "This is your captain speaking to you! I order you to answer me immediately!"

Kai could barely make out Stanley bury his face in his hands and sigh, "Oh boy, here we go again,"

"He is unconscious," said Kai. "That could be the only reason for the Lexx's sudden anomaly,"

Xev came around to get a better look at the viewscreen. "I don't see any planets," she said.

"I can't see anything at all," said Stan.

"That is because you are worthless human mortals," said Vlad. "I accept the darkness, and it accepts me,"

Kai looked at Vlad warily, wondering what exactly she was getting at, since everything she said had a double meaning. "You can see?" he asked.

"Yes," said Vlad. "As I was designed to be able to hunt even the most elusive assassin, I have been given many superior functions to oppose yours, even in this feeble human body that I long to be free of,"

"What about you Kai?" said Xev. "Can you see anything?"

"I can see things better than most living beings perhaps, but I am still finding it difficult,"

"All right," Xev said brightly. "We'll all go to the cryochamber, get some flashlights for the half of the crew who can't see in the dark, and we'll go check things out around the Lexx. Kai, you're with me,"

Without staying to hear Stan's complaints, she grabbed Kai by the arm, and had him lead her toward the exit of the bridge. "Aw, c'mon Xev, we don't know if anything dangerous is in this ship! Don'tcha think we'd be better off in a group?"

"No," said Vlad. "The confines of staying together will not allow us to hunt, but to be the hunted. I will not suffer anything to hunt me,"

"See?" said Xev. "Let's go,"

Meanwhile, in a ship only a few yards away from the Lexx's front end completely reflecting the image of the stars onto itself. Its mirrored sides made it invisible to even the insects, and since it was too small to crash into, it had to give off the illusion that it was larger; and all the drugs in the universe were more capable of providing that illusion.

Inside, sat a second crew of four people, bathed in dim green light. They were watching their own viewscreen, quite pleased with what they had accomplished. A small, stocky man with gray hair sat on the far left of the room, laughing. "Nice narcotic, Syne," he said, nodding to a blonde woman in skimpy red leather. "But I have one question,"

"And what would that be, Psal?" the woman asked, her tone as venomous as her blood red eye makeup and lipstick.

"Do you ever plan to slip us any of that crap?" Psal asked. "I mean if that much can knock out something that huge, then what the hell does it do to a normal human being?

Syne smiled. "What do you think happens?" she asked. "The outcome is favorable,"

"For you," said a second man, his eyes covered with dark goggles. "But only for you, right Syne?"

Syne giggled, licking her lips as if fantasizing about it. "Dayn," she breathed. "You know me so well,"

"Hey!" said Psal. "Can we get to the briefing, here?"

"You're the one that started the conversation," Dayn said silkily. "But yes. Our objective is to recover the relic at any cost. Our only problem is that it changes form so often...it can be as large as the ship it's in, or it can be as small as a needle point,"

"No problem there," Syne said, stretching lazily, making sure to drive Psal crazy. "I'm good with needle points. Just look for the symbol, right?"

"Of course," said Dayn. "The exploratory crew is already onboard. They will take down most of the ship's crew, if anything,"

"How many are there?" said Psal, hitting the switch on a small, knife-like weapon.

Electricity sparked from its tip, causing Syne to roll her eyes. She stood up and huffily squeezed the tip, putting out the spark, "Hey!" Psal protested.

"Play nicely, children," Dayn said calmly. "If I understand correctly, the exploratory crew is already dead,"

"You can't be serious," said Syne, sucking her sore finger.

"Oh, I'm quite serious," said Dayn. "But that's why we have you for our dear little alchemist, isn't that right?"

Syne smiled again and pulled a small vile from inside her top. "Dayn, honey, you mean it?" she breathed.

He stood up and put his arm around her waist. "It's finally time for your anniversary present, my love," he said, before kissing her deeply on the mouth.

"So uh...how many are we talking about here?" said Psal, beginning to get uncomfortable with his comrades getting a little too affectionate.

Dayn tore himself away from Syne's mouth and looked at Psal in irritation. "Four; one of which that will be able to predict our actions if we aren't careful," he said. "Now let's go...I have to give Syne what she's been dying to have,"

She grinned and pulled away. "You've been so good to me today," she said, heading toward the right side of the room. "You've already let me play with our current cargo,"

She knelt down next to three people that were tied on the floor. She smiled at the two men and the woman, two of which looked as if they'd just overdosed on overly potent drugs. The third, just seemed irritated. "Oh c'mon, Syne, get away from there!" Psal whined. "You remember what happened the last time you ungagged that white-haired prick!"

"Yeah," she said indignantly. "He talked our pilot into committing suicide right on the spot...I wanna see it again, is that so wrong?"

"For most people, yes," said Psal. "But for you-"

Dayn placed a firm hand on Psal's shoulder and squeezed. "We're bringing the cargo with us anyway, so let her play a little if she wants,"

She smiled over her shoulder at Dayn. "Thanks, babe," she said casually.

"Don't thank me yet," said Dayn. "We're bringing the cargo with us, so have the secondary team load them onto the shuttle,"

Syne thought about it a bit and then stood up. She then keyed in a message sequence on the control panel at the front of the chamber, and came back to Dayn's side. "Whatever," she said. "For the Prince of Fire, he's way too cold for my taste anyway. And his friends scream too easy,"

"That's my girl," said Dayn. "Now let's go,"

He then exited through a hatch in the back of the room, causing Psal and Syne to follow suit. Syne grinned. "Psal," she said. "Maybe I'll share my present with you, if you're good,"

A/N: Sorry it was so short! But oh well, I write things as they come, I guess.