Kitty woke up in a small metal room. She was laying on her back on a thin mat and Marie was sitting with her back to the wall. As she sat up she put a hand to her head and groaned.

"Marie? What happened? Are you okay?"

The white-striped brunette shrugged, "You know as much as I do… I think I'm okay though."

Kitty moved to sit next to her and after she was as comfortable as possible, she leaned her head back against the wall. "How long were we out and how long have you been awake?"

"No idea, I'd say about 3 or 4 hours, and I've been awake almost half an hour…"

"Jeez, I was only zapped a second after you, how come you woke up so soon?"

"I think they used a chemical instead of an electrical stunner. Since I'm a little bigger than you, my body used up the chemical faster and it wore off before yours." Marie looked towards the door. "That's the only thing I can think of…"

"Makes sense to me. But… Who still uses chemical knockouts?" It was a rhetorical question so Kitty didn't wait for an answer, but continued thinking verbally. Marie and she had been friends long enough that Marie knew that Kitty was just trying to think things through.

They were still wearing their school uniforms at least, that was a good sign. The one piece suits were made of a material that stretched and moved, it was pretty much one size fit all even if one size didn't look good on everyone. The fabric was made to preserve body heat, but it was thin. Kitty rubbed her hands on her arms, more out of fear than cold.

"Chemical stunners went out of use… what, 10 or 20 years ago? Just the two of us proved how unreliable they are for knockout times. So, whoever these guys are, they are either old-school or they come from a behind-the-technotimes-planet that hasn't upgraded to electrical stunners."

Marie cut in then, "Or they haven't been to a supply station in a few years, which is entirely possible considering this ship. I think you can rule out that techno-times thing… And they definitely have the money to upgrade, I mean look at this place." She gestured around them. "This may be a supply closet or a holding cell, but I can tell this place is high end…"

Marie wasn't the technology geek that Kitty was, but she was right in her assessment of the room and the ship. The metal walls were thick and high quality. There was a steady hum of engines, fans, and other equipment and it's relative silence was proof of expensive machinery. Despite the fact that there were no windows or light fixtures, the room had a high quality low lighting. There was a panel near the door, obviously a bio-scanner, which read genetic codes and also needed a password, that would open the door for whoever was authorized.

This ship was probably almost completely self-sufficient judging by what they had seen from the X17 and now from inside. "Yeah, so they either like chemical stunners or just haven't had the chance to upgrade. Have you heard anything outside?" Kitty glanced at Marie.

"I heard someone with big feet walk by once, but that is it."

Kitty lifted her hand and looked at the odd bracelet that was attached around her wrist. Marie had one too.

"What do you think these are for?"

"No idea. But at least they are a bit stylish…"

Kitty made a face. She and Marie had definite differences in taste. The bracelet was wide and clunky, and it did look like something Marie would wear. Kitty, on the other hand, preferred more delicate jewelry, things that were smaller and more feminine. She had opened her mouth to respond when Marie stiffened.

"Do you hear that?"

Kitty bent towards Marie, and the door, and she heard the faint footsteps too. Within seconds she could clearly hear the heavy steps, two people, and she didn't have to lean towards the door. The steps got closer and stopped in front of the door, making Kitty and Marie trade looks and scoot towards the back to their cell.

A square of red light appeared above the door and a voice came through above them. It was male and had an odd accent.

"Please move to back of room and put restraint on red square."

Marie shot to her feet and moved her face near the bio-scanner and touchpad, where the microphone would be placed (she really didn't have to get that close though), and punched at it with a finger.

"Hey, can you hear me out there? What restraints? These weird bracelet things? Who are you, and what do you want?" Marie was still pushing at random buttons when a different voice came on.

"Darlin' If I were you, I would put my wrist on the light square at the back of the room if you don't want something bad to happen."

While Marie argued with the voice, Kitty looked at the wall that was opposite the door and there were two small red squares. When she looked down at the thick ugly bracelet she saw that there was a matching red square. Lifting her left hand she turned her wrist and pressed the red square to the wall square. After a moment it turned green and when Kitty moved to look at Marie, she realized that she couldn't move her wrist. It was as good as shackled to the wall.

"Well, I see one of you has gotten smart. As for the mouthy one near the door, you still have about five seconds to put your wrist where it belongs…"

"Yeah well you can just bite my a…owwwwh!" While Marie was talking the wide red square above the door had begun blinking. Just as she was finishing her insult, the wrist bracelet's light turned green and she was jerked off her feet, slamming against the wall with the bracelet stuck to the wall, the same as Kitty's. The only difference was that Kitty was sitting fairly comfortably, and Marie now had a lump on the back of her head with her arm at an uncomfortable angle.

The door slid open a second later and two men stood there, one was quite a bit taller than the other, and after their eyes adjusted to the light Kitty and Marie could recognize them. The taller one was the one that had held Kitty, and the smaller but gruffer one was the one that had stunned Marie and Ororo.

The taller one spoke to them and he was the one who had spoken over the intercom first, the one with the odd accent. He was tall, one of the tallest men Kitty had ever seen, and he was obviously strong-judging by the muscles that she could see in his arms and shoulders. He wasn't wearing a typical outfit. He had on a stretchy blue shirt that ended at his elbows and a dark colored pair of pants, instead of the typical one piece suit. The other man wasn't wearing a space suit either, but he had on light blue pants and a brown shirt.

"You need come to be physical…"

Kitty and Marie just stared at him as if he had told them that they needed to jump out of a space port without a suit.

"He means to say that you need a physical exam in our medical ward." Logan shrugged, "You have to forgive him, his translator is broken."

Kitty was immediately curious. She had always had an interest in computers, especially when they were incorporated into human physiology. She had even upgraded her own translator, and she knew more languages than anyone in the Xavier Space Training Academy.

"Now you two girls are going to behave while we take you down to the med-lab, right?" The shorter man was looking at them as if he could tell by their expression if they were going to behave.

Kitty nodded while Marie looked at him sullenly.

"I'll take that as a yes from you Stripes… I'll have to take you myself, Petey here would let you bruise him up." He motioned to the larger man before he reached for Marie and her dyed hair. "I on the other hand, will not, so unless you want to be unconscious again, you'll be a good girl."

'Petey' pressed a finger to the bio-scanner and tapped a few buttons and the green lights that held the bracelets immobile faded away. Kitty flexed her arm with a sigh of relief. She had been more comfortable than Marie, but it still wasn't the most comfortable thing for her wrist.

"Can I ask you… I mean…" Kitty stopped for a moment uncomfortably. "Can I talk?"

"Sure, whatever. What's your names?"

"Ugh… I'm Kitty, er Katherine Pryde." Kitty waited for Marie to speak, but the other girl was only glaring at the man who was holding her wrists behind her back. "…And that's Marie Darkholme." The other man, 'Petey', was lightly holding Kitty's wrist, just below the heavy bracelet and Kitty wanted to thank him but decided to wait and find out what was going on first.

"Why are we getting an physical?" Since Marie was still being hostile towards the shorter man, it was up to Kitty to find out what was going on.

"Don't worry about it, little girl. I'm not good at explanations, so when Petey gets himself fixed, he'll do it."