At first, Jennifer had found it a little difficult to maintain a watchful eye on her surroundings for a couple of reasons. For one thing, she was being carried through the tree branches, instead of on the ground. For another, the big alien woman was moving through the tree branches even faster that she could have done on level ground. Being carried in one arm like she weighed nothing at all was disconcerting to the Marine. The thing was, she could understand why the big alien was carrying her like this. Although R'ka had a type of natural camouflage thanks to her coloration, Jennifer had nothing to help with concealment. Then there was the sheer speed at which they were moving. Jennifer was sure that she couldn't have achieved such a grueling pace on foot in an all out run.

It was clear that R'ka knew where she was going, because the alien kept a fairly straight course through the tree tops, and she was headed there in a serious hurry. The one thing that really caught Jennifer's attention though was just how silent R'ka was while moving at such high speed. Even though the alien was carrying her, R'ka was using only her left hand to do it while almost running across the branches of the trees in total silence.

Jennifer knew that they'd been traveling for quite a few hours and that it was now well past noon. The sun which had been just a touch above the horizon on her right had passed overhead and was now halfway down to the horizon on her left. Although she was more than ready to eat, she knew that stopping now would be a very dangerous thing to do. Whatever this world was, she knew that there were enemies here and that they thought nothing of taking what they wanted by force. That was why she did the only thing she could at this point, which was to keep her eyes and ears alert for any sign of danger.

Jennifer wasn't exactly sure how long that R'ka had been carrying her, but she knew that it had been several hours before the huge alien finally stopped and crouched silently on a tree branch. She sat in the crook of the alien's left arm and kept her eyes peeled for anything that moved, because she had no idea what all might be considered dangerous on this strange planet. She noticed that R'ka seemed to be watching the other branches in the nearby trees, although she couldn't really tell because of the strange helmet like mask the alien wore.

Jennifer turned her attention to the tree branches surrounding the two of them and soon noticed an odd shimmer. She felt her blood run cold as she immediately recognized it from the tests that she had seen prior to her now long gone mission. It was someone of a fairly large size using an Active Camouflage System.

Jennifer eased her right elbow into the R'ka's ribs and gestured with her head in the direction of the cloaked individual. Then when she saw R'ka look at her, she moved her right hand slowly as she pointed at her own eyes, and then at the cloaked individual. She took careful aim at the center of the cloaked field and placed her right index finger on the trigger of her silenced MP-5.

(*)

R'ka felt the tiny female push against her ribs in a steady but firm pressure. She saw that Jen was completely still, and that even her breathing was almost motionless. She turned to look at the ooman and saw her use two fingers to point at her eyes, before pointing at something a short distance away in the neighboring tree. It was when she switched into the ultra-violet spectrum of her mask that she spotted Kwei-kv'var-de squatting on a tree branch looking down at the surrounding ground. A glance back at Jen showed that she was bringing up her weapon to aim at Kwei!

R'ka knew that she couldn't let the ooman kill the warrior who had helped to save her life, but she didn't know if she would be able to move fast enough without drawing possible attention to the action. With the two of them uncloaked, any movement while stationary was dangerous. Then she got an idea.

R'ka shifted her left arm that was holding the tiny female so that Jen's aim was no longer on Kwei, at the same time she positioned the ooman female closer to her mask. Just as she was about to speak the Yautja's name as softly as she could, she saw the warrior deactivate his cloak and drop to the ground. Her eyes widened at the sight of the agreed upon signal that all was clear. She grinned beneath her mask as she stood and dropped to the ground.

(*)

It was all Jennifer could do not to scream at the sudden sensation of her stomach coming up her throat. She knew that the ground was at least three stories below, but R'ka hadn't hesitated in dropping down from such a height.

'Holy shit!' Jennifer wanted to scream that one thought at the top of her lungs. The fact that R'ka didn't stumble, or even take a single step to regain her balance after such a drop spoke volumes to the Marine. The alien woman had easily absorbed the impact of dropping from such a great height, and Jennifer knew that a jump like that would have at least crippled her had she tried it on her own.

Suddenly, Jennifer was gaping at R'ka in astonishment as she realized that not only had she not been dropped upon landing, but that she wasn't the least bit hurt. That feat alone gave her a new appreciation for R'ka's strength. She was about to ask how the woman had managed such a thing, before remembering that she couldn't speak English. That was when Jennifer realized something else… R'ka had dropped down from a three story height without making a single noise. Still being carried in one arm like a rather small child, Jennifer kept a sharp set of eyes peeled as R'ka followed Kwei.

(*)

R'ka followed Kwei into his ship, and heard a slight gasp from the ooman female in her grasp as the vessel decloaked. Once inside she could see the damage and destruction for herself. It was something that told her that those males had not been interested in trophies! Instead, they must have had their interest in nothing more than torturing Kwei until he died from the injuries they had planned to inflict on him. This was simply one more thing that showed the lack of honor possessed by those males.

As soon as Kwei closed the entrance ramp and cloaked the vessel, R'ka lowered the ooman to the floor and placed Jennifer on her feet. The ooman female was quickly looking around her and appeared to be carefully taking in her surroundings. She noted that wherever the ooman's gaze went, the muzzle of her weapon went as well. Concerned, she mentioned this to Kwei in a soft tone.

"That is no less than I would expect from any experienced warrior. She doesn't know our language, and she obviously can't know much about this world we find ourselves on, so that means almost everything is a potential threat. When you are faced with an unknown environment on this world… what do you do?" Kwei asked as he looked up at the young female warrior.

"I… I would make certain that I am ready for combat if it's needed." R'ka answered hesitantly.

"Exactly!" Kwei said as he smiled beneath his mask.

"Does this mean she might have a decent level of combat experience?" R'ka asked curiously.

"She may be as experienced as I am, possibly even more. But it's not her actions now that lead me to suspect such a thing. It was her actions while seriously injured that demonstrate some high degree of combat skill and experience." Kwei answered easily.

"Why?"

"Because even while fatally injured, I could smell anger from her. Anger that she was obviously directing at herself to finish what she started. Without your healing serum which allowed her to live long enough for me to arrive, she would never have regained consciousness. Setting you free would have been her last act in this life. Remember the way she moved and walked after that dishonorable male threw her… the scream of pain as she dropped to her knees to retrieve her weapon. I think she was injured to the point that she knew she couldn't simply bend down to retrieve it; otherwise she would have done so. She fell to her knees and endured the pain that resulted because she had no other choice if she were going to restore your freedom. She did that instead of finding someplace to try to recover. Any inexperienced warrior would have tried to recuperate from their wounds first. She did not…instead; she placed her life in our hands and in our honor. From what I have seen of you, that trust was not misplaced. You and I both know what those males intended for us. For myself, I owe both of you my life and I owe you for my freedom as well. As it is, she owes the two of us her life, and you owe her for your freedom and…"

"And my honor, as well as my sanity along with owing her for any offspring… if I ever have any." R'ka interrupted firmly.

"Exactly." Kwei stated. "Now, she is unaware that this ship is likely to be empty except for us, so she watches. We should check out this vessel and ensure that there are no others waiting for us."

R'ka nodded in understanding. Both of them had kept their voices low for that exact reason. Now she watched to see if the Yautja male could make the smaller ooman female understand.

(*)

Jennifer had kept a sharp lookout while the two aliens spoke quietly. Their voices little more than a whisper told her that this… whatever it was, might not be secure. Then once the two turned to face her; she saw Kwei point at her and then hold his hand up palm towards her in a signal to wait. She quirked a rueful smile at that. One thing she would have to do is teach them combat signs. Then she shook her head.

She pointed first at Kwei, then at R'ka before she motioned with her entire hand towards the opening where there was a slight depression that they could hide and wait in. Kwei nodded affirmatively. Then she pointed at herself, and then in one of the directions that led down a corridor. Pointing back at them, she then pointed to her eyes and then motioned with her entire hand towards the second corridor.

Kwei once again held up his hand in a signal to wait. Then Jennifer heard him speaking very softly to R'ka.

"I think she wants us to wait, and watch one corridor while she goes to search the other for any possible intruders." Kwei whispered curiously.

"That was my understanding as well, but why?"

"I think it's a combination of things; she doesn't know of our combat skills, because she hasn't seen them, and she must be very confident in her own." Kwei answered while appraising the ooman.

"But she was caught by that one male who nearly killed her." R'ka protested softly.

"True, but because of that, I doubt that she will ever be caught in such a way again. From what little I have seen of her, she seems far too skilled to allow that to happen anymore. Remember, she was able to spot me with unaided eyes while I was cloaked! That means that any opponents who are cloaked will not have the advantage they believe." Kwei explained quickly.

R'ka couldn't help but nod in silent agreement as she watched the ooman female move off in stealthy silence.

(*)

Jen stuck to the shadows as she moved through the strange ship in deadly silence. Her training and experience manifested itself in the fact that she kept her back to the walls while she carefully examined each room that she came to. She searched every room slowly and carefully, because she knew that these aliens also had Active Camouflage Systems. There was a lot of strange equipment and other things that had quite obviously been damaged, if not completely destroyed, but she ignored that and focused on her search.

After what seemed like an hour or more, Jennifer felt that this section was clear, but with those Active Camouflage Systems in play, she wasn't taking anything for granted. She still kept a watch as she moved silently back down the corridor to where R'ka and Kwei were waiting by the entrance. She signaled them that she was going to check the second corridor, and for them to keep watch on the first. While she felt reasonably sure that the corridor was clear, she wasn't about to risk her life on it. She was just as diligent in her search of the second corridor as she was the first.

While the ooman female was making her silent search; Kwei told R'ka that he was going to try to access the ship's systems and see what could be used. He then entered the access codes to link up with the ship's computer system. It took him quite a while because all of the external sensors were either damaged or destroyed, along with the interstellar drive, navigation controls, and the flight controls. The software was undamaged, and could be controlled from the ship's library, and even from his wrist computer and mask, but without the external sensors, there was no way to determine where the ship was going, and the only place it could go was somewhere else on the planet!

Kwei had just finished going through the diagnostics of the ship's systems, and was about to use the internal sensors to find out if there were any intruders, when Jennifer approached the second time. The ooman female was moving with the practiced ease of one who was well trained to be silent. That was when he was finally able to pull up a display of the ship's interior. There were only three life signs on the display, and he knew exactly who those belonged to.

As soon as Jen joined them, Kwei nodded to her, before stepping out of cover. "Safe." He said in the ooman language, that Jen seemed to understand. He could barely contain his excitement as he moved quickly to the ship's library, and the computer system that it held. As soon as he got there, he began accessing the various files to find out if he would be able to understand his small companion.

"Well? Does it contain the program we need to understand her speech?" R'ka asked impatiently after giving Kwei a few moments on the computer.

"I don't know. Apparently the oomans have more than one language, because there are more than twenty in here." Kwei answered distractedly. "On the other claw, there is a description of ooman body language and expressions along with what they mean. I am transferring that to my wrist computer now. If you will unlock yours, I will give that information to you as well."

R'ka-thwei unlocked her wrist computer and immediately received the information that Kwei transferred. She began to look through it eagerly, and quickly learned some of the meanings behind Jen's confusing actions the previous night. She saw that an ooman's expression of anger or challenge while baring the teeth also included a flaring of those strange nostrils, narrowing of the eyes, as well as a lowering of the brow. Jen's expressions on the other claw had been those of happiness or friendship, which made her very glad that she hadn't reacted to what she had mistakenly thought to be a challenge.

While the two aliens were occupied with the really weird computer that they were messing with, Jennifer spent her time watching their backs. It didn't make a single bit of difference that Kwei had said they were safe; she was keeping a lookout anyway. The clip was locked in place, and the chamber was loaded on both her MP-5, and her .44. Like any trained soldier in Special Forces, she had never engaged the safety on any of her weapons, so she'd never have to worry about whether it was on, or off. The only safety that mattered was whether or not her finger was on the trigger.

Jennifer glanced back at the two aliens when she heard several strange languages that sounded like they were from Earth coming from the computer, but went right back to keeping watch. After all, she knew that Kwei had Active Camouflage, so any enemies might have it as well, and she wasn't about to take any chances.

"Jen."

Jennifer turned around at the sound of her name being spoken by the male alien, and that was when he gestured towards the holographic display from the computer. She stepped closer to it and saw that there was an instruction in the holographic display. Jennifer spent a few seconds marveling at something that only existed in science fiction movies and novels, before shaking her head and reading what was there.

(Answer aloud if you can read and understand this.)

"Yes, I can read that just fine. Why?" Jennifer said in confusion. Even as she spoke, strange symbols appeared in the holographic display.

"We found it! Now the three of us will be able to understand each other!" Kwei exclaimed excitedly. "I'll load this program into our wrist computers, so that the translations can be read on our masks. Then, all we need to do is modify one to fit her, and we can properly communicate."

Even as the alien male spoke, letters and words appeared in the holographic display which let Jen know what he'd said.

"Wait! You mean this thing can translate everything we say? And there's a way to take this program with us? Hoo-rah! Let's make it happen!" The Marine exclaimed with a grin and a fist pump.