Lex hurried down the slope back towards the house. Even though she knew half an hour was probably not going to make any difference in her race to get to Selim and Isaac, the knowledge that she now had the means to find them made her want to claw back every possible moment of time.

She was nearing the bottom of the hill when she noticed something strange near the foot of the slope: a figure coming towards her through the trees. From this distance she could see the other human was also running, struggling through the snow. For a moment she paused, unsure of what to do next. Long experience had taught her to be extremely wary of being approached by unknown humans - especially if they seemed to be in a hurry. Quickly, she started to walk again, but now her fingers rested lightly on the palm catches of her dah'kte. If this person was any kind of threat, she was ready.

Then, with relief, she noticed a familiar flash of fox-red hair: Hobbes! Lex's relief faded abruptly as she realised she could not see Spyrro with her, the medic was ominously alone. As Hobbes drew nearer Lex deactivated the camouflage and Hobbes started in surprise. Then she began shouting, waving an arm frantically as she continued to run up the hill. She was still not close enough for Lex to hear her but she could see the woman's mouth form the words "Spyrro" and "gone".

Pure instinct spun Lex around and galvanised her muscles into a dead run up the slope, before her conscious mind even had time to put the pieces together. She sprinted for the Dragonfly, running headlong through the forest, crashing through snowy branches and leaping over fallen trees. "Finding her asleep at the console, she must have somehow seen that message! It explains the strange way she's been acting… if she's managed to sneak away from Hobbes, I know where she'll be!"

Then she heard a noise that was too loud to be swallowed up by the snowy forest, confirming her worst imaginings: the sound of the Dragonfly's engines. Fear gave her added speed as she pounded up the slope, opening the panel on her wristcom as she ran. Lex skidded to a halt on the hilltop and stared upwards in dismay, her hair whipped into clouds by the hot draft of the shuttle's engines. She couldn't see the ship but the satcom's sensors told her it was already above treetop level and gaining altitude, climbing quickly into the merciless blue above them. Already, Lex knew this was no accident. "Spyrro's onboard the Dragonfly! She must have seen Isaac's message - she's trying to get to him!"

Again she attempted to regain control of the console but nothing happened and the ship continued to climb. "She must have locked me out of flight controls!" She thought, feeling the alarm building in her chest. "In a few minutes she'll be outside the atmosphere and then out of range! How the fuck can I get her back then?"

She pressed the comms control on her wristcom, "Spyrro, come back!" She said as calmly as she could in yautja, fighting against the mounting terror that made her want to scream. "Just bring the shuttle back down daughter, I promise I will not be angry. I know you saw Isaac's message, I want to find them too! Just come back so we can go find them together!" For a moment there was no response: the shuttle continued stubbornly rising, neither slowing nor deviating from its upward trajectory.

Then, suddenly, the ship's cloaking device deactivated - the Dragonfly was visible! Lex gaped in horror and sought feverishly on her wristcom for a way to make it disappear again but the console would not allow her to override the command remotely. For a split second she wondered if Spyrro had intended to do it but then discounted that idea. She had a mental image of the girl just mashing the console - pressing buttons at random as she tried to keep her mother from gaining access - and that frightened her even more. "God knows what she might press next - she doesn't understand what she's doing!"

The ship was getting smaller by the second - ascending into the sky like a child's lost balloon. Lex felt breathless, as if her lungs had suddenly become too small. She put her head down between her knees and fought for control. In a matter of moments the ship would be permanently out of range, she had to do something!

She straightened up. Maybe Spyrro wouldn't listen to messages coming into the Dragonfly's cockpit, but Lex had to pray she hadn't pressed the button to stop her using them to broadcast out remotely. She opened the wristcom again, programming in the coordinates from Isaac's message, preparing to send a tight beam from the Dragonfly's comms to the only person she could think of who might help.

"Scar, this is Lex!" She gasped, trying to steady her voice. "We need you! Spyrro is in danger! She's taken the Dragonfly and locked me out of flight controls. She's about to leave Earth's atmosphere and I think she's headed towards you but I've got no way to go after her. I'm sending the ship's trajectory with this message." She pressed controls hurriedly to include the Dragonfly's coordinates and flight plan. "Please find her! She's not cloaked and she's on her own - she's a sitting target! I know something went wrong between us," She swallowed hard. "But please … you have to bring her back!"

She pressed to end the transmission and held her breath as the shuttle became a tiny dot, high in the vast blueness. The 'transmission pending' icon blinked mockingly on the screen for what seemed like an eternity. As the icon turned red, she stood in the snowmelt left by the shuttle's exhaust, her eyes locked on the Dragonfly. As she watched it glinted, catching the sunlight for the last time. Then it was gone.

The pilot stood, hand clasped to his chest in front of the dais "I have news for the Council."

A set of talons uncurled from the arm of the central chair in front of him."It had better be interesting Varrik, you know our time is precious. Now more than it ever was."

"As you say, most cunning and implacable of Commanders."

"Very well, I will turn my mind away from our impending destruction for a moment. What news do you bring?"

The pilot nodded and opened his satcom. He swiped a talon across the display and the large screen on the wall was illuminated with a huge picture of Isaac's face.

"Mom? I don't know if you can hear me. If you can... that means my message got through…."

There was silence for a long moment. Then the Commander said, in sepulchral tones, "What is this?"

Varrik dipped his head "I intercepted the transmission myself, O merciless leader, on the outward arm of Paya Praxis. I did not know what it was and so... I brought it straight to you."

"We have been hunting... something called the Avissa."

"Hrrrrrm." The dark talons began to tap a rhythm on the arm of the chair; slow and deliberate, each tap like a shot "Look at this… child, Varrik. What can you tell me about him?"

"He is a Rough Skull juvenile... or looks much like one," The pilot's face screwed up in a puzzled frown, thinking this might be some sort of test. "But his face is strange... it is malformed somehow. And he is speaking the ooman tongue."

The clicking of the talons continued, playing a disquieting rhythm. "Is there nothing… familiar about him?"

Varrik stared at the screen "I have never seen this creature before," He rallied, "But myself and Y'Kryss (pron: EE-Kriss) think that there is something … possibly treasonous in this message!"

"Do you understand his words?" The voice demanded harshly.

"No!" Varrik gaped "No, most unrelenting of conquerors! I do not understand the ooman tongue!"

"Scar brought us to this planet, to teach us to hunt..."

"No, I imagine you do not." The dominant voice paused again, thinking, "Tell me," He rumbled "Who else did you tell of this message - aside from yourself and Y'Kryss?"

The pilot swallowed "No-one, Commander - I swear it!"

The speaker paused for a long moment. "You have pleased me, Varrik." He said, finally.

The pilot kept his head bowed and, wisely, stayed silent.

"In our time of great trial and suffering you have brought me something… useful."

"Yes, O Bane of our Enemies."

"You have returned a weapon to my hand. I shall not forget it."

"A weapon?"

"Yessss," The clicking of the talons began again, each one like a separate crack of doom. "Perhaps it may be just the weapon I need..."

Varrik dipped his head lower "I do not understand, my Commander."

"I am sure you do not! No matter. Just see that you and Y'Kryss keep this to yourselves, or I shall be extremely dissatisfied." The dark general smiled, jaws spreading apart to show his amusement. Then he turned to address the other shadowy figures in the chamber,"Can you not feel the tide of battle turning in our direction already?"

Lex was still staring after the shuttle when Hobbes came up behind her on the hilltop, red-faced and out of breath.

"Lex!" She panted "What's happened?"

"Spyrro snuck onto the ship," Lex said, still not taking her eyes off the point in the sky where the Dragonfly had vanished. "She's gone."

"Oh Jesus, I am so sorry!" The ex-soldier put her hands over her mouth in horror, "She climbed out the bathroom window! I didn't realise she would do that - "

"It's not your fault," The other woman said wearily, "She's been running away every chance she gets, I should have guessed she was planning something like this. I shouldn't have left her with you."

"But where's she going?"

"To find Scar and the boys," Lex said, then added bitterly "She must really want to be rid of me!"

"I'm sure that's not true!" The medic gripped her arms.

Lex shook her off and squared her shoulders. "Anyway, I need to clear out of your place right away."

"You don't have to do that" Hobbes began.

"Yes, I do. Spyrro decloaked the shuttle during take-off. We're within sight of the town up here and there's no telling how many people saw it. It's only a matter of time before someone comes to check it out, if they aren't on their way here already."

"But surely you don't think news travels that fast," The ex-soldier said, keeping pace with Lex as she started back towards the house . "So what if a few people in some little town see a weird shape in the sky - it's not exactly a national emergency, is it?"

"It's not just eyewitnesses," Lex shook her head "Without the stealth tech, there's nothing to stop the ship being spotted by satellites, observatories, government planes … there are people whose whole job is to watch for this stuff!"

When they got back to the house, Lex motioned her to be quiet, crouching stealthily behind the back fence. Hobbes shook her head but crouched next to her "Don't you think you're being just a tiny bit paranoid?" She hissed as Lex began to creep round towards the front of the house. After satisfying herself that the house looked empty and that there was only Hobbes's battered jeep in the driveway, they went inside.

Quickly, Lex went upstairs and began to pack up the few possessions she and Spyrro had brought from the Dragonfly.

"Do you really have to leave?" Hobbes said from the doorway of Layla's bedroom.

"Trust me - it'll be better for you if I'm not here." Lex said, continuing to pack.

"Stop and think about this for a moment: where the hell are you going to go?"

Lex turned and looked her in the eye. "When you got back here from Hirai, the army interrogated you about where you'd been, right?"

Hobbes nodded mutely.

"And you told them about the hunters and about me and Scar and everything else, right?"

"Yes, but I didn't think you'd be coming back to Earth - and anyway they didn't believe me!"

"Look Hobbes, I don't blame you." Lex shoved a water canteen into her pack. "You did what you had to do, but if you told them that stuff, then you'll be a person of interest to them and if my ship was spotted near your place they'll be coming here to check if you've had contact."

Hobbes was looking at her disbelievingly, "You really think they want to find you that much?"

"I do." Lex said, "And if you do get any government types coming asking after me, putting pressure on, just tell them I held you hostage or something. It'll be easier for you that way."

"I can't do that!"

"Hobbes please, I've already got so many criminal charges against my name it won't make any difference ...and I don't want to be responsible for bringing any more trouble to your door!"

"Well at least let me get you some food and supplies to take with you," Hobbes turned to start down the stairs. Then they heard a loud rapping that echoed through the house. Both women froze.

Someone was at the door.

Thanks again for the nice reviews. It's nice to know people are enjoying the story!

Kassandra, Thanks! As you say, a girl can dream! Also, I'm afraid Lex has got quite a bit of distress to come - I've given her a bit of a hard time during this story! She's not the only one though.

LoveyDovey7: Also thanks. Re your question, Scar explains in Deviation that Rough Skulls can be castrated or put to death for any kind of breeding or even sex that's not sanctioned by the clan. Only the highest status and the best fighters are awarded breeding privileges, to make sure only the strongest produce young, so the fact that Lex is blooded doesn't get them off the hook as she is equally bound by this law. Scar may be a great fighter, but he's also considered to be a lunatic and a criminal, either of which on its own would be enough to disqualify him.

Added to this, Scar didn't get the clan's approval before he blooded her and she's the first human ever to be blooded, so they only really accept her on sufferance. I have written yautja society as basically a dictatorship, so clan law is whatever Nar'Jat and the other leaders say it is. If he decides to put Scar and Lex under a death sentence, there's no right of appeal.

Love n hugs, ScifiTrash xxx