Here's another chapter. I know it's really soon (not like that's a bad thing), but like I said I'm super excited about this part of the story.

I scan the hangar again. Smoke pours in from a door opposite the one Tinu ran through, and I can hear small explosions and weapons fire from that direction. I move toward the door, then stop when I see movement from inside. I raise my pistol and hear the click as Wash turns off the safety on his battle rifle. Simmons, still standing near the ramp of the pelican, raises the stunner and steps in front of Yttri.

There are a few tense seconds as everyone waits to see what will happen.

Ruth runs through the door, followed by Beryl and Moly and various others. They spill out onto the floor, coughing, and Grif runs in after, urging them forward. I sprint up to them, checking each of the kids for injuries before turning to Grif. "What's going on?" I ask.

Grif hunches over and coughs from the smoke, despite his helmet which should have filtered the air. "We're under attack," he says. "They set bombs outside the mess hall. That whole side of the base is on fire."

Yttri's eyes widen when she hears this. "My lab!" she exclaims, lunging toward the door. Simmons manages to hook an arm around her waist to stop her. "Let me go, Cyborge," she snaps, trying to pull away.

"No, Yttri, you go in there." Simmons pulls Yttri back as she continues to struggle, turning her away from the door. "It's already gone. You can't do anything."

Yttri continues pulling toward the door for a few seconds before giving up. She pushes his arm away with a huff and faces deliberately away from the smoking door. Her eyes fix on the mystery ship and she walks toward it purposefully. "Come on. Let's figure out what this thing is." Simmons hesitates for a second before following.

"Who's attacking?" Wash asks Grif.

The orange man shakes his head. "I don't know. I haven't actually seen any of them. All I know is the base started blowing up and people started running around screaming. I tried to get as many people out as I could."

Ruth starts climbing to her feet and Grif offers a hand to help her. "Computer," she croaks, pointing to the panel on the wall by the smoking door. Grif helps her walk over to it and she starts typing furiously. "I need to seal off the base," she explains, "stop the fire from spreading."

"Is anyone still in there?" I ask.

Grif shakes his head. "Donut and Nick were in the training room with the kids. Everyone else was either in the barracks on the other side of the base, or in the mess hall with me. I got everyone out of there."

"What about Tucker and Caboose?" Wash asks.

Grif considers this for a second. "I think Tucker was near the training room, too. One of the kids was begging him to show off the sword again. As for Caboose… I think he was in the infirmary again."

There's a thunk as the door shuts, followed by a click. "Door's sealed," Ruth announces. "I also sent a message through the base's speakers telling everyone to meet up here."

"Good," I tell her. "Now see if you can help Doc with the wounded." Ruth nods and sprints to the medic's side.

A moment later people begin to filter into the hangar from all directions. Most run in with terrified expressions, while others help lead their younger, wounded siblings to safety. Rhodi walks in without a word, dragging a confused and bandaged Caboose behind him, and immediately starts helping Doc with triage.

Donut runs in from a door on the far side of the hangar, a young girl with a broken leg in his arms. He stumbles in his haste, nearly falling over before regaining his balance. A second later I see what he's running from. A man with a gun follows Donut through the door. I aim my pistol at the man but he charges forward and tackles Donut before I can fire. The girl, Tin, crawls away as Donut rolls over and kicks up at his attacker. The mystery man stands up and points his gun at the lightish red helmet.

Donut flinches at the sound of a pistol firing. It takes him a moment to register that he isn't hurt. He looks up and sees the hole in his attacker's forehead before the man falls. I holster my gun as I walk toward the body.

Donut's already on his feet and helping Tin up by the time I reach them. "Are you two okay?" I ask.

Tin nods while Donut shakes his head. "Her leg's broken," he explains.

I point toward Doc and Rhodi. "Triage is over there. They'll do what they can to help."

Once they're gone, I inspect the body. He appears to be in his early to mid twenties, and is wearing what looks like a cheap knock-off of Mjolnir armor. More surprising than his age or clothing, however, is his face. I gasp and step back when I see it. The green eyes, curly blond hair, and light dusting of freckles are all too familiar. It's Iodine.

"No," I whisper, shaking my head. It can't be him. Iodine's just a boy, he's only fourteen. This can't be him. Still, the face is so similar, nearly identical, that I know it can't be a coincidence.

I turn away from the body and scan the steadily forming crowd. I don't see Iodine anywhere, but I do see his partner. Beryllium is sitting on the ground, arms wrapped around knees which are pulled up to her chest, an unfocused look on her soot covered, tear stained face. I crouch next to her and place a hand on her shoulder. "Beryl," I say gently. Her eyes snap up to meet mine, but I'm not sure if she recognizes me. "Have you seen Iodine?" I ask. She sniffs and nods, pointing at Rhodium. He's fixing an oxygen mask on someone and I see a flash of blond hair. "Thanks," I say, patting her on the shoulder again.

I stand and walk to Rhodi. Sure enough, Iodine is lying on the ground with a gash on his forehead that Rhodi's trying to bandage. "What is going on?" I whisper to myself.

Rhodi glances up and notices the confused expression on my face. "Let me guess," he says. "That guy you shot over there was Iodine, wasn't it?" I nod. Rhodi sighs and wipes a hand across his forehead. "I don't know how she did it, but I think mom made copies of us. I shot my own copy earlier when he attacked the infirmary."

"How many are there?" I ask.

Rhodi shakes his head. "I don't know, but I'd guess there's one for each of us." He moves away from Iodine and gets to work on the next patient.

"If they look like us," I muse out loud, "how do we tell them apart from ourselves?"

"They're all the same age," Donut offers. He's helping put a splint on Tin's leg under Doc's instruction, but he glances our way to contribute to the conversation. "A little older than Tinu, but still younger than you."

"And they're all wearing white armor," Rhodi adds.

I nod. I'm certain there'll still be a few seconds delay if I run into any of these copies, but at least I can recognize them. I know I should let Rhodi concentrate, but there's one last thing I need to ask him.

"How many of us are still missing?" I ask. I know by now he must have already been through the room a few times, so he'll know if anyone isn't here.

"I haven't seen Tinu around," he says, kneeling and shining a light in Sulfur's eyes to check for a concussion. "And the kids are still missing."

"You haven't seen them anywhere?" My voice is pleading, despite my efforts to keep it steady.

Rhodi shakes his head, and his carefully professional voice slips for a moment. "I'm sorry, Si."

I nod and step away, leaving him to his work. I wander over to the ship where Yttri and Simmons are.

"What's the plan?" Yttri asks without glancing up from her inspection.

"The base isn't safe," I say eventually. "Mom found us here. We need to leave."

"We won't all fit in the pelican," Yttri informs me.

"That's why we're taking this ship." Yttri finally looks up at me, and I almost laugh at the shock on her face. "Give it a thorough check, make sure there isn't some sort of a tracking device on it," I instruct.

Yttri just shakes her head and turns back to the ship. It looks like some sort of alien transport vessel, designed to hold a lot of people. "I'll be interested to see who's flying it," she remarks.

That stops me. Nick and I are the only ones who know how to fly. A few of the others have had some training, but nothing I would trust with a long flight like this.

"I'll do it," Grif's voice rings out from behind me.

I whip around to face him. "You can fly this thing?" I ask skeptically.

"Uh, I could probably figure it out?" he offers. "I mean, I figured out how to fly a pelican once, and I don't have any training for that."

"We crashed that time," Simmons reminds him.

I glance between him and the new ship a few times before looking back at our usual ship. "How about you fly the pelican, and I'll take care of this one," I counter.

"Works for me," Grif says.

Yttri laughs. "Dibs on a seat in the pelican," she says, eyeing Grif distrustfully. "For me and the cyborge," she adds as an afterthought.

Grif and Simmons share a look before the orange man gets dragged over to triage by Donut.

"It'll take a little while to make sure this ship is safe to fly," Yttri says.

"That's fine," I say distractedly. "I need to find Tinu and the kids, anyway."

"And Tucker," Wash says, stepping up beside me. "He still hasn't made it back to the hangar."

"Right," I nod. "I'll find all of them, bring them back here, and then we'll leave." I start walking toward the door Tinu left through.

Wash jogs along beside me. "I'm coming with you," he says, tone leaving no room for argument.

I decide to argue anyway. "I need someone here who I know can fight," I explain. He starts to protest and I stop, turning to face him. "Please," I say, placing a hand on his chest to stop him from moving forward. "Stay here and protect the wounded."

"Will you be okay in there alone?" he asks, professionalism slipping from his tone for the briefest of moments.

I smile, even though he can't see it. "I've lived in this base for almost a year. I think I can find my way around it better than some poorly made copies."

"Even if she can't, I can," Rho pipes up. "We'll be fine."

Wash nods and places a hand on my shoulder. "Be safe," he orders gently. He turns and walks away before I can respond.

I can feel Rho's curiosity spike at the gesture, but ignore it. I have more important things to think about right now. I turn back to the door and sprint through it, drawing my pistol as I go. My family comes first. I'll pretend to not think about Wash later.

So, quick update for those who care: I got bored the other day and googled the average word length for a novel. Turns out, it was between 60,000 and 70,000 words. So, this story is officially the length of a novel (according to Wikipedia). I honestly had no idea this story would be this long when I started it. Thanks to all my readers for sticking with it, even when things got slow. You all are awesome!