A/N: I can't believe it's been over two years since I last updated this! Thanks for reminding me now and then, it was never really forgotten just a lack of time and a brain that wouldn't focus where I wanted it to.

I hope you enjoy this short installment... I'd like to say that I won't keep you waiting so long again and I hope I won't, but I can't promise. Do please let me know what you think of this chapter though, and maybe you'll convince my mind not to wander.

Chapter Six – New Old Friendships

"Mission accomplished." Plunder announced with a flourish as he entered Blight's lab. "Three proto-eco-geeks down, two to go."

"Don't be so sure." Blight glared and filled him in on their recruits' minor rebellion.

The eco-villain looked grave for a moment but then said thoughtfully, "It may be as well that I returned with Kwame when I did then. From what I just saw it has already altered the dynamic of their relationship, there is a sense of rivalry and competition between them that will increase with another companion. They were bickering in a none-too-friendly way."

"Or," His partner stated, "Kwame will make peace between them. I don't like it Looten, their loyalty needs to be to us, not each other."

Plunder nodded, "Perhaps we should introduce a little more competition, offer specific rewards for certain tasks and let them fight it out who gets to perform them. Wheeler does not like to be bested."

Blight agreed coldly, "We can try it, but either way we need to keep an eye on them. Did you manage to convince Kwame to join us or did you have to kidnap him?"

"I bought him." The business man stated, "His mother is ill and his village poor. She was more than happy to tell him to co-operate with us in return for a reasonable amount and the hope that he'll be able to earn more. I hope Alina can improve his English as she offered to though, or it could become extremely tiresome trying to explain things to him. Why he couldn't have learnt English first I don't know."

Smiling for the first time that day, Blight agreed but said, "It might actually work to our advantage, if Linka is determined to help him that means her spending a lot of time and attention on him, and Wheeler might not be so quick to jump to her defence again… yes this could work out very well."

Linka had refused to look at Wheeler when he returned to the main living area, keeping her attention firmly on her studies. It seemed that Mal had produced an extra bed and supplies for their new companion but had otherwise left the boys to organise themselves and the American was still grumbling about having to share his room, although Kwame had done nothing but co-operate.

"Jason," Plunder called as he also returned, "I have some business to attend to, I need you with me."

"Yes Mr Plunder!" Wheeler forgot his grievances immediately and fell in at the villain's side making Linka glare at her computer terminal all the more.

Looten paused, considering Kwame for a moment but as he glanced down at Wheeler and saw the renewed hostility there he decided it was better to foster the boy's loyalty by favouring him. "Alina, help your new friend settle in while we're gone, and see if you can find something useful for him to do."

"Yes Mr Plunder." She responded calmly and got up to approach the young man who had been listening the whole time. "It is Kwame, da?"

"I am Kwame." The heavily accented African responded.

Linka's eyes strayed to the young American's retreating back for a moment and Kwame's eyes followed hers. "Is Jason always not friendly?"

The Russian's gaze shot back to the older boy, realising that she'd been caught out. Her expression troubled and her voice uncertain she tried to explain, "He is friendly, it is just… he wants to impress Mr Plunder and when he is being like that you cannot talk to him. I do not like him when he is acting that way."

Kwame tilted his head slightly, regarding her as if trying to make something out. "You do not want to impress our employer?"

"Employer?!" She covered her mouth immediately and looked around for Doctor Blight. When she decided it was safe to continue Linka dropped her voice into a whisper. "They kidnapped me and will not let me leave. My father does not even know where I am."

Her new friend frowned, "I do not understand."

"Neither do I." Linka shrugged, and then eyed him speculatively, "You understand English as well as I do."

A smile crossed Kwame's features that made his brown eyes sparkle. "Yes, but I have not had much chance to speak it. But Mr Plunder spoke to my mother about hiring me, her English is not good and she spoke to me in our native language… he assumed I understood little and I have not had a reason to correct him."

Linka giggled, "I will not tell him or Jason either, and you do not have to worry about Mal, he is my friend and he does not like Mr Plunder. Do you want something to eat?"

"Yes, that would be welcome." He smiled at her again and she decided he would be much easier to be around than Wheeler.

"Gone?" Linka blinked, trying unsuccessfully to remember anything in her past that would warrant such a statement. "Gone where?"

The Russian man shook his head as if thinking better of his statement, his expression suddenly turning wary. "I am sorry, I need to go. I should not be talking to you."

"We can help." Put in Ma-Ti quickly, and Gi agreed with him. "We wouldn't do anything to endanger Linka."

Again the man shook his head, "I cannot help you, I do not know where she is."

"Please Mr Orlova," Kwame said in his calm manner, "Let us help you find your daughter."

The older man was still hesitating but then his eyes fell on Linka once more and he couldn't ignore the resemblance he saw to his wife... she had to be family. Besides, he had run out of options. He nodded finally and let them into his house, telling them to go on through to the kitchen and make themselves comfortable around the table while he made some drinks.

"The police think that my little Linka ran away but I do not believe it." Mr Orlova shook his head, some of his distress showing, "She would not."

"Of course I..." Linka swallowed her heated denial. "I do not believe it either!" She swallowed again and hoped her Grandmother was not at home to deny her next statement. "Aunt Olga's letters made it clear that she was very happy here."

Her words might have reassured her father about her connection to them but seemed to have the opposite effect in relation to his daughter. He sighed and shook his head. "Olga is very good to us, Linka does not let her see her tears, or me either... But I know my daughter. Losing her mother was difficult for all of us. I try, but sometimes I feel disconnected like Katerina was what kept us together."

Linka was trying not to cry and she was very grateful for kwame carrying the conversation.

"When did your daughter disappear?"

"Two weeks ago." Nicolai finished handing out the drinks and then sat with them at the table. "There has been no ransom, no sightings… we have searched everywhere. I do not know what else to do… I am afraid I will never see her again."

Kwame frowned, "What about her friends, they did not see anything odd the day she disappeared? How was she acting?"

The older man sighed and ran his hands through his hair making Linka desperately want to hold them and reassure him. "The teachers asked questions of her classmates and apparently there were a couple of girls picking on her… not an unusual occurence it seems." He winced as if in pain. "I never knew, she never said anything, never complained…"

He obviously felt guilty and it made Linka even more miserable so she tried to comfort him. "She is strong, she probably just did not think it was worth mentioning."

Her father shook his head, "My Linka is a timid little thing with a very loving heart, it hurts her when the birds we use down the mines die and she cries herself to sleep. Believe me, if someone is unkind to her, she feels it."

Linka lowered her eyes, embarrassed at being so exposed in front of her friends. She could tell they were surprised and she couldn't blame them, she'd become much better at hiding her feelings in the years since her father's death and in truth only Wheeler had ever suspected how much it cost her to deal with the suffering they encountered in their roles as Planeteers.

"Did you speak to the girls yourself?" Kwame persisted, diverting attention away from her. "Or any of her friends?"

Again Linka suffered the pangs of mortification as Mr Orlova confessed that his daughter had no friends, or at least, none that he knew of. "She is so shy..."

"Did anyone check m…her computer?" The Wind Planeteer asked suddenly, the association between that piece of technology and her lack of other companionship still strong enough to make her think of it.

"She does not have one." Her father looked confused, "We cannot afford such a luxury."

Linka shook her head, "I meant at the school, she… spends a lot of time there. Aunt Olga said."

Before Nicolai could ask any awkward questions Kwame rose and suggested that they go to the school, only to find that Linka's father was intent on going with them.