The red alert sounded throughout the whole ship, crimson lights flashing on and off in intervals, as shards of people either hurried to their vehicles or else headed to the last remaining escape pods.

Elizabeth stood plastered against the wall while bundles of life forms passed her as fast as they could.

The evacuation was chaotic to say the least. Nothing had been organized and most evacuees seemed to not even care if they'd trample someone to death.

But who was she to judge? While the other passengers tried to get off the ship, she was trying to get to the bridge.

She pushed by a group of young humans, two girls sobbing quietly as their big sister tried to comfort them while whispering encouraging words that they'd all be fine.

Deep down Elizabeth knew that was most likely a lie.

The attack had come suddenly and unprovoked, as far as she was able to tell. At least the commanding officers had said nothing over the intercom.

After three or four volleys of laser fire everything grew quiet until a shudder ran through the ship and she heard loud footsteps echoing through the corridors.

There was no doubt in her mind that they were dealing with pirates. What they wanted with a normal passenger ship, she didn't know and didn't care.

All she wanted at that moment was to somehow reach the bridge and hope that nothing had happened to her brother.

She made it to the next turbo lift, crossing her fingers that it still worked. Stepping onto the platform and pushing the button to go up, she exhaled the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and tried to relax her tired muscles.

She had a bad feeling that his day would end in a disaster.

Elizabeth wrinkled her forehead as the turbo lift stopped one deck below the bridge.

"This can't be good." She whispered while again pushing down on the button for the lift to ascend. But as her gut feeling had already confirmed, nothing happened.

Could this mean the bridge was destroyed? Or that the enemy, whoever this enemy was, was in control of the ship?

She had tried to comm the bridge several times now but to no avail. Her curiosity grew and she decided to check if she could use one of the maintenance tubes to get to the bridge.

"Which is a stupid idea…" she whispered to herself.

She had no scanning devices with her and suppose the bridge had been destroyed, she would most likely be risking her life.

A nagging feeling at the back of head kept telling her to give it up, that her younger sibling had not survived…

But she needed to be sure.

Trying not to let her frustration get the best of her, she took a deep and steadying breath while hurrying down the darkened corridor.

The red alert was starting to annoy her.

She passed the empty mess hall, crew quarters, the empty infirmary… everything seemed lost and infinitely so.

She stopped to catch her breath and silently cursed.

This was useless! Had Scott survived, he'd be on one of the pods by now.

No, he wouldn't. And you know it.

She tried holding back the panic that was about to overwhelm her and tears threatened to sting her eyes.

No, Scott would fight to the death that much Elizabeth knew. He had always been like that, the little hero inside of him coming to the surface in dangerous situations.

But he wasn't supposed to die like this. Not like this.

You don't even know if he's dead.

Elizabeth was about to go on when something suddenly felt off. There was a coldness running down her spine and she suddenly knew someone was behind her, following her.

She held her breath for a moment, straining to maybe hear footsteps but other than her steadily beating heart, there wasn't a sound.

Slowly she walked on, concentrating on finding a maintenance tube that led to the bridge and at the same time trying to pinpoint if she lay correct in her assessment someone was behind her. Or in front? She wasn't sure, she just felt it.

And as suddenly as she had though that thought, she felt a blaster nuzzle at the small of her back.

With an inward shriek she held up her hands and took another breath.

"Turn around." She heard a voice say and before the man blew a hole in her back, she did what he wanted of her.

"You pirates are annoying the hell out of me." She hissed while taking in the sight in front of her.

The guy was hardly any older than her, his dark hair hanging loosely around his face and dark eyes gazing back at her with a look in them as if he were ready to kill.

He wore a simple off white tunic over a pair of large blue trousers, a tool belt hanging around his narrow waist.

"I'm not a pirate."

Elizabeth arched an eyebrow, "Yeah, well, you could've fooled me."

He pointed the blaster in the opposite direction, "Move."

Scott…

"I need to get to the bridge." She demanded in a firm voice.

"They're dead. No need to risk your life. Now move." He held the blaster a little higher and knowing it was senseless arguing in the middle of the corridor, she walked passed him with a sickening feeling in her gut.

He's right you know…

They're all dead…

Scott…

She had known it all along. She just hadn't wanted to accept it.

Tears started to well up but she fought them back. There was no way in hell she would show this pirate how vulnerable she really was.

"How do you know they're dead?" she asked simply, hoping her voice did not give away her current state of mind.

"I just know. Trust me."

Elizabeth laughed bitterly, "Trust a pirate. That'll happen."

"I said, I'm not a pirate."

"Then why the hell do you have that blaster pointed at my back?"

"Just a precaution, that's all."

She kept moving, thoughts swirling around in her mind. Thoughts about her dead brother, his beautiful smile and the way his dark eyes lit up when he laughed. She would miss him more than anything and she was devastated by the fact that she hadn't been able to say good-bye.

Her only family had died during a pirate attack.

It was getting harder to hold back her tears and she knew, would this stranger not be with her, she would have cowered on the floor like a child and cried her eyes out.

But instead of sorrow, she felt anger and it seemed to emanate from her body, because the man holding the blaster suddenly stopped and narrowed his eyes.

"What?" she hissed.

Her anger was slowly but surely turning into fury but she tried to ignore the emotions gone wild. Being angry wouldn't solve any of her problems.

Scott was dead. There was nothing she could do about it. What she needed to do at that moment, was live and get off the ship.

"Go on." The man said, "We're heading to the hangar bay."

Again she stepped onto the turbo lift, the pirate-or-not right behind her. He hadn't dropped the weapon an inch and still had it pointed at her midsection.

It was slightly unnerving.

"How about you put that blaster away? I'm unarmed."

He arched an eyebrow, "Of course you are."

"Fine. How would you feel if you had a weapon pointed at your back?"
Elizabeth caught sight of a slight smile and frowned. Was he enjoying this?

"I'd listen to what the guy holding the blaster wanted and I'd do it. Wouldn't want to put my life on the line for nothing."

The turbo lift stopped on an overfilled corridor, still too many passengers wanting to get off the ship. Elizabeth heard cries and sobs filled with horror and a shiver ran down her spine. There was no way anyone could help these people. Whatever the pirates wanted with this ship, the people stuck here would find out first hand.

"What do you want here?" Elizabeth asked, her voice dripping with anger.

"I just want to get off the ship. As I've already said, I'm not a pirate. I don't belong to them and I don't know what they want."

"I don't believe you."

He shrugged, "That's not my problem."

"What do you want with me then?" she asked as she tried moving passed the groups of people who had huddled together against the walls. It seemed that the escape pods were already full.

"That's not your concern right now. Shut up and move." He said and she felt the nuzzle of the blaster dig deeper into her flesh.

She had the feeling he wasn't playing games.

The hangar bay doors had been sealed from the inside, no doubt trying to keep the many people from entering in a panicked frenzy. But people in grave danger, already seeing their life flash before their eyes, tended to be very inventive.

A short stocky man had started ripping off the casing to the wall and was now making his way through various colourful wires and equipment. Another man was using a plasma burner to cut through the metal alloy and Elizabeth knew too well it was a futile gesture. He would definitely not make it in time.

"Now what?" she whispered towards the man still holding the blaster firmly to her back.

"Keep going."

She did what she was told and was surprised to see the men back away from the hangar bay doors.

With one gesture at the controls the doors irised opened with a grunt and the entire mob of people sprang to their feet and into the hangar bay. Elizabeth stared open mouthed.

"How'd you do that?" she asked awed. She had heard of people being able to manipulate minds and matter but that would mean that this guy was a sort of Jedi. But Jedi didn't threaten someone's life. Well, the good kind anyway.

"I'll tell you later." He said while putting the blaster back in its holster. He took hold of her hand and hurried down the hangar bay towards a small black ship that desperately looked like it needed repairs.

It had enough room for two or three passengers and as he slapped the controls to let down the ramp, Elizabeth had to hurry to get inside.

A group of people were following her. With too many aboard, the ship wouldn't even be able to lift off.

"Can't you help them?" she asked the man as she followed him towards the cockpit.

"How? There isn't enough room."

"Maybe just two or three—"

"Do you know what would happen if we'd let down the ramp? Do you honestly believe only two or three people would get aboard? This is a life and death situation for them. They're panicked!"

He turned away and paid no more attention to his guest who had plopped down on the co-pilots seat. After another minute or so the ship lifted off and Elizabeth shut her eyes. She didn't want her last memory of the ship to be of flailing arms and crying children held by their equally crying mothers.

Somehow she just couldn't shake the feeling that they had to do something. This wasn't right. They couldn't just let innocent people die like this.

But what could she change? She was just one person being kidnapped or rescued by a stranger who kept repeating not to be a pirate. A stranger with Jedi powers…

After another minute or so the stars outside in cold space dissipated to be replaced by the blues of hyperspace. It was a beautiful and comforting sight, a relaxing sight and Elizabeth leaned back in the soft leather chair, finally letting all emotions surface.

Except, she wouldn't cry. If the guy really was a Jedi, he'd already know what was bothering her, eating her up inside.

"If you aren't a pirate, what are you then? I saw what you did down there."

The dark haired man leaned back in the pilot's seat and turned towards her, his dark gaze holding her. "I'm a Jedi Knight. But I think you've already figured that out on your own."

She shrugged, "I suppose. Do you have a name?"

He hesitated a moment as if pondering to answer her question or not, "My name's Kyp. Kyp Durron."

Elizabeth blinked twice before sighing loudly and closing her eyes.

As she had expected, the day had ended in a disaster.