"Don't look at me! I have no clue!"

Aeron snorted. "You said that last time, too."

Joan whirled around. "Will you just let it go already? I told you I had good reasons to not tell you about the virus. I can't tell you everything, because it might make things a lot worse."

Bohr put his hand on her shoulder. "I do understand, Joan, but you must admit that you saying you don't know about this is not very convincing."

Joan sighed. "Yeah, I know." She turned back to the clamshell. "Pilot, has Moya determined who's aboard?"

"Unfortunately not, Doctor. Something is interfering with Moya's scans. We only know there are ten people aboard."

"And why, may I ask, are we listening to their request to remain in position?" Rohnn asked. "I, for one, don't like the idea of allowing anyone to get anywhere near us."

"Considering they already fired a warning shot at us with a promise to make the next one count if we so much as move, it's hardly a request, and certainly not the right moment to high-tail it out of here, as much as I'd like Moya to do, too."

V'Enda looked at Joan. "Are you sure you know nothing about this?"

Joan let out a frustrated groan and raised her hands. "Oh, for cryin' out loud!"

"Why else would you like us to get away so much?"

Joan cast an unbelieving look at V'Enda, and then extended it to the others. "What, you don't wanna get away?" She paused briefly and then turned around to leave Command. "Forget it. I'll be in my quarters."

"Joan," she heard Bohr call after her, but Joan ignored him and kept on going. Not the best of her moments.

"Doctor?"

Joan sighed, not bothering to get up from her bed. "Are you gonna bug me about keeping secrets as well, Pilot?"

"I am not going to... bug you about anything. I merely wish to inform you our… guests have arrived."

"And?" Damn, this whole thing must have really gotten to her. She was never one to hold a grudge or be angry for long. Joan shook her head, trying to dispel her bad mood.

"They appear to be looking for you."

Joan bolted upright. "Me?"

"Yes, they requested to talk to the Seforan-looking alien who came to our galaxy by means of an unknown phenomenon."

Joan got up from her bed and started to pace the small area in front of it. "That can't be good."

"Aeron asked me to inform you that a Pluran-Seforan half-breed is among them."

Joan's heart nearly stopped. This really wasn't good.

Joan didn't know which way to go next. She'd been crawling around Moya's maintenance ducts for what felt like hours, but probably was only about half an hour. When she realized Scorpy's counterpart had shown up at their doorstep, she'd had only one thing on her mind: hide!

During her crawling about, she'd frequently had to stop and remain still until the Peacekeepers had cleared the area. She absolutely didn't want to get captured, but she was also afraid for her shipmates. She knew that while she wasn't found, the Peacekeepers and half-breed would make the lives of the others a living hell, but the fear for her own health overruled any thoughts of helping them.

She tried to get to the one location were she'd be impossible to detect, even by Moya: the falmor chamber. The same room where Aeron had spent quite some time when the bugs had invaded Moya. The problem was getting there. If she'd been able to use the corridors, she'd have found it in ten minutes, but these damned maintenance ducts were connected in a much more complex maze.

Just as she came to another connection, she stopped, listening intently. After a short while she started breathing again but heard another sound at the same time. Now she was certain: someone was in the maintenance ducts. The echo's made it impossible for her to determine were it came from or how far away it really was.

Joan decided to wait some more, listen for more sounds. Perhaps if she waited a bit longer she would be able to tell where the sounds were coming from. After listening for maybe two minutes she determined the origin of the sounds and exhaled loudly in relieve. A minute later a DRD came around the bend of one of the corridors.

"Hey there, little girl," Joan whispered to the DRD, having decided that since Moya was female, so were the DRDs. "Did you come here to rescue me?" When the DRD didn't respond in any way, she said, "Okay, one blink means yes, two means no. Did you understand?" One blink. "Right, either you understood, or you coincidentally blinked once. Am I a DRD?" Two blinks.

"Good, you understand, or this is an awfully big coincidence. Were you looking for me?" One blink. "Did Pilot send you?" Two blinks. "Moya?" One blink. "Have the others been imprisoned?" One blink. "Are they guarded?" One blink. "Is Pilot being threatened?" One blink. "Is he being hurt?" One blink. "Can you help him?" Two blinks. "Does he know you're assisting me?" Two blinks.

"How many of the bad guys are in Pilot's den?" One blink. "One? It's that half-breed scientist, isn't it?" One blink. Damn. "How many are standing guard with the others?" Three blinks. "Three. So, that leaves six trying to find me?" Two blinks. "Not six? Scans showed only ten people aboard, right?" One blink. "So, three standing guard, one in the Den, leaves, ", she pretended trying to solve a difficult math problem using her fingers, "Ten minus three minus one equals… six, right?" One blink.

"Ah, not all six are searching, right?" One blink. "So, how many are searching?" Five blinks. "So, that leaves one doing something else." She paused. "That one is still aboard their vessel, isn't he?" One blink.

Must be Stark's counterpart. The question was, would there be any use releasing him or her? How much help could she reasonably expect from a nearly mad person? She sighed. Any help would be better than go at it alone. "Can you guide me to their ship?" One blink. "Alright, lead the way."

After crawling for another half hour, making a total of one hour of being in a highly uncomfortable position, Joan could finally lower herself to the floor near the landing bay. She looked up at the DRD. "Any burglary alarms?" Two blinks. Joan held her hand up before the sensor and then paused. After a few seconds she rolled her eyes. "Stop being a such a wuss, Joan, and get it over with." She pressed her palm to the sensor and the bay doors opened.

As Moya had already related through the DRD, no one was here. She wanted to step through the door, but then her eyes went wide. She looked back up at the DRD. "They're not getting a signal this door is open, right?" One blink. Relieved she turned back and quickly made her way through the bay and to the vessel with the other prisoner.

The doors were still open, the ramp still lowered, so Joan had no trouble getting in. She found the prison cells in two minutes with only one occupant, her face half covered with a metal-like mask. Female Stark, no doubt. As Joan opened the cell, the woman looked expectantly at her.

"Are you going to take me to my chair again?"

Her voice sounded hopeful, though Joan had more or less expected it. Stark, after all, had also claimed to enjoy his time in the chair, had even claimed it as being his chair. Joan shook her head. "No, I've come to release you. I hope you're willing to help me release my friends."

The woman tilted her head slightly. "Does Silionara no longer want me to sit in my chair?"

"I'm sure she does, but do you really want to stay here, locked up just to get a ride in a chair?"

The woman smiled. "Of course not. I'm a free Banik." She stepped out of the cell and moved through the corridor, but stopped after a few paces to look back at her. "Come on, hurry, hurry. We need to release your friends! Hurry, hurry!"

Joan closed the cell door and started to follow the Banik - another name that hadn't changed - softly muttering, "I should've just kept her locked up." As she stepped out of the ship, she was greeted by the muzzles of five pulse pistols.

The half-breed scientist, the woman she'd seen in one of the unrealized realities, stepped forward. "Well, well, what do have here? Attempting to relieve me of my prize possession?"

The Banik woman stepped towards the half-breed. "No-no Silionara. I was not going away! You know how I love my chair. Let me sit in the chair, please!"

Silionara ignored her and moved closer toward Joan. "I don't believe we have met. I'm Silionara."

"Nice meeting ya, Silicona. I'm Joan Roberta Crandon. My friends call me Joan, but you can call me Crandon." Joan realized her character flaw was starting to rear its ugly head. She knew she usually became mouthy in scary situations, something that would generally get her in more trouble than she was in to begin with. She'd never been able to ignore those instincts, though.

"Well, Crandon, it seems you have some information I'm interested in."

Joan furrowed her brow. "Me? Are you sure?"

Silionara nodded slightly. "Oh, yes. I'm curious to know how you got here."

"Oh, that's easy. When Pilot informed me of your arrival, I ran and hid in the ducts. Well, actually, I got lost. A DRD came and guided me to the landing bay…"

"Enough!"

Joan had to admit that the outburst made quite an impression. It almost made her wet herself. "Well, basically that was it, anyway. How'd you get here?"

Silionara growled and was clearly doing her damnedest to maintain her composure. "What I was interested about, was finding out how you arrived into this universe."

Joan smiled. "Didn't you ever get taught about the birds and bees? It's very simple. You need a boy and a gi…" The rest of the words never made it out, as Silionara had closed her gloved hand around her throat and easily lifted her two feet of the floor.

"Don't test my patience any further. It's formidable but does have its limits, limits I had already reached due to the ineptness of my crew."

Suddenly Joan was released and fell to the floor. She took big gulps of air, and coughed in between. "Well, you don't have to take it out on me, you know."

Silionara turned back to the Peacekeeper soldiers behind her. "Take her to the Aurora Chair!"

"No, no, no. It's my chair, my chair, my chair! Don't let her sit in my chair."

Silionara sighed. "And lock this fool back up."

Joan found herself in the infamous chair less than half an hour later, really getting worried. This didn't bode well, especially considering there was no Peacekeeper tech she had lip-locked with to help her out of this mess. She looked up as Silionara walked up on the platform and then slightly bent over to address Joan.

"What do you think of the chair?"

Joan shrugged, as far as the restrains let her, her character flaw taking over again. "Not bad. Take away the wrist and head restraints, and it'd be a very comfortable chair." Smart move Joani, tick her off some more.

Silionara straightened up and started to pace in front of her. "This chair will tap into your neural pathways and map your brain. As it does so, it will locate memories and visualize them for us on the viewer."

"Pretty nifty. What's the catch? I know there is one. There's always a catch." Will someone just duct-tape my mouth, please?

Silionara stopped pacing and gazed into Joan's eyes. "You are a rather unique person, Crandon. Nobody has ever been this apt at making me lose my patience in such a short amount of time."

"Well, I had a little help the first time, what with your crew not being able to find one fugitive." Yeah, sure, bring that up again.

Silionara nodded her head. "Yes, you'll prove to be quite useful in my never-ending quest at controlling my emotions."

"Glad to be of service, Silly." Geez, Joan, shut up.

Silionara glared at her momentarily and then turned away to the side, most likely to the person at the controls. "Start the process."

Joan braced herself for the inevitable pain, as the platform started to rotate. She felt the needles entering her head and knew it would soon start. She rotated for maybe a minute with nothing happening.

"Why is nothing happening?" Joan heard Silionara ask.

"Forgot to pay the electric bill, Silly?" Joan inquired. Of course, everyone ignored her, but she was pleased to find out she might be getting some time.

"The device can't find anything to lock on to, Ma'am."

Joan groaned. "Oh, man, the guys in junior high always called me an air-head. Don't tell me they were right." Great, now I even start lying to tick her off. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Increase to the highest level."

"Ma'am, that may be unwise. We should increase in small increments…"

"Nonsense. It's obvious her mind can resist basic probing. Increase to the highest level."

"Now, Silly, shouldn't you listen to the advice of that guy at the controls? He seems to know what he's talking about."

"Increase, now!"

Again, nothing seemed to happen, though she did feel some kind of tingle all over. She giggled. "It tickles!"

Silionara growled and left the still-rotating, platform. "Is there no end to your incompetence!"

"I'm glad you realize where to place the blame this time, Silly."

"Silence!"

"Careful, Silly, or you'll need to replace that cooling rod." Joan smiled but it faltered when the platform stopped and Silionara was gazing intently at her. "What?"

Silionara stepped closer and on to the platform, her eyes never leaving Joan's.

Joan started to squirm. Obviously Cruella had come up with a new tactic, and Joan wasn't sure she was gonna like it. No, strike that. She was sure she wasn't gonna like it.

"Interesting. Besides High Council and the people working for me, nobody knows about my existence. Even fewer people are aware of my… special needs."

Oh, crap! Me and my big mouth.

"Considering you are actually new to this region, it's even more intriguing, don't you agree?"

"Maybe it was just a lucky guess?"

"I doubt that. Unfortunately, the chair doesn't seem to have any effect on you. Perhaps it would be wise to attempt this with one of your friends? The Toran, I'm sure, would be able to tolerate the chair's side-effects for extended periods. But does she know anything?"

Damn, this wasn't looking good. Joan wasn't sure why the chair didn't seem to work on her, but she was certain her shipmates wouldn't be so fortunate. But it seemed highly unlikely she was actually immune. "I'm sure there's just something wrong with the machine. You should let a tech check it out."

Silionara didn't seem to have heard her at all. "The Faracian perhaps?" She paused slightly. "No, she would die within microts. The Peacekeeper traitor seems…"

"You stay the hell away from him!" Where the hell did that come from?

Silionara smiled. "Ah, I sense a weakness. I should let you stay while he's in the chair."

"You don't need the chair or him. I'll tell you whatever you want to know. I'll cooperate, I promise."

Silionara looked closely at her again. "It's unfortunate I haven't had much time to study your energy patterns. I'm unable to distinguish the truth from fiction."

"Back home, a line like that would get you sent straight into the loony bin." Damn, Joan, now is not the time.

"But with the Peacekeeper traitor in the chair," Silionara continued, as if Joan hadn't said a thing, "I can learn to read you."

Joan found herself locked in a cell together with Aeron. The others were imprisoned in the three cells across from her. The left cell held Rohnn and V'Enda, the latter chained to the ceiling, and the one on the right held Nerri and Bohr. Surprisingly, the cell directly opposite of her held the Banik slave. No guards were present, which surprised Joan even more. "Hey guys, how's it going?"

"How's it going? We-we're locked in a frelling prison! Because of you, I might add."

Joan turned towards Nerri, her eyes flashing with anger. "Yeah, that's right; blame it all on the human."

"Considering that half-breed was looking for you, I think he makes a valid point," V'Enda interrupted.

"Are you conveniently forgetting about the fact that the Peacekeepers are looking for all of you as well? That's just great! And here I was trying to convince Cruella she didn't need to put any of you in the chair."

"You sat in my chair? No-no-no-no. My chair! Not your chair!"

Joan sighed. "Will you just shut up?"

"Joan, are you alright?"

Joan turned around to Aeron, who definitely seemed worried. "Yeah, I'm fine. The chair didn't work, at least not on me. They're running a diagnostic now to figure out what's goin' on."

"You broke my chair? Why? Why did you break my chair?"

Joan sighed again and said to nobody in particular, "Okay, is there an off-switch or mute button for this nutter?"

"Joan, that is not very nice of you."

She turned toward Bohr. "Had a feeling you're gonna say somethin' like that." She smiled at Bohr and noticed from out of the corner of her eye that the Banik had focused her gaze in the direction of Bohr, as if she could see him through the wall. Joan cleared her throat, anger forgotten. "So, while I was away, what escape plan did you guys come up with?"

"There's no escape from these cells." V'Enda said and shook her head, the chains to hold her rattling from the motion. Apparently she also chose not to continue their previous discussion. "I've been imprisoned once again."

Joan turned to her. "Yeah, you've been imprisoned again. But you escaped these same cells before. What's the hold up this time?"

"Last time Rohnn managed to get out of her cell and free us using Pilot's help." Bohr explained, pointing in Rohnn's direction. "They made sure Rohnn couldn't move, let alone escape."

Joan stepped toward the front of the cell to get a closer look and only then noticed Rohnn was securely bound. "Someone must have done their homework."

"Joan, tell us what happened."

Joan turned to Aeron and then to the others. "When Pilot commed to tell me the guests had arrived and that Cruella was one of them, I got scared and hid myself in the maintenance ducts. Of course I got lost there, but luckily one of the DRDs found me and guided me to the ship."

"Why didn't you come to our aide?" Bohr asked.

"According to the DRD, there were three Peacekeepers standing guard. I can't handle three. But she," Joan pointed at the Banik, "was alone. I admit I wasn't entirely sure she would be any help, but at least I had a shot with her."

"How could the DRD have possibly told you anything?"

Joan turned her gaze to V'Enda. "I asked her simple yes or no questions about how many Peacekeepers were in the various locations on Moya. The DRD responded by blinking. However, once I released her we were caught, though Moya had indicated there were no alarms."

"They probably had some sensors in the cell doors. Most Peacekeeper vessels have that feature," Aeron said.

"I hear someone coming," Nerri suddenly whispered.

Joan heard the screams before they even entered the Peacekeeper ship. She cast a quick glance at Aeron, who didn't seem to be too thrilled to go in. She couldn't blame him. She was sure he thought he was going to be the next one in the chair.

The three guards that Nerri had heard were guiding them through the ship towards the area with the comfy chair, leaving the others once again on their own. The Banik – Joan still didn't know her name – had protested loudly, claiming she should be the one brought to the chair. She turned back to Aeron as they reached the room with the chair. "Hey, Aeron, what's the Banik's name, anyway?"

Aeron looked at her as if she had completely lost her mind. Maybe she had.

"Her name is B'Len," Silionara replied instead, in between two screams coming from the guy currently in the chair.

"He-he-hey! I see you fixed the chair! B'Len's gonna be thrilled!"

Silionara looked at her intently for a few seconds, only having gazed at Aeron for a brief moment. "Yes, the Aurora chair is functioning properly."

"So, what was wrong with it?"

"Nothing. We suspect it was not properly operated."

Joan watched as Silionara momentarily glared at the guy still in the chair. "Suspect?"

"We have yet to find proof. However, the chair has never failed to segment someone's mind and I have no reason to suspect it would fail on you." The platform stopped when Silionara indicated to the woman at the controls to end the probing.

"So, I get another go?"

"Oh, yes. I believe I can learn a great many things from your memories." Silionara turned to the three guards. "Get this fool out of the chair and then put her in."

"I can get in myself, you know," Joan said. As she let her gaze travel from Silionara to the three guards, it crossed that of Aeron. His mouth nearly hung open at her behaviour. Honestly, she didn't really understand why she behaved this way. It seemed connected to the fear she felt inside, because she really was scared shitless.

Joan winked at Aeron, trying to let him know she was alright. It didn't seem to help at all, though. She stepped toward the chair and on to the platform as the previous occupant was dragged off. She plopped down and turned her gaze to Silionara as the restraints snapped in place. "Fire her up, Doc!"

"Really, Crandon, this pretence is unnecessary. I can tell you are not at all as comfortable as you seem to need to show."

Joan shrugged, once again hindered by the restraints. "Who says I'm doing it for you? Nobody else had any idea I was pretending until you started blabbing about it. I have an image to maintain, you know."

"Begin the process."

Joan kept her gaze firmly locked with Silionara, who was on the revolving platform. "Hey, Silly, tell me. Why does this thing have to spin? I mean, if this thing hurts so much as it does, spinning around ain't gonna help anyone to keep their lunch in."

"Increase the level."

Joan started to giggle. "It tickles!"

"Ma'am, the device is set at its maximum level."

"Well, Silly, it seems you need to apologize to that nice young man that you put in this chair before me. Obviously, he didn't do…"

"Then increase it above its maximum level."

Joan pouted. "Didn't your Momma tell you it's rude to interrupt people?" By now she was fairly confident the chair wasn't going to work on her. The tingling feeling had increased a bit, but not to a level where it wasn't comfortable anymore. "And why did you call the previous level 'maximum' if it clearly isn't? That's just silly, Silly."

"Ma'am, we can only maintain this level for thirty microts."

Joan put on a friendly smile as Silionara glared at her the entire thirty microts it took before the chair stopped completely. "Whatcha gonna do now?"

"Get her out and put the traitor in the chair."

"He doesn't know anything," Joan said as the restraints were released, although she was sure that wouldn't prevent Aeron from ending up in the chair.

"So you said. But whether he knows or not is of no real consequence. As I explained before, his primary use is to give me the opportunity to learn to read you."

Joan was really worried about Aeron. He'd been in the chair for nearly two hours, though it hadn't been probing continuously. Nonetheless, he really didn't look too good. "Well, Silly, like I said before, I don't know what that thing was that brought me here."

Silionara gave a small nod at the woman at the controls and Joan just wanted to hit the controls to stop it as Aeron immediately started to scream again. Another memory turned up and her own image appeared.

"It's true. This whole thing's nearly identical to that fictional show. Only small details are different, most of the genders are swapped, but other than that, I've apparently ended up in a fictional show!"

Joan silently cursed. This was not something she had wanted Cruella to find out. She looked down when Silionara held up her hand to halt the probing.

"You have witnessed these happenings before?"

Joan knew lying was pointless. Maybe it would be best if she did tell what she knew. It might give Aeron some time to recuperate. "Yes. Well, not exactly like this, but yes, I knew you and I would cross paths, though I did everything I could to prevent that. I knew you'd be interested in wormhole knowledge." Joan's gaze followed Silionara as she paced in front of her.

"Did my counterpart succeed?"

Joan snorted. "Of course not. My counterpart was the main character of the show. That automatically made him win by default. Well, in the long run, of course."

"Ah, but this is real life, Crandon. In this case, those rules do not apply." Silionara turned toward the woman behind the controls again. "Target the previous area and probe deeper."

Joan closed her eyes at the sound of Aeron's screams. Joan knew it wasn't her fault she appeared to be immune to the chair, but she still felt responsible for Aeron's fate. She wished Silionara would just listen to her pleas and her many offers to cooperate, but Silionara would hear none of it. For her, it was apparently the only way to learn to read Joan.

Joan opened her eyes again at the sound of a new voice, one she hadn't heard before. The replayed memory completely held her captive. Aeron's pleas to stop, both in the replayed memory as well as from the man in the chair, mingled together.

Joan snapped out of the trance and made a split-second decision. With everyone's attention still focused on the replayed memory, she jumped forward and shoved Silionara right in to the display, causing it to shatter in a thousand pieces. The resulting roar from the half-breed was terrifying, and every Peacekeeper in the room took their distance. Needlessly, as Joan knew she was going to be the target of the angry outburst. "How clumsy of me," she couldn't help but say.

It took Silionara nearly a minute to regain her composure. "Bring them back to their prison and begin repairs immediately. I'll be in my quarters for the next arn. I expect a functioning chair when I get back." With that Silionara stalked out of the room.

"I guess B'Len's not going to be happy, now that I really broke her chair."

"It's none of your business!" Joan yelled. "It was a private, painful memory and that's why I ended it. That's all you need to know, as far as I'm concerned. Now, could we get our focus back on getting the frell out of here?"

She turned around when she heard a DRD and crouched down beside it. "Moya?" One blink. "Is Pilot still guarded?" One blink. "If these cell doors open, would any of the Peacekeepers find out?" Two blinks. "Can you open them, please?" One blink, and immediately the doors slid open. She patted the DRD. "Good girl." She pointed at V'Enda. "Can you cut the chains?" One blink and the DRD motored over toward V'Enda's cell.

Joan went to Aeron, who had been reduced to a shivering mess by the damn chair and helped him up. Nerri had come up and helped her support Aeron. With his help they managed to get him up and Joan then noticed that Bohr had released Rohnn and the DRD was almost finished cutting V'Enda's second chain.

"Now what?"

Joan turned to Nerri first and then the others. "Good question. Haven't completely thought this through yet." She paused. They needed some time, which meant they had to keep the Peacekeepers away. "Moya?" The DRD immediately came to her. "Besides the one in Pilot's Den, are all the Peacekeepers still on their own ship?" One blink. "Can you seal off the landing bay?" One blink. "Right, do that. It'll buy us some time."

Joan turned back to the others. "Alright, Nerri and I'll get Aeron to the Falmor chamber. He won't be detected there. In the mean time, try to get some of our weapons and our comms back. We'll meet in Command." Joan saw V'Enda walking in her direction.

"I'll take him there. I can carry him alone."

Joan knew that V'Enda did have a point. Even with Nerri's help, it would take her considerably longer to get Aeron in the Falmor chamber. "Right, but don't interrogate him on this memory thing."

V'Enda nodded once and lifted Aeron up in her arms in one smooth motion and walked in the direction of the Falmor chambers. Joan turned to the others. "Any idea where the Peacekeepers took our stuff?" Her eyes focused on Rohnn, currently sitting on Bohr's shoulder, as she nodded.

"Most likely to the storage facility on the tier below."

"You know the fastest route?"

"Yes, but it wouldn't do you any good. You're too big."

Joan sighed. "Alright, miss smarty-pants. What's the fastest route we can use." Rohnn pointed back.

"First corridor on the Treblin side. Leads directly to the main storage."

"Aeron alright?" Joan asked as she entered Command, opting to not spend her time now on determining why he'd become so important all of a sudden. V'Enda simply nodded in response and went to Bohr to retrieve her blade from him.

Joan picked up the DRD and put it on one of the consoles. "Is Pilot still being guarded?" One blink. "How many guards?" One blink. "The half-breed?" Two blinks. Joan looked at the others. "The first thing we should do is take out that guard. It'll be a lot easier if we can communicate with Pilot." She turned towards the DRD. "No offence, but these simple questions are a bit limiting."

Joan worried her lower lip between her teeth as she thought about their options. She turned to the DRD. "Moya, can you block out the comms on the Peacekeeper?" One blink. "Okay, we need you to do that when we arrive at the Den. Will you do that?" One blink. "Great. Now, is the Peacekeeper standing near Pilot?" Two blinks. "Is he pacing the bridge between the entrance and Pilot's console?" One blink.

She turned back to the others. "Okay, here's the plan. We gather near the entrance to Pilot's Den, quietly of course. We'll take the DRD with us, so she can tell us when the Peacekeeper begins his trek back towards Pilot. Moya will block his comms and we'll take out the guard from behind."

When the others nodded their agreement, Joan turned to the DRD. "Do you agree, Moya?" One blink. Joan nodded once and picked up the DRD. "Great, let's go."

"Pilot, are you and Moya alright?"

"Yes, Doctor. Moya and I have not been hurt in any way. However, the Peacekeepers are currently attempting to open the landing bay doors."

"Yeah, I've been thinking of that. How fast can Moya raise the temperature in the corridors outside the landing bay? Just to a level that's high enough to result in Heat Delirium?"

"Moya can't normally reach such levels."

Joan frowned. "But didn't you do just that when those bugs used Moya to incubate?"

"Yes, but they were partly responsible. The maximum temperature Moya can reach on her own will be uncomfortable to the Peacekeepers but it will not stop them."

"But it might slow them down, though." Joan paused and nodded. "Yeah, that'll help. Pilot, please raise Moya's temperature to its highest level."

"But Tech Stare…"

"…is safely tucked away in the Falmor chamber," Joan interrupted. "Please have Moya raise the temperature."

"Yes, Doctor."

Joan turned around. "Alright, anyone any ideas on how the chase the baddies off the ship?"

V'Enda shook her head. "No, but you are correct regarding the increased temperature. It will be to our advantage in direct confrontation."

"Yeah, about that," Joan said, holding up her pulse pistol. "How does this thing work?" V'Enda stepped forward and explained the pulse pistol to her. Much to Joan's chagrin, she found out she did have to use her tongue to check the charge and it tasted really, really bad. Why the hell didn't they add some indicator or something?

"Attention, Moya had detected another vessel approaching." After a short pause, Pilot continued. "It appears to be a Peacekeeper Marauder."

"Can we Starburst?" Joan asked at the same moment as Moya shook violently.

"No, Moya cannot. We have been hit by an immobilizer pulse. All propulsion is offline."

"Just frelling great," Joan said. "I think we've just hit rock bottom."

At that moment the comms came on. "This is Captain Crianda Brim. Crew of Moya, surrender the alien Crandon and you'll be set free."

Joan sighed. "Nope, I was wrong. Now we've hit rock bottom."

TBC