I hear a faint, familiar beep-- my comm device?

As I fumble for it, Soraya's voice comes through the tiny speaker. "Captain Crais? Are you alright? Bailar? Please answer! Talyn, ask Kateri if he's alive; she should be able to read his heat signature."

"Soraya! What the hezmota am I doing aboard Kateri?" I shout, hoping the comm device will pick up both my words and the fury behind them.

"Thank fortune! For a microt there, we thought we'd killed you!"

When I get my hands on her, the little trelk will wish she had. "Answer my frelling question! And tell your fr--" I take a deep breath and force my voice into some semblance of civility. After all, Kateri may be my only ally in this cracked-mirror existence. "Ask Kateri if she would turn on her lights."

I blink a few times as the sudden illumination stabs through my eyes. I am on a bunk in a small sleeping chamber, covered only by a blanket. My clothes lay folded neatly at the end of the bunk, my comm device stacked on top of them, along with a box of food cubes.

As I dress, I become aware of a tingling in my hands and feet. My fingers struggle with the buttons, just as my sluggish, pounding head grapples with the situation. I shout into the comm device, "What have you done to me?"

"I took the transponder from you while you slept. I needed to talk with Talyn. Captain Crais, I'm sorry. Please believe that!"

I laugh, and once I've begun laughing, I find I cannot stop. The situation is so frelling ludicrous it's hilarious. A former Peacekeeper captain, being held hostage by an adolescent girl aboard a failed experiment in genetic engineering! "Then you'll welcome me with an open docking bay! I'll get off the transport, you'll give the transponder back, and we'll all have a good laugh together!"

"No. Talyn understands what we have to do. He says that letting the Peacekeepers have the Ancient is worse than being captured by them."

"Talyn!" The name comes out as a primal howl, and the feelings surging through me are too raw to enumerate or qualify. A tiny part of my brain wonders if the separation from Talyn is still wreaking havoc with my mind. "Talyn, think! You know better than this! You asked for me as your captain because I can give you advice, keep from harming yourself! Stop this foolishness at once!"

I hear a string of forlorn beeps, and then Soraya answers. "Please stop asking. You can imagine how much this hurts Talyn! When I explained about the Ancient, he agreed to help, but only if I promised you wouldn't be hurt. I told him I couldn't swear to that, so he came up with the idea to flood your quarters with some kind of exhaust, enough to knock you out and transfer you to Kateri. When we thought you were dead--" She sobs, sighs heavily, and continues in a softer voice. "I don't know how you stood it, being bonded to Talyn for so long. His emotions are so strong it's overwhelming!"

"Now you know why he needs me in control!"

"Captain Crais, Talyn says you would destroy him before you would let the Peacekeepers collar him, that you don't think his life, or yours, is reason enough to allow him to be a weapon. He says you taught him there are things worth dying for. My father believed the same, which is why he took the Ancient on board Xera. I'm not in control of Talyn, just in agreement with him. We know what has to be done."

"Fine! Just allow me on board. Confine me to my quarters if you must!" I have a second transponder there, and though I may not be able to reason with Talyn, it is the best option I can see.

"I helped Talyn transfer some fuel to Kateri. She'll starburst if she has to. Otherwise, she's headed for a commerce planet nearby. Talyn says you must take good care of her, and that you must find her a pilot, the best you can get. He doesn't want me to tell you this, but he wants so badly for you to be proud of him--"

"Than he should leave off with this fool's errand and allow me to board!"

"Goodbye, Bailar. Take care of Kateri, and yourself."

The light on my comm device is extinguished, signaling the end of our conversation. I kick the bunk in frustration. Without expecting a response, I ask, "Kateri, lights off?" When that has no effect, I try, "Kateri, increase the temperature by one increment."

I shiver a bit as I exit my brightly lit room and walk to command. Some Leviathans can be taught simple verbal commands, but only after bonding with a competent pilot. Without a pilot, young Kateri is, as Soraya put it, merely a cargo bay with engines, and I am her cargo. On the command deck, I find her navigation system locked. I have no doubt that this is per Talyn's instructions.

I sink to the floor, defeated. Surely Talyn knows he and Soraya cannot rescue the Ancient. The girl may be naïve enough to believe otherwise, but Talyn has tactical programming. He must realize that the only way to keep the Peacekeepers from interrogating the Ancient is to destroy the base. He also knows that the defenders will be able to retaliate before he can starburst.

He will be killed, just like Tauvo, and the thought of his death cuts more deeply than the loss of my brother. Talyn, however flawed, is my legacy. My father charged me with Tauvo's care, and I accepted my duty as an older brother. However, I created Talyn of my own volition. I am responsible for him as much as a parent is for a child. No, more so! Bringing Talyn into existence was an effort of will and intellect, not a moment of passion. I wanted a magnificent warship, a tool to accomplish my ends as a Peacekeeper. What I found in Talyn is my own redemption.

"Kateri--" I trace a finger across the floor. "Kateri, if only you would honor one small request. Send a long range transmission to Talyn and tell him-- Tell him I am proud of him."

Unsurprisingly, there is no indication she heard me. With no way to make my peace with Talyn, I am left only one choice.

I must find a way to save him.