Time seemed to grind to a halt as Skyla stared into the impossibly green eyes of one who shouldn't exist. The sounds of fighting died around her and seconds turned to hours as she looked on him. This couldn't be real. She had to be seeing things...right? She blinked once and he was still there, still staring at her, an expression of shock on his own features. And he was solid, that was sure, as his arms were holding her and in his right hand he held what could only be described as a large wrench.

But still, how...?

From the corner of her eye, Skyla saw one of the guards charging towards them, a short knife raised in his fist, pointing directly at the...man in front of her. Almost without thinking, Skyla pushed off with her legs, pulling the man behind her and using her body as a shield as the guard descended upon them. She saw the reptile's eyes widen in shock as he realised who he was about to stab and tried to pull back, but his own momentum carried him forward, bringing the dagger with him.

Skyla let out a small moan as the knife slid into her shoulder, just below her collar bone, burying itself up to the hilt in her flesh. Blood sprayed everywhere and it took all of Skyla's self control not to faint then and there.

The man behind her pushed her out of the way and dealt the guard a mean blow with his wrench, knocking him out instantly and letting him fall to the ground with a thump. He turned back to Skyla and crouched down by her. It was then Skyla realised she was on the ground, but didn't remember falling. The man's mouth was moving but she couldn't make out any words, just a long slurring noise as shouts and screams echoed around her head. She blinked slowly, why was the world spinning? Everything was swimming in and out of focus like an old holo-vid camera and she couldn't distinguish one noise from another.

The man glanced up and sprang to his feet and Skyla vaguely registered him engaging another guard in combat. From where she lay, she could see nothing of the goings on, and there was still a knife sticking out of her. Raising a shaky hand to her shoulder, Skyla grasped the handle of the dagger and, clenching her teeth firmly together so she wouldn't bite her tongue, pulled the blade from her body. A single high pitched noise escaped her as she felt the cold steel slide from her flesh, but then it was done and her hand fell to the ground, still clutching the knife. She was panting heavily and spots danced before her eyes. She was losing blood, and fast. Clamping a hand over the wound she squeezed, ignoring the pain, seeking only to try and slow the loss of blood as much as she could. Her hand was quickly soaked in blood and slipped over her fur, but she refused to let go. There were noises all around, and she couldn't see a thing from where she lay. She had to get up.

Drawing on her severely depleted supply of energy, she pulled herself to her feet, cradling her injured arm which had now suffered a broken wrist and a stab wound in the space of about 10 minutes. She swayed violently where she stood and stumbled several steps before regaining some form of balance.

Suddenly, the man was beside her again and talking to her, but for some reason she couldn't hear him, it was like there was something in her brain slowing every noise down to an indecipherable slur. She closed her eyes as waves of nausea washed over her and she felt her body begin to topple, powerless to stop herself.

Strong arms caught her and she instinctively latched onto them with her one good hand, using them as an anchor as she pulled her feet beneath her once again. Lifting her head, she blinked heavily and took in her surroundings.

It was chaos.

Baen's guards were under attack from a small troop of robots, all near identical in appearance. The fighting was vicious and the reptiles had no problem with attacking their opponents full on. The robots didn't seem to be engaging in hand-to-hand combat, relying on guns that were built into their arms to take down the guards. It did the job and guard after guard fell under a barrage of fire, though Skyla got the feeling it wasn't live ammo. Not to mention the guards were outnumbered and every robot that fell beneath them was replaced while the damaged android was dragged out of harm's way.

Skyla felt movement behind her and she looked up in time to see Drako bearing down on her. He snatched for her while the man was distracted with another guard, pulling her away roughly. Skyla tried to lash out with the dagger in her hand, but Drako knew her too well and immediately had her arms pinned behind her back, sending the knife spinning from her grasp. The man whipped around to face the reptile and raised his wrench menacingly.

"Let her go," he growled at Drako, and though his words were slurred in sound, Skyla could just about understand them. The Head of Security gave him a curious look and then his eyes flicked over his own troops, registering that they were losing. He shoved Skyla onto the ground and kicked her away with a firm shove.

"I've heard of you," he muttered thickly to the creature, taking up a fighter's stance.

"Have you now?" the man retorted with a little sarcasm, taking up his own stance as he recognised a fellow experienced combatant.

"You're that intergalactic hero...the one who's always saving planets, defeating super-villains and the like," Drako went on as the two beings began circling each other like sharks.

"Then you'll know I'm pretty good at what I do," the man replied with a trace of smugness. The Snivelakian smiled, displaying razor like fangs,

"Let's find out, shall we?" Drako launched himself at the man, and they began to fight.

Their movements were mostly a blur to Skyla as she struggled to get to her feet. Her head felt incredibly light and she knew it was because of the amount of blood she'd lost. Nevertheless, she hauled herself up and set her legs apart so she was decently grounded. Her vision was swirling wildly but she could just make out Drako and the man fighting in front of her. Even with her poor sight, she could tell that both were skilled fighters and were near evenly matched. What Drako lacked in speed he made up in strength, and vice versa with his opponent. All around them, the struggle between the guards and the robots seemed to be diminishing as the guards were gradually overwhelmed one at a time. The robots were winning!

Out of nowhere, two hands grabbed Skyla and yanked her back. She howled in agony as they wrenched at her arm and she felt her shoulder muscle tear at the joint, already in a bad shape from the stab wound. Lashing out with her feet she swung her leg around, kicking her attacker in the gut. There was an 'oomph' sound as air was driven from the reptile and his grip loosened abruptly, sending her crashing to the ground. Pain rocketed through her and she gritted her teeth to stop from yelling again. Raising her head, she caught a glint of something metal and reached for it with her good hand. She had just snatched it up when she was hauled to her feet once again by the recovered Snivelakian. Reacting on impulse, she turned and sank the object into her assailant. There was a yowl of pain as she felt the dagger in her hand bite deep into reptilian flesh and an arm shot out, catching her by surprise and striking her around the head. She gave a light moan and fell to the ground, her head vibrating wildly, suddenly filled with a strange buzzing. The guard fell back, still crying in pain and she didn't know where she'd stabbed him. She tried to move from where she lay but her head was throbbing so badly she couldn't even think straight, let alone move her limbs. The blow had stunned her, and now she was on her back, helpless.

Skyla lay where she was, waiting for the guard to descend on her once again and drag her off. She didn't have the energy to fight back again, and had no way of knowing where they would come from. Then she frowned, was it her imagination, or had the sounds of fighting diminished? Yes, there was definitely less shouting, less screaming, though she could still hear moans of pain from the wounded guards.

Two hands slid under her, gently scooping her up and off the ground. Skyla didn't even try to fight, because not only would that be futile, but something told her that she didn't need to. She was in the arms of someone who was definitely not a reptile, and this she knew from the warmth of their touch, so they could only be a mammal - the man. Sure enough, when Skyla looked up through the hair that had matted over her forehead, she saw the green eyes of the man staring down at her.

"Hold on," he said to her in a clear voice and began moving away. Skyla wanted to tell him that she was fine, and that she could walk on her own and there was really no need for him to carry her, but she couldn't get the words out so let him bear her to wherever he was headed.

They stopped a short distance away and Skyla turned her head slightly to see several robots gathered around.

"We got 'em all, sarge! Every last one!" one of the androids said with a slight whoop to his voice.

"What should we do with 'em?" asked another.

"Round them up and lock them all separately, they'll need to be taken in for questioning," the man replied, "right now, I need to get her some nanotech and then to a hospital."

"Is she gonna be alright, sarge?" another robot asked quietly.

"She's been stabbed in the shoulder and I think her wrist is broken," the man answered by way of explanation with a glance down at Skyla, "where's Aphelion?"

"She's on her way down with the Cazar, look, there they are," one of the robots pointed up and Skyla just glimpsed a small ship landing not far from them. Had he said Cazar? She didn't want to meet another one of Maia's race...they would only remind her of what she'd lost.

"H-22, you're in charge, keep your com-link open at all times and make sure those reptiles don't try anything funny. Be careful with that big one over there, he's a tough one," the man said as he began walking towards the landed ship.

"Sure thing, sarge!" one of the robots saluted him.

"Which one did he mean? They're all big!" another android commented and Skyla couldn't help but smile slightly at his confused tone.

As they approached the ship the hatch opened and a figure jumped out, running towards them. At the same time, Skyla felt something move on the man's back and a weight seemed to lift off it, but she might have been imagining things.

"Skyla!" a voice cried in the grey Lombaxes ear and she winced as the noise reverberated around her head. Couldn't they be a bit quieter? Then she frowned as the noise sank in. Hadn't that been her name? But how...? A shadow fell over her as the figure stopped in front of them

"Sky?" said the voice, quieter now. Skyla blinked. She knew that voice, oh so very well. That voice she knew she would never forget to her dying days. That voice she thought she would never hear again because its owner was...

Something gently brushed away the hair stuck to her forehead.

"Skyla?" the voice repeated softly. The grey Lombax blinked again as a form swam above her. Her vision was still blurred, but with effort, she made out some of the persons face. Her eyes widened in recognition. There was no mistaking that chocolate brown fur, those fox-like ears and facial features. There was no mistaking those warm hazel eyes.

It was Maia.

"She's lost a lot of blood," the man said, "we need to get her some nanotech and fast." Skyla saw her supposedly dead friend nod,

"Right." Skyla finally found her voice,

"M-Maia?" she stammered, not quite believing her eyes, starting to question her own sanity. The Cazar smiled down at her,

"Yes, Sky, it's me," she answered, eyes sparkling.

"Ratchet!" a voice called and the man looked up at his ship, though Skyla couldn't see the voices source, "the Phoenix is waiting for us just out of Eudora's orbit, I have told them to prepare for wounded."

"Thanks, Clank," called the man and moved towards the ship once again. Once there, he began lifting Skyla into the cockpit as gently as he could, setting her into the passenger seat. The grey Lombax wanted to protest that she was fine and could get in on her own, but she was beginning to get fed up of lying to herself all the time. She couldn't even speak from exhaustion, so how was she supposed to climb into a ship? While Skyla was inwardly scolding herself, Maia appeared around the other side and helped settle Skyla in before jumping into the ship as well, wriggling behind Skyla's seat. The man took up the pilot's position and pressed a few buttons. The ship hatch closed and they immediately began to rise into the air.

"Aphelion, have we got any nanotech onboard?" the man asked as they moved off, gaining speed as they went.

"Affirmative," came a feminine voice and Skyla realised it was the ship speaking, "two 500ml worth of liquidised nanotech pouches located in the emergency supplies hold."

"Maia, can you get some out for me?" the pilot asked.

"Of course," the Cazar replied. The grey Lombax heard the noise of something being opened.

"Excuse me, Clank."

"Sorry, Maia." Skyla groaned as her head throbbed acutely and she saw the man glance at her, a worried expression on his face. She paid him little attention, having come to the conclusion that she had gone mad with pain. How else was she to explain the presence of Maia andanother Lombax? She had to be hallucinating, and in her present state of mind, that wasn't all that hard to believe. Still, it was cruel.

She closed her eyes, trying to find some rest in the dark.

"Miss, you must remain conscious," a voice came from her left and she turned her head to see the face of a small robot looking at her with wide green optic sensors that seemed almost as alive as real eyes. His head was round and metallic and a small antennae was attached to his head with a red flashing light on its tip.

"Clank, have you applied pressure to the wound?" the man asked.

"Yes, Ratchet," the robot replied and Skyla just noticed that something was pressed onto her shoulder, but she could barely feel it as her whole body was gradually going numb with pain. She wasn't sure how long she could stay awake as the need to sleep began to build in her.

The ship seemed to gain speed as they began to leave the planet's atmosphere and soon enough, they were in space. The pilot began tapping away at the controls and Skyla looked out through the front screen.

"Clank, I can't find it," Maia's voice reached her ears, though it sounded a little distant. The robot moved away, though the pressure on her shoulder remained.

"It should be..." the robots voice faded out slightly as Skyla blinked again really slowly. She wanted to just sleep, and maybe then she'd wake up from this crazy hallucination dream. Something tapped her leg and her eyes flicked lazily over to the pilot,

"Stay awake," he told her seriously, making it sound like an order. Skyla sighed heavily and her ribs ached in protestation. When would this dream end? When would it be over?

Through the front screen, she saw that they were on the approach to a large Starship that looked to be made for speed and stealth. It was incredibly long and sleek looking, and was growing bigger with each passing second. Without warning, a voice crackled over the intercom.

"Sarge! The hostages are gone! They just disappeared into thin air!" came a panicky voice of one of the robots.

"He means they teleported, sarge," another voice interjected.

"That's what I said!"

"No you didn't!"

"Guys!" the pilot called over the two robots, "did you see what kind of teleport?"

"Er...atomic, I think," said one of the voices.

"Damn, they could be anywhere," the man muttered, "I'm en route to the Phoenix. Scan the area for particle streams and let me know what you find."

"Roger that, over and out," the radio went dead and the pilot pulled gently on the wheel and they picked up speed.

Out of the blue, Skyla felt a wave of dread wash over her and her senses were suddenly on high alert. Something was wrong. Very wrong. That transmission from the robots...it meant something. She saw the Starship getting nearer and nearer, but her instincts were telling her they shouldn't go any closer. Dream or not, they were in danger. She glanced at the screen in front of the pilot that had two flashing dots. Them, and the Starship. But something was missing. She sat up straighter,

"Stop," she said in as firm a voice as she could. The pilot gave her a funny look,

"Stop? We're in space."

"Then turn around!" the grey Lombax exclaimed, suddenly flooded with a new energy provided by one particular emotion – fear.

"Sky, what's wrong?" Maia leant in between the two seats, peering out through the screen and then at her friend.

"We have to..." Skyla began but stopped as she saw two tiny bits of space pulse before her eyes. Acting on impulse she leaned over the pilot and wrenched the steering wheel towards her. Two laser beams shot past them, just grazing where their left wing had been.

All of a sudden, space seemed to shimmer around them and around 20 ships materialised out of nowhere, completely surrounding them and blocking their path to the Starship. There was more laser fire, heading towards them but the pilot was quick to recover and evaded them with another speedy turn. Skyla collapsed back into her seat, her heart plummeting. She should have known Drako wouldn't be beaten so easily and would have a backup plan.

"Aphelion, evasive manoeuvres," the pilot shouted, his fingers tapping rapidly at the controls, "Phoenix, we're under attack! I need immediate assistance. Do you copy?" There was no reply.

"Phoenix, I need assistance! Do you copy?" the pilot shouted again, swerving to avoid another line of fire.

"They are blocking our transmissions, Ratchet," cried the robot. Skyla fell to the left as the vessel veered to avoid more laser fire.

"Hang on," the pilot yelled and the next moment was spent ducking this way and that, dodging oncoming fire and searching for a way out at the same time.

He directed their vessel towards one of the ships nearest the Starship, weaving to avoid the oncoming fire. He punched a button on his controls and a rocket was launched from their ship, heading straight for the enemy vessel. The ship tried to move out of the missiles way but it was too slow and a bright orange light shone on Skyla as it exploded in a ball of fire. The man made to slip through the gap that had been created; only to find that two other ships had circled round, cutting them off. He turned away, trying to go above them, but they matched his height and speed, moving with him to keep him from breaking their ranks. The laser fire continued, but Skyla noticed it was oddly precise, like they were being careful with every shot.

"Why aren't they shooting to kill?" the pilot muttered, his mind following the same trail of thought as Skyla.

"They want us alive," Skyla murmured as her thoughts reached their conclusion.

"That's ok then," the pilot mumbled, dipping under another shot that would have taken a chunk out of their wing. Skyla's eyes raked the heavens as she took in fighter vessels before her. Most of them were smaller than the ones on the surface, with only one pilot per ship and no passenger room. They were fast, and their pilots were trained to top efficiency. But there was one other ship, bigger than the rest, which looked to be the same make of the ones on the surface, with a bigger passenger load. They'd now gone a full circle around, with no visible way through the seemingly impenetrable ring of ships.

"Fighter vessel 3371-Alpha, surrender yourselves immediately and you will not be harmed," a voice came over the intercom and Skyla's ears twitched in recognition. Anger flared in her heart,

"Go to hell, Drako," she snarled at the reptile.

"Like hell we're surrendering," the man said almost at the same time as her.

"It's hopeless, Skyla," Drako said, "neither you nor your allies can win."

"Watch us!" the pilot retorted, avoiding more fire with an almost careless ease. He was clearly an able pilot. A moment later, his eyes flicked over to Skyla, then he turned in his seat to glance at Maia.

"You might want to strap yourselves in," he said to them both in a low voice. The tone made Skyla's stomach flip with worry, as she knew it from personal experience. That was the tone she used when she was usually about to do something dangerous, daring and borderline ridiculously-stupid (the timings of which varied with her mood), and hearing it in another's voice was...creepy. She immediately reached up with her good hand and pulled the seat straps across her, clipping them into place. She wasn't about to question his tone.

"Ratchet, what are you...?" Maia began to ask.

"Clank, make sure she's secure," the pilot called. Skyla turned slightly, and though her view was restricted she saw the robot pinning Maia to the floor of the vessel with what looked like magnetized straps.

"They are for your own safety," the robot told the Cazar, then turned to the man, "she is secure, Ratchet."

"Good," the pilot nodded, refocusing on flying, "hold on, we're in for a bumpy ride. Aphelion, ready your warp engines. The second we're clear of their ranks, jump."

"Ratchet, I must inform you there is only a 1 in 986.4 chance of us making it through unharmed," the robot said sincerely. The pilot's grip on the wheel tightened, his shoulders hunched slightly and his eyes narrowed, a slight glint to his gaze which filled Skyla with even more dread and deepened her doubts on the reality of this situation,

"I'll take those odds," he muttered. They suddenly barrel rolled right and through the screen Skyla saw they were heading straight for the largest of Baen's ships. As they neared, the surrounding ships closed in on them further, like a fisherman tightening his net around caught fish. But the pilot made no move to change course, heading straight for the vessel. Part of Skyla wanted to scream at him, something along the lines of 'are you insane? We're going to DIE!' but another part of her was curious as to what he would do so she remained silent.

There was no time to swerve now as collision became all the more imminent. They were going to career straight into the ship. Suddenly, the pilot twisted the wheel and they span right over so they were now upside down. He punched a button, giving their thrusters an extra boost as they were shoved down by the force, keeping their direction as straight as he could. They sailed under the ship, just brushing against its hull with a slight bump. For a moment, Skyla was staring into empty space, her ears hanging down, and then they were out and the pilot righted the ship. They were out in the open. They'd made it. But they were heading away from the Starship, and Eudora, and into open space.

"They are in pursuit," the robot informed them. The pilot glanced at the screen, noting the dots that were rapidly giving chase,

"Aphelion, engage warp drive."

"Engaging." A hum filled the ship like a battery gaining energy and Skyla felt them slow down, then begin accelerate so fast it felt almost unnatural.

There was more gunfire, but then they were lost behind as they exceeded the speed of light, going so fast it felt like they weren't moving at all.

Then the ship shook as it was impacted and an alarm began blaring.

"Warning – warp engines damaged mid-jump. Systems failing," the ship announced. The pilot cursed and wrestled to control the shaking vessel.

"Aphelion, take us out of warp," he yelled over the alarm. Their speed seemed wrong now, as if they were going too fast and too slow at the same time.

"Warp engines damaged mid-jump," the ship repeated mechanically, "systems failing."

"Come out of warp!" the pilot ordered.

"Negative, warp engines offline. Systems failing." All of a sudden, they came abruptly out of warp and face to face with a planet. The pilot began flicking switches like crazy, doing everything he could to correct his ship's course.

"Aphelion, engage grav-o-metric stabilisers."

"Offline."

"Thrusters!"

"Offline. Landing flaps - Offline." The pilot punched at the controls, but the ship remained unresponsive. Skyla watched as the man failed to regain control of his ship and the planet loomed ever closer to them. Soon, they were completely caught in its gravitational pull and began to pick up speed, being drawn like a magnet to its surface.

There was a small whimper of fear from behind Skyla and she turned to see Maia tensed up, her eyes overflowing with terror as she stared at their impending doom.

It was in that moment that Skyla realised she wasn't dreaming, or hallucinating. This was real. Maia and the Lombax were real...and they were all about to die.

Everything around them turned red as they began to enter the planet's upper atmosphere and the ship's alarms were blaring all around her. Skyla thought she heard the pilot shouting, but she couldn't be sure as they broke through the atmosphere and the ground came into view, rushing up to meet them. Then they were falling, and falling, and falling. And then...nothing.