Disclaimer: This is fanfiction. Anything you recognize is not mine. All characters and events in this story are entirely fictional.
-=oOo=-
"So you say you are from another planet?" said a well dressed balding man in a suit.
Lafiel looked up as if bored. "Hmm, are you still here?"
"We are not from your world. That is correct," said Ami.
"You look normal enough, well except for her hair and ears."
"I am not going through this again. Why don't we leave and come back when they decide to take us seriously," said Lafiel.
"She does raise a good point. I know this has been explained before," said Ami.
"And you have spent months producing a TV show."
"Also explained before," said Ami with amusement.
"You expect us to believe that you paid for a science show to help us out, and even volunteered to act in it."
"Our acting was not that bad," defended Lafiel.
"I think half of the new audience was there for the cute girls," said Ami dryly.
Lafiel sighed. "Well they are hiring our replacements, so maybe they can do a better job."
"Oh I doubt the audience will get bigger quickly and we did cover science. Of course the number that ignore the main show and replay the concert is a bit ridiculous," said Ami.
"How many of these annoying people do you think we have to wait through till someone who can make a decision shows up?" asked Lafiel.
"I could hack their systems and find out, if you like," offered Ami.
"Sounds like a plan."
"You know I'm still here?" asked the man.
Ami pulled out her mini laptop from nowhere and began working.
"What the hell is that?" he exclaimed.
"A computer?" said Lafiel dryly.
"GIve me that."
"No."
He reached for it. Ami let it go and it vanished.
Another came in. "James, I think your done here for now."
Ami high fived Lafiel.
"What was that for?" asked the new person.
"Oh we had a bet about how long it would take to get rid of the last one. Lafiel won."
"You don't seem too dissapointed about it."
"Nope."
"I was told there is a flight on an F-22 raptor for Lafiel if we can just get through one more of these, and that I'm the last person to ask questions. Next will be the president and his cabinet."
"Bribes. Excellent," said Lafiel.
"You know you want to fly one," said Ami in amusement.
"Well yes. They don't have inertial dampeners. They should be really fun," said Lafiel.
"I want to fly too."
"They are only two seats, and we are going to have a trained pilot in them."
"I am a trained pilot," said Lafiel.
"Trained on the F-22."
"I'll go next then," said Ami.
"Questions then?" the man asked.
"Hmm, didn't we already answer all of them?" asked Lafiel.
"We just refused to answer any twice," reminded Ami.
"Explain again, in your own words, why we should do what you say and start this trade between our worlds," said the man.
"You shouldn't, that is if your not going to learn anything from them," said Lafiel.
"Your not selling your case very well."
"She gave you a perfectly valid answer. If you do not believe you can see the results of a world that nearly destroyed itself and use that as a reason not to repeat it, then you would just be wasting all of our time. Well, I suppose Kintara would appreciate the stuff, but other than that," said Ami.
"And if we agree to trade we get better tech?"
"Well a little, but mostly they just figured out the beginnings of a warp drive, but they don't actually have a way to sustain the process, so they aren't ready for star travel really. There are a lot of issues to work out," said Lafiel.
"But you know how to do all that?"
"Yes and no we aren't telling you," said Lafiel.
"Why?"
"Call us when you have made peace with all nations of the world, and kept it for say fifty years, and we will talk," said Ami.
"That's impossible."
"No, it is not impossible. We have seen it many times," said Ami.
"Your not that old."
"We are a bit older than we look, but not that much," said Lafiel.
"Your not giving us a compelling reason to do this."
"Then don't. We can ask some other nations of the world if they are interested," said Ami.
"Don't you want us to help them?"
"You seem to be under some delusion that we can be manipulated. We cannot. If you don't want to help, then don't," said Lafiel.
"I'm thinking about bailing from this group. They are of course recording this," said Ami.
"The people are good people, but this insanity to have to find a way to win by their leaders is fast getting on my limited patience," said Lafiel.
"Do you really want to fly one of their planes?" asked Ami.
"We could fab something better. It's not that important. Honestly, I'm leaning towards your idea."
An older man and a dozen others came in.
Lafiel smiled.
"We are going to test your plan to open trade," said the older man.
"Excellent. We are going to need to borrow one of your larger power plants, at least briefly. Whatever has the largest single reactor with the greatest unused potential, not the overall size of the plant," said Lafiel.
"What for?"
"Can't you have a little faith?" asked Lafiel.
"Alright."
-=oOo=-
Deanna beamed down to next to the reactor on the hydroelectric plant with Lafiel and Ami. They had larger, but they didn't trust them near a nuclear reactor. She leaned back in the chair provided, which was just an office chair. A dozen guards looked on.
"Okay I'm linked with Rowan. She is ready and this is barely adequate. Rowan is lifting and now shifting. I will catch the pod mid point and carry it to safety here. I have the pod."
The reactors whined in pain as she pressed them hard, but the water kept falling and it held.
A few minutes later she said, "Bringing it in. Ten seconds. Five. Three two one. Here." With an audible whoosh the oval pod appeared in place and opened up.
Two well dressed men and two well dressed women each carrying briefcases, climbed down a ladder on the side of the pod. One of the women held out her hand to the president. He shook it. "Greetings. We were selected for this diplomatic mission to Earth. I believe we can make this a very productive arrangement that benefits both sides."
"We are now going to run away now and meet you tomorrow," said Ami.
"Aren't you going to stay and be involve in the negotiations?" asked the President.
"Your negotiating with them, not us," noted Ami.
"But your going to be involved in helping to move things back and fourth, correct," asked one of the negotiators from the other planet.
"Sure, well mostly Rowan and Deanna, at least till we can train replacements, then your own your own," said Lafiel.
"You will be involved in the training," said Deanna.
"Of course we will."
"You should find someone and begin now."
"Well Lafiel, our evil plot to avoid responsibility for a short time was just foiled again," said Ami.
"Oh go on. Have some fun, but keep your eyes open for people that can do this job," said Deanna wryly.
"Did the guy we threatened to kill calm down?" asked Lafiel.
"That was you?" asked the lead negotiator.
"He did try to shoot us down with missiles. We found that irritating," said Lafiel.
"He is deeply sorry for the mistaken understanding."
"Sounds good. Do we get to fly the F22 now?" asked Lafiel.
"If you really want," said the President dryly.
Lafiel gave him a thumbs up and waited to be escorted.
-=oOo=-
A few hours later she was in the front seat of an F22 on an air force landing strip.
"Are you sure your able to handle the G forces here? It normally takes some times to adapt."
"I am fine. I believe I am familiar with the key controls. I can take off when your ready," said Lafiel.
"What the heck. Let's see what a fighter pilot from beyond the stars can do," said her trainer.
Lafiel gunned the engines into full afterburners and took the craft up in a maximum G unrestricted takeoff, climbing straight up to forty thousand feet.
"Out of curiosity does your CO allow you to do that?" asked the pilot behind her.
"I believe he might be a bit annoyed if I did that with Falcon without a really good reason, though he is okay with our runabouts, well as long as I volunteer to spend the time doing maintenance."
"I wish I knew enough to maintain this craft," said the pilot in back.
"You could always learn," offered Lafiel.
"True, but we are too busy with our jobs to do their jobs. This is maintained by dedicated mechanics."
Lafiel spun the craft in a full three sixty roll.
"Another craft has launched," noted Lafiel.
"He is my wing man. I think he is bringing up your friend Ami."
"Sounds fun. You know I bet we could make the jump to the other planet, at least with Deanna's help. She'd have to use the runabout's reactor to boost us there, but we could do it," said Lafiel mischievously.
"Your serious?"
"Yes. We have a self contained environment, or contained enough. It be an interesting ride," said Lafiel.
"Is there a reason your doing things that might make people mad?"
"I'm rebelling to attempt to dodge being stuck with a job of great responsibility I don't particularly want."
"Let me call it in, and if you say it is safe, and if we get approval I'll think about it."
"Alright."
She was stunned when they got approval. She tapped her com badge. "Deanna are you busy?"
"Not really. Did you need something?"
"Do you think you can beam up to the runabout and port Jinto and my plane to the other planet, allow us to fly around, and have Rowan port us back?"
"Well, I could do that. I'm debating if I should do that," said Deanna.
"It's not that far. I have no doubt that you two will deliver us safely."
"And my reason for doing this is?"
"The development of an inter system fast response force," said Lafiel with a straight face.
"You know the FSP already does that."
"I haven't done it yet. Besides, I don't think all of this is quite real to Earth yet."
"And what does the pilot with you say?" asked Deanna.
"I'm okay with it, but I haven't got okay with my wing man. You'd have to wait for that."
"Ami says he is okay with it," said Lafiel.
"Go through the procedure please."
"Alright."
"You really don't want to become Empress."
"No, I don't. I'd have to give up all this, but she will want to retire soon. I think my uncle is going to take it, but I'm not going to rest entirely easy until he does."
"You could just say no, you know," said Deanna.
"No, I can't and I won't."
"You do know the way your family raises children is not remotely healthy right?" asked Deanna.
"Yes."
"And you won't change your mind?"
"No."
"Okay, I got approval for my wing man, mostly because we are both nuts. What is required?"
"Let me beam up. Give me a couple," said Deanna.
A few minutes later Deanna contacted Lafiel. "I have both of your ships on scanners and have a mental lock on them. What is more is my wife is also ready to catch you. Please drop to whatever is a more normal speed and we will get this going."
"Doing so now," said Lafiel.
"Good. We are porting you over water initially, then you can go over land. Rowan will send you both the course you are to take. Have your wingman follow," said Deanna.
"We are ready."
"Porting in three, two, one, now."
It was absolute blackness for close to two minutes and then suddenly they were in an alien sky, without engines.
"I've got you two," thought Rowan's mental voice.
"Doing engine relight sequence," said the guy in back.
Fifteen seconds later he said, "Engine relight successful. Thankfully the turbines were still spinning. Charlie is good too."
"Hmm, we will have to plan for that after we get back. Is it a problem to do it twice?"
"Not as long as your friend can do what this one did."
"Rowan assures me she can," said Lafiel.
They flew over the ruined city with a few new buildings, seeing all the wonders of this alien world then ten minutes later Rowan asked Lafiel and Ami if they were ready. They agreed and made the jump back to Earth, this time one at a time. Deanna caught them. They did the engine relight and Deanna escorted them to the ground, where Lafiel landed perfectly. Deanna then caught the one with Ami, again kept its forward velocity going, allowing them to relight their engines and escorted them to the ground.
"Your insane, but I loved that," said the pilot in the back.
"Let me know if there is any damage to the ship. We can help fix it if there is."
"I think just the video we brought back is worth any possible issue, but we will let you know."
Lafiel got down then helped him down, before going over and waiting for Ami.
-=oOo=-
"They did what?" asked the negotiators.
"Apparently Lafiel got bored and decided to test porting two of our fighter jets, across all that space, onto your world, where she toured one of your cities very briefly before they returned," said the secretary of defense.
"I have no worlds," said the lead negotiator.
"We do have some video of your world."
"You know we brought that."
"Well we have some more video of your world, at least once it reaches us."
"I'm now curious where they went, but I suppose we can review our video now. Our world is only now recovering. To be honest, most of us thought that Malcom's experiment was going to be what killed him. It still stuns us that it worked or that someone was there to save his life."
"How did that come about?"
"Let me tell you. I think I even have video of part of it."
-=oOo=-
Lafiel knocked on the door to Mika's dressing room that evening.
"Hey Lafiel. Have fun on the trip?"
Lafiel Nodded.
"Tell me about it."
She did.
A bit later Mika asked, "What was your copilot's reaction when the jet engine flamed out?"
"He reacted normally to light it. It was no great concern. We were over the ocean. I could have gotten us out alive, even without a parachute, and Rowan wasn't going to let us crash. Similarly Ami could have saved the other."
"And your copilot knew this?"
"Probably not."
"You have a very odd sense of humor you know."
Lafiel nodded.
"So, is there a reason you are here?"
"I was wondering if you were interesting in learning telepathy," said Lafiel.
"You think I have the talent?"
"Jinto and I thought we heard a little from your mind a couple times. It wasn't much, but that it was anything at all without training might be relevant. I could also contact Deanna. Honestly, she is a better trainer than me. We just thought you had the right to say no. We won't mention it to anyone that you may have some potential if you say no."
"Your waiting till now to tell me?" she asked exasperated.
"You never clearly said you wished to learn. We did not want to presume, but as we are leaving at some point, at least once we find someone to train, well it was certainly time to ask."
"Your not kidding me, right?"
"I am not lying about what I felt. I don't know for sure how much potential you have. Deanna might be able to give you a better answer. Jinto and I can just barely fly. We could teleport one person at a time with enough generator backup, but still aren't rated to do living people. We should probably fix that."
"Wait, you can fly?"
Lafiel floated in the air, touched the ceiling, then floated down.
"That is so cool!"
"It is difficult. It was the hardest thing I've ever learned, for Jinto as well, and we regularly cheated."
"What do you mean cheated?"
"We had Celeste and Piper help us. By linking directly with stronger telepaths and learning directly from them we learned to refine that ability to our limit, but even so, us flying very far would be pretty dangerous."
"Do you not think you can train me?"
"I probably can, to a point, but I'd honestly recommend Deanna start you out. She will respect your privacy too, just don't tell your government. I honestly don't trust them that far. They are basically out for themselves."
"You are helping them."
"No, We are helping your people. The leaders will come and go, and we will make sure this doesn't remain just this country." She smiled. "Your government just doesn't know that part yet."
Mika laughed. "Yes, I'd like to talk to Deanna."
Lafiel looked up and focused.
Deanna appeared with a small pop of displaced air next to her. "Stretching out your abilities Lafiel?"
"Why not?"
"Why not indeed. You wanted me to test Mika?"
"Yes please. I probably should have offered to do so before, but I wasn't sure she was interested, and I certainly didn't want to make her government interested in her," said Lafiel.
"Alright. Would you like to come along?"
"That is up to Mika. I certainly wouldn't mind more training."
"Sure, what do I have to do?" asked Mika.
"We have a room called the Green Room with a comfortable area to sit," offered Lafiel.
"Then let's go there," suggested Deanna.
-=oOo=-
Mika was in wonder as she felt two minds with her. Both were really lovely even if she could tell Deanna was quite a bit older than she looked. They just talked about her plans for their show. Their plans and hopes for Earth and the other world, and just all kinds of subjects including who addicted them to music from cartoons, which was apparently a bit of everyone. Finally a bit less than an hour before they began Deanna gently separated them.
"How do you feel?" asked Deanna.
"Fine, other than strangely tired."
"We will have you checked when Falcon comes back. There is almost never a problem, but we do like to check. As to your potential, well do you want the bad news or the good news?"
"Um, both."
"My guess, and it could be wrong, is you might make T-3 or T-4 maybe a little higher in path than port. I'm a T-1 and that is what is required to move people and things between worlds, so you probably won't be doing that."
"Is that the bad news or the good news?" asked Mika.
"Well sort of bad news, though I suppose it is not that bad."
"But I can do some of this stuff. Is that enough to fly?"
"Maybe, if you work hard enough, though you will likely be limited to like Lafiel is."
"I'll take it."
"So what's the good news?"
"I believe you have at least a minor talent for being a healer, possibly a major one. I've interacted with my children that have that gift enough times to I think recognize the potential."
"That is an incredibly valuable skill. If you tell anyone they will definitely want you to be a healer, at least if it pans out," said Lafiel.
"Why so?" asked Mika.
"Finding someone with that potential is very rare, and given, with enough training they can heal many things, it is very valuable. There are countless worlds that would want to gain your help. That being said, I'm not reporting any of this, if you don't give permission," said Deanna.
"And if I do?"
"I'd have to request to take you to one of our few true healers to get a determination, and well, I work with smart people. They would guess, though we would still respect your wishes. I really wouldn't tell your government though, particularly before you decide," said Deanna.
"Who would do the show, if I left?"
"You misunderstand. You would be in enough demand that we could demand several talented people come here just to do your show and they would come," said Deanna.
"Really?"
Lafiel nodded. "I honestly didn't suspect the healing potential, but again Jinto and I are Falcon's pilots."
"Your a lot more than that," said Deanna in amusement.
"Hush, I'm doing a campaign to make sure my uncle takes the throne."
"You should just tell him you and Jinto are marrying Beneej," joked Deanna.
Lafiel's eyes grew shockingly wide. "Do not say such things!"
Deanna laughed. "I suppose she is too old for you."
"Worse, she is a Spoor."
"Who you would trust with your life in a heartbeat."
"That is besides the point," said Lafiel.
"Are you ever going to marry Jinto?" asked Deanna curiously.
"Does it matter? I with no other ever, and I know he feels the same. Our commitment will not change if it becomes slightly more official."
"And if you are married, the court back home might push you to have children," said Deanna.
Lafiel rolled her eyes. "We have thought of such things. We seem to have time. We intend to live our lives for awhile longer, maybe a large while longer."
"I guess I want to know, but if I end up somewhere else, well I want the purpose we began continued," said Mika.
"You do know if you do join the Alliance, particularly with a critical skill you have a lot of freedom to move where you want, though we would still greatly appreciate it if you helped with emergencies now and then," said Deanna.
Mika nodded.
-=oOo=-
Lacus beamed down to her office the next day.
"Hello there."
She jumped and turned around.
"Your back?"
"Yes. Sela, myself, and Faile all wish to offer you a place at our homes. Well, I don't lead anywhere, but my family lives on a lovely world called Aldea. We are all willing to make you the offer before your abilities are determined."
"Including finding someone to help Jared do this show?"
"Of course. I will return and do it myself, if need be, regardless of which world you choose."
"Why is my ability so desired?"
"Regular medical knowledge is very good, and you would be trained in that, but healers like you likely are can heal things that cannot be healed other ways. It is very precious."
"Well I'm not going to make a decision now, but I did prepare to go."
"Then let us go."
"Alright."
-=oOo=-
"You should have seen it Jared. They took me to all the major Alliance worlds. Two of them had healers that confirmed my potential as high. They can't be sure of the limit until I actually work for awhile, but all of them want me to move there, at any of the places."
"That's great Mika."
"They are also looking for a replacement to help you. The Federation apparently has a lot of older retired engineers and such that would love to help."
Jared nodded a touch sadly. "Have you picked?"
"Honestly, when it comes down to it I don't have to. I think I'm going to start on their Earth. I'm somewhat familiar with Earth and I can learn a lot, and there is healer I can learn from, but I'm going to visit them all, well except for the Romulan home world. Apparently you end up changed by something they did there to keep people alive, which also extends lives but kind of traps them to there or a world setup similarly. I do intend to go to some Romulan colony worlds though, and all kinds of places, including the Founders. They are changelings, and can change their shape.
"Congratulations Mika. I'm happy for you. It also looks like this alliance they proposed is working out. They have already given us cures for diseases and such. Lafiel and Ami's Alliance gave us some standard tech they give away such as solar panels and batteries. So many things are changing."
"Yes, the Alliance does this regularly, focusing on worlds that need help and generally helping them. Lafiel has helped with several others. It isn't her first. It certainly isn't this teams first, though they are a first contact team. They go wherever the fire is hottest, and then transition to other teams after awhile."
"I still can't believe they were helping with a television show," said Jared.
"It was mostly just Lafiel and Ami. The others went on other missions most of the time. That concert was one of the few times when more were here."
"We did find a guy that may be able to do some of their jobs. Grant and Tory. We are still looking for others."
"That's great. Do you need me to do anything?"
"No, your fine. Actually what are you doing here?"
"They have found a few others to teach. I'm going to learn with that group for a time. I didn't have to, but the early training is the same and I thought I'd help here a bit longer."
"Could you allow us to film some of the training or the results or something?"
"Maybe. I'll ask. They generally want the training, particularly early training, supervised. People can mess up their minds fairly badly if they do not get the early training right apparently. Something might be doable though."
"And your training?"
Jared suddenly grabbed his ear. "You did that?"
"Yep. They told me not to try to communicate with non telepaths yet. I apparently don't know enough yet, but I can do that. Also, apparently telepathy is a bit of a disease."
"What?"
"Seriously, the act of communicating with others, at least how they teach it, tends to awaken the potential in people. They prefer it be taken slowly with appropriate training."
"That's crazy. They do realize that it will get out of their control at some point right, if that is true?"
"Yes, they know. They just want to give a bit of a chance for things to be established and a world that can have some help and deal with it. They have zero intentions of being here always, though will return as needed."
"Crazy, but I guess that's our new reality."
"It generally seems to act as a check on all the lies. When people can tell if each other are lying, people are more honest. Of course, it doesn't do anything with lies shown on television."
"No, that would be too easy wouldn't it," said Jared.
"They showed me a world they were debating trying to intervene in. They didn't really have a crew to spare yet, but it was horrible Jared. The lies got worse and worse, then the computers starting producing fake video and audio and no one knew what was real. They had democracy.. It just didn't mean anything anymore."
"That speech of Lafiel's."
"Yes, it was both warning and experience. They hadn't planned on revealing they existed."
"Then why did they? I mean even with our suspicion of Lafiel and Ami, it was hardly proof of any of this," said Jared.
"Our neighbors. They thought we might help each other. That it was worth the risk. Technically they were gambling on us keeping our mouths shut if we answered their questions. Opening it up was due to our neighbors," said Mika.
-=oOo=-
"Thanks to the Alliance providing real time communications between our worlds, we now show you Kintara where a gift is being given to the people there, that may one day help us travel between worlds," said the reporter.
A large triangular ship with sloped wings was gently lowered to the ground via Falcon's tractor beam. A beautiful blue eyed and haired woman appeared at the microphone, with Lafiel and Jinto. A red eyed blue haired woman was at Lafiel's side.
The blue eyed woman said, "Good morning. As a gift to a world that is just now joining the stars, I Abriel Nei Debrusc Spunej Ramaj as both the leader of the Abriel clan and the Humankind Empire Abh, as well as a member of the Alliance, do present Kintara a relic from our past. It has been preserved with extreme care, and is in perfect flying condition. It has been in the Abriel clan for a long time, since near the time of our founding. It is a space capable shuttle. It uses nuclear fission to heat water to steam to propel the craft into the air. Most of its interior is space for the ultra purified water."
"Some of you may have concerns about using nuclear power for vehicles in the atmosphere. You should be concerned. That concern is not unwarranted, but it honestly doesn't get better. The power to move among the stars freely is dangerous, and likely always will be due to the physics involved. This is a good design which was used largely unchanged for over a hundred years. We are giving the craft as well as the design of the engine and all the rest. In short, we are giving a starting point that we know is good to help you in your journey. Lafiel, Beneej, Jinto, do you have anything you want to add?"
"I want to see Lafiel fly it," said Beneej.
"I would be greatly honored to do so," said Lafiel.
"I'll help if you want," offered Jinto.
"You never need to ask, that is, at least if this world wishes to see it fly. It is theirs now," said Lafiel.
"Heck yah, we want to see it flown," said Malcolm.
"I would also like to go," said the Empress.
"I would as well, if there is space. It would be a deep honor to fly on this," said Ekuryua.
"How about Malcolm chooses who takes her up, and the other brings it back?" asked Lafiel.
"Well we might want more than one trip and to teach people, but sure." Malcolm fished out a small octagonal coin and said, "If it lands showing our capital then Lafiel. If it lands showing our first leader, then .."
"Ekuryua," added Ramaj.
"Ekuryua." He flipped it and it landed showing their first leader.
"Congratulations," said Lafiel.
One of Malcolm's engineers got the other spot.
"Okay, if everyone is ready, I'm sure I have this memorized, but feel free to point out if I miss something," said Ekuryua.
"I'm sure we will. We all dreamed of flying this when we were younger. We will build a copy. Many others already have them," said Ramaj.
"Nuclear reactor checks all are green. Bringing us up to operating temperature. This is going to take a few minutes," said Ekuryua.
"Everything looks normal over here. I just did an analysis of the propellant and we are well within specs," said Ramaj.
"By propellant you mean water right?" asked Malcolm.
"Indeed, though it is water with certain characteristics and purity."
He nodded.
"I'm estimating another five minutes till we are near launch potential," said Lafiel.
"That is consistent with my estimate," said Ekuryua. She pressed a button, "We are within five minutes of takeoff. Please clear the area at a distance of at least a five hundred meters, and preferably more." Ekuryua's words echoed outside the craft. People moved away.
Lafiel tapped her com badge. "Falcolm please confirm our likely takeoff paths are clear."
"We have been doing so. You are good to go. Best wishes Valkyrie. I know you don't need it, but we have your back," said Riker.
"Thank you for your help. We are now inside two minutes from takeoff. Can you top off our propellant if we use it up?"
"Stand by. I'll have to ask."
"We should really plan these things better," said Ramaj in amusement.
"It will be fine. If need be Falcon can land us," said Ekuryua.
"I know. We depended on water as a propellant for so very long. It is amazing to no longer need it," said Ramaj.
"You developed something new?" asked Malcolm.
"No, the Alliance decided we were stable enough to give hyperspace tech to. We used Planar space to move faster than light before it, which does not exist in this universe."
"It was given to the Federation as well, though the Federation developed Warp Drive all on their own, and for certain things it is still superior," said Lafiel.
"Ten seconds," said Ekuryua.
"Launching. Activating main thrusters." They were jammed back in their seats as the craft that had not flown in hundreds of years once more was brought to life.
"Ready for rotation in five seconds," said Lafiel.
"Rotating and accelerating," said Ekuryua.
"We are now on the optimum escape trajectory. I estimate just over a minute to orbit," said Jinto.
"How often can this fly per day?" asked Malcolm.
"There have been times this model has flown a half a dozen flights a day, though I don't recommend that much. The main thing is to follow the maintenance schedule carefully. It becomes more dangerous when you attempt to duplicate this. I mean no insult, but it is unlikely you will produce the same quality on your first attempts. We certainly didn't. A lot of Abh died back then," said Ramaj softly.
"Can some of your people check over our work?" asked Malcolm's engineer.
"I have no objection to this. Try asking Beneej if she can source someone. Quite often a good trade would be art or something they cannot normally get. It need not be old. She is an excellent businesswoman. She could likely find a trade that does not stress your resources yet makes the technical assistance something that is compensated. I could perhaps simply order one out, but I am nearly certain you will appreciate building a longer term relationship," said the Empress.
"Your right, and we have no problem paying our way," said Malcolm.
"We will be in free space in fifteen seconds. I will be cutting acceleration then," said Ekuryua.
"Zero G. We don't get to play in that enough," said Jinto.
"Your ships all have artificial gravity?" asked Malcolm.
"Yes, we have had that for some time. We will be taking the Alliance lead on tech sharing. They had this strange idea not to talk to those who have not developed faster than light travel, but have since we have known them been more flexible. The key is not to give that which you will regret giving, or have a substantial likelihood of regretting giving," said Ramaj.
"It's a risk benefit calculation. Honestly, the worlds we love to find, and we do find some of are where everything is normal and no special help is needed. At most we might introduced a few helpful things in ways that can't be traced and then they never know we were there. It's not that we don't trust those worlds. We probably trust them more than most, but there are plenty that need our help, and why risk messing up what is working?" asked Jinto.
"Indeed. I could wish we had that philosophy more, but the conflict we had with the United Mankind has pushed everyone to take sides. We are slowly finding ways to end it, but, I too would have preferred more worlds like that," said the Empress.
"Coming up on Falcon," said Ekuryua.
"It's beautiful," said Malcolm at the sleek vaguely bird shaped silver ship.
"What percent of propellant did we use with the takeoff?" asked Malcolm's engineer.
"Regretfully it was near forty percent and I was being as careful as I could. I'm sure I could reduce it a bit with practice, but reaching space does take considerable," said Ekuryua.
"Now that we are in space it takes very little to accelerate and change direction, but you may want to find an asteroid belt with frozen water or something like that and build a supply station," said Lafiel.
"The Alliance may also agree to carry a reasonable amount to orbit for you, if that helps," said Ramaj.
"In like what a tanker?" asked Malcolm.
"Storing water is not difficult. Designs for containers to prevent freezing should be in that material," said Lafiel.
"Getting the tankers to orbit is somewhat harder, though those end up using very similar engines. The problem is you can't bring that much net water to orbit. You can get around all those problems with telepaths to port the water," said Ekuryua.
"We appreciate all this. This is going to help a lot, just having a reliable design. It gives people hope," said Malcolm.
"It's why we all think this work is so vital. Most of us never want to quit," said Lafiel softly.
"My son agreed Lafiel, but only for twenty five years. I have less than a month left in my reign," said Ramaj softly.
"Really, you look so young," said Malcolm.
"I am not. Abh appear nearly ageless, but we are not. We sleep for longer each day, until one day we do not wake again," said Ramaj softly.
"I will be ready then, if I am needed. I swear it," said Lafiel.
"As will I," promised Jinto.
"I know you will, and you likely will be needed Lafiel, Jinto," said Ramaj softly.
"You know I tried to encourage Beneej to have a child. I don't think it did any good," said Lafiel.
"She loves your mother. I think in a few years they may agree to do so," said Ramaj.
"Well at least it isn't an Abriel Spoor crossbreed. That would be strange," joked Lafiel.
"You need to study our genealogy more closely Lafiel. Check far enough back and we have Spoor in our ancestry," said Ramaj cheerfully.
"Nooo," exclaimed Lafiel to Jinto and Ekuryua's amusement.
Jinto took Lafiel's hand quietly.
"I think it is my turn," said Lafiel.
"Flying won't make you forget that," teased Ekuryua.
"It has to help."
"I think we should let Jinto take us in. You can of course help," said Ekuryua.
"I like this idea. Lafiel can take the next trip up," said Ramaj.
"I like it as well. Jinto?" asked Lafiel.
"This is a piece of your history. I'm afraid I'll break it," said Jinto.
"You shall not," insisted Lafiel.
Jinto landed with no trouble at all. Lafiel rewarded him with a kiss for it. Then when he was still a bit lost in the moment, Ramaj kissed him on the other cheek with a mischievous grin.
"Grandmother," scolded Lafiel.
"What? I'm still a woman. I suspect if you are ever so foolish as to let him go, you will have a line of Abh women interested."
"That will not happen," said Lafiel stubbornly.
"I could perhaps talk Celeste and Ami into considering adding Jinto, if you do get bored," teased Ekuryua.
"I'm not going anywhere Lafiel. You know that right?" asked Jinto.
Lafiel kissed him hard, earning a whistle from Malcolm and his engineer and a dopey look from Jinto.
"So, two girls?" asked Malcolm curiously.
Ekuryua nodded proudly. Lafiel laughed.
-=oOo=-
"This is a live production of Daybreak's Bell. I am, as always, your host Jared. Today we have a special treat. We have first of all Ami Mizuno, Lafiel Abriel, Deanna Troi, and our old co-host Mika, who has learned a few new tricks. In case anyone has missed recent developments, Ami, Lafiel, and Deanna aren't from this world. Mika would you like to begin?"
"Sure, but first I think a modified game of dodge ball, with a twist. Jared, I suggest getting behind the camera operator. We will avoid that area."
"I think I'll do that."
"Now I'm about to lose a game of dodge ball, but the great part is I get to play," said Mika.
"Yes, you will lose," agreed Deanna with a smile.
"We on the other hand are going to cheat," added Lafiel proudly.
"Teaming up against me are you? I'm not sure it will be enough," said Deanna.
Mika picked up a dodge ball. She tossed it up in the air, then without prompting in sailed hard against Deanna stopping less than a foot from her and then shot like a bullet for Lafiel. Lafiel and Ami split up, but the ball between them shot back towards Mika who hit the deck, rolled, focused. The ball swirved and shot back towards Ami. Ami changed its course and shot it hard at Deanna, who caused it to smoothly orbit around her and shoot back at Lafiel.
"Your eyes do not deceive you. Not a single person is touching the ball, and one of our own is doing pretty good for few weeks of training," said Jared.
A ball shot from Deanna into Mika's stomach knocking her over, but Deanna made sure she fell gently.
"Thanks Jared." Mika picked up the ball and threw it into the air before walking back to Jared's side, and then the game picked up.
"Can you tell us anything about what is going on?" asked Jared.
"I'd say Ami and Lafiel are linked and being hard pressed by Deanna who is straight up a lot more experienced and stronger than them. That doesn't mean Deanna is going to win, but it won't be easy for them."
"Actually it probably does. Unless we get really lucky she will blow through our endurance," said Ami even as she ducked another shot they failed to parry with their minds.
"What can I say? I've been slinging space ships and everything else across galaxies. Admittedly, I had generator backup. A ball is nothing," said Deanna.
"Deanna is the one that is moving people and things back and forth to our new allies, well with the help of her wife Rowan, and yes I did say wife," said Mika.
Deanna said, "For those who are potential primes, well the training is long, and the actual job is exhausting. It is rare for a planet to have more than one or two prime talents, like me. Mika, however, is even more rare. She can't do my job, but then I can't do hers. She has the potential as a true healing talent. With a lot of education, she will be able to heal what no one else can. She is going to train here for awhile. She can't heal anyone yet. After that she will train on some of our worlds and eventually be able to use her talent. We've all been healed by Prime healers more than once, and are deeply grateful for it."
Deanna dodged another ball which came as soon as she was done talking. She shot it back, it skipped the intervening space to plaster Lafiel in the head.
"Does that count?" asked Lafiel.
"Nope, it's a foul. You get a free shot," said Deanna.
"What did she do?" asked Jared.
"It's a bit like moving an object to Kintara, though obviously a bit pointless here," said Mika.
Lafiel popped and was suddenly behind Deanna. She shot the ball at her only for Deanna to pop away.
"Oh, you think your going to beat me teleporting? Unlikely. You are approved for that correct?" asked Deanna.
"Yes, though self only, and no I don't think we will win, but forgive me if I try," said Lafiel.
"Of course." Deanna ported over to the ball, summoned it to her hand then ported to the other side of the room and shot it at Lafiel. Lafiel and Ami worked together to send the ball back. Deanna stopped it in the middle of the room.
"You know you could use that trick of yours," offered Deanna.
Neither responded. Deanna shot the ball at an angle towards the back. It bounced then she changed the angle it reflected to nail Lafiel before she could respond.
Lafiel sighed and walked off, then just as she passed Ami took her hand and passed her what strength she could.
"It won't be enough, but that was sporting of you," said Deanna.
"You know, we used to keep that we were reincarnated blah blah blah secret, but since we joined the Alliance we just have been helping whenever needed, and I do really want to wipe that smug look off your face," said Ami.
"Bring it," said Deanna.
Mercury pulled a decorative pen out of nowhere, "Mercury Crystal Power Make Up." After a light show she gestured and the field was full of mist.
"You can't hide your mind from me in the mist. Your not that good yet Ami-chan," said Deanna cheerily.
Suddenly a torrent of water shot forth from Ami at Deanna, but splashed harmlessly onto the ground well short of Deanna. The ball suddenly came alive bounced off a wall, almost hit Deanna but then she vanished appearing on the other side of the room.
Ami's hands shot out again, the entire room freezing, and a torrent of freezing water focused in on Deanna, who blasted it away with her power, summoned the ball and shot it at Mercury, who batted it away with a blast of water.
"This is getting interesting Ami. Do be careful though. People are getting a might cold," said Deanna.
"Sorry," said Ami.
Deanna summoned the Ball, even as another torrent of freezing water shot out from Ami. Deanna stopped it, then reversed it, sending it back at Ami who had to dive out of the way.
"It wouldn't let me reassert control," complained Ami.
"Yes, I kept you from doing so. Once you release it from your control I can control it."
"Then I just have to never release the water from my control. Sooner or later one of us will reach a limit," said Ami.
"True. I wonder who will win," said Deanna as if she was actually curious.
Mercury shot out another icy torrent that was again stopped from advancing, but started pooling around Deanna, and then the pool started rising.
Ami was visibly sweating as she poured more and more power, water, and cold onto it, as the walls continued to slowly rise.
"I concede. This is getting too dangerous to continue," said Deanna.
Ami discontinued her attack, letting the water fall apart.
Deanna tapped her com badge. "Could someone up there please beam most of this water away so they are less mad at us?"
"Will do," said Jadzia in amusement.
Ami changed back into her normal form and began panting. "I so need to work out more. That was fun, just tiring."
"You might want to point out the reason of your costume," said Deanna in amusement.
"Oh, whoever gave us the template for those costumes well before me and my friends were born, well, if he or she was alive, we would have words, and they would not be kind words. I get used to it, but it is almost indecent," complained Ami.
"So, is that the show or?" asked Jared while hugging himself for warmth.
Mika moved in front of the camera. "So, most people can learn at least basic telepathy. Someday, though it will be a long while, there will be enough teachers to teach it. Few will be as strong as Deanna, and if they are, much will likely be expected of them. Some will likely have other skills such as healing or even predicting weather. Some people might even figure out they have a trace of true magic, like Ami, though like with telepathy you would need someone with magic to begin the learning, and they are pretty hard to find. The Alliance has one group that has more than most. Hopefully, we can get a few to come here and try to teach us. I have no idea how many will have the spark of magic, but surely there will be a few."
"I can try to look at a few I guess, if people want. The people from the Time Space Administration Bureau are far better at teaching than me though," said Ami.
A dozen people came through the door. "Test me," was repeated about two dozen times.
"Um, okay. You do realize that if you had the potential, and I manage to find it, you'd have to go to another world to learn, unless someone can come here," said Ami.
"Magic is also a bit like telepathy. We do our best to supervise all new learning of telepathy for the good of the one trained, and to make sure it is not abused. If you do make significant progress in either magic or telepathy, you have to continue, and it is a lifelong discipline. It isn't a game," said Deanna.
"You seem to know a lot about it," said Jared.
"I've worked with some amazing mages. It was an honor to have them at my side. They have helped us many times, and we them."
"So, of those of age, someone make something where they actually sign they are willing to take the risks, show id, and have someone else verify the id, and if that doesn't scare anyone off, I'll give it a try," offered Ami.
She scared off three.
"How about I also check for telepathic potential, and link with Ami. Can we scare off a few more?" asked Deanna hopefully.
"Well that didn't work," quipped Lafiel after no one left.
"Let's see what we can see. WIll the first step forward please. Also we are going to schedule you a medical check within a week, which you need to agree to. Rarely the first time can cause an issue, but we can fix it if it does. Everyone is still here. Okay, first," said Deanna who took Ami's hand. Ami offered her other hand to a young brown haired woman as they sat down. A trickle of energy streamed from Ami and another streamed from Deanna.
To the audience it seemed like they just stood there for twenty minutes and then Ami said softly, "No magic I'm afraid Laura, but I think Deanna has news for you."
"What?" she asked.
"Kinetic and telepathic potential are the most common. You do not have a great deal of telepathic potential, but what you have can certainly be refined to be quite useful. Kinetically, I think is a different story. Do you mind if we run another test?"
"No, please do."
"Does anyone have one of those graphite writing sticks and paper?" asked Deanna.
She got several offers. Deanna walked over to a table and kinetically extracted the graphite out of the pencil then pulverized it into a fine dust at one corner of the paper. She then walked back over to Laura and sat down. "Now I'm going to extend a bit of my own perception, and you are going to write your name using that graphite. Do you understand?"
"I understand. I have no idea how to do it, but I understand."
"Well, fortunately I do, and this is a test. You won't need to repeat on your own for some time. Ready?"
"Yes."
Deanna took Laura's hand again. Laura seemed to be focusing very hard for several minutes and then the two parted.
"There is nothing on the paper," said Jared.
"I believe you're wrong. Someone go get a device to magnify, or possibly use your phones," said Deanna.
"What?" asked Laura in confusion.
"I didn't want you to believe it was impossible without trying it, so I fed you what my mind could interpret at a very small level near the graphite. Watch. It's there. I'm sure of it."
"We have a microscope. I'll go get it. It connects to a monitor," said Jared.
Jared hurried back and they gently dumped the extra graphite to the side before placing the paper under the microscope and its light. It took fifteen minutes of fiddling before they found it.
"Nice, its pencil sketch of someone," said Mika.
"My um boyfriend," said Laura with a blush.
"It's a good rendition," said Jared.
"It super tiny, barely dot sized," noted one of the other ones waiting for a test.
"Yes, and that was her kinetic ability, though with my assistance. She won't be able to duplicate it likely without months of training. This is another fairly rare skill. I find it hard to work that small, though I'm better at it than Rowan. I'm fairly sure Laura will eclipse both of us on the micro scale," said Deanna.
"What can you do with that?" asked Laura in curiosity.
"Sometimes you can repair very small things, or do very very delicate surgery no one else can do, or just find very small problems, no one else can find. Some of it requires extremely intricate knowledge, but you can work on that scale. I'm pretty sure places that develop electronics will have extreme interest in your skill," said Deanna.
"That's crazy. Me?"
"Yes, you. I'm not aware of anyone in the Alliance with a developed micro skill. As I said, I'm one of the better ones at it, and I can't go that small. You will need training till we can find your limits, but we might need to have an expert from the Federated Sentient Planets come here or you go there for training, that is, if you want to develop it."
"Heck yea I do."
"I can get you started, but eventually you will probably want an expert, which I am not. Still we have time. Next?"
They repeated the test, then Ami said, "Once again I honestly didn't detect any magical potential."
"Basic telepathy. Pretty standard. We can train it," said Deanna.
He nodded.
"Next?"
A middle aged man walked up. Ami and Deanna spent close to half an hour testing him.
"I detect nothing at all," said Deanna.
"But I did. Is anyone else around who can help look and give me an opinion on James?" asked Ami.
"Falcon is in orbit. Celeste could check. She is the best we have here," said Lafiel.
Celeste beamed down. "We were monitoring." She turned to James. "Want me to take a quick look?"
"Please."
She sat down and focused on him for several minutes. "He has potential. It is significant, but I'm also not willing to start speculating. He is going to need to see an expert."
"Can you tell me anything?" asked James.
"Well you probably will end up stronger than me magically, but I just have a weird specialty for healing. Ami is quite a bit stronger than me," said Celeste.
"I might be able to heal?"
"No idea. I suppose, if you work at it enough you might learn it, but honestly we really don't know. We do know people that will though. Speaking of that, can someone on Falcon send TSAB a message about James?" asked Celeste.
"I already sent the message. Shamal is going to head this way, just as soon as she finds a ride. If she doesn't find one shortly we will go fetch her," said Sobaash.
"Thanks, so is anyone betting on if we will find more than one?"
"Some, but I shall leave you guessing," said Sobassh in amusement.
"Next?" asked Ami.
Two thirds of the remaining were able to develop reasonable telepathy, with one likely having the potential for a dual T-3 rating in path and port. Needless to say, it was a very highly rated show that went well into overtime.
James, it turned out, to possibly have potential to be a B ranked or A ranked mage. When he learned how good he would have to get at complex mathematics he nearly ran away. Shamal assured him they had very good tutors. He then asked about Celeste and Ami and her response was, "I'm a doctor, which means I generally do not answer questions about anyone without a really good reason. You will have to ask them." James apologized if he was rude and they continued.
-=oOo=-
Beneej agreed to stop by every few months and review their work on making their own nuclear powered rocket engines, which also of course meant her engineering staff would take a look as well. They also asked to verify needed maintenance was done on the craft gifted from the Abriel's which was also accepted. It was during the first of those three month inspections that Jared from Daybreak's Bell made it there to document a flight on Valkyrie from the inside. He had brought the original drawing Lafiel made of the engine and showed it to Beneej.
"I could draw a similar one from memory," said Beneej softly.
"It's this one, isn't it?"
"Yes, though you will need the detailed plans we gave this people to build one safely."
"I think the people at NASA, that is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, are working from the copy I gave them of this plan, particularly now that they know Lafiel was not from Earth."
"You should make sure they coordinate. It is harder than it looks to make one that is reliable and reusable. There is a lot of thermal cycling," said Beneej.
"I'll let my friend know and highly suggest they do as you say."
"Thank you."
-=oOo=-
The bridge crew met in Falcon's meeting room one final time for this mission.
"As of know the group led by members of the Administration Bureau, Romulan, and Founders have agreed to take over our work here, with occasional help from other ships. Since we have identified that the population of both worlds have roughly a ten percent higher potential talent pool to draw on, particularly of those with magic, we are no longer needed," said Riker.
"Each is training who they need. Some will stay. Some will go. TSAB will get more telepaths. Romulan and Founders will get more magicals, and a few telepaths, right?" asked Jadzia.
"Well that and they will have the option of Starfleet Academy, at least if they make the request and all sides agree," said Riker.
"Then it seems we are done here. Where to now?" asked Lafiel.
"That is a good question," said Riker.
"I have one, well maybe," said Samson.
"What do you have?"
"One of the trips Faile took had one of her crew note an unusual synchronization between a young woman and a land vehicle in a race."
"That's not much to go on, but she could also be evaluated pretty quickly. Does anyone have anything better or anywhere they wish to go?"
"I still wish to fix my world, but I still can't think of a way that doesn't tie us up for potentially multiple years, and in some ways the people in orbit saving those like me are fixing my world, slowly so, I just can't see it as justified. Trying to increase the rate could ruin it," said Ami.
"We could go there and take a look if you want," said Riker.
"No, I mean I read all the reports. It is not that I'm not interested. It is just that they are doing a good job, have the resources they need, and I honestly don't see us helping, as much as it irritates me to say that."
"We can go anyway, just to say hello. You are a member of this crew. Some of our travel choices can certainly be yours."
"I'd rather save that for now. If something comes up where we are needed, or can help, well I've already let them know."
"Understood. Well I guess we will check out this one. If nothing else we can fill in some data about the world for the Alliance. Ekuryua, your near the end of shift. Do you want to switch or continue?" asked Riker.
"I'll continue. There seems no reason to leave early. Lafiel and Jinto can swap in after we arrive."
"That works."
"I have the information from Samson. Doing checks and heading there."
-=oOo=-
"We are entering standard orbit and are cloaked as usual," said Ekuryua.
"Good."
Lafiel and Jinto swapped in.
In the process Jadzia said, "I think I've found our young lady and she is in trouble."
"On screen."
The view showed an attractive college age brown haired woman with a white tank top and straight hair blowing in the wind riding something that looked like a red motorbike with metal arms attached to the bike and another fairer haired woman wrapped in what seemed a drape holding on for dear life behind her.
"PIper, Celeste, try to keep them alive," said RIker.
"We are doing our best, but the situation is chaotic," said Piper.
"Beaming will expose us indirectly. L'Nea's program found this by scanning local broadcasts," said Jadzia.
"Do it if you have to, or if either is hit. Julian, prepare for incoming casualties."
"We are ready here," said Julian.
She continued to ride the bike at impossible speeds, taking reckless and seemingly impossible turns and flips, while pulling it off as if she had full control of the situation.
"I see why they noted her," said Lafiel softly.
Tanks started surrounding her. A helicopter with a news crew moved over the situation.
"I'm running out of good options here," said Jadzia.
"Hold as long as you can. Maybe an option will emerge," said Riker.
A rocket came out of nowhere up towards the helicopter. The bike jumped. The rocket missed the helicopter before exploding into the ground nearby.
"That was close. We nudged it, thought it might have been okay regardless," said Celeste.
"Follow her. If she gets away I want someone to meet her, or heck I will. I'm impressed. Help her get away if you can and try to keep her alive," said Riker.
"I'll go," offered Lafiel.
"I'd like to as well," added Pyrrha more hesitantly.
"Pyrrha gets this one. Since that looked almost like a war zone, bring your spear. Your primary goal is to figure out what the heck is going on. Obviously use your own judgment. You may ask for help as needed. If in doubt ask," said Riker.
"I wouldn't mind going down as well, not to meet her, but to do my own investigating," said Sara Jane.
"That's an interesting idea. In theory we could fake your credentials, and give you a partner to watch your back. You can begin planning that out, perhaps with Samson or Sobaash. It isn't authorized yet," said Riker.
"Alright, but something is going on there. I'm not buying the news report that says they are terrorists."
"They aren't terrorists. I didn't read their minds, but I'm certain of that much just from the feelings I sensed," said Celeste.
Sara nodded.
"Let's find out what is going on. Pyrrha, whenever you are ready. You are not to reveal our existence. You can allude to the fact that others are in your group and such, or even give names, but absolutely no revealing we are in a spaceship and all that."
"Got it."
-=oOo=-
The woman pulled up into the campus building using the open garage door opening to bring her bike in. The young lady she rescued was almost asleep on her back. A short distance away a red haired woman let go a spear and it vanished. She walked in as well.
"Who are you?" asked a young man to the side.
"I'm Pyrrha Nikos."
The woman on the bike turned to her. "You followed me, somehow."
"Yes. I was concerned. Is your friend well?"
Another young woman, this one with black hair reached for the one on the bike. "Wake up for a bit Shouko. Your heavy."
"Suzuri?" asked the one now named Shouko tiredly.
"What do you want?" asked the woman still on the bike to Pyrrha.
"I want to know what is going on. A great many people tried to kill you both, and I really want to understand why that is."
"There were terrorists, but Shouko was there. They weren't trying to save her. I had to save her, then they mistook me as a terrorist I guess. This is so messed up."
"I can help fix it, well I am my friends, if you want," said Pyrrha.
"How can you fix this?"
"First we need to know who is involved."
"That was the GGP trying to kill Rin. They are the police. I'm Hishida."
"How can you help fix it?" asked the now named Rin.
"If need be we might be able to get you someplace safe, well probably you and your friend and anyone that knows you. I don't know if you know, but that was all on a local broadcast," said Pyrrha.
"Yes, it was," said Hishida sadly.
"What's with the outfit?" asked Suzuri.
Pyrrha glanced at her Remnant outfit that she had slipped on so as not to be wearing an Alliance uniform. "It was just something I had."
"It looks good on you."
"Thanks."
"Who are you?" demanded a medium height and stocky, though seemingly tired older man. He was holding a gun and pointing it at Pyrrha.
"I'm Pyrrha Nikos. I'm not affiliated with those after Rin."
"Leave!" he commanded.
"I'm not going anywhere."
"I told you to leave!"
"I said I was not going anywhere." She stepped one step closer to the newcomer who reflexively fired. The bullet bounced off her aura. She quickly moved forward, even as his gun shot into the air. Her spear formed at her side and she started to aim it when the others screamed, "Stop!"
Pyrrha stepped back. "Apologies. I do not respond to attacks well."
"Who the heck are you?" demanded the man.
"She didn't tell us much, just her name and offering to help," said Hishida.
The gun fell back to the ground.
Sirens were heard nearby.
"What a mess." Pyrrha turned to the newcomer. "You know something of what is really going on. Think of where we can go for safety. Do it now!" she demanded.
The well around Pyrrha's neck flared as they all vanished, including the gun and the bike.
Author's Note: Review, Comment, Favorite, or Kudos.