8

"My dear, what did you do this time?"

/* "Something wrong, Mistress?" */

"I guess that depends on your point of view, Char'ena," Naoia replied, resting her chin in her hands. "He just had to do it. Well, I suppose it's as much her fault as any."

/* "What happened, Mistress?" */

"Oh...it's Erlanna, she fell for James," Naoia said.

/* "Is that a bad thing?" */ Char'ena asked.

"Well...yes and no. It's the old story about an immortal and a mortal," Naoia replied.

/* "I like James." */

Naoia lifted her head and said in exasperation, "Oh, now don't tell me you're interested in him!"

/* "You like James." */

"Well...but not like that! I'd be like his trillionth great grandmother, or whatever!"

/* "James not mind age difference." */

"Er...hey, that was when he was with Arneora! She's still barely a hatchling compared to me, you scamp!" Naoia said in exasperation.

/* "Arneora is immortal, so are you--same difference to James." */

Naoia, long having been accustomed to Char'ena's vocal inflections, heard the hint of mirth in her voice. But before she could come back with a remark, a multi-hued swirl of light grabbed her attention.

"Old enough to know better and too old to care--works for me," Sa'leh said with sly grin, making an appearance.

"You're just like your great, great granddaughter!" Naoia quipped.

"That's because she gets it from me," Sa'leh said with a chuckle, grabbing a chair on the opposite side of the table, turning it around and sitting down, straddling it, resting her arms on the back. "So, what did your young friend do now, besides play 'hide the bone' with Arneora?"

Frowning slightly, Naoia asked, "You remember Erlanna?"

"The cute little silver gal that's Arneora's assistant?" Sa'leh inquired.

With a nod of her head, Naoia replied, "She fell for James."

"How bad?"

"When it was time for them to go, Erlanna cried."

Sa'leh raised an eyebrow.

"And James caught her tears."

Sa'leh put a hand over her eyes, lowered her head a little, and then looked at Naoia with one eye between parted fingers.

"I suppose he doesn't have a clue, does he?" Sa'leh asked.

Naoia slowly shook her head.

* * * * *

Space appeared to open up and a streak of rainbow hued light rushed out. As the streak slowed, it coalesced into the shape of a large, winged starship that resembled a stylized flying dragon. Beneath its wings were three smaller ships. After those onboard Nightwing,Se'nika, and Ilissenri had time to recover from the unshielded effects of trans-dimensional waveslip travel, D'Narial contacted them.

/* "This is the edge of our space. I will wait here a short while so that you may reorientate yourselves." */

"Where are we, Tan?" James asked, giving his face a rub.

"Checking..." Tanya said, shaking her head and blinking a few times as she began checking her navigational charts. "How is this possible?"

"What is it, Tan?" James asked, looking concerned.

"We moved five hundred lightyears in...ten seconds, if instruments read correctly."

"What?!" James, Zach, and Sylvia exclaimed nearly in unison.

"Da, should not be possible! Zach, double check, please," Tanya requested.

"On it..." Zach said, turning to face his instrument panel. A minute or so later, he said, "I concur...we traveled five hundred lightyears in ten-point-one-three seconds. We've been stationary for...under eight minutes, as near as I can tell."

"That's like when we were dragged away from Élenswena," Sylvia said, recalling the experience.

"Yeah," James agreed. "Zach, where's that energy trail? Are we on it?"

"Just a moment...uh, sensors show that we're right on top of it," Zach replied.

"Damn, just like before. Syl, contact Rha'an and Rissa, and see if they're ready," James ordered.

"Aye, sir." After contacting the other two ships, Sylvia announced, "They report being ready to get underway."

"Well, I suppose we should tell D'Narial that we're ready to head on," James said.

"Opening a channel, sir," Sylvia acknowledged the prompt.

"Nightwing to Faln Aore. We're ready to get underway," James announced.

"Getting response, putting on main viewer," Sylvia said, activating the holo-projection system.

/* "Ah, good. Your First One will be here momentarily, I am told. It was a pleasure meeting you--all of you. I thank you again for the gift of your stories, I shall begin reading your suggested list when I return home," */ D'Narial said.

"It was an honor and a pleasure meeting you as well, D'Narial, and thank you for the copies of your stories as well as the supplies--they're greatly appreciated. Our regards to the Dra'ka Nulen," James said in return.

/* "Of course, I shall pass that along. May I speak privately with you a moment before you depart?" */

"Certainly," James agreed. James looked back at Sylvia who touched a control, and then nodded to him.

Pressing the button on his comm-set, James said, "We're in private mode, now."

/* "Excellent. I wish to speak with you about Erlanna." */

"Go on," James prompted.

/* "I wish you to know that I will do what I can to protect her from...a certain other. I believe we both feel the same about that individual. To have stood up to him in full view of all who were present, that was...remarkable. You made quite an impression on many--indeed, you have what I believe you call, 'fan mail', which I shall send shortly. You may reply as you wish. One more thing, and this concerns you specifically in regards to Erlanna. You may not realize the significance of the small thing you did, or what you now have in your possession. There is a very old story among those I gave you, of a Dra'kan female and a mortal male. When you read it, I believe you may come to understand. Some would say that it is both a blessing and a curse, though...given what I have learned of you through your words and deeds during your stay on our world, perhaps it will be a story worth reading for ages to come. Take care of the treasure you have been given. Ah, she arrives. Farewell, James, may you and your friends fly with honor." */

"Thank you, and you as well, my friend."

James pressed the button on his comm-set, closing the channel. He stared out the bridge's canopy and saw D'Narial's ship turn away and streak off into whatever other form of space it traveled through. "I sure wish he would have given us a peek at the inside of his ship," James thought to himself. Placing a hand on his left chest pocket and feeling the vial it contained, James' thoughts turned to Erlanna. Still looking out at the stars beyond, James felt a warmth wash over him and...he could have sworn he saw a ghostly image of her shyly smiling face looking back at him.

Tanya looked over at her mate and saw him sitting there, smiling, with his hand on his chest. She called his name, but he didn't seem to hear. When Tanya nudged him, James blinked his eyes a few times and seemed to snap out of whatever he was thinking.

"Huh?"

"We're waiting for you to put ship in gear, moi lyubov," Tanya said, nodding her head towards the bow.

"Right. *ahem* Well, then...course set..."

"Da...." Tanya said slowly.

"Is our 'friend' back?"

Tanya made a couple short jabs with her finger towards the port side of the ship.

James turned his head and saw the huge wolf ship sitting a few hundred meters away, looking curiously at him. James smiled and gave a salute towards it before turning his attention back to the business of piloting his ship.

"All ahead at max cruising speed, jumping in five..." James said as he pushed the velocity control forward, thumb on the switch to kick in the main drive. When he reached the count of zero, James initiated the jump.

* * * * *

Amidst the controlled chaos on Esba'in station in the aftermath of the battle, a small group of three individuals made their way through the repairs being made and the cleanup. The damage could have been worse in this particular area, and would have been, if Wae'nya had not put a stop to it by ramming the minion ship causing it.

They continued on, stopping here and there to lend a hand, until they reached a particular repair bay. Making a few inquiries among the workers, they eventually found the proprietor.

"Excuse me, are you Casvan?" one of the three companions asked.

"Maybe. Who want to know?" the large, shaggy being demanded.

"A friend of a friend of yours, asked a friend of ours," the person speaking for the three replied. He held up a thin, flexible display with an image on it. "Rissanivi Salnuano--you two have been friends for some time. She's concerned about you, and we were asked to find you and make sure you were safe. She was here a while back with some other friends of hers to have repairs made on her ship."

"How you know Rissa?" Casvan demanded.

"How is not important. As I said, we only came to make sure you were safe so that we can get word back to her. She is a long way away from here at the moment, otherwise she would be here asking you yourself, no doubt. I'm sure you have heard about the black ship that drew some attention while it was here. She is still traveling with that ship, plus the other one that had come with it. Rissanivi herself is quite safe and well. If there is anything you would like to say to her to let her know you are well, we will be happy to relay that," the stranger said.

Casvan looked at the image of his friend. She was with a crowd of people, roughly half of whom were wearing black uniforms, and the other half were tall with strange black markings and forward curving horns on their heads. Something in the background caught Casvan's attention.

"Where this taken?" Casvan asked.

"On Dra'ka," the stranger replied.

"Dra'ka?!" Casvan's voice boomed, causing those within earshot to pause and look in his direction.

"She was there with her friends, quite safe, when this happened," the stranger said, waving a hand about to indicate the station in general. "As you can see, she is in the company of a Dra'kan female." The stranger pressed a control on the flexible display, advancing to the next image--a closeup of the Dra'kan's face.

"Where you get this? No image of Dra'kan like this known!" Casvan demanded.

Patiently, the stranger explained, "It was from just a few days ago, on Dra'ka. We are not trying to deceive you."

"The pilot of the black ship Rissanivi is with, asked our friend to make sure you're safe because Rissanivi was concerned for you. Our friend asked us to come because she is busy elsewhere and couldn't come herself. You're still alive, so that is something Rissanivi will be glad to hear--it would be better if she could hear you say so yourself. We can record a short message and make sure it gets to her. She's really concerned about you," one of the two females in the group said, stepping closer.

Casvan looked down at the female and into her eyes. She had amber-tinged green eyes, long reddish-brown hair, and smooth skin. Her clothing, like that of the other two, were a mix of greens, browns, and other colors of a forest. In the one hundred-sixteen years he had been on the station, Casvan had dealt with most of the known races in his part of the galaxy, though he had never seen anyone like these individuals before. The female who had just spoken to him--there was something compelling about her that made him want to trust what she said.

"If you are as say, you take message to Rissa, with no funny business?" Casvan asked.

"Our word is our bond," the female said, holding a hand up, open palm facing him.

Casvan thought a moment and then placed the palm of his large hand against hers.

A while later, after recording Casvan's message, the three companions made their way back to the small, sleek ship they had arrived in, and prepared to depart.

"Kei'sa, where's Char'ena at now?" the male asked.

Calling up a 3D map of the galaxy, the female with the reddish-brown hair pointed to a cluster of stars, and replied, "She's in this area."

"Still planning on meeting Mistress Naoia's friends, Sa'niv?" the other female, who had knee-length black hair, asked.

"It's what she wanted. I don't know about you, Fier'na, but I'm not going to argue with her on that," Sa'niv replied.

"It would make sense, since we're closest to them," Kei'sa said.

Fier'na leaned against Sa'niv's pilot seat and commented, "I still find it hard to believe they're anything like us."

"Mistress A'amahi said they're like our Ancient Mother before she was adopted by the Children of the First Ones. She said in time they may discover--with a little help--how to become like us. I, for one, would like to meet these people," Kei'sa said as she entered their destination.

"And what will they do when the see one of us change, eh? Run away screaming?" Fier'na asked sarcastically.

"They've been with the Dra'kans, so I'm sure they've already seen somebody change," Sa'niv said.

"Char'ena said a Dra'kan fell in love with one of them," Kei'sa said with a sly smile.

"Was it a male or a female?" Sa'niv asked.

"The Dra'kan, or the Terran?" Kei'sa inquired.

"The Dra'kan," Sa'niv replied.

"It was a female," Kei'sa said.

"How?" Fier'na asked, not believing it.

"How does anyone fall in love? There must have been something about the male that caught her heart," Kei'sa argued.

"I heard Dra'kan females can be..." Sa'niv started to say before Fier'na lightly smacked him on the back of his head.

"_You_concentrate on catching us up with Char'ena, dear brother, and be sure _not_to re-enter normal space through star like Ka'vin did one time. We don't need to accidentally set one off like a bomb!" Fier'na admonished.

"Ooo, I remember hearing about that! Several inhabited systems were affected, if I remember. I wonder what Mistress Naoia did to Ka'vin after that," Kei'sa said the last quietly.

"Given some of the suggestions Mistress Sa'leh had, I...don't think I want to know," Sa'niv said nervously, double-checking his instruments, just to be sure.

* * * * *

Lilly had been noticing that James was acting a little different ever since they left Dra'ka. She knew about the glass-steel vial he carried in his chest pocket and what the contents were. She was standing next to him when they were saying their goodbyes to Arneora and Erlanna. While Lilly had chuckled and shook her head at what Arneora had said, thinking she was just being funny, what Erlanna had said had taken her--and others--by surprise. Lilly wondered if there was something about the crystalline tears Erlanna had shed that might have had an effect on James when they fell into his hand. Being concerned for his welfare, Lilly stopped in Sickbay.

"Hey, Mindy, got a sec?"

"Oh, hi, Lilly. What can I do for you?" Mindy asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Uh, well...it's not me, it's Jamie.

Mindy turned around and gave Lilly her full attention.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Well...I don't know for sure. Ever since we left Dra'ka, he's been actin' a little different," Lilly said, pulling up a stool.

"How so?"

"He...kinda zones out at times, like he's thinkin' about somethin', only...ya have to give him a nudge to get his attention. I'm pretty sure I know what--or, actually, who--he's thinking about, but I'm wonderin' more about what's causin' it," Lilly tried to explain.

"I don't follow..." Mindy said with a confused look.

"You heard what Erlanna said to him, right?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah, I think most of us did," Mindy acknowledged.

"Okay, and you knew she cried, right?"

"Yeah, her tears turned into crystals. James asked if I had an unbreakable sample vial to put them in," Mindy replied.

"Well, he's been carryin' it around with him--even sticks it under his pillow at night. I'm wonderin' if they've done somethin' to him. They were in his hand the whole time before he got that vial to put them in. Maybe there was some sort of chemical reaction or such," Lilly said with concern.

Mindy thought about Lilly said.

"There's a lot we don't know about the bio-chemical makeup of the Dra'kans. The scans I got from Erlanna after she had been assaulted were pretty strange. Frer-Sha'an was worried about being able to heal her because they are so different. I knew a Jilanasa some years ago--she did a remarkable job shapeshifting herself into different things, but it was nothing like what the Dra'kans do. There's some weird kind of energy involved that neither Frer-Sha'an or myself have ever seen before."

"I'm wonderin' if that might have somethin' to do with those tear crystal thingies. If they were like ours, then they'd be mostly water with some salt and such, but hers turned to little rocks as they ran down her cheeks. Saltwater doesn't freeze at room temp," Lilly pointed out.

"Well, they certainly could have a totally different chemical composition than normal tears. If I could analyze one, I might be able to find something," Mindy said.

"Yeah, well, good luck with that. Jamie won't fork 'em over for nothin'. I tried."

"We ought to keep an eye on him, then. If it starts to interfere with his ability to command and pilot the ship, then we might have a problem," Mindy suggested.

"I hope not," Lilly said quietly.

"I'll mention it to Frer-Sha'an--if it should get to be a problem, then we might need her help," Mindy said.

Lilly slowly nodded her head. She got up from the stool and said, "Thanks, Mindy. Ya know I wouldn't say somethin' about Jamie just to..."

"I know, Lilly. He's your mate--you have a right to be concerned, plus you've known him longer than everyone else onboard. If anyone could spot a difference in his behavior, you'd be the one," Mindy said sympathetically, taking a hold of Lilly's hand and giving it a little squeeze.

Lilly's smile reflected her concern for James' well-being.

After leaving Sickbay, Lilly started to head to the captain's cabin to change into her exercise clothing, but she came to a stop in the passageway on the way to the lift, and stared off into the distance--her mind having suddenly gone blank.

Unseen by anyone, was an otherworldly figure with a hand on Lilly's shoulder, whispering to her from behind. The unseen apparition was there for only a few moments before withdrawing.

Not really being sure why, Lilly suddenly changed her mind and went to the ship's library instead. Once there, Lilly took a reader PAD from its charging cradle and got comfortable on the couch. Thumbing it on, she looked for and found the stories D'Narial had given James before leaving Dra'ka, thankful--without knowing why--that they had already been uploaded into the computer's library database. Lilly had no conscious idea what she was looking for, until one title jumped out at her. Accessing the file, Lilly began to read. Sometime later, Lilly softly exclaimed, "Ooh, jeezers...Jamie...!"

Taking the PAD with her, Lilly rushed off to find Mindy.

* * * * *

Back on Dra'ka, Erlanna was walking to her small private chamber--when she turned down the hallway that led to it, she was surprised to see Azurella, the Finder assigned to the Faln Aore, leaning against the wall, waiting for her. Before Erlanna could speak, Azurella held up a hand and gestured to indicate silence--in her other hand was a small device. Jabbing a thumb towards the door, Azurella had Erlanna open it. Giving a quick look up and down the hallway, Azurella stepped in ahead of Erlanna. When they were both in, and the door shut, Azurella activated the device.

"This will make certain we are not heard," Azurella said, setting the device down on a table, and then taking a seat on a chair.

"W-What do you want?" Erlanna asked nervously.

"We are trying to protect you," Azurella said, leaning back and crossing her arms.

"Protect me? From...?"

"You know who I mean," Azurella replied. "The captain of the black ship challenged him in The Great Hall before all present--The Council, The Assembly, the Dra'ka Nulen herself--everyone, and, he got away with it! Oh, he was furious, but then when the Great Lupins arrived and outright threatened_him in front of all, and made him fear for his life...well, I am sure even _you_can imagine what might be going through that fool's head! I was there when it happened, though I and the others were out of sight of our young friends. D'Narial was with them, of course. Speaking of, you have nothing to fear from him--he told the captain that he would do what he could to protect you, and he will. That is why I am here. You will stay with me until some changes can be made here. We have the _Dra'ka Nulen's approval, if you must know. So, I suggest you quickly pack what you might need for the next few nights. Until he can be formally charged, you are under the protection of the Watchers, and we will do what we can to keep you safe. Mind you, he has his lackeys, and we do not know all of them, so we need to be careful. If we must, we will take you off-world until things settle down. You understand this?"

Erlanna nodded her head.

A short while later, when she was ready, Azurella stood next to Erlanna and touched a stone on her wrist bracer-- they both dissolved into swirling multi-hued light and disappeared.

* * * * *

"We have arrived," Sa'niv announced when they had caught up to Char'ena.

"And we're still in one piece?" Fier'na asked her brother with light sarcasm.

"I am _not_that bad of a pilot!" Sa'niv shot back.

"Ha! As long as you stay in the empty spaces between galaxies--nothing to run into!" Fier'na taunted.

"Hey, if _Char'ena_can do it, I can!" Sa'niv argued.

"That's because Char'ena actually knows her head from her tail, dear brother," Fier'na argued back.

"Not to mention that she's been doing it a lot longer," Kei'sa said with a chuckle.

"Not fair! She has an advantage we don't!" Sa'niv complained.

"All the more reason not to play tag with her," Kei'sa said.

"What?" Sa'niv asked with a confused look.

"She means, keep your eyes on where you're going, tail-for-brains!" Fier'na said sternly, grabbing her brother's head and forcing him to look out the forward window.

Uttering a short yipe, Sa'niv corrected his course and matched the huge wolf ship's direction and forward velocity.

"You're welcome," Fier'na said sarcastically, giving her brother a smack on the back of his head.

"Hey, mind the headpiece!" Sa'niv said, readjusting the position of the sensor interface he wore on his head.

"Quiet, both of you--I need to contact Mistress Naoia!" Kei'sa said sharply.

Sa'niv and Fier'na quit their bickering as Kei'sa closed her eyes and shifted her thoughts as she had been taught to do. When her mind was in the place where the First Ones talked to each other, she called out.

"Mistress Naoia? We're here."

"Ah, there you are, child! Did you find the one James asked to be found?" Naoia asked.

"We found him. I talked him into recording a message for the Vey'ani pilot--I have it with me," Kei'sa replied.

"Excellent. Now all we need to do is have you meet my friends. You'll be the last that they need to meet before I introduce myself to them, so be sure you make a good impression. That fool, Kh'nar--you should remember him--made such a mess of things on Dra'ka that Char'ena and her friends had to intervene, twice. If he keeps going as he has been, I guarantee he won't be around much longer. But, that's not your concern--what is, is that you do your part as I've told you, and add your piece to the puzzle for them to think on. Oh, and remember, under no circumstance are you to tell them about me--I'll take care of that myself when I meet them on Chenau-Ri. They will learn about me from_me, understand, dear?_"

"Yes, Mistress. I'll remind Fier'na and Sa'niv of your wishes," Kei'sa acknowledged.

"Good, you do that. There is an old planet a ways up ahead on their trail called Fren'a--it's in your navigation system. Run on ahead and give the area a good sniff to make sure nobody's there that shouldn't be. It'll be interesting enough for my friends to want to check out, so once they land and start looking around, that's when I want you three to show up. Got all of that, dear?" Naoia asked.

"Yes, Mistress. Check area around Fren'a, wait until your friends land, then go met them," Kei'sa said.

"Good girl. Now, you go run up ahead and we'll be along shortly," Naoia instructed.

"Yes, Mistress."

Kei'sa opened her eyes and blinked a few times. She saw Fier'na and her brother Sa'niv both looking at her.

"What did she say?" Fier'na asked.

"Aside from old Kh'nar being an idiot and apparently getting his tail in deep trouble a couple of times with Naoia, we're to go to a planet called Fren'a--it's supposed to be in the nav system. We're to check the area around it to make sure it's clear, and then wait for her friends to land on the planet. We're supposed to meet them then. Oh, and she stressed again that we're not to talk about her to them," Kei'sa replied.

"So, when are we supposed to go there?" Sa'niv asked,

"Now," Kei'sa said.

"Okay, point me in the right direction, Kei'sa," Sa'niv said, putting the interface headset back on so that he could directly control their small ship with his mind.

"Got it?" Kei'sa asked after she sent the navigational data to him.

"I see it," Sa'niv acknowledged.

A few moments later, the little ship streaked away into the black.

* * * * *

"Hmm, that's odd..." Carmen said to herself, looking at the sensor readout.

Switching the input of her monitor to get a visual feed, Carmen zoomed in on the "wolf ship" that had been following them. Since they had left Dra'kan space, it had been following at a closer distance. From what the Dra'kan shipmaster, D'Narial, had told them, they now knew that the "wolf ship" belonged to an immensely powerful being known as a First One.

"But...who is that?" Carmen wondered. "Mr. MacCloud? I've spotted another vessel near the 'wolf ship' that's been following us."

Zach, who had been gathering routine astronomical data while they were temporarily in normal space to update their star charts, unstrapped and got up from his seat to see what she found.

"The configuration doesn't match any ship we've seen so far," Carmen said as Zach looked over her shoulder.

"Hmm, it looks like our 'friend' may have a visitor. Neat looking little ship, though. How big is it?" Zach asked.

"About the size of Miss Salnuano's courier," Carmen replied, showing a side-by-side comparison of the two.

"Life signs?" Zach asked.

"Inconclusive," Carmen replied, switching readouts.

"Hmm...look at those energy readings. What the heck is powering that thing?"

"Beats me, sir--they're almost off the scale," Carmen said, looking up from her display.

"That's an incredible amount of power for such a small ship. I wonder if...oh, they're moving," Zach observed.

Carmen pulled in tighter on the visual and tracked the small ship's movement. Once it got about seven hundred-fifty kilometers from the "wolf ship", rainbow-hued energy flared all over the small ship's surface and then it streaked away into the distance. There was no flash, no hyperspace tunnel opening, no warping of space--it just vanished.

"Wow..." Carmen said quietly, her eyes wide with amazement.

"Yeah," Zach agreed.

* * * * *

Khel'zet, who had been assigned to the same berthing compartment as Elí, Meyleh, and Thavi, watched as the two young Fansq females prepared to go to the ship's gym for their exercise period. Thavi would be meeting them there after she finished her weekly meeting with the rest of the science team.

Not wanting to make Khel'zet feel left out, Meyleh asked politely, "Would you like to exercise with us?"

Elí added, "Please do--we do not wish for you to feel pushed out."

Khel'zet thought quickly about their offer. She had been unable to do more than simple stretching exercises and calisthenics the entire time she had been held by the Dra'kans. If the ship she was on was equipped with exercise facilities, then she thought perhaps it would be a good idea to at least see what was available.

"I...appreciate the thought. Allow me a few moments to change into proper attire," Khel'zet agreed.

When Moira had created an assortment of clothing for her while they were still on Dra'ka, she had included three sets of appropriate exercise clothing and a pair of sport shoes.

"I am ready," Khel'zet said after coming out of the head where she had changed clothing.

When they entered the ship's gym, Khel'zet was impressed with the array of weights, equipment, and fixtures, along with an array of features she would not have thought of. Khel'zet joined Elí and Meyleh in doing warmup exercises and stretches, though some of the moves the two Fansq females did were too difficult--if not impossible--for Khel'zet to accomplish due to differences in anatomy. They showed Khel'zet how to work the machines, particularly the controls on the treadmill, stepper, elliptical, and stationary bike. When it came to using one of the treadmills, Khel'zet set an easy jogging pace for herself due having been a while since she last had the chance to exercise properly. When the two Fansq females were on the treadmills, Khel'zet watched in wonder at the speed which they ran--even when she had been in her best shape, there would have been no way she could have ran as fast as they did. Khel'zet would eventually learn that the only two on the ship that could match the Fansq females' running speed and endurance were Moira's android avatar and the Ship's Engineer, Lt. (j.g.) Shauna Eriksson.

After giving the machines a try, Khel'zet went with what she knew how to easily deal with--the free weights. Not knowing how the weight measurement system corresponded with what her own people used, she tried hefting individual weights to get a feel for the numbers. Selecting two dumbbells of what she felt was an appropriate weight, Khel'zet went through a series of exercises she was familiar with. Eventually, she switched to a barbell and set it up to do some bench presses. While she was getting situated on the bench, the door to the ship's gym opened and closed, and she heard the voice of the short furry female with the long tail and tall ears. Khel'zet concentrated on using the weight, though she realized that she had misjudged the amount. Just as Khel'zet struggled to lift the barbell enough to get it put on the stand, she saw a furry hand grab the bar in the center and effortlessly lift it.

"Khel'zet shouldn't use weights without a spotter," she heard the unmistakable voice of her Thabbani bunkmate.

Thavi leaned over and looked down, grinning at Khel'zet, saying, "When Thavi work with weights, usually need Moira to spot."

Near the end of the workout period, Khel'zet learned what Thavi had meant when she saw how much weight the Thabbani had added to her own barbell, which totaled two hundred-fifty kilograms.

"How are you able to lift so much?" Khel'zet asked in awe.

"Thabbani homeworld is heavy gravity planet--make Thavi stronger than look," Thavi said with a sly grin.

When it was dinner time, Khel'zet went with her bunkmates, Elí, Meyleh, and Thavi, to the crew's mess. Chief Sorrel met Khel'zet there and pointed out what items she could most likely eat with no trouble and the items she definitely needed to avoid. One of the plants that her two Fansq bunkmates had brought along with them as seeds, the soujref, which produced broad, dark green leaves that Elí and Meyleh greatly enjoyed, also produced numerous cucumber-like seed pods which turned out to be something Khel'zet liked that most of the others didn't. Khel'zet rather enjoyed crunching on the chilled seed pods as a snack.

At first, Khel'zet set her tray down on a table away from everyone, but Elí and Meyleh insisted on her sitting with them in the midst of everyone. Other than getting a few quick looks that she couldn't decipher, Khel'zet found that the crew seemed to accept the fact that a R'Hinsi--a former adversary--was sitting and having dinner with them. Those nearest to where she sat even engaged in small talk with her.

"Perhaps what their healer told me the first night I was with them is something more than just words among these people," Khel'zet thought to herself. "Love and acceptance--how might things have been different if my own people had held that philosophy?"

She watched as those among the crew who of different species, or from different worlds, interacted and--amazingly, she thought--seemed to get along just fine.

"Could I live out my days among these people, or should I try to make a place for myself where no one knows of my people? If I return home, I will be questioned--perhaps worse--and no one will believe me regardless of what I say or do, simply because I have been beyond our borders without authorization. Never mind how that_happened. It would take divine intervention to be accepted back among my people again_."

Khel'zet thought wistfully of home, of seeing her family and friends, and being in familiar surroundings again.

It was a movie night, so Khel'zet decided to take a chance and watch it. The movie was a romantic comedy adventure about a group of university students on a newly colonized planet. The students were of different species, with the strangest one being a transparent ameboid-like being with the nickname of "Bubbles" who could change the shape, color, and texture of "her" form. As one of the side plots, "Bubbles" had the hots for a naïve, romantically challenged, human male and would find ways to show her affections towards him, which were often humorous. The tender part of the movie, towards the end, took place some years later when "Bubbles" was about to divide by cellular fission and the human male "she" desired was with "her" as the current incarnation ended and "she" became two daughter beings who shared the memories--and desires--of their parent. Khel'zet didn't know what to make of the movie as it was quite unlike any she had seen before.

Humor was something that had been lacking in Khel'zet's life, given the struggle her people faced when a seemingly stable star had suddenly gone supernova with no warning--its shockwave destroying or disrupting everything it touched. R'Hin was far enough away not to be completely devastated, but the effects wreaked their havoc on her world and those of other systems nearby. They never bothered to find out why the star went supernova when it shouldn't have been possible, only that their economy was in dire straits, which meant their society was weakened and their future uncertain. It gave those who had the Emperor's ear the fuel needed to fan their distrust of other species--instead of asking for help, they sought to take; instead of rebuilding, they sought first to tear down those around them so they couldn't march in and take from R'Hin. Khel'zet learned early in life to keep her thoughts to herself after seeing people she knew who questioned the reason not to ask for help, disappear or publicly made into examples of "wrong" thinking. There were those who continued to question, though they went underground, so-to-speak, and took measures to keep from being found out. Khel'zet was sympathetic to their cause, but she knew she was destined for the R'Hin military and could not chance being associated with those who questioned. In her heart, though, Khel'zet knew it had been wrong for the Empire to do what it did to its neighbors. Defending the people and their way of life was one thing--mercilessly attacking those who had done no proven harm was another. Khel'zet might not understand the society built by those she now found herself with, but what little she was beginning to learn of it, she found intriguing.

Khel'zet did not yet know just how much her life was going to change, or in what directions, in the days ahead, but change it would.

* * * * *

"See, Jamie? This story that whatshisname gave ya, it's about what's happenin' to ya," Lilly pointed out.

James wanted to deny it, but the words D'Narial said to him before departing came clawing their way to the surface. "There is a very old story among those I gave you, of a Dra'kan female and a mortal male. When you read it, I believe you may come to understand." James read the story together with Lilly and Tanya--when they got to the part where the mortal had been affected by the Dra'kan female's crystalline tears, he pulled the vial from his chest pocket and looked at it.

"What have you done to me, Erlanna?" James whispered.

Lilly looked compassionately at her mate and suggested, "Ya know, maybe ya just showed her what a real guy is supposed to be like."

"Da, especially after what she's been through," Tanya agreed.

James smiled weakly and looked at the vial again, and then at Lilly. He slowly stood, looking at the vial in his hand, and stepped towards the waste disposal chute in his cabin. Lilly, quickly figuring out what he had in mind, got up and put a hand on his arm.

"Ya sure you _really_wanna just throw that away?" Lilly asked, looking up at her mate with concern. "Those crystal thingies...they're tears of sadness, right? Wouldn't it be better to turn 'em into tears of joy?"

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Well, they work both ways like the story says, right?" When James nodded his head, Lilly added, "I know she means somethin' to ya--she does to all of us. Ya can't throw that away, Jamie, it...it'd be like throwin' her away, and we don't do that to people."

Tanya got up and put her hand on James' other arm, saying, "No, moi lyubov, you are better than that goat, Kh'nar."

James took a slow deep breath and let it out.

"You're right." James held the vial close to his face and said quietly, "You deserve better, Erlanna."

"Yeh, she does, so...let's show her what 'better' is," Lilly said, getting a mischievous smile on her face.

Taking James by the hand, Lilly and Tanya led him over to the bed.

The crystals did indeed work both ways, though just how was something that remained a mystery to James, Lilly, and Tanya. What wasn't a mystery was the intense love they felt for each other, and while making love with as much passion as ever, they did so while embraced both physically and mentally.

Many lightyears away, another heart felt what true love was all about--not the physical aspect of lovemaking, but rather the combination of the intellectual, emotional, and spiritual experience. From among the stars, The Three--Mind, Heart, and Kindred Spirit--howled their song of love, weaving its gift into the heart of an immortal silver dragon.

* * * * *

"Oh, my dear children, you understand more than you realize," Naoia thought to herself, knowing the gift James, Lilly, and Tanya, had given Erlanna through the crystalline tears. "It still amazes me how those three are so much like..."

/* "Mistress?" */

Naoia blinked as her thoughts were interrupted by Char'ena.

"Yes, dear, what is it?" Naoia asked.

/* "Sa'niv says they have finished sniffing around Fren'a. No new tracks." */

"Good. How much longer until we get there at this rate?" Naoia asked, looking slightly bored.

/* "If they not stop for something, two more of their days." */

"I suppose that isn't too bad. Have you heard from Rha'ena lately?"

/* "She still at Esba'in while work being done. No sign of Dark Bloods or Minions in area." */

"Well, that's good. Thank you, dear."

/* "Yes, Mistress." */

Naoia decided to check on the situation back on Dra'ka, popping in on Arneora unannounced as usual.

"Stuffing your face again, I see," Naoia said with mild sarcasm when she appeared suddenly.

*Cough!* "Naoia!" Arneora exclaimed, nearly choking on a bite of food. "Will you please give a person some warning, like a civilized person?!"

"Why? I've been going where I want, when I want, long before this universe formed. Deal with it. What's being done about Kh'nar?" Naoia asked bluntly.

Arneora wiped her chin with a cloth and replied, "D'Narial and some of the other Watchers are protecting Erlanna and keeping an eye on Kh'nar. Fae'ela is still sifting through evidence--that fool Kh'nar did a good job covering his tracks, but not good enough, apparently. She is being thorough; you can count on that. Azurella is trying to identify all of Kh'nar's lackeys so they can be kept under watch. Oh, and just for the record, this is just a light snack."

"Uh, huh. You _do_realize your 'snack' is enough to feed at least ten Vey'ani for a day, don't you? Honestly, I don't know how you manage to keep your figure with how much you eat," Naoia quipped.

"You know as well as any that they are not as big as I am," Arneora shot back, who ironically was currently in her anthro form. "Besides, they don't have my metabolism."

"You folks _could_give their world a little boost," Naoia suggested.

"You could do it a whole lot easier and much less noticeably," Arneora argued.

"We could, yes, but_you_ agreed to be responsible for them a few million turns of the seasons ago--don't think I haven't forgotten about that," Naoia argued back. "Anyway, who is looking after Erlanna?"

"She is staying with Azurella for the time being. Kh'nar won't be able to prowl around the halls of the Watchers," Arneora replied.

"Well, at least that's_something. Just remember what I said if _I end up having to deal with Kh'nar."

Arneora subconsciously held a hand to her throat and shuddered as she remembered the First One's vow to make Kh'nar the subject of a Hunt if he did anything to Erlanna again.

"What _is_that you're eating, anyway?" Naoia asked, looking at the platter of food next to Arneora.

"That is..." Arneora started to say before Naoia snatched a morsel and popped it into her own mouth.

"...Replicated food. Yum," Naoia interjected sarcastically. "I suppose it's better than that fake meat James and his friends eat on their ship. Resequenced proteins...yuck! If you're going to eat meat, it might as well be...fresh," Naoia added, licking her lips while looking intently at Arneora, which made her nervously put her hand to her throat again, and that caused Naoia to chuckle quietly, making Arneora even more nervous. "Don't worry, my dear, First Ones don't need to eat. We can if we choose to, but it's hardly necessary. Well, I should return to Char'ena--I told her I'd be right back. I'll be checking on things here from time to time."

Naoia took a step away and promptly disappeared in a swirl of multi-hued light.

* * * * *

Fren'a.

Once a thriving world during the early days of the galaxy, boasting a population in the low billions, it was now nearly dead, except for some remaining plant and animal life. The civilization that had once inhabited it long ago were now only found in the pages of history; its proud people now only humble ghosts among the crumbling remains of once grand plazas, great skyscrapers, and comfortable homes. Erasaban[1] was the name by which they were known. Their fate was not determined by famine, disease, or war, but rather by a quirk of genetics. While striving for physical perfection, the Erasabans inadvertently lost their ability to procreate, and thus fell, slowly, by attrition. The star that Fren'a orbited had grown old and was no longer a cheerful yellow. It would not be much longer before it would become red and swollen, burning away the innermost planet in its system and then it would erase the last remnants of the Erasaban civilization with its nuclear fire.

Of those few who might pass by the lonely world enroute to other places more lively, some would stop and visit briefly out of curiosity--perhaps to collect a small souvenir or two or make still images, or if they were the more scientifically minded, perhaps to leave an instrument behind to record the inevitable end of Fren'a in the fiery embrace of its sun.

Sa'niv, his sister Fier'na, and their friend Kei'sa, stood on the surface of Fren'a in what was once a park. A light wind gently stirred the leaves of the trees as they looked sadly at the decaying remains of a once cheerful fountain, benches, light poles, and a nearby playground. The trappings of civilization had been kept up until the population had dwindled to the point where there simply were not enough people to maintain--or enjoy--the public areas. Individual families had kept up their homes out of a sense of dignity, until no one was left to inherit them. Saying little between them, the three continued on.

As Sa'niv, Fier'na, and Kei'sa, walked along, they passed areas where the plants had taken over. Trees, bushes, weeds, grasses, and vines, had obscured some of the smaller structures over the passing millennia. The elements had taken their toll on the larger structures--shiny windows that had brought in light and kept out wind and rain had long been broken; doors that had once welcomed family, friends, or customers, were now dark and forbidding. A few small animals scurried furtively here and there; others looked curiously at them, never having seen bipedal life forms before.

"How much further? Fier'na asked, stopping to take a drink of her water.

"We take a left at the next street, then two, and it'll be on the corner," Kei'sa replied.

"Keep your weapons handy...just in case," Sa'niv cautioned, sniffing the air.

"Smell something?" Fier'na asked her brother.

"Maybe. The people may be long gone, but..." Sa'niv replied.

"Yeah, no telling what the animals may have evolved into since the Erasabans died out," his sister agreed.

Checking their weapons, the three continued onward towards their goal.

"That should be it," Kei'sa announced, pointing at the ruins of a large building that was once ornate and stately.

"Let's hope it's still there," Fier'na said quietly with a determined set to her jaw, holding her weapon in the "ready" position.

Taking the lead, Sa'niv said, "Let's move," and he began walking towards the wide steps leading up to the main doorway.

The massive columns still stood upright, though the roof over the entrance they had once supported had partially collapsed into rubble. Cautiously picking their way through the debris, Fier'na and Kei'sa stopped on either side of the doorway--the doors themselves had fallen away with part of the roof. With a quick nod by each, Sa'niv went in first with Kei'sa flanking him on his right, and Fier'na backing in before flanking her brother on his left. Giving their eyes a few moments to adjust to the dim interior, Kei'sa checked her scanner.

"Over there," she said softly, pointing off to the right.

Walking slowly and quietly, the three made their way to where the lift shafts were.

"Through here," Kei'sa said when they got to a doorway.

Beyond was a stairwell that led downwards and opened up into a sublevel. The door to the lower level was still on its hinges, having been protected from direct exposure to the weather, though it appeared to have been forced open at some point in the past.

The air was dank and musty smelling as they entered the sublevel. Switching on their illuminators so that they could use their natural night vision ability in the total darkness, the three pressed on towards their objective.

When they came to another doorway that opened up into another stairwell, Kei'sa grabbed Sa'niv's arm and emphatically shook her head "no". There was a sound of water dripping coming up the stairs from another lower level and the air smelled foul. She pointed to their left and they moved on to another doorway several meters down. Tapping Sa'niv on the arm and nodding her head "yes", they cautiously entered the partially open door. Inside were racks containing the computers that housed the electronic versions of the books which had long turned to dust on the shelves of the ancient Erasaban library. Sa'niv stood guard at the door while his sister and Kei'sa stuck markers on the equipment for retrieval and storage. In a corner of the room was a small storage vault--it was still sealed. Once it was tagged, they proceeded to return to the main level. Fier'na spotted something on the floor as they walked stealthily between the book shelves. Stopping to bend down and brush away some of the debris, Fier'na found an unusual gold bracelet that seemed very much out of place--the design of it didn't match anything she remembered about the styles the Erasabans favored. Tucking it away in her belt pouch, Fier'na would take a closer look at it when they returned to the ship. When they were nearly to the stairwell leading back up, Sa'niv, Fier'na, and Kei'sa, froze and looked back towards the other stairwell where they had heard the sound of dripping water. Something wet was moving, coming up the stairs, bringing with it a powerful stench.

Touching a control on his wrist unit, Sa'niv said quietly, "Ship, transport us, now!"

Just as the transport effect began, they saw a large, dark mass resembling seaweed, flagellating tentacle-like limbs, coming from around a stack of shelves. Something that looked like eye disks stared at them, and then it made an unwholesome noise as it rushed towards them. The transport effect died away just as the mass lunged towards the place they were.

Safely back onboard, Fier'na blurted out, "What was that thing?"

"I got a quick scan of it, I think. I'll see if the computer can figure out what it might have been," Kei'sa replied.

"While you're doing that, I'm going to retrieve those old computers and store them. I hope at least some of the data is still intact," Sa'niv said.

"Don't forget to scan them for anything that might be living inside those cases. We're not equipped for bio-containment of little nasties," Kei'sa reminded him.

"I don't think I want to get cozy with anything that might be related to that...whatever it was. Or worse," Sa'niv said, giving himself a little shake.

A while later, Fier'na carefully cleaned and dried the gold bracelet she had found. After scanning it, she had the computer do a search of the design. While that was being done, Fier'na looked at it under a magnifier--on the underside, there was an inscription engraved in a calligraphy she was not familiar with. Fier'na scanned the inscription and fed it into the translation matrix. In the time it took her to take a sip of her drink, the computer determined the language of the inscription and what species used it, along with a translation. Her jaw dropped as the realization was beginning to set in--and then the computer found a record of the particular jewelry style, confirming what the translation matrix had displayed.

"You found what_?!" Naoia demanded later when Kei'sa told of their experience on Fren'a. "_Nial-sa'fel[2] never mentioned her losing something like that," Naoia said, fuming a bit. "If I had known it had been lost, I certainly would have found it and given it back to her! Well, then, when you meet my young friends in a bit, be sure to give that to the one named Shauna. She's easy enough to pick out--she's the tallest of the bunch, has a long face, and a thick reddish-brown mane on her head. By the way, don't mention exactly where you found it--they don't need to be creeping around looking for anything in strange basements with nasty swamp critters! Just tell Shauna to hang onto it for now, got that?"

"Yes, Mistress," Kei'sa acknowledged.

"Good. Char'ena said we'll be there in a couple of their days. The last time I was on Fren'a, there were still some Erasabans alive, so you should keep an eye out for any other critters that might want to see if you're tasty or not--especially after dark."

"So, we have to hang out for a couple more days before they get here, eh?" Fier'na asked, not exactly looking forward to an extended stay on Fren'a.

"Looks like it. Uh, I don't know about you two, but I'd feel better if we weren't sitting on the ground any longer than necessary," Kei'sa suggested.

"Yeah, I think I've had enough creepy-crawlies for one visit. How about it, Nivs?" Fier'na asked her brother, calling him by his nickname.

"Better safe than sorry, I suppose," Sa'niv agreed.

"While you're getting us in orbit, I'll get us something to eat, Fier'na said, tousling her brother's thick hair before heading back to the small ship's galley.

* * * * *

"Mmm, that feels good..."

"What are you working on, Angelina?" Cdr. Phil Williamson asked the xeno-archaeologist on his science team as he massaged her shoulders.

Leaning back and enjoying the moment, Dr. Garland replied, "Oh, I've been looking over the history of this area that Dra'kan gave the captain. I'm reading up about a planet called Chenau-Ri--it seems to be the one we're heading to in the Thor's Helmet nebula."

"Is that where Lieutenant Eriksson's brother went to?" Phil asked.

"Um...mmm...yeah, if I remember correctly from the report given us when we left Terra," Angelina said.

After a few moments, Phil asked, "I came in to get some coffee...you want anything?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Um...maybe some of that flavoring stuff for water we got in the supplies from Dra'ka," Angelina replied.

"Okay, I thought I saw some packets in one of the bins, yesterday." Phil rummaged around in the galley a few minutes and then called out, "Any particular flavor?"

"Surprise me," Angelina replied.

A short while later, Phil took a seat next to Angelina and handed her a bottle of colored water and an empty packet.

"No idea what that is, but it smells interesting," Phil commented.

Angelina sniffed the packet and raised an eyebrow. Taking a cautious sip from the bottle, she said, "Not bad. Kind of like coconut water with some kind of sweet, flowery spice. Want a taste?"

"Heh, thanks, but coffee is about as exotic as I get when it comes to beverages," Phil said with a chuckle.

"Aw, c'mon, try some..." Angelina insisted, holding the bottle in front of his face.

Phil saw the look on her face and thought, "What the hell...", and let her give him a sip from her bottle.

Right at that moment, Sonya walked into the crew's mess with her mug to get a refill. It was one of those awkward moments--embarrassing on the parts of Phil and Angelina, having been caught in the act of sharing, while Sonya with her twisted humor saw it like a female bottle feeding a baby. Only, the "baby" held the rank of Commander and definitely outranked a mere Chief Warrant Officer Two. Sonya almost made a comment that likely would have gotten her in trouble, but she held her tongue, saying instead, "Commander, Professor," with a nod towards each, and continued on to get her refill of coffee. While she had her back to them, Sonya tried hard to keep from laughing. With her mug filled, Sonya didn't linger--she headed back to Fire Control as if nothing had happened. As soon as she stepped into the lift, however, Sonya couldn't hold back any longer and roared with laughter, which was heard all the way to the bridge.

Phil had nearly spewed the flavored water when the puma walked in and saw what they were doing. They both had heard about her particular sense of humor. Angelina almost dropped the bottle in Phil's lap when she saw the expression on Sonya's face.

"Damn..." Phil said quietly, his face turning red in embarrassment after Sonya walked out of the crew's mess.

As soon as she heard Sonya's laugh, before it was swallowed up by the lift, Angelina rolled her eyes and offered Phil a napkin to wipe his chin.

"Thanks, Angelina."

After a moment, she looked at him and asked, "What?"

Phil slowly shook his head and said, "Nothing moves faster than the speed of light inside a starship than scuttlebutt. I wouldn't doubt that our Mûr Tua'ansa friends have heard by now."

"Oh, let them talk, we weren't doing anything," Angelina said with a slight smile.

Phil quietly cleared his throat and took a drink of his coffee. He recalled memories of seeing Angelina wearing cargo shorts, a tank top, her hair braided and sticking out from the back of a cap, while on various digs he had worked with her on in the past. He had thought how attractive she looked despite digging in the dirt, teasing out a shard of pottery or a fragment of something. He recalled seeing her dressed up in a formal gown during a banquet and how she had wowed him. And then there were the times when she had brought something to show him and, while discussing it with her usual excitement, had stood so enticingly close...just as she was now.

"Phil?"

"Huh?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"Uh..." He looked into her large dark eyes and felt his heart begin to race. "I, um..."

"Yes...?" she asked quietly.

Phil struggled to find a way to say what was on his mind. His hand started to slowly move as if on its own volition towards hers.

"Commander?"

Phil blinked. Angelina's lips didn't move and his brain was suddenly having trouble processing the richer sounding female voice.

"Sir?"

Blinking, he turned his face in the direction of the different voice.

"We've found a planet in a system ahead that might be worth taking a look at."

"Huh? Oh...Li. What was that?"

Carmen looked quizzically a moment at both the commander and the professor, and then held a PAD out to him.

"There's an old star system several lightyears ahead. It's a main sequence star that has nearly depleted its hydrogen and will begin to fuse helium soon. It has a planet that looks like it might have had a civilization on it at one time. The captain wants to know if we should stop and take a look."

Taking the PAD from the sensor tech and looking over the data, with Angelina leaning closer to look also, Phil asked, "How long until we get there?"

"Commander Dvoretsky said we can hit dirt in about thirty-six hours," Carmen replied.

His mind now working back up to normal speed, he asked, "What do you think, Angelina?"

Getting excited, she replied, "It's what we came along for.

"Let's get the others," Phil said with a grin.

* * * * *

With the decision made, the three ships diverted only a few hundred million kilometers off their course to arrive at the star system. They entered orbit around the planet an hour after dropping out of hyperspace, taking a little extra time to make sure the planet was truly no longer inhabited.

"Sensors show widespread structural decay and vegetation overgrowth that suggests the passage of a large amount of time. No discernable power sources or EM signatures to indicate any artificial activity, nor any unusual radiation or blast effects. There is animal life, and the atmosphere is breathable," Zach announced, looking at his viewer.

"Have Miss Redhill launch a probe to collect some samples. I want to make sure the population wasn't wiped out by biological weapons or disease," James ordered.

"Aye, sir," Zach acknowledged.

Looking over his shoulder at his Comm Officer, James said, "Syl, get me Rha'an and Rissa in conference mode."

"Aye, sir."

A few moments later, the main viewer came on showing the two video feeds side-by-side.

"Rissa, do you have anything about this planet?" James inquired.

/* "Um...yeah. Called Fren'a_--people stopped, um...few thousand years ago. Yeah. Um, several old stories say different things, but, um, most say they lost ability to have little ones. Something about they tried to make selves perfect, but not quite work. Um, sad way to go, stopping one by one till no one left_." */

"So, they doomed their whole race trying to achieve perfection?" James asked, arching an eyebrow.

/* "Um...like, yeah...like that." /

"That's...bizarre," James said.

/* "I agree, James. As Rissanivi said, it would be a sad ending for an entire population, to slowly die out knowing that they caused their own extinction by chasing a fool's dream." */

"I wonder if the last person asked themselves if it was worth it," James mused aloud, shaking his head slowly.

/* "I cannot imagine the despair they felt when they realized they had destroyed the hopes and dreams of their civilization, and then waiting for the end..." */

"Da, horrible," Tanya agreed.

"Sir, Miss Redhill says the probe has been programmed to collect air, water, and soil samples, and will be ready to launch as soon as McElroy clears the lower launcher tube space," Zach announced.

"Very well. Rha'an, Rissa, we're sending a probe down to sniff out any possible pathogens and contaminates that will be dangerous to us," James said.

/* "I will have Chi'an send one of ours to the surface as well. Perhaps between the two we might find an area of interest to visit," */ Rha'an said.

Knowing where Zhir-Chi'an's station was located in the Command Pit on Se'nika, James knew when Rha'an turned her head to the side, she was giving the order to the Sensory Specialist.

While they waited on the probes to conduct their survey, Zach and Jhan-Kri'an mapped out areas that might be of interest to explore. Since Xeno-Archaeology was her specialty, Zach requested Dr. Garland come to the bridge so that she could provide input on what to look for.

"There's so much to choose from! Jeezers, if we had the time, equipment, and manpower, we could spend years on this planet!" Dr. Garland said excitedly, looking at the images being sent back by the probes.

"The problem is, we don't, and I don't think the planet has the time, either," Zach said, pointing to the data on the star it orbited.

"Even though I'm not an astrophysicist, I think I'd have to agree--that star is pretty old. Are you sure the planet will be within the expansion radius?" Dr. Garland asked.

"Oh, yeah, it's _definitely_going to be completely enveloped," Zach replied, showing a simulation based on sample readings taken on the star and compared to historical data on similarly aged stars.

"So sad that all of what's left of that civilization is going to be lost forever," Dr. Garland said, slowly shaking her head.

"What's worse is what they did to themselves. Who knows what they might have achieved if they hadn't died out," Zach commented.

"I suppose that could be said for every civilization that has rose and fell," Dr. Garland said.

"I suppose. Where would you suggest we pick to take a look at in order to gather as much data as possible in the short amount of time we have?" Zach asked.

Dr. Garland thought over the likely possibilities.

"I'd say...museums, libraries, shopping areas, and residential areas would be my short list."

"I'd think the residential areas would likely be the least to withstand the passage of time," Zach said.

"True, but they would give us a better idea of how the people lived on a daily basis," Dr. Garland pointed out.

"Miss Salnuano said the people died out a few thousand years ago. There may not be much to find, if looters striped anything of value around the end of their civilization. Whatever is left would hardly be more than fragments, and we can't spend too much time here," Zach pointed out.

"Well, how about we make a quick look in a residential area, and then move on to a substantially built structure where artifacts might have a chance to survive?" Dr. Garland suggested.

"All right, I'll get with Jhan-Kri'an and we'll try to find some likely choices," Zach agreed.

When the ships had made three orbits around the planet called Fren'a, a moderately sized city was selected as a landing zone for the shuttle. The probes found no traces of possibly dangerous micro-organisms, though just to be safe, those going to the surface would wear lightweight environment suits. Jan-Kri'an, Yris-Nir'an, and Plel-Whu'an from the Se'nika joined the science team, as did GMM1 Ivor McElroy. Ivor and Whu'an went along to provide additional security in case any of the remaining animal life proved dangerous. Zach would be piloting the shuttle.

* * * * *

After landing where two streets intersected, and then scanning the immediate area for possible animal life, Cdr. Williamson took charge of the landing party.

"Okay, stay sharp everyone--we know there are still animals on this world, and it's a good bet they've never seen people in their lives, so let's stick together and not get separated. Plel-Whu'an, McElroy--you two decide which of you will take point first and who will be rear guard. Everyone else, keep your weapons ready in case something decides it doesn't like us in its territory. Let's make for those buildings down that way," Cdr. Williamson ordered, pointing at some houses approximately two hundred meters down the street to the right of the shuttle. Ivor closed the shuttle's rear hatch and brought up the rear as everyone headed out.

* * * * *

"Looks like they're here."

Sa'niv opened his eyes and looked up at Kei'sa when she gave him a gentle nudge. Rubbing his face with his hands a moment, he took a deep breath and then stretched.

"They just sent a small craft down to the surface--I counted eleven in it," Kei'sa added.

"Eleven of them and three of us," Sa'niv mumbled, shaking his head slowly.

"According to Mistress Naoia, we shouldn't have any trouble with these 'friends' of hers. I'd be more concerned about the natives," Kei'sa said, thinking of the last time they were on the surface.

"Point taken," Sa'niv agreed. "Well, if we're supposed to go meet them, I suppose I'd better fire up the engines and get us down there. By the way, their ships haven't noticed us, have they?"

"Don't think so. We've been in low power mode and fairly well hidden--I doubt their tech would have allowed them to spot us from orbit," Kei'sa replied.

"Where are their ships now?" Sa'niv asked, getting up.

"Just passing over the horizon and out of visual," Kei'sa replied, activating the holographic virtual display screen on her wrist unit and checking the orbit of the three ships.

Sa'niv lifted their small but powerful ship out from under the large overhang of rock and then raced off to meet the friends of Naoia.

* * * * *

Plel-Whu'an cautiously entered the remains of what apparently used to be a small apartment building. Thavi followed close behind Whu'an, checking the soundness of the structure.

"Is it sufficiently stable?" Whu'an asked.

"Unless big quake hits, it'll hold. It's tough stuff to have lasted this long," Thavi replied, watching her scanner, and occasionally lightly tapping the walls with her rock pick.

"What is its composition?" Whu'an asked.

"Metal, ceramic, and plastic, fused together into interlocking blocks. It's strong, UV stable, weather resistant, and seems newer than some other buildings nearby. Maybe was new around time when the people quit building things," Thavi speculated.

"Perhaps so. I sense no animals larger than hand-sized in this part," Whu'an sent.

"Okay. Thavi go get the others," the engineer said, and then went back out to fetch the rest of the science team.

Carefully checking each room for possible animals they might have to contend with, Whu'an stopped for a bit in what she thought might have been a bedroom. Although much of the organic material had rotted away over time, lying on top of some debris surrounded by a frame, was the skeletal remains of an occupant.

"I have found something," Whu'an sent openly.

Everyone carefully entered the room and silently gathered around, looking down at the remains of the Erasaban. Although some were apparently missing and others had been scattered about by animals, after having recently spent time among immortals, the fragile bones served as a solemn reminder of their own mortality.

"May you have found your way back to the All Mother," Whu'an softly said aloud, bowing her head, with the others following suit in turn, each according to the conviction in their own heart of being.

* * * * *

"Awright, we hae incoming!" Ivor shouted from the building's front door.

"What is it, McElroy?" Cdr. Williamson demanded, rushing out with everyone following.

"Not one o' ours," Ivor said, pointing up at the sky.

When the vessel got close enough, Zach and Carmen both recognized it.

"Hey, we saw that ship pay a visit to the First One's wolf ship a couple days ago! Carmen blurted out.

"How did it get past our ships?" Cdr. Williamson asked.

"Probably slipped in while they're on the other side of the planet," Zach surmised.

"Back to the shuttle!" Cdr. Williamson ordered.

By the time they made it to where the shuttle was parked, the alien ship touched down less than fifty meters away. Shortly after the engines wound down, a hatch opened and a boarding ladder extended.

"Frak, _now_what do we do?" Cdr. Williamson said quietly; Dr. Garland clung nervously to his arm.

"I'd not make any sudden moves that could be mistaken for hostility. If they're friends with that First One who has been following us, we shouldn't get itchy trigger fingers," Zach suggested.

"Good point," Cdr. Williamson conceded.

When three individuals descended the boarding ladder, their appearance shocked everyone.

The three from the alien ship looked decidedly human.

---

[1]Erasaban - pronounced: era-sa?-bahn.

[2] Nial-sa'fel Nwinaëldan (a.k.a. "Traps" from "The Sacrifice for Peace, vol-3: Dahmi's Legacy") - the Y'Nahran male who had been with Cameron Eriksson, Sy'k'rell Hauvri'ahn, and Arlan Schneider.