A Dawnstar Christmas - Part 1

"But you know? About none of us have family. I think...I think we're the closest thing we are to a family." Novia admitted, her cheeks pink.

"So what are you suggesting?" Haley looked at her curiously.

"Why don't we celebrate ourselves? We don't have to go anywhere. All we have to do is put up a tree somewhere and be happy."

Yorina gave Novia a sly but interested expression. "As simple as that sounds, I like it. I'm not well-knowledged on this Christmas holiday of yours, but I wouldn't say not celebrate anything because you don't have family to go to." She shuffled to a window and looked out. "I mean, what happens to all the lonely people on your planet? They don't go celebrating because they don't have family?"

"Well, believe it or not, that does happen a lot." Shinako leaned on the edge of the window, propping herself next to Yorina. "Some find magic and spend it with someone. And others...do what we're going to try to do."

"Well, let's get started, then. And tell me what this holiday is about after all..."

Several minutes later the girls had taken a data pad and quickly compiled a basic list of things needed. They found themselves in the same corridor once again, gathering near the windows, the soft black starry sky outside.

“So…a tree, gifts, food? That’s it?” Amiria wrinkled her eyebrows. “Really?”

“What, were you expecting more?” Shinako poked her shoulder.

Sophia sighed. “So this tree…we just get one from somewhere, right? Or does-“

“No no no, it has to be a specific kind of tree,” Shinako interrupted. “And evergreen tree.”

“Oh.” Was Sophia’s simple reply. “And you decorate it…so we’ll need decorations for those.”

“Food shouldn’t be that hard,” Tamilia spoke up. “I mean, I know I’m the housekeeping maid, but if we all cook a dish, we should have a holiday dinner.”

“And…this gift thing?” Yorina was most perplexed. “What’s that all about?”

“I don’t know, to be really honest. You give a gift to someone.” Shinako shrugged. “That’s one of the biggest traditions of the Christmas holiday.”

“You don’t know?” Yorina scoffed. “Come on, you’re a Terran for crying out loud.”

“Maybe, but they don’t really celebrate Christmas on Norris, and I have been living there since I was five.” Shinako folded her arms, leaning against the wall.

“Well, we could ask Raju,” Tamilia suggested. “I mean, he was from Mars. He might know.”

“His family’s Indian, remember? They probably never celebrated it.” Yorina shook her head.

Novia was quiet the entire time as the girls lightly bickered about who would know more about the celebration. She finally interrupted them by clearing her throat.

“I think we do need to know more about this holiday, but according to the clock on the Terran homeworld, there’s two days left before it actually happens. We need to actually make progress.”

“And what do you suggest…for progress?” Sophia asked incredulously.

“According to most internet sources, barely any colonies sell any of these “Christmas” decorations, holiday supplies, or food related to the holiday. We’ll need to go to the Terran solar system, preferably Earth. Also, according to terraforming records, evergreens are only readily found on Mars and Stonebridge.”

“Oh…okay,” Yorina said slowly, “Uh, we take the whole ship?”

“Well, it’s up to Raju, remember? How are we even going to pull that off without him knowing it?” Shinako was a bit exasperated.

“Maybe we should just forget about the whole thing…” Tamilia started to say.

“We could use the shuttle, can’t we?” Sophia suggested. “I mean…it has an FTL drive, doesn’t it?”

All the girls were quiet. Yorina gave her a look mixed between surprise and jealously.

“Just how did a bookish archaeologist know that?” She asked.

Sophia let out a ‘hmph’ and turned her head away, arms folded.

“Then that’s it, simple. Just convince him we need to use the shuttle.” Novia shrugged.

“But if it’s a surprise, what reason should we give him?” Amiria asked worriedly.

“Oh, don’t worry, I think I know just the thing…” Yorina had a smirk on her face.

Raju was sprawled underneath the ARGOS rover, fiber optic cables dangling around him. A holo-visor was in front of his face, displaying a wiring diagram of the circuit board he was trying to repair.

"Hey."

Raju felt someone gently kick the sole of his foot. He sighed and rolled himself out, finding Yorina's form towering over him with her hands on her waist.

"What is it?” He pulled the visor up onto his head so that he could see her better, sitting up.

“Uh, can we use the Chimera for a little trip?” Yorina shifted the weight off one foot to another, looking near to Raju but not directly at him.

“What for?”

“Girls night out kind of thing.”

Raju was silent for a moment. “Well, I can see how you all won’t really fit in the Angelito…how long will you be gone?”

“We’ll try to be back in a day,” Yorina assured him. “We don’t plan on being out long.”

“And all you guys are going?” Raju’s hands pressed against the metal floor to support himself as he sat.

“Yeah. I mean, we don’t need Bob, he can help you out unless it’s an emergency. And Puka will keep you company.”

Raju sighed, looking off to the Chimera not far away. “I guess you guys can go. Just stay in touch, all right?”

Yorina tried not to look relieved or relatively surprised, nodding in agreement. “All right, thanks. We’ll leave shortly.”

==

It wasn’t very far till Yorina met the rest of the girls.

“Well, what did he say?” Sophia asked.

“He said…yes, surprisingly.” Yorina answered.

“Well, I suppose we better get moving, huh? We don’t have a lot of time.” Shinako looked a bit nervous.

“I figured. Get your stuff together, we’re off on a trip!” Yorina was being quite enthusiastic about the entire affair.

==

Five Hours Later…

“Shuttle Chimera, welcome to Earth orbit, please state your manner of business.”

“LEO Control, this is Chimera off the Freelancer frigate Dawnstar. Requesting reentry vectors to the United States.”

“Confirmed, Chimera, do you have a specific destination in the US?”

Yorina glanced at Novia, who was piloting the shuttle, then at most everyone who was sitting behind them in the two engineering officer’s consoles and jump seats.

“What do I tell him?” She looked a bit panicked.

“Don’t look at me, I don’t know a single place on that planet.” Sophia shook her head.

“Ten seconds already went by and we didn’t answer…” Novia warned.

“Just pick a somewhat big city not far from a big spaceport, and we can work our way from there.” Shinako suggested. “Just not New York, horrible docking taxes.”

Yorina glanced at the map for two seconds, biting her lip. “LEO Control, southeast United States, Raleigh district.”

“Roger that, Chimera, sending navigational data now. Please standby.”

“Well, that’s the hardest part, I think,” Shinako said. She was seated directly behind Yorina, helping monitor the shuttle’s systems.

“Let’s just hope so…this is just an alien a place as Shinja Manticorus,” Tamilia shivered a little.

“We stick close to Shinako, we should be fine,” Novia assured her, or tried to. “I mean, she’s Terran.”

Shinako sighed, a frown on her face as she blew a few strands of hair out of her face. “Oh my gosh, I am not going to be a fricking tour guide!”

“Minus tour, and you’ll do just fine,” Yorina’s eyebrows narrowed in an aloof but snarky fashion.

“Whatever.”

==

Upon touching down at the regional airport, the group noticed that they were in trouble for the fact that it was snowing. There was warnings that the airport might be closed, which worried them.

“What are we going to do if we can’t get permission to take off?!” Sophia asked in exasperation. All of them were still on board, quickly discussing their options.

“That is going to be a problem.” Yorina had a hand to her chin. “Some of us should go ahead, see if we can start getting stuff quick. Decorations and tree is a priority. We can find out some of the other stuff later on another colony world, like Mars I think.”

“And the other part? What will you do?”

“Well, it’s possible that they’ll close the bigger airports down. Novia and I will see if we can get the shuttle to a smaller airport, and if all else fails, a remote area someplace. You guys are going to need ground transportation.”

“I can take care of that,” Shinako raised a finger. “Rest of you, come on. We’ve got a van to catch.”

As they left the cockpit, Yorina looked at Novia. “I don’t suppose it’ll hurt to go find a guide, would it?”

“Do they even have those on Earth?” Novia raised an eyebrow.

“Sue me. I’d rather look like an idiot now instead of in front of the police or military for doing something stupid.”

The girls locked down the Chimera temporarily as they left the cockpit as well, weaving through the narrow corridor to the exit hatch, which a ladder had been extended to the ground. Novia climbed out first, followed by Yorina.

The first thing she noticed was that it was cold, real cold. The slushy ground made the hemline of her robe-like gown wet, even if it wasn’t that long. Novia didn’t seem to mind the cold, as they quickly looked around their surroundings.

“Look, that guy might be a civilian. He’s working on…what the heck is that thing?” Novia raised an eyebrow. “Let’s go ask him.”

The two of them trudged towards an empty hangar, where a middle-aged man seemed to be removing inlet covers on a small twin propellor plane.

“Um, excuse me,” Novia asked in a somewhat quiet voice. “Do you have a minute?”

The man turned to face them, stopping in his tracks, surprised at the scene before him. “Well, I suppose I do. Can I help you folks?” He had a blue cap on, a brown leather jacket and jeans with leather boots. Black leather gloves were on his hands. There was a tinge of Southern in his voice.

“Yes, we were wondering if could help us find a guide,” Yorina was slightly hunched over, the cold was getting to her. She folded her hands within the large sleeves of her gown, in an attempt to warm them. “I know it sounds bad, but we’re not really from around here…”

“I can see that. I’ve always heard about Notikans but haven’t seen one in the flesh till now.” The man seemed to understand some. “I don’t think there’s really anyone that’s a guide around here, since most people seem to know what they’re doing around these parts.” He seemed to notice Yorina’s shivering body. “Why not talk in here? Let’s get you two out of the freezing cold.”

The two obliged as they entered the spacious hangar, the man leading them over to a propane heater where a workbench had tools and a coffeemaker. A woman and a young boy were dressed in winter coats, hats and gloves. Upon seeing the three come closer, they came to greet the man, surprise on their faces.

“Harold, what’s going on? Who are these people?” The woman asked. She looked past them, letting out a small gasp upon seeing Yorina, face pale. “You’re…one of them…”

“Take it easy, Debbie, they’re visiting strangers.” The man turned to face the odd visitors. “I don’t remember you quite introducing yourselves.”

“I’m sorry. I’m Yorina, and this is Novia.” Yorina did a small bow. She usually didn’t do that sort of thing, but if it meant to stop the woman from being scared or thinking ill of her, she’d do it, as much as Yorina disliked it.

“I’m glad to meet you two. I’m Harold. This is my wife Debbie, and my son Melvin.” He motioned to the two.

The woman didn’t say a word, looking quite fearful and a bit shaken. The boy, probably about Amiria’s age of eight years old, didn’t seem phased at all, just staring at them strangely.

“Pour them some coffee, will you?” Harold patted Debbie’s shoulder. She nodded silently, walking over to the coffeemaker and getting two mugs. “In the meantime, tell me what’s going on, what you need help with.”

“Well, to be honest, we’re kind of lost, really bad,” Novia began. “We came to buy some things to surprise a friend of ours, but none of us are from Earth or have been here, really. We’re very clueless to what’s going on, where to go, that sort of thing.”

“We’re with other people,” Yorina added. “We have a Terran girl helping us, but she’s from the outer colonies. She knows some stuff about your society, but she doesn’t know anything about places and the like.”

“Well, that’s kind of an interesting situation, don’t you think?” Harold took the coffee mugs and handed it to the two girls. “Tell me; does the holidays bring you here by any chance?”

“I suppose they do,” Yorina admitted. “I mean it’s short notice, but I-we thought it would be a nice thing to try to celebrate your holiday back where we come from. I think it’d mean a lot to our friend.”

“You’re doing this for your friend?” Debbie spoke for the first time. “Why?”

Yorina sighed, sipping the coffee. “I…don’t know how to put it. I…can we trust you?”

Novia gave a somewhat demanding glare at them. “We appreciate you being kind to us. But we’re not used-“

“-To just blurt your whole stories to strangers? I think I can understand that.” Harold nodded. “Hear that Debbie? Melvin? Don’t breathe a word to anyone.”

Yorina looked around. “Can we sit on something? This might take a little while.”

Harold and Debbie helped find some plastic part totes that could be used for temporary seats. The five clustered around the heater, waiting to hear what had to be said.

“My friend…owns a starship. A frigate class. We’re his friends, probably for about a year now. Circumstances pretty much bumped us into each other, and we’ve been cooperatively working together to do trade and odd jobs to keep the credits rolling to upkeep the ship. Several months ago we were looking for a person that he knew, but said person and her dad weren’t too happy with him, so we’ve basically just floating between neutral words meeting the transport needs of many of the residents there.”

“Well, that’s an interesting background,” Harold commented. “Living on a starship, what’s that like?”

“Drives you nuts sometimes, a bit cooped up every now and then; have to make sure doors are locked, get rid of stale food, exercise often, have leisure when you can so your mind don’t drive itself mad…but it’s not bad, I enjoy it.” Novia had a small smile on her face.

“I see. So you all have been friends since you’ve met this…friend of yours? What’s his name?”

“Yeah, pretty much. His name’s Raju. More or less he’s the acting captain. We kind of…share leadership? It’s kind of hard to explain. He has authority when we’re doing stuff, but when we decide to do things, we have a kind of a committee agreement.” Yorina shrugged. “It works.”

“Well, not quite professional, but it seems that you all work together, it works.” Harold nodded.

“So, why didn’t you celebrate the holidays previously? Why now? Why, more importantly, for him?”

“Well, Raju has a…bad past. Not that he did bad things, more of bad memories. All his family except two cousins are gone. He had a big social drama at home he never came back. And he turned from a business student into an escort freelance pilot.”

“Wow, really?” Melvin seem quite surprised at the last part. “How does somebody become a pilot from a business student?”

“Things happen, you know?” Yorina held her cup with both hands. She was pretty much doing most of the talking, as she knew what was going on. “But he’s never been back to his home, Mars. We’ve been to the AQUA stations to talk to people from the Japanese Space Navy, but that’s about it.”

“I think…he hasn’t healed from what happened there,” Novia spoke up. “He doesn’t talk to me much, but our ship’s our home. We like all of each other, but he still probably longs for family and close people. I guess the reason we’re doing all this is to let him know that.”

The man was silent for a long time. “Well, isn’t that special?” Harold turned to his family. “Now that’s a good Christmas spirit, don’t you think?”

Debbie’s complexion was soft, with a touch of kindness to it. “To think you girls came all the way out here to do all that…”

“So we know why you’re here, what do you need help with?” Harold asked.

“We need a place to park the Chimera that isn’t a regular airport in case they close the airport,” Novia began. “We also need someone to guide us to locations and recommend stores to get what we need.”

“We’re really clueless to who offers what around here, we really are,” Yorina added. “All I know is not to go to New York because of docking taxes.” She shrugged.

“Ah, never had to think about that, actually. But if you’d like, we can maybe help you some.” Harold offered.

“Are you serious?” Yorina was surprised. “I mean, weren’t you doing something?”

“I was helping do some maintenance on my brother’s biplane, and he was flying home to the farm later this evening. We were going by car around the same time. So we have some time if you know what you need.”

Novia looked at Yorina in joy, then to the family. “We would appreciate that, yes.”

Dawnstar - Mirror World 4

Simple as that, Elizabeth was standing there, eyes searching the group. Her full denim skirt rustled loudly as she stepped over the border into Dawnstar, her casual slip-ons barely making any noise. Upon coming on board, she surveyed the group curiously then cautiously, a worried look on her brows before relaxing upon seeing Raju.

“Raju…” She walked forward in greeting. Raju stepped up as she embraced him briefly, touching his face and stroking his hair. She gave a soft laugh.

“Its…hard to believe that you’ve grown so much. The last time I saw you, you were a little shorter than shoulder height.” Her hand lingered on his shoulder before letting go, a warm look on her face.

“You too. You don’t seem to have changed much, though.” Raju twitched upon all the sudden physical contact, but held his place.

“Well, maybe not physically.” She glanced around again. “And these are your friends?” Her eyes stopped at Buster, suddenly realizing the implication of a heavy machine armed to the teeth was in her vicinity. Her last sentence seemed to waver.

“Yes. This is Buster, our siege droid. Sophia is my historian, and Shinako is my weapons officer and sidekick.” Raju introduced.

Shinako bowed a little and Sophia smiled warmly, but Elizabeth seemed a bit downfallen and maybe hurt, her eyes still locked on Buster. She quickly glanced at everyone else. “I’m pleased to meet all of you.”

“We have a lot to catch up on,” Raju spoke up. “Let me show you to our briefing room.”

Raju started to turn when he realized Tamilia had followed them. Her face had some fright realizing that she was discovered, but she was frozen in place, unsure if to run or stay. Elizabeth let out a small sound of recognition as she passed Raju and came to in front of Tamilia.

“Oh….You’re all right.” She said in relief. Her hands touched her shoulders, as if to make sure she was real and alive. “You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?”

“More that you would know.” Tamilia seemed to start boiling over a little. “What’s going on here with me? With him?”

“Well, I was going to tell you in a little bit.” Elizabeth answered, surprised at the response. “I need to catch up with Raju first.”

“I don’t mind catching up, but I have to agree.” Raju stood beside Elizabeth, facing her. “I’d like some answers.”

Elizabeth was quiet, lips moving as if searching for words. “I see…”

Raju soon had Elizabeth in the briefing room, Sophia and Shinako on either side of him. Buster waited outside, Tamilia not far from the door. Elizabeth was seated on the other end of the table facing them.

“So what happened when I saw you last?” Elizabeth inquired.

“Few events, but big ones. We moved to Mars a few years after. Then everyone died in a bomb blast and I survived. I’ve been a Freelancer since.”

“Your parents are…dead?” Elizabeth couldn’t comprehend the fact. “I’m sorry. I guess making up to them is out of the question…”

“I don’t know if it would have made a difference or not,” Raju answered. “I don’t think they liked you for whatever reason. You were a nice mentor when it lasted.”

“Lasted? Raju, I never forgot about you. When I found out you moved, I had no idea what happened or where you went. I’ve been looking for you all these years. But when I heard your name and what happened at Dantius, I tried to get ahold of you again.” It was clear Elizabeth was distressed.

“So why Tamilia? What does she have to do with this? Why not just find me?”

“Tamilia…was a test. To see if you were the same person you were fifteen years ago. And to see how good people actually said you were. I guess you could call it extra insurance so I knew about you better.”

There was silence for a few moments before she spoke up again.

“I know you’re closed up to me, aren’t you? You don’t trust me?”

Raju didn’t speak, his silence his answer.

“Are you going to take Tamilia back with you?” Sophia asked.

“I…was going to take her back. But first I’ll give you the answers that you need.” Elizabeth leaned forward and rested her hands on the table.

“Tamilia…is from an underdeveloped colony. Where I will not say, but she suffered an accident and fell ill. Through some excruciating circumstances I was able to rescue her and tried to help her recover. Physically she recovered, but she was mentally scarred. There was nothing that I was able to do to change that.”

“So that’s why you had that creature try to fix her memories,” Shinako butted in.

Elizabeth nodded. “It took quite a bit of talking, but I was able to make some progress in communicating with it. In exchange to learn about us humans, I let it try to alter her memories to remove the horrible experiences that happened to her.”

Sophia had a hesitant look on her face. “Elizabeth, forgive me if I don’t quite agree with what you did, but wouldn’t Tamilia cease to be the normal person she was without her memories? It’s…an interesting solution, but it doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Well, you’re entitled to your opinion, but believe me, those memories she had is something that somebody hopes that they will never go through. I am not going to tell you what happened to her, neither will go try to find out her past. Do I make myself clear?”

Elizabeth’s pleasant demeanor had suddenly changed to a firm and scolding tone, and one could even sense a bit of hostility in her voice. It was clear that she didn’t want the girl to learn about her past in any way.

“So what are we supposed to tell her then?” Shinako demanded.

“Nothing,” Elizabeth snapped back. “Understand?”

Nobody replied. Elizabeth seemed to be getting a bit upset with the silence, standing to her feet. “It seems that you’ve changed all right, Raju. But I didn’t expect this…a lack of understanding. Nor taking my word for it.”

She walked out of the room, everyone standing up and following her. Upon exiting the room, she gave a warning glance at Tamilia, who had started to approach her to ask questions. She stayed put as Elizabeth walked by.

“That wasn’t a lot of answers, you know,” Raju came to Elizabeth’s side.

“I believe that is a sufficient amount of answers for the matter at hand,” she answered, still walking briskly. “You have recovered Tamilia, so she will be coming with me.”

“Look here,” Raju grabbed her arm to stop her. This seemed to infuriate her a bit, her face angered as she turned to face him.

“You’re on my ship, and as long as I have some way to enforce what I say, what I say goes. Tamilia isn’t going anywhere until you give me some answers. And she sure has hell isn’t going with you until you answer them.”

Elizabeth came up to his face, her voice lowered and full of fury. “Do you really want to tell a girl that her parents were mutilated by a wild sea beast, she was administered drugs to give her feelings of lust and raped by a malicious man, then nearly killed in unthinkable ways that would give you nightmares for countless nights?”

Raju was silent for several seconds. “Maybe. People that don’t know anything can’t be kept under lock and key forever. They’re bound to find out sometime.”

Elizabeth was about to retort with a line when she heard a small gasp followed by a whimper. Tamilia had heard her, regardless of how low her voice was. Her lip was unsteady and her body seemed to shiver some. She was clearly at a loss of words, but wanted to say something; but all she could do was stare blankly.

Elizabeth glanced at Tamilia with a softened face, but hardening once more upon looking at Raju. “I hope you got what you wanted. Now if you excuse me, she’s coming along.” She took Tamilia’s arm without a word and started back towards the airlock with her ship.

Sophia moved to act but Raju held her back. “Just…let her go. I don’t need things anymore sour right now.”

She looked at him, a bit confused, eyes a bit wide. “Let them go!? Raju, are you out of your mind?”

“No, not this time. Not this time…”

Raju strode onto the bridge as Haley greeted him with a surprised look on her face.

“Hey, she’s leaving! Did everything go all right?”

“Not really. You guys did do overwatch while I kept her distracted, right?” He walked to his chair and sat down. Amiria climbed off beforehand, going over to where Sophia was sitting and leaning against her armrest.

“Oh yeah! Entire computer core is all ours!” Bob zoomed around in a circle.

“We can sort it out later, but can you access navigation data?”

“More importanty, did you tag the ship first?” Shinako asked.

“Yeah, ship’s tagged.” Yorina winked. “Interfacing…downloading current processes and data.”

There was a tense moment when Elizabeth’s ship jumped off sensors. “And I got it,” Novia announced. “Target’s heading for Earth.”

“Earth? Like the home cluster?” Shinako had this incredulous look in her eyes.

“Yeah, that Earth.” Haley sighed. “I haven’t been there in two years. Do you want us to follow?”

“Just to keep track. Once we figure out where she’s going, we’ll work something out. But wait a bit before we jump, we don’t want her figuring out that we’re following her.” Raju leaned back in his chair.

“Gotcha. Hang on!”

Dawnstar - Mirror World 3A

“So that’s what it said?”

Tamilia had stopped shaking by now, merely sitting on the bed that the group had plopped her on in the medical bay. She looked at them without a word, her silence their answer.

“I guess that’s right…” Haley mused.

“Who’s this person that’s she talking about, Raju?” Yorina looked at him curiously.

Raju didn’t answer. He was silent as well, except he was staring at the floor in deep thought.

“I had no idea…” He said to himself before looking up to address everyone. “Get us off the ground guys, will you?”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Yorina repeated. “Do you know her? Is she someone that would get us in trouble?” There was more emphasis on her question.

“Yeah, I do know her. As for trust…maybe. Let’s just say she’s a ghost from the past.” Raju seemed to be in a daze as he left the room.

Everyone stared after him in confusion.

“What’s wrong with him?” Shinako wrinkled her brow. “I’ve never seen him act like that about someone.”

“But you’ve seen him act like that, right?” Yorina asked hopefully.

“Yeah…when he was confronted with his past.” Shinako’s face started to droop slightly, but out of worry. She regained her composure. “You heard him. Let’s get this thing going before he starts to wonder what’s going on.”

Raju could feel Dawnstar take off as he sat in his room, perched on the edge of his bed. He stared at the picture in his hand; was printed on paper, faded. But it had a young boy similar to him, and a woman with auburn hair with a magenta sweater and navy slacks.

“Why are you still following me…” Raju let the photo fall to the bed as he buried his face into his hands. “Do you honestly still care about me all this time? Or are you just a ghost…”

“Who’s a ghost?” A voice asked.

Raju looked up to see Amiria’s form in the doorway. He sighed and shook his head a little.

“The person you used to know?” She came closer and looked at the photo on the bed. “Is that her?”

There was still no answer from him. Finally he decided to speak.

“She hasn’t bothered to talk to me all these years; then she rigs a message for me to come here to find that girl then tells me that she’s on her way to meet me. What am I supposed to believe?” Raju looked at Amiria.

“Well…can you trust her? I think everyone wants to know that.”

“I don’t think its so much a matter of yes, but why. She did care for me a brief moment when I was little, but then left me. Then she pops up all these years later after timesI could have used and her help and company. Is it wrong to not know what to think anymore?"

Amiria climbed up on the bed next to him without a word before deciding to answer. “I don’t see how not knowing something makes it bad, unless you were supposed to know.” Her small hand touched his knee.

Raju let out a huff of amusement, a smile briefly on his face. “If it were that simple. You yourself just said everyone wanted to know that. What do I tell them?”

“What about just being honest? I don’t think they want you to lie.” Amiria suggested.

“I know that. I just…”

“Don’t want to look dumb?”

Raju was silent again. “Yeah, that.”

“I think…we all aren’t perfect. Even Navigator kids like me mess up things sometimes.” Amiria was persistent.

Raju didn’t answer, looking at the picture once more. “I think you’re…right.” He turned to her and gave her a brief hug. “Thanks.”

Amiria smiled, not answering, pleased that he was doing better. She slid off the bed and left the room, figuring that he needed to be by himself.

The doors whooshed open as Raju entered the lab, tugging at his shirt in an attempt to smooth it out. Yorina and Sophia were clustered around a computer monitor, Shinako perched on a counter behind them.

“What do you guys have?” He asked. It was clear he had come on short notice, dropping whatever he was doing to come see what was the matter.

“We were analyzing the card that Tamilia found,” Sophia explained.

“Look at this,” Yorina cut in, pointing at the monitor.

Raju made his way around the counter until he came to their side, staring at what was a scientific field report done by an expedition team.

“It was done by a Terran UEA team that came here during initial surveying of the system,” Yorina explained. “They landed on the surface and claimed that the crew suffered mass hallucenations and left, saying that it was initially caused by a toxin. They then shot a probe down there…”

“And I guess that’s where it becomes interesting?” Raju looked at Yorina.

“The probe showed a gigantic biomass beneath the planet’s surface. It’s has tons of underground tendrils like a fungus, but it seems to have several large nodes which was thought to serve as thought centers.”

“The creature appeared to have intelligence and could influence and tap into the brainwaves of a human being. This did not happen to the probe because it was a machine…” Sophia trailed off, her voice becoming a whisper as her eyes flicked left and right.

“So all that stuff in the woods….was made up, probably.” Shinako shuddered slightly. “And it probably read all our minds. Who knows what it might do to someone that might go there next….”

“That’s a scary thought…but I don’t think I want to go back down there. Period.” Raju was putting his foot down on that fact.

“Oh?” Sophia blinked. Coincidentally her surprised action occurred the same time Raju made his statement, but it was most likely due to something she had just come across.

“Additional probes were sent and a DNA sample of the creature was taken. The tissue sample is currently under scrutinzed research by xenobiologists. Hm.” Sophia pulled back from the monitor, satisfied with her fill of information.

“Okay, I wasn’t expecting that,” Yorina straightened, her original stance had been leaning on Sophia’s chair over her shoulder. “Not sure what that would mean…”

“Tamilia said that the “thing” told her that “the strangers knew about it better than she would.” She also said that a woman brought her there to heal her.” Shinako looked out the window at the planet. “Is it possible…that thing kept her in suspended animation or hibernation, while it picked and messed with her memories?”

“She did say that it tried to implant Raju and I so that she would recognize us as friendly.” Sophia turned away from the computer. “How it knew about us I don’t know, but it can definitely alter someone’s mind. I can see why that woman did bring her there.”

“But then that brings us to another fact.” Yorina leaned against the counter next to Sophia, facing Shinako and folding her arms. “Someone talked to that…thing. They reasoned with it. Maybe it isn’t some giant memory picker. Or maybe it is, but she did something to it to get it to listen to her.”

“What’s this…all supposed to mean?” Sophia’s brow crinkled in confusion, looking up at everyone.

“Why not ask that lady that’s supposed to meet us?” Shinako was somewhat forward with her question. Her eyes glared at Raju, demanding an answer.

“I’ll be sure to do that.” Raju met her gaze and returned it. “Believe me, I’m just as clueless and confused as you are.”

Shinako’s expression softened a bit, as if she didn’t expect that answer. “Well, that makes one more of us. I hope this isn’t some giant mind game with a lot of stuff from dark and twisted pasts…”

Tamilia was at odds with her surroundings. Everything was cold, bright, and noisy. Not to mention hard. Everyone seemed used to it, but she couldn’t go a single place without harsh light glaring down at her, cold air blowing on her, or some machinery making noise.

That wasn’t even starting with the ship size.

It was large. They claimed their living area was small, but she got lost easily several times. It hadn’t been fun. She finally had two routes down; from her room to the galley, then from there to the bridge. Tamilia dared not deviate from them.

This time she was headed to the bridge. Staring at her barely furnished room was depressing. All she could think about was the memories that were in her head. Which were real and which weren’t? She remembered a figure that seemed like her grandfather. It pained her that such a figure may not even be real, and that she was truly all alone. What had really happened to her that required such drastic treatment?

The doors opened as she stepped into the area, seeing everyone about their tasks. Raju was in his “command chair,” Haley was up front at the helm, Shinako at her console, and Novia in the corner with Bob looking at the engineering station. Yorina was in her chair staring at the large screen with a starmap displayed, fingers going across the keyboard.

She still despised using such big boisterous machines to go between worlds, and could not fathom or even being to understand how these people have learned so much and do what they do. And to boot, most of them were girls! Raju was the only man she had seen so far. The two machines that talked and followed them around were dubbed with a male gender, but they were just machines. How a machine could even talk and interact mystified but scared her at the same time.

Novia looked behind her, nodding at Tamilia in greeting. Tamilia returned the gesture and quickly turned away, uncomfortable looking at Novia. The girl was unnatural from what she heard; not only the white silvery hair, but the amber yellow pupils. It made her shudder as she walked down a short small ramp to where Raju’s chair was.

Raju was touching and reading a screen that was fastened to the armrest of his chair, and had not noticed her come up. She had to announce her presence with a soft cough before he turned to face her, an inquiring look on her face.

“I wanted to talk to you for a minute,” Tamilia started. “I’m not happy with my accomodations.”

“What aren’t you happy with?” Raju looked away, staring at the screen again as he flicked through diagrams and schematics, still listening to her.

“Your food is somewhat stale. The air is a bit cold, and I can’t sleep with all these machinery going on.” Her voice was a bit firm.

Yorina gave a scoff from where she sat. “Girl, you can just suck on vacuum if we turn something off. Everything that about runs on this ship is necessary for this ship’s survival. We’d only turn it off in an emergency.”

Raju looked at Tamilia. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you, but Yorina’s right, that’s something we can’t do anything about. As for the air, Sophia can probably get something that’s warm for you to wear. And we’re well aware of the food problem. We’ve not been in port in a couple weeks. Rest assured you’ll get something fresh when we dock somewhere.” He turned back to his work.

“When can I expect something to happen?”

Raju sighed, looking straight ahead before looking back at her. “You can go find Sophia right now if the cold is bothering you that bad. As for the food, you’ll have to wait until that lady that’s supposed to meet with us arrives. I don’t know how long that takes.”

Tamilia exhaled in frustration, not wanting to hear anymore. She whirled around and started off towards where Haley was sitting, her skirts swishing along with her. Raju turned back to his monitor.

Haley had a foot propped on the dash of the small cavity she was seated, two monitors fastened to each side before her. Due to the level of the cavity related to the floor level Tamilia towered over her a good two feet. A soda was in her hand as her eyes gazed at the space before her, waiting somewhat tensely.

“Can I help you with something?” Haley glanced up at Tamilia.

Tamilia looked down at her, realizing where she sat. “I’m growing restless to stay on this ship.” She gave a slightly sharp look at her.

Haley winced. Being cooped up with nothing to do was starting to get to her. How long had she been here? Three days?

“Well, have you tried reading or watching anything?” She suggested hopefully. After her little stint planetside, Tamilia had somewhat softened towards her but still kept a distance since Haley was always trying to keep her in line. Her suggestion was casual but direct.

“I can’t understand your written language and I feel extremely uncomfortable watching or reading something…on that.” Tamilia motioned towards the screens in front of Haley.

“Well, do you like drawing? Writing in your own language? Come on, there’s got to be something you can do. We have tons of stuff around here to keep us occupied.” Haley shrugged and reached for a soda can in a cupholder nearby.

Tamilia was quiet. She hadn’t even thought about asking for those things. Her silence her answer, she started to walk back towards the door when thing started to happen.

“Raju, I got a small civilian runabout on radar,” Shinako reported. “Yorina?”

“Charging emissive armor plating, shields are on standby. Raju?” Yorina glanced at him.

“It could be her. That’s the only ship that we’ve picked up since we left the planet. Bob, who’s on board?”

“Lemme see…well, just one person. That’s it, no ifs, ands or buts. Then again…”

“Bob…” Novia scolded.

“Sorry, sorry. Yeah, just one person.”

“Is that thing armed?” Raju leaned forward slightly.

“Looks like some simple ballistic weapons, but nothing that’d hurt the ship. The person could be a different story.” Shinako answered. “You want anything armed in case?”

“Have forward turrets standby, cold start only. Don’t extend them.” Raju flicked through his screen more. “Sophia, I think our company’s here.”

“I’m on my way,” her voice answered.

“I’m getting a hail from them,” Novia reported. “Patch it through?”

Raju nodded.

The large forward screen flickered as the small but nicely upholstered interior of the runabout appeared. A woman was seated in front of the screen, with auburn hair in a bun. She appeared to be in her late thirties, glasses perched on her nose, and dressed in a maroon pullover sweater, the collar of a white blouse showing beneath. The woman seemed to stare for a moment before speaking.

“Raju…I haven’t seen you in twelve years. I’m pleased to see that you’re doing well. How have you been?”

“It’s been up and down, Elizabeth.” Raju’s reply was flat. It was clear he didn’t know how to return Elizabeth’s casual greeting. He was trying every bit not to sound hostile, but he didn’t know how long that’d last.

“So I’ve heard. I’m…sorry to hear about your family. I’ve only heard about you recently, so that’s the only reason that you haven’t heard from me for so many years. Is it okay for me to dock so we can catch up?”

There was the hiss of a door as Raju swallowed. “You can dock, yes. My navigator will send you coordinates and specify where you can come aboard.”

Elizabeth smiled. “Thank you. I’ll be there in a moment.”

The link went dead as Raju sighed, leaning back in his chair. He looked to the side to see Sophia coming down to where he was, Amiria trailing behind.

“So that’s your enigmatic person from the past…” Sophia’s lightly blue blouse was complemented by her snug black vest. Her simple purple Victorian skirt was covered up front with a plain cream-colored apron, which served no real purpose, but part of Sophia’s taste of a working woman. Two internal hard drives where in her right hand, and a data pad in the other.

“Yeah…” Raju tried to quickly slap himself together and not look helpless. “Shinako?” He reached for the pad which Sophia gave to him.

“She’s increasing speed and heading towards the area Yorina designated.”

“Have Buster meet us as external access point C7. Arm him with a triple-barred auto shotgun and Mstorm CQB spraygun. Amiria, you got the chair.” Raju started to clamber out of the chair.

Amiria looked lost for a moment before settling herself into the chair, her feet not reaching the footrest. Sophia had left briefly, handing the hard drives to Haley before returning to Raju’s side.

Tamilia was at a loss in the sudden burst of activity. Sophia coming in, naturally doing everything that they all did despite coming from a similar upbringing like her just didn’t sit right. When she saw the lady on the screen, her insides turned as she recognized her from the planet. The creature had projected a pretty good imitation of her. But what did this woman have to do with her? What was her story? And what was he thinking with letting that child having control of the ship? Raju clearly did some odd things and had very strange companions indeed…

“Raju, do you need me to do anything else? Or you just want me to continue with what I was doing?” Sophia had wedged herself into his path.

“I don’t mind the company, come on.” Raju touched her elbow. “I think I can use the support…”

Sophia looked after him for a moment, a concerned look on her face as she started to follow. Shinako got up and picked up an elongated bundle then joined the procession, Novia taking her place as Bob completely took over the engineering console.

Tamilia still couldn’t make up her mind if she was going to stay or not, last minute deciding that she’d follow at a distance. She managed to slip after them just as the door closed. The three walked briskly forward, briefly talking to themselves.

“Yorina, what’s her ETA?” Raju pushed an earpiece into his ear.

“You have about four minutes. You there yet?”

“Eh, one thirds maybe.”

Tamilia hung back about ten feet, continuing to listen what they were saying.

After several corners and bends, then reached an end corridor which a circular door split in the middle was recessed into the wall. Raju stopped, staring at the door.

“Raju…I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but we can only help you so much if you don’t tell us what’s going on.” Shinako touched his shoulder.

“Yes, what’s wrong? Why have Buster come with all those weapons? Is that how you greet a childhood mentor?” Sophia asked.

“Honestly? I don't know what to think anymore. Part of my gut is screaming danger.” He hesitated. "The other part is questioning if I'm doing the right thing. Your guys' safety is my primary concern."

“Well, guess what? Your safety is OUR concern. You’re our leader.” Shinako’s eyes narrowed briefly. “But I know you’re trying to deal with this on your own…but we’ll help you.”

Raju nodded without a word. Shinako started to undo the bundle, letting the dark fabric fall to the ground, revealing a set of Japanese swords. She slung the longest across her back over her right shoulder, letting the smaller one rest across the small of her waist and the smallest tucked into her sash. Raju reached to his ankle and pulled a short snub autopistol from his ankle, handing it to Sophia, who tucked it into the back of the waist of her skirt, pulling her vest down back to conceal it.

There was a large drone as Buster came around the corner, his servos whirring with each step and his feet clanking against the metal floor. He stopped a few feet away from the door, looking at his caretakers and owners for directions.

“Just standby, Buster. Only nail her if we open fire.” Raju ordered.

“Command confirmed.” Buster droned in response.

“And we only open fire when?” Shinako asked.

“If she tries to do something to hurt us.”

There was a loud clang as the area shuddered, an orange light starting to flash over the door.

“She’s docked. Pressurizing airlock.” Yorina reported.

“Just act natural,” Sophia squeezed his shoulder before folding her hands in front of her. “Use your head and don’t panic. We’re right behind you.”

The light turned green as there was the hiss of air, the door opening.