

### ALIBI JONES

### BY MIKE LUOMA

Copyright 2009 by Michael Luoma. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written consent of Michael Luoma except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Special Thanks to my friends Nate Condon and Sarah Scott who have helped these books take shape since Vatican Ambassador, and to Danielle Deforge who helped whip Alibi into shape! Cover Illustration by Federico Guillen.

For information address Michael Luoma at:

glowinthedarkradio@gmail.com

Dedicated to my science fiction writing heroes,

Robert A. Heinlein and Frank Herbert

# Prologue

My name is Alibi Jones... Do I really have to do this Aunt Anita? Really? Posterity? What? All right! Only because it's your birthday! Shh... I'm doing it!

Hello. My name is Alibi Jones. I'm recording this for my Aunt Anita's birthday... All about me and what I'm up to? Okay. Even though she won't tell me how old she is! Ouch! Hey! That's child abuse! You tell me I'm very immature for twenty-five! What? Oh, they can just edit this out. I don't want to start ov... oh, for Pete's sake!

Hello. My name is Alibi Jones. Uh, Jones isn't really my original last name, but it's what I've been calling myself for the last ten years. I didn't want to use either my father or my mother's name. My Aunt Anita said I could choose my own last name. So I chose Jones. My aunt raised me... when she wasn't busy running the universe! She used to be the head of the Solar Alliance. She was the Prime Representative of the SA, Anita Capituna.

She's not really my "aunt", but I've always called her that. She's been awesome! And I'm not just saying that because it's her birthday. She's been both mom and dad to me.

My biological mom Ruth Kim is locked away in an institution. She's, um, what they call "criminally insane." She snapped when I was about three. My father's dead. He died when I was really young. My mom, uh... murdered my father. That's kinda where the whole "criminal" part of her insanity came in. You could say I've got issues!

"Alibi" really is my first name. Got that and my slightly Asian good looks from my mom. Aunt Anita tells me I get my restless nature and my uncanny knack for getting into trouble from my father.

I never knew my father, Bernard Campion. Everybody called him "BC". Yeah, he's THAT "BC". The one who ended the war and brought the alliance together to fight off the Eldred and the Ancient Enemy, Dolomay. Kind of weird to learn about the father you never knew in history class at school. No, you probably never heard about me in class. My father didn't even know I existed until the end. He met me the day he died.

I kind of remember that day. You know how old memories are from when you're a kid. Stuff from when you're really young seems kind of dim. But something that traumatic kind of sticks with you.

I remember being in a giant church. I remember her shooting. I remember him falling. Kind of fucked up. I mean messed up. Sorry, Aunt Anita. That's ancient history now, almost twenty-three years ago. This is now! It's 2035, the world's a different place!

The post-war baby boom helped us all move into space, as annoying as those kids are. I call them kids, ha! They're just a couple of years younger than me, but they act so entitled, you know what I mean? People went overboard with that whole "golden children" thing. Spoiled them all! Self-centered, arrogant... what? Sorry, Aunt Anita. They piss me off... Anyway, since the colonies are where the excitement is, that's where they've been going to find fame and fortune or something. Guess I'm just annoyed because I was there first!

I don't get back to Earth very often. This is about as close as I get most of the time, Ceres Central. This is like home, where I grew up with my aunt. It's been a few years since I was on Earth. My actual home base now is usually my place on Cat's Eye. Part of the old "Project" complex on the colony. Actually, it's Aunt Anita's old place. It's a good base of operations for what I do.

What do I do? Let's see... I do a lot of things! It's kind of hard to explain. I fly ships. Fix things. I work mostly for the Solar Alliance Mediator Corps. We're affiliated with the Solar Alliance Interstellar Force, SAIF, except that we're negotiators, not fighters.

We help negotiate trade agreements between human companies and alien races. Sometimes we help negotiate between different alien groups. I've done that a few times. I basically go wherever they tell me to go, try to listen to both sides even when they're completely alien. The boss says go – I go. It is kind of nice to have free run of Solar Alliance space in my Cruiser. Well, sort of free. I do have to go on my assignments!

But I do get to travel deeper into alien space than most people. I've met the Dakhur, who kind of look like big cats. I helped them negotiate with the Flaze. They're the bony-looking aliens we met back during the war. Met them and the Domo back then, that vampire race that died out. That reminds me! That's where I don't go – the dead worlds! That was the strangest thing to find out here. Remember when those aliens, the Eldred, all died at the end of the war? They died en masse on a lot of planets out here! Whole planetary populations turned into rotting piles of corpses! Pretty sick stuff.

So there are all these worlds, the dead worlds. You don't want to land on them. Those vampire aliens the Domo taught us that by their grim example. They tried to clean up and take over one of the old Eldred planets and ended up getting sick. I don't know if they ever found out what it was, but it seemed to effect just the Domo. They were an adaptive, kind of parasitic race, you know, like vampires or cannibals or something, so they may have, uh, "ingested" something bad. Destroyed most of their race! Which was sort of okay. They were kind of creepy, anyway. Well, they were! You said so yourself, Aunt Anita! They sucked, heh. Sorry.

Anyway, their deaths kind of served as examples to everyone else. No one lands on the dead worlds now. You don't know what you might run into. The Eldred had old weapons that had been handed down over hundreds of thousands of years. They might have launched plagues and other stuff as they died, weapons that originally belonged to the Ancient Enemy. Of course, that also makes those planets potential treasure troves of ancient tech – if you can find a planet that isn't poisoned.

The Eldred called their old masters the Ancient Enemy. Dolomay was one of them. When he died at the end of the war, the Eldred all died, because the Ancient Enemy were finally gone. Somehow, the Eldred's existence was tied into theirs, probably because the Eldred used to be the Ancient Enemy's servant race. I don't know, maybe I do know more about the history of the war because my father was involved. And because Aunt Anita talks about it all the time. What? You do! Okay, not ALL the time, but still!

Without the Eldred, things are a little crazy out there. They used to keep control over things. If they were around, I wouldn't have a job. No need for mediators when someone is simply in charge, you know? Some aliens have gotten pushy. The Tek'Tah are a good example of that. Ugly things, like trashcans with eye stalks and tentacles growing out of the top. They've been expanding their territories. The Mediator Corps has been trying to explain the concept of negotiation to the Tek'Tah. So far, they just don't get it! I've heard of other aliens, too, like the mysterious Devrizium – they don't show themselves to anyone.

You know, we're really just on the smallest edge of the space the Eldred used to occupy. And after I finish this recording, I'm heading back out there! Got another job to do. It's supposed to be an easy one this time. Of course, that's what M'Bekke always says. I didn't think the Pope was allowed to lie like that! He's gonna see this, right? Ha! Well, that's kind of where things are with me right now. And, um... Happy Birthday, Aunt Anita! Let's hope it's another great year! That didn't sound too fake, did it? Good...

# Chapter One

"I'm Alibi Jones! You can't do this to me!"

"THIS is what the Tek'Tah do with TRESPASSERS!"

The six-limbed, reptilian alien uses four of its powerful tentacles to lift and toss the thin, twenty five year old dark haired man into a dimly lit stone-walled cell. The guard swings the heavy wooden cell door shut behind him with its other two tentacles.

CLANG!

Alibi Jones is in trouble. After his last mediation assignment, he followed a group of aliens, reptilian Tek'Tah, suspected of kidnapping humans. He stowed away on one of their merchant ships, traveled with them out to this desolate outpost of Tek'Ti'Karn. Unfortunately, the Tek'Tah Alibi was following discovered him stowing away. They beat him and then turned him over to the their authorities on Tek'Ti'Karn. They are responsible for his current accommodations. Alibi throws himself at the cell door, shouting.

"Don't you know who I am! I told you, I'm Alibi Jones! My mother is the former President of the Solar Alliance!"

"You humans! Always think you're so SPECIAL!" the Tek'Tah hisses back at him through the cell door. Alibi wants to throw himself at the door again but holds back.

No real point in that, he thinks.

He looks around the cell. Four stone walls, no windows, one door. He's not alone. A pile of fur lays breathing in one corner, a human man is passed out in another.

"Dinnertime, cat man!" the guard calls in through the closed cell door.

"At least I don't smell like a dead fish!" Alibi shouts back, taunting the alien.

"No. You smell instead like sweaty, stinky meat," a deep, purring, yet dangerous sounding voice rumbles out. The pile of dappled brown and rusty gold fur unfolds into an upright feline shape. A lion on two feet emerges from its dark corner of the cell. Sharp, pointy teeth in the catlike face of the speaker catch the light as it approaches Alibi.

Alibi involuntarily draws back from his cell mate. He can sense fear and danger coming from the alien.

A Dakhur?

Alibi draws himself up to face down the bipedal being, his new cellmate. He stands nearly tiptoe, straining for more than his six feet as he stares down at the five-foot-eight man-cat. The alien stares back up at Alibi.

"I'm Alibi Jones!" he says, introducing himself.

"You know... I heard you say that before. Just then," the Dakhur says. The alien lets out a series of hisses. Alibi works out what the sounds are.

"Wait... are you laughing at me?" Alibi asks defensively.

"Yes. I was laughing at what the Tek'Tah said. You humans really do think you are very special," the cat-man tells him.

"What do you know about humans? What are you, anyway? You're Dakhur, right?"

The alien's greenish-yellow eyes widen.

"I am Dakhur. You are observant. For a human," the cat man purrs his approval.

"I haven't run into that many of your race," Alibi admits.

"Yet you knew what I was. How?"

"I worked a trade deal with the Dakhur, last year. With the Flaze." The alien cocks its head, seems puzzled. "I'm a commercial mediator," Alibi explains. "I help facilitate negotiations."

"Ah. Oh," the catlike alien exclaims. "You are THAT Alibi!"

"See?" Alibi smiles. "My reputation precedes me! Maybe I really AM special," he says with some attitude, a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

"Yes, yesssss, I do know of you. The young and foolish mediator." The alien's countenance noticeably darkens. "I think... I think I may have to kill you."

Oh Shit!

"Kill me? Why?"

"The Flaze were very shrewd in the negotiations you mediated with the Dakhur. We gave up more than we anticipated. My father was one of the negotiators. He became dishonored. We lost our family honor. He left us for the Wandering. For destroying his honor, I should kill you!"

"Wait! It's not my fault! I was just the mediator!" Alibi protests.

"Right. The SAIF had assured us your relative youth would not be a concern. Yet your inexperience allowed my family to be disgraced." The Dakhur does not sound convinced and shakes its head in an almost human fashion.

"I made sure that was a good deal!" Alibi insists.

"A 'good deal' for the Flaze, yes," the Dakhur says, and then pauses. He looks back up at Alibi. "You are not convincing me that I should not kill you," he purrs. "With the added stipulations the Flaze attached..."

"They shouldn't have added anything..." Alibi protests, trying to figure out what went wrong with his negotiations.

"They claimed it was a condition. One that you negotiated," the Dakhur says.

"No. Nah... they lied to you!" Alibi insists.

"They 'lied' you say? How interesting. So, then... maybe I do not kill you... yet," the alien says, as its tension relaxes.

"Alright! Hey!" Alibi says.

"Hey?"

"What's your name? You already know mine."

"Kitrafgrundlerrrrralllkazzzh."

"God bless you," Alibi says.

"What?"

"It's a joke, I was joking. Your name sounded like a sneeze. What was it again?"

"Kitrafgrundlerrrrralllkazzzh."

"Right... can I call you 'Kit'?"

"Sure."

"Excellent! Hello Kit, I'm Alibi."

"You keep saying that."

The man on the floor groans.

"THAT," Kit tells Alibi, "is Piccolo. He stinks like sweaty meat and urine. He pissed himself at some point earlier. He was still drunk, last I checked."

"Huh," the drunk on the floor says as he turns over to look up at Alibi through one squinting eye. "Who'ryou?"

"Who are you?" Alibi asks, answering the drunk's question with a question.

"Piccolo!" he spits out. Then he burps.

Alibi wrinkles his nose.

"Unh... I can smell that! How much have you been drinking?"

"Not Mush," he slurs.

"No?" Alibi asks.

"Mafailure. Me. Imafailure," the man mumbles. "Lost her. Lost her..." the drunk trails off. He rolls back over, curling up facing away from Alibi.

"Cheery guy."

"He has lost his sister," Kit tells him.

"Aw, man," Alibi says, suddenly feeling bad over hating the guy. "How'd she die?"

"She did not die," Kit clarifies. "She was taken. Piccolo says she was abducted by some Tek'Tah. He's been following them, but lost their trail here at Tek'Ti'Karn. He got drunk and tried to start a fight with some locals last night. They subdued him and brought him here."

"This is still from last night? Impressive."

"Disgusting," Kit disagrees.

"So, he thinks his sister was kidnapped by the Tek'Tah?" Alibi asks.

"Do you not hear so well? Yes. This is what I said."

"Huh. Funny," Alibi says almost to himself.

"Did you say 'funny'?" Kit asks.

"Yeah. I'm here because I've been following the trail of a friend of mine who disappeared. And the Tek'Tah are my prime suspects, too."

"If they are your suspects, why are you in their jail?"

"The Tek'Tah don't like being followed," Alibi muses aloud. "They're charging me with trespassing. I was following a trail, looking for my friend. She was kidnapped. At least I think she was. She disappeared from her home on Remillar. Some Tek'Tah were implicated, so I followed them. When they found me tailing them, they grabbed me. Beat me. And now I'm in here."

"Ah," something occurs to the cat-man. "You were not following them in an official capacity, then?"

"An official capacity?" Alibi asks him, confused. "Oh, you mean like SAIF?"

"Safe? Oh, you mean the Solar Alliance Interplanetary Force, yes," Kit realizes. "You do not work for them?" he asks.

"Oh no!" Alibi clarifies. "I'm no Alliance Officer! Far from it!"

"You worked with them for the negotiations," Kit says a little darkly.

"I'm in the Mediation Corps!" Alibi insists. "We work with SAIF but we're separate. Different!"

"Too bad," Kit says, calming down. "I'd imagine SAIF wouldn't let one of their own get eaten alive in a Tek'Tah cell. Will anyone be coming for you?"

"Eaten? Alive?" Alibi asks. He backs away from the lion-like alien and its sharp teeth. Kit lets out a quick burst of hisses, laughing at Alibi's reaction.

"You eat people?" Alibi asks him.

"Me? Personally, no. But some Dakhur have eaten human beings, when starved and provoked into it. It is probably why you have been thrown in here with me." Kit leans toward Alibi, baring his fangs and licking his lips. "I am rather hungry."

"Grrreat... " Alibi inches further away from the feline, almost falls over the feet of the drunk on the floor.

"Ha!" Kit lets out an almost human laugh. "I do not plan on eating you. I have not eaten him yet," he nods at the drunk. "Have I?"

"Maybe you don't like pickled meat?" Alibi offers.

Kit hisses out more laughs.

"Maybe I don't! Nor pissy meat, either," the cat-man concedes. He looks Alibi directly in the eye. "You do not whet my appetites in any way, shape or form, either. Have no fear. I will not aide the Tek'Tah in their prisoner disposal."

Alibi relaxes.

"Eeeat meeeee," the drunk says out loud, to no one in particular. Alibi and Kit laugh together.

"So," Kit says to Alibi, "you never answered me. Will anyone be missing you? Coming after you here?"

"The Tek'Tah got my Wand. You know, my Wanderer. My com device?" Alibi says, explaining when Kit looks confused. "I can't get in touch with anyone. They'll miss me, but they won't know where I am. Why?"

"I do not know about you," the cat-man says, "but I would like to get out of here!"

"Why did the Tek'Tah lock you up?" Alibi asks Kit.

"A story for another time," Kit demurs. Alibi decides not to press it.

"Fine. Speaking of stories... won't we get to plead our cases?"

Kit hisses a laugh. "Plead your case? They threw you in here as food! You think the Tek'Tah want to hear from Dakhur food? Do you think they care what food has to say?"

"But... but... I'm Alibi Jones!"

"You're fooooooooood," the drunk says, his back to Alibi. "Get used to it!"

"Do you suppose that's what happened to your sister, then?" Alibi asks the back of the drunk man. In a blur of motion, the drunk leaps up off the floor, whirls to face Alibi and charges at him, hand outstretched and grabbing for Alibi's throat!

"You don't talk about my sister!" the drunk screams at Alibi as he pins him to the wall, both hands around his throat. Alibi struggles. He chops in at the drunk's head with both hands. The man pulls one of his hands from Alibi's throat to swat at his chopping arms, giving Alibi a fighting chance.

"...okay!" Alibi tries to get out past strangulation. "...sorry!" He strains out.

The drunk goes slack. His hand drops from Alibi's throat. He backs away.

"Sorry, man," he mumbles. "I lost her. She can't be dead. I suck." He falls back down to the floor in a sulking pile, head down.

Alibi shakes off the attack.

"Yeah. I need to get out of here," Alibi admits to Kit. "Got a plan?"

"I have been thinking of one. Next time they open the door, we jump the guard. You go high, I go low," Kit suggests. He looks away. Alibi thinks the alien almost looks embarrassed. "It is all I have come up with."

"Good plan," Alibi says, his voice heavy with sarcasm. Kit looks back at him.

Nearly a minute goes by in silence as the two stare each other down.

"What?" Alibi finally gives in.

"I am waiting for your plan," Kit tells him. He continues to look at Alibi.

"Give me a second."

Another minute goes by in silence.

"Tell you what," Alibi says. "Next time the guard opens the door? We jump him. You go low, I go high."

"Oh," Kit says, "Much better plan than mine."

"I've got another idea. Another part of the plan," Alibi adds. "They think you're going to eat me, right? Here's what I'm thinking..."

# Chapter Two

The guard glances from side to side. It snags a passing bug from the air with its right tongue. The Tek'Tah's eye stalks swivel around, watching out as it swallows. It does not want to get caught eating on the job. Full attention is supposed to be on the heavy cell door behind him. If the guard is caught feeding its superiors will know it is closing in on sleep cycle, and the guard will lose position. A noise from inside the cell gets the guard's attention.

"What are you doing! No! Noooooooo!"

One of the humans is screaming.

"Noooo! Aaahhhh... unh." The yelling stops abruptly. The guard smiles the Tek'Tah equivalent of a smile. Sounds like the Dakhur is finally feeding.

"Everybody eat!" the guards hisses to itself. Another bug floats by. This time the guard uses its left tongue to pull in the hovering morsel. Soon it will be sleep cycle...

"Wake up sluggard!" The Tek'Tah superior hisses at the sleeping guard before him. The guard snaps back into consciousness, battered by the slapping tentacles of the superior berating him. The guard began its sleep cycle! It will lose position!

"You feed on the job, Ka'Tah! You are worthless!" the superior hisses.

"I apologize! I beg humbly for forgiveness!" The guard tries to cover itself.

"Why do you always feed, Ka'Tah? To feed is to sleep!"

"The Dakhur fed, too."

"Were you inspired, then?" the superior says with scorn.

"I beg humbly for forgiveness!"

"Did you see the Dakhur feed? Which human did he eat?"

"Maybe he ate both of them? I did not see him eat. I heard him, through the door. Sounded messy," the guard says.

"Hurmmmm," the superior hums as he meditates.

"I beg humbly for forgiveness!" The guard blurts out another plea.

"I hear you," his superior hisses with disdain. "Wake yourself up!" He hands the guard a set of restraints he can use on the cat-man. "Since the Dakhur has eaten, it will now be sleeping. An excellent opportunity for you to go in and put these on him."

"Right now?" the guard asks.

The superior checks his timepiece.

"Give it an hour. Let him digest for a bit and sink deeper into sleep. Can you stay awake for another hour, Ka'Tah?"

"Yes, sir! I can and I will, sir! Thank you for this opportunity, sir! I won't let you down, sir! I humbly beg..."

"...my forgiveness," the superior says, cutting him off. "I know! I know, Ka'Tah. Here is your chance to earn it. Don't mess up."

The superior officer turns and slithers away. Ka'Tah leans back against the wall next to the door and tries to stay awake. The guard talks to itself.

"No! Not falling asleep," he says in a soft voice to himself. "Stay awake."

After about a half an hour alert, the guard begins to drift towards sleep cycle. He snaps himself out of it as he starts to slide to the floor!

"No. Can't. No sleep cycle, not yet!"

The guard's eye stalks whip around as it looks up and down the corridor. There's no one around, no witnesses to his drowsiness.

"Good. Maybe..." the guard looks up and down again. It looks back at the cell door. "Maybe I should do it now?"

The guard decides. He turns and unlocks the cell door. He opens it up and looks inside the darkened cell. There is a lump on the floor in the back corner.

Before the Tek'Tah guard can enter with the restraints, he's hit by two blurs flashing out of the darkness – Alibi hits him high, Kit hits him low. The three fly out into the corridor, tumbling in a tangle of fur, tentacles and human limbs against the wall opposite the cell door.

"Grab his burner!" Kit calls out to Alibi.

Alibi can't quite reach the Tek'Tah guard's burner, a rifle sized energy gun tethered to a harness worn over its tentacles. The burner has fallen from the harness and dangles from a strap.

"I can't reach it! You can! It's near your left foo... uh, paw!" Alibi tells the Dakhur.

"I got it," the drunk says. Piccolo has joined them in the corridor. He grabs the guard's burner strap and pulls the gun over to him. "How do you fire this thing?"

"Wrap your hands around the handle sticking out there, point the skinny end and squeeze the handle," Kit gives fast instructions, "as if your hands were a tentacle... do it now! Quickly!"

Piccolo buries the skinny end in the guard's side and squeezes the handle of the burner with both hands.

Fwaaaasssssshhhhhh!

A sick smell of charred meat fills the air. Alibi and Kit jump away from the severed halves of the former guard as they thump to the floor. The three cell mates exchange glances between them. Piccolo tears the strap of the burner from the dead guard's harness.

"Let's go!" Alibi says urgently.

"Aren't you going to thank me?" Piccolo asks snidely, brandishing the burner like a drunken cowboy with a rifle.

"Run. Follow me. This way. Now!" Kit commands. He turns and takes off down the corridor. Alibi and Piccolo follow fast as they can run, Piccolo holding onto the Tek'Tah burner.

Kit leads them through twisting corridors to an outside door guarded by two Tek'Tah. The three escapees stop just out of sight of the guards, around the corner from the exit.

"Give me the burner," Kit says to Piccolo. Piccolo pulls the gun back away from him.

"Why should I?" he asks. He draws the gun-like weapon in close to his chest.

They hear a noise around the corner, hissing from the Tek'Tah. Sounds like the guards have heard them.

"Either give me the burner or turn that corner and shoot them yourself. Now!" Kit hisses at Piccolo. Piccolo hurriedly hands over the burner to the cat man. Kit struggles with the weapon, and lets out a sharp hiss of his own.

"I cannot squeeze it correctly! I cannot make enough contact on the handle with the pads of my hands! Damn tentacled bastards!" the Dakhur curses.

"Let me see it," Alibi asks, holding out his hands. Kit passes the burner over. Alibi gets a feel for the handle.

Ah! That's how it works!

"I've got it. Here we go!"

Alibi surges around the corner and squeezes the handle of the burner at the same time. The beam from the high intensity energy weapon slices a jagged, burning path through the two Tek'Tah guards. Alibi swings the burner back and forth. The reptilian aliens' hissing protests fall silent as they dissolve into pieces on the floor. Kit comes up behind Alibi.

"Go." Kit says. Alibi feels a furry paw on his back pushing him to move forward. He runs ahead toward the dead guards with Kit and Piccolo close behind him.

"Ew," Alibi blurts out when a small piece of Tek'Tah flesh squishes underneath his boot as he runs through the doorway outside.

"Keep moving," Kit says, catching up next to him. "We need to get out of here, get as far away from the Tek'Tah holdings on Tek'Ti'Karn as we can – as fast as we can!"

Outside the building the ground is barren. The three see a distant fence marking the boundary of the compound.

"That way," Kit says, nodding at the fence.

Hissing alerts them. They look back and see another Tek'Tah guard emerging from the building. Alibi lifts the burner.

"You guys get going. I'm right behind you!"

Kit and Piccolo begin to run as he swings around and squeezes the burner's handle, the beam slicing the Tek'Tah clean through. As the smoking alien collapses in pieces, Alibi turns and runs. He catches up with Kit and Piccolo at the compound's fence, an eight foot high barrier made of plastic and stone.

"Blast the fence with the burner," Kit calls over to Alibi, nodding at the barrier before them. Alibi turns the burner on the fence and squeezes the handle.

FWAAAAASSSSHHHH!

Alibi concentrates the burner beam and melts a hole through the wall of fused plastic and rock. He plays the beam steadily around the edges of the hole, expanding it. He stops when he figures it's big enough, about three meters across.

They wait for the edges to cool and then duck through the hole. The area beyond the fence is also bare and desolate. Kit gets his bearings. He nods to the left, and heads off in that direction with Alibi and Piccolo following. Leaving the Tek'Tah holdings behind them, they run.

"We need to get to the port. My hope is we can find a non-Tek'Tah ship to get us out of here," Kit says, looking over at Alibi as they run across a gravel field dotted by sparse growth. "Do you have a ship we can use?" Kit asks Alibi.

"Nah. I hitched a ride with the Tek'Tah to get here," he tells him.

"You stowed away on one of their ships? No wonder they do not like you," Kit says. The cat-like alien turns to the other man, about to ask Piccolo if he has a ship, but Kit stops himself. "Never mind."

"Don't you have a ship?" Alibi asks Kit.

"Impounded," Kit explains.

"Does The Project ever send ships out this way? You ever see any of them around?" Alibi asks Kit.

"The human scientists? Why would they? Tek'Ti'Karn is a commercial outpost, and a shady one at that. Not much on this rock to interest your human scientists, I would not think," Kit says.

"I was just hoping," Alibi explains. "I have some connections in the Project. My, um, 'aunt' runs the place."

"Your aunt? It is good to have friends in high places. Even better to have relatives there!" Kit says.

FWAAAASSSSHHHHH!

Alibi feels heat on his back as the beam from a Tek'Tah burner makes contact with the gravel behind him.

"They're shooting at us!" Piccolo yells in a panic. "They're shooting at us from the fence!"

"Brilliant observation," Kit comments. "Keep running!"

The three fugitives continue their mad dash as the aliens fire burner weapons at their heels.

Fwaaaaaassssshhhhh!

Another beam hits, but it's a little further back this time.

"We're almost out of their range!" Alibi figures. "They'll have to send guards out after us if they want to keep up."

"You know they will," Kit says.

"I'm betting on it," Alibi jokes.

# Chapter Three

The three fugitives run across the gravel surface of Tek'Ti'Karn, trying to put distance between themselves and the Tek'Tah compound.

"There's an old Domo enclave a couple of clicks up ahead," Kit informs Alibi and Piccolo. "Abandoned, but it will give us better cover than this wide open plain. We need to get there before they do!"

"Can we..." Piccolo starts, but has to catch his breath. "Can we stop..." he breathes heavily, "running yet?"

"Not yet. Keep running," Kit tells him.

"I'm... uh," Piccolo stops running. He falls to his knees, and then down onto all fours as he begins to vomit. "HHuuruurgggggglleeeaarrrgghhh!!" Bright yellow bile splatters on the gravel in front of him. Piccolo heaves, losing it again. "Huurggglleargh!"

Piccolo is on all fours. His head almost touches the ground.

"We must keep running!!" Kit says with urgency. "Get up!"

"Will try," Piccolo says in a weak voice. He straightens up onto his knees, and then pushes himself up onto his unsteady feet. He lurches ahead. "S'kay, lezgo."

Kit and Alibi run a few paces ahead of Piccolo as the three make their way across the desolation. Every few minutes they hear an echoing "FWAAASSSHHH!" in the distance as the Tek'Tah continue their pursuit. Piccolo lets out an occasional heave but manages not to stop or falter.

After running non-stop for what seems like hours they see the geometric, regular shapes of buildings off in the distance.

"The Domo enclave," Kit tells them, nodding at the buildings. "We will have cover. And we are closer to the port. We are almost there."

"Thank God!" Piccolo exclaims, as if he's been born again.

Domo architecture features rounded corners and Gothic-seeming embellishments – buttresses and looping, ornate decorations. The buildings in this enclave are no different. Alibi can make out the top floors of the four tallest buildings as they approach the abandoned settlement, until they get too close to see past its high wall. The enclave is surrounded by an imposing embankment about four meters high with a rounded top. They follow along it until they reach a sealed door in the barrier.

"You want me to shoot a hole in it?" Alibi asks Kit.

"That will not work on this. The surface is ablative. The wall is also too thick to burn through in a timely fashion," Kit informs him. He looks up at the top of the wall."A moment, please," Kit says.

Another "fwaaaaassshh!" echoes in the distance.

Kit paces a few meters backwards, and then runs, springs and jumps up onto the top of the wall, landing on all fours on the curve at its apex. Kit looks down at them. Alibi thinks he's smiling, but he really can't be sure. Then Kit disappears down on the other side of the wall.

The wall springs to life with clicks and whirring noises, sliding noises, and then more clicking. Finally, the door in the wall slides open, revealing Kit waiting on the inside.

"Get inside!" Kit breathes. Alibi and Piccolo run inside the Domo compound. Kit hits a panel built into the wall and the door closes behind them. "Alibi. The burner. Fire it here, at these controls," Kit tells him. Alibi aims the burner at the control panel Kit is pointing to and squeezes the handle.

FWAAAAAASSSHHHH!

The beam melts the panel face. Sparks fly from behind the drooping cover.

"How are we gonna get back out of here?" Piccolo protests.

"We will not be going back that way," Kit explains. "And we do not want to make it any easier for the Tek'Tah to get through. Do we?"

Piccolo and Alibi shake their heads.

"Let us go," Kit says. He turns and leads them into the settlement.

They walk by one of the tall buildings Alibi spotted from off in the distance. Buttresses line its side, making it look like a giant human church except for the oozing, dripping alien insulation material sprayed over the entire structure. The building has a flowing, liquid appearance.

Alibi looks around at the other empty Domo buildings in the small abandoned city. Most of the taller buildings have similar supports.

He doesn't have much time for sightseeing. Kit keeps the three of them moving through the settlement at a rapid pace, past Domo buildings and on toward the opposite side of the compound.

"We will follow a tunnel a few clicks long that leads to the main port. It starts inside this Domo enclave and goes under the wall," Kit informs them. "We may need to check inside two or three of the buildings near the embankment to locate the transportation hub. There we will find the tunnel entrance."

There's no need to worry. As they reach the row of structures in front of the wall, the building that houses the tunnel entrance becomes obvious. The self-evident transportation hub has a broad staircase descending from street level down into the dark, heading in the direction of the wall.

"Looks like that's the way," Alibi says, blurting out what they're all thinking.

"I don't know if I wanna spend a long time walking down a long tunnel," Piccolo protests.

Fwaaaaasssssshhhhh!

FWAAAASSSHHHH!

Tek'Tah burners echo in the near distance.

"They have reached the wall," Kit says. "We must go." He begins running down the stairs into the darkness. Alibi follows. Soon Piccolo is climbing down behind him.

"I hope my eyes adjust. I can't see anything!" Piccolo complains.

"We Dakhur can see in less light than you humans," Kit tells them. "There are no obstacles on these stairs, so you are safe to continue walking down them. There is a platform a short way down. I will warn you before you reach it."

"Great. Just keep going down into the dark? Great," Piccolo complains.

"Quiet!" Alibi barks at the man in a loud whisper. "Let's not give the Tek'Tah any help finding us, huh?"

"Platform," Kit says.

Alibi slows up. Cautious, he tests his footing. The stairs have ended.

"Wha? Unh!" Piccolo grunts. He sprawls onto the platform on all fours. Or at least it sounds like he's sprawled out on the platform. The darkness is all consuming. Alibi can't see a thing.

"Follow the sound of my voice," Kit says. "I am at a door." Alibi hears a scraping noise. Kit must be opening the door. "Stop now," Kit says a little more quietly. Alibi is now standing next to him.

"Say something!" Piccolo whines nearby. "I can't..."

"Here. Come here," Kit says. "Follow my voice. You are almost, unh!" Kit grunts as Piccolo walks into him. "Too close. Okay. Reach out and feel the edge of this door. We will need to squeeze through. It is stuck in position."

Both Alibi and Piccolo reach out and feel the door's edge. Alibi feels his arm bump against Piccolo's.

"Find it? Good," Kit says. "I will go first." He brushes past the two men and through the barely open door. "Come on," Kit purrs. "Alibi first."

Alibi squeezes through the door. Piccolo follows close behind.

"Watch your step," Kit cautions. "There are some guide grooves in the floor. Be careful not to trip on them. This was a travel tube tunnel from the enclave to the port."

"I can't watch anything," Piccolo grumbles. "I can't see anything!"

"Let's hope the Tek'Tah don't see where we've gone, either," Alibi halfheartedly jokes.

"Hey!" Kit calls, sounding further away than Alibi thought he was. "Come on you two! We have a long way to go!"

Alibi walks ahead, tentative, worried about the grooves in the floor. He hasn't come across them yet.

I don't want to twist my ankle in one, either!

"Fuckin' pussy cat," Piccolo swears under his breath, still close to Alibi.

"I heard that!" Kit says from a short distance ahead of them.

"The Dakhur have very good hearing," Alibi points out.

"Thanks for that news update," Piccolo says with heavy sarcasm.

"You're welcome," Alibi scowls.

The three of them walk on through the dark tunnel in near silence, hearing only their own footfalls. If the Tek'Tah have found their way down into the travel tube tunnel, they're being awfully quiet about it.

Alibi finds his mind wandering as they walk.

Kit never did tell me what the Tek'Tah have against him.

"So, Kit," Alibi asks out of the darkness, "how did you end up in that Tek'Tah cell?"

"I ran afoul of the local Tek'Tah Overlord. He is not a lover of the Dakhur."

"Whadya do?" Piccolo asks.

"I ran afoul of..." Kit begins to answer again.

"No, no, I know, I just heard you say that," Piccolo interrupts out of the darkness. "But how'd you 'run afoul' of them?"

"I do not wish to say," Kit answers. He doesn't say any more.

With Kit's non-answer, the silence grows between them. Time is hard to keep track of in the quiet dark. They walk for what are probably hours but seem like days.

Gradually, Alibi realizes he can see again. He's beginning to make out dim outlines, to see variations in the depths of the shadows.

"Hey, I can see! Kind of. A little," Alibi notes aloud.

"It is getting brighter," Kit says. "I believe we are nearing the port."

"Finally!" Piccolo exclaims.

"Hold on," Kit says, stopping to look for a sign of something in the wall of the travel tube. "I need to find a maintenance door. This tunnel connects up with other travel tube tunnels just ahead of our location. It may not be safe to walk any further in the tube itself. Not many transports come this way anymore, but just in case... we need a maintenance access door. We need to get out of the tunnels."

Kit scans the side wall of the tunnel. Alibi tries to get his eyes to adjust to the meager light. He realizes he can now make out the transport grooves in the tunnel floor. Squinting ahead, he sees their tunnel connects with another one perpendicular to it. Piccolo grows bored as Kit's search continues. Alibi watches him wander up to the intersection and walk into the other tunnel.

"I would not do that," Kit calls over to Piccolo. "I believe I hear a transport coming."

"You hear a wha..." Piccolo is cut short, forced to dive back into their tunnel as a transport screams by in the other one.

"Damn!" Piccolo curses his luck from the tunnel floor.

"Ah. Here we go," Kit says. He opens a door onto a well-lit access tunnel. Bright light flares up around them, blinding Alibi and Piccolo for a moment.

Kit calls to them.

"Come on!"

Alibi and Piccolo both squint at the new light as they join Kit in the smaller maintenance tunnel. Their eyes adjust as they follow the access tunnel to a door at its end.

The main plaza of the port is partially visible through a panel in the door. The three wait, observing the crowd in the plaza as they decide on their next course of action. As bad luck would have it, a group of Tek'Tah are perched a few meters from their door. There are some Flaze nearby. A couple of humans and other aliens Alibi doesn't recognize mingle in the plaza as well.

"See anybody you recognize?" Kit asks Alibi.

"No. Should I?"

"We could use some friends..."

"Are those the same Tek'Tah as the ones in the compound?" Alibi asks.

"They are all related," Kit tells him. "They may be on the lookout. Best to be careful."

"Is there a screen here?" Piccolo asks. "Maintenance computer? Access?"

Kit examines the wall next to the door.

"Here," Kit says as he pops open a panel. A screen is revealed.

"Nice," Piccolo says. He begins to punch in commands. "There we go," Piccolo says to himself. "And here we are!"

Piccolo backs away from the screen, smiling as he looks from Kit to Alibi.

"I've got us a ship!"

"You? A ship?" Alibi asks, incredulous.

"You own a ship?" Kit asks him.

"Not technically. It's... kinda mine. Well, now it is. It's in bay 23," he says. "Let's go!"

Piccolo turns and pushes past Kit. He opens the door onto the plaza and darts out before the other two can stop him.

"Shit," Alibi snaps, and he heads out the door after Piccolo.

Kit shrugs and follows the other two into the plaza.

Alibi tries not to look at the Tek'Tah. He walks with a quick step past the reptilian aliens in the plaza. Once well past them he looks back. At first, he doesn't see Kit. Then the alien reappears, straightening from picking up something from the floor of the plaza. Alibi looks ahead and sees Piccolo dodging and weaving through the crowd.

Stupid ass!

Alibi curses under his breath as he follows across the plaza.

The Tek'Tah in the plaza don't seem to be attentive. Alibi can kind of "feel" it when someone's watching him. It's one of his "talents". Right now he doesn't feel anything. He reaches the other side of the plaza and sees Piccolo ducking down an alley next to a building up ahead.

Kit catches up with Alibi as he leaves the plaza.

"The Tek'Tah do not seem to have noticed us, or do not care," Kit tells Alibi as they hustle towards the alley Piccolo disappeared down.

"Do you think we can trust –" Alibi starts. He's cut off by coarse screaming. At the edge of the plaza a few meters behind them, a Tek'Tah threatens with his burner weapon.

"Hey! You two! Stop right there!"

Alibi shoots a look at Kit and starts running.

FWAAAASSSHHHH!

Alibi can feel the heat from the burner's blast on his back as he and Kit round the corner of the alley. Piccolo is about a block and a half ahead of them. He disappears around the side of another warehouse just after Alibi spies him.

"Up there," Kit says, pointing to the corner where Piccolo was a moment earlier. He runs fast, reaches the corner while Alibi is still half a block away.

"Duck!" Kit shouts at Alibi. He points a power rifle in Alibi's direction. "Get down," he yells. Alibi dives to the ground. The beam from the power rifle passes over Alibi's back.

SSSHHHHHWAAAAARRRR!

He raises his head off the ground and looks over his shoulder to see where the beam hit. There's a small, smoking crater and severed, twitching tentacles where the Tek'Tah used to be.

"Where'd you get that rifle?" Alibi calls over to Kit.

"I grabbed it in the plaza when its owner wasn't looking. Now run!"

The cat-man sprints out of sight. Alibi jumps to his feet and races ahead to follow Kit around the corner. He's about a half a block ahead of Alibi as they run down the alley between the warehouses.

"There they are!" a Tek'Tah calls out behind them. "Murderers!"

FWAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!

FWAAAASHHHH!

Two burner blasts singe the ground behind Alibi's heels as he runs. He tries to duck around the side of another warehouse, following Kit, and stumbles into the wall. He trips, falling flat on his face as he careens around the corner.

"Stay down," Kit hisses at him from a few meters away.

Kit raises the power rifle and fires over Alibi's head.

SSSSSSSSSSSHHHHWAAAAARR!

SSSSHHHWAAARR!

"Okay! Up again!" Kit says.

The Dakhur takes off running. Alibi gets to his feet and starts running after the receding figure of Kit.

Kit rounds another corner. He's waiting for Alibi as he comes around the building. A busy thoroughfare buzzes with activity at the end of the alley, about fifty meters ahead of them.

"I believe Bay 23 is just ahead, across Port Way, the street at the end of this alley," Kit tells Alibi. "I lost track of Piccolo, but recognize the neighborhood."

Alibi squints as he tries to see the bay in the distance through the traffic.

"Let us go," Kit says, nudging him.

They run down the alley but stop short of the busy roadway, staying in the shadows. No more Tek'Tah have materialized behind them, but there are Tek'Tah mingling in the crowds making their way in either direction down the busy thoroughfare ahead. These Tek'Tah don't appear to be looking for anyone, but Alibi remembers the ones in the plaza didn't seem to be interested, either – and those Tek'Tah were just chasing and shooting at him.

"I will cross first. You follow about a minute later," Kit says to him. Alibi gives him a look, folds his arms across his chest. "What?" the alien asks.

"I'm not used to taking orders," Alibi says frostily. He leans back against the building.

"Are you used to staying alive?" Kit asks him with an edge in his voice. "I have saved your human ass twice already now. Not bad for someone who was served to me as a snack!"

Alibi shrugs, "Sorry. Thanks for that, I guess. I mean, the not eating me and saving my ass parts." Kit looks at him, almost a stare down. But the alien blinks first.

"Fine," Kit says, "be that way!" He leaps away from Alibi to cross the street to the bay. Alibi stands by himself in the shadows. He waits for an extra minute as a lumbering Tek'Tah slithers by, and then he follows Kit. He dodges a Snakt convoy and two Flaze merchants guiding an auto-pallet along the Port Way as he crosses the street to the bay doors.

A strange, alien logo hangs over the sign, evidently indicating that this is the 23rd Bay of the Port and it belongs to Someone Important. The numbers are clear enough to Alibi, so he enters and looks around for Kit and Piccolo.

"Over here!" Kit hisses at him. He's hiding in the darkness a short way inside along the front wall of the bay, on Alibi's left.

"What's the matter?" Alibi asks Kit. "Where's Piccolo?"

"I do not know," the feline alien says. "Did you see the sign outside?"

"Yeah, didn't recognize it. Is it a problem?"

"Yesssss! This bay belongs to the Devrizium!" Kit explains in a whisper. "They do not mingle with other races. If you thought the Tek'Tah got upset about trespassing... it is a capital violation among the Devrizium. You soil their territory with your presence, you die. They meet you, they kill you, it is very simple. They are not a social species."

"The Devrizium?" Alibi asks. "I've heard of them, heard they were pretty belligerent!"

"Isolationist. Xenophobic. Deadly. Powerful. And warlike, yes. They were cowed only by the Eldred."

"Hey!" Piccolo calls out in a loud voice from somewhere out of sight. "Is that you guys? Where are you?"

"I believe he is no longer drunk, but perhaps he remains intellectually challenged," Kit whispers to Alibi.

"The Devrizium aren't here, it's okay!" Piccolo calls out. "C'mon, I know you both made it in here, I heard the bay door!"

Alibi decides to risk it. He steps out of the shadows and looks around the bay.

"Alibi? That you? Over here!" Piccolo calls to him.

Alibi spies a human ship parked in a corner of the bay, an old, beat up Stinger Transpace ship with a commercial paint job over the old SAIF markings. Piccolo leans out of an open door on the side of the ship.

"See? Like I told you, I've got us a ship!"

Alibi saunters over to the ship, cautious, looking around for signs of any other aliens.

Don't know what I'm looking for.

Don't even know what Devrizium look like!

"So, this is your ship?" Alibi asks Piccolo.

"It is now. Its previous owner no longer has a use for it," Piccolo says.

"Probably because he landed it in a Devrizium port bay," Kit says, materializing just behind Alibi's shoulder. Piccolo glares at Kit, then turns and heads into the ship.

"We should go," Kit says. "The Tek'Tah won't venture inside this landing bay, but our being here could be deadly if we run into the Devrizium."

Alibi and Kit board the ship. Kit closes the airlock behind them and they head up to the ship's bridge.

"Wow, you can sure tell this isn't a military craft!" Alibi says, struck by the grunge in the corners, the dirt and dust buildup in the cracks and crevices of the ship. When he gets to the bridge, there's a strong, funky smell, like sour onions and pepperoni. The deck chairs are re-covered in colorful fabric. The walls and ceiling are painted dark blue and covered in day glo yellow dots in an attempt to make it look like a starfield.

"Customized," Piccolo says, when he notices Alibi taking in their surroundings.

"Not the word I would use," Alibi mumbles.

"Aaaarrrrooooohhh, the smell!!" Kit complains.

"Sorry, man, not mine," Piccolo denies. "You get used to it, though."

"I do not think so! Dakhur senses are more sensitive than human senses!" the cat man argues.

Alibi notices no one has sat down.

"Are we going to get out of here?" Alibi asks.

"Sure," Piccolo says. "One of you guys can pilot a ship, right?" He looks helplessly around the ship's bridge, clueless.

"I could probably figure out the controls," Kit says, starting to look in curiously at the bridge configuration.

"I've flown old Stinger ships," Alibi says, pushing past the other two to head for the pilot's seat. He sits down in the captain's chair and turns back to Kit and Piccolo. "Strap yourselves in. We're leaving!"

Piccolo and Kit sit down and fasten their seat belts. The ship's controls haven't been customized, so they come easy to Alibi. He powers up the engines and lifts the ship off the ground.

He hovers the ship over the bay for a second or two before punching in a steep ascent path. The three of them are pressed back into their seats by the G forces as the Stinger ship blasts up and away from the rocky planet below.

# Chapter Four

"Let's see." Alibi tries calling up sensor readings. "Nothing on the sensors... if they're working. No one following us!"

"Nice!" Piccolo says.

"I think I may vomit," Kit says. He gets up out of his seat. "I will go check on the engines."

"Hold on," Alibi says. Kit gives him a pained look. "Sorry, man. But we've gotta figure out where we're going first."

"Anywhere away from here is fine with me," Kit says, turning away. "You two figure it out and tell me what you decide. I will be in the engine room." He dashes out of the bridge.

"Man, it does kinda stink. Smells worse than it used to!" Piccolo admits once Kit is gone. "Kronburg wasn't the most hygienic guy I've ever worked with. I don't think the refresher works on the ship."

"I didn't think there was a refresher on this ship at all," Alibi comments. "I mean, judging by the smell. So," he changes the subject. "Where are we going? I'd like to follow the trail of my friend. The Tek'Tah grabbed her back on Remillar."

"No kidding? Remillar? That's where I lost her. My, um, my sister, I mean," Piccolo tells him.

"No kidding?" Alibi says. "I had just finished a negotiation with two merchants on Remillar. Had some time before my flight back to Cat's Eye, so I decided to look up an old teacher of mine, Minerva Kay. She was my Alien Cultures professor back in high school on Cat's Eye. She really was into alien cultures and ended up moving out to Remillar to study the Flaze and learn more about the Tek'Tah and the Dakhur. She's been working on a book on the Dakhur and Dakhur culture. She's the reason I know so much about them," he tells Piccolo. Alibi pauses, sad but still warmed by thoughts of his absent old teacher and friend.

"I meant to look her up when I got to Remillar, but the negotiations were too involved. I couldn't get away. She knew I was there for a meeting. We'd even gotten in touch beforehand. I finally had a chance to visit her when the negotiations concluded."

"There was no answer when I knocked on her apartment door. I knocked a few times, enough so that one of her neighbors came out to give me a hard time about the noise. She lives in a small apartment building in the Remillar Centropolis, in the human sector of the city. Has an old Domo for a neighbor. One of the last of them, I guess. The Domo actually came out to talk to me about knocking so much... and so loud. The Domo said he hadn't seen her around for a few days, if you can trust that."

"A Domo, huh? I thought they'd all died out?" Piccolo asks.

"Not all of them. Not yet," Alibi says. "This one was old, but still alive. It went back into its apartment and left me alone after that. It's too bad the people there didn't leave it alone," Alibi says sadly.

"I tried Miss Kay's apartment door. It was open, so I went in. I was already worried that I was going to find her unconscious or worse, you know?" Piccolo nods. Alibi continues. "But I didn't find her at all. She wasn't in her apartment. But all her stuff, all her personal belongings, were still there. Her Wanderer was there, so she really couldn't have gone far. It hadn't been used in a week or so. I figured that's how long she had been missing.

"I asked around, but the aliens that Miss Kay was so fond of had nothing to say to me about her. I thought a human among them would be different enough to stand out, but they didn't seem to have really noticed her." Alibi shakes his head. "And they didn't seem to notice she was gone. Her Domo neighbor bothered me. Seemed like he was hiding something. And the local Tek'Tah merchant outpost was downright hostile. It was the first time a Tek'Tah dressed me down for supposedly thinking I was 'special' because I'm human. They do NOT like us! I was glad I had my Mediator Corps uniform on. It didn't hurt to look official, you know?"

"Guess that's why the cat thought you were military," Piccolo notes.

"It didn't hurt at the consulate, either. I ended up finding some folks who knew Miss Kay at the Solar Alliance consulate. They have informal gatherings there for the local humans on weekends, and she used to attend. A group of them helped me knock on doors and ask questions. Until it got ugly."

"It got ugly?" Piccolo asks, perking up. "Now I'm interested!"

"Nice," Alibi says with a sneer. "Yeah, it got ugly with the Domo next door."

"Really? Did it turn into a vampire? Try to suck your blood?" Piccolo prods.

"They kind of just ARE vampires, they don't turn into them," Alibi corrects him. "They drain your life energy, not your blood. When I first met Miss Kay's next door neighbor, I felt myself getting tired. I don't think they can help it."

"Or they don't care," Piccolo points out. "So what happened?"

"I got together with the other humans at the consulate and found there were others whose friends and loved ones had gone missing. When I told them my missing friend lived next to a Domo, he became their prime suspect. They began accusing the Domo of abducting all the missing people.

"He agreed to sit down for questions with me. Insisted he had no closets or freezers in his apartment where he could keep so many missing people. Invited me to search the place. But I was already feeling tired. 'You're draining me right now!' I yelled at him. 'I am not feeding on you!' he yelled back. I made the mistake of calling in backup. Four of the younger guys in the consulate group charged into the apartment to 'rescue' me.

"The Domo was getting frantic as the guys arrived in his apartment. I remember him yelling, 'It happens! It just happens! I have no control over it! I don't even go out in public anymore! I try not to put myself in a position where I impose my needs on others. But you came into my home!' And he was right, you know?

"Two of the guys helped me up, to help me leave. They helped me get out of the apartment and out into the building's corridor, where I collapsed, drained. I told the other two to search the apartment. They did. Didn't find anything. I chalked it up as an unpleasant dead end. Creepy, sure, but not our kidnapper."

"What's so ugly about that?" Piccolo asks.

"Some of the others didn't move on, still suspecting the Domo of wrongdoing. Later they dragged the Domo out and killed him, running stakes through him on the altar of the local NcC church.

"I helped contribute to that. That's ugly. That's how their race dies, now, one at a time, after that Eldred plague killed off most of them. One by one the survivors are killed."

"I don't think that was your fault," Piccolo tells him. "I mean, I can see where you might feel bad and all, but really? That wasn't your fault."

"I agree. Not your fault," Kit chimes in over the com.

"Kit? Didn't realize you were listening in."

"I did not mean to eavesdrop. I was hoping to hear that you'd come up with a destination," Kit explains.

"We're kind of takin' the long way," Piccolo cracks.

"Fine," Alibi says, trying to sound hurt. "Long story short? Someone else disappeared after the Domo was dead. A girl who I'd met a couple of times at the consulate. A nobody, really, no one to miss her. Except me. She had been abducted by a Tek'Tah thug, a witness testified.

"The Tek'Tah claimed they had no criminals among them in their trade enclave on Remillar. Maybe that was true. Maybe they don't consider kidnapping a human to be a crime... but I do. The Tek'Tah always seem to act together. All the time. Tight knit family. Most of the ones around here follow a local Overlord. That means there's probably some organized plot to kidnap humans going on... but I have no idea why.

"I discovered that there was a Tek'Tah ship leaving with another group of captives, and I followed them, stowed away on board their ship. Of course, my friend wasn't aboard. She wasn't one of the people grabbed this time. She was long gone"

"No?" Piccolo asks. "My sister was kidnapped pretty recently. She might have been one of the people on that ship. That's why I'm here. Kronborg was the only one who was willing to fly me out to Tek'Ti'Karn. I couldn't afford a better ship. Or a better smelling one," he says, wrinkling his nose. "I was asking questions at the bar in the port here, drinking with some other humans and asking about the Tek'Tah. I'd lost track of her by then. So I was drinking, maybe got loud about it. Guess they got wind of my questioning and weren't too happy about it. A Tek'Tah guard showed up, started giving me a hard time. I think he spiked my drinks!"

"Really?" Alibi asks, suspicion in his voice.

"Well, yeah," Piccolo replies, on the defensive. "I can usually hold my liquor better than that! And I don't usually stay drunk for two days! I was out of it for way too long for it to have just been alcohol," he protests.

"I thought that might be your usual state," Alibi cracks.

"You don't know me!" Piccolo says. He sulks. "Just because I was out of it when you met me... I just lost my sister, man!"

Regretting he made fun of the man, Alibi mutters, "sorry."

"S'alright."

"Are you two bonding or something?" Kit's voice comes purring over the ship's intercom.

"Just figuring out what we have in common," Alibi says. "How's the engine room?"

"It is filthy," the Dakhur says, disgust heavy in his voice. "But it does not smell as bad as the bridge!"

"You know, you do kind of get use to it," Alibi notes, realizing his nose was no longer curling up in horror.

"YOU might," Kit disagrees. "I do not acclimate as you do! To me it seems to be getting worse, not better!" After a pause, he continues. "But I heard what you said about a prisoner exchange between groups of Tek'Tah. I think I know where they might be headed. Junzias."

"Junzias? That's an old, dead world, isn't it?" Piccolo says when he hears Kit's answer.

"An old Eldred world, right?" Alibi remembers. "Why would the Tek'Tah go there? Aren't they worried about a plague, or old defense systems?"

"The Tek'Tah are said to have 'cleansed' Junzias and made it safe for rehabitation," Kit explains. "But it still has a reputation as a dead world, and so the Tek'Tah use it as a place to conduct business they want to keep out of the public eye. I overheard a Tek'Tah communication that said one of their elite family freighters, a personal ship of the Overlord, left for Junzias just before you were thrown into my cell, Alibi. The timing makes sense."

"So... let's go to Junzias!" Alibi exclaims. He looks for the star charts in the ship's systems. Junzias is listed as a dead Eldred world in the charts, no hint of Tek'Tah habitation.

"I do not know if this is a wise course of action," Kit cautions. "They may have defenses. Certainly we should not just Transpace jump in on top of them."

"I don't know that we have much choice, Kit," Alibi says as he studies the charts. "There's only two Transpace points mapped out on these charts. They're both pretty close to Junzias."

"Why not map another jump point?" Piccolo suggests.

"That is a risky proposition," Kit says. "You do not merely 'map' points for Transpace jumps. You need someone to have gone there before, to sight for obstacles and physically calculate the Transpace point."

"I've done it before. Calculated and mapped a Transpace point blind," Alibi says. "SAIF ship training with the Project. We had to map potential jump points. Later, we jumped to one. Final Exam."

"Final? Indeed," Kit says with caution.

"Depends on how thorough the charts of the system are," Alibi insists. "Let me see what we've got for info here and then I'll be able to figure out whether I can do this or not."

"If you insist," Kit says. The intercom ticks off.

"I think you pissed the kitty cat off," Piccolo jokes. Alibi doesn't respond. He focuses in on the charts and ignores Piccolo.

"I can do this," Alibi suddenly says out loud to himself. He looks through the ship's system files. "Looks like I've got the information. Just need some time to work the numbers."

# Chapter Five

Alibi spends the next two hours calculating a jump to the outer reaches of the Junzias system. There are too many asteroids closer in to safely jump in blind. But if they jump into a distant orbit they'll need extra fuel to make the trip from distant orbit into the closer planets like Junzias.

They can skim a gas giant if he can find one in the system. Alibi's mind crackles with mental energy as he figures out how to put it all together. But the details on the outer gas giants in the Junzias System are too sketchy.

"Aw, this is no good," Alibi grouses.

"Whassamatter?" Piccolo asks, half asleep in the other chair on the bridge.

"I need additional information not available in the ship's usual systems," Alibi tells him. "Do you know if your friend had any archival storage on this ship?"

"Beats me," Piccolo answers unhelpfully. "Maybe back there in one of those storage compartments?" He nods at the back wall of the bridge, marked by the panels and handles of built in storage. "He had some stuff back there, extra charts, memsticks and things."

Alibi gets up and walks back to the storage bins mounted along the back wall of the bridge to look for memory sticks or something that might contain more stellar information. He slides open a small drawer. Empty. He pulls open one of the larger, floor level drawers.

A severed arm sits in the drawer, covered in black-crusted blood, amid strings of shredded flesh, arteries and tissue.

"Unh!"

Alibi jumps back from the drawer. Hot bile rises up in the back of his throat as he turns away, trying not to vomit, trying not to breathe.

"What the fuck?" Piccolo says. Alibi can't respond.

"Shit," Piccolo says as he comes up behind him and sees the contents of the open drawer.

"Huh," Alibi manages to get out. "That's an arm!" He can't help but state the obvious.

"Oh man," Piccolo says with an uneasy treble in his voice. He steps up and opens the next drawer to the right. Empty. They both heave a sigh of relief. Piccolo moves down the row of drawers to the right and opens the next one. He jumps back, reflexively whipping his head away from what lies in that storage drawer. He starts coughing as he holds back an urge to throw up.

Alibi can't help himself. He has to look. Somehow, knowing it will be horrid makes it easier to look inside.

"Woah," Alibi gasps. The severed head of an older man stares up, lifeless, mouth open in a silent scream. The hair is matted with dried blood. Shredded trachea trail from the jagged neckline and curl back up underneath.

Alibi looks away.

"Kronborg," Piccolo says.

"Did the Devrizium do this?" Alibi asks.

"How should I know?" Piccolo says. "I've never seen anything like this, man! Shit's fucked up!"

A grim thought occurs to Alibi.

What do I really know about this guy?

He looks suspiciously at Piccolo. "How do I know YOU didn't do this!"

"Me?" Piccolo responds, surprised and stunned. "You think I could do something like this?"

"I don't know. I don't even know you," Alibi says, but he's starting to lose his suspicions.

"You think I could tear a guy's head clean off?" Piccolo protests. "I ain't strong enough!"

The question makes Alibi look at Kronborg's severed head again. He winces, looks away.

"No way," Alibi admits. He looks around the bridge. "Guess that explains the smell."

"Not entirely. Already smelled pretty bad before," Piccolo admits with a nervous laugh. "Should... um, should we open more drawers?" he asks Alibi sheepishly.

"Aw... shit. I guess we should. Guess we oughta clean it up, after all."

They open the rest of the storage drawers built in along the walls of the bridge. About half of them are now occupied by various body parts of the late pilot Kronborg.

Alibi makes his way back to the front of the bridge and calls down to the engine room.

"Kit, can you come back up here? We've got a problem."

The cat man meets them in the corridor outside the bridge. Alibi and Piccolo tell him what they found.

"They ripped him apart!" Piccolo exclaims.

"The Devrizium," Kit explains. "Devrizium Justice. They make an example out of those who violate them. The Devrizium rend." Kit lets out a soft hiss. "They truly render a verdict. They execute violators. Tear them apart. Then they 'seed' them back on board their ships. Eventually, they would have left this ship in a gently decaying orbit around the port at Tek'Ti'Karn. As an example."

"Why only put him in half the drawers?" Alibi asks.

"They were probably saving the rest of the space... for you," Kit says, nodding at Piccolo. Piccolo gulps.

"Are there any Extra-Vehicular Activity suits on board?" Alibi asks Piccolo.

"How should I know?" Piccolo answers defensively, shaken by what Kit has just told him.

"I saw a couple of EVA suits down in the engine room," Kit says. "At least two. Why?"

"I was thinking it might be easier to clean this up in low or no G and a vacuum," Alibi explains.

"Then it is too bad there are none that will fit a Dakhur physique," Kit says with some satisfaction. "I cannot help you. I will have to seal myself in the engine room while you two work in a vacuum in the rest of the ship. So sorry I will not be able to help."

"You don't sound sorry!" Alibi says with a nervous laugh of his own.

"How would you know?" Kit says.

The three head to the engine room. Alibi and Piccolo suit up in two of the three EVA suits Kit has found. They leave Kit in the sealed off engine room and head for the bridge.

Piccolo stops at the airlock in the corridor outside the bridge and opens the inner door.

"What are you doing?" Alibi asks him.

"Opening the airlock," Piccolo answers him as if he was an idiot. Alibi walks over and knocks Piccolo's gloved hand away from the door's controls with his own gauntleted fist.

"Not a good idea," Alibi says. "Ever hear of explosive decompression?"

"Sounds bad," Piccolo says.

"Yup. Bad," Alibi answers. "Happens when you open an airlock wide open on a fully pressurized ship. You know, like you were about to do."

"Oh."

"We'll clear the air slowly, from the bridge. Let it seep out and let the lack of pressure stabilize."

Piccolo closes the airlock's inside door.

"Gotcha."

Alibi starts the slow bleed of the atmosphere when they get back to the bridge. Once the air is gone, he switches off the gravity as well. Then Alibi and Piccolo set about the grim work of collecting the remains of Kronborg, drawer by drawer.

They collect his parts in two of the largest drawers. Alibi finds memory cards as they work, and puts those up on the pilot's seat for later reference. After they've scoured the remaining drawers and piled up the pieces, Alibi and Piccolo take the two filled drawers back out to the airlock and launch the remains of Kronborg into space. A small disposable rocket pushes each drawer out away from the ship and off into deep space.

"Shouldn't we say something?" Piccolo asks Alibi.

"I don't know. Like what?"

"A prayer for him, or something?"

"What was he? NcC?" Alibi asks Piccolo.

"I have no idea."

"God bless you, Kronborg," Alibi prays, "Whatever God you might have preferred. Amen."

"Amen."

They repressurize the ship. Alibi and Piccolo get out of their EVA suits and head back to the bridge.

"I think it smells a little better," Piccolo observes.

"It is only a question of degree," Kit says over the com. "It is still quite horrible."

"I found some memsticks when we were cleaning, Kit," Alibi tells him. "I'm going to take a look through them, see if they've got the stellar mapping I need."

Alibi hunkers down in the captain's chair and sorts through the extra data he recovered looking for information on the gas giants of the Junzias System. Piccolo breaks out scrubbers and begins cleaning up the rest of the bridge while Alibi works.

Alibi finally comes across the information he needs on the orbital positioning and chemical makeup of the gas giants of Junzias' system. He gets back to his calculations, double checks them, and soon has a new Transpace point mapped out, ready to go.

He calls up Kit in the engine room and breaks the good news.

"I've got it, Kit!" Alibi says over the com. "Is the Transpace drive ready?"

"Ready to jump when you are," Kit tells him. "Although I am not."

"I've done the math and checked it twice, now, I promise," Alibi tells him. "I'm sure we'll be fine!" Alibi adjusts the controls and checks his entries before announcing, "We're jumping!"

They jump. Kronborg's ship flashes in and out of Transpace intact, and far enough away from the nearby gas giant that Alibi feels vindicated.

"All right! You see? It worked," he proclaims, victorious.

"Never doubted you, man," Piccolo offers his congratulations.

"So. We are not dead?" Kit notes over the com. "Good!"

"I'm going to head us into that gas giant so the ship can scoop up some raw materials for fuel," Alibi announces. "Then we can make our way in towards Junzias."

Junzias was once an Eldred world. As they travel in from the distant orbit of the gas giant, Alibi focuses half of his attention on entries about the planet and the Eldred in the ship's archives. He's also remembering all the times his Aunt Anita told him about the Eldred, those she called the "Killer Blue Koalas from Outer Space."

"Your father helped kill the koalas!" Alibi can hear her in his head. "It was only fair. They were trying to wipe us out!"

"You reading up on the planet?" Piccolo asks, looking over Alibi's shoulder, interrupting his thoughts.

"I was listening to my aunt," Alibi tells him, "in my head," he explains, when Piccolo gives him a puzzled look.

"Oh," Piccolo says, looking a little less puzzled.

"She knows a lot about the Eldred. Fought them in the war," Alibi tells him. "She and my father helped wipe them out."

"I thought the Eldred died because the Ancient Enemy died, you know? That frozen guy. I remember reading that in school," Piccolo tries.

"Dolomay. Yeah, I used to hear all about him growing up. Him and my father, 'BC'. It was always 'BC this' and 'BC that'. Dolomay this and that," Alibi complains. "The Eldred's existence was somehow tied into the life of the 'Ancient Enemy', and Dolomay was the last of them. The Eldred thrived and stayed alive while he was frozen, but once he was dead they just began dying out."

"So, we're going to a dead world."

"Not if my sources are right," Kit pipes in from the engine room over the com. "They say the Tek'Tah have cleaned up the world with their new wealth, but do not publicize the fact. It is not a dead world. But it is hiding!"

"Yeah, I wonder where the Tek'Tah are getting this 'new wealth', huh? Evidently the human slave trade must be pretty profitable!" Alibi says with disgust.

"What are they going to do with her? What are they gonna do with my sister?" Piccolo wonders out loud. "Why do they want humans, anyway?"

"It may be your similarity to the Ancient Enemy," Kit suggests. "Your like has not been seen in the civilized universe for quite some time. Word of your discovery is still rippling across the civilized worlds along with the news of the defeat of Dolomay and the Eldred. There may be a market further in towards the central planets. Perhaps they are selling humans to buyers of exotics on some far off worlds?"

"Great," Alibi says, "Human beings in alien zoos and private menageries. How quaint. Miss Kay doesn't deserve that. No way."

"It is all because the Eldred were the peacekeepers," Kit says, "the law enforcers. Now that they are gone, there is no one left to stop groups with power from doing whatever they like."

"Your old, peaceful overlords," Alibi says sarcastically.

"We did not know how beneficial they were until they were gone. Killed off because of a battle in some backwater distant part of the universe," Kit observes.

"Must be some inferiority complex you've got there, makes you keep disrespecting our home turf!" Alibi says with a little real pride. "Maybe the center has shifted? Ever consider that!?"

"You humans have no idea... Maybe the Tek'Tah are right!" Kit jokes. "You do think you are much too special. You have no idea how much 'there' is out 'there'!"

"Great. Now you're siding with them?"

"Absolutely... not," Kit responds, playing with the pause.

"Are we there yet?" Piccolo asks. For some reason, it makes both Alibi and Kit break into laughter.

"Another three hours," Alibi tells him.

"Gah!" Piccolo gasps in exasperation. "Can't we go any faster?"

"Not in this stinkpot," Alibi informs him. Piccolo grumbles under his breath as he goes back to the other chair on the bridge, sits down, and pouts.

# Chapter Six

Two and a half hours later the Stinger ship carrying Alibi, Kit and Piccolo reaches what Alibi figures is a safe orbital distance from Junzias, before they can be detected by any instruments scanning nearby space from the planet below.

"I'm picking up some sort of planetary energy field," Alibi notes aloud. "Hard to read. Seems unsteady."

"That is the old Eldred planetary defense shield," Kit says. "Probably not at full power if it is sputtering."

"I'll find the weakest spot and punch us through it next time it sputters," Alibi says. He locates a weak spot in the grid of energy surrounding the planet. The defensive energy grid is old and frayed, incapable of covering the entire sphere of Junzias' globe. As weak energy readings come back to him on the bridge, Alibi finds he doesn't need to wait for the field to sputter to fly the Stinger ship down past the grid and into the atmosphere.

"We're in," he tells Kit and Piccolo once they've punched through. "I'm flying us back around the globe. The planetary field generator is right next to the port, so I had to punch us through the grid half a world away from where we wanted to be. We'll come around from the planet's dark side and follow the night in."

Alibi brings the Stinger in towards the port on a low altitude approach vector at twilight to avoid detection.

"I'm putting us down outside of the port," he explains. "There's some desert scrub land there." Alibi lowers the ship to the surface in stealth with a lights-out landing. "Alright! Let's find out what the Tek'Tah are up to," Alibi says.

They seal the ship and set out. Low scrub brush provides little obstacle as the three of them scramble through the darkness towards the port.

"I hope we find your friend, and your sister," Kit tells the two humans. "I find just being off that malodorous vessel has put me in a better frame of mind."

"Makes you use bigger words, too," Piccolo notes with some amusement.

"Shhh!" Alibi, feeling like the sensible one of the three, tries to quiet them down. They're nearing the outer wall of the port.

"I hear Tek'Tah voices," Kit tells him in a hushed purr.

"I don't hea..." Piccolo stops when Alibi raises an open palmed hand in his face. Alibi puts his finger up to own his lips in the universal sign for quiet.

Piccolo nods. The two men look at the feline alien. His eyes are staring up, off into space, as he listens for the sound of the Tek'Tah. He's slowly shaking his head from side to side. Alibi can almost hear him in his head.

Not yet.

The three stay frozen in place until Kit's head begins to nod yes.

"Shhhh..." he purrs. "From what I heard, there is a door in the wall close by. Follow me." He leaps across the scrub into the darkness near the wall. Alibi and Piccolo follow, closing the distance.

"Better sight," Piccolo grouses in a whisper. "Better hearing! Damn, what do they have that's NOT better? Not fair!" Alibi glares at him, hoping he'll shut up. "Sorry," the man whispers.

"Brittle bones," Kit says, suddenly standing next to them. "Our homeworld Hur has lower gravity. We Dakhur are born to leap, born for grace! But our bone structure is more fragile than yours." The cat man turns and pads away. "Come," he says, turning back to them. "I've got the door open. There is either no one nearby inside now, or they are unnaturally quiet for Tek'Tah."

Kit, Alibi and Piccolo make their way through a door in the port's outer wall and into a ship bay. A small Tek'Tah cruiser sits in the bay, hooked up to fuel lines and energy chargers. Not the ship they're after.

Alibi remembers the ship they're looking for well. He saw it just before the Tek'Tah grabbed him. What was it Kit called it? An Overlord's Family Ship? Whatever the name, it wouldn't fit into this small outer bay.

"The Tek'Tah Elite Family Freighter should be over that way," Kit says, gesturing towards the port's control tower. "The prestige bays will all be close to the tower."

They make their way bay by bay towards the tower. Most are empty. Those containing ships seem shut down for the night. As they near the tower, they can see light rising up from a large bay ahead.

"Betcha that's it," Piccolo observes astutely. Alibi just gives him the glare again. "I'm just saying," Piccolo says, lowering his volume.

Now both Alibi and Kit are glaring at him. He stares back, but doesn't speak again. Kit nods at the way ahead and they continue. They reach the connecting door next to the well-lit bay and stop to listen for noises on the other side.

"It sounds like a bunch of people... eating?" Kit says. Alibi tries the door. Unlocked. He opens it just enough to take a look through. He sees the Elite Family Freighter as expected. Another sight not quite as expected – under high-powered lighting units stretch several side-less tents. Underneath one of the tents sit two tables of people, eating dinner.

Alibi feels Piccolo breathing down his neck as he tries to get a look beyond the door. He moves back and down a bit so Piccolo can have a look.

"There she... She's here!" he says in an excited whisper. "Katie's here! We've got to save her!"

"I know you want to save her," Alibi whispers. "But that might have to wait. We're way outnumbered!"

"Attention!" The amplified voice of a Tek'Tah guard echoes out. Kit Alibi and Piccolo freeze in place. "Feeding time ends in five minutes. Prepare to return to the ship for sleep cycle."

Alibi realizes he's been holding his breath. The guard wasn't looking for their attention. Luckily.

The guards escort their prisoners back onto the ship. The high-powered lights are extinguished. Kit, Alibi and Piccolo retreat back three bays to discuss what they can do.

"Shouldn't there be more people here?" Alibi wonders out loud.

"More?" Kit asks.

"I was counting them. There's about forty people. That's one ship's worth of kidnap victims, if that," Alibi notes. "Where are they keeping the others? There were more people taken before this. My friend Miss Kay was taken before this. Where is she?"

Piccolo shrugs.

"They may have moved on," Kit observes.

"That's what I'm thinking. There's no way this is their ultimate destination," Alibi continues, making his point. "Where are they going after they leave here? Where are the Tek'Tah taking them? And why so many stops?"

"Very good questions," Kit says. "This is obviously not the end of the line."

"Obviously," Piccolo echoes.

"So. Do we wait and see what happens next?" Kit asks.

"I guess," Alibi says. "Should we keep following them when they leave?"

"What about my, um, sister?" Piccolo asks hesitantly. "Can't we get her out of there?"

"I do not think we can do both," Kit says, shaking his shaggy head.

"Maybe we can," Alibi says. "We wait. See what they do next. But at the same time we get ready to act, so we can rescue these people from whatever the Tek'Tah have planned for them... After we see what it is. Or we just wait for a little while, and act on a deadline we set ourselves."

"Huh?" Piccolo asks, confused. "Whadya mean? How do we do that?"

"We just do it," Kit says. "Wait until morning. Then we can act, if nothing happens."

"I'm going back to the ship," Alibi announces.

"What?" Piccolo asks, surprised.

"Why?" Kit asks.

"I'm going to fly it back over here. Land in one of these bays. Get our getaway vehicle a little closer. That way, we might stand at least some chance of getting some of those people out of here. Might as well move the ship now while it's still dark. Then when they get 'em out under the tent for breakfast we can bust them loose. Whadya think?"

"I think you are crazy, but good crazy," Kit tells him. "Go. Bring the ship here. I'll find a way to guide you in."

Alibi makes his way through the bays and out across the scrub, back to the Stinger. He powers up the engines but maintains a blackout on his ground lighting. The Stinger rises up in the dark. He keeps her hovering at a low altitude as he glides the ship in over the outer bays.

Looking down, Alibi sees Kit has marked the bay he and Piccolo are waiting in with two crossed flashlights on the ground. It's enough light to allow Alibi to bring the ship in. He touches down inside the small inner bay near the freighter.

Cautious, Alibi looks around as he gets off the ship, but no Tek'Tah have appeared. Kit appears, nodding his approval.

"Good flying," Kit compliments him.

"Thanks."

"Now, we wait," Kit says.

Alibi, Kit and Piccolo wait through the night. When the sky begins to glow with morning light, the three head back to the main landing bay, to the freighter and the tents.

The Tek'Tah appear to be waiting, too. As Kit, Piccolo and Alibi watch them through the main bay's door, the Tek'Tah guards search the sky, looking for something. Another ship?

"Let's get closer," Alibi says. "While they're looking up."

Kit leads the way into the larger bay. Alibi and Piccolo follow. They duck behind some discarded cargo containers and watch for some advantage, for an opening, a chance to overwhelm the guards, take them by surprise.

The Tek'Tah begin hissing at each other as a shiny silver ship appears high above them. As it descends, Alibi realizes it's bigger than it first appears. It's actually hard to judge its size due to a lack of external ornamentation of any kind, but the silver ship grows ever larger as it approaches the port.

"That's not a Tek'Tah ship," Alibi notes. "I don't think I've ever seen a ship like that before. Beginning to look like this whole kidnapping thing is bigger than just the Tek'Tah!"

"I believe you may be right," Kit observes.

"Who are these new guys?" Alibi asks.

"I am not sure," Kit admits.

"Don't look at me!" Piccolo says, almost too loud.

They all look up as the ship comes down. The sleek silver vessel grows to an enormous size as it lands in the bay. The curve of the ship looms over their heads as it settles down on ten meter tall landing gear.

A cylindrical column drops down from the body of the ship to land on the ground in the bay. Alibi doesn't notice when a small door opens in the side of the landing tower, but Kit gasps.

"That's impossible!" Kit whispers with a hiss.

"What?" Alibi asks.

"Them! They are supposed to be dead!"

Alibi looks away from the ship above to see what Kit is so upset about. Two small, light blue, teddy-bear like figures exit a door in the tower and walk over to the Tek'Tah and the kidnap victims. Then seven more fuzzy blue aliens emerge from inside the landing tower, taking up defensive positions around the tower. Each carries a rifle of some kind. Tek'Tah guards begin pushing their prisoners toward the landing tower.

"Who are those aliens? What race is that?" Alibi asks Kit. "I've never seen them before!"

"Those are the Eldred!" Kit says. "But... there is no way! How are they here? How can they be alive?" The cat man asks himself as much as he asks Alibi.

"The Eldred?" Alibi says in disbelief. "They're all supposed to be dead. Wow... wait until Aunt Anita hears about this!"

"The Eldred?" Piccolo asks, again a bit too loud.

"Hey!" A Tek'Tah guard spots them and fires its burner at the trio.

FWAAAAAAAASSSSSHHH!

"Shit!" Alibi swears as the crates in front of them erupt into flames from the blast of the burner's beam. "We've gotta get out of here!"

"My sister!" Piccolo shouts at the other two.

"We must go. We cannot get her now!" Kit tells him. Alibi is already heading for the door.

Piccolo looks torn. "But..." He leans back towards the Tek'Tah and their prisoners.

"We'll follow them to their next stop!" Alibi shouts at the man.

FFFFFWWAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!

The burner beam slices into the ground on Piccolo's right.

"AAaaaaghgh!!" he screams, collapsing to the landing bay floor.

Alibi goes back to check on him.

Piccolo is curled up, cowering, but doesn't appear to be harmed.

"Let's go!" Alibi shouts at the man, trying to get him back up and running.

FFFWAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSHHHHHH!

Alibi ducks as burner fire brushes nearby.

"Oh man," Piccolo mumbles. He stumbles up onto his feet and lurches forward. "We're not gonna make it."

"Alibi! Piccolo! Come on!" Kit calls from the doorway.

"Comin'!" Alibi grunts as he runs. Piccolo lags behind, still protesting.

"You gotta promise me. We gotta save my sister!"

"We will! Later. We'll try, Piccolo. Just move your ass!"

FWWWWAAAAAASSSSHHHHHH!

"Let us go!" Kit calls again.

Alibi and Piccolo stumble ahead and follow Kit out of the main bay door.

FWAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHHH!

"I think they burned my heels," Alibi says as he and Piccolo catch up to Kit. The cat man is cycling open the Stinger Ship's airlock.

"Lucky it is just your heels. We must get out of here now!" Kit says, an edge in his voice.

"But... but, my sister!" Piccolo protests.

"We will continue to follow her and her new captors... at a safer distance. Let us go," Kit says. He turns and enters the ship. Alibi motions for Piccolo to go ahead. He follows him in, swinging the ship's airlock door shut behind him.

FWAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHH!!

A burner beam blasts the outside of the Stinger ship's door, loud enough for them to hear inside. Kit, Piccolo and Alibi exchange uh-oh looks.

"I'll get to the bridge," Alibi says.

"I..." Kit begins. He pauses, his voice choking a bit as he tries not to breathe. "I will head for the engine room."

Piccolo stands frozen for the moment, stunned.

"Almost had her back," he says, mostly to himself.

"You coming?" Alibi calls over to Piccolo.

"What?" Piccolo says, slowly snapping out of it. "Yeah, I'll be there in a second."

Alibi laughs to himself over Kit's discomfort with the ship's stench as he makes his way to the bridge at a run. He slips into the pilot's seat and fires up the ship's engines.

BOOOMCHAAAAAAANNNNGGG!

A metallic, echoing boom rings through the ship. Alibi is tossed sideways.

THAT was a Big Gun!

BOOOOMCHAAAAANNNNGGGG!

The ship is slapped backwards. Piccolo comes tripping in from the corridor onto the bridge, sprawling out onto the deck on all fours.

"That big silver ship must be firing on us!" Alibi says. "Get in that deck chair if you can!"

Alibi settles back into his seat and triggers the command that fires the thrusters and lifts the ship up off the surface of Junzias. He punches the controls for more engine power. Alibi brings the Stinger ship up off the ground at a steep angle of ascent, punishing the engines and testing the vessel's structural integrity as he attempts to escape from the aliens and their superior firepower.

Piccolo didn't make it into a seat. He's pressed back against the rear wall of the bridge as the ship rises. The old Stinger ship is shaking as it screams up off the planet's surface.

BOOM-ANG!

The ship lurches to the left as it absorbs a glancing blow from the alien weaponry.

They must have taken off to come after us!

Alibi tries to call up an analytical display to see how close the silver ship is.

"Come on, come on, give me tactical!" he shouts at the control panel in front of him. Some old voice recognition control kicks in and a heads up tactical display screen pops up in front of his face. Their ship shows up as a gold blip, their pursuer as a light blue blip. The blue blip is gaining. He punches in the Transpace coordinates for Cat's Eye and starts hitting the jump controls, but the Transpace drive in the old ship is slow to respond.

Piccolo struggles up into the chair next to Alibi.

"What's going on?" Piccolo asks.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! That's the problem!" Alibi says sharply.

"Alibi?" Kit calls over the com.

"Yeah, Kit?"

"We do not yet have enough energy built up to power the Transpace Drive," Kit breaks the news to him. "You should not trigger it again, for the moment. Your last attempt drained the meager power battery with which this vessel is equipped. It is starting to build power up again now."

Alibi is watching their blue blip get closer to his gold blip.

"How much longer, Kit?"

"Another two minutes, approximately."

"Shit... we don't have two minutes!"

"It is coming back up. It is just a bit slow," Kit tells him.

"Tell me when we can jump!"

Alibi waits for Kit to respond. He plots a serpentine course for the Stinger ship as he watches the blue blip draw closer. The alien ship fires at them again, but misses the Stinger.

"Keep missing... keep missing... Kit?"

"Not yet. The power is still building up in the battery. I am sorry this ship is so ill-equipped."

"Not your fault," Alibi admits. "Might not matter whose fault it is if we don't get..."

"Now!" Kit shouts over the com, interrupting him.

Alibi punches in the jump for Ceres Central and they flash out of the system. As they hit Transpace, the enormity of what he's seen is still hitting him.

The Eldred? Alive?

Aunt Anita's not going to believe this!

# Chapter Seven

"I don't believe it!" Anita tells Alibi, once he's filled her in on their trip to the Tek'Tah base... and the sighting of the Eldred. "You're obviously mistaken."

"And you're obviously not listening to me," Alibi snaps back. He paces across the living room of her apartment. She agreed to meet with Alibi and the Dakhur right after they arrived on Ceres Central. They headed over to her apartment after securing the Stinger ship in Ceres Central's port. Piccolo isn't there with them. He took off to, as he put it, "take care of some personal business."

Alibi spent the last half hour telling her what happened to them on Junzias, but Anita's not convinced the aliens they saw were really Eldred.

What else can I say?

"I know what I saw, Aunt Anita! I'm not stupid!"

"I didn't say you were," Anita says calmly, not raising her voice. "But perhaps your eyes were fooled. Maybe the Tek'Tah wanted you to think you were seeing the Eldred."

"They didn't even know we were there, not at first," Alibi insists. "How could they be staging it if they didn't know anyone was watching them?" He's trying not to raise his voice, but his frustration is clear in his tense body language – teeth clenched, hands balled into fists. He tries keep his temper in check.

"Maybe you give yourselves too much credit for stealth," Anita says, a dismissive note plain in her voice.

Dr. Anita Capituna is a former Prime Representative for the Solar Alliance. She's been leading The Project for the last twenty-five years and running the growing Ceres Central station. Although he calls her his "aunt", Anita has been more like a mother to Alibi since he was three years old, when his biological mother Ruth Kim shot and killed Alibi's father – and Anita's fiancé – Bernard Campion, a.k.a. "BC".

BC founded the Solar Alliance, uniting humankind. He led the fight against the alien race known as the Eldred, and against Dolomay, a million-year-old alien freed from suspended animation. Dolomay represented the final living remnant of the ancestors of the human race known as the "Ancient Enemy".

The Eldred thought they'd destroyed them a million years ago. They did wipe out most, but the Ancient Enemy managed to send out thousand of "star seeds" – high tech DNA transporters – to save their race from total extinction. One of those landed on Earth a long time ago. The human race is the result.

After they eliminated the Ancient Enemy, the Eldred became the dominant race in the known universe for the next million years. But Dolomay had secretly been kept alive in stasis by some of the Eldred. Around twenty-five years ago he was accidentally revived, and became a new threat to both the Eldred and humankind. And thanks to our birthright the Eldred tried to wipe out humanity with a plague. They later resorted to all out war.

Every school kid now learns how the Eldred fleet was wiped out in the war, how Dolomay was killed, and how surprised we were to find out the very existence of the Eldred tied into Dolomay's continued existence. The Eldred didn't realize it, either. The Eldred were created by the Ancient Enemy as a Servant race, and Dolomay's survival over the intervening centuries, even in stasis, apparently kept the Eldred race alive. With no remnant of the Ancient Enemy left, those Eldred not killed in battle simply... died.

Their entire race was wiped out. Hundreds of dead Eldred worlds now stand as mute proof of their former dominance. They've been gone for almost twenty-five years. Or they were. Until now?

"I know what I saw, and I saw Eldred!" Alibi is insistent. "They were picking up human captives from the Tek'Tah out on Junzias! Trafficking in kidnapped humans!"

"I can confirm this," Kit says. Anita looks surprised. The Dakhur had not spoken until now. She shakes her head all the same.

"The Eldred are dead."

"Fine. They died. But now some are back," Alibi insists.

"You are as stubborn as your father," Anita comes back at him with temper of her own.

"Great," Alibi says in disgust. "I never met the guy. Stop telling me I'm just like him. That's not fair!"

Anita backs off.

"Sorry," she says, softening. "You remind me of him so much, sometimes."

"Is that good or bad?" he asks her, still defensive.

"Both!" Anita replies, laughing a little. She gets a bit more serious. "He would be proud of the man you've become," she tells him.

Alibi looks his aunt in the eye.

"I wish you believed me," he tells her.

"I wish I could believe you, Ali," she insists, "But I can't! I saw them die out, Alibi. World after world of theirs went dark, every Eldred on them losing the will to live. Giving up the fight." She shakes her head. "I'm sure you saw something. It might have looked like the Eldred. But it couldn't have been. There are many alien races out there, Al. You've probably just stumbled across one that looks like the Eldred."

"I've seen footage of the Eldred, Aunt Anita. I know what they look like. These were Eldred. Maybe some of them didn't die!"

"They truly did appear to be Eldred," Kit says with a soft purr. Anita looks at the cat-like alien with a mix of emotions playing across her face.

"Really?" she asks the alien with a heavy dose of sarcasm in her voice. "And how many live Eldred have you seen in your lifetime, Mr., uh, " Kit" was it?"

Kit seems a bit cowed by Anita's sharp tone.

"I have not seen any Eldred alive, Doctor. I am too young. But they did rule over my planet, Hur, for many years. We have many records of them, and a great deal of footage of the Eldred from over time. There are no other races that I know of that look like the Eldred..."

"That you know of!" Anita says, cutting him off.

"Now who's being stubborn?" Alibi says under his breath. Anita turns.

"I heard that!" she says.

"You have no idea what you are talking about!"

Alibi hears Anita's thought like a voice loud and clear inside his head. He's not sure she didn't say it. Could she have thought it so loud... he could hear her?

"I have no idea what I'm talking about, huh?" Alibi says, louder than he meant to. She looks confused for a moment.

"Humph!" she lets out a heavy sigh. She glares at Alibi, turns and leaves the living room.

"Great," Alibi says, dejected. "She doesn't believe us!"

"Yes, this is obvious," Kit agrees.

"We're wasting our time here," Alibi says.

"Suggestions?" Kit asks.

"I don't know," Alibi says. "Maybe we should go back to Junzias, see if we can find out anymore about what was going on." He looks around the room, thinking. He sees pictures of Anita and BC on the walls, pictures of himself as a young man with Anita, his graduation picture from the SAIF School, him in his Mediator uniform on the first day he got it, pictures of people from the Project. One of the pictures gives him an idea.

"There's someone else we can try," Alibi tells Kit. "An old scientist, used to be with the Project, but he's retired now. Doctor Krishnavurti." Alibi walks over to the picture that caught his eye. In the picture, two men in lab coats stand on either side of a much younger Anita Capituna, one tall, thin and English, the other short and Indian. He points at the photo. "This guy."

"The tall one or the short one?" Kit asks.

"The short one," Alibi clarifies. "The tall one was Doctor Dundell. He died when I was a baby. But Krish has been a family friend for as long as I've been alive. He's kind of an expert on the Eldred. He and Dell there once took an Eldred ship apart, helped us humans figure out the Eldred tech."

"Sounds like he may be a good person to talk to," Kit muses. "I hope he is more open minded than your aunt."

"Me too," Alibi agrees. "He's kind of a hermit. Lives on Rigel Four. He doesn't go out at all. He's kind of a recluse."

"Do we have to take the same stinking Stinger ship we came here in?" Kit asks warily.

"No!" Alibi says with shared relief. "I've got a Cruiser of my own docked here at Ceres Central. We'll take that instead. It doesn't stink so bad!"

"So you say. Your race does not share the same sensitivity to odor the Dakhur possess. All of you humans smell... like sweaty, stinky meat. To me."

"Hey, thanks!" Alibi says, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

"You are welcome," Kit says. He hisses his equivalent of a laugh.

As they walk through Ceres Central to the port where Alibi's cruiser is parked, Kit's head keeps turning, as if on a swivel. The crowd is mostly made up of humans, with some Flaze and individuals from other races mingled in. Some heads in the crowd also turn towards Kit's as they walk past.

"You look... funny," Alibi says to Kit. "Different, sort of."

"My hair is standing on end, a little," Kit explains. "I am not used to being around so many humans."

"We're not exactly used to seeing Dakhur around here, either," Alibi tells him.

"We Dakhur traditionally have not wanted to deal with the Flaze or the Domo, who were the primary races in this part of space until recently."

"I can see that. Can't say they've impressed us, either. Although if the history books are right, we kind of owe our very existence to them."

"We Dakhur had thought the Flaze might be more... reasonable, once the Domo had declined. But as you well know, our dealings with them have not improved!"

"Right," Alibi says. "Well, I thought they were being straight with you. With me!"

"I have not yet killed you," Kit offers.

"So you believe me?"

"So far," Kit says. "You humans seem to be somewhat reasonable. Although you look like the Ancient Enemy, most of your people have been straightforward in your dealings with the Dakhur. However, we have found that not all humans are the same. There are independent human warlords who are as violent and disagreeable as the Ancient Enemy was said to be."

"Really?"

"You do not know? Yes! There are a couple of humans who have taken over dead Eldred worlds and used the leftover technology found there to enrich themselves at the expense of many others. Self-styled warlords."

"They've taken over Eldred worlds? Nobody does that!" Alibi exclaims.

"There are humans who have. You do not know of them?" Kit asks.

"I've never... How do you know about them?" Alibi asks.

"For the same reason I speak your race's language," Kit explains. "As I told you, my father negotiated the deal with the Flaze you mediated. My family were diplomats, until the Flaze ruined my father's honor. I was raised to be a diplomat and so was instructed in the languages and taught the histories, mores and customs of the races that dominate this part of the known universe. Each diplomatic family among the Dakhur specializes in different areas of the known universe, you see."

"I see. So you learned about us in school?" Alibi asks, curious.

"School? Hmmm..." Kit purrs, thinking. "Yes, I guess that is what I mean."

When they reach Alibi's Cruiser Ship, Piccolo is waiting outside.

"Here we are," Alibi says. "Hey, Piccolo!"

"Got your message," Piccolo says. "Didn't want to take the Stinker, huh?"

"It is bad enough that I have to smell you all the time," Kit says to the man.

"Ha," Piccolo starts to laugh, thinking Kit is joking.

When no one else laughs, he stops abruptly. "Oh."

Alibi cycles the airlock open and the three of them enter the ship.

"Huh," Kit lets out a quick grunt. "It does not smell as bad as I feared," he admits.

"Thanks?" Alibi says with some uncertainty. They head for the bridge and strap themselves in for the trip to Rigel Four to see Doctor Krishnavurti.

# Chapter Eight

"The Eldred?" Doctor Krishnavurti asks, curious after Alibi and Kit relate their tale. "How very interesting," the old scientist says. "Yes. Very interesting indeed." He turns and leaves Piccolo, Kit and Alibi standing alone in his cluttered living room. They look back and forth at each other, wondering if they are supposed to follow him into the next room. Alibi shrugs and then begins to follow. He nearly crashes into Krish as the doctor reemerges with a large hunk of metal in his hands.

"Yes, very interesting," the old man says in his somewhat high-pitched, accented voice. He seems excited. "You see this?" He holds up the hunk of metal. "From an Eldred ship. Or, it would seem to be part of an Eldred ship. But it's not the right age! There is a problem with the age of the material."

"The age of it?" Alibi asks. "I thought the Eldred were, well... old?"

"Indeed. A million years old," Krish confirms. "That is the problem. This," he brandishes the metallic hunk in his hands, "is almost brand new."

Alibi grins.

"I told her the Eldred were back," he says with victory in his voice.

"Her?" Krish asks.

"Aunt Anita," Alibi explains. "We told her we'd seen the Eldred."

"And?" Krish asks, cocking an eyebrow.

"She didn't believe us. She insisted they were all long dead. But we saw them, Krish. The Eldred are alive. That hunk of metal proves it!"

"Not so fast," Krish cautions. "Not so fast. We cannot be sure that the Eldred made this. We only know that this would appear to be from a ship such as they used to use. Perhaps another race has found an old Eldred shipyard and somehow managed to start it back up again."

Alibi's grin fades.

"Oh."

"Excuse me," Kit says, cutting in. "But an Eldred Shipyard? The Eldred were not known for new ships. They would simply repair their old ones, again and again."

"Hmmph!" Krish says dismissively. "Mr Kit, what do you suppose they used to make those repairs? New Material! And where do you presume they made these repairs, eh?" he asks, like a professor teaching a remedial class. "Shipyards!"

"Where did you get this?" Alibi asks the "professor." "I thought you didn't go out anymore?"

"I have people who find these sort of things and bring them to me. Merchants I know. Explorers. Friends. When they find something they think might interest me, they acquire it and bring it to me, and I pay them for it. I have many such arrangements in place which work out well for both sides, given my limited mobility. My scavengers are recovering old Eldred tech all the time."

"I see. So... where was this found for you?"

"In Tek'Tah space," Krish says.

Alibi gets excited all over again.

"Tek'Tah space!" Alibi exclaims.

"How is this leading to my sister?" Piccolo asks. He's been quiet, taking it all in, but finally airs his concerns. Alibi is annoyed, but turns to the man to spell it out.

"If we can find the source of this Eldred wreckage, we could be able to pick up the trail of the ones who now have your sister," Alibi explains to him. He turns back to Krish, "It is the Eldred, isn't it?!

"Well, Occam's Razor would cut that way," Krish says. "The simplest explanation is that the Eldred have, indeed, returned. But the simplest explanation is not always the true explanation, especially when there are so many unknowns... and contradictory evidence."

"Such as?" Alibi asks.

"Such as the fact the Eldred died off at the end of the war," Krish says. "We all saw it happen. World after world filled with millions of corpses, left dead save for old defense systems run amok due to lack of supervision, or plagues and sicknesses perhaps loosed and left to spread by vengeful, dying Eldred. You remember this?"

"I heard all about it," Alibi says. "You can't grow up with Aunt Anita and not hear all about the Eldred."

"Yes, that does make sense. You know, Alibi, you are starting to look a little more like him," Krish says to Alibi, changing the subject.

"Him? Him who?"

"Your father. BC," Krish explains.

Great. Now I'm starting to look like the guy?How would I know?

"Never knew him," Alibi cracks. "Don't think I would've liked him much."

"I think you are wrong," Krish disagrees. "He was a very likable man. For an assassin."

"An assassin?" Kit says, finally piping up. Even Piccolo looks interested.

"Long story," Alibi says to Kit and Piccolo. "Tell you 'bout it some other time." He looks Kit in the eye. "Maybe after you tell me what you really did to piss off the Tek'Tah."

Kit freezes. He stares at Alibi. Alibi tries to read Kit's furry face but can't really fathom what's going on inside his alien mind. Piccolo looks at the floor.

"Some other time, then," Kit says, finally, after a long silence. Piccolo tries to disappear, fading away from the tension between Alibi and the cat man.

"Yes," Alibi agrees.

"Jeesh!" Krish lets out with a sigh of exasperation. "Didn't realize you were all so sensitive!"

"Sorry," Alibi apologizes. "I've heard too much about 'BC' recently."

"I see," Krish says. "Well, then, I am sorry if I have brought up a sore subject with you. Let us get back to the subject at hand. You saw Eldred on Junzias?"

"Yesss," Kit answers him. "And a very large Eldred ship."

"So you said, so you said," Krish confirms. "Interesting."

"And that," Alibi points at the hunk of metal, "was found in Tek'Tah space?"

"It was part of a ship that crashed into a planetoid in Tek'Tah space. It was unmistakably Eldred, but also unmistakably new!"

"When did you get this? Recently?" Alibi asks.

"Yes!"

Alibi has a sudden flash of panic, wondering if it was their ship that crashed. The look on Piccolo's face shows he realizes what could have happened as well.

"How recently?" Alibi says with some sense of anxiety.

"I don't know," Krish answers. "Three, four weeks ago?"

Alibi breathes again. Piccolo looks relieved.

Too long ago for it to be our ship.

"Can I look at it?" Alibi asks Krish.

"Sure. Here," he says, handing it over. Alibi reaches for the piece of debris. As he takes it in his hands, it feels heavy. At the touch of the metal, impressions flood into Alibi's mind.

There's something here. A presence, almost, inside of the metal, imbued in its making. Someone worked with this recently. But was it the Eldred? I can't sense that. Where was it made? I can kind of see that... an airless planet. Bright green and yellow nebula in the sky. Almost brighter than the dim yellow disc of the sun... Is that the Helix Nebula? Helix... why do I know that?

"Alibi?"

Alibi hears his name being called and snaps out of the slight daze he'd fallen into. He shakes off the vision.

"Alibi, are you alright?" Krish asks with some concern.

"I'm fine."

I hope I am! Whoa... what just happened?

"That was freaky," Piccolo chimes in. "Looked like you might pass out or something."

"I just got... I don't know what to call it... kind of a flash of mental energy or something just from touching this," Alibi says. He holds up the piece of metal wreckage. He turns to Kit. "Do you know of any inhabited planets in Tek'Tah space where the Helix Nebula is visible?"

"Several," Kit says. Alibi realizes that isn't exactly what he's looking for.

"How about in Eldred space?"

"I would not know," Kit admits.

"He didn't know the Eldred had shipyards," Krish points out. "You're asking the wrong person!"

"Why? Do you know, Krish?" Alibi asks him.

"I can find out," he tells him. Krish retreats around the corner. "Come on!" he calls from the next room. Kit, Piccolo and Alibi walk into an area just big enough for them to fit. A tri-table dominates the space, its display hovering in the air over the table. The Helix Nebula sits in the center of the display like an elongated eye, surrounded by stars and star systems. Krish is just barely visible on the other side of the display. As they watch, the nebula slides to one side.

"The Eldred had several systems in this area. I'm calling up their old charts," Krish says, and part of the display lights up red. A handful of star systems glow red. "We can eliminate the closer ones. It wouldn't look like a nebula in the sky if it's too close... let's see... well, that is interesting."

"What? Did you find something?" Alibi asks.

"No. Even better. I found nothing," Krish answers.

"How is that better?" Kit asks the doctor.

"See here?" A highlighted green cube appears on the display. There's nothing in the cube.

"I see an empty light green cube," Alibi says with a hint of disappointment.

"Wait a second," Krish says. Suddenly, five stars appear in the box. "Depends on whose charts we use. I loaded Eldred charts. These stars weren't on them. Classic attempt to hide something. If we were using only their charts, we might be fooled. But, Jeesh, who would do that? We use charts from The Flaze, the Domo, our own charts... they'd be better off just leaving them on their charts. Was there a star nearby, in your vision? Or just the nebula?"

"I saw a yellow sun... I think," Alibi says. But the details are beginning to fade from his memory like a dream after waking.

"Yellow sun. Yellow sun... let's see," Krish says, talking to himself. Two of the stars in the cube vanish from the display. "It's probably one of these three systems. How big was the 'sun' you saw?"

"Jeesh, I don't know, about this big, I think?" Alibi holds up his hand, his thumb and index finger making a small circle. Glowing yellow rings appear around each of the remaining stars.

"Hold on," Krish says. The display blips off and the old man comes back around the table with a memstick in his hand. "Those yellow rings are the probable orbits for the location you 'saw' when you grabbed that piece of Eldred debris. Here are the charts," he says, handing Alibi the memstick and forcing the two men and the Dakhur to back out of the compact space. "Can't guarantee it, but the place you 'saw' is probably around one of those three stars."

"I do not understand," Kit says, puzzled. "You believe what he 'saw' in his mind is real?"

"I hesitate to bring him up again," Krish says with an apologetic look Alibi's way, "but I knew Alibi's father," Krish explains to the alien. "BC had a knack for this sort of thing. It makes sense to me that his son would, too."

"A 'knack' for what sort of thing?" Kit asks.

"Knowing what people are thinking, feelings that turn out to be right, visions of things, impressions, that sort of thing. Psionic sensitivity. BC insisted Dolomay had the ability, too. The Eldred finally admitted that the Ancient Enemy had highly developed mental abilities. It only makes sense that some semblance of these abilities would start to develop in the human race. I don't know why he could see anything," Krish admits, "but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt."

"What?" Piccolo says to Alibi, in disbelief. "Now you're supposed to be some kind of psychic?"

Alibi shrugs.

"Not psychic," Krish corrects. "Telepathic."

"There's a difference?" Piccolo asks.

"I guess," Alibi shrugs again.

"I see," Kit says, but it doesn't sound like he believes either Krish or Alibi.

"I'm going to take the Cruiser out and check out these systems," Alibi tells the other three. He turns to Kit and Piccolo. "I can tell you guys don't really believe in this. I'm not even sure I do. I'll be glad to drop you off somewhere before I go out there."

Kit looks from Krish to Alibi. Piccolo stares at the ground.

"I am curious to see what is going on with the Tek'Tah and these Eldred," Kit says slowly, deliberately. "So, as far-fetched as this seems to me, I think I will continue to go with you, to see where this leads."

"So, you're with me?"

"Yes. I am with you," the Dakhur says.

"So am I. Gotta find my sister," Piccolo says, looking up.

"Alright! Let's go, then!" Alibi says triumphantly. "Thank you, Krish!"

"You're welcome," the old man says with a smile. "Glad I could help."

"You could come with us," Alibi offers Krish. "Might do you good to get out of the house."

"Out of the house, maybe. But off the planet? I don't thinks so," Krish demurs. "No, I'm very happy right here, thank you very much!"

"What would it take to get you back out into space, Krish?" Alibi asks him.

"Hmmm," Krish considers. "If it turns out the Eldred really are back around, I might have to see that for myself," he says. "And if there's even more going on? Well, then... I would want to know what was happening..."

"You ever need a ride, be sure to let me know," Alibi kids the old man. "I'll come pick you up."

"Ha! Thank you, Alibi," Krish says.

Alibi, Piccolo and Kit start to leave. Piccolo and Kit make it out the door, but Krish grabs Alibi by the sleeve before he can exit.

"Your friend there says he's curious," Krish says in a whisper. "Don't tell him what curiosity did to the cat, eh?"

Alibi's eyes widen.

"Don't jinx us, Krish."

"I'm not! The other one there? How did you end up working with that one?"

"We met in a Tek'Tah jail," Alibi tells him. "He's looking for his sister."

Krish squints out the doorway after the man. "Is that what he says? I don't know... I don't think you should trust him."

"Why do you say that?"

"It is just a feeling I have. I'm sorry. Could be nothing," he says, shaking his head. He brightens, and drops Alibi's sleeve. "Good luck," Krish tells him. "Tell your Aunt Anita I say hello!"

"I will," Alibi says. "You could go visit her some time, you know. Just call my Wand and let me know you want to go..."

"Get out of here!" Krish says with a laugh.

Alibi chuckles as he turns and follows Kit and Piccolo out the door.

# Chapter Nine

"Well, that's two down," Alibi says as they finish sweeping the second system, looking for some sign of the Eldred. Kit looks over at Alibi from the copilot's chair, and then looks back at the controls in front of him. Piccolo reclines in a deck chair near the back of the bridge, fast asleep.

"Yes," Kit says quietly. "Two. Down."

"You starting to regret coming out with me on this wild-goose chase?" Alibi asks.

"What is this 'wild-goose' you speak of?" Kit replies.

"You know, I don't really know... it's just a human expression, means we're looking for something that isn't there," Alibi explains.

"We are looking for the Eldred, are we not?" Kit asks, confused.

"We are! We are," Alibi insists. "I just know you're, well, skeptical about this whole 'vision' thing."

"Yes. I am skeptical. But we still have another system to check out, correct?"

"Absolutely!" Alibi says, glad his traveling companion is still up for the trip. "We do! I need to calculate the Transpace jump to the next system," he says. Kit looks upset.

"Yes. But do not remind me that we are jumping blind."

"We are not jumping blind!" Alibi insists. "Krish gave me detailed charts! This is anything but blind! That jump we made into the Junzias system was ten times riskier!"

"I do not want to know that. Even in hindsight," Kit tells him. "You told me it was safe!"

"It was!" Alibi protests. "It's just that this is even more safe!"

"I see," Kit says. "I hope so."

"Here we go."

Alibi brings the Cruiser in just outside the orbit Krish detailed for this system, their destination target zone.

"We've got a planetoid in the zone," Alibi tells Kit. "That's an improvement!"

"Indeed. We must be careful. Spot any ships in the vicinity?"

"I'm scanning now," Alibi tells him. "Oh. Hello! There is something. I'm trying to get a reading on them now."

"Don't get too close," Kit cautions.

"Just close enough to read 'em. Interesting... looks like Eldred ships! The computer is identifying them based on old recognition codes."

"They cannot have all died out," Kit says.

"Working on evading their scanners, hold on," Alibi cautions. He gently eases the Cruiser back away from the targets ahead, trying not to be seen. "Come on, baby. Don't see us. Nothing to see here, move along..."

"Who are you talking to?" Kit asks, puzzled.

"Myself? The air? The Eldred? I don't know," Alibi admits. "It's something we humans do."

"I have not observed this behavior before," Kit says. "I find it... what is the word..."

"What? Disconcerting?" Alibi tries.

"Annoying," Kit finishes.

"Oh."

Alibi grows quiet. He maneuvers the ship out of scanning range of the supposed Eldred ships without saying another word. The quiet on the ship grows oppressive.

Something is bothering Alibi, but he can't put his finger on what.

I'd talk to myself but I don't want to ruffle his lordship's feathers over there.

Catfeathers?

"We must plot a stealthy course in towards the planetoid," Kit says, finally breaking the silence.

"Genius," Alibi responds with heavy sarcasm. He sits up and loses the attitude as he figures out what's been bothering him. "Do you suppose there are any of them left around?" he asks Kit in a more serious tone of voice.

"Them?"

"The Ancient Enemy!" Alibi says in a whisper. "What if there was more than one Dolomay, more than one Ancient Enemy on ice, floating out there somewhere?"

"If that had been the case, none of the Eldred would have died," Kit answers. "Proximity did not seem to be a factor. Entire populations expired on Eldred worlds light years away from Earth after Dolomay was killed."

"Maybe these Eldred were in suspended animation?" Alibi offers.

"Not likely," Kit says. "No one has that kind of technology available now. Who would have frozen them?"

"Maybe the Ancient Enemy froze some. In case they needed Servants. Later," Alibi tries.

"Not likely," Kit counters. "Even if they had, who could defrost them now? Again, no one has this technology."

"Well, they're artificial life forms, right? Created by the Ancient Enemy to serve them, and designed to be able to reproduce and live long lives... could someone be growing new Eldred?"

Kit shakes his head.

"Again, no one has that kind of..."

"...technology available now," Alibi says in unison with Kit when he knows the cat man is going to repeat himself. "Damn. No wonder Aunt Anita is so convinced we're hallucinating."

"It is highly irregular," Kit admits.

"Yet there they are," Alibi says, nodding at the ship's forward viewscreen. "Whoever they are, they sure look like the Eldred."

"Are we there yet?" Piccolo asks, waking up and interrupting their conversation.

"We are," Alibi tells him.

"What's the plan?" Piccolo asks.

"Yes," Kit joins in. "What is the plan?"

"We'll come in out of the sun," Alibi says. "I'm taking us up, off the elliptical plane of the planetoid. We'll come back down on the opposite side of its orbit. We'll hop over the sun and approach with the sun behind us. Should mask our energy signature pretty well. The worst they'll think we are is a sunspot, unless they have amazing telescopes! Set with the sun and fly in to land on the night side of the planetoid... it does have a rotation, right?" Alibi asks as he checks the charts.

"It does," Kit says. He has the ship's scan in front of him. "You can tell because this energy source on the surface rotates with the planetoid."

"That energy source is where we're going!" Alibi says, for a moment thinking he was one step ahead of Kit.

"Yes, of course it is," the Dakhur says.

"Not too smug, huh?" Piccolo comments.

"That would be where a shipyard would have to be. It would require energy. I thought that was obvious," Kit explains. Alibi has to concede the point.

Alibi brings the ship in according to plan. They cross the night-day line as they draw in low to the surface of the planetoid.

Alibi lands the ship in the dark about ten clicks from the energy source. They don't seem to have attracted any attention. They spotted two Eldred ships in transit, one moving toward and one moving away from the installation that's been showing up as an energy source on their scanners. Neither one picked up on their Cruiser's presence.

Once on the ground, Alibi, Piccolo and Kit get into EVA suits. The plan is to cover the distance to the installation ahead on foot.

The planetoid's low gravity lets them cover the distance quickly. They stop about a half click away. Alibi surveys ahead through a viewfinder. The building is long, rectangular and drab. It stands about two stories tall. A small, silver Eldred-looking ship is parked outside the structure, linked to it by an accordion-folded walkway.

"It may be easiest to gain entry through that Eldred ship," Kit offers.

"Sounds good to me," Alibi agrees. Piccolo nods.

There's no sign of any perimeter guard or any sort of surveillance equipment. The three of them close the distance, draw near to the installation. They make their way around the long building to the ship parked outside.

Kit locates a door on the apparently seamless and smooth exterior of the ship.

"My pads are very sensitive," he explains as he triggers the door.

"Pussy," Piccolo jokes.

"Do not ever call me that again," Kit warns him. His hair is bristling on end. "Or I will kill you. Instantly."

"Point taken," Piccolo says sheepishly.

"Let's go in," Alibi offers, changing the subject.

They head into the interior of the small Eldred vessel. The airlock opens on an empty corridor. They need to get to the other side of the ship, to the walkway they saw leading into the installation. They follow a corridor running lengthwise along the skin of the ship until they find a crossing corridor. Unfortunately, they find company at the same time.

The five foot tall, light blue alien has large round ears, short fuzzy hair, and big dark eyes that blink repeatedly when it sees Alibi, Kit and Piccolo. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the Koala bear of Earth. The dark eyes squint as it assesses them, and then... it attacks! It leaps at them, a ferocious furry mass of claws and teeth flashing.

"GAAAAHHHHRRRRrrrr!"

Kit steps gracefully aside while Piccolo presses himself back against the wall. Alibi leaps into the air, bringing his boots down hard into the side of the fuzzy blue attacker as he lands. The alien lunges to sink its teeth into Alibi's leg, but Kit deflects the bite by punching the creature in the side of the head. The blow knocks the creature out and it lands with a hard "thud" on the deck in front of Piccolo.

"They might look cute and cuddly, but that thing was pretty vicious," Alibi exclaims.

"Let us go, before it wakes up," Kit suggests.

"I thought they were friendlier than that," Piccolo says. "Do these ones have rabies or something?"

"They shouldn't even exist. Who knows?" Alibi says.

They hurry down the corridor, across the inside of the Eldred ship. Kit waves the other two back as he stops to look around, cautious before he opens the hatches that hopefully lead to another lengthwise hallway opposite the first. Kit pokes his head through the hatch.

"Clear," he calls back to Alibi and Piccolo. He straightens and slinks around the hatch opening. Alibi follows, Piccolo right behind him. Another set of doors loom ahead where the walkway should be. Kit, Piccolo and Alibi edge along the corridor walls, trying to stay out of the line of sight of any alien that might look through the windows mounted in the doors.

They reach the doors without incident. Alibi looks through the clear glass and sees another fuzzy blue alien a short distance away from the other side of the door.

"There is one on the other side," Kit says.

"That's all I can see, too," Alibi confirms.

"I can't see anything," Piccolo pipes up with useless information.

Alibi glares back at him.

"I wish I was armed," Kit says.

"And I wish I had super strength and x-ray vision," Piccolo jokes.

"You're lucky I'm not armed," Alibi says to Piccolo.

"Threats will get you nowhere!" Piccolo protests.

"Quiet!" Kit hisses at Piccolo.

"We can make do," Alibi says. He turns to Kit. "You hide behind the door, I'll get its attention. When it comes after me, you jump it."

Kit tucks himself into the shadows near the door. Piccolo ducks into more distant shadows as Alibi walks up to the door and pushes it open.

"Oh. Hi!" he says to the alien. He turns quickly and ducks into the corridor. The ferocious alien crashes back through the doors in pursuit. It does not appear to be armed, either. It doesn't seem to need weapons. It lands on Alibi and he feels the tips of its claws dig into his back.

"Aaaarrrghhh!" Alibi yells. He lets out an "OOooph!" as he falls to the floor with the alien and then Kit landing heavy on top of him. Alibi feels the claws start to pull and rip at his back as the alien struggles.

"Come on, Kit!" Alibi blurts out.

"I am try..." Kit stops abruptly as Alibi hears a sick "crack." The body goes slack on top of him.

"Kit?" he says weakly, from the bottom of the pile.

"I am sorry, Alibi. I am afraid I have killed it."

"I'm just glad you're okay!" Alibi says. "Can you help me get out from under this guy?"

Kit pulls the corpse off of Alibi and throws it to the side of the corridor. Alibi gets up. Kit, Alibi and Piccolo make their way onto the walkway.

They cross over to the building without seeing another alien. The airlock on this side of the walkway is already open. Kit glances from side to side and then darts through the double doors into the installation. Alibi follows as Piccolo brings up the rear.

"Any more fuzzies?" Piccolo asks Alibi and Kit as he catches up.

"Not that I can see," Kit answers. He ducks through the doors. Piccolo and Alibi follow. They creep through the open airlock and enter a plain looking receiving area, a small space with a high desk. Alibi looks around.

"What do you suppose this place is?" Piccolo asks.

"Warehouse or facility of some kind, perhaps," Kit speculates. "I have not been in many Eldred buildings," he explains.

"Wait," Alibi says. "Eldred buildings? You just said Eldred building... Is this an Eldred building?"

"Yes. You did not know? I thought you had recognized it."

"No," Alibi confesses. "I didn't. I wouldn't know what one looks like."

"This place looks very old," Kit adds. "I would imagine it has been in use for centuries."

"This doesn't look like a shipyard," Piccolo observes.

"This building isn't the shipyard," Alibi says. "But I would bet the shipyard is nearby." Alibi speculates. "You'd need a storage facility like this to go with the shipyard, right?"

"So you assume," Kit says.

"Are these blue guys Eldred or not?" Alibi asks him.

"Well, they look like them," Kit admits, "but they were never reported to be so ferocious. They are always described as very soft-spoken creatures."

"There's nothing mellow about these guys!" Piccolo says, looking back towards the body of the last one they encountered. Kit heads through the doors in front of them, into the installation. He leans back through.

"Clear. Come on," he calls to Alibi and Piccolo.

"Right," Alibi says.

They make their way down a long, door-less corridor. Windows on their right provide views of the planetoid's surface. The corridor borders the building's perimeter and they follow it down the length of the building without coming across another door. Kit stops the other two in their tracks when they reach the back corner of the installation.

"Look," Kit says. He points outside at a mass on the ground a short distance from the back of the building. Alibi and Piccolo look out the window. A rounded pile of something stands out between the otherwise sharp angles that dominate the planetoid's surface.

"What? Oh..." Alibi pauses when he realizes what he's looking at. It's a massive pile of Eldred corpses a short distance from the installation, left open to the vacuum of space.

"It looks like the Eldred died here, too," Kit says.

"That's a whole lot of fuzzy little bodies," Piccolo says.

"So, if they died here, too... who are these new ones?" Alibi asks rhetorically. He sees something else outside. "THAT doesn't look like an Eldred," he says, pointing out a human looking man in an EVA suit coming towards the installation with four Eldred ambling along beside him.

"Get back!" Kit warns, as he leaps away from the window. "Whoever he is, don't let him see you!"

Alibi and Piccolo duck down and away from the window, onto the floor next to Kit. They hear the airlock opening on the floor below them.

"Do you think that's one of them? The Ancient Enemy?" Alibi asks Kit.

"I do not know. He could just be a human who found some feral Eldred somewhere," Kit says.

"He looks human enough," Piccolo observes.

"If we can get close enough, I can capture his image with my Wand and we can run him through some SA databases, see if he shows up," Alibi says, thinking out loud.

"I do not think it would be wise to get too close. Perhaps we should merely capture the images of some of these Eldred and then make a hasty exit," Kit suggests. "We should head back out to our ship."

"We should see if there's a shipyard," Piccolo says. "Still haven't seen one."

"Maybe..." Alibi responds.

They hear the airlock below them open again. They rise up off the floor to cautiously look out the window. Two EVA-suited Eldred are dragging a stiff, unsuited human out between them. The freshly frozen scream on the woman's face makes it appear she may have been alive until they just opened the airlock.

"They've got human prisoners," Alibi says to Kit and Piccolo. "And they're killing them!"

"Is that," Piccolo starts to ask, stops. He leans against the window. "Thank god, no!"

"Not your sister?" Alibi asks. Piccolo shakes his head.

"No! Didn't look anything like her, luckily."

"Didn't look like Miss Kay either," Alibi says with some relief.

"I'm afraid you humans all seem... you all look very similar to me, before I get to know you," Kit says defensively.

"Fair enough," Alibi tells the Dakhur. "I had trouble telling your people apart at first, too."

"Yes, I know. I heard about that. You mistook my uncle for my father," Kit answers with a quick laughing hiss. "My father was not impressed."

"Damn," Piccolo says, reacting to the put down.

"Yeah," Alibi agrees. He seethes for a moment until their location brings him back to himself.

They hear the airlock below them cycling open once again. The airlock must be fairly large, as a small wheeled transport emerges from the building. The cabin of the transport is apparently pressurized. A red-haired man clad in a simple blue jumpsuit sits behind the controls. He drives the transport off in the direction from which he'd originally arrived in his EVA suit. Alibi ducks down so the man won't see him, but holds up his wand to try to capture footage of the man's face. If he can get a shot of his features he can use the recording to search his image across Solar Alliance databases.

He pulls the Wand down and looks on its small screen to see if he got anything. Looks like a nondescript white man, middle aged, with receding, close-cropped red hair.

Doesn't look like a monster...

"Anything?" Piccolo asks.

"Something," Alibi replies. "I'll send it off now, see if we get any matches back."

"Since the man has left the building, let us go downstairs and see what is going on here," Kit says. "There is bound to be a way down somewhere along this corridor. I will see if I can find a door."

Kit begins feeling the surface of the inside wall opposite the windows, trying to find some sort of hidden control panel or door. Finally, his sensitive pads locate controls that open a sliding door to a small room.

"Elevator?" Alibi asks. Kit nods a "yes." The three of them walk in and the door slides shut behind them. A glowing down arrow on the wall beckons. Alibi pushes it and the elevator descends.

# Chapter Ten

The elevator door slides open on the floor below. Alibi, Piccolo and Kit press themselves against the wall, trying to stay out of sight inside of the elevator. Kit slides over towards the opening, alert to any activity in the corridor outside. Standing partially in the doorway so the elevator door won't slide shut, he nods over at Alibi to move out next. Alibi ducks around the cat man to press himself against the inside wall of the corridor on the left. He can see the airlock up ahead to the right, along the installation's outside back wall.

"Clear," Alibi says in a hoarse whisper. Kit nods to Piccolo to move out next. Piccolo slides out past the Dakhur and presses himself against the wall next to Alibi. Then Kit eases around the doorway and out of the elevator, letting the door slide shut behind him. Piccolo, Alibi and Kit slide down the wall to the left until the wall ends. They hold up. The first floor of the installation is open like a warehouse. The only fixed walls on the floor surround the elevator.

Looking out into the open space, Alibi notices that it's broken up into smaller islands of light and activity. Small blue aliens work among a sea of what look to be operating theaters, each with its own overhead lighting, a gurney, and surrounding medical equipment. The aliens are adjusting knobs and taking readings. Rows of glass tanks run along the building's walls, filled to varying levels with translucent, yellowish liquid. Indistinct, globular objects float within the tanks.

The machines at work in the enormous room hum and click, but the aliens work in silence, giving the entire installation an eerie quiet. As Alibi's eyes adjust to the light, he begins to notice that there are bodies on most of the gurneys in the room. Many of the bodies nearby look like Eldred.

"Ugh, the smell!" Kit grimaces. He pulls a cloth from his pack and ties a kerchief across his snout. Alibi hadn't noticed. He breathes in an unpleasant mix of raw meat and disinfectant. It is pretty offensive once it gets in past his senses.

"Whoa," Piccolo says. "This place smells like chemical death!"

"Seems an apt description," Kit agrees in a slightly muffled voice.

"Came prepared this time, huh?" Alibi jokes with Kit.

"This is not a solution. It is but a weak attempt to keep from throwing up," Kit says without humor.

"This place is pretty freaky," Piccolo says under his breath as he wanders over towards the nearest set-up. "It looks like he's dissecting dead Eldred bodies... AH!" Piccolo jumps, stumbles backwards. "That one's still alive!"

Alibi and Kit come up beside Piccolo to look at the Eldred body. The limbs of the creature are strapped down. The chest cavity is open, ribs held splayed apart by a surgical device. The organs visible inside the chest cavity twitch when a mister periodically sprays a fine film of liquid across them. Then Alibi notices something that will stay with him – the creature's mouth slowly opens and then closes, over and over, again and again, repeatedly.

"Shit," Alibi lets out in a small voice.

"Maybe this man has brought their race back to life," Kit offers quietly. Piccolo deliberately tries hard not to look.

"This shit is..."

DING!

Alibi pulls out his Wand. The "ding" was his search alert on the image of the man. He checks out the results.

"He's a criminal," Alibi tells the other two.

"What? That sound was your Wand?" Kit asks.

"Handy things," Piccolo says, ogling Alibi's Wand.

"Don't you have one?" Alibi asks him.

"Had one. Don't now," he says, offering no further explanation.

"What happened to it?" Alibi presses.

"I'd rather not say," Piccolo refuses. "So," he changes the subject. "Who is this 'criminal'?"

"A pirate and former merchant," Alibi reads aloud.

"What? A warlord?" Piccolo asks with a trace of panic.

"Huh. No. Strictly small time... or he was. He disappeared a while back."

"Guess we know where he went," Piccolo says, calming down.

"What is his name?" Kit asks.

"Dimitri Masakov," Alibi reads.

All three jump as the airlock's outer door begins cycling open.

"We've gotta get out of sight!" Alibi states the obvious.

"Guess Dimitri's home," Piccolo says as he scrambles to hide behind the nearby stack of medical equipment keeping the vivisected Eldred alive. Kit quietly blends into the shadows. Alibi puts his wand away and slides up to the gurney with the Eldred on it. He edges down next to it, getting into a position where he can watch the airlock door yet stay concealed.

The wheeled transport drives in through the airlock. A woman sits in the pressurized cabin next to "Dimitri Masakov". The airlock doors close as he parks the transport over by the elevator. The transport cabin opens. Masakov pushes the woman out. She's restrained, arms tied to her sides. She stumbles and falls to the ground.

He moves awkwardly getting out of the transport, staggering a little, as if he's recovering from a stroke. He doesn't seem to suffer any weakness, however. He reaches down and brutally yanks the bound woman up onto her feet. He pushes her ahead of him into the elevator and the two disappear.

When the elevator door closes, Kit reemerges from the shadows. Alibi and Piccolo join him soon after.

"That wasn't her," Piccolo tells the other two. "My sister. That wasn't her, either. She's gotta still be at the ship, right? We've gotta find the shipyard. It's gotta be where he's going, right?"

"You are probably lucky it was not her," Kit observes.

"We don't know for sure that her ship came here," Alibi cautions Piccolo, "so don't get your hopes up too high."

"I would argue that the chances are good that they are here," Kit says. "The Eldred? Human prisoners? All signs point to here." The cat man suddenly jerks his head to the side. "Elevator!" Kit warns, and then he disappears. Alibi and Piccolo scramble back under cover.

Alibi watches as Masakov comes out of the elevator and climbs back into the transport. He fires up the transport and turns it around. The airlock doors open. The transport rolls into the airlock, the inner doors close; they hear the outer doors cycle open, and then the transport heads back out across the surface of the planetoid.

As Alibi stands up, a figure nearby catches his eye. He edges past the splayed Eldred in front of him to get a better look at the more distant table.

"Oh shit," Alibi blurts out as he gets closer to the other gurney. The figure he sees isn't an Eldred. It's a human being. As Alibi approaches, he sees the man is, mercifully, dead. The dissection that's been done to the body nearly causes Alibi pain. It hurts to see the man's reproductive system sliced open and laid out on the gurney. Alibi's own pair shrink up tight when he sees the man's testicles are missing.

Oh. Not missing.

They're floating in a small jar of yellow liquid on a shelf a short distance away from the man's head. A jar next to it holds a small, rounded, pyramid-shaped chunk of... something, floating in a blue-tinged, translucent solution.

As Alibi nears the cadaver, he sees the top of the man's skull has been removed. An intricate network of filaments and wires lead directly into his head. It looks like angel-hair pasta has exploded from his brain. A dizzying number of thin wires run from inside the man out into an array of darkened equipment.

The chunk in the jar is probably a piece of this guy's brain. Maybe it was removed to make room for the wires?

"I don't know how much of this he did to you while you were alive, but I hope you didn't feel too much for too long," Alibi tells the corpse on the table.

He turns to look for Kit and Piccolo, then calls them over with a wave. As they approach, Alibi tells the others what he's found in a loud whisper.

"He's surgically taken apart the guy's brain and his balls," he finishes. "But there's nothing in Masakov's write up on the Wand that said anything about a medical background."

"Ew," Piccolo says as he sees the body. "Yeah, sure looks like the guy knows what he's doing. He shouldn't be doing it, but it looks like he definitely knows what he's doing."

"Vivisecting humans and Eldred," Kit says. "Most gruesome. What exactly is he doing here?"

"Freaky things. Really fucking freaky things!" Piccolo says, a hint of fear in his voice.

"Thank you for that insight," Kit says with a measure of Dakhur sarcasm.

The sound of the opening outer airlock doors breaks up their chatter. The three dodge for the shadows as the inner doors open and Masakov walks in an EVA suit. He takes the suit off and hangs it next to the airlock.

Alibi watches from hiding as Masakov walks along the aisles between the gurneys, looking slowly from side to side, head cocked as if listening for some sign of intrusion.

Did he find our ship? Does he know we're here?

Did we give ourselves away?

Alibi feels pressure on the sides of his head, at the temples, as if his skull is caught in a vise! Closing his eyes, he tries to push back. He fights an onrushing headache. The effort pays off! He's able to still the pressure and ease the pain. He can still feel some kind of force pressing in on the edges of his sensation, but there's no longer any pain.

He opens his eyes and nearly lets out a yelp – Dimitri Masakov is right in front of his position! Masakov is staring into the dark toward him as if trying to see through the table Alibi is hiding behind. Alibi tries to think himself invisible.

I'm not here!

Alibi thinks as hard as he can.

Nothing to see here! Everything is as it should be! You don't see anything!

Masakov looks... confused. He shakes his head and then moves along away from where Alibi is hiding. Masakov walks his strange, staggering walk back to the elevator and disappears upstairs.

Alibi, Kit and Piccolo meet in the shadows.

"He definitely knows something is up!" Piccolo says in a harsh whisper.

"He almost saw you," Kit says to Alibi.

"That was weird," Alibi says.

A woman's muffled scream on the floor above them breaks up their conversation, but it's silenced in almost no time.

"That can't be good," Alibi observes.

"What is he doing here?" Kit wonders aloud again.

"I don't know. But we need to follow him the next time he heads off," Piccolo offers. "Find out where he's keeping the others. Find out where my sister is."

"How noble," Kit comments wryly. Piccolo pouts.

"I wish I knew something about medicine," Alibi says. "I'd like to know what he's trying to do. What he hopes to accomplish."

"He may have brought back the Eldred," Kit observes. "Hard to tell if there were Eldred survivors from twenty years ago," Kit looks around, "or if he grew his own new ones."

"I read through his bio on the Wand. There's no way that the guy he's supposed to be, this Dimitri Masakov, could have done all this," Alibi argues. "He's a petty crook! How did he learn genetic engineering?"

"This does not make sense," Kit agrees. "Are you sure the information you received is correct?"

Alibi looks at Kit with a hint of exasperation. "Yes. This is Dimitri Masakov. Or at least he looks like him. Maybe he's possessed by a demon or something. Or he had his identity stolen, his likeness appropriated by this guy, somehow..."

"Pretty fuckin' far-fetched," Piccolo sighs. "Maybe he went to med school?"

"Let us move away from the elevator," Kit says. "I do not want to be surprised by him again."

Another scream echoes through the building.

"I don't know, sounds like he's busy," Alibi cracks. The other two look at him.

"I thought you were supposed to be the sensitive one," Piccolo says to Alibi.

"Sorry," he says. They move away from the elevator.

"Jeesh! Look at this poor bastard!" Piccolo says as they walk past the bodies on the tables around them. He points over at a man pinned up against the wall. The man, though well-built, is now trapped, solid, wall-mounted metal cuffs holding him up in place, holding his arms by the biceps. Another cuff encircles his waist. Two wrap his thighs, keeping him pinned to the wall. The man looks like he's awake, but stares off into space, unaware. Drool loops down from his lower lip, sliming down his chest and dripping off in stringy remnants to pool on the floor. His eyes appear aimless and unfocused.

"Looks like his brain's been switched off," Piccolo comments. He holds up a hand before Alibi can insult him. "Don't say it!"

"If he even has a brain," Kit says.

"He's wired for something," Alibi notes, still smirking. A network of fiber optics attached to his head and body lead into the machinery and consoles next to him. Most of the leads are wired into the large man's skull. Monitors nearby don't show any activity. The hulking man hangs like an inanimate doll pinned to the wall, held in place by the metal bands.

As they look at the drooling man, the three hear another sound.

"Hello?"

A soft woman's voice calls out of the darkness.

"Is there somebody there? Someone? Anyone?"

Alibi feels something. The voice sounds familiar. He looks around, tries to find out where the voice is coming from. He sees a human figure close by and heads for it. The overhead lights illuminate a woman's body.

Familiar? It's hard to tell because of the surgical condition the body is in. As he gets closer, he sees her sightless eyes flitting around trying to focus. As Alibi looks at the face he realizes it is familiar. He wishes it wasn't. It's Miss Kay.

She lies on the table, the crown of her head sawed clean off. The top of her brain is exposed, fiber wire leads and probes sunk deep into the wrinkled gray pulp.

"Is someone there? Doctor? I can't see! Is anyone there?" she calls out. Her eyes seem to fix on Alibi for a moment. "It feels like someone is there!" Her sightless eyes dart back and forth."I can't hear anything! I'm not sure I'm making any sound. I think I hear my own voice. Can you touch me? Is anyone there? If someone's there, please..."

Alibi steps up and grabs the woman's hand.

"Oh thank God," she gasps. "You are there!" He reaches in past the tangle of wires to caress her cheek with the back of his hand. "Thank you!" she cries. A tear rolls down from the edge of her left eye. "Thank you," she says again, softly.

A short distance away, Piccolo lets out a cry of his own.

"Oh, man, this is just GROSS!"

I'm sorry.

Alibi pulls away from poor Miss Kay to go find out what's set off Piccolo. Piccolo is standing by a row of gurneys pushed over against a wall. The dead human women on these gurneys have had their midsections surgically opened by some form of rough, bloody surgery performed on them.

"That's a lot of blood," Piccolo says. "That means they were alive when he cut them open."

"How do you know that?" Alibi asks Piccolo uncomfortably.

"I don't know, I just, um, know," Piccolo says.

"You are saying these women were still living when he did this?" Kit asks for clarification.

"Yeah. This guy is some sick shit," Piccolo confirms.

The corpses now lie strapped to gurneys. A series of large jars of bluish liquid line shelves next to the last gurney. Some sort of excised internal organ floats in each of the jars.

"What are these?" Alibi asks Piccolo.

"All of a sudden I'm the expert?" he protests. Alibi just stares back at him. Piccolo shrugs. "My guess? They look like uteruses. Uteri? I don't know what the plural is," he says. "I'm not an expert."

"What is he after? Eggs? Embryos?" Alibi asks. Before anyone can respond, the elevator hums back to life.

"He's coming back!" Alibi says in a loud whisper. "I hope we haven't been too loud!"

"I think he was busy," Piccolo whispers back. They move back down the line, away from the elevator but back towards the Eldred bodies. They watch from a distance as the elevator opens and Masakov wheels out a woman in a wheelchair. He wheels her down toward the other women Piccolo had been examining.

Masakov adjusts a device on his wrist. It's a communications device of some kind. Two Eldred appear at his side, awaiting his order. Masakov nods at one of the bodies, on the table at his side. The two Eldred remove the straps and awkwardly drag the woman's corpse off the flat surface. The body hits the ground with a sick thud as the two small creatures attempt to manhandle a weight greater than theirs. One Eldred on each arm, they drag the dead woman down to the airlock.

As the Eldred drag her away, Masakov manhandles the woman he's brought with him out of the wheelchair. He heaves her body up onto the gurney and straps her down, checking each strap for tightness.

Taking a syringe from a nearby shelf, he holds it up into the light and squirts air out of it. He examines it for a moment, and then plunges the needle into the woman's arm, draining the syringe. He pulls the empty needle out and casts it aside, his movements jerky and odd, slow and deliberate.

Masakov pauses in his efforts and looks around. It looks as if he's smelling the air, scenting the odor of an enemy, seeking prey. Alibi once again attempts to think himself invisible.

"Doctor?" Miss Kay calls out. "Are you there?"

Oh my God, don't give me away!

Alibi feels guilty for being selfish.

Masakov scowls. Something seems to have distracted him. He beats a path back to the elevator and upstairs. Alibi, Kit and Piccolo start to emerge from hiding, but the elevator hums back to life. They're forced to scurry back into the shadows as the elevator descends.

Masakov emerges from the elevator. He heads over to the airlock and pulls on his EVA suit. As Masakov lowers his helmet into place, Piccolo creeps up next to Alibi.

"We should seal up and follow him. Find out where he's keeping the other kidnap victims," Piccolo says in a loud whisper. He looks at Alibi for a sign of acknowledgment. Alibi nods, but puts his finger to his lips. As Masakov walks into the airlock, Kit makes his way over to the other two.

"We're going to follow him," Piccolo says to Kit.

"We are?" Kit asks Alibi. Alibi shrugs and gives in.

"We are," he tells Kit.

After waiting for Masakov to get a good head start, the three seal up their EVA suits and head back out the airlock. They bounce their way along the path left by Masakov's ground transport until they come to a small, nondescript, square building on the edge of a flat plain. A large airlock door dominates one wall of the building, where the transport tracks end.

"Where's the big Eldred ship?" Piccolo asks, looking out across the dusty blank plain. "Did they leave?"

"The ship is underground, I would imagine," Kit declares. "By the look of it. They would not keep it out on the surface, visible to prying eyes and passing strangers."

"Betchyourite," Piccolo agrees, running the words together in excitement. "Guess we're going underground!"

# Chapter Eleven

The Helix nebula glows above them. Alibi looks out across the plain, trying to imagine the huge, silver Eldred ship descending from the sky to disappear below the blank gray sands before him. His vision of the planetoid back at Krish's apartment on Rigel Four returns in a deja vu moment. Alibi experiences a sort of double vision as he sees the image from his mind superimposed on the landscape.

This is definitely the place he "saw" when he touched the scrap of alien metal. He bounces over to the small building. Piccolo follows, catching up as they near the airlock. Kit gets there ahead of both of them.

"It is locked," Kit informs them as they approach.

Alibi starts to examine the door when Piccolo pipes up beside him.

"That's an easy one, that lock. Here," he says, nudging Alibi out of the way so he can pick the lock. Piccolo gets the door open as easily as he suggests he can. He stands back and lets Kit and Alibi go ahead of him.

The three enter through the airlock and soon stand inside the building next to Masakov's transport. The man himself is not in sight. Alibi, Kit and Piccolo remove their EVA suit helmets and look around.

The structure is single-leveled. There's enough space inside for the transport and a bank of two elevators, one normal sized, one extra large for freight.

They make their way around the transport towards the smaller of the two elevator doors. Before they can press any buttons, it opens! Masakov stands directly in front of them, holding a chain in his hand. The chain leads to an attractive, brown-haired young woman in manacles standing captive next to Masakov. They're all startled, but Piccolo literally jumps.

"Katie!" Piccolo shouts out. "My... my sister!"

"Who?" is all Masakov gets out. The woman recognizes Piccolo – and recoils! She leans into Masakov as she pulls away from Piccolo.

"No!" she screams.

Masakov and the rest of them turn to her, momentarily stunned.

"What the fuck?" is all a surprised Alibi can manage before Masakov lunges at him. Alibi dodges, gets out of the man's way. Masakov stumbles past Alibi and out of the elevator.

"Whath are youth doinga her?" Masakov says. His words sound slurred and distorted. He looks confused for a split second. Then he turns and lunges at Alibi again. Alibi's confusion gives Masakov a momentary edge. He connects and sends Alibi sprawling across the floor. Kit moves to close the distance.

"I'm not going back to Laveillur!" Katie shouts at Piccolo as she shuffles away from him and out of the elevator.

Alibi gets up and lunges for Masakov.

"Unha!" Alibi grunts as Masakov knocks him away into the wall. He ricochets off and stumbles onto his knees.

Masakov advances on Alibi, reaching to grab him over the head around the waist, lifting him up to pile drive him. Kit leaps and pounces, closing the distance. He pulls Masakov off of Alibi and throws him into the wall.

The man crumbles into a pile at the wall's base.

"Who or what is this Lava lure?" Alibi asks the girl as he struggles to regain his feet. Kit stands next to him, growling over Masakov. Piccolo tries to grab his sister. She keeps trying to avoid his reach, scrambling to get away from him. Her eyes warily shift from Piccolo to Masakov, as if weighing the worst of two evils. Then she looks at Alibi. Her eyes catch his, and bore in, as if looking for something.

"Who is Laveillur?" The girl mocks Alibi with her sarcasm. "Oh, that's good! What are you, a fucking actor? Bet he's the guy who signs your paychecks! I know for sure Laveillur is HIS employer," she tells Alibi, nodding and glancing over to indicate Piccolo. "he's paying that fuckhead for sure! For all I know you're working for him, too!"

"I do not work for anyone," Kit says, answering the girl's accusations in a measured tone. Alibi stares back into Katie's eyes, trying to convince her silently.

I'm not sure what the fuck is going on here, but I'm not the bad guy!

"Everyone works for someone," Piccolo says. "Come on, Katie. This guy's carving people up! Laveillur isn't ripping women's fucking uteruses out of them!"

Masakov stirs and begins to rise. Alibi looks away from the girl and down at the butcher lying on the floor. Masakov looks up at Alibi, a strange expression on his face. He leans toward Alibi. "Sometimes," he whispers in a different, clearer sounding voice than he'd just used, "sometimes... I am still I!" He says the last two words with heavy emphasis.

Alibi punches Masakov in the side of the head, knocking him out.

He searches the unconscious man, looking for the keys to the girl's manacles. He finds a ring of release sticks in the man's jumpsuit pocket.

Alibi looks over at her as he straightens up.

"I'm not sure what's going on," Alibi tells her. "But I do not work for anyone named Laveillur!"

"He does," she says, gesturing at Piccolo.

"He's not your brother?" Alibi asks.

She stops in her tracks.

"My brother? You're kidding me, right?" she says, shaking her head. She turns to Piccolo. "You told them you were my fucking brother? You piece of shit!"

"I don't work for anyone named Laveillur!" Alibi says again.

"WE do not," Kit reinforces.

"So what are you doing helping HIM?" she asks, gesturing at Piccolo.

"He said you were his sister. He was trying to rescue you. We were trying to help. I was trying to find an old friend, but..." Alibi trails off, thinking of Miss Kay partially dissected back in the other building.

"If he told you I was his sister, he's lying! He's a fucking bounty hunter!" she rants. "He works for Laveillur! He's been trying to take me back to that fat old fuck to collect the bounty!"

Kit and Alibi turn and stare at Piccolo.

"Is that true?" Alibi asks the man.

I really don't know him from a hole in the head, do I?

Piccolo shrugs. He looks around and tries not to say anything.

"So," Alibi asks her, "is your name even Katie?"

"Yeah, I'm Katie. Short for Katerina." For a moment she gets a distant look in her eyes. "There are more people down there in that shithole of a ship," she tells them, coming back to herself. "If you're really here to help, you've gotta help them, too!"

Their attention focused on each other, no one notices Masakov regain his wits, stand and lurch into the elevator. He hits the controls. Before they can stop him he disappears behind the closing door as Kit, Alibi, Piccolo and Katie look on.

The sound of the building's outer airlock door opening behind them makes them all turn their heads. The airlock cycles. The inner door opens unleashing the first of a score of Eldred. The vicious aliens start pouring out of the airlock, swarming their way, pointy teeth gnashing. Not the mellow, intelligent creatures of the history files, these are more of the rabid creatures they ran into in the other building, and these are armed and dangerous. They begin firing at Alibi, Katie, Kit and Piccolo. The four of them scramble for cover behind the transport. Alibi punches the buttons to call the elevator, dodging their rifle fire.

"Masakov must have called them!" Alibi figures. Kit nods, but he's focused on something else. He dives underneath the transport in front of them. Suddenly, the lead Eldred fighter moving along the side of the transport disappears underneath. A strangled cry rings out in between shots fired by the other Eldred. Kit pops up on the opposite side of the transport, an Eldred rifle in his hand. He begins firing over the transport at the advancing Eldred, managing to nail two of the creatures before the rest drop back, retreating into the airlock.

"Grab one of their guns," Kit calls over to Alibi. Alibi edges around the transport and grabs a rifle from one of the Eldred bodies on the floor. An Eldred leans out of the airlock and rips off a shot at him that goes wide and hits the opposite wall harmlessly.

"Grab me one!" Piccolo calls over at Alibi from next to the elevator.

I don't think so.

Alibi remains silent as he drops back to where Katie and Piccolo crouch next to the elevator door with just the one rifle in his hands. Eldred rifle shots rip around him as they shoot at him from the airlock.

The elevator door opens thanks to his earlier button pushing. He crouches in the elevator doorway, keeping it open. He sights with the Eldred gun and lets rifle fire rip back towards the airlock.

FWAAAASSSSHH!

"Come on! Into the elevator," he calls to the others. "We'll go downstairs and see if we can free some captives. I wouldn't mind punching Masakov again, either," Alibi admits.

"That is not very progressive of you," Kit observes as he falls back next to Alibi in the doorway, firing back at the airlock.

"What?" Alibi mock protests to Kit. "Saving captives is progressive!"

"I was referring to the punching," Kit says.

"Punching helps," Alibi insists, straight-faced.

Ducking the rifle fire coming from the aliens back by the airlock, Katie shuffles on all fours past Alibi and Kit and into the elevator. Kit keeps the Eldred busy with covering fire. Alibi turns back to Katie.

"Going down?" Alibi asks her once she's inside the elevator and out of harm's way, making a lame joke. She gives him a withering look. "I've got the keys to those manacles," he says cheerily, holding up the release sticks as he tries to get on the girl's good side. She holds her bound hands up to Alibi. He removes the shackles from her wrists.

"Give me those," she says to him, motioning for the release sticks. He hands them over and she unlocks her ankles. The chains fall to the elevator floor. "They're keeping everybody in the cells on the ship below," she tells Alibi and Kit as she stretches, now free. She looks puzzled. "You're really gonna go in after them?" she asks.

"Yeah," Alibi answers, now puzzled himself.

"That wouldn't be normal bounty hunter-ish behavior," she says, looking at Alibi and Kit intently.

"Neither is letting you out of your chains," Alibi helpfully points out.

"Yeah," she says, thinking. "You've got me. The thing to do now would be get out of here and get your money from Laveillur."

"If we were bounty hunters," Alibi says. "I told you, we're not. We're not working for this Velour, whoever he is!"

FWAAAAASSSHHH!

Kit fires another shot at the Eldred in the airlock as Piccolo slithers awkwardly into the elevator. He trips over the manacles and falls onto the floor just past Alibi. Alibi steps in out of the doorway so the elevator doors can close. As it begins to descend, Katie looks down at Piccolo as if she's going to spit on him.

"He works for Laveillur," she says in the sudden silence of the small descending room. "I know that for sure. Fucking slime ball bounty hunter!" Piccolo looks up at Alibi, Kit and Katie from where he lies curled up on the floor, small and strangely pathetic, like a worm squirming in the mud. He and Alibi lock eyes. Alibi wishes he could fire lasers from his eyes and melt the other man into a puddle of goo.

"What?" Piccolo protests. He tries to get to his knees to stand back up, but is bounced back down when the elevator reaches its destination with a lurch and a thump. "Unh!"

The door opens, revealing a huge underground cavern. It's eerily quiet. Piccolo gets up off the floor, and the four of them leave the elevator. They look around for any sign of Masakov as the door shuts behind them, the sound of it echoing in the vast silence of the underground chamber. It appears to be a natural formation, an underground cave sealed up and turned into a giant hangar. The lighting looks dim at first. The space itself consumes the light, the vast distance to the other side of the chamber prevents them from even seeing the the far wall. The large silver ship parked in the underground hangar also gets in the way.

Enormous silver sheets of material are stacked along the wall off to their far left. Structural beams are stacked along the wall as well. On the right side of the cavern, assembly structures are folded up and stored away against the rock wall. The material and means for making the Eldred's ships is arrayed around them. Alibi takes out his Wand and records the sight, capturing the footage for later.

They walk cautiously into the wide open space of the hangar. An Eldred ship like the one they saw back on Junzias sits in front of them. Next to the ship sits an ornate, apparently complex machine with a clear capsule at its center.

What the hell is that thing? Never seen anything like that before.

Is it Masakov's or the Eldred's?

Questions run through Alibi's mind as he surveys the scene. Several thick cables run between the ship and the strange machine. They don't appear to be completely hooked up, as several of the cable ends dangle or rest on the ground next to the device. There's no sign of Masakov.

Alibi, Kit, Katie and Piccolo make their way carefully past the new machine over to the side of the ship. The silver oblong of the fuselage curves up above them as they walk between the landing gear to the ship's elevators. The elevators sit in a thick column stretching down from the belly of the ship fifteen meters overhead to the ground in front of them.

Alibi calls the elevator and they ride up into the ship. Even in the elevator the ship smells foul, as if the recycling systems have failed. Kit grimaces as they rise up in the elevator and enter the ship.

"Oh no," the cat man says. "I don't know if I can keep going with you. It smells..." he pauses, " ...like something has died and rotted." When the elevator opens onto the interior of the ship, the smell gets worse. Kit almost stumbles.

"I will go back down and guard the base of the elevator," he tells them, and quickly ducks back inside the elevator, disappearing as the door closes.

"Wimp!" Piccolo tries to joke. Alibi and Katie look at him with disgust. "Now we only have one gun," Piccolo complains to Alibi, referring back to Alibi's failure to grab him a gun earlier.

"If I had a gun I'd shoot you. In a heartbeat," Katie tells Piccolo, matter-of-fact. "You're lucky we only have one gun," she tells him, her eyebrows arched and menace heavy in her tone of voice. Piccolo shrinks back from her. As they start down the corridor of the ship he skulks behind Katie and Alibi, hanging back.

Smells like the recycling system has broken down on the ship... gross!

Alibi makes his way down the ship's corridor, methodically opening cell doors and letting captives out. Seems like the smell gets worse with each cell door that he opens.

The poor people. They were given food and water by Masakov and their Eldred captors, but little else. The cells are filthy, excrement in the corners, disgusting. Alibi helps an old man up out of the filth of his cell, holding his breath as he does.

"Something is draining the ship's power!" the man raves at Alibi. "The recyclers stopped working when something began draining all the power!" Alibi thinks of the strange machine outside next to the ship.

Think I know what might be causing a power drain...

"Head for the elevators," Alibi says between gasps. "Take the elevators out."

As he, Katie and Piccolo open more cell doors, letting more victims out, a group of armed and vicious Eldred arrive on scene from elsewhere on the ship. They have smaller weapons, designed for shipboard combat.

SHHHHHEEEEEAAAHHHH! SHEEEAHHHH!

They fire at Alibi and the freed captives.

FWAAAASSSSHHHH!

Alibi shoots back, quickly leveling two of the fuzzy threats. The surviving aliens fire back.

SSSHHHHHEEEEAAAHHH!

Piccolo runs up to one of the downed Eldred and picks up a ship's pistol. He lifts it and fires at the other Eldred, pushing them back.

SSHHHEEEAAHHH!

Alibi moves up next to Piccolo. They fire into the group of hostile aliens, driving the remaining Eldred away from the newly released prisoners.

SSSHHHHHEEEEAAAHHH!

FWAAAASSSSHHHH!

Katie calls the stunned victims over to her. She sends them on, down in the elevator and out of the ship.

The last surviving Eldred retreats, leaving Alibi, Piccolo and Katie standing alone in the corridor in sudden silence.

"Okay, back to it!" Alibi says, trying not to smell the air he's breathing. He holds his nose and then opens cell door after cell door.

He directs the former prisoners down the ship's corridor. Katie puts them on the elevator and on their way out of the foul Eldred vessel.

Alibi opens every door he can find as he walks down the hall.

Reaching the corridor's end, Alibi yanks open a door that won't slide automatically. He's startled as he comes face to face with a small group of Eldred. They're unarmed but turn and attack, each of the aliens grabbing at him with sharp-clawed hands.

Damn! They could rip me to shreds with those handhooks!

FWAAAAASHH!

FWAAAAASSSSHHH!

He fires at them at point blank range. It takes only two sweeps with the blaster beam to cut them all down. Alibi's heartbeat is racing as he drops the rifle to his side and looks around the small room. It looks like any other cell. No apparent strategic reason for the five Eldred to be in the room.

Must have been trying to hide in here. Wonder if they were the ship's crew?

Piccolo walks up behind Alibi. He looks over his shoulder at the still-smoking alien corpses.

"Damn," Piccolo mutters. "Hey Alibi," he asks, recovering, "do you think there are more prisoners on the upper deck?"

"I don't know. Should have a look, huh?"

Alibi steps out of the cell past Piccolo. He looks around the corridor to see if there are any more Eldred. None in sight. He spots an access tube door.

"All clear. Come on! This looks like the way up!" Alibi tells Piccolo.

Alibi climbs the access tube up to the ship's second floor. Piccolo follows. The deck appears empty. No sign of any Eldred nor prisoners. It also smells better. They open all the cabin doors they can find as they make their way down the ship's corridor, but no surprises emerge. The two of them climb another access tube back down to the prison level, discovering a side corridor they haven't yet checked in the process. They find more prisoners waiting.

Had a feeling we weren't done yet.

Alibi opens a cell door to let out another kidnap victim. She seems dazed, blinking at the new light streaming into her cell.

"Head for the elevators to get out," Alibi tells her. "Down the corridor and through that door. There's a girl named Katie on the other side, she'll show you where the elevator is so you can get out of here."

The woman stares at him without saying a word. She creeps past him and limps down the ship's corridor in silence. Piccolo lets a girl out across the corridor. Alibi opens the next door and frees another, sending the poor woman down to the elevators.

Alibi and Piccolo work their way back toward the center of the ship, opening cell doors and letting people out as they, too, head for the elevators. When Alibi opens the door on an empty cell, he realizes he's come full circle back to where he started, the captives all now set free.

Prisoners released, Alibi grabs Katie and hustles her into the elevator to get them out of the ship. They reach the hangar deck, the floor of the cave. Kit straightens up to greet them as they emerge from the landing tower.

"Is that everyone?" He asks.

"All except for Piccolo," Alibi informs him. "He's on his way down now."

"Shoulda locked him up and left him in one of those fucking cells," Katie growls. Piccolo walks out of the elevator to find the other three staring at him.

"What?" he asks.

"Like you have to ask!" Katie spits back at him.

Alibi looks around trying to spot Masakov, but he's not in sight.

Fouled, confused, and shocked kidnap victims mill about. The prisoners are stretching, blinking, trying to acclimate to the wide open space after being kept cooped up in cramped cells.

"We cannot take all these people back with us in our ship," Kit observes as he watches the people walk around the hangar.

Alibi curses silently. He had thought they might be able to fly the victims back in the Eldred ship, but that was before they discovered the entire craft had been powered down. And never mind that the conditions on board the ship are now disgusting and probably unhealthy. Masakov and the Eldred turned a once space-worthy vessel into an inert prison. And Kit is right, their Cruiser is no option. They have no room.

Alibi looks around at the crowd. There's no way even half of them would fit on their little ship. He also keeps his eyes peeled for some sign of Masakov.

"We'll have to call in a SAIF ship," Alibi says, thinking out loud. "We'll need to keep Masakov away from them until it gets here. But I haven't seen him since he disappeared down the elevator."

Alibi looks at the faces in the crowd to see if Masakov is attempting to blend in with his victims.

Where are you?

Alibi turns away from the crowd. He spots a lone figure by the front of the Eldred ship, next to the strange machine. As Alibi watches the figure lifts a dangling cable to attach it to the side of the device.

Alibi tries to casually saunter over towards the front of the ship.

As Alibi watches out of the corner of his eye, Masakov connects what look like power conduits to the machine. Piccolo, noticing Alibi's odd behavior, walks over to him.

"What are you..." Piccolo follows Alibi's line of sight and spots Masakov. "No shit!" Piccolo brings up his pistol and fires at Masakov.

SSSHHHHHEEEEAAHHH!

The beam hits the ground near Masakov's feet, knocking him down.

Did he kill him?

"Hey!" Alibi shouts at Piccolo. "Don't kill him! We need to find out what he's doing here!"

"Sorry," Piccolo says, sarcasm in his voice. "I'll try not to injure our enemy."

"It is becoming difficult to determine just who the enemy is," Kit says as he walks up. He lets his glare linger on Piccolo. Alibi decides to stare at the man, too. Piccolo looks back and forth between them.

"Oh, come ON!" Piccolo protests. "You ladies want my help or not?"

"I do not know," Kit says. "I no longer know who you are. And I must admit, I am not sure now that I ever truly did."

"Really?" Piccolo says with some attitude. "How well do you really know who anyone is?"

"A legitimate question," Kit grants. "I judge by actions. Yours were already suspect."

"Great," Piccolo says, and he sighs with exaggerated exasperation.

"You lied," Alibi explains. "Repeatedly."

"I thought you wanted to get this guy!" Piccolo blurts out, trying to change the topic.

"I do," Alibi says. "I'm just trying to decide whether or not I want to get you more."

"Great," Piccolo says. "Now you want to 'get me'? What the fuck?"

"You are not who you said you were," Kit says, matter-of-fact. "This throws everything about you into doubt."

"Does it really?" Piccolo challenges them.

"It sure would get a lot easier if you two stopped talking to that fuck and got rid of him," Katie says as she nears the group, making her presence known and making her point. She looks around, apparently frustrated that she doesn't have a weapon to do the job herself.

Piccolo, in their focus and under scrutiny, backs away from them.

"Discussion is pointless. We must get Masakov," Kit says. He nods over at the Eldred ship. "This is foolish. While we argued, he escaped."

Masakov is now out of sight. But the machine next to the ship has begun to glow and crackle with energy.

Oh man... I bet he's inside of that thing!

"Come on!" Alibi shouts as he runs up to the machine. Static electricity in the air makes Alibi's hair stand on end the closer he gets.

Thin blue-white lightning bolts flicker off the energy field that pulses around the machine, licking the air in front of Alibi like snake tongues of cold fire. One connects with him as he approaches, wrapping around him, sending voltage through his system. He flies backwards into Kit and Katie – they cushion his fall, but he's out cold. Piccolo decides to try approaching the machine. He suffers a similar fate, coming to a rolling, tumbling halt on the ground next to Alibi.

"Looks like there's an energy field or something," Katie observes.

"Really?" Kit replies with understated Dakhur sarcasm. She glares at him.

"Really," she says with sarcasm of her own.

Kit may be smiling as he walks away. It is hard to tell with a Dakhur. He approaches the machine. The sight of Kit's luxuriant coat of fur suddenly rising to stand on end in the static is comical, and Katie starts to laugh.

"Please," Kit says, turning back to glare at her.

"Sorry," she yells at the staticky cat man. "You look like a giant, prickly porcupine!"

"So be it," he says. He turns back to continue on towards the machine. The energy snakes out in bolts, lapping at his prickly fur. He stops short of where Alibi and Piccolo were hit and brings the laser rifle up. He fires! The beam is absorbed by the crackling energy field around the machine.

Kit can make out Masakov standing in an insulated capsule inside of the machine. As Kit watches, Masakov fastens straps across his chest. An ornately wired headdress lowers onto Masakov's head, and the machine closes in around him and the chamber.

Masakov spasms and twitches, losing control as if being electrocuted. If not for the straps he'd be flailing madly. He shakes and strains violently against the restraints holding him down. With one last, violent, barely restrained heave, Masakov nearly breaks the straps. He slumps, and the machine loses all power, going dark.

Alibi stirs on the ground. He props himself up on his elbows.

Anyone get the number of the spaceship that hit me?

He stands, his legs only giving him tentative support.

What happened? Is it over?

The static electricity dissipates. Kit's hair settles back into place as he nears the now inert machine. He opens the front of the device, and then its inner chamber. Masakov's body falls out, a smoking, dead husk.

Alibi walks up, rubbing his head. He looks down at the shriveled corpse.

"What'd he do?" Alibi asks.

"I do not know," Kit answers.

"Is he dead?" Alibi wonders aloud.

"It appears so," Kit purrs.

"Do you think something went wrong?" Alibi asks.

"Again, we do not know. First we would have to know what it was that he was attempting to do with this machine. We do not. But, somehow," Kit muses, "I do not think we are that lucky."

"Is he dead?" Piccolo asks as he walks over to them. He's rubbing his head, too, recovering from the shock that sent him sprawling.

"Looks like," Alibi says.

"Shoulda let me kill him," Piccolo says with an "I told you so" attitude.

"Shut up," Alibi cuts him down. He turns away from the man. He pulls out his Wand to call for a SAIF ship to come for the freed captives.

"What happened?" Katie asks as she approaches.

"Not sure," Alibi admits. He's a little distracted, typing a message into his Wand so it will send whenever he gets an interstellar connection.

"He dead?" she asks, nodding at Masakov's body on the ground.

"Looks like," Piccolo answers. She glares at him with pure hatred. "What?" he protests.

She turns away from Piccolo. She confronts Alibi, standing on her toes but still only coming up to his chin, "Are you going to be able get us all out of here?"

"I'm calling the Solar Alliance. They'll send a ship," he tells her. He waves the Wand, waiting for the call back from the SAIF confirming they'll send a ship in to rescue Masakov's victims.

DING!

"Finally!" Alibi says. "I just got a connection. The message went off to the mediation service."

An awkward silent moment passes between the four of them as Alibi watches the Wand for the sign of a reply.

"Aaaaand... They confirm! They're sending a ship," Alibi shares the good news. Katie looks at him, suspicious.

"Swear to me you aren't working for Laveillur!" she demands, looking up to stare him in the eye.

"I swear!" he says with a hint of exasperation. "I'm not a bounty hunter! I don't work for La-whatshisface!"

"Laveillur!" she insists. "Swear to me you aren't working with Laveillur!"

"I swear to you I am not working with Laveillur!" Alibi says defensively.

"Good!" she says, backing off a bit, her intensity diminishing. "Now promise me you won't let him take me back to Laveillur!" she demands, pointing an accusatory finger at Piccolo.

"I promise," Alibi says easily. "There's no way I'd let him take you to whatshisface."

"Hey!" Piccolo protests.

"What?" Alibi asks him with a glare.

"I... uh. Huh. Well, I helped you get this far, you know," he tries to explain himself.

"What?" Alibi repeats. "Did you expect me to let you take off with her? Now that we know she's not your sister!?"

"Uh, well, I guess I did kinda think I'd..."

"Fuck you," Alibi cuts him off in a loud voice. "I don't believe in slavery. Or bounty hunters."

"Slavery? I ain't no slaver!" Piccolo protests. "I just have a..." he stops. "A job to do," he says, sounding small. Alibi turns his back on the man to talk to Katie.

"He has no claim on you," Alibi assures her. "Not so far as I can see."

"Can I go back with you?" she asks Alibi, apparently starting to trust him. "Is there room on your ship for me?"

He looks from her to Kit before he answers. Kit nods his approval.

"Sure you can," he assures her.

"Can we leave him here?" she asks, nodding at Piccolo.

"Hey!" Piccolo protests. "Don't leave me behind!"

Alibi ponders his options.

"If we leave him behind, he'll just come after you," Alibi points out to Katie. "I think we have to take him with us. So we can keep an eye on him. You know what they say, friends close, enemies closer." She's disappointed.

Piccolo seems puzzled, unsure which way he should go.

"Maybe I should stay here with the freed prisoners," he wavers, realizing he's already lost his true quarry for the time being.

"Yeah, no, I don't think so," Alibi tells him. "We'll take both you and Katie back with us. I know people in high places. We'll take care of this Laveillur guy, negotiate with him. The Solar Alliance can settle this."

"Great," Katie says. She doesn't believe Alibi has the power he thinks he does, but decides she'll trust him anyway.

"Yeah, right." Piccolo is also not convinced.

Alibi notices that Kit has been edging away, moving off to the side of the cavern by himself. Concerned, Alibi approaches him.

"Everything all right?" Alibi asks as he walks over.

"I am sorry. I am trying to stay out of odor range of the captives," Kit explains.

"You ready to get out of here?"Alibi asks.

"More than ready. I will call the elevator."

Kit leaps away and speeds for the elevator doors on a roundabout path as he tries to avoid the worst of the smell.

Alibi looks around at the crowd of shell shocked former captives milling around in the hangar.

Gotta let them know what's going on...

"Hey!" he shouts. "Hi! Could I..." he pauses. The people seem lost, inattentive thanks to the shock of their captivity.

"Attention! Your attention, please!" he shouts again. Heads begin turning in his direction, so Alibi continues. "Your attention! Please! We've called a Solar Alliance ship and it's on its way here to pick you up!"

Murmurs ripple through the crowd as they begin to take in what he's saying.

"That's right! A Solar Alliance ship will be here momentarily to take you back to Alliance space," he repeats in a loud voice. The murmurs gain volume. Actual conversations erupt. Alibi smiles.

He turns to Katie and Piccolo.

"Okay. Let's go."

The three of them make a beeline for the elevator door now held open by Kit, but Alibi is forced to halt when a woman in filthy clothes runs up and grabs at him.

"Wait! Where are you going? You can't leave us like this!" she cries. Alibi evades her grasp while he tries to reassure her.

"We're not abandoning you!" Alibi tells the woman as he tries to avoid her touch, looking as if he's engaged in an awkward dance with her. "There's a SAIF ship on its way here now, I promise. They'll take you back to Alliance space, like I said. The ship we came in isn't big enough to take everybody. And that ship over there has been drained of power, we can't use it," he insists. He backs away from her as he gestures up at the huge Eldred vessel.

She stops lunging at him to look back at the ship.

"Never getting back on that thing," the woman says. She shakes with a chill.

"No, can't say I blame you for that," Alibi says with true sympathy.

Guess that really wasn't an option.

"The SAIF ship will be here soon, I promise," he repeats.

The woman relaxes and lets him continue on his way unmolested. He leaves her behind to catch up with the others at the elevator. The door closes behind him as he steps inside.

# Chapter Twelve

"I need to go back to that other building before we go back to the ship," Alibi tells the others as they ride up to ground level. "There's something I have to do."

"Maybe we should trash the place," Piccolo suggests with an evil grin.

"Maybe we shouldn't," Alibi barks back at him. The grin fades fast.

The elevator door opens. They walk out into the small building, past the transport, to the airlock door.

"SAIF will clean things up here," Alibi says. "Maybe Aunt Anita can get the Project scientists to comb through the stuff in that lab, find out what Masakov was doing. Plus, who knows what sort of bio hazards might be packed away on the shelves in there?" He looks over at Piccolo. "You sure you wanna start 'trashing' a place like that?"

Piccolo drops his head.

"I didn't think about the bio hazards and stuff," he says in a small voice, defeated. "Let's just go."

Alibi opens the transport and climbs up into the driver's seat. The other three climb in. They seal the transport and head out through the airlock, back toward the lab building.

"Who's Masakov?" Katie asks as they travel.

"Dimitri Masakov?" Alibi tries. She shakes her head no. "That's the name of your 'doctor', according to the SAIF infobase," Alibi tries to explain. She still looks puzzled. "The mad scientist guy?"

"Oh!" Katie exclaims, getting it. "That's not what he called himself."

"Musta used an alias," Alibi figures.

"Ashumeth," Katie says. "He called himself 'Ashumeth'. At least, I think that's what he was saying. Hard to tell. He talked funny."

They reach the lab building. Alibi opens the building's airlock from inside the transport. The vehicle rolls back into the vast operating room filled with bizarre equipment and the Human and Eldred victims of Masakov's experimentation. Alibi unseals the transport and jumps down out of it. He starts to walk off but then turns back.

"This shouldn't take too long," he tells the three still inside the transport. "I'll be right back." Katie unseals her side of the transport and hops out. She walks over to Alibi.

"I want to come with you," she says to Alibi in a loud whisper. "I don't trust Piccolo and the cat man gives me the creeps!"

Alibi sighs.

Least she seems to trust me.

But I don't want any company for this.

"I really wanted to go alone," he tells her. "I'm sure you'll be fine here by the transport. I won't be gone long," he says, trying to reassure her. She isn't hearing it.

"Please?" She pleads. "I'll stay out of your way, whatever it is you're doing. I can even help, if you need it," she offers. Alibi stares at her. "Okay, so I'll just stay out of the way! Please?"

Huh. She doesn't seem like the clingy type...

He gives in.

"Okay. Come on," he says, "we're wasting time."

Katie brightens. She follows Alibi in silence, a satisfied smirk on her face.

Alibi is not smiling. His steps feel leaden, as each brings him closer to doing something no one should ever have to do.

And now he has the girl along. Last thing he wanted.

She's lightened up a little. He realizes she's younger than he thought.

Probably only eighteen or nineteen. Would've guessed around my age, mid twenties or so, earlier. It's something about those gray eyes. She's aged her beyond her years. Feels like I'm about to get a lot older, too.

They walk past rows of operating tables, past the open-chested, vivisected Eldred. They pass by humans surgically opened up in cruel fashion, and walk by the man Alibi saw before with his groin and brain pan removed. Katie gasps when she sees testicles and part of the man's brain in jars on the shelves next to him. They pass the gaping hulk, the strong man, still strapped in place against the wall, still drooling and apparently brain dead. Finally, they reach the table on which Miss Kay lays.

She remains strapped to the table, the top of her head open and wired in to the machinery behind her. Her wide open, unseeing eyes dart about chaotically, as if looking for something flying erratically through the air over her head.

"Is somebody there? Doctor? Or are you the other one, from earlier?" she calls out. "Can you hear me? I can't hear myself, but I feel the vibrations. Can you hear me?"

Alibi steps up and lays the back of his hand tenderly against her face.

"Hello Miss Kay," he says softly. "I'm sorry you can't hear me."

Katie realizes this is why Alibi wanted to go alone.

She backs away, giving Alibi his space.

Alibi notices Miss Kay's left hand twitching at his side. Not twitching. Grasping. He puts his left hand into hers. Her fingers curl around his hand and hold his almost too tight for just a moment. She lets go but suddenly grasps his hand again, only to ease up and repeat the process. He tries to hold on, to let her keep pumping his left hand.

He notices his right hand is wet. Still resting against her cheek, his hand has caught her tears. He wishes he could comfort her by stroking her hair, but the way her scalp is cut and folded back makes that impossible.

Alibi sighs. He knows what he has to do, but he's not sure how to do it. He looks around. A small, thin pillow sits on a lower shelf nearby. He lowers his hand from her cheek and lets go of Miss Kay's left hand.

"Wait! No! Don't go! I can't see you or hear you but I know you're there. Help me! Please help me! Come back!" she cries out. Alibi comes back to her side, the pillow in hand. He grabs her grasping left hand again with his own and holds her smaller hand tight inside of his for a minute or so.

"It's me. It's Alibi, Miss Kay," he says, even though he knows she can't hear him. "I'm so sorry. I wish I found you sooner. I wish I'd found out you were missing sooner. Might have been able to stop this. I'm so sorry." He looks down at the ground, sees the pillow in his hand. His vision blurs. He blinks the tears from his eyes.

He lets her left hand go.

Alibi does not want to do this.

This isn't fair. She doesn't deserve to be a lab rat. A brilliant woman. Great teacher. All she knows, all her experience... do I even have the right to do this?

I didn't do this. Masakov did. Or Ashumeth, whatever he called himself.

I just get stuck cleaning up his mess.

Fuck.

This is a mess.

Can't think about it. Just have to...

He lifts the pillow with both hands and brings it down over Miss Kay's face, covering her nose and mouth. Her head begins moving, shaking back and forth, but he holds the pillow down firmly in place.

Katie can't watch. She turns away too quickly and crashes into a gurney she's unknowingly backed herself up against. There in front of her, covered in dried black blood, lies the body of a young woman, her entire reproductive system removed, her gut left cut wide open.

"AAAAAIIIIEEEEEEE!!!" Katie screams. Alibi reflexively lets up pressure. Miss Kay lets out a gasp as she sucks in air past the no longer so firmly pressed pillow.

"Sorry!" Katie apologizes as she turns back from the horror she's just seen. "I'm sorrysorry sorry..." she trails off.

"Please," Alibi hears Miss Kay's hoarse voice call up past the pillow.

I can't do this.

He lowers the pillow from her face.

"Please," she says again. "Don't stop. Please?"

I can't!

Alibi stands frozen in place, hovering over her, holding the pillow.

"Please," she says again, "make it stop."

Alibi pushes the pillow back down over her mouth and nose and holds it down as firmly as he can. He realizes at some point that tears are streaming down his face. He can't stop, and can't lift his hands to wipe the tears away.

Finally, he feels a hand on his shoulder.

Katie.

"I think she's gone," she says softly.

Alibi lifts the pillow. Surprised, he sees a smile on Miss Kay's now waxen face. She is gone.

Alibi and Katie look down on her now restful face.

"A friend of yours, huh?" Katie asks.

"Yeah. An old friend and teacher."

"You were looking for her? That's why you're here with Piccolo, huh?"

"Yeah," Alibi says. He looks away from Miss Kay and Katie, lets the pillow drop from his hands onto the floor.

"You did the right thing," Katie tells him, trying to help.

He doesn't look at her. "I don't want to talk right now."

Alibi walks back towards the transport. Katie follows behind, catching up as they approach the vehicle.

"You did the right thing," she says again, stubbornly. "It was what she wanted. I heard her!"

"Thanks. Thanks for what you're trying to do," he says to her, as he continues to walk away, still not making eye contact. "But it doesn't help. I told you. I don't want to talk right now, okay? Okay!" He says the last word louder than he means to, and Katie shrinks back away from his anger. She pouts as she walks around the transport to get back up and inside. She and Alibi both settle into their seats in silence.

"All set?" Piccolo asks as Alibi straps himself back into the transport's drivers seat.

"You – shut up," Alibi replies.

The trip to the ship is made in silence. Alibi broods as he drives the short distance. He's also trying to figure out how they'll get Katie from the transport onto the Cruiser Ship. The rest of them have EVA suits, but she doesn't, and the transport, although sealed, doesn't have an airlock of its own. He thinks through the problem as the transport hums along.

"Maintenance cowl," Alibi says, the first words he or anyone has spoken in the last ten minutes.

"What?" Kit asks.

"Maintenance cowl. It's how we'll get her onto the ship," Alibi explains.

He can control the Cruiser with his Wand. He punches in commands as they pull up next to the ship in the transport. The inflatable cowl begins deploying, pushing out around the ship's airlock, puffing up and out from a seam around the door. Alibi maneuvers the transport in next to the ship so its side door is surrounded by the inflating ring, creating a makeshift airlock. A few more commands on the Wand and the ship's airlock fills with oxygen.

When Alibi opens the transport door, their ears pop and it gets harder to breathe. It's not perfect. The seal between the cowl and the transport is leaking like a sieve. The vacuum pulls air from the transport. Alibi leans out into the inflated ring and manually pulls it down against the irregular side of the transport, trying to get it to seal all the way. He's working as fast as he can. Their lives depend on it.

Seal, damn you!

It's not perfect but the seal starts to hold, at least for the time being. He leans through the cowl to open the Cruiser's outer airlock door. Air flows into the cowl and the transport and the pressure stabilizes.

"Go ahead," Alibi says to Katie. She climbs over him, out of the transport and into the Cruiser ship, followed by Kit, Piccolo and Alibi. He closes the airlock's outer door and punches commands into the panel next to the door.

Alibi steps out of the airlock into the ship's corridor next to Katie, Kit and Piccolo.

BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BA-BAM!!

The other three jump at the sound – like a machine gun going off outside the airlock. Alibi sees their shocked expressions and can't help himself. He smiles.

"Explosive bolts. I just blew the cowl off the side of the ship. They're disposable, one use things," he explains. "Let's go." He turns and heads for the bridge.

Alibi sits down in the pilot's chair and fires up the Cruiser's power plant. As he checks in with SAIF on the com, Alibi discovers that the SAIF ship the mediation service is sending should be here within the hour. Their Cruiser should be back at Cat's Eye by then. He goes through the pre-flight checklist and gets the ship ready to take off. Kit sits in the co-pilot's seat. Piccolo and Katie eye each other warily from passenger seats in the row behind them on the bridge.

"Did you see this?" Kit asks Alibi. He throws a com readout up on the heads up display.

"What's that?" Alibi asks.

"A distress beacon," Kit says.

"Really? Why didn't we pick it up immediately?" Alibi asks, puzzled.

"It is not a normal frequency," Kit tells him, "certainly not a Solar Alliance frequency."

"Whose is it?"

"I do not know. But it originates here. Masakov must have triggered it."

"And we're off!" Alibi declares, changing the subject by announcing the ship's liftoff.

"That beacon..." Kit trails off. "Who do you suppose it is calling?"

"Uh oh," Alibi says. The tactical display in front of him is filling up with little yellow triangles. He turns to Kit as he puts the tactical display on the heads up display. He looks back at the display, pointing. "Them?"

"Who are they?" Katie asks, leaning forward trying to read the display.

Alibi is just discovering that himself.

"Tek'Tah," he tells the others. "Looks like Masakov called in his trading partners for backup."

"Damn. Sure are a lot of them," Piccolo observes.

Alibi tries to call any SAIF ships nearby.

"They're jamming our communication," he says aloud as he realizes he's not getting through. He begins angling the ship away from the massing Tek'Tah armada.

"Let's fire up the Transpace engines and get out of here!" Piccolo shouts excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah," Alibi agrees, but he's thinking more than he's listening to what Piccolo is saying. "Yeah, ordinarily that's what I'd be doing but..." he trails off, losing the thought as he tries to figure out what the Tek'Tah weapons' range might be so he can pilot around it.

"The people," Katie says, finishing for Alibi. "He's not going to just leave those people down there for the Tek'Tah to capture all over again!" she chastises Piccolo.

Kit begins to understand what Alibi is doing at the same time Katie does.

"Delaying tactics?" the cat man asks Alibi.

"Delaying and distracting," Alibi adds, "I hope. Their ships are arrayed in orbit in a kind of bent cylinder formation. I'm going to fly in just beyond weapons range, come in from below and to their right; Then I'll bring us back over and around them and down like so," he says, tracing a loose spiral in the air with his finger.

"Like so," Piccolo imitates him, twirls his finger in a loose spiral in the air next to his ear to wordlessly infer that Alibi's crazy.

"Like a Moebius strip," Kit comments. "Elegant, but I am not sure it is practical."

"Guess we'll see," Alibi says as he finishes plotting the course.

The ship begins diving towards the lower "right" side of the oncoming Tek'Tah forces. Alibi checks and then double checks the range he's keeping between himself and the nearest Tek'Tah ship.

"There is a problem," Kit says as Alibi watches for a sign of Tek'Tah weapons' lock.

"What?" Alibi asks.

"I do not think they have noticed us," Kit observes. "It is hard to be a distraction if they do not see you."

"Fire something at them!" Alibi orders. Kit merely looks at him.

"Really?" the cat man finally asks. "As you wish." He looses a volley of ineffectual fire from the Cruiser's cannons. The yellow triangles on the heads up tactical display begin shifting in their direction. "Ah. That did the trick. Now, they notice us."

Alibi adjusts the ship's trajectory to accommodate the Tek'Tah's shift in position and keep the Cruiser out of their weapons' range. As they come up around behind the opposition many of the Tek'Tah ships are forced to turn around to attempt pursuit. This confuses their ranks, as Alibi hoped it would.

"Fire at 'em again!" Alibi calls over to Kit.

Kit obliges with more meaningless fire from the Cruiser's cannons. It's enough to shift a few more ships in their direction. Alibi pushes the Cruiser over the Tek'Tah forces and doubles back to his start point, slightly further out than where he began due to the changing position of the Tek'Tah. They turn again to follow his movements. Soon entire wings of the enemy armada are in the firing line of other wings, facing each other instead of Alibi's Cruiser.

"I think it's working!" Alibi exclaims.

Beepbeepbeepbeep...

A red light is flashing across the heads up display. Alibi has brought them in too close. One of the Tek'Tah ships has managed to fix a firing solution on them.

BOOM-THANG!

They're rocked sideways as the Cruiser's shields absorb a blast from a nearby Tek'Tah warship. Alibi scans the ship's displays, but the damage is minimal. They are still far enough away from the enemy to render the blast ineffectual. He tries to move them further away from the Tek'Tah. A flash on the display lets him know the ships are still firing at them, but missing. Alibi steers the Cruiser down beneath the Tek'Tah positions and begins heading away from the planet entirely.

An explosion flares among the Tek'Tah. Two ships have collided – Alibi's crazy, looping maneuvers have thrown their fleet into chaos! Alibi brings their ship around to face the fleet and the planet from the other side.

"Transpace signature developing," Kit tells him. "Something else is coming this way."

A large SAIF transport ship and four Stinger ship escorts emerge from Transpace nearly on top of them.

"This is Starship Promethea of the Solar Alliance Interplanetary Force. We have Solar Alliance citizens on the planetoid in this system who have requested emergency extraction. As this system is part of the old Eldred expanses, this planetoid is designated neutral territory under the agreements between the Solar Alliance and the Tek'Tah. Any attempt to interfere with or delay our rescue of Solar Alliance citizens will be considered an act of war. Please vacate this system.".

A Tek'Tah voice hisses over the speaker, immediately translated.

"We are also responding to a distress call," the Tek'Tah commander says. "We, too, would regard any interference with hostility. Therefore, we cannot vacate this system."

"Then stand aside while we complete our mission," the SAIF commander says over the open com. "We will then leave and you can attend to yours. We have an emergency situation."

"I do not see..." the Tek'Tah commander begins to hiss but stops. Another six SAIF ships appear out of Transpace. "Now. I do see. We will stand aside," the Tek'Tah says, backing down.

The Tek'Tah ships begin to reassemble their formation as they move away from the SAIF ships and the planetoid. The SAIF ships move into orbit. The small Tek'Tah fleet stands by at a safe distance.

"Keeping the universe SAIF once again!" Alibi jokes. No one else on the bridge laughs.

The ten SAIF ships show up on the bridge's heads-up display as glowing white dots moving toward the glowing yellow symbolic mass of the planetoid. Alibi watches them move in.

"Can we go now?" Piccolo asks, breaking the silence.

"We can," Alibi says, "Already have the jump plotted and ready." He fires up the Cruiser's Transpace engines and they flash out of the system. In Transpace, Alibi breathes a sigh of relief and finally relaxes. The short Transpace transition ends and they flash back into normal space about an hours' distance out from Ceres Central. The asteroid field around Ceres shifts. Sometimes you can come out of Transpace fairly close to the solar system's largest asteroid. Other times, like now, there are too many rocks around to plot a Transpace point any closer.

Alibi sets a course to bring them in to the colony. He engages the autopilot and leans back in the pilot's seat.

"Can you keep an eye on things?" Alibi asks Kit. "I wanna grab a ca... a nap. Okay?"

"Not a problem," Kit tells him.

Alibi nods off for what seems like no time, but when he wakes up they're over halfway to Ceres. Alibi looks back. Neither Piccolo nor Katie is sitting back where they had been.

"Kit? You seen the other two?"

"No. I have been making small adjustments to our course and guiding our ship in towards Ceres Central. I did notice they were gone a short time ago..."

FWAAAASSSHHH!

Laser rifle fire – inside the ship!

"HEY!" Alibi hears Piccolo on the ship's internal com. "Help! Hey!"

FWAAASSSHHHH!

Piccolo comes running, stumbling up onto the bridge.

"She's trying to kill me!" he shouts as he tries to hide in a corner.

Katie appears on the bridge, laser rifle in hand, a crazy gleam in her eyes.

"Where is he?" she asks, a disturbing, primal edge in her voice. In one swift, smooth motion, Alibi rises up out of his seat, eases up next to Katie and grabs the rifle. A second later he stands staring her down, the laser rifle in his hands.

"Stop shooting up my ship!" He shouts at her. "Ever hear of explosive decompression? You could have killed us all!"

She locks eyes with him, crazed. Then calm returns to her gaze.

"He's not taking me back with him," she says to Alibi, pointing past him to Piccolo.

"No. He's not. He won't. I won't let him," Alibi promises her. "Go sit down. We're almost there."

Katie sits back down behind Alibi's pilot chair. Piccolo edges into his seat. Alibi takes the rifle with him as he sits back down. Kit looks over at Alibi.

"Do you want to take the ship in?" he asks, as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, I'll take the helm. Thank you, Kit."

Alibi brings the ship in toward Ceres Central's port. They're assigned a berth and he maneuvers the Cruiser into the station. There's little traffic now, but the SAIF ships carrying the victims and their escorts will be arriving here soon. As their Cruiser settles into its berth, Alibi gets a report: The SAIF ships have rescued all of the kidnap victims. They've left the planetoid and its system to the Tek'Tah.

On the planetoid, Tek'Tah forces land and begin surveying the scene. Inside the dark lab, the drooling hulk pinned to the wall by metal straps suddenly looks alert. A nimbus of crackling blue energy surrounds him, enveloping the man. He looks around as if in pain, stretching and squirming. The energy field around him intensifies. A look of grim intelligence crosses his face.

As the energy field begins to dissipate, the man stretches and tests his bindings. He strains against the metal straps and they snap, releasing his arms and legs. He unbuckles the metal strap around his waist and walks a few, tentative steps. A smile crosses the brute's face.

He's not drooling anymore.

"Yes. Much better."

# Chapter Thirteen

Alibi contacts his Aunt Anita from the bridge of the Cruiser.

"We've got the proof you wanted," he tells her.

"We'll see. We'll discuss it over dinner," she says. She agrees to see him and his companions and hear their report at her apartment.

Food arrives at Anita's place right after Alibi, Piccolo, Kit and Katie do. Anita called the Ceres Central commissary after getting off the com with them to arrange for delivery.

As they feast on a full spread of meat, vegetables and tubers, Alibi shows his aunt the pictures and the footage they took of the Eldred and Masakov. He hold off on some of the footage, saving the worst for after they finish eating.

"We need to send at least a squadron of ships in," Alibi tells her after he finishes. "Can you get them to send SAIF ships back to the planetoid to collect evidence? Maybe have some folks from The Project go through the lab and the hangar?"

"Alibi, honey, you know I love you," she says, trying to figure out how to say what she feels she needs to say. "Despite what you think you've seen, I don't think we're seeing the return of the Eldred. There has to be another explanation," Anita protests.

"If I was some random member of SAIF coming back to report something like this, would you believe me then?" he asks, pushing back at her.

"If you were 'some random member of SAIF' I don't think you'd be talking to me at all," she answers matter-of-factly.

"Point taken," Alibi concedes. "Not like this. But you'd get a report eventually," he presses. Anita shakes her head.

"I don't know," she says. "I mean, they do look like them, sort of. How did you find this planetoid, again?"

"We went where Dr. Krish said we'd find them based on a... well, a vision. I saw something when I touched part of what he said was an Eldred ship."

"Wait... You dragged Krish into this?" she accuses. "Oh, Alibi..." Then the rest of what Alibi said sinks in. "Wait... you had a 'vision'? Of what? You're kidding me, right?"

"I got an 'impression' from the metal. That's what Krish called it," he explains. "He said it reminded him of... of my father."

The mention of BC brings the conversation to a screeching halt. Anita looks at Alibi intently for a few seconds, then looks away. He continues anyway.

"We went to the place I saw in my vision, the planetoid that we just left. Krish helped us find it," Alibi tells her. "And that's where we found this guy Masakov or Ashumeth or whatever his name is. We found his lab and a huge underground hangar where the Eldred ship was kept. We found kidnapped human prisoners, and the human and Eldred victims of horrible experiments. The man was a brutal butcher!"

"I just saw footage," she points out. "Humans dissected like that." She grimaces at the thought. "Maybe he was somehow animating the Eldred corpses? I don't know... maybe he was growing new ones?" she offers. "But how? And how would they stay alive, without an Ancient Enemy around?" She asks questions to which no one has the answers.

Anita is momentarily struck silent by the thought of the return of the Ancient Enemy.

"What about the SAIF forces you called in? Did they see them?" Anita asks after a short silence.

"I don't think they saw the Eldred. We left before the SAIF ships landed, but their report said they went right to the hangar where the victims were. They would have seen the Eldred ship, I guess. Can't be sure they saw any actual Eldred. They didn't include anything in the report. They evacuated those survivors we found and left immediately," Alibi says. "Guess they didn't want to antagonize the Tek'Tah fleet that showed up."

"Oh," Anita says, surprised. "The Tek'Tah are tied up in this, too?"

"Somehow," Alibi tells her. "We think they're supporting Masakov."

Anita shakes her head again as she struggles to process information that doesn't make sense to her. She paces across her living room, wringing her hands.

"I've gotta think about all this," she says, finally. "Let me try to wrap my head around it all tonight. I'm going to sleep on it."

"They were really there, Aunt Anita," Alibi insists, pressing his case. "Eldred. This guy Masakov must have found a way to bring them back. Or maybe he found some that didn't die."

"I know what you're saying, Alibi, I just don't see how..." she trails off as Alibi calls up pictures of the Eldred from his Wand and projects them over the table. She looks at the images. "They... they look like Eldred. Kind of. They look... more feral, untamed."

"Vicious is the word you're looking for," Alibi tells her. "These Eldred don't seem to have much intelligence. They're just mean."

"There's just no way these are Eldred, Alibi. There's no way this Dimitri Masakov could have 'brought them back', not given the file we have on him. I've been looking that over since you sent the inquiry in."

Alibi looks surprised.

"They keep me informed, Al, especially when you go off the grid," she explains. "When you call in from contested space looking for information, they tell me what you're looking for and usually copy me on the reply. I read up on Masakov. He was far too small time to have developed anything on this scale. He has no medical background whatsoever. I don't know what he was doing with those machines, but there's no way he was the one doing the experiments."

Alibi tries not to lose his temper.

It's always the same thing with Aunt Anita! Always looking over my shoulder, but never believing me. She always resists. With her, I can never be right.

"M'Bekke has been trying to reach you," she tells Alibi. "He tells me you've missed a couple of mediation assignments he had for you."

"I've been busy," he says barely hiding his exasperation. "Why? Were you talking about me?"

"Just in passing," she says. "He was asking where you were."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him you were off chasing ghosts."

"Great. I'll call him in the morning," Alibi says.

"And what about you? Kit, wasn't it?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the Dakhur purrs.

"You've been awfully quiet this time," Anita says, pressing him.

"You do not seem to be any more inclined to believe that there are living Eldred out there than you were before, despite the additional evidence presented to you," Kit points out. "There did not seem to be any point to me trying to convince you."

"I see. And who are you two?" Anita asks Piccolo and Katie.

"Coy Piccolo."

"Katerina Ramsey."

"What do you two have to do with this?"

"It's a long story," Alibi says, breaking in and coming to their rescue before any more can be said. Both Piccolo and Katie look relieved at not having to answer the woman. "I'll tell you more later, Aunt Anita, I promise. Like you said, it's a lot to wrap your head around. It's late. Can we meet again in the morning?"

"Sure, Alibi," she agrees.

"Whether or not you believe me about the Eldred... We really should send a SAIF expedition back to that planetoid," he says.

"We'll see," she says. "Well. More in the morning, then."

The conversation is over as Anita gets up and leaves the room.

"Well, then," Alibi says. He sighs and gets up, letting the others know their visit is over. "I guess we'll be going." He raises his voice so his aunt can hear him in the next room. "I'll swing by in the morning so we can talk. Goodnight, Aunt Anita."

"Goodnight, Ali," she says, leaning back into the room.

The four turn and leave, heading down the hall to Alibi's rooms.

"Ali?" Katie asks with a hint of a tease in her voice.

"It's what she used to call me as a little kid."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Piccolo says with his usual sarcasm.

"I don't know. She's reminding me I'm still just a kid to her," Alibi scowls. He almost walks past his apartment door. "Aw, hey, here we are."

Alibi has a small apartment on Ceres Central for when he visits.

"You can stay in the bedroom, Katie," Alibi tells the girl.

"Great. Thanks, I guess, but," she starts to protest.

"We'll work more on your case tomorrow," Alibi says, cutting her off with his reassurance. "I promise." He turns to the other two. "I'm claiming the couch out here. Kit, Piccolo, you're welcome to the floor..." Alibi offers.

"Thanks!" Piccolo says, sounding relieved to have a place to stay.

"I will stay at a hotel," Kit demurs. "But thank you for your offer of, er, hospitality," the alien purrs. "I will see you again tomorrow morning. Goodnight." He nods a small bow and leaves the apartment.

Alibi goes into the bedroom and gets spare blankets and pillows for him and Piccolo. Katie follows him in.

"So... I can stay here? Tonight?" she asks.

"Yeah," Alibi says. "Piccolo will be out here where I can keep my eye on him. Plus, the bedroom door locks from the inside. You'll be fine."

She smiles at him.

Heh. She is kind of cute.

"Thanks."

He leaves her in the bedroom and walks back out to give Piccolo a pillow and blanket. The bedroom door clicks closed and locks behind him.

"You're gonna leave her alone, right?" Alibi challenges the man.

"Right," Piccolo says, not making eye contact. He tosses the blanket down on the floor. Alibi sits on the couch, but he realizes he can't sleep.

"You know, Piccolo? I can't sleep," Alibi says. "Do you want to go get something to drink?"

"Nah. Wanna sleep," the man on the floor says.

Alibi figures Katie will be fine locked in the bedroom, so he leaves his rooms and heads to the public sector to find a bar and a drink.

"Hey," he says to the bartender. "Could I get a Stout?" His pint arrives. Alibi thinks through recent events as he sips his brew.

What good does it do me having Aunt Anita's ear if she doesn't listen to me?

"Hey," he hears in his ear as Katie appears at his shoulder, startling him. "Found you! I couldn't sleep either."

"I thought you were worried about Piccolo," he says to her, covering his surprise with a hint of anger.

"I came to find you," she says sharply, returning his ire. "Thought I'd be safe with you. Maybe I was wrong!" she says, a verbal slap back at Alibi.

"Sorry," he apologizes, feeling chagrined. "Let's start again," he suggests, changing his tone. "You want something to drink?" he offers, trying to sound warmer.

"Uh, sure. What are you drinking?"

"Stout. Want one?"

"Sure."

Alibi gets her a drink. The two of them sip their beers in silence for a few minutes, until Katie decides to talk.

"My dad got into some trouble with Rene Laveillur,"she tells Alibi.

"Yeah, I kinda figured it was something like that," Alibi answers. "There's usually a reason someone sics a bounty hunter on you."

"Piccolo? Calling him a 'bounty hunter' is a compliment, really. He's just one of Laveillur's lap dogs. One of Peterson's men," she says, hate filling her voice. "He said he was my brother?"

"Yup. Told us he was 'after his sister, snatched by the Tek'Tah.' Had us convinced, really. Didn't think to wonder if he was telling the truth or not," Alibi admits.

"Oh," she says. "I guess that makes sense. Why would you?" She grabs some peanuts from the bowl on the bar. "How'd you hook up with the cat man?" she asks past a mouthful of peanuts.

"Met him in a Tek'Tah cell, same place I met Piccolo," he tells her. "The three of us had kind of similar goals. Although I'm not entirely sure why Kit's still hanging with us. He said he wanted to see this through, help solve the mystery. I think he likes the excitement."

"So... You were trying to find that lady... the one on the table?" she asks softly.

"Yeah," he answers even softer.

"Who was she?"

"An old teacher of mine," he answers, but he gets prickly. "Look, I don't really want to talk about..."

"Sorry," she says quickly, waving her arms, stopping him. "You, uh... You kind of saved my life. I'm not trying to upset you!"

"Sorry," Alibi apologizes. "I've got a lot on my mind. And I'm pissed at my Aunt Anita. She's just being stubborn!"

"So, you get it from her, then?" Katie jokes.

"Heh," Alibi chuckles, laughing at himself. "I do," he says, shaking his head. "I really do!" He laughs.

"That's better!" Katie says. "I like hearing you laugh. You're kind of serious."

"Serious? Me?" Alibi demurs. "I don't think..."

"I haven't known you that long, but... you seem kind of serious to me," she insists.

"Well, let's see... I was rescuing you from a maniac who was cutting people and aliens up and experimenting on them. I had to stop you from killing Piccolo... there have been reasons to be 'serious' as you describe me," he says in his own defense.

"You've got a point," she says. "So why are you still so serious now?"

He looks at her and tries to smile.

"I'm not. I'm having a blast," he says sarcastically. He grins an idiotic grin.

"Yeah, you're a wild man." she says, meeting his sarcasm. "How about another round?" she asks him.

"Already?" Alibi responds, looking from his half full pint glass to her empty one. "Fine." He orders two more pints and drains his while they're waiting.

"You seem pretty serious, too," he says to her. "Not that you don't have a right to be."

"Well," she says, but she stops and stares into her glass. "Yeah."

"You don't have to..." Alibi starts to let her off the hook but she continues.

"My mom and dad are still there, you know?" she says softly, almost too soft for Alibi to hear. "They're still on Laveillur's world. On Kismet. My dad," she says, but stops again. She sips her pint before starting again. "My dad owes him a ton of money. Millions. Gambling. He put..." She stops. She shakes as a sob ripples through her. She looks up at Alibi, her eyes welling with tears. "He put me up as collateral."

"What the fuck?" Alibi blurts out, outraged. "That's illegal! He can't do that!"

"Illegal? Where? The Solar Alliance?" she asks with an ironic laugh. "Kismet's not part of the Solar Alliance."

"That's slavery! You can't own people!"

"Laveillur owns a lot of people," Katie breaks it to him. "My dad put my mom, and then himself up as collateral after me, to try to win me back. He lost. He lost it all. Now Laveillur owns him, too."

"And I'm sure Laveillur's games are completely legit, too," Alibi cracks. "I bet you can really win your way out of that!"

"Did you just say 'bet'?"

"Sorry. No pun intended."

"There's nobody big enough to challenge Laveillur on that," Katie says dejectedly. "On anything."

"Oh really?" Alibi says with some bravado. "Slavery is illegal in the Solar Alliance. Laveillur's claim on you is illegal in the S.A. If Piccolo were to grab you, it would be illegal. Kidnapping!"

"That supposed to reassure me?" she asks with attitude. "Laveillur's claim is legit in some eyes," she argues.

"Not in mine," he says, looking her straight on. Their eyes lock, briefly, before they both look away.

What was that?

Katie changes the subject, lifting her empty glass. "More beer?"

"Sure," Alibi agrees, although he has to gulp down most of the pint to keep up with Katie.

"Two more?" she shouts at the bartender.

"So. Your father has a gambling problem, huh?" Alibi says awkwardly as they wait. Katie just stares at him, glares at him, until she breaks up and giggles.

"What?" Alibi protests.

"That SO understates the situation! 'A gambling problem'! Figures. I finally get a hero and he's kind of a weenie!"

"Oh, come on!" he protests. "Wait a sec... you just call me your hero?"

"Well, yeah. You did kind of save my life," she says almost too sweetly. She laughs at him. "Look at you! You're blushing! You are a weenie!"

Alibi stops laughing. He darkens. "I don't like being laughed at."

Katie sees his mood has suddenly changed and her smile drops. "Sorry. I wasn't laughing at... no, I was laughing at you. You see? You are too serious." Alibi sees a funny expression cross her face, a strange look in her eyes. Suddenly she leans in and kisses him. Stunned, he kisses her back for a second, then stops and pulls back.

"What?" she asks him.

"I don't..." Alibi tries to talk past his surprise. "It's not..." He can't think straight. "It's probably not a good idea, you know, um," he stammers, "I mean, you know, for us, to, you know, get involved, um, like, that," he tries. Katie is clearly disappointed. She looks at Alibi, confused and angry.

"Yup. My hero is a weenie!"

She turns away sharply and downs her beer. She glares back at him sideways. "I wanna go back now. Back to your place. To sleep. By myself!"

Alibi deliberately misunderstands her. "You shouldn't go back by yourself," he tells her. "What about Piccolo?"

She knows two can play that game.

"I'm not going to sleep with him!" she says playfully, maybe too loud.

"Well, that's a shame," Piccolo says, materializing behind the two of them at the bar, startling and creeping out both Katie and Alibi. Katie pulls away, glares back at Alibi. Her eyes shoot daggers at Piccolo.

"You're dead," she says, pointing at him. She turns and walks away.

"Kill me and another one will take my place, kid!" he shouts at her retreating back as she storms out of the bar.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Thought you wanted to sleep?" Alibi asks Piccolo as he waves for the bartender to settle up his tab.

"I got lonely," Piccolo answers flippantly. "Wanted to find out what everybody was doing for fun." He tries to joke. "Looking out for my 'kid sister' – I saw you kissing her!"

"You'd better drop the 'sister' thing. It's not a good idea for you to keep reminding me how many times you've lied," Alibi says to Piccolo, simmering anger in his voice. Alibi pays the bartender and leaves on Katie's heels.

He almost catches up to her as she turns and heads down the corridor to his rooms.

"Katie!" he calls, but she doesn't hear or ignores him. "Katerina!" He reaches her as they both reach the door to his rooms.

"I don't like him showing up like that," she says. She's shaking with fear and anger.

"Not sure it's such a good idea to keep threatening to kill him," Alibi tells her. He reaches past her to punch the opening code into the panel next to the doorway, opening the door.

"You're not sure, huh?" she asks him, turning around in the now open doorway, making Alibi suddenly aware of how close she is to him. "You're not sure of a lot of things, are you?" she teases him, leaning in a little bit closer before darting through the doorway, and across his living room. She closes the door to the bedroom and locks it behind her.

Alibi finds himself standing alone in his living room. The doorbell rings. Piccolo.

"Hey, you gonna let me in?" Piccolo calls over the door's intercom. Alibi thinks about it for a minute before he opens the door. Piccolo draws a breath as the door opens, ready to give Alibi a hard time.

"Don't!" Alibi warns him, index finger pointing in the air. "Don't say another word! You're welcome to sleep here, but that's all!"

"Okay, fine," Piccolo mumbles, the fight apparently going out of him. He lays down on the blankets laid out for him on the floor. Alibi curls up on his couch and tries to sleep.

Alibi skims across the surface of sleep. He doesn't feel like he settles into a true deep sleep. He hears Piccolo get up and leave during the early morning hours. He gets up and locks and bolts the door behind him. With Piccolo gone, Alibi finds he can finally relax and sleep. He feels like he wakes up a second later, but three hours have passed. Katie is already awake, talking to Anita on the com as Alibi wakes up.

"...on the couch. The hunter is gone for now, ma'am," Alibi hears Katie say on her end of the conversation. "He's up! Here, hold on," she tells Anita. "Alibi! Your Aunt Anita's on the com!"

"Speakers on. G'mornin' Aunt 'nita," Alibi mumbles.

"Good Morning, Alibi. Hold on."

"Good Morning, Alibi," a deep, rich and resonant man's voice rings out over the com, his slight Jamaican accent coloring his words.

"Your Holiness," Alibi says louder and clearer as he sits up.

"I was speaking to your Aunt and she told me she was about to call you. I asked to remain on the com," Pope John Paul the Fourth, M'Bekke, tells Alibi. "We have been asking for your help with mediation assignments, but you've not been available."

"I've been busy, M'Bekke," Alibi protests. "Saving lives, uncovering evidence of the Eldred..."

"You're calling the Pope by his first name?!!" Katie leans over and asks in a loud whisper.

"Is that the girl, Katie?" M'Bekke asks. "Anita told me about you, Katie. Good morning."

"Good morning, sir. Your popeness, sir," she says.

"Yes, well, you hear how he respects his elders, young lady, hmm?" M'Bekke jokes. "Well, are you available now, Alibi?"

"That depends," Alibi says. "Doesn't it, Aunt Anita?"

Her heavy sigh is audible over the com.

"Anita?" M'bekke's voice inquires.

"Alibi keeps insisting that he's seen living Eldred running around, M'Bekke," Anita tells him. "He found them serving some mad scientist off on an old Eldred planetoid near Tek'Tah space. He rescued a bunch of kidnap victims from an abandoned Eldred base there... that he says wasn't abandoned anymore."

"We've got footage," Alibi says, breaking in. He hops up off the couch and grabs his Wand to send M'Bekke the files. "Hold on. It's coming back over the com to you, now, M'Bekke."

"Yes, I am getting something," M'Bekke says. "Well, look at that. Eldred. They do not look like they used to. These are more primal." he comments. There is a pause. "I do not like the look of those surroundings. Unspeakable acts have occurred there, have they not?"

"They have, M'Bekke. Pray for those people," Alibi says.

"You? A self-proclaimed atheist telling me, The Pope, to pray? Ha ha ha!" M'Bekke laughs.

"I want to take Aunt Anita, Doctor Krish and a SAIF exploratory force back to the base to gather evidence. But I don't think she believes me. Not enough to want to go, anyway."

"You didn't gather evidence when you freed the kidnap victims?" M'Bekke asks.

"We couldn't, not enough to prove our case, evidently. I got that footage," Alibi says. "But the Tek'Tah showed up and ran us off. That's why I want to take a force with me, and someone with real authority, like Aunt Anita. That... and she's not gonna believe me about the Eldred being back until she sees them for herself."

"So... You don't believe him about the Eldred, Anita?" M'Bekke asks.

"I... you know what that means, M'Bekke. I can't bring myself to think..." she pauses. "Has one of them resurfaced? Like Dolomay did? I don't see how."

"Could another survivor from the Ancient Enemy have been in suspended animation?" M'Bekke asks her.

"I don't think so," Anita says. "Dolomay died and the Eldred died with him. If there had been another capsule, another Ancient Enemy still around, even in suspended animation, they wouldn't have died off," she argues. "So how are they here again now?"

"Maybe they didn't all die?" Alibi offers. "The universe is a big place. I mean, we still don't know the full extent of the old Eldred worlds. Maybe all the Eldred around here died, but not all of them everywhere?"

"Now that we've once again seen the Eldred, Alibi," M'Bekke says, "maybe you are right."

"No. You weren't there. I was!" Anita argues. "They were all dead . When Dolomay was gone you could see the life go out of them, every one of the Eldred!"

"Well, they're not dead now," Alibi insists angrily. "You thought they were gone. This crazy guy pulling the Tek'Tah's strings sure sounds a lot like your Dolomay. Are you sure he's dead?"

"BC insisted he saw him die," Anita says. "And Dolomay's ship itself was destroyed by the Eldred, who had no idea they were killing themselves in the process. But they did die! They were wiped out, planet after planet. We've all seen the results of that over the years. Plus, this man Masakov doesn't look anything like Dolomay." She shakes her head. "No. We wouldn't be dealing with the Tek'Tah and their aggression if the Eldred were still around..." She stops, sighs audibly over the com. Her tone changes.

"You know what? No more arguing with you. I've already decided, anyway. Made the arrangements this morning. If you think visiting this planetoid will convince me, then we should go."

"Really?" Alibi can't believe what he's hearing.

"Really. You're right, Alibi. I won't believe the Eldred are back unless I see it for myself. I just don't want to believe it. I'm sorry, Al, but I do hope you're mistaken," Anita says. "We'll leave later today, around two o'clock."

"All right! Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Alibi asks her.

"Contrary to what she says," M'Bekke pipes in with a chuckle, "I think Anita does like to argue."

"M'Bekke!" Anita says in mock anger. "I do not. I wasn't sure I was going to go out there until just now."

"You see?' M'Bekke says in triumph. "You do like to argue, you can't stop. I would even venture to guess that the very reason you are going on this trip is so that you can win your argument with Alibi."

"AAAAaaaarrgghhh!" Anita lets out a frustrated growl. "Now you're ganging up on me. Alibi, have your people ready to roll at two, that's when we're going. Anita out."

There is a moment's pause after Anita signs off, and then M'Bekke speaks.

"I guess I will have to wait a little longer for your mediation services after all," he says to Alibi. "Congratulations. You do know that she couldn't have a squadron ready for this afternoon unless she had already called for it last night. Right?"

"Huh," Alibi is surprised. "No, I didn't think of that. Then she does like to argue."

"I think she believes you more than she lets on, Alibi," M'Bekke says. "But she has always worried she might show you too much favoritism. And..." M'Bekke finishes with a laugh, "she does like to argue."

"Thank you, M'Bekke. Funny thing is, I don't know if I want to win this argument. I'm not sure I like what it means if I'm right."

"I am sure I do not like it," M'Bekke tells him. "I am too old for another war."

M'Bekke signs off. Alibi turns to Katie. "I'm going to go, but... you don't have to go back there, you know," he tells her. "I don't want to force you to return."

"I want to come with you," she says. "I don't trust Piccolo back here by myself. Or Laveillur."

"You'll be safe here if you want to stay," he reassures her. "Aunt Anita has people. Security. They'll take care of you."

"You trying to get rid of me?" Katie asks, suddenly turning angry. "You don't want me to go, do you?"

Where's this coming from? Anger issues?

"Sure I do, but only if you want to go."

"That sounded convincing," she says, a bitter tone coloring her voice.

Piccolo rings the doorbell. Alibi stifles a laugh when he realizes it's the first time he's ever been glad to see the man.

"What's up?" Piccolo asks, looking from Alibi to the still fuming Katie.

"We're going back to that planetoid to gather evidence," Alibi tells him.

"We? Me too? That sounded like a 'we' meaning me, too," he says, asking for clarification.

"Sure," Alibi decides on the spot. "That way, you're closer."

"Great," Piccolo says, but then darkens. "Closer to what?"

"Just closer," Alibi replies mysteriously. "C'mon, Katie, let's go get some supplies before the trip. Meet us back here at two o'clock, Piccolo, ready to go." He turns from Piccolo, looks at Katie and then heads for the door.

"Closer?" Piccolo asks again, mostly to himself.

"Friends close," Katie tells him as she walks past him. "Do the math."

"Math?" he asks, not following. "What the fuck does that mean?"

She walks away following Alibi, not saying another word.

"That's okay, there, Katydid," he says to himself. "I'm 'closer' to you... and that's all that matters."

# Chapter Fourteen

Anita commands Alibi's Cruiser and leads a small squadron of ten other SAIF ships out of Ceres Central that afternoon. Alibi pilots the ship with Kit as his copilot. Katie, Piccolo and Anita ride along on the bridge. Four SAIF troopers are also on board for the ride, to provide added security and manpower once they land on the planetoid.

"I've got a surprise for you," Anita tells Alibi as he pilots the ship out from Ceres Central to a safe Transpace jump point.

"Oh really?" He asks.

"We need to make a quick side trip," she says. "We'll meet up with the SAIF ships at a staging area a short jump away from our destination."

"Why?" he asks her. "Where are we going?"

"Rigel Four," she says. There's a sparkle in her eye as she tells him, "We're picking up Krish."

"No way! How'd you get him to leave his house?"

"I sent him your footage of the possible Eldred," she says. "And I told him to stop being such an old fart!"

"Ha! Well, even better!" Alibi smiles. He punches in the Transpace coordinates for Rigel Four.

After their quick trip to pick up Krish, they head out for the edge of Tek'Tah space, to the staging area near the abandoned Eldred planetoid. Their SAIF scout ship's initial sweep of the area turns up no nearby Tek'Tah vessels, so they jump all eleven of their ships through Transpace and take up positions around the planetoid.

No enemy forces appear as Alibi breaks orbit and brings the Cruiser down for a landing unmolested. The ten SAIF ships array themselves in tight orbits to keep watch over them.

Alibi brings the Cruiser down in between the underground hangar and the lab building. He points out the stacked pyramid of dead human and Eldred bodies as they fly over.

"There. Those Eldred on that pile aren't all from twenty years ago," he says, like a tour guide pointing out the gruesome landmark.

"Oh. No. Are those..." Anita can't finish. She looks away, back from the viewport. "There are people on that pile, too," she says quietly, looking back at the others gathered on the Cruiser's bridge.

"Masakov, or Ashumeth, or whatever he called himself, did some horrible things here Aunt Anita," Alibi cautions her. "You might not want to look inside the lab building. It's a chamber of horrors."

"I'll decide what I can see and can't see, thank you, Alibi," Anita snaps rather curtly. "I've been dealing with the horrors of war since before you were born."

"I never thought I would ever see the Eldred again," Krish interrupts, still staring out the viewport. "Those are definitely Eldred bodies out there. The question is, are those from twenty years ago? Or yesterday?"

Alibi lands the ship near the lab building. They dress in EVA suits and head out of the Cruiser into the vacuum of the planetoid's surface. Despite Alibi's warnings, Anita has them head for the lab building. Krish asks to break off on his own to examine the Eldred bodies on the death mound. Anita sends him off with Kit and two SAIF guards to conduct his own investigation.

Alibi, Anita, Katie and Piccolo head for the lab building.

"Katie, you might want to stay outside," Alibi tries to warn her off.

"You don't need to protect me," she says curtly over the com. "I've already seen it. Nothing in there will shock me now."

Alibi is still arguing as they enter the airlock.

"Well, excuse me for trying to spare you guys the most disgusting sights I've ever..." Alibi stops short, his last word echoing in their ears as the inner door of the airlock opens on a vast, empty space. " ...seen."

Everything is gone. The inside of the building has been cleared out. All that are left are the echoes. Every monitor, every gurney has been removed. All the tanks and tubes and arcane machinery has been taken out. The only clue to the horrors that went on there are stains on the floor and raw wiring hanging from the walls.

Alibi wanders into the space looking around.

"It's all gone," he says softly as he takes it in.

"It's okay Alibi," Anita says, trying to comfort him, "I saw the footage. I know this is the same place. I can tell it's been cleaned out. I'm not going to question that."

Alibi keeps walking through the giant emptiness. He looks around at the walls. A flash of light on polished metal catches his eye. The manacles are still in place but broken open now, hanging from the wall. Alibi remembers the giant, drooling, mindless hulk that had been suspended there. He wanders over to where the muscular man had been held in place, strapped to the wall. All that are left are his shattered bindings. It looks like he might have busted out of them.

"Maybe he took out some Tek'Tah before he went down," Alibi says to himself. He walks over to the wall. A strange sensation stops him in his tracks. A feeling of... something. He grows aware that Krish is speaking in his ear over the com.

"There are fresh bodies here," Krish says. "But they're all human. The Eldred bodies still appear to be older."

"I do not think that the bodies of the ones we shot during the rescue are on this pile, Alibi," Kit says over the com. "I do not see any new Eldred bodies."

"Damn. Hey Krish," Alibi calls out, picturing the scene in his mind. "Any sign of a really big guy out there on the pile?"

"A big guy?" Krish asks, looking for clarification.

Alibi stares at the place where the man used to hang.

"Yeah, maybe six foot two? Muscular?"

"Nope. Haven't seen anyone matching that description yet. But we're still looking."

"You remember that big guy, Kit?" Alibi asks.

"I do," Kit says, "But I do not see him out here on the pile."

"Huh... " Alibi wonders, but moves on. "Do me a favor, Krish? Test some of those Eldred bodies. See how long they've been dead. You'll see!" Alibi insists.

"I will, Alibi. Just... nothing new so far. There are a lot of human remains on top of the pile."

"Attention, ground unit, we've got company," the voice of the SAIF commander in orbit echoes in their ears as it rings out over the com. "A wing of Tek'Tah fighters just showed up. They're keeping their distance for now. Could be scouts for a larger force, so I'm advising you to wrap it up down there and get back up here so we can head home."

"Advice noted," Anita replies. "Keep me informed of any change in mission status," she orders the commander.

"Aye, ma'am," he answers.

"Alibi, we've got to go," she says to him, a note of apology in her voice.

"Ah, hell," Alibi swears. "There's obviously something to this place or they wouldn't keep trying to chase us off!"He insists.

"True. They have been rather protective." She pauses, looks around the lab space, "Of apparently nothing."

Krish chimes in over the com.

"Found something."

"A new Eldred body?" Alibi asks hopefully.

"No, sorry," Krish replies. "But I think we've got Masakov's body. Kit made the identification. We're going to wrap it and bring it back for testing."

"Wrap it up there, then," Anita tells him. "Time to go. The dogs are barking at the door."

"So I heard," Krish agrees. "See you back at the ship."

"We should go," Anita says to the group. "I'm sorry, Alibi."

He hangs his head. Anita turns and leads them towards the building's airlock.

"Whoever they are, they're good," Piccolo observes.

"What the hell does that mean?" Alibi asks.

"Gotta be good to clean a place out like this as fast as they did. Takes a lot of manpower to do it, quick as they had to. I've, uh," he stops. Alibi walks over to him.

"You've what?" Alibi prods him.

"I've, uh, I've been a part of a clean team before," Piccolo admits. "Sometimes you gotta clean an operation out before the, uh," he stops again. He looks at Anita, looks back at Alibi. "Well, you know. Before the law shows up and stuff. I saw this place before. Would've taken a lot of people to clean it out like this so quick."

"Or a lot of Tek'Tah," Anita says.

"Or Eldred!" Alibi insists. "He had a lot of them working for him here."

Anita doesn't respond. She heads out the open airlock onto the planetoid's surface, leading the way back to Alibi's ship. Alibi lags behind the group, looking around the empty building. Her silence speaks volumes.

Alibi knows Anita believes there was something here, but he's pretty sure she's not convinced that there were new Eldred running around. She thinks he's been fooled, or simply mistaken. He can almost hear her thinking out loud, it's so obvious. He trails the group as they reach his ship.

Krish comes bounding up with Kit and their two SAIF trooper companions trailing, carrying the wrapped up body of Masakov and a pallet of sample boxes between the three of them.

"Alibi, could you open the cargo hold for the samples?" Krish asks. "I want to take them back to Rigel Four for testing."

"Sure." Alibi makes his way to the back of the ship to help Kit and the SAIF officers load their cargo.

"Ma'am, we've got more company. The Tek'Tah have showed up in force," the SAIF commander cuts in over the com.

"Let's get going," Anita says, opening the ship's airlock. "Alibi?"

"In back, loading up," he says over the com.

"Let the guards finish. You and Kit get up to the bridge. Get us out of here now!" Anita says coldly, methodically. "Everybody else, get on board."

"Jeesh," Piccolo sighs too loudly.

"Lock it," Anita snaps back at him. No one else says another word as they move quickly to get on board the Cruiser.

Once back on the bridge, Alibi lifts the ship up off the planetoid to rendezvous with their SAIF escort. He brings the Cruiser over to dock with a SAIF Stinger Ship to drop off their SAIF personnel. Then they fly free and head back to Solar Alliance space. The SAIF squadron goes its own way.

"Damn it," Anita says to no one in particular as Alibi begins charging the Transpace engine for the jump back to Rigel Four.

"Damn what?" Alibi asks.

"I don't like it," she answers. "Why are the Tek'Tah so obsessed with this rock? What are they hiding?"

"Don't know," he says with attitude. "Since you're letting us get chased away."

"I might be curious, but I don't want to start a war," she answers sharply. "Today we keep the peace. I'm sure the Prime Representative will appreciate that!"

"Sorry," Alibi apologizes, but he's not sure why.

Their first Transpace Jump takes them to Rigel Four. They drop off Krish and his gruesome cargo, as the scientist takes Masakov's body back to his home lab for testing. Once Krish is home, Alibi brings the rest of them back to Ceres Central.

After finishing the post flight checklist Alibi leaves the bridge and finds Aunt Anita, Katie, Kit and Piccolo waiting for him outside the Cruiser. Everybody looks uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" Alibi asks as he approaches.

Piccolo shifts uneasily before he speaks.

"I'm, uh. Huh. Well, I... uh... should be going, I guess," Piccolo stammers out. "Other jobs, work to do. You know."

"I see. So? Go ahead," Alibi says. "Don't expect a tearful goodbye from me!"

"You're just going to let him go?" Katie asks, suddenly angry.

"He has not done anything, except lie. Repeatedly," Kit points out.

"Nothing we can hold him on," Alibi admits.

"This sucks!" Katie says. She storms off. Anita glares at Alibi and then follows after her.

"Katie? Katie dear, hold on," she calls as she goes after her.

Piccolo stares at the fleeing girl, almost looking hungry.

"Hey!" Alibi shouts at the man. His head snaps back around to Alibi. "You touch her, I'll kill you, no questions asked. So you better be going to get a new job. This one? Her? It's over."

"It is over," Piccolo nods. "Too much trouble." He looks down at his feet, glances up at Alibi, and then over at Kit. He shrugs. He turns away and walks off across the Ceres Central port.

"I should probably be going as well, Alibi. I should check back with my people," Kit says. "But I have enjoyed your company. You have changed my mind about humans. And I have not killed you yet, have I?"

"No, you haven't," Alibi admits, "but what do you mean? You're leaving too?"

"I am. There are things back on Hur to which I must attend. But you can get in touch with me on your Wand, if you need my help. I would gladly assist you again, should the need arise."

"Thanks."

Kit gives him contact information. Alibi stores it for easy retrieval on the Wand. Kit offers a nod and then turns to go. He walks off through the port. Alibi watches him go. He finds himself standing alone next to his ship.

"Huh," he says to himself. "What now?"

# Chapter Fifteen

"Guess I'm available. I can go out on a mediation job if you've got one for me," Alibi finds himself telling M'Bekke over the com a couple of hours later. "Katie's staying here with Aunt Anita. She's got security. Should be safe."

"Really?" M'Bekke comments. "Well! Good, then. We'll be very glad to have you back. There is a negotiation to oversee on Cat's Eye. I will tell them the mediation corps' best man will be on the job!"

"Aw shucks. You're just trying to make me feel better."

"Maybe you should accept a compliment when one is given, eh?" M'Bekke admonishes him. "I do not offer them lightly. I am sending you the case details now."

"Thank you, M'Bekke. Alibi out."

Alibi Jones looks around his aunt's apartment as if he's missing something, but he can't put his finger on what. Katie walks into the room as he stands there in his daze.

"You look kinda lost," Katie says.

"I don't know," Alibi says. "I guess I am."

"Who were you just talking to?"

"M'Bekke. You know, the Pope."

Katie laughs. Alibi finds himself smiling.

"It blows my mind... still cracks me up that you know the Pope so casually! 'You know, the Pope'," she says, mimicking Alibi.

Alibi shrugs.

"He's my boss," he explains. "Head of the SAIF Mediation Corps."

"Yeah," Katie says, agreeing but still puzzled. "But how come? Why is that? Why have the Pope head the Mediation Corps?"

"Tradition, I guess," Alibi speculates. He doesn't know for sure. "I never really thought about it all that much. Just the way it's always been, you know?"

"Yeah, but the Mediation Corps hasn't been around forever. It's what, only as old as you are!" She says.

"A little younger, even," Alibi admits. "But it used to be called the Office of Papal Operations, before the Solar Alliance," he explains, "and that was around for a long time. My father used to work for the OPO."

"Your father? You haven't mentioned him much before. Maybe not at all. What's he like?"

"He's 'like' dead, a long time ago. I never knew him," Alibi says.

"I'm sorry," Katie says. She leans into him. "I didn't mean to bring up something that brings you down." She kisses him, and this time Alibi doesn't resist. They come up for air after a few minutes.

"Better?" Katie asks him.

"Better," Alibi confirms. He smiles. "Actually don't like talking about my father too much," he says, then adds, "But that doesn't mean I minded that kiss."

He smiles and leans in to kiss her again. He holds her as she responds in turn. They break off again as they hear Anita unlocking the apartment's front door.

"I hear from M'Bekke you've accepted a new assignment. I think that's good," Anita tells Alibi as she enters the room.

"News travels fast," Alibi says a little snidely. Regretting his tone, he adds more pleasantly, "I'm leaving for Cat's Eye tomorrow morning."

"We'll have a big dinner here tonight, then," Anita declares. "Before you go."

"Great," Alibi says, trying to sound enthusiastic. Katie elbows him.

"I think it's wonderful. That'll be really nice," she says to Anita. "I haven't had a real sit down dinner in years!"

"Well, you will tonight!" Anita says with a grin. She clearly enjoys having the young woman to dote on. "Then maybe you two can go out, afterward," she says slyly.

"Aunt Anita!" Alibi says in mock embarrassment.

"I think that sounds wonderful, too," Katie says, looking over at Alibi with a grin.

Alibi's Wand alarm sounds. Kit is on the com.

"I see your ship listed for departure for Cat's Eye tomorrow morning," Kit says. "Could I ride there with you? It is on my way, and I presume it will be easier to find transportation to Dakhur space from Cat's Eye than it is proving to be from here at Ceres Central. As I am discovering."

"That's fine, Kit! I'll be glad for the company," Alibi tells him. "See you at the Cruiser at around oh-nine hundred hours Ceres Central time?"

"I will see you then," Kit confirms, and signs off.

Alibi, Anita and Katie enjoy a big dinner at Anita's apartment that evening. Anita arranged for some of the Ceres Central kitchen staff to cater the meal: steaming piles of freshly carved turkey, boats of succulent gravy, a heaping bowl of stuffing, squash, green beans and potatoes from the station's hydro gardens – Anita's gone all out.

"This is a thanksgiving meal," Anita explains to Alibi and Katie as they eat. "Because we still have a lot to be thankful for. Even if things don't always go our way."

Alibi gets upset, but holds it in. This is more than things not going his way, even if she can't see it. But it's done, for now.

The food is very good. Alibi tries to let go of his anger, shoveling another forkful of food into his mouth, chewing away his offense.

Dessert is warm pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream. Katie has greeted nearly every dish introduced with oohs and ahhhs. She lets out an "Oh yeah!" as dessert arrives. Anita smiles as she watches Katie enjoy her pie. Alibi finds himself smiling at the two of them as he chews and savors the flaky crust, spicy pumpkin and cold creamy vanilla ice cream.

"This has been very nice," Anita declares at the end of dessert, as their utensils and plates are cleared away.

"Thank you so much," Katie says to her. "And thank you for giving me a place to stay."

"You're very welcome, dear. But I don't want you to think we eat like this every night!" Anita cautions her with some humor. "It's usually a quick dinner in the commissary."

"Thank you, Aunt Anita," Alibi says.

Anita gets up from the table.

"I am full! Think I'm going to retire for the evening," Anita announces. "But you two feel free to hang out as long as you like," she says, with almost a twinkle in her eye. "Katie dear, you make yourself at home, okay?"

"I will, ah, Aunt Anita," she says.

"I like that. You can call me 'Aunt' Anita anytime, dear," she says chuckling, amused at Katie's use of the term. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight Aunt Anita," both Katie and Alibi say almost in unison. She smiles and leaves them alone in the apartment's main room.

"Wanna see my room?" Katie asks Alibi after a brief moment of silence.

"Seen it before," Alibi teases. "Used to be mine, remember."

"Wanna see my room," Katie repeats, ignoring his teasing and giving him a second chance. Alibi jumps at it.

"Let's go see your room," he agrees, leaping to his feet and banging his knee against the table leg in the process. He doubles over as he rubs his banged up knee.

"Wow, you are smooooooth," Katie says as she comes over to him. "Come on. It's not that far to limp."

He straightens up and leans on her for support, and because he can. They walk together to the bedroom. Katie closes the door behind them.

"It is a little weird," Alibi says, looking around the bedroom. "I mean, I grew up in this room."

Katie lifts the one piece dress she's been wearing up and off, over her head. She reaches over and lifts Alibi's shirt up. He raises his arms so she can pull it off him. Then she takes off her bra and slides off her panties, as Alibi unzips his fly and slips off his pants. They come back together and their naked skin nearly crackles as they touch, body to body, nothing in between them for the first time. Alibi and Katie entangle each in the other and fall together onto the bed.

It's morning in no time. Alibi isn't sure he's slept much at all when he wakes up to his Wand alarm. Katie is plastered to his chest with sweat where she fell asleep after they made love late into the night. He slides out from under her, trying not to wake her up, and quietly enters the room's refresher to get ready for the day.

Katie is up and awake, wearing the bed sheet around her like an old roman toga, when Alibi gets out of the refresher.

"Morning, sunshine," she says with a big grin.

She comes up and crushes Alibi against the refresher door with an insistent kiss.

"When do you have to meet Kit and take off?" she asks in his ear as she breaks off.

"In about ten minutes."

"Too bad." She leans in again and they spend at least half the time he has left in their embrace.

"I've, uh... Damn. I've gotta go," he says as he pulls away. "Gotta stay on schedule."

"That sucks," she says. "At least you've got something to look forward to when you come back," she points out, smiling. She frowns a little. "How long will you be gone?"

"It looks like a week. Maybe two," he tells her. "It's hard to know for sure. That's part of the negotiations this time, no end date."

Katie sighs. "No end date?"

"Nope... but that's a good sign," Alibi explains to her. "That means they're serious. Means their goal is a settlement, not an end date. End dates give sides an excuse to bail out of the proceedings. So, it's good."

"Hope so."

Alibi gets dressed, kisses Katie goodbye, and leaves his aunt's apartment for the Ceres Central port. Kit is waiting for him next to his ship.

"Alibi?" Kit greets him with a question.

"What?"

"You look... different," Kit says.

"I do?" Alibi asks, puzzled. "Different how?"

"I am not sure," Kit says. "More relaxed, perhaps. Less tense."

"Oh!" Alibi gets it. "Yeah. I'm a little more relaxed today than yesterday," he smiles. But then he darkens a bit. "I'm still pissed about not finding the Eldred on that planetoid. Where did they go? And who are they working for now that Masakov is dead? The Tek'Tah?"

"Ah," Kit says, "now you are sounding like the old Alibi."

"So," Alibi asks as he opens the ship's airlock to let them on board, "you still want to kill me?"

"I have never wanted to kill you," Kit explains. "It is merely that I may have to kill you. Honor, tradition. These things may require it. But not today," he adds, quasi-reassuringly.

"That makes today a good day, then, huh?" Alibi jokes, as he seals the lock behind them.

It's a quick jump from Ceres Central to Cat's Eye. Alibi lands his Cruiser in his regular berth at the Cat's Eye port. It's handy to have the space at the ready, pre paid and waiting. Cheaper to rent a berth out here in the colonies than back in the Solar System, but it's still out of Alibi's usual price range. He's lucky – The SAIF Mediation Corps covers the costs of this one as it's his home base.

"I do not like this place," Kit tells Alibi as they disembark the Cruiser and begin to walk to the main terminal of the port.

"Why not?" Alibi asks. He gestures up at the nebula in the sky above them. "I love the Eye in the Sky! Isn't it beautiful?"

"I do not think I see it the way you do," Kit tells him, blinking rapidly. "It... bothers my eyes."

"Really?"

"Really. You humans call we Dakhur 'cats' do you not?" Alibi nods. "That makes the fact that I do not like to gaze at what you think looks like my eye somewhat ironic, if I understand what you mean by that word. We Dakhur have a similar concept," Kit says.

"So I guess you won't be spending too much time here, then, huh?" Alibi jokes.

"I am going to try to book immediate passage back to Dakhur space. There's a Snakt outfit that provides service from here on a fairly regular basis," Kit says.

"You know we humans shake hands to say a formal goodbye, right?" Alibi asks Kit, extending his hand. Kit reaches out and wraps his paw around Alibi's hand.

"I do," he confirms. They shake hand and paw and start to go their separate ways. "Remember, if you need my help, you can call me. I would be glad to help you again," Kit says.

"Likewise," Alibi tells the cat man. "Good luck."

Kit saunters off towards the Snakt. Alibi walks out of the port and back into his normal life. He catches a transport over to his apartment, grabs a bite to eat, and looks over the files for his new assignment.

The next day, Alibi dives into the negotiations. A human delegation is negotiating trade rights in Flaze space with one of their commercial delegations. Alibi trusts the Flaze less after what Kit said took place after the negotiations he oversaw between they and the Dakhur, but he grits his teeth and works through it.

It only takes Alibi a week to get the sides together and work out the agreement. A further week of negotiations is required for the minutiae. But they do work it out, and Alibi is finally able to lead both sides to the signing table. Alibi gets so caught up in negotiations he doesn't have a chance to check back with Katie or his Aunt Anita for over a week.

When his aunt calls on the eve of the signing, Alibi is shocked and stunned by her news.

"She's gone?" he asks, feeling the bottom drop out of his stomach and a flush of adrenalin and panic overwhelm his senses. "Katie's gone? But I thought she... unh... I thought she was going to wait for me to get back. She said she would."

"I'm sorry, Ali," Anita says softly. "She was fine at first, but she seemed, I don't know, restless. Uncomfortable, for the last week. Now she's just packed up and gone. We'd gone shopping so she had some new clothes and things. They're all gone."

"Maybe I should have expected this," Alibi says, trying to figure out what he missed. "Maybe I should have let her come with me."

"Really? Don't beat yourself up, Al. You shouldn't blame yourself. I doubt if her being there would have helped. You haven't called for over a week. I'm thinking you've been busy? How much time could you have spent with her? Realistically? And how could you have protected her? That Laveillur probably has more people around there on Cat's Eye than back here on Ceres Central."

"That reminds me. Have you seen Piccolo around?" Alibi asks her.

"That bounty hunter? No, not at all."

"That's good, I guess," Alibi says. He sighs. "I just hope she's okay."

"Katie strikes me as a girl who can take care of herself," Anita reassures him.

"Did she say anything to you about why she was leaving?"

"No, Al. She just left a note saying thanks for everything."

Alibi doesn't know what to say. He wants to cry. His brain is disappointed at his heart. Weak organ! Falling for the girl!

"Al?" Anita calls over the com.

"Sorry," Alibi responds. "I guess... I just, um, well, I thought we had gotten closer, you know?" He feels like a dumb teenager.

"I know, honey, I know. When are you going to be done there?"

"Tomorrow. We're supposed to have the signing tomorrow morning. I'm hoping the Flaze don't back out. They've been grumbling. Say I'm favoring the human delegation. They've been threatening to file a complaint with the corps."

"Are you favoring the human delegation?" Anita asks.

"I don't think so," Alibi says, suddenly defensive. "I'm sorry. I don't know. I really don't think I am."

"Then I'm sure you haven't," Anita says, trying to cheer up Alibi. "I know you always do your best, Ali. Why don't you come back here after the signing ceremony. We can have another nice dinner, maybe?"

"I don't know. I've got some dinner back at my place here..."

"Al-i-bi," she says, stretching out his name as if scolding him.

"Okay! I'll come back there. We'll have dinner tomorrow night. How's that?"

"Good! Goodnight, Al. Good luck tomorrow," Anita says.

"Goodnight, Aunt Anita," Alibi answers, signing off.

Alibi can't sleep. He can't turn off his thoughts. His brain buzzes with questions.

Why did Katie leave?

Where could she have gone?

What did I do?

What could I have done?

Somehow he makes it through the night to morning. He also makes it through the boredom of the signings without falling asleep on his feet. The Flaze seemed to have calmed down in their late protestations, although the leader of the delegation still makes some noise about filing an official complaint. But done is done, and Alibi has an official trade agreement between the two groups finished, with their signatures on it, by the middle of the day.

Alibi heads back to his place on Cat's Eye. He takes a shower and changes into a fresh Mediator Corps jumpsuit for the trip back to Ceres.

Feel like I'm just going through the motions.

He powers down his apartment, locks it up and heads for the Cat's Eye port, moving in a sort of tired-wired, cloudy haze. He's still beating himself up.

If you open yourself up to the highs, you open yourself up to the lows.

He thinks as he walks.

I prefer the middle. Not too high. Not too low. I don't know. Maybe it's a good idea to head back to Ceres Central. Feeling useless here.

As preoccupied as he is, Alibi almost walks right past a familiar figure that ducks into the shadows next to a warehouse as Alibi passes. Some part of his subconscious alerts him. Piccolo! Alibi stops, turns and walks over to the shadows where Piccolo is trying to disappear among a handful of large shipping containers parked on pallets in front of the warehouse door.

"Piccolo! I saw you! I know you're here somewhere," Alibi shouts as he looks around the containers.

Piccolo steps out from behind one of them.

"Okay! Okay, jeesh. No need to yell," Piccolo says. "Alibi. How are you?"

"Been better, actually. You?" Alibi asks him.

"Good. Yeah. I'm, you know, good."

"You working?" Alibi asks him, looking around at the shipping containers. Piccolo begins to look uneasy.

"Well, yeah, but I can't really talk..."

"Shipping something for the boss?" Alibi prods.

"You know I can't say anything about..."

"These all yours?" Alibi asks him. Alibi looks more intently at each of the shipping containers.

"Uh, well, uh, yeah..." Piccolo stammers.

"Hey Piccolo? Who's your friend!" a deep, throaty voice calls out from behind Alibi. Alibi tenses and turns slightly so he can see who the new arrival is and still keep an eye on Piccolo. A tall, dark and muscular thug type walks into the shadows towards them. "Peterson wants his package loaded ASAP," he barks.

"Who's Peterson?" Alibi asks innocently.

"You don't know? You don't wanna know!" the new arrival says, eying Alibi suspiciously."Who are you? Besides Mister-I'm-Way-Too-Curious?"

"I'm Alibi Jones!" He declares. "SAIF Mediator Corps."

"A mediator?" The big man laughs a throaty laugh."Why don't you just mediate on along, then, huh?"

Alibi's hand is on the Wand in his pocket. He's poised to call in SAIF forces, if he needs to. He's authorized to call in SAIF soldiers, if his life is threatened. His finger's on the button.

"Why, Piccolo here is an old friend of mine!" Alibi proclaims with phony friendliness and naiveté loading his tone. "We go way back!"

"It's fine, Anton," Piccolo tells the big man. Anton doesn't look convinced.

"Then how come he don't know Peterson?" Anton challenges him.

"I try to spare people that if I can. You know," Piccolo says somewhat unconvincingly. He tries to look relaxed by leaning back against the shipping container but bangs his shoulder into it awkwardly. "Ow!" He looks up sheepishly at Anton and Alibi. "Sorry."

"Don't you have something to mediate... somewhere else?" Anton says to Alibi in a menacing tone of voice. Piccolo tries to give Alibi a "get out of here" look.

"Yeah, great seeing you, Alibi. We'll have to get together sometime," Piccolo says, trying to move him along. Alibi isn't moving. Something is bothering him. Something he can't put his finger on. A feeling. A sense of something.

Or someone? Katie? Would Piccolo dare?

"Yeah, right," Alibi agrees with Piccolo, although he's not really listening to him. He's pressing the button on his Wand. "What's in that package behind you Piccolo?"

"Oh?" Piccolo acts surprised. "I don't even know if this is one of ours."

"What's it to you?" Anton says menacingly, leaning in towards Alibi a little too closely. Alibi can smell his sour breath.

Gah! What did you have for lunch?

"Guess that depends on what's in there," Alibi says, nodding at the shipping container. "Or who's in there. Mind if I take a look?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, Alibi," Piccolo says. "It's some pieces of art from some museum or something, for the boss."

"Valuable?" Alibi asks.

"Well, yeah, I'd..."

"Listen, mediator, you're way overstepping your bounds here," Anton says, planting his finger in Alibi's chest as he crowds him away from Piccolo and the shipping container.

"Am I?" Alibi asks the big man. He steps back away from Anton's pointing finger. "I'll go away... right after you open the container there. If it's pieces of art, I don't care. I'll be on my way."

"You'll go now," Anton says, again closing the distance between them.

"Is there a problem here?" an authoritative woman's voice calls out. A squad of six armed SAIF troopers has materialized thanks to Alibi's Wand call. Their two transports sit just beyond the warehouse shadows. Two of the troopers dismount and approach, rifles at ready. Alibi is glad he's wearing his SAIF Mediator Corps Uniform. "You called for back up, sir?" The trooper asks Alibi.

"That I did," Alibi answers her. "Get your men over here, trooper. We need to open this shipping container."

"You can't do that. This is private property!" Piccolo protests.

"Peterson's gonna hear about this," Anton growls at Alibi. "He's gonna know who you are... You don't want Peterson to know who you are, mediator. You'll be a marked man!" He's threatening enough that one of the troopers advances, rifle aimed at the big man's chest. The squad leader comes over to Alibi.

"I'm not sure we can legally do this, sir," she whispers. "Private property and all."

"This is a kidnapping, squad leader," Alibi whispers back to the woman. "Trafficking in human beings. These guys are hired scum. C'mon, it's me! I'm Alibi Jones!"

The trooper cracks a smile. Alibi knows her from somewhere, but can't quite place her face.

"So you are... Alibi." She grows serious and barks to her squad members. "I want that container open now!" The rest of the SAIF troopers dismount transports and approach. She leans back to whisper to Alibi, "You better be right about this."

"Aw hell," Piccolo protests. "You can't do this!"

Anton looks like he's going to explode. Two squad members keep an eye on the big man, rifles ready. Another trooper tries to open the container.

"Sir? It looks like it's time locked. I don't think we can open it," the trooper reports. "Want us to blast it open?"

"No!" Both Alibi and Piccolo answer at the same time. "It's precious cargo," Alibi says. "Could be, anyway. Piccolo! You open the container," Alibi orders him. Piccolo looks at the SAIF troopers, at Anton, at Alibi, back at Anton. His eyes flit from person to person as he panics and tries to figure out who's the biggest immediate threat to him. "Override the time lock, Piccolo!" Alibi orders again.

"I... I can't!" Piccolo protests.

Alibi walks over to the nearest trooper, one of the ones near Anton.

"Trooper? Could I see that firearm?" Alibi asks the man. The trooper looks over to the squad leader. She looks at Alibi and he nods confirmation with a silent plea in his eyes. She nods to the trooper and he hands Alibi his weapon. Alibi hefts the energy rifle, dials up the deadliest setting and tests the firing action by shooting a quick bolt into the ground.

SHHHAAAAK!

The gathered group jumps involuntarily at the sound of the blast. Alibi brings the rifle up, aiming at Piccolo.

"Open it. Now."

"I can't! You wouldn't..." Piccolo objects, until he sees the look of deadly anger in Alibi's eyes and realizes that maybe he would. "Shit," Piccolo sighs. He turns to the shipping container's lock and begins punching a code into the door's keypad.

"Hey!" a SAIF trooper shouts. Anton has slipped away. Alibi looks over and sees him far off, running. His attention quickly snaps back to Piccolo.

Piccolo stopped punching in the code when the trooper shouted.

Alibi gestures with the rifle.

"Keep going!" he barks at him.

Piccolo turns back to the container and continues putting in the code.

"Let him go," Alibi calls over his shoulder to the troopers.

"That's a mistake," Piccolo cracks. "For all of us. Anton's a bad man, Alibi. Ah, here you go, you bastard." The container door's lock clicks. "Fuck you, Alibi." The door opens with a loud CHUNK!

"Step away from the container, Piccolo," Alibi orders, keeping the gun trained on the man. Piccolo steps back from the opening. Alibi walks up to the container and draws open the door. There's a soundproof, oxygenated transport cube inside, the type used to move exotic livestock from planet to planet. The door is latched, but doesn't appear locked.

"Keep an eye on him," Alibi tells the squad leader, looking over at Piccolo. "I'm going into the container to open the transport cube."

Alibi ducks his head and enters the container. He lifts the latch on the cube and opens the door. It lets out a quick HISSSS! as it opens up.

There is a body bound and gagged and curled up in the fetal position on the floor of the cube, a small personal case next to it. Alibi recognizes the case. It belongs to his Aunt Anita! Then he recognizes the body.

"Katie!" Alibi shouts. A muffled cry comes from the figure on the floor. Alibi rushes in and tries to reach her face to loosen her gag, but he can barely fit into the doorway of the cube. He reaches in as far as he can, trying to grab her shoulders and slide her out of the transport cube. "Katie, it's me, it's Alibi! I found you! You're safe!" He tries to lift and pull and whaps the back of his head on the door-frame of the cube.

"Ouch! Damn!"Alibi curses.

"I'll get her legs," Alibi hears one of the troopers behind him. The two of them lift and pull together and slide Katie free of the cube and container. Alibi quickly moves to untie and remove her gag and blindfold as the trooper undoes the bindings on her ankles and wrists.

"Alibi?" she says hoarsely.

"It's me, Katie!" Alibi says. He and the trooper are rubbing her wrists and ankles trying to help her circulation. They're forced to let go and back off as she starts flailing her arms.

"Get away from me!" she shouts in her raspy but loud voice as she tries to sit up. "Just leave me alone!" She doesn't seem to see her surroundings, as if she's half asleep. She slumps back over. "Get away," she mumbles.

Alibi backs away, hurt and trying to understand. He sees Piccolo looking at Katie with disappointment. He walks over and stares down at him.

"Place this man under arrest and put out an APB for his friend 'Anton'," Alibi shouts into Piccolo's face, although his words are meant for the squad leader. "Charges include Assault and Battery. Assault with a deadly weapon. Kidnapping. There may be more, but that's enough for now."

"You're making a mistake, man," Piccolo tells him. "I tried to help you out by bringing her back to Laveillur. Now, you're stopping me. You're gonna be on his shit list, man, and UNH!" Piccolo's warning is cut short when Alibi whips up the butt end of the energy weapon and hits him alongside the head with the rifle stock. Piccolo goes sprawling onto the ground, knocked out.

Alibi turns to find the squad's troopers staring at him, aghast.

"My, uh, rifle slipped," he says with a shrug. "Sorry," he says halfheartedly, not really apologizing. "Go on," he says to the squad leader, "pick him up and take him in. Solar Alliance law applies." The squad leader motions to two of her men. The troopers pick up Piccolo on either side and drag his unconscious form over to one of their transports. Alibi checks on Katie, slumped over. She's unconscious again.

"Looks like she's drugged," the squad leader says, appearing at Alibi's side.

"She's a friend of mine," Alibi tells the squad leader. "Can you help me get her back to my apartment? I can keep an eye on her there, keep her safe from guys like these."

"Why do they want her?" the squad leader asks him.

"They work for a man who thinks he owns her. The man considers her his property. I don't believe in slavery, myself," Alibi explains. The squad leader nods in agreement.

"I'll take Piccolo in for charging in one of our transports," she tells him. "You can use the other transport to get her back to your place. I'll send a couple troopers with you."

"Thank you!"He shakes her hand hard in thanks.

Alibi heads back to his apartment with Katie on the transport. She hasn't regained full consciousness since her outburst. She's groggy all the way back to Alibi's apartment. The two troopers from the transport help Alibi carry her in and he puts her to bed so she can sleep off whatever drugs they used on her.

It takes almost nine hours for the drugs to wear off. Alibi calls Anita while he waits and lets her know Katie's safe. He apologizes for missing dinner.

"Be sure to bring her back with you!" Anita tells Alibi. "We'll reschedule and do another big dinner!"

"Will do," Alibi tells her. "Can't believe Piccolo was smart enough to make it look like she left on her own."

"I still don't know how he got in and out of here unseen."

"Check your security," Alibi says, concerned. "Or have SAIF check it over. Find out how he could get to her. I don't want anyone to get to you!"

"You're sweet, hon. It's already done, trust me. You have a goodnight. Let me know when you two are coming back here, okay?"

She signs off. Lack of sleep, the morning signings and afternoon drama take their toll on him. Alibi finds himself nodding off as he waits. He tries to fight it but falls asleep.

Alibi wakes up to a crash! He jumps up off the couch in his main room, suddenly jolted into awareness. Another CRASH! Coming from the bedroom!

Alibi rushes to the bedroom door.

"Katie?"

Alibi throws open the bedroom door. Katie's not on the bed. He doesn't see her in the room.

"Katie!"

"Alibi!?" her voice sounds muffled. Alibi puts on the room lights.

"Katie? Where are you?"

"Alibi? Oh, oh shit, sorry," she says as she steps out of the bedroom closet. "I didn't know where I was," she says. "I think I wrecked your closet. Sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Alibi says to her. "I'm glad to see you awake."

She looks up and looks him in the eye for only a second before looking down and away again.

"Did you rescue me again?" she asks him without looking up.

"I kind of did," Alibi tells her. "We're on Cat's Eye. I was wrapping up business here and ran across Piccolo and a suspicious shipping container."

"Well... thanks for that, for finding me. I'm sorry you had to."

"Hey," Alibi reaches out to rest a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I told you, you don't have to..."

She shrugs out from under his hand and interrupts him.

"Don't. Stop being so nice to me! I fucked up," she protests.

"You were kidnapped. How is that fu..."

"I left your aunt's and went off on my own. That's why he got me."

"Why did you leave my aunt's? You were safe the..."

"She was too nice to me. It was too much. She was buying me stuff... And she kept talking about you and me as if we were... We slept together one night, Alibi, and she was acting like we were engaged or something! It was freaking me out."

Alibi is devastated, but refuses to show it.

"She just likes you," Alibi tells her. "She never had a daughter to dote on. I'm sorry she was too much."

"Don't smother me! I hate being so..." she tries to find the word.

"What?" Alibi says. "Loved? Wanted? Cared for?" he asks her. "Not being used as a gambling chit?"

Katie gets mad.

"Aaarrgghh!" she shouts. She pushes past Alibi and storms out of the bedroom. He follows on her heels.

"Katie? Come on. I'm sorry!" He follows her into the main room where she's looking for the front door. She sees the door and bolts for it. "Come off it, Katie," he pleads with her. "Don't go out there! It's not safe for you out there. Please?"

Something occurs to her. She stops and turns back to Alibi.

"Where is Piccolo now?"

"Under arrest. SAIF troopers brought him in."

"Shit," she says, thinking. "How long ago was that?"

"I dozed off. Gotta look at a clock. Let's see..." Alibi checks. "It all happened about ten hours ago."

She shakes her head.

"You are so naïve," she says, disappointed. She talks to Alibi as if he's an idiot. "He's not there anymore. They'll have let him go by now."

"Let him go? We're charging him with kidnapping. Assault! They don't just let you go free when you're charged with felonies like that," Alibi argues.

"They do when you work for Laveillur," she counters. "Go ahead. Call the SAIF garrison, see if he's still there. I'll wait."

"You shouldn't go anywhere," he tells her.

"Please," she says with disdain. "Gimme a break. Call them."

Alibi calls in to the SAIF garrison and gets bad news. Piccolo is gone.

"Someone paid his bail or something," he says as he gets off the com. "You were right."

"You think you can protect me? You can't protect me," she says a little over-dramatically. "I'm just as safe, either side of this door." She turns and tries to open the door. It's locked. "Let me out!" she demands. Alibi walks over to the door and unlocks it. Katie notices her bag, Alibi's aunt's case, nearby. She walks over, picks up the bag and sweeps back past Alibi to open the door and walk out.

"You're making a mistake," Alibi calls after her.

"Yeah, I do that," she calls back. "Thanks for rescuing me, Alibi. Be good."

Alibi walks out into the hallway outside his apartment and watches her go.

If I go after her... try to keep her here, make her stay somewhere against her will? I'm as bad as they are, then. Aren't I?

She looks back at him for a split second before she steps into the elevator at the end of the hall. Alibi goes back inside his apartment and closes and locks the door behind him. He sits on his couch and hates the way he feels.

"Stupid. Dumb. Dumb and stupid," Alibi talks to himself. He calls Anita but gets sent to messaging. "Hi, um, Aunt Anita. Katie took off again. I, uh... huh. I'm not sure what I'm doing next. I'll check back with you later." He signs off, and then sets his own Wand to do not disturb message mode. He doesn't really feel like talking to anyone.

# Chapter Sixteen

Confused, Alibi finds himself waking up on the couch to the sound of the Wand's alarm going off. A priority override call is ringing through to him despite his do not disturb message mode.

"Mediator Alibi Jones? This is Commander Gretsch down at SAIF HQ. We're gonna need you to come down to the garrison here," he informs Alibi.

An "Oh Shit!" list of horrible possibilities involving Katie runs through his mind like a freight train. The SAIF commander breaks the silence and unveils a possibility Alibi's mind hadn't created. "We've got the girl Katie we rescued yesterday in custody. She's charged with attempted murder. Could turn into murder. She said not to call you, so I did anyway. You probably should come down here."

"Thanks, Commander Gretsch, I'll see you soon," Alibi replies, and signs off. "Piccolo," he says to himself. "Has to be."

It is. When Alibi gets down to the SAIF garrison he finds Katie in custody and Piccolo in the infirmary recovering from four bullets in his gut. He visits Katie in her cell first.

"She plugged him with an old fashioned slug thrower, a thirty-eight," the trooper guiding him to the cell tells Alibi. "She must have bought it on the black market. They say he's probably not gonna last more than a couple more hours."

"I want to see him after I see Katie."

"Yessir. The visitor's room is up here on the left."

The trooper leads him into the room and then leaves to stand outside the door they came in through. The room contains only a table and two chairs. Alibi sits down at the table. There's another door on the other side of the room. The door opens and Katie is escorted in by another SAIF trooper.

"Katie," Alibi says as she's led into the room.

"Alibi," she replies in the same tone of voice. She stops in the doorway, surprising the SAIF trooper who nearly runs into her.

"Come sit down," Alibi says.

"I told them not to call you," she says.

"I know."

"I told you, you can't protect me," she says. "I can handle myself."

"Obviously," Alibi says with sarcasm, looking around at their surroundings for emphasis.

"I don't need your help."

"I see. Sit down?"

She reluctantly enters the room and sits down across from Alibi. The trooper follows her in, closes the door, and stands in front of it. Evidently he's staying.

"I'm sitting," she says petulantly.

"So you are," Alibi concedes. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Could we please have a more awkward conversation?!"

Alibi smiles.

"It's not the best of circumstances. Granted. But it is good to see you," he tells her.

"Sure," she says with feigned indifference. "Right."

"So... you finally shot Piccolo," he says in an even tone.

"I shot Piccolo," she repeats without emotion.

"You're not making this easy, are you?" Alibi says, exasperated.

"Nope. Why should I? I want you to leave me alone," she replies in a near monotone.

"Why are you being like this?" Alibi asks her.

"Like what?" she asks defensively.

"Shit," Alibi says, shaking his head and looking down at the table. He looks back up at Katie. "I know we found something... between us," he tells her. He's briefly distracted, looks up at the trooper, decides he doesn't care, looks back at Katie and continues, "Strong enough that you're running away from it full speed."

"What?" she acts surprised. "You think I'm scared or something?"

"You tell me," he says, turning it back on her. She looks away, studies the walls, the ceiling. She looks back at Alibi. He thinks she looks like she's about to cry. "I had to do it, Alibi. I can't get away from Laveillur unless I get Piccolo off my trail. And he wouldn't get off my trail unless he was dead, he told me," she says. "It was self defense."

"Yeah," Alibi says. "I'm not sure that defense is going to work for you."

"Is he dead?" she asks.

"Not yet," Alibi tells her, "But it looks like he will be soon. You plugged him pretty good."

"He's dying?"

"Yeah."

"Good," she says, but she's shaking.

"You're shaking," Alibi points out.

"Shut up."

"Are you really a killer, Katie?" he asks softly.

"I've never killed anyone before," she says in a quiet voice now filled with emotion. "I've never even fired a gun." She sucks in a gasp of air, a sob, and then breaks down, crying. "I won't... go... back there!"

"It's okay to be scared, Katie," Alibi tells her, trying to sound helpful.

"Fuck you," she rebukes him through her tears. "You're not sitting in a cell."

"Not now, but I've been there," he insists. "I've been in a cell."

"How'd you get out?" she asks.

"Busted out," he tells her.

"You broke out of jail?" she asks, incredulous.

"With some help. From Kit and," he stops. Piccolo really didn't help, no reason to mention him again. "And I couldn't have done it without them, uh, him."

"I don't know why you're doing this," she says.

"What? Doing what?" he asks her.

"Wasting your time here. With me," she says softly.

"I'm here 'cause I want to be here," he says. "And I'm going to get you out. Or at least back to Ceres."

"Why?"

"I care about you, Katie," Alibi says. "Shit. I might even love you."

"Shut up," she says, but less harshly. "I can't believe you just said that."

"You..." Alibi starts. He stops because he doesn't know what to say. He finds something. "You don't want to go into the penal system out here. I bet Laveillur has a lot of people in the system, don'tcha think?"

"I can't believe you said, 'bet' again," she manages to joke. Alibi smiles. "Oh," she responds. "Shit. You're probably right."

"Hadn't thought of that, huh?"

"No. Not really," she admits. "Shit."

"Let me see what I can do," Alibi says. "Maybe Aunt Anita can help."

"Aw, I don't want to drag..."

"You don't think she already knows about this?" Alibi asks her. "She knows EVERYTHING!"

"I think you give her too much credit," Katie says.

"I don't think you give her enough," he protests. "Let me talk to her for you."

"Damn," Katie says, giving in. "Okay. Talk to her. My fate is in your hands."

"Not too dramatic, huh?" Alibi jokes. He gets up from the table. "Let me see what I can do," he says. "I'll talk to her and see."

Katie stays seated. She looks up at Alibi.

"Thanks," she says. "Could you tell Anita I'm sorry I took her bag?" She looks down at the tabletop and mumbles, "I don't deserve this kind of help."

"Whatever," Alibi says. "You're getting it anyway. Stop feeling sorry for yourself."

"Nice," she cracks, looking up with the first hint of a smile in her eyes. "Why should I?"

"Cause I said so," Alibi says. He turns and leaves the visitation room.

It would be easier to help her if she wanted to be helped.

In the hallway, he sees the trooper who led him to the room.

"Can you take me to Piccolo?" he asks.

"Yes sir. Right this way,"

Alibi follows the trooper to the infirmary. Piccolo lies in a bed under the covers. Alibi notices the IV drip leads down into Piccolo's hand, and from there down into his right wrist.

"Morphine," Piccolo says to Alibi when he sees him looking at the IV line. "I just press this button and whoosh... all better!"

"How are you doing?" Alibi asks him.

"As if you give a shit!" Piccolo laughs, but stops short with a gurgling cough. When his coughing slows, he gulps in air to speak again. "That crazy bitch of yours shot me! I'm fucking dying! That's 'how'm I doin'!"

"She's not 'mine'," Alibi protests.

"See, though? You ain't arguing about the 'crazy' or the 'bitch' references are you?" Piccolo jokes and laughs and coughs again. "Or the dying part either, huh?"

Alibi shakes his head.

"Shit. I'm sorry it came to this, Piccolo. Why couldn't you leave her alone?"

Alibi stands in silence at Piccolo's bedside.

Minutes pass by before Piccolo speaks again.

"You know he'll send somebody else," Piccolo says. "I'm replaceable. Laveillur will have Peterson put someone else on her trail soon enough. Won't be anything you can do to stop him."

"Who? Anton? There are APBs out for him already," Alibi argues.

"Anton's just muscle. Nah," Piccolo coughs. "It's Pee..." he tries, but another series of coughs begins. Alibi sees fresh flecks of blood hit the blanket over Piccolo's chest.

Piccolo has a hard time stopping the cough. When he finally does, he looks horrible. His eyes meet Alibi's.

Can almost see the life leaking out of him.

Piccolo speaks, his voice now a soft rasp.

"Someone will pick up where I left off. Maybe Peterson himself, if you're really unlucky," he grins at his own attempt at humor. "Laveillur will get her back. She's his property."

"She's not his property," Alibi says, growing angry at the man, and angry at himself for the sympathy he's been feeling towards him..

"Mark my words," Piccolo rasps. "My, cough, dying fucking words."

Piccolo is finally as good as his word. His eyes close. The life support unit begins beeping frantically. Alibi backs away from the bed as medical technicians stream into the room. They surround the body on the bed and make one last attempt to revive him. They're not successful. As Alibi watches, Piccolo dies.

He leaves the side of the dead man for the main desk of the garrison to call Anita and let her know what's going on.

Anita agrees to vouch for Katie. With her seal of approval, the SAIF garrison commander agrees to release Katie into Alibi's custody. He signs a legal agreement to take her back to Ceres Central. She'll then be in Anita's custody as she awaits her trial for murder.

Katie is silent as she's remanded into Alibi's custody. She doesn't say a word as they head to his ship. She maintains her silence as Alibi pilots the ship up off of Cat's Eye to fly back to Ceres. Once clear of the planet, Alibi preps the cruiser for Transpace. Katie finally talks to him.

"I wish you'd forget about me and let me be," she says. "Leave me alone."

"I want to help you. I'm not doing this because I have to. I want to," he tells her. "I like you Katie."

I might even love you.

"You shouldn't," she says.

"Can't help it, I do," he tells her.

"You hardly know me," she argues.

"In some ways that's true. In other ways, I feel like I've known you forever."

"God," she exclaims. "You're a hopeless romantic, Alibi."

"Get ready for Transpace," he says. He triggers the Transpace Drive and they flash into the Solar System. "We've got a couple hours into Ceres," Alibi says to Katie. "The asteroids are heavy around here right now."

Katie gets out of her chair and circles around to sit across Alibi's lap.

"Can you set it on autopilot?" she asks with a suggestive smile.

"It'll take longer," he tells her, looking up past her breasts, now right in his face.

"I'm okay with that. We can spend some more time getting to know each other better," she teases.

"Sounds good to me," he agrees.

They entangle as the autopilot picks their way through the careening rocks around Ceres. Their entanglement carries them off of the bridge and back to a stateroom where the next two hours fly by.

The proximity alert for Ceres Central wakes Alibi up from a brief post-coital nap. He hops up out of the bunk and wraps a sheet around him so he can bolt to the bridge.

Okay, so I'm falling in love with a murderer. Not good.

Anita downplays Katie's return. She tries not to overwhelm the girl and treats her with more emotional distance after the recent ruthless behavior. There's no big welcome back dinner. Instead, Anita has a pizza delivered.

Anita, Alibi and Katie spend a quiet night eating slices.

Alibi and Katie end up sleeping together again. It seems right to Alibi, natural, even. He wakes up early in the morning and looks over at the sleeping girl next to him. He laughs at himself.

Couldn't help double checking to be sure Katie's still there.

He gets up out of bed ready to take on the world, although there's nothing on his immediate schedule. It will be a day or two before he has another assignment.

Anita, Alibi and Katie eat breakfast together. When no one wants to talk about Katie's kidnapping and misadventures, talk inevitably turns to recent events.

"What do the Tek'Tah have on us?" Alibi asks Anita.

"Why do you think they have something on us?" she asks.

"Well," Alibi considers his words carefully, unsure of whether he's talking to his Aunt or the Former Head of the Solar Alliance. "We're letting them abduct people."

"We're not 'letting them'. They're not doing it in SAIF space," Anita argues.

"But if we – if humans – can't venture beyond human space without getting picked off or kidnapped... that's worthless," Alibi insists. "If we can't leave our own territory without fearing for our lives, what good is that? We have no respect – and we're stuck inside of human space as surely as when we were quarantined by the Eldred. You fought against that! The Tek'Tah ARE a problem," Alibi insists. "They can't just take people like they did Miss Kay. Or Katie."

"Fucking Tek'Tah," Katie says softly. She goes back to eating.

"I think you're right," Anita admits. "The Tek'Tah have reached beyond their limits."

"Then why isn't the Solar Alliance doing anything?" Alibi presses.

"It is being pursued through diplomatic channels," Anita says, trying to alleviate Alibi's concerns. Alibi is not reassured.

"That sounds like governmental BS," he tells her. "The Tek'Tah don't seem to be very good at listening. How can you have diplomacy when one side doesn't engage?"

"There are back channels and things that go on outside of the public view, as you well know," Anita admonishes him. "We have contacts. They are listening."

"I'm not encouraged," Alibi says.

Anita deliberately changes the subject.

"Have you heard anything from that Dakhur friend of yours? What was his name... Kit?" she asks.

"Nothing since he took off for Dakhur," Alibi says. "He has my Wand code. Said he'll get in touch, so I figure I'll hear from him sooner or later."

"I heard from Krish yesterday," Anita tells Alibi. "None of the Eldred bodies tested as recent," she informs him. "But there was something strange about Masakov's body," Anita says. "He said he wanted to talk to you about it."

"Something strange?" Alibi says, grabbing on to the only good news she's reported.

"Something to do with tachyon particles? Some sort of time thing?" Anita tries to explain further, but she isn't sure she understood exactly what Krish was talking about.

Alibi calls Krish, bringing up the com at the table.

"Hello, this is Doctor Krishnavarta."

"Krish? What's going on?"

"Hello, Alibi!"

"Hey... Aunt Anita said something weird showed up with Masakov?"

"The autopsy report came back. Strange energy readings from Masakov's body. Tachyons – temporal or chronal energy – all over it," Krish explains.

"So, uh... what does that mean?" Alibi wants to know.

"This means that the body was bathed in particles whose properties we really don't understand," Krish tells him. "We don't really know for certain what tachyons do, but they seem to move through time. If someone could find a way to harness them, perhaps they themselves could move through time. That's one possibility. We still know so little about tachyon physics, we can't tell what Masakov was using them for. But he had to be using them. His body is soaking in the particles."

"Weird, right?" Alibi says.

"Well, yes. Weird," Krish agrees. "But we don't know what it means. Yet."

"Okay."

"Did you see him disappear or anything inside that machine?" Krish asks.

"Disappear?" Alibi asks, surprised by the question. "No. But he was surrounded by a force field of some kind. Maybe he used those particles to create his force field?"

"Not likely," Krish disagrees. "But then again, we just don't know enough about tachyons..." Krish trails off. Alibi takes the opportunity to change the subject.

"Krish? None of the Eldred you tested were recent kills, Aunt Anita says. Is that right?" Alibi wants to hear it from Krish himself.

"No Alibi, I'm afraid they were not recent. Some of the ones that looked, ah, well, 'fresh' on the planetoid were still over twenty three years old," Krish explains.

"Damn."

"Don't look so disappointed, Alibi," Anita says. "The good news is, this means one of the Ancient Enemy hasn't returned," she says optimistically

"And never mind my footage, my evidence," Alibi says.

"Footage isn't proof. It can be altered. The Tek'Tah would argue against us too easily. We need actual proof – hard physical evidence, Alibi. I'm sorry."

"My testimony as a witness wouldn't be any good? And Katie's? And Kit's?"

"Well," Anita considers, "Kit's might be worth something. But anything you two said would be suspect. You're human."

"I would like to go back to that planetoid," Krish says.

"What?" Anita asks, disbelieving.

"Really?" Alibi asks, excited at the prospect of another chance to find evidence.

"Out of the question," Anita says quickly to quash their enthusiasm. "I can't line up SAIF ships for another run out there. Already used up that favor. Besides, now that rock is off limits to both sides."

"That's good," Alibi says. "That means no one will be there."

"There's an automated orbital surveillance platform feeding footage and info to both sides simultaneously," Anita says. "Keeps everybody honest."

"The platform is not a problem," Krish says playfully. " Dell and I invented the prototype years ago. I update the design for the SAIF every so often."

"Krish, I hope you're not suggesting tampering with SAIF security equipment," Anita cautions.

"Maybe the ships were the problem last time," Alibi offers. "Maybe we attracted too much attention. One ship might be able to make a less attention getting visit. Especially with Doctor Krish's help!"

"I can be ready to go anytime," Krish says helpfully.

"No way!" Anita stands up from the table as she raises her voice. Her temper is starting to flare. "There is no way you're going back there! I can't allow it!"

"Can I come?" Katie asks.

Alibi and Anita answer in unison.

"No!"

"It's too dangerous," Alibi says.

"They aren't going anywhere!" Anita declares. "And you, young lady, have an appointment with security this morning! Today you get your anklet so you can stay out of jail and in my custody."

"Don't make Katie reconsider the arrangement," Alibi says under his breath. Katie hears him and giggles. He feels her foot curl up next to his leg as she plays a little footsie under the table.

"And Alibi," Anita says, turning to chastise him, "don't you have an assignment from M'Bekke waiting for you?"

Alibi gets up from the table.

"I do, I do. And what a great time to go check in with him!" Alibi says with mock happiness. "Bye Krish. Maybe some other time, huh?"

"Goodbye, Alibi," Krish says over the com. As Alibi leaves Anita's apartment for his own he overhears Krish trying one more time. "Won't you reconsider, Anita? We could find out..."

Alibi closes the door. He takes out his Wand as he walks down the hall. The Wanderer is a marvelous invention of the Project. Everyone calls it "The Wand" – it is kind of a thick, rectangular magic wand. Its ability to quickly transmit and receive information over interstellar distances is almost magical. Project scientists reverse engineered the Wand's communication tech from Eldred technology, presumably the work of the Ancient Enemy handed down over millennia. The Wanderer can tap into any convenient com stream and then punch out across space using a Transpace derived shortcut. Or so Alibi's been told.

Alibi makes his way into his apartment. Locking the door behind him, he uses his Wand to call M'Bekke, setting the Wand for secure transmission.

"Alibi? Good! Glad to hear from you," M'Bekke says when Alibi gets through to him. "I saved this next one just for you!"

"Can you save it a little longer, like a day or two? Or maybe give it to someone else?" Alibi asks.

"Why? What is going on?" he asks.

"I've got a little thing I have to take care of," Alibi says, trying not to tell him anything but trying not to lie to the man.

"A thing? Is this something with that girl? I heard about that. You made the news."

"I did? Great. Just fucking great," Alibi says.

"What is wrong?" M'Bekke asks.

"I'm just worried the wrong people saw that news," Alibi says. "They would have gotten word eventually. I was just hoping we'd have a little time before they found out. Shit," Alibi spits out the words. "Katie's got some kind of warlord after her. Claims she's his property."

"That is certainly wrong," M'Bekke says. "How does he get away with that?"

"He's outside of the Solar Alliance," Alibi tells him. "He's got his own world, not under anyone's jurisdiction. A pleasure planet or something like that. Guy's name is Laveillur. Seems to think he can make up his own rules."

"Ah. Laveillur. I have heard of him. He is a ruthless man, by all reports. Do be careful, Alibi," he says. "Whatever it is you are doing."

"Thank you M'Bekke," Alibi replies, and signs off. He left the Pope with the false impression that this was about Katie and Laveillur, but he never outright told him it was. Alibi calls up Krish's code on the Wand and makes another secure call.

"Alibi?" Krish answers.

"Can you really be ready to go anytime?" Alibi asks him.

"Anytime," Krish confirms.

"See you in about three hours?" Alibi says.

"Did Anita back down?" Krish asks him.

"What do you think?" Alibi answers with a question.

"I think? I hope you know what you're doing, Alibi!"

"Three hours. Alibi out."

Alibi heads down the hall. He rings the bell and opens Anita's apartment door. He strides into the living room.

"I just talked to M'Bekke. I'm off to Rigel Four," Alibi says, figuring both statements are true, although placing them together like that is deceptive.

"How long is the assignment for?" Anita asks.

"You know how assignments are. You never know how long they're going to take. Don't know how long I'll be gone." He heads straight for the door. "I'll check in when I have a better idea of how long this will take. Bye Aunt Anita! Bye Katie!" He wants to run but tries not to rush as he opens the door and heads out into the corridor.

# Chapter Seventeen

Alibi clears his Cruiser out of the Ceres Central port and begins winding his way through the asteroids out to a safe Transpace point. He feels bad about stretching the truth with Anita and M'Bekke, but he knows they wouldn't approve of yet another trip to the planetoid.

"I'd rather not ask. They can tell me later that I shouldn't have," he thinks out loud as he flies through the rocks. The ship's shielding brushes aside micro-particles so the Cruiser can move safely through the dense neighborhood of the asteroid belt.

Two hours later it's safe to make the Transpace jump. Alibi takes the ship through Transpace. He's on the ground on Rigel Four about a half an hour later, Rigel Four having few orbital neighbors to avoid on the trip. Alibi has no problem finding a landing bay in which to keep his Cruiser. The SAIF garrison here grants most registered SAIF ships easy landing rights.

Alibi finds his way back to Krish's place to pick up the old scientist.

"Alibi! Good as your word! We are not really doing this, though, are we?"

"Well, we want to make it look like we're not doing anything..."

"Come in, come in for a minute. I want to do one thing before we go."

He escorts Alibi into the crowded living space, and then hands him something that looks like a Wand.

"This Wand operates on a hyper-isolated basis," Krish says. "We'll be able to narrowly communicate with both Rigel Four and Cat's Eye."

"Cat's Eye? Why? Why do we want to do that?"

"We'll set a course for Cat's Eye, book it, log it. We'll check in with Rigel Four from the Transpace Point all systems go, but then call Cat's Eye reporting mechanical failure. We tell them we're going back to Rigel Four. Then no one expects us anywhere! But we'll need an isolated signal to do that discretely. That's what this Wand does."

"Let's do it, then. Sounds like a plan!"

Alibi and Krish make for his ship.

The two head off in Alibi's Cruiser for the Transpace jump point. They fool their way off the grid and jump through Transpace to a neutral, empty system, just in case they are in some way being followed. As soon as they come out of Transpace, Alibi's Wand alarm begins going off.

"Aw, shit, don't tell me Aunt Anita found us out! Oh. Says unknown source," Alibi notes, surprised.

"Hello Alibi, this is Kit," the voice on the other end purrs. "I see you are coming in to Cat's Eye. I will meet you there with some news."

"Uh, Kit?" Alibi starts. "We're, uh, not... Damn. Can you send me your location code? I want to call you back on another Wand." Kit sends the coordinates across the Wand and signs off. Alibi transfers the code to the special Wand and calls Kit back using its isolated signal.

"This signal is more secure," Alibi explains. "We're not going to Cat's Eye, Kit. We told them we turned back to Rigel Four."

"But it was only when they published your departure time and trip log on Rigel Four that I was able to track you down. Rigel Four's port still has you listed as traveling to Cats Eye."

"That's what we told them," Alibi says.

"So where are you? Where are you going?"

"I'm sending you coordinates for where we are right now," Alibi tells Kit as he does.

"Received," Kit acknowledges. "These coordinates are in the middle of nowhere," Kit replies, puzzled.

"We're in the "middle of nowhere" right now," Alibi says. "A temporary stopover before we go... somewhere else. A return trip."

"I will go with you," Kit says. It sounds like he understands what Alibi is inferring. "Programming the coordinates for Transpace now. I should be at your location soon. Kit out."

Alibi moves the Cruiser away from the actual Transpace coordinates he just sent over. He and Krish watch through the Cruiser's main view screen as the stars seem to ripple and fade. A pinpoint of light grows to become a Dakhur ship zooming in from Transpace, suddenly surging in out of nothing and nowhere to appear right next to Alibi's Cruiser.

The Dakhur ship is a small personal transport large enough to carry four large beings, but with no cargo capacity by the look of it. A docking collar extends off from of the side of the ship, around its airlock door.

"Alibi, I'm going to dock with your Cruiser," Kit says over the com.

"Go ahead, Kit. I can see the docking collar extending, it looks good to go. We won't move, I promise."

Kit's ship lines up alongside. Its docking collar connects to the Cruiser magnetically, snapping into place. After a minute, Alibi hears the Cruiser's airlock door cycle open. Kit soon joins them on the bridge.

"You are going back to the planetoid?" Kit asks, first thing.

"We are," Alibi confirms.

"It is now off limits. You are aware of this?" Both Krish and Alibi nod. "All right. But listen to my information first, and you may not need to go back to that planetoid," Kit tells him.

"Really?" Alibi asks. "Well, I'm curious. What information is that?"

"Thanks to reports I came across back on Hur, I have found another planet where Eldred have been spotted recently, a world called De'Ramanar. It is quite a distance from here. It lies in the old Eldred expanse, the now unclaimed systems between Dakhur space and the Tek'Tah. It is in a sort of limbo similar to our planetoid between Tek'Tah and human space in the old Eldred worlds, would you not agree?" Alibi and Krish nod.

"Sounds very similar," Alibi grants him.

"De'Ramanar is under no jurisdiction right now, not Dakhur, not Tek'Tah. Until recently this had not been an issue. The world was like so many other dead Eldred worlds, deadly poison to any who ventured to land. We Dakhur believe that when the Eldred race died a toxin was released into the atmosphere, by will or by accident."

"Typical," Alibi says. "I still don't understand why they felt they had to kill their worlds as they died out."

"Control," Krish offers. "Even in death, their race desired control," he explains. "The only way they could control their worlds after they were gone was to make sure that no one could land on them."

"Bastards," Alibi sneers.

"The Eldred were obsessed by control," Kit admits. "The highly contagious viral toxin with which they flooded the atmosphere of De'Ramanar was impossible to remove from materials with which it came in contact – our safety suits could not be worn safely. One might be safe inside the suit while one was on the planet, but even after one left De'Ramanar, there was no way to remove the toxin from the exterior of one's suit without suffering contamination and rapid death," Kit tells them.

"Nice," Alibi cracks.

"De'Ramanar was marked as a deathtrap and left alone for the last twenty-three years. Now we have reports of activity in the system. Unknown ships sighted landing on De'Ramanar. Our probes sent into the atmosphere, when not destroyed, show that the toxin has disappeared, perhaps dissipated or gone dormant," Kit says. "But most of our probes have been destroyed before we can take complete atmospheric readings. Someone or something is shooting them down."

"Oh really," Alibi says with new interest.

"Really," Kit confirms. "I volunteered to investigate and discovered the Eldred were there. I was chased off the planet soon after spotting them, but make no mistake, it was them. The same small furry race of 'killer koalas from outer space', as you once called them, Alibi."

"I called them that before I had to fight them. There's nothing cute about the Eldred now," Alibi says.

"There's never been anything cute about the Eldred except their outward appearance," Krish notes. "But..." he grows concerned, "before we look into the Eldred on De'Ramanar, we need to go back to Masakov's planetoid, correct? That is still the plan, is it not?" Krish asks Alibi.

"I'm setting course for the planetoid," Alibi announces. He punches in the Transpace point and sets the ship to jump. "If we don't find anything on the planetoid we can go to De'Ramanar next."

"We're not just going there looking for Eldred," Krish tells Kit.

"You may not be," Kit says to Krish. He nods at Alibi. "But he is."

"Still, Alibi?" Krish asks. "Is that why you really want to go back?"

"I want to prove what I know to be true," Alibi says. "I want people to believe me when I tell them the Eldred are back, so we can deal with the question of why they're back. And why they're working with the Tek'Tah."

"I don't think we'll find anything to help your case on that planetoid," Krish says to Alibi. "The Tek'Tah or whoever cleaned that place out want to keep the current existence of the Eldred a secret. I don't think they've left anything behind for you to discover."

"Well, if I may ask, then," Kit inquires of Krish, "Why are you going?"

"Tachyons!" Krish declares. "I found many tachyon particles on and around Masakov's body."

"I do not know that word," Kit replies.

"Well, let's see, tachyons aren't actually particles, they're strings, because if they were particles they wouldn't exist. Has to do with negative mass squared, imaginary mass and..." Krish trails off. "It is hard to explain without writing down the equations."

"I do not know that I would understand your equations," Kit says.

"Right," Krish agrees. "Let me see... We've been able to detect them since we discovered we were actually creating them as we looked for them in the future. Then we figured out how to compensate for that, so we could detect tachyons we weren't creating, and we found them. Because these things move faster than light, they move outside of time, in both directions, at least, the ones we detect seem to. But we've only been able to create ones that move forward into the future."

"These 'tachyons' travel through time?" Kit asks.

"They seem to," Krish says.

"So... could someone hitch a ride on them, use them to travel through time?" Alibi asks. "Sounds pretty far fetched!"

"That is because it is far fetched," Krish says. "You would have to find a way to attach yourself to something that has no actual mass in our three dimensions. And then you would need a whole lot of them. So far, we cannot produce very many, and not all at once."

"So... you wish to check for Tachyons on the planetoid?" Kit asks him.

"I do. After we brought Masakov's body back, I started testing the body for various elements. For some reason, I decided to check for tachyons. He was loaded with them! All moving into the future, in concentrations and numbers like we never see!" Krish says, getting excited in the telling. "The only other concentrations we have seen like that have appeared in deep space. Seemingly random clouds of tachyons. This is the first time we've seen a body soaking in them."

"Do you think he was attempting to move through time?" Kit asks Krish.

"He did flail a lot," Alibi notes.

"Maybe," Krish answers Kit. "But maybe not his body? If Masakov had some way to isolate his bio-electrical energy matrix he might have... Well, it just seems unlikely. We can see he didn't go anywhere. And the effort killed him."

"The flailing, right?"Alibi jokes. "And the lesson we learn from the story is, 'Kids? Don't play with tachyons'!"

"We'll measure and see what the levels look like down there, where you two saw that machine of his," Krish explains.

"Perhaps we should take my craft to the planetoid? It is smaller," Kit notes.

"Can't," Krish says. "The tachyon detector is very large, not truly portable, actually. It's in the cargo bay. We'll have to land this ship next to where we want to use it," he explains.

"Very well. I will leave my craft here, then, and travel with you. I will secure my ship and unlock the docking collar momentarily," Kit tells them. He leaves to go back to his ship. He's back on the bridge within the half hour.

"I must disengage my ship," Kit tells them. He sits down in the co-pilot's seat and runs through commands that set his ship free to float away from the Cruiser.

"I suppose that it is safe to leave it here," Kit says, "seeing that this is nowhere."

"Should be," Alibi agrees.

"How will we get past the sentinel satellite?" Kit asks, turning back to the matter at hand.

"He designed them," Alibi tells Kit, nodding at Krish who's smiling proudly. "He tells me that's not going to be a problem."

"I built a back door redundancy into them, in case I ever needed it," Krish explains. "It's something we engineers do. Build in back doors, just-in-cases. In this case, it's a trigger that will feed a repeat of the events of 24 hours prior from the platform's memory instead of the live feed. It syncs back up to live after 24 hours, a brief day's hiccup where we can slip in and out unseen because all those watching the platform's feed see yesterday's footage."

"That's pretty cool," Alibi comments.

"You seem to be somewhat of an evil genius, Doctor Krish," Kit purrs.

"Thank you, I think," Krish says.

The three of them prep for the landing.

Alibi launches the ship through Transpace using slightly altered end coordinates. They're attempting to come out of Transpace far enough away from the planetoid for Krish to make them invisible. He's been readying codes while they travel. As they emerge from Transpace he begins firing them off through the ship's com.

"Done! Now they are getting yesterday's news!" Krish jokes. "Where nothing is happening."

Alibi brings the Cruiser down towards the surface. The underground hangar is now open and empty. Alibi lowers the Cruiser down into the cavern, landing next to the former location of Masakov's machine. He and Kit open the cargo bay and assist Krish with the placement of sensors for the tachyon detector.

Once Krish is set with his equipment, Alibi leaves the underground hangar to jog across the surface, trying to spot fresh Eldred bodies.

He checks the grim pile of corpses. There's nothing new. He searches the area between the underground hangar and the lab building, and then finds himself walking through the empty lab building. As he approaches the place where the large man was chained to the wall he again feels something strange, as if he's feeling echoes instead of hearing them, deep, individual, stretched out laughs echoing through him every few seconds.

He walks over to the wall. With no threat from Tek'Tah fighters overhead, he can relax and see if he can get some kind of mental 'impression' from the wall. He stretches his arms ahead, gloved palms facing outward.

Echoes pulse through him faster now. He touches the wall and feels an electric shock. He leans in against the wall and images begin appearing in his mind. The echoing pulsing laughter gets faster – he can both hear and feel it. He closes his eyes, and sees himself, then Piccolo, and then Kit coming after him through a blue haze. Alibi realizes he is Masakov! Then all is pain. The world glows bright gold, then white. Darkness then descends.

Until he blinks his eyes. At least, he thinks he's blinking his eyes. Alibi can't tell if he is blinking his own eyes, or if he's seeing someone else's memories of blinking their eyes.

He stands up straight and finds he's pulling away from the wall. Laughter continues to echo. Is he laughing, is it him?

The memory impression is so strong!

He feels himself pulling away from the wall, pulling off the manacles as if they were made of paper. Or is it him?

He's looking at hands now too large, down at feet now too big, and he laughs and the laughter... stops. The echo fades fast. Alibi finds himself standing alone in the empty lab building, trying to make sense out of what he just saw.

He wanders outside of the lab building, still shaken by the powerful mental impression. Without thinking, he wanders back to the pile of bodies. There's been no sign of any new Eldred bodies. The pile is covered by recently killed human bodies. Alibi contemplates digging down into the pile to see if there are new Eldred bodies hidden underneath other corpses. Then a disturbing thought screams into his consciousness: Miss Kay is probably somewhere on this pile.

No... not her. Just her body. Miss Kay is gone.

Standing there thinking, letting his eyes lose focus, letting the grim sight before him blur into indistinct globs, Alibi finds he does not have the stomach to lift the bodies from off the pile to satisfy his curiosity. There may be fresh Eldred killed underneath, but it's not worth the trauma to discover whether or not he's right. He stares at the pile lost in thought, numb.

"You should stop looking at that," Kit says in his ear, over the com. Alibi sees him standing a few meters away.

"Thanks," Alibi says. "I was kind of zoning out."

"Perhaps part of your mind shut down in the face of so much carnage," Kit offers.

"No... my mind is anything BUT shut down," Alibi tells him. "Feel like I'm thinking too much."

"I do not think that is possible," Kit comments. He changes the subject. "Let us return to the ship. Krish reports his work is nearly done."

Alibi takes his time walking back to the Cruiser. Kit measures his pace to walk alongside his friend. Krish waves when he spots them approaching.

"Alibi!" Krish shouts in his ear over the com.

"Krish, you're on the com, don't shout, you don't need to."

"I am sorry," he says more softly, "I'm just excited. The tachyon readings are way off our charts. I cannot even measure them with my equipment – they're beyond anything we've seen before!"

"Really?" Alibi thinks for a moment. "Can we measure a spot in the lab, too, Krish?"

Krish looks puzzled behind his faceplate.

"If you can land the ship next to it, we could measure the spot from outside of the building," Krish says, thinking on his feet. "But the sensors won't go all the way into and around inside the building. Outside is the best we can do."

"Okay," Alibi decides. "Let's try it!"

"We must pack up here first," Krish cautions. The three of them pitch in to pack up. Alibi then flies the Cruiser up and out of the hangar, skimming over the surface to the lab building. Alibi lands the Cruiser as close to the building as he can, estimating where the shackles were on the inside wall. Kit and Alibi once again help Krish unpack and place the sensors.

Krish turns on his sensors again as Alibi and Kit look on, waiting.

"Isn't that something!" Krish says, once the sensors have finished taking their readings. "Even from out here, the tachyon readings are incredibly high! How did you know?" Krish asks Alibi.

"I got an impression from the wall inside there," Alibi tells them, nodding at the lab as they once again pack up the gear. "As if I could see Masakov's memory. Except I didn't stay Masakov. I became the big drooling guy chained to the other side of this wall. I think. And I was laughing the whole time, sort of. Could he have switched bodies?"

"Masakov? I don't know!"

"Well, you were talking about him maybe being able to move his biorhythms through time or something," Alibi explains himself, "I was just thinking, wondering, really, if he could do that in a small way and switch into another body. A bigger, badder stronger body, too, by the way."

"I was calling it his 'bio-electrical energy matrix'," Krish says. "I meant his essence, as encompassed by all of his energies, somehow held together and moved through time. It is highly unlikely. Very theoretical."

"Yes," Kit observes, "But so are those 'tachyon' readings you have been getting, correct?"

"Correct. I guess we are in the realm of the unlikely, aren't we?" Krish admits.

"Katie said he called himself 'Ashumeth', not Masakov. Perhaps this was not the first time he has done this," Kit observes.

"You mean whoever Ashumeth is or was, he did this before? And what? 'Landed' in Masakov?"

"Oh, I don't like this..." Krish says. He starts looking around, as if in panic. "No, this isn't... this is bad," he says in a rushed, hushed voice. "Very very bad."

"Do you think it is likely?" Kit asks Alibi. "Do you think he can travel through time?"

"Oh no... no no, this can't be..." Krish is mumbling.

"Sounds as plausible as anything else we're discussing here," Alibi says. "But who is he? Where's he from?"

"More apropos to ask 'When' is he from, is it not?" Kit observes.

"Oh, I think we know when!" Krish says, suddenly loud and clear. He has a crazy look in his eyes.

"When?" both Alibi and Kit ask at the same time.

"We have found huge, lingering clouds of tachyons massed in deep space," Krish says. "We thought they were naturally occurring phenomenon. Even classified them that way. But those readings were very similar to these we've taken today." Krish scratches his head. "The same way these readings blow away the ability of my equipment to measure them accurately, those readings dwarf these we've taken here and now. That would make them, quite possibly, the residue of a huge leap forward in time. The amount that can be moved would seem to be limited, so any extra energy poured into the creation of tachyons would extend the string's reach. In this case, their reach into the future."

"So those huge clouds of tachyons you've found could mean someone moved far into the future? I mean into our time, their future, from a very long time ago? I don't think I like where you're going with this, Doctor Krish," Alibi says.

"I do not like where this has already gone, Alibi," Krish says, shaking his helmeted head. "The energies we've measured? We're easily talking hundreds of thousands of years," Krish says. "And, yes... quite probably a million."

"You are saying it is possible this 'Ashumeth' came forward in time a million years and took over Masakov?" Kit asks for clarification.

"Entirely possible," Krish admits. "However unlikely."

"Huh," Alibi grunts in surprise at a surfacing memory. "I remember something Masakov said to me, it was weird. He had been lisping and slurring his words, but then for a second he spoke clearly. He said, 'sometimes... I am still I.' It didn't make sense at the time."

"Sounds like you heard the real Masakov," Krish says. "If only for a moment. A moment when he wasn't possessed by one of them. One of the Ancient Enemy!"

The words hang in the quiet space between them. No one speaks for a moment.

"We should get out of here," Alibi breaks the silence. "If what we think is true..." Alibi trails off. "There's one of them out there. Aunt Anita was right, even though she didn't want to be. And even though I don't want her to be right."

"It is too bad the trail ends here," Krish laments.

"I believe we do know where he has gone," Kit tells them. "We will find this Ancient Enemy where we find his servants. Where we find the Eldred, I believe we will find this Ashumeth... on De'Ramanar."

"I don't think I'll be making that trip with you," Krish tells them. "Can you bring me back to Rigel Four? I want to examine the sensor readings to double check and see if they really mean what I'm afraid they do."

"That's fine with me, Krish," Alibi says. "It'll give me a chance to resupply the Cruiser."

They pack up the sensor equipment in solemn silence and leave the planet.

Alibi checks the ship's sensor array as they tack toward the Transpace jump point. Nothing shows up on his screens. Seems they've made this visit undetected. They jump back to the middle of nowhere, so Kit can board his Dakhur spacecraft, and the two ships jump together back to Rigel Four.

Along the way they concoct a story about Kit finding Alibi's Cruiser after the engines gave Alibi trouble. It's plausible enough that it satisfies the curiosity of the SAIF garrison communications officer, who clears them to land.

Krish arranges for dock workers to offload the tachyon detector from the Cruiser and deliver it back to the Project installation on Rigel Four. Alibi and Kit see Krish safely back to his home.

"I plan to begin examining the data we gathered immediately," Krish says as Kit and Alibi prepare to leave. "I will call your Wand as soon as I have something conclusive."

"Hell, Krish, call me if you get anything," Alibi tells him. He smiles at the old man. "You know, you've been quite the planet hopper for a crotchety old fart!"

"Watch who you're calling an old fart!" Krish says in mock protest. "You should remember – I was traveling to other worlds before most of the human race even knew they were out there!"

"See? Like I said, you're old," Alibi cracks back.

"Get out of here," Krish says, waving them out of his crowded front room. "You two tell me if you find anything on De'Ramanar, you hear?"

"We will, Krish," Alibi assures him.

"We will," Kit agrees.

Alibi smiles at the scientist. He and Kit leave, heading back to the port and their ships.

"Are you ready to take on Ashumeth and the Eldred again," Kit asks Alibi as they check in with the SAIF Port Authority on Rigel Four. Alibi is filing a flight plan for De'Ramanar, figuring no one on Rigel Four knows where it is.

"I don't know," Alibi replies. "Guess so. You?"

"I do not know, either," Kit admits. "Perhaps being ready for them does not matter."

Alibi laughs.

"What is funny about this?" Kit asks him, perplexed.

"We're worried about creatures most people don't think exist anymore. Just struck me that folks would think we're deathly afraid of imaginary monsters, made me chuckle," he tells Kit.

"I do not see the humor."

"Well, if we can prove they exist, no one will be laughing," Alibi says, darkening.

Alibi finishes up with the Port Authority. Kit arranges to leave his ship on Rigel Four. The two board Alibi's Cruiser and are soon jumping through Transpace, bound for De'Ramanar.

# Chapter Eighteen

Alibi's Cruiser comes out of Transpace on the edge of Dakhur territory. He sets their course for the nearby world of De'Ramanar.

"I want to bring back an Eldred, living or dead" Alibi tells Kit as they approach the planet. "I want to find and bring back proof the Tek'Tah are hiding them... and Ashumeth! Then maybe the Solar Alliance will show a little backbone towards the Tek'Tah."

"The Tek'Tah are of a proud and mighty race," Kit observes. "The Solar Alliance is not as powerful as you assume, compared to the Tek'Tah."

"No?"

"Neither are the Dakhur," Kit admits. "But we have good relationships with the Greater Tah. I have even advanced word to the Greater Tah on behalf of the Solar Alliance. A grievance against the Tek'Tah."

"When did you do that?" Alibi asks.

"When I was home on Dakhur," Kit explains. "It was a good visit. My family has regained its honor. That is why I could file the grievance. The appearance of Eldred on De'Ramanar merely backed up my suspicions that the Tek'Tah look to expand into Dakhur space..."

"Hey! Wait a sec," Alibi interrupts. "If your family has its honor back, you don't have to kill me anymore, right?"

"Perhaps not," Kit purrs. Alibi quickly changes the subject.

"So, who is this 'Greater Tah'? Is he like the leader of the Tek'Tah? Someone we haven't heard of before?"

Kit hisses his cat-man version of laughter.

"Not by far!" Kit says as his hissing subsides. "The Tek'Tah are but one small family, an individual race among the Greater Tah."

"You mean there's more of them? More 'Tah'?" Alibi can't believe it.

"Many more. The Greater Tah," Kit says matter-of-factly, as if explaining it thoroughly. "You did not know?"

"No," Alibi admits. "The Solar Alliance thinks the Tek'Tah are the, well, the whole thing. Their whole race."

Kit hisses with laughter again.

"The Solar Alliance is not as smart as it thinks it is," Kit says. "The Tek'Tah are only one family. And the worst branch of it, at that. Our races are just unlucky enough to be their neighbors."

Their conversation on interstellar relations concludes as Alibi has to focus on ending the Transpace jump. He brings the cruiser out of Transpace a safe distance from the planet De'Ramanar.

"May I help with the course?" Kit offers. "I was just here. I think I can bring us down undetected. I was able to do so with my smaller ship."

"Absolutely," Alibi says. "I'm relinquishing control to you as co-pilot. The con is yours, Mr. Kit!"

"Thank you," Kit says, now intently focusing on the panels floating in front of him.

Kit plots a hyperbolic course, down and around the sun of De'Ramanar, so they will approach the planet from out of the sun, hopefully confusing any Tek'Tah or Eldred ships in the system. Alibi tries to relax, but it always makes him nervous sitting while someone else drives his ship. He fidgets as Kit flies.

"I found a relatively flat bottomed crater a short distance from the old Eldred installation on De'Ramanar," Kit tells Alibi as he bring the Cruiser down through the planet's atmosphere.

"Are you sure that toxin is all gone?" Alibi asks nervously as they descend through sickly pink and gray clouds.

"I have landed and made it out alive once myself already," Kit says. "I am what you humans call 'living proof'," he says. "Get ready for landing."

Alibi straps himself in and braces for whatever the landing brings. Then Kit cycles down the engines, and Alibi realizes they're already down.

"Smooth!" Alibi compliments him.

"Thank you. We're about fifteen clicks from the Eldred installation. We have landed with the setting sun, so it is nearly night. We can approach under cover of darkness. Do you have night vision goggles?"

"Right here," Alibi says, holding up a pair. "Gotta be able to keep up with you!"

"You would need much more than enhanced eyewear to even attempt to do that," Kit tells him, sounding matter-of-fact. "I will temper my pace so as to not tire you."

"You are too kind," Alibi says with heavy sarcasm. The two head for the airlock and the surface of De'Ramanar. They make their way through rough scrub vegetation under cover of darkness. Kit lets Alibi set the pace. Alibi pushes himself to cover the clicks in as little time as possible. A fast trot through the scrub brings them to the outskirts of the installation in just over an hour.

Alibi uses his goggles' magnification feature to zoom in on the installation.

"Will you look at that! Eldred, alive and kicking," Alibi says in a whisper.

"Or at least walking along the perimeter fence," Kit comments dryly.

"Let's go," Alibi says, starting to move. Kit puts a furry hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"What is our plan?" Kit asks.

"Well, we want to bring an Eldred back with us, right? So we need to go down there and somehow lure one out of the installation. Club one over its fuzzy little head... or maybe just shoot one and bring it back with us! Something like that," Alibi says. "We'll improvise."

"Unwise," Kit disagrees. "Look." He gestures off to the far left.

"Tek'Tah. Shit," Alibi curses their luck. A large Tek'Tah ship is parked at the edge of the installation. Several reptilian aliens mill about it. "That sucks. Could deal with either the Tek'Tah or the Eldred separately, not together."

"We must be careful," Kit advises. "And we should have a plan."

"How well do you know the layout here? Any idea what we're walking into?"

"I do not know as much as I would like to know," Kit admits. "But nothing the Eldred ever built was very complex. It depends on how old the installation is. This one seems older. There may be some ancient construction that is more labyrinthine."

"So you don't know."

"Not to any large degree, no," Kit confirms.

"Sounds like we might HAVE to improvise," Alibi points out. A thought occurs to him. "Why not try to get one of the Eldred to chase us? We can get one of them isolated from the group, lead them back towards the ship. Then when we bag it, we won't have to carry it as far. There are all kinds of pluses."

"Will your goggles record footage?" Kit asks. "We should document this Tek'Tah complicity."

"Any footage I produce is not acceptable," Alibi notes wryly. "Or so I've been told."

"You should capture it anyway," Kit tells him. "It may still prove useful."

Alibi scans the horizon with his goggles, recording footage of the Tek'Tah forces mingling with the Eldred. A large human figure catches his attention. He adjusts the goggles' magnification to bring him into focus. It's the musclebound drooling man, the one who used to be shackled to the wall of Ashumeth's lab! Only he's no longer drooling. If what Alibi, Kit and Krish fear they've discovered holds true, that big body might now be inhabited by the bio energy from one of the Ancient Enemy.

The big man is speaking with what appear to be the Tek'Tah leaders. He's not there for long. He turns and walks away, disappearing behind the Tek'Tah gathered around the alien ship.

"Ashumeth is down there," Alibi tells Kit. "I just captured him on some footage."

"I believe that is about as close to actually capturing him as we are going to get," Kit says. "Your plan to have the Eldred chase us is a good one. Perhaps if we wait, the Tek'Tah will leave."

"Optimistic," Alibi says. "We could wait until daybreak. See if they move."

"And then?" Kit asks.

"Improvise?" Alibi grins as he shrugs.

Their waiting pays off. As the sky lightens with the first signs of daybreak, the Tek'Tah start filing into their ship. Kit and Alibi wait past the dawn as it looks like the Tek'Tah ship will be leaving soon.

A low hum builds as the Tek'Tah ship's engines finally power on, lighting up with the rising disc of the local sun. The hum grows in intensity and is soon joined by a loud, high-pitched whine. Alibi and Kit watch as the ship rises into the sky overhead, and then disappears.

They turn their attention back to the Eldred.

"Let's let the activity within the installation simmer down before we take any action," Alibi says.

"Good idea."

Eldred continue patrolling the perimeter fence, but they're fewer in number now. Alibi and Kit focus on their next step.

"Let's go try and lure one of them out of the installation. Grab it and go. Then we can take off out of here," Alibi suggests again."We've got all we're going to get on Ashumeth. There's no reason to go inside of there, is there?"

"None that I can see," Kit agrees. "We must get closer to 'lure' one of them out, however."

"Closer?" Alibi asks.

"We do not want the entire contingent of Eldred to come pouring out of there. We need to get closer so we can draw the attention of just one or two Eldred, not the whole population," Kit explains.

"All right," Alibi reluctantly agrees. "Let's move up some."

They creep closer to the fence. The Eldred on the other side don't seem to notice as they approach.

A SNAP alerts Kit and Alibi to company behind them. Seven, maybe eight Eldred patrolling outside of the perimeter of the facility have stumbled onto them!

Kit is unarmed. Alibi has a hand laser. The Eldred have blasters and other energy weapons. The Eldred begin shooting!

FWAAAAASSSSHHHH!

KSHHHHAAAAHHH!

Alibi feels a wave of heat as an energy bolt ignites the brush next to him.

"Where did they come from?" Alibi shouts. No point in being quiet now.

"I do not know. Behind us somewhere," Kit replies, still sounding calm.

FWAAAASHHH!

An energy bolt blast between sends them both flying.

"Split up! Meet back at the ship!" Alibi shouts as he's sent sprawling in the opposite direction from Kit.

"Will do!" Kit shouts. The cat-man takes off through the undergrowth. Alibi scrambles for cover. He looks up and fires his hand laser at the Eldred.

ZZZZZZZTTT! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTT!

The Eldred fire back at Alibi. He can hear them firing at Kit, too.

FWAAAAASSSHHHHH! FFFWaaaaaaassssssshhhhh!

They aren't coming close to hitting Alibi.

"Are they even aiming at me?" He wonders aloud.

Alibi tries to run, to get away from the Eldred pursuers.

FWWAAAAAASSSSSHHHH!

A bolt hits right next to him.

"Guess they are!"

He's forced to move toward the installation fence.

FWAAAASSSHHH!

The Eldred seem to be firing behind him, making him move toward the fence.

"Shit! Shit shit shit shit shit..."

Alibi doesn't have a chance to fire his laser before another energy bolt blasts nearby, blowing hot breath on the back of his neck.

FWAAASSSHHH!

He scrambles back along the installation's fence.

Alibi tries to see Kit, but he's lost track of him.

"Let's hope the Eldred have lost track of him, too!" Alibi thinks to himself out loud. "Maybe he'll still be able to capture an Eldred. Hope they don't capture me first!"

He brings up the hand laser and fires it towards the Eldred.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZTTTTT! ZZZZTTT!

As he focuses on those in pursuit, he fails to see an Eldred on the other side of the fence, inside the installation perimeter. The alien carries a long, stick-like device. The alien lifts the stick and pushes it through the fence, and into Alibi's side.

"Huh?"

Alibi has only a second to register the poke before a jolt of energy is released by the truncheon, electrocuting him with a massive electric shock that knocks him out.

# Chapter Nineteen

Groggy, his head aching, Alibi wakes up. He's lying on the floor of a small room – small enough to be a large closet, if not for the one window. Light from outside illuminates the small space. He sits up and raises his hands to rub his temples. He massages his jaw. It feels like he's been clenching his teeth hard for days. His goggles are gone.

"At least I'm not tied up," Alibi thinks out loud.

"That did not seem necessary," a loud voice says with a laugh. Alibi looks over at the now open door. The large figure he assumes is now Ashumeth stands in the doorway. "The Servants are under instructions to stop you. You will not get far if you run. And this time, they have orders to kill you, not merely bring you to me."

Alibi stands up to face his captor.

"Ashumeth?" he asks.

The man begins laughing. He answers Alibi with a question as his laugh winds down.

"Do you have a lisp?"

"No," Alibi answers.

"Azhumet!" The man proclaims.

He advances into the room. "But... That IS interesting," the man says, glaring at Alibi. "Do you think you have figured something out?" Azhumet cocks his head to the side as if listening to something. "What do you know?"

Alibi feels but cannot see an over-sized, hot, greasy dark hand grabbing him by the head, its slippery fingers closing around his skull.

"No, stop," Alibi protests weakly. His eyes roll back in his head and he collapses in a faint.

"Strange," Azhumet notes. "He blocked me out. No human should be able to do that." Azhumet turns and leaves the unconscious form of Alibi in a pile on the floor. He barks orders to the Eldred in an ancient alien tongue, a language not commonly spoken in over a million years. He slams the door to Alibi's room behind him.

Alibi can't hear the door. He's not really in the room, not now. The walls of the room seem to have dissolved away, and he floats alone on a silent gray sea that disappears into a lighter gray mist.

What the fuck did Azhumet do to me? Where am I?

ALIBI?

A voice calling his name echoes strange and loud inside of Alibi's head.

Azhumet?

NOT AT ALL.

Alibi feels waves of amusement wash over him like thoughts of laughter.

YOU AND I... WE HAVE MET. ONCE. LONG AGO. YOU WOULDN'T REMEMBER...

Now Alibi can feel a sadness like an almost palpable thing wash over him.

Who are you?

He thinks the question, but he thinks he already knows the answer.

Are you my father? Are you Campion? Or are you Azhumet, fucking with my head?!

PART OF ME WAS ONCE BC. I AM ALSO YOU. AND YOU ARE ALSO ME.

Cryptic...

IT IS HARD TO EXPLAIN. BUT... THAT WHICH WAS ONCE YOUR FATHER, I AM. THAT IS WHAT DRAWS ME TO YOU. THAT AND THE FACT YOU HAVE MY TALENT. MY CURSE.

You want a curse? Fuck you, Dad!

Alibi wonders if he can wake up. He tries to shake himself awake.

PLEASE.

If a voice in your head can sound insistent, this voice does. Alibi stops trying to squirm and shake his way out of the mindspace they're in.

Is this a dream?

NO. IT DOES HAVE THAT QUALITY, THOUGH, DOESN'T IT?

This is all in my head, isn't it? I'm really just talking to myself, right?

YOU SOUND JUST LIKE ME.

Fuck you again, then. "BC!" Maybe I should try to wake up.

Alibi tries to pinch himself.

DO NOT DO THAT!

The force of the thought stops him cold.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE ME. BUT I HAVE SOMETHING I NEED TO TEACH YOU, BEFORE YOU FACE AZHUMET AGAIN. I AM BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS IS WHY I AM WITH YOU NOW.

Teach me? What do you think you can teach me?

I CAN TEACH YOU HOW TO KEEP HIM OUT. WITHOUT PASSING OUT.

Out?

OUT OF YOUR HEAD.

Then that WAS him? Reaching in?

HE TRIED. YOU STOPPED HIM. I HELPED, BUT IT OVERWHELMED YOU. NOW WE ARE HERE, AND I SEE WHAT I NEED TO TEACH YOU. YOU SOMETIMES HEAR THE THOUGHTS OF OTHERS.

I do?

Alibi realizes the voice is right.

I guess I do, sometimes. Are you really my father?

IN A WAY. I AM MANY, AND I AM ONE. BUT MOST IMPORTANT. I AM HERE TO TEACH YOU HOW TO KEEP AZHUMET OUT OF YOUR MIND.

Yeah. Speaking of out of your mind...

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION. PICTURE A SET OF HEAVY WOODEN DOUBLE DOORS IN YOUR MIND. MAKE THEM REAL. THE DOORS ARE REAL INSIDE YOUR MIND. PICTURE THEM OPEN. NOW, THINK OF THEM CLOSING.

Double doors? In my mind? Why?

DO IT.

Picture doors closing?

CAN YOU SEE THEM?

Doors? Sure, why not?

TRY! THIS COULD MEAN YOUR LIFE!

Seeing double doors... now, seeing the doors closing.

GOOD. OPEN THEM AGAIN.

Open? Closed? What do you want?

THIS!

A brilliant "light" blanks all of Alibi's senses. A flash of illumination overwhelms him, stuns him momentarily. He feels... alone. He pictures the doors in his mind. They spring readily into his mind's eye.

Big heavy doors. Open? Now? Can I shut them? Close!

SLAM!

The doors in his mind slam shut.

That felt right... BC? Are you still there? I can do it!

There's no answer. Alibi floats alone on the still, calm gray sea. He feels more than sees the room begin to reappear around him as consciousness returns. His head feels oddly clear, and any trace of the earlier shock induced headache is now gone.

That was weird. Was it real? Was that my father? Or was it my head playing tricks on me? I still can't be entirely sure that it wasn't Azhumet.

The light streaming in from outside dims. Alibi sits up. The door to the small room is open. An Eldred stands guard in the doorway. It barks something alien at him, but he can't understand it. He doesn't have his Wand. No way to translate. The furry blue koala trundles in, truncheon in hand.

Looks like the same kind of shock stick they got me with outside.

The Eldred stands over him, threatening with the pole and shouting something at Alibi he doesn't understand. Another Eldred approaches, appearing behind the first and chastising the other alien. The two hold a brief, barked conversation. The second one motions to Alibi to get up and follow them.

Alibi gets to his feet and walks out the door of the small room behind the aliens. They journey down to a large room. Azhumet's been busy reconstructing his laboratory. Several enormous, clear tanks line the wall on the right, filled with a yellowish gel. Empty gurneys stretch off to the left, surrounded by banks of life support equipment and other surgical machines.

Alibi looks around, the new lab humming with activity. The room is filled with busy Eldred hooking up equipment, filling tanks and prepping stretchers. As they walk past the tanks Alibi sees each has what looks like a wired up baby floating in the gel inside. He doesn't have a chance to look for too long. His escorts shout back at him. Alibi doesn't have to know what they are saying to know they want him to keep up with them.

They lead him through a door on the other side of the lab, down a short corridor and into a room with a single chair. The Eldred snap at him again, making it clear he should sit in the chair.

Alibi sits. The alien with the truncheon looks on, the electrified end of his pole weapon pointed at Alibi. The other Eldred begins rolling tape around him, securing him to the chair.

"Hey!" Alibi protests futilely. The Eldred with the truncheon pokes it into Alibi giving him a small jolt, enough to shock him silent. Alibi glares at the Eldred with the pole. The alien growls and then pushes the truncheon into Alibi's side again with more vigor and a greater charge.

Alibi feels every hair stand on end before he blacks out.

He feels a change in the air around him as he groggily comes to. He sees Azhumet standing before him as his eyes begin to focus.

"The Servants are... excitable. Somewhat over zealous. I have, perhaps, engineered them a bit too hostile this time around," the big man muses aloud.

"No need to apologize," Alibi manages to joke.

"Apologize? Ha!" Azhumet laughs. "I was merely thinking out loud," the large man explains. "I don't owe you anything, never mind an apology. I should kill you, or use you in my research. But... You are, for the moment, more interesting to me conscious and alive, lucky you. You owe me your life."

"You're one of them, aren't you?" Alibi asks.

"One of them?" Azhumet asks, feigning ignorance.

"One of the Ancient Enemy."

"Ah, so you ARE aware of us? That is such a quaint name you've come up with," Azhumet says, leering down at Alibi.

"That's what the Eldred called you. They told us about you, said you were our ancestors," Alibi says.

"In a way..." Azhumet says. "If only there were more simil..."

"You seeded human life on Earth, they said you did," Alibi interrupts.

"We influenced life on your Earth, undoubtedly," Azhumet explains. "Pushed it in our direction."

"Didn't you create human DNA?"

"You give us too much credit," Azhumet says. He laughs. "We used DNA to carry our messages. But whoever the Great Scientist was who created the Original Technology... well, that's a billion year old mystery, even to us! We assume your Earth was seeded with DNA some three-and-a-half billion years ago, when our world was 'seeded' as well. We merely decoded some of the language of the Great Scientist, the Prime Communicator, placed there to read in our DNA, and then used his language ourselves."

"What, in our genes?" Alibi asks, encouraging him.

If I can keep him talking I can probably keep breathing...

"In your genes? Ha! No," Azhumet almost lectures Alibi. "Your genes make up but a small percentage of your DNA information, a mere fraction of what is contained within the double helix. The rest, I have discovered, your scientists call 'junk DNA'! Junk! The arrogance of such a label alone marks your race as our offspring. Ha!"

"Look who's talking arrogance," Alibi cracks.

"It is not arrogance if you truly are superior," Azhumet notes without intending irony. "You are like underdeveloped children. You may be on the way to evolving into my race, but I assure you, you are nowhere near close to our development and perfection! To me? You sound as the screeching gorillas of your jungles sound to you."

"Nice," Alibi replies, resisting the urge to start grunting like an ape.

"There is a divine language imprinted in DNA," Azhumet says, as if proclaiming truth as both priest and scientist. "A universal code written in what your best minds call 'junk' sequences. When you begin to read that code," Azhumet says, almost wistfully, "you begin to decipher the universe."

"If your race was so smart, how come you were wiped out?" Alibi challenges.

Azhumet laughs. He looks at Alibi without saying a word.

"What?" Alibi asks.

"Open your eyes! The evidence before you contradicts your assertion," Azhumet points out. "I stand alive here in front of you, a member of that race you claim was wiped out. Wiped out? If that were so – how could it be that I am here? I live, and so refute your argument."

"I see," Alibi says. "Because you're here I'm wrong?" Alibi asks. "You're not wiped out?" A frightening thought occurs to him. "Are you saying there are more of you?"

"There will be," Azhumet says threateningly.

"Will be?" Alibi wonders. "How?"

Azhumet smiles a humorless smile. "Ah..." Azhumet breaks off from what he was about to say. He turns back to Alibi. "If I had not felt the touch from your mind you would already be dead," he says quickly, his voice carrying a menacing edge. "You display... traits... which show you may have developed further along in your evolution than others of your race. The information we sent here a million years ago has not spun itself out entirely, though it seems so weak, so inferior..." Azhumet trails off in thought. "Yet here you are. I plan to read your DNA to see if I can find... more of what I need. Even this form I wear now," Azhumet looks down at his strapping, muscular body, "will soon begin to degrade. The form is not yet stable. You will help me with that. In fact, I have already taken a tissue sample from you. The decoding is underway. You will be such a help."

"How are you still here?" Alibi asks Azhumet, trying to draw back his attention. Plus he's curious. "Suspended animation? Like Dolomay?"

"Still here?" Azhumet says with some amusement. "Not 'still' here. Here again. Back," Azhumet says with a flourish, "from the past."

"You're kidding," Alibi says, although Azhumet's claims seem to jibe with what Krish was theorizing.

"Kidding?" Azhumet asks.

"You're saying you come from the past? What? You're telling me you time travel? Are you trying to claim you came here using time travel? Give me a break. There's no such thing. I know my physics!"

"Physics?" Azhumet snaps with a sneer on his face. "Your physics are far too basic. Far too limiting. Far too proud of itself for what it has already defined – to the exclusion of the undefinable," Azhumet laughs. "When we learned the language of the Great Scientist we discovered how to transcend the 'limits' your physics transcribe."

"Oooh! Big talk," Alibi cracks.

Azhumet actually pounds his chest.

"These physical bodies are nothing," Azhumet insists. "Focal points. Focusing devices at best. Containment units!"

"You're a real romantic, aren't you?" Alibi keeps chiding the big man.

"Time is only a constraint for these containment units. Nothing more. The essence of what we are transcends these bodies, these boundaries, these borders. And, indeed – that essence can travel through time!"

"You're blowing my mind," Alibi says sarcastically.

"Not that hard a task," Azhumet replies.

Wow... maybe he has a sense of humor.

"A sense of humor?" Azhumet asks, answering Alibi's unspoken thought. "Your race is quite amusing, actually," Azhumet notes. "As well as annoying."

"You're saying your essence traveled through time?" Alibi asks.

"Yes. Exactly that. If I could only... have you ever tried to explain the concept of time to your cat?" Azhumet asks him.

"To my cat? I don't have a cat," Alibi says.

"You know what I mean!" Azhumet counters angrily. "That is what it feels like to me, trying to put these concept into words you can understand. I feel like I am trying to explain high concepts to a low intelligence pet."

"Meow," Alibi cracks. "You like cats? I have a friend you should meet," Alibi says, still sparring with him.

Hope my cat-like friend Kit is okay. Would be nice if he'd show up soon.

"Your friend the cat?" Azhumet asks, again reading Alibi's thoughts.

"You can read my mind?" Alibi blurts out.

"More like annoyingly overhear," Azhumet responds. "You are broadcasting."

"Sorry."

"So, you know a Dakhur?" Azhumet asks warily. He scans their surroundings, suddenly watchful. "And you actually believe you have a chance of being rescued?"

"Ha!" Alibi says, enjoying a chance to laugh. "I don't 'believe' anything!" he tells Azhumet, "But rescue would be nice."

Azhumet calls out what must be a name, "Kaffaw!" but it sounds like a cough. An Eldred appears at the door.

"What of a cat-man?" Azhumet asks the Eldred. Azhumet is speaking the language of the Ancient Enemy, but thanks to the influence of Azhumet's mind on his own Alibi understands.

"There was a cat-man," the Eldred says. "He got away."

"Got away?" Azhumet asks menacingly.

"Afraid so, sir. His ship left a while ago," the Eldred informs him. "He no longer poses a threat."

"No longer...?" Azhumet shakes his head. "Your assessment is flawed, Kaffaw!" He swats the alien across its face. The Eldred recoils. "Get me the Tek'Tah," Azhumet commands. Kaffaw runs out of the room. It returns in a moment with a communication disc in its hands. It holds the disc in front of Azhumet, and the image of a Tek'Tah appears above the disc.

"I require your assistance," Azhumet tells the reptilian image.

"Our ships left there just yesterday. You require help once again?" the alien replies with a question.

"This is a problem?" Azhumet asks in turn.

"Well, we do have a vast expanse to control..."

"I thought I was dealing with a mature and powerful race," Azhumet says with heavy disappointment in his voice. "I require a squadron of your ships for my protection!"

"A squadron? Well. Tek'Tah Command will consider that request. Rest assured, Azhumet, we will have ships to you soon," the Tek'Tah tells him.

"How soon?" Azhumet presses. "How many ships?"

"Momentarily," the Tek'Tah answers.

"Thank you," Azhumet says through gritted teeth. The image of the Tek'Tah disappears. Azhumet grabs the disc from the Eldred. He throws it across the room, smashing it against the wall. "Not soon enough! They do not know who they are dealing with!"

"Used to getting your way, huh?" Alibi chides the man. Azhumet turns, looming over him.

"Entire systems once jumped at my command! I am used to being obeyed immediately. This lack of respect is disturbing."

Alibi tactfully changes the subject, trying to get Azhumet back on track.

"So. How many of you time travelers are there?"

"A superior race does not allow itself to suffer extinction without a contingency plan. All of the Elite escaped. They have already moved through time. They are moving through time. And yet, they will be moving through time." Azhumet shakes his head, realizes he isn't making complete sense.

"It is hard to explain. They will return, when the time is right, when the way has been prepared," Azhumet says. "What? Do you think to pump me for information," Azhumet asks, becoming aware he's explaining himself to Alibi. "As if I do not see through you!"

"Yeah, I am transparent," Alibi admits.

"Let's see..." Azhumet stares at Alibi. Once again Alibi feels greasy dark fingers grabbing a hold of his head as Azhumet begins to delve into his mind. Alibi remembers his dream.

Double doors closing! Double doors closing!

SLAM!

Alibi sees the doors close in his mind, and the greasy fingers melt away.

"What?" Azhumet blurts out surprised and shocked. "You should not be able to keep me out like that!"

"I shouldn't, you know? I really shouldn't," Alibi says, playing along. His arms are beginning to cramp up from being taped to the chair. He flexes his muscles, trying to keep blood flowing through his arms and legs.

"You are a very curious and dangerous subject," Azhumet tells Alibi. "I will have to examine your brain to see why you are different."

"Thanks for the heads up," Alibi jokes.

Azhumet walks up next to Alibi and pushes an injector into his arm.

"Hey!" Alibi protests.

"Cisatracurium," Azhumet tells him. "A good dose of muscle relaxant. If I can't get into your mind this way," he points to his forehead with two fingers, "I'll physically open up your brain instead. Cruder, but it will still yield information."

Azhumet shouts something and four Eldred appear.

Huh. Since I shut him out, I can't understand what he's saying to the Eldred.

Azhumet stares at the four Eldred. A minute goes by. Alibi can't pick anything up but can only assume Azhumet's giving them non-verbal instructions.

Azhumet turns and walks out of the room. Two of the Eldred begin cutting the tape off of Alibi. The other two leave the room.

Alibi tries to struggle, but finds that the drug Azhumet has injected him with seems to be taking effect. He can't move his arms. He can't move his legs.

Paralyzed!

He can still feel pain, however. As the Eldred rip at it, the tape catches Alibi's skin a few times. Alibi discovers he can't even scream. The other two aliens return with a stretcher as their compatriots finish ripping off the tape.

I can't move!

Not even sure I'm breathing!

The four Eldred roll Alibi over on to the stretcher, leaving him laying face up. They each lift a corner of it and carry him out of the room and on down the hall. He watches the ceiling pass by as he's carried. Before long he's in the lab.

Alibi's stretcher bumps to a stop. The Eldred lift the stretcher and roll Alibi off of it on to what Alibi figures is an operating table. He can see a stack of machinery off to his left.

Azhumet surges up, appearing on Alibi's right side.

"Ventilator!" Azhumet barks the command to an Eldred "nurse" next to him. The alien forces tubes down Alibi's throat. Air begins flowing into Alibi's lungs.

"Get his head!" Azhumet orders another Eldred. A moment later Alibi's scalp tingles as electric shears begin shaving the hair from his head.

"Sensors!" Azhumet commands, and another Eldred opens Alibi's shirt and starts shaving small areas on his chest and applying small sensor pads.

Azhumet looks at the screens next to them.

"Hurm. The muscle relaxant doesn't seem to be working as effectively as I'd hoped. Looks like your metabolism has sped up to chase it through faster than expected. I'll just have to work a bit faster myself. Can't have you twitching as I finish up, can I?"

An alarm begins sounding.

The cavalry arriving?

Help on the way, and not a moment too soon!

"What is it?" Azhumet asks from somewhere behind Alibi's head.

"Tek'Tah ships, sir," an Eldred tells him. "Two of them."

Damn. Not my cavalry... and I can understand the Eldred again... is he getting back into my head?

"They only sent me two ships?!" Azhumet says, furious. "I ordered a squadron! Get me the Tek'Tah commander!" Another Eldred brings in a new communication disc and presents it before Azhumet. A Tek'Tah soon appears in the space over the disc, on the edge of Alibi's vision.

"This is the Tek'Tah commander. We have assumed defensive positions in orbit. You believe you will be attacked?" The Tek'Tah asks Azhumet.

"There are only two of you? I ordered a squadron!" Azhumet fumes.

"Your request was carefully considered by central command. It was determined that two ships were the maximum that could be spared for this possible situation, given current conditions across the Tek'Tah Expanses," the Tek'Tah explains to Azhumet.

"Current conditions?" Azhumet asks.

"We have... other concerns we must attend to," he is told. "We are also attempting to assist you, Azhumet, per our agreement."

"You two will have to do, then!" Azhumet says. "Azhumet out!" Alibi can hear Azhumet crashing around, but cannot see him.

"Two ships! They insult me!" Alibi hears him fuming. "Kaffaw! Get our two Eldred ships into orbit with the Tek'Tah. Get the Servant crews on board now."

Azhumet appears over him. "Did you think I forgot about you? Ha!"

He moves around above Alibi's head. Alibi feels something cold and wet slap against his head.

What is he doing?

"Guidelines," Azhumet answers his mental question. "Painting the proper line for the saw. Assuring an accurate cut. I caught that thought. You are still with me, are you not? Good! The cisatracurium has paralyzed you, despite your system's attempt to burn through it quickly. It won't deaden your sensations – ordinarily, they use an anesthetic along with it to dull pain. But that would interfere with the research results I require.

"I need you awake and alert for as long as possible, so long as you are alive. In the end you will be dead, so what is a little pain along the way? I will be recording everything, even death and post death brain activity.

"You know, it is curious to me that there is post death brain activity in you humans. This may be the biological reason your race has its beliefs in afterlives."

Do you ever shut up?

Azhumet grins down at Alibi, and then disappears from view. Alibi hears a high pitched whine begin.

"Whhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeerrreeeeeeerrrrrreeeee..."

Azhumet appears in Alibi's line of sight once again, pulling on sterile gloves. An Eldred stands next to him, surgical saw in its hands, the blade spinning and whirring.

Azhumet straps on safety goggles and then holds out his hand to the Eldred. It places the saw in his hand.

Azhumet then disappears out of Alibi's sight as he prepares to take off the top of Alibi's head. The sound of the saw grows louder and higher in pitch as Azhumet prepares to slice through Alibi's skull.

Will I feel it as he starts cutting?

Alibi closes his eyes. It doesn't help. He can still hear the saw. Then he hears something else.

FFFFSSSSHHHAAAWW---BAM!

A loud explosion of thunder drowns out the sound of the saw.

"What was that?" Azhumet shouts out the question. "Katchar!" Azhumet yells at the Eldred.

"The Tek'Tah report engaging ships in orbit," an Eldred informs Azhumet. "It appears other ships have broken past their defenses. Those ships are approaching this installation. Our Eldred ships are attempting to stop them."

The saw grinds to silence as it's turned off. On the very edge of his vision, Alibi sees Azhumet call the Tek'Tah.

"We have engaged Solar Alliance forces, Azhumet. We are running interference to prevent them from landing," the Tek'Tah informs him.

"They are already landing, you idiot!" Azhumet yells at the Tek'Tah.

"We are outnumbered and under heavy fire, Azhumet. We will hold out for you while we can, but I am afraid that will not be for much longer," the Tek'Tah tells Azhumet.

KA-THONGUUUUMMMM!!

The ground shakes.

"Kattar! Report!" Azhumet commands a nearby Eldred.

"A SAIF ship has landed inside the installation. It appears a Dakhur Cruiser has landed as well. We are moving to engage forces now, sir," the Eldred tells Azhumet.

"Take two other Servants and begin routing all power to my Machine. I want it up and running. Now!"

"Yes, sir."

Azhumet reappears in Alibi's sight. He draws a pistol from his belt. Azhumet points the gun at Alibi's head. Alibi tries to think hard at Azhumet.

What are you doing? Going ahead in time? Running away?

"If I must," Azhumet answers his unspoken question. "It is a contingency plan, yet again. A wise man makes sure all of his options are ready, open and available. I always give myself the opportunity to jump ahead in time into another body. Should I need to."

Into what body? Mine?

"Do not flatter yourself!" Azhumet says with a laugh. "I have no desire to inhabit one of your race's forms ever again! So limited, human flesh! No, I have created other bodies! Bodies like this one I am in now! Not perfect, but better than yours. Unfortunately it is much shorter lived. So I continue to perfect the form. That is what I have been trying to do – trying to extract traces of our DNA from your human DNA, retrieving our markers from your polluted streams, to grow proper forms, proper bodies for us to reside inside.

"I've extracted some very interesting DNA from you, Alibi Jones! Your blood has helped me immensely. Your biology will actually help my next batch of forms grow stronger, last longer.

"I have other bodies ready in other places like this one, other Servants at work in other laboratories. And thanks in part to you, I will soon once again live in a true body of the race! It appears now is not the time for surgery, however. I will have to settle for what I have already harvested from you. I am tempted to take you with me. Keep you alive for further study. But you are too dangerous. I have your DNA, but I no longer have any use for you. Not anymore."

Azhumet brings the gun up next to Alibi's head. Alibi can feel the cold barrel tickle the back of his ear.

FWAAAAAASSSHHHH!

Alibi is blinded by a flash of red light.

Am I dead?

He can smell burnt flesh. He's awake and alive.

"Aaaahhh!" Azhumet curses. Alibi blinks. He sees Azhumet cradling a burnt stump where his right hand used to be.

Someone shot the gun out of Azhumet's hand!

Something else occurs to Alibi – he can feel his toes moving! The muscle relaxant may be starting to wear off. He tries to move fingers, or his head. His head shifts slightly, and he can see SAIF troopers across the lab, shooting in his direction. Alibi spots Kit among the troopers in the doorway.

"The Tek'Tah ships in orbit have surrendered, sir," an Eldred reports to Azhumet, standing next to Alibi. "They have been disabled. One of our Eldred ships has been destroyed. The other fights on."

"Tell the other Eldred ship to retreat and await further orders at one of our emergency rendezvous points." Azhumet yells another command out to the Eldred, but Alibi can't understand his words. They stop fighting. Azhumet holds up both of his arms, his good one and his smoking stump. He calls to Kit and the SAIF troopers. "We give up! Don't shoot! I give up!"

The troopers come up on Azhumet quickly, guns trained. Kit approaches and sees Alibi stretched out and wired up on the gurney.

"Alibi?" Kit wonders. Then he realizes it is his friend. "Alibi!" He turns to Azhumet. "What have you done to him?"

"Nothing!" Azhumet answers. "Muscle relaxant. You rudely interrupted my brain surgery before it could get started." Azhumet looks around the laboratory. Alibi wonders where the Machine is revving up. It has to be somewhere nearby.

I wish I could tell Kit and the SAIF troopers about the Machine!

Alibi tries to talk, but his mouth just won't move. Azhumet shoots a look at Alibi. When he sees that Alibi is still paralyzed, he smiles.

BAHWHOOP! BAHWHOOP!

The com alarm of one of the SAIF troopers goes off.

"We've got a shitload of Tek'Tah ships showing upstairs!" The SAIF officer tells Kit. Azhumet grins.

"No, wait!" The trooper sounds hopeful. "They say... they're not Tek'Tah!"

The screens around them, on every piece of equipment, flicker to life. What looks like a Tek'Tah appears.

"We are broadcasting in all languages, on all known communication frequencies," a voice begins, a slithering tongue translated simultaneously. "We are the Sar'Tah, of the Greater Tah. We have assumed the responsibility for the Tek'Tah and all their territories, as they have once again violated the terms of the Greater Tah. Our friends the Dakhur brought this to our attention. For this, we thank them.

"As the administrators of the territories of the Greater Tah, we will soon be in communication with the Solar Alliance to discuss terms of annexation and other territorial concerns. All Tek'Tah ships are now hereby declared to be under the control of the Sar'Tah. Any ships continuing to operate as Tek'Tah ships are therefore renegades and can be destroyed upon contact without fear of retribution by the Greater Tah."

With that, the screens go blank.

"Shit!" The officer among the SAIF troopers exclaims. "Where'd he go?"

Azhumet disappeared while they were listening to the Sar'Tah.

Kit and Alibi hear the same sound they remember from back on the planetoid, a humming drone like a billion bees rubbing their wings together.

Azhumet has turned on his Machine!

The hair rises up off the skin of the humans and aliens as electric tension crackles around them. Static energy fills the air and then is just as suddenly gone. Nearly frozen by the ozone, the SAIF troopers shake off the effects and begin scrambling, looking for Azhumet as the energy subsides.

"Over here!" one calls out. "He's inside of some kind of tank or something."

"Don't touch it!" The SAIF officer orders.

Alibi can feel his fingers and toes when he wiggles them. He also feels sort of high. Something in the muscle relaxant, probably. The tubes in his throat begin to choke him as he realizes he can feel them, too.

He tries to move but still can't do more than twitch a little. Kit seems to understand as he comes back over to Alibi.

"How are you?" the cat-man asks him. Alibi tries to answer but only manages muffled moans past the tubing. "I am going to risk taking these things out of you," Kit says, and he tries to gingerly pull the tubes out of Alibi's throat.

Alibi chokes as they come out, coughing up phlegm and gasping for breath. Kit backs away from the table. Tubes out, Alibi tries to breathe. Finally he manages to whisper a couple of words.

"Thank you," Alibi says softly. He tries to move, leaning up onto one side. The movement makes him cough again. He hacks up more mucus, spits on the ground next to the gurney. Kit deftly avoids getting mucked on.

"You are welcome. Nice haircut," Kit jokes. "You are also quite red. Is that right?"

"Prob'ly not," Alibi manages.

Maybe it's my metabolism churning to burn that shit out of my system.

Alibi tries to sit up. Sensor wires cling to his chest and hold him back. A little more effort from him and two of the sensors rip off his skin, setting him free.

"Ouch!" Alibi barks. He pulls the rest of the sensors off with a sweep of his half-numb right arm and swings his legs over the side of the operating table, trying to stand up.

Alibi's legs are apparently made of licorice. They fold up under him and he falls to the floor. Kit tries to help him back up. Alibi attempts to get his legs to hold him, leaning on the nearby table for support.

"Damn. He paralyzed me with some drug, Kit. This sucks," Alibi tries to say, but the words slur out mangled from his barely functioning mouth.

He tries willing his legs to work.

"It's everything we feared and more, buddy," he tells Kit, words growing clearer. "This guy Azhumet is one of them. He's one of the Ancient Enemy. These Machines of his move him forward in time into bodies he's growing. And he made it sound like there are more of them on the way."

"Well, at least the Tek'Tah will no longer be supporting him," Kit says. "Not officially, anyway. And I do not believe the Greater Tah will abide his presence in their Expanses."

"Maybe, maybe not. Don't really know the Sar'Tah," Alibi notes.

"The Dakhur have had many dealings with them," Kit says. "We have found them to be honest and honorable. The Greater Tah is much different than the Tek'Tah."

"That'll be a refreshing change," Alibi says. He pushes off the table and tries to stand. He stays up, although he's still unsteady. A SAIF officer approaches.

"Alibi Jones?"

"I'm Alibi Jones," he replies.

"I guess you're in charge here," the SAIF officer tells him."Sir."

"Oh?"

"Yes, sir. According to my orders from SAIF Command, you're the man. We're mopping up now. We rounded up all the little fuzzy guys that were running around. But it's the damdest thing, sir. As soon as we get them in captivity, they fade from their blue color to gray. And then they die! Don't know if any of them will be left alive."

Would have been nice to bring a living one with us.

"We'll bring the bodies back, then. I'm sure the Project will want to examine them," Alibi says.

"Yes, sir. We're doing that. That's what Mr. Kit told us to do."

Alibi looks over at Kit appreciatively. He nods.

"It WAS why we came out here," Kit points out.

"Thank you," Alibi replies. He tries walking, tests his balance and the strength of his legs. "Where's Azhumet's Machine?" he asks Kit.

"Over there," Kit answers him, pointing across the lab. He turns and leads the way. Alibi follows slowly behind him. This Machine looks different from the other one they saw on the planetoid, more spread out.

"Like a kit version," Alibi says.

"A what? A like me version?" Kit asks.

"No, like built from a kit, pre-fab. It's all spread out. And look, no door," Alibi notes, pointing at the square transparent tank in front of them. The tank is made out of four large, flat, rectangular clear panels sealed down their long edges.

Azhumet evidently climbed a small scaffolding and lowered himself down into the tank. Now the body that had been occupied by Azhumet's consciousness lies on the floor of the glass tank, its face mushed up against the glass, drooling.

"Officer?" Alibi calls over the SAIF trooper. "Let's be sure we bring this poor thing back with us, too. I'm sure the Project will want to study him. Just a big brain dead baby at this point," Alibi says. "He's not Azhumet anymore. Azhumet got away."

"Maybe he missed his target?" Kit offers. "Blasted himself off into space?"

"That would be nice. But he's not stupid," Alibi answers. "Besides, I think he'd still find his way into somebody... some body? The way he did with Masakov, originally. If I understand Krish, that's what happened, somewhere out there in deep space."

"Yes, you have a point," Kit agrees. "He had no target when he came a million years into the future. I do not believe he would have deliberately have chosen Dimitri Masakov."

"I wonder how long he's been here?" Alibi muses.

"We can probably assume it was some time after the last war and the death of the Eldred. Or else the Eldred would not have died out," Kit deduces. He looks around the lab. "This situation appears to be under control." Kit makes to leave. "Alibi, it is good to see you in one piece. Even if you do look strange without your hair. And with blue paint on your head."

"Thanks, Kit. You're leaving?"

"I am. I must get the ship I borrowed back to the Dakhur homeworld. I called in a bit of a favor. But I will see you soon."

"Oh really? How's that?"

"Your Aunt Anita promised me dinner if I rescued you," Kit explains. "I do plan on collecting my reward!" The cat man hisses laughter. "I called her when I got away. She provided the SAIF squadron."

"Good old Aunt Anita! Well, thanks to you both, I got to keep my head," Alibi says with a smile. He touches his now shaved scalp and pulls his fingers away wet. "Huh, still wet." His fingertips are covered with blue paint. "So, Kit, See you back on Ceres Central?"

"You will indeed. Until then, be well, Alibi," Kit says. He turns and heads off across the lab and out the door.

"Trooper? Could you help me?" he calls over to the SAIF officer. The officer comes to Alibi's aid and helps him limp out toward a waiting SAIF ship.

"You shoulda seen all those Sar'Tah ships," the SAIF officer says to Alibi as he helps him along. "There were more on the tactical display than I could count. We were waaayy outnumbered! When they first arrived, and we thought they were Tek'Tah? I thought we were toast. They made short work of the two Tek'Tah that were in orbit. They were already disabled, but the Sar'Tah just blew them away. No kidding around."

"I didn't realize they'd destroyed those Tek'Tah ships," Alibi admits.

"Oh yeah!" The SAIF officer exclaims. "Speaking of ships, did you see the one your cat-man friend came in?"

"I didn't, no."

"Pretty damn sweet. Don't get to see very many Dakhur Imperial Elite Cruisers. They don't come out our way, you know? Thought those were just used by their Royal Family – but I could be wrong. We don't really know that much about the Dakhur, do we?"

I guess maybe we don't...

"No, we really don't know that much," Alibi agrees with the man.

And I seem to know less and less about the one Dakhur I thought I knew...

"Well, glad we could get you out in one piece, Mr. Jones," the trooper says as they reach a SAIF ship.

"Thank you, officer. Thank you very much."

Alibi limps onto the bridge of the Stinger ship for what he hopes is an uneventful trip back to Ceres Central.

# Chapter Twenty

Kit arrives in his personal transport ship for the dinner at Anita's.

"...and she thinks I have a very good chance of pleading self-defense, maybe even temporary insanity, brought on by being captured, stalked, hunted and locked in a box," Katie says to Alibi over salad.

"Sounds like a good case," Alibi agrees.

"Sounds like I have walked in on an interesting conversation," Kit observes as he enters the dining area.

"Kit! Good to see you!" Alibi greets him, standing up.

"Welcome, Kit. Glad you could come," Anita says.

"Hi Kit," Katie chimes in. "I was just telling Anita and Alibi about the plea my lawyer is working on. She thinks I might be able to get just probation!"

"That is good news, Katie," Kit agrees.

"My trial is set for five and a half months from now," Katie tells Kit.

"Did you take the Imperial Elite Cruiser this time?" Alibi asks Kit. Kit looks back at Alibi in silence for a moment before answering.

"No."

"Alibi?" Anita asks, using his name as a way of saying, "what is going on here?" "Are you making our guest uncomfortable for any good reason?"

"No," he answers her sheepishly.

"When we Dakhur go back to our ancestral homes, we often feel like young cublings again. I can see that your Aunt did a fine job raising you. You still respect her, like a cubling," Kit says.

"I'm not a cubling!" Alibi protests.

"Right," Katie and Anita say together.

"Your women mock you," Kit notes.

"We were fine until you got here," Alibi protests.

"I convinced the Dakhur we needed that ship, with the Sar'Tah sure to appear," Kit says, explaining himself to Alibi.

"Come, sit down, Kit," Anita says, getting up to pull out a chair for the cat-man. "The Sar'Tah said they have good relations with your people?" she asks him as he sits down at her table.

"We do. The Dakhur have always had good relations with the Sar'Tah and the Greater Tah," he tells her.

"I will be frank with you, Kit. Their talk of 'annexation' and 'territorial concerns' worries me," Anita admits to the Dakhur.

"You were negotiating with the Tek'Tah, were you not? Over places such as that planetoid Alibi and I first found Azhumet on?"

"And me," Katie interjects. "I'm glad you guys found me."

"We had some back channel discussions going on, not much more," Anita says. "The Tek'Tah did not seem to understand the concept of negotiating."

Kit lets out a series of hisses.

"No, they do not seem to 'get' that," the alien agrees. "The Sar'Tah are a bit more refined in their concepts."

Their talk continues over dinner. Kit tells Anita more about the Sar'Tah, mostly about how large and powerful the Greater Tah is. Alibi takes it all in as he eats.

"Alibi, you've been quiet," his aunt notes as the meal winds down.

"Just eating. Maybe thinking some, too."

"What are you thinking about?" Katie asks him.

"About how funny life is. How you can look at things from so many different points of view," Alibi says.

"Deep thoughts?" Kit asks.

"Not really. Just something Piccolo said to me once."

But his thoughts do run rather deep.

Life is all in how you look at it...

Alibi looks at his Aunt Anita. The woman who raised him. The woman who loves him like a mother. He looks over at Katie, the girl he thinks he might be in love with – at the very least, the girl he's sleeping with. He looks over at Kit, his new good friend, the cat-man who has his back, who has saved his life at least twice now.

Then he looks again at his "Aunt" Anita and sees a woman who is no relation to him, who was forced to raise him by circumstances beyond her control... and who hates it when she doesn't have control. Murder put him in her hands. He looks again at Katie and sees a murderer, a cold blooded killer, a woman wanted as property by a ruthless crimelord, pure trouble. Does she love him or is she merely hiding in his refuge? Murder drove her into his arms.

He again considers Kit, this alien Dakhur who now sits at the same table and yet refuses to answer any questions about who he is – except for when he tells Alibi he may have to kill him – honor and all that. They met and had to kill to escape the Tek'Tah prison cell. Murder put him at Alibi's side.

Love and death tie them to me. Tie us all together.

But then again...

Really is all in how you look at it.

Alibi looks around the table again and smiles. The black of deep space out a nearby viewport then catches his eye and he frowns. He feels like they won this round, but he's worried. It's not over. Somewhere out there, Azhumet has entered... or will soon be entering... a new body.

He has my DNA! For what THAT'S worth.

And in a dark laboratory on an unnamed world, lightning begins crackling around the figure of a muscular man chained to the wall of the building. Tensing, straining against his chains, his back arches off the wall as if he's being electrocuted. Then he settles down, still for a moment.

The man looks alert. He flexes his right arm and frees it from the manacle holding it. He does the same with his left, and then kicks his legs free of the chains that hold them in place. Now free, the figure steps out of the darkness and looks at himself in a nearby mirror. Azhumet watches himself breathe deep, observes his first breath in his new form.

Azhumet laughs.

###

Hi!

Mike Luoma, your author, checking in here at the end. Hope you've enjoyed this free eBook! Want more? Great! Alibi's adventures continue – get the next book in the series now, Alibi Jones and The Sunrise of Hur. Follow that with the short stories in Alibi Jones and the Time War of The Devrizium, and the third novel Alibi Jones and the Hornet's Nest. Check out the collection of adapted comic book stories, The Adventures of Alibi Jones: Six Short Stories. And you can now get the next novel,  Alibi Jones and the Star Seeds of Earth!

Check out the stories of Alibi Jones' father, Bernard Campion, in **The Vatican Assassin Trilogy** – if you haven't already!

_The Adventures of Alibi Jones_ are available as eBooks, audio books, in trade paperbacks - and in three issues of comics, too.

Let me know how you liked the book – find me on social media in the usual spots. Twitter: <http://twitter.com/mikeluoma>

Facebook: <http://facebook.com/mikeluoma>

About the Author: **Mike Luoma** writes science fiction, among many other things, somewhere off in the wilds of Northern Vermont. _The Star Seeds of Earth_ is his newest, the fourth novel and sixth book in _The Adventures of Alibi Jones_ , which followed _The Vatican Assassin Trilogy_. Mike also creates comics with artists from around the world, including issues of _The Adventures of Alibi Jones_ and a graphic novel adaptation of the novel _Vatican Assassin_.

An _Alibi Jones_ short story was recently included in _Always Punch Nazis Volume 2_ from _Pilot Comics_. Mike also wrote the acclaimed title _Souverain_ with artist and creator _Ben Ferrari_ for _Earthbound Comics_. Mike's other graphic novels include _Good Samaritan: Unto Dust_ and _"Introducing... RED HOT!"_ from _Glow-in-the-Dark Radio Comics._

Mike narrates his books week-by-week on his free, long-running _Glow-in-the-Dark Radio_ podcast, and is also the narrator for each of his widely available audiobooks. You can find this book, narrated by Mike, wherever fine audiobooks are sold.

Free Samples & Links can be found at https://glowinthedarkradio.com.

More Books by Mike Luoma

The Vatican Assassin Trilogy:

Vatican Assassin

Vatican Ambassador

Vatican Abdicator

Also available: _The Vatican Assassin Trilogy Omnibus_

The Adventures of Alibi Jones:

Alibi Jones

Alibi Jones and The Sunrise of Hur

Alibi Jones and the Time War of The Devrizium

Alibi Jones and the Hornet's Nest

The Adventures of Alibi Jones: Six Short Stories

NEW _The Star Seeds of Earth_

Also available: _The Adventures of Alibi Jones Omnibus One_

Websites:

http://mikeluoma.com

http://glowinthedarkradio.com

http://alibijones.com

Connect online:

Twitter: <http://twitter.com/mikeluoma>

Facebook: <http://facebook.com/mikeluoma>

Instagram: glowinthedarkradio

