Journey to Tython

[TweedPawn]

Brick nervously tapped his fingers on his chair's armrest. He had gotten a reply to his request about the strange on his starship, and it wasn't a moment too soon. The girl seemed to get more withdrawn the longer she stayed in his starship. The crew once went out of their way to accommodate her, now they simply did the best they could to keep her from interfering with the daily activities of the StarShip.

Della blankly stared out the window in front of her in the cockpit of the Star Travel Machine. Millions of stars floated in front of her. If she squinted, she could pretend she was visiting the capital of her country and seeing the bright lights of the buildings once more. How long had it been now? Days? Weeks? It felt like eternity since she saw her own mother and father. Heard her own language. Eaten a meal that she could actually recognize.

She thought about Geoffery. The boy she was going to ask out if she got into the Youth Games. She was normally so shy around guys, but it would have been nice to try. She had imagined getting an entire bouquet of flowers from him if she managed to win just one medal.

Then one man took it all away from her. A man with the powers of electricity and eyes hungry for information. He was far away now, Della hoped. She thought she would be happier. But now, she was even more sad than before.

 

[Cyclops]

"Pilot," informed Sam authoratively, "I think they're there."

Sam pointed out the large ship just beyond the outskirts of the asteroid belt and the pilot quickly nodded, yanking his control yoke and turning the ship around. He felt it turn, his entire gravity shifting below him and the stars turning to bright white lines momentarily as the sublight engines quickly worked to dip the ship to its left.

Sam turned to Fyston, the other Padawan tasked with him on this sudden and abrupt mission. He had never worked with him before but they had met prior.

It had involved a cave, some rocks falling on himself and several other awkward hijinks Fyston had to save him from. In fact, Fyston was one of the first few Padawans he had befriended and Sam felt comfortable for once that he knew someone whilst on a mission. It avoided all the weird introductions and such. He wasn't good with those.

"Hey Fyston," said Sam putting a hand on his shoulder with a smile. "You think you can take charge of the kid when we get on board? Cos I ain't too good with kids."

Sam shrugged and prepared himself to board, as he felt the ship come to a slow, and gentle ease.

"Plus, electricity?" laughed Sam. "What is up with that?!"

 

[Fyston]

Fyston had been using the time to study the information provided by the Temple. From what he could tell, she couldn't be understood by any translator that they had used before. He was no translator, and although he recognized a great deal of languages he couldn't speak anything but Basic. Thus, he was both prepared and not at the same time. Communication would be their first barrier, but he had an idea that he hoped would work. He heard Sam begin to speak, announcing the arrival of the ship and promptly returned his attention to the present.

"I've had some experience with kids, so I don't mind seeing how much I've forgotten," Fyston chuckled, hoping that it wasn't going to be painfully obvious that neither of them were from the Temple Nursery.

"As for the electricity, I haven't heard of it happening before. I mean, Sith can do it, but from what I can tell, untrained individuals can't. Speaking for myself, I never shot lightning out of my body, I was happy to survive."

The ship shuddered gently under his feet as the docking mechanisms engaged. He reached outward with his mind, hoping to gain a feel for what awaited them. He was too inexperienced, however, and thus didn't get much more than the apprehension from the crew.

 

[TweedPawn]

Capt. Brick gave a sigh of relief as the two starships docked. He gathered some basic things the girl would certainly need such as hygiene products and placed them into a bag. He wished that he could find some clothes, but all the crew had to give her was some plain white shirts that would probably be too baggy to fit right. He motioned for two of his crew to get the girl as he prepared to meet the Jedi. He was nervous about the impression this girl would give. Brick never laid a hand on her, though the girl reacted with either fear or anger towards him.

Brick walked up to the two Jedi as soon as they entered his ship.

Welcome! Words can not express my gratitude that you have come. We honestly don't know what to make of her. Something's got her the way she is and she can't seem to let go. Please, I only ask that you do not think we did this to her." Brick pleaded. If word got out that they were responsible for any ill treatment, it would be his head on a platter. He thought of anything else important to say.

"Oh, and you mind want to keep and eye on her. Leave her alone outside a locked room and she goes straight to the nearest control panel, no matter what it is. She messed up the door to the utility closet and nearly broke the air-temperature unit. It's like she's never seen a door panel in her life. Girl just smashes the buttons on it randomly until it opens."

Della felt the machine shudder and she gulped. She looked around and tried to hear if the crew were reacting to the sound. The machine had never made that noise while she had been on it.

"<Divine luck, please let me live to see home.>" she whispered. Two of the crew members entered the room. This was probably bad. Her heart began to pound. The crew members tried to gently motion her to come follow them. Della cautiously followed them.

Della began to shake from her nerves, but bit her lip to try to keep herself calm enough to form some kind of plan in case something was about to go sour. She wasn't being escorted like a prisoner, as she had been when she was with the Other. But there was something else going on that required two men to follow her. They both lead and followed her to a room where the Lead Male was greeting two other strange men.

Della's heart sank. She already didn't like where this was going. Why were those two strangers here? What if they were buying her? Panic began to create energy within her. Her heart was pounding so loudly she could barely think.

The strangers felt similar to the Other somehow, Della couldn't put her finger on it. If they were connected, there was no way Della was going to allow them to take her.

zzzzt.

She felt a tiny piece of static in the palm of her hand. That had been happening even since she was electrocuted by the Other for trying to escape. She couldn't understand it, and she didn't try to. It wasn't important as trying to get out of this Luck-forsaken travel machine or staying away from the Other.

 

[Cyclops]

Sam listened intently as the Captain explained. Whilst he wanted to assure him that he was not suspected of abuse, there was no way he could promise him such a thing. Sam simply nodded non-committal to all the Captain had to say. He could not safely say that the Captain wasn't actually lying, even if he sensed that he spoke a genuine truth.

Sam suddenly felt slightly powerless as a Padawan. He suddenly became aware that he could not make any judgements himself and the privilege went only to the Knights and above. Then he remembered, they still had to report to Master Shi-Gel-Hu once they had visual confirmation on the young girl.

Just as the thought fluttered into his mind, a door opened behind them where he saw two crew members escorting a young child, anxious and fearful towards them. Covered in clothing too large for her, she looked tense, her large orb-like eyes rather filled with anger as well as fear.

Then he gasped aloud.

The child was staring down at him, eyes fixed upon his, she began to spark. Luminous blue electricity jumped from her finger tips, crackling dangerously. Sam was instantly reminded of the Sith.

"Master Shi-Gel-Hu," whispered Sam into his communicator he plucked from his pocket, "we have the package, and yes, just in case you were wondering, she is alive as well as... uh, live. Please come quickly. You may want to see this for yourself."

 

[Dmitri]

When word had reached the Jedi Order of a strange girl who spoke no known language and had static-like abilities, Shi-Gel-Hu was recruited to lead the expedition to meet with this girl. As a Nautolan, he could sense emotions, and hopefully use that to better communicate with the girl. The static gave worry that she may be of Bogan, so as a Jedi Master with his fair share of Dark Siders, he had the experience to deal appropriately if needed.

Shi-Gel-Hu received the notification when he had been training Fyston Sutsgy. Fyston needed some real-life experiences, so Shi-Gel-Hu felt it would be a good idea to bring Fyston along. It was through Fyston's recommendation that Sam Kisgart was brought along.

When they arrived at their destination, Shi-Gel-Hu let Fyston and Sam meet with the girl immediately. Fyston had a bit of some impatience, so he decided it would be best to let him go now instead of waiting; and of course Sam wasn't likely to want to stay behind so Shi-Gel-Hu freed him of obligation to stay as well.

While Fyston and Sam ventured to speak with the Captain and meet the girl, Shi-Gel-Hu spent his time speaking with the ship's medic who filled him in on the situation. As he was leaving the ward, Shi-Gel-Hu walked towards the area the medic mentioned the girl was being detained. He was halfway there when Sam commed him. Shi-Gel-Hu felt a little amusement, and concern, that Sam described the girl as a 'package'. They weren't in enemy territory, so codewords weren't necessary; however, it wasn't that big of a deal so he wouldn't comment on it to Sam.

Shi-Gel-Hu finally reached the room where the girl was with the two Padawans. Immediately, the Nautolan could feel the anxiety and nervousness emitting from the girl. As hypothesized by the medic, some static was forming in her hands.

Shi-Gel-Hu touched the girl through the Force in a soothing manner, hoping to calm her down. He added in a soothing voice, "It'll be alright. You're safe." He knew she couldn't understand him, but the purpose of his dialogue was not the content itself but the tone of his voice. He slowly extended his arms, to show that he was unarmed and didn't plan to hurt her.

 

[Fyston]

Fyston was shocked when the door opened and a shorter human appeared, accompanied by two larger crew members. If he had to guess, the female was only a few years younger than himself, and Fyston wondered how she would react to three Jedi. He was also slightly peeved when Sam spoke of the girl as a "package." Hoping she wouldn't be able to understand them, Fyston stepped closer to Sam and dropped his voice, hoping to avoid offending their Jane Doe with his body language.

"She may not be able to understand us, but people can sense some things about another person's communications. She's a person, not a baby bantha. We've got to keep her calm and not feeling threatened, lest we scare her off."

Fyston turned back to their passenger and smiled genuinely at her, looking only briefly at what appeared to be a shock. He'd heard of people who were able to understand different languages with the Force and of people who were able to project images with the Force. Calming images and emotions would be helpful, but before Fyston could speak, his Master appeared from behind him. He spoke in a calming voice and, while Fyston wasn't nearly at Shi-Gel-Hu's skill level, he attempted to use the Force to emphasize his truthful speech and to help him be more persuasive.

"We won't harm you. We just want to talk."

((OOC: I'll likely be using the red color to make the distinction between normal speech and speech when I attempt to use the Force. Note that Fyston is relying on his skills from before the Jedi. He's not trained, like Shi-Gel-Hu is, it's more of an instinctual thing that he picked up during his time on the street. As such, it's doesn't have nearly the impact that the same thing would from any trained individual. I just wanted to use it to help break some of the initial tension, not as a command or anything that may do any damage/harm.))

 

[TweedPawn]

Della raised an eye brow at the Other's reactions. They must have seen the spark. She tried to hide her hands into her clothes. She recalled the last time she did that, it caused either panic or she was rewarded. It seemed to depend on the person. The Other that shocked Della gave her an extra meal the first time he saw Della spark.

She shyly looked down at the ground when a third being came into the room. Trying not to attract any more attention to her hands. When she looked up, a monstrosity of the divines was standing near the men. He was a green man, with large, solid black eyes and hair made of tentacles.

Della's mouth dropped and she froze like a deer. What in the divine was that thing?! It approached her, and Della first thoughts were to scream. So she did. All the anger, frustration, and fear went into it as well. For the first time Della felt that she was communicating something clearly. When she was done, She felt some calm come over her.

She couldn't explain it. But she somehow began to understand that these beings were not like the Other. Her breathing became more controlled and she realized for the first time just how exhausted she was from the events that she experienced. She was apprehensive of these new strangers, but they weren't going to hurt her like the Other did.

Della gave a long, tired sigh. How could she even begin to explain what had happened to her? She felt defeated. Even if these beings never did an ill thing towards her, Della had no way of understanding where she was. The entire time, she has been in space not setting foot on solid ground since she was taken from her home.

She was much calmer now, but too exhausted and burdened to feel relief. She had never seen an octopus man before and she definitely never heard of any country that had them. Unless...Della wasn't anywhere near Sacul.

But that was impossible. The scientists of the world had dismissed aliens and other life plants are pure fantasy. The octopus man was probably just some native who lived in a far away jungle. And the star traveling machines were just very advanced technology that a rival country decided now to use.

She wished that she would have paid more attention in her culture and geography studies now.

 

[Cyclops]

"Right," said Sam, feeling slightly perplexed and lost. He never enjoyed riddles and vague words. He preferred frank and direct. It made things a lot easier if everyone just cut to the chase. But he didn't actually care and allowed his annoyances to pass.

The young child, full of fear and confusion seemed preoccupied by the arrival of Master Shi-Gel-Hu. He wondered, looking at her reaction and inferring from her lack of Basic speech, that perhaps she might never have seen a Nautolan. It was completely possible. There were many things still unknown.

"So, where did you pick her up?" interrogating Sam further.

 

[Dmitri]

The girl's fright at Shi-Gel-Hu's arrival suggested at least two theories. The first was that a Nautolan, or another alien species, had been the one to traumatize. The other, and the one Shi-Gel-Hu was favoring, was that the girl had simply never seen a Nautolan before, maybe not even a non-human before.

"My guess is that she may not have come into contact with too many diverse species," theorized Shi-Gel-Hu. "A small town with little interaction with outsiders. Enslaved and given little contact with others. The last one could be possible, as we as a people learn language through interaction and imitation of others; if the object of observation was absent, she may have not developed a linguistic ability to communicate, which is why Fyston and my attempts of soothing her through the Force helped calm her down. Her seemingly unfamiliarity with our technology could support this, or another theory: that she never came into contact with it. The galaxy is a huge place. Just only this last year did we discover a new solar system with a unique species, the Kushari. Who's to say this girl is not the same."

Shi-Gel-Hu knelt down to be eye level with the girl. He didn't approach her, giving her room so she didn't feel scared. He pointed at Sam and said, "Sam Kisgart." He introduced Fyston and the captain. Finally, he pointed to himself and provided his name. He pointed to her. He didn't speak, hoping she would provide her own name. It felt patronizing and demeaning, but could hopefully obtain a name, as the ship's crew had yet done so due to the language barrier.

 

[TweedPawn]

Capt Brick looked a bit nervous at Sam's question. It was best to come clean.
"We had been stalking ships going into the imperial territory. Rumor had it that there were some ships that had been ferrying illegal goods into the region. We were hoping to be able to score some quick credit by commandeering one of the ships." Capt. Brick turned on a holomap.

"The ship landed on Ansion for supplies, I assume. It didn't add up until our technician was able to discover that the ship came from some location in the uncharted parts of Wild Space." Capt. Brick turned the holomap to focus on the planet and the route that his ship had followed. He turned the planet to focus on the port.

" We managed to get the doors to force open while we were docked, but once those doors were open it was like a hitting a hornet's nest wide open. Some...of the younglings...That escaped in the chaos...They became casualties. The rest were recaptured when we began to fall back." Capt. Brick's eyes darted to the girl.

"She was fast. She came tearing out of that boarding ramp like a tauntaun out of a wampa cave. She had managed to get enough height from where she jumped off of the ramp to get over the crew of the vessel she was in. Landed right in the middle of the crossfire. I thought for sure she would be a goner. " Capt. Brick looked back at Sam. It was the honest truth. Hopefully, it would be enough.

"Lucky kid."

Della look at the Octopus man when he knelt in front of her. She recognized term "Capt. Brick." She couldn't understand the names very well, but she understood the intent. It was an introduction.

"Della Frey. Hci emmok sua Drepland." She responded as she shied away from the being. She hoped that they would at least recognize the name of her country. Her eyes saw the floating image that the Captain pulled up. She stared at it quizzically. Such a strange looking image. She saw the captain pull up an image of a planet. It was a map! A real map! She ran excitedly to the projection of planet, eager to find her country.

"Neherd eis se!" she cried making a rotating motion with her hand. She smiled with excitement. As soon as she pointed out her town, she could go home! The Captain turned it cautiously. Della's eyes scanned carefully for any recognizable land masses. Her smile began to fade as she kept watching the planet turn in front of her, the landmasses just as foreign as the octopus-man who she just met.

She didn't understand. There had to be some mistake. It just had to be on this strange map somewhere. Anywhere. She was bad at geography, but not that bad. It was probably a faulty map. She scowled at the image. The people on this travel machine may have been advanced, but they were terrible map makers.

 

[Cyclops]

Sam nodded at the Captain as he explained himself, encouraging him to divulge more and more. His face whilst stern was regularly remakred as trustworthy. It was a nice advantage to have and utilize. Sam didn't feel or think the Captain's story was untrustworthy. In fact, it all seemed pretty transparent. But it wasn't his place, a mere Padawan to pass judgement.

Sam watched the girl, speak and race across the room. Whilst she didn't speak any known language, her needs were clear enough to him.

Safety. A sentient has many needs, and hers was being played out in front of them. She didn't need food or water. Her physiological needs were taken of by the crew. So then, that would mean, safety.

She wanted assurance of safety, and that in the normal case for a young child would be, home. She wanted to go home. Sam watched her expressions carefully...

"Think she's trying to tell us something," pointed Sam.

 

[Fyston]

Fyston smiled at the Captain, gracious for the information provided.

"You know, opening doors is extremely easy when you have one of these."

Fyston pulled back the right side of his robe, revealing the metal cylinder that was his lightsaber. He chuckled, hoping to further defuse whatever tension still remained. In his experience, even teenagers needed to be reassured that they were safe. While he hadn't had siblings, he had slept near children during his time on Nar Shaddaa, the last planet that he resided on before becoming a Jedi. He had learned what made children tick, and even some knowledge about other teenagers. As the girl looked no more than seventeen, Fyston hoped that his theories were still relevant. Upon thinking about what the Captain had said about her escape, Fyston could come to only a few conclusions.

"She was scared. People who fear something but are denied escape take whatever opportunity they can to get away. I would bet my datapad that something was on that ship that was detrimental to her. To inspire such fear, such want to get away. Slavers, perhaps. Trandoshans can be quite undiscriminating, capturing whatever takes their fancy."

He quieted as the girl rushed over to the map. Intrigue filled him, and he listened to her carefully. When she was completely finished, Fyston waited for Sam to finish before talking.

"Hmm. I caught 'Della Frey' and 'Drepland.' I doubt her name is 'Drepland' so I would imagine that her name is Della. She seemed to stress those more than the other words, so I may be wrong in assuming that her name is Della. I just hope that we can make headway before we try what I have in mind."

Fyston finally turned to Shi-Gel-Hu, wondering if the Nautolan Master had picked up on any of the nuances of her speech.

 

[Dmitri]

Shi-Gel-Hu listened to the girl's answer, but didn't recognize any of the words. He had traveled to many planets, but he was baffled by the girl's language. He looked up to the captain, "Have you tried a protocol droid? Even if the droid couldn't figure out the language, it would be a clue."

Shi-Gel-Hu agreed with Fyston's analysis that the girl's name was probably Della Frey, or part of her name anyway. However, they knew nothing of her language, so the possibility of error did exist. He mentioned this fact, though made sure to add that he favored Fyston's conclusion.

Sam noted that the girl seemed excited by the map and searched it vigorously, but distress seemed to eventually reach her. The Nautolan's head-tresses picked up nervousness and confusion from the girl. "Maybe her planet is similar to that one," hypothesized Shi-Gel-Hu. He looked up at the captain. "Could you pull up other similar looking planets up on that datapad?"

 

[TweedPawn]

"Well, not all of us are quite as talented as you folk." Capt. Brick chuckled. The teen was going to be in good hands around these guys. He was feeling much better about contacting the Jedi. He thought for sure that it was going to be trouble. The teen had responded to the Jedi far better than his own crew.

"The beings on the ship were humanoid. Now, that doesn't mean that they aren't connected to the Trandoshans, so we can't rule that out. I can only imagine what could have happened to her. We haven't tried a droid. We have one being out for repairs on another planet. But even if we did, I don't think she would have taken to the sight of it very well. " Brick rubbed the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on, but it was worth it to get to the bottom of this.

"Well, Ansion is mostly grassland. So we can narrow a search. " He typed in a field of requirements for a search and several planets popped up. He displayed the planets into rows and allowed the holographic images to rotate.

Della heard the men chuckle. One of them, a younger fellow, flashed a cylindrical canister. It seemed familiar somehow. She couldn't quite place it. One of the Other might have had one. She gave it a good hard look, trying to figure out why it was important. Something about that person attracted Della's attention, though she couldn't figure out why.

She heard her name mentioned a few times.

"Aj, Della Frey." she responded with a sheepish smile. She felt a little better. These beings were honestly trying to learn her name. It was progress. The Other that had imprisoned her were simply quiet. Their silence and cold stares did as much to cause terror as the lighting they could create with their hands.

She saw the spheres being projected but was confused by their meaning. She watched them for a moment. She remained quiet as she watched them rotate, her confusion clear on her face. Then it dawned on her.

They weren't Sacul...
None of them were...
They were other planets...
Planets that weren't supposed to exist. That the brightest scientists back home had said were impossible to exist. Planets that were teeming with life. All kinds of creatures like the Other, and the Octo-pus man. Planets with machines that could travel through stars.

She was farther from home than she had possibly imagined. How many miles was it? Could it even be measured in miles? Why wasn't her planet on there?

Della felt herself become lightheaded as she became pale. No, it was impossible. Other planets didn't exist. It was a nightmare that couldn't wake up from for some reason. Her legs began to shake. She began to struggle to stand on her own. She didn't want to look at the maps anymore. It was too much to bear.

 

[Cyclops]

Confusion seemed to emanate from the child once again, her face turning pale, blood seemingly draining away. She looked weak and shaky, and Sam instinctively knelt down to reach her, arms opened up ready to catch her if she fell. He didn't even hesitate despite knowing her rather electric nature.

"Della," exclaimed Sam, trying to get her to focus. "Della."

He didn't know what he was doing. He just did it to get her to snap out of it.

"Acknowledgement. Gotta know we understand her fear. Understand her anxiety. Much more than just simply trying to help, we gotta tell her we know she's scared out of her wits, but it's ok" declared Sam smiling sheepishly near the end. "Dad taught me that. Well, it was about taming wild Kaadus near our property, but it's the same principle, right?"

 

[Fyston]

Even as Sam rushed to comfort Della, Fyston reached out with the Force. Not to help him speak or calm her down, as they were temporary resolutions to what Fyston figured was a larger issue. What he did, however, was utilize the Force to deactivate the holomap, causing the planets to shimmer into nothingness. Fyston pulled back the right side again, his hand brushing against his lightsaber as he fumbled with one of the pouches on his belt. He withdrew a small datapad, small enough to fit into his toolbelt but with the full capabilities of a full datapad. He pulled up some calming music, which he often used to aid in his meditation, and set it to play in the background. He turned on the small projector, which promptly began showing pictures full of life. They were inspirational and calm, and Fyston smiled a warm smile towards Della as he set his datapad on a nearby table. Like he had before, Fyston utilized the Force, hoping to further their comprehension.

"Della, write on that," said Fyston, making hand motions that one would make if writing while also pointing towards the datapad. "It will become blank when you do," continued Fyston, making a wiping motion before repeating the writing signal. "It might help us communicate." This time, Fyston made the writing motion, shrugged lightly, and made a speaking motion. "Do you understand?" Fyston pointed at her, pointed at the datapad, pointed back to Della and then to himself, making the speaking motion as he finished pointing to himself, raising his eyebrow in a questioning manner. Body language couldn't be that different across planets, right? But wait, the Captain had mentioned Wild Space! He turned to the Captain, hoping that neither he nor Shi-Gel-Hu would have a problem with his request.

"We have droids and other devices back at the Temple. It would help us tremendously, however, if we could get copies of the data from around that time. A day or two before, the day of, and perhaps any information you have about the ship she came from."

 

[Dmitri]

Shi-Gel-Hu's head-tresses weren't needed to see the obvious distress in Della. The Jedi Master acknowledged that Sam's suggestion to acknowledge Della's anxiety was needed. He soothed Della through the Force, letting her know they realized she was in distress.

Fyston made a request. "Good idea. It would help us out, Captain. I'll send a request to the Jedi Order for any information they have."

 

[TweedPawn]

"We will gladly upload any information that we have, including images of the starship and some of the crew." He uploaded the file onto a data storage unit.

Starship confirmed...Heavy Class Modified Courier. No markings save for identification number 689012-impsi569. Number invalid. Ship is currently docked for supplies. Begin infiltration.

001 attempt failure
002 attempt failure
003 attempt failure
004 attempt success. Ship log uploaded...Data corrupted..."wild space...cargo pickup...5...one aggressive...four docile...Attempted...during transfer. On route to...Stion"

StarShip system linked. Open door? y/n. All cargo and cabin doors open.

"There are some audio and visual files from outside our ship on there too." Brick said. He turned on a personal data pad and hid it from Della's view as he showed Shi-Gei-Hu and Sam. He played the video, but muted the sound.

There was a firefight of blasters between the two ships. two younglings laid dead on the ground right outside the cargo deck of the unmarked courier ship. A row of humanoids had the deck surrounded and where firing shots with 90% accuracy rate. Most of Brick and his crew were taking cover while trying to avoid any more losses.

Then a girl leaped out of the unmarked ship. The humanoids tried to grab her as she bolted out of their reach. Unable to reach her, they began to fire their guns at her. The girl tried to dash through the middle of where Brick and his crew were but was caught by one of the lower ranking officers. The girl fought back as electricity sparked around her hands. One of the crew members doubled over in pain. Another held his grip on the girl.

Brick made a motion to fall back. The crew began to retreat, dragging the girl along as she bit and sparked. There were more exchanges of crossfire and the video ended with both ships leaving the dock.

Brick's regret was clearly written on his face.
"We had no idea younglings were on board. We swear, the crew of that ship came out the same time as the younglings did. We had managed to obtain smuggling ships before, but never with that kind of resistance, skill, or car- Younglings."



Della was too busy by the images and moods around her. She understood very clearly that she was a lot safer now than she was before. But the strange men did not understand why she was grieving or felt so suddenly ill. The music and images were pleasant, but Della wished more than anything in the world to communicate. It would clarify everything. Right when she felt her frustration growing again. A man she was pretty sure was called "Fyston" handed her a device and made a gesture of writing.

Della thought for a moment. They needed to understand why. Why she was so upset. She lost everything and her knowledge of the universe had been shattered.
She drew a circle with water and landmasses. "Sacul" she wrote on the top. She then drew the octopus-man and drew an "x" over him. She drew a very crude starship. Drew another 'x' over it. She drew the seven planets next to the other images and drew 'x's over those. She did the same process with laser guns, doors panels, and finally, a man with electricity coming from his hands.

 

[Cyclops]

Sam began to stare at the Captain with much disdain. There was much he wanted to say about his ethics but he supressed those feelings. Times were hard and any man providing for others would be pressed to do desperate things. Food on the table don't come easy these days.

However, the Captain was a secondary, a distraction upon their main objective which was the girl.

"What do you think she's trying to tell us?" asked Sam. "You really think she's from the wild space?"

Sam wondered in amazement at such thoughts.

"We should get her back to the Council at any rate," said Sam. "Not much help to be done here. Perhaps the gathered wisdoms of the other Masters can piece this puzzle."