The delegates and I had dinner two more times during the jump transitions in normal space, and then we made that last long jump. It was almost another full week, and when we came out of hyperspace, we were greeted by a system that was full of debris.

BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP!

“By the Goddess!” Rhubin exclaimed as the collision alarm blared and he deftly manoeuvred the ship to avoid the partial hull of another starship that had drifted into our flight path. “Luxea!”

“I can't get a clear reading on anything!” Luxea responded. “There's too much interference!”

Rhubin avoided another large chunk of metal as he reduced the ship's speed to a crawl. “I can't see anything to navigate by!” He said, and we heard several thumps as things bounced off of the hull.

“The local star is right there.” I pointed out to the right at about forty-five degrees. I could clearly 'see' it, thanks to Presence. “I can't tell you where the closest planet is, though.”

“The star is good enough.” Rhubin said and changed course to face the star. “I need to get us out of this debris field.” He said. “Luxea, tell the passengers over the intercom to brace themselves for some potential high gravity manoeuvres.”

“Can we fly above or below it?” I asked as Luxea warned the passengers.

“Yes and no.” Rhubin said without looking at me or laughing, so I knew things were serious. “This thing could go on for a very long distance in every direction, depending on where it started and how many ships were damaged.” He flew the ship down and around what looked like the cockpit of a large starship and barely missed several bodies floating from it. “There's no real resistance in space to make something slow down on its own, so this mess will spread out and keep going until it hits something.”

“Like us.” I said, and he nodded.

“I'm really going to try and avoid that.” Rhubin said.

It took nearly half an hour for Rhubin and his great piloting skills to get us out of the debris field. He was sweating profusely and I had to warn him a couple of times about large things approaching the ship, that were outside his field of view, so he could avoid them.

Luxea tried to update the navigation system once we were in the clear, and she sighed. “Rhubin was right. That mess is all over.” She said and showed us on the main display screen.

“Good god.” I said as I looked at the gigantic mess. “How many ships?”

“The computer is still counting the pieces.” Luxea said and looked at me with sad eyes. “It's going to take a while.”

I nodded understanding. “I need to tell the delegates about this.”

“Should we broadcast their welcome message?” Luxea asked.

“Hell, no.” I said, to her surprise. “Do you want whoever did this to find and kill us, too?”

Luxea didn't respond, so I left the cockpit and went to the spare room. The guard on the door looked rattled, and she hit the button for the admittance chime on the door.

“Y-yes. Just a second.” A woman's voice said, and a few moments later, the door opened. “Oh, hello.” Uzahne said, and she looked as dishevelled as the guard. “That was a long and rough ride.”

“That's what I came here to tell you.” I said, and the three delegates and two security guards were shocked and appalled at the carnage I described, mostly because of the sheer scale of it.

“How many ships?” Uzahne asked.

“That was the first thing I asked.” I said. “The computer's still counting the pieces, so we don't know.”

“We need to start rescue operations right away.” Sheph said. “The longer we wait, the more people will die.”

“You're assuming people are still alive.” I said, and her face drained of color. “Plus, this isn't a ship designed for rescue, nor do we have the personnel to perform rescue operations.”

“We can't just sit here and do nothing!” Ahaen exclaimed.

“Unfortunately, that's exactly what we are going to do.” I said, and she gasped. “Rhubin is exhausted after saving our lives from that disaster. I'm not going to tell him that he needs to put our lives in danger again while he tries to fly back through it.”

“Don't you care about the people dying on those ships?” Ahaen asked, incredulous.

“Not enough to kill myself, my friends, or my passengers, just to make an ill-conceived attempt at trying to save them.” I said, and she didn't know how to respond to that. “When we figure out what to do next, I'll come back and talk to you.”

“We need to get to the planet, Chofaris.” Uzahne said.

“You shouldn't assume that you still have someone to report to.” I said, and she closed her mouth. “I won't drop you off there and then have you taken prisoner or killed because you neglected to be cautious of the situation you're in.”

“You're just going to stand there and dictate to us, is that it?” Ahaen asked.

“If you want me to.” I said, and she raised her eyebrows at me. “I'd rather you all keep calm and think about what needs to happen next, and not what you think should happen next.”

“Those are the same things.” Sheph said, and I shook my head.

“It's the difference between want and necessity.” I said. “You want to do things to try and help others because you feel ineffectual right now.” I looked at their faces and saw that they felt that way. “What needs to happen is to get you to the point where you become effectual, then you can help others from a position of power and not from a position of weakness.”

“We aren't weak.” Ahaen said.

“I didn't say you were, I said your position is. If we go rummaging around and try to help people, where will we put them? If they are running out of air, who do we leave behind to die?” I asked, and they covered their mouths. “We only have one med-bot and one engineer. Do we concentrate on one ship and get it running, or do we search for the best one and try to help them?”

“You... you have made your point.” Uzahne said, in a slightly defeated tone.

“I hope so.” I said. “I'm not saying we won't help. I'm saying that doing it blindly is a mistake and will only cause more problems than it would solve.”

“We get it.” Ahaen said. “You don't have to keep implying that we're being stupid.”

“I didn't imply anything like that.” I said calmly, despite her trying to goad me. “Now, if you had tried to order me to put my ship in danger, then I would have called you stupid and probably a few other not so nice things.”

“You...” Ahaen made her hands into fists.

“You were smart and didn't do that, so you can relax.” I said. “When you deserve to be insulted, I will do it to your face and wont imply anything.” I turned my head and looked at Uzahne. “You can tell that I haven't lied, can't you?”

“Yes, but not with Presence.” Uzahne said. “I've developed the skills to read people's body movements and facial expressions and can tell when they are lying. You've been very difficult to read.”

“That's because I haven't lied and there's nothing for you to pick up on.” I said, and her eyes widened. “Is that why you kept inviting me to dinner? You were trying to read me?”

“That's one aspect of it.” Uzahne smiled slightly.

“I should apologize for wasting your time, then.” I said and smiled back. “I'll come back when I learn anything new.”

“Thank you.”

“Before I go, is anyone hurt?” I asked.

“Just bumps and bruises.” Uzahne said.

“May I check?” I asked.

Uzahne nodded and I stepped into the room for the first time in weeks. I made my hand glow with Presence, and hovered it over her face.

“Techniques like this are great, except you need people to practice on.” I said and moved my hand lower. Ahaen caught her breath as my hand almost touched Uzahne's chest. “Minor Healing with Presence can only be used when someone is actually hurt, so I don't have a lot of experience with this.”

“D-do your best.” Uzahne said and tried not to breathe, because my hand was so close to her.

I nodded and finished checking her chest and upper back, then I knelt down on one knee and she gazed down at my face. I hovered my hand over her abdomen and detected a light bruise there. My hand glowed brighter and I eased my Presence into the damaged area and sped up her body's normal healing process. Uzahne's breath shivered out of her at the sensation, and I moved down to her legs. Since she wore pants, it was a lot easier to check her all over. I found another bruise on the top of her foot and a small bruise on her forearm.

“D-did you look?” Uzahne asked, her face slightly red.

“Of course not.” I said and stood up. “I gave you my word that I wouldn't.”

Uzahne nodded and motioned to Sheph. I checked her over and found several more bruises. She reacted the same way to my Minor Healing technique that Uzahne did. She seemed a little weak, because she had to brace herself by holding onto my shoulders when I knelt in front of her to check her legs.

“Thank you.” Sheph said. She let her hands run down my chest as I stood up, and her face was an even deeper red than Uzahne's was. I turned to Ahaen and she shook her head.

“No, thank you. I'm fine.”

“It will only take a minute.” I said.

“I don't want you that close to me.” Ahaen said.

“So, eating dinner with me and holding my hand is fine; but, when I offer to heal you, that's too close?” I asked.

Ahaen opened her mouth to respond, then closed it.

“You're just being fickle.” I said and she squinted her eyes at me. “It's okay for you to be in control and touch me casually, as long as it's your choice. When it's not your choice, you refuse.”

She didn't say anything, so I continued.

“Just so you know, I don't need to use my real hand.” I said and formed a Presence Hand, then used that to quickly check her. I only found one large bruise, and it was on her backside. “I see.” I said, and her face went completely red. “I'm tempted to leave you with it.”

Ahaen opened her mouth to say something, I assumed to tell me off, then Uzahne spoke.

“Heal her, Hunter.” Uzahne said. “I won't have her complain that she's suffering later.”

I nodded and used my Presence to accelerate her body's healing process there. She gasped as her backside tingled and her whole body shivered while her breath came out in quick short breaths. The bruise disappeared and the technique stopped working, so I absorbed the Presence Hand. Ahaen stared at me with anger on her face, so I gave her a slight bow with my head, then repeated that with the other two delegates, and left the room.

*

“How dare you let him do that to me!” Ahaen exclaimed and her hand rubbed the spot that the large bruise used to be.

“You would be yelping and hollering every time you sat down for the next few days.” Uzahne said. “I didn't want to hear it, and you need to be at your best to help us deal with this... this...”

“Disaster.” Sheph said. “It's a disaster.”

“Yes, a disaster.” Uzahne said. “I can just imagine all of those poor people trapped in compartments and in escape pods, just drifting out there all alone.”

Ahaen always hated it when they discussed things without her input, so she chimed in. “What are we going to do?” She asked. “We obviously can't order Hunter to start rescuing people.”

“He's right.” Uzahne said. “This isn't a rescue ship, nor can it handle many injured people.”

“We need to join whatever rescue operations are going on.” Sheph said.

“Even if it's for the other side?” Ahaen asked.

“Even if.” Sheph said. “Saving lives is what we came out here to do.”

“I won't defect to the opposition.” Uzahne said. “We would have to surrender to them as prisoners first and then we can help with the wounded.” She said, then sighed. “Hunter is not going to like that decision.”

“It's not his choice.” Ahaen said.

“He would have to deliver us, so he does have a say.” Uzahne said.

“We could take the shuttle, and it won't endanger this ship or its crew.” Sheph said.

“That is a great idea!” Ahaen said and walked over to the door. “We can get out there and actually start helping people instead of just sitting here and waiting.”

“Wait!” Uzahne said, and she stopped and turned to look at her. “We can't just take the shuttle! We need to ask...”

“We were sent here to save lives, and that's what I'm going to do.” Sheph walked over to Ahaen.

“Are you coming, or are you going to cower here in this room and wait for him to give you permission to do your job?” Ahaen asked.

“This is a mistake.” Uzahne said and walked over to them. “All he wants is to keep us safe.”

“All he wants is to restrict what we can do.” Ahaen said. “How many people have died while he stood here and healed our bruises?”

The other two women took deep breaths and sighed.

“Let's go.” Ahaen said and led the two delegates from the room and their guards followed them over to the middle of the ship. The ladder up to the hatch wasn't guarded and the hatch itself wasn't locked.

It was alarmed, however.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

“Oh, damn!” Ahaen said and scrambled up into the shuttle. “Come on! Hurry!”

The other two delegates and the security guards went up the short ladder and entered the shuttle, then closed the hatch and locked it.

“Get us prepped and out of here.” Ahaen said to one of the guards.

“I highly advise against this.” The guard said.

Ahaen pushed her aside and looked at the other. “Hurry!”

“I'll have us away from here as soon as I can.” The guard said.

*

Beep! Beep! Beep!

“Oh, those stupid bitches!” I exclaimed as the shuttle hatch alarm went off. “Rhubin, tell me the controls in the shuttle are locked down.”

Rhubin only looked at me and didn't say anything.

“Dammit!” I yelled. “Do something!”

“Like what?” Rhubin said. “The shuttle only needs to be prepped and disengaged from the hull.”

“Cut the internal gravity and start spinning us!” I said.

“That's actually a really good idea.” Luxea said and strapped in. “Do it.”

“One whirling dervish coming right up!” Rhubin said with a grin as he strapped in.

I ran from the cockpit and to the center of the ship. I started to climb the ladder, then the gravity was gone. I heard a muffled scream, and then the ship started to rotate in place. More screams joined the first, and I tried to open the hatch. It was locked, so I used a Presence Hand on the other side and opened the lock, then I opened the hatch.

“AhhhHHH!” Ahaern yelled as she was pressed into the ceiling of the shuttle underneath the other two delegates and one of the guards. Since the shuttle was docked to the top of the ship, it was farther away from the center of the rotation and that had thrown everyone against the ceiling. I used a Presence Hand to grab the guard on the ceiling of the cockpit and pulled her into the back with the others.

I used another Presence Hand to hit the intercom button below me. “Okay, Rhubin. That's enough spinning.”

The ship slowed down and came to a stop, and I quickly used Presence Hands to pull everyone down to the floor just as the artificial gravity kicked back in. Ahaen let out a shrill scream as her broken arm was now under normal gravity and it hung limply at her side. I went to her and she flinched back from me and looked like she was about to scream at me.

“Shut up!” I exclaimed, and she clamped her mouth shut. “How stupid can you be to try and steal from me?” I asked her angrily, and she didn't say anything. “You're lucky it's just a broken arm and not your neck!” I said and covered her arm with Presence and made it solid to hold it steady. “Get up! All of you!”

It took them a few moments to stand up. When they did, Uzahne spoke.

“Hunter, I told them it was a mistake and...”

“I said SHUT UP!” I yelled at her, and she flinched away from me. “As god as my witness, I've never seen anything so stupid!” I said as I glared at them and they all flinched away. “Do you even realize that you just committed an act of piracy in a war zone?”

“Wh-wh-what?!?” Uzahne exclaimed. “W-w-we d-didn't!”

“You're passengers and not crew, so you're lucky it's not mutiny.” I said and shook my head. “Delegates stealing a ship to go off on your own is the dumbest thing that... no, I'll leave the recriminations for the review board when we drop you off.”

“R-review board?”

“What? Do you think I'll forgive you for committing a crime because you're women?” I asked, and they didn't respond. “The shuttle is docked to the ship! If you had engaged the shuttle's engines, you could have caused massive decompression in the ship, not to mention potentially tearing it apart and killing me and my crew!”

“We... we didn't... we would have...” Uzahne tried to rationalize their actions.

“I didn't see anyone putting on a spacesuit to go out and remove the magnetic locks and cable tie-downs on the shuttle's landing gear.” I said and looked at all of their faces, and was happy to see shock there. “Yeah, that's right. The shuttle would have torn a good portion of the hull off of the ship and its engines might have cooked us to a crisp... hopefully before the reactor exploded.”

“You... you exaggerate...” Ahaen managed to say through her pain.

“That was the worst case scenario. The best case would be the ship being dragged along and sending us all into an uncontrollable spin into the debris field and probably dying instantly.” I said. “I can see and feel that you're all hurt, so get your asses back down into the ship and go to the living room.”

They didn't protest further and did as I asked. It took a while for them all to get back down the ladder, since they were all hurt, and I checked the shuttle controls. I saw the engines were powered up, so I put them back into standby mode and went through the hatch myself. I shut it and was tempted to lock it, then decided not to. We might be using it soon, so making it harder for the people that needed to use it wasn't a good idea.

I went to the cockpit and told Luxea and Rhubin the state the passengers were in and that I needed to activate the med-bot. Rhubin nodded and Luxea came with me, and we dealt with all the injuries as best as we could, with the med-bot's help.