Rhubin managed to get the scout ship's thrusters to activate remotely, and he directed the wreck into the debris field. He had the brilliant idea to ram it into one of the masses of twisted metal, one we both agreed couldn't have anyone alive on it, to try and account for the missing cockpit. Both the mass of metal and the wrecked scout ship tumbled along with the rest of the debris field as if it had always been a part of it. Rhubin and I agreed to hide my ship in plain sight, and he flew the ship over near the edge of the field and powered everything down into standby mode.

“This damn debris field must be huge.” I said as we drifted. “How big were the fleets fighting here?”

“I have no idea.” Rhubin said. “What does the computer say?”

I checked the calculations that Luxea had been running and whistled. “It's up to over a hundred confirmed ships so far.”

“A hundred?” Rhubin looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Are you joking?”

“It's still not done, so no.” I said.

“By the Goddess, that... that's crazy.” Rhubin said. “Why would they throw their lives away like this?”

“Lots of reasons, most of which are completely stupid.” I said. “I can't say what stupidity drove these particular people to do this, though.”

“At least there's no more movement.” Rhubin said.

“That huge ship over there had a shuttle flying around it a while ago.” I said and pointed. “Luxea thinks they were conducting a damage survey.”

“What else did she say?” Rhubin asked.

“Their environmental plant is probably gone with their engine room.”

“Oh, geez.” Rhubin sighed. “They'll be running out of air soon.”

“Assuming they didn't lose most of it in the explosion.”

“We can't even go over there to help.” Rhubin said.

“That's what I was telling Luxea.” I said, and he glanced at me. “We could take about six more people before this ship reaches the maximum number of people the air purification system can handle, and we don't have the training or the personnel to handle rescue operations.”

“I hate that all we can do is just sit here.”

“Luxea said that, too.”

“Is there still no communications?” Rhubin asked, and I shook my head. “Well, damn.” He said. “I guess all we can do is wait and hope.”

“Considering the size of this battle, even if we wanted to do something, we'd still have to wait.” I said and brought up Luxea's failed attempts at finding a course through the mess. “The best course so far can only get us about a quarter of the way through.”

“There's too many objects moving at different speeds to get a course all the way through in one shot.” Rhubin said. “We need to take paths to clear areas if possible, then find another course.”

“Can we drift through like this?” I asked. “We're travelling at a similar speed, so shouldn't it be easier?”

Rhubin chuckled. “If only it worked that way.” He said. “We're losing manoeuvring capabilities by matching the debris. If we try to fly through at this speed, we'll mostly be using lateral thrust to avoid collisions and not the main engines.”

I thought about that for a minute. “You're saying it'll be like what we did to the scout ship.”

Rhubin nodded. “We could get blindsided by... well, anything... while trying to ease around.”

“You want to try and fly through it normally?”

“Show me Luxea's other attempts.” Rhubin said, and I showed him on the main display. “That one.”

“That's barely a tenth of the way.”

“Yeah, but look around it.” Rhubin said. “It's a relatively empty area, and there should be several more options to take once we get there.”

“You really want to do this?” I asked.

“I'd rather fly up and over this thing; but, the space between here and the planet is chock full of it and it's spreading out.”

“We could wait it out.” I said.

“We could.” Rhubin said. “It should take a few days or so to move out enough to give us a clear run to the planet.”

“You don't want to wait, do you?”

“Not if I have a choice.” Rhubin said and looked at me again. “Do I have a choice?”

“I told Luxea when you woke up to ask you what you wanted to do.” I said, and he smiled. “You're as crazy as those delegates.”

“Are you really going to charge them with piracy?” Rhubin asked.

“I was trying to scare them into thinking before they acted.” I said and turned to look at them. “They look pretty sad right now.”

“You know, technically we stole the shuttle in the first place.”

“Hey, The Order said I could take it.” I said in my defense.

“To the long haul transport.” Rhubin said with a smile.

I sighed. “All right. I'll let them off the hook this time.”

“Do you want to go and give them the good news?” Rhubin asked.

“The computer needs a little time to get a course from here to that empty space you like so much, so sure.” I said. “I'll be back in a bit.”

Rhubin nodded and I left the cockpit and walked through the ship. It was really quiet with everything in standby mode, and I went to the spare room. I tapped the door chime, waited for a moment, then opened the security door.

“Rhubin has convinced me that it's best to not have passengers secured as prisoners.” I said in a defeated tone. “Apparently, it's bad for business to do that.”

“It... it is.” Uzahne said.

“You can put a guard on door duty again if you want.” I said. “I came here to tell you that we'll be doing some unorthodox flying in about twenty minutes to try and get through some of this debris field.”

“You're going through it?!?” Sheph asked, surprised.

“That's what my expert pilot wants to try.” I said. “Plus, we had a run in with an enemy scout ship.”

“How did we get away?” Ahaen asked.

“We're floating on the edge of the debris field right now.” I said and avoided the question. “We're just waiting for the navigation computer to give us a path inside.”

“Not through?” Uzahne asked.

“It's too big of a mess to go through in one shot, so Rhubin wants to take short hops to get through.”

The three delegates exchanged looks for a moment, then looked back at me.

“We're sorry for what we did.” Uzahne said.

“Only because you got caught.” I said, and her eyes widened. “If you had gotten away and went on your own, you wouldn't even consider apologizing until you saw me again. Even then, you would say you were sorry that you had to leave to do your jobs and not for taking the shuttle.”

Uzahne opened her mouth to respond, then she sighed. “You're probably right.”

“I'm definitely right, especially if it let you save a few lives. You would have your justification then and it wouldn't matter that you stole a shuttle to do it or that you left us behind.”

“How can you talk down to us like this?” Ahaen asked. “Don't you have any respect or decorum?”

“Respect has to be earned.” I said. “After what you tried to do, do you honestly think that you deserve to be treated with respect?”

Ahaen frowned and didn't respond.

“You shouldn't think so highly of yourselves, not if you want to keep your heads in sticky situations.” I said. “Oh, and I mean that both figuratively and literally.”

That made them all gasp, even the two guards.

“You dare threaten...” One of the guards started to say.

“Not me.” I said and held my hands up in surrender. “I'm just warning you about what could happen if you talk too loudly or make too much noise around the wrong people.”

Uzahne stood up and walked over to the door. “You've seen that for yourself, haven't you?”

I smiled sadly and nodded. Her hand reached out for mine, and I stepped back. “Be ready for some crazy flying soon.” I said and pulled the lever to deactivate the security door, then hit the button to close the normal door.

I walked over to Luxea's room and pushed the door chime button. I watched her get up from the bed and walk over to the door, then it opened and I saw her face was soaked from tears. She didn't say anything as I stepped into the room and closed the door, then I took her into my arms and held her while she cried. Not everyone could handle it when they knew they had intentionally ended someone's life.

It didn't matter if they were an alien or not.

*

Master Kara Moor had been home on Ulathall for only a day after she had reported what happened with Ullir and about losing him, when she was called for a private audience with The Wise One. She prepared herself to be seen formally and went to his office to wait. After almost an hour, the over eleven foot tall alien came into the office and walked over to sit behind the desk.

He can't have a chair back there. Kara thought as The Wise One sat down and it left him at the same height that a normal person would be if they sat down behind a desk. She quickly used Detect Presence and saw that he sat in the lotus position on the floor and there was no chair.

“My height can be imposing to some, so I do this to make them comfortable.” The Wise One said.

What do you do about your face? Kara thought as she tried not to stare at the giant fly-like head with the large segmented eyes, then she admonished herself mentally for thinking that thought. That was Ullir's distorted view, not mine. The Wise One is just another person and not a monster.

“You are probably wondering why I called you for a meeting.” The Wise One said, and she nodded. “You are a member of the council, and yet I believe you are unaware of some of the things going on around you.”

“What things?” Kara asked, then closed her mouth with a snap. “My apologies for interrupting you.”

The Wise One coughed a chuckle. “It's quite all right, Master Moor.” He said. “One of the misconceptions you have is that we stole from Ullir.”

Kara opened her mouth to respond, then closed it.

“After you returned from your mission, Ullir was to be given back his things after his coming of age ceremony.”

“His parents' Light swords were missing the focusing crystals, making them useless.” Kara said.

“He was to be given new ones.”

“The old ones were still taken unnecessarily and can't be readjusted to their previous owners.” Kara said. “The last things he had of his parents were ruined by The Order, so he was justified in being upset about that.”

“We can't change decades of policy for one child.” The Wise One sighed. “Rogue weapons were confiscated and disabled.”

“They didn't have them when they were killed and the Light swords hadn't been used in years.” Kara said, then she sighed. “Arguing semantics isn't going to get us anywhere.”

“It can get us to understand what happened.”

“I already understand what happened.” Kara said. “We wronged him, he wronged us back, and then he left.” She said. “Unfortunately, he's also committed several crimes and needs to be brought to justice.”

“His bounty has been increased since the murders on the resort planet.” The Wise One said.

“Against my advice.” Kara said. “Having more unscrupulous people out looking for him is not the best way to find him.”

“I made them add the stipulation that he must be brought in alive.” The Wise One said.

“He's going to fight as hard as he can before he will let anyone bring him back here.” Kara said. “All you're doing is sending people to their deaths.”

“Do you really think he will kill anyone that comes after him?” The Wise One asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“Then why are you trying to find him first?”

“He didn't kill me when he had the chance.” Kara said. “I know he has feelings for me that will make him hesitate, and I'll use that disadvantage against him.”

“What about you?” The Wise One asked, and her eyes widened. “Will you hesitate against him?”

“No.” Kara said. “Unlike him, I can divorce my feelings from my actions. I will accomplish this task.”

“All you need is a clue to where he is, then?” The Wise One asked.

“I've hit a dead end, and he could be going anywhere.” Kara said. “I was so close when we reached the station where his parents...” ...were killed. She thought. “...where his ship was stored.”

“Then it's time you knew something else about the council.” The Wise One said. “I reviewed the footage of what happened, and I know you were unconscious for Ullir's conversation with the rest of the council.”

“I haven't had a chance to look at it myself.” Kara said. “I left to chase after him as soon as I recovered.”

“I know.” The Wise One said and held up one of the small tracking devices. “These are embedded into all clothing, items, and technology that everyone possesses.” He put it on the desk and rolled the small pill-shaped device over to her. “It's a tracking device.”

Kara picked it up and looked at it. “But... how would...”

“With one, we can find what system you're in. With two, we can find the planet or station. With three, we can triangulate your position and pinpoint exactly where you are.”

Kara caught her breath. “You can find anyone with these.”

“If they didn't find them and removed them.” The Wise One said. “(Undecipherable) found and removed all of the ones on him and his apprentice.”

“Which is why you can't find him so easily now.” Kara said, then her eyebrows raised up. “Don't tell me that...”

The Wise One took out a datapad that had been modified to receive the proper signal. “Ullir was covered in them when he left.”

“You could have found him at any time?!?” Kara asked, surprised.

“If you hadn't rushed off, we could have given you this before you left.”

Kara closed her eyes and sighed. “You're doing this to show me that I did let my emotions dictate my actions.”

“Partially.” The Wise One said and Kara opened her eyes and looked at him. “I also want you to find him as soon as possible.”

“But...”

“You were very close that last time. Even closer than you thought.” The Wise One said.

“What? How?”

“Ullir's ship jumped out just before you jumped in.”

“N-no.” Kara closed her eyes again. “I just missed him.”

“Now you can track him easily... or not.” The Wise One said.

“What does that mean?” Kara asked and opened her eyes to look at the datapad. “There's nothing showing up on this.”

“Which means he's currently in hyperspace.” The Wise One said. “You're lucky that it keeps track of where the last signal originated from.”

Kara brought up the information and saw that it was a small system, just off the main trade routes. “I'll go there right away.” She said and stood up. “If I'm lucky, he'll drop out of hyperspace before then and I'll see where he's going.”

“Don't rely on the tracking device too much.” The Wise One cautioned. “You know some jumps can take a long time.”

“Like the long haul transport did.” Kara said and nodded. “I understand.”

“Let the device guide you, not direct you.”

“Yes, I know. Even if he appears in normal space, there's no guarantee he's going to stay there for any length of time for me to go there and get him.”

The Wise One nodded. “Be careful, and go with the blessing of the Goddess.”

“Thank you, Wise One.” Kara said and bowed, then left the office at a fast walk.

“She's still letting her emotions rule her actions.” A woman said as she stepped out of the hidden alcove. “She completely missed the fact that she can be tracked as well.”

The Wise One nodded. “I can only hope that her persistence can sway Ullir back to neutrality and away from hating us.”

“I saw the footage of that council meeting, too.” The woman said. “I warned you that he remembered everything.”

“You did, and I tried to ease his fears and his concerns.” The Wise One said. “I miscalculated and made no impact on him whatsoever.”

“Oh, I wouldn't say that.” The woman said. “Lashina really took a liking to him.”

“How are the arrangements for her mission coming along?” The Wise One asked.

“I've already set up her tour schedule and she'll be leaving on the transport next week.” The woman said. “It took some doing to arrange one week layovers at all the outposts along the trade routes like she wanted me to.”

“She's been harassing us for years to give her a tour of some of The Order churches.” The Wise One said. “We've kept her here on the home world long enough that she deserves a break.” He chuckled, which was just a coughing sound. “I'm sure she realizes that she'll be working during that time as well.”

“She does, and she's looking forward to it.” The woman said. “She nearly tackled me when I gave her the itinerary and the list of appointments she already had.”

The Wise One laughed, and it sounded like he was throwing up. “Yes, I believe she would enjoy meeting all those people that she first met when they were students here.”

“Speaking of that... there's still no sign of (Undecipherable).”

“Not even at the Shara Nebula?” The Wise One said and chuckled.

The woman chuckled, too. “Ullir was right. Not only was (Undecipherable) not there, he had never been there. It was a false lead.”

“Ullir is quite smart to have guessed that... and about our tracking devices.” The Wise One said.

“Do you think he's doing the same thing?” The woman asked, and The Wise One shook his head.

“We put two of the tracking devices into the unmarked credit chips that his parents owned, and locked them with an Order chip reader. He won't be able to use them or throw them away until he looks at their contents.”

“That was very sneaky of you.”

“I was being pragmatic.” The Wise One said. “When he finds out how much is really on those chips... well, we'll find out when he decides to use them. We'll get a notification right away.” He said and took out a datapad that was configured in the same way as the one he had given Kara. “She will bring our wayward child home. I know she will.”