Sarah stayed on the bridge until she got hungry and went to the kitchen to grab a snack. The kitchen was near the infirmary and she could hear Ash, Mel, and Heather discussing something, but the words were unclear. She grabbed herself some biscuits and a glass of water. Once she took care of those, the intercom crackled to life.

"Attention everyone, we've entered Paradisian airspace and will be landing in Lum in a few minutes. Please put your trays in the upright position and hold on tight. We're going to be docking for repairs."

By the time Sarah got to her room and gathered up all her things, the ship had landed. Dave didn't seem to have as much trouble docking this time, but he also wasn't being tailed by a gunship either. Once the ship stopped moving, she went up to the cockpit. Dave got up and limped over to the radio.

"Since the Professor is supposed to send a car to pick you up, I'll just call ahead to customs and see if it's there. No use in you just standing there if it's not." He leaned against the table "I miss my cane..."

At least Customs here would probably be nicer than the Alemanians had been. Paradisans actually liked Libans or at least didn't dislike them too much. She let him take care of that. Much to her relief, the car was there. He put the transponder back.

"Thank you for everything, Captain Dave." Sarah tightened her grip on her luggage handle. "I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "No trouble at all! If anything, we dragged you into our mess. It was a pleasure meeting you, Sarah." He removed his hand. "In the future, just call me Dave. I think we're past the formality stage."

"Tell the rest thank you too. And tell Mi.. Claire that I hope her arm heals quickly."

"I'll pass that on. Good luck with your studies and let us know if you need anything. We'll be staying here for a couple more days." Dave assured her. "No telling how long repairs will take with Claire down an arm."

With one final wave, Sarah departed from the Echelon and made her way toward Customs. It wasn't too hard to find, mostly thanks to signs pointing the way in at least four different languages. But as she walked there, something seemed off to her. The docks were pretty quiet. Yes, there were some workers but compared to the port she had come through in Aboloan, this was almost abandoned. And it wasn't that early or late either, so the docks should've been bustling with people. And the few people she did see seemed to be in a hurry, and not the type of hurry that indicated they were on a tight schedule. No, this was the type of hurry like they were anxious about something. It reminded her of when it stormed at her uncle's and he and his family and farm hands had to rush to put up the animals before it hit.

The Customs office had a light on, so at least they were opened. Sarah pushed the door open and the bell jingled. But the person sitting at the desk was not a Customs' official. No, it was a man in a Syrealian army uniform. He had a blond goatee that was close to being completely white (his hair was already from what little she could see) and he held a smoking cigarette in his hand. She could only guess that he was somewhere in his fifties or early sixties. A dark-haired soldier stood next to him. He was somewhere in his twenties. No doubt he was the aid of the one sitting behind the desk. She couldn't tell what rank the man was.

He took a drag of his cigarette. He stated something in Paradisan. She caught the word door but not much else. It was probably due to his Syrealian accent. So, she figured he was telling her to close the door. Sarah softly closed the door and waited to be acknowledged. The young soldier spotted her first and leaned down to whisper in his commander's ear. It still took him a bit to look up from his paper.

He indicated the chair. His Paradisan was very halting and she could barely make out the instruction. Fortunately, he was the type who used a lot of body language. She could tell he was bored with this already by the way he didn't even put down the paper.

Sarah managed to get that out at least. She removed the folder and put it on the desk. He inclined his head at the aid, who nodded and picked up the luggage.

He explained as he turned the page on the newspaper.

But by his reaction (which was slightly pausing in his reading of the paper) indicated that he didn't. Still, he read on until he finished with his paper. Sarah tried to peak at the headline, but by the time she plucked up enough courage to, he folded it and dumped it in the trash. She had to wonder if it was written in Paradisan or Syrealian. He could barely speak Paradisan, she couldn't imagine he could read it much better. He looked up at her and slid the folder toward him.

He questioned. She noticed that he hadn't opened the folder yet.

"No," she replied in Aboloanian. Maybe he would be able to speak that a bit better. The conversation would go a lot smoother if they could communicate more clearly than they were at the moment. "Do you speak Aboloanian?"

"Somewhat.” He opened the folder, but didn't take the papers out. "Where from? Aboloan?"

She shook her head. "No sir. I'm from Liba."

The one digging through her luggage paused as the man at the desk frowned. He pulled out the papers and started looking over them.

"Purpose of visiting Paradis?"

"I'm going to study linguistics at the University." Sarah had a feeling that he was looking for a reason to deny her entry. "May I ask what a Syrealian officer is doing running Paradisian Customs?"

"Lin-gwis-tics." He repeated instead. "What that?"

"The study of language."

"Which?"

"Any. It's like learning the parts of a machine to understand how the whole thing works." Sarah wasn't sure he got it, but he nodded. After some more looking, he put the papers back.

"Papers good." Then the folder went in the wastebasket. "But more students not needed. Especially Libans. Go home."

"Could I speak with a Paradisian Customs worker?" Sarah questioned. "Last I looked, Syreal had no say on who Paradis allowed in, if you don't mind me saying so, sir."

"Sergeant Ivanov, show Liban out." He grunted. "Throw in ocean if have to."

"What about her luggage?" The Sergeant's Aboloanian was much better than his CO's. "It has no contraband."

"Throw in ocean too. Don't need any."

Sergeant Ivanov nodded and shut her things. He brought them over to her and whispered, "Don't worry, I won't really throw you or your things into the ocean. I'll just escort you back to...what ship did you come in on?"

"The Echelon. Are you sure there's not anyone else I can talk to?" Someone that was actually in charge and had authority, but she wasn't going to say that out loud. She doubted that these were the people that Dave had talked to.

The door slammed open and a man with the label of port authority came in. He glared at the man at the desk.

"Colonel Smirnov, one of my people told me that you kicked them from their post and said you would take over their job." She noticed the Paradisian was speaking in Aboloanian. "Last I looked, you were just helping with security, not taking over custom duties! Get out from behind that desk and out of this office or I'll report you!"

The Colonel got up. "Customs system greatly insecure. Was merely helping." He walked to the door. "If let in people like that, no wonder country needs other country to support security."

"Out!" He declared, pointing to door. "And next time, no smoking in the office! We have designated smoking areas for a reason!"

Once the left, the man sighed and rubbed his head. "My apologies, Mademoiselle. Ever since the Syrealians have come, they've been nothing but a headache for me. You must be Sarah Hidalgo, the Liban student Professor Dupont is bringing in. The car's waiting for you. Let me just make sure your paperwork is in order."

"Thank you, monsieur. It's in the trash. Colonel Smirnov threw it away."

"Of course he did." Fortunately for the custom's officer, there wasn't much trash in it. "I hope he didn't frighten you too much. He's not that pleasant of a person. Let me guess, he threatened to throw you in the ocean along with your luggage." Sarah nodded. "You're not the first one he's done that to today. Fortunately, he has not been able to toss anyone into the ocean. He did lob a suitcase into it though. I told him we don't have the occupation quotas like they do in Syreal."

He started looking through her papers.

"Sorry to bother you, but are there many Syrealian soldiers around?" If there were, her stay would be a very unpleasant one. Sarah had heard that the soldiers were rather zealous in expressing their patriotism compared to civilians. "And why are they here?"

"No, just around the docks and borders. And in their infinite wisdom..." That phrase was as sarcastic as he could make it. "Our government decided that we needed some help to strengthen our borders and security with the Aleman League next door gaining so much momentum. The Aboloans can't spare any land troops and Espan...well, they're having internal issues. And Tusice...well, they're Tusice. Their leaders are more likely to join the invasion force than protect another country against it if they were offered enough money. So, in their mind, Syreal was the only one we could turn too. Never mind the fact that other countries they've offered the same protection deal have been completely taken over by them."

He put the papers back in. "But you shouldn't worry too much. It'll take time for that to happen if it does. They won't find Paradis as welcoming as those other countries were. I'm sure if things get too dicey, the Professor will have you sent home right away."

She stayed silent as he handed the papers back to her. If she had known the situation was that unstable, she would've never agreed to come. But then everything had been set up months ago. Even someone who was astute with politics probably couldn't foresee something like this happening. The Professor probably had no reason to worry about Syreal back then.

"Just keep an eye out and you'll be fine. It's not like anyone can tell someone's from Liba just looking at them."

That much was true. And coupled with the fact that she could speak Espanese and had some in her background, she could probably pass for one if she needed to.

"Thank you for your help, monsieur." She offered him a kind smile in thanks. "Which car is it?"

"The grey one with the open trunk. Do you need any help with your luggage?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, that won't be necessary. I can get it."

Just as the custom's official said, she found the grey car with the trunk open.

"Mademoiselle Hidalgo I presume." The driver stated. "Please allow me.” She let him take the bags but got in the car herself out of habit. The driver shrugged and got in.

As they drove along, she stared out the window. There were more people out and about than there were at the docks. Sidewalk cafes were full, people were walking around, and she even saw a couple of people with easels. She suspected there was more by the river. That was what everyone came to see in Lum.

"When did the Syrealians come?" She questioned the driver. "I was just in Aboloan and I never heard a word."

"The telegraph lines have been down, so news hasn't been getting around. But they've only been here for a couple of days and you don't see them outside the docks."

The unsaid yet hung in the air. Sarah didn't ask him questions after that and he didn't speak to her until they stopped.

"The Professor's office is in that building, Room 24." He pointed it out as he got her luggage out. "Do you want me to take you there? Some people's Aboloanian isn't very good..."

"I can get it. I can read Paradisian a lot better than I can speak it." So once again, she found herself carrying her things around. She would be glad that she had a place to keep the things and not drag them around everywhere.

It wasn't that hard to locate his office. Sarah was about to knock on the door when she heard voices inside, very loud arguing voices. Maybe she shouldn't interrupt. But she needed to check in with the professor. From the sound of it, he might welcome the interruption. Sarah knocked on the door and all the yelling ceased. The door opened and she found the bespectacled face of Professor Jacques Dupont peeking out from behind it.

"Ah, Miss Hidalgo, you've finally arrived. I was beginning to get concerned you'd been seriously inconvenienced at the port! Please, come in!"

"I can wait for you to finish your discussion..."

"Nonsense! We were finished anyways!" The Professor pushed her into his office.

In his office stood a Syrealian woman. She was dressed very nicely and carried herself like she was someone important. She didn’t seem too happy. She said something in Paradisian. The Professor answered back and the woman left.

"That was the Syrealian Ambassador, Misha Ivanova." He explained as he offered Sarah a seat. "We were having a minor disagreement. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"No sir, I'm fine." She took the offered seat and then something occurred to her. "Have you gotten a telegram recently?"

"I did but I didn't have time to read it. " He started searching through all the papers on his desk. "It's here somewhere...."

Sarah spotted it and picked it up. "Here you go." She handed it off to him. "But maybe you shouldn't bother to read it. It's not applicable to now anyways."

"But it's marked priority..." The Professor opened the envelope and skimmed over the telegram. "Oh dear. There must've been something wrong with whoever wrote up this telegram. I think the language is Aboloanian, but I can't tell. They even spelled Jaeger wrong! And a ransom for...you? But you're here..."

"The Echelon was attacked by pirates on her way here. We got captured by one Captain Yager. He has a very unique dialect, if you couldn't tell. And yes, that's how he spells his name."

The Professor put the telegram down. "Yes, I've heard of a pirate captain that fits that description. Are you sure his name is not Jaeger?"

"Yes. But obviously, we escaped him. We ran into Alemanians afterwards but they let us go after questioning. Then a Syrealian Colonel threatened to throw me into the ocean."

Professor Dupont shook his head. "Well, you've had quite an adventure today, Sarah. I apologize for everything that you had to go through. But don't worry. Here the only trouble you may have is of an academic nature and I know you can handle that. I'll have someone show you to your room and you can get settled in." He handed her a packet. "Here's your schedule and the rules for the university. Let me know if you have any questions."

It appeared that she had quite a bit of reading to do that night. But Sarah didn't mind. She'd take that over pirates or glaring army people any day.