The explorer pod detached on command. At least something still worked. Hal fired the rockets briefly to push away from Sora toward the unknown. He could see the Sora looming next to them through a porthole. It had gone completely dark. There were no indicator lights on the open hanger doors. The navigation lights on the hull were out as well. Another few minutes and he doubted they could have launched the pod. There would be no coming back to the Sora.

"Coordinates?" he asked, turning to Widhbo.

"They'll find us," Widhbo said arranging his feathers.

"How do you know that?" asked Etaine. "Shouldn't we go in their general direction?"

"We're in orbit. That's a direction," Widhbo replied. "The best direction by my calculation is to stay in orbit around Dezba."

"He's right," said Hal. "They can track us."

Etaine looked at Hal and shrugged. "So we sit here and wait until they pluck us out of empty space?"

"We need to conserve power," Hal answered. "What else can we do?"

"Enjoy my delightful company," said Widhbo. He smiled at Etaine.

"You know it's creepy when you smile like that."

"No. Creepy is that mask you were wearing," Widhbo said.

"I suggest we sit in silence. Talking uses power," Hal said, hoping to cut short their disagreement. Greyla had never gotten along very well with Widhbo, nor would Etaine.

"I have my own power," said Widhbo. "I can talk all I want."

"Where do you get so much..." Etaine started to ask, but Widhbo shushed her and placed a feather lightly across her mouth.

"Silence. Waste of energy. I'll tell a story to pass the time."

Etaine went from clear to blue, then red, then dusky purple."

"Turn off the visual simulation, Hal. It will save a lot of power and we won't have to look at one another," Widhbo said.

"I'm not listening to you either," Etaine said as their vision was shut down.

"I dropped by the ships power core and sucked up the last drop. Once the capacitors are empty, the Sora and everyone on board will be out of energy and effectively dead. Now, the story I promised. In another time and space..."

Etaine emitted a loud shriek which ended in a sob, "They're all gone! You killed them!"

"It was the logical thing to do. We have their files," Widhbo said.

"He's right," Hal said. "I wouldn’t have thought of it, but shutting down the ship is the best thing. You're the one who wanted to blow it up as I recall."

"You're heartless savages. Both of you,' Etaine wailed. "Now you've killed Jejliard along all the rest."

"Etaine, be sensible," Hal said. "Jejliard's been dead a long while. If your plan with Widhbo had worked, we could have released Tajlon and restored Jejliard to the man he used to be. We would have control of the ship instead of that monster. But it didn't. This is plan 'B'."

"I don't want to be sensible. Greyla was sensible and it did her no good at all."

“You’re still talking. Shush!." Widhbo said. “Anyway, in another time and space I lived in a different dimension, a universe of my peers. Beings of pure energy. It was a grand existence. No petty problems such as you create for yourselves in this universe."

"This is not a petty problem, Widhbo. We barely escaped," Etaine interrupted. “And I don’t want to shush.”

"You haven't escaped yet. I will admit since my arrival in this dimension, you are experiencing bigger problems," Widhbo replied.

"Well, that's nothing to celebrate," Hal said.

"Are you saying this is all your fault?" Etaine asked.

Widhbo made a pretentious shrug in the darkness, his wings crushing the others against the side of the pod. "In a round about fashion. I introduced the technology that allowed the inhabitants of Beldora to destroy themselves. They might never have been clever enough to do that on their own."

Hal pushed feathers away from his face. "And the evil presence which forced us to abandon our Sora? Is that your doing as well?"

"That would be from the spaceship that brought me here, which you named Sora. It was never your ship. Of course without the submarine technology I provided, it would still be lying undiscovered on the bottom of your ocean on Beldora, so technically my fault again."

"Right. You brought all this upon us didn’t you? I thought you said you didn't have problems in your dimension," Etaine countered.

"I said no petty problems. It’s like being on a vacation without end in your world. No real threats."

"Quiet, I'm getting a signal," Hal said. He brought their vision back online. The communicator panel was flashing. "I think they've found us already."

"Let me handle things, Hal," Widhbo said squirming about in the tight space to reach the panel. He entered a string of commands with his nimble talons, sent out the message and waited. Another signal came back a few seconds later. Widhbo translated it into their native tongue.

"Rescue approved and initiated. Do nothing. ETA in .005 orbits."

"How long?" asked Hal.

"That would be two and one-half of your standard sleep cycles by my calculations," Widhbo said. "I have a solid lock on their position now. I'm sorry to leave you love birds alone, but I should pop over and the meet the locals."

A brief waveform disturbance went through the small cabin and Widhbo was gone. He teleported from the pod leaving them with one last whoosh of his feathers.

"I hate it when he does that," Etaine said stretching out her from where she had plastered her translucent body against the wall. "But, I do appreciate the extra room. And the lack of Widhbo in general."

"I'm just glad someone found us before it was too late," Hal said. "Now we have to hope Widhbo doesn't mess things with our new friends out there."

"I'm sure they'll be delighted with his company." Etaine said. She laid her head on Hal's shoulder and snuggled against him.

She giggled and gazed up at Hal, her eyes glowed a piercing green. "Widhbo called us love birds. I don't mind if we're on again. No promises where Greyla's concerned."

Hal winced. "Let's take this slow, okay? I can sort through your files and try to make some repairs while we're waiting to be rescued."