Colliding Worlds

The darkness of the room was more than welcome. With the woman out of the room Illya could finally grimace and not worry about her seeing all this. Illya took a sharp breath as he moved to lay down a little more in the bed. His knees were bent to help him fit on the short, narrow little bed. Whether he meant to moan or not it came out anyway throughout the night.

By morning Illya was covered in sweat again and he could feel all the dirt that had crumbled off during the night scraping against his skin. Pulling himself out of the bed took almost more energy than he had. Illya stumbled into the bathroom and he tore the cupboard open underneath the sink only to discover that with all the money they had she still hadn't purchased buckets. He would have to talk to her about that. Even now she didn't seem to know how to take care of things. Emptying the garbage bin he ran some cool water in the bucket and a little soap so he could wash down and get a little cleaner. He barely got stripped and he already started to feel sick, sliding his pants back on he left his shirt and the bucket where they were at in the bathroom and wandered back to the sleeping quarters.

Mid afternoon came and Illya didn't bother hiding the fact that his arm was causing significant pain. His entire hand was swollen on that side and his arm. Some swelling had begun to crawl up into his shoulder and it made moving even that part of his arm painful. Within a few hours the swelling had progressed to even parts of his chest and back. Despite the fact that the swelling looked minor it felt like a lot.

Illya couldn't find any possible position to lay that didn't cause some kind of discomfort. Groaning loudly he shifted in the bed again. Eventually he found it was just easier to lay on the floor with the pads from both beds laid out. It was nearing evening when he decided to get some water. Grabbing a bottle and heading back to the room was the only safe way to do things. He knew by the sweating and the fact that it felt like he was freezing that the fever had become worse. Part way back to the room Illya started feeling odd.

It was impossible to pin point exactly what was wrong. Bumping into the wall he grunted and then slid down it till he was sitting in the middle of the corridor. No matter how much he struggled his legs wouldn't work and he finally gave up and just set the water bottle aside and laid on the floor. While he was laying on the floor his legs started to spasm and then the spasms began to move up his body. Illya's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he convulsed on the floor for a few more seconds before he started to become foggily aware of his surroundings. At first he didn't recognize the place he was at or any sounds. After a few more moments of half coherent thrashing he gingerly got to his feet and left the bottle behind as he stumbled back to the bed on the floor. Illya noticed his one knee was hurting and he figured he must have hit it on something. Obviously whatever she gave him didn't work as well as his medicine at home would have. Normally he could avoid the fever seizures with a strong tea of desert herbs and roots.

A while after he'd had a nap he heard Calysta in the room and he waved her off with one hand. He still felt awful and he could have sworn that he was starting to get that weird feeling before another seizure. Illya continued to lay in the room and do his best to stay warm and try not to seize. Time had passed so slowly that though it felt like a week had passed he knew Calysta had hurried as fast as she could.

The air outside drifting through the corridors made his muscles cramp up with the cold. The Chip curled under the blanket and he barely noticed when a few men worked together to get him on a cot and started to wheel him into a hospital room. Even the slightest touch to his inflamed arm made him yell and curse. The inflammation had spread far enough that he hurt almost everywhere. There was one thing that sounded like comfort and that was when he heard the doctor say they were going to put him out. To have a few minutes when he didn't know he existed would be heaven.
 
Calysta slept in her pilot's chair for an hour or two before checking on Illya. He had fallen into a fitful sleep and moaned off and on. She wanted to give him more painkillers, but waking him to do it might bring him more agony. Instead, she tip-toed out, stealing the blanket from her bed as she went. It would be the captains chair for her tonight. She spent a an hour attempting to contact home, and listening to the radio channels, trying to hear anything useful. There was nothing but the usual highway chatter and freighter talk.
Checking on the energy outputs of the jump drive and finding them acceptable, she curled up into the blanket hoping sleep would come.

****
A mere 3 hours later, she opened her eyes at the sound of a cry. It took her a moment, for before realized the sound had come from the quarters and she tossed away the blanket immediately and went to check out Illya. She found him asleep, but covered in sweat with his teeth chattering. She worried he might jump at her if she touched him and she didn't want to hurt him, but she wanted to gauge hoe high his fever had gotten.

She crossed the room quietly and put her fingers on his sweaty forehead, wincing at the heat she felt. He was burning up. The fever had grown worse and not better, even with the anti-inflammatory medicine. The puffy redness had crawled its way up his arm and into his shoulder, even evident through his shirt. Patchy red spots had even begun to dot his collar bone. Why was the fever not going down? The medicine had helped for a time, but now his sickness was deteriorating him rapidly. Retrieving the rag he still held in his hand, she wet it again and wiped off his forehead, which had little to no effect. There was nothing else she could do but get him to Detra in time, and hope that she could do more.

"I...I'm sorry Illya," she whispered, "I didn't mean for all of this to happen."

*****

Later in the evening she went to the washroom and found her trash can with a bottom full of water and Illya's shirt in the floor. What on earth had he been doing with her trashcan? How long had it been since he had gotten up? She walked across the corridor to their quarters and cracked the door open. Illya was laying on both of their mattresses in the middle of the cabin floor looking more miserable than ever and groaning in pain as he exhaled. This was something so much more than a simply broken arm and she didnt know what or why.

Calysta had already sent a message to Detra explaining the situation and arranged to have medical personnel standing by when the Gylcryn landed. She left out the detail of what and where Illya had come from, not even giving his name. That missing detail had annoyed the Zkree woman and she argued back and forth via type-message before agreeing to drop the subject. For now.

***

They were less than 4 hours out when she heard a heavy thud come from the hallway as she was finishing up a quick shower. Either the jump drive just gave in, or something else was wrong. She threw on her clothes and stepped into the hall to find a water bottle. "Illya?"
With her hair dripping, she stepped across the hall and picked up the water bottle as she went.

His head barely lifted and his green eyes were delirious as he shivered in the floor. His blanket was thrown off to the side, but she doubted he had the energy to reach it. Despite him waiving at her to leave, she came inside anyways and picked up the blanket, putting it over his shaking form. Is this what he meant by shaking? Illya's feverish eyes did not even seem to register her as she opened the water bottle and held it up to him.

"Drink just-"

Suddenly his eyes rolled back into his head and his body started thrashing uncontrollably. The water bottle was knocked from her hand and she scrambled away, knowing he had no control. Seizures. He had been trying to tell her about possible seizures. She had nothing on the ship that could help him.

When the seizure ended, he seemed to lapse into unconsciousness, which was probably for the best. She put him back on his make shift pallet as best she could, feeling his swollen limbs underneath her fingers, and covered him with the blanket. As she moved every object she could away from his limp form, she estimated their ETA in roughly 2 hours. She would stay and watch him for two more hours.

****

Detra and her medical team met them at the docking zone. The Zkree woman stood wby with her sharp features and tightly pinned, blond hair writing on a clip board as her assistants went into the ship to retrieve Illya.

"I received your status report on the subject's condition," she said, not looking up at Caylsta, "It would help if I knew what species of humanoid he was. My record looks incomplete."

"I don't know, I just found him and he needed help," she lied.

"How very Kaerelean of you," Detra said crisply, "Or is it Terran? Personally, I find cross species studies a bit boring."

Calysta gritted her teeth. She would have taken it more personally, but this was the way Zkree were. They didn't know when to shut up.

Illya was pried from the room yelling at every touch to his swollen skin and as they wheeled him down the ramp, Detra bothered to look up from her notes. Seeing his eyes roll from the pain of being moved made Calysta feel sick herself, but the blond standing next to her simply tutted.

"My, all of that from a broken arm. Fascinating."

She started to walk away into the building, her heels clacking on the white tile floors. "You can help him?" Calysta asked as she followed.

"There are no promises in medical practices."

Calysta rolled her eyes. "In your opinion, do you think you can help him?"

Detra stopped outside a galley door. "It will be a matter of repairing the broken arm and bringing down the fever. I have several well tested methods that should prove effective. First, I will need to anesthetize him to get any work done. It is my understanding from your message that if I help him free of charge you will release me from the favor?'

Calysta sighed. "Yes. It's forgotten. He isn't one of your subjects though. This is not for fun. You're saving his life, nothing more."

The blonde gave her a prim nod and a knowing sort of smile before stepping through the two galley doors. "Oh its all for fun."

****

Calysta waited for several hours in a sterile white, room with plastic chairs as Detra worked on Illya. She paced most of that time, thinking about what would happen to the man, thinking of the Braxions and her last mission. Trying to find some sort of reasoning behind what the slaver had said. Yet she could find no connection.

The familiar clack of high heels came from the hall and the galley doors swung open to reveal Detra. She still had scrubs on as she crossed the room and snatched Calysta up by the arm.

"Do you know what is laying in there on my operating table?"

She stared back at the Zkree woman with cold eyes. "A man. Hopefully one who is still alive."

"His bone density, size, and those green eyes, how could you not see it? He's a Chippeqouti."

A shock of fear ran down her spine, but she kept her face calm and jerked her arm away from Detra. " Chipp-awhat?'

" Chippeqouti," she said, almost excitedly, "They are forbidden to leave their planet. Exiled, according to the data base. Our knowledge on them is so limited. He could be of great value. Where did you find him? Were their more? "

"Detra, he is just a man who needed help. I am grateful that you were willing to do so."

Another knowing smile crept across the woman's face. "You know what he is. If you took him from the planet surface, the penalty is death, you know. I could take him off your hands and he would never be a bother to you. You could go home without a chopping block hovering over your head. We would love to work with him to learn more."

Calysta stepped and looked at the woman in her blue eyes. She knew full well that there was no working with the Zkree. "I don't know what you are talking about, but that man is under Kaerelean Federation protection as part of the Asylum Accord. Any unwanted acts against his person or mine will be viewed as a crime and prosecuted. Do you really want any legal battles? If you do, I also have a pistol in my pocket that could be more persuasive for you to follow our arrangement as planned. I would be well within my authority under the act do what is necessary."

Detra looked back at her with a vicious glare. "A favor is a favor, but once his treatment is complete, I want you out of my hospital."

"Then I suggest you heal him as quickly as possible."

The Zkree woman let out a long breath through her nose, like an angry bull and clenched her fists before walking away.

***

A few minutes later a tall, blonde medical assistance came through the doors and lead her back to a room. Illya was asleep in a large hospital bed with his feet hanging off the end, in a white shift. A large bandage and splint wound its way up his repaired arm and an IV drip was connected to the other wrist as she slept soundly from the anesthesia.

"We repaired his bone using the latest technology and sealed it from any other infections," the assistant said dryly, "He already has some pathogens running through his blood stream, but the mixture in the saline should bring that to a minimum eventually. Assuming he has not contracted something we have not accounted for. The swelling will go down and he will be fine so long as he survives the next day."

The the assistant left her and Illya alone. Calysta sat down across from him in the plastic visitors chair and waited for either him to wake up of for Detra to come at her again.
 
There was still a general sick feeling and a lot of tenderness when Illya woke. He faintly remembered being taken into another room of sorts and that was about it. There was no memory of the last day or so, just the fight and those men that were after Kalizda. Carefully reaching across himself he felt a wrapping of sorts on his arm. Moving his hand up his arm he frowned. It was covering his entire arm and that was going to make things awkward if they made it into a cast later on. Hopefully the Kalizda didn't leave him here all alone. If they weren't far enough out of the system they would maybe cure him, but only enough to be sure he could stand trial and then they would make an example out of him. That was the last thing that anyone back home needed. This sort of event would only make things worse for them.

While his hand traveled up the length of the cast he carefully started to survey the room. No guards, no doctors or nurses and it seemed to be a hospital room of sorts. Illya hadn't seen the inside of a real hospital in so long that he wasn't sure if this was all current day technology or not. At the top of his shoulder his fingers caught on a tube. Turning his head abruptly he saw that a tube was running out of his shoulder and just beyond that he saw Kalida sitting on the chair.

Gingerly Illya moved his hand away from the bandaged arm and he pushed the button on the controller to sit up. "Y-yar not in debt anymore." A weak smirk came to his face. He had gathered she didn't like the concept, but it was still the way he saw it. "Guess yah better take a larger cut from de fight to pay for all dis trouble eh?"

Calysta looked at him with a raised brow. "Not in debt anymore?" she replied, more to herself, than a reply to him. She knew it was the way he saw her, but now he was saying that she was free of that little black book. Grinning, she chuckled at him. "I suppose I should, you have been a fair amount of trouble. I'm used to it now though. "

Quietly he nodded while she processed. In part he suspected that she might decide to just get up and walk away now that everything was clear. Maybe leave him whatever she thought was fair from the fights. Since she didn't leave he decided to venture out with a small request of his own. "I want to learn more. I sign on as a crew member now?" Illya didn't want to go back, because now he'd seen more and there was still more to see. Perhaps enough to give him connections so he could accomplish what he wanted to.

She looked at him, surprised that for once this wasn't a command or an expectation. It was a request. There was still the matter of the bounty on her head, which she didn't fully understand, and the fact that SkyCorp would be waiting for her when they arrived in Federation reach. They had no problem assigning non-Kaereleans aboard their vessels however. it was an encouraged practice among her people to include other races and she did need a copilot. "I have superiors that I have to answer to when we get where we are going," she said honestly, "and I'm not leaving you here. If you want to learn...I will teach you."

Illya nodded in response to her. "I learn." He was already getting tired again and though he wanted to stay awake and ask her more about her superiors he was too tired and drifted off to sleep.

The night passed slowly with nurses in and out of the room every time his temperature would spike or whenever it seemed that his body was experiencing some kind of distress. Regardless of having some improvement Illya was still sick most of the night and restless when the sedatives would wear off. At one point when Kalizda had left for a while he saw a strange nurse come into the room. They were not the nurse that was introduced earlier. Illya laid very still in the bed and pretended to remain sleeping. He hated how the monitor seemed to bleep with every heart beat and it only sped up the pace when his heart started racing. The stranger was coming closer to the bed and when the monitor showed obvious signs of distress the figure disappeared.

Another nurse came into the room and this one he knew. Illya groaned a little when she turned the light on. "Someone was here." Turning his head toward the cabinet he did his best to focus long enough to tell the nurse what happened.

"No...There isn't anyone else that has come into your room. You're right across from the nursing station and I would see it if someone walked into the room." The woman pulled the blankets up over his chest again. "Rest." They were struggling to keep him in a stable condition and it was possible he was seeing things. Reaching into a small cabinet on the wall she took out a needle. "Right now you're sick and I know you hurt. This should just help you calm down and let you sleep a little more. There isn't anyone in here except you and I." With a gentle smile she stuck the needle into the extra port and waited for a few minutes to be sure that it took effect. After only a short time the heart rate got slower and the breathing a little deeper. It seemed to have calmed the patient enough for them to sleep and she walked out of the door again.

*************************************************************

All the swelling had finally left his arm though there was still a significant amount of bruising left and his arm still hurt. The doctor came in with more material and they scanned to be sure that his arm was still holding in the correct placement before starting to wrap his arm with the sleeve to prepare for a cast. To Illya's disappointment it looked like he was going to get a full arm cast and it was going to hold his arm at a bent angle.

Whatever the medicine was that the doctor had given him had almost numbed his arm completely and he didn't mind them touching his arm, or even the process of encasing it in a cast. However, as the staff was finishing the cast and pressing on it to be sure it was firm he could feel the pressure building in his arm and it felt like his finger tips were going to explode. Illya's mouth pulled into a straight line and he remained quiet while they finished with his arm.

"We're going to need you to stay here for at least one more day. After all that and the last 2 days we'd rather know that you really are on the mend and we want to ensure that the sealant we used on the bone worked."

As long as the bone was exposed to other elements in his body he could catch almost as many illnesses as he came into contact with. Usually his body would not display any symptoms of any illness even if he was sick, but like this his bones would allow too much. The bone sealant was an interesting idea and he hoped it worked. The last time Illya had broken a bone it was several weeks before he dared to even set foot outside. Occasionally Illya would look at the cast. There wasn't much to do here in the hospital. He could stare at the walls, watch a broadcast, which most weren't all that interesting, or he could nap.

There was still a sneaking suspicion that someone was in the hospital that shouldn't be. Just the night before Illya woke to a figure standing over his bed with something in their hand. He wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. Looking over at Kalizda he let out a long breath. "We need to go. My arm is fine." When she looked at him he peered toward the doorway. "Someone has been watching us. Dey sneak in here when yah leave even for a few minutes."
 
Illya would drift in an out of sleep and Calysta let him. A nurse would come in and out of the room checking the stats on his monitors and taking his temperature which had spiked and cooled off and on throughout the night. It was obvious when the fever grew high again because his face would flush and he would break into another cold sweat, causing the medical staff to bring in more medicine. At one point he had began to mumble in his fevered sleep and she worried he may slip into another seizure, but another dose of medicine kept the 'shakes' at bay.

She didn't like leaving the room, considering Detra knew what he was and her habits when it came to pursuing medical advances. She couldn't be trusted. At point in the night a nurse came over to her and beckoned her into the hallway. There was no one here with them save for her and the night nurse on duty. Everyone else had gone home for the night. With a cautious glance, at Illya who had lapsed into another fever and lay sleeping, she followed the nurse into the hallway.

"What is it?" she asked the fair haired nurse as he flipped through a chart.

"Just somethings you should know about post-op care," the nurse replied casually, "His species have a unique immune system..."

She listened as the nurse explain how apparently Illya's bones housed his ability to fight infection, but they knew very little the beyond that. It was all interesting information, and now his strength and size made much more sense. He finished by telling her that Illya would be weak against any pathogens until the seal in his arm was proven effective. Bringing him aboard the ship would put him at risk for another infection considering all the foreign illnesses he could come across. Calysta sighed at the prospect of staying here longer, not with so much else happening, but if it helped him recover to stay she could hardly argue.

When the nurse was done, she went back to the room to find Illya sleeping more soundly than before, his head lolled to the side and his heart rate relaxed. Hopefully he would continue to rest like that.

*******

Calysta sat back in the plastic chair, legs stretched out and arms crossed, her chin dropped to her chest. She looked as though she were a sleep, but she was merely closing her eyes. Watching Illya glare at his arm wrapped in a cast had become tiring and his restlessness was beginning to sink into her attitude as well. He had not been the best patient, but he could have been much worse considering how much trouble she knew he was capable of causing. A small smile drifted over her lips as she thought of just how much trouble the man had been since their meeting. A collision more like. Two head strong people butting against another at every turn.

"We need to go. My arm is fine."

Illya spoke and she cracked her eyes open.

"Someone has been watching us. Dey sneak in here when yah leave even for a few minutes."

Calysta sat up at his words and her eyes darted from the doorway, then back to him. She had only left him alone in small increments. Long enough to use the washroom and speak with a nurse occasionally and someone was coming in purposely while she wasn't there? Getting up, she walked over to his bed and pretended to adjust a pillow. "Did you see their face, Illya?" she whispered, "And your arm may be fine but your fever is still spiking sometimes. You may have more seizures."

It was frustrating to have the woman tell hi that he was still having fever spikes. It was almost like hearing the nurse all over again. Almost like they assumed he was seeing things. "No I didn't see da face." Illya sighed. "Et is a man and he's shorter dan meh. Its not da fever."

She frowned. "I'm not saying I don't believe you. I'm saying I wouldn't put it past the Zkree to do something like that, but if I take you back to the ship not well enough...you could be even more sick." There was something foul going on here, and she was more than ready to be done with the hospital, but she didn't want to risk his life again either. Then again they could be doing anything to him if they stayed. Sighing, she looked at Illya in his eyes, "We're getting out of here. Can you walk?"

Flashing Kalizda a doubtful look he waited for her to finish. Of course she was going to get worried about him getting even more sick and somehow she had justified it by saying that Zkree might have done this. Why would they want to do something like that. If it was a hospital they shouldn't be making patients think crazy things and then deny that they were the ones causing all the trouble. Finally it seemed that staring at her long enough made for a more acceptable offer. Illya carefully got to his feet. "Meh legs aren't broke. I'll walk."

"Its a good thing, because you'd be awfully hard to carry," she remarked, "They cut your clothes from you when they did surgery, let me go find something. If someone comes in here...yell."

She left his side and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Since he was awake, he could at least call for help if anyone came into the room. There was a laundry room on this floor not far from the room. The nurse at the desk eyed her as she walked by, trying to keep her pace casual.
"Anything I can help you with?" he asked in a flat tone.

"Not at all, just needed to stretch my legs."

The nurse shrugged and went back to his work as she walked down the hall a little faster and around the corner until she found the small laundry room. There were baskets of clean white scrubs to the right by the drying machine. They would ridiculously small on him, but it was better than running to the ship covered only in a shift. She grabbed the largest set she could find and turned to leave when she was met by Detra in the door way. The woman wore her standard lab coat and heels, but a particular look of viciousness glinted in her eyes as she blocked the door way.

"You needed a change of clothes, I see," Detra said.

Calysta gripped the bundle in her hands tightly. "Yeah. Fresh ones are always nice."

"Interesting," she sighed, "Those do not seem to be your size."

Her mouth went dry. She felt trapped in the tiny laundry room and with someone who could be highly unpredictable.

"They're not. Now, if you'll excuse me."

She started to walk toward the door, giving Detra no choice but to move out of the way or be touched by a half blood. The blonde stepped to the side, and Calysta kept her eyes firmly on the woman. As she passed, the faintest trace of a smirk passed over the doctors pale lips and she reached up, driving a needle into her forearm. Burning started immediately as she dropped the clothes and wrenched the needle from her arm.

"You're not taking him anywhere," Detra said with a chilling smile, "We could use him to advance our medical fields so much and you delivered him right to us. And since you seem so unwilling to leave him here you can join him. You will make an excellent subject for a friend of mine. "

Calysta growled, as the burning started to spread and panic mixed with anger threatened to take over. She had to stay calm...no matter what...whatever Detra had injected her with burned and would only spread with every beat of her heart.

A crashing sound came from down the hall in Illya's direction. They had been waiting for them to separate and it was clear now that this had been a set up ever since Detra had discovered what he was. She forgot the sick doctor and ran down the hall, as the burning began to spread to her chest. They were going to get out of this mad house, but there was little time before whatever she had been injected with took hold.

Slamming into the closed door, she fumbled with the handle until the door opened, flinging her inside. "Illya we have...to go now!"
 
Illya narrowed his eyes slightly when she gave him instructions to yell if anyone came into his room. "I'm awake, I just hit dem if I don't know who dey are." With a little grumble he finally gave in. "Yah'll know if I need help." He wasn't going to give her the pleasure of yelling for her to come save him, Illya did have a mild case of pride when it came to that sort of thing. A noise and banging around would be enough.

Of course she had to go get clothing instead of the two of them heading out together. Illya would have just as soon pretended to be a patient being discharged and seen how far they could get. If there really was someone in the hospital making trouble they always waited till they were separate to do anything and that made him a little nervous. He was still a bit slow sometimes putting his thoughts into words when it came to the trader's language. Though he had been improving there was always that slight delay and he knew that there would be no stopping Kalizda when she had her mind made up to get him something to wear besides the nightgown thing. It looked ridiculous and he let out a sigh as he sat on the edge of the bed.

After only a few minutes he started to feel a little anxious. How long could it take her to find clothing. She could have just stolen from the dirty laundry pile. Illya wasn't one to have qualms about dirty clothing if it was for an escape or disguise of sorts. Not that there would be any disguising himself here. Most of the folk that he'd seen were lighter skinned and had light hair with a finer bone structure. Pushing off the bed with one arm he sighed again and began to pace the room. Maybe there was something wrong or maybe the laundry was on the other side of the hospital. It seemed to be a pretty big place if they could give him a room this big. The longer it took her the more anxious Illya started to become. Irritably he pulled the iv bag stand with as he paced the floor. Finally Illya sat on the edge of the bed again. There wasn't time to just sit around. Something was wrong and if they were getting out of here early he would need all these needles out of his arm before he could go anywhere.

Since the bleeping monitor thing alerted nurses of stuff Illya chose to simply leave that one for last. Pulling the first needle out of his arm was difficult. Illya tilted his arm and as hard as he tried to adjust his broken arm he could only raise it or lower it, but there was no other mobility. Somehow he felt like he had to stretch his other arm and crook it at an odd angle just so his fingers from the broken arm could reach. Illya's swollen finger tips barely grasped the needle and he pulled on it slowly. A small trickle of blood started to run. It would have to wait for later. As for all the tap stuck to his arm he figured he could remove that later. Right now the most important thing was to get unhooked and get out of here. At the very last Illya pulled the little monitor off his finger and he noticed the machine started into a constant bleep. Stepping over the first bit of the debris that Illya had tossed to the floor he noticed that he didn't have his boots. Peering under the bed and then around the other edge he spotted a brown bag and inside were his boots. Since he still hadn't heard from Kalizda he needed just a moment to get his shoes so he could move faster and hopefully that would give her time to get back here.

Pulling the last double knot on his left boot tightly he stood up and started to clump his way to the door in his boots and hospital gown. Before he could get to the door it creaked open and a familiar form appeared. It was approximately the size of the man that would visit at night and he was dressed like a nurse. Illya instantly began to look around the room for anything that he could use. There had to be something. Jerking the curtain closed in front of the man Illya took the moment of distraction to race for the bed. There was plenty of other things like the IV stand that he could swing with one hand easily. Otherwise he didn't have a lot for weapons.

The nurse pushed the curtain aside just in time to see that he was faced with an angry Chip and the IV stand pointed at him like a spear. Before he could yell or call for help he was bashed over the head.

Illya saw one immediate flaw with his plan. All the crashing would surely draw extra attention. Scrambling over to where the nurse laid unconscious on the ground Illya pulled the pants off and slipped into the scrubs. They were short on his legs, but that was hardly a concern when he was faced with the possibility of a death penalty. There was still so much more to do. Anxiously he gathered up a few more things and tried to shove the nurse's body into the bathroom or one of the closets. Somewhere that he wouldn't be immediately discovered.

Just as he finished shoving the body into a corner and pulling the curtain around him the door opened again. Illya swung towards the door and he spotted a pale looking Kalizda. "Ok." Tucking the last bit of the hospital gown into the top of the scrub pants that he could reach Illya rushed out the door with a triangle of the gown sticking out one side of his pants. They were only part way down the hall when he heard the nurses begin to yell to each other about the different rooms. Were they looking for Kalizda too? The two of them stumbled down the hallway together. Illya wasn't moving as fast as he wanted to. For whatever reason it seemed that Kalizda was getting slower and slower. Then he spotted the very thing that would help them.

Racing ahead of Kalizda the Chippeqouti pulled the fire alarm lever down. Water began to spray out of the nozzles in the hallways and bedrooms. Red lights began to flash at every exit and that was what he wanted. All they needed was some way to get outside. Dodging into the nearest exit Illya found himself in a stair well that was already full of nurses and security guards. They were yelling from different floors and he heard 4th floor being yelled. Then there was a pause and he figured they had to be on the fifth floor. "Clear on fifth." His raspy voice carried through the stairway and echoed slightly. Five floors wasn't far to run and it wouldn't take long. Illya began running down the first two flights only to see that Kalizda wasn't going to be keeping up. She was gradually getting even slower. Grabbing her around the waist he peered into her eyes. "Slap meh later, forgive me now and hold on."

Illya didn't want to give her anytime to protest. Grabbing onto the railing with his one good arm he glanced at her again. "Hold on tight this might be a little rough." Swinging his legs over the edge of the railing Illya jumped down the middle of the last 3 flights. Once they were at ground level he wrapped one arm around her waist and held tight. It seemed that she was quickly becoming limp in his arms.

There was no way he could shove the door open with his hands since the only good one was currently occupied. Instead he lowered his head like a battering ram and forced the door open. Once they were outside Illya ran for the nearest ship and boarded it. Flopping Kalizda's body into one of the seats he yelled at her. "How do I get it off the ground?" He just needed a few reminders and though he'd never flow a ship before failure was not an option at this point. They could figure out where they were later and maybe she could go over the finer details. It was too bad that this wasn't their ship, but it was bigger and nicer. A great upgrade.
 
Pants? Where did he get pants?
Calysta shook her head, trying to keep the impending fogginess away just a little longer. Yelling came from behind her and she waved at Illya, though her hand was on fire. Everything was starting to burn and it made her muscles feel heavy, too slow to responded to what was required of them.

He started to follow her down the cold tile hall as more yelling started to surround them. Injured as he was, his long steps out paced her and he was the one leading her. How had that happened? "I..llya?"

His broad back was getting further and further away as she tried to focus on making her her legs move. Was he leaving her behind? No. An alarm blared and seared through her head like a hot iron as the burning settled into her chest. Water hit her as the sprinkler system started to shower them, washing away the cold sweat. "Good idea." The words came out slurred and her heart began pounding loudly in her ears. There wasn't much time before she lost consciousness.

She made it to the stairway door and they burst through together only to find it was full of blurry figures coming toward them from below. Where could they go? As soon as the word 'up' formed in her mind voices from upstairs echoed into the stair well and she cursed in Kaerelean. There was no way the two of them could fight them all off. The edges of her vision were starting to turn black as she shook her head again trying to clear it again, as Illya's bright eyes met hers.

"Slap meh later, forgive me now and hold on."

A tight grasp snagged her waist and her feet left the ground, the only thing keeping the world centered. Before she could say anything Illya had lifted her up and was tilting her over the rail. Oh great. Another of his ideas. She liked this one less. Grabbing on to him, she clamped her eyes shut and he sent them over the railing. The rush of air and sudden drop made her dizzy and barely aware of the jarring landing Illya made. The blackness was edging closer and her grip around him started to slip. They were outside though..he had gotten them outside...

His grip on her grew tighter but she couldn't tell him to let go. More shadows were pouring out of the door, yelling at them to halt. Why would they stop? They had wanted to leave, not stay. Suddenly, she heard the familiar sound of boots under hollow metal and they passed into the interior of the ship. They had made it. The world shifted again when he put her down into a seat.

"How do I get it off the ground?

His question made no sense. She had shown him how to take off before, all she needed was to give him limited access to the controls. Her hand searched in vain for the right controls. They weren't there! Forcing her eyes to focus she realized that none of these instruments belonged to the Gylcryn.
The angry voices were coming closer and she could hear the bootfalls tapping in her ears. The system was similar to what she was used to, if she could manage to tell him how...

"T-thooose, take..
Pointing to the buttons he needed and in the correct order, she hoped he understood. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she tried to say more but there was no more fighting the drug. The last thing she felt was her head knocking back against the seat.

***

The dull throbbing came first, centered right between her eyes and beating in rhythm with her heart. It made opening her eyes seem like a terrible idea, but she had to. With a shaking breath, she opened them slowly. A well kept and designer room greeted her from her view point on a soft bed. This wasn't the Gylcryn.
Pieces of what happened floated in her memory but the headache made them hard to put together, not to mention her mouth was as dry as Illya's desert. Slipping her feet off the bed, she stumbled to the doorway and opened it to a gleaming hallway. She didn't know which way to to go, but it hardly mattered.

"Illya?"

No answer came.

She passed several more rooms, the galley, and a small lounge then met a small metal stair case. Climbing them slowly she emerged into an unfamiliar cockpit which was also empty. Her bleary eyes had trouble focusing on the engine panel, but she could tell well enough they were in a jump. Where to, she didnt know. Maybe it was one preset into the ship? The radio caught her attention, and she slid her finger over the dial display, turning it on. A broadcast was being played and it sounded as if it were the same one in several different languages, all automatic. Odd.

"Attention citizens of Alpha Quadrant: Please be on the look out for Kaerelean female. Approximately 5'7 in height, long black hair. The female is wanted for two counts of murder, one count of robbery, and one counts of aiding and abetting a war criminal. She is considered armed and extremely dangerous. If spotted, please report to your local authorities immediately and do not engage."

Then the message started to repeat. Calysta's hands shook and she grabbed the back of the pilot's chair, trying to steady herself. Murder?
She needed to tell Illya. Turning to exit the cockpit, she realized he was already standing behind her, his mouth pressed into a frown.
 
Illya looked over at Kalizda for some kind of direction. While she flew and showed him how to take off a whopping 2 times, or so he'd never actually attempted this and he wasn't really wanting to attempt guessing at the order of the buttons just now. They were not in a place to panic, or have mistakes. For the moment he had to take a deep breath and calm himself to be sure that he wasn't going to be the one getting them killed. Pushing the first button he then leaned heavily against the dash to reach the second with his arm in the cast and then push the next one only 2 seconds later. He was starting to remember better and as she slowed down in her directions it didn't matter much. All of the times that he watched her take off were coming back to his memory and he continued with the process.

Then he finally came to the point of pulling the control for the thrust down and taking hold of the joy stick. It was ridiculous being unable to control his broken arm in any capacity. Holding onto the thrust with his broken arm he had to step back to make his arm pull the thrust down. The take off was a little rough because of his walking around while he was trying to control the lift of the ship for take off.

Once they were in the air he breathed a little more easily and pulled up the navigations tablet. Clicking through the map he found a destination in the next system. It was just a small port as they had it listed and he figured it would be good enough. Illya had never been this far away and he wasn't sure where was safe. There would hopefully be time to change course if they needed. Tapping on the planet he slowly drug the coordinates to the destination tab and the ship corrected course automatically. This machine was almost dummy proof and Illya breathed a sigh of relief.

Turning slightly he noticed that Kalizda's head was flopped strangely to the side and a little drool was running out the side of her mouth. She must have passed out. They did something to her and he hoped she would be alright.

Almost gingerly Illya walked over to where she was at and knelt next to her chair. Illya tried to pull her forward and lean her on his shoulder, but her body tipped and slammed into his cast. Even through the cast he could feel the jarring and he started to curse in his own language. He had yet to learn how to curse in the trader's language though he almost preferred he didn't. After a few attempts he took hold of the front of her shirt with his one hand and gripped it tightly and then drug her to the room. Her head fell back and exposed her neck, bobbing uselessly as he walked with her down the steps. The sound of her boots clunked on each step and then Illya continued to drag her till he found an acceptable room.

Stepping into the room with Kalizda he lifted her a little higher and carefully lowered the front half of her body on the bed. He couldn't get close enough to actually lay her entire body on it without falling on his arm or her. Just as he leaned over to put her feet on the bed the rest of her body tilted and she fell off the bed. "Yah have to be difficult." Grumbling a little he pulled her off the floor and awkwardly held her to himself so he could lay on the bed and then roll her off of himself. Why he hadn't thought of holding her to himself earlier he didn't know. The important thing was that she wouldn't remember any of this.

******************

Heading back to the cock pit Illya felt a little sick and he could feel the sweating had started again. He felt tired out and he flopped into the pilot seat. Leaning back he turned the communications channel on. Not that he would recognize any of the languages except perhaps the trader's tongue, but it was something else to focus on for the time.

Eventually Illya fell asleep in the cock pit and when he woke he decided to head to the washroom. He could at least start checking some of the supplies since he was feeling better. The first thing he checked was for buckets under the sink. There weren't any at all! Illya growled and shut the cabinet door. Again all they had was waste basket and more than likely he would have to share his bucket. That was just gross and he hated to share buckets with people. It wasn't clean and then it was supposed to double as a waste basket? Not to mention there had likely been several crew that were on this ship and did they all use the bucket too?

While he was busy fuming to himself about the lack of cleanliness in the practices of these people he heard a familiar voice calling his name. Wandering into the corridor Illya started off toward her voice only to step into the room as he heard the radio going off making their announcements. A cloud settled over his features and he frowned deeply. War criminal. That word rang in his head over and over. They applied that term very loosely. Whenever there was a Chippeqouti that fought in the war they were automatically named war criminals because they killed soldiers of the opposing side. There were perhaps a few kills that Illya wasn't particularly proud of, but it was war and it was done a long time ago.

Then there was the current issue of the woman he was travelling with. Murder was a serious charge. Staring at her for a long moment he took a deep breath and then started, "Dat why dose men wanted yah back at da pits? Murder?" Illya figured that they may have applied murder just as loosely as they applied war criminal. If they were going to consider criminals based on they way they dispatched of their enemy then they should have all been lined up and tried as war criminals. Everyone had been so concerned about the way Chip's conducted their policy of no quarter. It was nothing compared to the mass slaughter that was conducted against the population. He had to fight to keep the prejudice against other races from rising. He already feeling angry and though she had nothing to do with it Illya felt almost as if she was judging him when she had no idea what really happened. How could anyone have had an idea of what happened if they hadn't been there. He doubted that the news in other planets showed what happened in the Chippeqouti villages.

Taking another deep breath he calmed himself again and sat down. For now he needed to set the war aside and try to be impartial. "Den tell meh why dey want yah for murder." Maybe she had a good reason for what she did and perhaps she got spooked and did something stupid like so many others.
 
Illya sat in the co-pilots chair with a scowl, but his voice sounded more resigned than demanding. She eased herself into the captains chair beside him and gazed at him with her grey eyes. "Illya...I wish I knew," she replied earnestly, "I've never murdered anyone. Shot yes, and reported my self defense. But I've never murdered anyone in cold blood. I..I don't know why they're saying that. The last thing I did was act as an escort to a diplomatic mission. My co-pilot was grew very ill and I was ordered to leave him in the care of a the nearest safeport. I asked to stay but I was ordered to report to Kaereal. I never made it because I was attacked and hurt...which is when you and I...met. "

Sounded like they had blown her story out of proportion as well. At this point Illya had more incentive to believe her than he did their reports. "Alright then." Leaning back in the chair he got a little more comfortable. "If dey charge yah with two accounts of murder and dey count yah co-pilot it would be safe to assume he's dead eh?"

Her eyes dropped away from his for a moment, taking in the fact. She had been on many missions with Wynt and they had worked well together. He and his wife had even invited her over for several of the Kaerelean holidays. "Yes. I suppose it would. It..just doesn't make any sense. And who else could they think I possibly murdered?"

Turning a circle in the chair he thought for a moment. Clearly she was upset about her co-pilot by the reaction he'd gotten. Maybe he'd been a little harsh in his opinion of what could have happened, but neither was he willing to give her false hope. "Maybe we could go back for da co-pilot eh? Ef yah know where yah left him at we could check eh?"

"I think that would be a good start," she replied quietly, "I had to leave him in a port on Fenied. It's nice enough, not one of the rough places like we've been to. I need to find out what happened." A quiet moment passed and she looked back up to Illya who was turning in his chair. "There's another thing I don't quite understand. They said I was traveling with a war criminal...were they talking about you?"

This wasn't the kind of conversation that Illya liked having and he got a little snarky as a result. "I dun know who else yah be travelling wit?" With his irritation the accent came out a little heavier. "Unless yah got another stowaway somewhere."

He was obviously sensitive about the subject judging by the way he snapped at her. She was tempted to throw it back at him, but held her tongue. There was more to this, and she wouldn't get anywhere by reciprocating. "You don't have to tell me, but it might help if you would. I want to understand."

"All yah want is more damning evidence." Though it wasn't a fair statement he still made it. Illya hated how those outside always wanted to know what happened. "Et was over a hundred years ago. Not a big deal anymore eh?" Logic defied his comment and he knew that it was a big deal if they were still wanting to charge him with war crimes. By now it was likely that the children were dead and it was only grandchildren remaining. Illya tried not to look at her when he talked. It made this easier in a way. At least he could attempt to not be angry with her. "Dey were pushing hard and trying to get to da village. I ordered all prisoners shot and when a few Chips refused I did it. An officer never gives an order he wouldn't do himself. Dere was no place to put da prisoners and whenever dey escaped dey would infiltrate the villages and kill meh people."

She listened, her face unreadable as he avoided looking at her. This was something she had never seen him do before and it unsettled as then tension and the anger rolled off of him. It's true, the first time she had laid eyes on him trying to raid her ship, she had seen a brute. Someone who would kill to get what he wanted, but after spending more time watching him, albeit not by choice, she realized that wasn't true. That wasn't his nature. "You were trying to protect your people?"

Pushing up out of the chair with one arm he started to pace the room. "Yes!" He hadn't intended for his voice to come out so loudly, but he was upset at the very least with this conversation. Neither did it take much to upset him lately. "Dey win da war and den dey write what dey want. Chippeqouti were nearly destroyed. We fought to keep dat one planet."

She let him pace as his voice reverberated off the cockpit walls. He may not like talking about what happened, but she needed to know. There were always two sides to every story, nobody stayed completely innocent in this world, and life was never fair. Even if the Chip had been conquerors, what would she have done if enemies attacked her home?Her people? "History is always written by the victor," she whispered, "I would have done the same as you."

"Good." Illya walked over to stand behind his chair and he gripped the top of it tightly with his one hand. "Now yah know." He could almost hear Isla telling him not to be so intense. She was always more concerned about others. Gentle and mild. Grumbling under his breath he sat down again. "Anyting else yah have to know?" At least this time he was a little more calm.

He sat trying to calm himself down, More questions formed in her mind, but she didn't want to press him too much. Not because she feared what he would do, but because it the subject was a painful and angering one. A little smile came to her lips and she tilted her head to the side a bit. "Just one more...why did you put water in my trashcan on the Gylcryn?"

"To wash." Illya stared at her like she was some sort of idiot. "Yah ship isn't so small yah can't invest in more than one. Using a garbage can and making all da crew use it...Very unclean. Dun worry I scrubbed it out good so et would be clean for yah.


She blinked at him for a moment and her smile grew, until a little laugh slipped out. He had been using her trash can to bathe. No wonder she had heard so much crashing around in there on the Gylcryn. "C'mon, I want to show you something." She rose to her feet and tapped his good hand lightly, inviting him to follow her. Finding the bathroom, which was admittedly larger than her previous one, she flipped on the water and let it rain down from the shower head. "No, buckets required.

Her laughing made no sense and Illya glowered at her only briefly. The size of her fingers reminded him of a child. Just so tiny. "I come with da Kalizda." Illya gave a roll of his eyes and followed her to the washroom. The woman flipped on the water and he quickly shut it off again. "Yah waste it like that."

"Its cleaned through a filter and then recycled," she explained calmly, "No waste, just different."

"Only de water we wash with." Illya tried not to sound disgusted. "Eventually it will run out. Unless yah recycle de uh..." Pointing to the toilet he made a motion with his hand in a circle. "Yah don't recycle dat do yah?"

"Don't worry it's a separate system, filtered and recycled there's a powerful chemical in that water to make it clean again," she smiled, "Us space travelers aren't quite as dense as we look."

Shuddering a little he turned away. "Ef dat filter breaks..." Illya shook his head and started out the door again calling over his shoulder. "It still wouldn't hurt to have buckets just in case water is limited."

She shook her head as his retreating back as he slipped out of the door. Eventually he would have to adjust, though she would see about getting him a bucket when they stopped. Letting him go for a minute, she turned and caught eye of herself in the mirror. Her was still pale from the drugs and the resulting headache and there was a red mark on her forehead. Did she hit her head? She didn't remember doing so. They had been running through the hospital and he had picked up like she was a feather, saying something coy. What was it he said? There was falling and a hard landing. No memory of having hit her head though. Strange.

Illya may have doubts about using recycled water, but she had been using it rather successfully for years. Flipping on the shower, and shutting the door, she stripped down before stepping into the hot water. He may prefer his buckets, but nothing felt better than hot water hitting your back. With a sigh, she let the near scalding water wash away the hospital smell from her skin.

****

After a shower, and dose of pain killers, she decided to raid the closet and find fresh clothes since there was no laundry room. Black leggings, her own boots, a white thermal shirt and a jacket would do just fine. She made note to put the pistol she had swiped from Rk't in the back of her waist band and decided it was time to find Illya. If he wanted to learn, she would teach, and having another pilot would be beneficial in case something like what happened on Zkree occurred. Of course, that meant giving him a bit of responsibility and her trust that he wouldn't dump her somewhere. She had promised to teach him though, and promises were not something Kaereleans took lightly.

Finding him in the cockpit, eased into the captain's chair, she went up the metal stairs and cleared her throat. "A good pilot knows the machine they command, we should start with the engines, if you're up for it."


*****

Calysta worked with Illya most of the day showing him the inner workings of the ship, mainly the engine. They had managed to get along well, for once, and he was a good listener as she spoke. When they grew tired she retreated to the galley where she heated up two of the ration meals. They had been lucky this ship was nearly fully stocked when they took it and the meals were of better quality than the ones she'd had to purchase on Rk't. She had even found a powered desert mix that would make a flaky, sweet pastry when mixed with water and baked. They wouldn't be anything like her father could make, but it would be nice to have something familiar.

This new ship was nice, beautiful even, but she missed her Gylcryn. It had been a fine ship until someone had attacked her, top of the line Kaerelean class scout ship, but now it was gone and she doubted that she would ever see it again. Still, what was done, was done. Illya had done the most practical thing in the end and she was grateful for it. The only thing she could do was move forward with getting to the bottom of things and the first step was investigating the supposed death of Wynt. It wouldn't be too long till they arrived at the port where they left him and she was eager to start the search.

As Illya walked in she put down the first meal on the small table, meant for him and chuckled, "You did well, in the engine room today," she commented, "You learn fast."

Looking at the meal when he stepped into the kitchen Illya grew suspicious. She was laughing. "Uh huh. What did yah do?"

Most of the drug has worn off and I remembered a few things," she said, putting another meal into the oven.

"Like what?" Illya's heart had started to beat a little faster and he tried to peer around her while she put something in the oven.

She flipped on the timer and turned to Illya who was looking at her and then to the food with a bit of uncertainty. "It's good," she encouraged him, "It's not snake of course, but good. You'll like it. And I remembered bits a pieces of what happened, mostly you though, and I think I owe you something."

Illya stared at the food for a long moment and he picked up a fork. Cautiously poking at the food he half expected it to move or to find something underneath the first layer. It smelled good, but he wasn't sure he could trust her with that sweet smile and all that. "Yah owe me huh? It was all settled a while back eh? I don't need anything more."

"No, I definitely owe you this," she said, as the timer rang and she sat across from him with her meal. Her eyes met his and she smiled more."I owe you a thank you...for what happened back on Zkree."

Backing away from the plate Illya looked at her with greater suspicion. "Ef yah mean how yah got on dat bed it wasn't anything. I mean I didn't..."

She looked at him in confusion as he suddenly back away. Obviously there was something she had missed. "I'm saying thank you for helping me. I wouldn't have made it if you hadn't done what you did," she paused for a moment, "....What do you mean how I got to the bed?"

Still skeptical of her Illya remained standing a little ways from the table. "Yah don't remember?"

"All I remember is you getting us to the ship, and barely even that," she replied, "Is there something else I should be remembering, or are Chips always so suspicious when someone tries to say thank you?"

Illya started to chuckle. "No no. Nothing else yah should remember. I uh..." Clearing his throat he sat down. "Little wary of yah cooking is all."

She shot him a mock look of offense as he sat down again. "Not my fault I didn't know how to skin a snake," she replied, "It actually pretty good though, if-"

A pleasant bell sound chimed from the cock pit and she put down her fork. "I'll check on it, stay and eat." She rose to her feet and started out the door before shooting him another playful smile. "Of course, I think I'll reserve that slap, I owe you for later when you really need it." then she disappeared from the galley to go check on the cockpit.
 
Working on the engines would have been more fun it Illya could use both his arms. However, the one in the cast was causing constant problems and it still ached. At one point he took a sharp breath. He could feel everything through the cast. Even resting his arm on a bar, he winced. It felt like a thousand pounds of needles and hammers were being forced under the cast whenever he managed to bump it.

Since it was about learning the machine and about flying Illya made sure to spend some extra time asking questions. If he was going to learn this then he had to learn it well and there wasn't time to make mistakes. "Ok, quarter turn and den yah push it in." Nodding in agreement he tested it out like she showed him and the machine cooperated. That was a good sign. Illya tried it a few more times to ensure that he could remember the last step. After they had finished with the afternoon of training Illya went to lay down for a little bit. His arm was aching pretty badly and he didn't want to admit that he didn't feel good. She would get upset and act like he was dying or something like that. Considering her co-pilot it was probably a good idea not to. Couldn't have her thinking that she would be leaving another person behind to die.

*************************************

Now that he was alone in the kitchen Illya carefully took a forkful of the food and he examined it carefully as he took the next bite. It was surprisingly good. Peering over his shoulder he saw that she hadn't come back. The man quickly began to shovel the rest of the food into his mouth. Food at the hospital hadn't tasted this good and he was hungry after nearly a week of miserable offerings. If they weren't miserable they were burnt.

Another ding sounded from the cock pit and he carried the nearly empty plate with himself into the room. Taking his seat he set the plate in his lap and rested his hand on the armrest of the seat. "Let me know what yah need." It sounded like they were getting ready to land at the port so that they could recharge the ship and get a little more supplies. "Sounds good." Taking a few more bites he nodded to her. "Yah cook better when you don't use those rations." Not noticing the look she gave him he shoved a few more bites into his mouth before taking on the thrust on the machines. "Down to four and moving to three." At least she was helping him learn how to take a ship down to the ground. He could roughly get one off the ground, landing was a more challenging thing.

*************************************

When the two of them stepped off board Illya noticed that it was far more friendly. So friendly in fact that he was wanting to get out for just a while. "If we both get back by sunrise eh?" Meeting her gaze he chuckled a little. There was still smoke in the kitchen from the burned food she put in the oven. He had no idea what it was supposed to be, but neither of them had noticed till they landed and thought maybe there was something wrong with the wiring in the ship.

"I'll let yah figure out what ya need to clean dat out. If it needs a little muscle leave it in da sink for meh." Isla used to do that for him and especially toward the end. Clearing his throat Illya started for the street. He peered behind himself a few times to see the ramp to the ship was still down and a little light came from it like a lantern on a house. Illya didn't worry about taking any money with. There were probably some sort of games that he could join and win a few drinks, maybe get a little money to play with. Of all things he didn't want to ask her about getting money to drink or take part in revelry. It was a man's own business to find money for such things. As a result only those that were good at the games or single partook in such things.

It had been a while and it wasn't that Illya did so poorly with the games. Mostly he hadn't bothered and it was difficult at home. Now he was here and it seemed to be the best idea to move on with life. Try to put in a little more fun and start over. There was a lot of time left to live. He couldn't get old yet.

There was a thick smoke in the pub and an inviting din. Illya sat at the bar and watched a few men play their game before he walked over to their table. "I'll play a few rounds eh?"

One of them looked up at him and scooted over. "If you last one round with us I'll buy a drink." The others laughed and agreed to the terms.

Illya won the first and second round much to the chagrin of his pub company. Still they were true to their word and soon enough he had drinks lined up at his place. They were certainly generous with their drinks and money. Since he didn't want to put the men in a bad place and upset them Illya took out a good portion of the money that he'd won. "I get a drink for all of yah?"

A loud cheer went up in the pub. It was near closing time when Illya and the others left for the night. Burping loudly he staggered through the streets. Illya wandered through one of the alleys to make a shortcut to the ship. He was almost there when he heard a distinct yowl of a cat. Swaying on his feet he looked down to see a kitten on the ground and one of his feet stepping on the toes of the creature. "Eh..." Bending down he picked the kitten up and it screamed louder, but it didn't seem to have the strength to resist. After a few seconds the kitten lay panting in his hand.

Shoving the little cat into his shirt pocket he realized he was still wandering around in a hospital gown and scrub pants. It was far from ideal and maybe he would find somewhere to buy clothing tomorrow before they left port.

Hearing more mewing he glanced up at the roof of the dilapidated building to the side. "Ah see yah." Clambering up the side of the building he barely reached the top of the roof when he felt it begin to give way. Scrambling to his feet he jumped for the next building and that roof gave way just as he landed on it. With a crash he went through and was instantly serenaded with screams from a woman and her husband hit him a few times in the back. Grumbling he wandered aimlessly out of their bedroom and out the door. The man gave chase and Illya stood in the alley digging into his pockets. "Yah house needs fexing." Shoving the last of his winnings into the stunned man's hands the Chippeqouti wandered about till he found the carnival. Obviously the event was something that lasted all night long and it appeared to be mostly empty. The bright lights and music were alluring if nothing else about it.

There wasn't any gate around it so he wandered through the back of a tent. There was a costume that looked like it might fit better than what he was wearing. Trading out his clothes he stepped out the other side of the tent wearing a new pair of pants and a button up black shirt. It looked nice enough. A mewling caught his attention he and bumbled back into the tent to retrieve the kitten. This time he stuffed it into the cargo pockets on his pants. The entire place was like a maze of games and machines to ride. Illya had never seen anything like this before.

Spotting a tight rope he chuckled. "Ah could walk et!" Slurring the words he started for the pole that led to one end. A few bystanders goaded him on and the carnival worker handed him a waiver to sign. Illya laughed and scribbled something incomprehensible on the page. "No net." Scribbling on another page he then handed the kitten over to a worker and started up the little ladder. Swaying a few times he chuckled and looked down below.

It was at least 20 feet below. That wasn't so bad. Putting his first foot forward he immediately threw both arms out to maintain his balance. Illya made it nearly half way and then he started to wobble and sway. Tipping to the side he turned to avoid landing on his broken arm. With a grunt he landed on his rear end and it jammed his back. Growling he got up off the ground and went right back up the ladder determined to make it across at least one time. When he finished with the tight rope Illya had fallen off a total of 7 times. The next place he stopped was the house of mirrors.

At the end of the night Illya tucked the cat into his pant pocket again and stumbled back to the ship. It was nearly daybreak and he was tired out. The first stop was the kitchen where he grabbed a bottle of water and opened it up. Leaning against the counter he winced. His head hurt and the bright light from the fridge made his brain feel as though it would explode. "Ugh." Opening the bottle he took a few sips and then stumbled back to his bedroom not noticing that anyone else was already occupying it. The kitten crawled out of the pant pocket and nestled in up by the pillows and his head.
 
His landings needed work. She had nearly clawed the faux leather arm of the captain's seat to shreds as he began a wobbly decent to the dock and her heart nearly gave out when she didn't think he would remember the landing gear, until he did at the last possible moment. The thought crossed her mind that at least she got one semi-word of approval from the man before they both died trying to land. On her cooking no less. It was then she remembered the pastry dough in the oven and the smell of acrid burning food wafted by. The dough would just have to keep burning until they made into the dock.

Illya bumped them into a dock, scaring a few of the paddock workers as he landed. She did have to admit that she had seen worse landings from men who had the use of both arms.

"We'll keep working on it," she said, with a nod to him as he looked down at the opening ramp. He said something to her about the dishes. His tone had changed for a moment and she thought about asking if it a casual Chip saying, but he was all ready walking out the door. The wanderlust in his green eyes said it all, and this was probably a safe of a place as any for him to go exploring.

"Back by sunrise," she agreed with him, as he walked down the plank.

He disappeared into the streets and the first task was to fix the dishes she had utterly destroyed. She wouldn't be able to relax until the job was complete. Walking into the kitchen, she set to work taking out the blackened pastries and tossing them into the disposal before running a the minimal amount of water to get them clean. It took a fair amount of effort on the unfortunate pan. Her hands were pink from scrubbing but she managed to scrape of the remains and clean it properly as if it had never happened.

With that out of the way, she combed her fingers through her hair and set out into the port to see what it offered. It had been over a year since she'd had a night off and she wasn't going to miss out. In the streets, there seemed to be an extra air of excitement. Kids of all species passed by waving banners and carrying trinkets or toys with. Some with adults and some just large gaggles of youngsters all making their way toward a lit up quarter of the city. Music filled the air and the smell of food filtered through the alleyways. Grinning, she made her way with the tide of people toward the carnival.

Spinning rides, dropping rides, slides, and even a fun house lined the open market. In between those were game booths and food trucks, as dazzling lights lit up every corner. She wandered around for awhile, with no money for rides or games, but the excitement in the air was infectious. A group of kids ran by toward a race track sort of ride and something fluttered to the ground behind them. A whole handful of red tickets.

"Hey! You dropped your tickets!" she called, scooping them up.

One of the kids stopped and turned to look at her, his singular black eye, blinking at her in surprise. Then he ran back over and grinned. "Thanks!"
When he took the tickets from her hand, he left one strand of them behind. "Keep some, we've got a lot!"
Then he dashed away to meet his friends.

Calysta almost thought to find the kids and give them back, but it had been a gift. Who was she to deny that? Roaming around the carnival, she found a ride that looked like fun. A ride that had dozens booths that spin in one direction while the platform the booths sat on spun in the other. Handing the ride-worker some of her tickets, she dashed into a booth and was soon joined by another single rider.

"Hope you like to spin," she grinned to him as she grabbed the center wheel and started to turn.

When the ride started, she already had them spinning so fast everything around them was a colorful blur of lights. She pushed the booth faster and faster, laughing breathlessly the entire time and closing her eyes when the dizziness was too much to bear. As the ride came to a stop, her riding partner's hair was plastered to the side of his head and he looked green, not the skin tone he had entered to the ride with. Flying out of the seat he ran to the side of the ride and hardly had time to lean over the railing before tossing his lunch.

Calysta grimaced, but couldn't help but chuckle as she scurried away from him. "Sorry!"

Running back into the crowd, she passed by a booth that offered a rifle and targets which was tempting. Slapping the required tickets on the counter, the worker looked her over skeptically but handed her a rifle anyways. "Get a ten of dem, you get de big prize," he said pointed up to a large stuffed canine-looking creature.
"I can do that," she grinned.
Taking her aim, she fired, taking down target after target, must of them in the center or close. The last was constantly moving in a jittery sort of pattern, She watched it carefully for a moment, trying to predicts is movements until she managed to corner and squeezed the trigger. As she took her shot, shouting and cheering erupted from somewhere behind at the performance stage, taking the edge from her concentration. The shoot burrowed into the back ground and the target lived to see another day, having just been grazed.

"Small prize for only nine," he mumbled, tossing a tiny stuffed animal at her. Catching the prize, she held it up to the light to see it was a stuffed serpent with black scales and yellow- green eyes. Illya would probably like it. Then again, she never knew what the man would like. Then minute she thought she had the answers, he changed the questions. Stuffing the toy into her jacket pocket, she roamed the carnival more until she found a fried dough stand. With just enough tickets left, she bought two rounds of fried dough, one for Illya and one for herself.

Munching on the dough, and feeling happy to have had a night out, she wandered back to the ship. Illya had still not returned. She hoped he hadn't gotten himself into too much trouble, but she didn't worry too much. He was good at getting into trouble, but equally good at getting out of it too. With Illya's treat hidden in the microwave, and the serpent on the bedside table with is bright eyes trained on the door like some silly watch dog, she slipped into a pair of shorts and slid into the bed. It had been a good night, a relaxing night. Something she had needed desperately.

***
The room had grown strangely warm. Maybe the environmental controls were malfunctioning, but they been fine before. She didn't mind the heat so much though, it was kind of pleasant and not a problem enough to motive her to move just yet. She rolled over, chasing the warmth and her hand hit something hard. "What the-"
As her eyes flashed open she found herself face to face with a slack jawed Illya. His mouth was hanging open slightly as he snoozed curled up next to her, smelling of alcohol.
He'd gotten so drunk he couldn't tell which bed was his own? Seriously?
Her bed was butted up against the wall to her back and the mountainous man lay in front of her. Pushing against his chest, she tried to shove him off the bed, but he simply flopped back over, this time taking up even more space. "Uhg!"

Mewling sound came from above her head and she glanced up to see a tiny cat with golden fur and yellow eyes staring down at her expectantly. The tiny fur ball squeaked again and then began to purr as it hopped on to Illya's shoulder and began licking at his ear and chin. The Chip gave a vague smile in his stupor as the cat cuddled him and Calysta could hardly believe what she was seeing. Drunk and he'd brought home a cat? What the hell had he done last night? Scooping up the kitten she tucked it under her arms, in a safe space, and then looked to the drunken man.

"Illya..."

He didn't stir

"Illya...get up..move."

The man didn't so much as twitch and she grew irritated.

"Illya!!!"
She delivered a decisive smack to his face. "GET UP!"
 
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It didn't take long to get comfortable in the bed or fall asleep. With almost no sleep and a little alcohol to numb the pain and calm him down Illya drifted off into a deep sleep. A nice soft voice called his name and blended into his dream. He watched the peaceful scene unfold and he heard his name a little more urgently and then a firm slap. Bleary eyed he sat up in the bed and looked around. Rubbing at his cheek he frowned a little and then he noticed he was in her bed.

Cautiously Illya peeled the blankets back, got out of the bed and he sheepishly held a hand out. "I'll uh...I can take da cat eh?"

The kitten gave a purring mew from her arms and she held it a little closer. "It didn't come wandering into my bed drunk, so it gets to stay," said replied with raised brow.

Carefully looking away the man extended his hand one more time. "C'mon now. I brought da cat home. Yah don't even know how to take care of it eh? I'll teach yah."

Sighing, she picked up the warm little ball of fur and held it out to him. Its tail tucked under and it looked up at him with big yellow eyes and white whiskers. "Fine," she said, already missing the warmth, "But I get to name him."

Illya took the cat and it nuzzled into his arms again. After a moment the little cat poked its head up and stared back at Calysta. The man started for the door and he heard her deal. "Eh dat would depend on what yah want to call it."

How is it he crawls into her bed, drunk with a cat and he has the nerve not only neglect apologizing, but not even let her name the animal? "Lyr," she called to his back, "I would call him Lyr."

Turning the cat over in his arm he lifted the tail so they could both see. "Et's a girl. Mahala."

"Sarai," Calysta countered, her eyes narrowing with a glint of stubbornness.

Taking a deep breath he readjusted the kitten in his arms and then he grinned. "Keysha."

Calysta paused, considering the name he proposed. It sounded vaguely like the word for 'cloud' in Kaerelean, and she could live with that. "Keysha," she nodded finally.

The grin grew a little larger on Illya's face. Handing the cat back to her he winked. "Ef she cries take her outside to go to da bathroom. We'll get what she needs in a few hours when I've slept. Eh?"

She took the kitten back and gave Illya a knowing scowl, before the expression softened at the sound of a meow "You and your ideas," she said, to him with a smile growing, "This one wasn't so bad."

**************************************

When Illya got up a little later on he scouted out the hallway leading to the doorway carefully and then snuck out. Hopefully she still thought he was sleeping. The Chippeqouti wanted to do something special. He still had a little money from last night and the two of them would likely need a few things for Keysha before they took off. The first stop was not to a shop with anything for pets. Instead he glanced into a store that specialized in clothes for women. One of the clerks noticed and she wandered over to him. "What can I help you with?"

"I need a dress."

The woman's eyebrows heightened some, but she maintained her composure for the time. "What size do you need or would you like me to take measurements?' One met all kinds of folk and though this one looked like he wouldn't be into that, there was no telling.

Illya frowned. "She's about this big." Holding his arm in the cast out he used the other hand to move around and show the approximate width he guessed Kalizda to be.

"Ok." The woman pulled out a tape measure and took a quick measurement based on the man's estimation. "What about bust and hip size?"

Picking up a dress was proving to be far more complicated than he had originally assumed. By the time he left the shop Illya could only hope he'd guessed right. They found a size that seemed to fit his estimations and that was a good thing. Best of all there were several pretty dresses. He liked the red one most and so that was what she got.

Tip toeing into the ship Illya set the box on one of the shelves. He figured she would eventually find it and she didn't have to know who got it for her. It could have been the previous owners of the ship. Instead he went to the kitchen to find some of the dishes were left for him and he washed them up as fast as he could before going to find Kalizda and the cat. "C'mon we have a little shopping to do." The woman looked so pleased to have the cat and Illya smiled to himself. The cat had a use, however he didn't know that city lions were smaller than lions that roamed the deserts back home.
 
Calysta slept a little while longer with the warm kitten tucked close beside her, its little whiskers tickling her arm. On Kaereal, pets were a an expensive rarity. Most of the wildlife lived in the planet surface below the continents, and were large as houses if not larger. Wilds beasts would rather kill you than look at you, and attempts at domesticating them had been outlawed for hundreds of years after too many failed attempts. Too many accidents. She'd never had a pet before, but the baby feline seemed like a good one. Where Illya, or what had possessed him to pick up the animal she'd never know.
She never knew where that man's mind was. Even when he was half drunk, he'd manage to tease her about the cats name.

Keysha began to mewl in her ear and Calysta scratched her under the chin. "I suppose that's means you want outside?"

Donning the clothes she'd stolen from the closet the day before, she picked up the tiny animal and put it into the front breast pocket of her jacket. The kitten rode along in comfort as she walked past Illya's quarters. His door was half open and she could see him passed out face first into a pillow. Apparently, not only had he found a cat in his debauchery last night, but he'd stolen some clothes too. With a shake of her head, she kept going and made her way outside.

The day was bright, but the air was still cool from the night as she wandered down the ramp. Keysha gave another, more insistent cry as her head poked from the pocket.

There were no patches of grass or dirt for the kitten in the docking bay, so she walked into the streets and stopped at the first patch available, placing the tiny animal on the ground to do her business. Two minutes into wandering around the green grass, Keysha took it upon herself to toddle over to a yellow winged bug and pounce at it. Calysta watched as the kitten missed again and again and the bug fluttered just in front of her pink nose, teasing her. The suns were chasing away the morning chill finally, and the light bathing her back and hair felt nice, though her pale skin would probably be pink from the exposure later.

"C'mon, fierce little thing," Calysta chuckled as she scooped up the kitten, "Let's go see if Ilya is awake yet, huh?"

As it was, the man was coming down the ramp, with a grin on his face and a gleam in his bright green eyes, as if he had done something else mischievous. She opened her mouth to ask why he looked so happy, but then stopped herself. Surely that hangover had not faded so quickly? Then again his size alone was enough to burn alcohol fast, and she shuddered to think how much he'd had to drink to become so breezy in the first place. Perhaps, it was better that she not ask.

"C'mon we have a little shopping to do."

Calysta gazed at him, uncertain but smiling as the kitten mewled from her pocket. "I'm following you this time."

****
He showed her to small store and though the sign was in a language she couldn't read, the paw print painted on the window was enough for her to understand it was store for Keysha. While Illya gathered up the essentials, Calysta wandered over to a displayed housing a rainbow of different leads and collars. She's seen the more affluent on Kaereal give them to their pets with tags to show their names. The ones that buckled looked restricting or annoying, but there were several that were simple ribbons.
She ran her fingers over a silky red ribbon and then slipped it off the display.

"What do you think?" she whispered to the furball in her breast pocket.

A little meow and a paw shooting from her pocket to attack the ribbon seemed to be good answer.

"I think I like it too," she chuckled.

She walked back over to Illya who had several items bound in his good arm, she wondered for a moment where he'd come across the money for all of these things. All of their winnings had been left on the Gylcryn at Zkree, so where had he come across all of the coinage? She shook her head, getting rid of the questions. They were already on the run for robbery, theft and various other counts. What did it matter now?

Offering the ribbon to Illya, she smiled. He'd probably find it ridiculous to put something like it on an animal. "Keysha liked it," she laughed, showing how the little paw darted out from her pocket to play.

****

After their shopping trip, they went back to the ship and Calysta thought to pause on the outside long enough to read the name of the vessel. She hated not knowing the name of the ship that carried her so well. There was always respect for the ship where her captain was concerned.

"The Ekram," she whispered. That was ironic enough. Their stolen ship was named The Honor in Zkreen.

She followed Illya into the ship and he began showing her how to take care of the little animal in her pocket. Setting up a food and water dispenser in the galley under the tiny table and a box with sand in the washroom to replace the grass while they were in the air. It seemed simple enough when he explained it, and she listened carefully, all the while carrying Keysha who was perfectly content in her pocket.

When everything was set and their other supplies stowed away, Calysta went into the cockpit and let Illya take over their ascent as she laid in the course for Fenied. He'd done managed the ship once before, and this was a good port to practice in due to slower traffic. Besides, she could easily assist him from the captains chair if she had to. He seemed a bit nervous, but eager to try which she liked. It showed the makings of a good pilot. As he counted them off, and took them up, she noticed his traders language had improved as well. He was a remarkably fast learner, though he had yet to say her name as fluently as she suspected he could.

****

Successfully in the air, and in a jump that would take several days, Calysta spent more time going over some of the finer points in the engine room with Illya. She could tell he was still feeling the after affects of the fevers and his arm still bothered him. When they both were tired, and by galactic time it was well into the night, she retreated to her quarters where Keysha lay snoozing quite comfortably on her bed.

With a tug on the door of the closet, she went to grab the pair of sleeping shorts but her eye caught a box instead. Had that been there before? She couldn't remember if it had or hadn't. The ship was so new and and the previous crew had all their belongings on the ship when they had taken it. A weapon maybe? A hidden stash of money? Hidden treats from the shared galley? Her curiosity overrode her guilt and she took the box from the shelf and opened it on the bed next to the sleepy kitten.

A dress. Not just any dress, but a red ballgown with a glittering bodice and a sweeping skirt. The Zkree were known for their pageantry, but what was a ball gown doing on a ship? It wasn't useful or practical in the slightest, and took up room in the closet. Despite the impracticality, it was still beautiful and reminded her of the dances Kaereal would have at the annual Flight Festivals. She hadn't been to one in a long time and it had been even longer since she'd danced. When was the last time she had even worn a skirt?
The temptation to try it on nibbled at her, even though it wasn't hers, and she bit her lip.

"I shouldn't."

She started to put the lid back over the finery, but stopped. The Zkree who owned this would never have to know, right? Illya had gone to his own room anyways and was probably out cold, given how tired was.

Calysta pulled off her work clothes and her boots, before stepping into the dress, lacing it up the back with quick fingers. The fit was remarkable, almost perfect, and the color was wonderful, even on her pale skin. As she looked over the skirts, smiling to herself, a pleasant alert chimed from the cockpit. A proximity alert?

Poking her head out of the door, she saw no sign of Illya responding to the sound and felt a little relieved. Good. He wouldn't see her in something so random and impractical for space travel. She picked up the skirts and scurried down the hall to the cockpit, checking the alert with a quick eye. It was nothing but a little debris, probably from a wreck that occurred far before they entered the jump. The Ekram's sensors were laser focused and would guide them through the field without a problem.

She clicked the glass display, turning off the alarm and started to leave, when the sound of boot falls came from the corridor. Illya. A sudden shock of panic hit, as she searched for some place for her and the beautiful gown to hide.
 
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The first things Illya got in the pet store were a few wash rags, a litter box, food, treats, brushes dishes, and then he pushed a bag of litter along the floor with one foot. It seemed that for now the woman was far to busy looking at the kitten to actually be of any assistance. If she wanted to help take care of the cat she would have to learn to look at more than just the animal. It would need a lot of care. From what he had been able to tell it was the perfect time to get one. Too early to leave its mother, but that was why he was going to buy some other foods so he could make a formula for the cat. It would take some careful nursing and then when it grew up the cat would not question the authority structure. All of it was important at this age.

Turning slightly he saw the woman holding a ribbon for the cat's neck. That wasn't going to be nearly enough if she ever planned to take the animal off the ship as it got older. "If Keysha likes it den get one, but get one of dose too eh?" Pointing to a leather harness he nodded. It seemed that she was still more interested in playing with the cat as the paw darted out to bat at the ribbon.

Illya shook his head and skirted past her to get the harness and a leather lead as well. When they'd finished at the shop he walked back to the ship carrying most of the things again and he carefully rested the lead and harness over his broken arm. They were small enough Illya didn't think it should cause too much pain. It seemed to take forever to get back to the ship because the kitten was continuously causing the woman to pause and admire it. She wouldn't like the cat if it didn't learn some kind of manners and Illya wouldn't either. So he decided that when they got back he wouldn't say much for the first day or so. He would take care of the kitten's real needs and let her play along. Eventually she would have to learn though.

Once they were on board Illya shoved the majority of the supplies into a cabinet and then set out the dishes and the litter box. "Yah make sure Keysha has food here all da time and water. When she gets older den we worry about feeding times and how much." He would probably make a bottle for her later as some extra nutrition to be sure that the cat grew up healthy.

Instead of taking more time to explain to Kalizda about the cat she started them off to get the ship off the ground. Illya took the co-pilot seat and he was surprised to have her tell him to get the ship off the ground. Cocking his broken arm at an angle he was barely able to set his finger tips on the buttons. The cast felt so obnoxious whenever he tried to move his arm and yet it helped, because even now there was a great deal of pressure that felt like it was building in the arm. With a shaky finger he pushed in the knob for power to the engines and gave a little thrust and increased it till they were lifting off and then he took control of the joystick. At first the ship tipped to the side and he thought he saw her grip the arm of the chair as she had when he landed the first time. Ignoring how stiff she looked sitting beside him, the Chippeqouti added a little more thrust though it was a bit more than he needed. Illya swung the joystick to a sharp right so he wouldn't hit the nearest ship that happened to be far enough away had he eased into the thrust he wouldn't be close to making a collision.

Perhaps it was a bonus to know he could steer when going fast and he had a better feel for what the thrust should feel like. Glancing over at Calysta he winked. "Better dan last time eh?" Punching in a few more codes he set it to course and then stood up. Originally he had planned to go back to bed, but Calysta wanted to show him more of the ship and the operations. This time they were busy examining the pressure on the different valves and he was learning the details of which systems needed air pressure, water, fuel, and where to let off excess pressure.

Most of the valve release sections were large and he couldn't really practice using them just now while they were in the air on a jump. Instead he politely and attentively watched her explain them all and then at the end of the lesson Illya went back through and repeated what they were and all the numbers. There were only about 2 out of the 11 that he didn't quite get right. It wasn't bad for a first time though.

"Ef we're done I need more rest." Illya excused himself mostly because after these several hours he was getting sore. Not to mention he was starting to feel the bruises and minor pains from falling off the tight rope multiple times. Despite the cast holding his arm in place he still rested his other hand over it to act as additional support on his way back to his room.

****

Illya woke up for seemingly no reason. He listened for a few seconds and he didn't hear anything, but he remembered that he needed to get one of those bottles for the cat. Slipping into his boots he started walking down the hall and then turned off toward the kitchen. Digging into the small pantry shelf that was reserved for Keysha the Chippeqouti dumped a little formula into a bottle and then dumped some of the other powders inside. They were mostly meat proteins that wouldn't stink as bad as they did if you made it all by hand. Not to mention it was far easier to buy and find the products in these cities than go find the products in the wild.

Once he had the bottle mixed up Illya opened the microwave and a wave of nauseating rot greeted him. "Ugh..." Gagging a few times he set the bottle aside and pulled a drawer open to retrieve an airproof bag he could throw the rotten food into. What was Calysta thinking putting something like that in the microwave and then leaving it for who knew how long? Did she really know nothing of the kitchen?

After several minutes were used to clean the microwave out Illya shoved the bottle into it to heat up. A little scampering sound went across the hall and he frowned. Illya thought for a moment that it could have been the kitten or maybe Calysta was looking to see who was up and just went back to her room.

The foot falls were headed away from the cockpit much to her relief and she peered down the hallway. Maybe he'd gone to the bathroom, or gone to get some what. Whatever the case was, this was her chance to make a run for it. She hauled up the skirts again and scurried as quietly as she could down the halls, not bothering to look anywhere else but to the goal of her own room door.

When the microwave bleeped Illya tested the warmth of the mixture for the kitten with one of his fingers. It barely felt warm and that was all he needed to know. Screwing the lid on he started down the hall again toward her room. She insisted on keeping the cat so she was going to learn to bottle feed it tonight. Pushing the door open to the room he really didn't expect to see what he did.

Having made it to her room unseen, she sighed in relief and looked to the kitten as she stretched and yawned. "That was close," she whispered, as she started trying to untie the dress, "He'd never let me live it down if-" The door to her quarter slid open and Illya walked in mumbling before his eyes locked with hers. She stood there in the red gown, with wide eyes and trapped in its sweeping skirts.

Illya's eyebrows raised some. He couldn't believe that she'd found it already and couldn't refrain from trying the dress on. Clearing his throat he brushed past her and sat on the edge of her bed. Gathering the kitten in one hand he pulled it onto his lap and held the bottle for it with his broken arm. During that time he pulled his hand out from underneath the kitten and then began to gently clean it's fur with the cloth that he'd gotten just slightly damp. "Yah might want to change out of that dress if you plan to help, or you might want to stay in it if you plan to just watch the first time."

Her cheeks flushed into a rosy shade of red. He seemed oddly quiet about her running around in something so strange. Wouldn't he had made at least one smart comment about it by now? And she wasn't going to change with him just sitting there considering the dress was made so certain items were not required underneath. "I- I..knocking?" she stuttered, trying to collect herself, "There is such a thing as knocking."

"Eh...Knocking is when yah want to enter a home?" Illya didn't understand what she was so upset about. "I live here. I don't need to knock to go where I need." Carefully stroking the kitten's back and legs with the cloth he made sure to then move to the haunches and he looked up at her again. "Kalizda, I didn't tink you owned a dress."

"They don't have privacy on your planet?" she grumbled as he tended the cat. His next question made her pause, reminding her she was in fact still wearing the gown. The blush deepened, radiating from her cheeks and her arms instinctively wrapped over herself. As if that was going to hide an entire dress. "I dont. It was just in the closet from the woman who stayed here before. I just.."

Just giving the woman a look over the privacy statement he let her wonder what she would. Explaining these things was often difficult and he didn't know if he wanted to venture into one of those discussions. Illya did notice the blush becoming deeper on the woman and he shrugged his one shoulder. "Now yah do and it is a fine dress to have. Yah look good in it. Fits good too eh?"

Calysta blinked in surprise. Part of her wanted to think he was saying something like that in sincerity and the part reminded her how coy he could actually be. For once she wasn't sure what to say as she looked him over which made fresh wave of blush take over. "oh, I uh..suppose I do now," she managed to say, tugging at the skirt, "It is very pretty and the fit nearly perfect. I'm not sure where I would ever where something so nice, though."

"Yah never know." Illya smirked as he looked back down at the cat. "Could be a party one night."

"A party?" she chuckled with a skeptical look, "I think you did that enough for the both of us last night from the way it looked. It might be nice when everything is sorted out. You'd like the Flight Festivals on Kaereal."

Momentarily he narrowed his eyes at her. She was seemingly hinting at the fact that she disapproved of his fun the other night. Then she spoke about a festival and he was instantly interested. "Flight Festival. We should go. What happens at da festival?"

Seeing him so interested made her smile a little, breaking some of her embarrassment. "Well, they happen every year across all 90 of our floating continents and it lasts for several days. In the mornings, thousands of floating balloons with baskets for people to ride in are sent into the air so we can watch the sun rise as close to the sky as possible." As she spoke, she grew more excited and her smile broadened. "Then there are feasts, drinking and games on each continent. Air shows, and worldwide races so large the sky is full of all the flyers, which come in ever color imaginable. Children earn their first flyers on these days too. Then, in the nights there are dances. Parties with more food, drinking, and fireworks."

Gradually a grin broke out on Illya's face. He liked the sound of this. "Dey sell books in trader's language so I can learn more?" Illya loved books though he wasn't a very good reader.

Calysta nodded as she walked over and sat on the end of the bed, tucking the delicate skirt underneath her neatly. "There are many book stores and libraries on Kaereal. Even a huge one shared by all the continents. They would have one on the traders language," she replied, "Though, I have to say your traders-tongue is much better now."

Books were exactly what he wanted to hear about. Instead she changed the subject to his speech and he waited patiently for a chance to change the subject. "Aye it is better. I need to read more. Get books on flying and how to build ships eh? Only way to make meh a better crew member."

"There are a few basic ones that would help you, but experience is the real teacher. I had my old copies on the Gylcryn actually, but those are gone now, huh?" she replied, a curious tone in her voice, "When we get to Kaereal, I could get you a few if you wanted. "

Illya nodded. "Aye, experience is best, but I need books. Dey remind meh and help meh get experience."

"I'll see what I can do," she said, reaching over to pet Keysha, "Do you read? For fun too?"

He almost let out a sigh of relief. Then she started to question his reading habits and Illya nodded. "I read for fun. Do yah read for fun?"

"Any book I can get my hands on," she replied with a smile. The fact that Illya read for pleasure was a surprise to her. He was smart, but she hadn't exactly figured him for the reading for fun type of person at all.

Since the kitten was already falling asleep again he took the bottle away from it. "Keysha will need many bottles to help grow and yah wash her like dis eh?" Illya stroked her little back with the damp cloth again. "Some learn to clean demselves, dey tink yah clean dem like da mum." Carefully setting the kitten back on it's place on her bed he draped the cloth over his arm and switched the bottle to his uninjured side. Stepping back out the door he almost walked away, but pushed the door open again. "Yah want meh to knock next time?"

*******************************

Getting a few more things out of the cabinet Illya grinned. This time he was going to make dinner and he wasn't going to be using any of those rations. Last time they ate rations he didn't like them all that much. However, the woman had made a good meal that one night when she wanted to say thank you. She had actually been a good cook since they got on this ship. Maybe there was too much stress or something else on her ship that made it nearly impossible to make a decent meal. He had no idea that she was simply using rations and these ones were higher grade.

Peering into the cupboards again he frowned. There wasn't much to work with, and there was no snake. Didn't anyone in this system eat snake? It was one of the finer meats. Grumbling under is breath he shook his head. It was going to be a canned meat instead and he didn't like to cook with those. Dumping the meat into clumps on the pan he mashed and split it up before making a savory sauce with some spice to it. On the side he had rice and some gently seasoned greens. Picking a hot piece of meat out of the pan he pushed it into his mouth and let the taste soak into his tongue. It was good. Didn't taste like it was canned and that was exactly what he wanted. Serving the steaming rice onto the plates and pouring the meat over it and then the vegetables on top he set one plate at her place and the next at his. "Kalizda!" Yelling from the kitchen he waited for some kind of response. "I cook for yah!"

They were due to be landing at the planet to pick up her other co-pilot if he was still alive. It would be sometime late tonight, but he knew that she was too nervous to actually cook. When she came into the galley he nodded to her place. "Yah worrying won't get us dere faster eh? Just eat now."
 
Illya was gentle and thorough in his work with Keysha, explaining to her how to take care of the kitten as he went. She wondered how he could be so good with animals, so gentle, and so rough around the edges in other moments. When he was done, he gathered up the bottle and cloth as he headed out the door. The door had almost shut and she breathed a sigh of relief as she started to unlace the dress again...until the door swung back open. "Yah want meh to knock next time?"

She shot him a look as snatched up the dress to keep it from falling. "Yes!"

****

Calysta glanced at the small table where a steaming plate of food waited for her, and then back to Illya who gave her an expectant nod. She wasn't sure if she could eat. Her appetite tended to disappear when she was worried, and apparently she had seemed worried too. Was she so easy to read? She would try to eat for appearances sake. "It looks good," she replied with a small smile, as she sat down,"Thank you, Illya." The food did in fact look and smell delicious, far better than she could do in the kitchen. "How is it that you learned to cook like this?"

Taking his seat after she had started to cook, the man began to carefully push his food around with his fork and then started to scoop it up and eat it. Almost as soon as he'd put the first bite into his mouth Kalizda decided to ask a question about his cooking. Illya took a deep breath. "Isla needed meh to cook. She teach meh to cook."

She had been poking her around at her food, willing herself to eat when he mentioned something she hadn't heard before. Someone at least. "Isla?" she asked, as she took a hesitant bite.

Illya nodded as she repeated the name back. "She was my partner." His voice strained a little as he said the words. Quickly Illya pushed another bite of food into his mouth and he tried not to show too much emotion at even the mention of her name.

His partner? His agreed partner. Or hand been, judging by the past tense and the sudden wirey tone in his voice. Calysta took another bite, giving him a moment before she asked her next question. "What happened?"

It seemed that there was a never ending stream of questions from Kalizda. Three wasn't quite never ending, but it certainly felt like it when she was asking about a painful subject. "She died." Illya gave her a short answer and then decided to avoid too much more he might as well give her the short and efficient version. "We grew up together. She waited all during da war for meh and we agreed. Isla...." Cutting short again he reached up and rubbed his forehead. "Isla got sick in her bones. So I learn to take care of her, eh. Last year she could not recover and she died. Den I bury her."

She put down her fork and listened to him in silence. It had been her intent to learn more about him, and so she had, but she would never have intentionally upset him. At least never on a subject like this. He had obviously very much loved his Isla. A wave of guilt rolled in and she found it hard to keep looking him in the eye. "Illya...I-I'm sorry."

Though the expression she gave was hardly useful it had sentimental value and Illya nodded. Sighing a little he scooped up another bite of food. "Yah need ta eat. We land soon." Now that she knew he figured she wouldn't ask too many more questions. Hopefully no more questions about Isla. Everyone at home knew and out of respect the Chippeqouti never inquired of the dead. It was up to those that had been near to them to talk when they wanted. Kalizda had been as respectful as she might have been considering she didn't know all the customs.

She nodded to him and picked at her food as they ate together with the quiet hum of the ship filling the silence between them.

****

With the Ekram safely at port and docked at Fenied, Calysta doubled checked the systems before shutting down the engines. On the way in radio chatter had tipped them off about extra security in the city. While Fenied was a safe and usually clean port, there had been a grisly murder and with the killer was still at large, the city was still on high alert. Which meant moving around in the port was going to be difficult enough. Factoring in the strong possibility of Illya being recognized as an escapee for his size and bright eyes, maneuvering the place could prove next to impossible. That meant leaving the man behind on the ship. He probably wouldn't like it, but it would be for the best. He would be less likely to be sighted, he could quickly get the ship ready for take off in case of emergency, and...she felt as if looking for Wynt was something she was responsible for on her own as captain. It wasn't something Illya needed to worry about.


She made sure Keysha had been fed and handed the kitten to a confused looking Illya. "Would you mind staying here this time. There's going to be a lot of security and it might be best for someone to stay the ship."

He debated with her, wanting to go with until offering the suggestion of staying in radio contact. She agreed with him and found a small wrist links radios. They were nice and had complicated features available, but all they needed was a way to talk in an emergency by pressing the tiny button on the side. Making sure they were on the same frequency, she donned the wrist-link, then tucked the pistol into her waistband, before heading out to unravel her mystery.

****

Security was much higher than the last time. Patrolling city officers in black and red uniforms walked the streets in pairs, and there was a tension among the citizenry that had not been there before. Luckily, they didn't appear to be stopping people for ID checks, so she slipped through the streets walking casually but also giving the officers a wide birth. Part of her wanted to stop and find a broadcast station for the news, but her desire to get to the hospital where she left Wynt took precedent for now. She could tackle the fact of her own innocence better when she knew more about the situation with her co-pilot.

When she entered the hospital, the tension in the air seemed to rise until she met the receptionist. A tall blonde with pink eyes and sharp teeth sat behind the counter popping bubbles with her chewing gum.

"Canna helpya?"

"Yeah, I wanted to check on the status of a patient, Wynt Uluei." Calysta asked calmly.

The receptionist shot her a look as if she were an idiot for asking. "Youa news reporta of some kind?"

Calysta shrugged, "Something like that. "

"Well then, youa the worst reporta I've talked to so far," she quipped, "E'very body already knows that's the guy that Kaerelea' woman came here' an killed."

Wynt was dead. A sinking feeling hit her stomach and her hands began to shake. Shoving her hands into her jacket pocket, she leaned against the counter and looked at the receptionist. "And this Kaerelean woman...what did she do? Exactly?"

"Stars, you are behind aren't you? she replied with a huff. Obviously she had told this story several times. "The Kaerelea' woman was seen going into his room, then leaving. What she left behind was a bloody mess. Nearly unr'cognizable by the time she was done. The officas think it was the same woman he worked with. Seeing as he was a pilot and the woman was wea'rin the same uniform. Now, theya saying she went and killed some sorta important person too . Some sort of rebel theya saying. But I don't know anything about that."

Calysta swallowed but her mouth had gone dry. Wynt was not only dead, but they thought she was the killer. Not only that, but now she was being set up for another murder too? A rebel?

"Hey...hey ...lady? You okay?"

Her eyes snapped back to the receptionist who was staring at her, still chewing her gum. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for info..." she glanced at the woman's name tag, "...Floella. I'll be sure to credit you in my report."

Then she turned and started to leave as the woman shrugged and went back to her work.

Her head spun with anger mixed with sadness, trying to make sense of everything and work out her next move. Of course she hadn't killed Wynt or anyone else, but that's not what everyone else believed and since her ID and funds had been cut off, it must be what the Kaerelean authority believed too. The fact that he had died in some gruesome way made her feel nauseous. Why would someone do this?

The second murder puzzled her more. She had been no where near anyone "important" except on her last mission, which had gone smoothly by her memory. There had been no mishaps at all until Wynt had grown sick on the way back to Kaereal. If this "important" person was important enough,it explained why she had a price on her head and Braxion bounty hunters after her as well. Of course that could also be because she was running around with a rumored 'war criminal' and exile escapee. Either way, it didn't matter. She could go to Kaereal and try to explain things, but exposing herself to them meant being locked up and awaiting trial. Then there was the matter of what they would do will Illya...

Her thoughts were interrupted she turned down a side street and felt eyes on her. The street was a quiet shopping center, mostly tiny boutiques with a center fountain and courtyard. There weren't many shoppers milling around, which is what made the sudden feeling of being watched more prominent. Keep calm...keep walking...
Stepping into the courtyard with her hands in her pockets, she took a quick glance over her shoulder. There was someone a few meters behind her, a large someone, and the hairs on the back her neck prickled as the follower closed the distance.

She kept walking through the courtyard and through a connecting alley, picking up her pace to keep the distance between her and the stalker. They were large enough, she didn't want the close. Turning a corner, there would be a few seconds he couldn't see her and she held her wrist-link up.

"Illya...get the engines ready...we need to be ready to take off."

There was a crackle from the small speaker and she couldn't be sure if he heard her or not. The stalker came around the corner behind her and into the busy street. Maybe she could lose them in the crowd. Dodging in and out of the people, she took the most crowded path she could find, hoping the larger pursuer couldn't follow so easily. At one point, she was pushed to the edge of the crowd near a stall of fruit, but the follower seemed to be gone for now. For once, being smaller worked in her favor.

She lifted the wrist link to her lips again and tried to contact Illya. "Illya, can you hear me? Is the ship-"

Pain arched through her body as every one of her muscles seized so tightly she couldn't even scream, save for a hissing growl of agony from her clenched jaw. Her knees collapsed, pitching her into the paved street as a shadow stepped over her. Her eyes barely registered a stone-skinned Braxion scowling down at her as her body arched in against the electricity.
 
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Staying on board the ship was far from his first choice. Illya took a deep breath and sat down in the chair. Still holding onto the kitten he watched her leave. While he waited Illya tucked the kitten under his good arm and he began to wander the ship quizzing himself on the functions of each section and how to repair them. He couldn't afford to waste time on the ship, or anywhere else. They had things that needed to be done when she got back. Maybe there would still be a co-pilot and if the man was alive it was possible that he needed the medical bay.

Illya began to set the medical bay up. He shoved a blanket into the warmer and checked to be sure that the sheets were clean. Grimacing a little he carefully shifted the cat to his broken arm and he washed his good hand in some cleanser before digging through the drawers to be sure he had everything he would need for a quick clean up or something else. While he wasn't that good with medical things, Illya could perform the basics. Every couple of minutes he would check his radio wrist watch thing. A slight smirk came to his face. This was older technology that obviously was still in use. When she handed it to him she had a look on her face like maybe he didn't know how to use it and she had only pointed out the red button.

Once they left the medical bay Illya set the kitten down in the kitchen so it could eat some of the other food that was out for her. By now Keysha was more than happy to use her litter box and he could leave her in the kitchen if he needed to. Illya had already done everything he could in the ship and she still wasn't back. He was starting to get a little worried about her and then he heard a message come through on the radio.

Pressing the button was awkward and he wasn't sure if his response went through. She never said where she was at so he assumed not. His cast extended from his armpit to most of his fingers and he could barely work the controls on the ship, much less a minuscule button on a radio. Grumbling a little he started toward the ship control room. Illya plopped into the captain's seat. "I tell yah not to go alone." Punching one button with his sore hand he winced. Perhaps it had been a little rougher than he had intended, but the ship engines were started now. Grabbing the wrist radio he tried to send his signal, but he still couldn't seem to get anything through. Once more his radio crackled to life and he heard her come on the other end. There was a strain in her voice like she was scared. That strain that said she was trying really hard not to show some emotion. Perhaps she was overcome with grief or she'd found her co-pilot and he was still in bad shape.

At the very end of her transmission there was a grunt. Illya waited for her to finish what she had been saying. There wasn't anything more after about 30 seconds and then he couldn't wait any longer. He could set up a trace for her radio wave. All he had to was pull up the tracing feature on his radio and set it to track the same frequency. Since they hadn't any interference Illya was pretty sure hers was the only other one that he would be following.

Making his fingers work while in the cast was far more effort than he thought. Illya winced some, he swore he could feel the strain all the way up his arm. It was pathetic sounding, but it hurt.

Only a few seconds passed and he saw the signal come up. She was moving and it wasn't toward the ship. Illya figured that meant trouble. Racing down the plank of the ship he set a code to lock it and then started through the streets just ahead of her. He intended to cut her off or at least figure out where she was heading. He was constantly moving closer to the docks and then he spotted another ship and a man dragging her limp body. The Chippeqouti didn't take more than a few seconds to think before charging toward them.
 
Calysta wobbled in and out of consciousness, her limbs numb from the taser. With the way the bounty hunter dragged her toward the docks, she was almost a little thankful she couldn't feel anything. The only view she had was of the cloudy sky above them and occasionally one of the taller builders would pass into sight. None of the police stopped them. Nobody would stand between a Braxion and whatever they wanted due to their unique bodies. Skin of grey stone with an under stone of pink may give the species a sickly look, but they were among the strongest creatures in the quadrant. They used their impervious bodies as an advantage to do the more dangerous work in the area for higher pay, including odd job bounty hunting.

"Hard to believe you're the one who knocked off that diplomat," the bounty hunter commented in a gravelly voice, "With the amount of money on you, I thought you'd be a challenge."

Her anger flared and she tried to struggle or even move at all, but only her finger tips would twitch. She silently cursed herself. It was her duty as captain to keep her crew safe, both Wynt and Illya too. She had failed with Wynt. If she had stayed with him rather than obeying her orders, he might be alive right now. Alive with his wife and children. Tears welled in her eyes and she couldn't move her hand to wipe them away.

***

The sound of boot falls cutting through the sound of idling engine made the grey- toned Braxion stop and turn to see Illya. A second bounty hunter coming to claim his prize and a foolish one. There was no hesitation as he tossed the woman off to the side. She might be awake, but she would be far too numb to run anywhere and would be there after he dealt with the thief. Walking forward with his tazer wand in one hand and his other curled into a fist he met Illya head on, letting him take the first strike.

Ducking slightly Illya caught the Braxion with his shoulder and the two of them slammed into the ground. There was something different about this alien. Illya could already feel his shoulder smarting from the hit and he'd never experienced this before.

The alien landed on his back with Illya on top. He grappled with him, trying to gain control and delivered a quick jab to his stomach with a stony fist.

An arm pushed against his and another on his cast. When the alien grabbed the cast Illya was forced to sit up a little and it was enough for a fist to hit him square in the gut. His reflexes deep down forced all his meal up and he puked on the other alien. Still he couldn't let a sore stomach hold him back. The Chippeqouti pulled a gun out and shot at the alien point blank. The rock splintered and the bullet ricocheted, planting itself in Illya's shoulder. He hadn't known that the alien was made with rock, but know he did.

The Braxion had been covered in worse than whatever the just erupted from the bounty hunter and the gunshot didn't slow him. The hunter had only made it worse for himself. He made a grab for the bullet wound and clamped his hand on the man's shoulder squeezing with as much force as he could.

"AAAAGH!" Crying out as the other grabbed the wound Illya started to look for anything he could use through the mist that had started form in his eyes. The arm in a cast was already throbbing and then the bullet to the shoulder on that same side only made it worse. All he could see was a rock and he grabbed it and hit the Braxion as hard as he could in the head. Some of the rock began to crumble and Illya kept hitting the Braxion with the rock till its grip loosened and it fell limp. By the end of the fight Illya slumped forward and groaned.

***

She couldn't see what was happening, from the way she had landed on her side, but the sounds were telling enough. Someone was attacking. A few grunts, a violent heaving with a splatter, and a gun shot met her ears. Now was her chance, if she could get her limbs to work. Partial feeling had returned to her some part of her hands and one of her legs...

"AAAAGH!"

Her eyes widened as she recognized the sound. It was the same sound Illya had made in the pits. After the scream came the sound of repeated strikes along with a pained groan. Another surge of panic took over as she forced her numb body in to moving, pushing her up just a little, before giving out. Her head knocked against the pavement but she didn't care. She had failed to protect Wynt. Losing another crew member was not an option.

Trying again, she pushed up and managed to see Illya slumped over the limp Braxion holding his stomach. For a moment she thought he had been shot in the stomach, but, then her eyes caught the bloody bullet wound at his shoulder. He hadn't known about Braxion skin and fired, taking the ricochet in the shoulder of his injured arm. Another failure on her part as captain.

He took a few moments before rising to his feet and walking over to her with a look of pain and what she suspected was annoyance for not having listened to him. Despite how angry he might be with her, for the first time, she was truly glad to see the man and his bright green eyes.

***

The feeling in her body returned as they helped each other hobble back to the ship. Only one of her legs seemed to want to cooperate and the other dragged along behind like an anchor to both of them. Illya helped her along as best as he could, keeping his good arm wrapped behind her back, pulling her up. Progress to the ship would've been faster, had he carried her, but she wanted to walk. It was obvious broken arm was aching and then bullet wound added put him in even more agony.

As they stepped aboard the Ekram, Keysha started mewling from the kitchen, but the kitten would have to wait. The medical bay was a small room, but it did have a singular raised cot that she managed to sit Illya down on. Her own muscles were beginning to ache from the taser and the knock to her head would have to be looked at , but Illya was first. The bullet in his shoulder would have to be removed and the wound cleaned thoroughly or he would lapse into fevers again. Then she would have to get the ship into the air, but she didn't know where to go at the moment. Then she would find who killed Wynt...and who framed her for it... More tears threatened to spill over to her cheeks as her hands shook.

One thing at a time.

Leaning against the counter for support, she pulled at the drawers searching for tweezers until she found a pair. She snatched them out of the drawer and turned to Illya, without a word, ready to deal with the bullet whether he liked it or not.
 
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Illya slowly got to his feet and he made his way over to the woman. She was still numb in part from what he could tell and likely a bit helpless. That was how she looked. Everyone hit this point at some time in their life and especially if they were going to lead a life that involved adventure or danger. Grabbing around her waist with his one good arm he weaved dangerously toward the ship.

Every now and then little black spots would start in his vision and he knew it was just the pain in his arm. It was getting worse with the bullet and he could barely keep conscious as they walked toward the ship. He let Kalizda type in the code while he held onto her and then the two of them walked up the ramp together. Inside the ship again they set the locks once more. Keysha was seemingly in a hurry to be catered to and she padded after them as Kalizda pulled toward the medical bay. Illya sat on the table while she pulled out a pair of tweezers. He knew exactly what she planned and so he laid back simply because he didn't think he could remain sitting up while she did that without falling over.

Pulling his knees up did help to relax his stomach a little and he let out a pained breath. The man's eyes widened slightly when he saw her hand shaking. "Yah better not dig into meh shoulder when yah shake like that." Reaching out with his good hand he held onto her wrist firmly. "We talk about a few tings first eh?"

She couldn't blame him for not wanting her to touch him with her hands trembling like they were, but the last thing she wanted to do was talk. She wasn't thinking clearly and didn't have the energy to debate with him, but his hand on her wrist made it seem like the chat wasn't optional. Rather than saying anything out loud, she nodded to him with her grey eyes cast to the floor.

"Everyone learns dis." Illya carefully let her wrist free and he winced. "Yah failed and now yah can be a miserable mass or move on. What yah did was stupid. Put yahself and yah crew in more danger than if yah would have let meh come with. If yah thought it was too dangerous for bot of us yah shouldn't ave home here."

She hadn't expected him to understand. How could he? Wynt had been her responsibility and so was he. She was accutely aware of how badly she had failed both of them and she started to grow angry over his need to drive that point even further. When she looked up at him, with his cast and wound on his shoulder, the anger faded to shame again. "I know," she managed to say quietly.

Illya knew it wasn't what she wanted to hear, but it didn't mean she still didn't need to hear it. "Yah tink of yah crew first and sometimes dat means yah tink of yahself too. Dis happened because yah tink only of yahself. Yah be da captain and yah be responsible, so yah do da job all by yahself. I'm yah crew and yah mission is mine. Do what is best for all yah crew and going together would have been better. Maybe he wouldn't have got yah eh?"

He was calling her selfish? All she ever thought about was her crews safety first. Why did he think she asked him to stay on the ship? He would've been killed if they found out what he was. Then again she had nearly gotten him killed too and for that he had every right to be angry. "I always have considered my crew first Illya. For you to think otherwise is...my failure. I know that."

The man was finding himself slightly irritated with her lack of ability to admit that she had been wrong with this whole thing. She would not admit that it was a selfish thing. "Yah figure it out for yahself then." Leaning back into the bed a little tighter he gripped the edge of it with his good hand. "Jest pull da bullet out now."

His attitude hit her last nerve, the only one keeping her calm anymore. "What? You want to hear how I was wrong and you were right?" she snapped, pulling aside his shirt collar, "Does it give you some satisfaction to know it?" She found the wound, and put one hand on his chest to hold him down before leaning over with the tweezers.

Growling with the pain of her adding pressure to his shoulder he met her gaze. "I dun care if I'm right. I care if yah learn from da mistake."

Her grey eyes were a bit cloudy again, but she blinked and the sharpness returned as she gazed back to him. She wasn't sure why he was saying all of this to her. He still seemed angry, but it was a different from the bull headed sort of anger he'd shown toward her in the past. She was used to helping everyone else, not someone trying to help her. "Consider it learned," she whispered, " We stick together from now on." Then she moved in with the tweezers and began digging for the bullet.

There wasn't anytime to answer her before she started to dig around with the tweezers. Illya grunted in surprise and then expletives began to flow right out of his mouth in a mix of his own language and a few of the words he had learned form the pub. Not one of them was considered appropriate to say in the presence of others, but a little numbing agent might have helped. Not that shoving a needle into the skin would have actually done anything for the rest of his shoulder. The effort not to move had him breaking out into sweats and he felt sick at the end of it.

Getting his shoulder stitched up and wrapped after she proceeded to clean it did help some. Now Illya couldn't even do so much as move his arm away from his body. Instead he was fitted with a sling. The man fell into a fitful sleep until later that evening. At least the heated blanket had taken some of the tenderness out of his bones. Cautiously limping to the kitchen he smelled something that was semi decent in the making. A frown was permanently resting on his face for now. Pulling his shirt up he winced at the large bruise that had formed. "I think I'll eat small." There had been enough time passed between his anger and the even that Illya figured he should give her a chance to talk about whatever it was she had to say. "Yah more den a captain to meh. I consider yah a friend. Can I ask as a friend how yah doing?"
 
With Illya taken care of and resting, she hobbled her way to the cockpit and eased herself into the captain's chair. Every muscle was sore from the overstimulation of the taser and she was almost tender to the touch. The bump on her head was a minor complaint compared to that, or compared to any of Illya's injuries. A needle of guilt still wiggled in her chest because of that, but it was done and she would have to thank him later for bothering to come after her at all.

He had done his pre-flight checks well, judging by what she saw on the panels. He'd started the engines a tad too high on the power levels for a warm up which if repeatedly done could cause strain, but otherwise, his work was excellent.

Her hands were still shaking as she took on the joy stick and the thruster, and lifted off taking them out of the atmostphere. Leaving meant she would have to decide on a destination. Finding a course that would take them to a somewhat decent port at the edge of Illya's quadrant, she let the autopilot take over and then went to clean up herself.

There was little she could for the soreness but take some painkillers and drink water to ease the ache. The injury on her head was a decent lump and a cut in her scalp which she cleaned throughly, hissing at the sting from the disinfectant.

Keysha was crying for food by that point and she set to work making a bottle as Illya had shown her, putting the mixed formula into the microwave and heating the milk to luke warm. She scooped up the kitten and cradled her. The cats paws held the bottle with claws out slightly as Calysta let her suck on the bottle till she was satisfied.

With Keysha purring in her jacket pocket, she went about fine tuning some of calibrations in the jump-drive. It wasn't because they needed it, it was more to distract herself than any thing. Her body needed rest but her mind simply wouldn't let it. She thought of Wynt and his family and of how her own life was in shambles. She refused to simply lay down and be defeated but the next move was not clear. The idea of not knowing what to do for once threw her off more than anything.


***
A few hours laters later, she poked her head into Illya's quarters, just enough to ensure that he was alright. He lay on his back, eyes closed with a furrowed brow, even in sleep, and a blanket wrapped around him snugly. Inspecting him, she was relieved to see he didn't seem to be feverish, just sleeping roughly. She tried not to wake him as she closed the door gently and slipped off to the kitchen

Her appetite had left her, but she didnt know if Illya would wake up hungry or not. There was a powdered soup mix in the cabinet that would require little effort to make, so she started working on it as Keysha pounced on her feet and attacked her boot straps.

The soup was a broth with noodles to which she added a can of sliced root vegetables for extra flavor. It was not a good as the meal Illya had managed to make, but it was food.
Keysha meowed at the sound of boots shuffling down the hall and Illya appeared in the door.

"I think I'll eat small. Yah more den a captain to meh. I consider yah a friend. Can I ask as a friend how yah doing?"

She looked up from the large bowl she was stirring as Illya spoke. Friends? She thought he had considered her a happenstance captain and that was all. The sudden wish to be friends made her wonder why he changed her mind but she also found it strangely relieving too. Her eyes went from the deep bruise on his belly to his face and she nodded. "I think that would be good. Would you want some soup?"

Illya grit his teeth. "No. No soup." His stomach was far too tender feeling for that. "Just some tea."

She set to work making the only tea that they had, a light herb tea, without hesitation. "I'm sorry....about earlier. Thank you, for helping me...I should have said it earlier. I just had many things on my mind. Not an excuse I realize, but...I am grateful you came." The tea was finished warming and she took the mug out of the microwave and offered it to him. "I did find out what happened to Wynt. A little at least."

A pre-made tea...It was like everything else around here. Nobody made their own food or anything like that. Illya took the cup from her and gingerly took the first sip. "What happened?"

"Someone came to his hospital room and murdered him," she said, leaning against the cabinet a little. "Someone made up to look like me. They think..they think I'm the one who did it."

Illya nodded. "Den yah find proof you didn't, or run." Usually it was the latter with these sort of things. "Even if yah find proof, dey may want yah to be guilty anyway."

She frowned but nodded at his reasoning. "I think someone is wanting me to be guilty anyways. The second murder charge is because they think I've killed someone important. A diplomat. That's why there was a Braxion bounty hunter after us. There will probably be more."

"Doesn't make sense for yah to kill bot. Time frame too close and dey too far apart. Yah guilty no matter what." Illya leaned back in the chair and winced some. Taking another sip of the tea he then set it down on the table and waited for her to say anything else. She was pretty well damned no matter what she did.

"To you and I that's clear," she replied quietly, "but the solid proof is on the Gylcryn's ship log, which is gone. I'd have to find who the real killer is."

"Yah won't prove nothing." Illya voice began to burn with anger. "Dah Federation will say what dey say and yah system will believe a large governmental system before dey believe yah. Kalizda trust me."

She eased herself into the chair across from him. His voice was angry, but she was sure, that this time it wasn't at her. "That's what happened with your entire race and you too," she said, her voice gentle for once, " Someone deemed you guilty and so you were."

Looking at her a mischievous smile came to his face. "Yah can still steal from dem. Help meh steal what dey value most. Flight. Den yah have all Chippeqouti learning and we find dere records."

What he proposed was strange to her and another reason she disliked what had happened to his people. Knowledge should never have to be stolen. It was clear he didn't understand life on Kaereal at all and there was no possible way he could unless she showed him. "Illya I do want to help your people, and I want you to understand mine. Flight isn't just a mode of transport for us. I can't really describe it...its more than that. Its a..right. Is that why you wanted to flight books? To take back?"

Illya could hear the big 'no'' coming. First of all the woman stared at him an then she started off with a mostly soft tone. As soon as she'd finished he carefully stood. "Yah can not because?"

She sighed as he stood up. He still didn't understand and though there was no way he could, his assumptions made her a little irritated. He had wanted to talk, but now he seemed almost disinterested. "I didn't say I wouldn't help you," she replied, keeping her eyes on him, " I only asked what your intent was for the books. Kaereal is different from what you think."

Explaining why he wanted the books was the part that made Illya wary. "I want to take dem home." Keeping his eyes steady on her he watched for any kind of reaction. "We can make any part needed to mend da ships that have crashed dere before. We just need some instruction and da books would help."

Calysta gazed back at him, her eyes searching his. "You intend to help your people leave the planet. What will you do against the death penalty for breaking your exile, Illya?"

The death penalty had hovered for long enough that Illya hadn't thought about it as much as he maybe should have. "I don't get caught?" Knowing how bad that sounded a grin came to his face. "Meh plans are to steal books of all kinds from t-tha Federation. Quoti has many ships. Dey cannot catch us all."

Calysta smiled at him. Even in pain the man managed to keep his humored grin. " I help you get the information you want and you help me clear my name. We stick together. "

Nodding a little he winked. "I th-think it would be easier to clear Kalizda's name den mine."

****

She drank her soup in the quiet of the kitchen, after Illya retreated to his room, and then went to the med-bay. The weight of what she had said to him was sinking in.
He wanted her to help him and his people, with only the light sentence of death as a consequence. Of course, now that it was obvious she had been set up, not once, but twice by someone powerful, she would be facing life in prison and probably never uncover the truth.
Illya her best chance at clearing her name.

Rummaging through a draw she found an emergecy surgical kit which included a small, steel scalpel. Pulling the tool from the box and holding it in her right hand, she held up her left thumb and took a deep breath. At least her hands weren't shaking.
She grit her teeth as she slid the scalpel over the pad of her thumb then squeezed until the miniscule ID chip popped out and landed in the sink with a few drops of blood.

There it was. Her identity, every record of her life sitting in the cold metal sink. Reaching to the faucet, she started to wash it down the drain, but stopped. There may be a day when it could be hers again.

She dotted it with her finger and put it a small plastic bag, then cleaned the cut before bandaging it with a little gauze.

Keysha curled around her feet, rubbing against her leg as she cleaned up.

"I know," Calysta whispered as she picked up the kitten, wincing at her soreness, "Come on, little tyrei. One last thing to do."

She went back to the cock pit and sat into the captain's chair as she plotted a course for Kaereal. Illya wanted to learn more about flight and space travel and there was no better place for it. He would understand when he saw her world, hopefully, and if he really wanted to.

It would take several days to get there, and by the time they arrived, the Flight Festival would be in full swing. More than enough activity to cover their presence.

Once the course was set to the nearest port on the way to Kaereal, she sat back in the chair, resting her head. Keysha curled into her lap, purring. "Good girl."

The sound mixed with the hum of the ship and finally her eyes began to droop until she fell into a heavy sleep.
 
Illya waited till he was in the hall outside the kitchen to grab his shoulder. It felt like it was on fire and he didn't want her to know that it hurt that badly. Mostly it bothered him that it was on the opposite side of all the other old injuries and that meant that more than likely as he got older it would get worse. In some ways it improved with time, but there were still portions from other injuries that never did heal quite right. All of it on his right side. Thankfully she hadn't been particularly nosy and neither had she noticed the very light pock mark on his face or under the right side of his jaw. Rest of the scarring on his head was covered under the heap of black hair that was there.

The room felt a little warm so he stripped off the shirt and pants before getting into the bed. Since his right arm was still unhindered at this point he tilted it up so he could see. Most of the scarring was just little spots now. Hardly noticeable unless you knew what you were looking for. However, his leg was different. It was still obvious with deep scars and white discoloration on his brown skin.

Crawling underneath the covers of the bed Illya rolled to his right side and grimaced. He was tired of laying on his back and it was hurting some. Whatever that Braxion had done it was rough on him. Part way through the night he couldn't tell if he woke up because someone had stepped into his room or if it was because he was sweating. Illya sat up in the bed and then laid on his back. Growling a little under his breath he settled into a fitful sleep again.

Early the next morning Illya woke up feeling tired and groggy, but he couldn't have expected much else. Carefully peeling the bandage away from his shoulder he looked at the stitches and seeping out of them was a little puss and blood. It looked gross and it didn't smell especially wonderful, but considering the fact he hadn't broke into any serious fevers it appeared that his body was doing its job and pushing all the rest of the infection out. There wasn't any extending red lines or anything else that would indicate a larger problem. Carefully grabbing his pants he smirked a little at having to pull them on with only one hand. Adjusting to doing this with his cast was hard enough. Now he couldn't even hold the pants up with his arm.

Sitting down on the bed he kicked his feet a little to start pulling the pants up and he fell back into the wall that his bed was pushed against. His bedroom would have normally belonged the crew and when he sat back up he made it a little to fast and to straight. A bong sounded as his skull made contact with the metal frame of the bunk over top of him.

Finally he scooted himself off the bed as carefully as he could and with his heels still in the legs of the pants he slipped. Both Illya's legs went under the bunk across from him and his back scraped against the bunk behind him and he ended by hitting his head on the ladder up the side of the bunks. "Ow!" Yelling the word loudly he started to scramble off the floor, sliding and slipping until he hand managed to get his pants up and then he sat down on the edge of the bed to keep his pants on while he zipped them and buttoned the top.

Leaning over he reached for his shirt. Illya sighed a little. He wasn't sure how to even get it on with one arm completely useless for the time. A knock on the door made him jolt and he smashed his head on the bunk above himself again. "Why'd yah knock?"

"Because its polite," she replied with the door, wincing at the sound of another loud bang, "And because you sound like a tyrei in a parts store. Can I come in?"

Rubbing the back of his head he winced some. "Yes."

Calysta rolled her eyes as she twisted the handle and pushed the door open. "Are you okay?"

"Uh huh." Illya held the shirt up. "Might need help getting it on eh? Unless yah want to look at meh fine body all day."

She looked him over and chuckled as she took the shirt from him. "Now, who thinks highly of themselves?" she replied with a sideways grin.

Illya shrugged. "I was taking meh best guess. Thhhought yah might be tinking dat about meh. Yah eyes light up jest a bit when yah see meh." Bringing his right hand up he carefully patted his bald chest and gave her a mischievous grin.

Calysta shot him a look, and stepped up to him, standing on her toes with the shirt collar ready to slip over his head. "You think I am so easily distracted?" She asked. Her tone was coy, but a delicate blush was creeping to face and growing brighter.

The grin on his face grew a bit wider. It was difficult to work his injured arm into the shirt first and then she was helping him get it over his head. "Dis way yah not distracted by meh rest of the day. Already had yah chance to get a look."

"How courteous of you, not to tease me,"Calysta replied, her blush flooding her cheeks now. Her grey eyes met his as she tugged the shirt down over his head. "Though if I didn't know any better, I would dare say you like to try distracting me."

Getting her to blush was all the more he wanted. Illya frowned slightly. "Nah. I don't want to distract yah. Too many tings to do." The last tug brought made he one hand brush along his stomach and he raised an eyebrow. "Bruise dere if yah remember." Grabbing his boots out from underneath his bed he pushed his feet into them and realized he couldn't tie his shoes either. He was too embarrassed to ask her to do that so he stuffed the laces into the top of his boots. "Shall I summon yah in the morning to help meh get dressed, or would yah rather I come find yah with meh shirt tomorrow?"

His tone changed and he frowned at her. She had only been joking but either he didn't like being quipped back at or she had struck a nerve. Reminding herself, he still wasn't feeling well, she ignored the idea of asking and gave him a nod. "Just come find me. If I'm still in my room...just knock first." Then she gave him one last look of confusion before heading to the door.

When she stepped out the door he watched her with a completely straight face. Illya waited till it sounded like she was a ways off before he busted out laughing. His raspy voice didn't lend itself to a hearty sounding laugh. Instead it was more like a sort of croak followed with an airy hiss.

***************************************

There had been several days on board the ship. His shoulder was feeling much better and even the general aches and pains had begun to fade. Based on the overall improvement he figured that the bones in his arm were probably beginning to grow together again. The sealant had been near miraculous. Illya figured he might have had more seizures without the treatment. Carefully he rubbed along his chin and he shook his head. If he could grow a beard it would be easier to disguise himself. Unfortunately the Chippeqouti had no ability to grow facial hair and it was uncommon for a man to get chest hair. A beard would have been nice, many traders had them, but the chest...Illya always found chest hair sticking out the top of the trader's shirts to be disgusting. He was glad he didn't grow that.

This time he managed to get his pants on without too much difficulty. As for the shirt it was still difficult, but since he could move his shoulder a bit he decided to try getting the shirt on for himself.

They were by his estimation about ready to be landing. Peering out the window of the ship his eyes widened. There were banners everywhere and fireworks blasting off in the distance. The boom offered by one made the man jump and he glowered at the scene below. Even from their place he could tell that it was loud down there. Maybe loud enough to be a bit frightening by itself.

If he was going to get books he would have to go out there. Perhaps there were some games he could compete in to earn some money so he could buy some books. Illya had yet to ask how expensive they were. Guiding his shirt over the injured arm first he started to pull at it and only got half way when his arm started to lift and throb. "Oooow!" Pulling his head back out of the shirt he wandered through the ship till he found her. "Need help again." To top it off no matter how awkward it was to ask her for help tying his shoes he was going to have to ask since he couldn't move his shoulder still. "When yah finished with da shirt would yah help meh tie meh shoes?" Shifting uneasily on his feet he wandered over to a chair so she could more easily help him with the shirt.

**************************************************

The streets were packed with people and no one seemed to take notice. Not right away. Illya was however, quite easy to spot. Most of the people here were shorter by a long ways. Ahead of them in the streets he could see vendors and bright streamers from their little street front shops. He was about ready to start wandering when he felt a hand grab his. Turning toward whoever it was he looked down. "What?"
 
Calysta was excited when Kaereal came into sight. While the last few days on the Ekram had been more or less uneventful, even with Illya aboard, the sight of home was a welcome one. Her planet was large, much larger than Illyas and covered in green, grey and white. There were no oceans, just a few large rivers in the Wilds that made up the entire planet surface with either dense jungle or lava fields. Above those were the 90 floating continents the Kaereleans lived on. She was tempted to land on her home continent of Pyrta, but considering both her and Illya's current status as fugitives, that would be a poor choice.

Instead, she followed the heavy festival air traffic to the largest and by far the busiest continent of Kinte. There was a central city in Kinte, that took up most of the continent straight up to the Edge and was one of the more unique cities Calysta had ever been to. Rather than having buildings as tall as possible and block the skyline, the hub had grown outward in a carefully planned circle starting from the center with streets radiating out like spokes on a wheel.

Even as she brought them into a dock near sunset, she could hear the fireworks and see the rainbow of flyers encircling the city in the golden light. Home.

Keysha had been riding along in her jacket pocket but since they would be leaving the ship for awhile, it was time for her to retreat to the kitchen. With a spare blanket in one hand and her kitten in the other, she went into the kitchen and made up a cozy bed for the fur ball in the corner.

"I know its not my bed," Calysta commented, as she straightened the red bow on her neck, "but it will have to do."

Rising to her feet, she caught of Illya, half dressed in the door way.

"Need help again." To top it off no matter how awkward it was to ask her for help tying his shoes he was going to have to ask since he couldn't move his shoulder still. "When yah finished with da shirt would yah help meh tie meh shoes?" Shifting uneasily on his feet he wandered over to a chair so she could more easily help him with the shirt.

He sat down in the kitchen chair and she nodded. Even after days of asking for her help, he still did so with a spot of grumpiness. Though she had to admit, if she couldn't dress herself she would be prickly too. Taking the shirt from him, she started to pull one arm in, moving much gentler than she had before. There had been a few things she had begun to notice about Illya over the past few days. He was muscular and tall, and that spoke to his strength, but there were also scars along his arms. Little pocks of white skin mixed with the tan she hadn't noticed before. At first, asking him seemed like a bad idea, but the past few days of relative peace between them made her comfortable enough to ask, even if she might blush.

"Illya? May I ask you something?" she said quietly, as she helping him get his head through the collar.

Thankfully she didn't tease him about having to help with the shirt. Illya took it as a good sign and he had quit bothering with his initial humor. He figured if he somehow made it seem strange or awkward that with joking she wouldn't bother to poke fun at the situation. Instead there had been relative understanding and peace on the situation. He couldn't move his left arm and needed help without her making it into a big deal. As soon as he got his head through the hole of the shirt he took over and began to pull it down the rest of the way. "What yah wanna ask?"

His curly hair was ruffled fro m the collar, standing in odd directions, but she ignored it and started lacing up his left boot. "Your scars. Where did they come from? Are they all from a single wound?"

It seemed that she had noticed his boots were something he hadn't been lacing and he looked to the side and ran a hand through his hair to calm the curls that he knew were misbehaving. Looking at her again he was slightly surprised. "Uh...Dey're from da war." He had been in a hurry and he hadn't bothered to try pronouncing the words correctly.

She finished lacing up the one boot and her eyes flickered up to his as her fingers moved to the other foot. "What happened?"

It was a natural curiosity. Illya sighed and took another deep breath before starting. "Meh unit was heading for an enemy base on Quoti. Dey sent out a bomb raid on us. I laid in deh sand for 14 hours before deh next unit finished deh job and picked up what was left of us."

Calysta listened as she finished lacing the second boot and tied the laces before looking to him in earnest. "A bomb raid...it sounds like you were lucky to survive with a few scars on your arm."

Quietly he nodded. Lucky was barely the word he would have used to describe it.Lifting his chin slightly and pointing to the one that ran just under his jaw he let her get a look at it. Most folk didn't know it was there. "Yah wan to call dat lucky? Got scars all over meh head to." She hadn't been strange enough to run her fingers through his hair, but if she had she would have felt them.

She hadn't noticed the one at his jaw. A jagged, pink line that cut through the tan. Her hand reached out, fingers extended, to the spot as her eyes scanned over the old wound. And there were more of them? She realized her finger tips had gotten close to his jaw and she pulled back her hand quickly. "Head...arms...how far do they go?"

Instinctively he lowered his head again and pulled slightly away when she reached. He knew she was bound to notice at some point, but he really didn't want her to touch his jaw. "Only meh right side. Leg got deh worst of it."

Her eyes dropped his right leg briefly and then came back to meet his gaze again. She had never been to war, but she had seen them and what they could do. It made her all the more grateful Kaereal had been at peace for many years. She gave him a little bit of a smile and nodded. "Well, it certainly hasn't slowed you down," she said, "I think the Braxion we left on Feneid would agree with me."

Illya set his right on the arm of the chair and got to his feet. Offering a hand to her he helped her up. "Hasn't slowed me much lately. Lots of time to heal eh."

He pulled her up and she let go of his hand, giving him a broad smile. "Time does heal a lot of things. Let's go to the festival and try to have a good one while we're here."

***

She had docked in the only space left available, a small docking station on a remnant of the outer Edge that had broken off many years ago. Essentially it was a small island floating lazily next to its mother continent and connected by an open bridge of steel cable. It would be a bit of a walk into Kinte, but the breeze would be nice and they would get an even better view of the fireworks from the bridge.

Leading Illya to the long bridge that connected the two land masses, she started walking across and admiring the view. The sunset was already casting a pink and golden hue over the entire city as fireworks popped open above them and rained down in every color conceivable. Flyers of all kind zipped by the bridge, some were single rider gliders and some were meant for more and had motors pushing them along. Far below, the evening mist of gasses had already obscured the view of the Wilds as if they didn't exist at all.
A flyer zoomed past her so close the wind stream buffeted against her, sending her hair into a wild mess and making the bridge sway. The pilot waved at them before he tucked into a barrel roll and then into an open dive. As much as she loved the adventure of space travel, nothing could compare to the open air.

"What do you think Illya?" she asked excitedly as she turned.

She found Illya was not behind her, but several paces back on the island where the bridge started looking at her with a strange expression.

"What are you doing way back there?" she called to him, her head tilting to the side.

****

When they finally made it into the city outskirts of the city, thousands of people filled banner lined the streets from every continent. There were tan, blue-eyed Aeriktans, pale Benzk from the southern most continent, and even even a few from her home continent. Her grey eyes attracted a little attention, but Illya attracted more. It wasn't uncommon for off-worlders to come to the Festival, but he happened to be a particularly large visitor. Luckily, none of the Kaereleans had ever heard of the Chippeqouti, so it wasn't likely he would be recognized.

She walked along side him as his eyes roamed over the streets lined with food carts and booths. Food smelled heavenly after so many days of rations, a fried dough and a single snake. Music with a lively beat played from a live band down the boardwalk somewhere. Nearby, she could hear the announcements for the beginning of a race soon to start.

"What?"

Illya's voice made her pause and she turned to see a small girl, no more than seven, with big blue eyes and blonde ringlets, looking up at Illya and tugging at his hand. She was speaking to him in Kaerelean and the Chip looked lost. Smiling she nodded to the little girl.

"Can you be my partner for the race?" she asked Illya, "They said I need one and I should ask someone who is new to join."

Calysta grinned, remembering her own childhood races at the festival. Illya still looked confused, but if he could fly the Ekram a child's flyer, with an experienced pilot
would be no problem. Besides, he needed to learn more and it was considered an honor to be asked to fly along with someone. "He can be your partner, but you'll have to show him how the flyer works. He doesn't speak Kaerelean. What's your name?"

Her eyes lit up and she tugged Illya forward to the sounds of the race. "Wynry!"

"That's a pretty name," Calysta replied, taking a glance at him, "Take care of him, Wynry. That's what good captains do."

Wynry smiled brightly as she pulled Illya. "Aye!"

"She wants you to fly with her," she said in traders tongue to Illya, "It's a small race and she just needs an adult with her for the ride."

The sight of the excited little girl tugging along the mountainous Chip made her chuckle. She lead them one street over to the Edge where a small runway lined with sturdy but small, open aired, two-seat flyers awaited. They had a singular engine which the child would be flying, and a second seat for the partner who would normally be in charge of weaponry, but these were flyers with that capability taken out. Wynry went about showing him the simple controller mechanism and then pointed to his seat while Calysta watched, hoping Illya might actually enjoy it if he would step into his seat.
 
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