Starfire: Return to Tamaran

Scene 10: Trust Issues

At last, Trogaar smiled. "Your plan is sound, Komand'r. I agree, we should not have to waste many troops on planet such as Kraitoria. We are only looking for fugitives, but it would not hurt to remind the Kraitorians they should have no reason to change their pacifist traditions. I shall select the squad at once. Meeting adjourned."

Blackfire was all set to leave the room when Trogaar called her back. "I trust your judgement on who to assign to this mission. After all, it is your plan."

As it turned out, Blackfire did have an idea on who should lead this mission. There was one captain she trusted only to be loyal enough to follow her orders without questioning her. He was her best candidate to find out who these fugitives were. She had already given him a comlink set on a channel she had made herself. It would be his mission to find out if her suspicions were true; it would be his mission to find out if Starfire was currently on Kraitoria.

***

By the time Starfire woke up, Phisanua's healers had done their work. All the scratches on her skin were gone now, and her shoulder was no longer wounded, either. As for her leg, she could move it without any problem.

"It is good to see you awake," one of the healers said to Starfire. "Also, your friends should be waking up soon. Duchess Phisanua told us you were to be allowed see them when they do. I am sure they will be happy to see you."

This was quite true. The sooner she saw Jennifer and Nightwing, the sooner she would feel more relaxed. Despite what Phisanua had said, she had to see them for herself.

Now she rose from her couch and asked the healers if they knew where her friends were. After being given directions to the healing room they were being kept at, Starfire made her way there at once.

When she knocked on the door and the healers saw who it was through the door crack, they smiled warmly at her. "You have arrived just in time, my dear. Your friends are waking up. You can see them now if you wish to."

Starfire nodded yes and she was allowed into the room. By the time the healers had closed the door, Jennifer was starting to sit up. She smiled when she saw Starfire. "We had to have been lucky to have crashed onto a planet you're on friendly terms with." She stretched her out her arms. "Still, that was a close call."

One of the healers smiled sweetly. "I can remember your friend asking us whether she was dead or alive before passing out. She has quite the sense of humor." She inclined her head to Nightwing, who was also starting to wake up. "We thought he was dead when found him, though," the healer said grimly. "Fortunately, Duchess Phisanua insisted we bring him here and find out for sure."

When Nightwing saw Starfire helping Jennifer to her feet, he cleared his throat. "Starfire, where are we? What happened to the ship?"

Starfire hesitated, then looked at the healers. It would not be a good idea to speak of their plan in front of them. If they found out, they would tell Phisanua, and that would only put Kraitoria in danger of being invaded by the Citadel.

"Perhaps we should speak outside," Starfire suggested, then to the healers, "that is, if we are allowed to."

"Of course you can," said the healers kindly. "After everything you three have been through, I am sure the fresh air will do you good."

A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting on a hill overlooking the Kraitorian village on one side and the wreckage of the crashed ship on the other. Though not known for using technology much apart from healing, the people of Kraitoria still used electricity to heat most of their civilizations.

After hearing Starfire tell him about her conversation with Phisanua, Nightwing only had one comment. "We have to leave this place as soon as possible." When both girls were stunned, he explained, "It's too dangerous for us to stay here."

"But why?" asked Starfire. "I do not understand. Why do you not trust these people? Tamaran and Kraitoria have always coexisted peacefully for years."

"Exactly," said Nightwing. "Wouldn't the Citadel know this by now? Eventually, they'll come looking for the ship we crashed into. When that happens, we need to be gone."

Starfire was starting to get annoyed. "I know Phisanua. She was friends with my parents. She would not dare turn us to the Citadel. How can you not even try to trust her?"

"This isn't about trust. . ." Nightwing started to say, but Starfire cut him off.

"Yes, it is. You cannot do everything on your own. You have to know when you need help and when it is necessary to trust people. I chose to do that with you and Oracle, and now I am trusting the people of this planet to keep us safe until we can leave. Why is it you cannot do this yourself?"

Nightwing stomped his foot in frustration. "You don't understand. This is serious. Staying here will eventually attract too much attention. If we're going to succeed on getting to Tamaran, need to avoid that."

"I know that!" exclaimed Starfire. "But we still need trust to endure everything else we will encounter when we get there. Why do you not trust me now?"

Jennifer stood up. "Come on guys, let's just try to figure out how we're going to get out of here."

Nightwing rounded on her. "Do you have a plan? Good, it's about time you made yourself useful for a change."

At these words, Jennifer's eyes became steely, but she kept a straight face when she replied, "Why don't we just ask the Kraitorians if they have a ship they can give us. We can be out of here long before another Citadel ship shows up."

Nightwing turned and looked at the wreckage. "It sounds like it's our only chance, but I have to go down there."

"What for?" asked Jennifer.

"I need to see if the communications array survived the crash. We'll still need to keep in touch with Oracle when we arrive on Tamaran."

Nightwing turned back to Starfire and glared at her. "Just for the record, she's someone I trust. So when she's helped coordinate our next strategy, don't even think of talking to me about who has trust issues."

With that, Nightwing made his way down to the wreckage, not looking back over his shoulder. Starfire groaned in frustration. "He is being so insufferable! Why does he not trust my judgement?"

Jennifer moved closer to Starfire and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Star, just listen for a second, and please don't chew me out until I've had my say." When Starfire nodded for her to continue, Jennifer continued.

"I know Dick is being a bit of a. . .anyway, he's not trying to be impossible. He does have a bit of a point. It's dangerous for us to stay here in one place too long. The longer we stay here, the more likely we're putting these people in danger. It's not about trust. He's just trying to do what he can to help protect the people you care about."

Starfire considered her words. She was just about to think of a reply to give Jennifer, when one of Phisanua's hand maidens approached them. "I apologize for my interruption, Princess Koriand'r, but Duchess Phisanua wishes to have a word with you in private. She wishes to know what you have been doing since she last saw you."

Starfire didn't hesitate. Time away from the others would give her time to consider Jennifer's words, as well as give her and Nightwing time to calm down. Also, she had a feeling Phisanua wanted to tell her something important.

"Go on," said Jennifer, "I'll tell Nightwing where you went. I'll see you later."

"Very well," said Starfire, turning back to the hand maiden. "I will meet with Phisanua. Will you kind enough to take me to her?" The hand maiden nodded and motioned for Starfire to follow her, leaving Jennifer behind.

Starfire hoped what she had said was right, and that Nightwing did care about these people, because she was starting to wonder why she had chosen to trust a stranger in helping her save her planet. But she had to.

She could remember him trying to help her make sense of things when she had crashed in Jump City. He hadn't known her, but he had been willing to show her kindness regardless. And he had shown her she had a chance to free Tamaran. Could she trust him, though? It seemed only time would tell.