Xander felt like his arms were going to fall off. Yulia was not a heavy burden, but she was an awkward one, especially when he had to keep adjusting her position to make sure their skin didn't come into contact. All in all, he just wanted to find Veerna so they could get the heck out of there.
"What if she's not in the branding room?" Suzan asked as they ducked down yet another dark hallway. Xander was of the opinion that Rulon needed to invest heavily in the wonderful invention known as "lights".
"Let's cross that bridge when we come to it, Sue," Xander said crossly. Mostly because the same thought had passed through his mind, multiple times. "We still have to find the branding room."
She said nothing, simply tramping along behind him. Suzan was definitely getting tired, and so was Xander. It weighed down on them, forcing silence between them. Talking took too much effort. They kept going, not really knowing why, but knowing full well that if they stopped to rest, they could be found and recaptured.
As Xander passed a branch-off in the corridors, he blinked back exhaustion, intent on continuing with his journey. However, a hand shot out of the darkness and wrapped around his wrist, pulling him close. Before he could yell, a familiar voice hissed at him. "Don't make a sound, idiot! It's me!"
"C-Commander?" Xander stammered. "I thought ... I thought you died on Barank!"
Sareen glared at him. "You think that numbskull Rulon could get the better of me?" she asked. "You really don't know me, then. Suzan," she added in greeting.
"Hi, Commander." Suzan was watching her brother, trying to determine his facial expression.
Something was off about Sareen. Her body language showed uncertainty and perhaps even a little anxiety, something Xander had never seen her demonstrate before. The commander's gaze lingered on Suzan, small, so out of her element, before turning back to Xander. "Where is Vold?" she demanded.
"She gave herself up so we might escape," Xander said. "She's in the branding room. Unfortunately, we need her to get in the landing bay. It needs Rulon's eye pattern."
"Ah." Sareen's expression again changed. She looked extremely uncomfortable for some weird reason. "So we have to get her, then."
Xander nodded. "Otherwise, we're not going anywhere."
"How did you get here?" Suzan asked.
Sareen smiled mirthlessly. "In a ship that's now blown to bits," she said. "Taken by the best pilot in the galaxy, with a psychologist and the pilot's little doctor sister."
"Chris Chase?" Xander said. He'd heard of the legendary pilot, but had never laid eyes on him. "And Don Collego? He's alive?"
"Unless he moved the shield I placed over him, yes," Sareen said. "He's here somewhere."
Xander bent his head and whispered, "Thank the stars." The burden of guilt inside of him eased at the news of Don's survival. "How did you escape?" he added.
Sareen smiled thinly. "I made a deal with Rulon."
"What kind of a deal?"
"That's none of your concern." Xander's powers activated instinctively, and he knew immediately that the commander was lying to him. But why? What sort of deal had Sareen made with Rulon? And why was it of concern to Xander?
He went to speak, but Suzan talked over him. "We need to go," she insisted. "The more time we wait, the more chance there is of ... something bad happening. So we should go now."
Xander wanted to talk more about Sareen's odd lie, but the commander nodded in agreement with his sister. "Let's go, then."
Xander heaved a sigh. Suzan had given Sareen an escape and he couldn't find a way to draw the conversation back. However, he made a mental note to keep his eye on the commander. Rulon was a brutal and evil man, and any deal he'd made with Sareen for her freedom couldn't be anything Xander would approve of.
The three of them, Xander still carrying Yulia, continued down the corridor. The longer he walked with her, the heavier she got, and he grunted. Sareen scowled at him, indicating she wanted him to be silent.
Still, he grumbled under his breath as they went. She didn't have to lug the Atonian all over the ship. However, lying though she was, Sareen was still his commander. If she was keeping secrets from him, hopefully it was for the best. Trying to push back his suspicions and doubt, Xander followed after the two young women. Sareen's back was stiff and her posture gave no indication of her plans.
If he'd known the deal that Sareen had made with Rulon, Xander would not have followed her as he did.
. . . . . . . . . .
Veerna was getting heavy. Lugging her around was making Don exhausted, but still, there wasn't exactly anyone else who could carry her. Melody was definitely not strong enough to carry her. They didn't seem to know where they were going as they made their way through the halls, and Veerna continued floating in and out of consciousness.
They kept going through the halls. What was the most unnerving part of it was the distinct lack of life in the halls. Everything was dark, gloomy, and dead silent. Even the ship seemed to be making no noise at all as it sailed peacefully through the stars.
Veerna's voice broke through the silence unexpectedly. "Someone's coming," she said.
"How do you know?" Melody asked, a distinct quaver in her voice.
"I can hear their footsteps," she said. "It's the only sound on this blasted ship."
Don stopped, biting down on his lip hard. "What do we do?"
Veerna dug her nails into his arm, but didn't say anything. They all stood there, unable to move. There was nowhere for them to hide anyway, so what good was it to try? Don did wish that Veerna would move her hand. Her nails were forming crescents in his skin and continued going deeper.
Melody broke the silence when she caught sight of the first person to come around the corner. "Commander Sareen!" she exclaimed, perhaps too loudly. She bounded forward towards the Federation officer.
"Oh, great," Veerna muttered. Don rather shared her sentiments and stayed where he was.
Sareen glanced up and saw Don with Veerna, but said nothing. Behind her, the Wenis came, Xander lugging the Atonian along in his arms. Don smiled at his friend and saw relief blossom over the security officer's face. "Don!" Xander said, in a barely-restrained voice. "You're alright."
Don nodded. "Commander Sareen saved me."
"But where's Chris?" Melody asked. "She should be here!"
Sareen shook her head. "We can't waste time looking for her. We need to get the Atonian out of here. That was the mission. Captain Chase knew what the stakes were, and what would happen if we failed."
"You're suggesting that we leave her here?" Contrary to her previously-panicked tones, Melody now spoke calmly and quietly. "That we abandon her, to Rulon's clutches, and let her get sold into slavery?"
Don watched Xander's face. With his ability to know when people were lying, it would be the best indication of how the conversation was going. To Don's enormous fascination, Xander's eyes were riveted on Sareen. "I didn't say we abandon her," Sareen said through gritted teeth. "We get Yulia and the injured—" Her gaze fell on her cousin Veerna briefly—"to the ship. Then we come back for Chris. She'll be in the infirmary."
"The infirmary?" Melody cried. "Is she injured?"
"She was shot through the side." Sareen seemed indifferent to Melody's distress. "Rulon will take care of her. She's an investment."
"An investment?"
"Slaves, particularly female slaves, are sold for their looks, mostly," Sareen said.
Melody's eyes filled with tears. She put her hands to her cheeks, trying to stem the flow. To Don's surprise, Veerna spoke sharply. "That's enough, Sareen," she snapped. "You're tormenting the poor girl. Leave her be."
"What are you, some sort of hero now?" Sareen demanded, spinning on her. "Standing up for some little brat who's never met you before?"
Veerna tensed. "I stand up for innocents, Sareen, something you don't know how to do."
An ugly silence fell over them. Xander glanced at Don, and it was obvious the human lie-detector was trying to tell Don something, but he didn't know what. Melody had started chewing on her fingernails, obviously trying to control herself, while Sareen and Veerna were glaring at each other. Suzan looked uncomfortable. "We should get moving," she suggested.
"Right," Xander agreed, still watching Don. What was he trying to say? "I know the way to the landing bay."
Since nobody protested, Xander took that as their agreement, and he led the way down the corridors. Don still found it weird that nobody else had turned up. And what were the odds that they would all find each other? There was something a little suspicious going on ...
Xander contrived to get Suzan to lead the group and fell to the back with Don and Veerna. The Voldinian was still slipping in and out of consciousness, though Don was beginning to wonder if she was foxing just to surprise people when she spoke. "I'm glad you're okay," Xander said. "I thought I'd killed you."
"What's going on, Xan?" Don asked. "You kept looking at Commander Sareen." He kept his voice quiet, not wanting the commander to overhear. She glanced back at them once, possibly hearing her name, but the look on her face was utter disdain.
"She's lying about something. She and Captain Chase were both captured by Rulon, and Sareen made a deal with him for her freedom."
"Does she plan on keeping the deal?" Don questioned.
Xander shrugged. "We got interrupted before I could ask her. And I doubt she would've answered it. But from what I've gathered about her talking about it ... I think she does."
"It's got something to do with me." Once more, Veerna interrupted them. She sounded more serious than Don had ever heard her before. "I know it does."
"When she told me it didn't concern me, she was lying," Xander said.
Don pursed his lips. "That's bad news. I'm going to keep my eye on her. If she's planning something ... but I don't think she'd work with Rulon. It just doesn't fit with her character."
"We're here," Suzan interrupted them. "Don, can you bring Veerna over here, please?"
Don obliged, bringing Veerna closer to the eye scanner. "Can you take on Rulon's eye pattern?" he asked her.
Veerna pulled a face. "I have to shapeshift?" she complained. "Do you have any idea how painful that's going to be right now?"
"Do it, Veerna," Sareen snarled.
"You just have to change your eye pattern," Xander added in a kinder tone.
Despite the nicer voice he used, Xander still earned a fiery glare from the Voldinian. "Put me down, Collego," she ordered. He gently rested her feet on the floor and stepped back. To his surprise, she maintained her balance and moved, albeit clumsily, to the scanner.
Nothing visibly changed, but when she placed her eye to the scanner, there was a beeping sound, and the door slid open. Veerna turned to Sareen, a look of triumph on her face. "Done," she began, but her voice died away.
All eyes turned to the commander. She had a pistol in her hand, pointed right between Veerna's eyes. Don stared at Sareen, his jaw going slack. Xander, however, looked indignant. "She's helped us escape, Commander!" he said. "You can't just kill her, not after all that."
"I see you've already decided to side with her over me," Sareen noted. "She's a criminal, Weni, a murderer, a thief, a kidnapper. She's had blood on her hands since before you even knew what the Federation was. Isn't that right, cousin?"
Veerna blinked slowly. "That blood is shared evenly between us," she replied, though she looked shaken. Although Don had access to Veerna's files, being her psychologist, he didn't know what Sareen was talking about.
Sareen's grip on the gun tightened, and Don feared she would shoot. "Sareen, please," he begged. "Firing that gun will just attract attention to us."
"It won't matter," Xander said suddenly. "This was the deal you made with Rulon, wasn't it? Your freedom in exchange for Veerna's blood. You knew this was what you were going to do the whole time."
"Not just Veerna's," Sareen answered quietly. Without warning, she changed her target and fired ...
"Xander!" Suzan shrieked.