MSC: Excalibur Chapter 22

22

“Doctor’s Notes: Today has been rather uneventful. Sarah’s recovery is coming along nicely. There’s no sign of her body rejecting the implants. I know she’s still doesn’t like her height, but she will get over it eventually. Smyth is drying up. He seems to be getting out of the deep depression he’s been in since the start of the last Zieke war. Hopefully, this will change his fighting style. It’s far too dangerous. I have come to the conclusion that Mister Smyth blocked the attack because he thought it would kill him. He doesn’t seem to have suicidal tendencies, but he is looking for a way to die. But I’m a doctor, not a psychologist. I have nothing to base this on really. With Lucilia gone, I haven’t been able to check on her condition weekly, as I’ve been doing. Her condition, listen to me…I’ve been measuring her development, her telepathic strength hasn’t stopped growing, or may it is just what she had chosen to show me every week…computer, stop recording.” Megan stumbled into the med bay, falling in pain in the door. She held her head in one hand, and held onto the hand rail with the other. “Megan, what’s wrong?” Bones walked over to Megan. Suddenly, a shockwave shot out of Megan and knocked Bones backwards.

“Jackson, I’m sorry…I don’t know what’s AH!” The med bay started to shake and rumble with Megan’s mind. Bones pulled himself up.

“Megan, are you doing this?”

“Something’s different about me now. I haven’t been the same since I scanned Two. I can’t control it. Can’t…” Bones picked up a needle and got it ready for injection.

“Megan, I’m going to give you a tranquilizer. I’m going to keep you out until we can figure out what’s going on and figure out a way to help you adjust to them, to help you control them. Okay?”

“O…okay…” Bones got close enough that he could roll up Megan’s sleeve and give her the injection. “How long will I be out?”

“Only for as long as needed, I swear.”  Bones caught Megan before she hit the deck. Bones got a call from the bridge. “Bones, here.”

“Bones, what the hell is going on down there?”

“We have a situation with Megan Roberts. She’s developed strong telepathic powers. We are going to have to find a way to help her control her new power, or she will destroy the ship on accident.”

“Do what ever it takes to help her, Bones.” Bones put Megan on a Med Bed and started scanning her to see what he could do to help her. He had a plan, but he wanted to be sure about it before he started it.


Devain was moving through a large city on Tortugas. The city, while dank and run-down, was bustling with life. She was walking down the street when she was stopped by a flower vender.

“You are Devain of the North Star?”

“Ye’, that’s me.”

“Someone purchased this rose for you.”

“Who was it?”

“I cannot say. They just wanted you to have the rose.”

“Thank ye’.” Devain took the rose and smelled it as she walked down the street. As she looked at it, the pedals turned black. Suddenly, the street cleared, except for a single, cloaked, female figure. “Well, that’s not good.”

“Are you Devain of the North Star?”

“Depends, who wants to know?”

“You have been marked for death. Any last words?”

“Ye’…don’t make threats.” Devain drew her pistol and fired at the figure. She easily dodged and rushed towards Devain. Devain fired at the figure. She dodged Devain’s fire, slicing Devain’s gun in half with a katana. Devain jumped back, narrowly dodging the attack of the assassin. Devain had no way to fight back against the assassin now that her gun was destroyed. The assassin missed again, getting her sword stuck in a light post. Devain ran into a nearby building and started running to the top. The assassin followed her once she got her sword free. Devain got to the roof and put her back to the edge. The assassin got there and laughed.

“Finally decided to accept your fate, did you? Thinking that if you jump, you’ll at least cheat me out of a pay check? Either way you won’t, so just accept your fate. I’ll make it painless.” The assassin jumped towards Devain. Devain closed her eyes and dodged, grabbing the assassin’s arm and throwing her off the top of the building. As the assassin fell, Devain pulled an old revolver from her boot and shot the assassin before she hit the ground. Devain kicked the katana off the top of the roof. She gasped for air. This was all very taxing on her. She felt a sharp pain. She had a large cut going across her stomach that was starting to bleed severely. She held her stomach and started heading for a near by hospital.


Ana was walking down the streets, looking for a bar. A man that was running down the street bumped into Ana, dropping a rose at her feet. Ana picked the rose up.

“Hey you! You dropped this! What the hell?” The rose turned black in Ana’s hand. Ana heard a gun hammer pulling back and ducked down. A shot passed over her left shoulder. She saw the sniper duck down and ran up a fire escape after him. The man fired down at Ana, nicking her back three times. When she got to the top of the fire escape, she jumped up to the roof. When she was in mid-air, the sniper shot her in the right shoulder, knocking her down. Ana got back up and ran towards the sniper, drawing her fist back to punch him. “You’re going to regret that!” She punched the large sniper, launching him across the roof and knocking his sunglasses off, revealing his glowing red eyes. Ana felt her wound. It was nothing serious to her. It just meant more time in her recovery tank. She got ready to rush the sniper again. He pulled a device out from behind him and threw it onto Ana. It electrocuted and immobilized her. The sniper walked over and kicked her across the roof. She went through a chimney before she stopped. The sniper walked over to her again and lifted her up by her neck. She struggled to speak. “Why are you doing this?”

“It’s nothing personal, girl. Somebody hired me to kill you. You’re pretty and all, but he’s already paid me, so I don’t have a choice, it’s the Guild Code.” The assassin threw Ana off the top of the roof. After she hit the street bellow, he jumped off and smashed her into the concrete. He pulled out a pistol and aimed it at her head. As he fired, Ana lifted up her right hand and stopped the bullet, though it went through her hand.


Kaj was walking with Lucilia behind him. He was trying to find somebody from the Victory to tell him where Van Caster was when he sensed it.

“Ana? Oh god. Lucilia, stay here and protect yourself from everyone, okay? Find me if I do not come back in ten minutes.” Kaj ran off to help Ana while Lucilia continued to wander through the market. She found a black rose as she turned a corner. A cloaked, female assassin drew a katana and started walking towards Lucilia.


The assassin was furious at Ana. “You made me waste my last shot!” He kicked Ana down the street, she gasped for air after she hit the ground. “I had this perfectly planned, but you ruined it!” The Assassin pulled a throwing knife from his boot. “It would have been painless if you just cooperated, but you had to put up a fight!” He threw the knife at Ana, who still couldn’t move. Suddenly, Kaj jumped out of no where, grabbed the knife out of the air and threw it back at the assassin. It hit him in the neck, the blade entire in his throat.

“Ana, are you still alive?”

“I’ll be fine if you just get this damn thing off me.” Kaj reached down to pull off the strange device, but the assassin tackled him, launching him down the street. Kaj drew his pistol and fired the entire clip at the assassin, sinking every round into him, but it had no effect. Kaj drew his sword and swung, but the assassin dodged and tackled Kaj again, knocking the sword out of his hands. The assassin slammed Kaj into the brick wall behind him, cracking the bricks. The assassin started pounding Kaj into the wall. Kaj realized that the assassin was killing him. He had to think of something quickly, before the assassin did kill him. Kaj thought of something. He pulled the knife out of the assassin’s neck and drove it into his eye. The assassin dropped Kaj and grabbed his eyes in pain. Kaj ran for his sword, the assassin ran after him with the knife sticking out of his face. Kaj picked up the sword and turned around as the assassin grabbed him by the throat.

“Your body is broken, yet you continue to fight, target. Tell me, why do you continue to fight?”

Kaj gasped out, “Because you threatened my love.”

“Heh…” The assassin’s grip on Kaj’s neck loosened. Kaj had held up his sword as the assassin ran at him. The assassin had impaled himself on Kaj’s sword, the hand-guard against his stomach, the blade sticking out of his back. That was enough to finally bring down the assassin down. Kaj pulled his sword out of the assassin and wiped the blood off the blade before putting it back in its sheath. He performed the holy cross before running over to Ana. With a single, swift kick, he knocked the device off Ana. The device exploded when it hit the ground.

“Ana! Are you okay?” Ana got up and dusted herself off.

“Yeah. I look worse than I am. Are you okay?”

“To be honest with you, no.” Kaj fell over. Ana caught him before he cracked his head on the ground.

“Kaj, what’s wrong?”

“I have several broken bones and cracked ribs. I will be able to move again in a couple minutes. Then, I will have to get to a hospital. I suggest you do the same.”

“My wounds have already closed, Kaj. I’m a cyborg, remember? And you can’t go to the hospital. You just killed that assassin.”

“There are no laws on Tortugas. Even if there was, He is…was an assassin, nobody would care that I killed him. In fact, I would be celebrated.”

“In that case…Wait, where’s Lucilia?” Lucilia walked up, ‘dragging along’ the Assassin by controlling her. Lucilia had a cut on her right shoulder. Ana was shocked and ran over to Lucilia. “Oh my god, are you okay?”

“She tore my dress…” Ana hugged Lucilia and laughed.

“We can fix that, don’t worry. Is your shoulder okay?”

“Yes, I am fine…”

“What is with you two?”

“This one attempted to attack me…It did not end well for her…She had information on where the Murderer and my sister are…”

“You can tell me about it when we get to the hospital. We will free your sister quickly, but I need to be patched up.”

“Very well…”


Lucilia looked at the female assassin. The Assassin helped Kaj up. Ana and the Assassin helped Kaj walk to the hospital. When they got to the hospital doors, the assassin let go. Ana, Lucilia, and Kaj walked into the hospital. Half way into the door, Lucilia snapped her fingers and the assassin collapsed. A nurse rushed out the door and checked the assassin.

“Miss? Miss?...Oh god, she’s dead!” Ana, Kaj, and Lucilia were lead to a room where Devain was already being treated. Kaj lay down on a bed. He was in great pain. A second nurse into the room ran over to Ana. She was obviously disturbed by the amount of blood on her clothing. As the nurse started to examine Ana, she realized she couldn’t find any wounds.

“Where did all of this blood come from?”

“Oh, I was shot a few times. They’ve closed up now.”

“That’s physically impossible for you to heal that quickly.”

“Well, maybe for you it is. Check on him! He’s got broken bones!”

“Calm down, miss. Go over to that sink and clean up. Now, where do you hurt, sir?”

“Do not worry about me right now. Check the young girl there. She has been deeply cut on her shoulder, and she will probably need stitches. Treat her first, I will come second.”

“Oh dear, you’re right!” The nurse got a medical kit and walked over to Lucilia and started cleaning out her wound. “Honey, why would an assassin try to kill a sweet little girl like you?” Lucilia just stared at the woman stitching up her wound. “That must have been that cloaked woman who died of heart failure in the doorway, luckily for you four. They don’t stop until they either kill you or you kill them.”

“Indeed we know.”

“You mean you killed the assassins that came after you and this sweet little girl here?”

“Yes, we did. We had no other choice.”

“Oh no, I don’t blame you. In fact, I would like to thank you. One of those damned assassins was hired to kill my sister. Strange, really. My sister was going out with this boy for the longest time. One day, apparently her boyfriend was pressuring her for…you know…and my sister refused, deciding to wait until marriage. This made them have a huge fight, and she dumped her boyfriend because she didn’t want to date anybody that made that big of a deal out of sex. Oh, sorry dear. Well, that psycho hired an assassin to kill her, because nobody EVER dumps him. Can you believe that? He had my sister killed because she wouldn’t sleep with him. Fortunately, he couldn’t pay the assassin in full, and the assassin killed him too. I’m glad too. Bastard got what he deserved. Sorry again, dear. How old are you, dear?” Lucilia just continued to stare at her.

“She’s fourteen.”

“You’re as old as my oldest daughter.” The nurse working on Devain wrapped a large roll of gauss around Devain’s stomach. Devain had to lower her pants down to her thighs so the nurse could close the large wound up.

“All right, you can put your pants back on now, miss.” Devain stood up and got off the bed, revealing the back of her thong. She quickly pulled her pants up so she wouldn’t be exposed for too long.

“I still have no idea how you ladies can wear those.”

“It’s easy, Kaj, you just do. Besides, you never complain when I wear them.”

“Well, that is an entirely different story all together.”

“Kaj, Ana, I don’t think this is a conversation we’d be wanting to have in present company.” Devain was embarrassed from being exposed to the entire room of people like she had been. Luckily for her, she wasn’t on the Excalibur, or she would have flashed the entire med ward.

“Sorry, you are right, of course. I am getting delirious with a combination of pain and blood loss. Just trying to lighten the mood. It is as silent at a tomb in here.”

“I could tell. You mean you couldn’t, Devain?”

“A’ight, cap’n, we better be talking about some other topic before you go off on another strange tangent…I see that it wasn’t just me that the Assassin’s Guild came after.”

“Yes, everyone’s favorite captain hired them to go after us. Lucilia...” Kaj cringed in pain, “Lucilia got the information we need from the one that came after her.”

“You mean she managed to stop an assassin? All alone? Single-handedly?”

“Yep.”

“I wish I could have been there to see it.”

“All right, Lucilia is it? You’re done. You can go over to your older sister if you want now.” Lucilia walked over to Ana and wrapped her arms around Ana’s arm. “Now, it’s your turn, Mister…Kaj.” The nurse started scanning Kaj with a small hand device. “Oh my god, your bones are already set. In fact, in another hour, I’d say they will be completely healed!”

“That is good to know. I have always been a fast healer.”

“But, this is impossible!”

“Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes. Now, Lucilia, Ana, Devain, we have to come up with a plan to get Zero away from Van Caster.”

“Captain Van Caster? What do you four have to do with that murderer?”

“We are going to save Lucilia’s sister from him. Nothing more. Well, stop him if we can.”

“Cap’n, we’re not in any shape to fight.”

“You aren’t. I am and Kaj will be in an hour. You stay here, and as soon as you can, contact some back up.”

“Now, Lucilia, you are sure you have your sister’s location?”

“Yes…Van Caster was thinking about it when he spoke with her…It left an imprint on her mind…”

“Whoa…You are that strong? All right, we might need that if what miss Roberts said about Zero is true.” Kaj closed his eyes and started getting comfortable in his hospital bed.

“Kaj, shouldn’t we be talking strategy?”

“No, either way, it would not do us any good. Zero can see through time. We need randomness on our side if we are to win this.”

“Her sister can see through time? She can read people’s minds through other people they have had contact with. She is a cyborg, and your bones are healing over a thousand times faster than they should be…Okay, you win. You are the weirdest people to ever come here.” The bewildered nurse walked out of the room. Kaj went to sleep. Devain dropped onto a bed and also went to sleep. Ana started stitching up Lucilia’s dress.


On the Excalibur, Bones was taking Megan out of the artificial coma he had her in. Megan woke up and stretched as if waking from a long nap.

“The voices…they’re back to normal…What did you do, doctor?”

“Believe it or not, I used sleepers on you.”

“You did what!”

“Calm down, miss Roberts. Think about it. If they were normal sleepers, would you be conscious right now?”

“No, I guess not…how did you?”

“I found a way to greatly reduce the power of the sleepers so they only reduce your power instead of shutting you down. I did a scan while you were unconscious, and figured out a proper course of treatment. You can’t tell, but you are actually at the next level of telepathy. I believe that makes you a…Seven now. We will slowly reduce the amount of Reducer we give you so that you can slowly adapt to your new power.”

“What level am I on now?”

“Nearest I can tell, maybe a…Twenty?”

“A Twenty? That’s the top of the scale!”

“Yes, you are off the scale. That is why I had to keep you under for a little longer than I meant to. I had to get you back onto the scale and then bring you down to normal levels.”

“How long was I out?”

“Twenty six hours….and I was up straight through that working on you. So, I’ll make this short so that I can go get some sleep. Give yourself four injections of this . I’ve measured out all of your injections for two weeks. Come back to me then, and I will have the next line ready for you.”

“Thank you doctor. I’ll let you get to your quarters now. Thank you again. You saved my life.”

“It is the reason I took this job. Now, see you in the morn…afternoon then.”

“All right, doctor.” Megan took the Reducers from Bones and walked out of the med bay with a smile on her face. When she got to an elevator, Mathews was already inside. Mathews was always nervous around Megan. He had a crush on her since he met her years ago, and was always at a lack of words. He finally thought of what to do. He thought of what he wanted to say.

<Hey, Megan, are you feeling better?>

“Yes, I’m fine. Bones is a miracle worker. Why aren’t you talking to me? You know I could get into serious trouble for reading people’s mind.” Due to the power increase Megan had gotten, she heard people’s thoughts loud and clear when they wanted her to.

<Don’t worry about it. You have my permission to read my mind whenever. I want to tell you something, but I always seem to stutter when I’m nervous, and I’m always nervous around you…>

“I know what you’re going to say, Mark. I’ve known you for years, and I’m a telepath, but I didn’t want to go prying into your thoughts, but I’ve always known.”

<Oh…right…I guess…> “I don’t really have to be nervous, then. I…I really think you are the most beautiful woman I know.”

“I know, Mark. Telepath, remember?”

“Right…I guess I should….”

“Date? Tonight? All right, but try to get over this stuttering thing, okay?”

“All right, I’ll give it a try.” Mark walked Megan down to her quarters, but he couldn’t stay. He had to get to calibrate the sensors after they were repaired.


Kaj was finally healed. Ana had finished fixing Lucilia’s dress. They had been talking strategy since Kaj woke up from his nap.

“I think that will work.”

“Are ye’ joking, cap’n? ‘Lot of stuff ‘as to go EXACTLY right for that to work.”

“It’s what we’ve got, Devain.”

“Fine. Fly me back to the North Star. Good luck down ‘ere.” Kaj and Devain got back onto the Venture Star and flew up to the North Star. “Be you sure ‘bout this, cap’n?”

“Yes, my friend, I am. Remember, wizards are never late, or early, they always arrive exactly when they need to.”

“Right, ‘ere’s your armor. You be needing this where you’re going.” Kaj got Betty, the gun the Gunny gave him and he got into the Venture Star.

“Before I leave, do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand ye’. Good luck, Kaj, you’ll be needing that as well.” Kaj launched the Venture Star and started heading down to the planet. Devain walked to the garden and found Tempest. They started to talk about things at Tortugas.

“Kaj did not want me to leave the North Star here.”

“Ye’, I understand that. It is a dangerous place.”

“Why did you look for me?”

“I will get there eventually. Until then, ‘ows the weather?”

“Pardon…”

“Sorry, how is the weather?”

“There is no weather on the North Star.”

“Just play along, Temp.”


Kaj was flying the Venture Star down towards the planet, but instead of bringing it in for a landing, he kicked the power up on the engines and rocketed for the hangar when the Victory was. He braced himself as he augered the Venture Star into the hangar. The impact caused a fire to start in the building. The black smoke started billowing up from the fire.


Ana and Lucilia were shopping in the Market.

“How’s your shoulder treating you?” Lucilia just stared at Ana. “How does your shoulder feel?”

“It hurts a great deal…”

“Are you okay?”

“I will be fine once it heals…”

“You’ll probably get a scar, but it could be worse.”

“A scar?”

“You haven’t had a scar before? You see, it’s a permanent mark where you got severely injured. I have a few and I…” Ana and Lucilia saw the smoke rising from the hangar. “It’s time, let’s go.” Ana picked up Lucilia and started running towards the hangar.


Kaj kicked open the door on the Venture Star and started firing at any of the Victory’s crew that was trying to kill him. The Venture Star had punched its way all the way to where the Victory was in the hangar. Kaj fought his way into the Victory and started heading for the bridge.


Ana and Lucilia were fighting their way in. Lucilia was freezing the raiders and Ana was shooting them. They got to a hall that lead straight to the Victory. They saw Kaj and ran after him.


Kaj, Ana, and Lucilia were meeting very little resistance. They stopped having to run and Ana put Lucilia down. Lucilia cringed and held her shoulder.

“Are you still okay to go?”

“Yes, I am fine…” They continued through the ship. They quickly stopped running into the crew of the Victory all together.

“I do not like this Ana. This just does not feel right.”

“What choice do we have?”

“Good point.” Kaj and the rest continued towards the bridge. When they got there, Van Caster was there, alone. Van Caster smiled, and then turned around in his chair.

“All right, don’t kill me, pirate. You win.”

“What have you done with Zero?”

“Who?”

“HER SISTER!”

“Oh, her. I will take you to her.” Van Caster got out of his chair. Kaj stood behind him and held his riffle to Van Caster’s back. Van Caster led them to a dark hangar. In the center of it, Zero stood with a spot light on her. She had gold hair and gold eyes, with a zero tattooed on the back of both hands. She was in a formal ball-room dress. “See, there she is, and she is perfectly fine.” Ana got hit in the back by a large electric shock. Zero raised her hand and sent Kaj smashing into the wall. Kaj fell unconscious to the ground. Van Caster shot Lucilia with a sleeper dart, and she shut down.


Devain and Tempest were watching the situation from the North Star.

“This must be what ‘e meant!”

“Pardon?”

“A wizard is never late or early, they always arrive exactly when needed. ‘E meant for you to go down when you were needed, but he couldn’t say it directly.”

“Okay, I will teleport down now.”

“Watch your six.”

“O…okay…” Lucilia hit her staff on the ground and disappeared.

“Oh crap! She ‘as to know what that means, right?”


Tempest appeared in the hangar. She couldn’t see anything. Suddenly, she was hit by a stun gun from behind and passed out. When she woke up, she was tied up in chains, next to Ana and Kaj. They woke up soon after she did.

“Van Caster! You bastard! You shot Lucilia with a sleeper, didn’t you!”

“Oh good, you’re finally awake, girl. Now, it’s time to decide your fate.” Lady Drel was holding a large stun gun, Van Caster was holding a pistol. “Zero, pull all of the information out of their heads.”

“No, I will not.”

“Yes, you will.”

“No, I will not listen to you any longer.”

“Fine, I will just kill them now.” Van Caster held his pistol up to Kaj’s head.

“You won’t be doing that either.”

“What did you say?”

“I have no more need to listen to you, Van Caster.”

“Is that so? Lady Drel, show her I’m serious.” Lady Drel held up the stun gun and was about to shoot Zero when raised her hand. Zero vaporized Lady Drel with a mere thought.

“Lady Drel! You little bitch!” Van Caster held up his dart gun and was about to attempt to shoot Zero.

“Not the quick one are you?”

“Shut up, pirate! She killed Lady Drel!”

“When she held up her gun and threatened her. Now, Lady Drel will be missed…”

“Oh yeah, she had a sparkling personality.”

“Ana…Shhh…Van Caster, you have no chance against her. Put the gun down.”

“You better do what you are told. Drop the gun, Van Caster. The only reason I cooperated with you until now is so that I could be reunited with my sister and our shadows.”

“You mean…”

“You could never threaten me. You cannot kill one such as I. Here, I’ll make you drop the gun.” Van Caster dropped the gun and put his arm at his side. “That is a good boy. Van Caster, you better pray that you did no permanent damage to my sister.” Zero walked over to Lucilia and grabbed her arms. She put her forehead against Lucilia’s, and Lucilia came out of her induced coma. “There. Are you better now? Your arm? Van Caster?”

“Uh-oh, Van Caster, sucks to be you right about now.”

“Shut up, pirate!” Van Caster was paralyzed by Zero.

“If you still did not have a roll to play, I would fry every neuron in your head, Van Caster. Consider yourself lucky.”

“Slag off.”

“Van Caster, shut the hell up, for your own good. Seriously, do you ever think before you talk?” Zero and Lucilia were still talking.

“Are they good people, sister?”

“Yes…they treat me with great kindness. Kaj is a little strange…”

“Thanks, lass.”

“And Ana is my big sister…”

“You mean the tin-woman?”

“HEY!”

“Yes…If you go with us, you will be treated like a person for once…”

“I know, I have seen what you speak of. Very well, I will take us back to your ship.” Zero clapped her hands once, and they disappeared. Van Caster was still furious about Lady Drel when she reappeared next to him. Zero was able to rebuild her.

“Where the hell was I? What did she?”

“I’m just glad you’re back, Lady Drel.”

“Should we chase after the clone?”

“No, just let her go.”


Zero, Lucilia, Kaj, Ana, and Tempest appeared on the North Star. Devain was stunned by their reappearance. They were even out of their chains.

“I will take it that Zero did that, right Tempest?”

“Indeed.”

“I will try to pretend that does not scare the hell out of me.” Zero and Lucilia walked to the North Star’s garden. Ana went to change clothes. Hers were torn and covered in blood.

“Cap’n, we got a message from the Excalibur. They gave us coordinates where we can meet up with them because they can’t wait for us any longer.”

“Very well, call the crew back, tell them it is an emergency. We’ll leave as soon as they are all onboard.”

“I am going to scan and observe Zero. I am interested in just how strong she is. If she can destroy and recreate people, as well as teleport people and herself, there is no telling what she can do.”

“Just be extremely careful, Tempest. I do not want you to be brain wiped, got that?”

“I will be fine. Your concern is unnecessary.”


Tempest picked up her staff and started walking towards the garden. When she got there, Lucilia and Zero were talking and joking. While they had never met each other, they talked like old friends. It made Tempest remember her past. Lucilia, Zero, and Tempest never were allowed to be kids. They had to grow up at a very young age. They missed everything that normal kids enjoyed. That’s when Tempest realized why Ana was Lucilia’s older sister. They were both used for almost their entire life, now free to do what they wanted. Tempest continued to watch Lucilia and Zero until she got tired and headed for her ship. Lucilia and Zero showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.


The crew of the North Star returned, and it pulled away from the space port. It entered hyper space as soon as they did. Kaj knew he had to meet the Excalibur as soon as possible to pick up Karen. He also had a bad sense of things to come in the Excalibur’s future. Kaj was at the helm of the ship, and Devain was standing behind him.


“Cap’n, the crew is wondering why you called them back early.”

“They are not missing much on Tortugas. I will make it up to them later.” Kaj had a smile on his face as he held the controls of his ship. “Besides, we are catching up.”