It was several hours later when Veerna and Chris came back out into the passengers' side of the ship. Veerna noted with some amusement that Chris did not look very happy. The others all looked up at them, and Veerna saw the anxiety on Suzan's face. "Are we at a hospital?" she asked anxiously.

"Close," Chris muttered, casting a foul look at Veerna. So much for trusting her, Veerna thought with amusement.

"Close?" Don scowled. "Where are we?"

"A smuggling planet," Veerna answered. "However, I'm held in high esteem here. And the hospital is first-class; Weni will be in good hands."

"He is not being taken care of by criminals!" Suzan protested.

Veerna raised an eyebrow at her. "Does it ever occur to you, Suzie, that you are currently in the company of a criminal? I am a space pirate. We are not the good guys. In fact, I'm a criminal. So if you have a problem with it, you can go and get yourself arrested at a Federation planet. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

The sudden sarcastic tone Veerna was using cowed Suzan, and she practically deflated in front of Veerna's eyes. Melody had her eyes trained on her sister, but she didn't say anything. Surprisingly, it was Don who protested further. "What's worse, getting arrested or getting sold into slavery—again?" he demanded.

"They won't sell you into slavery again," Veerna said. "They'll give you into slavery. There's a difference."

"Oh, a big difference," Don said sarcastically. "It all has the same end result, Veerna! Don't you take into account anybody else?"

Veerna rolled her eyes. "You don't get it, do you, Donny?" she said. "I'm doing this for you, losers. I could've just left you in the hands of Rulon and shipped off by myself. Or shot you all while you chilled out here. Honestly, you left me alone with Chris. Once we flew away from Rulon's ship, it would've been a simple matter for me to pull the trigger on her and finish the rest of you off."

"Then why didn't you?" Melody asked.

"I'm not that bad," Veerna said. "No kid deserves to get sold into slavery. And I wouldn't betray you at this point, either. We've stuck together this long. Plus, saving Xander would really put Sareen's nose out of joint, and that's the best bonus of all. So are you coming or not?"

They all glanced at each other before looking at Melody. The doctor's eyes widened briefly before she stammered out, "He won't survive for another few hours. We don't have enough time to bring him to another planet. The smuggling place will have to do."

Chris sighed audibly. "Oh, very well," she said. "Don, help me lift Xander."

"That ... might not be the best idea," Veerna interrupted. They really weren't going to like what she was going to say next. "The people on this planet aren't overly fond of humans. The hospital will accept him if I manipulate—err—convince them, but we've got to get him through the city first."

Chris threw her hands in the air in frustration. "Oh, great!" she said tiredly. "This just keeps getting better and better! What do we do now? How do we sneak a dying man through a city that's prejudiced against humans?"

Veerna put up her index finger with a smile. "Who said we're going to be doing any sneaking? I'm going to take Donny with me and secure safe passage to the hospital. He's the most inconspicuous of all of you, so ... yeah. Mel, keep him alive for as long as you can. We shouldn't be too long." She grabbed Don's arm, dragging him towards the door.

"W-wait!" Don looked astonished. "Why are you taking me with you?"

"I already told you," she replied, frowning. "You're inconspicuous. Suzan's too smart, Melody needs to take care of Xander, Yulia's hair is too obvious, and Chris needs to be here in case we need to get the heck out of here."

"So, as usual, I'm expendable," Don said with a sigh. "Makes sense, I guess."

"You're terribly good at being expendable," Veerna answered with a smile. "Come on, then, Donny, we've got work to do." Still pulling on his arm, she dragged him out of the ship.

Immediately, every gun in the landing bay of the planet was aimed at Veerna and Don. Don gave a sound like a dying animal combined with a puttering spaceship and ducked behind Veerna. She, on the other hand, simply crossed her arms and gave a smirk. "Well, boys," she said. "I'm home."

There had to be about fifty guns in the landing bay, pointed directly at them. Veerna waited, moving her hands to her hips. "Isn't anyone going to welcome me home?" she asked sharply.

Finally, a young man stepped forward, shouldering his rifle. Veerna smiled when she recognized the odd orange-colored eyes. "Flint," she said.

"Hello, Vee," he replied in his strangely-flat voice. His ginger hair was spiked up, he stood a half a head taller than Veerna, and he was more muscular than Xander. His overly-large nose had been broken several times, given that he was a security guard. "Welcome back to Predo."

Veerna stepped aside, motioning to Don, who was still cringing. "This is Don Collego," she said. "Donny, this is my old friend, Flint Delune."

"Hello," Flint replied.

Don looked up at him, straightening and tugging down his tweed jacket. "Nice to meet you," he said.

"Mm." Flint motioned to the other men, and all the guns were lowered. Most of those in the landing bay returned to what they had been doing previously—loading and unloading the twenty-odd ships there, or simply checking containers for illegal contents. "Why have you come back, Veerna? You swore you wouldn't."

Veerna leaned against the ship. "I've got an injured man aboard my ship, Flint. And I was hoping you could help."

"Let me see." Flint tugged at his green uniform and ducked inside the ship. Veerna and Don followed him in.

"You!" Chris's voice was shrill. She was pointing at Flint.

Flint's orange eyebrows shot up. "Captain Christine Chase," he said thoughtfully, in his slow drawl. "I assume this is your sister, Melody?"

"Hands off my patient!" the doctor snapped, putting her hands over Xander protectively.

"Doctor Chase, I am not going to injure the man further," Flint said, his voice now possessing a hint of irritation. "I am not a doctor, but I know of one. I simply want to see if he can survive any sort of a trip to the hospital."

"Go on," Veerna urged them. "I trust Flint."

"Oh, that makes it so much better," Suzan retorted, sounding like she was on the edge of hysterics. "He's a criminal, Veerna! A murderer! He killed five Federation officers in the span of an hour!"

"In the line of duty." Flint crossed his arms. "And Veerna has me beat, actually. She killed six in an hour."

"Seven," Veerna corrected him. "And put the eighth in a wheelchair. But I don't mean to brag."

"Brag?!" Suzan looked beside herself with anger.

"Everyone needs to calm down!" Don made the time-out gesture. "No matter how any of us feels about anybody here, Xander is dying. If this Flint guy can get him help, then we need to take him up on it. Sue, do you want Xander to die because you couldn't accept his help?"

Reluctantly, Suzan moved aside, and Flint knelt beside Xander's bed. He felt the security officer's neck for a pulse, examined the wound, and stood up, brushing off his knees. "He should be able to survive a trip to the hospital," he said. He glanced at Melody. "You did good work."

The doctor's eyes slid away from his, and she said nothing. Flint leaned down, lifting Xander into his arms as easily as a sack of potatoes. "Who is coming?" he asked.

"All of us," Chris replied firmly. "We're not leaving you alone for a second."

It was funny to Veerna that they had taken so quickly to her, but were so against Flint. The young Predoan didn't look amused. "I'm not going to roast the flesh from his bones, Captain Chase. A friend of Veerna's is a friend of mine."

To Veerna's surprise, Don looked unhappy at Flint's words. "Guess so," he mumbled. "Everyone ready?"

They all nodded. Suzan stuck close to her brother, hovering near Flint's elbow. Melody made her quick way over to Chris, hiding slightly behind her. Yulia, who had been concealed in the corner, slipped over to Veerna, not close enough to touch her. Don stood by the door, waiting. "I guess we'd better go," he said awkwardly.

"Right." Flint looked about as comfortable as Don, and for him, that was a supreme amount of emotions. "Veerna, lead the way."

Veerna nodded, never having a problem with that. She opened the door and ducked through it, going back out into the landing bay. She stopped, but the others came out and found themselves facing multiple weapons again—but this time, they didn't belong to smugglers.

"Veerna Vold," the head man snapped. "Christine Chase, Melody Chase, Xander Weni, Suzan Weni, and Yulia Thredin, you are all under arrest for crimes against the Federation."

Flint cracked a smirk. "You missed Don," he pointed out.

"Oh, shut it," Don snapped.

Veerna laughed. "Jealousy is such a refreshing thing," she commented to no one in particular.

Even Chris had to disguise her laughter. Suzan looked oblivious, though. Flint and Don both glared at Veerna. As for the Federation officer, he looked utterly bemused by his targets' reactions. "You ... you're all under arrest!" he snapped.

"Are we?" Veerna asked. "Then why haven't you slapped the cuffs on us, officer?"

"S-slapped the cuffs?" The man stared at her. "Are you ... never mind. Surrender or die!"

Veerna exchanged glances with Chris, both determined. "Hey, Flinty boy?" Veerna said.

"Yeah, Vee?"

"Everyone, be ready to duck. Flint ... roast 'em."

Flint bared his teeth in a grin. "With pleasure." Immediately, flames filled the landing bay, covering everything, and Yulia let out a piercing shriek.