For several seconds, Veerna was too stunned to respond as she realized just what Don was doing. He was ... gods of Vold, was he an idiot? He was kissing her! And it ... it actually wasn't too bad, to be honest. Still, she was frozen, staring at him, wondering if he'd gone mad and pretty sure that he had.

Then, it was over and he was pulling away, his face bright red. "I, ahh, that probably ... I'm sorry."

Veerna cocked her eyebrow at him. "What're you apologizing for?" she asked. "That really wasn't so bad."

Don blushed even harder, as she'd been hoping he would. "Oh."

Still a little uncertain, Veerna nevertheless leaned back, raising her eyebrows at him. "Why'd you do it?" she asked after a long moment. "I mean, you don't really like me, do you?"

That made Don's eyebrows shoot up above his glasses. "Would I have kissed you if I didn't?" he said. "I really do, Veerna. Maybe I didn't at first, but I do now. Heaven only knows why."

Veerna raised her eyebrows. "That's not very flattering."

"Oh, uh ... sorry."

Veerna shrugged. "At least you're honest. And I've got to be, too. I don't love you, Don. I haven't loved anyone for a long time. Anyone I've ever cared about just either dies or gives up on me. So you'll have to excuse me for not falling head over heels for you."

"Veerna—"

"Plus, I kind of took you hostage," Veerna said, "and ruined your life. That doesn't exactly make for a perfect pair, does it? Listen, Don. I know you're serious, and it's ... okay, it's a little weird. And probably breaks every rule of being a psychologist. My point is, it'll never work. Once I've got you all settled here, I'm ... I'm leaving."

Don looked up, injured. "You're leaving? But Veerna—"

"Every second I'm with you is putting you in danger," Veerna said. "Sareen won't bother you here if she knows I'm still loose. That'll give you and the others ages to figure out how to get Chris out of cryo. Once you've done that, you can probably find some obscure planet somewhere that the Federation won't bother you at. Leem will help you. She always does."

"You don't have to leave," Don said, standing up.

Veerna stood as well, subtly increasing her height so she was taller than him by a few inches. "I do, Don. Because I'm afraid if I stay, I might start to feel the same about ... you."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"It is for me," Veerna said, inclining her head towards him. "I'm a loner, Collego. Always have been and probably always will be. It's not healthy for me to form any kind of personal attachments to anyone. That's why I need to leave Yulia behind too. Otherwise, I might start to care."

"You cared about Chris," Don told her quietly.

Veerna froze, half turning to him. "No," she said. "I didn't. I cared that I made a mistake, and that an innocent was caught in the crossfire of something that should have just affected me. I care in that way, yes. But not for her as a person. I can't start thinking like that. I stopped forming attachments the day my world went up in flames. Literally."

"What about Flint?"

"Flint was my business partner. And an idiot," she added after a moment of thought. "Nothing more. I flirted with him to get what I wanted. I never really liked him, to be honest. I'm glad he's dead."

Don sighed. "Don't close me out, Veerna. I can't—"

"You belong with people like you," Veerna interrupted. "Like the Wenis, the Chases. Federation people who still believe in doing the right thing. I'm nothing like them, and I'm nothing like you. It's nothing personal."

To Veerna's surprise, Don straightened and removed his glasses. His normally-puppy dog brown eyes blazed with a fire she didn't know he'd had in him. "Veerna Vold, tell me the honest truth. Are you leaving because you don't care for us, or are you leaving because you want to heroically sacrifice yourself to keep us safe?"

To that, Veerna smiled with a hint of sadness. "Maybe a little bit of both," she said. "Go back to the others. I'm going to get ready to leave."

And she walked away, leaving Don there alone.

. . . . . . . . . .

Don stared after Veerna, noticing absently that the swagger that normally accompanied her walk was gone. It was different ... sadder. Feeling slightly foolish with his glasses clutched in his hand, he replaced them on his face. To have aired out his own feelings, just to have them rebuffed and even laughed at—it didn't exactly sit well with him. But how else had he been expecting it to go?

A voice behind him made him jump. "She's not used to having people care about her."

Don swung around and relaxed. "Leem."

The young woman smiled at him. "Some people might think it appropriate to refer to me as 'Empress'." Don gaped and swiftly started to stammer out the title. The Empress, however, just laughed. "Joking, Doctor, only joking. You're a friend here. You may call me Leem."

"Oh ... uhhh ... thanks."

She laughed lightly. "You're most welcome," she replied. "Don't be too concerned about Veerna. She can handle herself."

"Leem," Don said, turning to her. "Can I ask you something? How long have you really known Veerna?"

Leem's gaze slid down to her feet. "Not long. I wasn't really old enough to remember her when she got kidnapped by slavers."

Don nodded, digesting that. "From what you do know about her ... do you think she's capable of doing something selfless? Something that would be for the greater good?"

"Like what?"

"Like going to Sareen and offering herself in exchange for our amnesty."

Leem's head jerked up and she stared at Don. "You think—you really think that's what she's going to do?"

"She blames herself for Chris's current situation. She blames herself for 'essentially ruining my life'. I just ... I got the feeling she was going to do that," Don admitted.

Leem nodded slowly. "It makes sense. Guilt makes people do things they normally wouldn't, especially if she finds herself becoming attached to you. Ending her own life to save yours would be the only way Veerna would feel comfortable admitting her feelings to you."

"Don't try and make this romantic," Don pleaded. "I'm embarrassed about that enough as it is. I rely on my feelings when I analyze people. Can you put a tracking device on Veerna's ship?"

"Yes. I'll make sure she doesn't know. Why? What do you plan to do?"

"Sareen is a menace to the galaxy," Don admitted softly. "She threatens its safety by making alliances with those who only want things for themselves, like Rulon. I have to do what's right and keep those who really will help alive. I'm going to go after Veerna and I'm going to kill Sareen."

. . . . . . . . . .

Melody flipped through the tablet she'd dug up on the ship, trying to find some mention of cryogenic chambers and how to get a person out early. The unfortunate part was that the only way to get someone out early ... would kill them.

Filled with utter disappointment, Melody hurled the tablet away and curled in on herself. She hated this. Why her? Why Chris? They'd only come to help Don and Sareen, and then Sareen had shot Xander and ... and Flint had done that to Chris. To someone that had never even hurt him in any way. Melody was glad he was dead.

She wiped the tears from her cheeks. Flint's death had done nothing for her. It hadn't woken Chris up and it never would. Melody rested her hand on Chris's cryo chamber, the cold biting at her fingertips. She wanted to just rip it open, but that would only stop her sister's heart. Would it be better that way?

The door of the ship opened. Melody jumped, shaken out of her gloomy thoughts, and turned around. It was Xander standing in the door, slouched over and looking uncomfortable. He smiled a little at her. "Hey," he said. "Can I come in?"

"H-hey," Melody answered. "Yeah, I guess you can. I mean, you kind of already are."

Xander nodded, moving over to stand beside her. She stiffened slightly when he looked down, at her sister. "Still no luck?" he asked gently.

"Nothing. It's impossible. Cryogenics isn't supposed to be reversed," Melody said gloomily. "Not until the allotted time goes by. And by then I'll be dead, you'll be dead ... everyone she cares about will be dead. I can't stand that, Xander. She needs people."

"Hey, don't give up," Xander said. "My sister's a genius, and you're a prodigy in medicine, Mel. If we can't reverse it, then nobody can."

"Maybe nobody can," Melody sniffled.

He squeezed her shoulder gently. "If you think like that, we won't be able to. We're all here for you, Melody. Don't you ever forget that."

She looked up at him. "Why?"

"Because," Xander answered. When he saw that wasn't a good enough answer, he grinned. "Because you're my friend, Melody. Do I need a better reason than that? We're all here for you. Even Veerna."

Melody sniffled again. "I ... I ... thank you, Xander!" she sobbed, and threw her arms around him. The former security officer looked surprised and maybe just a tiny bit pleased, and he gently enfolded her in a return hug. The girl cried into his shirt for a couple of minutes before finally pulling away. "You're the best."

Xander laughed. "Well, I know you're being sincere," he said. "I mean, I do know stuff like that. So ..." He rumpled her hair. "Don't you worry. We'll figure it out and get Chris back."

Melody nodded. "Thanks, Xan. I needed that pep talk."

Xander grinned. "We all could use it," he said. "Even me. Kind of helps, just to know there's someone on your side. Now, come on. We're going to take Chris somewhere more comfortable, for you and for her. Okay?"

"Okay," Melody said, rubbing her eyes. "I can deal with that."

Together, she and Xander pushed Chris's pod out of the ship. Several Voldinians spoke to Melody, and she answered in their language. Reluctantly, she allowed them to take Chris to the laboratory to see if they could find anything. Also, Suzan would be there as well.

Melody went to follow them, but exhaustion caused her legs to give out from beneath her. Immediately, Xander grabbed her, lifting her up. "Nope, that's it," he said. "You're going to sleep. Suzan and the Voldinians will take care of Chris, and you can head over there once you've had some R and R."

Melody wanted to protest, but she was too tired and simply scooted closer to Xander in his arms. After yawning, she let her eyes close, and in the safety of his grasp, she fell asleep.

Neither of them saw Veerna creep past them and go into the ship, closing the hatch behind her.