Veerna led the way down the hall, her hand firmly on the gun at her hip. Nobody questioned her as to where she'd gotten it from; they apparently realized that silence was their best option. Veerna smirked mirthlessly; fear was her greatest weapon, whether with allies or foes, it didn't matter.

Of course, Veerna failed to gamble on the fact that one among their group had just one member of his family remaining, and that he would do anything—even challenge Veerna's authority—to save his sister. As the group crept through the corridor, a piercing scream made Veerna want to clap her hands over her ears. Yulia jumped like she'd been stung, and Don blanched. But it was Xander Weni who had the worst reaction. "That—that was Suzan," he whispered, mostly to Don.

"Pity," Veerna interrupted, before Don could respond. "But we can't risk them catching us. We'll have to leave her behind."

Moving with greater speed than Veerna had thought him capable of, Xander slammed the butt of his rifle into her forehead. She stumbled back and he ran towards the sound of the scream. Instinctively, Veerna grabbed for her gun, trying to ignore the pounding headache threatening from the painful blow. By the time she'd leveled the gun in Xander's direction, though, he had already run around the corner and out of her line of sight.

"He's going to get himself killed!" Don exclaimed in a barely-restrained whisper.

"Oh, I'd love to let him," Veerna muttered, rubbing her forehead. "But our group is small enough as it is, and one of us is a useless shrink. I'm not going to mention who."

"Gee, I wonder," Don grumbled.

She frowned at him as she tried to think. The sound of gunshots interrupted her train of thought, and Don visibly paled. "By the stars, I really hope they didn't just shoot him!" he exclaimed.

Veerna shoved the useless psychologist aside and sprinted down the corridor. Behind her, she heard the other two attempting to keep up with her. As she ran, she morphed her physical appearance into that of a male Federation officer. She clearly heard Don mutter as he sprinted along behind her.

She held up a hand, stopping the other two behind her as she looked around the corner. Xander, the crazy security officer, was standing in front of a group of the slavers, holding his bleeding shoulder. A girl was being held by them—his sister, Suzan, Veerna remembered. Rulon stood in front of Xander, still menacing him with the gun. "Spit it out, boy! Where are they?"

Xander shook his head, pure stubbornness covering his youthful features. "You may as well kill me. I won't tell you anything until you release my sister, and I'll know if you're lying."

Veerna turned to Don, blowing some of her newly-brown hair out of her eyes. "Don," she said. "I'm going to need you to get Suzan out of there when I start talking, get it?" She morphed back into her original form, giving her white head of hair a toss.

"S-start talking?" Don stammered, but before he could further protest, Veerna stepped out from behind the corner.

"Rulon! You ugly little coward. Are you looking for me?" She crossed her arms, hiding the gun in the crook of her elbow, that way, he would believe her to be unarmed.

The eye of all the men were on her, as well as their weapons. She was pleased to see that they had shoved Suzan's unconscious body aside and had left Xander standing there, looking confused. Don moved behind him, tapping his shoulder and jerking his head down the hall. Veerna could not find Yulia and surmised that she had probably remained out of the way, back in the hall they had come from. That was better for Veerna. The less people who saw the Atonian, the better.

Rulon sneered at her. "So, you decide to finally show your face, Vold. I have a brand ready, just for you, you impossibly annoying woman."

Don grabbed Suzan's shoulders, and the men couldn't possibly miss him that time. One of them grabbed his arm, and Don shot up like someone had shocked him. The crown of his head struck the man's chin and Xander grabbed Suzan, pulling Don along behind him. Not the most conventional escape, but it worked, in Veerna's opinion. "I'm not annoying, Rul," Veerna said, smirking. "I'm insane, according to my psychologist." She whipped out her gun and fired. To her immense surprise, the sound was louder than it should have been, and a shudder ran through her body. She couldn't move. "Wh-wha—?"

Rulon lowered his own weapon, having nimbly dodged Veerna's shot and returned with a stun shot of his own. "You're getting predictable, my dear," he said. "Perhaps you should reconsider your occupation?"

Veerna wanted to curse him, but even her lips were frozen. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Don and Xander drag Suzan down the hall, escaping without the notice of the triumphant Rulon.

The slaver turned to one of his men. "Take her back. And keep her sedated. I don't want any accidents this time," he ordered. Veerna could offer no resistance as the slavers grabbed her arms and pulled her down the hall.

It was sheer irony that, for the first time in her life, she had been caught trying to help someone else. Now she was reminded to the fact why she didn't help people.

. . . . . . . . .

"We can't just leave her there!" Don cried as he and Xander ran. The burly security officer had Suzan over his shoulder. "They'll sell her as a slave!"

Xander shot Don a frustrated look. "I know that. But I also know Rulon's got about ten times as many men as we have!"

Someone tugged on the back of Don's tweed jacket, and he spun around, nearly knocking his glasses from his head. Yulia stood there, her ivory eyes wide open. "Oh, umm, sorry, Yulia."

"We're going back for her, aren't we?" Yulia asked in her whispery-thin voice.

"I am," Xander said. "You two take Sue to safety."

"I think not," Don retorted. "I may just be a psychologist, but I know how to handle a gun. I'm going with you."

"You are definitely not!" Xander said.

"I'm going too," Yulia put in quietly.

"You are most definitely not!" Xander insisted. "First of all, Rulon wants to capture you. Second of all, neither of you can fight!"

Yulia put out her lower lip. "Where do you expect us to go?" she asked.

That got Xander. The ship was crawling with slavers. As far as he knew, none of the Federation members aboard were even alive anymore. Commander Sareen, her entire staff ... they were all most likely dead. Sending Don and Yulia away with no weapons, dragging Xander's unconscious sister with them, was like asking for Yulia to get caught and Suzan and Don to be killed. He grunted. "Fine. Come with me." He laid Suzan into Don's arms and grabbed his gun.

They followed the slavers carrying Veerna through the halls, keeping their distance. Rulon and the rest of his men had remained where they had caught her, probably to continue looking for Yulia. Xander's hands shook as he carried his gun with him. Why was he risking so much for a murderess? Then he sighed. She had risked her life to save him. It was time to return the favor.

As he had expected, the men dragging Veerna off went to the landing bay. He, Yulia, and Don followed, Don in back with Suzan. Xander's shoulder ached from where Rulon's man had shot him, but he struggled to ignore it. His rifle was clutched in his hands so hard, he feared he would snap it in two. How his heavy breathing hadn't gotten them caught yet, he didn't know.

The landing bay itself was huge. It was big enough to hold three passenger ships—which carried a possible one hundred people in them, all prisoners, usually—and was made of the same steel as the rest of the ship. The bay doors were being held open by the slavers' landing dock, which covered the entirety of the doors to prevent the vacuum of space from entering. Once the slavers left, though ... Xander tried not to think about it.

They took cover next to the smaller doors from the rest of the ship to the bay. Those doors would automatically seal if someone opened the big bay doors. Xander kept it open by removing one of his boots and jamming it into the side, just to make sure they wouldn't get trapped.

Thankfully, the two men holding Veerna were too busy crowing over their triumph to pay the doors any mind. They dumped the Voldinian on the ground and started beating her with the butts of their rifles. With each strike, Yulia made a whimpering sound; the slavers' laughter drowned out any noise Yulia could make, though.

Xander motioned Don and Suzan back and made Yulia crouch beside him as he leveled his rifle at the men. He inhaled slowly as he prepared to fire, knowing the second would be the harder shot. If he missed, he'd ruin everything. He had to get it down to just one man facing him. Crouching behind the crates intended to go out on the next delivery, his back to the door, Xander prepared to squeeze the trigger.

"Xan, no!"

The cry made Xander swing around, his rifle discharging and burning into the steel next to the door. Suzan was awake, no longer being carried by Don.

Instead, she and Don were being hold prisoner by Rulon and the rest of his men, all aiming their guns at Xander. Xander said just two words. "Well ... drat."