~This chapter may contain some strong language and some violent imagery. ~
 
 

"What are we supposed to do with these files?" Time Stopper grumped.

"For the last time, they are supposed to lead us to the whereabouts of the genius behind these bombs Mon*Star and Hardware are so hot to trot about.  Look at this one."

"It's a list of names in some crazy language."  Time Stopper was unimpressed.

Sighing, Melodia replied, "These are the scientists that specialized in the creation of these weapons in one form or another.  We just need to get a hold of one who has know how and bring him back with us and force him to make us enough to hijack all of Limbo and beyond!  Heck, just for fun, I bet once the Boss gets a hold of those things, that he'll send a few over to blow up Earth Command as a present just to see the looks on their faces."

"Hardware said that he rigged up the wormhole to let us off at the appropriate date."  The ghostly voice of Molecular could be heard coming from all around.  He was in the form of the B-29 and had taken off with Melodia and Time Stopper sitting in the front pilot seats.  The plane flew itself, straight for the wormhole.  "He better had gotten it right.  I do not enjoy its effects on my body when I go through it in this manner.  The less I have to go through it at all, the better."
 

Tat'iana wiped her brow.  The sweat dripped in earnest now and she still had to replace the prop.  The tail had been damaged more severely then she had originally guessed and had taken more hours than she had thought and so she had missed her window.  Minsk was not an option now for this weekend.  Her plane always must come first.  Feeling glum at her descending luck, she hammered and maneuvered the last misaligned piece into place.  It took some more time to make sure that the wood was flush and for the thousandth time she wished she had paid more attention while visiting in her cousin?s shop of woodwork repair.  She was certain though, at the rate she was going, she was going to get plenty of experience.

Once the tail was back in order, she lifted off the lightweight propeller, which had been slightly damaged in the air attack as well.  That last piece in place, she did a final inspection, to make sure she didn't miss anything vital.

She felt weary when she was finished.  Weary and disappointed for sometimes it felt like the Night Witches weren't making any difference.  She was so absorbed in her thoughts at that late hour that she failed to notice that she was being watched.  It was dusk and the airfield was empty.  She didn't hear the approaching footsteps behind her and didn't even cry out when a hand slapped itself across her mouth and an arm encircled her waist, lifting the surprised pilot off the ground.  She was dragged back off the airfield under the curtain of encroaching night.

When Tat'iana awoke again, she noticed she was in the cargo hold of an airplane and she was tied and gagged and laid flat on a stretcher.  They were flying who knew where.  Her captors were three.  She could hear their strange speech; two men and one woman coming from the direction of the cockpit and hadn't seen them yet.  They were very quarrelsome.  She wondered what they intended to do with her.  Were they Germans?  No.  Even if she couldn't speak German, she could recognize the sound of it and this wasn't German.  German allies?  But what would they want with her?  She didn't know anything.  Then it came to her.  It must be something to do with her father.  It was the only explanation.  But why go after her and not him?  Something must not have gone right or else they would have him -- unless they were going to use her to get to him?

Her mind wasn't up to detective work at that moment.  She lay back down and tested her restraints.  Whoever had tied her up had been an expert at tying knots.  Even if she could release herself, she knew there was no way she could overpower her kidnappers.  She knew she could fly the plane.  Granted, it was a cargo plane and very different from a one or two seater plane.  But what she didn't know was who they were and where they were going.  How long had they been flying?  Were they still in Russian airspace?  She closed her eyes and refused to weep.  Would the Night Witches be looking for her?  Would anyone?

Hours had gone past.  She thought she'd fallen asleep once because she had this crazy dream that the plane seemed to be coming apart and it felt like she and the plane were being sucked through a straw.  She felt sick from the experience and tried to spit out her gag but couldn't.  Her head rolled back and she wanted to fall back asleep.  She was frightened.   She admitted it now.  Was she to die?

The plane landed on an impossibly short runway.  She could tell the pilot must've been a true expert for a plane of that size to land nearly on a ruble.  Two of the kidnappers, the man, scratch that, the boy and the woman appeared before her and leaned over her, still arguing with each other.  Where was the other one with the monotone voice?  The boy peered at her with a disgusted look on his face and removed a contraption she'd never seen from his pocket.  He pushed a button and the two bent prongs seemed to surge with sudden, crackling energy.  He grinned maliciously at Tat'iana and placed the two prongs on her stomach and pressed the button again.  She felt a huge electric current blast through her body and she jerked and flailed as it went through her.  Tat'iana then passed out.
 

Seymour sat in his cell in the bowels of Brim*Star miserable and full of dread.  Mon*Star had seen through his bumbling and in a potent rage, tossed the cabbie into one of the dreary cells.  He sported new bloody bruises on his face and cuts on his arms and legs.  He had thought the Mob boss was going to kill him at one point but it had never came to that.  Instead, he was tortured slowly, through fear and pain.  It had been a couple of days since he'd first fallen into the Planet Masters hands.  Sometimes they came and let him out, but that was only to take him into another room to hurt him.  They never really even bothered to ask him any questions, not that he'd know the answers to them, and they just got a sick form of pleasure from making him writhe and scream.

He was hurting still that day, from yesterday's treatment.  Seymour cradled his left arm.  The upper arm was now broken.  He'd not been able to get much sleep that night from the livid pain that never seemed to leave him.  He was dirty, he was tired, and he was scared to death.  Would the Silverhawks ever come to get him?  He should've said no to Stargazer.  That would have been the smart thing to do.  He should have just jumped in his cab and run for it, screw the consequences.  Now look at him.

He sat bolt upright when he heard sounds down the hall.  His heart jumped into his throat as he envisioned what they may do to him this time.  But the Mob marched past his cell. It was Mumbo Jumbo and Time Stopper.  They were carrying someone.  Seymour couldn't see who it was but hoped they'd forget about him now that they had someone else to work on.  Then he felt guilty over that and pushed that thought from his mind.  The cabbie heard the cell door next to his open and knew the new prisoner was being placed conveniently next to his own.  There was a pause and he heard them dump the prisoner on the floor and close and lock the door.  The two Mobsters walked back and stopped at Seymour's cell.  Time Stopper grinned and nudged Mumbo Jumbo.

"So, what do you think we should do to him today?"  Time Stopper was thoroughly enjoying himself.

"Mmgrowrroowr!  Gwaooaor!"  The bull snickered deeply.

They opened his cage and Seymour tried to shrink in on himself, but there was no escaping the two as they approached him slowly like they wanted to savor the moment.  Mumbo Jumbo grabbed his left arm and lifted him up off the bench.  Fresh and exquisite pain rushed through Seymour's body and he couldn't fight back the scream that he bellowed.

"Music to my ears!"  Time Stopper chuckled.  "Should we break his other arm?"

Mumbo shook his head.  "Gwaafroowrwwrr!"

"Oooh!  Brilliant!  Take him to the room then.  I'll be there soon enough.  You can start without me, if you like."

Mumbo laughed outright and continued to drag Seymour using his broken arm and Time Stopper broke off and headed down a different corridor.  Seymour grit his teeth and whimpered as the never-ending pain seemed likely to continue that day and in greater quantities.  He didn't deal well with pain.  He didn't have that strong a will to begin with and the Mob seemed to be Hell bent on destroying what little he had, just for the fun of it.

The room wasn't far, Seymour knew that now, but it was far enough that tears were in his eyes from the pain in his arm by the time they reached it.  Mumbo threw him in a wooden chair and strapped him in, like so many times done before.  Mumbo then went to a tiny cabinet beside Seymour's chair and picked up a jar of water.  He dabbed the water around Seymour's stubby neck and then went back to the cabinet and replaced the jar.  Mumbo grabbed up a metal collar with all sorts of devices attached to it and placed the contraption about Seymour's neck.

Seymour's heart rate climbed.  He'd never seen this thing before and wondered just what the sharp, articulated protrusions on it did.  Then he decided he'd rather not know.  Mumbo held up another object, a remote control, Seymour guessed.  The mechanical bull grinned and pressed a button, activating the contraption Seymour now wore.  When the cabbie felt the thing hum to life, he jumped prematurely.  He closed his eyes and prepared himself for new pain.
 

Tat'iana awoke again.  But this time, she noticed she was in some sort of windowless cell.  It was quiet and dark.  She wondered where she was and who had captured her.  How long had she been out?  She stood and wandered closer to the bars.  All she could see was the cell across from her.  It was empty.  She couldn't see down either end of the corridor.  Tat'iana inspected her cell.  All that was in it was a low hung bench.  She sighed.  What did they expect of her?  She was no scientist.  Then she wondered if they had ways of extracting information.  She wondered if they knew she had a photographic memory.  She had seen her father's plans but didn't understand any of it.  Well, she could cope.  She had always wondered just what she would do if she'd ever found herself behind enemy lines.  Well, now she was.  She would do her nation proud and not tell them anything, no matter what they did to her.

She could now hear footsteps.  Two pair coming from down the hall.  It was her original kidnappers, the boy and the woman.  Only now, the boy had a strange looking timepiece on his chest and he seemed to be wearing an engine of some kind on his back.  And the woman sported a crazy green hairstyle and was wearing a very revealing outfit as well as a funny looking piano that was strapped over her shoulder.

Tat'iana frowned.  What was going on?  The boy opened up the cell and the woman entered.  She had a hold of something metallic and small.  Restraints?  She'd never seen handcuffs look like that before.  She allowed the woman to place them on her wrists and went with them without a fight.  While they walked down the hall, she thought she heard someone screaming from somewhere nearby.

She was led to an empty room that had what looked like a high tech surgical table in it.  She balked and was forcefully shoved forward by the woman.  Tat'iana didn't like to think what they proposed to do to her on that table.  She felt the nose of a gun in the small of her back and quietly walked up to the table's edge as if she had planned to all along.  The woman gestured that she should lay down and indicated that she would regret any disobedience.  Tat'iana complied lay on the cold, hard table.  The boy moved to one side of her and the woman stayed on her left side.  They laid their hands on her, holding her down.  There was a sound coming from the table and a huge metal brace wrapped up and around her waist.  The cuffs she wore fell off and the boy and the woman grabbed onto her hands and yanked them so they were at Tat'iana's side.  Another brace, one on each side, slipped around her wrists.  The boy smirked at her and nodded to the woman who was not smiling at all as if in disapproval.  Then the two left her there, strapped to that flat slab and utterly helpless.

She waited.  For what, she had no idea.  Time passed before someone entered the room again.  Curious, she lifted her head for at least it wasn't strapped down and then wished she hadn't.  She must surely be in Hell for she was certain that it was a demon that strode in.  His blood red body was adorned with muscles and coarse fur.  On his head, a wild mane, which refused to be tamed, whipped about the monster.  His cleft lip hid needle teeth and his eye patch was star shaped.  It WAS a demon and it stalked up to the foot of the table.  Fear came to her now as she looked upon the beast, as it studied her.

Without any words, it seemed to have made a decision.  To her horror, it climbed up onto the table, on top of her.  She gasped as she suddenly realized what its intentions towards her were and she tried to struggle when it finally climbed all the way onto the table.  It was no use.  The bonds held her fast to the table.  There was no getting out from under the demon.

She broke into a sweat and turned her head so she wouldn't have to look into that awful visage and smell that fetid breath.  A clawed hand clutched her jaw and forced her to look at it.  It loomed over her and she froze as it stared at her.  She could see, even in that foreign face, the lust it held in its strange eyes.  Now she knew why her legs weren't strapped down as the demon used it's own legs to force hers apart.  She struggled again and received a sharp and painful slap for her trouble.  Her breath came in quick now as she tried to deny what was happening.  She silently prayed to her God to save her but received no answer.  She felt a clawed hand exploring where no one's hand had a right to be without her permission.  She tried to pull away from it but the demon and the straps proved her retaliatory efforts were useless.  Panic sprung anew as it ripped her pants and undergarments off of her and she felt it's fur-covered groin grind into her.

And then, to her utter horror, she felt the first painful penetration and she screamed for all she was worth.

It had left her when it had pleased itself.  She lay there, shaking and bleeding from her vagina, still trapped on that table.  She was scared.  Every minute it was in her was pure Hell.  Why was she here?  Why her?  Was she to be used as some breeding tool?  Tears came then and she tried to shut out her pain and closed her eyes.  She'd never heard someone come in but jerked awkwardly as someone pressed a hand on her shoulder.  Fearfully, she opened her eyes, afraid to see the red demon again.  Instead, she saw two funny looking creatures.  One was tall and one very short.  The tall one looked like a clothed lizard that wore two reel-to-reel tapes on its chest and carried a strange wand.  The short one looked like a sharp tooth frog with a heavy looking rucksack slung on its back.  It was fiddling with some high tech instruments as it stepped up on a stool so it could be eye level with the table's occupant.  Minor demons?

The tall lizard pointed his wand at her.  She shrank back.  What was it?  Some kind of gun?  A light shot out of it and struck her in the head.  The reel-to-reel began to spin as it began to receive and record the data in her head.  But it didn't last long.
 

"I got what we need.  Not much there.  Why didn't anyone tell Time Stopper to ask questions first and shoot later?  She barely knows anything of use to us."  Zero sighed and released her mind from his retrieval wands grip.

"It doesn't matter."  Hardware croaked, "She knows enough.  The Boss says to continue with the experiment.  We are to begin her transformation so she may fit the device."

"Well, time to get this tape to the Boss."  Zero said in manner of farewell.

"Yeah.  Okay."  Hardware mumbled and pushed a panel that lit up on the side of the table.  The table began to move.  It slowly flipped itself over so now the girl was staring at the floor instead of the ceiling, her short, blonde hair falling about her face.  The table then lowered itself and part of the headrest retracted so Hardware could access the back of her neck.
 

Seymour was back in his cell.  He had been fried by Mumbo Jumbo's version of torture.  He had black scorch marks across his neck.  His scarf and hat were gone and his clothes were ragged from the rough treatment.  He lay curled upon his bench.  His arm still hurt and he ached all over now from the recent shock treatment.  He wanted to sleep, but the pain wouldn't allow it.  His teeth felt tingly as well as his antenna.  That had been cruel and unnecessary, he thought.  Mumbo Jumbo knew that his race?s antenna were the ultimate G-spot and had taken sport in embarrassing Seymour to shame.  He really had no idea how much more abuse he could take.  He ignored the wet spot on his overalls and favored his arm as he tried to find a comfortable position on the bench.

Someone was coming down the hall again.  Seymour groaned.  Why don't they just kill him so the misery would end?  It was Windhammer and Melodia and they were dragging someone back to their cell.  The cell next to his.  Was this the same individual who he'd seen earlier?  Melodia looked downright sour and Windhammer he couldn't read.

They did open the cell next to his again and dumped the poor slob back into captivity.  Well, he supposed he should count his blessings it wasn't Mumbo delivering the captive.  He couldn't face the bull anytime soon.  He couldn't face anyone.  He wanted to die.  Luckily the Mobsters left him alone and departed as soon as they were certain the prison was secure.

Seymour stayed huddled where he was.  Then from his neighbor he heard the muffled sounds of sobbing.  It wasn't male; Seymour could tell that much and he felt his heart break at the pitiful sounds of grief that came echoing out from that cell.  What could they have done?  Did he want to know?  All he knew was that in the cells of Brim*Star was two beings that needed comfort.  He slid off of his little ledge and half walked and stumbled to the cell bars.  He leaned up against the wall and slid down to the ground.

"Hello?"  He managed to say.  "Hello in there?"

The sobbing gave way to sniffling.

"Hello?"  Seymour repeated.  "Um -- you okay?"

More sniffling, but it was closer now.  They must be just on the other side of the wall now as he was.  He leaned up against the bars, his right arm pressing against the bars.

"My name's Seymour.  What's yours?"  He decided that introductions were in order, no matter what the situation.

A woman's voice thick with tears spoke, but it was in a language he'd never heard before.  He sighed.  Great.  He'd hoped for a conversation to help pass time and not make one feel so lonely.  Then he saw a slender hand with clipped nails and soft, smooth white skin snake within his sight and realized she was reaching through the bars.  Did she want contact?  Physical contact of any kind since audio proved useless.  He reached through the bars with his good hand and hesitated a moment, feeling a ridiculous wave of shyness overtake him.  She was groping blindly in the air for his hand, unable to see around the bars.  Swallowing he took the hand.  It was cool and very soft.  She gratefully squeezed it tightly and they sat like that for what must have been hours.
 

Stargazer was unhappy.  He'd sent Seymour out to Brim*Star and hadn't heard back from the cabbie since.  First, he must make sure Seymour was truly missing.  The hack could be avoiding him.  He tapped the consol and contacted Zeeke.

"Zeeke, this is Stargazer."  The Commander spoke into the intercom.

"Oh, Commander Stargazer.  What can I do for you today?  Given my offer a second thought?  It's a very good deal, I assure you!"

Stargazer rolled his eye, "No, Zeeke.  I have a favor to ask of you."

"Oh, of course, Commander!  What can this humble being do for the Silverhawks today?"

"Could you stop by Seymour's place and see if he's been there for the past three days?"

A pause.  "Didn't you try to call him in his cab?"

"He's not responding.  I haven't heard from him in three days and I want to know if he's all right.  Is that too much to ask?"  Stargazer said, tiring of talking to Zeeke already.

"Oh, of course not, Commander!  I'd be happy to be of service!"

"Good.  Contact me after you check it out.  Stargazer out."  The Commander was more than happy to cut the line.

He was concerned.  He had a bad feeling that something had gone wrong.  It was on his hands if something had.  He'd forced Seymour to go to Brim*Star.  He sighed.  He was tired.  He stared out the window, settling himself to wait.

Zeeke sped his clunker towards Seymour's flat.  He admitted that he and the cabbie had their share of ups and downs -- well, mostly downs lately.  But Zeeke had to agree that Seymour was the closest thing to a friend he'd ever had, even though that short, fat cabbie seemed to consistently get on his nerves.  Always worried about that destined for the junkyard piece of trash on wings taxi of his.  It annoyed Zeeke to the extreme that Seymour seemed the most comfortable with the least and heaven forbid if Zeeke tried to find ways to make the cabbie see there was more to life than doing without.
 
Zeeke continued with his musings and soon came upon Seymour's place.  He personally always thought it was a dump, a third rate flat for a third rate hack out on some isolated asteroid.  Zeeke's place was to be considered a mansion in comparison he thought.  He landed his twice-owned sedan where the cab was usually parked and switched the engine off.  Sighing, Zeeke strolled up to the door and proceeded to easily pick the lock.  Really, he thought, Seymour should have let Zeeke install that new security system.  Anyone could break in, not that there was anything worth stealing in there.

Opening the door, he strolled inside.  Despite the ordinary look of the place, it was kept very neat.  It spoke of nothing but below the belt scrimping.  Zeeke shook his head.  No, living large was not in Seymour's nature.  Zeeke headed straight towards the kitchen.  The low built counter top was wiped clean and there were no dishes or implements in the sink.  He checked the cooler.  It was fairly empty and nothing seemed spoiled.  He marched to the bedroom after grabbing a snack, noticing the kitchen didn't smell like anyone had been cooking in a long while.  The pallet mattress was neatly made and didn't look like it had been slept in recently.  He was beginning to get anxious now.  No laundry was in evidence.  It felt empty.  Zeeke slunk back outside, glad to be back in his sedan as he stared thoughtfully back at the house.  No, Seymour hadn't been back for some time.

He flicked the Com and hailed Hawk Haven.

"Commander, this is Zeeke.  Come in, Commander Stargazer."  Zeeke tried to sound casual.

"Stargazer here.  Zeeke?  Well, what have you got?"

"No one home.  For a while, it looks like, Zeeke."  He moaned, itching to leave.

"Dually noted.  Thanks, Zeeke.  Commander Stargazer out."  Came the gruff response.

What was going on?  Zeeke wondered and blasted his way off of the asteroid.  He had a feeling the Commander knew something he wasn't voicing.  No, he refused to be worried.  Think of something else --

Stargazer sent out Tally Hawk to confirm his suspicions.  He had a bad feeling that something had gone very wrong.
 

Melodia was in her quarters silently fuming.  She'd known what Mon*Star's intentions toward that Russian woman were from the beginning and she didn't like it at all.  She lay on her bunk that night trying to convince herself that it was just but in the end, she couldn't condone the rape.  It sickened her.  So she lay on her bunk thinking of someway to get that woman, that girl as far away from Brim*Star as possible.  She'd known that the consequences for going against the Planet Master were horrible, she'd turned on him twice before and each time had regretted it.  But this time, she felt that she could live with those consequences if she could keep Mon*Star from repeating that dreadful performance with that girl.

Then she knew what she had to do, and Seymour was the key.  It was deep night and Melodia decided to take matters into her own hands.  Jumping off her bunk, she headed towards the detention block, careful to avoid all the cameras on the way.  She crept down the hall of the prison and came up to Seymour's cell.  Awww, wasn't that sweet?  Even though the cabbie and the Russian girl were still fast asleep, they still had a hold of each other's hands.  She didn't care really what happened to the cabbie, but she felt a strange sort of sisterhood with the girl.  There were so few females in Limbo after all.

She unlocked Seymour's cell.  The sound woke Seymour from a fitful slumber.  He jerked back, releasing the woman's hand when he saw it was Melodia.  The space punker put her finger to her lips in a silencing gesture and held up her set of keys.  Seymour looked at her in a confused manner.

She hefted the heavyset hack up and shoved him to the door.  Still somewhat asleep, he stumbled through, still unclear of what was going on.

"Melodia?  What's your game?"  Seymour managed to say.

"You and your girlfriend are getting out of here."  Melodia said in a hushed voice and drug him to the cell the female was in.

He shook his head, "She's not my girlfriend.  I don't even know her name."

"Oh, shut up, Seymour."  Melodia whispered crossly and opened up the girl?s cell.

There was a figure, curled up into a ball, wedged in the corner between the wall and the bars.  There was some strange metal attachment on the back of her neck.  The figure didn't seem to be wearing any pants either, Seymour couldn't help but notice.  Melodia went into the cell while Seymour weakly stood out in the hall.  Melodia awakened the female inmate who seemed to cringe in the punker's presence.  Melodia helped her stand on shaky legs and ushered her out.

Tat'iana was confused, scared, and she hurt all over.  That woman was back but there seemed to be a different mannerism about her and even she could figure out through the language barrier that the woman was trying to help.  Why?  She didn't understand.  She tried to move her head and a shooting pain at the back of her neck urged her to stop trying so she did.  Almost blindly she moved out into the hall.  There was a funny squat creature standing there who looked as bad as she felt.  The woman and the creature spoke again in hushed tones.  What was happening?  Were they getting out?

The short creature held out its right hand to her.  What, she thought.  What should she do?  It made a slightly impatient gesture and looked down the hall then back at her.  Should she even attempt to trust these two?  Reluctantly, she decided she had no choice and took its hand.  Upon taking it, she was surprised to recognize it.  It was the same hand she had found comfort in the day before.  This was what was in the cell beside her.  She grabbed it more tightly and let it take her down the hall.  They thankfully passed that horrible room and snuck through many other rooms and long, deserted halls.  Where were all the other creatures?  Where were they going?  They came to the largest room she'd seen in the place yet.  A hanger?  Yes.  But full of the strangest looking planes she'd ever seen.

They hurried best they could to a yellow craft with a huge engine pack and wings.  The door lifted up on a hinge attached to the roof and the short creature urged her inside.  She crawled past a steering wheel and over what looked like a clutch and gladly flopped onto the passenger seat.  The creature climbed in and the door shut.  It started the engine up, an engine that seemed very reluctant to spring to life.

To her surprise, the vehicle lifted straight up and out of the hanger.  No plane she knew could do such a thing.  They sped ever upwards.  They must have gone several thousand feet and they still seemed to be in some kind of cavern.  She could see the towering fortress as they finally climbed above it and made a dash for the night sky that was peaking through a funny star shaped crater.

Soon, they had punched through the crater and Tat'iana couldn't believe what she now saw.  It wasn't a night sky.  They weren't in Germany.  They weren't, she now realized, anywhere near Earth.  The small planet drifted farther and farther away from them and they climbed into what she knew now to be space.  So, she hadn't been in Hell after all and that hadn't been a demon but an alien that had raped her.  And the creature sitting beside her was also an alien.  So, why then were they interested in her?  It didn't make any since.  She wished she could ask some questions but there was that language barrier thing.

The vehicle seemed to suddenly jump of its own accord.  She knew that sensation.  Someone was firing on them.  She and the creature both turned.  Behind them, to Tat'iana's wondering eyes, was a huge squid wearing some armor and carrying a rider that seemed familiar somehow but different.  It was blood red and was also in full body armor.

The cab careened wildly as Seymour tried to avoid the barrage of fire Mon*Star laid his way.  Tat'iana was having a rough time of it, trying to keep from being tossed into Seymour as the cab turned yet another sharp right.  She plowed into him anyway when a bolt hit the passenger side of the cab and the taxi spun sickeningly around from the force of the impact.  Another hit and black smoke billowed from the cab?s fried engines.
 

"We're so dead, ya know what I mean?"  Seymour said mournfully even though he knew the beauty beside him couldn't understand a word he said.

Skyrunner approached them menacingly and Seymour could see the figure standing haughtily on his mount as he pointed a blaster at the cabbie that gazed at the Planet Master like a deer caught in the headlights.  Tat'iana swallowed.  This was it.  They were both dead.  After her surviving several run-ins with the Germans, this was how she'd die, next to some strange alien in the middle of deep space.

"Shit!"  Seymour swore loudly.

Seymour didn't ever really see Mon*Star pull the trigger.  He never saw the energy bolt rush towards him, searing a hole through his windshield.  The whole situation just didn't seem real at that last instant before he lost consciousness.  He didn't even remember any pain.

Tat'iana heard the glass break and saw the bolt slam into the aliens chest and he was pushed back forcibly into his chair by the blast, then she saw his surprised eyes close and he slumped forward, head pressing into the steering wheel.   A white fluid sprayed out from the being sitting next to her.  She'd never seen anything like it.  Then again, she'd never seen anything like the cabbie.  She felt frozen there, staring, then remembering that a red terror was just outside, she whirled around in her seat only to see the giant space squid and the monster riding it was gone.  With that emergency out of the way she turned back to the one sitting next to her.  She was hesitant to touch him, her, or it?  What ever, she had to see how bad the wound was.  She touched the alien's shoulder and jerked her hand back, remembering the tortures the other aliens had begotten upon her.  But she reasoned with herself that this one had suffered under the red monster's fist as well and had rescued her.  Perhaps she should try to trust it.  Drawing up on her courage, she gently took its shoulder and drew the alien back away from the steering wheel and propped it up on the seat.

There was a huge hole in its chest and something white, wet, and sticky was soaking its shirt and overalls.  Blood?  It seemed to be and she decided finally it was and that it was in very bad shape indeed.  What to do?  It was losing blood quickly.  She thought she ought to check for a pulse and reached for its almost invisible neck then drew her hand away again.  Does it even have the same anatomy as humans, she wondered.  Would it have a jugular where humans do?  She decided to try searching for it anyway.  Found it, a thready pulse, weakening steadily.  What should she do?  She felt frantic.  Then she gave a start when she realized she felt no pulse any longer.  Now what?  She had no idea.  She'd never felt so helpless, not even in the confines of the red ones palace had she felt so alone, so scared.  The alien would die and she'd be lost forever out there in the middle of nowhere.  That was not the way she envisioned her dying.

Reflexively, she lay the cabbie down on its back and studied the wound, hoping the anatomy was somewhat similar for her purposes.  Taking a deep breath, she groped the wound with her right hand, digging past the broken rib cage and felt around for her target.  Something soft impeded her hand and she grasped hold of it, knowing it was the heart.  It had stopped beating.  She'd help it pump blood again.  Tat'iana swallowed back the revulsion of what she was doing by sternly telling herself it had to be done.  She massaged the heart, trying to coax life back into it.  A minute passed as she worked.  How long could it survive without its heart, she wondered as she worked methodically.  She ground her teeth in exasperation.  Then, was rewarded when she saw its eyes flutter open and looked at her with a glazed, pain-filled expression.

She spoke, not knowing if it was conscious enough to hear, and if it was, knowing her words would not be understood, "Don't move."  She needed to hear herself speak as some form of comfort for the dire situation she found herself in.  "I can keep this up for a while, but I don't know for how long and I don't know how long we'll be out here."

A strange glow enveloped the vehicle now.  She didn't stop her messaging but that didn't keep her from wondering what was going on.  Then she realized they were being pulled backwards.  What?  How?  They were being taken back to that planet.  Back to that horrible fortress!  No!  But what could she do?  If she stopped beating for the heart, the creature would die and she'd be alone again.  She didn't know how to drive this vehicle and even if she could, she didn't know where they could go.  Then she was startled when an attack started at another direction.  She spun her head towards the front now and saw a strange, sleek silver craft -- spacecraft, speed towards them.  It wasn't firing at them, but back down at the planet.

Was this the cavalry?  She certainly hoped so.  The spacecraft sped past them and she saw, to her astonishment, four gleaming, metallic beings leap out of the spacecraft and grow wings.  They flew with an agility and grace no plane or bird could match.  She reminded herself to try to not be distracted from the task at hand.  Soon, she realized they weren't moving any longer.  The glow had released them.

One of the silver, man-shaped forms was suddenly in front of the driver's window, hovering somehow.  She couldn't see the face but she was glad to see the being.  It looked into the cab then began to talk at her.  All she could do was listen.  She couldn't understand what it was saying.  She sighed.  This was getting old.  She just kept looking at it, hoping it would understand that she couldn't understand.  Finally, it seemed it got the clue that she didn't know what it was talking about and it called to another one of its friends.  Soon, the four beings surrounded her and the vehicle.  All the while, she kept pumping the heart.

One of the beings that had the figure of a female opened one of the passenger doors and slipped into the vehicle with them.  Her wings vanished and she brought her hand up to her face and suddenly her facemask disappeared.  It was a woman.  A robot?  But the face was awfully real, Tat'iana thought.  The woman leaned forward and peered at what it was Tat'iana was doing.  Her face showed instant concern and she started to yell at her companions, what exactly she said, she didn't know, but she had a pretty good clue when they began to organize themselves in a hurry.  The silver spacecraft lowered itself so it was directly in front of their vehicle.  She then realized they were going to be towed when one of the silver beings began to attach a strong cord to the front of the yellow vehicle.

The silver woman reached a non metallic hand over and placed it on the creature's forehead then she reached her metallic hand over which held yet another strange device.  With one bloody hand, Tat'iana grabbed at the woman's hand holding the device.  She well remembered the hand-held shocker she experienced and was weary of these high technology gadgets.  She couldn't just let anyone tamper with the creature she was trying to keep alive.

The silver woman smiled understandingly and pulled her hand back.  Tat'iana eyed her cautiously but let go of the woman's hand, pumping with the other.  The silver woman placed the device to her temple and pushed the button.  Nothing bad seemed to have happened to her so Tat'iana, still watching her closely, let her do the same to the creature.  Maybe it was some sort of medical device, she wondered.  She hoped so; her hands were beginning to cramp up from the effort.  With great relief, she realized they were now moving, away from that Hellish planet full of monsters and unspeakable vileness.

On their way, to who knew where, she saw many amazing sights that she'd never before even had dared to dream.  Her silver companion kept her company.  She had so many questions and no way to ask them.  Oh, to make herself be understood by these beings!

Finally, they seemed to be approaching a planet that was much more friendly looking than the one they had left.  Only, they didn't seem to be heading for the planet, but for the asteroid hovering above it.  There was a massive building on it in the shape of a mighty hawk.  Tat'iana was impressed.  It seemed as if that was their destination.  There was no aura of evilness about it either so she started to breathe easier.  She was certain these people were there to help, not to harm.

When they landed in a brightly lit hanger, they were quickly surrounded by six metallic beings.  They all crowded before the drivers door and one with a domed looking helmet and metallic beard reached in to take the creature.  He nodded at Tat'iana who kept on pumping despite the fact her hands felt like they would fall off.  As the creature was slowly and gently lifted out of the vehicle, she inched out, trying to keep her hands from slipping out of the body.  They hurried fast as they could with Tat'iana trying to follow.  The metallic beings seemed to be all around her, talking among themselves in frantic tones.  She and the creature were rushed into a white room that she assumed was an operating room of some kind. It had a similar table to the one she experienced back in that horrid fortress.  She wanted to balk but they made a beeline to it and she had no choice.

 
Tat'iana woke in a safe, warm bed.  A real bed in a real room, not a cell.  She could almost pretend that nothing extraordinary had happened to her these past three days.  She could almost believe it had been just a bad dream and she was back in the Night Witches bunker among her friends.  Almost.  But there was that pain in the back of her neck created by that strange device that was surgically implanted by those fiends.

The woman, Steel Heart, she knew now, had given her an implant too.  A special implant that helped translate all the languages for her.  She had told them all she knew after she had been abducted, except that she had not told them about the rape.  They had poked and prodded at her neck device but couldn't fathom what good it was for.  It was wired into her body's adrenal glands and into her brain.  The big red one was a major source of grief for all of what she now knew to be the Limbo Galaxy.  Her new comrades were called the Silverhawks and she was in serious trouble.  The Mob would not have let her go so easily if they hadn't counted on being able to retrieve her without any problems.  She was safe for the present and that was good enough for her.

There was a knock on her door.

"Yes?"  She said.

"Can we come in?"  It was Blue Grass; his heavily accented voice was very recognizable.

"Yes, please."  She called back and stretched, yawning.  It was her first real sleep in what felt like months.  Even before she had been abducted, it wasn't as if she had normal sleeping patterns with the Night Witches.  She didn't feel rested.  She still felt jumpy, but after all that had happened, that was to be expected.

Blue Grass, along with all the other Silverhawks, including Commander Stargazer entered.  She had been given a short version of the situation to be had in the Limbo Galaxy and wondered if she truly had any place here among these super intelligent beings that flew in outer space.  She could fly a plane, true, but a jet-propelled aircraft was still a mighty new thing to her.  Breaking the sound barrier was one thing, not even been done before, breaking the light barrier was quite another.

"How is he?"  Tat'iana asked quickly.

"Seymour?  He'll live, thanks to you."  Commander Stargazer replied as they surrounded her bed.

"He should be one cold corpse now.  That was very quick thinking."  Steel Will said with a note of respect in his voice.

"Can I see him?"  Tat'iana asked.

"Of course!"  Will said, "He's stable now and will be unconscious for a few days at least.  But that's for the best.  He needs that time to heal.  We mended the hole in his chest and his broken arm.  Now all he needs is a little time."
 
Tat'iana nodded.  At the time they were escaping from Brim*Star, as she now knew it was called; she hadn't even noticed that Seymour had suffered a broken arm.  She quickly thought of something else, she didn't want that place to take over her mind, not the place, and not Mon*Star.  She couldn't suppress a shudder of revulsion that came when she thought of that red monster inside of her.  No, she wouldn't tell them what he had done to her.  That was too private, too -- she just wouldn't tell.

"What am I to do now that I'm here?  Is there a way for me to get back?"  Tat'iana asked.

Commander Stargazer frowned at Quicksilver who was frowning back.

Quicksilver answered her, "Unfortunately, the Mob used some kind of time manipulator and was able to choose a specific time to return to.  Yours.  Unfortunately, we don't have such a device available to us.  Unless we go over to Brim*Star and fight Mon*Star for it, I don't think there will be a way for you to return."

Tat'iana digested that and found it set sour in her stomach.  To never see her father again?  To never see her family and friends ever again?  Tears fought for release and she denied them.  No.  Now was not the time to cry.  Tears enough for later.  She had to see Seymour for herself for her since of honor wouldn't let her rest until she saw with her own eyes that he was truly out of danger.

They left her so she could dress and once she made herself presentable, she hurried to the recovery ward.  When she saw him laying there, the tears threatened to burn through and she blinked furiously to hold them at bay.  He looked dead instead of in drug-aided sleep.  She lingered there, not knowing what she should do or where she should go.  Her stomach growled.  No one shadowed her.  She wished she knew what was expected of her.

So she sat there next to him in the chair provided beside the head of the bed.  There was a strange object that covered him, reminding her of the restraints she had to personally endure.  She had been told it was a diagnostic bed and it was necessary and caused no harm.  She sighed, wondering if all of her million questions would be answered.  So much had happened on Earth since she had been kidnapped, was it only four days ago?  And now she was centuries gone.  It boggled the mind; a mind so used to thinking the Earth was all alone in the universe, a unique planet with the unique roll of having the only life to be found in the whole universe.  With this kidnapping experience, her view of life had been dramatically altered.  Instead of a huge world full of larger than life heroes and problems, her Earth was a tiny, spinning ball among a sea of inhabited planets with beings that astonished the mind and caused fear in the strong.

She had the unique position of being the only one to know the Earth before the coming of the Space Age.  No doubt, they would mine her brain for information on the state of the Earth during that period.  Would she be taken away?  Ensconced in some government lab, being grilled until she was too toothless old to be of anymore use, she hoped her destiny wouldn't be so cruel.

Hunger forced her to take leave of the recouping alien and she went off in search of the kitchen and what she hoped was edible substances.  Who knew what these beings ate, indeed, if they ate anything at all?  Tat'iana, after much wandering, decided she did find what must be the mess hall.  It was a big place, meant to hold more than the scant few Silverhawks that served it now.  She poked through the cupboards and eventually found some familiar edibles for breakfast.  Feeling lost and very much alone, she sat at a table and ate by herself.

The Commander found her there.  She was staring out the window at the star filled void and the planet Bedlama below them.

"Mind if I join you?"  He asked her.

Knowing she was in no position to refuse the Commander, she took his company with grace and braced herself for 'the talk'.

"Listen.  There is no gentle way to put this.  We have to find out why Mon*Star was so interested in you.  We need to do a little probing.  Would you object?"  He asked.

"Probing?"  She said confused.

"Check through your memories.  He would not be interested in you unless you gave him some advantage over us."  Stargazer said gravely.

Tat'iana looked unhappy.  She could not recall that Zero had done just that, only now, that information was lost to her, stored away on his film and kept safe in the Mob's vaults.  She knew she didn't have any choice, and she was curious to find out why too.  So she allowed Stargazer to take her to the science room after she finished eating.

Quicksilver and the other Silverhawks surrounded her as she sat in a chair and they fussed over her, manipulating more devices she couldn't begin to fathom.  She felt like a lab subject and hoped this was not to become a habit with them.  Tat'iana was amazed when it was over just as quickly.  Somehow, she was going to get to know how to use all this wonderful and new technology.  Her mind thirsted to know.  She was willing to do what it took to absorb her time lost.

The Steel twins were quietly conversing between themselves then one of them left the room.  Steel Heart remained and was speaking with the Commander and Quicksilver in quiet tones and Tat'iana sat in her chair wondering what was going on now.  Steel Will returned and on his arm rested a massive hawk, partly metal and partly real.  It glared outwards with a cold, watchful gaze, like a watchdog.

"This is Sonic Hawk."  Steel Will said and walked up beside a fascinated Tat'iana.  "He's our latest Hawk.  Capable of ultrasonic flight, he's our fastest bird.  And now, he's under orders to watch after you."

"My hawk?"  She asked incredulous.  "Why?"

"We have a large galaxy to protect, besides you.  We need to make sure you have safeguards.  This is one of them."  Commander Stargazer said matter of factly.

Will gave her a wristband with what looked like a control panel centered on it.  "This is what will control his actions.  I will teach you how to communicate with your hawk."

The bird of prey never took its eyes off of her even as he sat on Will's upraised arm.  Some how, that unsettled her.  To have this bird constantly spying on her -- perhaps if she just schooled herself to think of him as a favorite dog the bird may not be so intimidating.  That was the word she was looking for.  Intimidating.  It was a spy bird, that much she new, like Tally Hawk and the others in the aerie.  So she supposed it was a fit task for it to watch after her.  But did it have to look like she was its prey all the time?  Perhaps she could coax a personality out of that emotionless and calculating mind.

She put on the control panel on her wrist and ran her fingers lightly over the buttons.

"That's one problem out of the way."  Commander Stargazer said in a long-suffering voice.  "Now, if the other thousand and one problems were to be solved just as easily."
 
"Wow, we've whittled them down to just a thousand and one?"  Blue Grass said in his typical form.

"Not now, Hay Seed."  Stargazer sighed.

"Now all we need is some time and a lead."  Quicksilver said.

Copper Kidd twittered to himself as Tat'iana received her lessons on how to talk to Sonic.  He had calculated the probabilities of Mon*Star returning to take Tat'iana and found that there had been no need.  It was a foregone conclusion that the Planet Master would recollect her.  It was just a matter of when.

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