As they walked through the corridors of the starship Gyfjon, Commander Lemm and Imperator Rixie took the opportunity to catch each other up on their lives, having been unable to communicate for several months due to various circumstances. Vanser Nix trailed behind the two ladies, a bemused smile on his lips.

“You’re working for Pryvani Tarsuss?” Lemm asked, arching an eyebrow. “Is she as… unique as they say?” 

“More so.” Rixie replied with a grin. “You really have no idea. I’ll have to introduce you sometime.” 

“Just make sure you warn me first.” Lemm chuckled. “Ah, here we are Mr. Nix. I trust you’ll want some time to rest before meeting with the Captain?”

Lemm had led them to the guest quarters set aside for Vanser and used her security pass to open the door. 

Vanser poked his head in for a moment and dropped his bags just on the inside of the door. “Most satisfactory, Commander. However, Imperator Tam and I discussed it earlier and we agreed that it is best if we meet with Captain Bass as soon as possible.” 

Lemm nodded. “Of course. The Captain had a hunch you’d feel that way and has set aside some time to meet with you right away.” 

“Smart man.” Rixie nodded approvingly. “We’ll just make a stop at my quarters so I can ditch this bag.” 

“No problem Rixie, they’re just on the other side of this hall.” Lemm nodded towards the door that was two down and across from Vanser’s quarters. 

Rixie quickly stowed her gear and the group made their way to Captain Bass’s office. 

As they entered, Captain Bass rose from his chair and saluted, which the two Imperators returned. 

“Imperators, I’m glad your journey here went smoothly.” Bass said, smiling congenially as he shook hands with both of them. “Please, sit.” 

“Thank you, Captain Bass.” Rixie replied, taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of the Captain’s desk. 

Bass looked over at Lemm as he sat back in his chair. “Thank you, Commander. That will be all.” 

“Sir.” Lemm snapped to attention for a moment, and then turned to leave. 

“Actually Captain,” Rixie spoke up suddenly. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather Lemm- er, Commander Tam be here for this briefing as well.” 

Bass blinked, and then nodded. “Of course. Commander?” 

Rixie waited until Lemm had taken her seat, then quickly outlined the parameters of their mission. She went over the profiles of their three targets and a brief recap of how they managed to escape. 

“We’ve managed to trace their ship to the Tatendi Station, so that has to be our first stop.” Rixie finished. 

“And after that?” Captain Bass asked, tenting his fingers in front of himself. “Any ideas where they might head next?” 

“Several.” Rixie sighed. “None of them are good.” 

“I’ve been saying for years that Rura Penthe’s reputation as ‘inescapable’ isn’t going to be enough forever. Sooner or later somebody was going to try and escape.” Bass muttered, rolling his eyes.

Rixie nodded her agreement.

“ Well, that’s what they all say. ‘Inescapable… unsinkable ‘….Until they ain’t anymore. Who’da thought the high and mighty Archavian Empire would be making the same mistakes as us lowly humans?” 

Rixie’s brow knit in confusion. “Who…?” 

“Oh no…” Bass muttered, hiding his face in his hands. “I completely forgot about…” 

“Frankly this whole mess sounds just like Alcatraz. They said that was inescapable too… and then…” Rixie and Vanser watched in astonishment, and Lemm and Bass in horror, as a small figured clambered up onto the desktop and brushed herself off. 

It was a human woman, with tanned skin and curly brown hair, wearing a miniature version of an Archavian duty uniform. 

“Captain…?” Rixie asked her mouth agape. 

“Uh, Imperators… I can explain…” Bass muttered nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Corporal Isabelle Ibanez, at your service.” The small woman intoned, coming smartly to attention. 

Inwardly, Rixie was amused and a little enchanted by the brash human woman. She decided she needed to have a little fun at the Captain’s expense. 

“Captain Bass!” She barked, suddenly rising to her feet. “Just what is the meaning of this?” 

“Imperator, I assure you there is an explanation. It’s a bit of a long story but…” 

“Are you unaware of article thirty-six subsection C-Alpha of the Service Animals Code?” 

“Animal?! Now just a damn-!” Izzy spat indignantly

“Imperator Tam, yes I am aware but-“ 

“Then you know that active-duty personnel are expressly forbidden from owning a pet human.” 

“Pet!? Listen here lady…!” 

“Rixie calm down, it’s not like that…” 

“Careful Lemm, or I’ll be forced to court martial you as well.” Rixie snapped. 

“Court martial?!” Bass’s head snapped up, eyes widened in shock. “Imperator, be reasonable.” 

“Rixie…” 

“Stay out of this Vanser.” 

“Now you just wait a god damned minute!” Izzy snapped suddenly, drawing the attention of every Titan in the room. “You listen here, bean-pole, I did not spend the last god-only-knows-how-many months getting the crew on this ship trained proper for you to waltz in here and call me a pet. Get this through your braided skull, Isabella Ibanez ain’t nobody’s pet! Got me?” 

Rixie’s lip twitched slightly and she stared at the little human for a full ten seconds, trying desperately to keep a straight face. 

“Okay, fair enough.” She finally said, shrugging indifferently. 

Bass blinked, sure he’d misheard. “What?”

“You heard her. She said she’s not a pet, Captain. Who am I to argue?” Rixie spoke nonchalantly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Y-…but?!” Bass spluttered incoherently. 

“It’s simple. The article states ‘no pet humans.’ She’s not a pet. So there’s no problem. Case closed.” 

“Well… Um…”

“Now then, I think we’re finished here and I am, quite frankly, exhausted. I’ll be by the bridge in a few hours to check on our progress. Until then, Captain.” And before anybody could say another word, Rixie had swept from the room and out into the corridor…

Where she promptly burst into uncontrollable laughter. 

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Trell’s hands flew over the controls of her single person craft as she piloted through the blackness of space towards the Tarsuss system where the Avalon moon resided. 

The young woman rolled her eyes with open contempt. “Tarsuss system. Of all the egotistical things… ” 

Nevertheless, her mind was focused solely on the task ahead of her. She, quite frankly, relished the thought of the amount of pain she’d be causing Pryvani. Mental, emotional and (if she were lucky) physical. 

She tapped at a few keys on her control panel, bringing the navigational computer online. 

“Computer, plot a course to allow for insertion into orbit around Avalon with a periapsis low enough to reduce the ship’s speed to below escape velocity.” Trell spoke, remembering Yvenna’s parting words before she had left the station. As if she’d been incapable of flying the ship.

“Calculating…ship will require a periapsis of 915 units to achieve goal.” The computer responded.

“Good.” Trell muttered, nodding her head. Those calculations were well within her previous estimations. “Make calculations to allow for a cold approach to make a stable capture over the polar orbit.” 

“Calculating…it will require a 12% speed burst towards the following coordinates for 9 seconds.” The computer replied again rhythmically. A series of numerical symbols flashed across the screen. Again, nothing Trell hadn’t been expecting. 

“Excellent, how many orbits until atmospheric capture?” 

“Three orbits will be required until ship is safely with target atmosphere” The computer responded again. 

“Input command string and execute.” There was an acknowledgement of three electronic beeps as the computer fed the new navigational commands and coordinates into the ship’s computers and the craft automatically adjusted course, based on her new heading. 

Trell smiled in satisfaction. Soon, very soon, she’d have her revenge. 

*.*.*.*.*.*

Dahntnee, High Priest of the Un-Divine Goddess, sat at his desk with his head in his hands. Civil unrest, religious factioning… and now, a plague. What else could possibly go wrong?

“If I still believed in any kind of divine being I would assume they were punishing us.” He muttered to himself. 

There’d been about a half dozen reported cases, most of them the workers that Taron had been helping with repair work. And now a plague was spreading. 

Dahntnee had given orders to the Watch to tighten security in the city. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to save the City, but he would be damned if he allowed the plague to spread across the rest of Avalon. 

“I could really use someone to pray to.” He muttered despondently.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Brinn sat in front of the computer apprehensively, waiting for the signal to connect her to Archavia. After a few tense minutes the logo for Eastern Kallesin University flashed on her screen along with the message “please wait while we transfer your call.” 

“Gorram it all, hurry up!” Brinn muttered tersely. Then, much to the young veterinarian’s relief, the logo disappeared and the face of a young woman with pale red hair and dark eyes appeared on her screen.

“Brinn.” Dr. Kharee Selil said, surprise showing on her face. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.” 

“Kharee, thank goodness.” Brinn sighed. “I’ve found myself in a bit of an emergency and I could really use your advice.” 

Dr. Selil’s brows knit in concern. “What is the trouble?” 

Brinn quickly outlined the situation that the citizens of Avalon had found themselves in, sparing no detail whatsoever. When she finished she collapsed back in her chair and rubbed her face in exhaustion. 

“That is rather disturbing.” Dr. Selil muttered distractedly. “They disease you’re describing… One that can be carried by Titans but affects only humans? I’ve never heard of anything like it. Are you certain tht it can be carried and spread by Titans?”

Brinn shrugged. “Not completely. We haven’t exactly tested the hypothesis, but the evidence does strongly lean that way. Taron and Sophia both left the moon and came back. Afterwards, Taron went to an area of the Atlantean City to do some repair work. That same sector is where the first cases of the outbreak occurred, and Sophia got sick as well, despite not having gone to the city.” 

Selil nodded. “You’re right, that is fairly strong evidence.” 

“I need to find a cure soon Kharee, or every human on this moon will be dead. Including Sophia; so any advice or idea you have would be both useful and appreciated.” 

“I assume you’ve tried the standard treatment for similar diseases?” 

Brinn nodded sadly. “All ineffective.”

A moment of silence seemed to pass as Dr. Selil seemed to contemplate the situation Brinn had laid out for her. 

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but was probably only a few seconds, Dr. Selil nodded her head decisively. “Right. I’ll be leaving on the first shuttle.” 

Brinn blinked. “Wh-what?” 

“You said you needed my help, correct? Well, I’m on my way.” 

Brinn’s face broke out into a relieved smile. “Well, actually, I was merely hoping for some advice, but if you’re willing to come lend a hand personally I would be very grateful.” 

“Think nothing of it, the term ended last week and the school is on break anyway. I’ll be there as soon as I’m able.” 

“I’ll talk to Ms. Tarsuss and see about arranging your travel plans.” 

Dr. Selil nodded. “Excellent. With her resources I’m sure I’ll be there soon.” 

Brinn nodded. “I hope so.”

*.*.*.*.*.*

The sound of a redbird’s call pierced the air and Lysis and her people melted into the forest around them. The young Captain glanced up into the branches of the tree she crouched behind. Zhan looked down and met her gaze from above her. His head was cocked and his eyes were squinted as he peered down the path behind them. 

Finally he signaled ‘all okay’ and the company seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. After a moment the two scouts she’d sent back to the city to rally reinforcements appeared in their midst. 

And they were alone. 

“What happened?” Lysis asked tersely, not even giving the men a chance to catch their breath. “Where are the reinforcements I sent you back for?” 

“We didn’t even get to the city.” The taller of the two, a wiry young man with dusky skin and jet black hair gasped after taking a drink from a flask someone had passed him. “Made it as far as checkpoint three before we were informed that Atlantis has been completely sealed. Nobody gets in or out, by orders of the High- um… Dahntnee.” 

“The High Priest ordered the city sealed?” Lysis’ eye narrowed in contemplation. “Why would he do that?” 

“Probably because of Khalin.” Zhan said after jumping to the ground from above. “Hoping the sorry lot are still within the walls.” 

“Still though?” Lysis’ eyebrows shot up. “I mean, it has to be obvious by now that Khalin is gone.” 

Zhan shrugged. “For our purposes, all that matters is that reinforcements aren’t coming.” 

“What are we gonna do Cap?” the other messenger asked. “Khalin and his band are cutting a bloody trail across the countryside and there’s only eight of us.” 

Lysis was about to answer before Zhan cut her off. 

“Hey Cap, while I was up in the tree I thought I saw something interesting eastward, come take a look.”

“Zhan whatever it is we don’t-”

“Trust me.” Zhan gazed into her eyes pointedly until Lysis nodded and followed him into the brush. 

The two of them traveled off the path for several yards before Zhan stopped and glanced around, as if checking to make sure they hadn’t been followed. After ensuring that they were alone, he reached into his pack and pulled out a strange metallic device. 

“Let’s find out what’s going on in the City from a more reliable source, shall we?” 

Lysis gazed at the strange object, her brows knit in confusion. She didn’t have a chance to question it though, before Zhan pressed a series of buttons on the device. 

Suddenly, a small square on the front of the thing lit up with multicolored light that eventually resolved into the image of their former goddess. 

“Zhan, are you in trouble already?” Pryvani tried to keep the tone light but they both could see the worry in her eyes. 

“No.” Zhan shook his head and angled the communicator so they could both see the screen better. “The Captain and I just wanted to know what the situation in the city is.” 

Pryvani sighed wearily. “Hello Lysis. I’d like to berate you for tearing off after Khalin practically by yourself, but it turns out that was accidentally the right move. I don’t know how to tell you this, but a terrible plague is spreading through Atlantis. Dahntnee originally sealed the city because of Khalin but I’ve told him to maintain and tighten the security measures to keep the disease from spreading to the rest of Avalon.”

“We’ve been tracking Khalin and his band” Lysis spoke up. “They’re menacing the countryside, and we number only eight. We need more people.” 

“I wish there was something I could do.” Pryvani said regretfully. “You’re just going to have to see if you can find help in the outlying villages.” 

“Can’t you just come down here?” Zhan asked hopefully. “Put the fear of the real Goddess into Khalin?” 

Pryvani shook her head. “If only I could. But this disease is insidious. Titans are immune but we can carry it, and I’ve been exposed. Until we discover some method to keep Titans from spreading the plague, we’re all bottled in up here.” 

Zhan felt his heart sink. “All right, we’ll have to think of something.” 

“I know you will.” Pryvani smiled sadly. 

“Be careful dear.” The Titaness whispered softly. “…and you too, Lysis.” She added hastily, before the communication cut off. 

Lysis looked up at Zhan with a raised eyebrow, but felt it best not to ask questions. 

“So what do we do?” Zhan asked after stashing the communicator back in his pack. 

The Captain of the Watch sighed and hefted her own pack again. “We head for a nearby village, see if maybe we can recruit a militia.” 

Zhan nodded. He hated leaving Khalin and his cult free to wreak even more havoc, but with only eight people they wouldn’t stand a chance of stopping him. 

*.*.*.*.*.*

The old preacher paused behind his lectern at the front of his “chapel.” He took a moment to savor the wave of fear and uncertainty that was running through his congregation. The rumors were already spreading through the city of a strange sickness coming from the Northwestern quarter. It was hard to be exactly sure of symptoms, because Sulphur had heard several conflicting reports but they all made one thing absolutely clear: the disease was highly contagious. 

Which meant the people were terrified. So they turned to him for guidance. 

Briefly, Sulphur wondered if this plague had been a machination of his Mistress, before deciding that whether it was or not was largely irrelevant. 

The old man savored the power he held over the congregation, and then calmly began his talk. 

Meanwhile, in the back of the room, Irin huddled against the wall and tried to control his shaking. The fear in the room was affecting the young man as well, but with a completely different result. His palms were sweaty and he was having trouble focusing. He felt sick. Not plague sick, of that he was sure, but he still felt unwell. 

Brother Sulphur was decrying the sins of the city, again. The older man had declared this strange sickness a punishment from the true Goddess, a punishment that only the faithful would be spared. Irin fervently hoped he’d be worthy of that salvation. He’d seen one of the plague victims, it hadn’t been pretty. Nobody was sure how many had died in the last day, but Irin had heard that it had been at least four. 

After the sermon, Brother Sulphur walked out among the congregation, speaking to his followers. Irin watched him move easily through the crowd, speaking to everybody he passed. 

Before Irin knew it, Sulphur was standing in front of him. 

“You’re Irin, right?” The older man asked. 

“Yes, Brother Sulphur.” Irin said, standing up straighter. 

“I’m glad you’ve come to join us, my son. And I’m glad we will be able to extend the protection of the Goddess over you.” 

“I am too, Brother Sulphur.” 

“It’s a dangerous world out there, my lad.” Sulphur intoned, placing a paternal hand on Irin’s shoulder. “And you can’t trust anybody outside these walls. Especially these Titans. False gods. If it does anything, this plague should make that fact crystal clear. They come among us, and the sickness follows them. Do you see what I’m saying?” 

“I do.” 

“Good. Smart lad.” Sulphur smiled. “You must be ever vigilant against sin and corruption. You must not give it any inroads into your heart, because once it is there… You can’t trust anybody. No one but us.” 

Irin nodded. “I understand, brother Sulphur.”