This Is Not A Test

[Richard]

Richard turned toward the man that the captain had ordered or assumed that he ordered to help him with the shoulder. He nodded that Deux should go ahead and do it. Richard felt like all his pain receptors had fired off at once when the ball of his shoulder popped back into place. "Thanks Deux. My name is Richard."

Richard followed Deux over to the captain to see what he could do to help, and his mind suddenly remembered that there was a prisoner on board that still needed to be checked on. Without even waiting for the captain's say so, Richard turned around and headed for the brig. "Going to check on the prisoner" was all he got out before disappearing in the darkness of the ship. He had snagged a flashlight before leaving the bridge which helped him find his way back to the brig. Noticing that it was empty, Richard made his way to the cargo bay.

Richard heard voices as he came up on the cargo bay. He recognized Daxen and Kaden, but drew a blank on who the girl was. From what he could tell, Kaden was holding some sort of tool and asking for Daxen to toss away his weapons. Richard clicked off the flashlight and quietly snuck up behind Kaden. He slowly pulled out his gun and pointed it at the back of Kaden's head. "I agree with your suggestion Kaden. Why don't you just drop whatever it is your holding so you can make use of both your hands?"

[Kaden]

Kaden felt the muzzle of the gun against his neck and his first instinct was to try to turn around and disarm the man behind him followed closely by the desire to teleport away. It would have been easy to disappear into the surrounding darkness of the hangar bay and hide out until morning. He could just barely make out the landscape of the planet they'd crashed on through the breach in the hull. Right now it was too dark for him to feel safe trying to teleport out which was why he'd tried to widen the hole instead.

Only the fact that he knew the layout of the hangar bay from his last time here allowed him to move around with virtual certainty. He was pretty sure he wasn't going to appear inside of a wall every time he moved...pretty sure. Memorizing the layouts of rooms had been part of his training as a child and then he'd had to go through it again when he'd gone through flight school.

So he could have disappeared when he heard Richard's voice and felt the muzzle of the gun pressed into his flesh but he when he looked below him he saw Daxen's expression of pain, garishly lit by the blow torch he was holding.

"Fine," Kaden said, putting the blow torch down near Daxen, where the light would still do some good. "Check on the girl," he said over his shoulder as he began to examine Daxen's injuries by the light of the blow torch. "I'll see what I can do about this but he should be taken to your medical officer if you have one."

Kaden look at the piece of metal or glass sticking out of Daxen's left shoulder first, trying to determine if he would cause more harm than good if he attempted to remove it. He looked around him but there didn't seem to be anything capable of making a bandage, not even his clothing, not after weeks spent in the brig far away from a laundry of any sort. "If I am not mistaken there is a first aid kit on the wall next to the door leading into the hangar bay from the ship," Kaden said, turning to look at Richard. "In case of emergencies. I would say this qualifies, don't you? Can you retrieve it for me and I'll see what I can do?"

He didn't bother to see if Richard would do as he asked or not. The man either would or he wouldn't. Instead Kaden concentrated on Daxen. He seemed to be on the edge of passing out. "Daxen, do you know how you are injured?" he asked with a mental sigh. It seemed his escape plans would be set back yet again though it comforted him to know he could always disappear at a later date when there was not a gun pointed at his head, nor a young man in pain.

[Daxen]

Next thing Daxen knew, Kaden was standing over him and offering to help. His mind immediately thought, "Oh, great, now I'm hallucinating." But then Fitter was there too, also in some pain. But how did Kaden suddenly get next to him? Daxen vaguely recalled the prisoner somehow moving from one place to another in the blink of an eye, but Daxen always attributed that to his poor attention span acting up again.

His thoughts were interrupted by another sharp pain in his side, causing him to reflexively let go of his weapon. He couldn't pick it up again even if he wanted to; this was worse than any cramp, and Daxen had a rather low tolerance for pain. He was feeling more uncomfortable by the fact that people around him were worried. He hated being center of attention, and hated even more being a burden.

He tried waving them away, "I-I-I'm fine, it's n-nothing, please don't w-worry..." Still, his mind was swimming with all the confusion. Why did this have to happen to him? And then Richard appeared and with a gun! He held up a hand to stop him, "P-P-Please don't...this isn't a time...f-for shooting..." Things were happening too fast for someone to get shot in the head right next to him. His mostly-pacifist mind probably couldn't take it.

Trying his best to appear fine, he tried to stand up, "S-See? I'm f-fine. I don't even f-feel anythi--Oh, no, w-wait, that's probably bad..." Indeed, he felt woozy the moment he tried getting up, and ended up collapsing on the ground, heading into shock. His broken rib had punctured something, or maybe the glass in his shoulder has pierced a nerve and the pain was too much for his brain to handle. Nevertheless, he tried his best to stay calm and conscious as he muttered, "O-Okaay, y-you can...you can...y-y'know..." He didn't finish his sentence so he could focus on being awake. Meanwhile, his own shadow, facilitated by the blow torch's light, seemed to be writhing and convulsing, its "hands" clutching its side and shoulder.

[Bartelby]

Bartelby panted as he leaned against the ceiling/wall. He was out of breath after climbing up a hallway on his way to the bridge. Sure, the wall had been at an angle and there were plenty of hand-holds, but it had still been a tiring experience. And the darkness of the half-dead ship didn't help much either.

"If only the walls weren't such a dark color, it would at least be a bit easier to see," Bartelby said to himself. He picked his staff up from where it was leaning against the wall as he reoriented himself. "I should have left you at the bottom," he muttered to his weapon/walking stick.

As Bartelby looked down the hallway, he noticed that the section of wall near him actually was a lighter shade than the rest of the wall. It perplexed him since it didn't make any sense. Why would one asymmetrical patch of the hallway be lighter than the rest, and why did it just happen to be in the spot where he was thinking that the walls should be lighter? The worst part was that this wasn't the first time something like that happened. His clothes also changed slightly to become the exact shade he desired. At first he thought he just imagined it, but now he wasn't so sure...

Bartelby just shook his head and started walking carefully down the wall of the hall toward the bridge. However, he hadn't walked more than ten or twenty feet before his curiosity got the better of him. He trailed the fingers of one hand along the side of the corridor and a trail of lighter-colored surface was left in their wake. Not enough to notice unless you were looking for it, but definitely still a change. "Hmm."

Bartelby didn't have long to contemplate this bizarre occurrence. As he walked through a small shower of sparks spewing from a busted light, the captain came into view. He didn't look so good. "I have come to offer my assistance," was all he said since everyone looked like they were pretty busy.

Even though there wasn't much point in pretending to be a holy man any more as far as free room and board were concerned, seeing as how the ship was in pretty terrible condition, Bartelby decided to keep up the ruse anyway. For one, this was not the time to reveal such a deception. Secondly, it was never the right time to reveal such a deception.

[Richard]

Richard kept his gun trained on Kaden as he walked over to the girl. He knew it was probably not the best time to be threatening people, but Richard didn't know what the captain wanted to do with Kaden under the current circumstances. He thought it best to just keep an eye on him. Richard was not really an expert on injuries, but the girl just had a sprained ankle from the looks of things.

Kaden said something about taking Daxen to see the medical officer, but carrying him from the cargo bay to the bridge would only lead to more injuries and Richard was not leaving Kaden alone by himself. He walked over and grabbed the medical kit and brought it back to Kaden. "Here is the medical kit. I think I will lower my gun, since it looks like you won't disappear so long as Daxen is injured."

Richard sat down on one of the boxes and waited for Kaden to do whatever he was going to do. He decided to strike up a conversation with the girl in the room. "Hello, my name is Richard. What is your name?" Even though there were people injured, there was nothing else to do but get to know each other. It was not like he had any skills that were helpful in the current situation.

[Fitter]

Fitter's eyes widened as a second man, one she was unacquainted with appeared, gun trained on Kaden. No! He wasn't doing anything wrong! The misconception this man had about the prisoner could very well end badly for poor Daxen, whose whimpers were the only audible sound cutting through the tension in the room.

Fortunately, Kaden managed to distill the situation and persuade the new man that there was something more important at stake. Relief flooded over her-she'd never have been able to speak up in protest. Of course, Kaden had suggested the man assist her. Her eyes followed his movements carefully as he examined her ankle.

Richard. A name to the face. "Good evening, sir," she replied carefully, wincing in pain as he touched the tender spot. "I'm Fitter and um, I've already attended to my ankle. You've got to help me though." She struggled to move closer to Richard, her hands still cold and difficult to control due to the numbness. She needed to warn him. "I think the pilot fell asleep and the ship turned sideways. I don't know where the bridge is, so could you send someone to wake him up?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she found another carrot slice resting on her shoulder and quickly brushed it off. "I don't like waking up in the freezer with food stuck to me."

[Kaden]

Kaden caught Daxen as he fell back to the ground after an ill-advised attempt to stand up. Kaden held him for a moment, truly unsure of what to do. His medical knowledge was only enough to scare him and make him cautious. He still wasn't sure what was wrong with Daxen besides for the obvious. But if it were only his shoulder and calf injured he shouldn't have fainted unless he had lost a lot of blood. The injuries looked bad but they weren't bleeding that much. That was part of the problem, Kaden wasn't sure if the glass in his shoulder was piercing a major artery and only the glass was keeping Daxen from bleeding out.

"Ok Daxen, just slow down alright." Kaden continued to support him with one arm and he picked up the blow torch with the other. Glad that it was meant to be operated with one hand, he turned it down a little and brought it closer to Daxen's shoulder and tried to determine if the blood seeping out around the glass was coming in a steady stream or if it were pumping out. If it were pumping there was a torn artery that needed to be stitched up in a proper medical bay.

As he moved the torch Daxen's shadow moved but it moved in the wrong direction. Kaden may not have noticed except for the fact he was staring at Daxen's shoulder and the shadow was on the ground behind it, writhing in frustration. At least Kaden would have attributed such motions to a frustrated person if a person had been making them.

For a moment Kaden just stared at it in shock, his mouth hanging open slightly and then he frowned and muttered a curse under his breath. He could teleport and Deux could stop that so he wasn't going to question odd occurrences. Still, the manipulation of light and shadow seemed a bit far fetched. Despite that Daxen's shadow was clearly pointing to its shoulder and then its side.

"His side is injured?" Kaden found himself asking before he really had a chance to think about what he was doing. When the shadow began to nod Kaden had to shake his head and look up at Richard and Fitter, just to see if they were seeing this too. Neither looked like they were witnessing anything odd but maybe they couldn't see it from where they were. That or they attributed the odd shadows to the inconsistent light of the blow torch.

Kaden turned back to Daxen and carefully felt around his rib cage. When his prodding produced a hiss of pain and a frantic waving from the shadow Kaden stopped.

Making a decision Kaden carefully eased Daxen to the floor and took off the jacket to his uniform and made a pillow out of it to put under Daxen's head. "I'll be back," he said to Daxen before standing up and looking at Richard and Fitter. "I'm going to the bridge to find the captain and hopefully a medical officer to bring them back here. Stay with them and don't let him move too much. I think he has a broken rib and I don't want that glass going any deeper."

With that Kaden disappeared.

He didn't go far, just a bit down the hallway that led out of the hangar bay. Taking his bearings he jumped again. "Only a dozen or so more to go," he muttered as he took his bearing again and spotted something he could visually latch on to before jumping.

It didn't take him long to get to the bridge but when he did he saw the situation was worse than the one in the hangar bay. He appeared next to an injured crew man who had been dragged to a corner and was leaning against the wall. He looked unconscious but he tried to move away from Kaden when Kaden appeared beside him.

Kaden didn't spare him much thought, instead he looked around until he saw the captain. Deux was standing with him and so was the priest from the first day. Kaden had figured Deux would be here. Not only was it in his nature to report to the bridge first, Kaden had started to feel sicker and sicker as he got closer, a sure sign that Deux was around and his odd draining ability was at work. With practice Kaden had learned to identify it and push through it but it was always unpleasant. He wondered if Deux would learn to control his own power and somehow turn it off. Kaden didn't like the idea of being perpetually nauseous in his company.

But Deux wasn't the one he was here to see. "Greg," Kaden called out, announcing his presence. "This may be a foolish question, but is your doctor still among the living? Do you have working medical bays? There is a boy down in the hangar bay and he seems pretty bad off though I see he isn't the only one," Kaden said, looking down at the man at his feet.

[Daxen]

Daxen was utterly disoriented. He could recall enough basic anatomy from brief lessons that he could survive this so long as there was someone with medical experience nearby. Apparently Kaden had gone (maybe he was a hallucination?) and Fitter and Richard were simply talking. It all seemed like a dream, the ship crashing, Kaden coming to his rescue, his shadow moving randomly, his vision fad--wait...his shadow.

Slowly, he turned his head and strained his eyes at his dark image. He had always imagined it was moving without Daxen realizing, but here was the proof. It was moving, and Daxen felt for sure that he was right all along. This thing was the bane of his existence. Everything bad that's happened to poor Daxen was 'cause of this thing.

Too fatigued to feel rage, he merely glared at it and opened his mouth as if to berate it. When no sound came out, here merely weakly reached out a shaking hand towards it, muttering something along the lines of, "Stop...Stop...Stop..." This he would repeat over and over.

[Angel]

The stench of the fire drifted slowly over towards the group, a thin haze of inky black smoke blanketing the lantern's light. The captain frowned. It wasn't a time to panic, but Greg was beginning to feel greatly uneasy. The only damage he'd seen so far had been the bridge; there was no telling how badly damaged the rest of the ship was. Or how dangerous the situation really was. He figured the faster they all exited the ship, the better off they would be.

He glanced to Richard as the man rushed away, hearing him mutter something about checking on the prisoner. Truthfully, the hostage in the Brig hadn't been at the top of Greg's list of worries since the crash. The health and order of his crew had, of course, taken precedence over keeping some teleporting prisoner in his cage. Still, Greg found himself wondering if he had lost all of his cargo. No doubt he had made the right decision to flee the fight in space, but it still irked him to possibly lose his cargo--not to mention the possibility of losing his entire ship.

Deux approached, and Greg's gaze shifted to him. "Do you have any medical knowledge?" The man making rounds was still working on the crew seated around Greg, tending to the grievously wounded as they groaned in pain. He wasn't the best, but any help was desperately needed. "I've sent a few men to search for the medic, but they haven't returned yet. If not, I could use another hand clearing the pathway over there." He gestured at the sounds of a few crew members hefting objects out of the way. They had found a small light, and it glowed dimly through the smoke. It looked like they were far enough away to have almost reached the hole. "Sounds like there's a breach in the ship further off, and it might be our best bet to get out of here."

Once his orders had been given to Deux, Greg noticed the priest Bartelby emerge from the darkness. "Ah! Priest. Good to know you didn't get lost in the ship wreckage. Yes," He lowered his voice somewhat, lifting his eyebrows and leaning close to the man. "A couple of the men might need some of your religious counseling. Their chances are... not very high." It wasn't hard to pick either one out from the crowd--one of the men was fevered and mumbling to himself, a jagged chunk of metal sticking out from his belly. The other was curled up against the wall, shuddering. A pool of blood was staining the area around his body. "I'd appreciate the assistance."

"Greg." The sound of his name caught the Captain's attention, and he turned, with a bit of surprise, to see Kaden standing there addressing him. Greg's eyes narrowed slightly. The man looked intact, and Greg wondered why he hadn't taken the chance to immediately run off. It wasn't as if the walls of the ship could stop him. After a slight hesitation, he answered. "I've sent some men to find the medic. I don't know where he is, but we have a man here with some medical knowledge helping. It's the best we have for the time being. Is the boy able to be brought here?"

[Bartelby]

"Of course, Captain. I will see what I can do," Bartelby replied to Greg. He gave slight bow then moved as discretely as possible toward one of the men who looked like he was about to keel over. Bartelby kept a calm air about himself despite what was going on within him. He had never given last rights to anyone before and was completely unprepared for the experience. But as a 'priest' he had to fulfill his duties.

Just as he was crouching down next to the man with the piece of metal sticking out of his stomach, Kaden arrived. Bartelby was stunned to see the prisoner approaching the captain, and even more stunned that it was in a non-hostile manner. He tried to keep one eye on the teleporter as he gave the rest of his personal attention to the dying man.

"What is your name?" Bartelby asked the crew member.

"J-Jacob, father," the man replied through winces of pain. Bartelby suddenly took notice of the sickening feeling that had crept up on him as he approached the bridge area. He had no idea that performing this religious duty would have affected him so much.

"Jacob. That is a nice name." Bartelby quickly skimmed through his mental references of religious knowledge to figure out what to do next. He pulled inspiration from several different religions and did what felt right for the moment.

"Listen, son," Bartelby continued, "this may be difficult to hear, but it must be said. All things that begins must one day end. Without exception. That includes you and I." Jacob began sobbing softly, knowing what was coming next. "Please, allow me to issue your last rights."

Jacob sobbed quietly for a few moments before seeming to gather up his courage, then nodded weakly. He didn't look like he had much time left. "Alright. I-I'm ready."

Bartelby nodded to him gravely, then put his palm on the man's forehead. "May your soul shine forever in the blessed eternities. May your good deeds be rewarded and your follies forgiven. By my right as an anointed one, I hereby proclaim you ready for judgement." With that, Bartelby made a few religious gestured with his hands, then stood up. "Be brave, Jacob."

"Please father, don't leave. I don't want to be alone when it happens."

He looked back at the man on the floor. "I'm sorry, son, but there are other in need of my services as well. Today is a day of sorrow. Do not fear." Bartelby turned away from him then and moved toward his next subject. He could hear poor Jacob sobbing even more as he left him by himself.

Bartelby felt like scum.

[Kaden]

Kaden thought about Deux's condition, glad that someone on this ship hadn't immediately tried to lock him back up. "I do not believe it would be wise," Kaden said after a moment. He looked around and spotted the man who was treating one of the wounded. Kaden watched with approval as he briefly looked up at the captain and the unexpected guest on the bridge but turned his attention back to the man who needed his help. He addressed his comments to them both. "I think he has a broken rib though I am not sure. I am sure of the piece of glass in his shoulder and I fear it shattering and small pieces getting into his muscle or, worse, his blood if it does."

He looked around at the ship. So far all the damage he'd seen had been structural, no doubt caused by crashing into a mountain. He wondered how badly the ships systems were since structural damage wasn't the hardest thing to repair with the right tools but engines could be impossible to rebuild.

"Did you have a plan on how to get out of the ship? If not, may I suggest trying to get to the hangar bay? The boy is there and there is a pretty sizable hole in your hull though there is currently a mountain sticking through it. If we could cut through the rock or the rest of the hull or even pry the hangar doors open we might get out of here. The way there is mostly clear of debris. Also, if you don't mind me asking, where is did we crash? Perhaps the local people can help us."

He wasn't sure if the hangar bay was the best option for getting out of the ship but he did know that it was the option that led a medic to Daxen. And once he was among local people that he hoped acknowledged the authority of the UIR the balance of power would shift.

[Deux]

Deux looked down and the Captain and listened patiently as he spoke. He didn’t give him much opportunity to answer as he jumped from person to person. As he spoke Deux said, “My medical knowledge is only in relation of how to do the opposite of my training and temporary measures used in order to increase the likelihood of me receiving treatment. I believe I would be of extremely limited use to you in that regard.”

He looked over his shoulder at the pile of debris in the bridge. As he did he heard another voice and turned in that direction. Deux tilted his head upon seeing Kaden on the bridge. He would have expected the man to try and escape but was relived he had not. Hearing him say there was an injured crew member helped to explain why the man was still on the ship. Though he questioned the true logic behind getting the hanger open he didn’t voice it.

Deux glanced over his shoulder at the men trying to clear a path once again and narrowed his eyes slightly. Turning back to Kaden he said, “Do you require my assistance?”

[Daxen]

Back at the dock, Daxen was still grasping for his shadow while glaring at it. But, the more that the calm feeling swept over him, the more his mind seemed to clear. He knew he was in trouble, but it was very likely that someone with at least a bit of medical knowledge could make sure nothing too serious would happen.

Therefore, if it was his shadow that was against him, why wouldn't it have killed Daxen already? And why bring everyone else down? In fact, why did everything have to be his shadow's fault? It was simply a patch of darkness formed from his body blocking off light. And yet it was moving, on its own, even beyond the limits of Daxen's body.

He reflected on his experience so far on the Laika. Has everything really been as bad as he had thought? Sure, most of the ship patrons were rather brutish or nasty, but there were some who were alright. There was Fitter, though she did yell at him for not eating a clearly outdated piece of bread, and there was also Richard, who seemed to be the only one who offered Daxen a chance and a reason to stay on the ship. Finally there was Kaden. Thinking of him seemed to make Daxen's heart start racing and his sweat glands start working, but he wasn't sure why. Still, he felt at peace whenever those people were around.

As his "Stop..." mantra continued, his paranoia started slipping away. It was Daxen's own personal faults that led him to his downfalls. But isn't discovering and overcoming your weaknesses part of growing up? Ever since Kane died Daxen knew he had become more timid and less trusting than usual. After Earthfall, Daxen started pinning the blame on his shadow after catching it out-of-bounds a few times. But now he realized that that was a foolish assumption.

This was his own life; he was in control. Daxen, not Daxen's shadow, was in control of Daxen. He blinked. If his shadow was a part of him, and it wasn't against him, and he was certain it didn't have a life of its own now, then it must be his own mind at work. He took a deep breath and focused on his shadow and simply uttered, "Stop...moving!" The shadow quivered for a moment, then slowly slinked back until it was as docile and normal as everyone else's shadow. Daxen stared in amazement as it finally dawned on him: He can control his own shadow?!

[Angel]

Deux's interruption to the conversation was met with a strained look, especially considering the Captain had already given the young man directions to follow. Greg listened patiently to Kaden, attempting to gauge how bad of a situation the boy in the hangar was in, and how badly his ship faired from the hangar bay. It wasn't happy news; A mountain was sticking through his ship. Greg tried not to grit his teeth and curse. The damn cruising ship they had been after was not worth this trouble. Truly, it wasn't. Not worth losing a loading dock full of cargo, not worth losing his ship. A mountain.

"I believe there's a puncture in the hull over yonder," Greg said, and he gestured towards the sound of his crew members shifting heavy objects. The movement caused pain to blossom from the wound on his upper chest. He winced, waiting for the pain to ebb before continuing. "We're working our way towards it. Though we don't know the size, or usefulness of it, yet. It's blocked by debris and who knows what else." He shook his head at Kaden's suggestion. "The boy may be there, but the rest of the crew, as much that's been salvaged so far, is here. As you see," He paused, and the silence was filled with the low, pained groan of a wounded crew member. "Many of them are injured as well. Attempting to carry or move the lot of them all the way through the ship's hallways--which may well have their own dire hazards--is too dangerous." Greg ran his free hand through his short dark hair, frowning and thinking.

"Howell," Greg called. The man tending to the wounded perked up, his hands covered with splotches of dark blood--dried and fresh. Some of it was flecked on his face. From what Greg knew, Howell had been an aspiring medical student at one of the mid-ring planets. The man never really spoke of his past, what turn of events had led him to be rendered completely poor and destitute, but, nonetheless, Greg had taken him on as a crew member. He wasn't a medic, but he was the best they had until the real medic was found. If the old man was still alive.

"There's an injured man down at the loading dock. His wounds need to be tended to," He said as Howell stood. The man acknowledged the statement with a solemn nod. Greg turned back to Kaden, his expression steady. "There is some help. See if you are able to have the boy moved here. If not, Howell will do his best." Greg shrugged at Kaden's last question. In their chase to capture the other ship, the nearby planet hadn't been important, as there had never been any intention to land on it. "Some mid-ring planet. Takatifu, I think." Dealing with the local authority was another matter Greg didn't want to think of, for the moment.

His gaze settled on Deux. "And you. Perhaps you can be helpful and search through the ship to find the medic. He's very much needed."

[Kaden]

It was pretty well established that Kaden didn't like Greg nor felt any obligation to follow his orders. In fact, he and Deux had once spent an entire day talking about what orders one was required to follow and why. That said, he was not about to question Greg's authority on his own ship in a crisis situation. Only harm would come of it so as Greg laid out what he was willing to do Kaden just listened quietly and nodded along. He was a little disappointed that Greg was not willing to try to go out the hangar doors. Even if Daxen could be treated he wasn't sure if it would be wise to move him and he didn't want to face the idea that Daxen would be left behind.

He turned to the man that Greg indicated and inclined his head in his direction which was the briefest introduction he would allow himself. He would have introduced himself properly but Greg was still speaking. Still, he almost missed it when Greg told him what planet they were on. And yet, he wouldn't have missed the name of his home planet if it had been spoken in a storm. The sound of home rang out like nothing else.

Kaden had intended to turn around and head back towards the hangar bay with the doctor in tow but he found himself just standing there staring at Greg long after Greg had turned to give his limited attention to other things. He finally told himself to take a breath and then he turned and motioned to the doctor to follow his lead. Whatever he felt about being on home soil would have to wait until later. But before he left he turned to Greg.

"I would suggest clearing that door as quickly as possible. This planet doesn't like visitors and they'll shoot first and ask questions later if they find this ship."

Kaden turned to go back the way he'd come. It wouldn't be as easy this time around. The first time he had teleported past obstacles in his way but this time they would have to clear them so that the doctor can follow him.

"This way please," Kaden said before taking the lead. They got caught up a few times to move things out of the way though there was only one time when they seriously wasted time moving aside a cooling unit that had ripped free of the wall. Space ships, any ship really, were designed to be minimalistic and to save space. Almost everything outside of the hangar bay, the control center and maybe the kitchen, was bolted to the wall or part of the walls so that situations like this were not as bad as they could be.

When they finally made it back to the hangar bay Kaden led the doctor over to Daxen. "Daxen, we're back."