The scent of something burning gradually entered my awareness. Smoke. Burnt plastic.

The memory of the electricity sparking through the shuttle came back to me. I opened my eyes and tried to take stock of where I was.

I was upside down. And still tangled up in the netting. Some of my scales seemed darkened, and there were scorch marks in the yellow material of the harness. The end of the leash was still clipped to my harness, but the rope that had been impossible for me to damage had been burned through. Only an inch or so was left dangling from my back.

I tried not to think of how powerful something would have had to be to cause that much damage to a leash that had stubbornly resisted my own attempts to flame it.

At the very least, I wasn't in any pain or discomfort. I was lying against one of the walls of the shuttle and I wasn't trapped in someone's hand now. The net was no longer pulled shut behind me. That was an improvement.

After a few careful twists and tugs I managed to slip out of the tangled mess. I hissed at the blasted thing and clawed a little at the handle just for good measure.

Once that was out of my system, I looked around and saw that I was still in the shuttle. Angry black scorch marks dotted the walls and chairs. The glass had shattered like safety glass and was now just an opaque mass of cracks. We didn't seem to be moving anymore - through the window I could make out a green blur, and it was hard to make out any specifics, but the blurry colors were at least holding still.

There was also a lot of smoke obscuring my view.

I didn't have much to use as a frame of reference, but the shuttle had clearly ended up on its side at some point. Everything was tilted. My sense of direction and the instincts I had built up as part of flying were telling me that 'down' was in the direction of one of the walls instead of towards the floor.

The Kymari all seemed to be unconscious. With the exception of Minna's father everyone was still strapped into their chairs, but the chairs had snapped out of their positions and had been thrown around the shuttle. Minna's father was lying near the back of the shuttle against one of the walls, evidently thrown there at some point after I had blacked out.

I flew towards Minna and tried to check on her condition.

She was breathing. I felt a sense of profound relief when I saw her chest slowly lift beneath her armor. It was a slow rhythm, though, and she was obviously out of it. I chirped at her and nudged at her chin, but she didn't respond.

I didn't want to try anything more drastic to wake her until I had a better idea of how hurt she was... but I was glad she was breathing. That was a good sign. That was good.

She had cuts on parts of her face where the armor hadn't covered her, but other than that she looked fine. Her chair had landed upside down and her legs were trapped underneath it, so I couldn't see if she had any injuries there, but for the most part it looked like her armor had protected her from any major injuries.

I flew to the side of the chair and tried to push on it, but that proved to be just as useless as I had expected it would be. There was no way I would have been able to move the chair even by itself, but with a fully grown Kymari in it, the task was impossible. My dragonet body just wasn't up to moving that much mass.

On the other wing, my claws proved to be quite capable of slashing through the safety straps still holding Minna in the chair.

She slumped the short distance down to the wall of the shuttle. I heard her groan when she hit the 'floor' and had a bit of hope that she might wake up... but she didn't stir or make any other motions after that.

I felt my ear tufts sag against my head as I looked back around the shuttle. This was not good...

I was on my own with six passed out Kymari. No idea where the shuttle was, and no way of helping them. Smoke was filling the cabin from somewhere, and I was pretty sure I smelled fire somewhere.

Fire?

Fire meant oxygen. That was a good thing, right? That meant we had to be in an atmosphere. Either on a ship or back on Earth. Unless we were back on the freighter, which seemed unlikely, that meant we had managed to get to safety. That was at least something, right?

I spent a second and tried to focus on what else I was smelling. The 'canned air' scent I was used to on shuttles and spaceships, the smoke and burned plastic smells, the scent of Kymari, the metallic and 'manufactured' scents I was used to around buildings and spaceships...

I narrowed my eyes.

And beyond those smells, the scent of plants. Trees. Water. Other animals.

We must have made it back to Earth. That was good. That meant if I broke open the window I wouldn't kill us all by letting all our air out. Instead I would be letting fresh air in, and giving all this smoke a chance to escape before it built up too much. That was my main concern at the moment - it wasn't a problem to breathe yet, but I was pretty sure that wouldn't last long. It was getting harder to see the far end of the shuttle.

I spent a moment trying to push the shattered fragments of glass out of place in the windshield, but I just couldn't get enough leverage or strength to budge the stubborn material. My claws proved just as useless - I left a few more scratches across the glass and managed to poke at the shattered lines running all through the front of the shuttle, but no amount of scratching or poking managed to create any holes. With everything else failing, I flew to the back of the alien shuttle, then dove towards the window at the front. I rammed into it at close to my full speed... but all I accomplished was to send a shooting pain through my body. Ow.

Even shattered, the window was still much too sturdy for me to break through. Which... was probably a very good feature to have in a spaceship. Aside from resorting to fire - which I decided I should save until a last resort, given how much smoke was already filling the air - I wasn't going to be able to break out through the front of the shuttle.

Okay, Nate. Time to think.

I looked back around the shuttle for anything I could use. The Kymari had weapons, but a quick check made it obvious they were too heavy for me to lift. The only thing light enough for me to manipulate was the stupid net thing that Minna had caught me in. I picked it up and threw it at the window, but it didn't have any more impact than I had.

It felt a lot more satisfying, though.

There were a few compartments on the walls of the shuttle, but the ones I could open were empty. A few stayed firmly shut when I pulled on them, which I suspected meant they had something in them, but I couldn't make them budge. I left a few good claw marks on them, but whatever they were made from was too tough for my claws to pierce.

I flew back towards the console. Some of the screens were still flickering. Which... meant something, I was sure. I couldn't hear the hum of the engine, but it looked like something was still powering them. The lights were on inside the shuttle, too, but... they had come on before Minna had turned on the engine. Emergency power? Maybe a battery somewhere to run minor systems, and to provide enough juice for the initial start up sequence?

That was at least something I could work with. It meant there was power to open the door with if I could just figure out how to do that. I glanced back at the controls and saw a few were labeled, but I had absolutely no idea what any of the strange symbols meant.

I closed my eyes and sighed. I felt like such an idiot. One day, it is going to sink in that there are other people who can help me now...

"Ivy?" I focused on my mental image of the green dragonet and felt my ears perk as my mindlinked thoughts went through.

"Nate!!" Ivy responded instantly. Relief and worry were plain in her voice. "Where are you? Are you okay? What happened?!"

"I think I'm on Earth, I'm okay but the Kymari are all unconscious, and I don't know. The shuttle had some sort of autopilot that Minna couldn't turn off and it flew us into the path of one of the weapons. Some sort of energy blast hit us and there was lightning everywhere." I glanced back towards Kilpin, remembering him covering me with his body. "I think one of the guards protected me from the worst of the attack. Can you come get us? They all seem to be breathing, but I don't know how hurt they are."

I suddenly felt a little guilty that I hadn't thought to check him for injuries. I fluttered over to him and did a quick check. Part of his armor looked cracked, and I could make out blood dripping through the jagged edges.

Ivy was quiet for a second while I checked Kilpin. I moved on to check the others and found they were more or less the same. The two younger guards were also bleeding from somewhere, but I couldn't tell where. Morton and Minna's father were both unconscious but didn't seem to be injured anywhere else.

I eyed the growing smoke nervously. "Ivy?"

"Sorry. Trenil's trying to find you. Things are a little crazy up here." The green dragonet went quiet for another moment before continuing in a worried tone. "You said you're on Earth? In one of the alien shuttles?"

I glanced back at the clouded window. "I think so. I'm still trapped in the shuttle, but I can smell plants and fresh air coming in from somewhere. The window is shattered but I can't get out through it."

There was another pause. Then, "Trenil says there aren't any traces of other ships anywhere. We don't know where you're at."

My stomach sank. "Minna mentioned this shuttle had a lot of extra systems. A cloak, and she thinks it had a jammer." I perked my ear tufts as another idea occurred to me. "Can he pick anything up from my tracker?"

"Let me ask." Ivy went quiet, then came back with a disappointed tone. "Nothing. Trenil says it's probably a range issue; these trackers are supposed to be practically impossible to block, and he doubts the shuttle has anything powerful enough to do it, but they're only strong enough to transmit over a short distance. He thinks you are too far away from a transmission tower for the signal to make it back to him; if you can get closer to one then he should be able to find you. Do you have any idea what continent you're on?"

"I blacked out when we got shot; I didn't see us come in. I haven't been able to get out of the shuttle to see what's around us. And it's filling up with smoke; I don't think it'll be able to fly anywhere, even if I knew how to do that."

"It's filling with smoke!?" I flinched at Ivy's alarmed reply. "Nate, get out of there! Priorities; you can't do anything if you suffocate!"

I sent her an image of the console. "I don't know how. I tried smashing the window but it's too heavy. I think we have power, though. Can Trenil tell me how to open the door?"

Ivy paused, then responded in a tone still annoyed and worried. "He's checking. Did the pictures he found before help Minna?"

"I think so. She was able to start the engine after I sent her that." Which... meant she would probably have some questions for me if she woke up.

I heard myself whine and felt my ear tufts droop. I flew back to Minna and made sure she was still breathing, then tried nudging her again. She still lay there. When she wakes up. When, not if. Stay positive, Nate.

I tried to distract myself from thinking about Minna's condition, but it was hard. "How long was I out? What's going on up there?"

"It's only been a few minutes since you left. You couldn't have been out more than a minute or two. Long enough to crash from the sound of it, but not more than that. The freighter escaped and one of the military ships just went after it. Trenil and I are waiting for a shuttle to take us back down, and once we leave, the second one is going after it too. Nobody's heard anything from the pilot of the shuttle that took you up, so they want to rescue him, and since they haven't found you yet, they want to make sure the freighter didn't leave with you." Ivy paused, then sent me an image of one of the controls on the console. "Trenil says this should open the door; just turn this one to the right."

I gave Minna another nudge just in case, then reluctantly flew away from her. It was getting harder to do that. Worry for her was making it harder and harder to think.

I really hoped she woke up soon...

The control took a bit of effort to turn, but I heard a scraping sound from the side of the shuttle when it finally clicked into position. I looked and saw the wall at the 'top' of the shuttle begin to slide open.

"That did it." I sent my gratitude to Ivy and watched the door finish opening.

It was dark outside, but I could still make out stars glimmering in the sky above us. The smoke began billowing up through the opening. One crisis averted.

I breathed a sigh of relief. The air already felt much fresher.

I moved back to Minna and nudged at her again, but she still didn't react. I fidgeted and crooned up at her in worry. Come on, wake up...

"Wherever we are, it's still night. It's dark outside and I can see a few stars. Does that help?"

"Some. I'll tell Trenil; at least that rules out half the planet."

A noise from the back of the shuttle caught my attention. I looked over and saw Minna's father slowly rising to his feet. He wobbled a bit, then reached up and took off his helmet. I watched him for a moment and focused back on Ivy. "Minna's father just woke up. I'll let you know if anything new comes up."

"Okay. We'll keep trying to find you from here."

The older Kymari's head had a nasty looking lump on it. I turned back to Minna and nudged at her helmet, hoping that she wasn't in the same situation.

Without anything else immediate to focus on I was becoming a lot more worried about Minna's condition. I whined in frustration and scratched at the armor covering her head.

"Minna?" Minna's father looked towards us at the sound of my scratching. He stumbled across the shuttle towards us and reached an arm out to her. A sudden intense fear rushed through me, and I flared my wings to the side as I growled a warning up at him. "Stay back!"

I knew he didn't understand my words, but he froze anyways. He slowly pulled his hand back and spoke in calm, slow words. "I am just trying to help. She is my daughter. I am not going to hurt her." He met my eyes and slowly reached his hand back towards me, this time palm up. "You can trust me."

I watched him warily. The irrational anger was still overwhelming me. Minna was hurt. The idea of anyone touching her like this, the idea of sitting back and letting any potential threat near her... I hated that idea with every scale on my body.

This was one of the few problems with my dragonet body. Instincts were always so much more powerful. I knew he wouldn't hurt Minna. I knew she needed help. I knew I couldn't do anything for her, and I knew that chasing off somebody that could help would only make her situation worse.

But I just didn't care about any of those things. Minna was my friend. She was vulnerable. Nothing else mattered to my instincts.

I saw him glance behind me at something and realized he was looking at the net I had been trapped in earlier. I growled and took a threatening step towards him.

He took a step back and withdrew his hand. He eyed the net again, then looked back at me. "I just want to make sure she is okay. I am not a threat. You don't have anything to worry about."

He kept talking in low, calm tones. I could tell he was trying to calm me down. I could also tell that it wasn't working. Though his stepping back had helped a little.

I tried to focus on taking deep breaths and tried to wrestle control back away from the instinctive need to guard Minna. It was hard. I looked back at her and nudged at her chin hopefully, but it was still just as useless as all the other times I had tried. I whined helplessly and drooped my wings.

She needed help that I couldn't give. Help from her dad.

I took a deep breath, then another, then I forced my wings to move. My instincts urged me to stay there and protect Minna from any interference, and I struggled to fight that urge off. I flew up to the console and curled up on it with an intense effort of will, wrapping my tail around my body and clinging to it with my hands, then stared back at Minna's father.

He watched me for another moment and seemed a little uncertain. "I... did not actually expect that to work." He kept his eyes on me and slowly reached back towards his daughter.

A strangled sound somewhere between a hiss and a whine escaped before I could cut it off. The Kymari froze and slowly looked back at me. I growled unhappily and forced myself to lower my head back down to the console, then fell silent.

He watched me for another second or two, then reached for his daughter again.

I managed to stay quiet, or at least quiet enough not to alarm him, and he quickly pulled the chair off of her as he rolled her onto her back. He pulled her helmet off and winced at the sight. Bruises were obvious even from the poor view I had, and I could make out a large bump swelling near her ear. I couldn't help but make a soft whine at the sight.

He checked a few other spots on her but seemed to be satisfied that she was otherwise okay. He moved over to Kilpin and began examining that guard.

As soon as he had moved away, I flew back to Minna. I landed on her chest and nudged at her head once more. She still didn't react, and I whined again in growing desperation. Please. Wake up...

Minna's father finished checking the other Kymari, then he poked at the device on his wrist again. He sighed after a moment. "Either out of range, or we are still being jammed. At least the shuttle isn't filling up with smoke." He stared out at the open door for a moment, then he looked back at me. For a brief moment I was worried he was suspecting me of opening the door... but I didn't see any suspicion or worry in his eyes. Just annoyance. "Are you going to attack me if I try to move Minna?"

I looked up and narrowed my eyes at him. I didn't particularly want to attack him... but I couldn't really tell how I would react if he tried. It was a very real possibility.

"'Never stand between a wounded bond handler and their companion'." He sighed and looked back at the other Kymari. He glanced at me, then looked away and continued talking. "I need to get everybody out of this shuttle. Their armor didn't have the protection mine has for high-speed collisions. Not to mention those shots that hit us. They need treatment, and there is not enough room to do that here. And I need somebody to check me for a concussion." It was pretty obvious he was talking to himself, but he kept doing it. I hadn't seen him do that before and wasn't sure what he was trying to do. Maybe he thought it would help me calm down if I heard a quiet voice, or at least make me less likely to attack him. Maybe it was just something Kymari did after blacking out.

Listening to him was at least a distraction from worrying about Minna.

He looked thoughtfully up at the opening in the 'side' of the shuttle. "I can probably carry one at a time without making any injuries worse, but then they are outside with who knows what out there while I try and move the rest. If I try to rush, it could cause more problems. And that assumes Minna's pet doesn't attack me in the middle of moving someone."

He looked back at me and narrowed his eyes. "He was only upset when I was touching Minna. If I move the others first I won't have to worry about fighting him off until the end, but that still leaves them unprotected. And I still have to figure out something to do about those claws."

I met his eyes and snorted. The answer was obvious. If he put Minna outside, I would be more than happy to make sure nothing attacked her. Or anyone else.

But... he did have a point. I could feel my claws extending at just the thought of somebody touching or moving Minna like that.

I nudged at her again in hopeless frustration and wished once again that she would wake up. She still didn't so much as stir.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down, but it wasn't working. Terror was starting to take hold, and every second that Minna was unconscious was causing a deep ache to eat at me. I couldn't just do nothing while she was like this. Ivy wasn't going to be able to help me this time. The only help I had was a Kymari that hated me and wanted me out of his daughter's life. And it was getting harder and harder to think as the panic over Minna's lack of response built inside me.

If there were other options, I couldn't think of any. The only thing I could think of was how much worse Minna would be if I kept delaying her from getting help.

I opened my eyes and looked back at Minna's father. I crafted an image quickly in my head - an open field, the shuttle sitting on one side of it, Minna lying on the ground a short distance away, shadowy figures lurking behind the treeline, and myself hovering over her and keeping them away.

It was a simple enough concept. And maybe it would be vague enough to keep from tipping him off as to how smart I was. It would definitely be less suspicious than outright talking to him, and with any luck he would think he had come up with the idea all on his own. Especially if he thought he had a head injury.

I knew there would be practically no chance of that, or of him not telling Minna, but... I couldn't think of anything else to do. The other dragonets would probably be angry with me. And Minna's father had already shown he had no qualms about doing anything he could to take me away from Minna. If he realized I was intelligent, there was no telling what he would do. The Blood Memories were still quite adamant about Kymari not tolerating any other intelligent creatures.

But the other dragonets weren't exactly happy with me to begin with, and whatever Minna's father tried to do would be something that I could deal with later. If I didn't do something now, and Minna's injuries went untreated... there might not be a later.

My ear tufts fell as I tried to force myself away from that type of thinking.

Minna's father looked up through the opening in the shuttle, still obviously thinking through what to do.

I took a deep breath and sent the image to him through the mindlink.