Kajin glanced at his hands for what must have been the millionth time. What  had happened on the Lurik ship was unbelievable. Even now, he wondered if he had been hallucinating.
   When he had been trying to free the girl, he had just touched the lock. One touch, and the lock melted in his hands.
   Kajin and the girl, Airillon, were sitting in the front of the pod, waiting for the jump out of tunnelspace. Kajin had explored the small pod and managed to find a survival pack, complete with outfits. He had also found a small washroom. They had each taken a uniform, a black suit with light armor, and taken turns in the washroom changing out of the thin jumpsuits. They had each taken a ration from the pack. Now all that was left was to wait.
   With nothing else to do, Kajin found the reclining switch and set it to a level between sitting upright and lying flat. He put his hands behind his head and started to nod off when Airillon spoke.
   "How were you taken?"
   Kajin opened one eye."Huh?"
   She tried again."How did the Luriks capture you?"
   Kajin closed his eye again. "I disobeyed rules, I was irresponsible, if I ever get back to my family my mom's going to kill me for running off. Then again, at least I got my wish to get off the ioka planet. Careful what you wish for, right?" he smiled. "Why do you ask?"
   She thought for a second. "I don't know what other worlds are like. I have no idea how the Luriks captured slaves, or did anything outside where they raised me. I guess I just want to be normal."
   Kajin sat up and looked at her. She was pretty, tall with flowing white hair and eyes that changed color from gray to blue. She looked scared, which was understandable. Her life had just taken a sharp turn, after all. But she looked hopeful, too.
   Kajin checked the timer. Only a few minutes to go before they reached Titan. "So what do you want to know?"
   This time she had a response ready. "I want to know about the worlds, all the different cultures. How starships are built and how they travel. All the different animals, languages, what's good, what's bad..." she trailed off. "I want to know everything."
   Kajin chuckled "Can't tell you much about everything. I can, on the other hand tell you about two cultures. Us, humans, there isn't much to tell. But I happen to be one of the few who know the inner workings of the Salanese. For example, the language. For example, hyuti davo means we've arrived."
   He pulled the switch that brought them out of tunnelspace and the stars returned. "How does it look?"
   Airillon stood and peered out the window at a massive multi-colored gas giant encircled by spectacular rings and several tiny moons. Though he was careful to hide it, Kajin was awed himself.
   "It's beautiful." she murmured. "This is Titan?"
   Kajin smiled. "No, Airillon, that's Saturn. Titan is one of the moons, which means we'll be orbiting Saturn and get a view every time the clouds part, which I think is even better."
   She blushed. "Call me Airi. I never liked my full name."
   He smiled again. "Very well, Airi it shall be." he turned to the console and located Titan from the mass of moons circling Saturn. He grabbed the controls and piloted them closer to the behemoth, Airi gazing at the planet in amazement. He stopped when he came within a respectable distance from Titan and turned on a hailing channel.
   "Titan control, this is Kajin Flane from Salan. I am currently in an escape pod orbiting Saturn, requesting help. The pod is without landing gears. Repeat, I am without landing gears." he sat back to wait for a reply. He didn't have to wait long.
   "Kajin Flane, this is Titan control. Please state precise coordinates. A rescue craft is on it's way."
   Kajin blew a sigh of relief. He turned the receiver on and named the location. It wasn't long before a patrol craft found them and clamped them to it's belly, then flew off in the direction of Titan.
   A few minutes later, they caught sight of the moon, a large one, almost planet sized, wrapped in dull orange clouds. It wasn't nearly as impressive as Saturn. The comm panel beeped, telling them that Titan was hailing them.
   "Titan Control to Flane, we are ringing you down on a public dock. Your patron will meet you there."
   Kajin raised an eyebrow at the mention of a patron. Airi caught the word as well, her eyes widening. He raised a hand, signaling to keep silent while he replied. "Understood."
   When he turned the channel off, Airi opened her mouth to speak, but Kajin beat her to it. "No, the Lurik haven't found us."
   She tilted her head. "How can you tell?"
   "Because, unless they figured out how to use stealth technology in five hours, Titan would have shot them down before they could land. Nobody wants Luriks on their world."
   Airi nodded, looking relieved.
   The shuttle piloted into the atmosphere, hitting bumps of turbulence every so often. Airi looked more frightened the more the distance closed between them and the surface. Kajin couldn't help feeling sympathetic. The girl had never been in civilization, probably only talked to another human twice in her life. Stepping into a colony probably seemed like a dream to her.
   The shuttle commed them, asking them to put the landing struts out for landing. Kajin's hands flew across the consul as he activated the landing maneuvers while Airi stared at the gaunt landscape of Titan.
   The shuttle landed with a bump, and Kajin flipped more switches, shutting down the life support systems. He stood and offered his hand to Airi. "Let's go meet that mysterious patron of ours."
   She took it and stood, and together they walked to the ramp. Kajin hit the control panel, and the ramp lowered. Airi walked down first. When she stepped on the ground, a wide smile broke out on her face, and when she looked back at him, Kajin could see the happiness in her eyes. They had landed in a large dome that housed a city. Xanadu, he recalled from the computer. Sour air from outside passed through the dome and turned sweet and pleasant. A small breeze blew across the landing pad, toying with Airi's hair, making her look all the more beautiful.
   "So you must be Kajin and Airi." They looked around to see a woman standing beside  a small transport vehicle. She looked to be what might have once been considered Hispanic, when Mexico still existed. Her black hair was tied back and she wore a dark blue jumpsuit and jacket, with an empty firearm holster at her side. She smiled at them.
   "My name is Tyri Brenka. Why don't you come with me? We have a lot to talk about..."

   Jace lay on his bed, music blasting in his ears.
   Technically, the bed actually belonged to Tyri, but she insisted on him staying at her rental apartment instead of going back to the little ally he called home.
   Music was one of Jace's few escapes from the world. Maze had been nice enough to notice that and bought him a pair of audio beads, little balls barely smaller than the size of the end of his pinky that fit into his ear. They hooked up to his compad, a little tablet the size of his hand that allowed him to play games, search anything, call people, and practically anything else, but the only thing downloaded on it was music.
   Jace liked theme music, particularly from the twenty-first century. Theme music didn't clutter his head with words that you had to work out the meaning for, and he could imagine whatever story fit with the tune.
   His prosthetic had been attached and worked fine, but the doctors had refused to add synthetic flesh. As far as they were concerned, he wasn't worth the effort. He had taken to wearing gloves whenever he went out to see Streak.
   They still let him visit Streak, though it probably wouldn't last. It was clear he wasn't rejoining the guard, and after a gryphon bonded, they wouldn't match up again. Streak would have to be euthanized.
   As for Tyri, he had no idea who she was except that she wanted him alive for some reason. She was usually gone, "running errands". He had been at her place for three days now. Today, she said someone else was coming. That explained the extra rooms.
   For now, Jace was happy. He was actually wearing something other than a military tunic or the armor, though he had smuggled out his foldable helmet, gauntlet with knife, and TL-9 sniper foldable rifle. It felt good to upset the armourers and know they couldn't pin the theft on him anymore.
   Through the noise of the music, Jace felt a slight tremble, the door being pushed shut, and heard Tyri calling his name. The visitors must have arrived.
   He pulled out his audio beads and killed the feed, then headed into the main room. Tyri was waiting, with two young people, a boy with auburn hair and a girl with shining white hair that fell to her waist.
   "Jace, I'd like you to meet Kajin and Airi. Kajin and Airi, meet Jace. Pretty soon, you're going to be doing a lot together."

   Kajin looked at Jace from across the room, and Jace looked back. He looked skinny and underfed, but Kajin knew better than to judge before you saw someone in combat. He had windswept, dark brown hair and deep brown eyes, the light glinting off the right one, making it look brighter. He was wearing gray trousers with knee-high black boots,and a ratty brown leather jacket over a gray shirt. He was about average height, and had a glove on one hand, something Kajin found unusual.
   Jace looked at Tyri. "What do you mean,'working with'?"
   Tyri turned towards Kajin and Airi. "All in good time. Three more have yet to arrive. Until then, Kajin, take the room next to Jace. Airi, yours is next mine. Don't bother gathering possessions. We won't be here long."
   Jace shrugged and walked back into his room. Kajin walked over to his own and looked inside, wondering where he could get a communicating device.
   "You'll get used to Tyri leaving all the time."
   Kajin jumped. Jace had snuck up beside him. Looking around, he couldn't help noticing that Tyri had disappeared. Looking at Jace, Kajin saw that he had retrieved the other glove and was pulling it onto his hand. He also noticed that Jace's right eye was brighter than the other, making him odd-eyed, with a dark brown iris and a black one, not really noticeable unless the guy was close.
   "Going somewhere yourself?" he asked.
   Jace turned to the door. "Nowhere special. And I did grow up here."
   Airi walked up."How do you know Tyri?"
   Jace snorted. "I don't. I only met her three days ago, and she's usually somewhere else."
   Airi looked curious. "I've never seen a city before. Can I go with you?"
   Jace opened his mouth, looking like he might refuse. Kajin shook his head slightly behind Airi. Jace considered a moment before replying. "Yeah, I guess you can."
   Airi smiled and strode to the door. Just before Jace followed, Kajin caught him by the arm. Jace's head whipped around. Kajin shook his head again.
   "Just to be clear, koro," he said, using the Salanese term for brother. "Airi was raised a slave and was freed about five hours ago, so go easy on her. Ohama?"
   Jace nodded, his gaze softening when he looked at Airi, standing enthusiastically by the door, waiting for them.
   When they were outside, Jace leaned over to him. "What's that language you keep slipping into?"
   Kajin smiled. "Salanese."
   Jace stared at him. "That's probably the only language not recorded on databanks! How'd you learn it?"
   Kajin shrugged. "My family lives with them."
   Jace shook his head in disbelief and walked slightly ahead.
   "So where are we going?" Airi asked, looking at the towering buildings in awe.
   "The military barracks. Or, to be specific, the gryphon stables."
   Airi frowned. "What's a gryphon?"
   Jace stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Big, flying, half-bird, half-mammal."
   She looked at him in confusion.
   "You'll see." he said.