Stumbling back, I nearly fell into Lenna who stood stock still; mouth hanging open. Before us, strapped down in the massive cargo hold, were dozens of metal cages. Green buzzing force-fields filled up the tiny spaces between the metal bars. Behind each glowing wall, was a face. Some more humanoid than others but all equally terrified, staring with wide eyes. My heart was beating so hard in my chest I was afraid it was going to burst from the activity.

Slaves. The GPF were transporting slaves? But...why?

"TJ..." Lenna's voice shook, barely above a whisper.

Swallowing down the fear I knew was causing hives to form on my arms, I took a careful step towards the nearest cage - the one I had run right into. A young girl sat on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest. She stared up at me like I was going to hurt her. It broke my heart.

Kneeling down, I tried to make eye contact even though her eyes were looking anywhere but at me. "Hi...my name is TJ. What's yours?" A few beats later and still the girl didn't meet my eyes.

"Her name is Jax. Who are you?"

I stood up and turned, looking for the source of the voice. I found it in another cage, a few feet away. A woman stood tall, her eyes meeting mine as I headed towards her. Her long dark hair looked liked snakes at it moved around her head of its own accord. I hadn't seen a Xenu so close to the Inner Planets before. "My name is TJ."

"You said that."

Wincing, I looked around the room. The ship made a loud whining sound, followed by a loud hiss. "I'm a smuggler."

The Xenu in the cage chuckled dryly, her lip curled upwards. "Ah, here to grab some easy cash? Well, you won't find that here. Not unless you work for the GPF."

"What do you mean?"

She snorted. "This ship was heading for a GPF station in the Outer Rim, after it picked up its last bit of cargo from Antares. As you can see - it ran into a little trouble."

A police station? In the Outer Planets? "So you're prisoners? They taking you to Pike?"

Another snort. "No, TJ. We aren't prisoners. We're cargo." The woman's eyes changed, gone was the defensive attitude. Sadness filled them. "Ever heard of the Maji?"

Everything fell away. It was like my vision and hearing zeroed in on the words as they left the woman's mouth. My skin itched under my thick leather coat; sweat beaded on my forehead. Was the ship still floundering? Because I couldn't tell. The world had fallen out from underneath me and I was drowning in whatever remained.

"TJ!"

I spun around to find Lenna only a foot away, her brows pulled tightly on her forehead. "Didn't you just hear Kade? We have to go! Now! The GPF are coming to shoot it down before it can damage the shield wall."

And just like that the world came back into focus. The screeching sound of metal being ripped apart in the vacuum of space; the hiss of air escaping; the smell of smoke had finally reached the cargo hold. I practically dove for the control panel on the side of the cage where the Xenu woman was held. Tapping my wrist, the holo-screen blinked into existence.

"What are you doing? TJ! Didn't you hear me?"

Who knew the lock to a cage specifically designed to keep Maji in would be so hard to hack. Grinding my teeth, I stayed focused. I didn't have much time.

"TJ!"

The lock clicked; the green shield disappeared with a zapping sound; the door slid open. I stood up and turned to Lenna, who's eyes were frantically scanning the ship above our heads. "I'm getting these people out."

Her brown eyes snapped to my face. "We have to get out here! We aren't heroes, TJ!"

I headed for the next cage. "Then leave without me but I am not leaving them here to die." I could hear the tell-tale signs of Lenna getting frustrated. First her hands slapped her thighs. Then she growled out a groan before sighing. Before I knew it, she was by my side.

"Kade would kill me if I left without you, you know that."

I offered her a small smile before the next cage popped open. "Thanks, Len." I glanced around the room, only twenty or so more to go.

"Maybe I can help."

Lenna and I turned around to see the Xenu woman I had freed, a confident smile on her face. It totally changed her features and made the cat-like eyes seem even more striking. I felt goosebumps rise all over my body before she had even raised her hand. Facing a stack of three cages, the woman clenched her fingers together slowly; her brows pulled tight in concentration. I didn't have to turn around to see what was happening - I knew what she was doing. But when Lenna looked, I turned just in time to see the locking mechanism crumble into piles of bent off metal and wire. All three cages turned off and the doors opened.

Lenna looked like she'd just witnessed real magic, and I guess it kind of was to her. Maji were rare these days - or at least rare to actually see. The Republic had made sure of that a long time ago. Smiling at my friend's shock, I nodded to the woman. "Nice job, I think I could use your help more often."

She helped pull another person to their feet, but the smile she wore was genuine. "Thanks, but I think I just want to go home."

The ship made a sharp movement, sending us all scrambling for footing. Clearing my throat, I nodded. "Right, yeah, let's all do that."

"You did what?"

I smiled sweetly at Kade as the last of the rescued Maji filed into the common room of the Phoenix. It wasn't like it needed to be explained a second time - the evidence was clearly in front of him. And beside him. All around him, actually. But I could see the panic rising in his eyes and by the way his chest was moving quicker and quicker with every breath. Lowering my voice, even though it would do no good (if the Maji in the room wanted to hear me, they could), I laid a hand on Kade's arm. "I couldn't leave them."

Kade's eyes, that had been frantically scanning the crowded common area, landed on my own. His shoulders sagged. "Yeah, yeah I know...but Maji, TJ? Really? What are we supposed to do with illegal cargo?"

I stared at him. "Do you know how stupid that sounds coming from a smuggler?"

His mouth opened to say something smart - I'm sure - when Axon's voice rang out over the intercom system. "Uh, can I get some help up here! We gotta get out of here!" Swearing under his breath, Kade dashed out the door towards the bridge.

Following him at a jog, I made it to the bridge just as he landed in his pilot's chair and wrenched the ship to the left. GPF ships were swarming the wrecked transport and I was sure they hadn't missed the small smuggler transport as it detached from the wreckage.

"TJ! We need a cloak, now!"

Strapping myself into my seat, I activated the holo-screen and got to work on cloaking the Phoenix's signature so that it would be invisible on the GPF scanners. At least then all we had to worry about was staying out of view of their windows. For a few moments, all I could hear was the clicking of my holographic keys as I cloaked the ship in every way I knew how. When that all familiar green light blinked to life on the console, I smiled. Sitting back, I turned to tell Kade when he steered the Phoenix into a wide arc over the wrecked transport. The painted call-sign on the bow was hard to miss. And I knew exactly what those letters and numbers meant.

A/N

Well, I am finally here in sunny...err, rainy...Florida!! Things are still a little crazy and haphazard so the updates will be sporadic I'm afraid. Still planning to finish NaNo with 50k though!

Thanks so much for reading, always <3