I didn't know where we were in the galaxies. I didn't know if we were orbiting a planet or even if Kade had landed the ship. All I knew was that I was close to panicking and I didn't know how to stop it.

Looking at the facts, trying to keep my brain focused on what I knew to be true, wasn't helping either. One: I knew my father had something to do with the kidnapping of the Maji. Maybe even had been part of the reason why they had had to go into hiding in the first place. Two: I knew the GPF, the largest police force in the entire universe, was behind it all. Was the Republic behind it? Did the governments of the planets know this was going on and were doing nothing about it?

My mother always used to tell me stories of how the Maji used to be free citizens, just like everyone else. But then something shifted - something that gave the haters ground to stand on.

There had always been people out there who called the Maji abominations - mutants - but it had never taken any hold on the majority. But then suddenly it did and the Maji had to disappear. My mother could never tell me why, no matter how may times I asked. I really wished I could ask her one more time.

"TJ? You in here?"

I didn't lift my head from my knees; didn't give away my hiding spot behind some old storage crates in the cargo hold. But Lenna found me anyway. She always seemed to be able to find me when I tried to hide myself away. Her head popped around the crate, her short wavy hair falling off her shoulders and hanging around her face. Her eyes were big with worry. Kneeling down, she crawled into the small space, squeezing herself in beside me. There wasn't much room to begin with; we were squished side by side, barely enough room for Lenna to pull her arms around her knees.

"You okay?"

I didn't know how to answer the question. Was I okay? I was breathing, maybe a little quick but still breathing. My heart still beat in my chest. The ship wasn't blown to bits by my crazy mission. But we still had so many questions; still didn't know why the Maji were being kidnapped or what my father had to do with it.

My father. Ugh.

I shrugged my shoulders the best I could in the space provided. It was the best answer I could give.

She nodded, like she understood what my shrug meant. Maybe she did. "Look...I'm not going to pretend to understand how you really feel right now, but I get the overwhelm. This has been...a lot."

I snorted. Yeah, she could say that again. My life hadn't taken such a crazy turn in years, not since my mother's death and my subsequent run across the galaxy. But now I wasn't sure where to run too.

"You know you can come to me about anything, right? Like, I won't judge. I'm here for you."

I focused on a burn in the metal flooring a few feet away. I remembered when it happened - Axon had been messing around with some of Lenna's tools. She had been so mad at him. "I'm more worried you'll turn me in than judge me." I could feel her eyes on me, studying the part of my face she could actually see in the shadows of our hiding spot.

Taking a deep breath, focusing on the air as it entered my body and filled my lungs, I held it. And prayed to whatever deity was out there that I wasn't about to make the biggest mistake of my life. Focusing past the burn mark in the floor, I spotted one of Lenna's laser tools laying on a crate. Without moving a muscle, I lifted the laser and brought it closer. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears as the tool floated towards our hiding place, setting down gently on the ground in front of Lenna's feet. After a few silent beats I couldn't stand it anymore. I turned my head just enough so I could see her face.

She was staring down at it, like she had been dreaming. Her mouth opened and I was prepared for a scream or yell for help. Instead, all she said was, "Well, shit."

We made our way into the cockpit, where the boys were sitting, bickering. Normalcy collided with the crazy turn my life had taken and it gave my equilibrium a good shake.

"Seriously, why don't head to Deluvia? It's the closest city-planet to our current location. We don't have to go all the way to the Inner Rim."

"And do what there, huh? Deluvia is like the suburbs of the universe. No one there is going to know a thing about Maji going missing or any sort of corruption of the GPF." Kade shook his head, "No, we need to get closer to the inner planets. Antares might be a good place to start."

Lenna rested her hand on my arm, steadying my heartbeat that had began to jump to higher speeds again. I glanced at her and she offered a soft smile. After a deep breath to further calm my own inner turmoil, I walked further into the cockpit and to the back of Kade's seat. "What are we going to Antares for?"

He didn't look away from the controls as he programmed the ship's nav-computer and fired up the engines. "We're going to ask questions about the Maji, what else?" When he finally did look back at me, he had one eyebrow raised in question. "You want to find out what they're doing with them, right?"

I mean, sure I did. But I hadn't exactly expected the crew to care. Had Lenna divulged my secret somehow since we were sitting in the cargo not ten minutes ago? No, she wouldn't do that. I realized that I had been staring when Lenna spoke up for me.

"Of course we do. Let's get going."

Nodding his head once, Kade motioned for Axon to activate the preprogrammed coordinates and set the ship into hyperspace. I was pretty sure I left any coherent thoughts back in deep space.

I stood in the middle of the cockpit and stared at my father's face. I hadn't seen it in years and I only wished it was a bad dream. But that was the thing - it wasn't.

Moments after falling out of hyper-space, an incoming message was broadcasting across all wavelengths. We couldn't even ignore it. It just came through our communication systems - through my very well thought out and planned security - and started playing on a loop. At first I thought I had blacked out and really was having a dream but then I saw the expressions on my friend's faces and knew that wasn't the case.

"This is General Tarkir of the Galactic Police Force. I apologize for the intrusion this message may be causing but I have a selfish reason for it and I only hope you'll help me."

His face held little emotion, but then it hardly ever had. The few memories of my father were of a strict military uniform and static facial expressions. His strong chin was held high; slim nose and that Nakeer opalescent skin tone shimmering. I could just make out his pointed ears from behind his uniform hat.

"My daughter, my only child, has recently been seen on Koshi and I am adamant about bringing her back home. She went missing five years ago after my late-wife's passing." A slightly blurry photo of me from a security camera filled half the screen beside my father's head. It must have been taken while we had been on Koshi.

For the first time in the recording, his eyes left the screen and focused on the ground. If it was a play at emotion, it wasn't very good. Not to me. When he looked back up, however, I saw a glimpse of real emotion there. Like he actually meant what he was saying. "I have been searching for her and miss her dearly...There will be a reward to anyone who can help reunite us. Temperance, if you can hear this message. Please, come home. Come to Cordia - my people will be expecting you. You won't be in any trouble. I just want my daughter home with me, again." His eyes held the camera for a moment before it cut out.

Kade slammed his hand on the communications button, shutting the Phoenix off from any incoming or outgoing calls.

For minutes, no one said anything. No one even moved. Was I still breathing? Because I was pretty sure I wasn't. My lungs were screaming at me to take a breath but it was like my body had forgotten how. Years of running, of sticking to the shadows and keeping my head down, all for nothing. I was back on his radar and he wasn't going to stop until he got me. Like he had gotten my mother.

"TJ? TJ, you have to breathe."

Someone was shaking my shoulders. Was I on the ground? Had I fallen?

"TJ! Breathe!"

More shaking. Hands on my cheeks turned my head to look straight into someone's eyes. No, not someone. Kade, it was Kade. His brown eyes were big as they stared down at me, worry as plane as day on his features.

One breath in. One breath out.

His thumbs moved up and down on my cheeks. "There you go, keep going. In and out."

Another breath in. Hold it. Had I just doomed my friends? Even if my father was telling an ounce of truth, I knew his protection wouldn't extend to three smugglers.

"TJ, no no, come on. Keeping breathing!"

I couldn't. My vision blacked on the edges. The last thing I saw were the faces of my friends who I had led into the biggest trap of their lives.

A/N

I am apparently incapable of writing a novel without at least one blackout scene?? *shrugs*

xx