Inside the family speeder on its way to the academy it took but five minutes until Igor switched to autopilot and turned around to Vera sitting on the back bench. "All right, Vera. What was that all about?"

"I'm gonny explain when we have arrived" Vera replied shortly. "Otherwise I would have to tell it all over again."

"No, you're going to explain it to me now" Igor insisted, and he seemed to get really angry about this. "What's all that nonsense about a rescue mission and captured children? And that you know who shot you down?"

"What do you mean by nonsense?" Vera, too, felt her patience growing awfully thin. This couldn't be truly happening here! "If we don't act now, those kids will be killed. Why doesn't anyone get that?"

"Calm down, both of you!" Helen also turned around on the copilot's seat, soothing both squabblers with according hand gestures. Then she spoke to Vera: "Honey, we are not so sure about you really having been through all the things you have told us about. You were found near the shuttle..."

"After I escaped from the criminals and ran back, yes." Vera looked sullenly at her mother. "What are you implying here?"

Helen sighed deeply. It strained her to say what she wanted to say. "You were admitted to the hospital suffering from a head concussion. The doctor treating you said that you couldn't have made it very far with that."

"You climbed out of the shuttle" Igor continued with a buzzing voice. "Then you headed for the woods. That's were they found you. Without any hint that anything else has happened."

Vera's sullen facial expression changed into terror when she understood what her parents were saying. "You mean... I've only been dreaming about all of this? Are you serious?"

"Such a head injury can have serious repercussions if it is not treated, Vera" Helen explained in a very calming tone. "You lose orientation, you imagine things... All of it might seem perfectly real to you, but just because your concussion wasn't treated properly."

When Igor confirmed this statement with a nod Vera didn't know what to say anymore. It just couldn't be true! Her encounter with Johnson, Whitmore and Sykes, the time spent as their captive, being saved by Taylor and welcomed by the other children and their dog... "Hold on!" she exclaimed as a thought crossed her mind. "If it's true that I just dreamt all of this up... then where does the anti allergy medicine in my blood come from? And how would Chris the nurse know that it's supposed to treat my dog allergy?" She turned her gaze towards her parents, and now she was really getting upset. "And why have you told me for years that there was no cure for dog allergy at all?"

Her parents exchanged a meaningful look. "But there isn't" Igor then explained. "There are some meds that can treat the effects of allergies, but they are no long-term solution. At least that's what the doctor said that we visited back then."

"That doesn't answer my question. And it is a lame excuse." Vera stomped angrily with her foot. "You know what? I think I am dreaming this right here. Because if you were my real parents, then you would believe me. The least would be that you listened to me, since I can proof that it's true."

"Then spit it out!" Igor barked. "We would listen to you if you piped up already."

"Fine!" Vera almost yelled this, she was that furious right now. But then she calmed down a little. "Under one condition: When I'm done telling you what happened, then you will contact Hank at once and have him assemble a squad of fully armed men for the rescue mission."

Igor glanced at her sceptically. "That depends greatly on what I'm about to hear. So tell me!"

So she told him. She kept it short, saving the details for later. But she described Johnson and his two companions in all the detail she could still remember, and she also told about Thor, Vanna and the twins. Foremost though about Butter, the dog. She closed the tale with: "If the guys at the medical centre have been thorough enough, then they have all the proof that I'm telling the truth. Those criminals had tied up my hands and feet, and they had given me food. And this anti allergy pill I got from the twins. Chris had found it on the scans and even reprogrammed the decontamination system so it would still be in effect."

She observed her parent's reactions on their faces. Helen had turned pale while hearing this - apparently she believed her. Igor wouldn't show how he felt about it, but his grim face could mean that he didn't buy any of it - or all of it, which would make him picture what he would do to Johnson if he got his hands on him. Both remained in silence, processing the story Vera had told them. After a short while Igor turned back to the steering console and activated the communicator. "Bodderias-Academy, this is Igor Lippson. Put me through to Eric Waestergaard and the Strike Squad..."

They dropped off Helen at their farm. She would have liked to join them at the academy, too, but Igor insisted that she got some rest after all the stresses and strains. But after they had departed again Igor told Vera that he figured it would be best to keep it between mercenaries. Helen would have made things unnecessarily agitated. Vera was very surprised of his point of view. Not that she disagreed with him. The worries about her daughter tended to make Helen act very irrationally.

When they finally reached the academy, it was already dark. The multi-story main building though was ablaze with light, and on the grounds the members were running around and keeping busy. On the landing pad Vera could make out the big transport speeder of the academy getting loaded and prepared for launch. She gave it a satisfied nod. The Strike Squad was assembling to save the day. As soon as this stupid interrogation would be over, she would be joining them.

Igor landed in front of the main entrance, and without further ado Vera opened the speeder door and jumped out. "Hey, wait a second!" her father called after her, but she didn't listen. She rushed for the main building. She knew the way to the briefing room. The sooner they got this over with, the better.

But in her eagerness she didn't count on one thing: how fast her father was able to move. Before she had reached the entrance a strong hand grabbed her from behind and stopped her apruptly. "What do you think you're doing?" her father asked her and turned her around to look at her sternly.

"We have no time." Vera tried to struggle her way out of her father's grip. "If we wait any longer..."

"That's no longer up to you, Vera." Igor looked straight into her eyes - making sure that she absolutely understood what he was saying. "The Strike Squad is already there."

Vera understood. But she wouldn't believe it. "What... what are you saying?"

Then her father did something he had never done before. He got down on one knee to be at eye level with her. The stern expression on his face got softer, but didn't lose sincerity. "Listen!" he said. "If all that you told me is true... then you don't want to go back there. Strike Squad had been in place at the time when I called the academy. They had orders to examine the wreckage. Now they have been ordered to look for the criminals and the children."

"But I know where they are" Vera insisted. "I can help them."

"You surely could" Igor admitted. "But you are not prepared for what is waiting for them there."

Vera made a face as she would challenge him. "I can take care of myself, dad."

"That's not what I mean." Igor's voice had gained some sharpness. "I'm not saying that you couldn't handle yourself in a fight. But what if you were too late?" It strained him to utter the next few words: "If you couldn't save the children anymore?"

He wasn't talking to her like a father would to his daughter. He adressed her like he would a fellow mercenary, albeit a younger, less experienced one, but still an equal. "I have been through this" he told her. "I have seen how people I was dealing with died right next to me. There was nothing I could do to save them. And it was so hard for me to cope with that. I don't want you to endure the same things. You have grown up on this planet, a safe haven. I have seen what life is like outside of it. I know what people are capable of. You're not prepared for what happens if they do."

Listening to those explanations Vera's mouth kept open. She had been told by Tammy what her father had been through in the Comm wars - that it was a reason for him to live his life as a mercenary while leaving her behind on Geshtachius Prime. He himself had never talked about what really happened in that part of the galaxy where he used to earn his money. Now she knew the reason for it. Tammy had warned her about the training skirmishes at the academy - that the fire fights with the mercenary groups were that part of the job none of them really liked. But those were just training. Igor Lippson had been through it for real.

But more than her realization how these fights had changed her father she was disturbed about how wrong he was in his assumption. "You can't know all that!" she accused him. "You're acting like they couldn't be saved anymore. Like they were already dead." She felt tears coming to her eyes when she said those words. Vanna, Jenny, Taylor... It couldn't be. It mustn't be.

Igor shook his head. "It's no longer up to you to save them. You have done everything you could. Now stay true to your word and answer everything those security officers ask you! This is all we can both do right now."

With that he pointed at the main entrance to the academy and rose back to his full height. Vera reluctantly obeyed and turned around. She was the best chance the children had. But her father wouldn't see that. Even when Strike Squad was formed out of good people - after all it was under the command of Eric Waestergaard, or "Whesty" as Vera used to call him - no one in it would see the same importance in rescuing the children that she did. But it was no use fighting it now. She entered the building with her father and went on her way to the briefing room.

The two security officers were already sitting there. So was Hank Bodderias, and to Vera's big surprise she found Jackson also participating in the meeting. Until she remembered that Jackson had good reason to be here. Apart from his technical expertise and his duties at the academy Tammy was his first and foremost reason to join the meeting. Vera had noticed on several occasions that something had been going on between the two of them. She found it kind of cute, as long as they weren't kissing in Vera's direct proximity. So Jackson was the one with the greatest interest in finding out who caused the shuttle crash.

On Hank's prompting she took a seat at the big table, and the security officers started questioning her. Vera told the whole story, leaving nothing out this time. She mentioned every detail she could think of, answered every question, described the entire mission and everything following it. But the questions went in an odd direction. Lt. Garrett was asking most of them, and they were all about the crash. He didn't seem to be interested in the criminals at all. Until she lost her temper:

"What about the children?" she asked, smashing her fist onto the table. Igor frowned in disapproval while Jackson flinched. "What about Johnson and his goons? Aren't you going to do something about them?"

Garrett stared at her silently for a long time. Then he leaned over to his colleague, exchanging some whispered words before addressing her: "I find it remarkable that you care so much for those children, Vera. But we have read your medical reports, and to be honest, we're not quite sure that everything happened like..."

"I went through all of this with my parents already" Vera cut him off. "The medical report contains all the proof that everything happened for real. Maybe you should read it with more attention."

"But it doesn't say anything" Garrett replied and showed once more this fake indulgent smile. "You said that they held you captive and gave you food. But there is no hint that you had eaten anything else but the provisions you were carrying. And there are no traces of somebody mistreating you."

"Oh yeah? Then what about the allergy medication?" Vera stared at him. It was the same kind of talk she had had on the way here, but now it was like talking to a concrete wall. "The medication I have in my blood stream?"

Garrett wasn't shying away from her stare. "The medpack of the shuttle contained such a medication. I suppose you took in the hopes of easing the pain after the crash, and then you simply forgot about it. With a concussion like yours it can happen very easily."

"That is complete and utter bullshit!" Vera exclaimed. She shook her head in frustration. "So you claim that I have dreamt this whole thing up while I was lying in the forest with a concussion? That would certainly suit you well, right? So what's your angle here, Mister Security Officer? You're getting paid for..."

The thought hit her like lightning. She interrupted her own sentence as it came to her. There was something else that she didn't like about this officer. Not only his fake smile or him denying everything she was telling him.  There was something else: a little inconsiderable detail she had already noticed back in the medical centre, but had not paid any attention to...

"Vera, that's enough!" Igor called her back to order in exact the same moment that she had this thought. Usually she thought of it as extremely annoying when he did this. Just this one time she was thankful for it. "Lieutenant, I'd like to apologize for my daughter's behavior. You certainly understand that she has gone through a lot."

"Absolutely" Garrett answered in a patronizing way. "And I think we're done so far. Vera, if you could just be so kind as to wait outside, so we can sort a few things out with your father and Mr. Bodderias."

Vera gave her father a meaningful look. Igor returned it, but she couldn't make out what he wanted to say with it. Perhaps he was just upset about the way she had just behaved. With her face squinted she stood up from the table and left the room without another word. Perhaps there would have been a more adult and polite way to leave the room. But right now the childish way was quite good enough for her. As long as this Garrett didn't suspect anything.

The hallway had gone quiet. The mercenaries were all occupied elsewhere. Only two of them passed the spot where Vera had taken a seat in front of the briefing room, and Vera barely listened to them talking about the new mounted division being in the field along with Strike Squad. Being a big admirer of horses, news about them would have excited Vera under other circumstances. But she really had other things on her mind. Her legs dangling in boredom, her head lowered she was waiting for the adults to wrap things up in the other room.

"You are Vera, aren't you?"

The question startled Vera. She looked up, gazing into the face of a woman which she felt faintly familiar with. Then she saw the emblem... and knew the score. "You're the leader of the Unicorn Riders" she asserted surprised.

"Yes, we've run into each other before, I suppose" the woman stated with a friendly smile. "With all the hussle I haven't gotten around to introduce myself. I'm Kate."

"Hi!" Vera wasn't really in the mood for talking. At least not to a grown-up. For all she cared they could all jump in a lake by this point. But with a cocky grin she let off another one: "So, have you managed to blow up some more kids?"

Kate didn't let that get to her. "On the contrary, I even managed to save two of them. Well, me and my team anyway." She took a scrutinizing look at the girl. "What about you? You don't seem to be very happy right now."

"Ach, somehow everything is just plain nuts around here" Vera fussed. "No matter what I say, nobody's listening. I thought that when you get bigger, the grown-ups will treat your differently, but nothing has changed at all."

"You wanna talk to me about it?" Kate offered, taking a seat on a bench opposing her.

Vera gave her but a grim smile. "No offense, Lady, but you're just another grown-up."

"I see. Never mind asking me then." Still the woman remained seated before her. And after some time of being silent at each other she spoke again: "But would you mind if I asked you a question though?"

Vera waved aside tiredly. "Sure, why not?" she answered bored.

"Everyone around here also calls you Pinch, is that right?"

That was the last thing she wanted to hear at this moment. But Kate had asked her in such an innocent way that her boiling up anger was only a short one. Perhaps she was just too tired to react to it by running berserk now. "Yeah, my father came up with that nickname. But I hate it."

Kate looked at her puzzled. "Why, what's wrong with it?"

"It sounds like the name of a dog breed" Vera explained grumpily. "And you won't be taken serious at all if you're named like that."

"Hmm..." Kate pursed her lips, making a thoughtful face. "Perhaps you don't see it right. When I hear such a name, I think of a person of low strength that can still cause a lot of trouble. Someone being easily underestimated, someone who would emerge from a fight victorious while everyone else would see it as a lost cause." She smiled. "It's better than that nickname I have been dragging around. I've been called Beast since my military days. I don't care much for that name either."

Vera glanced at the woman with newly gained interest. She had not expected having such a similarity. Maybe she had misjudged Kate. "Fights that would be lost causes to others, you say? Like, for example, saving someone that everyone else thinks cannot be saved?"

Kate wasn't so sure about that. "It depends. I mean, the circumstances matter here. There can still be a no-win scenario if the matter is out of your hands."

"Which it is right now" Vera stated regretfully. But then all her synapses clicked when an idea popped up in her mind. What if it still is in my hands? For she was absolutely certain that Igor had made a grave mistake in his thought process about the whole thing.

Her brain was running in high gear, already formulating a plan. Exhilarated she jumped from her seat. "Thank you!" she managed to whisper in Kate's direction before she started running down the hallway.

"You're welcome!" Kate called after her. "And good luck!"