Poison

This time Teal was dying, except there was no cure for her on some planet, no miracle water to help her, and no Shelby to create an antidote. Shelby was gone. Killed at the age of 55 in a battle. Peters, her husband since the age of 17, died beside her. Webster had been gone only a shorter time. He died at 68 from cancer. August had disappeared seventy years ago, when he was twenty eight, and was found ten years ago when he blew up a Dominion headquarters building and burned to a crisp in the explosion. Lee, well, he was alive, but tomorrow they were going to stop life support. He had been in an air car accident two weeks ago, had slipped into a coma three days later, never came out, and was pronounced brain dead two days ago. Grasf was gone, too. He had only been gone a month. Teal still loved him. He had slipped away quietly one night in their wedding bed of eighty one years. She and Grasf had married when they were nineteen. Teal was now one hundred and one. And dying.

The door opened, and a doctor came in. "Hello, Teal," the doctor said. "How are you feeling tonight?

"Very well," she said sighing and looking out the window. "Under the circumstances.

"Is there anything you need?

"It’s very hot in here.

"Should I turn on the air for you?

"Doctor, I am going to die soon," she said stoutly, squaring her frail shoulders. "I would like to breathe fresh air, not the processed air you circulate in here.

The doctor chuckled. "Still have that spunk, I see.

She smiled vaguely and watched as he opened the window halfway. "I don’t suppose that Dyer has come, has she?"

"No ma’am. All of your family members have been here. Except for her."

"Well I guess an outlaw wouldn’t be able to," she said, sighing again.

"Is there anything else you want right now?"

"No thank you. I’ll ring when I need something."

"You do that, ma’am," he said softly, and left, turning the light out and shutting the door behind him.

A lone tear rolled down Teal’s old and wrinkled cheek. She occupied the three hundredth and ninety-seventh room of a hospital on a planet ruled by the Dominion. Every single one of her relatives had come to visit her. All except Dyer. She was Teal’s grandchild. She had been born when Teal was eighty two. She was seventeen now, and a Rebel of the Dominion. An ROD. Not only a rebel of the Dominion but of her family. She went against everything her mother had told her. She had Teal’s fighting spirit, her eyes, her hair, her body and her attitude. Teal was very pleased with her.

Her daughter, though, was not so happy. She was a pacifist, which meant to Teal she was on the Dominion’s side, although she wasn’t. She refused to support Dyer in any way. But Teal did. She had six children, thirty grandchildren, and endless amounts of nephews and nieces and great grandchildren. But none of them was loved more by Teal than Dyer.

As Teal was drifting off to sleep, she heard the window slide open. She was instantly awake with her hand on the guard/emergency call button, when she saw who was half in, half out of, the window.

"Dyer," she whispered softly.

"Hey Gramma," Dyer said. "I was almost afraid you were going to use that thing."

Teal smiled. "Not on my favorite grandchild." Dyer wore black combat boots, khaki colored cargo pants, a green shirt that barely had any sleeves and followed her curves, two ammo/holster belts criss-crossed over her abdomen, and a red bandanna was tied around her head. Her red-brown hiar fell to her shoulders, and when she bent to kiss her grandmother hello, the moon relfected her blue green eyes.

"Mmmm, you smell nice. Lilacs, right?"

"Right you are. It was hard finding this soap, too. Did you know that everybody is crazy about this scent called plumeria?"

Dyer laughed, and her grandmother studied her.

She had two guns in her belts, a buck knife with a six inch blade in its sheath clipped to her belt, and leather wrist bands were on both her left arm and her right arm. A very thin silver arm band was on her upper right arm, and the badge of the ROD’s was stitched onto her back pocket. She sat in a chair by the window. "I can’t stay long. Serge and Ardie are waiting with the air car in the alley. They’re posing as lost delivery men. Well, man and woman. You know how it is."

"Yes, yes, the Dominion doesn’t have too tight of a security on this planet," Teal said, nodding. "They shouldn’t have a problem."

"But I heard you wanted to see each of your family members today."

"Yes. I have something for you." She reached into her little night table by her bed and pullled out a small black box. It was a quarter of an inch thick, three inches tall, and two inches wide.

"A money replicator?," Dyer asked, confused. "How much is on there?"

"My entire life savings."

"What?!," Dyer asked in shocked disbelief, coming to the bedside. "I can’t take that!"

"Oh, but you can, and you will. I want you to have it. It can’t be traced, and you can put more money in there any time you want." She placed the replicator in her granddaughter's hand. "For now the password is my name. You’ll want to change it."

"What about mom and dad and all them?"

"Your mother? She doesn’t get much. I still have a house, a few air cars, and other things. When you’re a multi-millionaire heroine you have many things to give to many relatives. And I have one more thing," she said, and pulled this out from her pocket. She handed it to her grandchild.

"The access card for Team Twilight’s cruiser? No, I couldn’t."

"And you won’t. I wouldn’t have you running around in that old bucket of bolts for the world. Besides, they’re putting that into the Smithsonian Museum. That access card is to your cruiser, my dear."

"My own? My very own cruiser? Gramma no..."

"Yes. It has all the latest weapons and everything on it. Anything your heart desires," she said, looking her grandchild in the eyes. "Shelby’s grandchild is holding it for you, and updating it daily."

Dyer hugged her grandmother tightly. "I love you so much," she said.

"And I love you," Teal said, stroking her grandchild’s hair. Suddenly the alarms started going. "You have to go. They’ve found you out."

"Good bye, Gramma."

"This will be the last time you see me," Teal said.

Dyer nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. "Good bye, Gramma. I love you."

"And I love you too. Good luck and Godspeed, my child."

And Dyer was out the window and into the night, making sure that the window was back to its proper place. When the doctor and the security guards burst into the room, they found a perfectly furious looking Teal sitting up in bed.

"Mr. Wilson what is going on?!?!," she shrieked. "A dying lady can’t even get her peace at night any more! Out! All of you!!"

They searched the room first and then left, the doctor apologizing profusley. None of them had noticed the tear streaks on her face or the wet spots on her shoulder where Dyer’s head had previously rested. The next morning they found Teal cold with a peaceful smile on her face and a note by her bed.

My work here on this earth is finished now. I can die in peace.

And so the legendary Teal Watkins, who had led the greatest battles against the Dominion, won back many planets for her people, and had innumerable descendants, was now dead, her deeds and accomplishments to be recorded in the history books for eons later.

"Let’s go," Dyer said, dropping into the air car passenger seat. "Now."

Quin saw the tears but said nothing. The top of the car was down and the wind soon dried them. Dyer tossed the access card back to Ardie in the back seat. "Look what she gave me."

"The access card to Team Twilight’s cruiser?"

"No," Dyer said, laughing shortly. "That goes into the Smithsonian on Earth soon. That’s to our cruiser. Gramma’s old teamie Shelby has a grandson, and he- I’m assuming it’s a he- is holding it for us."

"Where?"

"She didn’t tell me."

"What?," Quin asked, looking from the road to her. She laughed. "How are we supposed to get it?"

Dyer laughed. "Chill out, Quinnie baby. I know exactly where it is."

"Where?," Ardie asked, leaning in between them from the backseat, handing Dyer the card.

"Planet Gargenia. Where you can get anything your heart desires," she said, smiling, street lights flashing in her eyes as they passed under them.

*************************

On Planet Gargenia the next day, after riding on a tense flight on a cargo carrier as toy delivery people, they wandered to a cafe and sat down to a healthy but inexpensive breakfast.

"Gramma gave me all of her physical money," Dyer told them, putting a new password. "She left the house and everything else to my relatives. We’re set for the rest of our lives with this thing."

"Could we get caught on this planet?," Ardie asked nervously. Dyer leaned back and shook her head.

"Even if Dominion soldiers would happen to be here and capture us, they’d have to take us off the planet to arrest us. This place is ROD supported."

"When do we meet this guy?"

"As soon as we’re done eating. I got online on the ship. I said I was checking a delivery to a house. I looked up this guy the net. He's very popular with mechanics. At least thirty people on this planet have him in their directories. His name is Serge, and he's a direct descendant of the lady called Jessica Shelby that Gramma worked with."

"How did you find out who he was?"

"Well, Gramma said he updated our cruiser daily, so I hacked into the main system of the net. Well, not the main, but close enough. I found out who logged on daily. That narrowed it down to, oh, almost the whole population of the universe. Then I searched for only people on this planet who logged on daily, then all that plus they looked at mechanical sites. I kept going on like that and had it narrowed down to two people by the time I decided I had to get off."

"What made you decide?"

"I pulled up another screen and looked at the history of both of those people. This Shelby lady was his father's mother. Direct descendant."

Ardie nodded. The waiter came over and took their order. After that, another waiter came over and announced that another person had said they would pay their lunch and gave them a round of drinks each.

"No thank you," Dyer said. "We'll pay for it on our own."

The waiter looked slightly surprised and walked away. Their food was brought and they dug in after Dyer dropped a capsule into each of their drinks. They had ordered straight soda, no flavor, and the capsule that she dropped into the drink gave each of them a screen against any impurities in their meal that may have been put there unintentionally or not. The drinks turned a clear, dark blue, and Dyer nodded. "Go ahead."

After they were done eating, she asked the waiter for the check.

"The other gentleman insisted on picking it up for you," he said, shaking his head. "And he left the payment for the drinks on there also."

"Well then he wasted his money," Ardie said, and they left.

Outside, Quin looked to the rising sun and said, "Are we going to rent an air car or are we going to walk?"

"We're going to have to rent one," she said. "This guy's place is too far to walk."

A man who had been leaning against the wall a yard or so behind them, suddenly stood up straight and walked hurriedly by them, and Dyer watched him, frowning. "That looked like the guy in the resteraunt, the one that the waiter went to when we refused to let him pay for our meal."

"I thought the other guy was taller," Ardie said.

Dyer shrugged. "Whatever. Let's go."

They walked to the nearest air car rental center and when Dyer gave the attendant at the desk her name, she said, "Ma'am, there's already a car waiting for you."

Dyer looked exasperated. "Alright, alright. I have half a mind not to take it."

"We won't," Quin said to the attendant. To Dyer he said, "What if there's a tracer device?"

"Doesn't matter if there is. We're going to pick up our stuff and leave anyhow."

"Ma'am? Sir?," the lady asked. "We can run a bug check for you if you'd like."

"Please," Dyer said, nodding. The lady picked up her phone and dialed four numbers. While she talked, Dyer said lowly, "I have my own bug checker. When we leave town I'll pull over and check it myself. If there's anything wrong, we'll just fix it or only drive half way."

So they left, and on the outskirts of town, on a deserted road, she pulled out her bug check laser. She stood by the broadside of the car and aimed the laser at the air a few feet ahead of the car. She pushed a switch and a large laser arch was barley visible in the swirling dust. She moved her arm to the right and the laser passed over the car. She went all the way to the end and then crossed and did the other side. "Clean," she said.

They rode the rest of the way to the small house with a big yard, and then Dyer blew up the car. A man ran out of the house, no shirt or shoes, just pants, and looked at the burning wreck. He ran his hands through his hair. "Why did you do that?"

"We just wanted to make sure that we weren't being followed."

"Who are you?," he asked.

"My name is Dyer, and this is Quin and Ardie. And you are Serge Strange, Son of Gerald Strange, Son of Jessica Shebly."

"Yeah? So?"

Dyer studied him. He was in his mid thirties, probably, with brown hair and blue eyes. He was very tan and muscular. "So you have a cruiser."

"Yeah, I have lots of them."

"But you have a special one. One you have on hold for Teal Watkins's granddaughter."

"You're her granddaughter?"

"Very much so."

He eyed her almost distastefully for a moment and then shook his head. He gestured to the burning wreck. "And I supposed you have the money to pay for that?"

"Yes. I do. If it was mine, I would, anyway. But since I didn't even rent the stupid thing, I don't have to worry about it."

"I sure hope that the person has a lot of money."

Dyer shrugged. "Not my fault."

Serge rolled his eyes. "Well, do you have the access card?"

"Ready and waiting."

"Well the ship isn't. We'll look at it tomorrow."

He turned and went into his house. He came back out a few mintues later as the kids stood in the yard, not really knowing what to do next.

"Well, are you coming in or not?"

They smiled and jogged to the front porch. Inside the house, which was more like a very large cabin, the place was decked out. He had a huge cathedral style living room that took up the two floors, a large picture window up near the top. There were oriental type rugs and bear skin couches and chairs. "Nice place," Dyer said, nodding.

"It's ok," Serge said, shrugging. "Dyer, you'll find your room upstairs at the end of the hall on the right. Ardie, I guess you'll be next to her, and your room is across the hall from theirs, Quin."

"We're going to need to go shopping," Dyer said. "We don't really have any other clothes."

"No problem. There’s another town down the road with some excellent clothing shops."

After a few more details and an agreement about borrowing one of his cars ("As long as you promise not to blow it up," he said.) they went to see their rooms. Dyer’s had a four post canopy bed, a hard wood floor, and a large window looking out onto the rolling hills of Serge’s back yard. She wondered why he hadn’t built anything on it, but then figured he probably wanted to preserve it, since a lot of the land was being built on. As she watched, a large doe and two little fawns ran across the far end. Dyer smiled. She liked it here already.

*************************

That night, he made them dinner, and then Ardie went to bed, she was exhausted, and Serge and Quin stayed up to play pool in Serge’s game room. Dyer got a drink out of the refrigerator and went outside and sat lengthwise on the front porch steps in the dark. She leaned her back against the beam at the top of the stairs and looked out at the sky. What appeared to be shooting stars was really cruisers going back and forth from planet to planet.

The porch light came on and Serge came out. "Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were out here."

"That’s ok," she said, shrugging.

"Can I sit?"

"It’s your house," she replied.

"I don’t want to disturb you."

"You’re not," she said, moving her feet down to the steps. He sat next to her and watched the sky along with her, trying to see what she saw. After a few moments of silence, she said, "Where’s Quin?"

"Ah, he went to bed. He said he was probably driving tomorrow, so..."

"Yeah, he is. He usually does."

They sat in silence some more. "So, what are you, anyway? Any kind or mercenary or something?"

"No, not really. The ROD’s are an official group, but I’m not really a part of them. Neither are Ardie or Quin."

"You have the badge though."

"Yeah, that’s just because I’m against the Dominion. I fight against them. See, technically, the ROD’s have to hire their people, but if you fight against the Dominion at all, you’re a part of the group. The people who just live and go with the flow, the regular civilians, they’re not. They may not like the Dominion, but they don’t do battles with them."

"So are you going to be like your grandmother’s Team Twilight? Was she a part of the ROD’s?"

"No, they didn’t have a name back then. They were just the ‘good guys’. There got to be so many rebel groups that there was confusion when there was a battle, so all the rebel leaders in the universe met on a net conference one day and came up with the Rebels Of the Dominion. That’s how it got started. there are teams and little groups out there, but they’re all under the protection and name of the ROD’s. If Gramma had her team when the ROD’s were formed, they’d be Team Twilight of the ROD’s, or something like that."

"What are you guys going to be?"

"We’re not sure yet."

They sat in silence a little longer. "What happened to Team Twilight?"

"They died. Gramma just did, and Grandpa Jo just died a little while ago, a month or so, I think. Your grandmother died in battle. Peters, her husband and your grandfather, died right there with her. Lyon Webster died at 68 from some kind of cancer. Aaron Lee died yesterday, or the day before that, I think. He was in an air car accident a couple weeks ago, slipped into a coma three days later, never came out, and they pronounced him brain dead a few days ago. Tony August.... Well, he disappeared seventy years ago, when he was twenty nine. Ten years ago he blew up a Dominion headquarters building and supposedly burned to a crisp in the explosion. They identified him by a threat he had sent a few days before. They caught him with the bomb, but they were too late, and he set it off.

"A lot of people don’t think it was him because he looked too young. He should’ve been about eighty eight, but he looked like he was in his twenties. It seemed impossible but the Dominion insisted it was him. So people just gave up and said fine, but he must know a real good plastic surgeon."

"How long did Team Twilight last?"

"Until your grandparents died. Because without August it was down to six, and then four when your grandparents died. Gramma, Grandpa, Webster and Lee couldn’t run the ship by themselves. They were getting old. They were all around the age of seventy then. So they retired to just another small group of people. I’m not really sure what happened after that."

"So how are the three of you going to manage your cruiser?"

"I don’t know what it’s like. I haven’t seen it yet."

"It’s almost exactly like your grandmother’s, if you’ve ever seen it."

"Yeah, I’ve seen it. Never flown in it, but I’ve been in there."

"You’re going to need at least two other people to ride along with you."

"Are you trying to hint something, Serge?," she asked him, smiling. "Would you like to ride with us?"

"I can’t. I have to stay here."

The smile disappeared. "It’s getting late. I ought to go in."

She stood up and turned to go.

"Dyer." She looked down at him. "I would like to ride with you. But I can’t leave here. There’s too much going on."

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded and went inside. In the kitchen she finished the rest of her drink and threw the can away. In her room, there was a shirt laying on her bed. It was a man’s shirt, and when she changed into it, it reached to her knees. She laughed, shaking her head, then caught herself, remembering that Ardie and Quin were already in bed. She emptied her pockets and, by habit, placed all her weapons and ammo with in easy reach of the bed. She put everything, her pants, bandanna, socks, underwear, everything, into the laundry chute that was out in the hall. Her clothes would fall to the basement, where they would be washed clean and dried in a half an hour. She fell asleep on the comfy bed almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next morning Dyer awoke to the delicious sounds of breakfast being made. As expected, her clothes lay in a neat pile on the floor below the return chute in her room. She changed and walked down stairs. She was just finishing strapping on her belts when she walked into the room. She stopped dead. There were three uniformed soldiers sitting at the table.

Not one to panic and do anything stupid, Dyer didn’t back away or run or advance into the room any further. Quin came in from the front door, saw her standing there and smiled. "It’s ok, Dyer, these are the good guys."

She relaxed, but not too much. "You have a very nice apple tree in your back yard," one of the guards commented casually, and her face broke into a smile.

"Terren!," she said, going to him and hugging him. "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to see how my little girl was."

"Hey now," she scolded playfully. "You’re not that much older than me."

"A year or so," he said, shrugging.

"Excuse me," Quin said, waving his hand. "What was that about an apple tree?"

"Quin, this is my cousin, Terren. He and I are used to hang out together a lot at my house when we were younger. He’s like what, 19 now?" Terren nodded. "Anyway, when he was seventeen and I was 15, he had to go to a special school in another galaxy and he and his family packed their bags and left.

"Our favorite place was the apple tree in my back yard. We went there everyday and just sat and talked in it."

Quin nodded. "So how did you find me?," she asked Terren.

"Well, I wasn’t exactly looking for you, and when that guy, Serge, said your name, I was as surprised as you were."

"Why did you come here?"

"There was a report of a vehicle from a rental company that wasn’t paid for, so it was reported stolen, and we went from door to door to ask people if they had seen it. When we got here, that Serge guys rolled his eyes and pointed to what’s left of the car and said, ‘It’s right there.’ He told me who brought it, and I just had to stay and say hi."

"So you’re not part of any fleet or anything?"

"No, just regular Planet Patrol. These are my friends, Rusty and Mil. Or Milton."

"Hello."

"Hi."

She nodded to them, and Serge walked in. "Well, I see you found your relative," he said. She nodded. "Can I talk to you for a moment?," he asked, and she followed him outside. "I know I said that I couldn’t come along with you, but maybe I can help you out anyway."

She leaned up against the railing, arms crossed, interested. "Go ahead."

"Well, I’ve got friends stretched all over the universe, on every planet, everywhere. I’ve met them over the net. I’m an official member of the M-ROD’s."

"M-ROD’s?," Dyer asked, looking at him questioningly.

"Mechanic ROD’s. We help out all the busted ships of the ROD’s all over the Universe. If you want, my workshop here can be your home base, and anytime you needed repairs or anything, you could come here, but if you were too far away, I could give you a location of an M-ROD."

"That’s great!," Dyer said, smiling. "That’s perfect."

So Serge’s home became the offical home base of the team.

"Except now we need a name," Dyer said. They were all in the kitchen, Ardie, Quin, Serge, Terren, Rusty and Milton. "And another part to our team."

They all thought. There were several names that came up, but none of them seemed to fit. Dragons. Twilight Two ("No, that’s going to be the name of the cruiser," Ardie insisted.) Teal. A lot of others.

"How about Team Horizon?," a voice asked from the door. They all looked. A man, around thirty seven, thirty eight, stood just outside the screen door. He came in, and Dyer frowned. "Who are you?"

"My name is Tony August, former member or Team Twilight.

"What?," Dyer asked in disbelief. "That’s impossible. You’d be ninety years old!!

"Correction, dear, it would be ninety seven."

"Then how are you...."

August smiled. "I never really disappeared, I was frozen."

"Excuse me?," Quin asked. "Frozen?"

"Yup," he said, unbuttoning his shirt. A faint scar ran up his chest from his navel. "I had the same sort of cancer Webster, I believe it was, died from. But I was diagnosed early and chose to be frozen until they found a cure for it. They did, but not until eleven years ago. They unfroze me, and bam!, I’m cured."

"What do you want?," Dyer asked.

"Well, I want to know why you wouldn’t let me pay for lunch and why you blew that car up."

"That was you?"

"Yup. I’ve been following you ever since you left the hospital that night. It wasn’t you they were chasing, at first. It was me. Long story. But anyway, I’m here to help you."

"What can you do?," Dyer asked.

"Well, I’m not as good as your little pal Serge there, but I’m an ok mechanic. I could help you with that. If you wanted."

"So you want to be part of our team?"

"Very much so," he said, nodding.
"Where did you come up with that name?," Dyer asked. "Team Horizon?"

"When we were naming ourselves Team Twilight. I loved it, but only Peters agreed with me. So we went with that."

"So how about it, guys?," Dyer asked her two friends. They nodded. "Ok, we have a name and a partial team. What station did you work at on Twilight?"

"I monitored the ship. Teal had the captain’s spot, so I guess you’d get that. Which one of them does weapons?," he asked, referring to Ardie and Quin.

"Ardie. She’s the best marksman- woman, sorry, that I’ve ever seen," Dyer told him.

"Well I hope you have another one," Serge said. "This cruiser has two weapons panels. One person can’t run both of them. And you’ll need two people up front, like in your grandmother’s."

"Let’s see," Dyer said, tapping her chin as she thought. "Can the ship’s monitor be used in the front panel, by the screen?"

"Yes."

"Well, if I sit in the main pilot’s seat, we have Adrie and Quin on weapons, and August up front. But I still want someone up front with August."

"I’ll do it," Terren said. "I can do the front panel."

"And I can run all the panels that run along the back of the deck," Rusty said.

"Um, don’t you guys have jobs?"

"Yeah, but people leave all the time without telling anybody. Mil will tell them we left."

"Ok," she said, nodding. "I think we got it."

They all cheered, and then Mil left after good byes with his comrades and promises to keep in touch, and then Serge took Team Horizon (Hore-eye-zun, not Hor-ih-zan) to the cruiser. In his basement, he led them to a bar. There was a mirror against the wall behind the bar, and there were two book cases that held all sorts of bottles of liquor. Serge went to the right hand book case and tilted one of the bottles of liquor on the shelf after twisting it. The case swung outwards and the wall behind it rumbled back on an invisible track. They stepped into the dim hallway and the door rumble shut and lights came on, illuminating a long hallway. They walked down it, and finally came to a chamber. "The ship is under the large hill, farther down there," he said.

They finally got there, and Dyer was instantly pleased. The ship was perfect. A large, discus shape, it had little satellites and laser cannons and photon bomb holders and everything. They walked up the ramp, and she was immediately as pleased with the inside as she was the outside. It was very well lit and looked as sturdy as it was. The deck, towards the top of the ship, was wide, so they wouldn’t get crowded. Dyer sat at the computer and put in several things while the others looked around. She provided a manual access code so the others didn’t have to have the card, and she put in all their information, too.

 After she was done, she explored the ship, too. There were eight quartering rooms, one kitchen, a mess area, three bathrooms, and all kinds of other rooms that would be on a cruiser. There were so many weapons on there that all Dyer did was get the basics on them and leave the complicated stuff to Quin and Ardie.

After they had all explored, it was time to go shopping. Terren and Rusty went with Serge and August since Mil had the security cruiser, and Ardie, Dyer and Quin rode in a borrowed cruiser. The two girls split from the group and went to do their own shopping, agreeing to meet the guys later for a late lunch.

They bought cargo pants of all colors, wear resistant shirts of all colors, and plenty of patches with the ROD symbol on them.

After they were all done, they left to go hand weapons shopping. Dyer had left her holster belts at home today. She wore black cargoes and a black t shirt, hair just down. Her belts were also black, crossing each other on her lower abdomen. She had a knife in a special holster that was clipped to the back inside of her waist band. She also had a small knife in the inside of her combat boot. Ardie carried their guns in a chest holster.

They walked into a dark looking weapons shop. They were the only ones in there. The man at the counter snickered at them and came over. "Can I help you, ladies?," he asked, emphasizing the last word. A couple of the men in the shop laughed, and then turned back to whatever they were doing.

"Yeah, actually maybe you could," Dyer said, crossing her arms and tilting her head to the side. "I sort of wore out the trigger on my R101 9 millimeter and I was wondering if you kept the spring loader for it in stock."

The shop grew quiet. All the men were watching now. The R101 guns were not only the most illegal (by decree of the Dominion) guns around but also one of the deadliest. "Let me see the gun. I’ll need to see it fire," the shop keeper said after getting over his initial shock.

"Ardie?," she said, holding out one of her hands. The gun was immediately there. Suddenly Dyer was standing up straight and facing sideways and then suddenly she was firing at a target on the wall. It was blown to bits. Pieces flew into the air as Dyer pumped three shots into it. Dead center. Hardly aiming. This happened in less than ten seconds.

Dead silence. Then, "It just seems to take so long for that spring to catch," Dyer said, shaking her head.

She uncocked the fourth shot and looked at the store owner. "Well?"

"You know, I think we just got some parts for that type of pistol today," he said. He walked behind the counter and pulled out a box. Dyer went over and they began poring over it.

Ardie was looking at a dagger display when she felt somebody watching her. She turned, and there was a young man standing there, leaning against a table. "You know, a girl like you looks like she could use one of these," he said, picking up what appeared to be a sawed off shot gun. Over at the counter, Dyer held up her hand to pause what the store owner was saying, watching what was going on. "A brand new, L5961 laser cannon. For a hundred and fifty dollars."

"Actually," Ardie said, pulling herself up to her not-so-tall height of 5’5", "That’s a brand new L5959, fake wood paneling, smooth inside barrel, cheaply made and guaranteed to either jam, backfire or just simply blow up on its third use. No thank you."

She turned and stalked over to a holster display, head high. Dyer smiled. No one she knew could match Ardie’s talent and ability of telling what kind of weapon a person had just by looking at it. She turned back to the man, who was also staring at Ardie. He looked at Dyer, then to her friend, and then back at Dyer. "You two aren’t like the other girls that come in here, are you?"

"Very good," Dyer replied, nodding. "We don’t want cheap little self defense stun guns or sprays or security calls."

The man nodded and closed the box that he had. He pulled out another box. This one was made of heavy steel and had a lock on it. When he opened it, three small shelves slid up to uncover the bottom. "These are the higest quality springs, locks, and replacements that you can get for a R101. They last longer and endure heavier wear."

"Hey Ardie, come see," Dyer said, picking up a trigger spring and looking at it. Ardie walked over to her and examined it with her.

"That’s a newer style," she said, almost to herself, taking it from Dyer’s fingers. "It’s made of some sort of special material... I would get a full spring and lock set for the trigger, because with the quality and preformance that this would have in your gun, it’d wear out your lock fast."

"Ok," Dyer said, nodding. She put her R101 on the counter, pulled out her all-in-one tool, and in a few moments the R101’s trigger panel was open. She replaced the spring and lock device carefully, giving Ardie the old one to hold. When she was done, she dry fired it at a wall, nodded, cocked the gun, and blasted another target to the same condition that the first one was in, only it took one shot instead of three. She nodded again. "Perfect. Give me three more of those sets."

So they paid for their things. As they were at the counter, Dyer said casually, "I think we had better leave as soon as we can."

"Leave where? The shop?"

"No, the planet," Dyer replied, studying her nails. "That guy over there, by the knife display. He’s been watching us ever since we came in. I think he may be Dominion."

Ardie nodded. She knew that they had at least a day, because if the man was a Dominion spy, he would have to report back, and then the Dominion would have to get clearance from the planet’s capitol to put men on the planet, and they knew that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

After they were done all their shopping, they met the guys for lunch and Ardie told them about the shop, and then the man who had been watching them.

"I agree," Serge said. "I can have the ship up and running by tonight if we leave now."

They all agreed and finished eating. Back at the house, Serge immediately went to work on Team Horizon’s ship. Dyer came in and out every so often to bring him drinks and help out a little.

Then she, along with the rest of them, began carrying their clothes and other possessions to their quarters on the cruiser. August and Terren left to go to Terren’s apartment to get the rest of his things, and Quin and Rusty began bringing up the ship’s computer’s on Serge’s request.

Finally, that night, at 7:34 pm, the ship was ready to go. The people that were going to be riding in it, however, were not as ready.

Well, one of them was not ready, anyway.

They couldn’t find Dyer.

Ardie finally found her laying by a stream back behind Serge’s house in his massive backyard. "Dyer? Are you ok?"

"Yeah. This is just the last time I’m going to be able to really relax on a planet, be with the nature and all that mushy stuff. I’m just saying good bye."

Ardie sat beside her. For the next ten minutes they sat in silence, listening to the night birds and the insects and the water and the trees and anything else that created a sound that wasn’t mechanical.

Finally Dyer stood, and the two friends linked arms and walked back to the house.

"Ready?," Quin asked, and she nodded. They boarded the ship. Dyer sat in her captain seat, excitement building up. This was the first time she had ever had an entire cruiser that belonged to her. Ardie and Quin were behind her at her left and right sides, standing at the weapons panels. Terren and August took their places at the front stations, and August turned the screen on. All they saw was blackness, and Dyer laughed. "I hope Serge put lights on this thing."

They came on, and showed a rock wall. The measurement numbers at the bottom of the screen told them it was fifty yards away.

Rusty stood at the back of the ship, where the panels ran along most of the back wall. "I hope I can handle all of these things," he said.

"Don’t worry, if you can’t, we can always get another person on here to help us out," Dyer said.

"Prepare to launch," Serge’s voice came through to them. He had a permanent comm link to the ship on the planet. He was in a launch room, powering up the control board in front of him. "Remember, Dyer, if you ever need any help, the M-ROD’s are always willing to help."

"Thank you Serge," Dyer said. The rock wall in front of them split and the two doors rumbled back. The whine of the engines powering up was heard, and the ship began to tremble. This was its first lauch. Dyer, as well as everybody else, took a deep breath, and the ship lifted off. Dyer guided it out and to the dark night sky. They leapt forward and were through the atmosphere and approaching outerspace with in seconds.

"And they’re off," Serge said softly, watching the lights of Team Horizon’s ship disappear.

"Dyer, this is a great restaurant," Ardie said. Her eyes sparkled as she surveyed the other customers.

"The best on the planet," Dyer said, drinking from her wine glass.

"You two look great tonight," Quin said. And they did. Dyer was wearing a black flare dress that went down to her knees. It had wide straps and a fitted waist. Ardie wore a long green glitter gown that had a sheer top layer and a solid second layer. It reached her ankles and had no sleeves.

Quin, Rusty and August all wore suits. Terren wasn’t with them.

The five of them were seated at a large, round table. The waiter held out the girls’ chairs for them. The table had a candle burning on it, linen napkins, real crystal wine glasses, and everything else a fancy restaurant would have. "So how did you pick this one out?," Quin asked.

"Oh, I looked it up on the net. I figured we ought to spoil ourselves a little now and then."

"But isn’t this a Dominion owned planet?," August asked, brown creased as he took a drink.

"Well, technically, yes," Dyer said. "But ROD’s thrive in this restaurant," she said. "They own and operate it, so... I guess we’ll be ok. That’s another reason that I picked it."

The rest of them nodded. They studied the menus, ordered, and chatted about various things until the appetizers came. They were halfway through the main course when Terren watched five men in black tuxedos come in. They swept the room with their gaze and saw the five of them sitting there. Then the waiter showed them to a table. He swallowed the bite he had been chewing on and muttered, "Guys, it’s on."

They all stopped talking and looked at each other. Then they continued to eat and laugh, and then Ardie picked up her purse and stood up. She tapped Dyer’s shoulder.

Dyer took her evening bag and they left the table, after saying they’d be back shortly.

But after five minutes, they weren’t. Quin glanced at his watch. Seven minutes, they were still gone. "I’ll be right back," he said, standing up and leaving the room in the direction that the girls had gone. Five more minutes passed. Rusty called the waiter over. "Is there a phone around here?," he asked.

"Right this way," the waiter said, and he led him towards the entrance where the host stood at a tall wooden podium. They passed him and disappeared around a corner. August sat at the table, looking very nervous. Then men watched him with interest, casting knowing glances at each other. He got up and walked towards the bathrooms after checking his watch uneasily several times.

Two men got up to follow him.

In the hall by the bathroom, Quin was waiting. "Rusty’s gone out the front."

He nodded. Dyer came out of the bathroom. "Good, you’re here. I talked to the maiter’d. He said we can go through the kitchen."

Just as they were going in, a voice yelled, "Stop!!"

The two men were coming. One of them drew a gun and aimed.

They ran, and shots were fired. They hit the wood around the two swinging metal doors. Dyer hitched up her skirt and pulled a pistol from her thigh holster. She returned fire, hitting one man in the arm, and they ran through the kitchen.

"The delivery doors!!," she yelled, and they burst out, the doors swinging. A car skidded to a halt beside them, the doors popping open. The waiter who led Rusty to the telephones was driving.

"Let’s go," he said. They all jumped in. They heard sirens. Three cars, all Dominion marked with sirens going, came screeching around the corner. The waiter slammed his foot down on the accelerator and the car shot forward, the doors slamming shut.

The car sped out of the lot, and the three in hot pursuit. "Damn!," Dyer said, slamming her fist down on the seat. "Can’t even have one decent night," she said.

"Do they still think we have the prototype?," the watier asked.

"Yeah," Dyer said, looking out the back window as the waiter directed the car onto a fairly busy highway. "You can take that off now, Terren."

"Thank God," the waiter said, pulling off his face. "I thought I was going to suffocate in there."

Terren threw the mask into the back seat.

"Oh why did we ever agree to do this?," Ardie moaned, watching as they weaved through traffic, trying to get away from their pursuers.

"Because it was the only way to get Ciaran off the planet safely with the prototype."

"I still can’t believe we’re helping that jerk’s grandkid," August said sullenly from the front passenger seat, staring at the passing cars and the cars they passed, his face illuminated by the headlights. Quin, who was sitting next to him, rolled his eyes.

"What exactly is it that you have against him, Aug?," Dyer asked.

"He tried to separate Grasf from your grandmother so he could get a shot at her," he said.

Dyer shrugged. "Remember, we get paid mucho money for this, and that guy is Ciaran III, his grandkid, not the one you dealt with."

She looked out the back window. she sat up straight. "Wait guys, I only see two of them."

"Two? There were three before," Rusty said, peering out the back window. Many cars were purposefully getting in the way of the two cruisers, but they were managing to keep them in their sight.

"Well there’s not anymore," Dyer said. She grabbed the diamond necklace she was wearing and spoke to the mike inside it. "Adin, where is he?"

Terren touched his ear piece, listening to the voice speaking to him on the other end of the line. "They’re on an access road that runs along this one. They’re going to block off the exit we need to get to the runway."

Dyer cursed and hit the seat. "We need a flat stretch of road. She pointed to the nearest exit in sight. "There aren’t many cars going on that exit. I want you to take it, but don’t make it obvious."

"Ok. Hold on guys," Terren warned. As they approached the exit, one of the cruisers was behind them, and Terren accelerated. Suddenly he jerked the wheel to the right and the air car swerved, almost fish tailing, into the exit lane. The Dominion Police cars were caught by surprise had no chance of following them. The exit lane changed into a ramp and went over the access road, and they saw the third cruiser, lights still blazing and siren still shrieking, heading for the exit they were supposed to have come off of.

"This was a great plan," Ardie said, sitting back, content that they had lost the Dominion. "Making it look like we’re going to have dinner but actually we’re planning a get away." She laughed. "It ought to take the Dominion for a spin when they realize that the prototype we hid in the hotel room isn’t the real one. That’s probably the next place we’re going."

"And even if we were going to the hotel, it wouldn’t matter, because the runway and the hotel are both off of the same exit, so if we had taken that exit, they most likely wouldn’t have suspected. Do we have enough room here, Terren?," Dyer asked., leaning up between the seats and looking out at the road ahead of them.

"Just barely," he replied.

"Do it," she said, and he nodded. He hit a button on the console, and the car suddenly tilted back, nose in the air, and it started to launch itself.

"Terren look out!!!!," Quin shouted, grabbing the dash. A car was crossing an intersection in front of them. Terren hit the launch button. The car’s thrusters roared to life and they pushed the car up and over the air car, missing it by mere inches.

Team Horizon slapped hands and cheered. Another job well done.

Team Horizon’s ship was waiting just beyond the atmosphere. Terren set it on auto pilot and they transferred aboard, letting the air cruiser pod sail in into space. In a half an hour it would self-destruct. They ran from the transport room to the deck. Dyer ran to the person standing in the middle of the floor, in front of Dyer’s seat but behind the two front stations, and gave them a huge hug. "Go Adin!"

He stared at the screen, not moving, not smiling, nothing.

Terren slapped him on the back. "Yo, Adin, that was great, huh?"

He nodded. It had been Adin’s idea to trick the Dominion thugs into thinking that the five teamies were out for a good dinner. He even created the fake prototype, with Rusty’s help, and then he was the one who told them where the third Dominion cruiser was. "Having a secret member makes everything so much easier," Dyer said, letting her hair down and standing on her chair, facing the back of the deck, leaning on the weapons station that ran most of the middle of the deck behind her. She glanced at him. "I’m glad we found you."

He nodded, then turned and walked to the airavator. They listened to the whine of the airavator’s engine, and Dyer leaned her head against her arm. "Guy sure is a party pooper," she said. "If he wasn’t such a smart person I’d probably kick him off the team."

They all sat in silence, and Dyer frowned. "Guys, what are we so upset over here? We just foiled the Dominion, Ciaran III is safely tucked away within the ROD’s protection and we’re getting paid for a job well done!"

Everybody cheered, but the mood wasn’t as cheerful as it had been before. They set a course for Ciaran’s planet, Telhew, and then they all went to bed, except for Rusty, who was to remain on deck for his watch, and then he would leave when Dyer got there for hers.

Dyer was last off of the deck, and she stopped at the main room, which was basically a mix between a living room, a game room and a meeting room. No one was in there, and she turned the lights off.

As she went down the hall to her quarters, she stopped outside Adin’s room. For a reason she couldn’t explain, she knocked. She heard the buzzer inside, and the doors slid open.

Adin sat in the middle of the floor, staring out the windows. The room was bare. Each of the person’s quarter’s had a living room, and it branched off into a small kitchenette, a bathroom and a bedroom. He had no furniture in his living room.

"Yes?," he asked, not turning to see who it was.

"Um... I just came to see how you were doing."

"I’m doing fine, thank you."

Dyer wasn’t sure what to say. She shifted her weight to her other foot uneasily, scratching her leg. "Well, you didn’t seem to happy that we won."

"Oh, but I was," Adin said, standing. He faced her.

"Well, no one else thought you were."

"My people don’t spend too much time on showing emotions."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Does it offend Team Horizon?"

"Well, not really, but it does bring us down a little."

"Destroys the mood?"

"Well... yeah."

"Don’t worry, Dyer, you won’t hurt my feelings by telling me what you and the team think."

"But I-"

" ‘Guy sure is a party pooper. If he wasn’t such a smart person I’d probably kick him off the team.’ "

"Adin, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that."

"But it’s true, isn’t it?"

"Well I-"

"Your team is used to lively expression and excitement. I don’t show or give any emotions, therefore I bring you down. Which brings me to the conclusion that I don’t belong on this team. So I will leave."

"Adin I never said-"

"You’re right, I did." He turned and went into his room. Dyer was shocked, still kind of standing in the middle of the room. He came out, carrying the same suitcase that he brought on. He walked past her and left the room. He was a fast walker, and he was already halfway down the hall to the transport room when she finally got out into the hall. She hit her teamie’s doors as she passed them, and by the time that she got to the transport room, the rest of them, excepting Rusty, were all trailing along behind her.

"We’re passing by the planet Gia. I have relatives who live there."

"Dyer what is he talking about?," Quin asked. Dyer opened her mouth to explain, but Adin cut her off.

"Here is a recording of our conversation, so you’ll know she is free of guilt," he said, handing a small recorder to Quin. "And here is the real prototype that Ciaran supposedly has," he added, handing a module to Dyer. "You might want to get this to him as soon as you can."

The transporter whined to life. "Thank you for the most interesting mission of my life. I wish you all well in the future." He kissed Dyer on the forehead. He turned and stood in the transporter area, and soon he was gone.

The next day they all groggily met in the meeting room. The ship was set on autopilot and was heading happily heading for Telhew.

"So the dude just decided to go, huh?," Quin said, tossing the recorder on the round table.

Dyer shrugged. "It’s not your fault, Dyer," Rusty said, rubbing her back. "He just decided that he didn’t belong here, that’s all."

"But why did her create two prototypes?," she asked. "And why wouldn’t he tell us?"

The real prototype was sitting in the middle of the table in its think rubber holder. Dyer leaned forward and pressed three of the four strange symbols, out of order, and the top of the container let out a hiss of air and rose up. The prototype chip was in the middle of the cylinder. The container was black and round with a flat bottom, the sides sloping up to the top, which was two inches in diameter. It was heavy and thick, made to sustain a hard ride. She pulled the glass cylinder from its holder and studied it, then put it back and pressed down on the top. It slowly closed and locked itself shut.

They all stared at it. "I guess we’ll wait until we’re on the planet to let Ciaran know that he has a dud."

They all nodded. The computer beeped. "Nearing the Telhew system," it said, and they all went to the deck, Dyer carrying the prototype container. She sat in her pilot chair and pressed a button. A panel on the arm of the seat slid open and she placed the container carefully inside. Planet Telhew’s Governor was Feol, Ciaran III’s great-great-grandfather, he had only wanted one planet to have to rule over. However, when his son inherited the position, he made treaties with many of the planets around, and they created a system of planets.

"There it is, same as I remember," August said, staring at Telhew, the center of the system. They were still a ways off, but they were getting closer very rapidly. They started powering down so they wouldn’t crash into the planet, and they docked right next to Ciaran III’s ship, which had gotten there three hours earlier.

The minute that they stepped off of the ramp, Ciaran ran to them, furious. "Where is the prototype?," he asked, his fists clenched, face red.

"Chill out, little dude," Dyer said, handing him the container. She told him what Adin had done and why they hadn’t contacted them. He calmed down and took the prototype.

"And you’re sure that this is the right one, right?"

"Yes. We tested it the minute that he left."

"Is your grandfather still alive?," August asked, and Ciaran nodded. He was their age, and he didn’t rule yet, his father still did. "Does he live here?"

Ciaran nodded again. "I’ll take you to him as soon as I give this to my father."

After he left, Dyer looked confused. "Wouldn’t Ciaran I have to die so Ciaran II could assume his position?"

"No, not here. After you pass a certain age, you can no longer be governer."

"And I guess he was my gramma’s age?"

"He is."

"Is, was, whatever."

Ciaran came back, and he led them to his grandfather’s quaters. The old man in the bed seemed in much better health than Teal had been, but he had also led a less stressful life and had more access to better technology than Teal did.

"Who are these people?," he asked. He was in a wheelchair, and he regarded them carefully. He didn’t recognize August.

"This is Team Horizon," Ciaran III told him.

"We’re the sequel to Team Twilight," Dyer said. The unknowing look remained on Ciaran I’s face. "It was lead by Teal Watkins."

The old man inhaled sharply, grasping the arms of his chair. "Teal?"

"Yes. And you may remember this man," Dyer added, motioning to August. "He was part of that team."

"Impossible," Ciaran I scoffed.

"Not really," August said. He told Ciaran how he had been preserved while they searched for a cure to the cancer that he had.

"Leave me this instant," the old man said, and August shrugged. They turned and left.

Back in the main hall of the planet, Ciaran II asked them, "Wasn’t there seven of you before? Dyer, Ardie, Rusty, Terren, Quin, August and some Aladdin guy?"

"No, Adin. He left. He decided he wasn’t meant for our team," Ardie said, shrugging.

"Where did you pick him up, anyway?"

"He saved Ardie from a prison on another planet a while ago. We took him in. But he left."

Ciaran nodded. "So you’re down to six now, huh?"

"For the time being," Dyer said. "No matter. We’ll find somebody."

Ciaran nodded. "I guess you’ll be wanting your money," he said.

"Well... yeah."

He led them to his office and brought out a chip. "Here you go. $100,000."

He gave her the chip and she put it in her money replicator. the amount flashed up on the screen and she removed the now worthless chip and handed it back.

"Thank you sir." He nodded.

"When will you be leaving?"

"As soon as I get back to the ship."

He nodded. "Well, I wish you luck, and I thank you again for helping me get my son home safely with the prototype."

She smiled. "Sure."

She left, and at the ship, there were minor touch ups being made, and Dyer said, "So guys, where to?"

"Well, we don’t have anywhere to go really, and Gargenia is right around the corner of the galaxy, so why don’t we go and visit Sergie babe? We haven’t seen him in ages," Ardie suggested.

Dyer smiled. "Sounds like a good plan. What do you guys think?," she asked, calling up to the boys, who were working on the outer hull of the ship. "Serge’s place?"

"Yeah!," they said, and after they were finished, they set off.