Alex led them back to where Tava had left Athena and wished them luck in their mission.  Tava nodded to the strange creature, extending similar sentiments and thanks for the return of her crew.  She couldn't quite bring herself to call Alex friend or foe.  But she doubted they would ever meet again.

She headed for the bridge first, hoping to get them back on their way.  She was a little surprised when she felt the engines thrumming beneath her feet, suggesting they were already on their way.  Then she smiled, the surprise melting away quickly.  Of course Jornea would want to fly.  It wasn't surprising at all.

The only question was, where were they going?

Tava stepped onto the bridge, casting a contemplative look across the pilots back.  She was still quieter than usual, but she was beginning to move with her typical enthusiasm again.  She glanced over her shoulder as Tava sat back in the Captains chair.

"Skelly gave us a heading."

Tava frowned.  Kartk's gaze snapped across the bridge towards the pilot, incredulousness seeping into his tone.  "You're going to follow the collecting maniac's instructions?!"

Jornea shrugged, her gaze turning back to switch between out the front shield and the Nav computer as she got them moving.  "I will when they demonstrate precognition and tells me where I can find a lead on finding Tava's husband."

Tava sat straight in her seat, excitement and worry slamming to the forefront of her heart.  "Where is he?!  Is he alright?!"

A soft smile crossed Jornea's face, fast enough Tava thought she might have imagined the wistfulness.  "Sorry.  We're just going to have to see when we get there."

It only took them five days to reach the orbiting space station.  Tava thought it looked like a prison.  Which made sense.  She just hoped her husband wasn't being treated like a criminal for her own actions.

Quorra quickly did a couple scans and started rattling off information.  "Roughly forty individuals.  Most of them in cells.  Looks like a three to one ratio of prisoner to guard.  Their defenses are all facing inward.  They expect trouble on the inside of the station rather than the outside.  It should be an easy breach, and as long as we keep the cells closed, we'll only have to deal with the guards.  Unless you'd like to open up all the cells as distraction, but may I remind you that signing on thirty people of questionable morals might not be the best idea."

Tava frowned.  Quorra had a point.  She couldn't very well dangle a way out of captivity under all those peoples noses and not expect them to want a ride.  And she doubted she'd have the time to psyche eval all of them before someone showed up and realized there was a problem.

"Jornea, dock us up.  Quorra.  Can you disable any distress calls before they go out?"

Quorra nodded.

"Good.  Kartk, let's go."  He quickly got to his feet and turned over the gunner station to Quorra.  Tava hesitated, eyeing Jornea carefully.  "Feel up to some excitement?"

Jornea grinned, the first genuine spark of her old self Tava had seen in a few days.  Tava chuckled a little, glad to see it.

"Call up Kit.  We'll be heading out in five minutes."

Jornea quickly opened up a com line to the engine room to call Kit, then hurried after them.  Kartk finished settling his weapons across his back and rolled his shoulders.  As war parties went, this one was a little sparse, but Tava felt they more than made up for it in tenacity and insanity.

Kit met them at the hatch and they quickly went sliding through.  Tava smirked at the three guards that had come to see who had come to visit.  She wondered how many unscheduled ships they got here, considering all three were wary, but not nervous.  This could turn out to be easier than she had first thought, especially since they didn't immediately recognize her as a wanted fugitive.

Maybe it was the lack of eyepatch.

Tava clicked her heels together and drew herself up in old habit, slipping into her commanding officer mentality.  The three guards immediately recognized the stance, as well as her Militia issue jacket, and snapped to attention.  One of them stepped forward, taking charge.

"Ma'am.  May I see your credentials?"

Tava eyed him.  "No.  This visit is of the utmost security.  As far as anyone else is to know, I was never here."

The guard blinked in surprise, going a little confused.  "Then, why are you here?  If you don't mind me asking."

Tava gave him a considering look, as if she were judging how far up the pecking order he was and how much he could be trusted with.  Finally, lips pressed together, she stepped forward and lowered her voice, as if she were imparting some sensitive secret.

"I am here to collect a man by the name of Matthias Garrison.  He is, or was, an ambassador for the Allied Council member of commerce.  I was told he could be found here.  Or at least, I could pick up his trail here."

The guard blinked in surprise, then relaxed.  "Ah.  So you're the one who's to pick him up.  General Hask sent us orders to turn him over to the detail that would collect him.  We were told you would show up yesterday."

A tight coil of nerves loosened in her gut, allowing a tiny ray of hope through.  She had to take a deep breath before remembering she was in the middle of a charade.  "Yes.  We ran into some trouble with pirates along the way.  Not to mention the planet sized ship that crossed our path."

The guard raised a brow in interest as he turned to lead them down the hall.  "Planet sized ship?  Sounds like an interesting story."

"It was.  I'd love to tell it to you, but I'm afraid I'm in a hurry to get back on track."

"Understandable."

They followed the three guards to a central hub, where they were turned over to the woman in charge of the facility.  The guard quickly filled her in and then the three left to return to their duties.  The woman eyed them as she was pulled away from her routine, bending to give the technician she had been working with a final instruction.  Then she straightened up and smiled as she strode across the control room to them.  She stuck out a hand.

"Major Aanga.  We've been expecting you."  The Kaldorian woman tempered her grip so she wouldn't crush Tava's hand.  The four armed species was well known for their strength.  Light blue eyes with pure white irises studied Tava from a blackened face.  The skin tone was darker than usual, indicating the Major had been born in space.

Tava nodded as she shook with the woman.  "Yes, I heard General Hask has already cleared our mission with you.  If you don't mind, I'll take the ambassador aboard and we'll be out of your way."

Major Aanga chuckled.  "I'm sure you will."  One of the techs called her and her smile faded as she turned to deal with it.  "What is it?"

"We appear to be having a malfunction in our communications array."

"Again?!"  The Major sighed, turning an apologetic look towards Tava.  "Something went wrong on Canddes.  It's been wreaking havoc with all our communication systems while they try to get it fixed.  I only got our orders on the ambassador through a mercenary group coming in to drop off a bounty they had collected."

She shook her head, one set of hands clasping behind her back while the other reached over the tech's shoulder to point out a possible solution to the problem.  "Mr. Hlesh.  Please escort our guest to cell B14.  The other three can stay here until your return."

Tava stood back as a young man got to his feet, allowing him past her.  She shot Kartk a look when he scowled at her.  His paranoia was obviously acting up again.  She had to admit, this was going extremely well.  Almost too well.  But she had to run with it as far as she could.

Kartk stiffly stood down, but there was a recognized 'be careful' between them as Tava left with the young man.  She followed him to cell block B and then felt the ever increasing anticipation as she counted cell doors, one to fourteen.

Mr. Hlesh pulled out a keycard as they approached door fourteen and swiped it across the pad before pressing his thumb against it.  It read his print and turned green before the locks clunked and moved in the door.  He reached over to open it and stood back to allow Tava through first.

Squinting into the darkness, she hesitated in the doorway.  Kartk's paranoia was infectious.  Or else it was her own, telling her their luck never went this well.  There was always some catch.

Tava sucked in a breath of surprise when she was suddenly shoved inside.  The door slammed shut behind her before she could regain her feet and she heard the locks slamming into place.  Cold betrayal crept in, taunting her as she roared in anger and rammed the door with her shoulder.  Her prosthetic fist slammed against the door next, leaving a sizable divot, but not providing any hope that she would be able to break the door down.

With a deep breath to steady herself, she looked around the empty cell and wondered how long she would be here.