Samara had been sitting with the alien box for hours, waiting for inspiration to strike. Its failure to appear had left her frustrated and on edge.

How had it healed her? More importantly, why had it healed her? Was it some sort of medical device? Or was that merely a side effect to its true function? She didn’t know, but the more she played back those last few moments before losing consciousness, she had sensed no malice on its part. Unlike Xeno, she wasn’t afraid of it; in fact, strangely enough, she felt an odd kinship.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t still capable of murdering her in her sleep.

All she had were questions, and damn few answers to go with them. With a sigh she wrapped up the box in its protective cloth and secured it, before leaving the shuttle and returning to the ship. She’d come back to it later. Right now they had bigger issues to wrestle with.

Taking a seat at the table beside Xeno and Kalypso, Samara nodded as she saw Rook’s and Persephone’s monitors flicker to life. Gideon was unconscious, as usual, though she wondered just how long you could keep a human being sedated before there were serious side effects. The others hadn’t expressed concern as yet, so she deferred to their judgment.

“All right, now that we’re all here, let’s get to it,” she told the others. “Suggestions regarding our next target?”

“We should hit the Eleexx again,” Persephone said immediately. “Catch them while they’re still off guard.”

“Unfortunately, they’re not off guard,” Xeno informed her. “According to the data I have been able to glean,” he said, pointing to the metal box grafted to his skull, “the Eleexx have increased security throughout their territory. All visiting ships are subject to an exhaustive inspection before getting anywhere near a planet. Until their paranoia returns to more reasonable levels, it’s simply too great a risk.”

“I imagine the same holds true for the Aggaaddub, after our visit there,” Kalypso mused.

“Which leaves the Tu’udh’hizh’ak,” Samara answered, alluding to the last Troika member. “Hitting them won’t be easy.”

“None of our targets have been ‘easy’,” Xeno countered.

“Granted, but the Tu’udh’hizh’ak have a little something extra,” Samara grimaced. “Something we learned the hard way on our mission to Earth.”

The others stared at her. “What do you mean?” Xeno asked.

She sighed. “Long story short? They’re telepaths,” she explained. “Not only that, with their ability they can turn almost anyone into a sleeper agent. Just think what kind of havoc that would wreck.”

“Telepaths?” Persephone all but shouted.

“You are certain of this?” Rook asked, speaking up for the first time.

“I’m certain,” she replied. “They tried it on me. Luckily, I’m mostly immune to that sort of thing, but I’m an outlier. Don’t think you’ll be unaffected if you come face to face with one. The one thing we have in our favor is they rarely expose themselves; instead, they generally operate through their client race, the Chell, who aren’t telepaths.”

“With that ability... I take it the Chell are loyal?” Xeno queried.

“Completely,” she confirmed. “It’s a safe bet they’re conditioned to obey instantly and without question.”

“That puts a wrinkle on things,” Rook agreed. “Are you saying then we should look elsewhere for our next target?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “Xeno, do you think you can come up with some data to give us an idea what we might face?”

“I will look into the matter,” he nodded.

“In that case, I suggest we table the discussion for now, until we know more,” Samara proposed.

“I agree,” Persephone said from the monitor. “Until then, we find some nice quiet corner of the galaxy to hide out in.”

“Assuming there is such a place,” Samara sighed. “Okay, until we have a better handle on things, we’re on stand down. Meeting adjourned.” She stood up and headed for her cabin as the others did the same. Upon her arrival, however, she discovered Rook was already waiting for her.

“Forget something?” she asked.

“I felt we should keep this discussion private,” he said cryptically.

Samara rolled her eyes. “Whatever it is, the answer is ‘No’,” she fired back. “Now go away.”

“I’m afraid I’m not so easily dismissed,” he pointed out, “but I will come straight to the point. Just how long did you think you could conceal that rather odd device we seem to have acquired from me?”

She froze, then narrowed her eyes. “How?” she demanded.

“At least you are not attempting to deny its existence,” he said with no small amount of pride. “I’m honored.”

“Just answer the question,” she said somewhat tersely.

“Between you and your friend Xeno’s many visits to the shuttle, it became obvious something was there you did not wish me to know about,” he explained. “Once I made that determination, I sent one of my maintenance drones in with a camera. It did not take long to find the object in question.”

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“Wonderful,” Samara groaned. “And just how big an issue are you planning to make about this?”

“That depends,” the Avatar said thoughtfully. “What does it do? And where did it come from?”

“We took it from the marauders at Star’s End,” she sighed. “As for what it does, I don’t know.”

“You must have some suspicions,” he pressed. “It wouldn’t by chance have anything to do with the miraculous recovery you experienced on our last mission?”

“And just where did you hear about that?” she demanded.

Rook smiled. “Let us just say that not everyone aboard this ship is as careful about keeping such things quiet as you are.”

Samara pinched her nose. “All right, what do you want?”

“Full access,” he said immediately. “I want to know everything you know about the object. And I want to examine it myself, using my drones.”

Every cell in her body balked at that idea, though somehow, she kept that to herself. “I’ll think about it,” she shrugged.

“Think hard,” Rook told her. “Otherwise I may feel compelled to return this ship to Hishah and hand the device over to my superiors, not to mention filing a report that would not paint you and your friends in the best of lights.” He smiled at her. “I will give you one of your days to consider the matter, before requiring a decision.”

And with that, the monitor blinked off.

“Just fucking peachy,” she snarled as she spun on her heel and threw a punch at the bulkhead, doing far more damage to her knuckles than to the metal plating. What the hell was she going to do now? Once Rook started sniffing around the object, it was all over. He’d recognize instantly what a potential bonanza it was, as would his superiors, and if that happened all bets were off. Humanity needed that box, just like it needed every other advantage it could beg, borrow, or steal, if they were ever going to find and claim the Precursor world for their own.

Therefore, he couldn’t have it. Period.

How she was going to manage that little trick, however, eluded her.

----------------------------------------

“Your jailer is rapidly becoming more trouble than he is worth.”

Xeno gazed placidly at her as they sat once again in the shuttle’s cockpit. He had swept the area for listening devices before she’d told him the latest regarding Rook, and he’d found nothing, but that didn’t mean the Kikush Avatar wasn’t eavesdropping.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Samara sighed. “Unfortunately, tied into the ship’s systems like he is, I don’t see a way around him.”

“We could turn Gideon loose on him,” Xeno suggested.

“You remember what happened the last time we did that?” she asked. “Gideon wrecked so much of the ship we had to put in for repairs, which led to a whole new set of problems.”

“It also led us to that... whatever it is,” he countered, nodding at the box between them. “Though I’m uncertain whether that’s a plus or a minus.”

“A plus, definitely,” Samara decided. “I’m telling you, that box is the key to something greater. Don’t ask me how I know that, I just do.”

It wasn’t just the fact the device had somehow healed her when she’d been in danger of bleeding out for good. It was more than that. She felt a... connection to the strange alien box, one she couldn’t explain.

But that didn’t make it any less real.

“I take it, granting him access to the object in question is a non-starter?” he asked.

“It’s not my first choice,” she agreed.

“Then that leaves us in something of a quandary,” he shrugged. “We have no way of creating a fake that would pass muster, and if an outright refusal means a one-way trip to some alien gulag, what does that leave?”

“I know,” she snapped. She winced and dialed it back. “Sorry. This whole situation has me frustrated. I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

“It’s all right,” he smiled. “Though the question remains.”

“We can’t refuse his request,” she said quietly. “Not now, at least. Which means we’ll have to monitor him and make sure he learns nothing that can harm our cause.”

“A tall order,” Xeno observed. “And if he discovers something we wish he hadn’t?”

“Then we might not have any choice but to sic Gideon on him, despite the inherent danger,” she said at last. “Until then, however, we stall, we obfuscate, whatever it takes.”

He looked dubious, not that she blamed him. The plan was little more than crossing your fingers and hoping for the best, but at the moment it was all she had. Only there was an air of skepticism about him that seemed to go far beyond concern over a shaky plan. “Something else on your mind?” she probed.

Xeno seemed to debate answering until he accepted the fact she wouldn’t let him hide in silence. “Samara, perhaps we should consider giving the device to Rook,” he said at last. “I must be honest, that thing makes me uncomfortable. I was never able to learn anything about it, and yet somehow you accessed its... powers, for lack of a better term?” He shook his head. “We have no idea what it is, what it does, or what the long-term effects of using it are.”

Without realizing what she was doing, Samara pulled the object closer to her, protecting it. “Give it up? Are you mad?” She stared at him in disbelief. “This could be the key to unlocking everything, and you just want to give it away? What’s wrong with you?”

“Samara, listen to me,” Xeno answered, refusing to back down. “You may not realize it, but that device is affecting you. How, I do not know, but it’s obvious it has some kind of hold on you, and that worries me. Perhaps it can help the cause, I’m not denying that possibility, but there is an equally likely prospect that it won’t. We simply don’t know.” He leaned forward, forcing the issue. “But there’s one thing I know. I know I’m afraid of what that device may be doing to you.”

“This ‘device’, as you so eloquently put it, saved my life,” she countered. “I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I know I’d be dead if it hadn’t done...whatever it did,” she said with a wave of her hands. “How is that a bad thing? Why does saving my life suddenly have you acting like it’s a bigger threat than the Troika?”

He reached out and gripped her shoulders. “Samara, you and I both know, better than anyone, that nothing comes for free, and eventually this bill will come due. Perhaps it saved your life, but what does it want in return? Wasn’t one devil’s bargain enough for you, without giving away everything on another?”

“And what if it is?” she snarled, clutching it even tighter as she decided. “What if it is everything you fear it to be? If it helps us gain our freedom, if it aids humanity in finding a new home, then I’ll gladly pay the price, and call it a bargain. Tell me you wouldn’t do the same.”

“I have already had my full share of ‘bargains’, thank you,” he said quietly, leaning back in his chair. “Samara, promise me you won’t allow this thing to carry you away. Promise me you’ll take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror and see what it’s doing to you. What it’s done to you, already.”

“You sound like an old woman,” she sniffed. “We’re at war, remember? Five broken toys against the universe. Six, if you count Rook. And yet we still signed on for this death ride, knowing full well what was waiting for us at the end. Do you honestly believe for an instant that any of us are making it out of here alive?”

Even with his blindness, Xeno suddenly had difficulty facing her. She snorted in recognition of his tacit agreement. “As I suspected. You came here to die, just like I did. And as deaths go, going out in a blaze of glory against incredible odds isn’t a bad one. It’s better than what most get. So don’t question my choices, and I won’t question yours. Agreed?”

She could tell he vehemently wished to dis-agree but had little room to maneuver. “As you wish,” he said. “But I’m still your friend, and I’m still allowed to worry.” He smiled as he patted her knee.

“Yes, you are, she grinned in return, covering his hand with hers. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”