The boat crashed into the shore, Xan glaring at his commpad.

“Erin.”

“Yeah. I just felt it.” The weasel cursed. “We’re too late.”

Xan growled. That spider. That friggin’ spider. The icon which had once been flashing with Sasha’s signals had suddenly vanished. As did any trace of her presence if Erin was to be believed. Xan smashed a fist into the boat. Dangit. Why her? Why did it have to be her? Of all the people in the galaxy they could have run into, they just had to run into the biggest scum in AIC territory.

Erin fell in the sand, pounding the ground. For once, Xan tried to reassure him.

“Erin.”

“I shouldn’t have left her alone,” the weasel said. “Sweet whiskers. They’re probably torturing her as we speak. That evil little…Gah!”

He raised his wand, a jet of water flying out and smashing through the rundown pier ahead. As the wood chips scattered across the beach, the weasel shrunk, the weapon falling right out of his hands.

Xan frowned at his companion.

“Erin,” he said. “Just because she’s caught doesn’t mean she’s dead.”

The weasel shot him a look.

“You would be the expert on that, wouldn’t you?” He rose, ears standing straight. “Did you know she was coming? Did you?”

“Why the heck would I know that?”

“You were the one flying the ship. You told us you heard about pirates. Don't think I forgot. Mercury warned you. You were the one she should have been after.”

The weasel was punctuating his words with a finger jabbed into Xan’s chest. An act which the panda responded with a hard shove, sending his fellow liaison careening backward.

“I’m not a psychic, weasel,” he growled. “How was I supposed to know Dyré was coming? Not like she announced herself or anything.”

Erin hopped to his feet. “So you don’t deny it then?”

“I do deny it! Cripes! What you wanna hear all about how I messed up, huh? I dropped the ball! It’s all my fault! Should have prepared! You happy now?”

“No! Because while you’re throwing a complaint party, Sasha’s probably over there getting tortured! Our graduate!”

“Don’t you think I know that you stupid bast-”

A whistle cut through the sounds of their argument. They both jerked in its direction.

Atop the broken remains of the pier, Xan spotted a woman in a black and yellow body suit. Her eyes shifted, one twisting to look at him while the other landed on Xan. They both narrowed like camera lenses, glass-like skin rattling from the movement.

“You two are very loud,” the woman said, a hand on her hip.

Xan instantly recognized her by voice. That slightly pitched tone had never fit the pink hexigian’s appearance as far as he was concerned.

“Commander Saturn,” Erin said.

Xan spat. “Heck are you doin’ here?”

She smiled, the ridges of her skin rising. “Hopefully making your day, fluff butt.”

She climbed down from the pier, albeit in her usual floundering way. Despite having near 360-degree vision, the lady was always stumbling somewhere. She fumbled her way through the sand, coming to a halt between them and straightening up like nothing happened.

“Ahem,” she said. “Did I hear correctly? I detected the name Dyré being thrown around.”

Xan glared at her. “What’s it to you?”

“Don’t be stingy, Xan.” Both eyes twisted to Erin. “What’s say you, General?”

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The weasel snorted. “I’m not a general. Not anymore.”

Saturn’s tongue clicked. “But you’re still in charge as far I’m aware.” One eye twisted to Xan despite her voice still on Erin. “Is it true? Dyré is in the neighborhood?”

Xan narrowed at the woman. Given that the spider had shown up, it shouldn’t have come as much of a shock her number one fan wouldn't be far behind. No one else in the AIC was as obsessed with tailing the woman like Saturn. More than once she’d tried to get Xan’s assistance with her capture.

“Yes,” Erin finally said. “We believe she’s kidnapped our graduate.”

Saturn’s tongue clicked again. Her skin switched in color, going from a soft pink to bright green as her smile grew. A hexigian trait. As the saying went, nobody else was more honest in the universe. Saturn’s gaze rose to the sky.

“Okay,” she said. “Good to know you guys aren’t trying to keep secrets.”

Xan raised a brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Her skin changed to yellow. “It means I can trust you. You never know these days. Especially with all the legionnaires around.”

She reached into her suit, coming out with a superflat commpad. She clicked the side, the circular disk producing a miniaturized map of the cosmos. Both liaisons were immediately drawn to the icon flashing near a far-off galaxy.

“What’s this?” Erin asked.

“My contribution,” Saturn said. “I may have already known Dyré was in the area. And I may have used this opportunity to put a tracker on her.”

“So you are still hunting her, huh?” Xan asked.

Saturn’s skin turned dark red. “And I won’t stop until she’s in custody. Or dead.” It changed back to pink. “Which is why I’m glad to hear you two are having trouble with her as well. Sounds to me like old Saturn just became your pink angel.”

Xan and Erin both exchanged glances.

Saturn was always a straight shooter. A former cop turned soldier for the AIC. She’d almost arrested him several times while he’d been…under the spider. Xan put a hand on Sledge, his nerves forced back down. Just stay calm, Xan. That’s not you anymore. He let out a small breath.

“If you two are done arguing,” Saturn continued, “it would be nice to get your help. That demon’s in possession of AIC property, and I’d like to get it back. You are still interested in getting the kid back, aren’t you?”

Xan growled. “Of course we are.”

Her skin changed to green. “Good. Because I already blew my cover trying to plant this thing.”

Saturn shut down the map, switching over to a homing application. The sounds of an engine drifted in from afar. Xan looked up to see a pink hovercraft falling from the sky. It landed with a low rumble directly behind Saturn, doors opening automatically.

“We’re gonna want to hurry,” she said. “I put the tracker in the kid’s commpad.”

“How’d you manage that?” Xan asked.

“I may have been trailing them a bit.”

“What?” Erin snapped. “You mean you were there? You saw her!”

“Yeah, but-”

“Then why didn’t you help her?” His eyes flashed. “D-did you use Sasha as bait?”

Saturn didn’t respond. Her eyes moved in opposite directions, neither looking at them. Erin took a step towards her, but Xan stopped him with a hand. The weasel glared up at him but didn’t do much beyond that. All the same, he wasn’t the only one who was curious.

“Saturn? Something you’d like to share?”

Her tongue clicked. “You know I suck in a fight, Xan. And she wasn’t alone.” Both eyes fell to the ground. "There was someone else with her. Someone you really don’t want to make an enemy out of. I barely managed to get my men in place. They were all scared out of their minds. If she wanted she could have...”

“So you let the kid take the fall instead?”

“I did what I had to do, Xan! I’m not proud of it, but I only got this chance because the kid was there.” Her gaze shifted to the both of them. “I swear to you, if there had been another way, I wouldn’t have let her go.”

Erin hissed at that response. Xan himself didn’t know whether to be angry. If anything, he felt slightly relieved.

Her methods were terrible, sure, but she was holding the only trace they had of the kid. Not just her, but the entire group of pirates. And that spider. As much as Xan could understand Erin’s rage, he wasn’t sure his choice would have been much different in the hexigian’s shoes.

No. He knew it wouldn’t have. Not if stopping the kidnapping meant letting Dyré run free. Again.

“Hate me if you wish,” Saturn said, “but if you want your friend back, you’ll need my help.”

She gestured to the hovercar, the engine humming with activity.

Though Xan was against helping Saturn on principal, he still squeezed his way into the backseat, the whole car shifting with his weight. If the spider had Sasha, he knew he couldn’t afford to look the other way. Not again. He shot Erin a look, the weasel still glaring at Saturn.

“General?” she asked.

Erin stared at Saturn for a long time. So long that the woman went from pink to deep blue. She instantly turned green when the weasel grabbed his wand and made his way to the passenger’s seat. He didn’t say a word, strapping in and giving her an impatient snort. She smiled anyway, quickly fumbling into the car.

The doors all shut automatically.

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll alert my men, then. Let’s go catch us a spider!”

The engine roared, hovercar turning and gliding off towards who knew where. Xan sat back, pulling out Sledge and letting the warhammer rest in his lap. Her firm weight made it easier to ignore the beating in his chest. Or the red eyes of the spider flashing through his mind.

Steady, Xan. Stay steady.

The words barely helped.