According to Madame Dyre, it would be a day's journey through warp space to reach Alexander. That left plenty of time for both Sasha and Iris to settle in. Both of which were moved to Madame Dyre's chambers since the panther's old room had since been occupied.

Sasha stared out at the garden, watching the drones tend to the many flowering hedges. Their lasers cut the leaves down to size while sprinkler appendages kept them watered. Seeing how they all worked together, made a pit rise in Sasha's stomach. She turned away, deciding to use Cici as a distraction.

“So how do you plan on explaining this to your liaisons?” Sasha asked. "Did you leave them a note or something?"

"Kinda defeats the purpose of sneaking out, Sash," the fox said, tossing a paper ball through the air.

She and Iris were both sprawled over the couch, the latter writing away in her latest journal. Since Madame Dyre had a ship to run, Gabriella was left to watch the three of them. Technically, at least. The human was reading comics on the bed the entire time.

"But I'm 95% sure they're gonna chew me out no matter what," Cici went on, "So I say we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"That never ends well," Iris said, which earned her a paper ball to the face. Or it would have it she hadn't dodged.

"Says the girl who went awol the first chance she got." Cici balled up another paper. "Seriously, Iris, did you even meet your liaisons?"

The wolf didn't respond. Of which Cici didn't take for an answer. She tossed another ball at her.

"Words, Sulky, Use 'em."

It managed to hit this time, the wolf glaring back at her. She snorted a response.

"I did. And they didn't make it."

Sasha took her eyes off the garden, even Gabriella looking up from her comics. Iris shifted.

"It's nothing. It's in the past, alright."

Though she said that, the wolf was a terrible liar. And Cici hated liars. She beamed her with another paper ball.

"Would you stop that!" Iris snapped.

"When you stop sulking all the time!"

Iris growled at her. One that was much less malice-filled than what Sasha remembered getting when they'd fought each other. Even as annoying as she could be, they both knew that was just Cici being Cici. Her expression softened as she moved into the wolf's field of vision, forcing her to look straight at her.

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"I figured you'd just ran away," she said. "You sure you're holding up alright, Iris?"

The wolf still looked agitated, but she relaxed slightly, letting out a sigh.

"Iris?" Sasha asked.

She sat back on the couch, finally giving a small nod.

"I'm alright, guys," Iris said. "Really. I've made peace with it."

She fixed a smile.

"But I appreciate the concern."

Cici continued to look her over, even glancing at both Sasha and Gabriella for clarification. The former nodded, knowing all too well that pushing Iris would end in another person getting punched in the face. Whatever Iris's problems were, she knew they'd hear about it whenever the wolf was ready. Cici smiled.

"Guess I'll take your word for it," she said. " Still as strong as ever, Sulky."

She slugged her lightly in the arm, which brought a more genuine smile out. After a while, the four were back to lounging in Madame Dyre's chambers.

***

By the time departure day came, Sasha was ready and eager to make a planetary drop. She, Iris, and Cici all gathered in the command center to watch the drop from warp space. Their destination this time was the planet Toudy.

"Alexander is settled in a mountainous region called Erret," Gabriella explained. "It's on the fringes of the planet directly between two active volcanos. So do us a favor and try not to get melted."

Iris raised her hand. "And what's the plan with Alexander, exactly?"

It was Madame Dyre who spoke up, the spider handing each of them helmets.

"To convince him to assist you three," she said. "Assuming you survive that long. Gabriella, should the worst happen, proceed with the original plan."

"Will do, ma'am."

She gave a salute, which made Sasha a bit uneasy, but she brushed it off as nothing. Surely getting Alexander on their side couldn't be that bad, right? Active volcanoes aside. She shoved her helmet on, the glass shrinking over her face.

Cripes. Guess I should look on the bright side. At least it's not another ice world.

Looking out the view window, Sasha could see the sheen of warp space peeling away, replaced instead with a stretch of black in all directions. Toudy hovered in the center, the red planet orbited by a large ring made up of several smaller rings.

"Making planetary decent," one of the pilots announced.

"All systems clear," said another. "Gravity readings at Class-G. Atmospherics at Venus-level."

The ship moved past the rings, clouds of dust and rock pelting the glass as they went further into Toudy. Madame Dyre pushed the graduate trio towards the exit hatch.

"Come along now. The sooner we deal with this the better."

Sasha glanced back as they cleared the storm, flying out into a world of rocks and fire. Lava flowing freely. Streams of gas billowing out from craters. Looking at it all, she felt her enthusiasm wane significantly. That was where they were going? That death trap?

Cripes. Who the heck lives in a place like this?

She looked to her friends, who all seemed to mirror her expression. Only Madame Dyre seemed unfazed by it all.