"You do realize, once we are on Ra's ship, we aren't leaving?" I ask Remus while buckling into my seat. I glance over to see him buckled with his sword resting across his lap.

"I knew you were leaving us the moment you said Ra called." He looks me in the eye. "What I struggle to understand is why you thought I wouldn't be accompanying you into potentially hostile territory." He smiles at me, the soft smile he usually reserves for particularly stupid newborns.

"They need you here."

"They have an armada at their backs and are being led by our most cunning strategist, and most of our people are safely out of reach on Mars. They don't need me." He rolls the sword across his lap like a baker rolling out bread. It's a nervous gesture he developed when we were young. "You, on the other hand, are venturing alone into the unknown."

"You think me incapable of taking care of myself?" I raise an eyebrow, daring him to call me inept.

"Yes!" I try to hide it, but I'm sure he can see the surprise in my eyes, "You are a peacetime leader, and while you can fight humans, you are woefully unprepared to fight against other vampires. Are you even armed?"

I turn to face the forward viewscreen, careful to keep my hands on my lap instead of crossing them over my chest. "I am as armed as I need to be." I can see him smile out of the corner of my eye. He knows he is right. I have a small dagger that I could use to defend myself from humans but would do very little if Ra became hostile. I am adept at medicine, not war.

He smiles, "I've been protecting you since before Rome coalesced into a city. I have no intention of abandoning you now."

I try not to smile, but the corners of my mouth tip up despite my best efforts. "Ready for an adventure?"

The pod docks with Ra's ship. "Always," he responds. Then he turns to the pilot, "Once we de-board, leave as quickly as you can. We don't want him getting a look at Martian technology."

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The pilot nods, "Understood. Docking will be complete in 3… 2… 1."

Remus and I are out before the door finishes opening. It starts closing the moment we are out. Neither of us moves away from the portal and toward our welcome committee until the pod had detached from the ship.

"Welcome," is the cold and understated greeting offered by the officer in front of us, "If you'll come with us, Ra is on the bridge."

Remus looks relaxed and harmless to anyone who doesn't know him well. But I can see how he holds himself ready for battle. He doesn't trust any of the people around us, and he keeps me in his defensive reach no matter how they try to separate us while we walk.

I look around the ship, metal and cold, so very different from the Martian ship we were just on. It seems old and run-down. There are occasional patches of rust, and if you look closely flakes of paint in corners that indicate this hall used to be painted instead of the exposed metal it now is. Electronic panels appear to still work, but some displays that might have been digital once are now printed pictures taped over screens.

As a fertility goddess, I can easily tell the age of those around us. No one is under 3000 years old. I didn't expect children or newborns to be on an intergalactic ship, but everyone here could almost be an elder in their own right, and there are far fewer of them than I would have expected. I glance back at Remus, he has noticed too. It puts him on edge. Young ones are easier to defend against, and he was counting on a certain percentage of younglings that simply aren't here.

We arrive on the bridge. The door opens smoothly but not silently like I would expect. Gears grind, and the door feels like it is slower than it might have once been. Ra stands on the bridge alone, moving from console to console as each needs attention. The door shuts behind us and all our guards seem to vanish, presumably back to their stations.

Ra doesn't stop working. "Hello Mother," he glances at us quickly without pausing his typing before moving to the next console, "and Remus. We will be jumping to hyperspace shortly, I recommend you buckle in."

"Before we do that," Remus interjects, "do you require more than us for assistance?"

Ra pauses and looks at us surprised. "Son, we can see that something is very wrong. If you need resources, anything, I'm sure we can help you…"

He turns back to the consoles, "I… I think you two should be enough…" he says softly. He sits in front of what is probably a navigation console and buckles himself in. We follow suit, then we are off.

Remus and I look at each other, troubled. This is much worse than we thought. Ra doesn't seem to be in a talking mood. What could have possibly happened?