A few hours later, Andrew wearily sat on a bench his eyes sunken with rings around them so dark they might be mistaken for goth makeup. Even his close-cropped hair seemed disheveled, and a weariness hung about him that seemed to weigh on anyone who could perceive him. It was clear to all that while his injuries seemed to have miraculously disappeared, he was much worse for whatever he had been through.

Captain Rostron looked at Andrew, his eyes showing an uncharacteristic concern, "Lather, are you alright?"

Andrew nodded.

"Lather, I gather you knew I was compelled and did not comply with my orders?"

Andrew again nodded, but also shakily whispered, “I told her more than I should have, but not as much as she would have liked, sir. I did find out some things. Like they are taking us to a human concentration camp where her race studies Humans. She also let slip, that I will be meeting a god soon after we arrive."

Andrew laid down on an empty section of bench and breathed out deeply as he closed his eyes.

"Lather, you cannot say this and sleep without telling" interjected Vladimir, in his broken English. It was worse than before as there were no Katas to translate his Russian, nor to help smooth out the edges of his struggles with English.

Andrew lifted his head a bit, his voice sounding more like a groan than an actual sentence, "Actually Nest, I can. As I've just spent the last few hours being tortured with some sort of Soul damaging magiiic?”, he drew out the last word as if he wasn't sure he even believed what he's saying. "So, as you might imagine I'm a bit exhausted and don’t have the time nor energy to elaborate until I’ve had some rest."

A tall lanky man with wavy hair, Andrew knew to be Alexander, almost distractedly said "Yeah, I’m sure it was ‘magic’, probably just some tech you couldn’t understand. Lather, regardless of what you might have been through, you know he has a point. You can’t drop bombs like ‘human concentration camp’ and ‘meet a god soon’ and then leave everyone waiting."

[Alexander Mendel, Primary Physicist and Astronomer, Sledovatel. (Would you like to know more?)]

In response, Andrew shrugged and laid back down, a slightly annoyed expression evident on his weary face.

Andrew's attempt at a nap was abruptly interrupted as he found himself hoisted off the bed by his collar. Vladimir's angry face was all too close to his.

"Listen, you treat like dream, we here because of you Lather. So, talk because this not dream." Vladimir the veins on his face pulsing with his anger.

Andrew, not bothering to remove Vlad's hands, and with an edge to his voice says, "Yeah Nest, I know more than any of you this isn't a dream. You're right, at first, I thought it had to be a dream, as I suspect you did too. I mean space elves and eye-beam-shooting space whales. No way that could be real. That was before the hours of ‘ununderstood tech’ soul torture and the realization that my wife, if she is not floating frozen in space, is likely on some alien planet getting much the same treatment or potentially much worse and has been for years." With a look of contemplation, his tone changed. The edge dropped away before he continued, "Alexander is right, that was a bit cruel of me. Honestly Nest, I don’t know much more than what I said. She tortured me with again something I’ll call magic. Then the tone changed after their captain almost killed me in a soul torturing rage. In her rush to heal me, her healing magic did something that allowed my Kata to come back online. This seemed to surprise her even more than it did me. It seems, the healing did something to Ziggy, my kata, and allowed him to somehow interface with that worm thing she put in me. I’m not sure if this is because it came back online or was the reason it did. She claimed that she knew of no recorded incidents of this ever happening before, but I suspect they just didn’t know. One thing I left out was when she put that worm thing in me. It gave me the ability to see things glow as they do their magic or when magic is around like that vein over there." Andrew said pointing at one of the veins in the marble. "Oh, sorry I mean their tech I don’t understand glows now. Also, it sounds like that debris field was from the Orinasa, though it appears that the Orin crew were not killed but instead captured and taken to a few concentration camps to be studied by what she described as their gods. Also, some of the Orin crew escaped from the elves, only to be captured by the elves' ancient enemies. Though apparently their ancient enemies only did so, so they could experiment on our brethren as well. However after some time, several of the Orin crew were saved by some group she called 'The Tribe'. As for the Elven gods, I'm not sure what makes them well, gods. The one she mentioned by name, the one she called Biaobels or something like that, seems to be powerful enough. I doubt it’s a true god, but through this new ability I got saw him communicating with Captain Lach’s mind and she claimed we're just under 200 thousand light years from the world he's on. So, I can say he seems to have some abilities that I can't explain. Even if that is just some faster-than-light comm tech I don’t understand. Though truthfully everything I've encountered around these Elves I can’t explain, from their space whales to their fashion sense. One thing I know is that I don't plan to go pissing that god being off. " Andrew’s shoulders slumped as if saying all of that was a weight off his shoulders.

Most of the crew slightly snorted at that last bit and many tried to look away inconspicuously after doing so.

"What?" Andrew said, looking around.

"Lather, we just know you better than to think you won't stand your ground to someone just because they might be a god. Though to be clear, I agree, I doubt they are," replied Alexander with a smirk.

Andrew sighed and then looked back at Nesterov, "They really did use some sort of; I'm going to call it magic as I can't explain it and that's what they call it. So while I might not understand it, here’s what I do know. Their Captain has the ability to control people with her mind, a lot of people. Just like she did the captain. She also hit me with some invisible force, was able to heal me of all of my wounds and even ailments, and spent the last hour making me feel like my soul wanted to crawl out of me and run away. Like it was some ant under a kid's magnifying glass. Oh, and they have some sort of caste or tier system to their society based I think on magic ability or maybe aptitude." Andrew thought for a moment "That is all I know. I am sorry for acting flippant, but I really do need a nap, so either let me go or knock me out again. I don't care. There isn't anything you are going to do that will even get into the same ballpark of pain as what she just did and either way, I'll get some sleep and hopefully dream of nicer times"

Vladimir seemed to be winding up for a retort before he was cut off by Zoya the dark-haired, dark-eyed pilot of the Sled in a very pissed-off, but matter-of-fact tone of a person who's had this argument one too many times.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Nesterov, point of fact we're here because you couldn't control your impulses to look back every time someone enters the bridge and put your damned elbow on the emergency jump button. You know like we've been telling you for weeks not to!!!"

"Get off it Chaturvedi. It's not my fault that button in bad spot. I…" Vladimir said defensively though he did let go of Andrew before being cut off midsentence.

"You'veeeeee…been…told…for…weeks to stop doing it! No one else, not even your alternate, has this issue. I swear it's like you're a teenager at a nudist resort every time someone comes on the bridge." Zoya said as if she was finishing his thoughts for him.

Zoya drew in a breath to continue, but Captain Rostron spoke up first.

"At this juncture, it matters not who is at fault. What matters is the current state of affairs and the actions we can take to shape our destiny. Merely assigning blame will only serve to further divide us when it is of utmost importance that we stand united."

The crew seemed to respond well to this and seemed to settle down. It was all Andrew needed to be able to drift off to sleep.

*******

Andrew woke up on his couch staring at the ceiling. He sat up and was greeted by a sea of old food containers lying around him, some with food in various states of decay still in them. There was also some sensie show which was playing very much ignored on his Kata. He wasn't focused on any of it, instead, he was trying to recall the last time he had moved from that exact spot, other than to go to the bathroom or answer the door for takeout since the day the Orinasa disappeared after what seemed to have been another apparent bad jump. Adding to his pain, mere moments after he watched the O disappear in a shower of odd flashes, his cell door opened. It was a messenger there to inform he was no longer being detained and was free to go. The messenger delivered the news Andrew had been waiting for. That his suspicions that he had been held back from the mission on false pretenses were correct. The messenger also assured him that the authorities were looking into who was behind this and what their motives might have been. Numb and not knowing what else to do, Andrew allowed himself to be taken home.

I mean what was the point in moving, until he had anything even resembling a plan on how to move forward in life. His mind was an unfocused blur of thoughts, ranging from how to figure out what happened to the O, worrying that the love of his life had potentially just died, trying to figure out where the O might have jumped to, how to ensure he was part of a rescue mission, and feeling a little responsible. The last one was due to the fact that something in his gut said that, John Kerling, the alternate who replaced him was responsible for what ever had befallen the O and the more he dwelled on it the more convinced he became that he theory had to be correct. He just didn't have the proof and even if he did, how does it change anything?

That's when he sat up. "Yeah, Lather it might not change anything, but it might keep a tragedy like this from happening to others and more importantly it might get Linnie back home," He declared to his audience of food containers and flies.

"First order of business, a shower, and then get some real food. After that we'll look through Linnie's documents to try to find if there are any clues in there. You with me Ziggy?"

A message from his implant appeared.

[Yes sir. While you slept I took the liberty scan through some of her documents. I have a few I think might help you with in your search. I hope this was what you might want.]

"Zig, you're the best!"

[ Thank you Mr. Lather. I am here to help.]

After his shower and lunch, Andrew sat at Linnie’s computer and had to really look for the power button. He hadn't used a computer in almost a decade or more. His wife was old school like that. While she now had her implant in place, she never used it. She would always say "It just doesn't feel right" or "I'm pretty sure it's giving me cancer" with a half serious smile. Ironically, she was forced to leave her laptop behind. The safety officer could not find verify that every part of the ancient thing was safe for space flight, even though Linnie assured him it was. As it was booting, Andrew sat there a nervous wreck. His concerns that the government had already wiped all data off it causing him to feel naseous.

When it finally booted, he saw her background and started to cry. He had never noticed it before, it was a picture of them on their third date. That was biggest day of his life as it was that night that he knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with here, though it took more than a year to finally get there. The memory of it brough a wave of sadness with it as he feared that dream may no longer be a possibility for his future.

It was after the debacle of their second date, where they had went on a 10mile hike in 106-degree weather through the canyons. Not even half way through he had to struggle to look even moderately composed. He feared if she saw him struggling, as he really was, she might think he had lied about his outdoor nature and not go out with him on a third date. I mean while she was sweating she hadn't complained one bit about any of it. Worse she looked like she was enjoying it. When the death market finally ended, he made some lame excuse on why he needed to hurry home. Of course shortly after getting on the road he panicked. Worried that Linnie probably though he didn't like her and that's why he rushed off without even trying to kiss her before he left.

Luckily, the next day Andrew had worked up the nerve to call her. It was on that call, that they both admitted why they wanted to leave so quickly. Linnie admitting to having the same thoughts and fears and at being relieved when he didn't try to linger in that hellishly hot parking lot. The had a few laughs before they simultaneously asked the other out on a third date.

This time they agreed to just do a traditional dinner date. He took her to the nicest place he could afford and they talked the night away telling stories and talking about the future. To this day if you asked him what all they talked about he couldn't tell you. What he could tell you was how her face lit up during the good parts of the stories and how her eyes twinkled every time they met his. He could write volumes about her rarely seen, but so perfect smile, which meant more because she didn't just give it away to everyone she met. He could tell you a lot, but not even what they had eaten or how long they talked for.

He could tell you about how when the restaurant closed, he was desperate to find a way to keep the night from ending, and not for some base reason either, but because he was having so much fun. So, as he walked her to her tram, her arm, and hand in his, he blurted out, "Ummm I have an old TV and some of those ancient movies back at my place. Any chance you'd like to go watch the Boon Dock Saints with me?". Immediately chastising himself for the choice of movie,

Seriously Boon Dock Saints???

All of his fears that he had ruined the moment, were quickly dashed when she quickly blurted, "Definitely!". He couldn't tell you how long they watched that old movie either or when they fell asleep, but he could tell you how he was hers from that day forth, even though she never seemed to realize it.

Until now, I guess. She's either gone or in an unknown place frantically trying to get home. So, get over yourself and figure this out. So maybe you can be some help to her.

********

Andrew awoke to Captain Rostron lightly shaking him. "Sorry to disturb you, but our captors have alerted us to the fact that we're being transferred to another ship. "

Andrew slowly sat up, wiping the sweat from his face, “Wait. We're being transferred? I was under the impression this ship was taking us?"

Then he heard that voice of ice again, the one that made his soul twitch.

"As if you people were so important that we would leave our borders in a weakened state to take you to your destination. I will admit I'm sad I won't be there when they break you. You'll wish you would have just answered my questions here. While you think there couldn't be anything worse than you've felt before, you were mistaken about that before too. Please do me a favor and think of me the moment they break you." said Captain Lachs.

With that, they were lined up and shackled together two by two, and in a magenta flash, four elves, that Andrew had never seen before, appear out of thin air. Though a few of the symbols were different, they were wearing the same uniforms as the elves he knew. The most striking difference was, while the elves themselves still looked to be made of marble, their skin was a pale green marble instead of white. The veins of the marble were still the same gold color as the elves he had previously encountered. Andrew's eyes were locked on the new elves' foreheads, surprised by the fact that these new elves already had purple lines connecting them to Captain Lachs. Those lines pulsed a few times and then the new elves nodded to Captain Lachs before she turned to exit the room.

Captain Lachs paused and then turned back to look at Andrew, "One word of advice, I'd not make them try too hard or the damage they'll do might end up being permanent and quite life-altering. But we both know you'll not heed my advice."

She turned to a female elf, "He goes last, he has an appointment with our benevolent Father", gesturing to Andrew.

She gave him a smile, which would have made the devil jealous, before she turned and exited the room. Upon her departure, the new elves walked up to the crew members and with magenta flashes each elf teleported two to four crew members away. Each returned in a magenta flash to get another group until only Andrew remained.

With another flash, the elf Lachs had spoken to appeared and started to approach him.

"I swear they like making me sweat, is this a good touch or bad touch?" Andrew said with a childish smile.

The elf laughed and, with what he swore was a flirty smile responded, "Guess you'll find out." And with another blinding now magenta flash he was gone.