Chapter One

The Jawbreaker quickened while passing the Magnus, confident that their soldiers hadn't acknowledged them, though they were certainly in eyeshot. Emmet altered his chair and glanced over at Dawn to note that her face was emotionless and that she had stiffened.

"What's wrong? Are they going to attack?" he demanded as he looked over at the monstrous ship that they hurried by. She shook her head slightly.

"As long as we don't make a move, they'll keep their distance," she assured him. After punching a yellow button, Dawn spoke into a box on the wall, muttering so quietly that Emmet couldn't hear her. She avoided his stare while adjusting their course, heading farther away from the Magnus, its engines making no noise as it drifted in the void of space.

"Remind me again why you're here? I know I am doing our dad's a favor, but I wouldn't dare- never mind." She stared out the window shield, trying to let it go.

He hesitated before telling her, "You lost me."

She sighed then smiled to herself. "It's nothing. Just some rumors." She paused. "I'm guessing you want me to tell you, huh?" Although her gaze was on the meteors they were dodging, Dawn inclined her question to him.

"It would help pass the time…" he pleaded.

"That's one excuse," she chuckled as she passed the remaining meteors, and then set the Jawbreaker on autopilot. Turning toward him, she took a deep breath and began her story. "Some other pilots were gossiping at our last meeting, and they mentioned that some soldiers were trespassing on some forbidden territory. The natives threatened them and weapons were drawn.

"That's where we are going. The Element Counsel has had some… difficulties these past few weeks, and they need as much help as they can get. Now, it is crucial that while we are there, you don't speak out of turn, don't go wandering off anywhere, and don't talk to anyone. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, but might I ask why?" Emmet questioned.

"You might." She snuck a look at him and found him waiting for an explanation. "Not all of the Council members are as welcoming as some. The more ancient and older of them are a bit more conservative than the rest, and therefore not nearly as welcoming. If you rub them the wrong way, you're not going to be forgiven quickly."

He nodded, though he hardly understood how they could be so angry at people who were trying to aid them. She scrutinized his face and smiled.

"It is a bit odd, but they have their reasons, and we have ours. I don't blame them. I mean," she looked back out the window, "we don't completely trust them either."

"You lost me again."

"It really doesn't matter," Dawn told him too quickly. He knew that this wasn't the end of their conversation. She studied his face for a while. "Do you know, I don't even remember you when we were younger? That sounds pretty pathetic, doesn't it?"

"That's because you were never there when all the other kids our age were," he accused. Emmet thought back for a minute, back to when the two's families were like one. "Where were you? It seemed like the only time I ever saw you were when we held a miniature war between the boys and the girls, and you couldn't help yourself, so you came out and threw rocks at the girls. One in particular, what was her name?..."

"UGH. Mitera Rosum. Do you remember her? She would make fun of me because I read books on flying when we were little. You want to know what I was doing all the time? I begged my older brother to give me flying lessons!" She raised her voice in aggravation at the memory.

Once he thought that she had calmed down, Emmet found his voice. "I didn't know you had an older brother…"

"Step-brother, remember? My mother married Lackdem," she said his name in disgust. "That's why we tried to stay out of the house as much as possible. There were some great memories in the past," Dawn said acidly.

"You and your brother were pretty close." It wasn't a question. Dawn nodded. She didn't trust herself enough to speak, but she showed nothing on her face. It hadn't been 5 seconds of silence when she glanced at the radar and horror washed over her.

They were being thrown about the small aircraft, banging into all sorts of metal objects that cut and bruised them. Emmet caught a glimpse of Dawn yelling something, but all he heard was the sound of beeping and the sonic ear-crushing screech that he knew was an explosion.

It seemed like hours, when it was mere seconds. Emmet saw Dawn trying to keep things under control, while both of them were being crushed. The Jawbreaker finally ceased its rumbling outburst and Emmet was able to stand. He came back to Dawn's side. She was speaking into the black box again when she realized that he was next to her, and looking intently at the box.

"It's the only way we can communicate with each other, back at HQ," she explained while trying to recover.

"What happened?" he asked, trying to regain his balance as well.

"Well, obviously, someone shot us!" she said in annoyance, sitting back down in her newly blood stained chair. Dawn took a deep breath and tried to calm down after the explosion. "Well, crap! They took out two of our engines!" She cursed.

Emmet surveyed the damage and understood the trouble that they were in. With two engines gone and two left, three including their spare, they wouldn't make it to the Element Counsel.

"What's the closest planet?" he pondered as he took his seat.

"Wentef. Not the best option, but if we push the engines too hard, we might as well shoot ourselves now!" she shouted, then looked at Emmet apologetically. "Sorry. I'm just worried about who, or what, we are going to find on Wentef."

"Well, we don't have to worry too much." She seemed puzzled at what he had said. He continued, "If we stay out of sight, we won't run into any trouble! Right?"

She sighed. "Wrong."

"Not big Council fans, huh?"

"They're the 'in-betweeners.' They'll never take a side. Plus, they have created the best known tracking unit equipment in the galaxy! They could help us so much! It annoys the crap out of me!" She punched the wall, reddening her knuckles. She laughed lightly as she pointed out, "You're a mess."

He looked down at himself, blood covering most of his clothes. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh.' Come on, I have a medical kit in the back," she said as they headed toward the back of the ship. He had to wait outside of the storage room because it was too small for him. She laughed again. It was light, natural.

"She must be used to this," he reflected. Dawn handed him some bandages.

"Sorry about the Jawbreaker's size. She was only intended for one, although I do enjoy the company. It's better than talking to myself…"

Emmet laughed. His sounded more stressed than hers, more forced, making it echo. Sauntering, he went back to his cabin and applied the bandages, wincing as the antiseptic stung his deeper cuts. Once he was over and done with it, he slowly walked back to the front room where Dawn was stashing some of the broken gear into the garbage disposal. She caught a glimpse of him and smiled weakly while she gestured toward the window. He gazed out and noted a yellow-green planet directly ahead of them, and a feeling of lethargy overcame him, causing him to become drained from looking at its vastness.

"What kind of world is that?" he questioned Dawn, again looking at the bizarre planet with curiosity.

"It has been called the 'dormant planet' before. The air affects your mind, causing you to doze off if you were there for too long, which is why we are going to fix the engines and get out of there as speedily as we can." She looked irritated at herself for having to leave her original course. And now she was going to be late for the Element Counsel.

"I won't make this any harder than it has to be for her," he decided. "She already has to drag me around. Why make it any more difficult?" He hoped it would help.

She rose and turned to him, averting her eyes. "I am going to retrieve some essential items for our bothersome stay. Pack some chow and be ready to disembark."

"But, aren't we going to be staying inside the Jawbreaker?"

"Not while I am working on it. It might over heat or discharge. Or both."

He looked confused. "Discharge?"

"Blow up," was her reply.

"That's cheering," he grumbled. The two companions snatched their bags and geared up for their landing.

"This will be worth mentioning when we finally get to the Counsel," Dawn smirked.

"What will?"

Her smirk became more significant. "I'll be the first pilot to successfully land an aircraft with only two engines," she believed.

"How can you be so sure of yourself?" he requested.

"I can just tell."

"Again, that's cheering." Emmet sat down and, this time, he strapped himself in.

"I'm offended!" she breathed in mock anger. "Here I am, informing you that I can do this, and you go and put me down! Have more confidence in me, please!"

"Whatever you say, Dawn," he chortled.

She shook her head and grasped the wheel once again and inhaled, prepared herself for the impact. "You're buckled, aren't you?"

"Yup."

"Good, because otherwise, you wouldn't be feeling all that confident in me…" she snickered.

They were nearly there when Dawn began to cough up blood, making her unfocused. Her hands fell off of the wheel, and the Jawbreaker rapidly plummeted to the earth, picking up momentum with the heavy winds.

"Dawn. Dawn!" he shouted as he rattled her by the shoulders. She gazed up hazily, and then gawked out the window. Again she clutched the wheel, but she was too late. The Jawbreaker plunged downward, toward the alien planet. Dawn yanked Emmet out of his chair and began pushing him toward the back of the ship, as fast as lightning.

"Move!" Dawn screeched, still pushing Emmet. They were in one of the connecter tunnels when the blow came. And it came hard. Emmet was out of the tunnels in a second, but, when he looked back to see where Dawn was, he realized that she was still inside of the tunnel, being crushed to death while he was being thrown around the quarters, once again. Emmet could still barely see out of the far window, distinguishing the ground fly by them as they skidded across the deserts of Wentef.

As soon as the vibrating crash ceased, Emmet was at the tunnel where Dawn was supposedly stuck unless the other end was open, which was unlikely. He dug at the metal, slicing his hands, but progressing slowly.

"Don't move, Dawn!" he yelled as the last piece of metal was moved.

"How could I?" she asked sourly. Emmet was relieved once he heard her voice, but dismay overpowered him when he set his eyes on her. Bruises had already started forming, and there where cuts covering her slight body, causing her brown hair to be matted with blood, mostly fresh. The largest gash was around her waist, then heading down her leg, where blood seeped past her fingers while applying pressure to it.

"Are you OK?" he asked, feeling foolish as soon as it slipped out of his mouth.

Dawn looked at him incredulously. "Do I look OK?" She tried lifting her damaged body out of the jagged metal scraps that was once a tunnel. Straining, Don looked up at Emmet, fear and astonishment crossed her face, as if her hope had faded before his eyes.

Trembling, she stared straight into his eyes and murmured, "I can't feel anything from the waist down."