Radu groaned and blinked groggily, wondering briefly where he was. Then it all came back to him in a flash--the fight, the explosion... the Christa, gone. It was all real. And the masked man, too.

Radu glanced over at the stranger. He had done this. This man he didn't even know had killed everything the Andromedan care about. A wash of sudden hatred came over him, blinded him with its intensity, stronger than anything he had ever felt in his life. It was overwhelming in its power; it scared him. Still, he did not fight it, for it replaced pain as primary emotion in his mind. Anything was better that the pain.

He allowed it to fill him for a while, comforting him in a strange and frightening way. But eventually the tiny piece of his mind which retained a degree of rationality he realized that anger would accomplish nothing, and he battled it down. There would be another time. Right now he needed to concentrate on finding a way to free himself. His friend's parents deserved to know what had happened to their children.

Radu inspected the stranger with more care than he had earlier. The mask he wore completely covered his face, and he wore a bulky, multi-pocketed flight suit that concealed his figure. Gloves and tall boots enshrouded the rest of his figure. He could be anyone, of any race. He could even be a she, it certainly wouldn't be impossible.

The stranger had been strong, but that proved nothing. He had no tail, as a Spung would, but that could have been surgically removed. He was near Radu's own height, and seemed on the thin side of average. In short, Radu could not discern a single thing that would help him out of his present situation.

"Good morning," spoke the stranger for the first time. His voice was muffled by the helmet, coming out a coarse alto.

"What's good about it?" Radu tried to say, but all that came out was a low croak, a result of yesterday's screaming. He tried again, "Who are you?" This time he was more successful, intelligible at least.

"That is irrelevant." The stranger locked out his controls and got up. Radu caught a glimpse of a small, cluttered room through the door as he exited.

He was back shortly, and Radu caught sight of something small in his hand. The Andromedan wondered what horrible torture device the man had brought with him.

His enemy approached him cautiously, and Radu braced himself for what he knew had to be coming. He squeezed his eyes shut in the preparation for pain, heard the stranger pause a foot from him, waited tensely for it to begin, and felt...nothing. All he heard was a quite, unobtrusive tinkling noise.

He opened his eyes to see that the man held, not some alien torture device, but what appeared to be a small sensor, producing the sound he heard.

The stranger muttered over his findings, then told Radu conversationally, "You're in pretty bad shape. Not as bad it could be though. You really took a beating back there."

"And who's fault is that?" Radu grumbled.

"Fair enough," the stranger replied.

He absently folded the sensor and put it in a pocket, then knelt next to Radu and untied the constraints that held his torso. The Andromedan subtly tested his bindings, but they held.

This did not go unnoticed by his opponent, of course. "You won't get free like that," he advised as he lifted Radu's shirt and applied salve from a small jar he produced from another pocket.

Radu winced as shirt separated from sore skin, but the pain was quickly lessened as the salve took its effect.

"You got a name, STARDOG?" the stranger asked, with an almost friendly attitude.

Radu considered, and could find no reason not to tell the truth. "It's Radu," he sighed.

Then, hoping to receive a better than he had in the past, he asked, "Who are you? Really?"

The man paused for a moment, as if to consider his next words, then said, "If it's so very important to you, you may call me...Irony." Radu thought he heard a hint of amusement in the other's voice, and though he couldn't see Irony's face, he could've sworn that it held a sarcastic smile.

Irony...he knew that name. But from where? He wracked his brain for several minutes, until it came to him. Of course! He'd heard stories, speculations. The man was some sort of bounty hunter or assassin, no one knew for sure. Some thought he worked for the Spung, or the pirate's guild, or some unknown entity. Some though he was a man for hire, but no one he'd ever spoken to knew how to contact him to take him into employ.

Radu shuddered. Escape might be more difficult than he'd anticipated.

He took a moment to ponder the reason that nothing mattered as far as he was concerned, and decided he didn't want to know. Then he tried, "So, where are we going?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Maybe sooner than you'd like..." Irony answered cryptically, then refastened Radu's bindings and stood up.

There was very little conversation after that, and soon Radu found his eyes drifting to the stars swiftly flying past the viewscreen, his thoughts turning back to the Christa. The hours went by as quickly as the scenery, and soon the stranger handed him something.

He looked down in surprise, to find a small, hard package on his palm. Irony untied the bonds on his hands. Keeping a tight hold on them, he retied the cords so that Radu could use them. He then opened the packet and grunted, "Eat". The Andromedan glanced at it and found that it was a food of some sort. He considered a moment, figuring that if Irony wanted to kill him, he would have done so already. Biting down, he realized he was eating emergency rations. He could tell by the taste- -or rather, the distinct lack of one. But he was hungry. He could go several days without food, but it wasn't a pleasant prospect. He finished the rations, then stared quizzically at his opponent.

Irony retied his hands, then went into the back room, presumably to eat himself. Time passed, filled with thoughts of Harlan and Rosie, Bova and Suzee, his teachers and dear, demented android. Without a chronometer, Radu couldn't tell how many hours had gone by. He was fed several more times, and he began to think that days had passed. He fell asleep again, and soon it became a rhythm. He tried to get information from Irony several times, but the conversations bore little fruit.

The Andromedan found himself almost welcoming whatever fate awaited him at the end of this journey. Anything to take his mind from the endless second guessing that kept running through his mind. Perhaps if he'd been faster, or smarter, or did this or that differently, they'd still be alive. And stupidly enough, a single thought rang through his mind over and over again, above all other worries or regrets, even thoughts of escape--a simple denial. No. Nonononononono!!! It quickly became a chant, echoing through his mind until exhaustion again pulled him into troubled sleep.



"Wake up, STARDOG," called the stranger as he nudged Radu. "D-day. Time for all your questions to be answered. Although you might find yourself wishing you'd died with your friends."

Radu blinked sleepily, glanced at the screen and then back to Irony. Startled, he turned back to the screen and gaped. Directly in front of them was a massive asteroid, with what looked like several small docking ports and habitation bubbles built into the surface. A surprised "Wow!" was all he could manage to say.

Irony was maneuvering the ship towards one of the ports, concentrating on flying straight into the nearest opening.

Radu squinted into the port trying to decipher who--or what--he was facing. The ship soon docked, and he waited impatiently for the room to recompress. The doors on both sides opened slowly, and the mist settled. Radu stared pensively out the door and to his horror, his worst fear was realized. The haze settled around menacing green figures.

Spung. He couldn't breathe. His heart felt as if it were beating its way out of his chest. Anything but Spung! For all that he'd encountered them before and lived, they were still the stuff of his darkest dreams. From the moment of their hatching, every Andromedan child is raised to hate and to fear the evil Spung. Even now, the very sight of them made him want to run and hide in a dark corner.

Two warriors pulled him out of his chair, holding his already shackled arms so tightly that they cut off his circulation. Irony marched resolutely onward, and Radu's guards followed behind, dragging the Andromedan behind.

They strode through dark halls, dank and smelling of sulfur. The walls were roughly cut rock, and had the feel of something dirty. There was something evil to this place, something that spoke of pain and death. He could feel it. Or perhaps it was just the taint of the Spung on either side of him.

Suddenly, he could see a small spot of light ahead of him. The end of the tunnel. Radu couldn't help but wonder morbidly whether this was the only end he would reach today. He sighed and strode on.

They reached the end fairly quickly after that. Radu blinked as he stepped out into the light, trying to readjust his eyes to the brightness. Squinting in the light, he heard a frighteningly familiar voice.

"Bring them forward." Deep and commanding, holding the faintest hint of menace, the voice spoke of a powerful presence. It spoke of a man used to unquestioned obedience, having his orders followed to the absolute letter.

"Shank," Radu whispered, his voice so full of loathing he hardly recognized it as his own.

"Boy...," Shank recognized, his voice dripping with malevolence. "It seems I must deal with you myself." Then, he directed a question at Irony. "Why was he not killed?"

"There were...complications, my lord," the stranger answered uncomfortably.

"And the rest of the crew?"

"Taken care of in the manner you requested."

"Excellent." Then his face became clouded with annoyance. "Take that fool helmet off. I will see the face of those I converse with."

Irony paused, then obeyed with reluctance.

Radu craned his neck anxiously, curious to see the identity of his abductor. A flash of dark hair, and then...and then he knew. He staggered in disbelief.

Irony was an Andromedan.



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