“Aurora, you can not leave. You know you were meant to be with me.” “No!” “I am part of you. Even your father knew it.” “Don’t speak about him. He died fighting all of you. He knew you were evil.” “Evil is such a harsh word. Enough of this! Inject her with the nanoprobes now!” Tahkisis motioned to two of her minions, who were hovering nearby. They moved forward, almost like they were numb. Tahkisis, the Dark Queen, smiled, her lips cracking in the motion. “Aurora, daughter of Dylocke, you will help us rebuild our empire.” Aurora squirmed on the table, trying to break free of her bonds. It was no use; the straps holding her wrists and ankles wouldn’t budge. One moved closer, holding the hypo spray to her neck. Suddenly the doors blasted in. USI security officers filed in, and the room erupted in disruptor fire. The Darkarian drones guarding their Queen began a vicious counter attack. Glass exploded around them and littered the floor. Small fires began to flare to life among the chemicals being kept in the medical area. Aurora was powerless to help, and she hated every minute of it. The Darkarian Drones, while fighting, started helping the fires stay alive, by throwing various bottles of chemicals into them. Small explosions started to echo through the room. Chance Modaine entered the room, firing his phaser with the rest of them. He scanned the area for Tahkisis, and saw her sliding to another exit. The doors parted and Tahkisis disappeared behind them. He ran over to Aurora, ducking the crossfire. “Aurora, are you hurt?” “Not really,” she responded. “I’m glad to hear that,” he answered. He looked towards the door Tahkisis had exited. The Darkarian Drones that had been fighting against them suddenly pushed past the security officers and out the opposite door. “Follow them!” Chance ordered. An explosion suddenly went off near them, sending Chance staggering nearly off of his feet. Aurora pulled against her bonds. “Get me out of here!” she yelled. Chance pulled at the bonds on her wrists, working to loosen the knots. He looked up, following the path of the fire trails through the room. When he saw their destination, he swore silently to himself. In a matter of seconds, the fire would reach the large cabinet of mixed chemicals. No time! Using his phaser, Chance burned through the bonds holding Aurora. Before she could get a chance to react, he pulled her off of the table, kicked the legs from under it and sending to crashing to its side, and pulled them behind the protection of the flat surface. He covered up Aurora with his own form, just as the explosion went off behind them. They were both thrown across the room, along with the table. Aurora saw stars as she hit the wall on the opposite side of the room. Dazed, she sat up and tried to shake off the effects. The fire had nearly consumed the entire room; it was time for them to leave. She looked around for Chance. Finally she spotted him through the smoke, a few feet away from her. Stumbling over to him, she called out to him. “Chance, come on, let’s get out of here!” He gave no response. As she moved nearer to him, she saw blood dripping from his lip. His chest was slashed open; one of the legs of the metal table had trapped him as he landed. Aurora dropped beside him and felt for a heartbeat. But instead, she felt no life energy in her friend. “NO!!!” Aurora yelled, her scream echoing through the ship.

In a cold sweat, Aurora sat up in bed. She looked around, getting a bearing on where she was. In her quarters, not on a Darkarian ship. Aurora shook her head. “It was only another nightmare,” she told herself. Unfortunately, she knew the nightmare had been only too real. Chance was badly injured, but thanks to quick action of the security teams and expert medical healing from Omniflux, he had lived. His recovery would be slow, but Aurora was thankful she had not lost her friend. She lay back down, trying to get her breathing back to normal, and calm her racing heartbeats. After a few minutes of calming exercises, she was able to return to sleep. However, her sleep was a restless one until morning.