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    <section>The Silvarians won’t admit it, but there was a time when humans traveled the stars as much as anyone else. I mean before all this abduction nonsense started. And the less there’s said about that the better. Some have even theorized that humans used to be the Ancients pilots, but who knows? All we know is that humans have had a place in the stars well before those damn otters started stealing our ancestors.</section>


    <section>-From the journal of Lysander Goodfellow</section>


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    “I can’t believe you ran her off like that!” The voice of Theseus’s brother crackled with frustration and the holographic figure flickered in the dim interior light of the ship.


    Theseus groaned, splashing more water in his eyes. At least on this planet, he could refill the water reservoir, so he didn’t have to ration it as he tried to rinse the pepper spray from his eyes. He straightened from the sink, looking in the crystal mirror. Well, he couldn’t say that he hadn’t deserved it, but damn that woman! If she had just given him the key!


    If he hadn’t gotten drunk and lost it in the first place.


    There was no denying that this whole damn mess was his fault. But did Robin have to yell so loudly right now? “I’ll get it back.”


    “You’d better. If we don’t there’s going to be hell to pay.” Robin flickered like a shitty fake ghost as he paced back and forth, holographic feet silent on the thin carpet. “There’s probably going to be hell to pay anyway. I told you not to go to that frat party.”


    “I know. I know! But I’ll get it back.” Theseus wasn’t sure what Robin was worried about, it wasn’t like he had a body to get beaten. Although he supposed Flame could always try to erase what remained of his memory from the Bard of Avon’s databanks. Not that any of them understood how his soul got caught in there to begin with. If he dared admit it, he wasn’t even sure it was his brother’s soul in there and not some crazy AI that only thought it was his brother.


    Theseus stepped out of the cramped bathroom, his broad shoulders barely clearing the door frame. He headed across the main cabin to the pilot’s seat and it’s viewport surrounded by computers. Air wheezed from a crack in the seat as he sat down, the duct tape holding the seat together flapping up briefly. “At least it won’t be in Silvarian hands though. That’s the main reason we grabbed it.”


    Robin’s holographic form moved up behind Theseus, looking over his shoulder as Theseus pulled up a mess of screens across the hodgepodge of monitors. “That’s true, but it was perfectly fine hidden where it was too. If Flame wasn’t paying us so much I would have said to leave it in that hole. But it still would have been Ancient’s technology on Earth, and I don’t see that working out well either. You know how unpredictable it can be.”


    Theseus scowled and pulled up local media broadcasts. They both knew damn well how unpredictable the Ancient’s tech could be. More so than most. It would be a real problem if some poor Earth girl got stuck in a computer, crippled, or turned into some strange crystal monster. The local authorities would cover it up of course, but the woman would likely turn into a government experiment.


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    He did not want that on his conscience. They were as bad on this planet as the Silvarians were in the rest of the galaxy. “Can you pull up scans for its energy signature?”


    It looked like the altercation hadn’t hit the news yet, no surprise there. But there was mumbling about it on the radio band the local police used: little more than a request to keep a lookout for a tall white male with brown hair wearing a leather jacket. That could complicate things, but the description was so vague that he wasn’t overly worried.


    Robin frowned, pausing in his pacing. “I can try. But if we pick up its energy signature from here....” He trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. He didn’t need to finish that thought. Picking up the energy signature from nearby was one thing, that was how he had found her in the first place.


    But if they were able to pick up its energy signature from outside of town, that meant the key had been activated and bonded with the nearest living thing.


    Maybe they would get lucky and it would bond to a stray cat, but he doubted it. Luck just wasn’t that kind to them lately.


    Theseus was silent for a moment, staring at the local amateur news broadcast that was talking about strange sightings near the junkyard. Right where they had landed and concealed the ship.


    “Try anyways.” He said finally. “If you locate it, we’ll relocate the ship closer to it. Looks like our landing didn’t go unnoticed.” He didn’t want to bet on their ship’s resemblance to an RV any more than they had to. It would only take one curious kid to notice the new RV in the junkyard and start poking around to blow their entire cover.


    The sooner they got the Key back and got off this planet, the better.


    Robin’s form flickered, disappearing entirely for brief periods as he focused his attention on the external sensors. Theseus glanced at him with a frown. It would be nice to update the processors, he had seen how Robin looked when he was projected through better tech. But there was only so much he could do as a freelancer, especially a human freelancer. Some people wouldn’t even work with humans and others wouldn’t pay them as well as they would pay other races.


    It was funny how some things reflected Earth’s patterns of inequities, even with the supposedly more enlightened alien races.


    Enlightened his ass.


    Robin’s form settled into a more or less steady projection, his brow furrowed. “Well. I have good news and bad news.” His voice was resigned, his holographic shoulders slumping.


    Theseus put his face in his hands and let out a groan. “You found it.”


    “Yes.” Robin let out a staticky sigh, looking at his brother with sympathy.


    “It’s been activated.” Shit. He was fine being a thief, a pirate, and a scavenger, but a kidnapper?


    “Yes.” Robin said.


    Theseus ran his hands over his face, steepling his fingers as he let out a slow breath. He stared at Robin grimly, the silence stretching between them. They both knew what they would have to do, but neither wanted to say it.


    Theseus was the first to break the silence, his voice soft. “We’ll have to take her with us.”


    Robin nodded, his lips pressing thinly together. They couldn’t leave Ancient’s technology on Earth, they both knew damn well what the humans would do to the woman. At least if they took her to the Liberty Coalition she would have a chance at some form of freedom, however limited. And he felt fairly certain that Flame wouldn’t allow experiments on her.


    Probably.


    He pictured the girl’s face, wide-eyed and frightened. He held the image in his head as he considered what they were about to do to her life. What his dumb mistake had already done to her life.


    “Maybe we’ll get lucky and it activated on a rat or something.” He offered with a hope he didn’t feel.


    “You don’t actually believe that.” Robin said softly.


    “No. No, I don’t.” Theseus turned to the computers again, powering up the ship. It was going to be risky, moving it in daylight. But they may not have a lot of time. At least they had wheels, which was better than most fancier ships. They should be able to pass as a weird RV. “Pull up the tracking info for the signal.”


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