As Zeana slipped between the covers of the small bed, she found herself looking around uncomfortably.   That guard was eerie.  She knew that he was only doing his job, but his stature and the serious way in which he carried himself seemed inhuman.  Still, Cyera had said that the ambassador himself had appointed him, and therefore could be trusted.
She was probably just being paranoid, the guy was solder, he was supposed to be that serious and silent, it’s what keeps him alert.

  Looking over at the sleeping forms of her mother, and Cyera, she laid back and pondered.  She should be worried about her brother, yet she found herself more jealous than concerned. Zander was free, he did what he wanted, but she was living in a prison, forced by reputation to always do as she was told.  She yearned for excitement; just one wild day that she could always remember.  She doubted that her father and brother were in danger; Jaden had been looking for ways to get his message across, and had lately been forced to resort to rebukes and long lectures.  He could’ve taken Zander somewhere else on Ithor to add emphasis, or a visual that would help.

  It seemed very unlikely to her that anything bad would’ve befallen upon them.  Ithor was a small and barely populated world.  What possibly could have happened in such a rural, remote place?

  A dark lingering feeling came over her as she analyzed the last thought.  To think that an entire world was completely safe with no one dangerous would be naïve.  Still, to think that something terrible could happen there seemed unreal.  But then again, there could be outsiders going into the world, or maybe there was population in the jungle that they hadn’t seen, or perhaps…

  No, it would do absolutely no good analyzing everything now.  She couldn’t guess what would be found, and it would help her none to contemplate things that were now out of her reach.  Even when they did get there, she wasn’t sure that her contemplations would be of service.  It may be too late to ponder.

  That thought scared here.  What would a 12-year-old girl be able to do in that kind of a situation?  She would be nothing but an easy slaughter.  Oh, why do I have to be here?  Why can’t everything just be fine?

  Zeana sat rigid, what was she so afraid of, she wanted a day to remember didn’t she?   She wanted excitement.

  Sighing, she hugged her knees to her chest, she craved these things, but not to the extent of life and death danger.   She shook her head, smiling grimly.  She didn’t even know if it was going to be half as bad as she imagined.   Calm down, just calm down…

  She couldn’t regain her composure; even when she fell asleep her worries came to torture her, not in a nightmare, but rather a vision…

  She was standing in the jungle and all around her were mutilated bodies, some were hanging from rope, most, however, were laying on the ground with third degree burns.  Out of the eerie night Zeana saw solders marching.  They had creases on their necks and foreheads that seemed to create patterns, and strange, loose clothing.   What had happened?

  Turning around she saw bodies scorched almost beyond recognition.  Her body trembled as she edged closer and closer toward them.  Once above them, she stopped and looked hesitatingly down; it was her family.  She screeched and jumped back into the arms of one of the strange alien solders.

“It had to happen,” he said, “They chose that wrong way.”

“What choice?  What decision was to be made?” Zeana cried hysterically, jumping away from the man’s grip.

“The choice between their lives, and the lives of others.”

  Zeana’s face wrinkled in confusion and desperation.  “What choice did they make? Tell me!”

 The figures vanished as if they were never there, the fire gone from the trees.  She looked up and around in the darkness searching for whom she had been talking to.
What was this?  Some kind of warning?

“Tell me!” she cried out desperately.  Zeana fell to her knees and cried, her voice becoming a hoarse whisper.  “Tell me,” she choked, “please, tell me.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Zeana…”

“Zeana, wake up!”

  Slowly, Zeana opened her eyes and breathed in slowly.  Her blankets were strewn all about her and drenched with sweat.

“Zeana, are you ok?”

It was Cyera with concern clearly written on her face.  Her teal eyes revealed shock and worry.
 

“I’m ok,” she answered softly.

As she sat up, she met Cyera’s gaze with fear.  “I think I had a vision of some sort.  There were dead bodies all around.  Th… They were dead, burnt.”

“Who was burnt?” Cyera asked.

“Zander, my dad, grandpa, uncle, cousin, and a bunch of strange aliens. I saw some that almost looked like fairies or elves from the old legends.  They had pointed ears, and were short: about four feet tall.  There were these big men that came with weird folds in their skin.  One of them told me that my family had to be killed, and that they had made the wrong choice.”

“What choice?”

“A choice between their lives and the lives of others,” Zeana replied, almost whispering.

  Cyera was perplexed.  Did she really have a vision?  How could she, though?  Zeana hadn’t been taught anything seeing into the future.  Perhaps it was merely a nightmare.

“Are you sure that this wasn’t just some nightmare, Zeana?”

  She nodded vigorously, “This was much too vivid to be just a bad dream.  I felt everything; they’re going to die if we don’t help them.  We need to get there quickly!”

  Cyera sighed, this was a lot to take in, but to ignore it could make her guilty of letting her friend die.  She would never let that happen!

“Come on, let’s go talk to your mom.”

   Zeana got up with Cyera’s help, and followed her quickly down the hall to the cockpit.
She was skeptical about telling her, Krysta may just think that she’s going crazy, or hallucinating.  There was no way that her mother would truly believe that she’d seen a vision; she hadn’t had any training yet.  Still, there had to be a way to persuade her into getting to Ithor faster, if only for Zeana’s state of mind.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

  Krysta looked at the girls in awe.  “You had better not be making this up,” she said in an angry tone.

Both Cyera and Zeana backed away from her with arms up to show their innocence.
 
 
 

  Looking from one to the other, she relaxed.  Zeana and Cyera would never come up with such stories, that mischievous nature didn’t suit them. Or at least it doesn’t suit Zeana. She had known Cyera to be a little mischievous just by the way she spoke and looked from time to time.  Then again, she also often managed to keep Zander in line with her words.

Krysta grinned at the thought.  Cyera and Zander were quite the pair…

  Shaking her head, she threw the thought into the back of her mind.  She wasn’t against it, in fact she thought about it fondly, while mentioning their ‘cute coupling’ to them would give them awkward feelings.  They didn’t see it yet.  But, there were more important matters at hand.  The speed would be quickened right away.  Krysta was determined not to let anything of what her daughter mentioned happen.

  The solder punched in the commands, and stood once more at ease, listening and looking for anything. He was like the ancient guards protecting Buckingham palace:
no movement whatsoever.  He looked like a statue.

  “That has to be the most boring job ever created,” Cyera said quietly, trying to ease tension as she and Zeana walked away.

  The girls sat on the floor a few feet away from the cockpit, where both stared into nothing and pondered.

“Do you really think that us showing up will prevent the deaths?”  Cyera asked.

“I hope so,” Zeana answered solemnly.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

  Cyera stepped out of the ship at a steady pace.  It was the middle of the afternoon, and the sun shone brightly through the jungle trees.  The loveliness of nature went through her worry and dark feelings.  She breathed in the humid air with contentment, and looked around as memories flashed before her eyes.   Zander had often invited her to go with him when he visited his grandfather; he’d often complained about being lonely there.

  She remembered him before his depression phase had sat in.  He usually had a smile on his face, and was curious about everything.  That curiosity had been what started getting him into trouble, for he also had a tenancy of being mischievous from time to time.  It started out with little mistakes, then progressed slowly into his worse years. He’d never craved attention two years ago, now though, he seemed desperate for it.  Something had happened between the two periods to give him motivation enough to lash out.
 
 
 

  Zander’s attitude for the past couple of years had been one that made everyone think of him as some kind of ‘bad ass’.   He did what he wanted, and always made a point to show his independent ways.   He’d become a real pessimist, and used reality as his weapon to crush hopeful phrases.  Zander had been determined to isolate himself from the world, and act tough all of the time.  Cyera knew that it was nothing but a shell, she’d been his friend for years and such a thing was easy to spot.  He felt like he had to protect himself from anything and everything, but what had started this attitude?  His parents had always seemed nice to her.  He was so dramatic at times as well; seemed paranoid in that he believed that the simplest things that people said were meant to gravely hurt him.  She’d taken her position as physiatrist for quite a while, but what really could she do?  She had been told that she was wise beyond her years, but she was still only fourteen.

  Shaking her head, Cyera followed the other three, hoping that she would find all of them and let her worries settle.  Still, though, even if they weren’t in trouble, she’d have to worry about Zander’s emotional well being; hoping that he hadn’t screwed up another good relationship with his defensiveness. She folded her arms and casually walked in; the boy was lucky that she stuck around.

  Krysta came out of the guestroom gasping.  She’d known that her son was a little disturbed, but didn’t think that he’d go that far.

“What the matter?” Zeana asked worriedly.

  “He’s run away,” Krysta replied.  She was partly angry and partly care-worn.  Why did he have to leave like this?  What the hell was wrong with him?

She sighed, and turned to the officer.  “Do you have tracking gear solder?” she asked.

  The silent man nodded, and headed back toward the ship.

  Krysta walked out the door and called out behind her shoulder, “Be ready for a long journey girls.”

  Zeana watched her leave with a cool glare.  “Great, again we go out into the wilderness knowing nothing of where we’re headed or what we’ll find.  There has to be a better way, they could be in grave danger now!  What if they’re all ready dead?”

  “Calm down, Zeana,” Cyera called out softly, “We’ll do everything in our power to keep them from harm.  We’ll find something, I’m sure of it.”

  The girl said nothing in reply; nothing Cyera could say would calm her or make her feel better.  Frustration was steadily rising within Zeana as she folded her arms and leaned against the counter.  The matter seemed hopeless. They knew nothing except that the family was in danger in a jungle place, it may not be on the planet; it could be another jungle somewhere else.

  Zeana glanced to her left and finally felt her hopes rise.  Kaster had left a note, and they could contact him!

  Smiling, she called everyone to her, and started pushing buttons on the communicator in the corner. Perhaps this wasn’t so hopeless after all.  If they aren’t dead…