Starfire: Return to Tamaran

Scene 14: Homecoming

Jennifer sat in boredom at the seat in front of the pilot controls. She would've more than happily gone with Nightwing to talk to Starfire. But she had had a feeling they needed some time alone.

She had recognized the distant look in Starfire's eyes. It had been the same one she had worn when she had been dreaming about her mother. If they were going to free Tamaran from the Citadel, she needed to know she wasn't alone. She needed to focus, and talking with Nightwing alone was just what she needed.

Suddenly, an alarm blared red and Jennifer pressed the button below it. A moment later, Oracle's face appeared. When she saw Jennifer, she frowned. "Hey, no offense or anything, but I need to see Nightwing. Do you know where he is?"

"Hang on, I'll see where he is on this ship," Jennifer told her.

She began working with the console controlling the cameras on this ship. Eventually, she found the camera in the quarters Starfire had gone to. Nightwing was with her, and what Jennifer saw almost made her jaw drop. He had his arms around Starfire, and he was kissing her, and Starfire was kissing him back.

Returning her attention to Oracle, she said, "He's kinda busy right now."

Oracle seemed to know what Jennifer had seen. Half irritated, half playfully interested, she said to the other girl, "Well make him not busy. You guys are almost at Tamaran. You need to drop out of lightspeed soon. Tell him that for me, since he sounds like he's focused on other matters."

Oracle's face disappeared. Jennifer hadn't been sure when she had first seen Oracle, but now she was sure. There was history between her and Nightwing, a romantic history. No wonder she sometimes sounded bitter when Starfire was mentioned in conversation. She was jealous.

For now, though, there were more pressing matters to deal with. Finding the intercom, Jennifer heard her voice echoing throughout the ship. "All hands on deck. We need to prepare to jump out of lightspeed. We're almost at Tamaran."

***

There had been little for Blackfire to do when her team of Psions had left after Trogaar had granted their permission to leave. If anything serious happened, there would be a bustle of activity that would be hard to miss. Such an occurrence had yet to come, but Blackfire know it when it came.

It came when a guard burst into her quarters. "Master Komand'r, Lord Trogaar sent me to find you. He wants you in communications. There's something he wants you to see."

Minutes later, Blackfire made her way to the Tamaranian communications center, where Trogaar was waiting for her, along with Gormileaux and most of the Citadel's commanding officers.

"Good, you are here, Komand'r. The Citadel ship that was sent to Kraitoria has just arrived in Tamaranian space. We have tried to hail them, but there has been no response."

"There's something else," said another guard. "We've calculated the ship's trajectory. It's heading straight for Tamaran's moon. It looks like something's wrong with the craft, but that can't be it."

"Why is that?" asked Gormileaux.

"The ship's engines are perfectly operational," said the guard.

"That's impact," said another guard. "It's just crashed on the surface of Tamaran's moon. Lord Trogaar, what are your orders?"

Trogaar thought this through before finally replying, "Send every available ship to check for survivors. Find out what went wrong. We need to know why they crashed there in the first place."

Trogaar left with no further comments, and most of the officers followed suit. Blackfire, however, remained where she was. She had just realized something, something no one else would know.

Of course they hadn't. She had been contacted by the Citadel captain she had sent to Kraitoria. He had told her the mission had failed and he would have to hide in Citadel space until things cooled down.

"Starfire's here," Blackfire said softly so the guards wouldn't hear her. "She's finally come home."

***

The lieutenant Gormileaux had had spying on Blackfire returned to give his report to his commanding officer. He knew he would be interested to hear what she had said when she had thought no one was watching. Although, she had turned in time to see him retreat down the corridor. She would know Gormileaux was spying on him by now.

"Good, you have returned," said Gormileaux. "Report."

"Your theory was correct," said the lieutenant. "She believes Koriand'r is now on the planet's surface. She sounded certain of it."

Gormileaux nodded in satisfaction. "Just as I thought. Undoubtedly the fool has returned to try and overthrow us. Komand'r will be determined to kill her personally. I hope she does, because then we'll have only one super powered Tamaranian to deal with."

"But there's a problem," said the lieutenant, but Gormileaux held up a hand for silence."

Another lieutenant had just rushed forward. "Our Psion scientists just gave me their most recent report. The prison is complete. We can use it as soon as Komand'r has killed her sister, or if the reverse happens."

"Good," said Gormileaux. "Now tell me what the problem is," he said to the first lieutenant.

"Komand'r saw me," was the reply. "She knows I was spying on her. What should we do?"

Gormileaux considered before finally said, "We'll see what transpires. We'll have to wait to see what happens next, wait for Koriand'r to make the next move. Until then, I need to visit our Psion friends. I want to see if one of their side projects is done. I have an idea where Koriand'r will go when she makes it to the surface."