(And Part 2!)

"Right, I don't know who you are, or what you're doing or why you're here, I'd appreciate some information so I'm not being left in the dark here and get stabbed in the back, thanks." Seb asked, having encountered their mysterious 'compainion'.

"Information? Could you be...more specific?"

"*Sigh* Well, I want some answers. Mainly information about who you are and how you ended up getting involved in all this. For all I know, that machine you've got there could be some sort of explosive device and you're a deadly assassin or something along those lines who's waiting for the right time to blow us all to pieces."

"I... I'm Susanah, though people call me Susan. I'm from, well, I guess you've never heard of Pyrophor?" Susan said, introducing herself.

"Not that I recall, though I think it may be a small colony on the outer section. So I guess this must be your ship, since it would be pretty hard to get something this big around by other means. What happened? And sorry for thinking that ship could've been a bomb. I've seen a lot of large objects in my travels and most of them explode." Seb chuckled.

"Well...I was... travelling, and I... docked with a ship... I... I forget the name now, but I wanted directions, to get my bearings, I'd become disoriented. And... well, there was an attack, the ship crashed and burned."

"...I see. Do you know who attacked? Was it the turtles? They've been active in this dimension recently."

"I... no... I... didn't get a good look at the attackers or their vessel... there was too much panic."

"You're serious. I was hoping to figure out who caused the thing to crash, but at least clears a few things up. We can probably drop you off somewhere safe in a few hours if you don't want to get involved in this."

"That would be... fine. I just have to wait for my ship to recover."

"Recover?"

"Yes.. it's broken."

"Ah, you've got one of those damned repair systems, nice and techy, but useless."

"Yes... what did you mean 'in this dimension'?"

"Oh. It's nothing."

"You travel between universes? That's harder than it looks."

"Hah, tell me about it. Sometimes adventure that takes us somewhere completely different while at times, I just want to go home and try to get my bearings. There's plenty of hazards to watch out for while you're travelling between dimensions for the first few times, though. I'm surprised you know about all this, though, What's your experience?"

"Oh. I have a professorship in Transdimensional Cartesian theory."

"Hah, It's not often we have a professor on board! Well, Professor Susan, I guess we'll drop you off at the next free planet. That alright with you?"

"That would be fine."

***

David relaxed, well, at least something made sense. Now, the other girl was just a ditz, but something should be done about that crazy girl. He set off down the corridor. She was being kept in one of the cabins. This one...? No. This one...? No. Ah.

David stepped back in shock, he'd never seen someone stare quite like the one he was receiving. The girl was looking at him as if he'd set his hair on fire. She'd obviously been thinking deeply about something, you could see that from her posture.

"Don't you knock?!"

"I didn't think it was necessary."

"Right then, so I can undress and you'll not barge in?"

"Well.. didn't think that."

"Well then, I think I shall, or maybe won't, but I do hope there will be a knock next time or I am not responsible for what you see."

"Geez, what's up with you?"

"Seriously? Can't you tell? The world's gone mad, what is this, a regular occurrence?"

"Oh yeah, you wouldn't believe. You're not some sort of time traveling magician girl who's also my cousin or something are you? I hate when that happens."

The girl laughed. It was a bitter and harsh laugh, but it had some humor in it. The poor girl probbably just had no idea what was going on. You got that sometimes, as it was people seemed to take things like their entire world being destroyed in their stride, but you always got someone who just couldn't block out the impossible. She was only saying what he felt.

"I suggest screaming at the wall, it's a great stress relief."

"If this is how you live your life, you must know."

"You'll get used to it, let me tell you, this is nothing compared to that fiasco on Ordovician, it was me, Seb and of course, Josh, and we were surrounded by..."

And the gentle patter of conversation continued on as the ship moved through the void, carrying its small crew toward their destination, each occupied with their own thoughts about the events that would soon draw them into the melee.