Diplomatic Outpost, Tombo, 01:16: After polite official and diplomatic inquiries have gone unanswered, several determined parents have taken different routes to discover the kids’ whereabouts.

The first two illegally search official Tombo filing cabinets, logged customs documents and sealed computer records to find the trail. When two unfortunate low level bureaucrats are found working late, they are added to the pile and put to the question. Both lackeys elect to find new employment afterwards rather than face the possibility of a return visit.

Who is more brutal? Is it the sweet talking, laser sharp witch who seemingly reads their minds even as they’re trying to come up with lies? She even knows where all the kickback accounts are! We have to move that money! Or is it the charming ice blue eyed devil who effortlessly mangles the high-defense outpost security system so thoroughly that the automated turrets still randomly open fire on authorized personnel weeks later?

After a few minutes it is obvious that the two louts don’t know anything about the kids other than their logged arrival and lack of departure information. Despite uncomfortable pressure to find out more, the two lackeys escape with only promises to keep their mouths shut and their eyes on the lookout for the reappearance of some very important teenagers.

Not that they have much recourse, legal or otherwise. It is a lost cause trying to find any electronic or physical trace of the covert visit, the only fingerprints remaining are the bruises the lackeys carry off to their new jobs. And all the data recordings have been emptied. Professionals, or military. Does it really matter which they are?

The third parent is the most persistent and soon locates the erstwhile civilian guide the kids used. Apparently the still active Imperial scout is trying to file an Imperial claim for a local island chain he just visited. The crack Frye lawyer team swoops in on that and soon overpowers the minimal Imperial representation with piles of boondoggle and the invaluable help of an amicable Colonial judge. In short order, and many bribes later, the Frye Island Retreat is legally owned and the heavy laser turrets have been ordered.

Six three man search-and-rescue teams are sent to the islands, each with a powerful radio and medical supplies to report on any sightings. They eventually find the temple and an additional surprise that keeps them far busier than anyone expected. They call for help!

Deciding on a personal visitation to expedite the search, Duncan’s mother takes along her personal arsenal. Who knew that mousy little Kay Frye knows how to expertly handle a wildly illegal military grade x-ray laser minigun? Even that dragon better think about finding a new retreat when she hits the beach…

Jasper nods to himself, if only they knew all the places Kay has seen and had a hand in blowing up. Innocent, ha!

Cintamanta 11:13: A curious meeting between two worlds occurs when Alec Cobb and Jim Blackwood meet at a bar and grille in town. Father Alec defers from the title and the collar in the informal restaurant, and Jim, feeling more than a little out of his depth, hurries to pass on his lack of news about FX’s whereabouts. Frowning, Alec says that his Church grapevine has also failed to pick up any word on where his brother might be. Despite the parental Cobbs checking military contacts, medical contacts, and what Imperial friends they still have, it seems that FX and his friends have fallen off the planet and into some dark rabbit hole. Sharing their concern forms a foundation of trust, and soon they are swapping funny stories about FX and his outlandish pranks. An easy friendship opportunity emerges that both examine and decide to accept. Like FX himself, they represent both sides of the divinity coin and sharing the knowledge of a complex person they both know from different viewpoints gives them a common ground. They part for the evening still concerned but still hopeful that he’ll turn up soon with another crazed scheme for mass confusion and public property destruction. Yes, they know him that well.

Cintamanta 03:34: Another mother sits at an unmarked but highly modified terminal in a hopefully secretly rented warehouse. Scanning current Imperial alerts and security warnings, she fails to find any notices about recent captures or inductions. By habit she checks for any 117 names but thankfully the Talents local Imperials are looking for are all feral.

I knew they wouldn’t find her, she cackles to herself. She is the One and no Cobb Big Money Meat Factory will ever be able to recreate my perfect success!

I wonder if she will enjoy the flight crew job I plan to recommend her for. To see the stars again, that would be a lovely thing. I’ve been planetbound for so long…

But so few can see the heavens like she will. She had to have the time to grow up like an ordinary kid, normal in every way. Everyone deserves that, even kids like her. If only the so-called experts knew! She will gather up all the local stars in one small hand and scatter them glittering to every far corner of the galaxy!

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