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“I cannot believe you compared my uncle to a horse."

“Well, he started it," Jillian replied wrinkling her nose while smiling. She noticed the mixed facial signals appeared to confuse the youngling. “We talk like that all the time, but it's all in good humor. There is no serious insult intended. We humans call it playful banter."

“T'at is hard to understand. T'oughts like t'at among the chaw might lead to physical altercations."

“When you get better at understanding our language I'll introduce you to sarcasm. Would you like some tea?" she offered.

Yolaja thought about it for a moment, then responded by nodding vigorously and grinning

“Nice try," Bob instructed, “but a little too expressive. Next time try a single nod and a smaller smile."

“It might be easier to teach Dr. Strat'en how to use telepathy t'an teach me how to read and use human facial expressions. My face is not built to be as flexible as hers." “If humans had telepathy, we would be on the brink of war twenty-four seven," Jillian replied

“As opposed to what you have now?" Bob asked with a slight nicker. The human responded by sticking her tongue out at the Kerachaw.

“By the way," Jillian offered, “Your uncle's last comment… That was sarcasm."

Yolaja's face scrunched slightly, then her eyes brightened. “T'at was sarcasm? We call it quasta… t'ough I do not know if I can stick out my tongue like you did. It looked… unusual."

Jillian chuckled. “It is. It's a form of non-verbal communication that expresses disbelief and defiance and is normally used between friends."

“She's much better at it than I am," the Kerachaw said.

The human smiled as she strolled into the kitchen area and brought out a tray with three mugs of hot tea and several slices of warm bread pudding.

“Here, let me help you with that," the Outlander offered. The tray gently floated out of Jillian's hands and drifted over to the coffee table where the mugs and plates deftly redistributed themselves.

“Show-off," grinned the doctor.

“At least he is being a helpful show-off, whatever t'at is," said Yolaja, then she brightened. “And to t'ink, it only took my uncle seven years to learn how to do t'at." She looked over at Jillian. “How was t'at for quasta… err, sarcasm."

“Not bad," the human said. “Your tone of voice sounded just a little snarky, though."

“Snarky?"

“More like a criticism; less humorous."

The youngling looked down into her mug. “Sorry. I was trying for humor. Learning to speak a language rather t'an t'ink and send it is hard."

“Like everything else in this world, it takes time and effort to master a skill. Considering you've only been awake and with us for less than a day shows how remarkably elastic your mind is. Just remember what I said about mistakes and learning."

Yolaja smiled thoughtfully at the comment. She took a sip of tea, then gently broke off a piece of bread pudding. It drifted on unseen hands into her mouth. She chewed slowly, savoring the taste. “T'at is delicious."

Jillian smiled at the compliment and glanced at Bob. The Kerachaw was suddenly sitting ramrod straight, looking at his niece. His expression was a mix of surprise and… concern?

“How long have you been doing that?" he asked.

The youngling thought for a moment or two. “Not long. It started shortly after I was given implants for my visor. Before t'at I could not see well enough to move t'ings with my mind. It came as a surprise… for me and t'e ot'er survivors on t'e shuttle." She smiled as she popped another small piece of bread pudding into her mouth.

“How much can you lift?" the Kerachaw asked.

“Not much… maybe a couple of zun."

“Zun?" asked Jillian.

“Ounces," Bob repled. He looked back at Yolaja. “You've started developing faster than I did at your age."

“T'e shuttle's doctor t'ought so too. But he never really talked wit' me about it. I t'ink he was a little nervous about treating t'e heir presumptive."

“I've heard you say that before," said Jillian. “What exactly does it mean?"

The youngling paused for a moment as she silently communicated with Bob. She then turned and looked directly at Dr. Strathern. “T'e closest approximation to your culture would be t'e position of Princess of Whales…" She paused for a moment, “no… Wales." Her face scrunched and she bit her lower lip as she tapped into her uncle's knowledge. “Impra qanbul sim catian umvini p'jun larimar?"

_ “Tu banai,"_ replied the Kerachaw gently. “Ry'yabul codse kalatu w'alapa." The youngling abruptly became quiet and withdrew into herself.

The brief exchange echoed softly in Jillian's mind. With her inhibitor collar turned off she understood there was some slight confusion about kings, queens and… sea life? Bob immediately picked up on her thoughts. He focused in on her mind.

“Yolaja was trying to compare the Kerachaw hierarchy to that of Great Britain," he explained. “She became somewhat confused about Wales the country and whales."

“So, if I understood correctly, Yolaja is a… princess?"

Bob nodded and reached across to Jillian, switching her collar on. He then spoke directly to her. “She is the third daughter of the Majestrix, or queen. With both of her older siblings missing, and her mother… gone, it was presumed she was the last surviving member of the Kerachaw royal family."

“Except for you?"

The Outlander shook his head. My sister married into the royal family and became Majestrix upon the death of her mate. While my niece is royalty, I am not."

“But you are her last known living family member." Jillian looked across at the youngling who was sitting quietly, a vague lost expression on her face. “Is she okay?"

“I don't know. She is much too young to be fulfilling the role of Majestrix, and the weight of her loss has just started to sink in. She's been trying not to think about it for a while now."

“I'm sorry if my question hurt. It wasn't meant to."

“I know," the Outlander said. “If the time reading on the capsule is correct, then she was put into stasis less than one of your months after leaving the World ship. Unfortunately, there is no data on why this was done."

“Didn't the shuttle have some kind of flight log?"

“Yes, but when the ship arrived on Earth it crashed. What little that survived of the computer system was corrupted by the Directory's scientists when they dismantled the remains of the spacecraft. I found no data in their computers."

Jillian frowned. “Yet another reason not to like those guys." She studied her companion for a moment or two. “Something's bothering you," she said. “What is it?"

“I don't really know. I'm still connected to Yolaja's thoughts, but she trying as hard as she can to pretend she has some control of her life."

“That doesn't sound like an unreasonable mindset for someone who's been through what she has. What else?"

Bob took a moment to clear his thoughts. “It's the time factor that troubles me. I arrived on Earth almost four years before the spacecraft carrying Yolaja did. That means she was in stasis for a little over four years. That's a long time for anyone, let alone a young girl."

“How did the others on the spacecraft survive that long a voyage? I mean, did they make stops somewhere, on other worlds?"

“Perhaps… The ship could easily have been adapted to use its medical chambers as makeshift hibernation pods. It was designed for long term survival, and it only had a small crew. Taking turns, they could, and did, survive for years without using up their available supplies."

“I take it there's a major difference between the hibernation pods and Yolaja's stasis tube."

The Outlander looked over at the youngling in time to catch her yawning. He quickly scanned her mind and realized part of the reason for her withdrawal was exhaustion. “The answer to your question is Yes," Bob replied… “There is a difference. But I prefer to discuss it a bit later… after we put my niece to bed for the evening."

He stood, walked over to Yolaja and gently brushed the tips of his fingers along her temple. She looked up, then silently nodded. Standing, she leaned against the taller Kerachaw as he walked her over to her bedroom. Jillian busied herself picking up plates and cups and placing them in the kitchen sink. By the time she'd finished, Bob was sitting on the couch once more. The human sat next to him, and he reached across her shoulders and pulled her gently into his embrace. “

Jillian sat quietly, watching his expression. It was focused on something beyond them for several minutes, then it softened, and he switched off her collar. “She's asleep now," he thought to her.

_ “That's good to hear."_

_ “One of the differences between hibernation and stasis is the mind is unable to rest the way it normally does in sleep. The entire life process is simply frozen, locked into a single moment. You don't really rest, so she is understandably tired."_

_ “So, she hasn't dreamed for more than four years?"_

_ “No… She was unaware of the passage of time, at least until we deactivated the chamber."_ Bob sighed. “It creates a null point in her experiences where nothing happened but everything around her changed. That can have serious psychological effects on an unprepared mind. The longer she stayed in stasis, the more jarring coming out of it will have been."

“What can we do to help her?" Jillian asked aloud.

The Kerachaw thought about it for a moment or two. “Well, first of all I will needed to set up the medical system on my ship so I can give her a complete physical and psychological examination. Hopefully, I can convince her to voluntarily sleep through the procedure."

Jillian looked at Bob with a touch of concern. She wondered why sleeping through the examination would be important. Thinking back on her first-year studies in pre-med she tried to recall what she'd learned about psychological conditions. A person who had experienced traumatic injury, then spent an extended time in a coma sometimes awoke suffering extreme disorientation, memory loss, and more than a few underlying mental problems.

Now take that person and give them telepathic powers. A mind like your average Kerachaw would always be reaching out for contact with like minds, contact the stasis chamber would prevent. Then add the possibility of other mental powers to that. Powers that were common only among the strongest minds, the Vu-Theel, who studied for years to develop their abilities.

Jillian looked up sharply at the Outlander. “Telekinesis… Yolaja shouldn't have such power, should she?"

“Not at her age," Bob replied. “Something has happened, and I do not know what it is or why it's happening."

“Would it be possible for you to join minds with her, the way you do between us. Communicate directly with her… maybe even find out what she is feeling."

“I could," he said. “But I'd want to do it under a more controlled environment. Joining with another mind without knowing the mindset of the patient is extremely risky, as you already know."

The human nodded. “I remember our first contact… It was more than a little crazy."

“Crazy is not something I want, or she needs at this time."

Jillian and Bob sat quietly for several long moments, sharing the calm and the quiet of their unique home. “When we get a chance, we should take Yolaja outside. Give her a chance to feel what it's like living outside the artificial environments she's probably known her whole life."

That's not a bad idea… once we know what exactly is going on with her."

“So, tell me. What other differences would there be between hibernation and stasis?"

“Well, stasis is an absolute. It's typically used to prevent further growth of an illness, such as your cancer. It delays the negative effects of a condition until treatment can be applied. However, because it is an absolute suspension of time it is not intended for long term use. I will want to consult my medical system's memory and find out what the longest time anyone has been held in suspension without the development of entropic effects."

Jillian frowned. “But isn't stasis a condition where there is a lack of decay… of entropy?"

“That's the problem," the Outlander replied. “Entropy is a natural condition of the universe. Stasis isn't… it is artificially induced. Over time, a physical object in complete stasis will slowly start to break down, molecule by molecule. That's because being artificial our version of stasis is imperfect. True, a severe injury or disease won't grow worse, but the entire structure will eventually disintegrate."

“How long?"

“Again, I don't know."

“Yolaja seems to have managed it fairly well, at least so far."

“I hope that is the case. Using a stasis chamber is most often reserved for extreme circumstances. If they had placed her in hibernation, then normal healing, both physical and mental, would have been possible. She could have maintained contact with her friends through her dreams as I did with you. She also would have been able to age normally."

“On the other hand, if she had been in hibernation and not stasis, she might not have survived the crash of their spacecraft on Earth," the human pointed out.

“True enough," replied Bob.

There was a sudden, soft noise off to one side of the living quarters. They both looked up. Standing before them was the youngling. She was dressed in the same armor she had been wearing when they'd first opened her stasis chamber, minus the visor she needed so she could see. That, she held firmly in her left hand.

Jillian's first impression was that the girl was sleepwalking. “Yolaja?"

The Kerachaw turned towards the sound of the human's voice. With her face uncovered Dr. Strathern could see trickles of blood running out of her mouth, ears and eyes. She stepped forward and one of her legs banged sharply against a dining room chair. The sudden pain was enough to elicit a soft whimper from the girl. She did not appear to wake up, but what happened next was far worse.

Without warning various objects around the room began lifting into the air, swirling about as if caught in a tornado. There was the sound of breaking porcelain, glass and metallic clanging as the objects collided with walls, furniture and each other. Amid the chaos the youngling stood firmly at its center, unseeing, and untouched by any of the flying debris. A glow began emanating from Yolaja's forehead, glowing brighter as the surrounding madness accelerated.

“What the HELL???"