[Author's Note: Yes, this half should have been finished much sooner than it was, I apologize for that. So, for anyone who's reading, enjoy, and I hope the wait was worth it!]

Jessica looked around for Mysla as she finished eating. Standing up, she spotted her on the other side of the room, and went over to greet her.

Hector watched her do so. From behind him, he heard Keith belch and Lisa drop her fork again. He smiled at the both of them, then got up to see if he could find the men's room. He thought one was over there… or had it been that way? He a bit turned around in the big room. As he looked about for anyplace that might've been one, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Are you lost, boy?"

Hector turned around to see the Curtanzil High President himself, tall and imposing. Hector gave an awkward chuckle. "Well, not lost really…"

The President raised an ink-black eyebrow. Hector remembered his manners. "Mister President, sir." He said, and did a slight formal bow. "It's an honor to meet you. My name is Hector Ruiz."

Hector held out his hand. The President looked at it for a moment like it was covered in mucus, then reached out and lightly shook it.

Hector smiled. The President did not.

Hector cleared his throat. "Er… how do you feel the negotiations are going, sir?"

The President raised his eyebrow again. "All right, I suppose, although it would be preferable to not have so many gaping Earthlings eavesdropping on private affairs between other planets. Oh, excuse me."

The President walked away as Hector registered what had been said. He shook his head. "…okay, then." Clearly the Curtanzil President wasn't a fan of the Company. He personally thought the president of a planet should be less rude, though.

Jessica and Mysla were talking and laughing like old friends, not two girls who'd only met that morning. Jessica was in the middle of trying to explain why, exactly, hamburgers and French fries always went together when a shadow fell over them.

The President met their gaze as the both looked up. "Mysla," he said, his voice low, "the negotiations are about to resume. Come with me."

Mysla's smile dropped as she hurriedly got up and followed the President away, shooting Jess an apologetic look. Jessica frowned. She hoped Mysla wasn't going to get in trouble for talking to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Olivesk motioning for her to come sit down.

Everyone was sitting. The lunch break was over. The Skeleckian Emperor was speaking. "My gathered friends," he said, "we are entering the second half of our scheduled negotiations. I am very pleased and very proud at how much we have accomplished already, and what we have… eh… our neighbors becoming our fr… friends… and… I… and… what… errrrrrrlll…"

The Emperor stuttered, slurred his speech, staggered around as if he'd lost his balance, and finally tumbled to the floor and lay still.

Silence.

Before anyone had time to react, to break the silence, to do anything, what seemed to be a bolt of lightning flashed across the room. It was the Curtanzil President. He was bent over the fallen Emperor, fumbling in his clothes for something. He jumped up, and unidentifiable object in his hand, and held it up.

At last, a sound tore through the muteness. It was Keith. He was yelling.

Both his arms were raised, but his horrified expression at them made it seem like they had done it of their own accord. He was screaming his lungs out until one arm jerkily shot backwards and muffled his mouth.

Jessica and the others started to run towards him, but their arms suddenly felt like something had a death grip on them and wasn't letting go. They struggled and tried to move, but their own arms fiercely held them back. They were stuck. As they thrashed around in vain, they saw that all of the Skeleckians in the rooms were passed out, unconscious, just like the Emperor.

The Curtanzil President walked towards them, slowly, in a mocking, exaggeratedly "jaunty" sort of way. His demeanor seemed much more energetic and buoyant than it had been earlier, though his smile was cold.

"I would say 'nobody move'," he chuckled, "but that would be simply redundant."

Hector, still struggling violently, gasped out "What… what… what is this? What are you doing?"

The President polished his bracelet on his robe. There were chuckles. It really was terrifying how much his demeanor had changed. "Well, I suppose I should explain. Open your listening ears, children.

"All of the Skeleckians here are drugged. You'll remember that we all ate something different; you ate your Earth food, us our Curtanzil foods, and the Skeleckians ate the food of Skelecki. The food of Skelecki was drugged by we Curtanzils… infiltrating is easy when you develop the knack for it."

He held up a small black ball, which appeared to be vibrating. "This fun little thing is a device that hijacks your powers, or skills, or whatever you call them. For example, just now I had the Keith boy over there use his projection to put false images on all the security monitors in this room. All the Eldrimk security officers see in this room are Curtanzils and Skeleckians peacefully negotiating. By the time they realize that they have been duped, my people, and you four-" he pointed at each member of the company "-will have left the station."

None of the Company said anything. Their mouths felt like they were stuffed with sandpaper, that their lips couldn't move.

The President continued to pace around the room. "I've done my… what's the phrase... homework, that's it, I've done my homework on you, Electric Company. I know what you can do. Power over language, words, communication. I'm sure it wouldn't take an obscene amount of imagination to think of ways such skills could be applied to war. And we will have war with Skelecki. So, things from here on are relatively simple: with no one coming to your aid, you will come with us as we depart Eldrimk. If you don't cooperate, you will get hurt, extremely so. Simple. It will be, as you Earthlings say, easy-peasy."

Jessica snuck a quick look around the room. Olivesk was among the unconscious Skeleckians, sprawled out on the floor, his Harry Potter glasses askew. All Curtanzil eyes were on them. Except for Mysla's. She was staring at the floor.

The President put his hand to his chin in a mock-thinking pose. "Now, isn't there something I'm forgetting?" This was said in a horrible, exaggerated bogus voice. He smacked his forehead. "Oh, that's right! You're going to looooove this bit…"

He held up the device and said, in a voice that was less exaggerated and more cold and cruel, "This device? It isn't ours."

Not taking his gaze from the Company, he pointed at the fallen Skeleckian Emperor. "The Skelecians made this." The President spat each word of this out like a weapon from his mouth.

The Company stared at him.

"Oh, yes. You were never here to mediate the negotiations. You were insurance. The Skeleckians saw the same useful potential in you was we do. In case things got out of hand, or just went a way they didn't like, control of your powers would make a very handy solution. Our spies were onto them, though. Can't say I fault them, they had a good idea… we were just a few steps ahead of it, that's all."

He turned to his Curtanzil guards. "All right, open the doors." He looked back at the Company. "When I say move, you will all walk quickly out the doors with us. If you don't-" he pressed his device. Wordballs suddenly flew out of Lisa's hands, pummeling the others.

After a few moments, the President stopped it. "Just as we suspected, you can feel wordballs. They can hurt you. Not very much, of course, but if enough of them hit you… well, it's death by a thousand… how do you say it… papercuts."

His mocking grin dropped a little as he pointed towards the doors. "Now, enough talking. Come along."

The Company all looked at each other. Jessica's eyes were burning and moist. She was the official ambassador. It was her job to lead the others and see that things went right. She had to think, think of something… anything…

And, suddenly, as if the fates had heard her silent pleas, the game changed again.

Someone dashed across the room, just as the President had. It was Mysla. In what was like a bizarre echo of her commander-in-chief, she knelt down by the Skeleckian Emperor.

Jessica's eyes followed her, her mind in a confused turmoil. The Curtanzils seemed just as surprised as the Company. The President frowned. "Mysla, dear… what are you doing?"

Mysla stood up and turned to face the room. In her hand was the Emperor's pendant, the kind all Skeleckians wore. She was shaking. Her eyes met Jessica's, and Jessica saw that they were wet. Mysla mouthed something that Jess couldn't make out.

There was a low humming sound. All around the room, the unconscious Skeleckians' pendants were glowing, and slowly rising up from around their wearers' necks.

Hector, sounding like he had to gasp the words out, said "What… what's happening?"

The President still looked concerned, but he also made a little sneer at Hector, his expression becoming a weird hybrid. "Oh, didn't you know, little boy? This is what Skeleckian pendants do. If several Skelecks them are gathered in one place, one of their pendants getting ripped off causes the rest of them to raise their own kind of defense. I have to say, this is an interesting twist."

Mysla clutched the pendant in her hand as the humming intensified. Brilliant, sharp beams blue light shot out of every pendant around every Skeleckian's neck, all streaming together into a dazzling blue orb of in the center of the room.

For a second, the orb just hovered there. For a second that felt like an eternity.

Then it flew at Mysla.

Mysla was just barely able to dodge it as it whished by her. She ran away from it as it curved back around and once more hurtled after her. Everyone watched. The President began to look amusedly confused, as if watching a performance he didn't understand, his head tilted as he watched the orb chase Mysla.

"Mysla, what are you doing?" he called out. "You're wasting my time getting yourself killed, you know."

Things were happening even faster now. Mysla ran towards the President. The President backed away, but not fast enough. Mysla grabbed his robe and pulled him in close, squeezing him in a bizarre bear hug.

As the orb turned once again and began to fly towards them, the President started screaming.

It was too late for the President's guards to do anything. As the orb flew at them, Mysla pulled the President around so that he was directly in the path of the orb.

There was a blast so strong that almost everyone lost their balance and feel to their knees, nearly blinded by the brilliant blue flash.

The President was lying on the floor, unmoving. Mysla was holding the device he'd had, the one that controlled the powers. Immediately, the company felt control of their limbs again. Keith's arms dropped. Red lights started flashing. A booming, broadcasted voice was saying "STOP ALL HOSTILE ACTIVITY. ANTI-WEAPON SECURITY FIELDS HAVE BEEN ENABLED. ELDRIMK SECURITY TROOPS ARE ARRIVING. STOP ALL HOSTILE ACTIVITY."

Jessica gasped, suddenly feeling as if she hadn't breathed in years. She looked around at the rest of the Company. "Is… is everyone okay?" As the others met each other's eyes, making sure everyone was alright, the surrounding doors flew open and uniformed beings of various shapes came charging in, carrying primed weapons.

A small, blue spark fizzled in the air for a second, then died. All that was left of the pendant energy.

Jessica sat in a smaller waiting room than the one she had been in before the negotiations started. The Skeleckians had been all been revived and were receiving medical care, including Olivesk. The Company had been reassured that they would all be okay. The Curtanzils were all in custody. The President had survived his burns, but was now being prosecuted for multiple crimes and would probably end up being sentenced to life on some distant prison asteroid. The Company was being individually interviewed for accounts of the event. Right now, the Eldrimk staff were questioning Lisa.

Jessica just wanted to go back to Earth curl up in her bed. But the incident needed sorting out, which would probably take a very long time. They'd already been here for hours. Jess rubbed her forehead and stared at nothing. There was a big round drink on her armrest, but she didn't want it.

A small voice. "Um… hello."

Jessica looked up. Mysla was standing in front of her, flanked by a security trooper. Mysla's eyes kept alternating between Jessica's and the floor.

"They, ah, they questioned me and s-said that I was okay to come out and talk to somebody if I wanted. And… I… well… I'msosorryI'msosorryIknewsomethingwasgoingtohappendidn'tdoanythingIdidn'tIkeptquietbutthenImetyouandyouweresoniceandIcouldn'tIdidn't…" she melted into sobs.

Jessica stood up and pulled Mysla into a hug, Mysla's hot tears dripping down Jess's shoulder. The security trooper watched them impassively.

Mysla was out of breath, and still saying "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Jessica pulled out of the hug a bit. "Hey. Hey. Look at me. You saved us. You stopped the President. It doesn't matter what you knew, or what you were gonna let happen, okay? You saved us, didn't you?"

Mysla gave a fragile smile through her tears. "Yes… I guess I did."

Jessica smiled back. "You did. And it was incredible and bravest thing I've ever seen." She gave Mysla a light, affectionate punch on the arm. "And don't you ever forget it, okay?"

Jessica turned to the security trooper and looked up to meet the amphibious creature's eyes. "Is she allowed to stay out here with me, if she wants to?" The trooper nodded. Jess looked back at Mysla. "Do you wanna wait with me? It probably won't be so bad with a friend."

Mysla nodded, her eyes still glistening, and she and Jessica sat down.

They talked and asked each other questions and laughed and cried while they waited there. They were ambassadors. They were friends.