The Blast Seen Around the World

Disclaimer: I don't own Zenon.

A/N: sequel to Finding Dasha, PZ/Z
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Chapter One

Zenon stared out the window of her pod, puzzling for a moment at the fact that she couldn't raise her arms to work the upper control panels. The pod turned and drifted forward for a moment, toward the space station. She wondered what she was doing there, why she was going there, but she assumed that it was to return home after the summer was over.

Her hands moved the wheel as if she had no control over their movements, and at that moment, she realized she was trying to steer away from the space station. She tried again, in vain, to control her limbs, to steer back toward the space station, but instead, she found herself doing a large loop, positioning herself at a further distance from the space station.

Why? she wondered. She tried to look down at her hands, but her eyes were fixed on the space station.

A second later, the space station ripped apart from its core, and everything was torn to shreads by a ball of fire. The fireball was one of the brightest objects in their region of space, and the shockwave flipped Zenon's pod upside down and sending it backwards.

ZZZ

Zenon sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily and in a slight cold sweat. She was a little bit disoriented for a moment, and then she realized that she was in a guest bedroom at Nova Linda Cove.

She climbed out of bed and walked out of the room and down the hall to the bathroom. It felt good to be in control of her own movements again, especially as she washed her face with cold water and regained control of her breathing. She leaned on the counter over the sink, weighing her options. She wasn't sure about telling Proto Zoa about the dream; much as she loved him, she had a bad gut feeling about telling him about this dream. She didn't want to cause him any unnessecary panic.

A strange thought occurred to her: that the dream was a warning, some form of premonition. If that were true, she had several questions to answer. Who was trying to blow up the space station, and why? Could that person be stopped before it was too late?

She knew the answer to the latter question. Yes, that person could be found and stopped, especially with Zenon Karr seeing to it.

But that meant she needed to talk to Proto Zoa about it, and he needed to talk to Lester, the "man of a thousand connections" who helped her find her cousin after Numbar had kidnapped her and forced her to submit to a paternity test.

Were the two connected, she wondered, and what did it have to do with the Mars Colony that Dasha told her about?

She took a deep breath and walked out of the bathroom. She knocked on Proto Zoa's bedroom door, and it slid open. "Mmm, Zee, what's going on?" Proto Zoa asked sleepily as he walked back over and took a seat on his bed.

Zenon wet her lip and explained everything she knew about the dream she'd been having off and on for the past several weeks. Proto Zoa's eyes widened, and even if he wasn't, he certainly seemed wide awake. For some time, he was speechless, instead picking one side of his bed and patting the other. She walked over and lay next to him. He wrapped an arm around her, and she settled into him, her eyes fluttering closed. "We'll figure this out," Proto Zoa whispered, "and everything will be fine." These were the last words she'd heard before falling asleep.

ZZZ

Dasha sat cross-legged on her bed, her fingers laced and her elbows on her knees, chewing her lip. Her stereo was playing one of Proto Zoa's chips, but she wasn't paying much attention.

She picked up her zap-pad and replayed the message she'd recieved earlier that day. Numbar's face filled the screen, and he seemed cheery somehow, though Dasha didn't suspect that it was because he wanted to talk to her. "I just wanted to let you know that my offer still stands," he said. "Call me back if you decide yea or nay." The message ended, and Dasha let the zap-pad fall from her hands and into her lap. She tried to think, but her mind failed her and her eyes glazed over.

She almost didn't realize it when the chip ended, but when she caught on, she changed it and then lapsed back into a state of mindlessness. This state was only disturbed by a charge racing through space which sent chills down her spine.