Looking around, he saw metal struts supporting a walk way to one side above him. On the other side was a blank metal wall. Looking front and back he saw about forty five prisoners cabled to the floor just like him...and five aliens. One of the aliens was a tall powerfully built furred humanoid with deep set eyes. Another was short, pale skinned with large black pupiless eyes, two upper lips and one small lower lip. The non-human prisoners were a bewildering variety of shapes and sizes, but all had a similar haunted look in their eyes. Looking under the walkway, Volar saw there was another set of about fifty prisoners on the other side. The lights were built into the ceiling, but they were so bright, he couldn’t look at them. Their color was an unnatural white which somehow made the bare metal look colder than it was. The metal room was about six paces wide and fifty five paces long. There was a closed metal door on each end of the walkway above him. There were no windows.

Volar shook his head trying to clear the spots from before his eyes. His last memory was…HE'D BEEN SHOT! He closed his eyes and focused his gift upon his own body. He could feel the cold of the metal floor. Looking beyond that he could see/feel a general electrical surplus generating pain and sluggishness. It seem to be strongest on his wounded hand. He saw/felt no other injuries. He dissipated the surplus energy to the metal floor and willed his nerves to operate normally. When he open his eyes his vision and thinking were clear. Because the cable which held him to the floor was so taught he was unable to sit up.

His view was limited but he could see all the other prisoners were lying on the floor also - except for one group in the middle. They were doing something including the largest, hairiest prisoner. As soon as the stormtrooper guard on the elevated walkway exited the room the middle group of prisoners sat up and returned to doing something. Volar couldn’t see what, but he could feel the cable tightening. After a few minutes the cable went slack. Starla began giving orders as she stood up. A few seconds later the cable was pulled through Volar’s binders and he could stand up also. His wrists were still in binders, but he was no longer cabled to the floor. Starla was ordering everyone to be quiet and sit back down. Just after everyone was seated a stormtrooper entered the room and walked along the walkway. When he was beside the large hairy alien it leapt up and pulled him into the pit amongst all the prisoners who immediately fell upon him.

Starla jumped up onto the walkway and ran toward the door the stormtrooper had just entered through. One of the other prisoners tossed her the stormtrooper's blaster. While another prisoner, this one wearing a green uniform unlocked Starla’s binders with some kind of electronic key he had taken from the guard. Volar waited in line while the rest of the prisoner's binders were unlocked. When his binders were removed he ran to be right behind Starla. She was giving orders and at her command the prisoners divided into two groups - One group massing at each door. The door closest to Starla opened first.

She immediately ran into the next room firing the captured blaster. A dozen prisoners followed her yelling as they charged. Volar was at the back of these. In the few seconds it took him to get into the room most of the charging prisoners had been shot by the stormtroopers who were now fighting hand to hand. The large hairy alien had been shot twice but didn't seem to notice the horrible wounds it carried. Volar charged into the chaos looking for Starla but came face to face with a stormtrooper leveling a blaster at him. Volar's training took over. He leapt into the air from a full run planting both feet into the stormtrooper's chest as the stormtrooper fired where Volar had been. The shot went under Volar as he connected. The stormtrooper went down hard. Volar grabbed the trooper’s blaster and shot him point blank. He shot another stormtrooper as he stood up then kicked a third in the head with a spinning kick. After a few blurred seconds of shooting and kicking the fighting was over. It was only then that Volar noticed the windows. Outside the room was stars and darkness. Looking at an angle he could see the sun. He was on a spaceship and it was already past the asteroids moving away from Lazavelt.

The ship's alarms brought Volar back to the fight. Starla had already gathered several more prisoners (all of those wearing the green uniform), gave them weapons, and moved further down the hall - no, she was moving towards the front of the spaceship. Volar caught up to them just as blaster fire erupted from their left. One of the prisoners threw a grenade around the corner. Where did THAT come from? There was a tremendous concussion, then Starla led the group around the corner. There were several dead and wounded stormtroopers and unarmored Imperial personnel who the prisoners quickly killed or subdued. This room appeared to be an armory. Volar grabbed his laser carbine and longknife out of the cabinet. Looking around, he saw another prisoner at an open box on the floor examining a piece of Lazaveltian armor. Volar waved him away then put on his armor and healer's bag. At the same time the other prisoners grabbed the rest of the weapons. Starla gave orders, prisoners yelled, and the large hairy alien finally patched it's wounds while Volar connected his weapons. He was now fully armed and armored.

Starla led her now well armed group ever forward. Volar assumed the second group was attacking aft but he didn't really know. A few more shots were exchanged between the advancing prisoners and the defending ship’s force. The prisoners in green uniforms moved as soldiers. The other prisoners and ship's force did not. In the rush from the brig to the bridge, only two of the green uniforms were killed. Both of them had fallen in the first charge before the prisoners had acquired weapons. They seemed to have their own leader, but he was following Starla.

The prisoners were stopped at the bridge door. It was an armored door and was already sealed against them. Starla and the soldiers' leader discussed this for a moment, then Starla began giving orders to the prisoners while the soldiers' leader gave orders to two of his men. They left back toward the armory. They returned a few minutes later and began applying putty and tape to the door. Volar didn’t recognize the type but he recognized explosives being applied. Everyone took cover. Volar thought they were too close and backed further down the hallway around a corner. Instead of an explosion, there was a bright light, burning sound, sparks and the smell of melting metal. After five seconds or so, there was a small bang and the door fell in. The soldiers fired through the door as the rest of the prisoners charged in. After an exchange of blaster fire lasting about thirty seconds, the prisoners held the bridge. Looking around, Volar saw monitors indicating the prisoners held the entire ship except the engine room. Starla and a few of the prisoners began examining the bridge controls adjusting a few of them. When she slammed her fist on the panel, hollered something, and started walking aft with all the soldiers, Volar knew something was wrong. He guessed the Imperials were still controlling the ship from the engine room.

Volar followed Starla and the soldiers aft. The other group of prisoners had cleared only one room, but that room had been full of stormtroopers. Although these prisoners had been victorious forty out of fifty had been wounded or killed. The last ten were exhausted. They had killed fifteen of the enemy and were stopped at an armored door.

As the soldiers began puttying and taping the door their leader used a wall mounted com unit to speak to the Imperials in the engine room. About the time the remaining prisoners were ready to storm the last door, the soldiers' leader waved them off. The door opened and the leader simply stepped in. In the engine room was one Imperial officer and a dozen spacehands. The officer had the only pistol. The spacehands were armed only with tools. Volar watched as the Imperials surrendered their "weapons" to the soldiers - who used to be their prisoners.

The fighting was over. The prisoners now controlled the ship. As Starla directed a crew to operate it, Volar found the medical bay and began treating the wounded. The wounded - both prisoners and Imperial - were given the best medical treatment Volar knew how. Now that the fighting was over it was time to save all that could be saved. Volar concentrated on his work, the soldiers now guarded the Imperials, Starla ran the crew that operated the ship. It was Starla who reset the astrogation coordinates and piloted the ship until it entered hyperspace. She plotted a new course away from the prison planet to a secret Rebel space station in deep space where no star shone nor any planet filled the viewport.