Six.

The interior of the Intergalactic Battle Academy carried an air of tradition and elegance. Outside it looked like any other space station, a great rotating ring of steel and plastic – but the inside had been built and decorated to look like an Old Earth academy, with genuine oak doors and mahogany floors. It was built to impress, and compared to most stations it was wasting an obscene amount of space on high ceilings, enormous archways and large hallways. The only exception were the student dormitories, which were small and cramped. Krystof and Darren remembered this well.

“I can't believe we're back.”

“Me neither,” replied Darren. “It's been way too long. Maybe this was a bad idea.”

“You could have at least asked, first. So are we recruiting a coupla students, or what?”

“Better. We're recruiting from the staff.”

“Huh? You're bringing our old teachers with us on a treasure hunt?”

They turned a corner, heading for one of the zero-gravity classrooms. “Don't be stupid, Krystof. Our old teachers are probably retired. I'm looking for old friends.”

He punched a few buttons, and the door to the zero-gravity chamber slid open. The huge, cylindrical chamber was almost empty, but as Darren and Krystof drifted inside, they spotted someone near the ceiling. It was a short-haired woman in camouflage pants and a red bandanna. She looked a little distracted, floating through the room with her attention focused on a hand-held computer.

Krystof's eyes widened. “Babs?”

“Huh? Oh! Hi! Christian! Darryl! So good to see you!”

“You haven't changed a bit,” Darren smiled. “Listen, can you round up the other girls? We've got a job on our hands, and we could use some help.”

“Sure thing! They should be somewhere around the Wormhole.”

“Gotcha. Uh, are you coming with us?”

“In a minute. Just gonna finish this game...”