"No one here either." Jade emerged from one of the huts.

	"It would appear that the entire village has been abandoned
 for quite some time." Marsala said as he looked around.
	
	"Hey guys, come here!" Kaz called from nearby.
	
	"What is it?" Jade asked, frowning at the sharp piece of
 metal that stuck up from the water.

	"Hanley's frame...I think." Kaz replied.

	They hauled the damaged exo-frame from the river with Kaz's
fighter.

	"It's Eve's all right." Kaz's voice was grim.  Marsala opened 
the cockpit and water poured out.

	"Gross..." Jade muttered.  The three of them stared at the
 bones that had fallen at her feet.

	"No way, she can't be dead." Kaz mused.

	Marsala knelt next to Jade, "I doubt that she is, but
 someone most likely wants us to believe that is the case."

	Jade and Kaz exchanged a confused glance. "Huh?" they asked
 in unison.

	"These aren't even Terran, they are from a Neosapien.",
 Marsala explained.

	"Okay, so where's Eve?" Kaz inquired, sounding somewhat
 relieved.
	
	"I do not know.  Perhaps we should show this to J.T. before
 we search any further.", Kaz nodded.

	"You ready to go, Jade?" Kaz turned to face her, but she
 wasn't there.  "Jade?" he called.  No reply.  "Where could she
 have gotten off to?"

	"Did she not say where she was going?" Marsala questioned.

	"No, she was right here a second ago, now she's gone." Kaz
 told him.

	"Her frame is still here, she could not have gone far."
 the Neosapien observed.

	"I'm going to look for her. Kaz declared.

	"No, we have to let the others know what we've found."
 Marsala said.

	"Jade could be in trouble, we've gotta find her.", Kaz
 argued.

	Marsala knew better than to order Kaz not to go; he'd 
just end up getting courtmarshalled.  He decided on a less sovereign 
approach.  "We'll contact J.T. and inform him of what we found, then 
we will search for Jade."

	Kaz relented hesitantly.  "All right.", he flopped down on a 
nearby tree stump while Marsala went to his frame to contact the rest 
of the squad.



	"No one seems to know anything." Rita mused.

	"Or they just aren't talking." J.T. said.

	"We're never gona find her..." Wolf muttered.

	"'Scuse me...", a girl of about thirteen stood behind them.

	"Yeah?" Wolf queried.

	"Are you the three Exo Fleet members looking for that
 woman?", her green eyes sparkled as she looked at their
 uniforms.  Her blond hair was dirty and tangled and her clothes
 were tattered and just as dirty.

	J.T. glanced at Wolf and Rita, "Yes...have you seen her?" he
 asked.

	She nodded, "She's my friend."

	"Do you know where we can find her?" J.T. inquired
 hopefully.

	The girl studied them skeptically, "Why?"

	"She was a member of our squad.  She got lost on a mission
 and we came back to find her." Torres explained.

	The girl still looked skeptical, "She was my wife." Bronski
 said, his voice so low it was nearly inaudible.

	"I can take you to her...but not now, I have to get back
 before I'm missed.  Meet me back here at nine o'clock tonight;
 I'll take you to her then.", she turned to go.

	"Hey, kid." Wolf said.

	"Yeah?"

	"Thanks."

	She smiled at him, "Ivy."

	Wolf frowned at her, "It's my name.  "Kid" seems so formal."
 she was gone before he could say another word.

	J.T.'s communicator beeped.  He tapped the button on the
 panel in front of him to open the channel, "Marsh here."

	"I believe we have found Hanley's exo-frame." Marsala's
 voice announced.

	"Where are you?" J.T. questioned.

	"We're in the villiage at the moment, but we seem to have
 misplaced Jade, so we're leaving to look for her."

	"You *misplaced* her!?" J.T. cried.

	"Rather like she wandered off I believe, but Kaz seems to
 think that she could be in trouble."

	"Okay...I won't even ask.  Do you need us there?" 

	"Not unless you feel like coming.  I don't think she went
 too far on foot." 

	"She wasn't in her frame?" J.T. sounded worried.

	"No."

	"We'll be there in a little while; we're done here." 

	"Should we wait for you?" the Neosapien asked.

	"No, go ahead; we'll find you when we get there." J.T.
 informed him.
	
	"All right.  Marsala out."

	"What's up?" Wolf asked.

	"They found Eve's frame...but they lost Jade." J.T. relayed
 the message.

	"Define 'lost'" Bronski said.

	"Marsala thinks she wandered off.  We're going over there now to check it out."

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