The characters settle into their cabins on the Pioneer Moon for the weeklong jump to the Solod system. The ship has taken some damage during the escape from Pryden and the fuel tanks will have to be re-filled. Solod has a type A Starport and the system has one gas giant. The plan is to jump to the gas giant, re-fuel, then proceed to the Starport to arrange repairs on the ship.
While exploring the ship, Nevada finds an open low berth in the medical bay. Taking this information to the rest of the characters, they are concerned that they may not be alone onboard. They begin to fan out to the various decks in search of any possible stowaways. Nevada goes back to the Medical Bay to inspect the open low berth. All he can tell is that the berth was sealed months ago and opened around the time they got onboard on Pryden. He also sees the numbers “1451-9” noted in the low berth’s log, but apart from that there is no other information.
Fred and Ethan search the cargo bays on the mid and lower deck, while Jack proceeds to the upper deck. While searching the galley Jack finds a half-eaten sandwich and a nearly full glass of milk on a table. This looks recent and wasn’t there when they boarded. Looking into the open door of the port side storage room, he can see a few boxes knocked off the shelf.
Rather than go in alone, he calls the rest of the crew to join him. They take covering positions as Jack enters the storage room calling out for whoever is there to come out. Peering around the tall shelves, he doesn’t see anyone. Threatening to shoot if the intruder won’t reveal themselves, he hears a noise coming from on top of one of the shelves.
Climbing down from her hiding place is a young girl about 11 or 12 years old, looking very afraid. The girl has dark hair and curious facial tattoos and is too frightened to speak at first. Tegan helps calm her down a bit and when Nevada asks, she says her name is Kiza A’lcaan. They ask if she’s hungry (she is) and then sit her back down at the table with her sandwich and glass of milk.
According to Kiza she was abducted, along with her parents, from her home world of Traak. She doesn’t know why and doesn’t know how she got onboard the Pioneer Moon. She only remembers men breaking into her family’s house, putting a bag over her head, and then passing out. When she woke up, she was in the low berth on board the ship with the door open. She avoided the guards and when she heard shooting, she climbed the shelves in the galley storeroom and hid until it seemed over. When it got quiet for a while, she came back down to find something to eat. Then hearing someone coming up the ladder (Jack), she ran back to the storeroom to hide again.
Nevada thinks the tattoos look familiar but can’t quite place them. Feeling more comfortable, she gobbles down her sandwich and milk, then asks Nevada:
“How did you know to look for me?”
“Well, Kiza, you left the door open on the low-berth, so we knew someone was here,” he replies.
“No I didn’t.” she says, “I made sure to close it behind me.”
The characters and Tegan look at each other as they realize Kiza wasn’t the only stowaway.