She felt the bond between herself and her twin stretch nearly to breaking as she tried to peer into the space between the stars ... and saw a flicker coming towards her! It seemed to be tracking along the same note she had followed. She backed away hurredly. She had been taught, as all Star Speakers were, that there were beings in the astral plane that would consume not only the energy set into a message but the life of the sender as well. Only Adepts were supposed to quest in Crystal's way, and she was years from reaching that goal.She fled back along her track and snapped back to her shadow!

Shattered Glass woke with a start! This was one of her strangest dreams yet! She reached for her journal to record what she could, but it was fading even as she touched pen to paper. She sighed; another tale to bring to her instructors. Would they claim she was simply over eager for powers she had not yet earned? Or send her, eh, again, to speak with the Archivist about the dangers of song casting without the aid of the teachers and their fail safes? She was tempted to keep this last one to herself, but somehow the worry she felt didn't seem entirely her own.

You did the right thing to come to me with your concern, child. Misteric rubbed at the lenses of his glasses and squinted towards the young grey student. At first, with the wan light coming in this overcast day, he had thought there were two girls before him. Sometimes dreams tell us about things we are concerned about and help us to decide how we will resolve problems in our daily lives.
That's not all, though. I'm almost positive I saw something just as I woke up this morning.
Oh? asked the gelert. Sometimes the students would begin to show hints of the special talents they would one day posses. Was it time to find a special tutor for Shattered to work with?
Yes, I think it was something furry. Maybe a petpet!
Ah, he relaxed a bit into his chair, well furry things in dreams could happen to anyone. You'll have to speak to your parents about that my dear, he counselled her, but I'd say you're more than responsible enough to be trusted with a little friend.

Another waste of time, Shattered Glass fussed to herself as she went back to her studies. I don't have time for a petpet and I'm sure my parents would never give me a meowclops!

** The Hunt Begins
There is something in the room, was Crystal Mirrors first thought as she rose from Shattered's shadow. She scanned the room and quickly went through the motions for a basic warding shield.
Meow came a plaintive cry from under the clothes chest.
Meow? Crystal repeated absently as she crept across the floor.
A dull skeletal head rose from the chest.
Aieeee! screamed Crystal, causing her sister to toss in her sleep. The spectral twin fled through the corridors heading for the Milling room. Some of the glass ampules and alembics were ground so finely that they existed in both planes. She wanted a weapon against the creature in her sister's room. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to her! Crystal caught up a glowing vial and charged back into the dorm room.

Nothing seemed amiss as she stalked the wraith. Nothing was behind the chest. Neither her sister or any of the sleeping students seemed to have been disturbed. Crystal looked suspiciously out the window and floated out past the sill. Something rubbed up against her knees.

I saw it again! The meowclops! I think it was in our room! Shattered Glass told her friends the next day at lunch.
Hee hee laughed Betins and covered her mouth to stop too loud a chuckle from escaping. Shattered we can't have a petpet like that wandering around anywhere near here. The closest town is a weeks' ride out and none of our local farmers would want a fancy creature like that in their barns. You must really want one!
FrostTwig, the apprentice to the herbalist, pretended to look at a watch he didn't really have. Tapping his wrist he said You should probably start saving now so you can have one to show your grandchildren!
She rolled her eyes at the grinning pair. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her lately. She had never seen a real meowclops, at least while she was awake.

Her instructors had noticed her distraction and set her to copying out one of their newest acquisitions. Books were rarely allowed out of the library. Students were employed to reproduce pages while learning their symbols. Later the pages could be used in the classrooms and if a page were dissolved in a potion or somewhat charred in a failed attempt to summon a guide, well, there would always be someone around who needed writing practice.

Shattered Glass had progressed far enough in runes that she was able to read most of the pages she reproduced. Some shapes were still a mystery to her, but the book she was working on seemed to be the records of a Star Speaker who had corresponded with a being beyond the astral plane. How can there be anything beyond? she asked herself. Was this Speaker communicating with the stars themselves? Or with one of the phantasms they usually sought to avoid?

** Green Jacket, Red Cap
Banished. How could this have happened?! Budrei paced back and forth in the confines of his shuttle. He'd been sent far enough that he wouldn't be able to return in his lifetime, and the cryogenic capsule he'd been released from was already starting it's pre-calculated decay. Within a day or two it would be a pile of slag and base metal. It wasn't worth trying to salvage parts. He weighed his options.

There was a chance if he headed back towards civilized space he would come across a prospector and be able to hitch a ride to an inhabited planet. Or he could hope that the charts he'd been collecting were still in the ship's memory. If he could match up any of the local systems he might be able to at least pick a likely direction for refueling. What he was expected to do was to study the record of what had occurred and build a plan of action to prevent failures like the atmospheric disturbance he had caused from happening to another engineer. Then, if he pointed the craft back the way he'd come, long after his death he might be exonerated in an eventual mission review.

Luckily the charts were still uploaded. Tips of white teeth glinted below his upper lip as he allowed a moment of hopeful contemplation. Let's see what we can scare up, he said, to a companion who was no longer among the living.

After several uneventful months he was nearly ready to abandon the search and turn back to write his own epitaph. Unfortunately he needed to find a source of Rhodium before he could go much farther either way. With the computer clicking away as it tried to calculate a course most likely to encounter the element, Budrei dimmed the lights and shut down non-essential processes. Taking a deep breath he settled into a practiced trance. This could take a while, he sighed.
Something incorporeal hopped from beneath his berth and out through the hull into the Void.

Shattered tucked the parchment secretively into her rucksack. There was no rule saying she could not make her own copies, but she wasn't sure the material was something her teachers would approve of. If they took it away she was sure they would keep her from the original book. Better to keep it hidden.

She'd become so used to the dreams that the strange glowing petpet no longer diverted attention from her classes. The journal of, well, she now thought of them as visits, had several entries and she wished she had the opportunity to find out where the animal had come from. Or was that someone else's thought?

More and more she had feelings of being haunted. Twice in the last few days she'd seen someone in the corner of her vision, but as she focused on them they had disappeared. Soon she would be going home for a few weeks. Shattered was looking forward to a short rest with her family. Maybe time away from her lessons would help to clear her mind.

It was wonderful to sleep in her own bed again. The sounds of her mother downstairs starting breakfast reminded her of times as a moppet when she'd climbed down the wooden shingles outside to suprize her parents by knocking on the front door when they called to wake her. She'd missed then both more than she'd realized while she was at school. Maybe that was why she had dreamed of the little petpet.

** Restoration
Once her sister was safely home Crystal Mirror hugged her parents. They didn't know she was there, of course, but she loved them anyway. She was sure Shattered would be fine without her for a day at least. With the bony kitty held lightly in her arms Crystal leaped into the sky. She closed her eyes and turned her head slowly, as she often did at the beginning of her explorations, to catch the tones she had come to associate with Finches. There it was. She raced along the trail.

Gliding out until another acoustic pathway crossed her chosen line, she paused to check that her twin was alright. There was still a feeling of melancholy that Crystal felt should not be there. Since meeting Finches she had begin to suspect it was similar feelings that had drawn the petpet to her sibling's bedside. They were both lacking something. Crystal had a hunch it might turn out to be some one.

Why am I so tired? Shattered Glass tossed and turned but she could not get to sleep. For the third night in a row she watched the moon cross the sky through the rippled glass of her bedroom -blocked- And why can't I seem to get any rest!

Finches shifted in her arms and raised his head. In the distance Crystal Mirror thought she saw a glint of silver. The meowclops sprang ahead and vanished into the gleam.

Inside the vessel a figure slumped against a reflective counter. Crystal looked toward the translucent petpet as it curled up at the top of a control panel. This is your master? she asked as she leaned down to see the display.

Who's there?! Budrei sat up suddenly looking around the cabin. At first waking he thought he had heard someone in the room. There was no indication of missed transmissions on the monitor. He reached to his sidearm. Hopping past the computer paneling, only his tail visible over the view screen, Finches did something inside the wiring. The screen lit with exotic characters.

Finches! Budrei spoke into the air, You're back earlier than I expected. What did you find, boy? Clawed fingers slowly traced down the page.

I think he heard me! Crystal squeaked to the small ghost. she clapped her hands.
The alien did not seem to be able to sense her at all, now, but she was still sure he has woken at her voice before. She decided to try to contact him again. If a strange aisha could hear her she might be able to communicate with her sister the same way! And how did you do that thing with the screen? she questioned the meowclops, but Finches just rolled over to have his ribs rubbed.

Budrei wasted no time reviewing his partner's information. There were three likely sources ahead, according to Finches's findings, but none of them were very close. Two were in nearly the same direction so he adjusted the navigation. If the first location was unsuitable he could easily continue to the second coordinates. He sighed, Still no sign of intelligent life.

**SLEEP AND DREAM
To their consternation Shattered Glass did not come down to eat with them the next morning. Her mother and father tried to wake her but nothing seemed to break her slumber. They sent messengers for a Healer and to seek aid from the Star Speakers.

With expanding awareness Shattered noticed she was standing behind a very familiar looking grey aisha. It was herself! What's going on! she yelled. She couldn't seem to move outside a limited area, then the other aisha moved and she found herself riding along. She tried to touch the other aisha but her arms did not seem to reach. She tried to call to her other self but it had no effect.

Crystal Mirror had the feeling she was being watched; something, as a bodiless spirit, she had never felt before. She stared as goosebumps caused the fur along her arm to stand on end. Finches sat on the floor in front of her and stared at nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. A thin strip of darkness stretched from Crystal's feet, along the floor and up the far wall. She cast a shadow! She moved quickly out of the light herself to hide the casting.

At nearly the same moment Budrei noticed the shadow as well. Who's there! This time I saw you! He began to search the small living area and pulled the screens off all the storage units to peer inside. There did not seem to be any place for a person to hide. Pilot what is the number of occupants is this vessel?

One, the systems responded.

Budrei leaned against the metal wall. What do you reckon, Finches? I've been aboard ship way too long, but as usual there was no response from his tenuous little crony.

The more time she spend around Budrei the more she wanted to know about him. Where did he come from? Why was he on a ship in the middle of no-place? Crystal learned that he was employing both his computer and the petpet to find traces of the fuel, water, and food he needed to continue, but he really didn't think he'd ever reach an inhabited world. His charts showed him the direction to a possible docking and Finches would run ahead to check that it was worth the journey. She envied his ability to travel beyond the horizon. She knew she'd always be tied to her sister and her mortal coil.

Shattered knew of one planet where she'd like him to stop. The lithe alien seemed brave and dashing, an adventurer she wished she could speak to. What stories he could tell her! She wanted to know about the places he had been abd the people he had encountered. Maybe she was smitten by the red chevron'ed aisha.

I wonder what Shattered would think of this Budrei? Crystal began to think to herself, unconsciously picking up on her sister's intent. She did all she could to keep from casting a shadow; she was a little afraid for Budrei to notice his passenger, but she did try to help. It took only a short time to convince Finches to assist her and slowly she was directing Budrei toward her home.

Shattered noticed the petpet advised his master most often as Burei was first waking, as he fell asleep, or while he was in trance. The tome she had been copying had suggested a trance state was the way the Star Speaker had best heard the song that has inspired his writings. At her sister's prompting Crystal Mirror began to whisper tales of Shattered Glass to the reposing being.

As the vessel came within 3 year's travel of Earth, the planet began to register on the ship's display. Budrei had been experiencing flights of fancy about a lovely, clever aisha. The time alone had made him feel too isolated. He hoped this next planet would be populated with some species he could speak with. He was never much of a loner and he hoped to escape his sanction of seclusion.

She stretched arms that were stiff from weeks of disuse. Shattered had snapped back to her body as the vessel approached. Shattered was grateful her parents had been close-at-hand as she slept. The local Healer had pronounced her affliction the result of overextending herself in her studies. The Star Speakers might have pulled her back right away and she would never have seen Budrei. Was he real? and who was the othe grey aisha she had seen?

Crystal Mirror was suprized that her sister seemed to remember the alien and his ship. Maybe she could speak to Shattered as she had to Budrei. They had barely been able to interact for so long it would be like meeting someone new! She decided to try once they were back at school.

On the edge of the Milky Way galaxy an eerie meowclops looked forward to the future.