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-Star Treatment, Part 1-

Chapter One

New Columbia Hospital, Terra

Terran year, 3750

Elvan year, 17, 507

Unity year, 152

They hated her.

That was okay. Kaylith hated them.

She glared at her tormentors standing outside the intensive care permaglas, heartily wishing them gone. Of course, Stryker's family didn't leave.

Wouldn't look good on the evening vids.

Kaylith wasn't sure who she hated more; Stryker's family or the ever-present, questions-yammering vid recorders...who even now were busily interviewing the Strykers.

Jack, why can't you hear me?

Jack Stryker didn't reply, not that she expected him to answer. He'd been comatose ever since the day after they'd left Sentari space. They'd arrived at this Terran hospital less than two rotations ago, hoping the doctors could heal Jack.

No such luck. Why should she be surprised?

After all, she was the Cursed One. Anyone who dared befriend or love her was doomed to either death or...she sent a tired glance Orna's way...or some other kind of weirdness.

Orna was currently involved in having a conversation with herself thus demonstrating the whole weirdness thing. She was a Corban scientist possessed by a warrior Tjorn spirit named Roar Far.

The fact that Orna and Roar Far managed to get along was yet another example of weirdness. In Roar Far's time, the reptilian four-tentacled Corbans and blue-skinned tribal Tjorns had been mortal enemies. Orna's kindness and bravery had helped Roar Far get over the past.

Even though...they were arguing right now. It was a silly argument, but an argument nonetheless.

"I do not see why we cannot kill these vid recorders," Roar Far was saying. "Capturing one's image is the same as stealing their souls."

"Killing iss a sin. Not to mention a crime," Orna replied. She leaned her coral-colored head against the hospital room wall and closed her golden diamond-shaped eyes. "The Terran law enforcers would sslap us into jail or in our case, probably a mental wellness center."

"Then these Terrans have stupid laws," Roar Far insisted, opening their eyes. "I wish that Jack would wake up so Tarna could leave this hospital place."

Tarna was Kaylith's Khouree name. Only Roar Far and the Tjorns called her that.

"You forget, we'd still have the otherss to worry about."

"Bah! That Ell-van Dal is lakka. How many times do I have to tell you that Zar and Deke are not supposed to wake up? Why can't we let them rest in peace?"

Orna nodded towards the vid recorders, then stubbornly closed their eyes again. She had said several times she wanted to sleep, but Roar Far wasn't having it. "Maybe because they won't let them rest in peace?"

"Another reason to kill them," Roar Far growled.

"You won't let me ssleep and I don't want to kill you," Orna pointed out.

"That's because we are sisters. Quit being silly. If you want to sleep so bad, then sleep. I'm not stopping you."

"You're too noisy. You keep me awake."

It was schizoid kind of conversation, but Kaylith was used to hearing Orna/Roar Far talk to themselves. The vid recorders though, they couldn't get enough of it.

She eyed the number of cams pointed her way. Unfortunately, the vid recorders couldn't get enough of her and Jack either.

Please wake up, Jack. Your family hates me and the vid recorders love me. They're all driving me crazy.

Nothing. Shallog's teeth, what was wrong with him?

She let out a resigned sigh when Jack's mother, Shauna, swept into the room.

"Kaylith, my dear. It's time for your evening press conference."

Tell the press to fark off, Kaylith mindsaid. I've said all I have to say.

Shauna's ice blue eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. Slightly. Not enough to attract the vid recorders' attention. "You haven't said anything. Why can't you understand? As the creator of Unity, you have an obligation--"

I never created a damn thing. You can thank the Elvan Mindmasters for creating your precious Unity. They only used me as a figurehead. Whatever you people think you know about me is only Mindmasters' fantasies.

Shauna let out an impatient sigh, and turned her back to the cams. "Why can't you simply accept the role history has given you? We've had a dekkeon of peace. Isn't that worth a lie or two?"

Kaylith didn't have an answer for that. Maybe Shauna was right. Peace was always a worthy cause. The problem was if she accepted the role history had given her, she'd spend the rest of her life living a lie.

Fark that, Kaylith thought, glowering at Shauna resentfully. It really bothered her Jack's mother had never showed an inkling of concern about her son's condition. No, instead all this woman seemed to care about was getting the Stryker family's name linked to the 'Legend' in all the vids as soon as possible.

'Legend' was another name the civilized worlds had given her. Kaylith thought Cursed One was more accurate. But hey, who was she to argue? After all, they knew the story of her 'life' better than she did.

"If you are mindspeaking, I can't hear you," Shauna said.

You don't hear me when I use voicespeak, Kaylith thought wearily. What the hey, one more try..."Look, Shauna, I don't think you'd like what I'd have to tell them. I won't lie. There's been enough lies already."

"Fine then!" Shauna whispered. She was one of those odd people whose voices grew softer with anger. "Tell them the truth. Just tell them something. I promised them a press conference with you by the next rev. If you really do care for Jack, then do not embarrass his family by making me go back on my word."

"I'll talk to them," Orna announced, rising from her bench by the window.

Kaylith couldn't tell whether it was Orna or Roar Far making the announcement. Either way, the prospect of the possessed Corban giving a press conference was apparently Shauna's worst nightmare.

"Oh, but you can't!" Shauna exclaimed, putting a hand over her heart. It was the first time the ice queen had shown a trace of real emotion. Her white blonde eyebrows rose like twin crescent moons over her widening blue eyes.

"Why not?" Orna asked. "Roar Far lived with Kaylith in her time and I was there when Jack found her. Who better to give them a story than uss?"

Definitely Orna talking there. Still, Kaylith wondered whose idea this was.

"But you can't!" Shauna repeated. "I promised them Kaylith would--"

"Tarna doesn't want to talk to those stupid vid people," Roar Far said. "I don't want to talk to them either. Tell them to go away."

"If we talk to them, maybe then they will go away," Orna argued.

"They will steal our souls with their cam things."

"Oh that's Tjorn superstition talking. You've been filmed on vids lots of times and you still have your ssoul. Granted, it's stuck in my body, but--"

"Please!" Shauna whispered. Kaylith could barely hear her. She must really be pissed off now. "We can't have the two of you arguing in front of the vid recorders like--like--this. They'll think you are all--" Her voice faded beyond Kaylith's hearing.

Crazy? Kaylith mindsaid helpfully. A laugh bubbled up in her throat and she let it out. Shallog, but it felt good. She hadn't laughed in days. Not since Jack had...gone away.

Shauna took a step back as if she thought the craziness might be catching. Who knew? Kaylith thought. Maybe it was. Look at Jack. He was just a normal guy before he met me.

The thought of Jack's condition immediately sobered her. She stopped laughing as fast as she started. She supposed she owed it to him to keep his family happy. But, the way Orna told it and the way his family showed it, his family didn't care a splig about his happiness. So why should she care about pleasing them?

Orna was sliding for the door. Shauna unwisely moved to block her, spreading her thin arms wide. "Kaylith, please. I beg you. Don't let her do this!"

Quite the scene for the ice queen. Orna's eyes flashed from gold to a dangerous shade of orange. She bared her ivory-colored fangs. If Kaylith didn't act fast, the ice queen was going to have an arm full of Corban venom.

Not that the idea of seeing Shauna's reaction wasn't tempting--still, she supposed she shouldn't let Orna bite her.

"Oh all right," Kaylith said, rising to her feet. "I'll talk to the farking vid recorders! Just give me a little time to prepare. Okay?"

"Thank you!" Shauna breathed. "You won't regret it, I promise." She hurried out the door, with a quick backwards glance to make sure the Corban wasn't following.

"Tarna, why'd you give in to that whooek?"

"Roar Far, don't start. I'm not in the mood," Kaylith said, but there was no sting in her voice. She looked down at Jack and ran a finger along the contours of his cheek, then let her hand slide through his unruly golden hair. If only he would open those laser-blue eyes, then everything would be okay.

Shallog! She missed him so much. She loved him so much. They were going to be married and live happily ever after. At least, that had been the plan.

Instead, he'd retreated to a place inside his mind where she couldn't follow. She bent to kiss his lips. At least they still felt warm. His warmth had always given her hope.

She straightened and let out a sigh. I love you, she mindsaid. Please forgive me if I screw this press conference thing up.

She wondered if she'd ever know if he heard her.

* * *

"You're watching Terra News Network," the sprightly anchorwoman said. "We take you now live to New Columbia Hospital, where the Legend, Kaylith of Sentarl, will give her first major press conference. Our man, Travis McAkabee, is the vid recorder on the scene. Travis? What can we expect to hear from the Legend on this auspicious evening?"

Dal mustered enough energy to glance at the vid screen in Zar's hospital room. The picture changed from a lovely dark-skinned anchorwoman to a rather rumpled Terran male. The Terran sported a bushy red beard that all but made his mouth disappear.

For some reason, Travis McAkabee's hidden mouth made Dal nervous. Who wore that much facial hair in this day and age? There was something savage and unclean about it.

Dal sighed. To be honest, everything made him nervous these days. He caught himself pulling on the quakka stones jammed into his elongated Elvan earlobes. Strange how he used to be so proud of them...once upon a time, he'd been proud of his third tier Elvan heritage.

But that was before he'd met Kaylith...and the Mindmasters. All his life he'd wanted to be an Elvan Mindmaster. Now he'd be happy if he never heard of them again.

"Eva," Travis began, "we have no idea what to expect from the Legend since she's declined all previous interview attempts. This is indeed a historic day for all citizens of Unity."

"Well, Travis, perhaps while we wait for the Legend to appear, you can give us a recap of the events that led up to this extraordinary press conference."

"Of course, Eva. As every school child knows, Kaylith the Legend was responsible for bringing all the civilized worlds into Unity by using her extraordinary mental abilities to share her vision of peace and prosperity."

Dal snorted. Yeah right. And he had some swampland on Trinar to sell.

"But on the very same day she extended her visionary gifts to the universe, she vanished. For a hundred and fifty years, it was thought she had perished on her home world, Sentarl. But a week ago, xenoarchaelogist, Jack Stryker, and his team of ingenious scientists discovered the Legend in stasis on her derelict vessel, the Talon."

Trinar's moons, Dal swore. His participation hadn't even rated him a mention. He and Orna had been delegated as simply Stryker's team of 'ingenious scientists'.

"Unfortunately, the details of this amazing discovery have been kept from the public. But tonight on live vid, we will hear about the Legend's revival from stasis from the Legend live and in person."

Could this guy be any more redundant? Dal looked over at the Elvan woman on the med bed, Zar, and wondered if she could hear this fool's yapping too.

But she just lay there, breathing. Never waking.

He'd saved her. He'd helped her. Why wouldn't she wake up and thank him?

"Ah, I see the Legend is now stepping to the podium," Travis McAkabee said, excitedly stating the obvious, since the vid cams were currently showing Kaylith doing this very thing. Orna and Stryker's mother moved to stand behind her. "Let's watch and listen!"

"They're giving Kaylith the star treatment," Dal said to Zar. "You really should wake up and see this."

Zar lay there, breathing. Dal sighed and returned his attention to the vid screen.

Kaylith moved to the podium, her hip length blue-black hair flowing like shining dark clouds around and behind her. Her deep green eyes looked wide and wary. Weary too. Her pale skin glowed like fine porcelain under the glare of the cam lights. She wore a simple green hospital gown. On Kaylith's tall lean figure, it looked as chic as any socialite's evening dress.

She had an unusual face, which wasn't so surprising. After all, she was the result of a failed genetic experiment that had blended Elvan, Terran, and Sentari genes. Her build and facial structure were basically Elvan. She'd been born with the same dark hair and elongated earlobes that most Elvan's had.

Unfortunately, her mother, Queen Meeral of Sentarl had seen fit to chop off her lobes when Kaylith had been just a child.

It wasn't the first or last time the queen had abused her.

"I don't really have a statement," Kaylith said. She had a sultry voice that reminded Dal of renfir, one of Elvan's finest smoky wines. "But I would like to thank all of New Columbia Hospital's staff for extending the best of care to my comrades. They have truly gone over and beyond in the performance of their duties. Thank you."

Everybody in the room applauded like mad.

For what? Dal thought. So far the stellar hospital staff had been unable to wake Jack or Zar! He supposed Kaylith felt thanking them was the polite thing to do. After all, they had made an effort.

Even if their efforts were worthless.

The applause died down. Kaylith's expression turned from composed to resigned. "Right then. I suppose we should start taking questions. You there, the Agdan with the red tunic and waving arms. Ask away."

"G'nashed, Agdan University Press," the Agdan oozed in the superciliously pompous manner as only Agdans were able to do. "Thank you, Legend, for calling on this humble recorder first."

Kaylith held up a hand. "Please. My name is Kaylith, not Legend. Whenever anyone calls me that, it makes me nervous." The press reacted with an equally nervous twitter. Kaylith waited for the twittering to die down, then asked, "What is your question?"

"Uh, yes, Le--Kaylith. Forgive my mistake. What inspired you to bring all the civilized worlds into Unity?"

Dal let out a bark of laughter and raised the volume on the vid screen. This should be good. A full gamut of emotions played across Kaylith's face as the cams zoomed in.

"I don't remember," Kaylith said abruptly. "Next question."

"You don't remember your inspiration?" the Agdan asked, sounding greatly aggrieved.

"No, I don't remember bringing the civilized worlds into Unity. Next question. How about we hear from the Amusian lady with the purple--um--swatch?"

Amusians seldom wore much in the way of clothes. The cams panned on a girl dressed in a sparkly purple thong with matching pasties on her quartet of huge breasts.

Dal was willing to bet the palacite crystal hanging around his neck that her breasts weren't real.

"Gina De Lee, Amusian Bell Ringer Network. Are we to understand you don't remember the day you sent your thoughts out across the entire universe for every sentient being to hear?"

Kaylith shifted from foot to foot, obviously uncomfortable. "I remember sending out my thoughts. But not their content."

"How can that be?" the Amusian squeaked.

Kaylith squeezed her eyes shut for the barest of an instant. Then she opened them and said, "Please try to understand the situation from my perspective. When this incident occurred, I had just come from a Fire Circle fight with my sister."

"What?" the Amusian shrieked.

"Yes, I realize this part of my life is not included in your Unified history texts. Everybody will have to do updates. Would you like me to continue?"

Dumfounded, all the Amusian could do was nod.

"Where was I?"

"Fire Circle," Orna prompted helpfully. "Your mother wanted you to kill your sister."

"Right," Kaylith said. "Since I really didn't want to kill my sister, I sent the entire planet of Sentarl into an episode of avareeka instead."

"Not the entire planet," Orna interrupted unhelpfully. Dal was willing to bet it wasn't Orna, but that obnoxious warrior ghost instead.

"Yes, you and Tith and Deke were shielded, Roar Far," Kaylith added. "You see, my friends were being held captive in a malacite dungeon--malacite is a Sentari crystal that works the opposite of palacite. It blocks rather than enhances mental energies--anyway, my only goal was to find and free them before the Sentaris stopped mating and started looking for us. But when I entered Meeral's throne room, something strange happened."

The vid recorders looked dumbstruck. Obviously, this was not what they were expecting to hear from their Legend.

Dal loved it.

"An unknown force took control of my body. My feet took me against my will to Meeral's throne. I tried to resist, but it was no good. Next thing I knew, I was sitting there having visions. I have a vague recollection of what some of them were and nothing I can remember is anything like the visions you good people have told me you received. So you see, all of this attention is very confusing. Next question? Uh--how about the Terran gentleman with the red beard?"

"Travis McAkabee, Terran News Network. What do you remember about your visions?"

Kaylith sighed. She glanced nervously at Orna, who gave her a thumbs up with three of her fingercoils, although the fourth one did a thumbs down. Divided opinions among the possessed Corban perhaps? Dal started giggling.

"Well," Kaylith said, haltingly. Dal could tell she really didn't want to relate this part of her story. "I saw Corbans dying from same plague they'd used to infect the Tjorns. I saw the Elvan Mindmasters plotting to alter the perceptions of every sentient being in the universe."

Some of the vid recorders started talking amongst themselves. Kaylith continued speaking over them. "If you ask me, I think that's what really happened. I sent out one set of visions and the Mindmasters altered them after the fact to bring about this Unity thing. So maybe you should be calling them Legends instead of me."

"Let's see, Zar," Dal told the woman on the med bed, "by my reckoning, she's already angered the Corbans and the Elvan Mindmasters, and probably has at least rattled the rest of the unified universe with just a few questions. Isn't this great?"

The guy with the red beard and no mouth was speaking again. "Kaylith, are we to believe you are accusing the Mindmasters of using mind control?"

"No," Kaylith answered, "I don't know for a fact that they altered perceptions to form this Unity. If I were to accuse them of anything, it would be murder. Mindmaster Mot and his crew blasted my crew's stasis tubes after our ship was sabotaged. He confessed his crime when he attacked us on the Needle, although he did state he'd been acting under orders. Because of this Mot, and the other Elvan Mindmasters, I'm the only one left of Talon's crew."

The Corban behind her coughed. "Well, Roar Far's here," Kaylith quickly corrected, "but her Tjorn spirit is sharing Orna's Corban body. Zar and Deke are being treated, but the hospital staff is not optimistic about their revival chances."

She shook her head in disgust. "What matters is they were shot in cold blood when they were unable to defend themselves. Unfortunately, my genetic self-defense mechanism protected me from the blasters. In light of how much damage my resurrection caused the Needle's crew, it might have been better if I'd died with my own."

"Zar's not dead!" Dal shouted at the screen. "She's alive. She's breathing!"

"Are you referring to the condition of the Needle's crew?" Red Beard asked. "What happened to them?"

"As you already know, Orna has been possessed by one of my former crewmates, a Tjorn spirit named Roar Far. I'm sure they'd be delighted to explain how this occurred." Kaylith started to move aside, but the vid recorders were having none of that. They began shouting out questions at a frantic rate, all at the same time.

"Please Legend, one more question!"

"What is this malacite again?"

"Why did Queen Meeral want you to fight your sister?"

"What happened to Jack Stryker and the Elvan crewmate Dal?"

"Do you really think the Mindmasters altered the civilized worlds' perceptions?"

"Is Queen Meeral's throne really carved from a single chunk of palacite?"

"Why did Mindmaster Mot attack the Needle?"

"What is your relationship with Jack Stryker?"

Kaylith looked desperately to Orna, who gestured with a fingercoil for Kaylith to continue. Dal watched as Kaylith gripped the podium, her slender knuckles stretched tight across her skin. She simply stood and waited for the vid recorders to get control of themselves.

Eventually they did after Shauna waved her arms around and cried, "People! People!" a few times. Stryker's mother did not look happy at all. Then again, Dal wondered if he'd ever seen the woman crack a smile in the first place.

Once the recorders were silent, Kaylith took up where she'd left off. "Jack Stryker has been diagnosed as comatose, due to massive psychic overload. The doctors feel it is impossible to say whether or not he will recover."

Dal felt his eyes mist up when he heard her voice catch and quiver. He'd seen how much Jack and Kaylith had meant to each other. They shared a love that had crossed the boundaries of space and time.

He envied their love and at the same time, felt continuously inspired by it.

"As for Dal, even though he has no outward injuries, he has suffered more than the others. He was mindshocked several times by various parties and at one point, had his mind captured by my Sentari sister, Tanith. He was also blown up twice--although Orna was blown up twice too. They were shielded from the blasts by Roar Far--as Tjorn spirits are sometimes wont to do. Truly a brave and admirable man. The third tier back on Elvan should be very proud of him."

Dal couldn't help it. He started crying. He never dreamed the Legend thought so highly of him. "Oh Zar," he sobbed. "I wish you could see this!"

"I'll take one more question," Kaylith said, "then I'm afraid I need to get back and check on my friends' conditions. Is that a Tjorn recorder in the back?"

"It better not be," Orna/Roar Far said. Kaylith shot her a quelling glance.

"Yes, I record for the Tjorns," the Tjorn replied. The cams panned on a muscular blue man, who wore only a pair of blue Zaphron skin breeches. He stood there bare foot and bare-chested. Dal noticed he did not carry a cam or any other recording devices. He also noticed the Tjorn didn't bother to give his name and network.

How very Tjorn of him.

"Thank you for coming," Kaylith said politely. "Do you have a question?"

The Tjorn nodded stoically. "What does your heart tell you to do next?" he asked.

Kaylith eyes brimmed with tears. "My heart tells me many things. I will one day return with Roar Far and be with the Khouree. I would love nothing more than a quiet life on Tjornak's blue plains, far away from politics and vid recorders. But I cannot leave this place until Jack Stryker awakes. He holds half of my heart. Without him, I will never be whole." A tear ran down her cheek as she made a sign with her fingers to the Tjorn, who promptly returned it. Orna also made the sign with all of her fingercoils.

Dal had no idea what it meant, but he felt moved by what he saw anyway.

The vid recorders, unfortunately, were unmoved. When Kaylith waved farewell and made to leave, they began pushing forward, jabbering questions at a furious rate. They surrounded the podium, with the sole exception of the Tjorn recorder, who stood in the same place with his arms folded, shaking his head in disgust.

Shauna bleated at them to stand back, but the vid recorders promptly shoved her out of the way. Orna looked as if she was contemplating snapping a few necks. Kaylith looked--well, she looked afraid. Dal had never seen her appear this distressed before. For the first time since arriving on Terra, Dal considered leaving Zar to help her.

As he slowly rose to his feet, he saw the vid recorders rush onto the podium. Kaylith weakly lifted her hands to ward them off.

Then she gracefully collapsed. Orna caught her before she hit the floor.

-Star Treatment, Part 2-

Chapter Two

Unknown Place

Unknown Time

The Clairvoyants loved him.

Jack hated them.

They saw him as their savior. He saw them as his captors.

He had no idea where he was, except that it was some place outside of normal space and time. The Clairvoyants had explained existence operated differently here. Jack could well believe that since he didn't have a physical body. He existed as pure thought instead.

Just as these farking Clairvoyants did.

There was no real shape or form to his surroundings. An ever-shifting kaleidoscope of colors swirled around and through him. He could not really 'see' the colors or his captors since he had no eyes. He could not 'hear' them since he had no ears.

Instead, he felt or sensed the colors and beings around him.

Beings that claimed to come from Terra, back in the days before the Global Wars when his planet was called Earth instead. They'd waited for centuries for the arrival of a man like himself. Or minutes. Depending on the being's point of view, Jack supposed.

"Please understand, we have no intention of distressing you," a being called John said for the tenth time. He and another being named Joan were this cursed place's primary representatives. "But we cannot let you go. Not until you agree to help us."

"From what you've told me, you've done plenty to help yourselves. If you had necks, I'd wring them for using Kaylith the way you did."

"Our interference was necessary to facilitate our return. Were it not for our actions, you would never have met Kaylith."

"So you say. I'm not sure I believe it. It goes against everything Wikvaya told me."

Jack sensed disgust from the being named Joan. "That Tjorn spirit was simply a tool we used to bring the two of you together in her time--nothing more. Tjorn spirits are easily controlled."

"Riiiiight. Well, going along those lines, who's to say you guys aren't some other godlike beings' play things?"

"We are not godlike beings," John said. "But we are not some other beings' playthings. Our quest for freedom is what caused us to leave Earth for this realm in the first place. For centuries our people were ridiculed and persecuted. We were little better than slaves. Once the Global Wars began, both sides sought to use us--to own us. Why can you not see this?"

"Great move. You gave up your bodies to save your minds. You got your wish, you're free, so why can't you be happy with it?"

He tried for the hundredth time to will himself away. Nothing. Just more aimless drifting through the swirls of colors.

Moons, how he hated them.

These Clairvoyants were no different than the Elvan Mindmasters--they wanted to arrange the universe to suit themselves. Although, these beings claimed they used the Mindmasters as tools too.

Jack wondered how the Elvans would feel about that.

Joan and John were blathering on about destiny. Jack tuned them out. He conjured up the image of the last time he and Kaylith had made love. He'd proposed to her. She'd said yes. Never had he felt such joy.

Now these bastards wanted to take it all away!

He could not let that happen. He had to escape this stupid place!

Unfortunately, there was no escape from the chaos still swirling in his mind. Ever since he'd awakened Kallie from stasis, latent psychic abilities he'd never known he possessed had run amok in his head. First, he could simply mindspeak. Before he knew it, he began seeing the future, reversing explosions, and planting thoughts and images in Mindmasters' minds.

The latter feat really took some doing. Of course, he'd had Kaylith at his side to help. He tried for the thousandth time to mindspeak her. Nothing. Not even an echo of her thoughts to comfort him.

Lost with only his thoughts for company, he began once again seeing images of the past, present, and future. He had no control. He couldn't stop the images no matter how hard he tried. They came. They went. That was all there was to it.

Flicker: Two little girls in sparkling yellow dresses.

Flicker: Kallie dressed in black. Malacite earrings dripped from her ears like tears.

Flicker: Kaylith and Zar standing in a launch bay. Mechs point blast rifles at them, prepared to fire--no!

Flicker: Impossibly tall snowcapped mountains surrounded by hills that were the same emerald green as Kaylith's eyes. It felt as if he rode above them in a damaged flitter. The land dipped and rose at dizzying speeds.

Flicker: Velvet-hooded Mindmasters approach a row of the Talon's stasis tubes. They begin to fire on Kaylith--no!

Flicker: Kaylith glares at him from across the Fire Circle, death in her emerald green eyes. The flames leap high and then he can see her no more.

Flicker: Jack screams and thousands of people fall at his feet.

Powers be damned! Jack mindshouted. Let me go!

"Tell us what you see," the Clairvoyants chorused from all around him. "Show us what our future holds. We have been blind ever since your powers awakened."

"I see me killing you farkheads the first chance I get," Jack retorted wearily.

"It is your destiny to lead us back to Earth to claim what is rightfully ours. We have seen it. We know you hold the key to our salvation."

"GO FARK YOURSELVES!"

The beings, having no physical bodies, didn't bother to dignify his request with a response. "It is your destiny," they repeated for the millionth time.

Jack really, really hated them.

Chapter Three

Double Trouble

New Columbia Hospital, Terra

Six revs later

"There's no mistake, Mrs. Stryker. The Legend is carrying your son's children. Twins."

"But she can't be pregnant!"

"The doctor just told you that she is, you stupid woman," Roar Far hissed. "Quit shouting. You'll wake Tarna. A new mother needs plenty of rest."

Kaylith was already awake. At the moment pretending to sleep seemed the safest option though. Twins? She was going to have twins?

Jack had told her this would happen. He'd seen it. He'd said one day they would have twin girls. She hadn't believed him.

Guess she had to believe him now. She wasn't sure how she felt about it. If he was right about the babies, then that meant he could be right about her leaving and...no, she would not even think that!

Shauna lowered her voice to her usual angry whisper. "Well, this can't be, I tell you. They're not married! The scandal--"

"Is that what's bothering you? Sscandal?" Orna asked. "Or is it because Kaylith's press conference turned all the Unified worlds upside down?"

"She's a freak!" Shauna's voice rose again, reaching into the higher registers of hysteria. The woman sounded completely unglued. "Her children will be freaks too!"

Kaylith winced as she heard a sharp slapping sound. She supposed that would be Roar Far smacking Shauna.

"You hit me!" Shauna accused, confirming Kaylith's guess.

"Call Tarna a freak one more time and I'll hit you again," Roar Far replied.

"We'll deny everything. You can't prove it is Jack's children and--"

"Genetic tests don't lie, Mrs. Stryker," the doctor interrupted, his voice sounding calm, but slightly irritated. "Your son is the father."

"Then we'll get a court order to abort these monstrosities--"

"Try that and you die," Orna/Roar Far said, flatly.

Kaylith decided it was time to join the conversation. She sat up on the med bed. The room swirled around a few times. Closing her eyes, she said, somewhat queasily, "Mrs. Stryker, I'm sorry for upsetting you and your family."

"You are?" Shauna said.

"Yes, I am. Even if you do think I'm a freak and want to murder my babies. Trust me when I say that will never happen."

Shauna made sputtering sounds.

"Wonder what the vid recorderss would think of that?" Orna said. "Maybe I shhould slide outside and tell them. I can see the vid reports now--'Grandma Sstryker wants her grandchildren dead!' What will the public think of the Strykers then? I predict a huge drop in your family's market sshares."

Kaylith opened her eyes. Shauna at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. Either that or her reddened cheeks came from anger. Or perhaps from getting slapped by Orna's tentacles.

Hard to tell with ice queens. Whatever the case, the woman's cheeks were red.

"I don't want the press to know," Kaylith said.

"Thank goodness." Shauna let out a sigh of relief. "At least somebody around here is showing some sense."

"It's not for you, it's for me--and my children. If the press finds out I'm carrying Jack's children, they'll hound us to the ends of the galaxy."

Orna shrugged. "What difference does it make? The press is going to hound you anyway. You're the Great One, The Legend, The--"

"Please stop," Kaylith said, putting her hands on her temples. Her head really, really hurt. And this conversation surely wasn't helping.

"Ssorry."

"You'll have to disappear, that's all there is to it," Shauna said. "We have a place in Old Colorado--"

"I'm not going anywhere until Jack wakes up," Kaylith said.

"If you stay, the story is sure to get out--"

"I don't care. Jack needs me."

"Needs you?" Shauna's voice rose to the upper octaves again. "If you ask me, the last thing he needs is you. He's been obsessed with you ever since he was a child."

"That's because we met in dreams when we were five," Kaylith said wearily. "You should have believed him when he told you about it."

"He refused to go into the D-Corps, even though it's family tradition," Shauna went on as if Kaylith hadn't spoken. "He became the laughing stock of the entire scientific community because he was so convinced he could find you and--"

"Guess he's having the lasst laugh now," Orna put in dryly.

"--and now he may die because he did. Needs you? You are indeed the Cursed One. You've brought a curse on the entire Stryker family."

Kaylith covered her face with her hands. What could she say? Everything the woman said was true. Tears began slipping through her fingers.

"That's quite enough, Mrs. Stryker," said the doctor. "You've upset my patient. I must ask you to leave."

"Leave? Me? Do have any idea who you are talking to? My family paid for an entire wing of this farking hospital--"

Shauna's complaints swiftly faded away. Kaylith heard a door slam.

"Your Corban friend has escorted Mrs. Stryker from the room," the doctor announced. "If you like, I can ask security to ensure she doesn't return."

"Yes, please do," Orna said before Kaylith could answer.

"For now, Kaylith needs rest. I trust you won't stay long?"

"I promise, I'll leave as ssoon as she's calmed down," Orna replied.

"Fine," the doctor said. Kaylith felt a pat on her hand. She opened her eyes and saw the doctor, who was young, handsome, and dark-skinned. He truly looked concerned. "My name is Dr. Kumar. Chime the nurses' station if you need me."

He gave her hand another pat, then left. As soon as his space was empty, Orna swooped in to give Kaylith a four-tentacled hug. "You're having babiess--Jack's babiess! Congratulations!"

Kaylith sniffled and gave Orna a quivery, "Thanks."

Orna gave her another squeeze, then let her go. "Now, don't you let what that whooek said bother you. This is good news! People in love are ssupposed to have babies."

"Don't you think the timing is a little off?"

Orna blew out a breath, but it was Roar Far that said, "Bah, timing is overrated. Things happen when they happen. That Jack better wake up and take care of his family though. Or else I'll have to go get him."

Kaylith felt a rush of hope. "Could you, Roar Far? Get him, I mean."

Orna/Roar Far frowned. "I don't know the way. Maybe a shaman or other spirits could show me?"

"I bet you could figure it out," Orna replied. "You figured out how to sshield Dal and me."

"I will think about it, Tarna, I promise," Roar Far said.

"Thank you, Roar Far," Kaylith said. No answer.

"She's thinking about it already," Orna explained. "Thank goodness. Maybe she'll think long enough for me to take a nap. Do you feel better now? The doctor ssaid you should rest."

"Yes, thank you. I don't know what I'd do without either of you."

Orna laughed. "Good thing you won't ever have to find out."

* * *

Dal's eyes drooped as he watched Zar breathe. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept and wasn't particularly eager to give it a try. The few times he'd dozed off since the events on the Needle, he'd awakened sweating and screaming.

Tanith. Kaylith's evil Sentari sister, Tanith, haunted his dreams. She'd taken over his mind and body...had tortured him into convulsions. Such hate. He'd never felt such hate in his life and never wanted to feel it again.

Perhaps he should get up and check on Kaylith. Orna had said there was nothing he could do, but still...he felt he should.

Suddenly the feeling turned urgent. It was as if he heard some distant mindvoice shouting, Get up. Get up. Dal? GET THE FARK UP!

Tanith again? Oh please, anything but that!

Even as he thought this, he was on his feet and moving, somewhat unaware of having done so. Dazed, he wandered down the hospital corridor. He slowly realized he was walking towards Jack's room, not Kaylith's. What the fark? He tried to turn around, but couldn't.

With a resigned sigh, he didn't fight the compulsion even though he was getting weary of people taking over his body all the time. Better he find out who and what the mindvoice in his head wanted.

A couple of doors down from Jack's room, his feet stopped, suddenly rooted to the spot. He heard voices ahead. Jack's mother, Shauna, and his father, Dane were talking as they stepped out of his room. Dal ducked into the nearby doorway.

The last thing he wanted was a conversation with those two.

"We have to move him now, Dane," Shauna was saying. "If we don't, that woman will surely try to stop us."

"I know, Shauna, but I still think Jack wouldn't want us to hide him from her."

"When has Jack ever known what was best for him--for our family?" Shauna spat. "When has he even cared? You there," she directed to an unseen person, "hurry up and get him ready for transport. I want him out of here and on the flitter--now!"

They were kidnapping Jack! Even if they were his parents, Dal knew he had to stop them. He knew Jack would want him to do it. But how? By the time he found Orna or Kaylith, they might be gone. Should he follow them? Confront them?

Dal wasn't good at confrontations. Or quick decisions. No matter what he chose it always seemed to come out wrong.

As he turned his choices over in his mind, Dane and Shauna began moving toward the elevators. An orderly pushed the gurney bearing Jack's unconscious body through the door. Another followed, a doctor, going by her robe's insignia, although Dal had never seen the Elvan woman around the hospital before.

There was no way he could follow them without being noticed when they reached the elevator. He had to stop them. Now.

His stomach churned as he stepped from the doorway. "Mr. And Mrs. Stryker?" he called out. "What are you doing? Where are you taking Jack?"

The quartet of the Strykers, doctor, and orderly all swung around. The Strykers looked shocked...and guilty. Dal took a step towards them. Two.

Bright lights flashed all around him. He lost consciousness before he hit the ground...

* * *

"Sstunners," Orna said. Her voice sounded parsecs away. "They must have sstunned him." Dal felt a fingercoil caress his cheek. He was vaguely aware that he couldn't feel much else...like his body? Why couldn't he feel his body?

Ah yes, Orna had said stunners. That's why. He relaxed. More out of exhaustion than relief though.

"I never guessed the Ell-van was so brave," Roar Far said. It was also Orna's voice, but Dal had learned to differentiate her voice patterns from Roar Far's. "He must have tried to stop whoever it was from taking Jack."

"I tried." Dal attempted to open his eyes, but they felt so heavy.

"Dal! You're awake!" Orna cried. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Jack's parents--took him," he managed. Speaking was an effort. Even breathing seemed like an effort.

"That whooek Shauna!" Roar Far growled. "Tarna is going to be so angry with her! We'll be back, Ell-van." Dal heard Orna start to slide away. He forced his eyes open...but he couldn't really see. Just colors and shapes. He could make out Orna's red-gold shape as a blur heading for the door.

"Wait!" Dal shouted. Well, squeaked anyway. His voice sounded terribly weak.

"We have to tell Tarna!" But at least the Orna blur stopped moving.

"And what--will--what will--" He tried to finish the sentence, but couldn't. Didn't matter, Orna caught the gist of his question anyway.

"Sshe'll call the Terran authorities!" Orna said.

"She'll mindshock that Jack's parents into comas!" Roar Far added.

"She can't--They won't--recognize--"

"They won't recognize her authority?" Orna finished for him. He could make out her wedge-shaped head tilting quizzically. "Dal, Jack and Kaylith engaged! Ssurely the police will take her complaint seriously. This is a kidnapping for Oola's sake!"

"But they--his parents--"

"They've never acted like parents. They don't love him. They never have. You and I both know that. We have to sstop them. Now. Before they hide him where we'll never find him." Orna slid away before Dal could say anything more.

He closed his eyes.

Orna and Roar Far were right, but he doubted Kaylith would get any help from the authorities, even if she was the Legend. And he sincerely doubted Kaylith would mindshock her future in-laws.

Jack was gone. Long gone.

But Dal had a good idea where he was going.

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