"So what is this?" asked Derek Wildstar curiously as a reddish liquid was poured into the strange goblet he was holding by a Gamilon military aide. This was a strange evening for Wildstar; never did he and his crew expect that their journey to Pellias would conclude with a peaceful after-the-battle picnic in the open air with the Pellians….and the…Gamilons?

Yes, about half of the Terran landing party of over forty was now enjoying a long dinner of shared Terran, Pellian and Gamilon combat rations with about as many Gamilons and about thirty or so Pellians. In the meantime, other Gamilons and Pellians worked around them to set up an orderly evacuation of some of the Pellian survivors to Pellian ships that were supposedly somewhere beneath this complex. Others were being evacuated to the Gamilon Fleet, which was now hovering over the city only a few hundred meters away from the Argo in peace. As all of this went on, other Pellians in need of medical treatment were being evacuated up to the Argo by some of Hemsford's Marines and members of Doctor Sane's staff.

"It's a wine native to Gamilon," replied Leader Desslok. "The supplies of it are growing short; our synthesizers can only simulate it to a certain extent, so we must depend upon the decreasing supplies of the naturally produced beverage for my use. "

"How did you and Astrena happen to meet?" asked Nova as a military aide poured her a goblet of the same wine. Nova expected that she'd soon be busy helping Doctor Sane with the Pellian and Terran wounded, but she knew she couldn't refuse the Gamilons' offer of wine with both Desslok and Astrena looking on. Nova couldn't believe how hungry she was, so she dipped her fork into a can of Gamilon combat rations and pulled out something that both looked and tasted strangely like German Bratwurst. Not bad, she thought. I might even get a taste for this stuff.

"We were talking for about a day or so over the radio and we discovered we had a lot in common," said Astrena as she sat on the cobblestoned pavement with the others with her legs tucked under her. "Both of us had fought hard battles in the past few years, both of us had lost much in them, and both of us wanted to keep our peoples alive and resettle somewhere someday."

"The Gamilon Provisional Capital we're setting up at the edge of the Magellenic Clouds on Miralden is just that…provisional," said Desslok. "Likewise, we are hoping that since Iscandar is almost empty at this point, that Queen Starsha will accept our mutual request to have some Pellians settle there, at least for a time. The habitable space on my Provisional Capital isn't what we would wish for, but it'll do my High Command as a temporary place to settle and begin rebuilding some of our military might."

"Which you'll use to which end, Desslok?" snapped Astrena. Both Derek and Nova tensed, guessing that they'd see the proud Gamilon Leader lose his temper. However, if they needed proof that the Gamilon Leader had truly fallen in love, they saw it when they only saw Desslok chuckle slightly, if a little sardonically.

"To the peaceful rebuilding of our way of life, of course. That is my motive as well as yours."

"And what about the war that our mutual enemies are forcing us to fight?" snapped Astrena, surprising them again.

"Odd, isn't it?" said Desslok. "Wildstar, just a little while ago, you and I were bitter enemies. Now as it appears a newer and greater war is breaking out, we are on the same side, both fighting for the survival of both of our races side by side."

"How do you know that these enemies have designs on Earth?" asked Derek uneasily.

"They've already started their program with their raids on your shipping," said Astrena. "We have several thousand years' worth of history between our race and the Rikashans. In fact, long ago, our people dwelt in the Milky Way Galaxy, and we and the Rikashans were both trading partners. But that was before events on Rikasha turned mad; before their civilization went mad, before they gave birth to Ekogaru the Great."

"You mentioned him before," said Hemsford. "Who is he?"

"Ekogaru was once mortal, like us. He was a Rikashan scientist, artist, and philosopher who became Chancellor on Rikasha nearly three thousand years ago…"

"Three thousand years ago?" asked Nova in surprise, almost dropping her goblet of wine.

"That's correct," said Astrena, since she had everyone's attention. "And, my friends, he still lives. He has lived this long because ninety-two percent of the body that sustains him is now a machine. That was his great discovery; he learned how to create a perfect cyborg body that resembled a human body at the molecular level. His followers chose to become machines along with him and they declared themselves a new race; the Technomugar. Somehow, in a means I don't even understand, they all share their life-force with Ekogaru, and they've become like him; driven, mad, selfish, grasping, and as cold as the coolant that goes through their veins instead of blood. Long ago, those Rikashans who desired to live free from his Dictatorship joined with us, and together we drove Ekogaru and his followers to exile, at the center of the Blackeye Galaxy. But he exacted a terrible price; he blasted the Rikashans' homeworld with nuclear weapons out of sheer vengeance, like Earth was blasted, without even the excuse he needed a new home. Then, he attacked our ancestors, leaving us less than a tenth of our numbers, and slaying our Ancestral Queen, and also forcing us to follow Ekogaru to the Blackeye Galaxy to keep a watch upon him. We thought he would never rise again; but he did, oh, he did…"

"He was the legend that lived on in the memory of our race," said Desslok. "Long ago, we came from the Milky Way Galaxy ourselves. Gamilon was once the colony of another great Empire. Only hints of our history remained known to us, but it was known that our race began to scatter from its ancient homeland around the time of this war Astrena spoke of. In this war, our ancestors came to Gamilon, and lost touch with the homeworld. I just realized that is where our legend of a Black Power came from; this actual war, and this actual event. If we make it safely to Iscandar, and Starsha will receive me, I will have to ask her what she knows of this time. The Iscandarians never did speak to us much of their origins. But, perhaps…if the ancient Homeworld still exists…perhaps I might find it."

"So, you mean to establish a colony on Iscandar, Astrena?" asked Nova after a long moment of silence.

"Yes, if Starsha will have us," said Astrena. "That may or may not happen. I don't know if she sees us as peaceful, or warlike. We can be warlike, but only when we need to be. If I frightened you before, I beg your pardon, but I cannot stand atrocity in war…for any reason. Desslok and I have had many talks about atrocities in the past day or so. I think he needs to redress, still, some of the harm his Empire has caused, even if it was in pursuance of an honourable and necessary end as he saw it."

"The survival of my people," said Desslok. "You recall, Nova, I told you on the bridge of my flagship that even months ago, I was beginning to wonder if all I did was right. I knew that I was alone, driven, cold, seeking only vengeance in your deaths, when all you were was survive, even as we were. We joined then, against Zordar, and then joined again against more of his race, later. But, I think that if this war threatens us all…"

"It does!" cried a clear voice as a young woman in black emerged from one of the colonnades, with Paul Rosstowski walking along beside her.

"Aliscea!" cried Astrena. "Were you pursued?"

"Yes, by a clay golem the Rikashans turned to their uses and by some Rikashan troops that Paul and I evaded. But others are coming. We don't have much time," cried Aliscea. "Mother, I beg leave to speak and reveal my visions to the audience."

"Go ahead. But I began already by telling them some of the history of Rikasha and how we related to that history."

"Good. I'll just recount a little and then let them know what Ekogaru has evolved into. I can recount these tales because I have a psionic bond with the memories of my ancestors, known as the Matrix," said Aliscea. "When I was small, I was found to have high psionic ability, and the Pellian Matrix chose me to be the sixteen hundredth priestess keeper it has had in nearly three thousand years. I am, literally, the living depository of all that our people were, and my psionic energy or mind-energy has grown rapidly to suit that role. You might consider me as something like Trelaina of Telezart. However, rather than being a wild talent, I was bred and trained to be what I am now, the living keeper of the lore and memories of the greatest of our people, and our link to powers and dimensions greater than this one. You could say that the supernatural takes form in me, and grants me power to accomplish much for our people. I am, possibly, touched by supernatural powers no one has any conception of."

"This is how our link with the Rikashans began," said Aliscea as she caused a ball of energy to appear before her Then, before the awed eyes of most of those there, the events of the great war of which Astrena had hinted at flashed as visions in the ball of energy that Aliscea kept aloft. They saw a burgeoning trade developing between the ancestors of the Rikashans and of the Pellians, and they saw that the ancestors of the Pellians, strangely enough, were once called the R'Khelleva. For a time, the original Rikashans and R'Khell cooperated in a peaceful culture; the R'Khell were the priests and learned ones and philosophers while the Rikashans were the builders.

"Then, there arose Ekogaru," said Aliscea as the image of a vital, charismatic leader with a mustache and long hair flashed across her globe. "Ekogaru was of mixed Rikashan and R'Khell ancestry. We all thought once that he symbolized the best of all of our peoples; the searching mind of the philosopher combined with the busy mind and nimble hands of the engineer and architect. He was truly a genius, and some of the deeds and degrees of craft and knowledge he developed before his fall into evil are still legendary among Pellians, Rikashans, and R'Khell. However, Ekogaru's great learning, combined with the political power he assumed during a time of crisis, worked together to turn his greatest invention, the production of artificial body parts, into a nightmare. He thought that with his artificial parts, he could keep a man alive forever, and that our energies could be joined as one. For, the Rikashans had psionics and mystics in their ranks, as we did, and Ekogaru was the greatest and most subtle mystic and adept of his time. Many called him a wizard when that title was a word of honor among our races, but some discovered that he may have delved into the black arts, and others then condemned him as a sorcerer and called for his removal as Chancellor of Rikasha." Aliscea then paused as disturbing images of Ekogaru bent over spell books and strange potions mixed uneasily with images of ever-heated ancient parliamentary proceedings.

"No one quite knew when he turned mad and decided that his discoveries would turn mankind into a new race, dependent upon technology and a warped sort of spiritual synergy with him as an artificial, man-made means of eternal life. And few guessed that when asked to step down as Chancellor he would instead turn into a demagogue, and seduce most of the R'Khell priesthood into worship of the same dark sorcery he touched upon. Fewer guessed that he would then turn what had been the peaceful Rikashan Commonwealth into a military empire and machine of immense power and avaricious might," said Aliscea as images of advancing ancient space warships ran across her globe. Those visions melted into images of Ekogaru himself and others being turned into cyborgs in strange operating rooms filled with needles, machines, and scalpels that cut their bodies to pieces, replacing them with mechanical parts.

"It went then from bad to worse. Ekogaru demanded complete surrender. Our ancestors refused, and Ekogaru was branded a public enemy by what remained of the Rikashan government. In rage, this machine being, no longer human, turned upon his race then upon our race, decimating those of us who didn't join his "improved" priesthood. As for his citizenship as a Rikashan, he renounced his people, declared the Rikashans public enemies, and used powerful new thermonuclear missiles to reduce the homeworld of Rikasha into a burning desert all in one night." Aliscea paused again as images of genocide and then of a blazing planetary nuclear war raged across her screen. In one night, the once blue world of Rikasha became a burning desert that made what Gamilon did to Earth seem almost tame by comparison.

"The remainder of us who didn't follow Ekogaru joined together as the Pellian Confederacy after our last Empress, Pellas. Queen Pellas fought a psionic battle with Ekogaru himself and his fleet and banished them to the black pit of the Blackeye Galaxy. Pellas died in the battle, but we, her followers and children, broke our links with the R'Khell, who had decided to remain in this galaxy, loyal to Ekogaru's cruel ethic. Then we left this galaxy to guard Ekogaru, not knowing that the defeated and exiled Dark Lord had left behind secret plans for his return with a few trusted R'Khell priests and priestesses who kept psionic contact with him, now worshipping him as a war god. We never dreamed that they would nurture the radiation-scarred survivors of the war on Rikasha into a new, cruel Rikashan Empire that worshipped Ekogaru as a god of War."

Aliscea paused again, showing the terrible origin of the Rikashans and R'Khells that the Gamilons and Terrans knew as enemies. "Never did we guess that Ekogaru and his few survivors would, bit by bit, person by person, send emissaries deep into our galaxy to rally worlds to his cause. Never, either did we guess that within the dark clouds of the Blackeye Galaxy Ekogaru would be building his means of escape from the exile that bound him to near the black hole at the center of the Blackeye Galaxy, while also building our destruction."

Aliscea showed a horrible vision of a dark, majestic, terrible metal planet going through space. "This is Ekogaru's greatest accomplishment, his capital, his war machine. Weapon by weapon, tower upon tower he built his Grand Technomugar Fortress, a starship and battle station the same size as Pellias or Earth itself, able to warp through space at immense speeds, and break the bonds of the black hole that bound him to one spot in our galaxy. This fortress can compress entire planets and civilizations into nothingness within minutes; destroy whole space fleets with a mere sweep of its cannons, and fleet upon fleet of his mighty cruisers, battleships, and Goraizu Fortresses are based there or can be made there. Both of you know of the late Prince Zordar and his Gatlantis, his White Comet? This ship, holding the imprisoned energy of two stars, could wipe away a White Comet field at one one-hundreth of the power this fortress can produce. His fortress wiped away the Pellian Confederacy we formed that resisted him for a thousand years. Powered by the malice of Ekogaru, my forefather by many generations, this Fortress warped Pellias to your galaxy when he finally broke free of the Blackeye Galaxy and he killed almost a billion of us that day in an unspeakable genocide."

They stood in silence, looking at the terrible vision of Ekogaru's Fortress as Aliscea added. "This Fortress will enter the Local Group here in about four months near the Sanzar System in the Great Magellenic Cloud," said Aliscea slowly as she watched Desslok's eyes flashing towards Astrena's in shock and disbelief. "I do not know what his designs upon what remains of Gamilon…are, nor do I yet know his designs upon Starsha and Iscandar. But he must be stopped there, and only I can do it. You must bring me there, I beg you, to confront Ekogaru prepared for psionic combat as I was not here when Pellias died. I must avert an even greater tragedy. For, I have touched the dark mind of Ekogaru himself, and I do know this. He has the Rikashans and R'Khell attacking Earth bit by bit, hour by hour, not to conquer Earth, but to weaken it. He plans to give the Rikashans and R'Khells a great prize soon; either by conquest, so they will thank him for the crown jewel of the galaxies and worship him, or by destruction, so they will see his power and worship him…."

Aliscea paused again, and then delivered the stroke they dreaded. "I do not know what, if anything Ekogaru plans for Iscandar and Gamilon. But I do know that he means to either conquer or destroy Earth in one terrible day about five or six months from now. If I do not soon stop him, Earth will be his next target."

Aliscea's words were suddenly cut off by the sharp sound of Rikashan blaster fire. A few unprepared Gamilon and Terran troops were hit, and Astrena's eyes went wide as a barrage of fire took Leader Desslok himself in the arm.

"Leader!" cried Talan as the Gamilon ruler momentarily sunk to his knees.

"I'll be all right…" gasped Desslok with a visible wince as he stood and began to return fire, noticing that, not too far away, Derek and Nova Wildstar had dropped to their knees behind a pile of rubble and were returning fire.

"Nova, when we get a chance, you and Aliscea get out of here with Desslok," snapped Derek. "Paul and I will cover your retreat back to the shuttles."

"No," said Nova. "Court-martial me if you like after the battle, but I'm staying here to help cover you."
"Listen, we need to get Aliscea out of here," barked Derek.

"Negative, I'm staying," said Aliscea as she dragged Paul under cover behind the rubble beside Derek and Nova. "I can help out a bit, even though I'm almost spent."

"What can you do?" asked Paul.

He should have known better than to ask. Aliscea smiled grimly and stood up with both hands in the air, palms outward. A few silent words ran across her lips, and fire streamed out of her hands in a bolt of power towards five of the Rikashan troopers. They died screaming as human torches.

Aliscea repeated the feat twice, killing ten more troops, and then, with sweat running down her cheeks, she killed a sniper who was somehow up on the colonnade.

Suddenly, the ground shook again as Derek, Nova, Paul, Desslok and Talan began shooting towards a knot of troopers. After the quake, everything went strangely silent.

"Aliscea, Astrena…do you and your companions really think it's going to be that easy?" intoned a thunderous voice from nowhere.

"Who are you?" demanded Leader Desslok in an imperious voice as he again stood up to his full height, ignoring the pain in his hastily bandaged arm. "In the name of the Gamilon Empire, I demand that you show yourself!"

"Desslok, NO!" cried Astrena as she began to waver.

"What he says doesn't matter," said the sepulchral Voice. "I shall deal with him in time, Astrena. It is you and Aliscea I care the most about. Surrender now, and I shall be merciful and spare your foolish, insignificant companions," continued the voice as a spectral black shadow with red glowing eyes appeared in mid-air in the center of the courtyard like a foul smoke. Everything around that spectral form was cold, and the few remaining Rikashan and R'Khell troopers all dropped to one knee in dark worship.

"I should have known you'd show up," snapped Aliscea as she stood and faced the specter with a look of utter contempt on her face. "Can't do much away from your machines, can you, your Lordship?" she snapped, ignoring her trembling knees. "Why don't you clank some chains and boo a bit for us, Lord Ekogaru?"

"That thing…he's…Ekogaru?" stammered Paul Rosstowski.

Paul stood in shock as beside him, Aliscea stood silently considering his words.

Aliscea and Astrena walked before the phantom of Ekogaru and joined hands. "Never," said Aliscea. "We refuse to surrender to the likes of you. I don't think our allies will, either." Behind them, Desslok and Wildstar exchanged glances and understood. Derek nodded once, and the Gamilon Leader nodded solemnly in return.

"Ekogaru, we're not surrendering to you," snapped Derek. "If you think you can kill us from a few million lightyears away, why the hell don't you try it?"

"Fool," roared Ekogaru. "I thought as much. Very well, let it be on your own heads, then. Prepare to die!"

The strange form vanished, and, immediately, Pellias began to shake. The colonnades began to topple, and Rikashans, R'Khell, Gamilons, Pellians and Terrans alike began to yell as the falling stonework killed troopers from both sides without caring about their relationship to the Dark Lord. Impending disaster bred strange allies as a few of the Rikashans, yelling imprecations in their own tongue towards heaven, turned to aiding their former enemies as a mass exodus from the collapsing Temple courtyard began for troops from all sides. Some of the R'Khells shouted curses in their own tongue back at the sudden change in alliance, considering it blasphemy against their "god".

"How dare you help those blasphemers?" raged a R'Khell warrior-priest in his language. "They are OUR ENEMIES!"

"No, they fought well," yelled back a Rikashan colonel in his language. "We're all in danger! It's against our honor code to let honorable adversaries die like that, and it's against His code, too. I don't see why He's not helping us!"

"Idiot, He wants us ALL dead," responded the warrior-priest, whose name was Kahrvan. "We failed Him, Turmak!"

"And this is how He repays our worship and our sacrifices?" mocked Turmak. "I don't even think He's really a God! Men, help our enemies! As far as Rikasha is concerned, I call a truce for now! Kahrvan, you can have Pellias if you want it. The General is dead. You stay behind as ranking officer. As second-in-command, I'm helping these warriors out of a disaster. When it comes down to it, we're all warriors!"

A stone fell towards Desslok. To everyone's shock, the armored Turmak threw himself between the stone and the Gamilon Leader, letting the stone crush him rather than Desslok. "Demer, you're in command. Help them evacuate," yelled the dying Turmak before Kahrvan shot him.

Demer, a Rikashan Captain, nodded once, ordering two of his men to help Rosstowski and Aliscea.

"No…I'm staying," cried Aliscea, refusing to let a Rikashan tear her away from her mother. "Paul, I'm sorry, but I might have to die…to save you, my love."

"Aliscea, no," said Paul. "Me and…these guys…will help you over those rocks."

"Go, Aliscea," said Astrena. "We can maintain our link for a few minutes to let everyone escape."

Aliscea reluctantly let go of her mother and let Rosstowski and the two big Rikashan troopers carry her over the rocky morass towards an EDF medical shuttle.

"What was that, Sandor?" yelled Derek into his helmet mike.

"Wildstar, we just found IQ-9 near the crash site of Nova's plane along with the bodies of Nova's gunner and some of our other men. He's in pieces."

"Sandor, leave him…"

"Derek, no," cried Nova. "He gave what he considered to be his life to save me."

"Wildstar, we don't leave our own behind in the Star Force," said Sandor. "We're taking out the bodies of our men. IQ might be repairable, but if not, let's accord him the same honors as our men, at least. He was a member of the Star Force."

"Very well. If you can get him out of there, do it."

"We can…and we've got Pellians and…Rikashans…willing to help. What's going on, Wildstar? More of their games?"

"With this planet coming apart around us, we and the Rikashans have a temporary truce. I'll explain later," said Derek. A moment later, a fissure opened up under his feet, and he almost fell down into a pit.

"Derek!" cried Nova. In a moment's flash, she and Hemsford ran over and grabbed his wrists. All of them noticed with great discomfort that there was lava boiling at the bottom of the fissure.

"You got him?" demanded the Marine.

"Barely," gasped Nova. "His wrist is bleeding. It's hard to hold on." A whiff of sulfur came from the pit, and Nova coughed.

"Nova, give it up," moaned Derek. "Tell Venture he's in command. You get Aliscea and Paul out of here…"

"The Rikashans are helping us do just that. I'm not leaving you, Derek!"

"Nova…" coughed Derek. "These fumes are gonna finish me in a minute…save yourself."

"If you die, I die with you," countered Nova.

"Nova…you can't…"

An unknown Rikashan ran up and ended the debate right there by helping Nova and Hemsford pull Derek out of the pit. The Rikashan began to nod a greeting at them, but before an exhausted Captain Wildstar could thank him, a laser bolt came out of nowhere from a red-armored R'Khell, killing the Rikashan trooper.

Hemsford fired back, killing the R'Khell trooper. That was his last shot on Pellias as he and Nova together dragged Wildstar into the medical shuttle. A moment later, the group stood in shock as Angie Hartcliffe ran up, dressed in translucent rags like some harem girl. She said nothing, but just sat down on the deck and wrapped herself in a blanket. She was shivering like crazy.

In the shuttle, Aliscea knelt on the floor with her face scrunched up in concentration. "She's helping her mother save us," explained Paul. A moment later, in conditions reflective of the chaos around them, a Rikashan and a Gamilon in the shuttle helped two more Marines aboard, and with a shout to a comrade in the cockpit, Hemsford ordered liftoff as a shaking Nova worked to dress Derek's wounded wrist.

A moment later, they landed back on the Argo in the lower fighter bay, followed by a landing boat with Sandor, his men, and the dead and some wounded, including the wreckage of IQ-9.

Venture greeted a shaky Wildstar with a hug. "You guys were the last…most of the Tigers are back on board; Hardy and his survivors are still in the air and they'll follow us out of this disaster area. You've got Aliscea?"

"She's coming off with Nova and Rosstowski." Derek pointed back at Aliscea, who came off the shuttle escorted by her bondmate and by Mrs. Wildstar, who were looking at her with concern.

"What are they doing here?" demanded Venture as he saw two Gamilons and two Rikashans staggering off the shuttle next, followed by two Pellians from off the landing craft.

"Desslok's back on his ship…he was in touch with these officers…we'll all meet up later," said Derek. "As for these Rikashans, the army troopers seem to have called a truce. They helped us out of that mess down there to help save their own skins when their "god" apparently refused to help them. The fanatics in red didn't like it….it seems they have some kind of split in their own side."

"Hmmm…" said Mark. "That might be useful later on…"

"Maybe," said Derek. "One of these Rikashans is an officer. He said that he was in touch with his commander. He said that what's left of their fleet will follow us out and will guard our rear against the R'Khells…the fanatics in their own ranks who want us all dead. Strangely enough, some of them have been helping us on Pellias…I don't know why."

"Then they'll attack us when they get a chance?" snorted Mark.

"No…we won't…not now. For us, truce holds until we are told otherwise by Cha'rif," said the Rikashan officer.

"Where is he?" demanded Derek "How do we know you won't turn on us like he did?".

"That…we not know," said the officer. "Demer leads us for now. He assumes command on cruiser T'Kuraga. That his flagship. I am Vorston. I have no R'jkharraz powers and will not act treacherously. Let me stay with you to help translate our tongue to yours. If my people and yours start fighting again, I will voluntarily be prisoner." He handed Wildstar his sidearm, bowing slightly and emphasizing his great height as he did so. "This is in token of agreement. I also help you voluntarily with intelligence about our side. I not like R'Khell. I want no war between us. You are indeed good people."

"Thank you, Vorston," said Derek. "Hemsford, you detail two men to watch him. We can't be too careful after last time with the other prisoner."

"Yessir," said Paul, who was non-plussed. "Napoli, Diamond, you guys watch…him…"

"Yessir," said Corporal Napoli. "Vorston, you come with us. First things first. You'll have to be examined in our sickbay and decontaminated."

"Please let this be quick. I might be needed to translate," asked Vorston.

"Keep him in Sickbay for now," said Derek. "We can patch comm signals down there if he's… needed."

"Captain Wildstar, let one of us come with you to the bridge," said one of the armored Gamilons. "I am named Tyris and in your tongue I believe I would be an Army Colonel or Naval Captain. I may need to help translate communications from the Gamilstadt. Leader Desslok said I was to be at your disposal as an ally."

"Are you usually a ground trooper?" asked Derek.

"I command what you might call Naval Infantry or Marines."

"Thank you for the assistance, Colonel," said Derek. "Desslok said you were to stay on the Argo?"

"As liaison, yes…at least until we get away from Pellias."

"Good. You come with me," said Derek.

"He can follow Venture," said Nova. "You're coming with me to Sickbay with Aliscea and I to get that wrist taken care of."

"Nova…I…"

Aliscea began to shake. "We have to get to your bridge…all of us…NOW. My power is waning. We must get away from Pellias."

"Why?" asked Captain Wildstar.

"The planet will explode in fifteen minutes…that is why. I must navigate you away from the danger…"

"Wildstar, the last of the surviving Black Tigers are back on board," said Homer. "The ship is secured."

"Venture, take us out," said Derek as he sat down again at his bridge post, rubbing his wrist.

"A Gamilon signal in their language is coming in," said Homer. Colonel Tyris took the headset and listened for a moment.

"It's Leader Desslok," said Tyris. "He asks us to follow his course at full speed and to prepare to warp in five minutes."

Derek nodded, but Venture looked over at the Gamilon with some mistrust.

"I…I suggest you follow his lead," said Aliscea, who was seated at the Analysis post between Dash at Combat and Paul Rosstowski at Gunnery. "My mother says we don't have much time…we can only hold it together for so long…Ekogaru sped up the process."

"Hold what together for so long?" asked a puzzled Orion.

"Pellias. It has been only my mother and I that have held together the planet for these days, and it is only us who do so now. " Below them, a slow spiderweb of cracks was beginning to appear over the planet's surface. Sandor noticed that the orange glow of lava filled those cracks.

"Wildstar, the mantle of that planet is trying to push its way outwards, and the core is expanding," said Sandor. "The only thing that's holding it together is some unknown force."

"Wave Engine comin' up, full power," said Orion as he stared at his board.

"Here we go," said Venture. "Main engine, ENGAGE."

The Argo's main engine kicked in, and the space battleship began to follow the Gamilon ships away from the dying planet.

"Wildstar, we need a course for that warp," said Venture. "Where are we going?"

"Let's try for Somergin Five…it's stable and it's just fifty lightyears away," suggested Sandor. "Tyris, suggest that to Desslok."

"No," said Aliscea. "We're…we're heading for the….Ambergis Rift."

"There?" protested Wildstar. "Aliscea, we know of it, but it's sixteen or seventeen thousand lightyears away at the edge of the Milky Way! We just barely mapped the area on our way back from Telezart…we don't know much about it…we don't even have a fine-scan star atlas of the region. Warping there without intelligence is madness!"

"I can guide us," countered Aliscea as she shakily got up. "I'll…I'll put in the coordinates myself…Venture, please move."

"Wildstar…you can't let her do this! We don't know anything about that area!"

"It's our only gravitational haven of safety from Ekogaru," she snapped. "Do you think He just decided to go back to his Fortress and leave us alone?"

"Aliscea, you're our ally, but I can't let you pilot our ship…" said Wildstar. "Permission denied."

"There's not enough time for me to tell him the coordinates…and only I can set the right course," countered Aliscea.

"I'm getting a message from Desslok's flagship!" said Homer. "Putting it up on the video panel."

An image of Desslok and Astrena came on the screen. "Wildstar," said Desslok. "She wishes to speak to you."

Derek nodded. "Yes?'

"Trust her, Captain," snapped Astrena. "You will lead us away from Pellias. Desslok is prepared to download the course from your ship and transmit it to the Fleet as soon as Aliscea calculates it."

Derek just nodded. "Understood. Venture, give her the helm. Homer, you and Tyris set up the uplink to the Gamilstadt."

On the screen, Desslok nodded thanks, and the screen went dark. Unnoticed by Wildstar, Homer gave Tyris a very dirty look before he let him touch his controls. Homer still remembered the death of his father…a death caused by Gamilon radiation while he and the rest of the Star Force were on their way to Iscandar.

Mark got up, shaking his head with a look on his face somewhere between awe and disbelief. Trelaina never asked to pilot the ship, for God's sake, he thought. I hope this Princess knows what she's doing.

Aliscea took the seat, started blankly at the controls for a minute, and shook her head in something that looked like pain. She shut her eyes, and then, with a grimace on her face, she began to let her fingers fly across the buttons and knobs that set the ship's warp course, without even bothering to bring up the navigation computer. Venture looked on with awe as he noticed that the coordinates seemed to be coming right out of Aliscea's head.

"Laid in," she snapped a minute later. Examining the controls again, she started up a warp sequence countdown at two minutes. "This course now being uploaded to communications for upload to the Gamilons. Venture, tell them two minutes to warp. You sit down in the Analysis chair for warp."

"Right," he muttered. "Two minutes to space warp…secure all stations!"

"Distance from Pellias, two megameters," said Nova as she watched her scope.

"Wildstar, we'll make it out of here just in time," said Sandor. "The planet's going to blow in two minutes."

"Download to the Gamilstadt complete," said Tyris. "I hate to say this, but your technology's a little primitive compared to ours. Perhaps someday, your level of technology will be close to ours. Where shall I sit?"

"Homer, you escort him up to our cabin and get him secured. Parsons, take over communications. Nova, you multiplex your scans to cover short and long range. You'll be our eyes and Holly's gonna be our ears."

"Yessir," they both said together.

After the change was made and Tyris left the bridge, escorted by a silent, unfriendly Homer, everyone strapped in. Paul had to help Aliscea work the harness, but everyone was soon ready.

"One minute to warp," said Venture.

"Wave motion engine, begin energy buildup," said Aliscea as she worked the controls like a pro. Then, something seemed to dismay her, she cried "OH, NO!" in a loud voice.

"What?" demanded Derek.

"Enemy fleet approaching the Gamilon Fleet at RD-235!" snapped Nova. "Ten R'Khell ships! They're firing at the Gamilons, and they're…turning their long-range guns on US! And we can't fight back! Our energy's in the main engine!"

An image of ten ugly red cruisers appeared on the screen. The guns looked nasty enough.

"Wildstar, Pellias will explode in a minute. What they're planning is suicide for all of us!" said Sandor.

"Four more ships approaching," cried Nova. "They're…two Rikashan destroyers, and two battleships I don't recognize that roared up from Pellias! Video panel change!"

Nova changed, and Aliscea looked up and smiled. "Our last two ships…the Vengeance and the Promised Land in your language. They're apparently helping the Rikashans with the rear-guard."

All four fresh ships turned their guns on the R'Khell ships and fired. A Rikashan destroyer actually died for their side…but eight R'Khell balls of fire appeared in space…and two ships escaped.

"Derek, two of them got away!" said Nova.

"They are of no importance," said Aliscea. "I've told our ships the coordinates. They can tell the Rikashans."

"You…had ships?" said Wildstar.

"Only the size of the Argo," apologized Aliscea. "And filled with their crews of a hundred and twenty each. They must have been in the deepest bunkers until the last minute," she said, pointing out at the two light-blue and white battleships that looked a little like EDF designs. "I was once a cadet on one of those ships. That's some of how I know about spacecraft…the rest is the knowledge from the Pellian Matrix inside me. There are now five hundred Pellians left alive, including them. Five hundred out of many millions. And the planet is about to go!"

Aliscea made a last few lightning adjustments and then said, "Ten seconds! Prepare to warp!"

As the last few seconds ticked away, Derek swore that he saw something like a spectral hand emerging from nowhere to grab at the now-glowing hulk of Pellias, which the fleet was now seventy-five megameters away from.

"Three…two…ONE!" cried Aliscea. "He's coming! WARP!"

She pulled back the proper controls and the Argo faded into the Fourth Dimension, followed by the rest of the strange fleet behind her.

A heartbeat after the ships faded away, Pellias finally exploded….followed by the other planets of the Beta Valentis System as reality in that area suddenly folded in upon itself…and followed by Beta Valentis itself as the star abruptly went nova.

On Earth, in Defense Headquarters, Commanding General Singleton's nightly cup of coffee began to shake. The Commander looked up and he suddenly noticed that the whole building was shaking.

"What the…?" he muttered.

"Commander, a report from the Andromeda," said a tech.

"Bring it up."

"Sir, they say they've lost visual communications. The Admiral says they were scanning the Valentis Cluster for news from the Star Force. They can't get it now."

"Why not?"

"They say the whole Valentis Cluster has just…disappeared down a singularity."

"What? Three star systems…gone?"

"Yessir. That's what they report. No word from the Argo or the Gamilon Fleet since their last communication two hours ago. We don't know if they made contact with Aliscea yet or not. We have no idea if any of them still even exist, sir."

The Commander considered this startling revelation. "The Argo…maybe even all the Gamilons, believe it or not, all gone at once in something that we even felt here on Earth, and we have no idea what happened. Captain, patch me through to the Defense Council. We need to meet. Tonight."

"Yessir."

In another part of the Megalopolis not far from Heroes' Hill, although no one knew it (yet), a break-in was in progress.

A cackling Yvona Josiah, the mad aunt of Nova Wildstar, had somehow gotten back to Earth from the stolen Earth battleship Potemkin by unknown means. She had broken into the Wildstar residence after disabling the security system. After causing some random damage downstairs, she had gone into the Wildstars' master bedroom. After flinging two wedding pictures to the floor and then slashing two of her nieces' dresses into shreds with a knife taken from the kitchen, the madwoman smiled and got out a short pink romper and matching boots from a closet. It was one of Nova's favorite outfits, and she knew it.

"I…shall take this…along with some other things…." she smiled. "I'll look good in it. He says so. I'd better hurry…the R'Khells will be back for me with the sub in just three days. "

She felt a tremor, and then looked up at the sky. "Yes…." She drooled. "Yes. Thank You, Lordship. I am sure You have finished off the Star Force. Now, change me as You promised…for a short time. Yes…I would love to record this," she said as she turned on a video camcorder stolen from Derek's closet.

A bolt of lightning came out of nowhere on a cold winter's night, and as the roar of thunder awakened the neighborhood, Yvona Josiah grinned madly and began to strip. Her sackcloth dress, tire-sole sandals, necklaces and medallions, tattered underclothes, everything came off. The sight wasn't very pretty at all. The squat, aged woman looked like an example of human decrepitude, with a fungal infection, legs covered with varicose veins, and other afflictions.

"Now…for a time…until I meet with You…change me…."

Yvona grinned and spread her hands towards the ceiling. A greenish glow covered her form, and a metamorphosis began to take place. The white hair abruptly went back to brown, and then turned blond. Yvona began to grow many centimeters taller, with her body losing weight as it grew. The varicose veins disappeared, and the bloodshot eyes went clear and then turned color, changing from pale blue to dark brown as the nearly non-existent eyelashes grew back in. The face began to morph, with the nose growing thinner and shapelier while the decayed teeth turned straight and white. The bulging stomach looked toned and trim, like that of a woman who worked out daily.

Finally, Yvona Josiah grinned madly into the mirror above Derek and Nova's dresser. Yvona grinned, but, to all appearances, the face that grinned crazily back was that of Nova Wildstar, attached to a lightly tanned and trim twenty-three year old body to match.

"Beautiful…but not decent," said Yvona with clipped, almost Germanic tones in Nova's voice as she blushed at her new "self". "Fits just right," she said as she pulled one of Nova's nightgowns over the "new body"…a temporary metamorphic change courtesy of Ekogaru. "Wonderful disguise," she said, changing her inflections to what she remembered her niece to sound like. "Be nice to ruin her reputation by sleeping around a little...but I have more important work to do. A little bit of personal vengeance upon Hiram…and a nice little assassination that I can perform on the weekend after I make some phone calls," said Yvona as she looked in a nightstand and found a small pink phone book. "To cover my tracks, I will need a few computer codes…yes, the little witch has all of them written down here…part of her work when she works with the Commander. But, I need a phone number."

Finding the number, Yvona dialed out on Derek and Nova's phone, keeping the video feature off.

"Hello, Earth Defense Forces, Internal Security Division," said the voice on the other end. "Lieutenant Hans Vilktor, sir."

"Lieutenant," said Yvona in her most "Nova-like" tones. "This is Lieutenant Nova Wildstar. How are you?"

"Is this a game?" he said. "Whoever you are, this sounds good…you sound like her…but everyone knows she's on the Argo right now."

"No I'm not," said "Nova" quietly. "I came home on the cruiser Danube just a short while ago and took an Earthbound assignment with the Commander. Didn't it update in your computer yet? I left on the twelfth."

"Why would you be home?"

"Personal reasons," said Yvona. "You see…uh…okay…I had a physical…and it turns out I'm expecting. Got that way on the honeymoon, and Derek and I agreed I'd be safer on Earth with the baby. I didn't like the idea of leaving…but we didn't want to risk the baby. The computer will probably update by the morning."

"Hope so. I heard that something happened to the Argo."

"Oh no!" cried "Nova" with a convincing sob. "Is Derek all right?"

"Hope so. The Argo went off the scopes and wasn't heard from in an hour."

"How terrible!" sobbed "Nova". "Okay. I…I have to get myself together…I'm home. If any reports come in that the house was broken into…please ignore them? It's just me here in the bedroom crying with worry and missing…Derek…okay?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And in case the orders don’t come through, please put my name on the duty roster at Headquarters tomorrow morning? I need to hear news, and maybe working with the Commander will help clear my head a bit, okay?" quavered Yvona.

"Yes, ma'am. I really do hope Captain Wildstar and your comrades are all right."

"I do, too," sobbed "Nova". "Goodbye…"

"Bye, ma'am," he said, hanging up as "Nova" began crying on the other end.

Poor thing, he thought. And she just got married, too.

"Nova" sobbed a bit more, and then she balled up her fists in triumph and began to laugh. "Yes! The idiot bought it! YES! And maybe the little sleaze is really dead, and no one knows it yet. Now, I just have to get to her computer, update the so-called "orders" and then poo widle Nova can show up tomorrow morning at the Commander's office to cry and serve coffee. Then she can begin to get close to the Commander and then I can give Hiram a call...of course, the whole point is Saturday night. What happens then?"

Yvona picked up a knife and grinned wickedly. "What happens on Saturday night is that poor little distraught Nova is gonna go see Hiram Josiah and kill him. Then, she'll go see Commanding General Singleton and do the same thing. Then, using Nova's special secret codes, she's going to go and steal the President's shuttlecraft and make a clean little getaway back to the R'Khells. Nova, honey, my dear niece, if you're still alive, how would you like your name to be MUD?"

While Yvona Josiah was busy planning mischief in Derek and Nova's bedroom in the Megalopolis, the Argo came out of warp with the Gamilon Fleet and the other ships about eighteen thousand lightyears away from Earth in the Ambergis Rift, a small space at the edge of the galaxy where there were few stars or planets. The nearest star system was about a hundred lightyears away from their current location, and as a result, this was a very empty, quiet, and stable region of space. For all intents and purposes, they were now a hundred lightyears out of the Milky Way. About two space warps of ten thousand lightyears each would put the Argo in the same empty region of intergalactic space where they had captured a Gamilon pilot on their journey to Iscandar.

Captain Derek Wildstar was having his wrist looked at by Doctor Sane in Sickbay. "What did I tell you about this sort of thing?" he cried. "When Nova wants to treat your wrist, you'd better damn well get it treated!"

 "What's wrong, Doctor?" asked Derek. "I'm not feeling one hundred percent right."

"You idiot, you caught an infection back on Pellias with Pellian microorganisms! At best, you'll be sick as a dog for a day. At worst, you might end up with septic shock with a bug your body can't fight because you have no resistance to it!"

"What does that mean?" asked Wildstar.

"Bed for you for two days at the least," said Sane. "Nova, I'd make you enforce this regimen, but you're joining him in this other bed to sleep for a day because I can see you're exhausted and bruised and you need your blood work looked at, too, to make sure you don't have the same bug or bugs in your system. Got it?"

"Yessir," she said meekly, a little too tired to argue. "Derek, I'll get your night clothes and mine."

"But what are we supposed to do…with things happening all around us?"

"Mark will report to you every few hours, Captain. And other people can handle my duties for a bit. God, I'm tired," she yawned.

"But what are we going to do?" he moaned.

"Well, we are in a quiet area of space, communications are out for at least twenty-four hours until Sandor fixes the overload, and I hear the Gamilons have variations of the same problem on their ships, so maybe a good book sounds like the ticket after we get some sleep?"

"A good book? Oh, how boring…" said Derek.

"What about if I read it to you?" said Nova with a smile. "I'll make it interesting."

"Thanks."