Lord High Protector Shardovan Gralnacz, the ex-husband of Astrena of Pellias, father of Aliscea, and current traitor of his people in the service of the Dark Lord Ekogaru tensed his cyborg body for the next lash of the whip.

The lash came a moment later, accompanied by a surge of electricity. Again, he screamed.

"You scum," whispered Ekogaru the Great as he threw back his arm to flay his servant's bare cyborg back again. "Do you know you scream like a woman, Gralnacz?"

The lash came again, along with another electric shock. Puddles of purplish artificial "blood" covered the stone floor around the Dark Lord's black metal whipping post. "Lordship, please stop it!" cried Gralnacz. "MERCY, sire! I didn't mean to lose my chance to wipe out Earth's past history!"

"You could have arrived at a more crucial cusp in their history and made certain that the original Yamato was blown into un-rebuildable garbage! You could have made certain that the Cuban Missile Crisis led to World War III! You could have incited a nuclear war over Vietnam! But, what did you try to do...you tried to assassinate a Senator! A mere Senator! One man! You are a fool! "

"But, sire, we could have wiped out the Star Force!"

"Then, why didn't you, you incompetent?" retorted Ekogaru. CRACK...ZAP....and the half-naked Gralnacz now hung against his bonds like a dying man. "Hurry up and give me a better explanation...I am considering simply using my power to turn you into a grease spot."

"Sire, I am a mere fool...the laughingstock of the Empire. I should be executed by Your Eminence."

Ekogaru looked at the hunk of cyborg wreckage with his upper lip curled up in contempt. The light in the Dark One's eyes went venomous green, then orange, then red, and then finally blue as the despot considered a more suitable punishment.  

"No. I will not execute you," mused Ekogaru. "Behold, you no longer need those."

The Dark Lord gestured, and the manacles loosened, dumping Gralnacz to the floor in a heap.

Ekogaru walked around and around the whipping post. "It is your job to crawl up, dress, and then leave again with your ship. I don't want you to engage the Argo in combat yet, nor do I want you to engage anyone in combat. You will serve me for now as a courier. You will find a R'Khell submarine near the edge of the Great Magellenic Cloud in twelve days from now. You will meet with that sub, and bring a single passenger back to my presence. One passenger. Then, I shall anoint her and grant her a cyborg form like ours as one of My Chosen Ones. Then, you will go back out under her command to redeem yourself and finish what you started regarding the Star Force by making them helpless and capturing Aliscea for our ends before you finish them off. I think your daughter would make a wonderful cyborg slave. With her powers under my command....I shall be unbeatable by anything that lives in this universe."

"Of course," smiled Gralnacz. "Lord, who is the passenger? Who are you granting Chosen Status to?"

"An Earth woman who worships me. Her name is Yvona Josiah. Oh, yes...she may desire that her niece be rescued from the upcoming destruction of the Argo. I think she may want her...as a slave...or a pet. At any rate, I know that she would love to manacle her to this whipping post, or subject her to the pleasures of the Joy Suite."

"Lordship, can I watch the torture session? It might be nice if we can torment her and my daughter at the same time."

"If you're good, you may get that favor," said Ekogaru. "Now, wipe yourself clean of your artificial blood, and leave me. I have much to consider."

Ekogaru nodded once and disappeared off into the shadows that surrounded his Throne. Even though he was in agony, Gralnacz bowed in gratitude.

After all, this time he had managed to face his Lord's wrath...and live.

"Nova, why are you putting pink lacquer paint on my toenails?" asked a mystified Aliscea.

"It's supposed to match your lipstick," said Nova. "I'm wearing some today, too, even though it's non-regulation."

"You mean this greasy concoction you placed on my lips? Paul will like that?"

"It's supposed to make you look nice," said Nova as she concentrated on Aliscea's right foot, which was up on a hassock in the Argo's VIP Suite. This Suite was a two-room cabin that consisted of a sitting room and bedroom. Intended for visiting dignitaries travelling on the Argo, it had naturally become Aliscea's quarters upon her recent arrival on board. Now, it would also become Paul Rosstowski's cabin. Nova mused that there was plenty of room in here, unlike the Captain's Quarters she shared with Derek at the top of the space battleship's bridge tower.

Nova looked over her almost-finished handiwork as Matron of Honor with pride. The bride wore something found in her possessions: a Pellian dress uniform that just happened to be white.

"It'll be nice seeing you in white for a change, rather than that black dress you wear all the time," said Nova.

"No offense, but my black dress in my badge of office, Nova."

"I'm sorry. But, on Earth, it's usual for a bride to wear white. I did...less than a month ago when I married Derek."

"Was your dress pretty?" asked Aliscea as she straightened her uniform. It consisted of a white knee-length tunic dress with a high red collar, black belt, ceremonial sword, and many decorations on the right breast of the uniform that Nova assumed were medals. Aliscea also had a scarlet cape attached to the tunic, plenty of gold braid, and wore a red beret. Lace-up white sandals sat near the hassock; these would go on after Aliscea's nails dried.

"It was beautiful. I'll show you pictures sometime." Nova herself wore the same outfit she had worn to the banquet on the Rikashan Baron Cha'rif's ship a few days ago, along with a corsage she had whipped together in a short time. She had also found just enough time to make up a small bouquet for Aliscea.

"What's the purpose of these flowers?"

"You carry them down the aisle, and you hold them to look nice. Later on, you throw it to your bridesmaids."

"Bridesmaids? You mean I get servants?" asked Aliscea.

"Nope," said Nova, who tried to hold back a giggle. "You haven't had time to meet your bridesmaids, namely...Laurel...Tatiana...Veronica, and Holly. They'll be wearing dresses sort of like mine, and their purpose is to attend you during the ceremony. After the ceremony is over, you throw the bouquet, and whichever girl catches it is the next to get married, or so the tradition says."

"I take it you won't need to be in the running to help catch it," sighed Aliscea. "Because...you're already married."

"Right," said Nova. "Are you all right? You're looking pale again."

"I'll survive," said Aliscea. "Do you promise that in a while, Paul and I can be alone?"

"Of course," said Nova. "That's the whole point of this."

Aliscea smiled. Nova thought the smile looked a little weak for a soon-to-be bride, and she wondered again if Aliscea was okay. Nova remembered that she had been laughing and beaming all morning before heading to the church to marry Derek, and that her stomach had been filled with nervous butterflies.

"Here, drink this," said Nova as she poured Aliscea some sake.

"What'll this do?"

"Help calm your nerves. It might taste a little bad, but I'll drink with you," said Nova as she poured herself a glass. "Here goes!"

Both of them drank. Aliscea's face went very pale for a moment, and then she regained her color as her grimace turned into a smile.

"Not a bad drink your people have," commented Aliscea.

"Thanks. Now let's see if your nails are dry."

In the meantime, on Iscandar, Jonathan slowly awoke.

He looked around. He seemed to be in a in a bed in a house that was near the sea; the smell of salt came strongly to his nostrils.

"Where...where am I?" he said out loud.

"You've come a long way, lad," said a deep, strange voice.

Jonathan opened his eyes, and noticed that a very tall man was looking down at him. He looked Terran, and he had a red beard and long red hair that was tied in the back in a ponytail. He wore black boots, a two-toned blue uniform of some type, and a red leather flight jacket with a skull-and-crossbones pin near his right shoulder.

"Who are you, and where am I?" asked Jonathan. "Where'd you get this...sleep shirt you put on me? And who's the girl?"

"Well, you're sure not on Earth," chuckled the large man. "Matter of fact, you're as far from Earth as a kid can get. Welcome to Planet Iscandar, lad."

"Iscandar?" he cried. "Are you Alex Wildstar? When did you grow a beard?"

The man laughed again; his laugh was loud and deep. "Me? I'm not the Royal Consort Wildstar, even though you could say I'm one of his servants."

"But...the Star Force said that Alex Wildstar and Queen Starsha were the only two people left on Iscandar; they reported that everyone else had died due to an aging virus. I know. I learned all that stuff in school."

"I keep count: that was in 2200 in your reckoning; it's 2202 now, I believe. At least Princess Astra says so. I'm just a dumb nineteen-year old spacer vagabond...I'm not a historian like her. It'd be interesting to know how you got here...all I know is the part where Astra and I found you washed up on the beach."

"I heard about an Astra in school...she was the girl who brought the message to us...but she's dead; they buried her on Mars....at least that's what I learned in History class."

"It should have occurred to you that Alex and Starsha would have children," said a young female voice. Jonathan's eyes went wide as a young woman with very long reddish-blond hair came into the room. She wore a light purple dress, but went barefoot on the light blue carpet in the bedroom of the otherwise crystalline house, which sat on an island some distance from Mother Town. "I look a bit like my late kinswoman Astra...maybe that's why Starsha named me after her. You see, I'm her daughter."

"Her...daughter...?" said Jonathan. "Was she keeping you hidden on Iscandar or something? The Star Force never met you. You look like you're about...eighteen or nineteen..."

Astra laughed. "You can thank the aging virus for that. I'm thirteen months old, Jonathan. So is Conor, here. Yes, I know your name...Mother told me...even though I have some light talents of my own."

"But...with this virus...shouldn't you be dead or something?"

"The virus has weakened quite a bit, and some in the Royal House weren't fatally affected. The virus caused my brother Stephen and I to mature about seventeen of your years in just one year. It seems to have slowed down quite a bit since last month; Mother thinks Steve and I will age normally from this point on...well, from the age of nineteen onwards, that is."

"Steve? Who's he? I'm confused."

"My brother. We were born as twins in December of 2200. I was named by Mother after her late kinswoman, and my brother was named by Father after his friend Stephen Sandor of Earth. We sort of wish the Star Force would pay us a visit someday...but others have come to visit...like Conor here."

"Conor?" asked Jonathan.

"Iscandarian Royal Exploration Fleet crewman Conor, at your service," said the tall man. "I arrived here in Ka'leth...that'd about be your month of June. Starsha and Alex asked me to be with Astra when we both became old enough; and we had our Joining ceremony about...uh...three weeks ago. I'm afraid you've barged in on our honeymoon, so to speak."

"Where'd you come from, Conor?" asked Jonathan.

"Well, before June, the crew of my ship and I were on an overly long exploration cruise, searching the galaxies for knowledge and a cure to the aging virus that was then affecting about a quarter of our people when we left on our ship, the Royal Schooner Tasha's Dream. When we weren't affected when we landed, it was guessed my crew and I finally had immunity and the herbal cure we found a few months ago worked. Our fathers and mothers, and their fathers and mothers, were all affected by the virus. Those of us who survived and brought back the ship were the third generation of explorers on that ship. We had buried the last of our parents, and they had buried their parents years ago. We were in space for a total of fourteen years."

"So, Iscandar's full of people again?" asked Jonathan.

"If you call a group of four people from a twenty-person ship, one Royal Couple, and their two teenage children a "lot of people", I guess that'll suit you," said Conor. "You make the population of Iscandar ten as of now. I'm glad to be with Astra," said Conor as the two of them shyly snuggled for a moment. "Just as my sister Desha, our ship's master, is glad to be with Stephen in Mother Town."

"Desha...Who's she?"

"My sister. It is traditional for females to lead here, so she was the last master of the Tasha's Dream after old our Captain died. Our forefathers decided to arm our ship some time ago, but we got some help not long ago in getting our guns repaired. You see, we got a little engineering help from a friend I encountered in deep space," he said, touching the skull-and-crossbones pin on his jacket for a moment. "This man may be one of the greatest spacecraft designers and engineers in the Local Group. Maybe you'll have the pleasure of meeting him someday."

"Sounds like you could tell us a lot of neat stories," said Jonathan. "Can I hear some of them? Huh?"

Astra looked hard at Jonathan. Then, she said, "He and the others on his ship and their friends have fought these Rikashans, the cruel Gamilons, and other evil races out in deep space. But, Mother and I aren't interested in their stories now. We're interested in your story, and in how you got here. I know a very little of it, since I was able to probe your mind a little...but I don't know all of the details..."

"...or where that enemy fleet running around our star system is..." added Conor.

"Well, it's going to be painful...talking about everything I've been through," said Jonathan with a hitch in his voice. "It really hurts to remember it...do I have to tell you everything now?" he whined. "I miss my mom...I miss my dad..."

"Jonathan, Queen Starsha would like to know. I am bound to take the information to her," said Astra gently. She pushed a button on some device near Jonathan's bed; it was a type of recording device, even though Jonathan didn't know that.

"Well...here's the whole story...best as I remember it. It looks like the Rikashans whom Conor mentioned have decided to attack Earth now...here's what happened as I saw it...my parents and I were on a cruise, and..."

 In the meantime, Captain Wildstar was conferring with Dr. Sane about the results of Vorston's interrogation.

"What did you discover about him?" asked Wildstar as Vorston was led back to the brig by two Space Marines.

"There's no sign whatsoever that he was lying," said Dr. Sane. "Take a look at the results of the lie detector," he said, looking at a long printout. "Everything was within normal parameters."

"So, there's nothing that we could detect..."

"When can you have Aliscea check him, Wildstar? You know...he could be psionic like the others..."

"Aliscea said she'd check him after the wedding and honeymoon; she'll be looking at him in about a day."

"And this is your last talk with me about ship's business until tomorrow, Wildstar," said Sane. "You and Nova are to rest and enjoy that wedding; got it?"

"Of course, Doc," said Wildstar, rolling up his eyes.

"You'd better make certain you listen to the Doctor's advice," said Natalie Fisher, who was standing near Dr. Sane to assist now since Nova was still occupied with Aliscea. "And that reminds me...I'd better go change into my dress. I've got only fifteen minutes until that wedding on the starboard observation deck, and so do you, Captain."

Wildstar nodded. Suddenly, Venture's voice came over the PA system. "Captain Wildstar; we're receiving a communication from the Gamilon Fleet. Please report to the bridge."

Wildstar went over to a phone, ignoring the dirty looks from Sane and Fisher. "Yes, Venture?"

"We have to hold the wedding for a few minutes, Wildstar," said Venture. "It seems we have a visitor on his way...I need to see you to set up security."

"Sure," said Derek, wondering what was going on.

"Desslok?" said Captain Wildstar on the Argo's bridge a few minutes later. "Homer, did I hear you right?"

"That's right," said Homer. "The message said that Leader Desslok and Astrena were on their way to the Argo. Then, the Gamilons ended the message. They were asking for landing clearance and security arrangements."

"Well, what do we do?" asked Venture.

"That's right," said Orion. "It's not every day we have our former arch-enemy asking if 'e wants to board our ship for a visit. Didn't he fill the ship w' radioactive sleeping gas the last time he was aboard?"

"Maybe we should deny him permission," said Dash. "It'll be a security nightmare...and at such damn short notice, too."

"We can't do that and remain allied with the Gamilons," said Derek after a moment of thought. "Homer, he can board the ship.

Call his flagship and begin making the arrangements. Dash, you talk to Hemsford. We have to get an honor guard to the lower flight bay to meet him. I'll talk to the crew and tell them the ceremony has to be delayed for a few minutes." 

"Yessir," said Homer a moment later.

Yvona Josiah, still in her disguise as "Nova", was sitting in an underground tram car as it flew through the tramways and tubes of the huge underground city built beneath the Great Megalopolis.

She had noted the pathway that led towards the shuttlecraft bay; and had decided not to take that pathway, although she noted it for future reference.

Instead, she knew that she needed food, a brief period of rest, and another set of clothing, since she had one appointment she wished to keep before leaving Earth. So, she was on her way elsewhere, and she was hoping that this roundabout route would also throw off pursuit.

"Yes...this is it," she hissed to herself as she stopped the tram car at a given point in the near-darkness a few minutes later.

The underground cities, when not in use, were, at best, fairly lightly manned at points; and unused in other points. Now barefoot, but unmindful of the cold, "Nova" leaped out of the tram and walked along a tunnel for a few hundred meters.

She finally found the access shaft that she wanted, and she began to climb up the rungs, grinning like a madwoman. I pray I've found the right shaft for that old ventilation tower, she thought. Nova's damned map isn't clear on this point; and it's most likely intentional.

Yvona continued her climb until she reached a sealed hatchway at the top of the shaft. There was a keypad with dimly glowing numerals at the side of the shaft, but no other lighting. Staring hard at the map, Yvona punched in a string of numerals in the real Nova's handwriting. There was no response for a moment, but then, the hatchway slid open.

Yvona completed her climb, emerging into a higher part of the shaft where there was a trapdoor. She flung open the door, and emerged into a combined aircar garage and hangar. Two new, shiny aircars sat in the dim light, along with an Astro Mallard jet recon boat.

"Nice that they built their house over an old ventilation tower...for the underground city. It's even nicer, for me that they opened up those last few meters to give them an emergency passage down to the underground cities and the dockyard system like at the President's Palace," said Yvona sarcastically to herself in a low voice. "I guess being the commander of the Star Force gives you some privileges. Like getting a secret hidey-hole I could use. Like nice cars...and other things..."

"Nova" smiled as she looked at the jet recon boat. So, they have this here. Wonderful. It'll provide, perhaps, a better means of escape than the President's shuttle would; when I finish my task. How nice of you to leave this here for me, Captain Wildstar, and my dear niece Nova. And you have such a pretty new car, Nova. Too bad I have to borrow it for a while. I just pray the police don't get wise and get here in the next two hours. That's all the time I'll need...after all, Hiram doesn't live very far away from here. And, I am going to visit my dear, dear Hiram.

Yvona, satisfied, smiled to herself as she went over to a window in the Wildstars' garage and looked out into the January afternoon. The grounds looked quiet; there was no police presence...yet.

Yvona slipped out a side door after kicking it open, and she walked stealthily back to Derek and Nova's house. She stopped for a moment to take in a little salt air from the small bayfront beach that made up the very rear of the grounds. She then slipped back in to the house through the back door she had jimmied open earlier. It was under the balcony at the back of the living room, and it let Yvona into the house through the finished basement. She stooped in Derek and Nova's rumpus room, gleefully knocked a few bottles of liquor off the backbar behind Nova's little cocktail bar, and opened one bottle of whiskey and drank from it. Then, she went upstairs.

She stripped in the kitchen, leaving the dirty uniform on the floor. She opened a cabinet and ate a packet of dry chocolate-chip cookies, again being careful to leave the empty wrapper on the floor. After drinking some water, Yvona went back upstairs and took a nice, hot shower, hoping the warmth would reduce the pain from some of the bruises on her body. Singleton had been a better fighter than she had expected him to be.

Afterwards, being careful to again, leave the wet towel on the floor, Yvona went into Derek and Nova's bedroom. She found a pink romper of Nova's and fresh underclothes and began to get dressed again, finishing her ensemble with socks, pink boots, and a light pink coat.

Now, how do I pull this one off? thought Yvona as she played with a fresh knife. And, Lord, please, I pray, let the disguise drop, at least at my face, when I confront him. I want Hiram to know who it is that killed him.

Finally deciding what to say, "Nova" dialed Hiram Josiah's number from a videophone near Derek and Nova's bed. She waited as the videophone rang, and then smiled as it was answered and Hiram Josiah's face appeared on the screen. "Yes? NOVA? Aren't you wasting a lot of money and EDF computer time calling me from the Argo? What do you want?"

Yvona smiled to herself. Good, he hasn't heard about HQ yet. Nice. "Uncle Hiram, I'm not on the Argo now."

"Well, where the hell are you, then?" said Hiram. "Don't tell me you changed your mind about fighting Yvona or something? Sorry to sound so ticked off, but you damn women can be so fickle..."

"I came home on another cruiser, Uncle Hiram. It was the...the....the Amazon. It was in the area, at the edge of the solar system, and Derek called for an emergency rendezvous...once he found out, of course."

"Found out what?"

"I'm pregnant, Uncle Hiram. That's why I'm home."

"Well, congratulations," he laughed. "Guess that stuff you were saying at the wedding about waiting...went by the wayside on the honeymoon?"

"It just happened," said "Nova". "And I need help."

"Help?"

"With these new banking regulations, you see, my credit accounts are frozen until I go to the bank and identify myself...and I won't make it there by three today. Can I borrow some money from you...so I can eat?"

Hiram's face colored a bit. "The famous Nova Wildstar needs a loan...and she decides to call her uncle. Why don't you call your father? He's in town at his apartment."

"I couldn't reach him at the office, Uncle Hiram. Please?" said "Nova" as tears began to appear at the corners of her eyes.

"Oh, all right," said Hiram. "Boy, you always get your way whenever you decide to turn on the stinkin' waterworks," he said, but not without a smile. "This is only because you're my favorite niece, Nova. You'll get two hundred and fifty, and you'll return it next week after you return to duty, okay?"

"Oh, thank you," said Yvona in a suitably high-pitched voice. "You're wonderful, Uncle Hiram!"

"You ain't so bad yourself, carrot-top," he joked, calling "Nova" by a childhood nickname that had always annoyed her a little. "Congratulations on the baby...and I'll see ya soon."

"Thank you...bye..." said "Nova" with a grin as she hung up. Her laughter suddenly turned deranged. "You idiot, Hiram," she snarled. "You bought it! You always were too damned soft! And it'll be great, since right before I leave Earth, I am going to kill you dead, dead, dead! Are you ready to die, my dear, dear husband?"

Yvona skipped out of the room, laughing like crazy. Of course, she smashed a music box of Nova's before leaving. Just another little gift for her niece...

"How wonderfully fitting, Ter'garv," said Baron Anton Cha'rif as he sat on the bridge of his flagship not far from the site of the Gamilon Empire's ruined capital city beneath Gamilon's upper crust. "Here I sit on Desslok's homeworld while I plot his utter disgrace and destruction."

"Do you know where he is?"

"I touched minds with Aliscea for a moment. Yes. He is near the edge of the Milky Way, and he and the Pellians and the Star Force are apparently plotting to come here within the next few weeks."

"Here?"

"To this system, of course. That gives me time to redeem myself in the eyes of Ekogaru, our Lord Zaden, and my father by setting up a beachhead here before we capture Aliscea. We have ten ships left, including this ship and the Gamilon carrier we captured. The rest we lost in battle, and still more were scattered by that damn warp Aliscea caused. Enough for a small stand...even though we have mostly smaller classes left."

"We have only four capital ships, Baron," said Ter'garv. "Namely, this ship, the Gamilon carrier, and two heavy cruisers."

"What about our carrier? You know...the T'Renda? The one with the Terran boy aboard? I want that boy back, if only as a bargaining chip."

"Baron, we found it crash-warped into the skies of the planet next to us; I believe it is called Planet Iscandar. Our last communication from the ship indicated it was drifting in the ocean there. They said they were sinking, Baron. Only a few people live there...should we look for survivors? And the planet would be easy to capture."

"Not yet."

"Why not, Baron? Must we doom our people to death there? They said they were in life rafts, in a storm, Lord Baron. Do we leave them to die?"

"Yes..." said Cha'rif. "There are secrets there that would be useful. But Ekogaru has touched minds with me."

"Baron?"

"Yes. He speaks to me now, without the priesthood. He says he has a better fate awaiting Queen Starsha than what we could give her. He wants Iscandar left alone for now, as well as the T'Renda. He says he shall deal with Starsha himself...when he arrives here."

"Baron...Lord Ekogaru, our god of War, is coming here...in Person?"

"Yes. He is favoring us by allowing us to behold his Dark Advent with our own eyes! And my faith in our Warbringer is restored! Oh, he is mighty, oh...he is terrible to behold," said Cha'rif with a smile as drool ran down his chin. "He is our God...our Savior and Master. Our King. And he comes in a fortress...a war machine...the size of this PLANET!"

"Yes," said Ter'garv, wondering what had happened to make the previously rational Cha'rif into a drooling worshipper of Ekogaru as bad as the R'Khell priests. "Baron...I received a message from Rikasha. We are wanted there. Lord Zaden wants a report from you, in person, Baron. He wants you to explain your defeats to him and the priesthood."

"I have erred, but I have Ekogaru's anointing and can prove it to the priesthood. Besides, we need reinforcements. Ships and more ships. The Lord Zaden will grant them, after he and Marda hear of my tale, yes. We shall need greater strength to defeat the Star Force, besides. Too bad that our carrier went down on Iscandar. Is the boy dead?"

"We never heard from our carrier again, so, yes, I assume the boy is dead."

"When am I wanted on Rikasha?"

"Soon. Even with our warp superchargers, and continuous warp mode, the journey will take about a month, round trip. It is best we leave for Rikasha now, my Baron."

"We shall do so. Leave four escorts here, on Gamilon, which I now claim as a territory of the Rikashan Star Empire. We shall leave now, and take the Gamilon ship with us, so that I can present Kelzart to Zaden as tribute, praying that we can then again reclaim him as a slave. I have plans for this traitor. Plans. And they will be great ones."

"Yes, Baron. Shall I give the order to leave?"

"Do it. Now."

Ter'garv saluted and turned away. "Communications, give the order to the Gamilon carrier, our cruisers, and the destroyer Kahrentz. We leave now. Our destination...Rikasha. Our task...to gather forces for the glory of Lord Ekogaru, and the doom of Desslok and the defeat of the Star Force."

"Yessir."

A short time later, Cha'rif's fleet, reduced in size as it was, lifted off from Gamilon and began to head away from the Gamilon/Iscandar area. When it was clear of the twin planets, it disappeared from normal space in a flash of green light. It thus began a journey of over three hundred thousand lightyears back to the far edge of the Milky Way, almost a hundred thousand lightyears away from Earth itself, to Planet Rikasha, Cha'rif's bleak, hot, desert homeworld.

Unknown to Cha'rif, as the fleet cleared the area, its departure was noticed by a Gamilon skulking in a cave on Gamilon's upper crust. He wore a dirty, disheveled set of brown battle armor, but he was armed with macrobinoculars.

"This is Intelligence Operative Number Five," he said into a communicator. "Operating in the Trans-Galen range on Gamilon, near the Gamilstadt Region."

"Report, will you?" said a deep voice over the Gamilon's communicator.

"Yes, Chancellor. An unknown fleet has just left Gamilon, accompanied by one of our carriers."

"What type of fleet?" said the deep voice.

"Chancellor, it is a fleet of dark blue or black ships, the likes of which I have never seen before. I suspect they have established a base here on Gamilon."

"Can't you and Jalnak subvert the base?"

"A hundred of us, scattered in holes on Gamilon, against the crews of four unknown heavy destroyers? I think not, Chancellor. And, I picked up a communication from them...they apparently think that Leader Desslok still lives, Chancellor."

"WHAT?" said the Chancellor on his far-away flagship. He gripped the microphone hard with the crude metallic cyborg right hand he now bore. It was a reminder of the devastation he still bore in his heart; the devastation that came from a wound he had incurred in his final action as a Field Marshal of the Gamilon Empire...an action in which the bulk of the Gamilon people had assumed he had died. "Desslok can't be alive. When we finally got home to Gamilon in 2200, as the cursed Terrans define it, Gamilon was a wasteland. We assumed Desslok dead, remember?"

"Yes, Chancellor."

"I took my title as a reminder of what we had lost, and then I led the survivors away from the charnel-house that was Gamilon. My title holds until we know, of course, that Desslok is dead when we discover his remains; then I declare myself Leader at last. And then, our faction takes over what remains of the Territorial Fleets, unites our five worlds, and then we begin the resumption of the War....yes, the war against Earth. But, I want you to find out who is actually staining our homeworld. Can you do that, Giren?"

"I can, Chancellor. The communication also said, sir, that the Star Force is still active."

"Good. So they didn't scrap Avatar's garbage scow of a ship after all after it returned to Earth with the Cosmo-DNA, eh?," said the deep, rough, battle-hardened voice of the self-proclaimed Chancellor of Gamilon. "I shall bring the fleet there soon enough. Tell Jalnak that. I can't wait to meet those aliens again, and I hope that Avatar is involved. I can't wait to finally defeat him. The bastard. He has more lives than a Terran cat!"

"Yessir."

The communication cut off. The Chancellor stroked the metal which had partially replaced an eye socket and said, "Volgarr, did you hear that?"

"I did, sir," said General Volgarr of Gamilon, whose eyes were now blank because they had been replaced by parts from a Gamilon android.

"Desslok can't be alive. And Gamilon can't be occupied. I wonder if Avatar is behind this? He must have allied with someone else, hmm?"

"How do we know Captain Avatar still lives, General?"

"That is Chancellor to you, Volgarr," said the Chancellor. "Oh, anyone who can escape a bomb that nearly killed us...that gave me gangrene, that cost me parts of my body, that wrecked my beautiful SMITE prototype ship and caused me to take back my old flagship from Planet Pogi. Yes, anyone who could dishonor me and force me to fly about space again in my obsolete Garrison Battleship, the Domeraze III, must still live, and soon, it will be his day of reckoning. On that day, I, Chancellor Lysis, shall finally defeat Avatar and his accursed Star Force!"

And, at that, Lysis began to laugh a long, loud and thoroughly chilling laugh.

"Leader Desslok, the Star Force says that the preparations are almost complete for our arrival. Shall we begin final approach?" asked a Gamilon officer with android eyes as he looked back into the aft compartment of the Gamilstadt's shuttlecraft.

"Are you certain there's enough room on the ship for us to land?" said Desslok in a mocking tone. "You see, now that we're allied with the Argo, Leftenant, the last thing Astrena and I would want to do is damage its landing dock."

"Sir, I recall you wanted it damaged some months ago."

"That was in a different world, Leftenant," said Desslok. "It would not do to damage her now. Make certain of the dimensions, first..."

"...and then, please set up a course that'll get us there quickly," added Astrena as she sat beside Desslok in the aft compartment. "I'm sure this shuttle's fuel supply is far from infinite."

"We have enough fuel for another forty-five standard units, sir. More than enough to get us to the Argo and then back to our fleet."

"Good. Make certain of those dimensions, and then leave us," said Desslok. "If they're too small, set up the docking tunnel."

"Yessir," said the Leftenant as he shut the sliding door to the aft compartment.

"Astrena," said Desslok. "I'm grateful for the privacy."

"Yes, although we can't be alone as we were last night, when we shared much."

"Yes...we shared much. And you were sweeter, by far, than my concubines ever were."

"So you're certain of our arrangement?" asked Astrena.

"Yes. I offer you sanctuary, asylum, alliance, and a fitting Throne as Empress, prefatory, of course, to my declaration of power as Emperor."

"What is the difference, Desslok, between your title as Leader, and becoming Emperor? Are not both the prerogatives of an absolute dictator?"

"I pray you don't think ill of dictators?" said Desslok.

"Pellias has had dictators in time of crisis. I would consider this such a time."

"Then, who shall rule your people as you and I set up our thrones?"

"I shall choose someone...one who shall be responsible to me, of course. Our nations shall be allied..."

"And our union symbolizes that alliance," said Desslok. "As for my title of Emperor...I pray that I shall someday find our ancient homeworld...of Galmania. Gamilon was but a colony of the Galman Empire, once, long ago...before we lost touch."

"I've heard of it. Isn't it in the Milky Way?"

"Yes. We have just discovered it is near the center of that Galaxy. We did hear that others were inhabiting Galmania. Interlopers. I once assumed Galmania was actually Earth. I thought the Terrans were infesting our ancient homeworld...the planet bombs were meant to purify it. Our charts were off, Astrena. How wrong we were," mused Desslok as he sipped at his drink. "Once, the Galman rulers called themselves Emperors. My ancestors were Leaders, the first appointed long ago by the Emperor. Now, since there is no longer a Galman Emperor, or so I have heard, I am now taking his place. I shall make the declaration soon. And you shall let us analyze your ships?"

"Yes. Our advanced technology shall rise again...I trust, in the preservation of a new peace?"

"Yes...peace through overwhelming strength over our mutual enemies," said Desslok with a slow smile.

"And...of course, our alliance with Earth is also sealed today?" asked Astrena.

Desslok nodded. "Your daughter...with the Terrans. Interesting. Are you sure you wish to permit this union?"

"Aliscea has chosen for herself already, Desslok. We need what she can do against Ekogaru. Like it or not, our hopes rest with Astrena, and the ability of the Star Force to guard her as she heads off to confront Ekogaru."

"Why is she so confident she can beat him, Astrena? She has no fleets, no weapons..."

"Desslok, she is the weapon. She is more powerful, by far, than this Trelaina you told me of. And, far more experienced, thanks to the Matrix. If anyone can beat Ekogaru, she and three thousand years' worth of wisdom that rests within her can do it. That, and the power of the One, perhaps."

"The One?" said Desslok.

"The One Whom we worship," said Astrena.

"Yes, your god," said Desslok, making a slight face. He decided to humor her and said, "I pray that the One shall look upon our endeavors with favor."

"You don't believe, do you?" said Astrena.

"For now, I shall keep my own counsel in such matters," said Desslok as he slowly kissed Astrena on one cheek. "Isn't it fitting we do so, my Empress?"

"Yes...it is."

"Sir," said the Leftenant over an internal speaker. "We have just learned that we can enter the Argo through her lower landing bay hatch. They have cleared us for landing. Permission to begin final approach?"

"Granted," said Desslok. Astrena smiled at him and held his gloved hand. "This should be an interesting day, Desslok."

"Yes..." said Desslok. "I'm sure of it. So continues our joint effort...against the Dark Lord."