Into the hollow depths of outer space, the Leader's shuttle craft slipped far, far away...  Elizabeth Maxwell
envisioned galaxies as they slid by in a blur.  She remembered everything Phillip had taught her, only hours ago,
on a computer aboard the Los Angeles mothership.

Like a little girl full of excitement and wonder, Elizabeth's heart raced within.  She was getting to know the other side of her heritage and was unafraid.  And for the first time, she would learn about her powers and how to control them properly.

Referred to by most as The Starchild, Elizabeth Maxwell had been conceived by an unsuspecting human teenage girl, in one of Visitor Chief of Science, Diana's "medical experiments".   Elizabeth was the offspring between the humans and the visitors, a first crossbreeding of species on any planet.  But what even Diana hadn't anticipated
and could find no logical explanation for was her unusual growth pattern.  At only a few weeks of age, Elizabeth
had grown into the size of a two year old.  And by a couple months, she appeared to be an eight year old girl.  Even though she seemed to understand things at such a young age, Elizabeth had remained in a catatonic state for a while, unable to communicate with those who were close to her.

It was in the custody of Diana when Elizabeth uttered her first word..."Pretenama."  Diana had tried to teach her
strategies of war.  But Elizabeth refused those ways, repeating that simple word over and over again.  In the
Visitor language pretenama means peace.  Clearly, Elizabeth understood her own destiny before she reached her first birthday.  Peace came to the world when Elizabeth displayed her own special powers to disarm the doomsday device aboard the mothership, saving the earth from complete destruction, only to return to it and find that she had become the centre of attention in a hellacious media frenzy.  The tabloids had dubbed her as a "Freak of nature", while the  scientific community referred to her as a "miracle". And like any other miracle, they wanted to analyze her, even kill her and dissect her brain, to learn how her powers worked.  Fortunately for Elizabeth, Grandfather, Anthropologist Dr. Robert Maxwell gave a resounding "No".  Elizabeth remembered the day that he had
sacrificed his life in order to save the world from yet another threat of destruction.

The Leader's spaceshuttle shuddered and shook, stirring Elizabeth from her memories of Robert.  She sensed something was wrong.  Her thoughts shifted to an unbearable, soft, ticking sound in the background.  She also felt the presence of someone familiar...
 

A rat scurried across the soiled carpet inside of an abandoned fashion store in downtown Los Angeles.  It didn't
scare Julie Parrish as she lifted a few items for packing, wrapping treasured photo frames in old newspaper.  It was
undecided as to where the remaining resistance fighters would go.  Julie wondered if there was any money left in
the saving account she'd left untouched since the Visitors made their attack on Los Angeles following the death of
Nathan Bates.  Having become a wanted war criminal, the young biochemist had not wanted to leave a paper trail by withdrawing the money.

Mike Donovan poked his brunette head into the tiny, storage room holding out a bottle of champagne.  "You're
missing the festivities."

Julie nodded, tossing the last few items in her box.  "I'll be there in a few."

On the couch in the main room, Rick Hurley sat reading the days paper.  "Where's Willie?"  he asked as Donovan and Juliet entered the room.

"He's going home for a while," Julie explained.

"Home?" asked the nurse, Ann, full of doubt.  The Visitor William had sided with the resistance during the first
war and gained U.S. Citizenship just last year.

"He's getting married.  They'll be back," Julie answered, accepting a glass of the bubbly stuff from Mike.  She moved a pile of papers from the old, formica table and sat down, putting her glass in their place.  She too had questions.  "I thought you were supposed to go get Sean?"

"Phillip's bringing him tomorrow," Donovan answered sounding disappointed.

The boy had been a prisoner of Diana's for a while now.  Julie understood that in spite of Sean's brainwashing by
Diana, Mike Donovan remained anxious to get his only child back.   And in a way she felt sorry for him.

"Willie's getting married?" asked Ann, helping herself to the champagne.

"It was prearranged," Donovan grinned.

"Right out of some fairy tale," Julie added.  "I can't  believe he and Kyle are gone now."

"Kyle?"  Ann turned to Donovan.  "Where is he?"

"He -- went after Elizabeth."  Even Donovan couldn't believe his own words.

"Huh?" asked Rick.

Julie shrugged.  "We don't know how he did it.  But one minute he was there--"

"--and the next he was gone," Donovan ad-libbed.  "Funny what a guy'll do for love."

"Go into outer space?" asked Ann, making a scrutinizing face.  "Wouldn't he need an oxygen tank or something?"

Julie found the scientific question to be perplexing and mulled it over.  But the champagne she'd downed was of no
help.  She felt warm and fuzzy, and couldn't concentrate, leaving the question unanswered.

Donovan sat down next to Rick who was now typing something on a portable computer and asked, "Did you find us a place to stay?"

The twenty year old gazed at his leader through Cokebottle thick glasses.  "I don't get it, Man.  The Visitors leave and all the motels get booked."

"I got us a room at the Holiday Inn," Ann announced.

"Really?" asked Julie.

Ann looked as if though a cat had caught her tongue as she corrected herself.  "Well, just one room.  It's in Santa
Monica."

"One room?" Julie laughed.  "A lot of good that will do us."

The girl shrugged, hopelessly.  "Are you looking for a job here in L.A.?"

"I have no idea," she said, waving Mike away with his second round of champagne.  "Save me some for later, okay."

"Yeah?" he asked.

Julie considered the prospect of being left here alone with him, and drunk on champagne and muttered, "I didn't mean it like that, Mike."

"Mean what?"

She just shook her head and smiled.  "Never mind.  I'll bet you're worried about Sean."

Donovan nodded.

Indeed, he was and sat in silence for a while, worrying about what seemed like a hopeless future.  He had no money
help Sean recover at the same time.  He didn't want to ask Julie to help.  In a way, he wanted to see her make a life
for  herself.  It had been a long time since he'd thought about marrying her and knew that if he kept her around to
help with Sean, it would be an awkward situation for the both of them.  The last time Sean had been left with Julie,
he'd ended up accusing her of trying to replace his mother, and informed her that she never could and that he didn't
want her to marry his father.
 

Above the soft whisper of the spacecraft's engine, Elizabeth cold hear her own heart beating.  The crew was
half way through with their journey to the small world near the star called Sirius.  Elizabeth sat in her seat, trying
to be patient.  But every now and then, there came the overwhelming feeling that something was seriously wrong.

Elizabeth tried to calm her fears by thinking about her mother and desperately wondered if she could ever see her
again.  It had vaguely occurred to her, when she was first summoned by The Leader.  But she was afraid to ask.  She wondered how her 'other' side of the family could keep her from the people who meant most to her.  People
like Julie Parrish who had nurtured Elizabeth's spirit for the past year. There was also the Visitor Willie, who Elizabeth loved like a brother.  Until now, Willie had always been the one to help her understand that other side of her.  And then there was Kyle Bates, the young, dark headed, resistance fighter whom she adored.  Elizabeth felt bad, having left him the way she did.  She knew she broke his heart.

Tick...Tick...Tick...

Elizabeth's mind clouded over with fear as she thought, 'What is that noise?' The Visitors who sat near her didn't
seem to notice.  Everyone including The Leader remained exceptionally quiet.

"Is there something--?" she started to ask.

One man in red uniform muttered something in his own language. Elizabeth could not understand.  Wordlessly,
she got up and moved back to the back of the shuttle, and looked around.  Behind some storage crates was someone crouched.

"Who's there?" she whispered.  "Is that you, Kyle?"

He looked up at her with teary eyes.

"H--how did--?" she asked.

"Shh," he said, putting a finger to his lips.

"Elizabeth?" said the reverberating voice of The Leader.

She glanced toward the cockpit frantically uttering... "I j--just needed to stretch."

With a quick nod, he turned back towards the view ahead. Again, Elizabeth heard the ticking.  And in her mind's eye, she could see a small black box with a digital readout on it, counting backwards.

"There's a bomb in here," she whispered to Kyle.

"Are you sure?" he asked, peering into her anxious, blue eyes.

She looked towards the passenger area again and visualized the clock counting...2:51...2:50...2:49...

"There's hardly any time," she said in a more audible tone. "I--I have to find it."

Her commotion caught the attention of one of the Visitors in the passenger area.  "Who's there?" he demanded.

Kyle stood up, realizing that if he was about to get blown to kingdom come, then what did it matter?

"There's a bomb aboard!" Elizabeth cried out frantically.

This got the attention of everyone on board.

"Are you certain, Elizabeth?" asked The Leader.

She was tired of being asked the obvious and moved towards the front cabin, slowly, and listening carefully.  The
Visitor who had been sitting next to her got up quickly and seized Kyle demanding "Who are you?!"

Elizabeth was on her own mission, crawling around on the floor, searching in desperation as the others watched her.
Under the Captains chair, she found the black box.  It now read 1:42.

"Help me, Kyle!" she cried.  "I don't know how to disarm it."

He held up his now shackled hands, giving her a 'sorry, I can't help you' look.

As Elizabeth studied the device, her body began to glow.  She touched it and the readout disappeared.  They were safe.
 

Chapter Two: The Phone Call

Still thinking about his only child, Mike Donovan lounged on an overstuffed couch, his feet propped up on a makeshift coffee table that was overcrowded with empty beverage containers from the night's festivities.  He couldn't remember when he'd last felt this buzzed.  Perhaps it was at Kyle's birthday party last summer, only a few days before his ex-wife, Margie, had died in his arms.  'Margie...'  The thought of her nearly brought tears to his eyes.  He hadn't allowed himself the time to mourn her death.  There hadn't been time.  He thought of how to
break the news to Sean.  'If I see Sean again...Have faith,' he scolded himself.  Then it hit him like lightning...  Finally, since the war had ended, he would be able to visit Margie's grave and do what he hadn't been able to do
as a wanted war criminal, pay his last respects to the woman who had borne his offspring.

Across the room, Julie Parrish exchanged hugs with Rick and Ann.  Donovan guessed it was some sort of commemorative ritual.  Ann was coming back for the rest of their stuff tomorrow.  There was no need for such a farewell now.

"Be careful," Julie bid them as they climbed into the truck outside.  In spite of the fact that she had no children of her own, she had always mothered the younger adults in the resistance unit.  And many of them respected her for caring so much.  Yet she was only twenty-eight, and had the mental maturity of a fifty year old.  Donovan knew that the war had made her this way.  He too admired her courage.

Julie found herself worrying that Rick was too intoxicated to drive.  But knew she couldn't stop him and hoped Ann would do the right thing.  She closed the door and sat down on the couch, but not close to Donovan.

The ringing of the telephone distracted Donovan from his thoughts.  He grabbed it quickly, hoping it was Phillip
with good news on Sean.

"Phillip?"

The voice on the other end wasn't male.

"Mike?" she asked.

It was the whiny voice of Robin Maxwell and he knew he wasn't in the mood to talk to her now.

"Hi, Robin," he said, forcing cheerful enthusiasm.  "How are you, sweetheart?"

"Fine.  I was wondering about Elizabeth.  Can I talk to her?"

His expression turned blank.  He didn't want to break the news.  "Uh...I'll tell you what, Robin, I'm going to let you
talk to Julie."

"Why?"

"J--Just hold on."  He extended the phone to Julie who was sure to give him a look that could kill before taking it.

"Hi, honey," she said.

"Julie, where's Elizabeth?"

"She went with the Visitors.  That was part of the bargain for the war to end."

The girl was silent for a few seconds then said incredulously, "Don't scare me like that, Julie!"

"No, honey.  I'm not making it up."

"But why?  H--how could you just let her go?"

Julie was sure she'd heard a sob in between sentences and felt Mike put his arm around her shoulder.  She wondered if he was actually sorry for leaving the "dirty deed" to her. She shrugged him off  continuing, "I know.
 I promised to look out for her.  She kept saying she needed to go."

"What about Kyle?" Robin cried.

"Well, we don't know...exactly.  We think he went after her."

"How?  Y-You were supposed to l-love..." Robin broke off in sobs.

"Robin, listen to me-"

But the phone clicked in her ear.  Apparently, the girl was too choked up to discuss it any further.  Julie put down
the receiver gently asking, "How could you do that to me, Mike?"

"You're always the caring one," he pointed out.  "Besides, you know how she is.  And I'm not sober minded enough right now--"

"Oh, come on!"

"You know what I mean.  I knew she'd be hurt and you could comfort her.  I have my own problems to deal with."

"Mister Conceited, as I live and breath... or are you referring to your son?"

"I was," he paused for a second.  "I thought about taking him to visit Margie's grave."

She lowered her head, not understanding his intent.  "Not right away?" she imposed.

"Well, I've been meaning to go out there since--" he broke off, finding the very words hard to say.

Julie searched his expression for a hint if he would cry or not.  But she found nothing but a blank stare and an
empty hurt.

"I haven't let myself think about it," he said.  "I just put it back in some corner of my mind like some damned time
bomb waiting to go off.  I never wanted to break down.  I had to be strong for everyone, and in control."

"I knew you hurt.  I didn't know how to talk to you," she sympathized.  "Especially since we weren't together
anymore.  I don't think you should take him to the cemetery right away.  I think you should wait--"

"Did you say we weren't together anymore?" he smiled.  "Funny.  I don't recall breaking up."

She reached for her glass, then nestled back into the couch.  "Hey, I have an idea.  Let's talk about something
else."

"Oh no," he chuckled.  "You just reminded me of the other thing I haven't dealt with."

"Well, I thought that we both subconsciously agreed not to pursue it anymore.  Didn't you?"

"I don't know.  I guess I just put off thinking about it.  And then I thought maybe uh Steve Maitland was going to join the resistance."  Donovan was referring to an ex-fiance whom she'd re-encountered a few weeks ago.

"That would've been awkward," Julie agreed.

"That's okay.  I met someone too."

She responded with a quizzical stare.

He sipped his beer while mentally reflecting on the woman. "It was a while back ago."

"Do tell."  She elbowed him.  "You're just making that up so I don't have to feel bad about Steven."

"You wish."  He giggled.  "But don't worry.  I didn't sleep with her or anything.  Although I considered--" he
caught himself adding a quick "Never mind."

"Liar," she hissed.  "Mike, your nose and your cheeks are red.  You're drunk."

"Is that your f-final di...agnosis, Doc?" He slurred intentionally, still laughing.

Julie sat there in silence, not knowing what to make of his behaviour.  After a few moments of listening to him
ramble on about how he'd made her jealous, she finally got up the nerve to ask, "Did she have a name?"

"Who?" he asked, lost in his own thoughts again.

"Your fantasy girl."

"Mmm-hmm," he said, mock-savoring a delicious meal.  A slow smile spread across his face as an image of the spunky, red headed woman's image came to mind.  He hadn't been with that many red heads, and Kristine Walsh hadn't been something worth bragging about.

"Kathy Courtney."

Julie remembered that Donovan had spent nearly a week at the Courtney ranch over two months ago to help the woman and her teenage daughter save their horses from becoming food for the Visitors.

Donovan closed his eyes.  In one hand he held a can of beer, and the other lay gently against his knee.  Julie thought he might fall asleep that way.  But suddenly, his eyes flew open.

"What?  No more questions?" He grinned.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I didn't kiss her.  In case you're wondering."

It was clear that he was enjoying himself, and Julie thought she'd found a sure fire way to get back at him as she asked.  "You mean not like I kissed Steven?"

"I mean not at all."

Now it was Julie who was annoyed again.

"Okay!  Why are you telling me this?  Why don't you tell me why you couldn't be with her?" she said angrily.
"Tell me, Mike.  I'm just dying to know!"

He started chuckling and could hardly catch his breath.

"Well, as much as this conversation has been enlightening, Mr. Donovan, I'm tired, and I think I'll go to bed.  And you can do the same and go fantasize about Ms. Courtney!"

Watching her storm off, he didn't bother apologizing.  Instead, he thought about Kathy and Jesse Courtney.  Jesse
was only a year older than Sean and expressed to Mike that she wouldn't mind having a brother.  It was obvious to him that she'd wanted him to stay with them, and maybe even marry her mother.  Of course there was no way he could've made such a commitment at that time.  But there was one commitment that he had made to Jesse that would have to remain broken.  Upon his departure, she'd asked him if he would come back to visit when the war ended.  And he'd replied with a smile..."Flying horses couldn't keep me away."

Just as Donovan had started to doze off, there came a hellacious banging on the front door.  Hoping it was Phillip, he sprang up.  But he used caution because the Visitors weren't completely gone yet.

"Password?"

"Just open the door, Gooder.  It's me, Ham."

Mike grinned, recognizing the voice of his old foe.  "Ham who?" he asked, unlocking several latches.  He  noticed
that one of them hadn't been fastened properly and mentally opted not to get onto Julie about it.  With any luck, they would leave here soon enough anyways.

Donovan gazed into brown eyes of Ham Tyler over another Coors as they sat playing poker only moments later.

"What brings you to my neighbourhood?"

"Chris and I were helping the San Jose unit.  Just thought I'd drop in and reorganize your group.  But when I got here this afternoon, the war was over."

"Disappointed?"

Ham nodded.  "Everyone's asleep?"

"Everyone who's here.  'Cept me of course."

"What does that mean?"

Donovan dreaded having to explain the day's events to him.  "Well...uh, Julie's sleeping.  We had a fight.  And
Elizabeth went with the Visitors.  Kyle went after her because well... he loves her."

A look of red-hot anger came over Ham as he said, "SHE DID WHAT?"

"It was the agreement.  They leave forever and keep Elizabeth."

Ham couldn't believe what he was hearing.  "How can you be so damned gullible, Gooder?!"

"Hey, wait a minute--"

Ham threw down his cards because the game had lost the element of fun.  "Did it ever occur to you that they could
convert her and she could use that hocus pocus of hers against us, against this planet?  What the hell is the
matter with you, Donovan?  Have you completely lost it?"

"No, it didn't occur to me.  It's a long story.  And frankly, I'm tired.  If you wanna hang out til tomorrow there's a couch over there."  He reached over the table and dropped his cards in the pile.

A feeling of regret came over Ham as he laid down on the couch and wondered if things would've went smoother, had he stayed with Donovan's group.  He closed his eyes and fitfully drifted off to sleep.
 

Seven hours later, alone in her cell with only a huge, rock slab to lie on, sat Diana...ex-Commander of The
Visitors turned criminal.  Her prior day had been sheer hell.  No matter how hard she'd tried to spoil the Leader's
plans for peace, her efforts had backfired.  First, she'd tried unsuccessfully to get Phillip and Donovan to kill one another in battle by having their fencing swords electronically charged.  And when plan A failed, she had some of her loyalists pose as members of the resistance and destroy the Leader's shuttle.  Only Phillip had arranged it so that the first shuttle would not be his.  He had become suspicious of her when the swords turned lethal.  Diana hated Phillip now more than ever.  Even after the incident with the shuttlecraft happened, she'd managed to escape and turned the mothership into a nuclear weapon through the fusion reactor.  But the real resistance had caught up to her and Phillip arrested her on the spot. But not before she had a chance to plant a bomb aboard the Leader's shuttle.  Or so she thought.

The panel doors slid open and Phillip came in with a dark headed youth at his side and a guard.

"Sean," Diana called to him with a warm smile.  "How are you?"

Phillip motioned for the boy to keep silent as he demanded of Diana, "Tell him what you did to him."

"Did what?"  She played dumb.  "Sean, don't listen to Phillip.  He's crazy."

Sean looked at her, and then to Phillip, and then back to her again, not knowing who to believe.

"I don't want to go back to my father."

"I understand your concern," Diana nodded sympathetically.  "He is a bad man."

"Diana!" Phillip warned.

"But I'm afraid I'm of little use to you now, Sean," she confessed. "They seem to think that I've done something
wrong."

"Don't let them send me back," Sean pleaded.  "I'll go back with you to your world."

She crossed the room to tell him goodbye.  "I am really sorry.  Just whatever you do, don't let your father persuade
you.  Maybe you could run away and not stay with him."

"And come find you?" he added, pulling his arm out of the reach of his guard.

"I'm going to miss you," Diana smiled, reaching for the guard's gun.  She shot the guard and then Sean and bolted to freedom.

Chapter Three: Mission: Revolt

 
'Donovan, you stupid jerk!,' thought Julie Parrish, turning on her side, trying to get comfortable in her pallet on the cold, storage room floor.  She wanted desperately to fall asleep again.  But her thoughts kept her awake.  She could hardly believe she'd once considered marrying her colleague. 'He's too old for me anyways,' she reasoned.  'He's cocky, conceited.  And he gets so jealous.'  Julie sighed.  'But he's gorgeous and charming when he wants to be...'  She envisioned his chest, bare and felt a bit ashamed for missing the intimacy that they'd once shared as lovers.  He had always known just how to please her.  'If only Margie hadn't come back...'  But Julie knew that the demise of their relationship had more to do than with just the Marjorie Donovan factor.  'Too late to turn back', she slipped off into a calm sleep, but her mind still churned with memories of a love that seemed to have been an eternity ago...

It was mid-November, 1984.  Donovan had just returned to the headquarters beneath the Club Creole after embarking on a mission where the Visitors had been dealing with a collaborator in exchange for cobalt.  Julie had been upset that day.  She'd almost had her cover blown by Bates' agent Mr. Chang who'd broken into her apartment and stolen a disk that she'd stolen from Science Frontiers.  After the confrontation with Nathan, Julie had went to the Club Creole.  She'd wanted to go anywhere but home.  She found herself alone at headquarters, balancing the bellamy book, and once again, angry at Ham Tyler for not sharing some of the good fortune he'd conned Nathan Bates out of as a secret agent.  At her desk, she tossed her pen aside and thought 'What's the use?'

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Donovan looking neither angry or pleased.  "How's my girl today?"

Julie got up, accepting his warm embrace, her pale blue eyes glazed over with tears.  She wanted things back the way they used to be, before she'd had her miscarriage...before the Visitors came back.

"That bad?"  Donovan pushed her back at arms length.  "Do you want to go to my place and talk about it?"

She shook her head quickly, knowing it wasn't the answer he was looking for.

"How long are you going to keep it up?" he asked.  "Let me rephrase that--"

"It's not you.  Bates is real suspicious right now.  Mr. Chang broke into my apartment and stole--"

"Damn him!" Donovan muttered, distracted by his own rage.  "What happened?"

"It's a long story.  Nathan confronted me with the disk.  But I had Robin disguised as a cleaning lady and switch  it.  So when he opened the file, he had my W-4 instead."

"Smart girl," he said, a bit relieved.  And kissed her.

But Julie pulled away hastily.  "I c-can't, Mike.  Not now.  Please?"

"We need to talk about this, and I don't mean Bates either."

"I know," she started to cry.

But he didn't hug her this time.  "How long are you going to keep pushing me away?"

"I don't know.  When I find a pill that's safe."

"That wasn't what I meant!" he snapped.  "Everytime I try to hold you, you're a million miles away.  We were supposed to get married on New Years Eve--"

"Well I'm sorry Diana screwed up our plans.  I can't help it that there's a war going on!  All I'm asking for is some
space, Mike.  I lost your baby.  It died inside of me and I'm still trying to make sense of that.  I hurt and I think
about us everyday and wonder where we'd be if -- if..." she sobbed shaking her head.  "Just leave me alone."  She
marched up the spiral staircase and into the secret passage way, bursting into tears.  Ham Tyler was on his way down.

"How was work today?" he asked.

"GO TO HELL!" she muttered.
 

"Julie, Julie!" Ham Tyler shouted, but it wasn't in her dream.  She opened her eyes.

"Ham?" she gasped.  "Where did you come from?"

"Well, as Gooder might say, hell.  But that's irrelevant.  He needs you."

'Strange', Julie thought, wondering why if he needed her that bad, he hadn't the nerve to come get her.

"His friend brought Sean back. Diana shot him," Ham continued, turning around and looking the other way as Julie
got up and threw on her robe.

"Is it bad?"

"He's waiting for you to be the judge of that. The kid's lost a lot of blood.  He's passed out."

Julie darted past him and headed out into the main room.  Donovan was crouched on the floor by his son wailing  "Sean, Sean...Don't leave me."

Ann was there too, taking Sean's pulse.  The boy's shoulder was covered in blood.  Julie feared the worst as
she got down beside him, ripping his shirt away.

"Ann, get the first aid kit, towels, I.V. lines, everything you can find!"

"Can I do anything to help?" asked Phillip who was standing near the door.

"I doubt it," said Ham coldly.

Even through his obvious turmoil, Donovan managed to give Ham a warning look.

"Come with me," Ann told Phillip.

Julie grabbed Donovan's hands, putting them against Sean's shoulder along with some of the material she'd managed to rip away and ordered, "Push, as hard as you can, Mike."

He complied knowing that she was his only hope for Sean's survival.  Moments later, Ann and Phillip were there
with the supplies.

"Ann, he needs a blood transfusion.  Check Donovan for type B pos--" Julie started to say.

"We're the same," said Donovan.  It was not the first time he'd had to give the boy his own blood.  When Sean was four, he'd been bit by a dog and the wound had nearly proved fatal for him.  But in Mike's eyes, it was nothing compared to this.  Ann whisked him off to the other room to start the procedure.
 

Diana scurried down into the mothership's water tank room where she met with some followers.  In all the commotion, she had managed to free James.  But Lydia was yet to be found and that worried her.  She didn't trust Lydia and wondered about her loyalties to Phillip and the Leader.  Yet it wasn't so much the Leader that Diana was worried about anymore.  He was supposedly dead.

She looked out into the small group of aliens before her, a bit disappointed that there were so few.  "We are going
home," she told them.  "To reorganize.  Your Leader is dead. We are going to come back and win this war."

"He's not dead," one of the kitchen staff argued.  "We had a rather large order for rodents come through about an hour ago.  They are having a reception of some sort."

"He died in an explosion," Diana argued.

"No," Jarred, another male Visitor informed her.  "We received word that the Starchild disarmed the bomb you
sent."

"Damn her!" Diana whined.  She thought for a few seconds, trying to find a solution.  "We must go back and destroy the Leader and find Elizabeth.  She holds the power to winning this war.  And I will do whatever necessary to make her cooperate with us."

James' fake brow furrowed in confusion.  "But, Diana, if I may--"

"What?! If you may what?!"

"If Elizabeth is learning of her powers, I don't see how you can subdue her."

"I will come up with something."

But even Diana sounded as if though she weren't sure of herself.  James once again wondered what he had gotten
himself into, or how long it would take for Phillip to catch up to them.  Their home planet was a good three weeks
distance from the earth, even flying in a shuttle that could reach warp speed.  The mothership had no such capabilities.  It was too big and hard to manoeuvre.  The entire fleet would take a good four to five months to get home.
 

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