The atmosphere on the home planet was dry and drab. Annually, the average air temperature reached a mere
seventy two degrees.  And seldom did it rain.  Luckily, the nearest sun, Sirius B, was one of the dimmer ones in the cosmos.   But for the inhabitants of this planet, time was not on  their side.  So they found another world some 3.7 light years further into the galaxy and would be making their  home there soon.  That was if their enemies didn't try  to stop them.

Having arrived home several hours ago, Diana disguised herself, taking on a new reptilian look.  She would be glad
for the day when she wouldn't have to wear the disguise anymore and would openly take charge of her race.  But
for now, a meeting with her followers was inevitable.  The plan was to assassinate the Leader and capture the Starchild at Willie and Felma's wedding tomorrow.

Diana's followers gathered their weapons and hid out in an old storage facility hidden beneath the surface.  There were no mice to be eaten here, as there was little resources for water.  These people dined on aphids.  Diana looked out into the mass army.  Some were members of her own tribe.  And some had been intimate with her.  And others she had played with as a young reptile, wandering the barren waste lands of Skibias only a few miles away.

After the meeting, Diana found a quiet corner within the metallic white tank and closed her eyes.  Another night
would pass without a mating partner.  She hoped that upon claiming victory, she would be able to choose any male she wanted.  Kyle Bates came to mind.

Diana felt the cold touch of one of her own and looked up to see James standing next to her.

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"We've been monitoring the transmissions from Phillip's shuttle.  It appears that he's bringing some guests with
him."

"Who?"

"Mike Donovan and Ham Tyler."

"Donovan and Tyler," she smiled thinking to herself 'Any male I choose!'...  "When are they scheduled to arrive?"

"Our collaborators at the landing pad reported that they will arrive within the next hour.  They have received an
invitation to the wedding."

"Our Leader approved of this?" she asked skeptically.

"No.  Of course not.  And it seems that they've come for the Starchild.  Phillip arranged for disguises."

"Is that all Lieutenant?"

He nodded and started to go away.

"Lieutenant?" she called.

James did an about face.  "Yes?"

"Would you mind keeping me company for a while?"

James looked around, seeing that they weren't exactly alone and asked, "Here, Commander?"

"Why not?"
 

Constance Parrish stood at her front door, on Manhattan's upper side, looking out into the mid-Spring haze.  Tormented by grief with the sudden death of her mother, the only thing that seemed to console this fifty-five year old woman was the thought that her daughter was coming home today.

"Mom?" called Jeff, the eldest of the siblings as Constance turned to admire him as he adjusted a navy blue
tie.  "Is she here?" he panted.

"Not yet," she frowned.  "You'd better go get Gabriella and Pierre though."

With a nod, Jeff brushed past her, opening the screen door.  Gabriella, or "Gabby" she preferred was supposed to
be down at the local basketball courts with the seventeen year old baby of the family, Pierre.  Jeff Parrish passed
all sorts of characters on the way to collect his siblings.  He wondered how Manhattan had become so unbearably
overcrowded.  He knew how... the war.

It was due to the toxin that his sister Juliet had created that people in warmer cities had fled to the north, seeking
safety from the enemy.  Without a dormant period, the red dust could not reproduce itself effectively.

"Over here, Jeff" he'd heard sister Gabby call when approaching the courts.  Jeff hopped over the 3ft high chain length fence that separated the adult playground from the rest of the neighbourhood.  Gabby stood amongst Chinese, Spanish and African Americans.  Jeff feared for her safety.

Joining her, he pointed to his Timex watch, demanding, "Did you look at the time?!  Julie's coming home."

Gabby pushed some spiralled brown curls out of her eyes and bitterly exclaimed, "Like I care!"

The girl reached into her Guess jeans pocket and pulled out a cigarette.  The fellow with the dread locks standing
near her offered a light that she accepted.

"What do you mean?" her brother demanded.

"Well," she said simply.  "I mean I don't know her.  She's not my sister.  She wasn't around--"

"Julie left when you were ten."

Gabby shrugged.  "Ten years is a long time."

Jeff stood there for a minute, baffled by her peculiar behaviour.  Gabby took a few puffs, exhaling them into Jeff's face then added, "If you're looking for Pierre, he's with Jackko."

"You're coming too," he ordered.

"No...I'm not."

 Gabriella had just turned twenty and instead of gaining wisdom, she had become egotistical instead.

 Jeff lost his patience and shouted, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"

"Why?" she said, putting her cigarette out on the pavement below, then found her own answer.  "Because I'm not you?"

He grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at him as he reprimanded her.  "Now listen here.  You're coming with me even if I have to drag you by your hair!"

The man who'd given Gabby her light pulled Jeff back threatening, "LEAVE, MAN!  YOU'D BEST GET OUT OF MY FACE!  I DON'T WANNA SEE YA HERE NO MO!"

Jeff backed away, daunted and dismayed, heading towards home.  He arrived just as a cab was pulling up in front
of the house.  A boy in his teens, with his left arm in a sling got out first.  Then he reached in and extended his good arm towards the back seat and retrieved a duffle bag.  Jeff watched Juliet pay the driver and then get out of the cab.  Jeff smiled in spite of himself.  Juliet was just as fragile looking as the day she'd left for college.

With her hair drawn up into a bun, Juliet stepped onto the cracked sidewalk.  The tears on her face, glistened in the
sunlight.

"Mom," she gasped, offering a hug because she needed one.  She need some assurance that everything would be okay again. Constance held Julie for what seemed like an eternity and then they went inside to begin making the funeral arrangements.
 

Engrossed by the beautiful, rolling sand dunes, Donovan and Ham followed Phillip down a narrow path and into a check in point.

"Are you ready for this, Tyler?" Donovan asked.

His companion nodded.  "I'm ready to to take her out."

Phillip glanced back at the pair and snapped, "Would you two be quiet?"

Beneath the mask, Donovan gave one of his classic sardonic grins as he said, "Sorry.  We're just eager.  Ham here
hasn't killed any gators in four months now."

Every since the resistance leader had learned the truth about Elizabeth's destiny, he'd been acting "funny" and
unpredictable towards Phillip.  Knowing that if they screwed up their mission he would lose his military status made
Phillip uneasy.  His current plan was to find a way to dispose of them after the wedding.

At the check in counter, Phillip provided fake identification for his companions, getting them safely past the guards.  Then he took them to an isolated housing facility just on the other side of a parched ravine.

"What will they do with Kyle?" Donovan wanted to know as they munched on baked rabbits, smuggled in from the food bank.

Not surprisingly, it wasn't the first time Ham had rabbit for dinner.  Before enrolling in the CIA, he had been an excellent hunter.  In comparison to what they had eaten on the shuttle, this was a fine New York Strip steak, and
much more fulfilling.

Phillip shrugged in response to the question.  "With any luck he will join you on your journey home."

"How can we track Diana?" asked Ham, using one of the peculiar looking utensils to cut through the thick flesh.

"She won't be in the town," Phillip stated.  "I'm quite sure she'll be off in the desert planning her attack."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Phillip shrugged.  "You are the experts?"

"Got any A-1 sauce?" Donovan frowned.

This time it was Tyler who gave a look that could kill. He didn't like having the subject changed when he was
talking business.
 

Chapter Eight: Chaos

 
Overlooking Sieb Rock, the wedding guests stood and waited.  But all was not in order.  The High Priest was fifteen minutes late and the ceremony was delayed.  Kyle Bates stood next to Willie and Felma who were dressed in
glistening, periwinkle skins, smiling at one another like two high school kids in love.

Ham Tyler and Mike Donovan blended in with the other spectators, standing near the feasting tables.  Donovan
hated to think about the human parts that were in the bowls waiting to be eaten.

"I wonder what's taking so long?" he growled impatiently.

"Maybe Diana got to him?" Ham guessed.

From out of nowhere came laserfire.  One blast caught The Great Leader fully into the chest, sending green blood
spewing everywhere.  He crumbled to the ground, grabbing his chest begging, "Help me, Elizabeth."

"Does that answer your question?" said Donovan, grabbing a laser weapon off a guard who stood near by.

Before the Visitor could defend himself, Ham punched him in the jaw, sending him spinning into one of the tables.
Dishes of rodents and human parts spilled out into the sand. Ham unarmed another guard, retaliating on the attackers with full force.

Aliens dropped to the ground fearing for their lives. But many of them had been injured.  It didn't take too long for Diana to figure out that the pair who was fighting against her were indeed Ham Tyler and Mike Donovan.  On a bridge she ducked low out of sight, every now and then, sneaking a peak through the metal grid, trying to see which
direction Ham and Donovan were heading.

Elizabeth Maxwell tried very hard to stop the turmoil that was taking over.  The only thing she could think of to do
backfired, causing more death and desolation.  Concentrating on the bridge, her powers unleashed their energy.  The
aliens below screamed in terror as they were crushed beneath the rubble.

"C'MON!"

Kyle Bates felt someone tugging at his sleeve.  He knew the voice but didn't recognize the face..."Mike?"

"Shh!" Donovan ordered.  "Get Elizabeth and Willie.  We're going home."

From the sky, there came bright beams, destroying everything in their path.  Donovan was sure that he could make out the shadow of some big craft hovering overhead.  And it wasn't round.  It was oblong.  A small craft swooped
down, firing on another group of Visitors.
 

"Where you from, Malibu?" asked Pierre Parrish over a plateful of scrambled eggs and bacon.  Sean Donovan gulped his milk, not paying attention.

"Hey cripple, I asked you a question," Pierre said impatiently.

But Sean was watching Constance make coffee.  "Should I go get her?  She hasn't eaten in two days."

Constance smiled at him, admiring the way he looked after Julie.  "Oh, she's just upset right now, Honey.  She feels
bad that she didn't make it in time.  She'll be okay eventually."

Pierre lost his cool, snapping at Sean, "OKAY, FINE!  Be that way, Jerk."

"I'm from L.A.  All right?" Sean asked, getting up from the table and he headed upstairs to the room where he and
Julie stayed, knocking on the door very lightly.  "Julie, it's me."

She pulled him inside asking sympathetically, "What's wrong?"

"I came to ask you," he sighed, sitting down on his twin size bed.  "You never eat anymore."

Julie put her hand to her mouth, trying to hide a yawn.   "I'm just not feeling well."

"Are they making you nervous?" he teased.  "They make me nervous.  Can we go back to L.A.?"

She bit her lip, knowing that he might be upset by what she had to say.  "I've been offered a job here.  I really can't afford to go back now."

"But what about Dad?"

"If," she started to say but hesitated and corrected herself. "When he comes back, Ann will tell him we're here."

"I thought--" he broke off.

"What?" She searched his expression.

"I thought you loved him?"

Julie though about it, choosing her words carefully.   "Your father and I don't see eye to eye on things.  I'm sorry if--"

"JULIET!" she heard Constance call from downstairs.

"WHAT?!" Julie screamed back.

"COME EAT!"

Wordlessly, Julie  headed downstairs hearing Sean mumble "I'm staying in here."

By the time Julie got to the kitchen, Constance had fixed her a plate of food and said, "Go ahead. Sit down."

"I'm not hungry."  Julie sat anyways, across from Gabrielle who'd just came in.

"Too much time in the bathroom, Ms. Juliet Lynn?" she sneered.

"I beg your pardon?"

Gabby made a self gagging motion and Julie glared at her in response.

"What's going on?" asked Constance, pouring them each a glass of orange juice.

"Miss perfect is anorexic," spat Gabby spitefully.

"I am not," Julie said defensively.

"What...Perfect or anorexic?"

"GABRIELLE!" Constance shouted, sitting down with her own plate.  "Show some respect!"

"For a stranger?"

"I've been sick for a week," Julie confided although she wasn't sure why she should.

"What is it?" her mother asked, taking her hand.

"Worry, I suppose."

Constance looked her over as if for the first time.  "Are you losing weight?"

Julie shrugged, and sipped her juice hoping the acid would not wreak havoc with her stomach.

"What are you worried about?" Constance asked.

Gabby rolled her eyes, tired of Julie this and Julie that.  "Yeah.  You come back home all of sudden after not calling for a year and expect everything to be the same!"

"No!" Julie argued.  "I'm looking for a place to live but it's kind of hard to do when I don't have any income!"

"I told you that you can stay here," Constance reminded her.

"Thank you.  But no thank you!"

"What's the matter?" Gabby smiled.  "Like 'I' care!"  She got up, tossing her dirty plate into the sink and headed
out the back way.

Julie frowned, watching her leave and demanded of her mother, "How can you put up with that?"

"It's just a phase.  You used to be that way."

"Not when I was twenty!"

Like always, Constance came to Gabby's defense.  "She's only been like that since your Daddy died.  She's angry."

Julie found herself wondering what it was like during the war but realized that there would be plenty of time for
questions later.

"What's with the boy?" Constance said, moments later, while making a second cup of coffee.

"Sean?" Julie asked.

"Did it occur to you that his father might not make it back?  What will you do then?"

To Julie, the answer wasn't debatable.  "Take care of him."

"And his real mother was taken?"

"She was killed last year.  He doesn't know about it."

"You were friends with her?"

Marjorie Donovan's dying image came back to haunt Julie.  She could see Mike holding her dead body in his arms as he begged Julie to bring her back. But it had been too late.

"I don't know," she said.  "We didn't talk much.  Can I have a cup of coffee?"

Constance cocked her head in Julie's direction.  "Honey, can I ask you something personal?"

"Coffee?" asked Julie feeling as if her request had been ignored.

"Was there a man in Los Angeles?"

"Why?  Mom, I just asked you a yes or no question.  Can I please have some coffee?"

"Are you expecting?"

Julie giggled.  "What kind of question is that?"

"A yes or no question."  Constance got up and started the Bunn Automatic.

Julie reasoned.  Her period was a week late.  But with all the stress that had taken place lately, she couldn't make
heads or tails out of anything.

Wiping her wrinkled hands on a dirty apron, Constance turned back to Julie.  "You don't have to be afraid, Honey. Who was he?"

"I," Julie swallowed, avoiding eye contact with her mother, "don't want to talk about it."

Constance had her suspicions and was finding it difficult to keep her peace.  "Is it the boy's father?"

"Are you deaf?!" Julie demanded.  "I ask you for coffee and you ignore me.  I tell you I don't want to talk about this and you don't care!"

Hurt by the accusation, Constance replied, "Juliet, I'm your mother!  Of course I care!  Whatever happened with
Dennis?"

"Dennis who?!"  She grabbed her mug and filled it with the black brew.

Watching Julie bring the cup to her mouth for a sip, Constance was overwhelmed by fear.  She offered one last piece of motherly advice.  "I don't think you should be drinking that if you're pregnant, dear."
 

Chapter Nine: The Procrastinator

 
With explosions occurring from near and far, Kyle Bates grabbed Elizabeth's hand, dragging her along while shouting at Felma and Willie to join him.  But Felma resisted.  It was Ham Tyler who grabbed her, and carried her while running for safety with the others.

The nearest skyfighter was parked a good five hundred yards away.  Mike Donovan hoped that there would be enough fuel to get home.  He was the first to get there, turning on all the circuits and preparing for a quick get away.

"Sil Tkph vol! Sil Tkph vol!" Felma cried as Ham fastened her into one of the passenger chairs, the phrase that means: I won't leave!  I won't leave!

"SHUT UP!" Ham ordered.

Donovan gazed down at the controls, trying to remember everything he'd observed on the journey here.  "Panel B?" he wondered.  "Damn it!  Now where the hell are those magnetic generators?"

 Without a magnetic field, the shuttlecraft would immediately shatter upon reaching warp speed.  Anything less and it would take them a good century to get home, and by then, they would all be dead!

Kyle flashed Donovan a worried look asking, "Are we going to make it, Mike?"

Donovan ignored him, still searching for the switch.  Without further hesitation, he made the tiny craft airborne, seeking a way of escape, where the strange looking vessels weren't.

"Willie!" Felma cried.

The blond Visitor came to her side, stroking her hair.  "I am sorry, Felma."

"I s-saw..." she hesitated, overcome by grief.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead.  "Shh.  It's okay."

"M-My parents...w-were killed.  M-my family!" she shrieked.  "What are we going to do, Willie?"

Elizabeth too came over and tried to console her.

Ham took his place at the rear controls shouting, "Faster, Gooder!  We've got company!"

Donovan panicked, letting the skyfighter swoop low out of firing range as a blast whizzed by.  He finally found the
magnetic generator and kicked it into gear.  As they drifted off into space, the home planet was neutralized by the
Skeiliks!
 

Two weeks went by. Sean Donovan woke up in a cold sweat, having dreamt that Diana murdered his father.  He
just couldn't get Mike's dying image out of his mind.  Looking over at Julie's bed, Sean saw that it was empty.
Still dark outside, Sean knew that it wasn't time to get up yet.  He laid there in silence, trying desperately to go back to sleep.  Julie's return brought him back out of a light slumber.

"Where were you?" he said softly.

"Oh, Sean," she gasped.  "I'm sorry.  Did I wake you, honey?"

He sat up in his bed, smelling something along the lines of disgusting.  He didn't ask and instead confided, "I had
another nightmare about Dad."

"Hmm?" Julie asked, pulling covers up over her petite form."

"I dreamt he died."

As much as she wanted to console him, Julie had her own worries to cope with.  The pregnancy test she'd bought from the drug store revealed something that she didn't want to  know.  She hadn't told anyone.

"What's wrong?" asked Sean, hearing her sniffle.  "You're worried about him too?"

"Sure," she said, scrambling to her feet and uttering the words, "Excuse me."

Julie ran into the bathroom as quick as she could, hoping she would get there in time.
 

 Three hours later, Gabby Parrish was banging on the bathroom door.

"C'mon, Julie!  I know you're in there!"

Julie woke up on the bathroom floor, her head hurting badly.

"Julie!" Gabby whined.  "I have to get ready for work!"

"J-Just a minute."  Julie checked herself in the mirror, seeing the red mark above her eye.  Then, she checked the
toilet for any evidence and wiped her mouth.  But these feeble attempts to hide her sickness weren't enough.  She
opened the door slowly.

Gabby glanced down at her Swatch, shaking her head.  "You know you're late for work?"

Feeling weak and disoriented she shrugged as Gabby noticed her injury.

"What the hell happened to you?"

Again, Julie shrugged, putting her hand to her left temple and walking downstairs.  She felt like she'd been hit with
something.

Constance was fixing the morning meal.  Julie tried to keep her hand over her injury, not wanting to cause too much
concern.

"Hannah Donnenfield called," Constance said hastily.  "I told her you weren't feeling well again.  And that you would call her when you got up."

With a slight nod, Julie picked up the phone.  "Doctor Donnenfield, Please...Hi, Hannah.  It's me.  I can't come in
today.  I need to find a doctor...  I'll uh tell you about it later... It is...  I uh tried to get in to see Pete.  But I don't have any insurance..."

Constance came near, pointing to Julie's wound and giving her a worried look.  Julie pushed her probing hands away.

"Oh, thank you," she continued.  "Maybe you can take it out of my next check.  We can wait to move into the cottage...All right.  Goodbye."

"What happened to your eye?" Constance asked as Julie hung up.

"I passed out and hit it on the vanity," she said in a barely audible tone.

"You got sick again?!"

"I'm always sick!"  Julie sat down at the table, folding her arms and resting her chin on them.  "Anyways, Hannah
has this friend who's an M.D., Pete Forsythe."

"The baseball player?" asked Sean coming in and sitting down with her.

"Yeah," she quipped, accepting an ice pack from her mother.

"I thought you went to work," he added.

"Do you think you can eat something this morning?" Constance asked.

"Not really," Julie replied.

"What do you think this illness is, honey?"

The young woman found herself crying again.  "I-It's what you said.  I've been through this before.  Only I don't
think I made it this far."

Taking a seat, Constance put a loving arm around Julie's shoulder.  "Juliet, you never told me this before."

She rubbed her eyes.  "I know how you feel about these things.  We're supposed to be Catholic, remember?"

"Well obviously you don't.  But then again, Gabby acts the same way," she said bitterly.

Constance Parrish was the type of mother who always expected her children to live up to her dreams for them.  All four of them seemed to have failed miserably.  The eldest, Jeff, was in the process of getting a divorce which was simply forbidden.  He was cut out of Amanda Parrish's will.

"You can't compare my mistakes to Gabby's!"  Julie moved away from her mom in anger.

"Being careless is the same thing, Juliet!"

The phone rang and Julie grabbed it.  "Parrish residence...Hi, Pete...No, he isn't.  We don't know when-... He's fine...We're a little concerned though... Well, I'm late actually.  I'm pregnant... But I've been real sick.  I can't eat anything...  Yes, I tried those... Well, I had a miscarriage last year.  And I wondered if maybe it was because of the red dust we were working with.  I thought maybe it might've damaged me somehow so that I can't carry... I don't know. We haven't done a lot of research in human genetics.  It's been five months since I quit my job there.  I was hoping it wouldn't have any affect on this baby.  I would like to know that I can at least have one... He's been gone for five weeks.  I don't know how long it takes to get to Sirius and back...  Yes, ten o'clock would be good.  Thank you.  Goodbye."

"I'll drive you," Constance offered, offering a hug.

"It's Dad's?" Sean wanted to know.

Julie hesitated to answer, not wanting to hear her mother's lecture.

"C'mon!  I have a right to know whether I might be a big brother!"

"It is."

The boy smiled.  "What happened to you and Dad can't see eye to eye?"

"We had a fight before he left.  I didn't want him to go.  He made me promise to take care of you."

"How?" Constance asked.

"I don't know," she sighed.  "He said he would leave and he did.  I just hope he comes back."
 

Continue to Chapters Ten to Thirteen

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