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Sabrina Cubed Chapter 22...for your eyes to behold....:)
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mfwhite
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 4:14 pm    Post subject: Sabrina Cubed Chapter 22...for your eyes to behold....:) Reply with quote

Cool

Certified cool.....Smile

Editors Dave and Mike have done a fantastic job with this chapter!

Thanks guys...

So for your reading pleasure 'Confrontation' and we all know who we are talking about....enjoy.....its a roller coaster-ride for sure.


Cheetaur.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 4:17 pm    Post subject: Chapter 22 Reply with quote

Chapter 22: Confrontation

Rain pelted against the window as Endora looked out into the street from the room that would one day become her bedroom. It would be the last time she would see it and she wouldn’t ever see it again; not in her normal timeline anyway. It saddened her. Mom and Dad loved this house during their lifetime together, they had done a lot of renovations as a couple. They called them ‘their little projects’. Mom had stayed in it as long as she could but eventually she fell too ill to care for it. She felt somehow alone; there was a finality about it that she knew she shouldn’t be feeling.

Victor entered the room and saw her standing there all alone. She was pretty, older for sure, but in her youth he was sure that she turned all male eyes. He wondered what was going on in that head of hers, “Are you all right?” He asked, concern evident in his voice.

At the sound of his words she turned away from the dreary weather, “No…but it is nothing you can help me with; time doesn’t heal all wounds.”

“I’m sorry I can’t help, your friends downstairs say it’s time to depart. I take it this means I won’t see you again?”

She loved him and the fact that she wouldn’t see his face again hurt her to the bone, the statement was also true since when she returned to the present he would not be there waiting for her. “Yes Dad, if all goes well, you won’t.” She choked on those few words.

He could see that she was very upset, “You were very brave to come here now; I see you have to be so again to leave.”

“I know.” In her paw she had something; something that could change her parent’s lives as she knew it; she didn’t know what to do, so she just gave it to him. It was a plain and ordinary envelope but what it held inside could alter their future and hers. She felt it was worth the risk no matter what. There was a time in their life that what was in that envelope could have saved them great hardship.

He was surprised by the gift, “What is this?” He looked at Endora sternly and in her eyes he could see the answer. “This is news of the future!!!” He quickly pushed the envelope back in her direction.

“Dad listen, it’s only a choice…think on it. If you really believe that the information in that envelope is not for you; then you can destroy it anytime. Please give it some thought and not idly dismiss it haphazardly. I didn’t do this on the spur of the moment, I thought about it long and hard before writing anything down. If anything there is a note in there explaining feelings that I may never have expressed before.”

He stared at the envelope and wondered what secrets it held, he made his decision. “I will consider it later; I trust that the information therein is about the future and not the here and now?”

“Yes, I really don’t know a lot about the here and now; remember.”

He nodded, “I do…is there anything you need or want to ask me before you go?” He smiled.

“There is one…,” she was very curious about this question for she never had asked him, “Did you ever think you’d be a father?”

Now there was a question, “I did ask for that one; a father…hmmm…sometime I thought but this early on wasn’t my idea.” He sighed, “If you have to know, a few days ago Kathy and I had a horrible argument about this subject when I found out she was pregnant. I didn’t see things from her side at all and was blinded by many things. However, seeing you calmed my fears and I’ve reconciled with Kathy. That’s why I stayed behind today; I reassured her that we’ll get through this. A new life is about to be brought into this world and we were the ones that had to greet it.”

Endora threw her arms around her father, she couldn’t help it. She was overwhelmed with emotion. “I love you!!!” She cried.

Victor’s mind flooded with confusion and emotion, he knew in his heart that this was his daughter of a future time but he hardly knew anything about her. Although she knew him and she had a good reason to be this emotional. He did the only thing he could and hugged her back. In time he guessed he would understand.

The platform carried them out into the drizzle to a seldom used dirt road that lead to their destination, all under the cover of darkness and invisible cloak. Kira did a quick check with the sensors on the platform and indeed it showed the weight of four individuals, not three. She couldn’t believe Lyja’s power of camouflage; it was indeed incredible.

Victor had explained how to get to the creek where Kathy was found, it wasn’t too hard to follow from there. As they moved along the creek, an alarm light began to flash. Kira was quick to see that they had entered into a sensor grid and were being scanned. The platform’s defense screen allowed the scan to pass over them without disturbing it allowing them to approach undetected; it seemed that they were close now.

As they approached a clearing, Kira did a light scan and found the ship, it was cloaked with an absurd amount of energy being expended to hold it just out of phase. It might explain the storm, the energy all around them was making her fur stand on end.

“It’s there,” she pointed, “I believe the ship is damaged; it’s putting out a lot of highly volatile energy, its shields are on the verge of collapse. If that occurs I’m not exactly sure what will happen next; it could mean the ship will overload and explode.”

“That’s not good,” Afain said, “but that doesn’t get the door open for us.”

“I think our friend here,” she patted the platform, “will be able to see to that.” She really didn’t mean it like that, per say, it was more for Lyja to covertly rig the door. Kira noticed the scale sensor now only registering three. ‘Way to go Lyja’ she thought.

They waited to see if anything happened for a few moments then the platform activated a low energy beam towards the shuttle. There was a blinding flash, but as the brilliance died down something began to appear; the shuttle. Lyja had done it.

As they approached, they could see it wasn’t in good shape, it had damage almost everywhere.

“It’s destroyed!!” Endora exclaimed.

“I bet the shields failed about halfway here.” Kira said making her way through the long grass towards it. “It takes a tremendous amount of energy to star jump; to keep the shields going and travel was way too much for its systems.”

“How could anyone survive that?” Endora couldn’t believe all the damage; maybe this was how it ended. Mother/Swallow stayed alive only long enough to attack her mother then perished and they were left to pick up the pieces.

“I don’t know.” Kira replied.

As they approached, they stayed out of sight just to watch to see what was going to happen. Then all the hatches opened… all of them at the same time; it was their clue. They rushed the ship and entered into the cargo bay. The smell of burnt plastic still hung in the air as they proceeded further into the dark, confining space.

“Cleo; think you can light the way?” Part of Afain’s clothes seemed to magically peel off of her body and form a sphere. Then it began to glow, enough that they now could easily see the damage inside the ship. “Oh…it’s a wonder this ship is still in one piece.”

“You’re right Afain, I just hope the whole thing doesn’t come crashing down upon us. Let’s find this creature and get out of here.” Kira had another concern as well, this ship in its present form was doubtful of going anywhere. They were going to have to tow it out of here and that meant more time here and more chance that it would be discovered.

They had to be very careful as they proceeded, wires and pieces of the ship hung down from the ceiling. Panels had exploded, exposing the inner workings and live wires. Things sparked to life startling them several times. Finally Cleo found a life form ahead in the shuttle’s forward hanger bay.

“The door is protected by a force shield,” it said, “but I can disable it. It will alert the other who is here when I do it.”

“Do it!” Endora said, “It’s time to get this nightmare over with!!!”

The shield fizzled and they rushed into the room only to smash right into another. They stumbled back in shock, they definitely weren’t expecting another shield.

“Cleo!!!”

“Sorry Afain, my sensors didn’t detect it until it was too late.”

There was a metallic screech as if something was being moved out of the way, “Who is there?” It was a horrible cackling voice, it sounded as if in terrible pain. As the figure moved into the light, they all gasped.

The figure was horribly burnt, almost from head to toe…its skin was pealing from each muscle. The right side was heavily charred, it took most of the heat from the looks of it. Its right arm was missing and so was a lot of its torso, it looked as if someone had taken a bite out of it. It smelled horrible, the odor pierced the nostrils of all of them.

Again its voice filled the air, “Who are you, speak or I will destroy you.” Its one eye was filled with fire and hate.

“We came after you.” Afain said, “You don’t belong here.”

“Don’t belong where? I’ve always been here…go away.” The creature turned away, it knew it was safe behind its force field.

Kira spoke softly, “It’s been affected by the transition I think. Either that or its injuries have somehow destroyed its memories.

“Swallow?” Endora choked, she knew that’s who’s body it was but wasn’t sure if any of her daughter resided in it or not. She couldn’t believe that this was Mother.

The creature stopped… “I know that name, whose is it?”

“It’s yours.”

The creature turned and moved in close to the force shield, it was agony that stared back at her; Endora wondered even how it was still alive with such extensive injuries. Its one eye peered into Endora’s soul, “I know that name, I created a creature with that name; a long time ago.”

She could not see her daughter now, only, “Mother!!!!!!!! YOU BITCH! GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER!” Endora leapt at the defense shield it crackled and a panel exploded behind the evil creature; then the shield gave way. Endora lunged through in surprise at Mother.

“AAAAAAhhhhhhh!” Mother screamed.

Alarms began to sound and a Zargozian voice began to speak, “CORE SAFETY PROTOCALS HAVE BEEN REROUTED…INITIATING CORE SHUT DOWN.” The alarms did not stop as the voice vanished for the moment then it returned, “CORE SHUT DOWN UNSUCESSFUL! CORE EXPLOSION IMMENENT, PROCEED IMMEDIATELY WITH EVACUATION” The alarms continued to sound throughout the damaged craft.

Endora wrestled with Mother trying to get her pinned but Swallow’s body, even hurt, was still very strong. Kira jumped in to assist knowing full well they had to contain her and get the heck off the ship before it self destructed.

Cleo instantly threw all of its resources into controlling the ship’s core before disaster stuck and killed them all, the others would have to deal with Mother for the moment. Cleo patched itself into the ship’s computer trying to help it shut down the core. Afain stood by helplessly watching the fight. There wasn’t too much she could do against such strength. She could only pray they were able to knock the creature unconscious.

Mother’s adrenaline was their undoing as she constantly threw Kira and Endora away, even disabled, she was still winning the fight.

After throwing both of them clear in a last ditch effort she ran for the door but hit something very hard, she staggered back and fell down unconscious. Endora and Kira just looked at each other, then in the darkness they saw Lyja appear and she was holding a large metal plate. Mother had basically run right into a steel wall; a wall that Lyja had concealed.

“Thought it was about time I lent a paw.” Lyja said.

“Good timing, now anything you can do about the core?”

“Right on it.” Lyja quickly began a dialog with Cleo.

The group tied Mother up and used Lyja’s tranquilizer on her. They now prayed that Lyja and Cleo could pull off a miracle. Endora now could see why her mother had nightmares, this was the place they had come from. With Swallow looking this way, no wonder she was disconcerted.

As she looked about, she spied it; the canister. It wasn’t the only one, there was one other; it looked unopened next to the other one. The other lay in pieces. She picked up the one that was still intact, “All because of this,” she thought. It was stainless steel about two feet long and about three inches in diameter. It also had a green flashing L.E.D. on the top of it. Afain saw Endora pick it up.

“Endora?”

“Yes?”

“Is that what the creature brought with her?”

“Yes,” she stared at the metallic tube, then said softly, “it is my existence.”

The alarms were still going off and the evacuation notice still rang throughout what was left of the ship. Afain looked at the sphere, she had grown quite attached to having it around and she prayed what it had to say was good news.

“You can shut down the core right?” Afain asked.

“No.”

“But that means this whole area…”she didn’t get to finish.

“Will be destroyed. Lyja and I have figured one way of averting this destructive force, but it will end with my destruction.”

“Cleo?”

“I can turn the explosion upon itself, there would be a smaller one but nothing like the impending blast.”

Afain didn’t like that conclusion, “Is there no other way?”

“No…it is the only way to assure your survival.”

Afain didn’t know what to do, or say, a tear escaped her eye. “The Emperor was right, your kind are our future, I can see that in you. You have grown a lot over the short time we have been together, I will miss you.”

“I do not wish to die Afain but there is no other solution available. Lyja and I have tried everything but the core is damaged beyond her or anyone’s ability to repair. We can only contain the explosion and I am the only thing that can do that. I will miss you too Afain, I learned a lot from you and I am glad I have had the chance to be with you. You made me complete.”

Afain put her arms around the sphere, “You are brave and I will be sure that the Emperor knows exactly what happened here and that more are made just like you.”

“Thank you Afain, I’m sorry I won’t be around to see my descendants.”

Tears flowed down her cheeks, “Well they won’t be like you; there can be only one Cleo.”

They ran as far and as fast as they could, dragging Mother behind them. The platform still was functional; all they needed was to get on and activate the force shield in time. They climbed aboard and Kira activated the force field generator. They stared at the ship then it got quiet all of a sudden then the ship seem to collapse upon itself over and over until it was only a small ball.

“Don’t look!!” Lyja screamed.

They all turned away but if they had watched they would have seen a blinding flash and in the middle a black hole expand quickly to engulf the light. Then they heard the thunderous roar of wind tearing by them. Then all was quiet…it was over, Afain wept in Kira’s arms she would miss Cleo more than she would know.

Aftermath:

They plotted a course back to the ship, it was time to get back to their proper place and time. They were all saddened that Cleo would not be coming back with them. As they approached the building Kira got a sensor reading of two life forms upon the roof. One reading was strange and she tried to tune the sensors again.

Kira looked behind at the group, “Someone is on the roof, I can’t get a clean scan. Lyja it might be best if you would disappear, it will be to our advantage when we materialize.”

The platform slowly ascended along the side of the building then floated gently onto the roof to where the ship resided. The figure stood out in the moonlight; a tall, thin female fox; indigenous to the planet. They waited there to see what she was going to do, scans also showed a male creature nearby; there were no weapons present or any other foreign objects. Then the female fox spoke.

“You can drop the cloak Kira, my sensors detected you about ten minutes ago.”

They all looked at each other stunned, how could this alien female know?!! Kira looked at Afain.
“Should I comply? We can still flee.”

“No, drop the field, if she knew we were here ten minutes ago then she could have launched an attack then. Let’s see what she wants and how she knows us.”

Kira dropped the field and they all got out, Lyja remained invisible to keep the advantage to their side. She approached; to them she was incredibly tall, six feet at least and as thin as a rail except for the bulge at her abdomen.

“It is good to see you all again, it has been a long time,” she said.

“How do you know us?” Afain asked, “I’d remember someone like you.”

“I looked much different then Afain, I’m Cleo.”

All of them were stunned but none more than Afain, “What?”

“I knew you’d be surprised, I will explain everything as soon as we are away.” She turned her head, “Evan, come on out, it’s ok…it’s time.” The other figure that Kira saw on her sensors came to stand by the Fox-Cleo.

He was a tall thin male antelope with two short curling horns upon his head. He was very different in contrast to Fox-Cleo. “Everyone this is Evan…Evan this is everyone…now let’s get going.” She made a gesture with her paw and the ship materialized. “I made it a point to get it ready.” She walked over to the unconscious form of mother, “Let’s get this creature on board and in stasis, the longer she is out the more damage she is acquiring.” She looked about, “Lyja I know you’re out there, it will please you to know even after all this time I still can’t adjust my scanners to see you.” Lyja materialized to the right of her, “Ah…there you are, lovely as ever.”

“Cleo…is that really you?” Lyja looked into the face of the female fox.

“Yes, it’s me…now let’s get aboard and I will explain everything.”

Fox-Cleo set the ship for automatic as she knew the others wanted answers. She climbed back to where they had all gathered.

“Cleo this is all very strange, I’m not even sure that is you.”

“It is.” She sat beside Evan, “Let me explain and then if you have any questions after I will be sure to answer them.”

“All right.” Afain said, the group settled in, for the ride back would take a few minutes at least.

“Here, in this place, you just witnessed my apparent destruction. It would seem that way but in the last moments I came up with a solution to my situation. It had to be timed exactly for it to work but as you see I am here. I used the energy of the explosion to perform a star jump. It was a dangerous move but I was going to be destroyed anyway. The problem was the only coordinates I had for such a jump was the here and now and one other. I didn’t want to risk trying to return to this time frame…so I chose the latter. The event where the ancient ship landed on this planet…some 60,000 years ago.”

Their eyes all went wide.

“They were the only star jump co-ordinates I had time to retrieve. I arrived damaged to that time frame, so much so that all I could do was to find a place to rest and repair myself. It took years, hundreds of years but finally I was back in working order in the primitive past of this world. I had missed the old world ship; it was long gone by the time I got myself functioning again.”

She paused then continued, “As it was, I was barely functioning; with no hope of doing another star jump any time in the future. I had thought about repairing the pod since I knew where it was and could do so. I didn’t, in review it played too big a role in the history of this world and to eliminate it could drastically alter this world’s fragile timeline.

So I found a place to shut down again for a very long time but at certain intervals I would awaken and use it to formulate a way to alter this body with genetic material from this world’s life forms. The organic processes we discovered in the pod gave me the key to the transformation itself. Thus you see me as I am now, my form is a fox indigenous to this world and completely integrated with me. My being is the perfect melding of organic and inorganic. I am a new life form, as before I was new to the Zargozians as a break through of technology and so I am again. Tolare and Shearah will spend hours scanning me.” She smiled, “I also found out that I am capable of many other things as well; strong emotions, love, friendship and the ability to reproduce.”

She rubbed her tummy and again she smiled. “Afain paved the way for my being what I am, she made me think and try new things…I owe her a lot. Eventually, close to this time frame I put myself in the general population; never really staying in one place too long. Learning about the people on this world and making friends. I knew the time frame I had to return to and so we come to now. As the event approached I had to be careful and not reveal myself too early although you don’t know how much I wanted to. Evan kept me in line, I’ve known him for years and finally I came to terms with my relationship with him and found that I loved him. So much that we are going to be parents. I never thought the day would arrive but here it is.”

The group just looked stunned it was an amazing story of survival. A way of survival that only the best technology could have come up with.

“That is quite the tale Cleo.” Afain said, “I am very happy that you survived and have grown from the experience.” She stood and motioned for her to stand, they embraced in what was a different experience for both of them. As they broke apart Afain looked at Cleo’s mate, “What of Evan here, doesn’t he have a history?”
“No, Evan perished about two years ago according to this world’s history.” Cleo winked, “We arranged it. I knew I would be leaving so we planned it well in advance. We decided we would have to give people the impression that he was gone.”

Afain smiled, she never would have believed her guardian would have evolved so much. “So what do you think of this Evan?” She raised an eyebrow and stared at him.

He looked at the small blue creature, “I’m sorta speechless at the moment, I knew that Cleo was telling the truth about you guys and that all this was going to happen but to see it all unravel as she said it would is a bit spooky.”

“Well, welcome Evan, it seems that your life is going to change radically from this day forward.”

“You have that right.”

The Ship:

Endora excused herself from the group, reality had started to come crashing down upon her. She had Swallow back, but not the way she expected. She also had a souvenir that she had no idea what to do with. She found her way back to her sleeping quarters; she collapsed onto the bed hoping that sleep would come but it didn’t. All she could do was stare at the little green light that blinked on and off on the stainless steel cylinder. Tears flowed from her eyes, down her cheeks and onto the lovely satin sheets the bed was covered in. She felt lost, alone and didn’t know who to turn to.

The ship powered up and headed out for its eventual journey to its proper time and place within the universe. Again the crew and passengers were placed in stasis to try and minimize the problems associated with star jumps. Mother was a prime example of what could go wrong if precautions are not taken. Even then a mind can suffer consequences from minor to major.

The star jump proved to be somewhat of a surprise to Endora. New memories flooded into her mind of things she knew were true but different than what she knew from before. She had both, sets and it was all very confusing but one speck of information that stood out amongst all the rest was that her parents were still alive!!!!

She didn’t understand the memories of them being alive; they were still floating around and sorting themselves but the past had been changed and she knew it. She wondered if any of her family would notice the change or was she the only one. She wanted to go down to the planet and see them to believe the memories but something said wait…until this was all settled.

The Zargozians first had a small mission of their own to do before they returned to their home world. Endora, Evan and Lyja decided to sit this one out; Lyja was far too exhausted to do her cloaking bit. Endora well, she had a lot to sort through as things in her mind began to organize themselves and Evan was still getting used to his surroundings.

The mission was to recover the probe that crashed near Ohio, back around the time they came from. It was an easy task, thanks to the help of Fox-Cleo. Her new body was very resourceful; as the mission proved to be an outstanding success. It was time to get down to the task of helping the Aliens and returning them home.

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PostPosted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 4:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Station:

Warren and the kids met the ship as everyone disembarked, Endora was happy to see them all but was really not in the mood for a total celebration. She loved the kids but she wanted to be with Warren and that’s all.

Warren knew the signs and shooed the kids away, telling them she’d come and see them later.
They protested but he insisted.

She was happy to be back on the station once again, holding the canister in her paws, she wasn’t about to let it out of her sight.

Warren hugged her and tried to comfort her for he knew what she had gone through. Her transmissions didn’t say much only that they had Swallow and things had worked out sorta. She really wanted to talk to him in person.

As they walked back she was awfully quiet and he wondered about the canister, it seems she had left out some of the details of the trip.

As the door closed behind them Endora let out a big sigh.

“It seems that things went differently than expected Dora?”

“Tell me, where are my parents?”

This was a strange question, “Dora...what has...”

“Warren just answer the question.”

He shrugged, “In Florida, you know they always go down there for a few weeks.”

“Then they are alive.”

“Of course...Dora what’s going on?”

“So they didn’t die?” She said softly but Warren clearly heard her.

“Dora...they are extremely old but not on the verge of going anywhere soon. Last time I saw your Dad he had more energy than I did.”

She threw her arms around Warren and kissed him so hard he almost fell over.
Gulp...”Dora, you haven’t been gone...”

“Warren you always loved to talk...right now all I need is you to shut up and do your stuff.”

Warren smiled and looked into the eyes of the femme he fell in love with so long ago. She also began to pump out pheromones at an alarming rate and his rise in temperature responded. He could see the passion in her eyes was intense and he began to respond to her arousal. He might have been a little confused at this point but he wasn’t about to disappoint her.

Much later:

Ti, Endora and Warren all stared at the badly damaged body of Swallow, they couldn’t believe she was still alive after all that. Her injuries were almost unbearable to look at; it looked as if she would never recover from such wounds. Swallow had been moved into the same treatment room as Ti and her bed adjusted accordingly so she could see.

“It doesn’t even look like her.” Warren said, “I mean the lack of fur changes her appearance so much.”

“I know Warren, it’s her, believe me.” Endora said with sadness in her voice.

“Oh I believe you…it’s just that it’s hard to fathom it.”

“Out of all us, I believe Swallow is the most unique, her body is a perfect blend of two entirely different species.” Ti said.

“Yes…I’d have to agree there.” Tolare said barging in on the conversation, not meaning to impolite. “She is indeed a fascinating piece of engineering, she still has some minor flaws but we can correct those. Out of all the clones, she came out the best.”

“What about her injuries? She doesn’t look very good; is she going to be all right?” Endora asked.

“Oh the physical injuries we can correct. What is fascinating is that the micro machines in her system at this moment are non-functional and have been for a long time. The electrical burns she sustained must have destroyed them. It must have been an immense charge.”

“But you said that they couldn’t live without them?” Endora said in question.

“You are correct, she would have died soon without our care. Right now I have injected new machines to clean up what remains of the old colony. They will destroy them; then they will begin to pave the way for new machines to take their place.”

“Then she won’t be like me.” Ti was hoping that they would be able to do something for Swallow, she didn’t need this type of decision resting on her shoulders.

“No Ti, she will not. Her missing organs can be re-grown, it will only take time. Her body even though small in stature is mostly muscle tissue. That is regenerated quite easily, it’s the mind that’s going to be a problem.”

They nodded in agreement, “Do you have a treatment for that?” Endora would do anything to have Swallow back.

Tolare again spoke, “I have to call someone about that and I am studying the scans thoroughly. If she cannot come then we will have to take other methods.”

Endora nodded, “What about those metal things you talked about?”

“Those her fur will conceal, she’ll never know she even has them. We have begun the regeneration process, from now on things will move quickly.”

“What about her fur.” Ti asked, “We discovered she lost it due to molting.”

“That process we can start again as well, it would have eventually started to grow again. Her body sheds the layer of epidermis that grows the spines, she has to have time to regenerate that; then her spines will start to show through. From what scans I’ve done she is still growing which is probably why the sequence has been delayed in starting.”

Ti looked at her once more, as Warren had said it was hard to believe this was Swallow. “She’ll be fine Endora, she is strong; we’ll have her back here with us in no time. Right Tolare?”

“Yes, it will take some time for her body to regenerate but it will heal, good as new. Plus the modifications we are doing to correct some of the minor flaws in her system.”

Endora clutched Warrens paw, it was what she wanted to hear. She stroked the pod with her paw and said a silent prayer. “Come back to us Swallow, we miss you.” She whispered. She looked at Ti and was reminded that she was going through her own crisis, “What about you, how are you doing?”

“Very well, best I have felt in a long time and looks like I’m going to have my arm back sooner than I thought.” She looked down at her right arm.

Endora could see through the gel like substance a thin, straggly stub that was growing in the spot where Ti’s arm had been. “I see; it’s amazing.”

“Yes and Tolare said my heart is ready although they want to make sure my body has fully regenerated before doing the operation.”

“That’s great Ti.” Endora gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m worried for you and all the girls.”

“Don’t worry Mum, we’ll be fine.” Ti winked. “With Shearah and Tolare on the case, we are in good paws.”

Endora’s stomach let out a loud growl, “Oops, seems I neglected to have my breakfast. Seems someone kept me up late last night.”

“Ahem, well yes,” Warren said with an embarrassed smile, “Then if you’ll excuse me and my wife, we will be going to find something to eat.”

They waved and again said their good-byes. As soon as they were out of ear shot Tolare spoke up. “You need to tell them.”

“I know…how are things proceeding?”

“The new machines are doing their jobs, as they should. They have repaired what they could of the original colony. Now they are working towards keeping you going, as you can see of your arm’s growth.”

“Will that work with anything I lose?”

“Yes, damage control will seal off the damaged area then effect repairs. Any limb lost due to accident will be replaced.”

“What of severe damage?”

“It depends on the severity but it is likely the colony would shut down in a severe case. It is uncertain what sort of damage it would take for that to happen, I expect it would take a great deal of bodily damage or your brain injured to the point where there would be no ‘you’ left.”

“I’d die.”

“Yes. I would not suggest you try to find out your limits. You can still feel pain; if you happen to survive you’d be in agony for days until the colony could regroup.”

“I’ll keep that in mind…” She didn’t want to bring it up but…”And the other.”

“It is in place, with several safeguards…it will not activate in times of trauma to your system. Example: if you are emotionally distraught, it will only allow access when you have calmed down. Once activated it will give you five chances to back out of the system, as I told you before. Then once the final activation code is approved you will have five remaining days to accomplish any last minute things.”

She didn’t like to think about it, “Yes I remember, we designed it.”

“Yes, Alien Ti; it is not in our nature or culture to allow someone to take her life but in this case there was no other alternative. You understood the choices.”

“Yeah…wonderful choices.” It was heavy sarcasm that Tolare didn’t quite understand and took it to heart.

She felt extremely remorseful for Alien Ti, “We are sorry.” A tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek.

Ti was instantly taken aback as she saw how upset the Zargozian became and quickly tried to calm her down, “Tolare; it’s not your fault, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to upset you. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s Mother’s and I can’t even blame her now; knowing her story. You and Shearah have given me a chance to live a normal life with someone I truly love and for that I will always be thankful. If you hadn’t come along I would probably be dead by now.”

Tolare recomposed herself and put on a weak but cheerful smile, “Thank you Alien Ti.”

Ti smiled at seeing her feeling better. As Tolare made adjustments to some machines, Ti felt a twinge in her lower region which spurred a question that she hadn’t really asked yet. “What about children?”

Tolare knew the answer to that one, another glitch to explain. She sighed, “There is a question.” She turned Ti’s bed to face a computer screen. “Shearah and I have discussed this and we are at odds on this one point.”

Ti didn’t like the sounds of this, “I can have children; can’t I?” she said in panic.

Tolare quickly tried to calm the Alien Ti, “Oh yes, there is a program running for that scenario; one we cannot isolate or turn off. It seems that if offspring are produced they will twin; always.”

Ti looked at Tolare, “Twins…every time!!!”

“Yes, it’s built in to all of you.”

“All of us?”

“Yes any offspring produced by any of your sister’s will twin and will always be female.”

Ti blinked heavily in reaction to the news, “Females?? Only Females??”

“Yes.”

“Do the rest know?”

“Not yet, it’s a most recent discovery. We looked into it after seeing that Alien Endora’s offspring had twined. It is indeed a curious alteration.”

“Yes it is.” Ti made a mental note that she was going to talk with Mother about this. “Ok what about genetic traits?”

“That is where Shearah and I disagree; I think there is flexibility there in small amounts. It is most likely offspring from yourself will inherit some of your strength but perhaps not all.”

Ti replied, “Shearah thinks not?”

“No she believes your offspring will look identical to yourself in every way.”

“What of these micro machines?”

“They will inherit them as well.”

“There is no chance that they won’t?”

“As I said I believe there is a chance they will not…there are even small odds that you will carry your other gender."

“Boys!!!”

“Ah…yes the male version; it is slim but I can see that there is room for this abnormality.”

Ti’s mind couldn’t believe it, boys; she’d love to have boys. Reality crashed about her soon after, “But you cannot be certain?”

“Nothing is certain about your bodies Alien Ti; nothing truly is.” She moved Ti’s bed back into a reclining mode, “I think its time you got some rest, I have to make a call; it could mean the difference if your sister Swallow lives or dies.”

Ti nodded and let Tolare leave without another word; she said a silent prayer before she drifted off to sleep.

Colony 4549834-11bz or “Zen” as its inhabitants call it.

Again Mira trudged off to find Zirkon; she had this bad habit of taking off at the worst times. Her personal scanner told her in which direction to find her. When she approached, Zirkon looked most surprised to see her.
“I was about to return…”

“Never mind …this came for you, it’s an urgent message from a Physician #0 Tolare; a messenger came to the house tonight to give this to you.” She dug into her apron and presented Zirkon with a small disk like object. “I’ll see you back at the house later.”

She nodded to Mira and watched her turn and leave, Mira obviously knew that this was important and that it wasn’t any of her business.
Zirkon sighed, she had done her piece for the Empire, “What now? she thought.

The device needed a DNA sample and it pricked her finger, it also did a sweep of the area. She noticed that it picked up Mira leaving and then initiated its message.

A small holo image of a very young Zargozian appeared before her, it remained still for a few moments then she spoke. “Greetings Psych Zirkon.” Psych’s had no number rating for there were so few of them it didn’t really make a difference.
“I am hesitant to call you but you are the best and you indeed know that. I have a situation that has developed; it involves an Alien life form that is unconscious. I feel it is a matter of the mind not of the physical. I will not pressure you to come, but you are the most experienced in these matters. Included in the device are holos of the creature and the matrix of its mind. You will see instantly our dilemma. I know of your past, you have acted honorably to the Empire. Nothing will change if you deny my request.”

Zirkon was puzzled, this was from Tolare supposedly but she died. Even word had spread to this far colony of her passing.

“You are probably extremely puzzled at the figure talking to you; it is I Tolare that speaks to you.” Zirkon was shocked, it couldn’t be. “To prove it, I will tell you the name of your mother.”
Tolare alone knew who her mother was, for she was there at her birth. Only a very few knew her name.
“Rius.” Zirkon blinked, she knew!!! It had to be her.

“Peace and prosperity to you, there is information here on where to come. If you are going to, please send a message as soon as you can; so I can make the necessary arrangements.” There was a short pause then, “Long live the Empire.”

The holo of Tolare shut down. She took a moment to think about what she had asked, then she took a look at the alien. A furless, funny looking creature but something drew her to the scans. She could see instantly why she had been called, she sighed. She knew what she was in for…but her life here had become routine and it was time, she felt, to change that. She shut the device off and headed for home. Seems that they were going on a little trip, courtesy of the Empire.

Returning home she had to explain, “You cannot be serious mistress; offworld you say?”
She had forgotten that Mira had never left this planet, it was her home. She’d been born and raised here, the idea of her leaving it had her very upset.
“Mira, I’m sorry, I forgot that this is unsettling to you. You do not have to accompany me, I will go alone.”

For the first time in her life Mira had an opportunity to see the universe and to travel where most did not have means to do so. She was scared, she had never left her home and now she would take a giant leap away from everything she held dear. Her duty to her mistress came first though and she was not about to let her go alone on a mission so far away. Her mind was not accustomed to crowds anymore and she may need more help than she knew. “I will not lie to you mistress, this trip frightens me, for I have never traveled in space but I will not abandon my duties to you. Your mind is not the same as it was, you may find the world outside unsettling. In fact you may need my help more than you know.”

“You are wise Mira, I’m still a young pup and you are right about things being different. Although I have more control now over my mind, being assaulted by crowds may cause problems. I am taking the precaution of having a private ship take us to Tarra. I’m also forwarding my concerns to a physician who treated me once.” She smiled, “It seems that she is involved heavily in this matter so it will not surprise her for what I am asking.”

“Which is?”

“Sorry, I have requested a new improved model of a neutralizer.”

Mira put her paw to her muzzle, “Mistress do you think that is wise, you told me long ago that they caused you great pain.”

“Yes it is true they did, but I fear that with all the voices on the homeworld I will be overwhelmed by them. I will need help to filter them out.”

“Then it is a good idea. How long do we have?”

“The ship will arrive in three days.”

“Then we must be ready. I’ll make arrangements with Breytor to look after the animals. How long shall I tell her that we’ll be gone?”

“I cannot say for sure Mira, it’s likely you will return here before I will.” She sighed knowing full well that it was true. To deal with a mind in this condition could take a very long time.

On the third day a small ship landed outside of their residence, it was a sleek machine and hardly made a sound. The pilot explained that the ship was equipped to leave the atmosphere but was not built to make long journeys. They would join with the mother ship and proceed to Tarra, it would take them three days to get there. To Mira and in some ways to Zirkon the ship was impressive. Almost all her travel was done by spaceport and they were extremely crowded places. This was a warm welcome, for which she was thankful and she would let Tolare know.

End Of Chapter 22.00

Here comes the fuzz!!!!!!!!!!

So, if Cleo is now a living toaster and she is pregnant does that mean she has a toaster in the oven?

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow. That was a BIG chapter. I see I am going to have to re-read the whole of book-3 to really absorb everything and understand all that is happening.

Ya outdoned yourself this time, Cheets.

I won't comment on details yet to spoil it for anyone, but I really liked it.

mfwhite wrote:
...does that mean she has a toaster in the oven?

Ooooo....ouch. Bad Writer. Go stand in the corner, and no donuts.
Very Happy

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Surprised A flying toaster... Definitly a flying toaster. Laughing

As a side note:
With this chapter Sab^3 is now longer than TotS + Sab^2, at least according to my wordcount.

Congrats. Very Happy

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:21 am    Post subject: Wooo someone replies Reply with quote

Wow someone replies to the chapter

I was thinking that i lost all my readers due to christmas and new years...Rolling Eyes

Thanks Berion, Nameless.....for the comments i hope you both liked the chapter....this one was a blast to write with all the action and stuff.

Please both comment again when you can add some detail.Smile

Later and thanks for reading..Smile

Oh guess i can stop writing now since i've done twice as much huh???

Question

Cheetaur

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 3:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great chapter Cheets a question comes to mind though as to Cleo's status within the empire. I mean although advanced Cleo was originally a tool a mechanical servant and protector now what? Will she still be required to fulfill that roll weather she wanted to or not if so what of her unborn kit would it also be considered property of the empire?
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 10:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bearion wrote:

mfwhite wrote:
...does that mean she has a toaster in the oven?

Ooooo....ouch. Bad Writer. Go stand in the corner, and no donuts.
Very Happy


That would be me, not Cheets. The second quip is usually my input. I started doing that many chapters ago not expecting him to keep them with the chapter. I think the first one was, "You are an evil bastard!" about the point where Swallow loses her fur and eats a nurse. Considering what he has done to the sweet girl since he hasn't changed my opinion one bit. Smile

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Styx wrote:
Great chapter Cheets a question comes to mind though as to Cleo's status within the empire. I mean although advanced Cleo was originally a tool a mechanical servant and protector now what? Will she still be required to fulfill that roll weather she wanted to or not if so what of her unborn kit would it also be considered property of the empire?


That is a good point although given how much they respect life, I doubt the Empire would press the point too much. I suspect it comes down to how Cleo feels about it since I doubt anyone could do much to force her to do anything. Trading her technology for freedom would be an easy choice to make for the empire.

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Couldn't have said it any better dude.......thanks


Whew (stops sweating bullets)

So i bet no one guessed that was going to happen????

LOL

i'm insane...... Razz

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have another question just what was in the letter Endora gave her father that allowed them both to be alive in the altered time line and what are the consequences?
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very Happy

Be patient young grasshopper, all will be revealed in time.

Wink

Cheetaur

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 6:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mad BUT I WANT INSTANT GRATIFICATION RIGHT NOW *Starts jumping up and down in a tantrum*
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 9:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Styx wrote:
Mad BUT I WANT INSTANT GRATIFICATION RIGHT NOW *Starts jumping up and down in a tantrum*



Ok, I'll give you the answer, just scroll down so those who don't want to spoil the story can't see it.
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The answer is 42. There you go, instant gratification. Smile

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PostPosted: Thu Jan 08, 2004 11:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A good one, my friend. You're still throwing curves right up to the end.
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