Larek - "Only partially. As I said, Zan had fallen in love with this woman and by then had begun to lose interest in archeology. By that time it was obvious that she had fallen deeply in love with Zan also. They spent every minute together. Eventually he had no choice but to tell her all about himself.

Looking at Max with a smirk, Michael sarcastically said, "So basically he told her he was from another planet."

Max was rubbing his temples and showing all signs of an oncoming headache.

Maria -"Please tell me she didn't turn him in."

Larek - "No, she didn't, and I don't think he would ever have told her if it weren't for what happened next."

"Rath began to feel left out. He started to go off on his own to discover more about our ancient trips to this planet. He was determined to find out why no one at home knew about this."

"Rath became obsessed with finding the answers, so obsessed that he never noticed that he was being followed. Rath finally found what he was looking for in an ancient sealed tomb. The only way he could get into the tomb was to use his natural powers. He found his answers and again it was much more than he had expected. He was trying to get back to tell Zan when he was captured by the men who had been following him. They had come upon him so quickly that he was rendered immobile before he had a chance to defend himself."

"He was held for a week while scientists experimented on him."

Max and Michael exchanged glances. They had shared the same experience, one forgotten and one not, but the emotion was the same. Guilt. They had each not prevented the other from being captured.

The scientists had to call in a specialist to help them prove their theory that Rath had some of the same genetic coding of the people on their planet.

After finding out what had happened, Zan was preparing to leave to try to rescue Rath. Zan couldn't bear the thought of just leaving the woman without a word and even though he loved her and trusted her, he was still afraid of what might happen if she knew the truth. She surprised him. She even helped him rescue Rath.

The information that Rath had found showed that the explorers had taken specimens back to our world to be used in experiments. Our ancestors began making genetic alterations to subjects of our own world to see what would happen. They were fascinated with the results. Apparently, this primitive planet's genetic structure when mixed with our own created a far superior being. The level of intelligence grew dramatically. One of their test subjects escaped and created an army. He eventually took over the ruling body of our planet, proclaiming himself as king.

He began creating his own super race of beings. He created a religion with priests loyal to him to help propagate his fantasy world, that this new type of being was deemed superior by the gods. He carefully hid all the documents. He created the laws that there were to be no mixed marriages between the two races and the dye was cast for a brave new world. That was thousands of years ago, but apparently some traditions have remained intact, as they were intertwined with religion doctrine.

Some of the original beings of our planet had learned of this and had tried to return to the primitive planet to obtain specimens of their own. Their ship was damaged and they ended up stranded on the planet. They left a record of what had happened in the tomb of the last of their survivors. After that, travel to off worlds was forbidden for centuries. Eventually all the beings on our planet evolved into the beings that we are today, similar in many ways with only that small bit of genetic difference.

Alex smugly voiced, "So the ruling class of your planet is really the product of a more primitive planet?"

Larek coldly replied, "It would seem so."

Michael - "So how did this create the downfall of our own planet?"

Larek - "After Rath's rescue, they both knew they could no longer remain on the planet. It was too dangerous. Zan was broken hearted at having to leave the woman behind. At one point he had decided to stay and take his chances, but she convinced him to leave."

Zan and Rath made a pact to never reveal the information that they had discovered. They both realized what this would do to our world. It would bring total chaos and they knew it.

They both came back changed though. Rath was more introverted and openly less trusting. I think it was the fact that he had seen brutality at the hands of his captors and the rulers of his planet had the same genetic make up as those of his captors. He had that genetic make up as well. Maybe it was just the fact that his entire belief system had been destroyed. I don't know.

Zan was the most changed. It was as if he were no longer a whole person. He was hollow. He stopped listening to Vilandra. The longer he was back the more changed he became. It was as if a part of him was slowly dying. It wasn't until much later that I understood why. I think it was partially due to the fact that he couldn't stand the injustice of his world and he couldn't do anything about it.

Several years later after Zan's father death, he became King. It was then that Zan began to make changes. He decreed that mixed marriages would be allowed. I imagine that he felt that if he couldn't tell the great secret at least he could even the genetic pool. After that, the ruling class was in turmoil and they made several attempts on Zan's life. He didn't even seem to notice or at least he didn't seem to care.

His family felt that if he married perhaps he would be happier and stop brooding. He refused their every plea. Finally, after another attempt on his life and at his mother's request, he finally agreed to marry. He left the choice up to his mother. She picked his palace bodyguard. Zan made a point of explaining to Ava that it would be a marriage in name only, as he had already bonded with someone else and could not join with her. She accepted this, as she was a loyal follower."

Tess - " No, that can't be true. I remember feelings and images of our marriage."

Larek - " Zan always treated you as his wife and queen. He never gave anyone a reason to think that the two of you were never bonded."

Max walked up to Tess and putting his arms around her just held her for a moment.

Max - " Tess I am so sorry, I would never hurt you intentionally."

Tess - (Touching his face) " I know you wouldn't."

As she looked at Max and then glanced at Kyle she realized that it no longer really mattered.

Maria - "So this bonding… You mean, Zan and the woman on the planet, they like… did it. I mean they slept together?"

Larek - (Annoyed) "When two of our race are joined it is a bonding of mind and spirit. It is a blending of personality, emotion, thoughts, experiences and, for lack of a better term, souls. It ties, no blends them, together in ways I cannot begin to explain. If love is involved, it is that much stronger. It is not just a joining of bodies such as your species recreational rituals."

Alex - " Ouch!"

Isobelle - "Go on!"

Liz again looked hurt at this additional information. She knew that Max thought she had slept with Kyle and had accepted it and still loved her. She knew this was Max's prior life, one that no longer really existed for him, but it didn't make it hurt any less.

Larek - " With the ruling class in total turmoil, it opened the door for a very ambitious man to stage an uprising and take over."