Maria let out the breath she was holding and, only then, realized how relieved she was that the alien was humanoid. 'The man,' she reminded herself, 'not the alien. I can't keep thinking of all these people as aliens. Liz and I are the aliens here.... What a weird thought!' She glanced around to see if the others were similarly reassured.

Max stepped toward the man, who tilted his head formally in his direction and said, "Your highness.... I am your uncle, King Zan... your mother's brother."

With a wave of his hand, Max interrupted him. "We will continue to use our present names. Mine is Max."

The man paused only briefly. "As you will...." He looked at Michael and nodded as to an equal. His gaze returned to Max. "Which lady is your consort, our queen?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he stepped up to Liz and touched her shoulder. "Ah, yes...." He smiled into her eyes. "Yes, I see. You are indeed his soulmate. You have the same vibration.... And your child has the resonance of future greatness."

Tess felt a slightly sick lurch in the pit of her stomach during this speech. She had the memory of her last wedding ceremony. In spite of everything, she had thought that eventually she would be the one at his side.

Almost as though he could hear her thoughts, the man came to her and looked down at her. "No, my daughter. He is not truly yours... even though I made the error of betrothing you to him long ago."

Startled, Tess gazed into his kind eyes and found only love there. He continued, "Follow your heart. Only then will you find fulfillment." He turned to smile at the rest of the group. "You see, these years of slavery have taught us some things that we should never have forgotten!"

He looked at Isabel and added, "Do not be dismayed. Forgiveness can be found here also. It was not the 'you' who stands here now who betrayed us, you know, but the 'you' destroyed on the planet earth.... The very best in each of you has returned to us...."

Finally, he walked over to Maria and placed his hand on her shoulder. A slight vibration passed between them. He turned to Michael without moving his hand. "You have chosen well also. This one is pure of heart and filled with many kinds of beauty. The resonance of your daughter is one of total joy.... That one will surely dance!"

"What daughter?" Michael's eyes met Maria's and sparked with awareness.

"Ah..." The man smiled. "You had not yet discovered her presence?"

"No...." Maria gulped.

Liz smiled at her friend. "It's OK, Maria.... We're in this together...."

"Yeah.... In more ways than one!"

"Come.... There are apartments for your refreshment. We will arrive in a few hours.... Not on our planet, to be sure, but on a secret base in one of the moons.... We want your arrival, your highness, to be a total surprise.... Especially to Kivar!" He smiled warmly.

Max returned the smile. "When do we see my mother?"

"As soon as we have retaken the planet. I am in touch with her but we must not risk discovery of your presence ahead of time, so she determined that your reunion must wait. It should not take long now that you have come.... The people are heartily sick of this dictator of thought and deed.... He has very little support left and it will fade as your highness comes back... from the dead!"

He paused and a doorway opened into a lounge… equipped with several couches and a viewscreen of the universe they traveled through. Soft music played in the background, but as soon as Max and Liz entered the room this changed to the strains of "I Shall Believe"..... Liz whirled to look at the man. He smiled and said, "The room is programmed to meet your tastes, your desires, and your needs.... Enjoy!" He turned to go.

"Wait!"

He paused at Max's command. "Yes, your highness?"

"What do we call you?"

"Jafra."

"Thank you, Jafra."

The door closed and the wall looked solid. Michael nervously approached it as if he suspected it had become a cell. The door reappeared and opened. Michael wondered what would happen if he forgot where the door was.... He walked a few feet to the left and approached the wall. Here, too, a door appeared. 'Cool,' he thought. Then... 'What if it's an outside wall?' He approached a wall to the right that seemed different from the others. A melodious voice said, 'Please select any interior wall to be provided with an exit.' He smiled to himself. 'Very cool.'

Maria had been watching him and understood his thought processes well enough to know exactly what he was doing. She was still overwhelmed at the thought that she was pregnant... and that this stranger seemed to know more about her baby right now than she would when it was born. She sat down on one of the couches and thought, 'Soft. Not a bad color if you like blue.... Wish it was orange....' It became orange. Maria almost came off it, then calmed down. 'OK,' she thought, 'A coke would be really good about now....' And a coke appeared on a small table at her elbow. She tasted it. 'Wow! It really tastes like coke too!' Now she knew how Michael felt when he approached her with a smile.

Isabel stood in front of the viewscreen. She was unaware that tears were sliding down her cheeks until Max came up to her and gently removed them. "Let it go, Iz. That was another person. Another life."

"I know, Max... I just had not realized how much that was weighing on me until Jafra told me that it was not my burden... It was Lonnie's....."

Max kissed her temple and went to Liz. "You doing OK?"

"Oh, yes... Just looking for the bathroom." She laughed. "The usual search of the maternally expecting...."

As she spoke a door opened into a smaller attached room. This door could be seen at all times. "Probably only one of them per room," Maria muttered.

Liz entered and the door slid shut behind her. She used a facility that combined the features of a commode and a bidet back home. Then she studied her face in the mirror... a mirror that was not glass and not metal, but was clearer than either. "Well," she told herself, "For a small town girl from Roswell, New Mexico, you are certainly getting around first class."

An unexpected voice answered her. "Of course, highness.... You are our new queen."

Liz turned to see who had spoken. A young girl in a long, simple green tunic and full slacks stood in the mirror facing her. She saw herself... and she saw the girl. She looked behind her, saw no one, and looked back at the mirror. The girl regarded her with interest and patience.

"Who are you?"

"I am Lucina, your handmaiden."

"Where are you?"

"In my apartment. You spoke and I thought you might be summoning me."

"Ah.... No..... Not now.... I would like to meet you soon..... but not right now.... OK?"

"As you will, highness...." The image of the other girl faded.