Maria sat on the bed. Taye had promised to meet with them but had yet to show up. Michael's dream kept popping into her head. She knew that the hawk had been her father, but why had he taken Michael away? Why hadn't Michael and Tess got in contact with them?

She looked over at Isabel. "Do you think they are ok?" She asked.

Isabel stopped pacing and sat down next to Maria. "Of course they are. Don't you think we'd have felt something if they weren't?"

Maria smiled. "That's true. It's just, I was sure Michael would try and see me by now.

"Maybe they have." Isabel stated. "Maybe they've tried but can't. What if our family won't let them here?"

Maria looked at Isabel. "The hawk?"

Isabel nodded her head. "Those eyes were unmistakable. They were definitely our father's."

"Why does he not want Michael with us?" Maria wondered out loud.

Isabel didn't know the answer.

Just then the door to their room slid open. Max walked in, followed by Taye and Ian.

"Taye wants to take us out sight-seeing." Max said. "You guys want to go?"

The girls looked at Max. Had he lost his mind? Then it hit them. He wasn't taking them sight seeing; he was taking them to Nasedo, or at least away from the house.

Ian smiled. "There are some great old colonies on the hill just outside of town. You'd really enjoy them. You should really consider the tour. It will fill you in on a lot of your history." The look on his face saddened. "I also have to tell you that Michael contacted me earlier in the week. He said to tell you he was sorry. He needed to break free of you. All of you. He's got his family back and he wants to start fresh." He turned and looked at Maria. "He's with Tess now."

Maria's breath caught in the back of her throat. Even though she knew Ian was lying she still couldn't stand the thought of Michael and Tess being together. She had to play along though. It was the only way they'd ever get off the planet. She turned to Isabel and began to cry.

"It's ok." Isabel soothed. "You didn't need him anyway. You've got us." She looked up at Taye. "I think what we need right now is a good distraction and sight-seeing sounds perfect."

Maria pulled away. "I'm too depressed to sight-see." She said, throwing herself on the bed.

'Easy now, don't over do it.' Isabel thought.

"Do you think it would be good for me?" Maria asked, turning to Ian.

"I think it's a great idea." He said, helping her off the bed.

"Ok, then. I guess I'll go." Maria said, wiping away a few stray tears.

"Good, everyone out to the Zephyr then." Taye said. "I'll have them back early."

"No rush, good man." Ian said, smiling. "I want them to know their history."

They all made their way out to Taye's vehicle and got inside. Taye took his spot in the driver's seat. The hatch was closed and everyone waved good-bye to Ian. When they had cleared the gate to their house, Isabel let out a sigh of relief. "Where's he at?"

"Who?" Taye asked.

"Nasedo." Maria replied.

"I'm going to see him today. I need to talk to you first." He guided the Zephyr onto a long stretch of road. "First I have to get you to where no one can possibly here what I have to say."

They rode in silence for a long time. It wasn't long before Taye eased the vehicle off of the main road and across a field. He landed the Zephyr in the middle of it. The four of them climbed out of the machine and looked around. Max noticed the ship first.

"It's our ship." He said.

Taye shook his head. "It is, but I don't know how to run it. I'm going to free Nasedo today and he'll be able to navigate you back."

"How soon will we be out of here?" Maria asked. She couldn't believe Taye was helping them.

"As soon as Nasedo is free." He walked back to the Zephyr. "Stay here. You'll be safe. I'm going to get Michael and Tess. I'll drop them off here and then I'll go get Nasedo."

Max watched as Taye drove off. How long would it take until he was back? Max didn't know but he wasn't going to waste his time outside waiting. He moved over to the ship and entered it. Maybe if he looked at the controls he'd figure out what everything did. Maybe he could fly them home. He laughed to himself. There were so many buttons he didn't know where to begin.

Isabel walked in the opposite direction of the ship. She found a rock and sat down on it, drawing her knees to her chest.

Maria followed her, noticing the look of sadness on her face. She sat down beside her. "Are you ok?" She asked.

Isabel looked down. When she looked back up at Maria there were tears in her eyes. "I think I'm in trouble." She said.

Maria didn't understand. They were all in trouble, not just Isabel. "What do you mean? We're in this together."

Isabel looked at Maria. "I've been sick the last few days, very sick. I've been having visions too." She mumbled. Isabel looked away shyly. She didn't know why she was telling Maria. She'd sworn she wouldn't say anything until they'd returned to earth and knew for sure. "Maria, I think I'm pregnant."

"Alex?" Maria asked.

She smiled sheepishly. "Yeah."

Maria exhaled. She didn't know what to say. This was not the place for that to be happening. She put her arm around Isabel and hugged her. "It's ok. We'll get through it. How do we know for sure?" She asked.

Isabel smiled. "It's not like we can go to Wal-Mart or anything." She said. "I guess we'll have to wait nine months."

"What if I connected to you? Wouldn't I be able to see or tell if you were?" Maria asked. She'd never thought about that.

Isabel shrugged. "It's worth a try, I guess."

Maria placed her hand on Isabel's abdomen and concentrated. She'd never done this before. She didn't know where to start or how to go about it. But she had to start somewhere and the abdomen was the most logical place. She allowed their bodies to connect together as one. She slowly made her way through Isabel's body, leaving nothing unturned. When she had finished, she broke the connection.

"I'm sorry." Maria said.

Isabel began to cry. Maria reached over and put her arms around Isabel. "It's ok. We'll get back to earth. You'll have another chance."

Isabel pulled away and smiled. "I'm not crying because I'm not pregnant. I'm crying because I'm happy. If I'd have been pregnant." She looked away. "That would have been so hard on me.being away from Alex.I don't think I could have done it."

"Maybe it's meant to be then." Maria said. "Maybe the reason you aren't pregnant is so we DO return to earth."

"I hope so." Isabel said. She reached over and hugged Maria. "Thank you. You're a great sister you know that?"

Maria pulled away at a noise coming through the field. "What's that?"

Isabel strained her eyes. Then the object took on a shape and they both knew it was the Zephyr. They watched as it hovered to a stop, the same spot Taye had dropped them off.

Maria was at the door before Michael could even get out. "I've missed you so much." She said.

He didn't care who saw him. He gathered her into his arms and just held her close. The week they'd been separated was the longest they'd been apart since they became friends. He didn't want to let go of her. He swore he'd never let go. He pulled her back to where he could look into her eyes, then kissed her.

The connection was instant when they kissed. Maria felt how he'd been feeling without her there. She saw him trying to get to them, only to be turned away by Ian. She saw him holding a crying Tess, meeting his family, finding out the truth from Taye, himself as a bird and the giant hawk taking him away from her. When the kiss ended, so did the connection.

"Michael." Maria said, breathlessly.

"Where's Max?" He asked. He looked all around and couldn't find him.

"He's in the ship checking out the controls. He thinks he can fly us back." Isabel said.

"Hardly." Taye said, walking up behind them. "Those controls are so sophisticated that even I don't know how they work." He sighed. "I'm going to get Nasedo now. I'll return for you, one way or another."

They waved good-bye as the Zephyr flew off.

"Maxwell!" Michael yelled. "Get out here. We have to talk."

Max emerged from the ship. "When did you get here?" He asked, walking over to Michael and hugging him. "Thought you skipped the planet on us." He turned and hugged Tess too. He was so happy to see both of them.

"Believe me, if I could hitched my way off here I'd be doing it." He said.

They sat down on the ground around the rock Isabel had been sitting on earlier. Michael began. "I've got two items to discuss." He looked around the group. He wanted to make sure he had everyone's attention before he began. "First off, there is more to the story than us just being held here. Our families are at war with each other. We were called back by my father to try and make peace. Your parents," He said, pointing to Max. "Decided we were to stay here and not return. They needed more people on their side. So, what I'm ultimately leading to is we have to get out of here as soon as possible before we get sucked into this war."

Maria looked at Isabel and then the rest of the group. "I know we should have probably said something earlier," She began. "but when Isabel and I were on the dream plane we entered Nasedo's dream. He had been waiting on us. I mean, I know you guys knew about that. What you didn't know is that he told us we didn't have much time."

Max looked confused. "What?"

Isabel took over. "We all know that the time here on Aardon is different than the time on earth. Nasedo also told us the time lapse was different."

"So what you're saying is it's not the same day on earth as it is here?" Tess asked.

"Kind of." Maria said. "There is a little more to it though. One week here is equivalent to six months on earth. In English, we've been gone from Earth for a little over six months."

"That's why we don't have much time." Isabel finished. "He said that after a year it would be too hard to pick our lives back up. That means we have less than a week to find a way home. I just hope Nasedo comes through for us."

Max felt all his insides twist up. Had it really been six months? He'd promised Liz he'd be back in a couple of weeks. There was no way she'd ever trust him again. That'd been twice now he'd broken a promise to her. He needed her. He realized that now. Coming back to his planet was a mistake. It wasn't something he needed to do but he did. And now he was being punished for leaving her. He sat there in silence staring across the vast darkness of the planet.

All eyes were upon Max. They knew he could loose it at any moment. The reality that six months had passed on earth was enough for any of them to loose it. But Max didn't. All he could do was stare.

"What was the other thing you wanted to talk to us about?" Max said, finally coming around.

"You ok, man?" He asked.

"I'll be fine." He said. "I'm just a little shocked, that's all. Six months is such a long time."

Maria didn't have the heart to tell Max they'd seen Liz in Alex's dream. In fact, neither Maria nor Isabel had mentioned the detour they'd taken. They were afraid it would cause hard feeling between the group.

Michael knew Max wanted him to change the subject. "My second announcement involves Tess and I." He began.

That familiar pang of jealousy hit Maria square in the stomach. She remembered Ian saying that Michael and Tess were together. Could it be true? NO! She knew it couldn't or he wouldn't have kissed her like he did when he'd arrived.

"Remember Taye saying I have a brother and a sister? My brother is on some kind of quest somewhere and my sister is missing." He continued.

The group nodded their heads. Taye had told them that on the way to their planet.

"Well I walked into the house ahead of Tess. When my mother hugged me, she noticed Tess behind me. Her mouth fell open and she started crying. As it turns out, Tess is my missing sister." He smiled towards Tess. "Can you even imagine me having family on earth all that time and not knowing it?"

"No way!" Max said, stunned.

Maria breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't have Tess to worry about. She was happy for Michael though. "You must be happy." She said.

"I am." He said. "I guess. It really hasn't sunk in yet."

"I know what he means." Tess added. "I can't believe it either. I never even thought about that. I just thought I was another one of you trying to get home." She looked away. "But this isn't home."

Isabel smiled. "Everything would be perfect if we were back on earth then." She said.

"How come you were missing?" Maria asked Tess.

"From what I gathered from our mother, my pod was kidnapped and stored aboard the ship to earth. Whoever took the pod thought I was also a boy and would be chosen as second in command behind our father. They got mine and our brother's pod mixed up. I went to earth and he was left on the planet. No one knew where I disappeared too. Since I was separated when I hatched from my pod, no one suspected a thing, or did I." Tess explained.

"Wow! That's just so weird." Max said.