Denise spoke.

"Vergus, Vergus, are you still there?" There was no response. They waited a moment, then two, then five minutes. Denise looked at Aleerin and said,

"Is there anything we can do?" A perplexed Aleerin just shook his head no and so they waited some more. It was just under an hour and the veins of gold began pulsing again and Vergus' image came up. He said,

"I am very sorry for leaving you like that, but something you said concerned me. You mentioned another and you are right. It is Emperor Grackless. He was the ruler of the Empire when we were attacked. He was a truly evil being. After all the life died on the planet, he must have come here and discovered what we were doing. He has put himself into a smaller computer in a different building. I had a tough time getting past his security but I eventually got into his archives. After he was put into the machine, his son took over the Empire and he made the planet off limits. The Emperor has been trying to get the Empire back ever since. He is going to use the Syndicate to build an army. You are going to have to stop him or the galaxy will be in total chaos." Denise looked at him and said,

"You want us to take on a super computer that has an army of robots and cyborgs at its disposal?" The image of Vergus said,

"Well, it is either now, when he is weak, or later, when he is strong." Denise looked around at her group and thought, 'this is insane, every time we turn around someone wants us to risk our lives for something.' Denise said,

"You all know what we are being asked to do. If there is anyone who does not want to push their luck anymore and go back, now is the time to go." They all looked at each other and finally Graham said,

"I know for myself, I would like to help but I am a scientist, not a soldier. If you have something for me to do I would be more than willing to help." Denise looked around and could see that was pretty much how they all felt. She said,

"Well Connor, you have military training. Pogo, you would be a big help. But you are right, the rest of you should stay here. We need you people to find out as much as you can about this technology." A couple of them looked very disappointed, but they realized what Denise was saying was true.

Denise quickly changed to a new subject to get their minds off of that and onto something else. She said,

"Vergus, how can we get at this thing?" Vergus had been silent, but now he spoke.

"You will have to destroy the planetary power supply. It does have reserve power, but it will only last for about 12 hours." They all thought about that for a moment then Yalp said,

"But will that not also cut off your power supply?" Vergus at first did not reply. Then, slowly looking around the group, said,

"Yes, it will." Yalp almost yelled as jumped into the air saying,

"We cannot do that. The knowledge that would be lost is unimaginable." Vergus looked down at the little lizard.

"I also would like to get to know you better, but I don't think you have the knowledge to set up a separate power supply." Denise then smiled and said,

"That's it. That is what the rest of you can work on. It will be very important in the long run."

Yalp looked at Graham and they both smiled. They both turned towards Vergus and Yalp said,

"Will you help us?" The hologram of Vergus smiled and the two tentacle around his mouth shook with what the group thought to be excitement. He finally replied,

"Yes. I do not want to die. But we cannot let that monster loose on the galaxy." Denise nodded that she understood. Vergus looked at her and said,

"There is an armory close by. It will contain things you will need to get to the power system. Also, there will be explosives you can use to destroy the generator and its storage cells." He then made a small information pad. It materialized in her hand. He then explained to her where it was and how to gain entrance.

Denise, Pogo and Conor then left. They headed out of the hospital and followed Vergus' instructions to the smallest detail. When the got to where the door should be, all they found was a huge hole. The hole looked to be the door from the armory, except it had been blown off. Denise stuck her head in and found a couple of skeletons that looked to be Vergus' race. Denise stepped over them and moved to where the door should be. There was no door, only a large floor to ceiling storage unit. Denise thought, 'no problem. The door is probably being concealed behind it.' She said,

"Let's see if we can move this." They all found a place to grab a hold and Denise said,

"Push!" Put she had neglected to say in which direction. The storage unit did not budge. Connor said,

"Which way do you want to move it?"

"Why, out from the wall, of course." Pogo smiled and said,

"Maybe we should try it again." So they did and this time it moved. Not much at first, but finally they got it far enough from the wall to see there was no door behind it. Denise moved behind the storage unit and started looking for a way in. She had been at it for quite some time when Pogo said,

"Stop." Denise turned to look at him and said,

"What? Did you see something?"

"You did not see that?"

"See what?"

"Move your hand to the right and hold it there until I tell you to move it." She moved her hand and Pogo saw it once again go into the hologram. But this did not explain why no one else saw it. He then thought, 'the manipulation must be mental as well as holographic.' He then put up a mental shield around them all; and Denise quickly pulled her arm away from the wall when she saw her hand had disappeared. She said,

"What the hell was that?" Pogo answered her.

"It seems there is not only a holographic image of a wall here, but also a mental suggestion to believe in it. I have put up a mental shield, so I think we can now get to work on the hologram."