Part 51

"Oh my God."

Max reached out and took Liz�s hand. He squeezed it comfortingly, although he was just as horrified as she was. There was no other way to feel, being as they were staring at a pulsing pod in which floated an exact replica of himself.

"Why do you think he looks human?" Liz whispered. "Isn�t that kind of weird?"

"What isn�t?" Max asked, shaking his head. He looked around nervously. For some reason, they had easily found their way into the lab housing the clone. No one had tried to stop them, nor had they come across anyone in the entire research wing of the palace. Although Yorvin had not followed them when they went in search of the lab, Max suspected that Liz�s bodyguard had warned the scientists that they were coming. And, now, here they were, staring at the clone of Zan, which was the key to setting the Wendarians entire plan into motion. This was the duplicate they were going to use to bring down three planets.

Max wondered if the other Zan - the one who had lived before - had found himself in this exact moment. Had he uncovered what the shapeshifters were planning? Were Max and Liz just reliving exactly what had happened to Zan and Rowena before? Had they been in the position of being able to stop the destruction of Valonia and had they failed to do so? It was entirely possible. Because, after all, Max knew exactly what had to be done - knew exactly what the granolith had sent them here to do.

The clone had to be destroyed. There was no question. And he was the one who was going to have to do it. He was going to pull the plug on a part of himself before it ever even had a chance to exist. And, in so doing, the entire history of the star system�the entire history of his very existence�would change forever.

"I don�t understand," Liz said. "How did they do this? You�ve only been here for a few hours. It can�t be possible that they�ve managed to create an almost fully grown clone so quickly. I mean, it took over fifty years for our pods on Earth to produce six year olds."

"They must have had my DNA from earlier," Max replied. "It�s the only explanation. It doesn�t matter anyway. The important thing is that we�ve found it and we can get rid of it."

Max felt Liz tense through where they were still holding hands. "Max, how can we do that? It�s you!"

"It�s not me," Max told her grimly. "And we have no choice."

There was a long pause. Max glanced at Liz. She was staring at the pod, her lips tightly pressed together.

"Liz, c�mon. You have to know there�s no choice."

"I know," she replied quietly. "But we won�t just be changing the history of this planet when we do this, Max."

Max closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, and then said, "I know. But things are already different, Liz. There�s no Ava here. That has to mean something. Things have changed already, and I have to believe that it�s for the better."

"But can we really make this decision for everyone? If we fix things here - if we destroy him - we�ll never have any reason to go to Earth. We both know it. Everything will be different." Max could feel her trembling slightly. He pulled her close, wrapping his arm around her, but he didn�t look at her. They both seemed incapable of taking their eyes off the clone. Max frowned. How could something that looked so peaceful, so much like him, be the cause of so much future misery?

"Max, what if we�re not even really here?" Liz asked in a soft voice. "What if we do this and we stop existing altogether?"

"What do you mean?" He wasn�t quite sure what she was getting at.

"My memories of being Rowena go back exactly two days, Max," Liz replied evenly. "But she existed - she lived - before my consciousness took over. Which means that she was forced out when I became her." Max felt his heart start to thump even more quickly, as he started to understand what Liz�s quick brain had already worked out. "If we do this," she continued, "What if they come back? In fact, where are the real Zan and Rowena right now? Where�s the Zan that came off that ship? Because that wasn�t you. I know it wasn�t. What if they come back permanently? Where are we going to go?"

Max didn�t know what to say. "I can�t answer that," he finally said carefully. "But can we turn away? I mean, just because we�re scared? All the people who are going to die�"

"I know."

Which meant that, really, there was nothing left to say.

"Should we try to contact the others first?" Liz asked. She had already moved forward, and was looking around, her movements determined.

"I just don�t think there�s time," Max told her. He looked around warily too. It was really making him nervous that no one had yet confronted them. "If we�re going to do it, it has to be now."

"How?"

"I guess we just pull the plug," Max replied. He walked over to the pod, then ran his hands over it, searching for a way to destroy it. He felt a shudder run down his spine. This moment, more than any other, including first finding the pod chamber, reinforced to him that he really was a clone - that he had been born exactly this way. That he truly was alien.

"Oh my God!" Max turned his head and looked at Liz. She was standing behind him, a horrified expression on her face and was staring past him, at the clone. Max looked up at the pod. He felt a shiver descend his spine when he realized that his clone was staring down at him. His eyes were open and he was looking directly at Max. Creepy was not a strong enough word to describe how it made Max feel.

"Max, he�s awake!" Liz said, sounding panicked. "How can we do this to him when he�s awake?"

Max did not know how to answer her. She had stepped up beside him and was tracking her fingers lightly against the pod, fascination beginning to replace her upset. "God, he looks exactly like you."

Max closed his eyes for a moment. None of this changed anything. He knew what they needed to do. He knew Liz did as well. But it was becoming harder to do it with every passing moment. They needed to do it now.

Unfortunately, he had no idea what to do. As he ran his hands over the pod again, trying to ignore the fact that his clone was still staring at him, he was forced to admit that there didn�t seem to be any way to harm the clone by simply pulling the plug, as he had termed it before. They were going to have to destroy it entirely it seemed. Max eyed the computers behind the pod, frowning. Unless he and Liz could somehow figure out how to use those things.

He was about to suggest it, when he heard Liz gasp again. He watched in amazement as his clone, inside the pod, lifted his hand and placed it against the see-through material. The clone traced the outline of Liz�s hand, which she had flattened against the pod.

"Max, he sees us," Liz murmured, sounding upset. "We can�t do this."

"Liz�"

"Max, maybe if we take control of him now, he won�t be evil," Liz suggested desperately.

They stared at each other for a long moment.

They never got a chance to make the final decision, one way or the other. In the end, the clone made the decision for them. Because the next thing Max knew, spots were starting to appear in front of his eyes. It took him a moment to understand what was happening, but once he did, he knew that their hesitation might have been their undoing.

He clutched frantically at the clone�s hands, which were wrapped around his neck. He could hear Liz screaming, but he couldn�t see her clearly anymore. She was starting to fade in and out as he struggled against the clone�s iron grip.

His last thought, before passing out, was for Liz. He was leaving her all alone. He felt a pang of utter failure, and then the world went black.

***

Kate opened her eyes to intense sunlight streaming into her face. She raised her hand to block it out, which proceeded to jolt her out of the languorous waking in which she had been indulging.

She stared at her hand in fascination. Because this was not her hand. She was looking at long tapered fingers, which in and of itself wasn�t that strange. After all, her fingers had been long before. No, it was the fact that they were covered in grey skin that was making her heart pound at ten times its usual speed.

"Wow," she breathed in amazement. She sat up, and slid to the floor. Glancing around the room, she found herself to be admiring a spacious, high-ceilinged chamber. It was graced with floor to ceiling windows, through which the light was pouring in. Moving to the window, she stared out onto another planet. She gaped in amazement at the tall buildings surrounding her. She had always remembered something of her past life, of course, but nothing had quite prepared her for the reality of where she had come from.

It was unbelievable. She was on some sort of city planet, obviously. The intense sun beamed off the thousands upon thousands of soaring edifices, almost blinding her with their magnificence. If she had not known already that the culture from which she had emerged was well advanced beyond that on Earth, the splendor before her would have told her so.

She leaned further out the window, shivering slightly with unease when she looked down. The ground was far below. She looked up again, ready to drink in the sights�and quickly took a step back, shrieking when a face suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Oh! Good! You�re awake!"

Kate stared at the grey, large-eyed face in front of her. "Do�Do I know you?" She looked down again. "And, what are you doing out there?"

The large dark eyes blinked once, and Kate watched in amazement as amusement flooded their depths. "Of course, silly. It�s me. Are you still dreaming?" She gestured towards her feet. "I�m on the lift."

Kate could see that the figure was indeed standing on some sort of moving platform. But she quickly let the strangeness of this appearance at her window go. Because, indeed she did know who this was.

Vilandra.

Kate did not know how she knew it was her, but she was positive she was right. Of course, it was Vilandra. And she was on Antar, waiting for her brother, Khivar to come fetch her home.

But this wasn�t supposed to be Vilandra, Kate realized, shaking her head. This was supposed to be Isabel. Something had gone horribly wrong!

"Kara, are you well?" Vilandra demanded. She had stepped off the lift and onto the window sill, and now almost seemed to float gracefully to the floor as she entered Kate�s room.

Kate brought her hand to her temple, slightly dazed. "I don�t know," she admitted. "Isabel?"

"Isabel?" Vilandra said, laughing slightly. It was a musical sound, pleasant to the ears. The memories she held of Vilandra started to flood back at the sound of it. Charming Vilandra. Her best friend. "What is Isabel?"

"Your name," Kate whispered to the other woman. But Vilandra did not hear her, because she was already moving across the room to a door set into the wall. The princess keyed something into the pad set into the wall next to it, and it slid open, revealing a flurry of fabric in colours so rich they made Kate gasp.

"You�re just nervous," Vilandra was saying over her shoulder. "I should never have told you that Zan was coming home today." Her expressive eyes opened wider, if that was possible. While the rest of her face remained unreadable, those eyes told her that Vilandra was still amused. "He�s still the same Zan, you know, Kara, even if he is king now."

"King?" Kate prompted. She was beginning to get her bearings. She finally understood that the granolith had somehow deposited her into her previous life. Why she was not sure. She was also frightened. Because, if she was here, where was Isabel? Why did Isabel not know who she was?

"You sound as though you�re hearing it for the first time," Vilandra said, turning away from the clothing she was examining and eyeing Kate. "We need to grow used to it, I suppose. It has only been a few days."

"But, your father�" Kate trailed off. Vilandra didn�t seem overly upset that for Zan to be king, it meant that her father must have just recently died.

"It was his time." Vilandra said. "I loved my father, but we both know he could be a difficult man. The system has been at a stand-still during his time on the throne. But, now, with my brother leading, our planets can finally truly unite and achieve the golden age for which we have all yearned for so long!" She tilted her head slightly, and Kate felt her confusion. "Are you not happy, Kara? You want Zan to return, do you not?"

"Of course," Kate replied quickly.

Vilandra laughed again. " �Of course� she says, as though she has not been waiting for this chance." She took a step closer to Kate. "Do you not know why my brother is returning, Kara? Can you really not know?"

Kate grimaced to herself, although she wasn�t sure if the expression appeared on her face. She had not yet seen her face, but she was guessing that, if Vilandra was any sort of indication, then her face was probably as serene as her friend�s. "No," she finally admitted.

"He�s coming to marry you, of course," Vilandra replied.

Kate gaped at her. "Marry me?" she squeaked.

"Of course," Vilandra repeated. "It is the most natural thing in the world that you should wed. You are friends, and allying our two planets will only benefit the system."

"But, why now?" Kate demanded. "What about Ava?"

"Ava?" Vilandra sounded confused. "Who is this Ava?"

"The king of Knosis� sister," Kate reminded her. She was a little surprised that she had to. In spite of her reputation, Kate was aware that Vilandra had not been as flighty a princess as everyone had always deemed her. She remembered this about her friend, and the girl she was speaking to now did not strike her as at all like that either.

"The king of Knosis does not have a sister," Vilandra replied. She sounded worried again. "Kara, are you certain that you are quite well?"

"But why me?" Kate demanded.

"Well, it cannot very well be me, can it?" Vilandra asked. Kate noticed the bitterness that entered the other woman�s liquid eyes. "I am already married."

"To Rath," Kate clarified.

"Of course to Rath," Vilandra sighed. "Practically my brother." There was a long pause. "Would that I could be the one to unite our planets."

She sounded sad, but the yearning in her voice made Kate start. Because, how could she have forgotten? Suddenly, without a shadow of a doubt, Kate knew exactly why she had been deposited where she had been.

The shapeshifter. Whoever Grant had been on this world was in the process of wooing Vilandra behind her husband�s back. He was pretending to be Khivar, to sow the seeds of discontent in the princess in front of Kate, so that, when the time came, Vilandra would flee Antar and take her army with her. And Kate was meant to stop it.

But it also meant something else that sent a flash of horror through Kate�s entire frame.

Because, if the shapeshifter was already pursuing Vilandra, then that could only mean that the Zan who was returning to Antar on this day was not the Zan they wanted.

And what that might mean for what had happened to Max did not even bear thinking about.

Part 52

Kate paced the length of the chamber, thinking hard. She had already guessed that the granolith wanted her to stop the cataclysm that was impending because of what was secretly unfolding in this palace, on Sardica, and also on Valonia. The problem was, she had absolutely no idea where to start.

The other problem was, she didn�t even know if she wanted to start.

When she had agreed to connect with the granolith along with the others, she had never imagined that this would be the result. How was she to have known that, instead of having all their memories returned, they would find themselves back in time, possibly with the chance to change the disaster that was to come? She had believed that after they all learned the truth, they would head back to Antar together, to expose the shapeshifters, and to put their system back to rights.

This was an entirely different proposition. Instead, she found herself all alone in a world she didn�t remember as well as she had always believed she did. Not only that, she was saddled with entirely too many complications. There was a Vilandra who didn�t remember being Isabel, and was probably half-seduced to the dark side; there was the likely possibility that an evil Zan clone was already unleashed on the Five Planets; and there was the inherent knowledge that if they were really back at the beginning, before any of what was to come had happened, anything she did could change the timeline and seriously affect their future lives.

Which all boiled down to the only thing she found herself really worried about. Alex.

She knew it was wrong that she was even thinking about the possibility of their relationship - could it even be termed a relationship at this point? It was too new - too uncertain, even though they had shared their first kiss - and how it would be affected by all this, but she couldn�t stop her heart from going there.

Kate sat on the bed and watched Vilandra continue to pull out garments, tossing them aside as she rejected each one. She could not forget that this was supposed to be Isabel. That she was not supposed to be alone here. Why had the granolith left her all alone to try and figure this out?

Not that she would have felt particularly comfortable discussing Alex with Isabel. After all, Kate was no moron. She was aware that the other girl had finally recognized what she had thrown away by rejecting Alex. Kate still didn�t feel entirely certain that she wasn�t simply an Isabel replacement either. But, at the very least, if Isabel were here, she would have someone with whom to ascertain exactly what the granolith wanted from them.

It just didn�t seem fair that another world�s entire history - that of Earth - would be altered by fixing what had gone wrong on the Five Planets.

Because it didn�t seem fair, it also didn�t seem possible. Kate realized that she was going to have to forget about Earth for now. She was going to have to forget about Alex. Her entire existence since her rebirth had been centralized on saving the people of this system. Now that she had the chance, she couldn�t turn her back on it.

She was just going to hope that Earth was not being left out of the granolith�s equation. And, if, in the end, it was, well, she would deal with those consequences then.

For now, Alex had to be put out of her mind. And out of her heart. To that end, Kate stopped pacing and addressed Vilandra.

"Has there been any word from my brother?" Kate deliberately brought up the one person her friend would least want to discuss, if she was already involved in an illicit relationship with him. She watched the other woman closely.

Did Vilandra stiffen? Kate narrowed her gaze. She couldn�t be entirely sure that she hadn�t just seen something that she wanted to see, but she thought perhaps she had. Vilandra�s voice was still playful when she replied, "No, Kara. You seem overly eager to leave Antar these days. Don�t you like it here anymore?" She turned, holding out a lilac gown. "Here. Wear this. Zan likes this colour."

"I like Antar well enough," Kate answered. "I�m just concerned. The last time I spoke to Khivar, he assured me that he would arrive immediately after the summit on Valonia." She paused, hoping that she was right that the summit must have ended by now. "It has been so long since I have seen Sardica." Kate wrinkled her nose at how true that was. It had, after all, been a lifetime.

"Yes, well�"Vilandra trailed off. "I�m sure Khivar is just busy. He will arrive when he can." She looked away. Although her visage remained placid, Kate felt a thickening of the atmosphere in the room. Was it guilt?

She decided to continue to play this hand, hoping that Vilandra might break and just confess. "Will your husband be returning with Zan today?"

"Rath?" Vilandra flinched visibly at that. Kate felt a moment of satisfaction. It didn�t surprise her that Vilandra was so bad at hiding her emotions, even with her characteristic serenity. She guessed that it just was not in the princess� nature to be deceptive, and she was likely finding the whole thing rather trying. Particularly in the presence of her "best friend." "I suppose he will," she admitted, sounding distracted, as though this possibility hadn�t even crossed her mind. "They are inseparable after all."

"The new king is lucky to have such a loyal general." It couldn�t hurt, Kate reflected, to remind Vilandra that she was betraying her husband by carrying on with "Khivar." "I have always liked Rath."

"Rath is fine," Vilandra almost snapped. "I love Rath. But it is not like we are really married. We have never lived together as husband and wife. I have been at school, he has been off with the Sky Army. In some ways, I barely know him."

"You grew up with him, Vi," Kate replied. "He is a good man. It could have been far worse." She pressed her lips together, then added, "I mean, you could have been betrothed to my horrid brother."

Vilandra�s already large eyes widened noticeably at this. "Your brother? You love your brother, Kara."

"I love him, but he can also be extremely aggravating," Kate said. She was aware that this was true of Will in both lifetimes. "He is very set in his ways. He is not flexible in the same way Zan is. I think that any woman would find life with my brother frustrating." She paused, then added directly, "Of course, you wouldn�t know this about him. You have never met Khivar, have you?"

Vilandra was silent for quite some time. She had finished helping Kate to dress before she spoke again. "Your brother - he was betrothed to Rowena of Valonia on the day of her birth. It could not have ever been anyway. Why are we even discussing this?"

"What are we discussing?" Kate asked, forcing herself to sound cheerful, and not deadly serious, which was how she felt. "I thought we were just comparing notes on potential husbands. Is this not our greatest concern since we left school? And, since we know very few men, it makes sense that we would discuss our brothers."

Kate turned and looked Vilandra right in the face. "It can be difficult to have our futures decided for us, Vi. I know this. But Rath is a good man. He is loyal, and he is strong, and he loves you. I think you believe that any love he has for you comes from his dedication to Zan, but you must know that is not true. His love and loyalty to Zan come from his love for you. You can build a wonderful marriage�"

Kate blinked when Vilandra abruptly cut her off. "Stop! Karana, stop it!" The pleasant trill of her voice had taken on a hard quality, one that informed Kate that she had hit a bull�s eye.

Vilandra turned away, her spine stiff. "You know, don�t you?"

"Know what?" Kate asked, her heart beating more quickly.

Vilandra sighed heavily. "Don�t lie to me, Karana. You are aware that Khivar is here."

"My brother? Here?" Kate tried to sound innocent, but knew that she was failing miserably. She decided to just admit it. "I know that you believe that my brother is here."

Vilandra turned around again. "Believe?"

For one long moment, Kate wondered if she should tell Vilandra the whole truth. That she was not really Karana at all - not anymore. That she knew about "Khivar" and Vilandra because she was from the future, on another planet, and she was here to stop their relationship.

Instead, she fibbed. "I saw you with him." She didn�t specify where, because she didn�t know where they had been meeting. She continued, "But, Vilandra, the man you were with�"

"I think I love him," Vilandra interrupted quietly.

Kate felt her heart go out to the other woman. But she could not falter. Not now. Vilandra needed to know the truth. "Vi, he is not my brother. You don�t love him. You don�t even know him."

Vilandra started, then stared at Kate, because this was clearly the last thing she had expected to hear. "What are you talking about?"

"After I saw you, I was in contact with Khivar - the real Khivar," Kate replied. "The person you think you love�It is not my brother."

"How can I believe this?" Vilandra demanded. "It is absurd! I know what your brother looks like. I know who I have been with."

"Vi, it isn�t," Kate assured her. "I can even prove it. We can go contact the real Khivar right now." Kate felt a pang at the thought of reaching Will on Sardica. She was anxious to do so, but she was also nervous. Because what would she do if the Khivar on Sardica wasn�t Will, just like the Vilandra on Antar wasn�t Isabel? She wasn�t sure that she was ready to have that happen.

"But, if he isn�t Khivar, then who is�" Vilandra trailed off, as the truth dawned on her. "He must be a shapeshifter. But, why?" Her voice cracked slightly. "Why would any Wendarian do such a thing? They do not mate with anyone outside of their race."

"That is true," Kate acknowledged. "So there must be another agenda at work here." Kate, of course, knew what that was, but she didn�t want to tell Vilandra everything. She wasn�t sure what the granolith intended for her to do, but she had a gut instinct that it wasn�t that.

"But what?" Vilandra demanded. "Is he some kind of rogue? The Wendarians do not involve themselves in these types of games. They are above them."

Kate just shrugged.

"I suppose we will have to wait for Zan before pursuing this," Vilandra finally said. "My brother will know what to do." The princess sounded tired, and mildly defeated, if Kate was not mistaken. She felt sorry for the other woman, but she knew that this was what she was meant to do here. She could not allow Vilandra to continue to live in the illusion that she and Khivar were meant for each other. Vilandra could not be allowed to betray her brother and join the other side.

Of course, if Kate was right, then the Zan clone was already in place. The plot was already in motion. Waiting for Zan to arrive to fix things on Antar would not serve any purpose.

"I don�t think we can wait for Zan," Kate told Vilandra. "We need to expose this now. There is some evil at work here. The sooner we root it out, the better."

"But, alone?" Vilandra wailed. "We can�t do this by ourselves!" She put her hands on her hips. "What about Rath? He could help us."

"He�s arriving with Zan," Kate reminded her impatiently. "We can�t wait for them." She reached out and shook the other woman lightly. "Vilandra, I know you�re upset about this. I�m sorry. But we need to do something about it. You have been deceived, but I don�t think you�ve betrayed your husband yet, have you?"

Vilandra shook her head firmly. "No, but I do not deny that I would have." She sighed.

"But you didn�t. And, now, you can fix things."

Vilandra was quiet for a long moment, until finally, she raised her chin and nodded resolutely. "Very well." She reached out and took Kate�s hand. "Tell me what to do."

***

"Are you sure that you can do this?" Kate asked Vilandra. She was beginning to feel more and more sorry for the other girl. Now that her shock about Khivar had worn off, it was becoming ever more clear that she had truly believed herself to be in love with the shapeshifter she had thought to be Kate�s brother.

But Vilandra seemed determined to prove that she could handle it, now that Kate had convinced her that they needed to uncover the Wendarian�s obvious plot. Her grey visage seemed paler than it had several hours before, but she nodded resolutely. "Yes."

"I know it�s going to be difficult to pretend that nothing has changed," Kate said quietly. "You could put him off tonight."

"He�ll be suspicious," Vilandra replied. "Until you can get your brother here, so that we can confront the shapeshifter with the real Khivar, I will just have to live with it."

"But if Rath returns today�"

Vilandra shrugged, then sighed. "What will be, will be. If Rath returns, I�ll need to tell him the truth, and I�m not sure I�m ready to do that."

Kate reached out and squeezed the other woman�s hand sympathetically.

"Well, at the very least, you don�t have to be here when I talk to Wi�er, Khivar," Kate told her. "He�ll trust that I�m telling him the truth."

"It�s all right. If you don�t mind me listening, I think I need to know for sure that he really isn�t here. I do believe you, Kara, but I just need this."

Kate grimaced. She had been hoping that Vilandra would leave so that she could try to figure out if Will was really Will, or whether he had disappeared into some vortex, as Isabel quite obviously had. But she couldn�t refuse the other woman. Not now, when she was already being so cooperative and was obviously barely holding off her devastation.

She glanced down at the communication orb sitting in her hands. Kate hoped that it worked in the same way that the ones on Earth did. Because, if it didn�t, she was going to have to figure out how to convince Vilandra to activate it without giving away the truth.

Kate closed her eyes and reached out with her senses, calling for Will with every fibre of her being. She felt the orb begin to heat up in her hands, and felt a rush of relief. So far, so good.

"Karana."

When she opened her eyes again, Kate found herself staring at a projected image of what could only be her brother. Although he looked like everyone else in this place, with his large, oval head, and grey skin, he was wearing a long green robe, which she knew to be the colour of the House of Sardica. She also recognized the piercing blue-eyed gaze as the same one she had known all her life on Earth.

"Khivar," she replied, her heart in her throat.

"Sister, it is not a good time. What do you want?"

Kate felt her stomach drop. Khivar seemed distracted, impatient. If this was Will, then he was doing a very good job of hiding it.

"I want to know when you are coming for me," Kate managed to reply, pushing aside her disappointment. She recognized that her voice sounded slightly strangled. "You told me you�d be here after the summit ended."

"The summit has not ended," Khivar replied. "Zan has not returned with his decision, so it is not ended. I am still on Valonia."

"Zan is on his way back here," Kate informed him. "Didn�t you know that?"

"What?" Khivar snapped. "That is impossible. I spoke to Yorvin, Rowena�s bodyguard, only this morning. He would have told me if that were so."

"Khivar, Vilandra spoke to Zan this morning as well. He is on his way."

Khivar�s gaze drifted to the right, seemingly taking in Vilandra�s presence for the first time. "Princess, excuse me. I did not see you there." He looked back at Kate, obviously annoyed. "Kara, one would have thought that introductions were in order."

"You�ve met before," Kate replied frostily. She couldn�t help it. Even if Khivar wasn�t aware that he was Will, he was certainly acting exactly like him. His high-handedness could be extremely aggravating, as she had told Vilandra earlier.

"I am pleased to meet you again, my lord," Vilandra interceded softly. Kate was surprised when she reached out and took her hand again, as though seeking comfort. Kate squeezed gently. She could see that resignation had settled over Vilandra�s serene features. She was now truly convinced that Khivar was not on Antar.

"Myself, also," Khivar replied. He turned his attention back to his sister. "Something is amiss, Kate."

The sound of her Earth name hit Kate like a ton of brings. He had just called her by her Earth name! This was Will. Why was he pretending that he was not? Because of Vilandra? But how did he know that Vilandra wasn�t Isabel? How could he possibly know this?

Kate needed to speak to him alone. She glanced at Vilandra, wondering how she could convince the other girl to leave. It was evident that she didn�t want to be alone. She was still clutching Kate�s hand as though her very sanity depended on it, which maybe it did.

Before Kate could make a decision though, it was made for her. The door to the chamber slid open, and a body was thrown unceremoniously through it. The newcomer landed on the floor in front of the two girls, staring up at them through pained blue eyes.

In the instant before they closed again, staying shut this time, Kate recognized them as the same eyes she had just seen on her own brother.

This was Khivar. Another Khivar.

Vilandra screamed.

"Isabel, shut-up! Do you want the whole damn palace in here?" A second alien entered the room, and picked up his obvious prisoner by the scruff of the neck. He dumped him into a nearby chair, then glared at Kate impatiently. "Can I have something to tie him up with, or do I have to go through your underwear drawer myself?"

Kate felt such overwhelming relief, she had to sit down on the bed behind her. She did not recognize the voice, but the tone was too familiar to be denied.

It was Michael. A Michael who obviously knew exactly who he was.

"Kara! What is happening? Are you all right?"

Kate turned her head and stared at the projected image of her brother. Quite clearly, the jig was up. If Will was putting on a show for Vilandra, then there was no longer any need.

"Will, cut the crap," Kate snapped. "You know very well what�s going on here." She gestured at the figure in the chair. Michael had done as he threatened and turned out several of the drawers in the bureau, until he�d found two long scarves with which he was in the process of firmly tying the other Khivar to the piece of furniture. "That�s Grant. He�s been impersonating you here for weeks."

She turned her back on her brother, whose eyes had narrowed. "Michael, I�m so glad to see you!" Kate exclaimed. She barely refrained from rushing forward and hugging him when he straightened. She somehow knew he wouldn�t like it very much. He was all business at the moment. Not to mention, she was still fairly convinced that, in spite of the connection they had all made in the granolith when they had brought her back from the dead, he didn�t altogether like either her or Will very much.

"Likewise," Michael replied gruffly. He didn�t look at her though. Instead, he was staring at Vilandra, who had crumpled to the floor in a dead faint. "What�s wrong with her?" he demanded. He hurried forward and picked up his wife, depositing her gently on the bed.

"She doesn�t know who she is," Kate explained quickly. "She really thinks she�s Vilandra. I think you just took ten years off her life."

Michael sat down next to Vilandra and took her hand in his. "Iz. C�mon, Isabel. Wake up."

The pretty alien�s eyes opened slowly, until she was staring up Michael. Kate saw a flash of recognition run across the other girl�s face. "Michael?"

"Yeah, Iz, it�s me." He glanced at Kate. "I thought you said she didn�t know who she was?"

Vilandra looked at Kate. Her large dark eyes glistened. "I didn�t," she said quietly. "I mean, I wasn�t in control. Until I saw Michael�"

"Why?" Michael demanded. "Isabel, what�s going on?"

Isabel threw her arms around Michael�s neck. "I didn�t do it! I didn�t betray you!"

And, abruptly, Kate thought she understood. Until Vilandra made the right decision, the granolith must not have allowed Isabel to be in control. Until her alter-ego rejected the idea of Khivar on her own, Isabel could not dominate. Because, for Isabel�s own future peace of mind, she had to be convinced that even Vilandra could make the right decision. That even the �flighty princess� could be loyal.

"Of course you didn�t," Michael soothed. He pulled back. "Isabel, I thought you were past all this. Max and me�we both know you�d never do anything to hurt us. Not on purpose."

"I didn�t," Isabel explained, her voice breaking slightly. "But now I do."

"I hate to interrupt�"

Kate looked at her brother�s image. He was watching the proceedings in front of him, his expression mildly perturbed. Kate realized that she was beginning to be able to read subtle clues on the serene alien faces with which she was confronted. It sent a shiver down her spine. She was becoming comfortable in the skin she was inhabiting, she realized. She wondered why it frightened her.

"Are you going to wake him up?" Will asked Michael, when the latter stood, pulling Isabel to her feet beside him. "We need to get information out of him."

"What�s to know?" Michael asked. "I prefer him unconscious. We don�t want him running off and warning the other shapeshifters."

For the first time, Kate realized that she hadn�t even thought about what they were going to do with the shapeshifter impersonating Khivar after they had exposed him. "What do we do with him now?"

"We�re going to make him testify in front of that tribunal thing Courtney told us about," Michael replied firmly. "We need all the evidence to clear Zan we can get. We�ll take him to Valonia with us when we go pick up Max, Liz, and Tess."

Kate heard Will snort slightly. She glanced at him, as Michael demanded, "What�s your problem?"

"No problem," Will replied shortly. "I just don�t understand how any of this is a good idea. We�re changing everything here." He glared at Michael. "You do realize that, because of what you just did, nothing is ever going to be the same again?"

"Isn�t that the point?" Michael snapped back.

"I�m sure your little girlfriend on Earth wouldn�t think so."

Kate watched Michael tense. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that every move we make on this planet is making it less likely that we will ever be cloned and sent to Earth. There won�t be a girlfriend in your future, if you don�t stop just arbitrarily changing things."

Kate stared at the shapeshifter�s crumpled form for a long moment, then closed her eyes. For the first time since she had convinced Vilandra of the shapeshifter�s identity, she let her thoughts drift to Alex. The pain of it was surprising.

Had everything already changed? Would she ever even see him again?

And, if by some miracle, she did, would he even know who she was?

She met Michael, and then Isabel�s, gazes. They both looked as horrified as she did. They all, as one, looked back at the shapeshifter helplessly.

What were they going to do?

***

Alex was jolted out of a light sleep by a scream. It took him a moment to get his bearings. He realized that he was still in the pod chamber, where Whittaker had insisted that they remain while their friends were doing whatever it was they were doing in the granolith. He sat up, staring around in confusion. How long had they been waiting anyway? Whittaker had seemed convinced that they wouldn�t be gone for very long.

Of course, they weren�t really gone at all, were they? Alex thought to himself. After all, their bodies were all still below him, in the chamber beneath the granolith. It was their essences that were gone, which Alex could only assume meant that, at long last, the human race had evidence that the soul did exist. Because their Czechoslovakian friends had sent theirs somewhere that Alex couldn�t even begin to understand.

Just another confusing day in the alien abyss, he reflected, sighing, as he adjusted to his waking state and to the fact that it was Maria who had screeched.

"What�s wrong?" Alex asked. His best friend had been curled up beside him, but now she was standing. She was staring across the pod chamber, at�well, apparently at nothing.

"Grant," Maria managed to say, sounding slightly strangled. "He�he�I�"

"Maria, what?" Kyle demanded. Their friend was now wide awake too, and was climbing to his feet nearby.

The sheriff�s head emerged through one of the bottom pods. "What�s wrong?"

"Grant, he just disappeared," Maria finally exclaimed. "He was sleeping over there. I was just lying here thinking, but I was staring at him, and he�he just�" She snapped her fingers, then looked at Whittaker, who had emerged from the granolith chamber behind the sheriff. "What�s going on?"

"They�re working more quickly that I imagined they would," Whittaker replied calmly. "This world is changing."

"What are you talking about?" Kyle demanded.

Alex didn�t need Whittaker to explain though. The truth hit him so abruptly, he stumbled slightly.

"Alex," Maria said, reaching out to grab him. "What�s wrong?"

"It�s a time machine," he mumbled. "It�s a bloody time machine! They�re changing what happened back on Antar." His voice rose exponentially with every word, until he was practically yelling. He pointed his finger at Whittaker. "Did you know that this was going to happen?"

"What? What�s happening?" Kyle asked, beginning to sound slightly panicked.

"They�re changing everything," Alex explained harshly. "Isn�t that right?" He addressed this to Whittaker again, willing her to deny what he was saying.

She pressed her lips together. "I thought that being close to the granolith would be enough to protect us," she finally said, still sounding so calm, Alex wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled in her head.

"You thought? You thought?" He glared at her. "We�re all going to disappear, aren�t we?"

"You won�t disappear," Whittaker assured him. "You will still live."

"But�" Alex glanced at Maria, who seemed to be catching on. "Wait a minute! Are you saying that they�re changing everything so that they won�t even have to come here?"

"That�s what I�m saying," Alex replied. He turned on Whittaker again. "You never told them any of this. They don�t know what they�re doing."

She gestured back towards the pods. "The granolith will protect us. We�ll just move closer."

"The granolith didn�t protect Mr. Sorenson," the sheriff reminded her. He sounded mostly like his usual self, but Alex could hear the fear in even Valenti�s stern voice.

"I can�t believe that the granolith will make them give up everything," Whittaker assured them. "It�s not like that."

"Apparently no one really knows what the granolith is like, do they?" Alex flared. "This is just great. Just peachy."

He felt a pang of guilt when Maria burst into tears next to him. "I�m never going to see Michael again! Or Liz!"

"I can�t believe this," Kyle muttered. "Screwed again."

"We don�t have time for this," Whittaker told the sheriff, obviously believing he was the most reasonable. "We must go into the granolith chamber."

"What�s the point?" Maria wailed.

"It�s the only chance," Whittaker replied. "Do you not want at least the chance that you might stay here?"

"I can�t believe I�m just going to disappear," Kyle said, shaking his head, more in disbelief than dismay. "In my next life, I am going to kick Max Evans�s ass for this." He rolled his eyes. "Oh, right, there won�t be a Max Evans in my next life. Thank Buddha for small favours."

"You�re not going to disappear," Whittaker snapped, beginning to sound annoyed. "Or at least you won�t if you�ll get into the damned granolith."

Kyle stared at her, then sighed. "Stupid aliens," he muttered as he dropped to his knees and crawled through into the granolith.

The sheriff gestured for Alex and Maria to follow, obviously intending to wait until they were �safe,� before joining them himself.

Safe. Ha. As long as their friends were playing around in the past, Alex thought, they weren�t safe anywhere. Every move they made might result in the one move that meant the either he or Maria would disappear, never to know that aliens existed.

As Alex crawled through into the granolith, he wondered, for one brief moment, whether that might not be better than it sounded. It would certainly be a way out of the alien abyss, once and for all.

But, to never know Liz, to never know Isabel�No. He didn�t want that. He needed them. He needed them both. And, more than that, he needed his chance with Kate. It just wouldn�t be fair if they didn�t have a chance!

When he unfolded his lanky body in the granolith, Maria came immediately into his arms, still sobbing with fear. At least he wasn�t alone here. At least he had Maria. He rubbed her back comfortingly, drawing his own succor from her presence.

Because, when he stared across the granolith at Whittaker, who was watching the pulsing light at the base of the cone, he saw fear and uncertainty briefly flash across her face before she managed to school her expression back to its usual serenity.

Alex closed his eyes, hugging Maria more tightly. At least he had Maria, he thought again, because if even Whittaker - Serena of the Granolith, herself - was unsure of what was happening, he certainly wasn�t going to find comfort anywhere else.

Part 53

Max knew that he was dying. It was interesting to discover that, when this was the case, it was true that your life did actually pass before your eyes. Because that was what was in the process of happening to him.

He felt detached now, no longer possessing the will to fight. He could hear Liz screaming, but it was far away, beyond his ability to do anything about it.

It was right before he passed out completely from lack of oxygen that he realized that it wasn�t his life he was seeing. The flashes were unfamiliar and, yet, somehow he knew them too.

It was then, and only then, that he let go completely, giving himself up to the memories that might finally explain everything.

***

He awoke in a cell. He stared up at the white ceiling, trying to remember how he had gotten there. It took longer than it should have. Whatever they had done to him had affected him badly.

Eventually it all came back. He was on Valonia. Before he had been taken prisoner, he had been staying at the crown princess�s summer palace. Rowena�s summer palace. Officially he was there to figure out how to resolve the trade conflict between Knosis and Sardica without alienating either planet. Unofficially he was there to avoid having to make the decision he knew his father wanted him to make, the one he couldn�t in good conscious make, because he knew his father was wrong.

But, finally, he knew that it wasn�t just his conscious that had brought him to the summer palace. She was the real reason he had come. Rowena. He had come to see if the spark he had felt between them at the conference was simply his imagination, or whether she had felt it too.

Until the moment he first saw her, Zan had thought the garden in which she stood to be the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. They did not have such places on Antar. He spent many hours there, when he wasn�t in meetings, enjoying the novelty of it. But, when he first laid eyes upon her, he knew that the garden was now put to shame. She was talking to her fianc�, Khivar, the king of Sardica, at the time, but he had barely noticed this. All he saw was her.

Zan�s brother-in-law, Rath, introduced them to each other later that day. Few words were exchanged, but when his eyes met hers, he felt it again. A connection. A bond. And, for one brief moment, before she was led away by Khivar, he thought she felt it too. Her large dark eyes flared in a way that had set his heart pounding in his chest.

But, then, she left. Without a word, she left the summit and retired to her summer palace, and he tried to forget her, sure he had imagined it all. Until she invited him to join her there, supposedly to deliberate his decision, but some part of him had been hoping that it was for a far different reason.

When he arrived, nothing was as he expected. While she welcomed him warmly enough, in some ways, he felt as though she was a stranger. She was, of course, but somehow he had expected her not to feel that way. He was more disappointed than he admitted even to himself. She barely spoke to him, keeping to herself. He had been even more confused, and it angered him. He was the future king of Antar, the future high king of the system. He was not used to being ignored.

Finally, the night before, he had confronted her. He had gone to find her in her lab, where he knew she spent most of her time, having been there long enough to learn the pattern of her days.

It was then that he got the shock of his life. For it was in the lab that he found two of her.

He never found out what it meant though. One moment he was staring at them both in shock, as they stared back at him in equal horror; the next he found himself waking up in the cell.

It was only now that he realized that he was not alone.

One of them was curled up beside him on the pallet, sound asleep. He propped his head up on his hand, cringing when he felt momentary dizziness. Once he could again focus, he stared down at her, a frown on his face.

She was still exquisitely beautiful, but he now knew that she was not what she seemed. He could not trust her. None of which, of course, explained why she had been thrown into this cell with him.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Wake up," he growled.

Her eyelashes fluttered and in the next instant she was staring up at him. She sat up abruptly, waking up more easily than he had. "You�re awake."

"Clearly," he replied icily. He did not move a muscle. He continued to stare at her, still lounging almost casually on the bed. She could not be allowed to see how her simple presence was affecting him. In spite of the fact that he now knew that she could not be trusted, he still found her intoxicating.

What was this feeling? He barely knew her! It was ridiculous. He needed to get control of himself.

"Why am I here?" he demanded, pushing away the desire to pull her into his arms.

She got to her feet, looking around the cell in dismay. "I�" Her voice trembled slightly, which served to annoy him more. She trailed off, clearly upset by the expression on his face.

He grabbed her, forcing her to look at him. "I�ll tell you why I think I�m here, Rowena. You and Khivar dreamed this up together, didn�t you? You�re going to keep me prisoner here until I decide for Sardica. Isn�t that right?"

She did not flinch, but she did not deny it either. Instead, she tilted her head and asked quietly, "How are you so sure that I�m Rowena?"

He blinked. "Aren�t you?" He realized she was right. She could just as easily have been her mystery twin.

"Yes," she acknowledged. "But I�m curious as to how you know that I am, considering you�ve been consorting with my sister for the better part of two cycles without seeming to notice any difference. Or so she tells me anyway."

He didn�t quite know what to say to this. "I didn�t know you had a sister," he finally said, feeling foolish.

Rowena sighed. "Well, I suppose you might not call her that at all," she conceded. "But I considered her to be mine. I suppose that my presence here would indicate that she doesn�t feel the same," she finished, somewhat wryly.

Zan just stared at her. He did not like feeling this confused. He was the crown prince of Antar. His family had ruled the system for generations. They were supposed to be informed of everything that went on with the other royals across the Five Planets. Instead, he felt completely lost.

And, for that reason, he seemed unable to control his temper. "Will you please stop speaking in riddles?" he snapped. "I want to know who that other person is. What is going on here?"

"Disaster," Rowena admitted, not seeming at all off-put by his tone. It befuddled him even more. "I had no idea this was going to happen, or I never would have given her so much freedom."

"What has happened?" Zan demanded, his voice rising in frustration.

"We�ve been taken prisoner, obviously," Rowena replied, looking at him strangely, as though he might not be quite all there.

He closed his eyes briefly, praying for patience. "I guessed that part. What I want to know is why you are here with me."

"Because my sister is trying to take over my life," Rowena told him, abruptly serious. "Or at least, she�s being made to do so. I had almost convinced her to let me go before you came stumbling upon us and ruined everything."

"Let you go? How long have you been here?"

"A long time," Rowena replied sadly. "Since I returned from the summit. They weren�t expecting me back so soon, but I had to leave." She looked away briefly. "I couldn�t stay there."

"Who are they?" Zan asked. He chose not to ask about why she couldn�t have stayed at the summit. Not yet anyway.

"The Wendarians," Rowena told him. "They�ve taken control of my sister and they�ve corrupted her. And now she�s going to take my place."

"The shapeshifters?" Zan stared at her, dumbfounded. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, didn�t you know?" Rowena asked, sounding sarcastic. "They�re trying to take over the system."

"What? Why? They�ve never been interested in ruling!"

"Not especially," Rowena agreed. "But I think they�ve become intellectually stimulated by the fact that they think they can. I work closely with some of them, you know. They are attracted to a challenge."

"You�re saying that they�re trying to take over just to see if they can?"

"Basically," she said.

"That�s ridiculous!" Zan exclaimed. "Why would they ever think we�d allow this to happen? Every planet in the system wants to maintain the status quo. That is what the summit was about in the first place!"

"Not everyone wants things to stay just the same, Zan," Rowena informed him. "But, at least, when those people try to change things, they usually have a reason," she muttered. "The Wendarians just enjoy chaos."

"This can�t happen!" Zan told her. "I refuse to allow this to happen!"

"You�re planning to stop them how?" Rowena asked, glancing around the cell meaningfully. "You�re presently in a prison a mile below the surface of the planet. We�re not getting out of here."

"Someone will notice we�re missing," Zan replied. "They know where I went. They will come for me."

"Don�t you understand?" Rowena asked. "No one is going to come. No one will know you�re gone."

"Of course they will," Zan told her. "Rath will come for me."

"Zan, just as no one will come for me, no one is going to even look for you. Because of what I�ve done, no one will even know there is a need to do so."

Zan stared at her for a long moment. He could see by the expression on her face that she was deadly serious. She truly believed what she was telling him. But Rath would come. If he didn�t, then his father would. Or his sister. Vilandra would know that he was gone.

And, yet, Rowena seemed truly convinced. She just watched him sympathetically, waiting for him to accept what she was telling him.

"I don�t understand," he finally admitted.

"It�s my fault," Rowena explained. "I created her, and she was able to create you. With the granolith, and under the influence of the Wendarians, she cloned you."

"Cloned?" His heart was pounding in his chest � not from the fact of her presence, which it might have very recently, but because, for the first time, he was truly terrified.

"You do know what a clone is?"

"Of course I know what a clone is!" Zan yelled.

Rowena was unafraid. She just calmly replied, "Well, then you will understand that no one will ever miss you, because there is a clone of you out there. As far as everyone is concerned, you are not gone. The shapeshifters will use your clone to take over the system."

"But someone will have to know. Someone will figure it out!" Zan said urgently. "They have to."

"No one will figure it out," Rowena told him. "No one who would intervene has any idea what I�ve been doing here."

"Rath. He will know the difference. Or my father."

Rowena moved towards him, taking his hand in hers. He knew he should flinch away, but he couldn�t. Even now, when he was aware that she was absolutely crazy, he could not resist the fact that she was touching him.

It took him a long moment to understand what she was saying to him. But, when he finally did, he realized that none of this was shocking at all. Because when he finally learned the crux of the matter, it all made perfect sense.

"Zan, I�m sorry, but your father already knows."

He was not surprised. And, yet, he asked anyway. "What?"

"Who do you think wanted you cloned in the first place?"

And, with those gentle words, Zan knew that there was no hope at all.

***

They were kept in the cell for weeks. Or at least Zan thought it was weeks. He lost track of time fairly early on, the seeming hopelessness of their situation making its passing incidental.

They never saw anyone, although twice a day they were fed through a slot in the door, so Zan knew that they had not been entirely abandoned. He wasn�t sure why they were bothering to keep either of them alive, but he chose not to question it. He might have lost all hope that they could somehow stop whatever it was that was taking place outside of their prison, but he was not yet ready to die.

Later, looking back on it, he knew that he wasn�t willing to give up entirely because of Rowena. Not because she hadn�t give up. She had, as completely as he had. In fact, before he had. Or at least so it seemed. Later he knew that this wasn�t true, but at the time it seemed like it was.

The reason he wasn�t ready to let go of all hope was that it seemed impossible that he could be allowed to feel so much for someone when they�d never again see the light of day. And, because he never could quite believe that they wouldn�t escape someday, he started to enjoy himself.

He was ashamed to admit it, but there was something liberating in being completely free of responsibility. He knew she felt it too. It was why she was so prosaic about the situation in which they found themselves. She blamed herself entirely, but she also couldn�t control what was happening, so she chose to let it go.

In the end, because there was nothing else they could do, they ended up doing the one thing they could. They got to know each other. It was why he had come to the summer palace in the first place, after all. And, she ended up being everything he knew she would be. Only better.

They talked to each other all the time. He told her things that he had never told anyone, including Rath and Vilandra. He found himself telling her things that he had never even admitted to himself.

One day, he told her that he was not particularly enamored of the idea of being king. He knew that it was selfish, and that it was what he had been born for, but he didn�t want it.

She sat quietly for a long while after he told her this, until she finally said, "I don�t think it�s that you don�t want to be king."

He felt a twinge of annoyance that she was treating his deepest, darkest secret so cavalierly. But all he said was, "You don�t?"

"No," Rowena replied with great certainty. "I think it�s that you fear you will not be a good king. You care about things, Zan. Too much. I saw it from the moment I met you, but I knew it even before that. The things Rath and Karana have told me about you�I knew how it would be." She reached out and took his hand, squeezing. "The fact that you don�t really want to be king will make you a great one."

"Well, I guess it doesn�t matter," Zan replied, after he could finally speak, because he realized that she was right. "It�s not like we�re ever getting out of here anyway."

It was in moments such as those where he became desperate to escape. Where he remembered how much he did care about his planet, and his people � how much he cared about the whole system. And he was afraid. What was going out there? What mess were the Wendarians making of the galaxy he had been meant to lead into the light? Because he knew it was a disaster.

If he cared too much, they did not care at all.

Only once did they discuss the disaster that Rowena had unleashed on their world - the clones that had made it possible for the Wendarians to proceed with their game.

Zan was not angry at Rowena for it. Not really. Because he knew there was a deeper reason for why she had done it than just to see if she could. She was not like the shapeshifters, after all. He knew it � had known it from the day they met.

Finally, one day, she told him.

"I just knew that something was missing," she said quietly. They were sitting side-by- side, cross-legged on the floor, leaning against the wall of their cell. She didn�t look at him and he didn�t look at her while she spoke. "My whole life, I was alone. I knew that something was wrong, and I tried to use science to change it. I thought the granolith was the key to changing it, because, once I figured it out, it was just so easy to do. I was sure that if I had a sister � someone like me, who understood me � it would all be better."

"I don�t understand that," he admitted, after a long moment of silence. "You weren�t alone. You had Khivar. You�ve known you were to marry him your whole life."

"It never felt right," Rowena told him. "It just wasn�t right. He�s never understood me. He�s so strong and so certain. He always does the right thing. He makes me feel even more alone, because I�m not that way at all. I�ve always been uncertain." She laughed bitterly. "That�s why I created Serena. It seemed perfectly logical. Another me. No one would be able to understand like another me. How was I to know that all I was really doing was bringing out the worst parts of me in her? She is even more uncertain, even more biddable and, yet, even more reckless."

There was another long silence. "You�re not angry at her for it, are you?" Zan asked eventually. He turned his head to look at her. She was still staring straight ahead, seeing things he couldn�t even begin to imagine. Maybe seeing the chaos her �sister� was possibly helping to unleash at this exact moment.

"How can I be?" Rowena asked, sighing. "She�s not to blame. I�m the one to blame. My selfishness and arrogance caused all of this."

"You�re not selfish and arrogant," Zan insisted. "If you were, you wouldn�t feel all this so deeply. You were trying to make things better. You couldn�t have possibly known that the clones would go wrong."

"I was trying to make things better for myself," she reminded him. "And I should have known." She turned her head towards him, so that they were now looking at each other. Her dark eyes were pained. "Why could I not have been patient?" she whispered. "I should have known you�d come."

Their eyes locked for what seemed like forever. Zan felt his head moving towards her, and before he knew it, he was kissing her.

It felt like coming home. There was no other possible way to describe it. This was right, always had been, always would be, and now that they both knew what they had always been waiting for, there was no going back.

***

There was no going back, until the day they had no choice. Until the day that they could no longer simply be Zan and Rowena, but, rather, became again who they were born to be. Until the day when they had to emerge to fix the mess that had been wrought in their names, but in their absence.

And, in the end, it was all even worse than they had ever imagined.

It was Rath who found them, of course. Even in the darkest days of hopelessness, Zan had known somewhere deep inside that Rath would come. And, come he did, along with a full contingent of the Sky Army. It was Rath�s personal army who accompanied him, Zan later learned, because Zan�s own army was no longer under Rath�s control.

It was now Zan�s army, because he was indeed king. His father had died many weeks before, and, in the weeks since, civil war had broken out everywhere.

But that wasn�t even the worst part. The reason Rath had finally come was the worst news of all.

"I knew it wasn�t you," Rath said, embracing Zan. Zan knew it had to be really bad, whatever it was, if Rath was actually being demonstratively affectionate. Rath hugged Rowena, his cousin, next. Finally, he continued, "When it happened, I knew it couldn�t be you, brother. It�s why I finally came here myself."

"After what happened?" Rowena asked.

Rath closed his eyes for a long moment. Eventually he replied grimly, "You�ll see soon enough."

And, when they emerged from deep underground, from the place of their captivity, which had since become their refuge from the real world, they did. While they had expected the worst, they had never, in a million years expected that the worst had been happening right above them.

Valonia had been completely destroyed.

Part 54

Liz felt her heart stop beating when Max�s eyes rolled up into his head. It was obvious that he had passed out due to lack of air. She had been frantically working at removing the Zan clone�s fingers from around her boyfriend�s neck, but once Max stopped struggling it became even more impossible. The clone�s grip was like iron.

There was only one thing left to do. She didn�t want to trust anyone here - in fact, she knew very well she couldn�t - but she had no choice. She ran out of the lab, into the long white hallway, and started screaming.

"Help! Yorvin! Someone, anyone! Please, help!"

She rushed back into the lab. The clone had, by now, emerged from the pod. He had finally released Max, who was crumpled on the floor at his double�s feet. Liz remained frozen where she was, uncertain how to proceed. The clone stared at her, as though curious to see what she would do.

There was only one thing she could do. She needed to save Max. She couldn�t even bear to reflect on what she would do if it was too late. This was all her fault! Max was right. They should have destroyed the clone as soon as they laid eyes on him.

Liz felt tears fill her eyes as she hurried to Max�s side, dropping to her knees beside him. She brushed them away impatiently. There was no time! She pushed him onto his back, preparing to administer CPR, when she realized that his chest was moving. It was rising and falling steadily. The relief that ran through her was so great, she sagged against him.

"Max." She shook him. "Max, wake up!" She knew that she should be keeping an eye on what the clone was doing, but she couldn�t concentrate. She needed Max to wake up. She had to know that he was all right. When she glanced at the clone briefly, he didn�t seem in any hurry to go anywhere, or to do anything. He just continued to watch her, his light brown eyes so like Max�s, it creeped her out.

She returned her attention to Max. She shook him again, more firmly, then placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Max, please wake up," she whispered.

Liz had never felt so alone. Tess was gone, and now so was Max. She didn�t understand anything that had happened so far. It was becoming ever more clear that entering the granolith had been a mistake. They weren�t prepared for what they had been forced to confront here. They still weren�t even sure about what they were supposed to be doing. Were they supposed to be changing things, or were they supposed to be learning, so that when the returned to Earth, they could come back here and fix things?

She knew nothing. She knew nothing except that she needed Max to wake up immediately. She repeated, more firmly, "Max, wake up!" She wondered if maybe CPR was what was needed after all. She knew the proper technique, of course, but was so panicked, she didn�t take the time to think about what she was doing or prepare him. Instead, she simply pressed her lips against his.

He responded instantly. His lips moved under hers. He was returning the kiss! He was waking up!

It was her last clear thought before the flashes came.

***

"I can�t go with you," Rowena said.

"I know." Zan had his back to her. He was standing on what was left of the main palace�s balcony, surveying the destruction below.

Rath had brought them back to Valonia�s capital earlier that day, in preparation to leave the planet. The plan was to head directly for the Council of Five Planets on Antar, in order to prove that the Zan presently wreaking destruction on the system was not the real Zan. After that, they would go to Sardica. Rath had informed Zan that the only way to bring the shapeshifters and the Zan clone to justice was to marshal the Sardican and Antarian forces into one grand army. And the only way to do this was to end the division between Zan and Khivar. Plus, they needed to expose Serena.

Originally, they had all agreed that Rowena should accompany them, because Rath was sure that Khivar would only accept Serena�s duplicity if he saw the real Rowena. According to Karana, with whom Rath was still in secret contact, Khivar was nothing but pleased by the "Rowena" he had married, who seemed to love him in a way she had never done before. He would not be easy to convince.

But, Rowena knew that, at least for now, she could not leave Valonia. She was needed here. She felt tears fill her eyes as her gaze passed over what was left of her father�s city.

No. It was no longer her father�s city. It was her city. Her father had been killed in the first assault on the capital. She was now queen. The people suffering all over the surface of the planet were her people. She could not abandon them.

Although she knew what was right, in some ways she was torn. She was perhaps the only one who would be able to get through to Serena. She might be the only one to break the shapeshifters� hold over her mind. She had almost done it once, after all. But, she also knew that, morally, she could not leave.

She did not want to leave. For the first time, her duty was clear to her. She was through with selfishness. Rath and Zan could just as easily bring Serena and Khivar to her.

Because, she knew, without a doubt, that Zan would return to her.

"It�s all right," Zan was saying now, as he brought an arm up and around her shoulders. She leaned into him, and he dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I would want to stay too."

"I�m going to miss you so much," she whispered, feeling tears fill her eyes. Although they had been imprisoned, their time in that cell had not been all horrible. Not at all. In so many ways, it had been an idyll, one that they would never have again. Although they loved each other, they were leaders first and foremost. They owed their loyalty to their people first.

"I will come back for you. We will be together. I swear it."

"I will wait for you forever."

But Rowena knew that none of it would be that simple. There was still Khivar to consider. He was going to be seriously affected by the news that she no longer wanted to marry him. Not only that, but he was going to be furious when he found out that he had been duped. They had no way of knowing that any of this would work out as Rath hoped.

Rath saw things in black and white. It was rare for him to understand the shades of grey often created by emotions. It was not said, but, in their hearts, Rowena and Zan both knew that, to bring peace to their galaxy, they might be forced to give each other up. In exchange for the well-being of their people, the peace of their souls might be the ultimate sacrifice.

She decided that, until that day came though, she would pretend, just as he was pretending. Because, if she didn�t, she did not know if she could go on. Now that she knew what it was to be complete, she needed him in a way that was almost frightening. She did not know if she could do any of this without him. And, yet, in the end, she might have to. The weeks they had spent together might be the only ones they ever had.

It wasn�t enough! It wasn�t nearly enough.

When he kissed her good-bye, she knew that he felt the same way. He was trembling in a way that made her fear for him. In that last moment, she allowed herself to cling to him. She allowed herself one moment of weakness.

"I love you," he whispered into her ear, sending an intense shiver of longing through her body. It was the first time he had said the words, openly acknowledging what they had both known to be true from the moment they first laid eyes on each other.

"I love you," she replied. And, finally, she took strength from it. Even if they were never together again, they both knew what they were to each other. What they would always be.

It would be enough.

She watched Zan�s ship lift off into the falling darkness. She stared after it until it was merely a pinprick of light against the black sky.

Then she straightened her spine and went to do her duty.

***

When Liz opened her eyes, she was no longer in the lab. Glancing around, she found herself staring at four blank walls. There was no door in sight. She chose not to question it, at least not immediately.

For now, she was relieved to discover Max beside her, still asleep. Or at least she hoped he was asleep. It was quite clear to her that she had not been. She had become Rowena for a while there. She wasn�t sure how long it had been, but there was no question that she had no longer been herself.

Rowena�s thoughts and memories filled her mind. Liz felt a pang of fear and, yet, hope, as she remembered watching Zan�s ship leave Valonia. It had been revelatory to finally fully understand who her past-life alter-ego had been.

Rowena of Valonia had been a very lonely girl, thrust into a position of authority she didn�t necessarily want, but one she had taken very seriously. There was only one person in whom she had found understanding. And, even though he had left her, knowing that he existed had been enough to help Rowena accept the responsibility that was hers.

Liz wondered if Zan and Rowena had ever been reunited. Or had they both died, never having laid eyes on each other again? Had one died before the other? Had the other known that their soul mate would never return?

But, in the end, Liz reminded herself, they had been reunited. In different forms, on a different planet, but, in spite of all the odds against it, and all the confusion trying to stop it, Zan and Rowena had found each other again.

Liz shook Max gently, hoping that this time he would wake up. His eyelashes fluttered briefly, but he did not move. By now, Liz had figured out that he too was reliving his past life as Zan. He was not yet ready to come back to her. And, until he did, she knew that she wasn�t going to be able to figure out any of this.

They were a team, a partnership. They had made too many mistakes by excluding each other from the decision-making, in order to protect each other. This time, she would be patient. She would wait for him.

Liz lay down on the pallet next to Max, curling into him, and wrapping her arms around him. She laid her head on his chest, enjoying the steady beat of his heart.

Several minutes later, Max�s heartbeat increased in pace, and Liz somehow knew that, in his memories, he was nearing the end.

***

"I have bad news," Rath said. He entered Zan�s quarters on the flag-ship, a print-out in his hands.

Zan, who had been attempting to contact Vilandra with the communicator orb to which only the two of them knew the code, glanced up impatiently. "What?"

"It�s all over the newsnet�s," Rath replied, not at all put off by Zan�s tone. "Rowena has been captured by �Zan�s� forces."

Zan stared at Rath in disbelief. "Please�" He couldn�t finish the plea. The mere thought that anything had happened to Rowena�He couldn�t even grasp it. Why had the Zan clone gone back to Valonia? At this point, he should have had no idea that the real Zan had again emerged. They were keeping it quiet until they reached Antar. The last thing they wanted was for his clone to catch them before they made it to the Council.

Rath understood what he was pleading to know, and said quickly, "It�s not the real one. Apparently Khivar�s wife went to parlay for peace, and your double broke all the rules of warfare and took her prisoner. But it�s why you can�t reach Vilandra. My sources in Khivar�s palace tell me that she, Jondar, and Karana have gone after Rowena."

"So, you are sure?" Zan demanded. "He has Serena, not Rowena?"

"Yes," Rath assured him. "I just spoke to the captain we left on Valonia with Ro. She is fine."

"You�ve had no luck with contacting Vi either?" Zan asked.

"We haven�t spoken in months," Rath replied bitterly. "She certainly won�t return my communication attempts now. She thinks I�m insane."

Zan lowered his gaze, sighing. He knew that Rath had been hurt by Vilandra�s defection to Khivar�s side. While Zan was not pleased about it either, he understood a bit better. Vilandra had always been impulsive. She never thought things through, plus she had the connection to Karana that Rath did not. It still hurt that she believed him capable of what had happened on Valonia, but he could not blame his sister for turning on him. She was good-hearted and would have been horrified by the actions of his clone.

"I don�t think it�s safe to go to Sardica without Karana there. She would know you, Zan, but Khivar won�t. He won�t believe there are two of you." Rath started to pace. He sounded beyond frustrated. Zan was aware that his friend wanted to return to the status quo as quickly as possible. Rath hated change.

"He will have to accept it if the Council does," Zan argued. "I think we should proceed as we�ve planned. Until I have re-established my position, any other move we make will be suspect."

"I am beginning to wonder if the Council will even hear our case," Rath told him, shaking his head. "My sources there are not encouraging. Sardica has already turned down my request for an appearance. I�m sure Wendar will. They don�t want anyone to know that your double is an impostor. Rowena will, of course, allow it for Valonia, but that�s only if she is accepted as legitimate. Her captured sister is presently considered to be the queen. And Antar is firmly under the clone�s control, although our representatives on the council will certainly recognize you. You, after all, bear the seal. It is unlikely that Serena knew about it when she cloned it. Only the Antarians are aware of its existence."

After this long speech about the current balance of power in the system, Rath sighed wearily, collapsing into a chair. Zan knew that Rath hated politics as much as he hated change. It galled Rath that he had to go to the Council at all. He would far prefer to take his army and blast the clone out of the sky. But, unless they had Sardica�s Sky Army at their disposal, they would be unable to defeat the Zan clone�s forces. And, so, politics and the legitimization of the real Zan had to come first.

They both knew this. There was no disputing it. But Zan could tell that Rath had something more to say. He seemed wary to proceed.

"What?" Zan demanded.

Rath locked eyes with him. "Zan, we need Knosis. There is only one way to secure their loyalty."

Zan clenched his jaw. "No." He had been against the marriage with Ava of Knosis even before he�d known Rowena. Now he knew that he had been waiting to find Rowena. And, now, it was even more of an impossibility.

"Zan, you�ve both agreed that she may need to marry Khivar once her sister�s scheme is exposed. How is this any different?" Rath argued.

"No such agreement was ever made," Zan retorted. "I am the high king. I will marry where I will. And I choose Rowena. Khivar will have no say in the matter."

"Zan, be serious. You know that Khivar will never accept that. You will never secure an alliance with him if you don�t allow him to make the decision about Rowena�s marriage. He may very well reject her, once he knows that you want her, but you have to allow him that right. You need him."

"How can I do that?" Zan demanded. "I refuse to force her into a marriage she does not want."

"Rowena is practical, Zan. She knows very well that things may not work out between the two of you." Rath lowered his voice, forgoing his usual gruffness in an attempt to prove that while he understood Zan�s reluctance, there was no choice. "Brother, you must accept this."

"I will not marry Ava," Zan snapped. "Drop it."

Rath stood abruptly, his anger clear. "Then you will never regain your throne, highness. If you do not secure Knosis, our cause is doomed. And if you do not do your duty, then, my brother, I can no longer serve you."

And, with that, Rath turned on his heel and stalked out.

Part 55

"Are we there yet?"

Kate glanced at Michael, who was sitting next to her. He had reached forward and hit the button on the back of the seat in front of him, which opened a com link directly to the pilot of the small star cruiser in which they were presently traveling.

"Soon, General." The pilot sounded polite, but long-suffering.

"Well, hurry up," Michael said gruffly, switching off the com.

Kate smiled to herself when Isabel turned around in the seat ahead of them and snapped, "Michael, if you do that one more time, I swear I�m going to come back there and make you regret it."

Michael scowled, then retorted, "Yes, Mommy."

Isabel glared back. "If you stop acting like a child, I�ll stop treating you like one. Can�t you just sit back and enjoy the fact that we�re on a spaceship or something?"

"I�m not a little boy, Isabel," Michael replied, his voice rising. "You can�t distract me with this spaceship garbage. We need to get there! I don�t trust that guy not to do something crazy."

"I�m sure we�re going as quickly as we can," Kate soothed. "It�s space travel, Michael. It just takes longer."

Michael turned his heated gaze upon her, making Kate cringe slightly. "I get that," he said. "What I don�t get is why your brother hasn�t returned any of our calls. I would be a whole lot more relaxed if he wasn�t such a loose canon. Ironic that he was telling me not to do anything stupid," he finished, under his breath.

Kate sighed, lowering her gaze. She wished she could deny it, but Michael was right. There was something fishy about the fact that they had been unable to raise Will on any communication orb since their last conversation, when her brother had warned them all against acting in haste, because they might regret the consequences if they ever managed to get back to Earth. "I wish I knew what he�s doing," she murmured. "I hope he�s okay."

"I don�t trust that guy," Michael said abruptly.

Isabel twisted in her seat again. "Michael!" She glanced at Kate meaningfully, momentarily making Kate feel like she wasn�t there at all.

"Well, I don�t," he insisted. He looked at Kate. "No offense. It�s not like I�m saying I don�t trust you."

"None taken," Kate replied wryly. She wasn�t offended, she realized. Because she was just as suspicious as Michael was. The fact was that, until she exposed him, Will had pretended that he was Khivar, which had seriously unnerved her. She still couldn�t explain to herself what had been going through her brother�s head. But, she could guess at some reasons for his behavior. None of them pleased her, and all of them involved his obsession with reclaiming Rowena - Liz - as his own.

Michael was opening his mouth to complain again, when he was interrupted by a beeping noise. Isabel reached forward and hit the blinking button on the console in front of her. "Yes?"

"If you�ll look at the view-screen, highness, Sardica is just below us."

Isabel fiddled with a dial in front of her, and the large screen, that divided the compartment in which they were traveling from the pilot�s cabin, lit up abruptly, causing all three of them to gasp in amazement at the vision that greeted them.

Antar had been spectacular, without a doubt. As they had left the capital planet, covered as it was in the lights of its vast cities, Kate had been certain that she would never witness such a sight again. But Sardica was magnificent in its own, completely unique, way. There were the lights of large settlements on the surface of Kate�s native planet too, but there were also huge expanses of blue, which could only be one thing. Water. Sardica was completely covered by water.

When their ship finally landed, about another fifteen minutes later, the extent of what this meant greeted them as they debarked. The platform upon which they exited shifted slightly with every step they took. It was little more than a giant dock. Looking around in amazement, Kate realized that the whole city to which they had been brought was floating upon the ocean, which apparently covered the whole surface of the planet.

Why had no one ever told her that Sardica was a water world? How could this have been one of the memories she had lost? But, suddenly, it made complete sense that she had always felt uncomfortable in the desert on Earth. She felt lost there, bereft in some way she had never understood. As she breathed in the sea air that surrounded her, for the first time in her life, she felt like she was coming home.

Once they were swept into a nearby building by the guards who had accompanied them, Kate no longer felt like the ground was in movement beneath her feet. The edifice was obviously grounded in a way that the landing platform had not been.

"Princess Karana!" A grey-skinned man in a green uniform emblazoned with the symbol of the house of Sardica, came forward and bowed. Kate guessed that he was an immigration officer of some sort, because she was beginning to suspect from the bustle surrounding them that they had been escorted into something like a customs building back on Earth. "Welcome. What a�pleasant surprise." The way he trailed off for a moment made Kate wonder if he was really pleased to see her at all. She felt her heart start to beat unsteadily. "We were not expecting you!"

"You weren�t?" Michael demanded, stepping forward. "That�s funny. Considering her brother invited us here."

Isabel elbowed Michael firmly. "What my husband," this was said through gritted teeth, "means is that, if you contact Khivar, we are certain he will confirm our invitation."

"Not that I need one," Kate added. "This is my home."

"Of course it is, Princess!" the landing official exclaimed. "I did not mean to imply otherwise. It is just that we are unprepared to receive someone of your rank." He sounded embarrassed. "I fear that our hospitality will be poor."

"It�s all right," Kate reassured him. "Rath, Vilandra, and I have no need of ceremony. We would like for you to contact my brother immediately. He is, as we have said, expecting us."

The official glanced at Michael, and then Isabel, his eyes widening. He bowed again, more deeply this time. Kate realized that it was because Isabel was of a greater rank than she. "I beg your forgiveness, your highness. I did not recognize you!"

Kate felt her heart go out to the poor, flustered man. "There is no harm done," she insisted. "We would just like to proceed to the palace."

But the man was babbling now, obviously very upset. "This is the second time in a cycle that we have been unprepared to greet royalty. First Lady Rowena arrives, unannounced, and now you all. How are we supposed to do things correctly if we are not informed?"

"Rowena?" Kate interrupted his tirade. This was news. Liz had not been with Will when they had last spoken to him. "Rowena is here?" She felt a rush of relief, which was quickly followed by a twinge of nervousness. "Was Zan with her?" she asked quickly.

"Zan?" The officer stared at her. "No. The high king is not on planet." He looked dismayed at the mere idea. "He�s not coming too, is he?" He glanced around in despair.

"No, no," Kate assured him quickly. "I swear we�ll let you know if he�s coming." She looked at Isabel, who shrugged, obviously as perplexed as she was as to where Max was. This seemed to satisfy the immigration officer though, because he escorted them through the receiving area, to a large garage like structure, which was filled with slips that housed water craft of all shapes and sizes.

"The royal barge is, of course, at your service," the officer told them. "It is always ready to go."

"Excellent," Kate said, smiling slightly. "Thank you."

"Oh!" Michael called out to the officer, as he turned on his heel to leave them. "By the way, do you have a jail or something in there?" He inclined his head back towards the immigration building.

"Yes, why?" the officer asked, sounding nervous again.

"We have a prisoner on our ship. Stick him in there, will ya? We�ll be back for him later."

Kate looked at Isabel, who was glaring at Michael. "Michael, what did you do?" she finally asked under her breath.

"I brought Grant with us," Michael replied, sounding surprised. "You didn�t think I was just going to let him run back to whoever is messing with us, did you?"

"Michael! I thought we agreed that we were going to let him go! That we didn�t want the timeline to be too messed up!" Isabel exclaimed. "You told us that you didn�t tell him anything about who you thought he was. That it would work. With me gone, it�s not like they can go ahead with the plan anyway."

Michael shrugged. "I changed my mind."

"Michael!" Isabel looked about ready to throttle him.

"Hey, I go with my gut!" Michael replied. "My gut was telling me not to leave the creep back there. So sue me!"

"Michael, you know he�s not Grant yet, right?" Kate asked carefully.

Michael looked at her peevishly. "What, am I an idiot? Of course I know. I also know I�m right about this."

"Fine," Isabel sighed. "I just hope we don�t regret this."

Michael�s expression softened. "Iz, I swear I know I�m right. I just don�t buy that we�re changing everything back on Earth. I mean, it just doesn�t feel like that�s what this is about."

"What do you think it�s about?" Kate asked, curious.

"I think we�re supposed to learn things," Michael replied. "Like when we brought you back. We couldn�t do it until we learned stuff about ourselves. Like how Isabel wasn�t herself until she understood that she wasn�t going to betray me and Max. It just makes sense to me that it�s why we�re here. To learn stuff."

"So why isn�t the granolith just letting us see our past lives?" Isabel asked. She sounded impressed with Michael�s reasoning though, and relieved too, if Kate was not mistaken. Kate didn�t blame her. It would really relieve a lot of the tension for all three of them if they knew for a fact that their every move wasn�t dooming their friends back on Earth.

"Because someone hasn�t learned what they�re supposed to," Michael said, his tone darkening. He looked at Kate. "Three guesses about who it is, and the first two don�t count."

"You think it�s Will," Kate said, wishing that she didn�t agree.

"The fact that Liz is here, and Maxwell isn�t�" Michael raised his eyebrows. "That pretty much pounds the last nail into his coffin, in my opinion. He�s up to something."

"I don�t know," Isabel said. "I mean, he seemed really sorry about working for the other side. He was really upset after you got hurt," she told Kate.

"That was before he had the chance to change everything to his own benefit," Michael reminded her. "He�s the one who�s completely convinced that everything we do here is going to change the future. He still thinks he has a chance. I mean, I�m not saying he ever meant for you to get hurt last time," Michael added, looking at Kate. "But we brought you back once, after all. Why would he let that stop him now? He knows that if he screws up, we can all bail him out."

Kate felt sad that she couldn�t argue with Michael. But she truly could not disagree. She had forgiven Will for what had happened back on Earth. She, better than anyone, knew how much of who he was had been wrapped up in finding Rowena, after all. And even Michael believed that he hadn�t meant for anyone to get hurt. But learning that Ro was not his, and had never been his, had obviously destroyed something inside Will. Kate suspected that he was never again going to be the same brother she had always admired, the one she had always trusted to do the right thing. His obsession with Rowena had corrupted him. The scariest part of all was that she couldn�t help but believe that Will was reliving exactly what had happened to his counterpart - the one who had rejected Serena when he had learned the truth about his wife.

Which had been one of the reasons their system had disintegrated into civil war. One of the things they had to make sure didn�t happen again.

Unless she could get through to him, and if Michael was right - that they were in the granolith to learn about themselves, not about their past lives - then they might be trapped here forever.

Alex�s face flashed into Kate�s mind, making her close her eyes to shut it out. She thought of him often, but just as quickly made herself stop. She couldn�t allow her feelings for him to interfere with what she knew she had to do - with what was right.

But he would not leave this time. The idea that she was never going to see him again�She couldn�t bear it.

By the time the small boat shuttle in which they were riding pulled up in front of a huge palace, Kate�s resolve was set. She was not going to leave her brother�s side until she had made him accept that Liz belonged with Max. She would not allow herself to be stuck in this limbo forever. They were here for a reason, and she was not going to let Will�s stubbornness keep everyone from returning to their loved ones back on Earth.

They all belonged on Earth, together. Liz belonged with Max. Michael belonged with Maria.

Isabel belonged with�

Kate blinked, and felt her heart stop.

She realized that she had been just about to think, "Isabel belonged with Alex."

Kate stumbled slightly on the walkway. She had been following Michael and Isabel into the palace, but she felt her legs weakening beneath her. Where had that completely out of left field thought about Isabel and Alex come from? And why did it seem to be affecting her physically? What was wrong with her? Why did she suddenly feel so out of it?

"Michael�" she called out weakly. She knew it was in vain. He wouldn�t be able to catch her before she tumbled off the swaying walkway and into the water below, which was where she was headed if she collapsed. Michael was too far away. No one could help her.

The next thing she knew, the water was closing over her head. It was cold, but it was not cold enough to stop her from sinking into unconsciousness.

Right before she slipped away, she heard someone calling her name.

"Karana! Kara, come back!"

Her last coherent thought was that it was Jack.

***

"We are going, so do not argue."

"I will not argue," Khivar replied. He was pacing under the tall windows of his office, his hands clasped behind his back. "I am just angry that I cannot go too."

"You know why you cannot, brother," Karana said, feeling sympathetic. "We cannot allow Zan to get his hands on you. He will win if you are captured." She looked at Jondar, her cousin, who was nodding his head in agreement.

"I know that," Khivar snapped. "Which was the argument that Rowena used to convince me to allow her to go to parlay with him in the first place. It is still a valid argument. But it does not mean I have to be happy about it." He stopped in front of Karana, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Promise me that you will bring her back, Kara." He looked at Jondar, too, including him in his words. "I am placing my trust in both of you to do this."

Karana reached out and embraced her brother, tears in her eyes. She did not understand how it had come to this. How could Zan have possibly changed so completely? It made no sense. He had always struggled against the yoke of his father�s desire for more dominance by Antar. The destruction of Valonia had been beyond her comprehension, and, at one time, she was sure it would have been beyond that of Zan as well. And, now, he was responsible for the kidnapping of that same planet�s queen! The Zan she had known would not have held an innocent hostage. There had to be more to this than a simple power struggle.

She was absolutely determined that she would not return to Sardica without answers. She and Vilandra, who had recently fled to refuge on Karana�s planet - refuge from Vi�s own beloved brother! It was absurd! - were in agreement. There was something wrong with Zan. It was now clear. They had failed him once; Karana by allowing him to send her away from Antar, Vilandra by deserting him and taking her army with her. They would not fail him again.

They would save him from whatever madness had claimed him. Freeing Rowena was the first step towards his salvation.

"I will not return without her, dear brother," Karana whispered. "I will save your wife. This is my vow."

And, by saving her, Karana knew that she would also save her friend.

***

It was surprisingly easy to penetrate into the palace on Antar. Too easy. They had decided ahead of time that they would go in alone. They did not want to risk a fire fight - one that could result in the injury or death of either Zan or Rowena. Vilandra, of course, knew the palace like the back of her hand, and Karana knew it well too, having visited many times. It would just be safer and more logical for them to do this without their guards, without their armies.

Things went wrong ridiculously quickly. The plan was for Jondar and Karana to free Rowena from the dungeons, which was where they all assumed she was being kept. Assuming anything was their first mistake.

In the meantime, Vilandra would go confront her brother. They would remain in contact the entire time, using communicator orbs, which had been refined to the point that they would not even require thought to use. This proved to be their second mistake. Because Zan knew immediately they were there. And the communicators just ended up telling him exactly where they were.

It was Jondar who first knew that something was wrong. "There are no guards," he whispered to Karana, as they huddled together near the entrance to the prison area of the palace. "It makes no sense, Kara. Why are there no guards?"

"What need of guards among friends?"

Karana jumped, knocking into Jondar. They both stumbled clumsily down the final steps into the open space leading to the cells.

Kara had recognized the voice instantly, of course. It was Zan, and he was marching down the steps behind them, his sister grasped firmly by the upper arm. He was followed by a stream of guards wearing the blue-grey of the house of Antar. Apparently guards were required amongst friends, Karana reflected, momentarily wry.

Zan�s next comment solidified that this was all deadly serious though. His piercing dark eyes lit on Karana first. "I am mistaken. There are no friends here." He gestured and the guards swarmed Kara and Jondar, quickly subduing them. They had held their weapons in their hands, but there was not even time to attempt a shot. It was such a well-executed maneuver, Karana knew that they had been expected. Maybe not today, but this was a trap nonetheless.

Zan thrust Vilandra down the remaining steps. The princess sprawled on the floor next to Jondar, who helped her up. Vilandra held herself stiffly. Karana knew her well enough to know that she was on the verge of tears.

"Why have you come back?" Zan narrowed his eyes on Karana. "My sister tells me that it is for Rowena, but I cannot believe that this is so."

"You no longer believe in loyalty?" Vilandra demanded, her voice shaking. "What has happened to you, Zan? I do not understand what you have become."

"I have become what our father always wanted me to be," Zan growled. "You know this to be true, Vilandra."

Kara frowned. She realized that this was the first time she had ever heard Zan address his sister by her full name. It had always been Vi, or Vivi, or Vili. Never Vilandra. She felt a shiver descend her spine. This, more than anything, frightened her. Until this moment, she realized, she had not feared coming here at all. In spite of everything she knew he had done, she had not feared him.

She knew now that she should have.

"You have never cared about what our father wanted!" Vilandra reminded him. "What has changed, Zan? I demand to know!"

Karana watched Zan�s face. It was a mask. He did not bother to answer his sister�s question. Instead, he turned on his heel and started to walk away. "Deal with them," he instructed the guards as he made his way past them.

"You coward!" Vilandra hissed, loudly enough that Zan turned his head and stared at her.

"What did you call me?"

"You can�t even deal with us yourself? Me, your sister. And your friend, Karana. We love you, Zan. How dare you treat us this way?"

Karana could feel the rage coming off Vilandra in waves. She was no longer sad, just furious, in the way only siblings could feel towards each other, because it was also wrapped up in love.

Which was why she said what she said next. She was his sister. It probably never crossed Vilandra�s mind that it was a bad idea. And, so, she taunted her brother. "I dare you, Zan. I dare you, brother. I dare you to put me in that cell as we used to do, when we played together as children." Vilandra stepped away from Jondar, who had been supporting her after her tumble down the stairs. She straightened her back and glared at him. "I dare you."

And, before Karana�s horrified eyes, Zan very deliberately took a weapon out of the hands of the guard standing next to him. Kara heard Vilandra gasp slightly, but it was the last sound she made before Zan shot her down.

It was in that very moment that Karana knew the truth. This was not Zan. It was impossible. He was either possessed, or someone had taken over�

And, abruptly she knew. It was a shapeshifter. There was no other possible explanation. As she fell to her knees beside her best friend, as Karana held Vilandra in her arms when Zan�s sister closed her eyes and died, Kara knew with every ounce of her being that this was not Zan.

Karana did not even raise her eyes as Zan shot down Jondar next. She bowed her head over Vilandra�s corpse, silent tears streaming down her face.

"What are you doing? Stop! This was not what was supposed to happen!"

Kara raised her head, and stared dully at Rowena, who had appeared on the staircase above them. Her sister-in-law�s horror was written all over her face. She wondered briefly if Zan would kill Ro after he was done with her. Why, in fact, was she still alive at all, if this was what he did to people he cared about? Rowena�s death would mean nothing to him, if he killed his own sister, and one who was like a sister, so easily.

Karana�s gaze shifted to Zan, who was now standing over her, the weapon bearing down on her.

Strange, Karana reflected briefly, as she stared into the abyss, already having accepted that her life was over. But Rowena does not seem afraid. She has made the same mistake. Because this is not Zan. He will kill her too.

The real mistake, in the end, was that neither Vilandra, nor Karana, had been able to believe that Zan would really do them harm. No matter what demons had claimed him, it had truly never crossed either of their minds that he could actually hurt them. Karana reflected on this fact and did not regret it. She was glad that she had never broken faith with her friend.

Because, as she stared death in the face, Karana, Princess of Sardica, was convinced, although she would never know the hows or whys, that the man killing her was not Zan at all.

Part 56

Zan stared out into the starry abyss. The sheer enormity of the tragedy that had occurred on Antar had not yet even started to penetrate his psyche, although it had been three days since he had heard the news about his sister and the princess of Sardica. He just could not believe it. He could not accept that the bright lights that had been Vilandra and Karana had been snuffed out so easily, and without any remorse.

He could not yet grieve, because he had not yet accepted it. He could not accept it. He refused. And because it was all anyone on the ship wanted to talk about, he stayed in his quarters.

Rath�s threat of leaving his side had, of course, been nothing but an idle one. The general�s loyalty was complete. It, however, did not mean that he hadn�t continued to pressure Zan to at least consider a marriage to Ava of Knosis. Every refusal on Zan�s part had only made his friend more persistent, to the point that, for the first time ever, Zan preferred to not be in Rath�s company.

At the very least, the murder of Rath�s wife had silenced his friend on the Ava matter. For a little while anyway. Zan did not doubt that it would all start up again eventually. But since he didn�t want to talk about any of it, it was just as well that Rath was too wrapped up in his own grief to bother with Zan.

Rath, with whom Zan had shared everything, wanted nothing to do with Zan in their shared sorrow over the loss of Vilandra. Zan knew it was a turning point. And not a good one. This, more than anything, meant that nothing would ever be the same again.

Which was why he was startled when a beep sounded, alerting him to the fact that someone was waiting outside his quarters. He was so surprised, he pushed a button allowing them entrance before he thought better of it.

For a long moment after she entered, he stared at her. Somehow he had known it was her. Somehow he had always known that it would come down to this meeting.

"Zan." She bowed her head, moving forward into the room. She stopped several feet away, not moving any closer, waiting for acknowledgment.

He tilted his head, examining her. He could see no physical difference between this woman and the one he loved. He sensed it though. He had known from the moment she walked in that this was not Rowena. He wondered briefly if she had wanted him to make the mistake. What game was she playing this time?

"Serena," he replied quietly.

She lifted her eyes, not surprised, nor upset. So she had not wanted him to think she was her sister. Her clone. Or, rather, her original, because this was the clone. Which was at the crux of this entire disaster, in the end.

"I am so sorry for your loss," she said. "It was not�I never expected that it would come to this."

"To which loss are you referring?" Zan asked mildly. He could feel rage burning just below the surface of his control, but he would not lose it on her. Not when he needed her so badly. Not when he needed this woman - this monster - to fix everything. She was the only one who could do it. The only one who could stop the fiasco she had set in motion and return peace to a galaxy. One that had been on the verge of a golden age, but was now teetering precariously on the precipice.

"I don�t think it�s that you don�t want to be king.

"You don�t?"

"No, I think it�s that you fear you will not be a good king."

The memory of Rowena�s faith that he could be a good king solidified his resolve, as it always did. It was the only thing that helped him to control his fury. The only thing that stopped him from reaching out and shaking the life out of the woman standing in front of him. The one who looked exactly like his love, but was so completely her opposite. He clenched his hands at his sides.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked, confused.

"I was just curious. Were you apologizing for the loss of my throne, or for the loss of my family?" He clenched his jaw, narrowing his eyes.

Her grey skin whitened slightly, but she did not rise to the bait. "For all of it," she said simply.

He didn�t say anything for a long while. He knew she was sincere. What he didn�t understand was why she was here. What had brought her out of the stolen life she had claimed for herself? Why had she decided that it had all been a mistake?

"What do you want?" he finally ground out. "How did you get on board, anyway?"

"They think I�m her," Serena replied, shrugging delicately. "They always think I�m her." The last was said with a great sigh. Zan knew she wanted him to feel sorry for her. He did not.

"You�re not her," he said firmly. "You will never be her."

"I know it," Serena said, lowering her gaze again. "But, at the very least, I can try to do what she would. I can try to fix what is broken."

"Can you raise the dead?" Zan demanded sarcastically.

Serena lifted her chin, meeting his eyes. "I cannot change what was lost, Zan, but they are not gone. Not entirely. I can make it so that it is almost as if it never happened."

Zan stared at her. His heart started to beat more quickly. "Do you really believe that I would allow you to? After what your meddling with the forces of nature has already done?"

"What is the difference?" Serena demanded. "She did it first! Why is what I have done so much more awful?"

"Because she did it out loneliness, and out of love," Zan snapped. "You cloned me out of hatred. You let your jealousy of her permit you to do things that Rowena would never even contemplate."

"I know it," she replied. "I know you don�t believe me, but I loved my sister. I didn�t do it out of hatred. She didn�t love Khivar anyway. But I did. I was doing it partly for her. So that she could have you. Anyway, I have changed. I swear it. I have known love now too. I know what I did was wrong. This time, I would be doing it purely for love. There would be nothing in it for me!"

"What are you even talking about?" Zan was weary. This woman was crazy. There was no way he could trust her to set things to right. Her answer was not to step forward and admit what she had set in motion. Instead it was to make things even worse by cloning those that had been lost. That she couldn�t see that it would be a mistake, after what had transpired with the Zan clone - with her! - she could not be trusted.

"Khiver," Serena explained. "I love him. He has lost his sister. He believes he has lost his wife. I must help him. He won�t survive this."

Zan frowned. What had she just said? Had he heard her right? "What do you mean he thinks he�s lost his wife?"

Serena�s eyes widened. She took a step backwards.

"Serena." His tone was very quiet, and his heart was pounding so quickly, he could barely hear his own voice. There was a great rushing in his head. "Serena, what are you saying?"

"You didn�t know�" She trailed off, looking around for an escape. "How is it possible that you did not know?"

Zan did not wait for her to gather her wits enough to answer him. He hurried from the chamber, and down several long corridors, until he found himself on the bridge of the starship. As the crew became aware of his presence, they all leapt to their feet, bowing.

The captain came towards him, respectfully. "Your highness. I am pleased to see that you are well."

"Well?" Zan demanded. "I haven�t been unwell."

The captain blinked. "We assumed�" He paused, then continued in a rush. "When General Rath told us you were not to be disturbed, we assumed you were unwell."

Zan looked around wildly. "Where is Rath?"

The captain looked at him strangely. "Gone. He left two days ago for Knosis. We are to rendezvous with him on Valonia. For the wedding." The captain had started to speak very slowly, as though perhaps he thought Zan wasn�t quite right in the head.

Zan stared at him in disbelief. "What wedding?"

"Your wedding," the captain replied, beginning to show his embarrassment.

Zan barely noticed. He didn�t have time to worry about it. He sensed that Serena had followed him. He turned to look at her. "Did you know about this?"

"About a wedding with Ava? Of course not," Serena replied.

Zan grabbed her by the upper arm, pulling her to the far side of the deck, out of the earshot of the crew. He noticed them trying to pretend that they weren�t all watching him. He knew he was behaving erratically, but he couldn�t help himself. While he had spent three days in his quarters trying to accept his sister�s death, his best friend had betrayed him.

He had failed again. He had allowed self-absorption to muddle his mind, and now it might be too late. If Rath presented Ava to him as his future bride - as a fait accompli - he was never going to be able to get out of it. It would be a diplomatic disaster of immense proportions.

"Zan." Serena wrenched away from him. "I know you�re upset. But you must stop. You�re not thinking clearly."

"Of course, I�m upset," Zan snapped. "My sister is dead. My most trusted general has gone behind my back and has made an alliance that I do not want."

Serena reached out a hand, touching his arm. "Zan, I am sorry that I told you about Rowena so abruptly."

Zan looked at her, then scowled. "You think she�s dead. I know she�s not. But Rath will use these reports to his advantage. He is going to put me in a position from which I will be unable to remove myself."

Serena stared at him. "Zan, she is. Your clone headed directly to Valonia after he killed the princesses and Lord Jondar. He fully intended to take care of both of you."

Zan started. "He doesn�t know I�m not there?" He narrowed his eyes. "Wait a minute. How did you know I wasn�t there?"

"I�ve been in communication with Rowena, of course," Serena replied, as though it was the most logical thing in the world. "To warn her. But I fear I was still too late."

"Why didn�t you go with the clone?" Zan demanded. "To protect her!"

"Do you think I have any control over him any longer?" Serena asked, looking at him as though he was crazy. Zan was beginning to wonder if maybe he was. "I was there when he killed Vilandra and the others. I went to Antar in the first place to try to stop him. I told you! None of this was supposed to happen! He was only supposed to take your place. How was I to know that he was wrong? That he was insane?"

Zan felt his anger melt away abruptly. "Of course you couldn�t have known," he admitted. "Because you�re not crazy, are you? You really are here to help."

"Of course." Her eyes filled with tears. "I swear to you, nothing was supposed to turn out like this. You and Rowena were supposed to be happy together on Valonia, with no one the wiser. I knew that neither of you wanted to rule anyway. I would have let you go eventually, once everything had been worked out. Once you saw that the clone could manage things."

Zan scraped a weary hand across his face. "I understand. It makes perfect sense. I�m sure Rowena told you a million times that she didn�t want to be queen."

"Yes," Serena nodded enthusiastically. "And I heard what everyone said about you. The whole galaxy knew that you were at odds with your father because you were not happy that you were going to be king."

Zan was dismayed. "Everyone thought that?" It made sense though. He had never acted like he wanted to be king. He hadn�t even known that he wanted to be. Only Rowena�and maybe Vilandra and Rath�had ever guessed that it wasn�t that he didn�t want to rule. It was that he feared turning into a man like his father.

Serena didn�t answer. She just watched him, as though waiting to see if he was really going to allow her to help him.

Zan sighed heavily, then moved back towards the captain. Serena trailed after him.

"When will we arrive at Valonia?" he asked. His heart started to beat more quickly at the thought of it. He was going to see Rowena again - and much sooner than he had ever hoped.

"In ten solar hours, your highness."

"Valonian solar hours, or Antarian?" Zan demanded, knowing that the Valonian were much longer.

"Antarian, of course, your highness," the captain replied, sounding affronted that Zan had even asked. Zan rolled his eyes. Although the captain was right. He should have known. No Antarian would ever refer to any other type of hour. To most Antarians, none of the other planets mattered much at all. It was an attitude that Zan�s father had nurtured, much to the detriment of the entire system.

"Very well," Zan replied. "Notify me when we are within visual sight." He turned on his heel and left the bridge.

Serena hurried after him. She grabbed at his arm. "Zan, what is happening? What are you doing? You can�t go to Valonia. You will be walking right into a trap. He will be waiting for you."

Zan turned his head and stared down at her. "There is no choice. I am the only one who can deal with the clone." He paused, then added, "And, once he is gone, then we can discuss this idea of bringing my sister, Karana, and Jondar back."

"And Rowena," Serena added.

"That won�t be necessary," Zan told her. "Rowena still lives."

Serena scowled at him. "Zan, it�s impossible. The clone has been on Valonia for days. She is gone. You must accept it."

Zan glared. "Serena, just as I knew that you were not her, I also know that Rowena still lives. I would know if she were gone."

Her eyes lit up slightly. "Are you sure?"

He looked at her, hard. "Would you know if Khivar were gone?"

There was a long pause, then she whispered, "Yes."

"I thought as much. Then believe me now. Rowena is alive."

Part 57

"Highness, we are being hailed."

Zan looked up. He and Serena were standing over the captain�s computer on the bridge, and had been examining the lay-out of the royal palace in Valonia�s capital, planning the assault that they were both certain would be taking place later that day. Zan had been there as a guest during the summit, of course, but it was a huge compound, and he did not know it well. Serena knew it even less, having spent her entire life on Valonia hidden in the summer palace on the other side of the planet.

"Who is it?" Zan asked, frowning slightly. He could guess though. It had to be Rath. No one else knew where he was, and, thus, no one else would know the frequency at which this ship could be contacted.

Zan�s suspicions were confirmed by the captain�s response. "It is the general."

Zan scowled. He still was uncertain about how he was going to deal with his wayward best friend. There was no doubt that Rath was loyal, but he had put Zan in an entirely awkward position with his insistence that Zan should marry Ava to secure the support of Knosis. And if he was actually contacting Zan now, it had to mean that Ava was with him, which made Zan�s virtually honour-bound to marry her.

All he knew was that he was not going to do it, politics be damned. He would marry no one but Rowena. Rath could marry her if he was so bloody insistent on the alliance.

Of course, the fact that Rath was free to marry at all reminded Zan instantly of the great loss they had both just suffered. It had never occurred to Zan before that Vilandra had always played a major role in bonding him to Rath. Since her death, their ties seemed to be more fragile than Zan could have ever imagined possible. It made him feel more charitable as he nodded at the captain to bring Rath up on the screen of the computer.

He sat down at the console and met his best friend�s gaze across the miles that separated them. Rath�s expression was implacable. "Zan," he muttered gruffly.

"Rath," Zan replied wryly. "You�ve been busy, brother."

"Highness, you know I had no choice," Rath snapped, instantly defensive. "I am merely doing my job. You were not in any state to make this decision. Rowena�s death makes this marriage an absolute necessity. We can no longer even rely on Valonia�s support."

"I do not doubt that you had my best interests at heart," Zan assured him. "However, your methods have not pleased me. Since when do we play games with each other, general?"

Rath sighed heavily. His expression softened. "Zan, I apologize. It was wrong of me to not consult you about this. But you must see that it is unavoidable now."

"Is she with you?"

"She is in her quarters," Rath replied. "She is most eager, Zan. She has always loved you. You know this."

"She barely knows me," Zan said.

"You barely knew Rowena," Rath snapped. "This should not prove to be a barrier to something that is the best for everyone."

Zan held up his hand. He needed to clear up another suspicion, one that Rath�s mention of Rowena was making more acute. The topic of Ava could be dismissed for the moment. "It does not matter. I will see you both soon enough and we will discuss what is to be done face to face."

"Zan, you know what is to be done."

"Rath, your cousin is alive. Nothing is yet determined," Zan said firmly.

Rath�s startled expression helped Zan to release the last of his anger. It was clear that his friend had not known that Rowena still lived. If he had�Zan knew that he never would have forgiven him. "She�s alive?" he said, sounding choked. "You are certain?"

"Yes, she is alive," Zan replied. "Although I am still wondering why you chose not to inform me that everyone else thought she was dead."

Before Rath could reply, Serena leaned forward over Zan�s shoulder. Zan suspected that it was a technique to prevent him from arguing further with Rath, and it annoyed him, but he let it go, as he watched his friend�s face whiten further. "Ro?" he croaked in amazement. "I do not understand�"

"No," she replied. "Serena. But Rowena is alive. I have spoken with her."

Rath�s expression darkened. He again addressed Zan. "You are letting this traitor influence you, Zan? Have you lost your mind?" He ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I never should have left you alone."

"I am not a child," Zan snapped. "I am the king, Rath. And it is time for you to recognize me as such. I make my own decisions."

"Then make good decisions!" Rath practically yelled.

Zan felt his anger rekindle. "You forget yourself, general."

There was a long charged moment when Zan wondered if Rath was truly going to break with him over this. His best friend�s face was turning an interesting shade of purple. However, Zan would not concede to Rath�s position. He knew that he was right to trust Serena. He sensed it instinctively, and his instincts, to this point, had never led him astray.

"I apologize," Rath finally bit out. He pressed his lips together for a lengthy moment, then added, "We are only several light years from Valonia now. My army awaits your pleasure, your highness."

Zan allowed himself to relax slightly. "We will prepare for battle then." He met Rath�s eyes squarely. "Tonight we retake Valonia. After that, we will make the decision regarding my future wife."

"The decision has been made," Rath insisted. He looked at Zan pleadingly. "Zan, we cannot change this now. You must marry Ava." He scowled slightly. "I know the clone is listening, but I do not care. You can not trust her, Zan. Rowena may not be alive. Do not let her sway you. Brother, please listen to me."

"We will speak of it later," Zan replied firmly. He sighed heavily. He did not enjoy being put in the position of having to choose between his most loyal general and Serena. Because, presently, there was no choice. She was the one he most believed in, but Rath was his longest and best friend. He did not want to lose him over this.

But it was Serena he had to trust in. They had a common cause, after all. And, presently, as hard as they were both trying to pretend otherwise, he and Rath did not. At least not when it came to the end game.

"I will speak to you later," Zan said quietly to Rath now. He knew he sounded dismissive, but it was how he felt. He and Rath were not on the same page, and there was not much that could be done about it at the present time.

Rath closed his eyes briefly, slumping back into the chair upon which he was seated in another starcruiser light years away. "Be safe, highness."

Before Zan could reply, his general broke the channel. Zan rubbed the bridge of his nose, a knot in the pit of his stomach. He truly feared that the rift developing between him and Rath might prove to be unbridgeable.

He stood, glancing at Serena, who was watching him sadly. "I am sorry, Zan."

"There is nothing to be sorry about," Zan replied. "Rath�s loyalty will see us through this."

And, yet, his anxiety over Rath would not go away, even while he, Serena, and the captain of the ship discussed strategy for the coming battle.

It was not many hours later, when the news reached him, only moments before they were to rendezvous with his general, that Zan understood why. Somehow, deep inside, he must have known that he had just spoken to his best friend for the last time.

***

"Your highness, something is amiss." The captain was staring at his computer, a scowl on his face. "General Rath�s ship is not where it is supposed to�"

But Zan was already staring at the forward view-screen. He had been informed that Valonia would be visible there within moments, but there was no sign of the planet beneath the large armada of star-cruisers hovering above it.

"What in�" He leaned forward, his heart in his throat. But he knew. He knew what had happened. Rath had come upon this fleet of ships, quite by accident, and had been blown out of the sky. Even now, Zan was starting to pick out the debris floating among the ships hovering around them. Because there were already completely encircled. Their entire army had been subdued in an instant, because they had been completely unprepared for this reception.

No one was supposed to know that they were coming. How had the clone known he was coming?

It took him a moment longer to realize that it could not have been the clone though. Because these were not his ships. This was not his army - the army that the clone presently controlled. These ships were entirely foreign to him.

Serena, who was standing next to him, breathed the answer, although Zan had already guessed. "It�s Khivar."

Zan clenched his fists at his sides. "Hail him," he ground out through gritted teeth.

Moments later, the king of Sardica was facing him on the screen. "What have you done?" Zan demanded. He had not laid eyes on Khivar since the summit on Valonia months before, and, after his first comment, he momentarily felt taken aback at how the other man had aged. Khivar had not seemed much older than Zan then, although he was, by several years. Now though�it was clear that he had hardened considerably.

The expression of pure hatred on his face did nothing to dispel this impression either.

"What should have been done months ago," Khivar sneered. "He was a fool in his loyalty. He has now paid the price for it." His expression was purely malevolent as he continued, "And you are about to do the same. I don�t know how you got off that planet, but I don�t care." He gestured behind him, then met Zan�s gaze again. "Prepare to be engaged."

"Khivar!" Serena exclaimed, nudging Zan aside. "You have made a dreadful mistake! Stop this!"

Zan watched Khivar do a double-take at the sight of her. "Rowena!"

"No," Serena admitted grimly. "Rowena is on the planet."

"What? What game are you playing?"

"I am not Rowena," she replied. "But I am your wife. And you have just played right into our enemy�s hands."

"He is the enemy," Khivar replied, although his uncertainty was clear. Zan felt no pity for him, however. He had murdered Zan�s best friend in cold blood. Not to mention Ava, princess of Knosis. The situation in the galaxy had just worsened exponentially. Knosis would be out for blood when word of this got back to that planet.

Not that Zan was not out for blood now. He felt a wave of grief wash over him at the thought of Rath. His best friend - gone. Completely gone. And all because of his complete loyalty to Zan. A loyalty that Zan had held far too lightly of late.

The grief was quickly overwhelmed by rage. "You are going to pay for this!"

Serena grabbed his arm. "Zan, control yourself. It was a mistake. We cannot allow this to divide our purpose."

"He killed my best friend!" Zan yelled. "Rath is dead, Serena! The best of us is dead because of him!"

He turned back to the screen. Khivar was gaping at him, his dismay now obvious. "You will pay for this, Khivar," he repeated. "I am still high king of this system, and you are a traitor. I will see you lose your throne over this."

"You stole my wife!" Khivar yelled back. He paused, then added, "If that even is my wife." He leaned forward, as though examining Serena through the com system. "She said she was not. What is she, then? A shapeshifter? What game are you playing? You killed my betrothed and now you�re having someone impersonate her? I knew you were a sick bastard, Zan, but this is beyond even what I would have expected of you!"

Zan desperately wanted to wrap his hands around Khivar�s throat in that instant. He cursed the miles of space that presently separated them. "You know-nothing half-wit," he muttered instead. It was not at all satisfying. But he would have his revenge. If it was the last thing he did, he would see Khivar off the throne of Sardica and executed for assassinating Rath. "You just killed the princess of Knosis as well. The entire system will side with me over this."

"The entire galaxy is out to stop you, you madman!" Khivar bellowed back.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Serena practically screamed. "Don�t you see? This is exactly what they want! You are doing all the dirty work for them! You must work together!" She grabbed Zan by the front of his robe, forcing him to look at her. "Zan, think of Rowena. You needKhivar. This is fate. He is here to help you. With his army at your disposal, you will take Valonia for certain."

Zan managed to take a deep, shuddering breath. It was taking all his energy not to brush her aside. But he managed it. Intellectually he knew that she was right, but he was still so angry, he could barely see straight. If he let his anger go, he knew that his grief - this never-ending loss - would overwhelm him.

"Zan, you must meet with him. Together you can end this once and for all." Serena shook him slightly. She was small in comparison to him, so it did not do much. In fact, it stunned him, then momentarily amused him, which managed to break down the last of his rage.

This was not what Rath would have wanted. Rath wanted this war to end. His death, and that of Ava, had been a tragic mistake. But it could not result in an even bigger one.

Serena was right. He should not mistake his enemy. Sardica was not his adversary - at the moment anyway - although it was highly clear that it was going to take a lot to convince its king of that.

They needed to meet. Now. He only hoped he would be able to control his temper. Because while Sardica was not his enemy, Khivar most certainly was. For many reasons, not the least of which was that he had, without remorse, killed Zan�s best friend.

Zan turned back to the view-screen, addressing Khivar, who was now watching him suspiciously. "I am bringing your wife back to you," he said firmly. Without waiting for an answer, Zan reached out and switched off the com.

He looked over his shoulder at the captain. "Prepare a shuttle."

The captain was frowning. "Highness, is this wise?" He had been hovering nervously, obviously completely unprepared for what they had encountered when they arrived at Valonia. Zan could not blame him for his concern. His entire fleet was presently encircled.

They were outnumbered, and had been outmaneuvered. Zan would never allow himself to be so unprepared again. And there was only one way to resolve any of this. They needed Khivar on their side. For now. The rest of it could be dealt with once they had taken care of the clone.

"Do it," Zan snapped.

Within the hour, he and Serena were disembarking from a small shuttle on the deck of Khivar�s flag-ship, with a small contingent of soldiers backing them up. They were told that the Sardican king was waiting for them in his quarters near the bridge.

Serena clutched at Zan�s arm as they followed one of Khivar�s generals through the maze of passages that led to the bridge. "Zan, you must control yourself," she whispered. "If this goes awry�"

He looked down at her, nodding. "I know that I will not have another chance."

She stared up at him, her dark eyes completely guileless. And, so, it was not until they actually stepped through the door in front of them and had come face to face with Khivar that Zan knew that he had been more than outmaneuvered. He had been completely duped.

Because, Khivar was not alone. Standing next to him was the last person Zan had ever expected to see there.

It was Rowena.

Part 58

Kate opened her eyes and found herself staring at a field of stars. It took her a moment to realize that it was a window - actually a sky-light of some sort - and that she was staring out at the night. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. She wasn�t tired, although she felt groggy. In fact, she felt as though she had been asleep for years.

Turning her head, she realized that she was not alone. There was a largish grey alien seated across from her, its head lowered into its chest. It was wearing a long, green robe, the chest emblazoned with what Kate recognized as the insignia of the House of Sardica - a [b]V[/b] with a dot confined between the two sides. Instinctively she knew it was Jack. After all, it was his voice she last recalled hearing before she had fallen into the water.

Kate shivered as she remembered the suffocating feeling of drowning - first in the thick water, then in the memory of dying in her past life. She felt her heart thunder in her chest, panic beginning to claim her. Reliving being killed at the hands of Zan�s clone brought back the memory of waking up in the pod chamber after Nasedo had ended her life on Earth.

She still remembered how cold it had all been. Only seeing Alex upon waking, seemingly waiting for her, had brought any warmth.

There was no warmth now. Because there was no Alex here. And, yet, in spite of that, she knew that this was where she belonged. She didn�t belong with him. It was the truth that had crossed her mind before she had passed out - that Alex belonged with Isabel. He might not know it yet, but it was what was meant to be. It was Isabel he really wanted. Kate�s heart had recognized it long before her head. She was a replacement for the person he really loved, but was sure he could never have.

It was what the granolith wanted her to learn. It was why she was seeing everyone in this world in their original forms, while Isabel and Michael had stressed that, to them, everyone looked exactly as they had on Earth.

She belonged here. Isabel belonged on Earth - with Alex. The irony was that, for Isabel, after she had finally recognized what she had in Alex, he had found what he had wanted from her in someone else. But, at heart, it was Isabel he really wanted.

Which was another reason Kate belonged here. If she returned to Earth, it would only confuse matters. Alex would deny it. Kate knew he would.

She knew what had to be done.

"Jack."

Her cousin jerked, having been only in a light doze. He jumped to his feet, hurrying to her side. "You�re awake! Finally!"

Kate allowed him to grab her hand. It brought some comfort. She no longer felt as cold as she had.

"What happened?" Kate asked, squeezing his hand back. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"A while," Jack said. "It was pretty obvious, after we pulled you out of the water, that you were basically okay. But you�ve been out of it for close to two days." He lowered his head, his voice quiet. "God, Kate. I was so worried. You know, that somehow we hadn�t really fixed you. After what Nasedo did to you."

Kate reached out and touched his cheek. He looked up at her, his large eyes glistening. "I�m okay," she insisted. "It was the granolith. I had to know what really happened to us," she continued. "I guess that having me relive it like that was the only way."

"So this," Jack motioned around the room, "isn�t reliving it?"

"I don�t think so," Kate replied. "I�m not sure what this is," she admitted. "Maybe some kind of waiting room where we�re stuck until we all learn what we�re supposed to." She frowned slightly. "I don�t think we�re changing things on Earth, Jack. The stuff that I saw when I was out of it�We�re doing things so differently, but I just feel like everything�s going to be okay back there."

There was a long silence. Kate could feel her cousin�s reluctance to say what was on his mind, so she pressed his hand reassuringly. "It�s okay. You can say it."

"Isabel and Michael�" Jack said, his voice halting. "They said that they see us like we looked on Earth. Katie, I don�t."

"Me neither," Kate told him. "I know that it�s weird. But I think I�ve figured it out. I think it�s telling us who belongs where�what our jobs are going to be when this is all over. When we go back. Or when we don�t."

"You sound like maybe you don�t want to go back," Jack said. The unspoken question hung in the air between them. What about Alex?

"I want to go back," Kate said softly. "But I know I can�t. It�s not my path, Jack. That�s what the granolith is telling me. I think that�s why we�re seeing people as aliens, and the others aren�t." She brought her hand to her heart. "I can�t leave Will. I just can�t. He needs me. He needed me before, and he needs me now. I have to be here. Isabel and Michael belong back there, but we just don�t. It doesn�t matter what we want. It�s just how things have to be."

"I guess it�s the price we pay for being who we are," Jack said. "A family." He reached out, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against him. "Alex is going to be sorry. I don�t know him very well, but even I could tell that he really cares about you."

"I know he does," Kate said. Her heart contracted slightly. She hoped that Alex would understand - that this wouldn�t hurt him too much. That he would get that she was doing this partly for him, not to him. So that he could see the truth about his romantic feelings for her. That he was just transplanting what he felt for Isabel to her. "I care about him too."

I care enough to let him go, she thought, closing her eyes against the pain of it.

***

After she had refreshed herself, Kate allowed Jack to lead her to where the others were waiting. They were gathering in Will�s presence chamber, having been informed that she had woken up. Kate had learned that they had all taken turns sitting with her, confused about what was wrong with her, and unwilling to leave her alone. It made her feel warm again - loved. Not just by her brother and her cousin, but by Michael, Isabel, and Tess too.

Because Jack had also told her that it wasn�t actually Rowena - Liz - who was on Sardica, as the landing official had thought. It was Tess. The mistake made it even more clear why there had been so much confusion in their past lives with all the clones running around.

"We aren�t actually on Sardica anymore," Jack said as he led the way down a long corridor.

"I assumed that," Kate replied wryly. After she had gotten her bearings upon waking, she had spent a few more minutes looking through her skylight, only to realize that the sky was actually in movement. Which meant they were back on a ship. But it was such a large ship, it was almost impossible to feel like they were traveling anywhere. It was nothing like the small shuttle she, Michael, and Isabel had taken to Sardica in the first place.

"We�re going to Valonia," Jack continued, after having grinned at her. At least that�s what Kate assumed his expression was. It looked a little strange on his long alien face. "Max and Liz are still there. Or we think they are. We haven�t been able to communicate with them. But it�s where Tess left them."

"Why did Tess leave?"

"Apparently Liz was convinced that Tess needed to be with Max again for some weird reason. Max didn�t know who he was at first and it freaked Liz out. Tess left to force Liz to face that she couldn�t keep running away from the fact that it�s never going to be easy. That if she wants Max, she�s going to have to suck it up and say so. She has to fight for it."

"Poor Liz," Kate sighed. "She�s had to deal with more stuff than any of us. At least we�ve always known who we are." She frowned slightly. "I wonder why Max doesn�t know who he is. I mean, Isabel thought she was Vilandra at first, but that was only until she learned what she needed to - that she wasn�t going to betray Michael and Max again. Shouldn�t it be Liz who doesn�t know who she is?"

"Who knows?" Jack shrugged. "Anyway, we�re going there, because we all need to be together to figure this stuff out. I mean, we don�t even really know why we�re here at all, do we?"

"Apparently Serena didn�t understand the granolith as well as she thought she did." Kate sighed. "I got the impression from what she told us that we�d all just relive what happened before. I don�t think she thought we�d actually go anywhere. None of us bargained on any of this."

"But did we actually go somewhere?" Jack asked. "That�s the confusing part. Tess is convinced no. She thinks this is just the granolith�s elaborate way to make us decide between Earth and here. That we couldn�t really make a decision on one or the other until we knew what here is like."

"Maybe�" Kate said, knowing she sounded uncertain. "But I still think it has something to do with someone not accepting what they�re supposed to learn."

"Well, if that�s true, it certainly drives home the point that we�re all connected to each other," Jack commented. "If someone is still unwilling to let something go, until they are, we�re all stuck."

Kate stopped walking. "Who is it, do you think?"

"It has to be Liz," Jack replied. "She seemed so accepting of it all, when we connected to bring you back, but I think being here must have been really shocking to her. It drove home that she�s not entirely human. That�s why we�re going to Valonia. To remind her that she belongs where she wants to belong."

"Did Tess say whether Liz is seeing people as humans or aliens?"

"Humans," Jack said.

"Maybe that�s it then," Kate agreed, but deep down she was pretty sure it wasn�t. She was pretty sure she knew who was really the one still clinging to something that could never be. But she couldn�t make that determination for sure until she came face to face with again.

Which she did, about five minutes later.

When Jack and Kate joined the others, Will was standing near a large window, which displayed a field of stars in all their magnificence.

The alien figure Kate recognized as Michael was standing with him, his arms crossed, annoyance practically radiating from every part of him. Kate wondered what her brother had said to irritate Michael this time. Probably not much. Michael definitely did not like Will. Which Kate almost couldn�t blame him for. Michael was loyal to Max. And Will�s entire being was focused on taking away the one person who meant the most to Michael�s best friend. It was Will that Kate was sure had not yet accepted that he and Liz were never going to be together. He said he did, but the fact that he had tried to hide that he remembered his Earthly side, when they had contacted him from Antar, did not bode well that this was entirely true.

She felt a pang of guilt for suspecting the worst of her brother, because the instant he became aware of her, he came towards her, his arms outstretched. When he reached her, he hugged her hard. "I�m so glad you�re all right."

"Thank you," Kate said quietly, pulling back and staring him full in the face, trying to read what was really going on in his mind. His grey alien face was ridiculously placid, however. Kate had developed something of a facility at reading these expressionless visages, but Will�s was impenetrable.

"What happened?" This question came from Isabel, who was seated on a sofa nearby. A small female alien, who was obviously Tess, was leaning forward, apparently as eager to hear Kate�s story as Isabel.

Kate lowered her eyes. She realized that she wasn�t quite ready to tell Isabel exactly what she thought the granolith had meant for her to learn. Because if she did - if she told Isabel that she was standing aside so that Isabel could pursue Alex again - it would be the end. Completely the end. In her head, she knew that she had already made the right decision, but her heart wasn�t quite ready to give up on the dream of having someone just for herself.

"I found out how we died," she said instead, not elaborating on why it happened when it did. "I guess someone had to."

"You did?" Isabel stood, moving closer.

"Yeah." Kate quickly filled the others in on the details of Vilandra, Jondar, and Karana�s deaths. "So it wasn�t Zan at all," she concluded. "It was his clone."

"I guess we all sort of knew that," Isabel said, sounding relieved. "But Max will be glad to have it confirmed."

"Speaking of Max, how much longer until we get there?" Kate asked.

"Not long," Will said, his tone strangely even. Kate noticed that Tess was watching him, a quizzical expression on her face. It occurred to Kate that Tess and Will had spent some time together alone before she, Isabel, and Michael had arrived on Sardica. Jack had been there too, of course, but there seemed to be a weird charge in the air between Will and Tess that had not existed before.

"In the meantime, I�m trying to convince your brother that we need to interrogate the shapeshifter," Michael added, his tone gruff. "He doesn�t agree."

"What�s the point?" Will demanded. "We know what he�s been up to. It�s just going to be hard on Isabel."

"And as I said," Isabel interjected, sounding wry, "Don�t make the decision based on me. I�m over it. Trust me. I barely remember him, plus I thought he was you." The tone of her voice seemed to indicate that now that she remembered the real Will, losing �Khivar� wasn�t much of a loss at all.

"I want to talk to him," Michael insisted. "We don�t know what we�re going to face when we get to Valonia. Maybe he does."

"There were shapeshifters there," Tess said. Will glanced at her, then away again. Kate frowned at that. He was quite deliberately ignoring Tess now. What the heck was going on? Tess noticed too, because she sounded annoyed when she added, "We�re probably walking right into a trap."

"Fine," Will snapped finally when they all stared at him for a lengthy moment of silence. "Just don�t blame me if�" He cut himself off abruptly, instead going to the wall and speaking softly into a communication device there.

Kate glanced at Jack, who seemed as perplexed as she did. What was Will�s problem with this? Wasn�t information worth a little discomfort?

"Are you really all right?" Tess asked, distracting Kate from her brother�s strange behavior.

"Yes," Kate replied, smiling slightly. "Thanks."

"We were really worried," Tess said. She reached out and took Kate�s hand, squeezing lightly. "I�m glad you�re okay. It must be weird�knowing how you died."

"It wasn�t pleasant," Kate admitted. "But it did answer a lot of questions." She looked at Tess intently, remembering that she wasn�t sure if any of Tess�s questions had been answered. She didn�t yet know if Tess was seeing things through human or alien eyes. The tension that existed between her and Will also seemed to indicate that Tess had been dealing with some issues of her own. "How are you?" Kate asked, curious.

"I�m good," Tess replied. "I�m where I�m supposed to be." Kate noticed that she was watching Will, who had gone to stare out the window at the stars again, when she said it.

The granolith was doing its job. The pieces were all falling into place. But as Kate examined the tense line of her brother�s back, she had to wonder if Will was ever going to accept what was meant to be.

She knew now, for sure, that it was Will who had trapped them in the granolith. Liz might be a part of it, but it was Will who had to change. And, until he did, none of them were going anywhere, no matter how much they learned.

Part 59

Zan stared at Rowena, unable to understand why she was there. His first instinct was that this wasn�t Rowena at all - that it was a shapeshifter - but as he reached out with his senses, he knew that it was her. He could feel her. This was no imposter.

He narrowed his eyes, thinking hard.

"Zan," she said quietly. He tried to read her tone. It was simple greeting, however. She was composed, not at all upset, and, in fact, seemed somewhat indifferent to his presence. Zan swallowed. She was not a prisoner. That seemed clear enough.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. He glanced at Khivar, who was watching him, no expression on his face. "What is happening here?"

"She is my wife," Khivar replied for Rowena, when it was clear that she wasn�t going to say anything. "Where else would she be but at my side?"

Zan looked at Rowena again. She gazed back steadily, guileless. Zan felt even more perplexed and, now, hurt. He knew he was missing something, but he could not quite put his finger on what it was.

"It is I that you married. I am your wife," Serena snapped, stepping forward. It seemed clear from her tone that she had no idea what was going on either, but that she did not intend to show it.

"You are a clone," Khivar replied coldly. "You are not my wife. You were a proxy, nothing more, nothing less." He reached out, taking Rowena�s hand and bringing it to his lips. She allowed it, but her expression did not change. It remained still and implacable.

There was a long moment of silence as Serena digested this. "If you knew - if you knew the truth all along - why did you act so surprised to see me an hour ago? If Rowena was here all along, why did you not just say so?" Her voice started to rise over the course of this, until she sounded slightly hysterical at the end. Zan reached out a hand, placing it on her shoulder, to tell her that he would take over.

"Why have we been brought here?" he asked calmly. He did not again look at Rowena. He would deal with her later. For now, this was between him and Khivar. "What are the terms of your surrender?"

"My surrender?" Khivar let out a short bark of laughter. "Are you joking?"

"You killed Rath, a prince of Valonia, in cold blood, without any justification" Zan replied evenly. "You killed Ava, crown princess of Knosis, as well. You are in no position to call the shots here, Khivar. I am the high king, and you will be brought to justice."

"You are no longer high king," Khivar said quietly. Zan narrowed his eyes. His heart was thudding in his chest as Khivar reached out and hit a button on the table in front of him. A small screen was revealed on the wall behind the king of Sardica. Khivar did not turn his head, but continued to watch Zan. Zan ignored him, shifting his gaze to the screen.

Zan recognized the five figures on the screen immediately. They were the delegates to the Council of the Five Planets, one each for Antar, Sardica, Valonia, Knosis, and Wendar. Zan focused on his father�s old friend, Larek, who was Antar�s representative. He met Zan�s gaze unflinchingly. But Zan could see, even across the many miles of space that separated him from Larek, that the old man was trembling.

It was in that instant that he abruptly understood what was happening. He knew why he had been brought here.

He listened impassively as Larek said what Zan had already deciphered was coming.

"Zan, Prince of Antar, the Council of Five Planets has unanimously voted to remove you from the throne of Antar. The charge of high treason against the system you are sworn to protect has been proven, and has gone unanswered by you. The act which procured this charge was the destruction of the planet of Valonia. Because your heir, Vilandra of Antar, is dead, the next in line is Khivar, King of Sardica. He has jurisdiction to arrest you, and to bring you back to Antar for trial. So it is spoken, so shall it be done."

Zan heard Serena�s gasp of outrage next to him, but he did not look at her. Instead he looked at Rowena. She would not meet his gaze. Her chin was raised, but she kept her eyes firmly to the left of his face.

He smiled slightly. He could not help it. He forced himself to wipe it from his face.

Clearing his throat, so as to hide his pride in Rowena, he looked at Khivar. "Very well. You have won."

"Zan!" Serena�s shock was evident. "Zan, this is some game. You must know it is! What are you doing?" She grabbed him by the arm, trying to shake him.

He disentangled her small hands gently. "It is no game, Serena. And, even if it is, it is apparent that we have lost. If the council and the king of Sardica choose to allow the shapeshifters to manipulate them, there is no way for me to stop it." He looked back at the screen, where the council was still watching, apparently wanting to bear witness to his arrest. "If the deaths of Rath and Ava are to go unanswered, then I have no choice but to submit. I have no desire to rule over a system that treats innocent life so cavalierly."

Zan glanced at Rowena again. She lowered her eyes, although he knew she had been watching him. He smiled slightly again. "Good luck with that one." He directed this at Khivar, nodding in Rowena�s direction. "You will need it."

With that, he moved to the door, and allowed the guards to take him.

***

Rath was waiting for him in the room to which he was led. Zan could not help the emotion that welled within him at the sight of his general.

"Brother." He moved forward, clasping Rath firmly by the hand. "I am relieved to see you well."

Rath smirked. "That was a neat performance, highness." He nodded at the view-screen behind him, indicating that he had watched the usurpation of Zan�s throne upon it. "I was worried that you would not catch on."

"You underestimate me," Zan replied.

"No," Rath replied seriously. "But I did underestimate your trust in my cousin."

Zan smiled slightly at the thought of Rowena. "It is hard to understand it, I suppose."

"Indeed," Rath said.

"How?" Zan asked, because there was really nowhere else to go with that train of thought, being as Rath was uncomfortable discussing Zan�s love life. Unless it was a matter of policy, of course. "Where is Ava?" he added, because, of course, if she was present on the ship, she was a liability. The Knosians were in on the plot to disrupt the ruling houses of Antar, Sardica, & Valonia together after all.

"Ava is under house-arrest, although I am fairly certain that she is not a party to any of this." Rath looked at Zan sternly. "She really does want to marry you. And it would solve the problem of the Knosians, bringing them to our side. If all four planets were aligned against Wendar, the battle would be over before it was started."

"Possibly," Zan replied. "But I am unwilling to trust that at present." He returned to the main subject. "How? How did you pull this off? And how did you get Khivar to agree to it?"

"Rowena did that," Rath said. He sounded admiring. "My cousin has the makings of a true stateswoman. She understands exactly what men want, and how to go about convincing them to do what she wants to get it."

"I know it," Zan admitted wryly. "It is her gift. She understands people."

It is why I love her, he added silently to himself. She is the only person who has ever really understood me. Only she would have taken the gamble that I would trust in her love for me, which was the only way that this plot could have worked.

"What did she promise him?" Zan asked, realizing that he should perhaps be a little worried about it. He would not have blamed Khivar for asking for the moon and stars, but it was more likely that what the king of Sardica wanted was a little closer to home.

"That�s the truly amazing thing," Rath said. "She promised him nothing. He only wants to please her." He eyed Zan, his respect obvious. "She is a very great asset to any king, brother. You have chosen wisely."

Zan frowned slightly. He was not entirely convinced that Khivar had not asked anything of Rowena. He would wait to find out what her former betrothed wanted directly from her.

Rath continued his explanation, obviously unaware of Zan�s wariness. "My shuttle was intercepted when we passed Sardica, on our way back from Knosis. It was then sent on to Valonia on auto-pilot, where Khivar�s fleet awaited it. It was destroyed, but no life was lost."

"Well, thank the stars for that," Zan replied. "So what is the plan now?"

"The goal was to take the clone out of play. Now that you have been arrested and dethroned, the shapeshifters can no longer use the clone to manipulate the council. They will have to use a different tactic."

"Very smart," Zan decided. "They will either have to expose themselves, or the Knosians will have to become their official mouth-piece. The enemy will no longer be hidden. The greatest weapon of the Wendarian - the shadows - has been taken away. Their neutrality will have to be compromised, should they continue with this folly." He paused, then added, "I still want the clone destroyed. And all the technology that was used to create him with it." He knew that this would upset Rowena, but there was no choice. As long as the possibility of clones existed, there would always be someone willing to take advantage of it to further their own ends.

And, yet, Zan could not help a pang. He remembered Serena�s comment that she could clone Vilandra. Oh, to have his sister returned to him! And Kara too.

"Obviously," Rath replied. "Rowena will deal with him when she returns to the planet. He is confined to the same cell in which you and Rowena were imprisoned."

Zan frowned at this. He felt a slight shiver descend his spine. He did not like the thought of Rowena facing the clone on her own. "I would speak to her before she returns to Valonia."

"No, Zan. It cannot be," Rath said seriously. "This plan will not work unless the utmost secrecy is maintained. No one can know that I survive, and no one can know that Khivar has staged your arrest. If you see Rowena, suspicions will be aroused."

"I suppose I will have to accept that," Zan said, although he still felt uneasy. "What of Serena? Is she to be told any of this?"

There was a long moment of silence. Rath met his gaze steadily. "Zan, you know what must become of Serena."

Zan blinked. "What? No! She is innocent. I refuse to allow it."

"Zan, there is no choice! All material that could illuminate the cloning process must be destroyed. You just said so yourself. We must eradicate the threat of it, once and for all."

Zan lowered himself into a chair, his heart pounding unsteadily. "Rath�We cannot. It is wrong."

"And cloning is not?" Rath snapped. "It is taking life into our hands. It is not our place."

"She promised to bring back Vivi," Zan whispered. He met Rath�s eyes, realizing that he wanted Serena�s survival for more reasons than just the Rowena clone�s life. Maybe he was not entirely capable of throwing away such technology after all. "My brother, think of it. Your wife could be returned to you."

"No, Zan. You yourself should know that a clone is not the person who has been lost. Serena and Rowena are not the same. You are not the same as your clone. It would not be Vilandra. It would be someone else."

Zan knew that Rath was right, but how could they do it? How could they destroy a complete innocent?

Well, perhaps Serena was not completely innocent, Zan admitted to himself. She had, after all, perpetrated a fraud on Khivar for months. But she was good at heart. She had recognized her mistake. She could be reformed.

It would be wrong not to give her the chance.

"Zan." Zan did not look at Rath. He was too overcome by the implications of what completely destroying the cloning technology meant. It would not all be to the good. They needed to reflect on this further, needed not to act hastily.

"Zan!"

Zan blinked, looked at his friend.

"I understand your compassion. Believe me. I do," Rath said quietly. "I have not trusted Serena, but I do not think she is entirely bad. In fact, I know that she wants to make amends for what she has done to Khivar."

Zan frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Zan, she has been in on this all along. Who do you think arranged the meeting between Khivar and Rowena? Serena admitted the truth to Khivar before she came to you."

"I don�t understand." He stared at Rath. "Are you saying that all of the strategy was a ruse?"

Rath sighed. "Yes, brother. After she saw what your clone did to Vi, and Karana, and Jondar, she knew that there was no choice but to rid the system of all the fruits of Rowena�s manipulation of the granolith."

Zan�s eyes widened. "Including herself," he whispered, disbelieving that any person could be so self-sacrificing.

"Yes," Rath agreed, lowering his gaze. "Including herself."