“Let me out of here NOW!” Kara yelled.

“I'm sorry. I've decided that you're not old enough to make decisions for yourself.” I said. “From now on, you'll be living here under our rules and no misbehaving will be tolerated.”

“Hunter!”

“Don't worry. Once it's decided that you are old enough, then you can choose for yourself.” I said. “Will you stay here and be a part of this wonderful organization or will you hate us and everything we stand for?”

Kara glared at me and I smiled at her.

“Being under someone's power and authority really sucks, doesn't it?” I asked her and she didn't respond. “Don't worry, you'll grow to love it here with all the restrictions and rules being placed on you that you'll be forced to live by.”

Kara opened her mouth to tell me exactly what I could do with that idea and I covered her mouth with Presence.

“I wasn't allowed to speak out against the people in charge and neither are you.” I said. “What was the punishment for disobeying orders? Oh, right. You get locked in a room and left alone until your babysitter came to get you.”

If looks could kill, I would have been a puddle on the floor from Kara's glare.

“Now be nice and I'll let you listen to what I'm about to do next.” I said and walked out of her sight and stood in front of the next cell.

“You really shouldn't do this.” Isabella said from in front of Kara's cell. “I'm pretty sure she's going to freak out when she wakes up inside of a cell.”

“You have no idea.” I said and opened the cell door and stepped inside. I shut it behind me and hit the button to turn on the protective barrier. Even with the restraints on to dampen her abilities, she was going to be like me and will still be able to use Presence. She laid on the bed and looked like she was only asleep, despite being in a Presence induced coma. I walked over to her and knelt by the bed and put my hand on her forehead.

*

Lashina felt like she had been squeezed to death. As she rose up to consciousness, she remembered the mass of vines that held her had tensed up for some reason and squeezed her so tightly that she lost consciousness almost immediately. In fact, she still felt them on her wrists and her ankles.

“No... no, let me go!” Lashina exclaimed and started to swing her arms as hard as she could. She still felt the vines on her wrists, so she used Presence to enhance her swings and felt how weak she was. She started to kick as well and kept her eyes closed as she desperately tried to fight off the vines. She knew she couldn't see while encased in the vines and they somehow blocked her Detect Presence ability.

“Stop it, you stupid bug! Let me go! Hunter won't fall for your tricks anymore!” Lashina yelled and fought even harder. She felt the impacts on her fists and feet as she hit the vines and made some progress on getting free. She was using up her Presence reserves quicker than normal and she realized that if she didn't break free now, the dryad could drain her completely.

“No, I won't.” A familiar man's voice said and she froze for a second.

“No! It's a trick! I won't fall for it!” Lashina gathered up most of her Presence to make one final attempt to escape, then she felt human hands grab her arms. She paused because they weren't the fly's claws, then she felt human lips on hers. With the intimate contact that seemed so familiar, the mental barriers she had constructed to protect herself from The Wise One wavered. Her arms were let go and she was picked up and held on a very familiar lap.

No.... no, it... it can't be. Lashina thought.

Yes, it can. Hunter's crystal clear voice echoed through her mind.

No! The Wise One has me prisoner! His dryad...

...is dead. Hunter thought and kept kissing her.

Lashina started to believe that it was true and her lips started to move in response. Of course, once that started, her body moved on its own and her arms went around the man of her dreams.

“Ow.” Hunter said as he broke the kiss. “Give me a few more minutes to finish healing.”

“Wh-what?” Lashina opened her eyes and gasped at the sight of a severely beaten man. “HUNTER!”

“Even powered down, you still hit really hard.” Hunter said.

Lashina started crying. “I'm so sorry! I thought... I thought I was fighting my way out of the vines!”

“It's okay. It was my fault for warning Kara that I was coming to get you as soon as possible.” Hunter said. “If I had just shown up unannounced, he might not have tried to take you like that or tried to use you as a bargaining chip.”

“Don't kid yourself.” Lashina said and caressed his healing face. “He knew you were coming before Kara showed up.”

“He did?” Hunter asked. “Well, I guess he was The Wise One.”

Lashina smiled for a second, then she caught her breath. “Hunter! We have to get out of here! If he finds us...”

“You missed the part where I said he was The Wise One.” Hunter said.

Lashina gasped. “No! He's... he's immortal... you can't... even without a body, he...”

“It's all right.” Hunter said and took out the head to show her.

“AHH!” Lashina leapt off Hunter's lap and back onto the bed.

“I said it's all right.” Hunter said and tapped it with a finger. “There's not trace of Presence or life in this thing.”

“But... but...” Lashina stared at the huge head. “It's not possible.”

“Like I told Kara, being immortal is overrated.”

“How? How did you do it?” Lashina asked.

“I'll skip over all of the other details and just say that I destroyed The Order's home planet.”

“WHAT?!?” Lashina yelled and she heard a muffled yell from nearby.

“Yeah, it's completely gone.” Hunter said. “I'll show you the footage later.”

“You recorded it?” Lashina asked and didn't let her personal feelings about it overwhelm her.

“Of course I did.” Hunter said and put the giant fly head away. “It's a crucial part of my plan.”

“Can you tell me about it?” Lashina asked.

“No.” Hunter said and stood. “Not until you can tell me... honestly... that you won't worship your goddess anymore.”

Lashina opened her mouth to say it and she felt a huge pressure in the room and in her heart.

“You swore to never lie to me, Lashina.” Hunter said with a deadly gleam in his eye and all of his injuries were instantly healed as he became angry.

“I... Hunter, I...” Lashina floundered. She felt the pain in her heart where she had made the binding pledge to him and she closed her mouth. “I can't say it.”

Hunter nodded as he turned off the protective barrier and stepped out of the cell. “Like I told Kara, this is only temporary until I can get proper accommodations set up for you.” He closed the cell and turned on the protective barrier again. “I'll be back with supper.”

“Hunter!” Lashina jumped off of the bed and pressed her face to the cell door. “HUNTER!”

“Don't open the doors until I return.” Hunter said to Isabella and then he turned to look at Kara. He absorbed the Presence over her mouth and waited for her outburst.

“You killed all those people.” Kara said.

Hunter chuckled. “Ha. Don't be so melodramatic. You only really cared about one person on that mudball.”

Kara closed her mouth and didn't say anything.

“If it makes you feel any better about it, your old guardian Enelle died during the fight with The Wise One.” Hunter said.

Kara still didn't say anything, even though that actually did make her feel better.

“See you at supper.” Hunter said and walked away.

Both of the prisoners and Isabella watched him leave the security compartment.

*

I ordered two more living compartments from the Bogorim Corporation. One would be heavily reinforced for Lashina and her temper tantrums and one that was suitable for a little girl. I smiled as I imagined what Kara was going to do when she saw her new living space and her new wardrobe. She would no longer be allowed to wear her robes or her normal casual clothing.

I held in my laugh as I ordered the most outrageous girly outfits in her size, all to be delivered as soon as possible, and then I called the Bogorim Corporation. I knew there was no staked claim on the third planet and I had to formally file one with them, since they pretty much owned everything else in the system. They happily accepted my offer and I registered the ownership of the planet on the galactic net.

The next thing I did was construct all of the satellites that would be needed to make the protective barrier around the planet. It was huge and I incorporated self-sustaining solar powered batteries in them to keep them from having to be powered by anything like a reactor or a power station on the planet. I was sure that the dryads wouldn't let me go back there so soon to install something like that, so I had to settle for an orbital power plant and external power until the satellites gathered enough energy to maintain their self-sufficiency.

After that, I began construction of my automated missile factory. Since they had automated factories to create the suicide charges for people's heads, I knew I could easily adapt the same factory design to make the missile warheads and the modifications to let a focusing crystal be added. I wasn't surprised at how easy it was, once it was fully assembled and activated. All I needed was more parts.

The Bogorim Corporation were surprisingly efficient in this regard, because when I placed an identical order to my last one, I was informed that another long haul transport would be arriving within a week with my shipment. I actually laughed at the clerk who was taking my order, then I had to apologize for my strange sense of humor. She agreed to accept my apology if I agreed to go out to dinner with her.

“You do know that I'm a notorious killer, right?” I asked her.

“Of course I do.” She said with a wicked smile. “My friends are going to be so jealous that I had a date with The Hunter.”

I laughed again. “I'll pick you up at your apartment at five and we'll eat at my favorite restaurant.”

“Wonderful.” She said. “I'll see you then.”

Not surprisingly, we had a great time that night. The food was excellent and served with promptness, the staff was courteous and treated us like royalty, and afterwards we went to her apartment on the second planet. I was barely through the door when she jumped on me and did her best to have sex with me right there. I obliged, of course.

She was enthusiastic and quite thorough in her efforts and I almost applauded her for it. When she thought she was done and had relaxed, I had to turn the tables on her. I showed her what an experienced Presence user could do and she absolutely loved it. She hadn't felt anything like it before and her mind and body fully accepted that she wasn't going to feel anything like that ever again.

I didn't dissuade her of that notion, mainly because I doubted that we would ever see each other again, and I went back to the space habitat to sleep for the rest of the night. The next day I continued working and used up pretty much all of the remaining spare parts that I had to make more missiles and black barrier machines. When they were pretty much gone, I had nothing to do except go to the security section and visit with the prisoners.

“I don't even want to look at you.” Kara said.

“Aw, don't be like that.” I said. “Your new living quarters will be here tomorrow and you won't be stuck in a cell anymore.”

“I'd rather be here in a cell!” Kara said loudly.

“Then it's a good thing you're not in control of what you'll be doing or where you're living.” I said with a chuckle and walked over to Lashina's cell. “Hi, there.”

“Hunter.” Lashina let out a sigh. “You can't keep people against their will.” She said in reference to Kara.

“Why not? The Order does it all the time.” I said.

“That's... different.” Lashina said and the Presence wavered.

“Ha.” I barked a laugh. “You don't believe that any more than I do.”

“Hunter, please...”

“Your living quarters will be delivered at the same time and then you'll start your new lives with The Wave.” I said with a dramatic flair and spread my arms. “You're both going to enjoy it. You'll forget that you are being held here against your will and that you hate me for what I did.”

Both Kara and Lashina winced as the Presence wavered a lot.

“Oh, sorry about that. I didn't realize how big of a lie that was.”

“Which part?” Kara asked angrily. “Being held against our will or hating you?”

“I honestly can't answer that question.” I said with a smile. “You can, if you can push aside your prejudice and look at it with a clear mind.”

“I'm clear about it.” Kara said and the Presence wavered. “I am!” She exclaimed and it wavered again.

I chuckled. “Uh huh.” I said and waved at Lashina. “You've got another day of free psychiatrist service from Lashina, without an appointment, so I suggest you put it to good use while you can.”

“I do not need help from her.” Kara said and the Presence wavered again.

“I actually don't have a lot going on right now; but, I'll leave you alone anyway.” I said and walked over to the door to leave, nodded at Isabella, and left.

I went up to the main media room and found Monica there. She was watching something and quickly turned it off when she saw me come out of the lift.

“Mom, it's okay.” I said and walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. “Turn it back on.”

“But...”

“We can be sad together, remember?” I said and put my arm around her shoulders.

Monica nodded and turned the large display screen back on. It showed footage of Hailey as a little girl in the hospital and then suddenly Noma was there beside me. She cuddled into my side and rested her head on the side of my chest. I put my arm around her as well and the three of us sat there in silence. We let silent tears roll down our faces and as they reached our chins, they dissolved away.