The lock blew apart with the force of three lasers trained on it.

“Open it,” Bethon ordered.

The technician lowered the mechanical arm in preparation to open the hatch to the prison unit, but the door slid open of its own accord, Tajlon stepped out and climbed down to the table. He looked a little dazed, but intact. He first noticed the group of magitons watching him from behind the transparent shield.

When he spotted his friends, Tajlon jumped down to the floor and went over to stand near Hal and Greyla, the barrier still separating them. He was taller than his companions, slim and youthful in appearance. Wavy black hair fell to his shoulders and dark piercing eyes set off a comely face. He calmly evaluated his situation and tapped on the shield. "I'm not contagious or anything," he said.

“Lower the shields and let us welcome our new guest.” Bethon said. He nodded toward Hal, indicating he was free to speak.

“Hey, Tajlon. It’s good to have you back, buddy,” Hal said. “We've got a lot of catching up to do.”

"Good to be back.” Tajlon looked around the room. “Dad's not here. Who released me?"

"Admiral Bethon. He’s in charge of this ship,” Hal explained.

"Welcome to the Moz Lidule, Bethon greeted him. "Tajlon is it?"

"Tajlon Castonea," Tajlon replied. "Thank you. I'm glad to be out of that box."

"You seemed to have missed a lot of the excitement on board your home ship, the Sora," Bethon said.

"What happened?" Tajlon asked. He looked more closely at Greyla who was turning a strange dusky color. "Something went wrong didn't it?"

"Oh, it went wrong, Tajlon. Very wrong indeed," Greyla said, her voice had changed to a lower, unnatural register. "Your father... you don't really have a father anymore."

"My real father is dead," Tajlon asked. "What about the imposter?"

"We're not sure. He may be alive, but he's certainly not the same," Hal said. “Things went wrong after we came out of hibernation. Something was killing off the entire crew. We escaped and were fortunate enough to be intercepted by this vessel. The situation on Sora is.. complicated.”

Greyla's body was fading now, her limbs growing more transparent. Tajlon went to her side and placed an arm around her shoulders. Greyla smiled at him and her color returned more toward normal.

“Greyla needs medical attention. Can't you see she's not well?" Tajlon said and looked toward the admiral. And what of the others on board the Sora?"

"She’s been treated, but appears to be refractory to our methods," Bethon replied. “We scrubbed her files immediately following her rescue. I think it's best if all of you remain in quarantine for a while considering your special circumstances. No other survivors were found, but we do plan to inspect your ship as soon as possible,"

"Where is Jejliard, if not dead?" Tajlon asked.

"We assume he’s dead," Bethon stated, his gaze riveted on Tajlon. "Widhbo took all the ship's energy for himself before he launched with your friends in an explorer pod. Without power, anyone left on board the Sora will be dead by now."

"It was the best thing to do,” Hal said. “Everyone on board was already lost. The Sora had to be shut down for safety.”

"I can still feel him," Greyla said unexpectedly. "Jejliard's very much alive out there."

"How could you possibly know that?" Bethon demanded.

“She’s empathic,” Hal reminded him.

"The ship only seems dead. Jejliard lives,” Greyla continued in a low raspy voice. “He's the very breath of evil, living in darkness and cannibalizing everyone left on board."

Tajlon recoiled at her words and dropped his arm from around her. Her color went dark blue.

"Whatever your father had become, he’s worse now, beyond recognition," Hal said. "He was killing and assimilating the rest of the crew. We barely escaped with our lives and some master files, that's all we have,".

"Everyone?" Tajlon was beginning to grasp the magnitude of the situation. "My grandmother? Nova?"

"They're all gone by now." Hal said and sighed heavily. "Greyla was witness to a lot of it. I was near midships and had to go straight into hiding to dodge him. He was was killing everyone around me. Greyla was more isolated and she managed to get away before Nova attacked her... " Hal stopped and looked at Greyla shifting colors rapidly from blue to green to violet and back. "Let’s don’t go there."

"What about Nova?" Tajlon insisted. "He wouldn't hurt anyone, especially not Greyla. He adores her;"

"Nova wouldn't, but it wasn’t really Nova. It was a mutation. Both Jejliard and Nova were possessed by the same evil force." Hal explained.

"Nova tried to hold on. I don’t blame him for what happened," Greyla said. Her skin went from blue to purple and blue again. "The Sora is the one behind all of this. It's the ship. The Sora is the evil demon Mara said it was all along."

"Who is this demon exactly?" Bethon asked. "You speak of the ship as though it were a living being in its own right."

Greyla's voice continued in the lower register which grated as she whispered, "The devourer as foretold in prophecy. It has taken possession of Jejliard. He's growing stronger as we speak. It will soon be too powerful to be stopped." Greyla was turning back into Etaine.

"From where does this devourer originate?" Bethon asked. He had shifted his attention from Tajlon to watch Greyla’s transformation.

"Widhbo would be the one to ask about that," Hal said.

Everyone’s gaze was focused on Etaine who was now turning a translucent green color.

“I would think any living creature, the integrity of matter itself, might be destroyed crossing dimensions,” Bethon said. “You really believe the story that he came from another dimension?”

“Yeah, I do,” Hal said. “Nothing else explains him. Energy beings aren’t exactly native to Beldora. And the other alien, Gengor, told a consistent story. I believe they both survived."

“Survived you say?" Etaine asked in a halfway Greyla sounding voice. “Gengor lived at the bottom of the sea, counting fish for a hundred years. Widhbo has been pretending to be anything but who is really is. He's been living his life as a bird for most of the last century. What rational being does that for pity's sake?"

"So where is Widhbo anyway?” Tajlon asked. “I take it he got away from the Sora?”

"He’s currently undergoing a separate investigation," Bethon said. “You will be allowed to join him later.”

Hal cleared his throat and pointed toward Etaine. She had begun to levitate from the floor and was growing a few green scales.

"She needs rest," Tajlon said. He held her face between his hands. “Greyla, stay with me.” Her color came back toward normal.

"Most unusual," Bethon said, watching her response to Tajlon.

"She’s evidently having severe a post traumatic reaction. It may take a while, but she'll be fine," Tajlon assured him. "I greatly appreciate you rescuing me from the Sora, Admiral. Could we continue this conversation when she's feeling better."

"Of course. I can speak with you at a later time." Bethon gestured to HT432047 to escort them from the room. Etaine was free floating now, her feet not touching the floor.

Tajlon and Hal held her between them and guided her drifting form back to their quarters. By the time they arrived she was back to being mostly Greyla.

"I'm fine," Greyla said, taking a seat on the sofa. When Hal attempted to sit beside her, she held up a hand. "Not happening. Sit somewhere else."

"Okay, then," Hal said. He shrugged and turned to Tajlon. "Greyla and I have not been on the best of terms lately."

"I see." Tajlon gave Greyla a questioning look and she patted the cushion beside her. Tajlon sat with Greyla while Hal filled him in on everything. The recountal caused Greyla to destabilize again, her body turning back to a greenish color. Tajlon nestled her in his arms and stroked her hair which was growing long and black. A few green scales had popped out along the dorsal surfaces of her arms and legs. She was transforming into a new version of Etaine.

"Greyla, it's going to be alright. I'll figure something out," Tajlon said.

"Don't let them scrub me again. It didn't really help at all and it's so invasive... where's Widhbo?" Etaine asked, sitting up. “When we left he was right over there.”

Hal looked in the corner of the room where Widhbo was last seen. "He's gone again."

"What’s going on, Hal?" asked Tajlon.

"Widhbo just keeps moving from place to place without warning," Hal said.

“No, what did Admiral Bethon mean by a separate investigation?”

"They've probably taken him for ssentencing," Etaine said, twisting a strand of black hair around her fingers.

“Sentencing?” Tajlon asked.

"You need to go back and talk with them, Tajlon," Hal said. "Maybe you can help. They're blaming Widhbo for everything that went wrong. Accused him of murder and more."

"Yess, go on. I'll be fine," Etaine said slinking back against the sofa and contouring her body to its shape. "They're sspying on us. If you go to the door, it will open."

Tajlon furrowed his brow but said nothing. He got up and went over to the door. It did in fact open as he approached and HT432047 was there, ready to escort him.

"Let's go," Tajlon said.