Power returned to their quarters. Etaine and Lotee were sitting side by side on the green sofa together.

"How long were we out?" Hal asked.

Lotee stood up and checked his virtual timepiece. "Not long. About four milli-orbits. If you'll excuse me, Etaine, I must attend to my duties and report in."

"What if it isn't safe out there?" Etaine asked, watching him leave.

"I'm sure it's fine," Hal said. "It's not their first battle. From what I found in the vault, the average age of an elder is well over a hundred thousand years."

"They don't seem to have improved with age," Greyla said, finding something to tie back Etaine's unruly hair. "They're starting to rot from the inside."

"What exactly happened to Tajlon, Greyla?" Hal asked.

Greyla started to answer, but halted. "Wait, I feel someone coming." She had learned to sort through the interference signals blocking her empathic powers to a small extent.

The door to their apartment burst open. Admiral Bethon charged into the room, Lotee on his heels.

"Where is he?" Bethon growled.

"Where's who?" Greyla asked while continuing to fuss with Etaine's tresses.

"You know damn well who. Tajlon. Where is he?"

"Didn't Lotee tell you? Tajlon's suffered some sort of accident, severely damaged. He's quite probably dead by now. I don't see how he could survive that last power outage," Greyla replied.

"I think he may have leaked through the hull," Etaine said quoting Widhbo's earlier remark.

Bethon drew his body to his full height and spoke in a softer, but ominous tone as searched the room in vain. "If you band of mutants know what's good for you, someone had better tell me where he is immediately. Leaked through the hull indeed!"

"Oh, I suppose my restraining field is blocking your perception, Admiral," Widhbo said. "Shush! I just got him to sleep a little while ago."

Widhbo opened his cocoon and spread his snowy wings just enough to reveal Tajlon who was curled up asleep among the soft and downy feathers.

Bethon unclenched his fists and relaxed upon seeing Tajlon was secure. Widhbo was actively in the process of restoring Tajlon's files and filling in the memory gaps with archived data strings.

Greyla could clearly sense Bethon’s emotions once he stepped inside the room. His worries were no sooner assuaged than he was immediately crushed with regret, effectively an admission of his guilt.

His remorse was not lost on Gryela, but still the anger welled up inside of her. She thought of all the ways she would enjoy killing Bethon and had to take a couple of breaths to calm down before speaking.

"At the very least, you shouldn't blame us for trying to protect him," Greyla said. "When he wakes up, shall I tell him how terribly sorry you are?"

"No," Bethon turned abruptly away and punched some buttons on the control panel by the door as he left. "Notify me when he wakes up. I'll tell him myself,"

* * *

Widhbo sealed the cocoon again and continued the file repair work.

"Why did you show him, Widhbo?" Greyla said. "He'd have never found him."

"He'd know Tajlon is here soon enough with our friendly spy hanging about," Hal said, glancing at Lotee and raising an eyebrow derisively.

"I have my orders. You have to understand I can't disobey them," Lotee said. "I delivered your message exactly as you asked. I knew it was a lie."

"We're not asking you to disobey, Lotee," Greyla said. "Just don't go beyond the call of duty, okay?"

"You can depend on me for that."

"Why did he send him back full of holes like that?" Etaine asked.

"The Admiral was occupied with the pirate situation. It was an emergency," Lotee said. "He expected Tajlon would be safer here until he could get back to him."

"What about the pirate situation?" Hal asked.

"We're in the clear for the moment. It's causing quite a bit of concern. They still don't know how to stop this thing," Lotee said.

"So the plan is to run every time it closes in?" Hal asked. "Forgive me if I can't appreciate how masterful this strategy must be."

"Yes. Brilliant." Greyla added.

"The restraining field around Widhbo evaporated. "What is this? Are they releasing me?"

"Yes, Admiral Bethon has removed your leash as you call it," Lotee answered.

"Why? To make sure we can't hide Tajlon?" Greyla said.

"There's no need to hide him. Admiral Bethon is in the process of atoning for his behavior with the ancients."

"Who are the ancients?" Hal asked.

"The law makers. Even the magiton elders must answer to them," Lotee explained. "He is required to apologize and make amends."

"Don't let him wake up for long time. Widhbo," Hal said. "Tajlon needs to fully recover before having to deal with Bethon again."

Greyla motioned to Etaine to get Lotee out of the apartment.

"Lotee, I don't want to trouble you, but I can feel this room is still blocking my empathic senses. Could you take me out so I can search for the devourer again?" Etaine asked.

"I would be happy to."

After Lotee escorted Etaine from the room, Greyla said, "We've got the location of the vaults. I say we let them figure out how to take care of the devourer, then see about settling the score with these magiton bastards."

"I'm all for it." Hal agreed. "Atonement hell. I prefer a large serving of ice cold revenge."

"Are you talking about a mutiny?" Widhbo asked.

"Maybe. If I could shut down the vaults, we could take over the ship."

"Not a good idea. You don't understand the full power of the elder magiton gods. They'd see you coming and have you for breakfast," Widhbo said.

"I can see they aren't gods. Look what they did to Tajlon," Greyla said. "They're only programs and there has to be a way to shut them down."

"Even if we were to succeed, the other magitons would put a reward on our heads. We'd never make it out of this sector alive," Widhbo protested. "Every pirate out there would be hunting us down for the bounty."

"I'm willing to try," Greyla said. "I'd do anything to get even with Bethon and his ilk. They're no better than our demon, just different methods."

"For the record, I veto the mutiny. It's suicidal," Widhbo said. "'I'll admit it's attractive. I'd love to destroy the deranged lot of them, but I assure you the magiton elders would win. I just ran the odds and they're abysmal. The admiral will come around once our demon pest is nipping at his heels. You'll see."

"I'm disappointed in you," Hal said. "I would trust your wits against the demon before any of these desiccated windbags who have forgotten how to fight, "

"We need to work together with the elders on this, Hal," Widhbo said. "We need their help to re-establish a home planet and without the Sora, we're all stranded here in deep space."

* * *

Etaine and Lotee ran across Admiral Bethon conversing with Colonel Munaci on the bridge.

"What is she doing out of her quarters without my permission?" Bethon asked Lotee.

"I beg your pardon, Sir. We wanted to see if she could still feel him out there?"

"Please, just give me a moment, then Lotee will lock me away again."

Bethon reconsidered his objection, "Go ahead. See what you can find." He was clearly not pleased to have to the empath there. She would be able to read his emotional turmoil. “Focus on the devourer, nothing else.”

"He's much farther away, but my signals are a little mixed up. It's as though I can feel an evil presence in this very room,” Etaine said. She paused to glance toward Bethon.

"If that's all you have to offer, you're dismissed," Bethon said, irritated by her remark.

"I can feel his hatred. He's hunting us and making plans to kill us all." She wrapped her arms around her shoulders and began to rock back and forth.

"His behavior is irrational and chaotic. If this demon even has a personality, It's doubtful he can think clearly enough to plan anything," Bethon returned. "You certainly can't know what's going through the mind of madman over ten astro units away."

"I only know what I feel, Admiral," Etaine replied. "Of course, your officer didn't believe me when I pointed out the devourer on the monitor earlier."

"Is that right?"

"Yes. Why don't you ask him? It was Colonel Munaci who's standing right over there."

"Is that true Munaci?" Bethon demanded.

"Well, yes, Admiral. She did point out an anomaly, but you couldn't expect me to believe her interpretation."

"Enough. I agree that her methods and appearance are ludicrous, but I won't argue with the facts. They've all been telling us the truth from the beginning. We were foolish not to see it. They're guileless creatures, lost and pitiful strays. They aren’t capable of knowing how to deceive us or lie effectively," Bethon said glaring at Etaine.

"Thank you for believing me. I'm not a liar, Admiral. I promise I'd never lie to you. I'd cut my tongue out first," Etaine effused.

"Away." Bethon said. With a wave of his hand both Lotee and Etaine were teleported back to the door of the apartment.