They had waited until the last moment, but it was time to pull out. It was in Etaine's hands now.

"We're going home. I've been wanting to try this," Widhbo announced. He pushed the big panic button that would send the magiton body back to their mother ship. A slight wobble could be felt in their round chamber.

"It's an incredibly long distance to travel in such a short while," Hal said as they found themselves docked with a power node back on the Moz Lidule. Widhbo tossed them all out unceremoniously, staying in the magiton body himself.

"I won't be getting that captain's rank after all will I, Admiral?"

"You defied my direct order to pull Etaine in with us." Bethon said but his face was full of pain, not anger.

"You're unhappy with me?" Widhbo countered. "If you hadn't brought her to the planetoid in the first place, she wouldn't have tipped off the demon. I didn't plan on having an empath with us and it wasn't compensated for when I built the shield."

"It doesn't matter now. I have bigger problems," Bethon said making a supreme effort to collect himself and resume his duties as admiral. "We still have the cursed demon at large. It was all for nothing. Everyone report to the conference room in five minutes."

They found Anakron and Greyla still there. Anakron rose to greet Bethon.

"Admiral Bethon. What happened out there?" Anakron asked.

"Etaine had a hidden agenda. When we approached the demon, they could sense one another empathically and it blew our cover behind the shield. It was as though she planned it all along. Now she has transformed herself into a dire creature to oppose the demon herself. She plans to orbit the black hole and hold him there indefinitely."

"Can she do that?" Anakron asked.

"She thinks she can. Since the devourer has assimilated so many BakoNaat, they are his greatest strength. As queen, Etaine claims to rule that part of him."

"Think 'Evil Snake Queen of the Tor Galaxy'," Widhbo chimed in. "The demon doesn't have a chance against her ego."

Greyla shook her head incredulously. "Our poor, dear Etaine. What has she done now? It just might work."

"Or at least it buys us some time," Anakron said.

"So far her scheme is working, but I shouldn't have brought her out there. It's really all my fault," Bethon said. He rested his head in one hand. "Widhbo, get to work on plans for shielding that will also block empathic readings. The demon has evidently acquired this ability. We'll need to build one for every ship and install one on every inhabited planet in this sector of the Tor Galaxy. Do that and you can have you captain’s rank."

Yoeke opened his mouth to speak and thought the better of it. Widhbo was silent for a change.

Hal saw Greyla’s sad face and said, "I'm sorry about Etaine, Greyla"

She rushed over to embrace him."Etaine will be fine. Apparently, she can't die. I was so worried about you." She planted a kiss on his lips.

Hal grinned in spite of the circumstances and stole a longer one. "We seriously need to talk." He looked at Bethon. "Will you excuse us, Admiral?"

Bethon in a rare moment of leniency nodded in the affirmative. "You can get with Widhbo later."

Munaci returned to the room and pushed through to the Bethon.

"Welcome back, Admiral. You're just in time to deal with this report." He handed Bethon a file. "The BakoNaat are rioting. They've accused you of stealing their queen and using her as a weapon."

* * *

Anakron immediately left to scan Erizza and evaluate the extent of problems on the planet below.

"What do you make of it, Anakron?" Bethon asked joining Anakron on the bridge.

"They're somewhat disorganized but appear to be gathering an army. We should probably prepare to pull out. They're in no mood to negotiate and any retaliation on our part will surely be upsetting to Etaine.

"What about Valorah?" Bethon asked. "Do you suppose she's in any danger?"

"What do you think, Bethon? I warned you the situation was unstable. Kage may be in danger as well," Anakron replied not attempting to hide his irritation.

Munaci turned from his control console. "A message from Lieutenant Cratus on the Lady Devora for you, Lord Anakron." He put it through the speakers.

"I just received a transmission from Tajlon," Cratus said. "He's teleporting to the Moz Lidule and should be here shortly."

"What's he doing back so soon?" Anakron asked. "Did Balvendro let them off on vacation?"

"Discharged them more likely," Munaci said with a snort of disgust.

"He said they've completed their training at the Academy, and he'll explain more when he gets here." Cratus said and signed off.

"Munaci, notify Hal and the others. I also suggest you mind your manners," Bethon said. "If in fact they've completed their training, not only do they have the status of any elder but are elder gods now."

Anakron led the way to the projection room normally used by Balvendro when he visited. Lights were already flashing to indicate an impending arrival

Tajlon and Nova materialized in the center of the room wearing their guardchevs. Tajlon wore his uniform with Anakron's colors, but now it was heavily adorned with bars of achievement and elder god ranking. Nova sported a collar declaring his elder god status and achievements. A collection of award badges dangled like charms from the collar encircling his neck.

Widhbo appeared on the conference table in his magiton body just as Hal and Greyla got there.

"Tajlon!" Greyla shouted as she and Hal rushed to share a group hug. "I can't believe you're back."

"What a pleasant surprise." Anakron greeted him with a warm embrace. " How this is possible."

"Yeah, what gives?" Hal asked.

"We're as surprised as you are," Tajlon answered.

"How did you manage to cram in five hundred years of training in such a short time?" Bethon asked.

"The ancients have developed a new interdimensional branch of the Tor Academy, still very experimental. Balvendro took a few of us there but failed to mention that we were greatly accelerated in the process. We've been existing in a realm that’s going near the speed of light. I promise you, it felt more like a thousand years to us."

"That's incredible," Greyla said, her voice cracking "Five hundred years older and wiser?"

Tajlon smiled and looked into her mind reading her reservations. "We're still the same. Don't treat us any differently, Greyla. You're as beautiful as ever. You can't imagine how much I've missed all of you."

"No new girlfriend at the Academy?" Hal asked.

"It was a small class. Not a single girl there." Tajlon said.

"No lady leopards either?" Widhbo taunted.

Nova took a swat at Widhbo's magiton body and knocked it across the room, then chased it down, batting it from side to side with his paws. "I've been waiting a long time to do this, Widhbo," he said.

* * *

The elders on the Moz Lidule and several members of the sector alliance had all gathered in the general conference room to be briefed on the situation. Sag Leggan was there as well.

Sag greeted Greyla warmly as he headed toward the seat beside her. "Greyla, my dear. How lovely to see you again."

Greyla smiled and nodded. She felt amiable toward him despite herself, knowing he had programmed her to react in that very way. She decided not to speak if possible and tried to block him from her mind.

Hal approached and intercepted Leggan's path. "I don't think I've had the pleasure. Could you please introduce me to your friend, sweetheart?"

Greyla looked up in surprise. Hal knew something he shouldn't. She'd deal with whoever told him later. For now it was working in her favor.

"Of course, Hal darling. Commander Leggan, I would like to introduce you to my finance, Halston Medantos."

Hal stuck out a hand in greeting with a poorly concealed smirk. "Pleased to meet you. You don't mind if I sit here do you?"

"Not at all. I can see Greyla has excellent taste in men. You make a lovely couple." Sag said and gracefully moved down to the next chair.

Anakron noting their interaction, moved to sit next to Sag and engaged him in conversation.

Greyla took Hal's hand and gave it a squeeze.

She kissed his cheek then pressed her lips to his ear and whispered, "Who told you? Nova?"

"No. Widhbo."

"I'll kill him."

"My kill list is longer than yours," Hal replied. "Starting with Bethon."

Tajlon took the seat beside Greyla and winked at Hal. "I heard that." He took Greyla’s hand and kissed it.

"Being sworn to uphold the ancient's creed for the preservation of life, I can see I have my work cut out for me," Tajlon said. "Nova's hiding it well, but he still has it in for Bethon as well."

"We're a murderous lot. What can I say?" Greyla responded. "I'll soon have an army to assist me."

Nova plopped down in the chair next to Tajlon followed by Widhbo who perched on the table in front of him.

"I'm here. They can start any time now," Widhbo said.

"Wake me when it's over," Nova said letting go a big yawn. He curled up and tucked his nose under a huge paw.

"Nova, don't be rude," Tajlon prompted.

"I'm not rude, I'm bored."

"It's the price of being educated, Nova," Widhbo said. "Now you see what I've been dealing with all these years."

"Shush," Greyla said. "Bethon's about to speak."

Nova reluctantly sat upright in his seat but let his eyes glaze over. An occasional yawn escaped him throughout the presentation.

"You might do a little multitasking while we're here. I plan to have many private conversations during this," Tajlon said to Nova telepathically.

"I plan to sleep and pretend to be awake. That's enough multitasking for me."

* * *

"So there you have it," Bethon said. "Queen Etaine is on the planetoid, locked in an orbit opposite the demon. She is holding him there in a duel of wills of some sort through an empathic connection. Now her subjects are rioting on Erizza and the BakoNaat are threatening war, blaming us for the loss of their queen." He paused a moment, letting the full impact settle on the room.

"I would like to give special mention to Lord Anakron's subjects who put their lives at risk for the benefit of us all. It is through no fault of theirs that these missions failed and Etaine in fact may have given us a temporary solution.”

A polite round of applause went up.

“We are celebrating the return of Tajlon Castonea and Nova who have completed their training. You are invited to a party after the conference. They have been awarded elder god status by Balvendro. In return for their service and in honor of their achievements, I am commissioning a new vessel, the Sora II, to be commanded by Tajlon.”

Another round of applause was heard. Hal let out a whistle and shouted, “Yes! Way to go Tajlon!”

Tajlon stood and addressed the room.

"Thanks to everyone. I’ve looked forward to having my own ship for very long time. Our chance meeting with the Moz Lidule has taken many unexpected turns. I have no regrets. If it were not for your generosity, Admiral Bethon, we would not have survived. I have hopes that the demon, for which we must assume some responsibility, can be dealt with and eliminated. I've had a long time to consider a way in which to deal with the demon. He devoured my father and I have devised a plan to not only restore my father to life, but to conquer this evil force. Once the new Sora is completed, we will launch a galaxy wide search for a DNA match. I plan to fight the demon with himself and have obtained special permission from the ancients for duplication, multiplication and even origination of life if needed."

There were stares from all the other elders and a hush fell over the room. It was a rare privilege as the ancients were very strict concerning both areas.

"I have discussed the current situation with Lord Anakron and my friends," Tajlon continued. "Until we can free Etaine and eliminate all threats from this demon, Greyla has volunteered to go the BakoNaat and serve in her sister's place. We have reason to believe they will accept her as a substitute queen as they are closely related."

Sag Leggan looked stunned and turned to Greyla. "That' a very a bold move, Greyla."

"I'm well prepared, Commander. It's only a job. No different than any other."

Sag smiled. "If I might assist you in any way, please call on me. I have a deep understanding of the BakoNaat."

"Strangely, so do I," Greyla replied. "My trips to Sagora and Erizza were most educational. Actually, I could use a slinky green gown if you happen to know where I might get one."

"My pleasure." Sag said. "I'll have one delivered to you this very evening. I believe I have your measurements somewhere."