Niles had just finished recounting to Andrea what happened when Jon had taken him into the guardian temple. She seemed quiet as she moved behind his small office desk to sit herself in his chair. The sunlight shining through a large porthole backlit her, gilding the outline of her wavy black air in gold. “Aliens...?” she whispered contemplatively.

There was a moment of silence between them. “It makes sense, actually.” She lifted herself out of the chair. “And you believe him, don’t you?”

“I believe it... about them returning and everything, but there’s no way that man knew my father.” He pointed furiously at the door as he said the words.

“But why would he lie about that?”

“I don’t know.”

“If you saw it in the computers... it must be true,” Andrea said. “Why else would the guardians keep fake files on you of all people? You’re nobody to them.”

“Thanks.” But it is true, he thought.

She turned to look outside the porthole behind her. “They have no reason to set you up. Unless you’re some kind of criminal they really want and I’ve never found out about it.” She turned back to face him, a wry smile on her face.

Niles tried to return the smile but only made it half way. He inhaled deeply, and then called for Jon. He better have some good answers, he told himself.

Jon entered the cabin a moment later with Emma shadowing close behind. She took up a position in the far corner of the room as Jon walked near Niles. “Yes?”

“Prove it,” Niles said.

Jon stared at Niles, his eyebrows slightly raised. “But I have. You’ve seen the files for yourself.”

“I saw files,” Niles said. “That’s all.”

Jon turned towards Emma, then back to Niles. “Do you remember how you first got on board The Dusty Maiden?”

Niles crunched his brows together. “What?”

“When you were sixteen,” Jon said. “You were facing prison when somehow you got off so long as you were willing to go to work for the former Captain of this barge.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Andrea said.

“Well,” Jon said, “I think it’s a solid direction in proving that what I say is true.” He didn’t say anything else for a moment. Then he added, “Niles, your father left your mother because the order found out about them. They threatened to end their relationship themselves if your parents chose not to comply. So... your father faked his death.”

“He faked his death?” Niles said.

“It was the best way to afford your mother as little grief as possible.”

Niles heard Andrea sit back down in his chair. “So he chose the order over his family. Is that it Jon?”

“He had no choice,” Jon said. “A life on the run—especially from the order—is a very hard one. So yes... he chose the order.”

“Nice,” Andrea said.

“I’m sorry, Jon,” Niles said. “But you’re going to have to give me more than that.”

The older man seemed to be thinking for a moment. “Well, as I’ve said a moment ago, you were able to dodge a prison sentence when you were sixteen. You were able to get aboard this barge. How could I know that? Has the order been spying on you since you were a teenager?”

“I’ve never told anyone about that,” Niles said.

“And you know how unlikely it is for a barge Captain to take on unskilled labor,” Jon said. “Especially the sort of trouble maker you were.”

How does he know these things?

Niles turned around for a reaction from Andrea. She only shrugged, shaking her head minutely. There was no way Jon could have known this, especially because Niles had never told anyone in his life. But it would have been extremely farfetched to assume the guardians had been keeping spies on him his whole life.

“I know,” Jon said. “Because it was me who pulled you out of that hot sand.”

“But how would you have even known?” Andrea said.

“As I’ve told Niles, Bryan and I were friends,” Jon said. “His father had to be careful not to get too close to his son or his wife. I told Bryan I would watch out for you, and I have. I’ve been checking in on you from time to time over the years.” Jon stroked his chin. Then he added, “And there’s the other matter.”

Niles swung back round to face Jon. “What other matter?”

“The matter of you having gifts only guardians possess.”

Andrea stood up. “What gifts?” she said incredulously. “Niles, what is he talking about?”

Dammit! he thought. I’m out in the open. If the order found out he had been born to a guardian father there would be no telling what they might do. Would they draft him into the order? Exile him? Would they kill him? “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied.

Nobody in the room spoke for a moment. Then in serious tone, looking straight into his eyes, Jon said, “Yes you do, Niles.”

He held his gaze with the middle aged guardian for a moment before looking away. He couldn’t keep eye contact knowing he was lying and knowing Jon knew he was lying. He couldn’t hide it any longer. This man who had been... his father’s friend? He knew almost everything about him.

“Niles?” Andrea said.

Niles knew he had always possessed the same powers the guardians had command of. But he refused to acknowledge them openly. He even tried to refuse acknowledging them privately within his own thoughts. But that never worked...

“I know you don’t like the order, Niles,” Jon said in a sympathetic tone. “The fact that you share our gifts doesn’t mean you have to become one of us or even acknowledge our philosophies.”

Niles cocked his head back. Was Jon reading his thoughts?

Andrea moved out from behind the desk close to Niles. “Is it true?” she asked quietly.

Niles didn’t respond immediately. Could he tell her? Could he tell the rest of the crew without it getting out? What if one of them let his secret slip? He wondered what would happen if he continued denying Jon’s accusations.

It wouldn’t work... Swords was determined to get help for his mission. “It’s true,” he said to Andrea as if they were the only two people in the cabin.

Then he heard Emma step forward. “Can you show us?”

Niles turned to face Emma. He waited a moment, one last doubt issuing from his subconscious mind telling him not to. But he decided to ignore his fears as he unsheathed his knife. The blade lay over his palm. Then, not knowing exactly how he did it, Niles used his powers of volition more than anything else as the knife levitated several inches above his outstretched hand.

He heard Andrea gasp quietly as he angled his hand toward the wall. Then Niles shoved and the knife shot forward ending in a loud thud as it sunk into the wooden planked bulkhead.

Jon moved to examine the knife. He looked back at Niles and nodded with a smile. “Impressive.”

“I can’t believe it,” Andrea said. “Niles, why haven’t you ever told me you had these powers?”

“It’s not every day you find a guy not associated with the order that has powers only guardians are supposed to possess. I don’t know what would happen if they ever found out.”

“They have no reason to,” Jon said.

“Niles,” Andrea said, “Do you believe everything Jon is telling you?”

He had seen all the evidence directly in front of him inside the ark vault. Unless it was all some elaborate ruse years in the making then it had to be true.

I even saw one of them, he thought. An alien being from another world... The frozen corpse the guardians kept in stasis was all the proof any man would need. “I believe him,” he said, nodding.

“Good,” Jon said firmly, “because I—no, the world, needs our help.”