"Do I need to help you find a seat?" Jejliard asked Tajlon, who was pacing the floor of the transport.

Tajlon frowned and said nothing, but he sat down, buckled in, and avoided looking out. He couldn't stand to look at the planet he was leaving behind, even though his eidetic memory could pull it up at will. The sub would be submerged by now and his next view of Beldora would be from high above the clouds. His enthusiasm for space travel had faded, replaced with the regret of leaving.

Widhbo had made improvements to the navigation system and the transports flew by instrument primarily now. They could land, return, and dock with the Sora independent of a pilot. The system could fly totally blind in bad weather conditions. Today was a beautiful clear day however, and the Sora was easy to spot in a low orbit above the fluffy white clouds. The transport docked and they were unloading less than half an hour after taking off from the Solar Wave.

Tajlon exited the craft and walked away without saying a word to his father or Hal, but soon returned with a gurney for Greyla.

"Widhbo has prepared the sick bay," he said and left again.

He headed back to his quarters to sort through everything and map out a plan of action. Passing the conference room, he could hear the Raemolles discussing a search for the nearest habitable planet. They were seated at his father's table, facing the wall opposite of the door.

Widhbo had designed a mural of Novaland for the wall. On the floor was a finely woven rug from their old conference room at Novaland. Mara had designed the rug especially for his father, an intricate tapestry woven with natural colors and tribal patterns. The table sat in the middle of the rug with hand carved wooden chairs around it.

He had to admit it was a nice touch of home. He slipped past the door, not wanting to talk to anyone right now except Widhbo.

***

"He's pissed,"Hal said.

"He'll get over it," Jejliard replied.

Hal and Jejliard lifted Greyla to the gurney as gently as they could. She was able to open her eyes, give a few groggy answers, grip with both hands and wiggle her toes. It appeared it would be nothing more than a bad concussion.

Hal rushed ahead to check the room. Widhbo was there with an emergency kit and monitors ready.

"Thanks for everything," Hal said. "Don't take this wrong, but it would be better if she didn't see you in your spoerl eagle form right now."

"I understand," Widhbo said. "Call if you need me. I'll be on the control deck." He teleported from the room.

Jejliard wheeled Greyla into sick bay. She was beginning to wake up. "Welcome to the Sora," he said.

"Where?" Greyla asked. She looked around at the modern steel suite with lighted instrument panels glowing around her. The ship's medical facility was better equipped and more advanced that those on Beldora.

"You're on the spaceship, sweetheart," Hal answered. "Don't try to take it all in at once. Get some rest and I'll give you a tour later"

"We may need to run some tests, but that can wait," Jejliard said. "I'll leave you to watch her, Hal. The Raemolles have requested to meet with me, and I have a lot to do."

"Sure. Go ahead." Hal hooked up a couple of monitors to follow her pulse and oxygen level,

He squeezed Greyla's hand and kissed her. "We really need to stop meeting like this."

* * *

Tajlon went looking for Widhbo. He found him on the control deck tapping away at the keyboard.

Widhbo flipped a wing tip toward Tajlon in recognition. "I'm busy now."

"You're always busy, but I really need to talk to someone," Tajlon said.

"I saw what happened down there through the remote camera I installed on the transport," Widhbo said, "You had made your decision, a wise one I might add, then changed your mind on a foolish whim. You're not usually so tempermental, Tajlon."

"Me? What about, Dad? I've never seen him like this."

"He's under a lot of stress. Colberton and his men have taken over Novaland. The bastards would be sitting at your father's table right now if I hadn't seen fit to steal it out from under their noses."

"I'm glad you did, but the table is the least of my concerns, Widhbo."

"It's important to your father. He wants you to have it when he's gone."

"Since we're both going to be immortal that's not an issue any more, is it?"

"Hmm. Good point. Of course, he will still die before you."

"Yes. And then you'll regenerate him just like Gengor,"

Widhbo ignored the comment, tapping at a furious rate for a moment.

"What are you doing?" Tajlon asked.

"Uploading all the crew. I've been making storage units and now I'm filling them," Widhbo said and then cackled. "Just like making jelly back home with Mara."

"I suppose you'll be putting me in one of your jars next?"

"Soon. I have a certain processing order. Don't interrupt me. We wouldn't want a mix up. Run along, Tajlon."

***

Tajlon left. He had hoped to at least find one sympathetic ear, but it sounded to him as though Widhbo and Jejliard were of the same mind. Even Hal had helped Jejliard force him to return. With Soshe, Mara and Nova all on the sub, Tajlon didn't feel he had an ally left on board the Sora. Greyla might understand, but he didn't want to burden her with his problems under the circumstances. She probably didn't even know her grandfather had died yet.

All his life Tajlon had worked to advance their knowledge to higher levels of science and technology. Isolated as they were in Novaland, he had remained oblivious to the conflicts and politics of Beldora. It hadn't seemed relevant in the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. The thirst for it had consumed him to the point he had paid no attention to the larger picture of what had been shaping Beldora.

It was obvious now that facts and information were not enough. Knowledge was but a tool which could be used either to improve lives or wielded as a weapon to control and destroy them. Widhbo had admitted as much earlier. The alien had injected a higher level of technology into a planet which did not have the wisdom to use it properly. Widhbo, for all his superior intellect, did not have the foresight to see the consequences of war and chaos it would bring until it was too late.

Widhbo had restored his beloved spaceship and was bent on leaving. Jejliard and Hal both had decided to join Widhbo to pursue immortality and explore the cosmos. Beldora would soon be a tiny dot in space for them, one Tajlon suspected might soon be forgotten as they chased new frontiers.

The Raemolles were already seeking out a safe, habitable planet and considered Beldora as a lost cause. They were thrilled to be traveling among the stars they loved so much.

The guilt Tajlon felt was agonizing. Even Nova had sacrificed going on the Sora to stay with Soshe and Mara because they needed him. Along with Gengor and Ben, they had all valued life on Beldora enough to stay and ride it out.

He did belong on the Sora and wanted immortality as much as anyone, but his heart was on Beldora. By uploading he could do both.

Tajlon silently made a decision. Widhbo could put a copy of him in one of his damn jelly jars, then he would take a transport, steal one if necessary, and return to Beldora.

* * *

Hal had stayed in sick bay near Greyla's side. She stirred, then tried to sit up, disoriented.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" he asked and held her steady as she recovered her faculties.

"I'm okay. Where are we again?"

"Sick bay on the Sora. You've had a rough day."

Greyla got off the gurney, finally awake.

"Easy. You're supposed to rest," Hal cautioned.

"I've rested enough. Where is my grandfather and the others?"

"The Raemolles are here, on board Sora."

"And Grandpa?" A shadow of apprehension crossed Greyla's face.

Hal had tried to rehearse this and still wasn't prepared to answer. He didn't want to lie to Greyla about her grandfather's heroism, but he didn't want her to know his actions were instrumental in triggering the war. If the drone with its payload hadn't sunk the battleship there might have been a chance to avoid the conflict now heating up on Beldora.

"He was injured in the same blast that knocked you out, Greyla. He fell in the water. Gengor managed to find him, but it was too late. His injuries were too severe. He died shortly after we got him back in the sub."

Greyla choked with emotion. "Where is his body?"

"We buried him at sea."

She nodded. "That's what he would have wanted." She cried silently while Hal held her close.

***

Too restless to stay in his quarters any longer, Tajlon decided to go for a walk. He heard Jejliard and Widhbo talking in a passageway. He stayed out of sight to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"So the bomb we set off, started this whole thing?" Jejliard asked.

"It appears it did," Widhbo said. "If Captain De'Marc had not bravely sacrificed himself to free the drone and allow it to take off, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. The war was inevitable, of course. We simply fired the first shot and moved things up by a few days."

"Greyla needs to never hear that, Widhbo," Jejliard said.

"She won't hear it from me. You should know I've intercepted several transmissions," Widhbo said. "Colberton is making his move against the security forces from Trabest at the same time the Theopians are attacking Agartoon. He's acting independently of both factions but coordinating his attack for maximum impact."

"So, the traitor is using the bombing of the battleship to his advantage," Jejliard surmised. "The Council of Nations think the battleship was attacked by the Theopians and took it as evidence of an attack by a nuclear weapon on one of their fleets even though it was really a conventional weapon."

"Correct. With the Council are already poised to strike, things were set in motion," Widhbo said. "Of course, the Council doesn't have any real bombs. They have the two fake ones I built. Colberton and the Theopians have the real ones."

"The Council dosen't know Colberton's their worst enemy," Jejliard said.

"Exactly. The Council thinks he and his men were eliminated when the battleship was destroyed," Widhbo said. "In fact, they are going into hiding in the bunker at NORC while the rest of Beldora blows themselves to pieces."

* * *

Greyla forced back her grief. She needed to assess their current situation and fill in the blanks. "So, Mara and Soshe stayed on the sub. Who else?"

"Nova and Ben stayed. And they have Gengor with them," Hal replied.

"I can't even remember the blast. What caused it?" Greyla asked.

"Colberton's battleship caught up with us," Hal said.

"He seriously thought we were enough of a threat as to send a battleship after us? "

"Yeah. Definitely overkill. The Sora had launched escaped beyond his reach, so he went for the more convenient target," Hal said.

Widhbo walked into sick bay, interrupting their conversation.

"Glad to see you're awake, Greyla," Widhbo said.

Greyla jumped back at the sight of him,

"Oh, sorry. The last time you saw me I was in the form of Koutou."

"I must have been hit in the head pretty hard. Hal, do you see a giant white bird in this room?" Greyla asked.

"Uhm, sure. I see it too, sweetheart," he said teasingly. Greyla punched him.

"Okay, I see him." Hal said. "Hello, invisible bird."

"I need to speak with Tajlon." Widhbo said.

"I haven't seen him in a while. He probably needed to cool off," Hal replied.

"That will take some time. He's really not happy about leaving Soshe behind," Widhbo said.

"He will eventually understand why we couldn't leave him," Hal said. "He belongs on the Sora more than anyone."

"Jejliard is meeting in the conference room right now with the Raemolles to look for another habitable planet near a neighboring star," Widhbo said. "You are both invited."

"This is becoming real all too soon," Greyla said. "We're leaving our star system?"

"Unless we want to just hang in space until Beldora is habitable again," Widhbo replied.

"I wouldn't go, but this is a big decision and I need to be there, sweetheart,' Hal said. "Are you up to it?"

"I don't think so, Hal," Greyla said. "I just want to be alone with my memories for a while."

"I need to upload Nova first," Widhbo said. "Then I'll show you to your quarters, Greyla."

"Okay. Go ahead, Hal. You can fill me in later.," Greyla said. "I'll stay with my imaginary bird."