Colonel Mires was furious when the men brought Major Aleck Morganson to him, bruised and beat up. If they touched her in other ways, there would be hell to pay. He ran a body scan over her and asked her some questions. He sighed in relief. Her innocence was intact.

He had to act like a pervert in front of that monster, the General, to keep her that way. He owed her parents that much. If he couldn’t manipulate a scum bag like the General, he didn’t deserve his doctorates in psychology. The things he had to do to keep the General convinced of it were horrible enough. Guilt washed over him. He pushed it back. He was a cyborg slave like the rest.

The Colonel, a man short in stature and bald on top of his crown with gray hairs around the side of his head, escorted Aleck to their shared room.

The colonel escorted Aleck to their shared room. He looked her in the eye as he gave her the signal. She headed into the bathroom. He looked in the mirror as he waited for her to finish what she had to do. The only hair he left was a little bit of gray hair on the side and very back of his head. How many years had he been a cyborg slave? He wondered what his wife would think of him if she saw him now. He was still very short, but the pot belly was replaced with muscle, and he had scars on his face from the war. He sighed, not that it mattered; his wife believed him long dead, killed during the cutoff time, and had probably moved on.

He knew that Aleck knew the routine. She knew some of the why behind what she had to do. She knew she had to have bruises to convince the General that the Colonel was hurting her very badly. She knew that if the General found out about the deceit, he would force the Colonel to hurt her in terrible ways. So she would use a combination of dye, makeup, and some real self-inflicted wounds to convince the General’s medics otherwise when they examined her. The physicians were slaves themselves. They would report the actual injuries and avoid reporting the dye if they were thorough enough to notice it.

The Colonel looked over the news reports on the interactive wall screen. Aleck came out of the shower room wearing a dull gray military towel robe. She wrung the water from her hair. “I suppose it was an impossible dream to ever think I’d be free of war." She sighed, and to the colonel’s surprise, she walked up and hugged him and whispered ‘impossible dream’ in his ear.

He froze as the instructions on how the virus worked popped up on his screen just long enough for him to read it and then disappeared. “It was an impossible dream to think we’d ever be free from the general.” He glanced at the clock, two minutes. Not much, but enough to allow him to hug Aleck with a genuine fatherly hug he could not give her before. “Thank you. We have hope now.” She nodded and put a finger to her lip to show her time was up.

He imagined with pleasure the things he would do to The General when the coward could no longer use their Borg code to control them. He knew a certain Azrianger who would be one of the first ones he would recruit to help.

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Markus’s crystal clear blue Azriange eyes glared definitely at The General. How he longed to have his blades so he could stick them through the murderous dark one's breast. Colonel Mires stood beside The General, like a faithful lap dog. Markus longed to spit at them both, but no thanks to the Vandarian cyborg codes; Markus could only stand there and glare in silence. The General was an absolute snake, while Colonel Mires he was unsure about. He was either sly as a fox or an equally big snake. "Teach him a lesson, Colonel.” Said The General in eager tones. The pervert love to see people suffer.

Colonel Mires walked up to Markus and grabbed him by his flowing blond hair, and slammed his fist hard into his stomach, dropping Markus to his knees. "What an impossible dream it is of yours to even hope to rebel." He said with a sneer as he forced his head down and whispered in his ear. "Learn to act."

Markus covered up a smile of sheer glee as the information about the virus popped up on the screen. So… sly as a fox indeed. It would not be long before he had the pleasure of killing the monster in Vandarian clothing, The General. He suffered stoically, as always, through the torture. He thought about whom else to recruit for the rebellion.

…................................................................................................................

The night after Aleck was taken away, Ben stood outside Aleck’s brothers’ window. He listened for all the sounds of movement to stop and then waited for an hour. He hoped the boys were asleep. His hand trembled as he cracked open the window. He breathed a sigh of relief. Skipping worship service that morning to ensure the window was well oiled and would open smoothly while the family was at their worship service had paid off. He paused and listened until he heard the twins snoring slightly.

He open the window the rest of the way and entered stealthily. He tiptoed toward the homemade, unpainted oak bunk beds, hardly daring to breathe. He swallowed and flinched as the zipper made a sound as he opened his equipment bag. He steadied his shaking hand as he inserted the virus into both the boys' legs while he said a quiet prayer.

“The impossible dream,” he whispered. Both of the twin boys’ emerald green eyes popped open at once. They read the instructions, looked over at Ben, and smiled. Their red hair was wild from sleep. "Thank you,” they whispered in unison. "Leave quickly now. The Runner will access us soon."

Ben nodded and went out the window, trying not to grunt in pain as his poorly bandaged chest scraped the edge of the window. Odette tried her best to treat him in her father’s medical office, and though she probably knew more than most first-year students about medicine, she was still just a kid trying to treat broken bones. There was nothing for it, though. It was too dangerous for their families to know the truth.

He got to the edge of the farm when he sat down, his legs shaking, exhausted as the adrenaline rush left him. He said a prayer. “Master of All, let this work, please.”

……………………………………………………

The twins used the twin telepathy that no Runner could tap into and began to make plans. "This would be genius if we knew who was controlling us. We could end him or hee,” said Shem mentally.

"If we use it to disobey, they will catch it on the lack of video feed, which could be a problem.”

"This program is sheer genius, though. I wonder if our Ben could create a false video feed for us. Then it would be useful.” Said Shem as he turned on his side.

"Yes, yes. I'm sure he could. We will have to talk to him soon. It will be a rough meeting for him, though. Bullying him will be the only way to contact him without getting him killed.”

“I know, but it will only last until he can fix the video feed. He is smart and brave. He will understand and endure it”. Shem risked a nod. “We better get some sleep before the controller contacts us.” With that, they both rolled over and slept with a thin sliver of hope growing in their hearts.

….........................................................................................................

Alexia moaned in her sleep. She had been attempting to contact her sister’s mind for a solid week without success. She succeeded this time, just as she fell asleep. She found herself standing as an observer in her sister’s mind, unable to interact.

She gaped in horror as she saw her sister walk in on a man who was in the middle of beating another man in a soldier’s uniform. Her sister grabbed his hand and stopped the blows. She looked into the man’s eyes and drew on a power Alexia could feel coming from a corner of her sister’s mind. Aleck looked into the evil man's eyes and whispered, “forget.” She laid down and took the rest of the beating for the soldier.

The soldier crawled weakly to the door and glanced back. “I’m sorry. Thank you.” He croaked out. He reached up with a bloody hand to activate the sensor to open the door. It slid open, and he crawled out slowly.

Tears rolled down Alexia’s face. Aleck was eerily silent as she took the beating. Alexia knew she was focusing the rest of her power on quieting the man’s rage.

Alexia turned as she heard a terrible mind scream come from the source of power Aleck had drawn upon. Alexia gasped. She saw Jareth scream in madness and helplessness at an invisible barrier that kept him from reaching her sister's tormenter. Alexia woke up with a start. She knew now why Jareth had been gone for the week from school. She knew she needed to help him.

Her uncle worked the night shift at the local power plant, trying to make a little extra money to help the farm. Her aunt had been up half the night with Kara, her new baby cousin, and Aidan was out of town at a school championship event.

Who could she call to help? In desperation, she picked up Aleck's old cell phone and called Ben and Odette. They didn’t pick up. Frustrated, she left a message. She took off running in the rainstorm toward the ambassador’s mansion. Barred gates with fancy curves and swirls loomed before her as she stopped gasping for breath. She buzzed at the buzzer. “Come on. Open up. Please!” She screamed. She pushed hard against the gates and fell through into the mud in surprise. They had never been sealed shut. She struggled up, slipping and sliding in the mud. She finally got to her and ran into the mansion at a dead sprint. She ran from room to room and screamed for Jareth.

She finally ran into a putrid smell. She tried not to gag as she ran to where the scent was the strongest.

She stopped when she saw Jareth sitting in his own excrement in a corner. He was thin and shriveled, with patches of hair ripped out of his head, and he stared vacantly into space. She decided to call the emergency number at her uncle’s work. “Uncle, Donald, it’s Jareth. I don’t know what happened to the Mansion staff, but no one has been here in a week. He’s gone completely mad; Uncle Donald, you must come quickly and help him.” She took a picture of Jareth’s sad state and sent it to her uncle.

Uncle Donny frowned with concern as he got off the phone with his niece. He explained to his night supervisor he had a family emergency, who understandably gave him leave. Luckily the mansion was only about five miles from the power station, so that he could get there quickly. His niece had run far in the dark to reach the mansion. It was two miles up that mountain from the house in this cold, miserable rain. His niece was showing, at last, some of the same metal her sister was made of.

He walked into the room and shook his head sadly at Jareth’s broken state. He called the emergency number to Dr. Bastion's office, he had on speed dial for Aleck. Uncle Donny explained the situation briefly to the nurse on call. She arranged for a mental hospital ambulance to go pick Jareth up.

"So why aren’t the maids you're used to having here, I wonder. Oh well. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” He tried not to gag at the stench as he lifted Jareth to his feet with a grunt. “Alexia, see if you can find some clean towels and clothes for us. I saw a shower room down the hall. Leave them outside the door. Then go wait for the ambulance in the main hall." He said as he walked Jareth to the shower room. Alexia ran to get the stuff.

The shower room was a humongous room with a sauna, a spa, and a shower. Uncle Donny undressed Jareth as one would undress a babe and set the shower for warm. He scrubbed him down quickly. He grabbed the towel and extra clothes Alexia managed to find. He dried him, dressed him, and walked him zombie-like down the hall into the main living room near the front door, where they waited patiently for the ambulance to arrive from Triara Mental Hospital while Jareth stared vacantly at a wall.

“Uncle Donald, is he going to be okay?” Alexia asked with concern.

Uncle Donald smiled down at his niece. “These doctors were able to put Alexia’s war-torn mind back together. They’ll be able to fix Jareth, I’m sure of it.”

“I was able to touch Alexia’s mind, Uncle. She was being tortured.” She said with tears in her eyes.

Uncle Donald looked sad. “The General is a cruel man, Alexia, and Aleck is very brave to endure what she does.”

“Then so are you.”

“No, I’m no. I could never do something like she did saving that soldier.”

“I’m not so sure. Who was who just ran two miles up a mountain in the pitch dark from the house in this cold, miserable rain. All to save a boy you don’t even care for that much,” said uncle Donald with a smile.

“I couldn’t just leave him…”

“And Aleck couldn’t just leave that solder. Ah, the ambulance is here. Let's go.” Uncle Donald opened the door for the medics.

The doctor listened to Alexia with interest as she described her dream, and Uncle Donny explained his bizarre connection to Aleck. “Jenkins, run a brain scan on the prince and get me the scans we took of Aleck Morganson.” Soon he had the two brain scans in front of him, and he whistled as he compared the two. The impossible had happened, natural mind mates. Dark experiments had been done to try and force such power but never has it been known to occur naturally in any race except among twins.

He scowled as he looked closer at the Prince’s brain scan. “What’s this?”

“What’s what?” Asked Uncle Donny, concerned.

Dr. Bastion did not take his eyes off the brain scan. He started marking specific spots on it. “The prince’s mental condition is no accident. Someone went over that young man’s mind with the equivalent of spiked boots. He has some spots in it where his mind has repaired itself where they did not design it to be repaired. Tell me more about his telepathic relationship with Aleck and how it came about?” So Uncle Donny and Alexia told him what they knew.

“Did he say, Prince?” Asked Alexia, startled.

“King Evard is his father, Alexia.”

Alexia Choked. “Jareth, that Jareth is one of the High Princes?”

Uncle Donald sighed and nodded.

Dr. Bastion finally looked at them from the scans and the notes he took. “So, as far as I can tell from what you told me and what I see in the scans, I believe that the unexpected friendships had healed some of it. But being torn from his mind mate has caused him to become insane much quicker than was intended by whoever did the damage in his mind, to begin with.”

“Torn from his mind-mate?” Uncle Donald and Alexia repeated together.

Dr. Bastion sighed. “He connected with Aleck's mind deeply. Deeper than she ever connected with her twin. The separation must have damaged both their minds some, but his is worse than hers because he already had someone do some deliberate damage to it. He needs to reunite the connection soon, or they will both start experiencing brain hemorrhaging.”

"Can you help him?" asked Alexia.

Dr. Bastion smiled at her. “I can indeed, young lady. I can indeed.”

It took a long time, but Dr. Bastion managed to undo most of the damage. He sighed. He did as much as he could for now. What was left of the damage would hopefully heal in time, especially once he found his mind mate again. A nurse came in and whispered into his ear. “Prince Jareth's brother is here, sir.”

The doctor nodded as he left his office to meet his brother in the observation room. He was beginning to think he’d never reach any of the royal family, but at last, he got a hold of one of his brothers. Doctor Bastion stood back in awe as the second prince of Rillia walked toward him. He was much more massive than his brother, stocky and strong, and considered to be the wisest and calmest of all the princes.

“Hello, Doctor.” He said as he looked at his brother through the observation glass. Jareth was dressed in a white patient robe and sat at a table in a lush garden. He stared at a fountain as he sipped at some hot drink in his hand. “You wish to explain this,” Zane said in no-nonsense tones. He waved his hand towards his brother.

"Yes, You might want to sit down, though. It is a very long story." He explained everything from the evidence of attacks he found and the mind mate problem. “If he doesn’t find her soon, all my bandages will be for naught. Their minds will start tearing apart again.”

The big Rillian was thoughtful and surprised (though he never let it show to the doctor.) He suspected the mental attacks for a while and had been investigating them. This twist with Aleck was what took him abback and not just the mind mate thing. He was the Rillian who found her and her twin brothers on Etheron. He kept close watch over them every time he was at the base, as if they were his children.

Aleck was like a daughter to him. The fact she had connected mentally with his much younger brother was an interesting coincidence. Aleck was the same age as his daughter, which is why he was so taken with her. When Liaabiah heard about the little orphan girl and her twin brothers’ misfortune, she gave up one of her favorite dolls so her father could take it to Aleck. He remembered bitterly when Father forbade him to bring them home. He did his best to help them otherwise.

But ever since father hired that adviser of his, he had not been the same. But gathering proof against a grand adviser who had the ear of the King was not easily or even safely done even by the king’s children. The evidence that Jareth’s mind had been deliberately tampered with was the best break he got so far, though he would still have to be careful.

The unpredictable was what was needed to defeat his father’s worm tongue of an advisor and the group of phycologist advisers he had hired. According to the Doctor, the attackers meant the madness to take him over at a much slower rate. But the grief over the loss of his mind mate had accelerated the damage they had done, and the love of friends had healed some of it in a way they had not predicted.

So he lost his mind quicker but not in the violent way they designed it to happen. He watched his brother as he talked with the doctors. He was broken, hurt, yet at last completely sane. There was one more thing, The extreme arrogance, and vanity that was once his little brother's most significant weakness was gone out of him.

The Sharlakar had started to invade Rillian space. Father had ordered him to retrieve Jareth so he could serve as high admiral against the Sharlakar. So he would retrieve him. He would keep silent about the changes in his brother. The adviser’s arrogance was his weakness. That snake had his attack on Jareth, and the outcome of it was planned and predicted perfectly. The idea that something could change the end of a mental attack he designed was unthinkable to him. So Jareth’s unpredictability was a silver bullet that must be wielded carefully.

Zane would bring him back to Rillia and be careful not to tell his brother all of what he knew. He could not hide all of it, but he could ask him to let him handle the worm tongue who had harmed him. Jareth couldn’t act to save his life. Yet Zane needed his very real and unpredictable changes to stay hidden. With some subtle direction from him, he could keep his father’s advisers believing Jareth was mad. He pushed the guilt down about using his brother, who he loved much, this way. It was a necessary evil, and he hoped he would forgive him for it when his brother figured it out.

Zane followed the doctor back to the office. "Well, can I take him now?”

Dr. Bastion looked up from his charts. “Yes, shortly. I’d like all of us to meet with Jareth and Aleck’s Aunt and Uncle. We need to discuss some things together.”

Jareth sat in silence as he listened to Dr. Bastion speak to him and Aleck’s Uncle, Aunt, and brother. “Now remember you can reconnect without direct contact with her mind. If you keep up the direct contact like you did before, you’ll end up bedding her even if you don’t mean to. Now, are you sure about being able to contact her soon, Jareth?”

“The virus should soon spread throughout the cyborgs. If Aleck succeeds in the rebellion we planned and follows the directions I gave her before she left, she should contact the Rillian Government soon. I should be able to meet up with her then.”

“You don’t touch her mind directly this time until you’re married. You got us.” Uncle Donny said, aiming a finger across the conference table at Jareth.

“Of course not. I didn’t mean any harm last time by touching her mind,” Said Jareth as he put his Caja down.

“If you meant to harm her, your brother would have been here to collect your body and not you.” Zane chuckled at that, having his own teenage daughter. He was beginning to like Aleck's uncle.

“And that worm tongue.” Jareth hissed between his teeth.

“I’ll take care of him, my brother. You just worry about Aleck and driving the Sharlakar fleet from our worlds forever.” Said Zane confidently.

Jareth nodded at his brother, turned to Uncle Donny and Aunt Karla, stood and touched his finger to his forehead, and then heart given to them the Rillian sign for highest respect and honor. “I’ll find her and protect her.” he said, “and this I swear to you. I shall no ways touch her mind or body until she wears the Marriage band of Awn on her arm.”

Donny put a hand on Jareth's shoulder and looked him in the eye. “You go with my full blessings to marry her. I know your honorable Jareth. I’ve known from the beginning you were honorable, son otherwise, I wouldn’t let you within a mile of my niece. Tell the truth about your first wife, and don’t hold back. There is no room in any marriage for deceit, even if it was deceit born of pain. Be careful with the desire within you. It is better to marry first and explain later to your relatives than to be forced to marry because of dishonor.” Uncle Donny gave him a quick hug goodbye, and Aunt Karla did as well. Jareth gave her the son-to-mother hand signal showing she had a mother right to the hug.