-CHAPTER 3-

I fell.

After a minute, I expected to hit bottom, but it never came. Instead the light grew intense beyond all rationality until I felt myself resting on soft earth, the sweet aroma of growing life filling my nostrils.

After a moment, raindrops drifted down from the sky and caressed my arms.

The rain would stir the dull roots beneath me to life.

Hurry up please, it's time.

I opened my eyes, happy for this moment alone in my mother's garden. I had dreaded being alone so much lately, but here it was okay.

A part of me knew it wouldn't last. My father would return and we'd have our usual afternoon dance where he did his best to convince my worries away. I knew Mother's injuries were far more severe than he'd told me, but I went along with the ruse for his sake. In the end, he was trying to convince himself more than me.

My thoughts had settled the last few days on what the future held for us. If Mother died...

"Why are you out here?"

I turned to see a young boy my own age, standing several feet away. He looked sad at first, but I realized it was only raindrops running down the dark skin of his face and not tears.

"I like sitting in the rain," I told him. "Are you new to the neighborhood?"

"Not exactly," he said with a grin. "Are you?"

"We've lived here for three years," I said, thinking a moment. "I haven't seen you around before."

"Does that mean I didn't exist?"

"Of course not," I said with a sigh. "Do you know Margie Willis?"

The boy sat on the grass a few feet away from me. "No."

"Hey, did I say you could stay here? This is my house."

"You seem lonely. I thought maybe we could play."

I smiled. "But it's raining."

He laughed far more heartily than any other kid I'd met. "You enjoy sitting in the rain, but not playing in the rain?"

"Some things are better when you sit still."

"Very true." He closed his eyes. "Then may I sit here with you, Mei-Wan?"

"Okay. When the rain stops we can play."

"I'd like that."

Soon after, the rain ceased, replaced by sunshine. The colors of the garden seemed especially bright to me that day, as did the joy I felt playing with the dark-skinned boy.

When my father arrived home, I had hoped to introduce him to my new friend, but he called me inside.

"Can you come and play again tomorrow?" I asked the boy.

"Maybe. But what if it rains again?"

"Do you know how to play chess?"

"What's chess?" he asked.

"A game."

"Then we can play chess if it rains."

The next day it did rain, but the boy did not return. I played chess anyway, moving his pieces in response to my own. Yet, I did not feel alone.

- - - - -

I placed my finger on the bishop, doing my best to think five moves ahead.

"Well, if this is how you spend your free time, this will be a very boring semester for both of us."

I looked at the bright-faced blond walking through the entrance to my room.

"I'm Robin Nelson, your roommate."

I stood and offered my hand. "Mei-Wan Lau."

"You any good?" Robin pointed to the chessboard.

"Not really. I play to relax."

"I'm far too competitive for chess to be relaxing," Robin said, setting her bags down on the floor. "But I imagine you're competitive yourself considering you're here."

"In my own way," I said with a grin. "What's your career track?"

"Engineering." Robin flopped down on her bed. "You?"

"Archaeology."

Robin smiled wide. "You up for a game?"

"Always."

- - - - -

I put my arm around Robin. "You can't let yourself think that way."

"How else am I supposed to think?" Robin pleaded through her tears. "He dumped me for that little Orion tramp!"

"There's nothing wrong with you."

"Not according to him." She wiped the hair away from her eyes. "Look at me."

"Stop it."

"Well, look at..."

I wiped a tear off Robin's cheek. "If that's all he cares about, the hell with him."

"Easy for you to say."

"No it isn't," I said. "Do I have a boyfriend?"

"Okay," Robin chuckled. "But you would if you'd notice how most of the guys around this campus look at you."

"Most of the guys here are interested in one thing."

"Sex?"

"Worse than that... sitting in the center seat of a starship," I said.

We both laughed.

"Forget him, Robin."

"That won't be easy. He was so..."

I held a hand up to silence her. "So the sex was good."

"More like great."

"Maybe you should be a little more cautious before jumping into bed with the next guy."

"You mean like you?"

"I'm not saying you have to be like me. Just take it a little slower next time."

Robin fell back on the bed. "But jumping right in was what made it so magical."

"But was it worth what you're going through now?" I asked, afraid of the answer I might get.

Robin took a deep breath. "I know I'll sound like a fool, but... yes, it was."

My earlier fear turned into longing. "I wish..."

Robin sat up. "Don't worry, Mei. You'll meet the right guy."

"It's not that. I just wish I could throw away my concerns about consequences that easily... just once."

"Even after seeing what I'm going through?"

I smiled. "Maybe not."

- - - - -

Another guard tore at Robin's uniform. She screamed.

Several men in the crowd moved forward to end this horror, but stopped when a guard pointed his weapon at them.

I wanted to close my eyes, but couldn't. Robin's gaze fixed on me. I was her only connection to humanity as the monsters crushed her own out of existence.

I turned only a moment to the man next to me. "Captain, we have to..."

Jack McCall only stared forward, silent.

I looked back to Robin. The five guards, each seven feet tall or more, began kicking Robin.

Most of the crowd closed their eyes, some cried. But I couldn't leave Robin to protect my own sensitivities. My friend needed me. And while I couldn't save Robin, I could be the one person who didn't look away.

As Robin's screams faded, the Glazyalan commander, Abolas walked up to Jack McCall.

"Each one here will go through the same thing, Captain. Each one." He turned to stare at me. "Should she be tomorrow's victim of your intransigence?"

My heart skipped.

"Eventually I will find someone in your crew you care about, Captain, and then you will break. But why must all the others who come before that die?"

Jack remained silent.

"You can save them all, McCall. You could have saved her."

That night, I sat in a corner of the metal hut I and McCall shared. I stared at the bed which had been Robin's. The Glazyalans had placed the two of us there hoping it might encourage our captain to be more cooperative. But things hadn't turned out that way.

McCall walked over to me. "Lieutenant, I need to talk to you."

I didn't move. The last thing I wanted was to absolve the man who had let my best friend die.

No, that wasn't fair. It wasn't the captain. But I had to blame someone.

"You have to know I couldn't give in to them."

"Captain, I don't think now is a good time to talk about this."

He sat down on the floor a short distance away from me.

"In war..."

"Please, don't," I said, fighting back tears. Then I realized who I'd spoken to. "Sorry, sir."

"I'm the one who should be apologizing."

"Robin was my friend. I don't want to hear about how her sacrifice will help us win against the Dominion."

"I was going to say that in war too often the wrong people pay the price for the ambitions of others." He looked like hell.

"And that was supposed to make me feel better?"

"No," he said. "Look, I've run all the options through my mind, even considered killing myself to take away the Glazyalans' need to murder anyone else."

I reached over to him without thinking. "No, please don't do that, sir."

"Trust me, I've no burning desire to die. Besides, I'd worry they might kill half the crew just out of rage if I did commit suicide."

"We need you, Captain."

He smiled. "Thank you. But I'm not sure what for."

"As long as you don't give them what they want, then we're winning our little part of this war."

"I'm not sure the rest of the crew believes that especially after today." He stared into my eyes. "Lieutenant... Mei-Wan..."

"Yes, sir?"

"They may come for you tomorrow."

"I don't want to think about that."

"The only rescue I can offer you is to..."

I didn't need to hear the rest. "No, I won't have you do that. You have enough on your soul."

"I could make it quick. At least you wouldn't suffer."

"And what if we're rescued tomorrow?" I asked. "What would that do to you?"

"I have to do something!" He threw his head back against the wall with a loud thunder crack that startled me.

Are we certain we had the right coordinates? If the galaxy is in a period of war...

Her mental patterns are shifting. Reestablish the link.

Those voices...

"Ma'am, have you decided which one you'd prefer?"

I looked at the dresses again, the distraction forgotten. "You'd think this wouldn't be so hard."

The woman behind the counter smiled. "It's your wedding dress, and assuming this isn't a two or five year contractual marriage..."

"No," I said with a grin. "I love Jack. This is permanent."

"Then I suggest you take another day to think it over. No point in regretting the choice for the rest of your life."

I nodded. "Good idea."

"Have you decided?"

I turned to face the older woman who'd just entered the store. "No, Mom. I'm going to think about it and come back tomorrow."

Bao-Yu Lau shook her head. "Too bad I can't get you to take that same attitude toward this marriage."

I nearly exploded. But instead I walked out of the store, leaving my mother to catch up.

"Don't you walk away from me like that!"

"We're not having this discussion again. I'm marrying Jack and that's it, Mother!"

"And my opinion is of no consequence?"

I stopped. "I didn't say that, but who I marry is my choice."

"My parents were very instrumental in choosing who I married, little one."

"That was you."

Bao-Yu shuffled over to a park bench and sat down. "That's right, I forgot you're special. The universe revolves around Mei-Wan."

"This is my life we're talking about! Who are you to make my choices for me?!"

"I raised you, Mei-Wan. I put my life into yours, at the expense of my own."

"And now I owe you to do as you say concerning who I marry?!" I screamed.

"You have duties. It's a matter of respect, something you obviously are incapable of." Bao-Yu rummaged through her purse and pulled out a hypo-spray. She applied it to her neck. "Is it so much to ask that my only daughter show me the respect I showed my parents?"

"Nice one, Mom."

"What?"

I sat next to my mother. "Pulling out your medication while we're having an argument to make me feel guilty."

"I have to take it on a regular schedule."

"Amazing how that schedule so often coincides with when we're having an argument."

Her mind continues its attempt to escape the scanning state.

It may be necessary to submerge her conscious mind.

But the scans will not be nearly as accurate, and there is a question of what it might do to the subject.

The information is vital. We must have it.

I felt so out of place, and the glancing smirks of the cadets didn't help me feel any better. Everyone else in the room looked like a grownup, especially given their uniforms.

Being twelve stinks.

I considered leaving, but then it would just confirm my mother's opinion that I had no business sitting in on Academy classes.

Professor Saselo entered the lecture hall and stopped by my seat.

"How are you doing today?" he asked.

"Fine."

He smiled. "Feel free to participate in the class."

I nodded as he made his way to the front of the room. I returned to the game of chess I'd been playing on my PADD. Saselo removed an object from his briefcase. It instantly caught my attention.

"Can anyone tell me what civilization this artifact comes from?"

A tall Andorian in the front row raised his hand. "Dinasian?"

"Good guess, but no," Saselo replied.

I didn't want to answer. I feared the already cold welcome I'd received from the cadets would turn absolutely frigid.

"Mei-Wan, do you know?"

Why did he have to call on me? I should go back to seventh grade where I belong.

I almost ran out that very second, but if I was going to be an archaeologist it was about time I started acting like one.

"Iconian."

"Correct."

Every head in the class turned my way. I tried not to smile at having been right, knowing it would only make matters worse, but I couldn't help it.

A Vulcan woman sitting three rows down from me, gave a nod of approval.

Everyone then turned back to the professor as he explained where the object had been found.

Afterward, several members of the class caught me before I could make my escape.

"How did you know that was Iconian?" a tall dark-haired human woman asked.

I wasn't sure what spirit the question was asked in, but decided the best path was the truth. "A year ago I went to a lecture Dr. Galen gave and he showed us various Iconian relics. I recognized the text on the side of the artifact."

"Dr. Richard Galen?" a young man asked.

I nodded.

"How would you feel about joining our study group?" the tall woman asked.

"Sure!" I said, excited at the turn in how they were treating me.

"So what else did Dr. Galen talk about?"

Increase the scanning frequency...

"You coming back to the hotel?"

I looked into the afternoon sky of Elyon Four and for a reason I couldn't place, I felt like spending more time walking around the city.

"Not yet," I said.

Robin Nelson stood with LeAnn Goodwin and Susan Tanega. All three women began to smile.

"You got a date?" Robin asked.

"Nothing so exciting."

"Well, if it is a date, we expect a full report," LeAnn said. "And I do mean, full."

I gave a mock salute. "Aye, aye, ma'am."

They said their good-byes, and left me at the table in the restaurant where we'd spent the last three hours.

I was about to leave myself when I noticed my drink was still half-full.

"No reason to leave that behind."

As I finished it, a strong dry wind caught my hair, tossing it about in a rhythm that mesmerized me. For some reason it brought back a memory of a time and place just outside my consciousness, like a half remembered dream.

I sat there for several minutes just enjoying how relaxed I felt.

It barely registered at first, but as the seconds passed I became aware someone was watching me. I glanced over at a nearby table where a tall, dark-skinned, human looking man sat. In fact, I was quite certain he'd been there for some time.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

He let out a hardy laugh. "I was going to ask you the same question."

Something about his accent seemed familiar. "But instead you've sat there for the last several hours watching me."

He walked over to my table. "Mind if I join you?"

"Actually..."

He sat before I could finish.

"What was the point in asking if you were going to come and sit here anyway?"

He looked about, seemingly confused. "My apologies if I have violated a social custom."

"It's okay," I said, relaxing only a bit. "So what's this about?"

"I was wondering if you might be up for a game of chess."

"A game of..."

I felt the world spin about me. Like a bolt of lightning striking my brain, the realization of who this was exploded into my mind. "You're that boy... in my mother's garden!"

He smiled. "Yes."

"But how did you find me?! After all this time?!"

"Time isn't a problem."

"What?"

No, this wasn't right. I'd left the restaurant and gone walking around the city. This hadn't...

His hand touched mine. "Don't think that, Mei-Wan, or they'll know."

"Know what? Who?"

He closed his eyes a moment. The world around us froze in place.

"That should keep them at bay for a while."

I rose, and backed away from the table. "Who are you?!"

"The important thing to consider is who is searching your mind."

I took several deep breaths. "My memories..." Finally, I put it together. "I was in a chamber back on that dead world."

"Yes."

I looked about. "This isn't real?"

"How do you define real?"

I was more irritated than startled now. "Do you ever answer a question?"

"I answered your question about not knowing Margie Willis."

I sat back down. "That was twenty-two years ago. How about now?"

He paused a moment as if listening to something I couldn't hear. "Why are your questions so important?"

"The answers are far more important than the questions."

"Are they?" he asked with a grin.

"Look, if someone is searching my mind, I need to stop them."

He picked up an empty glass. I thought I saw a flash of light in his eyes just before the glass was full again.

"How did you..."

"Some things are better when you sit still."

I leaned forward. "Assuming this is all in my mind, how are you here?"

He smiled, but took a drink instead of responding.

"Fine. I'll figure a way out of this myself."

"Then you don't want to play chess?"

"Not really."

"Even if it would help you?"

Ignoring him, "So that device is scanning my mind. You are obviously a delusion."

"Interesting way of putting it," he said with a chuckle.

"Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?"

I thought a moment. "Are you a Q?"

"Are you an insect?"

"What? Why ask me that?"

"It is the question you asked me."

"If the Q are insects to you, what am I? A bacteria? A protein molecule?"

He laughed. "Where you are on the evolutionary scale is not determined by simple power, nor by boasting."

That made me curious. "So where am I to you?"

"Certainly more advanced than the Q. How much so is up to you."

I exhaled and took in a breath of fresh air. "I must be imagining you."

"Exactly."

"What?"

"You can imagine, the Q can't," he said with a wide grin. "It certainly makes you much more fun to be around."

"So I'm entertainment for you?" I asked.

"No. We play... together."

"I don't see this as fun."

"You certainly seemed to be having fun when we played in your mother's garden."

"You know, I searched the neighborhood for months, nobody..."

He took my hand. "More importantly, you love. That's another thing the Q are incapable of. You have potential you are unaware of. They have none."

"Okay, so you think humans have potential."

"You do."

"I think all humans have potential."

"Even Kyle Hoffman?"

"There's always an exception," I said with a laugh.

He looked about, then stared directly at me. "There are those who want you alive. Not for yourself, but for something you will do. But only alive... not necessarily happy, or whole."

"Why me?" I asked, suddenly feeling the weight of the universe on my shoulders.

He finished his drink. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes."

"You are at a precise point in the timeline."

"That's not much of an answer," I said. "If I'm that important, can't I at least be happy?"

"That is determined by your choices," he said.

We were no longer in the restaurant, but walking in a tall field of grass, a warm breeze blowing over us.

"Act out of your center and you will find happiness, but perhaps not the kind you think you want. Act out of fear, desire, or worse, social duty, and you will only know pain."

I stopped.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"Isn't there any way out?"

He laughed. "Of course there is."

"Tell me, please."

He placed his hand over my heart. "The answer is here."

I shook my head and walked away from him. "I don't believe that. The answers I need will be found by my mind."

"Fortunately for the universe, what your mind believes isn't nearly as important as what the being named Mei-Wan knows."

"I am my mind."

He laughed, and walked away.

I ran up to him. "Tell me who is searching my memories."

"You know who," he said, staring into my eyes.

I had a good idea. "The Ancient Progenitors?"

He nodded.

"But what possible gain could there be in that machine scanning my mind some five billion years after they died?"

"Wrong question."

"I've about had it with your indirect answers."

He sighed. "Then I guess it is time for our play to end. You will have to wait until another time to fly."

"What? Wait..."

"Answers are not the same thing as truth. For direct answers, you must awaken."

"So I am dreaming," I said, finally happy to have one answer from him.

"There is more truth in a single dream than in all the words in all the libraries."

That was it. I marched away from him. "This is all some delusion. I probably received some sort of brain trauma from that device. Lorente took me to a hospital facility. Seeing as how I've imagined you for years, I've probably got a longstanding mental condition..."

Suddenly he was in front of me again.

"Wake up!"

My eyes opened.

I couldn't focus my vision at first. I felt as if I were spinning about the room inside a small tornado.

Wait, I'm in a room. That's a good sign. Probably a hospital.

I felt horrible. Even my skin...

I managed to lift my hand up, but the color was all wrong, too pale.

A figure walked into my field of vision.

"She is conscious!"

"Impossible! The other one never..."

Another figure, more a blob, walked up.

"Where?" I asked.

Both figures stepped back. My eyes finally could see them.

But they weren't human.

"You're... Ancient Progenitors!"

One turned to the other. "What did she say?"

"We must return to the scanning before her mind is traumatized. If our presence pollutes her memory..."

"It is already too late for that," a new voice said.

A glowing creature with transparent skin floated over to me. I couldn't place the species, but when it opened its gossamer wings it reminded me of a giant butterfly. Its large black eyes observed me for several moments.

"Inform the council we will interrogate her directly."

The two Ancient Progenitors looked at each other, then left the room.

The floating creature extended its frail looking hand to me. "Can you get up?"

"I think so..."

Every muscle felt out of place. I wouldn't have been able to keep my balance without this new being's assistance.

"What is your name, child?"

"Mei-Wan Lau."

It tilted its head slightly. "Interesting."

Even my head felt off balance. I reached to touch my forehead and discovered why.

Where there should have been hair, I felt only skin.

"What have you done to me?!"

I ran my hands up and down the body I resided in and realized it was not mine.

"Oh my god..."

"You have gone through a process called temporal transference. Your mind has been exchanged..."

"No! Send me back!"

"I am afraid that will not happen." His dark eyes turned away from me toward the door the others had left through. "Come with me."

The creature's frailty was mere appearance as I discovered when he pulled at my arm with a strength I couldn't ignore, leading me to the door.

We walked through a forty foot wide corridor, illuminated as if the noonday sun were present, but the direction of the light came from the floor which had a dull gray appearance. The walls of the corridor were polished metal.

The numerous Ancient Progenitors walking to and fro gave us a wide berth. I felt an urge to ask them a million questions, but that would have to wait until I found out what the floating creature had in mind for me.

But he didn't fly. His wings moved slowly, as if he were suspended in a fluid I didn't sense.

He turned me toward a section of wall where a single seam opened before us into a ten by ten foot room. We entered and the wall closed again.

"Where are we?" I asked my escort.

"This world's name would have little meaning to you."

The wall opened into a corridor more narrow than the previous one. At its end, a seam opened into a small room.

"Stay here."

The being floated to the other side of the room where two doors swung apart. He turned to close them behind him, but paused a moment to stare at me. He left the doors ajar, allowing only a foot wide opening.

A few seconds later, I heard the creature begin a conversation with someone else.

"She is outside."

"Why did you bring her here to me?"

"She is conscious."

"Impossible!" the new voice said. "The other one has remained in a comatose state since the transference."

"However, it appears the data obtained confirms the time period does fit your needs."

A chuckle. "You sound less than pleased with that."

"I have expressed my concerns with this... course of action."

"Do all the Wubon share your concerns?"

"Yes."

"Would it surprise you that we aren't in the least troubled by your lack of approval?"

Several seconds of silence tempted me to move closer to the doors. I took a single step.

"Nekbet will never agree to this perversion of the plan."

"We both know Nekbet is guilty of more than her share of perversions." A pause. "This is our escape from both her and her precious plan. Surely that is something we can both agree is a good thing."

"But what of the beings you use?" the floating creature asked.

"We created them. We have the right..."

"The Wubon created you. Do we have a similar right?"

Laughter. "You would never attempt something so bold. But you are certainly welcome to try."

"Creating them doesn't give you the right to do as you please with them."

"Our sacrifices give us all the right we require."

"No. You chose this course. It is they you are sacrificing."

"We do what we must."

"And the Vedala? Do they know what you intend for them?"

"They serve us willingly." Another pause. "By the way, their sabotage of the Volmvas transformation device was successful."

"And how many will suffer because of that choice?"

"Enough! If the Wubon have no..."

My listening was interrupted by an Ancient Progenitor who entered behind me.

"What are you doing here?"

I turned. "I uh... was brought here."

He led me into the larger room where I saw the Ancient Progenitor the floating creature had been speaking to.

But he was different from the others I'd seen so far. His ears were more prominent, his nose, less so. His skin was far more pale than any I had seen.

"Manu! What is this?" the new arrival asked pointing at me.

The pale one turned. "Yama, it is so good to see you again."

Yama stood next to me, frowning. "I asked you a question."

"She is our attempt to preserve the knowledge we have amassed for those who are to come."

"Bringing her here from the future could alter the timeline. You should have consulted us first!"

"We have done nothing requiring consultation with the Engineers. We have sought no information from her which would change our course of action."

They'd sought a lot of information from me, and I suspected more was to come. But I wasn't about to get in the middle of this argument. At least not yet.

"I should take her with me to make certain she provides you none."

"If you wish, however, our Wubon friends seem interested in her."

The floating creature's wings beat slowly against the air. "Yes, we have interest in her."

"Then take her from here now."

"Of course," Manu said. "Shouldn't you be leaving as well? Time is growing short."

"That is why I am here. Nekbet wanted me to make certain everything was proceeding properly."

"And to make certain we don't change our minds?"

"We all honor your sacrifice. I wish..."

"That you could be here too?" Manu shook his head. "You forfeited that right when you became an Engineer. You should leave now."

Yama walked out of the room.

"Why did you lie to him?" I asked.

The Ancient Progenitor turned to me. "Lie?"

"You've done nothing but seek information from me."

"We simply wanted to be certain the one who has taken your place is in a time period where our knowledge can be put to use."

"Then I'm not going back?"

"No."

"But I had a life."

"Unfortunately, your sacrifice is necessary to preserve our culture and knowledge," Manu said. "Isn't that worth your life?"

"It's not your choice to make."

Manu looked at the Wubon. "You should take her to your ship... just in case Yama and the other Engineers monitor what we're doing with her."

The floating creature led me to the door.

"How many others are you going to do this to?" I asked.

Manu smiled. "There has been only one other."

***

I paid little attention to the corridors or the Ancient Progenitors we passed by. My thoughts focused on the loss of my life in the twenty-fourth century. But I couldn't give up. I had to get back.

The floating creature led me through a wide entrance onto the planet's surface. We walked across a lush field of grass toward a landing pad where an oddly organic shaped vessel rested.

I stopped, and looked back at where we'd come from.

Seeing that building again made my heart race.

"We're on Hel'yra?!" I spun around to my escort. "And the Volmvas are coming! They're about to kill every living thing on this world. The Ancient Progentors will trap them here!"

"You know of this?" he asked.

"I've been on this world in my time."

"Come, we must leave before they arrive."

"Do you have the technology to send me back to my time?"

The creature came close to me. "No. We might eventually develop it, but..."

"Why are you doing this to me?! I want to go back!"

"You are here in this time, and here you will stay. I will take you to the homeworld of the Wubon. We will provide for all your needs."

I thought only a moment, then I wrestled free and ran back to the large building. I didn't know if I could figure out how to operate the machine which had transferred my mind to this time, billions of years in the past, but I wasn't going to leave without trying to get back home.

I tore across the grassy plain. I didn't look back, I couldn't. If the creature was pursing me, I'd falter, and I couldn't... wouldn't let that happen.

In that moment, my life with all its its problems, loneliness, pain... all of it, was the only thing that mattered.

I wanted to live my life.

I entered the building, and a deep bass siren blasted so loud I thought my ears would burst. Probably an alarm about me, but I didn't slow down.

I expected to find the corridors filled with Ancient Progenitors, but they were empty.

"Where's that elevator?!"

I hurried down one corridor only to realize it was the wrong one. I stopped to get my bearings.

"Where was it?! Come on, Mei! Think!"

I backtracked to the entrance again, and took another path. This time things looked more familiar.

Suddenly the floating creature grabbed me and placed my left arm in a tight grip.

"We must leave before the Volmvas arrive! Staying here will result in both our deaths. If you want to live you must come with me!"

But I didn't want the life he offered. I fought to free myself, but this time he wasn't about to let me go.

"Please!"

He dragged me toward the opening onto the surface again.

Just as we reached the grassy plain, I took my free arm, and thrust my fist into the creature's seemingly insubstantial body.

It was anything but that.

The Wubon howled and twisted in agony, releasing my left arm. But now I couldn't pull the fist out the creature's chest.

It turned its dark eyes toward me. "Release me!" it shouted in a voice that filled my mind.

I felt as if I were on fire. My vision blurred.

I found myself on my back in the tall grass, every muscle in my body twitching. I forced myself to sit up. The Wubon still twisted about in the air.

I wanted to run back into the building, but I'd hurt this being. And despite what it intended for me, I couldn't leave it in pain.

I walked up to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."

It finally rested itself upon the ground. Looking up at me, "Your kind is a part of us. Any physical connection of that sort is dangerous."

"Will you be okay? Can you get to your ship?"

"Yes. But you must come with me."

"No." I ran back inside the building.

Again I raced through the corridors, knowing my time was short.

Nearly out of breath, I found the seam in the wall I was looking for. It opened, and I burst inside.

But so did someone else.

-GO TO CHAPTER 4-