All of the characters in this story belong to me. However, they are derived originally from Xena: Warrior Princess fan fiction which I wrote. No copyright infringement is intended.

April 2008: This is a revised version of a story I probably wrote around 1999. I was reading it and saw it could be improved a lot. Jilly and Langland are characters I went nuts with back when Xena was on the air. This should work as a stand alone SF story but in my extended storyline it would fall between Class Over and My Brother's Keeper. This story contains graphic violence.

It's pretty short so the original story is appended for anyone interested in the changes.

The Slithloc Lord Military looked around the alien bridge, satisfied that the creatures were all dead. When the commander's ship detected their transmissions he invited the earthlings to send an envoy. The animals were naive enough to agree. The Slithloc would learn everything they needed from this vessel. When and how to destroy them was a question for his superior's to decide. The Military Caste Council were still too distant to communicate with about these new aliens he had discovered.

"Begin a study of this vessel," the commander ordered. His scaled tail winding about his body betrayed how pleased he was with the mission's success. Another victory for his caste.

In a small room off of Engineering, the Slithloc technical examining the Earth vessel's computer system found a deeply hidden program. He contacted his leader. "Lord Military, there is something which could have been planted as a security measure."

"What do you fear so much, technician?" The technical heard the contempt in the voice.

"I don't know, Lord Military. But it is very tempting. It could be a trap."

"Open it, technician. These weak animals are too foolish for that."

"Lord Military, if I may..."

"Open it, technical!" The commander ended the communication.

The Slithloc flicked his forked tongue at the communicator. Well, don't blame him if this blew up the ship. He hated taking orders from the military caste. They always found ways to make other castes take the blame for problems caused by their own arrogance or stupidity. He didn't know why they had to kill whatever aliens they met anyway. Just so the military caste would feel useful, he suspected.

The technician methodically began peeling away the security layers. It was enjoyable work, which made him even more suspicious. If he was designing a trap for another technical he would make it exactly like this. Language and syntax generators provided the passwords and codes. Other technicians worked on other systems, and the military caste members occasionally looked sneeringly at them.

Something was happening finally. He had reached what he thought was the final security level and characters appeared on the screen. He was suspicious. WHO ARE YOU The technical flipped his tail nervously. The wrong answer really might blow up the ship. He had no choice. Even if he was later proved right the military caste would eject him into space if he disobeyed an order.

He searched for recurring patterns in the security levels he had breeched. One by one characters were provided.

L

A

N

G

L

A

N

D

He keyed LANGLAND. There was a flash of light. He was suddenly immobilized and a figure stood beside him. He looked up at a repulsive soft white creature. The paralysis disappeared but he didn't move.

The technical was more frightened than he had been since he was hatched and had to get to the sea before the scallans ate him; another tradition insisted on by the military caste. This hideous creature resembled the dead aliens he had seen on board. It made sounds he could not understand, then pointed at him and the terminal. The technical entered ARE YOU LANGLAND

The creature made sounds while a pattern appeared on the screen: THE ONE AND ONLY. It showed its teeth again and made more sounds. The screen showed AND JUST WHO ARE YOU, MY REPTILIAN FRIEND

The technical had to study that message a while, going into his syntax and language resources to understand it. The implications of it dumbfounded him a moment.

GLONDAR he keyed, then added SLITHLOC, TECHNICAL CASTE.

Langland nodded and showed its teeth again, which frightened and repulsed Glondar more each time. Data flashed and scrolled over the screen which was reflected in the creatures eyes. It stopped showing its teeth. The screen went blank and the creature looked at Glondar.

YOU INTEND TO DESTROY MY RACE appeared on the screen. .

NOT BY MY WISH. THE MILITARY CASTE DESTROY ALL RACES THEY MEET. Suddenly Langland was gone.

"Technical," a military caste voice from the doorway, "haven't you completed this yet? We should put you out in space and give your job to another technical, one not so lazy and cowardly if there is such a thing."

The technical started to report Langland but the military didn't even look at him, turned and walked out of the room. Glondar ran after him and the military turned with a hiss and knocked him down. Then the military kicked Glondar and walked off. The technical limped back to the terminal, where a message waited. DO THEY ACT LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME

Glondar keyed YES. THAT WAS NOT BAD.

ARE YOU LOYAL TO THEM

I AM LOYAL TO MY CASTE, Glondar keyed. How else would he feel?

WHAT IF THE MILITARIES WERE GONE

Glondar was paralyzed again, but this time by emotions. To be free of the military caste. Other castes at home sometimes ran off but were usually caught by the militaries. They made examples of them. Glondar had known one and was questioned about her. It took a long time for his tail to grow back and it hurt in cold weather.

I DO NOT KNOW.

Glondar stared at the next message. HOW CAN THE MILIARY CASTE BE IDENTIFIED.

Glondar answered, THEY ARE LARGER. MILITARIES HAVE YELLOW OR RED EYE RIDGES.

MATRIX 666-95-#/4 PARTITION 7S-GIIIX231&/^L^&009-6%-%688*868 GO AHEAD JILLY

WHAT WILL THAT DO Glondar keyed, shaking with fear and emotion.

FREE YOU

Glondar accessed the matrix and partition and stared at the screen, his tail twitching nervously for long moments. In a rush he keyed GO AHEAD JILLY. Nothing happened then he felt a slight tap on his arm. Glondar turned in his chair and didn't see anything. He felt another tap and looked down at another pale alien but this one was much smaller. Langland had brown strings hanging from its head and this one had yellow strings. The alien wore dark garments and shiny tools. It showed its teeth at Glondar and took out a small rectangular pad which its fingers played over, then handed to Glondar.

I'M JILLY. PLEASED TO MEET YOU GLONDAR.

She again showed her teeth at him. Glondar finally realized showing teeth wasn't a threat. He returned the pad, turned back to the screen and keyed HELLO JILLY

CHICAGO 1965

Jilly finished julienning the vegetables and would put the lobster in the pot soon. She looked with satisfaction at the new chef knives she'd gotten in Paris. Jilly wished her mom could see them. She had loved fine craftsmanship like that even if she couldn't boil water. Jilly walked back to Langland's study to take her mind off her mom. If she thought too much about Kimberly she might do something stupid. She saw him staring at that strange little TV he had built with a keyboard in front of it. Langland claimed that eventually everyone would have them, that people would use 'em like telephones. Jilly had rolled her eyes. If she didn't know how dangerous he was from the first-hand experience of being murdered by him, she wouldn't be caught dead with a nerd like Langland.

Now he turned and smiled at her. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," she answered. She walked up and sat in his lap. He looked knowingly at her but didn't say anything. She had one of her new handmade knives. She paid nearly as much for them as she had for swords in Greece. Langland wondered if Jilly had any idea how frightening she was. He doubted it. She had been cooking, that's why she had a knife. Langland knew what she was capable of doing with it.

"Jilly, I'm glad you came in. What was it Callisto said when she turned you loose on people?"

The slender brown-eyed blonde closed her eyes and got a nostalgic smile. "'Go ahead, Jilly'...Man, those were good times! Just her and me against the world. Somebody looked crosseyed at me and Callisto would cut their nose off and make 'em eat it. And ME, God...anybody hurt Callisto, I'd stake 'em out over coals for a week. I wish life could be simple like that now, you know?"

Langland looked at her. Sometimes Jilly even stunned him.

"Why?" she asked.

"I'm writing a program there might be a need for eventually..."

"A program?" Jilly said.

"A computer program. Anyway, I thought I'd use that as the password. You know, sentimental reasons."

Jilly hugged his head to her full breasts, running her fingers through his long brown hair. "Oh you! Oh you! I'm so glad I wouldn't let Daddy or Mommy or Xena or Aunt Janice kill you!"

"Me too, Jilly," Langland answered fervently. Then he said, "Sit here a second and lemme hook you up with some stuff."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Oh, okay," Jilly blew her blonde hair out of her eyes as Langland attached the leads around her scalp. As he dipped in close she kissed him quickly and got a naughty little girl expression when he frowned at her.

The low-ranking military stopped in surprise. A small alien stood in the corridor. They were all thought to be ejected into space. It must be paralyzed with fear. He advanced on the small hideous form which showed it teeth and leaped directly at him. Hissing he meant to catch it but something flashed and he saw his forearms twitching on the floor. Another blow blinded one eye. He lost his balance and slipped in the blood. As he lost consciousness it disappeared into an air duct.

"Lord Military! Gronlet has been killed. An alien must have survived."

The commander hissed and flicked his tongue. This would look bad unless he could blame it on another caste. "Begin a search of the ship," he ordered.

His aide relayed the order, wondering if he would get this command. He received another message, then another, and another.

"Four more militaries are dead, Commander. The alien is moving through the air shafts. It's smaller than the others."

The Lord Military looked furiously at his aide, knowing what he was thinking. The commander was about to growl when blood sprayed him, his aide nearly decapitated. The commander saw a little alien slash the throat of another military but was caught with a tail and stumbled. It was amazingly fast and slashed open two more militaries but a claw mangled its scalp. The commander and the remaining military moved forward. It slipped behind them and stabbed the miliary who fell. The alien was badly hurt but stood growling at him holding a blade weapon.

The Lord Military glanced quickly around. The five other militaries on the bridge were all either dead or dying. The three technicals were cowering, not worth killing. He had underestimated these creatures. The earlier aliens were merely technicals, perhaps even bait. This was a miliary. The commander needed to contact his ship and warn them. He leapt at the little alien and again it avoided him, then slashed down and the commander saw half of his tail flopping on the floor. He struck out swiftly and sent the creature crashing against a wall. The Lord Military thought he had it but the creature scrambled out of his way and disappeared back into the air shaft leaving a trail of blood. The commander took a belt from a dead military and tied a tourniquet around his tail stump. He ignored the three unhurt technicals. They were not worth even considering now. He had to contact his ship.

Glondar sat nervously at the terminal. Jilly had left and soon an alert sounded. Now he waited. Hearing a scratching sound he went to a vent and found Jilly inside. Glondar overcame his revulsion and pulled her out. She was bloody with a terrible wound on her head and a huge gash in her side. He didn't know what else to use so cut patches off of his uniform and attached them with lettelic tape.

The little creature was very weak but pulled her pad out again. ONE MILITARY LEFT ON BRIDGE.

Glondar accessed the terminal again. The commander was contacting their ship. Glondar severed the connection. He was already dead; what else did he have to lose?

On the bridge a technical said fearfully, "Lord Military, you're communication has been disrupted."

The wounded commander hissed. "Reopen it, technical!"

After a moment, "I cannot, Lord Military. All communications are incapacitated."

The commander wanted to kill the technical but restrained himself. Now was not the time. "Continue attempting to contact our ship." He had hoped the alien would die from its wounds. What if there were other militaries like it on board?

Jilly weakly looked at Glondar; she felt cold and it was hard to think. He was like a cross between a crocodile and a man. She liked him. He reminded her of a blacksmith named Barny she had known. Jilly nearly gave up riding with Callisto when Barny invited her to live with his family. She didn't know where she was but knew she had a job to do. The big lizards with the eye ridges were enemies, and she was here to stop them. That was fine with Jilly. She loved fighting and killing--not necessarily in that order. She saw Glondar making motions at the terminal.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING she asked Glondar.

THE LORD MILITARY TRIED TO CALL OUR SHIP.

This wasn't Glondar's ship? Then Jilly understood. This was her people's ship and they were dead. The little girl tried to stand, intending to go and finish the job but could only get to her hands and knees. The bandage on her side was sopping with blood and her skin was gray. She gave an angry croaking sound that made Glondar jump. She sank down.

Glondar keyed SHOULD I GET LANGLAND

Jilly looked at the message. WHO

LANGLAND BROUGHT YOU HERE Glondar entered.

YES GET LANGLAND.

Glondar simply entered the name again. Nothing happened.

HEY YOU Jilly keyed on her pad.

HEY YOURSELF appeared on the screen. Langland appeared again and knelt down by the small bloody form. Jilly looked at him curiously.

WHO LOVES YOU appeared on the screen as Langland spoke.

YOU DO LANGLAND Jilly keyed weakly on her bloody pad, then was still.

Langland kissed her forehead and she disappeared. Glondar was suddenly terrified as Langland glanced at him.

A message appeared on Glondar's screen. MATRIX 666-95-#/4. PARTITION 9S-GIIIX231&/^L8881][-6%-%68123321 GO AHEAD JILLY Langland vanished.

Glondar keyed the command in a rush. He felt a tap on his shoulder. This creature was as tall as Langland but had yellow strings and brown eyes like Jilly.

LANGLAND SHOULD'VE CALLED ME IN THE FIRST PLACE. OH WELL. WHAT YOU GONNA DO HUH. TELL ME ABOUT THE SHIP

The Lord Military knew his career was over. That was unfortunate but had no bearing on his actions.

"Lord Military, we can send a message now!" a technical said.

"Vessel not secured. Remain on Alert and await further orders," he snapped. The technical made a frightened sound. "What is it, technical?"

"Lord Military, a different message was transmitted..." the commander knocked the technical out of his chair and studied the screen. The message was "Communications restored. Commence docking."

The commander hissed and kicked the cowering technical. The others looked away in fear. The commander headed for the docking bay.

Jilly and Glondar were waiting for the hatch to open connecting the ships. He refused to be left behind. She would have slapped his shoulder in a comradely way but she could tell she repulsed him.

She killed three more militaries coming to the docking bay. Glondar ran up behind one and slugged it. She didn't need the help but appreciated it. From what she had learned about castes, that was so brave it was off the charts. It was like a sheep attacking a lion.

There were 20 militaries and 30 technicals on the ship they were about to dock with. Counting the Lord Military there were six remaining militaries on her people's ship. Jilly didn't have any fancy plan. She was Ares' favorite after all, not Athena's. When the ships docked she intended on killing every military she could find. She could hardly wait to see the Lord Military again. She wasn't a ten-year-old anymore.

The Lord Military reached the docking bay just as the hatch opened. Dangerous as weapons fire in a ship was he opened fire on an alien. It was larger but similar in many ways to the small alien military. It avoided the blast and disappeared into his ship. Cursing he began to follow when he felt a light blow. He turned with a hiss and was stunned to see Glondar, a technical. The commander struck him aside and continued his pursuit of the alien.

His hissing grew worse as he entered his ship. The creature was cutting a path through his militaries. Again, there were no technicals among the dead. He remembered the technical that, unbelievably, attacked him. He was so angry he killed a technical who happened to be near him. This was going to require much study eventually.

Jilly's left arm and right leg were wounded and she'd lost two fingers from her left hand. These Slithloc militaries were impressive all right: they saw her and instantly attacked, fast for how large they were. Jilly wouldn't mind having an army of 'em. She'd killed ten militaries so far, leaving 16 more. She wasn't so confident anymore. The stakes were too high for her to enjoy this as she would otherwise. Two militaries came around a corner and her chakram whizzed out embedding in the chest of one. The other launched himself at her and she managed to avoid it but his tail tripped her. It was on her and she drove her sword through it as a claw slammed her face, breaking her jaw. The huge form collapsed on her. It must weigh 300 pounds she thought as she managed to get out from under it. That was 14 to go. This one had something that looked like a gun which she took. Only the commander had fired at her. She paused: that was interesting.

Glondar painfully pulled himself up. His tail was broken and probably some ribs. Luckily no other militaries had seen the commander strike him. He was worried about Jilly. She was a military but she treated him with respect. It was a wonderful feeling, and hitting the two militaries like he had--especially the Lord Military--Glondar felt something when he did that even though he was just a technical. Jilly told him he helped her earlier. He wasn't so sure but that a great military would want him to think so--it was wonderful. Glondar painfully made his way into the Slithloc ship.

The Lord Military caught a glimpse of the alien, fired at it but missed. He hated to think what this was doing to the hull integrity. Only a commander like himself could authorize their use even in an emergency. The creature was heading for the bridge. It made sense; cut off the head--a basic principle of fighting. He respected this creature, much as he wanted to kill it. He assumed the smaller one was dead..

It was fascinating to see such efficient militaries so different than Slithlocs. They maximized agility. The Lord Military stepped over two more dead Slithlocs. Obviously there was something to be said for that approach.

Jilly reached the bridge and pressed a button on the weapon. She was happy to see a big military get a bowling ball-size hole in his chest. She killed two more before the weapon was knocked from her grip by a tail. She drew her sword, leapt and beheaded another Slithloc. Why hadn't one of them used the weapon? She received a gash in her leg. What if she just blew a hole in the side of the ship? She ran one way as a feint then leaped back toward the fallen weapon. The military who knocked it out of her grasp picked it up. He still didn't fire it, but lashed at her with his tail. Jilly gasped as it punctured her belly but jumped on his shoulders and split his snout open into his skull. She grabbed the weapon when the Lord Military appeared on the bridge, brought his weapon up and fired at her. Jilly turned her body but felt a terrible pain and looked at the stump where her right forearm used to be. She couldn't shoot with one hand so she threw the weapon at the commander and he fell back, with a broken snout. She grabbed her fallen sword with her left hand and cut the claw off that held the weapon. His other claw flashed and Jilly felt her already broken jaw smashed. There was blood everywhere and Jilly and the commander both slipped in it. The Lord Military and Jilly watched at each other for an opening. There was another blast and the Lord Military fell. Jilly saw Glondar shaking. The horribly wounded military looked with amazement at the technical who shot him.

"SHOOT HIM, GLONDAR" Jilly yelled even though the technical couldn't understand her. Jilly slipped again on the blood, crying as she landed on the stump of her right arm.

Glondar stood frozen with fear. The Lord Miltary staggered toward him and drew his remaining claw back to kill him, but gasped as the alien's blade protruded from his chest. He fell and saw the alien military looking down at him. It collapsed beside him. They were looking at each other as the Lord Military's eyes glazed over.

Glondar unsteadily walked over to Jilly. She looked worse than the small Jilly had. He held her little pad for her.

DESTROY THEM. BEFORE THEY GET HELP.

Glondar entered I AM JUST A TECHNICAL

She managed to key YOU CAN DO IT. Jilly was shaking and added THEN GET LANGLAND She dropped the pad.

Glondar took the pad back and keyed YES. She was dead when he looked back at her.

The six militaries were enraged, hissing and growling. Everywhere they looked were dead caste brothers.

"Lord,'' they heard behind them. They saw a technician.

"What is it, technical?" the ranking military said contemptuously.

"Lord, the alien is hidden in the docking bay. It fled there after the Lord Military was bravely slain."

All six militaries hissed and roughly pushed past the technical, cursing him for being a lazy coward. Some of them had just come from the docking bay. That the creature may have been right there enraged them even more.

"Begin a search," the ranking military said as they reached the bay.

Glondar raced back to the bridge. He shook as he saw Jilly's body and flicked his tongue at the Lord Military's. The technical initiated an emergency ship separation. In the docking bay the six militaries looked up in surprise at the grinding roars coming from the open hatch. Two of them found handholds as their four caste brothers were sucked out into space. On the bridge Glondar watched on a monitor. There was no hurry. After twenty minutes first one military lost his grip and eight minutes later the other. Glondar closed the hatch and began redocking with the alien vessel.

Glondar was at the alien terminal again, doing his best to ignore the pain in his tail and his side. Once more the technical accessed the area Langland resided in. HEY YOU he keyed but there was no response. LANGLAND also did not bring the alien program out. The Slithloc studied the screen then turned in his chair and looked at the body on the floor. He carried Jilly down here, amazed at how little she weighed. Her blood was all over him and Glondar thought he might never wash it off. To save her planet, Jilly only had to do destroy both ships. She could have made Glondar help her. It hadn't even occurred to her. She wanted to help the technicals gain their freedom. Glondar turned back to the terminal. JILLY WAS TOO SOFT

The repulsive alien with the brown strings hanging from its head stood next to him. It looked at Jilly and collapsed, like Jilly had fallen beside the Lord Military.

THE MILITARIES ARE ALL DEAD Glondar entered on Jilly's pad and held it up for Langland to see.

The creature finally looked up to read it. After a moment he spoke and Jilly's pad showed SO EVERYBODY'S HAPPY

Glondar watched him. Langland didn't seem happy. He picked up Jilly in his arms. His eyes were leaking.

CAN YOU REINITIALIZE JILLY

The creature looked at the message blankly and at Glondar. NO. DEATH IS DEATH. I AM GOING THERE NOW

Glondar stared at the creature. WHAT SHALL WE DO. JILLY TOLD ME TO ASK YOU.

Langland read the message then looked at the mangled body in his arms again. SHE DID HUH. He kissed her forehead and she disappeared like the child. Langland walked to stand beside Glondar.

GUESS I'LL HAVE TO STICK AROUND He patted Glondar's shoulder and noted wryly the shudder of repulsion that went through the Slithloc technical.

Jilly woke up with a start. The covers were a tangled mess and she was soaked with sweat. Langland wasn't in bed but she saw him in a chair. She reached and turned a lamp on.

"Man, Langland, I just had the weirdest dream."

"Yeah?" he said in a whisper. She looked at him.

She continued, "Yeah. It was this science fiction thing with space lizards out to destroy Earth. I had to stop 'em."

"How'd it turn out?" he asked still softly.

She laughed, "I got killed before I could finish the job but I told this friendly space lizard what he needed to do." She smiled and looked at her right forearm, spread her fingers wide and made a fist. "It was fun. First I was a little girl like when I rode with Callisto; then later I was like I am now. And you were there too."

Langland came over to her. She stared at him. "Have you been crying? What's wrong, honey?"

"Oh, I just had a bad dream too, Jilly," he said softly as he reached down to stroke her blonde hair.

The End

by Joseph Anderson
jander65@hotmail.com

All of the characters in this story belong to me. However, they are derived originally from Xena: Warrior Princess. No copyright infringement is intended.

This story contains graphic violence. In the Kimberly/Jilly chronology it would fall between Class Over and My Brother's Keeper.

The Slithloc Lord Military looked around the alien bridge, satisfied that the creatures were all dead. These aliens had fallen into their trap exactly as he suspected they would. When the commander's ship had detected these aliens' transmissions he had invited the earthlings to send a ship. The animals were so foolish and naive they had complied. They would be able to learn everything they needed about Earth's technical capabilities from this vessel when they brought it to their home planet. When and how to destroy them would be a question for his superior's to decide. The Military Caste Council were still too distant to communicate with about these new aliens he had discovered.

"Begin a study of this vessel so we can navigate it" the commander ordered. His scaled tail winding about his body betrayed how pleased he was with the mission's success. Another victory for his caste.

In a small room off of Engineering, the Slithloc technical who was examining the Earth vessel's computer system found something peculiar; a hidden program surrounded by complex security features. It looked suspicious. He contacted his leader. "Lord Military, there is something which could have been planted as a security measure."

"What do you fear so much, technician?" The technical heard the contempt in the voice.

"I don't know, Lord Military. But it is very tempting for someone doing what I am doing to attempt opening. It could be a trap."

"Open it, technician. These weak animals are too foolish for something like that."

"Lord Military, if I may..."

"Open it, technical!" The commander ended the communication.

The Slithloc flicked his forked tongue at the communicator. Well, don't blame him if this blew up the ship or something. Though that is exactly what would happen if this was a security program. He hated having to take orders from the military caste. Their first loyalty was to their caste and they always found ways to make other castes take the blame for any problems caused by their own arrogance or stupidity. He didn't know why they had to kill whatever aliens they met anyway. Just so the military caste would feel useful, he suspected.

The technician methodically began peeling away the security layers. It was enjoyable work, which made him even more suspicious. If he was designing a trap for another technical he would make it exactly like this--an engaging task beyond any but someone highly skilled. He had access to language and syntax generators which allowed him to find the codes and passwords when that was what was needed. Other technicians were working on other systems, and the military caste members would occasionally look sneeringly at them.

Something was happening finally. He had reached what he thought was the final security level. Some characters came up on the screen which appeared to be a message of some sort from the technical who had designed this. He looked suspiciously at it. He was able to translate it. WHO ARE YOU The technical flipped his tail nervously. If he gave the wrong answer it really might blow up the ship. That's what he would design a security program to do. He had no choice. The military caste would eject him into space if he disobeyed an order, even if he was later proved right.

He took the syntax generator and thought a moment. He searched for recurring hidden patterns in the passwords he had found previously. One pattern came up immediately; it had never been exact before but had been somehow implied. The technical entered LANGLAND

A red light shot out from the screen and the technical found himself immobilized. He was aware that another red light was searching the rest of the room. The light went out and the technical found he could move again. A figure was standing beside him. He looked up at a repulsive soft white creature which was looking at him. The technical started to stand but the creature reached out and touched him and he sat back down, his legs paralyzed. The creature made some sounds the technical could not understand. It looked at the screen and pressed something which made the screen go blank. Then it pointed at the technical and at the keyboard.

The technical was more frightened than he had been since he had hatched and had to get to the sea before the scallans caught him and ate him; another tradition insisted on by the military caste, who of course were more successful than any of the other castes. He looked at this hideous creature. It resembled the dead aliens he had seen on board. He tried to think. He typed ARE YOU LANGLAND

The creature made sounds while a pattern appeared on the screen: THE ONE AND ONLY. It showed its teeth again and made more sounds. The screen showed AND JUST WHO ARE YOU, MY REPTILIAN FRIEND

The technical had to study that message a while, going into his syntax and language resources to understand it. The implications of it dumbfounded him a moment. Reptiles were lower life forms on this creature's planet. "Friend" could have any number of meanings depending upon context.

GLONDAR he typed, then added SLITHLOC, TECHNICAL CASTE.

Langland nodded and showed its teeth again, which frightened and repulsed Glondar more each time the creature did it. Glondar found he was completely paralyzed again. The creature then began entering things quickly in the terminal and studying them. It had stopped showing its teeth. It went to different instruments in the room, operating them briefly. It returned to Glondar.

YOU INTEND TO DESTROY MY RACE appeared on the screen. Then Glondar found he could move again.

NOT BY MY WISH. THE MILITARY CASTE DESTROY ALL RACES THEY MEET. The creature read that and looked at him. Suddenly Langland was gone.

"Technical," a military caste voice said to him from the doorway, "haven't you completed this yet? We should put you out in space and give your job to another technical, one not so lazy and cowardly if there is such a thing." He wasn't even of high rank. Any military could talk to any other caste that way, no matter their rank within their own caste or their accomplishments.

The technical started to report Langland but the military didn't even look at him, but turned and walked out of the room. Glondar ran after him and the military turned with a hiss and struck him, sending him stumbling back. Then the military kicked him and walked off. The technical walked back to the terminal, where a message was waiting for him. DO THEY ACT LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME

Glondar waited a moment and entered YES. THAT WAS NOT BAD. A MILITARY CAN KILL A TECHNICAL, THOUGH MIGHT BE PUNISHED IF THE TECHNICAL IS VALUABLE. USUALLY THEY DO NOT KILL US

DO YOU FEEL LOYALTY TO THEM

I FEEL LOYALTY ONLY TO MY CASTE, Glondar wrote.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ALL OF THE MILITARIES ABOARD THE SHIP WERE GONE

Glondar was paralyzed again, but this time by his emotions. To be free of the military caste. Other castes at home sometimes ran off but were usually caught by the militaries. They always made examples of them. Glondar had known one. He had been brought in and questioned about her. It had taken a long time for his tail to grow back and it often hurt in cold weather.

I DO NOT KNOW. I WOULD BE PLEASED

Another message appeared and Glondar stared at it. HOW CAN THE MILITARY CASTE BE IDENTIFIED

Glondar wrote, THEY ARE LARGER AND HAVE YELLOW OR RED RIDGES OVER THEIR EYES. WHENEVER ANOTHER CASTE MEMBER IS HATCHED WITH RIDGES HE IS DESTROYED

GLONDAR I AM A PROGRAM CREATED BY LANGLAND. THERE IS ANOTHER PROGRAM WHICH WILL HELP YOU. AT MATRIX 666-95-#/4 PARTITION 7S-GIIIX231&/^L^&009-6%-%688*868 ENTER COMMAND: GO AHEAD JILLY

WHAT WILL THAT DO Glondar typed, shaking with fear and emotion.

FREE YOU OF THE MILITARY CASTE ON THE SHIP

Without hesitation Glondar accessed the matrix and partition. He stared at the screen his tail twitching nervously for long moments. Then in a rush he entered GO AHEAD JILLY and waited fearfully. Nothing seemed to happen then he felt a slight tapping on his arm. Glondar fearfully turned in his chair and looked up where Langland had been but didn't see anything. He felt another tap and looked down and saw another pale alien but this one was much smaller. Instead of brown strings hanging off of its head like Langland, this one had yellow strings. It showed its teeth at Glondar and took out a small rectangular pad which its fingers played over. Then it handed the pad to Glondar. Fearfully he looked at it and in the same type as on the terminal screen were the words I'M JILLY. PLEASED TO MEET YOU GLONDAR. Glondar handed it back to her and she again showed her teeth at him. He finally realized showing teeth wasn't a threat with them as it was with the militaries. He turned back to the screen and entered HELLO JILLY

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A suburb outside Chicago, 1965

Jilly had just finished the julienning the vegetables and was going to put the lobster in the pot soon. She looked with satisfaction at her new chef knives she'd gotten in Paris, wishing her mom could see them. She had loved fine craftsmanship like that even if she couldn't boil water. Jilly knew if she started thinking about Kimberly she might freak out and do something stupid, so she forced her out of her mind and walked back to Langland's study to take her mind off her mom. She stepped in and looked at him staring at that strange little TV with a keyboard in front of it he had built. Langland said that eventually everyone would have them, that people would use computers like telephones. Jilly had rolled her eyes. If she didn't know how dangerous he was from the first hand experience of being murdered by him, she wouldn't be caught dead with a nerd like Langland.

Now he turned around and smiled at her. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," she answered. She walked up and sat in his lap. He looked knowingly at her but didn't say anything. She was carrying one of her new handmade chef knives. She paid nearly as much for them as she had for swords in Greece. Sometimes Langland wondered if Jilly had any idea how frightening she was and if it even occurred to her what the sight of her with a knife might mean to people. He doubted it. Fear was something she didn't really grasp. She had been cooking so she had a knife. Langland knew what she was capable of doing with it if she got ticked off. If he had a machine gun and was ready for her maybe he'd last a couple of minutes.

"Jilly, I'm glad you came in. What was it Callisto said to you when she turned you loose on people?"

The slender brown-eyed blonde closed her eyes and got a nostalgic smile. "'Go ahead, Jilly'...Man, those were good times! Just her and me against the world. Somebody looked crosseyed at me and Callisto would cut their nose off and make 'em eat it. And ME, God...anybody hurt Callisto, I'd stake 'em out over coals for a week. I wish life could be simple like that now, you know."

Langland looked at her. He was ruthless himself but sometimes Jilly even stunned him.

"Why?" she asked.

"I'm writing a program that I think there might be a need for eventually..."

"A program?" Jilly said.

"A computer program. Anyway, I just thought I'd use that as the password. You know, sentimental reasons."

Jilly hugged his head to her full breasts, running her fingers through his long brown hair. "Oh you! Oh you! I'm so glad I wouldn't let Daddy or Mommy or Xena or Aunt Janice kill you!"

"Me too, Jilly," Langland answered fervently. Then he said, "Sit here a second and lemme hook you up with some stuff."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"Oh, okay," Jilly blew her blonde hair out of her eyes as Langland attached the leads around her scalp. As he dipped in close she kissed him quickly and got a naughty little girl expression when he frowned at her.

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The low ranking military stopped in surprise. At the other end of the corridor was a small alien looking at him. The aliens were all thought to be dead and had already been ejected into space. Well, he would finish this one off now. He thought it must be paralyzed with fear, since it was not trying to escape. He advanced on the small hideous form which suddenly leaped directly at him. Hissing he meant to catch it but something flashed and he looked with disbelief at his forearms which were twitching on the floor now. He stumbled back and lost his balance as his tail was cut off. The little alien was looking at him, showing its teeth and its eyes looked different than any of the others had. They had brown circles with white all around them. As he lost consciousness he saw her disappear into an opening in the ceiling.

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"Commander! Military Gronlet has been killed. An alien must have survived."

The commander hissed and flicked his tongue out. This would look bad unless he could blame missing an alien earlier somehow on another caste. "Begin a systematic search of the ship," he ordered.

His aide relayed the order, wondering if he would get this command now if their superiors learned of this. He received another message, then another, and another.

"Four more militaries are dead, Commander. The alien has been seen. It is small and moving through the air shafts."

The commander looked furiously at his aide. This would look terrible. He knew what his aide must be thinking; he would get this command. He was about to growl at him when blood suddenly sprayed him and his aide's head was nearly decapitated, his long snout pointing straight up. The commander jumped back though he wasn't sure what was happening. Then he saw the little alien slash the throat of another military but he caught the alien with his tail as he fell and it stumbled. Two of the other militaries were on it in an instant striking down. Both fell back from gaping wounds but the alien also seemed wounded. The commander and the other remaining military went for it. Somehow it slipped behind them and he saw the military hiss as it fell forward, the back of his head gone. The alien was just standing in front of him, holding a blade and looking up at his tall form and growling at him. It was bruised and scraped and bleeding badly from the side of the head where it was missing something that was on the other side. The commander lashed at it with his tail and the creature simply jumped out of its way. It was showing its teeth at him.

He glanced quickly around. The five other militaries on the bridge were all either dead or dying. The three technicals were cowering. This creature must realize they were not worth killing. He had underestimated these creatures. The aliens killed earlier must have merely been technicals; perhaps they were even bait. He was facing a military now. The commander needed to contact his ship and warn them about this. He leapt at the little alien again, and again it avoided him, then slashed down and the commander saw half of his tail flopping on the floor. He ignored the pain and struck out swiftly to catch the little alien a heavy blow which sent the creature crashing against a wall. He thought he had it but it scrambled out of his way awkwardly, obviously hurt, and disappeared back into the air shaft he assumed it had come by. The commander took a belt from one of his dead officers and tied a tourniquet around his tail stump. He ignored the three unhurt technicals shaking and cowering. They were not worth even considering now. He had to contact his ship.

Glondar sat nervously in front of the terminal. Jilly had disappeared and soon after he had heard an alert sounded. Now he simply waited. Hearing something he looked up at the vent in the wall: a scratching sound. Jilly was inside, bloody. Glondar took the vent off and overcame his revulsion at touching her and pulled her out. She had a terrible wound on her head and a huge gash in her side that he recognized as a blow from a military's claws. Her internal organs were visible. He got his tool kit out and found lettelic tape. He didn't know what else to use as bandages so cut patches off of his tunic and then attached them with the tape.

The little creature seemed very weak and to have lost much blood, but she pulled her pad out again and entered ONE MILITARY LEFT ON BRIDGE. EIGHT MORE ON SHIP.

Glondar accessed the terminal again and checked communications. The commander was in the act of contacting their ship. Glondar severed the connection. He was already dead; what else did he have to lose?

On the bridge a technical said fearfully, "Lord Military, you're communication has been disrupted. Someone on this vessel terminated it."

The wounded commander hissed. "Reopen it, technical!"

After a moment, "I cannot, Lord Military. All communications are incapacitated."

The commander wanted to kill the technical but restrained himself. Now was not the time. "Continue attempting to contact our ship." The alien was behind this, obviously. He had hoped perhaps it would simply die from the wound he had given it. What if there were other militaries like it on board?

Jilly was weakly looking at Glondar; the pain making it hard for her to think. He seemed like a cross between a crocodile and a man. She liked him. He reminded her of Barny, a blacksmith she had known. Jilly had nearly given up riding with Callisto when Barny invited her to live with him and his family. She didn't know what was going on here. She had just appeared and knew she had a job to do: that she should help Glondar if possible, but primarily the big creatures with the red and yellow eye ridges were her people's enemies, and she was here to stop them. That was fine with Jilly. She loved fighting and killing--not necessarily in that order.

Jilly had underestimated that big one on the bridge that had to be the Lord Military Glondar was so scared of. Even though one of them had ripped her ear off, she still felt confident; so she got careless and that big one had practically killed her. Callisto had warned her about that; she played too many games.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING she asked Glondar.

THE COMMANDER IS TRYING TO CONTACT OUR SHIP. I HAVE STOPPED HIM.

Jilly considered that. She'd thought this was their ship. Then she understood. This ship was from her people and these things had taken it and gotten rid of the bodies. They were going to destroy all of her people if she didn't stop them. The little girl tried to stand, intending to go and finish the job but could only get to her hands and knees before collapsing. The bandage on her side was sopping with blood and her skin was nearly gray. She made a harsh croaking sound in her anger, which made Glondar jump.

Glondar was looking apprehensively at Jilly. Despite how repulsive he thought she was he found he liked her and was sick with worry for her. He got an idea and turned back to the screen. SHOULD I GET LANGLAND

Jilly looked at the message. WHO

LANGLAND BROUGHT YOU HERE Glondar entered.

YES GET LANGLAND.

Nodding his snout, the technical quickly went back to the matrix and partition where Langland had appeared. He didn't know what else to do so Glondar simply entered the name again. Nothing happened.

HEY YOU Jilly typed on her pad and pointed at the screen. She didn't know how she knew this.

HEY YOU he entered.

HEY YOURSELF appeared on the screen.

Glondar looked over and Langland was there again. He saw Jilly and went over to her kneeling by her. Glondar was frightened by what he felt coming from the creature. He sensed something about Langland. He was more dangerous than Jilly, more dangerous than the Lord Military, more dangerous than anyone ever. Jilly was laying in her blood, looking at him curiously, like she didn't understand their connection though she felt it.

WHO LOVES YOU appeared on the screen as Langland made sounds at the creature.

YOU DO LANGLAND Jilly entered weakly on her bloody pad, then stiffened and was still, her eyes staring blankly.

Langland kissed her forehead and she just disappeared. The creature stood back up and came over to Glondar.

GO BACK TO MATRIX 666-95-#/4. BUT THIS TIME PARTITION 9S-GIIIX231&/^L8881][-6%-%68123321 ENTER COMMAND: GO AHEAD JILLY

Langland was suddenly gone and Glondar entered the command in a rush. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He excitedly turned looking down where Jilly was before but this time saw legs. He looked up at a creature as tall as Langland but with yellow strings and brown eyes like Jilly. She spoke and what she said appeared on the screen.

IT'S ME JILLY. LANGLAND SHOULD HAVE HAD YOU CALL ME IN THE FIRST PLACE. OH WELL. WHAT YOU GONNA DO HUH. TELL ME ABOUT THE SHIP THE LORD MILITARY IS TRYING TO CONTACT

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They had been unable to communicate with their ship; however, it had come to investigate whatever was wrong. The commander knew his career was over even if he managed to survive. That was unfortunate but had no bearing on whatever actions he would take. Unless he could establish communications he would not allow the ships to dock.

"Lord Military, we can send a message now!" a technical said.

"Tell them there is a dangerous alien aboard and not to dock until this ship is secured," he snapped. He heard the technical make a frightened sound. "What is it, technical?"

"Lord Military, a different message than yours was transmitted...ahhh" the technical fell out of his seat as the commander struck him and came to look at his screen. The message the other ship had received was "Communication difficulty solved. Technical punished. Commence docking."

The commander hissed and kicked the cowering technical. The others were looking away in fear. The commander grabbed up additional weapons from the dead militaries and began running for the docking bay.

Jilly and Glondar were waiting for the hatch to open connecting the ships. She had told him to wait but he had refused. She would have slapped his shoulder in a comradely way but she could tell how repulsed he was by her appearance.

She had killed three more of the remaining militaries coming to the docking bay; Glondar had run up and slugged one that was coming at her from behind, causing him to trip. She would have been able to kill him anyway but she told Glondar he had saved her. From what she had gleaned, for a technical to do that was so brave it was off the charts. It was like a sheep attacking a lion. He'd looked at her, breathing hard and shaking.

There were 20 militaries and 30 technicals on the ship they were about to dock with. Counting the commander there were six remaining militaries on this ship. Jilly didn't have any fancy plan. She was Ares' favorite after all, not Athena's. When the ships docked she intended on boarding the other ship and killing every military she could find. She could hardly wait to see the Lord Military again. She wasn't a ten-year-old anymore. The Slithloc military caste was pretty impressive though, and 26 of 'em was nothing to sneeze at even if she wasn't a child. She didn't want them to have any warning. Jilly wasn't playing games this time.

The commander reached the docking bay just as the hatch opened to the other ship. Dangerous as it was to fire a weapon inside a ship he started blasting at the alien. It was another one, larger this time but similar in many ways. It avoided the blast and rather than fighting him disappeared into his ship. Cursing he began to follow when he felt a light blow. He turned with a hiss and was stunned to see a technical. The commander merely struck him quickly sending him flying and continued his pursuit of the alien.

His hissing grew worse as he entered his ship. The creature was cutting a path through his militaries. Again, there were no technicals among the dead. He remembered the technical which had just, unbelievingly, attacked him. He was so angry he killed a technical that happened to be near him. This was going to require much study eventually.

Jilly had received wounds to her left arm and right leg and she'd lost two fingers from her left hand. These Slithloc militaries were impressive all right: they saw an invader and instantly attacked, amazingly fast for how large they were. Jilly wouldn't mind having an army of 'em. She'd killed ten militaries so far, leaving 16 more. She wasn't so confident anymore. The stakes were too high for her to enjoy this as she would otherwise. Two militaries came around a corner and her chakram whizzed out embedding in the chest of one. The other launched himself at her and she managed to avoid it but his tail caught her wounded leg tripping her. It was on her and she drove her sword through it just as a claw slammed her face, breaking her jaw. The huge form collapsed on her. It must weigh 300 pounds she thought as she managed to get out from under it. That was 14 to go. This one had something that looked like some kind of gun which she took. Only the commander had fired at her. She guessed there was some reason not to. She paused: that was interesting.

Glondar painfully pulled himself up. His tail was broken and probably some ribs. Luckily no other militaries had seen the commander strike him. He was worried about Jilly. She was a military but she treated him with respect. It was a wonderful feeling, and hitting the two militaries like he had--especially the Lord Military--Glondar felt something when he did that even though he was just a technical. Jilly had told him he'd saved her earlier. He wasn't so sure but the fact that a great military like that would want him to think so--it was wonderful. Glondar painfully made his way into the Slithloc ship.

The Lord Military caught a glimpse of the alien and fired at it, missing. He hated to think what this might be doing to the hull integrity. The danger of discharging weapons on a space craft was drummed into all of them. Only a commander like himself could authorize their use even in an emergency. The creature was heading for the bridge. It made sense; cut off the head--a basic principle of fighting. He respected this creature, much as he wanted to kill it. He assumed he had killed the smaller one he'd seen earlier.

It was fascinating to see such efficient militaries which nonetheless looked so different than Slithlocs. They seemed to have maximized agility at the expense of strength. The Lord Military stepped over two more dead Slithlocs. Obviously there was something to be said for that approach.

Jilly reached the bridge and just pressed a button on the weapon without knowing what it would do. She was happy to see a big military suddenly have a hole the size of a bowling ball in his chest before he fell. She killed two more but the weapon was suddenly knocked from her grip by a lashing tail. She leapt across the room drawing her sword, and beheaded another Slithloc. Why hadn't one of them picked the weapon up and fired at her? She looked around even as she lopped off a claw, but received a gash in her leg. What if she just tried to blow a hole in the side of the ship? She ran one way as a feint then leaped back toward the fallen weapon. The military who had knocked it out of her grasp saw what she was trying to do and picked it up, though reluctantly she could tell. He still didn't fire it, but lashed at her with his tail. Jilly gasped as she felt the end puncture her belly. Jilly jumped on his shoulders and struck down splitting his snout open half into his skull. She jumped off prepared to grab the weapon when the Lord Military suddenly appeared on the bridge. He brought his weapon up and fired at her. Jilly turned her body but felt a terrible pain and looked at the stump where her right forearm used to be. She couldn't shoot with one hand so she threw the weapon at the commander and he fell back, with a broken mangled snout. She grabbed her fallen sword with her left hand and Jilly was on him slashing down, cutting the claw off that held the weapon. His other claw flashed and Jilly felt her already broken jaw again smashed before she could leap away, kicking him in belly as she did so doubling him over. There was blood, mixed with her teeth now, everywhere and Jilly slipped on it. The Lord Military was back up and he and Jilly stared at each other looking for an opening. There were two other living militaries on the bridge but they were incapacitated. Suddenly at a sound the commander lunged to his right as there was another blast and the Lord Military's shoulder was missing a huge piece. Behind him Jilly saw Glondar shaking. The horribly wounded military looked with amazement at Glondar holding a weapon.

"SHOOT HIM, GLONDAR" Jilly yelled even though the technical couldn't understand her. Jilly slipped again on the blood, crying out in pain as she landed on the stump of her right arm.

Glondar stood frozen with fear. The Lord Miltary staggered toward him and drew his remaining claw back to kill him, but gasped as the alien's blade was suddenly protruding from his chest. He fell and looked at the alien military, weaving itself, looking down at him. It collapsed beside him. They were looking at each other with understanding. The Lord Military's eyes glazed over.

Glondar unsteadily walked over to Jilly. She looked worse than the small Jilly had. He held her little pad for her. She had one too though hadn't been using it.

DESTROY THEM. FEW LEFT. DON'T EXPECT IT FROM YOU Jilly entered on her pad. DO IT NOW BEFORE THEY GET HELP.

Glondar entered I AM JUST A TECHNICAL

Jilly began shaking and vomited blood. She managed to enter NOT JUST A TECH.... NONE OF....DO IT NOW. THEN ASK LANGLAND

Glondar took the pad back and entered ALL RIGHT JILLY but when he handed it back to her he saw she was dead.

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The six militaries were enraged, hissing and growling, wanting to kill their enemy. Everywhere they looked were their dead caste brothers. Since the alien was on their ship now, the remaining militaries from the captured craft had come over to assist in hunting the intruder down.

"Lord,'' they heard behind them. They turned and saw a technician.

"What is it, technical?" the ranking military said contemptuously.

"Lord, the alien is hidden in the docking bay. It fled there after the Lord Military was bravely slain."

All six militaries hissed and roughly pushed past the technical, cursing him for being a lazy coward. Some of them had just come from the docking bay and the idea that the creature may have been hiding right there enraged them even more.

"Begin a search," the ranking military said as they reached the bay. The door closed behind them, locking but they did not hear it.

Glondar raced back to the bridge. He shook as he looked at Jilly's body and flicked his tongue at the Lord Military's. The technical initiated an emergency ship separation. In the docking bay the six militaries looked up in surprise at the grinding roars coming from the open hatch. Two of them found handholds as their four caste brothers were sucked out into space. On the bridge Glondar was watching on a monitor. There was no hurry. They couldn't hang on indefinitely but he could leave the hatch open on space indefinitely. After ten minutes first one military lost his grip and eight minutes later the other finally did. Glondar closed the hatch and began redocking with the alien vessel.

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Glondar was sitting at the alien terminal again, doing his best to ignore the pain in his tail and his side. Once more the technical accessed the area Langland seemed to reside in. HEY YOU he entered but there was no response. LANGLAND also did not bring the alien program out. The Slithloc sat looking at the screen then turned in his chair and looked at the body on the floor. He had carried Jilly down here, amazed at how little she weighed. Her blood was all over him and Glondar wasn't sure he would ever wash it off. Something occurred to the technical. To accomplish what she needed for her people, all Jilly would have had to do was destroy the two ships. He could have told her how to do that but she hadn't asked him. He didn't think it had even occurred to her because she wanted to help him and the other technicals gain their freedom from the military caste. Glondar turned back to the terminal. JILLY WAS TOO SOFT

The repulsive alien with the brown strings hanging from its head was standing next to him. It looked at Jilly and collapsed next to her, almost like Jilly had fallen beside the Lord Military.

THE MILITARIES ARE ALL DEAD Glondar entered on Jilly's pad and held it up for Langland to see.

The creature finally looked up to read it. After a moment he spoke and Glondar saw what he said appear on Jilly's pad. SO EVERYBODY'S HAPPY

Glondar looked at him. He didn't seem happy. He picked up Jilly's body in his arms and held it. Glondar saw his eyes were leaking.

CAN YOU REINITIALIZE JILLY

The creature looked at the message blankly and at Glondar. NO. DEATH IS DEATH. I AM GOING THERE NOW

Glondar stared at the creature. WHAT SHALL WE DO. JILLY TOLD ME TO ASK YOU.

Langland read the message then looked at the mangled body in his arms again. SHE DID HUH. He kissed her forehead and she disappeared like the child Jilly had. Langland rose and unsteadily stood next to Glondar.

IF SHE SAID THAT I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO STICK AROUND AND FIGURE SOMETHING OUT. He patted Glondar's shoulder and noted wryly the shudder of repulsion that went through the Slithloc technical.

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Chicago

Jilly woke up with a start. She was soaked with sweat and felt sore. Langland wasn't in bed beside her but she saw him sitting in a chair across the room watching her in the dark. She reached over and turned a lamp on.

"Man, Langland, I just had the weirdest dream."

"Yeah?" he said, in a dead voice. She looked at him. What's up with him? she wondered.

She continued, "Yeah. It was this science fiction thing with these space lizards out to destroy Earth. I had to stop 'em."

"How'd it turn out?" he asked.

She laughed, "I'm not sure. I got killed before I could finish the job but I told this friendly space lizard what he needed to do." She shook her head, smiling, and looked at her right forearm, spreading her fingers wide then making a fist. "It was fun. First I was a little girl like when I rode with Callisto; then later I was like I am now. And you were there too, pulling the strings just like you always are."

Langland stood up and came over to her. She stared at him. "Have you been crying? What's wrong, honey?"

"Oh, I just had a bad dream too, Jilly," he said softly as he reached down to stroke her blonde hair.

The End