Grant moaned and tried to put his hand to his head because he had a headache, and found that he couldn't. He panicked for a moment, and then remembered what had happened before he'd blacked out. "Keila!" he exclaimed with worry.
     "I'm here, Grant," she said quietly. "They've taken us away... I'm not sure how far, an' I don't know how long we've been out." Then almost to herself, she said, "The last one... I don't want to believe Deidre... I can't believe that she's the same girl, or alien, or whatever!"
     Grant thought for a moment. "Wait... If what Deidre, or whoever she is, says is true, about using you to get to Paercyn, why did we leave Earth? And if you *are* the last of your people, what's so good about your home world that they wanna get there so bad?"
     Then, from a vent low on the wall of their containment area came a whistling sound. They turned to see what it was. There in the vent was Deidre [not Clyve or Alaric]. [Inside joke. Never mind that.] They looked at her in a confused mixture of relief and loathing. "Quick! Quietly come here. I must speak with you!"
     Keila and Grant looked at each other and decided that it couldn't hurt them too terribly to do as she said, so they went to the vent. Deidre quietly pushed the vent out and came inside. She was dressed differently than when they had last seen her. "I can't stay long. They'll be checking on me. But I suppose you'd like an explanation. Sit and I'll tell you the quick version and fill in the details later." They all sat down. [Want any other stage directions? *g*] [Yeah. How about she unties their hands, since they were tied up before? Otherwise my part won't be possible.]
     "I am Deidre, the real Deidre. The one you knew before last night. They captured me before I could speak to either of you about my mission. The Wrien (OO-ree-in) can change their forms by using a special beam, but you can tell them either by the way they walk, because they have a limping stride, or by their eye colour, for when they change, they can only get one of the eyes right, and the other one is silver. They have the facts, all right, but they left some stuff out, and they lied to you.
     "Keila, you're not the last Raida. Far from it. Paercyn still thrives. I am a Raida. They sent me through a different, smaller door from our world a few years ago, for that was the only time that any doors on your world were open. I have been searching for you since, tryin' to fit in... the group I was with pretty much accepted anyone. And now I should be getting back to my containment area before they notice that I'm gone. We'll get out of here, I promise." She turned to Grant. "And I'm sorry... about the Wrien... I love you." She kissed Grant and disappeared through the vent.
     Keila and Grant decided to sit back down, as they were still a bit lightheaded from their time spent unconscious. Keila sat with her back against the wall and her knees drawn up to her chest, while Grant sat cross-legged towards the middle of the room. Both looked out of the window, however, literally staring off into space.
     After about five minutes of such silence, Keila stood up and walked to the smallish circular window through which they had both been looking. Standing on her tiptoes, she looked out of it at the clusters of stars. Then she broke the silence. "I can't see Earth anywhere. I can't see any planets--just stars. Where do you suppose we are?"
     Grant put his face in his hands and rubbed his forehead. "Who knows? And does it matter? I haven't given up hope yet that this is all just some freaky dream, and I'll wake up and be at the lake, in my bed, thinking how nice the lake looks this morning."
     "Not a chance." said Keila. "I know I'm here." She looked out the window again. A nervous expression crossed her face. "Nothing I recognize. No sun. No Earth. Only stars...it's making me queasy, Grant."
     "Please tell me you mean queasy as in lost, and not spaceship-sick." responded Grant, looking a bit wary. "That's all we need..."
     Keila rolled her eyes. "Oh, you're real comforting. Of course I meant lost."
     "All right, sorry." replied Grant. "But don't worry, okay? Deidre's here, and she knows what's up."
     "Grant, we still don't know that it's--"
     "Yes, we do. I can tell. We've been over that. Besides, did you see one of her eyes change color?"
     Keila scowled. "They could have just told us that so we'd look for the wrong thing. And how do you know--"
     Suddenly panic struck Grant's face. He jumped up, ran to Keila, and clapped his hand over her mouth. "Mmmm?" demanded the muffled Keila.
     "Shh." whispered Grant. "I just thought of something: What if the room's bugged?"
     Keila detached her mouth from her brother's hand. "I don't think so, Grant. I mean, Deidre talked normally--she'd have incriminated herself long before we ever did."
     "Oh, right." said Grant. "I--"
     Grant didn't get to finish his sentence, though, because it was Keila's turn to clap her hand over his mouth. "Quiet!" she commanded in a whisper. "Listen--steps! They're getting louder. Someone's coming to us!" Nervousness overcame her, and she couldn't help but clutch Grant around the waist, little-kid style, as the thumping of feet on the metal floor grew closer.