Chapter 47

{Reminder: the names of those from Terzo will be bolded. The names of those from Earth will be in regular type. Those that have names that do not appear in both places will be in regular type (such as Jermel, Tessa, Kessa. J.}

"Patrick!" Megan squealed as the men appeared. She took a step towards her husband, then froze at his look and voice.

"Fuck you, Megan. Stay away from me," Patrick said in a dead voice.

"Patrick?"

"Leave me alone. You had to go and save me, didn't you? Why didn't you leave me alone? You could've brought the boys back in."

"I couldn't leave you there to die!" Megan protested, her voice breaking.

"Fine. You made your choice, now live with it. Leave me alone."

Patrick walked towards the bedroom. Cindi grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the couch.

"Don't touch me, Cindi," he hissed. "Don't any of you touch me."

"Ok. I just wanted you to meet someone," Cindi whined, the hurt plain on her face as she dropped his hand. "This is Shakada, the Empress' daughter. Melinda found her and we teleported her in." Cindi put her arm around the little girl protectively. They were fast friends already.

For a moment, Patrick's face relaxed. He touched the girl's face tenderly.

"At least someone did something right," he murmured. He took Shakada by the hand and pulled her up off the couch. "Come with me, Little Girl," he said kindly, but there was no doubt it was an order.

"Patrick! No!" Megan said in a stricken voice. She fell silent as he glared at her, a murderous look on his face. No one said anything as he led the obedient girl into the bedroom.

He sat on the bed next to Amy and pulled his daughter's head on his lap. Amy sighed and drooled, but there was no other reaction as he stroked her hair. He motioned Shakada to sit next to him.

"I would imagine your mother loves you very much, doesn't she?"

"She does, and I love her too," the little girl said proudly.

"I love my girls too, especially this one. She's very special to me."

"What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know. You'd have to ask your mother; she did this to my little girl," Patrick said. Shakada's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes huge.

"My mother would never do that!" she swore.

"She would and she did. Then she deliberately killed the one person that could help my Amy get better. What do you think of your mother now?" he asked viciously.

"I ... I don't understand. My Mother would never do that," she insisted again.

"You have no idea what your mother was, what she's done, little girl. This is a culmination of many evil things she's done, although this is certainly the worst."

"I ... I'll talk to her, make her fix it," Shakada said bravely.

"You can't. She did this to my little girl, then she killed the man who could make her right again, so I killed her. I destroyed the whole fleet," Patrick said in a monotone voice.

"Y ... you killed my mother?" the little girl asked, her voice rising towards hysteria. "But ... but ... Ohhh Goddd!" she cried, bursting into tears. She jumped off the bed and ran out of the room, sobbing.

Patrick lay down and put his arms around Amy, pulling her close to him. He pulled her arms around him, kissed her neck, and softly whispered her name as he told her how much he loved her. He thought her arms tightened around his slightly. She drooled on his neck.

He didn't feel nearly as good as he thought he would after telling the Empress' daughter how he'd destroyed her world. He was surprised at how shitty he felt.

"What happened? Why is Daddy... ?" Cindi whispered, unable to continue as the tears rolled down her face. The shock was clear in her voice.

"He destroyed the Qerda fleet and killed the Empress," Megan said sadly.

"But why? I mean, Amy and all, but ... but ... He knew he wasn't supposed to do that!" Cindi cried.

"She killed the one person that could save Amy, so he killed her and all her people," Lisa explained.

"Is there ... no hope for Amy? What about Daddy?" Cindi asked.

"I don't know. We don't know what they've done to her. Patrick has started down a path that no one has ever returned from."

Megan just finished speaking when the door to the bedroom flew open and the Empress' daughter ran into the room, crying hysterically. Cindi grabbed her and held her, trying to comfort the distraught girl.

"Mommy!" she wailed heartbrokenly. "My M ... mommy's dead!" she cried.

Before anyone could answer, the room shook slightly. Everything seemed out of focus for a moment, the colors shifting slightly for a brief time.

"What was that?" Katie asked fearfully.

"We're sliding back into the cycles," Melinda explained. "It was inevitable once Patrick killed the Empress. This situation had to play out as it was supposed to for the cycles to truly end. By killing her, he's interrupted the pattern."

"How long do we have?" Sammi asked.

"A week, maybe two. We will slowly shift back until we enter a new cycle ... or maybe the last one again. We may never come out of them again," Melinda said.

"There has to be something we can do!" Becky cried.

No one had any ideas.

"Why did he kill my Mommy?" Shakada sobbed. "He ... he said she did... that ... to his daughter. She didn't really do that, did she?"

Cindi hugged the little girl and glared at Lori, warning her not to start in on her Qerda diatribe. Lori stared back, a hurt look on her face that plainly said 'I wouldn't be that mean.'

"I'm afraid there's a lot you don't know about your mother," Lisa said, taking the girl's hand and holding it tightly. Shakada squeezed back, making Lisa wince with pain.

"Tell me; I have to know," Shakada whispered.

Patrick held Amy close to him, trying by love alone to make her whole again. It didn't work, but holding her close made him feel better ... marginally better, but better. He could hardly think, his mind was so clouded with anger and hate. Destroying the Empress and her fleet made him feel better for a little while, till he remembered that it didn't help Amy any. He very carefully avoided considering what his actions had done to the rest of his daughters. Right now, he didn't care. If this was all the better Amy was ever going to be, he'd just as soon die. If he died, his daughters would die too, so what difference did it make? Once he spent some time with Amy, he'd finish what he'd started - he'd destroy the Qerda world. Then he could die.

He pulled Amy's head onto his shoulder and closed his eyes. His shoulder was soon wet. He was almost sure some of the tears were from his little girl.

Shakada looked at the girls in shock, her eyes wide in disbelief. She'd listened for the last two hours to everything her mother had done to the Cornazans. She still couldn't believe it.

"But ... why? Why would she do all that?"

"We don't know. We have no record of the Cornazans and the Qerda having met before the Battle of Cornaza, or the Battle of Planet # 3 as we called it. We don't understand what this is all about," Cindi said. In the aftermath of the emotions in the room, no one noticed the conspicuous silence from Lisa and Melinda.

"We have to find a way to help Amy ... we have to!" Shakada declared. "I can't let her stay like that. If my mother was responsible for what happened to her, then I'm responsible too. I can't let this remain. I'll find a way."

"I hope you do," Cindi whispered as she hugged the distraught girl.

Eventually, everyone retired for the night. Cindi poked her head into the bedroom to see if she'd be welcome to sleep with Patrick and Amy; he made it clear she wasn't. She decided to spend the night with the Empress' daughter; they both cried themselves to sleep over the losses they'd sustained.

Megan slipped into the bedroom after all the girls were in bed. Patrick met her just inside the door, as if he'd been waiting for her.

"Go away, Megan. You're not sleeping here tonight," he told her.

Megan's eyes filled with tears.

"But why? What have I done?" she wailed.

Patrick's face softened.

"You haven't done anything. I love you, Megan. It's me. You can't be around me anymore; none of the girls can."

"Why?" Megan asked, her voice filled with dread.

"Don't you see? I'm as bad, even worse than Bandor ever was. I knew better. I let my anger, my rage, my hatred lead me to kill thousands of people, just for revenge. I might as well be dead; I'll never be the way I was before. I can't drag all of you down with me. Find someone else to love; I'm sure Eric and Christopher would be glad to help you out."

"I don't want them, I want you," Megan whispered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Too bad. I'm dead to you now. Go away, Megan," Patrick said forcefully.

Devastated, Megan turned and stumbled from the room, sobbing.

Later that night, Patrick awoke to the sound of more sobbing. He turned his head to see which of his girls were crying their eyes out. What he saw almost made his heart melt, almost made him human again ... almost.

The Empress' daughter, Shakada, was cuddled up to Amy, her little arms wrapped around the older girl, holding her with all the strength her young body could muster. She shook violently as she cried on Amy's shoulder. Patrick could just hear the words she was whispering.

"I'm sorry, Amy! I'm so sorry! I'll find a way to make this right, I promise I will! Please, forgive me!"

Patrick watched in amazement as the sweat broke out on Amy's face. He watched the tremendous internal struggle, then saw Amy's hand caress the little girl's cheek ever so softly. Using strength he didn't know she had, she moved her head forward and kissed the distraught girl on the cheek.

"N't y'r f'lt..." she whispered, then collapsed again, her face once more vacant.

Patrick closed his eyes before Shakada caught him watching. He pretended to be asleep. He couldn't kick the little girl out now, not after that ... not after the mean things he'd done to the Empress' daughter. He let her sleep intertwined with his tortured daughter ... he owed the girl that much.

Becky slipped out of bed first of all the girls in the morning. She'd been awake for hours, trying desperately to think of a solution to their problem. She finally hit upon a possible way out as she prepared breakfast for the others.

"Grampa," she declared when all the girls were seated for breakfast. Megan was the last one in, having taken a plate into the bedroom for Patrick and Amy. He thanked her almost civilly, then ordered her out of the room. She considered refusing, making him talk, but decided she'd wait until after breakfast.

"What about him?" several voices chorused at once.

"He can fix this, I know he can," Becky said excitedly. "He's the Ancient Prophecy; he can do anything."

"I doubt he can ... or will," Megan said softly.

"Why? He loves Amy; he'd never let her stay this way. I know he'll do it ... I'll 'influence' him if I have to. Why do you think he won't?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Becky. I hope he does, but he's steadfastly refused to interfere all along with this."

"But ... but it's different now. The whole thing has been messed up now. How is that any different than when the cycles were first set up?" Becky argued.

Megan chewed her lip and decided things couldn't get worse.

"Are you sure he's still around? The Ancient Prophecy controlled all this; if the pattern's been irrevocably broken, will he survive?" She cringed at the panic in Becky's eyes.

"He has to ... Oh God, he has to still be around!" she gasped. She grabbed her cell phone and called his number. Her panic increased when he didn't answer.

"He always answers my calls," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "Sarah! Jessica! Find him and teleport him in, now!" she ordered, her voice breaking.

"We can't find him. That's not what we do. That's Sammi's job," Jessica told her. She hugged the little blond when she saw the look of desperation.

"Lady Samantha? Please? Do this ... for me? Please?" Becky pleaded.

"Becky, he might just be asleep. He's one of the most powerful members of our race. I can't just invade his privacy to find out where he is. We can't just teleport him in against his will," Sammi said, rubbing Becky's shoulders to try and relieve her stress and soften the blow of her words.

"I know," Becky whispered, "but please? For me?"

Sammi closed her eyes, tears spilling down her face also.

"Becky, this is really a bad idea," she protested.

"I know," Becky repeated. "Please? For me? Please?"

Sammi sighed, then opened her eyes.

"He's still here. He's at the office," she said.

"Sarah, Jessica, get him here, now!" Becky ordered. The Sugar Twins looked at Sammi; the young queen shrugged her shoulders and nodded.

Seconds later, Peter appeared in the room. He looked irritated, to say the least.

"Who brought me here?" he thundered. "Do you know what you might've done? It's a good thing my meeting had just ended; thirty seconds earlier and everyone in that room would've seen me disappear before their eyes."

Sarah and Jessica cringed, cowering against the wall. His anger melted as he saw his two precious granddaughters in tears, panic on their faces.

"I told them to ... I made them do it," Becky said quickly before anyone could speak. "It's my fault; I'm sorry," she whispered miserably.

Peter wrapped his arms around his special friend and held her close.

"You wouldn't have done that without a good reason. What is it, Little One?"

"I ... I thought you could help Amy. Fix her, cure her, reverse what happened, something. Please?"

Pater sighed, hugging her close.

"I wish I could, Becky. I can't."

The stress finally got to Becky; she exploded.

"Yes you can! I know you can! You have to! You love her; you can't leave her like that! I'm not asking you to fix it, I'm ordering you to! Do it! Now!" she screamed, dissolving into hysterics.

Peter would never forgive himself for what he did, even though he knew it was necessary. He slapped Becky in the face, hard. The little blond yelped in pain and shock, then tried to pull away, her eyes wide in disbelief. Peter held her, refusing to let her go.

"Stop it! Stop it, now, Becky! Not another word. Listen to me, girl," he said, his voice harsh.

"You hit me," Becky whimpered in a little girl voice.

"I'm sorry, but you have to listen to me."

"Then talk," Becky said curtly. The glare she gave him made it clear their relationship was unlikely to survive that slap.

Peter flinched at her look, then wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, kissing her neck. Everyone saw her melt, then watched as she stiffened and pulled away from him.

"Talk," she snarled.

Peter looked sad.

"Becky, I can't interfere. I did that once and it almost destroyed everything. I can't do it again."

"When did you interfere before?" Megan asked.

"When Patrick and Bandor had their fight, after he teleported you and Amy out of the cave. That flash of grey light just before he would've killed Bandor was me, not Sarah. I teleported him out of there before Patrick killed him. Otherwise, we would have gone back into the cycles. I prevented that, but Elizabeth and Robert died because of my interference."

"Keeping us from going into the cycles really worked well, didn't it?" Becky asked sarcastically. "Where are we headed right now?" she asked unnecessarily.

"What difference does it make if we're headed back into the cycles?" Megan asked. "Fix it. At least we'll be happy in the little time we have left."

"I can't," he insisted. His glare at Becky shut her up before she spoke. "What part of 'I can't do it' do you not understand, Becky? I ... can't. It's not allowed. It wouldn't work even if I tried. I ... can ... not ... interfere."

Becky looked less angry, more hurt. Peter had never talked to her like that before.

"So we just all go back into the cycles, Patrick becomes totally evil, and we all die? I don't believe that's what is supposed to happen," Megan objected.

"It's not what's supposed to happen!" Cindi exclaimed. "Daddy wasn't supposed to kill the Empress."

"It's up to you as to whether that's what happens or not," Peter explained.

"I don't understand," several voices said at once.

"There is a way out of this. The prophecy tells how to solve this problem. Read it, understand it. The way out has been provided, has been promised to you. Find it, figure it out. I can't help you with that, either." He gave them a sad smile and disappeared.

The next three days were miserable for the whole family. Patrick refused to come out of the bedroom, spending all his time with Amy. He held her, fed her (the girls were allowed to bring in food, then were kicked out), took care of her bodily needs. He lived only for her. The only concession he made was pretending not to see Shakada each night as she slipped into the bedroom and curled up to Amy, holding her all night long as she slept. Amy never repeated her show of appreciation for the girl's kindness but she did seem more relaxed as she slept.

The girls slept very little during those three days. All their time was spent poring over every word that had ever been spoken about the prophecies. They took occasional cat naps, then went back to their studies. By the third night, they all collapsed into bed, slipping into sleep whether they wanted it or not. They were getting desperate; all indications were they were sliding closer to the cycles every hour.

Megan felt like she'd just gotten to sleep when she was shaken awake. She opened her eyes to see Valerie, Christina, Sarah, Jessica, Kim and Heather standing by her bed.

"We need to talk," Christina said.

"I just got to sleep. Can't it wait until morning? Is it important?"

"That depends," Jessica said. "Do you want to put Patrick back the way he was and save Amy at the same time?"

Megan leaped out of bed and headed into the bathroom.

"I'll be in the living room in five minutes. Wake up the other girls," she hollered over her shoulder.

"We're all waiting on you," Sarah said.

"Sorry, gotta pee. Five minutes," Megan repeated.

Megan joined the other girls in three minutes.

"What's this about?" she asked as she sat on the couch. Lisa hopped on her lap and promptly dozed off. Lori and Cindi played with the babies, but it was obvious all their attention was on the subject being discussed.

"We've figured out how to save Daddy and Amy," Jessica said.

"How?"

"It's all in the prophecies, just as Grampa said." Her eyes defocused as she quoted a passage.

"The First Ones will rule the special space,

The Adopted Ones will find the right place.

The Sweet Ones will find the right time,

Together, they shall reverse the ultimate crime.

Because of them, the Old One shall again live,

And of his power to the Special One he shall give."

"I don't understand," Megan said.

"That's because you don't know everything yet. We talked to Christopher and Eric extensively about what happened on the Khora. Melinda filled us in on what she knew.

"The event that pushed Patrick over the edge is when the Empress killed the man that said he could put Amy back together again. He was a man known as the Old Chief. He was a retired engineer from the C'este, " Jessica explained.

"I'm afraid there's more to it than that, Ja'a," Melissa said.

"Meaning... ?"

"I'm sorry, Ja'a ... he was also your husband, Jermel," Melinda said softly.

"I kinda figured that," Jessica whispered, her voice breaking as Sarah fell into her arms. The two girls cried for a few minutes.

"So how does that prophecy save them?" Megan asked when their crying stopped.

"Well, Valerie and I are the Keepers of the Interdimensional Space. We can use it to take us back to the bridge of the Khora, where all this happened," Christina said.

"I don't see how that helps. Jermel is still dead," Megan objected. "The fleet is still destroyed. You can't go back to a bridge that isn't there anymore, regardless of how you do it."

"You don't see it because there are some people you haven't officially met yet. Allow me to introduce you to Kim and Heather, The Adopted Ones. They can find the Khora and locate the exact place we need to be. They will 'find the right place'," Christina pointed out.

"And... ?" Megan prompted.

Christina took Jessica and Sarah's hands and pulled them into the center of the room.

"These two are the last part of the puzzle. You know them as the Sugar Twins, or the Sweet Ones. What you don't know is that they can manipulate time in the Interdimensional space. They are the Keepers of Time in that dimension."

Megan's face lit up with fragile hope.

"You mean..."

"Valerie and I will open the Interdimensional Space and control travel through it. Kim and Heather will find the Khora, specifically the bridge..."

"But it's destroyed!" Cindi objected.

" ... and Jessica and Sarah will take us back in time, through the Interdimensional Space. Patrick, Eric and Christopher go through everything exactly as before to just before Patrick killed the Empress." Christina finished. "We drop in just before he kills her, grab Jermel and pull him through the interdimensional space before he gets killed. Voila," Christina said.

"Will that work?" Megan asked hopefully.

"Don't know ... never been done," Christina admitted. "It should."

"How do we get back and forth?" Cindi asked.

"One of each of the mentioned twins pops out of the interdimensional space onto the bridge at the appointed time to grab Jermel and whisk him out of there. The other twin stays back here and pulls them through."

"Jermel doesn't have a twin that we know of," Cindi objected.

"Doesn't matter. As long as he's holding onto us, he'll go through too."

"Let's do it!" Megan said.

"Not so fast. There's a major fly in the ointment," Lisa said. She wasn't asleep after all.

"What now?"

"Patrick has to be there for this to work. He's the only one that knows exactly when he flipped out, and all this has to happen right before that point. Also, he has to play everything exactly like before right up to the point where he destroys the ships. He then has to 'show mercy' and leave the ships alone and not kill the Empress."

"Why?"

"Because if the Empress sees what is really happening, we'll have her whole fleet on our doorstep. It has to be believable. She has to think that she really killed the Old Chief."

"You really think she's not going to come here anyway if we pull this off?" Christopher asked. "Believe me, she will. She said she knew who the Old Chief was just before she killed him. She was not pleased with that knowledge."

"Who is he?" Victoria asked. Christopher ignored her.

"So? Let's go talk to Patrick," Megan said.

"Good luck!" all the girls chorused together.

Five minutes later, Megan was back in the living room. Julie held her as her Mother sobbed uncontrollably.

"I guess he wouldn't listen," Sammi muttered.

"I ... I tried. H ... he k ... kicked me out. Me! He's s ... supposed to love me. I won't give him the satisfaction of seeing me c ... cry, but after I'm functional again, I'm going back in there and I'm going to k ... kick his ass. He's going to listen or he's going to die sooner than he planned," Megan raged, then fumed as she tried to stop the hiccups. As serious as the situation was, Julie found her Mother's uncontrollable hiccups hilarious. She did manage to keep from laughing, however {Hence, I'm still alive to be writing this chapter! J.}.

"Do you guys really think your plan will work?" Everyone turned to look at the girl asking the question. Hayley had never participated in their family meetings before.

"I'm sure of it," Melinda answered before anyone else could respond. "It's never been done before but the science is sound."

"Why don't we just travel back to when they grabbed Amy and me before all this happened and yank her out of there?" Cindi asked.

"We can't. It's part of the Prophecy that Amy was to go through this. We can do this because the Prophecy states we can. We can't change those things that were meant to happen," Julie explained.

"I'm willing to try," Cindi muttered.

"Won't work, Cindi. The interdimensional space has already reset from that time. What happened to Amy is the reality now, impossible to change. That's why we have to get this going soon, before it resets again. If we could just get Patrick to listen..." Melinda mused.

"Why don't you threaten to blow him up again? It worked last time," Sammi said, trying desperately for an answer.

"He wouldn't back down this time; he wants to die. He'd beg me to blow him up," Melinda answered seriously, not sure if the blonde queen was joking or not.

"You guys make your plans and get ready to go. I'll take care of your Father. He'll be ready when you need him," Hayley said quietly.

Fifteen pairs of eyes stared at her. Julie and Lisa smiled. Probably Melinda and Melissa would have too if they'd been in the room.

"No offense, Hayley, I know you're trying to help, but how are you going to do that?" Cindi asked.

"It's what I'm supposed to do. It's what I was brought here to do. It's my job," Hayley said.

"How do you know that?" Lori asked.

"Do any of you know a woman named Amanda?" Hayley asked.

"We all do. She was my Mother. She could probably solve this problem but she's dead," Lori informed her.

"Dead or not, she told me in a dream the first night I was here what I was here for and what I was supposed to do. She said I would know when the time was right and what to do. The time is right. I don't know exactly what I'm supposed to do, but I imagine I will when I enter that room."

"How do you know it was Amanda? You've never seen her," Cindi said.

"She told me that would probably be questioned. She told me how to prove it." Hayley walked over to Lisa and whispered in her ear. Lisa's hand flew to her mouth and her face turned pale.

"It was Amanda," she whispered. "No one else could've given her Amanda's true name."

"You have no idea what you're supposed to do?" Katie asked.

"Not ... really," Hayley stammered, turning red. Katie laughed at her.

"Daddy likes pretty teenagers. He likes them shy and quiet, or snotty and sassy. You're certainly pretty and you're all those other things at once. I think you know what you're going to do."

Hayley turned red.

"I'm sorry. It's not my idea. I know you guys have ... I'm sorry. Please don't be mad."

Katie reached her first, hugging her fiercely.

"Relax. We don't have a jealous bone in our bodies, none of us. It's against our genetic makeup. Besides, even if we did, you give us our Daddy and Amy back and you can have him anytime you want for the rest of your life," Katie swore. All the girls nodded.

"I don't know what to do!" Hayley wailed, starting to panic.

"Unlax," Cindi said. "He does. He loves you, Hayley. I'm not sure why, but we all noticed it the first time you two looked at each other. You're special to him. It'll work out. Just do what seems right."

"I'll try. You make your plans. I'll do my part. Hopefully, we'll meet in the middle somewhere," Hayley whispered. Katie was the only one that heard her next words.

"Help me, Em. You've done this before," the mystery girl murmured as she headed for the bedroom door.

Patrick glared at the cute blonde as she slipped into the room. Hayley kissed Amy on the cheek, then slid into bed behind Patrick, snuggling up to his back. She could feel him trembling, but she wasn't sure if it was due to anger or lust. She kissed his neck softly. He abruptly turned around to face her and she had her answer ... he was trembling due to anger.

"Get out of here, Hayley!" he snarled. "I don't want you, girl."

Hayley reached down and softly stroked his cock. She was shaking himself. She'd never done anything quite like this before.

"Doesn't feel that way to me," she whispered. "You know you want me."

"God damn it, Hayley, get out!" he ordered.

"Oh shut up!" she snapped, grinning nervously, but starting to get irritated herself. "I'm not a member of your race. You're not my leader, or my boss, or whatever you guys call it, so you can't order me around. You're also not my Father, so guess what? You still can't order me around ... not that that ever worked well for Daddy anyway. Besides, I was told to come in here by someone a whole hell of a lot higher on the food chain and more powerful in your race that you are. Shut up and kiss me," she said hotly.