Chapter 3

"Now, we all have to go to the cave. We have to go through step two there." She flicked her hand lazily and we were all inside the cave in Utah.

We all followed the girl into the computer room. She was still an unknown to all of us, except Lisa. Oh wait, no, Lisa had never seen her before in her life; I forgot about that!

Megan was starting to come around; I helped her down to her feet and she stood for a second, then stumbled. That was all the excuse I needed. I scooped her back up in my arms and held her again. She struggled briefly, then blushed and glanced at me shyly, looking embarrassed. I kissed her head gently and followed the girl. Megan didn't know how to act, but she wasn't struggling to get away either.

The girl walked over to the computer and sang a little song to it, the same type of song Lisa had done. No cute little ditty this time from the computer; I swear it almost saluted her. The girl grinned and patted it affectionately on the top of the monitor.

"I love you, Melinda," she whispered. The computer whispered back in a language I didn't know, but the meaning was unmistakable.

I didn't know who this girl was, but there were no silly handprints on the wall for her either. As she neared the door, it glowed creamy white and snapped open smartly. Apparently she was expecting it, because she didn't even slow down as she approached it. She walked into the room and stood in front of the chambers. They went crazy.

As she approached, a chamber glowed creamy white, so bright you almost had to cover your eyes. All of our chambers glowed. Then all the chambers glowed, even ones that had never glowed before. They burst into song, filling the room with the most beautiful music you ever heard. Think of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, on a really, really good night, but without words, and you are not close yet. I could see on everyone's face that they felt the same thing I did; profound peace and relaxation, happiness. Lisa cried.

The girl smiled and raised her hand, and the chambers were immediately silent. Lisa's chamber let out one last little peep and everyone laughed as she turned red. The girl and Lisa each slipped an arm around each other. Pretty friendly for someone she had never seen before. Then the girl kissed Lisa on the top of her head and stepped towards the chambers. I set Megan down so we could both watch closely. She slipped her hand in mine and smiled weakly. I'm sure my smile wasn't weak!

As she approached the chambers, the girl kept walking, not slowing down in the slightest. It was as if the glass fronts were not even there. There was a flash of cream-colored light, followed immediately by a flash of almost every color known, all at once, and the front of the chambers were gone! In fact, the chambers were gone! She continued walking into a large room, filled with balls of glowing energy, all milling about.

The girl stood in the middle of the 'room' as every colored ball of energy came up to her and touched her. She laid her hand gently on each one in turn, and they glowed brighter in appreciation. Then she motioned to Sarah to come forward.

Poor Sarah! She had no idea who this was, but she was scared to death. She looked surprised and gave the classic 'who, me?' pose, making us all laugh. Sarah really didn't think it was funny in the least.

The girl smiled patiently, nodded her head, and held out her hand to Sarah. Sarah stumbled forward, staggering into the girl, having to throw her arms out against her to keep from falling. She looked horrified as she grabbed the arms of someone that she was obviously in awe of. The girl giggled and held her, pulling her into a close hug.

"I love you, Sarah," she stated loudly for all of us to hear. "You are a very special girl. That is why you have been specially chosen to be the carrier of a very special passenger."

The girl motioned with her hand, and Sarah's silver ball, from her chamber that was no more floated forward and entered her body. Sarah glowed brightly. The girl motioned again and the grayish ball that was in the chamber with the silver and gold ball floated over to Sarah and entered her body also. She glowed almost incandescently, and then Sarah reappeared and another body stepped out from inside Sarah's body and stood next to her. My heart leaped into my throat. Elizabeth!

Sarah didn't look as shocked as I thought she would. She told me later that she strongly suspected there was someone with her, but it wasn't until the gray cloud slipped inside her after the battle with Bandor that she had realized who it was.

Elizabeth looked around, saw me, and ran over like a little girl, her face lighting up with joy. I'm sure mine looked the same way. She leaped into my arms and we held each other close.

I looked over at Megan to see how she was doing. I really wanted to kiss Elizabeth, but I didn't want Megan, as fragile as she was, to be offended. Elizabeth looked at her too. Megan gave us both a disbelieving look, like 'how dumb are you guys?', laughed, and reached over and pushed our heads together. Elizabeth and I both gave a little sob of contentment as our lips met in a kiss.

I don't know how long we kissed. How long does it take to run out of breath? We both knew, I think, that she was not here for long and it might be our last kiss. From the frantic beating of her heart as I held her close, I knew she missed me as much as I did her. No pretend, cold little reporter act here; we both knew now that she loved me as much as I loved her.

When we eventually quit kissing, as she laid her head contentedly on my shoulder, we finally noticed that everyone was standing there, waiting patiently for us to rejoin the living. Even the girl, obviously someone of some importance, waited with a smile of genuine pleasure on her face. The only one that was impatient was Cindi.

As soon as we stopped kissing and hugging, we both turned at the strangled cry coming from beside us.

"Mommy!" Cindi cried as she launched herself towards Elizabeth's arms.

For once Elizabeth didn't have to pretend she was the weak, just barely in shape TV reporter. The full physical capabilities of the Tarqa Queen came into play as Elizabeth caught Cindi in mid air, swung her around off her feet in a circle, then leaned over and flipped Cindi into the air and over her back. Cindi did a back flip and landed on her feet, facing Elizabeth again. They both laughed delightedly and fell into each other's arms, hugging tightly and whispering softly. It brought tears to my eyes as I saw mother and daughter so close, for the first time that I could remember in recent years.

After she was done with Cindi, Elizabeth looked around and found Amystanding shyly off to the side, watching the antics. Elizabeth smiled and held out her arms, and Amy ran into them, hugging her tightly. Elizabeth pushed her back and looked at her left hand, looking for the ring. Amy lifted her hand and showed it off proudly, then bit her lower lip as if she was thinking, coming to a decision quickly. She took the ring off and held it out to her mother. Elizabeth looked at her questioningly.

"It should be yours, Mom, if you're back. It's only right. Nothing should stand in the way of you and Dad being together again." Bless Amy's little heart; she meant every word.

Elizabeth smiled at her, a smile mixed with pride for her daughter and sadness.

"No, Amy, you keep it and make him happy. I can't stay. I'm just here for a little while, to do something important, and then I must go away again. You show him how much I love him, Amy dear."

They hugged and separated, both a little teary eyed. Finally, we turned back to the girl. She smiled contentedly at us.

The girl then called Megan and Jessica forward. Poor Jessica; she had been laughing good naturedly at her sister's embarrassment. She was stunned when she was called. The girl patiently motioned her forward again.

Megan was just as concerned. She hated being the center of attention, and she had been that way too much the last month or so. Both of them stood before the girl nervously.

Without a wordthe girl motioned and the gold ball that signified Jessica approached. Instead of going directly into Jessica, as the silver had with Sarah, it split in half. Both glowing orbs seemed to remain the same size and brightness. The first one entered Jessica's body. We all gasped as the second one slipped quietly into Megan's body.

That was shock enough. What was completely stunning to everyone standing there, except the girl and, apparently Elizabeth, was the person that stepped out of Jessica's body. We looked at her in confusion.

She was a pretty girl in her mid teens. She was about 5' 4" tall, slim, athletic looking, with golden eyes and the prettiest, wildest curly red hair you had ever seen. She looked around in confusion. Her eyes fell on Eric and she let out a delighted squeal.

"Eric!" she shriekedand ran to him, hugging him tightly. Eric looked confused, but hugged the pretty girl back. Then he looked stunned.

"Megan?" He whispered softly, looking at her and then at our Megan in confusion. The young Megan looked where his gaze was directed, and seemed confused also. The girl smiled and held out her hand. Young Megan walked over and took it shyly. Then the girl took our Megan's hand also.

"Megan, meet Megan," she announced, to everyone's confusion. She looked about ready to explain when the young Megan saw me.

"Patrick!" she shrieked and ran over, jumping into my arms. The girl smiled tolerantly. I was kissed just about as thoroughly as I had ever been in my life. The young Megan then realized what she had done and blushed, scampering back to the girl and curtseying quickly.

"Sorry, ma'am," she apologized shyly. The girl smiled sweetly.

"It's quite all right, my dear. That's my reaction often when I see him too," she whispered. The young Megan blushed prettily. The girl leaned over and whispered into her ear. Young Megan blushed furiously and shook her head no. The girl giggled and laid her hand on her arm gently.

"We'll have to take care of that, dear," she said loftily, giggling at the humor of it all. Young Megan blushed even more furiously and looked like she wasn't sure how humorous it was.

Megan looked at me, confused. I just pointed her to the girl. I was not getting into the middle of this one.

"I... I don't understand," Megan stammered. "Why are there two of me?"

"Patrick, I think you should hold your pretty little fiancé up; this is going to be a shock to her," the girl said. "That one, I mean," she giggled, pointing at Megan.

"Not any more," Megan said sadly. "I messed that up, too," she said with a tear in her eye.

"I think that's probably up to you, dear. I suspect you can have him back anytime you want," the girl said kindly. Megan looked at me hopefully as I slipped my hand in hers.

"Sammi, if you could spare Eric for a little while, I think his pretty little twin sister is going to need him for a few minutes. She's not really aware of everything that has happened to her."

I slipped my arms around my Megan from behind and held her as the girl described in detail everything that had happened to Megan. The narration was exactly the same as what Lisa had told us. Amazing, for two girls that had never met each other before. Both Megan and young Megan were particularly distressed when they heard what Elizabeth had done for them.

"Oh God, no, Elizabeth! Why would you do that for me?" they cried out together as they ran over to hug and kiss her. Elizabeth had both Megan's holding on to her tightly.

"Because you were my best friend and I love you," Elizabeth said quietly. "I couldn't just let you die."

Young Megan was especially distressed. She was a naive girl that knew nothing about the real world or what had happened to our race since she died. She sobbed brokenly.

"I died? I can't believe he killed me!" The two Megan's consoled each other. Surprisingly, they seemed very calm in each other's arms.

"So, what now?" I asked.

"Well, it seems to me there is one solution that works best for everyone," the girl said. "Megan is unstable, due to the fact that the powers and energy in her are not really hers. The control Bandor had over her didn't help either. The foreign energy effect would calm down over time, now that Bandor is gone. However, there is a better way, now that Bandor is no longer here.

"The young Megan needs somewhere to go. It is unfair to her to keep her suspended in Jessica's body forever. Jessica also deserves to lead her own life. Young Megan has had no life at all for a long time. Megan is miserable and unstable. The perfect answer to this is to merge young Megan and Megan into a common body. They would provide stability for each other, rectifying the disruption in the energy stream that happened long ago, and could, together, lead a normal life. They will not be, however, completely one personality. Even though they are the same person, they are different ages and have had different experiences. They will have to learn to integrate themselves, and in time, no one will recognize anything other than a woman that is sometimes intensively reflective and slightly spacey.

"Megan!" we all announced together. Everyone laughed, even the two Megans.

"Is that possible? I remember in the last cycle, when Katie and Cindi were in the same body, that there was a time limit on it. For that matter, how is it possible for Elizabeth and Sarah to be together?" I asked.

"Good questions. Very astute. With the two Megans, it is different. They are the same person, so there is no problem with residing in the same body. At least, there shouldn't be. I can't say we have ever been in this position to do this before, but all our knowledge says it should be ok. Elizabeth and Sarah are different also, but for a different reason.

"Elizabeth is dead when she is residing in Sarah. She is only alive when she is out in her own body. However, dead for us is different from our human friends. It doesn't mean that Elizabeth is not cognitive. She is just dependent on Sarah for anything physical."

"But Cindi was dead also," I pointed out. She smiled.

"Yes and no. Cindi was dead until Bandor 'cloned' a new body for her. At that point, Cindi became alive, whether she took up residence in that body or not. At that point, her clock started ticking for how long she had to take up residence in a body of her own. None of these problems exist for the two Megans, so it will be perfectly fine to exist in the same body if they so wish," the girl assured us.

"There are, however, some things we need to settle first." The girl turned to Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, do you wish to have your powers back?" I saw Elizabeth's eyes open wide in surprise.

"How is that possible?" I asked. "Bandor took Megan's powers. If Elizabeth takes hers back, what happens to Megan?" I saw the two Megan's hold each other tightly, anxiously.

The girl sighed heavily.

"That's what was so sad about this whole situation. Bandor never took control of Megan's powers," she stated. We all looked at her in shock.

"But... but she died!" Lisa exclaimed. "I saw... I'm sure she died!"

"She did. And she died because Bandor sucked her powers out of her. But they did not go to him." Everyone looked at her, waiting for the explanation.

"Bandor was using a device that he was not intimately familiar with. He made a mistake. He did not realize, because this was his first use under real conditions, that the machine had a recycle time when referring the powers on to him. It was not finished dealing with Donna's powers when it was overloaded with Megan's powers. As a failsafe, it sent Megan's powers on to the holding area where everyone's powers go to when they die. They never went to him. Also, as a failsafe, because of the bizarre way that the machine worked in overload conditions, it sent along a duplicate copy of Megan's mind with the powers. However, due to the odd way they arrived, they were never categorized as to what they were and whom they belonged to. Elizabeth didn't know any of this, and gave Megan her powers to save her. All this makes Elizabeth's actions no less heroic.

"It's possible now to simply give Megan her powers back, give Elizabeth her powers back, and return the entire situation, as close as is possible, back to where it was before."

Elizabeth answered right away.

"No. Megan has lived with those powers for a long time now. She uses them better than I ever could. I don't like the use of powers for me anyway; Bandor is not the only reason I gave them up. I'm used to not having them, and I do pretty well without them, even if I do say so myself. Let her keep them. They're hers. I don't want them."

"Is it possible to put Megan's old powers in Elizabeth's chamber, so she could draw on them on an 'as needed' basis? She never has to use them if she doesn't want to, but someday she might be in a position where she might need them." I smiled at Elizabeth. "To save one of us, not for your own use." I had seen Elizabeth open her mouth to refuse; then she stopped and thought as I finished speaking.

The girl looked thoughtful.

"I see your Father was not wrong when he referred to your unique way of looking at things. Yes, that is possible."

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders.

"You can do that if you want, if it will make you feel better. I'll never use them, but if you want them there just in case, that's fine with me."

"Ok, that's settled. Megan and Megan, do you two think you could live with each other in the same body?" Young Megan giggled and blushed.

"What?"

"I... I've never had him before. I get to be the dominant one the first time," young Megan stammered, embarrassing herself. Megan laughed.

"Oh, honey, believe me, the first time, you will need me there just to keep you alive!"

"Are you through, girls?" I asked

"No!" they answered together.

"Ok, maybe they approve it, but I don't!" I retorted. The girl looked at me, smiled gently, and then sighed.

"Are you still under the assumption you really make the decisions around here?" she asked tolerantly.

After some more discussion, it was decided that the merger would take place. All of us were a little apprehensive about how this was going to work, especially the Megans.

"It will be very similar to what you deal with now, hearing others in your mind. You can even learn to screen each other out under set conditions, if you want. Most people, and there have been only a few, that have done this have chosen not to do that. Since you are really the same person, it will be like the closest set of identical twins you could ever imagine. I'm sure you will like it a lot. Young Megan will have the most adapting to do, since Megan has powers and abilities that she has never had any contact with. All Megan will have to adapt to is having a crazy teenager in her head all the time, although a very nice one." We smiled as Megan rolled her eyes. Young Megan saw her and swatted her arm.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Then she blushed and put her hand up to her mouth as she realized what she had just done. "I'm sorry!" she whispered, embarrassed. Megan hugged her as the girl continued.

"Jessica, this will take some getting used to for you, not having Megan in you anymore, but not as much as it would be in a normal set of twins. Because of the bizarre circumstances of your death, you and Sarah have been in each other's minds for some time, so it will not be as if you had someone there and suddenly they were gone. Also, I will leave most of Megan's original gold in your mind, for technical reasons. A small part of her will always remain in you, but it will not cause problems. "

"So, Megan's original color was gold? Then, how did I get it?" Jessica asked quietly.

"Originally, it was a mess up. Just because we're an advanced species, doesn't mean we don't make mistakes. The world events happening at that time didn't help in keeping things straight. The sophisticated tracking system we had for categorizing and storing energy was down at the time, and we were keeping track of things manually. Megan's energy was not recorded properly when it arrived. Then, later, because Megan's gold had been unaccounted for such a long time, due to the unorthodox way it came in, it was thought to be just random unassigned energy and was assigned to Jessica. Someone thought gold and silver would be nice for twins. Later, when we discovered the original error, that Bandor had not taken control of Megan's energy, we were trying to find Megan's energy. By this time we realized that her energy had either been misplaced or was just floating around loose. Imagine our surprise when we discovered that Megan's energy color and a copy of her mind were in Jessica, in a somewhat suspended state.

"We were faced with an almost unique situation. We had only seen something remotely similar once. When the gold color was assigned to Jessica at her birth, it was reloaded with her mind personality and entered in her body. This was different from the gold energy level and personality already there. Since Megan was dormant, no conflict occurred and no alarms went off.

"The body you see now as the young Megan is simply a reconstruction that always occurs when energy and color are pulled out of a mind. It can be permanent if we wish, but is often temporary. Since the important thing is the mind and energy, it is not a problem to have two bodies that are the same. Having two minds and energies the same is supposed to be a problem. That's why we have since outlawed the machine that Bandor used; we still don't know how this happened. We only know that it had something to do with the overload of the buffer file in the machine, and probably would not have occurred otherwise."

"When was the other time this happened?" I asked.

Elizabeth answered that question.

"The other time was deliberate. Eons ago, a group from another plane that we were familiar with asked the Tarqa to guard something for them. This was when Bandor and I were King and Queen. Because of the serious implications of the situation if the objects fell into the wrong hands, we said yes. They had previously received a copy of Cindi's blue energy as a gift, constructed in such a way as to be a servant to their Caliph. When the objects were delivered by the servant, the servant was modified in such a way to enable it to recall the objects when desired. We had originally used Cindi's energy because it was easily available, as she had just been born. I also wanted to use her so that I could maintain control over what happened to it. The recall protocol added has never been initiated."