 
### Trial by Ordeal

A Story By

Philip R Benge

Smashwords Edition

***************

Published by

Philip R Benge on Smashwords

Copyright Philip R Benge 2013

Cover Art Copyright Philip R Benge 2013

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author's imagination and used fictitiously.

Trial by Ordeal

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One: The Final Days of an Empire

Chapter Two: Conspiracy

Chapter Three: Alien Visitors

Chapter Four: Through the Portal

Chapter Five: Jurassic Park

Chapter Six: We are Declaring War on Tyler Burrows

Chapter Seven: Further into the Dark Domain

Chapter Eight: Back to Helionia

Chapter Nine: Tyler Burrows, Television Celebrity

Chapter Ten: The Planet of the Light

About the Author

Other Books by the Author

Prologue

Magi had once been a young girl, and she had even enjoyed a love affair with the handsome Compton Pallas, but unfortunately, she had become pregnant. Compton Pallas and his family didn`t want a mere serving girl to be part of their ancient and noble family. Instead, he treated her contemptuously by stealing the baby away from her moments after the birth, and then giving it away to an adoption agency. Then he forced her to go away to a far off province in Helionia, where she lived for the next nineteen years. Magi had indeed nearly died there, with no one to turn to when times got bad, but her hate had kept her alive, and it was there that a powerful mystic had taken pity on her and taught her everything she knew about the spirit world. It was only later when Magi became a powerful mystic in her own right that she had returned to enact her vengeance upon the entire Pallas family. Now she was ready to complete her many acts of vengeance by killing the final member of the family.

Chapter One

The Final Days of an Empire

Day 50 Helionian Calendar

The noise of someone digging came from within a remote cave in the middle of the desert of Musgrave, a wild desolate land located three hundred miles away from the nearest sizable town. Inside the cave was a dust covered young woman, from her present appearance you would never guess that she was once voted the best-dressed woman on Helionia. This cold bright morning she was dressed in soiled jeans, a thermal vest, a shirt, a thick woolly jumper and a heavy fur coat. As usual, she also wore a woolly hat to complete her ensemble, and from which her red hair peeked out from under its edges. She had been interested in archaeology ever since she had found an old shard of pottery on a sandy beach; this had been while she had been holidaying with her family at her family's beach home at Lato. She had been just five years of age back then, but she had since gone on to university, where she had graduated with honours. From there, she had gone on to work for the Archaeological Museum in the capital city of Helionia. At this particular moment in time, she was on a sabbatical, for she had wanted to follow up a hunch of her own, and this hunch had taken her to the remote Musgrave desert where she was working in this even remoter cave. She had hoped to find signs of the three thousand year old civilisation of the Puma; instead, she was finding more and more frozen soil. In her hand was a small trowel with which she was carefully removing the layers of history, as she dug further and further down through the frozen permafrost layers, she was now kneeling in a four-foot deep hole some eight foot square. The cold from the frozen soil was getting deep into her bones; even though she knelt upon a thick kneeling mat that she had bought especially for this dig. Soon she would be part of this frozen world, she thought as a shiver went through her body. On this third day of the dig, she had been in this frozen pit since the sun cleared the far-off mountain ridge, now it was almost time to take a break and have some breakfast. Why she had persevered here, with so little to find except the odd animal bone was even beyond her, but she was determined to stay until the end of the day and at that time she decided, she would admit defeat. She shivered again inside of her bulky layers of clothing, my god it is cold inside of the dam hole she thought, and immediately felt an icy cold draught that had somehow found its way down inside of her deep pit. She gritted her teeth, determined not to surrender. Her trowel scooped out some more of the frozen soil that she then mechanically deposited it into a nearby bucket and then moved the trowel back to the spot just in front of her knees. This time though as the trowel penetrated just millimetres into the frozen soil it hit something harder than the soil, another stone Trajo thought, I will soon have enough of them to build my own house. Still her training took over and putting down her trowel, she picked up her small hand brush and brushed away the soil. She looked hard at the half-hidden object, almost in disbelief; for it was part of a human skull. Trajo swallowed hard, to find signs of man at this depth made her whole body tingle with excitement. She quickly brushed more soil away and revealed what was indeed a human skull. She immediately called out to her two male companions; they were only now washing and dressing as the sun rose above the frozen landscape. Not waiting for them to join her she continued the work of uncovering the rest of the skeleton. Within thirty minutes the whole of the man`s skeleton had been uncovered.

Remick Macron, was once just the elderly friend of her uncle, now he was also Trajo`s friend, and he was the first to arrive at the cave.

"Did I hear you calling earlier Trajo....my god Trajo, you were right, the Puma civilisation did get this far north."

"I don`t think so Remick, this body seems to be far older, we must get this skeleton back to the laboratory to get a Beta-carbon dating analysis of it, that will soon tell if I am correct about it."

Prion Colton, the other member of the team now arrived at the cave, he assumed from the excited conversation that he could hear coming from the cave that Trajo must have finally found something worth photographing, this being very possible he had brought his camera. He was a much younger man than his male colleague was, and he was in charge of photographing and cataloguing every single step of the dig. On seeing the skeleton, he managed through his excitement to say 'My God', but he didn`t bother with any further words, instead he took dozens of photographs of Trajo`s find from every possible angle.

Trajo looked up at the two men, her red hair still peeping out from underneath her woolly hat, her grey sparkling eyes full of excitement and Prion wondered once again what this lovely woman saw in him.

Prion, like Trajo was still quite young; he was reasonably good looking with a muscular body and a lovely smile, or so Trajo had told him when he had held her close that day when they had first kissed. Prion was six feet tall and he towered over Trajo by at least eight inches but then she had always preferred tall men, men who could measure up to her father.

"This is fantastic Trajo, if this doesn`t get you the curator`s job at the museum nothing will." Prion announced proudly. The present curator had had enough of working in the museum and wanted to spend his final days out in the field doing what he called real work. He would then retire to the country and spend his final days taking life easy with his wife.

Remick ran off out of the cave but returned moments later with a large rectangular metal tray, which he passed down to Trajo. Trajo then carefully put the bones of the skeleton into the tray, and with the assistance of Prion, who had dropped down into the hole; she passed it up to the waiting hands of Remick. Finally, it was sitting safely on the present-day floor level of the cave.

"I will fly this back to the university Trajo, and get the team to investigate it fully, I should be back tomorrow with the results." Remick promised.

"Okay Remick, if that doesn`t get their blood flowing then nothing will. In the meantime, we will clear out all of the soil remaining inside the cave, we will take it down to a level just below that in which the skeleton was on to see if we can find a little more for when you return." Trajo called out to the fast disappearing figure of Remick.

Trajo and Prion worked hard for the rest of the day clearing out the frozen soil from the cave, but they found nothing more, the cold of the hole no longer affecting her as she toiled on into the night until exhausted, they had fallen into their beds, too tired for anything but a goodnight kiss and then sleep. It wasn`t until the morning after that they found the metal plates with the archaic writing on them, writing burned on to plates made of a metal that was used in the making of starships. The words were burned into them by a powerful laser, and they stood out from the surface of the plate like powerful searchlights, or so it seemed to Trajo. One thing immediately struck the young woman; these words were to be read by the people of the future, but how far into the future? The technology to create metal like this was only now being reached, and the words could only have been cut so finely by the use of a laser. No, this wasn`t from the Puma civilisation, then what civilisation, and when was it left here for her to find?

Carefully lifting them out one by one, Prion looked across into Trajo`s eyes, he saw the excitement burning deep within the beautiful young woman so near to him.

"My but the gods are looking upon you with favour my darling." He whispered these words, for the confining hole within the cave had now taken on the majesty of a cathedral.

Trajo and Prion carried the plates lovingly to her large terrestrial shuttlecraft that her father, Ares Fortuna, had provided for her. Inside was the latest in computer technology; she also had at her fingertips a molecular sensor, a multilingual translator and a satellite communication console. She also had every single piece of Helionian history stored within the massive files of her computer. Trajo and Prion carefully cleaned off each of the metal plates and then she scanned them individually onto her powerful computer. When she had finished, she activated the translator to convert the archaic writing into modern Helionian. She found that what was on the plates was a letter, written by someone named Ares Divilio to the future people of his ancient world.

"My name is Ares Divilio, and I have lived for just twenty two years now, unfortunately I will soon leave this land to re-join my loving family. My family is already living safely with the gods of Heliot, for I am forced to bear the past and my sorrow all alone in this now frozen world. I was born to be the heir of the Heliot Empire, but unfortunately, this no longer exists. At the beginning of the summer, my father took his great armada of starships through the dark nebula to invade the star system where the Planet of the Light is to be found. The planet had been chosen as a suitable addition to our empire, as it was both wealthy and well populated. As he exited hyperspace, his armada was swallowed up by a space storm of massive proportions. It came out of nowhere and seconds later disappeared along with my father and his fleet. Whether it was an inter-dimensional storm or even one that travelled in time, we shall never know, for no sign of his armada was ever heard of again. Only one light cruiser, which was on the very edge of the storm managed to escape the wrath of the mighty storm. It was this ship alone that returned to Heliot to tell us of the fate of my father, our beloved Emperor.

It was just two weeks later that every planet in our empire was struck down by a plague that appeared from out of nowhere to decimate our people, and after only six months most of our population were dead or dying. Our scientists have determined that the virus that caused the plague was almost certainly manufactured in a laboratory, and as we have never dabbled in such terrible weapons, I can only assume that it came from another world. As my people struggled after the worst of the plague passed us by, the suns that powered all of the worlds in our once mighty federation suddenly dimmed. This additional disaster threw all of the planets into sudden ice ages that covered most of their surfaces, the thick glaciers killing off many of the remaining peoples of our once great empire. I have come to believe that both of these calamities came from the Planet of the Light, they were to ensure that the Heliot people never rose again to threaten their own small empire. I have decided to stay near to the palace where I grew up and had such a pleasant childhood, rather this than to try to escape this frozen wasteland to whatever safety may lay elsewhere. Too many terrible memories are locked deep inside my mind to allow me to continue living, remembering these terrible times.

The only remaining monument to the Heliot Empire is the dark domain; it is housed on a faraway planet and accessible only through the portal set within the living rock. The portal is set in the centre of our people`s birthplace, here on our once beautiful planet of Heliot. Neither time nor the elements will ever destroy it. I am dying now, as is the power cell that operates my laser that is burning this letter onto plates made of a metal discovered at the height of our power, a power that helped us to build our empire. If someone on this planet discovers these plates, when life is once again possible and the people of Heliot are once again masters of the stars, then I call to you through the depths of time, I call for Revenge, Revenge and finally Revenge."

The final metal plate gave the approximate position of the portal set within the living rocks, what was meant by this term they couldn`t think, but their next task would be to find the portal, and then they would find out what was meant by this odd term.

"My god Trajo this is the find of the century, you will be the most famous archaeologist to have ever lived on Helionia." Prion said jubilantly, and then reaching his hand out to hers to hold it.

"Just think of all the apologies and retractions they will all have to make to my father, now that he has been proved right, especially when we uncover the portal mentioned on the third of the plates. Those liberal bleeding hearts will see that he is right about everything, and he will be carried shoulder high by our people when he wins the election by a landslide."

Trajo loved her father more than anyone else in the world. Prion though was beginning to vie for that honour, the more she knew him. She would journey into hell and back to ensure that her father won the upcoming presidential election.

Prion took her gently in his arms and kissed Trajo long and hard until they were both breathless. From outside of the shuttle craft, they heard the engines of Remick`s own shuttle craft as it returned back from the capital city. Trajo and Prion smiled into one another`s eyes and then went outside in to the frozen wasteland to greet their returning friend, and to tell him of what else they had found, but as soon as his craft had landed, he rushed out to tell them his own fantastic news.

"Those bones were fifty thousand years old Trajo, it is the first time that we have ever found evidence that our ancestors ever lived this far north, and at such a time in the past." Remick exclaimed.

"Fifty thousand years Remick, yes that seems to tie in nicely." Trajo said mysteriously to Remick.

"Ties in nicely to what Trajo?" Remick asked eagerly. "What else have you found?"

Trajo walked slowly across to the older man.

"Remick come into my shuttle craft, for I do have something else to show you, something that we found only this morning." Trajo fought to hide her excitement so that the find that Trajo and Prion had made would be more surprising to their friend.

Remick`s eyes became as large as saucers as he looked from the computer screen to the plates and back again.

"My god Trajo, this proves what your father has been saying all along, that there was a great civilisation here before our own, but that it was destroyed during the last of our planets great ice ages."

Ares Fortuna was delighted when he heard that his daughter had found evidence that proved his own theories, and he read and reread the transcripts of the letter that was written upon the metal plates. It also reinforced his desire to travel beyond the dark nebula, now though it was because he wanted to search for the Empire of the Planet of the Light. If it still existed, he would have the revenge that his people so deserved, and what the young emperor had demanded from beyond the grave. The publicity of such a find at a time like this would help the waverers decide whom to vote for, when Election Day finally arrived, and he had his own sweet daughter to thank for it. The scar on Fortuna`s face stood out as he smiled, he was thinking now of his coming victory over his younger political rival, for Fortuna was aged sixty and Marot Pallas was two years his junior. He got the scar while fighting during a party rally when he was still quite young, but his opponent had come off much worse. Fortuna stood six foot high with a mass of grey hair and dark brown eyes, he was heavily built and still very muscular, but then he had to be to be the leader of such a radical party. The two men looked very much like brothers, as some reporters had sometimes mentioned in their articles about the coming election, but they were worlds apart in thought or deed.

Day 80 Helionian Calendar

Thirty days after Trajo Fortuna had made her fantastic discovery, the starship Dagger, which was owned by Ares Fortuna, was on the far side of the galaxy on a voyage of discovery. It had travelled through a wormhole that had only recently been discovered. It exited the wormhole on the very edge of one of the spiral arms of the galaxy, some one hundred thousand light years away from Helionia. The crew of the Dagger had been instructed to investigate any of the planets that they found there to ascertain whether they could be brought into the growing Helionia Federation of planets, and also to locate any uninhabited planets that would be suitable for mining by the Helionian people.

The commander of the Dagger, Captain Titan, decided to travel deeper into the spiral arm, and towards a slightly larger grouping of nearby planetary systems. They spent the first week mapping out a number of uninhabited systems that looked more than suitable enough to provide all of Helionia`s mineral needs, and the starship was just about to return home when it finally encountered its first populated planet. It was the planet Genesis; for fate had decided to stir things up a bit, it had also ordained a far from pleasant future for a certain peace-loving man named Tyler Burrows. They went into an orbit about the planet, while they scanned the town and also accessed the town`s computer network. This allowed their multilingual translator to download and translate information about the region and its people; some of this information was then downloaded into their android so that it was fluent in the English language.

Captain Titan sent his first officer down in the ship`s shuttle craft, along with the android and two crewmen from the science department. Their mission was to find out what more could be learnt about the planet, and the people on it. They landed in a large open space that led into the town square that had a number of two storey buildings on three sides of it. The first thing that caught the attention of the officer was a large bronze statue of a man standing before an antiquated space ship. The plaque said that the statue was of a man called Tyler Burrows, captain of the space cruiser Orion Defender, and the saviour of Genesis.

Striding across the square towards them was an official who demanded to know their business.

"Greetings friends, welcome to Genesis. What brings you to our planet?" The self-important official demanded to know.

"We are strangers to this part of the galaxy, from the planet Helionia, and we want to trade with any inhabited star systems, that and also to meet the many different people that live here so that we can form new alliances, new friendships." The Helionian said.

"Well our charter forbids us to trade with anyone except the Church of the Universe, unless of course you have anything that Earth cannot provide." The official said not mentioning the fact that Tyler Burrows had arranged many trading agreements between the local planets.

"I didn`t know that, thank you for that information, tell me who is Tyler Burrows?" The officer asked curiously pointing at the large statue.

"You don`t know who Tyler Burrows is, then you really must be strangers, for I thought that there was no living person in the galaxy that hadn`t heard of him. Eight years ago, he helped us out against a mad computer that was hell bent on destroying us, since then he has been the number one person in this sector of space. In fact, Tyler Burrows is the guy who will kick your arse, if you are not an innocent trader, but in fact someone who wants to raid any of the local star systems."

"I can assure you sir that we are not here to raid your planet, or any of the other nearby planetary systems. Tell me, if we wanted to meet Tyler Burrows where would we find him?" The Helionian asked.

"He lives on the planet Orion, which is about half a day`s travel from the planet Persephone which in turn is about a day's travel from here. He might be there, if he isn`t busy on either of the planets Persephone or New Earth, or even travelling to our planet to ensure that the aboriginals on our planet are okay. Well I am sorry that our charter stops us from trading with you. By the way, just whereabouts is this planet of yours, Helionia you said it was called?" The official asked.

"Yes Helionia, it is a beautiful planet in a star system many light years further along this spiral arm of stars. Would you mind if we just wander around your small township and talk to your citizens?" The officer asked.

"Of course, feel free to enjoy our little planet, good bye my friend; maybe we will see you some other time."

When the landing party finally returned to the ship, the first officer informed Captain Titan that it was a planet caught in a mini ice age. The people were waiting patiently for it to end so that they could expand. The captain though was intrigued by what his officer had learnt about Tyler Burrows, and wanted to learn more, so using the information that they had stolen from the computers of Genesis, they set sail for the next planet in the spiral arm, Persephone.

Here, the first officer met another official who told them the same thing as regards to their charter, but he did also answer a few other of the officer`s questions.

"What can you tell me about the planet Orion?" The officer enquired, curious to find out more about what he assumed was the dominant planet in this sector in space.

"I suppose it is the one reason that peace has reigned in this sector of space for so long now, or at least Tyler Burrows is, and he lives on Orion. After he took care of the Heliot pirates, and the last of the other space pirates in this sector of space, life has been much more peaceful for the new colony worlds."

The first officer`s ears pricked up when he heard the word Heliot, for he was intrigued, as it was only a few weeks ago since Trajo Fortuna had found the ancient plates, and written upon them was an open letter begging for revenge for the Heliot nation. Now, here on the other side of the galaxy he had once again heard them mentioned, but in the context as pirates.

"I have heard stories about the Heliots, but can you tell me the truth behind the tales?" The officer asked, pumping the official for information regarding them and especially now they were linked with the name of Tyler Burrows, whose name also seemed to keep cropping up.

"You have come to the right man to ask about the Heliots, said the official who had never met a real life Heliot, and certainly wouldn`t want to. It all started when a space pirate attacked Orion and tried to steal the time machine that some scientists were working on there, but all they managed to do was damage it and send it rampaging all over time and space. It was finally brought under control, but it brought back with it the Heliot fleet and thankfully Tyler Burrows and his friend George Masters. Tyler not only defeated the entire Heliot fleet when it attempted to enslave the planet Orion, but he destroyed their army single handed and then he killed the space pirates and stole their starship, the one he renamed the Orion Defender."

These were just some of the rumours currently in circulation regarding the 'super human' Tyler Burrows. They say that there is a certain amount of truth to be found in all rumours. There were some truths to be found in the ones about Tyler Burrows, if only you looked deeply enough.

"A time machine you say, whatever happened to it?" The first officer asked for he was astounded by what he had heard.

"The story that I heard was that Tyler blew it up, either that or he dumped it out into space so that it would burn up in the planet`s atmosphere when the time machine was finally drawn back down by gravity of Orion." The official answered.

"He destroyed a time machine, why would he do such a thing like that?" The first officer said just a little bewildered by all that he had heard.

"Seems that he didn`t trust the politicians enough to let them play with it, can`t say that I blame him either. From one of the stories I heard, the President of Earth himself was after it, along with some powerful magnate, the church tried to stop them but it was Tyler Burrows that finally put a stop to their antics." The official said beaming across at the young Helionian.

"When did this all happen?" The young Helionian officer asked.

"I think it must have been eleven Earth years ago."

The last port of call for the Dagger was of course the planet Orion. The captain had also been intrigued, as it was only a few weeks ago since Trajo Fortuna had found the ancient plates. Now, here on the other side of the galaxy, his first officer was bringing tales back to him regarding the destruction of a Heliot space fleet that been caught up in a time storm created on this side of the galaxy.

Once again, they scanned the planet`s surface, but found as on the other two planets, a small colony world with a small population and no evidence of any planetary defences. Orion`s powerful plasma weapon wasn`t found by the scan, nor was the fusion reactor or the Heliot defence shield, all were safely hidden behind a Heliot cloaking device recently installed by Brian Goddard. This was the last of the Heliot technological wonders taken from the broken fleet before Earth had finally realised their value, and then arrived to take possession of all of the remains of the broken Heliot fleet.

What Captain Titan saw was a small colonial outpost, which of course it was. There was no sign of the Orion Defender, which at the time was on the colony planet of New Earth unloading a cargo of mixed items traded in return for a similar cargo.

Captain Titan was at a loss to understand why the local star systems felt so safe, and why they trusted the planet Orion to keep it so. He decided that it was a myth meant to deter would be pirates from attacking any of the planets on the edge of the galaxy.

Regarding the planet Earth, Captain Titan had scanned the three planets computers and found enough out about Earth to see that any attempt at trying to annex the colony worlds lying on the edge of the galaxy, would probably result in an interplanetary clash at some time in the future, conducted most probably via the wormhole.

Day 97 Helionian Calendar

Captain Titan had just finished reporting his finds to Ares Fortuna regarding the many planets that he had visited at the other end of the wormhole. Ares Fortuna was transfixed by his description of an alien fleet destroyed by Tyler Burrows, and of the many rumours in circulation about the man. During their limited time on the three planets, his officers had heard twelve stories, and this number being limited by the fact that they only had the one android with them to act as a translator. Piecing together the many rumours, Ares Fortuna realised that a Heliot space fleet had been snatched up by a time storm created by pirates attempting to steal a time machine. The Orionists led by Tyler Burrows, savagely destroyed the attacking pirate vessel, but then turned on the remainder of the Heliot fleet. He destroyed the surviving starships and then murdered the shipwrecked Heliot spacemen. Ares Fortuna silently vowed to bring his people the revenge they deserved, and had waited for so many centuries to get.

"Thank you, Captain Titan, the report that you have brought is very interesting, I will have to take my time evaluating it before I decide what our next step should be. Please keep all that you have found out a secret for the time being, and order your crew to do likewise."

Day 100 Helionian Calendar

Trajo Fortuna could not believe it when she finally cleared away a large piece of rubble, to see her first sight of the portal set within the foothills of massive mountain of Divilio. The mountain had always been known by this name, and now Trajo knew the reason why, for it housed the dark domain of Divilio. The search had taken them fifty cold short days of the Helionian spring, but it had proved to be more than worth the hard work. Prion picked her up in his arms and twirled her around, while she shouted out in joy for all to hear that they had found it. Prion finally set her back on her feet and kissed her. It was Remick who brought them back to reality.

"Come on you two love birds, there is still plenty of work to do before we are finally finished for the day." Remick ordered.

"Okay slave driver, come on Trajo let`s get back to our hard labour before we annoy our overseer." Prion said finally releasing Trajo and turning back to the mountain and all that it held.

It took the rest of the day for them, and their small team of helpers, to clear the remaining rubble from in front of the portal, which was more like a dark forbidding tunnel. Then the plaque had been found by one of the archaeological students, it was thirty feet away from the portal and fixed to the rock wall. It was made of the same type of metal as the four other plates Trajo had found in the cave, but of a much larger size. Trajo was like a schoolchild, eager to enter the portal and find its secret. Prion and Remick had to forbid her from entering into the portal until they had finished cleaning off the fifty thousand years of debris from the plaque.

"Who knows what dangers are waiting through this ancient portal, first we must read what is written on the plaque, and only then judge whether it is safe to enter." Remick said to her in a voice that sounded just like the one used by her father.

This work took until noon the next day but finally the area around the portal and the plaque were clear of the rubble and rocks. Then they had to clean the plaque sufficiently to allow Prion to photograph each section of the writing on it and then send the data back to the translator within the shuttlecraft.

The local news team had been permitted entry to the site by Ares Fortuna, it was so that they could show that everything that was found at the site was the genuine article, and they had been present for the entire search. Not being archaeologists, they had begun to become rather bored as the days went by, that is until yesterday when the portal was uncovered, then there was a frenzy of activity around the site, with the television channels filled with many archaeologists giving the television audience their own particular slant on the situation.

Trajo, Prion and Remick retired into the warmth of Trajo`s shuttle craft and into the passenger compartment where her computer was sitting waiting for her. What the writing on the wall said, was shown on the large wall screen that was set in the passenger compartment of the shuttlecraft. On the screen was a warning from the computer. It stressed that as some of the archaic words were difficult to translate, it could not guarantee that the translation was completely accurate. Then it gave what it thought was its best translation.

The writing instructs all travellers who wish to prove the veracity behind their claim to be fearless, to enter into the dark domain. Those with the courage to do so, should first charge their magnetic keys within the portal slot set just inside of the entrance to the portal of Divilio, that is if they were brave enough, and still wished to travel through to his dark domain. This initial charge would entitle any who wish to accept the challenge of the portal to twenty-four hours only in each of the domains, during these twenty-four hours the user is able to pass into the next domain and onward through the entire ordeal, recharging their keys in each of the subsequent portal slots.

"We haven`t found any keys Trajo." Prion declared sorrowfully.

"We will just have to search for them tomorrow, maybe we will find them within the tunnel, we haven`t fully explored it yet and it cannot be dangerous as we haven`t charged a key." Trajo declared to her two colleagues.

The finding of the portal silenced all those critics who accused Ares Fortuna of fabricating the writing on the other metal plates; they could hardly accuse him of secretly constructing the portal, this was due not only to the immense size of it, but also because of the writing, writing that had been hidden behind a wall of rock and mud. The writing now found on the wall in front of the portal was of the same archaic nature as that on the other metal plates, a metal not yet identified, but now of immense interest to the scientists of Helionia.

It took just twenty minutes of searching the next day to find the magnetic keys packed away for a time far into the future; they sat within a box made from the same metal as the plates, which in turn sat in a niche in the wall well inside of the portal. The niche was ringed by a geometric decoration waiting to be found.

Professor Qatar, was sixty years of age with little hair, and almost black beady eyes. His short height was emphasised by his wide waist, which was that way mainly due to his current position as curator of the museum. He had decided to make a field trip through the portal to mark his retirement, and had just arrived when the keys were found, and he was ecstatic.

"Trajo, we must both return to the capital to hold a proper press conference, we can report your tremendous finds in full, and also announce that we intend to send a team through the portal as soon as is possible. Prion, Remick you must stay behind until I have organised some extra security, I will have them sent out to relieve you both, that is if you both don`t mind missing out on the press conference?" At present the only security was a wire fence that surrounded the whole area of the extensive dig site, with a security cabin set at its entrance.

They certainly didn`t mind, the attention given to the project here was bad enough, what would it be like back in the capital, where they would be much closer to the heart of the news industry, god only knew.

With that decided, Trajo was whisked away to the museum, as they left Remick contacted Ares Fortuna to inform him of what was happening, and Fortuna joined his daughter at the museum. He wanted to ensure that the reporters knew who was responsible for this fantastic discovery, his daughter and her two companions, and not to the aging curator of the museum.

Professor Qatar had already made up a list of six people who should be the first to enter the portal. At the top of the list was his name, followed by Trajo of course, Remick and Prion, as they were part of the original team which had made the find, and two men who made their fortune risking their lives doing things which normal mortal men would never dare to attempt.

"This is ridiculous Professor; surely the initial exploration should be made by robots, for it would be foolhardy to risk the lives of so valuable a team as you propose." Ares Fortuna stated forcibly. Secretly he didn`t care a fig whether Qatar risked his own life, but he wouldn`t allow him to risk his daughter`s life, or those of her two friends lives, in so stupid a fashion.

"Robots are all right at times Fortuna, but this is a find of the upmost importance, and it should be people who go through the portal of Divilio to investigate, not robots." Qatar cried out incredulously.

Ares Fortuna had been keeping an eye on his daughter all the while the discussion had been going on, and he could see that she was in full agreement with the curator, she was positively eager to get on with investigating the portal and all that it contained. Knowing that to forbid her to go would only increase her desire to go through the portal, Fortuna professed defeat and left it at that for the moment. The big day was almost upon them, when Trajo, along with Prion and Remick, were hospitalised with an extremely bad case of gastroenteritis. Ares paid the restaurant owner a large sum of money as payment for the celebratory meal they had enjoyed, for he didn`t want his daughter and friends to risk their lives on such a dangerous exploration. Not until it had been found to be safe by the use of either robotic machines or a team of Helionian scientists which didn`t include his daughter.

Day 120 Helionian Calendar

Three archaeologists from the other museums around the planet took the place of the three sick members of the team; the patients would just have to sit this exploration out within the confines of their sick rooms inside of a private clinic, one mostly owned by Fortuna. Here they were kept drugged until it was too late to re-join the expedition. The press was told that their condition was quite serious, but that they would soon recover if the doctors were allowed to do their job. Ares Fortuna had now become insistent that the exploration of the portal go ahead immediately, so the team of six explorers went through the portal of Divilio, and into the first of the dark domains as planned. Unfortunately, it went wrong from the start, as the authorities were unable to re-establish contact with the six men after they had passed through the portal, and after seven days, they were followed through the portal by a team made up only of robotic devices. The authorities once again failed to re-establish contact, following a further seven days, and when no sign of either team was spotted, the authorities closed down the portal, and set up a team to look into the problem.

Day 130 Helionia Calendar

Trajo Fortuna finally recovered her health, but she was feeling extremely guilty about the disappearance of Professor Qatar and his team, and so she returned to the Musgrave desert with Prion and Remick. At her father`s insistence, an android went along with them to act as their protector. Trajo was determined to search the cave to see if she could find more plates, she hoped that if successful they might shed some light on just what had happened to the two exploration teams that had journeyed through the portal. Within just three days, she found a narrow passage that allowed her to go further into the cave system, but it took another two days of digging out yet more frozen soil before she found yet another two plates.

The first plate showed the position of a maintenance portal that would allow entry into the dark domain at another point; it was on a small moon that she named Galafrey, after the god of hope. The second plate gave a detailed map of what was behind the portal.

"This new portal could well be another portal to nowhere Trajo, don`t raise your hopes too high." Remick said to an elated young woman who now had hopes of finding the team of archaeologists alive.

"This time we will send a robotic team through first, only afterwards will we follow it up with a manned team Remick." Trajo said, but she was now feeling the same sort of excitement that she had felt when she had first found the skeleton, a tingling all over her body. Prion came up behind her and put his arms around her. Trajo turned around and put her arms around him.

"You will soon be so important Trajo, that I will have to get an appointment just to do this." He said smiling down at her upturned face, Trajo smiled up at him.

"Yes, I will have to get a private secretary for such appointments." Trajo said teasingly moving her body away from his. Prion pulled her back and kissed her hard before moving his lips slightly away from hers.

"There are plenty of other archaeologists around Trajo, so just you be careful that I don`t run after one of them." Prion said teasing her.

"What like old Mademoiselle Paros, yes, she shouldn`t take too much catching Prion." Trajo said laughing at him.

While the two young lovers teased one another, and unknown to them, the android had already reported the find back to Ares Fortuna, who now came out to the archaeological dig in the starship Dagger. Before the three friends could report their find to the museum and the world at large, Fortuna swore them to secrecy. He then took them away to the moon Galafrey in his starship, to arrive the following day at the moon, much to Trajo`s excitement at seeing this new find of hers, and ending her slight fit of pique at not being allowed to report her new find to the world.

Day 135 Helionian Calendar

The small moon was orbiting a blue gas giant in a star system just outside of the dark nebula, and they immediately scanned the surface of the moon for signs of the portal mentioned on the new metal plates. It certainly was not sitting in plain sight upon the surface of the moon, it took them five days of hard searching to find the tell-tale signs of the portal`s energy signature. It lay within a large crater in the highlands of the small moon. Captain Titan sent down a survey party who found that the portal was now buried beneath a large amount of moon rock, they also found the remains of a man-made dome meant to cover the portal and provide air for the maintenance crew. The dome had been destroyed and the portal had been buried when a second meteorite had buried itself into the large crater making a smaller secondary crater. The work of clearing away the rubble took a further two days before the new portal was open to view. This portal was slightly different in that a magnetic key did not appear to be needed to journey into the dark domain.

Ares Fortuna had Captain Titan send a robotic device down into the portal`s entrance, and using a video camera they were able to watch as the device moved further into the portal. The picture flickered and dimmed for a matter of just a few seconds, and then the picture reappeared to show first a tunnel and then the surface of a planet with an atmosphere and sunlight. The viewers were transfixed as the camera operator moved the lens up to show part of a multi-coloured ringed gas giant slowly sinking beneath the horizon, and then as the camera panned around, they saw a yellow sun high overhead.

"This is fantastic father, now we can send a team through the portal to find the team led by Professor Qatar."

"Let us watch and see for just a while longer Trajo, before we endanger yet more people." Ares advised his daughter.

They indeed did watch and see as the robotic device moved slowly along a trail, and when all seemed to be peaceful upon this large moon the scene changed quickly to one of violence, as a large animal suddenly appeared in front of the robotic device and charged towards it roaring ferociously. Trajo for one was happy that she was not confronting the beast, for she thought that its teeth were enormous. The camera operator though was un-phased, and he turned on the robotic device`s defence system and ordered it to defend itself. The robot sent an energy beam whistling towards the animal, stopping it in its tracks. The animal was a dinosaur, and it had been knocked off its feet by the bolt of plasma from its weapon, the roars of pain coming from the animal showed them that their weapon was highly effective even against this enormous creature. The dinosaur though soon shook off the effects of the plasma bolt and regained its feet; it then looked menacingly towards the robotic device so the camera operator sent another bolt of energy at the dinosaur. It exploded against the ground just inches from the creature's feet making it turn and flee from its fierce foe, and the high-pitched whistling noise that accompanied each of the energy bolts. The last they saw of the dinosaur was its tail finally disappearing around a bend in the track. Ares Fortuna was thoughtful for a moment, and then he looked up at Captain Titan.

"Send a message to our freighter, the Vehra, have it collect one of the temporary atmospheric domes that we have in stock at our warehouse, along with another couple of the robotic devices, and tell the captain to bring them here, also inform him of the need for secrecy." Turning to his daughter who was looking over at him questioningly, Fortuna answered her unspoken question.

"I don`t want to give a renewed hope to the families of the missing men until we know for certain that some of them are still alive Trajo, it would only make it worse for them if we subsequently found the dead bodies of their loved ones." Fortuna said.

"But the two men who accompanied the four archaeologists were armed with plasma pistols, so they should have been able to defend themselves father?" Trajo complained.

"I am about to ask the operator here to order the robotic device to try to find a way through to the first domain, as you know from the plate that you found this is the second domain. We need to know that they or the robotic devices that followed them got that far at least before raising the hopes of the families concerned."

The robot didn`t need to return as far as the first domain as they found the destroyed remains of one of the six robotic devices just ten minutes later.

"I thought that the devices that were sent through the portal were all capable of defending themselves father?" Trajo asked her father, Ares Fortuna.

"They were, but maybe some of the beasts in the second domain are smarter than the one that we sent packing, or maybe they hunt in packs and there were simply too many for the device to defend against. We simply don`t know enough about this place yet to risk sending further teams through." Ares Fortuna stressed to his excited daughter.

"Well whatever the answer, any of those terrible creatures that were killed by the robotic device must have been eaten by their fellow beasts, for there doesn`t appear to be..." Trajo trailed off here for the camera came across the remains of a dead man, one who had obviously been eaten by something. Who the man was they couldn`t tell, as there just wasn`t enough of him to identify.

"As soon as the freighter arrives, I will have to return to Helionia and begin to campaign for the forthcoming election Trajo, do you want to return with me or stay here?"

"I think that I will return with you father, looking at this view screen, afraid that at any moment we might see another body of one of the team, torn to pieces, I couldn`t bare it. It is tearing me to pieces just anticipating it father, I shall leave it to your men."

Trajo looked very different from the excited girl of just a few days ago, now she was downcast and in need of rest and recreation to bring her sunny side back to life. Remick and Prion were of a similar frame of mind to Trajo, and so they all returned to Helionia on the starship Dagger.

Day 144 Helionian Calendar

Ares Fortuna told his daughter that so far, no further sign of the missing archaeologists had been found, which must be good news he told her, for it could mean that they may still be found within the dark domain. One of their robotic devices had travelled into the first domain by way of a maintenance door set near to the first inner portal that took travellers from the first domain through to the second domain. It found a mountainous terrain seemingly empty of life except for a few mountain goats and some bird life. It made its way to the starting point, which was only about ten miles along a mountain track, here it was able to confirm from the many footprints that the missing men had at least got that far, but what became of them afterwards was still unknown. Another two of the robotic devices were found smashed to pieces, presumably by the animals of the second domain, leaving just three of the devices still unaccounted for, but up until this time no further members of the archaeological team had been found, alive or dead.

Chapter Two

Conspiracy

Day 145 Helionian Calendar

The election for the Presidency of Helionia was due in thirty days. The election was being contested between Marot Pallas and General Ares Fortuna, and it would be such a hard closely fought contest that none of the pundits could predict the result.

Tonight, the bitter contest was being fought out on prime-time television between the parties. Marot Pallas who would now lead the centre of the road conservative party, taking over from the outgoing President, and Ares Fortuna who led the ultra-right Partisan party, which he had done so for the past ten years. Marot Pallas wanted to move the economy on by peaceful means, and Ares Fortuna wanted to take what they needed by force, although he didn`t spell his party`s proposed policies out in quite those words. The problem behind this difference of opinion was that for generations the people of the planet Helionia had depleted the planet`s fuels and metals, and thought little about the future. The planet had been exploited since the dawn of the industrial age, now it was short of natural assets and was facing stagnation. It was even possible that there would be a rapid fall in the living standards, which up until a few years ago had grown, to a record high.

Ares Fortuna was the first to put his argument to the Helionian people.

"People of Helionia, we all know that our future is bleak, especially if something radical is not decided upon very soon. We, the Partisan party, think that it should happen sooner rather than later, which has not been the policy of the conservatives up until this election. They would rather close their eyes to the problem in the hope that it might just go away. We propose to rescue our planet from the depths to which it is fated to fall under the present administration, by approaching the small number of planets that are relatively near to Helionia, and which are far less technologically advanced than we are, and ask to share the mineral wealth on their worlds. In return, we will offer their people employment as they work to help us secure the future of Helionia. There is also the question of the wormhole that has recently been discovered by my own starship. The wormhole travels to the far side of the galaxy, and my personal starship the Dagger, travelled through it to explore the regions of space at the other end of it. I can now disclose to you that we found a number of uninhabited star systems that in the long term would make ideal mining colony worlds for Helionia, and they could supply us with all that we shall need in the way of natural resources. I propose that we despatch a fleet of starships through the wormhole to begin to extract all that we need from the numerous planets awaiting us. Now as regards our immediate needs. We also found a number of sparsely populated worlds. Just as the planets that are nearby, they too are not advanced, technologically speaking. These worlds will have to be looked into more closely, before we can decide on any action that we should take, but we think that they can supply us with all of the natural resources that we require in the short term."

Ares Fortuna had not said why all of these planets, both near or far, would help Helionia, but most people recognised the fact that he meant that they would be forced to help them. It was thought unlikely that they would willingly give up their mineral wealth without getting something very tangible in return, such as modern technology. Ares Fortuna though, had other thoughts in regards to this, for he was certainly not going to trade technology for raw materials. The points that he had made seemed very reasonable to the television viewers, if one didn`t push him for the details behind his plans to save Helionia.

Marot Pallas now spoke to the people of Helionia.

"My friends, the Conservative party also believes that we should approach our neighbouring planets and request their help, but we believe it should be done by offering technological advances in exchange for what Helionia requires, raw materials. This of course might limit the amount of materials that we can get quickly by these means, and it might be more expensive. It could also mean that we, the Helionian people, might have to accept a small reduction in our living standards. Surely, this must be more acceptable to an advanced civilisation such as ours is, rather than war, which would be the result of the policies just now outlined by Ares Fortuna. Interplanetary war would cost all of the planets involved in the conflict a great deal. However, it would take time before the benefits of any military action began to flow back to Helionia, and it would probably result in a fall in our living standards anyway. In the long term, I propose instead that we equip a fleet of small vessels to investigate all the uninhabited systems this side of the dark nebula, their job would be to search for the minerals that we need. There is also the prospect of setting up mining colonies in the uninhabited star systems at the other end of the wormhole, which Ares Fortuna recently discovered. So once again, I say that we should accept a drop in our living standards in the short term so that we can invest in our future. I also propose that our priests look into the religious restrictions imposed on our people that stop us from proceeding through the dark nebula. If they can find a way around the restrictions, then we can seek out fresh sources of supply there too, for there must be many more planetary systems there as well."

One member of the studio audience forced Ares Fortuna to admit that he was prepared to use force against any planets that wouldn`t assist them in securing their planets future, other than by supplying them with raw materials at the price set by the aliens. The televised debate was over, so Ares Fortuna left for home. Marot Pallas though spent another hour off camera discussing options with the studio audience. The discussions didn`t end here though, it was carried on inside the television studios of Helionia. Aged politicians were dragged out of retirement by the television companies to give their opinions to the viewers, and television pundits delighted in telling viewers why they wouldn`t work, and how they would save the planet.

Day 146 Helionian Calendar

Ares Fortuna slept late the next day, but during the afternoon, he met up with the leading politicians of his party to decide on their next move. Barack Viranco, his second in command, should they win the election, had been thinking long and hard about their opponent Marot Pallas.

"Without Pallas the party would fall apart, they could never find another politician who the people would trust, the rest of the conservative party are already in the present administration, and they have failed dismally to help get Helionia moving ahead, we simply need to remove him to win the election." Viranco said.

"That sounds fine, but how do we remove him without the blame being laid at our door?" Fortuna demanded to know.

"I can tell you a way Ares." An old woman said to Fortuna, Ares Fortuna swung around, startled by the voice that came from behind the group of men, who were too taken up with their discussion to notice her entrance. He saw a very haggard old crone before him, she was in fact Ares Fortuna`s mother, but not even he knew that fact.

"Magi, how did you get by my men, and why are you here. I thought that you were a friend of the Pallas family, why would you wish to help us?" Fortuna asked suspiciously.

"Not everything is as it seems Ares, for did you know that I knew your mother, and that I promised to help her son in whatever way that I could. She died at the hands of the father of Marot Pallas and I am here to fulfil my promise to her. I have simply been biding my time to punish Marot for his father`s deeds, and now I`m ready." The old crone said in a voice filled with evil that chilled the blood of even these assembled politicians.

"If you expect me to believe that Compton Pallas committed murder, then you must think that I am simple, old woman, ready for my grave." Ares Fortuna said in disgust at something that tore across all of their religious beliefs and what he thought to be credible.

"No, of course he did not kill her, but having made her with child he left her to care for herself, she died giving birth to you. If he had provided a doctor, she needn`t have done so, she could still be here to sit by your side and comfort you, yes even now when you lead the partisan party." Magi said when she saw the look of scorn that appeared in his eyes. Magi had bent the truth, but so what, Magi had been sent away to die, and the person who had returned was not the innocent young woman who had been exiled.

"Are you saying that Marot Pallas is my half-brother?" Fortuna asked sceptically.

"Yes, except that he got the money of the Pallas family, while you went to an orphanage, and had to work to get where you are today."

Ares Fortuna`s face took on an angry grimace. "So, I do have a family then, but not for long if I can help it, what is this help that you offer to me Magi?"

"We will arrange the kidnapping of Marot Pallas, as Barack suggested, and take him through the ancient portal that your men have been investigating so secretly." Magi laughed at the surprise that came to Fortuna`s face.

"I know many things Ares, maybe one day I will tell you some of them, for the moment listen while I tell you the rest of the plan, and of things that you do not know. For instance, did you know that Patina Pallas has a young lover who pleases her while her husband wears himself out trying to find ways to stop you?" Fortuna sat back in his chair amazed at what the old crone was telling him.

"No, you didn`t, well we will leave enough clues to ensure that even Captain Lysenko of the state police finds them, and the newspapers too, they will provide more than enough of a motive to show that Patina and her lover planned it all. We will arrange for Patina to travel through the vortex, you call it a wormhole, she will try to get help from the leader of those planets that you have been investigating on the other side of the galaxy, and she will get it, after a fashion. The person she gets the help from, help that she will so desperately require, will also be the one to kill her, and her husband too, in revenge for her crimes that she will commit against this alien and his family. Patina Pallas will be blamed by the people of Helionia for everything, for will it not be she who travelled to far off Orion to bring this man back to Helionia."

Ares Fortuna and his friends sat still, all lost for words, all afraid to be the one to ask a question of the evil old crone.

"I have been planning their downfall ever since you were born Ares, ever since then I have learnt the secrets of the spirit world, and through this world I travelled through the vortex to the planet called Orion. There, I watched a man that I know you to be interested in, he is named Tyler Burrows, he is content with his life at the moment, Patina will ensure that this happiness doesn`t last for much longer." Magi said with a sneer.

Fortuna was amazed at just how much the old crone knew about the secrets located at the other end of the wormhole, and of his own plans for the people there, and of Tyler Burrows in particular.

"How can you count on Patina Pallas, or even this man on Orion doing as you want them to do?" Fortuna asked.

"As far as Patina is concerned, she will have no option, for I will offer her help when no one else can, that and the fact that I can control her mind, for twenty years I have practiced on her, now she does as I say without even realising that I am guiding her through her life."

Fortuna looked hard at the old crone as he wondered if she could do as she said, and if so, could she also influence his decisions, Magi laughed as she looked at him, her voice rising now as she continued.

"Do not worry Ares, you have a strong mind, and as I said, I have influenced Patina`s mind ever since her birth, I was her nanny for the first four years of her life, I only left because I was growing too attached to her. However, I have always been near enough to her to bend her mind to my will, she will do as she is told, and when she is told. We will have our revenge on the Pallas family; and on Tyler Burrows for his crime against the ancient Heliot nation as well." Magi screamed this last sentence out angrily.

"Compton Pallas, who you say is the father of both Marot Pallas and also of me, he died a violent death didn`t he?" Fortuna asked.

"I drove him mad and he committed suicide, his mind couldn`t take all of the foul things that I sent to keep him company during the night. His family hushed it up of course and invented a fictional intruder to explain away his sudden death." Magi said in a voice that not only made the flesh creep on the men assembled within the room, but caused them to involuntary burrow deep into the soft cushions of the chairs upon which they all sat.

"As far as Tyler Burrows is concerned, no man born would allow either of them to live, after Patina does her work. Assuming that he lives through the ordeal and is able to escape from the portal and return to Orion, and then a report commissioned by yourselves will exonerate Marot Pallas, but not his wife and her lover. This will allow you to demand the death of Tyler Burrows in turn, and as the people of Orion will refuse to hand him over to you, then you can then invade the planet, and all the other planets that are allied to Orion, which is just what you want to do, isn`t it Ares?"

Day 147 Helionian Calendar

Patina Pallas was sitting on a large rug in the middle of the Pallas family estate, and far away from the eyes of the staff that ran the house, and away from the outside staff who were busy with the flower gardens at her request. With her was a young officer from the Helionian military, he had slipped into the estate through a gate that he had been given a key to by Patina, the gate allowed entrance through the rear wall and into the grounds of the large estate. Now he was whispering sweet nothings to her and she was allowing him to. Patina was just twenty years old, and had been married to Marot Pallas for two of these years. She was very beautiful with long ash blond hair and blue eyes, and a figure that made men turn around to look at her whenever she passed their way. She wasn`t tall, she had only come up to the shoulders of the young Lieutenant beside her, when they had stood in each other arms in the shrubbery to kiss, just moments ago. Although the young officer didn`t notice it, there was something hard about her eyes. She always got what she had gone after, no matter whom she had to push out of the way to get it; Magi had seen to this, Magi had also made the young girl just a little too hard. She won Marot by pushing aside the opposition and acting the besotted female, now she had money, power and fortunately, for her, she had begun to fall in love with her husband. This though wouldn`t stop her having fun with the young officer currently playing court to the young wife of the aging conservative party leader, Magi made sure of this.

Lieutenant Ajmer Vakas was twenty-five years old and stationed nearby in the old imperial barracks. He had long blond hair, blue eyes and stood six foot tall, he was very handsome in a boyish sort of way, but none too bright. This was his only failing, for Marot Pallas who was also six foot tall with greying hair, brown eyes and a very distinguished sort of face, was very intelligent. Patina found herself listening more and more to him as he explained the workings of the government, the failure of the present system, and the workings of the financial world of Helionia. In fact, she was beginning to be besotted for real by her husband, and the young officer was just a plaything to while away the long lonely hours of the day before her husband returned home, tired from battling the enemies of Helionia on the floor of the senate. A toy forced on her by Magi, who controlled the mind of the young Patina Pallas and so, its desires. Lieutenant Vakas looked deeply into Patina`s eyes.

"You simply must come to my flat early tomorrow, so that we can spend the whole day in bed; I am due to set off on manoeuvres the next day and I won`t be able to see you for at least another two weeks after that." Vakas begged.

Patina looked up at Vakas. "I might be busy tomorrow; I shall have to let you know." She said teasing him, she tried to look bored by the idea but in reality, she was eager for tomorrow to come. No matter how much she found that she loved her husband, their sex life left a lot to be desired at this moment, this was due to the amount of time Marot Pallas was forced to spend trying to win votes for his party.

"I might have to meet the voters tomorrow or open something; one can never tell, being the wife of such an important man such as Marot." Patina watched with joy as she saw the pain in her lover`s eyes, and so she took pity on him.

"Oh, all right Ajmer, tomorrow I am yours, for after that I will belong to Marot and the planet of Helionia." She could be very sweet when she tried.

She knew that Marot had a lot of engagements planned for the two of them over the coming weeks, to ensure that he won the election, but they were not due to start until the day after tomorrow. Lieutenant Vakas was overjoyed, and taking her in his arms kissed her long and hard before settling her down on the rug, and he slowly began to take her clothes off of her young firm body, for the next hour she was his.

Later that morning a content Lieutenant Vakas was walking slowly back to his car whistling, he felt deliriously happy at this particular moment in his short life, he couldn`t imagine anything happening to spoil this wonderful moment. As he approached his car, two men appeared from behind a van parked just in front of his own car and slugged him hard upon the back of his head. They then pushed him in through the side door of their van, while one of the two men got into Vakas` car and drove it away, the other one tied Vakas up and then drove away with the unconscious Vakas lying in the back of the vehicle.

Day 148 Helionian Calendar

It was early the next morning and Marot Pallas had arisen early as usual, despite being still tired from the day before, to go for his usual morning walk along the paths of his family`s large estate. Few people were up, and none of the inside staff had seen him leave through the large glass door that led from the huge family room into the garden beyond. Only the old gardener saw him disappear around a corner where a large shrub, full of blooms, grew. Marot was mostly happy with his life, for he had a young and beautiful wife who seemed to love him, his career was about to be crowned with the title of President of all Helionia, and he lived in the peace and solitude of his family estate set on the outskirts of Helios, which was the capital city of Helionia. He was just approaching the small garden pond, which had a fountain set in its middle, when two men appeared from behind a tall wall of shrubbery, and they were both armed with plasma weapons.

"Marot Pallas, please stay quiet and we will not have to harm you, but we will hurt anyone who should come along in response to your cries." The taller of the two men ordered. His face was covered in a balaclava and he was dressed in a shabby overall bearing the label 'Kings Cleaners' upon the breast pocket.

"Who are you two men and what are you doing on my estate?" Pallas demanded to know, he didn`t appear frightened, for he didn`t know what was about to happen to him, but he knew thugs when he saw them though, and so treated them accordingly.

"Get off my estate at once or I will have you both thrown off." Pallas threatened.

"We are going, and you can either walk along with us or my large friend here can carry you over his shoulder, you decide which it is to be."

It was the shorter of the two thugs, Hanson, who spoke. Hanson indicated with his plasma weapon towards the path behind him.

"Move it Pallas, and now if you don`t mind." The thug ordered.

"I`m to be kidnapped am I, then you two thugs must be members of the partisan party, I heard that they had an enforcement squad, but couldn`t quite get myself to believe it." Pallas sneered.

"Well believe it now Pallas, we are going to take a little trip, and you are invited along." Hanson ordered. "Now move it, or as I said before, my friend here will be forced to hit you hard and then carry you, and that would make him very angry." Hanson ordered.

"Ares Fortuna will pay dearly for this, when I am rescued, I will take great pleasure in seeing that all who are responsible for my abduction are imprisoned for a very long time. It should also hand me the election on a plate." Pallas threatened once again.

"You have to be rescued first, Pallas." The tall man replied to the threat from Pallas, almost matter of factually.

They arrived at a small gate set in the rear wall of the estate, here Marot Pallas found that the lock had been opened with a key, one that they had taken from the young lieutenant the day before. The taller of the two men looked out to ensure that there was no one around, and then he beckoned the other two men through. Outside waiting for them were Vistas and Rhoads, Vistas was short and stocky, resembled a squat gorilla while Rhoads was slightly taller but rather thin, and resembled a weasel. Behind them was a van with the name Kings Cleaners painted upon its side, a driver sat inside the driver`s compartment patiently waiting for them. Rhoads opened a door in the side of the van and then gestured for Pallas to enter the van.

"In here Pallas, we have company for you, a soldier boy all lonely for his sweetheart." Getting into the van, Marot Pallas saw Lieutenant Vakas sitting upon the floor of the van, bound and gagged, he also appeared to have the beginnings of a black eye. It had happened when he had tried to escape when they were taking him back to this van this morning, it was the same van that he had been thrown into yesterday.

"You be a good little politician and we won`t have to do the same to you Pallas. Sit quietly and you won`t be hurt." Rhoads said condescendingly.

Marot Pallas sat down next to the bound Lieutenant. "What have you brought him along for?" He asked indicating the Lieutenant.

"Didn`t you know Pallas, he is the guy who is going to kidnap you." Hanson said laughing, which in turn started the others off, Hanson seemed to be the number one thug, or so Marot Pallas assumed, he also assumed from what they had said that the young lieutenant was to be the fall guy, for some reason he would take the heat off the partisan party for kidnapping him. Marot Pallas also assumed that he wouldn`t be there to dispute the facts, and now he did feel the first signs of fear spreading through his body.

Marot Pallas was baffled when they arrived at the newly discovered archaeological site, especially as it was now locked up as it was considered so dangerous to anyone who should dare to enter inside of it. The reason of course was that all who had so far tried to explore its secrets had disappeared within the mysterious portal, never to be seen again. It was an ancient piece of technology that had so far kept its secrets to itself, and as far as Marot Pallas was concerned, it could stay that way.

The thugs soon broke into the locked compound that surrounded the ancient portal and were soon passing through the unlocked door of the security cabin that housed the solitary security man, Joslyn Malar, a retired police officer of sixty years of age. Malar immediately saw the plasma pistols pointed his way and decided against resisting, and he soon found himself bound and gagged. Outside, the vehicle that had brought them, drove away out of the compound to a deserted building a long way off, here the driver set fire to the vehicle and then walked away whistling a happy tune.

The magnetic keys that allowed access through the portal were kept inside the same metal box in which they had been found, it was sitting inside a drawer of the desk behind which the security man had been sitting, also inside the drawer was the key to the security hut.

The tall thug, Mottos, took out the ordinary door key, plus six of the magnetic keys, he then turned to one of the thugs with a cruel smile upon his ugly face. "Make sure those knots are tight, we don`t want him escaping now do we." He said and then laughed.

"Okay Vakas, will do" One of the thugs said using the young officer`s name to incriminate him even more, he promptly tested each of the knots.

"Now, pick up one of the back packs from the van, Pallas, inside it you will find food, water, a sleeping bag and a few toiletries, then we will all enter through the portal." Hanson ordered the politician. The thugs had also picked up a backpack each, with Mottos carrying two, as he also carried one for the young officer.

"You do realise that every single person who has entered through this doorway has not been heard of since, and that includes six robotic devices, for all we know we might find them all standing around waiting to die on the other side of this ancient doorway." Marot Pallas asked, slightly baffled by their orders. In answer, Hanson pushed the politician forward into the portal.

"Now Pallas, charge your magnetic key now by inserting it into that slot beside you."

Marot Pallas did as he was told, and he was followed by the four thugs and finally Hanson who also charged the key meant for the lieutenant, as he was still bound and gagged and so couldn`t charge the key himself.

"Don`t worry yourself sick, Pallas, because we have already been through to the world on the other side of this doorway, and we also know the way out, now move." Hanson said and pushed Marot Pallas all the way through the dark portal. Mottos, was the last of the group to enter through the portal, as he had stopped to lock the security cabin with the key that he had taken from the drawer.

The way led into a long dark tunnel that ended up inside a large cavern, lit by some form of bioluminescence that allowed them to see most of the cavern, although some of the corners were hidden in shadow. Once they were all safely inside, Hanson pulled off his balaclava and this one act told Marot Pallas that he was not going to live to see his wife again, and again he was baffled by this action.

The two new thugs had dragged the lieutenant passed the security cabin ensuring that the guard never caught sight of the face of the young officer`s face, so that Vakas would be seen as a kidnapper and not as a victim. They then dragged him through the dark portal and into the cavern beyond, where upon they cut his bonds around his legs so that he could walk unaided. Hanson had taken a map out of his breast pocket, it was a copy of one found by Trajo Fortuna on the sixth plate, the fifth plate showing the planetary system where the moon Galafrey could be found.

The six men moved along the dimly lit tunnel until it ended in a large cave, one which opened up to show a mountainous landscape that disappeared into the far distance, and above their heads an enormous planet took up most of their view of the sky as it hung there, seemingly motionless in the sky.

"My god, we aren`t on Helionia anymore, that portal must have transported us to another world that must lie far away from Helionia, for I think that we might just remember that gas giant above our heads if we were anywhere near Helionia." Marot Pallas said in amazement. "Maybe this is why no word has come back to us from the other parties that went through the portal." Pallas said.

"Yes Pallas, that and a few other things which you will soon see. Now I suggest that you all take care along here, for if any of you falls off this track then it will be up to you to get yourself back to the main party, we will not risk our lives trying to save yours." Hanson said.

Far below them, Marot Pallas could see a roaring river that had carved out the deep canyon that it rushed through; they were far above it and walking along a narrow mountainous ridge. The men moved off along the rough rocky track that followed the main part of the mountain to the other side of them, and after just one short rest stop, they came to the next dark portal entrance. The first domain seemed empty of anything except for a few mountain goats and some birds that were flying home to roost as the sun that shone on this moon was beginning to set. As they had made good time through the first of the domains, Hanson told them all to get some sleep, for they would be entering through into the next domain in just eight hours' time. Marot Pallas sat down on the hard rock floor with his back resting against a large boulder, looked up into the night sky, and frowned.

"There doesn`t appear to be any stars in the sky." Marot Pallas said. A moment went by and then an awful thought entered his head. "My god do you know what this might mean?" Pallas groaned fearfully.

"Yes, we are in for a cloudy night, hopefully it will not rain because I have only just got over my last cold." Vistas said sleepily, for his had been a very long day and he just wanted to sleep now.

"There wasn`t that much cloud about earlier on, no I think that it signifies something far worse than the chance of rain, I believe that it means that this planetary system is inside of the dark nebula." Marot Pallas said quietly, for as yet, their religion forbid anyone to enter into the nebula on pain of an eternity in hell, and to even hint that they were now inside of it scared him.

"It is just a little cloudy." Hanson said looking up worriedly at the night sky, as did the other members of his team now that the thought had been aired.

**********

The excitement in the capital began when Marot Pallas was found to be missing. Patina had assumed that as normal Marot Pallas had risen early that morning, and so she didn`t miss him until breakfast, when he failed to show. An old gardener remembered seeing him taking his morning constitutional, but none of the servants had actually seen him return, she had called his brother, then his political adviser and finally the police to report him missing. Later in the morning, a report had come in that a street cleaner had seen a group of men enter the large enclosure that housed the recently discovered ancient site. The cleaner thought that one of the men might be the missing Marot Pallas, although he hadn`t got a good view of him.

Captain Lysenko of the department of police was there now with his team of detectives, he was interviewing the guardian of the site Professor Lichen, an aged old man who was short and dumpy and looking a little tired.

"Professor Lichen we are here because Marot Pallas is missing from his home, and we have had a report that he was seen entering the enclosure around the ancient site with a group of men earlier this morning. I understood that the site was closed, due to the fact that none of the people to enter through the portal have ever been seen again?" Lysenko asked.

Lysenko was thirty-five years of age with dark curly hair and six feet two inches of heavily built body, which intimidated most criminals unfortunate enough to attract his attention. His blue eyes bored into the eyes of Professor Lichen, almost as if he would be able to tell whether the man would be telling him the whole truth, or not.

"That is quite correct Captain, no one is allowed inside until a more comprehensive study is made of the site. The gate in the fence is normally kept locked at all times, and a guard has been placed inside to prevent access by the glory hunters of our world. I believe that to enter through the portal is nothing more than sheer suicide." Lichen replied sounding just a little perplexed.

"Where is the guard now Professor?" Lysenko asked.

"Unfortunately, he also appears to be missing." The professor replied anxiously.

"Will you please open the door of the security hut so that we can see if the guard is inside Professor?" Lysenko requested of the worried guardian.

"Of course, Captain, immediately." With that, the professor took out his own set of keys and opened the door of the hut, inside they found the guard bound and gagged and sitting dejectedly against the rear wall.

"Are you all right Joslyn?" The professor asked of the guard, concerned for his man`s wellbeing.

"Yes sir, they just tied me up and then they left me here. I think that they all intended to go through the portal, I heard Marot Pallas warning them against going through it, but they wouldn`t listen, they just ignored him." Joslyn said, grateful to be rescued, and also for the professor`s concern for his wellbeing.

"How many men entered the portal with Marot Pallas?" Captain Lysenko asked.

"There were four of them plus Marot Pallas, he didn`t want to go with them but they made him go, oh and there was another guy, he was tied up, I could see him through the window here before they tied me up. I suppose they dragged him through as well, some of those far-right extremists if you ask me, they must be responsible for this, they want Pallas out of the way so that their side will win the contest unopposed." The security guard ventured.

"You may be right, but I wouldn`t go around saying such things, it could be unhealthy for you." Captain Lysenko warned the guard, for other outspoken critics of the far-right party had been attacked just lately, and so far, they hadn`t been able to put the blame onto anyone.

Later in the day, the car belonging to Lieutenant Vakas was discovered parked along the street, and on investigating, they found that he too was missing. Further investigations brought to light the affair between the young officer and Patina Pallas, for photographs of the young couple had been sent to Captain Lysenko, along with a very explicit video of the couple. It showed them having sex in the grounds of the Pallas estate on the day before both Marot Pallas and the young officer disappeared. These photographs and video had also been sent to the newspapers.

While Patina admitted the affair, she refused to believe that Ajmer Vakas could be involved in her husband`s kidnapping, and so far, no other evidence came in to link either Patina or her lover to the crime, except for the parked car, which as Captain Lysenko remarked. "It is odd that it should be parked just there, for surely only a very dumb criminal would have left his car there for us to find."

On hearing of the kidnapping of Marot Pallas, Trajo had hurried to her father to see if he was going to tell the authorities about the other entrance into the dark domain.

"No Trajo, the disappearance of Marot Pallas suits our cause just fine, please tell Remick and Prion to stay quiet about the other portal on the moon Galafrey for the moment." Ares Fortuna ordered.

"Do I take it that you know more about the disappearance of Marot Pallas than you are admitting to father?" Trajo asked her father, looking aghast at such a thing.

"Let us just say that it came as no surprise that someone took him out of the running for the presidency Trajo, and leave it at that." Ares Fortuna replied.

Trajo looked at her father for a moment before replying. "Of course, father, I will speak to Prion and Remick immediately, and ask them to keep quiet about everything to do with our research regarding the dark domain." Trajo promised, but she did wonder if she were doing the right thing.

Trajo and Remick were paid up members of the partisan party and believed in everything that Ares Fortuna preached, including the bit about the Helionians being worth more than the primitives on the other nearby planets are. If keeping quiet about the find would help the cause, then so be it, Marot Pallas would just have to find someone else to fight his corner. As for Prion well, he was so besotted by Trajo that he would do as he was told."

Day 149 Helionian Calendar

Hanson was now about to lead his party through the second portal and into a very different world, a semi-arid land that resembled New Mexico. Marot Pallas and Lieutenant Vakas were now roped together with their hands tied in front of them to ensure they didn`t try to turn the tables on the thugs.

"Okay let`s move out." Hanson ordered.

Vistas took the lead with the two captives following him, with Hanson, Mottos and Rhoads bringing up the rear. The going was tiring, especially for Marot Pallas, who was unused to quite so much physical exercise, but at least the day wasn`t too hot. They were travelling through the highlands of this domain, along a much longer route than that travelled by the robotic device sent by Ares Fortuna to scan the area at the large cavern where the footprints of the first party of archaeologists were discovered. The robotic devices had travelled by the shorter route meant for the maintenance teams to use, and not the longer one meant for visitors, for the longer one showed much more of the countryside. Marot Pallas could now see far below them a land that was a lush green tropical landscape; it was fed by fast flowing rivers and filled with animals from a fantasy world. They travelled along the high ridge until finally the land began to fall down towards the distance plains he had seen, and it was now that Vistas came to a halt in front of a cave, which had an entrance resembling an American Wild West prison cell. Hanson came up to Marot Pallas.

"Okay Pallas, this is where you get off, this will be your new luxury home for a while. There is a water supply coming in through the rear wall, a cot for you to sleep on, and a supply of dried food that will last you for a month, if you don`t invite any guests around for a dinner party that is." Hanson said in what he considered a humorous vein.

Marot Pallas was then pushed inside the cave, the rope tying the two captives was severed, and Vakas led away at the end of the rope, much like a slave. The binding about Pallas`s two hands was then cut to allow him a little more freedom. Blood immediately began to flow freely in his veins, he knew this as he now had to endure the agony of pins and needles, for at least a minute, but even so, Marot Pallas was thankful to have his limbs free. The thugs now moved away along the trail taking a baffled Vakas with them, for he had fully expected to be left with Pallas. So, did Marot Pallas who shouted after the disappearing group.

"Where are you taking the young officer, why don`t you leave him here with me?"

Hanson turned around to stare at Marot Pallas before maliciously replying to Marot Pallas.

"We cannot, for we have already arranged for company to call on you Marot, an alien will be calling by soon, he will be here to kill you Pallas, sleep well tonight for you won`t enjoy too many more nights in this lifetime." Hanson then turned away from Pallas and walked after the others, and they were soon too far away for Pallas to see or to hear them.

Marot looked out from his cell at the barren landscape around him and almost cried. He knew that they wouldn`t kill him, no they would just leave him here to spend the rest of eternity by himself. Marot thought feeling sorry for himself. Or until the alien the thug spoke of put him out of his misery for whatever reason he may have, although he couldn`t think just why an alien should want to kill him. As he sat down on the cot that they had provided, he reflected on what had happened. It was obvious to him that Trajo Fortuna must have found a safe way into the portal, and she had obviously informed her father and no one else, but then Trajo wouldn`t help the enemy of her father by telling anyone about it, would she? No, he was doomed to die here, forgotten by all except for his gaoler when he made his occasional visits to supply him with fresh supplies to keep him alive, either that or he was doomed to be killed by some alien for whatever strange reason that he may have.

Hanson and the others were walking between steep cliffs that soared up to the heavens, and just a few hundred feet before them they could make out the portal set in the side of the foothills of a giant mountain. Here they would be taken away from the series of wild life domains.

Five large animals came around the corner just behind them, they looked similar to the dangerous Deinoychus that had once roamed the middle cretaceous period of ancient Earth, and the noise of their approach warned the five men of their presence. The creatures were smaller than the ones that had once lived on Earth, for they were only nine feet long and weighed about one hundred and forty pounds. Even so, they were still dangerous, and for such very dangerous creatures, Hanson and his three cronies seemed very unconcerned about them as they turned to look upon them. They each pulled out their plasma weapon and fired at the beasts, unfortunately this time nothing at all happened, the plasma weapons failed to fire bolts of energy at the dinosaurs, and the dinosaurs were not very impressed by the things in the hands of their chosen meals. The four thugs looked at each other bewildered and very scared, they then tried their weapons again, but the result was just the same, and by now, the five dinosaurs were almost amongst them.

"Pallas was right, we are in the dark nebula; the gods are punishing us for our blasphemy." Hanson cried as he turned away from the attacking monsters.

Hanson had turned away first and ran, while Rhoads, who was the most stunned of the thugs turned last, so he was the first to go down beneath the devouring jaw of the large beast that charged him down. His cries of agony were heard by the young Ajmer Vakas who had simply stood and waited for death, he knew he couldn`t escape his fate within the forbidden zone. Vistas was pulled down from a nearby hill by another of the charging carnivores, which leapt up the hill in pursuit of him and pulled him back down to the floor, he also died a terrible death as his screams echoed around the hot rocks of the canyon. Mottos had only run a few feet away when he felt the heavy weight of the dinosaur upon his back, and he crashed to the floor beneath the merciless beast. Hanson might have got away if there had not been one dinosaur for each person. He saw the dark portal in front of him, this was the maintenance exit and he had even entered by it days before. However, he didn`t have time to move far enough along it before he too was charged down, the screams of the men didn`t last long before silence fell upon the land. The dinosaur that had devoured Hanson moved further along the portal that would have taken the four thugs to safety, it hoped to find more of this easy prey along it, but something about the portal scared the dinosaur, and so it turned around and re-joined the group. The young officer was to have been incarcerated within a dungeon on one of the more primitive worlds that Ares Fortuna sought to plunder, and he would have spent all his remaining days there, so at least his death had ended his suffering.

Chapter Three

Alien Visitors

Day 149 Helionia Calendar

On Helionia, six more robotic machines were sent through the portal, but contact was immediately lost as soon as the robots entered through the portal, but it was still too early to give up on them, wasn`t it?

Patina Pallas, the young wife of the kidnapped politician was beside herself with worry over her missing husband, and it was not just for her husband that she worried, it was also for her planet, for if the partisan party won by default it would mean that Helionia would enter a dark age. There was no other politician to stand against Ares Fortuna, at least not one who stood a chance of winning. The planet would be ruled by its far-right party, a group of men who knew little about pity, and who would take what they wanted from both Helionia, and the other nearby planets. Patina was also a little worried about the whereabouts of her missing lover, Lieutenant Ajmer Vakas, she knew him to be innocent of all charges, but couldn`t think where he might have got to.

Patina decided to call on the old mystic, the mystic lived deep within the woods, near to the large estate where her own mansion was situated. The old mystic looked to be older than anyone else living on the planet, although she wasn`t, it was her lifestyle that had aged her so. She was sitting outside of her small house waiting for Patina`s arrival, for the mystic knew that at some point Patina would seek her out. The old mystic had befriended the beautiful young woman from her adolescent years, giving her advice that had paid off, for by following the advice of the mystic Patina had married into a most wealthy family. Patina had even fallen in love with her husband when she had moved into his family mansion; he too found that marriage to the young Patina was better than he could have hoped, for the young woman had turned into the ideal wife, for a man looking to be the next President of Helionia.

"How are you Magi?" Patina asked the old bent mystic.

"I am fine child, I have been expecting you." Magi said mysteriously.

"Then hopefully you can tell me how to find my husband?" Patina replied. Hope filled her breast for the first time in days, could the old mystic help her she wondered.

"I can tell you who to bring to Helionia, for our planet`s fate rests on an alien who lives many light years away."

"An alien, is there no one nearer Magi?" Patina asked.

"No child, you will have to travel by the recently discovered vortex to reach this man, and I will come with you, for so it is written in both of our futures."

Day 151 Helionian Calendar

Travelling through the dangerous vortex meant that the small starship Swiftsure, which Patina and the mystic travelled in, was in orbit around the far-off planet of Orion within just one day.

"Who do I need to speak with Magi?" Patina asked the old mystic.

"With the one that came to them from the dream world child, ask to speak only to him." Magi replied mysteriously.

A minute later Captain Rada turned to Patina. "I have contacted the authorities on the planet Patina, and they have given us permission to send down a shuttle craft to the space port. It is on the edge of the small town that is the only modern complex on this planet, the rest being only villages inhabited by primitives." Captain Rada said to the young woman whose family owned the starship. He had been a guest at the parties thrown by the family for the last two years now, and was intoxicated by the beauty of Patina, and would do anything Patina asked of him.

"I told them that we would like to speak to the one who came to the planet from the dream world, Patina, and I felt rather silly saying such a thing. However, they knew immediately who I meant, his name is Tyler Burrows, and he is the mayor of the planet, which is much like our own President, but on a very much smaller scale."

"Has my android learned their language yet?" Patina asked.

"Yes Patina, here he is now, as you obviously know already, he is the latest in a new series of androids, and so he will act as your body guard while you are on the planet, in case the natives are not quite as civilised as we are."

The android was the usual five feet ten inch model with a serious expression set upon his face, which on a man might be considered reasonably good looking, he had dark brown hair and matching brown eyes. He was quite personable, so that he wouldn`t stand out amongst the people of Patina`s position in society, and had been with her for one month now, and always travelled with her whenever she left the family estate.

Down on the surface of Orion, the sun was streaming down through the pale blue skies to scorch the spaceport, and the small town of New Eden. It was the year of 2505 as measured by Earth, and its colonies. All had been peaceful here on Orion for the last eight years, and the locals wanted it to stay that way. Walking towards the small office that took care of all matters pertaining to off world traffic, was Tyler Burrows. He had just left his wife Caroline and their three children, who were in town shopping, to come to the space port, for Tyler had been asked to drop by as an alien shuttle craft was about to land, and someone aboard wanted to speak to him personally. Tyler was from Earth originally, but was now the Mayor of Orion, and had been since his arrival in a violent time storm eleven years ago. He was not striking in appearance; he was now thirty-nine years in age, and stood five feet nine inches tall, his hair was brown and he had blue eyes, he had a square chin and a largish nose.

The ultra-modern space shuttle landed close to the spaceport offices, and almost immediately the outer airlock door opened in its side to allow Patina, her mystic and the android, to step down onto the large concrete area that was the spaceport. Tyler walked across to the travellers, and as he was unsure how this particular group of aliens greeted each other, he gave them his standard greeting.

"Good morning, my name is Tyler Burrows and I believe that you want to speak with me?" Patina moved forward along with the android, who said in quite good English.

"Good morning Tyler Burrows, may I introduce Patina Pallas, she is from one of Helionia`s leading families. She has come to request that you return to our planet and help us, as you are thought to be our last hope."

Patina looked at Tyler for a long moment, for she was interested in one whom the gods seemed fit to take more than just a passing interest. He certainly was not as handsome as her Ajmer, but like her husband, Tyler possessed a certain something that poor Ajmer would never possess, this man before her was a leader who attracted followers, just as she attracted Beaus.

"May I ask where your planet is in relation to Orion?" Tyler asked looking at the android and his mistress, rather intrigued by the stranger`s request.

"Helionia is on the other side of the galaxy, about one hundred thousand light years away from Orion." The android answered.

"Are you joking, it would take me years to travel that far?" Tyler said unsure whether the stranger had simply made a mistake with his use of the English language, or whether he meant what he said. As these thoughts went through Tyler`s mind he scanned the face of the beautiful woman opposite him, and failing to find any humour on her face Tyler assumed it was not an attempt at some alien sort of humour, an answer was not long in coming.

"If you travel through the vortex that we used to come here to Orion, it will take a starship just one day Tyler Burrows." The android replied helpfully.

"I see and what help do you require?" Tyler decided to ask just where the vortex was later, if he decided to help the strange aliens.

"The husband of Patina Pallas has been kidnapped by extremists on our planet, and we must rescue him within twenty four days or a far-right political party will gain power on our planet and throw our world, and those near to it, into turmoil." The android answered.

"Surely you have the necessary people back on Helionia to rescue him, without having to resort to my having to travel right across the galaxy in search of the missing man?" Tyler asked looking directly at Patina now.

"Normally you are correct Tyler Burrows, but he has been taken through a recently discovered portal of great antiquity. Before the kidnapping, a party of Helionian archaeologists armed with the latest plasma weapon, travelled through the same portal and when no word was heard from them, we sent six robotic devices similarly armed in to search for them, but no further word was received from either the machines or the Helionians. It is now considered suicidal to enter the portal and it has been closed up until further research can be done. I can only assume that the kidnappers must know of a safe way through the portal, for they are thought to be extremists and not fanatics. When we left another six robotic devices were sent through the portal but we have not heard anything from those ones either." The android explained to a baffled Tyler Burrows.

"You expect me to leave my family and travel to the other side of the galaxy on a suicide mission, with zero hope of getting through, is that right?" Tyler didn`t know whether to laugh or get mad with the alien`s ludicrous request.

Just then Caroline came over with their three children; Caroline was quite a beautiful woman with long blond hair, blue eyes, she was five feet eight inches tall. She was also normally a very happy woman who at the moment was interested in what the aliens wanted to speak to Tyler about. She was worried that they might want him to journey away from Orion to solve some problem for them, as soon as she drew level with him, he told her.

"You are not serious Tyler; they expect you to lay down your life for complete strangers, with not even the barest of hopes of a successful conclusion?"

Just then, Magi came forward and she was looking decidedly odd even for her, she appeared to be in some sort of a trance as she looked up at Tyler, and then Magi spoke to him in English, without even the need for the android to translate what she said.

"Your future is intertwined with the people of Helionia, Tyler Burrows, I have seen you in my dreams standing before the portal that is on Helionia, and then too on another alien world. Be aware though, you are holding the traditional weapons of Orion, it is a warning from the gods; do not rely on your modern energy weapons when you come to the planet." Tyler could have sworn that the old women spoke with an Orionist accent.

With that, Magi turned away and took Patina back to the shuttle with the android hurrying after them. Magi returned to her cabin as soon as they got back aboard the Swiftsure, for some reason she felt unwell, and not fully in control of her thoughts. Magi was more than a little troubled by what had occurred down on the planet`s surface, for she had felt the force of another, someone who lived in the spirit world.

Tyler looked after them as they boarded the small shuttlecraft. "They really must be mad to think that anyone in their right mind would voluntarily go on such a mission; and for a stranger too."

"Forget about them Tyler, let`s go and have lunch over at that new restaurant, it looks quite nice, and they have such a great menu with many meals that the children like." Caroline said, almost as excited as her children at such a thought. "Tyler do you realise that I have never eaten a meal in a restaurant before, this will be my first ever time."

Tyler smiled at his beautiful wife and thought to himself, such were the innocent pleasures of the Burrows family now that we finally have peace here on Orion, and so they headed away from the spaceport and back into the small town of New Eden. The restaurant was the first of its kind to ever open on the planet, and it was visited by many of the colonists and the natives of Orion, who saw it as an exotic attraction, but the smallest of the Burrows family stopped and looked up at her father.

"Daddy you won`t leave us and go with those funny people and get killed, will you?" Callisto`s face was very serious as she awaited her father`s answer.

"No Callisto, I won't ever do such a thing as that."

Callisto was the replica of her mother, and this was one reason why Tyler Burrows adored her so, one day she would have the pick of the boys, just as her mother had, but thankfully, that day was still so very far away.

They decided that as it was such a beautiful day, they would sit outside to have their lunch, and the lunch at the new restaurant was indeed extremely good, Tyler couldn`t remember the last time he had eaten in a restaurant, it would have been back on Earth of course, but that was a lifetime ago. The sun being gloriously warm after the cold of the day before, and with some of their friends walking by and stopping for a moment to say hello, it made for a perfect family day out.

No sooner had Patina boarded the shuttle, then she gave instructions to the helmsman. "Ensure that you always know where the Burrows family is helmsman, and send their position to the Swiftsure so that they also know where they are."

On her return to the starship Swiftsure, Patina walked straight up to the bridge and spoke to Captain Rada, and it was exactly forty minutes later when he turned to her with the news that she had been impatiently awaiting.

"He is away from his family; if we are quick, we can bring them aboard now." Rada called across to Patina.

"Do you have some crewmen waiting at the Matter Transporter, Captain?" Patina asked anxiously.

"Yes, they are ready and waiting Patina." Rada replied, happy to be of service to the beautiful young woman.

"Then do it now." Patina ordered.

Seconds later and a confused Caroline Burrows and her three children found themselves standing aboard the Swiftsure, brought there by the Matter Transporter, they were then escorted down to a cabin in which they were to be kept confined for the duration of the voyage. They found their quarters to be extremely comfortable, but a prison cell is a prison cell, however nice it looks. Caroline was furious with the Swiftsure crew, and especially with the blond woman who had asked Tyler to return with her to her world on a suicide mission to rescue her husband. Caroline now demanded to see the captain, but without success. On the bridge, Patina had heard that she now had the Burrows family prisoner, and also that the long message that she had prepared had been sent back down to Caroline`s previous position, so she ordered the captain to return home to Helionia.

Down on the planet's surface, the other customers in the restaurant were confused, as was Tyler when he returned to find his family gone, and a large box sitting on the table. Mavis the waitress rushed up to Tyler who looked up from the box and smiled at her.

"Do you know where my family are hiding Mavis?" He asked politely.

"They were beamed away in a shower of sunbeams Tyler; or that was what it looked like, one second they were sitting at the table and the next they just disappeared in what I can only describe as a shower of sunbeams. I think someone must have kidnapped them." Mavis exclaimed.

"Those aliens have beamed them aboard their starship with a Matter Transporter." Tyler said looking up at the sky and screaming loud enough to silence the square.

"I will kill you all if you so much as harm one hair on their heads." Tyler had shouted up to those within the alien ship, but it had already left Orion, and was even now speeding back to Helionia and taking with it his family.

On the table in front of Tyler, the box beeped causing Tyler to look anew at it. On opening it, he found just a message written in English upon an electronic tablet. 'Follow us Tyler Burrows, if you wish to see your family again, but bring only four of your friends with you as the portal will not allow more to enter it in any period of twenty four hours. You will find star charts on this machine that will allow you to find us, press the small grey button at the bottom left corner to activate the correct program.'

Tyler leant against the table as he fought to clear his mind of the fear that filled it, of the panic that swamped him, that stopped him from doing anything at all to save his family. Finally, though he struggled through this all-enveloping fog and was able to bring his rapidly beating heart back under control, and to clear his mind enough to allow it to work again. Around him, people looked at him, all were silent waiting for him to do something, or ask them for help that they would all have willingly given to him. Tyler pulled his phone from his pocket and called his friend.

"Appolon, it`s Tyler."

"What is it my friend?" Appolon was native chief of one of the tribes on Orion, he was Tyler`s brother in law and also his very good friend.

"We have just had a visit from an alien starship, they wanted me to journey across to the other side of the galaxy on a certain suicide mission, and when I refused, they kidnapped Caroline and the children using a Matter Transporter, I am going after them in the Orion Defender." Tyler said, he didn`t have to wait long for a reply.

"I will come with you and so will Tryon, as he will certainly demand to accompany us on such a quest, pick us both up at our village Tyler." Appolon said grimly.

"The aliens have said that just five of us can enter their portal, so see if Cimon and Argo fancy a trip to the other side of the galaxy? It could be a one way voyage my friend, I don`t know whether we will be able to win this battle, so tell them before they accept my invitation." Tyler said, for he was unsure as to what he would find at the end of their journey.

"That is all the more need for you to have tried and trusted friends to accompany you on your quest Tyler."

"Appolon I will explain later, but also bring along our bows and spears for this trip, I am going over to the Defender now. I should be with you very soon, oh and bring along those all-terrain boots that you recently bought for me, I hardly think my come to town shoes will be suitable for anything the future holds for us."

"We will be waiting here for you my friend."

Tyler rushed off to the spaceport and the space cruiser, Orion Defender.

**********

Ray Connors saw Tyler enter the ship through the air lock and greeted him. Ray was almost sixty years of age now and thinking about retiring from the space game, although whether he really would, was highly unlikely. He had a rugged face that could never have been called handsome, but he still possessed his lean build, and although hardly muscular he was still quite fit for his years, he was almost six foot tall, had grey eyes and his hair now was taking on the same colour.

"Tyler how are you, did I see the family with you earlier on?" Tyler ignored the greeting and instead got right to the point.

"Ray, do we have enough of a crew aboard to be able to go on a long flight right this minute."

"Yes Tyler, Jean is in the galley with the two engineers from Earth, and we have Craig Fowler up on the bridge, and if you are coming too, well you can handle anything on the bridge if need be so yes, we are ready for anything, why?" Ray asked a little bemused at the way Tyler had not returned his pleasantries.

"I will explain as we go Ray, first take the Defender over to my village, we are going to pick up Appolon and Tryon there and hopefully Cimon and Argo, and as I said, I will fill you in on the way."

Ray and Tyler rushed up the stairs towards the bridge, and at the top of the stairs they met Jean.

"Jean we are taking off now, Tyler has an emergency happening right this minute, so we will take off as soon as engineering is ready."

"Okay Ray, nothing too serious is it Tyler." Jean asked.

"Yes, it is bloody serious Jean, please help me out and prepare to get us out of here this instant, and when we are moving come up to the bridge and I will fill you both in with the details."

Jean left Tyler and Ray thinking that it was the first time she had ever heard Tyler swear, or seen him look so desperate; it really must be serious and personal too.

The Defender was soon flying through the long valley that separated New Eden from the southern half of the continent, and Jean felt able to leave the new crewmembers alone in engineering to come up onto the bridge. The crewmembers were on loan from the space fleet of Earth, as Orion was always chronically short of local men who were willing to travel away from their families on space missions, let alone ones of an extended duration.

Jean Connors was almost fifty years old with auburn hair and hazel eyes; she had managed to hold onto her slim figure and still looked quite young and very beautiful. She stood five feet five inches in her bare feet. Jean had spent most of her adult life in space getting in and out of trouble, now she couldn`t think of living any other way, or without the man she was still in love with, Ray Connors.

"Well Tyler what on earth is the problem this time?" A worried Jean Connors asked.

"An alien starship has kidnapped Caroline and my three children, they said that I must travel to their planet, go through some sort of portal and rescue some would be President, only then will I get them back." Tyler explained grimly.

"Tyler, why can`t they rescue this politician themselves?" Jean asked amazed at Tyler`s words.

"They have tried and failed, a mystic told them that only I can possibly save him, oh and no one who has ever entered into the portal has ever exited it, and that includes some robotic machines, it is why I refused to go on the mission originally, it seems they won`t take no for an answer." Tyler replied.

"Do you want to try and find Paul Divine to come along as crew Tyler?" Ray asked.

"Better not, I only have to go near to his house to give Alice Divine a near heart attack, she is so sure that I will take him to his death one day, the trouble is that on this trip she could well be right, maybe you two had better think twice about coming along." Tyler said grimly. Ray immediately answered his friend`s suggestion.

"Where is this planet? As soon as we have Caroline and the kids back, we can return in the Freedom and teach them a few manners." Ray asked.

"On the other side of the galaxy Ray, we have to journey through some vortex in space to get there; it will supposedly only take one day to complete the whole journey. Tyler was slowly getting control of himself, but his deep fear for the safety of his family remained, firmly embedded deep within him, and it was slowly eating away at him.

"I will send a message to David Reynolds on the Freedom, Ray, and tell him that we will be missing for a while from this part of the galaxy. I will ask him to send a light space cruiser to the spiral arm of Perseus until either he returns to this sector of space or we do." Tyler said.

"Aye, otherwise Orion and the other planets along the spiral arm might go without protection for quite a while."

***********

On board the Swiftsure, Caroline and the children were locked inside a cabin in the bowels of the ship where she was desperately trying to calm her children. "Hush little ones, your daddy will be coming after us soon, and then that awful woman will wish that she had never landed on Orion, or asked to meet your daddy." Caroline said.

"Mummy, does daddy have to go on that scary trip to save that woman`s daddy, because if he has to go then Mummy, can I go with daddy to look after him?" Callisto wanted to know.

"I`m sure that will help your daddy a lot Callisto, knowing that you are willing to accompany him." Caroline said smiling down upon her youngest child.

They had been on the starship for just a few hours when the cabin door opened and the android entered.

"Excuse me for bothering you but I felt that I must warn you and your family that we are about to enter a vortex that will catapult us over to the other side of the galaxy, the effect of going through the vortex can be quite scary I am told, if you are not expecting it." The android said quite pleasantly.

"Just what can my children and I expect to happen?" Caroline asked.

"The starship will rush forward at a terrific speed and you will be thrown backwards and when you exit the other side you will find yourselves being thrown forwards. I suggest that you all stay sitting on the bed that you are on now, but move back against the wall, oh and as the children are so young you had better hang on to them. I will stay here with you until our journey through the vortex is over, to be of whatever assistance that I can to your family." The android said, again sounding quite pleasant.

"That sounds like fun mummy." Apollo said, he was aged seven and had been named in honour of his godfather Appolon.

He was normally very mischievous, but up until now he had been very quiet. His blue eyes cast down towards the floor rather than look at the people who had kidnapped his mother, his younger brother and his baby sister. Caroline knew that one day he would be the darling of the village.

"I`m sure it will be Apollo, but let`s sit back against the wall like the gentleman says."

Callisto was sitting on Caroline`s lap and Caroline had an arm around her to ensure that she wasn`t thrown forward onto the floor. Perseus was on her right squashed up against the corner wall of the cabin, he was aged just five and named after a chieftain who had died bravely at the hands of the barbaric Heliots, they had attempted to enslave the planet years before. Perseus was trying hard to be brave like the hero who had also been called Perseus, a man that his daddy told him about; he had been alive a long time ago, even before his daddy had been born. Perseus had kept close to his mother during this awful time, he was a little scared by what was happening, but he vowed to be brave for his mummy. Caroline looked at him and smiled for his blond hair always looked so unruly. His blue eyes were still wet, for he had cried earlier on when the angry guard had looked in on them and shouted at them to sit down while he had their food brought in. Finally, there was Apollo who sat on Caroline`s left and her other arm was about him hugging him to her side to keep him safe. He was a little annoyed at being treated like a baby, but sat and bore it just like his daddy had told him too.

The android wasn`t sure just how welcome he was, but he sat down on the corner of the bed so that he could help if he was needed. He instinctively knew that there should be more to his life, but couldn`t for the life think just what it might be, soon he would find out.

The initial fear had left the children, now they were just waiting for their daddy to come to take them back home. Which was not how Tyler, felt for he was terrified that his family might be harmed.

**********

Earlier in the day, the Orion Defender had arrived at their village to find Appolon and Tryon ready, they had soon loaded their weapons aboard the starship, Cimon, and Argo had been with them. They had helped to load the supply of food given to him by the villagers into the large empty hold of the ship, empty apart from the powerful Heliot plasma weapon sitting patiently inside the hold until it was called upon to fire at their enemies.

Appolon and Tryon were similar in appearance, although Appolon was the taller of the two blond natives of Orion, both were good looking and intelligent with the same serious blue eyes that could fill with laughter at any moment. Cimon and Argo were the opposite in looks being darker in colouring and both stocky, but both were as brave as their two friends were, and would go to the ends of the Orion for Tyler and his family. Clustered about the Defender were the other warriors of the village, who would have demanded to come with Tyler to free his family, if they had been able to.

"I wish that you could come, but the alien's message stated that only another five people could enter the portal, it would allow no more until a full day had passed when it will reset and allow more through. The danger to one party is serious, I couldn`t allow two parties to enter a portal that has allowed none to leave its domain. Cimon and Argo are coming with us but it will admit no one else, I hope that we will all return home soon. It will be another of those long trips which I had hoped we were through with, but thank you for your kind offers of help, but we must leave now goodbye, please pray for our safe return." Tyler said, as he looked out upon his brave friends.

Cimon and Argo boarded the Defender, and Hera approached her husband, Tryon, and kissed him fair well.

"Look after our friends brave Tryon, and more importantly comeback home to me."

"I will Hera, take care of your mother, Tyler; he said to his young son aged only five, and named after his friend."

Similar farewells had gone on with Appolon and his family, and those of Cimon and Argo. None of wives had expressed their fears for the safety of their menfolk, for all would have insisted that their men accompanied Tyler on his search for his family, if their men hadn`t already volunteered to accompany him on this dangerous voyage into the unknown.

Soon everyone was sitting or standing upon the bridge of the Defender, all wanted to hear more about the quest they were embarking on.

"Why are we taking our bows and our spears when we have the Heliot plasma weapons to kill any who stand in our way Tyler?" Appolon asked just a little baffled by Tyler`s request.

"Because the mystic who accompanied the aliens stated that she had seen us carrying them in a dream, and from your own experiences of the mystics here on Orion, you know that you cannot simply dismiss their advice. Anyway, the teams that have so far entered the portal have probably all been equipped with the latest energy weapons, and so far, none have returned home."

Ray who had been listening in to the conversation while he took the Orion Defender up into the atmosphere of the planet now joined in.

"Maybe something within the portal drains the energy from such weapons, the men would then be entering into the portal essentially unarmed, and as none have as yet escaped the portal`s domain, maybe they are dying in there or at the very least being held captive." Ray suggested.

"You may well be correct; I will test our plasma weapons at the first possible opportunity I get, once we have entered through the portal. I certainly wouldn`t like to find out that a plasma weapon is drained, not at the point that I needed to use it, for that could really spell the difference between someone`s life or death." Tyler replied.

The Orion Defender soon left its home world far behind it, and entered into hyperspace to journey at full power towards the vortex that would transport them right across the galaxy, and hopefully to Tyler`s family.

Caroline and the children had not found the vortex too bad, but then they had not been able to see through the walls of the starship, Tyler and his friends could see all too well.

"Is the satellite ready for launching Tyler?" Ray Connors asked.

Tyler was positioning a satellite at either end of the vortex in the hope that contact could then be made with Orion from Helionia. Earth had given the satellites to Orion for use when required, after Tyler had loaned them the starship Freedom for use in the war against the planet Aldebra. It was joining the newly launched Revenge and the Saviour, two starships made from the technology Earth acquired from the broken Heliot fleet that had crashed upon Orion.

"Yes Ray, you can launch it as soon as we are in position. I had better warn the others that we are about to enter the vortex Ray, there is no knowing what effect it will have on the ship or its crew." Tyler replied, and then spoke to those in engineering.

"Listen to me, we are about to enter into the vortex, from up here it looks like an angry beast so be advised, grab a hold of something until I tell you that we are through."

Ray now launched the first of the two communication satellites from a position far enough away from the vortex to prevent it from being drawn into it.

The vortex resembled a huge mouth hanging in space, for no more of the beast was visible, soon the crew of the Defender began to feel the effects of the strange space anomaly as Ray Connors manoeuvred their starship into its maw. The speed of the ship suddenly increased, and those standing felt a gigantic tug that threw Tyler forward a step, no more because that took him into the back of the co-pilots seat in which Tryon was sitting agog. Tryon was taking in the view, and what he saw astonished him, for he was mostly a terra firma sort of guy, but he wasn`t scared for he had absolute faith in Ray Connors ability to fly them through hell or high water, a Phrase he had heard Tyler use once.

The journey through the vortex was thankfully very short, and soon they were out of it, and after dropping off the second of the two satellites they headed towards the planet of Helionia, they would see it in just ten hours.

Day 152 Helionian Calendar

Caroline and her children were now standing on Helionia with the entrance to the portal only feet away from them, and she could not believe what the alien woman was telling her.

"You are taking my babies through the portal! Are you insane? You told my husband that it was considered suicide to enter into that place, but you plan to take my children into that place anyway?" Caroline said very quietly so as not to alarm her children, who had moved away from her to look at the black entrance set in the foothills of the mountains before them.

Caroline was talking to Patina who could understand her through the receiver that she wore in her ear, the translation coming from the android. As for Patina, her face showed no expression what so ever, it was as if she was speaking to her maid about her duties.

"My mistress only knows that the people of Helionia need Tyler Burrows to come to the aid of this world, to find Marot Pallas for us, nothing else can be allowed to interfere with this." The android said, and if androids are able to look uncomfortable then this one certainly did.

"Why do my children have to go through the portal though, why not just let me enter it?" Caroline begged of the android. Caroline couldn`t believe what was happening to her family, it all seemed so impossible.

"The mystic stated that Marot Pallas would die if only you entered, and not your children as well." The android replied.

"Your mystic told you, you are insane woman?" Caroline now screamed, turning her attention from the android and back to Patina, and drawing the attention of her children.

"The mystic holds great powers, when she advises something, then you either do as she says or you live to regret it." The android said, translating Patina`s words.

"If anything happens to me or my babies then Tyler will kill you, and anyone who gets in his way, and that includes your mystic. He will then take great pleasure in leaving your Marot Pallas to rot inside the portal, and to hell with your people and its future." Caroline said angrily.

Caroline would have gladly taken Patina apart if they had been alone, but with the android and two security guards from the starship there she couldn`t afford it, for the unsuccessful attempt would only have upset her children.

"My mistress will accompany you into the dark domain, so you see it cannot be suicidal, for she has no intention of dying, now please be quiet and go through the portal. If you do not the security men from the starship will be forced to stun you, and then I will have to carry you through the portal, is that how you want your children to see you enter?" The android said, looking even more distressed.

"Your mistress is insane, she doesn`t realise that what she is doing is very wrong, but you must realise the truth of my words, even if you are only an android."

Unfortunately for Caroline neither the android or Patina budged from their view, and knowing that she had no alternative other than to do as Patina ordered, Caroline reluctantly agreed to their demands.

"Okay, I will take my children in, but you do not know just who you are dealing with, Tyler has been chosen by the gods, and they will not desert him now." Caroline said with a last show of defiance before taking her two youngest children`s hands and asking Apollo to cling to her tunic as she went through the portal.

Perseus, seeing his mother so angry, and so afraid for his and his brother and sister`s lives began to cry, which made Callisto burst into tears and even poor Apollo, who tried hard not to cry, felt his tears rolling down his young face as he held on so tight to his mummy`s tunic.

Earlier on Patina had also been close to tears as the old mystic had informed her of her latest vision.

"Why must I enter through the portal, surely it will be enough for just the Orionists to enter into the dark domain?" Patina argued unsuccessfully.

"Patina, my vision clearly showed that you too must enter through the portal with the young family, you must do it to ensure that you and your husband both survive the outcome. The spirits sent a vision to me that clearly shows you and your husband both exiting the dark domain of the portal. With you were the primitives, so take heart my child, all will be well in the end. To do anything else will mean that your husband will die within the dark domain, you must go through, for the spirits have spoken." Magi declared solemnly.

Therefore, Patina had agreed to enter, but she had insisted that her android must also go through the portal as well, to protect her from the dangers that may lay behind the dark forbidding entrance.

Caroline found herself standing within a large cavern lit by some sort of bioluminescence, which allowed her to see well enough, with her were her children who were clinging to her in fear, also Patina Pallas and her android. The lighting lit up different parts of everyone's faces, making them look like scenes out of pictures of the spirit land that Caroline had seen in some of her village`s houses. However, the eerie form of lighting did not surprise Caroline too much, as she had seen examples of it before back on Orion when she had been younger, and during the time when she and Tyler had battled to save her people from the Heliots. Caroline walked around the walls of the cavern with her children, but without finding another exit apart from the one at the far end of the cavern. This would take them all further into the dark domain, and whatever mysteries that it held for them. The one that they had entered by had mysteriously disappeared, and all there was behind them now was solid rock.

"We must wait here my darlings for your father, he won`t be too long, until then we will play some games to pass the time more quickly." Caroline said forcing a smile onto her face so that the children were encouraged to forget their fears, for a moment at least, and join in the games.

**********

Later that day the old mystic was talking to General Ares Fortuna. "She has entered the portal as well, and when the alien Tyler Burrows turns up and finds out where his family is, he will enter the portal and kill her and then Marot Pallas, your hands will be clean of their blood. Tell me, have your agents reported back in from the moon?"

"No, for some reason they don`t appear to have done so, I have dispatched my personal starship to the moon Galafrey to see if they have arrived there, for it may be simply a broken radio that is stopping them from communicating with us."

**********

Elsewhere on Helionia, Trajo was arguing with Prion. "If my father asks us to stay quiet about the new portal that we found on Galafrey, then we should do it, he knows much more about the ways of the world, and I am sure that he knows best Prion."

"Trajo, the lives of the seven men could be saved by sending in a large armed party through the portal on Galafrey, surely you can see the sense in that?" Prion argued heatedly.

"If my father wants me to stay quiet then stay quiet I will, do not ask me to go against his wishes, you mean a great deal to me Prion, but he is my father, and don`t shout at me." Trajo demanded.

"You know why he doesn`t want us to mention the new portal, it is because it suits him down to the ground to have his only opponent for the presidency lost inside some god forsaken alien world, and especially one from which there is no known way of rescuing him." Prion declared.

"Prion, do not inform the authorities about the new portal, for if you do, then you and I as a couple will be history, okay." With that, Trajo turned and stalked away towards her new post as curator of the archaeological museum of Helionia.

Prion looked after her not knowing what to do, he had no fondness for any politician, but Ares Fortuna had helped him move ahead in his chosen field as an archaeologist, so he didn`t want to betray him, but it didn`t seem right to say nothing about the portal. Prion though surrendered, the thought of losing Trajo was definitely too high a price to pay, so he followed her and decide to apologise to her and agree to her demands.

Chapter Four

Through the Portal

Day 152 Helionian Calendar

The Defender finally arrived at the planet of Helionia and contacted the authorities, who told them that they were sending the co-ordinates that would allow the Defender to land upon their planet. Moments later Tyler received the co-ordinates and passed them over to Ray, who proceeded to land the ship in a large grassy meadow, before the high foothills of a massive mountain range. They were met by a tall elderly aristocratic looking man.

"Welcome to Helionia, Tyler Burrows. I am a friend of the Pallas family, my name is Aswan Trajan, and I have been asked by Patina Pallas to hand you this message." Aswan Trajan was speaking through an android who was accompanying him for this specific purpose. Trajan was a tall aristocratic looking man of sixty years of age with grey wavy hair and grey eyes.

"Thank you." Tyler said and took this second electronic tablet from the Helionian and listened to the message from Patina Pallas, which had been translated into English.

"The portal is inside of the large enclosure that you see directly opposite your ship, you will find your family waiting inside the portal, they entered just minutes ago so please do not delay, but enter immediately, and without questioning the messenger."

Tyler almost dropped to the floor in shock as he took in all that he had heard. He looked over to his friends who also appeared to be in shock.

"No, Appolon that female demon has taken my family through the portal, what sort of demonic people are they, never could I have believed any civilised people to be so barbaric." Tyler now looked across at the man who had delivered the message.

"You heard the message; that evil bitch has taken my wife and our babies through that gateway of yours to hell. Just how could you have been so fiendish as to allow such a thing to happen? If it wasn`t so urgent that I enter that portal, I would teach your people a lesson they would never forget, and I would also take the greatest pleasure in killing you where you stand."

The elderly man was shocked following Tyler`s verbal attack on him, but he had also heard the message via his Android, and so understood the cause of the attack. He too was at a loss to understand how Patina could have been so evil to commit such an act.

"Sir, on the behalf of the people of this planet, and also on behalf of Marot Pallas, I apologise for Patina Pallas`s actions. I cannot understand why she should have acted in such an evil way; I can only think that her brain has been temporarily deranged by the kidnapping of her husband. I knew nothing of this; the old mystic Magi brought this android tablet to me, and asked if I would meet you here. Magi said that she had to run an important errand so couldn`t be here to greet you. I can now understand why she didn`t want to hand this message to you in person. I understood that you had agreed to enter the portal with your friends in a bid to rescue Marot Pallas, I knew nothing of your family or its involvement." The tall alien was almost too embarrassed to continue following what he had heard, but he knew that he must. He had a note in his hand that he now began to read.

"It says here that you must all take a magnetic key from the box that you will find set into a niche in the wall just inside the portal that you can see in the cliff face. You must charge the key in a slot that is just inside the portal`s entrance, if you fail to do so you will not be able to gain admittance to the dark domain of the portal. It also states that you must push the key into a similar slot at every other portal that you pass through."

Tyler was in shock as he walked away from Aswan Trajan, he attempted to clear his mind for the ordeal ahead of him. Tyler Burrows and his friends moved through the open gate of the large enclosure, earlier Patina Pallas had acquired a key to the gate by simply bribing the security guard. It had stood open ever since she had walked through it with Tyler`s family. Quickly they walked across the compound to the portal where they found the box of magnetic keys waiting for them.

"We have no choice but to go through the portal my friends, please follow me through to hell, for I am surely in need of your help today." Tyler asked his friends.

With that, Tyler stepped forward and went through the portal, with his four friends close behind, and into the cavern. The first thing he saw on entering was Caroline, relief flooded to her face when she saw her husband as he entered into the large cavern. The next moment found her in his arms and kissing him, and then their children rushed forward to hug their father amid their wild cries of daddy. Tyler was delighted to be so constrained. Caroline had her arms around his neck, Callisto and Perseus had their arms around his legs, and Apollo had his arms around Tyler`s waist. Tyler and Caroline moved apart so that he could kneel down to give his children hugs and kisses.

"Are you and the children all right darling?" Tyler asked looking up at his wife.

"Yes darling, we are fine now that you are all here to protect us." Caroline`s smiles took in her brother and their three friends as she then thanked them too.

"Thank you for leaving your own families to come to this evil planet to save the lives of my children and myself." Caroline said to them, as they smiled and walked forward to hug her.

Tyler looked over at his friends and noticed that the plasma weapon strapped to Appolon`s side was showing empty, maybe Ray was correct he thought.

Tyler now saw Patina standing in the shadows of the large cavern, and the look he gave her almost froze the blood within her veins. She was unable to move as she looked across at Tyler, but not for long, for her patrician eyes could not hold his gaze and her eyes dropped to stare at the floor before her feet. Tyler whispered some words to his children who stayed where they were, with their arms firmly around him as if scared that he might suddenly disappear. Patina was now once again looking up at him much as a rabbit might look at a cobra, her eyes grew wide as he took out his plasma weapon and pointed it at her, forgotten were the assurances of the old crone. Appolon who was near to him didn`t move to stop him as Tyler slowly squeezed the trigger, Patina moved her hand to her mouth as if to shield herself from the powerful energy bolt that was soon to come her way, but nothing happened of course, for the plasma pistol was completely drained.

"Ray was correct; something in the portal does drain all of the energy out of this type of weapon." Tyler said coldly, he then stood up and put the weapon back into its holster, but not before Caroline had seen that it was set on its lowest power setting anyway, as his weapon was at all times. She had also heard him whisper to his three children that he was going to scare the horrible woman by pretending to shoot her, and that they mustn`t give him away by laughing. The android had also seen the setting on Tyler`s plasma weapon, and because of his acute hearing he had also heard Tyler`s words to his children, but he said nothing, he did decide though that Tyler Burrows merited further study.

"Tyler, you are still armed with your bow and your spear, kill the two of them, do it for not even the gods would blame you, and we certainly would not move to stop you." Appolon said. When he was full of anger, Appolon sometimes forgot that his people believed in the one true god now and not the many of his peoples recent past.

"No Appolon, there will be plenty of time to deal with her later, who knows we may still need her, and her android." Tyler replied grimly.

"Tyler, you cannot kill the android, he was kind to us when the starship travelled through the vortex." Caroline said in defence of him.

"It is just an android darling?" Tyler argued.

"I know darling, but the children trust him, and I think that I also trust him up to a point, if he doesn`t attempt to harm us please let him live." Caroline said in support of the android.

"Okay, I will not terminate the android darling." Tyler replied while thinking back to an old sci-fi movie."

"Tyler, I checked out this part of the cavern and there doesn`t appear to be any way out except for the tunnel over there." Caroline said pointing to a tunnel to her right.

"Right darling, I assume that you all have your magnetic keys?" Tyler asked.

"Yes Tyler, I have our keys here in the backpack they gave to me before entering through the portal, at least they supplied us with food and water for the ordeal." Caroline replied.

"Come on children, you heard your mummy, there is only one way out of this place, so let`s see what lies ahead of us." With that, he scooped up Callisto.

"You never know Callisto, maybe we will find the secret home of Santa Claus somewhere along here."

"Santa doesn`t live here daddy, you are silly, Santa lives on Orion." Callisto said very seriously. Tyler had brought the idea of Santa Claus to Orion to bring a little magic into the world of his children, and it had worked, for every year, they helped him to decorate a tree, and then they left out a glass of milk and biscuits for Santa, and some carrots for his reindeer. It was just a little harmless fun shared by his children, and it was catching on with some of the other families in their village, with Tryon and his family being amongst the first and most enthusiastic.

"Just a moment darling, there is something I need to do." Caroline said and with that she walked up to Patina and punched her hard on the jaw, so hard in fact that Patina was knocked off her feet to land spread eagled on the floor in front of Caroline.

"If you come anywhere near my children ever again, I will kill you, no matter what my husband might say." Caroline said staring icily into the other woman`s eyes, her voice alone would have made any water nearby turn instantly to ice.

Patina was already white with fear after Tyler had put the fear of god into her, now she was even more so, if it were possible. She lay rigid upon the floor afraid for her very life, not daring to move or to say a word. Caroline looked down at her with contempt and turned away. It was only out of deference to Tyler that Caroline hadn`t killed Patina there and then.

"I am ready now darling, let`s go."

As she reached Tyler, he turned to her smiling. "Feeling a little better now darling?"

"Yes, I think that I am darling, but then I always do after a little exercise, it relieves the tension in the body." Caroline said, smiling once more at the man she loved.

The android hadn`t stepped in to carry out his duties as body guard for two reasons; one he felt that Caroline wasn`t going to kill his mistress at this moment in time. The second reason was that had he moved to intercept Caroline, it could have brought the five Orionist men into the ensuing fight with extreme consequences for his mistress, and for the missing Marot Pallas, so he had hung back and awaited developments.

As the friends walked along the rocky tunnel, they passed a smaller side turning, that had they taken would have taken them onto the maintenance portal and saved them so much time. As it was, they stuck to the main tunnel. Patina was keeping some ten feet behind them all the way, and the android could clearly see that his mistress, who was normally so in control of herself and anyone else come to that, was afraid for her very life. However, he got the impression that Tyler wouldn`t kill her, as long as nothing further happened to his family that is.

"Mistress, I think that you are over worried about the intentions of the people from Orion, maybe if you sought to ingratiate yourself with them it might help you at a later date."

"They are barbarians' android; I would not lower myself to ingratiate myself with such people as they are." Patina said, trying to hide the tears in her eyes, and the fear in her heart. Her face was already showing an ugly bruise where Caroline had punched her.

"They appear to be very civilised to me mistress, maybe they have not yet progressed as far as the people of Helionia have technologically, but they appear to be good people." The android wasn`t sure just how civilised some of the Orionists were, and should any of Tyler Burrows` family be harmed the thin veneer of civilisation might easily fall away even from him, this was mere supposition of course so he kept it to himself.

"I was also thinking mistress about the plasma weapons belonging to the other parties who entered the portal, if they were also drained of all their power, then they would have been utterly defenceless against whatever is before us, they wouldn`t even be armed with the crude weapons that the warriors of Orion possess."

Patina shuddered as she thought that her husband could be dead, and all of this could have been for nought. Tears came to her eyes and then slid down her pale cheeks, proving that even she was not quite the evil bitch as Caroline thought her to be.

It was now that Tyler, seeing that his wife was unarmed, offered her a weapon. "Take my new spear Caroline, we don`t know what we might meet further along the way, for something prevented the earlier teams from surfacing, and anyway it`s getting rather heavy."

Caroline smiled at her husband. "Thank you darling, I was feeling positively naked without even a knife to defend myself."

"Not now darling, wait until we are alone before you try to turn me on." Tyler said, keeping a straight face as he looked at his wife.

"Tyler why can`t I say anything at all without you thinking about sex." Caroline said pretending to be annoyed with him.

Apollo watched his parents joking with one another and he felt a lot better, for seeing his parents fooling around again, Apollo knew that everything was going to be all right.

They had been walking through the tunnels, and in and out of large caverns for almost ten minutes when they came out into the daylight, and realised that they were no longer on the planet of Helionia, for above them was a huge ringed planet, and that they were only upon a large moon that was in orbit around it. They had exited the tunnel at a point that was high above the valley floor that lay far below them. The way ahead of them followed a ridge, that was thankfully mostly flat, but even so Tyler warned everyone to be extra careful, and to steer clear of the edge in case some sections of it were unsafe, for to fall down to the hard ground hundreds of feet below them would mean certain death. The sun was high above their heads and lighting up their way, and at least the day was warm with just a few small clouds scudding around the blue heavens.

Appolon came over to Tyler and asked him a question that had been rolling around in his mind for an hour or so.

"Why is it that on all of our adventures that we share together, you always have a beautiful woman to accompany you, when all I get is Tryon or Cimon or Argo? It was the same when we were walking from the Heliot crash site to far off New Eden, you once again had Caroline to keep you company of an evening. Even on the planet Genesis, that ancient city computer insisted that Caroline accompany you, whenever you returned to help the natives climb back up from the depths to which they had fallen?"

Tyler looked at his friend and smiled as he handed Callisto over to him.

"It is the will of the gods my friend, I get Caroline and you are stuck with Tryon. But here you are Appolon, you may carry the fair Callisto for a while, for I am sure she gets heavier by the second and my arms are beginning to ache, but my friend I will want my gorgeous daughter back in a little while."

"I am getting bigger daddy, soon I will be big and strong enough to carry you when you get tired." Callisto said to her daddy before looking at her Uncle and smiling.

Appolon kissed Callisto on her cheek and turning, said to Tyler. "Thank you, my friend, it is only what I deserve."

Caroline, who had been carrying Perseus for a while, was also beginning to tire, for little Perseus was also getting heavier by the step, and so she walked over to Tryon and gave her youngest son to him.

"Here you are Tryon here is someone for you to cuddle, because my arms are positively aching." Caroline said to her friend.

"Hello Perseus, would you like me to tell you some of the tales about the many heroes that have lived on Orion in the time when dragons flew above the clouds and elves lived in the meadows by the river that runs through our village." Tryon asked the youngest son of his two friends.

Perseus positively beamed and said that he would. Not to be out done, Apollo was being spoilt by Cimon and Argo as they swung him between them.

It could have been a Sunday walk that everyone was on, it could have been but it wasn`t. Caroline was feeling a little weary after all that had happened to her and her children, and her legs and feet more so, they were beginning to ache. As they travelled along the ridge, she caught her foot against the large root of a scrubby bush and fell forward very near to the cliff edge. Caroline screamed out loud as she saw the emptiness of the deep chasm fast filling her view. Unfortunately, she fell at a spot where a large and dangerous looking crack ran around a large chunk of the ground, and the impetus of her fall coupled with the fact that the floor also fell sharply down towards the edge of the mountainside, meant that when she crashed to the ground, her momentum took her sliding towards the edge. Even as she screamed out to Tyler for help, she was slipping over the edge, and had Tyler been a second slower his hand would not have caught hers as she slipped over the edge. Caroline looked up into his eyes and was just about to say thank you, when the entire section of rock that Tyler was laying spread-eagled on cracked and then broke away, carrying the two of them hurtling down the mountainside towards the depths below. Tyler somehow pulled Caroline up towards him so that if they must die, it would be together, and he was not a second too soon for the rock struck an outcrop with a tremendous crash that almost threw both of them off the comparative safety of the rock and down to the hard rocks below. Down and down they hurtled, riding their rocky chariot and holding each other and the rock for dear life. Then all of a sudden, the incline they were now on began to flatten out, and the rock slid spinning viciously along the stony ground to come to a sudden stop when it struck a large rock. Tyler and Caroline were hurled from their rocky sled into a fast-flowing river that ran just below the narrow embankment upon which the rock now lay. Tyler surfaced first, followed by Caroline, who waved frantically to her husband. The river was running fast along this section of its course, and they were quickly carried two hundred yards before they finally managed to swim to the bank and climb out of the river, dripping wet and gasping for breath, but alive. Tyler and Caroline looked at each other and burst into laughter, the gods had protected their favourite when all had seemed lost. Tyler looked up the mountain, and some four hundred feet up he could just about make out his children and his friends looking down anxiously at them.

"We cannot climb back up here Appolon, we will see if we can find somewhere further along." Tyler shouted up to the others.

"What is it with you two Tyler, why do you both keep falling down holes, and now off cliffs, and getting soaking wet?" Appolon replied referring initially to their narrow escape with the Troglodytes on Orion some eleven years earlier. Tyler and Caroline waved back up to their children who were now waving down to them and calling to them.

"Apollo would have loved to have done that Tyler." Caroline said to her husband.

"Yes darling, but I hope that we won`t have to watch him if he ever gets the chance to do it." Tyler replied, even the thought of such a thing was too much to contemplate.

"Caroline are you feeling naked again, because I see that you have lost my new spear." Tyler said faking anger. Caroline punched Tyler on the arm and looked at him with contempt.

"Appolon or one of the others will have picked it up Tyler, you will get it back later, now give me your knife."

Tyler smiled at her and after giving Caroline his knife, which had been a present from her just after they had met, they started along the bank of the river with the warm sun drying their clothes as they went. The way was rough going, necessitating much scrambling over large rocks and wading through small icy mountain streams that ran down the side of the mountain to join the larger river which they were following, but they didn`t appear to be getting any closer to the ridge far above them, all they got was tired.

The only other forms of life that they saw were a few mountain goats and various bird life, but Tyler assumed that there might be a carnivorous animal. In the river Tyler saw the odd fish fighting against the strong current, but then he saw the paw prints of something much larger than a goat on the muddy river bank, a bear maybe, hopefully they wouldn`t run into it or they would be forced to kill it, unless it killed them first.

Tyler and Caroline had just finished a rest period along with their friends and family far above their heads when Tyler broached the one subject in both of their minds.

"It must have been about seven hours since I came through the portal and nine hours since you and the children did Caroline. We need to get back up onto the ridge and along to the next portal within another fifteen hours if the Helionians are correct in thinking that the keys have a time limit set into them. During that time, we will have to rest up for a while, so darling I suggest that we try to get up there now, because it does appear to be slightly easier just here, well easier than it has been up to this point. In any case, the children will begin to fret if we leave it much longer, and I am already terrified that something will happen up there without our being able to do a thing about it, if we are still stuck down here at the time." Tyler said to his wife, and Caroline had been thinking along the same lines as her husband and so agreed, however she had some reservations.

"Okay Tyler, but it will still be a hard climb, I should be able to make it without too much trouble, but please be careful darling, for the only climbing experience that you have had was when we climbed up the Troglodyte mountain chimney." Caroline said.

"Don`t worry darling, if it gets really bad, I will just close my eyes and hope that I really am the chosen one of the gods." Tyler said smiling at his lovely wife.

"What you will do my darling is follow in my footsteps, that way you should be able to make it without too many problems."

With that settled, Caroline led the way up the mountainside, but only after having first scanned the high cliffs above her to decide on a route that they both should take, one that would allow both of them to be able to make it back up to the ridge.

Up above them, Cimon was looking down the mountainside for a sight of his two friends when he noticed that they were missing from the track along the river, and then he saw that they had both begun to climb up towards the main party.

"Tyler and Caroline have left the river bank and appear to be attempting to climb back up to us, you don`t have to worry anymore children, your parents will be with us in no time at all." He called over to his friends. Maybe now things would be ok, or at least Cimon hoped and prayed that they would.

Unnoticed by all except Appolon, the skies were becoming filled with fast moving clouds and the breeze that had refreshed them on their long walk, was now freshening as if it was preparing for a storm.

While all the excitement was happening, Patina had kept well back, and had demanded that the android keep close by her to be ready to defend her against a further attack by one of the primitives. She had not known whether to be pleased or scared when Caroline and Tyler had plunged down the mountain, for although she wanted revenge against the two of them, and especially against Caroline, she was also terrified that Appolon would immediately kill her if anything happened to either of them. She had also forgotten that her mystic had said that the only chance she had of getting her husband back was if Tyler Burrows was present and alive inside of the dark domain, to aid in the search and protect them from any danger.

"It shouldn`t tax Caroline too much, but Tyler has never climbed up the side of a mountain before, and he is still carrying his backpack. I think I will take the rope and climb down to that ledge jutting out below us, I will wait for them there, just in case they need some help." Appolon said. The ledge he was looking at was about two thirds of the way up from the riverbank.

"That is a good idea Appolon, because the going does look to be a little tricky just below the ledge." Tryon said, just a little worried too for his friends now.

Appolon dropped his weapons to the floor and his backpack, and then he started down the mountainside towards his sister and his friend.

Down below, Tyler began to climb up after Caroline, who moved with the ease of a mountain goat, unfortunately he didn`t find it quite so easy. He followed in Caroline`s footsteps searching with his fingers for the suitable handhold that Caroline had used before pushing up with his foot, never once did he look down, for he knew that to do so could prove fatal to him, for he never did have much of a great head for heights. He was moving quicker than he had expected though, as Caroline had purposely chosen the easiest way up the mountain, even so he found the going difficult. He soon began to tire as his unused muscles began to complain about the amount of use being asked of them, he nearly toppled to his death once when the rock that he was holding onto came away, and for one heart stopping moment he thought that he would fall as he felt it move. In panic he quickly sought for and thankfully found another rock to grab a hold of, and so was able to breathe again, having prevented his falling back down to the waiting rocks below. However, he did have to stop for a moment to allow his racing heart to quiet down before he followed Caroline on and upwards, for to stay still for more than a moment longer could have seen him frozen to the spot through fear, and his children needed him up above. They both had to stop for a rest though, it was at a place where they could both sit together and recover a little for the climb ahead. Tyler took the opportunity to take off his backpack to help ease his tired and very over worked muscles, but it was just as the breeze had begun to stiffen into the beginnings of a strong wind.

"We cannot stop for too long Tyler, I don`t like the look of the weather, we will have to start for the top soon, or make our way down again, and then we may never get to the top in time to pass through the next portal."

"Give me one minute only Caroline, and then we can move up again, for our children`s lives may well depend on our efforts." Tyler said as his rapid pulse rate slowly dropped back towards normal.

Caroline gave Tyler almost two minutes, but then they were moving upwards again, but at a faster pace to try to beat the approaching storm. Caroline having looked up at the mountainside above her called down to Tyler.

"I am going to traverse over to the right a little, I think the going may be a little easier on us and it may also be a faster way to the top."

"Okay Caroline, whatever you think is best." Tyler called, having to shout now to stop his words being blown away with the howling wind. Caroline was moving swiftly to the right of a ledge now directly over Tyler`s head and then he too began to move gingerly across the face of the mountain never knowing whether this second would be his last, and being careful not to dwell too much on it.

High above them, Appolon was fast approaching the ledge that he had seen from above, and as he looked down towards the area that he was expecting to see his sister and her husband, he saw Caroline below him, but she appeared to be moving away from the ledge.

"Come this way Caroline, I have a rope to help you up that difficult piece." Appolon called.

Caroline didn`t hear most of what he said, but she did hear her name being called from somewhere above her, so she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. She looked up to see that her brother was only thirty feet above her, and approaching the part of the mountain that she was trying to miss, then she saw the rope. Turning around she called over to her husband.

"Tyler, Appolon is just above us and he has a rope with him, see if you can move up nearer to him so that he can help you up the more dangerous part, which is a little further up above your head, I will climb up to Appolon."

Luckily the wind was blowing towards Tyler so he was able to hear Caroline quite clearly, and stopping for a moment Tyler looked up to see Appolon waving to him with a coil of rope over his shoulder, so he quickly decided on a way up and began to ascend. The only problem was that the wind didn`t want to be cheated of its victims, and it had increased in strength so that even Appolon was having trouble by the time that he reached the ledge. He quickly uncoiled the rope, tied one end around his middle, and dropped the remainder of it over the edge of the narrow ledge, down towards the ascending Tyler who was almost exhausted after increasing his pace up the side of the mountain. His fingers were sore, his arms and legs ached and the cold strong wind was beginning to give him a headache, overall, he was very happy when he finally reached the rope and was able to tie it around his waist. Looking to his right he saw Caroline moving up the side of the mountain like a mountain goat in a hurry. He on the other hand would have liked to rest, but he knew that with the full force of the approaching storm soon to hit them, they either completed their climb to the top quickly or not at all, so he called up to his friend.

"Appolon I am tied on down here, what do you want me to do?" Tyler called up the rock face.

"Begin your climb Tyler, I will ensure that you do not fall and also help you up the more difficult part of the climb."

Appolon had his feet braced against a large piece of rock in front of him, with his back pressed against the rock face behind him as he prepared to take the full weight of his friend, should the need arise, which it did more than once.

Tyler began to climb up the mountain once again, his fingers barely finding a place to grip, his feet often pushing on thin air, but Appolon ensured that he kept moving. As did Caroline, who had arrived at the ledge to give her brother a hand to help him to pull her husband up the sheer face of the mountain below her. She was ecstatic when she saw his fingers gripping the top of the ledge, and finally saw his smiling face appear and finally to hear him say, Hi.

The wind was howling angrily around them, they had to sit with their backs pressed flat against the rock face to stop from being almost blown off it, when Caroline offered a suggestion.

"I saw a cave in the rock face just to the right of us, it appeared to go back a fair way, we should investigate it, and you never know it might carry on towards the top."

Appolon`s face quite plainly said that he doubted that they could ever be so lucky, but he thought that it was worth a try, for anything was better than being stuck on the ledge while they waited for a break in the storm.

"Can you climb over there Caroline, to see just where it does go, for to climb back up the face of mountain will be very dangerous at the moment? Call across if it looks good, and we will follow you across?" Appolon said. "But first give me your backpack Caroline, as I am a little less tired than you are. Caroline was soon moving across the rock face, leaving Tyler feeling a little useless, but maybe fate just wanted to teach him a little lesson in humility, for up until now he had always been the leader.

Caroline soon reached the entrance to the cave and scrambled in with the wind tearing by her and screeching up through the cave's inner recesses, the cave certainly went a long way back into the mountain side, and the way the wind roared by her seemed to suggest that it exited elsewhere. Caroline then had a bright idea, entering further into the cave she called out the name of her oldest boy.

"Apollo can you hear me, it is mummy?"

Up above, Apollo, who had very keen hearing looked around, for he had indeed heard his name being called.

"Mummy where are you?" He shouted, and loudly enough to cause the others with him to turn around and look towards him.

"What is it Apollo?" Tryon asked.

"I can hear mummy calling to me Uncle Tryon, from behind that bush." Tryon walked to the bush, and saw behind it an entrance to a cave.

"Come here Apollo and see, it is a cave, try calling down to your mummy." Just then, Perseus rushed forward. "I will, I will, I can call louder than Apollo can." Perseus then proceeded to prove it by screaming out the words, 'Mummy, are you there?' Far below Caroline heard her loudest child calling down, even with the noise of the rushing wind his voice was clear, and so she called back up to him.

"Perseus, wait for me I will be there soon with daddy and Uncle Appolon."

She them turned about, hurried to the mouth of the cave, and called for the other two to join her. Tyler and Appolon followed where Caroline had led, but they were not roped together now, for if one of them fell then the other had no hope of saving either himself or his friend. Thankfully though, they were both soon across and finally out of the gale force wind, and safely within the large open mouth of the cave. Now they followed Caroline back into the depths of the cave and found the tunnel that she had called up. It had obviously been carved out by water, probably during the wetter time of the mountain`s year, and they thankfully found it to be large enough to journey up towards the ridge where their family and friends were waiting upon the mountain ridge. It was a much easier climb, easier than the Troglodyte mountain chimney had been, and they soon heard voices coming down to them from up above, and so they called up to their waiting children. Callisto squealed with delight whilst the two boys shouted down to their parents, and then Caroline saw her three children waiting just inside the mouth of another entrance into this cave system, and she knew that she and Tyler were finally safe. The climb had taken two hours and although the three climbers were all exhausted, Tyler told Appolon that he would only allow them an hour to rest up. Tyler slipped his backpack off his shoulders as the others also came into the cave to escape the worst of the gale force wind. They were all overjoyed to see their friends safe and sound, and they all enjoyed the short break. They spent it teasing Tyler about his lack of mountaineering expertise. How it was lucky that he had such an able wife to keep him safe. Tyler merely admonished them all for not being as prudent as he was, for not to have married a similarly useful woman seemed to him to be the height of foolishness, Caroline of course agreed with everything that was said.

They rested up for two hours rather than just the one, this being due to the force of the wind, but it finally quietened a little, and their rest period ended when Tyler insisted on moving on towards the next portal. Getting to his feet he slipped his backpack over his shoulders and set off wearily along the ridge, with little Callisto once more in his arms telling him that she couldn`t climb very well either, and that maybe they should practice when they finally got back to Orion.

The reason behind Caroline`s mountaineering skill was because when she was much younger, she joined Appolon and Tryon when they went trekking up the side of the mountain nearest to their village. Disregarding their protests, Caroline always insisted that they took her along with them. As she got older, she quickly outshone the two men. She was likened to a mountain goat by all of the other villagers.

As they set off once more, Caroline carried Tyler`s spear once again, for Tryon had picked it when Caroline and Tyler had had their dangerous fall down the mountainside, and Tyler once more had his knife back.

Patina could see that the Orionists were firm friends who enjoyed each other's company, and who would risk their own lives for the sake of any one of their friends. This fact made her feel angry, for she had never known this sort of friendship, perversely she hated Caroline even more than when Caroline had punched her. The reason being was now she knew that she had missed something that this 'barbaric cave girl' had in spades, and that it was more important that the luxurious life that she had, one that she had led ever since she was born. Patina thought of Caroline as a cave girl after hearing the Orionists talking of their homes, their village, and their life. A life that was wonderfully peaceful until Tyler had arrived, they jested.

Ahead of them, a huge mountain chain blocked their way, but their route now thankfully took them away from this and along the ridge, that now perversely began to merge into the foothills of the new mountain chain. The foothills rose up from the canyon below that had been carved out by the same river that they had been following for so long. Tyler and Caroline saw that had they not made the climb, they would have been forced to cross two wide mountain rivers in full flood. Up on the ridge that they were travelling on, two bridges spanned the rivers, built by the Heliots out of their super metal and somehow still standing. The rivers emptied into the larger river down below, turning it into a raging torrent that leapt down a massive waterfall into a deep gorge that dropped steeply down another one hundred feet before the river calmed down once more, and then ran alongside the huge mountain chain before them.

As they came down off the ridge, there before them they saw an exact duplicate of the first portal, dark and foreboding, it blocked the way through to the mountain chain and whatever lay beyond, the only way was through its open doorway. At least they knew that they had arrived in time to pass through the portal together, first though, Tyler insisted that they all get some rest so that they would be ready for whatever lay before them, and they took refuge from the still strong wind within the confines of yet another cave, although this one was much smaller.

Patina of course was in a hurry to proceed, and Tyler told her she was free to pass through the portal. However, the rest of the party was staying put on this side of the portal, and that he would not proceed on through until his wife and his three children were fully rested, and he too was fully recovered from his climb, and was once again capable of leading them safely through whatever dangers lay ahead of them. Patina, while angry, realised that to go on ahead without any weapons, or men to protect her, would be foolish in the extreme, so she sat down near the portal and fumed silently, and thought what she would like to do with these obnoxious and barbaric cavemen.

Tyler looked over at his friend. "Thank you Appolon for coming down the mountain side and rescuing me, I really am not sure what might have happened if you hadn`t come to our rescue."

"Caroline would have probably still caught sight of the cave and you would have managed to gather your strength and make it into cave my friend. Anyway, it was your quick actions that saved the life of my only sister, and if she had died, I would be the one who would have to tell our parents, so you see you helped me too." Appolon said laughing along with the others including Caroline who looked at the men around her and feigned anger as she pleaded with god to save her from such a bunch of feeble-minded men.

The android looked at the happy scene before him, and could find nothing to detract from his initial evaluation of the Orionists, for he still liked them. Patina as always sat a little apart from them and felt that her life would be in peril for every single moment that she was forced by circumstance to stay with them. Never once did she concede that she had endangered her own life, and that the Orionists were far more civilised than she appeared to be.

***********

On Helionia, Ray Connors looked across at his wife Jean. "You know Jean, something smells very fishy on this planet. Why would Patina Pallas insist on taking Caroline and her children through the portal, she must know that this would impede the search for her husband? She must also have realised that Tyler would first and foremost pit all of his energies into securing the safety of his family, and only after they were safe would he even think about the missing man, and that supposes that he can even be bothered about looking for him, especially as to do so might further endanger his family."

"I have been thinking along those lines as well Ray, which is why I have set up the universal translator to listen in to the news broadcasts on this terrible planet, this seems to be the only way that we can stay in touch with what the Helionian people are thinking. When Tyler surfaces with his family, we can at least update him about the general population's feelings regarding the whole kidnapping scenario."

"There is a lot that we don`t know yet Jean, and stuck here on the Defender we will never find out what it is." Ray complained.

"Well we cannot go out and about to ask questions on this planet Ray, for we do not know who to speak to, let alone speak the local`s language, listening in to the news broadcasts is about all we can do."

"We could talk to that guy who met Tyler when we landed, we could speak to him through the universal translator." Ray suggested.

"Do you know how to contact him Ray?"

"No Jean, I don`t." Ray Connors said sadly. "But at this particular moment there is something that I can do; I will photograph the ancient writing on the wall and send it through to Brian Goddard to see if his super computer can get anything from it."

Just as Ray finished photographing the ancient metal plaque fixed to the rock face, he saw someone that he recognised. Ray turned to Jean who had accompanied him outside for a little fresh air.

"Jean that man over there looking at the portal, that is Captain Lysenko of the local police force, he might be able to help us, let`s ask him in for a chat."

Ray walked forward and called across to the police captain. Captain Lysenko on hearing his name called, the only word of the local language that Ray knew, saw Ray indicating that he should come across, so he did. Ray then indicated that he wanted the officer to come inside the Defender, and when the captain was sitting in the galley Ray was able to speak with him through the translator.

"Captain Lysenko, there is a lot that we want to know about, such as what is happening on this planet. We thought that Aswan Trajan, the guy who met us when we landed on your planet, might be able to fill us in on the latest news." Ray said to the policeman.

"I will be glad to fill you in on all that is happening, for I am in charge of the investigation, and I will happily tell you what little I know."

Captain Lysenko then updated Ray and Jean about the little that he did know, about the four metal plates. Then of the blatant attempt to put the blame on the young lieutenant, who from the captain`s own investigations was found to be a good young officer without an interest in politics, and who was probably guilty of nothing more than adultery. As most thinking people already knew, the crime was obviously committed by the partisan party to ensure victory in the forthcoming presidential elections. Captain Lysenko then told them about four thugs who belonged to the partisan party, and who were currently missing from their usual haunts. Captain Lysenko suspected that they could be the four men who had taken Marot Pallas and a second man, maybe the missing lieutenant, through the portal. Nothing new had come in about the kidnapping of Marot Pallas, they had no leads apart from the one fact, that the partisan party would benefit if Marot Pallas were not found safe and well. Patina Pallas and her lover could have been involved in it, but Lysenko doubted it, for everyone he had spoken too had told him that Patina was very much in love with her husband, and that they thought the love affair was no more than a dalliance. The descriptions that they got of the kidnappers, from the two witnesses, were similar and rather vague, because the men were all supposedly dressed in old navy-blue overalls and they all wore balaclavas.

"Can you let us have a copy of what was written on the four plates Captain?"

"Quite easily, the four plates are featured in an article about the missing politician in today`s news, I can let you read it on my electronic tablet." Captain Lysenko pulled out a device that resembled a twenty first century tablet and soon had the article displayed on it. Ray photographed the entire article along with an article regarding the forthcoming presidential election, and others dealing with the speeches so far given by the candidates. These together with his other photographs he dispatched to Brian Goddard, who at that moment was sitting in his home on the far away planet of Orion. Brian was alerted to the message by his own computer, which meant that the satellite link worked just fine.

"I have sent the information back to Orion, Captain; my friend back there might be able to throw some light on matters here, via his super computer." Ray informed Captain Lysenko.

"Well if he can then please inform me, for I for one need all the help that I can get." Although how an alien many light years away could throw any light on a situation happening here on Helionia, baffled the police captain.

"Captain, you do have one lead to all of this, the old mystic could well know more about it than she admits to, why don`t you try a truth serum on her to find out just how involved she is in this?" Ray Connors asked, although he knew that, as on Earth, truth serum may not be allowed here on Helionia.

"The reason why I haven`t questioned her further is because since Patina Pallas went through the portal with your friends, the mystic has vanished off the face of the planet." Lysenko informed the Ray and Jean Connors.

"Have you searched her house?" Jean asked.

"I am about to go there now; my team of detectives should have started five minutes ago." Captain Lysenko stopped speaking for a moment, but it was obvious to Ray and Jean that he wanted to say something else. In fact, he did, but he had been undecided as to whether he should, his time with them decided the issue.

"I do have one small piece of information which might not mean anything, but a starship belonging to Ares Fortuna has been spending a lot of time off world lately, and they are due to leave again tomorrow morning, where they are going, I don`t know, but as you have a starship handy you might follow them. I should warn you though, their ship is armed with a low power plasma cannon, and it could prove to be highly dangerous for you." Captain Lysenko stopped here for a moment before he continued, it was to allow his new friends time to absorb all he had told them, but after another moment, he continued. "Normally the ship hardly moves out of the space port, but as I said, lately it has been more than busy." Captain Lysenko looked across to Ray and Jean Connors, and he half wished that he had kept quiet about Ares Fortuna`s starship because of the danger involved to the Orionist starship and its crew. However, it was done now, and anyway many of his own peoples` lives were at risk now because of what was happening in the world of politics, so why shouldn`t the Orionists risk theirs as well.

"This ship may look old and worn Captain, but it can look after itself. Thank you, we may well tag along with them when they move off, but how will we know which ship is Fortuna`s?" Ray asked.

"Tomorrow morning it is the only one due to leave the space port in the early morning, so if you are in orbit above the planet you will see it leave, I will arrange matters with the space port officials for you to take off from here and park in an orbit above the space port if you wish?" Captain Lysenko said.

"Please do Captain, we will both be very grateful, we will take off at midnight; that should give you enough time to arrange matters." Ray said.

"I just hope that I am not sending you to your death, as so many others who have been involved in this matter seem to have been." Captain Lysenko said grimly

"Captain, I will leave a communications satellite in a geostationary orbit above this part of your planet, so that we can remain in contact with each other, if we should find that we have news for each other." Ray Connors had taken a liking to the alien police officer, and more than that, he thought that he could trust him.

"In that case, you will need a way to contact me direct without going through my headquarters, for you never know who might get to know of your call." Captain Lysenko said thoughtfully.

"No, all we need is for you to check in with our satellite every hour or so, and if you need to contact us urgently it can route you through to us." Ray Connors said.

He wrote down on a piece of paper the frequency and password required to access one of the three remaining satellites in his hold, and passed it over to the police captain.

"Okay Ray, I will have my computer check in with your satellite every hour, and it will alert me to any message that you wish to leave for me."

**********

"Is it correct, that yet another party has gone through the portal, this time in search of Marot Pallas?" Prion demanded to know.

"Yes Prion, I only heard about it on the news this morning, up until then I knew nothing of it, I promise." Trajo said pleadingly.

"And your father will still not consent to our informing the world about the other portal on Galafrey?"

"No Prion, he feels that the loss is minor compared to what Helionia will gain when he becomes President, and I agree with him on this point, although I must admit to being worried about the fate of all those who have entered into the dark domain. But these last ones knew the dangers before they entered through the portal, so we do not have anything to feel guilty about." Trajo said defensively.

"Then why does my gut give me so much trouble of late?" Prion protested.

Trajo moved closer to him and ran her hands over his young hard body.

"Forget about your gut, just kiss me Prion."

Another part of Prion`s anatomy was stronger than his gut, it didn`t think about Marot Pallas at all as Prion took Trajo in his arms and kissed her soft lips.

"I think that you should come to bed now darling, seeing as how you don`t feel very well." Trajo whispered softly in his ear.

Chapter Five

Jurassic Park

Day 153 Helionian Calendar

The starship Dagger arrived at the cratered moon Galafrey, and landed in the large crater that was home to the portal. Near to the portal, a small survival dome had recently been erected by the Helionians as a base for their men coming through from the dark domain. Two men in space suits stepped down from the starship and onto the surface of the moon, and then they walked across to the dome hoping to see signs that the team of men who had kidnapped Marot Pallas had returned, but the dome was empty, and there was no sign of any recent occupation either. They were supposed to rendezvous with them here when they had deposited Pallas in the second domain. Why they were so late was a mystery, one that the captain would have to solve by sending a small team through the portal in search of the missing men, but first he would contact Fortuna and advise him of the situation. Above their heads, the beauty of a giant planet went unnoticed by the men as it cast an angry red eye down upon the men who served General Ares Fortuna.

**********

Tyler Burrows knew nothing of the problems that the crew of the starship Dagger were encountering, and wouldn`t have cared about them if he had known. After the children had rested, eaten and had a drink of water, Tyler recharged his magnetic key, which supposedly meant that he had twenty-four hours to reach the next portal, and then after he had seen Caroline recharge her key and the keys of their children, he led the way through this portal with Appolon bringing up the rear. The sight before them was of a wide valley with a distinct trail that led away towards what they hoped would be the next portal. They were now on the other side of the mountain chain, and this side obviously didn`t get as much rain as it was a semi-arid land that greeted them with even a few cacti to make Tyler think of his Earth. Tyler had been told that this series of portals had been built by a very advanced race that used these series of ordeals to help them chose their new leader, Tyler thought that this was highly unlikely, for any race who could construct the portals and separate domains would never have used these domains in such a way. Although he had not been here for very long, he had the idea that they might have originally been built as a wild life safari park. The portals built to keep the different animals and environments apart; you probably drove though the domains just as you did back on Earth. He expected to find a different sort of country in each of the other domains that they would be forced to visit, as they tried to find a way out. There was the possibility that the time limit he had been told about might not even be the true meaning of what had been written on the wall. It might even have been added by a second race much later, they might well have used the domains for a much more serious business, such as a trial by ordeal, with the odds loaded against the contestants, Tyler doubted this though. He was about to find out how much the odds were loaded.

Tyler looked over at Patina and decided that as they were here anyway, he should take a passing interest in the missing man.

"Just how do you expect to find your husband in this series of domains, they could have hidden him anywhere, near or far and we wouldn`t find him, you might have to resign yourself to never seeing him again, unless of course fate decides otherwise?" Tyler ventured.

"There is one way which should make it quite easy." Patina said a smile appearing on her face, for she felt that once again she was a step ahead of this infuriating man. However, even as she was enjoying the feeling, she felt her heart beat faster, it happened whenever she spoke to the primitive, what was wrong with her? Ever since she had married Marot Pallas, she had found herself attracted to other men, it seemed to Patina that she was under a curse, and try as she may she couldn`t help herself. Why did she feel impelled to act this way, it was Marot that she loved? Patina forced her mind back to her conversation with Tyler.

"Marot always carries a tracer with him, which will lead us to him as soon as we are within its range, which is a considerable distance. As for how far off the track we would have to search, you are forgetting the time limit, his abductors couldn`t have moved too far off the track or they would have condemned themselves to staying here for eternity, and as my android told you earlier, they are extremists and not religious fanatics." She tried to show her contempt for this primitive but somehow it failed to come across again, damn you to hell, Patina thought, as she grew angry with herself.

"How do you detect it?" Tyler asked.

"With this instrument that I brought along with us, and thankfully it has a solar battery so it is still operating." Patina said angrily, but more at herself than Tyler.

"How about the tracer, what powers that?" Tyler asked expecting the worst.

"It also has a solar battery, so as long as his abductors do not find it; and as it is part of his wristwatch it should escape their detection as it is not particularly valuable, we will be able to find him easily."

"The only real problem then will be the time limit." Tyler said.

"Which is why I didn`t want to waste all of that time you insisted upon wasting, sleeping in the other domain." Patina said while stamping her feet in anger, while tears poured down her face caused mainly by the rage that she felt for the world and everyone on it.

"Then you shouldn`t have brought my children through the portal, should you?" Tyler said even more angrily. "Because then we could have moved a lot faster." Once more fear dug deep into the heart of Patina, and she stepped back towards the android so that he could protect her if the situation exploded into one of violence.

"If need be my husband can use the android`s key." Patina said trying to offer a reasonable solution to calm Tyler down.

"And you would be all right with that, android?" Tyler asked. To stay inside this domain for eternity, you must respect Patina`s husband an awful lot?"

"He is only an android; his program will allow no other action." Patina said haughtily.

"I have a thought that might fit the bill; the android could carry your husband through with him, sort of two for the price of one." Tyler offered the idea as an olive branch to Patina, although it had nearly stuck fast in his throat.

"Would it allow such an action?" Patina asked interested, for androids were expensive machines to lose.

"It depends on how it counts the items that pass through the portal, if it counts heartbeats then yes, it all depends on what it considers one person to be."

"Couldn`t the android carry one of your children through, they are smaller and lighter."

"I am trying my best to overcome my extreme hatred for you, please don`t make it any harder than it already is. I just said that it depends on how the portal counts objects, my children, my wife, my friends and I have our keys and we are keeping them, do you understand?" Tyler said once more getting angry and wishing that he had followed Appolon`s earlier advice.

"Do not worry about me Mistress, for if necessary, I will remain behind." The android volunteered, trying to smooth things out as he moved forward in front of Patina.

"Why don`t we keep the android and lose her?" Caroline suggested. She also found herself fighting to keep control of herself, for what she wanted to do was to strangle the evil bitch of a woman. Tyler looked across at his wife and smiled.

"You could well have a point there darling." Tyler said agreeing with his wife.

The android quietly moved his mistress to the rear of the group.

"Mistress you must be careful when you speak of Tyler Burrows` wife and children, someone is likely to try to kill you otherwise."

Patina had already reached that conclusion; for she was very pale and trembling, she wished that she could wake from this nightmare and find herself back home in her soft bed, what had she ever done to deserve all of this?

Tyler approached Patina once again after getting control of his temper.

"How old is Marot Pallas?" Tyler asked her.

"He is sixty years old but he has always kept himself reasonably fit, but if you are thinking that he would delay you then you needn't worry, for if he were to tire then my android would carry him." Patina replied.

"I would have thought that it is likely that he is dead already, for why would his abductors bother to keep him alive?" Tyler asked.

"He would not die at the hands of the extremists, for it is strictly against the religious beliefs of the Helionians to kill another Helionian." Patina replied.

"But it is not against your religious laws to kidnap him or to endanger the lives of my wife and children, plus those of my four friends?" Tyler said angrily.

"You were given the chance to come of your own free will but you didn`t take it." Patina said, as if his refusal to come meant that what followed was the fault of Tyler.

Tyler looked at the woman in exasperation, the rights of other people or their freedom to choose meant little to her, or it seemed to the other Helionians. Tyler turned away from her before he hit her, and that would be against his deeply embedded ideas of right and wrong, instead he now spoke to the others.

"We should move out, for we have a lot of ground to cover, and the children are going to need carrying for most of it." Tyler said picking up Callisto.

"Appolon would you mind taking point, and Cimon will take up tail end Charlie." Tyler asked.

"I will not need carrying father, for I am almost old enough to be a warrior." Apollo said for he was seven years old and so quite old enough to walk.

"Of course, you are darling your father meant your younger brother and sister." Caroline said.

Callisto was not yet three and so could hardly be expected to walk ten miles a day. Anyway, she was having a great time now that her daddy was there to carry her. Tryon looked across to Perseus who was marching along humming to himself.

"Perseus when you get tired just let me know, and I will give you a piggy back."

"Not yet though Perseus, you can walk for a little while, Tryon don`t let him take advantage of you." Caroline said smiling across at Tryon.

Perseus didn`t mind walking with his older brother for the moment, this adventure was very exciting now that his daddy was with them. The person who Perseus put so much faith in chose this moment to approach the android.

"As you were able to not only come through the portal, but keep a hold of the energy within your power cells, we can assume that whatever drained our plasma weapons is selective, do you agree?"

The android had also come to this conclusion and had been waiting for one of the humanoids to broach the subject. He was happy that it was Tyler, for he was beginning to like him, a weird feeling for an android. However, he was not only the latest model to come out of the Helionia Automotive factory, he had many special features added, and had been given to Marot Pallas to 'test drive' to ensure there weren`t any bugs.

"I too have considered this, and it occurred to me that as the robotic machines that were earlier sent through the portal also appear to have made it this far at least, then as you say the brain behind it is indeed selective." The android was quiet for a moment then spoke again, but of a different subject.

"Sir, I know that you do not like my mistress, and with good reason, but I beg of you to try and understand her. She has been brought up as one of the rulers of Helionia, and her actions under normal circumstances would never be questioned. Unfortunately, she is not wired to think any further than the small box that she normally operates in, and the mystic who accompanied her to Orion is certainly not trusted by my master. It occurs to me that my mistress has been reprogrammed, so as to speak, by the mystic, and her key wound up, and now she is being forced to operate under circumstances that her original programming wasn`t geared to work in."

Tyler had been quietly furious with Patina, and her people, ever since the moment that they had kidnapped his family. Now that they had exposed his young children to serious danger, it meant that they must be as barbaric a people as the Heliots whom he had met some eleven years earlier, and thankfully beaten in battle, or out thought would be a better way of putting it. Tyler just hoped that Patina kept her head down, for he was not sure how much more Caroline could take before she killed the foul woman. Appolon couldn`t understand why Tyler had not simply killed her earlier on, as for Tryon he just assumed that Tyler knew best so followed whatever course his friend set.

Tyler looked across at the android, something had already told him to bide his time, for there would be time enough to kill Patina, if he finally gave in to his own primitive urges, and those of his wife and friends.

"You mean you would rather that I didn`t kill her immediately?" Tyler asked.

"Yes, Tyler Burrows, that is exactly what I mean."

"If she doesn`t endanger one of the Orionists then you have a deal." Tyler replied.

"Agreed, Tyler Burrows, for I too have taken a liking to you all, and would also take exception to such an event."

"You, an android, have taking a liking to us." Tyler asked in surprise.

"Yes, peculiar isn`t it, but then I am a new prototype android, on a test drive so as to speak, with Marot Pallas."

"Android, I am also taking a liking to you, and I refuse to call you android again, from now on you will respond to a given name, just as we do. Your name shall be Data, a name used by an android of Earth; he was able to rise above his programming to become the best of humans, he also was a new prototype model." Tyler decided.

"Did they make further models of his design?"

"Just one, but like your mistress he was also reprogrammed and had to be destroyed, but Data went on to do many great things." Tyler replied.

"I will consider the name Data and come back to you Tyler Burrows."

Appolon, who was leading the group, brought them all to a halt.

"Tyler, there is something very large coming our way; I think that we should move off the track and into the cover of the rocks beside the cliff. They had been walking through a narrow ravine for some time now and had reached a part where a large section of it had collapsed to the bottom offering them some protection behind the large rocks that had come down as well.

"Okay Appolon, let`s do it." Tyler said.

One minute later brought the large creature to within fifty feet of them. It resembled a smaller version of the fearsome Aucasaurus, from the late Cretaceous period on Earth, and stood almost seven feet high. It not only looked hungry, but it looked to be capable of doing something about it. The others had never seen such a creature before, but Tyler had seen similar creatures to the one in front of them in the Natural History Museum back on Earth, and he knew just how dangerous they were, especially as they were only armed with bows and spears, while it had large teeth and a thick hide. The dinosaur on catching sight of them had stopped still, it let out one giant roar showing off its fearsome teeth to them, Callisto immediately burst into tears, and Perseus and Apollo froze in terror.

"Caroline, will you look after the children while we take care of the overgrown lizard." Tyler called to his wife. Though he had some doubts about just how they would be able to kill it before it killed one or more of them.

"Don`t worry children, your daddy and your uncles will take care of this nasty beast. We will be safe amongst the rocks, it won`t be able to hurt us in here." Caroline said to her terrified children. She held the two youngest children tightly against her body, but Apollo tried to be brave and asked Appolon if he could help him.

Tyler had Cimon give his spear to Data, whom Patina had insisted should stay by her side to protect her, Tyler ignored her and told him that he could use it to assist Caroline in protecting the children, as well as his mistress. Appolon and Tryon gave their spears to young Apollo to hold with instructions to pass them back if either of them called for one, and Argo had pushed his one into the ground just behind him, for he did not intend to retreat any further, as that would endanger the three children who were just behind him. The five men from Orion had soon put an arrow to their bows, and Tyler now told them the sort of animal that they faced, and that was now only twenty feet away from them.

"The hide of the beast is very thick, I have no idea how our arrows will cope with it, I suggest we aim for its eyes or its throat my friends and trust in god to protect us." Tyler told his friends.

Caroline would have liked to have been up at the front fighting the dinosaur, and she would have been if the children weren`t with them. However, she knew that it was her job to protect them, as to ask one of the men to do so would have meant one of them losing face with his friends, for Orion was still a very male orientated planet, and no more so than in the village of the red plains where they all lived. Caroline was the only woman who had ever been a warrior, and up until the birth of her first son, she had always accompanied Tyler on his travels about the planet.

The dinosaur moved towards them even as their arrows flew up towards it head, with three hitting it in the throat and two sticking into the head of the animal near to its eyes, but all this accomplished was to infuriate the animal and it easily brushed the arrows away from its body and head. It now charged towards the brave Tryon, who had foolishly moved forward for a better shot at the beast, to make him its first victim. It would have done so except for the arrow that Tyler sent whizzing into its right eye, blinding the animal in that eye. This made it stop its charge and lift its head away from Tryon, as the pain reached its brain it let loose a roar of agony from its massive mouth, so ferocious that it would have frozen lesser men. The arrow had gone deep into the beast`s eye socket and entered into a region where many of the creature's nerve ends were located, causing the beast to roar as so much pain filled its body. The beast shook its head as if to rid itself of the pain, and in doing so dropped its head down only to receive a second arrow, this time from Tryon who had been waiting for just such an opportunity as this, and his arrow flew straight into the other eye of the giant beast as it descended towards him. This one also penetrated deep into the eye socket of the beast, and brought forth yet another loud roar in pain, as the beast now began to stumble around on its large legs throwing up clouds of dust as four more arrows went deep into the thinner hide at the front part of its neck. The beast's short hands went to them and attempted to knock them out, but only made the wounds all the greater.

Tyler looked back at Patina Pallas, crouching in fear behind the children, with the android guarding her, and he decided that the need of the party came before the needs of Patina Pallas.

"Data, your greater strength is needed now; come up here and throw your spear at the beast." Tyler ordered the android.

The android moved forward immediately, without so much a glance towards his mistress, he launched the spear with all of the super human strength that he possessed. Its sharp metal head struck the giant reptile in the chest causing it to rear back, roaring its pain again at them, the head of the spear drove deep into the soft inner tissue of the animal and it finally killed the giant when it reached its heart. The beast crashed to the ground sending dust flying amongst the Orionists and silence descended on the dark domain. Tyler was thankful to see its life force drain from its bloody eyes as it died before them. The reason why the Orionists had triumphed without injury to themselves was that they were expert archers who practised every day on a moving target. Otherwise their arrows would only have made it even angrier, that and because Tyler knew the only possible places to send their arrows that would give them half a chance of coming out of the encounter alive.

The attack had cost them eleven valuable arrows, and with the beast lying before him, Tyler asked Data, who was easily the strongest of them, to pull the spear out and whatever arrows he could. He asked if he would try not to damage the aluminium shafts or the flights, he also suggested that he stood at the back of the beast's head and try one of the arrows that went into its eye, for if it were not quite dead the beast would soon let them know, and he should be safe enough there.

Tyler now moved over to Caroline and their children, knelt down, and asked the children how they were. Apollo was trying to act like a brave warrior, as his father and uncles were. He smiled at his father.

"I am fine now daddy but I was a little scared, especially when that monster tried to bite Uncle Tryon." Apollo said.

"I know what you mean Apollo, I was afraid for Tryon as well, he won`t be doing that again." Tyler replied with a chuckle.

Perseus and Callisto still had tear filled eyes, but Perseus was no longer frozen so Tyler kissed each of them and said he would carry the two young ones, if Apollo didn`t mind looking after his mummy. Tyler looked up at Caroline.

"Is it all right if Apollo looks after you darling, while I give these two tykes a carry for the moment?"

"I will protect you mummy, I`m sure that Uncle Appolon will let me keep his spear for the moment."

Appolon, who had two daughters and no sons, spoilt his godson, and certainly wouldn`t take back his spear at this moment, maybe later if the situation called for it, but not right now.

"That`s settled then." Tyler said picking up his youngest two children and setting off along the trail, and away from the dead dinosaur, with Appolon once again in the lead and Tryon at the back of the party.

Tyler soon had his two youngest children back in high spirits, having told them fairy story after fairy story, where the good always won and the bad always lost. It was a little later when his arms had all but dropped off, and after he had given Callisto to her mother and put Perseus down, so that he could walk for a while, that he approached Patina.

"Why didn`t you permit your android to come to the front immediately to assist us when we were attacked by the dinosaur, you must have realised that we could have made use of his greater strength, I thought that your mystic told you that I was the chosen one, my death would hardly help you, would it?"

"You are so obviously the chosen one; I could see that from the way that you handled the situation, so why should I risk my bodyguard so soon into our quest, your life is obviously charmed." She said sulkily.

Caroline had been interested in what Tyler wanted with the woman, so had moved nearer to them and had been listening to what was said.

"Darling why won`t you let me kill her, just a little at least, it would surely make her a better woman?"

Tyler looked across at his wife and smiled. "No Caroline, maybe if you are good, I will let you do it later on."

Apollo now appeared at his father`s side and took his hand. "Daddy, you and Uncle Tryon were so brave when that dinosaur attacked us, you showed that nasty beast didn`t you?"

"Yes, we sure did Apollo, although as I said before, Tryon did scare me a little when he ventured so close to it." Tyler replied to his eldest son.

"Do you think that there are more of those animals here in this place daddy?" Apollo asked just a little anxiously.

"I`m afraid that there might well be Apollo, but with all of your uncles to help me look after you, Perseus and Callisto, there is no dinosaur big or nasty enough to hurt any of you, so don`t you worry."

"Or mummy, daddy, don`t let it hurt mummy either." Callisto called across.

"I won`t Callisto, I would never let your mummy be hurt."

Perseus had come up quietly on his other side. "Don`t let a dinosaur hurt Uncle Appolon or Uncle Tryon or Uncle Cimon or Uncle Argo, daddy." Perseus begged of his father.

"I think that they are all big and strong enough to look after themselves, Perseus. But if they ever get into any real bother, then I will help them too."

Caroline smiled at her men walking hand in hand and then she kissed a tired Callisto whom she was carrying over her right shoulder.

"With your daddy and your brothers to look after you darling, nothing bad can ever happen to you." Caroline whispered to her youngest child who had just fallen asleep.

Perseus began to yawn too, and so Cimon came across and picked him up as Apollo spoke excitedly about the dinosaur, his fears were now forgotten.

"When I grow up and become a warrior daddy, and I am as brave as you are, I would like to come here and fight a dinosaur." Tyler smiled at his eldest son and secretly hoped that his son would never have to fight such a beast.

**********

The captain of the starship Dagger now decided to contact his employer, Ares Fortuna, to update him about the missing men and of his proposed action of sending a team through the portal to try to find them, and to discover the reason behind their delay in getting back through the portal. Captain Titan looked across at his communications man.

"Rison send this signal through to Ares Fortuna. The team that entered the portal have not yet exited the maintenance portal. I propose to send a team through the portal to investigate their disappearance. That is the end of the message Rison."

"Your message is going through now Captain."

**********

The direction that Tyler and his family and friends took was along a wide gorge that curved away from the horizon, and was now fringed with hills that rose and fell as they progressed along it. They passed many a track that Tyler thought would take them back on course for the portal, for they thought the portal to be set into the mountain range that drew ever nearer. However, Appolon insisted on sticking to the main track, and so Tyler had gone along with him, for Appolon had found signs that indicated that another party of men had preceded them along this track, although it had been some days prior. They were sure that they were on the correct track when they came across the remains of a man who had been partially eaten by one of the dinosaurs of this particularly terrifying domain.

"Caroline will you take the children by when I have covered his remains." Tyler then took out his blanket from out of his backpack and covered the poor man`s body.

"That looks to be Loran; he is a member of the team of archaeologists which entered through the portal soon after it had been discovered." Patina sobbed.

This was the first sure sign that Patina had a heart, for tears slipped down her face, although whether they were for Loran, or her husband, or even herself, Tyler didn`t know.

Tyler had been thinking about the magnetic keys and had come up with another explanation about them; with this in mind, he approached Data.

"Data, the time limit on the keys, whereabouts did you find the information giving your people this particular piece of information?"

"It was in the ancient`s language, written on a plaque just outside of the main portal, why?"

"How sure are your people that they got the translation of the writing correct?" Tyler asked.

"They are not one hundred per cent sure, it is in a very much older archaic version of the language that is still in use by us today, and many of the words they had to guess at, why; do you have a different interpretation for the writing?" Data asked.

"I am not a linguist Data, and even if I was, I haven`t seen the writing anyway, but it appears to me that there may be a more logical explanation behind it." Tyler ventured.

"And just what would that be Tyler Burrows?"

"That the keys do not have a time limit that locks you inside the domain should you exceed the period of twenty four hours, it was simply meant as a ticket allocated to the user for a particular time period. Should you exceed it presumably you would have been fined or made to pay a further charge, but you could still update it at the next portal to allow you through it." Tyler explained.

"A very interesting interpretation Tyler Burrows, and very logical, but one I think we should only test as a last resort."

"Definitely only when really needed Data, such as after we find Marot Pallas." Tyler now had another question for the android.

"Did any of the teams that went through the portal possess any other weapons except for their energy weapons?"

"No, of course not, they took along the best weapons that we possess." Data said.

"Do you know what weapons the kidnappers of Marot Pallas carried?" Tyler asked.

"The guard and the witnesses only saw energy weapons." Data replied.

"Which could mean that they are mostly dead then, and that might include Marot Pallas, and especially if there are any more nasty surprises in store for us?" Tyler said.

Patina who had been listening in to the conversation then butted in.

"No, I know that he is alive, for we have a psychic link, it is partly what brought us together, I would know if he were dead." Unfortunately, for Patina the psychic link was supplied by Magi.

They all walked on in silence, however, when Caroline joined them, Patina left to drop back from Tyler and took the android with her. Perseus looked up at his father with eyes that wanted rest and sleep, so Tyler picked him up and sang to him some of the songs that he still remembered from the twentieth and twenty first centuries, and his youngest son slowly fell asleep on his shoulder. His children liked to hear these old songs, as did Caroline, and Tyler did possess a pleasant voice. She had asked a friend back on Earth, Tom Parkinson, no now he was President Parkinson, to see if he could find recordings of the music from Tyler`s time for his fortieth birthday. Somehow Tom had found some in a museum of music, they should have arrived on Orion by now, sent along with all the other items that had been ordered by the people of Orion from Earth, they would be aboard the ore freighter that called there once a year. Caroline hoped that they would all be back on Orion soon to celebrate Tyler`s birthday.

**********

Ares Fortuna looked at the message he had received from the Dagger and thought about possible replies, but the only one possible was to send a message to Captain Titan of the Dagger telling him to proceed with his plan, but with caution. Looking across at the man who had brought the message to him, and he instructed him to do just that. Fortuna couldn`t think what might have delayed the men, they were armed with powerful energy weapons that had been more than capable of killing the large dinosaurs that roamed throughout the second of the domains, what was missing from his calculations?

Magi looked at him, saw his problem ridden face, and attempted to smile, but it came out more like an evil grimace.

"Your team is unimportant Ares, only the death of Marot and Patina Pallas at the hands of the Orionist is important, leave such other minor points to your staff while you plan your future." Magi advised.

"I wish that I could dismiss their disappearance quite as easily as you can Magi, there is something wrong here, and when such a thing is not understood it could easily come back and bite us."

***********

As the hills around Tyler swept down to the plains far below them, he saw a sight that first brought fear to his family and friends, that turned to wonder, once Tyler had assured them all that the giant Brachiosaurs, whose long necks they saw soaring up towards the highest of the trees, were herbivores. These creatures posed no danger to them as long as they kept their distance from the wondrous creatures, however as Appolon said, where there were grazers there were animals that prayed on the weak and the young. Further on, they saw a herd of duck billed dinosaurs, which were much closer to them, and the children wanted to get a closer look, but the wisdom of Appolon prevailed and they continued to walk ever onwards, quietly and ready for whatever the future held. All Tyler wanted to do was to get out of the Cretaceous period and back to the present day. Argo decided to climb up a nearby solitary tree to scout out the country about them, and there some four miles in front of them, he could see the next portal, all they had to do was stick to this track and they would arrive there in just over one hour.

"Appolon, there is something wrong with all of this, the kidnappers must have known something about the portals and the different domains, something that we don`t know, otherwise they would never have entered." Tyler said to his friend.

"You think that they knew of a way out of here that wouldn`t necessitate them going through the entire complex?" Appolon replied.

"It is the only thing that makes sense." Tyler replied.

Up ahead of them they saw what looked like a cave set into a large rocky hillside, a cave with what appeared to be prison bars and a cell door across its opening.

In front of the cave three dinosaurs the size of red kangaroos were attempting to find a way into it, and the easy meal that it contained. On seeing the approaching group of the humans, the three dinosaurs thought that another easy meal was coming their way, and they turned away from the cave entrance and began to move towards Tyler and the others.

"Run away quickly, while you can." Marot Pallas shouted from inside his safe prison. "Your energy weapons are useless, the first portal must have drained them, one of the missing archaeologists who came through here told me so, and it is why they never returned." Marot Pallas was almost beside himself with fear for the people coming towards him.

"Marot, it is me, Patina, I have come to save you." Patina cried.

"Please run away my darling, while you are still able to, those animals are killers, I saw them kill and devour a man right in front of the cave it was one of the archaeologists. He got lost while running away from another dinosaur, just after he first came through the portal, and was only able to find his way back to the track yesterday when they attacked him."

"No, my darling these men are here to save you." Patina cried to her husband.

Marot Pallas fell to the floor, his strength flooding out of his body, as he prepared himself to see even more people killed and eaten by the monsters, monsters that were even now preparing to launch themselves at the humans approaching them. Tears flowed down his face as he prepared for a new hell, that of seeing his young wife killed before his eyes, to hear her screams. All his thoughts stopped as he saw that there were three young children amongst the group, and a woman who must be their mother, what was happening to his mind, was this all an illusion sent to torture him.

Tyler knew just what type of dinosaur faced them; they were some sort of animal akin to a Velociraptor that found fame in Hollywood, and that meant that they were more dangerous than their size indicated. They were in fact an animal that was similar to the Deinoychus family that roamed Earth in the Cretaceous period.

"Appolon, Tryon and Cimon come to my right flank, Argo to my left. This put Argo near to the cliff and so he was slightly safer than those on the right of Tyler were, but the children were once again directly behind him, which meant that, he could not retreat.

"Listen those three dinosaurs have razor sharp claws, so mind they don`t get within slashing distance. Caroline put the children in the middle, and then will you prepare to guard our rear, Cimon give Data your spear, Data you stand behind me, your strength with the spear could well save us all again."

The children were looking fearfully up at the adults clustered around them; they could feel the tension given off by the adults, and they were now too scared to even breathe. The dinosaurs were only thirty feet away now, and were ready to launch their attack but Tyler had different ideas.

"Appolon see if your arrow will pierce the hide of that one on the far right, aim for the top of its leg."

Moments later and an arrow flashed across the space between the humans and the dinosaurs to hit the dinosaur, and causing it to squeal in pain as the sharp metal tipped arrow entered its hide, the other two dinosaurs stopped moving as they looked towards their wounded brother, for these three were all hatched from the same batch of eggs. As the wounded dinosaur looked wonderingly at the shaft of the arrow, Tyler called behind him to Data.

"Data throw your spear at the wounded one."

Data`s arm carried the spear behind his head and then he launched it, his strength taking the spear through the air far faster than one of the humans could have managed. It struck the wounded dinosaur in its throat and went deep in severing blood vessels as it plunged further into the soft flesh of the beast, on its way through it had also severed the beast's windpipe cutting off the vital supply of oxygen to the beast's heart and brain. The beast dropped to the ground thrashing in its death throes, its two brothers looking from it and then to their meal in front of them. The children took heart at this and cheered bravely, before stopping as they saw the two remaining beasts beginning their charge towards them, as Tyler called out to the others.

"Fire at their eyes and throats again everybody, stop them dead, Data take Tryon`s spear and use it now."

Tyler`s call was none too soon for the two dinosaurs were almost on them, Tyler and Tryon being the targets for the beast's jaws, five arrows found their target and the beast charging Tryon was finally knocked backwards by the impetus behind the spear, that thudded deep into its body, and was once again thrown by Data. The dinosaur charging straight at Tyler had an arrow in each of its two eyes, two in its throat plus a spear deep inside the soft tissues of its body. The spear had just whizzed through the gap between Tyler and Appolon, as Caroline chose this moment to enter into the fight. It was this well aimed spear that finally stopped it at Tyler`s feet where it thrashed weakly about as it still tried to get to him, before dying a quick death when Appolon had thrust his own spear deeply into the skull of the dying creature.

Tyler knew that they had been lucky to meet these animals in the open, had they met in thick undergrowth, the outcome would not have been so one sided, but the Orionist were brave warriors, well able to hunt a ferocious animal single handed if necessary, they would still have had a chance to prevail against only the three dinosaurs.

Patina rushed ahead to the cave where her husband was imprisoned.

"Marot, I knew that you were safe, Magi told me that if I did as I was instructed that you would be saved." Patina cried out in glee.

"Patina, you must tell me, who are those people who came through the portal with you and what are those children doing here?" Marot Pallas asked baffled by what he was seeing.

"Magi told me to go through the Vortex to a planet on the other side, and to bring back to Helionia. The man who is talking to the children, he is a chosen one of the gods, and only he was capable of bringing you safely back to me." Patina explained but she knew that Marot would not condone her actions, but what else could she have done to bring him safely home to her?

"But why are the children here?" Marot Pallas asked as an unexplained fear filled his heart.

"He wouldn`t come when he heard that no one who had ever entered the portal had ever returned, so I kidnapped his wife and children to force him to come Marot, what else could I do?" Patina begged of her husband.

"But why did he bring them through the portal with him?" Marot asked again, but something deep within feared to hear the answer.

"Magi told me that if I wanted to save your life, then I had to bring them through with me, only all of us coming through the portal would ensure your safety my darling." Patina said. Her eyes were streaming with tears by now, her face full of fear that Marot would turn from her for committing such a terrible act.

"Ask him if he will come to speak with me Patina." Marot Pallas asked of his wife, he greatly feared that she would be made to pay for the evil that she had done.

Patina walked back to the Orionists and approached the man she had wronged so badly.

"Tyler Burrows, my husband asks if you would speak with him." Patina said through her android.

Tyler looked from her to her husband, and then he walked across to the cave with the others following in close attendance, for they all wanted to hear what the man had to say.

"Marot this is Tyler Burrows, he is the man who is going to bring you back to your people." Patina said. The android came forward then to greet his master.

"Master, I am fluent in the language of the Orionists, so you need have no fear that they may not understand you. Here is a receiver so that you will be able to understand them." Data handed over a receiver similar to the one that Patina wore.

"Tyler Burrows, please except my apologies for the crime committed against you and your family, I cannot express how bad I feel about the way Patina had treated you. If you don`t want to except my apology then I will understand. However, I would still beg of you to get me back to Helionia to safeguard the future of not only my people, but of the neighbouring planets, and also yours, for the vortex makes it a simple matter to travel between the two sectors in space." Marot was looking directly into Tyler`s eyes, and Tyler could see that he was sincere in all that he said.

"I should have killed your wife." Tyler replied fulfilling all of Marot`s fears. "But I didn`t, for my people are not barbarians, we do believe in justice though, so we will be asking your people to treat her as she deserves to be treated. As for you, yes, I will endeavour to return you to Helionia, as long as doing so doesn`t further endanger my family or my friends."

Patina hung her head in shame, her face had once more turned very pale as Tyler spoke, but Marot`s pain at Tyler`s call for justice was tempered by the balance of the reply that he had received.

"Tyler Burrows, thankfully you brought your primitive weapons along with you, for they not only saved your lives and my wife`s, but hopefully you can also rescue me, but how did you know that your energy weapons wouldn`t work inside here?" Marot Pallas asked, clearly baffled by such an act.

"Your old mystic told me to bring them along with us when she was on Orion; I guess she cannot be all bad, although from what I have heard about her, she sure tries to be." Tyler replied.

"She is thoroughly evil Tyler Burrows, as I have told my wife many times before, but for some reason she will not listen to me. Tyler Burrows, my four captors went along that track over there." Marot Pallas indicated a track that led off the main one.

"Their leader boasted that it led to a way out of this hell, they took with them a young officer, a Lieutenant Vakas, what they intend to do with him I don`t know, but the shortest of them has the key to this door here." Marot Pallas said indicating his gaol cell door.

"I don`t believe the exit that they were seeking is all that far away, and I don`t know if they even made it. A few minutes after they had left me, I heard more than one man scream out in agony, if their plasma weapons weren`t working either, then they too may have ended their lives as meals for the terrible animals of this world."

Patina almost collapsed when she heard that her lover had been kidnapped as well, luckily, no one was looking her way and she recovered herself sufficiently to join in the conversation.

"Why didn`t your tracer work, I thought that it was solar powered?" Patina asked her husband.

"Because Patina the sun cannot supply it with power while I am locked away in this cave." Marot Pallas informed her. Tyler Burrows then butted in to their conversation.

"Marot, we will go the same way as your kidnappers went, if we find the key, we will return immediately for you, have no fear, for we will not leave you to die down here in this hell." Tyler promised Marot Pallas. For a politician the alien seemed to be almost human, and then a thought ran through Tyler`s mind, as he was mayor of Orion, he too was a politician.

"Appolon, our friend here is quite safe for the moment, but there isn`t any way of freeing him without the key, as I said to him, we must all follow the track that the kidnappers took and find their way out." Tyler said to his friend.

"Don`t worry Tyler, they have left enough tracks for even you to follow." Appolon said, and when all of the Orionists had managed to stop laughing, and Tyler had acknowledged the truth behind the jest, he then moved them off.

Appolon and Tryon led the way, for as trackers the two were simply the best and could easily follow the kidnappers sign, and Cimon and Argo brought up the rear to ensure that they were not taken by surprise from that direction, if any more of the fierce creatures of this domain appeared.

The trail soon finished at the remains of a massacre, the partial remains of four men lay before them. Caroline and Tyler had trouble looking at the bodies themselves, and they sought to ensure that their children saw nothing of them as they moved them by the awful site, keeping the children`s eyes buried deeply within their parents clothing, this way the worst of it was hidden from their children`s eyes. Patina couldn`t look at them either, for she knew that one of the bodies was that of her dead lover Ajmer, she would never again lie in his arms.

Appolon and Tryon moved ahead to ensure that the portal was empty of anything that would be a threat to the children, and when they got there, they found the remains of Hanson whose body lay inside of the portal, together with the key to Marot Pallas`s cell. Picking the key up, Appolon and Tryon then carried the gruesome remains out into the day light and hid the body in the undergrowth, away from the eyes of the three children. It was only now that they called to Tyler to tell him that it was safe, only then were they were followed by Tyler and Caroline and the others of their small group. They moved the children inside the portal but not too far for they didn`t want to activate it yet, and there inside the cave they saw through the glass window, in a newly installed closet, five space suits hanging on pegs along with their air tanks, seemingly ready for use.

"Let`s move nearer to the entrance darling, this place gives me the creeps, it is so black further along that the entire Heliot army could be in there and we would never know." Caroline said as the Burrows family moved a little nearer to the mouth of the portal, and into the light cast down by the sun.

Chapter Six

We are Declaring War on Tyler Burrows

Day 153 Helionia Calendar

Captain Titan ordered his first officer to proceed to the portal with five men, and to go through to the other side to try to find out the reason behind the missing team, and then to report back. First Officer Draco soon had his space suit on, and together, he and the five men who made up his team, stepped out of the air lock of the Dagger and walked the fifty feet across to the dark forbidding portal. Draco had been through the portal before, and he knew it was not dangerous. However, it still freaked him out, just a little. A magnetic key was not necessary here, you simply walked along the dark tunnel and suddenly you were walking into the dark domain, just like now. The first thing that Draco saw further along the tunnel were the five space suits hanging up inside their closet, untouched since he and his team had put them there. The second thing he saw was Tyler Burrows and his family, and so quickly cautioning his men to stay quiet, he edged forward to spy on them, but keeping to the dark shadows to ensure that he was not seen, although he couldn`t understand a word that was said. He was able to record it, which he did so that the aliens` conversation could be played back upon the Dagger. He did see two things from his place of vigil; he saw that Patina Pallas was still alive, she was standing at the entrance to the portal, and it seemed to Draco that she was trying to shrink into its walls. He also saw the Orionists moving what was left of some of the bodies of the men that he had been waiting for, for he recognised enough of Vistas to recognise. The officer could only guess the reason why the men had failed to keep their appointment, however, it appeared as if the beasts of this domain had been able to kill them?

*********

"Well, Caroline, whatever is on the other side of this portal is not very suitable for human life; we will have to investigate it before allowing the children through." Tyler said as he looked at the five space suits.

"At least this is a defensible location Tyler, and with a fire it should keep any of those terrible beasts at bay." Caroline said, feeling slightly happier about their ordeal.

Appolon now appeared with an old-fashioned key in his hand, the sort that looked as if it was made to suit the cell that Marot Pallas was imprisoned.

"This looks to be the key that we will need to release Pallas from his prison cell Tyler, how do you want to play it." Appolon asked.

"First, we will gather as much fire wood as we can to put out front of the portal, then I will go back to release Pallas, I will take the android, Cimon and Tryon along with me leaving you, Caroline and Argo to protect the children, with the fire blazing away I am sure that they will be safe enough. As for us, without the Pallas woman and the children to slow us down we should be able to move fast enough to get there and back, both safely and quickly." Tyler replied.

"That seems to be best Tyler, let`s get started on collecting the firewood." Appolon agreed.

"Okay, my team plus Argo will deal with that Appolon; you and Caroline must stay here to protect the children." Tyler said to a resigned Appolon and Caroline.

With two of them keeping watch, the other two men plus the android quickly foraged for anything that would burn, wood, brush and dead grass made up most of it. When Tryon had arranged it just right, Tyler took out his old cigarette lighter that had once belonged to a friend back on Earth centuries ago, and lit the stack. Flames soon engulfed the stack with just a little smoke rising into the air to tell of its location. Tyler then moved off quickly with his team towards the old-style prison cell and Marot Pallas.

Thankfully, they got there without further incident and had soon freed the politician, and while returning to the portal, Marot Pallas told Tyler and Tryon, of Ares Fortuna, but then he told them the reason why Fortuna had resorted to such an elaborate plan to rid himself of his political opponent, and not simply murdered him.

"You see gentlemen, the reason why Ares Fortuna didn`t simply have me murdered is that the people of Helionia have for so long now believed in a strong and active spirit world. Should he kill or instruct someone else to kill someone, then he would be tormented by the dead person`s spirit for eternity, this belief has turned a primitive barbaric world into a god-fearing world which obeyed all of gods laws, after a fashion. This is the reason that Magi had my wife bring you to this world, so that you would kill the two of us, and his hands would be clean." Marot Pallas hoped that this would help them understand his world, and certainly Tryon said that he understood.

Soon they were back at the portal and their patiently waiting friends and family. Caroline was extremely thankful to see Tyler return, and she ran up and threw her arms about him in joy at his safe return, even though he had been gone for only a short time. The children were also happy to be reunited with their father, and made their feelings plain with their loud shouts of greeting. For they had been worried by his departure earlier on, and had waited impatiently for his speedy return when he would be safe, for the dangers of this land were only too apparent to both adult and child.

**********

First Officer Draco`s vigil turned to one of alarm as he saw that not only was Marot Pallas alive, but he was being treated more like a friend than an enemy, it was only Patina who was treated as something to be wiped off the bottom of your shoe. He turned his men around and retreated back through the portal and back to the starship Dagger.

High above Galafrey, Ray and Jean Connors looked down at the dark portal, and at the dome habitat that sat beside it. The starship Dagger had no idea at all that they had been shadowed to their destination by the cloaked Orion Defender, or that the crew of the Dagger had been watched as they inspected both the portal and the dome habitat. Ray and Jean Connors then watched as a party of six men entered the portal only for them to exit hurriedly an hour later. What Ray Connors saw next astounded him, for the starship Dagger used its plasma weapon to fire several bolts of energy at the wall of the crater above the portal, which buried the portal beneath a ton of rock and dust before the starship departed for Helionia.

*********

Brian Goddard had not been idle since Tyler Burrows had disappeared in hot pursuit of the Helionians. He had sent inquiries to the authorities on all of the other planets situated in and along the spiral arm of Perseus. The answers that had come back indicated that a second Helionian ship had visited the sector prior to the Swiftsure, and they had appeared more than interested in the tales of Tyler Burrows and his battle with the Heliot army. When Brian Goddard received the message from Ray Connors, together with all of the news features, and an update regarding Caroline and her children, he gave it all to the super computer that they had brought back to Orion from Genesis, and within seconds it gave Brian its analysis of the situation.

"Brian, the writing is that of the ancient Heliot nation, I believe that Tyler Burrows has been decoyed back to the planet for more than just the reason given by the Helionians. I believe that someone, probably Ares Fortuna, wants revenge for the total annihilation of the Heliot fleet and its army, and I believe that he may think of the ancient Heliots as his own relatives. This event happening only eleven years ago is what is causing his anger. He disregards the fact that fifty thousand years have actually passed on Helionia between the fleet leaving and its final destruction at the hand of our friend Tyler Burrows."

The super computer thought that it was now a true life form and Brian had yet to come up with any proof to disprove this theory, and the computer had come to look upon the people of Orion and Tyler in particular as its friends.

"I think Brian, that you should send everything that you have acquired regarding our present problem to President Parkinson. I feel that we may be facing a bigger problem than we appeared to be when Caroline Burrows and her children were kidnapped. If Ares Fortuna wins the coming election on Helionia, then we may see the Heliot nation reborn to terrorise the galaxy again. Until we re-establish contact with Tyler Burrows, there appears to be no immediate hurry to notify Ray Connors, while Earth may need every possible moment to react to this news."

Brian Goddard thought that the computer was probably correct as regards who should be the first to receive their rather disquieting news.

"It is a pity that you didn`t scan the two Helionian ships when they visited Orion, knowing the level that they have reached with their technology would have helped us to plan accordingly computer." Brian Goddard said rebuking the computer.

"The first starship was not much more than a small privately owned starship armed with a low power plasma cannon, the second cruiser was of a similar design although it had a Matter Transporter fitted. Unfortunately, I was busy on another problem, one that you set me, at the time of the second ship`s arrival, so I was only able to scan it as it departed our planet, and so was not able to warn Tyler Burrows about the Matter Transporter being made ready for immediate use. That they have a Matter Transporter puts their level of technology on a par with our own, as we too have fitted out our latest ships with such a device; however, I believe our Heliot technology is in advance of the Helionian. Ironical isn`t it?" The computer said to a very sorry Brian Goddard, who sent everything that he had on the Helionian problem to President Tom Parkinson, who had been elected to the presidency just nine months ago.

**********

Tom Parkinson received the news with his usual calm, read, and re-read the entire message before he called together a meeting of his military advisers to discuss their options.

"Gentlemen, I think that our first act must be to bring back into the space fleet the two space cruisers recently mothballed after the launch of the two new Freedom class starships, this must be expedited as a matter of the utmost urgency. While that is being done, we must have the three light cruisers, which are currently on R&R, sent to Aldebra to relieve the three Freedom class ships currently operating there. The police action is almost over there, and we hardly need our three most powerful ships stationed out there when we may have a need for them elsewhere. One of the three Freedom class starships can take up station at the wormhole to secure this end of it, with the other two stationed near enough to get to that area of space within twenty-four hours. We can also send along the old Resolution to Orion, just in case it becomes necessary to mine the area at the place where the wormhole exits, it can leave for Orion as soon as the mines have been loaded aboard the ship. We will also require a satellite at the other end of the wormhole to warn us of any approaching ships, so that we can then warn them off if the situation becomes so serious on Helionia that we consider them a threat to our security, if that time comes, then we will be forced to lay the minefield. If they ignore our warnings and choose to proceed through the wormhole then the mines can be activated, and hope that they will take care of any problem that shows itself, if not then our three Freedom class space cruisers should be able to do so. I believe that I summed up the situation correctly gentlemen, are there any questions or points that you would like to raise?"

The military advisers were all extremely impressed by their leader's words, but then Tom Parkinson had been the head of the Interstellar Intelligence Bureau for many years, and so was used to dealing with such pressing problems.

"Mr President, may I say a few words on this matter?" Admiral Frazer said having put up a hand signalling that he had something to say on the matter.

"Yes, of course Richard, what would you like to add?" Tom Parkinson asked

"First of all, I would like to say that apart from one point you summed it up correctly, but the one point where you are not up to date on Mr President, is that the space cruiser Freedom is already approaching the worm hole. I despatched it in response to the message we received from Tyler Burrows concerning the kidnapping of his family. With the police action being at the point of being wound up, I felt that we owed that sector of space some support, after all of the help that they have been to us. I didn`t think that it was important at the time, so I didn`t notify your office."

Tom Parkinson smiled at the admiral. "Okay then, the next thing to discuss is getting the funding to build a further three Freedom class starships to ensure the safety of our entire quadrant of space in the years to come, for who knows what change of government might occur on Helionia, or what might explode onto the scene elsewhere. We have seen before how stretched our space fleet can be, and we now also find that only the best space cruisers will be enough to safeguard our way of life."

**********

On Orion, Brian Goddard now sent a message to Ray Connors informing him that the area of space that he was currently in was in fact the area of space that used to be controlled by the planet Heliot, with Helionia almost certainly being the same planet from where the Heliots had originated on. He also told him that Earth was depending on him alone, 'sorry about that', to ensure that Tyler Burrows found and rescued Marot Pallas, or the Heliot Empire could rise again to terrorise the galaxy. He also asked him to have the computer on the Orion Defender monitor all local newscasts and send them back to him via the satellite link.

**********

When finally, Ray got over the surprise of Brian`s news, he instructed the computer to send all relevant newscasts to Brian Goddard, and to include a recording of all future transmissions in and out of the Defender. This would keep Brian Goddard completely up to date with the situation on this side of the galaxy.

Only then did Ray attempt to contact Tyler Burrows through the blocked portal, and much to the surprise and delight of both Ray and Jean Connors, he succeeded in making contact with Tyler.

"Tyler, am I glad to get back in touch with you, I have so much news to tell you about the current situation." Ray said, he sounded mightily relieved, as he was.

"We too have been busy Ray, we have Caroline and the children safe with us here, and we also have Marot Pallas with us, but the guys that kidnapped him are all dead, they were all eaten by some rather vicious dinosaurs down here. By the way, you were right about the portal, it does drain the energy from any plasma weapon that passes through it, it was lucky for us that we had our antique weapons along with us. We have arrived at some kind of maintenance exit; there are some space suits down here so I assume that we will emerge on a planet without an atmosphere." Tyler said.

"I`m afraid you will not emerge anywhere at the moment Tyler, a ship belonging to Ares Fortuna, the political rival to Marot Pallas, fired a plasma weapon just a short while ago and brought down the rim of a crater onto the portal on this side, and buried it beneath a ton of rubble. A landing party had just returned through the portal, so I would imagine that it was in response to your safe arrival there." Ray said glumly.

Tyler then called Marot Pallas across and told him of their situation, and the name of the man who had created their problem.

"Let me speak to your friend please, I can tell him who to contact to clear the landslide away from the portal." Marot Pallas asked.

"Okay Marot, I will just inform Ray Connors, the man on the other end of this radio."

Tyler then told Ray that Marot Pallas wanted to speak to him about getting help. Marot Pallas then came forward and spoke over the short-wave radio that Tyler and his friends always used when operating away from home.

"Please contact Aswan Trajan through the space port authorities, they will know how to contact him, ask him to have my starship come to this moon with the necessary equipment to clear the way through, he is an old friend, and he is also a very capable man." Marot Pallas instructed.

"We will do that after we have told Tyler the rest of our news, if you would please put him back on." Tyler came back on the radio.

"Tyler it is imperative that you keep Marot safe, he is the only thing that is standing between peace and a new Heliot empire. Tyler the planet Helionia is more than likely the planet Heliot fifty thousand years on. The old planet of Heliot was destroyed by an attack that came across the depths of space from another planet in a nearby solar system, the Planet of the Light. It is believed by Brian Goddard, that Ares Fortuna may well be dead set on reviving the old Heliot nation, and one of his first acts might be to enact revenge against the Planet of the Light. However, prior to that he might want revenge against us and in particular you Tyler. It seems that another Helionian starship preceded the one that kidnapped your family, and they found out how you defeated the ancient Heliot army on Orion, and this ship was owned by Ares Fortuna." Ray hoped that his friend would be able to accomplish all that was asked of him, it would sure take a lot of planning, and a lot of luck.

"Thank you Ray, maybe you should contact Aswan Trajan and get us all out of here. In the meantime, I will speak to Marot about the new situation we find ourselves in."

While Tyler filled Marot Pallas in about the demise of the space fleet of the old and unmissed Heliot nation, Ray Connors contacted Captain Lysenko, instead of the spaceport.

"Captain, this is Ray Connors we have an urgent request to make, will you please ask Aswan Trajan to contact us immediately you get this message, for we have good news for him, Marot Pallas is safe, and so is Tyler Burrows and his family, but they desperately need his assistance to return to Helionia."

Ray Connors then moved the Orion Defender to the surface of the moon about a mile from the portal with his cloaking device and defence shields turned on. After all the communications that had taken place, you couldn`t be too careful.

Tyler Burrows moved Caroline to one side and told her of his conversation with Ray Connors.

"Darling, it might be necessary to forego our planned revenge on Patina, the resurgence of the Heliot Empire is not something we can risk, everything possible must be done to prevent it from happening, and it appears that Marot is the only person on Helionia to ensure that the ideals of the Heliot nation are not reborn once again on Helionia." Tyler said grimly.

"Unfortunately, what you say is too true Tyler, the chance of her crime losing Marot Pallas the election is too terrible a thing to contemplate, for if it should see the Heliot nation rise again then it would be our fault alone, but we needn`t tell her just yet, let her suffer a little while longer Tyler."

Caroline saw that once again, Tyler had looked at a situation and seen far beneath its surface to grasp hold of something hidden from all their eyes. His decision not to kill Patina Pallas was now so very important to the wellbeing of the galaxy, it could be that even he had not understood just why he had come to the decision, but having come to it, he went along with it until new evidence came in to prove him right or wrong.

Day 154 Helionian Calendar

The starship Swiftsure was despatched to Galafrey immediately, it arrived with a freighter full of mining and earth moving equipment, and this was soon unloaded from the freighter and onto the surface of the moon. The men now started the long task of moving the rocks and dust to clear a way through to the portal.

Ray, decided to keep their presence a secret for the moment, he kept the Orion Defender fully cloaked and watched as the work quickly moved ahead. His reason for not disclosing his position was simple, he reckoned that not all of the people of Helionia would be quite so happy about the rescue mission that was taking place on the moon. He wanted to go unnoticed by all who may fall into that category, so that he could intervene at the crucial moment, if the situation arose.

***********

Ares Fortuna was lucky in that he had a spy aboard the Swiftsure, one who had informed him that a message had been sent to Aswan Trajan. Trajan had learnt of the position of another portal into the dark domain, and that this portal was buried under a ton of rock inside a crater that was on the moon Galafrey, buried after the starship Dagger had fired its plasma weapon at the rim of the crater. Fortuna couldn`t decide whether to despatch the Dagger back to Galafrey to attack the operations, or to wait until it all blew up in his face. That he waited too long to come to a decision was obvious, but it was not until he had fully thought over all of the factors involved in the decision process that he finally felt that he had come to the correct decision, and he then acted accordingly. The deciding factor was the Orion starship, the Orion Defender, Ares Fortuna concluded that the crew of the Orionist ship must have seen the Dagger create the landslide, and they had guessed the reason behind the strange event. Fortuna knew that the Orionist murderer, Tyler Burrows, had succeeded in reaching the portal along with Marot Pallas and his wife. He must have been able to make contact with the Orionist starship captain, who in turn had managed to contact Trajan and enlist his help to free those trapped within the dark domain. Another thought then entered Ares Fortuna`s mind, could this also mean that Marot Pallas and Tyler Burrows were now in league to plot his defeat, it seemed only too probable to the general that this was so. As to what had happened to cause the death of his own men, god only knew, and possibly the people waiting to be freed from within the dark domain.

"Well Magi, it appears that so far the mass murderer Tyler Burrows has failed to live up to your prophecy." Fortuna said turning his mounting anger on her.

"No man living should have been able to stop himself from killing either of the Pallas`s, Patina should have died the moment after Tyler Burrows went through the portal, as for Marot, he should either be still languishing within his cell or lying dead upon its floor. As Tyler Burrows hasn`t killed even Patina, then he must very weak, that or he truly is the chosen one of the gods." She said.

"But isn`t that exactly what he is supposed to be Magi, the chosen one sent to destroy the Heliot fleet, and then all the others that went up against Orion and its neighbours." Fortuna screamed at the old crone. Magi looked disdainfully upon her son; did she have to think of everything?

"Then you must board the Dagger yourself Ares, and attack the Swiftsure and the freighter. Destroy them all as soon as you see that the Orionists and Marot Pallas are all safely aboard their starships. Wipe them out once and for all, so that they are never able to get in our way again."

"And be haunted for the rest of my life by the spirits of the dead Helionians aboard the Swiftsure, are you mad?" Fortuna demanded to know.

"I told you before Ares, I have studied the spirit world, and I can insure your safety if you will allow me to. I have been readying my psyche just in case our plans fell apart; I am already prepared for the ceremony that will protect all aboard the Dagger from the retribution of any deaths that may occur." The old crone said.

"If you can be certain of our protection from the wrath of the spirits, then yes Magi, it might work. We would only have to set up some sort of interference between the moon Galafrey and Helionia, to stop any transmissions getting through and alerting the authorities as to what was happening on the moon, and we can do that on board the starship Dagger. We can then blame it all on the Orionist starship, wherever it is, and if it should appear on the scene and try to stop us, then we can also blast it into a million pieces. We would then be revenged upon Tyler Burrows, and his most trusted friends, for their crimes against the Heliot Empire."

**********

On the planet Helionia, Captain Lysenko has had one of his most trusted men watching the starship Dagger with orders to notify his superior, should it prepare to lift off, or should anything else noteworthy happen aboard it. Hans Byland was the officer who he had detailed for the job; he was a thirty-year man, with enough experience to know how to keep out of sight and not allow the boredom of the task to cause him to slip up. Byland was situated inside a small terrestrial shuttlecraft that belonged to a close friend of his family, and at this precise moment, he was watching Ares Fortuna and some old crone board the starship. Immediately afterwards he had seen the crew of the ship preparing the ship for immediate lift off, his task was almost completed, all he had to do was contact his superior to notify him of the changes to the current situation.

**********

Ray Connors had decided to move the Orion Defender away from the moon, and had been busy while the men toiled away on the moon. He had just returned from the vicinity of the large gas giant where he had laid his remaining satellites on opposite sides of the planet to warn him of any starships approaching from either direction. He was now waiting just off the direct flight path between Helionia and Galafrey to stop any starship from approaching the moon from that direction, while his friends were still stuck inside the dark domain. The Defender was lying in wait with its cloaking device in operation. He had turned off all external sensors, so as not to provide evidence of his position to any approaching craft. Luckily, Earth had fitted brand new state of the art sensors, plus a state-of-the-art weapons console into the Orion Defender, as part of the payment for the loan of the starship Freedom. The Orion Defender was now almost the equivalent of one of Earth`s older light space cruisers but obviously nowhere near as manoeuvrable, but with more than enough fire power provided by the Heliot weapon sitting inside of its hold. It was more than capable of going up against a space pirate, which was Tyler`s main objective, not that there were any left within the quadrant of space controlled by Earth.

The Orion Defender waited so patiently, but now its internal alarms went off to signal that a starship had just exited hyperspace, and was approaching their position. A quick use of his external sensors told Ray that the starship Dagger had returned, probably to cause more mayhem down on the moon`s surface. That the crew of the enemy starship may have been alerted to his presence by his quick scan of their ship was obvious, but he had immediately changed the position of the Defender to protect against any attack by the Dagger.

"Jean the starship that brought down the side of the crater has just returned. I need you up here to help man the weapons console." Ray called to his wife who was supervising in the engineering department, the two crew members were now more than capable, but up until this minute Ray didn`t need a hand on the bridge.

"Be there in a moment Ray."

Moments later, as Ray turned around to look across the empty bridge, he saw Jean coming through the door to take up her new position over at the weapons console, which Craig Fowler had just left to return to the sensor console.

"When you are ready Jean, I will warn them off. Craig, will you please turn on our defence shields."

Two moments later and Jean was able to reply. "I am ready now Ray, the main plasma weapon is now ready for action and I am disengaging the cloaking device."

Craig Fowler had already started to charge their single plasma weapon before Jean had arrived on the bridge, saving them valuable seconds.

Off the starboard beam of the starship Dagger, the crew were amazed to see the Orionist ship appear upon their sensors, but the crew had not put this down to the Orion Defender having a cloaking device, rather they believed that they had just not noticed their sensors flashing out a warning about its proximity. Seconds later Ray sent them a message.

"Starship Dagger, I cannot allow you to approach the moon that the portal to the dark domain is located on, I am fully aware that the last time you visited the moon you brought down the rim of the crater to bury the portal beneath a ton of rock, turn away now or I will open fire upon you."

The bridge automatic warning alarm suddenly blared out a warning to tell them that the starship Dagger had just powered up its own weapons and defence shields. Seconds later a bolt of energy sprang across space to slam into the defence shields of the Orion Defender, and shake anything that was loose down on to the deck of the starship, but the powerful Heliot shields were more than capable of resisting the plasma weapon of a privately owned starship. Jean didn`t need telling to return fire, for she had already targeted the other vessel`s shielding technology, and when their Heliot high power plasma weapon sent its energy bolt across space, the Dagger more than felt it. Her defence shields went off line immediately, and her hyperspace engines almost followed them, another bolt of energy from the Defender would easily destroy the enemy starship and her captain knew it, for he ordered an about turn and hurried away on a heading that would take them finally to Helionia.

"Nice shooting Jean." Ray said to her.

"No problem darling, any time you want a bad guy taking care of, just call my name."

Just then a message came in to them from the Swiftsure, it was from Aswan Trajan, he assured them that his ship had recorded the incident in full, and when Marot Pallas returned to Helionia, he would see that the captain of the starship Dagger was called on to answer for his actions against them.

"Did that guy over there call our shooting match an incident Jean?" Ray said laughing.

"He sure did Ray, but maybe the universal translator isn`t working as well as it should be." Jean said laughing at the understatement used by their new friend.

On board the Dagger, Ares Fortuna was sitting stunned on the bridge of his starship. "Captain, can you tell me how in hell such a primitive tramp freighter ever came to have such modern battle technology?" Fortuna asked.

"From the many tales associated with the man Tyler Burrows, I imagine that the one that tells of the powerful Heliot fleet that crashed upon the planet Orion had some truth behind it; maybe he stole the technology from those broken starships and incorporated it into the freighter. If so, then we will need a ship as powerful as the space cruiser Dark Nebula to destroy it, and Tyler Burrows along with it." Captain Titan offered as a reason

"Tell me Ares, just how much of our space fleet can you rely on to follow you, should you call on it?" Magi asked of her son.

"I ensured that most of our heavy cruisers had officers and crews that were loyal to the partisan party, so should the need arise then I would be able to count on a large part of the fleet, why?" Ares Fortuna replied.

"Because I believe that we must act quickly and stamp on the Orionists, and anyone else who is currently on or near to the moon Galafrey, and before they can return to Helionia and spread their tales of intrigue." Magi answered.

"Captain, we have hours at most before they uncover the portal on Galafrey, put a call into the squadron of ships led by the space cruiser Dark Nebula, and order them to rendezvous with us here as soon as they can, we are declaring war on Tyler Burrows and his allies."

Within the dark domain, and unaware that war has been declared on him, Tyler Burrows and his wife Caroline were talking to Marot Pallas.

"Marot, I have some good news for you and your wife, wrapped up in evil tidings. I believe that the peace of the entire galaxy is threatened by Ares Fortuna. Therefore, Caroline and I have no option other than to put aside our dislike for your wife. We have decided to forego our search for justice; we will drop all of our charges against your wife. The resulting publicity, if we were to pursue our call for justice, could easily spoil your chances of winning the upcoming election, and allow the partisan party to win. This, I am told by my friends back on Orion and Earth, must not be allowed to happen, and I am in complete agreement with them." Tyler said, and Caroline, who was standing next to him nodded in agreement.

Tryon, who had been standing nearby, and had heard some of the conversation, now approached them.

"May I join in this conversation Tyler, for I believe that I have something of interest to add to it that may throw some light on the current situation?" Tryon asked.

"Of course, you can Tryon, what have you to tell us?" Tyler replied quizzically.

"Caroline, not even you will know this, because you were rather young at the time, but at one time my family wanted me to train as a mystic, and indeed I even went some of the way towards becoming one. It is why I know so many of the legends concerning Orion, and maybe it is why I knew that Tyler was the chosen one, so long before anyone else would admit it." Tryon said.

Caroline and Tyler looked at their friend in amazement, and both of them wondered just how he was going to continue this conversation about his early life and the world of a mystic, a world that Tyler still couldn`t admit to being real.

"It was partly because of your brother, Caroline, that I chose another path to take from the one already chosen for me by my family. The three of us were inseparable when we were younger, and Appolon and to a much lesser degree myself were regarded as being unmanageable at one time. Caroline, your being with us made Appolon mend his ways and become the man that he is today. Now to get to the point, I have thought for a while now that the old crone who came to Orion with Patina, may have had control of Patina`s mind. I also believe that she may have made the journey with Patina for the sole reason of keeping her control over Patina at maximum strength, for it was a very important time in Patina`s life, the time which was to bring you Tyler, to Helionia to answer for your supposed crimes against the ancient Heliot Empire. A mystic is capable of many things, and to control one such as Patina would be very possible, if the mystic started to gain control of her mind from an early enough age, Patina would have no say in the matter unless she had a very strong mind. It is why now on Orion, that anyone chosen to begin such a life, must initially go through a rigorous training regime, one that ensures that the person chosen is suitable for such an important and potentially powerful position." Tryon rested here for a moment, allowing Marot Pallas to step in.

"Magi, the old crone as you call her, was once Patina`s nanny, and even when she left this job she always lived nearby, never more than a stone`s throw away from the house of Patina`s parents. Tryon are you saying that from her youngest years, Magi could have been controlling my wife`s mind, controlling her life, grooming her so that later she could be made to do evil things, such as bringing the children into the dark domain?" Marot asked in awe of such a suggestion.

"Yes, it might well be the case, I have heard of it happening before on Orion, my grandfather came across such a situation when I was in training to become the next mystic of our land. A member of a nearby tribe went crazy and killed a neighbour who was causing another mystic much trouble. I saw how he ascertained whether it was just a simple case of murder, or whether it was more a case of mind control. The mystic answered to the elders for his crime and we never heard of him again. I must stress that this ceremony isn`t an easy thing to do, especially as I have never performed the act before, but I believe that I could not only discover the truth behind Patina`s actions, but also ensure that the mind control doesn`t continue afterwards." Tryon said to a very baffled Tyler.

Tyler had always looked on his friend simply as the brave Tryon, as was the case with all of the villagers of the red plains. Now he saw before him a very different man, who was so much more than a warrior.

"I remember the ceremony so well, as if it was only yesterday. It was very scary for a young lad to watch, and it was partly the reason why I took up with the hothead of the village, Appolon." Tryon finished reflectively.

**********

On Helionia, Captain Lysenko heard belatedly from his officer who was keeping watch on the starship Dagger. He told Lysenko how he had been taken by surprise and knocked unconscious, only to come around three hours later to see that the starship Dagger had already taken off, with Ares Fortuna and an old crone going aboard minutes before he had been attacked, Lysenko decided that late or not, he would contact the Ray and Jean Connors.

"Ray, are you there? Please answer if you can hear me, for I have some news for you, belated though it is." Luckily, the damage done to the Dagger had also stopped the radio interference, so Ray Connors was able to receive the call from Captain Lysenko.

"I`m here Captain, what news do you have for me?"

"Three hours ago, the starship Dagger took off for destinations unknown, on board were Ares Fortuna and the old mystic, unfortunately my agent was knocked unconscious and has only just reported in." Captain Lysenko reported.

"They appeared here about one hour ago, they fired upon us after we warned them away Captain, we sent them running for home with their tail between their legs, although had I known that those two were aboard, I might have finished them off."

"Well done Ray, I was worried that you might have been killed if you went up against the Dagger, obviously I worried unnecessarily." Captain Lysenko said happily.

"I don`t suppose Fortuna will give in so easily though Captain." Jean said hoping for a rebuttal of her statement.

"I`m afraid that you may well be right Jean, he is the general in charge of a large part of our space fleet, and who knows how he will react to your defiant action against him."

Chapter Seven

Further into the Dark Domain

Day 155 Helionian Calendar

Marot Pallas looked deeply into Tryon`s eyes, to try to gauge the sort of man that his new friend was, and what he saw made him approach Tryon with a strange request, strange at least to Tyler anyway.

"Tryon would you please consider conducting the ceremony that you spoke of on my wife, to see if she is indeed under the spell of the evil old crone Magi?"

Tryon looked across at Tyler to see if he was happy for the ceremony to go ahead. "It is all right with me Tryon, if you think that you might be successful, but you will have to be quick for as soon as the portal is clear we are getting out of here." Tyler said, he was so mystified by it all that he couldn`t object.

"Patina would you mind coming here, I have something to tell you and also something to ask of you?" Marot said to his young wife.

"Of course, Marot, what do you want?" Patina replied curiously. Patina walked over to him, and looked from him to the others nervously.

"First of all, Patina, Tyler and Caroline have decided not to press charges against you for kidnapping Caroline and her children when we return to Helionia." Marot Pallas informed his wife.

"Thank you both, I now realise that it was terribly wrong of me to bring the children through into this awful place." Patina said looking down at the ground rather than into the faces of those that she had wronged.

"The other thing is this Patina, you know how I feel about Magi, and you know that I believe her to be an evil old crone who should have been locked up long ago. Well Tryon knows a little about the spirit world, and he thinks that she may be making you commit acts that you would never normally do, and she does it by controlling your mind."

"Controlling my mind, what acts are you speaking of Marot?" Patina asked her husband angrily.

"Such as kidnapping this young family Patina; and then bringing the children into this dangerous place, and placing Tyler and his friends in such peril as well." Marot said.

"But I explained that Darling, it was because Magi..." Patina broke off here and broke down sobbing into her hands for some time before getting control of her emotions; it was easy to see that she was terribly confused.

"I am sorry for crying, it is that I am so very confused about everything, what seemed to be okay before, now seems so terribly bad. It will take a while for my mind to reorganise things correctly, so that I will no longer feel so like a stranger in my own mind." Patina finally gasped out.

Being so far away from the old crone had already partially broken the hold that Magi had on her, if only temporarily, and now Patina`s conscience had broken through into the shadow world that Magi had forced her to dwell within, and it made her face up to the evil of her deeds.

"It is all right Patina, for Tryon may be able to ensure that Magi will never enter into your mind ever again, should you want him to try." Marot Pallas said gently to his wife.

"Please Marot; please ask him to, I beg of you to ask him." Patina was now a very broken young woman who only now began to realise the reality behind the things she had done, and she desperately wanted to atone for her sins.

"While we have been walking through these dark domains, I have been quietly collecting the herbs that I would need, if we were to try this thing, and I now have everything I require. Patina and I should walk further into the portal for it is darker and quieter further inside." Tryon said.

He slipped his backpack over his shoulder, he then stooped down to take some of the fuel that they had collected for later use on their fire, and took both along the dark tunnel until he decided that he was in a place where he would be able to conduct the ceremony. Tryon placed the fuel for his fire in the middle of the tunnel and dropped his backpack against the wall, he then walked back to the others and collected a burning twig to light his fire, and he then escorted Patina back with him to his chosen site.

"Sit down Patina and we shall begin to drive Magi out of your mind, and then proceed to barricade your mind to stop her returning to it."

Tryon took out the various herbs, that he had collected, from his backpack and began to crush some of them, and then to put them in a metal can that he used when camping. To these herbs, he added water and hung the can from a metal stake so that the water slowly came to a boil. When Tryon was satisfied that the brew was sufficiently boiled, he poured it into two cups, and then he added a little cold water to the brew to cool it a little. He now handed one of the cups to Patina, who looked at it with distaste and began to cry. The remaining herbs that he had collected he put on the fire, and they immediately began to fill the tunnel with a sweet-smelling smoke.

"I know my concoction in the cup looks foul, but you must drink it now Patina, together with the smoke filling the tunnel it will enable the two of us to become of one mind, and then I can begin the job that you desperately need of me." Tryon said to Patina who was now sobbing quite loudly. Tryon picked up his cup and drunk the foul brew down in one go, the taste was if anything worse than the smell.

"Quickly Patina drink it." Tryon ordered the sobbing woman and taking hold of her wrist forced the cup to Patina`s mouth, and forced her to drink the brew until the cup was completely empty.

As Tryon began to chant the words of the spirit world, he could feel his grandfather`s presence. As his voice became louder, he knew that the spirits of his people had journeyed far to assist him in this task. Slowly the combination of the smoke and the brew began to work, as his mind went deep into a drug-induced world, a world filled with people he had once known and called family. Then Patina was before him, she had now stopped crying and was smiling at him over the fire, which slowly faded away. The tunnel had disappeared now, Tryon found himself sitting within a garden with Patina, and they were alone. He knew that her mind had brought them to a spot where she felt both safe and happy in. Tryon sensed someone behind him and turned around to find the old crone approaching them carrying a wicked looking sacrificial knife, he was to be sacrificed so that Magi could retain her hold on the young woman. Tryon marvelled at the speed that Magi had become appraised as to what was happening, and had appeared before them in their spirit world. Tryon jumped to his feet and pulled out his own knife, but it was not the knife of a warrior, it was the one he had buried with his grandfather fifteen years before, he had placed it on his grandfather`s body himself so that it could be used by him should he ever require it. His grandfather had now given it back to him to slay the witch in the spirit world, and destroy the hold she had on Patina.

Magi rushed forward and swung her knife viciously at his stomach the knife slicing through the material of his shirt, it had only been his training as a warrior that had saved him as he leapt backwards, Tryon felt his blood oozing out of the shallow cut made by the sharp knife of Magi. Tryon smiled, she wouldn`t catch him again, he had seen an old crone, but here in the spirit world Magi was as agile as a young girl was. From behind him he heard Patina cry for help and cast a quick look behind him only to see two monsters from another dimension dragging the young woman away, she was screaming to him to help her, never before had Tryon seen so terrified an expression as the one on Patina`s face. He turned back to Magi, for he knew that he must first deal with her. The entire world around him turned to a barren wasteland with only the dead and burnt remains of its trees and shrubs to show him that it had once been the same beautiful garden of moments before. Tryon moved forward determined to put an end to the witch but found that his feet were held firmly in the grasp of the roots of one of the long dead trees. Magi walked behind him and prepared to kill the brave warrior of the red plains, he would be a fitting prelude to Tyler Burrows and the entire Pallas family, she thought. Tyron tried to move his feet, tried to turn around to offer some sort of defence, but he found himself unable to do even this simple thing. Patina was being dragged to the entrance into the underworld, if he did not act fast then their lives would both be lost to the evil of this world. Patina was screaming out his name in terror once more, but Tryon knew that his own death was only seconds away. He had feared this might be the result of his journey into the spirit world, but had not told the others in case they had prevented him from trying to help Patina, something that his grandfather had asked of him while he had slept while inside the first of the domains. From behind him, an angry voice boomed out.

"Leave my grandson dark one, his time is not yet come to journey to the spirit world and meet up with his family, be gone oh odious hag, back to hell where you belong."

A tremendous crash of thunder almost deafened Tryon, and the blaze of lightening that filled the now darkened skies blinded him for a moment, but when he came to, he found himself lying on top of a naked Patina who lay upon a large woollen rug within her beautiful garden, her perfume and beauty intoxicating his senses. Tryon thought that they both must have returned to the last time in Patina`s life when she had been deliriously happy, the last time that she had been with Lieutenant Ajmer Vakas.

Tryon was almost seduced by this beautiful young woman beneath him, the foul brew that he had drunk, and the intoxicating smoke from the burning herbs, made him forget for an instant what he and Patina were trying to accomplish. As he looked deeply into her eyes, as he was just about to kiss her red lips, he saw the fear that sprang into her eyes, she was staring at something behind him. Tryon the warrior threw off the effects of the drugs instantly, for from the fear on Patina`s face he knew that a new evil was even now approaching him from behind. He once more felt the sacrificial knife within his hand and he spun around to see the old crone already bending over him, her knife already descending towards his own body. Tyron thrust upwards with his own knife to meet the heart of the descending old hag, he saw her eyes turn from evil laughter into a look of agony, and reaching forward he pushed the old crone`s body away to watch it fall upon the ground beside him. Tryon knew that his cup was nearby, for in reality they were still in the confines of the dark tunnel, and so he felt around beside him until he felt its hard metal surface, touching it brought it into the spirit world. Tryon then went across to the body of Magi and made himself fill the cup with her blood that was oozing out of her lifeless corpse. As he stood there looking at the corpse of the old crone it faded away, this Tryon knew, meant that their enemy still lived in the real world, but had been severely weakened. Returning to the naked body of Patina, Tryon had to use all his inner strength not to lay with her once again, but from out of nowhere, the image of his wife flooded into his mind and so gave him all the strength that he required. He sank down to the ground now both physically and mentally exhausted and handed the cup over to Patina.

"You must drink this Patina, it will cure you of Magi`s spell and bring you back to Marot."

Patina was still so very drugged that she didn`t even realise what Tryon was asking her to do, it was simply hearing her husband`s name that made her obey him, Patina immediately drained the cup of every last drop of blood that it held, and then stared across at Tryon as if awaiting his next command.

Tryon lay on the ground and looked at the young woman before him; he hoped that Hera would appreciate just how much self-control he had shown at this moment in time, which ended abruptly with the dark tunnel walls once more appearing around the two travellers of the spirit world. Patina slowly came too, she looked across at the warrior known to her as Tryon, and then she turned her eyes to the floor in front of her and blushed deeply, for she too had remembered all that had happened within the spirit world. Tryon picked up his backpack from against the tunnel wall and then turned to speak gently to Patina.

"Patina what just happened, only happened because of the drug that we both drunk, and the smoke from the burning herbs that we both inhaled. They allowed us to enter into the spirit world together, nothing was real and your mind was never fully yours to control, it was as much a dream as the ones you have in your bed. Forget what happened as you would a dream, be happy now, for the evil one, with just a little more of my help, will never again enter your mind, unless of course you yourself invite her in." Tryon smiled across at the beautiful young woman sitting opposite him and as Tryon got to his feet and looked down at Patina, he offered her his hand.

"As I helped you regain control of your mind allow me to help you to regain your feet." Tryon said kindly to the pretty girl at his feet.

"Thank you, kind sir, I am very grateful for your help, and I shall never forget you brave Tryon, the bravest of the brave." Patina said holding out her own hand and allowing the strong warrior to assist her to her feet and laughing with him as they exited the tunnel to re-join their family and friends.

"Everything was successful Tryon, Patina?" Marot asked anxiously.

"You had better ask my spirit guide." Patina said laughing. "But yes, I feel fine now, for the first time that I can remember I feel in control." Patina certainly looked fine.

"Patina should be safe from the evil old hag for now." Tryon said as he put his backpack down against the portal`s wall and rummaging through it pulled out a circlet of flowers that he had gathered and made as they had journeyed through the domain.

"But beware, do not allow Patina to be alone with her ever again, not even for even a short length of time, for Magi is a very powerful witch, while I am but an amateur. Patina will be free of her control for ever, as long as you do as I say." Tryon turned to Patina again.

"Patina you must always wear these flowers around your head for as long as Magi lives, it will help prevent her from entering your mind. In your house you should have a sprig of these flowers at each doorway or window to stop her from entering the house and trying to gain control of you, should your protection fall from your head, such as when you are asleep or bathing?"

"I will never allow Magi anywhere near our house ever again, and I will have an android act as her bodyguard at all times until this nightmare is finally settled. But are all these protections really necessary, now that Magi realises that we know of her mind control, will she bother to attack us through Patina?" Marot Pallas asked.

"While I fought with Magi in the spirit world, some of her thoughts escaped her mind, she has a fierce hatred for the Pallas family that is even greater than the one that she has for Tyler. It is all to do with the past, and she is eaten up by it, so yes Marot, all of the measures I have mentioned will be essential until she is dead." Tryon replied.

As Tryon had guessed, his fight with the old crone had weakened her badly, and she now lay on her bed somewhere between life and death. She had been summoned to the spirit world to fight him, even though the physical distance between them was so immense, it was simply because of the power that she had over Patina that she was able to do it. However, she had been badly beaten within the world of the spirits, and it would take her some time to recover from it back in the real world, if she was able to find the necessary strength to bring her body back from the brink of death where it lay.

Tyler, who was bemused by all of it, suddenly noticed a stain on Tryon`s shirt. "Tryon, what is that on your shirt?" Tyler asked of his friend. "It looks like blood?"

Tryon looked down at his shirt and saw a bloody patch on it, he quickly pulled up his shirt and saw a red line running across the place where Magi`s knife had cut him.

"The old crone caught me unawares my friend, I am too used to the easy life that you have brought to Orion. I will have to train again with the young warriors." Tryon said ruefully.

Tyler Burrows was not a firm believer in the spirit world, he believed in his wife, his children and his friends, that and an inner knowledge about right and wrong kept him on the right track. However, what he had just witnessed here within the dark domain, well it was certainly something to think over. As he had learnt back on the spiral arm of Perseus, it seemed that there was something else there, something that he just couldn`t see, something just out of his reach that was very mysterious, and of that he was sure.

Marot turned to Tyler and Caroline, for he had some information that he thought might be useful to the Orionist leader.

"Tyler, I am sure that this planet is within the dark nebula, each time night has fallen the sky has been clear of stars, only the nearby planet is visible. Our religion tells us that it is forbidden to enter this zone, probably a race memory after the death of so many of our people, probably following the great plague that swept our planet followed then by an ice age. We have only just learned of these disasters through the plates found by Trajo Fortuna."

Caroline looked across at the thin line of blood on Tryon`s stomach, which he began to clean with some antiseptic cream. She then looked at Patina and was a little confused by what she saw, the hardness in Patina`s eyes seemed to have gone from them, in its place Caroline saw a young girl, it was almost as if Tryon had baptised her within the spirit world. She would wait and see what there was to see, and then decide how to treat this young woman.

**********

The starship Dagger carrying an angry Ares Fortuna finally made contact with the squadron led by the space cruiser Dark Nebula, and changing ships set the three space cruisers on a course back to Galafrey, while the Dagger hurried off for much needed repairs, carrying with it a mortally wounded old crone.

**********

The area around the portal was finally cleared of moon rock and dust, and the freighter that came with the starship Swiftsure was able to head back to Helionia on a wide parabolic course that would keep it clear of any approaching trouble, unfortunately it also meant that it would not be able to warn them of any either. The Orion Defender landed close by the portal, while for the Swiftsure this was unnecessary as it had a Matter Transporter.

Jean Connors immediately advised Tyler that it was now both possible and safe to come through the portal and board the Orion Defender, as long as they used space suits.

"Thanks Jean, there are five space suits over here so Caroline, Argo and our friendly android Data, will come through first, carrying the three children, as they cannot be expected to walk in adult space suits, and then they will return with space suits for the four of us still here on the planet. Leave the link open just in case something comes up, I will turn the volume way up so all you have to do is shout and we will hear you." Tyler said to Jean.

"Okay Tyler, I will, oh what about the Pallas`s will they also require suits?" Jean asked.

"No, two members of the Swiftsure are bringing space suits down to Marot and Patina Pallas, unfortunately they only have four suits and so we will just have to be patient." Tyler replied.

The two crewmen from the Swiftsure walked out of the tunnel carrying space suits for the Pallas`s and helped them to put them on. Just before he closed his helmet, Marot asked one of the crewmembers a question.

"Try out your plasma weapon on that large rock outside of the tunnel, see if it working."

The crew members took out his plasma weapon from his holster attached to his belt and fired a bolt of energy that caused the rock to explode into a mass of small pieces. Marot Pallas then gave the two crewmembers another order.

"Please give your two plasma weapons to Tyler Burrows, that gentleman to your right, just in case a beast of the dark domain chooses this moment to attack him or one of his friends."

The crewmembers after looking at one another for a moment, handed the two weapons across to Tyler.

"You never know what will happen on this dangerous trip of ours Tyler, Data can return them when he comes back aboard." Marot Pallas said smiling.

"Thank you, Marot, I feel a little less naked now with a couple of working plasma weapons to rely on." Tyler said.

"From what I have seen of you Tyler, I cannot believe that anything scares you, apart from missing family members that is, goodbye for now we will speak later." Marot said, and then entered the tunnel, but halfway down he turned to smile at his new friends before continuing.

Caroline and Argo had put on their own space suits, and were now assisting the others who were occupied with the task of 'loading' the three young children into the remaining space suits. The children were a little apprehensive as they disappeared into the suits but Caroline looked down into each of the three suits and whispered words of encouragement to her children.

"You will soon be safe aboard the Defender and out of these suits, then as soon as your daddy is aboard, we can all go home my sweets." The children all beamed at her, happy to be part of this adventure, now that it was all over.

"It is time to be off darling, we will be waiting here for you to return with space suits for us." Tyler said to his wife who nodded from within her space suit.

Picking up Callisto, Caroline turned around and walked deeper into the portal followed by Argo, who carried Perseus, and Data who had no need for a space suit, who carried Apollo, and then they were all gone. The Helionians had already departed the dark domain, leaving the four friends eager to be on their way home.

Ray Connors caught sight of Caroline and the others coming out from the portal from his position on the ship`s bridge and shouted down to Jean.

"They will be at the air lock in just a minute Jean, be ready to take the children off them so that they can return back for the others immediately, with four of our own space suits."

"Okay Ray, don`t worry so, I am ready for them down here." Jean replied.

It was as Caroline and the others stepped through the outer airlock that Ray saw the long-distance sensors begin to register the tracks of three large approaching starships, and just to reinforce this, a message came through the radio from the Swiftsure.

"Orion Defender we are tracking three powerful space cruisers that are on course for this moon, you will have to abort your rescue mission for now, that is probably Ares Fortuna on board the leading one, and while he will probably leave us alone, I think that he will come in shooting, as far as you are concerned." The voice was that of Aswan Trajan, and Ray concurred with its sentiments.

Ray quickly warned engineering that they were lifting off now, and then after insuring that the outer airlock door was closed the Orion Defender roared off, quietly of course as they were in the vacuum of space, and Ray gave a very quick message to his waiting friends within the dark domain.

"Tyler, we have the first party aboard the ship, but three very large Helionian space cruisers are approaching this moon rather quickly, so we are heading across into the dark nebula, out."

The Orion Defender entered hyperspace at the same time as Ray heard the heavy footsteps that came up the stairs two at a time, that it was Caroline still clad in her space suit was very clear, but he paid no attention to her imminent arrival as he headed for the dark nebula, and the relative safety that it offered.

"Ray, what on earth are you doing, Tyler and the others are still trapped within the dark domain?" Caroline demanded to know angrily.

"I am running from those three Helionian space cruisers on the screen Caroline." Ray replied.

Caroline immediately regretted doubting her friend and moved over to the weapon`s console.

Jean, who had also run up the stairs to ascertain whether her husband was going mad, sat down in the co-pilots seat.

"I will let them begin to chase after us Ray, so as to lead them away from the moon and then I will turn on the cloaking device." Jean said, she too was feeling rather guilty, as her thoughts had been similar to Caroline`s.

"Good thinking Jean, but be ready to turn that off the moment before we enter into the nebula, we don`t want to damage the cloak or the rest of the Defender on whatever makes up that cloud ahead." Ray said to his wife, although he knew that he needn`t have worried, for she knew as much about flying into nebulae as he did.

"Have you told Tyler about the space cruisers Ray?" Caroline asked, very contritely after her verbal attack on her friend.

"Yes, I radioed down before we entered hyperspace, it was lucky for us that we didn`t break the connection, so all I had to do was shout in the general direction of the microphone.

Within the dark tunnel, Tyler and the others looked at each other for just a moment before moving away from the portal and back into the dark domain. As they walked back along the track, they of course came to what little remained of the kidnappers and Tyler thought they might take a moment to overcome their squeamishness and search for evidence as to their identity, it could help Marot Pallas to prove just who was behind the crime committed against him. Thankfully, there were very little human remains left, and unfortunately, anything else had been carried away by the scavengers of this land. However, they did find two things of use upon the body that they had dragged out of the portal, a map of the dark domain and a wallet telling them that the dead man`s name was Hanson, nothing more. Tyler looked at the map for a moment and studied it.

"There is the portal where we entered the domain and here is the second portal we used. This must be the maintenance portal here, and these smaller opening must be service portals for the staff to use while the larger openings shown on this map must be the portals meant for visitors like us." Tyler said.

"And are we going to continue to use them Tyler?" Appolon asked, but already knowing the answer.

"No, we will try the staff entrances where possible. I have some good news to impart to you all; Marot Pallas believes this to be a planet in orbit around a sun set within the dark nebula. Ray Connors told us that he was taking the Defender there, and as Caroline was with me when Marot gave me the information, then I should think that we can expect to hear from them eventually. As for Ares Fortuna, his religion should bar him from entering into the nebula and hampering the next rescue attempt. Now let`s move off before some of Ares Fortuna`s crew arrive, because I believe they will come shooting to kill."

Up on the Defender, Caroline was telling the Connors much the same thing.

"So, Ray, all we need to do is to keep an eye open for a sun with a ringed gas giant, which also has a largish moon in orbit around it that has a breathable atmosphere. We shouldn`t need to worry about the three starships either Ray, as it is against their religion to enter into the nebula." Caroline said just a little happier now that she had thought matters out.

Jean thought about the last time that they had hidden inside of a nebula; it too was to escape from enemy warships. The mere thought of the Jeanette`s final moments brought tears to her eyes, for that old tramp of a freighter had been home to her and Ray for so very long.

Argo, Data and the children now appeared fresh from shedding their space suits, and all anxious for news of Tyler and the others. Caroline told them the news, but added that as they knew approximately where the planet of the dark domain was, that is within a few tens of light years which she didn`t add, they would soon all be reunited.

"I think that it must be somewhere near to the moon that we just left, and that we should concentrate our search in this section of the nebula first." Caroline said to the others.

Just then a message came into them from Dave Reynolds commanding the starship Freedom, he had been listening in to all that had happened on the moon, and was just on the other side of the wormhole and ready to give any help that they required, all they had to do was ask.

"Ask and we could start an intergalactic war, I`m afraid everyone, that we are in this alone. We cannot even acknowledge receipt of the message, as it will bring the Helionian space cruisers down on us." Ray Connors stated grimly.

"Dave Reynolds will know that we are probably cloaked, and he will not expect us to answer the message unless we need him, he may even have sent the message knowing that Ares Fortuna will have translated it, so as to make him think twice about attacking us again." Jean said to the downcast faces around her.

Ares Fortuna received a message from his spy aboard the Swiftsure telling him that the alien Tyler Burrows and three of his friends were still trapped within the dark domain. Only the alien woman and her children, plus a single savage, had so far escaped to board the alien starship, although Marot and Patina Pallas were aboard the Swiftsure and heading back to Helionia. With Magi lying very ill within her cabin aboard the starship Dagger, Ares Fortuna did not dare to attack the Swiftsure for fear of being haunted by the spirits of any Helionians that he killed. Instead, he ordered the second space cruiser to send a landing party through the portal to kill the aliens, while he chased after the alien starship. As the Dark Nebula slowly caught up with the Orion Defender, as it raced across space to the relative safety of the nebula before it, the Orionist starship disappeared from view as if by magic.

"Where did they go Captain?" Ares Fortuna asked. Captain Ragusa who was in command of the starship turned to one of his crew who was operating the sensors on the ship.

"Typhon, did you see what happened to the Orionist ship?"

"There was a large increase in their power output, just for a moment, and then the ship disappeared off the screen sir." Typhon answered, more than a little baffled by what he had seen. "They certainly didn`t blow up, for I would be able to detect what was left of the starship on my instruments."

"By the gods, they must have some sort of cloaking device." Captain Ragusa said in amazement.

"Captain, how in hell could a ship like that have such sophisticated technology?" Ares Fortuna asked, he too was a just a little astonished by what had happened.

"I have no idea sir, but if their people also have this level of technology, then maybe we should be trading with them instead of declaring war upon them." Captain Ragusa suggested, in awe at such technology in the hands of an enemy.

"Captain, they destroyed our people just a few years ago, in an unprovoked attack upon the survivors of our once great fleet, and just so their evil scientists could mess about with things they didn`t understand. Our ancestors were then forced to struggle through fifty thousand years of hell just to get back to our present level of civilisation, we are not going to reward such mass murderers by trading with them, is that clear Captain?" Fortuna shouted all of this so very loudly and so very angrily that even the crew elsewhere on the starship heard him.

Captain Ragusa visibly paled and whispered his apologies to his general for even thinking such thoughts, but privately he had misgivings about any operation against such a foe that possessed such technology.

On board the Orion Defender, Ray altered course to a heading that would take them into the nebula at a more oblique angle after Jean had turned on the cloaking device, this was to confuse any sort of search once they had entered the nebula, which came ever nearer.

**********

On Galafrey, a landing party of twelve crewmembers walked through the portal, they stripped off their space suits within the tunnel of the moon, deep within the dark nebula. Thankfully, for their own peace of mind, they didn`t know their present location, for it went against the teachings of their religion to be inside the dark nebula, for the last time that their people had journeyed through it their people had suffered terribly for their blasphemous behaviour. The starship Vengeance's first officer, Commander Zion, led the party out into the arid countryside, and the first thing that hit him was the dry heat of this part of the domain, after the air conditioned starship it seemed very hot. The next thing his team found were the remains of the four men laying along and around the rough track that wound on into the distance, Hanson`s body having been pulled into the undergrowth near the entrance to the portal. Both Zion and his men had to keep from retching at this terrible sight of such carnage; it was a fitting introduction to the second of the domains. Lying discarded on the track, Zion found one of the dead men`s plasma weapons still intact, he picked it up and saw that it had been fully drained of power, but as to why this was so he couldn`t even begin to think. This group of men had been in the dark domain for only a short amount of time, and they shouldn`t have needed to use it quite so much. He immediately reported his finds back to his captain, who in turn reported to Ares Fortuna aboard the starship Dark Nebula.

It didn`t take him too long to realise why, when coupled to the mystery behind the missing team of archaeologists and then the robots. The drained plasma weapons were proof positive; something within the first portal drained all energy weapons of their power. Fortuna quickly sent a message to the captain of the Vengeance, and instructed him to instruct his landing party to test their own weapons, and to keep a constant check upon their power levels, for there was always the chance that his first assumption had been incorrect. Fortuna then sent a message to his daughter with this news, asking her to keep quiet at the moment, until he had returned and had seen how things stood on Helionia, then he could decide how best to use this knowledge.

The landing party duly tested their weapons, they were very happy to find them still working, and then Commander Zion decided to head for the next portal in the chain, and so inadvertently moved at a different angle to that taken by the Orionists. The landing party being made up of twelve armed crewmembers easily beat off the attentions of the many carnivorous creatures of the dark domain, but even so, they were a little in awe of such beasts. They arrived at the portal set within a canyon that penetrated between a range of high hills to find that as they didn`t have the necessary magnetic keys, that the portal wouldn`t permit them to go through.

"Damn, I should have realised this earlier, we will have to journey alongside this range of hills until we come to the maintenance portal, sorry men." Commander Zion said smiling ruefully at them. "Still, at least it is good exercise for us."

The men were feeling rather hot by now, and were also just a little foot sore, they were not used to this much walking for they spent most of their time aboard the relatively small confines of a starship, but they didn`t complain, they just trudged tiredly along the side of the hills hoping for this mission to end. Zion was determined to reach the maintenance portal before he stopped, this was his first independent command and he didn`t want to fail.

Tyler and his friends had made good time across the hot arid hills of the highlands of the second domain, being more used to such exercise. It was while they were crossing over a ridge that Appolon noticed something moving way behind them.

"I think that our enemy has indeed sent a landing party after us Tyler, you can just see them walking along the main track, just this side of Marot`s old prison cell." Appolon said indicating with his hand in which direction to look.

Appolon might be able to see them, but Tyler needed the binoculars that he had brought along in his backpack. Taking it off Tyler rummaged around until he found them. Using them, he was able to see twelve men, fully kitted out for a long haul, and all appeared to be carrying plasma weapons.

"Yes, they are heading for the main portal in this domain, but without a magnetic key they will be unlucky, that should give us quite a head start on them." Tyler happily announced.

They had also encountered some more of the domain`s fearsome creatures along the way, but with the two newly acquired plasma weapons, the beasts were easily chased away. Tyler had not used the weapons on full power, he would only do so if one of the creatures was persistent, this was so as not to deplete them of their power too quickly, for you could never tell just how often they would be called upon to use them. They soon passed through the next portal that was set in the side of a rugged hillside, and had now appeared in a land dominated by jungle. The entrance to the portal was hidden from without by a mass of shrubs and ferns that had grown into an almost solid wall, preventing them from leaving the darkened tunnel. A large tree grew immediately in front of the opening, and Tryon climbed up it to see what was ahead of them, and saw only more jungle. He did catch sight of what might be an animal track some fifty feet away from them, and which could best be reached by travelling along the strong branches of the tree he was on, and then crossing over to the next tree via some of the branches that interlocked between the two trees in an embrace. From here, Tryon could see that it would take them down on to the track; the only problem was that they would definitely hurt themselves should they fall, for the interlocking branches were some thirty feet above ground. However, to move through the vegetation at ground level, without machetes and only two plasma weapons to cut a way through, seemed an expensive use of their two plasma weapons, or else doomed to failure without them. Tryon, who was already up the tree, said he would investigate, and he moved along the branches much like Tarzan would have done, or so it seemed to Tyler.

"Yes, there is an animal track over here and it seems to be well used." Tryon called back, and so Tyler and his two friends agreed that this seemed to be the best way to go, and they quickly scaled the tree growing in front of the portal. Appolon and Cimon were soon walking along the upper branches of the first tree and were crossing over to the second of the trees. Tyler in the meantime had made the initial climb easily enough, but once up in the tree top, he made much slower going, inching along the first branch with the aid of another higher branch to aid his progress but then he was forced to move even slower where the branches of the two trees interlocked with one another. The problem was that there were no corresponding upper branches to help him keep his balance. Appolon was at the further end of the strong branch and he was fretting at each step taken by his friend, fearing that this step would see Tyler plummet down to the vegetation below. It was while Tyler was in the middle of the second branch that Tyler`s feet slipped from under him, and he fell. For a moment only though, Tyler could see the ground flying up towards him, but before panic could set in his body collided with the branch that he had been walking along, knocking most of the air from his lungs. Tyler almost slid off the branch such was his momentum, but he was able to grab the branch tightly and lay there for a moment looking down at the green below while getting his breath back, by sheer luck he had been saved from a painfully fall to the hard ground below. Somehow, Tyler was able to keep a hold of the branch and edge along the branch with his legs wrapped around its wide girth, and this way he was able to get to the safety offered by Appolon`s outstretched hand. One minute more and they were all safely together on the ground, and Tyler looked around at his friends and then to Appolon alone.

"This is where you take over Appolon, for this is your kind of world. There may even be people in this domain, certainly there will be various nasty venomous things, as I see it, we have two options open to us. We can move away from the track and let our pursuers pass us by, and then we can return to the second domain where we know the dangers and simply wait for the Orion Defender to find us. Otherwise, we race on towards the next portal and into the fourth domain, which according to the map has a portal that will take us back to Helionia. The only problem with that plan is that the portal that will take us back to Helionia must also be hidden, just as the first one was, it may be beneath that large inland sea that was not too far away from the first portal, as a matter of fact it could be anywhere on Helionia." Tyler declared grimly.

"Which means that entering that portal might be even more dangerous than it was at the first portal." Cimon said frowning. "Maybe it would be better to return to the second domain after all." A thought that had also occurred to the others.

"It will soon be dark, so it will be better to make camp here than risk unknown dangers travelling through the night." Appolon said.

"Even if we decide to stay within this domain, it might be better to allow our pursuers by, and let them face the unknown dangers here first, for there are bound to be many." Tryon said wisely.

"If we are to wait near to this portal it had better be back along the animal track and around that bend, so if our pursuers possess any infrared detectors, they won`t pick up our body heat." Tyler advised his friends.

"But first my friend, we must ensure that our pursuers know in which direction we walked after exiting the portal." Appolon said and explained to the others that they should lay a false trail to ensure that their pursuers didn`t accidently stumble upon them, as this would mean that a fight to the death would ensue.

The four Orionists stepped into a couple of muddy patches and left four sets of clear footprints walking further along the trail, before removing their boots and walking carefully back to the point where they had clambered down out of the tree. Once there, Tyler led his friends in the opposite direction to the footprints, and away from the next portal. They had only walked one hundred yards when they came to a bend in the track, around this Appolon saw a large tree that resembled the Banyan tree of Earth, and decided that it would be an ideal place for their campsite. The three native Orionists soon had beds made up within its spacious branches for them all to settle down in. Tyler let out a long breath and was finally able to relax for a moment, at least his family would now be safe, and they only had to wait until the Defender found this moon within the vast expanse of the dark nebula, he smiled, resigned to whatever fate had in store for them.

"I`ll take the first watch and wake whichever of you snores the loudest in three hours from now." He said smiling at his friends. Tyler moved up higher into the tree so that he could see if the Helionians came through the portal, even as the night settled over the land. He was careful though to conceal almost all of his body behind the intervening branches, so that if they should come through, they wouldn`t catch sight of him before he ducked further into the green cover offered by the copious canopy.

**********

The Orion Defender had now entered into the dark nebula, and its crew were talking about the search that lay before them.

"Right everyone, Data has worked out a search plan for us, thank you Data." Caroline said to Data and the others on the bridge. We will search the nebula one section at a time, starting with this sector. If you look on our view screen you can see our plan of campaign."

Ray Connors looked at the details up on the view screen. When everyone had had time to digest the information, he spoke to them about their future course of action.

"That looks fine, Caroline and I can take turns to pilot the ship while someone else keep`s an eye open for our pursuers, as the sensors will not work in here. We will also need someone to keep an eye open for a likely ringed gas giant of a planet, around which we hope to find the dark domain moon. That means that Argo and Caroline can sleep for the next four hours, while as usual, Craig and I do all the work. Data, as you don`t need to rest you can be the one to look out for the planet. Jean, if you can organise things in engineering." Ray Connors said.

Caroline and Argo were both exhausted, so they didn`t argue, they just hurried the children to the limited amount of sleeping quarters to be found on the cramped starship, and then they tried to get some sleep. Caroline thought that she would find it impossible to sleep so she just closed her eyes and pretended that Tyler was asleep next to her, moments later she too was asleep.

**********

Ares Fortuna walked about the limited space offered by the bridge of the starship Dark Nebula, getting angrier by the moment, making his crew even more nervous than they already were, being as they were so close to the dark nebula. He looked at the nebula shown on the large view screen before him, he knew he couldn`t order his ships into the nebula, for the crews would simply refuse to enter, and so instead he merely cursed the Orionists to hell while he considered his options for the immediate future.

One, he had to return to Helionia to silence anyone who dared to accuse him of being in league with the kidnappers. Two, he would leave the Vengeance in orbit about Galafrey in case the Orionist starship returned to it to try and pick up the murderer Tyler Burrows. Three, he would send his other space cruiser, the Shield, to the wormhole to prevent the Orionist ship from returning to its own part of the galaxy, and to warn him should the starship that had contacted the Orionist ship come through in a bid to help its friends. To wait here for a cloaked ship to depart the nebula was pointless, and to enter the nebula impossible, for it was strictly against the religion of his people. He was leaving without the victory he badly wanted, he would just have to be satisfied in taking out his anger on the free Marot Pallas, when he was back on Helionia that is.

Chapter Eight

Back to Helionia

Day 156 Helionian Calendar

The starship Swiftsure had landed late the night before, at the dark and lonely spaceport located just outside of Helios. Marot Pallas and his wife had journeyed home with a guard from the starship to act as protection against any more attempts on his freedom, and gone straight to bed. They were both tired from their ordeal, and slept in late the following morning. When they walked down for breakfast, they were met with jubilation and relief from the staff of their large house, when they found that their master had returned home from his terrible ordeal.

Captain Lysenko heard from the spaceport authorities that Marot Pallas and his wife had been spotted there in the early hours of that morning, they had presumably just disembarked from the starship Swiftsure, that had also returned from an unknown location. The Pallas`s were thought to have been heading back to their large estate located in the outskirts of the capital city. He decided to call there and speak to them both and now, just after his breakfast, would do nicely. He arrived at the front door of the Pallas estate to be met by the butler.

"I would like to speak to Marot and Patina Pallas at once." He said handing a calling card across to the servant, who on looking at it showed him into the library. He then went to seek out his master. It was Patina Pallas who greeted Captain Lysenko, to ask how she could help him, although she thought that she already knew the answer, and a cold dread filled her body. In her hair, she wore a garland of flowers that Lysenko thought was a mistake, as only a young girl could get away with such a thing.

"My husband is busy at the moment, he is in conference with the senior members of the Conservative party of Helionia, what can I do for you Captain?" Patina asked.

"I want to speak to Marot Pallas about his alleged kidnapping, and to you Mademoiselle about your alleged activities regarding a certain young alien family, whose mother was seen arguing with you just before they entered the Divilio portal, my witnesses seemed to think that they entered under duress." Lysenko stated in a very cold voice.

"It seems that you had better speak to my husband after all Captain, I am sure that he will be able to explain everything to your satisfaction, if you will wait here for a moment, I will call him." Patina said.

Patina had not been able to meet his firm gaze, her eyes had looked down at the ground from the moment that Captain Lysenko had mentioned Caroline Burrows and her three young children, and her voice was so very quiet and diffident, last week she would never have acted so reserved before one the planets minor officials. It was only now, after her terrifying journey into the dark domain, that she felt so ashamed, so guilty that she couldn`t meet the eyes of the police captain. She walked across the room and rang a bell that was fitted on the rear wall of the library, and within seconds, the butler returned to the room.

"Mallon, would you please ask my husband if he will speak to Captain Lysenko?" The butler went off and moments later Marot Pallas entered the room with another gentleman.

"Captain Lysenko, it is good to see you again, how are you, I am sorry if I have kept you waiting, I was just about to start a meeting with the senior members of my party regarding the upcoming election for the presidency of Helionia." Marot Pallas said greeting Lysenko.

"That is quite all right Mr Pallas, for I have plenty of time, but I expect that you do not, so I will get straight to the matter that brought me to your lovely house. Mr Pallas, it was thought that you were kidnapped and forced to enter the Divilio portal, but now I see you here in your home seemingly quite well and happy. Tell me sir, were you in fact kidnapped and if so, why have you not reported the matter to the police immediately upon your safe return?"

"Yes, Captain Lysenko, I was kidnapped by four thugs from within the grounds of this estate, I was taking my usual morning`s walk around the grounds when they forced me to go with them." Marot then indicated the tall slim man next to him. "My lawyer, Rogan Osier, was just about to call you and ask if you would consider calling here at my home, but you have saved him the bother. I thought that if I was seen entering your office then we would both be swamped by reporters, this way I could talk to you quietly. Rogan can give the newspapers a written statement later, regarding just what happened to me, but please sit down Captain, for I have much to tell you of my ordeal within the dark domain of Divilio."

The three men and Patina all sat down on the spacious armchairs that were the only furniture in the room, except for two large low tables that on Earth would be termed coffee tables. The rest of the room was empty except for the many shelves that filled three of the walls, all of them filled to the high ceiling with books. Captain Lysenko and Rogan Osier looked at Marot who now began to tell his strange tale.

"These are the facts behind my kidnapping and consequent rescue by some new friends of mine, a group of aliens from a far-off planet named Orion, a planet that is on the other side of our galaxy." Marot Pallas began.

"Yes, I know about the Orion connection, for I have been in frequent contact with the Orionist starship captain, a Captain Ray Connors. He is attempting to rescue his friends, and of course the children from the dark domain. I also have received eye witness reports that your wife forced the young family to enter the portal." Lysenko said looking straight at Patina.

Marot Pallas paled visibly, but with a quick look across the room at his lawyer who indicated that he should continue, Marot Pallas continued from where he had been interrupted.

"My kidnappers, Captain were just thugs; they were obviously in the employ of someone far more powerful than they could ever hope to be. Their employer was, I believe, a certain politician who I cannot name, for I do not have definite proof regarding his guilt. I can tell you that my kidnappers did have a map of the dark domain, and knew about a second portal that is located on a moon in the Arturo planetary system. A system which is to be found near to the dark nebula. I was eventually rescued thanks to the alien Tyler Burrows. The location of this portal is something that as far as I can see, could only have been known by Trajo Fortuna, the now famous archaeologist and curator of the Archaeology museum of Helios. Coupled to this is the fact that the starship Dagger, owned by Ares Fortuna, was actually seen by the Orionist ship firing at the rim of the crater where the portal is located. This caused a landslide that buried the portal under a ton of rocks and dust, and was done to prevent the Orionists, my wife and myself from escaping the dark domain even earlier than we finally managed to do so." Marot stated calmly while looking directly at the police captain.

"That certainly looks like proof to me Marot, but tell me, these kidnappers, what happened to them, and could you identify them again?" Lysenko said, excitement coming into his voice as he took in the facts told by Marot Pallas.

"They were killed by the creatures of the dark domain, along with a young lieutenant who they also kidnapped, funny how it turned out, they left me behind to rot inside a prison within the dark domain, but I am the one who is free, and they get to stay there for all of eternity." Marot Pallas said. Captain Lysenko took out his electronic tablet and after a moment handed it across to Marot Pallas.

"Take a look at these pictures of four men Marot, who are currently missing from their usual haunts; are these four men your kidnappers?" Marot looked at the photographs on the viewer and then looked up at Lysenko.

"Yes, these are the four men who kidnapped me and the young lieutenant, who are they Captain?" Marot Pallas asked.

"They are four men who amongst other things are paid up members of the Partisan party." Captain Lysenko replied.

"Captain, I have more to tell you. Aswan Trajan was able to arrange the escape of my wife, the young Orionist family and myself. Unfortunately, before Tyler Burrows and three of his friends could also get safely aboard their own starship, three space cruisers from our navy arrived. Not only was the Swiftsure forced to flee, fearing that they would indeed fire upon us, but the Orionist ship also had to take off without its people, and run to the dark nebula to hide amongst its clouds. Along with the captains of both the Swiftsure and the Orionist ship, I felt strongly that Ares Fortuna would order his ships to fire upon both of our ships. To stop my return to Helionia and to kill the Orionists for an imagined wrong that they are supposed to have committed against the Helionian people of fifty thousand years ago." Marot Pallas said.

"Excuse me sir, but you have lost me Marot, please explain." A baffled Captain Lysenko said.

Captain Lysenko knew about the message written on the four plates found by Trajo Fortuna, but Marot then told Lysenko the tale of where the Heliot space fleet went to, and how it travelled so far forward in time, and also about its final destruction, including the fact that it happened just eleven years prior to the plates being found.

"When I have finished speaking with you Marot, I had better warn the Orionist ship to stay clear of Helionia, for almost half of the population at least are set to vote for Ares Fortuna in the coming election. When this story is released, many of our more fanatical citizens may decide that it was their space fleet that was destroyed by Tyler Burrows. They will not take into consideration that the fleet belonged to the ancient Heliot race of fifty thousand years in the past; instead, they will demand that the call for revenge by Ares Divilio, should be taken up by our planet, with vigour. This is all too likely to happen, especially when you also take into account what happened to the Heliot nation after the disappearance of their space fleet!" Captain Lysenko excitedly exclaimed.

"You are quite correct Captain Lysenko, it may well be best to do so. Now to continue on, as regards your accusations against my wife Captain, you are incorrect in your accusation. The Orionists are good friends of ours, and would have confirmed this if they could ever have returned safely to our planet." Marot Pallas finished his explanation to the unconvinced Lysenko who answered this bold statement coolly.

"I have no need to await the return of the Orionist starship, as I said earlier, I am in direct contact with its captain, and I will send a warning for them to stay clear of Helionia. I will also ask them to verify the truth of your statement Marot Pallas, regarding their feelings towards you and your wife."

With that, Lysenko took out his tablet and sent a message via the satellite informing Ray Connors of the conversation between himself and Marot. He warned him against returning to the planet, and finally he asked if Caroline Burrows would tell him what action, if any, she wanted taken against Patina Pallas. He sent the message up to the orbiting satellite, and then turned once more to the Pallas`s.

"As regards to the starship Dagger, it appears to be hidden somewhere upon Helionia, but as yet I have failed to locate it. When Ares Fortuna returns to Helionia, I will have many questions to ask him about his recent activities, and those of the starship Dagger. I am leaving here now to go to the space department in the military headquarters of Helionia, where I will now also be asking them why their three space cruisers were in the neighbourhood of the moon in the Arturo planetary system. From there, I will be heading over to the Archaeological Museum where I am due to meet with Trajo Fortuna, where I will ask her about her father, his starship, and now also about a map to the dark domain and the new portal on the Arturo moon, one that would seem to be so popular of late." Captain Lysenko was now ready to leave the Pallas household; however, he was still not satisfied with all of the answers.

"Before you leave Captain, should anyone attempt to cast any blame onto the Orionists regarding their actions while they have been in our quadrant of space, there is one point that I would like to make. My wife and I owe our lives and our freedom to them; and in particular to Tyler Burrows and also his friend Tryon, who was able to help my wife overcome a problem to do with the spirit world." Marot Pallas said to the police captain, who now took his leave of the couple, but he also said that he might have to come back later.

**********

It wasn`t until the dawn had come and gone, by at least two hours, that Appolon who was on watch heard a prolonged burst of plasma weapon`s fire, and then he saw the twelve men of the Helionian landing party walk through the path that they had cleared. They stopped at the animal track before finally turning away from the resting Orionists. They followed the plainly laid tracks that the same Orionists had made the evening before to ensure that their pursuers went in the wrong direction.

"Well Tyler, what shall we do now, stay here or go through the portal and wait for the Defender to arrive?" Appolon wanted to know.

"We should probably go back through the portal, but there isn`t any immediate rush for us to do so, it is only a minute away, and the hunting is probably better in this domain. We should be careful though, just in case there are any natives around, we have enough trouble as it is without having to tangle with any more problems." Tyler replied thoughtfully. "I wonder how long it will take our pursuers to give up the chase and return to the second domain so that they can go home." Tyler wondered.

"It all depends on what they do Tyler, when they arrive at the final portal, if they try to get back to Helionia that way we may never see them again." Appolon said.

**********

Captain Lysenko arrived at Space headquarters and told the receptionist that he had an appointment with the officer of the day, a Colonel Sargon; he had made it while he travelled across the city towards the headquarters building. On being told that the Police Captain was there to speak with him, the Colonel came down to join him in the large lobby rather than invite him up to his stuffy office. The lobby resembled the reception area of one of the city`s grand hotels, comfy chairs were set around low 'coffee' tables and there was even a small bar that provided drinks of various kinds. Captain Lysenko bought the Colonel and himself a nacho each, a drink similar in flavour to a coffee. They sat down near to the windows on the small mezzanine level that ran around the front of the large area, it offered views for the busy officers to look at when speaking to the press, or an official from the government or as in this case a senior police officer.

"What can I do for you Captain?" Colonel Sargon enquired of the quiet spoken police Captain.

"I am here to ask why three of our space cruisers under the command of General Ares Fortuna were in the Arturo planetary system yesterday."

"I have no idea, a general doesn`t need permission to move his space cruisers around the galaxy, I`m afraid you will have to ask him personally."

"There was no official reason for their movement then?" Lysenko asked.

"No, not that I know of anyway, I could ask, but before I do that, I would need to know why a police captain is interested in the movements of our space cruisers."

"Two starships were in the area picking up Marot Pallas, he had been rescued by a team sent through the Divilio portal from an alien starship. They had already had trouble with the starship Dagger, a starship privately owned by Ares Fortuna, which twice attempted to stop the rescue from taking place, and then Ares Fortuna turned up in one of three space cruisers, which included the flagship the Dark Nebula. The Swiftsure captain was worried for the safety of Marot Pallas, who had only just been rescued, and so he departed the Arturo moon and hurried back to Helionia. The alien ship had only taken aboard part of their rescue team. However, the captain of the ship also thought that they were in danger of being attacked by the three space cruisers, and so he also had to move away from the moon, and in doing so, he left four members of the rescue party behind, or so I am led to believe. The alien starship is now supposedly hiding within the dark nebula, which is very close to that planetary system." Lysenko stated calmly.

"So, Marot Pallas is safe, thank the gods for that at least. Unfortunately though, as far as your enquiry is concerned it appears on the surface to be a matter that only the general can help you with, I will check into your story and contact you later, should I find out anything of interest. I am told that the starship Dark Nebula will be docking within the next two or three hours, and knowing the general, I would think that he is likely to transport directly to his house in the country. Sorry I couldn`t be of more help, but as I say I will look into the matter and come back to you."

Lysenko thought that Colonel Sargon really did look sorry that he couldn`t help, but with that Captain Lysenko had to be satisfied. For until he had questioned everyone concerned in the matter, he couldn`t take it any further, what with such an important person being involved in the affair, but maybe Trajo Fortuna would let something slip.

Lysenko was soon sitting in Trajo`s office in the Archaeology Museum and having yet another nacho.

"Thank you for seeing me, it is concerning the kidnapping of Marot Pallas that I want to talk to you about Mademoiselle Fortuna." Lysenko said looking at the beautiful woman opposite him and wishing that they could have met under different circumstances.

"Surely you don`t think that I was behind it Captain." Trajo said incredulously.

"No Mademoiselle Fortuna...."

"Trajo please, call me Trajo, Captain, Mademoiselle Fortuna is so formal." Trajo pleaded, breaking in to Lysenko`s flow.

"Of course, Trajo, now I fully realise that you were not directly concerned with the crime, but later perhaps you may have become inadvertently involved, without your knowledge." Lysenko said softly.

"Involved, but how Captain?" Trajo asked innocently.

"First you should know that Marot Pallas was rescued by an alien team that went through your portal, and they were finally able to get him out through another portal on a moon in the Arturo system. The kidnappers, or so I am told, were all killed by some of the fierce beasts that inhabit the second of the domains within your portal. It seems that the portal that you found drains the power from all energy weapons that go through that way, and the kidnappers were defenceless against the carnivorous animals within the domain." Lysenko said, looking at the young woman before him to see how she reacted to what he told her.

"I see, well thank you for telling me all of this, it appears that you know more than I do about 'My' portal Captain. I`m thankful that Marot Pallas is now safe. Tell me, have you found any of the archaeologists yet? And also, where do I become 'inadvertently involved'." Trajo said in a voice filled with excitement and innocence, she successfully kept hidden the fear that appeared from the moment that he had begun to talk about the second portal.

"It is thought that all of the archaeologists were killed by the fierce denizens of the dark domain, I`m sorry Trajo." Captain Lysenko said, but he immediately brought the conversation back to Trajo`s own involvement.

"As regards your own involvement in this affair Trajo, it seems that the kidnappers were carrying a map showing the entire dark domain, and they also knew of this new portal. Now as far as I can see, you are the only expert there is on the whole dark domain/portal mystery, so I wonder just how these common thugs, and, who were all members of the partisan party by the way, came to have such information. And before you answer that question, I will come clean and tell you another fact that came my way, the starship Dagger, your father`s ship, twice tried unsuccessfully to stop the rescue of Marot Pallas."

Lysenko knew he should have held this back until Trajo had answered his first question, but he found that he was more than a little infatuated with the beautiful young woman opposite him, and that was after being with her for only one short minute. He found that he wanted to stop her from telling him an obvious lie to shield her father, or herself. So much for being detached from your case and the people within it, Lysenko thought.

Trajo`s face turned white as she listened to Captain Lysenko, she realised that he had told her more than he need have, but as to her reply, she thought quickly about all of the possible answers that she could make.

"Captain you must realise that I know nothing about the movements of the starship Dagger, so I couldn`t even hazard a guess as to what it was doing in the Arturo planetary system." Trajo said, playing for time so that she could find an answer to satisfy the charming police captain opposite her.

"It all sounds to me as if Marot Pallas set this entire thing up, could it be a publicity stunt of some kind?" Trajo asked grasping at straws.

"No Trajo, it is most definitely not a publicity stunt that went wrong, the four dead thugs were known to be members of the partisan party for the last five years." Lysenko said forcefully.

"Thugs are easily bought Captain Lysenko; these thugs may well have been bought to play their part in this charade." Trajo said feeling surer of her ground now.

"But Trajo, I still don`t understand how the four thugs came to know so much about the dark domain?" Captain Lysenko asked.

"But did they Captain, do you have actual proof, other than the words of Marot Pallas. It is true that I have found a further two plates which gave me this information, and that my father has used the information to send robotic teams through the new portal in search of the missing archaeologists, unfortunately without any results. Somehow, this information may have leaked out via someone in the pay of the Pallas family. Look I`m sorry Captain Lysenko, I can only add to my earlier words. I believe that the team found Marot Pallas because it was all a put-up job." Trajo Fortuna said in a very off hand manner.

Lysenko didn`t mention the three space cruisers as Trajo was now back in control of herself, he had flunked it, for should he mention them she would say that it sounded as if her father was coming to the rescue himself. Maybe he had even heard about his space ship being used by its captain for illegal activities, or even that the captain had been bribed by Marot Pallas. So, he left, sorry that such a beautiful woman should be part of her father`s evil plans.

The space cruiser Dark Nebula had finally docked at the space dock far above the planet of Helionia, and Ares Fortuna used the Matter Transporter to take him back to his luxurious house set in the countryside, some twenty miles from the capital city Helios. Just a little later Trajo contacted the starship Dark Nebula only to find that her father had already left the ship, and was now back on Helionia in his home. She asked the captain if she could use his Matter Transporter to transport over to her father`s home, as she needed to talk with her father on a matter of the utmost importance, Captain Ragusa could hardly refuse this request by the daughter of his general. Fortuna was surprised when his daughter materialised before him, and then she told him of her meeting with the police captain, and Trajo was even able to play back a recording of the entire conversation.

"You are a very remarkable woman Trajo, and it is lucky for me that you are not only my daughter, but are also a very beautiful one, for Captain Lysenko obviously allowed your looks to get the better of him."

When Captain Lysenko finally arrived at the country house of Ares Fortuna, he was surprised to find that Trajo had arrived there before he had, and he had flown across in his terrestrial shuttlecraft at its maximum speed.

"Trajo, I didn`t expect to find you here already, do you have a portal to this house as well?"

"Something very much like that Captain, but I haven`t seen my father for a few days and wanted to welcome him back home, so I pulled out all the stops." She replied coolly.

"Captain what brings you here, surely you haven`t come to welcome me back home too?" Ares Fortuna asked.

"No General, I am here on official business, and as I`m sure that you have already heard." Captain Lysenko said looking across to Trajo reproachfully. "It is to do with the kidnapping of Marot Pallas and his subsequent rescue, and also about the two attempts by your space ship Dagger to stop the rescue from happening." Lysenko said in a rather accusing voice.

"Captain I don`t think I like the tone of your voice, or the direction you are heading, I hope you have some substance to your accusations." Ares Fortuna said angrily, showing clearly what he thought of these vile accusations raised against him.

"Yes, I do, some of it is circumstantial, but the majority was seen to happen, in some cases by more than one witness." Lysenko responded to what he saw was just Fortuna`s pompous blustering.

"Then we had better sit down around this table here, and then you can tell me all about this supposed proof that you have." Fortuna said smoothly and apparently unconcerned about the matter.

The three of them sat around a large polished wooden table that was normally used for the informal meetings of the Partisan party.

"I will take you through the evidence that I have as the events occurred General. The four thugs who kidnapped Marot Pallas were all members of your partisan party, they are known to us as petty criminals, although they haven`t committed any crimes as of late. They are Hanson, Mottos, Vistas and Rhoads, do you know these men General?"

Ares Fortuna was not fool enough to say that they were not known to him, as he could easily be caught out in a lie, instead he made light of his connection with these men.

"Yes Captain, these men are known to me, but only as minor members of my party, they certainly are not house guests of mine, I wouldn`t want that sort of person associating with my daughter or my friends." Fortuna said lightly.

"You might want to know General, if you haven`t heard already that is, that they were all killed by the ferocious beasts that infest the second of the domains that lead away from the portal discovered by your daughter." Captain Lysenko said.

"I was told that five bodies were found just outside of a recently discovered portal on a moon in the Arturo planetary system. I was on manoeuvres in the space cruiser Dark Nebula, along with two other space cruisers, when we saw some activity on the moon around one of the gas giants of that particular star system. When we went to investigate, we saw the starship Swiftsure run off guiltily, and another starship run and hide within the dark nebula, I have returned to Helionia to speak to the captain of the Swiftsure to question him about his activities there. Wondering just what was happening on the moon, I asked one the cruisers to send a landing part down to investigate, they not only found the five dead men, but found traces that indicated that there were more men still within the dark domain, they are currently investigating to find out who these men are Captain."

Ares Fortuna had taken the unfortunate opportunity offered by the silently cursing Lysenko to 'own up' to his presence on the moon, and even to offer a reasonable excuse for being there.

"It occurs to me Captain Lysenko, that the four thugs may have divulged the information regarding the presence of the new portal on the moon to a third party. They were present just at the moment when my daughter mentioned it in a discussion we were having about it. We had just sent some robotic devices through the new portal in search of the missing archaeological team, the starship Dagger was on the moon in command of this operation. The men were at my house at my request; they were to collect some leaflets to take over to the partisan headquarters for distribution nearer to election time. It may be that they bribed one of the crew of the Dagger, it returned to Helionia after an atmospheric dome was installed on the moon from where the search operations were then carried out, and that in this way they were able to obtain a copy of the map. Unfortunately, no sign of the missing archaeological team was found, and the men conducting the search were brought back to Helionia. We thought that the chances of any of them being alive in such an awful place were nil. We never mentioned the new portal to the people of Helionia, as to have done so would only have raised false hopes amongst the team`s family and friends."

Captain Lysenko looked at Fortuna long and hard before continuing. "The Swiftsure was in the middle of rescuing Marot Pallas from the dark domain, while the men that your landing party are pursuing are his rescuers, running away from fear that your men will attempt to kill them. They were to have been picked up by the second ship, an Orionist starship, which you chased into the dark nebula. The first time that the Captain of the Orionist starship came across the starship Dagger, he witnessed your starship fire at the rim of the crater directly above the portal, which completely buried it preventing them from rescuing Marot Pallas and the Orionists. On their second encounter with the starship Dagger, it fired upon them after they warned it away from the moon, because of another rescue attempt that was under way, and because they feared that the Dagger would attempt to interfere as it had done before. They were scared, when you approached in one of three space cruisers, that you, the owner of the Dagger, would also fire upon them; this fear was also the reason why the Swiftsure headed back for Helionia at top speed. Now then General Fortuna, will you please tell me why the space ship Dagger twice sought to prevent the rescue of Marot Pallas?" Captain Lysenko demanded to know.

"I have no idea why Captain Titan acted in the way that you say he did, and until the captain of the second ship, that is hiding within the dark nebula, against all our religious teachings, appears to confront him personally, I don`t think that he should be required to answer your questions Captain." Ares Fortuna said triumphantly.

The Captain of the Orionist starship is not the only witness as to the behaviour of the space ship Dagger. Aswan Trajan and the crew of the Swiftsure saw the Dagger fire upon the Orionist ship when it warned the Dagger off, because of what the alien starship witnessed the first time they saw the starship Dagger in orbit about the moon." Lysenko replied.

"Aswan Trajan is just one of Marot Pallas`s flunkies, he will say what he is told to say, it all sounds like a plot by Marot Pallas to win the election. I will not sit idly by while you assist him Captain, I am going to insist that you investigate the whole affair in a more unbiased way or, are replaced by a more able officer, now please leave my house Captain, the interview is over." Fortuna demanded smugly.

Fortuna knew he had won the day, this time at least. Captain Lysenko would need to bring the alien ship to Helionia, and then Fortuna would break the news regarding the fate of the Heliot fleet and who was directly responsible for it, the Orionists led by Tyler Burrows. The same people who were plotting with Marot Pallas to win the election by as many devious means as their warped minds could construct.

Captain Lysenko left the house of Ares Fortuna a worried man, he was firmly against the partisan party and its violent people, but he could see that Ares Fortuna might actually win the upcoming election if he couldn`t find a way to stop him. He decided to confide his fears in Ray Connors, and so he sent a message detailing all that had been said by Ares Fortuna and his daughter. He also mentioned how he, personally was beginning to fear that the partisan party could actually win the election, unless something was done, and soon. Unfortunately, although he had warned against their coming to Helionia just a little while earlier, it was now beginning to look as if that would be the only possible, but very risky answer to the problem. When he got home, he was a much-dispirited man, the world that he knew could soon be turned upside down and inside out, unless a miracle occurred to save it.

**********

Tyler and Appolon had just finished talking over their problem when they heard a prolonged burst of plasma weapon`s fire coming from the jungle just ahead of them.

"It seems that there must be a native population living in this domain, and they appear to have run into the landing party, Appolon." Tyler said to his friend.

Tryon and Cimon now moved along the branches of the massive tree to join in this new conversation, as more plasma weapon`s fire was heard from further along the animal track. They now also heard the sound of people rushing back along the track towards the portal, so they concluded that the landing party was in full retreat now. Just six members of the party rushed towards them to disappear into the portal, following closely on their heels were a large party of natives armed with blowpipes, spears and bows, but they stopped short of the portal. Obviously, something about it scared them, and after a hurried discussion, they turned about and walked back the way that they had come.

"I think that we should wait for an hour or so and then return to the dinosaur world, they appear to be a little friendlier than the natives hereabouts." Tyler said, and his friends agreed with him.

"We were lucky that there wasn`t so much as a breeze blowing towards them from our direction Tyler, for they could easily have detected our scent and attacked us." Cimon said. It was then that they heard a familiar but muffled voice coming softly over their short-wave radio.

"Tyler, Appolon can you hear me, it is Caroline in the Defender, we are above the portal that leads into the third domain, we are watching six crewmen from the Helionian space cruisers, and they appear to be high tailing it along the track that leads to the emergency exit portal in the second domain."

Tyler pulled out their radio from within his backpack and answered the welcome call.

"Hi Caroline, we will be outside of the portal that leads into the third domain in just two minutes, please land close by so that we can board, over and out."

The four Orionists quickly clambered down from the tree and hurried back along the track and into the portal, seconds later they were delighted to see and hear the Orion Defender landing just one hundred feet away.

Two hours later, the depleted Helionian landing party had reached the maintenance portal, and after putting on their space suits, they rushed through the portal to report to their captain, telling him of the savage attack by the natives that lived within the third of the domains. They also believed that the four Orionists that they had tracked into that domain, must have met with a similar reception, and were most probably dead by now.

**********

Back on Helionia, Marot Pallas was giving a press conference, he was reporting to the world all that had befallen him within the dark domain.

"It is my belief that the dark domain is probably on a planet deep within the forbidden dark nebula, as I never saw any stars in the night sky during the entire time that I spent within that most terrible of places, and the skies were clear of clouds for almost the entire time. This fact may be why so many people lost their lives there, they disobeyed our religious teachings, and paid for their blasphemy with their lives, I was only saved due to the heroism of the Orionists who had entered into the domain to save me from a similar fate. The gods saved them because their act was righteous, and as for myself, well I was forced to enter into the domain against my will by four thugs."

"Is it your opinion then that the portal be closed up now, and never be reopened?" A reporter asked.

"Yes, it is, for no one should be allowed access to the dark nebula until permission is granted by the High Priests of Helionia."

Across town, and in another press conference, Ares Fortuna was telling another strange story, it concerned the fate of the ancient Heliot space fleet and its destruction by alien mass murderers. He had decided to release this news when Tyler returned to Helionia, but he had just received news that the Orionists were all dead, so now he decided to release the news to ensure his victory over Marot Pallas in the upcoming election.

"Following the journey through the wormhole, my personal space ship discovered some facts that up until now have not been disclosed to the people of Helionia, but I am now going to disclose them." Ares Fortuna stopped here for a moment while the members of the press took in his words, and after receiving a suitable reaction to his opening words, he continued with his disclosure.

"The fate of the Heliot space fleet is known to all the people who live on the planets on the other side of the galaxy, and it can easily be verified by anyone wishing to journey through the wormhole. The same Heliot space fleet that was mentioned in the plates recently discovered by my daughter, Trajo. It was snatched up in its coils by a time storm created by the gross negligence of a team of Orionist scientists who were operating a defective time machine, one that rampaged through time and space almost at will. The part of the fleet that managed to survive the time storm crashed onto the surface of that backward planet with just four of the troop ships surviving the very rough emergency landing, the remainder of the fleet was no more than broken hulks and dead crewmen."

Once more, he stopped for a moment, this time to savour the oncoming burst of surprise that his next words would be sure to bring. He waved down the many reporters who wanted to ask a myriad of questions and continued with his disclosure.

"There will time enough later for questions, I still have the most incredulous piece of information to impart to you. Because they were snatched up in the coils of a time storm, the destruction of our magnificent fleet occurred just eleven years ago."

Ares Fortuna had decided to transfer ownership of the broken fleet to the modern day Helionians, to bring about the most amount of anger from his people all the easier, and judging from the response that he got from his words, he had succeeded beyond his wildest of dreams.

"The four surviving troopships ships were attacked above the planet`s surface while they valiantly defended the troopers from an unprovoked attack by two of the Orionist space cruisers. The four ships burnt up within the planet`s atmosphere killing all of their crewmen, but not before the captains of the troop ships had managed to badly cripple the pride of the Orionist navy. In revenge for this humiliating defeat on their space cruisers, the Orionists exterminated the one thousand troopers who were left behind on the planet`s surface." All this might have been a gross distortion of the facts, but truth had never counted for much within the doors of the partisan party. Ares Fortuna went from lie to lie.

"I believe that Marot Pallas connived with the arch Orionist mass murderer Tyler Burrows, a man personally responsible for the destruction of the four troop ships and the one thousand troopers. They decided between them to construct a publicity stunt, the kidnapping of Marot Pallas. Fortunately, for Marot Pallas, the four kidnappers died within the dark domain, and so we cannot interrogate them, and I have just heard from the captain of the space cruiser Vengeance, that Tyler Burrows and his fellow murderers have also died within the dark domain, running away from a landing party sent from the space cruiser. I now call on the authorities of Helionia to arrest Marot Pallas, and to ask that a search is made for the Orionist starship, and for it to be destroyed when it is found."

The press was ecstatic, this must be the story of the century, were the newspaper headlines, and all of the front pages were filled with Ares Fortuna and his terrible story, of the death of the Orionist mass murderer and of course of the kidnapping of Marot Pallas and whether it had all been a publicity stunt gone wrong.

**********

Tyler and his three friends were greeted with mad cheers and much hugging aboard the Orion Defender, the children were now content, but then they had always known that their father would come back to them. Caroline was relieved to have her husband and brother and her two friends once more back inside the safety of the Orion Defender. Tears flowed down her face as she held Tyler close to her after she had kissed him; her family was once more complete, now they could return to Orion and celebrate Tyler`s birthday, to hell with the Helionians, and the Heliots too for that matter.

Ray Connors edged the Orion Defender out of the dark nebula and using only his passive sensors found the area to be devoid of starships, this was just as Tyler came up onto the bridge.

"Welcome back Tyler, there doesn`t appear to be a reception committee, but then we are far away from our point of entry into the nebula, I will contact our satellite above Helionia and see if we have any messages from Captain Lysenko, and after that we can return home." Unfortunately, Ray found that they did indeed have mail.

Captain Lysenko told them of his talks to Marot Pallas and his wife Patina, and that he required Tyler to confirm that Patina Pallas had not forced Caroline and the children through the portal, and if not why ever had they entered. He told of the conversation with Trajo Fortuna, which he had muffed badly and the one with her father where Ares Fortuna had explained everything away. He had first advised them to stay clear of Helionia, but after he had watched a television broadcast made by Ares Fortuna, he now implored Tyler to return, should he still be alive. He was needed to set the record straight, assuming what Ares Fortuna had said was not completely true, or Marot Pallas would most assuredly lose the election. Ares Fortuna was carrying the press, and the people, forward now to the destruction of all he, Captain Lysenko, personally held dear. Tyler could even agree to take a truth serum to prove that what he told the people of Helionia was the actual truth, and this should be enough to turn the voters back to Marot Pallas.

"If you do decide to go back to Helionia, then you could offer to take their version of the truth serum Tyler, without worrying about disclosing anything too sensitive. Back in our spying days, Jean and I always carried a supply of anti-truth serum with us, and we still have some of it left. A shot of this ensures that you only answer questions truthfully that are to your advantage. That way you won`t have to mention that the Heliot troopers were killed because of the assistance you gave to the Orion authorities. You will be able to put the blame squarely on the space pirates, and you won`t need to mention the space cruiser Freedom, because the Helionians will demand it back as being theirs, if you were to inadvertently tell them just how you got hold of it."

"Go back to Helionia, over my dead body Tyler." Caroline screamed from just inside the door of the bridge, from where she had been listening to Ray and Tyler, the blood had completely drained from her face and she stood staring straight into his eyes. Tyler read the message contained within them, it told him that she wouldn`t allow him to leave her and the children again, and certainly not to risk his life for the Helionians. Jean who had followed Caroline along to the bridge also joined in the conversation.

"Tyler, why on earth do you want to return to that awful planet, you owe them nothing?"

Tyler and Ray then replayed the series of messages that they had just received from Captain Lysenko, and then awaited their responses, before speaking further on the matter, but instead silence followed the recording. Therefore, Tyler spoke to all of them, for the others had now gathered on the bridge to find out what had made Caroline so mad.

"If I don`t go back to Helionia, Ares Fortuna will one day show up above Orion at the head of an armada, you know that I am right Caroline, what choice do I have in the matter." Tyler stated, already resigned to the only possible decision.

"Tyler it is so unfair, why must the gods persistently make you their cat's paw, from the last part of Captain Lysenko`s message, it is obvious that he feels that it will be very dangerous for you to return to Helionia. Well if you insist on helping them out of their fix, then I am going too." Caroline said defiantly.

"No, you are not Caroline, our children need you to care for them, and anyway I have a plan to ensure that the danger to my life is minimal" Tyler insisted.

"You have a plan Tyler?" Caroline said suddenly brightening up, for his plans always came through in the end, even if he had to modify them a little, as the situation changed.

"Of course, you don`t think I would enter into the lion`s den without one, do you?" Tyler replied, trying to sound more cheerful than he really was.

"We normally do, you are always warning me against it darling." Caroline replied as one tear slid down her cheek.

"Well not this time, we will get the Freedom to join us here; it has had a Matter Transporter installed since the last time you saw her, and if I have a tag injected into me, it can pull me out whenever Dave Reynolds wants to. The beauty of the plan is that the Helionians will never know about the Freedom, because it will be cloaked for the entire time that it is in Helionian space. They will see the Defender leave for home with all of you aboard and think that I am there all by myself." Tyler said, trying to sound light hearted about the whole thing.

"You won`t be all alone my friend, for Tryon and I will be by your side at all times, and if it is not at all dangerous Tyler, you can hardly argue against our presence, can you?" Appolon said with a look of triumph on his face, for he had seen through the confident words of his friend.

"Anyway Tyler, this is as much our battle as it is yours, we all wanted the Heliots dead after what they did and said, you merely acted out all of our wishes." Tyron said moving up alongside Appolon.

"If I am not allowed to be by your side Tyler, then I insist that you take these two along, for I don`t want them." Caroline said trying to put a brave face on things. She understood that the children couldn`t lose both of their parents, and even for them to be parted from both of them under such circumstances was wrong. The children were playing in their room with Cimon and Argo, a good thing Tyler thought, or he would be arguing with his other two friends as well.

Tyler turned to Jean Connors. "Jean will you call Dave Reynolds and request that he join us quickly, and to ensure that he is cloaked from the moment he leaves the wormhole, you had better send it in code to prevent anyone on this side of the wormhole from knowing about the impending arrival of the Freedom. However, you had better contact Marot Pallas first Jean, and inform him that I will be joining him soon, and that he is to publish the fact loudly and immediately, so as to draw any Helionian starships away from the area around the wormhole to ensure that the Freedom comes through without an audience."

Chapter Nine

Tyler Burrows, Television Celebrity

Day157 Helionian Calendar

Marot Pallas was very relieved when he got the message from Tyler, relieved that he was alive and that he was returning to Helionia to answer the charges levelled against the two of them. Why he wanted this publicised he wasn`t sure, but publicise it he did, and loudly.

Cimon and Argo were not so pleased to be left out of the fun and said so. They had just come up to ask Tyler to go along to the children`s sleeping quarters and see his children as they wouldn`t go to sleep until he did so.

"Tyler our wives will give us gip for returning home without the three of you, not to mention Hera and Fleur, why not allow us to come down with you to watch out for any sneak attacks, you know that there might be an attempt to kill you while you are on that planet?" Cimon said, protesting about being left behind.

"He is right Tyler, take these two men also to ensure that you all return safely." Caroline said in support of Cimon and Argo. "Or my sleep will be full of nightmares about Ares Fortuna killing you all."

"We could probably find a use for them as door stops Tyler." Appolon suggested by way of also agreeing with the suggestion. Tyler looked at the people around him and finally agreed.

"Okay then, there will be six of us to go then, because I will take Data along as well, he at least will be of some use to me." Tyler agreed smiling at his friends.

The Freedom had already slipped through the wormhole following the destruction of the communications satellite by the Helionian starship Shield, and it entered into Helionian controlled space unnoticed by the Shield`s sensors. Dave Reynolds had decided to move further into Helionian controlled space under cover of his cloaking device, and had timed his exit of the wormhole perfectly, so that the Helionian starship never saw so much of a whisker of the Freedom`s array of sensors. Therefore, it was only two hours later when the Freedom pulled alongside the Orion Defender, unnoticed.

The short-wave radio by Tyler`s side suddenly sprang into life. "Hi Tyler, did you want me?" Dave Reynolds voice filled the bridge of the Orion Defender and made everyone jump.

The Freedom had already begun to approach the area near to the dark nebula in a semi-cloaked condition. This was so that they didn`t run into the Orion Defender, they had detected the message from Captain Lysenko coming up from the satellite orbiting Helionia. They also realised that it was being received by a cloaked ship ahead of them, and the only other cloaked ship in the quadrant was the Orion Defender. The Freedom`s computer gave them the exact coordinates of the ship receiving the transmission. Dave decided to have some fun, mind you, it took a lot of skill for the helmsman to pull alongside a cloaked ship without hitting it, but when moving slowly you could just make out the faint outline of the two ships against the stars, if you knew that the ship was there in the first place that is.

"Dave what took you so long?" Tyler asked his friend.

"Sorry, we stopped off for a meal on the way, a little restaurant just off the Milky Way, I`m glad to see you all made it back, can we now go home?" Dave Reynolds asked.

"No, I`m sorry another problem has occurred, beam over here with someone who can inject a tracer into six arms, the sort of tracer that your Matter Transporter will be able to lock on to Dave. When you get here, I promise to tell you all about it, I`ll turn our cloak off now so that you don`t beam into outer space."

"I`d be obliged if you would Tyler, we will be with you in a couple of minutes." Dave Reynolds replied.

Dave Reynolds beamed over to the Orion Defender with his medical officer, and while Dave listened to the latest transmission from Captain Lysenko, the medical officer got busy injecting Tyler and his friends with a tracer.

"So, after everything that you have been through, you still have to go back to Helionia and face up to the rage of a planet full of psychos." Dave said after he had finished reading the transmission, not realising for the moment the affect his words were having on Caroline.

"It will all go smoothly if we are careful, Dave, park your ship in orbit around Helionia and keep a watch on developments. If things look to be getting dangerous, you can beam us out of there, I will leave our short-wave radio turned on at all times so that you can listen in to everything that is said. The Orion Defender will head back to Orion to ensure that the children are safe as soon as the rest of us have transferred to the Helionian ship, Swiftsure. We can use it to transport down to the planet. This should also give us an edge, as they will not know that another starship is in orbit above their planet, there solely to ensure our safety." Tyler explained.

"We will do just that Tyler, Caroline do not fret, for we will allow nothing to harm these guys." Dave Reynolds promised.

"I know you will watch over them Dave, we will see you when you all return safely to Orion." Caroline said smiling at the young starship captain, but wishing that she could accompany Tyler down to the planet`s surface to watch over him herself.

With that, Captain Dave Reynolds and his medical officer returned to his ship and Tyler and Caroline went down to see their children and tell them some more stories of ancient times. Unfortunately, Apollo sensed that all was not well and asked directly the question neither of his parents wanted to have to answer.

"Are we all going home now daddy, back to the village of the red plains?"

Tyler looked at Caroline and then back to his three children who were all staring up at him from their beds.

"You are all going back on the Defender to our village, and when you wake up tomorrow you will already have reached the wormhole. Your mother is going with you, but your four uncles and I must stay for just a little while longer." The tears were already threatening to flow down their young faces as he hurried on.

"There is no reason to worry, Dave Reynolds is here now in the Freedom, and you all know that the Freedom class of space cruisers are the most powerful starships in the galaxy, I just have to knock a few heads together and then I will be joining you back on Orion." His three children were holding back the tears but Perseus wasn`t satisfied with the answer.

"If Uncle Dave is here, why can`t we all move over to the Freedom with him, where we will be safe daddy?"

Caroline looked from her youngest son and then at her husband, and the silent question that she threw at him was that she too wanted to know the answer to the question.

Tyler just didn`t know how to answer the question but he tried his best to convince them without admitting that there was still some danger for him on Helionia.

"I need for you all to go with Uncle Ray and Auntie Jean so that the Helionians think that your uncles and I are all alone without anyone to call on. They don`t know that the Freedom is here because it came through the wormhole cloaked, and it is going to stay that way until we are safely back through the wormhole." Tyler said to three very worried children and one equally worried wife.

Caroline stepped in now because she could see that the situation could only get worse as their bright children came up with yet more reasons why they should be allowed to stay with their daddy.

"Okay children, you have tortured your poor father enough for one day, now it is time for you all to go to sleep." Tyler and Caroline kissed each one good night and hurriedly left the room. Outside of the bedroom, Tyler stopped to whisper to his wife.

"Thank you, darling, I really was in trouble with our kids, I thought that they were going to suggest that the Defender stayed behind as well to protect me." Tyler whispered to his wife.

"Never mind our children Tyler; I was thinking that too, why does it have to take us away from you?" Caroline complained quietly so as not to worry their children.

"Because my darling this could easily turn into a shooting match between the two Helionian parties, and a war zone is no place for children, come on darling you know that I am right." Tyler argued, however, Caroline's face clearly showed that she was not fully convinced.

Day 158 Helionian Calendar

Tyler contacted Marot Pallas to inform him that the Orion Defender would soon be in orbit above Helionia, and could he despatch the Swiftsure to rendezvous with them so that his party could come aboard. The Defender would be leaving for Orion immediately after to ensure the children`s safety. Marot was very happy to do so, and they found the Swiftsure waiting in orbit for them when they arrived. Using its Matter Transporter, the five men and the android were transported over to the Helionian starship, allowing the very worried Orionists left aboard the Orion Defender to make their return journey home to Orion. It carried with it Caroline, three children and many prayers for the ones that they had left behind, the children most of all were distressed to be without their father once again. This was all because of the people of Helionia, 'we hate them more than anyone else in the whole galaxy', or so they said to their mother.

Tyler, his four friends, and of course Data, materialised within the large garden that surrounded the home of Marot Pallas, who was there to greet them, and then show them to the rooms that they would be using while they were on Helionia. As soon as they had settled in, he approached Tyler with a suggestion.

"Tyler, I believe that the best way to convince the people of Helionia that you are not the ogre pictured by Ares Fortuna is to meet him in a televised debate, so that the truth will be self-evident to all, what do you think?"

"I think Marot, that as a politician he will run rings round me." Tyler replied.

"You are wrong my friend, you are more than capable of taking on any politician, just ask President Michaels and he will confirm it." Appolon said. He had just arrived in the large sitting room of the house, and looking around, he chose one of the comfortable chairs placed around the room to sit in.

"I think so too Tyler." Marot Pallas said smiling at Appolon. "Ares Fortuna is not a politician in any case, he is a general of the space fleet, and more than capable on the bridge of his starship, but in a real debate he will flounder before the true facts of the matter." Marot Pallas was sure of that.

"He looked comfortable enough in that television interview that we saw recently." Tyler said smiling at Marot, who now butted in before Tyler could say anything else.

"Yes, but that was a speech written out for him beforehand by one of his party, in a debate he will be easy meat for you. I know this for I have recently been on television with him, and he was okay when he only had to make his speech, but he wasn`t able to come back at me later, he simply said his set piece. Even one of the politicians from one of the minor parties was able to embarrass him, and then he left the television studio on a down note, no true politician would have done such a thing." Marot Pallas insisted.

"Unless he knew that his argument was built on very shaky ground that is?" Tyler said by more a way of a question.

"Yes, exactly so, he made his speech and then he ran for the hills, just so that I didn`t get the chance to make him look any sillier than he was beginning to look." Marot Pallas replied.

"The only other piece of advice that I can give you Tyler, is not to get angry, stay calm or else you may reveal that which you would rather keep hidden, but if you can enrage him, then you are half way to winning the debate. A debate that will be watched by most of the planets population, and to win in front of so many of our people will solve all of our problems." Marot Pallas advised.

It was later that night that Tyler heard more about his televised debate. It was in two days' time at nine in the evening, when most of the population would be home to watch the debate. For the next two days the debate was advertised constantly on the television as the chance for a leader of the Helionian people to have his and the nation`s voice heard, and for one of its enemy`s to plead his case as best he could.

Tyler kept in contact with Caroline and the children during his time on Helionia, via a new satellite laid by Ray Connors, one that he had borrowed from the starship Freedom; he assured them that he was perfectly safe and that the debate was going ahead as planned, and that there had been no problems as regards to their security.

During the next two days Marot had various important statesmen over to his house, for he forbid Tyler to leave it in case Ares Fortuna engineered some trouble, they were to meet and talk with Tyler. All of them went away satisfied that he, Tyler, was not the monster painted by Ares Fortuna, but a sane reasonable man who had defended the natives of Orion against a pirate, hell bent on enslaving his people and killing anyone who stood in his way. As for Richard Jameson, the inventor of the time machine, Tyler also managed to convince his visitors that he was a great scientist who had had the misfortune to run up against powerful people, ones much like Ares Fortuna.

Day 161 Helionian Calendar

On the morning of the debate, a large number of Helionian citizens arrived before the gates to the Pallas estate to rage about Marot Pallas. Allowing such a man as the mass murderer Tyler Burrows to stay as his house guest was a crime against Helionia. He would soon know how the people felt about his shameful actions, when the count was made to decide who would be the planet`s next president. The scene at the gates got so bad that Captain Lysenko had to have a police guard mounted outside of the gates, to prevent the violence from escalating. The television news was full of the scene, this in turn gave Ares Fortuna`s chances of winning over the majority of the planet`s population to his side, a large boost. Captain Lysenko took the opportunity to speak with the Tyler Burrows.

"Mr Burrows, I need you to confirm for me whether or not Patina Pallas kidnapped your family and forced them to enter into the dark domain, or whether you are such a vile man as to take your family through for perverted reasons of your own. Please tell me now, or I will arrest you for endangering the lives of your children, and you can have the television debate from your prison cell." Lysenko demanded.

Data was there to translate the questions put to Tyler, but Captain Lysenko had been given an earpiece so that everything said by Tyler was heard by him in the language of the Helionians, as it was translated and sent to the earpiece by Data.

This was an unexpected turn of events, for the police captain had been thought as acting for the good of everyone on the planet, but here he was now threatening to destroy any chance they might have had to come through it all victorious. Marot Pallas protested, but Lysenko once again demanded an answer to his question. Patina Pallas was in such a state that she had to be led away before she fainted. Appolon and the other Orionists wanted to string Lysenko up from the nearest tree, but Tyler took the time during the uproar to clear his mind.

"Quiet everyone please, Captain Lysenko is right to ask the question, in fact had he not I would have wondered if anyone on this planet cared about what happened to my family, apart from Marot that is." Tyler turned to look at Lysenko.

"Answer these two questions first Captain. Firstly, in the short time that I have known your people it seems to me that Helionia believes whole heartedly in a spirit world that exists alongside the normal world of the living, do you also believe in this spirit world?"

"Yes of course I do Tyler Burrows; it is not only what has brought centuries upon centuries of peace to Helionia, but it is something that I myself have witnessed many times." Captain Lysenko said proudly.

"Then tell me next, just what is most important to you, the peace of the galaxy or imprisoning a young woman, and before you answer that question let me finish my question with some facts that may be unknown to you. First of all, there is the fact that Patina Pallas went through into the dark domain without any real control over her mind or her actions." Tyler now brought Tryon forward to introduce his brave friend to the police captain.

"Due to my friend here, she left the dark domain spiritually baptised, with a new future ahead of her, for Tryon trained from a young age as a mystic on Orion and was able to journey into the spirit world. He and Patina were able to defeat an evil mystic there, who has orchestrated this whole affair and controlled every move made by Patina Pallas. Tryon was able to bring back a young innocent woman who is now fully in control of all of her actions. You only have to spend a few minutes with her to see how much the experience has changed her, both mentally and spiritually."

Lysenko had looked directly into Tyler`s eyes the whole time that Tyler had spoken, it was if he were attempting to gauge the sort of man he was by looking through his eyes and into his soul. Captain Lysenko now turned to Tryon.

"You are trained as a mystic?" He asked Tryon, his eyes once again looking directly into the man`s eyes that he was questioning.

"I started my training when I was only four years of age, my grandfather was a mystic and he trained me himself." Tryon replied honestly.

Marot Pallas smiled to himself, glad that Tryon hadn`t lied to the police captain, who Marot liked to think of as a good man. True he had not answered the question put to him by Captain Lysenko, but instead had made a statement that had seemed to be an answer to the question. Thankfully, Captain Lysenko had not realised this, or he had decided not to pursue that line of questioning, which of these it was Marot could not decide. Lysenko turned once more to Tyler.

"Mr Burrows, I wanted to see whether you were a man or a monster, but I now see my friend that you are a true leader on the side of the light, and I am glad to have met you. Should you require any help that I can provide, then you only need to ask it and you will get it. Goodbye for the moment, I shall probably see you again tonight, for I will be there with my men to prevent any scenes occurring such as we saw this morning."

With that, Lysenko turned and left the house, the rabble at the gate had been either arrested or moved on, but Lysenko left his men to guard the front gate of the estate and he also sent some more to keep a watch on the sides and the rear of the large estate belonging to the Pallas family.

Marot Pallas looked at the five Orionists who were now sitting down in his library.

"I have been studying you all during the time that we have spent together, and I have reached an opinion about you all. You Tyler, are most certainly the chosen one of the gods, chosen to help Orion when it was needed most, and chosen to help us in our hour of need. You Tryon, are truly a mystic, even if you do not know it yourself, you were also chosen by the gods to assist your friend Tyler when he too needed you most. Appolon, Cimon and Argo were also chosen by the gods to befriend Tyler, again when he needed it most, for it was at a time when he was dragged from his orderly world and into your own world, a world that was soon to be at war with so many different, unscrupulous and vicious enemies. I thank you all for saving my life, the life and freedom of my wife and hopefully the peace of Helionia. Come my friends, let us have drink a toast to friendship and forget about tonight for just a moment." Marot then went to his drinks cabinet and poured six glasses of his favourite alcoholic spirit from an elegant looking bottle, for a little while they could forget about the future.

**********

It was eight o`clock and Tyler was already at the television studios. He and his friends were dressed in smart grey suits provided by Marot Pallas, and made up quickly by his tailor to fit them all as near perfectly as time would allow. Marot had thought it better that they appear in the smart suits rather than the clothes that they had arrived in, the clothes of an Orion warrior. Their normal attire consisted of a coat which was made from the hide of a deer, and then softened by the women of the village until it was very comfortable to wear and would stand up to their lifestyle, and the trousers and shirt were made of cotton which was imported from Earth. While the clothes were suitable for a planet like Orion, they stood out here on Helionia, and Marot Pallas thought that the Helionians would pre-judge them if they appeared in their normal attire.

The President of the television company met Tyler at the doors of the large studio complex, he then invited Tyler into his office so that he could discuss aspects of tonight`s debate. Tyler noticed that his friends were waylaid, and violence was just about to break out when Tyler, catching Appolon`s eye, shook his head and grinned at his friend. As soon as Tyler was inside of the president`s office, he was introduced to another man.

"This gentleman here is the company doctor, and it is felt by all concerned that as a stranger to our planet that we should perhaps administer a truth drug to you, this is to ensure that the people of Helionia are not in any way misled by what you have to say tonight during the televised debate." The slimy individual before Tyler expected him to burst out in anger, but what Tyler said to him left him speechless.

"Of course, but so that the population know that I have actually taken the drug, I insist on it being done at the start of the debate, and in front of the television cameras. The fact that I have taken the drug while my opponent has obviously not, should even up the debate a bit, and might even give me an edge." Tyler said and then smiled at the slimy President. He then left the plush office to re-join the others and fill them in to what had happened within the closed doors of the President`s office.

Nine o`clock soon came along and Tyler was seated behind a long curved table. He sat at one end, Ares Fortuna sat at the other end, and a television presenter sat between them to introduce the debate, and to see fair play during the debate. There was no sign of the threatened truth drug as Ares Fortuna had agreed with Tyler, it would only help his opponent, if he didn`t intend to lie anyway.

"Good evening everyone out there in Helionia, I am Raoul Manos and I will be the chairman for tonight`s television debate between General Ares Fortuna, leader of the partisan party and the man from the other side of the galaxy, Tyler Burrows."

Cheers had arisen when Fortuna had been introduced, but mostly silence mixed with some name calling had greeted Tyler`s introduction.

"Now Ares Fortuna, as you essentially are the home team, maybe you would like to kick off the debate with an opening salvo."

"Of course, Raoul, but I would first like to know how our honoured guest is managing to stay in the same home as the woman who supposedly kidnapped his family and endangered their lives, just what sort of man is he who can do such a thing?" Fortuna demanded to know.

The audience also wanted to know the answer to this question, and Tyler was grateful to Captain Lysenko for asking the same question of him that morning, did he perhaps know that this question would be amongst those asked of him.

Tyler looked across at Ares Fortuna, and smiled at him, something that caused Fortuna much discomfort, for he saw the possibility that the man opposite him had anticipated the question.

"I am happy to answer your question Ares." Tyler said using his opponent`s first name in a manner that made him seem to be a friend of the powerful general, and this further worried Fortuna.

"You are quite right to ask the question; in fact, had you not asked it, I would have wondered if anyone on this planet cared about what happened to my family, apart from Marot Pallas that is." Tyler said to an amazed Fortuna.

"But Ares, please answer these two questions of mine first. In the short time that I have known your people, I have come to realise that Helionia believes whole-heartedly in the spirit world. One that exists alongside with the normal world of the living, do you also believe in this spirit world?" Tyler asked Fortuna who was beginning to worry that his opponent was not the barbarian he thought he was.

"Yes of course I do Orionist; it is not only what has brought centuries of peace to Helionia but I myself have witnessed it many times." Ares Fortuna said just as proudly as Captain Lysenko had proclaimed it earlier that day, but Fortuna`s voice now had a hint of worry added to his normal confident tones.

"Then tell me, what is most important to you, the peace of the galaxy or imprisoning a young woman." Tyler secretly thought that Fortuna was not interested in either of these things, however, he then continued. "Ares, before you answer that question let me finish my question with a statement. We are talking about a young woman who went through into the dark domain without any control whatsoever over her actions, or her own mind. For otherwise, no one in their right mind would have voluntarily done so, knowing what they did then." Tyler stopped for a moment and looked at those seated in the front row of the audience and pointed out his brave friend to the rest of the audience.

"Tryon, please stand up so that everyone can get a good view of you." Tryon a little embarrassed, did as his friend asked and stood up and turned to face the rest of the audience seated behind him and gave a small bow.

Tyler now continued his answer to Fortuna`s question. "Tryon has trained as a mystic on Orion, which is one of the reasons that I brought him with me to Helionia." The audience all respected the mystics of their world, and Tryon was in turn offered their respect as the audience talked quietly about this strange turn of events, wondering where the alien was going with it.

Tyler then continued on with his reply. "Not long ago he journeyed to the spirit world along with Patina Pallas, a woman who as I said was not in control of her own mind. In the spirit world, Tryon defeated the evil mystic who had controlled everything that Patina Pallas said or did, and that included the kidnapping of my family." Tyler's voice now had an edge of anger to it but he managed to keep this under control as he continued.

"Following his victory over this evil mystic, Tryon was then able to bring back to her husband a young innocent woman. One who is now fully in control of all of her actions, and who spends much of her time praying to the gods to forgive her for the foul deeds she committed while under the control of an evil old crone. You only have to spend a few minutes with her to see how much the experience has changed her. I for one forgive her, for I know that Patina Pallas did not commit these crimes. It was the evil mystic, and of course the powerful citizen who was behind her." Tyler`s eyes found those of Ares Fortuna and held them fixed until Fortuna was forced to look away. There was no confusion as to whom Tyler was speaking about, none whatsoever.

Silence followed Tyler`s last words, a silence finally broken by the applause of many of the studio audience, never had Tyler been so amazed as now, the people of Helionia had begun to take to him, just as so many different people had taken to him before.

Marot Pallas looked on stunned. Tyler Burrows was wrong about his abilities as a speaker, true he may not have embroidered his speech with many important sounding words, but he was most certainly a very able public speaker; in fact, he was more than capable of getting the better of many of the members within the government of Helionia. Marot looked across at Ares Fortuna and saw a very angry man, one who knew that he had lost the opening round by a mile to this alien, one who had proved his friendship to Marot more than once.

Trajo Fortuna was also in the audience, and she too looked at Tyler in amazement, but surely, her father would prove this man to be a charlatan, a mass murderer of the first order and before this debate was over. Prion who sat beside her was feeling a lot better though, for since Marot Pallas had been found safe by the Orionists, his conscience had quietened down, and he still had Trajo, even if she had become more obsessed with the partisan party, and still thought more of her father than him.

Captain Lysenko was standing in the wings of the television studio smiling quietly as he heard Tyler speaking. An undercover agent of his had photographed the speech that Ares Fortuna was to make that evening, and while Lysenko had wanted an answer to his question, he had decided to give Tyler a little practice in answering the open salvo, earlier that morning. For had Tyler, failed to give him a satisfactory answer, he would indeed have carried out his threat and imprisoned the alien.

Meanwhile Tryon, who had sat down when Tyler had resumed speaker was being congratulated for his part in the proceedings by his three jubilant friends, much to his embarrassment.

The television cameras now turned back to Raoul Manos who smiled at his television audience, for the debate had taken an unexpected twist.

"Our visitor from far away seems to have answered your first question to the satisfaction of our studio audience General Fortuna, would you now like to proceed on with the debate." Raoul Manos said politely to an angry Fortuna.

"I am quite ready thank you Raoul. As I said in my press conference, my personal starship discovered some interesting facts that as up until then had not been disclosed to the people of Helionia. I am now going to repeat those facts to the Orionist, and ask him to explain them also to the satisfaction of not only the studio audience but the whole of Helionia as well." Ares Fortuna said through gritted teeth.

"It is common fact on the planets at the other side of the galaxy, that the Heliot space fleet mentioned in the plates discovered by my daughter Trajo, was snatched up in the coils of a time storm. A storm created because of the gross negligence of a team of Orionist scientists, who were operating a defective time machine that rampaged through time and space almost at will. Their leader is Richard Jameson, who is an irresponsible fool who should be arrested. The part of our fleet that managed to survive the time storm crashed onto the surface of that backward planet Orion, with just four of the troopships surviving the landing, the remainder of the fleet was no more than broken hulks and dead crewmembers. This destruction of our fleet occurred just eleven years ago." Ares Fortuna again decided to transfer ownership of the broken fleet to the modern day Helionians to rekindle the anger of his people against the mass murderer Tyler Burrows, and judging from the response that he got from his words he had partially succeeded.

"The four surviving troopships were attacked above the planet`s surface while they defended the Heliot troopers from an unprovoked attack by two of the Orionist space cruisers. The four ships burnt up within the planet`s atmosphere, killing all of their crewmen, but not before the troopship captains had managed to badly cripple the pride of the Orionist navy. In revenge for this humiliating defeat on their space cruisers, the Orionist Tyler Burrows, a mass murderer, a pirate and a brigand, exterminated the one thousand troopers who were left behind on the planet`s surface." All this was once again a gross distortion of the facts, but truth had never counted for much with people like Ares Fortuna who travelled from lie to lie.

"Marot Pallas connived with the Orionist mass murderer Tyler Burrows, a man personally responsible for the destruction of the four troopships and the one thousand troopers, to construct a publicity stunt, the kidnapping of Marot Pallas. Fortunately, for Marot Pallas, the four kidnappers died within the dark domain, and so we cannot interrogate them. I now call on the authorities of Helionia to arrest Marot Pallas and the five Orionists before us."

"Well General Fortuna, you have raised more than one point there, but perhaps our visitor would like to answer them all." Raoul then turned directly towards Tyler. "Should you miss any of the points, I have them all here so don`t worry too much, I will remind you."

"I`m sure you will Raoul." Tyler said smiling at him. Tyler hadn`t bothered to interrupt the flow of Fortuna`s speech, he simply waited his chance to reply to the ridiculous, but very dangerous charges, being levelled against him here before the Helionian nation. Ares Fortuna though meant to disrupt Tyler`s reply to the many accusations and lies said by Fortuna in his speech, and whenever he could get the chance.

"As you said Raoul, it was a mouthful, so I will attempt to remember all of the fairy stories told by Ares and inform the audience of the true facts behind the fantasies prefabricated by my esteemed opponent."

This put down to Fortuna`s speech got a few laughs from the audience, who saw before them the beginnings of a very lively debate. Ares Fortuna however didn`t appreciate Tyler`s remarks, and he stood up in rage and raised his fist to Tyler.

"I have told only the truth today and if you ever call me a liar again, I shall demand satisfaction." Ares Fortuna raged.

Whenever Fortuna had tried this bluff before, his opponents had always backed off, but this time his opponent was Tyler Burrows, the chosen one of the gods, or so Tryon and Caroline often told him, or anyone else who would listen.

"If Ares is talking about a duel Raoul, does that mean that I get to choose the weapons of combat?" Tyler asked in a very unconcerned voice.

"Yes, Tyler it does." Raoul replied using Tyler`s Christian name, for at this moment in time he was completely thrown. Duels were still legal on Helionia, and were the only way you could kill someone without the fear of the departed spirit coming back to haunt you for the rest of your life.

"Good then Raoul, then I will ponder upon which weapon I would like to choose while I proceed with my answers to Ares` stories." Tyler replied.

"If you wouldn`t mind Tyler." Raoul had decided to continue using Tyler`s given name now. "General, if you would please be seated. Ares Fortuna glared across at Raoul before sitting back down rather noisily in his chair.

"Right then here we go. Point one, the Heliot fleet was only scooped up by the time storm as it was in a position where it ought not to have been. That is, it had declared war on a planet for no other reason than it wanted to rape and pillage it. Those aren`t the exact words written on the four plates found by the famous archaeologist Trajo Fortuna, but reading between the lines that is what Ares Divilio meant to say. If they hadn`t decided to invade the Planet of the Light, they would not have been touched by the time storm.

Point two, the time machine disaster was caused by space pirates, a group of people much like the Heliots that I met up with eleven years ago, in that they took what they wanted, and from whoever they liked."

"That is a total fabrication Orionist, as I said very clearly in my speech. The time storm was caused by the incompetence of Richard Jameson." Ares Fortuna said loudly, once more getting to his feet and glaring across the studio at Tyler, who simply smiled politely across at Ares Fortuna, enraging him even more.

"Richard Jameson was a great scientist and a family man who moved to Orion, to the very edge of the galaxy, to escape the Ares Fortuna`s of Earth, unfortunately for him he didn`t move far enough away. He was killed by the space pirates when they attacked the two disabled space cruisers from Earth, following their battle against the ships from Heliot." Tyler replied to Fortuna`s lies in a firm but quiet voice.

"But if I may now continue with my reply to your questions Ares. Point three, the Heliot general pushed his men far too hard to prepare the four remaining troop ships for a battle that only he sought. They were fitting the four troop ships with plasma weapons and stronger defence shields, taken from the broken space cruisers. This was so that they could go up against the two Earth ships in orbit above the planet, who at the time didn`t even know of the Heliot starships existence. I know this as I watched much of their preparations from a ridge overlooking the crash site, and I believe that mistakes were made because the men were pushed so hard by their general that they became over tired, and therefore prone to make a mistake, that in normal times they would never have done. This was to ensure that they would be ready in time for a battle sought by their general. He had them take off as soon as he became aware that the two space cruisers from Earth were about to search for him, which was just after word got through to the township on Orion telling the local leaders of the Heliots intentions as regards the people of Orion. He was going to enslave them, the general's own words to a local priest. If he had not already started operations against the local population, but had taken things slower and treated the locals with respect, he would be here today, although that probably would have been most unfortunate for the people of this world. This general of the Heliot fleet, killed an old man for answering a question too slowly, his troopers killed twelve other natives who attempted to flee rather than be taken prisoner, he threatened the life of a local priest and his young family to get his way, which is exactly what happened to me and my family here on Helionia." Ares Fortuna simply glared his hatred at Tyler while he endeavoured to find a way to discredit him.

"Point four, the space pirates murdered the one thousand Heliot troopers, it was to prevent them from taking control of the planet and finding the time machine, which the pirates were attempting to steal. It was sitting in the hold of their cargo vessel, which unfortunately for the pirates was still sitting on Orion, for their cargo vessel had broken down.

Point five, the only point that I got personally involved in, was when the remnants of the Heliot army were about to invade the township. I persuaded them to attempt to capture the broken down cargo vessel, which was almost repaired by then, and when it was finally repaired, to go up to the waiting starship and to capture it as well. I admit that rather than have the survivors of the resulting battle for the control of a space cruiser, live to continue their evil ways, I had already decided to destroy it along with it the two bands of battling space pirates. I also destroyed the time machine to stop the leaders of Earth, or anyone else, from getting their hands on it, for they couldn`t be trusted with such a powerful machine at this time in our people's development, or any other people that I have so far come across." Tyler declared boldly.

"So, you admit that you destroyed the last of the Heliots." Fortuna said triumphantly.

"Yes, I did, for it was this particular squad who had killed the twelve fleeing natives, I gave them a swift dose of the kind of justice that they themselves dealt out, and I would do it again in a second, Ares." Tyler said to an angry general who was finding it harder and harder to keep control.

"Point six, I am only here because Patina Pallas asked for my help in rescuing her husband Marot Pallas, I initially refused her because I was led to believe that it was a suicide mission. I was forced to come when my family was kidnapped only to find that the rescue mission was a relatively simple one, or would have been if the starship Dagger, owned by you Ares, hadn`t prevented it the first time by destroying the entrance to a portal that would have led us out of the dark domain." Outbursts of astonishment followed this revelation but Tyler carried on speaking.

"It tried again later to stop our escape, but was deterred from doing so by the captain of the the Orion Defender. We know that you were on board the Dagger that time, as a police officer saw you and the evil mystic, the same mystic that had made Patina Pallas kidnap my family, boarding the starship Dagger just prior to its departure. We know that you were both still aboard as you were not seen to leave the ship prior to its departure." This was true for the police agent was unconscious at the time, but Fortuna could hardly argue the point, even so, he tried to.

"If the police were under the delusion that my starship, the Dagger, delayed the rescue of my political opponent Marot Pallas, then why did they only keep a watch on the ship, why did they not question the captain regarding these supposed dubious activities of his?" Ares Fortuna demanded to know.

"Because you are a very powerful man Ares, and the police officer concerned would have only had the unsubstantiated word of an alien starship captain, so he probably decided to sit, wait and watch." Tyler replied quietly. His constant use of Fortuna`s given name was infuriating the general and soon he would explode.

"But how do we know this is so, where is this policeman who sat, waited and watched?" Fortuna screamed out to a stunned audience who looked at the irate general in amazement now.

"I am here General Fortuna, and what Tyler Burrows says is quite true, we did sit, wait and watch to see what the captain of the Dagger would do next, and we all soon found out didn`t we, much to our amazement?" Captain Lysenko said bending the truth a little as he moved out onto the stage from the wings to answer Fortuna`s summons, a general who had now reached boiling point.

Tyler now pressed on aggressively with his defence of himself, his friends and Marot Pallas, by verbally attacking his opponent. "The presence of you Ares Fortuna, aboard one of three space cruisers almost stopped it the second time, but you were too slow in returning to the newly discovered portal on the moon in the Arturo planetary system, a portal once again discovered by your famous daughter, Trajo Fortuna. My family, and Marot Pallas and his wife were able to escape the dark domain, before you arrived. However, it took me and my three friends a bit longer to do so because of your direct interference." Tyler now prepared to sum up his defence.

"To sum up, the leaders of the Heliots of fifty thousand years ago were not very nice people, they took what they wanted and they died because they tried to do it once too often. The many people who tried to steal the time machine were very much like them, they were powerful and corrupt, their only goal was to achieve more power, and I see such a man here in Ares Fortuna. I hereby call on the authorities of this planet to investigate his activities regarding the kidnapping of Marot Pallas, and his continued attempts to disrupt the rescue attempt led by Aswan Trajan and myself.

The studio audience were taken by surprise by Tyler`s final words, excitement rippled across the television studio. Many of them were also swayed by the replies made by Tyler, to the verbal attacks made on him by Ares Fortuna. These people now stood up and applauded Tyler, the others simply sat and looked very dejected as Ares Fortuna, their hero, stormed out of the television studio to return to his home. With him was his daughter Trajo.

*********

Also watching the televised debate was Magi, she lay seriously ill in her bed, and as she saw her plans for the death and dishonour of Marat Pallas fail, she raised herself up and screamed out her pain, it was even worse than the pain in her chest that finally killed her. Moments before she died, she saw figures from the spirit world coming to take her through to pay for the many evils that she had committed while alive, there, she would join Compton Pallas and his immediate family, who were already suffering for the evils committed upon a young serving girl.

***********

Ares Fortuna and his daughter returned to their home in unimaginable defeat. Their world had been turned upside down by the stranger who had journeyed to Helionia from the other side of the galaxy to fight against them, and had won against all of the odds.

"Father, Tyler Burrows went through a trial by ordeal, both physically and mentally, and he came out of it as the new champion of the masses. He has won enough support tonight to give Marot Pallas the election, what do you intend to do now?" Trajo quietly asked her father.

"Tomorrow morning, I will call on my fleet captains to rally to me, hopefully there will be enough of them to enable me to arrest Tyler Burrows and the government and proclaim martial law." Ares Fortuna said in such a forlorn voice that it almost broke his daughter`s heart.

"But under what pretext father, Marot Pallas has been proved innocent on public television; there will be riots in the streets if you attempt it, and then you will lose whatever followers that still remain loyal to you." Trajo stated, scared that her father would do something foolish after his defeat in front of the entire world.

"Then what do you advise I do next Trajo, surrender, resign my commission, and resign my leadership of the partisan party as well?" Ares Fortuna said angrily.

"No of course not father, you must take whatever part of the fleet that remains loyal to you and head out for the dark nebula, once there, you must advise the remainder of the fleet that you are heading through the nebula to find the Planet of the Light, and give Ares Divilio the revenge he called for. The fleet will follow you father, the people may be Marot Pallas`s now, but that call for revenge that came from beyond the grave is still lodged firmly within the hearts of our fighting men. They will follow you father, they will even go through the forbidden dark nebula for such a mission as that." Trajo said. Her eyes were lit up with a passion that few men had seen before, not even Prion.

"I would agree Trajo, if we knew where the planet was, but there must be thousands of planets on the other side of the nebula, which one should we visit first; we could all grow old searching for it?" Fortuna declared sadly.

Trajo picked up her bag from the chair where she had thrown it, and she pulled out a metal plate, much like the other ones that she had found.

"As the new curator of the museum I can go where I like within its massive store rooms, and spend us much time as I want to delve into the old and forgotten treasures of our world. While I was down there, I found this plate hidden inside a tray of antiquities belonging to the Sidon dig carried out one hundred years ago, the Sidon dig was in that area that you always said that I should try my luck in, so this is where I looked first in the museums treasures." Trajo said dangling the plate as her father`s eyes grew wider and wider.

"Do you mean that the plate shows the location of the Planet of the Light, Trajo?" He asked. His voice was almost shaking.

"Yes father, but it was never looked at, Professor Royton who was in charge of the dig died soon after the discovery was made, and for some reason whoever took over the dig simply forgot about it."

"As I have often said before Trajo, not only do I have a beautiful daughter but also a very clever one, and now I see that you will be a future leader of our party, one who will be our greatest leader ever, that my daughter I now predict to be the future chosen for you by the gods. Please let me see that plate."

Chapter Ten

The Planet of the Light

Day 162 Helionian Calendar

The sun rose over the capital city of Helionia to proclaim that a new day had dawned for the people of Helionia. 'Marot Pallas to be the next President of Helionia, he will lead our people to new heights of greatness' was the headlines of the major newspapers of the planet. However, Ares Fortuna saw that history would proclaim this day, as one when the space fleet of Helionia travelled through the dark nebula to arrive before the Planet of the Light, a feat that even the magnificent fleet of the ancient Heliot nation had never accomplished, and that it revenged the genocide of the ancient peoples of Helionia.

Ares Fortuna contacted Captain Ragusa on the flagship of the Helionian space fleet, the Dark Nebula, and asked him to bring him aboard using the Matter Transporter. Trajo had just entered the large sitting room when her father gave his request, and she demanded that he allow her to accompany him on his epic voyage.

"The Planet of the Light may well be a ruin by now; you will need an archaeologist along to help you, if you decide to send a landing party down to the surface of the planet." Trajo argued and won, for he was overjoyed to know that she wanted to be with him today of all days.

"I will let Remick and Prion know where I am, so they don`t begin to worry when I don`t show up at the museum." Trajo told her father when they were both standing upon the bridge of the starship Dark Nebula.

"Okay Trajo, be quick though, because I`m just about to contact the Vengeance and the Shield and tell them to get ready for a quick departure in ten minutes." Fortuna said smiling at his daughter.

Trajo phoned Prion. "Good Morning sweetheart, how are you today." Trajo asked her lover.

"I`m fine Trajo, when will I see you this morning?" Prion replied sleepily.

"That is what I`m calling to tell you, I shall be away for a few days, I`m going on a little trip with daddy, to the Planet of the Light." Trajo replied delightedly.

"You are what! Take me with you Trajo." Prion demanded.

"Sorry sweetheart, but we are leaving in five minutes, so unless you want to beam up in your pyjama's then you cannot come with us." Trajo said to her lover and then burst into laughter at the very thought of Prion in his pyjama`s on the bridge.

"But I`m dressed now, bring me aboard Trajo." Prion protested.

"Hang on Prion, I`ll ask daddy if it is all right to bring you aboard." Trajo said, happy to have Prion on a lead, Ares Fortuna agreed, but once again stressed the need for speed. Prion was brought aboard while Trajo sent a text message to Remick to take charge of the museum until she returned.

The starship Dark Nebula moved out of orbit along with its two consorts, and headed for the nebula of which the starship had taken its name. When they arrived at the wispy outer edges of the nebula Ares Fortuna sent a message back to the fleet in orbit around Helionia.

"Good morning to all the captains of the fleet who are still warriors? The Dark Nebula together with its two consorts is going to head through the forbidden nebula and seek out the Planet of the Light; did they want to come? By the way my daughter has just given me the coordinates of the planet, so we should be there in time for breakfast tomorrow morning."

Pandemonium followed his broadcast, and as Trajo had predicted, the captains of the starships that made up the space fleet of Helionia insisted that he wait this side of the dark nebula until they had joined him. They could journey through the nebula en-masse, and seek out the planet that had committed such a massive genocidal attack upon their ancient empire.

Dave Reynolds had also heard the message. He had seen the various starships leaving space dock to join their flagship. Therefore, he immediately contacted Tyler who asked Dave to beam the six of them back aboard the Freedom, for Data professed a wish to join them.

"Something here might be of interest Tyler, I found it amongst the old Heliot records of the Freedom, and it gives the location of a binary system on the other side of the dark nebula, and refers to it as the Light System. Now that could be a quaint Heliot designation for a binary star system, or it could be the nearest the universal translator could get to the Planet of the Light, what do you think, shall we head over and take a look?" David Reynolds enquired.

"Seems like a good idea Dave, let`s go."

The Helionian fleet also had a reasonable idea as to where to go, for they were all moving in the same direction.

Day 163 Helionian Calendar

As the Freedom approached the binary star system, it became evident to all that the civilisation on the Planet of the Light must have also suffered some cataclysmic event, for no energy sources of any kind were found to be emanating from it. The fleet of Helionia went into orbit about the planet, but it soon became very clear that the civilisation that remained was a stone-age one. Some remnants of a city remained, and Ares Fortuna had the plasma weapons of the Dark nebula fire a symbolic energy bolt down into this, his action was echoed by the other starships of the fleet.

"Father, we must go down there and try to find evidence behind this event. The planet is still where we were when Helionia came out of its ice age." Trajo said.

"As the curator of the archaeological museum it is up to you as to what work is carried out by your teams, and I expect the new President will allow you sufficient funding to dig here, but for now we should return home and ponder what my next move is to be." Fortuna said, he felt let down by those who ruled in heaven, being unable to find sufficient joy in looking down on the ruined civilisation of his peoples` enemy.

"Helionia needs to be a united world father. Marot Pallas will decide to bury the past couple of weeks, as long as you toe the line in respect to his future decisions concerning Helionia." Trajo predicted, and once again, she was proved correct, for Marot needed everyone behind his drive to find new sources of supply, sources that could now lie in so many new directions thanks to the commander of the fleet, Ares Fortuna.

*********

This planet looks a lot like Genesis; did you ever get to visit the planet Dave?" Tyler asked.

"No, I never did get to land there Tyler." David Reynolds replied.

"From what our own sensors are showing the people are just about entering the Neolithic era, that is to say they have permanent villages that are made out of mud and straw bricks, rather than a hunter gatherer society, although from the look of it they probably practice a little of both lifestyles. It is how Genesis was before the colonists arrived, but without the ancient city computer that liked to fire at anything that moved." Tyler said.

The Helionian fleet had now departed leaving the planet to the starship Freedom. Down on the planet below them they could see the beginnings of small towns with fields of a wheat-like crop growing all around them. Further from the towns the jungle still prevailed and within it they could see people living in temporary encampments, but they didn`t know if these were men from the towns out hunting, or other tribes who as yet had not yet progressed up to the Neolithic age.

"This is on a much larger scale than Genesis, but it would be interesting to visit it in another ten thousand years, to see how they are getting on Dave." Tyler said wistfully.

"We could have, but if memory serves me right you destroyed the only operational time machine Tyler. So, what do you want to do now, go or stay?" David Reynolds said in jest.

"Let`s head back to Orion, I miss my family and I`m sure that the others miss their families too. I suggest we leave in a different direction and pass through the nebula closer to the wormhole, so that we can turn our cloak off and save some power, the amount of time that you have been forced to use the cloak must have cost you a lot of energy?" Tyler said.

"No problem Tyler, I filled up at Orion as we came through." David Reynolds said with a huge grin upon his face.

"Well for once we will not charge you." Tyler said in jest.

"I should think not." Dave said laughing.

"Captain, I have found a weak signal coming from the fourth planet, it is definitely man made." The science officer on board the Freedom, Simon Lee said excitedly.

"Take us towards that planet helmsman. Simon, keep on tracking that signal, and please let me know immediately should it change in any way. Number One will you please turn on our defence shields, Tyler we may have found something that our friends from Helionia missed." Tyler moved over to the science station and looked at what Simon Lee had found.

"We were lucky, if we were any further away, we too would have missed it Tyler." The science officer said to him.

"It is definitely worth a visit Dave; the signal seems to be coming from a tall tower like structure which has a small flat ledge at its very peak and what looks like a small single roomed building. We shall need to wear space suits though, it is a desert planet without any atmosphere, and it has been that way for a very long time." Tyler said feeling just a little excited by their chance discovery.

"Who are you sending down Dave to have a look around?" Tyler asked.

"Well I know you want to go for a look around the place, and Simon should join you as our science officer, plus Data who should be invaluable to you. Does that suit you Tyler?" David Reynolds asked.

"Yes, it sounds fine." Tyler replied.

"If there aren`t any objections from the science department take us into orbit above that signal helmsman." Not hearing any objections, the helmsman did as he was ordered.

"Tryon and I have never stood on a rocky tower, so we will go too, if that is all right Dave Reynolds?" Appolon said to the starship captain.

"Sure, no problem Appolon, now if our landing party would put on a space suit each and walk across to the Matter Transporter, I will send you all down to check out that signal." Dave Reynolds replied. Tyler and his friends were soon standing before the small building atop the rocky tower.

"There is a very weak force field around the building Tyler, probably intended to stop dust from accumulating inside the room, although as the planet hasn`t an atmosphere it was hardly worth the effort. The signal would seem to get its power from the solar panels fitted into the walls and roof of the building Tyler. If you will wait for just a moment, I will enter through the open door to ensure that the weak force field is not in fact something else." Data said and without waiting for an answer, he walked through the force field and into the small room.

"It is fine Tyler you can all come in. The force field is not what I thought it was; simply a dust preventer, it is also to keep micrometeorites from damaging the building. I believe that anything travelling above a certain velocity is stopped by the force field," Data said.

"Tryon and I will stay out here Tyler, to take in the view, you go and enjoy yourself." Appolon said. Therefore, Tyler and Simon Lee also entered through the open doorway and took in the interior of the room.

"There appears to be just this small device here on the table, apart from the view screen fixed to the wall in front of us." Data said to the two men who had now come through the doorway.

"So maybe we should press this button and wait for the show to start." Tyler said smiling at the other two.

"Yes, I think that this room was constructed to house the machine on the table and the screen, I have scanned the rest of the room and cannot find anything else, apart from the controls for the force field and the solar panels against the wall behind you Tyler."

Tyler turned to look at the controls mentioned by Data, but as he had said, that appeared to be it, so reaching out his hand; he pressed the button in the middle of the machine. A small humming noise came from the machine and then the view screen burst into life showing a man seated at the table on which the machine sat. Moments later, he began to talk in a language that was unfamiliar to Tyler and to Simon. The recording lasted for ten minutes, and then the machine went blank for the show was over.

"I have recorded everything that we saw and heard and I have also been able to translate the language with the help of the universal translator aboard the Freedom, would you like me to play the recording for you Tyler."

Tyler looked at his new friend and smiled. "When did you make a connection with the universal translator Data?" Tyler asked, thinking that Data was fitting in just fine.

"As soon as the man appeared on the screen, it was obvious that he would be speaking in the language of the Planet of the Light, and that we would need help to understand his words Tyler." Data replied.

"Well my friend, you are indeed paying for your keep Data. Yes, please play the recording back in English so that Simon and I can also understand all that was said." Tyler ordered.

"Paying for my keep Tyler?" Data asked a little baffled at the expression.

"Yes Data, it means that you are making yourself more than useful, and giving back much more than you take." Tyler explained.

"I have taken nothing Tyler." Data said in a slightly mystified voice.

"I will explain it to you later Data, for now just take it as a compliment and replay the recording that you made of our alien friend." Tyler said, smiling at the android.

"The recording will only be in audio, should you wish to see the visual recording Tyler then you will be able to do so when we are back aboard the Freedom. Here is the recording." A voice sounding much like the alien`s came from Data`s body.

"This is a recording made by the last crew of our once grand fleet. I will start at the beginning of the terrible ordeal undergone by my people and finish with the demise of our once great civilisation. One of our agents on a planet named Heliot, which lies beyond the dark nebula, brought us news about the people of that world. Our agent had witnessed a rise in nationalism and violence for some time. They waged war against the planets and their people that are near to the Heliot star system, and the Heliots have won a sizable empire, which made us a little worried about their intentions regarding our own system. Then our agent brought us even graver news. The Heliots were beginning to prepare to conquer our world next, and to enslave our people. We in turn rushed to improve our defences against the eventual onslaught of their massive war machine. Then the day arrived when the Heliot fleet arrived in our planetary system. Our fleet lay in front of our planet awaiting the enemy fleet as it rushed towards us, only to see it ensnared by a space storm that came out of nowhere, and then disappeared from our system, taking with it our enemy, as quickly as it appeared. Our people were relieved at being saved from having to endure the terrible war, which had haunted and terrified their thoughts for so long. However, our joy was short lived for we too were seeing a rise in violence on our planet. Then came the fateful hour when our government decided to ensure that the Heliots would never rise to attack us again. Our government had been secretly working on virus that would destroy all human life with which it came into contact. A starship was sent to the star systems beyond the dark nebula and the virus was released upon each of the planets found there. After six months our government then decided to destroy not only what remained of the virus on these planets, but any people that had survived the plague. They sent missiles into the suns of these planetary systems, which released a large dose of certain heavy metals, causing the stars to fade for a period of a thousand years. The effect was to ensure that all of the planets that orbited these stars would enter into a long ice age that would effectively destroy any civilisation that remained there. The population of our world, instead of feeling happy that the Heliot risk was over, began to afflicted with feelings of guilt, and violent protests against the genocide of the Heliot people began to erupt all over our once peaceful planet. This soon turned to civil war and only ended when a religious fanatic exploded a bomb inside of the laboratory that manufactured the terrible virus, spreading it across our planet too, and effectively ending our own civilisation. Any people that are still alive today, have left our ruined cities and are living within the countryside, a world that is already returning to a land of forest, or even the darkest of jungles in the warmer parts of our planet. This is a record of the end of a once great civilisation. I give it as a warning to whom so ever finds it to pass it on to their civilisation, and hopefully they can learn from our mistakes."

Back on board the Freedom, Tyler was talking to his friends.

"This is exactly what happened on Genesis, a self-destructing war that destroyed a civilisation. Fifty thousand years ago, three great civilisations were all destroyed at around the same time, and they were all quite close to one another, assuming that the wormhole was in existence then, that is." Tyler said.

"I researched the wormhole the first time that I journeyed through it, and I can say that it probably was in existence back then, a remarkable coincidence isn`t it Tyler that all three civilisations should fall together." Data said, hoping for more from Tyler.

"Maybe the violence that sprang up on all three worlds was caused by a space born virus that was killed off by the ice age on Helionia, but survived for a longer period on the other two planets, and so trapped their people in the stone-age. As there doesn`t appear to be any violence occurring on either planet now, perhaps the virus finally mutated into another non-lethal form." Tyler hazarded. "Without a lot more research on all three worlds we will probably never know unless we are unlucky enough to stumble across another such world, which would stretch the chances of coincidence too far." Tyler said.

"Don`t tell the Helionians, they would say that the virus originated on our side of the wormhole, and start up the trouble all over again." Dave Reynolds warned the others.

Almost one day later found the Freedom passing close to Helionia, as Tyler wanted to send a copy of the recording down to Marot Pallas. Ares Fortuna was on the bridge of his starship when Marot in turn passed the recording on to Trajo, as a gift to assist in reconciling her family to the foregone conclusion of the loss of the election to the conservative party, and who in turn told her father about the magnificent find.

"Trajo, I never thought that he would still be in our quadrant of space, now I can revenge our people on the Orionists." Fortuna said.

"Don`t be a fool father, drop the matter. The Orionists have successfully proved to the people of Helionia that they were not the murderers you painted them to be, the only people guilty of the genocide of the Heliot nation is scrambling about their planet in search of roots and nuts to feed their hungry families on." Trajo said, anger, with a fair amount of concern showing in her voice.

"You may believe them to be free of the stigma of guilt Trajo, but I do not, goodbye daughter for I go on my own trial by ordeal, and whoever comes out alive will indeed be the one who is chosen by the gods."

Day 164 Helionian Calendar

As the starship Freedom, approached the wormhole that would take it home the science officer called to his captain.

"Sir, three Helionian space cruisers are ahead of us, they are blocking the way through the wormhole."

"Helmsman, all engines full stop for the moment, Sparks send a message through to them, ask their intentions." The communications officer soon had his answer.

"Sir, it is Ares Fortuna, he states that we must surrender to them or be ready to die." The officer anxiously looked at his captain awaiting his reaction to the news that they were at war with Ares Fortuna and his small squadron of cruisers.

"Battle stations please sparks." Alarm klaxons spread their message throughout the ship and brought Tyler back on to the bridge.

"I had hoped Dave, that we had seen the last of him." Tyler said angrily.

"What do you suggest we do now Tyler?" Dave Reynolds asked.

"Those three ships are at a distinct disadvantage in that they have to sit there blocking our way through the wormhole. I would suggest that we move forward at maximum normal space speed targeting the Dark Nebula first. When we are in range, we can de-cloak and then fire a salvo at her. Aim for her shields, weapons and engines, we will be moving too fast for their weapons to be able to lock on to us in the short time that we are not cloaked." Tyler replied.

"Exactly what I was thinking Tyler. Helmsman, program our computer to take us out of hyperspace just out of plasma weapon`s range and to then move us forward at maximum normal space speed. Be ready to move us out as soon as I give the word, Mr Read arm the plasma weapons, Commander Lee raise our shields."

Five minutes ticked by and then Captain Dave Reynolds went to war. "Take us into hyperspace now, Simon de-cloak our ship as soon as we enter normal space, Mr Read open fire on the Dark Nebula as soon as we are in range. As Tyler suggested, take out her shields, her weapons and her engines."

The starship Freedom leapt forward for just an instant before coming out of hyperspace, and within just a few seconds it unleashed bolts of energy of such power, that all rained down upon the starship Dark Nebula, Ares Fortuna was stunned as first his shields failed and then his main engines went off line.

"My god what sort of ship is that." He moaned as his two consorts broke the line and moved off after the Freedom, which had re-cloaked and entered hyperspace. However, by the time they had got moving the Freedom had turned about and was hurtling back towards them.

Once again, the Freedom dropped out of hyperspace, and then turned off its cloaking device, on seeing the starship, the two Helionian space cruisers managed to fire some of their own energy bolts, these struck the Freedom`s defence shields, but the shields held. The Freedom`s own plasma weapons` fired another salvo of deadly energy bolts that left the Vengeance dead in space, its crew trying to get something working as the captain sat there calling down to the heads of his departments, to tell him when his ship would regain some power to allow him to either run or fight back. The space cruiser Shield was now alone, and its captain had had enough, so he didn`t order his helmsman to bring his ship about and re-join the battle, he simply kept on moving forward, and back to Helionia and safety.

"I suggest that you put a call in to Marot and ask him to send some space tugs out here to tow his two ships back to space dock, and before we tire of looking at the space cruiser Dark Nebula and turn it into so much space debris." Tyler said smiling across at the Dave Reynolds.

"Please send that message sparks, and also send our apologies along with it." Dave ordered. Minutes later and Sparks turned around and called out to his captain.

"Sir, it seems that they are already on the way, the other ship that we took out called them, Marot has added his thanks for the restraint that you have shown in not simply blasting the Dark Nebula out of the way." The communications officer was all smiles, as were the rest of the bridge crew.

"And I think that we can cancel battle stations now." The noise that was beginning to make Tyler`s head ache was quickly silenced by the communications officer, and all was silent for a moment as the crew thanked god that they had got through the battle unscathed, and then normal life returned to the bridge.

The reputation of Ares Fortuna fell to its lowest point ever following his ignominious defeat, while as Tyler had not destroyed the two Helionian starships, but simply disabled them, Marot Pallas`s reputation had soared to its highest point.

The starship Freedom assumed orbit around Orion the next day and beamed Tyler and his friends down to the planet. The entire village of the red plains turned out to welcome the heroes back, especially their five wives and their children. Caroline rushed into Tyler`s arms and kissed him furiously at first and finally gently.

"I love you Tyler but please, please, please, stay away from all these alien women who want to steal you away from me." She said laughing.

Tyler looked in to her eyes and smiled. "I will try darling, I will try very hard." Caroline then went up to Dave Reynolds who had also just arrived and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Dave, for bringing them all safely home, you are our friend now and for always, please remember that."

The End

If you enjoyed this collection of stories then please leave a positive revue, your support really does make a difference.

Also, why not visit my author page by clicking on the link. Smashwords Books.

About the Author

I was born in London, England. Like most of the world I had to work hard to pay my mortgage and all the other bills, so I only had the time and the energy to write some short stories. My wife and I have a son who is now married to a lovely wife and they have five children of their own. Since retiring to the Greek island of Crete I have finally found the time and the energy to write some full length Science Fiction stories.

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Other Books by the Author

Colonies of Earth Series in order

Galaxy Spies

Time Storm

Rebirth

Trial by Ordeal

Horror Stories

Strange tales; three short mild horror stories

The Vampires of Cymru-- coming soon

Rob Hinds black magic stories

Kidnapped and Bound for Hell

The Satanists

Dreamscape

The Return of the Bitch from Hell

David Charlton stories, a science fiction series

Rescue Mission to the Stars

The Treasure of Altaraus

Return to Mazere

Other science fiction stories

Quasar

The Venetou

Invasion Earth

Lost and Far from Home

Journey to the Stars

Rebellion is in the Air

Short children`s stories

Three Journeys of the Scary Kind

