Startled by Kara's petrified stare, the man, Jason Matherson, smiled. "Kara," he repeated. "Are you all right?"

Suddenly, Kara's stare turned bitter. Miwohada watched quietly, hints of a sad frown etched on his face.

"Father!" she spat. "So you've been here all this time, have you? How'd you get here?"

"I was sent out --" he began.

"For what?" Kara asked icily. "Drinking too much?"

"Kara --"

"So you've just been relaxing here," she replied, eyes narrowed in fury. "Well, you want to know what I've been doing? Taking care of mom, your wife! That's right. Where were you when the brain damage made it impossible for her to function on her own? Where were you when I was the one that had to step up and take care of her? Where were you when my life fell apart? Here, doing nothing!"

Silence filled the room. Kara's entire body shook with rage. She watched as her father slowly sank down to a chair and put his head in his hands. His shoulders trembled, and he spoke.

"Kara," he said again. "I cannot ask you to forgive me. I can only explain to you what happened in hopes that you will understand. Your uncle, Kara, worked for Them. He was my brother, and we talked about everything together. For whatever reason, he...he told me a secret, a secret I cannot repeat to you even now, when I am in safety. But it was a secret that affected the entire Government, and all of Them.

"Suddenly, I had this weight on my shoulders, and I knew that they would eventually find out that I knew. So I did the only thing I could - I ran. But they caught up with me, as I knew they would."

"So you drank because you were stressed?" Kara snapped.

"I didn't drink!" he snapped. "I was drugged! Drugged by Them so that I would tell Them the secret, and give them the means nessecary to use that secret. They brought me in for questioning every single day, to try to work the information out of me.

"But I didn't tell," he said, his eyes glittering with pride. "They got the knowledge elsewhere, and They figured out pretty fast that I was the one that had the key to using that knowledge. So They were after me again. I had to run, Kara, so I left the key...with you."

"What?"

Jason sighed, his shoulders shaking with supressed tears. "I was frightened," he said. "I didn't know what else to do! I left it with you because I knew that it would be safe for the time being, until your mother told you the secret and how to use the key."

"Mom knew too?"

"Yes. I wasn't going to tell her, but she figured it out on her own. Your mother always had a knack for getting into people's heads. So she made me tell her, and I knew that she was the most trustworthy person on the planet. She wouldn't say a word. Even now, They are still trying to get the information from her."

"But...but she's --"

"Of course! They're keeping her like that! Did you ever wonder about Cindy? Did you ever wonder what happens when you're off at school?"

Kara gasped. "No. They don't...."

"They use Their most advanced technology to probe her mind, but she found a way to keep the information secret. So They had to find another way to find the key."

Kara gritted her teeth in frustration. "What key?" she said. "This would make a lot more sense if you explained the secret."

Jason paused, then sighed. "Where did you get that emerald necklace, Kara?" he asked. "It's very pretty."

"You gave it to me!" Kara said, astonished that he didn't remember. "I...wait a second. The emerald necklace is...the key?"

Jason nodded. He looked very old. "Inside that necklace is a computer chip. On that computer chip, all of the information about all of the Domes is stored. It has a log of every resident of every Dome, and it allows whomever uses it to control things in the Domes like water supply and temperature control...even oxygen release."

Kara gasped. "But...then, why do They want it?"

Jason smiled, shaking his head as if he was amused. "You are young," he sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

"I'm young?" Kara asked. "I've been raising my mother for two years! Try me."

Sighing, Jason began to speak, then stopped. Taking a deep breath, he started again. "They are not...not human," he said finally. "They have none of the empathy humans have. They want only power, and They will go to great lengths to get it. And They....They want to control not only 12-A, but all the Domes on the globe."

Kara raised her eyebrows. "But don't They already?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, no," Jason replied. "They are only in 12-A right now. They are the aftermath of a disasterous science project by the government, trying to create an artificial intelligence that would serve the people. Instead, They got out of hand and took over the government, using the powers bestowed upon Them by Their creators, the original scientists. They now wish to use this computer chip to force the other Domes to follow their command, using 12-A as a base of operations."

"But...what will they gain?" Kara asked.

Jaxon shook his head in sorrow. "Think about it, Kara," he said. "We will have to follow Their commands! Our very lives will be in their hands. They will enslave the entire human race."

Kara shuddered. "But..."

Jason held up a finger. "That is only the first part of their plan. They intend to do the same to other planets, other races! They know that there are others out there somewhere, but there is another key they are after, a key holding the knowledge of a large percentage of the races in the universe...."

Jason turned, his eyes falling on Miwohada.

"Miwohada is the key?" Kara cried, stunned. "They know he's here?"

"Of course!" Jason said. "They know all that happens on the planet."

They cannot force me to give up my information! Miwohada said furiously, apparently not nearly as surprised as Kara. I will leave, and, if they do capture me, they will get nothing from me. I have resisted such questioning before!

Jason sighed. "It is not that easy this time," he replied. "They are not human, so your poison will have no effect on Them. And, if you do not choose to readily give up your knowledge, They will use their technology to rip your brain apart, sifting through your thoughts and memories until They find what They desire. They will then leave your crumpled shell without a second thought."

"Mother?" Kara whispered.

Jason nodded.

Kara burst into tears. She had never felt such fury and anguish in her life; it was as though her heart was being torn apart. All she had believed to be true about her mother and her father was a lie, and she was suddenly forced to rethink all she had already thought out.

Jason sat down beside Kara and hugged her, wiping her tears away with his fingers. She laid her head on his shoulder and wept, while Miwohada silently thought, bitterly cursing the day he set foot on this cursed planet.

Kara sat up a minute later, drying her eyes and composing herself. She looked over at Miwohada, and suddenly realized that he was in danger. She bit her lip. In the brief time she'd known the dragon, she'd become rather fond of him, and she didn't like to imagine him lying, crumpled, on the floor, his glistening red eyes dull and staring off into space....

"We've got to get you out of here!" she breathed. "Miwohada has to get out of here!"

Miwohada looked up. I would feel guilty....

"You're getting out of here!" Kara said firmly, and her tone said quite plainly that there was no more arguing. "Sure, They might get us under Their control, but They're not enslaving the entire universe. Dad, are there any astrologers here that could point Miwohada in...er, the right direction?"

Mir'Terra, he said quickly, sitting bolt upright. Does anyone here know of Mir'Terra?

"We shall see," Jason said, getting up and walking to the door. "Come with me. I know just where to go."



There! Miwohada cried. I recognize that! That's --

"Galaxy M-64," the man with the telescope said, flipping off the screen the group had been staring at.

Actually, it's where I found Isiahir, home of the Oviron.

"Well...that too," the man said quickly, clearly questioning his sanity as he gazed at the dark red dragon with glowing spines. "Has this helped your quest at all?"

Very much! Miwohada said gratefully. I know just where to go from there....

"Then go!" Kara cried, with a firm nod from Jason. "Don't stay here any longer."

Right. Good luck, Miwo began, but Kara cut him off.

"Go!" she hissed.

Right, Miwohada said, and, in a sudden flash of brilliant color, he vanished, leaving no trace of his ever being there.

Kara sniffled, wiping her eyes. "I'll...I'll miss him," she said softly.

"Kara," Jason said, "he could not stay here. Perhaps he can come back someday, if the threat of Them ever goes away."

"Perhaps," Kara replied, still gazing at the place where Miwo had been.



Miwohada was elated as his red body was thrown through the last portal. Though he was sturdily built, to say the least, the portal carried him like a feather in the wind. This was a familiar portal to Miwohada; he had been waiting years to travel through this very system. He was going home.

Twisting expertly, Miwohada launched himself from one portal current to another. He was jerked violently in a different direction, and, suddenly, he struck hard soil.

Mir'Terra.

Practically weeping in his joy, Miwohada rose to his feet, taking in his surroundings. He beamed, realizing that he was on the outskirts of Poisonblood territory. The sights were still familiar; he even saw the rock he often sat on to stargaze when he was just a wyrm, dreaming of what lay beyond.

He bounded as fast as he possibly could, scrambling up to the top of the rock and lying on his back, just like he had when he was a wyrm. The sky was just beginning to glimmer with stars, and the first of the five moons was rising up over the distant mountains.

Suddenly, Miwohada heard a shrill cry.

"Poisonblood! Poisonblood!"

Sitting up sharply, Miwo looked around, but the speaker had vanished. Sighing, Miwo jumped down from the rock, and continued walking.

Soon, it became quite apparent that something was wrong. Where there should have been bustling activity and action, there was only silence. Miwohada looked everywhere, but the Poisonblood Clan seemed to have vanished off the face of Mir'Terra.

Suddenly, Miwohada heard something moving. He whirled around, to see a small rodent huddled in the corner of the cave he had been searching.

"Poisonblood!" It squeaked in terror. It tried to escape, but Miwo snatched it up in his paw.

Where are my people? Miwo snapped, his eyes gleaming with fury and frustration.

"Where you been?" the rodent asked suspciously. "You no know?"

Know what? Miwohada asked, growing pale.

"Ki'ishi," the rodent replied. "They win."

Words left Miwohada. Frightened, the rodent began to ramble.

"They come here many months ago," it stammered, "in dark, no-moon night. Them kill the Poisonblood while they sleep."