Prologue

Some days are harder than others, living this life of lies. I mean, literally, I'm considered an expert in a field of science I've never dreamed could even exist let alone would ever be part of myself. Hell, I can't even use my own name. And don't get me started on my appearance. Hello! I haven't been blonde in centuries and I've never, and I mean NEVER had my hair so short. Being a member of the air force? You've got to be dreaming to think that I'd even consider joining the armed services of any nation, in any era. I prefer to fight against them than as part of them.

You see, despite the story that I tell others, as a child, I never dreamed of going to space. My dreams were filled with what kind of mischief I could cause and the havoc I could wreck around the palace. Yes, I did grow up in a palace, at least, I did in my first childhood. I did, in fact, say that I had more than one childhood, though how I came about having too is a long story.

Anyways, if I had one wish, just a single, solitary wish, I'd wish to go home. Back to my husband, three year old daughter, half brother, two adult sons and their wives, my surrogate daughter and her husband, my niece and granddaughter, and all my friends and patients. I miss my planet, my home, my life, my name, and my research. I can only hope that one day I'll be able to return.

Now I know all of this will seem strange to those with no idea on anything about me, so I'll introduce myself. My real name is Her Royal Excellency Doctor Helen Victoria Magnus-Salyonara, the un-crowed and technically unofficial empress of Talasia and head of the Global Sanctuary Network; crypto-zoologist, zeno-biologist, physician, terologist, teratologist, medical research scientist, master surgeon and political advisor. Dr. Helen Magnus to most, that is, if you're from my home planet of Eraida.

On Earth, however, you'd know me as Samantha "Sam" Gracelynn Carter, USAF, Doctor of Theoretical Astrophysics and Engineering, and the foremost expert on Space, the Stargate, and Asguard Technology.

Chapter 1

I'm getting ahead of myself though, so let me tell you how my story all began:

I was born on the 1st day of the 11th month of the year 1766 in London City, Grand Empire Talasia as the first of two children born to Her Royal Excellency Empiria Patricia Hethering and Lord Physician Dr. Gregory Magnus. My maternal Grandfather was the Grand Emperor Tithony of Talasia. My mother was an identical twin. her sister Isella was the mother of my only cousin and dearest childhood friend Victoria Elezza Veram-Doboi. I never knew my aunt, and I have scarce few memories of my mother as both wound up dying in childbirth. My aunt with my cousin and my mother delivering my baby brother Ashley Patric Magnus, who died of Blue Fever at the young age of 7 after nearly a year struggling to live.

After my brother's premature death, I became the heir to Talasia, something I much despised, but then again, their wasn't much about my day that I did care for. I was a rebellious youth, despising all things that were meant for a young lady, preferring science and philosophy to embroidery and drawing. Now, don't get me wrong, I did learn all the proper social graces, I just liked to ignore them. I was the palace terror. However, despite my rebellious nature, I was very much over indulged. My father, Grandfather and God Father all loved to give in to my whims. It was rare that I didn't get my way.

As my father was a noted physician as was my god father, I grew up having medical equipment around. In fact, I was my father's nurse while he tended my ailing brother during those long days of his illness. It was due to this that at the tender age of 10, I decided that I wanted to become a physician when I reached maturity.

At the age of 15, I decided to enroll at Oxford. However, in those days women were not permitted to officially attend the university. I fought it tooth and nail for just over a year before I was finally considered a student and all of my work in the classes I had attended the year before on audit were accepted as credits.

It was in that first year that I made four wonderful friends, Nigel Griffin of Talasia, Nikola Tesla of Serbia, Montegue John Druitt of Eirland, and James
Watson of Talasia. We formed a secret research group that we called the Five. It was about this same time that I finally was let in on my father's secret research and found the elixar that would change all of our lives forever, the source blood.

I was 17 by the time my little band of scientists had made the blood ready for injection into us. Oh, we all had our theories about it. John believed it would turn us all into vampires. Nigel believed we'd all gain some vampiric powers. James thought we'd be able to access the secrets of the vampires through blood memory and Nikola thought we'd become immortal. I personally didn't really care what it did. I just believed that it was the source of all abnormal life, and if anything, we'd all become abnormals. I guess we were all right to a degree.

Though I was injected first, my gifts were the ones that had no noticeable effects until decades later. My then fiancee, who was already an abnormal with the gift of teleportation, the blood was almost a poison for him. It just took a few years for that to become apparent. James grew even more brilliant than he already was. Nigel gained the ability to become invisible and Nikola became a vampire.

Only a year after the injection of the blood, I became pregnant. However, I was stalwart in my resolve to finish my degree and continued to be reluctant to marry until after I had it. John was wonderful in this, and allowed me to continue my path. Yet in the seventh month of my pregnancy, I went into labor and delievered John's and my triplet offspring who we named Isella Loraine, Patricia Marie, and Gregory Louis. Not one of them lived past their sixth month.

It was not long after we buried little Patricia that John first became really ill and I recieved my degree. John was my first true patient. Everyone was proud of me for having completed my schooling, including my grandfather who then knew that I would never willingly take the throne.

My father and I soon founded our orininal Sanctuary with the aid of James, Nigel and Nikola. It was home for many years. It was in those early days of our living their that John became the Ripper and I broke up with him. He couldn't let me go though, and he comitted that aweful crime against me. The one that formed within me our forth child, one who I wouldn't carry to term for over two centuries.

With the help of my father and James, I was able to remove the embryo from inside me and put it into stasis.

Years came and went. The four of us that stayed close, remained a team through the seven Greater Global Conflicts. During those long years of conflict, the exact nature of my gifts was revealed. My physical appearance barely changed and, as I discovered, I couldn't stay dead. I remember the first time I was killed. I got hit by a stray bullet through the head during GGC 1. I remember the pain of the bullet entering my skull and then mere minutes later waking up in James' arms with Nigel close by grieving me. Needless to say, all three of us were quite astonished at this power.

It was after GGC 7 that I left my home emprire for the new world and a new home. It was in the new world that I built my grand fortress, my haven and my sanctuary. Eventually, it was the place where my Ashley would be born.

Chapter 2

It was the year 1988 (Helen was 222 years old) that I unfroze the embryo and carried it to term. The decision was a hard one as I feared what John's DNA's effect on the child would be. However, my lonliness and need for my child led to me reimplant it in my womb. It was the scarriest thing I've ever done.

Seven and a half months after the re-introduction of the embryo, my precious daughter Ashley Tara Magnus was born. She was perfect in every way, at least in my eyes. Being that I was my own doctor, I bore her in my bedroom with only my trusty man servant as an aid.

When Ashley was two years old, I took her home to Talasia due to a sighting of some HAPs. I was part of the team that eventually found a single female, newly dead in front of a cave. Inside the shallow cave was a young boy, who she seemed to have died protecting, likely meaning he was her son. We searched for days but found no other HAPs or even traces of them, so we were unable to reunite the boy with his kind.

Bringing him back to the London Sanctuary, James and I decided the boy needed a name. Since we found him outside the town of Foss near Henrenton Avenue we decided his name would be Henry Foss.

My dearest darling little Ashley took to Henry like a fish to water and so when it came time for us to return to Old City, James encouraged me to take young Henry along with me. He claimed the London Sanctuary was no place for a child and since mine already had a child, meaning Ashley, that it would be more beneficial for him to be there with me. Plus, he reasoned, it would give Ashley a playmate and would allow me to continue my research into his species as I watched him grow up. As I had grown fond of the boy, I quickly agreed and brought him home.

Shortly thereafter, a very sad thing happened to one of my dear friends and employees. Linda Zimmerman had decided to take her eight year old son William out for a week on camping in the woods 100 miles north of Old City. Unfortunatly, their was a deadly creature loose in those woods that I didn't get word about until it was too late for her. I lost a beloved friend that night, one who stood by me through Ashley's infancy, giving me advise in how to care for my baby. I made a vow that night that I would do everything I could to ensure that William had the future his mother would have desired for him and that he would be capable of achieving his dreams.

Twenty years later I would open up my world to him in the same fashion as I had with his mother and I would find a wonderful friend in him.

Chapter 3

The next two decades flew by in the blink of an eye (Helen age 242). My sweet baby grew into a rebellious, stong, powerful young woman and Henry, well, every year he became more and more my own son and eventually, his innate tech expertise had him taking over all technical aspects of my Sanctuary. As for Will, he flew through school and quickly became a brilliant psychiatrist though not many were capable of seeing his brilliance as he didn't see things like most people did and do, which is why on one cold, dark and rainy night I invited him to see my work. It was also on that same night that one of my darkest fears was realized. Ashley's father came back into my life after nearly a century. The worst part being is that I nearly lost my baby to one of the terrible creatures housed in our basement.

Luckily for me, Will accepted my offer of employment. Over the years, I can honestly say he's become one of the most dear people to have entered my life.

In fact, I have no idea what I would have done without him during that first year as over the course of that year, I lost not only my long time best friend James Watson but my precious Ashley as well as nearly loosing myself and I wound up killing John. All in all, it was one HELL of a year. I never wanted to become a vampire (though without the electric powers) or have telekenetic powers. I wanted a cure for my immortality yet I got them due to Cabal's devious ways. John tried to force me to love him but since I could not nor would I as his power was so strong and so dark, I vaporized him with my mind by destroying the molecular bonds that held him together. And that's after the evil energy being within him had taken over my home for a brief time.

That year was terrible but a few good things did happen. I found my father, met Kate and she joined my staff (she later became a daughter to me) and found out that James' protoge Declan McRae was in fact, my much younger half brother (he was my father's son), and took down Cabal once and for all.

Chapter 4

While things didn't calm down per say after that nightmare of a year, they did get down to more of the type of crazy I was used to. Nikola decided to stay an active part in my life again (likely due to the fact that we both knew we were the last remaining members of the five, and being that we were the vampires). My team and I (Henry, Will, Kate, and myself) discovered the hidden mecca of Praxis under the surface of the world, stopped the world from being torn apart because of a time dilation field, and dealt with Kali as well as having many other adventures. My nemesis from long ago in Talasia Adam Worth resurfaced and nearly killed me with radiation and later I barely managed to keep him from totally destroying the timeline by following him back 213 years into our past, back to London in the days when his daughter Imogen was dying of a blood disease. As I remained alive after the skirmish with the Adam of my current time, James told me to take the time and use it as a long vacation. To recenter myself and to really relax, something I have never been good at.

I can't say that I didn't meddle at all because I did. I dropped hints of things to come in various places, and worked to secure the betterment of my future. I stayed even more as a shadow in history than I had ever been, having only very casual flings for a long time.

That is, up until 10 years before I could return to my life. You see, I met a guy. I know, I know. At 458 years old I've met lots of guys over my life right? But you see, Zach Salyonara was different. Honestly, I don't think there was ever as much tangible chemistry between me and anyone, including John, ever. It was a supernova in firework form whenever I saw him. The chemistry was just that intense. Granted, in just about every way Zach was wrong for me. He was a bum, born of a criminal and a prostitute. However, he made me feel like I was on fire. Three years after our initial aquaintance, he proposed to me and I said yes. We married a year later. To tell the honest truth, our marriage was explosive. The sex was explosive as was our fights. I found myself constantly throwing things (toasters, blenders, mirrors, vases, etc) at him in our many, many fights. But somehow, neither of us ever felt the need to file for a divorce.

Hell, I very much expected it after I told him I'd been lying to him since the day we met, only three months before I could return home but he stuck around, much to my joy.

Chapter 5

Returning home wasn't as easy as you'd expect after such a long vacation. While everything was familiar to me, I felt very detached from it all. It definately didn't help that I had a new home, a home that I shared with my husband. Not to mention how awkward it was explaining how that relationship happened. To make matters even more weird, a month after returning to life at the Sanctuary (teleporting to work there everyday) (suffice it to say how I gained that power is another story for another time) I discovered that for a third time in my life I was pregnant. However, this was the first time I'd ever been married and pregnant so it was going to be a very different experience for me.

The weirdness didn't stop there either. Only about a month after discovering my own pregnancy, Henry's girlfriend Erica turned up at the Sanctuary announcing that she and Henry were also expecting. Now, it would seem as though our due dates would be about the same time but since Erica had been on a suppressant drug for most of her life, I had to give her a drug that slowed her baby's growth rate and increased the length of her pregnancy by a bit over a year longer than normal. Meaning, my first grandchild and my fifth flesh-and-blood child would be more like sibling or cousins than aunt and niece.