Chapter 10

What did it mean? Princess tossed and turned for half the night, finding restful sleep too elusive for her to grasp with all of the thoughts rolling around in her head. What she and Jason had discovered was astonishing, but what they hadn't discovered was even more so.

Why had there been no double for Mark? Had there ever been one, or had these things been created after he had been turned to stone? If there had been a double for Mark, where had it gone?

It seemed that she must have gone to sleep after all, because she woke up shivering in Jason's arms. They were lying on the ready room couch, the morning sunlight filtering in through the waters outside of the window. Groaning, Princess stretched slightly, not wanting to disturb her companion.

"It's okay. I'm awake." Jason muttered.

"Did you sleep at all?" she asked him.

"Don't think so." he groaned. "But it's hard to tell. Were those nightmares, or just my thoughts?"

"I know the feeling." Princess grimaced. "Thanks for staying with me last night."

"I was glad for the company too." he admitted. "That laboratory was pretty freaky."

"I just keep wondering where Mark could be."

"If it exists, it's not Mark." Jason was quick to respond. "Just like those other things aren't us."

"Right." Princess sighed, understanding exactly how Jason felt. "But if the Chief knows anything, we have to find out what it is."

"If the Chief knows anything?" Jason snorted in disgust. "Of course he knows something! He knows everything! He was the one you heard talking about this 326 Plan, wasn't he? And I saw those documents on his desk. And he was the one who didn't want you visiting Keyop when his leg was being 'regenerated'."

"All right, I get your point." Princess snapped, sitting up and holding her head in her hands. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"Sorry." she mumbled. "You're not the one I'm angry with. I know you're just trying to help."

"It's okay." Jason nodded appreciatively. "Trust me, I understand how you feel."

"Yeah." Princess looked over, catching Jason's eye, connecting with him somehow through their shared glance. "I guess you do."

"It feels weird," he blurted, "having someone actually understand how I feel."

"Huh?"

"Usually I'm the one with the outside opinion." he reminded her.

"Oh." Princess considered that for a moment. "I guess I never thought of it that way." She shifted closer to Jason, who was now sitting up on the other end of the couch. Her heart contracted for him, suddenly understanding how he had always considered himself something of an outsider.

"You're not alone." she assured him. "I'm here with you. Keyop and Tiny are behind you too. You're our commander now, and we'll support you."

"I'll need it." he sighed, staring blankly out at the fish. "The Chief isn't going to be happy that we discovered his little project, and even less so when we start questioning him on it."

"Let's go find Tiny and Keyop." Princess suggested. "They need to know about this too."

"I don't know about that." Jason disagreed. "I mean, they definitely should know. But not until we can get some answers from the Chief. Do you really want them having nightmares about this, like we are? They're stressed out about things as it is."

"You've got a point." Princess replied. "I think Keyop's dealing with enough as it is, and Tiny wouldn't be able to keep anything from him. Okay, we'll talk to the Chief, and then Tiny and Keyop, once we get some answers."

"No time like the present." Jason gestured toward the door.

"Sure. Um," Princess glanced at the door, then down to the floor, "could you give me a few minutes to freshen up? I'd like to at least brush my hair before we go see the Chief."

"You look great." Jason reached out, gently tugging at an errant curl at her shoulder. The tender gesture surprised her, and she found herself smiling in response. She cocked her head to the side, studying him as he twisted the small lock of hair around his finger. She felt inexplicably happy. She felt warm.

She felt incredibly shy.

In turn, the shyness filled her with uncertainty. She wasn't used to the sensation; she had lost her shyness long ago, during those difficult years at the orphanage when she had literally had to fight for her life. Yet she had felt this way last night as well, when she had been examining the body of Jason's double. Images flashed through her mind: the hard muscles of his chest, the taut skin of his torso, the curve of his buttock, the unexpectedly large male organ between his legs. She hadn't meant to see Jason's body in that light, yet it had happened all the same.

Her breathing quickened, and she felt her pulse racing. There was something in his eyes, drawing her closer, pulling her in. His hand was no longer playing with one curl, but had buried itself in her hair, brushing against her neck. As one, they leaned forward, inching closer together.

She wasn't ready for this. It was too much. A wave of fear overwhelmed her.

"The Chief." Princess stammered. "We have to find the Chief."

"Right." Jason nodded, his face still close to hers, his eyes filled with compassion. "Let's go." He trailed his hand slowly away from her neck, across to her shoulder, and down her arm. When he reached her hand, she gave his fingers a small squeeze as they passed by, grateful for his understanding.

"And we can drop by our quarters to freshen up for a moment first." he suggested, as they rose from the couch.

"Thanks."

She smiled again, glad that he was with her. He was a wonderful friend. He was her commander. But he wasn't the commander she wanted.

Was he?

They were unable to locate Chief Anderson. Although Princess had seen him with her own eyes the afternoon before, his assistants swore up and down that the Chief had never returned, and then they disappeared as well, nowhere to be found when Jason and Princess returned to question them later. None of the Center Poseidon personnel knew where Chief Anderson was, or if they did, they weren't talking. Princess was reduced to her last, desperate strategy of begging Zark for information, yet even the robot (who for some strange, creepy reason, had never been immune to her feminine charms) would only tell her that the Chief was working on an 'important project' and couldn't be disturbed. He refused to give any details on this project, and told Princess that even mentioning its existence to her was a 'slip of the tongue'.

They had come to a dead end.

"How long do you think this 'project' will take?" Princess asked Jason, frustrated with their lack of progress.

"As long as the Chief wants to remain in hiding." Jason grimaced. "It's pretty obvious that he doesn't want to talk to any of us, and whatever he's going to do, he sure isn't going to run it by G-Force. He'll just show up when he's ready and drop it on us."

"You don't think he'd warn us? Give us any information?"

"Not unless it was to his advantage." Jason shrugged. Princess was both astonished and fascinated by his view of the Chief. Jason just seemed to accept that Chief Anderson had ulterior motives, and that G-Force were simply pawns: a tool in his arsenal to be manipulated and used as necessary. Princess had always assumed that the Chief had their best interests at heart, and wouldn't do anything to hurt them. She began to wonder if both points of view could exist at the same time, and decided that her foster father was a complex enough man that anything was possible.

"So what about Tiny and Keyop?" she asked finally. "If we can't get to the Chief, is it right to keep them in the dark?"

"Maybe not, but I don't think it helps them to know right now." Jason replied thoughtfully. "Trust me, I'm all for not keeping secrets, but if we told them, they'd want to see the lab. And if they saw the lab, they're freak out, just like we did." He looked away for a moment, and Princess suddenly realized how much that small admission had cost him. Jason didn't like to admit to being afraid of anything, yet the sight of their doubles in the tanks had clearly had an unsettling effect on the new commander.

"I wish Mark were here." Princess blurted out suddenly, reddening when she realized how Jason might take that statement. "I mean, he was always the one I went to for advice when I didn't know what to do."

"I don't blame you for missing him." Jason told her. "I miss him too. And I sure as heck don't know what to do, so his advice would be welcome."

"I think he would say to trust Chief Anderson." Princess decided, after a long moment. "Mark was always certain that the Chief had our best interests at heart."

"Or at least the Federation's best interests." Jason nodded. "I think you're right. That's what he would say. But even so, I want to ask the Chief about that laboratory when we see him again."

"And I'll be right with you." Princess assured him.

Days turned into weeks, and Zoltar's deadline was fast approaching. Yet there was no sign of Chief Anderson returning, and life at Center Poseidon settled into an uneasy routine, whereby no one interacted with anyone else unless they had to, and the entire base held the air of a deathwatch. In a way, Jason supposed that was exactly the case: If Chief Anderson didn't enact his miraculous plan within the next couple of days, G-Force would have to sacrifice themselves to Zoltar, one way or the other, whether through direct surrender or by confronting the Spectran madman when he attempted to turn the Medusarray on the cities of Riga.

The only bright spot in the entire affair was Princess. Jason had always been the loner of G-Force, staying on the fringes even when the entire group was together. Now, weighed down by his role of commander, taking on responsibility for the entire G-Force team, he felt that burden even more, yet somehow, Princess was able to lighten his load. He was able to share his thoughts and feelings with her, and in doing so, she somehow made them seem manageable. He didn't have to worry about touching on dark secrets, because she already knew everything about him. He didn't bother holding back his true thoughts, because deep down he knew that she wouldn't judge him harshly, regardless of his opinions. She was open and giving, listening to his thoughts and helping him bounce ideas back and forth. In return, he listened to her fears, taking them seriously and helping her through the emotional upheaval that came with their present situation. And through it all, he found himself coming to look forward to her presence, enjoying her company, glad that in at least one way, this crisis had brought about something good.

He hadn't pushed her since that day in the ready room, when the connection between them had been so strong, it had been almost electric. He had recognized her reticence, and understood its source. If something more were to happen between them, Jason wanted it to be because of what Princess felt, not because of what he felt. He could sense that her attitude toward him was shifting, and he was willing to wait, although with Zoltar's deadline approaching, he presumed that these feelings would be resolved, one way or the other, in the very near future. However static their lives at Center Poseidon seemed, it was destined to all come to an end, sooner rather than later.

"Want some breakfast?" he asked, leaning in the doorway of the ready room. Princess was playing her guitar, a soft, melancholy tune drifting out of the instrument as she strummed.

"I'm not hungry." she sighed, looking over at him. "Do you realize that we only have two more days?"

"And how do you want to spend those days?" he asked her, walking over to sit next to her on the couch. "Moping around, or enjoying the only time we might have left?"

"You're not just going to surrender to Zoltar, are you?" Princess asked.

"Of course not." Jason told her. "I'm going to fight him every step of the way. It's what I was trained to do. What we were trained to do." He picked up her hand from where it was resting in the edge of the guitar, covering it with both of his own.

"I may go down fighting." Jason said honestly. "We all might go down fighting. But when I do, I want to remember something good about my life. Like being here with you."

"I'd like to remember that too." she admitted, smiling hesitantly.

"So with that in mind, what would you like to do today?" he asked her.

"I want to get out of this place," she sighed, "but I know that's not going to happen. So I guess, something to forget everything that's going on, even if only for an hour or two."

"A movie?"

"Maybe." Princess nodded. "Something silly. Something to make me laugh."

"Sounds good to me." Jason rose, holding out his hand to Princess. She smiled, accepting his offer, her fingers squeezing his as she stood on her tiptoes, brushing her lips across his cheek.

"You're just what I need." she murmured. His eyes searched hers, wondering if this was the moment he had been waiting for.

"Princess." he whispered, his heart beating faster. She smiled again, leaning forward, stretching her neck back to look up at him. He raised his other hand, gently grazing his knuckles along the soft skin of her throat. She made a soft, humming sound, curving the side of her face around to meet his touch.

"Jason." Her lips curved upward, and he could see the syllables of his name forming slowly on her tongue as she spoke. This time, he was being invited in, no barriers to hinder their connection. He bent his head down, closing his eyes.

Princess gasped as their wrists began to beep, their cosmic communicators lighting up with the sound of a summons.

"G-Force team, I need to see you in my office, right away." Chief Anderson's voice startled them out of their private moment. "Over and out." As much as he had been awaiting the Chief's return, Jason mentally cursed the man. His timing could not have been worse.

"It looks like we're going to have our chance to get some answers." Princess noted.

"And it looks like we're finally going to find out what the Chief's been doing." Jason added. "Let's go."