Frank looked at the two men, then back at Janet, her face beet red with mortification and sudden shame. Ignoring both her reaction and Brad's bitter sarcasm, he said, "I've asked this once. Now I'll ask it again, and this time I want an answer. What are you doing here?" With that question, the vulnerable young man Janet had glimpsed seemed to vanish, suddenly transformed into every bit the "A-list" celebrity he was on his home planet. His voice and accent were both considerably softer than what he'd used during his "performance," but the air of steely self-confidence was unmistakable.
Brad glowered at him. "More to the point, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be gone…not to mention dead."
Frank, obviously not intimidated by Brad's anger, glowered right back at him. "Engine trouble. As for my death…"
Janet overcame her embarrassment enough to interrupt him. "Brad, you know full well why he's alive." She turned to Frank. "We came here to see if Dr. Scott could find anything to tell him what became of Eddie. We thought there might be a possibility he was still alive. Anyway, when we got here, we overheard something you need to know."
Frank raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what might that be?"
Janet took a deep breath. "Riff Raff and Magenta were speaking in the back yard. They're apparently leaders of a group that's planning a coup to overthrow the Queen, and he sees you as a threat. He thinks you're getting suspicious and asking too many questions, and that you might go to the Queen and tell her to be on her guard. They can't afford to give her the chance to her to beef up her defenses, so…Riff Raff is planning to use a real laser at the end of your next, um, 'experiment,' and kill not only you, but Rocky and Columbia, too. You know, since they're friends of yours."
Frank paled, and briefly buried his face in his hands. However, when he looked up again, his eyes were dry and there was an expression of calm resolution on his face.
"Did Riff Raff happen to mention the names of any other people involved in planning this coup?"
Janet nodded. "Just one, though. General Luna, I think the name was."
Frank looked horrified. "No. Oh, no. He's the head of the Royal Armed Forces. I wonder if anyone in the military is still loyal to the Crown?" More softly…and apparently more to himself than anyone else…he added, "How could he do that? He's been like a father to her." He blinked back the tears that had sprung to his eyes at the thought.
Janet, Dr. Scott and even Brad observed Frank's reaction with interest. The revelation that the Queen was being betrayed by someone she loved and trusted was even more painful to him than the revelation about the coup itself, not to mention Riff Raff's plan to murder him and his friends.
Janet suddenly understood why Frank could so easily maintain emotional detachment from the humans he seduced during the "experiments"…not to mention the fellow performers with whom he shared steamy love scenes, and the various other lovers he undoubtedly met and discarded along the way. She gently touched his shoulder. "You really love her, don't you?"
At first, Frank was silent. Finally, he said, "We've known each other all our lives. My parents were highly placed members of the Court, so we grew up together. We were both only children, and had what one might call a brother-sister relationship for a very long time. By the time we reached our late teens, however, our relationship went in…a different direction. Our parents were all vacationing together in a mountainous region of Transsexual, and were caught in a sudden avalanche." He paused a moment, took a deep breath, then continued. "There were no survivors. Losing our parents simultaneously that way brought us even closer, and when the grief subsided enough for us to become aware of other emotions, we realized we were very much in love. However, due to the challenges inherent in her rather premature ascension to the throne, she was - and continues to be - in no position to give much time and attention to her personal relationships. All I can do is try to be there for her when she needs me, and go on with my own life and career until we can truly be together. She's been reigning about six years now, and it's been a constant struggle to protect herself from those who wish to take advantage of her youth to grab power for themselves – while still doing her best to be a good and effective monarch." He paused again, and an angry expression crossed his face. "If anyone is planning a coup, it has nothing to do with attempting to improve the lives of the Transylvanian people. It's nothing more than an attempt to capitalize on her perceived weakness in a selfish power play."
He stood up. "Excuse me. I need to get Rocky and Columbia. Obviously this concerns them as well. I suggest you wait for me behind that clump of trees. We really shouldn't be speaking out in the open this way."
As the door was closing behind him, Janet thought she saw him wipe a tear from his eye.