Three days later, Frank and Janet found themselves driving in silence to the location where the castle had originally been. Frank had contacted one of his dearest friends, a Transylvanian operative stationed in upstate New York, who arranged for a castle to pick him up at that old familiar location. During the tense journey, there was so much they needed to say to each other, but neither knew how to begin. After a ride that managed to be simultaneously too long and much too short, they arrived at the site where both of their lives had been irrevocably changed barely two weeks before.
The castle sitting in the midst of the barren landscape this evening was not the same one in which Frank and his servants had originally traveled. Although still gothic in appearance, it looked considerably newer than its predecessor. In addition to the standard Transylvanian lightning bolt flag, a purple and gold flag with a crown-like insignia fluttered from the domed rooftop. Janet followed Frank's gaze to that additional flag, and looked over at him. He'd seemed to pale slightly as soon as he'd caught sight of it. Before she could question him, however, he had opened the car door.
"We might as well get this over with." With that, he got out of the car and began walking toward the castle. Janet hurried after him. Just as he was about to reach the heavy wooden door, she grabbed his arm.
"Frank, wait."
He turned and looked at her. Sighing, he said, "Janet, please don't make this harder than it already is."
Ignoring his request, she pulled him to her and kissed him passionately, putting one hand on the back of his head to prevent him from pulling away. After some initial, rather half-hearted resistance, he returned her kiss with equal ardor. Time seemed to stand still as they continued their embrace, their kisses saying everything they had been unable to put into words in the car.
Well…almost everything. When they finally broke apart, Frank said softly, "Janet, it's time for me to go."
Suddenly, the words she had been thinking about constantly during the past couple of days tumbled heedlessly out of her mouth. She couldn't have stopped herself if she'd wanted to.
But she didn't want to stop.
"Frank, take me with you."
Frank had been trained since earliest childhood to avoid the appearance of being taken off guard; such a reaction could give an adversary an upper hand during a hostile exchange. Accordingly, he had managed to develop a "poker face" and air of unflappable composure that would have done a Las Vegas card shark proud…until now. He stared at Janet, mute with astonishment.
Before he could muster the mental resources to respond, another male voice wafted through the cold night air.
"You can't do that!"
Janet and Frank turned, startled, in the direction of the voice. They were even more startled when Brad, white-faced with anger and shock, stormed into view.
He came up on the porch and grabbed Janet's arm. "I don't know what you've been playing at, but you need to stop before you destroy your life. Before he…" he glared at Frank, "destroys your life."
Janet, furious, pulled her arm out of his grasp. "What are you doing here, Brad?"
"At the moment, I'm trying to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life. God, Janet, how can you think he actually loves you? He's been using you! He needed you to escape from Dr. Scott, so he seduced you into thinking he gave a damn about you – and fool that you are, you fell for it and betrayed an old friend…not to mention your fiancé." He paused a moment, temporarily overcome with emotion. "That was bad enough, but now you want to follow him to his planet? Are you completely insane?"
Janet was livid. "How dare you. As usual, you don't know what you're talking about. I know Frank loves me…and I know I love him." She pulled the engagement ring off her finger, and held it out to Brad. "I also know I don't want to marry you. Here's the ring. Find some nice girl who just wants to stay home, bake bread, and raise children." She added cruelly, "You'd better look for a virgin, so she won't know how inept you are."
Brad's eyes filled with tears, and his voice softened. "Please, Janet, don't do this. Don't confuse lust with love. Think about how much I love you, and about all the wonderful times we've had together. Think about how happy you were when I proposed to you. You loved me just as much as I loved…love…you. How can you fall out of love that quickly?"
Janet's eyes also filled with tears as she witnessed Brad's pain, and her anger melted away. To his delight, she reached out and grabbed his hand in hers…but his heart sank as he felt the diamond ring being pressed into his palm.
When she spoke, her voice was soft, but firm. "I'm sorry. Really, I'm so sorry…but I can't marry you. I just can't. I know you think all Frank and I share is lust, but you're wrong. Brad, I do love you, dearly, but not in the way a wife needs to love her husband. I didn't realize the difference until I met Frank. I didn't know what romantic love was supposed to feel like. I guess I assumed the marriage vows would suddenly make me want you that way. Now I know that kind of chemistry is either there, or it's not. I can't go through life married to someone I just see as a best friend."
Slowly, Brad put the ring in his pocket, tears running down his face. Finally, he said, "All right. I guess there's nothing else I can say to make you change your mind about us. But Janet, I still say you're making a mistake following Frank to Transsexual. How can you leave your entire world behind that way?"
Frank had been standing silent, listening to the exchange between Brad and Janet. Before Janet could respond to Brad's statement, he took her in his arms and said softly, "Janet, Brad is right. You don't know what you're saying. This isn't a case of following someone to, say, California, or England, or anywhere else on Earth. Once we leave this planet, there's no guarantee we'll ever return. Our work here is finished. What if you get to Transsexual and hate it? Or…what if our relationship doesn't work out? I'd be willing to give it a chance, because I have nothing to lose…I'll be home, amongst my family and friends…but you would be completely alone, on a strange planet, unable to return to your home and those who care about you. I can't allow you to take that risk." He kissed her gently. "This is the first unselfish gesture I've ever made in my entire life. Please try to understand. I'm doing this for your own good."
Slowly, Janet pulled away from Frank. She looked him in the eye and spoke quietly, but with more authority than she'd ever mustered. "You know, all my life people – with all the best intentions – have been telling me what I can and can't do, what I think, how I feel. You know what? I've had enough." She looked over at Brad, then back at Frank. "Believe it or not, I understand the risk I'd be taking by going with you. I know there are no guarantees that everything will work out. I know I might be left alone, on a strange planet. But I also know how I feel. Saying I love you doesn't begin to express how strongly I feel about you, and I can tell you feel the same way about me. You make me feel alive, in a way that nobody else ever could. I'm not willing to live without that. I remember reading a quote years ago. It said something like 'you can never reach the stars if you're afraid to allow your feet to leave the ground.' I'm sure the author didn't mean it quite this literally…but I want to reach the stars, and only you can take me there. Frank, please…take me to the stars."
For a moment, Frank was stunned into silence. He'd already been surprised by what she'd been willing to give up for him, but this was beyond his wildest dreams. He'd found someone who loved him so much that she was willing to sacrifice her entire existence – everything and everyone she'd ever known – just to be with him. A happiness he'd never known spread throughout his entire body. However, when he found his voice, it was to make the confession he'd always dreaded. "Janet, there's something else you need to know."
Almost fearfully, she responded, "Okay…what is it?"
Frank turned away, staring sightlessly at the unkempt front yard. "I'm not just a scientist. My mother is Transsexual's Queen…and I'm next in line for the throne."
He turned back toward Janet, trying to prepare himself for the star-struck expression, the air of barely suppressed excitement, the lust for power and position. He was utterly unprepared for what he saw…a look of inexpressible grief.
"Janet, what's wrong?"
Tears began to run silently down her face. She made no move to stop them. "I suppose that means I can never be with you. You must have to marry one of your own people. Your mother would never approve of me."
Frank smiled, took her in his arms, and gave her the most passionate kiss he'd ever given anyone. When he finally broke the kiss, he said, "Nobody I've ever met has loved me without first loving my title. Actually, you're the first person outside my own family who's ever truly loved me, either with or without the title. If you still want to be with me, knowing you'll be living a very public life…I would be honored to have you as my princess."
The tears were still running down her face, but they were now tears of joy. "Oh, Frank, yes!!"
Again, their bodies melted together in a passionate embrace. When they finally separated, Frank's eyes were also glistening with tears.
The mood was brutally interrupted by a deep, German-accented voice. "Not so fast."
Frank, Janet and Brad looked over, and there he was. Dr. Scott, with a gun in his hand. The gun was aimed directly at Frank.