[u]Part 40[/u]

Maria sat quietly against the wall as they waited for the next mindwarper to enter the large, comfortable meeting room. She wasn't participating directly in the interrogations, but she was present in order to make sure that the other four didn't miss anything - a guilt look, a flinch where one was unwarranted. She glanced at her watch, frowned slightly and met Michael's gaze from where he sat at a table between Jennetta and Sheriff Valenti. Jemma was on Jenny's other side.

Maria raised her eyebrows questioningly. Michael scowled and nodded, acknowledging that he knew that they were running perilously low on time.

They had one hour until the end of the solstice. Alex and Isabel had not returned, although Maria had spoken to her best friend on his cell phone about twenty minutes ago. There had been some question as to whether Isabel should be brought to the safe house in order to help in the identification of the culprit who had been invading her mind, but it had been decided that the pair would head straight to Stonehenge instead. Michael didn't think it was yet safe to bring Isabel back until the guilty party had been sniffed out.

Jennetta, Michael, Maria, Jemma and the sheriff would meet them there with Ren's body. Michael had decreed that he still wasn't bringing the army through with him, much to Jemma's dismay. However, the conversation they had held earlier about her constantly undermining his commands seemed to stop her from arguing too forcibly.

As the minutes slipped by, it was looking more and more like they weren't going to be able to resolve the issue of who had been assaulting Isabel before they left. Every mindwarper who had been interviewed, the sheriff leading the process because of his experience, had seemed absolutely perplexed by the charges when they were finally laid before them. Of course, Maria wasn't sure what they had all been expecting. Did they really think that the guilty party was just going to come out and say "Yup, it was me. Sorry 'bout that!"?

The one slim hope was that Michael might recognize someone who had been in contact with Isabel over the past few weeks. He was the only one who had been with her the entire time after all and he had also received some leak- off from the mind-warps, if his dreams were any indication. The only person who had sprung to mind was a man with an umbrella the two of them had noticed at Stonehenge, but Michael had never seen him again and he had not been part of the large group of mindwarpers Michael had examined before the one on one interrogations had started. It wasn't like the culprit could shapeshift after all, Maria reflected. All of the mindwarpers on the planet were changed humans.

Maria blinked as a sudden possibility occurred to her. "Oh my God!" She gasped. "Jemma!"

Four heads swiveled to look at Maria, varying degrees of interest or annoyance on their faces. A soft knock sounded on the door just as Michael demanded, "Maria, what's wrong?"

A member of the Royal Guard, a healer Jemma had told them and so not under suspicion, entered and bowed, "The next mindwarper has arrived your highness."

He directed this at Jennetta, who nodded. "Just give us a minute please."

The guard backed out. Jenny turned and looked at Maria, curiousity on her face. "Maria?"

Maria was on her feet. "Jemma, did any shapeshifters come through the portal with you and Andrina?" By this point they all knew the story of Max and Isabel's aunt and how Jemma had been her loyal servant up until the Crash and, so, Maria wondered how they had not thought of this before. "Nasedo was a shapeshifter and loyal to the Illyrians - enough so that he was sent in the ship with the Royal Four. Were there others? Doesn't it make sense that there would have been other Dernians who followed Tristandor and Sabrya to Illyria?"

Jemma stared at her, looking a bit perplexed, but she replied readily enough. "Andrina was sent with a contingent of thirty. Most are dead at this point. None of the remaining survivors are mindwarpers, nor were any Dernian shapeshifters. The whole point of the mission was to secure an alliance for Illyria. Laren may have gained Queen Milena's trust by the time the Royal Four were sent, but we did not fully trust Dernians when Andrina led us through the portal. Jendar and I were Andrina's seconds." She trailed off, as though she had just remembered something significant. "Jendar was not a shapeshifter, but he was a mindwarper." She jumped to her feet. "Why did I not think of this sooner?"

"You said that Jendar was missing?" Michael asked, scowling again. "When did you last see him?"

"After Andrina was captured by the Special Unit, we split up. I stayed at the compound beneath the desert in New Mexico and finished outfitting the library, which was to be a resource for the humans who joined our cause." Maria nodded to herself, it abruptly making sense that only changed humans like Liz and Kyle could open the library. They were the only ones who had been meant to use it. "Jendar came here to begin building the army we would need to take through the portal when the Royal Four emerged from their pods. We didn't know where they had been hidden by Laren, but we hoped that when their transformation was complete, they would find us. Had they been transferred properly to their second pods, they would have emerged with all their memories."

"Okay, so then Jendar just disappeared?"

"I lost contact with him. I was in communication with Laren though. He was searching for you because you had broken free of your pods before he could get to you. Only Sabrya remained. She matured more slowly because her addition to the ship was a last-minute decision, which was why you and Jaxon and Mirana broke free earlier." This was directed at Michael. "She and Jaxon were not a love match after all. It was felt that Tristandor and Mirana's Ring-sanctioned bond would maintain the Dernian/Illyrian alliance. Jaxon could find his human bride and establish that union as well. But Milena chose to send Sabrya in the end, after all, deciding that Tristandor would not be the same person without his sister. Saving her had played such a large role in his defection in the first place after all. As much as he did not want to be cleansed himself, he did not want it for Sabrya either."

"Nasedo knew all this? Were he and Queen Milena close?" Sheriff Valenti asked. He had been listening quietly, but spoke up now, as though he was puzzling something out for himself. Maria wondered what it was.

"Not particularly," Jemma shrugged. "Milena trusted him because Laren and Andrina were betrothed. She knew he would do nothing to jeopardize the chance to wed the princess." She sighed. "Of course, letting the ship crash and then losing three of the Royal Four demonstrated how little trust she should have placed in him."

"Okay, well, then what about Jendar?" Maria pressed, still sure that she was on the right track here. "You lost contact with him. And then?"

Jemma continued, her expression blank, as though she was looking back, searching for the clues Maria wanted from her. "Jendar's loss was a particular concern because it meant we lost contact with Queen Milena as well. We needed him. Although Laren seemed to be losing control of the situation in New Mexico, I came here to find him. We could not move forward without his ability to contact the queen." Jemma rubbed her temples. "This safe house had been built and we had the beginnings of our army."

"Wait!" Michael interrupted. "What do you mean he was your only contact to the queen? I thought he was a mindwarper? Can't only dreamwalkers communicate over such great distances?"

"Which also begs the question that if Jendar was a mindwarper, how was he creating the Royal Guard?" Jennetta asked. "I thought it has to be a healer who changes humans."

"It does," Jemma acknowledged. "He had a healer with him, left over from our journey through the portal, but he did the actual healing. This explains his ability to communicate with the queen as well. Jendar was one of a rare breed on our planet. He was able to harness any of the four major gifts as long as he came into physical contact with a true proficient in that ability."

"You know Jemma, this information might have helped us out before," Michael complained, obviously extremely impatient. Maria didn't blame him. They were very short on time and the leader of the Royal Guard seemed to be keeping vital information from them. "He could borrow other people's gifts?"

"Basically," Jemma acknowledged. "I'm sorry that I did not tell you of the existence of the transversals. I did not think it was important as there is absolutely no evidence that Jendar still lives." She grimaced, looking slightly embarrassed. "Although you may be interested to know that the Royal Four are all transversals as well. It is a genetic predisposition, although recessive. One of the reasons your Four Square is so strong is because you all bear the gene. Jaxon was already transversal in his last life, but the other three were not. You were engineered with the gene. Jaxon's came from Milena and so it is with all of you now, although differently. You all have a part of the Queen Mother in your make-up now."

"Oh for." Michael flopped back on a couch behind the table at which he had been sitting in exasperation. "You thought this wasn't important?"

"Michael, that explains why you were able to heal River Dog that time!" Maria told him excitedly.

"I was nowhere near Max when that happened," Michael reminded her. He looked at Jemma. "But it is true. I healed someone. A minor healing, compared to what Maxwell has done, but I did fix his broken ankle."

"The Four Square is intimately bonded," Jemma informed them. "You all have access to each other's gifts to a minor degree, whether you take them physically or you access them through your connection. It is why a Four Square is such a powerful fighting unit. It has never been developed fully on Illyria - this bond between one member of each guild. There is too much jealousy between the various factions for any group of guild members to give themselves over to each other to such a degree. It is one reason that you were all sent here for your rebirth. The main reason was to protect you until you had matured, but the other was so that your connection would not be influenced by Illyrian politics and prejudices. Here you would be free to fully embrace your union with each other. It is also a reason we are developing the concept through the changed humans. They are new to their powers and do not have the same loyalty to the old guild ways. They form natural Four Squares much to our delight, all bonded by the mysterious step they feel they are taking by joining our cause."

Maria felt her eyes beginning to cross. When Jemma was in the mood to provide information, she really went with it. Half of this seemed like worthless trivia and, yet, she still felt like the answer to the whole mystery of what was happening to Isabel lay hidden somewhere within the depths of it all. If they only had enough time to sift through it! She glanced at her watch worriedly, again looked at Michael meaningfully. He didn't notice though.

When she looked at him, Michael was pensive, more sad than anything. Maria understood immediately that he was thinking of Max and Tess, two members of his Four Square he might never see again. Her heart went out to him and, so, she was surprised when he said, "I think I knew all of this."

"You do?" Jennetta asked, going to sit beside him and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, as though she too had seen what Maria had. "What do you mean?"

"I know Max and Tess aren't dead," Michael replied simply. "I've always known it, but I didn't [I]know[/I] I knew it." He rolled his eyes. "I know it doesn't sound like it makes any sense, but I guess I just realized that I've always known that I would have felt it if they were."

There was a long moment of silence as everyone else in the room let this sink in. Maria felt her heart lighten slightly. She knew that if Max and Tess were still living, the odds were very high that Kyle and Liz were as well. Maybe they wouldn't be too late after all.

"Back to Jendar." Michael's face hardened again as he returned to interrogating Jemma. Maria smiled slightly.

When she looked at him at times like this, when he was in his general-mode, it always hit her how much Michael had changed. Gone was the prickly boy who had masked his uncertainty and fear behind a stone wall. Instead he was now a young man, clearheaded and thoughtful. Yet, she also knew that he had always had this potential to lead, had just needed a chance to show it. It almost made this entire disaster worthwhile to watch the person she most loved in the world become the man he was meant to be. And, at heart, he was still Michael - quick to annoyance and just as quick to regret it.

He was already modifying his tone as he continued to address Jemma. "What about the healer who helped him change the humans. Who was that? Is he still around?"

"She," Jemma corrected. " And no. Lilena died a few years ago." She shrugged. "She had no idea where he went either. When I couldn't track him down, I came to the conclusion that he had gone off somewhere to die. He was older than me when we arrived here and I am nearing the end of my life- cycle now." She paused, then scowled slightly. "I am beginning to realize that this train of thought is pointless anyway. Jendar was [I]not[/I] a shapeshifter and if he were here, I would recognize him."

"How do you [I]know[/I] he wasn't?" Maria asked, unwilling to let it go. This was the only legitimate lead they had come up with at this point. As far as they knew, Jendar was the only full alien who was known to have been on this planet in the last fifty years still unaccounted for. Nasedo was dead. The other two protectors, Silesa and her mate, were also gone. She just [I]knew[/I] that they were headed in the right direction.

"I would have known Maria," Jemma snapped. "We worked very closely together. We were both hand-picked to come here and there were [I]no[/I] Dernians in the contingent."

"Well, if there was a mole, would you have known it?" Maria argued back. "I mean, isn't that the point of a mole? You don't know? The Dernians would likely have done anything to get one of their people through that portal with you, if only to sabotage you. They might have even willingly decided never to shift again. And then when the time came for him to go underground, voila! He shifted shape and since no one knew he could, no one would ever suspect!"

"What the heck would be the point of him messing with Isabel's mind though?" Michael asked. "I mean, having Izzy and I married strengthens the Illyrian position. That would be the [I]last[/I] thing a Dernian mole would have wanted."

"Jendar was [I]not[/I] a Dernian!" Jemma exclaimed in frustration. "He was Illyrian, from Queen Milena's own personal guard. He was completely loyal to the queen. He would [I]never[/I] betray her, nor her daughter." She paused again, as though struggling with something, then forged ahead. "The reason I know this? It was not something many knew, but he told me a secret once in order that I would understand how seriously he took the search for Jaxon's bride here on Earth. He was Queen Milena's illegitimate half- brother and, so, the young king was his nephew. His loyalty to Jaxon [I]and[/I] Milena cannot be questioned. And I [I]know[/I] he could not shapeshift. Milena's family is pureblooded Illyrian." She took a deep breath, her expression fierce, as though daring anyone else to argue with her.

Maria sighed, decided to give up. Jemma was obviously unwilling to discuss it any further. "You know, it does seem supremely ironic that Isabel started to lose control of her mind after she contacted her mother," she commented instead, resigned that they were indeed just talking in circles. "The one person you'd think would want her daughter to be happy."

"Wait a minute!" The sheriff spoke up again. He had been sitting quietly listening, but now looked so excited, Maria was momentarily taken aback. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way. Maybe this whole mess has [I]nothing[/I] to with hurting Isabel at all. Maybe it has to do with [I]helping[/I] her."

"Um, Sheriff, I don't mean to sound rude, but what the hell are you talking about?" Michael demanded. "How could mindwarping Isabel help her?"

The sheriff stood, started to pace. "Just give me a minute here." Maria and Michael exchanged a look. They didn't really [I]have[/I] a minute. Maria saw Michael getting ready to interrupt again, but she shook her head. He sighed, settled back to listen, glancing at his watch and pressing his lips together.

"As a parent," the sheriff continued, "I fully agree with Maria that Queen Milena's only concern would be protecting her children, seeing that they are content. It sounds like this Jendar, wherever he is, was fully committed to helping her in that, being as she was his sister." The sheriff looked at Maria and then Michael directly. "Why do you think I so willingly allowed Kyle to come after Tess? I knew that he would not let it go and so I chose to help him. I was blind to it for a long time, but when my son made it clear that he was not going to lose this girl, even if he didn't know it himself yet, I was ready to move heaven and earth to help him. Isabel is Milena's daughter, reborn or not. Maybe to [I]her[/I], helping Isabel regain her memories from before is what she considers a gift. She doesn't mean to hurt her, but thinks she is helping her to be happy. Everything Michael and Isabel have remembered seems to indicate that they were very much in love in that life. For Milena, helping them to remember might seem like a [I]good[/I] thing."

"So you think that Jendar, acting on Milena's orders, is making Isabel remember - or is at least mindwarping her to think that she's remembering?" Jennetta asked. Maria stared at her daughter. This was all a little complicated to her, but it did seem to make sense.

"Let's think about what we know about Milena," the sheriff suggested. "We know that she sent Jennetta through the portal with Max. Jenny has told us that the queen was more than aware that Max would never regain his memory without Liz, that she was the only one who could make him [I]want[/I] to remember. That was an act of love to save her son from himself. She did her best to make Max happy and now she's focusing on Isabel."

"But why send Jenny at all?" Maria asked. "She just ended bringing Michael and I closer. That didn't seem particularly helpful to Isabel." She paused. "Not to mention, following the line of thinking that Isabel was happier in her past life, wouldn't she have wanted to keep Max on Illyria as king?"

"And Milena also knew that Isabel had Alex," Jennetta inserted. "Lucianus told me all about all three of you.Liz, Alex and my mother. I've always assumed that Milena knew too."

"Maybe she didn't?" Maria ventured, grimacing again. "We don't really know anything, do we?"

"Well, she certainly knew about Liz," Jenny replied, shrugging. "She wouldn't have sent Max back if she didn't."

"God," Michael ran his hands through his hair in frustration making it stand on end even more. Maria smiled slightly. "Could this be any more confusing?"

"The main problem with Illyrians [I]and[/I] Dernians is that we don't understand how they think," Maria sighed. "Dammit! If only Ren were here!" She grimaced, glanced at Jennetta, but her daughter was nodding, clearly not upset. It made Maria worry actually. She hoped that Jenny wasn't going to be disappointed, prayed that her daughter's guess that the Four Square would be able to bring him back was right.

"I guess the point of all of this is that we're not going to figure out who's behind this, or why, until we get to Illyria," Michael pointed out. "All this interviewing is a waste of time. I say we just get to the damn Ring and get this over with. Maybe Milena will have some answers, maybe not, but the point is, we [I]need[/I] to go. The longer we wait, the less chance we'll be able to save Ren."

Maria moved to put her arm around Jennetta's waist. "And, at this point, that's all I care about. Isabel is okay for now and we're on our guard. As long as we don't leave her near anyone we don't know, she should be fine."

"I still don't like this," Michael told Maria as the others started to move out of the room to prepare to leave for Stonehenge. "I don't know who to trust and it pisses me off. What if this Jendar character is lurking around? What then?"

"You trust me and the sheriff and Alex and Izzy. You trust our daughter," Maria replied, wrapping her arms around him. "And you take a chance. Because we need Max and Liz. We [I]need[/I] Kyle and Tess. We can't wait any longer Michael. If we miss this opportunity, we may never see them again and we may [I]never[/I] get any answers."

"Well, I still think it sucks," Michael said.

"I couldn't agree more," Maria laughed. "But we can at least do something to make it suck less. We can get our friends back and we can save Ren. And, for now, it's going to have to be enough."

Michael dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "Have I told you lately that I'm glad I kidnapped you that day?" He paused, then grinned. "Come to think of it, since I wasn't so glad at the time, I've actually probably [I]never[/I] told you that."

"No, you haven't," Maria replied, a shiver running down her spine at the love she saw on his face. And all of it was for her. It was absolutely amazing that they had gone from that dingy motel room on 285 South to [I]this[/I] - soulmate city if she did say so herself. From loneliness and wondering if she would ever find someone who [I]really[/I] understood her, to actually knowing another person better than she knew herself. "But it's not like you had any choice Spaceboy. The vibes were too much for you," she teased.

"Vibes, shmibes," Michael scoffed. "I thought you were weird. In fact, I still do." He kissed the tip of her nose to reinforce that he was teasing her right back.

"When this is all over, I say we go back to Aladdin's porno den and relive the memories," Maria smirked at the expression that crossed his face - complete shock and then a flash of lust so intense it made her weak in the knees. "Then we'll see how weird you think I am."

"Excuse me," Michael scowled at her, but his eyes were burning into her. "But are you propositioning me? I have a grown daughter you know."

"What a coincidence," Maria said, twisting her way out of his arms. Michael made a grab for her again, but she managed to move away. "So do I. And, as for propositioning you, I guess you'll just have to wait and see General. We have a war to end first."

With that, she pinched him lightly on the butt and left the room. She grinned slightly to herself as she heard him bellow in frustration behind her before following, still muttering to himself.

To be continued.