The next day was Thursday, in the fifth week of the school year. In spite of the near-destruction of the solar system the day previous, things proceeded normally at school—with the exception of a visit to Mrs. Krantz' fifth-grade class of two intriguing guests.

"Students," the moose woman announced, "these two gentlemen are aliens from the planet Kron. They wanted to say goodbye before returning to their planet."

All the kids in the room—Arthur, Francine, Muffy, Binky, Sue Ellen, Fern, George, Buster, Van, and Zeke—stared in awe at the creatures. They stood upright like humans, but had scaly skin and tentacle noses.

"My name is Grobblitz," said one of them. "On Earth, I go by the name Portinari."

"The same is true of me," said the other. "Are there any questions?"

Every hand in the room shot up.

"Is it true Dark Augusta destroyed everyone on your planet?" asked Fern.

"Everyone except me," said Portinari 1. "My duplicate here came along later. I have another duplicate, who happened to be on assignment at the time. It's not the end of the Kron species, however. We have colonies on other worlds."

"Without the Kron, who's keeping time travel under control?" asked Buster.

"At the moment, no one," replied Portinari 2. "Among the seventy-two worlds destroyed by Dark Augusta were some very important ones to the Alliance. When we return, there will be a great deal of rebuilding to do."

"Are there any other aliens on Earth we don't know about?" Muffy inquired.

"There will be," answered Portinari 1. "Even though Earth isn't an Alliance world, everyone will want to come here and learn about the planet where Dark Augusta's rampage was stopped."

"Do you wear underwear?" asked George.

"I'll let you field that one," said Portinari 2 to his double.

The question-and-answer session lasted for half the class period, at which point Mrs. Krantz thanked the aliens for their participation and bid them farewell.

----

One person who hadn't been lucky enough to have an audience with the aliens was Mavis Cutler, former Uppity Downs classmate of Muffy and then Lakewood classmate of the rest of the gang. After school let out, she returned home immediately and lost herself in homework. She was working out some long division problems when her mother allowed two guests into the house—Beat Simon and Tegan Powers.

"Hi, Beat," the hamster girl greeted her friend. "You haven't visited for a while."

"Hello, Mavis," said Beat in an unusually serious tone. "I'd like you to meet Alan's sister, Tegan."

"I didn't know Alan had a sister," said Mavis, shaking hands with the short-haired, barette-sporting bear girl.

"Let's get down to business," said Beat, sitting on one side of Mavis while Tegan sat on the other. "How would you like your memories back?"

Mavis' face lit up. "I'd love it. I'm going to a magnet school now, and I'm having trouble keeping up. I've been getting C's and D's. If I could only remember what I learned at Uppity Downs..."

"Say no more," said Beat. "Just hold still."

Mavis could hardly conceal the surprise on her face when the two girls flanking her reached out and pressed their palms against her temples. With her free hand, Tegan lowered her barette to the back of her head.

"Wh-what's happening?" cried Mavis as unfamiliar memories poured into her head. As much as she wanted to resist, she couldn't tear herself away from the minds that were forcing unwanted information into her own...

Five minutes later Tegan moved the barette into its old position. Mavis glanced around a bit, then looked at Beat in confusion. "How did you do that?" she asked in a mature tone. "You don't have the Opticron."

"I don't need it," said Beat proudly. "I have something better."

Mavis turned, and was taken aback at the sight of Tegan's unusual headgear.

"A neuroblocker," she marveled. "She's a Brainchild."

----

"Today's episode of Nova is cancelled. Please enjoy the following episode of Great Performances."

His homework and chores dispatched, Alan sat listlessly in front of the TV, watching educational programs. He wondered how many times Nova would be pre-empted before the PBS schedulers decided that yesterday's astonishing events had sufficiently faded from the public memory.

The doorbell rang. He paid no heed to it, until he heard his mother's startled cry. "Tegan!"

He leaped to his feet. Tegan was indeed there in the doorway, barette and all, unchanged except for her cropped hair. She wore an expression of innocent delight, as if her unexplained absence had never happened. She stepped into the house, and three companions followed after her. They were Beat Simon, Mavis Cutler, and...Raymond Mansch.

Alan's heart nearly stopped. Here was the man who had framed Molly's father, kidnapped Fern, and made off with Tegan, and he had now entered their home. Surely this meant danger for them all. He only glared at the pony-tailed cat man, unable to think of words to express his disgust.

"Where have you been?" Mrs. Powers asked her daughter.

"Where has she been?" Mansch chimed in before Tegan had a chance to answer. "Where has she been for half her life? In Ballford Preparatory School, that's where."

Both Alan's and his mother's eyelids flew up.

"From now on Tegan lives with her family," said Beat, and it sounded more like a demand than a happy remark

"If we hear about you sending her back to that school against her will," Mavis added, "we'll tell the police."

"And if the police won't listen," said Mansch, "we'll tell the ACLU."

"Take good care of her," Beat encouraged them. "I need to go now. My parents are probably wondering where I am."

She left quickly with Mansch and Mavis, leaving the satisfied-looking Tegan alone with her befuddled mother and younger brother.

"You're, uh, welcome to stay for dinner," said Mrs. Powers glibly.

"What a thing to say to your daughter," was Tegan's smug response.

Without another word, the bear girl retired to the guest bedroom, closing the door.

Alan's mother looked at him thoughtfully. "The cat's out of the bag," she remarked. "I don't see how we can send her back to the school now."

While she picked up the phone and started to dial a number, Alan hurried to the guest bedroom, determined to find out something.

She was in the act of laying a change of clothes on the bed when he entered unbidden. "Tegan, I need to talk to you," he insisted.

"Sure," said his sister, who didn't seem to mind that he had barged in.

"Did Beat get to you?" he inquired earnestly. "Did she copy Putnam into your brain?"

"Who's Putnam?" was Tegan's oblivious reply.

Alan paused and weighed carefully his next action.

"I don't know if I believe you," he said suspiciously. "Let's mind-merge, and I'll see if you're telling the truth."

Tegan nodded. She stepped over and closed the door, sealing the two of them off from their mother.

Laying a hand on Alan's shoulder, she reached up with her other hand and slipped the barette to the back of her head...

----

to be continued