Jonah stood in a hallway. The sides were smooth concrete, as was the ceiling and the floor. He was underground, he knew that, but in a place very different than the caves.

Jonah turned and looked down one end of the hall, then the other. There was no one else in sight and no sound of another living creature reached him. The passageway was completely empty. Jonah turned back around then looked down at himself. His jacket was blue instead of orange.

"Hello?" he called out, only to hear his own voice fold on itself and echo back to him in the spartan hallway. He started forward, his boots a deafening staccato on the gray floor. His feet carried him and he stopped at a door. It, too, was smooth and gray. This world pressed in gray around him, sterile and hollow.

Jonah slowly opened the door and stepped into a room, spacious, with a long table in the middle. Empty chairs surrounded the table.

Jonah moved closer and saw that the table top was bare... except for one item. Lying on its side, like a sleeping viper, was a handgun. Black metal against the wood-colored surface.

Jonah almost reached for the semiautomatic when his eyes were drawn to the large window comprising the majority of the back wall.

Jonah abandoned the weapon and took a few steps closer to the glass, then stopped and whirled around when he sensed a presence.

Thera. She was standing in the doorway, watching him. She looked different. She was wearing all blue and her hair was shorter and tidier. She looked so clean. Her expression was guarded and questioning as she stood in place and watched him.

"Thera."

Thera frowned at him. "Sir?"

Jonah's brow furrowed and whirled to look back at the window. It was pulling at him, calling him away.

Jonah turned to look back at Thera, to fight the force trying to carry him farther away from her, but she was no longer alone. Jonah's eyes fell immediately on to the boy standing next to the table. Brown eyes, light brown hair, no older than twelve. His son. He'd seen the child so many times. The boy was looking up at Jonah, an eerie calm and stillness in his gaze, something dreadfully final in his expression.

Jonah's eyes darted to the gun on the table top only inches from where his son was standing.

"No," Jonah said and started to move to take the gun out of the boy's reach.

Light blue light flooded the room and Jonah spun around and saw the window awash with shimmering blue illumination. It was almost blinding.

Jonah turned back to Thera and his son. She was still at the door, her eyes now locked on the boy. The boy was standing, arms at his sides, the pistol held in his right hand. A spot on his chest began to bleed.

"No!"

The blood bloomed and spread and the boy's shirt became saturated. The wavering blue light from the other room, pouring in through the window, cast the boy's face in a ghastly, corpse-like hue. Skin made pale and blue-tinged, brown eyes darkened. The son stood, coated in blood, gun in hand, eyes locked on his father.

Thera looked up from the boy to Jonah and her eyes were accusing, appalled.

Jonah started to fall backward, grabbed and dragged away, and he struggled and held out his arms to Thera and his son.

"NO!"

They fell farther away no matter what he did. Thera, so distant an image as the blue engulfed him, stepped forward and took the boy in her arms. At the touch his son went limp and Thera cradled him, sank to the floor with his lifeless, blood-soaked body in her desolate embrace.


Jonah jerked awake and for a couple of seconds could do nothing but listen to the sound of his own heart drumming loudly in his ears. He forced himself to breathe and think straight as he looked around to orient himself. It was dark but not pitch-black; somewhere a faint light-source was giving things edges and outlines.

Jonah tried to remember where he was and the softness of the mattress beneath him caught his attention first. He was in a bed, burrowed under a comforter. It was almost a foreign thing to be so comfortable and coddled. Its singular occurrence swiftly brought back the memories of how he'd ended up in such a cozy place.

Last night, when the night closed in, Jonah had ordered them to retire for the night. Despite protests from Thera, he insisted they distance themselves from the stone ring while they slept. They'd left the Chappa-ai and retreated to one of the small houses near the stone ring. He and Thera...

Jonah sat up suddenly. Thera wasn't in bed with him.

Jonah craned his head and strained to try and make out her shape in the dawn-lit room but he saw no sign of her.

Close to panic, plagued by his vivid nightmare, Jonah jumped out of bed, still fully-clothed (because of the threat the Chappa-ai might represent he'd insisted they all sleep 'boots on', which made sense to Thera and Carlin but had to be explained to Kaegan). He hurriedly put on his vest and belt that he'd set within easy reach of the bed the night before then went in frantic search of Thera.

Jonah left the bedroom and it was only a handful of strides before he was in the modest living room of the small house. His eyes went at once to the two figures crammed together on the couch. Carlin and Kaegan, sound asleep, arms entangled to keep either from falling off the cushions.

Carlin and Kaegan, but no Thera.

Jonah was at the front door and rushing outside in the next breath.

The world outside was a little brighter, exposed to the full brunt of the rising sun (via the glass of the dome) and Jonah turned his eyes toward the Chappa-ai some distance away.

He breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he saw Thera's orange-clad figure sitting on the ground in front of the pedestal.

Jonah stood there a moment just outside the house, regaining his composure, then he started across the grounds toward her.

Thera heard him coming and looked sharply over her shoulder at him, her hand moving to the gun clipped on to her vest. When she saw it was Jonah she relaxed and lowered her hand.

Jonah reached her side and did not mince words. "What are you doing out here alone?"

Thera looked up at him in the morning light. "Trying to figure this out," she answered, more than a little curtly. The blatantly obvious nature of her remark sizzled with insubordination.

He found it irksome.

Jonah frowned. "What part about sticking together confused you?"

Thera narrowed her eyes testily. "We've seen no signs of life, much less hostile life, since the attack. Besides, I am armed."

Jonah was not appeased, his heart was still in his throat from the hellish dream and he was taking it out on real-life Thera.

Thera looked down at her playthings. She'd pried open a panel in the side of the pedestal and assorted crystals of various shapes and colors were laid out before her. It was a mess to Jonah but he had no doubt Thera knew where each piece went inside the pedestal; she would have been attentive to those kind of details when she was removing each crystal.

Thera's expression changed and she looked up at him, her gaze shifted from angry to something Jonah couldn't quite name. "I'm sorry, Jonah, I didn't mean to worry you."

Jonah sighed and rubbed the back of his neck briskly. Instead of offering a similar apology he gave a loose wave of his hand and Thera smirked in understanding of the unspoken meaning.

"Since you're here," Thera said, "would you mind going back to the house and getting me some more water? I'm out."

Jonah, deciding to use the errand as a show of reconciliation, his peace offering, nodded without question and headed back to the house to do Thera's bidding. Kaegan and Carlin were still together on the couch when he reentered the house but they were not in the same exact position as when Jonah had first seen them. One or both were probably stirring.

In fact, by the time Jonah came out of the bedroom with one of Thera's water bags Carlin was sitting up and blinking owlishly in the early hour. Kaegan was curled in the warm spot he'd vacated, one leg folded over his lap.

"Morning, Carlin," Jonah greeted.

Carlin blinked up at him and rubbed his eyes. "Jonah?" Carlin looked around, noted Kaegan, then asked lowly, "Where's Thera?"

Jonah nodded toward the front door. "Out by the Chap-eye."

"Chappa-ai," Carlin corrected him absently as he ruffled a hand through his couch-head hair. Were it not for the grizzle of five-o'clock-yesterday shadow Carlin would look decidedly childish as he tried to wake up. And yet he still managed to be an irritation with so little concerted effort, anal adherence to the correct pronunciation of 'Chappa-ai' as prime example.

"Whatever."

Carlin's eyes turned frighteningly astute and he squinted at Jonah. "You okay?"

"For crying out loud, Carlin, how do you do that?"

Carlin frowned in concern, undeterred.

Jonah sighed. "Just a damn dream again. I'm fine."

Carlin eventually nodded and eased Kaegan's leg off his thighs and stood from the couch. He stepped gingerly away from the sleeping woman then looked back at Jonah and asked, "Thera any closer to figuring out how to make the Chappa-ai... um... do whatever it is it's supposed to do?"

"Well, now it's in pieces so that must be a step closer in the right direction. I was just coming in to get her some water," Jonah said and sloshed the bag in emphasis of his words. Having had enough of idle conversation, Jonah slung the water bag over his shoulder by the strings, sent Carlin a half-ass wave in parting, and left the small house.

As Jonah drew near to Thera he frowned when he saw her holding completely still, leaning forward, one arm braced on the ground. When he came up alongside her and knelt down next to her he saw her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Backache?" he asked sympathetically as he held out the water bag to her.

"Mmm," Thera's voice rumbled in the back of her throat and, after a second or two, she reached for the water and took a drink.

Jonah reached out a hand and rubbed slow circles over Thera's lower back, even though he knew the relief he could offer was at this point pathetically little. "Any progress with this?" he asked as he gestured at the mess on the ground.

Thera resealed the water bag and frowned down at the crystals. "Not really. I think this," she grabbed the pedestal above her and started to pull herself up. Jonah moved to help her and Thera, once upright, winced and let her weight resettle before she continued, "I think this requires a sequence of these symbols to activate the Chappa-ai, but I don't know how many or in what order."

Jonah stepped up behind her, hand on her back, and looked down at the device from over Thera's shoulder. It was just as senselessly familiar to him as it had been yesterday.

"Maybe–" he started to say but a jarring sound cut him off mid-sentence.

Thera and Jonah's gazes flew to the Chappa-ai and they stood, wide-eyed for a half-second, as they inner ring began to spin.

Then Jonah went into action. "Shit!" he hissed and grabbed Thera's hand. "Come on, we can't be here when that turns on," he said hurriedly and he started to pull her toward the house. Thera, ungainly and unfit to run, did anyway, one arm wrapped around her belly, as they heard the Chappa-ai lock into place and a belching sound of energy and sheer force overtake them like a concussion wave spreading outward.

Jonah urged Thera to run faster and threw a look over his shoulder. A shimmering blue surface, like water in a pond, filled the center of the ring. Thera dared not try to manage a look over her shoulder and running at the same time and instead took her cue to run faster from the look on Jonah's face.

They both burst into the house and Jonah slammed the door shut behind them. Kaegan, who'd been sitting on the couch when the two flew inside, jumped to her feet. "What! What is it?"

"The bad guys are back. Gear up, we have to get out of here," Jonah ordered as he looked once at Thera. She was winded and holding her stomach but she waved off his concern and he had to take that answer for now.

Jonah rushed to the bedroom to get the last of his gear (as well as Thera's) and his staff. When he returned barely two minutes later everyone was in the living room waiting and ready. Carlin was fully geared up and Kaegan was standing, staff in hand. Thera was pacing and looked up when Jonah returned.

"Stay away from the windows," Jonah commanded them all. "We'll have to go out the back."

Kaegan and Carlin wordlessly moved past him into the hallway, toward the back exit of the house, and Jonah went to Thera's side. "You all right?"

Thera gave him a tight look and asked, "Where are we going to go?"

Jonah frowned. "Keep ahead of them, lie low, hope they leave after they've done whatever they came to do."

"And what if they're here to smoke out any survivors?"

Jonah touched her shoulder. "Then we'll find us a hiding place and wait them out. It'll be okay, Thera. Come on."


The four slipped out the back door and crept their way along the wall outside. They could hear the sound of footfalls and the distant murmur of voices.

Kaegan was at the front of their wall-hugging line, Carlin and Thera in the middle, Jonah in the rear. Kaegan looked past the two in between the staff-bearing members of the group and met eyes with Jonah.

Jonah brought his finger to his lips to keep Kaegan quiet then gestured toward a nearby house. Kaegan looked in the indicated direction then back and nodded.

Thera, right in front of Jonah, took in a short breath and Jonah hated having to ask her do this. She didn't need to be running around and hiding from enemy soldiers but there was nothing he could do. He touched her back, seeking her assent, and after a few seconds she gave a tight nod. She knew as well as he did.

Jonah looked back up at Kaegan and motioned for her to go.

Kaegan peeked around the corner of the house, waited, then hurried behind the cover of the next house.

Carlin inched toward the edge and repeated Kaegan's moves right down to the furtive quick glance around the corner before his quick dash.

Jonah took Thera's shoulders and came up alongside her to make the run for cover together. Thera looked tense and Jonah spared her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulders before he peeked around the corner. He jerked back when his eyes caught fleeting sight of movement on the other side of the clearing that surrounded the Chappa-ai. He waited, took a breath, then peeked again. Clear.

Jonah grabbed Thera by the arm and trotted across the short distance between homes toward the house that hid Carlin and Kaegan. When they slipped behind their new cover Thera pulled free of Jonah and leaned against the wall.

Jonah listened for any signs they'd been seen then motioned Kaegan forward. Again, they slipped over the back of the house to the next edge in a four-person chain. Another run between houses in the same order, first Kaegan, then Carlin, then Jonah and Thera and still their stealth (and luck) held.

At the next house it was practiced and Kaegan and Carlin moved without having to be told. They slunk, unnoticed, across the space separating the next pair of homes, ducked behind the new house a few feet away from their previous cover, then stopped and waited for Jonah and Thera to catch up.

Jonah slid toward the corner with Thera and was preparing to make their run when she went rigid and resistant under his hands.

Jonah fell back with her and looked down at her in question.

Thera had one arm braced against the house, her eyes closed and expression pained.

"What?" Jonah barely whispered, leaning in close to her.

Thera tried to regulate her breathing and whispered back, "Contraction."

Jonah stared at her a moment as her statement waited to sink in. Three seconds later it did and he stood there, mouth agape. "What!" he hissed, barely audible.

Thera was relaxing again and she took a deep breath and lowered her hand from the wall. "I've been having them since the middle of the night."

Jonah blinked at her in shock. Was she saying what he thought she was saying? "You're in labor?"

Thera nodded grimly.

Jonah was flabbergasted and for another second or two all he could do was look at her.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked in her ear, his lips so close they were touching her earlobe to keep their exchange so very private.

"I wasn't sure it was labor at first."

"Are you sure now?"

Thera nodded gravely. "Oh yeah, definite." She looked up and met his eyes and he saw thick fear in her gaze.

Jonah, not knowing what else to do, reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her right ear in a brief, affectionate gesture... it was all he could offer her at the time.

Jonah looked down at her huge stomach then up into her eyes. "You good to go now?"

Thera nodded and Jonah moved them both to the corner. After a check and a waddle-dash they joined Kaegan and Carlin.

Jonah checked on Thera once they had regrouped with their friends then he looked up at Carlin and Kaegan. "We have a problem," he whispered hoarsely, "Thera's in labor."

Four eyes turned at once to Thera in Jonah's arms. She gripped Jonah's forearm more tightly and he shot a look down at her. "Another one?"

Thera shook her head and answered, "Not yet." She looked toward Carlin and Kaegan and said lowly, "You two go ahead, get out of here."

Jonah's face hardened but he didn't argue or contest Thera's suggestion.

Carlin, however, did. "Not a chance."

Thera grimaced. "Carlin, I can't keep going much farther, you two shouldn't be endangered because of me."

Carlin's jaw tightened. "No," he flatly proclaimed. The young man turned to Kaegan and his hard-lined expression softened. "Kaegan... you can go if you want."

Kaegan looked between the three of them. Carlin, dead-set adamant, Jonah holding Thera, and Thera leaning on Jonah as she stood in obvious pain.

Kaegan made her decision right then and shook her head. They'd done more for her, without good reason, than she could ever repay. She wouldn't run away as gratitude.

Thera suddenly hissed and clenched her eyes shut. Jonah held her tighter and Thera buried her head in his chest and her fingers tightened on his arm. Jonah's expression transformed into a profoundly worried face as Thera breathed raggedly into his coat.

Everyone else waited, breaths held, until Thera started to relax again and pulled away from being burrowing against Jonah as tightly as humanly possible.

Jonah looked up once the contraction had passed and gauged the certainty on both Carlin and Kaegan's faces. Their gazes never wavered. He nodded, unspeakably honored, and whispered, "We have to get away from the Chap-eye."

This time no one bothered to correct him.