Epilogue

I hold Princess' hand as we walk down the corridors. It pains me to see this place that we have called our home for three years now, as little more than a condemned wreck. But soon, it will be demolished. 7-Zark-7 is already finishing up plans for a new G-Force base of operations, and I'm sure it will be superior in every way to Center Neptune.

Still… I feel like I'm saying goodbye to an old friend. Thank goodness, I have Princess here with me. I can't believe how we've connected over the last week. As Commander, I'd been ruthlessly suppressing my feelings for her for years… and for what? Right now, I'm not even sure. All I know is that my eyes have been opened, and there's no way I'm ever letting this unbelievable woman go.

Princess understands how I feel about Center Neptune. She feels the same way. I think back to those dark moments when we sat together, convinced we were going to die. At least, we were going to die together. That's all I could ask for.

No, that's not true. Life is better. I turn toward the most incredible person I know, and smile. Her face lights up as she smiles back at me. I don't know what I've done to deserve her love, but you can damn well be sure I'm going to hold on to it.

All too soon, we reach our destination: Zark's Ready Room. Ostensibly, I'm here to look over the plans for the new base, and Princess just happens to be accompanying me. But this is the place of our many secret rendezvous… the place where we could spend a few stolen moments together, before going back to pretending that we were just teammates.

It is also the place where I came to understand that I could no longer hold back my feelings for this incredible woman. The place where I first told her that I loved her. The place where I first realized that I loved her.

I think back to all of our illicit meetings here. Zark was never present. It was always just a little too… convenient. Sometimes, I wonder if he was purposely making himself scarce, understanding why we came there in the first place. Could a robot have had that much insight into human feelings?

Somehow, I didn't think so.

But then again, this is Zark. He's always been one-of-a-kind. He's always been the one that knows the G-Force team best. Maybe he did know how we felt, even before we did. I'll have to ask him about that sometime.

But not today. Today, I want to hear about the new base.

I open the door and walk into Zark's Ready Room, Princess right behind me. I can hear her startled gasp as we view the incredible scene in front of us.

Jason, in full uniform, is sitting in the middle of the floor. 1-Rover-1 has his head on Jason's lap, and my second absently scratches him behind the ears. Jason has always had an affinity for puppies. Heck, I'd be willing to bet that he'd risk his own life to save one.

But it is not this man/robotic dog communion that is so shocking. Rather, it is the metallic debris spread on the floor, surrounding the pair.

1-Rover-1 looks up and sees us. He stands up, and gives a yip. Something falls out of his mouth. It looks like… an antenna?

Suddenly, I recognize this seemingly random collection of mechanical detritus… it is Zark!

My face goes pale, and suddenly I feel a need to sit down too. Princess sways, holding onto my arm for support.

"Jason!" she screams, "What have you done?"

He turns and looks at us, an insolent grin on his face.

"Just protecting the best interests of Galaxy Security." he drawls.

Casually, Jason pulls a feather shuriken from his cape and tosses it toward the corner of the room. I am horrified to see that his target is Zark's head. Other feather darts are sticking out of this… appendage. It looks like some kind of bizarre dartboard.

"Jason, I demand to know what this is all about!" I say, through gritted teeth.

"Certainly, Commander." Jason smirks. "As it turns out, out little 'Guardian of Center Neptune' was working for the enemy." He looks down fondly at 1-Rover-1. "A little dog told me all about it."

Princess and I are so shocked that neither of us can say a word. Anticipating our reaction, Jason pulls out a small, black computer chip.

I recognize it immediately. It is a 'black box': a databank that records the previous forty-eight hours of thought, and function, for a robot. It is used in case of breakdown, or malfunction, so that the technicians can determine what went wrong.

In this case, the case of Zark's black box, the chip apparently holds evidence of treason.

"Here…" Jason says grimly, "This will show you Zark's true place on the team." He tosses the chip into the air, and it flies toward me.

I don't want it. My world has already been turned upside-down in the past twenty-four hours. I don't need this too.

But I reach out, and it falls, smack into the exact middle of my palm. I close my fingers over it, slowly. Deep down, I know.

My world… this battle between planets… has just changed… forever.