Chapter 10

Some time later, Kristin lay in Luc's arms, her head resting on his chest as she listened to his heartbeat. It was strong and vibrant, yet pulsing with power just waiting to be unleashed.

She needed to tell him.

Hating herself for having to break the comfortable silence that blanketed them after their intimacy, Kristin spoke quietly. It was a futile attempt to break the news gently.

"Luc, about the calibration device…"

"Do you think you'll be able to get it to work?"

"I already did."

"You did? Then why didn't you tell me?" Luc held Kristin's arms to support her body as he sat up, his blue eyes sparkling with excitement. "Let's try it out!"

"I already did…. on me."

"On you?"

"I wanted to test it out, to make sure it was working." Kristin explained. "And what I discovered…" she took a deep breath.

"Luc, I know who I am. And I know who you are."

Luc did not say a word, but she could sense his impatience coming off of him in waves.

"You're the Commander… of G-Force."

"What?"

Luc's expression was completely stunned. This was clearly the last thing he had expected.

"But…" he protested, "you told me that the G-Force Team were all dead!"

"That's what I thought, too." Kristin admitted. "But it turns out that I'm a member of G-Force too. I am G-3."

"You're G-3? And you're saying that I'm G-1?"

"Let me show you."

Kristin got off of the bed, retrieving the computer pad with the calibration device still inside, and the scanning nodule. She turned on the nodule and scanned Luc's body, as she had done with her own.

Kristin glanced at the results displayed on the computer pad, then handed the data over for Luc to read.

Scan initiating…

Galaxy Security Implant detected

Identifying Officer G-1, Commander

Cerebonics operating within normal parameters

Execution of Automated Procedure 4566 in progress

"Mine was pretty similar." Kristin told him, watching Luc's face drain of color as he absorbed the results.

"I am… the G-Force Commander…"

It was a lot to take in.

Kristin wrapped her arms around Luc, gently rocking him back and forth, just as he had done for her so many times in the past. He held her close, almost clinging to her. He seemed to gain comfort just from her close presence. Kristin laid her head on Luc's shoulder, letting her mind drift…

She was flying… gliding on the warm currents of air that circled the cliffside. She had just leapt off of the edge, spreading her white wings, laughing with the exhilaration of truly flying for the first time, without a safety harness or the training mats they had in the gymnasium. She glanced over to her right, seeing another white form flying next to her. He turned and smiled at her, sharing in her joy.

Mark…

His face was so achingly familiar, even through the blue-tinted visor. He was her brother… her teammate… her Commander…

Her lover…

"We can get through this, Mark." she whispered. "We've always been able to manage before, as long as we've had each other…"

"We have?" His voice seemed distant, as if he were speaking through a fog. No… it was she who was in the fog, with strange memories swirling around her.

"Yes…" An image came to her mind, so vivid it seemed as if she were living it right then. "When Center Neptune was being flooded, and we thought we were going to die… it was all right, because I was with you…"

She could see herself sitting on the floor, back to back with him, his mere presence bringing her comfort in a situation where she would otherwise have been overcome with dread.

"You are my rock, Mark." she murmured. "You always know what to do… you always take care of me…"

"You called me 'Mark'."

Kristin's fog vanished, and she smiled at him. He looked just as he always had, and a rush of tender feelings enveloped her.

"That's your name." she said simply. "I'm Princess, and you're Mark." She kissed him gently, then snuggled against his muscular form.

"I love you, Mark."

He paused, before tenderly kissing the top of her head and pulling her closer to him.

"I love you… Princess."

88888

They awoke while it was still dark the following morning, to ensure that they reached the train station on time. When the soft chime of the alarm on Mark's watch sounded, Princess groaned, wishing she could sleep even a few moments longer, but knowing that she could not. She rolled over to face the edge of the bed.

Something wasn't right.

Her pillow was soft… slick… her cheek felt as if it were sliding across the material. She reached over to turn on the bedside lamp and gasped at what she saw.

Her pillow was covered in long, red hair.

It wasn't just a few strands; it looked to be every hair from her scalp. Horrified, Princess could only cry softly, instinctively reaching out to touch her head with both hands.

She had hair.

Confused, Princess ran her hands through her shoulder-length tresses, tugging on the strands and confirming that this was, indeed, her hair.

"Krist… Princess, what happened?" Mark asked.

"My hair…" she turned to him, a despairing expression on her face. "It's all over the pillow… and yet, it's on my head, too…"

"Your hair has changed color." he told her, pulling some of it away from her face so that she could examine it. "It's now black… almost… green?"

"But what's all this?" she moaned, gathering the strands that lay across her pillow. "I have red hair…"

But even as she said the words, she began to wonder. The tresses in her fingertips looked foreign, as if it hadn't been her hair at all. Unnerved, she got up, running into the bathroom and looking into the mirror.

Her hair was a deep ebony color, with subtle greenish highlights.

For a moment she could hardly speak, but then a strange calm took over her, and there was a sense of rightness about her reflection.

She was supposed to have black hair.

"This is what happened to me, when my hair grew in." Mark told her reassuringly, appearing suddenly behind her. "It's something your body needed to do. If everything really is focused on today, then it makes sense that the changes would culminate today as well."

"One year…" Princess whispered, hardly able to believe it. "Today, it's been one year since the Snakeheads invaded Earth…" She turned to look at Mark.

"We need to get to Geneva."

"Then let's get going." he smiled at her.

They gathered up every strand they could find of Princess' hair… Kristin's hair… and tossed it into the kitchen incinerator before they left, wiping away all traces of her 'old' identity. Princess had to admit to herself that this new color came in handy, as the Snakeheads would be looking for a redheaded woman, and not one with ebony hair.

Dressed in their borrowed Snakehead uniforms, they crept silently from the apartment, so as not to waken Jeanette and Paul, then made their way out to the street. They had studied a town map the night before, and were easily able to find the train station. At 6:20 am, they walked onto the main platform.

One benefit of their Snakehead disguises was that no one wanted to look too closely at their faces, and there was no need for them to buy a ticket, thus leaving very little for the true Snakeheads to discover, if anyone tried to follow their tracks. Still, Mark and Princess played it safe, attempting to glower menacingly at anyone who approached them.

When the train pulled into the station two minutes later, they simply boarded, taking a private compartment for themselves. No one questioned their right to be there, and everyone left them alone.

"I guess this uniform has some advantages." Mark noted quietly, once they had shut the door to their private compartment, to which Princess grinned and nodded.

During the ninety minute ride to Geneva, they discussed their new discoveries of the night before. Mark still did not remember anything of his life prior to the day he had escaped Penal Complex 624-Alpha, but Princess' memories were obviously returning, and the concept of 'Luc and Kristin' now seemed very distant to her, despite the fact that she had been completely secure in those identities less than twelve hours before. Mark was clearly distressed that he could still not remember the things she had, but did not deny the evidence of who he truly was. He seemed to have accepted his name and rank, although he was not adjusting to this change nearly as well as Princess was.

But regardless of what their names were, or what memories they had, their goals, and their intent, had not changed.

They had to defeat the Snakeheads, and drive them from the planet. Their best chance at doing that was to somehow get the information on the data disc they carried to the Federation Government on the Planet Riga, and convince their forces to help liberate Earth.

But first, they had to get to Geneva.

There had been free tourist maps of Geneva in information racks around the train station, and Princess had surreptitiously grabbed one as they had walked up the platform. Now she spread the map over the seats, examining the city in great detail.

Mark held his breath as she slowly ran her finger back and forth across the downtown area, searching for something she knew was there.

She only needed to be reminded.

And then, suddenly, there it was.

"The UN." she whispered.

"The UN?" Mark asked. "UN Headquarters?"

"It makes sense." Princess said thoughtfully. "The UN Administrative Headquarters were in Geneva, even though the International Meeting Hall was in New York. As part of G-Force, we would have been familiar with the area."

"Do you remember it?" Mark asked.

"No." Princess shook her head. "But I think I will, once I get there."

The train arrived promptly at eight o'clock, and the two imposter Snakeheads disembarked, striding purposefully down the platform and into the city. The Gare de Cornavin where they had disembarked the train was barely more than two kilometers from the Palais des Nations, where the UN Headquarters was located. Princess sensed where they were supposed to be, and moved confidently down the city streets, Mark walking next to her.

Before long, they were almost within sight of the gardens surrounding the main UN Buildings, but Princess suddenly stopped, pulling Mark aside into a small alleyway.

"We have to get rid of these uniforms." she said quietly.

"The Snakeheads are looking for us." Mark reminded her. "Do you think that's wise?"

"It's risky." Princess sighed. "But the problem is, I don't know who is meeting us. I don't know if I will recognize their face. They have to see our faces. They have to recognize us."

Mark nodded reluctantly, understanding the dilemma they were in. They moved deeper into the alleyway, hiding behind a slew of dumpsters to divest themselves of the green uniforms. Mark pulled a hat over his head, but Kristin simply let her fresh growth of hair hang down in front of her face. It was difficult to know how much of their true selves they could expose, without being immediately noticed by any Snakeheads.

The good news was that other than themselves, they hadn't seen very many people in Snakehead uniforms since they had arrived in Geneva. On the surface, at least, it seemed as if the manhunt for their recovery was not nearly as intense here, as it had been in the Mont Blanc area.

Cautiously, they approached the Palais de Nations. The area was located within the beautiful Ariana Park, and Princess held her breath as they rounded the final corner.

What met their eyes was a scene of utter devastation.

What had once been the site of peaceful gardens and the United Nations Headquarters was now a blackened region of scorched earth. The buildings that had been there had clearly been destroyed for quite some time, and there had obviously been no attempt to restore the area.

"The Snakeheads…" Princess gasped, understanding and remembering what had happened there. In her excitement to arrive at their meeting place, she had forgotten that after the Snakehead Invasion, all of the Federation, Galaxy Security and United Nations facilities that could be located by the Spectrans had been destroyed, so that the Snakeheads could demonstrate their complete control of the planet. Mark and Princess bowed their heads respectfully, paying homage to the sacrifices that had been made as the Earth had suffered under the Snakehead Occupation.

They were not the only ones.

In defiance of the Occupying Force, small groups of Terrans had gathered at the site, some laying flowers upon the blackened earth where the UN Headquarters had once stood. The Snakeheads were suspiciously absent from the scene, but Mark and Princess understood that the area was likely being monitored by remote cameras, and continued to act with caution and suspicion. Princess was glad that she had insisted that they remove the uniforms they had been wearing. The green clothing would only have made them stand out in an unfriendly atmosphere.

Although the people at the site were scattered about, there were enough individuals in the area that it was not easy for them to see whom they might be meeting. They wandered slowly through the area, keeping their heads down and searching anywhere for a glimpse of anything… anyone… that bore the least bit of familiarity.

There was nothing.

After a couple of hours, Mark began to get discouraged, and urged Princess to leave. But she refused, insisting that they had to remain; that it was important, even if she couldn't recall exactly why.

It wasn't long after that when Mark noticed a Snakehead patrol vehicle circling the area. The former Federation citizens around them made faint hissing noises, but no one approached the car. Rather, everyone seemed to shy away from it. Mark and Princess did the same, but a few moments later they noticed the vehicle returning again, this time moving closer to their position.

"It's spotted us." Mark whispered grimly under his breath.

Princess acknowledged his words with a small nod, intensely frustrated that the arrival of this one small vehicle was going to ruin their chances to rendezvous with… whomever it was they were supposed to meet. She sighed reluctantly, keeping an eye on the patrol car as it passed. The moment it had rounded the corner, Mark began to move, and she followed. They walked as swiftly as they dared away from the area, back into the city streets.

Mark turned sharply left, pulling Princess with him into an alleyway and pausing only for a moment before continuing through the narrow passage to the next block. He sighed with relief as they emerged onto the next street, with no sign of any Snakeheads in sight.

Princess was just contemplating how they could return to the Palais des Nations, when the patrol vehicle appeared at the end of the block. They had been spotted again.

This time, there was no denying that the Snakehead vehicle was making its way directly toward them. It turned sharply, heading to their position with clear intent. The time for subtlety had passed.

Mark took off like a shot, throwing himself into the street, heedless of the passing traffic. Tires screeched and horns honked as they wove their way through the sea of cars, until one of the automobiles slammed into Mark's body, sending him crashing to the ground. Princess tried to scream, but before the sound could come out of her mouth Mark was on his feet again, grabbing her arm and physically yanking her body to the other side of the street.

The patrol car had been blocked by the suddenly stopped traffic, but Princess could see it maneuvering to get around the various obstacles on the road. Mark ran down the sidewalk, pulling them into yet another alleyway after running through the amazed pedestrians who stared at them as they flashed by.

Yet as they burst through the end of the alleyway to another street, the Snakehead vehicle appeared again, dogging their every move.

"Damn it!" Mark swore, dashing down the road in the opposite direction. They ran past a series of once-stately buildings, now boarded up and abandoned in the harsh environment of the Occupation. He turned back into another narrow passageway, but even before they had emerged at the other end, they could see the patrol car blocking their way. Quickly, Mark spun around, his eyes darting back and forth, assessing every situation.

"He's got to have called for backup, by now." Princess hissed. "More will be coming at any moment!"

Mark nodded, then moved to a nearby door off of the passageway. It seemed to lead into a run-down apartment building. He turned the knob, but it refused to budge.

Princess' heart fell, but Mark refused to be denied. He raised his leg, delivering a powerful kick to the door, the heel of his foot landing next to the locked handle. With a loud crack, the door crashed open, and an instant later Mark had pulled Princess inside, and they were dashing up a staircase that lay directly in front of them.

As they rounded the second flight, they could hear footsteps behind them, and Princess knew they were being followed. She ran as fast as she could, her heart and her feet pounding with each step they took up the stairs, ascending four more flights until they reached a final door. Not even stopping to see if it was locked, Mark kicked out at this final barrier, nearly sending the slab of wood flying off of its hinges as it fell before his assault.

They found themselves on the roof, with no place to hide. The footsteps behind them were growing louder. Princess reached into her jacket pocket for her yo-yo, preparing for a fight, but Mark grabbed her arm, yanking her forward to the edge of the building.

"We can jump." he told her. "We did it before, in Paris, remember?"

Princess nodded, much less nervously than she had on that long ago day atop her apartment building on the Left Bank. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she had been a quiet girl named Kristin, who had kept to herself and had avoided capturing the Snakeheads' attention while carrying out simple tasks for Father Richlieu.

They backed up a few steps, then took a running start…

"Wait!"

Princess stumbled, pulling away from the edge of the roof at the last possible second. Beside her, Mark did the same, only catching himself a little more gracefully. Princess wondered why that one word had been capable of stopping her instantly in her tracks. Had it been the note of pleading, rather than arrogant demand, in the voice? Or had it been the fact that the word spoken had been English, and not Spectran?

She turned, only to see a Snakehead on the roof behind them. He was not pointing his gun at the two of them, but rather just staring curiously.

Slowly, he put his gun down on the ground, then reached up to pull off his mask.

The last time they had seen this man had been in an underground tunnel, barely an hour after they had rescued him and his companion from Penal Complex 624-Alpha.

"Scott…" Mark said, recognizing the man.

"No." Princess corrected. "His name is Jason."