Czarina stirred her iced tea with the straw.

She still had no idea what she was doing or even what brought her to this particular restaurant. She silently sat outside, underneath one of the umbrellas, the thoughts of her earlier conversation with the lieutenant was swirling through her mind. She found his questions unnerved her slightly.

'Justin, Jennifer, will I ever be free of this curse?' she thought.

She was so engrossed with her thoughts that she failed to notice a familiar figure pass by her.

"Czarina?" came a curious voice.

The singer glanced up to see Doctor Slate standing on the sidewalk beside.

"Doctor, it is so good to see you again!" Czarina said, a smile slipping onto her face.

"Are you okay, Czarina? You seemed - distant for a moment," Slate questioned.

"I'm fine, just thinking about my schedule for the upcoming weeks. It's pretty intense," the singer replied.

Slate returned a smile, trying not showing the worry that she felt. She sat down in the chair next to her before leaning in closer.

"Is there any anxiety remaining from what recently occurred on the Dark Horse? I mean, there are people who know your secret now," Slate quietly asked her.

Czarina gave a small laugh as she leaned back into the chair.

"Doctor Slate, you have nothing to worry about. The recent incident you speak of is a blessing in so many ways. I am free of Hapar and I have gained the capability of choosing whether or not I change into a pterodactyl. Not only that, I've made some new friends," Czarina explained.

Before Slate could say anything else, she heard voices behind her calling out Czarina's name. The dark-haired woman grinned as she waved to the people. Slate turned around to find Jo, Garth and Dwayne heading towards them.

"Doctor Slate, isn't this such an unexpected meeting? What brings you out here?" wondered Jo.

"I was passing through. Now that you're here, I'll be on my way," Slate smiled at them.

She climbed out of the chair and began to walk away. Dwayne carefully watched her, his heart slightly jumping into his throat. The quartet watched her leave before the three newcomers turned back to Czarina.

"What was that all about, Czarina?" Jo asked her.

"She was simply asking how I was doing. She didn't realize that I was waiting for you," she replied.

Jo sat down beside her friend. Placing a hand on Czarina's shoulder, the blonde carefully watched the singer as she placed her drink back onto the table.

"Are you all right? I mean, after what you've been through…" Jo trailed off.

"Jo, it's over and I'm fine. You needn't worry over me," Czarina smiled.

00000

Shzar and Tane carefully walked down the Streets of New Tronic City. Using a miniature masking device hidden in their pockets, it gave them the appearance of looking human. Tane watched the readings from the device he held in his hands while Shzar patiently waited for a response. Finally, he could no longer wait.

"So when are we going to find this one? We have already scoured several places in the area of the planet with no luck whatsoever. What makes you think we'll find them here?" Shzar finally wondered,

"Be patient for the readings seem to be a bit stronger in this area. You'll have your chance to take care of him soon enough," Tane replied.

The two continued to walk down the street when they came across a café. Shzar glanced over at four humans sitting at one of the tables. He studied them carefully and noticed that all were different. There were two women, one with blonde hair, the other had darker hair. Then he noticed the two men and one had darker skin than the other.

"They all look so dissimilar," he mused.

Shzar turned his attention back to his comrade to find Tane smiling. He was aiming his device at the quartet that Tane was just studying.

"He's there, at that table. That lighter skinned man, it has to be him," Tane smiled.

Shzar joined in the smiling as the two stepped over to the group. Jo glanced up at them as they walked over and they soon became horrified when one of them forcefully grabbed Dwayne by the throat and lifted him into the air.

"I never thought I'd see you up this close but now you belong to us," Shzar snarled at him.

As they turned off their devices, people began to scream as they tried to get as far away from the scene as possible. Czarina, Jo and Garth jumped to their feet, uncertain how to proceed. The blonde and the brunette jumped forward in order to help the lieutenant but Tane quickly grasped an arm from each of them and began to squeeze, causing each to cry out in pain. The two aliens simply laughed at the cries of the two women and the gasping coming from Dwayne.

"Say good-bye to your precious friend. We know his secret and we will use it against you in order to take over this planet," Tane retorted.

The trio gasped as Jo and Garth slowly realized what was happening.

'Does every alien now know Dwayne Hunter is the pilot of the Big Guy?' they thought to themselves.

Soon enough, Dwayne's struggling slowed before he passed out in the aliens grasp. Tane released the two women before the three disappeared completely. The group quickly glanced at each other as Doctor Slate came running back onto the scene.

"What happened? I heard the commotion," she gasped.

"Lieutenant Hunter's been taken captive by an unknown foe and they somehow know about his connection to the Big Guy," Garth quietly told her. "We should get back to the Dark Horse. Formulate a plan on getting him back from there."

The doctor nodded as they hurried over to Jo and Czarina.

00000

General Thorton stared at the group sitting around the table. Inwardly, he was upset at the fact that one of his best men was taken captive.

"So can you tell me anything else about these aliens? How do they do know that Lieutenant Hunter is the pilot of the Big Guy? It's bad enough that Justin, Jennifer and Czarina found out on their own," he demanded to know.

"Unknown. We'd have to get closer to them and ask. Other than what we've already relayed to you, we know nothing about these two," Garth replied.

Czarina held her hands over her mouth, her arm in a matching cast to Jo's. Her eyes were closed and almost to tears. Jo gently rubbed her shoulder, trying to reassure her.

"Everything's going to be fine, Czarina. We're going to get Lieutenant Hunter back and find out how they know his secret," she softly told her friend.

Czarina shook her head as she took a deep breath. Lowering her hands, she finally opened her eyes in order to look at Jo. A smile crossed her face and it seemed almost eerie.

"You don't understand Jo. They don't know Lieutenant Hunter is the pilot of the Big Guy," she finally said.

That caught everyone's attention and the focus was now on the young brunette. Czarina climbed to her feet and carefully walked around the table, catching the eye of each and every one there before finally facing the general. He appeared to be both angry and curious at the same time to her bold statement.

"General, those two aliens were not after Lieutenant Hunter, they were after me," she finally said.

TBC…