18

Nov 2, Thursday, 4:00 A.M.

    Zeetro and Zelle entered the room after a few more minutes of awkward silence and sat down again.

    "So, I am sure there are many questions," Zeetro began. "I intend to answer all of them unless I see fit not to.  But first I have a few questions for Stickle."

    Zeetro turned toward Ian and stared directly into his eyes. "I feel like I can trust you . . . but just in case."

    Zelle came forward and placed two metal bands with bright lights around Ian's wrists.

    "What are these?" Ian asked as Chelsea stared at them with curiosity.

    "To put it simply, if you lie on any of the questions I ask you, you might feel a little . . . jolt."

    Ian nodded, looking solemn.  He wondered what questions Zeetro would be asking him.  Most likely how he and the crew had escaped.

    "You and your crew were locked in one of our most confined prison rooms, how did you escape."

    A conflict immediately began in Ian's mind.  Should he tell on the crew and reveal their plan of escape from Destination 13?  Or should he lie and be shocked?  Maybe there was a way to tell the truth still, but vaguely.

    Ian cleared his throat and looked Zeetro in the eye, "WE discovered a weakness in your confinement."

    Zeetro sighed and asked, "What exact weakness did you find?"

    "One to do with a metal object."

    "Do you think this is a game, Stickle?"

    "No.  I am answering truthfully.  No shocks, see?"

    Zeetro clenched his jaw. "Where is the crew now?"

    Should he tell him?  The memory of Adam letting him fall into the hole shone bright in his mind and he grimaced.  "One of them might still be in the ventilation system."

    "Ah, so they used the vents.  Creative Earthlings.  Zelle, have guards posted at every vent exit in and outside the compound.  Thank you, Stickle."

    Ian realized that because of his hunger for vengeance, he had just given Olivie and Sasha away too."

    He hung his head as Zelle left the room.

    Zeetro came and removed the bands.  "You are now free to ask your questions.  But I cannot promise an answer."

    "How do you know everything about me?" Ian asked. "Why did you infiltrate my life?"    

    Zeetro looked thoughtful, then responded, "I can assure you, Stickle, that we would never have bothered with anyone on Earth unless we were desperate."

    "Why did you send an alien to spy on me as my cat?"

    "Haven, also known as Tullie, was sent to Earth to lead you here.  She was like our last hope."

    "In what way?" Chelsea spoke up.

    "Well, allow me to start at the beginning.  Nothing makes sense without a beginning.

    "A few hundred years ago, our people received a prophecy from one of the great angel warriors who sits in the Throne Room.  He told us that we would need to fight for our homeland and we would

need the assistance of two humans.  Of course, the message was much longer and full of glory; that was a summarization.  

    "He described the humans.  One was a male with an x-shaped scar on the back of his neck, who had brown hair and green eyes.  The other was an American female whose hair was originally brown and later bleached blonde, with blue eyes.  It was simple to find Ian, though you'd be surprised at the amount of males with scars on their necks.  But you were easy to find because of your DNA.  Since your father was an alien, your DNA is different."

    Ian froze.  How had they known that Bob was his father?  Did they also know about their plan?

    "But Chelsea, being a normal Earthling, was difficult.  He told us you lived in America, so that helped the search.  But I admit it took us a good five years to find you."

    Chelsea smirked and almost looked proud of herself.

    "After we had found you two we couldn't believe our luck that you were both in the same city and went to the same school.  After you two became friends you can't imagine the joy we had."

    At this Ian and Chelsea both grimaced and Ian slouched lower in his seat.

    "As you can predict, the saddest moment of our lives watching you was when you had your argument and stopped being friends.  You both moved to different places and it seemed that all our hopes were falling apart.  That is when we sent Haven in.

    "Our plan from the beginning was to get both of you into rocket science and then have you both discover Valloria and travel here together.

    "Once that didn't seem to be happening, Haven went to Earth as 

Tullie, whom you found and bought.  She tried her best as a cat to get you interested in rockets and outer space, but you remained into brain science.

    "Eventually, we decided to use your past relationship with Chelsea to bring you to P.E.P.  And Haven made sure you got in that rocket."

    It all made sense now.

    "If you need me, then why did you lock me up, and kidnap Chelsea?"

    "We had to make sure you would get a flight here.  So we used her as bait.  And our plan worked.  Now to tell you the reason you are here."

19

    "It would be better if I just showed you," Zeetro said as he strode towards Ian and motioned for him to stand.  Chelsea stood with Ian and Zeetro brought them to the door.

    It opened and four guards came in and circled around Ian and Chelsea, cuffing their hands.

    "Sorry about this," Zeetro said. "But we aren't sure whether or not you're on our team yet."

    They followed Zeetro out of the room, the guards behind them, and into the bustling corridor.

    Ian walked right next to Chelsea and noticed that she held her head high even though she was a prisoner.