As they soared through the sky, visible only as a black silouette obscuring the stars as they passed, Loriken tried again and again to reach her with his thought wave, desperatley trying to maintain the optimum speed that would take them to their destination. In his heart he had a terrible feeling that it was too late. Then, Jaq's body seemed to twitch in his grasp and he felt a presence in his mind. It was Jaq. At last! He'd managed to make a connection. Even if he couldnt maintain the link for long, it was enough to indicate that Jaq was still there. This knowledge fuelled his determination. He would not let her go, even if this meant his own death in the process of trying to save her. He clenched his teeth tightly and tried to ignore the rising burning sensations in the muscles of his wings.
They sped on and on through the night. The monstrous teeth of mountains buried in darkness rose up to meet them, then fell away again as the mountains gave way to a marshy river plain partly obscured, here and there, by a dense glowing fog. From here Loriken could find the lakes and the Old Ones by instinct alone. He would not let her down.

He was waiting, hidden by the dense fog that arose from the many lakes. He had been standing here since he was first awakened by the dream over 3 hrs ago. The dawn was breaking, sending muted light thoughout the valley below, trying to chase away the fog. He could hear the forrest coming to life. He could also hear the dying cries of those who would not see this new day.
Loriken would be here soon. He had said so in the dream. He feared for Jaq, feared she would join those in the neitherlands.
Shaking his head, long white hair swirled around and covered his face. Only his eyes were uncovered. Yellow, rimmed in the deepest black. Lashes tipped with gold, closed over his stare, then opened wide as he heard the thump,thump,thump of wings. She was here!
He glanced back into the cave, yes everything was ready for her arrival.
He stepped out into the fog. Loriken flew directly to him, landing gently. Huge claws gave up the woman into the waiting arms of the man before it.

He held her for a moment. He could not believe she had made it. Against all the odds Jaq was here, now, in front of him, though exhausted and pale. She could hardly stand, her eyes seemed as though they were full of the emptyness of space, and a distant longing to return to the world she had left so many ages past. He put his arm around her shoulder, he spoke tenderly, "come, we have much to do, and time is passing quickly into fractionality, we must prepare you for the ritual to release the information and the codes from youre mind". He turned to Loriken, "Loriken, there can be no thanks and no rewards great enough to be given to you, to reflect the greatness of youre deed that you have done today, in time you will live on as a hero, immortal and vibrant in the storys of ages, but now you must go, there will be others that may follow you, to find this place and destroy all of our kind. Be away and be watchfull. We will send you power charms and weapons to assist." Loriken turned, looked back at the old one as he led Jaq from the shore into the forest, smiled, then flew back out into the fog, and was gone as the fog closed around him.

He held her tightly as they picked their way carefully through the gloomy tangle of ancient roots that spiled out onto the path. In some places great fern covered archways had formed over time, which they had to go through and under,in others, the roots were more like moss covered logs, slippery and olive green. It was not far though, to the great rock and the cave at the centre of the island...

Although she was bone weary, Jaq was aware of the forrest around her as the Elder led her across the tangled moss covered roots with sure steps to the hidden cave. Before entering, Jaq could hear the whispers in the treetops and behind giant boulders, and there from the bubbling stream winding and twisting far below them. The whispers grew louder and voices could be heard like the tinkling of tiny bells. They all asked if it was truely Jaq, returned home at last. Eyes peered through the leaves and ferns. Bushes moved as in the wind as something rustled between them. The forrest was alive with couriousity.
The Elder smiled his gentle smile and told the voices to be silent, yes, Jaq was here and she needed rest. Later and after, they could come and pay their respects.
As he lay her down and turned to start the preparations for the coming ritual, he wondered how and why Xiao had let her daughter enter into such danger. Surely she had not known the risk to Jaq.
He would have to call his daughter home to answer to him. She may have left here all that time ago swearing never to return, but return she would if Jaq didn't live through the ritual.

She must have fallen to sleep, as she was now being roused from her slumber by the old one.

"come, it is time" he said solemly.

He helped Jaq up from the bed and led her over to the centre of the circle where she sat down. He picked up a skull bowl and drank half of the dark bitter liquid which it contained, then gestured to Jaq that she must do the same. She drank, then passed the bowl back to the old one who returned it back to the shelf. The old one took a deep breath and raised his arms. He held his breath for a moment, gathering his energies, then, when he judged that the energies had concentrated enough inside him, he exhaled with all his effort, sending a thick jet of black smoke into the air beetween him and Jaq. He started to mumble strange words, at first, under his breath, then gradually getting louder and louder. As he chanted and muttered, the smoke began to change from a random mass, into a sphere, which slowly, like a newly forming planet, began to attract more and more of the smoke to itself, till it became what looked like a solid black orb. Jaq could feel the power of the ritual in her mind. It was like a pulsing electrical current that was getting stronger and stronger. She was worried that these feelings would become too much for her and that she may not survive. Suddenly, a beam of blue light shot out of her forehead into the smoke orb, and pictures and images began to form. The old one stopped chanting, the link had been established. He could see what looked like lines of text on a monitor, but the text was in a language that he was not familliar with. He could also see some kind of machine, buried deep within a mine somewhere. He knew what all this meant straight away with no hesitation. After a short period of time he decided that he had seen all that he needed to. With a wave of his arm, he aborted the ritual. The beam from Jaq's forehead vanished, then there was a brilliant flash of light and the orb vanished too. Jaq rolled over onto the floor, exhausted, again. The old one helped her to her feet and back over to the bed on which she had been lying prior to the ritual.

Jaq had survived the ritual. There was no need to call his daughter home to answer him now. The brief images that had formed in the vision orb, had shown him everything he needed to know. Now he knew why all those companies and familys had been fighting for controll of the mines and it was now crystal clear why Xiao had let her daughter into so much danger. Xiao didnt know that the secrets had been hidden in Jaq's mind all this time. But he had yet to tell Jaq. He hoped she would be able to understand. For now though, she must rest again and sleep.

She awoke once more, this time feeling a little refreshed after the ritual. The old one came over to the bed and sat down. Jaq sat up a little.

"Jaq, you must listen to me. The orb has shown me the truth. Now i can see the bigger picture. Buried in the mines is a thought controll machine, and every corporation that ever was, wants to get their hands on it, so they can enslave the whole star system. If youre mother had known that these secrets were in youre mind, she would not have put you in so much danger. She would have protected you untill she found a way to retrieve the information, then, she would have kiled you. The fact that she is youre mother, really, means nothing to her."

He paused, thoughtfully, then added,

"If we and all the worlds are to survive, then the machine must be destroyed, before it falls into the hands of the tyrants. There are not many who truly know what is the mine, except that it is something powerfull and worth spilling blood for. The codes required to start the machine are hidden in youre mind, and this puts you in great danger. Others will come after you to try and obtain the codes, then, like youre mother, put you to the blade.

He paused again, took a deep breath then sighed,

"Now however, i must meet with the rest of the elders, to decide what is to be done, and you must come and greet youre brothers and sisters."

A gentle rain was falling as they walked to the Power Circle. Jaq was processing information recieved from the Elder. Her Mother wanted her dead...for some bit of data she didn't even know she possesed.
Someone was tugging at her mind, trying to find her. This was disconcerting to her as she tried to find the data within the cells of her brain.
She stopped and looked back towards the jagged teeth of the mountains, beyond them towards where she thought Loriken had brought her from. A vauge picture formed before her, a man, setting in a smokey den, hat hiding his eyes. He raised a cup to his lips, tilting his head back as he did and she had a fleeting look at his face. Roughly handsome in an unshaven way. Human.
"Jaq, you must come greet your brothers and sisters. They await you."
She turned back to the Elder, "I am coming my Sire."
It was raining harder now, she could hear distant thunder rumbling across the valley. Her skin began to glow softly, the purple vibrant in the night. Green eyes,bright in the flashes of lightening. She stepped into the middle of the waiting group. Gracefully she knelt before them, bowing her head, long black hair blowing in the ever increasing wind.

Johnny picked himself up, offering his hand to Poke, pulled him to his feet.

That Jaq is definately a hard one to figure out, I'm not sure if she is an ally or enemy, perhaps she doesn't either.

Poke just grunted, thinking Johnny was hooked on this fem fatale.

Johnny continued, this job was supposed to be simple, to finally pay a debt to Dude, but nothing is ever simple as it seems he drawled after taking his last toke off the crumpled cigarette.

Flicking the butt to the ground, lets get off this rock. We just need to keep ahead of Xiao The Cheyenne Shaolins assassins and The Mutated Ones.

Poke Uranus just nodded his agreement.

The two friends headed for the spaceport.

To be continued!

Tomorrow! I promise!

Jaq walked through the ancient trees, sun motes dancing in the air around her.She could feel the cool breath of the wind on her body. She had been along in the woods for several moons now,ever since she had met with the clan. She had to be along to heal and come to terms with the savage betrayal of her mother. It was true families didn't stay together here, especially if one was high born. It was unheard of to kill a member of family for power gain. Her mother had become bewitched, that was the only answer Jaq could or would believe.
She had been having troubling dreams about that human man also. He had to be involved with her mother. Maybe he is the reason she was in danger.
No matter, she was healthy again and had already decided to go back to where this all started. The old one would help her remember and give her the leaves of the medictorate to block her system from degenterating again. Then she would stop the evil that was happening on that other world.
Loriken would be with her this time. She would be safe with Loriken at her side.

Johnny Strokes and Poke Uranus boarded the shuttle that was heading for New Alaska but they would be getting off on a backworld swamp that Poke called home. A perfect place to lay low, recuperate and make some plans.

Johnny couldn't get Jac off his mind, they were connected somehow, he knew she was safe but badly wounded.

"Peanuts, Smokes and Whiskey." droned the Stewardessbot. Johnny grabbed a pack of Lucky Dykes and a bottle of Whiskey. He knocked back a couple of shots a lit a smoke. Blowing Smoke Runes he mused aloud, "Maybe we should open a massage parlor on Hedon and call it Strokes and Pokes, whadya think?

Loriken watched the woman walk towards him. She was lean and tall. She walked with a smooth sensuous gait.
Her mass of long red hair swinging with the movement of her body. Glasses covered her eyes. The men on the dock stopped their work and stared open mouthed as she passed.
She paid them no mind, she was coming straight to him. He felt himself tighten in anticipation..he was to meet Jaq here, but he might have time for a little extra entertainment.
She was nearly to him when she reached up and removed the glasses as she smiled a feline smile, and he saw her eyes...purple shimmering with silver.
"Jaq" he breathed. She was here.

"Hello Loriken"..she purred. " Have you seen Johnny?"

Bayou was an almost forgotten world. Which suited Poke just fine, off grid kept him safe and hard to find. But other than Poke's place the rest of the planet was a poisonous swamp, home to the many mutants from a failed terraforming project.

Poke's Haven was a fortress, guarded by electronics and magics. Johnny was grateful to the old man for providing a place for him to recover, the implant upgrades were just a bonus. Johnny was getting restless, the storm wasn't over yet. Throughout his time here, Jaq was on his mind, he had a feeling she hadn't died that day those many months ago.

He was about to tell Poke he was leaving when he had vision of Jaq so vivid he knew she was alive.

He knew where he must go...

" He is in New Alaska, with that scumbag amigo of his, Poke. The last I saw of him he was ..interviewing some local talent for their new enterprise. A massage Parlor called" Stroke and Poke" .
"Humm," thought Jaq...'maybe I should go apply for a position."..It would give me a chance to see what is going on and build my strength at the same time..for it's doubtful that I'm strong enough to fight my Mother's henchmen now and I need Johnny's help. If he will give it to me.

Well I guess this makes us even Old Man said Johnny as he knocked back a shot for the road.

I think the scales are back in my favour, growled Poke absently as he tinkered with his technomagic gizmos.

You know the way out, I'll be in touch, Poke continued.

Johnny grinned and headed for the Chevy Moonhopper, it would get him to a planet that was on a shipping route. He needed current intel, so he decided to go see who had replaced Dude.

Loriken landed on the shores of the Bayou...Twilight was turning into darkness, the four moons were rising in the South.

He sat Jaq down and she stumbled on the jagged edge of the swamp. A large Terisnake dropped in to the water with a hiss..Loriken steadied her with a clawed hand.."are you alright Jaq?" he sent the message to her mind. She turned to look at him and stroked his face with a shaking hand. "Yes, I am fine, the implant the Orical inserted is still bothering me, but I am fine."

Looking around the swamp, she saw a path leading to the east.." I suppose this is the way to Poke's Place..I had better go alone..it will be dangerous if you are seen.."

"I will not be far from you, my Mistress...call and I will come." He spread his wings and before Jaq could blink, he was gone.

Jaq started up the trail, walking would be better than calling upon the beings of the swamp to transport her. As she walked, she had the feeling that Johnny had already gone...she hoped not. She needed to see him and find out what was going on at the mine..Also she needed to know if HE knew she was carrying the code in her mind.

Jaq was wary as she walked through the swamp even if she had some control over some life forms, unfortunately bugs were resistant to her power. She had to unsheath her dagger for the Moose Skitos were as big as her fist and as if the swamp didn't smell of decay enough, the putrid stench from the Moose Skito guts almost had her vomiting.

She had no idea where Poke's Hideout was but she was sure he would be aware of her presence so she kept on going. Suddenly she felt very nauseous as if she had just walked through a Mild Magic Web she faltered for a second but forged ahead. She proceed with even more caution as she knew she would not be able to walk through a full strength shield.

Meanwhile Johnny's shuttle was just touching down in East Metro. Johnny had worked up some anger on the flight over, he was going to get some answers today no matter what it took. He passed through customs quickly, the port was unusually quiet and that was not a good sign. He was also sure his arrival was noticed and reported to whoever was running things in the underworld of East Metro.

Grabbing a bottle of Kaldarian Whiskey and a pack of Deadman Styx from a vending machine he left the port and hailed a hack.