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Roslyn took a shower and headed for the mess hall while Jenny got her personal and thorough examination. She bumped into Mianth and Tunrog, who were on their way to the mess hall for lunch.

"Did you sleep alright?" Mianth asked as they sat at a long table. The Velopians had few chairs for two legged passengers. As short as Mianth was, the table came up rather high on her.

"Could have been a little better. Jenny had a bad dream and woke me up." Roslyn said and sipped at a cup of hot tea. The Velopians did not have coffee, though she doubted the jumpy race needed anything that made them more jumpy. The tea was very good, thought she could not place its exact flavor. It was soothing and awakening at the same time.

"While not bad, I too had troubled dreams. In mine I could not find any of you." Mianth said quietly. A cup of tea held tightly in both of her hands.

"I will be forever grateful you did. You are the second dragon to save my life." Roslyn said while she sliced open a gigantic grape fruit. The Velopians had a different name for it, but that is what it tasted like to her. It was nearly as big as a cantaloupe. They had no meat on board since aside from the handful that ate it, the rest of the crew was strictly meatless. They did have protein... just not in meat form.

"Mianth tells me you can fly." Tunrog said trying to keep the conversation in a lighter direction as Dallarth had told him to do.

"I am fairly good at it. If the Velopians had not hacked my plane's controls I might have gotten away." Roslyn said with a smile.

"That is the downside to all the computerization of things any more. Takes some of the fun out of it." Tunrog said.

"And I thought I was the only one that thought that." Roslyn said.

"Tunrog has several pre space travel model aircraft. Even stuff with propellers..." Mianth said, only to realize that just gave the two even more to talk about. She sighed as the two delved into that subject.

"Why so glum?" Jenny asked as she sat down next to Roslyn and across from Mianth.

"I made the mistake of getting them talking about flying." Mianth said.

Jenny sat and listened. "Ah, Alice gets that way with cars. I always think its cute when my love gets talking like that. So when did he ask you out?"

Roslyn and Jenny both laughed as the two dragons tried to change the subject. "How did you even figure it out?" Roslyn asked.

"They have their tails twisted together. Alice and I do the same thing all the time." Jenny said and smiled.

"Guess I never thought of it." Roslyn said glancing back at her own tail.

"We have been looking everywhere for the two of you. Where have you been?" Alyvia asked as Dallarth and her walked over.

"We both over slept." Mianth blushing as she spoke.

"Probably because you stayed up a little too late." Dallarth said with a knowing little smile.

"Well he is a handsome young man, can you blame her?" Roslyn asked.

Dallarth laughed. "He certainly is. Oh to be young again."

"After you have finished eating, you are to report to the bridge so we can take off." Alyvia said also with a little smile.

"Yes ma'am." Tunrog said quickly.

Dallarth leaned next to Tunrog and whispered in his ear in draconic. "Don't worry you are not in trouble."

Mianth overheard what Dallarth had said. She sighed again which only made Dallarth laugh a little more. She blushed when the shadow dragon put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. I am happy for the both of you." Dallarth said before her and Alyvia headed off.

Tunrog sank in the chair. "Well that is a relief..."

"What is?" Roslyn asked.

"That Dallarth won't kill me." Tunrog said.

Roslyn leaned back. "I thought all of you dragons and monsters were immortal and could not be killed."

"It is not quite that simple. Some of us are just harder to kill then others." Beatrice said as her and Dagger sat down next to them. They had already ate, but were curious as to how the two humans and Mianth were fairing after their time in the void. Dagger had also been troubled by bad dreams.

"I figured it was something dragons tended to brag about. Nodrog has not explained it?" Dagger asked.

"Some dragons... not all of us are like that." Tunrog grumbled.

"Actually, Nodrog tends to skirt those topics... You might be surprised to hear he dislikes what they did to him." Jenny said and looked at Roslyn when she grunted.

"I take it you know differently?" Mianth asked.

"Yes, I would like to hear what you have to say." Beatrice said.

Roslyn slumped forward and picked at some strange oatmeal stuff. It tasted okay, but the texture was, strange. "He doesn't dislike what they did to him. He hates it. I would go as far to say he is jealous of our ability to die."

"Even we have Valhalla to look to, when we finally fall." Dagger said.

"All living things have an afterlife of some kind. With two exceptions and only those two exceptions." Tunrog said softly.

"Who?" Jenny asked.

"Omega Weapon and the colossal world eater Ultima Weapon. Their creation was only possible by the heavens and the underworlds, each refusing to let their souls leave the physical plane. Simply put, they do not want either soul in their realm, so they refuse to let them die." Tunrog said.

"How... How do you know that?" Mianth asked. She was surprised as everyone else.

"Because I have overheard my grandmother talking about it with two other elder dragons." Tunrog said.

"Really, what else have you overheard?" Roslyn asked.

"Nothing pertaining to your kidnapping if that is what you hoped. If I had, I would have tried to stop them at least from taking Mianth." Tunrog said and blushed a little.

Roslyn and Jenny both leaned back and crossed their arms. They both knew something tied it all together, but they were not getting very far.

"Actually I remember Dallarth and Inilth discussing reincarnation... Something about a dream Dallarth has and cannot place." Mianth said. Not really knowing why, but at this point she was just trying anything to figure it out.

"That was mentioned... I heard something about Nodrog being on his third reincarnation. They also mentioned at one time he had eight powerful generals under his command." Tunrog said.

"But what does that have to do with the rest of us typhoons?" Beatrice asked.

"Maybe the elder dragons think you are reincarnations of his generals. They might be afraid he would stage a coup if he had an army once more. Which would give them a motive for placing you all under arrest or killing you." Roslyn said.

"You cannot tell me you believe him! We do not believe in reincarnation, right mother?" Dagger said rather loudly. Which with her slamming her hands onto the table, caused those present to suddenly become quiet.

"We do not. And I am a little insulted that you would imply I was ever a dragon." Beatrice said. Her own anger clear on her brow.

"Just because you do not believe in something, does not make it any less real. After all, last year I did not believe in dragons, aliens or deep space travel. Yet here we are, trillions of miles from my home. Eating breakfast with aliens and a pair of dragons." Roslyn offered.

They all glanced up as someone paged Tunrog to the bridge over the ship's PA system. "Best not keep them waiting." Mianth said.

"No, better not. I have dragged my feet enough this morning. I would like to point out, I said Nodrog had eight generals, not eight dragon generals." Tunrog said as he stood up to take his tray to the wash station. With that done he teleported to the bridge, since it would be a lengthy walk.

Beatrice turned back to Roslyn. "I am a little curious as to what you are thinking."

"I think Nodrog and his generals did stage a coup, and ultimately lost the battle to take control. The elder dragons think with him living once more, his generals might be alive once more." Roslyn said.

"If Nodrog can truly not die, that makes him an imposing foe. And if you are one of his generals reborn, with more power..." Jenny said and nearly shivered at the thought.

"Hmmm... I follow your line of thought. And it certainly is not a stretch, because you are right. I have done things in the last few years I never thought possible. I believe a lengthy talk with my most trusted medicine woman is in order." Beatrice said and leaned back.

"What else are you thinking?" Jenny asked.

"That Nodrog has a more eidetic memory then he lets on." Roslyn said.

"What makes you think that?" Mianth asked.

"Everything he does is to purposeful... Every action calculated beforehand." Roslyn said and pushed back from the table. "I think I will go talk to Dallarth on the matter."

"Are you sure that is a good idea?" Mianth asked.

"Sure. Plus, Tunrog should not be in trouble for us holding him up." Roslyn took her tray to the wash station and walked to the bridge.

"We are just about ready to take off. Did you come to observe again?" Alyvia asked as Roslyn walked over to where she stood with Dallarth and the ship's commander.

Roslyn smiled as she walked over. Unlike the larger ships, Tunrog navigated from the bridge and not a different area of the ship. His true form not nearly as big as Nodrog or Dallarth's, but he was still good sized. In his true form Tunrog was handsome, what Roslyn expected a dragon to look like. "I did come to observe again. And I felt like I owe you an apology."

"Oh, what for?" Dallarth asked.

"It is partly my fault Tunrog was not as quick as he should have been. We were talking about flight." Roslyn said.

"He certainly does like talking about flight. No matter we are not in a terrible hurry." The ship's commander said.

"Actually, he just likes talking..." Dallarth said with a smirk.

"I can hear you, you know." Tunrog muttered as he glanced down at them. He was a little surprised Roslyn would take part of the blame for his tardiness. He thought it a nice gesture on her part.

The Amazons held several worlds in their solar system. They disliked any ships arriving directly at their actual home world. Tunrog would teleport the ship to an out laying space station, and the Velopian cutter would have to travel under its own power to the planet.

At least the Amazons knew their Queen was on the ship already and traveling with her personal body guards. The ship had also notified the station they would be arriving today to return the Queen and her daughter home. Which much like the Minotaur world, the Amazons were also thrilled their leader did not give into the council demands.

The Velopians were rather glad for the short layover at the Amazon home world. Despite being taken, Jenny and Sherman would have liked a little longer visit. There certainly was no shortage of tall, lean and gorgeous female warriors. Unfortunately for Sherman, Halfling was not quite good enough. So the only males the Amazons showed any respect for was Nodrog and Derrain.

Jenny was glad Nodrog kept her close for the short stay. The female warriors clearly looked down on her even if she had submitted to one of the most powerful dragons in existence. Granted they thought any submission to anyone no matter the reason was disgraceful. Nodrog and Derrain only got respect because they simply were elementals. Specifically earth elementals. They were strong and unmoving like the earth itself.

Roslyn and Alyvia got a great deal more respect than either would have thought. Mianth only fared a little better then Jenny, since she did gather all of them up in the void.

Derrain and Evelyn lived on one of the worlds the Velopians and Elves shared. Making the next stop good old Earth, which most were looking forward to seeing again. The Velopian flag ship was still sitting on the tarmac waiting for its dragon navigator to return. It had a skeleton crew right now since Sharn had returned to their home world on the second vessel.

They arrived late at night, so there was little activity on base. Sherman paused after Roslyn put a hand on his shoulder. "Hold up a sec."

"What's up?" Sherman asked, a puzzled look on his face as Roslyn looked past him to make sure Nodrog and Jenny were still walking.

"We need to talk, alone." Roslyn said quietly.

"Sure, but can it wait until a more reasonable hour?" Sherman asked and scratched his head.

"Yeah. I'll get a hold of you tomorrow or the next day." Roslyn said and started off to her apartment.

"You want me to get you a ride?" Sherman asked.

Roslyn just waved. "Hell no, I spent two weeks floating around in nothing. Never thought walking would feel so good."

Alice was sound asleep as Jenny entered their bedroom. Tears of joy running down her cheeks as she listened to her mouse's light breathing. If she was not so tired herself, she would wake Alice up. But at the moment, Jenny did not even know what day it was. She quietly got ready for bed and snuggled up next to Alice. Jenny fell asleep quickly and for the first night in a few, did not have bad dreams.

Nodrog stood at the window as usual. Something about the whole situation seemed strangely familiar... The collar was not enough protection, and did nothing to protect Alice. A ward spell large enough to cover the building would be to obvious, and draw a great deal more attention than just his presence alone did.

There were so many more people he cared about now to effectively protect and keep an eye on. He could always teach Sherman more, but that also ran the risk of drawing more attention than Nodrog wanted. There was also the problem created from being forced to control two bodies at once... The omega protocol was broken. If he took that form when Mianth or Jenny was not around, the two would never be safe.

Taking Alice as a blood slave would also cause more problems than it would solve. He also doubted Roslyn would agree to it at all. Granted she managed to drink as much beer as a Minotaur and walk... The sassy otter probably did not need as much protection as Jenny and Alice.

"I will not let anyone take them away from me." Nodrog growled as the sun started rising.

Alice groaned as she rolled over to turn off the offensive buzzing alarm. She grumbled and sat up rubbing her eyes. Alice glanced down and did a double take as she saw a slightly fuzzy Jenny sleeping next to her. "He found you just like he said he would..."

Jenny opened her eyes as she heard crying. Alice sat next to her crying what she hoped were happy tears and not sad. "Alice..."

"I am so glad you are safe." Alice said between sniffles.

I am just glad to be back here with you." Jenny pulled Alice close.

While Jenny and Alice just held each other, Sherman was sitting in his office filling out reports, again.

"How does Marko keep up with everything when he takes time off?" Sherman asked no one. A little under two weeks and he had a mountain of paper work to go over. He glanced up as someone closed the door to his office. "You are supposed to knock."

Roslyn only smiled. "I will try and remember that next time... Sir."

Sherman put his pen down and leaned back. "I suppose this is about the other night?"

"It is." Roslyn remained standing. "Ever think about over throwing the status quo?"

"That is a little out of left field... I have enough headaches why would I want more?" Sherman asked.

"Tunrog told me something, that I found interesting. And the little bits and pieces I know, made me think of a military coup." Roslyn said.

"Would that be the reason behind Jenny and your kidnapping?" Sherman asked.

"Possible. Tunrog said he overheard three elder dragons talking about Nodrog, and one of the points of that conversation was; Nodrog was on his third reincarnation." Roslyn said and looked out the office window before turning to look at Sherman.

"Also mentioned was Nodrog at one time had eight very powerful generals under his command. Right now you are the strongest human alive..." Roslyn said with a little smile.

Sherman leaned forward and rested his chin on his clasped hands. "So you think I am one of those generals reborn. I am not half as strong as a typhoon though."

"Not right now, but the more he trains you. My thought is the motive behind stripping the typhoons of their standings is to keep them weak. So they do not try again at over turning the current system." Roslyn said and leaned against a filing cabinet.

"There is a small snag in that theory." Sherman said.

"And that is?" Roslyn asked.

"Nodrog has repeatedly said he does not want to be in charge or in control of anything. Plus Morgor and Beatrice are already in positions of power. None of them like the council, why would they want to be on it?" Sherman asked.

"I had not considered that. But why do they all dislike the council so much?" Roslyn asked.

"We would have to ask them..." Sherman said and they both paused. Something announcing its presence.

One of the shadows appeared in the office and Nightrunner walked out. "Good morning."

Sherman and Roslyn both replied in kind. "Can I help you?" Sherman asked.

"Actually, I had wanted to talk with you alone... Roslyn, you are free to stay if you like." Nightrunner said.

"I will stay." Roslyn said and remained leaning against the cabinet.

"The council rather quickly agreed to the typhoons request to attend a meeting. The official announcement is still a few days off." Nightrunner said.

"You seem troubled by how quickly they agreed to it." Roslyn said.

"I am. Because the council is very leery of the typhoons, and they greatly detest having to allow it since the typhoons followed proper protocol." Nightrunner said.

"I take it Morgor and Beatrice were quick in filing formal request then." Sherman said.

"They were... I am a little concerned about how cooperative the five of them are in this matter. The mortal council has refused their request, the monster council cannot refuse a formal request." Nightrunner said.

"How long have you really known Nodrog?" Sherman asked.

"That is a strange question... I have known him for his entire life." Nightrunner said.

"What about his other two lives?" Roslyn asked.

"Who told you about them?" Nightrunner asked. The usually calm elf was angered.

"Tunrog mentioned he overheard three of the elder dragons talking about it." Roslyn said clearly unafraid of the elf and eyed him carefully.

"Nightrunner, what is the council really after? We have a right to know." Sherman said.

Nightrunner calmed down once more. "I do not know. Most of those on the council have always been on it. In my seven thousand years of life, I have only seen three vacancies ever open on it. I am not old enough to know what happened in his first life. When I first met him, he was nearly ten thousand years old."

"I am liking the situation less and less. And I really do not want to be a pawn in a game twelve thousand or more years in the making." Roslyn grumbled.

"What about the typhoons, have there always been a few that powerful?" Sherman asked.

Nightrunner had to think about it. "Not that I know of. The oldest are Nodrog and Dallarth, the rest are between three and four hundred years old."

"Then they all were born when he was hibernating on this world for the four hundred years." Roslyn said. She had hoped Nightrunner would be able to tell them what had happened.

"In any event. You need to be careful when you do go with the typhoons to meet the council. Take extra precautions, even without magic your weapons will harm monsters." Nightrunner said.

"Are you expecting a war?" Sherman asked.

"I don't know what to expect any more." Nightrunner said with a sigh.

Chapter.

Roslyn and Sherman kept what Nightrunner had told them in the back of their mind. The two of them would try to get the Iron Dragon to give them even the littlest of clues about what had happened. They had been back on earth only two days, and Roslyn and Sherman were both still a little on edge.

Alice and Jenny quickly put the incident behind them. Today was Saturday and Jenny wanted Alice to take her to Joe and Katie's house so she could see the baby. Katie had given birth the first week Jenny had been missing.

"Looks like the twins are over today." Jenny said as Alice pulled into the drive way. They parked next to DJ's tuned Mini Cooper.

"The two of them love the baby." Alice said as they walked up to the house. Alice knocked lightly on the door instead of ringing the door bell. "Hello?"

Joe, Katie and the twins were all in the living room. Joe was napping in his chair, Katie looked tired and the twins were trying everything to keep the baby from crying.

"I guess we did not need to worry about waking her." Alice said as she closed the door. Jenny nearly skipped over to them and knelt down to pick the baby up.

Katie and the twins watched in awe as the baby instantly quit crying as Jenny held the infant close. "Aren't you just the cutest little thing ever. What's her name?"

"Haylie." Katie said.

The tiny dog and leopard hybrid cooed and giggled in Jenny's arms. "What a pretty name." The little girl had Katie's leopard fur pattern with Joe's coloring. Her tail and ears a combination of the two, but with more feline facial features.

"How did you do that?" DJ asked, they had tried rocking her to get her to quit crying.

"Jenny just has a knack with kids." Alice said and watched as Jenny ignored just about everything except the new born.

"I had just thought it was with boys... Kenny's little ones seem to obey her every command." Katie said. Having a kid was the hardest thing she and Joe had ever done.

"And soon I will have an army of little minions to do my bidding..." Jenny laughed and Haylie just laughed along with her.

"Is there anything we can do to give you a hand?" Alice asked.

"I'll give you some cash and you could go pick up some take out for us. If Jenny doesn't mind watching her while I take a long hot shower." Katie said and reached for her purse.

"I wouldn't mind at all." Jenny said.

Alice wrote down what everyone wanted, except Joe who was still sleeping. Katie ordered for him. DJ jumped at the chance to go help Alice pick up the food. Leaving TJ and Jenny to play with the baby.

Jenny was holding Haylie while instructing TJ on the correct way to warm up a bottle.

"You really are good with kids Jenny." Joe said as he got up and walked over to them.

"I took a bunch of babysitting classes. Any excuse I could use to get out of my parents' house as often as possible. I tried to have after school sports or any kind of job lined up to spend as little time possible at home. Heck I mowed more lawns than both of my brothers combined." Jenny said as she bottle fed Haylie.

"How many sports did you play?" TJ asked.

"All of them. Lacrosse, track and field in the fall. Diving and swimming over winter; volleyball and basketball in the spring. Competition shooting was year round and I was club president my last two years in high school." Jenny glanced at the empty bottle. "I see you got your dad's appetite."

The three of them paused as they smelled the poopy diaper. "And you got his swamp ass... Holy cow." Jenny smiled and laughed. She changed the girl's diaper much to TJ and Joe's relief.

Katie just came down from her shower as Alice and DJ made it back with the food. "I really appreciate it. First good long shower since I had her."

"Not a problem." Jenny put Haylie in her rocker while they ate.

"She didn't even bat an eye when she changed her diaper." TJ said.

"Hey, you were gagging as bad as I was..." Joe muttered.

"Hard to believe something so small can produce such a stink." Katie said and they all laughed, including Haylie.

Alice and Jenny stayed late enough Jenny put Haylie to bed. The ride back was a little quiet. Nodrog was on the couch reading when they got home. "How are they doing?"

"Tired, but they are doing just fine. What an adorable little girl they have." Jenny said as her and Alice sat down on the couch with him. They talked for a little while before Alice and Jenny went to their bedroom to get ready for bed.

"Alice..." Jenny said softly. They had turned out the lights already and were snuggled under the covers.

Alice rolled over so she was facing Jenny. "Yes?"

"I want to have a baby." Jenny said.

"But you would have to give up field work." Alice said.

"I know, I was going to talk to Frank and Kathrin about it Monday." Jenny said.

Alice blinked her eyes so she could focus on Jenny. "If you are that serious about it, then I am with you one hundred percent."

"So you won't mind drinking a sex change potion to knock me up right?" Jenny teased.

"Um no. Nice try though." Alice said and kissed Jenny's nose. "I will go with you to the doctor to see about artificial insemination though."

"I can't skip the cup part and just get it straight from the source?" Jenny asked and laughed when Alice hit her with a pillow.

"Goodnight love." Alice said and laughed.

Aside from Sherman and Roslyn's questioning. Things had gone back to normal for the time being. Nodrog figured it was just the two of them just jumping to conclusions. Roslyn and Sherman were thinking either he really did not remember, or he was really hiding something.

With it now well into April, Alice was getting her two red rockets loaded up to take them out to the first big car show of the year. Big Joe and little Joe showed up with the semi to haul them both out. "This is the first year you haven't driven to the show, isn't it?" Little Joe asked.

"I think so. I am lucky one of our cargo planes had a partial load to bring back and I could get it squeezed on." Alice said.

"I got another case of posters made up and a case of markers so you and Wes will have plenty of things to sign." Joe said as he tighten down the last strap.

"Gee thanks..." Alice said rolling her eyes.

"Did I hear right and you got space inside the convention center this year?" Jim asked.

"Yeah. Alice's Lotus is the least expensive car we are showing. Katie shot a mural on a limo stretched SUV and the paint on it cost as much as getting it stretched into a limo did. We are showing the limo and five other cars plus both of Alice's." Joe said.

"Carly told me Katie laid down new graphics on her Mustang." Alice said.

"The twins tore apart the auto they made for it after several hours of testing. Carly liked it, but they thought they could do better. Katie laid down the paint while the trans was out of it." Little Joe said.

"The doors open at seven tomorrow night?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, Alice needs to be there a little sooner. If you showed up with her, they would let you in early." Joe said as the ramp closed.

"I can wait until Saturday. Carrel had wanted to go, just not every day." Jim chuckled.

"I cannot begin to thank Jenny for volunteering to watch Haylie all day Saturday so Katie can spend the day at the show." Joe said.

"How are your two ladies doing?" Jim asked.

"They are doing real good. Haylie is sleeping through the whole night, which is a big relief." Joe said.

"If Jenny is busy I am sure Carrel would love to baby sit for you any time." Jim said.

"Oh trust me, we have a list of people to watch her. We better be heading out, see you both later." Joe said.

Alice and Jim watched the truck head out before they headed back into the shop. "Well do you think it is safe to unhook the plows and take the sander off the trucks?" Alice asked as they stood in the shop, where two of the snow plows sat ready to roll.

"Might as well. I will go over to the storage building and get it opened up." Jim said and headed to the office to get the keys for the other building.

"Hey Kenny, see if you can get the grounds guys on the radio. Let them know we are going to park the snow removal stuff for the year." Jim said.

"Sure thing. Because Frank just called. They want to start pulling the rest of the field teams equipment out and get it checked out." Kenny said.

"That was fast, we have only been back a full month from our first one." Alice said.

"They did say we would have a busy year." Jim grabbed several tools he might need to unhook the plows and sanders. He knew them all by heart, but he has been doing this every spring and fall for thirty four years.

It took half the day to get everything changed from winter to summer mode. Alice parked the second dump truck and went to get the mobile lab Jenny and her used out of storage. She backed it up to the side of the shop. That way she was not blocking any of the garage doors and could still hook the trailer to shore power.

Kathrin knocked on the open door. "Getting an early start I see."

"Yeah. Just getting the dust blown off and doing a system test." Alice was sitting in one of the chairs, waiting for the computers to boot up.

"Frank and I were a little surprised Jenny wanted to switch out of a field position after this year is over." Kathrin said as she spun the other chair around to sit in it backwards.

"I am a little surprised myself. It is not going to be a problem, is it?" Alice asked. She typed commands into the trailer's master computer to start its own self diagnostic.

"I don't see why it would. I have never had anyone complain about working with you. But will you want to be out in the field without Jenny?" Kathrin asked.

Alice rocked back and thought about it. "I don't really know."

"It is something to consider. Frank and I have no problem with putting Jenny in a non field position. We just want the two of you to be happy with the arrangements yourselves." Kathrin said.

"There are a lot of things to consider, and not just the changing of positions. Thankfully we do not have to worry about finances. We really need to sit down and figure out if we are ready to be parents. Plus we do have a roommate to take into consideration..." Alice said and hit a few more keys on the keyboard when prompted.

"From what I saw on the recovery, Roslyn and Nodrog seem to have gotten rather close." Kathrin said and watched Alice's reaction carefully. The mouse didn't so much as flinch or bat an eye.

Alice only smiled. "Well Roslyn is in great shape for her age. If they are close, I would be happy for them. You're not jealous of Roslyn, are you?"

Kathrin raised her hands. "No, not at all. I hope I look that good in fifteen years. She is sassy and I respect her. Hell I respect anyone who can tell Mr. October and Nodrog 'no' and not back down."

"If only you could have seen the look on those jock's faces. It was priceless." Alice said and jabbed at the air with her left hand.

"The police report was rather amusing... In any case, I just want to be sure Jenny and you will be happy. Shuffling people around is no big deal." Kathrin said.

"I am trying to keep her from jumping in feet first like always. So I appreciate the concern. We still need to talk to the doctors about it. Plus I don't know what my parents will think about it..." Alice glanced at one of the monitors.

"What about Jenny's parents?" Kathrin asked.

"They will hate it. They hate the fact we are married, so they would hate it if we had kids. Jenny wants nothing to do with them anymore. It still worries me a little, but I know how badly Jenny was treated by her own family." Alice said.

"Yeah her dad is a giant prick. I am sure your parents will be thrilled about having grand kids." Kathrin said.

"They keep teasing my brother and I about it. So they probably will be thrilled with the news. What about you and Gavin? I thought the two of you were close." Alice said, and typed away on the keyboard once more.

Kathrin stretched. "We are talking about moving in with each other. I get the feeling he is thinking about getting a little more serious."

"That's good. He is a nice guy." Alice said. The two of them continued to talk the afternoon away while Alice ran tests on the lab equipment.

Nodrog stood in Marko's office. It was a late afternoon business meeting. Jade and Dr. Phillips were both present, along with Sherman and Frank. It was mainly over general operations for the second quarter of the year. Since the first had gone by rather quickly and with only the single incident. He had been sitting, but he liked standing better.

The current topic being Black Blood. They had all the notes and experiment results. Making sense of it all was proving to be difficult. Nodrog's blood was to different from the other dragon's blood to be of any use testing things. And the humans were concerned about asking another dragon to give them blood to test with.

"I could ask Tunrog about it when we leave for the council meeting at the end of the month. Since it will also help the Velopians, he might be willing to give you some blood." Nodrog said.

"That's all I can hope for at the moment. All I can do is speculate, and with no testing..." Dr. Phillips said.

"I know. I am sure Sherman will remind me to inquire about it during our trip." Nodrog said.

"I certainly will remind you." Sherman said. It had taken most of the year, but he was finally able to relax around all of the company big shots. Having Nodrog, Kitty and Catlin around helped, they made it look easy.

"I am still a little uneasy about that whole situation." Jade said as she closed her notebook.

"Indeed. Hopefully this will be the end of it." Marko said.

While they wrapped up the meeting, Nodrog turned to look out the large office windows. 'One way or the other it will be.' Nodrog thought as a jet took off. Dallarth and he had thought over several options. They had a plan, if the others would agree to it. It hinged on everyone's cooperation, but no matter what happened they would be safe while he took the brunt of anything thrown at them.

Nodrog stayed behind while the others left. It was a little past five pm, only Marko and Nodrog remained in the large office. "What exactly do you have planed?"

"Only that if they leave me alone, I will leave them alone. I do not want their positions, a title or land. I want no more then I already have." Nodrog said.

"I suppose it is harder for some to understand. Everyone has something more they want." Marko said.

"I cannot die, I have three women I care deeply about. I have enough power to destroy or create a world... What more is there to have?" Nodrog asked.

"I don't know." Marko said and glanced at his watch. "Speaking of ladies, you should head up to yours."

Nodrog chuckled. "Have a good evening."

Jenny and Alice were already home and Jenny was preparing dinner as Nodrog walked into the apartment. Hanging his suit coat after closing the door behind him. He loosened his tie as he walked back to his bedroom. "Did you both have a productive day?"

"I did for the most part." Jenny said over the sizzling stir fry she was making.

"I know I did. Got the cars loaded up for the show this weekend and pulled our mobile lab out of storage." Alice said as she set the table. Thankful they were being good about eating at the table and not out in the living room. She was unbelievably relieved to have Jenny and Nodrog back in the apartment with her.