Dwayne met them at the transporter and his help was needed because the floor was now covered in gray Walmart shopping bags. There was a big grin on the boy's face so Justin knew something was up.

"Wow, you bought a lot of stuff," Dwayne said, giving Alexander a glance.

We managed to pull LAIT out of the crystal without letting him go. He thought. The creature was just full of information ... some of it was even useful. I've managed to get a handle on how the transport system works, Darla is plotting the course of the enemy's trajectory, and Alan has begun to assemble the basic parts of the device.

Good going ... did you get dinner?

Yes, the gatekeeper sent down lots of food. Add all of this and we could hold out for months. It seems there's a kitchen and pantry off one of the storage rooms. LAIT says that he was prepared to feed a whole company of warriors. You know they're on the way, don't you?

I gathered as much from the things Alexander has been saying. That just proves LAIT has been lying to us all along.

Oh, he admitted that ... said he was just trying to protect you.

What a liar ... he just wanted us to reach a point where we couldn't stop them.

Dwayne smiled. "I like your new clothes," He said, nodding at Alexander.

Alexander grinned. "Do I look human?"

"You sure do."

"Just don't take your boots off," Justin said. He walked across the room to Darla as Dwayne and Alexander began to carry the food into the storage room.

I'd say we have less than two weeks. Darla thought. There has been a constant stream of energy entering our solar system ... troops landing at the staging base.

How many do you think?

A thousand ... tens of thousands? The energy signals are much larger than the scouts emitted when they arrived.

Troopships. Alexander said the warriors will come in ships with a pilot and a defensive system. We can't let any of them land so they will have to be stopped cold before they ever reach us. Unfortunately I found out Alexander's mate is leading the advance team.

Then he will try to stop us. Mate, does that mean he's married?

No, Darla ... it means he's gay, his mate is a warrior.

Jeez, you gay guys sure do get around the galaxy.

Funny girl ... we have to be careful what Alexander sees and hears.

"So what are you looking at?" Alexander asked as he approached Darla's workstation. She turned and smiled, touching one key to change the image on the screen.

"We've discovered that LAIT has definitely entered the database," Justin said. "I suppose he's uncomfortable with all these creatures around. That doesn't matter since we can still communicate with him while he's in there."

Alexander looked puzzled. "This was not part of my instructions."

"He found a flaw in the beacon programming ... that's what he's trying to fix," Darla said.

Justin thought that sounded convincing, and Alexander knew how important the beacon was, perhaps he would buy it.

"What must we do to assist him?" Alexander asked.

"We build the beacon and then let him reprogram it," Dwayne said, holding up a schematic drawing. "It seems we have more than enough parts to do the job ... I'm just not sure about the power requirements."

"Have we solved the transport issues?" Justin asked.

"Yes, LAIT gave me the answers."

Justin smiled. "Then shall we begin to build our better mousetrap?"

"Mousetrap?" Alexander asked.

"It's an expression ... a joke really," Darla said. "A mousetrap is such a simple device that there is no need to build a better one. Justin is just being strangely funny."

The station was generously supplied with space since the three cones and assorted support units only took up a small portion of the room available. But the device was going to be huge and had to be fully assembled before it was transported to the surface.

The supporting framework was over a hundred feet long and nearly stretched from wall to wall. Alexander seemed tireless, helping to move the beams and rails in place where they could be attached together. Justin poured over the plans looking for any weakness in the design, but he knew there would be no flaws.

It would have taken months to assemble if not for the lifting and moving devices they found in one of the storerooms. Most of them were of alien design, but Alexander was most helpful when it came time to read the instructions printed on each machine. Justin liked the alien forklift which didn't lift a load as much as levitate it into position.

They worked in shifts but it still took almost ten days to assemble. As they had guessed, Alexander didn't know what the device was capable of doing. He helped align the laser and positioned the ion generator, major parts of the mechanism.

But Justin had left out two elements just to be sure Alexander didn't figure out what the machine could do. There was a long tray at the base some thirty feet long and almost as wide. This is where the power converter would sit, but for now it was in Justin's pocket.

He had seen the device change size before, and its incorporation was one of the key elements. The converter would have to expand to a tremendous size to accept the bio-mass as it developed. The plans said it would work and Justin had to have faith in what his future self had designed.

But there was also this tiny pocket right at the focal point where the laser beam would meet the ion flow, and for days Justin had wondered what he was missing. There was nothing in the plans except the little metal frame where something ought to go.

The energy pulses from Orion had ceased several days before, and now they kept a continuous watch on the edge of their solar system. At some point the advance team would approach as the vanguard for the main attack forces.

They had allowed Alexander to send off his report once Dwayne had figured out the program for the communications module. The message made note that the beacon was ready and that there had been no sign the humans were aware of their plans. He ended the message with the words "Hail Prime."

"They will be coming soon," Darla said. She looked over at the assembled machine and smiled. "They certainly won't be expecting this."

"LAIT would have warned them if he could. I suppose when all this is over we'll be stuck with him," Justin said.

"I don't think so ... he'll go with them."

"How is that possible? What do you know that I don't?"

Darla smiled. "Dwayne and I agree, that little pocket you've been puzzling over is meant for LAIT. The crystal should fit in that tiny frame and when the machine activates he'll be blasted home."

"Oh ... now there's a just end to his days on Earth."

Justin knew that was right. The laser would point the way as the ion flow heaved the bio-mass through the atmosphere with ever increasing speed. It was like a galactic game of billiards with the mass aimed at the invaders and beyond.

Darla had laid out the course for the projection. The invading fleet would be right in its path and helpless to avoid being caught up in the mass. Alan had suggested that the ships would be embedded and helpless to extricate themselves, but his theories went far beyond that.

"The composition of the mass will be unlike any other substance they've ever encountered and they'll be helpless to fight it. It may prove to be their salvation if they survive the journey home. At least they'll have plenty of time to think about it."

Darla had said the timing of the invasion worked in Earth's favor. The alignment of the solar system was such that the Horsehead Nebula would be directly behind the fleet. LAIT had given her the coordinates of the Prime system and that had been programmed into the projection of the bio-mass.

The invading ships would be hurled back towards the Prime on an ever increasing blast of ion energy. But as in a game of billiards, the mass would shoot across the galaxy until the inertia was used up and then it would slowly glide into the Orion system.

The time it would take for such a journey was pure speculation, but the mass would slow down near the speed of light as it approached, fast enough to attract the attention of those on Prime ... and this is where Alexander would come into play.

The Ancient Ones had the technology to recover the fleet ... LAIT had assured them of this. The warriors on those ships would not survive the long journey without help; they would have to be rescued. Once the bio-mass was projected, the fleet encapsulated and on its way home, Alexander would have to make a final report.

He would do it to save Galen, Justin figured. Besides, he would also be saving his home world and its inhabitants from extinction. Alan had again defined their weapon as the most humane device possible.

"Millions of cubic yards of living matter, all aimed at a system of barren planets. If the mass is moving slow enough on approach it ought to go into orbit where it can be mined for its riches. There will be enough mulch to cover the soil with several feet of living matter. Roots will reach down and seek water ... the Prime will be terraformed."

"How do we know it will grow?" Justin asked.

"They have enough oxygen for plant life. If they start small and water carefully a healthy growth of trees will soon take over the cycle and produce rainfall. I would love to be there to see that," Alan said.

"If they get rain that will allow crops to grow, they could feed herd animals and stop this voracious destruction of other species. I'd like to see that as well," Justin said.

"Will they accept what we are trying to do for them?" Alan asked.

"I don't know," Justin said. "We're asking a warrior society to change their ways. It didn't work for us with the Native American population, but that's not a good comparison. How long do you suppose we have before the bio-mass reaches the Prime worlds?"

"Decades I would think," Darla said. "How long do you think it will take them to realize that we have defeated their invasion fleet?"

"I wish I was more of a politician. There's going to be a time of negotiation if we don't want them to attempt another invasion. Perhaps we should assemble The Family down here and put the question to them," Justin said.

"You mean tell them what we are about to do?" Dwayne asked.

"No, but soon afterwards," Justin said. "We're committed to stopping the fleet. The results of creating that bio-mass will certainly be noticed by everyone in the country."

Alan nodded. "Oh yeah, it will look like a natural disaster up here in the mountains."

"So we'll assemble The Family and let them talk to Alexander ... where is he by the way?" Darla asked.

"Fixing dinner," Justin said. "I hope you like hamburgers."

Justin had spent hours thinking about Alexander and what their plans would do to him. It would certainly leave him as the only member of his species in the solar system for a long time to come. LAIT would be gone but the station would remain as a means of communication with the Prime worlds.

Would Alexander accept the role of an ambassador for his people to the human race? Not the whole planet, but at least The Family. Justin wasn't foolish enough to expect human society could begin to understand what had been going on under their very noses. They would never learn of an alien presence because they couldn't deal with it.

The Family Time had generations of wisdom and knowledge about aliens in the universe. Of course they had all been duped about the purpose of the Ancient Ones, but they had all shared a common programming by LAIT.

Justin had pondered his current part in shaping the future of humanity versus what he would be expected to become in the future. Perhaps there had been some truth when LAIT said his role was to save The Family, but what about the rest?

He had considered that he was going to be the last of his line in this branch of the Time family. He would have no children, no boys to present for programming at puberty. But others of The Family would have offspring, who would program them?

Dwayne had reached into the data banks and produced a current list of Time family members, all one hundred and forty-two of them. The list included eighty-four adult males, fifty- six younger males and two young females. Darla was happy to hear she wasn't alone.

This gave them a large enough group to consider establishing a Family council, which was probably something LAIT had tried his best to avoid. Having that much brain power in one room would certainly have revealed some of the duplicity involved in the plans of the Ancient Ones.

There was comfort in knowing he could finally reveal to his father what had been going on all these months, and Justin had felt guilty about their lack of communication. So they would hold a meeting, form a council, but who would lead them?

Perhaps there were Family members with political experience, although any council they might form would have no real political power ... or would it? There were almost two hundred countries on the planet and not even the United Nations spoke for all of them. Why would they listen to a bunch of Family members?

They couldn't even be told of the invasion, much less the goals of the Prime warriors. Justin did not intend to become the subject of a government study as some super intelligent creature ... and then there was Alexander.

His future self had sent no instructions about dealing with the aftermath of using this weapon. Just as Alan had said, it would be quite noticeable ... almost as if a meteor had blasted away a great swath of natural forest land. All along they had planned to discharge the weapon at night, mostly to assure there would be no human presence to get caught up in the results.

The time was coming soon ... it was probably only a matter of days. Darla's eyes in space were focused on that one spot and she had assured them there would be several hours of warning. Alexander was beginning to get impatient, and perhaps a little suspicious.

"The moon is going to be full tonight," Darla said. "We should go check out the placement of the beacon."

"I'll go," Justin said. "Do you want to come, Alexander?"

"What will I see in the darkness?"

"There should be enough moonlight to see quite a bit. At the very least we have to make sure there are no obstacles before we place the beacon."

"Then yes, I will come."

Dwayne had the GPS coordinates for the large field below Saddleback Mountain that they had chosen from looking at maps on Google Earth. Justin had driven on Skyline Drive with his family, but never noticed many of the natural features. Very soon, most of those features would be changed until the forest could heal itself.

They stood on the transport floor and the walls closed in around them until Justin felt the shift and they were standing in a clearing on the mountainside. The moon was indeed full and the light outlined the trees surrounding them. There in the distance was a view across the valley floor and the lights of human habitation.

"It is ... beautiful," Alexander said. "We have no moons in our system, just naked rocks that drift about in the gravity well of our three suns."

Justin could only agree, the view was beautiful. Thin gray clouds drifted across the night sky and yet the moonlight persisted.

"The moon has been an object of great desire throughout our history," Justin said. "Humans spent a long time staring up at that little planet before they ever understood what it was. I imagine whole lifetimes have been spent in wonder looking up at the sky."

"But your species has travelled to the moon several times. I read about that."

"Yes, we finally made that accomplishment, and then abandoned the idea. Now they speak of going to Mars and what a huge effort that will take. Imagine what our scientists would think if they knew you had come here from a thousand light years away."

"Humans are not ready for such travel," Alexander said.

"You had the Ancient Ones to show you how to do it. We had no such advantage and so I think developing space travel all by ourselves was a pretty damn good accomplishment. Of course, that's all over now."

Alexander was silent for a moment. "You said you would welcome a world without all these people. Was that a lie?"

"The bigger lie is why your people think all this is necessary. You will run out of options, we both know this. Here you are a thousand light years from your home planet seeking a food source ... when will it end? If you remove all living things from this corner of the universe where will you go when you get hungry? No, this is all a very bad idea."

"I keep wondering when some superior species will come to eat us," Alexander said. "It has become part of the discussion amongst the warriors of my lodge. As you say, we are running out of options."

"There are seven billion people on Earth, how many do you have in the Prime?"

"The Book of Knowledge lists over a trillion living creatures in the Nebula, but only fourteen millions live in the Prime."

"So few ... why is that?" Justin asked.

"We cannot support any more so breeding is controlled. It is good that I do not seek a female partner, I will never breed. A male must enter his name in the lottery to obtain breeding rights."

"If you couldn't be a warrior what would you do?" Justin asked.

"I have never even thought of such a thing. All the males in my lodge are warriors."

"All of them?"

"Yes ... except there a few who oversee the farms and conduct trade, but they are viewed as less than full members of our society."

"And yet they support the warrior class, they feed you and obtain the things you need to support your lodges. Are all your leaders in the warrior class?"

"No, there are those like LAIT who interface with the Ancient Ones on Prime. They have become our teachers and judge what we must learn from the Book of Knowledge."

"They control what you learn?"

"Yes ... there is too much data for any one person in our society to learn for himself."

"But what if you did learn something new, something that might change the way your society functions and survives?" Justin asked.

Alexander smiled, his teeth gleaming in the moonlight. "Such a person would be considered a rebel, death would certainly follow. There have been those singular minds in the past, but we are taught they accomplished nothing good."

"Our rebels forged a nation several centuries ago ... this country is founded on rebellion. New ideas are not always welcomed at first, sometimes you have to fight for them."

"Would you waste your life for an ideal?" Alexander asked.

"You said gay males are executed in the Prime so you already risk everything for what you think and feel," Justin said.

Alexander sighed. "I know ... it is so hard to be something others despise. I am already a rebel in the eyes of my society."

"Then we will have to find a way for you to redeem yourself. Rebels often make the best heroes."

Justin? Darla's thought reached out to him and Justin cringed. This could only mean one thing.

Yes?

The energy signals have increased ... they are coming.

Justin walked over to the middle of the clearing and stood looking up at the moon. Nothing would be the same after tonight ... how could it be?

Do you have my coordinates?

Yes.

Give it a ten count and send the machine.

Roger.

"They are sending the beacon, we have to clear the area," Justin said.

Alexander followed him over to the tree line and they waited. Within moments the bio-mass projector appeared. The upper portion began to rise as the base swiveled into alignment.

The device is aligned correctly ... you may arm it when ready. Darla thought.

"You should go back to the station. Your ships may communicate once the beacon is turned on."

Alexander nodded. "Your part in this will soon be over ... you have done well."

Transport him, Darla. Alexander disappeared and Justin went to work.

His first objective was to place the crystal containing LAIT's data at the focal point. Bye-bye you old scoundrel, Justin thought as he climbed the side of the projector. The crystal clamped into the little frame with ease, and Justin began his descent.

He reached the tray at the rear of the ion generator and removed the power enhancer cube from his pocket. How just, all these alien devices would serve to hurl the invading force back into the universe and save planet Earth.

But perhaps they would also save the Prime. At the very least they would create a rebellion in those home worlds. How would the Ancient Ones respond? They couldn't be very effective with a large portion of their warriors trapped in the bio-mass for years to come.

Justin set the cube on the tray and stood back. Just as he expected the device began to swell until it was almost thirty feet long and the opening on the rear face gaped wide. It looked huge like this, but he could only imagine the power needed to suck up a mountain load of living matter.

All set, Darla ... how soon before it needs to be energized?

The energy signals are growing and fast approaching Jupiter's orbit. The alignment will be perfect in about six minutes. Alexander is standing right behind me ... he looks nervous.

Bring me back, now.

Justin got one last look at the projector sitting in the clearing and then he was back in the station. Back just in time to see Alexander with his disruptor rod in hand and the others cringing against the computer console.

"What's going on?" Justin yelled.

"You will not deploy this beacon," Alexander said. "I have changed my mind ... we cannot invade this planet."

Justin raised his hands. "Put the weapon down, Alexander, and let me explain. You were never going to invade the Earth ... we are here to stop you."

"They don't need the beacon to find us, LAIT will guide them."

"No, he can't," Justin said. "He is about to join your rebellion."

"Rebellion?"

"Yes ... put down the weapon and I'll explain."

We have to trigger the projector in about one minute.

Give me a few seconds more.

"Alexander ... that isn't a beacon out there, it's a weapon ... a soft weapon. We're going to capture your entire fleet and send it back to the Prime."

Alexander laughed. "How is that possible? You can't even travel to the stars ... "

"No, we can't. But the stars came to us and we have used the technology of the Ancient Ones to construct a device that will stop your fleet in its tracks. You helped us build it ... welcome to the rebellion."

"But Galen is in that fleet ... "

"And no harm will come to him or any of the warriors if they follow our orders. We need you, Alexander ... you will have to explain all this to them."

"No, they will fight to the death ... they will never take orders from me."

"They will have no choice," Justin said. And at that point he began to open his thoughts to Alexander. The boy stood stock still, stunned at the images projected into his mind. Justin gave Darla a nod and she tapped a few keys on her console.

Up on the mountain the ion generator began to heat up and the laser energized, striking the crystal on its way towards the sky. It was completely unexpected, but the dome of the station was filled with a familiar mechanical voice.

"Oh thank you ... thank you," LAIT's disembodied voice said. "My time has come and I will return home because of your efforts. None of this would have been possible without you, all of you.

"But I have not been honest with you ... something you probably already guessed. I was never supportive of this invasion and now it will be stopped. My apologies to Justin, but towards him I focused my greatest deception. I can tell you now; you never spoke to your future self ... that was all my doing.

"The beacon, projector ... whatever you want to call it, was of my design and yours of course. I have worked through you, Justin, to bring about what you call rebellion. There will be only one casualty in this brief conflict, and that will be Alexander.

"I am sorry for having to abandon such a noble warrior on this alien planet, but he will learn to love it just as I have. We cannot destroy such a wonderful race of people. That thought is beyond criminal. I have spent centuries in planning this moment and you have all acted your parts quite well to accomplish my goals.

"Each Family member is a gifted individual, but you often forget the source of your wisdom is of my creation. I have known your thoughts all along ... you can hide nothing from me. But I agree with much of what you have concluded. Alexander will make a fine ambassador to the Earth from the Prime worlds, and I am going home to make that happen.

"Your genetics ensures a long life ahead, and that will now include Alexander. Time enough for us to rebel against the thoughtless powers who govern The Prime. I suppose you must know that the Ancient Ones are now all like me, I am one of them. We are creatures of shadow, more data than flesh and bone, but that was our fate. There are few of us left and those who remain will quickly succumb to these new ideas.

"So farewell ... until we meet again. That time will come and I predict Alexander will see his home world again, just not soon. Give me a chance to reform The Prime and set our society to work remaking the planets. Trees ... such magnificent trees. In my data I can almost see forests covering Second Prime for the first time. Let us all hope it comes soon. Hail Prime."

"And so I would like to introduce to the council the Ambassador representing The Prime, home worlds of the Ancient Ones," Alan Time said. "I give you Alexander Time, the newest member of our Family."

There was muted applause as Alexander stood before the small enclave of fourteen men and one woman assembled in the station. They all knew of the events leading up to this moment and Alexander's part in them. As if they might need a reminder, the bio-mass projector occupied a far corner of the wide open space.

The big event was still in the news, but only as the chaotic babbling of talking heads in the media who had no idea what had happened. Enquires would go on for years with scientific, political and military panels established to study the results. Humanity was confused, but they had every right to be.

Overnight a huge swatch of the Shenandoah National Forest had disappeared, an entire mountain gone missing. Over a hundred thousand acres at first estimate had been decimated. Perhaps if they had looked to the sky someone would have noticed a strange formation out beyond the orbit of Pluto, but everyone was looking at the ground for answers.

The sudden burst of energy had lasted for mere minutes and registered on machines all up and down the east coast of the United States. A seismic disturbance of vast proportions monitored by this agency, huge radar signals seen by that agency, but still no answers. It had happened so fast and was gone just as quickly.

It took a few days to reach out to The Family, and only minutes to transport all the adult members to the station. From that gathering a council had been chosen with Alan Time as chairman. It took little time to explain that Earth had survived the destruction of humanity and that was added to the list of Family secrets they held close.

Now The Family was united, and perhaps that had been part of LAIT's planning all along. Justin was honest enough to give the creature credit for the save, but he was still touted as the hero of the moment. But what of LAIT?

The creature had revealed himself as an Ancient One and to Alexander's mind that made him an object of reverence. Justin didn't argue with that, although the centuries on Earth had certainly changed LAIT's thinking about the human species. But LAIT wasn't about to turn his back on his Earth bound friends. He had inserted himself into the communications loop of the invasion fleet and was still sending reports back to the station.

This is how Alexander knew that Galen had survived, although the warriors had at first gone berserk when the bio-mass encapsulated their ships. LAIT had described it as being like embedded in peanut butter, something he had never tasted. One ship after another was stuck fast and the whole was now heading straight out towards the stars of the Nebula.

The bio-mass would serve several purposes and one of them was to keep the warriors alive until within range of the Prime's ability to transport them. Sucked up in the vast conglomeration of trees, grasses and soil were the wildlife creatures that had inhabited the area. There was enough protein there to feed an army, and so it would.

"Gentlemen ... and Darla. I must thank you for this opportunity to address this council and work with you in maintaining good relations with my home worlds. As you all know I came here with much different objectives in mind, and for that I am sorry to have even contemplated the terrible wishes of my leaders.

"It is one thing to sit back on the far side of the galaxy and judge the inhabitants of a planet unworthy of survival, it is another to meet them face to face and learn to become friends. It bodes well for both our races that we can sit down in peace and solve the problems of the future.

"You have given my people a new purpose, a new means of survival. It is without saying that we will respond in kind by sharing our technology. By giving this council the Book of Knowledge I expect it will not be so many years before your scientists will be able to reach out for the stars and bring our two peoples together.

"We all understand the need to release this knowledge slowly over many years and you will control that. I expect it will take at least that much time for my people to accept these new ideas we are sending them and put the plans in motion.

"My greatest thanks go to Justin, Darla, Dwayne and Alan. They have taught me so much about humanity and their friendship is without equal. But there is still a great deal to learn on both sides of the universe. I look forward to serving my people here on Earth."

A gay ambassador, that's nothing new. Darla thought.

I wonder if LAIT has a program that will allow Alexander to read minds?

Justin, that's in your DNA, it isn't a program. Besides, do you really want him reading your thoughts? I know you consider him attractive ...

Hold on there, he just lost his mate ... well not lost, just misplaced. I don't think he'd be open for any other kind of relationship at the moment.

That's today, who knows about tomorrow. You both have a lot of time to think about it. I see the way he looks at you.

What? He's just looking, I'm not reading anything.

He still thinks in a language you can't understand. We women know when a man wants something, it's in the eyes. All you guys look at are bulging crotches.

How sexist ... I do not stare at his crotch. Besides, I know what he looks like naked.

I'm sure you do, and if his size is in any way connected to his feet ...

Oh yeah ... he's big all right.

Gay guys have all the luck.

Yes we do.

    THE END



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