19. P O W E R : Family

CHAPTER VI

Zill let out a long, loud groan and covered his face. "I feel so stupid," he moaned.

"Not your fault. You were born that way."

Zill gave Alexis a pained look... then grinned. "Yeah. Guess I was." He looked at Maricella, who was watching Retzer's squad (minus Retzer) lead the disgraced Valafar away, and asked, "So what were the terms of your treaty?"

"Well, first off, we don't destroy planets anymore," Maricella replied.

"Of course."

"Then we return to Arthrogonia."

"Uh-huh."

"We rebuild our society and head off to the worlds we remade."

"Right."

"Then we take the spawns of every species we destroyed—which we kept as trophies—and install them into the Revivers we hid on every planet in our empire."

"...Okay..."

"Finally, we reverse-engineer the Gene Waves of each Reviver and return each world to the way it used to be."

"It's some pretty intense terraforming," Alexis added.

Zill nodded slowly, understanding. Then he stated, "That will take... a really long time."

"Yes, it will," Maricella confirmed. "Consider it... a few centuries of community service."

"In addition to that, control of the Arthrogonian Empire will be transferred to House Retzer, led by High Commander Retzer," Alexis put in, nodding to the first arthrogon to be Revived (who now had a very surprised expression on his face).

"I—uh—th-thank you, Paragon!" Retzer exclaimed in surprise, saluting with wide smile. "Rest assured, I will lead us with honour! For the glory of Arthrogonia!"

"Yeah, sure." Alexis smirked and put a hand on her hip. "So you got any orders for us, High Commander?"

"Well... er... if I could, I would order you to return to Arthrogonia with us and help us rebuild," Retzer confessed. "But I'm assuming you've grown rather fond of this planet, and would instead be inclined to stay with your brother."

"True." Alexis scratched her head sheepishly and added, "Also, my car's still in Safe Haven, so..."

Zill laughed and remarked, "Hope it hasn't been towed!"

Alexis laughed as well, albeit nervously.

"What about you, Lady Maricella?" Retzer inquired, turning to the now-former High Commander. "Will you stay with your children?"

"For now," Maricella confirmed. "But I'm open to returning home in time."

"Very good, ma'am." Retzer saluted again. "We'll await your return."

-

After Zill recovered his power from the broken terminal in the incu-chamber, he, Alexis, Maricella, and Cierra headed for the Reviver's exit. "So what happens to this ship?" Zill asked, running a hand along one of the walls.

"The Trozians will uproot it and tow it back to Arthrogonia," Maricella answered. "It'll probably be repaired and used to reform another world."

"Gotchya."

"I'm still in awe over this whole scheme," Cierra commented, chuckling. "It almost makes me wish I could stay with you all."