Chapter 8

"Mom?" Jason yelled from the front door. "My bus is here! I gotta go!"

Jess poked her head around the corner from the kitchen.

"Remember, Kaylee's a friend of the family. That's it. And try to stay where other people are. I don't want you to get caught alone. All right?"

"Right. See ya later, Mom. Bye Mama!" Jason yelled out to Kaylee, who was still in the kitchen.

"Have fun in school, Jason!" Kaylee yelled back.

Jason grinned and then hurried out the door. Jess turned around and went back to the kitchen.

"Maybe I should have kept him home," Jess mumbled. "But with all the school he's missed already, and those Feds showing up yesterday, it just wouldn't look good," Jess continued a little louder, as if she was actually explaining to Kaylee, rather than herself.

Kaylee finished drying the last dish and put it away, then draped the wet towel over the bar affixed to the lower cabinets. She turned around and leaned back against the counter and watched Jess, who was in the doorway with a frown firmly set on her face.

Kaylee closed her eyes and thought of how much she loved Jess and let the feelings flow out of her to find the one who caused them. Kaylee opened her eyes and saw Jess inhale sharply and close her own eyes.

"Thank you," Jess whispered, as she felt her insides melt.

"You're welcome," Kaylee replied quietly.

They stood like that for several minutes, Kaylee holding Jess with only her mind and Jess allowing herself to bask in Kaylee's love. Finally, Jess opened her eyes and stood up from where she had been leaning against the wall and spoke softly.

"We should get to work. The animals won't take care of themselves," Jess smiled.

Kaylee nodded and pushed herself away from the counter.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Jess and Kaylee worked well together and the silence was comfortable, instead of strained, but Kaylee had to keep dragging her eyes away from Jess and back to her own chores. She knew one of the reasons was simply that she found Jess's body to be so incredibly beautiful and her eyes enjoyed feasting on the visual treat. But she also found herself enthralled with the way Jess interacted with the large animals in her care.

Jess hummed to them, talked to them, and touched them at various points in her routine to communicate her good intentions to them, and Kaylee was mesmerized by the devotion she felt coming from the woman she loved.

Kaylee suddenly stopped what she was doing and straightened. Jess felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise and turned to look at Kaylee for an explanation. Kaylee stared through the barn wall toward the driveway for several seconds, then turned her head to look at Jess.

"Someone's coming," Kaylee announced.

Jess stepped out of the horse stall she was in and closed the gate behind her. She walked up to Kaylee and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Can you tell who it is?"

Kaylee shook her head. She wasn't getting much more than the fact that there was a strong presence quickly approaching.

"They're alone. That's all I know."

Jess moved toward the entrance of the barn and peered out, waiting for whoever it was to arrive. After less than a minute, a small gray car pulled up in front of the house. A short, blond-haired older gentleman got out of the car and didn't even look at the house, as he crunched through the snow towards the barn and the two women.

Kaylee stood just behind Jess's right shoulder and watched the older man come towards them. She tried to listen to his thoughts to find out if he was a threat, but there was something preventing her from doing so. He smiled as he came within a few meters of them.

"Good morning."

"Morning. Something we can do for you?" Jess asked noncommittally.

"As a matter of fact... Shall we go inside?" The man gestured toward the house.

"Who are you?" Jess asked, her vague frown growing more distinct.

"I'll answer all your questions. But first, it's a little chilly out here. I think we'd all be a lot more comfortable inside where it's warm and we can sit down together."

"All right," Kaylee agreed quietly and Jess turned to look at her in question.

Kaylee nodded to reassure Jess and Jess grudgingly nodded her assent, then headed for the house.

"Come on," Jess tossed over her shoulder.

Jess kept Kaylee at her side and didn't look back to find out if the man was following them or not. She opened the side door and let Kaylee enter first, then held the door for the man as well, before passing through the doorway herself.

After getting rid of their outerwear, Jess led the way to the den. She and Kaylee settled on the couch and Jess motioned to one of the chairs for their visitor to use.

"So, who are you?" Jess asked without preamble.

"My name is Joe N. Aaron. I'm the Director of..."

"Jonaran!" Kaylee suddenly exclaimed.

Jess nearly jumped off the couch and whipped her head around to look at Kaylee, who was sitting next to her.

"His name. It's Jonaran." Kaylee said a little more quietly and turned away from Jess to look at the man again.

Jess watched Kaylee study Joe with an intense look of concentration. She glanced at Joe to see a similar, though more passive, look on his face.

Kaylee felt her way into Jonaran's mind and met with immediate resistance. Then she felt Jonaran move to the edges of her own mind and wait.

You're not like them. You're like me, Kaylee thought.

Kaylee felt a positive sensation that she interpreted as a 'yes,' then a complex set of images and emotions, interspersed with several foreign, yet familiar, words, bombarded her inner world. She shook her head.

Again, she requested.

She felt confusion, then Jonaran's essence moved away from her.

"You don't know who you are," Jonaran said.

"I know my name and very little else," Kaylee replied.

"Um, would you mind telling me what's going on?" Jess asked, glancing back and forth between her lover and the stranger.

Jess was pretty sure they'd just had a conversation without her, which meant Joe was either a very special human or he wasn't human at all. As she looked back and forth between the two, she began to notice physical similarities that she thought could very well be racial characteristics.

Both had small, compact frames, blond hair, and green eyes. They both had what Jess considered to be delicate bone structures that were reinforced with solid muscle. Though their facial features were nothing alike, Jess knew they could very easily be mistaken as members of the same family.

"Well, as I started to say a moment ago, my name is Joe N. Aaron, or Jonaran, as Kaylee stated. I'm the Director of what is commonly known as the 'X files' investigative division of the FBI. Less than two weeks ago, I was informed that an unidentified ship crashed near here and I launched an investigation to determine if the pilot had survived. When I learned that the pilot did in fact walk away from the crash, I ordered my people to begin looking for the individual." Jonaran focused on Kaylee. "I never thought they would actually find you. You should have been out of the area immediately. So I decided to come down and find out what went wrong myself. Now I know. You don't remember why you're here."

"So, what, this happens a lot?" Jess asked sarcastically.

"No. There hasn't been another planetfall since I arrived," Jonaran replied.

Kaylee's brow wrinkled as she stared intently at Jonaran, then her face cleared.

"You've been here a long time," Kaylee stated quietly.

"Yes. Over forty years."

Kaylee studied the carpet for several long moments before lifting her gaze to meet Jonaran's again.

"Who am I?"

"I don't know, but I can help you find out."

"How?" Jess asked.

She was still suspicious and her voice had an unmistakable edge to it.

"If she lets me, I can enter her mind and look for her memories and bring them back to the surface."

"I want to remember," Kaylee turned to Jess, almost asking permission.

"Are you sure you can trust him?" Jess asked Kaylee, as though Jonaran weren't sitting right there in front of them.

Kaylee turned her head to look at Jonaran again. After a full minute, Kaylee gave her answer, while still watching the man.

"Yes."

Jonaran resettled himself in his chair and leaned forward.

"Good. Now, tell me, what's the last thing you can remember? It'll give me a place to start from."

"I remember the crash. Something was wrong with the ship and then I saw the mountains and trees and then... It was horrible," Kaylee shuddered.

"I'm sure it was, but I need you to think about it anyway. I should be able to work back from there."

Kaylee closed her eyes and focused her mind on remembering the crash. She felt Jonaran on the edges of her thoughts and then felt him move into her mind. A split second later, she heard him scream and her eyes flew open.

Jonaran's hands were wrapped around his head and he continued to scream, as he fell out of his chair and attempted to crawl away by pushing with his legs and rocking his upper body back and forth. His screams died down to whimpers and both Jess and Kaylee helped move him onto the couch. After several minutes, Jonaran managed to bring his hands away from his head and opened his eyes to stare at Kaylee. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and took several deep breaths.

"Melora, what was that?!" Jonaran exclaimed, still a little out of breath from screaming.

"I don't know. What happened?" Kaylee asked.

"I felt like my entire body was trying to come apart and put itself back together at the same time."

"That's what it was like when I crashed. My body healed itself as it was being destroyed."

"That's impossible. Our abilities aren't that advanced."

"Then how do you explain her being alive?" Jess countered.

"I... I can't. I saw the photos of the crash site, but I assumed she ejected." Jonaran turned back to Kaylee. "I had no idea you went down with the ship."

They stared at each other for awhile, until Jess cleared her throat.

"All right, putting all that aside for now, why are you here? And who are you, aside from all that FBI bullshit you just told us."

Jonaran sat up straight and seemed to collect his thoughts again, as he came back to the reason for his presence. He was once again the distinguished older gentleman and he ignored Jess to direct his words to Kaylee alone.

"I think I can help relocate you. As you've probably noticed, Earth isn't exactly the haven it was made out to be, but at least we're not slaves here. If you leave with me now, I can call off the investigation and..."

"I can't leave. Not without Jess and Jason," Kaylee shook her head.

Jonaran's face registered confusion and he looked to Jess for an explanation.

"Jason is my son and we both love Kaylee. Wherever she goes, we're going with her," Jess answered the man's unspoken questions.

"That makes things a lot more complicated."

Both women remained impassive.

"Maybe if you knew why you were here, you'd change your mind," Jonaran remarked.

"What do you mean?" Kaylee asked.

"My dear, we come from a race of slaves. You're here for the same reason I am; to escape and return with more of our own kind, so that we can finally overthrow our masters."

"More of our own kind? I don't understand."

"We're only allowed to breed by the masters' schedules, so our numbers our kept strictly under control. There were never enough of us to put up any kind of resistance. But here, we can have as many children as we wish. I myself have fathered hundreds of children and only one of them ever refused to join our effort after he was made aware of his birthright. But that was almost thirteen years ago and I haven't heard from him since. And no others have turned out to be cowards, so I think he was just a genetic anomaly. When the time comes for us to return, there will be thousands of us. We will set our people free."

Jess's anger had grown as Jonaran spoke.

"You mean to tell me Kaylee is expected to have child after child just so they can be sent off to fight some war?"

"This isn't your concern."

"Like hell it isn't!"

"Jess. Calm down." Kaylee spoke quietly to encourage Jess to lower her voice, but it didn't work.

"Calm down?!" Jess stared at Kaylee incredulously.

Kaylee put her hand on Jess's knee and made sure Jess could feel her love.

"That's not fair," Jess said, a reluctant smile gracing her lips. It was impossible to stay angry when she felt so damned great.

"It wasn't meant to be," Kaylee grinned back. She returned her attention to Jonaran. "I don't think I can act as a breeding machine for a war effort I don't even remember. You said you've been here for over forty years without anyone else showing up after you. How do you know our people haven't already won their freedom?"

Jonaran shook his head adamantly.

"It would have been impossible. You don't know what it was like. We didn't stand a chance, unless we could find a way to increase our numbers. The underground managed to get a few of us into the pilot class and we began scouting for a base, while going on routine errands for our masters. I was one of the only men who made it into the pilot ranks."

Jonaran's face twisted with disgust.

"We were usually used for brute strength, while our women were put to work on more intellectual tasks."

Jonaran's expression cleared as he pushed the thoughts away and went back to telling his tale.

"It was my wife who found this planet. She died getting the information to the underground. When I saw the report on Earth and its inhabitants, I understood why she gave her life for the information. It's perfect. Humans are technologically advanced enough to allow us to keep watch on the skies without giving ourselves away and their bodies are nearly identical to our own. Interbreeding poses no problem and our genes become dominant at the onset of puberty. The oldest of my grandchildren have shown similar abilities as those of our own pure-blooded people. We've already begun building ships to take us home and, in a few years, we'll be able to return and rally our people behind us and throw off our chains once and for all."

Jonaran's eyes were sparkling from his passionate speech, but Kaylee had trouble relating to his enthusiasm. She wasn't interested in going to war with anyone. She just wanted to stay with Jess on the ranch and raise their son together.

"You said one of your sons refused to join your cause and you never heard from him again. Did you just let him go?" Kaylee asked. Maybe she could just say no, like he did.

"No, not exactly. I contacted him on his eighteenth birthday and met with him a few days later. I explained to him why he was able to do the things he could and then asked him to come with me. He said he didn't want to leave his family, but I told him what was at stake and he agreed to leave with me. I taught him about our abilities and how to use them and explained how we needed to increase our numbers. Being a young man, he seemed rather happy about the service he was to provide for our people."

Jonaran's smirk died at the humorless expressions on the two women's faces. He cleared his throat and continued.

"Michael traveled around the country for nearly a year and sent me information about all of his successes, so that we would be able to keep track of where our progeny were. Then I got a phone call from him telling me he couldn't do it anymore and that I shouldn't try to find him. That was nearly thirteen years ago and I've received no messages from him since. I did try to find him, of course, but I knew it was pointless from the beginning. He knew enough that unless he wanted to be found, he never would be. So, you can see, I didn't just let him go. He ran."

"Michael what?" Jess asked pensively. The blood had drained from her face and Kaylee was watching her with concern.

"Excuse me?"

"Michael what? What was his last name?"

"Barnes. Why?"

"Oh god."

Jess stood up and began pacing. Kaylee watched her lover silently, as the questions she'd been asking herself were finally answered. All the pieces fell into place and Kaylee could only sit helplessly, while Jess's mind raced with new insight into her son. Then Jess stopped and rounded on Jonaran.

"You can't have him. I don't care who you are. You touch my son and I swear to god, I'll kill you with my bare hands."

Jonaran's eyes went wide with shock and he looked at Kaylee in confusion. Then he pulled the most conscious thoughts from Jess's mind and saw several scenes of his son with a much younger Jess. His determination returned with the knowledge that he would also be gaining another grandson.

"That would be up to him."

"No. He's just a child and I will not let you turn him into some kind of alien stud for your 'cause.' You can't have Kaylee and you can't have Jase. I think you should leave now."

Jess's heart was pounding and she felt like she couldn't breathe, but she didn't want to fall apart in front of Jonaran.

"Wait, Jess. I don't intend to let Jason be taken away from us either, but Jonaran's my only link to finding out who I am and maybe clearing all of this up."

Jess turned away and braced her hands against the wall for support. Her head hung down between her outstretched arms, while she tried to get her breathing under control, along with her emotions. Kaylee turned back to Jonaran.

"What if I just think about what was happening right before the crash? Then you won't be affected the way you were before. Can we try again? It's been forty years since you've had news of home. Maybe things have changed and none of this even matters anymore."

Jonaran appeared to be considering Kaylee's words and finally nodded his head.

"We'll have to be careful, though. I don't think I could take that, whatever it was, again."

Kaylee nodded her agreement. Jonaran glanced at Jess's back, then over to Kaylee again.

"This could take awhile," he said and motioned with his chin to do something about Jess.

Kaylee stood up and walked over to where Jess was standing. She laid her hand on Jess's back and stroked it softly.

"Jess?"

Jess turned her head slightly to look at Kaylee and Kaylee saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I can't lose you both," Jess whispered hoarsely.

Kaylee pulled Jess into her arms and held her tight. She swayed back and forth, rocking Jess in her arms.

"I love you, Jessica Taylor. You already convinced me that we're in this together. All of us. I won't leave without you and Jason. No matter what," Kaylee promised.

"I love you, Kayleeya. So much."

It was several minutes before Jess pulled away and wiped at her face. She looked over at Jonaran and her eyes hardened. She didn't say anything, but Jonaran knew a threat when he saw it and Jess's thoughts were practically screaming bloody murder at him. Jess turned back to Kaylee.

"If you need anything, let me know."

Kaylee nodded and Jess kissed her on the forehead before walking out of the room. Kaylee watched her leave, then turned around to face Jonaran.

"Shall we try this again?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Jess kept herself busy with her normal chores and every now and then she felt a sense of reassurance wash over her. Just the fact that Kaylee wanted Jess to know she was okay made Jess feel better. Somehow, they would get through this.

Jess looked up when she heard the loud rumbling of the school bus. She glanced at her watch and was surprised at how much time had passed without her realizing it. She finished what she was doing and then met Jason halfway down the driveway.

"Hey. How was school?"

Jason resettled his backpack on his shoulder.

"Fine. Nobody tried to talk to me, but there were a couple of guys in suits watching me from their car. I swear, it was right out of some movie. You'd think they would be smart enough to change their clothes or something," Jason grinned up at his mother.

Jess smiled back, but Jason could tell it was forced.

"Did something happen here?" Jason asked.

"Yeah." Jess stopped walking and turned to face her son. "We need to talk."

Jason nodded and they walked to the barn. Jess indicated a couple hay bales and Jason jumped up on top and sat down. Jess took a seat on a couple bales to his left. She started to speak, but Jason stopped her.

"Wait, Mom? There's something I need to tell you first."

Jason waited and Jess nodded her head for him to continue. Jason gathered himself up and squared his shoulders. He had no idea how his mother was going to take this.

"Well, ever since that night, when Mama brought me back to life, I've been able to... I've been able to sort of feel what you and her are feeling. I can also sort of hear what you guys are thinking sometimes, if I really listen hard. It's the same with the kids at school and the teachers, too."

Jason looked up from where he'd been staring at the individual stalks of trapped hay he was sitting on.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, Mom. I didn't mean to lie to you. I just didn't want you to have to worry about me or anything, with all this other stuff going on. It's probably just some kind of weird effect from what Mama did to keep me alive. It'll probably wear off in a little while. But don't be mad at her, okay? She didn't do it on purpose."

Jason hung his head again and waited for his mother's reaction. He wasn't worried about being punished for lying. He was just scared that Jess would be angry at Kaylee and tell her to leave. He'd never seen his mother so happy with another person and he was terrified he'd messed that up for her.

"Jason."

Jason tentatively raised his head to look at his mother again.

"It's not going to wear off, kiddo."

Jason's face wrinkled in confusion. Jess smiled and put a hand on her son's shoulder to somehow brace him for what she was about to tell him.

"I have to tell you something, too. A man showed up here today. He's in charge of the search for Kaylee and it turns out he's from the same place Kaylee is. His name is Jonaran and he's your grandfather."

Jason's eyes went wide and his mind raced. So many thoughts went through his head, he couldn't focus on any of them and he just sat there speechless. Finally, Jason managed to get his brain under control and he took a deep breath.

"I'm part... whatever it is Mama is?"

Jess nodded.

"And that's why I can hear people's thoughts and feel their feelings?"

"Yeah. It's not going to go away. In fact, your powers are probably only going to get stronger. Jonaran said their genes become dominant at puberty. I'm guessing when Kaylee healed you, she jump-started the process is all."

Jason nodded absently, obviously lost in thought. Jess waited, but Jason didn't look like he was going to come out of it on his own anytime soon.

"Jason? How are you with all this?"

Jason smiled as he looked up at his mother again, but the happiness faded as a sudden fear gripped him.

"Will Mama still be my... Mama? I mean, if the bad guys are after her and the lead bad guy is my grandpa... Does she know? Is she mad at me?"

Jess pulled her son into a hug.

"Of course she's not mad at you. She loves you. And so do I, ya little green-blooded Martian."

Jess ruffled her son's hair as she released him from the hug and grinned at him. Jason smiled back a little bashfully, then straightened his shoulders.

"So, I guess this changes a few things, huh?" Jason asked solemnly.

"Yeah, it does."

Jess looked away.

"What else happened? Am I gonna get to meet my grandfather?"

"He's in the house with Kaylee right now. They're trying to get her memory back. Jonaran, your grandfather..."

Jess couldn't figure out how to tell her son what Jonaran expected of Kaylee and, later, of him.

"What?" Jason asked.

"There are things he wants from you and Kaylee, things I don't agree with. I won't let him take you away from me," Jess whispered the last sentence.

"Take me away? I don't want to leave you. He can't make me go. Can he?" Jason asked in alarm.

Jess pulled Jason back to her again.

"No. If you don't want to go, you don't have to. You're my son. I don't care who your father was."

"I don't want to go," Jason said. His voice was a little muffled from where he was pressed against Jess and a few tears had found their way out of Jason's eyes.

"It's gonna be okay, kiddo. It's gonna be okay."

Jess rocked with Jason much the way Kaylee had soothed Jess earlier. They sat like that on the bales of hay for a long while until Jess felt Kaylee sending her love. Jess looked up toward the barn's entrance and saw Kaylee and Jonaran standing there. Jess straightened up and Jason noticed them too and hopped down from his perch. Jess stood a second later.

"Hi," Kaylee started.

"Hi," Jess replied a little warily. "Did it work?"

Kaylee nodded.

"So, what happens now?" Jess asked.

Kaylee walked forward and embraced both Jess and Jason in a tight hug. After a moment, Kaylee let them both go. She looked at Jess first.

"Nothing's changed. I still love you and I'm not going anywhere without you." Then, she turned to Jason. "And you're still my son. I love you with all my heart and that won't change no matter who your relatives happen to be."

"What about the fleet you're supposed to command?" Jason asked. He smirked at Kaylee's surprised look. "You know, this reading minds thing works both ways."

Kaylee nodded.

"All right. I didn't mean to listen in about that, but your fear was pretty strong. I just want to make sure you know I'm not mad at you for what other people are doing."

"I know, Mama."

He got a hug from Kaylee for that and then the three of them turned to face Jonaran.

"Jason? This is your grandfather, Jonaran. He's decided not to force the issue, so you don't have to worry about being taken away from your mother."

Jason stepped forward and held out his hand to shake Jonaran's.

Jess glanced sideways at Kaylee and Kaylee stared at the ground with a slightly guilty look.

What did you do, Kaylee? And I know you can hear me, Jess thought at the alien woman.

"I threatened to send my thoughts of the crash to him if he tried to do anything to separate Jason from either one of us," Kaylee whispered, then she shrugged. "He was a lot more understanding after that."

Kaylee couldn't quite hide her smirk. Jess shook her head in amusement.

"And in light of what I've remembered, it's a moot point anyway," Kaylee added more seriously.

Jess nodded at the change of subject.

"So what's this about commanding some fleet?" Jess asked.

Jason walked back to them with Jonaran right behind him. Jonaran looked pleasantly surprised at having met one of his grandchildren and Jason looked relieved at not being forced to choose between his two heritages. They both waited for Kaylee to answer Jess's question.

"Oh, that. I'm... I guess the closest equivalent in English would be Commander or maybe General. I was sent to collect our people and bring them back with me to join our fight. War broke out approximately one of your months ago. We need all the help we can get, so I'm... Well, I was going around to all of our hidden bases and taking everyone with me. But my scoutship malfunctioned and the gravity drive cut out on me and I got up close and personal with the ground before I could do anything about it."

Kaylee shook off her grin and stared up at Jess. She reached out her hand and cupped Jess's cheek. Her voice softened with her next words.

"I wouldn't change any of it, though. If I hadn't crashed, I never would have met you and that would have been unacceptable."

Kaylee drew her hand away and looked down at the space between them.

"I have to... I want you both to come with..." Kaylee shook her head. "No, I can't ask you to follow me into a war zone and if you tell me to stay, I will. I promised you both I wouldn't leave you and I meant it. But the Zaru have become more and more ruthless as time goes on. They slaughtered an entire slave settlement on Basada and then tried to force the workers on Calavay to breed replacements. That's when we fought back. We've been at war ever since. It's only a matter of time before they learn of our holdouts and come to wipe them out. That means they'll be coming here. If I can get our people back home, maybe there will be enough of us to stop them before they ever reach Earth, or any of our other bases. I have to... I want to at least try. I'm a good commander. I can defeat them, I'm sure of it."

"But you would stay if I wanted you to? You would abandon your people just because I asked?" Jess asked skeptically.

"Jess, I would forsake the entire universe for you without a second thought, if I believed that would keep you by my side," Kaylee said as she stared directly into Jess's eyes.

"But you know I wouldn't ask that of you," Jess replied with a small smile.

"No, I don't think you would and if I don't lead the fight back home, I'll have to create a defense here because they will end up getting here, sooner or later, if they're not stopped. I just... The choice has to be yours. I love you and I will do whatever you ask of me," Kaylee told her.

"I want to live on my ranch and raise my son with you and live happily ever after. That's what I want, but it's not going to happen. At least, not for awhile."

Jess looked down at Jason and he nodded his head.

"All right, we're going with you. I'm not sure what help I can be, but I'm a fast learner," Jess said and she had to take a step back to keep from falling over when Kaylee jumped into her arms.

"Thank you," Kaylee whispered into Jess's ear.

Jess set Kaylee back on the ground.

"I'm a fast learner, too. I bet I could help with computer stuff," Jason offered.

"I'm gonna take you up on that, Jase. You're good with those video games and I'd like it if you worked on some simulations on my ship. I think you'll be good at coming up with interesting scenarios for training our pilots," Kaylee smiled.

Jess sent Kaylee a thankful look. That would keep Jason out of harm's way, at least as much as was possible, considering the dangerous course they had committed themselves to. She knew Kaylee wasn't exaggerating about taking them into a war zone and images of space battles with lasers and dead bodies floating in space were making themselves known in the back of her mind.

"I'm good at what I do, Jess. Trust me," Kaylee whispered as she felt the trickles of fear coming from Jess.

Jess nodded.

"I should return to get things started," Jonaran spoke up.

"Yes. Get everyone together and anybody who is physically able should be put to work on building more ships. I'll give you the specs on the advancements we've made over the last few decades so they can be implemented immediately."

"I'll put out the call. You'll be going to Tennessee then?"

"I'll be there within the week." Kaylee turned to Jess. "How long do you think it will take you to find someone to take care of the ranch while we're gone?"

Jess's brow furrowed in thought.

"How long will we be gone?"

"At least several months, but less than a year. We don't have enough resources for a protracted engagement. If we don't win quickly and decisively, we won't win at all."

"All right. I think I could get Alice to come over for a couple days, and Carson could help her out, but I'll need to find somebody long-term. That could take awhile."

"How long is 'awhile'?"

"A couple weeks, a month."

"Okay, that will work. We'll need about that much time to build the ships we're going to need anyway."

Kaylee turned back to Jonaran.

"You know what you have to do?"

Jonaran nodded and Kaylee continued.

"I'll try to be in Spring Hill by Friday. I think production is going to have to be stopped on the cars. We can't afford to split our efforts between that and the ships we need."

"They're going to want to know why. Not everyone at Saturn is one of us."

"I don't think it can be helped. Anyone who isn't coming with us needs to be sent home. Otherwise, we risk being discovered."

"But if the cars suddenly stop coming out of the factory, we'll lose our cover. We can't hide the fact that the plant is still in operation, but without the cars, everyone is going to wonder what's being built in their place," Jonaran observed.

"You're right. Okay. What about shuffling them around? Keep everyone who doesn't know about us manufacturing the cars in one section and use our people to convert the rest of the facilities into building our ships. If we can keep them separate, it should work."

Jonaran nodded.

"I'll see what I can do."

"What about the investigation?" Jess asked.

Jonaran smiled.

"I'll close the investigation and mark it unsolved, then classify it. Everyone will be reassigned to other investigations and that'll be the end of it. Then I'll take a leave of absence and join you all in Spring Hill. There are advantages to being the one in charge."

"You should go now. You have a lot of traveling to do in the next few days," Kaylee reminded him.

Melora guide you, Kayleeya, Jonaran thought to her.

Kaylee returned the thoughts and sent her heartfelt thanks to him as well. She was still a little fragmented from trying to reconcile who she had been with who she had become while being without her memories, but she wouldn't have even had those memories if it hadn't been for Jonaran.

Jonaran turned his attention to Jason.

"Listen to Kayleeya. There is much you have to learn from her."

Jason nodded in agreement.

"She's gonna teach me how to use my powers," Jason said.

Kaylee hadn't specifically said anything to that effect, but he'd caught an errant thought on the subject from her and he knew he wanted to learn about that half of his lineage from Kaylee rather than anyone else.

Jonaran stood a little straighter, but there was no way he could hope to match Jess's height.

"Good luck to you," Jonaran spoke formally and held out his hand.

Jess looked at the extended hand for a moment before accepting it into her own.

"We'll see you in a few days. Maybe you can take some time out to spend with your grandson then," Jess offered.

Jonaran grinned.

"I intend to spend a lot of time with all of my children and grandchildren and Jason will definitely be a part of those reunions. You both have a lot of family to meet."

Jess nodded and Jonaran headed for the barn's exit. He turned around once to look at the women and the boy, then left.

Jess looked at her son, then at Kaylee.

"Guess I should start making some phone calls," Jess said.

Jess hugged Kaylee and Jason with one arm each. Then she followed the same path Jonaran had, until she reached the door and headed for the house.

Kaylee looked at Jason and sent a thought to him. Jason's brow furrowed almost identically to his mother's facial expression when she was trying to figure something out.

"You just asked me how I'm doing, right?" Jason questioned.

"Yes. You'll learn, when you're around more of our people, that we usually only speak for technical issues or anything that lacks emotional qualities. On my ship, very little telepathy is used because it's difficult to be completely unambiguous when issuing an order. But when it's just us, just family, and we don't have to worry about things like that, we use our minds to communicate. It's more personal."

"But what about Mom? She's not going to be able to do that."

"We can send to her just as easily as we send to each other. We'll just have to make sure all the words are in English, otherwise, she won't understand. And if she's thinking loud enough for us, we'll be able to hear her without trying too hard. But I want to make something clear right now. You are not to peek into other people's minds without their permission."

"You did it. You still do," Jason countered.

"You're right. I pulled thoughts from the men that were after me and I listened to your thoughts when you didn't know I was doing that. I'm sorry. But there is a difference between picking up on your or your mother's fear and responding to it and purposely trying to learn someone's secrets without their knowledge. That kind of behavior isn't tolerated in our society. I know this is all new to you, Jason, and you're going to be tempted to take advantage of your new abilities, but I want you to exercise a little control."

"All right. I won't look without permission. But I can't help it if I just accidentally hear someone's thoughts, can I?"

"Well, not really, but if that starts to happen, you need to let the person know about it, or else excuse yourself from their presence. Distance will lessen the volume of thoughts that aren't actually being sent, though it must be a great distance to hinder an intentionally sent thought."

"How far away would you have to be before you couldn't hear me anymore?"

"Several miles, but that distance will increase when you get older and your abilities become stronger."

"What about Mom? How far away would she have to be for you not to hear her anymore?"

"That's a little different."

"Because she's completely human?"

"Well, yes, but it's more than just that. We're... We've bonded. Talking to her is like talking to myself. Distance has little meaning."

Jason heard the extra thoughts Kaylee was sending to him to help explain and his eyes widened.

"She could hear you across the galaxy?" Jason said in awe.

"If I wanted her to, yes."

"But she doesn't know that."

"Not yet. We all have a lot to talk about. Come on. Let's get dinner started, while your Mom tries to find someone to take over the ranch for her."

Kaylee put her arm around his shoulder and they walked back to the house.