APRIL 6, 2011

Boone and Misty had gotten married.

A Soynite marriage involved one member of the couple wearing the pendant of the other. While the person gripped their pendant as their partner wore it, the couple kissed. Boone had put his pendant on Misty. Then he had gripped it while kissing her.

That had happened on the second of April, four days ago.

Misty had changed her last name to Windsore, but Zoey kept Misty's original surname, as if doing that might bring her birth father into her life. She had never met him. She had met Boone, though. One month ago, he had found her and Misty in a forest on Soy.

A Freeman enemy had murdered Boone's first wife in their home. She was as dead as Soy, but her daughter had become a High. She had left with her Watcher, but her father hadn't gone with them. He hadn't been allowed to. Instead of escaping Soy with Lovely and Marina, Boone had left with Misty and Zoey. He had become their friend. He had become Misty's husband.

Sometimes, Boone and Misty removed their pendants and clothes and had fun in their bedroom. Having sex with her wouldn't revive Soy. Still, he enjoyed doing what he and Lauren used to do. In the future, Misty might give birth to his second child. It wasn't too late for him to be the father of two people one day. If Misty made a baby with him, what would he or she look like? Like Boone, would the child be orange-haired and green-eyed? Or would he or she be like Misty, who had brown hair and brown eyes?

Boone stood in the lounge room where he had hugged Misty for the first time. He carried Zoey. She didn't know who her birth father was, but she knew a High was her sister.

Zoey wore a blue shirt with long sleeves. She donned blue jeans, but she didn't wear shoes or socks. Boone hadn't been barefoot while he ran in that forest during Soy's invasion. He had survived the Freemans' attack on his home planet. Lauren hadn't.

Misty remained in the lounge room. She wanted to kill a man, one who wasn't Lock Tannis. She had trained so she could have a higher chance of killing him.

Who was her target?

"I'm really glad you're part of this family, Boone," Misty said. "When I met you, I didn't know that you would become my husband. But I'm glad you did. And I'm not the only one who is happy to have you here. Zoey is obviously fond of you. My baby finally knows what it's like to have a father. She deserves to have you in her life, and so do I. And I know that you can't be with your other daughter, but I think that you will see her again. Hopefully, I'll meet Lovely one day. I want to meet my stepdaughter before I die."

Boone looked at Misty. "You will. You're going to meet Lovely, and you're going to like her. I'm sure that she will like you."

"I wish that she was with us. If she was, I would be able to treat her well. She deserves to be treated with respect. The same goes for all of the Highs, really. It would've been nice if I had seen Theo making them into our new leaders, but I'm glad that you saw that happen. You also saw them escape in that spaceship."

"I hope it didn't get attacked by a Freeman one," Boone said. "Still, I want to believe that Lovely and the other Highs will make it to Earth. After they do, they will be able to go to different planets. Maybe they will even go back to outer space. They could settle in some space stations. The Highs and their Watchers have to go to Earth, but they won't have to stay there. I wonder where Lovely will be when I reunite with her. She probably won't even be five by the time I see her again. When I reunite with her, she might be a teenager. She will definitely be one years from now."

Misty nodded. "So will Zoey. Our daughters won't be five forever. And you're not going to be away from Lovely forever."

Boone had been separated from Lovely for a month, but she had been his daughter for five years. He hadn't been born as a father. She hadn't been born as a High. She and some other children ruled Soy. The planet was dead, but the Soy Maker had the power to bring Soy back to life. Freemans had slain most of the Soynite race, but Boone could have a baby with Misty someday. In the future, other Soynite men could have children with their wives. Soy was dead, but Boone hadn't lost his optimism.

"We're going to get everything that we want," he said. "I want to see Lovely again, and I'm going to. I also want our planet to be revived. Soy used to be so beautiful. One day, it's going to be beautiful again. The Soy Maker is out there, and someone will use it to revive our planet. We shouldn't believe that it will be dead and barren forever. Because it won't be."

Boone stopped holding Zoey, then she walked toward a sofa. She sat on it. When Boone saw Misty for the first time, Zoey had been standing behind her. Misty had failed to prevent the Freemans from destroying Soy. Everyone had. But Misty had succeeded in being a great mother.

"I believe you," Misty told Boone.

He stood on a blue floor. After Soy's revival, he would stand on grass on the planet.

"Good," he said. "I don't know when Soy will be revived, but I plan on being alive when it happens. We didn't deserve to have our planet destroyed. And the Soynites who were murdered during the Invasion didn't deserve to die like that. Lauren deserved better than what she got. Marina killed the Freeman who killed her, but the one who ordered Soy's invasion is still alive."

"When someone kills Lock Tannis, Lauren will be avenged," Misty said. "He's the worst Freeman in the universe, and we can't deny that. He's also the most powerful Freeman."

"Theo Majestic is more powerful than he is," Zoey said.

Misty nodded. "That's right, Zoey. But Theo is only more powerful than Lock whenever he's not around any strife. It's such a shame that strife exists. If it didn't, we wouldn't have to worry about Lock killing Theo. Because he wouldn't be able to. The Freemans aren't the only enemies our people have. Each piece of strife is our enemy, too."

Zoey looked at the floor. "I wish strife didn't exist."

That green substance from planet Free had prevented Boone from setting those two Freeman warriors on fire, back during Soy's invasion. Misty had shot them to death. She had used a Soynite pistol to do it. If Theo got too close to strife, he wouldn't be able to launch lasers from his palms, fly, or do one of the other things he could do.

"Me too," Misty said. "I hate strife just as much as you do. I wish it didn't exist, but it does. It's real. And the Freemans know that, too. They will never hesitate to use strife against us. You know that. On the night when we met your father, the Freemans who were chasing him had strife swords. You remember that, don't you?"

"Yes," Zoey replied. "And those Freemans didn't kill Father, because you helped him. I hope I get rid of Freemans one day. I want to save people from them."

Boone smiled. "I'm sure you will, Zoey. You're going to be brave when the time comes. I know you will. You're going to save other Soynites from some Freemans, and they will appreciate you for it. You're going to be a hero."

Zoey grinned.

"I can't wait for that to happen," she said.

"And I can't wait for you to meet Lovely," Boone said. "Right now, she doesn't know who you are, but she's going to. I hope the two of you become great friends. You and her aren't just stepsisters. You're also sisters. The two of you are going to have to love each other, because that's what family should do."

Zoey remained seated on the sofa, and there was a chance Lovely sat on a different one. She was distant from this spaceship's three-person crew. Thirteen people had boarded the spacecraft Boone had seen on that airstrip while Freemans attacked Soy, and those thirteen people would arrive on Earth. Boone had never been on that planet.

Would Freemans go there?

They had built military bases on their planet, and they could build some on Earth after reaching it. Months from now, the Freemans might wound or kill Soynites there, Soynites who had survived the attack on their home planet.

"I know," Zoey said. "And I want to love Lovely. I want to be with her. She's my sister, and I can't even see her. Sisters should be able to see each other. But I can't see mine. I wish I could, though. I wonder when I'll be able to meet her."

"Soon, I hope," Boone told his daughter. "I can't be with Lovely, and neither can you. But we're going to see her again. We will talk to her. And we will hug her. Your sister survived the Invasion, and I think she's still alive. That means that there's a chance you will meet her. You will meet Lovely, and I will reunite with her. When we see her, Marina might be with her. She's a great Watcher. She's also a very good friend of mine. She will always do her best to keep Lovely safe. Hopefully, Marina will do the same for you. One day, she might love you like she loves Lovely."

Misty went closer to Zoey and caressed her long brown hair. "My baby definitely deserves to be loved."

"Zoey is a great kid," Boone said. "So is Lovely. I'm grateful that I know her and Zoey, but I wish they were together. They have to meet. Right now, they're far from each other. All three of us are far from Lovely. It's horrible. And she knows me, but she doesn't know you and Zoey. Misty, you're Lovely's stepmother, and Zoey is her stepsister. But she isn't with the two of you. She's not with me, either. She's going to be, though."

"Lovely doesn't have a mother anymore," Misty said. "But I'm her stepmother now, and I'll do whatever I have to do to protect her. Plus, she's a High. It's my duty to keep her safe anyway. The government agents you saw outside the spaceport were protecting her and the other children, even before Theo made them into Highs. It must have been an honor for them."

"Being Lovely's father is an honor."

When that horrible Freeman killed Lauren, that had been awful. She had never seen Lovely become a High, and she never would. Boone would never forget Lauren. He would never forget Lovely.

"Being her father will always be an honor," he said. "And the day will come when she has a throne and a crown. The other Highs will have those things, too, and Soynites will kneel for them. They will show the Highs the respect they deserve. That's what I want to do. I want to show respect to my Highs. I want to kneel for them, and I want to kneel for Lovely. I doubt most of our people know that there are new Highs, but I know it. All three of us know it."

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"If you hadn't told me that there are new Highs, I wouldn't have learned about it," Misty said. "I've never had a vision of Theo making new Highs."

"I wish you had been there. I told you about the ceremony, but having something described to you is different than seeing it. I watched Theo turn my daughter and some other children into our new rulers. I wonder how Lovely feels about being a High."

Zoey put her hands on her knees. "I wonder what she's doing right now."

"Whatever she's doing, I hope she's not in too much of a bad mood," Boone said. "If she's sad right now, I can't comfort her. Marina could, though. But I know that Lovely wishes I was with her. She's with Marina, but she's not Lovely's mother. She also isn't me. Lovely loves Marina, but she would rather have her father with her than her Watcher. I know that. Unfortunately, I can't be with your sister, Zoey. And she can't be with me. No matter how much we wish we were with Lovely, I doubt we will be with her today. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," Zoey replied.

Boone, Misty, Zoey, and the other Soynites deserved an apology from Lock Tannis, the Freeman who had ordered their home planet's destruction. Lovely ruled Soy, and Lock ruled Free. But she would rather protect the Soynite people than finish what Lock had started. When Boone spoke with her for the last time, she hadn't been a leader, but Lock had been one back then. His pale people had murdered too many great Soynites. One of them had slain the mother of Boone's child.

Who would kill Lock? Would Lovely do it? Or would she befriend the person who would slay that horrible Freeman?

Misty sat next to Zoey on the sofa, then kissed her hair. "You're going to meet Lovely. You're going to meet everyone you want to meet. You will see your sister. The two of you will be able to talk to each other, hug each other, and play together."

Zoey smiled, looking as if she had found Lovely. She had never met her stepsister, but she would in the future. Boone needed to believe that as much as he needed to believe a great hero would end this war between the Soynites and the Freemans.

The war Lock had started had begun a month ago, but the Freeman race's hatred for the Soynites had begun many years ago, long before Theo's birth. King Hase had been alive at the same time as the original Freemans. Now he was dead. But his descendant Theo might not be.

"I want to play with Lovely," Zoey said. "Maybe she's playing with one of the other Highs right now. Maybe she's happy. I really hope she is. She doesn't deserve to be sad."

"Neither do you," Misty said, still sitting next to Zoey. Boone stayed away from the sofa, as if Lock might live for another ten more years if he sat beside his wife or his stepdaughter. "When you meet your sister, you'll be able to make her happy. And you will make her happy. I need you to believe that. Lovely won't have to be sad when she's around you. One day, you're going to help her. The two of you will be good to each other. You and her are going to treat each other well. That's going to happen at some point. I'm sure of it, Zoey."

Lovely's first meeting with Zoey had never occurred. If they met, two sisters would be in the same place.

"Lovely is with Marina," Boone said. "She's protecting her, and she will do her best to defend her. She's a great Watcher. Even before Lovely became a High, Marina wanted to protect her. I can't keep your sister safe, Zoey. But Marina can. And she doesn't want Lovely to be sad. She will always want her to be happy. I can't be with Lovely. You can't, either. But she's with a really good friend of hers. Just remember that. Lovely is safe. She's with Marina, and she's also with her co-rulers. She's in a spaceship with some great people."

"Lovely is going to leave them," Zoey said. "But she's not going to leave Marina. The Highs have to go away from each other after they make it to Earth, because that's what Theo Majestic wants to happen. I will never want a Freeman to kill him. He's a really great person. He doesn't deserve to die. No Soynite deserves to die, actually."

Boone nodded. "That's right, Zoey."

Misty frowned.

Like every Soynite, Theo, Boris Endman, and the other former Highs deserved to live.

"I don't know where Theo is, but I hope you meet him one day," Boone told Zoey.

"We need him," she said. "He's the most powerful person in the universe, and he can easily kill Lock Tannis. Theo just needs to be away from strife when he fights him. And if he kills Lock, he will be the new leader of the Freemans. They will kneel for Theo. He's not a High anymore. He stopped being one of Soy's leaders, but he might become the next leader of Free."

When Lock killed Vice Reaper, he had become the new Freeman leader. Like Theo, Lock knew what it was like to be a ruler for a long time. They were old men, but they didn't look like it. One of those ancient men had given up his royal power. The other one still led a planet and its people. In the future, someone would slay him and gain authority over the other Freemans.

"He might," Misty said. "Or maybe a different Soynite will kill Lock. Theo is the person who is most likely to defeat him. He has the best chance of killing Lock, but that doesn't mean he will do that. A different Soynite might. Maybe I will kill him. Or maybe your father will. Or someone you haven't even met might do it."

Zoey rubbed her arms. "I just want Lock to be dead. I don't like knowing that he's still alive. When will someone kill him? I hate that he's alive. I hate him. I want him to be dead as soon as possible. So many Soynites are dead because of him. And Soy is dead because of him, too."

Lock's future killer would be the Freemans' next leader. After he died, his corpse would turn into smoke. During Soy's invasion, two certain Freemans with strife swords had lost their lives. Lock hadn't saved them. Someday, he wouldn't be able to save himself.

"I don't know if Lock will be dead soon," Boone said. "But he's going to die one day, Zoey. Someone is going to get rid of him. Someone will kill him. We just don't know when that will happen."

"And it has to happen," Misty said.

She remained seated next to Zoey on the sofa. It wasn't a throne, and the room they were in wasn't a throne room. Zoey didn't wear a crown, and neither did Misty. Lovely had earned the right to wear one. She also deserved to sit on a throne.

"Lock has been alive for way too long," Misty said. "And he has been the leader of the Freemans for way too long. They need to be led by someone else. They need a leader who is a Soynite, and they're going to get one. Because no member of our race is forbidden from becoming the next Freeman leader in the future. Whoever kills Lock will get his royal power. A Soynite can get his royal power. They will just have to kill him. Whoever does that will get the Freemans on their side, and they will be glad that their new leader killed their old one."

"The Freemans love Lock, but they will stop loving him if someone manages to kill him," Boone said. "They will love the person who killed their former ruler. They're horrible people. But I'm glad that their government system is the way that it is. One day, one of our people will be the leader of the Freemans, and I'm going to be alive when that happens. I can't wait to see a Soynite sitting on the Red Throne and wearing a red crown. It's such a shame that all of Free's leaders were Freemans. And the current one is a Freeman, too."

Lock had slain Vice in a duel, and someone would slay him. A Soynite would do it. When he or she killed Lock, the Red Throne would be theirs. Lock owned that chair. He owned a red crown as well. One day, a Soynite would sit on his throne and Freemans would kneel for him or her. Lock's warriors would protect his future killer. They would treat that person like they treated Lock now.

Boone had never died. He wasn't like Lauren, the woman Lovely had come out of five years ago. It wasn't too for him to see a Soynite sit on the Red Throne someday.

"Lock needs to die," Misty said. "And he will. He beat Vice Reaper, but he won't be able to beat everyone. I'm sure that he thinks no one will ever kill him, but he should stop thinking that. Because someone is going to take his place. And they're going to do it by killing him. They will turn Lock into smoke. I wish that someone had done that a long time ago."

"Me too," Zoey said.

Misty stood. "Lock isn't dead, but at least a certain someone married me."

Misty approached Boone, then she pressed her soft lips against his. As they kissed, she placed her hands on his shoulders, and he put his hands on her sides. He would never hate kissing her.

She ended the kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too," Boone said. He held her hands. "And I always will. I'm going to die loving you, Misty. I'm also not going to die before Lock does. I'm going to outlive that horrible Freeman. Someone will revive Soy, and Lock won't be able to destroy it again. Someone is going to destroy him. That's what needs to happen, and it's going to."

Boone stopped holding Misty's hands, but they stayed in front of each other, as if doing that might make it impossible for their enemies to kill them.

"Lock is going to be just like Vice Reaper," she said. "We know what he did to Soy, and we know what he did to our people. A lot of other Soynites know that, too. They know that Lock deserves to die because of what he did. A lot of our people want to kill him now, and one of our people is going to kill him."

Boone nodded. "Then the Freemans will fight for that person. They will fight for Soy. All of them are led by one of their own, but that won't always be true. One day, the Freemans will have a Soynite as their leader. They will have to kneel for one of our people. Right now, they protect Lock. And they also love him. But when he dies, the other Freemans won't be able to protect him anymore. And they will stop loving him, because they will have a new Great Leader."

Zoey smiled. She looked as if she had seen Lock die. She had never watched the Freemans' leader turn into smoke. She might see that happen someday. Her sister had killed a Freeman, and someone would kill that dead warrior's leader.

"I really hope that happens, Father," Zoey said. "And it will happen. Lock doesn't deserve to be loved."

"You're right, Zoey," Misty said. She went closer to Zoey, who stayed seated on the sofa. She placed a hand on Zoey's cheek. "Lock doesn't deserve to be loved. He isn't like you. And the Freemans love him now, but they won't love him forever. When someone kills him, his people will be glad that he died. The Freemans value power. Whoever kills Lock will show that they are more powerful than he is. The Freemans will love that person because of that."

"And that person will be a Soynite. They will be one of our people."

The next Freeman leader would be someone who had been born on Soy. A Freeman's birth had never happened on that planet, and a Soynite had never been born on Free. But it wasn't impossible for a Soynite to kill Lock on his planet and take control of his people.

"The Freemans never had a Soynite as their leader," Boone said. "But they're going to. They're going to know what it's like to call a Soynite Great Leader. The Freemans hate us, but they will love whoever kills Lock. Even if a Soynite does it. We can't change the past. We can't change the fact our planet was destroyed, and we can't bring back the Soynites who died during the Invasion. But one of us can still become the next leader of the Freemans one day."

"Fortunately," Misty replied. "A Soynite needs to kill Lock as soon as possible. As long as he's alive, there can't be peace. He needs to die, and the Freemans need to stop hating us. That's how it has to be. I don't want the Freemans to hate our people forever."

"They won't, Mother," Zoey said.

The original Soynites and the original Freemans hadn't had mothers. The Soy Maker had made the Soynites before making the Freemans. The first one, Zero Spike, hadn't wanted to kill Hase Majestic when they met for the first time. They had been what Boone and Marina were to each other. But Zero hadn't died as Hase's friend. Old age hadn't caused his death. A sword had made sure of that. His killer had been Princess Nerra Majestic, Hase's only daughter.

Nerra was Theo's distant aunt, and she had been born as the first Bloodhound. Hase had been the first Pure. Like he had been the first Soynite. His daughter had slain Zero. His friend Voy was the current Freemans' ancestor. His descendants had caused the Soynites too much pain and suffering.

"Of course they won't," Misty said. "The Freemans won't hate their Great Leader's people. The problem is that their current Great Leader is one of them. Lock isn't a Soynite. He's as much a Freeman as the ones who were trying to kill your father, Zoey."

"Lock isn't like us," Boone said. "And he will never be like us. But he is going to be dead."

Lock had never died, but that didn't mean he would live forever. He wasn't invincible like Theo, a Pure who had gained every Save. If he got too close to any of the strife swords Boone had seen during Soy's invasion, Theo wouldn't be able to use any of his Saves.

"Lock should be grateful that strife exists," Boone said. "Because Theo would be able to kill him very easily if the Freemans never discovered strife. The discovery of that substance was one of the worst things that has happened to our race. Strife takes away any Saves a Soynite has, and it prevents Soynites without Saves from developing any. Strife is horrible. Misty, you shot and killed those two Freemans who wanted to kill me. When we left Soy in this spaceship, those strife swords were still on the ground. Some other Freemans probably found them. And they can use those swords to hurt other Soynites."

"Hopefully, no Freemans found those swords," Misty replied. "Still, we can't forget that those swords aren't the only ones Freemans have. They're not the only strife weapons they have, either."

"If they never found out how strife affects us, no Soynite would ever have to worry about having their Saves taken away. If the Freemans never used strife against us, Theo would be able to kill Lock with no issues. But that's not our reality. Strife is real, and Lock and his military use it to their advantage. They use it against our people."

"The Freemans won't use strife against us forever, Father," Zoey said. "When a Soynite becomes their leader, the Freemans will want to protect all of our people."

"I know Zoey," Boone said. "And when that day comes, it will be a really good day. Right now, Lock is the leader of the Freemans, but his reign is going to end. He's the reason why me and Lovely had to separate. She and Marina left me. They had to do it, though. But I'm not going to leave you and your mother. I'm never going to leave the two of you."