“How do you think I did today?”

“Balshén, you did great! I feel like over the last few days that you have been getting better and stronger,” enthused Holt. “How are you feeling?”

“I feel good. I can feel myself able to hold it for longer,” the teen explained.

“You’ll tell us if you are finding something difficult, won’t you? Like if it hurts?” asked Mindy.

“Sure. But it doesn’t.”

“Ok then, well that’s good. I think your Dad will be proud,” Holt said.

“Will you tell him?”

“Of course. Don’t you want him to know what you’ve been doing while he’s away?” Mindy asked.

“Not yet. I want it to be a surprise when he takes me training again.”

“Ok big guy,” agreed Holt.

Holt and Mindy were minding Ta’Balshén and Wo’Trendsont whilst Do’Lânqwa and Blane were on Earthsle with The Secretary and a few other important people that Holt only pretended to understand who they were, trying to facilitate a diplomatic agreement.

The four had spent another afternoon out in the sparse and vast Nevada desert near their Las Vegas property, working with Ta’Balshén on his newly ‘developing’ strengths.

“What are the teams going to be today?” Mindy asked.

“I’m going with Holt and Trendsont is with you,” Ta’Balshén replied.

“Ok, let’s get ready,” she said, hugging the younger grëhman close to her front with one arm, and Holt doing the same with Ta’Balshén.

“Three… two…” the boys began counting down. “…One go!” Holt and Mindy took off, leaping into the sky, flying as fast as they could back to the house, the boys whooping and cheering for the high octane, G-force inducing thirty second flight.

“Yay! We won!” Ta’Balshén cheered as they touched down back in the yard.

“Just!” laughed Mindy. “Go and get yourselves cleaned up and we’ll get some food on.” The boys ran off whilst Holt and Mindy went off to the kitchen.

“How do you think they’re doing on Earthsle?” Holt asked.

“Not sure. Earthsle was definitely the right planet for them to go to, but it’s anyone’s guess. Are you worried?”

The emergency alarm activated and instantly after, a glass smashed from another room. “Go and answer the alarm and I’ll go and see what the boys are up to.”

Holt dashed down the corridor, scanning each room as he went until he spotted the boys stood looking at a mess on the bathroom floor, a fragrant, familiar smell emanating.

“What happened?” Holt demanded, moving into the room.

“It was an accident, sorry. We were just cleaning up and we were looking at the bottles and then that one fell,” Ta’Balshén rapidly explained.

Holt’s heart sank as he realised from the look of the glass shards and the smell what had been broken.

“How could you have been so careless? All you had to was wash your hands! Not play with the things on the counter top!” Holt’s voice had got louder as he spoke.

“What’s going on?” Mindy asked, herself barging into the bathroom.

“We’re sorry,” Ta’Balshén sincerely repeated, Wo’Trendsont looking equally apologetic.

“They were fooling around, not doing what they were supposed to do and broke Lucas’ cologne!”

“Oh ok,” soothed Mindy. “It’s not the end of the world Holt, ok? It was an accident and they said sorry.” She made sure he was looking at her as she spoke, mindful that his emotions might have got the better of him.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “You’re right, sorry. Boys, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to raise my voice.”

“Holt, it was the Kennedy Space Centre on the alarm. They’ve lost contact with astronauts doing a space walk on the ISS. Why don’t you go and assist and I’ll clean up here,” Mindy said. Go and chill out for a bit, she added telepathically to him.

“Sure, ok. I’ll see you all later.”

“They’re over Oceania at the moment. We’ll save you some dinner.”

Holt nodded sheepishly and quickly left, bound for the earth’s thermosphere.

“Mindy, why did Holt get so cross?” Ta’Balshén asked when Holt had left.

She sighed, thinking of the best way to word it. “It was a memory of someone he really liked, but they’re not alive anymore, so it just helped him to remember them.”

“Was it Lucas?”

“Yes, actually. They were boyfriends for a while before Lucas died and the cologne reminded Holt of his smell. Made him feel like he was still around. But don’t be sad little guy, I will just buy him a new one. It’s still the same thing.”

Mindy put the bits of glass from the floor that she had been picking up whilst talking, into the bin. As she took some towels to clean up the liquid, Ta’Balshén looked thoughtful. “What’s up? I said don’t be sad. Holt will be fine.”

“I’m just a bit sad because I don’t have any things here to remember my family, so I know Holt will be sad that he doesn’t have anything now for Lucas.”

Mindy sighed. The boy was right really. He didn’t have any keep sakes of his family when he was violently torn from them by The 45th. “I know. I can’t imagine how hard that must be for you. My brothers and I, we also don’t have anything of our older brother or parents to remember them by, but… Do you know what we do have? And you have these as well...”

“No, what?”

“Your memories, which live in here,” she said gesturing to her head. “And their love, in here,” she added, pointing to her chest.

“I think I get it,” the boy said.

“And Do’Lânqwa, he’s looking after you now, but he never wants you to forget about your family. I just know he loves you and he loves you being part of his new little family.”

“Yeah, I like it too.”

“Good. Ok, shall we get something eat to now? I think I’m all done here and I am starving!” she reached out and tickled Wo’Trendsont’s tummy as she said it.

***

Two days later.

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“Go on! Get the door! It’ll be Do’Lânqwa and Blane back from their trip,” Holt suggested when the security system alerted them of arrivals.

Moments later, as expected, Blane and Do’Lânqwa walked through.

“Hey everyone!” Blane sung out cheerfully.

“Where are my boys?!” Do’Lânqwa called out with open arms as Wo’Trendsont and Ta’Balshén ran up to greet him.

“Oh what? Don’t I get a hug too?” Blane joked.

“I’ll give you a hug if you want,” said Mindy playing along.

Blane laughed. “Ew, no thanks!” he said giving her a wink.

Holt came through. “How was your trip?”

Blane and Do’Lânqwa shared knowing looks, raising an eyebrow at each other.

“That bad, eh?” asked Mindy.

“We’ll tell you about it later. I just want to get myself and these two back. Thank you so much for having them.”

“Our joys. It’s been a fun week,” Holt said.

“Anything gone on in our absence?” Blane asked, kicking his shoes off and doing an exaggerated look of relief at being out of them.

“Well things have been getting... weirder with Fo’Vylrian. The Government want to talk to him, but Amber Hamilton isn’t sure about it.”

“Why?” asked Do’Lânqwa, scrunching his eyes tight and relaxing them out of tiredness. “Because people are falling ill?”

“And now dying,” Holt added.

Do’Lânqwa rolled his eyes. “Right. So, what? You're telling me they want me to? This is just another thing to worry about...”

“Sorry, I know you’ve just got back. You don’t want to hear this now,” Holt said dismissively. “But when you do, I’m going to come with you. I can use my healing hands if need be.”

“Don’t ever call them your healing hands, again,” Blane joked in mock repulsion.

***

“I was wondering when I would get to see you again. I really wanted to thank you for getting me off Earthgrë. That place had gone... downhill a bit. Being blown to pieces didn’t help.”

“We almost weren’t allowed to come here. I'll cut to the chase, but they think you’re a risk. which is why Holt’s here too. You remember him, don’t you?”

Fo’Vylrian looked Holt up and down, but didn’t answer. Returning his attention to Do’Lânqwa, he asked, “so why are you here?”

“There are concerns over the welfare of the people guarding you and of those coming to visit you. They seem to be falling ill and dying. Do you know anything about that?”

A thin smile grew over Fo'Vylrian's face. “So it’s really working then?”

“What is?” Holt asked, stepping forward.

“What I can do. It works here,” Fo’Vylrian repeated.

Do’Lânqwa frowned. “You're deliberately make people ill?”

“Ugh, you make it sound so simple. It’s far more than that.”

“Are you going to hurt me? Am I going to be ill?” Do’Lânqwa asked, relatively calmly.

“Sadly, not whilst on this planet. It seems I can only manipulate mircrobes, pathogens, bacteria and toxins from this earth, only on the people who belong on this earth, and just while I’m on this earth. I could have done, while we were both on Earthgrë, but sadly we’re here now. So you’re safe.” Do’Lânqwa noticed he wasn’t lying.

“Why are you doing this? I didn’t bring you here to do this!” Do’Lânqwa seethed.

“Well then why did you bring me back? I’ve not actually left this cell since I got here,” the grëhman captor argued.

Do’Lânqwa sighed. “I wasn’t authorised to bring you back here. I thought I was doing the right thing though. I stood by that. I trusted you and took you by your word. You said you worked for the research plant... But you’ve not given any responses to any request for information of how the machinery we have works. I thought you were being honest. I thought you had told the truth.” Do’Lânqwa glanced at Holt, embarrassed at his own mistake.

Fo’Vylrian stepped forward so he was right at the glass, a wry grin on his face. “Well, technically I did work at the research plant. I was just the subject they were working on,” he mused in an upbeat tone.

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Holt muttered under his breath and shaking his head.

“You’ll have to speak up when you talk. I’m behind really thick glass!” Fo’Vylrian shouted, over exaggeratingly.

“Your situation isn’t going to improve if you continue to act in this way,” Do’Lânqwa advised.

“So what is going to happen to me?”

“I don’t make those decisions and because of my misjudged, wrongful bringing of you here in the first place, I can’t be involved in any of those decision making conversations either. You’re going to have to sit tight for a bit and wait. Please, though. Stop infecting people, harming people. It won’t do you any favours,” Do’Lânqwa almost pleaded, before walking away.

Fo’Vylrian simply shrugged at Holt before turning away himself.

Holt followed a stressed and furious Do’Lânqwa back to the hangar at the secure, classified mountain imprisonment facility that Fo’Vylrian was detained at.

“Lânqwa, wait for me. Listen, this isn’t your fault..."Do’Lânqwa gave Holt a raised eyebrow. “Ok, sure technically speaking he is physically and literally here because of you. However, you weren’t to know this would happen. He lied.”

“And I’m supposed to know when people are lying, Holt!” he shouted.

“The man is clearly so unhinged, he probably believed what he was telling you so much that it came across as the truth. It was his truth! He ‘worked at the plant’ as far as he was concerned. But now the issue here is what he’s capable of, and how we limit that.”

Do’Lânqwa punched the side of his Astral Jet. “Maybe we can at least get him moved? Somewhere else? Get him on side?”

“I don’t know. You could suggest it if you think it will work. I don’t know what good will come of him being moved.”

“Well it’s a sign of good faith. We make him more comfortable, he… doesn’t do his... thing to people? I don’t know. My brain is frazzled.”

“Well come on then. Let’s get out of here.”

“Sure, I need to destress.”