Novelas:Sun of Zartha

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Contents 1 Laura's Arrival 2 Jay makes it rain and has a weird dream 3 Beignets in the break room 4 Disclosure 5 Jay arrives on Zartha 6 Conference call with momma 7 Breakfast in the Bronx 8 Jay and Laura go on tour 9 Mines of T'ano'ok 10 The River People 11 In the forum hall of the S'aa 12 Valley of the mothers 13 Close call 14 Activating the energy 15 Jay gets frustrated 16 Kidnapped 17 Showdown in Times Square 18 Confrontation 19 Royal wedding 20 Joyful confrontation 21 Birth of a princess

[edit] Laura's Arrival

………

In the infinite universe there are many potential possibilities for intelligent life. Or should I say, infinite possibilities. That’s common knowledge. At one time, I was of the impression that alien life was just that – alien. Different. Unlike myself. But the love of a woman, a very special woman, matched with memories...memories I forgot I even had - memories of another very special woman, a mother that I gave up for dead, said something totally different to me.

When I lost Laura, I thought I lost everything. But that loss was nothing more than the catalyst - the very thing that opened everything up. Losing Laura turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me.

………

July 2002

12:18am Saturday

Through the starry void, an egg shaped transport was flowing, no, streaking, from New York City on its way to an alien planet. The young woman inside was both bewildered and sad. She was crying. She was forced by circumstance to leave the only man in her life she had ever really loved (even though she had basically just met him).

Just a few hours earlier she was flipping through Bride’s Magazine for the first time in months, and a huge smile had erupted from deep within her.

Now she had learned she was destined to be a queen, with the power to blow up the Earth with her very essence.

This is not fair, she thought to herself. I want Jay. I want Jay. Somehow I will get him back. Somehow. I have to. I have to...

After flying through outer space for what seemed like an eternity, but in reality were only a very few hours, Laura saw a huge green planet loom in front of her. With a dull red glow all around, the silvery transport came down lower and lower into the airspace of this planet, until it reached the twinkling late night lights of what looked like a small town or village below.

On the planet, the chief ambassador was on a cell phone talking to the queen.

“Yeah, she just entered Zarthan airspace”, the woman said. “I’m going outside to meet her right now. I’ll call you back after she goes to bed. Yeah. All right. Jay’s probably takin’ it real hard...I know, Angie...OK, Angie...Yes, Angie...OK, Angie, I’ll handle it, all right?...OK. Bye, Angie.” Click.

Then the spaceship glided waftily upon a huge lawn. It was a humid yet cool night. Clouds were forming overhead.

Laura got out of the ship, and small sprinkly droplets of rain immediately began to fall. Facing her was a magnificent palace, the likes of which she had never seen in person. It looked like maybe Buckingham Palace or Versailles, but much weirder, almost Seussian in its eccentric opulence. The light from inside of this palace blazed out of the windows, illuminating the expansive stone patio before it with a crystalline silvery bluish-whiteness. These windows were larger, the spires more intricate, than Buckingham Palace, Versailles, or any of the grandest royal mansions anywhere on Earth.

On this large patio, in front of a massive stone fountain, bigger even than the one in “Friends”, stood a young, large-boned medium-skinned Black woman in her mid 20’s. Her red hair was woven in intricate braids, and even though it was night, she was wearing sunglasses exactly like the ones Jay had worn.

Sprinkles of rain were gathering on them, and after she put a cell phone in the pocket of her Nike shorts, she took the sunglasses off.

She was wearing a jumbo-sized New Orleans Saints hockey-style jersey and had a strange necklace on, a necklace made of silvery-gray rock beads and a stone-gray metallic round medallion, which looked like a sun design with snakily undulating rays coming out of the center, with bumpy circles on the rays, similar to fractal designs.

Standing behind her were several attendants wearing elaborate Edwardian clothes.

“Laura Vasquez,” she called out in a honey-rich voice. Her smile was reserved yet warmly self-confident.

Laura walked slowly towards the woman, still in a state of ontological shock.

“Welcome home, your highness,” the woman continued. “Welcome to the land of Zartha.

“My name is Shakita. I am your boyfriend’s cousin.” The woman stuck out her hand, and Laura gingerly took it and shook it politely.

“Cousin?...OK...ummm...Is Jay an…alien?” Laura asked with the most puzzled and bewildered look.

Shakita cocked a jaunty, wide-eyed, toothy grin. “Girl, you mean like YOU? The answer to that is…yeah!

“Our family comes from a Zartha person who traveled to the Earth centuries ago. And Jay is in that family, but he doesn’t know that yet. Come on inside before we get all wet.”

The palace was brilliant. The ceilings were at least 20 feet high. Everything inside was massive and opulent and a pervasive crystalline light seemed to illuminate the considerably vast halls. The palace seemed to be very, very old, but there were items inside that were clearly of a highly advanced technological design. Everything, from the walls to the windows to the furniture, seemed to be designed in spheres or circles.

“Oh my God,” Laura marveled, “this place is so beautiful...” Then she saw it. On an elaborate small wooden table, were several pictures of Jay in his MIB uniforms. One of them caught Laura’s eye and she became tremendously animated.

It was a picture of Laura and Jay, arms around each other and smiling for the camera. Jay was in his black suit, and Laura was in the same clothes she had on right now.

“That picture on that table!” she said, pointing and shaking her finger at the 8” x 10” picture, sitting in an ornate silver frame, in which Shakita had placed the photo about an hour before. “That’s me and Jay! Oh, my God! Kay just took that picture TONIGHT! In New York! On his cell phone! Just - just a few hours ago at, at this apartment building where these worms live!!!

Laura then looked at Shakita with an incredulous staring frown. “How the hell did that end up HERE?”

Shakita smiled and said, “I’ll get to that. Come on, down this hallway.”

After walking down a long, long, long corridor, they went into another large room with a lavish round bed. “This is where you will sleep. Have a seat.”

After sitting down on the luxurious satiny sheets, Laura continued excitedly, “All right, please, pleeeeze tell me what the hell is going on here. It’s bad enough my boss gets killed by some weird woman with things growing out of her fingers on a mission to kidnap ME, and then I find out after all these years that Ben is an alien - was an alien, and now I’M an alien, I’m some princess or something, and I have to leave New York on a spaceship. And how the hell are Jay’s people from this planet? Why is that important? Why the hell am I even here? He’s a cop, he was investigating Ben, he was trying to find this Light of Zartha – and it turns out that I’m it? Why is that?”

Laura began to cry a little bit at this point. The rain outside began to fall just a little bit harder.

Shakita glanced at the rain falling outside, then smiled, took Laura’s hand and said, “Hold up, girl, calm down. Let’s back up and let’s take all this from the beginning. A little background might make you understand everything that’s been happening to you the last few days. It may even help you understand what’s happened to you your whole LIFE. So listen up.

“In the beginning of time…”

“Whoa,” Laura said. “The beginning of time? Do we really have to go back THAT far?”

Shakita gave Laura a smirkly, slightly exasperated look. “Yeah, we do. I have to.”

“Sorry,” Laura said, looking down for a second. “Go on.”

Shakita continued. “In the beginning of time the universe decided to express itself by making things, planets and stars and all that stuff. One of those planets was Zartha. Now Zartha was uninhabited for millions of years, but about 2500 years ago there was another big explosion of energy. Pieces of that energy landed on Zartha and became animated beings of light. Pure, cosmic LIGHT. Beings that could think, feel, communicate, love, all that stuff.

“These light beings are the S’aa. They came to this planet as a bunch of shooting stars. Big balls of bright blue star light. They had to turn down their star energy in order to take on a human form. They did that and after a while they started families. They married other beings, other kinds of life forms that sprung up from the ground, the plants, the water, all that stuff...well, your mother is a part of one of those families. So are you. You are of the house of the S’aa. You are a being of pure cosmic Light wrapped all up inside of a human body.”

“But – but… I have…insides.”

“Sure you do, baby…and they work just like a human’s insides do…with a few exceptions. It’s ALL made of light. That’s what’s so cool about it.”

“How do I know all of this is even real?”

“How did you know the Men In Black were real, before last night?” Shakita said, with a patient smile.

“I guess you have a point…but why…I mean…why ME?”

“You are the latest in the line of the S’aa, born of a mother from right here on the homeworld, to come along at the same time the Sun of Zartha came along.”

“So, me and this Sun of Zartha have some connection? What IS the Sun of Zartha?”

Shakita gave a laugh. “Connection? Girl, the two of y'all have a LOVE connection!” She gave the “two and two” sign from the semi-legendary Chuck Woolery TV series. Laura showed mild amusement.

“Let me continue,” Shakita went on. “And, by the way, the question you need to be asking is not ‘what’ is the Sun of Zartha, but ‘who’ the Sun of Zartha really is.

“Now listen to my story…

“About a thousand years after that first energy blast, there was a massive solar explosion, a solar gamma ray superwave, which reached our planet. It was a big-time destructive cataclysm. Now, cataclysms happen. That's a fact of life in the universe. This one was so strong the solar flares actually came down and started huge explosions and fires and volcanic eruptions - and burned a lot of us up.

Laura recoiled with a shuddering frown. "Oh, my God, that's terrible!"

"It was terrible. But like I said, that shit happens. It happens to every planet. It happened on Earth, that's why most of the dinosaurs died down there. The electromagnetic energy here on Zartha was so strong and so charged up, one of those solar flares formed itself out of a mass of cosmic solar dust, and became a living humanoid being, just like the beings of light did. That being was T’ola’an.

“T’ola’an knew that his energy caused huge destruction and killed thousands of people. He was sad about that and he was remorseful about that. He stayed to help fix the damage he caused, and the survivors eventually forgave him - and they accepted him as their god and their king. He liked it here, but after a few hundred years, he got lonely and wanted to look for other people in the universe who liked him, who liked people like him who were made out of the power of the sun. So he went on a little expedition. He went to Earth in his sun chariot. He went to the continent they call…Africa.“

“This is getting kinda weird,” Laura mused.

“Wait, it gets better.

“Lord T’ola’an took a wife in Africa. West Africa. He took a few wives, as a matter of fact. These wives took on some of the powers and abilities of their husband by being intimate with him; he transferred his DNA to them. The children had even greater powers. His DNA had the sun energy built right into it.

“The families continued along, all down through the centuries. Some of them were taken away as slaves. Jay and I are the descendants of those people. We are T’ola’a. We are the Sun People, the children of the great Lord of the Sun. Look…”

Shakita produced a Louisiana driver’s license with her personal information printed right on it. Laura found that itself out of place on a planet several million light years away, but then she saw the name:

Shakita Angelique Tolan

“Your last name… it’s…”

“Tolan. It’s really T’ola’an but spelled differently over the years. We kept our family identity throughout the centuries. Even during slavery.”

Shakita then imagined herself earlier that day driving down I-10 in New Orleans in her red Chrysler 300. “Down in New Orleans our family lives in secret. We sorta kinda blended in to regular human ‘Earth’ society but we still practice our knowledge and our special rituals and prayers in secret. We teach each other how to make the sun rise strong in us, to know the power and the awesome energy of the solar flare that we are born with. And we make floats for Mardi Gras!

“Here on Zartha they consider us a founding family, a ruling family, for obvious reasons. Anyone in our family, anyone who is T’ola’a, can come up here, anytime they want to, move here and live here permanently, no hassles. The respect for our people up here is that strong, girl.

“The sun is in our BLOOD. It’s who we are.”

When Shakita said that, Laura thought she saw her eyes light up with a dull coal-red glow. What she did not know is that her own eyes began to light up with a pale whitish-green glow at that moment.

Shakita noticed that but said nothing, just smiled knowingly.

“And Laura...the Light is in YOUR blood, girl. It’s who YOU are.”

Laura shook her head, still a little overwhelmed at it all. She stared for another moment at this strange young woman and began to speak again.

“You know, I feel like I’ve known Jay my entire life. I felt so comfortable around him, so safe and protected...he was so sad to see me go tonight. He looked like he was about to cry. I told him it wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that we were falling in love so soon, and having so much fun together. If you can call a murder investigation fun, but...but it was. It was the most wonderful feeling I’ve ever had in my life."

Laura looked up, sighed and furrowed her forehead in a puzzled frown. "And that’s the weird thing about it," she said, "because they sent him to investigate, umm…”

“What happened to Ben,” Shakita finished.

“Did you know Ben?” Laura asked.

Shakita looked down for a moment and sighed. “Yeah, he was one of my mentors. He was pretty high up here on Zartha but we couldn’t tell you his true identity. And he was never allowed to tell you the truth himself, not at any time during your whole entire life. The queen assigned him to look after you, when you were a baby. We all loved him, and we’re all gonna miss him, but he’s in a better place now.”

Laura had to fight to keep from crying again. This was truly an emotionally trying day and night.

“Jay took command from the moment he came to the pizza shop,” Laura continued. “He told me he would do everything he could to get to the bottom of why that weird lady killed Ben. And I was in his world, with his boss and all his little alien buddies - especially those worms! They cracked me up, they were so sweet…” And now she could not hold back the tears. Laura began to weep again, softly.

“I can’t believe this! I’ve only been with him for a few hours...and I love him…I love that man!” She began to cry harder. The medallion around Shakita began to glow red.

“Shakita, that man damn near saved my life. Jay rescued me from those crooks tonight, the ones that busted into that apartment. He fought this one guy off with a bunch of pipes. Those guys thought they had me, but I wasn’t scared. I knew Jay would come and save me. I knew it.”

“I read the report, I know all about what happened,” Shakita said. “Jay did the best he could. He’s a professional and he acted with honor and excellence tonight. That’s what I’m tryin’ to get to. There’s a reason why those guys and that lady were after you. And there’s a reason why YOU knew deep down inside of you that Jay would save you. There’s a reason, a BIG reason, why all this is goin’ down, Laura –“

“Shakita, look, I HAVE to have that man in my life. I’ll just DIE if I can’t be with him!”

“Girlfriend, you see… that’s my point. You don’t know how right you are about that. You DO need to have Jay in your life, Laura! That’s the whole POINT. That’s the WHOLE, entire reason why you’re up here on this planet. Because you DO love Jay, and Jay loves you. Don’t you see, girl? That’s why you’re here.”

“See, Jason – that’s his real name – his mom is pretty damn close to pure blood Zarthan. In order for the prophecy of the Light of Zartha to be fulfilled, a male child – a boy—had to be born to a female in the divine royal bloodline of our family so he could grow up, become a sun god, marry the Light and have a son or a daughter, a prince..the Child of the Light. You followin’ me?”

“I think so, Shakita.”

“Jason was that child. Jason was that boy. We believe he is the reincarnation of our great Lord T’ola’an himself.

“So, therefore, Jay IS the Sun of Zartha.”

“whoa…” Laura mused.

“That’s right, your boyfriend, my cousin, Jason LeRoi Tolan Edwards, is royalty to this planet, Laura. His mother just so happens to be the Queen of Zartha, and I’m the chief ambassador. I’m the connection between here on homeworld and the family’s operations in New Orleans.”

“whoa…” Laura mused again. “JAY is royalty? But...he’s an agent...a - COP!…”

“Well he ain’t gonna be a cop for much longer. He IS a sun god, Laura. I’m serious. A sun-god. Like in the comic books. He can do all the things we can do and more. He has the power of, what is it, somethin’ like five or six thousand high-intensity solar gamma ray bursts just waitin’ to come out of him RIGHT NOW. Each one of those bursts ALONE is capable of puttin’ out 30 times more energy in one second than the sun back in Earth’s galaxy puts out in 100,000 years.”

Laura gasped. “Well, if I’m the Light of Zartha, then...what power do I have?” she asked with some trepidation and hesitation.

“Way the hell more than that,” Shakita said with a serious grin. Laura gasped again, shocked. “Trust me girl, you DO. That’s why Serleena and her crooks were after you tonight! That’s why they busted into the apartment to kidnap you! Jay didn’t know it, but he was protecting the Light and that Light is YOU. And really it’s him too. You see, your Light is part of the Big Bang energy they talk about in school. Our family’s sun energy, T’ola’an’s energy, is a part of that same Light, a pretty big part. The sun ain’t nothing but a big huge ball of Light.” And here Shakita began to get animated as if she was talking about something wonderful and joyous happening. “The Light people and the Sun people, both those tribes, are on the MOVE, girl. They are coming closer together. Here on Zartha they are marrying each other more and more. They recognize and honor each other’s version of the Light. We NEED to keep that going, as much as possible.

“So now that you’re up here safely on Zartha - thanks to some excellent detective work by Jay, now HE needs to get up here too. Because really Jay’s the one who needs to be up here just as much as you do - if not MORE so.

“And he needs to get up here pretty soon or his power will get too much for the Earth to handle. He needs to come up here and marry you, be the leader of his people that he was BORN to be...that means to rule right alongside you as king of this planet and help you give birth to the Children of the Light.”

Laura could not believe what she was hearing. “I’m... I’m - I was planning on going to film school...I have plans for my life, Shakita. I want a career in Hollywood. I want to make films.”

“Films? Girl, you will go through enough drama just being queen. And Jason will have enough drama being king. Enough for a million movies.

“Look, Laura, I’m tellin’ you, girl, whatever plans you had for your life, they just changed. Big time. Even if Serleena hadn’t messed things up, we still would have sent for both of ya, the plan was already in the works. Serleena, that’s the lady who killed Ben, Serleena got tipped off to the plan somehow and we had to rush all this a little bit as a result, but at least we got you here.”

“You mean Jay would have still met me at Ben’s?”

“The plan was for Ben himself to send both of y'all up here!”

Laura looked stunned. Shakita just smiled and went on.

“All the knowledge of the entire universe is already IN you. There’s no need for you to even go to college. And you can forget about going back to Ben’s. That’s OVER. Officially. Effective immediately.

“Laura, you got the power to create entire PLANETS - even galaxies! Why would you want to fool around with making movies? Why would you want to fool around with making PIZZA?”

Laura looked disappointed for a second.

Shakita continued. “Let it go, girl, just let it GO. You and Jay have a destiny to fulfill. You have to get Jay up here to Zartha to help you rule his people. The people here on Zartha need him to show them how to get it done around here. They already know who he is. They consider him a divine prince. They love that man, Laura.”

“All right, let me get all this straight,” Laura said. “You mean to tell me that Jay is a Zarthan, these people are HIS people, and he’s SUPPOSED to be up HERE, too, with ME?”

Shakita smiled a bright smile of confirmation. Laura’s disappointment melted into a deep smile of joy that rose up from within her. This night, which just an hour before was the saddest of all nights, was turning out to be one of the happiest in her entire life.

The rain outside let up a little bit.

But Laura had some further questions.

“Shakita, how will Jay know all this? Does Jay even know? Is he even aware of what he is?”

“No, baby, Jay does not know. This whole night, being with you, right now to his mind it’s just another murder case involving aliens. Just another day on the alien crimes unit. To him, officially, you are not his future wife and queen; you are nothing more than a witness to a murder that needed to be protected. The Knowing in him is probably making him question that right about now.

“You see, Jay’s bosses have kept the truth about his heritage, his identity, from him all these years, since he was a little kid.

“But we in the family knew. Our mothers, and that includes YOUR mother, too, Laura...they wanted to bring him up, to raise him up the right way, to teach him that he was really Lord T’ola’an, but the MIB got scared. They thought Jay might grow up and abuse his power and try and take over the universe. The MIB took Jay from his mother and forced her to go into exile. They threw her in JAIL, girl.”

“Oh, my God…why? What did she do?”

“Well, she really kinda agreed to it...there was a lot of internal drama goin’ on here on Zartha at the time and she didn’t have full control of the government, she barely had control of herself. She was in a deep, deep depression and was tryin’ to run a planet and keep it from destroying itself... It was a big, big, big mess.

“They wanted to keep Jay from being initiated into the secrets, the rituals.., So we had to wait. We were forced to allow him – and you - to be taken from the family and grow up outside of our love, our influence…We were just waiting for the right time. And that time is pretty much right about now.

“What’s more, you SHOULD feel like you’ve known him your whole life - because you HAVE.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“We made sure to MAKE you and Jay fall in love.”

“Say what?” Laura had an incredulous smile on her face.

“Yeah, girl, when you were a baby, the High Command sneaked you down to New Orleans. Jay’s mother made him hold you in his own arms.”

“Oh, my God…Is that true?” An excited grin flashed on Laura’s face. Jay KNEW me when I was a BABY?

At that moment a wave of mental activity immediately hit Laura like a subway train. Images flooded her mind that had not surfaced in twenty-five years. She gasped hard and stared at Shakita, who only responded with another giggle, which suggested she actually knew what was happening inside Laura’s brain.

“Oh my GOD. I think I actually remember that. Oh my GOD. That little boy I played with…that was JAY!. I think I remember that. Oh my God. I always knew him!

“Why, Shakita? Why was I playing with Jay when I was a baby?”

“To get the Knowing started - W’aa s’ala’ack.”

“You keep mentioning this Knowing. What is that?” Laura asked.

“The Knowing is when two people with Zarthan blood meet up and all kinds of special changes happen in them, romance changes, spiritual changes, hormone changes, body changes, the whole nine yards. Changes that bind one to another in love and matrimony. When the Knowing begins, it NEVER ends, until their spirits join with one another and return to the infinite stars from which they came.

“The Earth can’t handle two people of high blood having the Knowing. The electromagnetic field on Earth ain’t strong enough to handle it. The love energy is way too damn intense. It’s like an electromagnetic superwave. It messes with all the ionic charges in the atmosphere, the ozone layer and all that stuff, and causes rains and floods and earthquakes and stuff like that. That’s why you had to leave ASAP, and that’s why Jay has to leave as well.”

“So Jay and I were meant to be together…” Laura’s eyes began to glow again and there was a deep, delicate smile.

“From jump, my sister.”

“Well, I guess this beats getting into NYU. This is the greatest night of my life. So what do we do now?”

“We have to wait a couple of days. Let him miss you a little bit, let him cry a little bit, so the Knowing gets stronger and stronger inside him and he can’t stand to be without you one more day. Jay will begin to remember who he REALLY is, slowly, little by little, and he will freak out about that.

“Now also, it’ll let you get used to things up here. You have a lot of training to go through yet. We need to start activating all YOUR powers. When the time is right, YOU have to actually send for Jason. YOU have to send for him. Send that same car down there you came up here in. You’re the only one on this whole planet with the authority to do it. You’re the queen-elect, the bride-to-be. I can’t do it, not even Jay’s mom can do it, and she’s the queen.

“Then the Men in Black MUST tell him about his heritage, they’ll see that his energy is off the damn charts and they HAVE to let him come up here. They have to let him come home.”

Laura showed a bit of caution here. “But what if they try to resist? What if they don’t tell him I sent for him? What if they don’t let him come here? What if they try to keep him in that...police job?”

“Girlfriend, look,” and Shakita gave one of those sister-to-sister looks. “They HAVE to let him come up here. It’s part of the intergalactic treaty we have with Earth, so they can’t break protocol like that. We have priority with him. We were on earth hundreds of years before they even got started. No, no, no. I do NOT think they want to deal with 2,133 angry Black women or a planet full of 3 and-a-half-million people who have better technology and more power than ANYTHING any aliens from any planet let those people have. OKAY?

“Your man WILL be up here by this time next week. That’s BOND.”

Laura seemed comforted by this but began to wonder…”Shakita, I’m real curious…If Jay is really in love with me, and we’re…bonded, is he making it rain?”

“Girl, the Knowing always changes the ions and shit in the atmosphere, big time. It’s probably raining cats and dogs in Brooklyn right now.”

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Sun of Zartha Sure enough, at that very moment, in Brooklyn, it was indeed raining cats and dogs. Jay was walking alone with no umbrella down the rain-slick street of brownstones (Adelphia Street, to be exact) to his (MIB-owned) apartment. After filing his final reports about the very busy evening and some conversation with Kay and Zed, Jay elected to leave his car at MIB headquarters and took buses home from there. He was usually very fastidious about his appearance, but he didn’t care about that now; all he wanted was Laura. Why did she have to leave? Why her? Why so soon? They were just getting a good thing started. He was REALLY beginning to like her. He was starting to feel very comfortable around her (which was weird after all the excitement and turmoil surrounding their initial encounter - a murder investigation, of all things), and he hadn’t felt that way about any female - not even Elle, with the possible exception of his mom back in Louisiana.

Now, almost two hours later, he was faced with the most incredible sense of loss he had ever known. He put up a pretty good front for Zed, Frank and the fellas back at headquarters, but inside he was absolutely devastated. It was almost as if Laura had died.

He entered the apartment and didn’t even bother to turn on the light.

Since rain hadn't been in the forecast, and he hadn't carried an umbrella, his black MIB issued suit was drenched. Now, this was technically impossible because all MIB suits were waterproof. But the rainwater falling right now had a different chemical composition which rendered the super-threads in the suit useless. But Jay was so immersed in his grief this fact didn't even occur to him. Not that he would he have cared if it had.

The rainwater hid several tears, which were also streaming down his face. Jay was really starting to miss this lady big time. He longed to hold her in his arms, badly. He walked up the stairs to his bedroom, water dripping along as he clambered upwards.

He peeled off his sodden suit and simply left the clump of clothing on the bedroom carpet. Jay owned about 10 of these suits and got a new one every 3 months, so the loss of one to the rain was no big deal.

He walked into the bathroom to take a shower. He unhooked his holster and set his cricket gun down on the white granite counter next to the Edge Gel and the Right Guard (product placement is such a beautiful thing). He stared into the mirror. His eyes were red from the rain and his tears.

“Well, Jay, another fine girl. Gone…just like that...” and with this he snapped his fingers sarcastically.

Jay’s heart ached hard. Laura now clearly meant a hell of a lot more to him than just a “witness to a crime”. This was the single most beautiful woman he had EVER, EVER seen in his LIFE outside of his mother, and the nicest, too. Her personality hooked him like a fish being caught off Carnarsie Pier.

This “witness to a crime” might very well be the soulmate Jay was always looking for. Was she Cuban? Puerto Rican? Dominican? Blaxican?

No, she’s a Damn Alien.

Jay imagined her luminescent face on the roof of the office building where the transport was found. “…It’s not fair…”

“No. It’s not fair. Not one damn bit fair.” His stare in the mirror was intense for a second and he cast his head down in melancholy. If he had been really paying attention, he would have noticed the slight change in color happening in his eyes.

Why do all the GOOD ones have to be ALIENS? he thought to himself.

As he and Kay were blasting Serleena out of the sky, Jay had asked Kay what it was like living on the "outside".

For several months now, Jay was getting very tired of performing all manner of gallant deeds, including helping beautiful alien princesses get back home, and no one, especially some potential wife, even knowing he was alive. And THIS affair, it was almost the last straw. Maybe NOW it was time to seriously think about getting out of MIB, getting a civilian job, getting a civilian girl, having a civilian wedding, civilian kids, a civilian Dodge or Mercedes SUV, and actually living the life of a normal civilian guy. Which, since he was career military, career police and career secret agent, was something he actually had never done in his adult life...

And at that moment, almost as a response to Jay's even entertaining the notion of possibly leaving MIB and getting permanently neuralyzed, Jay thought he heard his name ring in his head faintly. He cocked his head back, wondered about that for a second, but dismissed it as fatigue. He wanted to use his new 100 percent cotton terry towels he just bought the previous weekend from Restoration Hardware, but he decided he was too sad to shower.

Jay walked inside the bedroom, over to his dresser. On it were several little items including a necklace made of silvery-gray rock beads and a stone-gray metallic round medallion, which looked like a sun design with snakily undulating rays coming out of the center, with bumpy circles on the rays, similar to fractal designs. It had belonged to his mother.

Then Jay remembered. He stepped back over to his sodden suit, knelt down and reached inside the lapel pocket of the suit jacket, to get a 5x7 glossy digital printout. Kay had handed it to him just before he left headquarters tonight.

It was the exact same photo Laura saw in the royal palace on the planet Zartha. Kay had taken it of him and Laura just hours before on Kay's cellphone, right before they all entered the brownstone where the Worm Guys lived. Jay and Laura were smiling and Jay had his arm around her.

Jay just stood there for a second, staring at this picture, and then the sobs really hit. They hit him like a blast of Arctic air down Madison Avenue in January. Uncontainable heaves of pain and loss, tears flowing down his face like the rain, which was slamming furiously down on the dark and dankly depressing windows of the bedroom. In the back of his mind, he was shocked at his sadness, this was a way different experience for him. Jay didn't have many girlfriends, especially in the years he was an agent. Yes, Jay had been "in love' before - or so he thought. But this was different. In all of his 30 years he NEVER wanted ANY woman the way he wanted Laura at this very moment. And boy, did he ever want Laura. He almost felt like he would die right there in that bedroom if he couldn't be with her.

And all this, for a woman he just met!

So Jay couldn't take it anymore. He kicked the soggy suit into the bathroom with the force of a place kicker, kicked the baseboard of his bed, and then flung his six-foot-one inch body (still damp from the rain) frustratedly on it with Herculean force and continued his child-like wailing sobs. The wails were definitely audible and clearly did NOT reflect his training as a cop or as an MIB agent. He hadn’t cried this hard since he was seven, when his mom had yelled at him for not cleaning his room, about a month before she died.

Jay stopped sobbing long enough to pray out loud. To whom, he was not really sure.

“…if I could do anything to be with Laura Vasquez again, I’ll do it. Even if it means I have to get out of MIB to do it. I love her. I love her. I love you, baby. I love you…WHY’d you have to GO, baby? Why the hell did you have to go?”

A clap of thunder rocked the building. The rain grew even more intent on flooding the street below.

At that moment, almost as if the impulse was broadcast into his soul, Jay began suddenly to think of Momma back in New Orleans, how kind and warm and loving she was to him. The way Laura was acting. It was the same energy, a pervasive, all encompassing love.

“Momma, WHY in God’s NAME do I FEEL like this? Why the hell do I love Laura so damn much?”

Jay sat up on his bed and sighed heavily. “Momma, can you even hear me?...”

“Yes, baby, I can hear you just fine…” It sounded like his late mother was in the room right next to him. NYPD instincts took over for a second and he snapped his head to his left. No one was there. The sobbing and wailing abruptly stopped.

As a result, a pang of fright shot through Jay like the bolt of lightning that had rang out a moment earlier. This sadness, this fatigue, it’s taking its toll…maybe if I try and go to sleep I’ll feel better, at least good enough to go to work. I'm off duty this weekend, but I have to go in at least to hit the gym, maybe check up on Forensics and see how that rookie's doin'...I wish this damn rain would stop. This damn rain just don't want to let the hell up.

Jay laid down and pulled the Wamsutta 300-thread-count sheets (made of 100 percent extra-long-staple Pima cotton) over his head. He began to close his eyes to sleep, and fell asleep rather quickly. All he could think about was Laura. Laura at the pizza parlor, Laura in the park, Laura walking down the street.

He then imagined himself and Laura in a very strange manner:

Jay and Laura were in the middle of MIB headquarters, dancing - no, tap dancing, clapping their hands, slapping their thighs, raising their hands up in the air and back down again, and singing all over the floor, in time with some very loud and brassy big-band era swing music. Jay was leading a bunch of suit-clad agents and Laura was leading a bunch of pizza delivery people, every one dancing and swinging with huge smiles on their faces like they were in some old movie musical from the Golden Age of Hollywood. (Jay had several DVD's of old movies, including several MGM musicals, a fact he shared with absolutely no one back at HQ).

Then the dancing stopped and the room went dark. The next moment, Jay saw Laura in a colossal, intricately decorated bedroom furnished with a very ornate, round bed, sitting up, looking outside a massive round window up at the stars overlooking some kind of palace gardens.

Then Laura turned towards him. "Hey," she said.

"Hey...hey girl, what's up," Jay replied, sweating and trying to catch his breath. "How ya feelin'?"

"A little better, I guess," Laura answered with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"I didn't know you could dance like that," Jay chuckled.

Laura giggled slightly. "I didn't know you were into old movies."

Jay blushed and looked down with an embarrassed grin. "Well, I kind of watch 'em for all the dance moves more than anything else. You know how many hours it took to get that shit rehearsed? The logistics involved in all of that? Those dudes did some amazing shit. Incredible."

"I was on the cheer squad in high school freshman year, I know a little bit about that," Laura replied.

"Well, it shows. You got talent, kid." Laura blushed herself at this. Her smile was utterly radiant and Jay liked seeing that smile very much right now.

"So, tell, me," Laura asked, getting up and walking towards him, "who's your favorite? Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly?"

Jay looked up for a moment and thought about his answer. The two walked back to Laura's bed and sat down. "Well, I've actually leaned more towards Kelly for his athleticism. You know he danced with the Nicholas Brothers in one of those movies."

"For real?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, "The Pirate". 1948. Judy Garland was in it too."

"Judy Garland is one of my favorites," Laura replied. "Ben and I used to watch 'The Wizard of Oz' together sometimes after work."

Jay looked into Laura's eyes. Something about them was drawing him to her, strongly...and this also happened to him when they were eating pie in the diner the other night, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was yet. "You must really miss him," he said.

"He was a huge part of my life. It was almost like he was my dad, Jay."

"Well, I hope... I was able to be, you know...of some help to you." Jay's heart began to race a little bit.

Laura took Jay's hand. "Don't worry Jay, believe me, you were a huge help. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. That's my job," Jay said, and looked straight ahead. This sure is one weird looking bedroom, Jay thought. Was this really the royal palace on Zartha?

“Jay,” she continued, “Look, umm, that's kind of what I need to talk to you about. Your helping me out, my being up here on Zartha, and...your job."

Jay got a little puzzled and raised an eyebrow. "OK..."

Laura looked down for a second and looked back up at him. Her eyes were so damn big and so damn cute. "Well...Look, Jay, umm...I know we’ve only been together just a short time, but I feel like I’ve known you my whole life. And when I got up here I was told that we HAVE known each other, a long time ago. We have a history together, Jay, and it’s from BEFORE we met at Ben’s Famous Pizza.”

Jay's heart rate began to kick in a little bit more. “Damn, I wish that were true, baby...” He stared at the luminescent face. This was one HELL of a dream.

“I love you. I love you so much," Laura continued. "I know this is real hard for you, my having to go away so suddenly. But they tell me it’s all for a good reason. I know we will be together. I’m supposed to call you. I’m supposed to send for you when the time is right.

Laura suddenly took both of Jay's hands in hers. The tight grip was a surprise to Jay. Laura's expression was earnest, almost to the point of being frantic, pleading. “They say you must come up here to Zartha with me. Come HOME, Jay. Come up here with me. This is your home. This is where you rightfully belong. I need you here by my side…”

Laura's franticness told Jay that he had to let her know exactly how he really felt, and he had to let her know right this second. “I need you too, Laura. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before, baby, I’m sorry I didn’t take the chance before you left,” Jay said with a mixture of nervousness and passionate resolve, thinking Laura, in reality, could not possibly hear him. But she did. Loud and clear. Jay and Laura were together just as plain as when they were having pie in the Empire Diner in Tribeca on Wednesday night, for this whole "dream" the two were having was much more than a dream, it was a miracle - an out of body experience in which their souls instantly traveled the distance of millions of light years of time and space - and came together.

Jay said, “What I’m trying to say, baby - I really want to say, well - this is hard for me...I love you, Laura Vasquez. Damn it, girl, I love you! I love you more than any other woman I have ever known, and this is weird, because I just met you, and I feel this way. I feel like...I finally found...well...I guess what I'm trying to say is that I’ll do anything to be with you, baby. ANYTHING.”

Laura’s face blossomed immediately into an intense beaming smile. “Jay, I love you so much too, baby…I want to be with you more than anything else…”

Laura moved closer to Jay. Her huge Afro-Latin eyes seemed to sparkle in the crystalline light coming from the bedside lamp. Jay was slammed now with massive waves of love and desire. Their faces moved slowly together and melded into a hard, strong, long kiss. This was the first real deep, passionate lovers' kiss Jay and Laura ever shared.

“Listen to me baby,” she continued in a soft, low voice, as if she knew he were sitting right there with him. “I found out some things about you. Things you don’t know.”

“What sort of things, Laura?” Jay looked a little puzzled.

“You are not who you think you are, baby.”

“What do you mean?”

“OK...remember tonight, how Kay said I have to go and lead my people on Zartha? Well, it turns out that the people of Zartha are YOUR people too.

"You see, baby, the agency erased your memories. You’re an ALIEN like I am. The Men In Black kept that a secret from you your whole life. Your ancestors can be traced here to this planet, Jay. You are a Zarthan.”

Jay was slightly taken aback by this strange twist in his “dream”, but he decided to go with the flow as best he could.

“Umm...That sounds a little strange, Laura. You know, I wish that were true. I wish this whole dream were true. All I know is that I love you. I always told myself that if I ever found a woman who made me feel as good as my MOMMA made me feel as a kid…I would marry her. So...I guess that means somehow I’m gonna marry you, Laura.”

Laura's eyes widened immediately and a huge smile came on her face. "Oh my god, Jay, is that a proposal?" Laura hugged Jay and started to jump up and down on the bed. Jay tried to control her. "Hey, hey...whoa!...come on now, wait a minute...I said somehow I'm gonna marry you...but I didn't pop the question! Look, baby...I just MET you! We haven't even gone on a real DATE yet! Come on..."

“Well I'm NOT worried 'cause I KNOW I will marry YOU, Jason Edwards. You don't understand, but it's a done deal! Our marriage has already been arranged.” Jay was so into the moment he did not even notice that Laura called him by his real name – up to the point when she left she only addressed him as Jay.

They moved close in for another kiss. Now he noticed something. Her eyes sure had a different color than he was used to…a radiant pale whitish-green. It was weird but kind of pretty. Real pretty. He was drawn to those eyes…That color, that brightness…it gave off an energy that Jay suddenly began to crave like it was food. He HAD to have what was coming out of Laura’s eyes!

Then the room went completely dark. And just like that, his love was gone. What a dream that was. If there were only a way to get up to Zartha, just to look into those eyes again, he could go in the strike cruiser, maybe Kay would authorize a special mission, he could have Zed work it out with the Zarthan authorities...whoever they were...

Jay stood up, and the room became slightly bright again. Rain was hitting a window. The slightly musty smell of hardwoods told him, with a shock of realization, that he was no longer on Zartha, but back in his own mother’s house.

The house was in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was a red brick bungalow on North Gayoso Street, in the heart of the historic Bayou St. John neighborhood.

Jay's childhood memories, at least the strongest ones, were magically getting deneuralyzed, at that very moment. Without the need for any specialized equipment.

“Oh, my God, I’m home,” he exclaimed, with shocked wonder.

Jay tried to go to his old room. But he tripped over an ottoman in the darkness of the house. As he grimaced in a flash of pain, his eyes flashed a flaming reddish orange in the dark room.

Just then a voice came up through the kitchen from the basement of the bungalow.

“Jason!” It was a loud, motherly call to action.

His mom’s voice. Again. Why is Momma calling me from the dead? Why NOW?

“Jason. Come on down here, baby and help me do the wash.”

Jason was visibly puzzled.

“Momma?” he called out, walking through the dark kitchen, past the GE refrigerator and the O’Keefe and Merritt gas stove. He could smell the lingering essence of decades of jambalaya, gumbo, boiled crawfish his dad would bring in, cornbread, grits, black coffee and beignets - he could even smell Nana’s king cake, which was the best he ever had in his life...

“Jason, come on down, baby.”

Jay opened the basement door. He felt the dark, damp coolness.

“Make me some of those beignets, Momma, since I’m here,” Jay said with a grin, and started down the stairs. He still believed he was in a dream. And he was - well, sort of.

As Jay clumped down the wooden steps, the acridly beautiful smell of All-Tempa Cheer and Clorox bleach told him it was indeed his own basement in New Orleans circa 1978.

Jay did not even notice that he had shapeshifted from a 30-year-old policeman-turned-secret agent into a seven year old child.

He immediately looked to his right as he was in the back of the basement.

A brown cat with dark brown stripes immediately ran up to Jay to be petted, which gave him another shock of great, joyful excitement.

"Bruno!" Jay exclaimed with a deep smile.

"Do you miss your old cat, Jason?" Momma asked.

"Yeah, I haven't seen him in forever, momma!", he said, picking the cat up and scratching it behind the ears.

"He's been living in New York at Ben's Famous Pizza," his mother replied.

"Oh," the boy said, not for a second wondering why his mother would be at all aware of the crime scene in SoHo he was investigating a few hours ago - or why his cat was living there.

Then Jason looked to his right. There was his own little play area. He rushed over to his toys. He had a lot of them in a large cardboard box. Fisher-Price toys, Hot Wheels cars, Tonka trucks, a Mattel Electronics LED football game he had just got the previous Christmas. He especially liked all the Star Wars action figures his mother was ALWAYS buying for him every chance she got, and he would place Han Solo and C3PO in his big red Nylint truck, made of metal with the heavy duty plastic wheels. And yes, he did have a Millennium Falcon. It was sitting on top of the pile of toys.

Jay’s mother was at the 1969 white Sears Kenmore washer and dryer, preparing the week’s laundry. Jay’s mother was a tall, strong woman of light complexion, her shoulder length black wavy hair pulled back into a ponytail, showing slightly elfin ears, and (save for the elfin ears) unmistakably West African bone structure. She was dressed in a clean, bright white blouse, black polyester capri pants, and those pink rubber flip-flops you can find from time to time in any supermarket or drug store.

Her powerfully built 5’ 9” body reflected her previous life as a 400 meter runner at Grambling State University. She was also a classically trained signer (there was an upright piano upstairs that Nana loved to play, she even taught Jay how to play a couple of little songs when he was three), and Momma could have been an Olympian - or a mezzo, performing on the Lincoln Center stage - if other more important duties had not taken over. Her large, round eyes looked down at her son, delighted to be back in his home after so many years. He wanted to tell Laura as soon as possible.

“Momma,” he said, in a quiet, little boy voice tinged with quiet, little boy sadness, “why did Laura have to go away?”

“Laura has things to do, baby," Angelique said matter of factly, sorting whites from colors and placing Jay’s little underwear in the Kenmore agitator. She looked at him with the warm smile she often flashed at him.

“What kind of things?”

“Laura has to get ready for you, Jason. Your wedding is in three weeks,” Momma replied.

“Me? Wedding? Does Laura know I want to go up there to see her?”

“She most certainly does, baby. And you will go, Jason. You HAVE to go, baby. You have to go home.”

“Why, Momma?”

“You are the Sun of Zartha, Jason. You are very, very, very important to us.”

Jay looked puzzled. “Who’s US? And why is that place home? I’m home right NOW.”

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Jay makes it rain and has a weird dream

Angelique looked at him with a little grin. “Do you remember the prayer time we used to have with my necklace?”

“I think so.”

“I think we need to have that prayer time right now. So you can remember. Come here.”

Jason sprang to his little feet, which were clad in some black canvas Keds, and ran to the dryer. He was starting to remember the ritual now. They did it every day.

Angelique picked her only child up and sat him down on top of the dryer. She lifted the Garanimals shirt off him so his skinny chest showed bare.

“Now let me put this on you.” Momma took a necklace from around her neck. It was made of silvery-gray rock beads and a stone-gray metallic round medallion, which looked like a sun design with snakily undulating rays coming out of the center, with bumpy circles on the rays, similar to fractal designs.

She placed it around Jason’s neck. The medallion felt a little heavy around him but it made him feel safe and secure.

Angelique shot a quick smile at him and her eyes seemed like a dull red color flashed in them for a second, like a reflection in a color photograph. “Look at me, Jason. Look into my eyes. Listen to what I am saying. My words are kind of weird, baby, but they mean a lot.

She began to chant. “Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH. Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH. Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH. Say it with me, Jason.”

The little boy chanted too. “Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH. Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH. Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH….”

“Keep looking at me, Jason," Momma said. "Keep looking into my eyes. Don’t look away, baby.”

Jason obeyed. He couldn’t help but to do so. Angelique was sending dangerously high levels of radioactive energy into Jay through her flashing, now neon-red eyes. But the boy Jay was in no danger. He was genetically capable of absorbing and retaining the massive radiation being sent into him. Jay was mesmerized by the brilliant, deep, intense red glow of those eyes. He could not resist looking deep into them. They held his attention like a magnet.

The both of them kept the chant up. “Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH. Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH. Tow-lah-AHH. Sah-AHH….” Jason began to sweat, profusely. Thick beads of sweat were rapidly forming on the faces and arms of both mother and child as they continued chanting. This went on for five full minutes.

“Now I need you to close your eyes, Jason. Feel the sun rise inside of you.”

Jason felt very warm and happy inside. The feeling got stronger and stronger. He felt like he had power, like electric fire was dancing and tingling inside of him, all over.

He also felt a hot feeling deep in his stomach. He always did when they did the necklace prayer. The heat, that tingling, electric fire, moved all over his body and made him sweat even more. But Jason was not uncomfortable. He actually LIKED feeling hot like this. He WANTED the sun to rise in him. He wanted to please his momma, but more than that he wanted to please this Tow-Lah-Ahh they were praying to, whoever he was. He wanted to BE Tow-lah-Ahh.

They stopped chanting for a second. “How do you feel, baby?” Angelique asked.

“I feel like Tow-lah-ahh, Momma. I feel like I can do anything he can do.”

“Good, Jason. That’s just what the T’ola'a energy wants from you.”

“Why, Momma?" the boy asked.

“Baby, you ARE T’ola'a.”

“How can THAT be, Momma?”

“It just is, Jason. That’s how you and I were born. Open your eyes.”

Jason did so and noticed that the medallion was glowing a bright orange. It was leaving a slight blister on his chest but he felt no pain at all. His skin color seemed a little darker, like it had turned reddish. Sweat was dripping all over the dryer and the floor.

Angelique took one of the towels from the hamper and slowly, lovingly patted his face with it. “You see, Jason, our family is very special. We are the people of T’ola'a. The Sun People. Laura’s family is part of the Light People, the S’aa.

“Laura’s mommy was a great S’aa princess, and she was born right here in New Orleans. Her family owns the Chinese take out place on Claiborne."

"Oh, yeah, I remember Lauranna, Momma," Jason said.

"Yes, baby. Lauranna was my best friend in college. When I went to Grambling, Lauranna went to LSU. We ran track and hung out together. We always knew we would have kids and that they would be friends.

“You and Laura were supposed to be long married by now. You and Laura were supposed to be King and Queen of Zartha, but the Men In Black got scared and took you away from me before we could initiate you into the secrets of T’ola'an.” Angelique was trying to craft her language now to talk to the thirty-year-old the child represented.

“Your destiny, baby, is to return home to Zartha. Your destiny is to marry Laura, so the Sun People and the Light People can be unified as one family. The kids you're gonna have together will bring peace and love to the whole universe. Your destiny is to be what I named you. T’Va'an S’Vasa'an T’ola'an.

“What’s THAT?” Jay had a puzzled frown on his face.

Angelique gave a slight giggle and patted his head. “That’s your Zarthan name, baby. It means King whose mother is Queen in the family of the Lord of the All-Powerful Sun. You see, baby, Zartha is the home planet for us.“

“We COME from Zartha?” Jay asked.

“Yes, in a roundabout way, Jason.

“Our ancestors are the children of lord T’ola'an. See, baby, he was a solar cataclysm, a massive, destructive solar flare - the scientists call it a superwave, actually come to life. He was the first King of the planet of Zartha and he helped the all Zarthan beings learn how to take care of themselves and rebuild their world at a time when they really, really needed the help.”

“Why did he need to help rebuild Zartha?” Jason asked.

“Well, baby, T’ola'an’s superwave energy destroyed Zartha at the worst possible time - right when it was just created and getting started. T’ola'an felt real, real sorry for what his power caused and spent a long, long, long time making things right again. He learned a very big lesson, baby. T’ola'an learned how to have love and compassion for other living things. He learned to respect life, and protect and nurture it, not to use his power to destroy things.

“That’s very important knowledge for any king to have, Jason.”

“whoa…” the boy mused. Angelique beamed. She was pleased at his interest and continued her story.

“Later on, when Zartha was back on its feet again, T’ola'an wanted to go out and meet other kinds of people in the universe. He wanted to meet other beings that lived in harmony with the energy of the sun, who really loved the sun. So he went in his spaceship and traveled far, far, far away, through one of the big blue wormholes that makes it quicker to go from galaxy to galaxy.

"T'ola'an eventually went to a little village in West Africa. T'ola'an's sources told him that the ancestors of the people in that village migrated there all the way from ancient Egypt, hundreds of years before. And because of that, Jason, they worshipped the sun and the moon as if they were gods. T'ola'an felt real, real, comfortable with that.

"So he went down and made friends with the local priests. The priests loved T'ola'an and made him king of the entire village. They brought seven young women to him. Those seven human women became T'ola'an's seven wives. Now remember, Jason, before T'ola'an got there, these people prayed to the sun and to the moon. They grew up believing in the power of nature. And they grew up believing something else was out there in the universe, so when T'ola'an came to the village they weren't scared like people would get now - they were actually happy that T'ola'an came...they appreciated the fact that T’ola'an was the energy of the sun come to life, and came all the way from outer space just to be with them! Wasn’t that special, baby?”

“Yeah,” said an awed Jason, who was enraptured by the adventure.

“Now T’ola'an passed his DNA, his magical sun-god blood, down to us through those seven wives in Africa. The sun-god blood changed those wives, Jason. Once his blood was inside of them, they could now do some of the magical alien things T'ola'an could do. And when those wives had kids - the kids could do those magical things, too.

"Why did T'ola'an do a thing like that?" the boy asked.

"T'ola'an did that out of LOVE, Jason. He did that so that WE can know what it’s like to BE pure sun energy. He didn't think it was right that he could have the all power of the sun, the power of Light, just for himself, and not let humans have the chance to feel that energy too. He knew that back when humans were first made, some of the magical stuff was left out of them on purpose. He didn't think that was fair.

“So because we are the children of Lord T’ola'an, and because he gave us his magic blood of fire and Light... we can claim Zartha as our home, Jason. The people of Zartha know that we are a ruling family and most of 'em respect us for that. And YOU, Jason Edwards, T’Va'an S’Vasa'an T’ola'an, are very, VERY special to all the people back on Zartha because you are a manchild born to me. The first male in my bloodline in a couple of centuries. They really want you to go back home to Zartha right away so you can be the new King.”

“Why didn’t I know all of this before, Momma?”

“The Men In Black are afraid of you, Jason. They wanted to hide all of this information from you, baby. They know that because you are my son, you have the power to make a lot of things happen with the weather, with electrical energy, all sorts of things.”

“I can bend a metal spoon, momma!”

Angelique grinned and the red glow in her eyes became a little brighter. She gave Jay an immediate hug. “I know, Jason. I know. That’s part of the Zartha power that’s always been inside you. The power they call alien.

“Wow...” Jason’s eyes widened with wonder. If one could see them, they would notice a persistent dull reddish glow.

“The Earth people are so scared of that, Jason. They shouldn’t be, but they are. They took you away from me and erased all your memories and made you think I was dead.”

Jason became surprised. “You’re alive, Momma?”

“I most certainly am, baby.”

A pang of cold shock slammed into Jay. “Where ARE you?" he asked. "I thought you were a ghost!”

“I’m in jail, Jason. The Men In Black put me there.”

Jason was not happy about this and started to cry. Angelique tried to explain what happened.

“They needed me to go into exile, baby. Another race of aliens - Serleena’s people - wanted to get rid of Zartha and the Earth and take over the rest of the universe. And there were some people back on Zartha who really, really, did not like the fact that their queen - and their son - were born on Earth and were part human. They don't much like humans, Jason. So the Men In Black were trying to look out for everybody.

“Where is the jail, Momma?” Jason asked, his face now stained with tears.

“The jail is in Louisiana. Right now I’m really in my cell, fast asleep. You’re still in your bed in Brooklyn. You and I are in the same dream right now. I made this dream so you could be in it tonight.”

“But Momma? Why did the Men In Black put you in JAIL?” Jason seemed hurt that his friends would do such a mean thing. He began to cry again.

“Don’t cry, baby. They did what they had to do.”

“Were you mad at them?”

“Yes, baby, at first. I almost commanded Zartha go to war with the Earth. I was very sad and angry about what happened to Lauranna, and I was mad because of what they wanted to do to you, how they planned on taking you away from me, you AND Laura both. Yeah, I was real, real upset with them.”

“We almost had a WAR over Lauranna? We almost had a war over ME?” Jason asked quietly. His teary eyes got very wide with incredulous surprise.

Angelique gave a motherly smile and a giggle. “Yeah, baby, a real war with real spaceships – battle cruisers and everything. I’m the queen of Zartha, baby. I could have started a war so easily.

“But I knew that blowing this planet up, even though I was so upset about losing my best friend - and my son - that wouldn’t help matters one single bit, Jason. ‘Cause Zartha was heading for a civil war at the time and I had to deal with all of THAT mess.

“The Kylothians would have STILL been right there for me to deal with - we would have kicked their butts, but it would have been a real pain. And if I attacked Earth, MIB would have very easily found a way to attack Zartha in response. And they would have done it using weapons I gave them. So many thousands of innocent people would have died, just because I got mad.”

“Ain’t that stupid, baby?” Angelique asked, and there was a hint of an embarrassed smile.

“I guess so, Momma.”

“And that’s definitely not T’ola’an’s way, either. So I decided just to let it go.” Angelique looked off to the side and her look became slightly vacant. She sighed. “Living in THIS world sure is hard, baby...I had people back on Zartha tryin’ to get me to use our power to do bad things, like go to war with the Earth, and not only that but to take over the whole universe and make everybody slaves. And I almost listened to them, Jason. That’s the part that I regret the most. Things would have really been terrible if I joined forces with some of the bad guys back on Zartha – but I almost did just that!”

“Why did you almost join the bad guys, Momma?”

“I thought it would keep you kids with me, and keep us together as a family, somehow. And I thought it would make you and Laura more powerful. I thought it would help you guys. But I forgot that the real power comes from the Light that you kids already had, all the time. Sometimes I get caught up in stuff and forget about what really matters, Jason.”

“So I had to stay true to what a being of Light was all about. I had to accept the fact that in order to save Zartha, I had to let you and Laura go. I could not seek revenge for Lauranna, because it really wasn’t anyone’s fault about her. And I had to let MIB put me in jail. I had to give you up just like a mother has to give her child up for adoption sometimes.

"Now I was still very, very sad, and angry, that I had to give you up, and Laura too. I loved being a mom, Jason. I did not want you taken away from me, but if I didn't do that...there might not even be a planet of Zartha right now. Zartha was about to have a civil war. A terrible, nasty civil war, Jason. We were mad at each other, as Zarthans, about a lot of stuff, and we were ready to fight about it.

"So it all came down to the very survival of Zartha itself. Do I keep you and Laura and join the bad guys? If I join the bad guys will MIB deal with Zartha as an enemy planet and try to attack us? Do I say no to the bad guys and risk starting the civil war? Do I attack Earth and risk MIB attacking Zartha? And what about all the other planets? They were waiting to see what would happen on Zartha, and what I would decide. Whose side would THEY take in all this??? What a big, big, BIG mess that was. Those were some of the hardest decisions I ever had to make as queen.

“Ben was one of my staff members in the royal palace. He helped me get through those terrible days. I sent him down to New York from Zartha to open up the pizza place and to look after Laura, and after you, from a distance. I knew the Men In Black would take good care of you, and Ben checked up on you from time to time, even though you didn't know it. And I knew I could come back to you and help you remember everything when the time was right. And now, the time is right. I forgave the Men In Black a long time ago. They had a good reason for doing what they did. Now you have to forgive them too.”

“But Momma, I’m MAD at those guys! They LIED to me!” Jason’s eyes flashed a bright neon red now and he began to sweat again.

“Jason, Jason.” Angelique looked down with those big, loving eyes and grinned softly at the sobbing, angry child and kissed his forehead. She then gave him a nice warm hug, as all mothers do when their kids are real sad.

“Écoutez et souviens, Jason. Le roi du soleil vivra longtemps, toujours, baby. Vous êtes le roi du soleil, Jason. Vous êtes le T’olaan.”

Jay was startled by this statement. Momma ALWAYS said this to him before she kissed him good night - and she never explained what it meant. Now, Jay knew a bit of French and the meaning was now more clear.

“Whoa...” the child was stunned. His teary face was frozen in wonder. Angelique gave him her warmest, most earnest look, her most sincere smile.

“Jason, baby, I know you don’t understand what’s happening right now, but you have to put your mad feelings off to the side right now. You are special. You always have been. Always remember that, Jason. I told you when I had to go away, so many years ago now, that I would come back for you. Well, in a way, I have, baby. Just like I promised.

“Now there’s a LOT of work you have to do. You must get ready to go to Zartha. You need to start packing your things. You also have to go back to work. Let the Men in Black tell you themselves what I have said. Then you will know this is not a dream – it’s all true, baby.

Then Angelique leaned in and gave Jay that serious mom look. “Listen to me, Jason. If you remain here on Earth past the middle of the week, the Earth will be destroyed. YOU will generate an electromagnetic pulse, strong enough to blow up this entire planet, baby. So you HAVE to get off this planet and get your ass back home.”

“Oh...” Jason’s eyes grew even wider. “OK, Momma.”

“Good, baby. Now Laura will send for you in a couple of days. Go to Zartha and be with her, Jason. Laura was created specifically for you. That is why she was conceived - to be your wife.

“Your marriage has been ordained by the sacred ancestral spirits of T’olaa and S’aa. You are now a political and a religious figure, baby. You must go and take your place alongside Laura and become King of our homeworld. You must go and be the leader of the Zarthan people. They have been waiting for you, baby. My time for being Queen is almost over.

When you and Laura are married, the Golden Age of Light will begin.”

“Will I ever see you again, Momma?”

“Yes, baby. Sooner than you might think.”

Jason immediately found himself awake in his bed in Brooklyn. The rain was still going on, a little softer now. For about three minutes he reflected on his dream. Could all this be true? What if Momma really WAS still alive? What if he HAD been lied to all these years? Could he actually have been neuralyzed to forget his entire childhood? Who the hell is T’ola'an?

Then Jay noticed that he was wearing the necklace. Right there in the bed.

It was a wonder he didn’t set the apartment on fire, because the medallion was very, very hot.

He did not remember putting it on before he went to sleep. He could see the glow.

Jay sprang to his feet and snatched the necklace off his neck. He dropped it on his bare foot and expected to feel a dreaded twinge of pain, but there was no pain. None whatsoever. His skin was absorbing the heat. He looked at his watch, which he always wore to bed. 2:23 AM. But the clock radio on his dresser said 3:23. Jay was puzzled - until he remembered that New Orleans is in the Central Time zone - one hour behind New York.

And then he got puzzled all over again.

Jay stumbled over to the mirror. The room was dark save for the glow of the medallion.

What Jay saw shocked him to his core. His eyes were glowing a dull red.

He stood there with his mouth wide open for a full five or six minutes. His body was dripping with sweat. He closed his eyes and walked fast to the bathroom. He turned on the light. His reflection in the mirror showed that his eyes were still glowing.

“Momma, what the hell is going on?” His prayer was frantic and audible.

“You are remembering, Jason. You are activating, baby. Your body is remembering what you are, your mind, your soul...” The voice was again strong and clear, as if she was in the room.

“You are blood of my blood, T’Va'an, my son. Fruit of my womb. You are the Sun of Zartha. You are soon to be king. The time is right.

Jay stared out into his glowing eyes. His ontological shock was massive.

"That's it. I'm going crazy. I'm hearing voices. I'm seeing things."

Jay blinked his eyes. He turned the light in the bathroom off and looked in the mirror.

The red glow in his eyes was still there and was getting brighter.

"Jason," he heard again.

"Momma? Are you really talking to me???? What is this??? What the hell is happening to me????" Jay yelled.

"The connection has been re-established, Jason. I always knew your feelings, I always knew your soul. Now you know mine. Just like it was when you were little, Jason. You are blood of my blood. We are connected by the energy of fire. The energy of Light. Believe it Jason."

Jay stopped and cocked his head quietly. He could have sworn his mother was in the room with him right now. He could almost smell the Windsong perfume she wore each day.

But Angie was not visible to Jay. He could only hear and feel her angelic presence. That presence filled the apartment now. It was like a strong wave of electromagnetic energy was filling the bedroom and bathroom with a tingly, sparkly feeling.

“I always thought my name was James," Jay said to the energy he felt.

“Your name was changed, Jason. MIB changed your name. It was part of the deal.”

Jay was stunned. “Deal? What deal? They better not have. Those sons of...”

At this moment, the rain was still going on, but it was more of a light sprinkle. Jay wondered...if he was an alien, he would most certainly be in the large database of aliens that the MIB kept, on each and every alien being that landed on Earth or was born on Earth to alien parents the past 40 years.

Jay flew downstairs to his iMac. He would simply log on to the MIB database and find out for himself. If they encrypted the data specifically on him, he’d just hack his way through the mainframe until he found it. Jay had Level II clearance but he always hacked into the most secure top-secret files as a standard way to work on his cases. Zed always found out and got mad each time, but many a tough, baffling case was solved that way.

On the iMac Jay now had just gotten past Level One security. He spent about 45 seconds wading through lots of file folders. Then he ran a search for “Zartha”. After about three seconds, there it was. A lone file folder called “Zartha Level Z”.

Jay smiled a sneaky smile. He had heard rumors about Level Z, which basically meant for Zed’s eyes only.

“Why that sneaky son of a bitch. Well, boss, I WILL know the TRUTH about myself! Yeah!” Jay tried to double-click on the folder. A dialog box came up.

“Access denied”. Damn, Jay said to himself. He opened up a folder on his desktop which read “The Big Gun”. Inside was a decryption application. Jay entered some figures in the program and clicked the Go button. A timer came up. “Decoding in 45 seconds.”

The thunder outside was rolling. The rain was pounding harder on the street outside.

“Come on, power, stay on for me, please,” Jay said, not realizing the energy of his own anxiety was making it rain harder.

Then it happened. A lightning strike hit a transformer a couple of blocks down. All the power in the neighborhood went right out.

“NOOOOOOO!” Jay slammed his fists down on the table and slammed his head down on the keyboard. “I KNEW I should have swiped that backup surge protector from Tee’s cubicle!”

Jay’s discovery would have to wait.

Feeling defeated again, Jay clumped back upstairs and went back to sleep.

Angie's energy comforted her son. Her energy melded with his, as it always did, even as Jason was growing inside Angie so many years ago. The two soul forces were giving, taking, creating the force of Light in the eternal bond that is the Knowing between mother and child.

Angie had almost forgotten how good it felt to be a part of her child and have her child be a part of her.

As for Jay, he wasn't consciously thinking about Momma. He was trying to figure out why Zed and Kay lied to him about Momma.

Jay started dreaming again. This time he began to find himself in a huge, thick, dense humidly green jungle. He tried to wade his way through the brush. He was wearing khaki shorts, his beige Timbos and his NYPD issue t-shirt and cap. He suddenly realized he had no weapons of any kind on him - not even a neuralyzer.

“Holy shit,” Jay thought.

“Don’t worry baby, where you’re going you don’t need any weapons. The creatures know you’re here. They like you.” Jay recognized Laura’s voice.

“LAURA!” Jay yelled out. “LAURA!”

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Beignets in the break room

Suddenly, as if to answer his call, Jay saw what looked like several fireflies appear in the darkened foliage. They darted and danced before him with their greenish-white glow. They moved forward a bit, and then they stopped. Then they moved forward again.

Jay was mesmerized by the fireflies’ light, the same way he was by his mother’s eyes.

“Jay, follow the fireflies. Follow the light, baby,” he heard Laura say in his head.

Jay proceeded forward and followed the fireflies. They led him to a clearing. He was now on the banks of a river, languid and shimmering. Jay followed this bank for about 20 minutes.

“Laura, where are you, girl?”

“Keep going, baby. Just keep going.”

After a while Jay came to a bend in the river. Around this bend was a lagoon with a waterfall. A female figure was bathing in this lagoon.

“Laura!” Jay yelled, and he took off on a dead run down the bank.

“Over here, baby! Come on!” Laura yelled back.

Damn, I hope this ain’t a mirage, Jay thought. He stopped at the bank. Laura was in an NYU t-shirt and she was waist deep in the water.

“I like this dream, baby,” Jay said.

“I was kinda hoping you would,” Laura replied with a smile. “Get your butt in this water.”

Jay took off his shoes and waded into the river.

“Damn, I’m glad to see you again,” he said with a huge grin.

“It wasn’t THAT long ago, Jay.” A giggle erupted from Laura’s lips.

They embraced and shared a long, deep kiss in the cold water.

After that, Jay said, “Where are we?”

Laura giggled. “In your dreams.

“Technically, we’re on Zartha. This is the river Wu’suu’bo. The Zarthan natives bathe in this river to purify themselves.”

“That’s kind of cool,” Jay replied, and his stare off into the mist became a little vacant.

“Are you pissed?” Laura asked, a pang of concern rising within her.

“Pissed about what?”

“I felt some angry energy from you before you went back to sleep just now.”

“Oh, that...well, the power in my crib went out on me, just as I was hacking into Zed’s secret files on Zartha,” Jay said with a slightly embarrased grin.

“Why were you trying to do that for?”

Jay looked away for a second, then back into Laura’s eyes. He sighed and said, “Laura, I need to know for sure about all this. These dreams are beautiful, but I want confirmation. If I AM an alien, there most definitely will be a file on me. And on you as well. I need to see it with my own eyes.”

“Well, trust me, Jay, you will.”

Jay gave a slight smirking frown. “Are you psychic?”

“Yeah,” Laura said matter-of-factly, as if Jay had asked her if she liked Mountain Dew.

Jay was intrigued by this and this made him desire Laura more. Laura sensed this and smiled a sly smirkly smile. “You like psychic girls?” She caressed the back of his head.

“Yeah,” said Jay, who was in a daze. “You are the most beautiful thing I have EVER seen, Laura.”

“And you’re not too damn ugly yourself.” Laura’s smile was deep and sincere.

Jay embraced Laura and the pair moved in for another kiss. It was like their faces were slowly drawn together like a magnet to iron. This kiss was deeper, more forceful and longer. Then they looked into each other's eyes.

“Where in the hell were you all my life, Laura?” Jay asked with a deep, warm smile. He caressed her head in his hands.

“Wondering where the hell you were.” Laura reached up and took his wrist and kissed it softly.

Jay spoke again after several seconds of blissful silence. “What do I do now, baby? I gather you have instructions from my mom.”

“Now you’re using YOUR psychic ability. Good job!” Laura giggled again. “And the answer would be yes. Angie says you need to start packing all your stuff in your apartment in Brooklyn when you wake up. It will take you all day but you need to pack everything.

“The royal court will send a team to come get them and move them up here.”

Jay’s eyes filled with wonder. “Angie...Yeah, Angie. That’s what everybody called Momma...I remember that now, Laura.”

Suddenly, Laura’s eyes flashed bright white. “Uh-oh, this ballgame is over, baby. The sun is coming up in New York. The sunlight is hitting your eyes in your bed. I can feel it.”

A pang of disappointment shot through Jay like a blast from a cricket gun.

“I don’t want to wake up, Laura. I don’t want this dream to end.”

“This is only the beginning, Jason. And it’s never going to end. Kiss me and have a wonderful day, baby.”

They moved in to kiss. In the middle of the kiss Jay awoke. Massive sunlight was indeed pouring through the bedroom window.

Jay heard another voice ring again in his head. “Start packing, Jason.”

“Momma, are you really the Queen of Zartha? Am I really a prince? Are you really still alive?”

No response.

“Well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough.” The power in the apartment was still out.

He went downstairs.

What he saw when he got to the bottom of the stairs made his heart jump about three feet out of his chest, with a massive flash of shock.

There were now, for no apparent reason, about 10 or 12 cardboard boxes right smack dab in the middle of his living room.

The floor was largely empty just four hours before.

The boxes were marked in thick black marker ink: “Jay’s Stuff: NYC.” Underneath were written some strange pictorial symbols - actually the exact same thing, “Jay’s Stuff: NYC,” in Zarthan.

Jay immediately bolted upstairs and grabbed his cricket gun. He then did a police-style sweep of his whole apartment, softly kicking in a couple of his closet doors and whirling, whipping his pointed weapon inside. He was surprised and thought someone broke into the apartment, but no one did.

Jay sighed. “Momma, you sure do know how to freak your son out.”

Jay began to pack his stuff to go to Zartha.

Jay spent the rest of Saturday and part of Sunday packing his things. He packed his clothing, his kitchen stuff, his video games, his computer, his sheets, his towels.

He still wasn't quite sure that what he was doing would have any real effect. This whole affair was surreal, like a dream - well, it was a dream. A couple of beautiful dreams...and Laura, damn what a fyyyne ass woman she is...but was everything in those dreams real, or were they just hs imagination, just wishful thinking?

Jay sat down on the floor and wrung his head in his hands. What if Momma really is still alive?

What if I am an alien?

I don't feel like an alien.

Jay went back upstairs to finish packing his bedroom and bathroom things. In the darkened bathroom, Jay looked at himself in the mirror as he was gathering his shaving cream and his mirror and his combs and brushes and putting them into his Dopp kit that he got back in Basic.

His eyes looked normal. They didn't glow.

I'm a human. I've gotta be. I eat, sleep, pee...the whole nine yards...but what is Laura...and what is Momma??? And if Momma really is from this Zartha then that means I'm...nah...I CAN'T be an alien. If I were an alien Zed would have told me. I hope he would have told me.

Jay went downstairs and went into his small kitchen. He had little food in his refrigerator: there was a jar of mayo which was almost all gone, a Subway bag with nothing in it but a crumpled napkin, and a shriveled-up orange. It was a good thing, because since the power was still out in the neighborhood as of 3pm Sunday afternoon, any food would have started going bad by now.

Jay threw all these into his garbage can and took it out the back door to the dumpster at the bottom of the stairs.

Jay frowned at the orange, which he could see through the white plastic of the bag. He watched as he tossed the bag into the dumpster. Do aliens eat this stuff? I never really thought about what those bastards eat.

Jay walked through the alley onto his street. The rustle of traffic on the BQE could be faintly heard in the distance. The tree-lined block of brownstones was quiet except for a couple of the neighbors commenting on how slow the ConEd crews were in coming out to turn the power back on (there was a reason for the slow response, and Zed was behind it).

There were massive puddles still in the street, making the already hot air even more unbearable.

Jay then thought to himself: The A/C hasn't been on all weekend. Usually it gets too hot in the crib...but it's not hot in there.

Jay went back inside and looked at the thermostat on the living room wall.

It read 89 degrees.

Jay frowned, as he felt perfectly dry and comfortable. But the apartment was quiet.

Jay put his hand over an air register. No air was coming out.

Jay tried to come up with a rational explanation in his mind about this, but nothing came into his mind.

...on Monday he would surely go back to headquarters and everything would be somewhat normal...but then there was that folder. That damn folder. What the hell was in that folder? And why would Zed keep it a secret? What the hell did he have to hide? Jay was trustworthy. Jay was competent and capable. Zed had no reason to withhold anything from him.

Jay packed all of his stuff in the cardboard boxes and by about 10pm Sunday night he was finished.

"I still don't know what all this is about..." Jay thought to himself as he taped up the last of the boxes in the middle of his living room floor. Then he began to remember, slowly, the way things were in the old house in New Orleans when he was a kid.

"I guess I had it pretty good there, Momma." Jay smiled and shook his head.

After Jay went to sleep, both Laura and Angie appeared in separate dreams, and in one of these dreams Jay remembered more bits and pieces of his childhood in New Orleans - he remembered being placed in a car seat in his mother's car, a white 1966 Volkswagen Bug and a strange looking brunette with almond eyes, who was Momma's friend Lauranna, a girl she knew from college, riding shotgun. Lauranna liked to play peekaboo with Jason and she was always tickling him - she always made him laugh. Her eyes had grayish-white flashes and sparkles all the time that mesmerized Jason.

Then Jay dreamed of the day he was taken.

Jason walked home alone from school, as he did every day this year. He was in the second grade. The school was only four blocks from his house, and no one in the neighborhood would even think of doing something bad to the crown prince of Zartha - or allowing anything to happen to him.

That is, unless a secret deal was made with a secret organization that monitors and polices alien activity on planet Earth. Which was exactly what happened.

There were several black Ford LTD sedans parked on Gayoso Street. Momma didn't mention anyone passing away, so Jason thought this was weird. When he came to the door, it was open. He walked inside.

The house was completely empty. Not a single piece of furniture was there. Two men in clean suits were taking readings in the barren hallway, with equipment Jay would learn how to use many, many years afterward.

Other tall men with black suits and black ties were in the kitchen talking. More of these men were walking up the steps to enter the house.

Jason began to panic. The panic woke him up from his dream. And Jay was pissed.

"Those goddamn sons of bitches," Jay muttered. "That better not be how the f*** it happened."

Jay looked at the clock on his dresser. It was 4:27 am, Monday. Jay always got up at 4:30am.

After his shower and shave, Jay dressed in a clean, dry and pressed black suit. He left his apartment and locked the door behind him.

This would be the last time Jay would see his apartment for the next eighteen months. The next time he would see this brownstone building, Laura would be with him and he would be on a different kind of mission for a different kind of "employer".

Jay walked up the dark, still, quiet street, under the BQE and towards his usual bus stop (on the days he didn't feel like driving) on Flushing Avenue alongside the old Navy Yard. His bus came on time at 4:51am. It was packed with commuters of all shapes and sizes.

As Jay stood, he could see that many of the streets still had a lot of standing water. Some of them were barricaded.

The bus went westbound through the neighborhood and in about 10 minutes was across the East River over the legendary Manhattan Bridge into Manhattan. His commute using the bus was 20 minutes shorter than his drive - but he loved that Mercedes.

This would be the last time Jay would ride an MTA bus for the next eighteen months. Zed already had the motor pool guys put the Mercedes in storage.

Jay, his mind running a million miles an hour in deep thought at this point, arrived at headquarters after walking almost another two blocks out of his way to avoid getting splashed by trucks and taxis going through the massive puddles.

He walked through the austere thick steel doors, past the guard reading his Weekly World News and onto the elevator. He then went into the break room for his usual morning cup of coffee - the bland stuff that always woke him up at 5:30 am after suffering through the stupidity that was always rush hour in Manhattan. But Jay was already wide awake this morning.

This was no ordinary Monday morning.

Today was going to be THE day. Yes, sir. Today he would hack into the database, and depending upon what was in that folder he found, he would march right into Zed’s office and DEMAND an explanation - for everything.

What greeted him was strange - but familiar. Right at Jay’s usual seat, at the folding table in the middle of the tiny, stark, fluorescently cold room, Jay saw a small ceramic plate. On this plate were three steaming warm, large, bulging fresh beignets, heavily dusted in the telltale powdered sugar, and a large stainless steel travel mug filled with steaming black French-style coffee.

The bag sitting next to this spread told Jay that both of these items were sent via FedEx earlier that morning from the Cafe Du Monde location right on Decatur Street in the French Market, the one with all the green and white awnings and the ceiling fans that went whirr-whirr-whirr - Jay remembered it like it was yesterday - the one that stays open 24 hours. The one he remembered going to at 3am with his momma and Momma's friend Lauranna, riding shotgun in the VW, when he was three years old. Angie ALWAYS took her coffee black.

Next to the ceramic plate, Jay saw a note. When Jay read this note, another pang of fright shot through him like a laser. Then tears began to trickle down his face.

The note read:

“I couldn’t make you beignets from prison, but I had some sent to you. I really enjoyed seeing you again, even if it was only a dream - or was it, baby?

Je me souviens. I love you. Blood of my blood.

Your momma, Angelique Tolan.

P.S. Tell Kay I said hey!”

Attached to the note was a recent mug shot of Angie. The only thing different about her was that she wore dreadlocks instead of the large Afro he remembered from the '70's. But she seemed just as young and radiant as she was when he was a kid.

So Momma IS alive, Jay thought. He could not stop his tears. He was crying so hard - or trying so hard not to cry in the break room - that he found it impossible to eat the beignets. At least for about 45 seconds. Then, with his cheeks stained with hot tears, he chomped on one. He had forgotten just how damn good these things tasted.

Just then, Kay walked in the break room. Kay saw the beignets. Kay’s face turned white with fear and shock. He knew that Cafe Du Monde beignets - sent here, to MIB headquarters could have only come from one person.

A person he was madly in love with...and also a person he feared. Kay feared very few creatures in the universe, but Angie was different. Angie almost destroyed the Earth over Jay.

“Those - those are Cafe Du Monde beignets, from New Orleans!” Kay looked like he had seen a ghost.

Jay looked up at Kay, coldly. His eyes were red with tears but also glowed red with the emotional energy that was his true genetic nature. “I’ve NEVER seen your face turn THAT white, Kay.”

There were only two people in the building Angie would dare send beignets to. Both of them were in the break room right now.

Kay also knew that this, this tender moment he was seeing unfold before him, was a moment he always knew would happen.

Jay looked up at Kay slowly, with tears in his eyes and powdered sugar on the edges of his lips. He softly said, “Kay, we need to talk. There are some things about me I think you know. And I DON'T think I need to deneuralyze you about this.” He held up the note. Kay took it and looked at it, and looked at Jay. Kay's stare was surprisingly tense, as if he was mortally frightened of Jay at this moment.

Kay replied, “You're right, sport, not about these. This is...well, this is pretty damn critical. Meet me in Zed’s office in 15 minutes.” Kay walked quickly out of the break room.

Jay hung his head down. What was going to happen now?

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Disclosure

"Sit down, Jay," Zed told him as he stepped into the massive office. Zed then took a thick dossier from his large steel file cabinet and dropped it on Jay's lap. It was as thick as a small telephone book.

Jay set the sun medallion necklace down on the small table and quickly looked inside the dossier and flipped. He tried to keep his hands from shaking and his heart from racing, but to little effect.

"So this is my REAL file," he said.

"That would be correct," Zed answered.

There were pictures of his mother near the front. There was his birth certificate, showing that he was born at Charity Hospital in New Orleans, January 3, 1972.

There was another document stapled to this birth certificate, official looking and made of a greenish parchment, printed in what was clearly an extraterrestrial language - but the signature on the bottom was his mother's and it was in English.

Jay held this document up. "WHAT is this?" he asked Zed.

"That's your birth certificate," Zed told him in his usual brusque manner. "The other one."

Jay sat frozen with an incredulous stare, for about two seconds. Already, this was not looking good for the "I can't be an alien" theory.

Then he looked back inside the file.

Jay saw some of his baby pictures and a certificate of his lifetime membership in something called the "Sunshine People Social Aid and Pleasure Club." The insignia on the certificate was the same design as his medallion. Some of the writing in the watermark was in the same alien language of the greenish document.

Jay still sat stunned as he browsed through his history for the first time. Zed looked at Jay's facial expressions as he sat at the large silvery desk across from where Jay and Kay were seated.

Kay looked at Jay and began to speak.

"Remember on Thursday when you came and got me from that post office, slick? And I didn't believe you at first? You said I had a feelin' deep down inside me, like there's something more, somethin' up in the sky, and I can't stop thinkin' about it, something about who I really am."

Kay was smiling at this point. beaming like a proud father watching his son's college graduation. Kay rarely smiled, so this alone caused Jay some concern and caution. Kay then said, "Well, now it's time to return the favor, son."

Jay looked at Kay with an overly annoyed expression as he desperately tried to cover his nervousness. "Just...what in the hell are you talkin' about, Kay?"

"The Light of Zartha wasn't the only thing I was protecting," Kay replied.

Jay's face shriveled up into another puzzled frown. But he was silent. And his heart rate was going up.

After a second or two, Zed spoke. "Jay, remember how when you first came to us, you didn't believe in aliens at first?"

"Yeah," Jay said, cautiously, looking up slowly at Zed.

"Well, kid," Zed said, "I have some good news and bad news for you. The good news is, YOU'RE an alien."

Jay's eyes widened slightly. A chill slammed into his body. He then stared again at Zed for a second, silently. Then he looked at Kay. Then he looked once again at Zed.

Jay said, "And the bad news?"

"You're an alien," Zed replied sternly.

"When we ran our initial tests on you when you were recruited, Jay, we were able to trace your DNA back to one of the ancient divine kings of the planet of Zartha. This king was a massively powerful alien, at least Class 3C, maybe higher. Apparently this alien came to earth towards the end of the 12th century...that would be about 800 years ago. He went to a small village in West Africa, and, according to the legend, the local people worshipped him as a sun god - and gave him wives as tribute." Zed's look was stern but patient.

Jay couldn't believe what he was hearing. This was all confirming his dreams with his mom and with Laura. Momma was exactly, shockingly right about the whole damn thing.

What a sobering realization. I really AM an ALIEN.

Jay thought to himself: These dudes sure played a dirty trick on me all this time. The dirtiest trick of all. I thought these guys were my friends. Kay's like a father to me - the father I never knew. Why would he keep that from me? Is there something he's scared of?

"Well, it's right nice of y'all to tell me after 30 YEARS," Jay said with sarcasm.

"Actually, it's closer to 25, Jay," Zed replied.

Kay spoke up. "It's all just as we suspected, slick. Even back when you were growing up in New Orleans bending spoons...we could tell even then..." Kay began shaking his head sadly.

The look on Jay's face was now incredulous. His eyes were glowing bright red, like a stoplight on Fifth Avenue at 9pm on a cold winter's night. But his voice was low and calm. "What do you mean tell...and how da hell did YOU know about my spoon bending?"

Kay answered him. "Well, Jay, I guess I haven't been tellin' you the whole truth this whole time, You see - "

"No, Kay, you of all people certainly have NOT been telling me the truth," Jay shot back. His face began to get red, and so did his eyes, again. Zed and Kay tried not to notice those eyes, red with almost hellish anger.

Zed quickly stepped in; he assumed the normal "morning rundown" tone of voice. "We've been tracking your family since the MIB program was incepted, Jay. You personally have been in our files from birth. Your family is almost full-blood Zarthan. They assimilated into the general population centuries ago. The descendants of that sun god, that king I was talking about, the offspring of the alien's human wives, manifested signs of some pretty drastic genetic mutations - a lot of this is in the local village folklore to this day in that part of West Africa. Several hundred of those descendants were eventually brought here to this country as slaves. Those people are your DIRECT ancestors, Jay.

"A LOT of weird phenomena happened in your family during slavery, and much of that is documented. Many of your relatives are in New Orleans, where you were born and raised. Not long after the Civil War, your ancestors formed a secret society in the 7th Ward, where all the ancient Zarthan customs and rituals were passed down. That society blended into the regular Afro-Creole community there and even built floats for Mardi Gras - they still do to this day.

"Now, the society operates a mutual social aid group - those were common among Black people in New Orleans from the very early days. The one your family runs is more like a front organization, an official arm of the Zarthan government. Your boyhood home is the headquarters of that society and serves as the primary Zarthan embassy on Earth.

"Now as you may have figured out by now, your mother is not deceased. She is alive and well, Jay. Your mother is the reigning Queen of the Planet of Zartha. She is in power right now, running the affairs of the entire Zarthan Empire from a single cell at St. Gabriel Women's Penitentiary outside Baton Rouge. We put her there in exile when you were six years old. She's been there ever since. We outfitted her cell with millions of dollars worth of equipment...We are in contact with her on a regular basis and have been for 25 years...

"Oh, and by the way, you are next in line to be King."

Jay looked up at Zed with a cold stare. He gave a sarcastic laugh. "...King?" he asked.

"That would be correct...Your Highness," Zed answered.

Jay stared again at Zed, incredulously. Then he looked down in the folder at an old photo of a Mardi Gras float dated 1976.

Seeing this picture began triggering more of Jay's long-neuralyzed memories. Unbeknownst to him, the renewed brain activity made his eyes flash a quick neon red in response.

"Holy shit, I think I remember this...Who took this picture?"

"That would be me, slick," Kay replied. Jay then looked at Kay with a disbelieving scowl.

There was a big sculpture of the sun medallion at the front of the float. It was draped with red, white and blue bunting to celebrate the Bicentennial. About 6 or 7 men and women, wearing T-shirts with the Bicentennial logo on it, were throwing oranges to the crowd. They were all wearing necklaces like Jay had.

The young Jay could be seen in the background, sitting on the back of the float, grinning from ear to ear.

"Damn, I used to love riding on the floats..." Another tear rolled down Jay's cheek.

Zed continued. "Jay, we have files on each and every one of your relatives going back 40, 50 years. It was a BIG challenge to keep them separate from the main database so you wouldn't find out...but we did – until you almost hacked your ass in last night."

Jay looked up at Zed and raised a suspiciously disdainful eyebrow. "I would have, Zed, but the power went out. You have something to do with a blackout late on Friday night, early Saturday morning?"

"No, YOU did. That's the point, Jay. But I'll get to that in a minute. Let me continue. You are of royal Zarthan lineage. You are not a commoner. And part of the reason why your Zarthan bloodline is so pure is because of a phenomenon roughly translated into English as 'the Knowing'".

"The Knowing...whoo, sounds kinda spooky...what the hell is that supposed to be?" His voice was dripping with burning sarcasm.

Zed replied, "When two Zarthans of the opposite gender and of the right age meet, there is a tremendous bio-chemical and electromagnetic bonding that immediately takes place. This bonding increases exponentially. If left unchecked, it could trigger a cataclysmic reaction that would result in the total and complete annihilation of any and all physical reality nearby. A supernova-caliber cataclysm."

"Damn.." The sarcasm gave way to genuine wonder for a second or two.

"A less potent form of the Knowing happens between parent and child. We know how close you were to your mother as a kid, Jay".

Jay stared at Zed with an even colder look now. He turned to Kay. "Kay, PLEASE answer me this, man...why didn't you tell me all this when I joined up? You did the testing on me, just like the rules say to do. You guys KNEW. Y'all KNEW, from the get-go, that I was an alien. I almost didn't join up in the first place!

"You lied to me."

"Well, son, the bottom line is...you weren't ready," Kay replied. "And if you hadn't have joined us, we would have still kept a CLOSE eye on you. You KNOW that, son."

"That does NOT matter, Kay. You guys LIED to me. Both of you. All this time. You straight up LIED to me." Jay's voice was now getting louder and louder as he spoke. "You made me live my whole entire life – like it was all one big lie." Tears began to stream down Jay's face.

There was a strained silence for a couple more seconds.

Zed then noted, slowly, "The code says that when we discover a recruit is more than 10 percent genetically non-human, and they don't already know, we don't disclose. You know that, Jay.

Jay hung his head down. "MIB Procedural Code 71L/41B", he sighed. He did know all the MIB protocols, like the back of his hand. What hurt was realizing that they applied to HIM just as much as any other life form he was sworn to control. He looked up again at Zed.

"Look, Zed, you were the first one I saw in this building. That was when I first came here, back in, what was it, '97, when Kay handed me that business card. What I can't believe is that you knew. You knew all about me. All the damn time."

"Correct, Jay," Zed replied. "The truth is we ALWAYS planned on making you an agent. When you were in that Interview Room that afternoon, five years ago, you WERE going to be the ONLY one selected that day. Despite my reservations.

"You see, Jay, I knew that since you were a Zarthan royal, you'd have a real problem with authority - and that as a result, you might just find out about your true identity. That would have been a real bad situation. That would have been an immediate Code Red Level 1 right then and there.

"Your mom's got big authority issues, too. Your mom was ALWAYS a hard one to control..."

With this, Zed glared quickly at Kay, who looked down and cleared his throat, as if he was somehow embarrassed by this revelation. Jay just shook his head. Zed continued. "Anyway, those military guys who interviewed along with you that day - just window dressing, to make you believe you were actually competing for the job, when the job was YOURS all along. That was the plan.

"Listen...your mother is a woman who contains within her an extreme measure of power. Political power as well as pure, quantitative electromagnetic power. Your mother is a Class 2AA Light Being. Laura is a class 2A Light Being. You are, at least right now, a Class 2A-. That's one below Laura. You were always at that level. Even as a kid."

Jay looked down as another pang of shock flashed within him. "That...I guess that sounds pretty much like Level 1 all right," he said.

"Well, yeah! You and your whole immediate family are a Level 1 threat to the sovereignty of Earth. We had to keep your mother in check and keep you in check. It was an issue of planetary security, Jay. You know about threat assessment and threat containment. The ultimate priority of this organization YOUR entire life has been threat containment - to make sure YOU were NEVER made aware of your true identity or to be encouraged by your mother to do something crazy like be king of Zartha, and as such be positioned to virtually take over the entire civilized universe."

"You mean I could take over the universe if I wanted to?" He was half-sarcastic, half-sincere with this question.

"Jay, you are Class 2A-. We spent 25 years trying to figure out exactly HOW to KEEP you from taking over the universe," Zed shot back.

"Son," Kay turned to him with that old fatherly look, "I never was able to tell you this, but the god-honest truth is, I've been assigned to track your family since I was a rookie. And I've been personally following YOU since you were three-and-a-half years old."

Jay's face got red and his eyes glowed yet again. "Do you mean to tell me...you knew me since I was a KID? Tracking me...like I'm some damn CEPHALOID or something! You got some damn NERVE! I should have left your ass in that damn post office neuralyzed!"

Kay ignored the anger and continued. "We knew that there was a big, big possibility that you're the Sun of Zartha. Now, our worst fears are confirmed." At this point Kay rose from the chair and walked to the back of the office. He picked up a pile of newspapers and walked back over.

"Son, look at what happened when Laura left," Kay said, plopping down a stack of 2 days' worth of the Post, the Daily News and Newsday on the small table in front of Zed's desk.

MANHATTAN ALL SOGGED UP

THE BIG APPLESAUCE

WELCOME TO SEATTLE, NY

RAIN, RAIN GO THE HELL AWAY

Subways Shut Down under a Foot of Rainfall

Donald Trump Complains Massive Rainfall is Ruining his Hair

Monsoon Season Comes Six Months Early

East River Reaches Flood Stage for First Time since 1854

Yankees to Play Next Homestand at Madison Square Garden

Jay's stunned demeanor deepened. "OK...ok...look, I know I was sad about the girl, the saddest I've ever, ever been over a female...I wasn't even half this sad over Elle and I almost damn near proposed to Elle...I kept having these dreams about her and stuff, about Laura, that is..., but...you mean to tell me I did all THIS?"

"You were cryin' a river, son. The East River. Literally." Zed had his usual "look at what you did NOW" look on his face. "We had to cheer you up, Jay, to avert a major natural disaster here in the Tri-State area," he continued sternly. "Now that this Knowing is going on full force inside you, you are adversely affecting the local weather patterns for all of Greater New York City through your emotions – you're changing the ionization of the atmosphere by cryin' your butt off and makin' all these damn thunderstorms and flash floods!

"And what's more, kid, being Class 2A-, you've got as much potential for major cataclysmic electromagnetic energy release as Laura does. That was part of that ultimate Level 1 threat, son. And that's a critical situation we can't risk."

Jay picked up the sun medallion, which was glowing red again and beginning to smoke. It had scorched the tabletop slightly. The tabletop was solid titanium. Kay noticed that.

"Just like Laura's bracelet. Your energy's activating that thing and that thing is activating you, slick." Kay gestured towards the medallion. "Does that hurt when you hold it?"

"No...no, I thought it would, it's pretty damn hot...but it doesn't hurt one bit," Jay said, softly. The medallion fit in Jay's hand, and his skin glowed where it made contact with the alien material.

"Good, 'cause it ain't supposed to," Kay said. "2A's are genetically capable of withstanding temperatures well above 17,000 degrees Farenheit"

Jay stared straight ahead and sighed. "I'm a goddamn 2A minus. All my life. So I'm a sun-god. Damn. Holy mother of god."

Kay continued. "We tried our best to keep you contained, Jay. You know that video we saw at Tapeworm, that geek manager's apartment - that didn't go into the whole story, Jay. The original plan was to take both the Sun AND the Light of Zartha off planet."

Jay's face froze again. He quickly looked at Zed. "Zed, when I told you about Serleena's ship, Wednesday night, from the recon site...you sounded all surprised that the Light of Zartha was still here...but you KNEW she was still here...you even knew it was Laura the whole damn time.

"You at least could have saved us a night of rippin' and runnin' all over New York lookin' for clues."

"Well, I wasn't gonna spill the beans right then and there, kid, not in front of all the employees," Zed replied. "I had to buy some time. That's why I sent you and Frank to go get Kay. While you were on the road, I called your your mom and let her know we were in crisis mode. I had to tell her that you and Laura made contact. She was already informed about Ben, and she knew Serleena and Scrad were on the loose looking for the Light, so she was busy getting her crisis team into action."

Jay now looked at Kay and lowered his head down. "Why wasn't - why wasn't the Sun of Zartha taken off planet?" Jay asked, almost embarrassed to refer to himself by this mythical name.

Kay looked Jay straight in the eye and continued. "Well, with all the civil unrest going on back on Zartha, and Serleena on the loose, I couldn't in good conscience send you kids to Zartha with all that shit goin' on. I couldn't do that to you kids. I couldn't do that to Angie."

Then Kay pulled out his lighter and his Marlboros, which really surprised and shocked Jay, since he persuaded Kay to quit smoking soon after he was recruited.

Kay lit a cigarette, took a drag, took a deep breath and went on. "Angie sent Lauranna to Iowa. They knew Serleena was hot on the trail so we arranged to basically set up our meeting with her as a decoy to throw Serleena off. Well, it worked, but we lost Lauranna. Meanwhile, Laura was safe and sound the whole time, in YOUR house in New Orleans. It's all in the reports there, slick, look at 'em and follow along."

In his file, Jay flipped through pages of notarized MIB reports from 1977 and 1978 that seemed to corroborate Kay's story point for point. Kay went on.

"Your mom was pretty damn pissed that Lauranna was a casualty, slick. She blamed me for it and said she was going to send troops from Zartha to arrest me, throw me in the royal pokey and have me stand trial for negligence. And she got even more pissed when we proposed putting HER in protective exile until the danger passed. Those were some tough moments, slick, your momma's one tough ass bitch when she wants to be."

"NOW you know where you get your COCKY-ass attitude from," Zed interjected to Jay. "Your mother almost blew this planet to smithereens over YOUR ass!" Zed pointed at Jay excitedly.

"I'll be sure to send you a bottle of Zarthan champagne for your birthday," Jay said, with an awkward, incredulous frown.

"I could actually use some scotch - right about now," Zed replied.

Kay continued. "Angie was under a lot of stress, her planet was on the verge of what could have been a devastating civil war and she was countin' on us to help her out, so she was gonna be pissed about what happened. It took some long, hard negotiations, but she came around and decided to work with us.

"So we took Laura, neuralyzed her to wipe her memories up to that point, and placed her in a group home we run up in the South Bronx. Ben, the pizza guy, was actually one of your mom's top councillors, she insisted he come on down and be a guardian for Laura, teach her about all the Light stuff and all that, so that was a part of the deal we had to go along with. We sold the building to the Zarthan government. The title is in YOUR name."

"Holy shit, is that what this is?" Jay found the deed to the building towards the back of the file. It was signed in 1984 by Angie, who wrote Jay's name as beneficiary upon turning 18.

"You can keep the property if you want, or we can work out a deal and buy it back from you now, or we can lease it from you, whatever, and run it as a covert op," Zed said.

Jay looked up at Kay with a renewed expression of slight shock. "And you KNEW about this...Damn, it's not every day a brother finds out he owns corner real estate in SoHo," he said.

Kay continued. "We took your mom into protective custody and placed her in indefinite Level One quarantine –"

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Sun of Zartha "Level ONE?" Jay asked with another shocked and puzzled look. "Wasn't that a little MUCH, Kay? You guys say she got put in a PRISON? She didn't commit a crime!"

"Level One with some slight modifications," Kay replied. "She is the recognized head of state of a sovereign planet, so we had to respect that. We put her in the maximum security women's correctional facility in St. Gabriel, Louisiana. We beefed up security so Serleena or her folks couldn't get to her.

“And as for you,” Kay continued, looking Jay straight in the eye here, “we evacuated you after you came home from school that day.”

“I think I remember some of that now,” Jay said coldly.

Kay went on. “We neuralyzed you to wipe all of your childhood memories, changed your name, moved you here to New York in a CH-47D, put you into one of our group homes in Brooklyn, got you into Junior ROTC, guided you into the United States Air Force as a space weaponry specialist and after that we guided you into a career in law enforcement."

“You put my ass in the APP??!”

“Alien Protection Program,” Zed replied. “Both you and Laura.”

Jay shot a frustrated look ay Kay and Zed. “Everybody just planned out my WHOLE entire life for me, huh? Y’all have some damn nerve. I always wondered why I never got sent to flight school even though I got perfect scores on the exam,” Jay mused dejectedly.

He flipped through the rest of the pages of reports. The tears continued to roll down and Jay stared straight ahead, absorbing the realization that his dreams, the visions of him and his mother, of him and his beloved Laura, were indeed the truth. He was actually talking in real time with both of them the past two days – telepathically through those dreams.

Kay went on. "One of the things we didn't count on was your growing so quickly into a leadership role in the organization. It was a matter of time before we would have had to disclose anyway, son, but the one thing happened that was our worst case-scenario: your falling in love with the Light of Zartha. Look at the Folk Beliefs page in the folder."

Jay slowly opened the folder yet again and found the page. It was dated July 1960.

"...The Book of S'aa prophesies in twenty-seven separate passages of the Great Knowing, the union between the Sun of Zartha and the Light of Zartha, a union of extreme metaphysical and geophysical implications. The union suggests either glorious resurrection for the Zarthan people (referred to as the Golden Age of Light), or massive cataclysmic destruction of the entire universe, depending upon the unfolded sequence of events...

Jay looked up at his two superiors. "My mom and Laura have been talking to me in my dreams the past couple of nights - I've actually visited them...spent time with them, in the dream state. And I've been hearing their voices in my head."

Zed and Kay looked at each other quickly on hearing that. Zed jotted down a note on his ubiquitous legal note pad. "Telltale signs, Jay," Zed said matter-of-factly.

Jay went on. "They've been telling me to prepare to go to Zartha. I don't – I, it's real hard to assimilate all this information. This is the shock of my LIFE, guys."

Kay looked at him intently now. "Jay, listen to me, listen good. We're in a crisis situation here, just like with Laura. If you don't leave here and go to Zartha on that egg thing out in the shop by the end of the workday, this planet will suffer a massive planetwide Level One EMP in 96 hours. YOU will be the only thing left standing, son."

Jay just stared at Kay for a second more. And more tears rolled down his cheeks. Jay was not accustomed to showing so much emotion. This Knowing business was hard stuff.

Then he glanced once again at the cover of the dossier. The cover said "LEVEL 1 SECURITY CONFIDENTIAL", which meant that only Zed and maybe Kay had access to it...until now.

He pondered a while ... and then he said, "and Laura knew?"

Zed said, "There's an ambassador we work with, your mother's chief of staff. She's one of your cousins. She's in the file. Right here..." Zed walked over to Jay's seat. He pulled out a picture of Shakita from the middle of the folder. She was standing next to a red Chrysler 300. Agent N from Forensics was standing right next to her with his arms around her. This made another chill of shock and surprise slam into Jay, for he had scolded him some days earlier for leaving a huge dead squid-like being in the middle of the central hall.

"Don't tell me..." Jay said. "Enn is Zarthan?"

"He's the son of one of your mom's top-level councillors," Zed said. "You've been treating him like shit ever since he got here, but he knows you're the crown prince and his future king, so he worships the ground you walk on. Literally."

Jay cast his head down in embarrassment. "I hope Momma didn't hear about that," he said.

"Better get another bottle of champagne ready," Zed continued. "Anyway, his fianceé, this ambassador, a young lady by the name of Shakita, basically briefed Laura from the moment she arrived on Zartha. In addition, they found your DNA in her bloodstream and made the match."

"My DNA?...I...I only kissed her once - well, she kissed me. That's all we ever did together."

"One kiss is enough with you people, Jay. Zarthans have a nasty habit of leaving their DNA around, easier than sick humans leave viruses."

Kay added, "Jay, listen, kid, let me tell you somethin'. Five years ago, I was specifically assigned to train you as my replacement, son. And all that time I did know about you. Yeah, you're damn right I knew. I knew even when you were a kid back in Bayou St. John that you had the right stuff. The right stuff, son.

"The things I know about you...well..."

Kay started to say something else, but Zed again cast a quick glance at him.

Then Kay smiled a warm smile at his protege, a smile that hid 35 years of memories of his dealings with the Tolan family. "What I'm tryin' to say is...You're a chip off the old block, Jay. You did damn good, kid. Damn good. You've made this organization proud. And you've made your momma proud, too."

Kay wanted to cry right now, but he held back. He went on.

"Your mother is a wonderful woman, Jay. The most extraordinary woman I have ever, and I mean EVER, had the honor of knowing, slick. She is so damn proud of you. We've given her top-level briefings on every move, every step you've made in this organization.

"But now she's callin' in her chips. A head of state can do that, Jay. A MOM can do that. Your mom says it's time for you to go to the next level. Marrying Laura's a major part of that next level...

"I knew I couldn't keep you guys apart forever. I tried like hell, but it didn't work...Damn it, son...and you know I wasn't plannin' on comin' back here."

Jay said, "OK...well, what if Zed never told me to deneuralyze you...what if we never figured out the clues? Zed wasn't gonna tell us. Your memories weren't all there just yet, your brain had to re-adjust...so...I guess you couldn't have just known Laura was the Light..."

"Actually, slick, it was all back by the time you went on about 'old and busted' and 'new hotness'. Everything came back. Everything. You, Laura, your mom, everything."

Jay rolled his eyes upward on hearing this. "I can't believe this," he said. "You were lying through your damn teeth to me the whole...damn...night...had me goin' all over this damn town for nothin'."

Kay continued. "We were in crisis mode and we had to buy as much time as we could...and c'mon, son, do you really think I was gonna just come on out and TELL you you're a cosmic radioactive extraterrestrial sun god who owns a pizzeria worth about $3 million dollars? With headquarters breached and controlled by Serleena? You would have REALLY had a conniption fit then. YOU might have blown the planet up right then and there as pissed as you would have got."

Zed replied, "Ambassador Shakita was scheduled to come to MIB later THIS week, summon you and Laura. She'd get Agent Enn, he'd reveal his true identity to you, the two of them would break the news and evacuate the two of you to the family compound in Louisiana for a debriefing before taking you kids to the royal palace to start planning the wedding and the transfer of power. Enn even turned in his two-week notice in preparation for all this. He won't be neuralyzed, we're keeping him active when he goes back to Zartha.

"Now your mom planned for what would happen if YOU didn't figure the clues out, or if we didn't just spill the beans, or if we didn't bring Kay back, AND she was planning for Serleena's snooping around as a worst-case scenario. Your mother said she arranged for Laura to get a special medicinal substance. She called it crystonium."

"Crystonium?" Jay asked. "You mean made out of crystals?"

"Crystals. Zarthan crystals with a radioactive half-life about five times that of plutonium."

Jay's expression was incredulous again. "And you just...just let my momma send something like that down to Earth?"

"At this point, kid, I'm not quoting procedural code to Angie. I'm not making that serious a mistake. Anyway, Ben slipped it into her soda at work last week, we found the empty can in the back dumpster yesterday and ran an analysis...this neutralized her radioactivity and it would have held off the explosion for another week or so. The bracelet responds to her physical energy."

Jay smirked at Zed. "So...she...she wouldn't have blown planet Earth up that night at all? Damn...You...you wanted Kay to come back, didn't you? He didn't have to come back for this, but you sent me up there to go get him anyway...you wanted him..."

"Oh, hell, Jay, he had to come back and see you guys off! After 25 years I wasn't gonna let you weasel your way outta this one, Kay!" Zed cast another scowling glance at Kay.

Kay just grinned and took another drag from his Marlboro. "I'm glad I came back for this one, fellas. And you're right, Zed...I guess it was my destiny, too, to witness this...it's like my kids are leaving the nest."

Kay then turned to Jay. "You know, Jay, your momma sure is one sneaky woman. Just like her to pull something like this, an operation this detailed. She was always doing weird things...special stuff...she doesn't leave many things out, slick."

Then Kay's eyes began to water, and he stared at Jay for a couple of seconds in silence.

Jay looked down, and then looked up at Kay again. "What, Kay?" Jay asked, a little annoyed at the stare.

"I dunno, it's like...almost the same feeling I get when I look at the stars...but this is even worse. Everytime I look at you, yeah, YOU...every single time I see you, hear you make those wisecracks...when I came back from the post office...it all came back, Jay. When I see you, son, I see Angelique. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life, son...damnit, slick, why do all the good ones have to be aliens?" Kay's wistful smile here was pained, almost as if he was nothing more than a lonely man in love with a woman hopelessly out of reach, commiserating with another lonely man in love.

But Jay's face froze in startled surprise, hearing the very thought he had about Laura just a few nights ago, and then his face wrinkled up in another puzzled frown.

Kay just smiled again at him, knowingly. "Son, destiny has a way of sneakin' up on us like an armadillo at a campfire." Now the tears were beginning to roll down his face as well as Jay's.

Zed said, "Jay, take a look at the viewscreen. Then take a look at Laura's page in your dossier." Zed fired up the viewscreen. There was Laura, in a recorded message. She was dressed in the same sleeveless black blouse she wore at Ben's Pizza.

"Jason, it's me, baby. I miss you very much. I love you and I want to know that I had a lot of fun with you back in New York.

"Jason, hopefully, by now you have a more clear idea of your true identity."

Laura's voice and body language took on a slightly more authoritarian tone now. Jay instinctively paid attention.

"Your mother and I have been speaking with you in spirit for the past few days. Your mother has also been talking with me every night, transferring her memories into my mind so I would know more about you. This ain't a joke, baby. This shit is most definitely FOR REAL; I am what I am, and you are what you are. You were born into a secret society in Louisiana 30 years ago. Your MOTHER is the reigning queen of this planet. She rules Zartha from her place in exile back in Louisiana, inside St. Gabriel Women's Penitentiary.

"Jason, listen to me, baby. This is YOUR destiny I'm talking about, just as much as it is mine. You are the heir to the throne of Zartha. You are the Sun of Zartha. That means you are descended from a long line of humanoid sun gods with a lot of powerful radioactive sun energy. You're supposed to have a very high concentration of that sun energy.

"When we met in Ben's Pizza last Wednesday, that sun energy got activated inside of you. We came in close contact with one another and it started an ancient electromagnetic, biochemical mating process that I'm told only happens to us Zarthans. They call it the Knowing. It - it, well, it feels a lot like falling in love - but it's way, way more involved than that. The Knowing inside of you kicked in that night, Jay. And we started falling in love with each other. That's why you didn't neuralyze me after you took me out to that diner that night. It was subconscious. It was instinctual. You couldn't help it and you weren't supposed to.

"And because of that, just like with me, baby, you have to leave Earth. Earth can't handle your power, baby. Because of your age, your powers were starting to get very, very strong anyway, but they REALLY got activated when you came to Ben's and the Knowing kicked in, inside of you. You will eventually create a massive electromagnetic pulse that will blow up the Earth. It was just like with me, Jay.

"Now...they say a week ago they gave some powder to Ben to slip into my Mountain Dew, I always drink Mountain Dew at work and I always sit the can on the counter by the phone in the kitchen...so...they wanted to neutralize the Light energy inside me temporarily, so just in case you guys didn't figure all those clues out, the earth would have still been safe for a little while, and your mom would have sent someone to bring you and me to Zartha in a few days anyway, we would both have to quit our jobs, pack our stuff and move up here to the royal palace. Serleena kinda spoiled those plans," and here Laura, still mourning Ben, had to catch herself so she didn't start crying, "so now...we have to deal with it. But Jay, the bottom line is...your energy is getting way too unstable to remain on Earth. There is no choice. There is no time. You have to leave. And you have to leave now.

"I sent the transport, the same one you guys found for me that night on top of the building. It should be in the motor pool garage right now, waiting for you. You should have all your things in your crib packed and boxed up by now, the way we told you in the dreams we made you have. We will arrange to get all your stuff in a few days. In three weeks we will have a royal wedding and coronation here in the royal palace. Your mom will preside over it and transfer the official power and authority of the Zarthan empire over to us. The two of US, baby."

Laura's eyes began to tear up and that greenish-white glow shone in her eyes. Jay could see that from the window behind Laura, some rain sprinkles were beginning to fall.

"Jay, I found out that I'm a very special young lady. See, your mom and my mom made a promise to each other, 25 years ago. My mom's family runs a Chinese take-out place in New Orleans, you used to go there when you were little. My mom, this is kinda gross, she would eat from the same forks and chopsticks customers would use. That's how she collected male DNA from almost every ethnic group on Earth. New Orleans is such a melting pot, like New York, almost every ethnicity either lives there or comes there as a tourist.

"So once my mom collected enough DNA, she mixed it all inside of her, and she used her cosmic princess power, or whatever it was, to spontaneously create me inside her body, Jay. Like an immaculate conception. I don't have a father, Jay. Not the way everyone else has."

Jay's eyes shot open with suprise.

"My mom pulled the energy of cosmic light inside of her and made it form into an embryo. A female, Black, Nuyorican embryo. My mom did that as a promise to your mom. She did it to give YOU a wife once you grew up, Jason.

"All this stuff - meeting me in Ben's Pizza that night, the investigation, and the whole frantic search, the race against time that night - all that was the plan, the prophecy of the Light of Zartha - it was coming true, Jason. See, baby, I was created out of pure cosmic light to be YOUR wife, your QUEEN. Just for you, Jay. Only for you.

"So now you can't be sad about losing me anymore, 'cause you haven't lost me at all! That's the best part! You've GOT to come up here for me and be the King of Zartha, baby. You have no choice. The people of Zartha are YOUR people. They need you - they need you and me together - to lead them, baby. You were born to this destiny and now it's time to really follow through with it.

"If the Men In Black do not let you leave, you mom has authorized me to send a strike team down to Earth to evacuate you. They can and will use force to bring you back alive, Jason.

"So I guess I will be expecting you, baby. Please don't take too long. I love you, Jay. I love you." The screen went dark.

Jay looked at the file on Laura in the dossier. It alone was 30 pages thick. "ORIGIN: spontaneous embyronic implantation due to massive internal and external convergence of cataclysmic levels of gamma radiation inside Lauranna Vasquez...

"...result of an agreement between Lauranna Kwan and Angelique Tolan to produce the King and Queen of Zartha, in an attempt to produce a super-child as prophesied in the Book of S'aa..."

More tears rolled down Jay's cheeks. He looked up, trying to control his weeping. "Momma planned all this...the whole thing...all along."

"That's right, Jay," Zed said. "We only postponed it as long as we could, you and Laura Vasquez falling in love and becoming a couple, but we can't stop it any longer. Sometimes the forces of destiny are far beyond what mortal man can engineer, son. As much as I hate for this to be the case, Laura - and your mother, Queen Angelique - are both absolutely, 100 percent right about this, Jay. You are the Sun of Zartha. You are destined to become an immortal sun god, Jay, and ruler of an entire federation of planets in deep space.

Then Zed leaned forward, raised an eyebrow, and said, "You know, Jay, I could have sent somebody else to be the lead detective on Ben's murder...but your mom would have gotten all upset and sent her storm troopers after you, so I guess I did the right thing," and here Zed gave a little wink.

"So now, we must de-commission you as an active agent of the Men in Black, Jay.” Zed now stood up, and Jay and Kay stood at attention in response:

"Therefore, from this day forward, Your Royal Highness, Jason LeRoi Tolan Edwards:

You will no longer conform to the identity we gave you; you must again assume the identity to which you were actually born.

We told you that anonymity was your name, silence was your native tongue; now your name shall be King and you must now learn your true native tongue - the tongue of the Zarthan people you will be sworn to protect, defend and rule.

Your entire image was crafted to leave no lasting memory; now you must regain all the memories we had to suppress - and forge new ones with Laura at your side.

You are no longer deja vu, you are reality.

You are no longer above the system, you will soon preside over one.

You are no longer a rumor, Jason Edwards, you are now the embodiment of cosmic truth and divine wisdom.

You have to leave us and go to Zartha. And you have to go NOW."

Zed lowered his head down solemnly.

"Your neuralyzer, Your Highness." Zed reached out his hand. "Take the batteries out first."

Jay took the device out of his lapel pocket. He then took out two AA alkaline batteries, the standard kind available in any store, and handed the empty, deactivated neuralyzer to Zed. Zed immediately placed it in his lapel pocket.

"Your Highness, you are dismissed."

The three men walked out of the office and took the elevator down into the hallway. Jay led the way. All the other agents knew something was up. They saw the food from Cafe Du Monde get delivered. They saw the transport arrive from Zartha. They even saw the video from Laura on their computers, as someone leaked it onto the office intranet. They knew their guy, Jay, the agent who brought Zed's agency into the 21st century, was more than who they thought he was.

From every cubicle, now, clerks and agents and admin assistants and techs and cafeteria workers and the sales guys in the Sprint Store in the concourse were, to a man, staring at this man - this prince from another galaxy, this colossal figure, this SUN GOD, this creature from the pages of extraterrestrial legend and myth - working among them, eating with them, filing reports for them, going to the restroom with them, yelling at them, all this time.

Eyes all over the MIB complex were wide with wonder and smile after smile erupted with pride. Yeah, one of OUR guys is the next King of Zartha! And just last Saturday he was out drinkin' and playin' darts with the fellas! Those Kylothians better watch out! Jay's not gonna put up with any bull when HE's king, no sir! He's gonna run that planet RIGHT. Those people are SO LUCKY to get Jay as their king. They don't know how good they're gonna have it. He ought to come back and run for President after a few years. Or at least for Mayor of New York! He's so lucky to be marrying Laura. That's one wedding Zed had better show on the viewscreen. That's gonna be bigger than Prince Charles and Lady Di, bigger than Jessica Simpson and what's his name.

The three saw Agent Enn approach. He knelt down right in front of Jay, got up and made a strange gesture, tapping his fist rapidly to his chest while his head was bowed. "O wo'o sha la ock, T'Va'an."

Jay stood there stunned and utterly shamed, for he had little positive to say to this rookie agent, almost every day for about a year, ever since he joined MIB after four years in the Navy. "You...umm...you're from...Zartha."

"Yes, my lord. Born and raised. Son of Councillor T'Ka'ar of the tribe of C'ola'a, the people of the molten rock. My real name is T'N'aal S'Wu'ul K'aan. I'm going back to Zartha to be with my people, and my intended, Princess S'aak'ta'a, my Knowing-mate. She will be your chief of staff in the royal palace. and she's already preparing Her Highness for your arrival today. I stand ready to serve you for many years to come, my lord."

Jay was not used to being addressed as royalty and his discomfort showed. He tried to apologize; if this guy was gonna be in the royal palace, with him, he'd better make amends pretty damn quick. "Well...umm, listen...T'Na'al...umm, listen, man, I know was kind of hard on you this year...all that Air Force versus Navy shit, I was just kidding about that -"

"No need to apologize, my lord. I know you didn't know your identity. I was never allowed to tell you mine. Everything's cool. You way outrank me anyway, my lord. You are a son of the T'ola'a, and my tribe obeys every directive of the royal household with honor and the highest level of dedication. My loyalty to you and the royal family is sealed by 1,000 years of blood and tribal ties, and soon by marriage ties as well. For all time. O wo'o sha la ock." Enn bowed his head again.

"Well...I guess I'll see you up there," Jay said, and he began to walk again along with Kay and Zed.

"Have a safe trip home, my lord," Enn called out. Jay looked back at him with a slightly puzzled expression.

As Jay strode down the hallways, he was in a daze. He was stunned. He was pissed. He was ecstatic. He was wondering a million things at this moment. What was his life going to be like NOW? Am I ready to be with this woman forever? Do I really love her or am I just reacting because of this "Knowing"? I mean, I met her at a damn PIZZA PARLOR! Can I really make it rain? Could Momma really make it rain? Could Nana really make it rain? Is every Black person in Louisiana a damn alien? And is my momma not only NOT DEAD but really still alive, kicking and RULING an entire alien planet from a jail cell?

Am I really a sun god?

Am I really supposed to be a king?

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Jay arrives on Zartha

Jay was in the locker room, packing his final items to go in the transport. He had a mixture of emotions, ranging from nervousness to resentment to joy. Here he was, about to leave everything he had known for five years to travel 9 million light-years away.

He was holding the medallion necklace, which was still red-hot.

“Momma, I’m about to leave New York,” he prayed out loud. “I even had to turn in my neuralyzer.”

The response rang out in his brain. “You’ll be all right, baby. You have come to your destiny. You have come to your purpose. This is the time, Jason. This is the hour, baby. You are what you are.”

“Momma, that’s my question,” Jay prayed. “What exactly AM I?”

“You are T’Va'an, my precious child, blood of my blood,” Jay heard. “That means you are also a child of T’ola'an, the Great and Powerful Sun - in fact you ARE T’ola'an, reborn and resurrected. His FIRE - lives deep inside of you. It is all YOUR spirit, YOUR fire, YOUR knowledge, Jason. Yours to claim and yours to utilize. I know you will be a great and powerful king, baby. Do not be afraid of what you are, for what you are is special. The universe needs you, baby. The universe needs your fire, your bravery, your soul. Your time in New York, being the protector and guardian of the aliens and the Earth people - all that was to prepare you for this, my son. For this moment.”

Jay took a deep sigh. He was trembling slightly and starting to sweat. “I’m kinda scared, Momma,” Jay prayed.

“Remember, T’Va'an. Follow the light, and you’ll be all right.”

Jay knew Momma was trying to comfort him, and he thanked her for it. But he was still a nervous wreck. He finished cleaning out his locker, packing his knapsack, and left the MIB locker room for the last time.

He walked alone, down the lonely concrete hallway to the motor pool garage. Inside the garage, he saw it. The very same silvery egg-shaped transport Laura left Earth in not even 72 hours before. Two technicians were standing in front of it, taking readings with the special equipment they always used to diagnose alien spacecraft (Jay himself suggested improvements to the latest versions of these devices.) Kay and Frank stood about a foot or so away.

Jay stopped and stared at the craft for a second or two. It hovered electromagnetically about 3-4 inches off the floor.

Then, the crystal canopy automatically retracted.

“Well,” Jay said, “I guess it’s time to cut on’ outta here,” and he stepped into the cockpit.

The cockpit was fairly roomy and the controls seemed to be within easy reach. (Angie designed the latest versions of these craft herself, based slighly on the ‘66 VW Beetle she drove in New Orleans. The basic design was several hundred years old, however.)

Frank ran up to the ship and leaped in Jay’s lap. He then started licking Jay’s face. Jay blushed with embarrasment.

“Frank...Frank...come on now, man, you’re gonna make me start cryin’ again,” Jay said. He lifted the pug up and out of the ship.

“Sorry, kid, I can’t help it...I’m gonna miss ya,” replied Frank. “Give ‘em hell up there on Zartha. It’s about time you got promoted.”

“Zartha's a long way from the mailroom, Frank.” Jay replied.

"Just remember what I taught ya, kid," the pug replied. Jay smiled a little. He was sure gonna miss old annoying Frank.

“So long, slick,” Kay said.

Jay looked at Kay for a second, and said, in a terse voice, “So long, Kay.”

Kay looked at Jay with all the stoicism he could muster. It was all he could do to keep from crying. That boy is just like his momma, he thought to himself, thinking again those haunting thoughts he had for 25 years. He’s got your smart alecky mouth, your attitude...Damn it! I should have married your ass when I had the chance.

The canopy closed. A voice from the transport’s speakers said, “Clear area. Clear area. Transport will dematerialize in 10, 9, 8, 7...”

“Dematerialize?” Jay said, startled for a split second, before he realized that many other alien spacecraft did exactly the same thing.

So with a flash of brilliant, bluish-white light and a vigorous gust of electrically charged wind, the egg-shaped transport was gone.

It reappeared about 500 feet over the city. Jay got one last look at the Manhattan skyline in its early morning glow.

“I’m coming, baby. I’m coming,” Jay said with a nervous sigh. His heart was racing a mile a minute. And with that, the silvery egg-shaped transport shot off like an F-16, upward and onward into the morning sky. In about 30 seconds, Jason Edwards was completely out of the atmosphere of planet Earth and accelerating towards initial crusing speed.

---

Back in the small, spartan office, Agent Kay opened the top drawer to his desk. Immediately inside there was a strip of black-and-white pictures, the kind you used to get in those little booths in the mall. A young, brash Texan was sitting side by side with a powerfully built Negro woman of light complexion. The two of them were grinning from ear to ear. The last shot showed the young, brash Texan kissing the Negro woman on the cheek.

Kay stared at this strip of pictures.

The deneuralyzing process Jay helped him with brought everything back. Everything. And boy, was he so damn glad he had these memories, at last.

These were memories of a dark, cool night in a dinky little motel room in Mobile, Alabama.

On that dark, cool night was Kay's closest encounter with a true being of cosmic light, wrapped up in a human body.

They talked a lot that night over pizza and Lone Star beer, about growing up in the South, about segregation and how wrong it all was. About truth and love. About the stars. There were a lot of different political entities in the universe. Most weren't all that different - or any more advanced or enlightened - than Earth. It was the mission of every Zarthan to spread love. Some Zarthans infiltrated the colleges and coffeehouses in New York, Ann Arbor, Berkeley. The operations in Northern California looked especially promising. People's minds were being opened to new possibilities. And the media was broadcasting every bit of these "radical" ideas. Peace and love in the universe was good for business - in the eyes of many Zarthans.

As the night progressed, Kay realized this was no ordinary affair he was having with a young female partner. Something big was happening. A plan was being acted upon. This girl was a lot more intelligent than he thought. Maybe there's a point to all this. Maybe people can learn how to live together. It's really not that hard if you think about it. You just have to think that the other guy is like a member of the family. We're all family in this universe. Family's pretty damn important. That's the point of the operations. We have to convince the masses that love is better than hate. Respect is better than contempt. Joy is better than sorrow. Light is better than dark.

But don't the churches teach that?

Churches have been taken over by the CIA. You know that.

Oh, yeah, I showed you those files, huh? So that's what that means.

We have our people in a lot of key places. Ghetto neighborhoods from Oakland all the way to Washington and Baltimore and the South Bronx. It's a part of the plan. It's like a baseball team getting people ready in the minor leagues.

And you want our help?

We just need for MIB to let us do our thing. Don't shut us down, baby. People need us. We're making a difference.

"Why are you looking at me like that, darlin'? What's going on with your eyes?"

"Shhh...Don't worry about it baby, that's how we get. It's natural...Just hold me, Kevin. Hold me. Kiss me. Kiss me, baby..."

"Why in God's name are you so damn beautiful?"

"Everybody's beautiful, baby. Everybody."

Her eyes were so deep and there was a joy coming out of them. He couldn't resist. No man could. The beauty, the love. the kindness was almost more than he could stand.

"Come on, Kevin. You know you want me."

"I just can't put my finger on it. Is this the way you Zarthans always do it?"

"Yes," she smiled with a look that melted him like a blowtorch to butter.

And she pulled him down on the bed. She began to undress him.

"Hold up, darlin', you-"

"Shhhhhh. Be quiet. Come on. Just feel me. I promise not to hurt you, baby. I promise. I love you."

And this is how the Angel of Light began to make her greatest move. The greatest, most important move of all. The one she was created to make.

This human had all the right qualities. His bloodline was sufficiently mixed with a number of important tribal genetic foundational structures from several parts of Earth, some with extraterrestrial origin. He mentioned something about a great-grandmother being a Cherokee princess, and one grandfather coming over from Ireland, another coming from Germany, both coming over to work the raw Texas plains. The German married his grandmother who came from a family from the old Spanish nobility of Mexico.

She had hit the genetic jackpot.

She wasn't about to tell him about the DNA analysis the royal geneticists made - at least not right now. Upon seeing the report, Afua said, "If you don't marry this one you're a damn fool".

This human had a sense of truth and justice and a desire to do the right thing. She could get this guy to leave MIB and go back home to Zartha and rule alongside her, raising their crown prince to be the King of the Universe, the Keeper of the Light that was yet to be born. She began to shine the healing radioactive light inside the human. She found flaws in his DNA, minor ones that the Light painlessly, ecstatically repaired, like a mechanic tinkering with a '56 Chevy.

The being of Light infused Kay with an overwhelming intensity of pure love. The love lasted almost all night. It grew stronger, and stronger still, until Kay could no longer hold back. Kay thought he knew how to please a woman, but this was completely new territory for him. Everything he was taught was rendered incorrect, on this night. But the being of Light cared not for Kay's chagrin. The Light reassured and comforted Kay like no woman ever did before - or since.

And as the night got darker, and deeper, Kay couldn't put on an act any more. He had to be real, for the Light demands the Truth when in its presence. Truth of body, truth of mind, truth of spirit. Kay had to surrender to the Light, which was the all-encompassing power of Creation itself, which was somehow contained in that dinky little motel room. Kay was no longer in control. There was no body anymore. There was only Light.

And at that moment, that point of complete, ultimate, unconditional, involuntary offering of self, the being of Light took that little bit of Kay and absorbed it inside herself in a flash of magnesium-like bluish-white brilliance.

The next thing Kay remembered was not remembering anything about what happened the night before.

"What time we go to bed last night?" Kay said, trying to remember as he started the black Ford Galaxie. Nothing came to his mind about what happened after he took his shower. Did she flash me? She couldn't have...but if she wanted to keep this REALLY a secret...I guess I can't blame her...Kay looked over at the girl, applying lipstick, looking straight into her compact mirror. Damn, darlin, you are lookin' good today.

"10:30," Angie said, the first cells of the child already beginning to form in her womb. Please, my son, not now, this is not the time. I will tell you when it's OK to grow. "You're the one who said we had to get an early start this morning. Zed's gonna be pretty pissed if we're late."

"You let me worry about Zed. Just keep looking good, like you do."

She gave a giggle. "I'll do my best, partner."

These were all the precious memories of the only woman Kay ever really loved. He thought he loved the woman he eventually married, and divorced, but this woman in these pictures - she was the one. He knew it. He knew it in 1967. But he was a "good ol' boy" and she was...well, she was an extraterrestrial princess. There was no way they could have gotten married - interracial marriage was still illegal in much of the South (at least for another couple of months). At the time, they were just foolin' around. She was one fine young mama, all right. And the way she looked at you, she made your spirit just want to soar up to the heavens, there was so much damn love in those eyes...and it wasn't fake, either. If she loved you, you knew it. Even when she felt like ripping your damn head off.

A chuckle and a smile made its way out of his lips, and a couple of tears made their way out of his eyes.

So that's how it happened.

Everything she wanted, all these years, was finally happening. It was Kay's job to keep it under wraps for as long as possible, but at this moment, Kay knew now, he always suspected, but now it was becoming clear to him. The woman made sure - secretly - that he was a PART of it all, a real, tangible part, so that he wasn't just a G-man doing his job, but a piece of the big picture - nothing less than the coming of everlasting peace among all planets, or at least the hope of bringing that peace to fruition.

And the question remained, the one that haunted him for 35 years: "Why me? Why'd you pick me?"

Only this woman could tell him. And in three weeks, he was going to ask. In person. To her face.

"Well, you win, darlin," Kay said slowly to the woman in the pictures.

Also in the drawer was a copy of the MIB DNA test on one Jason LeRoi Tolan Edwards, dated January 1972. Jay never saw this copy, as it was always in this very spot, in this very drawer. Zed never assigned anyone else to this office after Kay left in 1997.

---

Meanwhile, about 34,000 miles above Manhattan now, Jay sat alone, hurtling along at 15 times the speed of light, and began to familiarize himself with the ship.

This spaceship is kind of cool, he thought to himself. I could see myself going all over the place in this thing.

...So what the hell is gonna happen to me now? My momma is ALIVE and she’s the QUEEN and tells Laura to send for me, Momma practically ORDERS me to leave Earth and go to Zartha.

I’m an ALIEN. Damn, I’m really an ALIEN. Momma’s an ALIEN. Even Dad was an alien. Holy mother of God. I always thought we were Creole.

All my life has been a lie. A big lie. A lie fabricated to protect me, a lie fabricated to protect the Earth. From me, From Laura. From the power of our love.

They could have just left me alone. I was just fine in Momma’s house...

So now I guess I go from being alien cop to king of the Aliens. At least I’m going to be with Laura. This is all worth it for Laura. I love that woman SO much.

Jay asked out loud, "Computer, how do I drive this thing?"

The on-board computer began to speak in Zarthan. Jay cringed. "Computer...I don't know how to speak Zarthan. Speak English."

The voice changed to a female voice with a slight Southern accent. "This transport is on autopilot, Your Highness. Within the next few days you will receive formal lessons on how to operate the unit. The crystal dome in the center of the dashboard, with the metal ring around it, is the control circle. One controls the movement of transport by waving one's hand over the control circle, and by touching the control circle with the palm of the hand..."

Jay was also briefed on the communications and on-board life support systems.

The ship entered a wormhole, with "walls" that looked like they were made of shimmering gaseous clouds. In this tunnel of light the ship's speed increased tremendously. The wormhole had road signs floating on the sides and along the top, which made Jay laugh out loud with shocked disbelief. One of the signs said:

"Zarthan Galaxy, Next Exit 15 Seconds"

The on-board computer beeped three times. Then a voice began to speak in Zarthan through the speakers. “Computer, speak English!” Jay called out.

“Prepare to enter Zarthan atmosphere. Re-entry sequence to begin in t-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...”

The ship exited the wormhole and Jay saw the great planet of Zartha loom before him. It looked almost exactly like Earth, but much larger, about the size of Jupiter.

Jay was stunned and amazed at the sheer size of this planet. He had never seen a planet this large up close.

Jay felt the ship slow down as it entered the atmosphere. The ship took on a slight reddish glow.

Then, Jay saw hills, forests, and what looked like African villages below.

The dashboard readout told Jay the altitude. 20,000 feet. 15,000 feet. 10,000 feet.

So THIS is Zartha, Jay thought. Damn, this planet is so GREEN - like one great big New Orleans.

Jay saw the royal palace grounds below. The ship was now at a crusing speed of about 200 miles an hour and about a mile up.

After circling down in a spiral, the silvery egglike transport wafted softly to a gentle landing onto the fresh green moistness of the courtyard. The total trip from New York took 45 minutes.

There was a geometric precision to the layout of the palace gardens that reminded one of the great castles of pre-revolution France, and also of what some would call fractal patterns or “crop circles”.

The two suns were high in the sky and there was a cool azure mist wafting steadily throughout.

Jay emerged from the cockpit after the crystal dome automatically retracted. He strode across the grass, slowly at first and then more quickly, more intently.

Laura stood in a flowing green sundress in front of the fountain. She was nervous but didn’t show it. She began to walk towards him to meet him. Her olive face had tears that were meandering softly down.

As they met, they rapidly embraced in a tight, explosive, happy hug of longing and missing and remembering – as if they hadn’t seen one another in years.

Jay exclaimed, "Damn, girl, I'm so damn glad to see you!"

They kissed deeply for a moment, and embraced again. Jay was weeping softly by now. He held on to Laura for a long time, a surprisingly long time. A wave of joy, tears, and all encompassing comfort began to wash over Jason like a flood. The ONLY other person he EVER felt this safe with was his mother.

And now, he felt safe with this Laura Vasquez. The single most beautiful woman he had ever seen. A woman he thought he only knew for just a couple of weeks, but one that he ACTUALLY knew – and loved from the farthest depths of his subconscious soul – his entire life. Or at least since he was seven years old.

His mind zoomed back to New Orleans, 1978. Momma did bring him a baby to play with. At the time, Angie brought the then five-month old Laura to his house to play with. They were together an entire day. This was deliberately set up to begin the Knowing process in the children, so that they would be romantically linked later in life. Jay remembered feeling very good, like he wanted to protect his new friend forever.

Now, here on a distant planet, twenty-five years after that initial encounter, Jay was getting the chance to do exactly that.

“Laura, I remember now. It’s all coming back to me after all these years. When you were a baby. I held you, baby. I held you in my ARMS. We played together in my living room in New Orleans. I was six years old.”

Laura looked at him with a delicate smile.

“Baby, you may find this hard to believe, but I remember all that too. I remember being a baby and watching cartoons with you, playing with your toys. I remember you giving me my bottle and those dumbass Gerber peas – I hated those peas, baby but I wanted to please you so bad, baby, so I ate them - and your mom showed you how to change my diaper!”

“Holy shit, baby, you remember THAT?” The both of them began to laugh hard through their tears.

Then they stared into one another’s eyes again.

“I forgot how much I loved you, Jay. I loved you so much. I felt SO safe and protected, Jay. Exactly like I feel right now.” Laura’s wide eyes were filled with a deep joy that radiated from her very soul. She went on.

“I missed you all these years - in my HEART, I missed you, Jay, but I couldn’t quite remember it all. I felt something special, but I couldn’t quite figure out why. The Men In Black erased my memories. There were other times we almost connected, Jay. Back in New York when we were teenagers...In Times Square, at the Library...umm...that field trip to see the Philharmonic at Lincoln Center, remember that??? I was in the 7th grade, you were a freshman in high school!”

Jay looked up and a smile crossed his lips. “I can’t believe this. I remember that, Laura. It’s all coming back.”

He indeed remembered that field trip. He remembered seeing the young Laura in her Catholic school uniform across the plaza. He remembered the instant “love connection” they felt (I know that girl from somewhere!) and he remembered MIB agents neuralyzing the entire group of kids. They knew that Laura and Jay’s respective classes would be here on that day. And the agents knew the kids’ whereabouts on all other days. MIB field agents always specifically trained for “preventative recon” missions. Now Jay finally understood the real reason why that concept came about.

“Yeah!!! We saw each other!!!” Laura said. “They wiped us, they neuralyzed us each time, Jay. Your mom kept trying and trying to hook us up.”

Jay looked up at the sky and more tears were flowing. Some of these memories were forcing themselves to the surface of Jay’s mind. And he was still dealing with his feelings of resentment towards the Men In Black. “It seems as though we were never gonna be together, Laura. Zed had those agents trained specifically to keep us from ever meeting each other. That really hurts, baby...”

“Well, I guess it was kinda hopeless, Jay, until you came back. In Ben’s Pizza of all places! You actually came BACK for me, Jason. Think about that, you came BACK! That was NOT an accident, Jay. I don’t like the fact that I lost Ben, but everything happens for a reason. All that was orchestrated. It was MEANT to happen.”

The two of them continued to stare into each other’s eyes, and tears kept flowing down both of their faces. Jay was acutely aware that the two of them had lost so many years. So many years they could have been making things RIGHT in this universe.

Jay vowed to himself, right then and there, that he would never let this woman be taken from him again – EVER.

At just that moment, the azure mist began to coalesce into warm droplets of rain. The pair were warmly and softly locked in an increasingly damp embrace. Now, Laura’s eyes began to glow a teary pale whitish-green; Jay’s glowed hot coal red.

“Are we doing that, baby?” Jay asked. "This rain?"

“Yeah, I guess so. Our chemistry together changes the ionization of the atmosphere. That’s why it rained in New York when you missed me so much.” She looked at him with another deep smile that came from the depths of her heart.

“Welcome home, Jay.” she said softly as the droplets formed an intricate mosaic on her olive skin. “Welcome HOME.”

“Is this really my home, baby?”

“Yes, baby, it is. This really, really IS YOUR home. Think of it, baby. You and I were always meant to be together. ALWAYS.

When I left New York that night, when you guys discovered I was the Light of Zartha, I didn’t know it at the time, but it wasn’t just about me. All the time, the whole thing, the whole point was all about getting YOU up here, Jason, having us BOTH up here. Together. As one, baby.”

Jay looked in Laura’s eyes. The tears from both of them were really flowing big-time now.

“Laura...I can’t believe this. My greatest wish was to have someone like you be in my life...I’m a little nervous about all this, baby. This is a big change for me. So different from MIB. All of a sudden, I’m in this...this beautiful place...I don’t know how I’m gonna handle all this, Laura. I’m...I’m not sure if I’m really ready to be a king...I don’t even know if I want to get MARRIED yet...I don’t want to disappoint you, baby...I don’t want to let you down...”

“Don’t worry, baby,” Laura said, and she caressed the back of his head. “You ARE ready. Ready for being king AND ready for getting married. We’ve been preparing for each other all our lives.” Laura’s smile was deep. Jay could not resist feeling comfortable with her when she smiled like that. It was too beautiful, too loving, too caring not to accept...

“Follow the light, baby. Just follow the light, just like in our dream, Jay. The rest will come.”

Jay gave a nervous smile, and surrendered to the love energy Laura was sending.

And Jay and Laura kissed again. In the warm rain of Zartha.

After another few moments, the two walked, dripping wet, into the gargantuan palace. Jay marveled at the opulence. They went into a small hall off the main hallway which was bathed in a golden light. In this hall, the same one Shakita took Laura inside a few short nights before, Jay saw the silver and crystal table where the pictures of him were arranged. There were childhood pictures, photos of Jay in the Air Force, photos of Jay at the NYPD Police Academy, and classified pictures of him, Kay and Zed. And of course the picture of him and Laura. All the pictures had inscriptions in Zarthan. On the back wall were bas-relief sculputures of Jay in his MIB suit and sunglasses, raising his fist and shooting out beams of light. There were inscriptions on this sculpture in Zarthan. Neither Jay not Laura could read Zarthan - yet.

A pang of shock and wonder slammed again into Jay upon seeing this sight. “Laura...what the hell is all this? Where did they get all these?”

“Your mom had MIB send them up here from time to time,” Laura said. “This room is dedicated to you, Jay. Kind of like a temple in your honor. To remind the people of Zartha that you’re coming home from Earth to lead them and be their king.”

“Holy shit, baby...this shit is serious...” Jay stared at the pictures in disbelief. “I can’t believe all this is real.”

Jay and Laura continued down the hallway to the living quarters.

The main living space was outfitted not like the rest of the palace, but more like Earth dwellings, similar to a high-end condo that one might see in New York, Miami or Hollywood. There was a medium-sized kitchen with stainless steel appliances, including an authentic pizza oven. There was a living room with a large screen plasma TV, with a PlayStation unit hooked up to it (Jay had about 100 PlayStation games in New York) and a huge beige leather couch.

“This is our bedroom,” Laura said. Jay walked in and set his knapsack down.

“This...this really does exist,” Jay said. “This is the room I saw in my dream.” He turned to face Laura, who was standing in the doorway, droplets of rainwater drippling from her sundress and her black hair.

“Yeah, man, it’s very real.” Laura looked at Jay and another wave of desire shot through her like a laser blasting through metal. And with that, a smile erupted again. For here in front of her was a young man destined for greatness - far more greatness than even the two of them could be imagining even at that moment. Just the previous night, Laura had a dream of Jay. Jay was on the bridge of a huge Zarthan battle cruiser, launching an attack on Kylothian forces and in charge of 3000 battle eggs. In the dream, Jay was resolute, relatively calm, barking commands and making jokes and wisecracks. In other words, Jay was on top of his game and the Kylothians were on the receiving end of his excellence.

Laura often had prophetic dreams.

Jay actually had the exact same dream that night, after he finished packing all his stuff in his apartment in Brooklyn. He woke up with a sense of pride, but also a massive feeling of incredulous disbelief. But this was before he got up to go to work.

“I had a dream about you last night,” Laura said.

“Don’t tell me,” Jay replied, “I was leading a bunch of spaceships into battle against the Kylothians like I was some Captain Sisko or somebody.” Jay chuckled and shook his head.

“Don’t laugh, Jay, that was the exact dream I had,” Laura said, and came close to him, putting her arms around him. “My dreams come TRUE.”

Jay looked into those huge eyes and smiled. “What the hell is it about you and me, Laura?”

“Destiny,” said Laura.

“I’ll believe it when I believe it. Part of me is expecting to go right back to work tomorrow.”

“The only place you’re going is out with me in the transport. We need to take the grand tour of the planet.”

“All right,” said Jay. “I guess I need to get to know my homeland, huh?”

“Yeah.” Laura’s smiling stare intensified, smoldering and playful. She moved in for a kiss. This was the way she acted with previous boyfriends in New York. Jay backed off for a second. Laura was surprised and slightly disappointed. She frowned slightly. "You wanted me pretty bad when we were outside..."

“It's just...well,” Jay said, “you are SO about kissing me.”

“I’m so about YOU, Jason.” Laura’s eyes began to glow a greenish-white.

Jay looked off and sighed. He placed his hands on Laura's shoulders. “Listen, baby, I’m goin’ through a lot of emotions right about now. One minute, I’m on the downtown bus thinking about how I’m gonna stick it to Zed and Kay for lying to me, the next minute I’ve got a care package from a mother I thought was DEAD, and the next minute, I find myself laid off from my job and told by YOU, I might add, to evacuate into deep space immdiately or risk destroying the Earth. Then I come into Buckingham Palace here, on an alien planet 9 million light years away, and find out that I really am like some Prince Charles or something, and there’s a damn shrine to me in this place like I’m...some god or something.”

Laura giggled and swayed closer into him. “You ARE some god or something! That’s the point!”

Jay continued. “I need some time to reflect on ALL this, Laura...I’m out of my element...”

Laura planted a quick kiss on Jay’s lips. She began to loosen Jay’s black tie. Jay was startled. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a sec, baby -”

“We need to get out of these wet clothes,” Laura said.

“I don’t know if I’m ready...”

“Ready for WHAT, Jason?” Laura’s expression was a mischevous smile.

Jay blushed with embarrasment. "Umm...uhh..umm..."

Laura went on. “You ARE ready, Jay. I can feel you.”

Jay giggled and his face got even redder. “My body has a mind of it’s own, Laura.”

“So does mine.”

“Laura, listen...when I date women, I usually wait about 3 or 4 dates before - umm, you know...look, I barely know you. I just MET you.”

“That’s not true, Jason, I told you before. We’ve known each other our entire lives. We were neuralyzed, so we forgot. It’s OK, baby. I trust you. I even looked at your medical charts.”

Jay’s eyes brightened and flashed a quick neon-red. He raised a playful eyebrow. “Are you sure? ‘Cause in about 10 seconds it’s gonna get a little late to change your mind.”

“My mind is made up, T’Va'an. I am your queen, whether you believe it, like it, or not. Now we NEED to get out of these wet clothes.” Laura turned around so her back was facing Jay. "Untie me," she said.

Jay sighed. “You know, that’s what I’m worried about, Laura. I DO like it - but I don't know if I believe it,” and Jay pulled the strings on the back of the dress.

"Just because you don't believe something doesn't mean it's not true," Laura replied. Her words were soft but there was some force behind those words, a joyful force. In about three seconds the damp dress hit the floor. Laura then spun around and faced Jay. "You may flash me now."

Jay gazed upon the totality of Laura, and that joyful force was now coming from his own soul. His eyes began blazing bright red. "Yeah, and it ain't gonna be with a neuralyzer," he breathed out.

And in about 10 more seconds, Jay’s slacks, shirt, suit jacket and his underwear hit the floor.

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Conference call with momma

It was early the following morning in the royal palace. Bruno, Jay's cat from his New Orleans childhood, who was taken to Ben's Pizza after Jay and Laura were placed under MIB-supervised custody as kids, by now was brought back to the royal palace, and Laura was putting some Friskies in his dish.

Jay was peering into the top deck baking compartment of the massive 47-inch-wide Montague commercial pizza oven, a newer version of the one used at Ben's Famous Pizza. He took his neuralyzer out of his jeans pocket and turned it to the flashlight setting (the light was clear, bright and steady), and looked deep inside of it.

"I thought they took that thing away from you," Laura said, putting some water in Bruno's bowl.

"Well, baby," Jay said, as he peered deep into the oven, "I snuck this one from the supply room last year and kept it at home. A good MIB agent is never without his flashy-flashy."

The brand-new stone lining of the oven made Jay sneeze, and he sneezed right into the oven.

Laura giggled. "That's gross."

"Now the pizza's gonna have all my germs all on it," Jay said and pulled his head away from the oven door. "That's what you get for whackin' me upside the head with that pizza pan." He winked at Laura. Laura chuckled hard and rolled her eyes with a smirk.

"Whatevah," she grinned. "You're so crazy, Jay."

She moved close to him, with that huge smile, and the two gave each other a quick kiss. Well...maybe a little bit of a long kiss. It was slow, warm, and caring, and left the pair with a deep smile on each face.

Jay and Laura had a most satisfying evening the night before.

"You know, you're not a secret agent anymore," Laura said.

"Somehow I'm not so sure about that," Jay replied with a slight grin. "Even a king needs detective skills."

Shakita then entered the living quarters. Now Jay rolled his own eyes. Jay already was not a big fan of Shakita, as he considered her too pushy, like the girls in his group home in Brooklyn who always picked on the geeky boys.

"Hey, y'all," she called out.

The cardboard boxes, filled with Jay's belongings he packed before he left NYC, had just arrived and Jay now began to unpack one of them. Shakita walked up to Jay. "Jay, your mom wants all three of us on a conference call today."

Jay looked up. "Oh yeah? Momma wants to check in on us?"

"Yeah. We have to start getting ready for the wedding, and there are some official things she wants you to start doing in advance of the coronation."

Shakita handed Jay a file. The cover had the sun medallion design design debossed in gold foil, and underneath it was some printed letters in Zarthan. "Shakita, I can't read this stuff."

"All the info's always in English. Zarthans speak better English than you or me do. But you still gotta learn Zarthan."

Jay gave a hmmpf. "What is this?" he then said as he flipped through the dossier.

"That's official intergalactic policy statements, talking points, shit like that. In here is the official position on Kylothia and how we deal with them, and back here is how we deal with MIB." Shakita looked up at Jay. "We'll be drawing on your past experience a LOT, Your Highness."

"You guys seem to think that now Jay's up here I'm gonna just fall in line with the program," Jay said, annoyed.

"You have to, Jay," Shakita replied. "That's all a part of the plan for you. You were damn near Zed's number two man after Kay left, so you obviously know what you're doing."

"I'm getting a little tired of people plannin' things for me, Shakita," Jay said wearily.

Shakita frowned. "Your mom is the one plannin' things. I don't think she'd appreciate your attitude about that."

Jay looked at Shakita with a dry, cold glance. "Momma needs to know upfront what my attitude is right about now, it's not a very good one, outside of Laura that is, and I don't much care how she reacts to it."

"Look," said Shakita, "I know your mom pretty damn well. This meeting is important, Jason. Trust me, you do NOT want to get on your mom's bad side."

"And she don't want to get on mine," Jay retorted. "She's acting like I'm still that little kid she left behind. I am not in the first grade anymore and she has GOT to understand that. I'm a grown man now. I have not seen her in twenty-five years. There needs to be a little bit different relationship goin' on between us."

Laura was in the small kitchen area looking inside the Sub-Zero refrigerator, which had little food inside. "Hey, Shakita, where do people go grocery shopping on this planet?" she asked.

"Grocery shopping?" Jay asked. "Laura, this is Zartha. Why you wanna go grocery shopping?'

Laura held up a folder with the Ben's Pizza emblem. "Ben sent this up two weeks ago." She began to read from a handwritten note. "Hello Your Highness. By the time you read this, you and Jason should be settled in to your new home. Here are some of the pizza recipes adapted specifically for Zartha. The herbs and spices are a little different up there but they work just as good or better. Remember, counterclockwise!"

"Say what?" Jay asked.

"You toss the dough up in the air in a counterclockwise motion, like this", and Laura made the motion as if she were throwing the dough, which was something she did at least 3 or 4 times each day.

Laura looked down and finished reading. "I'm sorry I couldn't ever spill the beans, princess, but Angie would've run me over on a rail if I told you the truth. But I'll see you guys at the wedding. Until then, have fun and have pizza, Ben."

And with that, Laura sighed and flopped the folder on the counter, and looked up at Jay and Shakita. She was beginning to feel sad again.

Shakita wisely continued the conversation.

"Umm...Zarthans only eat two or three times a week, max," she said, matter-of-factly, "and we are vegetarians. Since you guys need to wean yourselves off Earth food we can have some food shipped up here from Pathmark or Albertsons or Safeway or Kroger or wherever y'all want."

"Well, we'd better hurry up and put the order in," Jay said, "'cause I'm starving."

"You can wait," Shakita said. "Right now we gotta go to the conference room."

The three left the living quarters and walked down a long, long, long corridor. Various aides and attendants were passing by, carrying papers and file folders. Some of them made the weird hand gesture to them, which Shakita always returned. This reminded Jay of life back on the Air Force base (and, of course, MIB HQ) with its disciplined hustle and bustle.

"Damn," Jay exclaimed, "I'm gonna have to get a people mover put in here."

"Boy, you can walk!" Shakita said with an annoyed look on her face.

Jay got annoyed right back. "Listen, Ice Queen, may I ask you something??? who the hell died and made YOU my momma?"

Shakita shot back. “Nobody died and your momma just so happens to be my auntie, my boss AND my queen. And furthermore, I don’t appreciate the way you’ve been treating me, after all this palace has been doing for you all this time!”

“And I should be concerned about that because?” Jay asked with an annoyed snap of the voice.

“I happen to be a descendant of the seventh sister in Mother Afua’s family, the number seven wife of the first king of this planet! That makes me technically a princess!!! And as such I AM in the royal line of succession! So you need to show some respect to me!”

"Guys, guys, pleeeeze," Laura said wearily. "We don't need this. We're family now and we're all together. You guys should be happy, not arguing over stupid shit. I'm happy, so y'all have to be happy too!"

Jay and Shakita gave a groan and sighed. They wanted to be careful of Laura's feelings as she was still mourning Ben.

They entered the conference room, which looked like it was lifted right out of a major corporation or government agency back on Earth. There was a long mahogany table surrounded by about 10 or 12 Herman Miller Aeron chairs. There was a massive 52" Westinghouse plasma TV monitor on the far wall. An attendant was setting bottles of Evian at each seat.

Jay and Laura sat next to each other, with Shakita sitting to the left of Laura. Laura instinctively opened her Evian and took a long drink, as if she were back in New York jogging in Prospect Park or Flushing Meadow Park, which she sometimes liked to do on Saturdays.

They faced the huge screen, which had a small camera mounted above it. Shakita had a weird silvery ovoid remote control device, which she used to turn the monitor on. Angie's image immediately appeared in glorious, living high-definition color. She was in her cell, which was barren except for some light streaming in through a small window. She was wearing her orange prison jumpsuit; and she was seated on her metal bed, cross-legged, facing a 17" monitor, with a camera sitting on top (which was sitting on a metal dresser in the cell).

Except for the dreadlocks, which had streaks of gray, she looked pretty much the same as she did during Jay's childhood. It was if she had never aged even one day in 25 years.

"Hello, you guys," Angie said.

"Hey," each one said all at once.

"Jason, it's good to see you," Angie said.

"Good to see you too, Momma," Jay replied, with a tinge of nervousness in his voice. Jay was a little discomforted - and slightly saddened - by the sight of his long-lost mother in an orange jumpsuit sitting on a cot in a jail cell like a common criminal - and like the "scum of the universe" he helped put away for the last five years. He stiffened with a tinge of renewed anger at Zed and Kay for being the ones who did this to her.

Angie took a deep breath and started. "Well, let me first begin by officially welcoming you guys to Zartha. I have waited 25 years for this day. This is special. This is the beginning of a brand new chapter of your story, a brand new place in your journey, a new beginning - for the Zarthan people as well as for the two of you.

"As you know, in about 17 days, Jason and Laura, you will become man and wife, and be officially installed as king and queen of Zartha. Now there are some things I need each of you to do leading up to the coronation. In front of you are some files with the Zarthan seal. Open them up."

Each one opened up the dossier in front of them.

Angie continued. "First off, Shakita, I need you to lead the official remembrance ceremony for Ben this morning after we get done here."

Shakita looked up and nodded, jotting a note in her dossier. Both Jay and Laura fell silent, and Laura hung her head down for a second. She then said, "I found the recipe folder he sent up. Now I can make pizza for Jay. The right way."

Angie knew that Laura took Ben's destruction at the hand of Serleena very hard - for a Zarthan. "Listen, Laura, I need you to know that everyone is just as sad as you are to see Ben go away. But I want you to always remember that Light goes back to Light - it HAS to, so he's still with us, baby. Always remember that."

Laura looked up and nodded her head. She smiled slightly. "OK, Angie. Thank you."

Angie continued. "Now, after the ceremony, the first thing I want you and Laura to do, Jason, is to take a tour of the planet. You need to learn how to fly the transport and to get to know each of the four major tribes of Zartha. We've got people who can give you lessons on the transport as well as about the history of the tribes. This should take the both of you the next three of four days. Got that, Jason?"

"Yeah, Momma," Jay replied as he flipped a page in the file. "Looks like I'm getting some lessons in the Zarthan language."

"That's right, baby, you and Laura both. First you guys will start out with some language books and tapes, and we also have learning machines that actually beam the knowledge into your brain by using light energy. Then you and Laura will begin to activate your supernatural abilities. There are special rituals the two of you must do, both together and alone, to activate the sun and the light energy within you."

"What's this about being the royal liaison with MIB, Momma? I thought that was Shakita's job," Jay asked, with a slight frown on his face.

"Jason, I thought you would be excellent to take on that role," Angie replied.

"Angie, you don't think I'm doing a good job with that anymore?" Shakita asked with a slight frown.

"On the contrary, Shakita, you are doing excellently, but I need for Jason to get used to some of the administrative functions of planetary government. I need you to train Jay on your procedures and Jay, I need you to brief Shakita on the current MIB protocols. She's already gone through some MIB training but she needs a sense of your command level experience, especially as it relates to Zed and Kevin."

Jay's eyes shot open in surprise. "Momma, wait a second, how do you know Kay's real name?"

Angie frowned for a second. "Kevin didn't tell you? Well, I guess I'd better. It's about time you found out, anyway. I've kept this a secret from you all these years. See, baby..." and here Angie sighed nervously and gathered herself, "I was once part of a secret organization that monitors and polices alien activity on planet Earth."

Jay's eyes shot open on hearing that all-too familiar sentence. It was how Kay introduced himself to Jay five years ago, and how Jay formally introduced himself to Laura just a few short days before.

"You were MIB?" he exclaimed, in shock.

Laura looked surprised too and she gave a wide, beaming smile.

"Yes, Jason, I was MIB. I still am, officially, as a matter of fact. I was Kevin's partner for a year back in New Orleans. 1967. I was about to turn 21." Angie gave her son a slight smile. "In fact, baby, look at the back of that file in front of you."

Jay snatched the paper out of the back and his jaw hit the floor. "Holy...Look at this, baby," he said to Laura. "This is what an MIB active agent file looks like!" Jay handed the paper to Laura.

Sure enough, Angelique Maria Tolan was still an active roster agent of the Men In Black. "Zed never officially decomm'ed me, Jason, they still send me a check every two weeks," said Angie.

Jay looked up at his mother in silence for a second or two. There sure were a lot of secrets about him that were getting more and more upsetting.

"Momma, umm...how come you never told me you were MIB?" Jay asked, with another tinge of sadness in his eyes. "It would have been real nice to know I was following in your footsteps all this time."

Angie looked wistfully at the camera and gave a short, but weary sigh. "I know, Jason. I know. There was no way I could really tell you when you were a kid. Remember how I would never let you go up into the attic back in the house in New Orleans?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do," Jay said, beginning to put two and two together. "That was where you kept all your standard issue gear, wasnt it?"

"Yes, baby," Angie replied. The slightly nervous smile returned.

"Do you still have your neuralyzer?" Jay asked, now with a concerned look on his face. He reached for his sunglasses. Both Laura and Shakita rolled their eyes, laughing and giggling at Jay's excessive caution.

"Yes, but the batteries are taken out, you don't need to put on your sunglasses," Angie said. "And the neuralyzing light is about one-tenth as effective there on Zartha, Jason, because of Zartha's electromagnetic field being as strong as it is. Even if I did flash you, you'd only get temporary amnesia for about 30 seconds, even if I have this thing at full power," Angie continued. She reached over to her right and produced a neuralyzer, slightly larger than Jay's.

"Whoa, holy mother of God, that's a Mark II!" Jay exclaimed with a smile, as he recognized one of the early neuralyzers. Kay showed Jay his own Mark II just a month or so before, back in New York. "That's the one with 5 dials on it, right? Did you ever use it on anybody?"

"One time," Angie said, and looked down at her lap for a second - a long second, and then she looked up at the camera. "But that was a long, long time ago, Jay. Right now we gotta focus on your future, and not on my past."

Jay looked away for a second. Then he looked at his momma again, and frowned puzzledly. (There's still something she's holding back - but I'd better not press the point)...Jay sighed, looked down at the dossier on the table, and looked up again at the camera. "Listen, Momma, you realize you're asking a lot out of me for being up here such a short amount of time. Why is there such a rush to even have a wedding in three weeks? Can't this wait..oh, I don't know, say, six, seven months?"

"Jay," Laura said to him. Jay held his finger up to Laura. "Wait a second, baby, let's address this..."

Angie responded. "Jason, the main reason we need to move quickly is that Serleena is still a threat."

Jay looked a little puzzled. "But Momma, I destroyed Serleena."

Shakita chimed in with a smart - alecky smirk. "You just THINK you destroyed Serleena."

"Jason," Angie continued, "Serleena is a plant. She leaves seeds so she can reconstitute. She could have very well re-created herself just minutes after you and Kevin blew her up that night in New York, and no one would have been the wiser."

"Damn," Jay said, looking down at the table again, now with a frown, "so that means we still have to be careful. She might still try to take Laura," and with this Jay looked over at Laura with a deep look of worry.

"Momma," Jay continued, "I can't let Serleena take Laura from me. That would devastate me."

"That's the least of it, baby," Angie continued. "Serleena destroyed a few planets on the way to Earth looking for Laura."

"I know, I saw the report and I saw that ship myself in Central Park, Kylothian Class C vessel," Jay said.

"Well, remember, Jay, you may have seen that spacecraft, but some of the facts about it were kept from you by Zed. He didn't tell you everything about the technology aboard that little ship of hers. The destruction beam she used is NOT Kylothian technology. It's Zarthan. The demolition beam, we use it like a wrecking ball, but only on dead moons. After all the inhabitants have been evacuated."

"What??? You kidding me?" Jay exclaimed with slight surprise and a wrinkled frown of disdain. "How did Serleena get a hold of Zarthan technology??? That powerful?"

"We suspect some of the rebels sold it to her. That's the big issue we have to deal with, baby. We have devices, medical devices, learning devices, even kids' toys - that if engineered in a certain way, can be used not just to blow up planets, but to steal the very life force from a Zarthan. And some Zarthans, like you guys, have a stronger life force than others.

"Given the kids of devices I think Serleena might have gotten access to, if she decides to do something crazy, like kidnap Laura and take her hostage or something like that, well, she can easily take over and control the entire universe. And what's more, she might try and take YOU as well, and steal BOTH of your combined energies. That would be absolute and utter disaster, and that's putting it mildly."

Jason was silent for another second. Then he looked at Laura and took her hand. Then he spoke. "I can't let that happen, Momma. I won't let that happen."

"That's fine, baby," Angie continued, raising an eyebrow, "but I need you to get something straight right now. Listen to me good, Jason. Now I am not Zed, I am not Kay. You can't just go off and disobey me like you did to them CONSTANTLY. First of all, I am your mother and I haven't forgotten how I used to discipline you when you were a kid. Second of all, I am the queen of Zartha. You are a Zarthan citizen and a member of the royal household. That status NEVER changed, Jason. So that means whatever I say goes, baby. Final word, final authority. I mean it. OK?"

Jay looked up at his mother, slightly coldly, sighed, waited a second or two, and said, "OK, Momma, I understand and I respect that, but I need for YOU to get something straight."

Angie's face froze for a second. "What is that, Jason?" she asked, calmly, not as if she were addressing her only child, but here, now, as if she was in high-level negotiations with a diplomat from some alien planet, something she was all too accustomed to doing.

Jay went on. "First of all, Momma, I am not that six-year-old child you gave up to MIB back in '78. For better or for worse, the reality NOW is that I'm a grown man and I make my own decisions. Next, what no one seems to understand is that just two days ago, I was an MIB agent. With an ongoing mission I took an oath to carry out. Two days ago I had a different identity and a different name.

"Two days ago, Momma, you were DEAD.

"Now, I promise you, I will do my best to carry out your orders, Momma, and like I just said, I will do everything I possibly can to keep Laura safe from Serleena, but you must be advised right now that this whole entire deal's gonna be a difficult transition for me. Way difficult."

Angie looked at Jay in silence for a second or two. Shakita started to get nervous, and braced herself for a verbal barrage from the queen, for she personally witnessed a few of Angie's shouting matches with key members of the Intergalactic Council.

But Angie did not yell, she just sighed slightly. She also had a tinge of sadness in her eyes.

"I was afraid that would be your position, Jason. Listen, baby, I'm only telling you all this because I KNOW you. I felt your presence in my body from the very beginning. And I carried you for six months-"

"You mean nine months, right?" Jay interrupted, puzzled again.

"No, actually that was six months, Jason, we have a shorter gestation period than humans. The point I'm trying to make, baby, is that I carried you. I gave birth to you. I breast fed you. I taught you how to eat, to go to the bathroom, to read, to write. I KNOW you, T'Va'an, or at least I used to, before I made the deal with MIB to place you and Laura into protective exile.

"And what's more, I know all about your career, Jason. Everything. I know about all you have achieved and accomplished in the Air Force, the NYPD and in MIB under all your commanding officers. I know that at every stage of your career up to this point, you rose to every single challenge given to you. Successfully.

"You have shown complete dedication and the highest levels of excellence and professional competence. Your record is exemplary, Jason. You are brave, resourceful and loyal to the ideals of freedom and justice, for the people of Earth and people all over this universe. And speaking as the queen of Zartha - and as your mother - I could not be more pleased and proud with what you have done. I also could not be more confident of your potential once you've been fully activated and every aspect of your Zarthan identity is realized.

"So if I knew you weren't capable of any of this, I just would have left you back in New York as an MIB agent and just sent Laura up there to be queen, by herself."

Jay hung his head down in a tinge of embarrasment. "I hear you, Momma. Look, I - I didn't mean any disrespect." He didn't know his momma anymore, but he had to respect her - at least in honor of the good times he had with her as a kid.

"That's all right, baby, I know where you're comin' from. But listen, Jay, that same seven-year-old child I gave up to MIB was curious, intelligent, and had a natural love energy just bubbling up from deep inside him. You had the Light inside you always. Everyone knew it, and that's why Zed was so afraid of you. I never got the chance to work with you, one on one, in the old way, the traditional way, to develop your energy. To make it really effective, so you could be ready to be king.

"So now, I need YOU to reclaim some of that light, that love, Jason. Laura needs you to reclaim that. Zartha needs you to reclaim that."

"But why is it so important for me to reclaim anything, Momma?" Jay asked. "I was doing just fine...well, sort of..." and here Jay frowned in frustration, because Angie knew Jay was unhappy living the required life of secrecy demanded of him as an MIB agent.

"Look, baby, the last 30 years of my life, I've been trying to make a prophecy come true. In fact, I was created to help be the gateway for the prophecy. I'm not only just a child of the Sun People. Some of my ancestors - and that means some of your ancestors, Jason - are priests of the S'aa, those are the Light people that know the power of the cosmic Light energy. That's your energy, Laura. The energy that could have blown up the Earth. The energy Serleena wants.

"The prophecy of the Light of Zartha is in the holy writings of the S'aa priests, almost 1,000, fifteen hundred years old. Basically it calls for the Sun and the Light - that's the two of you - to come together, bring forth the Golden Age of Light, which is supposed to be a period with nothing but love, joy, peace...everyone on Zartha - and all over this universe - showing unconditional love and respect towards one another. Giving to each other more than just take, take, take, you know what I'm sayin'?

"Now, the two of you are also prophesied to create a superchild. You can look it up in the writings, it's all there. That superchild - maybe two or three kids, depending on what you guys want in terms of a family - that child is supposed to be one of the most powerful beings in all of the universe - a powerful king, or queen, as the case may be, who will do his or her part to bring eternal, everlasting peace, love and unity among all beings, all throught the universe, for all time. That means Earth gets to be fully disclosed as to the presence of other intelligent, able-bodied and educated life in the universe."

"Whoa," Laura said. "That...that's the biggest thing to happen...since the universe was even created. That's so hard to imagine. Our baby..." Laura turned to look at Jay with an expression of wonder, but Jay had more pragmatic thoughts going through his mind.

"MIB ain't gonna like that, Momma," Jay said gravely.

"That don't much matter, baby," Angie replied. "It's time for the people of Earth to finally be a part of this universe, and stop lying to themselves - or at least to stop letting themselves get lied to by their so-called 'leaders' as to the whole alien issue.

"Earth is important to the universe. Always has been. But the other planets were always kept out - officially - out of the loop. The people who ran Earth always asserted total control over the citizens, that's the main reason behind MIB in the first place...but over the centuries, we always managed to stick our nose in Earth's business from time to time. And most of the time, when most of us did that, Earth was always better off for it. But now everybody's tired of the hiding and the secrets. Earth is a part of this universe and all of Earth's people need to know they are not alone...

"The people of Earth are in a state of despair. You know that. Governments are taking more and more of people's freedom right out from under them. The elite classes are treating everyday people like slaves - like shit, Jason, and having the nerve to call it 'freedom'. That is wrong and beings like us cannot let that go unchallenged. The people of Earth need to know, they must know, that there is another way to live. They need to know that people of goodwill - and good power - from other planets have got their back. They need to be presented with the tools to make the change for themselves. They need to be shown the power of cosmic, eternal Light. And they need to learn how to use it to change Earth and make it a halfway decent place to live again.

"Peace and love CAN happen, Jason. Light CAN happen. And we do this because we love Earth. Earth is special.

"All the legends, all the stories that people all over this planet get taught...fairy tales, religious writings, conspiracy theories, all the sci-fi movies and TV shows and novels and comic books - all that is real, guys. It ain't fake. 90 percent of that stuff really happened and is going on even as we speak. Aliens are a part of Earth. Most aliens love Earth. Some aliens hate Earth, but you know all about THOSE aliens, baby. But when the GOOD aliens, the NICE aliens, when they...when WE try to live our lives, mind our own business and try to make things a little bit better out here on Earth, we always have to act undercover, we always have to hide, we always have to blend in. You know that by now, Jason. It's exactly like you just said, baby. You and I both took an oath to make sure aliens...didn't upset things too much. The nice ones as well as the mean ones."

"Momma, MIB kept you in the loop on my professional life all these years...were you actually responsible for my being an MIB agent?" Jay asked.

"Yes, baby, I was. I set out a plan, a pretty detailed plan, for you once you and Laura were taken from us. Both of you. As much as I think the concept of MIB is fundamentally wrong, the reality was that MIB is the official agency Earth set up to interact with the people and governments of other planets, and the other planets knew if they wanted to deal with Earth, they had to deal with MIB."

"And what does that have to do with Zartha?" asked Jay.

"That means as part of the ruling family of Zartha, and because Zartha has such a strong and closely involved relationship with Earth going back several hundred years, almost as far as the beginning of Zarthan civilization itself, your grandmother and I had to deal with MIB - and I had to actually JOIN MIB - in order to preserve and protect the national interest of Zartha, which of course includes our ongoing activities and holdings on Earth, which are rather substantial compared to other planets. MIB did not want to risk starting an intergalactic war with us by just acting like some apartment landlord and evicting us lock, stock and barrel from Earth, since we were there LONG before the establishment of MIB and most of the modern civilized governments in power right now on Earth. No other planet in the universe can say that. We belong on Earth just as sure as we belong on Zartha. We consider - we officially consider - Earth as a homeland for us, just as much as Zartha itself. In fact, we could have easily annexed Earth if we wanted to, baby, a long time ago, but we chose not to. And sometimes I wonder if not taking over Earth was a mistake on our part."

Jay raised his eyebrows in a bit of surprise on hearing this. Angie continued.

"To that end, Jason, your being MIB was a part of the plan to get you ready to be king of Zartha. Your being a second lieutenant in the Air Force was a part of that plan, too."

"Yeah, that Air Force thing has bothered me all these years. I wanted to fly fighter jets, Momma."

"I know, baby, and I'm so sorry you didn't get to do that. I know that was what you wanted more than anything else in the Air Force. But, listen, your ultimate purpose is a lot more critical to the future of Zartha - and Earth - than being a pilot, Jason. You can always fly an airplane, any old time. But you've got bigger okra to fry at the moment. You and Laura have a planet to run now."

"Isn't that bigger fish to fry?" Jay asked.

Angie laughed out loud. "No, Jason, we don't fry fish on Zartha, we hire them!"

Shakita rolled her eyes upward sarcastically and said, "Man, you got a lot to learn about this planet."

Angie continued. "In addition, the two of you need to work together to solve some of the problems on Zartha that I haven't been able to. A new king and queen with a new mandate - that's what Zartha needs the quickest of all, 'cause Zartha's goin' through some serious issues right about now. A lot of people got greedy and power hungry on Zartha who should know better, and it's makin' for a MESSED up situation." Angie had an exasperated look on her face. Jay looked up now at his mother with a hard stare. Angie stared back, cracked a slight smile, and shook her head. She looked up at the camera, and went on.

"Look, the bottom line is - you are an alien, Jason. I'm sorry the truth was held back from you all these years, but that's the way it had to be, baby. It was mainly for your protection, and Laura's protection. You two might have been destroyed - and Zartha along with you, if I didn't make that deal. The execution of the plan was a little awkward, but it had to go down the way it did. I really, really hope you will come to understand all that in time.

"And now, it's finally time for you to know the truth about yourself, but not only that, we need you to step up to the challenge and be who you really are.

"You are a Zarthan, Jason. Welcome to the club. We do things differently from Earthlings, baby. We use our EMOTIONS first and everything we think about, everything we plan, the logic, the analysis, it all comes out of that. NOT the other way around. We feel first and ask questions later. You want to know why we do it like that? It's because we have the power of all creation inside of us - and when we are taught to use that power in the right way, with the right attitude, some damn good things happen.

"Now the sooner you accept that and internalize that as a part of who and what you are, the easier this whole thing will be. Trust me, Jason. I know what I'm talkin' about."

Jay looked away for a second. Laura took Jay's hand and held it again, softly.

Angie continued. "We are all here to help you, Jay. We're here to help you remember, and to help you make the adjustment. When you pass from this plane of existence, you will be nothing but light anyway. You might as well learn how to start acting like a being of light right now. I was stuck in here when you got to the age where I would have taught you that, and Zed sure the hell wasn't gonna teach it to you."

Jay looked at his mother, looked down at the table, and gave a slight smile. "No, he wasn't, at that...Look, Momma, this Light stuff...it seems all new to me, something...metaphysical and all that. After I left you, Momma...I became a lot more practical about my existence...I learned how to use my mind before my emotions, but I also learned how to SHOOT first and ask questions later.

"I can't start being a god overnight - even though you all say I am a god right now... So you need me to step up? I am a man of honor, Momma. When my planet calls me, I have a duty to answer the call. That's always been my way of doing things. And when I say 'my planet' that means Zartha as well as Earth.

"All I can do is give you, Laura, all you guys my absolute 110 percent best, to lay it all out on the court, as they say in basketball. I love you, Momma. I love you, Laura." He turned to Shakita. "I'll hold judgment on you, Shakita, until I get to know you and work with you a little bit more."

"Fair enough, Jason," Shakita said.

"OK," Angie replied, smiling at Jason. "And you are indeed a man of honor, Jason. I am very, very proud of how you have grown up and turned out. Just don't freak out when we tell you to follow the light. The Light will set you free, baby. We'll see how all this plays out. I think that's about all for me, then. You guys have your assignments.

"If you need me, you know where I am. If I'm out of this cell, the guards WILL come and get me immediately."

"Momma, how's that prison food?" Jay asked.

"Oh, I try not to eat that crap, baby, but once every week or so, I get so damn hungry I have to eat some of it. But when I come back for the wedding, I get to cook."

"I remember your cooking, Momma," Jay said with another smile.

"Well," Angie said, "you will be getting some of it when I come back. Now go out there and make all this happen. Oh, and Laura, I'll be contacting you later on tonight, so be ready for me. I've got some extra information to pass on just to you."

"I'll be ready, Angie," Laura said.

They all said their goodbyes.

Shakita then said, "There's a small temple on the east wing of the palace. Come on, the ceremony for Ben is gonna be in there. People are probably sitting in there waiting on us right now."

As they walked out of the conference room, Jay began to wonder. He turned to Laura and asked, "Baby, my momma said she was Kay's partner? She never once mentioned that when I was a kid, but Kay could have told me. How come he never mentioned that? Not even yesterday, when they finally told me I was a Zarthan?"

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Breakfast in the Bronx

Jay was asleep. The earliest hours of the new morning were creeping across the palace grounds.

"Jason," he heard his mom say.

Jay turned groggily over in the bed. "...what do you want now, Momma?"

"Jason...prepare yourself, baby."

Jay then began to have a new dream.

He was back in New York, an MIB agent in the familiar black suit. He found himself in what he thought was his Mercedes E500, but he wasn't driving - Laura was. She was in a black MIB suit and black MIB-issue glasses. Jay did not question this, he went with the flow of the dream. It was about 7:30 in the morning and it was a weekend, judging from the lighter traffic on the streets. The pair were driving in the South Bronx, northbound on Westchester Avenue. Laura was doing about 45 mph up the street. "Be careful with my ride, baby," Jay said with slight concern.

"Who said this was YOUR ride?" Laura said right back.

Laura swung effortlessly up Prospect Avenue and drove on to a brownstone she knew from when she was a kid. A drunk homless person tried to cross the street in front of the car. Laura mashed on the horn. The man jumped away rapidly, frightened. Laura rolled down the window. "Look where the hell you're going! You could get hit out here!" she yelled. There was an accented hint of boricua in her voice. Jay was stunned and was also quite impressed. "Damn, girl, you are from the Bronx!"

Laura flashed a glance at Jay and grinned. "This is home, papi," she said.

They got out of the car in front of the brownstone and went up the short steps. The front door was open and they went right inside the building. The brownstone was gray, old and creepy. The hallway was dark (almost black, with very little light), cold, musty and woody smelling. Jay had his noisy cricket gun ready in case something tried to attack Laura.

They climbed the steps to the second floor and knocked on the door of an apartment. And who answered the door, but none other than Kay! With a bright, friendly GRIN on his face!!! On seeing this Jay almost fell over in shocked surprise.

"Hey! Come on in slick! Breakfast is ready." The beaming Kay, slapping the bewildered Jay on the back, was wearing nothing but a crew-neck t-shirt and MIB-issue khaki shorts. On his feet were a $4 pair of blue flip-flops from the Duane Reade store down the street.

Jay and Laura walked gingerly inside the apartment. The kitchen had a bright, cheery look to it, like Jay's old kitchen in New Orleans. And his mother was doing the cooking. "Damn, that food smells good", Jay said. "She's cooking chorizo and eggs!" Laura exclaimed to Jay with a wide smile.

It appeared that Kay and Angie were the occupants of this weird place. Angie was in her blue cotton bathrobe she always wore when Jay was a little kid. Her dreadlocks were tied up in a bun.

"Hey kids," Angie said, just as matter-of-factly as if this was a normal, everyday occurrence. Jay walked over and kissed his mother on the cheek. She kissed his cheek right back.

"Ummm...Momma...umm...what's this all about?" Jason asked.

Angie looked right at him with a warm smile. "Breakfast, Jason. It's Saturday and our family is coming together for breakfast. Sit down over there across from Kay."

Angie was cooking eggs with some chopped chorizo sausage mixed in, along with some rice; she was also starting to make some biscuit batter, from a package of White Lily flour on the counter. White Lily flour is not common in NYC, but it sure is in New Orleans.

"This is veggie chorizo, Laura. My own recipe," Angie said. "It smells so good, Angie," Laura replied with a little giggle.

Laura felt warm and happy in this dream. The family was indeed together, and this was so critically important to Laura, who spent most of her life in group homes in this very part of the Bronx. Jay, his mom and his old boss, whom she instinctively knew had a deeper connection to Jay than simply a professional one, were the closest thing to a real family she had right now - especially so soon after the loss of Ben, and she did not want one thing to spoil this moment.

Angie walked over to the table and she and Kay gave each other a little kiss on the lips.

Jay was not pleased. One minute he's in a post office clueless, the next he's shackin' up with my MOMMA for chrissake. the goddamn nerve...

"Is there a specific reason why we're here?" Jay asked, tersely. Laura sighed slightly. Why did Jay have to act like this, now? In Laura's opinion, this was showing blatant disrespect for Angie and Kay. All this shit is for you, Jay (Laura thought to herself), lighten the hell up already.

Kay looked up at Jay. "We're just gettin' you guys ready for the tour, slick." Kay calmly lit up a Marlboro with that same beat-up Zippo lighter he always used back at headquarters or on missions, the one with the orange University of Texas longhorn symbol on it, inlaid in mother-of-pearl on the side.

"What did I tell you about smoking, Kay? I thought you were tryin' to quit."

"Ain't time to quit yet, slick," Kay drawled, and took another drag. "Just you remember that."

"There are some extra things you guys have to know before you go," Angie said, while she was at the O'Keefe and Merritt gas oven scrambling eggs.

"What kind of things, Angie?" Laura asked, quickly whisking out a pen and a pad of paper. The scowling Jay wanted to take out his neuralyzer. But he held back.

"When you visit these tribes, be sure and take down lots of information - but don't get caught up in their dramas. The tribes on Zartha are kind of divided right now. Some of them want to fight each other. That's the main thing you guys have to try and fix during your reign. How many biscuits you want, Jason?"

"Six or seven of those, Momma," Jay replied instantly, for this was a question he was always asked every Saturday morning as a young child. Then Jay felt embarrased - he was on a mission, for cryin' out loud? Why am I being given breakfast and what in da HELL is Kay doing in my momma's house!

"Kay, listen, just what are you doing in my momma's house, man?"

"I live here, slick," Kay chuckled.

"Why?" Jay was getting pissed.

"Jason, it's OK. I told you Kevin and I were partners." Angie looked at Jay with a slightly tense look. "Kay's a big part of what's going on here."

Jay looked at his mother with a slightly pained look, and then looked across the table at Kay. "All right, Kay, but don't try any funny business. I see how you're lookin' at her." Kay rolled his eyes and grinned, shaking his head.

"Jason, be quiet, please," Angie said.

"OK", Jay replied. What the hell is up with this weird-ass dream?

Laura looked over at Jay and rolled her eyes.

Angie continued. "You guys need to be especially careful of the S'aa. Laura, that's your tribe. They are friendly, but some of them don't like the fact that I'm queen. Here you go, baby." Angie scooped some of the eggs onto Kay's plate. "Thank you, darlin," Kay drawled, and he began eating. Angie walked around the table. "Hold up your plate, Jason."

Jay instinctively held up his Texas Ware plate. He felt the familiar, comforting heat of the Revere Ware skillet next to his face as Angie scooped some scrambled eggs onto the plate.

"Is that enough, baby?" She scooped some more eggs and tried to slam them on the plate, but she missed and a few eggs got right on Jay's slacks.

"Momma! My suit!" Jay hurriedly reached for a napkin and tried to clean the eggs off the pants leg. Laura got up to get a dishtowel from the sink.

Angie cringed and sighed with embarrasment. "Oh, I'm so sorry, baby, are you OK?"

"Yeah, Momma, I guess I'm not gonna need this suit when we go on tour." Jay tried not to show frustration to his mother at this point. He took the wet dishcloth from Laura and wiped the rest of the eggs from his pants.

"I got some extra shorts if you need 'em, slick," Kay drawled, taking another drag of his Marlboro. Kay always smoked as he ate, and Jay usually made jokes about that, but that wasn't gonna happen in this dream.

"I'm alright, Kay, but thanks, man." Jay began to eat his eggs. Damn, these eggs were good. He had forgotten how good his mother's cooking was.

Angie dished out some chorizo and eggs to Laura and lastly herself. "Laura, go get the orange juice from the fridge," and Laura sprang up once more to do so. If Jay's not gonna show some love, I will.

"Momma, you know you could have just scheduled another conference call," Jay said, devouring his eggs.

"Oh, nonsense, baby, you still need your sleep," Angie said, as she poured Kay some Cafe Du Monde coffee. "Sometimes dreams work just as good, slick," Kay drawled, allowing more of his beloved Permian Basin to show in his speech.

"What do YOU possibly know about dreams?" Jay asked incredulously to Kay.

"I know about enough to have 'em, son and that's about it," Kay chuckled.

"Angie, why do the tribes fight against each other?" Laura asked. She then looked at Jay with a slight frown. Jay frowned back, with a puzzled look.

"Each tribe has special gifts, different physical, spiritual attributes," Angie replied. "And each thinks their particular attributes are better than the others. Now take the C'ola'a, the rock tribe, for example. These people are the miners. They mine all the rocks, minerals, and precious gems on Zartha. They are the builders of all the physical infrastructure on the planet. Without them, Zartha wouldn't even be half as powerful as it is, but they are treated as second-class citizens, especially by the S'aa."

"Momma, this was something you weren't able to stop?" Jay asked, with another slight puzzled frown on his face. He began to get a slight headache.

"I passed decrees, baby, making inter-tribal discrimination illegal. Most people on Zartha obey my edicts, Jason, but others still have a problem with me tellin' them what to do. And it's those others I need for y'all to be careful about. Look at me, baby."

Jay looked at his mother and she flashed a bright red burst from her eyes, across the table. Jay's eyes flashed red in response, and just like that, his headache was gone. "Holy shit", Jay marveled with a surprised chuckle. "Just like you used to do to me when I was a little kid," he said.

"Yeah, I've still got the touch, Jay. After all this time." Angie gave her son a warm smile. Kay leaned over and kissed her again. "Thank god you do, sweetie," he said.

"Jason," Angie continued, "there are two main questions we always ask when dealing with conflict between the tribes, or for that matter, when making any major decisions about Zartha.

"Number one: is it in the best interests of all the people of Zartha?

"Number two: will the final result be peaceful?

"If you can't answer yes to those two questions, you should think twice before acting on the plan."

Jay frowned his face in puzzlement. "Momma, if these tribes are breaking the law, shouldn't they...I don't know, face charges or something?"

"Jason, one thing about Zartha is that the people there like their freedom. Anything that could be seen as taking away from that freedom, they see as a threat. Even if that threat comes from me."

"But you're the queen, Momma."

"So? Some of those people don't give a rat's ass that I'm the queen, baby."

Kay chuckled again and shook his head. "Still talkin' like a rookie, slick."

Laura said, "How can we...how can we make things more peaceful on Zartha, Angie?"

"All you guys need to do is remember to keep the basic idea of Zartha in mind. You see, Zartha is a land where everyone, every living thing, has the Light inside of them. And when people have the Light, people have the opportunity to be Light. And when you're Light - when you know that you are a being of Light - well, that's about as far as you can go, as far as existence means. But let me tell you, from experience - it's a pretty damn good place to be." Angie was smiling broadly at this point, and looked at Laura.

In response, Laura suddenly got a shocked look on her face, as if she remembered something. Angie saw this and grinned with a slight tinge of embarrasment. Laura grinned in response and the gargantuan smile on her face could have lit up Times Square right now.

"Just what are y'all grinnin' about?" Jay asked. He shook his head with more puzzlement.

"This is fun!" Laura exclaimed, with a massive amount of joy coming out of her. Her eyes began to glow whitish green again.

And just like that, Jay found himself awake, in his bed in the royal palace, nine million light years away from the South Bronx. The first of the twin suns orbiting Zartha were just beginning to rise over the palace gardens.

Jay sat up, fully rested, with no headache or pain whatsoever, but he was extremely hungry despite the virtual "food" he just ate. Laura began to stir in the bed next to him.

"Laura," Jay said, shaking his bride-to-be slightly. "Wake up, baby, we gotta get going soon."

"mmmm...I want some more chorizo," Laura mumbled. She rolled over to where Jay was just laying and noticed he had sat up, so she woke up.

"What in the hell was that weird ass dream all about?" Jay asked.

Laura, sitting up by now, yawned and stretched her arms outward. She looked deep into Jay's eyes and gave a soft smile. She was silent for a second, as if she was wondering why Jay couldn't see, couldn't feel what she was seeing and feeling right at that moment.

After a second more, Laura spoke.

"That was a briefing, Jay," Laura yawned.

"Yeah, I gathered as much...Why did she do it like that???"

"Look, baby, you have to learn to show some respect towards your moms, dude, she was making us breakfast..."

Jay looked away. "My mother is a weird woman, Laura. I cannot for the life of me understand some of the shit she is pulling."

"Your mother is the queen, she can do that," Laura said, and leaned over to kiss him. The two kissed deep and long. In the middle of the kiss, Jay thought he smelled soemthing. "Hey, do you smell something in the kitchen? Did you just cook?"

"No, I woke up just now," Laura said. "Maybe Shakita had the commissary staff make breakfast," and the both of them walked into the dark living room, and on into the kitchen. There on the counter, illuminated by the small under-cabinet lamps, were three steaming plates heaped full of White Lily-made biscuits, scrambled eggs and veggie chorizo. A large pitcher of fresh-squeezed orange juice was nearby as well as a large bowl of fruit salad.

Another wide smile erupted from Laura's lips and she went over to get a couple of the plates. She saw a note on the counter, on the official letterhead (Office of the Queen, St, Gabriel, Louisiana), handwritten, from Angie.

"Don't stop dreaming.

Have a good tour.

Love, Angie"

"Thanks, Angie," she said, looking up towards the ceiling.

Jay stood silent. What is the point of all this? Momma, why are you doing this to me?

The more answers Jason got about his mother, the more questions seemed to get raised. Why were Kay and his mom so damn friendly? Did they have an affair? And if so...Jay suddenly got a deep chill. The thought, the very notion, that he might be Kay's...son? That was almost replusive to him, but now Jay's detective mind just could not stop working on this one. This was a "case" he had to solve. Forget all this shit about being king. Jay took this as a quest to find out who the hell he was.

Shakita came into the room a couple of seconds later with her arms full of dossiers and set them down on the coffee table, and the three began to eat.

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[edit] Jay and Laura go on tour

The silvery egg floated on the jetstream about 10,000 feet up. T'Va'aan and Sh'ana'aa were seated in this egg (strapped in six-point harnesses that automatically wrapped around them before takeoff), setting out on their grand tour to meet with representatives of the four major tribes of the planet of Zartha.

T'Va'aan, or Jason, or simply Jay, was sitting to the right of Sh'ana'aa, or Laura, who was piloting the egg. Jay was in a clean white T-shirt and freshly washed blue Wrangler jeans, and he was also wearing his beloved wheat-colored Timberland boots. Laura was wearing one of Jay's NYPD T-shirts, her own khaki cargo shorts, and, ironically, she was also wearing wheat Timbos.

The couple was cruising at about 600 knots, and was about 300 nautical miles from their first meeting point: the village of T'Ano'ok, the primary village of the C'ola'a.

"Computer," Jay said, "retrieve MIB Level Z record on one Damien Colan Edwards."

"One moment, your highness," the computer voice said with a slight Louisiana lilt.

Another couple of seconds later, the computer voice continued. "Damien Colan Edwards. Born 1945, New Orleans. Mother and father both of Zarthan descent, from the house of C'ola'a. Graduated Clark High School 1963. Attended Grambling State College 1963-65, drafted into U S Army, served one tour of duty in Vietnam. Honorably discharged. Enrolled in New Orleans Police Academy 1967. Sworn as New Orleans Police officer 1968. Married Angelique Tolan June 1970 after a seven-month courtship. Couple gave birth to His Highness January 1972.

"Angelique sworn in as Queen of Zartha January 1972. Damien Edwards shot and killed July 1978 while responding to a 211 in progress in Seventh Ward. MIB investigation conducted by agents Kay and Emm concluded that the suspects were undercover operatives from Zartha, loyal to opposition factions on Zartha, who entered Earth unauthorized and carried out the assassination as part of an elaborate attempt to eliminate the entire royal family of Zartha. Suspects were brought February 1979 before the Intergalactic Council Interplanetary Tribunal, tried and convicted one one count of premeditated homicide and three counts of conspiracy to assassinate sovereign royalty, sentenced to two consecutive life sentences on prison planet IC725, in IC Sector 7."

Jay sat silent for a few moments. The rush of the air conditioning in the egg grew uncomfortably loud.

"You OK, baby?" Laura asked, placing a hand on his thigh.

"Yeah," Jay said, taking Laura's hand and holding it. He looked straight ahead into the green sky before him. "I think so, baby, I had to find out. I had to find out what really happened to my dad."

"Computer," Jay said again, "cross reference Agent Kay and agent Ayzee."

"One moment, your highness," the computer voice said with a slight Louisiana lilt.

Another couple of seconds later, the computer voice continued. "Agent Ayzee is Angelique Maria Tolan. Agent Ayzee is in active non-assigned status with MIB and currently on MIB payroll. Agent Ayzee was active assigned MIB December 1965 until April 1968."

"Reason for leaving?" Jay asked the computer.

"Agent Ayzee voluntarily left active status after she and Agent Kay were confronted by MIB Director Zed, March 1968, regarding unauthorized interpersonal contact of a Level One romantic nature."

With that, the color immediately left Jay's face and his body chilled with shock. Laura looked at him and a pang of shock slammed into her. At the same time, she felt a slight joyful vindication. Maybe now you'll understand, she thought.

Jay was silent for about ten seconds. "I see," he then said, and as he sighed nervously, his face wrinkled up into another frown. "Level One, huh..."

"Level One interpersonal contact status was never officially confirmed," the voice replied.

"I think I know how to confirm it, computer. Retrieve DNA analysis on Jason LeRoi Tolan Edwards."

"Are you sure about this, Jay?" Laura asked.

"You better know it, baby, just watch," Jay replied. His heart began to race again.

"One moment, your highness," the computer voice said once again. Then it went on... "Do you want the MIB or the Zarthan analysis?"

Jay was slightly taken aback, but the computer went on..."Analysis retrieved for years 1972, 1978, 1986, 1997, and 2000. Which year shall I display, Your Highness?"

"Say what? I have that many DNA probes?"

"Yes, Your Highness. Which year shall I display, Your Highness?"

"Umm...display the MIB record from 1972, computer..."

"One moment, your highness," the computer replied.

There was another silence, but the rush of the air conditioning was once again a little too loud for comfort.

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[edit] Mines of T'ano'ok

The valley of T'Ano'ok was a vast bluish-gray expanse of cool mist, rising from the ground below. T'Ano'ok was the primary complex of dwelling villages of the C'ola'a tribe. It was here that humanoid beings formed directly from molten rock and volcanic ash. It was here that the energy of cosmic Light manifested as rock and as crystal.

Jay and Laura's transport glided silently through the mist. Laura was flying the ship and pressed a couple of buttons in preparation for final approach and landing.

In this valley, Jay and Laura saw thousands of grayish-brown mud huts, sprawling for several miles in all directions. Small egg-shaped transports, as well as larger silvery ships which reminded Jay of old-school Airstream travel trailers, were flying low all around.

The mines were a vast network of holes leading to underground passages. They were gray with lots of smoke rising out of them.

In the distance was a massive rock outcropping. This huge mini-mountain housed the main administrative complex of the village. The chief councillor resided here, along with the chief priests and priestesses.

The silvery egg-shaped transport slowed its cruising speed as it approached the village.

"So there wasn't really any War of Zartha that lasted for 50 years - that was just some...disinformation?" Laura asked, glancing at the altimeter as she punched another couple of softly beeping buttons on the dashboard.

"Shakita said all that War of Zartha stuff was just in case people back on Earth saw that video," Jay replied. "Get this, baby: Her dad works for the production studio back at MIB headquarters that makes those tapes. I passed him in the halls at least two, three times a day for five years and he didn't say a damn thing to me about it - Zed would have fired him if he did, hell, Momma would have fired him, but that Grambling necktie he always wore should have clued me in..."

Laura nodded her head with a smile, in response. Jay sighed again. "Momma was right when she said these tribes are kind of divided. There WAS conflict on this planet, Laura, major conflict, and it's still going on. And we gotta get to the bottom of it."

"Well, hopefully we'll get some answers on this tour," Laura replied. She smiled at Jay. "Your mom has confidence in us. Everything's gonna work out, baby."

Jay just stared out the front of the window. There's so much I gotta find out, so much I need to do, so much that needs to be done...

Jay and Laura's egg circled around and landed in front of the main entrance to the rock village. The air was cool and there was a bluish-gray overcast glow in the air.

Many C'ola'a lived in dwellings carved and blasted deep within the rock. Some of these villagers, milling about, buying and selling different goods from wooden-and-straw booths, bowed slightly with embarrassed smiles as Jay and Laura came into view, and others made a strange gesture: they tapped their fists to their chests, rapidly, twice, and extended the fist slightly outward.

"That's the basic Zarthan greeting", Laura said. "Shakita taught it to me when I arrived Friday night. These people know who we are and they're showing respect."

"OK," said Jay, looking at the villagers warily as he and Laura walked through the open field, facing the huge rock outcropping.

A woman with a dark brown hooded dress walked up to meet them. She was a slim, shy woman who would pass for a sales clerk in a major department store, or a teller in a bank in New Orleans.

"Hello, my lords," the woman said to them both. "I am S'C'aana'a. I will take you to T'Ka'ar. Come."

The three proceeded to the face of the giant rock, and the hooded woman led them inside a doorway through a long, wide corridor; it was lit with the eerily familiar glow of mercury vapor streetlamps, made by the same company that sells them to cities and highway departments all over North America.

At the end of the hallway, there was a great hall which looked like old pictures of the old Penn Station. Jay and Laura were led through this hall into a large room where they sat down on a huge, musty old couch.

Then the chief councillor of the C'ola'a came out. He was a big man with coppery skin and a shaved head, about six foot six, dressed in a long black coat. This man could have easily made the starting offensive line of the Jets, or power forward for the Nets, had he moved to New York.

"Welcome to T'Ano'ok, my lords. I am T'Ka'ar, the chief councillor." He extended his hand to shake Jay's, and kissed Laura's hand. "I trust your trip was quite relaxing," T'Ka'ar said with a slight bow to Jay.

"Somewhat," replied Jay with a slight sigh, and he glanced at Laura with a weary look.

T'Ka'ar looked at the two and nodded his head. "I am aware that this is...quite the transition for you both, having lived the life of Earth beings for so long. That is why you are here. Come," and T'Ka'ar motioned Jay and Laura to follow him into his massive office.

The office was huge, and there were a couple of atten-dants. On the back wall hung several pictures and other artifacts.

“Sit down, my lords,” T’Ka’ar said. “You know, I lived on Earth for a time.”

“Oh yeah?” Jay asked. “I see your Auburn football helmet in that bookcase back there. So when did you live on Earth?”

“About 140 years ago,” replied T’Ka’ar.

Jay and Laura looked at the councillor in disbelief.

T’Ka’ar chuckled. “I thought you might regard that with a bit of amazement. We Zarthans have a LONG, long lifespan. I lived in Alabama before the Civil War.”

“You were a slave?” Laura asked.

“Yes, I most certainly was. Undercover. And I helped a lot of slaves escape and find their freedom. That was why I was sent down there.”

Jay immediately spoke up. “Alien interference in Earth affairs, that’s a violation of –“

“MIB Procedural Code 31K/111B: Extraterrestrial persons living on Earth shall not interfere with the normal political, social, religious and/or commercial activities of Earth, even if unlawful on the alien homeworld or under intergalactic law. Yes, I am aware, but this was long before MIB was formed, my lord. We had people’s lives to save, so some of us – even your ancestor Queen Alicia – went undercover as slaves, to tell the people, our brothers and sisters, that there was a different way available to them – and to implement that way.”

“How successful was the operation?” Jay asked.

“We moved a lot of folks up North,” T’Ka’ar said, “and West as well. One big component of the plan was called the “underground railroad”, which was somewhat fitting, since I worked building railroads and blasting tunnels out of the rocks all over Tennessee and Alabama. They wrote songs about me and my sledgehammer,” and T’Ka’ar pointed to a huge sledgehammer encased in a crystal case next to a file cabinet. Jay got up and looked inside.

There was an inscription on a metal plate tacked to the handle:

“This is the sledgehammer of John Henry Collins, Negro slave of William Masterson. Died Nov 7 1859 while in competition with Oliver Murphy’s steam shovel digging the Anniston railroad tunnel on the Atlanta main line…”

“Laura, come look at this, you will not believe it!” Jay said with wonder.

Laura got up and looked at the hammer.

“Are YOU the real John Henry?” Laura asked.

“One and the same, your highness.”

“So you really didn’t ‘die with a hammer in your hand”, did you?” Jay asked.

“No, that legend was made up as disinformation. There was no way the powers that be were going to let a slave get that much honor and acclaim, let alone an alien from another planet.”

“OK, so how did it really happen?”

“I actually used my Light energy to blast the rest of that bore clean through with both my fists,” and here T’Ka’ar held up his right fist and clenched it. “They were so freaked out, old man Masterson signed my freedom papers right then and there and gave me 750 acres of land. I raised three generations on that property before I came back here.”

“Do you still have family on Earth?” asked Laura.

“Yes indeed, the C’ola’a is well represented in Alabama to this day, and MIB tracks them like they do any alien on Earth. I drop in on my descendants every once in a while; a couple of the youngest boys play football for Auburn. One’s a sophomore left tackle and the other’s a tailback, he redshirted last year. They just sent me the helmet after last season.”

As the councillor was talking, his fist began to glow a dull reddish color and became reddishly luminous. Jay and Laura were aghast.

“How did you do that?” Jay asked.

“I focused my energy on my fist. That’s all you need to do. You can send blasts of powerful light through your fists, strong enough to blast holes through solid rock if you focus hard enough. Not everyone is trained to do it, but some can do it more easily than others if they’re born with the ability, which I believe the both of you are.”

“OK…well, maybe that might be a handy little skill to use in the future,” Jay said.

"So what is this place?" Laura asked, looking with wonder at the massive craggy walls of the office.

"This complex of villages is the home of our people. We are the ones who make the crystals and the precious stones needed for the rituals for all the tribes. We mine them from the rocks and we manufacture them. We've been doing this for 1,000 years. Without us, it would be hard for the other tribes to access the higher energies. It would also be hard for Zartha to maintain its status as an intergalactic superpower."

"And my mother says your tribe is treated the worst," asked Jay.

"Indeed we are, my lord. Our talents, our energies, our contributions to Zartha are not appreciated by the S'aa. The T'ola'a have fought for our rights, but there is only so much that can be done when you have the S'aa jockeying for power and trying to take over Zartha," said the councillor.

Laura said, "What's the one thing do we need to do as King and Queen to help this situation?"

"You can investigate the illegal mines in the Purple Valley."

"Illegal mines?" Laura said, puzzled.

"That's right, my lord," T'Ka'ar replied. "Some of the rebel S'aa are operating illegal mines in direct violation of the royal directives. They sell the rocks on the black market to fund their covert operations - and to enrich those among them who are the masterminds, the bosses. And C'ola'a miners are being kidnapped from some of the outlying villages and enslaved to do so."

"Enslaved?" Laura gasped. She turned to look at Jay, whose frown became a scowl.

"Yes, your Highness," T'Ka'ar replied. "We've had to go in with our security troops and rescue our people, five different times in the last 18 months, and on three of those occasions we had fire-fights, armed skirmishes with the S'aa rebels as a result."

"Well, damn, how do we get out of this one?" Laura asked, and looked at Jay with agitated concern.

"Simple. It's just a matter of rounding up the perpetrators, baby, then we put 'em on trial and lock them up," Jay said to her.

"Ah, but if only it were that simple, my lord," T'Ka'ar said.

"Oh yeah? Well why isn't it that simple?" Jay asked, frowning again slightly.

"The S'aa themselves are deeply divided as to these operations, and most of them are conducted in secret. Any retaliatory or enforcement action on the part of the royal household could trigger an internal civil war within the S'aa tribe that could result in a larger planet-wide civil war. Then the IC would have to get involved - "

"The Intergalactic Council," Laura interjected.

"Correct, my lord," T'Ka'ar replied. "That could mean troops from other planets firing upon our homes. That was a risk your mother deemed unacceptable," T'Ka'ar said, turning to Jay. "S'Vasa'an wants unity through diplomacy as much as possible and only allows use of force - especially against our own Zarthan brethren - only as a last resort."

"The more I'm learning about my mom's policies, T'Ka'ar, the less I'm agreeing with 'em," Jay said, with a slight curtness in his tone. "If your people keep getting kidnapped, and y'all have had to go on rescue missions 5 times in 18 months - it sounds like this might be an ongoing campaign, right?"

"The S'aa want to eventually capture the entire planet and enslave the C'ola'a and the W'ula'a. From there they will launch a campaign to take over the universe. Part of that plan includes the destruction of earth and the extermination of all humans," T'Ka'ar said gravely. "They are serious about this. They feel that genocide is their divine right."

"Divine right my ass," Jay shot back. "This shit ain't gonna happen on my watch."

"Our watch, baby," Laura reminded him.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, baby," and Jay held Laura's hand.

TKa'ar went on. "We have the ability to protect and to defend ourselves, but to do so would mean eliminating many of the S'aa rebels. The queen has been resistant to that."

"I say we eliminate the bastards," Jay said.

"Jay!" Laura exclaimed.

"Laura, remember my old job, baby. I ain't scared of takin' my three-barrel gun and blastin' some renegade, rebel ass. I know scum of the universe when I see it."

"You are indeed a true warrior of Earth, my lord," TKa'ar replied with a knowing smile. "And like I just said, I have some prior experience in rescuing captives. Here on Zartha, however, we do believe in giving even our sworn enemies a chance to redeem themselves."

"Just how many chances are they gonna get, T'Ka'ar?" Jay exclaimed. "Your entire tribe may end up in leg irons if somebody ain't gonna stand up to these bastards."

"The trick is, my lord, to make the rebels see the error of their ways peacefully, and defend our people at the same time. My hope is that the two of you will convince our bretheren that is is better - that it is the will of the Light - for all of us to treat each other with divine respect and love, and to appreciate the gifts that the universe has bestowed each of us with."

Jay scowled. "For a bunch of aliens, there's a hell of a lot of good old fashioned human nature on this planet. It kind of sucks."

"Greed and hunger for power know no species, my lord," T'Ka'ar replied. "That is where the two of you come in. You need to continue and expand upon the principles of your mother - the principles that made Zartha what it is today. The concept that as a planet made up entirely of beings of Light - in different variations and manifestations - we are all family and have a primary obligation to honor and respect one another."

"Well, if I have to use force to make some of the family members act like family, I will," Jay said.

"But we will try negotiation first, T'Ka'ar," Laura interjected, turning to look at Jay. "Jay, I think if we tell them how it's gonna go when we become king and queen, that might just be enough to stop their plans right there."

"Laura, I've dealt with a lot of alien criminals in the past five years," Jay replied. "Some people just don't give a shit about honor, respect, freedom, any of that, and they've just got to be blasted into submission."

"I know you will do the right thing, my lord," T'Ka'ar said to Jay, "and the wise thing. You are much like Angelique, and not just in physical appearance. Your mother is a fair woman, but rest assured she is not one to allow a challenge to go unmet, or injustice to go unpunished. That's why the two of you are on Zartha right now instead of going about your...'normal' lives back on Earth. She knew it was finally time for the both of you to assume your rightful positions of leadership on this planet."

"It may be our time, but I don't feel ready for all this. I just don't want to screw this one up," Jay said. "If this planet goes under, millions of lives are lost. And the rebels will go after Earth and everywhere else people are trying to live their lives and mind their business. I cannot let that happen."

"You underestimate yourself, my lord. You are the sun of Zartha. You are the child of a queen who almost singlehandedly kept this planet from destroying itself. By doing so she saved millions of lives - while she was in exile on Earth, I might add. The advantage I see here over that of Angelique is that both of you are here instead of on Earth in a prison cell. I believe that two heads are always better than one. And I believe that a queen is only as strong as those who are loyal to her.

"You have also distingushed yourself as one of the most recognized agents in the history of the MIB organization. Your exploits there have been common knowledge here on Zartha for the past few years, thanks to the press releases put out by your chief of staff, Princess Shakita."

"Momma made her do it," Jay said in all seriousness.

"The two of you will make excellent rulers. No question. I can tell from just talking with you these few minutes. I don't think we have anything to fear if we keep our basic principles in mind.

"And what's more," T'Ka'ar continued, "my son T'Na'al speaks very highly of you. He's my youngest, and it was always a challenge to make a warrior out of him. His mother is half W'ula'a, so he can be a little wavering in his actions. Since he's been in New York, he's much more disciplined, more focused. I want to express my gratitude for your tutelage."

Jay was a little nervous, because he knew he was excessively hard on Agent Enn and here he was face to face with his father.

"Thank you, T'Ka'ar...I expect the best out of my people. That's the Air Force officer in me."

"I would also say that's the Angie in you, my lord," T'Ka'ar added with a chuckle and a knowing nod of his head. "The Angie I knew for 50 years and served for 30."

Jay relaxed slightly. "Nathaniel has been coming along fine. I tend to be somewhat demanding, but MIB is not a place to play around. I look forward to working with him here on Zartha."

"As he looks forward to working with you. Zartha's not a place to play around in, either, my lord. We face some serious challenges. But we know how to work together to meet them." T'Ka'ar's expression remained patient, which relieved Jay.

"All we can give is our best, councillor," Jay replied.

T'Ka'ar leaned back in his massive chair. He tapped his fingers together and a knowing smile crossed his lips. He then said, "Well then...the Golden Age of this planet is most definitely at hand."

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[edit] The River People

Here's where you need to step up!

I need help on this chapter, so feel free to write and edit. If it's good, I will keep it.

Jay and Laura visit this tribe in their egg. They stay two days.

The Wu'ula'a are a race of humanoid amphibians who make up one of the four major tribes of Zartha. They look like large geckos with much smaller heads and eyes. They live in and around the delta region of the river Wu'su'ubo, which is heavily forested. The climate is hot and humid. They basically like to live and let live, but the rebel factions of the S'aa terrorize them.

I would like Jay and Laura to experience one of their ancient rituals. The Wu'ula'a like to purify their souls in the river, so something like that might be pretty cool. Both Jay and Laura have a small percentage of these creatures' DNA in them.

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[edit] In the forum hall of the S'aa

The village of the S'aa was a stately yet small village, full of huge green olive trees and rolling grass-covered hills, some of which had small white houses with red tile roofs, all of which gave the village a rather ancient Roman or Greek appearance.

Jay and Laura set the egg down right in the central courtyard of the main S'aa forum hall, where the tribal senate was housed. A small crowd gathered to welcome them. Several children ran up to the ship with smiles and hugs. Some of them were wearing medallions like Jay had on, others had charm bracelets like Laura's. Their joy and happiness surprised the pair.

"You're going to be our king and queen!" a girl said with a beaming grin on her face. One could almost feel the excitement and hope coming out of this child.

"Yes we are," Laura said, and picked the girl up.

"I will be just like you, your highness, and marry a Sun prince," the girl said.

"Do you know any Sun princes?" Laura asked.

"No, but maybe I'll go to New York and meet one like you did," the little girl said with an excited giggle.

Jay and Laura both laughed and laughed. "Word spreads around pretty fast on this planet," Jay chuckled.

Laura set the girl down and the two entered the great forum hall.

It was almost exactly like a large Roman or Greek building in appearance, with several pillars topped with the same pyramid-like crystal design on Laura's charm bracelet.

Several attendants were lined up, with excited and happy smiles, shaking with nervousness, to greet the prince and princess. Some of these, especially the women, were wearing sun medallion necklaces. This was an event that had been anticipated for several weeks.

Jay asked one young female attendant why she was wearing a T'ola'a medallion.

"My knowing mate is a T'ola'a cruiser pilot and a relative of yours, my lord."

"And you intend to start a family with him, I assume," Jay asked.

"Of course, my lord," the woman replied with a big smile. "He is my knowing mate and we must be together. That is the way of the knowing. The knowing knows no tribal division. We are all Zarthans and we are all becoming one family. Together. That is the teaching of your mother, our queen." The woman bowed her head slightly.

Then the councillor came into the great hall.

The S'aa councillor was a man named T'Avl'aa. He was a short, balding man with a kind and pleasant attitude. He was dressed in a flowing white toga. He warmly welcomed Jay and Laura.

After a short tour of the hall, the three went into the main chamber of the tribal senate to talk of the pressing issues facing the S'aa. For the activities of this tribe were directly affecting the affairs of all of Zartha.

"My lord, our tribe is in turmoil. Simply put, there are those of us who like you and those who don't. And those who don't, want to take over Zartha and enslave all other Zarthans."

"Why is that?" Laura asked.

"They think they are the best creatures in the universe - the elite, and therefore they feel they must rule by force," he said. "They see empire and conquest as the proper course for Zartha - and not cooperation and coexistence, which is the course that brought us to our preeminent position among the planets. Power and wealth, concentrated only in their hands, is what some members of the S'aa feel is owed to them, just because they are Light beings."

"But...Light is all about living right...doing the right thing, having energy and knowledge - and using that knowledge to make the universe a better place. That's what Angie says," Laura replied.

"Indeed, my lord. Remember that our Queen Angelique is a hybrid being, a daughter of our tribe as well as the T'ola'a. She is well versed in the Book of S'aa and is an initiated priestess of our tribe, as well as a priestess of the Sun people."

"Momma told me my grandfather is an elder of this tribe, I guess that means I'm one of you guys too," Jay mused.

A huge smile immediately flashed on T'Avl'aa's face. "Absolutely, my lord, we proudly claim you as our own, and we look forward to the coronation as a direct fulfillment of the 979-year-old prophecy of the Light of Zartha. You see, the two of you represent the single greatest opportunity for unity this planet has known since Lord T'ola'an himself came to this planet. The entire universe will be brought into a glorious new era of peace with the both of you. I know this will happen. The Golden Age!!! We have been waiting for many, many years for the two of you to grow into adulthood and take your places on the throne.

"Conversely, there are some that see your wedding as the single greatest threat to their ambitions for domination, and will stop at nothing to prevent the wedding and coronation from taking place. I would be careful the next two weeks, my lords. I fear that the personal safety of each of you may be severely compromised if you do not take adequate measures."

"If I'm really a native son of this planet, then our safety is secondary to the well being of this planet, councillor," Jay said. "If any of the renegades do anything to hurt anyone, Laura and I will do whatever is necessary to protect the Zarthan people. You can believe that. The people of this planet come first. ALL of them." Laura looked up at Jay, and then at T'Avl'aa with a resolute and affirmative nod.

"Those are exactly the sentiments of your mother, my lord," T'Avl'aa said, nodding his head in agreement. "Your mother sacrificed her freedom for Zartha. She is revered as a goddess among most of us. She was born with a different level of sacred energy, a much, much higher level, and when she was a child she began manifesting some rather interesting phenomena. She would appear almost as a being of pure Light, giving off energy not seen in a S'aa princess since the olden days of the planet."

Jay stood stunned and frowned slightly with surprise. Laura stood smiling. She hadn't told Jay yet, but both her mother, Lauranna, and Angie appeared to her once, when she was about thirteen. They came into her room in the group home in the Bronx. They appeared as angels and told her she would grow up to be a beautiful princess. She always thought it was a dream...until she met Jay.

And Angie appeared to her again, as an angel of Light.

This was the night she left New York and arrived at the royal palace. In the royal bedroom after Shakita left that night, Angelique appeared. Magically. She said she was the queen of Zartha and that Jason was her son. Angie's body was clothed in a flowing robe, and her entire body was glowing a bright, bluish-white light. In Angie's presence, Laura felt the most incredible feeling of deep motherly love she felt in many, many years.

Angie touched Laura's head and a million images flooded into her brain, a million memories getting deneuralyzed..."Know my son, Sh'ana'aa," Angie said as the energy was slamming into Laura. "Know why you will be his queen. Prepare to make him who he really is..."

T'Avl'aa continued. "We await the day when she comes and presides once again over the sacred ceremonies in the Temple of the Crystals. Your mother is truly a goddess of divine Light, my lord. Her energy changes people, I tell you. Her magic, her fire, her cosmic light, is so pure, words cannot adequately describe its effect."

"I'm...I think I'm getting a pretty clear sense of that, T'Avl'aa," Jay replied with a nervous smile.

T'Avl'aa returned the smile. "You do have a lot of S'Vasa'an in you, my lord. I can tell as much even by seeing you these few moments, and that is probably the most hopeful sign of all, that we will weather this storm. You are still getting acclimated to your own power. I know you have lived for so many years as an Earthling and never got the chance to be properly initiated. But if you are even only half the man as your mother is a woman, then we are truly entering the Golden Age of Light, just as it says in the ancient writings we study and meditate on. This planet will survive ANY threat, internal or otherwise. I am CERTAIN of it, my lord, certain."

Just then, T'Loria'an, one of the senators of the tribal council, came in. He was tall and handsome, with cold, iron blue eyes that focused like lasers. Jay could tell this senator was arrogant, conceited and a possible threat. He could see that right away. He dealt with certain members of the military, law enforcement, and certain members of state and federal government back on Earth who had this exact attitude, and Jay always hated it.

T’Loria’an wore a heavy black cloak over his toga. He almost tripped over it, which made Laura chuckle slightly. T’Loria’an was a key leader of the renegade factions, and was suspected - but never formally charged - of orchestrating the raids on the C’ola’a villages.

“My lords,” T’Avl’aa said, “this is Senator T’Loria’an of the Black Crystal clan. He is well known to be in opposition to your mother’s policies,” he said with a slight note of disdain.

“My lords,” he said, with a slight air of sarcasm in his voice, “welcome to the land of the S’aa tribe. Or, should I say, welcome back. You do not know me; I have not seen either of you since you were infants. You have both been...shall we say, greatly missed by the people of this village. Rest assured, I am well acquainted with your mother, Prince T’Va’an.”

“How well?” Jay asked, with a tinge of skepticism.

“I was one of her chief advisors for a brief period. But she fired me. A move I disagreed with.”

“Oh, is that right? If my mother fired you, she must have had a good reason.”

“Everyone has their reasons, T’Va’an,” T’Loria’an said with a jaunty smirk, which made Jay wince in slight disgust.

“Anyway, I am most pleased you have come as part of your grand tour, to our tribal senate to discuss the current situation.”

"You don't look very pleased, Senator," said Laura.

"Yes, well, one concern of mine is that the both of you, now that the queen has decided to set certain, shall we say, events into motion - the both of you will move to strengthen the role of the royal court and demonstrate an enhanced, shall we say, interest in the direct internal affairs of the individual tribes. Let it be said that my clan would be strongly opposed to such a move."

"And just why would you be opposed, Senator?" Jay asked, raising an eyebrow in distrust.

T'Loria'an smirked slightly and replied, "The tribes have, from the earliest times of this planet, acted independently, and even more so since the queen's exile. We have handled our own affairs and quite well. Would you not agree, Senator?" he asked as he turned to T'Avl'aa.

"If you call harassment of fellow Zarthans, allegations of alliances with our enemies from other planets, and not to mention years of your directly organizing rallies condemning the royal court and in effect calling for its overthrow - and as a result, our planet inching dangerously close to civil war - if you can call that an accurate representation of self-rule, I would be most inclined to welcome a much stronger presence of the royal court in all aspects of planetary affairs," T'Avl'aa said. "The royal court has traditionally allowed for the tribes to govern themselves - as long as the liberty and the common peace of all citizens of the planet are promoted. And as long as acts of treason are not committed. The royal court reserves the right to exercise executive authority if such violations occur." T'Avl'aa nodded his head towards Jay as he completed that sentence.

"My mother feels the need for someone to be up here full time keeping an eye on things," Jay said to T'Loria'an. "Face it, there's a new boss - two of us - in the office, T'Loria'an, so you better start gettin' used to us and you better start doin' it pretty damn quick."

T'Loria'an looked at Jay silently for a second, then shot back, "May I remind you that the coronation has NOT yet taken place, T'Va'an, and your mother is still the queen of Zartha - at least on paper - so let's walk carefully through these next few days, shall we? And what's more, you are NOT my 'boss', as you say - and neither was or is your mother. She knows that.

"Now I know there are disagreements among us, but let me continue by saying that my main position, and those of my large number of supporters, is that those who are most fit to rule Zartha, most effectively gain the support of all of our tribes, and solidify our position in the larger universe should be given that opportunity. I would hope that you would agree, but our position does not rest or rely on your agreement." T'Loria'an's laser blue eyes were fixed on those of Jay. He gave a slight smile, but the smile was as cold as those eyes.

"Of course! The T'ola'an tribe is fit to rule this kingdom, and you know that," T'Avl'aa said. "Under their leadership all these centuries, and by our tribe's unquestioned support of them, this planet has become among the most prosperous in our galaxy. And it was done by showing respect and cooperation amongst all beings - that's something you are clearly against."

T'Loria'an became indignant. "Must we go through this again? The T'ola'an tribe came into power as a result of the other tribes fearing the might of Lord T'ola'an! And being too afraid to challenge his power! The Light Tribe was and IS the original tribe of Zartha. This planet should rightfully belong to us. The T'ola'a are newcomers."

"Well, like it or not, we are here," Laura said calmly, "and speaking as a S'aa, I happen to be proud to be part of the royal family and the royal court. The Sun Tribe and the Light Tribe will merge and become one tribe, sooner or later. It is our spiritual destiny and cannot be stopped. Look at all the S'aa people in this village wearing T'ola'a medallions."

"An aberration which can be remedied by educating the S'aa as to their true heritage and their place in this universe - as conquering heroes, mighty in battle!" T'Loria'an said.

"Educating or eliminating, Senator?" Laura asked, with a slight, yet sharp rise in her tone.

There was a second or two of very tense silence. The kind that feels like it's two hours long.

Jay's eyes were fixed on the brash young senator. His mind raced to that report on his father's murder. They no doubt had plans to go to New York to continue the "purge". Was this punk responsible for that???

Laura went on. "I don't even want to go there...Listen, do you hate the fact that I am the Light of Zartha?"

T'Loria'an looked at Laura with a calm demeanor, but his laser blue eyes looked like a flash of bluish-green came in them for a second. He replied, "The Light of Zartha was a myth created by the T'ola'a to gain power and influence amongst the Zarthan people - to infiltrate and brainwash them. Granted, you are a S'aa and have all of the right physical and metaphysical traits, but the fact of the matter remains, you are nothing more than a creation of Queen Angelique and we all know your primary loyalties reside in her. Part of a calculated move designed so Angelique could have all the power of Zartha reside within the royal court and prevent the tribes from ascending to a natural position of leadership AND intergalactic supremacy themselves."

"The Light of Zartha is spoken of in the Book of S'aa, TLoria'an. You as well as all S'aa - indeed all Zarthans - are taught this from childhood," T'Avl'aa said.

"Lord T'ola'an coerced the S'aa priests into writing the Book of S'aa for the singular purpose of his own glorification," T'Loria'an retorted.

"That is NOT true," T'Avl'aa replied. "The Book of S'aa was inspired by the Original Beings themselves - the first S'aa ancestral spirits - the beings made entirely of pure cosmic light itself - to form into humanoid beings at the very birth of this planet. Furthermore, the S'aa priests used the Book of S'aa to educate T'ola'an on how to govern the planet."

Jay spoke up. "Look, T'Loria'an, I'm not a theologian and I don't have my mother's knowledge - yet - so I can't challenge you on the Book of the S'aa. You have a right to your opinion. I think it's wrong, but you have a right to it," Jay said. "What you don't have a right to do is to steal people and make them slaves."

"Who said I was enslaving people?" he replied. "There are those who choose to gather miners to extract crystals they FIRMLY believe they have rightful ownership of, for their own use. It's good that you brought this issue up. The miners have always been treated humanely, T'Va'an. The Rock tribe is overreacting and overstepping their authority when they send rescue forces. They are also infringing on claims to crystals that rightfully belong to the S'aa noblemen."

"Hold up a second, T'Loria'an," Jay said, become a little more visibly annoyed. "Kidnapping at gunpoint, raiding and terrorizing villages, with innocent women and little kids, that's just a little bit different from just gathering miners, the last time I checked, and the C'ola'a have every right to rescue their tribe members if they are taken captive. If you want to get people to work for y'all, hire them and pay them a wage."

"My supporters would be opposed to paying these miners," said T'Loria'an, with those calm yet cold blue eyes focused on Jay.

"My point is," Jay continued, "if C'ola'a are living in the Purple Valley, that IS on the outskirts of the C'ola'a ancestral homelands, so technically they have every right to be there. And one thing I have learned by now, is that all Zarthans have a right to live anywhere on this planet they choose. This planet belongs to all of us - not just the royal court, and not just any one tribe. Think about it for a second. A whole village of C'ola'a could be displaced by an earthquake or something and come to this village looking for shelter -"

T'Avl'aa interjected. "- And every accommodation would be immediately made for them, my lord, you have my assurance on that, let me make that clear!"

T'Loria'an scowled with disgust. "Kissing up to the T'ola'a AGAIN...Well, let me make MYSELF clear. I highly disagree with that policy, T'Va'an. The Purple Valley belonged to US centuries ago and we still make claim to those lands, we are still the rightful owners even though we haven't had a permanent presence there in over 650 years. The C'ola'a settlers are trespassing and if they choose to become squatters in the valley, we reserve the right to compel them to labor in our mines. Our land, our mines, our labor. We are willing to go to battle with any tribe that would dispute that."

"We do NOT support civil war, my lord," T'Avl'aa interjected, scowling first at the senator, then turning to Jay. "Officially, the Purple Valley is land which NO one tribe has any right to own or control. T'Loria'an, the mining activities are in clear and direct violation of Zarthan law and you know that. You have the authority to stop the practice but you won't. You just turn your head and let it happen - and I suspect you just might be ordering these raids on the villages personally! That is shameful and I have said so in our tribal council meetings!

"The Purple Valley situation is very controversial, but can be easily settled the way we have always done for 1,000 years - at the table of negotiation. The noblemen have a right to mine if they follow the proper procedures, legally employ anyone who chooses to work in these mines and register the crystals with the royal treasury, so that any and all monetary proceeds are distributed among all tribes equally. That is NOT the case at the present time!

"What's more, my lords, Zarthan law and custom says that all members of all tribes do indeed have free and clear claim to any unoccupied land they choose to settle. The prince is absolutely correct in his understanding of the law. There is no concept of ownership of land in Zarthan law. The planet indeed belongs to all of us equally. All of us!!!"

Jay and Laura looked at each other and watched the two S'aa begin to argue more heatedly.

"That is something I consider to be a grave mistake, T'Avl'aa," T'Loria'an said. "Why must all Zarthans share in the wealth that should belong to those select, elite groups of beings, who rightfully earned it, or rightfully inherited it?"

"All Zarthans rightfully earned AND inherited the wealth of this planet," the councillor said. "All Zarthans are eternal beings of the universe and hold the same cosmic Light. To withhold the riches of this planet would be tantamount to witholding Light! That is fundamentally unacceptable."

"Not all beings are even worthy of the Light!" the senator sneered. "The Light is given to those beings who can most effectively use it!"

"You know the writings of the ancient priests, Senator! All beings can effectively use the Light! They just need to be taught how!"

"An utter waste! Rock and Water people have absolutely no need for the power of Light! Their energies are best used in OUR service! And Light is nothing but dangerous and destructive in the hands of T'ola'a! History has PROVEN that! The power of cosmic Light is a tool to dominate the universe, to seize and conquer the planets...to rule! It must be reserved for S'aa and S'aa alone! We - OUR tribe - are the rightful rulers of Zartha, of - of ALL planets in this universe! It is our destiny!"

At this, a shock of shock slammed into Jay and Laura. They looked at each other with a slight edge of desperation.

"Utter nonsense!" the councillor retorted with a huge scowling frown. His face was red and his eyes flashed an angry bright white for a second. "You speak absolute nonsense as usual, T'Loria'an! Our future king and queen are certainly getting a good taste of S'aa politics!!! Why anyone would follow your drivel is far beyond my comprehension!"

"Then perhaps those who cannot comprehend need not be in positions of tribal leadership," the senator sneered. His eyes narrowed in a contemptous stare at T'Avl'aa.

"Fellas," Laura interrupted. "I see we have quite a challenge before us. When Jay and I are installed as king and queen, we will convene a conference to address the issue. We will lock ourselves in a room and we won't leave until we reach an agreement - a peaceful agreement - on the Purple Valley that satisfies everyone. In the meantime, we still have to protect the safety of all the tribes and protect their lawful right to live anywhere on this planet they want.

"T'Loria'an, I would strongly encourage you to please reconsider your position on forcing the Rock people to work the mines against their will - or at least allowing that to happen. That's a clear and direct violation of their civil rights."

Jay looked at Laura and was impressed at the confidence and clarity she was displaying. He gave a slight smile. This was not just a pizza waitress talking here.

"Perhaps a constitutional convention would be more appropriate," T'Loria'an said.

"Come on, man. If we have a constitutional convention, will you abide by it?" Jay asked.

"If the terms are agreeable," the senator said. "And one thing all of you must know: as much as everyone is yelling peace, peace, peace, mind you that it may not be possible to avoid civil war on Zartha forever - even within tribes. The divisions are very deep, and there is not much trust between differing factions."

"I can sure the hell see that." said Jay, "That's how I lost my father in New Orleans."

T'Loria'an remained silent. This one is indeed preparing himself, he thought with a tinge of surprise.

Jay gave a slight smirk of cynical sarcasm and went on. "But you know as well as I do that civil war on Zartha can escalate and spread to the entire galaxy. It could affect the fate of other planets."

"I do not care if Earth is affected by our conflict, if Earth is what you're talking about," T'Loria'an said. "Earth will eventually be taken over sooner or later anyway, and frankly, I'd like to be the one to do it."

"That ain't happening, 'cause I used to work for the people who will see to it that Earth is NOT taken over." Jay's look was stern. "Earth belongs to its people, T'Loria'an. Plain and simple. It is a neutral planet. And MIB will keep it that way, thank you very much. If I were you, Senator, I would heed your own advice, and walk VERY carefully through these next few days."

T'Loria'an winced at Jay's throwing his own line back at him, and returned an equally stern look to Jay. "Not even your former employers - and they have evolved into quite a formidable organization, let me say, Prince T'Va'an, in many ways as a result of your direct involvement - not even a force of the caliber of the Men In Black have the wherewithal to withstand an attack from powerful ELITE forces, concentrated, focused and intent on nothing more than grand and noble intergalactic conquest!

"Mark my words, son of Angelique! The invasion of Earth will happen! And it's just a matter of time. Earth is much too important to us to remain in its own hands; Earth is much too important to us to remain neutral. Too many resources and too much potential. But we deal with one crisis at a time," and with that, with a final scowl and a dramatic snatch of his cape, the senator stormed out of the room.

"Damn, what an asshole," Jay said.

"Well, now that you two will soon rule, maybe he and his supporters will be made to see the truth - once and for all," T'Avl'aa said.

"I think Laura's idea is a good one," replied Jay. "Councillor, mark your official calendar for one week after the coronation. We negotiate Purple Valley. Period."

"Consider it done, my lord," the councillor said. "One thing's for sure, the transition of power on this planet will be as smooth as crystal. Thank the sacred stars you have returned to us, T'Va'an," and here T'Avl'aa grasped his hand with an excited grin.

"I remember holding you as an infant at your dedication. In this very hall. It was all a part of your mother's coronation ceremonies."

"That must have been a pretty big deal," said Jay, who glanced at Laura with slight embarrassment.

"Oh, what a monumental time indeed for this village, this planet. We knew you were capable of great and mighty deeds, T'Va'an, even back then. We looked forward to your coming to this hall to sit in the meetings of the senate, when you became a young man, to learn the protocols of planetary governance, to prepare you for the throne.

"Circumstances prevented that. But what is amazing is, despite all the obstacles, the attempts to keep you away from the throne - even from this planet! - the fact remains that at this moment, here you stand, very near the same spot upon which you were consecrated to the service of this planet as an infant - with the Light of Zartha beside you! And now you shall become king.

Jay wanted to say something. "Look, Councillor, this is all very nice and everything, but I'm still trying to get accustomed to all this. My whole life has changed in a very, very short time, and I am being asked to keep a planet from destroying itself. I - I don't know how all this is going to turn out. I'm concerned about this and I don't want to - to lose the confidence of the Zarthan people."

"Lose our confidence? My lord, that cannot happen. We know what you are!"

"Forgive me for saying this, but I'm not so sure I know what I am, Councillor," Jay replied.

T'Avl'aa grinned with amazement. "Well, it's very clear. You, my lord, are the son of the Angel of Crystal Light!!! The great Angel of the Temple of the Crystals! The energy whose Light illuminates and permeates all who accept her divine presence!"

Jay froze slightly. He remembered the exchange in his bedroom just a day or so before now. He could literally feel the energy of his mother, the love, almost as if an extra charge of electrical energy was in that bedroom that night. Is that how Momma does it? Is that how she appears to people?

Further still, this description did not match up with the Momma - the very human-looking and acting Momma - who raised him in New Orleans.

"Are you talking about my mom?" Jay asked.

T'Avl'aa continued. "I most certainly am, my lord. Why, your mother's spirit has brought healing and good fortune to millions for so many years. It still does to this day!!! As I said before, my lords...Her Majesty is not only obeyed as the sovereign head of this planet... she is worshipped as a goddess! Some people take a lifelong oath to serve and honor her presence!!! And what's more, half the people on this planet will worship YOU as a god just by default!!! And you are in the bloodline of Mother Afua and Lord T'ola'an themselves!!! Your power and wisdom is potentially without end! Think about that!!!

"You know, my lord, when you were forced to remain on Earth, in exile, that was a devastating blow to this planet. I thought, later, a way would be made for you to return. To take the throne of this planet according to the plan, the great plan set out by the ancient masters of Zartha. Some thought it impossible. Some of us expected that we would never see you again, T'Va'an. There were some who lost hope. There were some who thought the offspring of the great Angel, or the Light of Zartha, the great Queen of a million stars, would never brighten our planet or rule us and bring us peace. Yes, some of us were heartbroken, my lord, just heartbroken.

"But wonder of wonders! Glory of glories! It has happened. It has come to pass. You truly do not realize it, but this is literally prophecy come true!!! That is why T'Loria'an is so angry!!! That is why T'Loria'an is so upset!!! He knows his sick and twisted fantasy of tyrannical conquest will soon be over and his side will soon LOSE!!! Here, here you stand with us, resolute in your convictions and your love of this planet, your love of freedom!!! And your determination to see the Golden Age come forth!

"Think about it, my lord, you did not flinch one instant at T'Loria'an's challenge! That proves it! That proves it! The miracle of your mother's Light, the Light of Her Majesty the great Angel, the Angel of Peace and Justice, has prevailed over darkness, division and tyranny! What a moment! What a moment! What a great and glorious moment for Zartha! How proud I am of this."

---

Jay and Laura were in the air on the way to the final destination, the Valley of the Mothers.

Jay sat quietly taking in everything that just happened.

"Laura, if we don't settle the whole Purple Valley business this planet will have a civil war. What in the hell are we gonna do?" asked Jason, dejectedly.

Laura looked over at Jay. "Just exactly what I said, baby. Everything will be fine. T'Loria'an will stop his bullshit."

"You were pretty good in there, baby." Jay had a warm smile on his face now.

"Thanks. I did some volunteer work with ACLU two summers ago, I interned with Reverend Sharpton's office, plus I campaigned for Senator Bradley, so I know a little bit about politics. I think I'm gonna like this king and queen stuff. It's kinda fun."

Jay smiled a bit. He stayed quiet. Did Momma or Ben get Laura those internships?

Laura asked, "How is it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Finding out these people see your mom as a goddess."

"That is weird as I don't know what, Laura. T'Avl'aa was jumpin' up and down in that hall like he won the fifth race at Belmont or something. That freaks the living shit outta me. This whole damn planet is weird. And we've gotta run this place."

Laura smiled. "It'll all come together, Jason. Trust me. Everything's gonna be just fine."

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Valley of the mothers

The final stop on the tour was the Valley of the Mothers, on the "dark side" of the planet. This was a huge savannah-like area much like west Africa. Here is where several of the former queens have dwellings.

Mother Afua was the original wife of lord T'ola'an. When T'ola'an came down to her village, in what is now the modern republic of Ghana, the elders of her tribe presented her to T'ola'an as a bride. She subsequently gave birth to several alien-human hybrids, fathered by T'ola'an, and these children, who possessed extraordinary powers, were the foundation of the T'ola'a tribe of Zartha, and the ancestors of Jay.

She was believed to be over 827 years old. She looked like a woman in her 60's.

Jay and Laura set the egg-shaped transport down on the grassy expanse. As always, it hovered about 3-4 inches over the ground. Several bluish-green giraffe-like creatures were grazing in the bushes nearby.

The two exited the spacecraft, stood together and waited. Jay looked inside his dossier. The official itinerary called for the pair to be picked up by the "priestess trainees", whoever they were, and be taken to Afua's house.

Jay and Laura stood in the warm, slightly humid overcast light of the late morning. The climate reminded Jay of Oklahoma City (he spent a week at Tinker AFB on a secret propulsion project while he was active duty). Jay had his arm around Laura.

"Baby, I'm kind of worried," Jay said.

Laura turned her head slightly to look up at him. "You've been worried this whole tour," she replied.

"I just want to make sure I do a good job, baby. These people are depending on me."

"We'll be just fine, Jason," Laura said, resting her head on his shoulder. "Don't worry so damn much. You've got what it takes. And I've got what it takes to support you."

"Well, you don't seem to be having any problem, but I'm hoping I don't," Jay said with a sigh.

Suddenly, without warning, six huge white seagulls, twice the size Jay was used to back on Earth, came over the bush from the left side. High over the clearing, two of them broke from the group, flapped higher up than the others, then blazed at high speed, right toward each other.

"Look, Jay! Those birds are gonna collide," Laura said with a little concern, pointing upward at the birds.

"Wait a sec, baby...There are six of them. I don't know why, but I just got a crazy thought in my head. If they're doing what I think they're about to do..."

The two birds broke from their course right at the last second, flew rapidly away from each other, twisted upwards in an S-curve, made a wide loop back around and rejoined the main group, just as calmly and languidly as if they had been practicing this all for about three weeks (which they had). Then the whole group flapped over Jay and Laura - in the delta formation. Then they flapped and ascended upwards and came down in a loop - in formation.

Jay was stunned.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed. "Laura, do you see that??? Those birds...they're doing a Thunderbirds routine! Those are standard Thunderbirds maneuvers!"

"They're doing WHAT? What are Thunderbirds?" Laura asked, with a puzzled grin.

"Laura, haven't you ever been to Fleet Week? Or an air show? Those seagulls know the Thunderbirds maneuvers! The Air Force demonstration flying wing!

Jay then wondered aloud, "Who the hell taught them that?"

"Maybe they watched a DVD of the real Thunderbirds," Laura said. "The animals here on Zartha are pretty intelligent. And I guess they know you used to be in the Air Force."

"Incredible," Jay marveled. "How'd you come up with that explanation?"

"Angie says the animals are smart. That's why Zarthans don't eat meat. All beings are intelligent and can contribute to society. If they move, they can think, feel and talk to you. On Zartha, no creature is lower than another, that's what she said."

Jay looked up. "Damn, you know, Laura, I remember that now, she always used to tell me that when I was a kid."

"See? You keep remembering, Jason. That's what I would call a good sign. What's wrong? Don't you like those birds?"

Jay had a frown on his face. "You heard Zed this morning. They just keep the 'disclosure' rollin' right along. So my CO was really an MIB operative all along. MIB and my momma BOTH kept me from becoming a pilot, and that's what I wanted to do the MOST in the Air Force. See, baby, the whole damn thing - my whole LIFE - was a damn set-up."

"Yeah, and ain't it crazy that Ben had an older brother, and that he was YOUR colonel in the Air Force!" Laura couldn't help having a smile on her face. "Jay, lighten up, man! What happened in the past happened and it was all to get YOU ready to be king! If you ask me, I think it was pretty damn smart of your mom and Zed and everybody to work together to make sure you got the right education and the right training. So just settle down and enjoy what's happening now. I'm havin' the time of my life. I'm with YOU, Jay.

"Hey, I think our ride is coming. Look out there."

Just then, two teenage girls came driving up in what looked like an old Apollo lunar rover. They were wearing colorful skirts and head scarves, and lots of beads. They were also wearing sun medallions. The rover bounded up and down on its huge bulbous tires as it scooted over the grassy, bumpy soil.

"Well, what have we here?" Jay asked, as the rover came to a somewhat dusty stop in front of Jay and Laura.

"We are the initiates of the Valley," the girl who was driving said (she was wearing glasses and looked like she could pass for a Delta Sigma Theta pledge back on Earth, which she indeed was). "We have to take y'all to Mother Afua's hut."

Jay and Laura stepped into the back of the rover and went off.

The squadron of seagulls followed them the entire way.

Mother Afua's compound looked like those remote African villages you see on the National Geographic specials. There was a series of round huts made with straw and leaves. Small kids were running around, playing with Nerf footballs. There were some older-looking men and women seated on what looked like wooden crates, smoking these weird pipes. Some had strange electronic devices that looked like radios.

The huts were arranged in circles surrounding central courtyards, which made up a compound. The courtyard was the center of activity, where people would sit and weave cloth, make clay pots, and where women would pound roots into meal, the way women in Africa do to this day. Clothes waved lazily in the cool breeze, hung outside on clotheslines which looked a lot like Earth clotheslines - well, they were. Zarthans have many goods flown in from Earth.

Electricity was taken care of by special generators which ran on special crystal batteries, solar panels, and fuelless electric motors. Each hut had all the power it needed. Water was gathered from central wells, and there was some running water in most huts, mainly for showers and for the small Bosch or Maytag washing machines most households had. The women of the village considered clothes dryers a silly, unnecessary extravagance.

In some ways the Valley of the Mothers was a reflection of the ancient village society Afua was used to, over 800 years before. Modern conveniences were only added as deemed really needed for the efficient operation of each household, but such conveniences didn't harm the environment. The Valley of the Mothers was a place where people could live a simple life (relative to the rest of Zartha) in reflection of the One Creator.

Afua was the chieftain and chief priestess of the entire Valley of the Mothers. Her compound was the equivalent of the tribal hall or council building. Pilgrims and young priestess adepts were always coming to pay tribute or to learn the ancient African ways.

Afua, who was the first queen of Zartha (she assumed the throne after Lord T'ola'an vaporized himself in a flash of light at the end of his reign) came to live on Zartha for good about 30 years after her last daughter was born, as she was staying too young in body as a result of the molecular and cellular changes that happened when she became intimate with the strange and powerful alien being. She visited Earth hundreds of times afterward, and eventually traveled to several other planets as well, spreading her message of joy and unconditional love and respect. About 150 years ago, the Intergalactic Council designated her a Person of Intergalactic Significance and gave her a medal.

In the 60's, she returned to Earth for a little while to mentor some adepts living in Ohio, and got a job as a high-school English teacher. Very few people knew her true identity, as Zarthans always keep it a secret from Earth humans who have not been initiated. If you saw her in the streets of Cincinnati, or in one of the churches in the inner-city area, or mingling with certain political or sports figures, you just might say "oh, yeah, I know that lady!" Each year she was teaching, several dozen young people were always encouraged to go on to college because of her influence. In the classroom Afua was tough, demanding, but always backed by a deep love for young Black students. She understood why it was critical to be your best. Cincinnati and Zartha shared a lot of similarities, good and not-so-good.

She continued to maintain a home in the area, and Jay and Laura would eventually go there, months after all of this happened.

Some of the people Afua met from Cincinnati were initiated; and some moved to this village, nine million light years away. They moved back and forth between planets as easily as Jay and Laura came to Zartha from New York.

As the rover drove through the village, the people would make that strange hand gesture with their fists. Jay would wave slightly to the people in return. These Zarthans were friendly enough, but to Jay they did some weird things.

Mother Afua lived in a simple hut. Her compound had seven huts surrounding a central court. In the middle of the court, several dozen clay pots were drying. The squadron of seagulls had landed by now (they had goggles on) and were gathered around, drinking water, set out for their use, from one of the larger pots.

Afua's hut was covered with mud and straw. She stood outside the doorway, and was holding what looked like a Palm Pilot in one hand. She was a tall woman, about Laura's height (Laura, like Angie was about 5' 9 1/2"), stately and long-limbed. Her close-cropped hair was white which contrasted with her dark sepia skin.

"Welcome, my children," she said with a warm yet reserved smile. Her accent was Ghanaian - well, sort of. This woman had the look of someone who had seen a lot of countries, on a lot of worlds. Her accent had some strange quirks to it.

Jay and Laura shook hands with Afua, and she gave them both a big hug in return.

"This is the greatest event to happen to Zartha in many a moon, my son," she said. "You have been created for this moment."

Afua asked the girls to bring some coconut wine from the small refrigerator, which they did. She bought the fridge at a Sears store back in Cincinnati and had a couple of the C'ola'a warriors ship it up to Zartha.

"Motheer Afua, why are we here?" asked Jay. One of the girls poured wine into plastic cups for Jay and Laura, from a re-used bottle of orange juice with the Kroger label still on it.

"Ah, T'Va'an, what a good question. Indeed, that is the central question - the most important question you can ever ask. And these days leading up to your wedding is precisely the time for you to answer that question for yourself.

"As for right now, you are here in my village to hear my stories and my wisdom - to learn a little bit about your planet and the people you shall soon rule. T'Va'an, let me begin with asking YOU a question. How are you enjoying yourself here on Zartha so far? What's going through your mind?"

Jay looked own for a second and replied, "Afua, frankly, I'm puzzled.

"My whole entire life seems to be one big facade, covering up my real identity. This is a wonderful planet, don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful place, and most of the people have been real friendly and like the fact that we're here - but it would have been real nice to know that this was my planet sometime before Monday morning. All my life, I was so damn curious about who I was, about my parents, about my childhood - come to find out that it was all neuralyzed away, by the very man I trusted with my life, the man who was my mentor, my teacher.

"And what's more, Afua - this man, I just found out, is most likely my FATHER. At least in part."

"How do you know that?" Afua asked with a patient smile.

Jay sighed an exasperated sigh and looked nervously at Laura, who looked back at him with a reassuring smile. "I've been looking at my DNA charts on this tour. Part of my DNA comes from Damien, the warrior of the Rock tribe my mom married, but part of it also comes from Kay. Kevin Brown. Of all people!!! My old partner's DNA somehow got spliced with Damien's and as a result, BOTH of those men are my father.

"After learning that Kay neuralyzed me when I was a kid, after finding out that he was tracking me and trailing me like some cyclopod or something, and after suckering me in to joining MIB while I was having a nice little career in the NYPD, and after going through all that trouble to train me and THEN, after that asshole LEFT MIB to scurry to some little civil service job sorting mail and yelling at people for not wrapping their packages right -"

"Calm, down, baby," Laura interjected, taking Jay's hand and holding it gently.

"It's OK, Sh'ana'aa," Afua said.

Jay went on. "Well, after learning about all that, the fact that part of ME, ME, I tell you, is actually HIM... it seems a little - well, a little disgusting if you ask me. I mean, he must be some kind of - terrible human being to hide all this from me for so many years, and not even acknowledge me as his SON. I respected that man, up until all this came down. I don't even want to see his face anymore." Jay's face was now shriveled up in a scowl of pain.

"Jay, come on, man, don't say that," Laura said almost pleadingly. "Kay LOVES you. I could tell, baby."

"I mean it, Laura," Jay said to her. "When he was deneuralyzed in Jeebs' pawnshop he remembered everything, everything...He remembered about you being the Light of Zartha and about me. He could have told us. I asked him point blank if he remembered about the Light of Zartha and he basically told me to my face no. But he DID remember. He kept all that from us, deliberately. And as a result, he almost got both of us killed that night back in New York, Laura. And all because official MIB policy was to keep me and you apart, to...to keep us from even meeting each other again, at all costs. It's in my file, Laura, the secret file that was for Zed's eyes only.

"You don't know how much I'm hurt by that. Those guys were like family to me and they just plain lied, all these years. It was all a big, elaborate, gigantic cover up, all this time. They were scared...Zed was scared...scared that I was gonna meet you and be king of Zartha and take over the whole damn universe. I have half a mind to do just that, just to get back at 'em!"

Then Jay looked at Afua. "What's more, and THIS is what really gets me...I suspect back in the '60s my momma neuralyzed him to forget they - well, you know..."

Laura jumped in. "He thinks Angie tricked Kay into making love with her - to conceive Jay - and neuralyzed Kay afterwards."

"What if Angelique did trick him? Does that change the way you see your mother?" Afua asked Jay.

Jay thought about this for a moment, then replied, "To tell you the truth, Afua, I don't know how to see my momma at this point. Sometimes I get all sad, and then I get pissed at her, but then, I say, well it's not fair to really blame her for what happened to me. I mean, she was forced into exile by Zed so she really didn't have much of a choice - she couldn't tell me anything, I was told she was killed in a car accident, this was all a part of the cover up...but now she's trying to just bust right back into my life like I'm seven years old all over again. Believe me, it would be nice just to go back to those days and start all over again - but a lot has changed since then.

"She makes me have these weird dreams where she's trying to teach me stuff, but it's all in riddles and stuff and I'm not quite getting what she's trying to tell me. I remember some of what she was doing when I was a kid, the sun energy rituals and stuff..." and here Jay took the sun medallion around his neck and held it up a little bit, "but connecting all that to the here and now is a little bit of a stretch for me...It's hard enough just learning that I'm an alien at all, and now Momma expects me to act like Apollo or Hercules...or Superman or somebody and be this mighty superhero king."

"Let me tell you something about your mother," Afua said now, "that might clear things up slightly. First off, your mother is not a normal human being in the sense that Earthlings are. Your mother is a fourth dimension being. She is S'aa na saa'la'ack - that means she is very similar to the original light beings that inhabited this planet over 2000 years ago, and they were pure light - they didn't have bodies like you and me. Very few S'aa people have those ancient characteristics. Your mother was considered extraordinary when she was born, and at the time some of the S'aa even worshipped her as a divine goddess - many still do to this day."

"OK, OK..but why does she have a body I can see??? Momma has a body."

"Your mother's body is just a shell, T'Va'an. Angelique is a being of light."

"Just like Ben was," Laura said with wonder.

"OK...so now I find out my own momma is just like Ben, whose body, and you can't even really call it a body, it's a protoplasm shell, like a rubber suit, almost, I found it laying on the floor of a pizza joint. What does THAT mean? Is that really what my mother is? and that means I'm like that too???" Jay asked, somewhat exasperated.

"It means, T'Va'an, that her body, her shell, if you will, is just a physical manifestation of her soul and spirit. It means that she can travel through time and space at will. She can shapeshift and change appearance at will. And she can manifest into her true form as a being of light - at will. Anytime, anyplace she chooses. I've seen her do it. I've helped her LEARN HOW."

"She did that to me," Laura said. "She came to me as a being of light."

"Whoa, Laura, wait a second...when was this???" Jay asked, a pang of surprise slamming into him again.

Laura replied, "When I was a teenager, your mom and my mom came to me in a dream - or at least I thought it was a dream, but I was really wide awake. I didn't know it was them at the time, I thought it was the Virgin Mary and St. Teresa. It's funny because I somehow didn't question why one of them was a Black woman and the other one was Asian...

"They looked like blue angels and their bodies glowed like light was coming out of them," Laura continued. "And I felt all this love coming out of them."

Jay replied, "You know, Momma might have been mean to me sometimes, but when she showed me love, it was pretty intense love. She never appeared to me as blue light or anything like that, but sometimes, when she would give me a big hug or something, I would almost start crying, that's how happy I'd feel, how special she made me feel. That pretty much made up for her whoopin' my ass."

Then Jay got a puzzled look on his face. "Are you absolutely SURE Momma can do all that?"

"YOU can do all that, T'Va'an!" Afua said.

Jay chuckled in disbelief. "No, I can't. I have no power like Momma has, the way y'all just described."

"Yes, you do, baby," Laura said.

"How?" Jay asked with a smirk.

"You made that dream where we were dancing in the MIB building!" Laura exclaimed with a smile.

Jay had another stunned look on her face. "You had THAT dream?" Afua gave a hearty laugh.

"Hell yes, Jason! You couldn't tell? I thought you knew. Your energy was so damn strong it was calling me, so I had to participate."

"What do you mean calling you?" Jay asked.

"Well..." Laura repled, "it was like I was able to feel how sad you were when I left to come here to Zartha. I felt it like...like our hearts were connected. I felt your sadness and I heard you calling me, out loud, I think you said something like, 'Laura, Laura, why the hell did you have to go away' or something like that. Your voice rang out in my head like I was hearing it on the radio or something."

"Holy mother of God," Jay said, and his expression was filled with shock. "Laura, I was nine million light years away!!!"

"That don't matter, not one bit, Jay. I still HEARD you," Laura said.

Afua smiled broadly. "Is that how it happened, T'Va'an?"

"Yeah...that's almost exactly how it happened. I was in my bedroom in Brooklyn and it was raining cats and dogs outside."

"Jay, what did Kay say about me and rain that night?" Laura asked with a smile.

"It rains...hmmm...it rains...BECAUSE you feel sad...Damn, and that's what you said the Knowing does," Jay said with wonder.

"The Knowing is a force a strong as creation itself, my son," Afua said. "The Knowing is the catalyst that starts a lot of things on Zartha and it is the Knowing that will bring forth the Golden Age of Light.

"And speaking of which...Just how did you feel when you saw Laura for the very first time? How did the Knowing activate within you? What was your first impression?"

"I had no idea about this Knowing stuff, but I'll tell you...when I first laid eyes on her, I said to myself, 'Who the hell is this fine ass woman and what can I do to make her feel better?'"

Laura laughed at this. She playfully leaned into Jay, who responded by putting his arm around her. Jay continued.

"And as time went on that night, I began to realize...that somehow, no matter WHAT, I had to have this girl - to make her mine somehow. I had a crime to investigate, and I took Laura to this diner in Tribeca I always go to, and my thought then, was that after the crime was solved, we could start a relationship - and that I might leave MIB and settle down with this woman. For the rest of my life. I've never felt that way about a woman before, ever."

"And that's exactly what's happening, you left MIB and we're settling down," Laura said to Jay, and they kissed on the lips quickly.

"This is a process, T'Va'an," Afua replied. "And if your mother never appeared to you as a light being when you were little, the time would have come when she would have, and it would have been as she was teaching you to do the same - that's the tradition, that's part of the ritual initiation of the S'aa priesthood. But because of her exile, that training was never done with you, so now you and Sh'ana'aa have to do it to each other, together.

"Slowly, you shall understand everything, don't worry about that. You may wish to do an analysis on the chemical composition of your skin."

"I'm a little reluctant to do that, Mother Afua," Jay said. "Zed already told me that I'm similar to Ben. I'm not quite ready to accept the fact that my body is just a shell."

"You are what you are, T'Va'an, whether or not you are ready to accept it."

"Don't you WANT to be a being of Light, Jay?" Laura asked, almost pleadingly. "When I found that out, and especially after I knew I wasn't going to lose YOU in the process, that was better than winning Powerball."

"You won Powerball?" Jay asked with another puzzled frown.

Laura sighed. "No, Jay, I've never even played Powerball. I'm just trying to illustrate how I felt. This Light stuff is some damn wonderful shit, and I just don't want to see you miss out on any of this."

"My mind still has one foot on Earth and one foot on Zartha, baby," Jay replied. "This is gonna still be a hard adjustment for me. But I'm trying. I want to be a good king to these people, they deserve it."

"Remember what Angie said, baby," Laura replied. "Feel the emotions first and use those to plan, and think - don't just start analyzing without the emotions, without the love, the force of love energy to back it up."

"That's about the way I would have said it," Afua said.

"To do that, I've gotta switch my whole entire way of thinking," Jay said. "The military...the police work...MIB..."

"You're still mad at MIB," Laura said. "You just got through saying how they hurt you so bad!"

"I may be mad at 'em, and yes they hurt me big, big, big time, but I can't stop acting like 'em," Jay replied. "Like it or not, their way of doing things works."

"Yes, my son, it indeed works on Earth, but remember, T'Va'an, you are home now. It's OK to be what you really are," Afua said.

The three walked outside. Afua pointed to the stacks of clay pots drying in the courtyard.

"See these pots, T'Va'an," Afua said. "Each one is shaped and created to hold something, right? Well, living beings hold the Light. The Light is like water to a pot. Pots work best when they hold something. People work best when they hold the Light."

"I wish the S'aa rebels would understand that," Jay said.

"Some pots are cracked, my son," Afua said with a knowing chuckle.

"So who are these girls?" Jay asked. The two girls were carrying water from a well into their own hut.

"They are the initiates. Members of the family, cousins of yours from New Orleans. Kisha is a sophomore at Tulane. Sheronda just started at UNO. They are here for the summer where I'm training them how to be priests of the Sun energy."

"Why is that, Afua? Most girls that age would be working or in summer school," Jay said.

"I've been around a long time, T'Va'an, so I know of what I speak. Knowledge of the energy is better than money, my son, or even going to school to get a degree, basically to learn how to get money from a boss who doesn't really care whether you live or die. To be a priest of the T'ola'a is to learn to become one with the energy of T'ola'an himself. This is what your mother did, Jason, and what her mother did before her, and and what her mother did before her. Your daughter shall come here as well."

"We're having a daughter?" Jay asked, looking quickly at Laura.

"I ain't pregnant! At least not YET!" Laura exclaimed.

Mother Afua just laughed. "You don't have a daughter yet...but you will. Sooner than you may realize."

Afua and Jay and laura walked out into a clearing. The overcast was clearing away and the twin suns began to blaze through the clouds.

"Afua, is it true that you sailed on Viking ships when you were a young woman?"

"I've sailed on a lot of ships on a lot of planets, my son," Afua said. "People haven't changed much in 800 years. Pirates, sailors, butchers, bakers, county supervisors, offensive linemen, teenagers in the 'hood, whatever. When I tell people about the Light inside of them, things happen.

"You and Sh'ana'aa are charged with telling the people of Zartha about the Light inside of them. First, know the light inside of yourselves. Know how special and powerful it is. Feel the joy blast out of your bodies. Become the blue star. The blue star of ancient fairy energy. Become that Light. Then, you will know how to rule Zartha. Your worries will be gone, T'Va'an, for the Light teaches people. The Light changes people, my son. You do not yet believe, and because of the exile, the years you were outside of our teaching, it's harder for you to get to know all this. but my son, I assure you, it gets easier.

"And once you know more about the Light, it may become a little easier to forgive your friends - and your mother - for the choices they made concerning you and Laura."

"I hope you're right about that," Jay said.

Afua took Jay's hand and smiled. "Jason, listen to me. You and Laura - and even your mother - are all part of a tremendous experiment, a great and noble plan conceived hundreds and hundreds of years ago. The purpose of this plan was, and still is, to bring eternal and lasting peace and joy to ALL beings, on Zartha and everywhere in the universe. We wanted to eliminate pain, suffering, conflict, prejudice, war, darkness - or at least show people that there was a different way to live. I was one of the people who came up with that plan.

"There were some rough spots along the way, with this great plan coming to pass. You have learned about a few of these rough spots, and the knowledge of them is causing you pain. Remember that it's not our place to force others to follow the plan or to even buy into it. That's the risk that we must accept. But the important part is that now, at this moment and despite efforts to the contrary, the two of you are now here, the two of you are now together, bonding so beautifully as a couple...the Golden Age of Light is now at hand. The plan has been validated, up to this point. The rest is now up to the two of you. The universe is in great need of the two of you. We have brought you as far as we could. We are behind you and Laura all the way, T'Va'an. Please understand at least that much, my son."

"Afua," Jay replied, "with all due respect...I do not consider myself worthy of this honor."

"Oh, you will, my son, once enough of the Light hits you. Then...the spirit of my husband, your ancestor, Lord T'ola'an, will awaken and arise within you. Then you will want nothing else for yourself. Nothing else will matter, but the plan. Mark my words."

"Am I really Lord T'ola'an?" Jay asked.

“Yes, Jason, in a very big way, you are,” Afua smiled. “Not in the same way I knew and loved him...but when you were dedicated in this village as a baby, I saw Lord T’ola’an’s soul in your newborn eyes, so innocent, but so full of power and promise...and Light. That’s when I knew we were on the right track.”

“But…the way I was born, it all seems so weird, the way Momma had an affair with an MIB agent…that’s…I’m still having a hard time with that.”

“You’re talking about an agent of MIB who is a very, very special Earthling, Jason. Someone we knew was worthy of playing a most critical role in the plan. Someone who had an open mind and an open heart. And someone who has always loved you like the son you are.”

Afua smiled softly at Jay, but he just looked off to the side.

“Look, T’Va’an, the way you came into this universe - the way you were conceived – yes, it may have been a little on the covert side, but we got the job done. You were born. Sometimes you have to hustle a little bit to do the work of the divine Creator.

“And now you are about to be king. Right now that’s the important thing, the thing to focus on and be proud of, my son.”

Jay and Laura stayed the evening in the compound. They gathered for dinner at sunset, prepared by Kisha and Sheronda. The seagulls joined the human occupants for a meal of spicy potatoes, fresh boiled collard greens, cornbread, peanut gumbo, and refried beans.

Some of the young men of the village played drums and some of the women sang songs, old African songs thousands of years old, songs barely sung, barely remembered in the modern Africa of the 21st century. Everyone was laughing and smiling, on into the night. Kisha was seen snuggling with one of the young drummers, wearing little but a Reds road jersey and some khaki shorts.

Jay thought the Valley of the mothers was one of the most comfortably magical places he had ever seen.

"I think I might retire here, baby," Jay said to Laura, in the warm glow of the campfire in the middle of the compound.

"Sounds like a plan," Laura said. The two shared a kiss.

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Close call

It was early morning and the sky was clear, green and bright.

Jay and Laura were flying in a northeasterly direction back to the royal palace. They had just attained cruising altitude and speed for the trip back from the Valley of the Mothers, which would take about four hours. They would fly over many of the places they visited on the way back, including the S'aa village and the Purple Valley.

Laura again was at the cockpit. Jay leaned back in his seat to take a nap.

"Another two weeks and we start running this place," Laura said.

"I can hardly wait," Jay said with mock excitement, with his eyes closed.

"You know you want to be king, Jay," Laura replied as she adjusted the air conditioning in the ship. She looked over at him, trying to take his nap. She imagined how he looked as a kid back in Louisiana, as Angie tucked him in for the night under the covers.

Laura liked flying the egg. Being in the air gave her a feeling of exhilaration, like she was a bird, free to travel on the wind as she pleased. She also felt connected to Jay while flying, since he was in the Air Force. Laura never flew commercially while living in New York. The furthest she ever traveled (after MIB placed her in the group home) was on a field trip to Washington D.C. when she was in the ninth grade, and that was on Amtrak.

The flight was peaceful, quiet and uneventful. Soon the wedding plans would begin in earnest. There would be meetings with Shakita and the palace staff, menu planning, guest lists, rehearsals, more teleconferences with Angie. But Laura wanted both herself and Jay to spend the rest of this day activating their Light energy, as Angie instructed them to do. It would be a time of great togetherness and intimacy, and would help refresh them both after the long tour.

Laura wanted Jay to activate his energy in order to help him understand the drastic and sudden changes he was now asked to accept in his life. She knew, even though he had many of his childhood memories back, that switching roles so quickly - and taking orders from a mom he hadn't seen in 25 years - was indeed hard for him to do. If he knew the Light inside of him, if he knew the Fire of Lord T'ola'an also in him, which in reality was just another form of the Light, he might see the sense in this. He might more readily accept his destiny as the Sun of Zartha and step into his role as king. The role for which he was conceived.

About an hour later, a bell began dinging, like the seat belt alarm on luxury cars back on Earth. Then a voice rang out in the ship. "Spacecraft approaching. Spacecraft approaching. Suggest evasive action."

Jay woke up, sat up quickly and looked at the radar. Naptime was over. There were five egg shaped ships, in formation, closing in on them.

"Momma didn't say anything about an escort back to the palace," Jay said with a frown of puzzled wonder.

"Neither did Shakita," mused Laura.

Jay pressed a button, leaned over to his left, towards Laura, and spoke into the dashboard. "This is Palace One, come in please."

There was no response. The radar showed the ships still following fairly close behind. Jay and Laura looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

Jay spoke again, this time raising his voice a little. "This is Palace One, come in please. Identify yourselves."

There was still no response.

Jay got a sudden look of deep concern. Laura saw that and frowned at him with worried disbelief. "You don't think they'd try to do anything to hurt us, do you?"

Then a buzzer blasted out loudly in the ship and repeated several times, which caused Laura to almost jump out of her seat in shock.

"Incoming fire. Shields automatically activated," said the computer voice.

A meter on the dash showed the external electromagnetic shield level rising to 100 percent.

Then, it happened.

wwwWHAMmm!!!

The egg lurched forward and downward sharply as it took a hit from a plasma cannon. It felt like a car had rear-ended the ship. The shield kept the egg from sustaining any damage whatsoever. Cruising speed was 750 miles an hour.

"I hope these are good shields," Laura said, beginning to focus on keeping the ship intact. She waved her right hand over the control circle in an effort to increase the egg's speed, and pressed a couple of buttons on the dash.

"I think someone's tryin' to shoot us down, baby," Jay said, and a grave expression crossed his face.

Laura was flabbergasted. "Well, yeah, I guess so! But why, Jay? Who would even think of doing something like that to us?"

"Guess," Jay said sharply, looking straight into Laura's eyes, with his, which were beginning to flash red with anger. He then snatched his eyes away and stared straight ahead at the clear green sky.

"Senator T'Loria'an," Laura said with dark realization.

"Who else on this whole entire planet wants to take us out, Laura?" Jay said. He was mad. "You heard how he was talking back at the senate chambers. It was his people that killed my DAD, Laura."

wwwWHAMmm!!! The egg took another hit and the ship reeled to the right again.

"Let me fly the ship," Jay said.

"I'm fine, baby, I can handle it," Laura replied, her eyes trained on the instrument panel.

"Laura, come on now, baby, we're under fire. I know how to do this, I'm a trained professional," Jay said.

"I KNOW what I'm doing, Jason," Laura replied quickly, a bit more firmly. "I know these ships better than you do!"

"Just move over," Jay said.

Another shot grazed the bow. The ship lurched sharply again to the right, then stabilized.

Jay looked at Laura with pleading eyes. "Are we gonna just sit here arguing like some...some soccer mom couple from Long Island on their way to IKEA or are we gonna find a way to evade an attack on this ship? I have no idea how long these shields are gonna hold before we get punched with holes from those plasma cannons!"

Laura was silent, then pressed the release button on her harness. "I happen to LIKE IKEA, Jay...Come on then, if you think you're so hot, flyboy!"

Laura and Jay awkwardly switched positions, bumping up, frustrated and frowning, against each other while the ship was in motion at nearly 900 miles an hour, about top speed for an egg-shaped ship.

"Thank you," Jay said, scowling slightly at Laura, who rolled her eyes at him. "IKEA sucks," Jay interjected.

"I think we can afford some different stuff now," Laura said with a sharp tone of disgust. Her arms were firmly folded poutingly across her chest.

"That's if we don't get our asses shot down first," Jay said with steely resolve.

Jay slammed his hand on the crystal-ball-like control circle and waved his hand rapidly over the circle in an upward motion, increasing the speed of the vessel slightly more.

Two of the enemy eggs came alongside Jay and Laura's egg. These eggs were not silver, but they were black. The diamond-shaped symbol of the S'aa tribe (remember that this is the same design of Laura's charm bracelet) was painted on the side. Jay and Laura could see the pilots of these eggs and they did not have friendly looks on their faces.

"So T'Loria'an sent his thugs to deal with us," Jay said with the slow gusto he was accustomed to as a crime fighter for MIB. "I think I have just a little bit of experience with space thugs.

"Computer, set a course for T'Ano'ok. Now!"

The egg veered off sharply to the left. Jay pushed a couple of buttons on the dash.

"Hey, T'Ka'ar! This is Jay. We have an emergency. We're under fire from S'aa rebels. Five of 'em. Request backup at once. Over."

The councillor's voice rang out over the radio. "Backup vehicles are already on the way to meet you, my lord. I was just about to call you. Our defense system picked the rebel ships up about 5 minutes ago. Just keep flying towards the Purple Valley. The security forces will meet up with you and engage the rebels if they have to."

"Roger that, councillor," Jay replied.

Another shot grazed Palace One. Jay kept dipping and climbing the egg rapidly to evade the eggs. He was finally getting to at least act somewhat like the fighter pilot he always dreamed of being back on Earth, but he didn't have time to be happy about it.

"You think the C'ola'a guards will get to us in time?" Laura asked.

"They better, Laura, this egg has no weapons. I'm gonna have to ask Momma about that when we get home." Jay said.

The ship again lurched sharply downward and to the right as it took another direct hit.

The shield power went down to 95 percent.

"Come on shields, hold!" Jay exclaimed. "Hang on, just a little longer, were almost there!"

Photon blasts, fired from the rebel ships, kept whizzing by Palace One, as it kept bobbing and ducking, up and down.

After 20 more minutes, the ship crossed the Purple Mountains and the rolling green foothills of the Purple Valley came into view.

About fifty C'ola'a guard ships were about two nautical miles ahead, racing southward towards Palace One. The S'aa rebel cruisers stopped and turned back.

"They're turning back south, Jay," Laura said, "They're retreating."

"Good," Jay replied. "That's what they need to do. I'm gonna have a nice long talk with T'Loria'an when we get back."

"Jay, I wouldn't piss him off any more than he is, baby, he might try and attack the palace," Laura said.

Jay sighed. Laura was right, he had to come up with a more solid plan to deal with the rebels.

No further shots were fired.

Two of the C'ola'a cruisers escorted Jay and Laura back to the royal palace.

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Activating the energy

Advisory: this chapter contains intense romantic content.

"Come on, Jason," Laura called. She was sitting cross-legged on the bed, facing the large window overlooking the palace gardens.

Jay strode out of the bathroom, wearing his Yankees home jersey with the number 44 on it. "Do we have to do this now, baby? I need to figure out how the hell we're gonna handle these rebels. If they tried to take us out, they sure as hell are up to a very big operation, and we need to bust in on it somehow. Damn, that was one close ass call."

"Baby, we made it OK, it's over now, we're fine. I'm doing just fine. Stop worrying. We had a great time on this tour and we're back home now."

Jay scowled a little and looked out the window, deep in thought.

"Come on, Jay. We have to do the bodywork," Laura said. "It'll help take your mind off what happened. If we're fully activated we can handle the rebels just fine. Your mom says we have to do this." Laura patted her hand on the bed.

Jay sat down cross legged facing Laura. "Momma knows best", Jay sighed.

"Now...our minds and our souls have to connect. We have to make physical contact to make that happen."

Jay's eyes got a sneaky look in them. "Now that's what I'm talkin' about."

Laura rolled her eyes with a smirkly smile. "Jay, be serious. This is important."

"All right, all right...how do we do this bodywork?"

"Focus on your breath and quiet your mind. You have to feel my energy. Don't try to think, don't try to analyze. You are not on a case. You are not a cop any more."

"Laura, this whole run-up to the wedding has turned into one big gigantic case. And I will always be a cop, baby. MIB and Momma may have been schemin' and stuff, but that's what I became. I never got to be a fighter pilot, so I'm a cop."

"Not anymore. Not a fighter pilot or a cop. You are the son of Angelique. You are a divine prince. You are Lord of the Sun. Hey...that's a great idea...say that after me. "I am lord of the Sun." Say it, baby."

"What? Come on now..."

"No, Jason, come on, man, repeat after me. Come on..."

Jay sighed again, looked at Laura with an expression of weary exasperation, and took a deep breath. "I am Lord of the Sun."

"OK, say it again."

"I am Lord of the Sun." Jay's eyes began to glow a dull red. "Nothin's happening."

"Well, say it again, one more time," Laura said,

"I am Lord of the Sun."

"Your eyes are beginning to glow. Hold up," and Laura took the bracelet off her wrist. "Put this on."

"Say what? Baby, I'd look pretty stupid with this on."

"No you won't, here," and Laura handed the bracelet to Jay, who put it on his wrist. He held it up, dangling and jingling, up so Laura could see. "This looks ridiculous." Then the pyramid-shaped crystal on the bracelet started to glow. "Hold on a second...am I making it do this?"

"I think so," Laura said. "Let me wear your necklace."

Jay took his sun medallion necklace (by now he always wore this, at all times) and put it around Laura's neck. It promptly began glowing a dull orange.

"Open that blouse a little, or else that thing will scorch it," Jay said.

Laura unbuttoned the top two buttons on the white blouse she had on, and made sure the medallion rested against her chest. Jay's eyes glowed brightly at the sight of her skin.

"Hold your hormones, dude," Laura said.

"I can't help it, baby, I'm Lord of the Sun," Jay smirked.

Laura gave a slight sarcastic laugh. "OK, now come on, close your eyes."

Jay closed his eyes.

"Hold your palms up and touch them to mine." Laura held her hands up and Jay touched his palms to hers. Then they clasped their hands together, still holding them up. Shocks of energy began to travel between them, which felt like strong tickling and tingling sensations.

"OK, now something's happening," Jay said.

"Our bodies are calibrating to each other," Laura said. The tingling grew stronger, and Jay's body began to grow warm. He started to sweat, the same way he did when his mom would shine energy into his eyes as a child. Laura said: "Just feel it, baby, just let it happen."

Jay finally surrendered to the energy of their bodies. After about 2 or three minutes, Jay released his hands from Laura's and, with his eyes still closed, placed them on the sides of Laura's head. He had no idea why he was doing this, it just seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

When Jay's hands touched Laura's head. a surge of Jay's energy slammed into Laura's brain and she gave a sighing gasp. Laura them placed her hands on Jay's head, and Laura's energy slammed into Jay's brain, causing him to gasp. Both of them saw, in their minds, a terriffic brilliant bluish-white light, and this light began to flood out of each of their eyes, as if their eye sockets became little floodlights. Both of them began to feel an extreme feeling of excitement and exhilaration, which kept getting stronger and stronger and stronger...until the two just had to let go of each other's heads.

Jay and Laura sat, holding hands and gasping for air. Laura coughed a little. Jay noticed the medallion was almost white-hot around Laura's chest and steam was rising from it.

"Laura...my necklace, it's the hottest I've ever seen it," Jay said, panting.

Laura took the medallion in her hand, as if it were just as cool as a piece of ice, and held it. "It can't be, my hand's not burning," she said. She touched it against her blouse and it immediately scorched a tiny hole in the spot. "Whoa," she said with shock.

"Gotta be careful with that," Jay said. He took off his jersey and his T-shirt so his chest was bare. Laura's eyes flashed a bright bluish-white at the sight of Jay's skin. Jay smirked and chuckled at this. He took the necklace and put it back around his neck. "You need your bracelet back?"

"Right now, you need that on your wrist more than I do," Laura replied.

Jay and Laura held hands again. There was again a tingling feeling moving between them, this time a little more subdued.

"Hey," Jay asked, "I meant to ask you something. What do you do when you fall asleep? Do you have weird dreams like i've been having lately?"

"Not really, not all the time, but most of the time your mom talks to me."

"She does?"

"yeah, she comes right to me most times, other times I just hear her voice. Why is that so weird to you?"

"I don't know. Momma is weird. It's like Afua said - it's like she's some kind of spirit, some energy, like she's not really a person, but...maybe she is like an angel or some fairy or something. Afua said something about fairy energy - but Momma...she is a person..."

"Jay, your mom is training me, teaching me stuff. Stuff about you, stuff about Zartha, stuff about me. She told me my energy starts in my womb and radiates outward."

"OK...", Jay said, puzzled.

"Jay, your mom is a being of Light. That is her true nature. Just think about pure Light energy - like Ben."

"She never once looked like that to me when I was a kid, Laura."

"That's 'cause you were too little to understand," Laura replied. "Don't be so afraid to see your mom in a whole new - Light!" Laura giggled at the pun.

"Very funny, Laura, you oughta do stand-up," Jay noted dryly.

"Jason," Laura said. She released her hands from Jay's and pulled him close to her. "Come here," she said, and Jay turned around to lean against Laura, who cradled him in her arms, resting her head against his shoulder.

"We survived," Laura said. "You did a good job getting us back here in one piece."

"Thank you. We did survive, baby, and we always will," Jay replied.

"I think your mom was protecting us somehow. Your mother is my fairy godmother," Laura said softly. "I remember now. She was always there for me when I was little, appearing to me in dreams, with that blue light. I didn't know it was her, the way I know her now. It's all starting to make sense now. She appeared in a lot of different forms, guiding me, protecting me. But now I'm with her son. I'm with her son, baby. You are what she is, Jason. That makes you so special to me." Laura smiled a deep smile and hugged him tightly.

Jay turned around and kissed Laura deeply.

"Is that what I am, Laura? A fairy? I don't know if I like that," Jay said with a smirk.

"You know what I mean by that," Laura replied. "A magical prince of cosmic light, you are. Son of the angel woman," Laura said, and moved her face closer into Jay's face.

He kissed her again, and again, kissing her lips, her cheeks, her neck, and he began to caress her tenderly, his hands finding and traveling intently along her athletic muscles. Laura responded instantly to his moves with gasps of subdued exhilaration and caressed him back. Jay was built like a professional athlete and trained his body in a similar manner. Laura liked how he felt. Soon the two were engaged in deep, passionate physical waves of electric intimacy, intertwine within the safety of one another.

Then Laura and Jay were laying, holding one another together, comfortable, safe. Laura felt Jason's angelic power radiate through her. It was similar to how she felt when Angie would appear to her as a child, but this was much more intense and saturated. Laura smiled deeply inside and knew that she was home with this man. Somehow, baby, you will know. You are Angie's son. You are the king of Zartha. You are Fire. You are Light. I love you.

Laura felt so comfortable, the energy she was absorbing from Jay began to change and transform her. Laura's skin began to grow warm, then cool to Jay's touch. And there was a bluish glow that began to radiate outward. In a few minutes, Laura was completely covered in blue light, or more accurately, fully transformed into her true nature as a being of blue Light - and Jay could no longer touch her.

"My hands are goin' right through you...Holy..." Jay sat up slightly and could not believe what he was seeing.

"That's weird," she said - and her voice took on a slight metallic depth to it which sounded like it was coming not from her body but from the very air all around the room - "I can still feel you just fine, Jay." She touched his cheek. A shock of energy slammed into him as if he were hit by a power line, and it knocked him backwards, shooting him about six inches right off the bed onto the floor.

"Whoa.." he said, tumbling downward.

"Are you OK, baby? I didn't know that was gonna happen, I'm sorry..."

"Umm...damn, do that again, Laura, slower this time." Jay, who was dazed but exhilarated, climbed back onto the bed.

They sat again across from one another. The radiant blue being of Light touched Jason more slowly. Energy flew into his body, activating that same glow inside of him. The Light inside Jay was now taking him completely over, enveloping and encapsulating him from the inside out into the angelic blue glow, but Jason could not feel anything, except for a tremendously strong, renewed instinct to be intimate with Laura again, so he swung his body close to hers again, taking her into his arms, towering over her luminous blueness, and guiding himself into her.

"Can you see all this light in the room?" Jay asked. The sun had gone down and the room was dark save for the cosmic glow of their bodies.

"This is our Light, Jason. We are angels now. Like your mom."

Is this how she did it? Jay thought, with a sense of great wonder. Is this how she and Kay made me?

And with this, the two beings of Light gravitated into one another, slowly at first, then quite deeply, neither one really sure exactly what was happening to them but knowing that it felt so damn good and they had to just keep going and ride this thing out. In about 10 more minutes they dissolved and melded into a mass of starry blue energy which felt like absolute, eternal joy and peace was flowing through them, over, around them, and back again, intense and pulsating, as if they were touching the very heart of the Universal Energy itself. If you were in the bedroom you would have seen a massive blue star, hovering above an empty mass of satin sheets, slowly shining its angelic glow into the room, its love cutting into your soul like a laser, making you almost cry with the almost unbearable happiness coming from it.

Everything was going to be just fine.

And then, Jay had a dream.

Yes, Jay began to have another dream. He wondered where Laura went, but now he had something else to deal with: He was in the basement of Jeebs' pawnshop again, fighting off a large squid alien, whom he thought he had put away about three months before. The squid's tentacles were holding him tight. The squid was slamming him against the wall.

"I told you to let me go, NOW, Sammy!" Jay yelled.

"Nothing doin'!" the squid said. "This is the last time you bust in on my racket! Say your prayers, cop!"

Jay tried to reach for his cricket gun. He somehow grabbed it and fired.

"Owwwww!" the squid yelled in pain. This really pissed off Sammy and he wrapped five long tentacles around Jay and squeezed as hard as he could.

"Ha! Ha ha ha! I'm gonna squeeze you like a sponge!"

Jay grimaced with the stress of being squeezed. This was not good.

Jay began to shine red light from his eyes into Sammy's eyes. Sammy squinted at the intense light coming from Jay's eyes. He loosened his grip slightly and Jay tried to wriggle free.

Just then, three black suited MIB agents flew downstairs with three barrelled guns in hand.

They were Laura and Shakita, led by Angie, who fired immediately to Sammy's head, knocking off his hat.

"Let my son go NOW." Angie had a look of utter resolve on her face.

"Make me, toots," the squid said, still squinting.

"Cover me, Laura," Angie said, and raised her gun right up against Sammy's face. The gun made a high pitched whining noise - it was activating now and was ready to fire. Laura guarded the top of the stairwell in case something would try to come to the squid's aid. Angie sternly addressed the squid. "Allow me to repeat myself. Let him go NOW."

The squid got angry. He dropped Jay, who fell to the floor in a gasping, heaving clump, and Sammy reached out quickly for Angie, who fired at his head. She hit the side of his face, and the squid fell backwards. Shakita then fired a shot to the squid's midsection, which finished him off. There was a large bloody hole in the squid's side. After a quick autopsy and final report to Zed, he would soon be placed on ice, cleaned, dressed and served at the Four Seasons, feeding lots of hungry, well-heeled seafood lovers.

Laura came down into the room. Angie walked over to Jay.

"Thanks, Momma," Jay said weakly. "He must have escaped from jail. He was about to stand trial for crystal laundering."

"Get up, Jay," Angie said tersely. Her eyes were blazing a bright neon red. She lifted him up, all six-feet-one of him, by his shirt collar and pinned him firmly against the wall. Angie was a VERY strong woman. Jay was shocked and somewhat frightened. Memories of past times he got in trouble with Angie as a young child slammed back inside his brain. He hated his mother getting angry with him, because sometimes she would get a little too angry. Angie looked at him as if he had broken one of her prized pieces of china.

"What the hell is this," the woman shouted. "Why are you tryin' to handle all this shit alone! You could have been KILLED! You need partners, Jason!"

Jay stared with shock at Angie. "Damn, you must have really hit the weight room down at St. Gabriel! Am I on a time-out, Momma?"

Then Angie reached for her sunglasses and put them on. "This is more than a time-out. Jason."

Jay got really scared now. "Momma...umm...don't do that. Momma..."

"Put your glasses on, girls," Angie said, and reached for her neuralyzer. She pressed a button which spring-loaded it open, with a metallic snap, to the fully extended position. It made the familiar high-pitched whiny noise, which indicated that it was activating.

Jay was frantic. "Wait a second, Momma...wait, we don't have to go there...I promise...I'll be good, Momma...Laura! A litlle help here?"

Laura instinctually began to walk forward. "Don't help him, Laura. He doesn't love you anyway, he just wants to get inside your pants," Angie said coldly.

"Momma!" Jay exclaimed with embarrassment.

Angie set the dials on the neuralyzer. She began to make fun of Jay's tirade to Agent Tee at Empire Diner. "'I saved 58 people on the subway and nobody knows my name...' Don't think I don't have access to your brain waves! I felt everything you said to that poor agent! He was just trying to do his job and you just flashed him out of spite and sent him on his way!

"And the way you treated T'Na'al! That boy looks up to you, Jason! He was scared you were going to flash him!"

Jay smiled frantically. How was he gonna get out of THIS one? "I knew you wouldn't be happy about that, Momma, well, you know us flyboys, Momma, we always joke about the other service branches...he's Navy, Momma! Come on! All they do is mop floors and launch a cruise missile once every six months!"

"Quiet! I don't think the head of the Joint Chiefs or even your base commander would appreciate THAT smart-ass remark! But you seem to be pretty damn good at that."

"Momma, I neuralyzed Tee 'cause I didn't think he could cut it as an MIB agent. His actions showed me that. I made a command decision, Momma, and I gotta stand by it."

"A command decision, huh? Well I know how to play that game, T'Va'an! Command decisions just so happen to be a part of my job description! I make dozens of command decisions each and every goddamn DAY, Jason! Don't whine your sorry ass to ME about making command decisions!

"I brought you into this world and I can flash you out of it..."

"Angie, please," Laura pleaded, somewhat forcefully. "Jay is trying. He really is! We had a good session tonight! He started to glow! He started to glow just like YOU do! I think you're going too far, Angie."

"Just stand back and watch, Laura, I know what I'm doing," Angie shot back.

Shakita found a stool and simply sat down watching the whole thing.

"Momma, wait, wait, don't flash me. Please. I know you're frustrated with me. I can explain everything."

"You don't even have a clue as to what's going on right now, do you, Jason?" Angie asked.

"Momma...this is crazy! YOU are CRAZY!"

"Where in the HELL do you think you get it from, T'Va'an?"

Angie held the device up. Jay did the only thing he knew to do.

"KAY! KAY! Momma is going NUTS down here! KAY!"

And just like that, Kay came running down the basement stairs. He snatched the neuralyzer out of Angie's hand.

"Let 'im go, darlin," Kay said.

Angie stared at her bewildered son for another moment and let him down. A faint smirkly smile crossed her lips.

Jay walked briskly over to Laura, who immediately took his hand.

Kay took Angie's hand. "Be patient with him. He's still learning. Still a rookie."

"I'm just trying to make up for lost time, sweetie," Angie said. "I never got to really raise my boy, you know. You guys raised him. Now I've got to take apart everything he knows and start all over from scratch - with Serleena possibly on the loose - and hope he still knows how to clean a cricket gun by the time he's through."

Kay held Angie by the shoulders. "He'll come around, baby. We just need to rally 'round him and back him up, that's all."

Angie looked down and smiled warmly at Kay. She thought to herself: All these years we could have been together...Jason could have had you to look up to as a kid.

Then Kay kissed Angie briefly on the lips, and walked right back up. "You ain't off the hook, slick, better shape up," Kay called out as he walked up the stairs.

"You better be glad he came when you called," Angie said.

"Momma, you need a partner," Jay said.

"I got one," Angie replied, pointing up the stairs. "You just called for him."

Jay was still sligthly less than approving of Kay's romancing his mother. But Kay saved Momma from going totally ballistic on him.

"Momma, just tell me what's goin' on between you and Kay," Jay asked.

"Everything, Jason. Everything's goin' on between me and Kay, and has been for almost 40 years. When you love a man that long, things happen, baby. Things happen."

"Alright, then tell me this, Momma, and I want the truth from you.

"What are you?"

"Whatever I am is what YOU are also, Jason. Laura already told you what I am. Next question."

"Is Kay my father?"

Angie started to giggle hard.

Jay frowned with weary frustration. "Come on, Momma, I want to know the truth!"

Angie just stared at her son, and her eyes flashed a brilliant bluish-white. "You ARE the truth, Jason."

Angie walked over to him and took his hands in hers. Tears started to flow from Jay's eyes. Then Angie gave him another big momma hug.

"Blood of my blood...Don't stop glowing, baby. Just like I told you: Follow the light, T'Va'an. Learn how to be Fire. Learn how to be Light. Learn how to be an angel. I guess you're coming along OK, baby. I'm proud of you. For now."

And just like that, Jay found himself awake. It was the middle of the night in the royal bedroom. Laura was asleep next to him. Their bodies were intact and "normal" again.

"Damn," Jay thought to himself with a scowl. "Whatever the hell she's trying to teach me, I wish I could learn it. I wish I could catch on to all this shit. I don't know what the hell's happening. I'm not ready for all this..."

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Jay gets frustrated

In the morning, Shakita summoned Jay and Laura to her office. They walked down the long corridor, holding hands.

Shakita was in her office. She was wearing a New Orleans Saints jersey, with the number 2 (for their QB Aaron Brooks.)

“What’s up?” Jay asked.

“I just got a briefing from MIB. A Level One briefing.”

“Let me see that,” Jay said, moving immediately over to Shakita and taking the familiar MIB letterhead from her.

“What’s going on?” Laura asked.

“Laura, we got some bad news," Jay said. "Serleena is back on the loose.”

“I thought you and Kay shot her down back in New York," Laura said.

"I thought so too, but just like Momma said, she must have left a seed somewhere and reconstituted," Jay replied. "Not the best case scenario if you ask me."

Laura rolled her eyes. “What does she want NOW?”

Jay looked up at Laura. His look was serious. “She wants you, baby. She released a statement. Here,” Jay handed the briefing to Laura. Laura read the sheet.

“It is my intention to travel to Zartha and take what is rightfully mine - the Light of Zartha. I will see to it that the wedding between Agent Jay and Laura Vasquez does not take place, and that New York be utterly destroyed, along with the Light of Zartha, once I have absorbed the great power resident within her. Then the people of Zartha, as well as Kylothia and the rest of Earth, will be my personal subjects for all eternity and I shall rule the entire universe.”

"Everybody's trying to take us out! Why would she do this to us?” Laura looked up at Jay with a puzzled look.

“Because she’s evil, Laura. Nothin’ but pure evil,” Jay said with a pained expression of gravity in his voice. He now turned to his cousin and asked, “What’s our course of action?”

“Nothin’ right now, Jay. Serleena’s whereabouts are unknown and we can’t trace her. MIB can’t either.”

“MIB CAN trace her if they do a relay probe. We have satellites,” Jay shot back.

“I already asked Agent W in telemetry, Jay, she said no.”

“What? W said that? Give me that phone.” Jay got on the telephone. Zarthans use the same phones used on Earth. They get them at Home Depot and have them shipped.

“This is Agent Jay. I’m calling from Zartha. Put Zed on NOW. This is Level One Priority. We got a brief. Number 02-71987785. Yeah.” Jay looked up at his cousin and his girlfriend. Hold music was faintly coming out of the phone. “We just put new hold music in. Kinda cool. I picked it out, we got some Earth, Wind and Fire, some Shalimar, some Stevie - yeah, Zed! Yeah, it’s me, man. What the hell is up with not doing a relay probe? We gotta get Serleena and lock her up until after the wedding. Then I want to put her butt on trial for murder. And if we just so happen to destroy her vessel in the process that's fine with me too. You with me?”

“Good concept, but we got one problem with that. The relays are down, Jay,” Zed said.

“Again? I thought Telemetry had those fixed two weeks ago!”

“Kylothians took ‘em out,” Zed replied.

“Damn!” Jay knew pressuring the Kylothians again might trigger an interplanetary incident...but he had half a mind to launch a direct attack on them anyway. “What am I supposed to do, Zed? My fianceé is in DANGER. She’s looking at the brief right now.”

“I dunno, kid, first of all, I’m not your boss anymore, second of all, you’re damn near in charge up there now. Figure it out. Whatever you do, make sure you run it by your mom first. I gotta go, kid, I’ve got a 10:30 tee time at Winged Foot.” Then Zed hung up the phone.

Jay slammed down the phone with a frown. “Damn! Just LIKE him to do that! I tried to ask him for a raise last year and that’s the exact same thing he did!”

“What did YOU want a raise for?” Shakita said increduosly.

“Never mind,” Jay said. “I gotta think about how to protect Laura.”

Shakita gave Jay a weary look. “Jay, you don't have to worry, we got battle cruisers ready to scramble if she tries to enter our airspace. You two are safer here than you would be on Earth or out in deep space. I'm checkin' in with your mom...” Shakita dialed the hotline to Angelique’s cell in Louisiana.

“Angie? Jay and Laura saw the brief. Oh..." and here Shakita looked up at Jay and Laura with a slightly surprised look and went on,"OK, we're going on in there right now," and she hung up. "Angie wants a videoconference NOW. Let's go," she said, and the three walked briskly into the conference room about two doors down.

Jay led off the videoconference by saying, "Momma, MIB gave us a brief this morning. Level One. I’m a little concerned for Laura’s safety.”

“I saw the brief, baby," Angie said. "I know you're scared for Laura. Trust me, baby. As long as you guys don’t wander off into deep space, you will be safe. I promise, Jason. We have some good cruiser pilots on Zartha.”

Jay looked down for a second and continued. “I want to capture Serleena and put her on trial, Momma. I also want to launch preemptive strikes on the S'aa rebels, especially the ones like Senator T'L'oria'an kidnapping the C'ola'a to work the illegal mines in the Purple Valley. And I think he sent those rebel pilots to try and shoot us down, too.”

“No, I would rather we not do that, Jason," Angie said. "First off, Serleena's power is strong enough where she could do you and Laura some damage. If we act unilaterally against Serleena, that may provoke war with Kylothia, and if you strike against the rebels, that will most certainly start a civil war on Zartha. Be VERY glad you didn't kill one of those pilots yesterday! And who's to say Serleena and T'Loria'an aren't cooperating or coordinating efforts somehow? Did you think about that?"

Jay looked up to the ceiling with a pang of worry. Damn.

Momma continued. "Jason, what the rebel pilots did yesterday was very, very wrong. It was terrible. Shakita told me all about it. But the rebels have a lot of support among the S'aa right now and the whole tribe could turn against us if we strike. And I DON'T think you want your first official act as King of Zartha to be any war, especially one declared against your own people.”

Jay leaned back hard in the Aeron chair and sighed. His eyes were smoldering with an icy frustration. “Well, what the HELL you want me to do, Momma?"

“I WANT you to just relax and concentrate on preparing for the wedding, Jason. Everything will be OK. Trust me, baby.”

"Momma, I don't understand why you would even allow the rebels to kidnap the C'ola'a miners in the outlying villages in the first place? In clear and direct violation of laws YOU helped put in place up here! That don't make sense to me."

"Jason, the rebels think every Zarthan besides themselves is supposed to be their slave. That's part of the mindset of the S'aa - it started out right when they were created, but over hundreds and hundreds of years, the truth of it all got twisted, messed up and corrupted. But it's their belief system, it does not matter to them what I have to say about it, and they will defend their beliefs with force even if it means sacrificing the planet to do so.

"If I used force against the rebels, it would most surely start a civil war. If a civil war started, the Council would have to intervene - that is, if we didn't blow Zartha up first all by ourselves. You and Laura ain't the only ones who can make planets explode, you know.

"I had to act as carefully as possible to keep the peace and rescue our people when they did get taken. We always evacuated the miners from the illegal mines, Jay, each time. No casualties and no escalation of violence. And we increased security around the villages and that cut down on the raids."

Jay kept on pressing his point and got more agitated as he spoke. "But Momma, I just think a preemptive strike is the right thing to do! The way I see it, we can take out Serleena and stop the rebels at the same time! Show them that they can't mess with us! Threat eliminated, Momma! Just like that! Come on!"

"I'm NOT gonna authorize any preemptive strike against Serleena or the S'aa rebels, Jason," Angie replied firmly. "That's IT. We take a defensive stand the way we have always done. Boy, you need to learn how I run the show! You might actually learn something! Looks like you done forgot what the hell chain of command means! You can't just pop off and run wild with a three-barrel blaster, Jason! Interplanetary politics is just a little bit different from that little blue book Zed gave you!"

At this, Jay got mad, rose hastily up from the table and began to storm out of the room.

Laura was shocked. "Jay! Wait up! Come back here! Your mom's not finished!"

Jay whipped himself around with a hard frown on his face. "NO, Laura! I'm SICK of this bullshit!" he yelled, and Laura was shocked again, since this was the first time Jay ever raised his voice to Laura in anger. He pointed to the plasma screen. "She can finish without me! SHE'S still queen, SHE's still setting policy, let HER deal with it!" And Jay left the room in a huff.

"Let him go, girls," Angie said.

"What do you mean let him go?" Shakita asked, as Jay's footsteps were rapidly clunking down the hallway.

Angie sighed and said, "I've got a little story to tell you girls.

"When Jason was five years old, I made broccoli and brussels sprouts for dinner one night. Well, he wouldn't eat them, and when I told him to, he started crying and pouting and got up and left the dinner table."

"Did you whoop his ass, Angie?" asked Shakita.

"I did no such thing," Angie replied. "I told him that if he didn't want his dinner, he could go straight to bed and not watch TV. So he did. He always watched 'Good Times' on Tuesday nights before he went to bed, but I wouldn't let him that night. He was so pissed that he cried himself to sleep. And he was hungry, but his pride and his anger kept him from coming out of his room all night. But a funny thing happened.

"The next morning, I got Jay up to go to school. He wanted to eat his Crunchberries for breakfast, but I told him he had to finish his vegetables. I sat him down and told him that I really wanted him to eat them and that I was disappointed that he wouldn't. I told him he let me down. And you know what he said to me?

"What was that?" Laura asked.

"He said, 'I know, Momma, I'm sorry,' and he ATE the vegetables. I put 'em in the microwave and he ate every last piece.

"What I'm trying to say is...Jason will do the right thing, if you let him realize how right the thing is for himself. He will obey authority only to the point where he agrees with it, and then he needs convincing. Let him reflect on all this. When he's ready, he'll act."

"If Serleena's on the loose, Angie, we don't have time to wait for Jay to be convinced," Shakita mused gravely.

Angie continued. "You have to remember, Shakita, all Jason knows is how to use deadly force to eliminate what he has been trained and taught to be direct threats to the existence of planet Earth. All you guys need to do is to stay on Zartha and don't wander off planet. The Zarthan defense forces will handle Serleena just fine - they have before, they've protected Zartha against everything she's ever been able to throw our way. You guys will be safe and Zartha will be safe."

Laura frowned a little. She wanted to say something in response, but she held back.

After the conference call, Laura walked outside to find Jay. He was in the hibiscus garden, sitting on the stone bench.

"What in God's name are you so mad about NOW?" Laura asked with a frown.

Jay looked up slowly at his intended. “To tell you the truth, I'm mad about the whole damn thing, Laura. I'm mad at my mom and I'm still mad about MIB. They took us and put us both in exile. For no reason. And Momma just let it happen!”

“Ummm, Jay, is this really productive?” Laura asked again, slightly puzzled.

“I’m sorry baby, but I’m still real upset about what happened. The Men In Black were people I trusted like family, Laura. And I come to find out that they deliberately ROBBED us BOTH - BOTH of us, baby - of our childhood and a chance to get to know each other.”

“But Jay, you know they had good intentions. Your mom was in a very difficult position. You know that. There wasn’t much she could have done, baby.”

“Sometimes I wish Momma would have declared war, Laura. She was well within her rights to do so. The MIB procedural code even says so. That would have put a stop to all the bullshit right there.”

“It could have also aggravated the internal unrest here on Zartha, baby,” Laura replied.

“Momma was well able to deal with any renegades here on Zartha, Laura. With one snap of her fingers.”

“You know, intergalactic war is so dangerous anyway, Jason. So destructive. Would YOU have started a war if you were in that same situation?”

Jay was silent for a moment. Laura’s deep gaze was sincere yet intense.

Jay sighed, remembering what Momma said in the vision he had back in his old apartment in Brooklyn that night Laura left, which seemed like years ago now. “Well, baby, I don’t think I would have launched an attack, but I think I would have posed a threat.”

“You’re thinking like an agent and not like a king, Jay. I keep telling you, baby, you’re not a cop any more.”

“But what am I supposed to do, Laura? I feel HELPLESS! I mean, come on, we lost 25 years of our lives. I don't even know who the hell I am anymore!"

“I know, baby.” Laura moved over close to Jay and sat down next to him. ”I know you’re mad and you wish things happened differently for us. But you can’t change the past. You can only take what we’re given to work with and do the best we can. And we've been given the energy of Light.”

“Yeah. That's the thing. That’s another question I have for you. What is the point of our having all this energy, baby? Why are you the Light? Why am I the Sun?”

“We wanted to be, Jay,” said Laura.

“No, I didn’t. You don't understand. I didn’t ask to be a sun god, Laura. I didn't ask to be an angel. I didn’t ask to be an alien.”

“You’re sounding like a Man in Black again. You keep forgetting who you really are. You were born from the womb of a being of Light. You were born into a secret society. A secret society with a lot of power. Power that comes from the very depths of the universe. Remember what your mom always says to you.”

Jay leaned back and sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’m blood of her blood. I know all that, baby. But exactly what does that mean? I still do not really know what all this even MEANS. What is the point of sunlight? What is the point of light, Laura?”

“Well, you can ask, what is the point of existence? And you know what? We exist because we CAN, Jay. It feels good to exist.

“Listen up. Light carries information, Jay. Light carries knowledge. Carries it like wires carry electrical impulses.”

“OK, I can see that,” Jay said.

“The S’aa people know everything there is to know about the universe because it’s ALL coded in our DNA. We are the Light people and all the knowledge, all the information that is in cosmic light, is built into us, inside of us. Somehow I HAVE that knowledge, that energy. Shakita and your mom both told me that I am literally the power of creation itself, Jason. The power of creation itself in a female body! I can create whole planets, whole galaxies... just by feeling the LOVE and just being what I AM, by being the LIGHT!

“That is SO exciting to realize. Why else was it so important for YOU to discover me back in New York, Jay? Why was it so critical to keep Serleena from getting to me first? Think about it.”

“Well, being that you are the power of creation, you had the potential to blow up the Earth.”.

“And so did you. We still do, if we went back, the way the Knowing has grown in us. Right now it’s way too dangerous for us to go back to Earth in our present states.

“You are a Sun person. The sun is, by definition, a star, and all that information is built into your tribe, too, baby. And your mom is half S’aa herself! You have SO much knowledge in you. Your mom’s been trying all those years when you were a kid to ACTIVATE it. I keep telling you, baby, you're her son, so you have everything she has. That’s why you wear the necklace. Or do you NOT remember the love we just made last night?”

“Yeah, baby, I know all that. I feel the energy and I feel the potential inside me. What I felt last night was real, Laura. I KNOW I can do a lot of stuff, serious stuff, I KNOW it...but why do I NEED the knowledge? T’ola'an had the knowledge in him and we know he created planets himself, but why do I need it? I have no desire to create things.”

“But Jay, YOU are T’ola'an come back to life, baby. And we HAVE to come together to create a child. A super-child. Only WE can do it. You and me. Together. That is the destiny we were born to.”

“I like the concept...but...I’m not sure I can handle all this, baby, I mean, everyone’s all counting on me and stuff to make this happen... that’s a lot of responsibility -”

“Jason, trust me, dude, you can handle it. If you weren’t born to the family you were, that’s one thing, but you were born to a Zarthan queen. You are a child of the sun god and the son of the angel woman, and that woman is my fairy godmother. YOU are an actual piece of the sun itself. That sun, the one shining right there,” and Laura pointed up to the left of the twin suns blazing in the afternoon sky.

“And you also have the energy of the blue star in you as well, Jason. Through you and only through you can the sun god return and merge with the Light. Me.”

Jay sighed and looked off to his left with a quizzical frown.

Laura continued. “I’m here going through all this too, you know. I’m new at this divine ‘god and goddess’ stuff too, you know. Two weeks ago I was Employee of the Month at a pizzeria on Spring Street in SoHo. I was making $10.25 an hour plus tips, and living in the apartment up above the place for only $200 a month."

"That's a pretty damn good deal for SoHo," Jay mused. Then he remembered something. "What am I talkin' about...I OWN the damn building. You work for ME! I'll write you a refund check later for all that rent you paid."

"You don't have to do anything like that, baby. And we BOTH work for Zartha, now. Look, I'm trying to make a point. Listen.

"So I was living and working at Ben's, right, and all this time you know what I was doing? What I was doing the last three years, Jay. I was getting ready to go to CCNY to get my double major in English and Theater so I could go to NYU and be a graduate film major and maybe get into the Actors’ Studio...and I was gonna be in PICTURES, Jay. I was gonna go to Hollywood and be the next Halle Berry. And then I was gonna direct! I was going to be the next Scorsese, the next...Barbara Streisand! Well, you came along baby, and all that changed.

“Now instead of learning how to be the toast of the Academy, I’m about to be responsible for the economic and social welfare of 3 1/2 million people and I will be one of their most looked-up-to political and spiritual figures. I’m a little nervous about all this too, Jason. Just like you are. But think about it, Jay. Isn’t this shit better than the way your life was going before all this happened? Huh? Now what if we hadn’t gotten together? You’d still be writing traffic tickets to cephaloids and eating chicken pot pies all by yourself in that apartment of yours.”

Jay sighed and his face was wrinkled up in a puzzled frown. “Sometimes I wish I WAS still writing tickets to cephaloids, Laura.

“I’m glad you’re in my life. I’m glad my mom’s back in my life. But when I was by myself, I had control. My life...was predictable. Damn, Laura. You women are always controlling me. Flashing light into my eyes and stuff. And I flash light into yours. My life was a LOT simpler before I became an alien!”

Laura laughed hard. “Dude, I happen to LIKE it when you shine your light into me! So don’t try and get cold feet and back out of this now. You are stuck with my ass.” Then Laura looked at Jay with a patient smile, which reflected the awakening wisdom growing inside of her. “Look, you have the curiosity, baby. You have the desire. You don’t THINK you have it now, but you’ll get it soon enough. Just stop trying to think about it so much, stop trying to understand the mechanics of it, and just FEEL it. Feel who you ARE.

“Stop hiding behind that black suit, baby. Let your REAL identity come out. Take your childhood memories - how good you felt around Angie - and build off of that! Just feel love. Feel it, Jason, just feel it. That makes it easier.”

Jay sighed in annoyance. “Laura, I don’t know, baby, I really thought I was the man before, but what’s happening to me is a massive undertaking...and a tremendous change from everything I’ve ever known since I was taken from my mom. You know how I was when we met. I’m a cop, Laura. I was trained to be objective, methodical and ready to fire my weapon at any time. How the hell can police skills be called upon to lead a NATION? I mean, like, three-and-a-half MILLION people are countin’ on me!” Jay scowled harder in frustration.

Laura felt a little hurt by Jay’s frustration, but deep down inside she knew he had it in him. She felt Angelique’s love every time she saw him. Angie was a strong, proud, determined woman, and Jay’s personality came from his mom. “Dude, you’re stuck in your own limbo. You’re so confused about this stuff that you let the limbo become your comfort zone.”

Jay looked at Laura with a cold stare. “That is NOT fair, Laura.”

Laura cringed slightly – she didn’t want to provoke an argument – but she had to make her point. This was critical.

“I’m serious, Jay. And I don’t care if you’re pissed at me, either. I mean it about your hiding behind the black suit. You’ve got to learn who you are and become it. You are NOT a cop, You are a sensitive, caring, EMOTIONAL man...and you are supposed to be a warrior. You are meant to be king of this place. That’s why you were born.

“Jay, your deepest hopes and dreams have come true. At the very least, you wanted a woman all your life to love you, love you unconditionally. Well, now that I’m here, I’m beginning to wonder whether or not you really want me.”

Jay cast his head down sheepishly. “Yeah, I want you, Laura, of course I want you. I love you.”

“Well why the hell are you not buying into this???" Laura exclaimed. "Damn, man...this is so frustrating! Me, your mom, all of us...We are trying to tell you this shit!!! Everybody's telling you you gotta step up and your ass is still trying to figure out why you're even here! You keep gettin' all confused and shit!!! Come ON, Jay!"

"Damn it, Laura, you don't know how hard this is for me! You don't know what it's like! You have NO idea, NO idea what the hell I'm goin' through! I'm trying, baby, I am trying!"

Laura looked away in frustration and tears were beginning to form. In the sky above, cumulus clouds were beginning to clump in response to Laura's emotions.

"You tryin' to get me rained on?" Jay asked sharply.

"You can make it rain just as much as I can," Laura shot back. "So I suggest we keep on talkin'."

Jay looked down, blew a tense sigh, and continued. “Look, just listen to me for a minute, Laura, this is real, real hard for me to put into words. I mean...what I’m saying is, I just wish I could go back to the way it was before I found out about my true identity - and not have to deal with Serleena or with rebel factions or with ruling a planet or being a cosmic sun god or any of that.”

“Jason, listen to me. Listen to me. I will not leave you hanging in this fight. I CAN'T. I love your ass too damn much. We’re going to go through this thing together, baby. You and me. We will beat Serleena and the wedding will go on.

"Look, I know you want me, I know you love me. I got that, alright? - but even wanting me ain’t enough. That’s not really the whole point of this...it’s not even the point of our whole relationship! The point of ALL this is that you need to want yourself. The new yourself. The self your mom is telling you about. The one you’re still bitter about having been hidden from you all your life.

“Laura,” Jay replied, “I’m tryin’ so damn hard to get my arms around all this. But so many years have gone by since New Orleans. So many years since they took me away. Momma’s plan was to teach me about being a sun-god gradually, over the course of my childhood and my teen years. That never happened. I’m learning how to be Jason all over again, baby, and this is some hard stuff.”

“Well, you’ll come around, baby,” Laura said, “even if your momma has to slap your ass around a little bit more.”

“She’ll have to do that a lot between now and the wedding,” Jay chuckled.

Then he sighed again, leaned over and kissed Laura. “I need to be alone for a bit, baby.”

Laura reached over and caressed his head. Then an idea flashed into her mind.

“What are you up to NOW?” Jay smirked.

“You just go off and be by yourself for a while. I’m gonna have a big surprise for you later on. I’m going out in the transport.”

Jay’s eyes shot open. He began yelling again. “Are you out of your MIND? Laura! What the HELL did we JUST get finished talkin' about? Serleena is on the LOOSE! She’s out to KIDNAP you! No, Laura, I’m NOT lettin’ you out of my sight!” Jay grabbed Laura by the wrist.

Laura now got tired of Jay's anger. She got indignant and her eyes flashed white with annoyance. “What the hell, Jay? You are NOT an agent anymore and I am NOT in your CUSTODY! You can’t tell me what I can and cannot do!” She jerkily snatched herself away from Jay’s grip. “Damn it! I keep tellin’ you! You need to TRUST me, man! Everything’s gonna be just FINE, all right? Trust me, Jason!”

Jay looked to his left with a scowl. He was pissed and his eyes showed it. “All I'm tryin' to do is protect you, Laura! If you want to go out, then I’m coming!”

“Fine, but you need to give me five seconds head start.”

“I thought we’d go TOGETHER, Laura.” Jay’s look was stern.

“No, Jay, I need to be in my own ship alone in order for my idea to WORK. You need to get in your ship and follow me. I’m trying to TEACH you something!”

“And what, exactly is this that you’re planning on teaching me? That might get your butt KIDNAPPED?”

At this question, suddenly, Laura’s whole attitude shifted. She smiled a sly smile and the most mischevious look crossed her face. Her eyes flashed a bright greenish-white.

Jay got embarrased, for he loved it when Laura took that attitude. “Aw, holy shit, damn, Laura, come on now, this is serious...”

“I KNOW, Jason. Follow the light, baby. That’s all you need to know. Follow the light. Come on!” Now Laura grabbed Jay by the wrist. She planted another quick, wild agressive kiss on his lips. Then she started rapidly walking through the palace gardens, tugging Jay along so fast he nearly tripped on the paving stones.

“Damn! Watch out! You know, I worry about you, Laura,” Jay exclaimed. “If anything happens to you I will be so damn pissed.”

“Well, I’m NOT worried about you, Jason,” Laura said, still walking rather fast and pulling Jay behind her. “So you need to STOP worrying and stop being pissed. Everything will work out, baby. Everything. Come on!”

At this point, all Laura wanted to do was to go out and express her deep, primal, cosmic love for Jay. She was now running, and still pulling Jay so hard he almost tripped again. The two ran out to the stables where all the silvery egg transports were kept. She had an idea and wanted to carry it out immediately. With Serleena on the loose, this was a risk, but she didn’t care. She had to do this.

There was no way in hell she would let this man leave her, not after everything that happened up to this point. Jay was her soulmate. When he was with her, she felt alive. When he was not with her, something was missing. Bottom line. And she would give all this up to be with him in New York, for the rest of her life. In a New York minute. But she was thankful she didn’t have to.

At this moment Jay was bewildered, annoyed and frightened, but Laura was the happiest she had ever felt in her life. She whirled around in front of the row of ships and faced Jay.

"My mom will kill me if anything happens to you," Jay said.

"Yeah, like you are really so damn worried about what Angie thinks!" Laura shot back.

Jay wanted to say something, but couldn't think of anything to say. Laura grinned at him. They were now standing amongst all the spacecraft.

“Give me five seconds and then follow me, Jay. The ships can track each other, so you’ll always know where I am.” And with that, Laura hopped in her egg-shaped ship. The ship hovered out of the garage and shot upwards in a diagonal direction. In about ten seconds it was a mere speck in the greenish-blue sky.

Jay counted to five and jumped into another identical egg-shaped ship, and took off.

Laura sped off based on some coordinates she found in the egg’s database. This was a portion of deep, deep space - a pocket of nothingness the scientists call a supervoid - far from Zartha. She put the egg into hyperspace and arrived there in about 15 minutes. Jay was about 10 miles behind, but his radar tracked Laura’s every position.

When Laura arrived at the spot, there was little there save for a silent blackness. There were few stars. The galaxy Zartha was in could be seen about several hundred thousand light years or so in the distance.

“Jay, do you have a visual on me?”

“I can see you just fine, baby.”

“Good. Stay there and just watch me, baby.” Then she began filling her mind with images of Jay. Memories merged into feelings, feelings into emotions, emotions into desire. She put the transport into spin mode and let her happy excitedness come out. Greenish-white light was surrounding her as a halo again, but now a large portion of this light was also pouring out of her eyes like floodlights. She was in a state of absolute bliss.

Then, suddenly, without warning, Laura gave a terrific, loud, deep, groaning, wailing cry outward, and terrific, joyful magnesium-looking bluish-white, fiery, starry light exploded with nuclear ferocity, out from a point well below the center of Laura’s stomach and through the ship, and shot rapidly outward in a blinding shockwave-like flash in all directions.

From that intense, pure expanse of light - a brand new galactic core - exploded hundreds of thousands, no, millions of brilliant balls of light, a flaming showery mass that immediately coalescing into more solid forms - the beginnings of new planets.

Laura, who was completely intact, panting hard and sweating bullets by now - but somewhat back to normal, put the ship (which was also fully intact and operational) into neutral and let it get sucked out along one of the spiral arms in a big vortex of energy, propelling the little silvery egg out into deep space like a rock in a slingshot.

The ship shot past Jay’s, hurtling at incredible speed. When Jay saw Laura’s egg approach, he pressed a couple of buttons on the instrument panel and electromagnetically coupled his ship to Laura’s. With a tremendous jerk, he shot along behind Laura, hurtling at almost hyper speed.

After a couple of minutes, the ships came to a stop.

Laura was alone, with Jay in his egg electromagnetically hooked up about 1000 feet away now, the both of them several light years farther out, gazing with deep longing and happiness at the huge, luminous, still-expanding core of the massive galaxy she just gave birth to. Dozens of proto-planetary spheres were being generated at that very moment.

Laura stared happily, all around her, at this galaxy, and nodded with a deep smile. How could Jay not be pleased by this? How could he not be touched, moved to tears, made to see with his own eyes that the power of all creation - the same power that made the universe in the first place, that original, primal, ancient energy - was truly an integral, critical part of his new wife, and was also genetically inside of him, too...

Jay, of course, witnessed the whole thing.

“Holy mother of God...Laura...” Jay was mesmerized.

“You see, baby?” Laura responded on the secure radio line. “Do you see what I’m tryin’ to tell you? This is what I am? And it’s what you are, too! This is only a small piece of what we can become TOGETHER, Jay! This energy, this power, this LIFE! We can CREATE, Jay! Just like the ones who created US millions of years ago! And by creating we make the universe a better place...”

“Laura, that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s like you gave birth to a galaxy.”

“Yes, I guess that’s what I did, Jay.”

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Kidnapped

"So if we have this superchild, he could do that too?" Jason asked. "MY kids will be able to have light blast out of them like nuclear warheads and create galaxies, moons, stars, planets, the whole nine yards?"

"Damn straight, baby," Laura replied. "And that may be the LEAST they'll be able to do."

With that, Jay felt a smile of deep pride and love form on his lips. A tear ran down his cheek. His eyes began to glow a dull red.

"Hey, Laura?"

"Yes, baby?"

"You know, I think I could get used to this after all."

"Well, you better, Jason Edwards. You and me, we're cosmic superheroes now. We're not even mortal anymore."

"Is that right? Damn..." Jay mused with a slight chuckle. "This shit is pretty damn cool."

“Now that's what I'M talkin' about,” Laura said with a feeling of strong love and pride.

Unbeknownst to Jay or Laura, a massive space freighter was hovering nearby. It was cloaked in an invisible force field. On this freighter were the captain, Serleena, Scrad and a crew full of the goofiest goons you ever saw. And joining them were some of the rebel S'aa pilots who had tried to shoot Jay and Laura down the day before.

Serleena had witnessed the entire creation of Laura’s galaxy.

“Well, well”, she sneered. She had the most explosively wicked grin on her face. 25 years of scheming and her greatest dream had fallen right in her lap.

“Looks like the Light of Zartha is up to some rather OLD tricks. Scrad!” Serleena yelled.

“Yeah, boss?”

“Engage sensor scan. Find that woman. BOTH of you!”

The smaller of the two heads spoke up. “She’s in the area, boss!”

“Bring her in.” Serleena had a devilish smile on her lips.

"Let's go home, baby," Jay said from inside his egg-shaped ship.

"OK, stay there and I'll join you in a second." Laura ran her hand over the control circle, but the egg would not move. She thought she ran the startup procedure wrong. She tried again. Nothing.

"Jay, I can't move my ship!"

Jay frowned slightly. "What do you mean you can't move your ship?"

"It won't go," Laura replied. "That's strange."

"Did you wave your hand over that control dome thing?"

"Yeah, but nothin's happening."

Then the ship began to move backwards and did not respond to her commands. Jay's ship was no longer connected to hers, either. "I'm not liking what I'm seeing," Jay said, and his heart began to race. Somehow Laura's ship was out of control - or being controlled by something else. He began to fly his ship over to try and connect it to Laura's again and tow it back home.

Then a message ring came on the small screens of both ships. Laura’s heart fell at what she saw. Jay's heart stopped.

“Hello, dolly. Boy, you’re pretty creative, toots.”

Jay slammed his fists onto the dash of his ship on hearing Serleena's voice. "Damn. No, no, no. Not this, not my worst damn nightmare."

“Let me go, Serleena. NOW.” Laura's voice was strong and clear.

“Not so fast, there, Miss Universe. I think you have something I want. Something I really, really, REALLY want. You. Anyone who can create an entire galaxy in just 30 seconds is just the queen-to-be I’m looking for. In fact, I’ve been looking for you for 25 DAMN YEARS!

“Prepare to board my vessel, Vasquez. You are my hostage.”

Laura closed her eyes and tried to use her energy to explode the transport and break free. She could become pure light, fly into Jay's ship as a shooting star, and reassemble.

Jay saw Laura's ship glow a bright starry white with the force of her Light energy.

"Come on baby, Break free! Break free!" he said softly.

But the tractor beam from Serleena's freighter held the ship in a unbreakable grip, and Laura’s energy just made the beam stronger.

“Ha! You fool! Foolish girl! Your damn Light is making my energy stronger. Give it up, toots!”

Laura got scared now.

“Jay,” she called over the radio, “help me baby, I’m in trouble.”

"I'm right here, baby. Stay calm. I'll get us out of this." Jay's voice was stoic and resolute, but deep inside he panicked. Just what he didn't want! This was exactly what Momma and Shakita warned them about! He’d be damned if Serleena was trying to hurt Laura. On his watch. He ran his hand on the viewscreen controller and his cousin answered from her office back in the palace.

“Shakita, call my mom. Now. Serleena's got Laura.” His voice was clipped, direct and to the point. His old police instincts were back in full force.

“What? What are you talking about, Jay? Where is she?”

“We're in sector 11."

"What the hell are y'all doing way the hell out there?" Shakita said. "We TOLD y'all not to go into deep space!"

Jay continued. "We got into an argument after we left your office, and she wanted to come out here to make a galaxy. She was going to come out here by herself, but I came along. She was trying to get me to realize some things about myself. I tried to stop her but she insisted. She proved her point, but Serleena was out here and took her hostage.”

“You never know how much someone loves you until you lose 'em," Shakita said. She wanted to scold and berate Jay for all this, but she thought better of it. "I’ll put the battle cruisers on alert. I'm callin' your mom right now.”

Serleena hailed Jay on his viewscreen. "Jason Edwards! This is Serleena calling!"

"Let my fiancee go NOW, Serleena! I mean it!" Jay shouted.

"I will do no such thing, you fool! She's MINE now! Prepare to say goodbye to your GIRLFRIEND. Prepare to say goodbye to the Earth! I want you to meet me for lunch in Manhattan. The main item on the menu will be YOU, JASON. Times Square, Sun of Zartha! Meet me there at high noon!"

"I defeated you once, Chlorophyll breath, and I'll do it again!"

"We'll see about that, copper! I found a way to transfer the Light of Zartha's cosmic energy to MY body. When I absorb her power, in the middle of Times Square for all to watch and witness, I will use her as an explosive device to detonate and destroy your beloved city of New York. Live on CNN, CNBC and FOX News! It'll be their FINAL broadcast! They won't even have time to go to commercial!"

Two of the same S'aa rebel pilots from the day before brought Laura up to the bridge of the ship. Her hands were tied up with a cord of electromagnetic light energy which shimmered and sparked as she walked.

Serleena continued. "Then Senator T'Loria'an and I will rule the universe and YOU won't have to worry about your impending coronation as King of Zartha. Your so-called royal subjects will immediately become my personal SLAVES!"

"Over my DEAD body, Serleena!"

"That's PRECISELY my INTENT, dumbass!"

"We'll see about that - you damn WEED!"

"Ha ha ha haaa! Weed, eh? well this WEED's takin' over the whole damn garden, pallie! If you want to have a final gaze on the Light of Zartha before I put the Light out for good, then you WILL join me for the lunchtime festivities. Can I count on you to attend, JASON?"

Jay was silent.

"The correct answer is, 'Yes Serleena, I'll be there,'" Serleena sneered.

"Yes, Serleena, I'll be there. With enough firepower to obliterate your overgrown thorn-bush ass for good!"

"HA HA HAAA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA! You are so noble it's SICKENING! See you there, Prince Valiant. But first I have to slow you down a bit - I want Anne of Green Gables here to help me do a little shopping at Macy's before our showdown. It's gonna be a going-out-of-business sale. Going out of business FOREVER! HA HA HAAA!"

Serleena fired a blast of light onto Jay's egg-shaped transport. Then she swung the freighter around, with Laura in it, and sped away. She had just shot an electromagnetic pulse which incapacitated the small ship.

Jay saw a flash of grayish-white light hit his ship. The lights on the dash went out and the air conditioning stopped. An emergency beacon began to flash. There was a reserve tank of oxygen which would last five hours, but that was it. Either the ship had to be externally restarted or Jay would need to be rescued by one of the Zarthan battle cruisers.

"DAMN! she pulsed me out!"

Jay just sat there for about 20 seconds, pissed at himself that he let all this happen by disobeying Momma. Damn, what a fool he was!

"Think, man, think," Jay said frantically to himself. "Maybe I can make a bunch of energy, like Laura did, and turn this ship back on..."

So Jay now tried to focus and concentrate his energy on creating a huge amount of light. In his stressed out state he could only remember a few Zarthan commands. The ones he knew since he was four years old.

Jay took off his T-shirt. He was only in his Wrangler jeans, his Timbos and his medallion. He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath.

"T'ola'a. S'aa. T'ola'a. S'aa. T'ola'a. S'aa. T'ola'a. S'aa..."Jay kept the chant up for about three minutes. The medallion began to glow, just as it did back in Brooklyn, at MIB and at the royal palace. Jay's entire body began to glow, and he began to sweat. Steam was beginning to fog up the canopy of the ship.

Jay began to feel more and more filled with tingling, bouncing, sparkling energy. His whole being began to feel as if it were smoldering and sizzling like a hot coal.

Suddenly, Jay felt it. Deep in the pit of his stomach. This was unmistakable. It was almost exactly how he felt when he and Angie did the necklace prayer back in New Orleans, but this was a deeper, stronger, much more intense feeling - this must be the "adult" version, the way it feels when the sun person is full grown. This was a different energy than what he felt with Laura in the bedroom, too.

It wasn't painful but it was so intense he yelled out at the top of his lungs. That's when the reddish, fiery, nuclear-like light blew out of Jay's stomach and it radiated out of the ship in all directions, showering the area with fiery shreds and sparks, with a rapidly growing reddish yellow light at the center. Jay had just created a star, unbeknownst to him.

The lights on the craft came back on, and the air conditioner began to blow again.

Jay was sweating profusely and was panting hard, gasping for breath. He even coughed a couple of times. He looked all around the ship at the gaseous mass, shining brightly all around him. It was a beautiful sight. "Holy..." Jay looked down at the medallion, still glowing red-hot. "This stuff really does work. Laura's right. She's exactly right. I am a sun-god."

Jay slammed his hand on the control circle and ran his hand rapidly counter-clockwise over it. "Hang on, baby, I'm comin' to save you," Jay said. He set the coordinates for New York. He didn't want to fly the transport directly into Times Square for obvious reasons. He would go to MIB HQ, get his favorite motorcycle, and ride that uptown.

For a second, he thought, what if MIB won't cooperate? What if they won't even let me in the building 'cause I'm a "former employee"? Then Jason said, "They damn well better help us, if they want New York to get through the afternoon without being vaporized."

He sent a radio message to Kay on the secure frequency. "Kay, it's Jay. Listen, we got a 101 Red. Serleena's got Laura. She took Laura's little ship up in her freighter. She's headed to Manhattan. Serleena wants to use Laura as a bomb to detonate and destroy New York. Serleena wants to meet me in Times Square at 12 noon. I'm coming to headquarters. I should be there in 20 minutes. Tell the fellas to get my Ninja ready and a clean T-shirt from the laundry room. I'm out."

Meanwhile, Angie also heard and felt Jay and Laura's frantic thoughts and got the hotline call from Shakita. When she got off with Shakita she immediately pressed down on the “H” button on the faucet on her sink. The button lit up and flashed rapidly. No sound was made. But in about 15 seconds six female guards came and quickly unlocked her cell. Angie’s voice was clipped, direct and to the point. Her old military commander instincts - and her MIB agent training - were back in full force.

“Ladies, this is not a drill. I have a Code 101 Red. Fire up C-Block and get New York on the line STAT.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Three of the six guards took off on a dead run down the corridor. The remaining three respectfully stood at attention as Angie grabbed a headset from under her bed. One of the guards was wearing black sunglasses. MIB-issue sunglasses.

Angelique was not cuffed or shackled. She was whisked into another cell in C-block, the solitary confinement wing. This cell contained several millions of dollars worth of surveillance and communications equipment - some of Earth design and some of Zarthan design. 10 minutes later, she called Kay in his office New York on a secure land telephone line.

“Laura has been kidnapped. I can track her essence. I can feel her, Kevin, she’s scared out of her mind. She’s headed for Earth.” She sounded like a frantic mom, but tinged with the steely resolve of the commander-in-chief of a major interplanetary power in the midst of a crisis.

She always addressed Kay by his real name. Kay and Angelique had dealings with each other, long before Jay or Laura were even born.

Kay could only imagine one thing at this point. “Serleena’s got her.”

“Our battle cruisers are on full alert, Kevin. We have 15 of them in Earth orbit and 40 in deep space. We ALREADY took out a couple of Kylothian cruisers that fired on us, trying as they always do to take advantage of the situation. I just gave their king a little what-for a minute ago. He denies any knowledge of Serleena’s actions. But he ain’t gonna mess with us any more today. You can be for DAMN sure about that.”

Kay knew the stakes were sky-high on this one and Angelique’s usual “diplomacy” kept the Kylothians off Earth’s back one MORE time. “Understood, Angie. Thanks for holding the Kylothian fleet off. Again.”

“Kevin, you owe me big time, baby.”

“I know, Angie. I’ll make it up to you. We’ve got everything all tracked. We’re monitoring the entire situation. Don’t worry. We’ll handle it. We’ll set up a command post. Laura’ll be just fine.”

“Baby, I’m worried about Jason, too. He’s on his way down.”

“I just got a message from him about a minute ago. I'm gonna get things ready for him right now. I wouldn’t have expected anything less from Jay, Angie. That’s the way we trained him.”

“Look, listen to me. Senator T'Loria'an's probably in on this too. Some of his rebels already tried to shoot Jason and Laura down yesterday."

"Holy crap...T'Loria'an AND Serleena...working together on this one, huh? Well, that's a dynamic duo if there ever was one," Kay said gravely.

"Kevin, I'm serious, sweetie, listen to me. If y’all mess this one up you won’t need me or the Kylothians to launch an attack. It’ll be all over and WE will be the only ones left to start your civilization all over again IF we don't destroy ourselves in a civil war first. Y’all know that.”

“I know. We’ll get it done, Angie. I promise. We will get this done. All of us. Together.”

And Serleena's freighter hurtled towards Earth at 125 times the speed of light.

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Sun of Zartha

[edit] Showdown in Times Square

Kay was stern as he addressed the assembled agents. There were about 85 in the hall. He paced back and forth like a field general. Zed was behind him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the Light of Zartha has been kidnapped. Our former colleague Agent Jay, who as you all know by now is the Sun of Zartha and the heir to the Zarthan throne, is at this hour enroute here to coordinate rescue procedures. Her Majesty, Queen Angelique of Zartha, is in direct personal charge of this operation. Anything and everything we do is subject to her immediate and binding approval.

“The Zarthan defense fleet is on its highest state of alert and several Zarthan battlecruisers are in geosynchronous Earth orbit even as we speak.

“We are charged with assisting in the Light of Zartha’s safe rescue and recovery. If any harm should come to her, or to Agent Jay, not only could Earth be completely taken over by Serleena and Senator T'Loria'an, but a wedding's gonna be ruined, and we will have one pissed off Louisiana mother-in-law after our asses.

“Here they go.”

Kay pressed a button and a huge image of the lovely Serleena, along with the goony Scrad, filled the viewscreen.

“Listen up, ladies and gentlemen. Serleena's been on the run for 90 minutes. Craft landed on top of Madison Square Garden about six minutes ago. Last known location was in the vicinity of 34th Street and Broadway. She’s got the big ball, people.

A gasp rose from the crowd.

Kay continued. “They will be on foot and they will try to blend into lunchtime rush crowds, people. And ladies and gentlemen, by the way, on this one you DO have full authority to neuralyze any and all non-involved bystanders on sight.

“Average foot speed over sidewalks and pavement of our party—barring injuries and window shopping—three miles an hour. That gives us a radius of 6 1/2 miles.

“You all need to track Serleena as she moves through midtown Manhattan and provide backup for me, the strike team and the royal couple. She wants a showdown in Times Square. 47th Street and Broadway. I want at least 30 of you in position in every penthouse, townhouse, outhouse, henhouse, balcony and open window you can commandeer overlooking the intersection. With weapons ready to fire.

“Check points go up at 25 blocks. One thing, ladies and gentlemen, as you are all aware, you all must act with the utmost caution as our former colleague Jay and Miss Vasquez are top level Zarthan royalty. They are romantically involved AND intimate. I need not go further into that.”

The agents gave another large collective gasp of wonder.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Serleena is armed and dangerous and she is Class C, Level One. Go get her.”

And with that, the agents immediately scampered out of the great hall. Each one leaped into a black car - Mercedes, Durangos, Grand Cherokees (remember, all vehicles are furnished by DaimlerChrysler), and the massive convoy rolled out, tires screeching with urgency.

About five minutes later, a flash of bluish-white sparkling electrical light shockwaved itself into the middle of the motor pool garage. The egg-shaped transport had materialized. Jay strode out. At this point he threw himself mentally to the task at hand, but there was a twinge of discomfort in his stomach on seeing this man again, after learning the truth about their connection.

For his part, Kay was waiting to receive him, sunglasses on. He was outwardly stoic, as usual, but really wanted to reach out and give him a huge hug and a slap on the shoulder like his daddy used to do back on the ranch. "We'll see this through, son..."

A wistful smirk forced its way from Kay. Kay threw a clean white T-shirt, which Jay caught in his left hand.

“Got it ready?” Jay said quickly, snappily.

“You got it, slick.” In front of the two men was a large black Kawasaki Ninja. Jay ran his hand down the side.

“My old bike. Good choice. Orders?” Jay looked up at Kay as he was putting the shirt on, waiting. His expression was intentionally expressionless.

Kay hesitated for a split second. Then he spoke. “Meet me at 46th Street and Broadway in 20 minutes. That’s the rendezvous point. We’ve got a little time. Serleena likes drama. She wants to see YOU before she does anything.”

“She told me as much," Jay replied. "I’d like to see her, too. If Miss Miracle-Gro wants drama, she’ll get some. Standard code names?”

“Affirmative. When Laura’s rescued, have your mom do a civilian clear-out.” That was code for a mass neuralyzation.

“Momma can do THAT?” Jay was suddenly incredulous.

“Yeah, we’ve got her fully set up. She’s in a command bunker at St. Gabriel right now.”

Jay looked away in a slightly sickened tone of disgust. All this time, all these years, you were Momma's boyfriend and you knew I was your son, Jay thought, and the thought made him more angry. He looked at the stoic Kay again.

“Man, what ELSE are you NOT tellin’ me?”

Kay wanted badly to say something else, something about sharing beignets and black coffee in the French Quarter of New Orleans, in the year 1965, with an 18-year old Black girl who had the prettiest smile he had ever seen in his life...but he just couldn’t. Not yet.

“Nothin' you need to know now, son.”

Jay winced a little when Kay said the word "son", but he tried not to show too much displeasure. “Whatever, Kay.”

“Hey, tell me somethin’.”

“What?” Jay was clearly annoyed. Kay was always doing this to him when he was in a big hurry.

“What’s it like?”

Jay frowned. “What’s WHAT like?”

Kay went on. “Zartha. Is it..you know...”

Jay’s look warmed up slightly. This was, after all, the first time he and Kay had seen each other since he was “decommissioned.” Maybe I'll try to be nice to you right now under the circumstances, he thought. “The fishing’s good. Looks a lot like Louisiana. Lot of bayous and forests and savannahs and shit like that.”

“Guess I gotta get up there one of these days,” said Kay.

“You know, you ARE invited to the wedding, Kay. But first I have to save the bride. If you’ll excuse me.”

And with that, Jay leaped on the bike. Kay turned to go towards his standard Mercedes.

“Looking damn good, slick,” Kay called out behind him as he walked.

Jay rolled his eyes upwards for a second, and flashed a slight grin at his mentor. Maybe when this stuff is over I’ll forgive you, Jay thought. And maybe I might be able to call you...well, maybe not yet.

He jumped on the starter of the Ninja and sped off down the tunnel. He came out at Canal Street and turned to go north on Sixth Avenue. _______________________________________________________

The Destructolator is a long plasma gun which looks a little like a cross between a bathroom plunger and a pogo stick. Serleena was wielding one of these and pushed it harder into Laura’s back as the pair walked through the womens’ department at Macy’s Herald Square.

Suddenly, Laura felt a twitching twinge all over her body. It was the same twinge she felt anytime Jay entered the room. The first time she felt it was when he entered Ben’s Pizza.

With a shock, Laura turned around to face Serleena. Serleena said:

“What’s wrong with you? Why are your eyes lighting up?”

“Lighting up?...Ummm...I have...umm...I’m nearsighted. and I forgot my contacts,” Laura said with a rather weak smile.

Serleena was annoyed. “You can’t POSSIBLY tell me that an extraterrestrial goddess is NEARSIGHTED! You can come up with a much better line of BS than that, toots.”

Laura’s eyes glowed again. She cringed with dread.

Serleena then got an idea. “Something tells me...Scrad! Charlie!”

“Yeah, boss?”

“Go outside on 34th Street and see if you see any Men In Black, especially the ANNOYING, WISE-cracking kind that try to be FUNNY and WITTY and SUAVE and COOL and BRAVE and NOBLE and ROMANTIC and all that disgusting stuff!” She was staring Laura hard as she shouted all this, clearly intending to hurt her by belittling Jay. It worked. Laura started to cry.

“You will NOT succeed, Serleena!” Laura cried weepingly. “Jay is going to rescue me! Just you watch!”

“You keep saying that!" Serleena screeched."Give it a rest, Golden Girl! Move it! Scrad! Get your butt out there and look for him!”

“On it, boss!” The two-headed dolt lumbered off with a few of the shocked patrons staring at him like he was some kind of freak or something.

Two Macys security guards were running towards Serleena, and she blasted a hole in the floor in front of them with the weapon.

"One more step, fellas, and she gets it!" she yelled. They backed off from the smoking, gaping hole in the floor.

Serleena then turned a cold eye towards Laura. “You’re looking at one pissed off plant, toots!” she snarled, quite annoyed. “I do NOT see why Angie's spoiled little BRAT would want to be concerned with saving YOUR sorry, cute, perky little Mary Tyler Moore wanna-be ass. When I see him at Times Square, I’ll kill two birds with one Destructolator!”

Jay was indeed close by. His Ninja was stuck in a traffic jam at 32nd Street and he had to ditch it. When Serleena’s freighter landed on top of Madison Square Garden, lots of people crowded around to watch. They were told an episode of Stargate SG:1 was being filmed.

That was enough to send dozens of secretaries screaming and pulling autograph books out of purses, frantically waving them in the air. “Where’s Richard Dean Anderson! That man is so FINE! I want his autograph!” they were screaming.

Scrad did not see Jay outside. He was already ahead of them at 38th Street. Serleena marched Laura out onto Broadway.

They were met by several of her mercenary guards (a few of them were S'aa rebels, followers of T'Loria'an). The guards cleared the way for them by blasting pretzel stands, sno-cone stands, hot dog stands and fire hydrants with their destructolators, making a huge mess. People ran frantically in every direction.

“This is taking too long, we're losing time,” Serleena scowled, and took out a weird device. “Guards! Set your bilocators to positions. We're going to the staging area.”

The guards and Scrad took out similar devices and pushed a few buttons on them. Serleena grabbed Laura by the arm.

There was a flash of reddish light and sparks. The party suddenly disappeared.

Meanwhile, up ahead at 38th Street, Jay was incensed. Having to wade through the wall-to-wall people surrounding him was eating up a lot of clock.

Jay spoke into his mic. “Red Fox, this is Red Ranger. Over.”

“Go ahead Red Ranger,” Kay said.

“I’m at Broadway and 38th, walking north towards Times Square. I had to leave the bike at 32nd Street. There’s a huge ass traffic jam. Over.”

“Copy you, Red Ranger. The usual recovery team will recover the bike. The fugitive and her hostage just bilocated to the main staging point. I guess they got tired of walking. Situation up here is critical yet stabilized for now. I’m puttin' your mom thru. Stand by.”

Angelique was in her darkened bunker at St. Gabriel Women’s Prison, looking at the entire scene on 24 flat-screen monitors on the wall. Three of the Zarthan battle cruisers had large-lens telescope cameras trained on Manhattan, and these were the images on the screens.

Angie had a switchboard of Zarthan manufacture in front of her and was wearing a headset.

“Jason, this is Momma.”

Jay had forgotten all about being angry at Angie by now. “Copy you, Momma.”

“Jason, I’m in a command center in Louisiana. Code name for the command center is ZARLACOM. I’m tracking your movements as you go. I want you to keep walking up Broadway. Serleena has Laura right at Times Square at 47th Street and Broadway. She has her on top of the tkts ticket booth. They used bilocators to transport there. When you get there you need to be careful since your energy is unstable. Very, very unstable.”

“Copy that, Momma.”

“Jason, you’ve got backup coming from Louisiana. Heavy backup.”

At that moment, a flotilla of silvery egg transports was hurtling at twice the speed of sound over the hills of West Virginia. People seeing them mistook them for a flock of Canada geese.

“Copy that, Momma...Momma?”

“Yes, baby,” Angie replied.

“I’d better tell you...I don’t know what the hell I’m supposed to do but I’m so pissed off right now I can’t really think straight.”

“Well, Jason, if you’re that pissed, be advised, your physical appearance may be significantly altered.”

“Yeah...people here on the street ARE looking at me like I’m some freak - and these - these are New Yorkers doin' this!!!”

“What's your position right now, Jason?” Momma asked.

“On Broadway, just about to cross 37th Street.”

“Are you in front of a Subway or a McDonalds?”

“A Subway, right on the corner,” Jay replied.

“Look in the plate glass window.”

Jay obeyed. He stared and squinted at himself in the window. He was stunned. His skin color was a deep, almost bright red color, now, like that of a chili pepper. His eyes were glowing like hot steel ingots. He was sweating all over, his veins were bulging, popping out of his skin, and his normally large ears took on an extreme Yoda-like elfinness.

A middle aged man was seated on a stool, eating his meatball sandwich on the other side of the window inside the restaurant. He looked up at Jay, stared with a puzzled frown for a second, shook his head, shrugged a little bit, and went right back to eating his sandwich. "Damn aspiring actors," the man muttered.

“Holy shit,” Jay said with shocked incredulosness.

“I guess the activation rituals are working just fine. Welcome to yourself, baby. Keep going,” Angie said.

At 42nd Street, all southbound traffic was blocked and detoured. Jay noticed that the NYPD officers at that scene were actually MIB agents in disguise.

This was standard operating procedure for “critical events” - Jay and Tee were in a similar exercise just a month before - police uniforms and all.

Broadway and Seventh Avenue were devoid of ALL motor vehicles between 42nd and 52nd Streets, and the cross streets between 8th and 6th Avenues were cleared as well. Workers, tourists, theater-goers, hamburger flippers, even a couple of TV stars were told to stay in their buildings.

Jay reached 47th Street. What he saw shocked and angered him.

Behind a barricade in the middle of the roadway were Kay, Zed, Frank, and 20 other agents. Jeebs and almost 100 spectators were on the sidewalk behind New Year’s Eve-style barricades.

Serleena was standing on the roof of the Theatre Development Fund “tkts” booth, which was recently renovated to be more of a permanent structure. Several of her goons surrounded (some of them situated across 47th Street) with Destructolators drawn, replacing the hordes of theater-goers looking for a cheap ticket to a hot new Broadway show.

Several MIB agents were in various windows, standing on marquee signs, commandeering doorways (and perched in spaces in between and behind the massive neon signs and billboards) along Broadway as well as Seventh Avenue; their huge plasma ray guns were drawn and trained on the scene, as Kay had ordered. Serleena had her huge weapon still in her hand, and next to her was what looked like a huge, gigantic beach ball. It was a huge electromagnetic force field.

Laura was inside of it.

That same cord of electric light tied her up, sparkling and shimmering slightly. Her eyes began to light up intensely as Jay approached the barricade.

As a fuming Jay approached, the Kylothian guards raised their guns up, and so did the MIB agents in response. Then the goons backed down. And so did the agents.

The watchful bronze and black granite statue of Father Duffy, one of the venerable Times Square landmarks, always on the back side of the tkts booth, loomed between Jay and Serleena, as if to make one last ironic attempt at a divine mediation.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Sun of Zartha," Serleena exclaimed with a sarcastic grin. "How good of you to be so punctual for our little appointment! New York is SO lovely in the summertime, isn’t it?

“Welcome to my little theater of the absurd, JASON. How fitting for the theater capital of this insignificant little rock you call home - oh, I’m SORRY, JASON, I forgot, ZARTHA’s your REAL home now, ain’t it, fella? And to think that all this time I was going toe to toe with that uppity goody two-shoes little bitch Angie, and her little squirming, pooping, burping, crapping, slobbering bratty little BABY!!!! Sorry I didn't make the connection before, pal. I would have never guessed Angie sent you down here to be a common Earthling. That is, until our friend T'Loria'an gave me the scoop!"

Serleena continued in an increasingly sneering, taunting tone of voice. "Yeah, so YOU'RE Angie's little baby, the one EVERY villian, every renegade, every mercenary in this universe wanted to GET from day one. My, oh my how the years pass by, and how our kids grow up to be complete and total PAINS in the TOOSCH!!! I would have LOVED to see your face back at headquarters when I would have been the one to disclose your true identity. You would have blasted both me AND your boss back there. Or should I say - your DAD.”

Jay’s voice was strong and clear. He stood just in front of Kay and Zed. “OK, Serleena, why don’t we just cut the bullshit and let Laura go. We don’t need to go through all of this.”

Serleena became agitated and annoyed at Jay’s negotiation tactics. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up a sec, there, Denzel. I am calling the shots here, pallie. You see, JASON, I have what I want now. I have the Light of Zartha. And I have the Sun of Zartha.

"And what I’m gonna do, is suck the cosmic energy out of the both of you, use this ball as a bomb and create a big electromagnetic pulse that will render everything within a 250 mile radius nothing but a huge pile of space dust. After that, Senator T'Loria'an, whom you so eloquently debated a few days ago, will lead an invasion force on the White House and take over Earth. This planet will be under our control and T'Loria'an and I will rule the universe. Kapish?”

Jay became very upset. His voice was slow but seething with anger. “There ain’t no kapish, Serleena. Let her go. Now.”

“HA! You’re gonna have to make me!” Serleena laughed deliciously, raised her Destructolator and fired at Jay.

"Give my regards to Broadway! HA HA HAA!" Serleena shouted with an evil chuckling derison, as she fired.

Without thinking about it or even knowing why, Jay instinctively raised his fist up in the air and out in front of him, pointing it right at Serleena, and a huge beam of reddish light shot right out of the fist. That beam, and the beam coming from Serleena's weapon, found and struggled against each other.

The muscles in Jay’s face were straining and heaving with effort as he tried to overpower the Destructolator's ray with his own.

Sparks began flying from anything electrical in the area. Laura’s eyes began to flicker and flash. Two streetlights on Seventh Avenue blew out in a dramatic display of sparks and smoke.

“Jay, back off! Your energy is too unstable!” Laura yelled from inside the big ball.

“I’m NOT gonna lose you again, Laura!” Jay cried out. Sparks and flashes of lightning still flew out. Clouds began to form and the street became very windy. Papers began to blow all over the pavement, adding to the usual, somewhat organized jumble and mess of Broadway.

Even the pigeons gathered in Father Duffy's plaza began to show some concern.

Then, all of a sudden, about 50 yellow Chrysler 300’s, configured as taxicabs, swerved and screeched onto Broadway and Seventh Ave (going the wrong way, northbound in the normally all-southbound lanes) from 46th Street. A red 300, which carried Louisiana vanity license plates, led the convoy: the plates said “SUN GODS”.

The flotilla came to a scraping halt at the barricades. Two women each came out of a taxi. They were all wearing the necklace medallions, just like Jay had. Shakita came out of the red 300.

Angie’s voice came through the headset of Jay. “Jason, the backup is in position.”

Jay looked behind him to see Shakita walking briskly forward. “Shakita, I thought you were back on Zartha!”

“I was, but your mom said come on down and bring the sistahs!” Shakita came next to Jay and raised her fist, shooting out another reddish beam at Serleena.

Some of the Kylothian and S'aa guards fired at Kay and Shakita now, but MIB agents immediately returned fire and took out about 10 of them.

“Fire on the target!” Kay barked into his headset.

Five agents began to shoot their ray guns onto Serleena. She fell down on the roof for a second dazed and stunned, allowing Jay and Serleena to rest, but she got up in another second.

“Ha!" she screeched with an eerie pride. "You thought you could destroy me! Well guess what, you fools! I am now STRONGER!” Serleena’s eyes flashed a deep evil witch green color. With another smirk, she extended long green roots from her hands to tangle up some of the agents lined up on Seventh Avenue. But several of the sun-women shot beams of laseresque light from their fists, cutting off the tangly vines before they could reach the agents. Serleena screeched loudly in pain. The agents then fired on Serleena again.

Some of the remaining rebel guards on the north side of 47th Street returned fire and knocked out three of the MIB agents. Serleena extended tentacly green neural roots to tangle one of them and held him up in the air about 20 feet, in front of a massive, looming, pink and blue billboard for the musical "Hairspray".

“So the Men In Black are into gardening, eh?” I just picked a WEED for you!” Serleena flung the agent into the crowd below. Jay and Shakita shot a softer beam of light, which caught the agent and brought him safely down on to Broadway.

“I’m getting a little tired of playing your little laser light games, people. I think I will blow up New York now,” Serleena said in a sarcastic singsong manner. She spoke into her headset. "Tell T'Loria'an to stand by to attack Washington. Set bilocators to delayed evacuation mode." She raised her hand over the big ball. Sparks began to fly from her palm, onto the side of the force field. Sparks and small boltlets of lightning then began to fly all over a very dismayed looking Laura. Her hair began to stand all the way out like in a Van deGraff machine, and she began to actually fade in and out of view.

“Watch me suck you away, Light of Zartha! HA HA HAA!” Serleena’s eyes flashed a pale green as she began absorbing the light energy from Laura.

Jay began to freak out and now he was really incensed. With a growling cry and the most intense flash of anger from his glowing red eyes, he rapidly lashed out with both of his hands, before Kay or Shakita could do anything else.

Two massive, bluish green bolts of lightning flashed out of Jay's hands. They barely missed blasting holes in the top of the huge black granite cross of the Father Duffy statue, and struck Serleena, but she absorbed the bolts and she sent a lightning flash back out at him in return: she whipped her left hand in a sidearm motion, sending the beam around the right-hand side of the statue, the beam hit Jay and knocked him about five feet back - making him unconscious.

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Backstory | Cast list | Characters | Why I wrote this story
Sun of Zartha “NOOOOOOOO!” Laura screamed from the ball. Her scream began faintly, since she was still fading in and out of sight, and intensified with the force of her anger.

The crowds behind the barricades were hushed with apprehension and fear. What would this crazy lady do now?

Angie, what the hell do we do now? Laura prayed. Tears were flowing and she was quaking with emotion. A light rain began to fall on Times Square.

Angelique was watching the entire scene from the command bunker. For a split second, she had a pang of fear, but quickly regained her composure. She heard Laura’s prayer ring out in her head. A meter on one screen was recording Jay’s vital signs and the readout was in Zarthan. They were stable.

Laura, don’t worry about Jay. He’s fine. We need a change in tactical strategy. What I need you to do is to send love energy to Jay. A LOT of love energy. Encourage him. Reassure him. Tell him he’ll be OK and tell him YOU will be OK.

Hang on, baby. We’ll get you out of there.

Laura obeyed Angie and began sending encouraging energy to Jay’s subconscious mind.

“Shakita,” Angie called to her on her headset.

“Yes, Angie.”

“Do a Level 4 resuscitation on Jay. Get Tawanna, Kisha and Sheronda and have them help you. They've been with Mother Afua this summer, they've got the strongest energy.”

“Affirmative,” Shakita said. The three other women were already converging around Jay.

“Get ready for your destruction, toots!” Serleena had a wicked grin on her face as she faced Laura. “Your boyfriend is dead.”

“No he’s not, Serleena," Laura said. She had stopped crying.

“What do you mean he’s not? No mortal could have survived that huge a shock of electrical energy!”

Laura’s demeanor was calm. “Jay is no longer a mortal, Serleena.”

The color instantly poured out of Serleena’s face. And so did the grin.

The four initiates extended their hands over the limp, rapidly soggying body of Jay. A shower of yellow light began to flow from these hands and bathe Jay. He began to awaken. Then the light from the women’s hands turned to green.

At the same time, Laura began to stabilize. Her eyes flashed yellow light, then green.

Serleena was shocked and visibly annoyed. “What are you freaks doing?”

“Wait and see,” Laura calmly told Serleena. Laura wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. Her confidence returned.

Jay slowly rose up as in a daze. “Damn, Laura, now is not the time to kiss me, I have to save you…”

“Jason.” Angie called to him sharply on the headset. “This is ZARLACOM. Red Ranger. Come in Red Ranger.”

“Red Ranger in, Momma. Over.”

“Jason, we had to bring you back online. You were knocked out for a minute.”

“Thanks, Momma. I want to finish taking out the suspect,” Jay said.

“Negative, Jason. I want you to try a change in strategy,” Momma replied.

“OK…what’s your plan?”

“Jason, I need you to forgive Serleena. For everything she’s done. For kidnapping Laura.”

Jay hesitated for a minute. “Say WHAT? Momma…I don’t know…that’s gonna be hard for me. She’s so evil…”

“Jason, listen to me, baby. You have to show forgiveness and love energy towards Serleena. Remember, you are the reincarnation of lord T’ola'an. You have to ask yourself what would T’ola'an do in this situation, Jay. This is critical stuff for when you are king, baby.

Jay began to tear up. “Momma, Serleena is the most evil presence I have ever seen. She caused so much damage! So much pain! She is a KILLER, Momma! She has to be eliminated! Don't you get it? She’s gotta be taken out, Momma! Taken out!”

“Jason, I know how you feel, I know you are pissed. I know you are trained as a soldier and as a cop, baby. Your police instincts are strong within you as they should be. And I also know you can’t bear to see Laura hurt. But we've gotta take a different tack now, Jason. What is the main objective of a contending army, baby?"

"Umm...attack and deconstruct the enemy's battle plan...Subvert the enemy's mindset...flip their script. Use the expected course of action to engage the battle, but use the unexpected to attain the victory."

"Good, baby. You remember your Air Force combat training. Now think about all that for a second. Understand what you must do. Now you must switch your focus. Switch your thoughts, switch your feelings, switch your vibration. That's the unexpected, baby. That’s the only way out of the crisis. That’s the only way to defeat Serleena. By showing her love energy and not giving into to her bullying and letting her make you upset."

"What the hell are you doing down there?" Serleena yelled. "Hurry it up, Bilbo Baggins! Gotham ain't got all day, ya know!"

"Leave Jay alone!" Laura yelled from inside the big ball.

"Silence!" Serleena hissingly screamed at Laura. "A few more minutes...then eternal destruction and tyranny! T'Loria'an is in position right now and there's nothing you can possibly do!"

Meanwhile, Angie kept talking to Jay. “She’s like a little girl that never had anyone say ‘I love you’ to her, baby. First thing to remember about Serleena: she's not just a tangle of weeds like everybody sees her as. She's a woman. She's female. Now she can spit out seeds, but when she shifts, she also can give birth like a human. She's got a lot of different ways of bringing forth new life. All women, even the most battle-hardened generals, in most cases can bring forth new life and if they can't, it ain't for lack of wanting to. Because of that, they ALL have a small piece of love energy inside them. You need to reach that piece, Jason.

"Second thing to remember: All she wants is to be one with the Light. That’s all she had ever wanted. Show some love, Jason. Show some love. You can do it, Jason. The love is built into you. You don’t have much time left, baby.”

Jay cringed. “Momma, I understand everything you're telling me, and I agree with it, but I need help in order to do this. I'm not...I'm not fully activated all the way yet, Momma. I can’t forgive Serleena by myself.”

“Baby, I know, the help is already here. Shakita.”

“Yes, Angie,” Shakita said into her headset.

“Do power surge 701 Green on Jason. NOW.”

“Affirmative.” Shakita motioned to the women, who were now fully in a semi circle behind Jay and the other MIB commanders.

Then Shakita cried out, “An’wan’aa sh’a la ock!” All the women stretched their palms towards Jay. Green beams flashed out and hit Jay, propelling him forward a couple of steps. His eyes flashed a bright green.

Serleena panicked and ordered her guards to fire. Destructolator blasts began to buffet Jay.

Kay immediately reacted. “Return fire!” he barked into his headset. The MIB agents began to fire on the guards and a firefight was now on.

“Kevin!” Angie immediately jumped in. “Hold your fire! Tell your men to hold their fire and stand down. Do NOT return fire!”

“Angie…what in Sam Hill are you talking about?” Kay yelled. “Your SON is up here taking direct hits from Destructolators! I have to protect my agent!”

“Jay is NOT your agent anymore, Kevin, he’s MY responsibility now!" Angie yelled back. "I WANT him to take those hits, baby. Tell the agents to stand down! NOW!”

Kay looked behind him at Zed, who was still in his golfing attire.

Zed replied, “The commander-in-chief of the Zarthan Empire has spoken, Kay. And she’s the lead on this operation. Tell the fellas to stand down.”

“I can’t believe this…”

“Well, you of all people oughta know better, Kay…you trained the woman yourself back in ’65!”

“Why do you always have to remind me? Stand down!” Kay barked again into the headset.

At first, Jay weakened a bit under the Destructolator blasts. Destructolators work by sapping the energy of the victim and causing mild surface bruises and wounds. (They are made by Acme and sold through their mail-order catalogs.) But the sun women were still sending green energy into Jay. He was able as a result to withstand the blasts. After a few seconds he began to feel some new instincts rise within him. Jay now raised his hands to take the blasts. His body absorbed them and his strength was coming back.

He rose up and gathered his resolve.

“Cease fire!” Serleena screamed, with a rapidly growing fear.

Jay looked Serleena straight in the eyes. They blazed neon, coal red. He held the stare into Serleena, right into her soul, for a full three minutes.

And then he smirked at her. This shocked Serleena and her countenance grew chilled with even greater fear.

“Serleena,” Jay began.

“What do you want?” Serleena replied frantically.

“I see that we need to deal with you differently. My previous tactics ain’t cutting it. And that brings to mind a question: What is the one thing you want more than anything else in this universe?”

“I want to RULE, you fool!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we’ve established that, but what do you want that will give you the POWER to rule?”

“You guys! You and toots over here!”

“I know that, Serleena. Work with me here. What is there about me and Laura that will give you the power to rule if you had access to it? What have you spent 25 years trying so damn hard to acquire? Something you wanted so bad you killed countless innocent people, and obliterated entire planets, trying to do so?”

“Okay, okay, the LIGHT! All right! The LIGHT of Zartha! There! I said it! I said it!” Serleena began to weep.

“All I want is to be one with the light,” she continued tearily. “I want to be beautiful and luminous and powerful – like bright eyes over here! If I can have all that energy, people will obey me. They’ll be scared of me and I can make everyone in the universe do what I say do! Being mean to other people makes me feel…so good inside! What’s so wrong with that, Jay? Come on!”

Jay sighed. “Serleena, you need to realize one thing. In the universe, everybody has the right to do what they want to do as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else. If you want to be one with the Light, just find it within yourself. That’s all you need to do.”

Serleena gave Jay a puzzled frown. “You mean to tell me I have light in me already? I don’t believe you.”

“You have to look deep inside yourself for it, Serleena. It may take you a long time to discover it. But when you find it, I’ll bet you cash money you won’t want to take over the universe anymore, or take other innocent lives just to show you’re powerful. The Light changes people.

It changed me.”

Jay looked at Laura. Tears were again streaming down his face. Laura smiled at him and tears were streaming down her face.

“Serleena, I never thought I'd ever say this...but...I forgive you. I forgive you for kidnapping Laura. I forgive you for making this big ass mess in the middle of Times Square during tourist season. I forgive you for all the pain you’ve caused over the years.”

“Why are you doing this?” Serleena asked cautiously.

“Because I can and it’s my choice. I'm learning how to feel first and as