They were interrupted by a soft knock on the study door. Casra went to see who it was. Father Pen was there with a cart loaded with sandwiches, cheese, and fruit punch for their lunch.

"It seems the time got away from us, "Casra said to Father Pen. "Thanks for this. I hope you don't mind if we use your study a little while longer."

"Not at all," Father Pen said. "Take all the time you need." He left without entering the room and Casra brought in the cart of goodies.

On seeing the cart, Lidda realized she was quite hungry. She took a ham and rye sandwich and sat down at one of the reading tables. Reddge and Casra joined her. Soon the tension had melted away and they were back to friends sharing a meal.

"But what of your travels," Reddge," Lidda asked. "How can I be married to you and continue my education at Provendor if you are traveling all the time?"

"We'll have a long betrothal, just as your mother requested," Reddge said. "We should get officially betrothed before you go to Provendor, but you must go. There's important work for you to do in the robotics program there."

"You won't be coming with me, will you?" Lidda asked.

"We'll have to be apart a lot of the time, not by choice," Reddge said. "I go where I am needed. I will always have a lot of responsibility and as my wife, so shall you."

What choice did she have? Lidda knew Reddge was the one she loved. She was ready to face whatever fate awaited her in their life together, but something else was bothering her more. She wasn't sure if she could give up the weapon to him.

"Is your answer still a 'yes'?" Reddge asked and kissed her until she pushed away from his embrace.

"Yes but think about what you are asking. How could I give up my child, an innocent child, as a weapon to go after this demon?" Lidda asked. "Could any of us live with that? Why does it have to be done this way?"

"It has been hundreds of years Lidda. We've thought this through." Reddge spoke cautiously. "If there were any other way, do you think I would not choose it?"

"What will become of the child?"

"We will have the physical child to keep and raise. It is the copies of that child, when fully grown, who will go into battle," Reddge explained. "What will become of us all if we can't stop this demon? I know this is what my father would want me to do."

Lidda knew they were serious. If she declined, she would only be a small stumbling block in a plan that spanned the centuries. But if she was not committed to this plan now, how much harder would it be after the child became a reality.

"Each copy will still be our son in every way, "Lidda mused. "I can't even imagine this. There has to be a better way."

Reddge nodded. "The fact that it torments you so is what tells me you are exactly who I want to marry. I love you for you, Lidda."

Casra interjected a dose of urgency. "The galactic alliance meets periodically with representatives from over the entire galaxy. It is only some thirty Earth years from now. All the magiton ships will navigate to a predetermined set of coordinates for the gathering. Our fear is the demon has likely acquired this information when taking over other ships. He may well plan to attack then. One big target"

"You think he is raising an army to go against you?" Lidda asked.

"No doubt in my mind." answered Reddge.

"Why can't you just avoid the gathering?"

"Because we have no way of warning the others. We are working on more efficient communications within the galaxy, but as yet have no way to contact others across deep space fast enough to warn them. They will go innocently to their doom, a killing field. If they are conquered by the demon, his power will swell to even more staggering proportions. He will become a destroyer of prophetic magnitude. We can't let that happen."

"How can a single child change all that?" Lidda asked.

"At best we are acting on limited information that the demon can propagate himself," Casra added. "We will try to imitate his methods and create battleships that will appear to be his clones. The 'one child' will become many, replicated a thousand-fold if necessary, just as the demon may have already done. The duplications will conceal our identity. When the demon's scanners intercept one of our ships, they will see it as one of their own and not raise an alarm. Just as important, in addition to the covert ships, we can run simulations to see how this corrupted personality might react to different attack plans."

"Could you not just multiply the gene sequences you already have in the lab?"

"We could, but when you do that, every little mistake will be multiplied as well," Reddge explained. "Magnify the mistakes enough and not only do they corrupt your sample, but they also become weaknesses. We can't risk it. We only have a tiny amount of genetic material from my father. It was salvaged after we escaped and it's impossible to get more."

"Do you really see this working?" Lidda asked.

"It will if we take it to the next level," Reddge said. "We will have to beat him to his prey as well and convince the other magitons to join with us. If we can pool resources, the duplicates could be merged to form a giant 'demon' of our own. My hope is it will be strong enough to confront the demon and defeat him on his own turf."

"So you will have to wait until the galactic gathering when all the ships are here before you can execute the plan?"

"Timing will be critical, yes. It could be the battle which will determines the final outcome."

"And that will be the end of it?"

" Not quite. It would be naive to think we are immune to corruption for the rest of eternity. Another such entity could arise. If we are fortunate enough to prevail, we will have to remain vigilant and ready to destroy every seed of evil that arises within our ranks. Our very power could be our undoing if corruption overcame us. We have spent a great deal of effort to build in safeguards, just as you see in Widhbo. We have captured and studied evil. We find it on every world in various forms, arising anew. We cannot become oblivious to the potential danger. Distasteful as it may be, to be certain that we remain eternally good, we must understand evil to its very depths."

Lidda pondered everything they had said. It was logical, though she wondered how feasible in actuality. They spoke of safeguards, but she didn't see any protection for her future child. The flesh and blood child could not be duplicated, but once in digital form, it could be duplicated indefinitely. If Reddge's father turned, what would prevent the child from doing the same. Of one thing Lidda was certain, she did not know enough to play at being God and tampering with fate. Reddge apparently thought he did.