The council room was crowded. Munaci, Cratus, and the elders sat at the table with the Sora crew. The garwolvens had gathered around one side of the table while the BakoNaat officers kept to a corner by themselves.

"It's time to do this before he grows any stronger," Tajlon said. They were going over their plans one more time. "If we can't stop this thing now, what's to keep him from destroying every star system in his path?"

"No pressure," Widhbo said. "But we can't blow it."

"Are you sure you can handle this, Tajlon?" Lieutenant Cratus asked. "We have a lot more experienced pilots available than Hal or yourself."

"I can do it. I was piloting nuclear submarines on Beldora before the age of twelve, Lieutenant. Not to mention designing them," Tajlon said. "There's no reason to risk another life. Balvendro said so himself."

"True. That's an impressive resume," Cratus said. "If you need help, our pilots will be available to assist you."

"Cratus and I will go with the garwolvens to deploy the skulkers," Munaci said. "When the skulkers are in place, BakoNaat can work their magic and condense the demon cloud."

"It's hard to know how long it will take to lure the demon, or how fast he will chase us" Tajlon added. "What about our rescue pod?"

"The BakoNaat are positioning refueling pods along the path we plan to use. Their job in the first phase is to see that you never run out of fuel," Hal said. "I'll be with them, ready to bring in a rescue pod at any time."

Anakron was half listening as he was discussing something with Bethon in a far corner of the room. He waved Tajlon over to join them privately.

"We've decided it's best for you to split from Nova and let Hal pilot the craft. He'd be glad to take the risk instead of you," Anakron said.

"I wouldn't if I could."

"It's not entirely your choice," Bethon insisted. "You may not want to hear this, but you're far more evolved than Hal and more valuable. I'm not sure you fully understand your significance. It's rare for the ancients to grant someone godling status until being an immortal for at least a hundred years. Balvendro accepted you for good reason."

"Balvendro also said it was a chance to prove my worthiness for this honor," Tajlon said.

"Balvendro doesn't need proof," Anakron said. "He has already determined your worthiness. It would only serve to convince those doubters among the elders."

"I understand, but there's some new information we've been sorting through." Tajlon said and motioned for Greyla to join them. "Tell them what you felt earlier, Greyla,"

"The day Tajlon got the guardchev, the demon cloud stopped expanding in our direction," Greyla said. "I felt a change in him, a lack of focus. I thought perhaps he was just deteriorating or too diffuse for me to perceive him clearly. Then after your first meeting with Balvendro, I felt the demon again. It was just for a short while. It was strange and I passed it off as fear on my part."

"That's when I took the guardchev off for you, Lord Anakron," Tajlon explained. "She felt it because the demon could also feel me again."

"Just now I felt the demon again when Tajlon took off the guardchev to fight Borgg. When the guardchev was put back around Tajlon's neck, I lost all sense of the demon,"

"It's been tracking me all along," Tajlon said. "It's me he wants. I could leave Nova here, but of course Nova won't let me go without him.”

"It will be extremely dangerous to remove your protective device in close proximity to the demon. He could invade and possess you," Anakron warned.

"I will certainly wear it. I can bait him by forcing it to open for very short periods of time."

"Test it now, with me," Bethon instructed him.

Tajlon paused and gave Anakron a questioning look.

Anakron had tensed at Bethon's words but nodded in agreement. "Yes, go ahead. Balvendro's blessing should protect you to a large extent."

Tajlon opened the guardchev and let Bethon delve into his files without flinching. Bethon probed as far as Tajlon allowed him.

"I'm a lot stronger now," Tajlon said before closing the guardchev again. He shut Bethon out before he could reach the core memories.

"That’s good. But I'm not a demon after all," Bethon said. "Be more careful with him."

"I will. And before I go, Admiral, you should know that I've forgiven you."

"Words I rarely hear, "Bethon replied.

* * *

The pod was ready. The energy trap took up most of the space inside the shell, but Hal had managed to spare just enough room for two occupants.

Tajlon climbed in beside Widhbo and took his position as pilot. "You're in charge of navigation and communications," he said. "How is everything shaping up?"

"I have programmed these two call buttons, one for the Moz Lidule and one the the BakoNaat flag ship. If something bad happens, just push one and scream," Widhbo said.

"Got it," Tajlon said.

"As you know, pods are for short distances, interplanetary at most. The BakoNaat have upgraded our engine for interstellar propulsion, and I have adjusted the estimates for our fuel requirements," Widhbo explained. "This is our expanded star map and I have programmed the navigation computer to calculate deep space trajectories. What will you be doing again?"

"I'm the pilot, Widhbo. I fly this thing," Tajlon said. "And I control the weapons. I also lure the devourer to us and risk demon possession. You should watch me for abrupt changes in personality."

"And now we wait," Widhbo said. "I despise the waiting." He began playing with a zipper on his silver jacket.

"At least it's not so crowded in here with you in human form."

"Just wait until we squeeze inside this." Widhbo held up the magiton body Cratus had given him. "It's preset. When I jump in, it will be automatically triggered to pull you in with me. What fun."

"I prefer not to think about it to be honest." Tajlon was watching a field on his viewing screen. Little blips marked a matrix of pod coordinates. Munaci and Cratus were getting ready to teleport the pods into the demon cloud and deploy the skulkers.

"Things are about to get a lot more interesting out there," Tajlon said.

"A message is coming in," Widhbo said. "They are getting ready for the count down." He put the transmission on speaker for Tajlon to hear Munaci's deep voice in the background.

"Okay, let's go over things one more time," Tajlon said. "The BakoNaat will synchronize everything with a laser map. Each pod releases its skulkers simultaneously to begin the attack. By manipulating the electrical field created, the BakoNaat will condense the cloud so we can lure him as a single entity toward the black hole. I just hope we have enough fuel to get us there.”

"The BakoNaat are evidently very resourceful when it comes to fuel." Widhbo said. "They won't reveal their secrets but have assured me we can depend on an adequate supply."

"I have to wonder how long it might take the devourer to catch on to our little game," Tajlon said. "We have to remember that no matter how fragmented he is, the demon is smart. He has the combined intellect of Beldora's best scientists and a ship full of BakoNaat."

"We're about fourteen light years out from our target, the black hole," Widhbo said. "At a warp speed of ten, we can make it about two and half rest cycles assuming we don't leave warp. Of course, we will have to stop and refuel, then bait him and run again. Assuming the devourer can focus and give chase, he will need sufficient energy of his own to keep up."

" So, rough estimate, double the time. About five rest cycles to the event horizon," Tajlon said. He shifted in his seat wondering if the biggest challenge might be living in their pod for so long.

"If he absorbs the energy from the skulkers, he should have plenty," Widhbo said. "We're betting the demon eats the skulkers. Either way, the BakoNaat will condense them into a manageable size which we can trap and toss."

Tajlon pulled up his navigation screen. "Here's our rescue stations and refueling map. Hal randomized it in a prey escape pattern to make it look like we're trying to get away. That means we won't be going straight in."

"How did I miss that?" Widhbo asked and frowned. "So add a couple of cycles to my first estimate. We should refuel about every other warp to be safe. How many refueling stations are there?"

Tajlon glanced over his map. "Around two dozen. Not exactly overkill."

A signal went off on the console, full alert. The final countdown was in progress. Their viewing screens were synched with the Moz Lidule command center. The traps appeared as blips on the screen as they were teleported to coordinates around the demon cloud. The laser lines connecting them all flashed. It was done, the traps went red, indicating the skulkers had been released. It had been perfectly orchestrated in the space of a few moments.

"I can't believe it's done," Tajlon said.

"Are we even awake? We're far too relaxed to be fighting a demon. We should be jumping out of our skins right now," Widhbo patted his brow. "Not even breaking a sweat."

"Thanks to Balvendro's blessing I suppose," Tajlon said. "And Nova is sleeping through the whole thing."

"Look at this," Widhbo said. "The cloud is changing."

The large hazy shadow of the demon's cloud had moved. It seemed to be expanding and there were holes in the cloud around each of the trap coordinates.

"Is he eating the skulkers I wonder?" Widhbo asked.

"I really hate that idea. Come up with another theory," Tajlon said.

"Perhaps they are munching on him, and he is running away. That could make holes."

Their viewing screen went temporarily blank as a large voltage fluctuation interfered with their reception, when it came back on Tajlon couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"They did it," Tajlon said. "The BakoNaat are condensing him."

The cloud was shrinking and forming areas of condensation that registered cooler on the heat signature.

"Transmission coming through... " Widhbo said. "It says to prepare the ‘Nest’. That's our code name. Just wait for their signal. I hope you can do this Tajlon."

"We didn't get the luxury of a trial run, but I'm ready," Tajlon said.

"Show time. We're on."

Tajlon relaxed and tried to open the guardchev.

Widhbo connected to the Moz Lidule over his encrypted frequency. “Greyla’s getting nothing.”

"I'm not sure who or what to open it for. I'm just thinking of generic demon right now," Tajlon said.

"We'll have to experiment a little," Widhbo mused.

"Ask Greyla for advice. I don't know what to focus on."

"She said to try thinking of your father," Widhbo said.

Tajlon hesitated. "It’s really hard to think of him and the demon as the same entity, Widhbo."

"You have to try something. Forget about the demon."

Tajlon opened the guardchev to his best memories of Jejliard back on Beldora.

"That’s good! Greyla's getting a weak read now," Widhbo said. "He might be distracted by all the skulker activity.”

“Let's see if he comes our way.” The dust cloud on Tajlon's screen was still condensing, but it did seem to move in their direction.

"Lord Anakron advises to only keep it open long enough to get a response," Widhbo said. "Close it."

"Shouldn't I vary the duration and frequency to keep him from catching on?" Tajlon said closing the guardchev.

"Assuming he still functions with intelligence, I would think so."

"Let's assume the worst," Tajlon said. "Now I know he hates me."

“Actually, we don’t know that," Widhbo said. "From the demon’s standpoint, he may just wants to assimilate you. Or perhaps just wants his son back sort of thing.”

“Well thanks for that thought. I’d rather be annihilated.”