"Are you accusing me of being a member of the Fifth Column" Philip demanded of both women. He saw Lydia and Diana fidget nervously under his stern and commanding gaze.

"Of course not," Diana said haughtily. "It just seems very suspicious that you weren't in your quarters when we sent messengers to tell you that you were needed on the bridge."

He looked long and hard at Lydia. "We?" he asked. "Are you in on this as well, Lydia?"

The blonde Sirian Security Chief fidgeted as she met his gaze. She had sent her messenger to tell him that he had an incoming communication from the security detail on Earth. "No, sir, I'm not. I sent my messenger to tell you that you had an incoming transmission from the Security Commander on Earth that was for your eyes only."

"A commanding officer has many duties that take him away from his quarters at any given time," Philip reminded them. "I went to the Artificial Life Sciences Division in Sector Seven."

"Your shuttle departed for Earth around the time that one of my prisoners, a suspected member of the Human Resistance, escaped from his cell." Diana knew that she had to carefully watch what she accused the Inspector General of or she'd find out just what he was truly capable of doing. She directed her next words to no one in particular. "Could the Fifth Column have helped him to escape?"

Philip casually glanced at both Lydia and Diana. "Anything's possible, Diana." He then turned to face Lydia. "You should have posted a guard outside the cell."

"She did," Diana snapped, glaring at the younger Sirian woman. "He was found unconscious in a nearby ventilation shaft."

"The mere suggestion of you actually being involved with the Fifth Column or even sympathising with them is punishable by an immediate court-martial and execution," Lydia said, reminding him of the laws and dictates that he knew better than either of them.

"Providing that we can prove it," Diana sneered at both Lydia and her superior officer. "Perhaps he's as good at hiding his deceit, like his brother was."

"Don't push your luck, Diana! Leader's consort or not, I'll have you court-martialed for insubordination!" He turned on his heels and left the bridge. In the lift, he exhaled the breath he'd been unconsciously holding and with it, some of the tension and fury he'd felt at Diana's accusations. Even though they were true, he still hated hearing her voice them.

Getting off the lift at the floor on which his quarters were located, the Inspector General was met in the hallway by one of his most trusted aides.

"Come inside, Paul," he said as he gestured for the young officer to follow him. "I have something for you to deliver for me to the Mike on Earth."

As they entered the room and the door closed behind them, Philip activated the privacy devices. Once this was done, they could converse in private about what they were really planning without fear of their conversation being overheard by the eavesdropping devices that had no doubt been planted in the room on Diana's orders when he first arrived.

"In addition to the package to be delivered to the Resistance, I also have a message to be delivered to Mike Donovan and the Resistance about the security around the munitions dump they plan on attacking."

"One of the other Fifth Columnists got word from Donovan that they plan to move against the munitions dump tomorrow night. You and the others must get uniforms and weapons to them somehow."

Philip sighed and cursed in Sirian. "Uniforms are no problem, but unless I can come up with orders that can explain their absence, the weapons could prove hard to get." He fumbled around on the top of his desk, looking for a sealed envelope that contained certain orders he'd prepared earlier. Finding it, he turned back to the young officer. "I want you to give this to Lydia. I prepared them before I knew of the situation with the Rebels. I'll lead a small team of Fifth Columnists to Earth for survival training. Lydia and Diana won't question my orders." He handed the envelope to Paul. "Deliver this to Lydia and then go prepare my shuttle for immediate launch."

"By the way, sir, Jeanne-Marie is here to see you."

"Send her in." Jeanne-Marie entered the room and sat down as Paul departed. "Do you have the package with you?"

"It's right here," she said as she pulled a disk from her tunic. "Give it to the young Human who broke into your computer network and he'll know what to do with it," she said as she handed it to the Inspector General.

"I'll be on Earth for an extended mission. If anything happens to me, you're to assume command of the Fifth Column network." He glanced down at the chronometer on his left wrist. "I have to go. Please be careful while you're on this ship."

After deactivating the privacy devices, the two of them left the room together and went their own direction. In Philip's case, he was headed for the landing bay to check on his shuttle.

**** **** ****

Meanwhile, at the designated meeting place, Mike Donovan and Kyle Bates were engaged in a heated debate as to whether or not Philip could be trusted.

"Why do you place so much trust in Philip?" Kyle asked. He didn't know anything about the journalist's relationship with a Visitor security lieutenant named Martin, who wore the same face and had the same personality. "How do we know if we should trust him?"

"Philip and I fought each other when we first met. I had the chance to kill him, but didn't. I managed to convince him that all Humans weren't as bad as Diana made us out to be." His thoughts turned to Martin and the fact that he still missed him even now. "In many ways, he's a lot like his brother Martin and he's taken up where he left off."

"But what do we do if he's caught aiding us or someone exposes him? How do we get him out?"

"We don't," Donovan replied. "The Fifth Column does, one way or another."

"Then he knows about Elisabeth. How will he react when he meets her?"

"He does know about her. We need him because he has access to data that we can use against Diana and her allies. He'll be here in about . . . " Mike glanced at his watch and then looked up at the younger man standing beside him. " . . . fifteen minutes."

Mike and Kyle took turns patrolling the area while they waited for Philip to show up. Fifteen minutes later, they were surprised to see a squad vehicle and Philip's personal shuttlecraft land nearby. The hatch on the shuttle opened and Philip emerged, followed by the rest of the Fifth Columnists who had come to Earth with him.

"Some of us decided to come and assist you. We brought extra uniforms and weapons and I'll need to show you where the munitions dump is located," the Inspector general said as he moved to stand beside Mike Donovan.

"Does Diana have the munitions dump under visual surveillance?" Mike asked the Fifth Column leader.

"I'm afraid so," Philip said.

"We can't let you go with us," Mike said. When he saw the look on Philip's Humanoid-appearing face, he explained his reasons. "It would compromise your position as leader of the Fifth Column. If Lydia or Diana saw you, you wouldn't be able to explain why you were there."

"I have to take that risk, Mike," the sandy-haired Sirian said. Mike noticed that, in many ways, he was just as stubborn and bullheaded as Martin had been. "Too much depends on the success of this mission."

"Your people need to be briefed on our overall plan of attack. We have a decoy plan that will be implemented at the same time. It was devised by our resident computer expert." Donovan looked over at Philip and then at Kyle Bates.

"I'd like to meet him," Philip said as he took the packet of computer disks that Jeanne-Marie had given to him from a pocket within his uniform and handed them to Mike. "I have something he might be interested in seeing."

"What are they?" Mike asked, his eyes coming to rest on the package in Philip's hands.

"Computer disks with the access codes for the computer systems of every Mothership in our fleet. He can change orders in favor of your people. They were provided by our Fifth Column leader in Paris."

"Thank you for the information, Martin." Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Mike realised what he'd done. Embarrassed, he turned back to face the sandy-haired alien leader. "I'm sorry, Philip. You're so much like him and it just slipped out."

"I understand, Mike. I expect it from a lot of his friends." Philip shrugged, a typically Human gesture for someone not born of Earth. "It used to happen quite a lot on the home world. We were nearly identical in almost everything except personality and training. He was taught Sciences by our mother as a child while I was trained by our father in the military ways. By the time he decided to join the military, I'd resigned and joined the Judge Advocate General's staff."

"I wish I'd met him," Kyle said, impressed by what he'd overheard. "From what Mike told me about him, I would have liked him."

"I can see why he liked humanity," Philip said as he turned to face Kyle. "Yours is a noble race and I prefer the company of many of your people to all of mine."

Mike bundled the Fifth Columnists back into the squad vehicle, then boarded the shuttlecraft with Philip so that he could talk with the Inspector General in private. He knew that he couldn't let Philip risk his career and life needlessly by joining the mission. Donovan had to talk Philip out of going with them.

**** **** ****

When they arrived at the Resistance base, Philip and the other Fifth Columnists went inside with the ex-journalist. As he caught sight of a familiar face in the crowd, Philip drew Willie away from the group. On the flight to the base, he'd listened to Mike's argument and realised that the Human had been right about the risks.

"I'm going to draw you a map to the munitions dump," he said as he picked up a pencil and a piece of paper laying on a nearby table. He began to draw as he continued talking to Willie. "Mike convinced me on the way over here that I'd be putting my life and career on the line since its under visual surveillance."

"He is bright. You must not be seen with us when we raid the dump."

"What?" Philip asked, confused. He wasn't aware of the fact that Willie was originally to have been sent to the Middle East and as such, he still had trouble with English.

"He meant to say 'right' not 'bright'," a young blonde woman who walked with a noticeable limp said as she came up beside them. She took a long, closer look at Philip. "You must be Philip. Mike's mentioned you several times. I'm --"

"I know who you are," he said, cutting her off in mid-sentence. "You're Juliet Parrish. Diana showed me the reports on how she tried to convert you." He looked at her, curiosity showing on his face. "She said that you were very stubborn."

Juliet smiled sheepishly. "I knew Martin. I owed him my life. He risked serious injury to himself so that Mike and the others could rescue me following that attempt."

"I'd like to know more about my brother and his activities here on Earth," Philip said angrily. "Diana said that he was a traitor, but I don't believe her lies."

"He fought on the side he believed in," Juliet said quietly. "Stay for a while. Those of us who knew him could tell you about him."

Philip shook his head no. He wasn't ready to deal with the memories or the endless sense of pain that came with them. "Not yet," he finally whispered, his voice so low that Juliet had to strain to hear him. He looked toward the other group of Rebels and Fifth Columnists. "I won't be coming with you. Mike'll understand."

Mike and Kyle walked over to where the young biochemist and the alien leader stood talking.

"Have you finished the map?" Mike asked. "Willie said that you weren't coming with us."

"It will show you how to get to the munitions dump," Philip said as he checked his chronometer and then handed the map to Donovan. "I must go before Lydia and Diana miss me."

Philip boarded the shuttlecraft and departed for the Mothership. Donovan watched from below and realised just how much he still missed Martin.

"Martin would have been proud of his brother," Mike said sadly. He remembered all too well how his friend died in his arms. "I think Philip misses him and I know that I still do."

"He probably does," a strongly-accented voice said from behind him. He turned to see a rather attractive young man standing behind him. "I'm Michael, just transferred here from the London Mothership. I'm to act as your guide and help you plant the explosives at the munitions dump." He regarded the Human with a curious mixture of feelings. He trusted Philip, but didn't know what to make of the Humans of Earth. "He doesn't know that Martin was the leader of the Fifth Column on the original Los Angeles Mothership."

"Everyone ready to go?" the journalist finally asked after his fellow Rebels changed clothes and put the vibrational disks on their throat so that their voices would reverberate like the Sirians. He really didn't want to be dealing with the thoughts and emotions that thinking about Martin brought right now.

As they boarded the squad vehicle, the flight passed without incident. They used the map Philip had drawn for them to find the munitions dump since they landed a block away so as to avoid detection and had gone the rest of the way on foot.

** ** **

Unknown to the Fifth Columnists or Philip, Diana had used her twisted and ruthless scientific knowledge to develop a genetically-enhanced creature that would obey only her twisted commands.

"Jane, look!" Michael shouted above the cries of the Humans. It was obvious to him that Diana had developed a weapon of incredible psionic power to use against the Humans. "Get them out of the area while the others and I set the charges!"

She led the Humans away from the area while Michael and the others who were immune to psionic manipulation set the charges at the base of the building. Little did she know that this mission would forever change her life.

**** **** ****

Meanwhile, on the Mothership, Philip, Lydia and Diana watched the visual surveillance monitors that covered the area around the munitions dump. To Philip's horror, Diana seemed insufferably pleased with herself for some unknown reason.

"See how they dislike my weapon! It's very impressive, don't you think?" she asked both of the officers, who were standing beside her.

"Control yourself, Diana," Lydia snapped acidly. "Your weapon is indeed a spectacular one, but only if it works. Don't you agree, Philip?"

"What, Lydia?" he asked distractedly. His thoughts were on the team assigned to destroy the munitions dump. He hoped that everyone makes it back, especially Michael and Jane. "My mind was on other things and I didn't hear your question."

"I asked you what you thought of Diana's newest weapon." She carefully looked at him, taking in the features of his Human pseudo-skin. Unlike the rest of them, it was obvious that he'd chosen colourings that were unknown on their world. She hadn't known about Philip's twin brother, Martin, but to her own sense of aesthetics, he was very attractive. "Are you all right, sir?"

"I'm fine, Lydia," he replied as he turned to face the two women who were standing behind him. Of the two of them, he found himself trusting and reacting to Lydia with feelings that he'd never felt before for any female. "If the two of you can refrain from killing each other, I have some work to finish in my quarters prior to my return to Earth."

As Philip left the bridge, Lydia and Diana turned their attention back to the monitor screens.

**** **** ****

Instead of heading back to his quarters, Philip headed for the main power room. Using stealth to make sure that he wasn't seen by anyone, he entered the room and knocked out the guard who was stationed inside the room.

Looking around, he saw the control panels for the main power source of the ship's weaponry. He removed the milky blue crystals and replaced them with two identical ones he took from a pocket within his tunic. He then slipped the ones he'd removed into the spot where the others had been. When he left the room, a nearby sentry saw him and stopped him.

"Why were you in the . . . " Paul noticed the identity of the person he'd stopped. "Inspector General! I'm sorry, sir. I was about to ask you why you were in the power room."

"I was checking on the condition of the power crystals. Several of the other Motherships have reported minor fractures and cracks in them." He looked over his shoulder and then back to the sentry. "I am still the commanding officer of this vessel, despite what Diana thinks!"

"I was ordered to ask, sir." He walked over to where Philip stood and the Inspector General realised that he knew the sentry. It was Paul. "Have they destroyed the munitions dump yet?"

"No," Philip said, keeping his voice down so as to call any undue attention to them. "We'll know soon enough. Prepare my shuttle for immediate departure for Earth."

As Paul turned to leave, the public address system came to life.

"Inspector General Philip, report to the bridge! All teams report to their battle stations!"

** ** **

Dashing onto the bridge of the Mothership, Philip was met by both Lydia and Diana.

"What's going on?" he asked, breathless from his dash.

"The munitions dump had just been destroyed," Lydia replied tersely. "We are unsure as to how it was done or by whom."

"I know the Resistance and their Fifth Column allies were behind this," the dark-haired scientist said. Even though she wasn't openly accusing him of treason, Philip caught the underlying meaning of her words.

"You forget who is in command here, Diana. Remember what I told you about insubordination? It still applies." He turned his attention to the young lieutenant sitting at the weapons console in front of him. "Fire a warning shot and nothing more."

The lieutenant followed Philip's instructions, pushing the laser firing controls on the console in front of him. When nothing happened, he repeated the action. He looked over at the power monitor and reported to Philip, who scowled.

"It seems that the problem that's been plaguing the other Motherships had finally hit us," he said. "Let's go check the power crystals."

**** **** ****

Meanwhile, the Resistance and their allies regrouped near the location of the now-destroyed munitions dump. They then noticed that one of the Fifth Columnists was missing.

"Willie, where's Michael?" Jane asked. She was concerned about her intended life mate. "I can't find him anywhere."

"He was placing charges on the other side of the munitions dump with me. One of the charges went off earlier than it should have," he said sadly. "He saved my life by pushing me out of the way."

As she felt the world spinning around her, Jane barely felt Willie's arms as he reached out and caught her before she fell to the ground. Knowing how she felt at losing someone, he sat there and held her, offering what comfort he could to her.

**** **** ****

On the Mothership, Philip, Lydia and Diana arrived at the power room. They entered the room and walked over to the technician on duty, who was actually a member of the Fifth Column.

"Check the status of the power crystals," Lydia snapped. "For some reason, we're not getting any power from them."

The technician removed the crystals from their usual resting place and took them over to the microscope in the corner of the room.

"There are very small fractures in the lattices of the crystals. Either they were already cracked when we received them or someone switched them."

"I want a thorough investigation conducted while I'm gone," Philip said as he turned to look at Lydia. "I'm going down and take a look at the ruins. You'll be in command until I return."

Leaving the power room, he took the nearest lift to the landing bay. As he approached his shuttlecraft, he was met by Paul and the two of them boarded the shuttle.

"Land near the munitions dump," he said as the Mothership left for Earth.

**** **** ****

Landing on Earth, their ship was seen by the Rebels and the other Fifth Columnists, who came to meet them.

"Any trouble?" Philip asked when Mike met him at the door to the shuttlecraft. It was then that he clearly saw the look on the journalist's face and knew something had happened.

"There was a casualty," Mike finally said when he found his voice. "Michael was killed in the explosion and Jane's taking it really hard."

Philip looked over to where Willie sat holding Jane and then down at the ground. He had specifically requested Michael's transfer for this mission and felt responsible for his death. When he looked back up at Donovan, there was a look in Philip's eyes that he'd never seen in any Sirian's eyes before.

"They were to have been married in a month," he said dejectedly. He now regretted choosing Michael for the team, but they'd needed his explosives expertise on this mission. "I shouldn't have asked for him on this mission."

"You couldn't have known what would happen, Philip," Mike said as he tried to ease his friend's grief. "There was nothing you could do. It was an accident."

Philip said nothing as he handed Mike the crystals he'd taken from the power room on the Mothership. Although he hated to lose Jane, Philip could understand her reasons for choosing to remain behind on Earth.

**** **** ****

Philip's shuttlecraft landed in the main docking bay and when the doors cycled open, everyone else slowly walked down the ramp. The death of Michael was still hard to believe and none of them could accept it. A few minutes later, Philip followed them and was met at the bottom of the ramp by Lydia, who was ready to give him the results of her investigation.

"We found the sentry. Unfortunately, she had no idea as to who knocked her out," Lydia began. "We'll never know if anyone switched the crystals or not."

"This leaves us totally defenseless!" Diana shouted as she came to stand behind them. "If you weren't my superior officer, I'd assume you were a traitor, just like your damn brother was."

"I'll ignore your accusations of treason, but remember this," Philip began, barely restraining his anger and tired of having the same conversation with her whenever they were in the same room together. "The next time you accuse me of treason, you'd better have proof or you'll be standing before a tribunal facing charges of insubordination!" He then turned to face Lydia. "Take me to where the sentry was found."

He and Lydia walked over to the closest lift and entered it, heading to where the sentry was found.

"Has the area been cordoned off?" he asked as the door slid closed behind them. He wanted to be certain that all the legal procedures were being followed.

"Right after we found the guard, sir," she replied as they stepped out of the lift a few minutes later. "I posted my guards so that no one could enter the area. Those who work here were told not to come back until you told them to."

"Good." Philip looked at her. There was something that appealed to him, and it wasn't just her looks. "At least one of you thinks clearly in a crisis."

"Thank you, sir." She blushed at his compliment and looked away from him long enough to regain his composure. A few seconds later, she finally spoke again. "Would you like to take over the investigation now?"

"You conduct it, Lydia," he answered, unsure as to what else he should do. He decided to retreat to the relative safety of the command deck. "Keep me informed as to what you find out."

He entered the lift and she watched as the doors slid shut, obscuring his features.

**** **** ****

Walking onto the bridge, Philip looked out the window, lost in thought a bout Lydia and what he was feeling for her. He glanced up in time to see an incoming shuttlecraft that was approaching the Mothership too fast to make a safe landing.

"Bridge to Landing Bay Two. Prepare for crash landing. Medical team to Landing Bay Two."

Philip turned and left he bridge. On the way to the landing bay, he was met by Diana and Lydia. Both of them joined him in the lift.

"Were there any shuttles scheduled to arrive from Earth today?" he asked them.

"No," Lydia replied. She'd checked the status board before she left the bridge earlier to be sure. "The only thing we had on schedule is the arrival of a shuttle from the Legation later this evening."

As they walked out of the lift, the pilot, obviously dazed by the crash, staggered from the shuttle. Philip walked across the landing bay and caught her before she fell. To his surprise, the pilot recognised him.

"Juliet Parrish sent me in regards to your brother, Martin," she said in a hushed whisper so low that only Philip could hear her without straining.

"Are you all right?" he asked her sternly as she stood upright beside him. "Was there anyone else aboard?"

"I'm fine, sir," she replied shakily. "I just got off shift at the Legation on Earth after a three-day shift without a break. I was the only one aboard the shuttle."

"I want you checked out by the medical section, then I want her escorted to my cabin," Philip ordered . "I want an explanation as to why she had to work a three-day shift without relief!"

The Inspector General walked over to the lift car and stepped inside without saying anything else to them.

**** **** ****

Philip entered the main living area of his quarters. Inside a small alcove of the room, he had on display all the medals and awards he'd won as both a warrior and a lawyer. Predominate among them was a medal engraved not with his name, but that of his twin brother and a picture of him as well.

"Now I will know if you were a traitor to our cause or loyal to the Leader's goals like Diana claimed," he softly whispered, unaware that there was someone waiting for him in his office.

Philip entered the section he'd set aside as his personal office and saw Lydia standing beside his desk. Her presence there was unexpected and Philip looked at her, suspicion clearly evident on his human-appearing face. He knew that she'd heard what he'd said in the confines of the alcove.

"I want to help you stop Diana," Lydia said in reply to his unasked question. "She intends to prove that you're a member of the Fifth Column and to that end, she's converted a Rebel she's captured in order to betray both you and the Humans."

A chime at the door interrupted what Philip had planned on saying. He went and answered it while Lydia remained where she was. Lorraine came into the room and when she saw Lydia, she turned to leave.

"I'll speak with you later, Lydia," Philip said. He didn't want to risk the safety of the Column, but he did want to hear what Lydia had to say to him.

"But . . . "

"Later, Lydia," the Inspector Genera said sternly. There were so many questions that he wanted to ask his visitor, but he knew that if what Lydia had told him was true, his time would be extremely short. He watched as the Fleet Security Chief stiffly turned and left his quarters. After she left, Philip activated the privacy devices so that he and Lorraine could talk in private, then turned and faced her. "We can talk freely now."

"My name is Lorraine and I've been sent to tell you about your brother, Martin," she began. Philip could barely hear the reverberations in her voice that would identify her as one of his own race. "I was the co-leader of the Fifth Column on the original Los Angeles Mothership. He was our unofficial leader."

"I want to know about all of my brother's activities," Philip said. "Tell me about what he did in order to help the Earthlings."

"He and Jennifer began forming the Column in the military with the help of the Worshippers of Zon and the Alliance," she replied. It was hard for her to be standing in front of Philip and tell him about his twin, In light of the fact that she had been his lover before his exposure as Mike Donovan's Fifth Column contact on the Mothership. She had loved him from the time she'd met him when he'd recruited her for the Column, but had never told him of her feelings for him.

Some of what he was being told didn't come as a surprise to Philip, since he'd followed him one night before they were assigned to separate postings. Unknown to him, their mother had chosen to teach Martin about the religious side of their heritage. Bringing his attention back to the present, Philip concentrated on what Lorraine was telling him.

"I was one of the first to join. On each of the Motherships, key personnel who were members of the Column took command of the cell on their ship. Martin, as a Security Officer, took command of the cell on the Los Angeles Mothership." Lorraine paused, as if telling Philip about Martin was bringing back memories that she really wanted to avoid. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "We helped the humans drive back the original invasion fleet with the red dust toxin and the rest you've come to know."

"We need to go to Earth," Philip finally said to her as he came to realise that he'd not made a mistake in trusting Donovan. His brother had trusted him enough to give up everything, including any form of contact with his own twin brother, to help the humans reclaim their world. "The security liaison has some information in regards to the destruction of the convoy headed for San Francisco yesterday. I should be there to hear his report."

Both of them left the room and took the nearest lift to the bridge. When they both stepped onto the command deck, they could see both Lydia and Diana waiting on Philip. The raven-haired scientist was pacing back and forth, checking the readouts on every console. When Diana saw the Inspector General, she walked over to him to make her report.

"We weren't able to learn anything about what happened to the crystals," she said, not noticing her former aide standing behind Philip. The only thing that kept her from recognising Lorraine was the fact that she was swearing a shock trooper helmet over her face. "We haven't even received the replacement crystals I've requested, which will leave us unable to defend ourselves until we do."

Philip nodded. "I'm going down to Earth. The commander of the security forces has information on who attacked the convoy yesterday. I want you and Lydia to come with me. Cynthia," he said as he turned to face a blonde woman of the same rank as Diana, "you're in command until I return."

Philip and the others who were going to Earth with him bundled into the lift car. At Section Seven, a dark-haired technician got into the car with them. No one said anything to him or questioned him as to why he was going with them.

At the docking bay, everyone got out of the car and walked across the flight deck toward Philip's personal shuttlecraft. Reaching the bottom of the ramp, they were met by Paul, who knew that Philip would be needing him for a trip to Earth.

"Land at the old Legation site," Philip said as he came into the cockpit and took the seat next to his friend.

"Aye, sir," Paul responded. He turned his head as the door to the cockpit slid open and Lydia came in the small cabin.

"We need to talk, Philip," she said. She then glanced at Paul, not knowing if she could trust him. "In private, if possible."

The Inspector General nodded at Paul's questioning glance. The young pilot took the subtle hint and went back in the passenger section with the others. Philip then gestured for Lydia to take the seat the young pilot had just vacated.

"What do you want to talk about, Lydia?" he finally asked after a few minutes of tense silence had passed between them.

"I think you know." She looked out the viewport of the shuttle before answering him. "As I said before, I don't care if you're with the Fifth Column, although I hope you are or I've just condemned myself to death."

"Why are you doing this?" Philip asked her suspiciously. He had no idea what her true motivation was and knew that he needed to find out before committing one way or the other.

"I'm tired of Diana and her attitude. Just because she slept her way to her current rank doesn't mean that she's any better than the rest of us who have made a career of the military." Lydia turned to look at him. "Besides, some of the Earthlings aren't so bad, are they?"

Philip shook his head no. He didn't know how to answer her questions without implicating himself as the leader of the Fifth Column cell on the Los Angeles Mothership. He decided that the best thing to do was say nothing.

"The young man who joined us was one of Diana's conversion technicians," she continued. "I told him to join us and remain at the Legation until ordered to do otherwise."

Lydia got up and walked out of the cockpit as the shuttle approached the Legation's landing pad. Paul entered the cockpit and sat down in the chair that the Fleet Security Chief had just left. He was preparing the craft for a landing.

From out of nowhere, the shuttle was attacked by a group of humans who were armed with stolen Visitor weapons. A lucky shot from a laser rifle made contact with the ship's engines and a fire quickly began to spread.

"Prepare for crash landing!" Paul shouted loud enough to be heard above the noise.

The young pilot managed to land the shuttle, but also knew that they'd be cutting their escape way too close before the craft exploded. His eyes met Philip's as the Inspector General quickly managed to piece together what was happening.

"Everyone get out of here! This place is about to explode!" Philip yelled, shouting his orders at them.

As Lydia left the shuttle, she felt someone roughly push her out and then fell on top of her. A few seconds later, she felt the searing heat of the exploding shuttlecraft when the fire reached the liquid propellant tanks and ignited them in an all-encompassing fireball that quickly engulfed the craft.

In the light of the burning shuttle, everyone began to pick themselves up and check themselves for injuries. Lydia turned to see who had saved her from the explosion. It was Paul, the pilot of the shuttle. He smiled without saying anything to her.

Before Lydia could thank him, the humans began closing in on them. They had seen that everyone had survived the crash of the shuttle and were determined to capture Diana no matter who they had to destroy in order to get her.

Philip and the others had set their pistols on stun, while Diana had hers set for kill. He and the rest of them didn't want to kill without a reason. Philip knew that she wanted to make sure that if the humans captured her, she'd destroy as many of them as she could. He ordered her to set her weapon for stun and noticed that the humans weren't aiming for his party. They were aiming for Diana.

"What do they want?" Diana shouted, a mixture of anger and fury in her voice. She was afraid that the humans wanted to kill her for what she'd done to their people. "Why are they attacking us?"

"They seem to want you, Diana," Philip said, assessing the situation quickly and looking for a way to get her inside the old Legation building without anyone seeing her. "Head for the old embassy. We'll cover you. Once you get inside, try and get a message to the Mothership and have them send troopers to reinforce our position."

Philip and the others fired their side arms while Diana ran toward the building under their cover fire. The four of them fired again, and several humans went down. They then fell back to tend to their wounded as the four officers ran toward the old Legation unopposed.

**** **** ****

Meanwhile, having heard the explosion of the shuttlecraft two blocks away, Mike Donovan and several of the members of the human resistance who had been foraging for supplies went to investigate the commotion.

As he rounded a corner, Mike saw the burning wreckage of the shuttlecraft. He instantly recognised it as the one often used by Philip when he had to come to Earth. He hoped that his friend hadn't been aboard the ship.

"Julie, check the wreckage and see if there were any casualties," he said to the young biochemist as he gestured toward the smoking debris. "Kyle and I will proceed to the Legation and see if Philip made it there."

She nodded as she slowly moved off in the direction he indicated. Mike and Kyle continued on to the Legation.

** ** **

Keeping watch out the window, Philip was surprised to see Donovan and the others arrive on the scene. he knew that if Diana and Lydia were to see any of them, there would be an even bigger firefight than the one they just managed to escape. He knew about the escape ship in the rear of the building as well as the fact that only two of them could leave in it. It was a two seated craft, which meant that he, Lorraine, Nicholas and Paul would have to remain behind. He gestured for the young pilot to join him at the window.

"We need to get Lydia and Diana to the escape ship. If they see Mike and the others, you know what'll happen next."

"I know where it is," Paul said as he looked at the two women. "I used to be stationed here when the legation was operational." He looked over at Philip. "I'll get them to it, even if I have to drag them to it kicking and screaming."

Philip smiled, knowing that if either of them gave him no other choice, Paul would stun them without question and deal with the consequences later. He looked back out the window.

"I want to take them and get to the ship," he finally said. His voice was loud enough for the two women to hear his orders. "Once you get back to the Mothership, you can send the troops down."

"We won't leave you here, Philip," Lydia stated. It was obvious that she was reticent about leaving him behind for any reason. "What if the humans decide to press their advantage while we're gone and attack?"

"If the security system is still functional, I should be all right until the troops arrive," he said, meeting Lydia's concerned gaze. "The four of us who will remain behind can more than hold our own. Besides, the craft has room for only two people."

As he watched the exchange between Lydia and Philip, Paul knew that of the two of them, Lydia would probably end up being the one he'd have to stun. Diana would have no such qualms about leaving Philip behind. Everyone knew that the scientist intensely loathed the only Visitor who stood between her and total command of the Terran invasion fleet.

"I'm sorry, Commanders, but you no longer have any choice," a voice said from behind them. The three of them turned to see Paul standing behind them with his side arm drawn and covering them. He gestured up the hallway that led toward the escape ship. "Drop your side arms on the floor and move up the hallway before me." He tightened his finger on the trigger of the weapon to show them that he meant business. "If either of you tries anything, I will not hesitate to stun both of you."

The three of them walked up the hallway toward the escape shuttle. Lydia knew that she couldn't abandon Philip, but he'd ordered them to leave with Paul. Of the two of them, she knew that only the young pilot would understand what loyalty to a commanding officer was and what she felt she had to do.

"Paul, how can you do this?" she demanded. She knew that the young pilot was having doubts about leaving the Inspector General and the others behind and she that she'd have to play on his conscience. "How can you leave Philip behind? He's our superior officer and the only one who outranks Diana!" The blonde security officer took a quick look at the retreating form of the raven-haired scientist. "We need him alive to help keep her in line!"

"You think I don't know that, Lydia!" Paul shouted back at her. "I'm under orders to get the two of you back to the Mothership safely and I plan on doing just that, regardless of whatever charges you want to bring against me."

As they caught up with Diana, he gestured toward the opening with his side arm. "The two of you will return to the Mothership and send troops down as soon as you can." He reached out and touched Lydia's arm just as she was about to enter the shuttle. "Lydia, for what it's worth, I'll do whatever needs to be done to protect Philip. You do know that, don't you?"

The Fleet Security Chief nodded her head. Although she couldn't speak for Diana, she didn't plan on bringing charges against him for following a superior officer's orders. Paul had saved her life at the risk of his own and Lydia knew that he'd do whatever it took to keep Philip safe.

"I'll send help as quickly as I can," she finally said as she looked at him. A few minutes later, Lydia climbed aboard the shuttle and took off for the Mothership.

** ** **

Philip watched as the shuttle lifted off and headed back toward the Mothership. He knew that he might have made a potentially fatal mistake in sending Diana back to the Mothership, but he trusted Lydia to make an effort to keep the scientist in line until he returned.

"What do we do now, sir?" Nicholas asked. He had come aboard with Lydia and she'd told him to remain at the old Legation building until either she or the Inspector General ordered him to do otherwise.

"We go and see what Mike and the others want," Philip replied. He had used the threat to the safety of the two high-ranking women to get them out of the embassy and back to the Mothership. "They needed to get in touch with us and I didn't want to take the risk of Lydia and Diana finding out threat we're all members of the Fifth Column."

The four of them slowly walked out of the building with their hands clearly in view. To their surprise, they were met by Mike Donovan and his friends.

"Philip!" The Inspector General turned and looked at the human journalist. Mike offered his hand to the Sirian, who took it in a typical Terran handshake. "We thought that you might have been aboard the shuttle when it exploded."

"We almost were," Philip said as he released Mike's hand. "It was close, but we just managed to escape from the shuttle right before the fuel tanks exploded." He looked over Mike's shoulder and saw Ham Tyler and Chris Farber heading toward them and knew that he had very little time in which to warn them about the new danger their world faced. "We need to talk, Mike and I don't have too much time in which to tell you what I need to."

"What's wrong?"

"The Leader's sent plans of some kind of weapon to Diana via hyperbeam transmission," the barrister began tentatively. He knew that he and his small group were taking a major risk in talking to the Rebels in the open, but they had to. "It's a weapon of immense power, but I'm not sure which one he sent to her."

"Can you get us a copy of the plans?"

"I don't know if we'll be able to get them," Philip said. he didn't want to needlessly risk the lives of the Fifth Columnists under his command, since they were few and far between and spread far too thin as it was. "I'll do my best, but I won't make any promises."

"That's all we can expect," Mike conceded. He wouldn't ask any of them to risk their lives, just as he wouldn't ask any of the Rebels. "We can't ask for more than that. We'd better get out of here before your friends return."

"Yes. It won't be long now until they come back." Philip turned and headed back toward the Legation. "I'll contact you if I find out anything about the weapon."

"Sir," Nicholas said as he stepped up beside his commanding officer. "I'm supposed to remain behind here at the Legation and offer my services in an effort to deconvert the Terrans who had been altered by Diana."

Philip nodded as the hidden meaning of Nicholas's words became clear to him. The lawyer had wondered why the young man had joined them in the shuttle for their trip to Earth. It seemed that Lydia had a hidden agenda of her own in having Nicholas come to Earth with them. He then thought about Mike's son, Sean, who had been converted by Diana. Someone had to do something to reverse what had been done to the people of Earth. Perhaps Nicholas's offer to help them would be a good beginning in the healing.

"Stay here and keep out of sight," Philip ordered. He knew that the young conversion technician would be in great danger, but Nicholas seemed to be willing to take the risk. "If Diana finds out that you've defected and are here undoing her work, she'll send assassins to kill you and blame it on the Rebels."

"If I can help the humans, then it's a risk I have to take," Nicholas said. "We had no right to invade this world and I think we should do everything we can to help them recover from the harm we've done."

"Do what you can," Mike said, thinking about Sean and remembering the last time he'd seen him. "We'll make sure that all the other convertees we can contact make it here to you. We'll even try to funnel supplies to you whenever we can."

"You can also contact the field hospital and ask for an intern named Howie. He'll know how to get in touch with both me and Mike." Philip glanced out the door where he and Mike stood talking. "You need to go, Mike. Lydia and the others will soon be here and I won't be able to do anything to protect you and your people from the shock troopers."

"Let's go, everyone," Mike said to the other Rebels. he then offered the Inspector General his hand again. Philip took it and briefly shook it, then let go. "We need to get out of here before Lydia and the troopers return."

Mike turned and walked away from the Sirians with his own friends. He could tell that something was bothering Philip and he had a pretty good idea as to what it was.

"We sent Jane North with a supply of the antitoxin to the red dust." Mike said as he stopped and looked back at Philip. The Inspector General looked at Mike, confused by the human's words. He then remembered the young female whose fiancee had been killed earlier. "I thought you might like to know she's with the other survivors of your people."

As he walked away with the others, Mike barely heard Philip's whispered thank you. Donovan waved his hand back over his head to acknowledge that he'd heard his friend's words.

**** **** ****

Philip, Lorraine and Paul heard the whine of the shuttle's engine as it landed nearby. They saw the shock troopers as the left the vehicle and went out to meet them. They had to have a story between them and one that would be readily believable by both Diana and Lydia.

"You know they're going to wonder why the humans didn't attack us when they had the advantage," Paul said as he saw Lydia and her troops heading their way.

"I don't think they were after us," Philip said as he and Paul headed toward the shuttle. As he became aware that Lorraine wasn't behind them, they stopped to look at her. Meeting Philip's eyes, Lorraine knew that she couldn't go back with them. She merely shook her head no and quickly slipped back into the Legation. The Inspector General watched her leave and then turned back to his companion. "I think they were after Diana and we just happened to be in the wrong place when they attacked."

"Philip!" Lydia shouted, relieved to see that the Inspector General hadn't been harmed. She barely fought the urge to run over and embrace him. "You're all right! But how?"

"The Rebels ceased their attack the moment you and Diana left for the Mothership," Philip replied. He had to play the charade of the loyal Inspector General for the troops, but he would find a way to let the Column know what was going on. "I think they were after Diana and once they realised that she was on the shuttle, they didn't want to continue the fight."

Unknown to any of them, a silent figure watched them from the shadows of the embassy as the Inspector General continued talking to Lydia and her men. If they had seen his face, a couple of them would have recogised him at once.

"Since there's nothing left to keep us here, we need to get back to the Mothership before Diana decides to launch a coup and take command," Philip said as he nodded back over his shoulder toward the transport.

As they boarded the shuttle, no one watched as the figure silently slipped from the shadows and headed off in the opposite direction. There was no way he would risk both the lives of the Inspector General and the woman he loved by making contact with them at this time. Everyone believed that he was dead, and for now, it would be for the best if they continued to think that.