AN: No, this isn't the last chapter. ::sighs:: I'm just going to stop suggesting that each chapter might be the last, okay? There's at least one more after this one.

Chapter Thirty-Three

"This is impossible," Kiernan growled at the two older men. "How can this ship possibly be so damned huge inside when it looks so small from the outside?"

"Alien technology," Cyrus repeated, answering with what had become his fallback response to the majority of Kiernan's questions or complaints.

The young man scowled at the back of Cyrus's head. "You could at least say that you don't know," he pointed out. Then, before Cyrus could respond he added, "We're never going to find the ship's main power supply, you know. And even if we do the chances of finding that weapon of yours are still slim to nonexistent."

"Listen," Cyrus said, growing irritated both with Kiernan's comments and their seemingly endless search that continued to turn up nothing, "just shut up and look for some sort of passage to a lower level. Engines are usually located down."

"Alien technology," Kiernan responded, gladly using Cyrus's own catch-all reply against him. "The engine could be anywhere."

"Just look," Cyrus snapped. Before him a door opened automatically, albeit rather listlessly, and the blond groaned at the sight that greeted them.

"We've been going around in circles," Kiernan stated simply, peering past the older man at the familiar entrance room. It wasn't the first time the trio had been there recently, but it was the first time that the lights in the round room appeared dimmed and faded. The panel inset into a wall--the panel that greeted guests with a map and other useful things--flickered and threatened to extinguish. It was obvious that the ship's power was getting lower all the time.

Kiernan frowned. "Must be quite the weapon, to be draining the ship's power like this," he said.

Cyrus snorted. "If Iye hooked it up, most of the energy's probably going to waste. We'll be lucky if the weapon got any of the charge at all."

"If it's even this weapon of yours that's actually causing this," the young man responded dubiously.

Dr Maxwell, who had so far been content to allow the two their banter, spoke up as something about the flickering welcome screen caught his attention. "Is that what it looks like?" he questioned, pointing at the active panel.

What it looked like was in fact a rather mangled view of the forested area surrounding the ship. What was particularly interesting was the movement that had truly drawn Dr Maxwell's notice. The equipment scanning the area had honed in on the movement as well and was keeping the video on the intruders, issuing a bleary warning beep that would obviously have been more impressive had the ship not been nearly drained of power.

"It's Nila and Iye!" Kiernan exclaimed, glad to see the young woman in one piece, but not so pleased to see the alien that was with her.

"You know," Cyrus said slowly as the pair approached the ship with caution, the alien wary of the saucer's current state, "Iye would know where the weapon is."

Kiernan frowned, shifting nervously from one foot to the other as the figures on screen neared the open entrance. "And just how do you suggest we have him tell us?" he questioned dryly. "He's not exactly in any sort of state to comply with your queries, you know."

"What are the chances that Iye's still cognizant in there somewhere?" Cyrus questioned quickly.

"W-what?"

"Is it possible?" Cyrus demanded.

"Well, I suppose it could be," Kiernan answered uncertainly. "I mean, he was fully aware of things around him just before Lucifer took over, so I suppose it's possible he knows what's going on--"

"We'll take the chance then," Cyrus responded decisively. "C'mon."

"Wait," Kiernan said as he and Dr Maxwell hurried after Cyrus, "I only say there's chance--a slight chance, mind you--because Lucifer mentioned that it was tougher to take over Iye's body this time. Last time Iye had no recollection at all of what had happened. The chances are practically nonexistent! And it's not as though he can help us even if he does know what's happening. He has no control over that body while Lucifer's enforcing his own will upon it. What are we doing?!"

Cyrus paused at a split in the corridor. "We need to find that medical branch we bypassed earlier. And we need to find it quickly. And we need to find it while making enough noise to lure Lucifer after us. You're doing a good job with that last part, with all your complaining."

Kiernan blinked at the man in confusion. "The medical branch? You have a plan, then?"

"A plan," Cyrus agreed. He paused, casting Kiernan a glance. "I just hope that your 'practically nonexistent' odds are a little more in our favor than you believe."

X X X

Nila wasn't precisely pleased to be back at the ship. However, her curiosity took a bit of the worry off her shoulders when she saw that the ship was in a state far different than when she had last left it.

The two had to climb into the ship's open entry; the platform lay listlessly on the ground beneath the saucer. Luckily the now visible ship was hovering low enough to the ground that even Nila didn't have much trouble getting in. Of course, it led her to wonder just who else might have slipped in--especially when voices could be heard coming from one of the corridors leading off of the main entryroom.

Lucifer growled lowly. "Rats in a cage," he bit out. It seemed he didn't think twice before dragging Nila off after the voices, weaving down hallways and following the sounds with practiced ease.

They were catching up to the voices, and Nila was sure that she recognized each that she heard; she wondered if Lucifer recognized them as well. She glanced to the alien, who pulled her along behind him. He appeared to be concentrating, probably on tracking the sounds in the echo-prone corridors. A snarl twisted his lips in a way that Nila would have never thought to see on Iye's face; she had to remind herself again that it wasn't really Iye she was looking at.

He stopped suddenly, and even Nila could now tell that the voices were near. The sounds were coming from behind a door, slightly ajar, and the young woman craned her neck in an attempt to see inside. Her try was useless, but then it wasn't really necessary either. She knew the owners of those voices without having to see them.

Lucifer didn't remain still for long. He shoved the door open without ceremony, effectively drawing all eyes to him.

Nila peered from behind him into the room, and though she consciously took in the presence of Cyrus, Kiernan and Dr Maxwell, her gaze was drawn to a different form within the room. The figure was huge, gray skinned, and obviously powerful. The young woman recognized it immediately as Iye's natural form--the one he usually donned when not trying to blend in with the natives. Of course the form was unmoving, Iye being stuck in the human body that Lucifer was presently controlling.

Or was he stuck?

The same thought seemed to have occurred to Lucifer, who obviously hadn't given much thought to the room's identity before barging in. Despite having the intruders cornered the alien turned, sliding the door closed and locking it hastily from the outside. "Annoying," he growled before dragging Nila off, his haste giving the impression that he was in a sudden hurry to get somewhere particular.

"So," Kiernan spoke up dryly, looking to Cyrus, "about this plan of yours. . . . Was getting us locked in here a part of it, by any chance?" When Cyrus didn't respond, the young doctor turned his attention to what the older man was watching carefully--the large gray form that loomed over them. "You know," he said, "that thing is rather disturbing. Did we have to-- Uh, did it just move? Please tell me that was just my imagination."

"I hope it wasn't your imagination," Cyrus responded. "That thing is the best hope we have of getting out of here alive."

"Oh that's just wonderful," Kiernan replied. But the young man quickly shut his mouth as the figure definitely moved, shifting slowly as though having difficulty waking from a long slumber. When it finally took an uncertain step, Kiernan cast Cyrus a look that seemed to ask if the man was nuts, or just suicidal. The small, uncertain frown that the older man wore wasn't reassuring.

"Iye?" Cyrus questioned hopefully, ignoring the surprise that crossed Kiernan's features. When the alien turned slightly in his direction, Cyrus tried again, "Iye, you do know what's going on, right?"

A small grunt and a brief nod from the large form was slightly reassuring.

"I'm sure Lucifer is heading for his original form," Cyrus continued. "And the fact that he's got Nila is worrying, but. . . . Iye, please tell me that the alien weapon is somewhere on this ship recharging. That's why the ship's getting so low in power, right?"

The figure nodded again, but his attention had turned from Cyrus to the closed--locked--door that blocked their path. He gave it an experimental shove, and the door hardly shifted.

Kiernan turned to Dr Maxwell. "That's Iye?" he hissed.

The doctor nodded. "He's quite extraordinary in his ability to shift between bodies like that. Cyrus knew that if he was still cognizant in that human form despite Lucifer's interference, it was possible that he could change bodies. It was getting his human form close enough to make the jump that was the hitch. Quite a risky plan, really."

"Iye," Cyrus spoke up over the doctors' whispers, "we need to get out of here." It was obvious, however, that he words were unnecessary; the alien was giving the door gradually more forceful pushes, the latest of which bucked the metal in its frame. "We can't just rush off after Lucifer, though," Cyrus added, hoping that his words were getting through to Iye, who seemed intent on the door. "By the time we reach him he'll have regained his natural form and will have Nila as a hostage. Not to mention he'll have your human body with him. We need the weapon. Only you know where it is. You need to get it."

The alien made a low, growling sound that didn't seem very pleased.

"Dr Lazarus and I will hurry after Lucifer and try to buy some time--"

"We will?" Kiernan wondered.

"--while you take Dr Maxwell and get the weapon. Iye? Are you listening?"

Iye growled as he gave the door a final, powerful shove that twisted the door outward, push it back as though it was a swinging door as opposed to a sliding one. Cyrus had to wonder if he had used even a fraction of the strength he could have. He doubted it, and suspected that he might be saving that strength for the confrontation with Lucifer.

"Iye?" Cyrus posed yet again. "The gun?"

The alien grunted, managing somehow to sound annoyed. He gestured for Dr Maxwell to follow him, and didn't wait for the older man before heading off in a hurry.

Cyrus watched the two for a moment before heading off in the other direction, listening to be sure that Kiernan was following him.

"You know," Kiernan spoke up expectedly, "you could have warned me about Iye possibly switching his consciousness to that huge form."

"I could have," Cyrus agreed.

Kiernan frowned. "I don't think I need to mention that distracting hostile aliens isn't something I'm experienced with."

"I'd assumed as much."

The young psychiatrist resisted the uncharacteristic urge to make a face at the older man's back. He also resisted the more natural urge to speak up again. If they were heading for a confrontation, the last thing he wanted to do was give away their position any earlier than possible. Kiernan sighed quietly. He vowed that if he got out of this alive, he'd be just a little more compassionate toward clients with paranoid fantasies of alien abduction. . . .