Empress Malbess of Friggia enjoyed her morning cup of hot Jolla,while her adopted daughter Marikka padded up the steps to her throne, bare foot. The Empress sighed and asked, "Girl? Where are you shoes?" The Imperial Monitors beeped softly and a comm-officer announced,"My lady? A personal communication from the downed space-ship on the south-west frontier that General Ston'na is aiding is for you. It is addressed "From One to A, Code 110110", Do you wish to take...?" The Empress choked on her drink and shouted,"YES! Patch it through!" A face familiar to the Empress appeared on the monitors. It was her sister,Malbess. The Imperial Princess, Marikka pointed at the screen and shouted,"Who's that? Why does she look like YOU,mother?" The Empress silenced her daughter with a sound and wave and asked,"It's been two hundred years!" Malbess on the Cyclops Transport smiled at her long distanced twin and said to the little girl,"I am Malbess, twin sister to your mother, Malbessa, who thought I had died with honor two hundred years ago when the planet Adamesh was nuked by the planet Balaam. She took my name and ruled in my stead. She can keep the crown. I have no interest in ruling,now. She has ruled with strength and honor, but I do want my original name back." The Empress laughed uproariously and waved her Jolla cup at the woman on the screen and said,"You haven't lost your flair for the dramatic, sister ! I'll save that bit for the news! Now that 'honor and glory' have been served, what's up? I like your shirt." Malbess on the transport said with a smile,"Thanks, I like it,too. I'm just calling up for a tow. The Cyclops Transport, I'm on is pretty beat up and I was wonder if you had anything that could lift...?" The Empress smiled and said,"You remember the two heavy lift cranes we had? We STILL have. I was planning on dispatching one to grab up your ship, tomorrow. It's just dawn here, just midnite your time. It's just leaving our space-port! See?" The impressive view left Malbess impressed. Malbess on the Transport said,"I see you've been busy for two hundred years. In any event...we have more than just new flight and warfare technology to trade for aid. The Cyclops are a machine-life species,too." The Empress, Malbessa nodded and said,"So I've heard from my soldiers,there. Go on." Malbess smiled and said casually, "They can BREED. Truly. They can enable our 'Friggians' to do so, as well. They have been instructed by the human colonial authorities to NOT mention to you when we arrive there. If you ask, however..." The Empress looked at her adopted daughter and said,"We found her near the equatorial death-zone, dying from radiation poisoning. Her family had already died. She has so much will to live, I had her put into the only cybernetic shell we had left. Our doctors couldn't do much else for her. We're dying as a people. Can the Cyclops help THAT?" Malbess paused and asked Perro a question. "You've heard? Can Rose's people help that?" Perro put Narchi on hold for a moment, and sounded thoughtful as he said,"In my opinion...yes, they can with human aid. It will be a big fight to get it done. The political will of the humans in this course of creating a cyborg race is not there." Malbess looked at her twin android and said,"It's possible. It's a doable possibility. We want to dump some FTL parts from an alien ship onto the planetary surface. If you help us salvage them and hook them up to this ship, you could write your own terms." Perro objected over her shoulder, as the Empress shouted,"Done and DONE! Let me know where and when!" Lime looked over Malbess' arm and asked,"Who's that little girl?" as Perro cut the link. Perro looked at Malbess and said,"The Captain is NOT going to like this!" Malbess shrugged, looking thoughtful. Lime picked up the errant stylus, her new mother wanted, and left. --TO BE CONTINUED!--