Doctor Aldus Panchetta was afraid of few things. One of the few things he feared was the monsters he had created from four million year old DNA that was found in the ancient forerunner ruin of Shalmiraine. He put his bravest face on and marched in to examine the off-spring of those two things. He needed answers and there was ONLY one place to get them. The River Prince was almost three meters tall now. He towered in the Medical Bay like a colossus. Tam-ra turned and said, "Doctor Pancheta, I ran all the tests you wanted. Prince is ready to be interviewed,now." Prince preempted what Aldus had in mind by locking glowing green eyes on him and pronouncing, "I iz in your heartz, smelling your fearz. Why?" Aldus believed in truth where it wouldn't get him killed and said levelly, "I knew your parents. You shouldn't exist. Your parents were different species. They shouldn't be able to breed." Prince shrugged and asked, "Why?" Aldus said, "They had different numbers of genes. That shouldn't work. It's complicated. I can teach you later, if you are interested. I'm shocked you can talk. I have some questions for you. I need you to answer them. Can you do that?" Prince looked down while Tam-ra held one of fingers and said, "His temperature is up two degrees centigrade in the past half hour." Prince rumbled, "Iz not stupid! I haz answerz, you has questionz. Be asking." Aldus started, "You got bigger when you consumed the ruling caste Scourge. HOW? Why?" Prince thought for a moment and said, "Iz big thing. Told my body to be big, so got big while eating him. Makes me hot because iz more hot than communicator. Iz more...BIGGER" Aldus thought for a minute and asked, "How hotter will you get? Can you tell?" Prince paused and said, "Not much more hotnezz. Would have burned up if eating Toxicz! Much to TO bigger than Tlaloq ruler type. Wouldn't eating Toxicz, anyway. Is to loving. Would be bad. My mom would be squishing me if eating Toxicz!" Aldus blinked in surprise at this weird turn of the conversation. He continued, "Do you know that Toxic is my daughter?" "Yes. Iz smelling it. But iz smelling my mom on her,too. No wonder daddy iz no liking you! Iz mom'z other mate?" Tam-Ra closed her eyes at the thought of Aldus and the giant monster, Leviathan, mating and tried NOT to bust out laughing. She snickered and it hurt,it was so funny an image. Aldus glared at her. She burst out laughing at that. Aldus rolled his eyes in disgust. Prince was nodding and said, "Waz jokingz! Alduz is not funny manz." Aldus asked, "Can you see Toxic in Sunshine's body?" "See markingz. Have to bite people to taste peoplez in bodiez. Can tell peoplez spirit thingz is wrong. Toxic will burn Sunny up! Get Toxic out of Sunny, not right body. Toxic is in Sunny'z body eating up her life! Not good!" Prince looked sad. Aldus asked a question he was dreading, "Can you get a spirit thing out of a body WITHOUT eating it?" Prince thought for a long while and said," No. Doesn't work. Would EAT ME, if I no eat them! I am in their minds, eating their FOODZ! NOT feeding them MY foodz! Otherwise, I'd be bad big Scourge eating everyonez headz!" Aldus nodded, having lost most of his fear. He asked his final question, "Can you go back to your original form?" "Will try. Don't be fittingz in clothez any more. Need nap to sleep off Scourge mind foodz. Left bad taste. Too much hatingz. Need to nap with Sunny. She is filled with lovingz. Makez hatingz go bye-bye." Prince nodded sleepily. He was handed off to a rating who almost swallowed his tongue when he saw the monster he'd conduct to an empty cabin. Tam-Ra said in wonder, "Toxic would say things like that all the time. She could TASTE the love in anything baked that she ate. I thought it was just a phrase." Aldus looked after the monster and whispered, "Maybe not." --TO BE CONTINUED!--