It felt like I had been up for the better part of two days, and once I checked the time I decided that was pretty much true. As the previous day went on, more and more GL’s had to drop out of the cleanup detail because they were edging below a power level of twenty-five percent. The remainder was only to be used in case of an emergency.

Me being the only person that could charge her ring, I was labeled a valuable resource. That was until the first three new additions to the Star Sapphire Corps showed up to help out.

Of course Guy was just loving the view. Only one of them seemed to have any sense of modestly and wound up with a uniform much like mine. That was Miri, a blue-skinned, red-haired girl from Lartnec wherever that was. She was scary young, probably still a teenager and more bashful than I could stomach.

Dela of Xanador was a fairly human looking Caucasian with blonde hair. The only thing that set her apart was her liquid red eyes with no visible pupil. I could never tell if she was looking at me, which was kind of weird. She liked to show off a lot of skin and stuck with the original uniform that her ring gave her.

Koriand’r of Tamaran was in a class all by herself. She towered over me and possessed the most generous DNA imaginable to produce the curves she had on her. To top it all off she had orange skin and a darker orange hair with bright green eyes, again with no pupil. I was beginning to think that pupils were in short supply in the universe. Her uniform was just… pretty much non-existent, simply straps that barely covered the naughty bits. She was even in strappy sandals instead of boots.

“Okay, show of hands. Who has experience in fighting?” Dela and Kori raised theirs. Miri winced. “Alright, Miri, you help me with cleanup. Dela and Kori, if you would go with Guy here; he’ll show you what you need to know if we’re attacked again.”

Miri looked at me like she was going to get beaten or something.

“Honey, it’s okay that you don’t know how to fight yet. I’m not mad or anything. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Oh,” she brightened a little. “I know how to fight. I just don’t have any experience at it.”

I grinned. “Well then, let’s hope you won’t ever have to worry about that. Now let’s get busy.”

It may sound like we slipped on our maid uniforms and grabbed the furniture polish, but it was the other way around. The GL’s were on the ground cleaning the small stuff, carting off smaller loads of lighter debris while Miri and I were working on everything else. You may think that with a power ring, you can just conjure up a big broom and dust pan. It’s not that easy. A good sized building went down in the area, and we made a mess of things looking for survivors. It wasn’t on the scale of 911, not even close, but still there was a big mess and the cleanup had to be done right.

“So what’s your origin story?” I asked Miri as we were taking a break. She looked at me weird, like the rings weren’t translating things right, so I rephrased the question. “How did you receive your ring?”

The semi-happy smile I’d come to associate with her face faltered a little making it look like she was trying to be happy, but it wasn’t quite working.

“My husband and I were just married this morning.”

I paused, setting my drink back down, wondering why she was on Oa when she should be on her honeymoon.

“We were in our shuttle, heading to Survon, a pleasure planet located in my home system. It took most of five years to afford the vacation, so when we heard of the war the Green Lanterns were having with the Yellow, we postponed our wedding.” Miri smiled that half-hearted grin again.

“He was worried for my safety, so we waited until hostilities had ended. That was yesterday.”

A dread started building in my stomach.

“We were married in a small ceremony and left soon after… Kered was very handsome, very brave.”

“Miri, you don’t have to continue.” I tried stopping her, but she shook it off.

“No, Kered must be remembered.”

That confirmed my guess at what happened. He was dead; the rest was detail.

“We were almost there. Only an hour of flight left when a yellow light collided with our shuttle. Kered sealed off the cockpit and we witnessed the Yellow tear through the hull of our ship. He gorged himself on our food supplies.” Miri paused for a moment staring at nothing. “Kered approached him and told him to take what he wanted and leave us in peace.

“The Yellow did this…” She mimicked a thumping motion. “… and Kered was dead. His head was… crushed. Then the Yellow left.”

I felt tears fall from my cheeks at her loss, unable to fathom the pain that she must have felt.

“I floated there, in the dead of space, wanting nothing more than to join my love in the afterlife when your ring found me. It said that it could fill the hole in my heart and give me reason to continue, to help others that were facing the same loss that I was, to help prevent something like this from happening again.”

“Miri Riam, describe the Yellow Lantern that did this to your husband.”

My ring sounded angry.

Miri looked down and a violet light shot out a holographic image of the creature onto the table.

“Mongul of Debstam IV, renegade Sinestro Corps member. He tried to supplant Sinestro himself and lost.”

Miri looked at my ring. “Is that where I can find him? Debstam?”

“No, his whereabouts are unknown.”

“Ring,” I said. “Are all Yellow Lanterns like this? Don’t they have any mercy?”

“Jade, you are operating under the assumption that others have the capability for compassion that you have. That is not the case. The Sinestro Corps sole purpose is to subjugate others to their rule with fear. In order to promote that fear they will, without any thought, destroy the lives of others. It is what they do.”

My hand tightened. “Not any more. I’m authorizing an addition to our laws. From this moment on, lethal force is authorized against the Sinestro Corps, no prisoners, no trial, no second chances, no mercy. Kill them on sight. Destroy their rings after. Announce it across the universe: the Star Sapphires will avenge the loves lost to their methods. If they want fear, I’ll show them what fear really means.”

“Acknowledged.”

~O~

Miri persevered; moments after our break she was back to normal and working hard to clear out the debris. It was like our talk never existed.

“Is this what our rings do to people?”

“The power of the Star Sapphire doesn’t mute their loss. It gives them the ability to move on, aiding those that have suffered a debilitating loss to focus on other things. They still remember and mourn their loved ones. It is simply easier to do so with our aid.”

I frowned in contemplation. “That’s not what it looked like to me.”

“Jade, Lantern Natu’s vital signs are increasing. She will wake soon.”

“Thanks, Ring.”

I made my excuses and then flew off, eager to see something that would make me happy again.

Within seconds I was hovering outside of her room. There was a doctor or a nurse in her room and the other bed was empty. I tapped on the window, startling the only conscious person. He spun around and looked at me for a moment before waving me inside.

“You’re the visitor.”

I nodded, but only had eyes for Sora’nik, who was subtly moving at the sound of his voice.

“My ring said she’s waking up.”

“And so she is. You are related?” he said doubtfully.

Shaking my head I smiled slightly. “Not by blood. May I stay?”

He looked me over, seeing the ring on my hand. “I seriously doubt I could prevent you from doing so. A meal is on the way. Once she has eaten she can be discharged.”

I nodded, and pulled up a chair as he left.

“Power level at thirty-seven percent. Now would be an ideal time to recharge.”

“I don’t have a battery, Ring. In fact I didn’t even see anything on Zamaron that looked like what the GL’s have.”

“You can recharge me through the jewel located in your tiara. It is a direct connection to those that you saw on the planet. That is where our power originates.”

“Hold on, I’m wearing a tiara?” Reaching up I patted my head and pulled it loose. “I thought it was a headband to keep my hair out of my eyes.”

Sure enough, it was a tiara with a silver dollar sized violet jewel in the center. I remembered seeing similar jewels on the other girls, except theirs were located on their uniform just under their navels. Then I got a little suspicious. “Why do I get this and the others are different?”

“Because you are their queen, Jade.”

I froze. “I’m a what?”

“Call it what you will: leader, general, queen. It’s all the same. Now for your oath. Considering the events in the past few days I think they are quite appropriate.”

“What oath?”

My ring sighed. Seeing as it doesn’t have any lungs I could only assume that it was meant to let me know I was being difficult.

“All Corps have an oath they recite whenever they recharge their rings. It is meant to be a daily affirmation of their commitment to the Corps to whom they give their allegiance. As queen of the Star Sapphires it would behoove you to participate as an example. I told you about this when you became a Green Lantern Cadet. However, you chose to not recite the oath on grounds that you were drafted.”

“Oh… yeah.” I remembered now.

A holographic screen appeared in front of me, scrolling the various oaths the ring came up with. I declined the first three as too gushy -- let’s face it, love as a power was a little sappy. Then I saw the fourth one and smiled.

“You were paying attention in the meeting with the Guardians.”

“Of course. I always pay attention.” The ring sounded a little affronted that I would even consider that it would do anything different.

I looked at the jewel again and thought of how far I’d come over the last year and how my current position would change my life even more. The thought of even returning to Earth in the near future hadn’t even occurred to me. I couldn’t abandon my friends, but I’d accepted a higher calling, something that I actually felt good about.

They would have to understand that there were things even more horrible out here that needed to be stopped before they reached Earth. The thought of the Sinestro Corps invading my home was enough to double my resolve.

They wouldn’t touch Earth, ever.

Raising my ring, I held it in front of the jewel.

It was almost anti-climactic. There was no burst of light or trumpets blaring, but there was a sense of commitment that accompanied the oath, a sense of purpose and resolve to do my best to live up to the ideals that I set forth, to the preservation and nurturing of love and the fight against anything and anyone that would seek to destroy that most important of emotions.

“I like your new uniform.”

I almost dropped the tiara when I jumped to my feet. “Sora’nik.”

Her eyes were glassy and a tad puffy from too much sleep.

“I dreamed about you.”

Leaning over, I wanted nothing more than to touch her, but I restrained myself, knowing that she hadn’t returned my feelings before the mess happened.

“You did?” I said.

“I fell… there was darkness and then a light.” She squinted at me. “It looked like the color of your uniform. You were there. Then everything was okay.”

Her formal way for talking was gone. It seemed as if I was finally seeing the real girl behind the tough exterior.

“You’re fine now. The doctors fixed you up and he said that after you eat, you can leave.”

She blinked a couple of times and then pushed herself up, barely stopping the sheet from revealing her nude body. “Where’s my ring?”

I reached over to the bedside table and picked up her GL ring. “It tried to fly off. I guess it came back.”

Sora’nik’s eyes widened. “It…” She stopped herself and took it from my hand to slip it over her left index finger.

“Uniform.”

Her GL uniform appeared on her body a second later. “Ring, status report.”

“Power level at five percent, Central Power Battery destroyed, current alert level five. Do you require casualty reports as well?”

She looked up at me and threw off the sheet. “What happened, and why are you all pink?”

I sighed.

~O~

It took a good five minutes to convince her to sit down and eat while I updated her on what had happened over the last twenty-four hours, the cleanup, my trek to Zamaron and the meeting with the Guardians.

“A new Corps… and the Guardians have already allied themselves with you?”

I shrugged. “They really didn’t have much of a choice at the moment. All the GL’s on Oa are drained dry. Right now all the protection they have is Mogo, the robots and the Star Sapphires.”

She rubbed her temples. “How many do you have now?”

That was a good question. “Ring, do you have a current roster count?”

“One-hundred-thirty-seven. Twenty-four more have arrived on Oa in your absence. Sapphire Koriand’r has taken it upon herself to organize patrols of the sector and aid to the Guardians attempt in erecting the new Central Power Battery. Estimated time of completion eight hours six minutes.”

“Kori? Really?”

“She may not appear to be formidable, but she has been trained to lead her world upon the death of her mother the queen of Tamaran. Sapphire Koriand’r is a hardened warrior even without the power of her ring.”

“She’s a princess?”

“Affirmative.”

Sora’nik reached out and touched my hand. “It sounds like you need to get back to work.”

I nodded. “No rest for the wicked.”

Standing up, I secured my tiara back in place. “Do you want to come with me… or I can drop you off somewhere.”

She looked at her ring and I was betting that the thought of preserving what power she had left was probably paramount. “I’ll accompany you in case you need my assistance.”

Without waiting for her permission, I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Sora’nik gave me a shocked grin. “I didn’t.”

“See.”

~O~

Kori and Miri were holding headquarters out of The Big “W”. Apparently Guy got the power back up. Priorities, you know. All other troubles wait for beer.

Looking over in the corner table where I knew he held court, I saw Kori simultaneously leaning over the table and draping an arm around his shoulders. I think Guy was in heaven. He looked up with a tooth-filled smile on his face.

“Jade, Sora’nik!”

Kori and Miri followed soon after.

Guy pulled over two more mugs that I tried to turn down, but he wouldn’t hear anything of it. Sora’nik seemed placated enough with the gesture after we sat.

“You’re wasting your ring’s energy to serve drinks?”

He shrugged. “I’m not nearly as low as everyone else. Saving it up just in case. Besides, I’m going over a new defensive strategy with Kori here.”

The princess in question looked at me remorsefully. “My apologies, my queen, but needs must.”

I cringed at the title. “Just Jade is fine, and I’ve already gotten glowing references on your abilities and experience. If you’ll accept the position, I’d like to make you commander of the Star Sapphires.”

She nodded at me once. “Accepted with pride, Jade. I was pleased to hear your last announcement and have taken steps, with your approval, that will deal a crushing blow to the enemy.”

To say I was interested was an understatement.

Sora’nik nudged me. “Your last announcement?”

Kori raised her ring and smiled. “It was inspiring to see our queen and her utter intolerance for the evil the Yellow spreads.”

An image of me appeared in the center of the table, turning from violet to a more realistic color I saw myself with tear trails running down my face and the anger in my eyes.

“I’m authorizing an addition to our laws. From this moment on, lethal force is authorized against the Sinestro Corps, no prisoners, no trial, no second chances, no mercy. Kill them on sight. Destroy their rings after. Announce it across the universe: the Star Sapphires will avenge the loves lost to their methods. If they want fear, I’ll show them what fear really means.”

I flinched at the tone my voice had taken. In all the years of my short life I don’t think I had ever said anything that final, that threatening and that bloodthirsty. It gave me pause.

“I got shivers runnin’ down my spine, Jade,” said Guy with a determined look on his face. His eyes flicked to Sora’nik. “No offense.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her shake her head. “Considering the devastation he has caused and the lives he has ruined, he deserves nothing less.”

“Now is not the time to sate your curiosity as to who she speaks of, Jade. I will inform you of her situation later,” my ring thought to me.

Miri looked at me in a contemplative way, while Kori stared at me with pride.

“Tell me what you have in mind.”

~O~

With a few hours left until the plan was to be put into play, Sora’nik insisted I get some sleep, offering her bed while she tended to personal matters. Four hours was about all I could take. I was certain it was a mistake because when I woke I felt worse than when I laid down.

Hearing her moving around in the main room, I went to her bathroom and splashed some water on my face.

“Now, what’s the deal with this person Sora’nik thinks deserves to be squashed.”

“Lantern Natu was not raised by her natural father. Instead, she was given to foster parents and up until a very short time ago, she believed that they were in fact her biological mother and father.”

“Okay? It happens. That doesn’t change anything.”

“Her biological father is the leader of the Yellow Lanterns, the one who created that specific Corps, Sinestro.”

I cringed. “And here I am saying I’m going to squash her father.”

“He’s not my father.”

I jumped and spun around. “Put a bell on or something!”

Her brows raised a little as she considered me. “Do not feel guilt for something that is out of your control. Your words rang true, and if I had the ability, I would have put him down long ago, shared genetics or not.”

I made the connection from what she had said when we first met. “He’s the guy that ruled over your planet, a Green Lantern gone bad.”

Sora’nik pursed her lips. “He’s a disgrace to the Corps, and my world.” Holding up her hand, she pointed at it. “When he was banished, his ring came to me while I was in the middle of surgery.”

Crossing her arms, she leaned on the door. “Can you imagine what it was like to have a Green Lantern ring floating there while you are surrounded by the people you work with, knowing they hated everything the Corps stood for since the only exposure they’d had to it was Sinestro?”

I shook my head.

“I was expelled from my home, and exiled from my world, because I accepted the ring so I could save the life of the man under my knife. It didn’t matter that I tried to take it off after the operation.” She huffed. “I found out later, the man I saved killed himself when he found out he owed his life to the ring arriving at that moment.”

Sora’nik closed her eyes and then turned around. “So no, he’s not my father, and I hope your plan works and we can rid the universe his existence once and for all.”

It didn’t take half a second for me to approach her and set my hands on her shoulders. “I’m so sorry.”

Her head turned slightly. “Again, it was a situation of which you had no control.”

“That doesn’t mean that I can’t feel empathy for you.”

She sighed and I felt some of the tension drain from her body. “Why does your touch sooth me, Jade?” she nearly whispered.

I quashed my nanosecond of delight at some sort of positive reaction from her. Taking advantage of the situation would make me feel like less than a worm so I just offered her comfort and dropped my hands until they slid around her waist, embracing her back to my front.

“Because I care for you.”

I suppose it was her scientific mind that wouldn’t let it go. “Is this one of the powers your Star Sapphire bestowed upon you?” Before I had a chance to continue she cut me off. “I spoke with Guy while you were asleep. I know what happened.”

Setting my chin on her shoulder, I tried to brace myself for what she might say.

“The only reason my ring would leave me is if I was dead. Guy said that you saved me, only I couldn’t understand how.”

“I just did.”

Her head tilted toward me and I reveled in her cheek brushing against mine. “Miri said that a Star Sapphire has the ability to send a tether to two hearts and use the love and will from one to connect them. She said that even recent death could not stand in the way of love.”

I smirked gently. “Love will conquer all.”

Sora’nik’s hands drifted down to cover mine. “This is illogical. You can’t be in love with me.”

Turning my head, I placed my lips a millimeter away from her ear and whispered. “Haven’t you ever heard of love at first sight?”

She shivered and made a minor effort to step away from me, but my hands tightened. “That’s called lust.”

“Perhaps, but it wasn’t simply your body I lusted after. It was the way you spoke, and the way you held yourself, the intelligence you have, and your commanding nature. If I could lust after your mind and personality as well…

Her hands ran over mine, pausing and I still felt her reluctance.

“Is it that we’re both girls? Is there a taboo on your world?”

Sora’nik’s eye opened. This time she did pull away successfully, turned and looked at me strangely, like she was trying to see if I was… naíve?

“You truly do not know.”

“Ring? What’s she talking about?”

Genders are not exactly consistent between your two races, Jade. There are differences of which you do not know.

Sora’nik smiled knowingly. “Your ring has told you?”

I frowned. “She’s being too general. She just said that genders work differently for your race than they do with mine.”

“Very true.”

Have you ever felt like you weren’t in on a joke? “What am I missing? Are you saying you’re not a girl?”

Her lips twisted to the slide and turned up. “I am female.”

Tilting my head in a confused angle, I felt my cheek start to heat up. “Does that mean something different for you than it does for me?”

Instead of answering she reached down and took my hand. “Come. I have food for you before we continue. I will answer your questions at the table.”

Looking at the minor spread reminded me how long it had been since I’d eaten anything substantial. The hectic life of a Green Lantern on Earth meant that most of my meals came in the form of something that was microwavable, or that was able to be stuck between two slices of bread. I didn’t recognize the things on the dish, but that didn’t really mean anything. I was untold light years away from Earth and pretty sure Burger King hadn’t reached quite this far. Odds are that living in deep space for any length of time would expose me to all sorts of new experiences.

Trusting that Sora’nik was a doctor and feeding me food that wouldn’t exactly agree with the human body was in a low probability, I sat down and sampled something that looked like a vegetable. It was red and plantlike. Unfamiliar spices exploded in my mouth making me extreamly hungry.

“This is very good.”

I received a pleased smile from her. “Thank you. My adoptive father wrote down all of his recipes. It’s not often that I am able to prepare a full meal, with my lifestyle.”

I nodded in agreement. “So, gender?”

Sora’nik sipped from her glass and then set it down. “Korugarian females are traditionally the more dominant of the gender’s on my home planet. About a hundred years or so ago that was different. On one of the larger continents a plague spread that decimated the male population. By the end of the first year, more than eighty-percent of the males were rendered infertile and a good portion of them died.”

I started to say I was sorry, but she seemed to get annoyed with me when I did that, so I just gave her my attention and continued eating.

“Obviously, we would have breeding issues. The existence of our race was more important than any other issue. Five years after the plague was conquered genetic testing and manipulation began taking place.”

When she saw my surprise, she explained. “We are a very advanced race in the area of genetics, Jade. At first, it was enough to simply ensure that all children were born male. That placated the public, but eventually proved to be a problem later. There were several children that grew up insisting that they weren’t meant to be male. They would undergo procedures that would alter them into the likeness of a woman and defeat the entire purpose of the experiment.”

“You’re talking about transsexuals,” I said.

“Correct. At least thirty percent of the new male population was transsexual.”

I shook my head. “That must have been awful.”

She shrugged. “We adapted and sought alternate methods as technology improved. Eventually we found ways to alter existing adult females into fertile males.”

I blinked and nearly choked on the meat as I swallowed. “Really?”

She nodded. “There were several thousand volunteers for the procedure. Even though they were what you’d consider heterosexual, the desire to have children and continue their bloodline was more important. However there were unseen side-effects.”

By process of deduction I began to see where she was going with this. “We’re up to your generation now, aren’t we?”

A gentle smile showed. “Yes. Whenever a new child is born on Korugar, it is born with both sexes, both fertile. Due to the problems with the previous generation, it was thought best to allow the children to grow up and make an informed decision on their own as to which gender they desired to be, or they could remain the way they were born and not have anything altered.”

I rolled a wine-like drink around my mouth as I considered what she had told me.

“So, right now you’re saying that you are both genders, but identify as female.”

“Correct.”

At my long pause, I suppose she took it as a reason to continue. “I am familiar enough with your culture to know that is frowned upon, but I also know the gender makeup of human Green Lanterns. You are often originally of the opposing gender that you present.”

I nodded. “I am, or I was. My ring has helped me in that regard.”

Sora’nik nodded. “As it did with your predecessor. I assume you are almost mid-way in through your transformation?”

“Perhaps it would be better if I explained your current status, Jade.”

Looking down at my ring, I agreed. “Go ahead.”

“Knowing my previous bearer and from what I deduced from my current bearer, I began his transition approximately seven months ago.”

I sucked in a breath of air. “What?”

“Do not sound so surprised, Jade. You never dropped your disguise even once since its initiation over a year ago. I have access to you thoughts and knew of your dissatisfaction, so as to alleviate these concerns I took it upon myself to make you whole.”

I didn’t know what to say.

“I have been subtly adjusting your body for seven months, preparing it for the more advance alteration. Your disguise has been thinner as time went on. At your request, when we traveled to Zamaron, I used the access to the unlimited power source to progress the transition much further.

It took most of my power to not freak out right then. “How far along am I?”

“Within the next month you will be ready for the final alteration. At the moment, very little of your body is covered by your original disguise. There are a few cosmetic adjustments that need to be made and a few internal as well. You may participate in sexual activity, however at the moment you are not fertile.”

My eyes widened at that announcement and I saw Sora’nik smirk at my discomfort. “I remind you that I am a doctor, Jade. I have heard of this thing you call sex.”

TBC...