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She had traveled two blocks when she came to an elaborately designed building, surrounded by a lot of greenery and a tall iron fence. Standing before the main gate, she peered through the bars at the odd décor spread about the garden there.

Many golden statues were standing about in decorative fashion, and she was awed by the way the sun glinted so blindingly from off of them. What amazed her more was that the statues were all of people, in various forms and poses. They were striking in appearance, and she found herself curiously drawn to them, for some strange reason.

"Quite lifelike, aren"t they?" came a male voice behind her.

Turning, Jenny found herself staring up at a smoothly handsome man of unusual caliber. She gaped at him as if mesmerized, quite certain he wasn"t from Konatha. He was slim, less muscular, and of lighter skin color than other alien males she had seen. His hair was black, short, and combed back neatly. And his black outfit was impeccable.

"They are incredible," Jenny replied, quickly closing her mouth with embarrassment. "Who does such wonderful work?"

The man chuckled as he stepped past her to unlock the gate.

"Why, I do," he replied. "I"m an…art dealer of sorts." He turned back to her, a strange glint in his dark eyes. "Would you like to see more of my work?"

"Why, y-yes," she said. "Very much."

He opened the gate in welcoming fashion, directing her in.

"Kamran Donaliel, at your service," he said graciously, bowing in the manner of a wellmannered gentleman. "And you are?"

"J-Jenny," she stammered, gazing around her in wonder, at the uniqueness of the garden area and wondering why he kept it hidden behind the greenery and tall fence.

"Well, then, Jenny. Please, follow me." The man closed and relocked the gate behind her, but she paid no mind as she moved to get a closer look at the statues.

"That"s odd," she commented after a moment, walking toward a woman"s statue standing alone in a corner of the garden. "This woman seems familiar to me, but I don"t know why."

The man considered her a moment, his eyes narrowing, before he answered. "Valtorians are similar in appearance, Jenny. So naturally the models I use might seem familiar. You must be fairly new here, or you would already know that."

"Yes, yes, I am," Jenny said, returning to his side. "I"ve only been here about six months, uh, mentas."

"Were you selected as life mate?" Donaliel asked, intently studying her reaction to his words. "Someone as beautiful as you must have been snatched up right away by one of the Kaanig"s imperials."

Jenny coughed then, uncomfortable with the question. She glanced away in embarrassment. "Uh, no, actually."

"Too bad," he said, clucking his tongue. "Their loss, I"m sure." He motioned her to accompany him. "Come with me, and I"ll show you my operation."

Jenny felt a growing unease around the man, aware he was a stranger and that she knew nothing about him, but her curiosity overcame her trepidation. The man appeared successful at his business, and it was located in what seemed was the heart of the cultural district, so she was certain he was probably a well-known and well-respected member of the community.

"I have another similar gallery on Vaalstra," Donaliel explained, as he led her inside the mansion structure, closing and locking the door behind them. This time Jenny did notice, but she figured it was because the gallery wasn"t officially open yet so she didn"t say anything contrary to being locked in.

"Wow, this is some place," she said instead, walking around, enthralled with the objects at hand. She watched Kamran going about pulling dust coverings off various statues, which she examined with obvious delight. There were powerful looking masculine figures, striking females and, incredibly, the cutest children. "Your creativity knows no bounds," she said with admiration, looking over a young girl, holding a doll in her arms.

"Yes," the man said. "I am never at a loss. I always seem to find someone to…inspire my creations." As he spoke, he gazed at her with a strange intensity, eyeing her translucent skin, her wide eyes, and her lovely dark brown hair. She was a vision, even in the casual clothes she wore.

"I have something special to show you," he continued, "if you are interested in seeing it. I keep it out back, in my private work studio."

"Um, that might be nice," Jenny said, "but then I really must be going. I wanted to be at my father"s house in time for dinner."

Kamran Donaliel nodded, then went to recover the priceless objects he obviously took exceptional care with.

"Come with me."

Jenny slowly followed him through two more rooms of no consequence and outside. Leading her down a short walkway, Kamran led her to a large white building, sheltered behind the mansion they had just left. He unlocked the main door and led her inside, closed and locked that door as well, then proceeded to lower the shades on the windows.

"Um, is there…some reason you keep…locking all the doors?" Jenny braved asking, growing noticeably alarmed now.

Kamran moved to stand in front of her, looking down at her with those piercing black eyes of his.

"Everything on the premises is of great value, Jenny. The zalterian paste used for my creations is very expensive and must be transported with great effort and expense from Vaalstra. Locking the doors is just a habit of mine. However, my private studio here is off limits to everyone except my personal staff artists."

"I…understand," Jenny replied, still wary, but pacifying him. "Now, what did you want to show me?"

Kamran gazed down at her a moment longer before taking her arm familiarly and directing her to another door, another room, then down a flight of stairs to a basement area. The large room contained many statues lining the walls. In the center of the room were situated three large cylinders, which Jenny immediately realized were cellular suspension receptacles. Her friend, Casina, had shared of her terrifying experience with those things while en route to Valtor. As Jenny stared at them, an overwhelming fear washed over her as she now wondered at Donaliel"s real motives for bringing her there. It also gave her a taste of how frightened Casina must have been when the aliens had put her into one of those things against her will.

"And…what is that thing?" she asked, indicating a large round cement tub built into the floor, so deep it looked like a wishing well, except that it was of wider diameter. Above that was a huge metal clamp and pulley system of sorts.

Kamran smirked at the question, then moved to explain it to her.

"That? Well, that is where we dip the sculptures into the zalterian paste. Once coated, we take the objects to previously coated pedestals. Then we mold and shape them into creation where they are then allowed to harden and dry. Later, I sell them to the highest bidder. I have built a very successful business throughout the galaxy." He paused to look at her. "Would you like to see how it all works?" he asked.

"Um, okay," she said. "It would be interesting to see a master at work."

"Here then," he said, taking her hand and leading her to one of the receptacles towering over them. "Step in."

"What? No," she said. "I"m not getting in there. Why would I?" Kamran smiled at her then, but his smile never reached his eyes. "I thought you wanted to see my operation and how everything works?"

"Well, yes. I do," she admitted, "but I didn"t think…"

"I only want to show you what must be done in order for my creations to become reality," he explained. "This won"t hurt you. You will understand once you experience the procedure. I have always been big on hands-on training. And perhaps once you see how this works, you will want to join our little group, perhaps add your beauty and your obviously bubbly personality to the gallery. Surely, you could only be an asset and of great worth here."

"I don"t know," Jenny said, trembling as the man moved closer to her and began running a hand through her hair. "This all seems so strange, and I really need to be going."

"Jenny," Kamran said, inching closer to nuzzle her neck, his warm breath tickling her. "You are so beautiful. Why would you even consider saying no to me?"

"Why I…I…"

Kamran claimed her lips then, drawing her against him. Starved for affection, Jenny could only cling to the man, wishing it were Jeiel kissing her, but she found herself unable to push him away. He held her so tightly against him, she found it impossible to escape anyways. As the man moved against her, she felt her passion rising and was beginning to lose herself completely. As he kissed her, she allowed herself the pleasure of the moment, unaware that he was using his body to slowly force her back against the cylinder behind her. Mindless as to what was happening, it was clear to her later that she had been a fool to trust this man, this complete stranger, and cursed her female weaknesses that had allowed her to be so easily manipulated.

In a matter of seconds, Kamran Donaliel had her right where he wanted her. The cylinder door was open, and all he had to do was give one final shove that would force her to stumble backwards into the receptacle. Too late, Jenny realized what was happening. Forcing her inside, Kamran quickly slammed the door shut in her face and began initiating the procedure. The cold needles enveloping her shocked form was the last thing she remembered.



Kamran Donaliel and two of his staff were en route to Planet Vaalstra, with a cargo full of their latest zalterian creations, when the imperial order was given to maximize the galaxy. The Vaalstran vessel had soon been intercepted by Cambra Vernier"s warriors and brought to the holding area on Planet Azor. Donaliel and his men were detained against their will and their cargo confiscated and placed in a containment center reserved for contraband and supply seizures. Placed under guard until another of Jeiel"s men had time to question Donaliel about their mission, there was little Kamran or his comrades could do right then to free themselves or their cargo.

Disgusted, Kamran could only sit in his holding cell and glare at the floor with impatience as he waited, hoping no one would decide to melt down his precious cargo into meglan currency. A war right now was the last thing he needed since he knew the Altair would attempt to maintain his own storehouses by confiscating the wealth of the enemy or anyone else"s wealth, as he saw fit, in order to maintain government stores, especially during this most urgent time.

Yes, a war was indeed the last thing Kamran Donaliel needed just then. A meltdown of his precious cargo would no doubt be the end of him and his successful business ventures, and his own physical termination was certainly nothing he even wanted to consider right now. By all the stars, he groaned inwardly, fearfully, why did this have to happen now, when everything had been going so well?