Return to Castaway Island: A Castaway Island Story

Return to Castaway Island

A Castaway Island story

by Paco Jones

text copyright 2017-2021 Dr. Paco Jones

all rights reserved

cover copyright 2017-2021 Dr. Paco Jones

all rights reserved

cover images license from depositphotos.com

Moon copyright - 4Masik

Sunset copyright - ewastudio

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer

This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, events, and places are products of the author’s imagination and are fictional, Though some places may be identified because they are present on the Earth and the story has to take place somewhere, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, incidents, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Books by Paco Jones

These Girls Can Play (adult content)

Mile High and Beyond (adult content)

Teaching Deanna - Deanna book 1 (adult content)

Tara's Nightmare & Beyond - Deanna book 2 (adult content)

Craft Faire Love - book 1 (adult content)

The Tahoe Files - Craft Faire Love book 2 (adult content)

Jason & Alicia - A Craft Faire Love story (adult content)

Things to Come (adult content)

Irons in the Fire (adult content)

Castaway Island

Le Petite Castaway Island

Zardoc

The Pods

Return to Castaway Island

The Ghosts

It's All Over But The Shouting!

Vietnam: A Distant Memory

To the readers of the Castaway Island trilogy - Here's one more trip around the multiverse.

Acknowledgment

Any author will tell you that an effort such as this is not a solitary endeavor. If it's going to be anywhere near readable it takes a team. I am extremely thankful for my team. I can write it, but without them you probably wouldn't really want to read it.

As always, a special thank you to Turbo. He helped to make me a much better writer.

A quiet thank you to Orblover and Strickland83 for their kind words of encouragement.

When I ask for it, encouragement has always come from my friend Robert Lubrican.

These gentlemen's kind words of advice have kept me on the straight and narrow. Okay, as straight and narrow as I get...

There are others out there in ether land that I owe a debt of thanks to as well. I'm afraid to start a list for fear I'll forget someone, but you know whom you are!

I also have to send a heartfelt thank you to you, the reader. Without you, none of this would be worth the effort.

Thank you!

Table of Contents

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1 - Zardoc Returns

Chapter 2 - Projects

Chapter 3 - A Quick Trip

Chapter 4 - The Ice Cavern

Chapter 5 - Under the Ice

Chapter 6 - The Council's New Request

Chapter 7 - The New Swamlun

Chapter 8 - Swamlun Two

Chapter 9 - Nomtux

Chapter 10 - Decisions

Chapter 11 - Phase Transition vs. Swamlun

Chapter 12 - Potpourri

Chapter 13 - Discussions of the Beginning

Chapter 14 - Some Interesting Cosmology

Chapter 15 - Back Under the Ice

Chapter 16 - Power Station Earth

Chapter 17 - Teasers

Chapter 18 - Many Earths

Chapter 19 - Cosmic Diversity

Chapter 20 - Moving Torreans with the Anu

Chapter 21 - The New Torrea

Chapter 22 - Return to Castaway Island

Epilogue

About the Author

Books by Paco Jones

Preface

When I finished The Pods I knew there was a lot more to tell, but I've been torn with the form it would take.

The original premise of the Castaway Island series was saving the Earth and then saving the human species from itself. That task was complete by the end of book 3, so where was a book 4 going to fit?

To be honest, this book has been hell for me to write. I knew the whole story from the beginning, but trying to get it out of my head, into the laptop, then on to you, was like pulling teeth. I would do many things daily to avoid picking up the laptop and writing. I know that in the end, it doesn't come across that way ... at least I hope not, but that's the truth of it. I'm going through it with a fine toothed comb to make sure I've lashed it together correctly and it comes out the way I envisioned it in the first place.

Usually when I write a story it starts at the beginning (well duh, Paco), then about five or six chapters in, I write the last chapter to give me a place to go, which is why in this work, the last chapter is called, Chapter Last ... by that time, I pretty much know what the ending is going to be. In book three, there were parts that were painful for me to write because I knew in the end Zardoc would be leaving and I tend to live my characters. The last chapter always changes because of details in the things that eventually get us there, but at least there is a set place to end.

That's not anywhere near the way this one worked out.

As my readers know, I have ADD so working on a few different things at a time is not unusual, but in this book, I jumped from chapter to chapter as things came to mind. I've never done that before, and quite honestly, it was a bit disconcerting though as I said, I knew the story when I started. In the end, I think I have managed to weave it into what I believe is pretty damned good story.

The science stuff always causes me to focus because it takes a lot of research to make it sound plausible. That said, it is not now and never will be Neil deGrasse Tyson approved. I'm sure I would never hear the end of it.

On the other hand, Michio Kaku may give some of it a pass saying, I can't disprove it, so perhaps it is within the realm of possibility.

Such is the difference between textbook astrophysics and theoretical physics.

This is book 4 in the saga. It is A Castaway Island Story. The original series will remain a trilogy because what I originally set out to do is finished. That said, there is no reason I can't have a four or five book trilogy ... if Douglas Adams can do it, so can I.

This work is some of the continuing adventures the characters get themselves into and there could possibly be more in the future.

Is there going to be a fifth book - another Castaway Island story? Probably ... When I started this book, I would have emphatically said no way, but now I have three pages of notes and ideas for a fifth book, maybe more. I wouldn't rule it out, but it is time to move on from Jayna, Makenna, Bob, and Zardoc for a time. Z has taken over my life the same as she has done with the characters.

If I were an obsessive type of person, I'd have to admit that Zardoc has become an obsession, but I'm not, so I hope to leave her behind ... at least for now.

Leave Zardoc behind? Fat chance. She is such an ingrained part of my life now she's as much a part of me as she is to Jayna, Makenna, and Bob. I could only dream of making the same kind of journey they made on Lovely Jenny and I can assure you, there would be no hesitation on my part. I would go for that ride in less than a heartbeat.

Are we alone in the multiverse? Not a chance and I would certainly hate to think that humans are anywhere near the pinnacle of creation some think we are or that we are the ultimate in intelligence. Even a God couldn't fuck things up that badly.

I am sure that EBEs are an interesting lot. I guess I can only dream of finding that out, but I will always have hope that my Zardoc will find me and take me home.

pj 2017

Author's note:

As was noted in the epilogue of The Pods, some of that epilogue is here in the first chapter. Zardoc is such an important character in this whole saga, I couldn't leave her gone, so she returns. The epilogue in The Pods is just a paraphrase of the return, while the first chapter here gives a little more detail into the alien's thinking. I hope you'll enjoy, Return to Castaway Island.

As always, thank you.

pj 2021

Prologue

Now that Zardoc is back in the fold, life on Castaway Island is starting to return to some semblance of normal, whatever that is. She stayed on Castaway Island, although she was elsewhere much of the time doing what she did. Jayna knew she was out on projects and hoped to accompany Z on some of her trips when she had the opportunity. It might be fun, but for now, she had her own list to take care of.

Samantha was there for meals nearly every evening now, so it didn't seem as if she was gone at all. Just the fact she was there each night caused Jayna to be a much happier camper. Her mood changed almost immediately and she was back to her happy-go-lucky persona. Instead of moping around, she was always happily looking for something to do instead of just reacting.

After her soul searching, Zardoc decided that there was no way she could leave her long time friends behind to pursue her other projects. It didn't seem to occur to her that she could still work her projects and be back at the boat every night. For the first time in her long life, she had suffered what humans refer to as a broken heart.

It was a new thing for her, but the crew of Castaway Island taught her love, something that was not a normal emotion on Zandhar. She had begun to feel strong emotional responses to things, which had never affected her before, so when she decided to go home, as it were, it had affected her greatly.

Though they finally accepted the fact that Zardoc was gone, the crew was still ecstatic when she came aboard one day and asked if she could stay. She had come back seeking approval from the rest to return, but Jay told her she didn't need approval because she was already a permanent part of the family even when she wasn't there. Jayna was very emotional when she explained to Z how she was feeling and as it turned out, Zardoc was feeling much the same.

Zardoc was again a part of the menagerie aboard Castaway Island, but she would take off immediately after breakfast was finished and be back in time for supper. It was almost as if she were working an 8 to 5 job, but Jay knew that there were times she was gone for weeks, but made sure to be back shortly after she left. It was just the way Z manipulated time and space.

It's not as if everyone else was just hanging out either.

Jayna and Makenna were always off doing something throughout the multiverse. Mak spent a lot of time in the ancient historical sites evaluating any changes that had happened over the thousands of years they had been gone. She was also expanding her horizons to include the entirety of the multiverse. There were times when the Council would call upon Makenna to document some far off solar system so the record of their existence was held in the multiverse's library. There were many times that civilizations would come and go without anyone even knowing of their existence. Makenna was trying to prevent that from occurring.

Mak eventually became the multiverse's historian and had a staff of many thousands collecting data and compiling it into some semblance of order for filing in the master documents.

Tar-el was thrilled at the progress that Makenna was making and let her know, in no uncertain terms, how much he appreciated her efforts. Some would think it was a thankless task, but not only did Tar-el give her kudos, but many members of the Council did the same knowing that if she'd taken care of their small corner of their universe, it had been done and compiled correctly. Never turning anyone down, Makenna was always on the move.

Jayna on the other hand was out fighting fires much of the time. When she wasn't responding to the Council's requests, she would be with Zardoc learning genetics with the same fervor that she'd tackled physics.

Genetics fascinated her because she had no previous background. She was learning it from the ground up and the mystery of human development was her main attraction. She and Zardoc worked on many diverse species and Jayna benefited from the variety because each string of DNA was different, so it wasn't just looking at the human genome, but working with varied disparate examples.

Jayna also made sure that her charges were continuing their pursuit of various subjects. Elena and Gabby were still trying to reconcile general relativity with quantum mechanics. Somehow, they knew there had to be a connection, but physicists had been looking at it for aeons and had not found an answer. Jay told them she didn't think there was any one answer, but would never discourage them from continuing to search for one.

The physicists, Tim, Dave, and Sheryl, picked things up when they returned to the healthy Earth. With Ser-el, they reestablished the labs in the San Diego area to continue their work on the varying aspects of physics or better, what physics had become over the aeons.

Ser-el took on the education of all the exceptional young humans that came to the attention of the guides. Some were sent directly from G'an-den so she was charged with their complete development. She excelled at all of her teaching and enjoyed observing the humans as their brains developed.

Vanessa continually moved between Cabo, San Diego, and Puntarenas observing the cosmos and teaching astronomy, cosmology, and astrophysics. If Ser-el noted some interest in a student, she would send the candidate to Vanessa to see if there was a true interest and if so, both would work on developing continued interest.

The new medical facilities were located in what was then Central California, around the San Luis Obispo area, so you could find Zanfur and her staff along with Sabrina moving between buildings and experiments. In the SLO area, she was one of many and although there were only a few Zandharians in the biological labs, all of the aliens, as well as the humans, were always seen in a lab coat. It was as if it were a badge of acceptance.

Generally, you could always pick Zanfur out in a crowd because she would be the only alien in an impeccably pressed, pristine white lab coat. She was never pretentious, it was just how Zanfur rolled, but she was also a very highly respected mentor.

It seemed as if those who had been on the master pod made treks to the boat in Cabo on a regular basis, so there was always some kind of fiesta going on. Most were very informal affairs with the participants actually sitting down to talk about what they were up to now. It was a great place to exchange ideas to take back to whatever regimen they were pursuing.

Jayna, Makenna, Bob, and many times, Juan, loved sitting in on all of the interaction that was taking place and constantly participated in many of the sessions which is how they kept up on what was going on everywhere else. There were usually personal discussions as well, so it was rarely all work related.

It was in one of those party meetings that Mary and Alicia found that Elena and Gabby had mutual interests in the origins of the universe that the Earth lived in. After that, there was a lot of collaboration on their work, which improved the outcomes greatly. It only proved Jayna's feelings that the more brainpower put into a subject, the more accurate the results will be. The discussion of the Big Bang we'll have here later and an update on phase transition kept everyone on the edge of their seats.

The group's musical friends would come aboard on occasion to do an impromptu performance for everyone. It was an easy task to warp everything aboard and since it was assembled in the studio on Maui, it arrived mostly set up. When those events were going to happen, the crew would let all the friends know it was time for a big party, so everyone who could would warp aboard.

There were also occasions where everyone would warp to Maui and the Girls would put on their show at home.

Frequently, the Council would come to Jayna and Zardoc, asking them to look into a situation and provide an analysis along with possible solutions. Zardoc was still their best analyst, but Jayna was now held in nearly the same high regard as her alien companion.

They always said that Jayna came up with some very unorthodox ways of approaching a problem, but they usually worked out very well. She was teaching the Council simplicity in the thought process. It seemed as if they managed to overthink what she considered a simple problem and after she had explained her thought process, marveled at her simplified solutions. During those visits, Zardoc stood silently next to Jayna with her small alien grin, proud of her human partner.

When Tar-el asked for her thoughts, Zardoc would shrug and say, I can find no holes in young Jayna's logic, Tar-el. It sounds as if it is quite an unconventional solution and I guess by normal Council standards it is, but there are no errors of thought.

With his alien smile, Tar-el would shake his head and they'd be off to accomplish whatever it was they'd been asked to look into. Zardoc learned to be very adept at improvisation, which always seemed to be needed in any project. In the past, it would stop progress in its tracks until after much head scratching, something formal was proposed, but Jay just looked at the problem, figured out how to work around the issue, shot from the hip, and the project continued unabated.

Although slightly different from the original plan, it ended up with the same outcome so Zardoc learned to go with the flow. Even though what Jayna was proposing, at times, seemed completely outlandish. Zardoc just smiled and helped Jay work the change into the plan.

Other times, Jayna would go to talk with Tar-el about some project she'd thought of and didn't have any problem including the Council in all of her endeavors because she said that collectively, they were a whole lot smarter than she was alone and always improved the plans. The Council was usually tasked with performing much of the logistics, so she felt that it was a good idea if they knew the whole picture.

Tar-el always appreciated her candor and he learned, as Zardoc had learned millennium ago, the word impossible is not in Jayna Lockwood's vocabulary. Was it improbable? Maybe, but was it impossible? No way.

Each time Jayna proposed a project, the Council would observe with great interest, the methods, and the results. Many of the processes she would use were adopted by many of the members, so the human factor was changing the multiverse one project at a time.

-----

It seemed as if there was always something going on and one could never be sure who was aboard Castaway Island or what they were doing. The group truly enjoyed having all of their friends come aboard to spend time. Even if the principles weren't there, the boat was always open for friends. Cabo was at their beck and call so there was never a lack of something to do. The crew always took good care of everyone who was aboard.

Being the ghosts, each morning after the dailies were completed, the crew warped ashore to assist those who had returned with the rebuilding of the area in their sights. The people knew the ghosts had arrived because they'd just be there, seemingly out of nowhere.

Cabo was beginning to return to its former glory. The old stone structures had been easily restored to their former condition, but most of the past modernization efforts had collapsed and were well beyond restoration. Most considered it a good thing because the methods had been shoddy at best.

The cheesy construction that some had done to exploit the tourist dollar had disintegrated during the five thousand years the Earth was healing. During the massive construction effort in Cabo during the late 1980's and early 1990's, some very unscrupulous builders had taken a lot of money to do premier buildings, but as time went on, they cut corners and though many of the buildings looked good at the time, they were very poorly constructed.

It was also paid in full to the real estate company because there were no mortgages. They didn't care what kind of arrangements the client made to get the cash, but before the contract was signed and valid, it was a paid in full, cash transaction. It was astounding how many people would pull out a Gold Card and put the entire $200,000.00 on the card.

It was near to being a classic Ponzi scheme if in reality it wasn't, because previously contracted construction was based on getting new funds from new buyers. Delivery was usually twenty-four to thirty-six months out, so in order to complete the past contracts, they usually needed an influx of new client's cash. Even at twenty-four to thirty-six month lead times, delivery was usually at least a year late. It sure sounds like a Ponzi scheme, but it worked rather well until the bottom fell out of the real estate market around 1991 and money became tight.

The problem wasn't helped by some builders skimming a lot off the top, usually leaving the construction funds short. It also left the sales force holding the bag because they were the liaison between the builder and the client. It could get ugly and often times, it did.

Timeshares are a completely different ball of wax. A very profitable ball of wax, but usually on the up and up as far as the lease of a room for a week was concerned. Most of the timeshare facilities were already completed, so the money collected was all gravy. The way it works is a long story that may be told at some other time.

The true stone constructions were still standing and though weathered, were easily restorable. Those restorations were done immediately, while the rubble of the cheap crap that had collapsed was bulldozed into piles for disposal. Some of the entire mess was loaded onto special facilities then moved to a group for disposal.

Some facilities that were built had both good and bad types of construction. They had started with the excellent brick stonework that Mexico was known for, but somewhere along the line, the builders and financiers decided there was more profit in cheap, cheesy shortcuts. Some put stucco over foam blocks and called them walls. It was done in such a way that a buyer couldn't tell that the walls were chintzy foam inside instead of brick.

Those cheap constructions deteriorated over the millennia and were literally rubble when humans returned from the pods. A strong stone frame that was essentially an empty shell because everything attached to the frame had crumbled and disposal began almost immediately. The block foam in the rubble was collected for recycle and dealt with so that it wouldn't contaminate the environment.

Anything that couldn't be dealt with in an environmentally friendly way was packed, compressed, and moved to a trash planet in a distant corner of the galaxy. Each galaxy had its own trash planets where a lot of waste could be disposed of harmlessly. Most were going to be consumed by their sun in a short time, so it was just like creating a huge galactic burn pile.

Cabo was once again beginning to revert to being that sleepy fishing village that Bob remembered from years long past. Being tied up inside the marina again made it that much easier to view the changes being made. It also appeared that the populous developed more advanced techniques for building and cleanup than had been practiced previously. It was actually quite necessary because there wasn't the overpopulation needing work anymore. There was still work for everyone, but now it was a lot higher tech methodology than in the past.

When Bob and Jennifer visited with baby Jayna back before the original trip to the island, they had fallen in love with the place, so after Jennifer's passing, Jayna suggested they do something totally crazy like the things Jen had done in her last year of life. She always said that if things didn't work right, or the 'chute didn't open, she'd just die a little sooner. She knew what was in the cards, but she was the only one who truly accepted it.

After Jayna had suggested something crazy, they decided to take a trip on their boat with no slated return date ... just go. In their normal routine, it was something totally crazy for them to contemplate in their regimented lives and without the added incentive, it would not have even been considered, much less done.

They had all the money they would ever need and all the time in the world. Little did they know about the time, but little by little, they outfitted the boat for a long journey and got ready to go.

Zardoc always said, The future would take care of itself.

When they left San Diego for Cabo San Lucas, they had no idea what was to be in the future.

That first trip, they ended up in Cabo as they'd planned and decided on an unplanned extended stay and as adults, all three fell in love with the location ... it was difficult not to. After a time, they decided to call it their home away from home, but they still had that yearning to travel around Mexico and down the west coast of Central America and into the Caribbean.

They worked for a few weeks to get Lovely Jenny ready to rock and roll, then early one morning, left the Cabo Marina and set a course for their first planned stop in Mazatlan. That initial leg of the trip became the interrupted journey that changed their lives forever.

-----

After their twenty-five year stay on the island that first time, they returned to the Sea of Cortez at the same time and the same place they had departed from. It was time to begin work on Zardoc's project of making humans acceptable to the rest of the multiverse.

A small part of that task was progressing rather well, however slowly. Because of some other things they tried to control, but couldn't accomplish for various reasons, after many years of very pointed warnings, the Earth's environment began to show the results of human abuse and finally reached the point of no return. With those issues pressing on the timeline, Jayna and Zardoc's mission changed from making the species acceptable, to saving humanity from their own indiscretions and blatant denial of reality ... something humans were immeasurably good at.

While they were working on the plans, everyone decided they should take a vacation trip around Baja and the west coast of Central America. During that trip, they discovered that they had been labeled as ghosts and their presence was revered by the people they met along the way.

They also had to take care of a few less than pleasant issues they hadn't planned for, but were compelled to deal with. On several occasions, they were forced to demonstrate that you didn't mess with the ghosts, and those who did, were dealt with harshly.

They were considered to be ghosts because of the way they appeared to travel. It was said that Castaway Island, with all of its crew, would suddenly appear out of thin air and after a time, would disappear into thin air. It was generally thought that the only entities that could do those kinds of crazy things were ghosts, and the entire crew had been observed doing many ghostly things. The ghosts also seemed to have many mystical powers and could make changes to things, but the changes were always for the good of everyone.

They found the moniker had been assigned many centuries previous, but they also found it did have some distinct advantages. In the beginning, because they were treated like veritable royalty everywhere they stopped, it was embarrassing to Bob, but like everyone else aboard, he learned to just go with the flow.

When Mother Nature finished the task of healing, the Earth's environment had been restored and the planet repopulated with the extreme hyper-advanced hybrids and hyper-advanced hybrids that had been living on the pods for five thousand years waiting for Mother Nature to finish her work. Ma Nature had taken a bit longer than they had initially anticipated.

At Jayna's request, the Council adjusted the Cabo marina so that the boat they lived on, the 257' yacht, Castaway Island, would fit in the marina. For most visitors it was quite a sight, seeing the boat moored at the dock because it was huge in comparison to any other vessel allowed inside the marina.

There was still a place for Lovely Jenny to tie up in the marina, but Jenny was a permanent resident of the island. Dave, Tim, their wives and some other couples traveled back and forth, literally commuting, so Jenny was occupied much of the time. Others like Sheryl and Tony chose to live ashore when they traveled to the island.

Interestingly, it wasn't uncommon to see groups of people on the benches that lined the marina, sitting and just watching. Some visitors would watch for days on end to see if el barco fantasma (the ghost boat) would disappear into thin air like it was reputed to do. Jayna and Makenna usually laughed when they saw the assembly because there was so much more to do in Cabo than sitting at the pier, staring at a boat that wasn't going anywhere.

Many times, the watchers would see some of the ghosts themselves disappear or reappear on the dock, but the boat was rarely gone. It did happen on occasion, but it was very uncommon these days.

When they did decide to travel a little, the ghosts were always warmly welcomed wherever they went. Parties celebrating their arrival and departure were very common and for some, it was like an old-fashioned tailgate party. There would be barbeques, drinks, and just a general fiesta in celebration of their arrival.

When they were tied up to whatever dock they would spend their time at this stop, they would put out the gangway and join in the festivities. As noted, Bob was embarrassed by the fanfare in the beginning, but Jayna and Makenna had convinced him that he wasn't going to be able to stop any of it, so just go with it, and enjoy the ride.

-----

In Cabo, they all had special built shore based housing in the barrios so they didn't have to live on the boat all the time. Like the locals, they raised chickens, grew gardens in their yards, and generally blended in with their surroundings. It worked out very well for everyone and the surrounding neighbors were thrilled to have the ghosts living among them.

The group thought it a little strange that even though many humans were now capable of doing the same type of travel that earned them the title, they were all still considered the ghosts. Castaway Island was still considered a ghost boat, though it sat in the Cabo marina most of the time now, she really was moored there so it wasn't considered a figment of anyone's imagination.

Once they had returned all of the humans from the pods to the Earth, they eventually decided to make Cabo their home once again.

Things having gone full circle, it seemed like everything had fallen where it was supposed to, so for a short time, though Jayna would tell you it was far too long, Zardoc decided she needed to move along to get things done.

She did leave for a time, but felt miserable without her human friends so she came back and now things were settling back down into a somewhat normal routine ... whatever normal is. I mean, she's an alien. What's normal?

Though their original assignment was now successfully completed, many tasks still needed to be accomplished and many crises needed to be handled. The Council knew who to call when they needed something done quickly, especially if it may require some unorthodox, outside the box thinking.

Of course, there were also the constant interruptions testing their patience.

Such is life aboard Castaway Island, but the group wouldn't have it any other way.

Chapter 1 - Zardoc Returns

Zardoc returned to Castaway Island and although she was elsewhere much of the time, she now considered the boat and Cabo her home away from Zandhar. It seemed that Samantha was there for meals nearly every night so it didn't seem as if she was gone at all. It was almost like the first twenty-five years on the island, but in reverse. Instead of Keet leaving for the evening and being on the rail waiting for them in the morning, Sam came back in the evening and usually disappeared right after breakfast cleanup.

There was no telling where she was off to or how long she would be gone, but many times Jayna went with her. Most of Zardoc's projects were genetics related and that was out of Jayna's usual comfort zone, but she always wanted to learn new things and Z was teaching her ... again.

All of that said, Zardoc was truly back in the fold and the crew was indescribably happy. It had been a very difficult time, but it was all behind them now and everything was getting back to the way it used to be. Well, sort of.

-----

There hadn't been much to be happy about for quite some time and aboard Castaway Island, Jayna, Makenna, and Bob, were in total emotional disarray without Samantha being around all the time, but Jayna was in the deepest funk. She and Zardoc had been inseparable for many millennia. There was just a major piece of her world that was missing, not to mention the big hole in her heart.

After Z and Jay had completed the projects of moving the extreme hyper-advanced hybrids back to the Earth to repopulate and the restoration of Torrea had been completed, the crew had decided to return to Cabo. It had been their home away from home before they had come to Castaway Island, but for the past few thousand years, the island had been their home. The reason they left the Earth in the first place was no longer valid, so there really wasn't any reason not to return.

It pleased Zardoc that everything had finally come full circle, but she decided that her place in the multiverse was doing her projects. Since these few were completed successfully, as difficult as it was going to be for her, it was time to move on to tackle other opportunities.

It had a very profound effect on the crew, especially Jayna, but in the end, it also had a very deep effect on Zardoc. She was one very confused Zandharian.

She was feeling many things that were quite foreign to her species although she had experienced many of them during the long stay with her human friends. Working from project to project, she couldn't avoid the feelings that were constantly pulling at her and she didn't truly understand them because these feelings were not something that would be considered normal on Zandhar.

The exacting nature of her work, doing genetic modifications by splicing microscopic DNA strings, required her to be on top of her game and in that sense she had no problems, but the nagging feeling of loneliness was always with her and she couldn't seem to do anything to make them go away.

When she went home to Zandhar after each work session, she was alone, and though she had always been a solitary person, being alone bothered her greatly these days. Each time she went home she became more confused by the emotions tugging at her heart. Sitting in her small home, she ate her tiny nutrition pill and couldn't help but think of all of the fantastic foods she'd experienced as Samantha.

Because she rarely slept in her normal form, she had all kinds of time to think about things, but she was also desperately trying to avoid her thoughts. Sometimes in desperation, she would warp herself to a project site and continue with her genetic engineering experiments in an attempt to avoid the feelings. As it is with most working species, concentrating on her tasks mostly took her mind away from the depression in her heart, but she found that as soon as she was finished, it all quickly snuck back in.

As previously noted, it was a new thing for her, but the crew of Castaway Island taught her love, something that was not normal to Zandharians. Zardoc had spent over five thousand years with Jayna Lockwood practically attached to her hip, working the projects they had done together, and she was missing her long time partner and constant companion. She had begun to feel emotional responses to things, which had never affected her before, so when she decided to leave and go home, to her surprise it had affected her greatly.

It had affected all of them immensely, but being a Zandharian, she didn't have a good perspective of the emotional split right away. It took her some time to come to an understanding of the emotions she was feeling and even then, she wasn't sure she truly understood them.

It was constantly confusing her and that kind of confusion was not something natural to the residents of Zandhar. Emotions were believed to cloud judgment, so were considered an extreme negative. To her species, emotions were not logical.

She did see Jayna at Council meetings and it was always great to get together, but she could see that Jayna was just as depressed by her absence as Zardoc was in not being there. It wasn't any kind of a strained get together, but both knew they'd be going their separate ways when Tar-el was finished with the issues they were dealing with.

After those meetings, when she returned to Zandhar it seemed as if seeing Jayna only accentuated the loneliness she was feeling. Zardoc was not a happy camper and she really knew what the outcome needed to be.

After a long period of soul searching, she decided there was no way she could leave her long time friends and companions in order to pursue her other projects. Realistically, there was no need to leave for the sake of projects and she began to question her decision.

For the first time in her life, Zardoc was suffering from what humans referred to as a broken heart.

-----

Hello, Zardoc, how are you doing? Tar-el asked, knowing full well how Zardoc was feeling.

I am very lonely, Tar-el. I have never had these feelings inside before and it is quite bothersome.

Keeping quiet, Tar-el allowed Zardoc to continue because he already knew what was in Zardoc's mind.

I see young Jayna at Council sessions, but it tugs at my heart to see the look in her eyes when it is time to part ways. I must say that I feel much the same and I am unsure how to deal with those feelings.

Tar-el smiled and said, Those kinds of emotions are not normal in our world, Zardoc, and I have to say it has been quite interesting observing your internal conflicts, wondering how you were going to resolve them.

There is something significant missing in my life now and this is not a comfortable feeling. I do not believe it has affected my work, but I must admit that it is constantly pulling at me.

No, your work is excellent as usual, but I have noted there seems to be a different Zardoc present during reports.

I feel as though I am a different Zardoc, she said glumly. It is not a comfortable feeling and I think I have decided what I must do in order to alleviate those yearnings.

Smiling, Tar-el asked, And what is it you have decided, my friend?

I have decided I must return to my human companions and continue our relationship. It will not affect my work or experiments, but I will be able to spend more time with them.

Nodding, Tar-el acknowledged, I have been hoping you would come to that realization, Zardoc. Though it is not something normally found in our species, I have never found you to be indifferent to the subjects you work with. I believe your emotional attachment to the humans is understandable considering the time you spent with them. I also believe that it is a good thing.

I do not know how it happened, Tar-el, but it did, and I have no regrets about it. I guess my regret would be deciding that I needed to leave. I am beginning to believe my motives were somewhat self serving, but I want to fix that.

I believe your fix is a good one, noted Tar-el with a small smile, and I look forward to having the old Zardoc return.

I very much enjoy working with young Jayna and learning from her. It is rather ironic that I started out as the teacher, but she has shown me many different angles with which to attack a problem. She can be very unorthodox by our normal standards, but in that, she has always been very successful in accomplishing the task she started. Torrea is a perfect example.

Yes, the entire multiverse has benefited from young Jayna's work and the two of you make a very good team, Zardoc. There are still abilities she possesses that she does not know of, but it will come with time.

Sometimes her human logic appears to be very counter intuitive, Tar-el, and seems to defy our logic, but there is nothing she will not attempt given proper analysis, and I find that the word impossible is nowhere to be found in her. The iterations of ideas on the Torrea project were amazing to observe. Then, she settled on a final solution which seemed very radical to me, but to her, even though she did admit on occasion that it seemed to be way out there, it was a completely logical solution and now because of her work, the entire multiverse is changing.

So when do you plan on returning? asked Tar-el.

Hanging her head a little, Zardoc whispered, I must first ask if my return is acceptable to them. I have hurt them deeply and may no longer be welcome.

I do not think that is the case, Zardoc. I believe they will welcome you warmly. They have reluctantly learned to accept your decision, but I believe they will not hesitate to entertain your return. They miss you, Zardoc ... especially young Jayna.

I hope you are right, Tar-el. I am not sure how I would deal with their rejection. It would mean this feeling inside of me would continue and I do not want to think of that prospect.

Go to them, Zardoc. Tell them of your feelings, let them understand that you are hurting as much as they are, and let them also understand there is only one way to resolve those feelings. I believe they will see things your way.

That is what I will do, Tar-el. It is my hope that young Jayna and me will come before the Council as a team once again.

With a bright alien smile, Tar-el finished, I look forward to that day, Zardoc, and I do not believe it will be all that long.

What Zardoc didn't know was that Tar-el and Jayna had many conversations about the emotional turmoil she was feeling. She was very miserable, but understood that Zardoc needed to do what she needed to do. It didn't make her leaving any easier, but she felt she needed to accept it and move on, which is what she was trying to do.

Tar-el could see that the Council meetings were very difficult for both of them and had hoped Zardoc would come to the realization that she didn't need to leave in order to continue her work with the Council. Both she and Jayna were as active as always, but though he couldn't relate to the underlying emotional causes, the pain he saw at meetings in both of them was genuine and something he knew needed to be dealt with.

He also knew that Zardoc's fears of rejection were just that, Zardoc's fears of rejection. He knew there would be no rejection, but it would have to come from young Jayna and the rest of the crew.

Tar-el smiled as Zardoc vanished because he knew that the old Zardoc would be returning ... soon.

-----

It was a total surprise when Samantha appeared on the upper deck of Castaway Island and because of their lack of response, Zardoc was a little taken aback. She didn't know what to think of their reaction, but for a moment, her heart sank just a little as her worst fear crossed her mind.

It was with almost no emotion that Jayna said softly, Hi Sam, it's nice to see you.

She walked over to the bar, poured herself a drink as she had done many thousands of times in the past, and then moved to the table where Bob, Makenna, and Jayna, were sitting quietly.

She hadn't been surprised when they decided to move from the island back to Cabo. In fact, she was quite pleased. There were many more things to do on the Earth and Jayna needed to monitor progress for quite some time into the future. The island would always be there for them whenever they wanted to get away and because it was the island, it would always be the same as when they left.

It made Zardoc happy that they would want to return to their true home planet. She and Jayna had worked for many millennia to ensure it was habitable again, so it only made sense that they would want to return.

Interestingly, even with everyone's return, the rest of the human population still considered them as the ghosts. There were a lot of things the island residents could do that the other humans couldn't, but it was only because the other humans hadn't learned the process yet.

The four of them sat silently for quite some time. It was a little disconcerting to Samantha because it was so rare that these three humans were ever completely silent like this. She could sense they were hurting inside as badly as she was and now knew there was only one thing that could be done to cure the ills they were all feeling.

A nervous Sam began very softly, "I cannot stay away, Makenna, Bob, young Jayna. I have never had these kinds of feelings inside before and I do not like it. I am a very lonely Zardoc and for me it is a foreign experience because I have always been a solitary person. I cannot stop thinking of my human companions and all of those mutual feelings that mean so much to me and to all of us. I am beginning to believe my actions were very selfish and that I was only thinking of myself. The love you have given to me is very strong and I must yield to those emotions.

I believe I must return to be with all of you if I can gain your approval.

I'm happy to hear you want to return, Z, but we have kind of reconciled your leaving. We don't like it and it leaves us very empty inside, but we have learned that we need to accept it ... well, at least a little.

With tears running down her cheeks, Jayna turned to Samantha and sobbed, "I still die a little inside every time I think of all we did together and the successes we had, but know you're not here anymore. I love seeing you at the Council meetings, but it tears my heart out when I have to come back here without you.

I would be very pleased if you decided to move back and stay with us, Z, and I’m sure Mak and Bob feel the same, but we also understand there are many things going on in the multiverse that you have your fingers in. If you need to be away, that is certainly acceptable to all of us. It just hurts really bad to realize you're not going to be here with us all of the time anymore.

"Thank you, Jayna. Yes, I am involved with many things throughout the multiverse, but the love I have been feeling is very strong and the loneliness I have been experiencing because of it is very strong as well. Those feelings make me feel very unhappy much of the time because I have learned to love all of