Sarela's eyes darkened. "But it has always been the way of our people that women are equal to the Warriors. Indeed, many women have beenWarriors, even Fleet Captains on our ships of conquest."

Thea studied Sarela carefully. "But a woman has never before been Praetor—and those who have tried did not live long enough to make their mark on the Empire. The Warriors are fools, Sarela. It is easy enough for them to play their games of conquest, permitting women to join them in battle, while secretly abhorring the fact that we are quite often their mental superior." She smiled once again.

"That is somewhat of an understatement, my Lady," Sarela said with amusement.

Thea laughed lightly, a deep sensuous sound. "That is the one thing our ancestors accomplished when they tampered with the genes of those who preceded us. By creating a stronger male Warrior, they failed to account for certain genes and chromosomes which determine mental capabilities. It is no wonder that the majority of commanders in the Fleet are female; the Warriors are physically superior, that is true … but most are incapable of intricate reasoning."

Sarela smiled ruefully, but a cold, silver chill slowly climbed her spine. "But therein lies the problem, my Lady," she said. "They arephysically stronger, and they would not hesitate to kill anything which threatens their way of life—including the Praetor—especially if they consider the Praetor vulnerable."

Thea nodded quietly. "It is a possibility," she conceded. "My guards will protect us, but even all the forces of the palace will not be able to stand against the Fleet for long. The dichotomy between the Warriors and the rest of our people is too great. That is one reason why my anonymity must be carefully guarded. My father was cautious, and for that I am grateful to him. He made it understood within the palace that I was to be granted complete rule as Praetor upon his death; and my advisers and attendants have never questioned that authority. I have given them no reason to do so," she quickly added. "And I was once the commander of a flagship while my father still lived." She smiled. "Perhaps it was his way of testing me—and perhaps I even failed that test in many ways. But he never permitted it to be known that I was his daughter. He told the Empire only that there was an heir to the throne … and the Warriors naturally assumed that his heir would be a son."

"Then your father must have known that you would eventually try to change the Empire," Sarela surmised.

Thea's brows furrowed. "Perhaps," she conceded. "And perhaps that is his legacy of punishment."

Sarela looked questioningly at the other woman.

"He was embittered when I was born," Thea explained. "He could father no more children, and had produced no previous offspring. Perhaps he even believed that on the day I came to power I would be foolish enough to reveal my true identity." She smiled. "I believe that, when he sent me out to command his flagship, he did not think I would return." Again, she paused. "But nonetheless, I must have proven myself to him in some way, for he provided me with the protection I needed. And so long as my views appeared to mirror the Warriors' wishes, even they have accepted me as Praetor. It is the fact that my views are now something less than traditional which places me—and you, now that you know who I am—in danger."

"Then we must take care when presenting the Tenets to the Empire," Sarela suggested. "No one must know—at least not immediately—that the Praetor is female." She knew now that her own gender was what had robbed her of command. Once Tazol, a Warrior of her father's camp, had been chosen as her life-mate, it was a convenient excuse to instate him in a high position within the Fleet. She felt the anger rise in her veins when she realized that she had been right in her previous assumptions: Tazol was hardly fit for command of a garbage truck. He was nothing more than her father's puppet, her father's heroic gesture to the Warriors … and perhaps even her father's slap in the face. In many ways, she suddenly realized how much she had in common with Thea.

"To a Warrior," Thea said sadly, "conquest is the only means of survival." She shook her head very gently. "Try to imagine telling Tazol that we should make peace with the Alliance. He views peace only as a cemetery filled with the bones of our enemies. He comprehends nothing else … and neither do the other Warriors."

Sarela sank back in the chair, absently lifting the wine goblet to her lips. "There is another matter," she said guardedly.

Thea glanced up, eyes questioning.

"If the Vulcans are as perceptive as we believe them to be," Sarela proceeded, "it will not be long before they discover that their universe has been altered." She paused, remembering her own First History. "And as you well know, their tradition of dignity and duty will not permit them to allow Second History to remain. They will do everything in their power to reinstate the past as it was before our agents were sent into Earth's history."

Impulsively, Thea rose from the chair, paced the width of the room, then turned sharply. "I have already considered that aspect to some extent," she revealed. "Which is why we must contact the Alliance immediately. My studies of Second History point out the fact that the Vulcans have not yet discovered the physics of time travel whatsoever; it exists only in theory to them, or in the form of infrequent accidents over which they possess no control. They have never been able to bridge the time-gap at will—which operates in our favor." She paused, putting one hand thoughtfully to her chin. "We must make certain they do not discover the causeof their displacement before we have the opportunity to meet with them. And … it is suggested by my scientific advisers that, even if the Alliance doeseventually succeed in re-creating First History, certain effects of Second History will still remain intact."

Again, Sarela looked questioningly at the other woman. "The intricacies of time alteration are indeed paradoxical," she murmured.

"In effect, Sarela," Thea explained, "First History still exists in the molecular memory of this universe. It is—or was—a physical reality, the reality which wouldhave been had we not sent our operatives into Earth's past. That First History reality cannot be erased, no matter how successful our operatives were. As you say, someone within the Alliance will eventually discover what has happened, and will indeed attempt to correct it. I do not know if that can be accomplished, but for the moment it is irrelevant. What is important is that we move quickly. Since the mind can reach beyond the physical boundaries of anyuniverse, we must contact the Alliance before they discover that we are responsible for what has transpired." She paused. "In essence, certain individuals will exist in both universes—as well as in a host of other universes and alternate dimensional planes. And since SecondHistory, now that it has been created, is no less physically real than First … it, too, will remain forever locked in the memory of the entire universal concept." She hesitated once more, brows furrowing with the attempt to explain.

"In other words," Sarela surmised, "we must attempt to make peace with the Alliance—with specific peoplein the Alliance—relying on the theory that, whether Second History remains intact or not, that peace will still remain."

Thea nodded very slowly. "Not precisely accurate, but essentially correct. I do not know if anypeace we make now will withstand the test of time itself. We must hope, however remote that hope is, that they do notdiscover our tampering at all. But since that is, granted, too much to expect, we must rely on my advisers' word that those who exist in both First and Second History will retain at least partial memory of both universes. In other words, since our ships were in hyperspace at the time of our operatives' work, we know both Histories—one from experience, the other from computer tapes. At this point, the men and women aboard our light-ships are the only beings who retain both sets of knowledge. However, if the Alliance is eventually successful in setting the time-flow right again, those who are instrumental in doing so—those people who actually doit—will retain at least partial memory of both Histories, since they will have had physical reality and consciousness in both timelines."