SquidgeWorld Archive

"Martin, why didn't you ever tell me that you had an identical twin brother?" the human asked the ex-Visitor officer standing beside him.

"He was the Inspector General, the highest legal authority on our planet. I had to protect him at all costs by keeping him out of what I was involved with," Martin replied, turning away from his friend and ally. "At the time, Jennifer and I were organising pockets of resistance on each of the Motherships that you would come to know as the Fifth column. Philip, meanwhile, was changing careers and had no idea of what we were doing."

"Why didn't any of you tell him? Didn't you trust him?" Donovan asked disbelievingly.

"I wasn't sure just who I could trust other than the select few who had initially contacted me about joining the Fifth Column and organising cells in it. Many were the times I wanted to tell him, but the others wouldn't let me because they weren't sure about where his loyalties were or with whom."

Unaware that Philip was standing in the shadows listening as his brother explained his actions, both in the past and now to Donovan, Martin continued. He wanted the human to understand what he'd done, and why.

"I was the only one on our Leadership Council who voted to approach him about joining our cause. The others refused to contact him. I was bound by their decision and kept my silence, even though I thought we could use his knowledge."

Donovan gently laid a hand on Martin's shoulder as if to let him know that he understood. He smiled enigmatically at the sandy-haired Visitor standing beside him, then casually glanced towards the far corner of the room.

"There's been someone standing in the shadows. He's been listening to everything you've told me, and I think you should be having this conversation with him instead of me," Mike said as he gestured toward the figure standing in the corner.

Martin's eye sensors widened as an intimately familiar figure dressed in a red uniform stepped out almost silently out of the shadows of the corner of the room. Two sets of pale green eye sensors met and two eyebrows rose simultaneously, one left and on the right as two sandy coloured heads turned to stare at him in suprise.

"So, this is why you wanted to know what I had planned for tonight?" Philip asked. "If you wanted me to come, all you had to do was ask. I have wanted to speak with my brother alone for some time. I would have willingly come without the deception on your part."

Mike Donovan glanced from the Inspector General to Diana's former aide. He thought he could see anger in Martin's eyes, but it was hard to tell for sure.

"Martin?" Mike wanted to reach out and touch him, but held back. He was unsure as to how his friend would react to the gesture given his current emotional state. "Say something to me, even if it's to tell me that I had no right to interfere."

Martin drew his eyes from his brother's face and turned to look at Donovan. "Perhaps it is time to clear the air with my brother and there is much that has never been said between us. Would you leave us here for a while?"

"Call me when you're ready to be picked up, okay?"

As he headed for the door, Mike watched as the two brothers turned to face each other. Walking outside, he looked back over his shoulder at the deserted cabin and hoped that neither he nor Philip had been followed. Even at this distant location, he was still worried about them. Hopping into the driver's seat of the truck, he headed back to the abandoned ranch to wait on Martin's call.

**** **** ****

Martin nervously paced the room, waiting for Philip to say something. He kept his gaze on the floor, unwilling to meet his brother's eyes.

"Where do we begin, brother?" Philip finally asked in an attempt to break the awkward silence that had fallen between them since Mike Donovan's departure. He was unsure as to where his brother wanted to begin with his explanation.

"I never wanted to keep anything from you," Martin began as he continued to pace back and forth. The words were hard for him, but he would go through with this, if only to let his brother know the truth. "You know what I did and I will not apologise for turning against the Leader and his policies. I just want you to understand why." He stopped in front of the window to collect his thoughts. "I couldn't wholeheartedly follow the Leader after he began to destroy planets with intelligent life forms on them. I had doubts, but kept them to myself and continued to obey his orders until we came to Earth. Once we arrived, I met and befriended Donovan and some others. Knowing what the Leader had in store for this world, I couldn't consciously obey his orders anymore. Finding out that they were like us in so many ways cemented my resolve to do something to help them reclaim their world. To that end, I took command of the Fifth Column cell on the Los Angeles Mothership."

Philip stood in the middle of the room, silent and unmoving. He knew what this admission was costing his brother. He could never make his brother understand the pain and rage he'd felt when the thought that Martin had been killed. He also knew that he shouldn't blame his brother for what he'd done in order to protect the human Resistance movement and his own Fifth Column network. He'd been left with no other choice when Diana had believed him to be dead.

"I don't blame you. I was so disgusted with how corrupt our own military had become that I had to get out somehow. Once you joined the Academy and had to face me, that made me more determined to resign. The only way I could achieve my goals without compromising my own integrity was to join the legal profession." He came over to stand beside his brother in front of the window and looked out at the distant lights. "You were the reason I came to Earth," he softly said. He'd never been the open one, the one to express the love and devotion he had for his brother. "They could have sent anyone from the Judge Advocate General's office to investigate the death of Charles, but when I found out that you'd been reported killed, I asked for him to send me instead."

"Now what are we to do, brother?" Martin asked out loud. "I would like to keep in touch, but not if it's going to compromise your safety."

"Mike could get a message to me through one of my aides. Hillary and I work together and I often send her to Earth when I'm unable to get away."

"I'll get word to you when I want to see you again." As Martin offered Philip his hand in a typical Earth gesture, he found himself pulled into an embrace. A few minutes later, they parted. Martin turned to go, but a sudden thought came to him. "Philip, see what you and the others can do to rescue Sean Donovan and get him to someone who can deconvert him."

Philip looked at his twin and for a moment, he said nothing. Many thoughts were running through his head, but then he finally spoke.

"I'll see what I can do. If I manage to succeed, I'll get word to you through the network."

"Be careful," Martin said as his brother turned to leave. Philip looked back over his shoulder as his brother continued. "I don't want to lose you now that we've managed to finally make peace with each other."

"I will." He nodded towards the phone in the distant corner. "You have a phone call to make."

Martin watched as Philip walked away, neither of them saying anything. He then went back inside to make his telephone call.

**** **** ****

At the Resistance base, the telephone rang and Ham Tyler answered with a grumbling hello. The voice on the other end asked to speak with Mike Donovan.

"Hey, Gooder," he called down the hall to the ex-journalist who was sitting in the common room with the others. "There's a lizard on the phone. It sounds like one of the twins." He started towards the common room. "Make it short. We're expecting a call about a possible weapons drop."

Mike picked up the reciever.

"Donovan."

"The usual place," the familiar voice on the phone said. Mike could hear the sadness in it

"I'll be there." Donovan hung up the phone and turned to see Tyler standing behind him. "Phone's all yours, Fixer." He walked out the door without bothering to look back. If he had, he'd have seen a look of suprise on the face of the usually stoic Ham Tyler.

Hopping in the cab of the truck and starting the engine, he wondered what was bothering Martin. He had sounded so sad on the phone. Donovan pulled out of the hidden driveway and headed to pick up his alien friend.

**** **** ****

As Martin climbed into the cab of the truck, Mike noticed that his friend was unusually quiet. Mike had an odd idea on how to cheer him up.

"Martin, are you all right?" he asked. He tried to take Martin's mind off of whatever was troubling him, but every attempted joke that usually worked so far had been met with silence. After a while, and to Mike's suprise, Martin finally spoke.

"Philip said that I was to have you send a message to him through an aide of his. He also said to tell you that he'd do what he could to free Sean."

Mike nodded. He knew that Philip would do what he could, but only as long as it didn't compromise his own safety and that of the Fifth Columnists under his command. He also sensed that in light of what he'd done, Martin felt lost and isolated at times. Philip and he others were a reminder of a homeworld that he still missed. He had to do something to change that. He had to get Martin among friends.

To Martin's suprise, Mike turned and headed for the city instead of taking him back to the Fifth Column camp in the mountains.

"Mike, you just - -"

"For once, you're going to come with me instead of withdrawing into yourself," he said, calling his friend to task about his one annoying habit. Martin would retreat into himself when he had a problem. 'Not this time, old friend,' Mike thought to himself. "You're going back to Los Angeles with me for a while."

To drown out the argument that he was sure would come, Mike reached over and turned the radio on. They were playing an easy listening tune. Martin looked at his human friend and realised that he was on the losing end of this fight. He reached over and turned the volume down, then looked at his companion.

"No wonder you humans have hearing problems," he finally said. In suprise, Mike just barely missed rear-ending a compact car in front of him. "Keep your eyes on the road," he said, smiling as he turned his attention back to the passing landscape outside the window.