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"You're not goin' anywhere without me," John had said.

"Or me," Katma had added.

"Just fine," Hal Jordan had said. "But this is my woman we're talking about, so stay out of my way."

With that, the three of them stood at the Power Battery and touched their rings to it, suffusing the room with a lambent green glow while they spoke the most common of the standard Lantern Oaths:

"In brightest day, in blackest night
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power--Green Lantern's light!"

It still gave John Stewart a charge when he did that. He was the newest of the three, and was no longer a substitute for Hal Jordan, but a Green Lantern in his own right. But it was nothing compared to the charge he got from seeing Katma Tui, the red-skinned Green Lantern from Korugar, smile at him.

But Hal, in his dress green-black-and-whites, stood tall, proud, and grim, as John imagined he had during his days as a USAF fighter jock. He'd heard that Jordan had missed the space program by only that much, because his reaction to fear was, according to the psych boys, nil. They wanted an astronaut who could recognize danger normally and react to it, so Hal didn't make the cut.

He'd had to settle for being Earth's first Green Lantern, instead.

Now the Crisis was over--just--and Carol Ferris, the woman he loved, was still on the world of Zamaron, as their queen Star Sapphire, her alternate personality, his enemy. He was going to get her and bring her back, or know the reason why.

"We've been apart too many times, too often, too long," Hal had said. "Now I've got the ring back, and I'm getting her back for keeps, or never."

John remembered that, and all the other events of the past few weeks, as the three of them rose immaterially and invisibly through the hangar roof at Ferris Aircraft. He remembered the Crisis. He remembered Guy Gardner, the most colossal jerk to wear a power ring. He remembered falling in love with Katma Tui, and she with him.

So he knew where Hal was coming from.

They accellerated out of the Earth system while he was still in mid-muse.

On Oa, the Guardians of the Universe were still picking up the pieces. So few of them still remained. So many of them, and their Green Lantern Corpsmen, had died.

The deaths of the Lanterns were increasing in recent years. In the war against Sinestro, the battle with the Qwardian Black Lanterns, the clash with Krona and Nekron, and, yes, in the Crisis, lives had been lost. No matter how many there seemed to be, there never seemed to be enough. And they were hard to replace.

"Perhaps we should reopen communications with the Zamarons," said one to his fellow.

"Perhaps not," said the second. "We have existed eons without them, and they without us."

"All the more reason for us communicating," the first asserted. "Should we have been in contact with them, perhaps the events of recent years would not have occurred as they did."

"The three Corpsmen are travelling there on a personal mission," said the second, as one who knew. "Would you direct your wishes towards them?"

After a pause, the first said, "Not at present. But... shall we monitor them?"

"We shall," the second proclaimed, and he activated a thought-screen to show the Lanterns streaking across deep space.

Neither the two nor their brethren offered to interfere. But, before long, the viewscreen drew quite an audience.

Carl Ferris wished he was a drinking man at times like these. Sometimes, so did his wife, Yvonne. She walked in on him as he sat in his pajamas and robe, sitting at a chair near his billiards table, holding a pool cue across his lap, but not doing anything with it.

"Carl," she said.

"She's gone," he said. "Carol's still gone."

"I know, dear," said Yvonne, touching the back of his neck in the way that wives know. "It's just as hard on me, and you know that."

"I think Jordan knows," he said. "By damn, I think he knows."

"Carl, you've got to go to work," she said. "Ferris is already in enough problems. The solar jet, remember?"

"Solar jet be hanged!" The jet was supposed to get the troubled Ferris Aircraft Company out of debt, and it still might. But delays, not the least of which was a hijack attempt by Eclipso, had held things up. Now Bruce Gordon, Clay Kendall, and April O'Rourke were gone, and he'd already fired John Stewart. But Carol...

The woman who, he hated to admit, had made Ferris work for all those years he'd been off with Yvonne on that round-the-world trip. The woman who...

(Dammit)

had made the company work better than he had.

Now she was gone.

Where?

She had gone off with Jordan when he blew back into town, and the two had set up housekeeping for months. Then, wham, she was gone, and nobody was able to tell him where.

His daughter. His lovely, and beloved, and very capable daughter. Gone.

Carl Ferris used the cue as a cane and got to his feet. "Get the chauffeur, Yve," he said. "I've got something to do."

"You're going to work?" said Yvonne, hopefully.

"Yes. But first, I'm going to hire a detective. I want Hal Jordan, and I want some answers out of him. However I have to get them."

The planet of Zamaron is a hell of a long ways from Earth, but if you know the right shortcuts (through spacewarps) and have the right vehicle (a power ring), it can be made in less than a day. Provided your will power doesn't run out.

Katma was carrying the Power Battery with her on a tether. Both it and the battery were invisible. Hal wanted to get the thing finished in under a day, but the trip up and back would take over twenty-four hours. When they got tired, they just put the rings on automatic and slept, surrounded by their protective green auras.

She sent a telepathic message privately to Hal. [I am proud of you, Hal Jordan,] Katma said.

Katma saw Hal's surprised masked face turn her way. [Proud? What for?]

[Remember when you met me for the first time, and had me choose between my Corpsmanship and my love for Imi Kann? Do you remember that, Hal?]

[Oh, yes,] Hal Jordan responded, and she could hear the world-weariness in his tone. [I've been reminded of that several times lately, Katma. By you.]

[Indeed,] Katma replied.

John Stewart sent them both a message. [Both of you talkin' ‘bout something I shouldn't be hearin'? I'm seeing you both looking at each other like you were passin' notes in class.]

[We're fine, John,] Hal responded.

Katma continued, [I gave up the man I loved then for the Corps. Then you gave up your Corpsmanship for the woman you loved. I rebuked you then.]

[I remember,] said Hal.

[But do you remember what you told me when we first met? "Once a Green Lantern, always a Green Lantern"? Do you remember that, too, Hal?]

[Yes, Kat, my memory works at least as well as yours, I think. Point being?]

[Point being, that you have realized both your hypocrisy and the correctness of your statement. You relinquished your ring, but found you could not stop being a Lantern. You regained your ring, and lost your love, when she merged with her Predator-self to become Star Sapphire again. So... it is quite true, "Once a Green Lantern, always a Green Lantern." But Green Lanterns, at least humanoid ones, are also male and female. And it is not good that one should be alone.]

He gave her a cynical smile. [Score one for the lady from Korugar. And, Kat... I'm sorry.]

Her face showed sorrow for an instant. Half of Korugar had been devastated by the Crisis, though half its population survived. [There is nothing to be done for it, Hal.]

[I know. Thank you for coming with me.]

[I am coming to be with John as well. But I come, most of all, as a Green Lantern.]

[One of the best,] Hal said, and meant it.

[Jordan,] said John, [are you ever gonna stop thinkin' at my woman, and start thinkin' with me? It gets boring out here. I keep wantin' to yell, "Are we there yet?"]

Hal grinned. [I'll give you a hint, John. We're not.]

[Last time I give you a line!]

[Bet not,] thought Hal.

The three of them continued on, a living wedge of green, thinking themselves unperceived by any living beings in the sector of space through which they passed.

They were wrong.

They were being followed.

She wondered how much of her was still Carol Ferris.

Lounging in a bath, scrubbed by three young Zamaron women (although she knew they were far older than she was, they just looked younger), in full view of the paralyzed Hector Hammond, she considered the overlay of her personality that was Star Sapphire.

Part of her, the Predator-self, had been produced by her aggressive impulses, separated, then reabsorbed. That was when Carol had used the sapphire gem the Zamarons had given her years ago to become Star Sapphire once again. This time, she meant to stay a Sapphire.

"Does the queen think the water too warm, or, perhaps, too cold?" asked Namita, one of her attendants. "We can adjust it with a simple action."

"The water is fine, Nami," Star Sapphire replied. "Just do what you do, and all will be well." She lifted one bare leg out of the water, ostensibly for the girl to soap it, but really for the effect it would have on Hammond. She saw his eyes bulging. That was the one part of him that moved... voluntarily, that is... and she took sadistic pleasure in it.

He had the brain of a future-man, with mind-over-matter powers that even staggered Green Lantern. But his body betrayed him, like any man's. She had told him once that women knew the importance of bodies, and now Hammond did as well. He had exchanged his mobility for the power a meteor had given him.

Now, she guessed that he was considering he'd made the wrong choice.

Not that a short fiftyish guy with an oversized cranium had much chance with her, anyway. No, Hammond was just her tool, her "partner", to be used against Hal Jordan if he showed up, and to help her defend the world of Zamaron from whatever should threaten it. Including the Green Lantern Corps.

[Must you... do that?] came a telepathic message.

[Oh?] she responded, looking at him. [Do you... wish me to stop it?] She dangled her leg over the edge of the ornate tub.

The answer took some time in coming. In telepathy, it is still possible to note a tone of desperation.

[No,] he said.

One of the girls saw where she was looking. "Does the queen wish me to draw a curtain? Is the queen feeling offended?"

"Hardly," said Star, standing up to display her dripping-wet body in the full. She glanced coyly at her captive audience. If the chair he sat in hadn't been balanced by lines of magnetic force, she was sure he'd have fallen over on his forehead. Telltale beads of sweat were on his brow. She chose a towel one of the Zamarons proferred, but didn't cover herself entirely with it, turning around so that she faced away from Hammond. "No, Hector Hammond can hardly offend me. And as for myself, why... I can't imagine any effect I would have on him."

She looked over her shoulder, smiling, a moment. The girls weren't sure whether they should feign giggles of support. Hammond might be paralyzed, but he still had power.

Another telepathic message came through. [Have a care, woman. I am not without my limits.]

Star Sapphire faced him, making no effort to keep the towel over any part of her but her shoulders. [I know, Hector. And we're both quite well aware of what some of those limits are. Aren't we?]

She felt the pressure at her temples. Hammond was hitting her with a psychic bolt. It wouldn't be lethal, but he was really chancing it even using this much power on her. She exerted her own will.

A large star sapphire gem, the symbol of her power, levitated from her table nearby and flew to her hand. Its power reinforced her own, and she formed a psi-shield against him. [That will be enough, Hammond. If you wish the alliance to continue, cease your attack.]

[And if you wish it continue, cease your teasing.]

[I will behave the way I wish to,] sent Star Sapphire, coldly.

[Then we are not allies!]

She moved closer to the little man in the chair. The Zamarons clutched for weapons, placed nearby. "Hold," she told them.

[Do we not have an enemy in common?] she asked him, only inches away from where he sat.

[We... do,] acknowledged Hammond, staring at her breasts.

[Do you think that he will stay away from me for long?]

[In my estimation... no,] Hammond admitted.

"Then, my dear Hector," she said aloud, turning her back to him, "the course is clear. Lay off your psych-attack and I will do my bathing in private."

[I...]

She turned on him, watched him, and neither spoke nor telepathed.

[I would... prefer you continue,] Hammond finally sent.

Star Sapphire smiled. "Well... perhaps someday," she said. She grabbed a robe from a nearby chair, slipped into it, and walked out of the chamber, not giving Hammond a second look. The Zamarons followed, only giving him the barest of glances.

After awhile, Hector Hammond created an illusion of himself and Star Sapphire that was only frustrating. He traded it for one of himself destroying Green Lantern.

That was much more satisfying.

The triad of Green Lanterns entered Zamaron space shortly after disabling some sentinel satellites that fired upon them. The second and third fired golden projectiles at them, and they had to use parts of the first satellite to destroy them.

[They know we're here,] sent Katma.

[Better believe,] Hal Jordan replied. All three of them, protected by their green auras, streaked down towards the continent upon which the Zamarons had their capital city. Katma used her ring to do a quick scan of the populance below. All female, many in warrior garb that conjured up images of medaeval soldiers on her world. Hal said they dressed like ancient Romans of Earth, if Roman women had worn combat dress. The non-combatants tended to wear short gowns. Too many of them seemed to be from the same cookie-cutter stamp, visually, though there were differences.

[No children,] sent Katma.

[Maybe they've all grown up,] offered John.

[What do they do for sex?] wondered the Korugarian.

Hal shot a look back at her. [Don't get captured by them. You might find out.]

The red woman made a face. [That will be quite enough of that, Hal Jordan.]

[You asked.]

John Stewart had been sweeping the area below and ahead of them with his ring's beam, invisibly. His head came up. [We've got incoming, guys. Battle stations!]

They were in the upper mid-atmosphere of Zamaron by this time. A group of what appeared to be yellow fighter jets of some strange design were coming at them. Rapidly.

Hal grinned. The fighter jock in him was coming to the surface. [Remember, don't kill or injure them. That's not what Green Lanterns do. But let ‘em know we're here.]

[What about the yellow on ‘em?] asked John.

[Just makes it more interesting, John,] Hal answered.

The three of them dived towards the group of five jets. Through what passed for the windscreens in each of them, they could see pilots and co-pilots... all women. Gender equality had come even farther on Korugar than in America on Earth, but Katma still felt a surge of pride.

Within the craft flying point, one Zamaron pilot was awaiting the lineup signal on her computer sighting device. Once it had picked a target, the one she had on a viewscreen, all she had to do was say the word, and the sensors relayed her command to the firing mechanism.

Unfortunately, one second the Lanterns were there, and in the next, they weren't.

The co-pilot's eyes widened. "Anamede! They're gone!"

The pilot cursed. "Invisibility. They can do that. Sensors, heat-pattern." The viewscreen on her craft's control board showed three sets of human-shaped heat impulses, but each of them had moved further apart from the others. The computer was tracking her target, the female Green Lantern.

Anamede made a decision. "Release," she said. A blast of yellow energy spurted forth from a projector in the left wing. It was primed to seek heat, but stay on the general trajectory the target computer selected for it. The problem was, Anamede had released it a tad prematurely, so the heat-sensors would have to work harder.

Another problem: suddenly, there were two sets of heat images on the screen, both of female shape. And one was hotter than the other. The energy-blast was directed to the hotter of the two, and, in a fraction of a second, blew its target to pieces.

It was only a very hot simulacrum of a woman, created by Katma Tui.

Katma used her ring to alter her physical density to almost nil. The trick she was attempting would be dangerous--one contact with a yellow part of the ship, and her density would return to normal, splatting her like a bug on a land vehicle--but was possible. The windscreen of the jet was clear, not yellow.

She passed through it, through the startled pilots, and through several other objects before getting her ring to retro her to a halt in an open space of the jet behind the cockpit. Once still, Katma commanded the ring to restore her normal density.

Quickly, efficiently, the co-pilot of the craft left her seat and came at her, a yellow stunner in her hand. It would render the red woman unconscious if it made contact. She sprinted at her foe with a speed that did her training regimen great credit.

Katma Tui had undergone an efficient regimen herself.

With a movement of her supple body, much more flexible than the rather muscular one of the Zamaron, she dodged, grabbed the woman's stunner arm, twisted, and threw her foe off her feet. The Zamaron was still hanging onto the stunner. That was all right by Katma. Gritting her teeth behind closed lips, she bent the woman's arm with a sudden movement until the head of the stunner came into contact with an unhelmeted portion of her face.

A bioelectric charge was released into the co-pilot's body and she went limp.

Anamede, letting the jet fly itself, had now turned in Katma's direction and had drawn a weapon that looked deadlier than any stunner. It was also yellow in color. Kat decided she was getting tired of the monochromatic taste in decor on this planet.

The beam of her ring shot forth at Anamede's face. Once there, it transformed its leading edge into a cloud of potent sleep-gas. The Zamaron, surprised, tried to fight it, but fell on her face after she took a single step.

Katma Tui smiled, briefly, then walked around the fallen Zamaron, sat in the pilot's seat, and ordered the ring to tell her how to fly the thing.

Outside, she saw that Hal and John were keeping busy. One of them had plugged the exhaust of a craft with a block of ice created from the moisture in the air, and saved the occupants of the plane by equipping them with green wings when they bailed out. John had created a mobile vacuum chamber around one, moving as it moved, and pumped the air out from it, causing a flameout of the craft. It fell through the green box around it, but John gave the pilot and copilot a flying platform to stand on once they bailed. Hal grabbed the falling plane with a green probe up its exhaust, and used it as a club to knock down the remaining two craft, placing both sets of pilots in a power-ringed glider after they ejected.

She heard a voice in her head. [You okay, Kat?]

[Just fine, John,] she sent, her hands on the controls of the plane. [Want to come aboard?]

Hal Jordan sent, [Check that thing for hidden booby traps. It may have safeguards against unauthorized pilots.]

[Already checked and disabled, Hal,] Katma replied. [Are we QX for the next phase of the mission?]

[QX?] Hal Jordan, flying beside the craft, looked at John with suspicion and amazement.

[Ah, she's been reading my stash of Lensman novels,] John sent, apologetically. [You know, the Doc Smith books. I swear, Hal, those Lensmen were just like us! Only I don't think the uniforms were as good.]

[Okay, okay, we're QX,] sent Hal. [Let's see what they have next.]

Katma grinned and set a course for the Zamaron capital.

Several miles above them, a magenta-clad woman, seemingly exposed to the conditions of atmosphere thinning into the edges of space, monitored them from a distance. She nodded to herself. The Green Lanterns had made the point strike, as she intended. Hopefully, her stealth aura would enable her to remain undetected in their wake. She just hoped it worked as well with Zamaron defenses. Sadly, she wasn't quite up-to-date on them.

Let the Green Lanterns battle the pretender Carol Ferris, and either take the star sapphire from her, or be defeated by her. Whichever the case, she would be there afterward to take the throne, whether from Ferris's unconscious fingers, or after she bested the weakened bitch in a second battle.

The first Green Lantern of Earth would soon have the woman he wanted, whatever the outcome.

And Remoni-Notra, the true Star Sapphire, would have the throne of Zamaron.