Overlord watched as Scholar and a dozen others aided the UNCLE agents and their offspring to flee, and fled with them.

Egret and Sepharan rushed into the room. "They're getting away!" said the male half of the duo. "Aren't you going to *do* anything?"

"What would you suggest I do?"

"Why, recapture them, of course," said Dr. Egret, "and punish those who aided them. They're your test subjects, and they'll need to be studied. You still have years of research in front you."

"And you," the alien asked, turning to the man, "do you agree with your colleague?"

"I do," replied Sepharan. "It seems a waste to go to all that trouble and end up with nothing to show for it."

"I thought you would say that." Overlord turned back to the monitor as the last of the group slipped away. "You believe the experiment was to produce hybrid children to study, and possibly replace humanity. You were wrong. We already knew nearly what in your years would be a century ago crossing our genes with yours would not produce a superior version of us. Those little ones will grow to have phenomenal intellects, but in all other ways they're as human as any of you."

"Then why --?" began Egret, but the alien held up a hand.

"To give Scholar and her 'mutineers' a chance to share our science and technology with the best group of humans we could find," Overlord explained. "We've spent decades testing various subjects, representing governments, religions, ethnic groups and those economic entities called corporations, attempting to find the wisest and most compassionate. The ones who would best use the knowledge we wish to pass on."

"Which is exactly why it should be given to us!" Sepharan said. "We'd ensure it would only be used --"

Again the alien interrupted. "-- to further your own goals, and not humanity's. Did you truly think us that naive? I grow weary of your posturing." He turned to the guards who always attended him. "Take them away and lock them up. Perhaps we can leave them for UNCLE to find somewhere."

#############################

Unaware they were actually fulfilling their mission, Solo and Kuryakin led their little group to a pick-up point, arriving at the secluded airfield just after dark. The two UNCLE agents managed to convince the pilot their new allies were no threat and they were soon on their way.

The journey was not without problems, the most difficult being keeping various governments unaware of Scholar and her friends.

Finally they arrived at an UNCLE facility so secret even they didn't know exactly where it was -- flights were only made in darkness and the plane was guided in by the ground crew using remote radio controls. Even the instrument lights were turned off, and some of the instruments themselves were inactivated to prevent crews from knowing the exact location.

Once they had deplaned and rode an elevator down an unknown distance, Mr. Waverly was there to greet the newest additions to Section 8, along with his best two agents and a completely unprecedented problem. At least they'd managed to get their new allies to return the missing satellite, along with all its data.

Even as he was cooing at the most adorable pair of young ladies he'd seen in quite some time, Number 1, Section 1 of UNCLE was attempting to formulate a solution for a situation no one had anticipated. There was a policy for field agents who wished to marry and start families, but there was nothing in UNCLE's bylaws covering single fathers, especially ones who were mothers as well. UNCLE *did* have a policy for unwed mothers, but he could hardly fire his best agents for bearing children out of wedlock.

Still, there were a great many other things to do, between overseeing the smooth transition of the aliens to their new facilities so they could integrate their science with its Earthly counterpart, having Medical check out Solo, Kuryakin and the babies (and God help anyone who even *suggested* the little ones be reared in anything even remotely resembling a lab), and analyzing the data from the satellite.

It should be at least a week before he had to make a decision on Solo and Kuryakin's fates, but by the look of things he might be losing one if not both of them.