"Whispers of Destiny" - Undiscovered Frontier Season 2 (Star Trek/BattleTech/Mass Effect/Others)

[Big Steve]

Teaser

The planet of New Liberty continued its quiet orbit outside the window of Robert's bridge office. He stood nearby, in the black-and-command-red-trim uniform of the Alliance Navy, breathing in a sigh at the sight. New Liberty, once, had not even been a speck on the planet surface. But now he could make out the gray splotch of city, and if his vision was a bit stronger, perhaps he'd even make out the fields surrounding the city where the Colony's staples were grown.

The thought occurred to him of one day retiring here and founding a new Dale family farm. Although Angel was, by her own repeated admission, not the type to be a farmhouse wife, he could almost imagine them in a home like his family's, kids playing in the fields as they grew old together.

Thinking of Angel in that way felt weird. Their relationship had always floundered on one rock or another, and it was certainly rocky right now. But it wasn't like he had anyone else to think about that way?

Except, of course, for that memory of the eagerly-shared kiss after a thrilling escape and a tumble down a collapsing hill. The pain in his ribs, the feeling of dirt and sweat mingling, the jubilant look on Julia's face before and after they shared that kiss...

The thoughts and dreams might have become a confusing, hopeless muddle if not for the interruption when his door chime went off. "Come in," he called out, and turned in time to see Julia enter with her uniform on. "I thought I had you on leave for another two days?", he asked with a wry look.

"Technically, you do. Technically, I'm not handing you the last shift's reports," she said. An amused grin crossed her face. "Technically this sprouted wings and flew to you."

"Ah, technically, that sounds interesting," he replied, chuckling and taking the datapad. "So how are you going to enjoy your remaining leave-time?"

"I'm going to tour the Colony again," she replied. "Seeing it with Zack and the others made me realize how much it had changed. I can barely find my way around it now."

"It's a booming city now," Robert agreed. "And it makes you think, doesn't it?"

"About how we started it? Yeah." she nodded. "Of course, that's what this anniversary is all about, isn't it?"

He nodded quietly. "Well, I don't want to…"

Before he could finish, there was a tone at his desk to say they had an incoming communication. He pressed the button to open the comm line. "This is Captain Dale," he said.

The person on the other end was Jupap. "Sir, Colony Security is hailing us."

"What for?", he asked.

"They say something happened in the Medical Plaza. It… it involves Commander Jarod."

Robert and Julia exchanged worried looks.




The transporter that brought Jarod and his captors to what looked like the inside of a ship was an Alliance model transporter. Which did not narrow down the suspects as well as he might hope, unfortunately, as the subspace tunnelling-style transporter was becoming more and more widespread with every passing month.

The room was full of chairs. One had been prearranged with restraint cuffs built into the arm. Jarod was forced into the chair and restrained with those cuffs by two of his attackers while Miss Parker watched.

"He is still determining how to escape," said the golden-eyed man. "Give me ten minutes with him and I will crush his spirit."

"Jarod's been conditioned to resist torture and abuse," Miss Parker replied. "And the Centre wants him back intact. Which means I want him delivered intact."

Jarod laughed at her. "Do you really think they're going to let you walk away?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'd still like to make an example of me," she said. "But they'll be happy with having you back. Then they'll let my father go."

"Do you really think he's still alive?" Jarod laughed harshly and shook his head. "You should know better."

"I know he's alive," answered Miss Parker. "And if they betray me…" She frowned at the thought, which she clearly wasn't letting herself think about. "That's why I hired these gentlemen. If the Centre kills him, or they try to double-cross me, I have the firepower to make them regret it." There was a cold look to Miss Parker's eyes as she inhaled another drag from her cigarette.

One of Jarod's attackers, the Asian cyborg, left the room. "I would have helped you rescue your father," Jarod said. "If you'd asked."

"Would you have, Jarod?" Miss Parker drew up a chair. She took another drag from her cigarette. "With everything my father was responsible for? What if it meant leaving your dear friends on the Aurora?"

"I would have arranged something," he insisted.

For several moments their eyes met, and it was clear Miss Parker was considering the sincerity of his words. During their silence, Jarod felt a steady acceleration through the ship and a sudden lurching feeling that surged and vanished. It was the familiar sensation of entering an interuniversal jump point.

The door slid open again. The cyborg re-entered. His voice was calm when he reported, "Wolff just made the jump. It doesn't look like anyone was the wiser in orbit. We're home free."

"Thank you, Kang." Miss Parker stood up. "Wilton, Y'tala, you'll have the first watch with him. Don't let Jarod out of your sight. In two hours I'll have you relieved."

The Mi'qote woman and the short man in the room nodded.

Miss Parker nodded to the man with the gold eyes, who nodded back and departed with Kang.

"He's a corrupted Gersallian, isn't he?", Jarod asked.

Miss Parker stopped and turned. "You mean he has the same weird magic that the Gersallians go on about? Yes, he does. And I'm paying him almost everything I have left after hiring the others."

"You made a lot of money in a year as a 'security consultant'", he charged.

Miss Parker smirked. "Well, as I told your friend Captain Dale last night… there's a dark side to his precious utopia. And I'm very good at finding things." She took another drag from her cigarette and blew out a puff of smoke. "Enjoy the ride, Jarod. We'll be back home soon enough."

Without another word, she left, leaving Jarod alone with his guards.

Undiscovered Frontier
"Family Matters"​

Robert and Julia were met by Sydney at the office building he used in the Medical Plaza. He was accompanied by two men, an African and someone with a tanned bronze complexion. Robert recognized the second man as Luis de Almerda, a Colombian policeman whom they'd found in a FARC camp back in the old days. He was in the uniform of the New Liberty Colony Security Service and was the chief of police for the entire colony. "What happened?"

"Mister Okonwi can explain better," said Almerda.

The African man nodded. When he spoke, the translation systems kicked in for Robert and Julia. "We detected an unscheduled transportation from the premises approximately thirty-eight minutes ago," Okonwi explained. "Officers were dispatched to the scene and found evidence of a struggle in Dr. Sydney's office. We also located the security guard unconscious in a backroom during our search of the premises."

"This was a trap, then." Robert looked to Sydney. "Do you know anything of what happened here?"

"I found a message from Jarod on my device," Sydney explained, "telling me he had almost arrived at the office. Going by the message he believed I had called to meet him here. But I never did."

"Someone lured Commander Jarod into a trap with the false message. Someone aware that he would not be on guard," observed Almerda.

Robert felt a sick feeling in his stomach. The suspect was not too hard to guess. "Miss Parker," he muttered.

"It would make some sense, unfortunately." Sydney shook his head. "Miss Parker was upset in being brought here, and she worries about her father's fate with the Centre. She may have taken Jarod to try and save her father by exchanging him."

"Given what Jarod's told us about these people, I doubt they'll cooperate that well." Robert sighed and clenched his hands into fists. He thought he could actually feel it, feel the emotions Jarod had felt as he was attacked with… overwhelming power?

A cold trickle went up his spine.

Julia noticed the change in his expression. "Are you okay?", she asked.

He looked to her and shook his head. "I feel like there's something… wrong here. Something nasty."

"You are correct."

They all turned. Meridina was walking up to them, wearing the casual robes of her Order. "Commander Meridina," said Almerda. "Thank you for coming."

"You are most welcome. I came as quickly as I could." Meridina looked over the building. "I feel the lingering power even here." A look of deep worry came to her face. "One of the attackers was a swevyra'kse."

The term had the familiar root word in Gersallian for Robert's growing knowledge of that language. But he'd never heard of this term before. "A what?"

"A wielder of power from swevyra who has fallen into darkness." Meridina shuddered. "This is what Amaunet turned into when she had control of my body."

"I thought someone like that would be little better than an out-of-control psychopathic killer?", Robert asked.

"That is the eventual end of them all. But some resist quite well, sometimes for years. They are capable of cunning and planning. Some may serve as mercenaries, others put their efforts into growing a personal power base.' Meridina shook her head. "They are not to be underestimated."

"Dammit," Robert breathed. He looked to Almerda. "I can assign officers to assist the investigation, if you'd like."

Almerda nodded and understood. "Of course."

Robert looked to Julia. "I know you're on leave…"

"I'll direct things from here," she said. "We'll look through Miss Parker's things and see if we can find a clue on what her plans are."

"I shall stay and assist," Meridina pledged.

"Keep me informed." Robert sighed. "I'm going to file the official report on what happened."




When Robert returned to his quarters, he found Angel waiting for him. And he could feel the angry tension building up within her. "Whatever happens, I want to go," Angel insisted.

"I doubt we'll be launching the rescue mission," Robert said. "I'm not even sure what will happen. The Earth of A4P5 is still on the 'no contact' list."

"We can't just let her get away with this!" Angel clenched her fists. "Dammit, I knew that… that bitch would do something like this. I could see it in her eyes when I saw her the last time."

Robert stopped beside his desk and turned. "What do you mean?"

"After Jarod found her a place to live, he visited her. I went with him." Angel frowned. Her fists were clenching and unclenching over and over. She desperately wanted to hit something. "I even told her that if she did something to Jarod I'd kill her."

Robert sighed. "You would," he noted.

"I want on the mission, Rob," Angel said. "Let me join Julia and Meridina."

"Angel, I don't think I can justify that," he answered. "Two officers is a big enough commitment."

"Dammit, I owe it to him…" Angel crossed her arms. "Rob, please, let me do this. I know people on New Liberty too. And maybe…"

Robert plopped into his desk chair. "Angel… give me a moment."

While she stewed, he thought on it. More accurately, he focused on it, trying to sense what the best course of action was. Whether or not Angel would be needed, if it was best to send her. Hearing her heart beating and his own, hearing the thumps as she paced around his room, was distracting.

Whatever the future was, it wasn't something he could sense. Not this time. He had only his own instinct on the situation, versus the part in his head that said Julia and Meridina were enough for the job.

But his heart said otherwise. Robert sympathized with Angel's sense of responsibility for what happened with Jarod. And what was the harm in giving Julia and Meridina some backup? They weren't going anywhere. So he nodded. "They're probably at Colony Security, going over Miss Parker's things."

A look of relief came to her face. "Thank you," she said. "I'll beam down immediately."

"If they have anything they need computer help with, don't hesitate to call Cat and Lucy," Robert added.

"Of course not." Angel leaned over the side of the desk and gave him a kiss on the lips, which he returned. When their kiss ended after a few seconds, she smiled and said, "We'll find him, don't worry."

"I won't," he promised, and then he watched quietly and with some contemplation on his choice while Angel picked up her bag and went to the door.




With nothing much to do and little hope of escape for the moment, Jarod looked at his surroundings. His place of confinement had evidently been built to be the dining area of a vessel. It had been stripped to be turned into his prison, but he could make out the remaining floor braces for heavy kitchen equipment.

As for his captors, one was the the red-furred-and-haired Mi'qote woman with a number of different guns on her main belt and on bands around her upper legs to hold more guns. The Human man beside her was wearing a simple jumpsuit of dark gray and black, with his hair cut close to his head. Quiet, calculating amber eyes were still intent upon Jarod.

"You know I'm an Alliance officer, right?", Jarod asked.

"What of it?", asked the Mi'qote. Y'tala was her name, presumably, given how Miss Parker had spoken. "I'll make my money and sod off to the Unaligned Worlds, same as always."

Wilton, for his part, chuckled. "Pal, I know more boltholes and safe housessafehouses than you can imagine." He was speaking in English, but his accent was unique. "And on Solaris, I'm a drop in the bucket. I do this job and it's back to business as usual for me."

"Are you really so certain of that?", Jarod asked them. "Because if you're…"

He was interrupted by an explosion of pain. Wilton's fist smashed into Jarod's face. It didn't cause much in the way of damage to his body, but it still hurt. "Shut it or I'll get the tape," Wilton declared.

Jarod glared at him and gave no other reply.




For most of the Colony, the fall of night had merely heralded the second great run of celebrations, with grand fireworks to be seen and enjoyed by all.

In the Security Headquarters, there was no celebratory mood. It was widely known that Jarod had been one of the "Facility crew", he had been directly involved in rescuing many of the Colony's current citizens - including some of those now with Security - and his abduction rankled them.

Almerda and Okonwi showed Julia, Angel, and Meridina into a meeting room. Bagged belongings were gathered, including personal datapads and a noteputer system. "We've queued the contents of Miss Parker's personal data systems," said Okonwi. With a tap of a button he brought them up.

After several minutes of looking, Julia shook her head. "This all looks legitimate," she said. "Notes and observations on the cases she was helping Security with."

"Perhaps she did not commit any of her plans to electronic data format," mused Meridina. "Although it is interesting how often she accessed the suspicious characters list."

"'Suspicious characters list'?", Angel asked.

"Under Council order, we keep a list of individuals who have come to our attention, either by direct observation, by report from the populace, or reports by other government agencies," explained Almerda. "It gives us a place to start in some investigations."

Okonwi added, "We do not do pre-emptive arrests either."

"I would hope not," murmured Angel.

Julia ignored that comment and continued. "Well, we know she was looking for someone to work with. Maybe she hired people from the list?"

"The issue will be finding out which ones. There are probably dozens, maybe even hundreds, of listed persons that she could have approached." Almerda drew in an irritated sigh. "We'll do what we can, of course."

"Of course." Julia nodded to him and hoped he understood how much his efforts were appreciated.

"I'd like to know if there's a way Miss Parker was in touch with the Centre." Angel looked over one of the noteputers. "I mean, would she go to all of this trouble without having any guarantees?"

"If her goal was to recover her father, perhaps she was willing to take that risk." Meridina looked over another of the noteputers. "We should try to track any vessel they departed on."

"There have been ships coming and going all day," Almerda said. "I will confirm with Traffic Control."

While Meridina and Julia were discussing that with Almerda, Angel was looking over the rest of the evidence. Further along the table, apart from the things found in Miss Parker's home and office, were a few more evidence bags. She looked them over. Most were debris from Jarod's abduction.

But one…

Angel looked to Okonwi, standing nearby. She held up the bag. "You found this on the scene?"

Okonwi looked at her and at the bag. "Yes," he said. "The ash could have come from a number of things."

"Like a cigarette?"

Okonwi considered that. "Possibly."

Angel opened up the baggie and took a sniff. "I recognize this smell," she said.

"You are an expert on cigarette ash?"

"No." Angel shook her head. "But I've smelled it before. Back in the Facility days. Enough that I'll never forget the damned stuff" She looked to Julia and Meridina, who were noticing the conversation now. She offered it to Julia. "Remember?"

Julia took it and sniffed. A frown came to her face. "I think I do."

"It's Cuban," Angel said. "The cigarette was made with Cuban tobacco."

"From which universe, though?", asked Meridina. "Presumably you are looking for a link we can follow from this fact."

"Do we know what Miss Parker's expenditures were like?", Angel asked. "Did she import anything from outside of our universe?"

"I'm not seeing it on these records. But she might have made receipts private."

Angel looked at the ash again. An idea percolated into her head, based off old memories. "Julia, I have an idea," she said softly, softly and lowly that Okonwi couldn't hear from where he was. "I think I know where Miss Parker got her cigarettes."

"Oh? Almerda can probably…"

"No," Angel said. "If we go in with Security, they won't cooperate. But if it's who I think it is, he might just talk to us, personally, without the law involved. But we'll have to go in as civilians, and without our multidevices and sidearms. He won't talk to us if everyone sees we've got Stellar Navy-issue tech."

"A lot of people here would recognize us anyway."

"Not if we go in carefully, without calling attention to ourselves."

"And I can attempt to mentally dissuade recognition," Meridina offered.

Julia frowned pensively over that, They were supposed to be helping Okonwi and Almerda, not hiding things from them. And without their multidevices they had no means of communicating with the Aurora for emergencies. The Aurora wouldn't even be able to track them.

But there was an earnestness in Angel's hazel eyes that Julia couldn't ignore. If it helped them find Jarod faster, they should do it.

"Okay," Julia said. "We'll follow you on this."




Robert couldn't sleep. Not from nightmares, just from general nervousness and worry and a sense of frustration. Jarod was effectively a member of the family, he had saved their lives, and he had been taken by the same people that Robert and the others swore would never have a chance at him again.

And as things stood, there wasn't a damn thing Robert could do about it. All he could do was hope Julia and the others could find out something they could use to help get Jarod back.

"I shouldn't have laid down early," Robert muttered. He sat back up and crossed his legs. Meridina had shown him this meditative position and explained the value of using it to quiet his mind and self. By clearing his head, he could rest more easily, or be more in tune with the energy within him and its connection to everything else.

The months of training had made it somewhat clear that he lacked the strengths Meridina and Lucy had with this. He wasn't sure he'd ever be capable of bringing a sword to a gunfight and winning. That mostly relieved him, but it did give him a tad bit of disappointment, of feeling inadequate. Meridina had counseled him not to concern himself with those feelings. "The power you wield is meant for you, whatever its comparison to others," she had insisted, and he had accepted.

Gradually he felt like he might yet get to sleep… just to have the comms beep. Lt. Pacetti stated, "Bridge to Captain Dale. Priority message from Admiral Maran."

Robert answered immediately. "I'll get it right now." He went to his desk, put in his code, and accepted the incoming transmission. The dark-haired Gersallian admiral appeared on the screen. Robert thought he looked tense. "Admiral, sir, good to see you."

"The same, though we have little time for pleasantries. I received your report about Commander Jarod. We'll do what we can to locate him, I assure you. But right now we have another matter." Maran's expression was tense, and Robert could tell something big was going on. "An opportunity has presented itself, Captain, one that we must seize. It may shorten the war."

That made Robert pay attention. "Sir?"

"Ever since the attack on New Austria, the Reich has been dispersing its fleets carefully, ensuring it can respond quickly to another such attack by us," explained Maran. "This has hobbled them somewhat on the main fronts of the war, but it's prevented us from launching effective raids in their rear areas. But we now have a window of opportunity. The Reich's been forced to adjust after the recent fighting and in their shifting of assets, there will be a small time frame during which we can attack several facilities of strategic importance without risking a confrontation with large numbers of opposing ships. To exploit this attack to the fullest, we're throwing every available ship into the action. That includes your's."

Robert swallowed and nodded. If Maran wasn't exaggerating, a large enough attack in Reich rear areas might completely disrupt their front lines. It would shorten the war. "I understand, sir, we'll get underway by your order."

"You'll be making a rendezvous with the Themistocles and her battle group," Maran said. "They're gathering in Universe C5O2 as we speak. Coordinates are being transmitted on a subchannel. You must depart immediately, the window is closing steadily and we need literally every minute."

"I understand, sir," Robert said. "I'll have our people beamed up from New Liberty immediately." He sighed. "Colony Security should still be able to do what they can for Jarod."

"I assure you, once this is over I will personally intervene with the President to get approval for his recovery, even if it means sending strike teams to his home Earth. But I need you at that rendezvous immediately, Captain. Command out." Maran's image was replaced by a copy of his office seal, a variant on the Presidential one that depicted the Alliance torch insignia on a shining shield.

Robert triggered his comm unit. "Dale to Bridge. All hands to Code Yellow, call up all personnel from New Liberty."

The junior officer didn't ask why. That was good, he wasn't supposed to. "Ordering the Transporter Stations to begin now, sir."

"Take the coordinates Admiral Maran sent in the subchannel on his communication, we need to jump there as soon as the drive is spooled."

"Yes sir."

Robert got dressed and replicated some coffee. He had a feeling he would be up for a while. With the coffee in hand he went to the bridge.

When he arrived, Pacetti had vacated the command chair for Locarno, who had arrived before him. "What's going on?", Locarno asked.

"Command's launching a special operation against enemy supply lines," he answered quickly. "We need to jump in the next few minutes just to make the rendezvous, and we have the orders for that. They need every ship." Robert got into his seat. "Have we gotten everyone back?"

"Almost everyone." Locarno returned to the helm. "But the Transporter Stations haven't been able to lock onto Commander Andreys, Commander Meridina, or Lieutenant Delgado."

Robert was confused by that. "What do you mean they can't lock onto them?"

"Their multidevices have been removed," Locarno revealed. "I talked to Chief Almerda and he said they left to pursue a lead on Miss Parker's activities."

"Dammit," Robert grumbled. As much as he wanted the investigation to continue, going into an operation like this without his XO or his Tactical Officer would not look very good, especially if things went wrong. "Is there any way we can track them?"

"Without their multidevices to fix their locations?" At Sensors, Ensign al-Rashad shook her head. "We can't discern their life readings from any others, sir. There are dozens of Gersallians in the Colony."

Robert looked at Locarno. "Lieutenant, we don't have time to wait for them to get in contact with us. For the duration of this operation, you're going to be acting XO."

Locarno nodded. "I understand, sir."

"Jump drive ready, Captain," added Jupap at Operations.

"Jump."

The Aurora generated an interuniversal jump point and flew right into it.




Julia and Meridina let Angel give the directions to the cab-driver, who took them from the center of the colony toward its outer fringe. The area they found themselves in was full of modest home and buildings, once storage for colony supplies and now turned into other enterprises.

Angel's address was for one of the smallest of these former storage facilities, which had a sign out front in Spanish. "The Cut Throat?", Julia said, frowning. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Angel went to the door. "This is why I wanted us to ditch the uniforms."

And indeed they had: Angel was in a brown jacket and green-and-white shirt with blue jeans, Julia had opted for a black leather jacket over a red blouse and black trousers. Meridina looked out of place in a matching jacket to Julia's, with a brown shirt underneath and blue pants to match the jacket.

Inside there was a number of small groupings of beings, mostly favoring drinks and muttering quietly with each other. The place had the look of a real dive of a bar, grungy and barely hygienic, the kind of atmosphere Julia would have associated with a biker bar. A low end one.

The man at the bar was heavy set, with a light brown complexion and dark hair. Light brown eyes looked at them with a mix of amusement and wariness. "Ah, my avenging angel," he said. "Come to see me again, eh?"

Angel looked back to Meridina and Julia. "This is Hernan de Corelo. He remembers us more than we'd remember him. He was from our third move on the Cubans."

"Si, yes," Corelo agreed. "I was sweating and starving in that stinking prison until you sprung me."

Angel smirked. "What he's not saying is that he wasn't a political dissident or someone in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was a black market dealer that the Cubans caught. And he's been putting his experience to work here on New Liberty."

Meridina blinked. "And you know this because?"

"Because two years ago, the Angry Angel here caught me selling," he answered for her. "Told me that if she caught me dealing drugs or weapons she'd tear my arms off and beat me to death with them. And she's one of the few I know who can do it."

"So he learned, after siccing his thugs on me." Angel smiled sweetly. "They don't work thuggery anymore."

"Just business, amiga, just business. I only deal with adult customers, and no weapons or hard drugs."

"I turned him into security, actually," Angel continued. "But Almerda cut him loose. The evidence was skimpy." She approached the bar and leaned over it. "And there were other considerations, weren't there Hernan?"

He could see what she meant. "Since you're here on a special occasion, how about I take you to the back?" Hernan gestured toward a door. A moderately-stout man in a dark suit was standing there quietly.

"It would appear that these kinds of establishments are transcendental among all cultures," Meridina mused philosophically, smiling thinly at Julia.

Julia nodded wordlessly and looked around. She'd always figured there was a dark side to New Liberty, but to go diving into it made her nervous.

Hernan led them to the back area. There were more tables, a larger bar with more liquors on them - including several bottles of bright blue liquid that could only be highly illegal Romulan ale - and a stage.

"Is this a theater, then?"

Hernan smirked back at Meridina. "Of a sort, yes."

Julia was frowning at him. "A sex show. Something like that, right? Because you wouldn't be hiding a strip club."

"That would depend, Senorita," Hernan said, slipping behind his bar. "Some of the people who live here, they are not very tolerant of the finer pleasures of life, you know? The law may say these things are fine, but they would make trouble. It's better to not make it too obvious, yes?" He looked over to Angel, who was remaining silent but still tense. "So, I hear there was an incident earlier this evening to mar our fine anniversary celebration. I'm betting you're here over that, yes?"

"We are." Angel took a seat at the bar. "I know you've got contacts back home, on our Earth, Hernan. You've been selling Cubans?"

"I have a modest market," he replied.

"Was this woman one of your customers?" Angel held up a picture of Miss Parker.

Hernan studied it. "Hrm. Maybe."

Julia rolled her eyes. "This is when you pull out a roll of bills and start bribing him, isn't it? Jokes about helping him jog his memory?"

Angel chuckled. She gave Hernan a knowing look. "Are we going to be cliche, Hernan?"

"I am being serious," he insisted. "But I do believe I have seen her, yes. She came to me for business."

"Cigarettes?"

Hernan smirked. "Among other things. A very ambitious planner, that woman."

"So we've learned." Julia frowned. "So what else did she want from you besides the means to give herself lung cancer?"

"Contacts. Names. Business arrangements." Hernan smirked. "She knew about my arrangement with Chief Almerda. That chica was cold as ice about it too. Would've ratted me out if I hadn't helped her at a bargain price."

"With?", asked Meridina.

"She was looking for people to hire," Hernan revealed. "And for information about the black market. To tell you the truth, I think she was using me to confirm things. I'm not the best in the Colony on these things, you see, but I've been doing it longer than most. The Mafia, the Bratva, the Orion Syndicate, they all have come through here and there, but I'm the one still here, and anyone who's anyone on this Colony comes here eventually."

"So you're in with all the scumbags," Julia muttered.

"A way of looking at it," Hernan said. "But I've kept my word. No drugs. No kids. No taking our people." He frowned. "Especially that. This is my home too, and nobody messes with my people, comprende? We take care of our own."

At that, Angel put two and two together. "So you've been helping Miss Parker make good with Colony Security, feeding her intelligence to help them shut down the nastiest of the organizations and getting the rest to pony up for you and her to leave them alone." She put her arm on the bar. "Is that about right?"

"Always nice to see you've got a brain with those muscles," Hernan replied. "A shame you're wastin' time on a ship, amiga, there are people who would pay big money to see you punch people."

"Heh. So, do you have any idea who she hired?"

Hernan shook his head. "Not my thing. I directed her to some people. Offworlders from other universes."

"And they would be?"

"Bad people, amiga. They don't have arrangements with you either. You step into their places, you might not come back out."

"We could get warrants," Julia suggested. "Go in with Colony Security."

Hernan chuckled. "Yeah, and maybe someone in Security is earnin' some spare dinero from them, sends them a little message, you show up and they're gone. Sorry, but you ain't finding out anything from them that directly."

Julia frowned at that. It shouldn't surprise her that even their colony would have corruption. But it rankled regardless.

"I believe we have learned all we can," Meridina noted. "We should return to resume contact with the Aurora."

Julia nodded in agreement. She looked to Angel, who slid off the stool. "Thank you, Hernan." She smiled thinly. "Want me to make it look good?"

"I would rather not be punched by you again, Angry Angel," Hernan answered. "But if you ever want to punch people for money, let me know, I'll talk to the organizers."

At that Angel smirked. She turned and followed the others out.

None of them seemed to noticed the hooded, cloaked figure who followed them.

 

[Big Steve]

Jarod had nodded off slightly. When he awoke, his minders had changed. A massive reptilian alien, a Krogan, was now by the door. Nearby, reclining in a chair, was a young woman in a black catsuit that emphasized all of the attractive curves of her very attractive body. Auburn hair was pulled back on her head into a severe bun. At her side was a device that made Jarod think of a cattle prod.

"I don't suppose I could get a bathroom break?", he asked.

The Krogan growled.

"Shush, my dear monster," said the young woman, her voice a lilting accent that Jarod couldn't quite place. She eyed Jarod with eyes that were inhumanly gold, much like the Gersallian from before. A mischievous smirk appeared on her face. "We don't all get what we want, Mister Jarod, or I would have you screaming and begging for mercy by now. Alas, my employer doesn't want you properly broken. I do so miss the chance for playtime, but I must be a professional about these things."

There was a coldness in the air, similar to but not the same as the coldness that radiated from the Gersallian. Between that coldness and the eye color, Jarod could see he was dealing with another powered individual like Meridina and Lucy. "I don't place the accent."

"You wouldn't. Nor would you place this one." The second line was spoken with another strange accent, more gutteral in its sounds. "If you must know, I'm from the universe you call S0T5." She grinned. "I am so enamored with the other universes. To think that Earth still exists in them. I really did quite enjoy the visit to one of the Earths." She frowned. "Alas, the constabulary proved most cross with me. I was only playing with the transients, they really should have thanked me."

"And where are you from specifically?", Jarod asked. He thought back to the materials on S0T5 that he had read. It would explain her strange accents.

"Hush, dear, I musn't tell you, or I would have to kill you in a most wretched manner, and I would thus wind up having to kill my employer. And that simply wouldn't do." She leaned back in her chair. "I suggest you go back to sleep, Mister Jarod. We shan't be much longer, I think."

Jarod went silent. The time wasn't right yet, not with this woman present, nor her hulking Krogan friend. He would have to wait for his opportunity.





It was when Julia and the others got back that they found out about the Aurora. "He left without us?", Julia asked, horrified. "Then… whatever's going on must be really time-sensitive. I knew we should have brought along our multidevices."

"Hernan would have thrown us out," Angel noted. "Half the room would have recognized Stellar Navy devices."

"And how many recognized us anyway because of who we are?", Julia retorted.

Meridina shook her head. "I suspect Hernan would have been motivated more by those who would not have recognized you."

Almerda sighed upon hearing Hernan's name, but waited until they were done before speaking. "I was wondering if that's who you were going to. If the man wasn't so damned cooperative…"

Meridina, sensing Julia's aggravation, set a calming hand on her shoulder. "It cannot be helped."

"I shouldn't have gone," Julia insisted. "I should be at my post." She looked to them. "We should be at our posts, dammit. They're going into a dangerous situation and we're not there!"

Meridina nodded. "I know, and I understand," she said, her tone gentle and quiet. "But what is done is done, Commander Andreys. You could not have known. Do not let this gnaw at you."

It was clear Julia was not going to feel any better, however. She clenched her fists. "We've got to make the most of this," she said. "We need to find out how Miss Parker left and any clues on what she's doing, then we need to go get Jarod back."

"Thankfully, I've received some help in that department," said Almerda. "Please, follow me."

He led them to a computer lab in Colony Security. At the main station of said lab was a man who looked to be in his thirties, Caucasian with a balding head, wearing a civilian jacket, shirt, and pants. He was busy at work on the computers.

"Broots," Angela said.

The former member of Miss Parker's Jarod-chasing team turned in his chair. "Angela," he said. A soft, friendly smile crossed his face. "It's good to see you again."

She nodded. "Given the situation, at least."

Broots ' friendly smile faded. "Yeah." He shook his head. "I was hoping it was true. That Miss Parker was accepting our new lives here." He turned in his chair. "But she wasn't. And she's been plotting this since last year, going by her records. It took a little doing, and every trick I've learned about your computer systems, but I found hidden data in her personal computer systems. It was masquerading as a system operation file."

"That sounds quite complex," Meridina noted. "Is Miss Parker learned enough in computers to compile such a thing?"

"I doubt it," answered Broots. "I think someone showed her." He tapped a couple of keys and brought up a series of communication logs. "And she's been in contact with the Centre."

"That's not possible." Julia frowned and looked intently at the communication logs. "A4P5 is strictly off limits to us, and we have long-range sensor nets arrayed around the system to prevent anyone from getting there undetected. How could she have done this?"

"If I had to guess, she found a way around it," Broots said. "Starting about four months ago."

"Do we know what they said?", asked Angel.

Broots shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not. But it's not hard to guess what they were talking about."

"Her father must be alive," Julia said. "Given everything I've heard about her, she can't be dumb enough to do all of this and not be sure of it."

"Knowing the Centre, even if her father's alive, they would have made a hard sell." Broots shuddered involuntarily. "I do not miss working for them."

"They seem quite dark indeed." Meridina moved forward. "Can you tell whom Miss Parker hired to help her? I know she had a swevyra'kse with her."

"A wha…. never mind." Broots started going through the data again.

One by one, images appeared. "It looks like she got most of them from the suspicious persons list," Broots remarked.

Eight images popped up. Most looked Human, with one woman who had eyes hued golden. Julia recognized the odd ones out as a Mi'qote and a Krogan, the former with fiery red fur around the cat-like ears at the top of her head, the latter colored dark green with fiery red eyes.

"I'm putting these people through the records that Colony Security's gotten from the rest of the Multiverse… and these people are bad news." Broots shook his head and read from the list. "Adam Wolff, Universe L2M1, a suspected smuggler and killer with a Rowland Ltd. Light Cargo ship called the Deadman's Hand, suspected stolen. The Krogan is Weyrloc Krel, kicked out of a mercenary group called the Blood Pack for excessive violence and discipline problems. Y'tala is another mercenary known for operating in an area called the Unaligned Worlds in N2S7. There are warrants for her arrest from the Dorei, the Gersallians, and her homeworld Ys'talla. Karl Wilton is from S0T5, a mixed martial-arts fighter who is listed as a bodyguard and mercenary for hire with contacts in the Solarian and Cevaucian underworlds. The woman was known as Denna Reynolds and Una Samson, she's also from S0T5, and is wanted by the Solarians, the Aurigans, the Cascadian Freeworlds, and a couple of other states as a known assassin." Another data point popped up. "And it looks like someone matching her description was involved in a spree of killings on M4P2 Earth. The Systems Alliance has a standing alert listed on the UAS criminal database."

"Christ," Angel swore. "Where the hell did Parker get the money to pay for these people?!"

"I'll look into it," Broots promised. He looked over the last entry. "And the last is for a Gersallian man, Dralan Olati."

Angela blinked and looked to Meridina. "I thought Gersallians didn't have last names?"

"A misconception," Meridina replied. "But they are not commonly used. We use given names and placenames, rarely family names." A pensive look came to her face. "Olati… that is a Kuneli name."

"Kuneli?"

"One of our ethnic groups, from our western hemisphere's tropical island region," replied Meridina. "The Kuneli have maintained a clan-based family structure. The Olati clan are from the island of Wutami and are a leading family. He undoubtedly specifies the name as a badge of pride." Meridina had a frown on her face. "This 'Denna Reynolds' also seems to be a swevyra'kse. That would mean two of them. This is most concerning."

"We can't take all of them on," Angel noted. "We'd never stand a chance. We'll need backup."

"That's assuming we can even get to A4P5," Julia noted. "We could be killing our careers or end up imprisoned if we try."

"There is an alternative," Meridina pointed out. "We should take wisdom from our quarry."

"You mean hire people for yourself," Broots said. "I'm not sure with what, though…"

"The right people will not require financial compensation," Meridina said. "And even if we do, the reward for recovering an Alliance officer may suffice."

"I doubt it," Angel grumbled. "But the question is still… where are we going to find people?"

There was silence for a moment. It was broken by a laugh. Everyone turned to face Julia, who continued the laugh for a moment. A wide, brilliant grin was on her face. "We follow Miss Parker's example," Julia said. "Angel, call Hernan. Tell him we're looking for people who can fight. Heavy hitters."

"Do you think we will find someone willing to work with us in that sort of crowd, Julia?", Angel asked, not quite able to eliminate the skepticism from her voice.

"It's a start," Julia answered.

"Indeed," Meridina concurred.




It was getting late, and they were all getting tired, when the three women found themselves in an outer commercial area beyond the limits of the initial Colony, still out of uniform. Here the streets, few as they were, were unfamiliar, and Julia felt the hair on her neck stand up at looking over it all. It was profoundly uncomfortable to her to think of how places like this could exist even here, in the Colony they had built for the abused and oppressed.

One such warehouse had an open door on one end. Angel, again, took the lead in approaching the door. A large, sunglass-wearing man looked over them.

"Hernan says hello," Angel said. "I'm his Angry Angel."

"You here to participate?"

"I'm here to find someone," she answered. She held up a bill. Earth Confederacy currency. "Here's the gate for all three of us."

The man frowned and looked over the bill. "Any trouble, and they'll never find you, understand?"

"Understood," Angel replied. She nodded to the others and went inside.

Low voices came from the warehouse as they entered the main part of the building through a hall. Crowds of people, some nicely dressed and some not-so-nicely dressed, were gathered here and there. More men and women in suits glared their way initially before shifting attention away. "They are quite suspicious of us," Meridina noted. "Our identities are known."

"Then don't cause problems," Angel said.

"They're just here to make money, right? Killing us would ruin that."

"So let's not give them a reason to think they should make the attempt." Angel checked her civilian-make multidevice, provided by Hernan with a few names on it. "Hernan's sure our guy is here. A real badass of a mercenary. Keep looking."

As they moved around, in the rough direction of what looked like a betting table, an MC got into the center ring. "And now for our next card!", the man, a Korean man with a decent English accent, declared. Julia ignored him announcing one fighter, a man with a Central Asian-sounding name, and kept looking for their contact.

Nevertheless she was interested to hear the name of the second contestant, dubbed "the Blind Raptor", as an alien sounding name: Kasszas S'szrishin. She glanced back, wondering what species it was, to see that the bronze-skinned human stripped down to boxing shorts was facing a six and a half foot tall feathered reptilian humanoid, lime green scales on his lean raptor-shaped head joined with red and yellow feathers. The reptilian wore a robe-like garment of faint yellow and dark gray. His eyes were dull and unmoving, as if he wasn't seeing what was in front of him as the crowd cheered or booed his name.

"Julia, he's over here."

Angel calling out to her diverted Julia's attention. She turned to face an area beside the makeshift gambling kiosk. A man in a dark brown shirt and black trousers was leaning against the side of the kiosk, looking at the fight. His eyes were not matched; the left one was normal and brown, but the right one looked off-center and had a grayish, almost white coloring to it. His face was worn with age - he was rather clearly middle-aged, at least - and gruff, which was not surprising given what Hernan said about him. And it was, indeed, the face of the man that Hernan had proposed to Angel when asked.

Since she had the superior rank, Julia stepped past Angel and up to the man. "Are you…?"

The older man put a finger to his mouth in a "silence" gesture. "Not now, girl, the match is startin', and I put credits on this one," he said. He had an English accent and a rough tone.

Julia frowned, but she didn't continue for the moment. No use aggravating the man when she was coming for his help. She turned her head to watch the fight.

The Human fighter was tall, large, and muscled. He looked and moved like an MMA fighter, and Julia admired the skill he showed in the martial arts with his movements.

But what she was surprised at was his foe. The Zigonian was clearly blind, but yet the Human couldn't land a single strike on him. Kicks and punches were dodged with deft, agile moves in all directions. The Zigonian nearly slid across the ring in avoiding the man's strikes, punches and kicks and grabs that Julia would never have evaded, even if she'd seen them coming. Nearby people were screaming in frustration at the Human, demanding he land a punch, that he do anything to end the fight with a victory (for both himself and for their wallets).

The misses were making the other fighter frustrated and angry. His attacks were losing the grace and poise Julia had seen before. He was wasting energy in increasingly wild strikes, losing his posture, becoming so easy to read that Julia would have put him on his back by now.

Suddenly he fell. The Zigonian hadn't raised an arm or leg to strike him. It was like he had his legs knocked out from under him… Julia "ahhed". Of course. The Zigonian had a tail.

The fighter went to stand up. The Zigonian's foot struck his shoulder and knocked him back over. The Zigonian stood over him and then kneeled to pin the Human in place. The Human struggled, flailed, and then gave up upon seeing he couldn't move or harm his foe.

"The Blind Raptor wins again!", the MC declared.

People nearby threw strips of paper to the floor in disgust, grumbling and growling. The man they'd approached broke out laughing. "Serves you jackasses right," he crowed. "You see someone callin' themselves blind gettin' into a fight, you know they've got somethin' to them!"

The people he shouted at growled further, but none dared approach. And not just from the bouncers that would stop them. Julia could see the killer instinct in the man. He was dangerous, just as Hernan had said.

"Now, girl, you were sayin' something?", the man asked her.

Julia nodded. "You're Zaaed Massani, right?"

That got her a smirk and a look. "Who's askin'?"

"I'm Julia Andreys. I'm with the Stellar Navy."

"So, you God-amned people are finally gettin' around to considerin' my offer?", Zaeed asked. "Because I'm just about ready to head back home. Gettin' tired of this pissant little place."

Julia frowned at that description of the Colony. But she was more interested in what he had said. "What offer?"

Zaeed eyed her over. "Ah dammit," he growled. "So you're not here to talk about my contract offer? It was that little jackass Corelo, wasn't it? Sendin' me another shitty little job that I'm not interested in. No, sweetheart, I'm not here to do bounty huntin', not unless they've got swastikas."

"You came to fight the Nazis?", Angel asked.

"Damned right," Zaeed said. "Hell of a thing, havin' a universe with damned Nazis around. Beats blowing up more bastards in the Terminus Systems, and I figured you people would be payin' good credits. A man's got to eat, after all, even if he's blowin' up God-amned Nazis. But all I bloody hear is shit about God-amned regulations for private military contractors, 'where's your license', and all that shit. I told that little rat Corelo that I was only interested in people who could light a fire under your Alliance arses, and he sends me this?"

"Mister Massani, who else wanted to hire you?", asked Meridina.

"Some broad, long dark hair, name of Parker," Zaeed said. "Said she had a bounty. But I'm not an idiot. I'm a bounty hunter, not some God-amned kidnapper. I told her to take a hike."

"Well, that's a coincidence," Angel said. "Because she's the one we're here about."

Zaeed chuckled. "Ah, she got her team and what, took a friend? Well…" He crossed his arms. "What can you pay? Because it'd better be worth my God-amned time." Around them the crowd was cheering again. Another fight was underway.

"How much are you looking for?", Julia asked.

Zaeed eyed her. And then he shook his head. "Forget it. You ask that instead of offerin' something, I know you don't have it. Piss off."

"We can offer you something better than credits," Angel insisted, stepping up as if to cut him off.

There was steel and irritation in Zaeed's working eye when he looked her way. "I know you probably think you're hot shit, but I've been fightin' since you were in diapers, girlie. Move away or I'll make you move."

Julia stepped up and back into Zaeed's sight. "You say you want a contract with the Alliance for the war. I can get you that."

Zaeed laughed in Julia's face. "You're shittin' me, girl. What are you, some hotshot lieutenant lookin' to impress an admiral without havin' to blow him?"

At that Julia drew closer, matching him eye for steely eye. "I'm not," she said, in a low and forceful tone. "Because I'm Commander Julia Andreys, First Officer of the Starship Aurora, under the direct and personal command of President Morgan and the Chairman of his Defense Staff. I can present your case to Admiral Maran himself with a single call."

Zaeed narrowed his good eye. He didn't flinch away.

Neither did Julia.

"Well," he finally said. "I'll be damned. Looks like I finally got someone's bloody attention." He looked to the others. "So, we're after this Parker lady. Who'd she take?"

"She hired mercenaries like you," Angel said, "and abducted our shipmate."

"Commander Jarod is the Operations Officer on our ship," Julia added. "I'm sure helping with his recovery will go a long way when I talk to Admiral Maran about you."

Zaeed pondered that. "I knew that lady was God-amned trouble," he growled. "Alright. What's your plan? And why do you need me? You've got a ship, and so you've got bloody Marines on it."

"Our ship's been called away on a time-sensitive mission," Julia replied. "We got left behind because we were out of communication. So we're putting together a rescue mission of our own."

"And you're lookin' for professionals to fight Parker's team, right?" Zaeed pondered it for a moment. "Alright, what the hell, I'm bored stiff anyway. I do this job, you present me to Admiral Maran."

"Done," Julia vowed. "I'll personally escort you to Defense Command if I have to."

"I'll bloody well hold you to that, Commander," Zaeed answered. "Got transportation?"

"I've got thoughts on that," she replied. "People I know."

Zaeed nodded. He brought up his left arm. An omnitool came to life, wrapping around the space between the elbow and wrist like a multidevice was. Angel raised her civilian-model multidevice toward him as Zaeed operated the hard-light controls that popped up. "This is my call number," he said. "I'll be back at my rooms, gearin' up. Let me know when and where to meet your ship." Once the data was transferred, he lowered his arm and the omnitool disappeared. "Now excuse me, I've got some credits to collect."

Zaeed walked away from them. "A rather formidable individual," said Meridina. "There is rage burning deep within him that may yet lead him astray."

"Right now, that's not our problem," Julia said. "Let's go."

The next fight was still raging as they went to leave. They walked back into the hall leading to the front door. Only as they got close to it did they watch another guard step out from what looked like the cash office. The hall was narrow enough that he was blocking the exit.

Julia's eyes narrowed. She glanced back and saw that two more of the guards were blocking the hall in the other direction.

"It would appear that they want something," Meridina said.

Another figure stepped out from the cash office, better dressed than the guards flanking him. He was Human-looking, but with dark eyes that were not normal for Humans. Betazoid, Julia thought.

"Commander Andreys," the man said. "A surprise to find such an august presence here."

"And you are?", Julia asked.

"A businessman," was the reply. "I admit I was stunned when I was informed of your conversation with the mercenary. To think you would come here, to my humble little fighting ring?"

Not having time to stretch it out, Julia asked, "Why aren't you letting us leave?"

"As I said, I'm a businessman. And I can imagine how much someone of your rank is worth. As ransom… or not, as the case may be." He smirked. "I've heard there are certain… parties in S4W8 who would pay a Brikar's weight in gold-pressed latinum to get their hands on any member of the Aurora crew. Three of you? Even better."

"They'll tear this place down hunting for us," Angel said. "And I know people who'll kill every Syndicate man on the planet if you try this."

"The Syndicate isn't afraid of a few black marketeers on a two-bit planet, young lady. Now, if you make it worth my while to let you go, perhaps some business arrangements of benefit to…"

Before he could finish speaking there was a shout from behind him. The sounds of flesh being struck, a cry of pain, made it clear someone was being attacked.

Meridina acted next. She extended a hand to the rear and a wave of force slammed into the bodyguards behind them, sending them flying. She reached into her pants belt and pulled out her hidden lakesh, which extended to full length with a sharp metallic shriek. "I will watch from behind!", she shouted.

Angel and Julia dashed forward. The guards to either side of the Syndicate manager moved ahead of him to intercept. One was an Andorian, one of the masculine genders, and the other was a solid-looking Human. They braced themselves for a fight.

Angel attacked first, taking on the Andorian with a low tackle. There was no style to her follow up punch that knocked the Andorian out cold.

The Human snarled at Julia and threw a punch that nearly connected. She pulled to her left at the last moment to avoid it and grabbed the arm in question. The move she used was based on the mok'bara Worf had taught her and Angel during his time on the Aurora, a sequence of muscle movement and weight shifting that allowed her to pull her attacker's arm behind his back and twist until he screamed and went to his knees. Julia kept the pressure up until Angel helpfully punched him across the face and knocked him out.

Pain surged through her head a moment later. Julia screamed, as did Angel, and both put their hands to their temples. The Betazoid!, was the thought that came through the pain.

Yes. Now…

The pain let up, joined by another cry of surprise and pain as something wrapped across the Betazoid's head. He fell over, losing consciousness as he collapsed. Julia and Angel looked to the cloaked figure that stood behind their foe, a large metallic staff in his hand. "This way," he urged in good English, running toward the door.

Behind them the whine of an energy weapon was joined by a cry. Someone had tried to shoot Meridina with a phaser and had the beam directed into his shoulder. Within the warehouse cries of shock and surprise came. People heard the fighting and now heard the gunfire. They would be stampeding for the exit any moment.

"Meridina, come on!", Julia shouted, Angel already running ahead with their rescuer. She delivered a solid punch that put the troublesome door guard out completely, ensuring nobody blocked them.

"Go!", she shouted, deflecting another energy shot at her, this one more of a pulse and from a pistol. "I will follow if I can."

Before Julia could insist, a figure loomed behind the Syndicate bouncers shooting at Meridina. The figure twisted and a flash of green color slammed into the side of one of the bouncers, knocking him into the other.

It took Julia a moment to process what that flash came from. It had come from a tail.

The blind Zigonian who had been fighting in the ring entered the hall. "Go", he said firmly. "I am behind you." He resumed running. Meridina joined him.

Nearby was an aircar, or rather an air-van, with four seats in the back. Their rescuer ran for the driver side and Julia went for the same side, with Angel already getting in the front seat on the passenger side. Meridina retracted the lakesh blade and followed Julia in, prompting her to move over to sit behind Angel. The blind Zigonian found his way into the back door and climbed into the rear.

A crowd of people started rushing out of the front door. The suited bouncers were with them, and they were reaching for weapons.

"Go, go!", Julia urged. The hooded, cloaked figure's hand was already reaching for the wheel. The van tilted toward one side from the weight. The Zigonian used his tail to close the rear door just as a phaser beam scoured it. The van lurched toward one side until its hovering systems compensated for the acceleration and curve, returning to a flat and level bearing by the time they were racing down the road.

"I'm so going to slap Hernan for this," Angel growled.

"I do not think Mister Corelo knew of the danger," the hooded man said. His voice and tone were reserved, quiet, and he seemed very calm for the situation. "Are you hurt?"

"My head's still ringing from that telepathic attack," Angel groaned.

"Mine too." Julia rubbed at her forehead. "He was really going to try and abduct and sell us?"

"Damned slaver," Angel spat. "I wish I'd broken his neck before we left."

"Given the damage he has done to the Syndicate's standing here, I do not think that would prove necessary," the hooded man said.

Julia nodded and looked back to the Zigonian. "Thank you," she said.

"Thanks are not necessary," he said softly in reply. His blind eyes continued to stare at nothingness. "Creation guides us to where we are meant to be, and so I was guided to you." His head nodded. "I am Kasszas S'szrishin and I am a Brother of the Harmonious Val-Drillim."

"Commander Julia Andreys," Julia answered. "Commander Meridina, Lieutenant Angela Delgado."

Meridina bowed her head in respect to Kasszas. She turned to the driver. "You followed us when we left Hernan de Corelo's establishment earlier this evening."

"I believed you would run into danger eventually," the man answered. "It seemed proper to help you."

"Why?", Angel asked.

"Because it was, and still is, the right thing to do. Allow me to remove my hood now, as a gesture of trust." With a free hand he pulled the hood away.

It had seemed high before to Julia, and she realized why upon seeing the bone wrapping around the crown of his head and pointing up toward the rear. "You're a Minbari," she said. She tried to place the bone's appearance and what she knew of what that marked with Minbari. "And born in the religious caste?"

"Yes, Commander Andreys." He nodded. "My name is Lennier. And I wish to help you save your friend."





Jarod awoke with the jolt that went through the ship. Nearby his bodyguard, the Asian man with the cybernetics, was sitting quietly. "Turbulence," he said simply. "We're making our way into the atmosphere."

"And lighting up every radar in the hemisphere," Jarod said.

"The ship's got stealth capability," was the reply. "Not that it matters to you."

Jarod tested his restraints again. They were still firm. "How much did she offer you to become a fugitive?"

"That's between me and her." The visor on his face hid his eyes when he turned to face Jarod. "If you ask me, I don't give a damn if you turn around and escape from these people. Just don't do it until we leave. Otherwise, we'll be forced to cripple you, and that'd just be a waste."

"I'll take that under advisement," Jarod replied.

He waited patiently while the turbulence came to an end. Shortly thereafter there was a vibration in the deck plates; they'd landed.

The door slid open moments later. Miss Parker stepped in with the Gersallian man and the Krogan. "It's time," she said.

"You're just going to hand me over to the Centre in exchange for your father?", Jarod asked.

"You're the genius, Jarod, so what do you think?" She nodded to the latter, who with a growl and grunt stepped forward and bodily lifted the chair and Jarod with it. It was a tight fit getting out of the door, with the Krogan growling the whole way about it, from which they walked down what Jarod figured was the main hall of the ship. It certainly appeared to be a cargo vessel.

The rest of Parker's team, save the unseen pilot of the ship, joined them in the cargo bay. A ramp opened up, leading to a cool autumn night. The ship had landed on a private airway stsrip. Jarod looked over the property they were on. It was somewhere in the Cascades, on the inland side in what Washingtonians called "the Inland Empire". The mountains were already blocking the setting sun, casting shadows over everything. It was probably miles to the nearest town.

The structure was a squat, one storey building of concrete and brick. It looked like a small office building, or a station for park rangers. It might have even been the latter at one point. But knowing the Centre, it had been heavily refurbished, perhaps even with an underground level or two (or three, or even four).

Several figures were between them and the structure. Most were in dark suits holding firearms. One was standing behind a wheelchair, in which sat a sickly, balding man that Jarod readily, and unhappily, recognized as Mister Raines.

Another was a man of bronze coloration and Caucasian facial features. He had dark hair and a dark beard, both streaked with white, and cold gray eyes. His suit was the best of those present and his air was that of the man in charge. "Ah, Miss Parker," he said, with an English accent that was refined and hinted at an Arabic origin of the speaker. "So good of you to join us. I was beginning to worry."

"I'm not here to say hello," she said. "Let me see him."

The suited man nodded to someone behind him. Two men stepped up carrying a video monitor. The screen showed a barely-furnished room, more of a prison cell, in which sat an older balding man with a frumpled suit.

"Daddy," Miss Parker breathed.

The figure looked over and up at a screen. "Angel," the old balding man said. A smile crossed his face. "I knew you'd come back for me."

"Did they hurt you?", she asked.

"Not much, and that doesn't matter."

Miss Parker nodded. And then she glared toward Raines and the suited man. "This wasn't the deal."

"Maybe not, but there's no telling what your people are capable of." The man kept a diplomatic smile. "Understand our point of view, Miss Parker. Last year Jarod and these allies of his came and penetrated the security of the Centre. Mister Lyle told us of what he was capable of in his debriefing, as did our security teams at headquarters who personally witnessed as one of Jarod's associates disappeared in a flash of light. If we brought your father here and confirmed his location to you, you could just as easily snatch him away and leave us holding the bag. And we can't have that, can we?"

Miss Parker frowned. "I suppose I can see the logic," she said. "But you could have shared that with me while we made the deal."

"It was something of a last minute consideration, I assure you," the suited man said, and with just enough conviction that one could almost think he was telling the truth. "I suppose we were so eager to get Jarod back that we failed to properly consider the situation. I assure you, returning your father to you is my honest intention. The Centre has nothing to gain by needlessly antagonizing people with your evident resources. It pains me that you felt it necessary to bring so many interlopers as it is."

"I've found trust is in short supply when it comes to certain people," Parker answered, leveling her eyes squarely on Raines.

"That goes both ways." The sick, vicious old man returned the glare. "I could ask why she brought these people, these things." Raines looked to the Krogan, who growled in reply. "I think it was so you could take your father by force."

"Only if you make me," she insisted. "Stick to the deal and you've got nothing to worry about."

I'll kill the one in the wheelchair for free, a voice said in her head. It was Dralan, of course.

"This can still work, Miss Parker," the suited man insisted. "Your father can be brought to you swiftly. We only need you to cooperate for a little while. Would you hear me out?"

For several tense seconds there was silence. "I'm listening," answered Miss Parker, finally breaking that tension.

"Bring some of your team and enter with us," he said. "Witness while we begin Jarod's debriefing. Once we have completed his debriefing, you walk out with your father. We're guaranteed something for our trouble and you have done your duty as a loyal daughter, free to leave with Mister Parker with the blessing of the Triumvirate. And thus everyone's happy."

Miss Parker frowned. She didn't trust them, and that was quite obvious to everyone. But running the situation in her mind, it was the best solution that didn't risk her father being executed before she could intervene. "Agreed," she said. "But let me make something clear." She used her other hand to bring up her multidevice and tapped the call button. "Wolff? Show them your surprise."

"With pleasure", replied a man with a strong voice, his accent from the English Midlands.

There was a whirring sound coming from the cargo ship. A false panel slid away and a flat, wide muzzle emerged from it and pointed toward the building. "That's a 200 megawatt plasma cannon," Parker said. "If you betray me, everything here gets atomized. And then Mister Wolff moves on to the rest of the Centre with any of my people left, understand?"

Raines frowned deeply. His superior, however, merely smiled as if he was pleased by Miss Parker's threat. "I'd expect nothing less of the daughter of Mister Parker," he said evenly. "It is a shame you have decided not to remain with the Centre."

"I've had my fill of it."

She looked to her team. "You know what to do."

The Krogan put Jarod down. Miss Parker pulled her gun as Denna unlatched Jarod, winking at him in the process as if to flirt and then putting a pair of shock cuffs on his wrists. The auburn-haired woman's golden eyes flashed with malicious pleasure as she stroked the key on the small remote control in her palm, sending a low level shock that made Jarod gasp from the pain, mostly in surprise at how intense it was.

As this was going on, Miss Parker listened to Wolff over the radio. "Sorry, luv, but I couldn't get a fix on his location. They're usin' a tight beam signal bouncin' off of satellites. Clever little buggers, aren't they?"

"I was expecting that," she said, or rather whispered, so bare a whisper that only Jarod heard her. But it would be picked up by her transmitter regardless, and thus Wolff heard her too.

Miss Parker held the gun to Jarod and motioned toward the men from the Centre. "After you."

The suited man nodded and turned. Mr. Raines' assistant turned his chair. The other armed men remained long enough to cover them before joining the Centre contingent.

"You have excited his curiosity," mumbled Dralan. "He may attempt treachery. And the sick man desires it."

"That's to be expected." Miss Parker narrowed her eyes. "Did you sense anything about who he is?"

"They think of him as 'His Lordship.'"

"He's British," Jarod noted. "And he might have a peerage."

Miss Parker quickly put two and two together. "He's one of the Triumvirate, then." She smirked at Jarod. "You should feel honored."

"Oh, so honored," he responded sarcastically. He turned his head to face Parker. "If you had brought me in on this, I could have gotten your father out by now."

"Maybe, maybe not. Now move, or I'll have Dralan move you."

Jarod sighed and started walking.




Inside the building they were brought to a flight of stairs that led underground. "Another underground base," Jarod sighed. "How shocking."

"You should be honored, Mister Jarod," said the suited man. "We built it for you. If you hadn't run, you would have found this place a kind and loving home. Alas, it was not to be."

Jarod said nothing while they went down sterile officer corridors, although there was no mistaking the purpose of the heavy steel security doors with electronic locks. They went to one and opened it. "We don't need him cuffed here," the suited man said to Miss Parker.

Parker nodded and looked wordlessly to Y'tala. The Mi'qote woman nodded back and took out the device to unlock the shock cuffs. She did so without comment, putting them back on her belt.

At this point Jarod was taken by the security men for the Centre, who pulled him inside and then shut the door. Paper and pen were laid out before him, as was a computer system loaded with advanced modeling software.

"This doesn't look like it's meant for a simulation," Jarod said, looking toward the guards.

"That's because we've got something new for you to do, Jarod."

The voice was familiar, and it made Jarod frown deeply. He turned toward a darkened corner of the room, a room evidently more large than he'd realized.

Overhead lights snapped on. Standing on the other side of the room was Mr. Lyle.

And on either side of him were two wooden chairs, each with a figure strapped into it by wire. One chair held a woman who looked to be in her late twenties, perhaps just at thirty, and the other a man now clearly into his late fifties or even sixties, both Caucasian in complexion. The man was in a pair of trousers but otherwise barechested - the brown-haired woman was in a pair of running shorts and a sports bra, scuffed from a struggle. They had duct tape covering their mouths, keeping them from speaking.

Jarod's heart threatened to plunge into his twisting stomach. "Dad," he muttered. "Emily."

Mr. Lyle effected a wipe at his cheek as if to deal with a tear. "I'm so moved by family reunions," he said with full glibness. "They gave us a run, Jarod. You'd be proud. Catching them was a nice little distraction while we waited for you to be brought back." Lyle leaned over Emily. His hand stroked at her cheek and a strand of disheveled hair there. She recoiled from him. Her face was twisted into defiance and fear and anger, joined by the worry in her eyes when she looked at Jarod. "We're still looking for your precious mother," Lyle confirmed. "Although it wouldn't shock me if she's dead by now. But with your dear old Dad and your precious baby sister here, I think we have enough to work with, don't you?"

Jarod clenched his fists. "If you harm them, Lyle, I'll…"

"...watch helplessly, because you're not the one in control here, Jarod. I am." Lyle chuckled, and the chuckle was the kind you'd expect from a man on the cusp of losing control. Even the other guards in the room shifted uncomfortably, but they remained in a position to intercept Jarod if he tried to lunge toward Lyle. "I had so many fun plans for your debriefing, Jarod. A little taste of what I've gone through thanks to you. But His Lordship made it clear; the Centre wants you unspoiled. He's a bit of a prig, between you and me. I had so many ideas… so many..." Lyle again ran his hand along Emily's face, causing her to try and pull away in disgust. "...and he said no. Anyway, moving on, because time is money you know." Lyle went into a corner of the room and brought over a device set on wheels. Jarod swallowed at seeing what it was, and knew what Lyle was doing as he pulled leads from the machine and fixed them with clear tape to the bare arms, shoulders, and bellies of his bound captives. "Nothing near the heart, of course," Lyle cooed. "We wouldn't want to give them a heart attack, would we?"

"What are you doing?", Jarod asked in a low, dangerous tone.

"For a genius, you can be slow on the uptake," Lyle laughed. "Here's how it is, Jarod." He plopped into a chair facing Jarod, with the controls of the device in front of him and behind Emily and Charles. "The Centre doesn't care about your simulations now. Oh, maybe one day they will, but they've got more important things to do with you. They want your technology. Everything you showed us you can do is something the Centre wants for itself now, and you are going to give it to us. We want you to write out the science, the plans, everything so we can produce this stuff." Lyle held up a hand. "And yes, I'm sure you're about to say you'll never give it to us, the Centre can't have it, blah blah blah, but that's where your family comes in. Because if you don't start cooperating right now..."

Jarod shouted "No!" as Lyle's hand went to the dial.

The machine buzzed faintly. His sister and father started to tremor violently in the chairs they were bound to, muffled screams coming from underneath the tape covering their mouths. Their faces twisted into a rictus of savage agony.

"Stop!", Jarod shouted in desperation.

Lyle grinned devilishly. "I don't see you writing...", he said in a sing-song tone.

Wordlessly Jarod grabbed a pen and took a paper to start scribbling. He started with something basic, something that wasn't too dangerous to write about, by laying out the foundations of subspace theory. He glanced up while he scribbled furiously.

Lyle watched him write for several more seconds before turning the dial back to the off position. Emily and Charles were left wheezing, with tears flowing from their eyes.

As Jarod continued to write, his mind raced. He counted the hours since his abduction and considered how long it might have taken before it was detected, and how long for an investigation to confirm Miss Parker was responsible and that he'd been brought here. After that, how long before the President would approve a rescue mission into the exclusion zone around Earth...

Which, in turn, would tell him how long he had to stall Lyle before the Aurora crew arrived to rescue him.

 

[Big Steve]

Chief Almerda accepted the report of the fight club with exasperation. "We have had intelligence of the Syndicate establishing a business operation on New Liberty," he sighed. "How they manage to do so without direct Orion commercial traffic is beyond me."

"I'm sure you're not the only police chief wondering the same," Julia said. She stood with Meridina in Almerda's office while Angel remained with the others.

"And hiring this mercenary, this Zaeed Massani… are you sure that's wise?"

"Given the scale of the threat Miss Parker's team poses, it is reasonable."

A concerned look was on Detective Okonwi's face at that. "I still find it hard to believe she raised the funds to hire such individuals. She was not paid that much as a consultant, and even if she had business arrangements with Corelo, he does not move that much money. I doubt anyone does even in a black market economy, not with the size of our Colony. She must have outside help of some sort."

"I'm afraid I have no answers." This was from Sydney, who had joined them when they returned to Colony Security. His face was withdrawn and stony. "I don't know of anyone who could have assisted Miss Parker financially."

"Whatever happened, our next move is clear. We need a ship."

"I cannot help you in that regard," Almerda said. "Even if I had one, it would violate the Alliance statues to travel to A4P5, and the Colony would be blamed."

"I know. I already have some ideas in that direction," Julia said. "I just wanted to touch base with you one last time before we left. In case anything else was found." She smirked. "And to get our multidevices back." She subconsciously ran her right had over the device returned to her left wrist.

"Of course." Almerda smiled back. "And we will conveniently forget that you stated an intention to violate the exclusion zone around A4P5 Earth."

"Why, sir, whatever do you mean by such a thing?," Julia answered in faux-disbelief, injecting such much-needed levity into the situation. "Hopefully I'll see you again soon enough."

"Go with God," was his reply. Okonwi gave a nod of agreement.

After they left the office and were walking through the halls of the building, Meridina spoke up. "I have two points of concern to address."

"Shoot," Julia replied.

"The first is transportation. Do you have any in mind?"

"I already have a candidate, you might say," Julia said. "Although with our new friends, it might get a bit cramped."

"I see." Meridina nodded. "Not a runabout then?"

"Much smaller than one, I'm afraid."

"I think I see your intention. Hopefully Commander Adama will be able to change his traveling plans. I am somewhat intrigued that you seem ready to trust him on this endeavor, though, I do not recall you two being so cl…" Meridina stopped at sensing the very stray, much-unintended thought that crossed Julia's mind. She gave Julia a curious look. "Truly?"

"What?", Julia asked.

"You and Commander Adama…"

Pink appeared on Julia's cheeks. "We understand each other, let's leave it at that?"

"I see." Meridina nodded. "I believe I understand. I am happy that you found necessary companionship."

"That might be putting it a bit far..." Julia turned a corner, followed by Meridina. They were approaching the main entrance of Colony Security. "And the second thing you were concerned with?"

"Miss Parker has availed herself of the services of two swevyra'kse," Meridina pointed out. "That is, those with my abilities, but who have fallen to their dark sides. I am unaware of their levels of skill and power, but I am uncertain of my ability to protect you from both."

"So what you're saying is that we need another one of your fellow Knights," Julia said.

"Or someone of similar training. There are several Dorei orders who train much as we do, they may also help."

"We'll talk about it when we get back to the others," Julia said, just as they emerged from the door.

"Wait!"

The voice caused them to turn back just outside the door, which remained open. Behind them came Sydney, winded from the near-jog he had sustained to catch up. "I… would like to go," he said.

"I appreciate the thought, Sydney, but this is going to be dangerous."

"I know. But I want to be there for Jarod." Sydney took a moment to fully regain his breath, and to work up his composure in the process. "Please."

Meridina gave Julia a look. "This may for the best."

"I don't know if there will be room in the Raptor for all of us," she replied. "Even with one of us acting as co-pilot."

"Perhaps, or perhaps not, but we should at least let him have the chance to go."

Julia pondered that. "Is this one of those 'life force' hunches like Robert gets?"

Meridina raised an eyebrow at that terminology. "I suppose it could be said to be such."

"Well." Julia let out a sigh. "Alright. If we have the room, you can come, Doctor Sydney."

The aged man nodded in gratitude. "Thank you, Commander. I will assist you in any way I can."

"Let's go meet back up with the others," Julia said. "I need to see someone about a ship."




They found Lee Adama in the dining area of the New Liberty Visitors' Lodge, sitting with Thrace and Anders. "We heard about Commander Jarod," Lee said. "How can we help?"

Julia, Angel, and Meridina were sitting opposite from them. Lennier was off with the van and Kasszas had returned to his own room in the lodge to get things he said he needed. "We need a ship," Julia said immediately. "A way to get to Earth. Getting someone to give us a jump to A4P5 is the easy part, the hard part is a ship that can make the trip."

"You want to use the Raptor," Thrace said.

"Preferably with you along as the pilot," Julia added.

Thrace looked to Lee. "I'm all for it if you say go," she said. "It'll be cramped, especially if you're bringing extra people. Plus there's the other matter."

"Other matter?", Angel asked.

"Fuel," Lee explained. "Your people don't mine or refine tylium. And the Raptor only has enough fuel left for a couple of jumps at most. That was all we would have needed for the final trip home."

Angel frowned at that. "So basically, if we have to make more than one jump either way, we're boned."

You just had to use that word, didn't you?, Julia thought to herself. She could see a little twinkle in Lee's eye that she knew was mirrored in her own. As much as it had been a one night stand… it was the type that could easily become something more if allowed to develop. Which, of course, was the tricky part, since Julia wasn't entirely sure she wanted something like that, and she didn't think Lee was either..

"Yep," Thrace said, her voice returning Julia to the matter at hand. "Unless you know of any refined tylium we can top the tank off from."

"I'm afraid not," sighed Julia.

"Now if you find us a ship to ride on, that's do-able." Thrace looked again to Lee. "If the Commander agrees."

Lee smiled at that. "Commander Jarod helped get our people off the Colonies," he said. "I think Admiral Adama and President Baltar will agree that he deserves our help. I'll ask Miss Davis to join me in finding passage on another ship. You take the Raptor and help them in any way you can."

"I'm going too," Anders said. "To give you backup."

"If we can all fit in the Raptor… the more, the merrier," Julia agreed.

"So long as we're not going far, I think we can jam quite a few people in." Thrace sipped at her drink. "Now the question is… can you get us a ship?"

"A ship willing to breach the A4P5 perimeter," Angel added sullenly.

"I'll think of something," Julia said. "Let's get to the spaceport."

They stood up to leave, and were doing so when Lee called out to Julia, prompting her to come back to him. "Good luck," he said. "And…"

"Last night was last night," she answered. And she did so with a smile. "It was special. And it was good. Don't doubt that."

"Yeah." He nodded, smiling back. "Do you mind…"

It was clear what he was asking for. "For good luck? Sure."

They leaned in close and their lips met. The kiss had been intended to be a quick one, but it turned into one that lasted for several seconds before she ended it. "It's a shame you'll be gone by the time we're back," Julia lamented with a sigh. "I've still got a few days of leave."

"Maybe we'll catch each other another time?" There was a bit, quite a bit, of hope in that sentence.

"Maybe." Julia held his hand for a moment. "Have a safe trip home, Lee."

"Good luck getting Jarod back, Julia," he answered.

She walked away and to the exit of the eatery. Angel was waiting there, leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed and a wide grin on her face. "Well well," she said. "I was wondering about last night. It's about time, if you ask me."

"Pardon me?", Julia asked.

"We all deserve someone," Angel said. "Maybe it doesn't last, maybe it does, but why not enjoy it when it's there?" She smiled with genuine warmth. "I'm happy for you. Rob would be too."

"Thank you," was all that Julia could say in response. "but I think we need to focus on the matter at hand now?"

"Lead the way, O fearless leader," Angel opined with some exaggerated affectation in her voice.




The air-van Lennier had acquired was now stuffed to capacity. He sat in the front with Meridina, the second row was for Julia, Angel, and Sydney, and the third row of seats had Thrace, Anders, and Kasszas, who now held a walking stick in his clawed hands. The two Colonials gave careful looks toward the blind Zigonian. To their surprise, he seemed to know the looks he was getting. "It is always best to remember that Creation is a varied existence, made of diversity of all forms of life. Harmony is found in acceptance."

"Uh… works for me, I guess," Thrace said, a lopsided grin coming to her face.

They were driving on to the spaceport when Meridina looked to Lennier. "I believe we have met, have we not?"

"We were not directly introduced," he answered. "But I saw you briefly on Babylon-5."

"You had come to join President Sheridan's escort to Minbar," Meridina said. "And now you are here. And no longer an anla'shok."

"No, I am not," he answered. A distant look came to his eyes. Meridina felt the shame swelling inside of him. "I am no longer worthy of being an anla'shok."

"And yet you have acted in the best traditions of that order," Meridina pointed out. "You came to our aid freely, without offer of compensation or reward."

Lennier glanced her way. "It seemed the right thing to do."

"So it did." Meridina looked away for a moment. She could see this conversation was not going anywhere. She understood it as well; Lennier's past, his feelings of shame and disgrace, were his burden, and he did not wish to discuss it. She needed to respect that.

Julia looked up from her multidevice. "I just sent Zaeed a message to meet us at the spaceport."

"Have you found a ship to take us yet?", Angel asked.

Julia sighed and shook her head. "I was hoping the Shahams could help, but the Eagle is off escorting refugee convoys in S4W8."

"What about our other friends?"

"They're all assigned to Alliance operations." Julia shook her head. "The way things are looking, we'll need to contract a private ship."

"You could call Beth," Angel pointed out. "She might have a ship available."

Julia shook her head. "If I have to. But I don't want to get her in any trouble with the Alliance."

"Creation has guided us together for this purpose," Kasszas stated. "Creation will guide us to a vessel."

Angel looked at the Zigonian with a little confusion on her face. "I thought Zigonians were Catholic?"

To that, Kasszas made a recurring hissing sound that seemed to be chuckling. "As a child I initially thought all Humans were soulless materialists. Creation is made up of individuals, Lieutenant, and individuals create diversity by their very existence. Such is the will of Creation and its Universe."

"A most curious philosophy," said Meridina. She looked back at the Zigonian. "I sense you have a vibrant swevyra of your own."

"We are all bonded to Creation in our own way." Kasszas breathed a little hiss. "The Harmonious Val-Drillim are only one of many beliefs that are in the Conciliation of Tsorra-Mahl Harmonies." The hissing sound in the name "Tsorra-Mahl" was a peculiar one, not repeatable with non-Zigonian tongues.

"Including the Catholic ones?", Angel asked.

"You speak of the Holy Scale Nomads," Kasszas answered. "You have met them and their great tree-ships?"

"Uh… no," answered Angel, sharing a quizzical look with the other Humans in the van. "Never seen a tree-ship."

"We have a Zigonian crewman on our ship," Julia explained. "He is understudying with our chaplain. And is doing good, from what Padre Mann says, except for that incident with the incense…" She shook her head. "Anyway, I need to focus on finding us a ride."

"And I must consult about finding another swevyra'se, if possible," Meridina said. "Miss Parker has hired two mercenaries given into the darkness. I would be remiss to try and fight both."

"I believe I may know of some assistance with that," said Lennier. "I shall leave you at the spaceport and return with further help."

That made Meridina and Julia very curious, but they said nothing on the matter.

Angel looked over at Sydney. "Are you okay?", she asked.

He looked at her, a distant and haunted look in his eyes. "I am, I suppose," he said. "I'm simply concerned for Jarod. The Centre will not be gentle with him. And I'm worried about how we'll find him."

"Knowing Jarod, we may not have to," Angel said. She attempted an encouraging grin. "We'll find him. And we'll get him back."

What she didn't add verbally was the thought that went through her mind, causing Meridina to glance back at her with concern.

And when I catch her, Miss Parker is a dead woman.




Lennier left them as promised, beside the hangar where the Colonial Raptor was being kept. Julia had the feeling that their group had grown large enough that they were approaching the transport limitation for the craft. Maybe I should just send Starbuck and Anders back to Lee and find another shuttle, she thought. But she resisted it; there was no guarantee that any ship she found would have a working transporter of any kind on it. The Raptor might not be able to get to Earth by jumps, but it would provide them a working ride down, and given the sensor upgrades that had been performed on the Colonial Raptor fleet, it might even hide their presence electronically.

It's still going to be nearly standing-room only.

"I'm going to do preflight checks," said Thrace. She looked them over. "Anders will be my ECO for the flight, wherever we end up going."

"I'm leaving it in your capable hands," Julia said. She looked back to the others, who were all looking at the main door, and with good reason.

Zaeed Massani had swapped into a set of battle armor, painted with a light orange, almost yellow color, with a visible grenade pouch on his belt and more grenades strapped to the belts slung over his shoulder. A sidearm was affixed to his hip and two rifles were on his back. "So, that's our ride?", he asked. "Goin' to be a God-amned cramped trip by the look of her."

"That's our ride down from orbit to planetside," Julia answered. "I'm still lining up a ship to get us to Earth."

Zaeed snorted at that. "You're really doin' this by the seat of your pants, aren't you? No prep time. Doesn't look good for our operation." Zaeed looked over the others. He smirked at seeing Kasszas. "Ah, the Blind Raptor is it? I probably owe you a drink. I cleaned up good on your fight tonight."

Kass flicked his tongue. "You need not concern yourself. I was following the path laid by Creation, as we all do."

"Yeah. Works for me, I guess." Zaeed moved on to Sydney. "What do we have here? You don't look like you're along to fight."

"I'm here to help find Jarod in any way we can," Sydney replied. "If that means shooting a man… I've done it before."

Zaeed looked Sydney eye to eye. "You have, haven't you?", the mercenary finally remarked. "Suits me. Just remember the right way to point the gun when the time comes." He looked to Julia again. "Is this it?"

"We have one, maybe two more," she answered. "I'm going to make a call now about our ship. Or rather, she is." Julia looked to Angel.

Angel got what she meant. "Hernan again?" A frown crossed her face. "I don't like relying on him too much, Julia. I…"

The low thrum of an electric-motor bike made everyone turn. A young African woman rode it up to them, wearing a brown leather jacket and black trousers. She looked all business as she slid off the bike. "I've been sent to find you," she said, her voice thick with an accent that Julia thought to be Central African. "Hernan de Corelo wanted you to have this." She reached into her pocket and pulled an object out, which she tossed in an underhanded throw. The object arced in the air and Julia reached out to catch it.

It was small, a sort of dirty white in color, and eminently recognizable. "This is a phaser power pack." She looked at the indicator on the bottom. "The charge has been used up."

"The Syndicate attempted to abduct you tonight," said the woman. "Hernan and several associates didn't take kindly to it. A message has been sent. We thought you should know." She turned back to her electric bike.

"Can you call him?", Julia asked. "We need a ship with an FTL drive that can get us to Earth, Universe A4P5."

"That's a no-contact Earth," the woman noted. "Not many ship captains will risk breaking the Alliance's laws."

"I'll use my personal code when we arrive at the quarantine perimeter," Julia said. "The ship will be logged as having a legitimate reason to be present. It'll be on my responsibility."

For a moment there was silence. "One moment," she said. "I will make the call."

Angel was still frowning. "I don't like this, Julia," she insisted.

"You're the one who went to him first," Julia reminded her.

"For information. But you're accepting favors from him now," Angel pointed out. "And guys like Hernan, they keep tabs on their favors. He'll want to be repaid in the future."

"I'll deal with that when it comes," Julia said. "But the longer we wait, the more likely something happens to Jarod. I can't let that happen."

A minute later the woman came back up to them. "Hernan knows a captain, they owe him a favor. They'll do the job."

"Are they landed here on the port, or do we have to fly up to them?', Julia asked.

"Hanger 8J," the woman answered. She went back to her bike and rode off.

As she did so, the air-van pulled back up and came to a stop. Lennier emerged from the driver side. On the opposite side another figure stepped out and rounded the front of the vehicle.

She was a Dorei, a rich blue skin complexion with light purple spotlines running along her hairline and down her neck. Bright purple eyes looked them over and a self-assured smile crossed dark blue lips. Her face was oval-shaped and pretty in that way Dorei shared with Humans. Her clothes were a black leather jacket over a tamasa, a Dorei tube top-like garment, this one colored bright green with a cyan stripe running horizontally along the middle. The tube top started below the shoulders and stopped just above her waist. Her visible skin at the waist showed a hint of muscular definition beyond simply being flat. On each hip was a hilt pointed downward.

The Dorei looked them over. Julia got the sense she was doing more than looking, which was somewhat confirmed when the Dorei girl nodded politely to Meridina. "Swevyra'se," she said.

Meridina nodded back. "Fenari."

"What's that mean?", Angel asked, bewildered.

"It is 'Gifted' in the English Human tongue," the Dorei girl said, her accent in English sounding like a mishmash of Hawaiian and Spanish. "For many Dorei, the gifts of the swevyra'se of Gersal are seen as derived from the Eternal Goddess, or whatever god or gods they worship, and we are known as the Gifted." The young woman nodded. "I am Druni Jestani."

"Did you belong to an Order?", asked Meridina.

"I was a Sentinel of the Silver Moon," answered Druni. "But I felt my destiny was elsewhere. I am a Paman, though, not a Laytar, I assure you."

"She means she was not cast out, but left her Order in good standing," Meridina explained to the others.

"Whatever," Zaeed said. He waved a hand dismissively. He looked at Julia. "You got that ship we need, right? I'll be stowin' gear on the assault craft, call if things go tits up."

"I will stay as well," replied Kasszas.

"Alright." Julia motioned to the van. "We've got to visit another hanger. A ride is supposed to be waiting for us there. I hope everyone's gotten their things together."

"Of course." Lennier nodded. "I am ready to depart at any time."

"I carry my things with me," Druni added. "So I'm good to go."

"You can come with us to meet this captain, then," said Julia. She looked to Angel and Meridina. "Angel, do you mind staying with the others to prep the Raptor?"

Angel nodded. She could see the look on Julia's face and knew what she really meant: Stay with the others so you can come after us if this is a trap of some kind.

Without another word Julia climbed into the van, this time taking the passenger seat beside Lennier while Meridina joined Druni in the back seat. They rode off to take the short trip to Hanger 8J.




Hours of tension had built up, leaving Jarod feeling mentally and physically strained even as he continued his scribbling. He kept glancing toward his captive father and sister, still bound to chairs and wired up for Lyle to torture at his whim. Lyle still had his hands on the control device, his finger stroking the surface of the dial whenever Jarod looked.

Lyle had always been a sociopathic monster, but the past year had made him much worse. At least before he had been in control of his impulses. Now he looked like a demented monster straining to break from his leash. Every fiber of his being seemed bent upon inflicting pain and indulging in other base emotions.

"I'm starting to run out of patience, Jarod," Lyle remarked. "Maybe you need more incentive…"

"That's not…"

But it was too late. Lyle twisted the dial. Charles and Emily seized up, muffled screams coming through the duct tape placed over their lips. After several seconds Lyle turned the dial again and the shocking ended. Satisfied glee crossed his face. "I hope you've written something worthwhile," he said to Jarod.

"It's the basics of subspace physics," Jarod answered. "Understanding of this science will put the Centre decades ahead of anything on Earth."

Lyle looked at him with a glower. "Oh, isn't that special. Except that's not what I was asking for, was it?"

"But you need to have this knowledge to…"

The dial turned again. Jarod felt sick to his stomach at seeing his father and Emily suffer at Lyle's hands.

As they tried to scream through the duct tape gags, Lyle laughed. "Oh Jarod, are you really going to do this? You're stalling for time, aren't you? Hoping for your friends to come rescue you. But let's face it, they wouldn't know where to look, would they, and even if they did… the moment they show up by that door, I'm turning this thing on full blast. Your dear sister and daddy will be dead in seconds. Now…" He turned the dial off again. Emily and Charles were slumped in their chairs, chests heaving as they caught their breath. "...we want the weapons, Jarod. We want the invisibility devices, the rayguns, whatever it is that lets you blip around. And we want them now."

Jarod glared at Lyle, his eyes full of hatred and disgust in equal measure. His frown deepened. "Alright," he said. "I can draw plans, but I need to know what materials you have available."

"Why?"

"Because that's how I know what you can actually build." Jarod had forced patience dripping from every word.

"And it's certainly not so you can build a radio or a beacon, right?" Lyle moved his hand back to the dial.

Jarod's hand shot up, palm out and down, as if he could use the motion of his hand to bring Lyle's hand away from the dial. "This won't have any parts that can be used for something like that," Jarod insisted. "You can ask any engineer."

Lyle snarled and was clearly in deep thought, which didn't seem as easy now he was so out of control. He about ground his teeth together before uttering a frustrated "Fine." He looked to the guards. "One of you go get the message to His Lordship. A list of all our available electronics."

The guard nearest Lyle nodded and slipped out the door.

Lyle's hand snaked up toward the control. "Just so you don't get any ideas, Jarod…"

Jarod protested with a "No!", but it did nothing. The dial was turned again. Not as far this time, however, although Charles and Emily began to shake and tremble in the chairs again. They were in clear pain.

"One wrong move, it gets turned up," Lyle warned.

"This isn't necessary!," Jarod shouted. "You don't have to hurt them!"

"Oh, but I do!", Lyle countered. "Because it hurts you!" He smiled widely at that. "And that's all I've wanted to do for years."

Jarod looked to his father and sister. Their eyes were focused on him, pleading with him for help while the electric current continued to run through their bodies.

But there was nothing he could do for them. Nothing to stop this from happening, not right now. Tears of frustration flowed down his cheeks at watching their torment and knowing he was helpless to stop it.

Lyle saw the tears.

And he laughed.




One floor up, in a well-furnished conference room that fit more with an urban skyrise than a secretive facility in the middle of the northern Cascades, Miss Parker was with Mister Raines and His Lordship. And they were all watching the live feed of Jarod and Lyle. Miss Parker frowned, finishing a drag on her second cigarette since this had started. "He's gone off the deep end, hasn't he?"

"We felt compelled to give Mister Lyle an… exhaustive debriefing," His Lordship answered, the pause in the line coming like he was trying to find the right euphemism for "prolonged torture". "His claims were outlandish until we could fully confirm them."

"He was always a sick bastard, but now you've made him a rabid dog." Parker shook her head. "You should shoot him and put him out of our misery."

"Perhaps." Mister Raines wheezed for a moment before continuing. "But he still has his uses. His plan for breaking Jarod's spirit is working."

"Poor buggers," Y'tala muttered. "Killin' a man's family to get 'im to talk, I can get behind that if it's business. Torturin' the poor kittens, though? That's low."

Dralan smirked. "On the contrary, I find it… invigorating." The Gersallian's smile was sinister. "I can feel the rage and hatred and pure terror from here."

Not for the first time did Miss Parker regret hiring Dralan, but she said nothing on the matter. She looked over to a second monitor, showing her father sitting on a bed, waiting patiently.

"How much longer until I can take my father and leave?", she asked.

"Soon enough," His Lordship replied.

"Why are you in such a hurry, Parker?", Raines asked. "Perhaps you are concerned Jarod's friends will come for him?"

"It's always possible," she answered. "But you don't need me to tell you that."

"We want our worth from Jarod, then your father can go free, I assure you." His Lordship frowned at Raines. "Whatever some of my subordinates may say to the contrary."

Raines took in a raspy breath and seemed to ignore the comment.

Miss Parker didn't care either way. She frowned at the screen showing Jarod, and hoped that this would be over soon. She'd come too far, burnt too many bridges, to fail now.




Hanger 8J was one of the largest for the New Liberty spaceport, big enough that Julia figured the Koenig would easily fit if necessary. It was at the end of a line of similarly-sized hangers that had been built years ago, during the Facility days, to accommodate their growing fleet of cargo transports and large spaceliners.

The main door of the hanger was closed, so they went to a secondary door. Julia hit the door chime, and then a second time before the door opened and a man with a dark complexion answered. "Yes?", he asked, his accent generally Indian in tone. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to see your captain. Hernan de Corelo referred me," she answered. Behind her Lennier, Druni, and Meridina stood patiently.

The man remained silent for a moment. "Very well," he finally said. "Come in." He opened the door fully, revealing that he was wearing a black-and-gold suit that looked to be from M4P2.

Julia led the others into the hanger. The vessel present completed the impression created by the man's appearance; it was also clearly an M4P2-derived design, apparently a civilianized equivalent of a Systems Alliance frigate design, but now with warp nacelles affixed to the ends of the drive wings on either side. The hull was gold-and-black like the man's suit, with a configurable support brace holding the ship in place. The cargo ramp was below the main body, facing the front, again like a Systems Alliance frigate.

Standing at the bottom of the ramp was a woman in a black and white suit. The suit was virtually a catsuit, skin tight, and doing nothing to hide her figure. Striking blue eyes looked them over while dark hair cascaded around her shoulders. Her face had been dabbed with some makeup, its features apportioned evenly around a round-shaped face.

A slight tinge of jealousy went through Julia. This woman was stunningly, unbelievably good-looking, like she had been crafted instead of born.

"Hello," she said to them. Her accent was Australian and her tone betrayed confidence. "Mister Corelo said you needed a lift? What specifics are there?"

"Yes. We need to get to Earth, Universe A4P5, and back. We're recovering a friend that was taken there against his will" Julia motioned behind her. "We've got a craft that can go from orbit to the ground, and it should fit in your cargo bay."

"I see." The woman looked them over. "Well, I have a favor owed to the man, so I'd like to discharge it. But A4P5 is a restricted world. There's a United Systems exclusion zone around the system enforced by sensor buoys tied into their local fleet control. The moment they read us going through a starship will be sent in to stop us."

"I'll provide you the necessary code to get in without setting the alarms off," Julia promised. "You don't have to worry about prosecution."

"Well, that does change things," the woman said. She extended a hand. "My name is Yvonne, and I'm the captain of this vessel, the Tainaron."

Julia took the hand and shook it.

"That is an interesting name," remarked Meridina.

"It's from Greek, actually. It's another name for Cape Matapan." Yvonne brought her left forearm up. An omnitool flashed to life around it. Her right hand tapped something on the omnitool's controls. "Prep the ship for launch, we're going to leave."

"Yes ma'am," a voice replied.

"I'll get in contact with the ships in orbit, there has to be someone willing to generate a jump point for us," Yvonne said. "In the meantime, welcome aboard. We'll rendezvous with your craft once we're in orbit."

Julia nodded. She watched Yvonne turn away and go back up the ramp before turning to face the others. "That was easy."

"Perhaps too easy," Lennier mused.

"Perhaps she wishes to clear her debt with Corelo?", Meridina speculated.

"Keep your eyes open, then," Julia said. "But we've got our ship, and I'm going to take what we've been given." She held up her multidevice and keyed Angel. "We've got our ship. M4P2 design, the Tainaron. Have Starbuck fly you into orbit for the rendezvous."

"We're on our way," Angel answered.

The four stepped up into the cargo bay of the ship. They found seats along the side, for workbenches, and used them for the moment.

Meridina looked to Lennier and Druni. "I am curious as to how you met each other?"

"I was exploring in E5B1," Druni replied. "I went to a small border system near the Minbari, Human, and Centauri frontiers. It was a rough place and there was a fight." She nodded to Lennier. "Lennier came to my aid."

"So you're traveling together/"

"In a general sense, yes," Lennier said. "Although I do not believe we have any permanent arrangements to do so."

"I go where it feels right," Drruni said. "Ever since I left the Silver Moon."

Meridina nodded. "I see." She looked to Druni's belt. "Those weapons, they are runari?"

"No. These are short-blades. Tenari." Druni drew one and flicked the trigger in the hilt. There was a sharp, metallic sound as memory metal flowed up and hardened into a curved blade about fifty centimeters long.

Julia saw that interested Meridina. "I have not seen tenari before," she said. "So you are a practitioner of Tasa Duria?"

Druni smiled and nodded. "I am."

"And that is?", Julia asked.

"It is a sword-fighting technique among some of the Dorei nations," Meridina said.

"The rough English translation would be 'Cyclone of Fury'," Druni added. "It is a dual-handed style. From my travels, I believe you Humans have a few styles like it. I recall being on one of your Earths, in a place called Cebu, where I saw men fighting with sticks in a similar way."

"Arnis, or eskrima," Julia said. "It's a Human martial arts style that focuses on training to fight with weapons in both hands."

"I see. Perhaps it is similar to that, but with memory metal blades." Druni caused her tenari blade to retract and fixed it back to her hip.

"It is a very difficult style to master," Meridina noted. "And Lennier told you of our issue?"

"We will face Fallen Fenari." Druni nodded. "It sounds like a good challenge."

"A deadly one," Meridina corrected.

A smirk crossed the young Dorei woman's face. "Those are the good ones," she countered.

Meridina's usually-stoic demeanor was broken by the flash of irritation that went through it.

Julia sighed. A rumble in the ship told her the main engines were coming online. They were about to launch. The rescue mission was officially getting underway. Well, we've got a team. A strange team in a lot of ways, but it's a team. Let's hope it's enough.




The relative quiet of the conference room in the Centre facility ended when the door opened. Everyone turned to see Kang enter without a word. "We told you only two," Raines rasped at Miss Parker.

"I won't be long, I just need to speak to Miss Parker," Kang said, glancing toward the wheelchair-bound man. His voice was almost toneless, no real emotion coming from it.

"Whatever you feel you need to say to Miss Parker, you can say to us," His Lordship stated.

Kang gave Parker a look. She nodded. "Wolff wants to know the hold-up," Kang said. "He only has so much reactant fuel, and if he runs low on energy he won't be able to keep his stealth system active. Alliance sensor buoys would be able to detect his drives' subspace signature."

"Then have him take the drives offline," Miss Parker replied.

"He's reluctant to do that," Kang answered. "A drive restart could take hours."

"Then tell him it's an order," Miss Parker hissed, getting close and glaring at Kang.

Kang brought a hand up, his fingers spread out, and he shook his head. "He wants to hear it from you."

Miss Parker narrowed her eyes.

"Problems with the help?", Raines asked.

She turned her head and glared at Raines. "A minor issue. I'll go handle it and be right back."

"It would be an undermining of trust, I think, for you to just… disappear at this juncture," His Lordship insisted.

"And yet you still have my father hidden away." Parker gestured to the relevant screen. "So you've got leverage. And I don't think you want Jarod's friends showing up. They've got a big damn spaceship, a lot of guns, and the technology to track the Centre across the planet. Especially if Jarod's been sharing that data he took from you last year. If that ship shows up in orbit, your only chance of surviving it will be to hand Jarod back politely with an apology and a smile."

"You overestimate them," Raines said.

"No, you underestimate them," Parker retorted. "I've seen the technology the Multiverse has to offer. They could have troops transporting down to every Centre safehouse, warehouse, and office location within minutes of arriving in orbit. They'll find and hack all of your satellites within five minutes, tops, of coming into range. And if you make them hunt for Jarod they're going to make you regret it. These people can and will destroy the core of the Centre in an afternoon if given the chance. I want my father back and I don't want to go to jail, so I don't want to give them that chance, Raines. And don't think they won't haul you off too."

Raines glowered. He looked to His Lordship, who was clearly considering Parker's argument. "Ten minutes," he said. "Then I expect you back here, or we will assume treachery."

"I'll be back before then," she insisted.

With Kang in front, she followed him at a brisk pace out of the facility and over toward the ship. "What's the problem?", she asked once they were well out of earshot of the Centre's guards.

"I just received a message from contacts at New Liberty," Kang said. "Jarod's friends are on the way."

Miss Parker scowled. "Dammit, I was hoping for more time, that they'd have to wait for their President to…"

"It's not the Aurora," Kang said. "They're gone. Called away on some mission. My contact says it's a small team, not much larger than our own. Commander Andreys from the Aurora is leading it."

"The blonde." Miss Parker pulled out another cigarette and lit it up. "Anything else?"

"She's bringing the Gersallian chief of security with her, and Angel Delgado. Plus help."

"Sydney?"

"The old man? Yes. And others they picked up. My contacts can confirm one of them is Zaeed Massani."

Kang said the name like it meant something. It didn't to Miss Parker, and as she inhaled a drag from her cigarette her eyes made that clear. "Who?"

"A known mercenary and bounty hunter, one of the best from M4P2. We don't know much about the others, though."

"Still…" Miss Parker considered it. "Tell Wolff to fake shutting down his engines. We're going to have to leave in a hurry."

"What's your plan?"

"Find where they're keeping my father, take him, and let the Centre and the Alliance sort themselves out after we leave," she replied.

Kang nodded. "Good plan. I'll see about giving Wolff a fix on the signal for your father's location. It'll take a few hours."

"Just make sure it's done before they get here," Miss Parker insisted. "Now I need to get back in."

"Of course," the man nodded. He watched quietly as Miss Parker re-entered the building.





The moment Jarod had the list he'd demanded, he started writing and scribbling again. Making advanced technology with these parts would be just about impossible without the high quality batteries found in things like multidevices and pulse pistols. But he knew he had to give something soon, or Lyle would gleefully start torturing his sister and brother again.

And Jarod couldn't let that happen.

He did manage something. It would provide a reasonable energy shield generator. And if the generator itself died, the power could be diverted to other means. Means that Jarod had intentions for.

But for now the most important thing was survival. And that meant keeping Lyle appeased.

Lyle's intent stare was distracted by a ringing tone in his pocket. He reached in and pulled out a cell phone. "Lyle," he answered.

Jarod intentionally paid no attention as Lyle spoke with a voice on the other end. "Are you sure?", he said. "I'll have to… alright, I understand." Lyle hung up and looked to Jarod. "I want progress on that by the time I get back," he demanded. He looked to the guards and nodded. One produced a pair of handcuffs. Jarod did nothing as the cuffs were used to secure Jarod's ankle to the chair he was sitting in. Lyle grinned and looked back to Charles and Emily. "While I'm gone, let's give you a chance to talk to your family." With rapid movements he ripped the duct tape gags off, eliciting brief cries of shock and pain from his captives. "Don't worry, I've got fresh pieces for later." Lyle brandished, from near his chair, a fresh roll of duct tape. "See you soon." With a chuckle still coming from his throat, Lyle traipsed out of the room.

"Dad. Emily." Jarod looked up from where he was working. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this. It's all my fault for not finding you."

"No. Jarod, no." His father's English accent was now hoarse from his state. The hours of on and off torture had done their terrible work on him most of all. "This is their fault, not your's."

Jarod's face twisted into an expression of pain and shame. The feelings of the last few terrible hours now bubbled to the surface, the feelings of blame over his failure to find his family. He had gotten so devoted to the work on the Aurora, to what they were doing, that he hadn't given his family the attention they deserved. Tears formed in his eyes at the intensity of that thought. "No," he said. "It is mine. I should have done something about this years ago. I should have come and found you."

"And what then?", Charles asked. "The Centre would have found you too."

"No," Jarod said. "No, they couldn't have. I could take you somewhere that the Centre could never follow."

"How?", Emily asked. "And… what's Lyle even talking about? Rayguns, invisibility devices… what's going on, Jarod? Are these things you made for them?"

The bewilderment and worry in his sister's voice was evident. She'd endured the torture better than Charles, but the confusion about what was going on was worse for her.

Jarod looked back to the schematic he was drafting. He started to work on it again. He knew, he damn well knew, that no matter what he did, Lyle would turn the damn machine back on when he got back, just for the fun of it. But he had his own reasons for completing this device as soon as it could be done.

Once he was sure the drawing was accurate, he looked back at Emily. "You won't believe what's going on," he said. "Not until I show you."

"Of course I'd believe you," Emily protested.

"We know you won't lie to us, Jarod," Charles insisted.

Jarod sighed and shook his head as he drew the illustration of where wiring should go on his schematic. Once this vital part was done he looked back up. "For over three years, I haven't even lived on this Earth," he said.

They stared.

"There's a Multiverse out there," he continued. "Earths centuries more advanced than our own. And a group of well-meaning people came to our world looking to help, and ended up saving me after that terrorist attack in Pasadena a few years ago." He stopped, letting them process that information while he did more drawing. "I've been working with them since. Hoping to find a way to find you without the Centre catching on." He let out a sigh. "Granted, I had no idea that the Alliance would forbid traffic to our Earth for not being advanced enough to risk contact. That's made coming back a little complicated."

"You're… you're telling us… you've been living in outer space?"

Hearing the disbelief in Emily's voice, Jarod nodded. "On a ship called the Aurora," he explained. "I've been serving as the ship's Operations Officer. I even helped build her." A little grin came to his face. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Jarod now."

"You're Pretending, then?", Charles asked.

"No, Dad, I'm not." Jarod shook his head. "I don't Pretend anymore. This is who I am now. What I do." His eyes lowered. "And it's why I'm to blame for this. I got so caught up in my new life that I could never make the time to come back and try to look for you."

"I… I don't blame you," Charles said. "I've been on the run too long to blame you for finding a new life where you didn't have to run."

"But I could have found you given time, and I didn't take it. I didn't insist on it like I should have!", Jarod shouted. "And now you're here at the mercy of a monster. All because of me."

The others were temporarily speechless. So much had been said, and Jarod's claims on where he'd been were so unbelievable, that they were having trouble processing it. He could see Emily even wondering if he had gone mad.

"These friends of yours," she finally said. "They're not going to abandon you, are they?"

The question cut through the guilt and Jarod's attention on his schematic. Even if the truth was so pleasantly evident he didn't need to remark on it. "No," he said. "Never. They're coming, I'm sure of it. They're coming right now."

And so he continued to work, banking on just that.

 

[Big Steve]

A quiet corner of the Tainaron's crew area served for Meridina's meditation. She sat on the floor, legs crossed and hands in her lab, quietly focused on the universe through her swevyra - her life force.

But it wasn't like it normally was. The kernel of darkness implanted in her by Amaunet was still there, the lingering remnants of Amaunet's arrogance, rage, and hatred. Meridina kept her attention away from it lest she remember the rampage Amaunet had unleashed. With the fight to come, she couldn't afford to dwell on that right now, to let that shame and doubt enter her and degrade her strength. Not again a swevyra'kse.

"Are you okay?"

Meridina looked up upon hearing the accented voice. Druni stood nearby, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Her own energy settled comfortably around her.

"I can feel fear," Druni said. "Doubt. I've… never felt that in a swevyra'se before."

Meridina lowered her eyes in shame. It seemed she wasn't controlling it as much as she would prefer. "I did not feel such things until recently," she admitted.

"What happened?"

"I was possessed by an alien parasite called a Goa'uld," Meridina answered. "It turned my swevyra toward darkness. It felt rage and hatred, and it used me to kill."

The image in her head returned. Of her own lakesh biting into Lucy's neck, the desperate determination on her student's face as she fought to hold the blade back while blood poured from the wound on her head and the cut in her leg. She remembered Lucy's pain, her sorrow, at having to run Meridina through to stop Amaunet.

Druni's eyes reflected her compassion for Meridina's pain. "I have heard stories of my fellow Sisters being turned against us by slavers using neural override implants. I can only imagine the suffering you endured."

"Thank you." Meridina looked up at her. "Why did you leave the Silver Moon?"

"I had a dispute with the Order. A doctrinal issue," Druni said.

"I see." Meridina nodded.

Their conversation might have gone on, but there was a call over the PA. "Commander Andreys, please report to the command deck," Yvonne said.

"Looks like we're almost there," Druni remarked. She ceased to lean against the wall. "I will go tend to my pre-battle exercises."

Meridina responded with another nod. She turned her attention inward yet again and resumed her meditations.




Julia took the elevator and stairs up to the command deck. The initial area, at about the midway point of the deck, was devoted to some of the recreational space. Network communication terminals and computer systems for the crew flanked both sides. Perhaps a bit more than necessary, given the size of the crew. Julia found it all curious.

The front of the ship was dominated by a large holographic galactic map, zoomed in on their local space. Yvonne sat in a chair in front of the map - beyond it were two crewmen. The ship's pilots, Julia figured. Crewmen also held stations to either side for, presumably, sensors and communications.

"We're coming up on the perimeter of the Alliance exclusion zone," Yvonne said. "I need your access code."

Julia nodded and went over to communications, where an Asian woman was seated. She nodded and turned her seat to get out, allowing Julia to sit there. The hard-light controls were similar to those she had used before and it wasn't hard for her to open a communication line to the sensor buoys. She put in her command code.

Moments later the hardlight viewscreen showed a new display. The system had accepted the code.

"We're clear," Julia said, turning the chair and then standing from it. As its former occupant reclaimed her place, Julia stepped up beside Yvonne. Below and in front of her, the pilot continued to monitor their systems as the ship continued on its way, warp engines thrumming through the ship. "Well, you are," she corrected. Seeing Yvonne's curious look, Julia added, "Depending how this goes, I may have just earned myself a court-martial."

"That would be a mistake on the Alliance's part." Yvonne actually looked sympathetic. "Frankly, Commander, if they do something like that, they're just asking you to find superior employment elsewhere. There are all kinds of organizations that could use a woman of your ability."

Julia smiled with some amusement. "You wouldn't happen to be trying to recruit me into whatever sort of underground, sometimes illegal work you normally do, would you Yvonne?"

"You might be surprised at the opportunities out there," she said. "And at what I am normally employed at. No offense was meant, however, merely an observation. I wanted you to know that there are good causes that could use you if the Alliance turns its back on you."

"I'll remember that," Julia said. "I'm going to get the others ready now."

"Of course. I'll let you know when we make orbit."




With Julia getting the others together, Angel ended up being the one to rouse Kasszas. She found the Zigonian in a spare room, sitting on the floor in a meditative pose. Remembering what had happened to poor Petty Officer Dougal when he'd entered the holodeck while Crewman Thalaz was using it, Angel had been holding her breath and took a very careful, very short breath.

"I am not burning incense, or any other such thing," Kasszas said.

"Just making sure."

"Of course. I am aware of how Humans are affected by our practices." Kasszas flicked his tongue. "And I sense we are about to arrive at our destination."

"We're about half an hour out," Angel confirmed. "I'm making sure you're ready."

"I am always ready. And I sense your view of such a claim. It is not mere bravado." The Zigonian raised a single, taloned claw. "Through Creation I may sense such things that my eyes do not behold. I am of Creation and Creation is within me."

Angel nearly said something about that, but stopped. Something of it kindled a thought in her. It sounded so much like the things Robert talked about, how his new powers worked.

"Your people can.. do things, right? See things, feel them.. move objects with their minds?"

That rapid hissing chuckle answered. "That is not the way of the Harmonious Val-Drillim, but there are others in the Tsorra-Mahl who have teachings like that." Kasszas seemed to ponder something. "I sense you have a question?"

"Is it…" Angel sighed. She couldn't hold the question back, even though a part of herr wanted to. "...Is it possible for someone with such a… thing, such powers… to get them removed?"

For a moment the Zigonian was silent. "Such a bizarre question. Is is like me asking you if you would like your own eyes to be plucked from your head."

"That's not an answer."

"True." Kasszas put his clawed hands together. "The answer is that I do not now. I have never heard of such a thing being done. I sense this answer displeases you?"

It did, as much as Angel tried to hide it. "I was hoping to hear some way to get rid of it. So someone I care for can be free from it."

"One is never 'free' from Creation. We are all part of it."

"This isn't about your beliefs," Angel shot back, her voice vehement. "It's about the fact that ever since he realized he can do this stuff, it's started to take over his life. And he has enough responsibilities."

Kasszas flicked his tongue again. "I see. And you care for him?"

"I love him," Angel insisted.

"No, you do not."

That brought the Zigonian a harsh glare that he could not see. Angel's nostrils flared. "What?", she asked bluntly, with deceptive calm in the question.

"To love is to accept. But you do not accept." It was clear the Zigonian could feel the flare of anger in her. "Your love is not for a person but a mere phantom. An idea of a person that does not actually exist. This is why you seek to take his link to Creation away, as if it could be done. Your idea of him is of the him that existed before he realized his connection to the whole of Creation. Now he has changed, and you no longer accept what he has become. You no longer love him."

Angry silence filled the air between them. Kasszas, his observations made, simply turned inward again.

Angel snarled and nearly barked a hot denial. It died in her throat, becoming a growl of "Crazy Goddamned lizard" as she stepped away and left Kasszas to himself.




Jarod had finished the schematic with seconds to spare.

It hadn't kept Lyle from turning the dial again.

This time he didn't bother with the duct tape. Charles and Emily's cries echoed through the room then, and they were doing so again while Jarod was working with the actual parts, now brought in by Lyle's order. "This takes time!", Jarod shouted, using a soldering gun and trying not to mess up while his family screamed in agony.

The dial turned to the off position again. "Sick bastard," Emily muttered between the deep breaths she was making.

Jarod looked up in time to see Lyle smack her across the face. He turned and smiled at Jarod. "You can go faster than that, Jarod. We know that."

"No, you don't," Jarod growled in response. "Given what I have to work with, this has to be done just right, or it won't work!"

"I'm not an idiot, Jarod!", Lyle screamed, the smile again gone from his face. "I know you're stalling! You're waiting for help! And it's not coming! Now get your ass in gear, do your job, or I'll make this look easy with the things I'll do to them."

Jarod frowned and redoubled his efforts. He still had little firm knowledge of what time it was, or how long it'd been since he was abducted, but he knew it couldn't be long. And he had to be ready.




In the Centre conference room, Miss Parker stood with Dralan and Y'tala as they watched Raines and His Lordship watch Jarod and the others. I sense deception, Dralan communicated to Parker, mind-to-mind, a method of communication she frankly hated.

Who? Where?

Around us. From you, certainly.

Any luck on finding my father?

Dralan looked slightly toward Y'tala. The Mi'qote mercenary nodded and brought up the multidevice on her wrist. A message was written on it.

I just found the beam transmission. It's coming from under us.

Parker frowned. Of course. Her father had always been here. Hidden, right under her nose.

Her mind raced, pondering what her next move would be. She gestured quietly to her own multidevice, prompting Y'tala to nod and begin a transmission to it, her findings and the approximate course of the beam and thus where it might be coming from.

To avoid suspicion Parker put her eyes on the screen. Lyle was torturing Jarod's family again. He kept his eyes on Jarod, mostly, while one of the camera angles set behind Jarod still showed a good view of his face and the sadistic, mad gleam in his eye.

If things went a certain way, Parker realized she would easily, gladly, shoot him between the eyes.

Dralan grabbed her arm. Parker looked at him in irritation. "What?", she demanded.

"I sense them," he said. "They're here. They'll find us if I use my power."

Parker frowned. Time was running out, and she needed to make the next move count. If she left, just up and left, it would send the wrong signal. But if she waited too long…

"Get ready to move," she whispered.




The Tainaron was in far orbit of Earth, staying out of direct sight of satellites. Its own sensors were searching about for signs of the Deadman's Hand. Julia came to the command deck again to observe with Yvonne. "We can't detect signs of any vessels like your records show," she said. "But they could be hidden from sensors."

"That's likely," she agreed. "So we need a different way of finding them." Julia looked back to where Meridina waited quietly. "Meridina, can you sense Jarod? Or that dark sweveera whatever?"

Meridina shook her head. "I am afraid I sense nothing. Our quarry is hiding himself."

"Well, we can't stay up here forever," Yvonne said. "You should launch your ship and get in closer."

"Agreed." Julia offered a hand. "Thank you for the help."

"Don't mention it, Captain," was the response she got. "And I've had my technicians give you a little extra help, something to deal with that vessel you're looking for. Captain Thrace already knows."

Yvonne's remark prompted a nod from Julia, hiding her own increasing curiosity about this ship and its crew. The way they acted and moved… it wasn't military, precisely, but it wasn't what she'd expect from a band of smugglers either, or any other private cargo ship that would operate with the likes of Corelo. They almost remind me of us, before the Alliance was the thought in her head.

But there was no time for dwelling on these thoughts, not when they had a friend to rescue. Julia and Meridina walked away at a brisk pace toward the rear of the command deck.




Several minutes later, the Raptor emerged from the launch deck after pushing through the mass effect-generated atmospheric containment field. Thrace was at the controls and Anders was beside her, looking over the electronics for the Colonial craft. Julia stood behind them, holding a bar along the side to keep herself steady, as the Raptor's inertial dampening systems were barely operative, having never been built to accommodate them.

The passenger area of the Raptor was nearly overloaded. Kasszas took up a disproportionate amount of room, being the big reptile, with his stick in hand; and Zaeed being loaded for bear didn't have a small profile either. Meridina was wedged in with them on a bench. The second bench had Druni, Lennier, Sydney, and Angel. Angel was checking her pulse pistol.

"You do not want to kill her," Kasszas said. A number of eyes looked his way.

"Excuse me?" Angel frowned at him. The last thing she wanted was more prying from the strange blind reptile-man.

"Miss Parker," he said. "You do not want to kill her."

"Like hell I don't. I promised to, in fact."

Julia looked back at Angel, frowning. "What?"

"When Jarod tried to make good with her last year, showing her the new home he'd arranged for her," Angel said. "I came with him, just in case. I could see it in her eyes then, that she wasn't giving up. And I told her I'd kill her if she hurt Jarod."

"We still need to know how she put her team together," Julia reminded Angel. "We need her alive." Seeing the look in Angel's eyes, Julia immediately added, "That's an order."

Angel didn't answer. She did glare at Kasszas.

"She still has a role to play," the lizard explained.

"And you know this because… 'Creation' tells you?", Angel asked, disbelief strong in her voice.

All the Zigonian did in reply was make a sad noise.




Jarod made the last internal connection on his new device. It looked like a block of metal attached to a metal colander with wires strewn everywhere, but the internals and the way the wire was arranged would create a fairly short-lived energy field.

Lyle looked it over. "Is that it?", he asked incredulously.

"You wanted something that works, didn't you?", Jarod asked, frowning. "It was never going to be pretty. Not with the tools you've given me."

"And how do I know it works?"

Jarod responded by flicking a switch. "Now try shooting me."

Lyle chuckled. "Oh, and have it be some bizarre device that sends the bullet back into me? I don't think so." Lyle looked to one of his guards. "Shoot him. In the arm."

The guard nodded, with maybe a little reluctance, and pulled a firearm. Jarod didn't flinch as it came up toward him. The gunshot echoed in the room, hurting his ears.

But no bullet struck him. There was a flicker of energy in front of him and then a very slight sound from the floor. Everyone looked down to see the smashed bullet come to a stop after rolling a little on the floor.

Emily stared, wide-eyed, at this. "That's not possible," she murmured.

Lyle whistled. "Well!", he said. "There we go. Looks like we have a start." Lyle walked over and picked up the schematics and the device from Jarod's work area. "Next up, I want a raygun. I don't care what kind, but it'd better fire lasers or whatever you do instead of bullets."

Jarod narrowed his eyes. "You don't have the materials."

Lyle responded by raising his hand toward the dial.

"Dammit Lyle, you don't have…" It was too late. The dial turned and Charles and Emily were crying out again as electricity surged into their bodies. "....that's not going to change things!", Jarod screamed. "You don't have the materials for me to build a weapon like that!"

"Then list what we need!" Lyle stabbed a finger at the paper stack on Jarod's work area. "Do it now or I turn this up!" He turned it down, but not off, leaving Emily and Charles to suffer.

Jarod started scribbling, trying to think of the things that would be available here, on an Earth at the start of the 21st Century.

He couldn't afford to not cooperate. Not until he knew for sure that his plan had worked. All he could do was write and hope that someone would be in orbit soon, before the oversized battery pack on the shield generator gave out.

Because an energy shield wasn't the only thing it was capable of generating.




The Raptor was keeping its distance in far orbit, roughly halfway between the start of the atmosphere and the Tainaron. "Still not… wait." Anders looked at his screen. "I've got something."

"What?" Julia looked over at his screen. A ripple was appearing on it, coming from Earth.

Anders looked it over. "It looks like a low-level radio transmission, VHF, being transmitted into orbit on one of the Alliance short-range radio bands."

"What's in it?", Julia asked.

"It looks like a series of pulses… the signal keeps cutting on and off."

Julia looked at the display. "It's not being interfered with. It's doing that on purpose…" She grinned. "It's Morse code. Of course."

"Morse code?", Anders asked. "What's that?"

"It's an old system for transmitting messages as electric pulses down wires," Julia explained. "So many pulses of short and long duration meant a letter in the alphabet. It's why we call ship distress signals SOSes sometimes."

"And do you know this code?"

She nodded. "It's part of officer training. Just in case we need to communicate something discreetly, or without normal communication methods." She watched the pulses start and stop intermittently. "It's Jarod… he's being held somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Mountain area, eastern side. And.." As the next few words came through Julia breathed a sigh. "...they've got hostages. His family."

"Hostage rescue's always a bitch," grumbled Zaeed.

"I don't think we can fit more than two in here, not with everyone we've got," Starbuck said.

"Then why don't we just take their ship too?", Druni asked. "You said the pilot stole it, right? I've never had an issue with stealing from a thief."

"Is that why you left whatever order that was?", asked Angel.

"No," she replied.

"Taking their vessel will be difficult if they raise shields."

"Well, it's a good thing the Tainaron mounted a couple disruptor torpedoes on your bird," Zaeed remarked. "We've got the ordnance if they try that."

Julia should have been happy to hear that. And she was… but it also brought back to mind her inkling that there was more to Yvonne and the Tainaron than she had expected. Angel's warning about getting too deep with Hernan echoed in her head.

"Can you give me a direction?", Thrace asked. Hearing her brought Julia out of her thoughts. She now wanted to smack herself for getting distracted from the matter at hand upon realizing she'd left the conversation behind. "We can't stay out here forever."

"I'm trying," Anders said. The Raptor turned toward Earth. "Wait… I think I… have it." He grinned at Julia. "I've got it. I'm using the visual sensors now…" On his screen, the dawning sun was starting to throw light over the area, although the line of dawn was just starting to reach Spokane. The screen zoomed in on the eastern side of the Cascades until it showed a facility in the middle of the countryside, built along one of the lower mountains. A little marker popped up over it. "It's definitely coming from there."

Julia nodded. She could already see the profile of what looked to be a cargo starship on the tarmac beside the building. "And there's the ship." Julia thought on it. "Starbuck, can you land us nearby? We'll be needing to take that ship."

"Taking us in now. ETA five minutes." At Thrace's command, the Raptor changed its direction again, moving straight for Earth.

"Maybe the Tainaron could land and pick us up instead?" Angel was looking over it too. "Because taking the ship too is probably going to be harder."

"I doubt Yvonne would agree to risking her vessel," said Lennier. "Especially as we already promised we would not need further help, simply transportation."

"So it's a fight, probably against her entire team." Julia patted her hip, where her pulse pistol was holstered. "But we knew that coming in anyway."

"Who do you plan to send into the building to get your friend out?" Kasszas kept his claws on his walking stick.

Julia considered that, and the makeup of the foes they were facing. "Zaeed, you're in charge outside," she said, looking his way. "Meridina will be busy facing their dark life force guy…"

"Swevyra'kse," Meridina said.

Julia shook her head. "Sorry, but I'm not even going to bother trying to pronounce that. Meridina will take him on. Druni or Kass will be needed for the other one they've got. Zaeed will direct the rest of you while I go with Sydney into the base."

Angel gave Julia an intent look. Julia didn't return it, especially when Angel didn't say anything.

"Good plan, until it goes tits up anyway." Zaeed checked his sidearm pistol for a moment. "If we're takin' their ship, I'll need everyone. Our pilot too."

"Can you secure the Raptor?"

"I'll lock it down," Thrace said. "Just don't let it get wasted. Admiral Adama will have my ass." Nearby Anders secured his own sidearm and checked his ammunition. "And our ETA is now two minutes. We're entering atmosphere."

The Raptor began to shake. Julia's heart picked up its beat and every muscle went tense. Everything that she'd been planning since the previous night was coming down to this.




In the conference room, most eyes were still on the screen showing the cameras in the room where Jarod was kept. Parker looked that way as often as she could, but she was more concerned with checking the exits without alerting Raines and the others to what she was doing. A plan was forming in her head now that she knew it was only a matter of time before they were attacked.

A cell phone rang. Raines' attendant handed him a phone, and he rasped, "Yes", into it.

"What is it?", His Lordship asked.

Raines listened for a moment. "I see." He turned his head to face his superior. "Air Traffic Control is picking up an aircraft entering our airspace from orbit. They will be landing within a minute."

His Lordship turned and faced Parker. "They're not yours, are they?"

"No," she said.

Raines looked at her intently. Parker met the look, kept it, and inwardly cursed as she realized what that look meant.

Raines knew. He knew she had been expecting this attack.

But he hadn't said anything. Why?

A sick feeling came to Parker's stomach. But first she had to deal with the situation. She turned to Dralan. "You and Y'tala go out and help the others. If they only have one assault vehicle worth of troops, you should be able to deal with them."

Dralan nodded. Y'tala pulled a particle pulse rifle from its place holstered on her back and smirked. They walked straight out.

Parker activated her multidevice next, opening a link right to Wolff. "Raise your shields. Shoot them out of the sky."

"With pleasure."




"Woh there!" Thrace jinked the Raptor to one side. A split second later a pulse of green energy whizzed by them. "We're under fire!"

Anders looked to his screens. "It's that ship. It's got some kind of weapon mounted on it. And… I think it's raised shields."

"It would appear to be a plasma cannon of Earth Alliance design," said Lennier.

"Well, whatever it is, it'll blow us out of the sky. I'm changing our approach vector." Thrace began to maneuver the Raptor around. Another shot lashed out at them and barely missed.

"Don't these things have shields now?", Angel demanded.

"Shields for resisting Cylon raiders, Delgado, not cannons."

"Well, this brings back unpleasant memories," Zaeed grumbled from the back.

Druni looked up. "If you can get us close and remove the shields, I can deal with the cannon."

"What?!", demanded Thrace. "How?"

Meridina gave Druni a quizzical look. Druni smiled gently in response.

"Anders, lock on the torpedoes," Thrace said.

"I'm getting a firing solution now."

Julia forced a calm expression that belied the fear and worry building up within her. Doubt came and was beaten back down by will. Everything she heard was that Kara Thrace was a hell of a pilot, one of the best, and so her life and the lives of her team were in Kara's hands. She would rely on the Colonial pilot to get them safely to the ground, that was it.

The Raptor had several more shots come their way. Many were close. But none hit. The ground rushed up toward them on the cockpit window.

As the squat facility in the middle of nowhere loomed large, so did the Deadman's Hand. It was a boxy shape, landing struts extended, and appeared to have an internal warp drive instead of a nacelle-based system. Although Julia couldn't see it, she knew that the ship was surrounded by an energy field that would fry them if they came too close.

"Fox One!", Anders called out.

The torpedoes dropped from the Raptor's hardpoints and flew forwrd, twin bolts of light from their mass effect drive fields. Within seconds they slammed into the the shields around the Deadman's Hand, creating a massive burst of light and an explosion along one end of the ship.

"That did it!", Anders shouted. "Their shield is down!"

Druni stood and opened the hatch on the side, causing a roar of wind to drown almost everything else. She drew in a breath and put her hands together, index and middle fingers extended, in a focusing gesture.

Julia felt the hairs on her neck start to prickle. Meridina actually gasped in surprise, sensing the shifting of energy, the way Druni was using her life force energy. Druni's wound her right arm around, as if dipping her fingers into an invisible pool in the air. Electricity started to crackle and spark at her finger tips as her arms moved in sequence. Meridina could feel Druni's power splitting the air, separating energies and creating an imbalance in forces, then allowing the tremendous discharge that was building to flow around her.

In a quick movement Druni stabbed her right hand, and the fingers there, forward. Power erupted from her in the form of a great bolt of lightning.

The release of energy struck the plasma cannon on the Deadman's Hand directly. It couldn't resist the power Druni had channeled, exploding brilliantly.

Julia could feel her jaw hanging in utter surprise at the act. Everyone was stunned and said nothing as Druni turned back to face them. "It is a difficult technique. We are not allowed to use it in the Silver Moon."

"Lightning drawn from the power comes from darkness," Meridina insisted. "How can you risk…"

"There is none," Druni insisted. "It is not the same." She saw Meridina's frown and lowered her eyes, as if she had expected this reaction.

"Here we go!", shouted Thrace.

Under her control the Raptor swung around and came to a landing beside the Deadman's Hand.

Zaeed jumped out of the hatch first, a beaten up old M8 Avenger in his hands. The assault rifle opened up with a roar at the approach of the armed guards for the facility. Quick bursts of fire, expertly aimed, put them down by one one.

The others jumped out quickly. There was no cover to be had in the tarmac all the way to the building, so their only hope was a direct attack on the armed men before they could shoot them all. Julia and Angel hit the ground firing, sending pulse pistol shots that made two more guards drop. Their suppressive fire, meager as it was, provided the extra time for Zaeed to eliminate the men with quick bursts from his rifle.

A loud roar filled the air and made the three turn. Powerful arms lashed out and knocked Julia and Angel out of the way, one to each direction, with such force that Julia's pistol went flying from her grip. The big Krogan caught Zaeed as he tried to dodge out of the way, knocking him several feet away onto the tarmac.

Krel unholstered a shotgun and aimed it toward Zaeed. Kasszas' tail whipped out and gripped the gun as it leveled toward the prone mercenary. The Zigonian flicked his tail away and ripped the weapon of the Krogan's hands. Krel growled and turned toward Kasszas, who held up his stick. Krel took out another gun, this one a large pistol, and began to fire it at Kasszas, who evaded with a series of spins and dodges, whirling his walking stick around and even deflecting several of the mass effect-propelled rounds.

Sydney, a pulse pistol in hand, unloaded on another guard rounding the building. His shots missed at that range, but they made the guard take cover around the corner. He came up to the others and gripped Julia's arm. "We need to hurry!", he urged.

"What's your hurry, old man?"

The question didn't come early enough to give Sydney the time to dodge the punch that sent him flying. Wilton cocked a grin at him before turning his attention to where Julia and Angel were standing. Kang and Denna stepped up beside him. "Well well, looks like you ladies are in for a rough time," the fighter said.

"Poor little kittens," Denna cooed, pulling a prod-like weapon from her belt and raising it.

Wilton charged first, and Julia sprang to intercept him, blocking a punch and ducking a kick before throwing a palm strike that he batted away. He threw a punch at her stomach that nearly connected, causing a brief spasm of pain, but she followed it up with a snap kick to his weak side that caught him in the ribs.

Denna charged forward, a sinister figure in her black combat leathers, and got Julia on the weak side as she evaded Wilton's strikes. The moment her weapon made contact with Julia's ribcage, white-hot agony surged through Julia's torso. She screamed and toppled, stunned by the sheer shock of the pain.

Both of her attackers went flying, courtesy of Druni throwing out a wave of force. With the pain fading Julia was able to look up and see that Kang was now facing Lennier, the two adopting martial arts stances and waiting patiently for the other to strike first. Zaeed was still getting up and exchanging fire with what few Centre guards were left on the outside. The Krogan, Krel, was pursuing Kasszas with dogged determination, the blind Zigonian twisting and moving around his larger foe to evade his attacks. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thrace and Anders going up the cargo ramp for the Deadman's Hand - they would go after Wolff and secure the ship for everyone to escape on. Angel had gotten back up and was checking on Sydney, who was starting to move.

She took all of this in, their relative positions, and considered what had to be done. This was mostly going with the plan.

Mostly, that is, save for the fact that her position meant that Angel was the better choice to go after Jarod than Julia.

"Angel," Julia said. "You go with him. I'm staying out here."

Angel looked back. Her hazel eyes had that intense look they got whenever Angel's blood was up and her adrenaline was pumping. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Go!" Julia heard the footstep behind her and ducked and spun away, barely evading the high kick that Wilton had meant for the back of her skull. She turned and caught his next strike, he caught her counter-attack, and she moved her arm to take a blow to her forearm instead of her shoulder blade, the movement acting to deflect the energy of the blow so that it didn't actually cause as much damage. Wilton backed off for a moment. "You're good," she said to Wilton.

"The best." Wilton smirked. He brought his fists up. "Now hold still, blondie, and maybe I won't mess up that pretty face so much."

Julia smirked and assumed a defensive posture, arms leveled and her hands balled into fists. She awaited his attack and when it came she blocked and deflected and evaded several strikes until Wilton left his side open. She went for it, then immediately whipped about, evading the trap he'd set for her in doing that intentionally, and caught him by surprise with a kick to the jaw that made him twist and fall over. The falling movement continued, Wilton using its inertia to get back to his feet. A snarl now twisted his lips. "Well, you're not half bad," he admitted. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Julia said nothing, resuming her defensive posture. The smirk appeared on her face again and she curled her palm inward, turning the back of her hand toward Wilton and curling her fingers in a "Come here" gesture.

He took the invitation.




Angel and Sydney were met by Meridina as they approached the door. "Where are you going?", Angel asked Meridina. "You should be helping the others."

"I felt it more important to help you."

"Why?", Angel asked.

The door ahead of them opened. A man in a dark long-sleeved suit exited, a sword already in his hand. His oval-shaped face was immediately familiar to Angel. It was the Gersallian Parker had hired. "Oh," she said. "That's why."

"Dralan Olati," Meridina said. She raised her lakesh and extended it. "I cannot allow you to harm anyone else."

"It's been a long time since I fought a slave of Swenya," Dralan said. "It'll be fun to kill another one of you sanctimonious drones." His golden eyes glittered with satisfaction. "Although you feel interesting. Is that.. doubt I feel? Maybe a little darkness? My my, you're not a very good slave of that whore Swenya, are you?"

"Insulting the Grand Foundress is a petty attempt to undermine my control, don't you think?", Meridina observed. She glanced over her shoulder at Angel. "Go around. I will hold…"

The blow was meant to take Meridina's head off her shoulders. She saw it coming even as the intention formed in Dralan's mind and had her lakesh in place to intercept the blow. The EM fields of their respective blades interacted and created a loud "whmmm!" sound in the air from the force of the impact.

Dralan pulled his weapon back and brought his hand up. Crackling lightning erupted from it. Meridina intercepted it with her lakesh blade. It snapped at her, as if the lightning could almost on its own will go around the EM field holding it in place.

Finally the lightning stopped. "It was no petty insult," Dralan said. "You and the others are fed lies. You worship that bitch-tyrant Swenya when she ruined our people. She made them weak and soft."

"She gave us purpose, she showed us the Light."

"Light is weakness. It is tyranny. It enslaves souls." Dralan snarled. "And I will never be enslaved again!"

He tried to choke her with his power, but Meridina resisted that. He switched a moment later and lunged with his lakesh. Their blades met yet again.




While the fighting by the others raged on around them, Kang and Lennier remained a distance from each other after their brief exchange of attempted punches and grabs. Lennier's hands were in a ready self-defense gesture, ready should the other man make a move. "Hrm," Kang finally said. "I've never faced one of your kind before."

Lennier said nothing in reply to that.

An eager smirk finally came to Kang's face. "Not that it matters. You're just another alien to kill." His left hand reached to his back and retrieved the sword that had been fixed there. He held it out, swapping the handhold to hold it in reverse, pommel-up, and assumed a combat stance with the blade parallel to the ground.

"If that is how you wish to proceed." Lennier pulled his denn'bok out and triggered it to extend.

Kang smirked and, with a confident air, charged at Lennier.




Zaeed fired another burst from his battered old rifle, good old Jessie, felling another of the dark-suited security men with old chemical-propellant firearms. His breathing had picked up and his muscles burned. I'm getting too God-amned old to run a fight like this. And no damn cover, too.

It seemed he'd finished the last of them off, though, which was good because it meant he could focus on helping his team put down the mercs guarding the ship. He turned toward the fight and glowered at seeing Julia, not Angel, engaged in a hand-to-hand fight. So she's still out here, eh? Who's going to be in charge? This is what I get for joining an op this rushed. I don't have time for this crap. Zaeed brought Jessie up to fire when a sudden shot from the side knocked him over. His personal shield took most of the blast and saved his life.

Stupid mistake, God-ammit it, lettin' someone shoot me from the flank.

That someone, it turned out, was the "Mi'qote" woman on Parker's team, Y'tala. She was perched at a window facing his way, a particle rifle up and aimed at him. Zaeed swung Jessie over and fired, full auto, letting his old gun really push her heat capacity with enough suppressive fire to drive the cat-lady back into cover. He moved toward the window, firing all the way, until Jessie grew so hot that she was smoking. Finally her safety kicked in and Jessie stopped firing, going into cooldown.

His quarry recognized her chance and popped back up, rifle raised. Zaeed was ready for her though, and he already had a grenade in mid-air when that gun popped back up. He threw himself to one side, knowing another hit would finish his personal shield and leave him dead, while reaching for his side-arm. He hefted the M-3 Predator and fired off several shots just as Y'tala was shooting at the grenade he tossed. A number of the shots struck her shield and degraded it, forcing her to take cover as the grenade went into the window.

As the grenade went through the window, Y'tala came out of it. She hit the ground rolling and held up a phaser pistol. Amber fire washed over Zaeed's shield. His combat gear let off the tone he hadn't wanted to hear; his shield was completely drained now.

But now Jessie was cooled down. He picked her up from where he had to drop her and fired, full-auto, at the Mi'qote woman. She jumped back to evade but it was too late for her personal shield, as enough rounds slammed into it that it flickered and dissolved.

With no cover and his personal shield overloaded, Zaeed couldn't let her get another bead on him. He dashed forward and, as she stood, fired off another shot. She rolled away from it and pulled a gun. Now he went down, rolling and shooting, but rolling in the right direction.

Y'tala took a gamble; she held her ground to try and get a shot in. But Zaeed, despite his age, was too quick for her to keep a bead on him in short-range. Her shot went wide.

Zaeed twisted Jessie in his grip and brought the stock of the gun crashing into her face. Her nose broke with an audible crack, red blood gushing from it, and a single tooth went flying from her mouth.

The move should have won Zaeed their brief battle. But it didn't; Y'tala's leg shot out and kicked him in the knee from the side. Zaeed's knee came out from under him, causing him to go down onto it. She went for her sidearm again as Zaeed went for his, and simultaneously they each brought a free hand up to grip the other's gun, leaving them locked in place, the loser unlikely to survive the result.




Thrace and Anders held their guns ready as they continued on down the main corridor of the Deadman's Hand, working toward the main bridge.

They were barely a quarter of the way when Anders pulled Thrace into cover in one of the doorways, just before a sapphire pulse of energy went past where she had been.

"Think you're hot shite to come after my ship, don't you?!", cried out Wolff, standing in cover near the bridge. "Come on if you think you're hard enough, nobody's taking my ship from me!"

Thrace and Anders looked at each other. Being in a relationship and having fought side by side, they could read one another well enough to agree to a plan without any verbal communication. Thrace gestured and Anders nodded. He poked out slightly and went back into cover as fire came down on his position.

Thrace slipped around the corner and returned fire, driving Wolff into cover. Anders dashed ahead, taking cover at the next door. Just as he got into the cover fire came back their way. Wolff could see the tactic they were using and was ready to take his chances to shoot one of them down.

They would repeat the same, now Anders giving the cover fire while Thrace moved ahead, taking cover opposite from Anders to force Wolff to divide his fire. They exchanged looks that confirmed that each knew what this meant; this was going to take time. Time they might not have.




Angel and Sydney made for the opposite end of the building. A fire exit door presented itself as an entry point. It was supposed to be one way, but with a couple shots from her pulse pistol Angel wrecked the door's closing mechanism and was able to kick it open.

It was a stairwell, and they were on the top floor. "Okay, where do we go?", she asked Sydney.

"We might be able to find whoever's in charge nearby. There's no telling how far down the facility is."

"So this way, good.

They went toward the door Just as Sydney started to go through the , the door opened and a man in a dark suit came out. The security man saw them and lifted his gun up.

With Sydney partially in the way, Angel didn't have room to shoot without risking him. Her leg snapped up and caught him in the hand with a kick. She moved in a quick lunge, grabbing the man's gun hand and coming up with a kick that caught him in the throat, forcing him to wheeze and gag out of shock. She followed that with a punch and a throw toward the outer door, clearing him away. "Go, go!", she urged.

Sydney kept going, as fast as his weary old legs could carry him, while Angel took up the rear.

 

[Big Steve]

The air in the conference room was growing more tense by the moment. The Centre Triumvir, "His Lordship", was talking on the phone with someone and frowning. "Send them all… well, how many…" The normally debonair man in his fancy suit was now pacing. "Get more, we have the office in Redmond… yes, by chopper if you must, we need the backup." He turned the phone off. "Can your people stop them?", he asked Parker.

"I hope so," she replied. She looked them over. If she was fast enough that she could shoot them before they sent an alert…

There was a loud banging noise as the door was kicked violently open. Miss Parker turned to face the newcomers as well.

Angel and Sydney entered the room, guns drawn.

Raines' attendant drew his weapon and leveled it at Angel.

Miss Parker reached for her pulse pistol, but didn't draw it yet.

"Sydney," rasped Raines.

"Mister Raines." Sydney covered him, among the others, with a gun. "Where's Jarod?"

Raines quietly turned his eyes to a monitor, where they could see Jarod and Lyle, not to mention Jarod's family. "You clearly aren't as capable as Miss Parker warned," he said. "We'll have this compound reinforced within hours."

"We'll be gone by then," Angel retorted. "You idiots should be praying thanks that our ship's on special assignment, otherwise we would have sicced a company of Marines on you by now."

"You would be the young lady who penetrated Centre security last year." His Lordship took a seat. "I respect bravery and action like that. So let's discuss the matter and find an acceptable accord." He folded his hands and gave every appearance of being the amenable, ready-to-deal English aristocrat. "The Centre fed Jarod for three decades. Clothed him. Protected him. We have a vested interest in his work, you might say. Now, if we had compensation of some sort, I can see the Centre happily permitting Jarod to move on "

"You're nothing more than slavers," Angel spat. "I saw what you did to Angelo. Your man Lyle was holding a little girl hostage. The reason I haven't shot any of you yet," and her eyes turned to Parker with venom, "is because all I care about is getting Jarod and his family out of here."

"Young lady, you are not in the strongest bargaining position," Raines replied. "One of you will be shot if a fight breaks out. And with a single phone call, I can have Lyle kill Jarod's family, or even Jarod himself."

"So what 'compensation' would the Triumvirate want?", Sydney asked.

"Your technology. The chance for the Centre to lead the world into a new era of discovery and expansion." His Lordship put his hands together.

"There are political considerations. Rules."

"Of course. But these things… they are bent all the time, Doctor, as I'm sure you're aware. My colleagues and I have made our careers out of such things."

"The Alliance will never deal with you," Angel swore.

His Lordship sighed. "Young lady, I can only be so hospitable toward such… irrational hostility. Mister Raines is correct, your position is not the best. This is a time for negotiation, before more lives are lost. We can both benefit."

The look on Sydney's face made it clear to Angel that he didn't trust them, but saw no harm in talking for the moment. Angel, however, was pondering if she could shoot the main behind Raines before he fired.

Her eyes wandered onto the monitor screen. She could see the two people strapped to chairs - Jarod's family - quaking and crying out. Her anger stoked. She needed to find them, now, and put an end to it.

For the moment, however, the standoff continued.




One floor below, Jarod was hard at work designing the necessary capacitor to use in a particle rifle, part of his "produce something" efforts to placate Lyle while he waited with baited patience to see if anything happened. Or, unfortunately, if his beacon had been found out.

Lyle was agitated. And that meant Emily and Charles were suffering more shocks, as he played with the dial, as if their pain eased his frustrations. "Remember," he said, looking to Jarod, "if anyone outside of the Centre comes through that door, they die."

Jarod actually felt relieved by that. He suspected Lyle was remaining in communication with his bosses, and if they had him that upset…

You're here. Come on… please hurry. He gave a nervous look to his suffering family. Before it's too late.




The fighting outside continued to rage. Krel was tearing up the tarmac with his gun in his attempts to shoot Kasszas. The slippery Zigonian, always moving away from where the gun was firing, was without a single blow driving Krel toward an outright blood rage.

As Kasszas twisted away from another shot by Krel, he nearly crossed paths with Lennier and Kang. The Minbari's denn'bok continued to clash with harsh metallic ringing whenever it deflected Kang's sword. Kang's attacks were well-aimed and precise, forcing Lennier to use all of his skill to stop them.

A grunt of pain came from Julia. She'd just misjudged Wilton slightly and opened her side up to a punishing punch from the other martial-artist. She grimaced and blocked out the pain, letting him come at her again. He was getting cocky, arrogant, and she let him as she waited for the right opening. Occasional punches and snap kicks kept Wilton somewhat honest, but she remained on the defensive waiting for the best opening.

Gunfire continued to sound from the corner of the field where Zaeed and Y'tala were locked into hand-to-hand combat, each trying to keep the other from getting a clear shot. Y'tala delivered a wicked kick that that left a bruise growing on Zaeed's face, and Zaeed returned the favor ten seconds later with a punch that may have cracked one of her collarbones. He grabbed at her arm and twisted her weapon away. Her hand shot out and took his wrist, twisting as well, and in the mutual movement Zaeed's Predator fell away.

Now at a disadvantage, Zaeed pulled the combat knife from his belt. Y'tala went for it and he met her movement with one of his own, bringing his knee up and smashing it into her wrist with enough force to knock the phaser pistol from her hand. Y'tala hissed in frustration while her elbow shot in at his throat. The blow was strung, nearly crushing his windpipe, and the surge of pain and reflexive panic gave Y'tala the moment she needed to go for her weapon. With a burst of will the old mercenary forced the pain out and went after her. Just as Y'tala's hand started bringing the phaser over, he drove the knife into her leg, just above the knee. The limb buckled and she cried out, red blood oozing from the wound. His hand came up and took her wrist, twisting and twisting until she dropped her weapon. Her free hand came up and slashed across the right side of his face, along the scar and near his fake eye, leaving five bloody furrows in his flesh.

A harsh laugh came from the other side of the battlefield. The dark-clad woman known as Denna continued to try to hit Druni with her blunt weapons, each promising a world of agony if it made contact with Druni in any way. Druni's tenari swords met her blow for blow, stopping any such contact from impacting her. Occasionally Denna would mix it up, throwing a kick or a punch, that Druni would have to block as well. She launched counter-attacks of her own, resembling a whirling dynamo of sharp death once she hit her stride. Denna snarled as the tip of Druni's blade cut into her combat leather and took some of her skin off. She stabbed at Druni's ribs and barely made contact. Her weapon sent a wave of pain into Druni's body that nearly knocked her down. In desperation Druni's arm swept out and raw power forced the assassin away. Denna absorbed some of that with her own abilities, but it gave Druni a few feet of distance that gave her time to recover before Denna went at her again.

On the Deadman's Hand, Thrace and Anders were continuing to creep forward ever so slowly, having made it halfway now to the door where Wolff was trying to hold his ship under his own power. "I could use some help here," Wolff snarled into his comm.

"I'll be with you shortly," Kang answered.

Outside Kang was still locked into combat with Lennier. He'd swapped his hold on his sword to pommel-down, giving him better control for meeting Lennier's attacks with the denn'bok. He kept his blade moving with swift, precise attacks that Lennier met with his weapon, then backed off to avoid the counter-attacks that Lennier gave with the opposite end. A part of him was supremely annoyed at his opponent: Lennier had not one drop of sweat on him, as if this took no effort on his part at all. Kang snarled and unleashed a flurry of attacks, strong swings of his sword to try and push the Minbari off-balance. Lennier met the furious offense with a series of blocks, bringing the ends of his staff to deflect Kang no matter how fast his sword moved.

With his energy ebbing for the moment, Kang backed off, holding his sword level and ready to meet an attack from Lennier. Lennier moved his denn'bok into a similar defensive position. "You are quite strong," Lennier noted.

Kang said nothing, letting his frustration and anger stew, waiting for an opening.




Nearer to the building, there was more clanging of metal and EM fields in the fight between Meridina and Dralan. She could feel Dralan's rage and hatred, his sheer loathing of her and everything she believed in, and it made Meridina's resolve harden.

"That darkness is part of you," Dralan said. "You should embrace it. It has the power to give you anything you want."

"I am sworn to the Code," she replied. "That is what I want."

Dralan snarled and tried to lash out with his power, a wave of energy to throw her back. Meridina met it with her own and resisted the strike. He followed it up with a series of cuts with his lakesh. She dodged and parried them, keeping her sword moving and letting her instincts, the conduit for her life force, guide her arms to reflect his attacks.

"The Light is weakness, it is tyranny!", Dralan shouted as he battered away at Meridina, forcing her back and away from the others.

Meridina let him. She would maneuver back when it was time, but for now she needed to get distance between Dralan and the others. With a swevyra'kse, there was no telling what they would or wouldn't do to get at their foes, and she didn't want the others falling to him.

The question was whether she could hold him back long enough to wear him down or get an opening. The darkness was a terrifying force in its corruption, certainly, but the dark feelings that fueled it granted tremendous power, power like Meridina had rarely seen. Amaunet, in control of her, hadn't been this powerful as she could not fully command Meridina's life energies. Dralan could command his own, immersed in darkness as it was, and did so.

Ultimately, her goal was to buy time. Time for Angel to get Jarod, time for the others to prevail in their battle, and she had to trust they would not be too late.




The stand-off in the conference room had everyone remaining in place. Angel felt the sweat gathering on her forehead as she kept her pulse pistol leveled toward Raines' attendant, who had his gun on Sydney. If she pulled the trigger and didn't get the shot right, Sydney would be shot in turn. Would she be able to stop Raines or the British man in the suit from ordering Jarod and his family to be killed?

Was she willing to risk that?

It got to the point where she almost was. But in the end, it wasn't Angel who broke the stalemate.

Angel was worried about the timing, but so was Parker. Moreso, as her only hope for escape with her father was the Deadman's Hand, and her ear receiver was picking up Wolff's calls for help as he faced attackers moving on his bridge. If they didn't hurry, they'd lose control of the ship.

And so it was Parker who took the gamble. She leveled her pulse pistol and fired.

The shot hit Raines' man square in the head. A moment later Angel's gun fired as well, mostly from reflex, and it hit the man's hand. He fired a half-second later.

Sydney cried out as the bullet struck, grazing his neck. A spurt of blood followed its course across his flesh. He dropped his gun from shock and reached up to the wound.

Parker was already in motion. Angel nearly moved to stop her, but went to Sydney first. He waved her off. "It's not as bad as it looks," he insisted.

Angel scanned it. "It grazed you. You'll need medical attention."

"We have to get Jarod first!", Sydney insisted. He pulled his bloody hand from his neck and reached for his gun with the other hand. He held the gun, one-handed, toward Raines just as Raines was reaching for his phone. "Don't!"

Angel stepped up and ripped the phone from the wheelchair-bound man's grasp. "That won't do you any good," Raines said. "I'm supposed to remain in contact with Lyle. I haven't been, and he knows something is wrong."

"Then where is he?"

"Why should I tell you?", Raines asked.

"Because if you don't…" Angel put her pulse pistol up against Raines' shoulder. Her thumb set the power level to a non-stun setting, but not powerful enough to kill. "...I'll starting shooting the crap out of you."

"Oh. Torture." Raines smirked. "You don't have it in…"

Angel pulled the trigger.

A cry of pain erupted from Raines' damaged lungs. He sucked in air after it, as if by itself he had almost lost all the breath in his body.

"Angela," Sydney began.

"Your elbow's next, you sick old bastard!", Angel shouted. "Where is he?!"

Raines' nostrils flared. A snarl came to his face.

"Angel, this isn't necessary," Sydney insisted.

The fury burning inside Angel didn't want to heed that. These bastards had attacked Jarod and his family. Jarod, who was effectively a member of her family too. And they wanted to act smug about it? She was going to wipe the smug smiles off their damned faces, and anything else necessary to get Jarod back.

Sydney, meanwhile, was reaching for the multidevice he had picked up. "Look," he said. "I can check the monitor's signal, I think this will let me track where he is."

Angel narrowed her eyes at Raines before looking to Sydney. "If you think it will work."

"Yes, I'm…"

Before he could finish, the suited man dashed for the door. They turned and Angel fired at him, but the shot was a half-inch off and he got out unscathed. "Dammit!", Angel cursed. She ran after him, leaving Sydney with Raines.

"You… look well," Raines said.

"And you look terrible," Sydney answered.

"It's not quite like old times, is it?" Raines smirked. "Tell me, Sydney. How much of this is guilt? You profited from Jarod as much as we did."

"I know," Sydney said. "And I'll take that guilt with me to my deathbed." He turned his head and eyed Raines. "How much guilt will you carry, Raines?"

"Guilt is overrated," was the rasped reply.




Miss Parker went for the stairs. Her destination was not the first level but the second, where secure rooms were kept. Only a single guard stood in her way, and she shot him down before he could react to her arrival at the bottom of the stairwell. Sloppy. I suppose all of the competent ones went upstairs.

Her multidevice displayed the location of her father as straight ahead. She ran past the empty rooms, storage compartments, and to a single gray door. She grabbed the handle and pulled it open. The inside was the comfortable room she'd seen her father in. Ahead of her, as if in a hotel room, was a dresser drawer set, on which sat a television and a camera assembly.

After she stepped in, a terrible smell hit her, the smell of human waste. As if the toilet hadn't been flushed. She took the final steps in to clear the corner and look to the bed…

...where her father laid, arms at his side.

There was a hole in his forehead. He'd been dead for a while.

For a moment denial surged strongly. She'd seen him alive just minutes ago, on the video screen. This couldn't be…

She looked to the camera again and saw it, the recording device the camera was hooked into. Seeing it, that was when Parker knew she'd been tricked.

The pain was almost overwhelming. "Daddy," she said, her voice hoarse with horror, rage, and guilt. She stepped up beside the bed and leaned over her father's corpse. His eyes stared back at her, empty. Miss Parker's lip quivered as she tried to close his eyes. They wouldn't close; rigor mortis had set in.

Miss Parker started to weep. She couldn't help it. Everything, every deal she'd made, every thing she'd sacrificed, had been for nothing. They'd killed her father… why? To punish her, even though she'd brought Jarod as she'd promised?

She almost couldn't breathe. The pain was starting to suffocate. They'd killed her father. The Centre had murdered him. They'd tricked her and she fell for it.

The pain gave way to rage. She stormed back out of the room, just as footsteps started to come from the stairs. She made her way there, gun raised, and looked up to see His Lordship rushing down the stairs. "You killed him!," she screamed in rage.

He looked at her. Bewildered surprise came to his expression. "What?", he asked. "Wait…"

"You murdered my father, you bastard!"

"No, I…"

She didn't hear what he started to say. She didn't care. Her finger pulled the trigger. Again and again. Energy pulses of white-blue fury slammed repeatedly into his torso and neck. His death cry was drowned out by the barrage.

With her face twisted into fury, Miss Parker ventured toward the stairs. She got up the first one, gun raised, when Angel appeared on the next flight, her weapon lowered toward Parker. Angel's eyes narrowed at her. She glanced toward His Lordship's corpse and back to Parker. "Your father's dead?", she asked.

Parker glared up her way. "I'm going to kill Lyle," she said. "And Raines. And every other sonofabitch in the Centre." There was no smirk, no emotion, when she met Angel eye-to-eye. "Unless you want to settle this now? You're here to kill me, after all."

Angel frowned at that. It was true... Mostly. She was planning on killing Miss Parker.

Nevertheless, she raised the gun a little. "That can wait," she said. "Jarod's more important."

Parker nodded. "First subbasement. I'll show you."




The dawn light was shining on the combatants outside of the building. Wilton and Julia exchanged punches, Kang and Lennier's duel had carried them toward the building, while Druni was forcing back Denna and Kasszas continued to fluster the Krogan.

"We're runnin' out of time, God-ammit!", Zaeed shouted, locked in ferocious combat with Y'tala. She bit at his neck, sinking her pointed teeth into his old Blue Suns tattoo. Zaeed growled in pain and brought his left arm up to elbow her across the face. Some of his flesh went with her and blood covered that side of his neck. "Bitch!"

Y'tala spun away from him. Zaeed lunged and grabbed on just as she started to pull the phaser pistol up. Without his weapons at hand, she had the advantage, and Y'tala knew it. She brought the phaser up and nearly had it pointed at him when he got a hand on her wrist. The maneuver cost him leverage though, giving Y'tala the advantage and allowing her to shift her weight and pin him for the moment, keeping his other arm out of the way and his legs trapped. She nearly had the phaser on him, and her thumb had already set it to high. A single shot and he'd be gone. "No hard feelin's," she gasped, her voice distorted by the broken nose. The phaser drew centimeters closer, in a moment the emitter would be on him and it'd be over. "It's business."

A moment before she could fire, Zaeed's head shot up and slammed into her face. Her broken nose broke further. The shock of the impact caused Y'tala's head to snap back.

It also disrupted her balance. Now Zaeed could put his superior body mass to use, forcing her off of her position. His hands both gripped at the hand with the phaser and ripped it free. A look of fear crossed her green feline eyes as she felt the emitter come up against her stomach, and Zaeed knew that fear. He'd seen it a thousand times before, the fear he saw in his nightmares and in his dreams, the fear he hoped to see one day in the eyes of Vido Santiago.

He pulled the trigger.

There was a whine from the weapon he was gripping. Y'tala had no time to scream as amber energy consumed her body, every inch of it, until there was nothing left.

"No hard feelings," Zaeed said, his breath hoarse. "It's business."

It seemed like the right thing to say.

Zaeed went over and picked up his Predator, his knife, and most importantly, Jessie. His shitty old rifle was intact and looked fine. He brought it up and sought out a target.

Before he could fire on the assassin in the catsuit, a solid "whomp whomp whomp" came to his ears. Zaeed turned and faced the source; helicopters coming up over the mountains. "Company," he growled. They were running out of time.

He put Jessie up. For this, he needed the other weapon on his back. The Mantis sniper rifle extended to full length by the time he brought it up. He crouched down to a knee and raised it toward the lead of the incoming helicopters. The crosshairs lined up on the pilot. Wordlessly, Zaeed pulled the trigger.

The shot wasn't quite on, though, as he wasn't in the optimal firing position. Instead of a headshot, the bullet went low. Granted, he could still watch with satisfaction as blood erupted from the throat of the pilot, who reached for his savaged throat and was clearly gagging. The helicopter began to spin wildly out of control, nearly hitting the others.

The other pilots weren't idiots. They began to maneuver more wildly as they approached, throwing off his aim. Zaeed put the rifle back and pulled out Jessie again. He turned back to the fight. "Put them down, dammit!" He watched the Krogan, Krel, nearly catch Kasszas in a charge. The Zigonian whirled away, his tail whipping across Krel's face and snapping it in one direction like it was a slap.

Krel roared furiously and looked away. Not toward Kasszas, but toward Zaeed again. And Zaeed knew he was in trouble. The Krogan's eyes said everything; Krel was entering a blood rage. Even with his gun gone, that would make him the most dangerous foe on the tarmac. Zaeed began to pour fire into him with Jessie, but the Avenger didn't have nearly enough stopping power for a Krogan in the middle of a blood rage.

Zaeed jumped clear and rolled over to a crouch. As he did so, Kasszas jumped behind him and landed on the Krogan's head. His clawed feet raked over Krel's face and left eye, which came free in a geyser of blood. Krel didn't seem to note the pain. His hand came up and grabbed at the Zigonian, who jumped free.

Except Krel got lucky. His flailing hand caught Kasszas' tail and gripped it. Kasszas let out an involuntary hiss and, from the shock, dropped his walking stick onto the ground. An angry roar came from Krel as he pulled Kasszas back by the tail and threw him.

Right into Zaeed.

The impact knocked the air out of the mercenary's lungs. "Dammit," he wheezed. He looked at Krel, now preparing to stomp them.

Druni had sensed her comrades' danger. She waited for Denna to make a lunge and, instead of cutting at her, slid to the side and then brought her foot up in a kick to Denna's throat. The assassin gasped in shock and fell over for the moment. Druni had a second with which to kill or incapacitate her, but that second would mean Krel getting to Zaeed and Kasszas. So she turned away and ran up, jumping up and landing on the Krogan's back. She drove her tenari blades into his neck and head, again and again, but the tough Krogan hide deflected the blows. Blood was everywhere, but she wasn't hitting anything critical.

What she was doing was keeping Krel from finishing her allies off. He stumbled to the side, roaring in rage, and his arms flailed upward trying to reach at her. Druni jumped off and landed on the tarmac, blades held out and dripping with Krogan blood.

"Go for the headplate, girl!", Zaeed shouted. He was nearly out from under Kasszas, who was still recovering his bearings. "There's a spot near the front plate, get your blade in there and you can pry the bastard's head half off!"

Druni almost asked where, but she didn't need to. She could sense where Zaeed was thinking of. She nodded to him and returned her attention to the Krogan, now charging for her. Instead of jumping clear she ducked low, gathering her energy in with her. She released it as Krel was nearly on top of her, enough kinetic force drawn from her Gift to cause even a blood-raged Krogan to stagger. With that, she had her opening, and she used it to drive her blades into the spot. She jumped upward and pulled.

The response was horrific. There was a terrible sucking noise, joined by a shrill scream from Krel as the top part of his head peeled up and off, leaving bloody inner flesh. Even in his blood rage Krel felt the full force of this loss. Druni could feel his pain, a pain so savage that she knew she had but one option left.

She drove her blades into his head.

The blow was fatal, instantly so, with the armor plate no longer protecting his skull and brain. Krel fell over and Druni skipped clear of him as he did.

Denna struck. The assassin came in, both of her weapons forward, and pushed them both to Druni's back. The pain consumed Druni's conscious thoughts. A shrill scream expelled all of the air from her lungs.

"Exquisite," the assassin cooed. "The pain is so…"

Kasszas' tail whipped out and wrapped around Denna's wrists. With a yank that helped bring him to his feet, he pulled her back from Druni, who toppled to the ground, barely conscious and utterly paralyzed. Denna kicked out with her leg and sent out a wave of force that knocked the Zigonian backward, forcing him to let go of her wrists. Now the Zigonian and the assassin stood facing each other. "I've always wondered how much pain one of your kind can take," Denna said. "Although I imagine your brains are so addled by the drugs you inhale, it might not be the same."

"I know your kind," Kasszas said. "You, who twist the gifts of Creation to selfish ends."

"If you're talking about the Ministry of Fate, I don't particularly care for them either. It's so much more fun being on my own." Denna brought her weapons up. "Let's see how these agiels work on you, reptile."

Kasszas extended a hand. His walking stick flew to it like metal to a magnet. The stick swept in and blocked her first blow. Her follow-up swing went high, and he deftly moved away from it.

Zaeed pulled up Jessie just as the helicopters began to land. He opened fire on the nearest one, claiming a man with an assault rifle just before he could jump down. Quick bursts of fire from Jessie, deadly and accurate, brought down another, while the others remained in cover on their chopper.

Zaeed reached down and jostled Druni. "Get up!", he insisted. "I can't cover you, dammit! Get up!"




The twin martial arts fights - Julia versus Wilton and Lennier versus Kang - were still raging near the ship. The two combats were drawing closer and closer as metal continued to meet metal and blows were being dodged and parried.

Julia was feeling the duration of the fight, but she was certain Wilton was too. His style was aggressive, forceful, and her reliance on t'ai chi had balanced that, letting him expend his energies against her defense. She could sense he had some idea what she was doing, but evidently her combat style was not one he was familiar with (although he had the same advantage; she wasn't sure if he was using kung fu, karate, or savate, or some weird mish-mash of them all.

It was a mok'bara move that really gained her the advantage, though, or rather tying one that Worf had shown her with her other style. Finally, Wilton had extended himself, a powerful punch that Julia's relative slowing had made too tempting to pass up. She had to admit that a half second separated her from a blow that might have turned the battle against her, but it would instead work the other way, as in one fluid movement she grabbed the outstretched arm and pulled it with her. She kept turning, throwing Wilton off his balance, and twisted around until she was at his back and his arm was locked painfully behind his back. Wilton screamed in pain and anger.

It became more pain when Julia finished her move by breaking his wrist.

With that surge of pain taking fight out of him, Julia wrapped her arms around his throat and took him into a sleeper hold. Her legs came up and wrapped around his arms to pin them in place, his lack of balance and her weight driving him belly-down to the ground. He wheezed, gasped, and started to go silent as the lack of oxygen sent him into unconsciousness.

Julia could hold on longer, guaranteeing he went unconscious, or until he was dead. But killing wasn't something she thought of doing when it wasn't necessary, especially not with the martial arts skilled she valued as a discipline. She let go and pulled herself away from Wilton. Her eyes quickly found her lost pulse pistol, and she went for it.

Kang moved with the speed of a snake lunging at its foe. One moment he had been driving Lennier back, the next he was twisting around and getting into a position that would have taken Julia's head off clean. At the last moment she spun away. The weapon didn't cut across her neck, but it did slice along her belly, cutting away the cloth of her shirt and undershirt and nicking a bit of her jacket as well. Blood flew along with the blade, just as it began pouring down the wound in her belly and side.

It brought back memories. She'd been wounded there by a blade before. Over a year ago, when the Jem'Hadar had boarded the Aurora. She briefly remembered nearly bleeding out.

There was no time to worry about that, though.

While she fell in the wrong direction to go for her pistol, she'd also kept Kang from killing her immediately as he'd intended. He turned back to Lennier just before the Minbari's denn'bok could find his head, parrying the blow and nearly getting Lennier's entire arm with a blow at the shoulder that barely missed.

With Kang's attention diverted again, Julia forced herself back up, ignoring the pain and wet blood from her wound, and got to her pistol again. She swung it over at Kang and fired a wild shot.

It didn't hit him directly, but it did graze his leg. The leg buckled under him and he dropped to a knee. Lennier's denn'bok struck him across the face, knocking two teeth out in a spurt of blood that came from Kang's mouth. He went spinning over and landed on the ground, belly-first. As he tried to stand, Julia shot him in the back with her pistol, putting him down for good.

Lennier turned his attention to Julia. "Are you alright?" His eyes focused on the blood pouring from Julia's side.

"I'll live," she said. She looked back at the fighting. Zaeed was desperately trying to keep the arriving Centre reinforcements suppressed. Druni was beside him, still prone on the ground. "Do what you can for her," she said. "I'm going to help Starbuck and Anders."

"Of course."

They split up.




Trust only went so far, and so Angel kept her pistol ready while following Parker into the first subbasement level.

Sydney's voice came over her multidevice, "The Centre has reinforcements landing by helicopter. We're almost out of time."

"Parker's taking me to Jarod," Angel said.

"I'm tracking you and I'll be with you shortly."

"What about Raines?", Angel asked.

"I just shot the spokes of his wheelchair. He's not going anywhere."

"Good," Parker said. "I know where to find him."

Angel didn't answer that. She understood what Parker was going to do, and she didn't care for the moment.

The door they were looking for wasn't hard to spot, with the electronic security lock and the heavy steel construction. Angel brought up her multidevice and had it scan the lock, then access it. The system was purely dawn of 21st Century in sophistication, nothing to even her tactical-standard multidevice. It quickly cracked the security and undid the lock.




Lyle and Jarod looked to the door when it opened. The appearance of Miss Parker was a surprise, and not pleasant for Jarod.

He would have reason to reconsider that later.

That reason, of course, was that it gave Lyle a half-second of pause before he realized what was happening and went for the dial. Just as his fingers wrapped around it to twist, Parker's gun fired. The pulse shot slammed into his chest, right on the sternum, and he fell back.

Parker turned and elbowed one of the guards. The door opened wide enough for Angel to come in, and she caught the second guard across the face with a punch that sent him down.

Seeing Angel made Jarod's day. He grinned with relief at her. "There you are."

"Jarod!" Angel looked down to where his foot was chained to the chair. She knelt down and pressed the pulse pistol to the chain. A single shot delivered enough energy to break the chain in two.

Jarod went immediately to Charles and Emily. His first act was to disconnect the device, ensuring there was no chance of an electrical shock. By that time Angel was already freeing Emily's wrists. Jarod went to work on his father's bindings.

"Your friends came," Charles said weakly, grinning.

"They did."

"So your Dad's English?" Angel started removing the wrist shackles while Emily pulled off the wires that had been tormenting her.

"His name is Charles. My sister is Emily." Jarod motioned to Angel. "This is Angel Delgado, she works with me."

"And who's the lady…" Emily stopped.

Jarod and Angel looked to the door.

Parker was gone.

Jarod quickly put it together. "They killed her father, didn't they?"

"Yeah," Angel said. "It's why she's still breathing. She brought me to you."

"Where are the others?" Jarod looked to the door. "Shouldn't you have a Marine team?"

"Nope." Angel shook her head. The last of Emily's electrodes were off and she was pulling off the last on her father. "The Aurora was called away on a time sensitive mission. Angel, Meridina, and I were left behind because we were incommunicado hunting for Parker's trail. We had to put together a team of allies. They're outside fighting off Parker's people right now."

"How are we going to get off-world?"

"We brought a Raptor, and we're stealing Parker's ride. Now let's…"

The door swung open and Sydney entered. "Jarod?", he asked. "Jarod, are you…"

"I'm here," Jarod answered.

Sydney wasted no time in embracing Jarod, who accepted it.

"Andreys to Delgado," a voice said over the multi-device. "Please come in."

Angela tapped her multidevice. "Julia? I'm here."

"Have you gotten to Jarod?"

"He's here." Angel nodded. "I got to him and to his family."

"Then get out of there. They've got reinforcements coming, and we're still trying to take that ship."

"Major Charles." Sydney looked over Jarod's father. "Allow me." He took Charles by the arm and hefted him on his shoulder.

Jarod did the same with his sister. Angel pulled her gun and led the way for them.




Julia had to take cover when she spotted the corridor to the Deadman's Hand bridge. Wolff was firing at where Thrace was in cover. She and Anders were at the last set of doors before the bridge, a quarter of the way down the hall. But they could go no further with so much remaining space, giving Wolff time to poke out of cover. "Starbuck! Anders!" Julia grimaced. Her side still hurt from where that Chinese cyborg had cut her. Blood was soaking into her pants leg. I need stitches, soon. "I'll add to your cover fire."

"Any of you gits come any closer, you die, get it?!", Wolff shouted.

"Wolff, I've got two life force-wielders, maybe three, behind me," Julia retorted. "We're taking that bridge. Your choice is whether you surrender or we have to shoot you."

"I'm not goin' back to the cells, you hear me?! You'll get my ship over my dead body."

"Suits me," Thrace retorted. She looked down the corridor to Julia, who nodded. She made a hand gesture in acceptance, and another one, presumably to Anders.

Anders' gun began to bark. As it did, Julia stepped into the corridor and got onto one knee. She raised her pistol up, both hands level, and sighted the gun on the doorway while Thrace approached it, gun at the ready.

Right before Thrace got beside the door, Wolff popped out, his gun raised and ready to shoot the Colonial pilot.

Julia fired first.

Her accuracy wasn't bad. She trained for it, even if she rarely used it, and some of the edge from her days in the Facility was still there. The shot, meant for Wolff's chest, was a little high. But it got his throat, and that was a shot she'd take.

Thrace made it to the bridge. Julia saw her kick at something, presumably Wolff's gun, and there was a shout of "Clear!"

Julia got back to her feet and walked up to the bridge. The pain in her side felt like it was growing worse. The wound was being aggravated by her constant movement and fighting. I'll get it checked, soon. But I've got to finish this first.

She entered the bridge, where Thrace was securing Wolff's body. Her eyes moved over the bloody wound on Julia's left side. "Damn, Commander. We'd better get you bandaged."

"We will when we're out of here." Julia pulled herself into the pilot seat. The controls weren't ones she normally used, but they were familiar enough. She started to run the pre-flight protocols, primarily systems checks. "Looks like Wolff didn't lock down his systems. He wanted to be able to leave in a hurry."

"So do we." Thrace stood up and looked to Anders. "The cargo bay looks just big enough for the Raptor. I'll fly her in now."

Julia nodded. "Go."

"Anders, stay with her," Thrace ordered. He nodded in agreement.

"If you can find something to bandage me with, I'd love to stop bleeding everywhere,' Julia remarked, the drollness in her voice evident.

Anders went to work on that.



With Lennier's help, Zaeed got Druni back to the safety of a building corner. From there he could direct fire on the men coming from the choppers, trying to keep them suppressed.

Druni was starting to stir. "Urh."

"We need you on your feet, girl," Zaeed insisted. "Come along, get up."

"Where did that pain come from?", Druni asked.

"I believe your foe attacked you from behind."

"I've never felt so much raw pain before," Druni said. She looked back to the ship. "Look, they've done it."

Everyone could turn and see that Thrace was coming down the cargo ramp and making for her ship.

"But we have yet to get the ones we came for…"

"We need to buy 'em time." Zaeed looked Druni over. "Think you can help me deal with those choppers? I can give you some cover if you can blast 'em out with that lightning."

"I'll need several seconds."

"You'll get 'em." Zaeed held up Jessie. "Ready?"

"I will go to assist Commander Andreys with her injuries," Lennier said to them. "As the Humans I've known would say, 'Good luck'."

Zaeed nodded.

When he rolled out of the corner to one knee - thus providing a smaller target - there were at least a dozen security men advancing, all armed with the same kind of rifles. Zaeed popped off a burst that claimed one, then another burst that took the legs out from another. The rest of them scattered and went prone, looking to avoid getting shot and to then shoot back.

Behind him Druni was already at work. She reached into the energy in the air with her gift, with the warm energy she had long felt within herself. Her arms wheeled around, splitting the energy in the air as they went, creating more and more of an imbalance between the latent positive and negative energies that existed around her.. She did so quickly, with less care than she normally managed, because she had only a second or two before she would be hit by gunfire.

She thrust her right hand forward just as one of the gunmen turned his weapon toward her. The charges she'd split crashed back together, following the channel her power laid for it. The resulting bolt of lightning shot through the air, crackling outward as it did and shocking at least two of the gunmen.

But the main bolt hit home: one of the helicopters, just as it was going to take off. The electricity blasted through the frame of the craft, warping and breaking it.

It also found the fuel tank.

A split second later, the helicopter exploded in a massive fireball that knocked down most of the remaining Centre gunmen. Some, hit by shrapnel, didn't get back up.

More importantly, flaming debris started hitting the third and last of the choppers, and it started to back away even with two more gunmen inside.

Zaeed followed up the attack with quick and deadly bursts from his rifle. Jessie's rounds hit home, and the attacking reinforcements were no longer a problem. "That's a God-amned impressive trick," he said, turning to Druni.

She was frowning, though. "Not everyone sees it that way," she said. "Knowing how to do this, and being willing to use it, cost me everyone I ever cared about."

"Their loss," Zaeed answered. "You ever want to go into merc work, I can set you up. You'll be a rich woman in months."

Druni didn't answer that.

Before she could act further, the door facing the Deadman's Hand opened. Angel came out and held the door open, allowing Jarod and Sydney to carry Major Charles and Emily out of the building. Emily was starting to walk more on her own power, but it was clear Charles was having trouble. "Take him," Emily insisted.

Jarod nodded. He took Charles' other arm to bring his dad to safety.

"Alright, let's get to the God-amned ship," Zaeed growled. "I'm not doin' this for creds, so no billin' by the hour."

Angel nodded. Druni pulled her tenari back out. "I'll catch up with you," she said. "I'm going to help Kasszas."

"After we get them to the ship," Zaeed said. "He's handlin' himself." Zaeed tilted his head toward the fight in question.




Kasszas' stick effortlessly batted away another jab by Denna with one of her weapons, with a twist of the stick knocking the other hand and weapon away from him. He spun around and smacked her with his tail, sending her rolling over the tarmac until she came to a crouch. A vicious snarl crossed her face.

"Strange how I am the blind one, but it is you who has not landed a blow," Kasszas remarked, keeping his staff level.

"Was that a taunt," Denna challenged.

"I thought that rather obvious." Kasszas brought his stick to a vertical position and held it. "Perhaps I should stand still for a moment and make the fight fair for you?"

The frustrated growl that left Denna's thrown caused the rapid hissing that amounted for a chuckle from her reptilian opponent. "Your attempts to provoke me are not humorous and not at all working!"

"But you see, I am not just trying to provoke you. I'm seeing you for what you really are, dark one." Kasszas' tail swished quietly behind him. The dawn light was now bringing some color to his light yellow and gray robes, but his dull eyes remained still and unmoving. "A spoiled child living only for transitory pleasures. No higher cause, no greater being, nothing but the moment for you, with the darkness in your heart the only way to fill the emptiness inside." Kasszas' reptilian voice took on a stronger, more hostile tone. "And I see those you have harmed. Your delight in torment and pain, all feeble efforts to fill that void. I should despise you, but I can't help but pity you."

"Pity?" Denna snarled. "Pity?! Pity is nothing! I don't need it! You can have the pity for what I'm going to do to you, you miserable lizard!" Denna gathered her strength and reached forward. Lightning crackled at her fingertips and lashed out at Kasszas.

But Kasszas was no longer there. The lightning struck the trees far behind him, setting them ablaze.

Kasszas moved with the grace of a predator. In seconds he crossed the distance from where he had been to where Denna was realizing her strike missed. His stick was a blur in her vision before it slammed into her forehead. The force knocked her unconscious immediately and she was sent flying, going through the air for several feet until she hit the ground, rolled, and came to a stop. Blood started to pool from her head from the force of the blow he'd struck

Kasszas lowered his head at the sight. "I am of Creation, and Creation is within me," he hissed, and then, with a sad sound, he turned away to rejoin the others.



At this same time, Meridina and Dralan were still off in their side of the property, near the barbed wire fence, continuing their duel. Meridina was meeting her foe blow for blow, giving ground but no openings. She could feel his rage and anger being stoked by frustration. He wanted her dead, as painfully as possible, and by not giving him that his frustration was becoming all-consuming.

Among those things being consumed was his control. Meridina watched his strikes lose their focus. The lakesh in his hands continued to batter at her blade, but as if it were a club and not a blade in of itself. His eyes remained locked onto her. His lips seemed to be permanently twisted into a snarl. This state gave him more power, but it cost him something more dear than power; it cost him control of the fight.

Meridina was in control, but it didn't mean she could win whenever she wanted. It meant she was in a position to dictate its pace if she acted accordingly. She opened herself up fully to the power around her, allowing her life force to sense everything and guide her thoughts to the solution.

"The things I'll do to you, whore of Swenya," Dralan roared. "The ways I'll make you scream, you slave of the Light!"

"A slave?" Meridina deflected another blow and parried a second. She gathered her strength and used it to stop his power when Dralan threw it at her wildly, attempting to knock her over. "Look at yourself, Dralan. You are a slave yourself. A slave to the darkness festering inside you."

"The dark is my strength!", Dralan shouted.

"It is your master," Meridina retorted. She took a step back while he continued to tremble with fury, giving herself maneuvering room. "It has enslaved you completely and totally. You have no will beyond it."

"I need no will with the darkness!"

And with that, Dralan took a step back and then lunged forward.

Meridina moved swiftly. She spun on her left foot, moving away and then toward Dralan just as his blade entered the space she had occupied. Her lakesh swung out with her, guided by both hands, and accompanying her spin until it found its target.

The blade passed cleanly through Dralan Olati's neck.

Head and body, no longer joined, toppled onto the ground. Meridina retracted her lakesh and summoned his blade to her hand with her power. She looked over his remains with contemplation, a little sorrow…

...and disgust. Disgust, which came a second later, because in that first second one emotion surged up from a terrible place inside her.

Joy.

She had felt joy, immense and gleeful satisfaction, or the taking of a life. At felling a dangerous foe who sought to kill her and people she cared for.

She secured her hilt to her waist belt and put the hand to her mouth in horror. How could she let such a dark thought come through?

The realization was a feeling that she was still tainted, and her doubts and fears resurfaced. If she had felt like this around others, they would see her as a swevyra'kse in the making. Her judgement would be swift and complete, and it would humiliate everyone she cared for.

Her multidevice chimed. Julia's voice came through it. "The ship's ready. And I've got more helicopters on sensors and approaching vehicles. We need to go."

After a moment, Angel said, "We're on our way. Don't bother waiting for Miss Parker, she's not coming."

"Angel, did you…"

"She didn't, Commander." The voice was Jarod's. "Miss Parker has unfinished business with the Centre. It's all she has left. And she saved my family's life.

"I see. Get on board, then, and watch out for Starbuck, she's going to be bringing the Raptor in." After a moment Julia added, "Meridina? Are your receiving?"

Meridina drew in a breath and looked back at Dralan's body. She considered his lakesh, the design on the hilt and the iconography engraved on it. The characters looked Gersallian, but she didn't recognize them precisely.

She pocketed it before tapping her own multidevice. "I am coming." And she turned, heart still heavy, to walk toward the commandeered smuggler's ship.




On the bridge of the ship, Lennier was checking over the secondary console. "The engines are ready," he said. "This vessel's anti-matter fuel is running low, but it should be sufficient for us to return to New Liberty."

"Yeah." Julia checked her life sensors. "It looks like everyone's aboard. I'm going to fire the thrusters." She turned her head and noticed Lennier staring at her. "Yes?"

"I believe you should let someone else pilot this vessel," he said. "You are wounded and need medical attention."

"I know," she replied. "But we've got to lift off now." She pressed a key. The ship lurched under them slightly and began to lift off. She grimaced and glanced down at her wound. It wasn't bleeding as profusely, but her clothes would have to go straight into the replicator for re-processing. There would be no getting those bloodstains out.

Once they reached the appropriate height Julia increased power to thrusters. She swapped to impulse drives as they reached the upper atmosphere, putting in a course to leave Earth's orbital space as quickly as possible. No cloaking device, just this emissions stealth. Dammit, there's no way the locals haven't seen us. Although I doubt they missed the ship landing too. Admiral Maran is going to be really irritated.

Once she was sure they were home free, Julia hit a button that was labeled for the ship intercom. "I need a ship pilot up here, I'd like to get patched up before I bleed out."

"Commander, I am getting a signal from the Tainaron."

Julia nodded at Lennier. "Put them on."

Yvonne's voice came over. "I see you made it."

"Complete success," Julia said.

"Are you okay? You sound like you've been hurt."

"I had a cyborg try to cut my head off. I was lucky and only had him slice me below the ribs." Julia smirked. "I'll live."

"Ah. Well, that's good. My best to you, Commander. Despite everything, it was a pleasure to meet you. Please do remember what I said, should the Alliance hold this against you."

Julia responded with a diplomatic "I'll keep that in mind. Andreys out."

By the time she finished saying so, the door to the bridge opened. Angel stepped in. She looked over Angel and shook her head. "So much for leave. You go off, get in a kung fu fight, and get yourself nearly sliced in half by a cyborg ninja or something."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, Starbuck said something about flying big bricks, Anders doesn't know a damn thing, and Druni is busy helping Jarod and Meridina tend to the wounded, i.e. you." Angel walked up to the piloting chair and gestured toward the door. "So I'm going to take over as ship's pilot. You go get that treated. I don't want to be the one to tell Robert that you bled out from being a stubborn jackass."

Julia sighed and chuckled. "Well, I'd hate to make you do that…" She got up, still favoring her wounded side, and walked to the back of the bridge. "Do we have any prisoners to watch? Besides Wilton?"

Angel shook her head. "No. Parker stayed behind, and aside from Wilton her team was dead."

"Right." Julia nodded and walked out.

Angel sighed and shook her head before taking the chair Julia had vacated. She looked over the console with something of a quizzical expression. "Okay, let's see…"

"Perhaps I should…?"

Angel turned her head and glowered at Lennier. "I know how to pilot a ship, okay? We all learned it."

"Ah. Well, if you insist," Lennier said. "Please do ensure our course will not involve our vessel plowing into something at warp speed."

Angel narrowed her eyes at the Minbari. "Are you trying to be funny?"

Lennier kept a plain look on his face. "Of course not. I'm sure you are aware that Minbari do not generally have a sense of humor."

"Because that sounded like you were razzing me about my ship piloting."

"I would never call attention to any alleged lack of competence on your part."

Now Angel was certain the Minbari was enjoying a laugh at her expense. "You know I can kick your ass, right?"

"I'm quite sure you are capable of kicking me on the backside."

With a look of comic exasperation on her face, Angel turned and directed her attention to plotting their course. The stolen ship jumped to warp a moment later.




The woman who called herself Yvonne stepped into her office. She reached out and hit a key. A circular holo-display built into the wall activated. Hernan de Corelo appeared on it. "So, they did it?"

"They did," Yvonne replied. She smiled at him. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter, Mister Corelo."

"You're welcome, Miss Lawson," was Hernan's reply. "I trust your superior will consider my offer?"

Miranda Lawson nodded. "Cerberus is in need of contacts in this bright new Multiverse that your people have linked us to. You'll hear from us again, Mister Corelo." She terminated the connection. The Illusive Man would indeed be pleased with the success of the operation, and of the opportunities it had presented.

With a press of a key on her desk Miranda activated her intercom. The Tainaron had other places to be, after all, and there was more work to do, always more work to do, to protect and improve Humanity.




Mister Raines watched sullenly as the smuggler starship lifted off, carrying Jarod and the Centre's leverage against him with it. The Centre had nothing to show for the operation now, nothing but dead sweepers, lost vehicles, and damage to the facility.

"Hello Raines."

Mister Raines turned the one functioning wheel on his wheelchair, allowing him to spin around and face Miss Parker. She held her gun toward him. "Ah." He put his hands together on his lap. "This is about your father, of course?"

"Why?", Parker demanded. "Why did you kill him? I gave you Jarod!"

"And yet you hid from us the knowledge that his friends were coming," Raines pointed out coolly. He smirked. "I know you have lived in a futuristic space age society for some time, so I suppose you forgot about directional microphones." He cackled at the look on her face. "Yes. We overheard your little conversation with your friend Kang. So I made the decision to put your father out of our misery. I decided His Lordship didn't need to know. After all, Mister Lyle was happy to do the deed."

"I'm glad I shot the son of a bitch dead, then."

"Did you?", Raines asked.

Parker frowned at that, and she followed Raines' eyes to the monitor on the screen showing the room Jarod had been confined in.

Lyle was gone.

That moment was when pain shot through Parker. She felt the pressure in her back, the pain within her, and only then noticed the metal blade sticking out of her belly. A sucking sound accompanied the blade's disappearance. With her strength failing she tilted over and propped herself up against the conference room table. This let her turn and face her attacker. "Y… you?", she asked in confusion. "Why?"

Kang was flicking the blood on his sword off. He looked down at her, his eyes obscured by his visor, and a slight grin crossed his face. "I couldn't let you kill Mister Raines. We have business to discuss."

Pain and fury crossed her face. "But I… we…"

"You've served your usefulness, Miss Parker."

"What are…."

Before she could finish, Kang slugged her in the jaw with enough force to break it, let alone knock her unconscious. She fell with a thump, blood still pouring from the deadly wound.

"She might have proven useful," Raines remarked. "Although I do not mind her being dead."

"You'd be surprised how much use a dead person can be." Kang put his sword up.

"And this business you've mentioned?"

Kang responded by pulling a device out of one of his pouches. A mass effect field generated around it, holding it in mid-air while a graphic displayed a bar filling up from 0% to 100% with the caption "Establishing Link".

When it hit 100% the proper communication channels were opened. Data surged through the ether between universes and the domain of subspace, forming into a real-time and life-size image seated just five feet in front of Raines. Raines looked at the man in the chair, noting the cigarette burning in between his fingers and the look of his business suit.

But what Raines noticed most were his eyes, his unnatural, mechanical-looking blue eyes.

"Hello, Mister Raines." The figure set his cigarette down. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Illusive Man. I believe you've already met my operative, Kai Leng?"

The man who had called himself Kang nodded slightly.

"I'm listening," Raines said.

"I've been aware of your organization for some time, Mister Raines," the Illusive Man continued. "I represent an organization called Cerberus. I believe that the Centre and Cerberus can be of great benefit to each other."

Raines narrowed his eyes. "I find that hard to believe given our… technological limitations."

"Technology isn't the only thing Cerberus looks for in picking partners, Mister Raines," the Illusive Man said. "The Centre has its own advantages. Your people can provide us with manpower, and most importantly, due to the state of your native Earth you could provide a certain degree of obscurity for special projects. And we are prepared to reward the Centre handsomely for its partnership."

There was silence in the conference room for several seconds. Raines thought the issue through. And what it meant for him if this went somewhere.

A small smile crossed the sickly man's face. "I believe I can say that we would be interested in your offer, Illusive Man," Raines rasped. "Very interested…"

 

[Big Steve]

Tag


The ship was still several hours out from New Liberty's counterpart in A4P5. Julia, exhausted and tired, was napping away in one of the quarters. A door chime drew her attention. Having stripped her bloodied clothes off, Julia had to settle for a shirt stolen from the captain's things that, due to Wolff's smaller height and other differences, only went down to the end of her ribcage. This meant the bloody bandage over her wound was visible.

When she got to the door, she found herself facing Zaeed. "Mister Massani?", she asked. "What can I do for you?"

"Just checkin' in on you. Wanted to see how well you were healin'. I don't get to meet tough as nails lady Commanders every day."

"Well, I'm glad I could fill that void for you," she replied. "I've already written up a quick report for Admiral Maran. I made sure to note your contributions and my recommendation that the Alliance Defense Command give you a contract for the war. I'll share it with Admiral Maran as soon as we return to the Aurora."

"That's what I was hopin' to hear. You wouldn't like how I deal with broken contracts."

"Yeah, I can imagine that. Anything else I can do for you?"

"Nothin'. I'm goin' to take some Zs now. Best if I take the last room, ever since I broke my nose my snorin' can wake up a hungover Salarian."

"Rest well, Mister Massani."




In the rear cargo bay, Meridina was staring at the lakesh she recovered from Dralan. The characters engraved on the hilt intrigued her. But she would have to consult with databases before she could figure out if they were some form of Gersallian writing or not.

"Meridina."

She looked up as Kasszas and Druni sat across from her. "I can sense your turmoil from across the ship," the Zigonian said. "What troubles you?"

"I killed a man."

"So did we," Druni said. "I killed several. It's not supposed to be easy, but it feels like this deeply effects you. You've never killed before?"

"No. I have." Meridina couldn't keep the shame from her face. "But this is the first time I felt joy in the act."

Druni nodded. "I see. Yes, I can understand that."

"The darkness within me… it lingers. Why? Why can't I purge myself of it, why can't I rid myself of Amaunet's taint?"

"Darkness comes from many sources, dear Sister," Kasszas said. "Perhaps you must look inward to see where this comes from, to truly understand it, and thus to deal with it."

"If I can't beat this darkness, I cannot be a swevyra'se any longer," Meridina said. "And I would have nothing."

"That may be where you are going wrong. Darkness is best dealt with by understanding, not suppression."

"My order does not feel that way."

"Nor did mine," Druni added.

"I see." Kasszas nodded. "And I know others who feel the same. And perhaps their ways are the best for you. I can only wish you well, Meridina, and that you find the harmony within that you seek. Should you wish it, my brothers in the Harmonious Val-Drellim will aid you in this purpose. You need only ask."

Meridina let a small smile come to her face. "My thanks, Kasszas." She looked to them. "What shall you do when we return to New Liberty?"

"I will do as always, and follow where Creation leads," Kasszas said.

Druni nodded. "I'm not sure. I really like New Liberty, but I imagine I'll move on before long." She glanced toward Kasszas. "Perhaps I'll visit Kasszas' universe and his homeworld. I'm not sure if Lennier will go too, but we're not technically traveling together, and I've no idea what he intends to do in the long-term."

"You would be welcome. Although, perhaps, you should also be careful. The ways of the Harmonies of Tsorra-Mahl can be difficult for other species to understand, or to deal with."

"I'll keep that in mind." Druni looked to Meridina. "And you? I've never heard of a swevyra'se holding military rank before. Are you going to stay with your ship?"

"I am," Meridina replied. "I have people who count on me. It is for their sake that I must deal with this darkness within me."

"Then I look forward to seeing you again in the future. May the Eternal Goddess forever cast her light upon your path, both of you."

"May Creation keep us on our intended paths," Kasszas replied. "And may they cross again."

Meridina smiled gently at them both. "Mi rake sa swevyra iso, Kasszas, Druni."




Julia and Angel met in the center hall and went to the bridge. Lennier was still sitting at the support station, watching over the ship's systems, and it made Julia wonder if the Minbari ever had to sleep.

Jarod was piloting the ship now, and doing so in the company of his family. Charles and Emily had found clothing in Wolff's belongings to make use of and, given their ordeal, looked rather well. Meridina's healing abilities had apparently helped them greatly, just as they'd helped to reduce the depth of the cut in Julia's side.

"I'm still not sure… I mean, look at this," Emily said. "I feel like I'm in a dream."

"I felt the same way last year." Sydney was sitting at an auxiliary station in the corner. "It's hard to believe all of this is possible. But you'll get used to it."

"Over time, it even starts to get a little mundane," Angel remarked. She leaned against the door to the bridge with her arms crossed. "And I still sometimes can't imagine how we started all of this."

Charles nodded and looked to them. "I want to thank you for taking care of Jarod," he said. "All of you." He looked toward Sydney.

Sydney lowered his eyes. "I don't think I deserve your thanks, Charles. I was complicit in the Centre's crimes."

"And you've made up for them," Charles insisted. He turned his head back to Julia and Angel. "And you two. Commander, Lieutenant…"

"We don't have to stand on ranks here." Julia smiled at him. "I'm Julia and she's Angel."

"Well then, Julia, Angel." Charles smiled and nodded. "Thank you both very much, not just for saving us, but for giving Jarod a home. For being his family when we couldn't be with him."

Julia nodded. She accepted the hug that the older man gave her. "We were lucky to have him." She looked past to where Jarod was looking over his instruments. There were tears in his eyes.

"Family's important for all of us," Angel added, accepting the hug. Emily gave them hugs too. "And that goes for you two as well."

"Thank you," Emily said. She breathed in a sigh. "Well… I guess I'm going to have to find something to do when we get to this colony of yours. Or do you have reporters in your space age civilization?"

"Oh yes," Julia said, nodding and grinning. "We've got reporters."

"There are two newspapers in New Liberty Colony that do live broadcasts over the planetary data net," Sydney remarked. "I'm friends with an editor of the Herald, I could get you an interview within a week or so."

"Well, at least I'll be doing what I love," Emily remarked.

"And I'll find something as well," Charles said. "It's going to be strange, though. I'm going to have to get used to not being on the run."

"I can tell you that it's a great feeling," Jarod said. He turned in his chair and faced them. His expression was thoughtful. "Dad, about Mom…"

"She's safe," Charles said. "I made sure of that. The Centre can't find her."

"I'd still like to find her and bring her with us," Jarod said. "We can't bring back Kyle, but…" He stopped and lowered his eyes in thought. "I don't want to have her go through what you did. I don't want to abandon her."

"You haven't. We haven't," Charles insisted. "And when we get the chance, we'll go back for her. But don't worry, son, she's completely safe where she is."

"I can talk with President Morgan and Admiral Maran and try to see if they can get an exception made," Julia said. "Assuming I'm not court-martialed over this."

Angel rolled her eyes. "The mission succeeded, we brought Jarod back safe and sound, and we even recovered the ship Miss Parker took to A4P5 Earth so there's no risk of the technology falling into the wrong hands. So tell me, worry wart, why would they court-martial you?"

Julia leveled a look at Angel. Before she could speak on the matter, a tone came from Jarod's console. He turned back. "We're arriving at Harvest. Taking us out of warp."

The cargo ship dropped out of warp near the planet Harvest, the A4P5 version of New Liberty's planet. "There's a couple of ships in orbit." Jarod looked to Lennier.

Lennier was already activating the communications system. "I'm requesting a jump point to H1E4, set for New Liberty." After a moment he nodded. The interuniversal transport Van Sickle is preparing to open one for us. They state that the Aurora is already waiting for you on the other end."

"Send them our thanks," Julia requested, and Lennier did so.

"We're really going to change what universe we're in," Emily stated, almost questioned, with clear wonder and disbelief in her voice.

"Yes, we are," Jarod said. "And then you'll get to see our ship."

Ahead of them the jump point opened, an emerald vortex in the void of space. Jarod accelerated the Deadman's Hand and entered the point. There was that customary tremor through the ship as it made the jump and transitioned between universes. On the other side they got an immediate view of New Liberty, where night had fallen on the main colony and turned it into a small collection of bright light on the surface. "Welcome to your new home, Dad, Emily," Jarod said.

Julia was enjoying the looks on their faces as Jarod turned the ship. "And there she is," Jarod began, "our ship, the Star…"

Jarod stopped, as if stunned into silence. Bewildered looks appeared on the faces of Charles, Emily, and even Sydney.

Confused, Julia turned to face the bridge window.

The sight she saw wiped the grin off her face.

"Mother of God…", gasped Angel.

The Aurora hung in space before them, as they had expected.

Her great azure hull was covered, simply covered, in blackened and charred hull armor, with the scoring of weapons impacts having obliterated parts of the green and white stripes along her starboard side. Her deflector dish, a circle of brilliant blue and gold, was charred by battle damage. Wispy clouds of plasma were still seeping from both of the starboard warp nacelles, which flickered from power failures. A great, massive gouge had been ripped from the lower primary hull, now covered in replicated armor patching.

Nearby, equally visible, was the Koenig, blackened and battered, a visible hole toward the rear of the ship not far from the engineering spaces.

Julia finally found her voice. "What the hell…?", she asked.

For the moment, nobody was answering.

 

[Big Steve]

Teaser


6 May 2642

2 Hours Ago

The system was a forgettable one, with no habitable worlds, terraformable worlds, or even asteroids or spatial bodies with valuable resources. On maps it was usually only identified as a system with a string of letters and/or numbers, regardless of the map-maker.

But the reports had made it clear. For the last four months, the Nazi Reich had been using System S4W8-452TD as the location of a supply depot for the Raumkriegsmarine. It was one of many targets that were supporting the Reich's war effort. Its elimination would complicate Reich logistics and undermine the advantages of the Reich's shorter supply lines.

That was why the Starship Aurora and a complete battle group of the Alliance Stellar Navy had jumped into the system, the way prepared by jump probes dropped by the Starship Albacore.

The plan, explained to Robert by Admiral Martino on the Earth Confederacy carrier Themistocles, was a raid in the purest since. They would jump in via the probes and launch a full assault on the supply base, a space station in orbit around a planetoid-sized object along the main plane of 452TD's asteroid belt. The nearest enemy fleet unit was at least four hours away at even maximum warp, giving time to destroy even a heavily-shielded base.

As it turned out, there was no supply base. Instead, within a pocket of local space that dampened sensor returns, there was a large Reich naval battle group waiting to commence a pre-planned warp jump to intercept them.

On the bridge of the Aurora, Robert could do nothing as the battle swiftly turned against them. The Nazis had numbers, and more than that, they had not one but two Aryan-class dreadnoughts, as well as one of the older Lutzow-class battlecruisers, which were slamming their forces with super-disruptor fire. Sitting nearby, Locarno was reading off the incoming tactical reports. "We've just lost the Umikaze and the Ramage."

"Status on the Themistocles," Robert said. "We've got to get them free if we can."

Locarno shook his head. "Their impulse drives are down. Warp systems not responding."

On the screen, the Aurora's main weapons were busy hammering one of the dreadnoughts. Through concentration of fire, they'd managed to get its shields low enough that their heaviest weapons, the pulse plasma cannons, were blasting holes into its armored hide.

But that left the battlecruiser and the second dreadnought to come after them and the Themistocles, all while the swarms of Z-2500s and the dozen plus Dresden-class light cruisers decimated their supporting ships. And to make matters worse, without impulse drives, the Themistocles couldn't jump. It wouldn't be able to enter a jump point under fire without impulse power.

That thought crossed Robert's mind in regards to his own ship as it rocked steadily again. At the helm, filling in for Locarno, Ensign Violeta Arterria was busy maneuvering the kilometer-long Aurora to minimize the effect of enemy fire, but even the most experienced ship pilot would have problems throwing off fire against a target as big as the Aurora. "Sir, we're losing impulse power!", she reported.

Lucy was at Ops, filling in for Jarod, and added, "Primary and secondary shield generators are overwhelmed, tertiary generators are failing! Armor self-repair systems operating at seventy percent capacity."

Robert keyed the intercom with his chair control. "Scotty, we're going to be sitting ducks!"

"I'm doin' all I can about it, sir!," replied the experienced engineer. "But we're takin' tae much fire, th' shields cannae keep up!"

On the screen a Reich cruiser exploded, courtesy of the Aurora's main battery and a torpedo run from the Koenig. Zack's ship, with the Trigger-class ships Albacore and Wahoo, moved on to attacking another target.

"I'm picking up more ships coming out of warp!", Caterina cried out from the Science station. "Reich warships. Multiple cruisers and destroyers, attack ships… and one dreadnought." She swallowed. "Going by their profiles and ID codes… I think they're SS."

Robert's stomach threatened to twist into the proverbial Gordian knot. "We can't win this," he muttered.

"Command message from the Themistocles, audio only," Locarno said.

Admiral Martino's accented voice boomed over the speaker. "All ships, break free and jump! The Themistocles is lost!"

Robert tapped a key on his chair to open the tactical communications line to Martino. "Admiral, we can try to tractor you into a jump point."

The Italian man's response was immediate. "Negative, Captain, you're out of position. If you come in to assist, the Aurora will be lost as well. You must go!"

Robert hated it, but Martino was right. The carrier was a lost cause. "Acknowledged. I'm sorry, Admiral."

"Godspeed, Captain."

Even after the line cut, Robert wasn't quite done. "Can we beam anyone off of our crippled ships?", he asked Lucy. "Or out of our side's escape pods?"

Lucy shook her head. "Not many. I've got all transporter stations working on it, though."

That would have to be enough. Every survivor beamed away was one less survivor left to whatever torments the Reich had in store for them. Robert turned to face tactical. With Angel gone, Lieutenant Syrandi Luneri was manning the post. The purple-skinned, teal-spotted Dorei woman was proficient at tactical and had done what she could, but there were so many targets that she couldn't do much more. "Lieutenant, direct firepower forward. We're going to punch our way out."

"Aye sir," Syrandi answered.

"Nick, signal Koenig, I want Zack at our side. Recall all fighters and signal any ship in range to follow us."

"Sending signal now," Locarno said.

"We'd better hurry," Cat added. "Those SS ships… they're not going after the Themistocles. They're after us."




The bridge of the Koenig had much the same atmosphere as the Aurora. Zack was focused on the tactical picture on his display and in his head as his ship, and its two half-sister ships (Cousin ships?, he mused), maneuvered closer to Aurora. A Nazi heavy cruiser moved to intercept them. "Get them out of the way, April!", he shouted.

Lieutenant April Sherlily, his tactical officer, gave him an "Aye sir" as her first response. Her second response was a furious barrage of pulse phaser cannon fire that raked across the side of the heavy cruiser. Solar torpedoes rushed to join her shots.

Other torpedoes and pulse cannon fire converged on the cruiser. Three attack ships might yet have failed to cut her side open like Zack had wanted, but the Aurora sent several phaser beams into the cruiser as well. Its shields degraded from the barrage and his torpedoes, and those from other ships, hit home. The explosions flowered along the port side of the cruiser. At least one hit was a lucky one, as the enemy cruiser was clearly losing main power.

It made its mark before dying, though. The cruiser's disruptors lashed out at the Aurora. Her navigational deflector sputtered and flickered as emerald beams stabbed away at it. Another beam, one of the last before the cruiser's guns went quiet, stabbed into the Aurora's lower starboard nacelle. Flame erupted from the wound, joined by wispy plasma leaking through the injury as the nacelle itself began to flicker from power loss.

Zack checked his tactical display. Other ships were trying to break out with them. Some weren't making it.

But something worse loomed over his tactical display. More enemy ships had entered the system, and they were heading right for the Aurora.

"Those aren't A-1700s," Lt. Magda Navaez observed from ops. "It looks like a new assault ship design. I'm reading larger disruptor emitters. And their shield strength is stronger."

"A new challenge, then," Zack announced, hoping that the confidence would ease the worry he knew the others had. "Ap, don't let them get too close to the Aurora. We need to make sure they break out."

"Aye sir," Apley said.

Within a minute combat was rejoined. Dark-hulled SS ships loomed ahead and turned the space around them into a flurry of emerald beams and bursts. Missiles streaked out and met the Aurora's point-defense phaser banks, strobing out as thin amber lines from the ship to meet the incoming missiles. But not every missile was stopped, and those that got through blasted through the Aurora's failing shields and scoured her armor and hull.

Apley kept them moving, evading the incoming missile fire, while Sherlily maintained phaser fire on any target that presented itself.

This changed at the approach of the enemy assault ships. They had previously been referred to as gunboats, reflecting that they were little more than flying cannon batteries easily smashed by the Koenig. But these ships were anything but. Sherlily's phaser barrages did a number on their shields, but they did not remove them with the speed or ease they might normally enjoy. And the enemy disruptor cannons and missile fire was tremendous. The Koenig endured several hits that reduced its shields. The other ships with them were faring similarly, even as they sought to give as good as they got it.

"We're losing dorsal shields," Magda warned.

"Divert emergency power to shields and engines," Zack ordered.

As he made the order, a Nazi dreadnought loomed ahead of them. The Aryan-class ship was painted black as night, save for the swastika emblem of the Reich - the Hakenkreuz of black on a white circle in a red field - and, as an SS ship, twin thunderbolts that looked like the letter "S". The ship had that same slanted look as most Reich ships, with the drive hull slanting upward to meet the blocky primary hull area.

This ship was the most dangerous of the ones in their path because it had the largest "super-disruptors", large spinal mount disruptor cannons that could blast through even the toughest shields, along with smaller versions of the same that were multi-directional banks. If one of the spinal models hit the Koenig, even their armor wouldn't save them. It would likely be a one-hit kill.

But they weren't aiming at the Koenig, but the Aurora.

And Zack could do nothing as it fired.




The entire bridge of the Aurora felt like it was going to shake to pieces. "Direct hit!", Lucy reported. "Forward shields are down! They just…" She swallowed. "They just shot a hole clear through the primary hull! All primary hull decks have taken damage, multiple sections…"

Robert looked to Lt. Tom Barnes, Scotty's main assistant, manning the engineering station on the side of the bridge. "Divert all power to shields and impulsor drives, now!"

"I'm on it!", Barnes answered.

The Aurora's shields, taking in power from the rest of the ship, strengthened partially. It wouldn't last, not with the shield generators overwhelmed, but it might get them clear.

Might.

The weapons fire from the Aurora ceased as the weapons were denied the energies they needed, everything devoted to the Aurora's escape from the deadly Nazi trap. Disruptor shots continued to strike the hull, missiles joining them as point-defensive fire couldn't keep up with the barrage. Syrandi wisely diverted the PD weapons' fire to the much deadlier shield-disrupting torpedoes that the enemy destroyers were chucking toward them.

It was tense and close. Robert started to feel his breath come back to him as open space cleared on the monitor. They were doing it. They were almost out.

"Sir, we don't have any warp power," Violeta reported. "We've got three damaged nacelles."

"Forget about the warp drive. Send to all ships, jump as soon as they're clear!"




Main Engineering on the Koenig was in a state of surprising control, and that was mostly from the leadership of Lieutenant Karen Derbely, the ship's Chief Engineer, who had long made clear to her personnel what she expected of them in a crisis situation. "Lutal, Krrit, make sure those power conduits aren't overloading, we can't afford a short!", she cried out, looking over the Master Systems Display in the middle of Engineering. Into her communication line she added, "Hajar, I need you and a damage control team on Deck 3, Section D, the primary engine coupling is showing too much stress."

"On our way."

Derbely stepped away from the display and went over toward the plasma coolant conduit with a scanner. With the rest of her team already busy dealing with the increasing damage, she was the only one who could ensure the vital piece of machinery was working, keeping the power conduits handling the tremendous energy being generated by the ship's naqia reactors from melting down. Her scan confirmed her fear, that the pounding they were taking was causing stress damage to the coolant lines. I'm going to have to get a team on this, she thought, turning away from the coolant.

Just as she was walking away, the ship rocked so violently Derbely was thrown to the floor. The intensity of the shock told her what the MSD would have if she looked toward it. The Koenig had just suffered a direct hit, not just any direct hit, but one that had blasted through the armor and…

There was a shriek of metal and a horrible slushing noise. Derbely's heart froze in fear the moment her mind realized what it was.

The plasma coolant line had ruptured.

Right beside her.

In the end, she couldn't turn in time before the coolant struck her. All she could do was scream in agony until everything went dark.




The Koenig's bridge had rocked just as violently at the impact. Their harnesses kept them in their seats, of course, but that meant Zack was sure he'd have a bruise over his chest. "Report!"

"Direct hit on dorsal hull, we've been hulled!", Magda answered. "Damage to Decks 1 through 3, Sections C and D!" Magda noticed the blinking warning light. "We've got a plasma coolant link in Main Engineering!"

Zack took that news with horror. Depending on which plasma line linked… if it was the post-cycle coolant, carrying heat away to the heat exchangers… that plasma would melt anything and everything down to the bone if it hit them.

Even worse, the ship's safety systems would kick in, shutting down any broken coolant lines to prevent further leakage, and in the process force the ship's power systems and drives to reduce output to prevent overheating.

"I'm losing impulsor power!", Apley said.

"Bridge, this is Engineer Lang," a man with a German accent said over the comms. "The feeding coolant lines ruptured, we have lost one-third of our coolant capacity. Automatic systems are reducing power."

"Override them!", Zack insisted, even as the thought Where is Karen? went through his head. "We need every bit of power we can get to keep up!"

"Engaging overrides, sir. At our current rate of power usage, we have an estimated five minutes until the power systems overheat!"

"Understood." Zack frowned. He was worried about Derbely, but that had to wait until his ship was clear. In five minutes we'll either be safe or dead anyway.

"Impulsor power back to enhanced level," Apley reported. "We're starting to clear them!"

"Sir, the jump drive won't engage," Magda said. "That direct hit damaged it."

"Signal the Aurora and get us beside her, then," Zack urged. "We'll jump out with them."

"Yes sir," Apley and Magda said simultaneously.




On the Aurora bridge, Robert watched with tentative relief as they seemed to clear the enemy squadron. "Engage jump drive on my mark!"

On the screen they could already see green jump points forming around them. Individual ships, mostly the destroyers and attack ships that had evaded the overwhelming enemy fire,

"Captain, the Koenig just signaled." Locarno looked at Robert. "Their jump drive is down. They're moving to jump alongside us."

"How long until they're in range to enter our jump point?"

"Fifteen seconds!"

"Jump when they're in position."

The ship shook again. "That dreadnought's targeting our engines," Lucy said. "I'm not sure we have fifteen seconds."

Barnes didn't have to be asked, considering it was the Koenig. "I'm diverting all available power to the aft shield generators!"

The aft shields of the Aurora strengthened as more disruptor fire and missiles crashed into them. With the dreadnought firing on them, it was a question of how much more they could take.

"Aft shields at twenty-five percent," Lucy reported. The ship shuddered again. "Twenty-two… twenty… eighteen…"

"The dreadnought is firing!", Cat added, seeking the power spike on her screens. She drew in a breath out of sheer terror at what that meant.

The three spinal mount super-disruptors on the SS dreadnought fired at once. A last second roll of the ship by Violeta kept two from hitting the Aurora. The middle blast, however, could not be evaded.

It speared the back of the primary hull, striking the docking port for the Koenig directly. Flame and debris erupted from the wound now carved into the Aurora as the shot carried into the hull areas adjacent to the dock and, above, to the primary shuttle bay. Further explosions went off, relatively minor, as several craft in the bay were damaged and destroyed by the blast.

One of the misses also struck home, but not on the Aurora. Robert could only watch in horror as the Albacore, just about fly into its jump point, was hit in the rear section by the disruptor beam. With the attack ship's shields battered to near-nothingness, its armor alone couldn't resist the blast. The Trigger-class attack ship disintegrated until it was nothing but a cloud of debris. The jump point it generated closed as nothing kept it open any longer.

A second later, Koenig was alongside the Aurora. "Activating jump drive!", Lucy shouted.

Ahead of them space was pulled open by an emerald flash that expanded into a swirling vortex. Violeta, and Apley on the Koenig, put everything into their impulsor drives. Robert forced himself not to gulp as they came close, to within seconds, of escape, as it felt that any moment the Nazis might yet stop them, might shoot the jump point and de-stabilize it…

Then the ship lurched below him, a familiar lurch, as it flew through the point. Koenig surged ahead, entering a split second later.

Ahead of them, the carnage of 452 TD had disappeared from the viewscreen. Instead it was New Liberty, spinning quietly as the Colony moved toward night.

"We made it," Cat squeaked.

Robert nodded and swallowed. "Nick, I want damage reports and casualty reports. Lucy…" Robert drew in a breath. "Get me Admiral Maran, highest priority."

"Yes sir."

"How did they know we were coming?", Cat asked. "I mean, were they expecting us? Was this a trap from the start?"

"I don't know," Robert said. "But someone's going to have to find out."

Undiscovered Frontier
"The Wages of Fear"​

Now



The tension on the bridge had mostly given way to post-battle exhaustion and relief when the word came that Julia and the others had arrived at Harvest in A4P5. Robert had Jupap, now manning Operations with Lucy and Tom Barnes off helping with the repairs, relay the message to the Van Sickle to please provide the jump point, and the vessel's captain swiftly signaled agreement.

The squad cargo ship that came out of the jump point moved toward them for several moments before Jupap confirmed they were being hailed. "Put them on."

The screen shifted. Julia dominated the middle of it, but he could also see Angel and a Minbari in the background. "Robert, what happened?", she asked.

"A disaster," he answered quietly. "Did you find Jarod?"

Julia nodded. "He's right here. We got his family out too."

"At least something went right around here," mumbled Locarno, who was still in Julia's chair.

Julia noticed that too. "I'll be right over with Angel and Meridina. We'll transfer the ship over to our allies."

"I'm coming too," Jarod added. "You'll need everyone to start getting the ship fixed up."

Robert nodded. "It's good to see you're safe, Jarod. I just wish you didn't have to come home to this."

He nodded. "It certainly wasn't the homecoming I expected."

"I imagine you'll want to spend time with your family…"

Jarod looked offscreen. A male voice with an English accent said, "It's fine, Jarod. Emily and I will be here when you have time."

At that Jarod looked back to Robert and shook his head. "I'll be over with the others."

"Alright. We'll beam you aboard as soon as you signal. Aurora out."

The image disappeared from the screen. Once it was gone, Robert stood from his chair. "Nick, you've got the bridge. I want to go finish my full report to Admiral Maran." He looked to Jupap as he walked past, stopping briefly to face the Alakin Operations Officer. "If we get any signals from Command, let me know. Maybe… maybe the other attacks went off better."

Jupap nodded. "Yes sir," he chirped.

Robert nodded back, knowing his expressed optimism was sorely misplaced, and went into his office and straight to his desk.







With the Deadman's Hand left to Lennier to land on the planet and turn over to the New Liberty police, Julia and the others made quick stops by their quarters to change into uniforms before they went on duty. Angel went off to take over Tactical, Meridina to her Security office, and Jarod was off to join up with the repair teams. That left Julia to head straight to the bridge.

When she got there, Locarno was in the command chair. He nodded at her and gestured toward Robert's bridge office. "He's waiting for you."

Julia nodded. "Who did we lose?"

Locarno sighed. "Most of the crew in and around the main shuttle bay. We took casualties on most of the decks, especially in the primary hull from that shot that went straight through. Right now we're looking at about a hundred and fifty casualties confirmed. At least forty dead." Locarno looked toward the viewscreen, where the Koenig was visible. "Carrey's got eighteen casualties and at least six dead."

Julia felt her fists clench. A sudden thought seized her. You were supposed to be here for this. If you'd been here, you could have made a difference. She brushed it off, as much as she could, and asked, "What happened?"

"It was a trap," he replied. "Robert will fill you in."

Julia nodded. She turned away and went for the ready room door. As she did so her wound started to sting. Whether from something wrong with her bandaging or a psychosomatic response to her feelings on the situation… she couldn't tell.

Robert was at his desk, working the hard-light keyboard on the office's desk while looking at his screen. He looked up as she entered and stood to attention. "Julie," he said, signaling an intention to be informal. "It's good to see you. When Chief Almerda said you had left to rescue Jarod… well, given what he said about Parker's team I was a little worried."

"I understand." She went to a chair and sat down. The suddenness of the move did more to make her wound hurt, enough that an involuntary wince came across her face.

Robert noticed it immediately. "Are you okay? Were you hurt?"

"I'll live," Julia answered, although she was visible favoring the side that had been cut.

Robert could have actively sensed for her wound and known how much it had hurt, and what damage it'd done. As it was, between the fatigue in her features and the clear pain she felt, he knew Julia's wound was not insubstantial. But he couldn't bring himself to do that. It felt like it would be a violation of Julia's privacy.

"What happened?", she asked. "Nick said it was a trap."

"Admiral Maran had reports that the Reich's fleet movements were opening a window that would let us jump into their rear areas and hit their supply system before their fleets could respond. He threw every available ship he had into the mission, including the Aurora, and we had to leave right away." Robert frowned and set his hands on the table. "But instead of an undefended supply base, we found a Reich attack fleet waiting in ambush." Robert put a hand on his chin and shook his head. "They went right after us and the Themistocles. They crippled her, and we couldn't stop it. We were lucky to escape in the end given the beating we took."

"Why didn't you jump to a repair yard?"

"Lucy just used our last jump coordinate to get us out quickly." Robert shook his head. "And with the damage to our impulsors and power systems, Scotty wants a few hours to complete some repairs before we jump again." Robert gestured to his computer. "So I'm passing the time getting a report filed." He sighed. "And worrying."

"About?"

"it's been two hours, and no word from Portland about what's going on," Robert said. "I'm worried about what happened, and… I'm worried that Admiral Maran was leading one of the task forces. If we lost him…"

The thought was a chilling one. Maran had become one of the most respected leaders in the Alliance. His loss would be a massive blow to Alliance morale, especially if it came with the losses this operation had caused.

Moreso, for them personally, it would mean losing one of their biggest supporters in the Alliance military command structure. And even if President Morgan selected someone else to head his Defense Staff, Admiral Davies would gain in authority and influence, and he had made it clear he intended to strip the Aurora from them as part of his fears about the Gersallian Order of Swenya.

"I think we would have heard something if Admiral Maran as captured or dead," Julia said. "He's probably just busy trying to deal with what happened."

Robert frowned. "This was supposed to shorten the war. Now we might have prolonged it. We've lost the initiative we've been picking up. There's no telling how the Nazis are going to react."

"What's more important is how we react. We can't give up over a single setback, no matter how large."

"I hope enough people see it your way." Robert's thoughts about the politics were dark enough. Some of the Alliance states were still avoiding full application of their strength to the effort, forcing Morgan to burn political capital to cajole them into greater efforts. Now those states would be even more reluctant to expend their efforts.

Robert looked Julia over. "There's nothing more you can do, Julie. You should go see Leo about getting that fixed." His head nodded toward forward and slightly to the side.

"I can take over the bridge for Nick."

"Pacetti is already on his way to do that. Right now, you need medical attention." He could have ordered her, but Robert instead added, "Please."

Julia had a frustrated look on her face. But seeing the concerned look on Robert's and the pain still stinging in her side, she sighed and nodded. "I'll go down there right away."

"Thank you." Robert checked his screen. "Get some rest. I know you need to be in your own bed for a night of sleep. We'll talk again in the morning."

Julia nodded and stood from her chair. She left the room and returned to the bridge. Angela had relieved Lieutenant Luneri at Tactical and was looking over things. She caught Julia's eye, and the look they shared said it all.

Could we have made a difference?







The medbay was busy when Julia came on. Numerous crew were on the biobeds or stretchers, waiting for their turn to be treated for injuries sustained in the fight. Julia found it was standing room only.

"Commander." Nasri's voiced carried over the din of moans, ponderings, and quiet conversations. She walked up, looking tired herself. "What's wrong?"

"A cyborg with a sword tried to cut my head off," she replied. "I dodged and he cut below my ribs instead."

"A deep cut?"

"I figured it would need stitches. And Meridina was too tired to do anything for it."

"Come this way." Nasri led Julia beyond some of the patients and to her examination area, now vacant. "Let me see."

Julia pulled off her uniform jacket and the undershirt she wore beneath it, down to her undergarment. The bloodstain on the bandage had grown a little since Julia changed clothes. Julia waited for Nasri to look it over. She felt her pull the bandages back and examine the wound, which stung like hell. The bandage went back on. "It's not too deep of a cut, but deep enough that you would have needed stitches if we didn't have dermal regenerators." Nasri frowned. "But this will call for a heavy regenerator. I'll need to get you to a biobed and you'll have to wait for a unit to open up."

"Nick told me we had a hundred and fifty casualties."

"Closer to two hundred now," Nasri replied.

Over a tenth of the crew, Julia thought.

Nasri handed Julia a gown. "Put this on and bring your uniform." With the gown on and her uniform and undershirt under her left arm, Julia followed Nasri through the medbay to a group of biobeds with larger bits of medical equipment around them. The non-urgent operation ward was adjacent to the critical care ward and she could see worse cases inside.

"You'll be seen in order," Nasri said. "It's standard procedure, you understand."

"Yeah." Julia nodded. "I'll be fine."

Nasri nodded and guided her to one of the unused biobeds, beside the entrance to the critical ward. Julia sat on the biobed, which immediately began displaying general physical information regarding her on its main display.

She had only a few minutes of quiet before she saw Zack work his way in. He was in his uniform and looked much like Robert had. His eyes were focused on the door to the critical ward so much that he didn't notice her until she called out to him. "Zack." When he turned and looked her way, she asked, "Are you okay?"

"No," he admitted. "I lost too many people."

Julia nodded. Proportionally speaking, his casualties had been worse, eighteen in a crew of about fifty being over a third of his crew. The Aurora was just starting to approach the ten percent loss mark in contrast. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"It wouldn't have changed anything," Zack answered, his eyes still distant. "We were betrayed. Or tricked. They were waiting for us and had us outnumbered and outgunned from the first shot." Zack shook his head. "Whoever screwed this up needs to be fired."

"I'm sure there will be an investigation." Julia chuckled bitterly. "Hell, I'm probably going to be investigated for everything I did to get Jarod back."

"Whatever you did, Julia, you actually succeeded. This was a complete fiasco, and it got good people killed."

"Who are you here to see?"

"Karen." Zack glanced in the direction of the critical ward. "When we took that direct hit that blew through our armor, the shock blew a coolant line in main engineering. The only reason she's alive is because it was the pre-cycle line."

Julia nodded. "I'll come with you, if you want."

The appreciation was visible on Zack's face. He accepted and they walked, together, into critical care.

The cases here were the worst of those who had a chance to survive. Missing limbs, burns, all sorts of injuries and damage were treated here.

There were fifty beds in this particular ward, arranged into rows of ten beds, with various pieces of medical equipment out for the use of the patients. Julia and Zack went over to one in the corner. If the name at the base of the bed hadn't read "K. Derbely", Julia would have never known it was her.

Virtually the entirety of Derbely's head was covered in bandages. What little was visible around her closed eyes showed signs of hideous burning. Aside from the gown she had heavy bandaging visible on every other portion of her body.

"It's a miracle she survived," Julia murmured.

"Yeah. A miracle," Zack said. There was a bitter tone in his voice. He looked over his unconscious chief engineer with a deep frown that contrasted heavily with the smiles he'd had just a couple of days ago. "My ship's been shot up, the Nazis kicked our asses… the way things are going, we need miracles."

"Zack." Julia touched his hand. "You look exhausted. Maybe you should get some rest."

He turned his head and faced her. There was a look in his brown eyes, one of frustration and pain. Had he been in a better mood, he would have reacted to her clear need for rest. "I can't," he said. "I've got responsibilities."

Julia opened her mouth to speak further, but stopped herself. If their positions were reversed, she'd be feeling terrible too.

A treacherous voice in her head added, And at least Zack was here for them, I can't say the same can I?

"Zack, Julia."

Both turned to face an exhausted Leo, wearing his medical blues with a white lab coat. "We've done all we can for her now, Zack," Leo said. "Lieutenant Derbely will be transferred to a full medical station as soon as possible."

"Will she make it?', Zack asked. His voice was hollow.

Leo sighed and nodded slightly. "I'd give her good odds. Seventy percent for at least a partial recovery. We just have to keep the damaged tissues clean of infection until the specialists can begin a full dermal restoration on her. There may be other damage she'll need therapy for."

Zack showed relief at that. "At least we have that." Zack looked at Julia. "Any word on how long we have until we can dock again?" When she froze for the moment, Zack caught himself. "Oh, sorry," he said. "I forgot you didn't know." His words were calm and withdrawn, as if they hadn't just unintentionally acted as a means of brutally declaring "You wouldn't know because you weren't here".

Julia bit into her lip. Her eyes looked away from him.

Zack was still looking at Derbely and didn't notice the reaction. Nevertheless he sighed. "Well, I'd better get back to the ship. My crew needs me."

"Hopefully they'll have your dock fixed soon," Leo offered. "Your people need your quarters here on the Aurora to get a proper rest."

Zack smirked at that. "Yeah, I know. So does my crew." He looked over to them and forced a smile to his face. "Thanks, Julie."

"What for?", she asked.

"For saving Jarod. We've lost enough friends and colleagues as it is." Zack walked past them. "I'll see you later."

They watched him leave the ward. Leo looked back to Julia. "Alright, let's get you back to the non-urgent ward." They walked out of the critical care ward and to the bed where Julia had left her uniform. Leo looked around and stepped away long enough to pull up a large dermal regenerator unit. "Lay down and let me see that wound."

Julia laid on her back on the bed. She raised the gown up past her belly to expose the bandaged wound. Leo pulled the bloodied bandages off and threw them in a biohazard receptacle. "Hrm. Not too deep. But deep enough. You're lucky you didn't lose more blood than you did." He scanned it. "No sign of infection. What happened anyway?"

For several moments Julia didn't answer. She was staring at the lights above on the ceiling. Her thoughts were entirely with the circumstances of what had happened. What had been done to her ship, her crew, while she was gone.

"Julia," Leo repeated, his voice now forceful. It snapped her out of her thoughts. "What happened?"

"A cyborg man, some ninja or something, tried to cut my head off," she answered. "I dodged and he just got me in the side."

"I'll say. The cut was precise. I'm surprised a sword managed such a clean cut, actually." Leo picked up a wand from the dermal regenerator unit. He pressed it around the wound. "I need to clean the wound out first, just to be on the safe side. I want to make sure you don't have any particles of your clothing left in that could lead to an infection later. Does it feel numb now?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Give me a little bit…"

Julia remained still as he worked. She ended up deep in thought again, even as her eyelids tugged downward until her eyes were closed. She fell asleep without intending to.

"Alright, all better," Leo declared.

That jolted her awake again. Julia sat up and looked down to where she'd been cut. There was just healthy light skin there now, a little pinkish in its color.

"You need some rest." Leo put away the dermal regenerator gear. Around them several of the people had changed.

"Leo…" She sat up. "You didn't skip me ahead in the line, did you?"

Leo smirked and shook his head. "No. I did defy Doctor Singh's insistence that I go get some sleep now that our immediate crisis cases are all handled. Technically I'm not supposed to be here."

"Well, I won't tell if you won't," Julia said, smiling as she did.

"You can change in my office," Leo offered. "And then I insist you get some rest. You lost some blood and you pushed yourself pretty hard, you need a couple of days to recuperate."

"I've got a ship that needs fixing, Leo," Julia reminded him. Her smile seemed more brittle now. "A couple of days is too much. But I'll give you tonight."

Leo shook his head. "I expected as much. Just take it easy."

"As much as I can. I promise."

Both knew that she wouldn't, that she couldn't. Not as things were. But Leo pretended to accept the promise and they walked away together, heading toward his office.







It was running late when Robert emerged from his bridge office, all reports written and filed. The damage report from Scotty had made for sobering reading. The main shuttle bay had taken severe damage and would need reconstruction. Half of the ship's shuttles were completely destroyed or so damaged that they would have to be written off, and most of the rest would need extensive repair work. The runabouts were in similar shape: the Susquehanna, Vistula, and Rhine were utterly trashed and would have to be scrapped; every other runabout had taken major damage. Adjacent to the main shuttle bay, the docking bay for the Koenig was wrecked and would have to be rebuilt.

The primary hull would also need weeks worth of reconstruction work at the L2M1 Earth Fleet Base, especially given the hole that had been blasted into it. Dozens of crew had lost their quarters to the blast and were being re-billeted in spare quarters or, where necessary, the holodecks. Robert had nearly even ordered that the senior staff officer quarters be opened up to them, just for Locarno to point out that it was unnecessary given the other available room on the ship.

Six weeks repair time, minimum, Robert mused quietly. He walked toward the central chair, where a much-fatigued Locarno was still sitting. "You're relieved Lieutenant," he said.

Locarno stood up. "Yes sir." He examined Robert's own state of post-battle exhaustion and added, "I suggest you stand down for relief as well, Captain. You need your rest."

"I'll head down soon," Robert promised. "I'm just waiting for a call from Portland before I can rest."

"I'll send Pacetti up," Locarno said. "So that you can stand relieved when you're ready to sleep."

"Thank you, Nick."

Locarno gave him a final nod and, with barely-disguised relief, went to the bridge lift. Robert settled into his command chair and watched the New Liberty Colony's lights on the screen. If he wasn't careful, he would nod off right here in his chair.

He nearly did, in fact, and he jolted to full wakefulness when he heard the chirp from Operations that confirmed an incoming signal. Jupap turned his feathered head back enough that Robert could see his beak move. "Captain, priority call from Defense Command. Admiral Maran is on for you."

"Put him through." Robert stood as the screen flashed. Seeing the dark-haired Gersallian admiral appear, wolfish gray along his hairline as always, was a relief. Robert had been terrified that he'd been with the attack and was lost. "Admiral."

"Captain." Maran nodded quietly. "My apologies for taking so long. I've been in Defense Staff meetings for hours. You don't know how grateful I was to get confirmation of your survival. The President was relieved when your signal came in to Portland."

"Thank you, sir." Robert swallowed. "How bad was it?"

"It was a disaster, Captain, make no mistake about that. Our losses in ships went over the fifty percent mark. Three quarters of the capital ships we assigned, carriers and dreadnoughts, were lost." Maran's tone was somber. And Robert could see that, stoic as he always was, something was weighing heavily on him, in a way that it hadn't even during the dark days of the prior July when the war had just begun and the Nazis were pummeling their way through Alliance space. "Our gamble was turned against us."

"The Nazis dangled the bait and we went for it," Robert said.

"That is one theory. There is another one, however, and it is far more terrifying."

Robert blinked at that. "Which is…?"

Maran's expression turned grim. "The Defense Committee has decided to order an investigation, Captain, into the operation. We have reason to believe that this wasn't simply a random trap set by our enemies."

"What do you mean…?"

Maran's voice took on a hard edge to it. "I'm not at liberty to discuss the issue over a communication. Not even over a priority encrypted line. How soon can you jump again?"

"Mister Scott needs to shore up several elements of our power systems, the battle damage and our last jump overloaded some of our systems. He's due to give me an update in the morning sometime around 0600."

Maran nodded stiffly. "Very well. As soon as you can jump, I want Aurora back at the Fleet Base, I have a dock already set aside for her and a berth for the Koenig. Preferably I want you and a contingent of officers that you trust in Portland by 1000."

"Yes sir," Robert replied, and he refrained from giving any voice to his immense worry over Maran's words. "We'll be there."

"I'll be expecting you, Captain, at Defense Command. Maran out."

The transmission ended and the view shifted back to the planet. Robert immediately wondered what Maran meant by the trap not being random.

But first things first. He did need to get some sleep.

 

[Big Steve]

It was nearly 2400 ship time when Meridina returned to her quarters. It had taken some time to go through all the reports from security, many of whom were now working to help with some of the repairs. Meridina was pleased with how well the work went without her immediate presence.

Now that she was alone, she had time to look into her own curiosity. She went to her table and to the item she'd left there upon her return to the Aurora. Dralan Olati's lakesh waited for her scrutiny.

It was a competently-crafted lakesh, good handiwork. The type that came from a trained swevyra'se like her, and therefore indicated training in the Order. "Computer," she said, "please connect to the Order of Swenya database on Gersal."

"Connecting."

As she waited for the connection to finalize, Meridina examined the rest of the weapon. Engraved on the hilt were a series of characters. An inscription, a phrase or sentence, that she did not understand. The characters did look like they were related to High Gersallian, but yet they meant nothing even if she assumed specific letters to be similar letters in HIgh Gersallian. Clearly this mysterious inscription was written in something entirely different.

A cold feeling came to her. Dralan Olati had been a killer, driven entirely by his dark impulses with no real freedom to decide his course. She had never seen someone like him before. Not someone with a developed set of life force power.

But she had that in her too. The darkness she had felt within her since the Goa'uld Amaunet had infested her and used her to hurt, kill, and torment. She meditated on it, she focused herself on the light, on her highest emotions or simply upon the wholesome light within… but the dark wouldn't go away. It started to feel as if had always been there and had only chosen now to come out.

That thought was perhaps the one that scared her most of all.

"Connection established," the computer said.

"Search the temple archives for a man named Dralan Olati."

"Accessing. Accessing." For several moments nothing came. Finally… "Search complete. No records found."

Meridina frowned at that. "Computer, are you sure?"

"All records have been scanned. There is no indication of Dralan Olati.

That makes no sense. HoW could he have made such a lakesh without training from our Order "Computer, there are two things I wish to process tonight. First, expand the search for Dralan Olani to public Interdependency records. Authorization code Kul-ta-ta-je-omal te."

"Authorization code processed. Accepted. Beginning search. Awaiting second input."

Meridina laid the lakesh on the table and accessed her multidevice. With a few key strokes she took images of the weapon. Another two keystrokes and the images now appeared on her computer display. "Computer, cross-reference these markings. They appear to be a form of Gersallian. Please check for any Gersallian dialect that uses them."

"Beginning search."

"How long until the searches are complete?", Meridina asked.

"Estimated time to completion at current data transfer rate: 16 hours thirty-five minutes."

So that was that. There was no point staying up any longer, not when there would be a staff meeting in the morning. "Thank you," she said, rising from her chair. She began to pull off the duty uniform as she made her way to the bedroom section of her quarters.




At 0630 the following morning, a thoroughly exhausted Aurora command staff were in their conference room, as was an equally exhausted Koenig staff.

The most exhausted of all were those who had been involved in the repairs. Scotty looked like he was about to fall asleep at the table. Jarod, Barnes, and Lucy all had varying degrees of deep fatigue written on their expressions, fatigue that even Hargert's best coffee was having trouble dispelling. The others on the command crew were better off in appearance, but it was clear that their morale was low and everyone was tired and upset.

Robert started the meeting with a look toward Scotty. "Mister Scott, Admiral Maran has a repair dock waiting for us at the L2M1 Earth Fleet Base. Can we jump yet?"

"I'll need a few more hours, sir," he said. "Lt. Nesay is busy finishin' repairs on the warp nacelle struts, an' we cannae jump safely until th' power supply systems have been checked. That's goin' tae take a few hours."

"You have until 0900," Robert replied. "We're due in Portland at 1000."

Scotty started to protest but stopped. "I'll see what I can do, sir."

Knowing Scotty would do just that, Robert turned his attention to Zack. "Has the Koenig regained its jump capability?"

Zack shook his head. "The blast damaged the primary particle feed for the drive, so we can't generate a jump point until its fixed. And with our reduced Engineering staff, Ensign Hajar estimates another day worth of repairs to handle it. Half a day with every member of my crew on repair duties."

"Hajar?", Julia asked.

"She's the senior surviving officer assigned to engineering," Zack answered. "With Karen gone and Lieutenant Trelit dead."

"Right. Sorry." Julia looked away, with her face showing she was deep in thought.

"We'll jump you with us then," Robert said. "Admiral Maran has a repair berth ready for your ship too."

"Good. With a full dock team, Koenig should be ready for duty in a couple of weeks."

Robert looked to his digital notepad. His last item, and worst, was now up. "Do we have a final casualty count?"

"Three hundred and seventy-six casualties of all kinds have been accounted for by the medbay staff," Leo revealed. "Sixty-one dead."

The news hung over the room. It was stifling in its depressive strength.

"We still have about forty-six cases in the critical care ward that I'll want to offload to fleet hospitals as soon as possible, for the best possible care," Leo continued. He glanced Zack's way; one of those forty-six was Karen Derbely. "Another thirty of the critical cases we've got are not so critical we need them taken off our hands. Most of the rest are injuries we've been able to treat. I have a listing of who is fit for full duty or must be restricted in duty. I'll forward it to Julia when we're done."

She nodded. "I'll make sure all department heads and shift officers are made aware of who is available. Although given how long we'll be in the dockyard this time, I imagine we're going to have a lot of crew changing anyway."

"I'll let you deal with the issue as you see fit," Robert replied. He put the notepad down. "Okay everyone, this meeting is dismissed."

As everyone stepped out, Robert found he was looking at Julia. She hadn't slept well - then again, few of them had - and she seemed distracted. "Are you okay?", he asked.

Julia looked at him. She remained silent for several moments before shaking her head. "No. No, I'm just thinking about things."

"Chief Almerda sent a report last night. They finished clearing evidence from the Deadman's Hand. The people you worked with put in their statements and were free to go. Apparently Captain Thrace and Anders got a jump to N2S7 late last night, so they're already gone." Robert used his notepad to check a part of the message. "Almerda's going to turn the ship over to FedStar authorities. He found out there's an active case against the ship's former controller. By taking him down and bringing her in, you're going to be liable to part of the reward once the FedStar admiralty courts finish dealing with it."

"I guess Zaeed will get some cash out of it after all," Julia murmured, but she still had that distant look in her eyes.

"Julie? Are you okay?"

"I'm alright," she said. "Anyway, I need to get to my office and start going over the personnel reviews for the battle."

"Nick should have filed his report by now, so you don't have to worry about that."

Immediately Robert could tell something was wrong, given the surge of shame and frustration that flared inside of Julia . "Yeah, he would be the right one to do that, wouldn't he?" She stood up. "I'll be in my office, let me know if you need anything."

"As soon as we get to L2M1, I need to go down to Portland to see Admiral Maran," Robert said.

"Then I'll take over repair command duties while you do. Until then." Without another word, she was gone, leaving Robert to sit, alone, to ponder Maran's message.

Whatever was going on, he knew he wouldn't like it.




In the end, Scotty got them jump-capable at 0842.

The Aurora locked onto the jump anchor for Earth L2M1 and jumped through, arriving a few kilometers off of the Fleet Base's repair yards section. Numerous ships were already taking up much of the berths, some survivors of the disaster, others here due to other causes. As promised Maran had berths ready for them, in two dry-dock sections in the various wings for their appropriate sizes. He also had a shuttle waiting for Robert.

Robert had heard the "contingent of officers you trust" and decided it meant Maran wanted people who could help with whatever was going on, presumably an investigation. With dock repair teams now present to help Scotty's engineers, he decided that meant Meridina, Jarod, and Lucy.

The shuttle, a Gersallian-built one simply designated in Gersallian letters and numbers - roughly something like LRT-3924 - flew them down to Defense Command. The pilot was a young man, a Human with clear mixed-ethnic backgrounds who identified himself as Ensign Cloudrunner.

Defense Command was built just west of where the Willamette River flowed into the Columbia, near Lake Vancouver, on what was once (on L2M1 anyway) the Washington State bank of the river. The six azure structures towered over the river, the five outer ones arranged in the form of a five-point star and linked to the central one by enclosed foot bridges. For Robert, who grew up with news reports about "the Pentagon" - even his father's stories of visiting there during his time in the US Navy - this towering structure was clearly the Allied Systems' equivalent of that building.

Once they'd landed, they went off to the floors in the central building with the main offices. Admiral Maran's office was toward the middle of the 11th floor as a privilege of rank; the offices there were closer to the officer's club, the large fifth floor food court, and the eighth floor's air-car bays. The latter was a real luxury as there were no transporter stations in the Defense Command structure, and all travel to and from Command was tightly secured. More tightly, in fact, than they'd seen the last time they were nearly a year prior.

The last time we were here, Defense Minister Hawthorne and Admiral Davies were trying to railroad us and kick us off our ship, Robert thought sullenly. Finding out later that the two had initially won, that they had convinced the Defense Committee, or at least a majority of it, to vote against Robert and the others, had been a real sting.

Finding out that the Gersallians and several other states had threatened to leave the Alliance if the vote wasn't reversed? That had actually scared him. More than anything, Robert wanted the Alliance to succeed and to thrive. He certainly didn't want to be the cause of it being ripped apart.

At Admiral Maran's office they were met by a young man with a dark brown complexion. "I am Commander Kanelas," he said, with an accent Robert had not heard before. Kanelas looked to Meridina and gave her a respectful bow of the head. "Swevyra'se, kima iso tuna."

Meridina answered with a head bow of her own. "Kima iso tuna. Mi rake sa swevyra iso."

They exchanged a few more lines before Kanelas looked to them. "My apologies, I have forgotten myself. Admiral Maran is currently in a teleconference with Admiral Relini. I will inform him you've arrived." Kanelas nodded again and walked into the next room.

Robert turned his head to mumble, "Do you understand…?" at Jarod.

"I don't think they're talking about tuna," Jarod replied, cutting off the question.

"I figured you'd have learned Gersallian by now, being a Pretender and all."

Jarod snorted. "I'm the Operations Officer of a kilometer-long starship with two thousand people always on board. I'm not going through my list of 'learn this thing' as fast as I used to. Learning Gersallian is still in the mid-40s, and I probably won't get to that for another eighteen months."

A bemused little smile was clear on Meridina's face at their exchange. "I would be happy to assist you with such, Commander Jarod," she said. "My apologies for not translating. Commander Kanelas is from Otapil on our main southern continent. The Otapin are among the Order's strongest supporters. Their people consider it proper to show immediate reverence to a Knight of Swenya."

"Ah." Robert nodded. "Well, as long as you're not talking about us behind our back."

"Perish the thought." Meridina turned away, satisfied with the exchange.

"Shouldn't you have learned this language yourself?", Jarod inquired quietly. "She's teaching you, after all."

"I know. But while I can pronounce German well enough that I've met Germans who think I've been in America too long instead of realizing I'm actually American, I can't even say 'swevyra' without my tongue going thick."

"It's because you try too hard," Lucy said.

The door opened again. Kanelis emerged partially. "Admiral Maran is ready for you."

Robert and the others stepped into the office, where Maran was standing behind his desk. The torch-and-tetracolor flag of the Allied Systems was beside his desk, as was one showing the Seal of Defense Command and it's quartered shield under the Alliance torch insignia. His work area had several digital pads upon it, presumably each secured and only containing specific and isolated classified data. A hard-light keyboard was still visible. He had been typing only moments ago.

"Admiral, sir. I've brought Commander Jarod, Commander Meridina, and Lieutenant Lucero. I trust all of my officers, but I considered they would be the ones you wanted to have in this situation."

"Your consideration was accurate, Captain." Maran's expression was grave. He'd clearly been up much of the night. "I'm going to make the facts plain. We were deceived. Most of the systems did not, in fact, have the sort of supply targets we had been led to expect. Instead it would appear that the enemy used electronic warfare to deceive our scouts. The apparent opening in their deployment schedule was clearly feigned to provoke an attack by us that could be ambushed."

"How bad is it?", Robert asked.

"Our last estimates are in. We launched four hundred and twelve ships into that attack. Only two hundred and seven returned, all damaged to varying extents. Out of twenty dreadnought-class warships, only six returned, and only ten of eighteen carriers. We also lost two-thirds of our cruisers."

Robert couldn't help but swallow. The Aurora had been one of those lucky third to escape. "What does this mean for the war?"

"It will not cost us the war, at least not militarily. But it has set back our time-tables for further military operations. Admiral Relini has been forced to call off her planned offensive and is preparing defensive positions."

Robert caught that first sentence, especially its uncertain ending. "...at least not militarily." "There's more to this, isn't there?"

Maran nodded. "There is. And I didn't dare mention it over a channel, not even one that's encrypted." Maran reached for his desk drawer and pulled out an electronic device of some sort, a small curved shape with a light on the end that he brought on with a squeeze of his fingers. The green light blinked several times before a second green light activated. "There," Maran said. "We're secure."

"You're afraid of electronic bugs," Jarod said.

"I have to be." Maran sat down. With a hand gesture he invited Robert and his officers to take seats in the nearby chairs and couch. "I must be blunt. The Intelligence Office has discovered signs that some of our operational planning, including the proposals for the raid we just attempted, has been compromised."

The implications were clear. Robert's jaw fell slightly as he processed the thought. "You mean they say we've got a spy in Defense Command. That someone leaked this stuff to the Nazis and they planned the ambushes from that?"

"I do. So does the President, and the Defense Committee, and several members of the Senate." Maran put his hands on his desk. "We need to find out the truth of this, and now. Otherwise we may be facing the end of the political willingness to continue the war."

"You can't be serious," Lucy gasped. "They'd try to make a deal with Nazis?"

Maran shook his head. "When people are desperate enough for peace? I can see them doing anything. Councilman Pensley has gone as far as to threaten to encourage his government to withdraw from the Alliance if we don't change how the war is prosecuted or offer peace to the Reich."

"Pensley would be the one who is convinced that I instigated the war on purpose," Robert recalled.

"Yes. He's argued repeatedly for your court-martial, in fact. Even Admiral Davies has grown tired of the man."

"And here I thought Davies would back that," Lucy muttered.

"Admiral Davies is a complicated man. But he does know the scope of the threat we're facing, and he has no illusions that any peace with the Nazi Reich is possible. He and Pensley are not allies."

"He tried to bribe Zack into turning against us during the hearings last year," Lucy retorted. Robert winced at the surge of anger he felt within her. "He sent Commander King to spy on us, and he's using Naval Intelligence to spy on your people! Complicated, hell, he's as much a threat to the Alliance as Pensley is!"

"Lieutenant, calm down," Maran ordered. His tone was still quiet and patient, but there was an edge to it when he said that, an edge that told Lucy (and Robert) that in this he damn well expected to be obeyed.

Meridina gave Lucy a worried look. The angry snarl on Lucy's face faded. "I'm sorry, Admiral," she said. "I was out of line."

"Yes, you were," was Maran's quiet reply. It was a rebuke, and Lucy took it as such. "The reason I summoned you here is that I'm compiling a task force of officers to investigate the matter and report on it to the Defense Committee. Officers who are not assigned to Defense Command and who have extensive combat experience against the Reich."

"And who couldn't have been in a position to be the leak," Jarod noted.

"Yes." Maran looked at Robert. "The Aurora will be spending over a month in drydock for repairs, Captain, so for the time being, I'm assigning you to oversee the investigation."

Robert blinked at that. "Me? But… I don't have counter-intelligence experience, or investigative experience."

"No. But I'm aware you have other potential talents to help give you insight into evidence that is discovered."

"Admiral, is this wise?" Meridina kept her voice respectful. "Knowing how certain factions in the Alliance government feel about the Order, and anything that seems linked to them, the fact that Captain Dale has our abilities will mean that those opposed to the Order will be suspicious of his findings."

"You are correct. That's why I'm assigning another officer to be his second in the investigation and to sign off on the final report. Someone that the Defense Minister and his supporters cannot so easily overlook."

"Who?", Robert asked.

Before Maran could answer, a tone came from his desk. He pressed a key on his hardlight keyboard. "Commander?"

"The Commander has arrived as instructed," said Kanelis.

"Excellent timing. I'm waiting with Captain Dale now."

Moments later, the door opened. Robert and the others turned to face the new arrival. Clad in the black-with-burgundy-red trim of a command officer, and with the expected three gold strips on the collar to denote Commander rank, the new arrival cut a prim and proper figure with her brown hair pulled back into a severe bun at the back of her head. She immediately stood at attention and giving a disciplined, "Reporting as ordered, Admiral," in a crisp English accent.

"Excellent. You're just in time to meet the rest of the team."

Robert looked back at Maran with surprise. "This is who we're working with?"

Maran nodded.

"Captain Dale." Commander Elizabeth King nodded her head respectfully. "Commander Meridina, Commander Jarod, Lieutenant Lucero. It's an honor to see you again."




Julia took a working lunch into the Lookout, where she spent more time with the "working" part than the "lunch" part. The normal views one could find from the windows were replaced by the drab gray interior of the drydock. Outside dock workers would already be zipping around in zero G to inspect the damage on the Aurora's hull. It would likely be a day or two of inspections before the dockmaster certified a comprehensive repair plan for her to sign off on, after which work would commence.

"Your stew is getting cold," a voice admonished.

Julia looked up from her digital reader. Hargert was standing beside her, a cup of coffee already in his hand and moving to replace her empty cup. "Oh, Hargert," she said.

"I wanted to give you my thanks for rescuing Mister Jarod," Hargert said. "I feared the worst."

"You're welcome," she replied.

She went back to her work, just to realize the elderly German man hadn't moved. "You are not well, Commander."

"My cut is healed," she replied. "I'm fine."

"I am not speaking of wounds to the body. I fear for the other wound."

"I'm not hurt, and I'm not mentally troubled if that's what you're implying," Julia insisted. "I wasn't here, but I had a reasonable excuse for it and it can't be held against me. I'm not responsible for what happened to the ship."

"Indeed not."

"I couldn't have done anything to stop it," Julia continued. "If I'd been here, nothing would have changed. We'd still have gotten our asses kicked and I'd still be here going over battle reports and reading about all the people we lost."

Hargert nodded in agreement.

Julia felt a sensation in her hand. She looked toward it and saw she was clenching the cup so tightly her hand was shifting color from the intensity. She forced herself to relax.

"When you are ready, Commander, please talk. With me, with your friends, with someone." Hargert gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. "But we are here for you."

With that said, he walked away, leaving Julia to the feelings roiling inside of her.




Admiral Maran took the time to escort Robert and the others, including Commander King, to the twenty-fifth level of Tower 3, the tower that pointed toward the southeast. There they found a vacant planning room with secured control stations and datapads waiting. "Inform Commander Kanelis if you have any needs and yeomen will be sent to meet them," he said upon their entry. "I've arranged for the appropriate logs to be provided to you. The Intelligence Office is overseeing the interviews of possible suspects. Transcripts and recordings will also be provided."

"We'll get on this right away, sir," Robert pledged.

"I'll be back in two hours," Maran said. "Then you and Commander King are due at a Defense Committee session."

Something about that did not make Robert feel more comfortable. "That quickly?"

Maran nodded. "A delegation from the Senate will be attending as well. They voted this morning on the matter."

"I thought that the Defense Committee's Senators simply reported findings to the Senate?"

"Normally. But in this situation, the Senate decided to take more active steps. Members of the Senate Committees on External Affairs and Security are going to join. Not as voters, but as observers, and Defense Minister Hawthorne will give them limited questioning privileges." Maran was evidently not happy with the decision. He hid it as well as always, butt Robert could feel his aggravation with it. "I know you won't have anything to directly show them within two hours. Your presence is merely to establish that the task force has been set up."

"I understand," Robert answered. "I'll see you soon, sir."

He nodded and walked out.

"Translation: The Senate wants to do its own investigations," Jarod said. "And that only complicates things more."

"Indeed." King found a seat. "Especially when you consider that the compromised plans were shared with both Senate Committees."

The others looked toward her. Lucy crossed her arms. "Well, I guess you'd know something about spying, wouldn't you Commander?'

"Indeed, Lieutenant, I served as an intelligence analyst for a time before committing to the command track." King's reaction was nonplussed, as if she didn't care about the remark one way or the other. She had spent over a month the prior year spying on the Aurora crew on behalf of Admiral Davies.

Meridina sensed the subtle and unsubtle animosity toward King. The others were still clearly bitter about King's true purpose when she was assigned with the Sladen to the Aurora. "How is your ship, Commander?", Meridina asked.

King looked to her. Meridina could sense the sadness that came from within. "We survived the raid. Barely. Half of my crew is dead. I wouldn't be here right now if we hadn't blown our drives with a warp jump. The Sladen will be spending a month in drydock."

Hearing that, Robert looked to her and nodded. "You have my condolences, Commander."

"And you have mine, Captain, for the losses you sustained. Thankfully you and I are here to find out what caused them. Not all of our colleagues were so fortunate."

Robert could sense Lucy's severe discontent. Jarod wasn't happy either. But when he met Robert's eye, Robert could sense his feelings of acceptance on the matter. They were working with King and had a job to do, and that was that.

"We should get started," Robert said. "In case hard questions are asked."

"As I suspect they will be." King started to frown. "Some of this is irregular, most irregular. The Senate's rapid action implies…" She stopped.

Robert considered her thought and finished it. "It implies they were ready for this in some way. They had delegations from those committees picked and ready."

"It's possible that those committees have already been gunning for the Defense Committee and were ready for the opportunity," Jarod pointed out, already reading a digital pad.

"That is the most likely explanation. Even in wartime, legislative politics can be nasty." King picked up another digital pad and looked it over. "The chambers of the Council fighting one another, and the committees of both fighting all sides, all for the control they feel they need to push their take on the war."

That didn't surprise Robert. Even in the days of the Facility, there had been occasional fights for influence between the governing council on Liberty and the Facility Council, over things such as authority over the transport ships or the mining colonies and stations. The larger the organization, the more possible centers of power that could come into conflict with each other.

But there was still something about it he didn't like. Something they were missing, hidden and ready to cause harm if it wasn't found.

And there was King's presence. And that meant everything they did, everything they said, would get reported to a man who wanted to take everything from them. Mistrust was already built into this team. Lucy's constant bewilderment and anger directed toward King was proof of that.

But if they had a spy working for the Nazis, or just looking to harm the Alliance, they had to find that spy. The war couldn't be won if a source from the top kept telling the Nazis what they had planned. Finding whether there was a spy or not and neutralizing that spy had to come before anything.

"Commander King."

She looked over at him. "Yes?"

"Whatever happened last year, whatever your thoughts about the Gersallians, we can't let that get in the way of this job. The Nazis are the enemy and we have to focus on that."

King nodded. "I concur, Captain."

Robert looked to the others. "That goes to all of us," he said. "We can't let any animosity toward Commander King or Admiral Davies get in the way. This is a threat to the Alliance and the war effort."

"Agreed," said Meridina.

Jarod nodded as well.

That left Lucy. She was looking at a pad partially, but her eyes came up and met them. Finally she nodded. "Agreed."

"Then let's get started on this." Robert took a seat and picked up a blank pad. "Give me what you find and Commander King and I will put it together to inform the committee."




Two hours later Robert and King walked together, and otherwise unescorted, into the Defense Committee chambers. The Committee met near the middle of the building, in a chamber of red and amber-colored wood-paneled surfaces. The Committee Members themselves sat in a semi-circle facing the middle table, where those giving evidence or testimony would sit, while behind this table were seats for observers or future participants. The room had not changed any since Robert had last been here, when he faced losing the Aurora. This time, however, he sat toward the rear of the room, and was grateful he wasn't the focus of this session.

Not yet, anyway.

As before, ahead of him was the seat where the Defense Minister sat. Gerald Hawthorne was a thin man with a hawkish nose and a conspiratorial look about him. How he had enough of a grip on his post that President Morgan couldn't dare fire him was something Robert wasn't sure.

Seated nearby were Admiral Maran and Admiral Davies, in their positions as Chairman of the Defense Staff and Vice Chief of Naval Operations. General Gulinev, representing the Army, was also present. The crusty old Russian had lost hair since Robert last saw him. The stresses of war planning were clear on his weathered expression.

A glare came his way. Councilman Pensley was not as thin as Hawthorne, and his hair still showed some dark brown color. He sat to one side of the semi-circle. Councilman Palas was nearby, wearing standard Gersallian-style robes, and the third Councilman was an African woman in a suit.

Opposite them were the three Senators of the committee. Sriroj of the Sol Systems Republic was one he recognized immediately. The Dorei Senator was new, a man with a pale purple complexion and blue eyes that wore his long light teal hair in an elaborate series of ringlets and braids. I will never taunt Angel about her hair again, Robert thought upon seeing that. The third Senator was an Alakin, with green and yellow plumage around the neck of what Robert was sure was a female Alakin. She was in a suit of pale yellow and green trim that struck Robert as more masculine looking, at least for what he thought of such things.

The final member of the Committee was the Intelligence Director, now General Hatcher.

Now Robert could see the further additions, though. Tables along the sides had been set up and a number of other figures were seated. Dorei, Alakin, Gersallians, Humans of various ethnic origins. They would be the Senators Maran mentioned, from the Senate External Affairs and Security Committees. Robert scanned them for faces he knew, most of which he only knew through those news reports he actually managed to watch.

Hawthorne, in his place, rapped his gavel. "I call this meeting of the Defense Committee to order. These are tough times for us all, so I thank you for your prompt response to the summons. And my greetings to the esteemed Senators joining us today from the External Affairs and Security Committees. This situation is one we must all get involved with solving." Hawthorne looked over everyone. "As you all know by now, our attempted rear area attack on the Reich became a fiasco. All indications is that the Reich lured us into an ambush. The Intelligence Office believes that they were made aware of our standing plans for a quick raid by a spy, or some other security leak. Regardless of whether this is true or not, we must investigate the situation thoroughly, and ensure that our war effort does not become derailed by poor leadership. Councilman Pensley?"

Pensley had glared toward Robert again, stood to show he wanted to speak. When Hawthorne's permission came and he spoke, briefly turning to address Hawthorne, it was with a voice not quite strong enough for the ferocity behind the words. "I would argue that the real question is if we should have a war effort at all, Minister. The German Reich was clearly provoked by a certain radical clique within the Alliance government and military." He looked back toward Robert. "A clique, I am sad to say, that has won the ear of the President, and which even today shows its strength by its presence before the Committee."

Robert said nothing. He knew he had no standing to speak as it was, not being officially called as a witness yet.

It was Senator Sriroj who responded to Pensley. "The good Councilman's known hostility toward some of the leading lights of our Alliance are well known to all of us," the Thai woman said, some acid in her accented tone. "The fact that he persists in this ridiculous course of appeasement of one of the most vile regimes in the history of Human civilizations is ludicrous in itself."

"The Senator ignores the fact that the Reich was clearly provoked by an incursion of their territory and the destruction of its ships by Alliance vessels," Pensley shot back. "And while I will not ignore the crimes of the Reich, the deaths caused during their invasion of our colonies in S4W8 can be laid at the feet of the radicals responsible for provoking a war we were not ready to fight."

"And so you would have us make peace with the fascist butchers?!", Gulinev demanded. "The same fascist butchers who have slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Alliance citizens?![/i]"

"They no longer pose a threat to us," Pensley replied. "Their fleets have been driven back. We have liberated many worlds from them and the Darglan Facility of their universe has been destroyed. We've already broken the foundation of their empire. All we have to do is make peace and let their warped little system crash down around their ears. We don't need to lose more to finish off an enemy that time will beat. The only reason we're doing it now is because of small-mindedness being led about by crazed political radicalism."

"You make presumptions about the sustainability of the Reich that are unproven," Palas stated, rising to his feet. "And I do not believe this is rel…"

"And this, right here, is what I speak of!", Pensley thundered. "The Gersallians and their need to judge everyone else and throw their weight around! Clearly I'm not the only one who's seen it! They've amassed undue control over…"

"Councilmen, you are out of order!", Hawthorne cried, slamming his gavel. "Both of you are to be seated at once!"

Palas nodded in deference and did so.

Pensley did not at first. He glared at Hawthorne, who glared back, until finally the man sat with an audible thump.

"The purpose of this meeting is not to discuss peace feelers. It is to examine the issue we are faced with on a possible security breach," Hawthorne declared. His eyes scanned the room until they locked onto Robert. "Captain Dale, Commander King, I am informed that Admiral Maran has placed you in charge of the investigation. Please share with the Committee what you have learned so far."

Robert and King stood and took the central table. King nodded to Robert, signaling he would be the one speaking for them, so he brought up his digital reader. "Honored Members of the Committee, Honored Senators, we have looked over the preliminary information from the Intelligence Office." Robert drew in a breath. "It appears that at some point around five weeks ago, several anomalous access requests were logged into the Main Defense Planning Database. The database in question, for those who aren't aware, is where the secured operational plans drawn up by Defense Command planners are kept for review and alteration. Among the plans was the list of potential targets for the recent operation, or rather the list for the types of targets the raid in question was meant to eliminate."

"You say anomalous access requests, Captain." Councilman Zoral, of the Sirian League, leaned forward. His sandy brown hair was combed back and the middle-aged man kept a business expression on his face. "Can you explain what precisely you mean?"

"The system is designed to log all access requests by access point and personal code. Nobody is supposed to be able to look at this data anonymously," Robert explained. "These access requests had no such information. No access point was logged. No personal code. In short, we can't tell who accessed the data, or even if they managed to. All we know for sure is that someone tried without their location or identity being logged."

"Wouldn't a failure to put in a proper access code lead to an alarm?", the Alakin Senator asked.

"It logs the failure and alerts Defense Command security to the access attempt, yes. But we have no matching failures logged. In fact, throughout the year we only have five failures logged at all, and those have all been identified as user error by personnel with access authority." Robert looked over the notes that Jarod had compiled for him again. "The best explanation is that someone found a way to tap into the database without using a known access point. Someone physically tapped the computer cores themselves."

"That sounds dubious," Davies said. "Those cores are kept under the highest security regime. There are multiple access restrictions that have to be bypassed just to get to them."

"I understand that sir," Robert said. "But that is our best explanation for the moment. We'll investigate the possibility immediately."

Maran leaned forward. "Then the question is, if someone did get our planning data, how did they deliver it to the Reich? We have no standing channels with them, and no state we know of has regular diplomatic communications that could be used for that form of covert communication."

"They may be using long-range subspace radio keyed to specific high frequencies," Robert replied. "Or they're using another form of communication we haven't consdiered yet. We're going to look into this as well."

"Commander King, do you concur with Captain Dale's testimony to this Committee?", Hawthorne asked.

"I do, sir," King said. "Captain Dale and I have examined the evidence and come to these conclusions jointly."

"Then I leave this investigation in your hands…"

Pensley jumped to his feet. "I lodge an official protest! Captain Dale is not qualified for this sort of investigation."

"He commands officers who are."

"Nor can he be trusted with the conclusions, not when he is responsible for this war in the first place!", Pensley insisted. "This will become a mere cover for him to further promote the radical agenda that has already brought us war!"

"Councilman, you are out of order," Hawthorne ruled, slamming his gavel. The defense minister turned his glared toward Robert. "Captain, the Committee concurs with Admiral Maran's decision to place you and Commander King in joint investigation of this affair. We expect immediate results. You are dismissed."

"Yes sir." Robert stood. King stood beside him and nodded as well. The two walked briskly to the exit door.

Once the Sergeant-at-Arms let them out into the receiving area, Robert looked to King. "So Pensley is leading the peace movement?"

"He is." King gave Robert a look. "Although that's hardly a secret, Captain."

"I spend so much time doing other things that I can't keep up with all of the politics around the Council, honestly."

"I see." King consulted her multidevice. "It is past 1500 local time now. I could use a lunch, can't you?"

"I didn't get to enjoy the officer's club the last time I was here," Robert said. "I hear they make a mean steak."

King smiled at that. "Captain, you have no idea."




The job of overseeing the repairs on the Aurora was divided in responsibility. As Chief Engineer, Scotty was responsible for the immediate portion of it. He was the one that would be working with the dockmaster on a repair schedule and providing the list on what was necessary.

But the administrative side of it was all on Julia. She had to liaise with the dockmaster, with the quartermaster for both the ship and the Fleet Base, and she had to sign off on the necessary crew scheduling changes that came with shipping out crewmembers to other medical facilities.

Looking over the latter was the hardest. The casualties the Aurora had taken were severe. Knowing she hadn't been here to fight by their side… that made it worse.

The door chime for her office sounded. "Come in," she called out.

Angel was the one who walked in. "Well, hello workaholic," she said. "You do know that we're in drydock, right?"

"I do. I have the paperwork to prove it."

"Isn't that mostly Scotty's paperwork?"

"I told him I'd process it for him," Julia said. "That way he can focus on getting our ship fixed."

"I don't think you saved him much time." Angel crossed her arms and leaned against the door. "So, I was thinking we could do something. When you're done and off-duty."

"I had a pretty tight martial arts fight yesterday, Angel, I don't need to worry about honing my skills right now."

"I'm not thinking of a bout this time. In your mood that would be begging for bruises." Angel smirked. "I was thinking you, me, maybe Cat and her new girlfriend, going down to Portland and doing something, I dunno, girly. Shopping or something."

Julia leveled an intrigued stare at Angel. "Angel, you have never been a girly type girl. Never. That includes shopping."

"Well, maybe it's something to try?"

"You mean it's…" Julia stopped and blinked. "Wait. Cat and who?"

"That purple-haired helmswoman, Ensign Arterria."

"And she and Cat are… together?"

Angel shrugged. "I dunno. They're playing some game on the holodecks. Well, they were, I'm not sure what they're doing now. But I know Cat's interested in her and would love to go visit the city with her."

"Well, I'm sure you'll all have fun," Julia said. "But I've got reports to file and repairs to check on and…"

"Yes, because that's going to make up for us not being here for the attack," Angel remarked.

Julia stopped. She looked up and glared at Angel.

"I'm not dumb. I wish I'd been here too," Angel said. "But we didn't know this would happen, did we? And Jarod needed us."

"So did the others," Julia said, her voice harsh. "Our ship went into a dangerous, important operation without three of its senior officers, including its Executive Officer. That is, me."

"We couldn't have known that would happen!"

"We shouldn't have had to think about it! We should have stayed in communication and…"

Angel stepped forward from the door and slammed a palm on the desk. "And where would Jarod be if we'd done that, huh?!"

The retort brought silence to the room. "I know," Julia murmured. "But it doesn't change the fact that we weren't here when they needed us."

"I know. But we can't do anything about that right now." A grunt of frustration came from Angel. She turned to the door. "I get it, though. No to the trip. Alright."

"Maybe later," Julia said. "Once we've got the repairs going."

"Yeah, maybe," Angel said, frowning. She went through the opened door and out into the hall beyond.




In Tower 3, Jarod and Lucy were looking over the designs of the secured computer core for the Defense Planning Database. Meridina observed quietly. By her estimation, unless a swevyra'se or a disciplined swevyra'kse was responsible, the task of surreptitiously adding a device to tap the core's data seemed impossible. The security measures were simply too complex.

Meridina quietly checked the time on her multidevice. Seeing what time it was, she stepped away from the table and tapped her device. It only took a couple moments to open a channel to the Aurora, where the results of her search awaited her.

The search for the hilt was incomplete. Some of the symbols were simply unidentifiable. The others, however, seemed to be from a pre-Swenya dialect. And not just any, but the dialect of the Kuneli and their neighbors. The dialect and language were considered dead and forgotten by Gersallian authorities, swept away by the Rising of Kohbal after Swenya's death.

As for Dralan Olati… that was the most surprising. The profile was from the Olati clan-family public database. Dralan was the second son of the Mastesh of the Olati's third daughter. That meant he was not of a particularly high ranking within the family. And the image was fairly accurate to what she remembered.

But the complication was that the system claimed he was dead.

Meridina murmured, 'how?" and continued her search. She looked back in time to see Jarod and Lucy staring at her somewhat. "Sorry," she said. "Simply an investigation I have started relating to Jarod's abduction."

"You mean that Gersallian with the yellow eyes?", Jarod asked.

"Yes," Meridina replied. "I killed him during our fight. I am investigating where he came from. I have… questions, you might say."

"Yeah." Jarod rubbed at his throat. "I bet."

"It must be hard," Lucy remarked. "I mean, he had a lakesh too, right?"

"He did."

"And only the Order knows how to make them. So he was one of yours."

Meridina looked back to the image. "That is what I thought as well," she said. "But the records don't show that. By the records he was never involved with the Order."

"Huh." Lucy's brow furrowed. "That's kind of disturbing, isn't it?"

"Tremendously," Meridina said. Because if Dralan hadn't been in the Order, that meant terrible questions had to be considered.

Where did he get his training? And where or how did he get his lakesh?

"A mystery for later," she said, turning. "We should focus on the security of the Alliance first. Have you found anything?"

"Nothing yet, we're still looking everything over," Lucy said.

"Hrm." Meridina approached them again. "Well, allow me to continue with you, then. Perhaps there is something to find."

 

[Big Steve]

The officer's club was essentially a bar with a large eating area. Alcoholic drinks from across the Multiverse were present, although Robert asked for a soda. King, however, called for a brandy. "I wouldn't see you for the kind to drink while we're on duty," Robert said to King as she took a drink of the amber liquid.

"There are such things as detoxicants, Captain," King reminded him. "But I've found there is truth to an argument of Winston Churchill, that one drink is good for bolstering the senses."

"Wasn't that 'courage'?"

"Perhaps." King smiled thinly. "You are rather closer to Sir Winston chronologically than I am. Or rather to the versions of him from our respective histories." King took another sip and took on an introspective look. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to meet the man. If we could find a world where he still lived."

"If we did, it'd be illegal unfortunately," Robert said. "The Alliance Contact Limitations would keep us from contacting anyone on that world, short of an accident."

"I know." King took another drink, and Robert did the same. As he pondered his soda, she went on. "Of course, one could question the morality of that statute. Imagine the good we could do if we were to encounter an Earth in the 1930s, or 1940s. With our technology, the fascist powers would be crushed in days of paltry effort. All of those millions of lives saved."

Robert set his hands on the table. "I find it interesting to hear you say that, Commander. I used to be in that business before the Alliance. And I've learned it's not always so cut and dried."

"No, I suppose not. But then again, you didn't have the benefit of the training and organization you do now."

"Does Admiral Davies share these thoughts?", Robert inquired, feeling curious.

"I rather doubt it. I'm not even sure I do." King shook her head. "I believe in the chain of command and in the order of law, not your cowboy Yank heroics."

That elicited a chuckle from Robert. "Cowboy? That's a new one. I usually get called a White Knight first."

"Perhaps. But the point remains." King took another drink and swallowed it. "But then I think of the Nazis, those bloody bastards, and I think of worlds where their ilk still thrive, and I begin to wonder if it isn't worth it to ride in and crush them before they hurt anyone else." King looked into her glass, deep in thought. "If my ship were on patrol near such an Earth, and I picked up the radio signals from a place like Auschwitz, or the calls for help during the Warsaw Uprising or the Rape of Nanking…"

"I understand," Robert said. "I mean, I understand where you're coming from."

"I imagine you do." King set the glass down. "Of course, that's where the Honourable Councilman from the Tetzelian Republic would give you the dirty look like before."

"Pensley." Robert nodded. "I'm not too familiar with L4R2, actually. Ba handled our negotiations with the Tetzelians and other governments."

"I don't think they ever liked you, honestly. They blame your kind of politics for the destruction of Earth's biosphere in their history."

"So that's three universes with a trashed Earth," Robert said.

"That is true." King sighed. "Most people know bloody well what peace with Nazis means. That it's just a breather before the next round. The Tetzelians, though, they don't see that. To them history started with the evacuation of Earth, so they don't worry about Nazis the same way we would." King shook her head. "They joined the Alliance for economic benefits."

"And now we're in a war."

"Yes. A war that you have been blamed for. I would suggest that you avoid any vacations to Tetzel any time soon, Captain."

Robert nodded and grinned. "Is that the famous British understatement I've heard so much about?"

"Well, we must all keep up appearances."

A moment later a civilian waiter came in, bearing plates that had made-to-order ribeye steaks fresh from the kitchen grills. Potatoes and carrots were on King's plate. Robert had rice and green beans with his steak.

"Now we eat," King said. "And then we find out how much your super-savant and your mind-readers have discovered since we left them."




Before they left, Robert - feeling guilty - secured three plates to go for Jarod, Lucy, and Meridina. King waited patiently for him to get the boxed meals before walking back to Tower 3.

When they arrived, the three were all looking over materials. "I've brought dinner," Robert said. "Straight from the officer's club."

"You're a lifesaver," Jarod sighed. He took the offered box. Inside was a steak, sides, and utensils all prepared. "It's been a couple days since I had a proper meal."

"A couple of very tiring days, I imagine," Robert answered, offering Lucy her meal. He came to Meridina last. "It's a Gersallian meal. I was assured it was Maran's favorite."

Meridina nodded and opened the container. A slight smile came to her face. "Spiced rutapi with ganaral sauce. This is quite a handsome meal." She looked to Robert, still smiling. "Thank you for this, Captain."

"You're welcome."

King took a seat. "Do we have anything new?"

"The only method we can think of for gaining physical access is if someone has abilities," Jarod said. "As in the ones that the Gersallians call swevyra."

"Ah." King looked thoughtful at that. "I see. Do you concur, Commander?"

"Yes. It was my suggestion." Meridina gestured to the layout of the core and its protected approach. "A swevyra'se or swevyra'kse could have implanted suggestions within the guards on duty. They would have the guards open all of the access doors. Once in the core room, access could have been tapped by any number of devices attached to the main control console."

"The console would be secured against that," King said.

"If they're smart, they had something along to put it into a test mode," Jarod said. "Like any technician would."

"How often do the cores get tested?", Robert asked.

Lucy checked the schedule. "Once every ten weeks. More often if it's been called for due to technical problems."

"Check the logs, see when the last test came," Robert said.

"I'm doing that now," Lucy replied. She examined a log. "Looks like the last test was around April 4th."

"That's definitely within our targeted time period. Now we need to know if the technician was behind it or if someone slipped in around that time to trick the guards."

"Let me check the logs," Jarod said. He began operating one of the workstations. "Isolating…"

A holographic 2D image appeared on the wall facing them. It depicted a woman in an Alliance Army duty BDU walking up to them. For a moment there was nothing between them. And then she started to wave a hand.

At that point, the video abruptly cut out.

"Jarod?", Robert asked.

"Someone deleted the visual data from the file," he said.

"At least here," King said. "Those files are backed up offsite automatically by way of a one-way data transmission. The saboteur may not have known this."

Jarod nodded. "I'm checking the backed up record now." He looked back to the screen.

It was the same image again, and played on from there. The woman waved her hand. The soldier led her through.

"He didn't check her ID," Lucy said.

"And they're not supposed to escort anyone," King added. "The doors between the checkpoints are meant to be unlocked by the technician."

They watched as the woman went through the following layers of security with the guard at her side. At the middle checkpoint, another hand wave seemed to placate the guards there. The same at the last checkpoint, after which the young woman entered the core room.

The core was a hexagon, at least sixty feet wide, which meant the image only showed a part of it around the central control console and the door to leave. While the guard remained, the woman went to work on the system. For some time she worked under the core's central control console, including removing the panels below it and working on the wires within.

"Computer, freeze frame," King barked. When the video stopped, she said, "Zoom in on the subject's right hand. Lower right quadrant, upper left."

The computer analyzed King's order and obeyed. The video zoomed in. Without an order it began to enhance the image. The technician was pulling an object out of her bag. It was small, with a clear section meant for splicing wiring together.

"I've never seen anything like it," Jarod said.

"I have."

All of the eyes in the room turned toward Meridina.

A sad look filled her blue eyes. She was struck with disbelief. "It is a device manufactured by the Interdependency Defense Forces," she said. "It is intended for making entry into secured computer systems."

"So you're saying that Gersallian military intelligence did this?", King asked.

"Unlikely," Meridina said. She shook her head and was clearly struggling with what she had just seen. "However, the Defense Forces work closely with the Order, and provide us with access to such devices for our own work."

"Meridina, think about what you're saying," Lucy said.

"I know precisely what I am saying," Meridina answered. Both Robert and Lucy could feel the growing emotional turmoil within her, the sheer disbelief that this had actually happened. "But there has been trouble on Gersal for months now. Anti-Alliance sentiment has created a faction called the Dissenters who oppose our participation in the Alliance. So it is possible that even one of my fellows has gotten mixed up in this."

Commander King observed Meridina make this admission. She nodded stiffly. "Well, that leaves our duty clear. We should report this to the Committee."

Robert sighed and nodded. "Agreed." He had no choice, and he knew that, but he also knew he was handing a loaded gun to Hawthorne and Davies. Whatever was going on here, there was no telling how far it would take their anti-Gersallian, or at least anti-Order of Swenya, agenda. "We'll send a message to the Committee and then go check to see if this device is still active."

"I shall call for the technical staff," King said, bringing her left arm up to look at her multidevice. "We'll need their support."

"Secure the work stations and our materials," Robert said. "Let's get to the core."




The Main Defense Planning Database was in Tower 4, facing to the southwest, located on the highest levels of the complex (lower levels held less-critical computer cores). The five officers had called up a transport car to speed them across the walkway spanning Towers 3 and 4. The blue-skinned Dorei Private driving the craft still looked intimidated as all hell by the five officers after they left him on the other end of the walking bridge. From there it was another ten floors up to the entrance to the Planning Database.

By the time they arrived, Defense Command Security had already answered King's summons. An Army Captain, an African woman with a slight build and reserved demeanor, was waiting for them at the first checkpoint. "Commander King. Captain Dale." Her voice sounded East African to Robert. He almost wanted to say one of the Somali accents, but he'd heard many during the Facility days and wasn't sure of them all. "I am Captain Joan Orombi, of the Security Detachment. I already have technicians inside investigating this device."

"So it is still there?", Meridina asked.

Orombi nodded. "Yes, Commander, it is."

"These devices have an identification code that is placed within the hardware, it cannot be removed without disabling the device," Meridina said. "If I get the number, I should be able to verify where the device came from."

"You already know its origins?", Orombi asked.

"Yes."

"We watched the video of the device being planted," Robert explained. "Meridina was able to identify it."

"Ah." Orombi could tell that there was more to it, but she went back to business. "Follow me."

They went to the first checkpoint, where they were waved in. "We still need to figure out how they erased the on-site security footage," Lucy said.

"We will investigate thoroughly, Lieutenant."

Robert nodded. "It should help us narrow down…"

He stopped as every fiber of his being sensed the impending threat. There were only seconds to react.

"Get down!", Meridina shouted. She jumped and pulled Orombi to the wall and down. Lucy got Jarod and pulled him to the other end and Robert did the same with Commander King, who shouted "What the devil!?..." in shock as he grabbed her by the arms and pulled her.

The entire tower seemed to quake beneath their feet. A thunderous roar sounded beyond them and a plume of flame erupted from the next set of checkpoint doors. Along the walls they were safe from immediate burning, but the blast wave caught them with enough strength to knock them all over.

For several seconds Robert thought he was going to black out. His head was spinning wildly and his body ached. He could faintly hear something over the roar that had overwhelmed his ears and left them ringing. Only as his vision cleared could he see Meridina looking at him, calling his name. Robert!, she shouted in his mind.

I'm alive. He checked on King. The blast had knocked her out cold for the moment, but he could feel the life within her, and there was no sense that she was wounded. So is King.

Jarod and I are fine, Lucy added mentally.

Orombi is as well.

With that confirmed, they all looked toward the direction of the core. Fire suppression systems were kicking in and the distant drizzling sound of flame-retardant foam being sprayed over the core's access area was audible.

Robert swallowed. "This has gone beyond spying," he said. "Someone with links to the Gersallian government just set off a bomb in Defense Command."

"Yes." King was frowning. "Clearly to prevent us from gaining access to their data hacking device." King gave him a somber look before looking to Meridina. "I'm sorry Commander. But the way things are going, we may very well be looking at the end of your species' membership in the Alliance."

Meridina reacted to that news mutely, and only Robert and Lucy could feel the raw frustration surging within her. Everything she'd fought and sacrificed for was at risking of falling apart before her very eyes.




Across the Columbia and along the west bank of the Willamette, the city of Portland shined like a jewel in the lengthening sunset. Holographic signs advertised and announced everything from products to news; in the streets and in pre-programmed aerial lanes vehicles moved, carrying people from work to home or from home to work or any other location.

In the old Northwest Quarter, one dwelling in particular had quite a number of residents. On all relevant records, the home had been rented by the Gersallian Interdependency's Interspecies Cultural Exchange Directorate. The neighbors had little to say of the occupants; they were friendly to neighbors, but seemed distant, which would have been strange indeed if the neighbors knew which organization that rented the house.

Inside there were a dozen Gersallians. A few had military backgrounds. All had been training for some time for what was to come, and all were dedicated to the cause of the Interdependency… or rather, the Interdependency as they saw it. A Gersallian Interdependency that was free and independent of the quarrelling, unbalanced Human societies it had mistakenly bound itself to.

Most of those in the home were in the basement. Sound-proofing and passive jamming fields ensured privacy for the training they underwent there. At some expense, a holographic chamber had been placed into the basement, so large that it nearly took up the entire floor. Reassembling it had been the work of a week for the occupants.

On the inside, they had completed another practice run using the information given. This one had ended like many of those in the recent couple of weeks; victory, with the armed men and women standing among the carnage and destruction of what had been a holographic recreation of the Alliance Senate chamber. The holographic visages of dead Senators and officials abounded everywhere.

One of the leaders pulled off his combat helmet. "The attack was a success. End simulation."

"Kalnat." Another of his men pulled off a helmet. "Should we not practice extraction?"

"Extraction will come in one of two ways, my friends." Kalnat looked at them in one sweep of his head. "We will either be capable of activating the transporters, or we will not. That is the truth of the matter. By the time we finish this work, there will be no escape if the transporters fail."

The second man nodded. So too did the others.

"We will make one more…"

Before Kalnat could finish, a door appeared in the nearby wall. A woman in a blue robe over light purple vest and dark blue leggings stepped in. She was shaved bald, and her blue eyes looked to Kalnat intensely. "Our time has come," she said.

Kalnat looked to her. "What has happened?"

"The device was found. Our source in the Senate says we can delay no longer." The bald woman looked over them all. "We must now show our devotion to our people. A Senate meeting will be called for tomorrow morning to discuss what has happened. That is when we will strike."

"If the device was found, then security will be…"

"Our source will deal with security," the woman said. "We will do the rest."

"Yes, we will. May Swenya and our ancestors forgive us for what we must do," Kalnat answered.

"Indeed." She turned and left.

The woman walked up to the ground floor, then to her small, spartanly-furnished second floor. Her computer systems turned on and she immediately accessed the communications links that had been so carefully established in the prior months.

Within minutes a face appeared on the screen, with a moderately-sized beard and a bald head like her own. "You caught me in a meeting," said Mastrash Goras, of the Order of Swenya. "What is it, Italarai?"

"Our listening device was found. The charge went off as planned, but our source says we must hurry. We launch the operation tomorrow."

"I see." Goras nodded stiffly. "Then I can only wish the best to you. You and the Dissenters carry the hopes of our future with you, Italarai. Know that, even if your conscious is troubled by your duty."

"I know," Italarai answered. She nodded. "Mi rake sa sweyvra iso, Mastrash. I could not have asked for a finer teacher."

"You have been a devoted and marvelous student, Italarai. I hope to see you again. Mi rake sa swevyra iso."




The tension in the Defense Committee was undeniable. Robert left it to King to give the report on their findings, including the offsite video backups. His ears were still ringing from the blast. But it wasn't just that which made him feel like he had to sit down.

The bomb had killed Orombi's team. The guards at the midway checkpoint had been critically injured. The damage to the core had been substantial as well and Tower 4 had been abandoned for the time being while experts analyzed the damage and made sure that the structure was sound.

And now he was presenting evidence that this had been done by one of their own. An investigation into whether the Nazis had expectations of the Alliance's raiding plans had led them straight to findings that could rip the Alliance apart.

"And you are certain of this?", asked Minister Hawthorne.

"We are, sir," King replied. "Captain Dale and I have signed off on the findings. While we cannot be sure what data was leaked due to the destruction of the spying device, it is clear that a major security breach could have easily leaked our plans to the Reich. The method by which this communication could have been made is still undetermined."

"And it was agents of the Gersallian Interdependency who committed this act?", Pensley asked.

"I object to that!" The male Dorei Senator - Hipathi - stood to his feet with his pale purple skin turning dark purple around his cheeks. "This is not proof that the Gersallian government has done anything!"

Pensley smirked with immense self-satisfaction. "I hear the voice of the Dorei Senator, but I hear the words of the Gersallians who are his puppet-masters."

Hipathi's face turned an even deeper purple. Before he could bark out a retort, Hawthorne's gavel rapped. "You are both out of order!", Hawthorne shouted. When both sat, still glaring at each other, Hawthorne returned his attention to King and Robert. "The device, you say that the video record shows it as a Gersallian one?"

"It does, sir," King said.

"How did you make this identification, Commander?", asked Councilman Palas. The Gersallian legislature's voice was hoarse. His expression was drawn and pale.

"Commander Meridina provided the identification, Honored Councilman." King turned to face him. "She stated that it is a device made by the Interdependency Defense Forces, and that it has been provided in the past to members of the Order of Swenya for use in the field."

Palas looked at Meridina. She seemed almost in her own world. Robert could feel the anguish and uncertainty she felt, and now horror that her own people might have caused the deaths of Alliance personnel.

Hawthorne and Davies exchanged intrigued looks. Robert kept himself from scowling.

"These are grave accusations," Sriroj said. The Thai woman's eyes went to the Defense Minister. "I would move that an investigation be ordered into the possible Gersallian involvement."

"Assuming this isn't some false flag." Zoral sat up in his chair and triggered his own recorder and microphone with the movement. "There are factions that would attempt such a thing to turn us against each other."

"And yet the investigators' own video proof shows that the saboteur used mental powers, just as the Order of Swenya does," Davies retorted. "All of this evidence is pointing in that direction."

"We both know that the Gersallian Order of Swenya is not the only source of such beings, Admiral," Zoral retorted. "The intruder could have been a Betazed. But you don't see me rushing to accuse the Federation, do you?"

"How would a Federation officer have gotten their hands on such sensitive Gersallian equipment, Councilman?" Pensley shook his head. "I know how much you Sirians love the Gersallians, but this is really too much. In time you'll be as beholden to them as the Dorei are. And before the honored Defense Minister calls us to order, I have my own proposal to add to the Honorable Senator Sriroj's." Pensley looked over the others, and especially at the Senators assembled from the External Affairs Committee. "I move that the Defense Committee formally endorse resuming the peace initiative with the Reich. It's clear we have to clean up our own house before we can even begin to consider a permanent arrangement in S4W8."

"I object!", General Gulinev snarled. "We cannot make peace with fascists!"

"It is not your place to object to a political consideration, General!", Pensley shot back.

"Order!" Hawthorne slammed his gavel. "There will be order in the Committee!" With swiftness the voices and shouts died down.

As the voices died down, the Sergeant-at-Arms approached Hawthorne and whispered into his ear. "Very well," he said. "Bring her in."

Robert and the others looked back to see the doors open to admit a new arrival. The Chinese woman in question was reserved in her attire, a full-sleeved gray suit and loose gray trousers with gold-colored embroidery on the sleeves and cuffs. Her dark hair was pulled back into an austere bun, the temples already graying, and her face was thin.

A very bad feeling came over him at seeing her.

"Senator Kiang," said Minister Hawthorne. "Thank you for joining us."

"Minister." Kiang nodded. "I have come to inform you that the Senate has voted to hold a full session in the morning on this situation."

Sriroj gave her peer a look of irritation. "I was not aware the Senate was voting on the subject."

"Nor were any others here," Kiang said. "But Senate President Akreet agreed to the session and held a virtual meeting of the majority of the Senators. The vote for a session was approved. And the Defense Committee has been requested to observe and participate as is deemed necessary."

"Very well." Sriroj was clearly unhappy.

"Then I take it the Senate is assuming control over the investigation?", Hawthorne asked.

"Oversight, yes. But I believe it acceptable for your team to continue their work," Kiang said. "Although some considerations may be necessary given the evidence. Among the legislation being proposed would be a ban on permitting members of certain 'orders' from serving in the Alliance services."

Robert could sense Lucy's surge of anger at that. He knew she could feel his. Within a second he was on his feet, looking at Kiang. "You're talking about banning Commander Meridina and her peers," he said.

"Captain, you have no place to join this conversation!", Hawthorne barked.

Robert bit down on his lip at that.

"I would be happy to help direct such legislation through the Council," said Pensley, who was almost purring with delight. "I have long waited for the Senate to realize the dangers facing the Alliance from the inside."

"Do not mistake our purpose," Kiang said. "We have many considerations for how to deal with the recent difficulties. The investigation into Gersallian responsibility for the security breach, and for this bombing, is just one element. That is why we wish the Defense Committee's presence."

Robert could feel the satisfaction oozing from Hawthorne and Davies. Maran's face remained a stone mask.

"Then, in light of this, I will adjourn the Committee for the evening. We will reconvene tomorrow morning. Before we adjourn, however…" Hawthorne looked back to Robert. The pleasure was eminent in his face. "It is clear, Captain Dale, that your services with this investigation are no longer necessary. Nor are they desired. You and your officers are hereby relieved from those duties and you are dismissed. Commander King, you may assign a new team as you like."

Maran frowned at Hawthorne. But he did nothing. Given the way things had gone, he could do nothing.

"We are all hereby adjourned." With a last rap of the gavel, the session ended and the Committee began to file out the nearby doors. With a gesture, Davies summoned Commander King. She took one last look at them before joining him through a side door.

"Robert, you can't let them do this," Lucy said. Beside her, Meridina looked and felt miserable. "This is the opening they've been waiting for!"

"There's not anything we can do," Jarod replied on Robert's behalf. "Maran's known for cooperation with the Order of Swenya, so this makes it impossible for him to act."

"So Meridina's going to be kicked out of the Stellar Navy over this?" Lucy shook her head. "That's ridiculous! And that device doesn't prove anything. There are other life force users out there, they could have swiped it!"

"It's not about what is true," Robert mumbled. "It's about what fits everyone's expectations." As he said that he looked to Kiang, who was exiting with other Senators from the two observing delegations. "And you heard Pensley. There are probably more like him. They have it out for the Gersallians. Maybe over last year, or maybe over other things. This gives them a chance to vent about it."

"There has to be something we can do," Lucy insisted. "Because look at them. Hawthorne and Davies are so paranoid about Meridina they don't care about anything else."

Robert considered that. "There's only one thing I can do." He stood up a the room finished clearing. "I'll meet you at the shuttle bay. If nothing comes of this we'll just have to get a flight back to the Aurora."

The others nodded in reply as they stood, even Meridina. They left together.



When they got to the shuttle bay, at the very top of the central building, Jarod went off to find a flight officer and a shuttle that would be available. Lucy and Meridina waited outside of the chamber. "Maybe it's what Zoral said." Lucy put a hand on Meridina's arm while she stared blankly at the window. Night was falling in Portland and the red and orange rays of sunset were coming over the hills to the west, on the opposite side of the Columbia River. It was a lovely sight, but it was also not the focus of Lucy's attention.

Lucy felt the fear and despair inside of her mentor and it made her heart sink. Those emotions would only make things worse for Meridina and her struggles with the darkness that Amaunet's possession had left her with.

"I wish it were true," Meridina said. "But a part of me… it is as if my swevyra itself can feel that it is true. That one of my own was responsible."

"Are you sure?"

"Quite." Meridina shook her head. "I… I can't understand it. Why would any of them do something like that? Even my father, even Goras, would not…"

"There might be another explanation. Maybe one of your Knights went rogue and fell to darkness? They could be working for the Nazis, or whoever is spying for them."

"If so, then they have done us a great harm, Lucy. Great harm indeed." Meridina shook her head. Tears had appeared in her eyes. "They are destroying everything that we have aspired to build. The future itself is at threat because of them, the victory of Light, everything I've sacrificed for…"

"The what?", Lucy asked. "What are you talking about?"

Meridina bowed her head. "There are some things I have not told you, Lucy, because it was not the right time. Perhaps, now, it shall never be."

Lucy's curiosity piqued. But she also trusted Meridina enough to let the curiosity pass. "It's up to you on how much you tell me. I would like to know."

"Perhaps… in time. When this is over."

"Now all we can do is hope Robert comes up with something."

"Indeed."




Robert made a beeline toward Admiral Maran's office. But he did not stop there.

A couple of turns down further corridors brought him to his destination. Beside the door was the sign with the name of the office's occupant.

Admiral William Davies - Vice CNO

Robert keyed the door and opened. An older woman, of about forty with a Mediterranean complexion and dark hair, was sitting in the next room at one desk, her rank insignia that of a Captain, while a younger Caucasian woman in her early twenties with a yeoman's rating insignia on her collar was at the desk beside the door. Both looked up. "Sir?", the yeoman asked. "How can I help you?"

"I'm Captain Robert Dale and I need to speak to Admiral Davies," he said.

"He is currently occupied in a meeting," the yeoman replied. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait."

"No, yeoman, he will not," said the Captain. Her accent was Spanish, or maybe Portuguese. "I'm Captain Benedita Soveral, the Admiral's senior aide. And I can tell you that he is not interested in speaking with you."

"I need to talk with him about the investigation," Robert said.

"You have been removed from that investigation, Captain Dale." The way she spoke made it clear she didn't think he deserved the equal rank to her. "Commander King will share anything of interest. Now, the Admiral has had a very long day and isn't up to whatever complaint you wish to subject him to."

"I'll let him decide that."

"It's my job to decide," Captain Soveral declared. "And if you don't leave I will call…"

The door to the inner office opened. Commander King stepped out with Admiral Davies at the door behind her. Both looked at Robert. King nodded to him, gave him a polite, "Captain Dale", and went on out.

Davies and Robert exchanged looks. "I can give you a few minutes, Captain," he said, withdrawing into the office. Robert followed before the door closed.

Davies' office was more furnished than Maran. Old holopics and normal 2D print pictures adorned shelves. A large model of an Earth Confederacy dreadnought was prominent on one wall.

"Well, Captain, I don't have a lot of time with the Senate session coming in the morning." Davies took his chair behind his desk and looked to him. Even as he did, he was typing something onto his systems. Behind Davies and through the secured window Robert could make out the city lights of Portland in the distance, a lovely view if not for the circumstances before him. "What do you want?"

"Admiral, I'd like to continue being part of the investigation."

"That is not possible, Captain," Davies announced. "And given what Commander King's debriefing stated, you know why."

"She told us about what happened last year, yes. The Gersallians threatened to leave the Alliance if the Defense Committee removed us from the Aurora."

"And the Senate knows it, as does everyone on the Committee," Davies said. "They know you're not an unbiased observer in this, Captain. You have strong reason, very strong reason, to see the Gersallian involvement in this scandal hushed up."

"But that's not what I want," Robert insisted. "Whoever did the crime has to face punishment, regardless of their species."

"What you want, Captain, is irrelevant. You're off the investigation. As far as I'm concerned, you should be going back to that starship that you can't seem to keep out of the repair yards." Davies put his hands on the table. "If things play out the way they're going, hopefully that won't be happening again either."

Robert ignored the remark, even as he sensed what it entailed. He had another card to play. "You don't think it's suspicious that Senator Kiang is the one who's initiating this Senate meeting? That she's the one who just so happens to be ready to put this entire thing in the open?"

:"Suspicious? No, I'm damn grateful. She was working with the Gersallians last year. It seems it only took thousands of dead Alliance personnel to make her see that mistake."

"And you didn't read the report from DS9?", Robert asked. "We had Dominion sabotage completely shut down the station, and we never found out why. The summit had to be the target."

"Your own report said that Commander Kane secured the Senator."

"After several minutes of blackout, sir," Robert said. "That's more than enough time for a Changeling to act."

Davies met him eye to eye. "I see. So that's what you're going to argue. That Senator Kiang is doing this because it's not her, she's been replaced by a Changeling."

"I think we need to look into it," Robert said. "We still don't know how any defense plans could be sent to the Nazis."

"Commander King will undoubtedly turn up the cause," Davies said. "As for the failed summit, I have indeed read the report, and my conclusion is that the incident is far more easily explained by the presence of a centuries-old Asari serial killer being able to hack into the atrocious computer security of that decrepit old Cardassian station. Calling it a Dominion operation when we had no indication of Dominion involvement in the situation is foolish."

"Jarod's report on the virus used on DS9 says otherwise."

"Commander Jarod's report simply specified that the attack vectors were similar. Not that they were the same." Davies put his hands together on the desk. The gesture briefly dismissed his hardlight keyboard. "This seems to me to be nothing more than the desperate flailing of a partisan for the Gersallians and the Order of Swenya. Frankly, you should have followed your mentor's example, Captain, and kept you mouth shut, because there's nothing that you can do or say to cover up the fact that your Gersallian friends have been caught red-handed engaging in espionage against the Alliance military. And if I have my way, the Gersallians are going to outlaw that damn Order or be driven out of this Alliance. And if that costs us a third of our memberships, that's fine by me, because we'll be a better and safer organization without them."

Robert looked across the desk at Davies with near-incomprehension. He understood that Davies had suspicions of the Gersallians, but this was taking that even further. "Can't you see what you're doing, Admiral?", he asked. "All of this paranoia and suspicion is going to destroy the Alliance!"

"I'm well aware of what can or can't destroy this Alliance, Captain," Davies retorted. He started typing again. "And it seems to me that you've already picked your side on that matter with what you've become." Before Robert could ask what he meant, Davies smirked at him. "Oh, I know what you are, Captain. I read the report on Gamma Piratus. You've become one of them."

"If you mean I found out I've got these life force powers, yes," Robert said. "It let me save the lives of my colleagues and stop the Nazis from taking over the Facility."

"Oh, I'm sure it did," Davies said. There was a dangerous glistening in his dark blue eyes. "But that's the problem. Powers, things like that, are a threat to the liberties of the Alliance and its people. That blast tonight proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind. One saboteur, one, waltzed right through all of our security by mentally dominating our people. I shudder to think of what entire organizations of them can do. Because when you think about the number of people they can dominate and the power they can wield, and how many of them there are, you realize that nobody is safe from them. They could seize control of our government with ease. They've already done it with the Gersallians and the Dorei. And when you realize that, a good man comes to only one conclusion." Davies stood and leaned across his desk, drawing closer to Robert. "The Order of Swenya, and the Crimson Brotherhood and the Silver Moon and all of those other Dorei organizations, are grave and terrible threats to the citizenry of the Alliance. And I am going to neutralize those threats to preserve the sacred liberties of every member of this Alliance."

The sheer vitriol and disgust coming off of Davies was almost putrid. There was no disguising what was within him: fear, and with that and being driven by it, was hate. Hate for anyone who could wield power over him. Who could turn his mind against him. The sheer horror of that thought of violation had hardened Davies' opinions on the matter.

It was with frustration that Robert brought his hands up in a gesture of disbelief. "How can you be so close-minded… this is what the Nazis want! And the Dominion, and the Batarians, and all the other tyrants and dictatorships that stand to benefit from the Alliance collapsing! They want us at each other's throats!"

"The meta-powered beings of the Multiverse are greater threats to this Alliance than any of those forces you just mentioned," Davies retorted. "I want the Nazi Reich gone too, but not at the cost of my freedom of thought. If I had to choose, I'd gladly be supporting Pensley's peace broadcasts if it meant saving the Alliance from your friends.""

"People with these abilities aren't threats to you," Robert insisted. "It doesn't work that way!"

"So you say. But I have little reason to trust you." Davies was still oozing vitriol, and it was joined by intense satisfaction. He took his seat again and resumed typing. "Now, you've said your peace, Captain, and I have work to do. I suggest you return to your ship. Your part is done and you are dismissed."

Robert's first desire was to plead for time, to persuade Davies he was wrong. But there was no mistaking that oily, dark feeling he was getting from Davies. There would be no persuading him with talk. Davies was convinced of a threat, and now he had evidence that his suspicions were correct. And that was all there was to it. Dejected, Robert began to walk toward the door to leave.

One last thought came to him. He turned briefly. "Admiral, if you're so worried about people with life force powers being able to take over minds, why did you let me come in here alone?"

Davies looked up from his desk and smirked. "Captain Soveral has been monitoring us. I've been keeping in touch with her the whole time. At the first sign of you using your powers against me, she was going to fry your brains out with a microwave pulse rifle. Now, as I said, you are dismissed."

Robert blinked and opened the door. Captain Soveral was indeed standing on the other end. A black-painted rifle with an emitter at the firing end was in her arms. She smirked at him. "The yeomen has a weapon as well."

She did indeed. Also pointed at Robert.

"I've also alerted security to send a sweep our way. So I don't suggest you try anything, Captain, if you want to live." Soveral tilted her head to the door. "You may go."

Robert nodded. The paranoia and fear oozing from Soveral was just as bad as that from Davies. He almost got the sense that she wanted him to "try" something, just so she would have an excuse to shoot him.

He didn't give her the chance. He went for the door.




When he arrived at the shuttle bay, Robert found the others waiting. "How did it go?", Lucy asked.

"Davies thinks he's won," Robert sighed. "He's… poisoned by hate and fear about us. He thinks we're out to use our powers to dominate the minds of the government and rule the Alliance like.. I don't know, some clique of super-powered beings."

"He thinks we are like the Brotherhood of Kohbal," Meridina said. "Darkness does manifest as desire to rule and to dominate."

"Either way, he's enthusiastic about tomorrow. He's convinced that he's got the smoking gun he was looking for. And he doesn't care at all about the issue with Kiang."

"Is there anything more we can do?", Jarod asked.

"I… I don't know," Robert said. "Admiral Maran's helpless. Depending on how things go tomorrow, President Morgan might even be forced to re-assign him. And I'm not sure the President can do anything. Not with the bomb, I mean."

"Then it may be over," Meridina said quietly. "Maybe it has been for nothing…"

Lucy gave Meridina a worried look. "We should go back," she said. "We're all exhausted."

"I have a shuttle ready," Jarod said.

"And a pilot?"

"Oh, no pilot." Jarod smirked. "I gave some advice that was helpful and the assigned pilot signed off for the day. The flight control officer's agreed to let me pilot the shuttle back. I'll have a couple of the flight crew fly it back in the morning."

"Then let's go," Robert sighed. "After the day we've had, I just want to collapse in bed."





"It's that device, isn't it?", Lucy asked, as she approached Meridina's quarters alongside her mentor. "That's what's bothering you."

"It is more than the device," Meridina said. "I cannot get the feeling out of my being that everything is going wrong. Something is going to happen. And because of the darkness infesting Admiral Davies, we can do nothing about it."

Lucy had to admit she felt apprehensive too. Like something terrible was about to happen. But she couldn't place it, not exactly. "What do you think will happen?"

"Destruction. Death. Slaughter. And from it more." Meridina's blue eyes hazed with doubt. "But the darkness within me… I can't be sure if what I'm seeing will come to pass or if it is a reflection of what is inside. If I'm distorting my sight with the darkness within me."

"Maybe not, but we can't take that chance." Lucy frowned. "Let's get some sleep first? Then maybe in the morning we can figure something out."




The day had been a blur of paperwork and quick meeting for Julia. That had been a benefit, if only to keep her from facing the twisted up feelings inside.

But once she was trying to sleep, that benefit went away. She couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned in her bed while her mind continued to run the images in her head. The tactical reports that Robert and Locarno had filed, and Zack's, had made the progress of the battle clear. She kept thinking of the things she would have done had she been there, advising Robert, and how that might have changed the battle. Maybe they could have saved more ships… no, certainly they would have. Maybe even the Themistocles.

It seemed like she had finally settled into sleep.

Suddenly her multi-device went off. She sat up and opened her eyes. The drydock was gone, replaced by burning ships and energy weapons fire raining down on the ship. Her eyes widened and Julia sprinted off to the bridge, still in her nightgown. The cyan-toned garment was hardly fitting for duty, but she had to get to the bridge, she had to be there! They needed her!

She about jumped into the lift and shouted "Bridge!" It started lifting her up while the ship rocked beneath her. The journey kept going. Far longer than it should have. "Go faster!", she demanded. "Faster!"

"Unable to comply. Lift car already at maximum safe velocity."

A long growl of frustration answered it. "Get me there you stupid…!"

Finally, after even more time, the door opened. Julia rushed out onto the burning bridge as the vessel rocked around her. On the viewscreen a Nazi dreadnought was pumping super-disruptor blasts into the Aurora. "I'm here! What's happening?"

"You abandoned us."

The voice was Cat's. But off. Julia turned toward Sensors.

Cat's blackened corpse was laid against it. Her head lolled, lifeless, to the side. But the mouth still moved. "You abandoned us, Julia."

"Why?", another voice asked. Angela was sprawled out on the floor nearby, half of her body ablaze and her eyes staring dully upward. "Why weren't you here?"

Julia's breath quickened. She looked around in a panic. Barnes stared at her, a blackened corpse at Engineering. "You should've been here!", he accused.

"You left us to die," agreed the slumped corpse of Nicholas Locarno. He was in her chair.

"We needed you and you abandoned us." That was from Robert. Julia, trembling in disbelief and fear, rounded the side of the command area to go toward her seat and his. He was laid back in it, arms dangling to either side, a disruptor burn between his lifeless eyes.

Leo was on the ground nearby, a medical case in his hand opened and its contents strewn about. Even as he didn't look toward her, his mouth moved. "You weren't here."

"You weren't here!"

"Ye weren't at yer post!"

After the accusations from Zack and Scotty, Julia started to turn, trying to follow the voices, until she found herself in engineering. Not on the Aurora, but on the Koenig.

Karen Derbely, in hospital gown and wrapped in bandages, was standing beside the plasma coolant conduit. "Look at what happened to me," she said, her voice scratchy and strange. "Because you weren't here, because you weren't here!"

Behind Derbely the conduit splintered. Julia screamed as the coolant rushed like an ocean wave and washed over her, cooking her to…

Julia sat up, a scream still in her throat, and again was in the quiet darkness of her quarters. Once the scream stopped the only sound was the heaving of her breath. She looked out the window and saw nothing. She'd set her windows to tint mode.

It was a dream. It was all a dream.

The time said 0250. That made Julia groan as she slid out of bed. Her blue sleeping gown had a coat of sweat now. And her mind… her mind was in such agitation that she knew she wouldn't be falling asleep soon.

Her first act was to assume a ready stance and to begin the slow movements of a t'ai chi routine. If it worked she'd be able to get some sleep soon. All she had to do was let her mind calm down.

It didn't.




The dreams came back for Robert that night. The broken, twisted remnants of a city stretched before him, shadowy figures dancing just out of range of the light, and beyond a single light pierced the sky. A loud noise, like a trumpet horn sounded through the Devil's synthesizer, rattled his bones.

And then there was a scream. He turned. Julia was strapped into a chair of some sort, with something braced around her head while her bare wrists were covered in straps, while SS men stood nearby at controls. Her face contorted into agony and she cried out. Fassbinder, the SS man killed at the Gamma Piratus Facility, was standing beside her smirking as he looked to Robert. He started to open his mouth.

But then he was gone. Robert stood in a room with men in SS uniforms strewn everywhere, already dead or unconscious. Winds whipped around him like he was standing near a tornado. He looked up and saw a young woman in a tattered vest and suit, both red with gold or yellow trim, standing on a raised dais. The winds whipped around her. When she opened her eyes, they glowed with pure energy. Robert raised his arms in self-defense…

....and then he was somewhere new. To his surprise, it was the Senate chamber of the Alliance. And it looked like a war zone, with work stations still sparking while the dead bodies of gunmen and Senators and others were strewn about. "This is all your fault!", screamed a voice. Robert turned and found Admiral Davies over the dead body of Commander King. "I'm going to destroy everything you cherish!", he vowed. "I will not let you win!"

And he could imagine it, in a flurry of horrible images, a host of Alliance fleets destroying one another accompanied by the Alliance flag being torn in half. When the destruction ended he looked up.

It was New Liberty that was burning. Beth and her wife were among the dead at his feet, and on the Government Building, a Nazi swastika fluttered triumphantly in the flame-swept winds consuming the Colony. A wolf howled in the background. And then he heard the door chime and…

….and Robert was awake, sitting up in bed, while the door chime went off in the main living area. He looked over and saw he was alone. Angela had gone to bed in her quarters when he hadn't returned. He took the time to pull on a pair of knee-length shorts before stumbling to the door and opening it.

Julia was standing in the doorway with reddened eyes. She'd pulled a baby blue bathrobe over the emerald nightgown she'd changed into. "Hey," she said. "Are you…?"

"Angel's not here," he replied. His eyes felt heavy, but after that dream he knew he'd be awake for a while. "Come in."

Julia stepped into his quarters. "Do you want to have a coffee?", she asked. "It looks like we're not getting any sleep."

"Let's give it half an hour, the last thing I need is for the caffeine to keep me up when I could fall asleep again." He went to his replicator. "You?"

"If you're not having any, I won't."

"Okay then. I'll get us some tea then." He looked back to his machine. "Brown tea, unsweetened, warm. Two mugs, standard servings." Light coalesced as the atoms were moved about, forming the requested containers and beverages. He picked them up and brought them over to the couch, where he handed one to Julia. He stepped beside her and sat to her right, at the edge of the couch. "So, here we are," he said.

"Looking like two insomniacs fresh out of bed," Julia added, smirking.

Robert looked down, as if just noticing he was shirtless. "Ah, yeah."

"At least it's an enjoyable view," Julia added in a teasing tone.

"Right." Robert sipped at the tea. It wouldn't wake him up like coffee. If anything, he hoped that it would soothe enough that he would go back to sleep. "So… bad dreams?"

"You've got those life force powers, that's cheating," Julia answered. She took another sip.

"Too true." Robert sighed. "And they're part of the problem. I take it you heard?"

"I did." Julia shook her head. "Someone's already let it slip that a Gersallian was behind it, and that it might be the Order."

"Davies. Preparing the way for his grand plan to crush the Orders or drive the Gersallians and Dorei out of the Alliance." Robert shook his head. "The man was ready to have me shot tonight over these powers."

"You're joking."

"I'm not." Robert sipped at his tea again. "And what about you? What caused your bad dream?"

Julia took a quiet sip first. "I… it's probably this… twistiness I feel inside."

"From not being there?"

"Yeah."

Robert shook his head. "But you can't blame yourself…"

"I know, Rob." Julia's voice was laced with irritation. "I know that. Rationally. Nobody can blame me for not being there. You don't, Zack doesn't, Maran doesn't…"

"But you do."

"Yes." She nodded. "Yes, I do, and I shouldn't, but I Goddamned do." She put her left arm on her left thigh and used the hand to prop her head up, half covering her face in the process. "It's like there's this part of me that refuses to accept any reason for it. It's mad as hell I wasn't there and it's making me suffer for it."

"Sometimes our head and our heart aren't in the same place," Robert sighed. "I'm sorry that it's making you feel that way."

"Well, nothing you can do about my psyche." Julia moved her head to take another drink. "So is this it? I mean… is this thing going to blow up?"

"Senator Kiang called for a Senate session tomorrow. The Defense Committee will produce the relevant evidence." Robert shook his head. "Maran's helpless. Morgan can't do anything about it. Whoever did this, whether they're Gersallian or not, made a mess of things. We lost lives tonight."

"Right." Julia nodded, but her eyes were dark. "You think this will go that far?"

"I think the Alliance is about to fall apart." Robert's expression was dark. "And I think that it might be the Dominion's fault."

"Kiang." Julia nodded. "Kane did say he didn't get in to see her right away."

"Could be nothing."

"Or it could be that she was replaced by a Changeling."

"Right." Robert pondered that. "So, how do we convince anyone? After tomorrow it'll be too late. The news will go out what happened and the Gersallians' role in the Alliance will be destroyed."

"Except the evidence isn't one hundred percent," Julia noted. "So all of the people who like the Gersallians will see it as Hawthorne and Davies stretching the evidence to justify a bigoted agenda."

"And all the while, Pensley will be in the Council, pushing the anti-war agenda."

"As if the Nazis will make peace and keep it." Julia rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but that's not stopping him. And he'll get Tetzel's Senator to agree with him, and they'll push to resume their peace proposal broadcasts to…"

After a moment, Julia looked at Robert, who stared dully ahead. "Robby?"

"Resume peace broadcasts," Robert murmured. "He said he wanted to resume them."

"Okay?"

"Which means that they've already been made before," Robert said.

"Right." Julia shook her head. "But what…" She stopped. Her eyes widened.

"The broadcasts. That's how." Robert sat up and went over to his desk. "Computer, open priority channel, full encryption, authorization code Dale Juliet Zulu Romeo Three Five Six."

"Please specify recipient."

Robert leaned over it. Julia stepped up beside him. "Commander Elizabeth King."

"Locating specified recipient. Standby."

"Why King?", Julia asked.

"Because Maran can't do anything about it now, and Davies would literally take the Devil's word over mine right now."

"And King won't? She's his spy, remember?"

Robert shook his head. "True, but she puts her duty before her prejudices."

"Ah." Julia sighed. "Well, I'll leave you to it."

Robert stopped leaning over his desk and looked over to Julia. "Hey, Julie?" He put a hand on her arm as a gesture of support. "I know that this isn't something you just get over. All I can say is… I trust you. I trust you more than I trust myself, and if you're not here for a crisis, I'll always know it's for a good reason. I know you won't abandon us, okay?"

Julia responded with a faint smile. "Thanks," she said. "I'm hoping that helps."

"Me too." Robert looked back to his desk monitor.

A moment later King appeared. The background seemed to be that of an apartment bedroom. The call had roused her from bed, so King was in a conservatively-made night-robe. A bright, shiny pink robe, but a normal one still.

"I guess she doesn't sleep in her uniform," Julia mumbled to herself, so low even Robert barely made out what she said.

"Captain." King was clearly irritated, and just as clearly dedicated to hiding it. "I suppose you have a good reason for waking me at this ungodly hour?"

"Commander, Pensley talked about resuming peace broadcasts to the Reich," Robert said. "So there have already been broadcasts, right?"

"I believe so. I'll have to check the logs."

"I think that's how our plans were passed on to the enemy."

King frowned at that. "How? Those messages were vetted by the Intelligence Office and the Command Staff."

"Maybe not in the actual message. But someone, our spy for instance, may have been able to add the data if they got access. A subchannel or something. Something most people wouldn't see unless they knew what to look for."

King considered that. "It's possible. Although if true, the consequences are horrifying."

"What do you mean?"

"As I said, those messages were carefully vetted up to the moment of transmission. For any additional data to be included in the package would have required the highest accesses. I'm not even sure the technicians themselves could do it and not be noticed, only someone with access to the actual message and related data before its transmission."

"Like?"

King thought for a moment. "The Senators on the External Affairs Committee."

Robert frowned. "Kiang."

King's jaw clenched. "I'll make inquiries. Please meet me tomorrow morning in the Rose Garden. Go ahead and bring the others."

"We'll be there," Robert pledged. "Dale out."

 

[Big Steve]

Italarai and Kalnat had roused everyone that morning for a final layout of the plan. One of their number, Seqen, was doing his part already by preparing their transportation. Infiltration would mean staying out of sight; the day was warm and it would be impossible to justify wearing the heavy clothing that might have obscured their weapons to the eyes of others. Instead they would carry them in packs and duffelbags, made so that they would look like tourists if spotted inside the Senate.

With one careful look Italarai noted their nervousness. She could feel their fear. That deep down, despite their devotion, they still did not want to die. She understood it, and indeed, she didn't feel bad about it either. To follow a cause to the final end was always difficult.

"We will not die if it can be avoided," she stated. "The Interdependency will need us in the coming days. Our attack may very well provoke war. But without it, our people will be conquered from within, and we will become nothing but puppets to the Humans and their Alliance."

The heads at the table nodded grimly.

The door opened. Seqen stepped in. "The truck is ready," he said.

"Then we leave immediately," Kalnat said. "For the people of Gersal."

"For the people of Gersal," the others echoed.




With the light of the sun and the growing warmth of the day, the Rose Garden looked particularly tranquil when they arrived to meet King. She was near a public meal replicator kiosk with a mostly-finished breakfast before her. "I was afraid you wouldn't arrive," she said as Robert sat down. Lucy, Meridina, and Jarod all brought up seats.

"We had a few difficulties getting the carpool at Command to let me use a vehicle," Robert said. "I had to go to General Gulinev's chief of staff to get them to cooperate."

"Yes, that would be Admiral Davies," she said. "He contacted me this morning with the suspicion you would try to intervene."

"He's taking this way too far."

"He is frightened of the powers you wield. I admit I'm not pleased with the prospect either." King sipped at her coffee. "The difference is, I know that you're not the kind of man to use them just to get your own way. And if you and Meridina were committed to covering up this incident, you wouldn't have identified the device in question so readily. Davies and his inner circle know you only as a brash radical assigned to a command above your station and with the power to compel them mentally."

"I don't think I could compel a cat to bat yarn with these powers, honestly. But that's not what we're here for."

"Indeed not." King frowned. "I've been up all night attempting to decipher the peace initiative broadcasts that were sent."

"You didn't find anything?"

"No. But that's not surprising, as my access has been restricted by Senate order. All I could access was a basic copy of the planned message and the raw data on the transmission itself, since it was sent through Stellar Navy channels." King held up one of the digital pads in front of her. "But I can't see what was actually sent."

"I would think Davies would back you in getting to review them."

"He can't on his authority. The President can, but without probable cause I can't go to him. The Senate would be in an uproar." King shook her head. "Hypothesis aside, we have no actual proof that the plans were transmitted inside of the peace offers. Without that proof, nobody will let us have the access we need."

"Maybe we don't need the actual transmission," Jarod said. "May I?"

King nodded and handed him the digital pad. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm examining the transmission data. How much raw data was used, for instance. A simple message, even as an official communication, wouldn't be above a certain size." Jarod examined the contents of the screen. Robert could only imagine the way that his mind was running, quickly analyzing what was before him in such a way that he was nearly putting himself into the shoes of the saboteur. "So I'm comparing the message that was planned to the volume of data that was actually sent." After a few more seconds Jarod smirked. "There you are," he murmured.

"Commander?" King looked at him intently.

"Each transmission is at least three percent larger than it should be with this message."

"What if someone made last minute alterations?", Lucy asked.

"Then they would be defying the Senate's explicit instructions," King answered. "What could be sent within that margin? The size of the message isn't that great, there's no way the plans could be mixed in."

"Not in one message." Jarod showed a pleased smirk. "But what if each specific transmission had a different piece? I mean, presumably the message was transmitted repeatedly over a few days, right?"

"Correct."

"Then maybe the system was set to transmit the data piece by piece with every individual transmission of the peace message," Jarod said. "The Nazis, by analyzing the message, realize it contains something extra, and after several transmissions our spy has introduced himself, or herself, and sent them the plans they took."

"A plausible explanation," King said. "I might be able to present this to the Senate."

Robert nodded. But he was already thinking of something else. "We need to be in the Senate."

King gave him a look. "I'm already putting my career at risk talking to you, Captain, I lack any authority to get you into the Senate. And why would you want to be there?"

"Because I think something's going to happen today," Robert said. "I don't have any physical evidence for this, just my instinct and my power. I think whoever was behind that spying device is going to strike again. And maybe at the Senate itself."

King pondered that. "You sound convinced, Captain. But should you be so certain of it?"

"I'm as certain of it as I was certain that I needed to go down to the Facility at Gamma Piratus," he replied.

For a moment King said nothing. She was weighing that thought in her head. "If you hadn't gone down, the SS would have taken control of the Facility."

Robert nodded but said nothing. The others remained quiet as well.

After another period of thought King sighed. "I'm going to get court-martialed for this, I suspect," she muttered. "But I think I can get you in." She checked her multidevice. "And we'd better hurry, the session will start soon."

"We won't be able to take weapons into the Senate," Robert noted.

"No, we won't." King frowned. "And we will be scanned for weapons before we go in."

"So we'll have to be unarmed?", Lucy asked. "What good will that do if there's an attack?"

"We will manage, Lieutenant."

King heard Meridina's words, but she was clearly suspicious of them. She said nothing, however. Robert got the feeling she knew what Meridina was getting at and didn't want to even think what she was thinking. "Alright, let's get going," she said. "I'll meet you at the aircar garage beside the Senate."

Only after King walked away did Robert give Meridina a leery look. "The lakesh won't show up on a scanner, will it?"

"No. We craft them to evade the sort of scanning that finds weapons."

"Right." Jarod sighed. "So we're going to smuggle two swords into the Senate Chamber. And to think I just got out of a cell."

"Hopefully we will not need them," Meridina said.

Robert frowned at the thought. This was the kind of thing that would further set off Davies' paranoia. But they needed to be ready to fight off anyone attacking the Senate, and that meant having at least something for self-defense. It was a risk he would need to take. "I don't want to keep Commander King waiting," he said. "Let's get going."




Long ago, the area had been a residential neighborhood joined by the railroads that connected Portland to the rest of North America. Eventually the area had torn away by the conflicts and social dislocations that the Earth of the Federated Stars had known in the time between the 21st and 27th Centuries, becoming open land.

Then the Alliance had been formed, and at the proposal of various authorities, the regions of the Northern half of Portland that had undergone this change had been handed over to the new United Alliance of Systems to be their capitol complex. The various government offices were to be housed in structures that, with 27th Century industrial technology, were ready within months of the announcement. The former Portland International Airport had been converted into a Spaceport for the increased off-planet traffic of the Alliance. Defense Command had, over the course of ten months, arisen in its place between the Columbia and Lake Vancouver.

Council Hall was another such structure. It was two buildings joined by a central covered courtyard area, the northern building belonging to the Alliance Council and the southern building belonging to the Alliance Senate. The flag of the Alliance flew over both structures, each designed with elegant square marble columns along the exterior and in the light shades that all of the contributing cultures agreed would work. To a Human eye there was something slightly off about the structure. The dome over the covered courtyard was carved in the Gersallian style, a polished and gleaming glass exterior with a smooth, pyramidal-shape at the top, while the layers beneath it contained eaves that gave it the appearance of a pagoda, but with strong upward slants at the ends of the eaves as favored by the Alakin. The Dorei had contributed the internal halls and how they were laid out, made to resemble the Legislative Hall of the Dorei Federation in the capital city of Darnis on Doreia. The marble exterior reflected Western architecture while the Eastern influences showed in the eave overhang. The smaller domes above each structure were done in the styles prominent in the Indian subcontinent, the internal courtyard was adorned on the inside and outside by Arabic art (the designers had even worked calligraphy, denoting Arabic phrases about the strength of alliance, into the art itself).

As with most bicameral systems, the lower house was truly representative (albeit at a rate of about twenty billion citizens per Council Representative) with a large chamber that would house up to seven hundred legislators if the time came, while the upper house held three members per Alliance member state. One Senator was elected democratically by the citizens of a member state, one elected by the national legislature, or equivalent body, of the state in question, and the final Senator appointed by the Head of State of the member state. These representative policies left the Alliance Council, currently, with three hundred and seventy Councilmembers and eighty-seven Senators, all to represent the roughly seven and a half trillion beings that resided in the Allied Systems.

And Robert knew that he was about to possibly decide the fates of those seven trillion something people. Their livelihoods, freedoms and liberties, their very lives, could be lost if this went bad.

This is when Julie would remind me that this is why we get paid the big bucks now, he mused as King led them through one of the non-public entrances to the Senate, located along the north side of the building. Not that we're millionaires…

They were met by security almost immediately. "They're with me," King said.

The Human guard who accepted her identification nodded in reply. He was Caucasian, with pale blond hair barely visible under his protective cap and dark brown eyes. When he spoke to say, "Please come forward for the security scan," it was with a Norwegian accent. Nearby his companion, a man with a dark complexion and features that Robert thought looked Indian, remained at the ready with his pulse pistol holstered.

Robert was scanned and cleared. Jarod came next. That left Meridina and Lucy. Robert forced his face to become a mask of non-emotion as they were scanned. It seemed for a moment like the man was taking an overlong interest in Lucy. He waved the scanner over her again, as if looking for something…

Lucy scowled. And Robert, for his part, felt guilty at the relief as he sensed what was in the Norwegian's head. It was a petty abuse of power, but he was doing the second scan just to have an excuse to look over Lucy again. He waved her through. Meridina didn't get quite the same scrutiny and went through as well. King led them down the hall.

Once they were out of earshot, Robert looked to King. "That guard should probably get talked to."

"Unfortunately, Captain, I have no standing for it," she answered. "Otherwise I would have already reported his conduct. Perhaps I'll have to go to Colonel Agarwal, she will be most interested I'm sure. But that is a matter for another time." King looked to her multidevice. "The session should be starting any moment. I will be called in shortly."

"Jarod and I can present the evidence with you and answer questions," Robert said. "It might be best of Lucy and Meridina remained outside the Chamber at first."

"Agreed." For a moment King was in thought. "I take it that Senator Kiang is at the top of the suspect list?"

"You read the report from DS9?"

"I did." King nodded. "I also find it more likely that the Asari was responsible. It doesn't pay to underestimate beings who have lived for so long, I think. But I won't dismiss your concern out of hand. 33LA has already proven the destruction a Changeling can cause and the extent to which it can hide from us. The prospect of the Chairwoman of the Senate External Affairs Committee being replaced by one…" King shook her head. "It is possible Admiral Davies has identified the wrong existential threat to our way of life."

"I don't blame him for being worried about mental powers," Robert said. "Honestly I'm scared of what they can do too."

"I've already been on the receiving end of them," Jarod added.

"We both were, I recall," King noted. "Venir was an eye-opener."

"Let's just hope Davies understands he's worried about the wrong threat, then," Robert sighed.

At that moment King's multidevice went off. She breathed in as if to steel herself. "I've been summoned," she said. "Let's go."

As they continued on, Robert contemplated the feelings he was sensing from her. King was afraid. Not of him or Meridina so much as she was her own "side" in this. Admiral Davies and Minister Hawthorne would, indeed, be furious at her for involving him again. She was putting a lifetime of work on the line for this. It was humbling to realize he'd won that much trust from her.

Robert also felt guilty. He'd been brusque with her when she left the Aurora with her ship. Indeed, his entire crew had been more than ready to see her go and to never see her again. Now he saw how unfair that was. He hadn't quite forgiven the spying, no, but as they marched on to the moment of decision before the Senate, he found he respected King more than he ever had before.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sense of uncertainty from Meridina. He looked back to her. "Are you okay?"

"I am," she said. "I thought I sensed something, that's all."

"It felt like a presence to me," Lucy said. "But maybe it was just my nervousness."

"Maybe, or maybe not."

They nodded at his remark. "We shall be prepared either way," Meridina pledged.




The Dissenters' cargo truck was moving toward the Council Hall loading entrance, along the eastern side of the building, when Italarai felt it. The presences were vibrant and active to the senses of her swevyra, three in total, although one was not so strong as to feel like a threat. Knowing that such presences meant those who were capable with their life energies, it meant a complication for Italarai in that they might sense her use of her powers. "There are swevyra'se present in the area. I will be sensed," she murmured to Kalnat.

"Then we go to the alternative," he murmured back. He went to the front of the cargo area and pulled open the slide to speak to Seqen. "Are we ready?"

"I'm pulling up now," Seqen said.

"Italarai cannot help us. It will have to be you."

He could hear the uncertainty in Seqen's voice when the reply came. "For Gersal."

The truck pulled up to the forcefield gate at the building exterior. A Human man, light-skinned with a bit of a tan, met them, wearing the green and black uniform of a Council Hall Security Officer. "ID and authorization," he said. "What's your purpose?"

"I am picking up items at the request of Senator Gilnatan." Seqen handed him the ID, provided by the Interspecies Cultural Exchange Directorate, and the authorization order provided by their Senate contact. He forced his nervousness down into his belly, knowing the slightest suspicion would force him to use lethal means. And out here, in broad daylight, anyone could spot them. The entire mission could fail at this moment.

When the guard handed him back both items, Seqen breathed a sigh of relief that a last moment constricting of his throat made into an apparent grunt of acceptance. The guard pressed a key and the forcefield disappeared. Seqen gently tapped the accelerator pedal and moved the truck into the gate. A ramp down led them into the basement level loading docks.

They were now on the clock. Their logged arrival wouldn't immediately engender suspicion - at least not if their source had been accurate - but given enough time, their failure to depart would be noticed. Transport vehicles weren't supposed to stay for long after all, and they still had to deal with the mandatory security inspection. And Italarai could not manipulate their minds now, so he would have to deal with them quietly.

The truck came to a stop near one of the loading areas. Seqen stepped out of his truck while, in the back, Kalran looked to his technician, Laras. The bearded, tan-skinned Gersallian was looking over a display. "I've used the codes provided to patch into the feed for Senate security," he said. "Our contact came through. The security grid in the Senate Chamber is stuck into a loop. As far as their minders are concerned, everything is reading fine."

Kalran nodded. As he did, he heard Seqen speaking with the inspectors. "Activate personal cloaks," he instructed. Everyone, within a second of one another, triggered the personal cloaks they were carrying on their belts. The cloaks only had a few minutes' worth of charge given their power demands - the superior Darglan-technology personal cloaks had not been available for use when the operation was planned - and this was to be their main use in the plan; get them into the Senate.

Once the inspectors opened the back, they reached for their scanners as they climbed in. Kalran waited patiently and quietly to see if they detected the hidden transporter pad under the sensor-absorbent material laid into the truck's rear bed. If they found it, then he would have to kill them here and now, and it made their escape even more complicated. Perhaps even impossible. But if they didn't…

After several tense moments, the two seemed satisfied by the results and left the back of the truck. Seqen thanked them. Behind Seqen, the others moved to the rear doors and quietly lowered themselves to the asphalt of the loading dock. "Swenya be with you," Seqen muttered, knowing Kalran and the others would hear. "Mi rake sa swevyra iso."

The strike team, with the batteries on their personal cloaks winding down, moved swiftly to the stairwell door. Their contact's authorization code let them into the stairwell and they ascended it, as rapidly as possible, as they bore down on their target.

They just had to get to the Senate Chamber undetected. Then surprise would be theirs.




The entrance King chose to enter was the southern one. They came through the door into a space between the raised seating area of the Senate. The carpet was emerald bordered by blue, and the wood paneling was done in one of the Dorei styles - Robert wasn't familiar with it - while ahead the overhead lights were made out as electric light chandeliers. Multiple desks were laid out and a Senator sat in each, although they only became visible as the party got to the end of the entrance way and to what proved to be the middle tier of the seating area. Above them were seats, and below them were more.

Down, in the "pit" at the middle of the Senate, space had been set aside for the Defense Committee to sit. The quarters for them were cramped, with little room between each seat due to the confined space of the pit area. At the south end of the pit was a podium, presumably for any guests to address the Senate if requested.

While the Senate was a circular chamber, the northern quarter of it was taken up by a series of raised platforms. The lowest platform had the Party Leaders. There were six recognizable political parties of Alliance-wide popularity, and from what Robert had learned of Senate practice, these six parties were recognized at this platform level by having their leaders in the Senate sit there. Given there were only 29 member states of the Alliance, Robert found it odd that there were that many political factions of that size. I guess I'm used to Republicans and Democrats being it, he used. Sometimes it was odd that there were still bits and pieces of his pre-Facility life that persisted in this age.

The second tier was for the President of the Senate, currently an Alakin Senator named Akreet, with green and yellow feathering around his head. The Sergeant-at-Arms had a place there as well, as did the Secretary of the Senate.

The uppermost tier was where President Morgan was sitting, flanked by a couple of his staff. None of the Cabinet were present today save Hawthorne.

Heads turned toward them as they approached the back of the middle tier. By the time they reached the lower tier and King was facing the Defense Committee, standing at attention beside the podium - she had openly avoided standing there - everyone in the Senate was looking their way. Robert glanced toward one of the lower tier seats to find that was where Senator Kiang was sitting. He still felt nothing quite out of the ordinary about her, but with all of the other emotions in the room - and they were starting to run high - he couldn't focus on her with any accuracy.

Robert could feel Davies' disbelief and anger. Hawthorne had clearer control of his emotions. He was more curious than anything. And Maran… Robert tried not to give even the slightest grin at the flicker of hope he felt within his mentor's being. Or at Zoral's clear amusement.

"If it pleases the Senate," Hawthorne began, "this is Commander Elizabeth King, tasked by the Defense Committee to look into the Gersallian attack and the security breach at Defense Command."

Akreet gave a tilt of his head, an Alakin head gesture indicating acceptance. "You may proceed." At that, King went to the podium facing northward. Robert and Jarod took up positions beside her.

"Commander." Hawthorne smiled, but it was brittle. "I see you have brought Captain Dale and Commander Jarod with you. I trust they are relevant to your report?"

"Yes," she said. "In keeping with your orders from last night, I requested they attend to my investigation as members of my team."

"This is outrageous conduct!", Pensley shouted. "Captain Dale and his officers were expressly removed from…"

From the Senate desks came a roar of indignation and a babble of voices in various languages and accents. "Order!", was the usual shout, along with a few "Sit down!"s and one "The Councilman has no leave to speak!"

"The Senate calls the Honored Councilman to order," Akreet declared. He smacked a gavel to his podium. "He may only speak when prompted by myself or the Defense Committee Chairman, as he is well aware."

Pensley's face was going purple by the end of the rebuke, but he obeyed.

"And what prompted you to make this decision despite the clear wishes of the Defense Committee, Commander?", Hawthorne asked. There was a dangerous tone to his voice.

"Captain Dale was kind enough to share his insights into the security breach investigation," King explained. "He proposed a method for our war plans to be transmitted to the Nazi Reich that I thought credible. Upon further investigation, I have determined that his proposal was not just credible, but accurate."

Hawthorne nodded his head once. "And that method would be?"

Commander King held up her digital pad. "The data was transmitted in installments within the peace initiative broadcasts the Senate sent to the Nazi German Reich at the end of March."

Several voices in the Senate broke out in a furor. Pensley's anger and disbelief overwhelmed Robert's feelings of the others. He stood and glared to Hawthorne, who nodded. "This is a travesty!", he shouted. "This is a fraud. Commander King, either by her own will or at the will of another, has aligned herself with the militant radicals who dragged us into the war in the first place! This is nothing more than an attempt to block all prospects of peace!"

"I'm afraid not, Councilman," King answered. "The evidence speaks for itself. The transmissions sent to the Reich contained at least three percent more data than the message approved by the Senate mandated. That is above the margins of a few simple edits."

Some Senators cried out in disbelief, others in anger. Pensley looked to one of their number, who was identified by the holographic nameplate as Kita Marswell, Senator of the Tetzelian Republic. The dark-haired woman stood. "I move that the Senate declare this line of questioning out of order. This claimed proof has no weight to it. A few percentage points of an error?"

"The Tetzelian Senator displays her ignorance on behalf of her dear Councilman Pensley," one accented voice proclaimed. It was a Human Senator in the middle tier, Senator Benjamin Hadley of the Procyon Association. "Those of us who understand subspace communications are well aware that the claimed percentage is peculiar. I move that the Senate President order the release of transmitted data. Then we can judge for ourselves."

Senator Kiang rose. "The Senator from Procyon has a point, but this is a matter for the External Affairs Committee. I move that we adjourn and allow the Committee to deliberate this evidence in the presence of the Defense Committee. After all…" Kiang eyed King and Robert together. "...only a Senator of the Committee could have changed the data between its approval and transmission."

If Kiang was a Changeling spy… Robert felt she was a damn good one.

Because if so, her words had a calculated effect. More and more Senators were shouting, furious or disbelieving or mortified at the idea that one of the ten Senators assigned to External Affairs could be a traitor.

As the turmoil reached its fifth second, Pensley was glaring hatred at Robert. "This is a conspiracy!", he screamed. He pointed his finger at them. "A conspiracy against peace and against the Alliance by radicals and their Gersallian masters!" Robert could hear the enraged man's screamed words, but he wondered if many others could given the Senate was devolving into a heated argument. The rapping of a gavel told him Akreet was trying to restore order. Given the disbelief and fury in the room, this clearly wouldn't come immediately.

"Oh no," he breathed, looking to Jarod.

Jarod looked back. "What?"

"This is what she wanted," he said back. "The Changeling wants this disorder."

"Why?"

"To delay the Senate. To keep it deliberating, and in turmoil," Robert said, even as Akreet's gavel pounding grew louder. Above him, President Morgan gazed at the disorder that had gripped the Alliance Senate with eyes full of shame. This was supposed to be the orderly body that debated with calm, but the tempers and emotions that the crisis had spurred was taking hold even here.

"Whatever's going to happen, it's going to happen at any…"

The gunfire erupted before Robert could finish his sentence.

 

[Big Steve]

Meridina and Lucy remained outside of the Senate Chamber's southern entrance, listening intently as the shouting within grew. Lucy gave a glance toward Meridina and held back a sigh. Months ago, Meridina had been this figure of supreme, calm confidence in Lucy's life. Now she looked like a monster might jump from the corner at any moment. Much of the quiet confidence had given way to clear worry and doubt, and those were not qualities to people with their abilities.

Whatever she was suffering internally, however, Meridina was still quite skilled, and Lucy could feel her become more alert. Lucy, do you feel that?

Lucy focused for a moment. At first she felt nothing, at least nothing that stood out against the growing emotional agitation coming from the Senate chamber. But as the seconds passed she felt it. Nervousness, tension, but defiant intent mixed within.

And violent thinking. Someone was steeling themselves for imminent killing. Intentional, unrelenting, and brutal killing.

Lucy felt under her uniform jacket and to the space at her waist where her lakesh was hidden.

Meridina's body had tensed. She made no similar movement. But yet, within seconds she was moving. Her hand swept out and energy lashed out. A sharp impact sounded against the far wall. Another thump came from the floor.

Out of nothingness appeared a dark-clad man, Human-lookingg, with a weapon in his arms.

Lucy had her lakesh out and swinging just in time. Her blade moved at the commands of arms that Lucy was not really controlling. Her instinct, her bond with the universe, were guiding her blade to deflect the shots that came roaring out of nothingness. One shot deflected back into the unseen attacker caused a sudden explosion of sparks. A ripple in the air appeared and became another dark-clad figure, with a mean-looking automatic weapon in his hands.

Said figure still had the gun pointing toward Lucy, and indeed was still firing, but Lucy didn't have to hold back his fire for long. Meridina lunged to his side and swung her lakesh in a clean cut at his forearms. The slice lopped his hands and the lower third of his forearms off completely. Crimson blood spurted out and onto the normally-immaculate carpet. The man screamed in pain and shock at the damage.

Lucy looked to their fallen enemies. Both were just starting to stir. Her first thought was to disarm them before they could recover.

And then a sense of immediate danger filled her being. Lucy stopped and tried to focus on it. She felt her power instinctively move her body, turning her to the side.

A lakesh blade swung through the air she had just vacated. A single figure shimmered into view a moment later. Her attacker was a woman, bald, with haunting blue eyes focused entirely on Lucy. Some surprised briefly flickered in them when Lucy brought her lakesh up and nearly cut her along the cheek.

Italarai was stunned at what she saw. The Human had a lakesh. More importantly, she'd trained with it. Italarai wasn't just facing one possible threat now. She would have to eliminate this one too.

With a single movement of her hand, Italarai's power lashed out and slammed into Lucy. Lucy didn't get her defense up in time. The blast of pure energy struck like the blast wave of an explosive, hurtling Lucy through the doors and into the Senate Chamber.

A Senate Chamber in which the earlier shouts of anger were now those of fear and terror.




The gunfire had jolted the Senate's attention with swift and terrible efficiency. Senate President Akreet's calls to order halted as the sound echoed for a moment and stopped. "Sergeant-At-Arms," he said, "contact sec…"

The east and west doors exploded at almost the same moment. Since each door had two security officers watching it, this had the side benefit to the attackers of eliminating four of the security staff, leaving only the two at the south door, the Sergeant-At-Arms himself, and a security man among President Morgan's staffers.

As the explosions were still echoing in their ears, dark-clad figures came in with assault rifles. The lead one coming in from the east raised his weapon to spray the top tier with blue energy bolts. Morgan's people had already pulled him down into cover.

The lead shooter from the west opened up, as did the fellow behind him. The Sergeant-at-Arms was too slow to avoid being hit, taking shots to the right shoulder and arm that brought him down.

Further shots struck Akreet square in the chest. Robert was certain the Alakin was dead before he hit the ground.

King rounded the podium and dashed for the Defense Committee chair. The incoming shots soon moved down toward them. She plowed into Admiral Davies and dragged him to cover. Maran and Gulinev had already secured Minister Hawthorne. The other members of the Committee were taking cover.

So were many of the Senators. But cover wouldn't help those in the lower tier. More gunmen were pouring into the Senate from both east and west, and while fire continued to converge on the President's location and the Party Leaders, the other shooters were firing into the pit.

By this point Robert and Jarod were moving. Jarod moved into cover toward the southern door, the only one not breached, where the armed guards there were already moving up to try and shoot at the incoming shooters. But they only had sidearms available, not rifles. One of their number, a male Dorei, took a blast to the chest and fell down right beside Jarod, dead. Jarod picked up his gun and went back to the corner. When no suppressive fire came Jarod leaned out and lined up his pistol with one of the shooters coming in on the west side. His weapon barked, two shots in succession. One was slightly off and the other struck a shooter in the shoulder, knocking him back into cover.

Robert went into the pit as well. He could feel the attention of a couple of the shooters on him and jumped just as they fired where he was, sending shots that just missed him and hit a desk behind which one of the senators was cowering.

He put everything into the jump, just as Meridina taught him, and it cleared him straight to the second tier. He landed between Akreet and the Sergeant-at-Arms. He sensed nothing from them; they were dead, and there was nothing he could do about that. But he could still save the others.

A cry came from the Senate floor. He looked in time to see Senator Marswell struck again by a shot. She fell to the ground, clearly dead.

Looking to the west, Robert saw the man Jarod shot helped into cover by a compatriot. A third figure, a woman, was tracking him with her gun. He had only moments.

Robert extended a hand toward the Sergeant-at-Arms' fallen body. The pulse pistol he had been carrying zipped through the air and into Robert's hand. He swung it over, diving to the side as he did, and barely evaded the first burst of shots from the dark-suited woman's rifle. He let his instincts, directed by the power within him, take the aim and fire.

The shot nailed the attacker in the throat. She went wide-eyed and gagged as she fell over.

He hit the floor, on his side, and adjusted his gun and aim to the remaining uninjured gunman on the west side. Again he pulled the trigger, squeezing it several times.

Initially his shots were a little off, missing to either side. But as the gunman turned, Robert pulled the trigger one more time. This time, whether it was luck or his abilities finally synching like they should, he got the hit he was looking for, a shot right in the forehead. The figure slumped over beside his wounded friend, the back of his head smoking. "The west door is clear!", Robert shouted. "West is clear, get everyone out!"

The surviving security man beside Jarod heard Robert and shouted the same. "West door, evacuate now!" Jarod nodded in agreement.

As he turned to begin giving covering fire on the east side, the southern door exploded inward. Lucy landed on the ground beside him and rolled until she reached the steps leading down to the lower tier. She grunted and, with effort, picked herself up. There was no mistaking the gleam of the lakesh now in her hand.

She brought it up as a blur zipped past Jarod. Another woman - Italarai - swung her own lakesh toward Lucy's neck. The blow was parried. Lucy grunted and, in a move that was surprising enough the Gersallian never saw it coming, threw her head forward hard enough to smash her forehead into the nose and mouth of her attacker. An audible crunch came and blood gushed from the broken nose that resulted from the impact.

Jarod brought his pistol into place to shoot the woman from behind. Lucy noticed first and sent him a quick mental message, more of a sensation: No. He turned his attention to the gunmen along the eastern door to aid Robert and the last remaining Senate security guard.

Robert was staying behind cover. Bursts of energy flew over his head with enough frequency that he knew it would be impossible to leave cover and not get shot. Mentally he reached out for the others. Meridina?

I am occupied, was her return thought. There are three more attackers attempting to come in by the south entrance. For a moment their connection lapsed. Two now.

Jarod? Lucy?

Busy! That thought was definitely Lucy's, and Robert heard another clang and electric buzz as lakesh blades slammed together.

I'm helping to get the Senators out the west door, Jarod thought. And for the record, I hate telepathic communication.

Robert smirked at that. Be that as it may, I could use some cover fire. He reached out mentally for King and sensed her approaching. Commander King?

Get out of my head! was the sole reply, a powerful thought that actually made Robert's head hurt.

A burst of fire from overhead came from the other side of the room, forcing the other gunmen into cover before they could shoot at Robert again. He heard footsteps thumping on the floor and turned his head to see King rushing up to join him. She'd claimed a weapon from one of the fallen attackers to the west door. Upon closer examination Robert recognized it as a MP-10 Particle Rifle, a common enough model initially built in the Colonial Confederation of D3R1.

With King giving him cover fire, Robert rose over the desk of the dead Sergeant-at-Arms and squeezed off several shots. The gunmen on that door had taken cover at the nearest desks. One started to change cover, with King's weapon literally ripping the desk up, and Robert fired a shot that got the gunman in the leg. A cry echoed in the Senate chamber.

The other two gunmen were trying to shift between suppressing the opposition and shooting at the Senators as they fled. One wild shot did take a Senator in the arm, sending him down his knees. Jarod quickly bolted out of cover and grabbed that Senator, helping him up long enough for two others to grab their colleague and help him along. Over by the west door Senator Sriroj and Admiral Davies were directing the evacuation. Davies had retrieved a weapon from the other fallen gunmen along that side and occasionally squeezed off a shot toward the fighting.

The fight between Lucy and the swordswoman Italarai had moved toward the pit. Lucy was giving ground, using her lakesh defensively and buying time for Meridina to finish off the attackers outside the south doors so they could work together. And it was clear Italarai knew it. Robert felt her surprise and frustration at how well Lucy was fighting. "You've been trained as a swevyra'se," the woman said in a harsh tone. "How?"

"That's my little secret," Lucy retorted, catching another swipe of the blade.

It was at that moment she felt the risk. A shot not just coming for her, but going toward one of the Senators. Lucy backed away from Italarai and then jumped backward, opening the range with Italarai, and using the break from the attack to swing her lakesh to intercept the bolts that came toward her.

Bolts, it would later be said, that would have struck Senator Sriroj directly had they landed.

Indeed, said Senator noticed this and called out thanks, while above them the bolts flew upward and hit the electric chandelier. Sparks flew from blasted lights and rained down upon everyone.

Italarai charged toward Lucy as she moved to adjust. Robert could feel the future of that move with crystal, horrible clarity. Lucy's blade temporarily out of position, an awkward posture to stop the first blow, a fist or foot to knock it away, and then… Lucy would die.

So Robert, with King providing ample cover fire, turned and opened fire on Italarai as she got up to Lucy. Lucy did indeed make the awkward block, but Italarai couldn't take advantage of it. She felt Robert's shots coming and she twisted her blade to reflect them. One pulse deflected, then a second, and the third, deflected right toward the fleeing Senators…

…where it struck Senator Kiang square in the side of the head.

A number of people noticed it. They couldn't help it. And so it was with great shock that the pulse in question did not send her to the ground, dead. It did cause Kiang to stop and falter, yes, but it also caused the entire side of her head to briefly turn amber in color and began to lose shape.

Robert's horror turned to an almost satisfied realization. Kiang was indeed what he thought she was. "Changeling!", he shouted. "Everyone down!"

The shout, and other considerations, caused Senators near where "Kiang" had stumbled to fall back from her as she picked herself up from the ground. A bitter expression crossed the Changeling's face. Her entire body turned into amber and she flowed through the Senators toward the exit. Robert didn't care let the Changeling escape and moved his firearm over to engage her. But she was too fast and he couldn't risk shooting one of the fleeing Senators.

It was King who opened fire. WOM, WOM, WOM, one after the other, shots that nearly hit the Changeling each time and didn't hit a Senator. Robert wondered what she was doing. He almost asked until the feeling within him made him turn and face the other direction again. One of the last gunmen was trying to get a shot at their backs. He went for cover the moment Robert's gun started barking.

The Changeling continued toward the door, but not directly, not with King's shots forcing her to dodge and evade away from the door. Further shots descended around her from the pistol in Jarod's hands. The infiltrator was shapeless, nothing but a flowing mass of amber fluid that evaded their shots. She had been stymied in her immediate escape attempt, so she changed tactics and started moving to the middle platform where Robert and King were. As she rushed them, dodging and weaving around King's shots, the amber began to coalesce. A hiss filled the air as she became an alien serpent of some kind, like a boa constrictor with the agility of a rattlesnake. Crimson scales covered the head, turning into brown and yellow further down the form.

Robert felt the strike coming just in time. He jumped and knocked King over, causing the Changeling's strike to miss. Only after they were down did he realize that the Changeling had wanted him to do that, as she continued on toward the east door.

Ironically enough, it was one of the attacking gunmen who stopped her for the moment. Whether he knew what the Changeling was or not, he opened fire. Particle bolts filled the space in the Changeling's line of advance and forced her back for the moment.

King and Robert wheeled around and opened fire on her. Being fired on from three guns and two directions had pushed the Changeling's evasive abilities to their limits. Several shots grazed the serpentine Changeling. Amber appeared over its scaly body as the hits caused the Changeling to lose form. A couple of direct shots brought it down into a formless amber puddle.

With the common enemy disposed of, Robert and King had to take cover as the gunmen started shooting at them again. Robert heard one calling out in Gersallian and the fire on their position became relentless. The particle blasts were destroying the desks; they had to scramble down to the Secretary of the Senate's desk as those of the Sergeant-at-Arms and the Senate President became so battered they were no longer effective cover. The two gunmen shifted back toward the east door, firing as they went, and soon King and Robert would have no cover unless they fell back to the west side of the platform.

Lucy could sense their danger. She parried another blow from her attacker and twisted her lakesh around to catch the next. This gave her the position to force the wielder toward the Defense Committee table. With an instant to gather her focus, Lucy lashed out with her force powers. Raw, unseen energy sent her foe flying off into the abandoned desks of the middle tier. This gave her the opening to go the distance to the enemy gunmen as they retreated. They saw her coming and turned their particle rifles on her. Lucy's power guided her arms to block the incoming fire with her lakesh blade.

Robert and King slipped out of cover and brought their firearms to bear. Each sighted down on one of the gunmen and pulled their triggers. The pulse and particle fire caught their foes, as did one shot deflected by Lucy, and there was nothing the two gunmen could have done to save themselves at that point.




Italarai got back to her feet in time to see Kanral and the last of his fighters go down. The mission was a failure. This displeased her.

But displeasure could wait. She wasn't done yet. She had only moments with which to escape. Her hand went within her robe to the secret control there and her finger found the button to activate the beacon. She felt a surge of warning go through her as the device activated.

At that moment Meridina whirled into sight. Her lakesh slashed toward Italarai's, a disarming move she could never have stopped.

It never connected.

Italarai materialized in the transport truck down in the Council Hall loading dock. Seqen watched her materialize, and materialize alone. He frowned. "The mission failed?"

"It did," she said simply. "Our window is almost closed."

"Then we should…"

Seqen stood, and the moment he was on his feet Italarai's free arm made a pulling gesture. She yanked him toward her in a burst of her power… just as she brought her lakesh up toward his chest.

Betrayal and shock flashed over his expression as Seqen felt the blade go through his heart. "Why…?", he asked weakly.

"It is better this way," Italarai answered. Sensing he was already mere moments from death, she brought the beacon out and pressed a key along its side. This changed the system it was locked onto. With another press of the button, she was whisked away by a transporter.

She materialized on a space vessel in orbit of Earth. The small personal shuttle had no IU drive, but it did have a solid warp drive for its size, and best of all, a second set of hardwired ID codes that she could use. In just five seconds of transporting she was in the cockpit seat activating her warp drive. The small shuttle shot off toward Proxima Centauri, where a ship would be waiting for her in interstellar space.

Once she was secure, Italarai activated her backup comm line. She sent a single message to Mastrash Goras.

The operation failed to achieve optimal results. Suspect we were manipulated by Changeling from S5T3 Dominion. But it wasn't a total loss. The video from the Senate will make for interesting viewing and may provide opportunity for you.

After that, there was nothing to do but sit and wait for shuttle to arrive at its rendezvous.




The last of the attackers disappeared in a burst of white light a moment before Meridina would have knocked her blade away. She frowned and looked out at the Senate, and most importantly, at the dead bodies around the floor.

The carnage was not as bad as it might have been. Still… all of this death. And all done by her people. Her people! Shame and horror filled Meridina at the thought of it.

This.. this was supposed to be a time of greatness. A time of hope, prophesied by Swenya herself. This was not supposed to have happened.

"Meridina!", Lucy shouted. "A little help?!"

Meridina reacted immediately, jumping down to the main walkway between the middle and lower tier and running over to the east door entrance. Robert and Lucy had their arms up and hands out. Their power was flowing outward, binding the Changeling as she - or he, or it - writhed about on the floor. The amber fluid of the Changeling seemed to be trying to take shape. "We have to hold it," Robert gasped. "We have to keep it in place until security gets here with a container."

"I understand." Meridina raised her arms and added her power to her students'. Together the three held the Changeling in place.

King kept her commandeered assault rifle on the creature. Nearby Admiral Davies and Jarod walked up, weapons raised. "Security across the entire building is down," Davis said. "Someone scrambled all of the systems."

"Someone using Senatorial access codes, I bet," Robert said. He kept his focus on the Changeling while talking; even with Meridina and Lucy helping and doing most of the work in holding the thing down, he didn't want to risk it getting up.

"I doubt they'll be Kiang's," King said. "This entire incident has the feel of a false flag operation."

"Your meaning, Commander?", Davies asked.

"We were manipulated, sir," King said. "And so were the Gersallian radicals who launched this attack."

"We'll see if the evidence backs your theory, Commander," Davies responded harshly. He looked over at Robert and then Meridina and Lucy.

For a moment, real fear struck Robert. Davies had them dead to rights. He could kill them all with a single sweep of the rifle on automatic fire… No! Robert forced the thought down. Davies was paranoid, but he wasn't suicidal. Even he couldn't ignore a Changeling that had been masquerading as a Senator, and if he gunned them down nothing would hold the creature back. He'd read the reports from 33LA. The Changeling would kill him, King, and Jarod in seconds, and that was assuming Jarod didn't gun him down first.

While King and Davies kept the rifles taken from the killed radicals trained on the Changeling, Jarod was busy operating his multidevice. "I'm gaining access to the Council Hall security system," he said. "And I just got a message through to the Aurora. They're relaying my reports straight to Defense Command."

"Who did we lose?", Robert asked. "I saw Senator Akreet go down."

"Djalis, Rawlinson, Marswell…" King's voice was firm, but Robert could feel her own horror at what happened. "I counted at least eight dead Senators."

"Ten," Jarod corrected. "And Councilman Palas didn't make it."

"Dammit," Robert muttered. He looked to Davies, but his biting remark died in his throat. Now wasn't the time. And right now, all he wanted to do was collapse as soon as the Changeling was secured.




Mastrash Goras had called upon all of his discipline to force the surprise to come out when Mastrash Maklir's junior apprentice informed the Council of the news over the interuniversal networks. The attack on the Alliance Senate was on all of the major news sites and networks. Goras waited patiently for confirmation that there was little information as to the extent of it. How many Senators had died, how many got away, and most importantly, if any of Italarai's people had gotten out.

Karesl made it clear he wished to speak. Maklir nodded assent. "I move that the Council adjourn for now," Karesl said, his voice somber. "We must extend official condolences to the Alliance Senate for its losses on this tragic day, and offer the services of our Knights to find those guilty and bring them to Justice."

Ledosh nodded. "I second the motion."

"Let all vote as their swevyra requires," Maklir intoned. The old man registered his vote last, as he always did. It was a unanimous outcome. "Mastrash Ledosh, you will send the message."

"It shall be done at once."

The Council split up and went their separate ways. Karesl stepped up beside Goras. "A terrible tragedy." Karesl shook his head. He could sense Goras' intense thoughts. "Do you think it could be the Dissenters?"

"If so, they have gone too far," Goras insisted. "We should continue to monitor this. We may yet find the opening we need."

"If only it had not come with such bloodshed," Karesl sighed. He nodded to Goras and stepped into his office.

Goras went into his own office. He found Italarai's message waiting for him. Whatever did she mean?, he pondered. It would be hours before they could speak with any security. In the meantime, he would have to monitor communications.

Night was starting to fall when more video reports came. As Italarai reported, it was a failure.

It was only after seeing leaked videos of the fighting in the Senate that Goras realized what Italarai meant… as he watched Italarai duel with a Human woman with dark curly hair. Goras smiled at recognizing Lucilla Lucero, Meridina's student who had turned down the Order… and yet was here dueling with an Order lakesh in her hand.

Oh you foolish girl, he thought. I have you. You have overreached, and now you and your entire cause are mine to crush.




Ship's Log: 10 May 2642; ASV Aurora. Captain Robert Dale recording. The news of the attack on the Senate, and the outing of Senator Kiang as a Changeling infiltrator, have sent shockwaves across the Alliance. That the attack was instigated by Gersallian extremists, the anti-Alliance "Dissenters", has caused a lot of shouting and anger. If not for the unfortunate death of Palas and for Commander Meridina's prominent place in the defense of the Senate, it might have caused irreparable damage to the Gersallians' participation within the Alliance.

Thankfully, with the Changeling a captive and Kiang's systems exposed to scrutiny, Commander King is ready to issue a report to the Senate with Commander Jarod. Commander Meridina, Lieutenant Lucero, and myself have been asked to attend as well.

The damage to the Senate chamber hadn't been fixed. Eleven desks, mostly on the east side of the chamber, were vacant and covered by wreaths. The Council had sent their Sergeant-at-Arms, an Alakin female, to stand in the place of her fallen colleague. The various Senators looked on in quiet dignity, far from the state they had been in when violence had broken out, and all awaited for the new Senate President to call the session to order.

The prior day the Senators had made their vote, and now Senator Sriroj Thiang stood as Akreet's successor. The appointed Senator of the Sol System Republic was as stoic as Robert had usually seen her. Above and behind her, President Morgan was again in place. More of his Security Service guards were flanking him. And the Council Hall security forces had been tripled. There would be no chances taken.

Sriroj looked down at the pit, where the Defense Committee was together. They were short two members. The Council had yet to appoint a delegate to replace the slain Palas, and as Senate President Sriroj would no longer sit on the body, and again no delegate had been appointed yet to replace her. "Minister Hawthorne, the Senate is prepared to hear your findings."

Hawthorne nodded and looked across the table to the witness podium, where King stood with Robert, Jarod, Meridina, and Lucy flanking her. Up in the visitor's gallery the command crews of the Aurora and Koenig were in attendance. "If it pleases the Senate, Commander King has finished her preliminary investigation into this terrible attack." Hawthorne nodded to her. "Please, proceed."

"Yes sir." King looked to her datapad. "My investigation, with the help of the Planetary Criminal Investigation Bureau and the Portland Police Department, has determined that the attackers were Gersallian extremists known as Dissenters. They oppose Gersal's place in the Alliance." King looked up at Sriroj and Morgan. "It appears that they gained entry to the Senate using command codes that were officially assigned to Senator Yantanaran."

Heads started to turn to the tan-skinned Gersallian woman sitting in the upper tier. Her face was pale with disbelief.

"However, evidence recovered from the computers of the Changeling masquerading as Senator Kiang indicate these codes were duplicated." With that King defused the growing tension. "It appears that the Changeling was seeking to instigate a political crisis to split the Alliance over apparent Gersallian government terrorism."

"There is nothing 'apparent' about Gersallian terrorism!", thundered Pensley from his seat. "The wreaths we see here are proof of that." By the time he finished, cries of "Order!" were starting to drown him out.

"Sit down, you are out of order!", ruled Sriroj, and her glare told everyone she would not humor Pensley today. The irate Councilman obeyed.

"Was this Changeling also responsible for the leaking of our plans to the Nazi Reich?", asked Davies.

"It would appear so, sir, yes," King said. "By the Senate's decree, Commander Jarod and I examined the broadcasts sent to the Reich to offer peace. They did indeed have fragmented data parts that, when compiled, provided several of our war plans to the Reich. This includes the proposed raids on their supply lines."

"And the Gersallian involvement in the data theft from Defense Command?", asked Maran.

"Our records from the other day confirm a ninety-nine percent probability that the force-endowed Gersallian who escaped by transporter is the same woman who planted the data hacking device into Defense Command," King stated. "Communication logs indicate this woman and the Changeling had been in contact for at least a month beforehand."

"Do we know who she is?" The question was from Senator Hipathi.

"We do not yet, sir. We merely know she was trained in the arts of the Order of Swenya."

"A good thing we had two defenders with similar training," noted General Gulinev.

"Is there anything else you believe the Committee and the Senate should hear, Commander?", Hawthorne asked.

"Only that our initial concerns about the Gersallian Order of Swenya appear overstated," King answered. "I can't rule out rogue elements in their organization, of course, and I will continue my investigation into the attack with the Committee's blessing. But it is clear that a blanket condemnation of the organization is, at this time, premature. Furthermore, this unprecedented security breach indicates we may need to consider our own organization of such talented individuals to answer to the Alliance Government. It is my recommendation that the Senate and Council launch an investigation of this." King looked to her side before facing Hawthorne again. "I would also say that this tragedy would have been far, far worse if not for the conduct of Captain Dale and his officers. With the security and future of the Alliance at stake, Captain Dale and his people showed impeccable virtue. They acted with intelligence, decisiveness, and valor in support of my investigation. And I needn't point out their conduct during the attack." King nodded her head. "That is all, Minister."

"You may step down." Hawthorne nodded. "Do any on the Committee wish to issue a statement before we vote on Commander King's report?"

Pensley stood. "I will only say that I am mortified that the peace initiative was abused so callously by this outsider, and that I plead with the Committee and the Senate to not let this incident bias them against the possibility of peace."

Robert wouldn't let himself smirk. He was amused to see that General Gulinev had no such scruples, rolling his eyes at Pensley.

"Anyone else?"

Davies stood. "I have a statement," he said. As he did so, he eyed Robert and the others. "While Commander King's recommendation for an Alliance organization of… talented individuals has its merits, we must remember that such powers pose grave threats to the liberties our systems and nations cherish. The powers we have seen would allow these beings to crush us under a tyranny that we might never escape. I would move that aside from looking into our own organization to protect the Government from these threats, we also begin research into ways to suppress these abilities and to deal with those who abuse them. Such a precaution is manifestly necessary to our posterity. Otherwise we are risk from all sorts of organizations, be they the Order of Swenya or the Earth Alliance Psi Corps of E5B1. I ask the Committee and the Senate to please begin considering these measures while we still have time. That is all." Davies sat.

Admiral Maran didn't react to that. But he showed Robert and the others a grin even as he ignored Hawthorne's last request for statements. When none came, the minister turned and looked up to the Senate President. "Senator Sriroj, the Committee has finalized its report into these incidents, and we have nothing further to add."

"Thank you, Defense Minister." Sriroj looked down to the podium. "Commander King, Captain Dale, Commander Jarod, Commander Meridina, Lieutenant Lucero. Please, approach."

Robert wondered what was going on, but he said nothing while joining the others in walking around the pit, up the steps, and to where Sriroj was standing. "It is my position, and that of the Senate, that we have you to thank for our very lives. The citizens of the Alliance can rest easy knowing that they have such valiant defenders standing watch over them. Your courage and commitment saved many lives and thwarted an attack that might have torn the Alliance asunder, and your boldness in the face of an unexpected threat ended the grave risk that the Changeling infiltrator posed." Sriroj looked up to Morgan. "The Alliance President and Stellar Navy may yet reward you in any manner they deem fit, but here and now, the Senate of the United Alliance of Systems awards you the Senate Order of Merit."

The Sergeant-at-Arms stepped up and provided Sriroj with her first case. The medal was a metal disc of silver with the Alliance torch insignia set into the middle. Robert didn't move, didn't dare to, as it was pinned to his chest by the Senate President, who went on to do the same to the others.

As Sriroj did so, applause came from the Senate and from the Gallery. Robert peeked momentarily to see Julia, Angel, and the others clapping with proud grins. His heart felt lightened by it. Despite everything that had happened, the Alliance had been preserved, and the Changeling threat dealt with.

There would be battles in the future, of course, and he knew in his heart they would be vicious and dangerous and painful. But for the moment, that was still in the future, and here in the present, he could smile and enjoy the moment.




Tag




After the ceremony and an attendant dinner, the crews returned to the Aurora. It was clear even on the trip back up that Meridina was not in the festive mood, indeed, that she had been forcing cheer for the benefit of her comrades.

None felt that more acutely than Lucy and Robert. Robert gave Lucy a nod as they all left the shuttle bay, acknowledging her intent to check up on Meridina.

Meridina had been swift in heading to her quarters. By the time Lucy got there she was already inside. Lucy stood at the door and leaned against it. "I'm here if you need me," she said simply.

A moment later, the door opened.

Meridina was sitting alone, staring at the book Lucy had always seen her looking at. The book that contained Swenya's writings. "It wasn't supposed to be this way," Meridina sighed.

"What wasn't?"

"I am lost," Meridina murmured. "I have had such faith in this. Such faith that this was the hour, this the time, but now…"

"Meridina?"

She wasn't supposed to say these things. But Meridina didn't care at the moment. She'd alienated her father for this cause. She'd risked her position in the Order for it. She'd believed that the time had come, that this was the prophesied day that Swenya had promised millennia ago.

But the Alliance wasn't becoming the shield of Light. It was falling into the darkness of fear. Men like Hawthorne and Davies were poisoning it from within, the Dissenters had committed murder to alienate her people from the Alliance, and dark forces from without were constantly battering away at it, causing pain and suffering to increase.

Meridina got up and moved through her living area. Her mind was in turmoil.

Had her father been right? Had she, had Ledosh, been wrong?

Was it all for nothing?

The dark thoughts within her stirred. She felt the cold doubt, the biting fear that none of it had mattered, nothing she had done. That all of her dreams were going to die.

"Meridina, please, talk to me," Lucy urged. She took up a chair and sat beside her teacher. "Whoever these people were… I mean, there are always going to be people who are extremist, and who go too far. But we're not going to let them drive us apart. We've already stopped them once!"

"I thought you were the ones," Meridina murmured, as if nothing Lucy said had registered. "I thought this was the time." The Gersallian, sniffling, stumbled over and landed on the floor beside her couch.

"Meridina, it's not over." Lucy walked over to her and helped her onto the couch. "We'll figure this out."

"Lucy, I am so sorry." Meridina shook her head. "I thought I was making things better, that I was helping you find a potential, but… it was my own ego. I wanted you to be the ones…"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You're supposed to be them," Meridina continued. "You're supposed to be the Dawn Bearers! You're supposed to forge a shield of Light and bring us Hope and Victory! But that's not happening. Everything is going wrong, my people are going mad with fear and anger, and this darkness...it is clawing inside of me, all of the doubt and fear that I… I have never felt like this before! The Goa'uld is gone, the mark should be gone, I should have healed by now! But I haven't! The darkness inside of me is still there and I can't make it leave!" Meridina finished her tirade by breaking down into tears.

It was hard for Lucy to see Meridina like this. Amaunet had been bad enough, and she sensed the confrontation with the "swevyra'kse" while rescuing Jarod had been troublesome in its own right… but now it was like she had been stripped bare of all expectations, all hopes, by seeing her people engage in such pointless killing. Indeed, to see one of her own Order helping in that slaughter.

At this point in time, a despairing fear long buried under layers and layers of mental blocks, conditioning, and sheer willpower was surging through to the surface. Lucy could sense that in her. Meridina had truly become completely, deathly afraid that everything she had done had been for nothing, and everything she had believed had turned out wrong.

"Whatever you're talking about, the darkness isn't going to take you, I promise," Lucy insisted. "I'll help you. Robert will too. We all will. You're one of us, Meridina, you're a part of this family!"

Meridina gave Lucy a sad look. "But I will not be much longer. Everything is ruined now. My errors have seen to that. And I am so, so sorry I didn't tell you before, about what I knew, about what I felt."

Lucy blinked. She couldn't make out what Meridina was talking about. "Is it this 'Dawn Bearer' stuff you talked about? You can tell me, Meridina!"

Meridina shook her head. "It's too late. I can sense it."

"What? How is it too late? What is…"

Meridina stood suddenly, as if she sensed something. She sighed and nodded. "Of course," she murmured. "They know."

Wordlessly, Meridina began to strip her uniform off. Lucy watched in bewilderment as Meridina took a simple sleeveless linen robe of blue and white and pulled it on, covering her down to the ankle. She affixed her lakesh to the linen belt that held the robe in place and walked to the door. "You don't need to see this," Meridina said. "But… I would feel better if you came."

"Where are you going?", Lucy asked.

Meridina did not answer. And Lucy could tell she wouldn't.

But she still followed.




Robert had been about to pull his uniform off, much to the delight of a waiting and smiling Angel, when he received the alert from the bridge. "Sir, there's someone at the starboard airlock. Several people in fact. They're refusing to leave and are demanding to be let aboard." Lieutenant Pacetti sounded as professional as ever.

"Have they identified themselves?", Robert asked.

"No, but they say they must speak to you. And they have government clearances."

Angel was frowning at him over that, although he knew he wasn't the focus of said frown. "Let's find out what's going on," Robert said. Into his multidevice he said, "Tell them I'm on my way, Pacetti."

"Yes sir.."

Together they started the journey to the lift. When they got to it, Julia was already stepping in. "Pacetti called you too?", Robert asked.

"Yeah," she said. "He must think we'll both need to face this. I wonder who it is?"

"Knowing our usual luck?" Robert sighed. "Admiral Davies coming to give us a surprise inspection."

"But we're in repair dock undergoing heavy repairs…" Julia sighed and rolled her eyes. "So yeah, of course."

Once on Deck 10 they made their way to the starboard side of the primary hull. The airlock door was still secure when they got there. An Alakin female, Lieutenant Charrip, was present with a small security detachment. "The airlock officer summoned me, sir," she said. "Just in case."

Robert nodded and stepped up to the airlock door. At that point he knew who was on the other side. He couldn't help but feel the sheer power. "Bridge, ready the emergency airlock security protocol," he said into his multidevice. "If you see anyone force their way onboard, trigger it. Hell, if I don't give you the clearance signal and I start to let them aboard anyway, trigger it."

Pacetti showed no hesitation. He responded immediately with an, "Aye Captain."

Julia gave him a look. "That's a bit excessive."

"After the other day, I'm not taking chances," Robert answered as he opened the airlock door. He stepped into the airlock as the other end opened as well.

Seven figures stepped in. All were in red Gersallian robes, and all wore the same purple body armor Meridina favored. The lead among them was a bald man with tanned skin. He looked at Robert through alert eyes and, Robert could feel, a supremely tuned swevyra/life force. "I am Hajamar, a swevyra'se of Gersal and Knight-Sergeant-At-Arms of the Order of Swenya. My Knights and I have come to seek justice."

"If you're after the crazy lady who got away from the Senate attack, you're wasting your time here," Robert replied.

"That is not our duty," Hajamar answered. "You are Captain Robert Dale?"

"I am."

Hajamar handed him a Gersallian datapad. It held text in Gersallian and an English translation beside it. Robert read over it, but Hajamar made sure to pronounce its contents. "By order of the Council of the Order of Swenya, I have come to arrest the Knight Meridina, daughter of Karesl of the Family of Lumantala."

Robert's jaw dropped in surprise. "...what?", he finally managed.

"Knight Meridina is wanted for treason against the Council and its commands, and of the Code of Swenya," Hajamar continued. "And we will take her into custody, Captain Dale."

"Like hell," Robert snarled. Behind him, Julia and Angel crossed their arms and stepped closer, as if to support him against the long odds. "This is my ship, and a starship of the Alliance Stellar Navy. We don't answer to your Order. If they want Meridina, they can go through the proper channels."

Hajamar narrowed his eyes. "I see she has trained you as well," he said. "Another proof of her treason."

"She's been teaching me control of this power, nothing more," Robert asserted. "Now, I suggest you leave and go through the Admiralty and Defense Command or even the courts, but I'm not handing Meridina over on your say so."

"We won't let the traitor escape us," Hajamar warned.

"Then camp out there for all I care," Robert retorted. "But if you step one foot on my ship, my crew has orders to blow the airlock and seal it behind us. And I know you're powerful, but I wonder if even you people can resist explosive decompression."

Hajamar seemed to consider it. "You are deceiving us," he said. "You would be taken too, as would your officers."

"Yeah," Robert said. "But my crew will probably beam me and my people back before we hit the wall of the drydock. Depending on how fast the safety people respond, well, do you think you'll be that lucky?" He went eye to eye with the Knight, glaring into his brown eyes. "Are you willing to take that chance?"

And he was clearly considering it. Robert could see that. Hajamar and his Knights weren't pushovers, and they knew their thing, and the fact was Robert was more outmatched here than he'd ever been in this sort of situation. Not even being cornered by Fassbinder and his SS at the Gamma Piratus Facility was this bad.

"Please, stop."

Robert turned. Meridina and Lucy were entering the airlock. Lucy looked bewildered, but Meridina had a sort of strange calm, even if it was covering immense doubt and… even despair, Robert thought.

"Knight Meridina," Hajamar said.

"Knight Hajamar." Meridina nodded respectfully to him. She reached to her belt and pulled out her lakesh hilt.

Hajamar's Knights all went for their blades. A chorus of metallic shrieks accompanied the extension of a half dozen lakeshes.

Lucy almost reached for hers, and Angel was clenching her fists for a fight. But Meridina looked to her and shook her head. She looked back to Hajamar and held her right palm up, the hilt laid on the palm. Robert felt her power grip it and levitate the hilt. It moved slowly through the air toward Hajamar.

Hajamar opened his palm. The weapon accelerated, too fast for Robert to intercept it, and landed square in his palm.

Meridina stepped up beside them and looked to the four. "I am honored to have known you all," she said. "Thank you for making me feel as if we were family. I am humbled by your generosity of spirit and your courage. Mi rake sa swevyra iso." She turned back to Hajamar. She put her wrists together and extended them forward. "Knight Hajamar, I surrender myself to the Knights of the Temple. I am ready for judgement."

Hajamar's expression softened. His eyes showed a glimmer of compassion. His reply was a wordless nod. From his own belt came a set of metal shackles.

"You can't do this!", Lucy screamed. She looked to Robert. "Stop them! Stop her!"

Robert swallowed and looked to Lucy, who looked like she was about to cry. "I can't, Lucy," he said. "She's going with them of her own free will."

"There has to be a regulation about this!" Lucy looked to Julia next. "Isn't there? She's an officer of the ship! They can't just march her off!"

"Maybe if we were on active duty, we could order her to not surrender," Julia said. "But we're in drydock, Lucy. The entire crew is in stand down. I mean, if she wanted me to I could fight this…"

By now Hajamar had fixed the shackles to Meridina's ankles as well. Lengths of tritanium chain, starship hull grade, now bound Meridina's limbs to a ring of the same material. The chain rattled as Meridina took her first steps, now standing between the seven Knights in red. She looked back to Lucy with tears in her blue eyes. "Goodbye, Lucy," she said. "You will find your way. I believe in you."

Hajamar gave a blunt, but not hostile, order in Gersallian. Meridina turned away and began to walk in time with her jailers.

Robert could feel Lucy's swevyra crackle with power. She was going to attack. Before she could he grabbed her by the arms. "No!", he hissed. "Not here, not this way!"

"This isn't right!", Lucy shouted. "She didn't do anything wrong! She's the purest, most noble woman I've ever met!"

"Yes, she is," Julia said. "But starting a fight here won't help her. We've got to fight this another way."

"How?", Lucy demanded.

"I don't know yet." Robert looked back down the airlock tube. The far airlock door slid to a shit, cutting off their view of Meridina. "But this isn't over." A look of grim determination crossed his face.

Upon seeing it, the same crossed Lucy's face as well. Angel and Julia both nodded in agreement.

"Meridina is family. And we're going to help her any way we can," Robert vowed.

 

[Big Steve]

Teaser


Captain Robert Dale Personal Log; 13 May 2642. I have spent the last two days trying to get in touch with Mastrash Ledosh to find out what is going on with the Council of the Order of Swenya, and why they arrested Meridina on charges of "treason". Despite my best efforts, I have been unable to get in contact with him.

The news from Gersal is not good. Reports of Meridina's arrest, and that the charges against her related to her service in the Alliance, have sparked widespread protests between the Dissenters and those in favor of continued membership in the Alliance. The Gersallian government is in turmoil. The Dissenters are demanding a reconsideration of Alliance membership. Meridina's charges are apparently the 'proof' they've needed that the Alliance is corrupting Gersal.

I'm also concerned with Lucy. Since Meridina was arrested she's become… angry. She's taking this harder than I thought she would.

Robert finished writing his log and looked over to his half-eaten lunch. He picked up a ham sandwich and started to wolf it down.

Nearby Angel plopped into a chair. "You know, if we were out there," she said, "at least I'd have tactical watches to take my mind off this."

"I know." Robert rubbed at his forehead. "But we're not. Scotty and the dock manager have virtually taken over the ship for now."

"Except for Little Miss Workaholic, who still can't get out of her office for all the paperwork she insists on doing herself," Angel pointed out, smirking as she did. "You need to make her take a break, Rob."

Robert smiled at that. "I already tried that. Then Jarod got abducted."

"Ugh. This last week has been one non-stop headache." Angel considered her unfinished lunch for a moment. "So, when do we go to Gersal to kick some ass and take names?"

Robert leveled a curious stare at her. "You mean breaking into a secure temple controlled by people who could bat us across the room with a wave of their hand? All to pull out a prisoner who doesn't want to be freed?"

The reply was a frustrated glare at nothing. "And there's nothing anyone can do to stop them?"

"The Gersallian government considers it an internal Order matter," Robert said. "And there's no provisions in the Alliance government for intervening."

"She's an officer of the Stellar Navy, isn't that enough?"

Robert shook his head. "She transmitted her resignation before surrendering. And since this is a private organization passing judgement on one of its members the other authorities can't do anything."

"But we're not going to leave it at that, are we?"

Robert shook his head. "No, we're not. I'm going to go there myself if necessary."

"If you go, I go."

Robert felt a warm feeling in his heart. He didn't think Angel would care so much for this, not when she already detested the influence and time sink that the entire issue was for him. But he could feel her sincerity. Whatever her feelings about Meridina training Robert, Angel considered Meridina a member of the family, and she was ready to raise hell to save her.

"I've got one last card to play on the issue," he said. "But with things so hectic in Portland right now, I can't be sure when I'll get the call." Robert let out a sigh. "I'm also worried about Lucy."

"I didn't realize how close she was to Meridina." Angel picked at a small glob of mashed potato on her plate. "The longer this takes, the more angry she's going to become."

"Which is why I'm hoping the call I'm expecting comes sooner rather than later," Robert said. He took up the last bit of his sandwich. "Until then, all I can do is wait and hope."




In the Aurora gymnasium, heads were turning at the sound of a series of furious punches against a gym bag. Some half-expected to see Angel there, familiar with the tactical officer's affinity for "beat the crap out of something to relieve stress", but they would have been surprised to see Lucy Lucero there as well.

These days she didn't go with the standard exercise wear of shorts and sports bra, or at least she didn't normally. With Meridina it was usually training vests and trousers. But today she wore something that fit the environment better. She wasn't muscular like Angela, she didn't even have Julia's build with defined, if not bulked, muscle. Her arms and stomach were solid and flat, with some slight muscular definition on her exposed belly.

The crew in charge of the gym's equipment had spent a year quietly shoring up their equipment. The joke around the ship was that Angel had destroyed every punching bag not reinforced with tritanium. She hadn't, but the gym staff had toughened them after she had wrecked two.

But those reinforcements were against Human strength. As Lucy's frustration grew that strength tapped onto the power of her life energies, the swevyra that Meridina had taught her to tap. She hit the bag hard enough to break it entirely, causing sand to erupt from the wound. She pulled her fist out and watched the sand fall, giving a frustrated cry in the process. Wordlessly she went for the broom and bucket that the crew had left nearby for such eventualities.

She had just finished the sweeping up when a voice called out, "And I thought Angel could be rough on those things."

Commander Julia Andreys was standing nearby. In contrast to the more conventional workout clothing Lucy had, she was wearing a white martial arts gi with a black belt around the waist. Her long blond hair was the kind of rich color most blondes wished they were. She had pulled it into a bun at the back of her head. "How are you feeling?", she asked.

"I'm upset and angry and trying like hell to hold it back," Lucy answered. "Meridina's done everything they've ever asked her to do. She's stood up for everything they're supposed to believe. And this is how they repay her."

"Maybe there's more to this than we thought," Julia offered.

"They wanted me to leave the Aurora and join their damned Order, you know," Lucy continued. She took the bucket of sand and the broom and put it against the wall. The punching bag was rolled to keep the hole in its surface upward and dragged over to join them. Lucy looked up after doing this and said, "Now I'm glad I said no. These people aren't half as good as Meridina thinks they are."

"That may be part of the problem," Julia murmured. "Robert's trying everything he can. He hopes to have a response to a couple of calls he made by tonight."

"Good." Lucy crossed her arms. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Looking for you. I wanted to help you."

"How?"

Julia grinned. "Well, I can't teach you how to pick things up with your life energy or whatever, but I think I can teach you something to help focus your mind and body. Maybe it'll help you deal with this situation over Meridina. You've heard of t'ai chi?"

"Slowly swinging your arms around."

"Not just that. It's about focus. Learning the movements and how to do them and keeping it all in your head." Julia assumed a starting stance. "And it's a pretty useful martial art. It's about flexibility instead of power." She moved her arms and shifted her posture in an initial movement. "The point is to meet strength with fluidity."

"So, judo?"

"Judo is more about turning an enemy's size against them, this is more 'go with the flow'. Let your enemy punch and kick, but instead of trying to block everything and meet your strength against theirs, you let their strength go to waste. And then, when the moment is right, you strike." Julia made a motion that, if done at a quick speed, would have been an effective counter-attack against a foe. Julia chuckled. "How else do you think I spar with Angel? She's got the advantage in muscle, after all."

"I just figured you made her insanely jealous with that tall, statuesque figure you've got going for you."

Julia laughed at that. "Angel's not the type to feel jealousy over that. She's proud of those muscles. If she had it her way, we'd all be wearing sleeveless uniforms."

Lucy stepped up beside her. Julia kept her gentle smile at noticing that she was assuming the same stance Julia had shifted into. "Okay, let me show you one of the first forms my teacher showed me."

They began. As they worked through the series of moves together, Lucy realized what Julia was talking about, how the precision helped to instill focus even as the movements made her feel limber.

It still didn't keep her from worrying about Meridina, but maybe she wouldn't explode into anger at their continued inability to do anything for her.




The Great Temple of the Order of Swenya had been built as a place of learning and contemplation. It had never been meant to be a jail. But experience had taught those who ran the Order that sometimes, such things would be necessary.

The dungeon of the Temple was buried within the mountain rock under the main structures. There were only a few because there was never any anticipated need for many of them. Swevyra'kse - those who gave into the darkness - were more often killed than captured, and many of those captured were turned over to state authorities for criminal trial. for members of the Order accused of crimes within Order law and rules, confinement was usually house arrest, and punishment much the same.

Now the cells of iron and steel had a single occupant. Meridina was in the plain linen robe she had worn upon her arrest. She sat in the damp cold, far from the sun, with the only sources of light being the electric lights strung along the cavern ceiling. Her trintanium chains kept her locked to the middle of the room, just within range of the toilet and the sleeping pallet. And here she stayed, kept company only by a roving patrol of the Temple Knights and by the feelings in her own heart. The feelings of darkness festering there, of fear and pain and despair.

Meridina had believed so strongly that the time Swenya prophesied was at hand. Now… now she felt doubt. And thanks to Amaunet possessing her, and using her power for darkness, she felt that evil power within her as well.

"It pains me to see you like this."

The voice made her look up. Mastrash Ledosh was standing quietly in front of the cell. "I will tell them I instructed you," he said. "Then your punishment will be reduced."

"No, Mastrash. You did nothing wrong. I did all."

"Meridina, the world is shuddering from this news. A Human, trained as a swevyra'se without the Council's approval. The Senate attack, now this… " Ledosh stopped. He could see that wasn't reaching her. "Captain Dale sends messages almost hourly. I dare not reply right now, not even to warn him to stop. I think he may come here."

"That is his right," Meridina murmured.

"Meridina, we must do something I do not know what Goras has planned, but the meeting is tomorrow…"

"I will face my judgement."

"Even if it means expulsion? Or even worse?"

Meridina's heart quailed at the word "expulsion". Her entire life was devoted to the Order. She had done what she had done in the name of its future health. "I am guilty," she said. "Let the people have me as their sacrifice for this crisis."

"And if your friends come? If they come to defend you?"

"There is little they can do. But…" She lowered her head. "I would feel better if they were here," she confessed. "I feel, even now, that our destinies are intertwined."

"The whispers of destiny can be misheard," Ledosh said. "Please, do not sacrifice yourself needlessly over your interpretation of them."

Meridina did not answer that. She kept her head bowed and focused again on the darkness she felt within, trying to come to grips with it and send it out of her.

Ledosh recognized there was no more to talk about. He bowed his head and departed, leaving Meridina to her thoughts.

Undiscovered Frontier
"Whispers of Destiny"​

As soon as Robert got the notification, he summoned Julia, Angela, and Lucy to join him in the bridge-side conference room. This way everyone relevant to the thoughts he had in his mind on the situation were there when Admiral Maran arrived. The dark-haired Gersallian looked no worse than he had a few days prior at the Senate, but Robert could feel his fatigue and worry. "Captain, Commander, Lieutenants." He nodded. "I received your calls. I thought it best to meet you here on the Aurora."

"Thank you, sir. I know your schedule lately has been hectic."

Maran didn't quite sigh at that. "You could say so." Maran took a seat beside Julia, to Robert's left. "The video files from the Senate Chamber have already been spread across the multiversal public networks." He looked to Lucy. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you were trained in the arts, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir."

"Unfortunately for Meridina, this has Gersal in an uproar. Meridina training you two as she has been is against long-standing traditions and laws for our people."

"Then why did she do it?", Julia asked.

"I can't tell you." Maran shook his head. "I've known Meridina since she was Mastrash Ledosh's star pupil. She's always been deeply committed to the Order. I don't understand why she would break its rules like that."

"I think I do," Lucy said. When everyone looked toward her, she went on. "Before the Knights came for her, she was talking about something, she was upset over it. Something about how we were supposed to be… " Lucy went through her memories for a moment. "She said we were supposed to be 'the Dawn Bearers'. Something about a shield of Light."

Everyone noticed the surprised look on Maran's face. The Gersallian admiral was clearly thinking about what had been said. "She said those words? Those exact words?", he asked.

Lucy nodded.

After taking several breaths and recovering from surprise, Maran had a look of someone who just had a slight epiphany. "I… I think I can see that point, actually."

"What was she talking about?", Robert asked.

Maran leaned back in his chair. "It is said that before she died, Swenya laid out a vision she had of the future. That the Bearers of the Dawn would come and herald a new age of peace and prosperity." Maran shook his head. "I always thought it was metaphor, or perhaps some half-remembered text that was recovered after the defeat of the Brotherhood of Kohbal twenty-nine centuries ago."

"Meridina believes this," Lucy said. "Or, at least she did. Everything that's happened lately has, well, I think it broke her faith."

"Perhaps. If she thought that you were the Dawn Bearers… then I can understand her conduct. It does make sense."

"This is all well and good, but we're not getting to the real issue," Julia said. "We need a way to get her back. They shouldn't be allowed to keep her locked up."

"The Order has no authority to imprison," Maran said. "They can only hold one of their own for a few days before a trial is necessary. And their sentences are binding only if their charge remains in the Order, and most sentences culminate in expulsion as it is. The only cases where they will act further is if internal corruption is involved."

"You mean if they argue the person has given into their darkness," Lucy said. "Which they might do to Meridina. What happens then?"

"Then they are tested. And if they fail, then the Order has leave of the Interdependency Government to kill the offender."

Lucy paled at that..

"They can actually invoke the death penalty?", Julia asked. The admission shocked her. "But they don't have state authority."

"On this matter, they do," Maran explained. "The Gersallian Knights of the Temple are recognized as having the right and duty to execute those proven to be tainted by darkness." Maran put his hands on the table. "As for getting the Commander back, we have no power to compel her return at the moment. The Order and Interdependency have laws regulating their affairs going back millennia. If the government tried to intervene, then it would cause a fracturing of our entire society that could lead to civil war."

"And if the Alliance Government got involved…"

Maran frowned at that. "The Gersallian people would turn against it. You would see Gersal withdraw from the Alliance. The Dorei might or might not follow suit."

"And other member states that like the Gersallians would be against it," Julia added. "And any state that opposed Alliance Government intervention in their internal affairs."

"But Meridina has rights!", Lucy shouted. "Under the Alliance laws too! We can't just let them kill her!"

"Could we give testimony?", Robert asked.

"Or better yet, deny her resignation," Julia added.

Maran shook his head. "I'm not sure the Order would accept that. At best, if they are only interested in her training of you, then they will expedite her trial and likely expel her. And if they believe Meridina's current problems make her a threat of falling, they'll defy any approach like that on the grounds of protecting others from the threat she poses."

"This is the kind of thing Hawthorne and Davies are waiting for," Robert grumbled. "Having the Navy and the Order butting heads would justify their entire line of argument.

"I agree." Maran nodded. A contemplative look came to him. "But there is another way. Not to get her out of the trial, but to be there to support her, and perhaps to show the Council that the two of you are not a threat."

"What's that?", Angel asked.

"It is permissible for a limited number of close friends to attend such events, by invitation of the Order or of the family," Maran replied. "By being present you could allow Meridina's advocate to call you forth as witnesses. If the rest of the Order observes you and decides you've been taught well, they might be willing to accept a defense of Meridina helping you to establish a Human discipline."

Lucy and Robert looked at each other. They got the gist of what Maran was referring to, and understood what it meant. After a moment they nodded. "We're ready to say that's what we're up to," Robert said.

"It will be not be easy to persuade them," Maran said. "My people try to be tolerant of many things, but we have a long cultural memory. Alternative approaches to swevyra led to the Brotherhood of Kohbal and its horrors. They're still watching the Dorei Orders for corruption and they were formed centuries ago. I expect they will keep a similar eye on you regardless of the trial's outcome."

"Let them. The important thing is helping Meridina."

Lucy nodded. "All we need is a jump and we can fly the Rio Grande there."

"I can arrange that," Maran said. "I'm sending the Drunal to bring Councilman Palas' remains back to his family. They live on Tanatal, but the Drunal will be jumping at Gersal. You can jump with them."

"Sounds good to me," Robert said. "When do they leave?"

"In two hours," Maran said. "And you'll need every minute of your time. Meridina's trial begins tomorrow."

"Let's go pack," Angel said.

Julia nodded. "Jarod and Scotty can oversee the repair work while we're gone."

"Commander, wait." Maran shook his head. "As I said before, the number of who can join the proceedings is limited. Only three may do so."

"So one of us has to stay behind," Lucy said.

"You and Robert must go," Maran answered. "But yes. You can only take one other with you."

Julia and Angel exchanged looks. Each could see the desire, and the intent, in the other. It was Julia who nodded. "Okay. I'll stay then."

"We'll let Meridina know you wanted to go," Robert assured her. "Admiral, may we?"

Maran nodded. "I'm not here as your commanding officer, so there's no need for formality. You needn't have asked… and yes, you may. You'll need the time."

Everyone stood up to head toward the doors. Robert, Lucy, and Angel were heading straight for the lift on the near side of the conference room, Julia was heading toward the far door leading to the bridge. As she got to it, Maran called out, "Commander, a moment?"

She turned. "Yes sir?"

"I would like you to join me at the Fleet Base tomorrow morning," Maran said. "I'll be at the main dock terminal at 1130 hours. Please meet me there. It is important."

Julia's look was carefully neutral. "Yes sir, I will."

Maran nodded and went the other way, leaving Julia to wonder what was going on when she returned to the bridge.







The three met up at the lift. For the moment they were still in uniform, with civilian clothes packed away for when they got to Gersal. "Deck 10," Robert said, and it sped its way to the ordered deck, where they filed out and headed toward the front airlock. Leaving the ship was necessary; with Aurora in drydock, and her main shuttlebay a wreck, they couldn't launch from her at the moment. The Rio Grande and their other surviving craft had been transferred for the moment to the Fleet Base pool, held as reserve craft until the Aurora was ready to depart with them aboard again.

When they came up to the hall leading to the airlock, they stopped.

Between them and the airlock, their comrades were standing lined up, Julia at the head of the line. "They wanted to wish you goodbye," she said. "And good luck."

"Thanks," Robert answered. "I know that all of you wishes you could be with us. We'll tell Meridina for you."

"Bring our lass home, sir," Scotty said. "This is where she belongs."

"She's one of us," Locarno said. Kane nodded in agreement.

"She's family," Jarod said.

"Yeah, and we can't let them take her from us." Caterina hugged her sister closely. Beside her, Violeta was nodding. She'd never seen the command crew together like this before and Cat had insisted she come too.

"We'll be waiting," Leo promised.

"Right. Don't worry, we're bringing her home," Robert promised.

"An' we'll be workin' t' get our lass back in shape while ye're gone."

Robert smiled at that. "I'll hold you to that, Mister Scott. They're telling me we've got at least another five weeks in drydock."

"Won't take more than a month, sir," Scotty pledged. "I'll see t' that."

"We'll see to that," Barnes corrected. Beside him Zack nodded in agreement.

"We'd better get going," Lucy said. "The Drunal is waiting for us."







The Drunal was waiting for them above the North Pole. Lucy brought the Rio Grande in at three quarters impulse. They only had a few minutes to enjoy the sight of the newest Discovery-class starship in the Alliance fleet. She looked every much like her sisters, including the Challenger, who were essentially built like as the Aurora's small cousins. With only two warp nacelles, angled upward, and a smaller hull altogether, it was clearly a different ship, but the layouts of the launch and recovery deck for the small fighter wing aboard, the main shuttle bay, and the proportions of the primary and drive hulls and how they flowed together were evocative of the Aurora herself.

"I wonder if they'll ever build a ship like the Aurora," Angel said from the side seat behind Robert. Technically she could manage the Rio Grande's communications and defensive systems there, if it were necessary..

"Oh, I'm sure they will," Robert replied. He was beside Lucy as the co-pilot, but that effectively meant monitoring everything else while she did the flying. "In time."

Angel nodded. Herr console let off a beep. "The Drunal is preparing to generate a jump point. Five, four…"

"We're in position now," Lucy assured them all.

As soon as Angel reached "One" space split up ahead of them. An emerald-colored vortex opened in space. The Drunal let them go first and Lucy quickly made use of that opening.

After the usual experience of transitioning to another universe, they found themselves in near orbit over Gersal. "I'm asking for landing permission now." After a moment Angel nodded. "We've gotten it. They're vectoring us in to land at Jantarihal Spaceport."

"It's been awhile since we were on Gersal,"' Robert mused.

"Somehow I don't think the reception we get will be the same as we did before," Robert sighed. "Let's put in and get a ride to the Great Temple. I'd like to see Ledosh turn down my calls now."







After Robert and the others had left, everyone dispersed to go back to whatever work they chose to do while the ship was under repair. Zack followed Julia to her office. "What can i do for you Zack?", she asked.

"Well, to put it simply… I need a Chief Engineer on the Koenig."

Julia gave him a concerned look. "Karen?"

"Derbely is going to be out for the next three months. At least." Zack frowned. "It's going to take her that long to heal."

"I see." Julia sighed. "Well, do you have anyone in mind?"

"Tom knows those systems inside and out," Zack said.

"Tom's also helping to get our repairs done," Julia pointed out. "Still, if he's willing to do the temporary transfer, I'll see if Scotty can let him go."

"Thanks," Zack answered. He remained seated in front of her. "How are you doing, by the way?"

"Well, I'm alive," she said. "That's better than some. And I'm…" She thought of the word she wanted to use. "I'm bette rthan I was a ocuple of days ago, how about that?"

"Okay. I just know how you felt about not being at 425TD."

"I had to work through it," she confessed. "And I did."

"Right." More silence filled the room for the moment. "Do you think they can do it?", Zack asked.

"Those three? There's not much they can't do." Julia gave Zack a reassuring smile. "They'll get it done. Don't worry."

"Yeah." Zack nodded. "I know I've got to think positive. I just wish we could all be there. That we could show those robed jerks what we think of them treating Meridina like this."

"Oh, I know the feeling." Julia looked to her computer. "Now I've got to get to work finalizing more leave requests and going over crew replacement."

"Yeah, I've got to do the same," Zack said. "I'll be in my quarters on-ship if you need me."





Admiral Maran's arrangements hadn't stopped with the berth at the spaceport. As soon as Robert and the others secured their things, a Gersallian air-car pulled up. The vehicle was winged near the back, with space for five or six riders aside from the driver. An older man was in the driver's seat, gray-haired and bearded in a way that reminded Robert of some of his grandfather's war buddies that had come during reunions when he was just a child. "Captain Dale and others, yes?", he asked.

Robert nodded. "Here."

"The Admiral asked me to give you a ride," the older man said. "Things in the capital are tense right now. You might not get a ride if people figure you're Alliance."

"We can change out of uniform if it'll help."

"Willing to put away your multidevices? Everyone knows the military model ones."

"Got any good replacements?", Lucy asked.

"Afraid not," was the reply.

"Then it's better that we don't." Lucy looked to Robert. "I've got things set up in case we need an emergency beam-out."

He nodded. "Alright. We'll go in uniform for now, but we should probably change if we meet Meridina's family." Robert looked at the driver. "And you are?"

"I'm Haklir," he answered. "I was a rate in the fleet for ages. I've known the Admiral since he was a ship commander. Man's saved my life a dozen times, easy. I'm one of many who'll come calling if the Admiral gives the call."

"Well, Haklir, I'm Robert, and this is Angel and Lucy." Robert gestured to the others. "I know you're doing this for the Admiral, but thank you anyway."

"You're welcome. Whenever you're ready."

They settled into the vehicle. Haklir drove it out of the hanger area where the Rio Grande would remain. Lucy's multidevice let her remotely close the hanger behind them.

Away from the spaceport, the car gained altitude and joined the thick aerial traffic over the city. Below Robert could see crowded streets. His senses helped him feel what was going on below. He could feel the anger of the crowds. They felt betrayed, angered, by a breaking of the ways that three thousand years of experience had turned into accepted tradition.

"Is everyone joining the protests?", Angel asked.

"A lot of people are, but not all are against you," Haklir said. "Some of them like the Alliance. And they think it's time that we accept not everyone's going to want to use their gifts the way we do." Haklir shook his head. "It's going to be worse tomorrow. The Order's agreed to a request from the Directorate. They're going to allow a holo-broadcast of the entire trial."

"So the entire planet will see it live?"

"The entire planet? The entire Interdependency. The Dorei too, probably. And I wouldn't be surprised if someone put it on the IU network."

"Huh." Angel crossed her arms. "No pressure then, huh?"

The vehicle flew onward, over the tall and majestic curved buildings that were shining like crystals in the light of Gersal's sun and over the pristine green parks outside the city center, bordered by towering residential arcologies. Haklir increased power to the anti-gravity field below the vehicle to increase its altitude, bringing them higher along with the winding road and pathways below. A winding river joined said roads, guiding them up toward the mountains.

It was visible for minutes before they arrived. The Great Temple of the Order was a large circular structure, joined by similar smaller ones. The architecture was like nothing you could see on Earth. The circular buildings had elegant, beautiful designs engraved into their round surfaces. Light colors dominated their color scheme, and the roofs were a nice brownish-red, like stucco in some Human architectural styles.

"The offices for the Council are this way," Haklir said, bringing them toward one of the vehicle parks. "I imagine you'll want to speak to Mastrash Ledosh. Good luck getting in with the way things are right now, but I'll be here reading over some things while you're busy."

"Thank you, Haklir," Robert said.

"You can thank the Admiral when this is over," the old man answered. "Now get going before those red robes get antsy about us."

They climbed out of the vehicle together. Robert gave them both a look that they returned, as if to say "Here we go", before they walked together toward the main door ahead. There were door guards present with weapons already in hand, but not activated. The man and woman, with tanned complexions of similar shade, were clad in the red robes of the Temple Knights. It was the woman who said, "These are the private chambers of the Mastrasham of the Order and are restricted. Do you have business here?" Her eyes narrowed. Robert felt himself being scrutinized and knew they would feel the energy he held within, as they would Lucy. Indeed, the two seemed to be getting a little more tense.

"You can say that." Robert looked to the others, who nodded. "I am Captain Robert Dale of the Alliance, commander of the Alliance Starship Aurora. I've come to see Mastrash Ledosh and to look into the treatment of one of my crew, Commander Meridina."

The two never looked at each other, but Robert could sense they were communicating mentally. "Your presence is not desired, offworlder," the man said. "This is an affair of the Order, not your Alliance."

"I'm not here to intervene as an Alliance officer. I'm here as Meridina's friend and student in the ways of swevyra," he answered. "I believe I have rights under your Code, correct?"

They clearly didn't quite like that either. Finally the woman tilted her head in that way Meridina usually would when accepting a point. "You are correct. I will inform Mastrash Ledosh you have come." The woman closed her eyes.

For seconds nothing happened. Angel gave Robert a pensive look. He could see why. Other red robes, and blue robes, and even a purple robe were all looking their way from around the Temple. They'd made an impression.

The woman's eyes opened. "He is coming to escort you."

"Thank you," Robert said, and he put a diplomatic smile on his face. It never hurt to be diplomatic, after all.

 

[Big Steve]

Ledosh said nothing on the way in. It was plain to see from the haggard expression on his clean-shaven face, the worry in his eyes, that the situation was taxing him.

The silence of the trip let the three examine the cream-white halls of the building, the art and calligraphy hanging from the walls, and the general ambience of the Order of Swenya's headquarters. It looked pre-industrial, almost, save for the electrical lighting set into the walls and the ceiling. The floor was fine wood tile with a repeating series of purple-hued carpets laid down, a few feet between each carpet. Doors on either side were marked with engraved tablets. Robert didn't bother using his multidevice to get the translations, they were too busy keeping up with Ledosh.

He brought them to an office near the center of the building and opened the door with a wave of his hand. Inside the waiting area of the office was a blond woman. They recognized her within seconds. "Gina Invieve?", Robert asked.

The humaniform Cylon nodded and smiled. She was wearing her blond hair in a large bun at the back of her head. A blue robe over a cream-white vest and loose pants were her clothing choice, and that made her purpose here obvious. "Meridina told me you had joined the Order," Lucy said.

"Yes." Gina nodded. It was easy to feel the peace within her, mingled with joy. She was as happy as she could be. "I've found a place here that I'd never have anywhere else. Peace."

"Gina is a fine student and apprentice," Ledosh noted. He continued on to the second door.

The inner office had a high, curved desk, an example of fine wood carving. A computer display and flat keyboard were set into the top of it. For Robert it was a reminder that the Order was hardly ignorant of technology, even if a part of him couldn't help but think such technology out of place. Too many movies with warrior monks, he decided.

The thought briefly brought further ones. Painful, but heartwarming, memories of sitting at the family TV and watching kung fu movies with his parents and sister and Julia. Sometimes Zack too, when he was around. He remembered teasing Julia about her martial arts fixation and it coming from all the movies they had been watching (he also remembered the grin on her face after she'd flipped him for the seventh time, proving it wasn't just silly movements). A tear started to form in his eye and Robert pushed it away.

If Ledosh or Gina had felt that brief distraction, they said nothing. Ledosh did not take his desk but approached the wall and stopped. "You've come to help Meridina?", he asked.

"We're here for her."

"I see. She has truly won your loyalty." Ledosh's voice was sad. "If only she would put the blame on me. She should. I have always encouraged her with my views of the times we're in." He sighed. "This is my fault."

"You didn't give us these powers," Lucy said. "And you didn't order her to train us."

"I could have counseled her not to," Ledosh said. "Instead I let her, because I believed. And now it may be for nothing. I fear there is no helping her, and your presence may only serve to further condemn her. It is evident to all that you've been trained in your swevyra, and trained far beyond what simple control training would provide you."

"Admiral Maran suggested that we might persuade the Council that Meridina showed us more to form our own, Human equivalent of the Order," Robert said.

Ledosh's face curled into a half smile. "Maran has always been a thinker. It makes him a great commander. That is, perhaps, the only approach that has a hope of working. But you'll need Meridina's support."

"Can we see her?", Lucy asked.

"She's down in the dungeons right now. Access is restricted to myself and those of my rank only. It is a common procedure."

"To throw someone in the dungeons?", Angel asked, a sarcastic look on her face. "Because I didn't peg your people for doing the dungeons and ye olde torture chamber thing."

"It is more of a jail, I suppose, but the word in Gersallian translates to your 'dungeon' more accurately," Ledosh admitted. "And it's not common for someone accused of the violations Meridina stands accused of. It is, however, common for those we fear have fallen, or may fall, into darkness."

"Right." Lucy breathed out in frustration. "She still hasn't shaken off what Amaunet did to her."

"Correct. And that may condemn her tomorrow. And she seems ready for it. I fear recent events have broken her spirit."

"Then we need to give her hope. Let us see her!", Lucy insisted.

"I cannot," Ledosh insisted. "It would make things worse. Our relations with your Alliance are in jeopardy."

"Meridina's in jeopardy too!"

"Lucy, calm down," Angel insisted. "Remember, we can be there for her."

"The Order will never vote to permit it," Ledosh said. "Even if I were to submit the vote to the Council, Goras and Karesl would crush it given the sentiments right now."

"Then we'll go to the family," Lucy declared.

"You would drag them into this?" Ledosh shook his head. "Her father is against you. Even if her mother and siblings rule for you, that may tear at the foundations of their family."

"It seems to me that if they want us there and he resists, he'll be the one at fault," Lucy said.

"Where can we find the Lumantala?", Robert asked.

Ledosh drew in a breath of exasperation. "You will not accomplish anything by being here," he insisted.

"Maybe, maybe not, but we have to try," Robert insisted. "We'll be respectful of your traditions, we're not here to cause a fuss. But we will support our friend…"

"Our family," Angel insisted.

Ledosh was quiet for several seconds. "Gina, you have seen where they are to go, yes?"

"I have, Mastrash."

"Take them to the Lumantala home, then. I will let Drentiya know you are coming."

A sound came from the inner office. It was a polite knock against the door. Robert opened his senses that way, tried to feel what was there with his energy, and stopped when it felt like he was shining a flashlight against a flood lamp. The two powers there were great, as powerful as Ledosh's if not moreso.

Gina stepped up and opened the door. Two men entered, wearing the same purple robe with blue trim as Ledosh's. Robert and the others recognized one as Mastrash Karesl. Meridina's father, was his thought.

The other was a bald man, with a prominent beard of dark gray color. His dark brown eyes focused on Robert and then on Lucy. Robert thought he felt bewilderment and then a calm, pleased feeling come over the man.

"Mastrash Karesl, Mastrash Goras." Ledosh nodded. "Interesting timing."

"We heard that outsiders from the Alliance had come, and with developed swevyra." Karesl looked them over. "You have come on behalf of Meridina, then?"

"We have," Robert confirmed. "We're here to support her."

A sad look came over the man's face. "Your support may have been better applied at a distance."

"Indeed." The bald man, Goras, looked satisfied at the situation. "You have no place here anyway. No standing. The Council will deny any request by the Alliance to involve itself in our affairs."

'We're not here to do that," Robert said. "We're here as Meridina's comrades and friends to stand with her in her moment of need. Just as she's stood at our side when we've needed it."

"So you say. But what can you offer her, truly? Your presence confirms the charges, undeniable as they already are. Your very presence will appear to our people to be Alliance snooping." Goras shook his head. "The Order Council must maintain its position on these matters. We must prevent even an iota of visible Alliance influence in our proceeding. The answer is no, and will always be no. Meridina will face our justice without you at her side."

"This isn't about justice and you damn well know it," Lucy said. "This is about politics. You're against her because you're against the Alliance."

Goras looked at Lucy with amusement. "Another of her students? Ah.. I see. You were the one with the lakesh. A weapon you are not fit to wield." There was clear heat in his tone on that last sentence. "If you were carrying it now I would strip you of it myself."

Thank God she left it on the Rio, Robert thought.

"Undoubtedly my daughter believed she was doing the right thing in training you," Karesl said. "I only wish she had encouraged you to come to us, and to be accepted into the Order. None of this would be necessary."

"There are other causes in life than the Order," Robert said.

"But none safer for a wielder of the swevyra," Karesl countered. "You are even now risking a fall to darkness. Especially you, Lucilla Lucero." He looked to Lucy, who was clearly angry. "I sense your anger now. Anger inevitably leads to hatred. Hatred is the source of suffering, and the wellspring of darkness. My daughter did you no favors when she failed to compel you to come to us."

"I go where I decide."

"And that is why you will one day need to be hunted down, like any other swevyra'kse," Goras said.

"You know, you don't seem the 'no anger' type yourself, Goras," Angel noted. "I don't have mumbo jumbo mind powers, but I can tell when someone's letting a little too much get to him."

"You mock our ways with every word you speak of them," he retorted.

"If that's what you want to call it." Angel smirked. "So, does this thing with your Order's leadership have anything to do with us being the Bearers of the Dawn?"

Robert felt Ledosh's surge of incredulity. And it was clear that Karesl and Goras were stunned to hear the phrase. "A delusion," Goras finally spat. "A fantasy. One that should not have been shared with you!"

"Meridina didn't tell us anything about it," Angel retorted. "We found that out ourselves. Apparently we might be some prophesied heroes?"

"It is a fiction!", Goras roared. "The Prophecy of the Dawn is nothing but some invention of the merchants looking to capitalize off of reputed writings found after the Fall!"

"Well, hey, if it's a fiction, no need to be angry about it, right?" Angel smirked at him.

"This is a waste of time with needless provocation," Karesl remarked. He looked to Ledosh. "I hope to see you in the morning. These three, I do not. They have no place at the trial."

"Indeed," Goras hissed.

The two men stomped out.

Ledosh sighed and went to his desk, where he slumped into the chair. "I have work to do. Gina, if you would please?"

"I'll go with them," Gina said. Left unspoken was the term and protect them.




Haklir nodded at the extra passenger. Gina provided him the directions for their trip back into Jantarihal and to one of the arcology districts. The return trip was quiet at first, until Robert decided to say, "No, Lucy, we're not going back for your weapon."

Lucy looked over at him, frowning. "What?"

"I felt it in your head," he said. "Hell, I'm sure the entire Order did."

"I don't like being unarmed, especially not around that creep Goras." Lucy frowned. "I wish someone would wipe that smug look off his face."

"Mastrash Goras is one of the best duelists in the Order," Gina said from the front seat. "You wouldn't last more than ten seconds against him unless he let you."

Lucy grunted in reply. But she didn't defy Gina's assessment.

"I don't want to fight Goras, I just want Meridina out of this situation."

"Unfortunately, I'm not sure that's possible," Gina said. "She's… upset a lot of people, and it's bringing all of the recent arguing about the Alliance to the forefront. Ledosh is afraid that if the Council acquitted her, it would cause a civil uprising by the Dissenters."

"You mean a civil war," Angel said.

"It probably wouldn't go that far." But there was something in the way Gina said it that made Robert think that no, it probably would.

Haklir brought them in back to ground level in front of an arcology door. "Here you are," he said. "No need for thanks, like I said, courtesy of the Admiral."

"I understand," Robert said.

"But thanks anyways," Angel added, smiling at the older Gersallian man. "That's just how we roll."

Haklir didn't quite seem to get the reference to "rolling", but he understood enough to smile back with a little nod before driving off.

Gina led them into the arcology. The first floor was a beautiful inside courtyard with sculptures, flowers, and other things that made Robert think of a grand hotel lobby. They went to a lift that brought them to the 12th floor, where they crossed through a garden placed in the middle square-shaped section of the structure. "It's beautiful," Lucy said.

"It's a common thing for arcologies," Gina replied. "The residents work together to keep their gardens and home spaces maintained." She brought them up to a door and triggered the chime.

"Hello?," said a voice from inside via a speaker. A young woman, more of a girl who was probably around the age of seventeen or so by equivalence. "Who is it?"

"Leniraya? I am Gina Invieve, and Mastrash Ledosh asked me to lead these people here."

After a moment the door opened. A woman with short brown hair and the same blue eyes as Meridina stood there, wearing a simple sleeveless ponch-like top garment and what looked like slacks down to her ankles. She looked from Gina to the others. "You're… you're Meridina's crew, aren't you?"

Robert nodded. "I'm Robert Dale."

"Angela Delgado."

"Lucy Lucero."

"Come in," Leniraya said. She led them into an outer room, a parlor for greeting guests. The furnishings were comfortable enough. A number of people emerged from an inner room. One looked like a sister to Leniraya and Meridina, midway between them in age. A young man a little younger than Meridina stood behind her with blond hair. A girl with blond hair and teal-toned eyes stepped up to join Leni, taking her hand casually. "My sister is Gamaya and my brother is Qalkrsl. This is Penrine, my dearest."

An older woman, blond-haired with gray at the temples, came out last. She was dressed in a long dark blue robe and had the same blue eyes as her daughters. She looked to them and nodded. "Hello. I am Drentiya."

"Meridina's mother." Robert nodded. "I'm Robert Dale, this is…"

I know your names, was the telepathic response. Leni shared them with me. Please, come to our family chamber.

The three shared looks. We don't want to impose…

We know you consider Meridina family, Drentiya said mentally. And I feel that belief in your hearts. That makes you Lumantala. Please, come and enjoy a warm meal. Traveling always takes more out of a body and soul than we think.

It was a gentle reminder that Robert hadn't eaten in hours. He felt his stomach gurgle quietly, as if happy at the thought of a meal, and with a quick glance and not from the others he stepped forward to join them.




Dinner was had in a dining room much like a Human family might have, with a round table of what looked and felt like wood. The Gersallian dishes were things none of the eaters had tried before, but while the tastes could be eclectic, they were palatable. More than palatable in some cases.

When the meal was over and they returned to the main family room, Robert said, "That… Leyoomi?"

"Liyume," Leniraya corrected gently.

"He has trouble with Gersallian," Lucy said, an amused grin on ehr face.

Robert shot Lucy an irritated look. "Yes. That. It reminds me of the dumplings my grandmother used to make."

"So you enjoyed it." Drentiya smiled gently at him. I am pleased I gave you that comfort. Please, take a seat."

The seats were low-backed sofas and chairs, with one chaise longue that Drentiya took to. Robert and Angel took one of the two loveseat-like sofas and Lucy a low chair. Leniraya and Penrine took the other loveseat and Gamaya her own chair. "You've come to us because you wish to attend Meridina's trial," Drentiya said.

"We want to be there for her."

"Maybe you shouldn't, though." Leniraya frowned, although not at them. "You are both proof of the charges against her."

"If Meridina were giving us instruction to help form a Human counterpart to the Order, though, wouldn't that be acceptable?"

"Perhaps," Drentiya said. "Sadly this is not about the truth. It is about the politics. Meridina is the lever the Dissenters wish to use to split us from the Alliance. They may succeed, whether or not she is convicted, or even if you are there or not."

"I think they should come with us," said Gamaya. "Once the others on the Council see them, and see that they're not going bad… they'll see Meridina was right to train them. How many might have died if they hadn't been in the Senate?"

"Your father and his friends will fight that."

"I'm sorry," Robert said to her. "We don't mean to be a source of contention in your home. If you think it'll make things better that we leave, we will. We just want to be there to help Meridina in any way we can."

"I know, Robert." Drenitya nodded. "And I am prepared to give you that permission. But first, I want to ask you… what will you do if they rule against her?"

"I'm not sure what we can do." Robert looked to Lucy. "Lucy?"

"If they expel her, we offer her a place with us," Lucy said.

"And if it's more?"

The thought made Robert sick. It made him angry, too. But he could sense this was what Drentiya was concerned with. "If there's nothing we can do, there's nothing we can do," he said.

"And you, Lucy Lucero?" Drentiya turned to her. "You are the strongest evidence in either direction, for my daughter or for my husband. If you appear prone to darkness, Meridina will be held accountable, but if you control your feelings and behave as they would expect you to, it will make her choices seem wise."

Lucy was silent for a moment. She still felt anger, anger at this whole damn crazy world for what they were doing to Meridina, who only wanted to be the best of them that she could be.

But she remembered that cold darkness and wanted nothing to do with it. And she knew what Drentiya meant. For Meridina's sake, she couldn't be angry. She had to sit there, and look at Goras' smug stupid face, and keep a neutral stoic look on her face like Meridina always had and not think about how fun it would be to wipe that smug stupid look off Goras' smug stupid face….

Leniraya giggled. That caused Lucy to look at her with bewilderment before realizing that, like her mother and sister, Leni was a mind-reader. And she's just heard every bit of that thought. A blush came to Lucy's cheeks.

"Yes," Drentiya said. A mirthful little smile crossed the Gersallian matriarch's lips. "You must be that way. Quiet. Calm. This word you use… 'stoic'. You must be that."

"Yeah," Lucy conceded. "I'll do my best."

"No, you will not," Drentiya remarked. There was steel in her quiet tone. "A swevyra'se does not do their best no more than they try. They do."

"Right." Lucy nodded. "I'll be stoic. I will be a rock."

"Good. And thus, you will be with us tomorrow."

Lucy smiled softly. And then the smile turned sarcastic. She looked over at Angel, who seemed more interested in stealing a second to play footsies with Robert, who was grinning amiably at it. "What about her?", she said. "Angel's the hothead."

"What about her? She has no active swevyra. She can call Goras a kenyak and growl that his ears are flapping against his backside, the others will not care so much." A smirk came to Meridina's mother that nearly brought Lucy to giggles. "Most will think her correct."

"What's a kenyak?", asked Robert.

"It's a beast of burden," answered Qalkrsl.

"Oh. Oh." Lucy grinned.

So did Angel. "A jackass," she said. "I get to be the one who calls him a jackass."

"With his head up his ass," Lucy added. "Lucky you."

A round of chuckling and giggling accompanied that. It stopped when everyone heard the door to the residence open.

Barely ten seconds later Mastrash Karesl strode into the family room. He noted the presence of Robert, Angel, and Lucy. A look of anger briefly came to his eyes that was frozen into nothingness by the steady look of Drentiya. It was clear the two were in mental conversation, while their children and guests looked on with patience to see the outcome.

Karesl's face became a stoic mask. "I see." His eyes met his daughters and son. "And you agree? Despite what it might mean for your sister's fate?"

"I do," Gamaya said, insistent. "They're good people. Everyone should see it."

"Meridina is family to them too!" Leniraya met her father's look with confidence. "So they should be a part of this!"

"They're good people, Father." Qalkrsl nodded. "I am for them."

Karesl nodded at their answered. "As a Mastrash of the Order, I am against them being there. As a believer in the Interdependency, I am against it." His look softened. "As family… I am convinced. I have no objection." Karesl looked to them. "I, too, will accept you in joining our family to stand with Meridina tomorrow."

Robert nodded back to him. "Thank you, Mastrash. We will behave accordingly, and do everything we must to help Meridina."

"Do you have somewhere to stay the night?", he asked.

"We were going to head back to the Rio Grande," Robert answered. "It has bunks."

"We have beds," Drentiya said. "And a guest sleeping room."

The three exchanged looks. And they didn't need telepathy to know what their collective response was.

"Thank you, ma'am," Robert said. "We humbly accept."




Given how things were going, Robert shouldn't have been shocked that he started having the nightmares again.

Some of it was the same as always. The Reich captain Lamper, but with strange blue eyes. The cybernetic Turian in the Citadel Council chambers. The girl with the red-and-gold vest and pants brimming with out of control power, her amber eyes solid white with energy. She called out to him as the power coming from within her started to become overwhelming…

Then he saw a temple high in the mountains. It looked Gersallian, but only just, with sharper lines to its structure. A large door barred the entrance and warning signs were engraved into it.

Robert looked around at a circle of people. Twelve in number, under dark hoods, and each sporting a weapon in hand. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it sounded like an oath of some sort. He looked down at an emblem on the floor, a hexagon shape with a blade emblem fixed inside of it.

There was a howl, in the air, feral and loud. A four-legged creature moved through the shadows. As his eyes tracked it, he could hear two words being whispered faintly. Too faintly, though, as he couldn't make out what they were.

He felt Angel's hand grasp his. He looked over at her. She looked back, her hazel eyes intent on him, and said two words.

"Wake up."

A moment later she repeated those words. And Robert was no longer in the dream. He was in the dark guest sleeping room in the Lumantala home. The spare bed squeaked a little underneath from the stress on its metal frame. Angel was still gripping his hand. "You were dreaming again," she said.

Robert sighed and laid his head back. "How loud did I scream this time?"

"You didn't," she said softly. "You just kept mumbling something over and over. But I couldn't make it out."

"Mmm." Robert felt like twin weights were hanging on his eyelids. He closed his eyes. "I'm sorry for waking you up," he said. "We should get back to sleep."

Angel gave him no argument on that matter.




By the time the two of them settled back into sleep, it was Lucy who couldn't sleep. She sat up and looked around at the dark room. Seeing Robert and Angel were sound asleep, Lucy was careful in going out the door. Her footfalls barely made a sound as she followed her memory of the place out to the greeting room and then to the front door. It wasn't locked and gave her no problems in getting out.

Lucy stepped into the garden area. The flowers planted there had a sweet, soothing fragrance, and with all of the foreboding she felt inside of her, it was welcome. She found a place near the flowers and sat on the ground. She crossed her legs loosely, trying to avoid constricting the blood flow to them, and closed her eyes again. She started to fade away into sleepiness in the field.

Not that she fell asleep. She didn't let herself. She thought of what was to come in theo morning and focused on herself. She would have to control her anger, her feelings, so that Meridina was not punished for them.

A knot of anger was still strong inside of Lucy's heart. Meridina had been a shining knight to her, a brave and selfless fighter who worked to save lives just as the rest of them had. It was painful enough seeing that tarnished by Meridina's lingering doubts and fears from what Amaunet did to her. But now she had been betrayed by her own people. The people who had started a murder spree in the Alliance Senate, and now her own Order was going to strip away everything she'd worked for.

Anger won't solve this, Lucy thought to herself. It's distracting me. I have to let it go. She drew in a breath, then another, and tried to focus on other things.

A noise was the first indication she wasn't alone. She felt the energy draw nearer and knew who had come to join her. "Mastrash Karesl," Lucy said simply. She wouldn't let anger into her words.

Karesl sat down at the next set of plants, putting about six or seven feet between them. He assumed a meditative position as well. "It seems none can sleep tonight."

"I'm betting we have a lot on our mind," she answered.

"Hrm. I can feel your frustration with my people. And the anger you are suppressing."

"Do you blame me? Meridina is everything you should aspire to. Instead you're tearing her down, right after she helped save the Alliance Senate."

"The timing is not something I prefer, yes. But she has grievously violated the Code through your extensive training. That must be addressed."

"She was trying to give us direction with our power."

"She was trying more than that, unfortunately." Karesl sighed. "I suspect she was motivated by the prophecy of the Dawn Bearers. She and Ledosh have been convinced you and your shipmates are the Dawn Bearers of the prophecy. I'm not sure how much she told yo…"

"Nothing," Lucy said. "Just… that she was upset that we might not be."

"So she doubts that too. Hrm. I would be satisfied if not for that being wrapped up in the general doubt she suffers from."

"So you don't like the theory?"

"I have always considered the Prophecy of the Dawn Bearers to be questionable authenticity. It was Ledosh who convinced her we were in those times."

"She didn't say what this prophecy was about."

"There is little point going into detail. It was recorded that Swenya had a vision near the end of her life and wrote upon it. But the veracity has never been confirmed. There are indications that it was Reshan's prophecy and not Swenya's."

"And so all of this is going to happen over a dumb prophecy that may not be true?", Lucy asked.

"No. This goes deeper than that. The future of our people is at stake here. I do not believe the Alliance is our best future. My daughter feels otherwise. Tomorrow, we will see which of our visions plays out." Karesl looked at her intently. "I harbor no ill will toward you, Lucilla. I can sense the genuine virtues in your swevyra. Had you chosen to join the Order, this day may not have come."

"No, it wouldn't have. Because we would have failed at Gamma Piratus, and the Nazis would have interuniversal drives and Darglan technology," Lucy said.

"Perhaps. But regardless, the fight to come has been due to the actions of both sides. May those with the strongest convictions win." Karesl stood up and looked down at her. His voice lost some of its power and became gentle. "And whatever happens… thank you for being here in my daughter's time of need. I will stand against her errors, but I do not want to see her alone, and I do not wish her destroyed."

Without another word, he left.




Underneath the Great Temple, Meridina tossed and turned in her cell. The chains binding her rattled as she moved over and over. Inside her being, her mind, she felt like she would drown. She felt Amaunet inside of her again. She saw the carnage she'd inflicted. She saw her blade cut into Lucy's flesh and bite into her neck.

Lucy!

Meridina woke with a start at that. Her cell was dark and the electrical lighting was barely functional.

Meridina sat up and focused on herself. She felt so much doubt, so much uncertainty, that it was becoming too painful to carry.

This is my fault she thought to herself. "I was so blinded by my desire to be the one to find the Dawn Bearers. Now look at what has happened."

No one answered. Which was to be expected.

If only she didn't have this darkness inside of her. Nothing she had tried had destroyed it. Ignoring it wasn't working. And now it had put her life in jeopardy.

Meridina didn't go back to sleep. She meditated the rest of the night.




After getting up and going through her morning routines Julia headed to the Lookout for breakfast. Her digital reader was in her hand as she enjoyed the waffles and breakfast sausage that Hargert's kitchen staff had prepared for her. Fully half of the crew was now off-loaded, taking leave time or, in some cases, getting re-assigned to other posts. Much of the crew would be off the ship by the end of the week to get the same combination of leave time or "shore" postings to fill the time before they launched again. It was with great pleasure that Julia signed and filed the medical leave approval for Jarod, allowing him to return to New Liberty to see to his family.

"You seem nervous, Commander."

Julia looked up to see Hargert observing her not-so-empty plate. "Usually you are finished before now," he noted.

"Sorry, I'm just... " She sighed. "I'm just wondering what the Admiral wants to see me for."

"Ah. I see. Do you have reason to be concerned?"

Julia nodded sadly. "Well, Hargert, I was absent from a critical operation and used my command codes to gain access to an exclusion zone that I didn't have official orders to access. So… yes, I think I have reasons."

That won her an understanding nod. "Well, I'm sure it's not that. You brought us back Mister Jarod. The Admiral is an understanding man."

"He is," Julia agreed. "Unfortunately, Minister Hawthorne and Admiral Davies are not." She checked her watch. "I'd better get to my office to finish filing things, I'm supposed to be meeting the Admiral at 1130."

"Of course, of course." The old German put an understanding hand on her shoulder. "Just remember, it's usually not as bad as your fears think it to be."

I hope not was the reply in her head.

 

[Big Steve]

That morning everyone took time to get ready. Robert, Lucy, and Angela changed into civilian clothes, essentially shirts and jackets and trousers. They still looked different than the vests and robes that were the common garments of the Gersallians for this occasion. Karesl left first. As a Council Mastrash he had duties for the trial. The others took a commuter vehicle summoned by Drentiya.

Today Jantarihal was quiet. Too quiet, Robert thought. Like the whole city was holding its breath and waiting to see what happened today. And if the wrong thing happened… a brief image tormented him, an image of Jantarihal in flames from the Dissenters and pro-Alliance forces fighting their differences out in the streets.

Leniraya shot him a sad glance. Robert had the feeling his fears were shared among the others.

The vehicle left them at the entrance to the main structure of the Great Temple. Robed men and women, cream-colored robes and blue robes and green robes and the occasional rare purple robe, were all entering amid two lines of stern-faced red robes. Four of those split off from the others to escort the Lumantala family into the building. The foyer was large and expansive, filled with artifacts of the Order's history, and a massive set of double doors stood before them.

"This place is more stadium than temple," Lucy murmured as they entered the doors. She'd been here once before, but for Robert and Angel it was their first sight of the Council and Assembly Chamber. They gazed around at the seats, all of them starting to fill up.

"Okay, so it's a large stadium."

Robert nodded. He looked down at the round stone table. "That's where the Council sits."

"Yep." Lucy looked on to the far alcove in the structure, where the Relics of Swenya remained. She kept her eyes on them even while the Lumantala family took their reserved seats in the first row. There were more than enough for all, including the trio from the Aurora.

But Lucy wasn't ready to sit yet. Seeing that people were being allowed to walk around the Council area at the moment, she prompted Robert and Angel to follow her to the alcove. They all looked up at the painting of the dark-haired woman with the brilliant shining sword. She was still standing over a fallen group of dark-robed by men. "Swenya," Robert guessed.

"Yeah. And her stuff."

He looked into the glass cases beneath the painting. The tattered robes and the sandals were one thing. The round-shaped hilt was another. "That's an odd design for a lakesh," he said.

"Well, it's three thousand years old," Lucy said. She gazed at it and wondered, not for the first time, if it still worked. She felt her hand moving toward it. Her power tentatively reached out to the weapon, as if she could sense if it were intact or not.

Robert pulled her away. "It looks like the Council is coming in," he said. "Let's go."

They walked back from the alcove and to the first floor seats. Angel was holding their seats in reserve; they would be at the end of the family, by Gamaya, with Lucy beside her and Robert between Lucy and Angela. Gina Invieve sat beside Angela. They hadn't seen her since the prior night, but Robert got the idea she hadn't gone far since then.

The Council consisted of thirteen Mastrash-rank members of the Order. The eldest one was clearly held as the leader, or at least the senior, of their numbers. Ledosh found a seat near them. Goras and Karesl sat across from them. The elderly man was handed a heavy rod with a lead end on one side. He pounded it upon the table. "The Council will come to order."

All speaking stopped. Everyone made their way to seats if they didn't already have them.

"He is Mastrash Maklir," whispered Gamaya. "The eldest of the Council members."

Robert nodded in reply and waited for Maklir to say or do more.

He didn't have to wait long. The old man started to speak again once the clattering of footfalls stopped. "We are faced with a grave occasion. One of our own has been accused of treason against the Code, the Order, and the ways of our people. Temple Knights, bring forth the accused."

A smaller door to their right, and thus to the left of the relic alcove, opened. Two red-robed Knights walked through. Behind and between them was Meridina. She was back in her blue robes as a knight, wearing a cream-colored tunic beneath the robes and matched by baggy trousers the same color as the tunic. Her limbs were in chains again. To the others, she looked contemplative more than anything. Behind her came two more of the red-robed figures, all four leading her into a position in front of her family. A chair was provided for her to sit in.

Robert and Lucy exchanged looks. They could feel her feelings, and it was clear she had no hope for what was to come.

"Meridina, daughter of Karesl and Drentiya, daughter of the Lumantala Family, Knight of the Order of Swenya, you stand formally accused of treason against the Order. Do you understand this?"

"I do."

Maklir nodded. "Then we will proceed. Mastrash Goras will direct the prosecution. Mastrash Ledosh, as the mentor of this woman, I call upon you to defend her."

Each man nodded. Ledosh and Goras stood from their chairs and walked away to opposite ends of the table. Ledosh took up a position near Meridina, close enough that Robert and the others could speak to him if desired.

"Then let us begin." Maklir nodded to Goras.

The bald man stood. He looked from Meridina to Robert to Lucy. "My brothers and sisters, people of Gersal, we face a crossroads for our people. In these times, we must consider what is best for our future. For thousands of years we have deliberated with one another on the best way to find a solution to whatever we faced." Goras held a hand toward Meridina. "But this woman decided to take that choice upon herself. She decided to defy the traditions and ways our Order has kept for millennia." Goras swept a hand out. "There are no words for this arrogance. Mitigation, perhaps, should she reveal that she was ordered into it by a superior."

At that a brief tumult came from the assembled. It was called to order.

"What was her crime, you ask?", Goras continued. "Was it enough that she abandoned our Order's neutrality and joined the Alliance Navy? No. She went beyond that. She violated one of our most important rules. And the proof of this is seated before you now, at this very moment!"

With that, Goras pointed to Robert and Lucy.

"These two have awakened their swevyra, and Meridina has trained them in our arts. She did so without the Council's approval. She has shared our most sacred laws, our most important teachings, with outsiders!"

Cries went up from the assembled. Goras basked in them. Robert found the image confusing and distasteful; Goras seemed more politician than contemplative warrior-monk. And his rhetoric seemed to be nothing but a flip of Pensley's or Davies'.

"Some may cry and say this is no crime," Goras continued. "They will point out that our people trained the Dorei in the arts of swevyra. They forget that we punished them as well, when their desire to train outstripped their wisdom. And they trained existing organizations! Brotherhoods and fellowships and religious institutions that already knew the need for discipline and control. Whom has Meridina trained?" Goras again pointed toward Robert and Lucy. "They are not in a brotherhood, not a temple. They are former renegades, former renegades given legitimacy by the same Alliance that seeks to ensnare our people!"

There were more cries. Not all were supportive. Robert could feel the raw tension in the crowd. Even these trained Knights and followers of the Order held strong feelings on the matter, and many were against Meridina.

"Look at her," Goras said, his voice lowering as his eyes bored down on Meridina. "Feel her swevyra, now weakened by darkness. Remember the day that the daughter of Karesl forged her lakesh, and how bright she was, how noble. See now what has been done to her by those who twisted her against her people!" Goras now glared toward Ledosh. Ledosh returned the glare with a quiet, stoic expression.

Meridina said nothing. She kept her head bowed.

"It is sad to see such a promising swevyra'se fall so far." Goras walked back toward the central table. He met Karesl's eyes, and his ally did not flinch. "It weighs my very essence to see that potential destroyed. That is the cost we have paid, that my colleague, her noble father, has paid for the agenda of a few prophecy-mongers! Because now we have not a noble swevyra'se with a strong destiny before her, but a broken Knight, every moment growing closer to becoming a swevyra'kse."

Goras turned back to Meridina. "But I cannot allow my sympathy for how you have been deceived to divert me from the enormity of your crimes! You are wanting, Knight Meridina! You are a threat to everything we hold dear! You have undermined millennia of our ways!", Goras raged, a finger leveled at Meridina. Some voices gave approval, others did not. "You have paved the way for the subjugation of our entire species to outside influences that can only corrupt us! You are an enemy, a traitor to this Order, to the Code, to the people of Gersal. I will see you tested! Personally!"

The Chamber quieted. Robert could feel Meridina's family become afraid and horrified. "Tested?", Robert asked Ledosh, his voice just high enough in volume to reach Ledosh's ear.

He turned to face Robert. The older Gersallian's expression was drawn with horror. "He wishes to test her, power against power, lakesh against lakesh."

"A duel?", Lucy asked.

"A duel to see if she is in control. If she can resist the darkness that has sprouted within her. And if she fails…" Ledosh gave them a sad look. "...he will certainly kill her."

Robert and Lucy exchanged worried glances.

"Of course, the Council must first approve," Goras finally continued, having let his words sink in. "So I will let them judge." He bowed to the Council table and stepped back, giving Ledosh one final glare.

Ledosh matched it. After a moment of silence he stepped forward. "If it pleases the Council?"

Maklir nodded in reply.

"We must recognize the true reason we are here today," Ledosh said. "We do indeed stand at a crossroads. Along one path is a future unlike any we have imagined in millennia. The legacy of our ancient benefactors, the Darglan, has been provided to us. The Alliance is a part of that legacy. Swenya foretold long ago that this day would come. And now that it has…" There was both supportive voices and opposition in the seating, and for a moment Ledosh quieted. "...now that it has, there are voices crying 'No! No, we must be alone!'" Ledosh now looked to Goras and Karesl in turn. "They claim that our people must stand apart. That our ways are threatened by being too close to outsiders." Ledosh waited a moment, letting that sink in, before declaring, "Arrogance! That is what it is, sheer arrogance, and it is not befitting our people!" A couple of voices accused Ledosh of the same. "The Alliance is not perfect, but it represents the best hope for the triumph of our ideals, for the victory of Light that Swenya foretold three thousand years ago."

Ledosh turned to Meridina. "And here she is. The one Knight brave enough to stand up and risk everything for that dream. Meridina was there at the beginning. She knows the opportunity before us. And she has acted with faith and nobility in reaching for it. Her training of Robert Dale and Lucy Lucero is not a betrayal of the Code, but its very essence! She has imparted the wisdom Swenya handed to us to the Human species, as Swenya herself would have done. And she has done so with people who have repeatedly spent their sweat and their blood to protect the innocent! Look at what they did with the Darglan legacy, my brethren! The Alliance is the culmination of that work, work that started with the most noble pursuit a being can have; using their skills and talents in the cause of Light, to protect the innocent and lift them from danger. They were not lording over helpless worlds like pirates, they were giving their time, their devotion, to breaking the chains of slaves and freeing the oppressed! To saving the lives of others! Their deeds strengthened the Flow of Life. And that is the very definition of what it is to be a swevyra'se."

Ledosh now held his hand out toward them as well. "Sense them, my brethren. Feel the purity of their swevyra. There is no darkness there. There is Light. Tell me you would not have seen the same done, that you would have ignored their potential as some would say Meridina should have done."

Ledosh turned about again. He walked up to Meridina. She was evidently miserable, but it was clear her mentor's words were moving her despite everything. "There is now darkness in Meridina, yes," Ledosh conceded. "It was put there by a malevolent being who seized her very body from her control, who separated mind and soul from body and swevyra, to control the latter for its own cruel and twisted means. Can you not feel how Meridina has suffered, brethren? Goras wants her tested, but what he really wants is her death, because with it he might strike at the Alliance he abhors. All this, despite the facts of what she has endured. She needs healing, not testing. And I know you will see that before we are through." Ledosh nodded to Meridina, who gave a small nod in reply. He turned to Maklir and nodded as well.

Maklir smacked his rod to the table. "Mastrash Goras. You may present your evidence."

Goras rose again. He was frowning at Ledosh. But at the right moment he turned to face Maklir. "I will start by presenting the video evidence. By rights it is the only evidence I need. It comes from the recent treacherous attack upon the Alliance Senate, and it will show the extent to which the accused trained her students beyond the instructions and laws of this Council." With a press of a button to his wrist, Goras activated a giant holo-screen above the table. Robert recognized the Senate camera footage and frowned. It had spread out too damned fast.

Lucy flew into it, having been blasted back by an initially-unseen foe, who closed with Lucy and began to duel her, lakesh against lakesh. Robert's feats during the fight were also partly visible. Goras slowed the playback to make a point. "Observe the video closely…"




Julia arrived at the terminal at precisely 1125 hours, showered again and changed into a fresh uniform and with her long blond hair pulled back into a bun at the back of her head.

The main dock terminal was a sea of activity, with uniformed and civilian personnel milling around, on their way to one ship or another to do everything from inspect repairs or ensure supply delivery. Signs pointed to various clusters of docks, and lifts provided transport to those that couldn't be walked to from the terminal.

Admiral Maran was waiting for her near the lifts. He motioned her over and she walked straight over "Admiral, sir," she said. "Good morning."

"Good morning, Commander." His expression was solid, on the quiet side, but she didn't see any reason to immediately worry. "You'll be happy to know Robert and the others are at Meridina's trial as we speak."

"They got in?"

"They did." Maran stepped up to the lift. The gray doors slid open, admitting them into the cylinder-shaped lift. After they stepped in Maran said, "Observation Deck, Dock 20."

"Isn't Dock 20 the high security construction dock?", Julia asked. Already the lift was moving upward.

"It is. I have something to look into there."

By now the lift had cleared the terminal proper. It was now in a transparent tube. Julia could look out at the entirety of the Fleet Base and its series of connected structures and docks. The lift tube was but one thread of the great spider's web of transport tubes and solid connector structures filled with storehouses and machine shops. In one direction, away from the Base, the Earth continued to spin slowly below them. By habit Julia's eyes focused on the heart of the North American continent and to the wide fields of Kansas. Even on the Earth of the Federated Stars, where megalopolises had devoured entire coastlines and regions, Kansas was still a sea of green and brown framed by the Kansas City Metropole on the east.

Maran saw the look in her eye. "You're thinking of home."

"I'm thinking that five years ago, I never imagined I could see it from space," she replied quietly. She turned away from the Earth and toward the base itself. The central structure around which the webs of transport tubes, open docks, and closed docks were located was a rough ziggurat shape over a disc. "How many people live here again?", she asked.

"As in semi-permanent residence? Something along the lines of three hundred and sixty thousand," Maran said. "Although the total capacity is closer to a million. It's not the Rings of Gersal, but it's still impressive."

"You're worried about what's going on back there," observed Julia. "I mean, with Meridina's trial and all of this political upheaval over the Dissenters."

"Always," Maran said. "My people… we're not perfect, Commander. For all that we like to play up being in harmony and balance with one another, we can be arrogant and curt with other societies. We think we have all the answers." He sighed. "Sometimes it's easy to think that way. But I know we don't."

"I guess nobody's perfect," Julia said. And she drew in a breath. "About A4P5…"

"We'll get to that," he said.

The transparent section disappeared. They had moved into one of the closed dock structures, used for high security construction. After staring at more gray bulkhead framed by lighter lines for another half of a minute, they were admitted onto the observation deck for Docks 20 through 25. "This way," Maran said, leading her out onto a hall carpeted in beige and burgundy. As they walked along other officers and personnel went by here and there. It was about a hundred feet of walking before they got to a door marked "Observation Lounge 20-21".

Inside was a well-furnished lounge, complete with a wet bar (currently unmanned), a long table for meals or appetizers, and several soft chairs and sofas. The entire room was twice the size of the Aurora's Lookout and looked like a massive one storey box built into the docks outside of the transparent aluminum windows. Straight ahead, between the windows, was a single wall of gray. "I guess these make for some good parties?", she inquired, trying to show some levity.

"Commissioning and launching engagements, certainly," Maran said. "Senators, Councilmen, Defense Ministry officials, and the command officers usually." He stepped further in, giving a view of both docks from where he was standing. "You're concerned about A4P5?"

"I admit I am, sir," Julia said. "I had no authority to enter the Earth Exclusion Zone, but I did anyway, and in a private vessel of questionable origin."

"Have you arranged to have your code changed with Fleet Security yet?"

"Already done."

"Good. Then there's no loose ends." Maran looked back to her and grinned slightly. "After all of the trouble with the Senate attack, I took the liberty of writing out orders for you to retrieve Mister Jarod. They were backdated appropriately. I'll have to pretend to scold someone in Communications for the failure to have them logged properly."

Julia refused to let herself sigh with relief. "Thank you, sir."

"You took a risk to bring one of our people home, Commander," Maran said. "And during the entire operation you made the sort of on-the-spot command decisions I trained you to make. Which is why you're here today. Look out the windows."

Julia turned to the dock to their right first. The windows had '21" written above them. Within the dock she found a ship, still under construction. But its size and shape was still recognizable.

Quite recognizable.

She went across to the Dock 20 window. The same rough shape was under construction there too. The profile was a little different, but… yes, it was still the same.

The two ships were a kilometer long, easy, and they had the familiar flat-X four nacelle layout for their warp drives. And there was no mistaking the profile, even if it looked like some fine details might not be the same.

"You're…" Julia looked to him with surprise. She smiled. "You're building ships based off of the Aurora. Directly off of her."

Maran nodded. He was smiling too. "Yes. With the success in building the Discovery-class ships, we took the next step. Granted, the war has forced us to adjust our plans somewhat. Half of the ships we're building as a first flight will be built as dedicated battlecruisers, with heavy armament. Our designers have been assisted greatly by your scans of that 'Avenger' ship you fought at C1P2 Earth." He nodded to Dock 21. "That's the first of them over there. Our designers decided to name her and her class the Excalibur."

Julia smiled softly. "Well, it sounds cool for a warship name. And it fits, I guess." She looked back out at the vessel in Dock 20. "I guess this one will be more like the Aurora?"

"Yes. An Advanced Star Cruiser, with multi-mission operational capability."

Julia nodded. Her eyes scanned the vessel more closely this time, making out the details of the hull more closely where it was complete. She found the ship's name already painted on the hull, at the spot halfway between the bow and the bridge on the primary hull's dorsal side just as it was on the Aurora.

Her eyes didn't widen, but a grin came to her face as she read the name quietly.

A.S.V. Enterprise.

"You're building an Enterprise," she said.

"It's a storied name in Human history," Maran remarked. "We have a similar ship name, Inrelen'se. Both terms mean a great undertaking requiring effort and dedication. The planners and I thought it appropriate for the vessel and the design."

"Scotty is going to love this," Julia said. She felt her smile widen at the thought of his reaction.

"She's going to be ready for her shakedown by the end of the year," Maran continued. He looked over at her. "And I want you to take her out."

Now Julia's eyes widened. Her mouth half-opened in surprise as she looked to Maran. "You… you mean you want me to put her through her paces, to test her out for…"

"No, I don't," Maran said. "At the end of this year, I want to have a launching party in this lounge where I introduce you as Captain Julia Andreys, Commanding Officer of the Alliance Starship Enterprise."




There was a clear tension in the air of the Council and Assembly Chamber when Goras finished presenting the video from the Senate and every element of it he found important. "As you can see, brethren, the charges are irrefutable. Meridina has trained students outside of the discipline of the Order. This is a violation of tradition, a violation of the Code, and an act we must punish." Goras looked up to the spectators. "Of course, this alone does not merit testing, you will argue. And I agree! It does not!" He pointed to Meridina. "It is the darkness within her that does. Regardless of where it has come from, whether from her own arrogance or from this Goa'uld entity, we all know the dangers of darkness within oneself. It twists, it corrupts, and it seduces. And it seduces the most quickly when supported by arrogance and self-importance."

Goras turned and faced Meridina. "So what are you, Knight Meridina? Are you a follower, performing your acts at the behest of a superior? Or are you that arrogant to take upon yourself the authority to circumvent this Council?"

"I did what my swevyra guided me to," Meridina answered. Her voice was quiet and reserved.

"Quite the answer. An answer I would expect." Goras stepped closer to her. "Tell me, then. What was the purpose you discerned for this? What is it your swevyra guided you to do?"

Meridina met his look. "To train them to use their powers, so that they could fulfill their destinies."

"And those destinies would be?"

"Their destinies," Meridina replied, "as the Bearers of the Dawn, foreseen by Swenya."

The spectators erupted in a babble of surprised voices. Shouts of disbelief and disapproval, audible gasps at the idea, they all came down into the center of the chamber.

"The Bearers of the Dawn," Goras said. He looked away from her and to the Council. His eyes focused on Maklir. "The Council has spoken, at some length, on whether or not Swenya's prophecy is at hand. We have not had a definitive decision on the matter. Yet you would decide that it must be so?"

"That is disingenuous," Ledosh interrupted. "The Council has in fact supported that interpretation of prophecy from Swenya. It was a Council decision to place Meridina on the Aurora."

"A decision influenced by the dedication of a minority," Goras insisted. He lifted a hand dismissively. "The scholarship on the authenticity of the prophecy has long been debated. It is hardly a convincing reason to blatantly ignore our laws. Which you, Knight Meridina, have most assuredly done." Goras turned to face her again. "And now there is a darkness within you. A core of fear and anger and guilt that festers in your swevyra. We are told it is from the Goa'uld. I would ask you if this is true. Because I can see the conscious evasion of our traditions and laws as something to prompt such feelings. And that doubt that we all feel in you now… where might that have come from? Surely not from the Goa'uld, for you are free of it. Have you finally realized your error?" Goras motioned to her. "Please, answer."

"My doubt…" Meridina's eyes fell. "I have struggled with this darkness inside of me since the Goa'uld enslaved me. I believe that it has made me feel doubt. And to see our people as they are now… we are not supposed to be this way!" Meridina shook her head. "I watched Gersallians, I watched one of our own, one with the training and control of our Order, murder innocent people! What am I supposed to think when I see this? Knowing how much of this anger in our people comes from my actions… I never intended this. I never wanted it. I never imagined that the Alliance might see our people torn like this or driven to such monstrous behavior. Yet it has, and what else should I feel? I acted to bring us the golden age foretold by Swenya. Instead, all it seems I have enabled is suffering for our people. Anger at me and at what the Alliance presents clouds so many of our people. And I never wanted this. I…" Meridina sniffled and gripped the podium to avoid slumping against it. "The Alliance is supposed to be the shield of Light. Instead we are gripped in violence. Our people are angry, other peoples are angry, blood has been spilled… and all I wonder is if I helped cause it! Because… if I did…" Tears openly flowed down her face. "...if I did…. then I must submit to the charges. I must plead guilty."

A satisfied look came to Goras' face. "We make progress, I see." He again turned to the Council. "Straight from the accused herself, my fellows. How can we deny her own judgement on making our own?"

"It appears you failed to hear her," a woman on the Council declared. "She stated she is guilty if she is the cause of the recent troubles."

"Which she is!", Goras roared. "She is the cause! Look at what her arrogance has caused our people! Look at what this submission to the Alliance has done to our society! We are out of balance because of her and those like her, who have suborned our people's' needs to outsiders and their ways! Look at what the Alliance is, my brethren! It is a collection of ridiculous states that squabble needlessly with each other when they are supposed to act for their common good. And the defendant before us today would have us become part of this!"

"I wanted to show them a way forward," Meridina said.

"No, you wanted to glorify yourself by bringing about this prophecy you insist to be so " Goras again swapped from addressing Meridina to addressing his peers. "Our ways are clear. She has violated them. And she carries the taint of darkness. Let her be tested by our best, so that if found wanting she may be struck down quickly and painlessly. It is better than letting her free into a world that has turned against her and will drive her into darkness."

Lucy drew in a breath. Robert felt her anger and shook his head at her. It quieted as, around them, the assembled voiced their agreement or disagreement with Goras. This only seemed to feed that tumult as neighbors began arguing the case for or against Meridina.

What was worse for both of them was feeling how much this was hurting Meridina. It wasn't that her people were against her, it was that her people were so clearly divided about it. Their division was something horrid.

"Can we speak?", Robert asked Ledosh, having to raise his voice somewhat just to be heard over the ongoing arguments in the assembly seating.

Ledosh looked to him. "Not directly. However…" He stepped up toward the Council, and not far from Goras. "Now that Mastrash Goras is finished, I hope I may be permitted to speak?"

"Indeed." Maklir nodded. He looked to Goras. "You appear finished."

"I am," Goras declared. He went to his chair at the table.

Ledosh, with the arguments not quite dying down, had to wait briefly as Maklir brought order back. "My brethren, Mastrash Goras has made his arguments forcefully. But let us remember the wisdom of our ways. Swenya once said that all view the world by the lights of their own thoughts. My colleague's views of the Alliance are known to us. He sees this situation in that light. Meridina and I see it in another, and I ask you to consider both in judging her."

"Because what Meridina should be judged for is not the failures or opportunities of the Alliance but her own actions. This dissension in our people does not change this fact. What Meridina must be judged for is her actions and the outcome of those actions." Ledosh looked to her. "Tell me, what have your students done with their power now that you have shown them how to wield it?"

"They have accomplished much." Meridina turned her head to look back at them. A smile came to her face, even as the tears dried on her cheeks. "They have faced dark forces with bravery and skill. They have strengthened the Flow of Life with kindness and compassion."

"Indeed, if they had not been trained, wouldn't the mission to Gamma Piratus have failed?"

"It is likely, yes," Meridina said.

"And the Darglan legacy would now be in the hands of the forces of darkness?'

"Yes."

"In short, you have reason to say you would make the same decision again?"

"I do."

More roaring came from above. Robert felt nervous at that. If things went sour, they could have a mob on their hands. It's hard to believe the Gersallians feel so hotly about this. But then again, they'd had this setup for almost three thousand years, so why wouldn't they be suspicious of changes?

"If it pleases the Council, I would like to speak with Meridina's students."

"I object!", Goras thundered. "The outsiders have no place here!"

"They are not outsiders," Ledosh retorted. "They are here as part of the Lumantala."

Maklir nodded.

Ledosh looked to Robert and Lucy, who stood up. "Tell me, under what circumstances did Meridina start teaching you to use these powers?"

"After we developed them." Lucy took the lead in answering as the senior student.

"Did she explain to you the dangers of darkness?"

"She did," Robert replied.

"And she trained you to control your talents."

"She did."

There were more cries coming from above.

"Why did you come today?", Ledosh asked them.

"Because Meridina is family to us," Lucy said. "She's meant so much to our lives, and she's given so much of herself. We weren't going to let her face this alone."

"Your loyalty is most befitting your reputations," Ledosh said. He extended a hand toward them. "Tell me, what do you wish to do with the talents you have attained? How will you use Meridina's teachings?"

Lucy nodded to Robert, who replied for both of them. "To make the Multiverse a place where justice, compassion, and peace rule. We'll use these abilities to oppose evil organizations like the Nazi Reich that enslave, torment, and murder."

After he said that, Lucy thought of the Quarians she and Meridina had met on the Citadel, and how that encounter had gone. "Our goal is to make the Flow of Life stronger by giving aid to those who need it."

Ledosh nodded at them. To their side, Meridina's siblings and her mother also gave nods of approval, and it was clear their sincerity was recognized by many of those present. "Can anyone see them and say Meridina's training of them is a mistake? That it is against the Code? They are acting as any swevyra'se would."

"Words mean little against actions," Goras retorted from the Council table. "If they mean to be swevyra'se, then they should join the Order! But that one expressly refused to!" He pointed to Lucy. "And you cannot tell me that the Alliance forces are a force such as our own Order. Their own superiors despise us."

"They misunderstand us, and thus feel fear. We can correct that in time," Ledosh insisted.

"Before or after they order our government to disband us?", Goras snarled. "Before or after we are enslaved to the whims of the Alliance?! How many of our people have bled and died in a war led by the incompetent?! How many ships have we lost?! How much of the Interdependency's wealth has been spent?! And how much more will we pay for this victory? We have darkness enough in our home universe to confront, the Alliance would have us spend our strength in other universes instead!"

Again a roar came, followed by further dissensions in the Chamber. Maklir struggled to regain control with repeated strikes of his rod against his section of the table.

"We're not going to solve this," Robert muttered to Lucy. "They're too caught up in their fears. They're not listening."

"Then how do we get them to listen?", Lucy asked.

"Aside from getting that jackass Goras to shut his stupid piehole?", Angel muttered.

Neither responded to Angel's muttering, as they were both recognizing what was going on inside of Meridina. She was facing the crushing of her viewpoint of her own people, indeed, of her own Order, as the arguments in the seats around and above them continued in some form or another. Their disagreements over the Alliance had been amplified by their feelings toward Meridina's actions, creating a spectrum of reactions that amplified the emotions of the people in attendance and, one presumed, outside on the planet as well.

An apprentice entered the Chamber from one of the side doors. A number of eyes followed the bald woman with brown eyes as she went up to Goras and murmured into his ear. He stood. "It is clear that we must come to some decision, my brethren," he said. "For I have just been informed that a riot has erupted in the city of Lankeran between the Dissenter and Alliance factions."

The chamber stilled. Goras looked over to the operator for the Chamber's display screens and asked, "Do we have a news feed?"

"We do, Mastrash," he answered. The man in the cream-colored robe started operating his controls.

Moments later the display became active again. Two crowds were pressed against each other and in a full brawl. Screams and shouts filled the air and it was easy to see some people were being knocked over in the tumult, a potentially lethal condition with the risk of trampling. Signs in Gersallian were being used as makeshift weapons.

"I…" Lucy shook her head. "I just didn't think they could get like this. They're always so…"

Robert said nothing. He understood her horror and surprise. It was hard to imagine a society as peaceful as the Gersallians becoming so agitated. But given the events lately, he supposed he shouldn't be surprised. The Senate attack had been proven to be a Dissenter extremist operation, and evidence showed it had clear support from institutions on Gersal even if the Changeling that had been impersonating Senator Kiang had been their primary ally in getting into the Senate. That alone was enough to be scandalous, but throwing in another military setback in a war that had already claimed hundreds of thousands of Gersallians and cost them so much in treasure and ships and lives, the disagreement over Meridina's actions…

They could feel her reaction. Meridina stared with horror at the footage of the riot. It was painful to feel the weariness in her, a sense that she was breaking before their eyes. Her normal calm was seeping away.

Goras had the footage turned off. He looked to Meridina with the air of a man who knew he had struck a blow right where he'd wanted it. "This is the fruit of your labor, Knight Meridina. For the first time in centuries, civil discord has come to our world."

"It's not her fault!", Lucy shouted, and immediately she knew she had messed up. But having done so, she finished her thought. "She couldn't have known your people would behave like this!"

Goras' nostrils' flared as he directed a steely gaze at Lucy. "You have no place to speak before this Council. Be quiet or you will be removed."

Robert gripped her arm. "Don't," he murmured. "For Meridina."

Right, she replied mentally, her jaw clenched. "My apologies," she said with forced humility.

"You're right."

All eyes turned to Meridina.

Tears continued to stream down her cheeks. She had trouble keeping her voice from breaking when she continued. "I wanted to see the Prophecy of the Bearers come to pass. I was certain this was the time. And I was certain… am still certain…" - her correction didn't quite sound convinced, but she still made it - "that Lucy and Robert and their friends are the Bearers of the Dawn. But I didn't foresee this. I… I never imagined… I would cause this suffering." Meridina forced a breath in to gain control, any measure of it, and with it some composure. She directed her eyes toward Maklir. "Mastrash Maklir, I ask to be tested. By Mastrash Goras himself. Mastrash Karesl can be our intercessor."

"Meridina, no!", Ledosh cried.

"Meridina…" Drentiya was tearing up. She could sense her daughter's intent. "Meridina, please, reconsider this."

"You are aware that you may die in this?", Maklir asked her.

"I am. If my death will bring peace to Gersal…" Meridina turned her eyes to focus on Goras. His brown eyes glinted with satisfaction. "...then it will be worth it."

Lucy had to force herself from shouting "No!"

Goras smiled thinly. It was clearly meant to be seen as a respectful smile, but there was an edge to it. "I will be honored to test your control, Knight Meridina. I assure you, if it comes to it, I will make sure that you do not suffer."

"Thank you, Mastrash," Meridina answered. A strange calm was coming over her, tinged by the sadness she felt as she heard, and felt, the shocked feelings of her family. Leniraya was being held closely by Penrine. Qalkrsl held his mother's hand. And Gamaya was pale and looking at her father in expectation, as if he could stop this.

Above and behind them all, the assembled crowd were murmuring and speaking quietly, but not arguing.

Maklir smacked his rod on the desk. "Then we shall adjourn briefly to prepare. The Temple Knights will take the prisoner to the waiting chamber and retrieve her lakesh." He stood and stepped away, a signal to everyone else to do the same.

Meridina said nothing as her escorts took her to the east side of the chamber and the door there.

Lucy finally found her voice. "We can't let her do this," she said. "We… we can't." She looked at Robert. "Goras is one of the best duelists in the Order. He'll kill her."

"I really want to wipe that smug little smile off his smug face," Angel growled.

"All we can do is be here for her," Robert said. "This is what she wants. There's nothing we can do to stop that."

"We'll see about that," Lucy said, moving away from them. Before Robert could stop her, she was already on her way to the door where Meridina had been taken.

"Should I go after her?", Angel asked.

"No." Robert shook his head. They continued to follow the family into the main foyer.

 

[Big Steve]

Aboard the Aurora, the ship was becoming quieter and more empty as more and more of the crew departed for temporary shore postings, transfers, or simple extended leave. Jarod was no exception to this. He had leave of his own, and an hour to catch the transport that was carrying materials to New Liberty and its nearby adjacent resource colonies. He was in civilian clothes now, wearing a brown fleece jacket and dark green polo shirt with a pair of black slacks. A duffel bag in Stellar Navy Operations beige was over his shoulder.

Before heading out, he checked up on the transmissions from Gersal, and then went to Julia's office. He found her there staring at nothing. "You don't look as busy as I thought you'd be."

She said nothing.

Jarod stepped in and took a seat. "I don't see you as the type to be staring off into space, Commander."

"Hrm?" Julia finally seemed to notice him. "Oh, Jarod. Ready for your trip?"

"The Weiss leaves in an hour for New Liberty," Jarod answered. "So I've got at least half an hour before I have to start running."

"Ah."

"Have you been watching the proceedings?", Jarod asked.

"Hrm? Oh, Meridina." Julia frowned. "Dammit, no, I've been.. caught up with something."

Before Jarod could say anything, the door opened. Scotty stormed in with a dark look. "I just heard what those bloody idiots on Gersal are up t'! I cannae believe they'll dae somethin' like that tae th' lass!"

"What?", Julia asked. "What's going on?"

"Meridina's going to be 'tested'," Jarod said.

"Dinnae tell me that's a bloody test!", Scotty roared. "It's a cold-blooded execution, Mister Jarod, an' make no mistake about it!"

Worry for Meridina briefly trumped Julia's prior thoughts. "What do you mean?", Julia asked.

"It's some concept for a duel," Jarod explained. "It has to do with the Gersallians' views on their abilities. They say Meridina's been corrupted and that she has to be tested to see if the corruption is too great to let her live."

"That Goras, he's just lookin' for an excuse tae kill her." Scotty kept a frown on his face.

"Well, we can't do anything about it," Julia sighed. "We'll have to leave it up to Robert, Angel, and Lucy to handle it."

"Unfortunately. Let's hope they've got something." Jarod went to stand and stopped. "What were you staring off into space over, anyway?"

"Hrm? Oh, just thinking," Julia said.

"Did Admiral Maran have anythin' tae say t' ye?", Scotty asked. "Hargert mentioned ye looked worried this mornin'."

Julia smirked at that. "Oh, he did."

"How bad is it?", Jarod asked. "Assuming it was bad news."

"Oh, it wasn't bad news. It was…" Julia took in a breath. "It's probably not the best time to talk about it."

"So you're going to make me spend my entire leave wondering what's going on?", Jarod asked, a bemused expression now on his face.

"Aye lass, ye might as well answer."

"Well, since you insist…" Julia drew in a breath. That strange mix of worry and elation and uncertainty and vindication that had come about when Maran told her what he wanted was still gripping her. "Admiral Maran's offered me one of the new ships they're currently building here at the Fleet Base. He wants me to take command of the Enterprise."

A small grin came to her face as she saw their initial reactions. Scotty especially seemed ready to light right up just at the name, and it was an understandable distraction from their concerns about Meridina. Jarod slowly grinned. He spoke first. "Well… congratulations. I mean, that's excellent news. What type of ship is she going to be?"

"The first of a new class, based off of the Aurora," she answered.

"They're finally buildin' 'em, then? It's about bloody time," Scotty declared. "An' good for ye, lass. Ye've earned it."

"So, you're leaving?" Jarod asked.

"Not yet." Julia shook her head. "I have another six months to accept the post. I want to talk it over with Robert first. Admiral Maran's offering me a chance to pick my first command crew, so after I talk to Robert I'll start seeing if anyone is interested."

"Lass, ye dinnae have to ask," Scotty said. "Tom's got th' Aurora well in hand, after all."

"Woh." Julia held up a hand. "Let's not start splitting the crew up yet. Like I said, I want to talk to Robert first."

"I can understand that," Jarod said. "But when it comes down to it, this is about you, and a chance to take a command you've earned several times over."

"Maybe." Julia nodded. "But I still want to talk to him about it first. See what he and the others think. I want my own ship… but not at the expense of the rest of you. A command's not as important as my family." She glanced down to her computer. "Well, Jarod, you'd better catch your ship. Say hello to your sister and dad for me. Scotty and I have a ship to repair."

It was clear she was ready for the conversation to end. Jarod and Scotty nodded and obeyed her silent request.




Lucy found the waiting chamber easily enough. All she had to do was feel for Meridina's essence. It was full of pain, and fear, but also a strong and resolved calm. When she stepped up to the door two of the red-robed Knights moved to block her. "I'm going to talk with her," she said. "I'm not here to do anything else. You can sense that."

"Yes," one said.

"And if you do attempt to steal her away, we will use lethal force to prevent it," the other remarked.

Right. Of course. Lucy made it clear through her expression that she wasn't perturbed by that. The Knights let her through.

Lucy found Meridina sitting on her knees, hands on her upper legs. Her lakesh was laid before her. "Lucy," she said.

"Please don't," Lucy said. "Don't do this, Meridina. You don't have to."

"I must," she answered. "My people must see that my way has not corrupted me. Then others might follow in my path without causing this terrible dissension. This is why I must be tested."

"But Goras isn't interested in testing you!", Lucy shouted. "He's going to kill you no matter what happens! And he'll justify it however he has to."

"Then that is his choice. And this is mine."

Lucy balled her fists and screamed wordlessly. "Why are you so stubborn about this?!", she demanded. "Don't you know there are people who care about you? People who love you and don't want to lose you?! People who will be hurt if they no longer have you in their lives?!" Tears flowed freely down Lucy's cheeks. "This isn't right. You shouldn't have to do this." She closed her eyes and bowed her head. With little effort to stop herself, Lucy dropped to her knees. "You've done so much for me," Lucy sobbed. "You've done so much for all of us."

Meridina's eyes teared up. She shifted forward and took Lucy's hands into her own, prompting her to look up. "I know," Meridina said. "I know I am hurting you. I am hurting Robert, and Caterina, and all of the others on the Aurora. I am hurting my parents and my sisters and my brother. I can feel their anguish even now. And if there was another way, Lucy, I would take it. But this fighting has to stop. My life is not more important than the lives of my people. I will sacrifice myself to bring them peace."

Lucy said nothing. She hurt too much to find words, and she could sense what was to come. Meridina knew she was die at Goras' hand, and she would not stop him from killing her in the end. All she sought to do was fight until she had proven that she was not taken by darkness.

Meridina pulled Lucy close and embraced her in a hug. "Whatever happens… I am proud of you, Lucy. You have been the kind of student a teacher can only dream of, a student who teaches in turn. Please, use the teachings I've given you to make the Multiverse a kinder and gentler place. Teach Robert well, and with him you two can change everything for the better. Because I know, in my heart, that you and the others are the Bearers of the Dawn."

"I will," Lucy said. With all of her will, she forced the sobbing to slow. She knew that she couldn't show it out in the Chamber.

Meridina accepted the answer. Even though she knew that deep down Lucy was still not accepting what was to come. It would take time. Such things always did.

The Knights entered the room. "They are ready," one said. "Come."

Meridina stood up. She was now permitted to wear her blue robes as a field Knight. She held her right palm downward and, with a yank from her will and the power bound to it, pulled her lakesh into her hand. "I too am ready," was all she said.

Lucy forced herself to stand. Without another word, she followed Meridina out of the room.




In another room not too far away, Goras finished slipping on his short-sleeved combat tunic. A bald-headed apprentice handed him his vest next and he began to pull it on. He felt the presence at the door. "Are you going to see this through, Karesl?"

"If my daughter falls to darkness, I want her end to be quick," he answered.

Goras smiled thinly and turned to face his political ally directly. Karesl, as intercessor, was also in the combat tunic and vest, with his purple-and-blue-trim Council robe over that assemblage. Both were still in the baggy trousers that the Council wore on these occasions. "But that is not the question I asked," Goras said.

Karesl didn't reply.

"If Meridina survives this, the Dissenters will assume we have backed down before the Alliance," Goras said. "It will not matter if she has purged her darkness or proven tested. Our people will face a civil war." When Karesl still didn't answer, Goras continued. "She brought this on herself, Karesl. She admits that. She made herself the symbol of the Alliance to our people, and as that symbol, she has revealed the Alliance as a threat to our ways. If the Gersallian people are to avoid a civil war, Meridina must die."

Yet again, there was silence.

"Do not back out now," Goras urged. "We will save our people this way!"

"I am committed to securing our independence from the Alliance," Karesl said. "But I fear that your path may prove a bad one. And you ask a heavy price of me."

"I do." Goras nodded and stepped up to him. His eyes were intent on Karesl, as if searching for the slightest weakness to pounce upon. "And I expect you to pay it if our people demand it."

Karesl said nothing at that. He nodded his head and left.

The apprentice stepped up beside Goras. "Is there anything else, Mastrash?"

"Go to your place. We will speak again when this is over."




The Council Table had been removed from the center of the Chamber, leaving it a bare floor save for the alcove where the Relics of Swenya were kept in their cases. The members of the Council, save Goras and Karesl, now sat at the top of the alcove, above the portrait of Swenya, and a podium had been erected for Maklir.

On the bare floor, Meridina and Goras stood facing each other. Karesl stood off to himself, ready to intercede as necessary. Everyone else was back in their seats. Robert could see the red in Lucy's eyes and put a hand on her shoulder. Penrine was holding Leniraya close as the latter sniffled. Drentiya shed silent tears and it was clear the Lumantala family were convinced they were watching the death of their sister and daughter.

I have faith in you, Robert urged mentally, looking at Meridina. You can win this.

No, I cannot, she replied.

Maklir stood at the podium and struck his rod to it for attention. "All who are here, know you are witnessing one of the most terrible burdens of our Order. One of our own has been tainted by darkness. It falls to us to test her and ensure the darkness will not corrupt her further." Maklir looked to Goras. "Mastrash Goras, know that is your duty to test. This is a heavy responsibility, and if you would not bear it, it will not be held against you."

"I will bear it, Mastrash Maklir," Goras answered. "For it is a burden that all must bear at some time."

"Very well. Mastrash Karesl, as intercessor it is your duty to aid Mastrash Goras if the darkness in Knight Meridina takes hold, and to aid Knight Meridina should she prove true in the testing. Above all else it is your duty to end the battle when it is no longer necessary. Are you ready to assume this grave responsibility? We acknowledge that you have ample cause to wish it upon another."

"No, Mastrash," Karesl replied. "I am ready to function as intercessor."

Maklir nodded. He looked to Meridina. "Knight Meridina, you requested this trial, and the Council acknowledges this. We are still prepared to postpone it if you feel it is not necessary, and to render our own judgement after deliberation."

"I am ready for testing, Mastrash," Meridina said. "It is better this way."

"Then all is decided." Maklir looked to a technician in the cream-colored robe of the laity of the Order. "Activate the field."

A faint buzz of energy rose up from the ground, continuing until it became a dome over the central floor. Only Meridina, Goras, and Karesl were inside.

"Ready yourself, Knight," Maklir ordered.

Meridina nodded. She pulled her lakesh from her belt. It made a metallic shriek as the memory metal emerged from the hilt and formed into a blade. The light blue EM field gave it a ghostly aura.

"Begin the testing at your leisure, Mastrash Goras."

Goras pulled his own lakesh and extended it.

Silence filled the chamber.

Meridina could sense the blow coming, and when it came she was barely able to get her blade up to meet it. A "whmm" sound filled the air as the EM fields of their blades met, followed by the clash of metal on metal. The power of the strike was deliberate and precise, forcing Meridina to shift her weight to hold it.

Goras' power gathered in an instant and lashed out. Meridina went flying backward into the field. It was like hitting a wall with a low electrical field in it, a field that provided a small and painful shock. If it had paralyzed her with the shock, the battle would have ended right there.

But Meridina was quick enough, just quick enough, to recover and roll away from Goras' lakesh blade before it cut into her head. She brought her blade over in a quick attack that Goras parried with ease. Her rolling maneuver brought her back to her feet. Meridina forced a breath from her lungs and steadied her blade. He went at her again, a juggernaut, and she met his attack again, and the next, and the next…

She couldn't win. Meridina was already certain of that. Goras was powerful with his life force, and his dueling skills were among the best in the Order. She was not bad herself… but against him, she was little better than a novice in some ways. Decades of experience told against her. Had this been a real duel, or at least if Goras didn't need to pretend he was testing her, Meridina believed she would already be dead.

Death. Its imminence kindled fear. As much as she believed in doing the right thing, in giving her life for her people to have peace… it scared her. She didn't want to die. She didn't want her journey to end. That fear came to her and it resonated with the darkness inside of her. All of that fear and anger that she had kept pent up over this past month.

Her will held it in. She would not lose control to that darkness. She was a Knight of Swenya. She lived for the Code. If she had to, she would die for it.

It's not fair! was the unbidden thought as she barely parried a strong blow from Goras that threw her off-balance. Lucy had been right about that, and now the thought rippled through Meridina. Tears momentarily came to her eyes as she realized how it was going to end here, no matter what she did, and after all she had done.

Why couldn't her people understand what this was about? Why did so many of them want to turn away from their destiny?

Meridina forced the thoughts away again. She forced the darkness down, even as it seemed to be on the verge of exploding, as her fear of how soon she would die filled her. She would not give in to her darkness. She would fight until she couldn't any more.




Robert didn't need to be an expert duelist to know that Meridina wasn't just losing, but that she was only alive because Goras wasn't ready to kill her yet.

"He's toying with her," Angel said.

"Technically he's not supposed to be going all-out to land a fatal blow," Robert said. "This.. it's some kind of ultimate stress test."

He glanced over to Lucy and frowned. She was watching the battle… but she was distracted. Robert glanced down to see where her right hand was touching the surface keys of her multi-device. The multi-device's holo-display had been set to a small, uni-directional setting, and was only visible from Lucy's perspective or a narrow cone around it. "What are you doing?", he whispered.

"I don't trust him," Lucy said. "If he does anything…"

Robert's eyes widened when he realized what she was doing and reached for her wrist, obscuring the multi-device. "You can't save her that way," he hissed.

Lucy frowned at him. "I can't stand by and let her get murdered, Robert."

"Intervening like this won't save her, Lucy. It will make things worse. You've got to let this play out."

"And watch her die?", she retorted in a violent whisper.

"Hopefully not. Have faith that she'll get through this. Then…" he frowned. "We'll see, okay? But this won't end well if you just go in there." Left unsaid was the fact that Robert didn't think any of them could defeat Goras, even together.

But if it came down to it, they wouldn't let Goras murder Meridina either.




Meridina's arms were hurting. Her very being was fatigued with the constant stress of fighting an opponent with Goras' power and skill.

He lunged at her again, and even as she parried the blow he turned into the movement and delivered a kick to her ribs that caused at least one to crack. Meridina let out a cry of pain and moved backward. She scrambled to get her footing again and restore her balance. Goras refused to let her, continuing his assault with increasing fury and power, almost as if he were reveling in her desperate, failing defense.

Again the darkness within her stirred. A cold feeling merged with the fear of her imminent death, a feeling screaming for her to act, to do anything to survive! For a very brief moment she wanted to hate Goras, hate him for his desire to kill her, and to strike him down as she had killed Dralan Olati just days ago.

And he knew it. Goras' eyes were not hiding his satisfaction, even if his face kept its neutral look. He was pushing her into the darkness. He wanted her to go there. He wanted her to fall.

He wants me to fall so he can kill me.

Meridina took another kick, this time to a shoulder, but she had been rolling away from the attack and the impact lost some of its power. She rolled onto one knee, blade still ready, and glanced at her father. He could feel the darkness within her too. But where Goras seemed almost animated at its presence, she could sense his fear for her. He wanted her to stay firm.

Goras' blade came at her again and Meridina stopped it. She stopped it a second time, and a third, but Goras' attack was an onslaught that kept her on one knee. He had the superior position, superior power, superior everything, and he was using it. Meridina struggled to keep up with the blows…

The flat of Goras' blade ran over her wrists. It did not cut her, but it did push her arms into a twist that gave him complete leverage on her lakesh. With a surge of power he knocked it from her grasp and sent it clanging to the floor, two meters or more away. He kicked again and caught her in the sternum, throwing Meridina onto her back. His hand reached for her as she tried to stand. He didn't grip her physically, but she felt his power close around her waist and hips, holding her in place. He pulled her into the air and flung her into the wall near the alcove, ribs first.

Another rib cracked. Meridina cried out in pain before falling hard to the ground. Her left hand reached over her torso to clutch her wounded right ribs. She looked toward Goras. His eyes were still grinning, and though he tried to hide it, satisfaction was coming through his feelings.

He was about to kill her. She had to act! She had to do something!

The darkness stirred within. Fear, anger, hate… it wanted her to lash out with it, to strike down her foe, to save herself! It is him or you! her own voice, hard and cold, insisted. You'll never get another opening! Do it!

Meridina was, at that moment, more scared than she had ever been in her life. And she might very well have done it.

But her eyes moved over to her father, looking impassively at her, duty and love warring on his countenance while Goras stepped toward her. She moved on to her mother, her brother, her sisters, all looking at her with horror and sadness at what Goras was doing to her.

And then there was Angel, a comrade-in-arms. Lucy and Robert, her students, her charges. The ones who would carry her legacy on even after today. A legacy that the voice inside of her would taint if she listened to it. She felt their sadness, their pain and anguish… and their faith.

It hurt to think she might fail them. That the darkness would take her. She knew she couldn't let that happen. She couldn't listen to this darkness, this festering power that she just couldn't get rid of, that Amaunet had planted within her, it wouldn't go away! It was still inside of her, like it had always been inside…

A memory came to her in those seconds. A flash of thought. Perhaps more than that… perhaps her swevyra using her memories to bring her wisdom.

The memory was a voice, that of the Zigonian Kasszas S'szrishin.

"Darkness comes from many sources, dear Sister. Perhaps you must look inward to see where this comes from, to truly understand it, and thus to deal with it."

"I feel it within you," Goras said. "I feel your darkness yearning to break free. Clearly you are failing your test. Say it, Meridina. Recognize that the darkness has started to claim you, and I will make this end quickly."

She didn't answer him. She remained on her knees and looked only inside, at herself, at that darkness. That fear and anger, that hatred, all festering inside of her since Amaunet had enslaved her.

It all came roaring back. Her helplessness. The Goa'uld firmly controlling her body, holding her swevyra as if it belonged to her, and letting Amaunet's hate and anger and rage play out upon the helpless victims that came before her.

All of that had gone away with Amaunet's death. But the darkness remained. Those emotions remained.

Meridina looked to her mother, even as Goras again offered to end her life quickly if she admitted to her darkness. Drentiya had tried to tell her of how to deal with it, but she hadn't listened. She'd thought only of burying the darkness, of hiding it away and locking it down and ignoring it.

Now she knew she'd been wrong. She'd been ignoring her own feelings. She had been ignoring everything that Amaunet had caused her to feel. The darkness is mine, she thought to herself. It has fed itself on my control. Because I would not face the feelings…

"Accept it!", Goras shouted. "Accept you can't control it! That the darkness within you cannot be held back! Do it, Meridina, and don't draw this out! Do it and you will die painlessly!"

Meridina looked at him while tears began to flow. Her heart felt like bursting. Those feelings fueling the darkness… she couldn't hold them back any more.

So she stopped trying.

"I'm angry!", she screamed. "I'm afraid! And I hate what was done to me! I hate what Amaunet did with my body! I hate it!" Meridina let out a sob while the tears flowed until they obscured her vision. "Amaunet violated my body. She violated my mind. She violated my swevyra. She hurt me and hurt others with me and… and it hurt so much… and there are more out there like her, and… and I can't…" She kept her tear-filled eyes locked on Goras. Nearby her father watched her break down with a quailing heart. "I can't go through that again! I'm afraid of it! And I'm angry that it happened, I'm angry she caused it and that I couldn't stop it, I… I had to watch her fight Lucy, hurt Lucy… hurt people… and then I doubted, I doubted when it wouldn't go away…"

The crowd was silent. No words were being muttered. No sounds being made. Even Goras took a step backward, as if unsure about whether to attack or not.

"The darkness was mine all along," Meridina confessed. She sobbed. "I should have known that. I should... I should have accepted my feelings, I should…" For a moment she became inarticulate. "I should have been a swevyra'se. I should not have doubted myself. I should not have tried, I should have done."

Goras held his blade up for an overhead stroke. It was clear his mind was made up. He started to approach.

"I am in control," she said to him. "This darkness is mine, and I control it. I can. I will. And I will heal." She looked again to the others. A small smile came to her face. "My family will help. All of them."

They all nodded. Goras wasn't looking to see that Karesl was as well.

She put her eyes back on Goras. "You're not just testing me, Goras. This is to kill me. You want me to die because of what I believe, because you're afraid of it. Because you're afraid that things are changing."

Goras kept approaching. He was within a few steps.

"I will gladly die for my people," Meridina declared. "But I will die fighting for what I believe."

Goras ignored her. His blade swung down for her skull.

Meridina's power, the core of her life force that all present called swevyra, rushed to meet the blade. It slammed into the weapon and into Goras with enough force to send him flying to the opposite side of the battlespace. She stood to her feet and pushed the pain of her broken ribs away for the moment.

"Go get him, girl!," Angel shouted. "Go get that jackass!"

Meridina's arm extended toward her lakesh. It flew through the air to her hand.

And just in time to. With a look of frustration and anger on his face, Goras was charging. Again his blade went for her head, and again she parried the blow. His strikes were as furious as ever, powerful, quick, deadly. He was fighting to kill.

Meridina held her ground. It took everything she had. But she wasn't giving up. Her arms protested, her body ached, her broken ribs screamed for succor. Her body just wanted to stop and end the fight.

But the rest of her carried on.

Her arms moved and his blade caught every blow. Her legs remained steady. Goras' offensive fury was a wave, and Meridina was doing her best to become a rock to break the wave. She couldn't endure this forever. He was too powerful. But if she could hold out just long enough…

Then she saw it. Goras' frustration was giving way to fury. He was balancing on the edge himself now, and while Meridina didn't want to send him over into anger and darkness, she did take advantage of it. He made a swing that was a little too off, a little too wild, and she was able to evade it instead of having to parry it. Her blade seemed almost to sing as it slashed through air in a quick cut aimed at his exposed right side.

There was resistance. And a flash of blood.

Goras actually cried out, in shock more than pain, at Meridina's lakesh striking home. He backed away and he was off-balance. Meridina acted immediately with a swing of her arm. Energy from the core of her being reached out and caught Goras' legs before he could summon his own power. He tripped over and fell on his back.

Had Meridina not been wounded and tired from the fight so far, she might have won a formal duel at that point simply by getting in range before Goras could recover. But her injuries were enough to slow her for the moment. Goras had time to get back to his feet. He put a hand to his bleeding wound and concentrated. The blood began to slow until he pulled the hand away, revealing the bloody cut now mostly healed.

The Chamber was alive with energy. From the Lumantala family's section it was all positive. Hope and joy sprung from seeing Meridina hold Goras off like that. "She's overcome the test!", Leniraya shouted. "End this, father!" Around them it was clear many others felt the same way. Even some who had not been favorable to her on the charges against her seemed ready to agree that she had proven herself in the test.

Goras and Karesl exchanged looks. There was a mental communication between them. Goras frowned and shook his head. He looked back to Meridina with an intensity in his brown eyes that told her that she had humiliated him. "I am not afraid," she said. "Do you still wish to test me?"

"Yes," he said simply, although it was clear that testing wasn't what he had in mind. A susurration came from the crowd as Goras charged again. Meridina held her ground once more. It was even harder this time. She did not let herself doubt, but it was clear that Goras still had the advantages in power and skill.

I will not give up, she insisted. If you mean to kill me, I will fight.

You can't resist me, child!, Goras retorted mentally. And you and I know you must die for Gersal to have peace!

Their blades clashed again, over and over. Goras felt the advantage steadily go back to him and pressed it. Meridina showed no fear in reaction, not even as he began to drive her back again.

From the attendees, voices and thoughts were being raised. They were satisfied: Meridina had passed the test. It was time for the fight to end.

Goras refused. He sent blow after blow against Meridina, fighting with all of his power, all of his skill, no holding back. His wound was not as severe as hers. He was winning handily. After another pair of parried strikes he forced Meridina up against the wall and started pressing his blade against her, forcing her blade back toward her throat. "You should have let me kill you before," he rasped. "It would have been quick. Painless."

"Why do you hate me so?", Meridina asked.

"I do not hate you," Goras insisted, but it was clear it wasn't true. "But I will not let you win. Our people must be free of the Alliance."

"But my death won't end that," she insisted. "There are many thousands, millions, of our people serving with the Alliance. They believe in it. They won't let you destroy that."

"Then they will suffer the consequences. Just as you are…" The blade drew closer to Meridina's neck.

And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Suddenly the two fighters were wrenched apart by a powerful force that erupted between them. Goras was knocked backward several steps, out of blade range of Meridina. Meridina went to one knee in relief and looked up.

Karesl now stood between them, one hand on his lakesh hilt, and his eyes fixed on Goras. "This battle is over," he declared.

 

[Big Steve]

Silence reigned in the Chamber.

It ended when Karesl spoke.

"As intercessor, it is clear to me that Meridina has proven herself in control," Karesl announced, his eyes fixed on Mastrash Goras as the other man regained his balance. "It is clear that darkness has no hold on her. I declare the test concluded."

Goras frowned deeply at him. Frustration flashed through his brown eyes at being denied. "Do you speak as intercessor, Karesl, or as a father?"

"Intercessor." Karesl looked back toward Meridina. "As father, I add that whatever my disagreements with her, I am proud of my daughter."

At that Goras stood to his full height. "The people of Gersal will see it differently," he vowed. "They will see a man who acted out of bias. Who kept the violator of our traditions from being given the full and rigorous testing her crime demanded."

Karesl shook his head. "The people of Gersal are watching, Goras. Do you think them blind? They can see that you have made this personal. You desire Meridina's death because of her belief in the Prophecy of the Dawn."

"And you would have our people shackled to the Alliance to humor your daughter."

"I am still against our membership. I believe Gersal should have kept itself separate from the Alliance and acted instead as its guide and friend," Karesl answered. "I believe that we should withdraw from it, if not from the war with the Reich. But that is not the issue here." He sighed. "I'm sorry, old friend. But this has to stop. Or you'll be the one falling to darkness."

For a tense moment nothing was said. Goras let out a grunt, and then he sighed. "I'm sorry too," he said. "Old friend." He lowered his weapon.

Karesl turned to Meridina. He reached down and helped her back to her feet. "You've done well," he said.

"Thank you, Mastrash." Meridina smiled weakly. "I… I still feel that darkness there. But I can manage it."

"Sometimes the solution isn't control, it's acceptance," Karesl said. "Now…."

The next word never finished coming from his mouth. Instead there was a "hrrrgk" sound from it. Pain stabbed through Meridina's chest, coming perilously close to her lung. She looked down.

The blade had buried itself into her torso.

And it was sticking through her father.

"I'm sorry, Karesl," Goras said. His arm was still outstretched from the motion he'd made to throw his blade into Karesl's back. "I am sorry you are so weak." He pulled his arm back toward himself.

A sucking sound accompanied the blade pulling out of Meridina and Karesl. Karesl collapsed into Meridina's arms. The pain of her wound was already driving her to her knees.

Robert looked to Lucy and nodded. He needn't have bothered, as she was already rapidly operating her multi-device. "C'mon," she murmured. "Come on…"

Maklir's rod slammed on his podium. "Goras, what is the meaning of this?!"

"I will not allow this charade to continue," Goras said. "The traitor must die and our people must be kept free!"

"No! No, this is wrong!"

"Goras, have you gone mad?!", Ledosh shouted.

"No. I simply see clearly the truth." Goras elevated his hand toward the Council in their place above the alcove. "You are traitors! You would bind us to the Alliance and take away everything our people have become!" He looked to the audience, and presumably into the devices transmitting the trial elsewhere. "Loyal children of Gersal, this moment has come, and we must accept it! The Order of Swenya and our government has been stolen away from us by fools and traitors! We must stand firm if we are to redeem ourselves, if we are to remain free!"

"Lower the field!", Maklir ordered. He turned to the technician. "We must stop…"

An energy beam struck Maklir in the back. He had no time to cry out before he disappeared in a haze of yellow energy.

A bald-headed apprentice with a disruptor pistol leveled the gun that had just killed Maklir toward the technician controlling the shield. The technician raised his hands and stepped away.

Lakesh blades extended across the Chamber as a number of those in attendance, many bald like the first attacker, turned their weapons toward others. A pair of red-robed Temple Knights placed blades to the throats of two Council members. A third, blue-robed bald woman placed a blade up toward Ledosh.

And all the while, on the first row of seats, Lucy was struggling with her multidevice. "It's not working," she muttered. "I can't get the harmonics…"

"Let me," Gamaya hissed.

The three Aurora crew looked toward Gamaya. "What?"

"Give me the device, I can make it work." Seeing their look she sighed. "You're trying to briefly disrupt the field to get inside and help Meri, yes? Let me do it!"

Robert turned inward for a moment. The situation in the Chamber was so tense it was hard to focus, but he let his instincts direct him here. "Do it," he whispered back to Lucy.

Lucy pulled off her multi-device and handed it to Gamaya. She immediately took it and began working.

Inside the dome Goras looked back toward Meridina and Karesl. Meridina was busy trying to heal his wound to the best of her ability. "What have you done?", Karesl rasped.

"What needed to be done," Goras said. "What you were too weak to contemplate, 'old friend'."

"But… Maklir…"

"An old man past his prime." Goras looked back up at the captive Council. "Indeed, I might say the same for many of you. I was certain there would be trouble, but you are so complacent that we Dissenters in the Order have you completely at our mercy." Goras shook his head. "And you would have us believe you could protect us from the Alliance?"

"We don't need protection from the Alliance!", Meridina yelled despite the pain in her chest. "No more than the Order needs protection from Gersal!"

"Oh, but it is clear we do, on both counts," Goras said. "The Interdependency has been allowed to fall into the hands of those who would give away the traditions and ways of three thousand years. How can we trust such a government?"

"They'll be on their way," Ledosh said. "Security forces are watching now."

"They're busy," Goras said. His blade went back to his belt for the moment. "As soon as I acted, my compatriots did as well." He looked to Meridina and held out his free hand. Her lakesh flew into it. "A pity that you didn't die as I asked you to, Meridina. Your death would have made this unnecessary. Now the true children of Gersal have no choice but to seize control to save our people from the Alliance." He raised a hand. "Gersal needs a leader with the vision to lead it through this new era. And it falls upon me to take that mantle."

Meridina glared up as Goras held her blade above his head. "You are a traitor, Meridina, daughter of Drentiya and Karesl. I strip you of your rank I strip of you of your place in this Order." He gripped the tip of the blade, using his power to absorb the edge so he didn't lose his fingers, and kept his other hand on the hilt. With one solid burst of effort he brought the blade down until it struck his upper leg, rising to meet it. A loud snap echoed in the air as the blow, assisted by Goras' great power, broke the memory metal blade in two. Goras tossed both ends of the broken blade away and retrieved his own. With a metallic shriek, Goras' blade extended to its full length. "And now, traitor, I strip you of your life. In the name of the people of Gersal, I proclaim you unfit to live for your crimes against us." He brought the blade up. "Time to die."




As Goras spoke, Gamaya's fingers flew over Lucy's multi-device. Her face was blank with concentration. "Have you adjusted for the harmonics of the…", Lucy began.

"Yes." Gamaya continued to work. "I've almost… got it…"

The others looked to where Goras was approaching Meridina and Karesl, his killing intent clear from the way he held his blade. "Gami…", Lucy said nervously.

"Almost…"

"Gamaya, we're out of time," Robert hissed.

It proved unnecessary.

As he said that, Gamaya hit a key on Lucy's multidevice. "Now!", she cried. As she did, energy erupted from the multidevice via its built-in transmitters. The burst fried the machine immediately.

But it still had the intended effect. For a brief second, the force dome over the central floor of the Chamber disintegrated in front of the Lumantala seats.

Robert and Lucy jumped through it in that instant, Angel beside them.

The moment they were through Goras brought the blade down toward Meridina's head.

Lucy and Robert lashed out with one joint burst of power. It was a wild shot, one Goras hadn't seen it coming, and it had enough power to send him flying until he hit the western side of the alcove wall and collapsed onto his hands and feet.

Meridina looked to them with worry in her face. She tried to move, but it was clear her wound was severe and she was in no shape to fight. All she could hope to do was keep her father alive.

And hope that they could defeat Goras.

"Okay, now what?", Robert asked Lucy.

Lucy responded by going over to where Karesl and Meridina were laid out. "I'm sorry," she said, pulling Karesl's lakesh from his belt. He was too weak to respond verbally, but she sensed him understand and consent. She flicked a switch and the blade activated, extending out to a length greater than the one she was used to. That's not good, she thought. This weapon would be heavier than her lakesh and harder to wield. And she was already at a major disadvantage.

Goras roared in anger as he got back to his feet. He looked to Lucy first and charged at her. Lucy caught the attack with Karesl's blade. It took almost everything she had to resist his sheer power. He was pouring his life essence, his swevyra, into his body, making him stronger and faster and more resilient.

Lucy was doing the same, of course, but it meant focus, and focus while a pissed off swordmaster was trying to kill her was not anything close to an easy task.

He put her on her backfoot almost immediately. A second swing pushed her blade nearly out of position and she might have taken a follow-up stab to the gut if Robert hadn't reached out with his power at that moment. He grunted as he tried to focus on Goras' right leg, immobilizing it and throwing off his posture.

Angel, meanwhile, tried to do what she did best. She came up to his blind side and threw a punch.

Her fist never connected.

Goras briefly turned and glared her way. With not even a move of his hand he generated enough force to stop Angel's punch in its tracks, just an inch from his face. His power gripped her wrist and held her in place for a moment. Her hazel eyes widened in surprise.

This allowed Lucy the time to recover her footing. She swung her new blade in Angel's defense, trying to keep Goras from exploiting her immobility. Robert swapped targets and felt out with his power for Goras' right arm to grip it, keeping his sword swinging off-target.

It worked, for the moment. A swipe from Goras went wide, missing Lucy. Lucy recovered and made a slightly off-balance swipe at Goras that didn't connect either, but which forced him to divert his attention from Angel. With her wrist freed Angel recovered her balance and lunged with her whole body. Goras hadn't found his footing yet, not with Lucy swinging at him again and having to be parried; Angel plowed into him and brought him to his knees. Robert dashed in and grabbed Goras' left arm physically, restraining his blade and exposing his right side. "Lucy!", he shouted. Now! Won't get another chance!

The follow-up mental commentary hadn't been necessary. Lucy knew she only had a second to land a hit to put Goras down. With all of her power, all of her might, she swung the lakesh at Goras' right arm, aiming to cut him at the elbow and deny him the use of his primary hand.

She was a second too late.

Goras screamed. It was a rage-filled, horrifying scream, and it had power. Indeed, his entire body vibrated with it, and in one massive pulse it struck all three and sent them flying. Angel and Robert went into the far shield dome and went down. Lucy was thrown back against the northern side, near the alcove.

"I considered letting you go!", Goras shouted. "To return to your people in peace! But no. No, I will destroy you too, and in your names I will punish the Alliance for this interference in our affairs!"

Robert and Angel were starting to get back up. Lucy was already getting onto her feet. Goras went after her first. Lucy got the blade into position to block his first attack and then his second. She could feel the sheer fury radiating from him, and it was terrifying.

And more than fury. She could feel the cold. The vicious, cold darkness that she had once felt, and which had horrified her. Goras was falling to it. In his anger and frustration at the way events had gone, at the way he was being continually defied in his goals, he was losing control of his emotions, of himself.

"Look at you!", she cried. "You're supposed to be a Mastrash! But you're falling to darkness!"

"You have no right to judge!" Goras' blade slammed down on Lucy's again. She strained to hold him back.

Robert and Angel were running. They operated in tandem, Angel going for his legs again and Robert reaching with his power to grip Goras' sword arm. Goras let out a frustrated growl and whirled about for a moment, just a moment. But it was enough. Angel had to jump to her side to avoid his blade. Goras gestured with his hand.

Robert felt like he'd been hit by a truck. He went flying back into the dome field from the power of the invisible bolt of energy that had hit him.

Lucy tried to take advantage. But Karesl's blade was too heavy. She wasn't used to the weight and her attempt to hit Goras' weak side was easily evaded. Goras brought his blade around with one hand while the other smashed across Lucy's cheek. Pain covered the side of her face from the impact and she fell to one knee. She already felt the next blow coming and brought the blade up to meet it, stopping Goras from decapitating her in a single swipe. But the way she had to shift her body and arm made her grip weak. The impact of the blow sent Karesl's blade flying from her hand.

Goras smirked and brought the blade back around for a swift swing. Angel kept it from connecting by going at him again. Her fist went for a point on his arm. She'd wanted him to drop his sword from the impact, but all it did was make him change which hand held it. She adjusted quickly, bringing her leg up and kicking at his open throat.

But again Goras' power caught her by the limb, this time the ankle, and she was helpless to stop a hard blow from his free hand from slamming into her rib cage. Angel's scream of pain was involuntary from the sheer shock of the fierce blow as it snapped ribs. She flew backward.

But she'd bought Lucy the second she needed to get Karesl's sword back. She summoned it to her hand and caught Goras' killing stroke against her just before it landed. She tried to stand back up, to get room, but he bore down on her with his power. "Poor fools," he growled. "You should have never matched power with me."

Lucy didn't reply. She couldn't. All her strength had to go into holding back Goras' blade.

But even there he held an advantage. He'd landed his blow at just the right spot on Karesl's longer sword, and given their positions, he was starting to overwhelm the memory metal's flexibility. The metal felt like it was giving way, even as the two blades' EM fields continued to go "whmm!" Lucy cried out in effort as she tried to push him back. She summoned all of the power within her to do it.

But Goras met it. And he pushed harder.

There was a loud snapping sound. Karesl's lakesh broke into two in Lucy's hand, and Goras' blade descended on her shoulder blade. Her clothes caused little resistance as the blade cut into the soft fleece and the polyester beneath until it met warm flesh.

Lucy was pulling backward and twisting, keeping Goras from driving his blade through her arm or shoulder. He cut along the shoulder and upper left side of Lucy's torso, ending just below the armpit. She spun away as her blood flowed onto the floor from the cut.

For a moment she looked up, to see if any more help would be coming. But there was none. Even though Goras' people were in the minority, they had the advantage that they were ready to fight, and anyone who moved first would certainly get someone else killed.

This is pointless, a part of her thought. He's too powerful. And now we don't have any weapons. She looked up. Goras was no longer looking her way. Robert had gotten his attention again by grabbing at his legs while Angel, despite her broken ribs, was coming in close to land a punch. Goras sent her flying with another movement of her hand.

Don't give in!, she heard. She looked to Meridina, still tending to her father. Meridina's blue eyes were locked upon Lucy's. Feel with your swevyra, Lucy. Find a way. You must!

There was no time for meditation. Almost no time for thought. Goras was winning, and with every blow they were getting weaker. Lucy didn't even closer her eyes as she might have otherwise done. She felt within herself and pushed through the distractions, particularly the fact that she would probably be dead in a minute or two, to see what was within. To see if the energy inside her, the insight and power, would know of some way to get a weapon again, to have a fighting chance against Goras. But the two other lakeshes were destroyed. There were no other weapons...

She stopped the thought. As she did, Robert grunted in pain as Goras batted him against the force dome again.

Lucy's head swiveled to her right… toward the alcove where Swenya's relics remained in their containers.

This is so not going to work went through her head as Lucy got back to her feet and ran toward the last weapon left to her.

Goras didn't see her immediately. He was too busy slamming Robert and Angel up against the force dome, over and over, knocking the air out of their lungs and in general wearing them down to the point they would fall unconscious. He only turned when one of his followers screeched an enraged, "Blasphemy!"

By the time he turned, Lucy was already bringing the full strength of her power down upon the glass case before her. It shattered at the impact. Her right hand darted in…

"YOU DARE?!", Goras roared. He left Robert and Angel to fall, nigh-unconscious, to the ground. He charged with near-superhuman speed toward the alcove, his lakesh raised and coming down…

...on the empty display case, as Lucy rolled away from him and to her feet.

Swenya's Blade was in her right hand.

Stunned looks and gasps filled the Chamber. No one could fathom it, could believe that anyone would dare to take up the relic.

With nothing left to do, Lucy's thumb found the switch on the hilt and pressed it.

Nothing happened.

Her mind registered the lack of the familiar metallic shriek of a memory metal blade flowing into form and hardening. She looked down at the useless paperweight in her right hand.

Goras' eyes were focused on her. And she could see the gold starting to form in them. "There is no punishment severe enough to avenge the atrocity you just committed, alien," Goras spat.

"Um… sorry?", Lucy offered, even as her mind raced. She wished she had her multidevice. If she could scan the weapon maybe she'd see what was…

Goras' power lashed at her. Lucy tried to resist it. She put everything into it. But Goras was still too strong. His life force energy became a vise around her neck and around her trachea. She wheezed a last gasp of air as he lifted her up. She tried to cry out, but she couldn't. The air simply wasn't inside of her anymore. Her feet cartwheeled helplessly in mid-air, four feet off the ground, while her hands instinctively went to her throat. Swenya's Blade hit the floor, forgotten in her moment of panic while Goras choked the life from her. The pressure continued, on and on, and Lucy was convinced he was about to snap her neck like a twig.

And then it was over, and Lucy was falling back to the ground. She had inhaled her first gasp by the time the pain registered in her knees that she was back on terra firma.

Robert and Angel, battered and bruised, were back on their feet, and the two had tackled Goras to the ground. Robert was trying to hold his sword arm in place while Angel's arms wrapped around his neck in a sleeper hold. Lucy could feel their sentiments. They knew this wouldn't work, they knew they couldn't stop Goras, but they were willing to buy her the time she needed if it gave them the slightest hope of victory.

Lucy reached her hand out and pulled the broken relic to her. She looked it over, she felt into it with her power, with her insight and all of the technological knowhow she had. There was a reason it had stopped working. Why? Was a circuit broken that was keeping electricity from reaching the memory metal? Was the blade emptied of the substance?

Robert went flying into the alcove, where he slammed into the stand holding Swenya's sandals and toppled over. Goras got to his feet, still conscious despite Angel's strength holding his neck and throat, and turned his back toward the alcove. Angel screamed at the first impact, and then the second, as Goras kept slamming her into the solid wood surface. Her grip weakened.

Lucy looked back to the weapon. There had to be something…!

And then Angel was out of it. She slumped to the ground, utterly spent, bruised and battered and completely helpless. Goras turned toward Lucy. His nostrils flared and his eyes, now firmly gold with darkness, bored into her.

It seemed incredulous that Goras' people hadn't turned on him. His followers had to feel his loss of control. They had to know he was becoming a monster right before their eyes. But still they did nothing, whether out of fear or momentum or simply dogged determination to the course he'd proclaimed for them. They still held the Council and the present members of the Order captive, leaving none to challenge Goras. No one but Lucy.

Lucy… who had seconds to live as Goras rushed at her, intent on cutting her to ribbons as she fumbled with the useless relic in her hands.

Energy caught him by the ankles and Goras fell over. Lucy looked that way in time to see Meridina and Karesl, wounded as they were, throwing their power in at the last moment to trip Goras. It was clear they were spent as well, and Karesl may even be dying. But they had bought her a few more seconds...

Somewhere between her swevyra and the insight that energy gave to her, and her technical knowledge, Lucy sensed something. There was a part inside the weapon. It wasn't right… like it was out of place. And not from any damage, as the weapon looked intact on the outside. It was as if someone had intentionally used the energy of their life to shift a piece out of alignment.

Lucy could do the same. But it wasn't the best choice. She would have rather opened it, scanned it, made sure she knew what was inside and if she might be breaking something. But that required better circumstances than what she was facing at the moment, with just seconds to act.

Without options, Lucy reached inside the dormant weapon with her energy. Her power gently gripped the piece within and moved it back toward what she felt to be its proper place.

Goras got back to his feet. He ignored the others. He could feel Meridina and Karesl couldn't do anything else. Angel was out of it. Robert was still struggling to get back to his feet.

And once Lucy was dead, they would all die in turn.

His blade came up. Goras once more charged at her. She had seconds before his blade came down again. Maybe a few more if she dodged far enough.

But her attention was entirely on Swenya's Blade as, with a moment of satisfaction, the piece within slid back into its proper place. She could sense that the millennia-old weapon was once again intact.

That didn't mean that it would work, though. It was three thousand years old. It hadn't been touched in millennia.

But with Goras' lakesh seconds from her skull, Lucy simply had no other choice. Please work please work please God let this work please! went through her head as she brought the ancient hilt up toward Goras.

Goras yelled in animalistic triumph as his blade came crashing down on Lucy.

There was no time left. She triggered Swenya's Blade.

And once again, no memory metal flowed out to meet Goras' weapon. There was no shriek of memory metal hardening. No gentle "Whmm!" of EM fields clashing.

Lucy should have died right there.

But she didn't.

An electronic snap split the air and lingered off with a hiss, followed by the harsh high-pitched buzz as Goras' blade made impact against the bright sapphire light that now filled Lucy's vision.

In the place of the memory metal blade that Lucy had expected, a solid blade of blue light had surged from the relic.

"What…?" The surprise was complete on Goras' face. He backed away for the moment.

And indeed, the surprise had gripped the rest of the Chamber. Everyone stared in wonderment and surprise at the shining blue light of Swenya's Blade. The restored weapon filled the air with a constant electronic buzz. The buzz increased in pitch and volume when Lucy moved it in the air as a consequence of getting back to her feet. She looked into it for a moment, ignoring the strain on her eyes. Her mind was processing this weapon in her hand, this… beautiful piece of elegant technology. She thought she could feel the photons and plasma bouncing about within the blade, kept in place by the field that gave Swenya's Blade its shape.

Goras overcame his shock. He would not back down now, not when so much had happened, not with his rage so pure. He struck at Lucy again with all of his power and fury.

Lucy met the attacks with Swenya's Blade. The weapon moved more like an extension of her arm than any other sword she'd had. It had virtually no mass. That meant no weight, and that meant freedom of movement. Goras' skill advantage was still great, but now Lucy could meet his attacks more rapidly. Indeed, Goras seemed reluctant to truly press their blades against each other. He had no idea what the weapon in her hands could do. She wasn't even sure.

Goras could still kill her. He was more powerful than her. The darkness seizing him made him even more powerful. And he had skill. Lucy had him at her advantage from surprise, but that would fade soon. She had to win quickly, and she had to do so by enduring his onslaught. She had to beat him with flexibility.

The thought brought a little smile to her face. Thank you, Julia, for the t'ai chi lesson. She put Julia's forms to use. Using her size and the lightness of her weapon to parry and deflect Goras' swings and cuts kept him from landing hits. She moved her body in a continuous flow to evade further blows, letting him waste his strength on empty air or easily-deflected blows.

All eyes were on them. All eyes on Gersal, across the Interdependency, would see this, would see Swenya's Blade alive again after three millennia and wielded by an outsider trained in the Gersallian arts.

And it would be for nothing if Lucy failed

The battle moved back toward the alcove. Lucy was giving ground, but doing it willingly. The buzzing of her weapon contrasted with the continued "Whmm!" sounds that came when it was struck by the EM field of Goras' lakesh. He remained quiet, but it was clear from the fury in his eyes that he wanted to kill her, and he aimed to do it.

His superior skill soon weighed in. He adjusted to Lucy's flexible movement and shifted his posture, cutting her off and pressing her back toward the alcove. With several blows of his blade he pinned her in before she could escape. Lucy caught a swipe aimed right for her forehead with her blade. Again it buzzed angrily as the lakesh pressed against it. Goras snarled and pushed himself against Lucy, putting all of his power, all of his strength, into using his blade to press hers back into herself.

And all she could do was resist. Her arms screamed in protest as they held firm, preventing Goras from finishing her off. The shining blue energy of Swenya's blade filled both of their eyes.

At first neither noticed it, but it was Lucy who did first. At the point where their blades met, Goras' lakesh was now glowing red. She felt a surge of elation at that. The lakesh's EM field was failing, and the energy of her weapon was burning into the memory metal. The elation gave her an extra spurt of strength, reinforcing her will to hold firm as Goras literally destroyed his weapon in trying to cut her with it.

Moments later, there was a loud metallic snap in the air. The top half of Goras' lakesh flew past Lucy's head and embedded itself into the alcove wall.

Lucy summoned everything she had to move, and to keep Goras from recovering. She twisted away from him as Goras fell off-balance to what had been her right, and was now her left. He started to turn back to her, his broken blade still in his hands. But Lucy's blade was already in motion, swinging upward as it approached Goras' wrists.

There was a scream, a cry, and two little thuds joined by the clang of metal against the floor.

Goras fell before Lucy. His arms now ended at burnt stubs at his wrists. He screamed in inarticulate rage and pain at his dismemberment.

Lucy stared at him in shock. She was still alive. She looked down to the blue energy blade shining in her hand and laughed lowly. She stopped paying attention to Goras in that moment, absorbed completely in her miraculous achievement.

This was a mistake, as Goras started to gather his energy. Even with no hands to focus his power through, he could hit her hard enough to do damage, perhaps to kill.

But there was a sudden and fierce movement and here came the fist of Angela Delgado right on target. The shock of the blow knocked the crazed Mastrash unconscious.

The sound of the impact jolted Lucy's attention back to the here and now. She looked down at her foe, now unconscious, and at Angela beside him. She was on a knee and fierce pain was written all over her face, such that Lucy didn't need her gift to see it. Angel gave her a pained smile. Her hazel eyes looked over Swenya's Blade, still shining brightly. "Cool sword," she managed.

"Yeah," croaked Robert, who was crawling his way over to them. He smiled weakly at them. "Good job getting it to work."

"Thanks," Lucy answered. She extinguished the blade before she reached down to help Robert to his feet. "So, it looks like we won."

"Yeah, we did," Angel said. "Look."

Lucy looked upward at the Chamber where, much to her pleasant surprise, Goras' followers were surrendering to Ledosh and Gina in one wordless group. Without his life being threatened, the technician was allowed to lower the forcefield. Green-robed healers rushed to Karesl and Meridina alongside their family.

"Well, we lived," Robert said. He grimaced as he held his left arm with his right. It looked like it was broken. "I guess pain never feels so good than when it means you're still alive."

Angel forced the grimace from her face and answered, "Pain is weakness leaving the body." She snorted. "At least that's what Commander Kane told me."

"Yeah… I think that's a bit.. Off…" Robert winced at trying to move his arm. "Because I feel pretty damned weak right now." He looked to where Meridina was being treated. "What do you think?"

"Pain is pain," Meridina answered. Her voice was weak, but the tone behind it was triumphant. "It reminds us we are alive. But it can break as often as it strengthens." She looked to where Goras lay unconscious on the ground. "Sometimes in ways others don't see until it is too late." She lifted her eyes to look at Lucy. "You have wielded Swenya's Blade in battle against darkness. My people cannot deny the correctness of your training now."

"So… we win?", Lucy asked, favoring her injured arm.

"Every one of us," Meridina agreed. A sad look came over her as she looked to where her critically wounded father was being prepared for a stretcher. "Although the cost may be high."

The others became respectfully silent at that. Due to their silence they gradually became aware that, save for the healers, the rest of the Chamber's occupants were staring down at them. The trio stopped speaking and looked to the seats..

One by one, the Gersallians of the Order of Swenya bowed their heads in respect and admiration.

"You have achieved something I did not think possible," said Ledosh, who walked up to them.

"You mean two students and a non-powered fighter beating a Mastrash?", Lucy asked.

Ledosh shook his head. "No. That was always possible, especially as he descended into darkness and lost his way. No, your achievement is that you have won the acceptance of the Order today. You stood here, in the eyes of all, and reforged Swenya's Blade. And with it, you defeated the greatest threat the Order has faced in centuries." Ledosh smiled at that. "The Council has voted. Meridina is clear of all accusations, and you two have been recognized as the likely progenitors of a Human swevyra tradition."

"Well, good to know we won after all that."

Ledosh nodded to them and moved on.

"So… who do I give this to?", Lucy asked. "Because I bet it's not 'Finder's Keepers' with a cultural artifact."

"We'll let Ledosh figure that out," Robert said. "Right now, we need good food and a soft bed."

"You don't even have to ask," said Lucy. "But first, I want my multidevice back." She looked down to the round hilt in her hand. "I've got some scanning to do."

 

[Big Steve]

Captain Robert Dale Personal Log; 15 May 2642.

We're all alive.

And that is news, because we fought one of the most powerful members of the Order of Swenya, a member going mad with power, and we lived.

We've spent the night in the medical ward of the Great Temple having our wounds treated. The Order's healers are astounding with how much they can do without technology and most of our injuries were dealt with by their healing methods.

Although some wounds are not so easily healed.



The four crewmembers from the Aurora stood quietly in the bedroom of the medical ward while an apprentice healer used both his senses and medical scan technology to check on the status of Mastrash Karesl. He breathed slowly and weakly. Around his bed Meridina's mother and siblings had gathered, holding a quiet vigil.

"What have the doctors said?", Lucy asked Meridina. She was in a second set of civilian clothing, fetched from the Rio Grande the prior night, and Swenya's Blade dangled openly on her belt.

"He was examined by a medical expert from Jantarihal early this morning," Meridina replied. She was back in proper tunic and vest as a full-standing member of the Order, with the blue robes of a field Knight. Her lakesh hilt was on her belt even though it had yet to be repaired. "He suffered severe internal bleeding from Goras' attack. They are hopeful for his recovery, but depending on how his body heals, my father may be unable to keep up his duties with the Council Mastrasham."

"I think he's strong enough to pull it out," Angel remarked. She was back in her civilian clothes, which hid the bandaging around her damaged ribs and the bruising from all of the pounding Goras had inflicted on her. There was no hiding the wince whenever she moved a certain way, though.

"Regardless of the outcome, we will be here for him." Drentiya looked up from her chair. "Thank you all for your bravery last night."

"Thank you for giving us the chance to be there," Robert answered. His left arm had been mended by the ministrations of the Temple Healers, but it still ached and he refused to move it unless he had to. Even rapid healing couldn't keep him from feeling pain from the injuries.

There was movement at the door. Gina stepped in and bowed his head respectfully. "I am glad you're all well," she said. "The Council has summoned you. All four of you."

Meridina looked from Gina to her slumbering father. She wanted to wait and see him wake up. She wanted to talk to him, to thank him, for being there for her, and for understanding her.

But she had duties still, and Karesl had raised her to fulfill duties above her own wants. "I'll be back shortly," she said to her family.

"We'll be here, Meridina," Drentiya said. "Take as long as you need."




A reception was waiting for them in the Council Chamber, as many of the seats were filled again with blue and green and cream-robed members of the Order. Workers had already put the Council's table back, but the scars of battle damage hadn't yet been completely removed.

Sitting in Maklir's place was another older Mastrash with a balding head and a long, beakish nose. The seat for Karesl remained empty, but that of Goras was also filled by another Mastrash, and woman with short graying brown hair and a light complexion.

"Knight Meridina. Lucilla Lucero. Robert Dale. Angela Delgado." The old man bowed partially to them from his seat. "We thank you for your bravery. I am Mastrash Tinaran."

Meridina made the same bow in return. The others bowed their heads instead. "You're welcome," Robert said. "What can we do for you?"

"There are a few orders of business the Council wishes to discuss with you," Tinaran stated. "The most pressing being the issue of Swenya's Blade." He directed his dark amber eyes toward Lucy. "You have achieved something remarkable, Lucilla. No one has ever imagined it possible to bring life to Swenya's Blade. Many of our greatest have tried and failed."

"It was a matter of thinking the right way, sir," Lucy answered. "I just had the right background in understanding technology."

"So you say." Tinaran folded his hands together. "It has created quite the stir among our people. Many in the citizenry believe we should offer you a purple robe. Alas, that would require you committing to the Order."

"I figured. I have a place already." Lucy looked to the others briefly.

"Yes. Of course, this means that Swenya's Blade must be returned. It is a relic of our Foundress and a treasure of the Gersallian people. It does not belong to any one person."

Lucy felt the others looking at her curiously. But she merely smiled and unclipped the ancient weapon from her belt. She used her power to gently levitate it over to Tinaran. "I understand," she explained to them. "I don't have any problems with returning it."

"Thank you for your understanding." Tinaran looked over the Council with some relief.

Robert tried not to frown. He got the feeling that the Council wasn't exactly about to throw them a ticker tape parade. As he contemplated the reasons, he asked, "Can I ask a question before we continue?"

Tinaran looked again to the others. Nods were the only answers he got, though not from all. "That is acceptable."

"Goras claimed his followers would attack the government as well," Robert said. "But I haven't heard anything about this."

"The Interdependency Security Force was prepared," Ledosh replied. "We are told they received word from the Alliance Government warning them of an imminent Dissenter attempt to overthrow our government. Curiously, it came from the Office of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations."

The four shared bewildered looks. The idea that Davies would help thwart a coup that was going to give him what he wanted was… bizarre.

"Either way, the attack failed to seize the Director or any of his subordinates, and the Assembly was unharmed," Tinaran said. "Goras' madness ended last night."

"And Goras himself?"

"Incarcerated," another of the Council members, a tan-skinned woman with graying brown hair, said. Robert felt Meridina's mind communicate a name to him: Hadisina. "We will decide his fate later."

"Testing Goras will be a difficult prospect.."

"Last night seemed like quite a test," Angel guffawed.

The Council didn't react to that.

"There are other points we must address," Tinaran said. "Specifically, the issue of the Prophecy of the Dawn."

"What about it?", Robert asked.

"We ask that you not speak on it in public," the old man said. "The Council once voted to investigate whether your existence and your actions were signs of the Prophecy's fulfillment. We encouraged the Gersallian government to resist your removal from the Aurora on the strength of that belief. But in light of recent occurrences, we now feel that this issue is too potentially disruptive to the populace. The Council has made an official public ruling; the Prophecy is not coming to pass at this time, and we will no longer make policies based upon that calculation."

Meridina couldn't hide her disappointment. "We all saw them," she said. "None can deny what they are. Who but the Bearers of the Dawn could re-ignite Swenya's Blade?"

One of the other Council members answered immediately. "As Lieutenant Lucero herself pointed out, she merely used her technical knowledge. There is nothing of the swevyra about her insight." Meridina identified him mentally for them: Verairos.

"I didn't mean it was just…"

Before Lucy could finish, Tinaran raised a hand. "This is our decision, Knight Meridina, and it is final. The Order, for the moment, holds that the Prophecy is not coming true. Its authenticity will still be debated until we see further indications that Swenya's vision is coming to pass."

Meridina bowed her head. "Yes, Master."

"Why?", Robert asked. "Are the Dissenters that powerful? Their leader just got outed to the entire Multiverse as having become a madman falling into darkness. Their coup fizzled."

"Not all Dissenters were violent," Tinaran said. "Many rejected Goras' path. But they are still our people, and their beliefs and feelings must be considered."

"Even some of those who support the Alliance are not comfortable with the idea of the Prophecy," Hadisina added. "We must consider their views. If the Order, if we, continue to follow this line, we will only further damage the balance of our people."

"And it is clear that others in the Alliance have their own concerns about our actions on the matter," Verairos added. "Even now, legislators for the Alliance Council are proposing an act that would bar members of our Order from serving in the Alliance Government while remaining in the Order. It is clear that we have invited hostility in the Alliance that we must act to dispel. And that means withdrawing ourselves from the Alliance's direct affairs."

"You're just going to what, go isolationist?", Lucy asked.

"No, not at all," Hadisina said. "But we will no longer show interest in the internal affairs of the Alliance, we will merely offer our services when and where it is needed."

"And this extends to the issue of the Prophecy of the Dawn, and of the Aurora," Tinaran said. "Our people spent valuable influence in shielding you from the hostility of your own superiors last year. We cannot do so any longer. The Prophecy, true or not, must not dictate our approach to the future."

Robert couldn't argue with Tinaran. He didn't like the thought of trying to judge situations through things like prophecies. His own nightmares and dreams had been a mixed bag so far. They'd helped at Gamma Piratus, but 33LA had been a different story.

But he felt there was more to it than that. He thought he could feel something else in the Council. A nebulous sort of… fear? As if these Council members, given a reason, wanted to dismiss the Prophecy of the Dawn because something about it…

...scared them?

"Additionally…" Tinaran leaned forward in his seat and put his hands together. "There is the matter of your current position. The Council has debated the matter extensively."

"What is the Council's decision, then?" Meridina looked to Ledosh. He had lowered his eyes. Whatever was going on, he had been outvoted.

It was Tinaran who answered. "The charges have been cleared, as Ledosh informed you last night. However, in keeping with our decision on restricting our affairs in the Alliance, it is our choice to recall you from field service from the time being. You are hereby instructed by the Council to resign your commission in the Alliance Stellar Navy and to return to Gersal."

"You will be assigned to the Temple Knights," Hadisina added. "Knight-Commander Hajamar will assign you where you are needed while you work with the Healers to finish purging the darkness that remains latent due to your experience with the Goa'uld. In time, when you have served your proper time with the Temple Knights, we will see to a new field assignment."

Meridina drew in a breath. Her heart hurt at hearing their decision. She looked to the others, who all looked to her with worry and sadness, particularly Lucy. "I see," she said.

"You have proven a valuable and loyal swevyra'se. It is unfortunate that your devotion to the Prophecy helped to cause this strife," Tinaran said. "We will do everything in our power to help you recover from what has happened."

"No," Lucy said. "Meridina, you…"

Robert set a hand on her shoulder. "Lucy, it'll be okay. You and I can carry on together." He looked to Tinaran. "The Council won't object to Meridina remaining in contact with us, will it?"

"Within reason, no," he answered vaguely. "She has a right to association so long as it does not impact the Order."

Angel rolled her eyes. "So basically, the answer is 'yes, but only if we like it'."

"Swevyra'se have responsibilities," Hadisina said. "Sometimes they require us to restrain ourselves."

Meridina had remained silent through this exchange. Her mind raced with the implications of what was being said. She bitterly imagined Goras would laugh when he learned; he might not have split Gersal from the Alliance, but the Council was certainly tilting toward his side of things. They wanted to pull away from the Alliance. And Meridina couldn't understand why.

But they were the Council. The Code required she obey them on matters like this, just as she would one day be obeyed if she sat upon the Council.

She turned her head to face her comrades. By the scale of her life, her involvement with them was not terribly long. Just a few years, and mostly the prior eighteen months. But that was enough time to build the bonds she felt toward them. To enjoy the wonder and delight of Caterina at seeing new things, Jarod's daily happiness at having a place and identity of his own, Zachary's confident growth as a commander, Commander Kane's curious mixture of straight professionalism and exuberant camaraderie…

The crew of the Aurora had become more than colleagues. They had become her second family.

Meridina's heart threatened to split at the weight of the choice before her. She closed her eyes before tears could form in them.

"Meridina?", Robert asked. "What is it?" He could feel the turmoil within her as she weighed two parts of herself, and judged which she would have to rip away.

"You don't have to do this," Angel insisted to the Council. "Let her stay with us. We work well together. And we won't talk about this Prophecy or whatever."

"The decision of the Council is final," Tinaran declared. "Knight Meridina, you may say your goodbyes. We will arrange for anything you left on the Aurora to be brought to your new quarters here in the Temple."

Robert and Lucy were both looking at her. Lucy could feel the pain building in Meridina's heart. Tears filled her eyes at that feeling. She said nothing about it; there was nothing to say.

Meridina had a choice to make, it was that simple. And her nature demanded she make it decisively, with no doubt, although either choice would almost demand such doubt. Because she had already known doubt, and felt what it could do to her. How it could undermine her and weaken her.

"Meridina…?", Ledosh asked.

"Mastrasham of the Council," Meridina said. "I hear your commands. The Code of Swenya, the Code I have sworn to live my life by, to give my life for, requires I obey them." She turned to face them. Her eyes focused on Ledosh. "Mastrash Ledosh, I can never thank you enough for your patience as a mentor and a teacher. You taught me to listen to the wisdom of my swevyra. That is what made me the swevyra'se I am today."

Ledosh was paling as he realized what was going on. "Meridina…," he began.

As he said her name, Meridina was already gripping the right shoulder of her blue robe. In a gentle, quiet motion, she pulled her right arm out of the sleeve, and then her left arm out of the other. In several motions she folded the robe reverently into a flat square and laid it gently upon the Council's table. They were all staring in disbelief as she took her lakesh hilt and laid it on top of her discarded robe.

"My heart and my swevyra lead me in the same direction," Meridina said. Tears were already pouring from her blue eyes. "My place is on the Aurora. I cannot obey your order. I have no choice but to renounce my Oath to the Order of Swenya."

The air seemed to grow chilled. The Council members looked at each other in utter surprise. For all of their power, their supposed vision, they hadn't seen this coming.

"I will remember my service to the Order fondly," she said. "It was everything I wanted in life. And though I am compelled to renounce my place as a swevyra'se of Gersal, I will still honor the Code of Swenya until my dying breath." Meridina bowed to them with genuine respect.

"You can never come back," Tinaran warned. "You have chosen this course to evade a proper Order from this Council. Therefore you will be regarded as having left this Order for selfish reasons and you will be treated accordingly."

Meridina nodded in acknowledgement. "Mi rake sa swevyra iso."

And without another word, she walked away.

Robert, Lucy, and Angel looked to the Council. "Have a good day," Robert said, and he managed some sincerity in it despite himself. Afterward he too turned, as did Lucy and Angel, and the three walked briskly to catch up with Meridina and joined her in exiting the Chamber.




The four Aurora crew emerged from the central structure of the Great Temple and walked on toward the stop for the commuter service. Robert and Lucy shared uncomfortable glances; they could feel the pain inside of Meridina.

"Those sons of bitches," Angel growled. "That asshole Goras is going to laugh his ass off when he finds out."

"They're scared," Robert said.

"Of what? Goras' crazy supporters?"

"No." Lucy shook her head. "Something else. They're scared of something else."

As they approached the stop, an aircar pulled up. Its doors opened. "Please, come with me," Gina said from the driver's seat.

The four looked at each other, although Meridina barely glanced as part of that.

"Please hurry," Gina insisted. "We don't have much time, they're going to get suspicious."

"Well, since you put it like that," Robert sighed, climbing in on one side. Everyone joined him and within five seconds, the aircar was zooming away. "Where are we going?", he asked Gina.

"The countryside," she replied. "Mastrash Ledosh's family still owns a small cottage in the mountains. He's going to meet us there in a few hours. Privately, away from the Council and the Order."

"What's going on?", Angel asked. "Why all the secrecy?"

"I don't know why," Gina said. "But I know he thinks it's very important." Gina glanced back at Meridina, who was squeezed in between Lucy and Angel. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you would be coming. I… well, Ledosh didn't think you'd actually leave the Order."

"I almost didn't," Meridina admitted. Her reddened eyes briefly looked to Lucy and then to Robert in the front seat. "But I felt I had to."

"Hopefully we're about to find out why they forced that choice on you," Robert said.




The Lookout was mostly empty when Julia arrived to have lunch. Even most of the usual staff seemed to be gone.

But not Hargert, of course. Never Hargert. He approached her with a tray, on which there was a steaming bowl of sausage stew and a plate of lunch finger foods that looked delicious as always. A glass of fruit juice rounded out the lunch. "Don't you ever take days off?", Julia asked him as he settled the tray before her. She smiled gently. "You always seem to be here at work."

"And what would I do with my days off, Commander?", Hargert replied amiably. "I would be here anyway. This is not work to me, it is pleasure." A smile creased his wrinkled old face. "That I am compensated for it makes it all the more enjoyable." He slid into the chair opposite from her. "I hear congratulations are in order to the Captain of the new Enterprise."

Julia shook her head and grinned. She picked up a spoon and dipped it into the stew. "I'm sure Scotty's told everyone on the ship. Although I honestly haven't said 'yes' yet."

"Ah. You wish to discuss things with Robert, yes?"

"Among other things." Julia took a bite and savored the delicious, rich taste. "I swear to God, Hargert, you are the greatest cook I've ever known. You would have given competition to Rob's grandmother."

"Danke schon," he answered. "I suspect we learned the same way."

"Maybe." Julia stirred the spoon in the stew again.

As she took her next bite, two more figures walked up. Caterina and Violeta were in uniform too, wearing uniform skirts instead of trousers. They were holding hands. "Can we?", Cat asked.

Julia nodded. "Sure."

"I shall be right back." Hargert got up and walked off, presumably to get two more sets of food for the new arrivals.

Cat and Violeta took chairs beside each other. "I heard from Angel that she was okay," Cat said. "But I'm still not sure what happened. Something about a fight and a bad guy with mind powers?

"Apparently one of the leaders of Meridina's Order went nuts and tried to kill everyone. Rob and Angel and Lucy helped put him down."

"Lucy, you mean Lieutenant Lucero, right?" Violeta's face brightened up. "I was watching a video this morning over the IU extranet. She had some kind of energy sword!"

"Don't ask me, I'm still wondering about it myself," Julia replied.

"When are they going to be home?"

"Maybe later today, maybe tomorrow."

"Oh." Cat nodded. "Well, then maybe… well, actually…"

Julia crossed her arms and adopted something of a half-smile. "I can hear it in your voice Cat. What do you need?"

"Not me. Violeta. She, well, she needs… she's new, so…"

With Cat clearly nervous about the request, Violeta spoke up. "I haven't been on the ship for longer than six months, so I'm not automatically eligible for a leave time. I'm getting temporary assignment to the shuttle pilot pool at the end of the week. But until then… well, Cat was telling me she's never been to Paris or Venice, and she has a few days of eligible leave, and I was thinking…"

Both of the girls were blushing by this point. Julia smiled softly. "I think I can manage a few days of leave time for you, Ensign Arterria. You might have to do some extra duty once the ship's underway again, though."

"I'm fine with that," Violeta said. "Completely."

"Ah. Well. I'll have your leave papers arranged tomorrow. You'll need to be back in time to report to the Fleet Base Piloting Division, of course."

"Of course!" Violeta nodded and grinned. "Of course, I'll be back on time, I promise you Commander."

Cat let out a little squee and left her chair to give Julia a tight hug. "Thank you, Julie. Thank you so much. I'll make it up to you!"

"You always do," Julia answered. "And you can start by letting me get back to my lunch? Hargert's already on his way with your's."

And indeed, he was.




The cottage was small, a structure that at its largest was the size of the living area of Robert's quarters. Gina escorted them to the door and saw them inside. "I'll be waiting out here and watching," she said. The furnishings were spartan and simple. A pantry in the far left corner of the rectangular room included a small stove and an icebox or refrigerator. In the opposite corner, to their right, was a simple cot, and to their left were a couple of chairs and one small couch that looked like it could also be used for sleeping.

In fact, the only thing that made the cottage look like it didn't belong in the 20th Century was the technology in the far right corner. A computer system was present, beside a mantle with holo-image bases instead of photographs and what looked like a stand for a lakesh hilt. Beside it was a big book.

But the final item was the real breaker of the image of quiet, pre-space age living. A transporter pad.

White light appeared in a burst on the pad. Ledosh appeared from within the burst. His purple-with-blue-trim robe was still over his white vest and brown tunic and trousers. He looked to them and nodded. "It is good to see you."

"Mastrash Ledosh." All nodded back in some way, although Angel's as more one of acknowledgement than any deference.

He nodded back. "Thank you for coming." Ledosh turned his head slightly to face Meridina directly. "Meridina, I am sorry. I tried to vote against it."

"I know," she said. "If Councilman Pensley has his way, I would have faced this choice anyway."

"Senator Pensley, now," Ledosh said.

"What?", Robert asked, incredulous.

"Admiral Maran and I have been sharing updates since the coup attempt. Last night the Tetzelian National Assembly voted to appoint Pensley to replace Senator Marswell, one of those lost to Goras' madness."

Robert nodded. "I'm guessing Goras was behind the attack on the Senate, then?"

"According to the Temple Knights, yes. They found evidence on his computers of his collusion and Alliance Naval Intelligence corroborated it with the evidence they forwarded to the Interdependency this morning. Unfortunately the apprentice he used, Intalarai, was one that he did not have present at the attack. She has gone missing."

"I still can't believe Davies helped with that," Lucy said.

"I am fairly uncertain of his reasoning myself. But that is not the matter at hand. The Council will become suspicious if I remain here too long."

"Wouldn't they suspect you for leaving the Great Temple anyway?"

"No, Lieutenant Delgado. It is a practice of mine to come to the cottage and meditate when I am agitated by my colleagues. But I am never gone for very long in those circumstances."

"No, you wouldn't be," Meridina said quietly.

Ledosh's eyes brimmed with compassion when he looked at his student. "They were wrong to react as they did to your departure. Although even I wish you had stayed. Though the Council and many older Mastrasham are in agreement on this policy, the younger ranks of the Order see you as a heroine. Many now believe the Prophecy is coming true and are upset by the Council's choices. Given time, I may persuade them, and with you to rally the field Knights…" Ledosh sighed and shook his head. "I will not criticize you for following your swevyra's direction, though. I've trained you too well to have you ignore it."

"So why is the Council scared about the Prophecy?", Lucy asked.

"The real reason," Robert clarified. "Because I felt that fear. This isn't about society and politics."

"For the same reason Goras and Karesl are against it being true. They don't want it to be true, and they are afraid it is."

"That makes little sense to me," Meridina said. Her voice became the most animated it had been since they left the Great Temple. "I have never understood why anyone would oppose the idea of the Dawn Bearers. It is a prophecy speaking of a new Golden Age, it is not something to dread!"

There was something in Ledosh's expression that made Robert realized there was more to this than even Meridina could see. "Is there more to it?", he asked.

Ledosh sighed. "Yes. There is."

Meridina stared at him. "What? I have read it, how could there be more?"

"Well, what is the Prophecy?", Angel said. "I mean, is it something like the Book of Revelations? Or some of the prophecies the old Hebrew Prophets would give?"

"It is best described as a poem, reciting Swenya's statement on what the future held," Meridina said. "I memorized it years ago. I shall attempt to render it into your English." She drew in a breath and began to speak.

"In the final days of Swenya
The Grand Foundress felt the future.
The ones who would come
Kin of the Lost People
The Bearers of the Dawn

She cried onto her people
"Seek them, children of Gersal
Their Light shall bring salvation!"
The forger and the leader
The commander and the sage
The builder and his teacher
The healer and the gifted
The unforgiven and the redeemed
And the sisters of fire and heart
United by the Light of their bonds
That none shall break

Their travels will be many
Their trials will be great
Their triumphs will be grand
They shall find the wanderers and the shepherd
And the explorer and the emissary
The masked one stands as their ally
The timeless one shall be their friend
One with a Spirit of Light shall guide them
As generals and rulers alike stand beside them

The forces of evil shall shudder
When faced by the Light they forge
Their Light a holy shield
Driving away all that is horrible
And bringing forth the golden rays of the Dawn
Under which all of Creation shall flourish

Seek them, children of Gersal
Let nothing deter you
For with the Bearers of the Dawn
Comes Hope and Victory"

Click to shrink...

When Meridina finished, the other three looked at each other. "'Sisters of fire and heart'," Lucy said, looking to Angel. "Well, I can see that with you and Cat, I guess."

Robert smiled gently at Angel. "You're definitely the sister of fire. It's one of the things I love about you."

She returned the little smile, but there was an edge to it. Angel clearly felt uncomfortable with all of this.

"And Julia and Zack are both Commanders," Lucy continued. "But then again, I get the feeling it means something else."

"It would," Ledosh said. "These words were written in the High Gersallian dialect of Swenya's time. We are fortunate that they survived the Uprising of the Brotherhood."

"The Brotherhood of Kohbal, you mean."

"Yes."

"I know they caused a lot of destruction in that era, but until last night I never realized how much," Lucy continued. "I mean, I'm betting they're the reason that the Order went from something like Swenya's Blade to the memory metal blades in a lakesh. It was the best replacement the survivors could find after they lost the knowledge."

"It would appear so. And undoubtedly the Council will spend the next several weeks deliberating whether to allow technical examination of Swenya's Blade or avoid the risk of damaging it."

"The power cell lasted for three thousand years, I'm not even sure that naqia devices could manage that."

"I'm more interested in this issue with the Prophecy," Robert pointed out.

"Oh, yeah." Lucy sighed. "Okay, so that sounds… I mean, it talks about evil, but it says we'd beat it. I'm not scared by it "

"That is because it is not the original version," Ledosh revealed.

Meridina looked at him with surprise. "Mastrash Ledosh, there's more?"

"Not much," Ledosh said. "But the original version has an extra line in the final stanza. A line that we have kept hidden for thousands of years."

"Holy crap," Lucy said. "What does it say, something about the sun dying out or something?"

Ledosh nodded grimly. "Something worse. Simply by telling you this, I place myself at jeopardy before the Order. But I believe the Prophecy is coming true, and that you must be informed of what it truly means." Ledosh turned again to Meridina, who was staring at him in horror. "I'm sorry for not telling you, Meridina. I argued for it, but the Council refused me. Just as they demanded we hide the existence of the Prophecy from you and your crew, Captain."

"I'm guessing the Prophecy is why Meridina was assigned to us in the first place," Robert replied. He looked to her. "And she was ordered not to tell?"

"And she was ordered to avoid any act to promote your knowledge of swevyra should you have power with it," Ledosh confirmed.

"I am very sorry," Meridina said to them. "It was thought necessary while we determined if the Prophecy was actually coming true."

"And since I am certain that it is, I am ready to reveal the true version of the Prophecy to you."

"Well, okay then," Angel said. "Lay it on us."

Ledosh drew in a breath and spoke the final stanza, adding a sixth line.

Seek them, children of Gersal
Let nothing deter you
For with the Bearers of the Dawn
Comes Hope and Victory
When the Darkness come again"

Click to shrink...

There was a gasp in the room. It came from Robert. His mind flashed back several months to Gamma Piratus and the Darglan Facility there. A Facility filled with the wreckage and damage of an ancient battle, and in its secured databanks, a partial message left by the defenders.

"'Stop the Darkness'," Robert murmured. When all eyes turned to him, Robert explained in a louder voice, "It was the only line left of a message left by the Darglan in the Facility on Gamma Piratus. The end of a spoken sentence with those three words. '...stop the Darkness.'"

"So what is the Darkness?", Lucy asked Meridina.

"I do not know," she said. "Although.." A memory came to her mind. "Years ago, Caterina showed me the holographic chamber in your Facility."

"Which is when it told you about a prize for the Gersallian species at a blue sun," Angel said. "I remember. Looking for it is how we came into contact with the Galactica and the Colonial Refugees."

"Yes. But there was a message with it. A warning about the use of the Darglans' drive technology, and how we must always respect the limitations of the drives, or we might be exposed to a 'darkness' that dwells in the deepest voids of the dimensions. And that if we did so, 'Ancient Ones' would punish us." Meridina shook her head. "I reported this at the time, but no one spoke to me of it."

"That is because the Council restricted this knowledge long ago," Ledosh said. "One of the surviving writings from Kohbal's Uprising spoke of an ancient war. All that we know is that Swenya led a group of devoted swevyra'se to fight at the side of the Darglan against the Darkness, and that few returned alive with her at the end of the war. Not everything from her account survives, sadly. From what we have left, we know that the Darkness could not be reasoned with, could not be negotiated with, and indeed never even communicated. They only strived to destroy all Life that they found, and Swenya claimed to have watched them annihilate entire stars."

An image flashed in Robert's vision. An image from his dreams, of stars dying out in never-ending waves until entire galaxies had gone dark.

"If they could destroy stars… why weren't they listed as an Omega-level threat by the Darglan?", Lucy wondered.

"Maybe the Darglan never had time to update the list?", Angel speculated.

"Or maybe there was no point in updating the list once the war was over," Robert said. "We know the Darglan were from E5B1, and that the First Ones of that universe's Milky Way banned them from ever using the IU jump drives again."

"This explains the warning they left in their message to us," Meridina added.

"And why they asked the Asgard for weapons technology." Robert shook his head. "And Thor's warning to me about using the IU drives. The Asgard knew something of the Darkness, even if he didn't say anything about knowing their name. Thor said they even allied with the Goa'uld at the time to resist them."

"What I want to know is how the Darglan could beat something that destroyed stars," Lucy said. "That's.. I mean, it's nearly impossible."

"That mad scientist Tolian Soran could do it," Robert said. "He destroyed one star and almost took out another."

"He didn't destroy the stars, actually, he just changed them," Lucy pointed out. "I wouldn't call that annihilation."

Ledosh spoke next. "We know Swenya spoke of beings who came to the Darglans' aid due to the threat the Darkness posed. Ancient races and species that sided with them, some just as terrifying as the Darkness in their power. Races that could manipulate space and time, races with enormous mental powers, even beings made of pure energy."

"And they what, beat the Darkness by blowing them up before they blew up suns?", Angel asked.

"We do not know." Ledosh shook his head. "Which only serves to feed the fears of the Council. This is why they wish the Prophecy to be wrong, and why they do not want it revealed. The fear it would generate among people to imagine such a powerful enemy returned to threaten us could make our current upheaval even worse."

Meridina nodded. "I… I never knew, I…" Her eyes fell. Her face was pale. A tear started falling from her right eye as she closed them. "This is what Father meant when he said I would be broken if the Prophecy came true. He knew that I was hoping for this horror to return to threaten us without knowing it."

"Yes, that is like him." Ledosh bowed his head. "I cannot give you access to the writings right now. The Council would be suspicious of my access at this time. But when I can, I will do more to teach you about this threat, while I hope and pray that the Prophecy is in error."

"Yes," Meridina said. "I hope so too."

"I have told you all that I can. I'm afraid you must go, and go quickly. As it is, the Order may suspect you were up to something if they realize how long your ship has remained," Ledosh said. As he did so he walked to the side and concentrated.

The door opened. Gina stepped in. "You're done?", she asked.

"I am."

"You can't tell me what was said," Gina remarked, and this was aimed at the others. "If the Council found out I was informed, Ledosh and I would be punished."

"Well, we won't," Robert said. "Just us knowing is risk enough for him."

"Yes." Meridina was staring off into space. "Let us depart."

"I have contacted an Order vessel equipped with an IU jump drive, they will provide you a jump back to Earth L2M1 upon your arrival to orbit," Ledosh said. "Gina is more talented with the transporters than I am, she will help you transport back to your ship."

"I'll go back and beam the rest of you at once," Lucy said.

While Gina and Lucy worked, and Robert and Angel stood to the side holding hands, Ledosh stepped up to his student. He felt her turmoil and sadness and frustration and it made him feel shame and guilt. The Council had repaid her devotion and faith with narrow-minded cowardice… and he had repaid it with deception. "I am sorry," he said. "I lacked the courage to defy the Council. I feared that Goras and Karesl would prevail if I did defied the Council's instructions."

"I know, and I understand." Meridina shook her head.

"I feel your pain, student. Please, don't hold it in this time. Give it release."

Meridina didn't reply to that.

"Will you say goodbye to your family?"

Meridina nodded. "I wish to. But I will not be welcome in the Temple, and they are with my father."

Lucy heard that and looked over to her. "I think I can make the transport work," she said. "The Great Temple's got passive anti-beaming fields, of course, but Ledosh's systems are tied into them with the frequencies that aren't blocked, just let me get the right frequency and I can send you over once we're on the Rio Grande."

"We'll send you as soon as we're back," Robert said. "And you can take all of the time you need."

"Thank you," was her quiet reply.

"And I've got us ready to beam over," Lucy said. She stepped over to the pad. "I'll go first. I'll signal when I'm ready to beam you over." She nodded to Ledosh. "It was nice meeting you again, Mastrash Ledosh."

"The same to you, Lucilla Lucero."

With a press of a key, Gina beamed Lucy away.

"Good luck with the Council," Robert said. "Let us know if we can help you with anything."

"I will," Ledosh said. "And be mindful. The knowledge I have given you is disturbing, but do not let it weigh down your heart. The Darkness can be stopped, should they return. Continue your training in the meantime. Your visions may give us further insights into the path we are treading upon."

"We'll keep that in mind," Angel said. Robert felt his heart twist a little at the tone in her voice. She would not take him continuing training very well, not when he had promised it'd be over soon.

Before he could say anything about it, his multidevice chimed. "Lucy's ready for us."

Meridina looked to Ledosh. She bowed and, with a tear in her eye, she gave her farewell. "I hope to see you again, Mastrash. Mi rake sa swevyra iso."

Ledosh nodded. "I wish the same, Meridina. Mi rake sa swevyra iso."

Robert pressed a key on his multidevice. They all transported away.




Nobody said anything when Meridina beamed into the hall of the Great Temple's medical ward, just outside her father's room. Inside she found her family gathered. Despite everything, her heart felt lightened at seeing Karesl's eyes open.

"We heard," Drentiya said. "I can feel your pain, Meri. I am so sorry."

"The Council are a bunch of kenyakam," declared Leniraya.

Meridina stifled a chuckle that would have been full of pain. "We're preparing to launch to return to the Aurora," she said. "But I wished to say goodbye, and to see how father was doing."

"I am recovering," Karesl said weakly. "The healers tell me another minute and I would have been beyond saving." He turned his head in a stiff motion. "Tinaran told me what the Council ruled, and what they have done." He frowned. "And what you have done."

"I am sorry, Father, for disappointing you."

Karesl shook his head. The motion was as stiff as his movement earlier. "Do not concern yourself with it. I can sense the hurt in you, you do not need more from believing me angry with you." A sour look came to him. "Ledosh told you, didn't he? He told you about the Prophecy."

Meridina didn't reply. She knew Karesl could only be hurt if their family found out.

"I am sorry," Karesl said.

"Whatever it is, what's done is done," Drentiya said. "Please, Meridina, come home again sometime. We wish to see more of you."

"I am no longer in the Order, but I still have duties on the Aurora," she said. "But now that things have changed and my presence will not bring any disruption… I will return, and I will visit you whenever I can."

That brought smiles to her family. Qalkrsl spoke up next. "We're proud of you, Meri. Always. Even though you're no longer in the Order, we know you're a swevyra'se and always will be."

"Always," Karesl agreed. He reached his hand up and Meridina took it. "I have always loved you, daughter, but know that I am also proud of you, Meridina, and I always will be. You are following the calling you feel within, and I hope it brings you the destiny that you seek. May the Light of your swevyra always guide you well. And if the Prophecy is true… I will be there to help you, in whatever means is necessary."

"Thank you, father." Tears welled up in Meridina's eyes. "Thank you very much."

And she embraced him gladly, comforted in the knowledge that regardless of how things had turned out, despite all of their disagreements over the prior two years, her father still loved her and was proud of her.



Tag



The first thing Robert did upon their return to the Aurora was head to his quarters and soak in a warm bath. Having a bath tub/shower unit instead of just a shower was a perk of his rank that he didn't often partake in, but with all of his bruises he simply couldn't resist.

He still ached when he left. He had dried off mostly when his display lit up. There was an incoming call, private, that wasn't being routed through the bridge like most calls would be. He pulled on his bathrobe and, with his hair still wet and uncombed, plopped into his chair wearily and tapped the key to accept the call. "Ah." He smiled. "It's good to see you."

"Likewise," replied Commander Elizabeth King. "I hear you had quite the adventure on Gersal."

"And I have the bruises to prove it," Robert answered. The smile stayed on. "I figured something was up with Davies' office helping the Gersallian government."

"Yes. Although it has certainly cost me Admiral Davies' support, I thought it an act of necessity to forward our information from the Dissenter safehouse we found here in Portland." King's face remained neutral, but there was a hint of a satisfied smile coming to her face. "The Gersallian Interdependency is a critical member of the Alliance, after all, providing numerous troops and ships and material for the war effort. We can't afford to let them fall into civil war or an anti-Alliance dictatorship."

"You'll get no disagreement from me on that. But if Davies doesn't want you around anymore, what will you do now?"

"I will serve where I am needed, as always." She checked something off-screen. "I thought you should know that we still haven't found Goras' apprentice Intalarai. She was the powered woman who got away from the Senate attack. Wherever she is, I imagine she will prove dangerous in the future."

"Probably."

"Well, I'll let you get back to settling in and healing from your battle. King out."

She disappeared from the screen. Robert entertained himself with the thought of how Davies had reacted to what happened.

His door chime went off unexpectedly. "Come in," Robert called out. When Julia entered he said, "Hey, Julie. How did everything go while we were gone?"

"Oh, fine enough, I guess," Julia said. She smiled gently at him. "I watched the video making the rounds on the 'net. I should slap you for nearly getting yourself killed again… but that would make me a hypocrite since I nearly got decapitated by a cyborg ninja last week."

"Heh, yeah." Robert nodded. "It all worked out for the best anyway. We brought Meridina home. Although I think she's going to be hurting for a while." He frowned. "She had to leave the Order to come back. They were going to make her resign her commission and come back for duty at their Grand Temple."

Julia nodded in understanding. "I can see how that hurt her." In her heart Julia found that Meridina's choices reflected her own. My friends and family or my career.

Robert wasn't actively sensing Julia's emotions, so he didn't sense the thought in any way to define it. But he could tell Julia was conflicted about something. "What's wrong, Julie?", he asked.

"I… well, you might say I received an offer I couldn't, or at least shouldn't, refuse." Julia shifted in her chair and sighed. "And since Scotty will ensure you get this news sooner or later, I might as well tell you."

"Tell me what?", Robert asked.

"Admiral Maran met with me yesterday," Julia said. "He's asked me to accept a promotion and take command of a starship. A new one, the Enterprise."

For a moment Robert didn't say anything. But just a moment. Slowly a smile formed on his face. "Well, that's… that's incredible," he said. "I'm so happy for you. I know you want your own command."

"I do," she said. "And not at your expense either. And that's how it felt last year when… well, when you were lost in the past meeting Captain Archer. Or when you were on Gamma Piratus." Julia shook her head. "Every bit of me wants to jump for joy and say 'Yes!' in the loudest voice I can while still keeping my personal dignity. Every bit of me but my heart." Her green eyes fell. "Because… even if I brought some of the crew with me, you can't all go. And I know that the more who follow me, the more alone you and the ones left behind will feel. And I don't want to do that to you."

Robert had to admit he did feel worried about the idea of having her leave. He'd have to find a new First Officer, and if it was one he hadn't served with… that meant months of building up a trust like the one Julia and he had shared for decades. He relied upon Julia so much that he wasn't sure he could do the job without her.

But he couldn't bring himself to say that. He couldn't crush her dreams. Because this wasn't just any ship she was talking about, it was the Enterprise. That was a name that anyone would want on their career file. And to be Captain of the Enterprise?

"I think you should go for it," he said. "If that's what you want."

Julia blinked. "Yeah, I thought you'd say that. But we both know how much harder it'll be for you with a new XO."

"I'll find someone. Maybe one of the old Facility hands who's climbing the ranks. I hear Gabriel's son Jose made Lieutenant Commander. Maybe he'll be available when.." Robert stopped. "When would you be leaving?"

"The end of the year. I have about six months to give Maran my answer."

"Right." Robert nodded. "Well, I won't lie. I'll miss you terribly, Julie. We've been side-by-side almost all our lives, and if this happens we won't be seeing each other beyond an occasional fleet operation or if we get lucky and go into the dock at the same time. I'm… well, it'll hurt. But I could never let myself stand in the way of your dreams."

She nodded in reply. And smiled a little. "Thank you." After taking in a breath she said, "So, your message when you jumped back was that some big things happened."

"Well, beyond the failed coup d'etat and the Order of Swenya deciding they wouldn't have our backs anymore…" Robert took in a breath. "...we also found out that the Gersallians can't tell whether or not we're the figures in a three thousand year old prophecy predicting the return of a horrific and powerful alien force that tried to exterminate all Life in the Multiverse three thousand years ago."

He'd kept his voice level. As if he were sharing the weather. Julia blinked and her face betrayed her disbelief. "Wow," she said. "Okay, maybe you need to start from the beginning?"

"Okay," Robert said. "Well, when we got there the other day…"




Meridina had dutifully reported to the Security Office upon her return to the ship. She sent a signal to the Stellar Navy rescinding her resignation - Admiral Maran had kindly tied it up in bureaucracy before it could be accepted - and looked over the reports by her subordinates and by Commander Kane. There were virtually no security issues present save a reported fight between some of the crew and a few dock workers, which could happen whenever they put in.

Soon she was done at the Security Office. Meridina walked to her quarters and into her bedroom, where she sat on her bed silently. She'd left her things before departing, including her spare blue robes and other clothing issued for her use in the Order. Her book of the recovered writings of Swenya was still in its place on her bedroom bookshelf. Looking at it no longer gave her satisfaction. The Council had edited one of those works, after all. How many others had an "official" version for everyone else and the Council's original copy?

How much of her people's knowledge about Swenya, about their history, had been rewritten by the Council over the millennia?

It wasn't those thoughts that ended her silence, though. It was simply all of her pent-up feelings on the day's choice that came bubbling up. She started to weep as the enormity of her choice came to her.

All of her life, since she was a child, Meridina had wanted to walk the path of Swenya. She'd wanted to be a swevyra'se, to uphold the Cold and help the innocent, to live to the highest ideals of her people. The Order had been her purpose, her life.

And now she had walked away from it. No, she'd been pushed away from it.

She'd had a good reason, yes. Her heart, her swevyra, still told her this was the right path for her. That this was the way she was meant to go. But that didn't mean she could ignore what she had just done. She had just slammed the door on her whole life, casting herself off into an uncertain future away from the Order.

It hurt. It hurt like few things had hurt before.

And as she dwelled upon it, it hurt even more, for the simple fact that she couldn't even be sure of what she believed even more. Growing up, the Order had been a beacon of Light itself, an institution wholly devoted to the betterment of not just the Gersallian people but of all species.

But now she had seen that it was not. The Order was fallible. It could be divided. It could be distracted. It could be misled. It could, for the sake of convenience, turn against everything it was supposed to be, and it could deceive to fulfill its own ends or prejudices.

And if the Order could do those things… what did that mean for the Code? Was the Code something they'd just written up for their own benefit? How much of it was genuine, from Swenya, and how much of it was added by the Council over the years to serve their own ends and not the truth?

For that matter… what about Swenya herself? Could she have been the heroine that history claimed? The Order wrote the history, after all…

These two pains, contradictory as they were given her decision, nevertheless meshed into one terrible harmony within Meridina; the understanding that she had seen years of belief burned away. The old certainties that had governed her conduct were gone now, stripped by the reality of what she now knew and what she had done. She felt adrift in a raging sea of uncertainty about the future, about her fate.

But even in a raging sea, one could find the sanctuary of an anchored vessel.

The unlocked door to her quarters opened. Someone locked them quietly. Meridina didn't look up. She could feel Lucy and knew Lucy was feeling what she was going through.

Lucy entered, still in her civilian clothes of jacket, shirt, and pants. She said nothing as she walked over to the bed and sat down by Meridina. Her blue eyes focused on Meridina's tear-filled eyes. A sympathetic tear rolled down her right cheek.

Lucy could have assured her it would be okay. She could have encouraged her in the knowledge she made the right choice. She could have said any number of things calculated to make Meridina feel better.

But she knew that wasn't what Meridina needed. Lucy wordlessly opened her arms and let Meridina embrace her. Meridina continued to cry even as she tightened the hug, resting her head and face on Lucy's left shoulder. Gratitude filled her even amidst the pain she felt; she didn't have to put up a facade of control, she didn't have to hide what she felt. When Lucy had just been her student and a possible piece in the puzzle of the Prophecy, Meridina had to be strong around her, and had only slid from that after Amaunet had taken her.

But now, she didn't need to impose stoic calm. Meridina could let her pain show. She could let her emotions out without undermining what she had to be for Lucy's sake, or for Robert's, or even for herself. Here, with Lucy, she could be vulnerable.

And Lucy… understood. She understood what Meridina needed from her, and what she needed her to be.

When Lucy finally spoke, it was with the only two words that truly mattered. The only thing that would truly ease Meridina's pain.

"I'm here."




In her quarters on Deck 4, Julia Andreys sat in her blue nightrobe and stared at the screen of her computer system. Robert's story to her, about the Gersallian prophecy and how it had already impacted their lives, had her thinking about everything. Everything that had happened to them over the past four years.

Four years. Barely one out of seven she had lived. But the changes she'd faced had been so stupendous that they defied comprehension. Her best friend in the world, the closest she had ever known to having a soulmate, had found something incredible, and now she was out here, living on a spaceship currently docked over a 27th Century Earth, part of a vast alliance of worlds and nations and systems from different universes. She had once dreamed of taking personal responsibility in some fashion - maybe as an elected official, or a businesswoman, anything really - and now she was being offered command of an advanced and powerful starship.

Given what Robert had told her, they might be in for even more changes in the coming years. Especially if there really was some terrible threat out there in the Multiverse capable of causing mass destruction.

With these thoughts going through her head, Julia keyed the computer system.

Personal Log: Commander Julia Andreys; 15 May 2642.

It's been a busy week. So much has happened in the last several days especially, things that I think will remain with us for a long time. Sometimes it seems so easy, the way that change can come to our lives. Sometimes it's a good change, something that we've been wanting to see. A dream that's coming true…




The atmosphere in Carranzo's on New Liberty was as festive as ever. One of the cheering tables was particularly festive; Jarod sat between his father and sister, laughing with them while Broots' daughter Debbie shared a story from her school at her father's urging. Jarod, with one arm on Charles' shoulders and the other on Emily's so he could hold them close, held a glad feeling in his heart at getting to live this day.

Beside Charles, Sydney smiled gently at him and nodded. Better than anyone else, he understood what Jarod felt, and felt the same.

It was always good to be with family.




....or finally getting to experience something we've been missing…




A brilliant glow lit up the sky over the City of Lights, and contributing to that glow was the Eiffel Tower.

From a balcony at a hotel that, while quite expensive, was run by people who were also quite willing to demonstrate their appreciation for those fighting "the Nazi Boche", Caterina Delgado and Violeta Arterria held hands and looked out at the brilliance of one of the most beautiful cities that Human civilization had ever produced. Paris shined in the splendor of its lights, its avenues and boulevards and the museums and universities that had long made its reputation, while the Seine River reflected those same lights to add to the ambience. Their bellies were content with a shared dinner and the half-finished wine bottle on the balcony table testified to the further enjoyment of the evening.

Caterina turned her head. Her hazel eyes met Violeta's exotic, gene-engineered purple eyes, made to match the similarly-engineered purple hair. They both smiled and blushed at each other. Violeta waited patiently, sensing what the shorter young woman was preparing to say, but making sure it came from her.

Cat's heart was pounding in anticipation as she spoke the two words that Violeta had been waiting for.

"I'm ready."

Their eyes closed as they drew close and began to kiss intently. Violeta would be the one to close the balcony door while Caterina pulled off her jacket and backed up into their hotel room. They embraced and kissed again. The kiss ended in a brief pair of giggles as they fell back onto the waiting bed.




....and sometimes it's bad. We find out that the things we believed true, about ourselves, about others, are not true.




In the darkness of her quarters, her tears spent and fatigue sending her off into sleep, Meridina looked at the book of Swenya's writings again. And the look on her face made it clear she didn't know if she could trust that beautiful calligraphy ever again.




We endure pain, we endure loss, and we see the people we care for… the people we love… get hurt.




The Fleet Hospital's visiting hours were flexible, so no nurses were surprised or disapproving of the five figures that remained in one of their rooms. The sign on the door gave the room number - 2478 - and the name of the occupant.

Lt. K. Derbely.

The patient on the bed was still wrapped in bandages, fresh from the first operation to repair or replace the damaged flesh from her horrific injuries. Her eyes were slightly glazed over from the pain medications she had been given, but they could focus enough to show gratitude for her fellow officers from the Koenig. To her right, Lt. Creighton Apley held her hand affectionately while Lt. April Sherlily was sitting beside him, smiling sadly at her wounded friend. On the other side, the Koenig's Dorei medical officer, Doctor Roliri Opani, kept glancing at the medical readout panels as if unable to resist doing the job of another with her own skills, even as her eyes glistened with unshed tears at the sight of her comrade. Seated beside Opani was Lt. Magda Navaez, showing a supportive smile while unable to hold back the tears at her friend's condition.

Tears were also evident in the eyes of their commander. Zack Carrey stood at the foot of the bed, looking at his chief engineer with sadness, but some relief that she was on the road to recovery.

But that couldn't make up for the pain in his heart at seeing her in this state and knowing that, in many ways, she was one of the lucky ones, and that once again he had lost some of his crew. And even one was too many for him.




But whether change is good or bad, we know it's coming. And all we can do is roll with it, no matter what it means.




A handful of officers and enlisted personnel were still watching, and listening, as personal items went into a box in one of the working offices in the Naval Intelligence section of Defense Command, halfway up Tower 2 of the giant six-towered structure along the Columbia River by Lake Vancouver. The nameplate for the office had already been removed by its now-former occupant. Some considered stepping up to express condolences or good wishes, but the nearby scowling visage of Captain Soveral cowed them into saying nothing. No one wanted to be the next to face the wrath of the Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

Commander Elizabeth King emerged from her former office with a quiet, dignified bearing. She ignored her former colleagues, an act of defiance to those who supported her ouster and an act of quiet benefit to those who didn't, lest they show any sympathy. She had no worries about it. The Stellar Navy was a big organization and she was devoted to the success of that organization and of the Alliance that it defended.

There were other jobs in the Navy, after all, and she had gotten quite a taste for command in her time with the Sladen...




Because change can be useful. It can create new opportunities for us, if we're ready to take them. If we want to take them.




While Meridina was sound asleep in the bedroom, Lucy went into the living area and activated her multidevice. The repairs she'd made after the fight with Goras (and while fussy Order healers had been treating her) were holding well.

But Lucy's real business was with the data saved after the repairs were made. With a few presses to the keys of the multidevice's hardlight controls, the holographic display brought up multiple images of the same object, all from the results of the different specialized scanners in her engineering-issue multidevice.

Lucy closely examined the various images of Swenya's Blade that now hovered in the air, lighting up the darkened living area of Meridina's quarters. A pleased grin began to cross her face, lit up as it was by the holographic images hovering in front of it. An idea was starting to come to mind, an idea turning quickly into a plan…

After all, she wasn't just a swevyra'se or Gifted person or whatever they wanted to call it. She was an engineer.

And engineers built things.




Julia's lips pursed as she thought about what she had just said. For her, the question of taking the opportunity was the big question. After several moments of thought, Julia continued to speak into the log. "The thing is, if you survive to the end of the day, that always guarantees one thing: another day comes. And you never know what changes it can bring. You can face things that make the world you know change, things that challenge you..."




The Inner Library of the Great Temple was quiet. Only a single light illuminated its spaces and the shelves of volumes present there.

Mastrash Ledosh rarely had time to go through the Library due to his responsibilities. But with everything that was happening, he knew he would have to start making the time. He had questions of his own, questions that could only be answered by examining the remaining knowledge of the past.

His hand searched along a line of old tomes and books until he found one. The leather binding was old and cracked. Even the best restorationist work couldn't keep a book intact forever, and these books had to be reprinted every several hundred years, a millennium at most, and each time one needed reprinting, it had to be done by order of the entire Council. It looked like the book he pulled out would need such a reprinting soon. His fingers ran over the gold calligraphy of the title.

The Life of Reshan.

Ledosh tucked the old tome under his arm and walked on. A slight feeling of unease filled him. His swevyra felt unsettled. The library did have that effect on him, unfortunately. It represented secrets, and he was displeased with that secrecy that still governed the Council's thinking.

But he couldn't help but feel there was more to it than that.




...and if I've learned anything from my time out here, it's that you can never guess where those challenges can come from.




The dungeons in the underground of the Great Temple were the lowest levels of the complex. Given the general demeanor of most of the dungeon's occupants, the lack of light was fitting.

In the one occupied cell, Goras fumed impotently at his mutilation. He burned with rage at having been defeated, a rage that was turning into hate. Hate for Meridina, for Ledosh, for Karesl, for the Order of Swenya and the government and many others.

But none of the hate was greater than that he felt for Lucy Lucero. The outsider who had mutilated him. He would not rest until she died screaming.

There was movement outside the cell. Goras looked up and frowned. "Who is there?", he growled at the shadows. When no answer came he shouted, "Show yourself!"

A single figure emerged from the deep darkness of the dungeon hall, clad in a dark cloak and hood. Goras sensed the swevyra of the figure. It was hidden well and he got the sense that he had been "allowed" to see her.

The figure's white-skinned hands reached up and removed the hood. A young bald woman looked at him with intensity. Goras' attitude became one of bewilderment. "Intalarai?", he asked.

She smiled at him. "I've brought you something of interest, Goras. It should help you pass away your time in here." She put a book into the cell between the bars. "I warn you that you should keep it hidden. The Order will not appreciate it."

"Where have you been? Why are you leaving me here? Why are you here at all?!"

"Because, Goras, your time has finally come." She looked back to him and smiled. "You have been chosen."

Goras stared at her. He stared because he got the sense that she was not the same person he had started to train. Indeed, that she had been of greater power than he had known.

Because here, with her finally looking directly at him in his cell, he could finally see what he had never seen before: the blue of her eyes was gone, replaced by the savage gold color of a swevyra'kse fully fallen into darkness.

"We've been watching you for some time, Goras," she purred. "And now you are ready for the truth."

With that said, she stepped backward and soon disappeared into the shadows of the dungeon.

Goras looked down at the book. Without his hands he had to focus harder for fine control, but he found little difficulty in lifting the book and pulling it closer to him so he could see it in the dim light of his cell. It was colored like browned rust. Simple crimson lettering provided the title, while an equally crimson symbol dominated the rest of the cover. It was a hexagon segmented into twelve parts, each of the six rough sides of the hexagon split into two. A sword ran through the middle.

The title of the book simply said, The Secrets of the Brotherhood.

He opened the first page, finding a note within joined by a little scribbled facsimile of the emblem on the page.

Rest and learn, Brother Goras. The day of your vengeance will come.

Goras didn't know what this all meant, but he did know one thing. His fight wasn't over. And one day… one day, his enemies would suffer for what they had done.




Meridina once told me that destiny was a matter of finding the place you're meant to be in and following the path it lays out for you. Maybe she's right. Or maybe there is no destiny, no fate, and we're free to make our own lives by our own will. To follow our own path.

But either way, whether it's by destiny or fate or free will... you still come to the same simple truth. You have to keep walking the path before you if you want to get anywhere.




The lights in Robert's bedroom were dimmed to the compromise level that he and Angel had accepted for when they shared the bed. He was still sleeping on his back while Angel, in her sleep, had turned away and on her ribs, a decision made in sleep that would undoubtedly make her tender in the morning.

Both were sleeping soundly for the moment.

Robert's sleeping mind, however, was not given the same respite.

The dreams resumed. The strange Turian with cybernetic implants, standing in the flames of the Citadel Council chamber. Julia dragged into a cell by SS soldiers and shocked until she fell into it. A large robot aiming to shoot Caterina and a tall figure in a long brown coat. He saw hooded figures giving an oath over an emblem, a hexagon divided into twelve pieces with a sword in the middle, and further hooded figures dragging a screaming figure into a spacecraft he couldn't recognize. The young woman in the tattered vest and pants, colored red with gold trim, crying in anguish until solid bright energy replaced her amber eyes. Julia stood beside him, in tattered clothing of her own, yelling, "We have to help her!" as power started to push them back. An animal's howl echoed through the scene.

And there was the four-legged creature again, and the faint whisper of two words. A human figure appeared in the shadows with it. The shadow obscured the figure's features, but something of the shape told him it was a woman. She seemed to turn toward him. Her voice spoke with an accent that, in his dream-state, he had trouble deciphering.

But this time, he could hear the words.

Robert jolted awake, confused and disorientated, with the two words somehow burned unto his conscious. As if his very essence had imprinted upon them. The force with which he sat up was sufficient to wake Angel, who groaned as she felt the pain on her healing ribs. She twisted in the bed and sat up beside him. The gentle fabric of her nightgown rubbed up against the bare skin of Robert's side. Angel didn't say anything; she could tell it was another nightmare.

"I…" Robert shook his head. "I heard them this time."

"Hrm?", Angel asked in a groggy voice.

"There were two words. I've… I've been hearing them in my dreams lately. And a howl. But they don't make sense."

"Huh. You've never mentioned words before." Angel yawned. "What were they? I mean, what doesn't make sense."

Robert blinked. He kept trying to think through the haze of sleep still in his brain. "They just… they don't make sense. I don't understand why I'm hearing them. But at the same time… it's… I don't' know…"

"Important?", Angel suggested.

"I guess."

"Well then." Angel crossed her armed, which flexed her muscles in the process. "What are they?"

Robert blinked. The sleepiness in his head was still slowing his thinking down. But the request from Angel, and the look in her face, soon helped him focus. He pulled the words from his brain.

He mumbled them at first, but knew she hadn't heard him. So Robert turned to face Angel, confusion written all over his tired face. And this time, he spoke the words aloud.

"'Bad Wolf.'"

 

[Big Steve]

Teaser


Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 1 July 2642. Captain Robert Dale recording. I am happy to log our official return to active duty following six weeks of repairs from the battle at 452TD. Commander Scott has performed the usual miracle of getting our repairs and shakedown work done ahead of schedule and getting us back out of spacedock.

I am also happy to log another occasion. Given the time, I will remark upon it in my next entry. I'm due in the Lookout.

The crowd of uniformed officers and crew grew quiet when Robert reached for the small box on the table beside him. He opened it to reveal a rank tab of two gold strips and a silver strip. "It is my honor and privilege to say that as of this day, July 1st 2642 on the Alliance Standard Calendar, the Alliance Stellar Navy has awarded a meritorious promotion to Nicholas Locarno for outstanding service on numerous occasions as Navigation Officer of the Starship Aurora." Robert grinned at Locarno, who remained at attention while Robert clipped the new rank tab in place. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander."

"Thank you, Captain," Locarno answered.

Cheers came from the assembled crew, including the members of the command crew of the Aurora and of the Koenig, the attack and escort ship that usually remained docked to Aurora's large docking port at the rear of the primary hull. Locarno looked to the assembled, including to one slightly-grinning Ensign Jean Hajar from the Koenig, before noticing that the Lookout's civilian host and cook Hargert was already rolling out a large cake. The icing lettering, silver and gold in color, spelled out "For Lieutenant Commander Locarno". Impressively Hargert had managed to make a reasonable facsimile of the Aurora with blue and white icing.

"You baked a cake?", Locarno asked Hargert. "For a promotion?"

Hargert gave him a look of faux mortification. "As if I would not? Come now, Commander, certainly you know by now that I never miss an opportunity to bake a cake." The aged man's German accent was slightly hoarse, if only from the obvious age in his voice. The smile on his face was a far more evident indicator of his mood.

"I hope mine is chocolate." That remark came from Caterina Delgado, still a Lieutenant and the ship's Science Officer. She was one of the smallest people in the room, not surprising given her height was - in old English-US terms - just a few inches over five feet. Hazel eyes glistened with the presumed image of a chocolate cake in her head. "Some of that Swiss stuff."

A bemused sigh came from beside her. Ensign Violeta Arterria, one of Locarno's subordinate helm officers, was holding Cat's hand. Her purple eyes - matching the deep purple coloring of her genetically-engineered hair - looked at her girlfriend with affection and some feigned irritation. "I should never have taken you through Switzerland before we got to Venice."

Caterina looked to Violeta and playfully stuck her tongue out. Violeta started giggling at her in reply.

Robert, as Captain, got dibs on the second piece. He also secured the third piece for its proper recipient, who was currently nursing a glass of fruit juice at the lounge's bar counter. Commander Julia Andreys' long blond hair was pulled into a ponytail as always. Her green eyes, shaded close to aquamarine, were looking to Robert as he stepped up. She extended a hand and accepted the offered paper plate and plastic fork. "Thanks," she said, smiling.

But there was more behind the smile than simple joy. Robert could sense the emotional tension within Julia. He could have even without his "abilities", those life force-derived powers he had been training to use for over half of a year. Reading Julia was almost second nature to him, and the same for her reading him. "Doesn't this bring back memories?", he asked her as she took a bite.

"Hrm?" She had a mouthful of cake to chew.

"Well…" Robert smiled back at her. "I think my earliest memory is your fourth birthday party. Grandpa brought me to your house. I remember looking at you with icing all over your mouth, and all over mine, and Grandpa joked that when we were older we'd be licking it off each other."

By then Julia had swallowed. That was a good thing, as she broke out giggling. "Oh my God, I think I remember that too. Mom just stared at him."

"My Mom told me years later that your parents actually complained about it. Dad had to smooth things over." Robert shook his head. "Grandpa always had his own sense of humor."

Julia shook her head. "And he always thought you and I would get together when we were old enough."

For a moment it was clear both were flashing back to that moment under the wide open Kansas sky. The mound on the family property had collapsed with the destruction of the Facility far below. They had barely escaped it together. They had been caught up in the thrill of that moment when they shared a kiss… and immediately decided together to stop there and continue their relationship as it had always been, free of any romantic entanglement.

"Speaking of being together…" Julia looked to the crowd. "How are you and Angel doing?"

Robert drew in a breath that came dangerously close to being a sigh. He looked back as well and saw where Angel was gently teasing her sister over something. While Cat was a small, skinny girl, Angel was several inches taller and filled out. Although her uniform didn't show much of her body below the neck, he knew what was beneath. His mind brought up the images from his memories, of the rippling, tough fighting muscle under the bronze complexion of Angel's skin. Angela Delgado had spent much of her life learning to fight hand-to-hand, and she could be an utter terror in a fight.

"We had some time together. During the repairs." He sighed. "But now that we're back on full duty…" Robert shook his head. "I keep expecting the shoe to drop, Julie. I want this relationship to work, but with everything else I have going on…"

"Isn't your training with Meridina supposed to be over?"

"I used to think that, but now, I'm not sure if it'll ever be over," Robert admitted. "Now that we know what was going on with the Gersallians, I can't help but feel I have to stick to the training. And Angel's not happy."

"You might have to make a choice, Rob," Julia said. "About what's more important to you."

There was something in the way she said those words that made it clear Julia wasn't just thinking of his situation. The feelings he had sensed in her when he stepped up were returning. His training with Meridina made that clear, even if he would have realized that without that training or the abilities the training was honing. "What about your choice?", Robert asked. "Have you made it yet?"

"I haven't made it official," Julia said. "I'm just… torn, I guess. I want to be a Captain, and Admiral Maran's offering me the Enterprise of all ships. But if I say yes, I'll either be going off on my own, or I'll be splitting us up if anyone joins me. I don't want to do that."

"Julie…" Robert took her hand. "I think you should do it. I think you have great potential as a captain. Honestly, I think you'll be better at it than I am."

She smiled at him in response.

Before either of them could say anything, blue holographic light appeared over Robert's left forearm. A voice came from the hologram. "Bridge to Captain Dale," said, or rather chirped, an alien voice. Robert recognized it as the voice of Lieutenant Jupap, who was currently minding the bridge. The Alakin continued. "Admiral Maran is on subspace. He needs to speak to you immediately."

"Tell him I'll be on my way to… wait." Robert chuckled. "Just let me step out of the lounge."

Julia nodded and grinned. Another piece of cake was already on her fork. "Hurry back if you can." A mirthful look came to her eyes. "I'll try to protect your piece as best as I can."

"From the others, or from yourself?"

"Both."

Robert smirked back at her and stood from the counter stool. He walked past a few of the others and stepped out of the Lookout and into the adjoining corridor. Once the door slid closed his right finger pressed the blinking blue light.

Until just a few weeks ago, the Stellar Navy had used the multidevice. Specifically, an electronic all-in-one device of ultralight "space age" material that acted as general scanner, communicator, and computer access all at once even on general models - specialized ones could do even more, like send out exotic electronic emissions or make specialized scans. The Earth of Universe L2M1 had first developed the specific concept, although several of the other Earths in the Multiverse had variations on it.

But then contact with Universe M4P2 happened the prior April. M4P2 went one better than all the others: the omnitool. A small, lightweight piece with built-in holographics emitters, it was even lighter than multidevices and more versatile, replacing the physical key controls with an interface generated entirely with holographics and projected hard-light machinery. Organizations within the Alliance, public and private, had spent much of the year negotiating licensing rights on the technology with the manufacturers in Citadel space. Only now was it bearing fruit: as of June the Stellar Navy was issuing new, specially-made omnitools for its personnel. The Aurora crew was in spacedock at just the right time to get them issued.

One of the benefits of having omnitools appeared on a holographic screen created by the one Robert was wearing. Admiral Maran appeared from his office at Defense Command, near Portland in the Pacific Northwest of Earth L2M1. The Gersallian man had his usual immaculate appearance, with graying dark hair on his head and the solid expression Robert had long become accustomed to. He was even accustomed to the fact that because of the whims of evolution or fate or God himself, the Gersallians were aliens who looked, on the outside, like Humans.

"Admiral," Robert said respectfully.

"Captain." Maran nodded. "I'm pleased that your ship is back in full running order. We need you back out there."

"Has anything happened with the war?"

The Admiral nodded. "The 11th Fleet just won a victory at Beta Laurentis that has secured our hold on that sector. Allied ground troops have finished securing Scheerwelt and Neu Posen. Which is related to the subject of my call."

"Oh?"

"We would have never managed the troops to take both of those worlds without the presence of Inner Sphere units. The 3rd Davion Guards and the Orloff Grenadiers played critical roles in the fighting. That's why I'm concerned by reports we're getting from our Inner Sphere allies."

Robert frowned at that. "What?"

"Something is going on in the territorial zones held by the Clans. Intelligence indicates some sort of political upheaval is underway. President Morgan and I are concerned that this could be a prelude to a renewal of the Clan Invasion."

At that, Robert frowned. From what he knew of Universe F1S1, the Clans were a caste society that had arrived on the Inner Sphere's Coreward frontier about seven years ago. They had technological superiority over the Inner Sphere in military terms, and a highly-trained and lethal warrior caste leading an invasion of the Inner Sphere, stopped two years later at a planet called Tukkayid in what was left of the Free Rasalhague Republic. "If that's true…"

"...then Prince Victor, Captain-General Marik, and the other Inner Sphere leaders would be forced to pull their troops off the front," Maran finished for him. "The Inner Sphere's leadership is assembling for a conference on Tukkayid called by ComStar. Primus Mori and Precentor-Martial Focht have invited President Morgan and myself to attend. And we want you there."

Robert nodded. Diplomatic meetings were one aspect of the job he was getting used to, even if he often found them dreadfully boring. "Understood, Admiral. We'll jump for F1S1 immediately."

"I look forward to seeing you on Tukkayid, Captain. Maran out."

The omnitool shut down the screen. With a conscious thought and a movement of Robert's arm, the blue holography of the omnitool came to life around his left forearm. The Stellar Navy-issue version was different than those usually found in M4P2, and not just in color: the designers crafted the basic interface to resemble that of an old multidevice, as if it had been a touchscreen. Robert hit the visible key for opening a commlink. "Dale to Bridge."

"Yes Captain?", Lieutenant Jupap responded over the audio channel.

"Activate jump drive, set to F1S1. Once we're through, set a course for the system Tukkayid and engage."

"Yes Captain."

With that done, Robert turned back to the Lookout. WIth no immediate jump anchor to their destination, or anywhere near it - jump anchors had yet to be installed anywhere in the Coreward half of the Inner Sphere - they would take a day or two (or more) to arrive at Tukkayid. This meant he was not needed immediately on the bridge or elsewhere.

And that meant he could, at least, get to actually finish that piece of cake.

Undiscovered Frontier
"The Path Before Us"​

The quiet solitude of Meridina's quarters were meant to let the Aurora security chief have her daily meditation. A chance to reflect on the day and sense where her swevyra, her life force, was leading her.

Once meditation had come almost second nature to her. Once it was clear she had an attuned swevyra, one that could reach out to the universe and made her capable of great feats of power, her father Karesl had taught her meditation. And like any daughter-turned-student eager to please the father she admired, she'd taken to it and with discipline had become quite the capable meditator. Even after her entry to the Order of Swenya and being given to another of the ranking members of the organization for training, her father's training in the meditative side of their work had guided her.

But meditation no longer came easily for Meridina. These past few months had been a trial for her, the greatest in her life, and everything had changed. She had been taken as a host by the vicious Goa'uld Amaunet, severely wounded by her own student Lucy Lucero in the act of stopping and killing the vile being, and then had to deal with the grief and guilt of what Amaunet had used her body, and her abilities, to do. The deaths inflicted at Stargate Command, the pain that had been caused, all of it had driven Meridina toward darkness. And then came her confrontation with the corrupted Draman Olati, the attack on the Alliance Senate by an extremist faction of her own people, and the leader of that faction trying to kill her after forcing her into a trial before the Council of her Order. Even vindication had been bitter: the corrupted Mastrash Goras might have been defeated, but in the wake of his fall and the death of the Council's leader Maklir, the Council had decided to turn its back on everything Meridina had been trying to build. She was ordered to return home.

Instead, Meridina put her bond to the crew of the Aurora before her devotion to the Order of Swenya. She resigned from her Order, turned her back on everything she had once lived for, and was now firmly upon the path she and Mastrash Ledosh, her teacher, had foreseen.

And it hurt. It hurt like nothing she had ever considered before.

It was getting late in the day. Meridina gave up on meditation and decided to look for Lucy. Now that Lucy's training was known, there was no need to be subtle with it or with Robert's, and Meridina was no longer holding anything back on their education in their abilities. And that meant more training and more time. Regrettable given Robert's responsibilities, but he needed the training if he was ever going to be capable of defending himself adequately with his life force.

Perhaps I should force myself to call it that more often, Meridina pondered to herself. Robert has such trouble with pronouncing it. A very small smile came to her face at that thought.

Given the time, Robert was probably busy doing daily paperwork in his office. He had already alerted her to a staff meeting in the morning to discuss their arrival at Tukkayid for the following afternoon. She would collect him second, then.

And she already had a good idea where Lucy would be.

Meridina put on a cream-colored vest and loose black trousers before she left her rooms. It was a short trip from her quarters to a turbolift. "Deck 25 Section G," Meridina stated. The lift sped its way through the lift tubes connecting the ship's various decks together until it brought her to the destination she described. Deck 25 was one of the middle decks of the drive hull of the ship, and this specific section was within the engineering area.

A short walk brought her to her destination. The door panel referred to it as "Machine Shop B". Inside she found that things were generally quiet. A pair of petty officers and four crew were looking over various machinery replicators and fabricators. Shop B was for precision work on small items, the tooling and pieces that had to be kept up in the inventory for the ship to have spare parts on the many thousands of individual machines that, together, formed the Starship Aurora.

Lucy was in one corner, working quietly with one of the fabricators. She was in a work uniform, black with beige trim and a tool belt around her waist. Her curly black hair was pulled into a curly ponytail at the back of her head. As Meridina walked up she turned and stood. "Meridina?", she asked.

"I was coming to get you, it is nearly time for training."

Lucy's blue eyes blinked. "Wait, what time is it? It's only like 1800, right?"

Meridina smiled gently. "1930," she clarified.

Lucy made a face and then covered it with her palm. "Oh. Dammit. I lost track of time."

Meridina gave Lucy's work station a peek. Not that she needed to; there was only one project that Lucy was so wrapped up in that she would lose track of time like that.

"How is your work going?", Meridina asked gently. "Are you close to reproducing Swenya's Blade?"

Lucy shook her head. "I don't know. My scans were pretty thorough. But it's like re-assembling a puzzle when you've got pieces missing and aren't even sure where some are supposed to go."

"I am certain you will manage it, Lucy," Meridina said. She set a hand on Lucy's arm to be supportive.

"What about you? I know the last few months have been rough…"

Meridina tried to keep her sadness off of her face. Being forced to choose between the Aurora and her devotion to the Order of Swenya had been excruciating. She felt an odd sense of being cast adrift even through her devotion to her purpose: to work with the Aurora's crew to fulfill their role as the Bearers of the Dawn.

This was especially important given what they had learned about the Prophecy of the Dawn, a work passed down from Swenya herself three thousand years ago. Her own mentor had revealed that the Order Council had doctored the original copy to hide the ending line. That line was a warning that an ancient threat known only as "the Darkness" would return. And my people know nothing of it.

Lucy reached over and turned her station off. "Why don't we get this training out of the way and then get some dinner?"

"It will be a late one."

"I know." Lucy grinned. "But we'll be hungry, and it's a chance to unwind and decompress. Even swevyra'se or Life Knights or whatever you term want to use need time to themselves. Time to take it easy."

"You forget that I am no longer swevyra'se."

Lucy responded to that with a small smile. "Then just what are you busting my ass for when we go train?"

It was a rhetorical question. A soft smile came to Meridina's face. "An interesting point. Very well. We train, and then we eat together."

"Great. I'll see if Hargert has any tasty stuff left from Nick's promotion ceremony earlier."

Without another word, they both stepped out of the machine shop.




After the day's work was done Angel went to Robert's quarters. He wasn't in. This did not surprise Angel in the slightest and she entered the quarters to wait for him.

Robert had kept all of his important family things after leaving his family home years ago. Some family items he'd left with his cousin Beth Rankin, now the Governor of New Liberty, while some he had with him. Mostly they were replicated copies of family photos. On one wall his old high school football jersey was hanging with a frame showing clipped newspaper articles. Angel's memories went back a decade to recall those nights, when he had put in a good performance as a wide receiver. He hadn't done well enough to be offered a full scholarship at a university, though.

I can't imagine how different our lives would be if he had gotten a scholarship, Angel thought. She sighed. But I bet it would be another thing to keep us apart.

She looked at the time. 2150. It was getting too late for anything, even for a dinner, and that hurt. It looked like they were going back to the way things had been since before New Year's. Day after day after day of Robert doing his Captain work and training in his abilities, leaving no time for her.

Those damned powers. If only Leo had a way to get rid of them.

Thinking about freeing Robert of the burden of these "life force" strengths made Angel recall what that blind Zigonian had said to her. Kasszas had told her that she wasn't in love with Robert anymore. That she loved a "phantom", a memory of what he had been before he started using those life force powers.

She'd denied it at the time. Even now she wanted to deny it. It brought her pain to realize she couldn't. Looking back to all of the times she and Robert had been dating, and all of the times they'd broken up… wasn't that how it happened? That things would happen, he would disappoint her and she'd disappoint him, and then it would end? As the damned lizard had said, her affection was more for what she wanted him to be than what he was.

Angel sat on the couch and felt tears form in her eyes.

She waited in the quietly, silently weeping in frustration and uncertainty. At about 2220 the door finally opened. Robert stepped in, wearing the sleeveless cream-colored vest and baggy brown pants he usually did for the training sessions. He was covered in sweat and fatigued. When he saw Angel, a guilty look came to his face. "Sorry, Lucy was late and we…" He stopped. his eyes lowered. "How long have you been waiting?"

"Not too long," Angel said. And it was true: a bit over half an hour was nothing compared to waiting two hours, or all night, as she had sometimes done. "Did you want to catch something to eat?"

Robert shook his head. "Meridina picked today to increase the weights I had to lift. And to try out the augmented running course. I'm too exhausted to do anything but wash up and go to bed."

It was with a small voice that Angel said, "Sure, I understand."

Robert didn't need to hear the disappointment in her voice. He'd felt her presence, and her knotted feelings, even before he got to his door. "I'm sorry," he said.

"I know," she answered. "You always are, and I know you mean it." She looked at him and they made eye contact. "I think we should talk about this, though."

"Is there anything new to say?", Robert asked. "Because it seems we discuss it all of the time."

"Yes, I think there is," she answered. "For one, it's pretty obvious your training isn't going to end. Whatever Meridina said about 'learning control', she had far more in mind. What happened on Gersal made that clear. And if you're going along with that, well…"

Robert swallowed and said nothing. His past promises that the training would be over soon and he would have time again were clearly no longer being kept. "Yeah," he said. "It's not fair to you."

"Like I said, we'll talk." Angel gestured toward his room and the shower unit beyond. "Why don't you go wash off real quick and get to bed?"

There was nothing for him to say to that. He nodded and went to the shower.

After said refreshing shower, weary to the bone, Robert made his way to the bed. Angel was already lying there in her nightgown. She gave him a little kiss on the lips as he settled into place beside her.

They both fell asleep shortly thereafter.



When the Starship Aurora dropped out of warp, it found itself in the middle of company.

The most prominent of the ships visible was a type Robert and the others rarely got to see: a Sirian League carrier-vessel. The ship was two hundred meters longer than their own, thirty meters wider, and about the same height. It was one big solid hull, with the surface painted dark green with blue streaks, and the eight-sided starburst insignia of the Sirian League prominent on the side. Near the rear of the ship the hull bulged out and became circular.

"A ring drive," murmured Locarno from his place on the Aurora bridge. The command crew were all in their normal places.

"A what?", asked Angel.

"It's a big ring for the warp drive assembly instead of warp nacelles," Cat explained for her sister. "The Vulcans still use them on some ships."

Locarno added, "They're easier to protect, but their warp maneuverability isn't anywhere near that of a nacelle-using ship."

"The ID code of the ship has her as the Majestic," Jarod said.

Robert nodded. The Cincinnatus, the Earth Confederacy dreadnought that had been President Morgan's usual interstellar means of transport, had been lost in the same failed attack campaign where they had been ambushed at 452TB. Robert wondered whether or not the Majestic would take the place of the lost ship or if it was just a stand-in for the moment.

"I wonder if the Inner Sphere states have brought any of their starships," Julia wondered aloud.

"Unlikely." Jarod shook his head. "It's only been three months. I'm betting they're still working on the refit plans."

"So where do you think they are?", Robert asked.

"I'm picking up indications of other warp drives that came into the system over the last couple of days," Caterina said. "It looks like warp-capable light interstellar passenger liners."

"As in…?"

"Think passenger jet, not actual big liner ship," Cat finished for her sister.

"That would make sense," Julia said. "You can buy those almost anywhere, including government transport models."

A tone came from Jarod's console. "We're getting a hail from the planet. It looks like it's coming from the central ComStar facility planetside."

"Put them on screen."

Jarod did so. Admiral Maran appeared. He looked to be in an office space, presumably one set aside for his use. "I see you made it."

"We jumped in a bit further away than I would have liked," Robert admitted. "But without a jump anchor close to Tukkayid there didn't seem to be a point in using one."

"I was the one who ordered you out before the Majestic was ready to depart. We proved lucky in the arrival point." Maran drew in a sigh. "Regardless, it's good that you're here. Tonight is the arrival banquet and the political discussions begin tomorrow. But things are moving more quickly than we anticipated and I want to get you up to speed. Standby to beam up a delegation on my signal. I'll see you shortly. Maran out."

As soon as he disappeared from the screen Robert and Julia rose from their chairs. "We'll have them beamed up to Station 1. Jarod, you have the bridge, and have Jupap ready to take over. I suspect this will be a command staff briefing."

"I'll have Meridina meet us there," Julia offered.




A young man with technical crew rank was manning the transporter station controls when the two arrived. Meridina came in just behind them. "We're getting the ready signal from the planet, sir," the man said.

"Whenever you're ready, Crewman."

The young man nodded and operated his controls.

Moments later six columns of white light formed on the pad. The light burst briefly, quickly enough that it didn't blind, and five figures now stood on the pad. Robert and the others straightened their backs to stand at attention as Admiral Maran stepped down. "Captain, Commander, good to see you in person again."

"It's always a pleasure, Admiral." By now Robert was looking over the other attendees. He recognized Victor and Jerrard Cranston first, Victor right behind and beside Maran in the middle row and Jerry Cranston behind Victor in the rear. Standing beside Jerry was an East Asian man in a St. Ives Compact uniform.

To Maran's side in the front section was a man in a robed uniform of white with the ComStar insignia on the breast, with rank insignias as well. He had an eye patch on over the right eye and looked quite old, easily in his late sixties.

The sixth figure, placed beside Victor, was another older man, with gray hair and a military-style buzzcut. His uniform was dark gray and had a red disc with a black wolf's head on it placed prominently on the neck.

Maran stepped down. "I believe you already know Prince Victor and Colonel Cranston. This is Precentor-Martial Anastasius Focht of ComStar and Colonel Jaime Wolf, former commanding officer of the Wolf Dragoons. And this is Colonel Kai Allard-Liao of the Compact. Gentlemen, this is Captain Robert Dale."

"Precentor-Martial, Colonels." Robert nodded. "This is my First Officer, Commander Julia Andreys, and my Security Chief, Lieutenant Commander Meridina." Looking to Kai he nodded. "I'm sorry we missed you, Colonel Allard-Liao, during the visit to St. Ives. I hope your mother is doing well."

Kai nodded respectfully and smiled. "She's doing quite well. Doctor Gillam's suggested treatments are working like a charm. She'll never have to worry about the cancer again."

"He'll be happy to hear that." Robert kept himself from sighing. Leo had made the suggestion for further anti-cancer genetic treatments after learning that Duchess Candace Liao, Kai's mother and ruler of the Compact, had survived a bout with breast cancer a decade before. It had been a very poor substitute for failing to save Joshua Marik.

Robert turned his attention to the older men next. "It's an honor to host you, sirs, aboard my ship."

"It is a fine vessel." Focht looked around with his one eye. "And it lives up to the reports from the newsvids during your diplomatic tour. Unfortunately a tour is out of the question, Captain. We are pressed for time now."

"For the banquet tonight, you mean?"

"Not just the banquet." Focht's single eye focused on Robert. "The peace of the Inner Sphere is at stake. The Clans are preparing to renounce the Truce of Tukkayid. We have only days, perhaps, with which to prevent a resumption of the Invasion. And your ship may be the only thing that can succeed."

Robert nodded and glanced to Julia, who glanced back with the same look in her eyes that he knew was in his own. A look with a single thought behind it.

It looks like it's up to us again.



Conference Room 1 was set up with tables in a half-circle around the central holotank projector. The command crews of the Aurora and Koenig took several of the seats, leaving a table for the Inner Sphere leaders and one for Robert, Julia, and Admiral Maran to sit at. Focht offered a ComStar-made data disc to Robert, who passed it to Jarod for use in the briefing. He stood up

"Since the Truce of Tukkayid came into effect, ComStar has maintained various intelligence assets in Clan-held space," Focht stated. "Our greatest concern is that the Crusader faction would one day manage sufficient votes to overturn the Truce."

"The Crusaders are the pro-war faction, right?" asked Zack.

"It would be inaccurate to identify the Clan factions as pro-war or anti-war, Commander," answered Focht. "Their culture is built around combat. The Wardens believe in remaining apart from the Inner Sphere as a protective force while the Crusaders believe in conquering the Inner Sphere to restore the Star League under the rule of the Clans." Focht stepped up to the holotank. Jarod activated it and brought up a starmap of the Inner Sphere. Various stars signifying populated star systems lit up and three-dimensional borders came into existence to delineate the current territorial dispositions.

The Clan Invasion zones were the most prominent feature on the map; four narrow strips plunging from "above" toward the middle. Six icons appeared over the map, spread among the four zones. To the spinward "left" a zone was marked with the emblems of a green bird and a snake's head, then a snarling wolf head, a roaring white bear's head, and then a pouncing gray feline and a feline face in the middle of a sunburst-like pattern. Focht, for the benefit of his listeners, briefly identified each zone's holders: the Jade Falcons and Steel Vipers, the Wolves, the Ghost Bears, and lastly, the Smoke Jaguars and Nova Cats. A line on the map appeared at the rimward edge of the invasion zone. "Under the terms I negotiated with ilKhan Ulric Kerensky, the Truce of Tukkayid forbids any Clan forces from moving beyond this line."

"And they evidently don't care about securing all of the territory coreward of Tukkayid," Julia observed.

"They do not," Focht said. "They have raided above the line on occasion, but they appear to consider such attacks to be a waste of material. Unfortunately, this may have contributed to the current threat against the Truce."

"They want more fights?"

"Yes, Captain. For their youngest generation, it is a matter of their future." Focht looked to Colonel Wolf. "Colonel Wolf can explain."

The aging mercenary leader stood up from his place and walked to join Focht. "In the Clans, advancement for warriors requires combat. All promotions are done in Trials of Position. And to earn these Trials, warriors must accumulate victories in battle."

"And with the Clans at peace, you get fewer chances for big flashy victories," Angel observed. "It's like being a professional fighter. It doesn't matter how well you train, you're going to be stuck in your place and ranking if you don't get in any good fights."

"The analogy is a good one. But for the Clans, even more is at stake than mere statistical rankings. Every warrior longs for a chance to win a Bloodname." When no one inquired as to what he meant, Wolf kept going. "In the Clans, what you refer to as family names, or surnames, are strictly prohibited. Only warriors who have won a Bloodname receive a second name. The Bloodnames come from the eight hundred men and women who followed Nicholas Kerensky in the Second Exodus. No more than twenty-five warriors are allowed to hold each name at a time; to win a name requires victory in a Trial of Bloodright tournament."

"And to get in a tournament, you need to have a good record," Julia observed.

"Yes." Wolf nodded to her. "I cannot emphasize how important a Bloodname is to a warrior of the Clans. It is the only guarantee that a warrior's DNA will be used in future generations of Clan warriors. Bloodnamed warriors get the best command opportunities and are members of their Clan Council. They elect the Khans and Loremaster of a Clan from among their number." A dark look came to the man. "It is the fear of not getting this opportunity that is turning the newest generations of Clan warriors into ardent Crusaders."

"Okay, but the Truce is only for fifteen years," Julia said. "They'll still be in their thirties when it's over. They'll have plenty of time to get their shot when the Truce expires, won't they?"

"You are thinking in your social terms," Wolf said. "The Clans consider a warrior too old by the time they reach thirty-five."

"Woh." Thomas Barnes shook his head. "That's pretty… I mean, that's not even middle-aged."

"Much of this is due to the Clan eugenics program," Focht replied. "Their scientist caste has been constantly refining their genes for centuries. Every five years is a new generation, considered superior to those beforehand. A thirty-five year old warrior is three generations out of date."

"Which is the problem." Jarod spoke up. "The Truce is for fifteen years. The newest generation of Clan warriors would be approaching thirty-five when the Truce ends. By Clan standards they'll be too old."

"What happens if a Clan warrior hits that age without a Bloodname?", Julia asked Wolf. "Do they forcibly retire them?"

"They are removed from frontline units and assigned to garrison forces or second line forces," Wolf answered. "Most will become solahma. They will spend their time fighting bandits as a last, desperate hope to get at least some of their genetic material into the breeding program. If they survive to a certain age, they usually end being relegated to caretakers of the sibkos. That is, the children of the warrior caste, taking care of them and training them until they reach the age for their Trials of Position."

"For a people devoted to martial glory, that's a lot of incentive to keep fighting," Julia observed.

"Exactly," Focht said. "As it is, with raiding between Clans low and no conflict with the Inner Sphere, the young warriors have few opportunities to gain the victories to secure places in Bloodright challenges. And with fewer Bloodnamed warriors dying in battle, they have fewer opportunities to join the ranks."

"And so they have plenty of incentive to resume the war. The handful that do become Bloodnamed are voting the Crusaders' way, adding to their vote totals, and even those who don't provide the Crusaders with a lot of lower rank support to pressure their superiors." Robert nodded. "So we need a solution to this problem. Preferably one that doesn't involve drawing away from the war."

Jarod looked to Focht and Wolf. "Is there any way we could offer them a chance to ally with us against the Reich? That would give their junior warriors the chance to fight and reduce the pressure."

Wolf nodded. "It is possible. But it is also dangerous. The Crusaders will see your offer for what it is and oppose it."

"Or they will not, but instead demand the same technological compensation you are providing to the Inner Sphere," Focht observed. "This would allow them to repudiate the Truce at their leisure after the war. And you would expect them to demand the right to your drives so they can maintain conquests in the S4W8 Universe."

"So we'd be handing over worlds to the Clans." Robert frowned. "And I thought the Turians getting to impose their system on freed worlds would be bad enough…"

"Unfortunately our options are limited." Admiral Maran spoke up now. "If the Clan Invasion resumes, we're obligated to help fight it, and that will come at the cost of the war with the Reich."

"But if we give the Clans access to our technology and to the resources of other universes, we make them stronger too," Julia pointed out. "And when the war's over, we run into the same problem we have now."

Victor joined the conversation at this point. "Every day of peace with the Clans is another day that the Inner Sphere is better prepared to fight them when the invasion restarts. Even if you have to give them technology, we're getting the same, and we'll still have the stronger position with the Alliance on our side."

"Prince Victor's right, our situation will be better," Jarod added. "With the Reich defeated, our ships are free to deal more decisively with the Clans. However more powerful they grow, they can't fight the Inner Sphere and the Allied Systems at once."

Julia nodded, but the frown on her face told of how much she was still leery of the outcome of Jarod's suggestion. She looked at Colonel Wolf. "Colonel, could we do it? Is this a solution?"

Wolf nodded. "It could work. The Nazi German Reich gaining your interuniversal drives is still a possibility, and it is the sort of threat that the Wardens believe the Clans exist to fight. Some of the Crusaders may also see the advantages of blooding their newest cadres in battle before the renewal of the Invasion. But they will not agree lightly, that you can be sure of. Your people will need to decide what they are willing to pay to secure Clan assistance, and a deferment of the Invasion." The Colonel allowed the smallest smile to show on his face, with Maran getting his attention for the next comments. "As for the Dragoons, my successor has agreed with me that if this threat is prevented, the Wolf Dragoons are ready to accept a contract with the Allied Systems to fight in your war. And we have contacts with many other elite mercenary formations in the Inner Sphere that will be open to similar offers."

"A generous offer, Colonel Wolf," Maran answered. "The President and I will bring the matter straight to the rest of Defense Command once this matter is resolved."

"Regrettably, I cannot make a similar offer." Focht shook his head. "The ComGuards are needed in the Inner Sphere. All I can pledge is that ComStar is ready to expand its current relations with the Alliance and that the First Circuit will consider more extensive joint research and technology agreements."

"Of course." The Admiral looked to the rest of those assembled. "We'll bring Commander Jarod's proposal before the leadership in tomorrow's opening meetings. I would like to have you there as well, Captain, as well as Commander Andreys. You are also all invited to this evening's banquet. Formal dress uniforms, of course."

Robert looked over the others. Maran hadn't said it, but it was blatantly obvious that "invitation" was silently joined with "ordered". And that mean wearing dress uniforms, a task that nobody took with any relish.

So of course he answered, "We'll be there, sir."

"Be ready to transport down at 1900 standard," Maran said. "This meeting is adjourned."

 

[Big Steve]

Robert and Julia dutifully escorted Maran and the others back to the Transporter Station to see them off. From there it was back to the bridge and to the conference lounge to the side. The transsteel windows showed Tukkayid's vibrant colors and a large starship of one of the F1S1 nations in orbit near them. The others were waiting.

"It's not going to be that easy," Locarno stated. "Warrior cultures don't just talk. You just know they're going to challenge us to a fight at some point."

"He's right." Jarod looked up from a digital reader. "I've been looking over the material we have on the Clans. Going by the reports from ComStar and the Commonwealth, the Clans do everything by combat trials. Even some exchanges of technology and trade can involve ritual combats."

"So what, they're going to ask us to fight them even if they agree to join us against the Nazis?", Angel asked.

"Likely."

"Then we'll need to be ready for that." Robert nodded. "Jarod, keep researching them, and we'll make sure everything's ready for a combat. If the Clans want to fight us, we'll show them just what that means."

"Unless they challenge us to fighting in those big walking tanks." Barnes crossed his arms. "Do we even have anyone who knows how to do that?"

It was a good question. Robert looked to Commander Kane, the Marine officer who commanded the Aurora's Marine detachment. The sandy-haired man shook his head. "We haven't been training to use F1S1's BattleMech systems. Although I've considered some anti-'Mech tactics."

"Would they work?"

"In the right terrain, and with the right employment." Kane nodded. "Our powered armor squad can probably give a few of them a good fight. But unless we sneak up on them, we probably lose, oh, seven times out of ten. Those things have too much armor and too much raw firepower."

"What about air support?" Robert looked to Lieutenant Commander Patrice Laurent, commander of the Aurora's fighter wing. "The Mongoose fighters have atmospheric flight, don't they?"

Laurent nodded. "Our support munitions may be enough. But I'm sure the enemy will have air support of their own. I will have to assign specific squadrons to air superiority and to ground support."

"I'll leave you to that. Starting tomorrow." Robert checked the time on his omnitool. "As for now, we should adjourn so we can get ready for that banquet. Full dress uniforms. And that means the pants, not the skirt." He looked to Caterina when he said that. She frowned and, for the first time in weeks, put on the full Pout. Robert was, thankfully, immune. "Every leader of the Inner Sphere is going to be present. President Morgan too."

"Whoever came up with the dress uniform was a sadist," mumbled Jarod.

Robert smirked at that. "You won't hear any argument from me on that point."




Tukkayid had once been a minor planet in the grand scheme of the Inner Sphere. There had been little in the way of facilities to host the assemblage now gathering on the world.

Robert and the others could see that in the years since it had become a household name in the Inner Sphere, Tukkayid had changed. ComStar had shining new facilities on the world and had essentially taken the planet over. Then they had gone on a building spree that had raised, among other things, the kind of facilities useful for hosting large scale affairs of state.

The dining hall was at ComStar's main civilian facilities, very close to their military headquarters and the new war college they were constructing. It was a massive hall built specifically for these kinds of summits. The interior had fine, soft carpeting of light blue and gold trim with massive electric chandeliers hanging every twenty feet down the length of the hall. Long tables full of dishes from every major culture stretched down the sides of the hall.

The Aurora and Koenig officers arrived at about 1850 ship time, a full ten minutes before Maran had requested them. They'd beamed down even earlier, just to spend over ten minutes in line with other notables and attendees as the master of ceremonies or whomever it was announced the arrivals one by one, complete with noble titles. The brilliant white of their dress uniforms contrasted to the usual black they wore on their duty uniform jackets. The shoulders had golden board epaulets with tassels of the same color hanging down from the epaulets. The various medals and commendations they'd won - including the shiny new Senate Order of Merit that Robert, Meridina, and Jarod had gotten for stopping the Gersallian Dissenter attack on the Senate - were glinting from their places over the left breast of their jackets.

When they finally got to the door, a Caucasian man approaching middle-age in a fine dark suit met them. "Sirs?"

"Captain Dale and crew," Robert said.

"Of course, sir." The MoC turned to the hall. He activated a microphone at his throat to be heard across the hall. "Now presenting Captain Robert Allen Dale of the United Alliance of Systems Stellar Navy, Commanding Officer of the Alliance Starship Aurora, with command officers." The man's accent was not the snooty English accent that a near-quarter century of 20th Century television had trained Robert's subconscious to associate with such pomp. It instead had a deliberate Midwestern tone. "Commander Julia Megan Andreys, First Officer. Commander Montgomery…"

"Seriously?", muttered Barnes, as the MoC insisted on naming each and every one of them, full names with rank and position, so that it took over a minute to introduce them. Then came Zack and his crew, but since he only had five officers with him that was mercifully quick.

Once they were done Julia looked to the others. "Let's be careful what we say or do here. Everything here will be taken politically."

"So what are we supposed to do?" The question came from Caterina, who looked both uncomfortable and disappointed. "I mean, if someone starts to talk to us?"

"Then be as courteous as you can be," Robert said.

"Or just talk science at them until they get bored," was Angel's response. She grinned at her younger and smaller sister. "That usually works."

Instead of a happy retort, Cat smiled thinly at her sister's jest and walked on toward one of the tables.

The crews dispersed across the room to find food. A little rumble in his stomach reminded Robert about his small breakfast and lunch, and that he had an immediate need to find something. A passing waiter was kind enough to offer something from a small creme-topped pastries that were delicious, if rich. A second waiter offered him a glass, which he took absentmindedly. Robert was more focused on scanning the room to see if he recognized anyone he had already met during their tour of the Inner Sphere.

Officials from all of the Inner Sphere states were present. They provided an interesting contrast with various forms of dress. Davion suits had more of a martial flair to them, even if they were distinctly Western, while the Lyran parts of the FedCom delegation were dressed up to the nines.

"Captain."

The German accent in the voice would have been enough for Robert to recognize the speaker, even if he hadn't recognized the tone. He turned and nodded to Prince Victor. Victor was in the company of Jerry Cranston, as expected, and a large middle-aged man with graying red hair. "Highness," Robert answered respectfully, offering his hand. "You were pretty silent earlier today."

"I felt Focht and Wolf had more to say," Victor replied. He gestured to the red-haired man. "This is my Marshal of the Armies, Morgan Hasek-Davion, Duke of Syrtis and head of the Capellan March."

Robert nodded to the man. He was, if Robert remembered the family tree he'd seen, a cousin to Victor, the son of an aunt. "Marshal," he said. He took Morgan's hand and they shook. "A pleasure to meet you."

"The same. Victor's told me that your visit to New Avalon was the highlight of the year for him." Morgan nodded. "I saw the vids from the press on Victor's tour of your ship, so I can see why."

Robert answered with a nod. There was admittedly more to why Victor would feel that way. But given everything he knew about the court politics of F1S1, Robert knew that some things were best left unsaid. "I hope the people of the Commonwealth share your opinions. I'd like to think that we have enough in common that Alliance-Commonwealth relations will always be good. But I understand that it's going to take some time and patience. The existence of the Multiverse is a lot to take in for your people."

"It has been," Victor said. "But…"

He stopped speaking. Robert could see his eyes were drawn toward the door. Cranston had a reserved look on his face. Robert felt something of the emotions from both men. A feeling of distrust, dislike, a sense of broken promises and trust, the latter particularly strong in Cranston.

Robert turned now and faced the same direction as the others. At the opening of the door was a tall, splendid-looking woman, immensely beautiful and wearing an ice blue sleeveless dinner gown and a jeweled tiara. Long wintry green dinner gloves went up past the elbow of her bare arms. Her blond hair was the same color as Victor's, done up in an elaborate braid and ponytail at the back of her head.

"Presenting Her Royal Highness Princess Katherine…" There was a hushed remark. "...I am sorry, Katrina Morgan Steiner-Davion," the MoC said. "Regent on Tharkad, Duchess of…" He listed off several titles. Some were presumably courtesy titles of some sort or another.

"Your sister," Robert murmured.

"Yes."

"I didn't get the chance to meet her," Robert said. "The Aurora ended its tour at Orestes. What's she like?"

There was no answer from the two men, or from Morgan. But Robert could sense that had they given an honest answer, it would have been unkind. And seeing that Katrina was making her way toward them, he decided not to press.

"Victor, it is good to see you," Katrina said amiably. "I hope New Avalon is treating you well, little brother." A teasing smile crossed her face.

"Well enough," Victor answered, smiling quietly. "My congratulations to you on the job you're doing on Tharkad."

"Keeping our people safe and happy is a pleasure." Katrina turned to face Robert. Their heights were close, so her eyes lifted to face him, crystal blue in their color. "And you are Captain Dale. I'm thankful to finally get the chance to meet you, Captain. I regret that you didn't give Tharkad a visit as you did the other capitals of the Inner Sphere."

There was something to the remark that told Robert there was more to it. Ignoring that, Robert pressed on. "Yes. I had hoped to see your world too, but since we had already met the leader of the Commonwealth, Defense Command felt it necessary to send us on."

"I see." She extended a hand. "Better late than never, I suppose. Thank you for your assistance in the Joshua Marik matter, Captain. I hope that it is merely the beginning of your Alliance's involvement in the Inner Sphere."

Robert took it and kept his eyes on her as they shook hands. As they did so his life force senses flared up. Her hand felt cold, unnaturally so, and it took a moment for Robert to realize the sensation of cold wasn't physical, but through her life energy.

He focused quietly on that, on Katrina herself. Not deep enough to see anything, certainly not to the level of reading minds or sensing current motions, just a sense of who he was with.

For a moment Robert thought he was being pulled by something. There was an inexorable force within Katrina. A vortex of some sort…

No. A maw. A hungry, ravening maw demanding to be sated, capable of anything if it meant satiation. The sense of pure desire was frightening in its intensity, hidden as it was below the veneer of quiet composure and familial ribbing that Katrina had kept up. Robert got the sense that he could be drawn in, used up, and spat back out once he no longer met the needs of that hunger.

The sensation of the feeling was enough that he froze in mid-handshake. A look of bewilderment bordering on distaste flashed across Katrina's features. It was enough to jolt Robert back to movement. "Oh, sorry," he said, sounding sheepish, which wasn't hard as it wasn't an act. "I'm afraid I've got a lot on my mind, Highness."

"Of course." Katrina was clearly not convinced, but it was obvious she didn't know what to think.

Robert's strange reaction to Katrina hadn't gone unnoticed. "Hello," said a friendly voice, as Julia stepped in. She nodded to Victor and to Katrina. "Your Highnesses."

"Ah. Commander Andreys." Victor extended a hand and she accepted it. "This is my sister, Princess Katherine, my regent on Tharkad overseeing the Lyran half of our united realm. And our cousin, Marshal Morgan Hasek-Davion."

Julia nodded, still smiling warmly, and accepted handshakes from them and from Jerry Cranston as well. Robert could tell she was aware something was up, given the way she was drawing the attention of the group to herself. "Katherine, or is it Katrina?", she asked the other woman.

Katrina was looking at Julia with interest, and now a small smile. "I was born Katherine and Victor's used to using that name for me. But I've taken my grandmother's name now."

"Ah. Well, I'll go with Princess Katrina then. I'm Commander Julia Andreys of the Starship Aurora, First Officer."

"Indeed." Katrina's smile remained amiable. "It seems you and I have similar positions, then."

"We run the day-to-day things while the boys get all the credit?" Julia chuckled. "Something like that. And I regret that we never got to visit Tharkad, I've heard it's an amazing world."

"Yes, quite…"

Talking to Julia seemed to draw Katrina's interest, and the two walked off together, leaving Robert to collect his thoughts while Victor and Cranston looked on in stony silence.

Robert felt unsettled by his experience. He'd never felt such an immediate sensation from meeting someone. At best, he could get a good sense of current feelings and honesty. But that feeling from Katrina, that ravenous maw, left his heart racing and his head woozy.

"You do not look well," Victor observed.

Robert shook his head and swallowed. "I… it was just a shock." He went to excuse the matter by blaming his drink before his short-term memory kicked in, reminding him that he hadn't even started it yet.

"My sister can be… an experience."

The bitter feeling inside of the Archon-Prince returned. Robert looked at him. "Your sister is special. I've never felt an impression like that before."

"Does this have to do with your… abilities?", Cranston asked.

Cranston's question gave Robert a brief, instinctive flare of shock. But it was only a second in length before the instinctive reaction went away. His secret was, for the most part, out. Even if the recordings of the Gersallian Dissenter attack on the Alliance Senate hadn't been fully released, the Gersallians had openly broadcast Meridina's trial before her Order. A trial where his training had been revealed and then demonstrated.

"Yes," he answered. He looked over to where Julia was introducing Katrina to Jarod and Scotty. Looking back to Victor, he added, in a stone tone, "I always had the sense that your feelings toward your sister weren't the best. Now I can understand why."

"What was it?", Victor asked. "What did you sense?"

Robert briefly looked back to Katrina. Even across the room, he thought he could feel that pull. "Hunger," he murmured. "Insatiable hunger."

Victor and Cranston exchanged knowing looks. Robert could see they weren't surprised.

Somehow, that was the scariest part of it all.




After being introduced to a few new faces Angel made her way over to where Cat was staring quietly out of a window, an unfinished plate of pastries in her hand. "Some of this stuff is good," Angel said, indicating a rich-tasting fish filet on her plate. "You can't just eat pastries the whole time."

"They make me feel better." Cat sighed. "I wish they'd let Violeta come with us."

Angel rested her free hand on Caterina's shoulder. "She can't go everywhere with you."

"I know. But this is… I mean, she would love it here." Cat took her last bite and finished what she had after some chewing. "I never thought being in love would feel like this. I'm not even in my labs as often now. I'd rather be with Violeta."

"I know what it's like," Angel said.

"Yeah, you would." Cat looked over and up at her sister. "Are you and Rob… I mean, I know you're upset with all of the things he's doing now. Are you...?"

"We're still together. Technically." After saying that Angel sighed. "It's complicated, Cat. I know for you it's going well right now, but over time… well, things get in the way."

"He's breaking your heart again, isn't he?"

"Maybe… I don't know." Angel shook her head. "It was all so easy when I came to him last year. But now this 'life force' stuff, and…. other things that have come up."

"That prophecy stuff you heard on Gersal?", Cat inquired.

"That." Angel drew in a breath. "During that mission we went on to rescue Jarod, one of the people who helped us was this Zigonian named Kasszas."

"The blind one?" Seeing Angel's curious look, Cat answered the unasked question by saying, "Jarod mentioned him a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, that one." Angel looked out the window and let the memory come through her. "I… asked him if there was a way to remove Rob's abilities. He said no. And then he said I didn't love Rob anymore."

Cat frowned and furrowed her brow. "Well, that was a pretty mean thing to say."

"I thought so too." Angel nodded in agreement. "But I keep thinking back to that... He said I was trying to love an image of Rob and not the real thing. That I had to accept his powers in order to love him." Angel shook her head. "Just like that. I had to accept something that's tormenting Rob every damned night, it feels like. Half of the time I'm waking up and finding him curled up on the bed. Or he wakes me up screaming something." Angel shook her head. "And I'm supposed to accept that. But I won't."

"Leo said there's no way to remove this stuff from him, though."

"There has to be a way," Angel insisted. "Something nobody's thought of yet. You're into science, can't you find…"

"I'm not a biologist," Cat protested. "I mean, I know some basic things, but my specialties are in entirely different fields. I wouldn't know where to start when it comes to life force stuff." She frowned. "Besides, isn't that stuff good? I mean…"

By then it was too late. Angel was already giving her an angry look. "It gives him nightmares all of the time, Cat, so no, I don't think it's good."

"But without the powers, the Nazis would have killed me," Cat said. "Robert needed them to save me."

"We could have found another way," Angel insisted.

"I don't think…" Cat stopped. She could tell from Angel's expression that this conversation was going nowhere. She set the plate she had down on the window sill and took her sister's hand. "Angel, I don't want to see you hurt. But I'm worried about this. What Robert's got now… whatever it is, I don't think it's something you get rid of. Not with science anyway. Maybe it's just something… it's a change and you have to go with it. Or…" Seeing that was upsetting her sister, Cat sighed. "Violeta and I have this thing, Angel… we always ask each other before we… well, before we do anything. And she was pretty clear on letting me take the lead because I'm new at the whole 'lesbian relationship' thing. That's because we both have to be happy for the relationship to work. I mean, obviously not happy all of the time, but…"

Angel was starting to tune her sister out. That wasn't something she normally did. But it felt like Cat was saying the same thing to her. She had to accept it. She had to accept this… this curse that Robert had taken up, and should give up finding a way to cure him of it.

Maybe I should, was her brief thought on the matter. But some part of her instinctively rejected that. These abilities, this power, was destroying their relationship. She felt like they were getting to the point where they weren't even together anymore, just… what, friends with benefits?

And I don't want that anymore. Not with him.

Caterina finished speaking. "You stopped paying attention to me," she said with a hint - more than a hint, really - of accusation in her voice.

"I'm sorry," Angel said. She looked down at her plate and put it on the sill. "I'm… I'm not hungry."

"Angel…" Cat reached for her sister's arm, but she was too slow. Angel tromped off into the crowd, looking very much like she wanted to be alone.




The Master of Ceremonies began to call out new arrivals again. These new arrivals were clad differently from the other groups, wearing Japanese-style formal robes and suits, with the black dragon-on-red disc insignia of the Draconis Combine stitched into the torso areas of the robes. An East Asian man of graying dark hair was immediately recognizable to Robert: Coordinator Theodore Kurita.

He had little stake, emotionally, in the arrival of another Inner Sphere potentate and family. But he could feel Victor's emotions shift, longing and need taking over from the lingering irritation and distrust of dealing with Katrina. That won his attention and Robert soon looked back again, even as the Ceremonies master introduced "The Keeper of the Honor of the House of Kurita", a woman in a red and black kimono with her long dark hair pulled back into a formal knot at the rear of her head. She looked nearly thirty, probably a few years older than Robert. Bright blue eyes scanned the crowd and faced Robert. Her expression remained fixed. Nevertheless Robert could feel a joy within her, the joy of seeing someone who met much to her.

He looked over and felt nearly the same from Victor, tinged with bittersweet feelings. Cranston was looking at Victor with a little concern. "Huh," Robert murmured. "And I thought my love life was complicated."

"Whoever you want to be with, you don't have to worry about provoking a civil war by marrying them," Victor lamented.

"Eloping to Las Vegas wouldn't exactly work for you two either, would it?", Robert sighed.

That got him a harsh laugh from the Prince. "If only…" Victor shook his head. "The Archon-Prince of the Federated Commonwealth marrying the Keeper of the Family Honor of the Draconis Combine is the sort of wedding that requires all sorts of state protocols and functions. Including dowries and gifts."

"You mean that your people would be convinced you were going to give up worlds to the Combine in any gift exchange. But I've met Theodore, he's not stupid enough to push for something like that…"

"He would have to have something for show to avoid domestic problems," Cranston pointed out. "And popular opinion in the Commonwealth would never allow that."

Robert's response was to rub at his forehead. "Just whose bright idea was it to set up aristocracy and feudalism in the Inner Sphere, anyway?"

"Michael Cameron," Victor answered nonchalantly. "Although feudalism has mostly been a result of the Succession Wars."

"I thought some of the old Earth nobility still existed in some Alliance states?", asked Cranston.

"Well, I think some do," Robert admitted. "European and Arab royal families. But they don't have these kinds of politics involved in their marriages anymore." He shook his head and gave Victor a look that he hoped was comforting. "I'm sorry. I can only imagine how much it hurts for you."

"And what about you?", Victor asked. "The way you're talking, you have your own relationship problems."

"Well, nothing to the level of a civil war over them." Robert shook his head. "For me it's more of a question if I'm even going to have a relationship for much longer. Between my duty to train in my… abilities, and my duties as a captain…"

Victor gave him a sympathetic look. "Duty and love don't always go together."

"You're right about that." Robert cleared his throat. "Well, enough of that I guess. We still have to figure out what we're going to do about the Clans."

"That's what the strategy meetings are for tomorrow."

"Maybe. But I've already started to think of something with the others." Robert gave Victor a thoughtful look. "How much do you know about the Clans' combat trials?"




The following day Robert, Julia, and Jarod were the ones to beam down to join President Morgan and Admiral Maran at the grand strategy meeting. The ComStar conference room was arranged with tables in a curved line across the room, all facing a raised dais and podium marked with the ComStar insignia and with a holotank above and behind it.

There was no difficulty in finding the Alliance table - President Morgan had been given a place between the Marik and Kurita tables on the right side. The Commonwealth was represented by one table with both Victor and Katrina sitting at it. Robert didn't recognize the woman who was with Katrina, although her military uniform gave her rank as a Marshal, while Victor had Marshal Hasek-Davion at his side as well as another man, with a full beard of wolf-gray hair and a head of hair to match. His uniform was different, clearly that of a mercenary.

Focht was directing the briefing. "We have determined more about what is going on in Clan territory," he said. "And the news is grave." He gripped the podium. "A few weeks ago, the Wolf Clan Council convened a trial hearing to hear accusations leveled against ilKhan Ulric Kerensky by the Clan Loremaster, Dalk Carns, who is a known Crusader."

"What was he accused of?", asked the wolf-haired man at Victor's table.

"Treason, Your Grace," replied Focht. "The charges are spurious, that much is clear, but the newest generation of warriors in the Clans are opposed to the Truce and are pushing the conviction. From what we have gathered, Loremaster Carns leveled a very grave and heavy accusation against the ilKhan. He accused him of plotting genocide against the Clan."

"That sounds farfetched," noted Thomas Marik. "How could such an outrageous charge hold weight?"

"Our sources in the Wolf Clan state the charge is based on the Truce, that the Truce was planned to destroy the warrior caste," Wolf said. "It is a ridiculous charge, but it is one that the Crusaders can take advantage of. Ulric's actual actions are irrelevant. The Crusaders want the Invasion to resume. Presumably they have hoped that Ulric would renounce the Truce to save himself."

"Then we must prepare for war." This came from Sun-Tzu Liao, Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation. The sharp-eyed Asian man was flanked by his red-haired sister and one of his high military officers. "The Clans will be resuming their campaign."

"As things stand, that is the most likely outcome." Focht looked to the Alliance table. "Although we may have one last chance to prevent it. President Morgan?"

Henry Morgan stood. He looked every inch the seasoned statesman, and his business-like suit - a dark blue jacket with seamless sealed cuffs over a silk white shirt and green tie - was in sharp contrast to the ostentatious uniforms of the Inner Sphere leadership. "The Allied Systems are ready to assist the Inner Sphere in resisting Clan aggression," Morgan said. "Although it is our hope to prevent a resumption of the hostilities so that the conflict with the Nazi German Reich is not prolonged. As many of you are aware, we suffered a setback nearly two months ago that has cost us some of our reserve. And I shouldn't need to point out that regardless of our success in preventing the Reich from gaining control of the Darglan Facility at Gamma Piratus, the longer the war rages, the more likely the Reich will manage to discover how to use IU drives through examination of the ships we've lost in action within their territories. So we must put all of our efforts into preventing this potential Clan threat."

"Do you have a proposal on how to persuade the Clans to uphold the Truce, Mister President?", Katrina asked from the Commonwealth table.

Morgan nodded at her. "I do. Precentor-Martial Focht has informed me that the Clans' upcoming meeting is on the planet Tamar." He held a hand toward Robert and the others. "It is my intention to send Captain Dale and his ship to Tamar to open our first diplomatic contact with the Clans and to secure, by any means possible, their cooperation."

Theodore Kurita nodded from his table. "That is, perhaps, the best chance we have. Seeing your vessel and some of the technological advantages your Alliance enjoys may cause even the militant Clans to reconsider."

"Although it will not be easy." Colonel Wolf was speaking up next, from his own table near Focht. "If you have read the reports I made available, it is clear that the prolonged peace is causing enormous strain within the warrior caste. Many of the younger generations of warriors are insisting on new conflicts. I fear that the Truce will not last despite the Alliance's presence."

Robert gave Maran a look. Maran stood. "I believe Captain Dale and his officers have a suggestion to propose to the summit."

"We are prepared to hear him," said Focht.

Robert stood and looked over the assembled leaders of the Inner Sphere, from the hollow visage of Rasalhague's Elected Prince Haakon Magnusson to Victor to the emissaries from the Periphery realms of the Magistracy of Canopus and the Taurian Concordat. "I've been discussing this issue with my officers while examining our material on the Clans. Commander Jarod has found a possible solution that will ease this… pressure on the Clans' internal affairs. But it's going to have a long-term cost, and I can't suggest it at Tamar unless the leaders of the Inner Sphere, and President Morgan, are ready to consider it." Robert drew in a breath before continuing. "We could offer the Clans a part in the war with the Reich."

"Which means they would also get access to the same technologies you are offering us, correct?", asked Thomas Marik.

"Yes, Captain-General sir. They would."

A few protesting voices arose. "You can't!", Magnusson cried. "We're already under enough threat, with your technology the Clans would overwhelm what's left of the Republic in a day!"

"What if they insist you remain neutral in a renewal of the invasion?" This was from Katrina. "There has to be a line that you will not cross."

"I would never intend to offer that term, not without guarantees… or as a calculated risk for an immense benefit," Robert insisted.

"Or as a means for the Alliance to abandon the Inner Sphere to the Clans," charged one of the Lyran officers with Katrina.

"That is not our intention," Morgan stated flatly. "And I will not allow it to come to that."

"So you would betray any such term if it's made with the Clans? How could anyone trust you…"

Before Sun-Tzu could continue, Robert spoke up again. "If I were to even consider such a thing, it would be to meet a Clan offer to end the Invasion for now."

"The Clans already agreed to a fifteen year truce. We are only five years into that truce and they are already planning to break it." Sun-Tzu shook his head. "I cannot accept such an agreement. It would be base treachery by the Alliance against the Inner Sphere. Indeed, I am deeply suspicious of this entire concept now."

Robert met the Capellan ruler's glare with an understanding look. "I understand your skepticism. But your people have fought beside ours, we're not going to abandon you like that. All I'm asking is for leeway to act as I need to if it means stopping the Clans from rescinding the Truce. Believe me, if it's clear we can't dissuade the Crusaders… if Ulric Kerensky is removed as ilKhan and the Crusaders are preparing to resume the invasion, we'll break off the talks. And the Alliance can prepare to join you in a war with the Clans."

Victor stood. "It's worth a try," he said. "Even if the Clans gain something from joining the war, the Inner Sphere and the Alliance can hold them at the Truce line ten years from now. That's ten years for the Inner Sphere to continue building defenses. Ten years for us to finish off the Reich."

"Not all of us are involved in your little crusade, Prince Victor," Sun-Tzu said. "Do not presume that the Capellan Confederation will jeopardize its defenses to assist in that war."

"Obviously not, Chancellor Sun-Tzu," Victor answered. "But many of us are committed to helping end that threat before it could possibly bring us harm, and that is what I was referring to."

"Regardless of that issue, it is clear we should consider Captain Dale's proposal." Focht put his hands together on the podium. "Let us vote on it by delegation."

The vote was held. The Commonwealth, the Combine, and the St. Ives Compact voted in favor of. The Capellans and Rasalhague voted against. Those assembled looked toward Thomas Marik.

The Captain-General, in turn, looked to the Alliance table and nodded. "The Free Worlds League votes in favor of the Alliance proposal." He studiously ignored the slight displeasure on his future son-in-law Sun-Tzu's face.

Thomas Marik's vote eliminated the tie-breaking vote that Focht and Primus Mori could have employed, as controversial as that might have proven. Robert nodded at Julia and Jarod; their mission was good to go.

Victor stood. "In support of the mission, I propose that an observer be dispatched" Victor looked to the older, wolf-gray-haired man at his table. "Duke Morgan Kell of Arc-Royal is my choice."

The older man nodded.

"Given the short time we have to influence the upcoming Clan Grand Council meeting on Tamar, I would suggest that Captain Dale and his ship be released to depart by this evening," Focht stated. "Are there any objections?"

There were none.



Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 4 July 2642. Captain Robert Dale recording. We are currently en route to Tamar and expect to arrive during the evening hours. Grand Duke Kell and a small group of ComStar-provided analysts have been issued quarters for the duration of this mission.

I spent much of the night going over the material on the Clan leadership provided by Colonel Wolf and Precentor-Martial Focht. There are a few ways to approach this problem. I only hope I can read the Clans correctly and find the one that will work.



The lunch crowd in the Lookout was of the standard size. Freshly roused Beta Shift crew were getting their breakfasts while some Alpha Shift personnel took lunch breaks. Robert had opted for lunch in the Lookout in the hopes that Angel would join him. Unfortunately she had other arrangements with Cat, and he was dining alone.

He chewed quietly on the reuben sandwich that Hargert had given him and found that, for all that the mission meant for the future, it was the future of his relationship that he couldn't get his mind off of. He and Angel had always had issues with staying together. Family obligations - Robert to the (eternally struggling) family farm, Angel to watching her then-underage little sister - inevitably got in the way of things, and then would come the arguments, the recriminations, and a breakup. A few weeks, or a few months in some cases, would pass, then they'd meet up in a social setting and become friendly, just for the cycle to lead to hooking back up and straight on that same path as before. This entire cycle had started in high school and continued on into early adulthood, and it left Robert wondering if he was cursed to continue it.

It felt so different this time. Like knowing we could die out here made it easier to keep things going. Our obligations weren't interfering… not at first.

A small burning sensation of guilt came to Robert. How much of this was because he knew he could stop these issues easily? All he had to do was tell Meridina he was done with training. That he was satisfied with his level of control and that he needed to focus on other things? That was what was supposed to happen, after all. All of those months, he had trained under the impression that he was only ensuring basic control of his abilities, of what the Gersallians called "swevyra", and he had promised Angel he'd have more time for her once that training was over. But with everything that had happened on Gersal, and the revelation that Meridina had intentionally been training Robert and Lucy Lucero more extensively than control… With all of that, he had decided to keep training.

Maybe I should take that back, he thought, and not for the first time. Angel deserved better than being third-string in his life behind his captain duties and his life force ability training.

And like every time he thought of that, he remembered other things. He remembered the Prophecy of the Dawn, as Mastrash Ledosh and Meridina had describe, and he remembered the message in the Darglan Facility on Gamma Piratus. The warning about "the Darkness". And his dreams, his nightmares, of stars going out across the galaxies of the universe…

Robert might have stuck himself into another cycle of thought if not for the new arrival. "Captain Dale," said a voice made hoarse by age, but still tempered with the firmness of command. Robert looked up from his meal to face Morgan Kell. The ex-mercenary commander had a plate of his own. "May I?"

"Oh… yes, yes of course."

Morgan sat. "You reminded me of the monks I once lived with," he said. "But it was rare to see someone so intent upon their thoughts, even in those days. Does this mission trouble you?"

"It wasn't about the mission," Robert admitted. "There were other… things on my mind, you could say."

"Ah." Morgan took a small drink from a cup. Robert couldn't tell what was in it. "I'm curious about how your crew seems to operate on duty. It's not the military style I would expect."

"It would be on other ships," Robert said. "But for vessels in direct Alliance service, with crews from different species and different cultures, we had to find a good median point. Alakins require more sleep than Humans, for instance, from a medical standpoint, but they are more alert while awake and require fewer breaks."

"Ah, yes." Morgan nodded. "I am still getting used to the idea of non-Human life. I actually felt sorry for the first alien delegation that I hosted on Arc-Royal, those… Tarans? Tarians?"

"Turians?", Robert offered.

"Ah, yes. Turians." Morgan nodded. "They were an interesting sort. They came to inspect my family's BattleMech factory and observe the Kell Hounds in field exercises. But they spent most of their time dodging reporters and dealing with culture shock."

"I'm not surprised. Ever since first contact with the Inner Sphere, people have been looking into your BattleMechs as a possible new weapon system."

"I've been considering installing mass effect weapons on BattleMechs myself. The chance to have autocannons without heavy ammunition requirements, or explosive ammunition, is compelling." Morgan took a bite from a sandwich on his plate. Once he was finished, he spoke again. "My son is a Khan in the Clans, you know."

Robert blinked. "What?" With a movement of his hand he activated his new omnitool and brought up a data display of the known Clan leaders. "Which? I mean, how is that possible?"

"He is Khan Phelan Ward in the Wolves," Morgan continued. "They let him compete for the Bloodname because his mother is descended from a Star League officer, Jal Ward, who joined Aleksandr Kerensky's exodus over two hundred years ago. Ward ended up being one of Nicholas' eight hundred followers."

Robert found the name, and with it the image. In fact, once he started reading over the ComStar bio Morgan's words were quickly confirmed. He felt a little embarrassed at not knowing this. I've been focusing on reading up about the Crusader Khans since they'll be the ones I'm having to fight the most.

It was clear Morgan knew the "why" of Robert's ignorance. He made no comment on it. "I have a vested stake in your mission, Captain, as you now see." Morgan sighed. "While my Kell Hounds will most likely fight the Jade Falcons and Steel Vipers instead of the Wolves, the Invasion resuming means that my son and I will be enemies again."

"Your son's with the Warden faction, right?"

"The Wardens may oppose continuing the Invasion, but they are obligated to fight if it restarts. Knowing Phelan, he will throw his full energy into getting the Wolves to Terra first."

"Because Earth is their goal," Robert noted. "The first Clan to reach Earth gets to take charge over all of the other Clans."

"Exactly."

"But that's not enough, not if they want to reunite the Inner Sphere under their leadership." Robert shook his head. "I mean, Earth has some strategic value, being in the dead center of the Inner Sphere. But throwing everything they have into seizing it first makes no sense. They're creating long flank lines that the Inner Sphere can exploit."

"The Clans are used to winning in the end, and to quick and decisive battles," Morgan reminded Robert. "Strategy is not always their strong suit." The older man sighed. "And I fear it may eventually lead to Phelan's death. I have already mourned him once. I don't wish to go through that again."

"Yeah." Robert noddded. "I don't blame you. I know what it's like to lose the people that you love. And I'll do what I can, Duke Kell. I'll find a way to keep the Truce." And maybe, if we're lucky, it may not be so temporary in the long run…




With the Koenig docked Tom Barnes was back in his usual role of being Scotty's #2 man in Engineering. And it was work he preferred; the Koenig was a little asskicker of a ship, but it sucked to live on it, and that was what Tom would have to do if it went out for any extended missions before Karen Derbely finished her operations and rehabilitation from getting most of her body flash-fried by coolant plasma.

For the moment, he was looking over the plasma feed line leading into Nacelle Pylon 3, the lower starboard pylon on the ship. An engineering rate Crewman, Gabe Howell, was standing beside him with a tool. "Do you see what I mean, sir?", he asked.

Barnes looked back to his own scan results, displayed on his nice new omnitool. He delighted in operating the holographic device. "Yeah," he sighed. "Yeah, I can see that. Looks like a fault in the valve." Barnes tapped a hard-light key on the omnitool display. "Barnes to Scott."

"I'm here, lad," was the reply from his mentor.

"Howell's right. The valve on Feed 3B is stuck in the open position."

"Alright then. I'll have the backups brought online. Go ahead an' get a replacement valve from th' shop."

"On my way." Barnes looked to Howell. "Let me know if anything else happens, I'm going to get a replacement valve built."

"Yes sir," the young engineering crewman replied.

Barnes smiled thinly to that as he walked away. This was the part he loved about this life. He wasn't just an engineer, he was an engineer on one of the most advanced machines that an engineer could ever imagine. Forget designing a car or a jet, he had helped to design, and was helping to run, a kilometer-long starship that could go faster than light and hop universes.

He walked up the work ramp for the nacelle pylon to the deck it was attached to. From there it was a short trip around the various machinery spaces and the access doors for them to a turbolift and Deck 25.

In Machine Shop B he went to the bank of fabricators. An engineering officer, Lieutenant Teikue, was overseeing the shop crew. "Lieutenant Barnes, sir?", he asked.

"I need a new plasma-holding valve for one of the feed lines." Barnes brought up his omnitool and looked up the information. "Model… PV210 should do it."

"Yes sir."

Barnes left Teikue to relay the order to his shop workers. For the moment he had nothing to do. A job like this would only take ten or so minutes depending on various factors and he might as well wait.

It was while he was waiting that he recognized a head of curly dark hair nearby. Even without seeing her face, he could see it was Lucy and called out, "Hey Lucy, still working on something?" When she didn't respond he crossed his arms and repeated her name. When a second repeat of said name didn't work, he smirked and said, "Hey, Earth to LL. You there, LL?"

She stopped moving her hand on the control and took in a breath. Lucy turned and gave him a playful death glare. "You know I don't like that nickname. I never have."

"Yeah, I remember. You finally told us that only after a few years and finding the Facility," Barnes replied. "But I didn't know how else to get your attention."

"Shouldn't you be in Engineering helping Scotty?", Lucy asked.

"I'm waiting for them to get me a new plasma valve for one of the Nacelle 3 plasma feeds," he answered. He stepped up closer and noticed the cylindrical object in what looked like a manual fabricator assembly. "Still working on that… laser sword or beamblade or lightsaber, whatever it is?"

Lucy sighed and shook her head. "Yes. But there's still no luck with the crystal issue."

"Have you checked the inventory? We have a few focusing crystal types around."

"And none of them work, they can't handle the energy load," Lucy answered. "I need stronger crystals."

Barnes blinked. "Woh. Did you see what kind of crystal was in that weapon?"

"I got scans, but I'd need a full atomic material scan for that," Lucy said, "and I didn't want to risk taking the blade apart. The Gersallians would have been mad as hell if I had wrecked their relic."

"Huh." Barnes pondered the question. "Well, I'll see what I can find for you. I know some people who are examining new types of crys…" He was interrupted by a tone from his omnitool. Someone was calling him. He tapped the holographic key to open the channel. "Barnes here."

"Tom, I need you to double-check the engines before we get to Tamar," Zack said. "Hajar said something about that plasma coolant line having some irregular results from the testing yesterday."

"How soon are we going to be there?"

"By tonight, I've heard."

At that Barnes rolled his eyes. "Dammit…" He looked to Lucy. "Hey, they're getting me that valve soon, a PV210. Mind getting it from Teikue and taking it to Feed 3B for installation?"

Lucy nodded. "Since you're doing me a solid on my crystal hunt, sure."

"Thanks." He turned away. "I'd better get to the Koenig then. See you around."




Robert entered the gymnasium in uniform and quickly found who he was looking for. Julia was standing on a practice mat in a white martial arts gi with a black belt around her waist and her hair pulled into a tight bun at the back of her head. She was in one of her practice stances, moving through a sequence of what looked like t'ai chi moves and holds.

She wasn't alone in this. Angel was standing beside her, doing the same, and they had a new addition to the group. Robert was somewhat surprised to see it was Meridina, wearing the same kind of martial arts gi the others had instead of her usual preferred training vest. She mimicked the movements of Julia and Angel flawlessly.

Politeness demanded Robert remain to the side until they were done. Within a minute Julia did what looked to be the final movement, culminating with her hands coming together, palm-against-palm, in what looked almost like a "praying" gesture. She let out a final breath and her body relaxed. "Well, there we are," she said. She looked to Robert and grinned. "One of these days, Rob, I'm going to get you into this."

"Well, you've got Angel and Meridina now…"

"...and Lucy," Julia added. Her grin remained. "When she's not spending all of her time in the Machine Shop trying to build a new light sword."

"It is an interesting discipline." Meridina nodded to Julia. "And it served Lucy against Mastrash Goras."

"And I only gave her one lesson," Julia pointed out. "If she'd been fully trained, I'm not sure Goras could have landed a hit. Not with anything physical anyway." Julia looked to Robert again.

He was, in turn, embracing Angel for a moment. She gave him a small kiss on the cheek and pulled away. "We don't have long, right?", she asked.

Robert shook his head. "Maybe an hour. Locarno will let me know when we're fifteen minutes out. If need be we'll slow to make sure we're ready when we get there…"

"I'm going to shower. See you on the bridge." Angel nodded to him and walked to the exit.

Meridina gave Robert a sad look. "I am sorry."

"Sorry for…?", he asked.

"For undermining your relationship with Angel," Meridina answered. "If it were not so important to continue your training…"

"Is it?", Robert asked. He was still looking at the door that Angel had just walked through. "What if we dialed it back a little? Maybe a couple nights a week?"

"By all rights we should be doing more, Robert," Meridina pointed out. "You still have much to learn in how to use your swevyra."

Meridina had been gentle in her reminder of his relative lack of capability. He still had trouble dueling Lucy, who only had six months of training on him, and even in comparison to her his advancement in most of the relevant abilities was lacking.

It wasn't the first time Robert had felt frustrated, or even dejected, about his lack of progress. But now it added to his frustration over his failing relationship with Angel. He frowned. "I'm having trouble making the time for what I do now, Meridina. Maybe…" Robert shrugged. "...I don't know. I'm starting to think that maybe I should just accept that this as far as I'm going in terms of my force abilities and end the training."

Meridina listened to him say those words. For a brief moment there was a small flinch on her features, joined by a quivering of her heart. Whatever it had been, she forced it away. "I understand your frustration with your progress Robert. But not everyone advances as fast as Lucy has. You are advancing at the pace I would expect. It is possible that you may never have the same capability in combat, yes..."

"Then what's this for?", Robert asked pointedly. "I mean, I've got the mental control down, I'm not going to give in to my darkest impulses, you can be sure of that. But if I'm never going to be able to fight alongside you and Lucy with these abilities, maybe I should just call it quits. Before I give up something I don't have to."

"I understand that I may be asking much of you. It is a sacrifice. But I believe it a necessary one. You need to learn how to better harness your talents."

Meridina's words were spoken gently. But they cut deeply regardless.

Part of that may have even contributed to what came next. To the instinctive, defensive reaction that led Robert to responding, "Maybe I don't think that sacrifice is worth it anymore."

Meridina looked at him closely. For a moment he thought she would initiate some sort of mental contact, a connection to gauge if he really meant that. In the end all she did was nod. "I see. If that is how you feel, if it is the path that your swevyra is guiding you toward, then I respect it. Please let me know later if this is the way you wish things to go."

Without another word, Meridina walked away.

Even before she reached the door, Robert could feel the pain welling up inside of her. The only thing keeping him from recanting on the spot was his own surprise that he said that to her.

He was even more surprised by the sudden jolt of pain in the back of his head. "Yow!", he cried out in surprise.

When he turned his head to face the source of the slap, he found himself staring into a pair of infuriated aquamarine eyes. "In all of our years together, Robert Allen Dale," Julia began, anger lacing every word, "you have rarely been more of a thoughtless idiot than you were just now." As he drew in a breath to speak Julia interrupted. "You really want to do that? To bring up 'sacrifices' and if they're worth it?" She pointed to the door with a single finger. "To her. That woman gave up everything, Rob. She walked away from the organization that gave her life purpose, that… that she spent her whole life wanting to be a part of… to stay with us, to train you and Lucy. Because she thought it was the right thing to do. And you want to whine about making sacrifices to her."

Julia stopped. Robert swallowed and shook his head. "I was out of line," he admitted.

"Waaaay out of line." Julia shook her head. "Listen, I get it. Angel is… Angel. She wants a boyfriend who'll be there when the night's over and who will spend time with her."

"Yeah."

"But you can't, Rob," Julia pointed out. "You couldn't from the start. And if Angel can't live with that… then maybe you two shouldn't be together now."

"But we were doing so well," Robert insisted. "Before this life force thing came up, I was making time, and she was accepting when I couldn't, and it was working. We were compromising, recognizing mistakes… we were doing everything right for a change. It felt like this was it and we had finally made it work!" He sighed. "And then this training started and the whole thing just… derailed."

Julia nodded. She spread her arms and took him into a hug. "I'm sorry, Robby," she murmured into his ear. "I'm sorry that you two might not work out after all. But sometimes… it just isn't meant to be."

She could feel him breathe heavily as part of a sigh. After a half minute of holding tightly they pulled away from each other. "I need to go shower and get into my uniform," Julia said. "You should freshen up to."

"I'm heading to the shower now," Robert answered. "I'll see you on the bridge, Julia."

Julia nodded in quiet agreement.




Everyone assembled on the bridge in time for their arrival. Locarno brought the Aurora out of warp just inside the lunar orbit of the planet. Caterina was quick to confirm scan results. "It looks like there are six armed ships of capital ship size in orbit. The ComStar records and the IFF codes confirm them as warships of the six invading Clans. There are several dozen ships of smaller size. I think it's their non-jump capable 'DropShips'." Cat looked over something. "They're definitely reacting to our arrival. They're launching fighters."

"If they know anything about us, they know we can be in combat range in minutes," Julia remarked.

"I know. So let's start this right. Jarod, put me on with the local authorities."

"You're on."

"Attention, Wolf Clan leadership, and those of the other Clans," Robert began. "I am Captain Robert Dale of the Starship Aurora, representing the United Alliance of Systems. I've come to open communication with the Clan Grand Council on behalf of President Henry Morgan and the government of the Alliance. I request safe passage, or safcon as you call it, to orbital space in order to speak with the Council."

For several moments there was quiet. A gruff voice finally replied, "We have received your message, Captain Robert. Standby."

"Did he just use your first name?", Angel asked. "That's pretty rude, right?"

"It's how the Clans address others," Julia said. "Given names only. Only Bloodnames are recognized."

"Well, I guess Jarod will feel right at home," Locarno said. That caused a bemused grin to come to Jarod's face.

When a voice came over the other end, it was the rough voice of a woman just starting to sound like she was entering her elderly years. "This is Khan Natasha Kerensky of the Wolf Clan. Your request for safcon is granted, Captain."

Robert recognized the name immediately. He'd heard that Khan Kerensky was not simply a Clan leader, but had been a feared mercenary commander in the Inner Sphere for decades before returning to the Clans. "Thank you, Khan Kerensky. We'll assume a standard orbit immediately."

"The ilKhan is going to present your request to the Grand Council shortly. We will inform you if they are willing to hear you speak. That is all."

"Nick, put us in standard orbit."

"And right under all of their guns," Angel murmured. "And I guess we don't have permission to raise shields?"

"Not unless they lock on us first."

"Right." Julia nodded in agreement. "Somehow I think taking defensive precautions after they've promised to give us safe conduct will not go over well. It would be saying we don't trust them." She looked at Robert. 'So, who's going down?"

"I want to make an impression. You, Zack, Meridina, Commander Kane, and Jarod. Get Lucy up here to take Jarod's place. Nick, you just made Lieutenant Commander, please don't get the ship shot up on your first mission after the promotion."

Locarno smirked. "I'll try not to," he answered, taking the remark as the humorous gibe it had been intended to be.

"I'll signal Grand Duke Kell to meet us at Transporter Station 2," Julia said. She brought her omnitool to life in a flash of blue light.

"Alright everyone," Robert said. "Let's go stop a war."

 

[Big Steve]

On arrival to the landing area in the Wolf Clan headquarters, they were met by two power armor-clad troopers flanking a man in a uniform made of gray leathers. A red star with one elongated point was prominent on the uniform.

But the real identifier was the family resemblance on his face, the look in those green eyes, and the subtle shift of emotion Robert felt in both the man greeting them, and in his own party. So he nodded slightly. "Khan Phelan Ward?", he inquired.

"Yes." Phelan looked away from his father. "The Grand Council is expecting you. Follow me."

Phelan led the way while the two power armor troops - "Elementals" - followed behind them. A series of halls led them to an amphitheater-like room. Eleven other people were seated physically while vidscreens displayed another twenty-two faces. Those present were wearing their own uniforms, colored in the fashion of their totem animals, including fine enameled masks bearing the stylized heads of those same creatures. Falcons, Bears, Jaguars…

Sitting apart from the others, on a raised platform with a podium, were two more figures. One was a gnarled, aged man with multiple cybernetic attachments to his body, with the green-colored uniforms that were evidently those of the Jade Falcons. A middle-aged man sat nearby, wearing the same gray leather suit that Phelan had on. Robert recognized him from the briefing materials Focht had provided: Ulric Kerensky of the Wolves, ilKhan of the Clans.

Ulric stood. "You are all familiar with the reports we have received of a new power in the Inner Sphere," he said. He looked over to Robert and the others while Phelan took a seat near to Ulric, where the red-and-gray-haired Natasha Kerensky was already present. "And now we have come to their attention." Ulric looked to Robert. "As you have ours, Captain." He indicated the middle of the room.

Robert nodded and walked to said point. With the exception of Morgan Kell, who remained standing to the side as an observer, the others joined him. Robert cleared his throat and looked at the array of masked men and women either present or watching from over a thousand light years away. "I am Captain Robert Dale, commander of the Alliance Starship Aurora, here on behalf of President Henry Morgan and the United Alliance of Systems. These are some of my fellow officers. We've come…" He stopped for a moment, noticing the wincing and grumbling from some of the assembled. "...we have come to address the risk that the standing Clan truce with the Inner Sphere is about to be abrogated, and to persuade you to let it stand."

"So you come to join with the usurpers of the noble Star League," a voice boomed. A very, very, very large man stood, wearing light gray leathers with a mottled cape and the enameled mask of a gray-furred jaguar. "You will suffer their fate."

"Let us not be hasty, Khan Osis," one of the Khans on the screens stated. This one had a helmet and mask modeled off of a scorpion; the voice was clearly feminine. "I have seen the records transmitted by the Wolves on this man's vessel. It is clearly of a technological base unknown even to the Star League."

"And that excites you, Khan Suvorov?" The use of the name allowed Robert to connect the dots from the data he'd read: this was clearly Lincoln Osis speaking. "I care not for this. What I do care about is that we now have clear proof of the charges against the ilKhan, that he is conspiring with our enemies out of his misguided hatred of the Crusade."

Phelan jumped to his feet. "Watch what you say about treason, Khan Osis. Or I will meet you in a Circle of Equals."

Lincoln Osis fixed his glare on Phelan. "I do not fear MechWarriors, freebirth. Inside or outside of their machines."

"That is good. I do not fear Elementals either." Phelan smirked. "I have beaten your kind unaugmented before."

A rumble of laughter came from some of the assembled. Robert let it build and fall away before resuming the conversation. "I am not privy to the secrets of ComStar or the Inner Sphere," he said. "But however they learned of them, they told us about your charges against ilKhan Ulric. That you consider him a traitor because you feel the Truce is dooming three generations of Clan warriors to no chances to fight and gain experience." Robert waited for a moment to see if anyone refuted him. None did. "Well, we can fix that. You have undoubtedly heard by now that some of the Inner Sphere's nations have joined us in a war in another universe. I have come to extend the offer for you to join that conflict as well."

That did it. All eyes focused on Robert with hawkish intensity. He could tell that in some cases it was not a positive intensity. So he forged on. His hand ran over his omnitool. When it came to life the room showed clear interest in it. His hand moved over the holographic controls to access the holoviewer built into the device. It activated to show the image of a starship. Not just any either, but of an Aryan-class Reich dreadnought. The Nazi swastika emblem was plainly visible on the bow.

"Do you recognize this?", he asked. "I suspect some of you do. It's been a thousand years for your history since this emblem flew on a flag. But I know from experience that most human societies that experienced this one's rise have never failed to remember it."

One of the physically present speakers, wearing a feline mask with a star-like mane, stood. "We know of it, yes," said the Khan of the Nova Cats. "And we know of the evil it spawned. You are showing us a universe where the evils of Hitler were not destroyed?"

"I am." Robert nodded. "The Nazi regime won their wars in this universe's history. It eventually subjugated the entire world. They exterminated entire peoples and enslaved the rest." He looked over the assembled Khans. "And we're at war with them. The Federated Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League have joined that war, and the rest of the Inner Sphere's nations may yet follow. Now I am here to offer you the same. A chance for your warriors to fight real battles, good battles, against a foe worthy of your time and of your skill." Robert matched Lincoln Osis' glare. "You want to talk about a Crusade, Khan Osis? This is a Crusade. Stopping the evil of the Nazi German Reich. This is the foe worthy of that title. Join us in fighting this evil and you will get the same benefits we are giving to the Inner Sphere."

"I am no Warden," Lincoln retorted.

"Nor are we mercenaries." An older voice spoke up, coming from a man with a Jade Falcon helmet and mask. "Did you think you could come here and purchase our services?" The man bristled with indignation, indignation that Robert felt was a little too forced to be genuine. "You are no different from any of the other freebirths of the Inner Sphere. You represent disorder, chaos, the very things the great Star League was formed to stop." Elias Crichell looked over at the assembled Khans. "Do you not see? This is nothing more than another sign of our ilKhan's treachery. He sees that we are about to unseat him, so he sends to the Inner Sphere to arrange another deception. We must not fall for this trickery. We must press on with the Invasion. If our enemies choose to fight in this bizarre war, let them suffer the consequences."

Some of the assembled cheered or voiced support. Robert noticed the sour look on Crichell and realized that he hadn't gotten the number of outright supporters he had anticipated.

Of course, that didn't mean Robert had won. They might still vote against the Truce.

"They're our allies now," Robert pointed out. Again he noticed the wincing of the others, and this time he remembered why. They don't like contractions. Well, I don't like them being jerks, so it evens out. "If you resume the Invasion, you'll fight us as well. And even if it means we have to pull forces from our war with the Nazis, we'll do it."

Robert could feel the tension from Julia and the others. Shifting gears to blunt threats was, ordinarily, way out of line. In this case, however, Robert felt he was onto something with this. The Clans weren't another legislature or body that would respond to kind words, rational argument, and deal-making. Give them a concession the wrong way and it would be seen as weakness and cowardice, not reason.

"Now the mask is stripped away, then." Crichell stepped up toward Robert. "You are here to impose terms upon us. Upon the Clans. Do you think we fear you? We are the finest warriors Humanity has ever produced. If you stand against us, we will destroy you."

"Really, Khan Crichell?" Julia walked up beside Robert. "Are you telling me you would commit your Clan to a war with an enemy you know little about? You do not know what we can do, what our technology is capable of." Robert glanced toward Julia. Every word spoken was careful and deliberate; Julia was playing the voice of reason, and doing so while obeying the Clan's peculiar taboo about contractions in English. "You do not know how many warships we have. How many troops we can command. Or even what our weapons can do." She turned and faced Ulric at his place. "IlKhan, I suspect you are the one with the most knowledge of what the Alliance is. How deep is that knowledge?"

"I have seen some of your broadcasts," Ulric said. "It is clear to me that your people have technologies that our finest scientists have yet to fathom. Even your method of interstellar travel is different." Ulric kept his eyes on Julia and Robert, although it was clear he was speaking for the benefit of the other Khans.

"And you did not see fit to share this information with us?", accused another of the Khans from a screen, this one wearing the likeness of a horse.

Ulric gave the Khan in question a bewildered look. "On the contrary. I sent reports to all of the Clans on the material I reviewed. And I find it hard to believe that the other Invading Clans did not pick up the same transmissions."

"We have." The woman speaking was behind a white bear mask.

"It appeared to be nothing more than Inner Sphere deception," stated Lincoln Osis' fellow Khan, Brandon Howell.

"Now you know better." Robert and Julia exchanged a glance. She nodded, so Robert took the lead again. "Your people have a problem. We came with the solution to it. You have three choices: join our effort and reap the benefits the same as the Inner Sphere, do nothing, or abrogate the Truce and resume your Invasion, knowing you will face us along with the Inner Sphere."

"Will your people honor our victories?", asked the female Khan in the Bear mask - Robert recalled the name Aletha Kabrinski. "Will you recognize our conquests from the Reich's worlds?"

"If your people bleed to take a planet, we recognize you have a right to it," Robert replied. He wasn't happy with the answer. This could only lead to a hodgepodge of Clan-held worlds in the heart of Reich space. But this was going to be a sticking point.

Maybe we shouldn't bother having the Clans in the war, a part of him thought. But despite what he just said, he knew that the Clans only really had two choices here: join the war and get access to the same benefits, or throw the dice on resuming the invasion. Doing nothing meant continuing their current deadlock over the fate of their new generations of warriors. So even if they chose that now, the resulting pressure would inevitably lead to the abrogation of the Truce.

No, the important question was if the costs of the Clans getting involved, the costs still in the future, were worth the benefit. And President Morgan and Admiral Maran had already made that decision with the (admittedly grudging) acceptance of the Inner Sphere's leaders; it was worth it. And he had to make that happen.

After his reply, the Bear-masked man - Jorgensson, Robert recalled - looked to Ulric. "There is wisdom, then, to accepting this offer."

Crichell leveled a glare at the Bear Khan. "Wisdom? How can you call this wisdom? They are turning us from our purpose. We are here to restore the Star League and destroy those who betrayed it! This is nothing but a trick. A means to distract us from the Crusade by using our warriors to fight their battles. If you accept this, they will take us into war after war, seeking to grind our warrior caste down to nothing so that they can conquer us with ease." Crichell raised a hand and pointed toward every Khan, those present and those observing by screen. "We must stay true to the course. First, we must remove the ilKhan who has betrayed the Crusade and sought to destroy us from within. Then we must resume the Invasion and take Terra to restore the Star League."

"And when what?", Robert shot back. "So you take Earth. That doesn't mean the entire Inner Sphere will shrug and say 'you're the boss now'. There are literally billions of people on the other worlds who will continue to fight."

"Then they will be treated as we would any bandit," Crichell declared. "What you offer us is a poisoned gift."

"What I offer you is a chance to fight with honor against a foe that can't be allowed to grow stronger," Robert retorted. "A foe who, with every battle, gets additional opportunities to copy our interuniversal drive technology. If you join with us, the risk of this threat diminishes. But if you attack the Inner Sphere instead, then you will fight us too. Maybe you will win in the early battles, as we struggle to fight on both sides… but with the Inner Sphere ready for you, and the Alliance's fleet growing stronger with each passing month, do you really think you can win in the end?"

"We are warriors bred as the pinnacle of Human ability," Lincoln Osis rumbled. "I do not fear you, freebirth."

Robert looked to the others before looking to the towering giant. It was clear he was genetically engineered - even the strongest bodybuilder never achieved that sort of muscle bulk or shape - and looked like he could snap a normal person in half like a twig. "I am not asking you to fear me," Robert said carefully. "I am asking you to respect me."

"Respect is only earned in combat," was the retort he received.

A few options went through Robert's head. He drew in a breath and felt the warmth inside of him, the energy of his life, move through his mind. It was hard to describe it when he tried to glimpse what could be. It wasn't anything like visions, or like his dreams. It was a feeling of what the future held if he picked one choice or another.

The easiest thing to do would be to set up Osis to fight Meridina. He didn't have a prayer even if she refrained from telepathy. But he could sense this would not work. The Clan Khans would not respect him setting a junior officer against a Khan. Even though he was technically just one of many Captains, he was still the senior officer present.

That meant it had to be him. He had to act.

Robert leveled his gaze at Lincoln Osis. "You want a fight, then?", he asked. "That is fine with me. You people have one-on-one fights, right? You call it the Circle of Equals? How about you and me in one? Just the two of us."

Silence came to the Grand Council Chamber. Robert could feel the mix of reactions from the others. Disbelief, amusement, surprise, and in many cases, a sense that this was something that was winning him respect.

Of course it would, Robert thought. The Clans ultimately believe in "might makes right". They overturn majority decisions if the other side wins a combat trial. In the end, the only thing they really respect is being willing to fight and being good at it.

A harsh laugh came from beside him, where the Falcon Khan Crichell remained standing. "You think to challenge a Khan? To a personal combat? You, a freebirth who has no Bloodname?" Crichell seemed to be smirking underneath his mask. "I am sure we could find an un-Blooded Star Captain for you to fight, quiaff?"

"I did not challenge a Star Captain," Robert retorted. He looked back to Lincoln Osis. The massive man's eyes were fixed on Robert. He met the gaze. "I challenged Khan Lincoln Osis of the Smoke Jaguars."

"And you are aware of how the challenge works?", Osis rumbled. "As the challenged party, it is my right to decide how we fight. Are you prepared to face me in direct combat, unaugmented?"

"As in without battle armor suits?" Robert nodded. "Yes. Yes, I am."

Crichell looked up at Lincoln Osis as well. "This is foolishness, Khan Osis. This freebirth is not worthy of facing a Khan in a Circle of Equals. The very idea is lunacy."

"We should consult with the Clan Council, my Khan," Osis' peer said.

Osis was still facing Robert directly. Robert kept his face stern and unmoving. He would not show even the slightest fear, nor worry, or any emotion beyond what he intended to seem as grim resolve.

"If he were a Clan warrior, we would," Lincoln said. "But he is not. He is an outsider proving his peoples' worth to the Clans. I will answer his challenge and prove how worthy he and his kind truly are."

At that point Robert felt something unexpected from Crichell. Although his body language remained disapproving, he seemed to be… content. As if this was what he wanted all along.

So much for the vaunted Clan sense of honor, there's no way that guy's not a politician first and foremost. He wants me to fight Osis and is just pretending to be against it. Robert might have pondered that more, but he could feel the wave of concern from the others.

"ilKhan, I will face this freebirth," Lincoln said. "As challenged, I declare we will fight unaugmented."

"Very well," replied Ulric. He looked at Robert. "Your challenge has been accepted. A suitable space will be arranged for the combat. The Grand Council will observe."

Robert nodded.

"The Wolf Clan will inform the combatants of the time and location of their duel." Ulric thumped a gavel on his podium. "I declare this meeting adjourned under the Martial Code as set down by Nicholas Kerensky."

The various Khans not present disappeared from the screens. Those who were physically present stood from their places. A few looked toward Robert before departing. He became keenly aware of the attention of the Khans wearing the Nova Cat masks and watched them leave.

Julia stepped into his sight with a bewildered expression on his face. "Are you insane?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered.

"You're going to take on someone like that? In a hand-to-hand fight?"

"Yeah."

Julia sighed. "If Khan Osis doesn't kill you, I think Angel might."

Robert winced. "Yeah."



"Are you insane?!"

Angel's thunderous demand filled the conference room. Robert looked to the others, who all seemed to be in agreement with the query. "Commander Andreys already asked me that," he said, being formal for the sake of their attending observer.

Locarno looked over the holographic image and shook his head. "He's built like a Brikar. And you challenged him?"

"It had to be me," Robert said. "And Osis made the most sense. Crichell would have wanted a fight in their 'Mechs. I stand a better chance of a hand-to-hand fight."

"So you're going to fight the Human Brickhouse instead?" Angel shook her head. "Listen, even I'd think twice before picking a fight with something, someone, like that. I mean… look at him! I doubt he'd even feel a hit on a pressure point, not unless you hit him with a metal club!"

"Or with a life force-backed punch," Robert remarked. He looked toward Meridina.

"It is possible," she said. "The Dorei even have organizations of Fenari devoted to unarmed techniques bolstered by their swevyra." Meridina shook her head. "But I am not sure you are capable of such, Captain."

"I have to try."

"Or maybe you can forget this whole stupid honor duel crap," Angel said. "That's playing the game their way. I say we play it our way. They either give up their invasion or we blow the crap out of them."

Julia shook her head. "Somehow I think that abusing their safe conduct would make things worse. It would be impossible to make peace with them if they saw we would break our word."

"Oh? And why is it we're here again?" Angel thumped her hand on the table. "Oh, right, it's because they're the ones about to break their word. Who's to say we can trust them?"

Jarod nodded. "She makes a good point. The thing about warrior societies is that, no matter what they say about honor, if they want a fight they can find a way to justify one."

"And we already had the Klingons bail on us," Zack added. "Who's to say the Clans will be any better?"

"All good points," Robert agreed. "But I'm sure they were already debated above our pay level, and the President's decision was still made. And if we're to implement that, we need to follow up on this challenge."

Angel let out a small growl of frustration. "You're going to get yourself killed."

"Not if I work at this." Robert looked to Meridina and Lucy again. "I'd like to see about bumping up my training. Focusing on unarmed combat. We may only have a day or two for me to get ready."

It was clear that both were not sanguine about his chances. "We will do what we can," said Meridina.

"That's all we can do. For now, I don't want any incidents with the locals, so no shore leaves are permitted. Maintain a Code Blue watch and be ready to raise shields the moment it looks like something has gone wrong." Robert nodded. "You're all dismissed."

"Lucy and I will be waiting for you in Holodeck 2," Meridina said softly.




Robert returned to his quarters to change into his training outfit. He had barely gotten his uniform jacket off when the door swished open and Angel stepped in. "It's not enough that you almost got yourself blown up last year playing the hero, now it's this?", she asked, and in a harsh tone.

"I didn't have a choice," Robert insisted.

"Yes, you did! You could have not challenged them at all!", Angel retorted.

"Then they would have ignored me. Ulric would have been deposed and the Truce would have been repudiated. We'd be looking at another war."

"Maybe, or maybe this Ulric guy would have played another card. He's a politician, they do that kind of thing."

"I can't make plans based on what someone I don't know will do," Robert replied, although it did make him wonder. Seeing that Jade Falcon Khan act more like a manipulator than a straightforward fighter - first in his emotional manipulation of the others and then goading Osis into accepting his challenge - made him wonder how effective at this Ulric Kerensky had to be if he'd managed to keep his post this long against that kind of opposition. That meant Ulric had his own plan on dealing with the attack on him. He wondered what it had been.

Angel reacted by slamming her fist on the table. "Dammit Rob, this is stupid of you. And you would never have done this if you didn't have those damned powers now."

"No, likely not," he admitted. He walked up to Angel and put his hands on her shoulders. He felt her frustration and anger and worry all tangling up inside of her. "Angel, I know this is tough for you, and I'm sorry. But this is the job we were called out to do. If I didn't do this, we wouldn't have gotten anywhere with the talks. And billions of lives could be riding on this."

Angel shook her head. "You know…" She swallowed. "A year ago, I asked you to be my lover again because… I realized that out here, anything could happen, and I didn't want to have regrets."

"I remember," he answered, his tone remaining gentle.

"And it seemed to be working, even with your responsibilities as the Captain of the ship. And we were happy. We were making it work." Angel's hazel eyes brimmed with pain as she spoke. "But those dreams kept getting worse. And then you found out you were developing the same power that Meridina and Lucy have, and then you started using it, and now…. Over these last few months, everything's changing. First it was only training for control, then training because you weren't doing so well, then we learned all of that crazy prophecy stuff on Gersal and since then you haven't said a word about walking away from it." Angel drew in a breath. "I'm sorry, that came out… Just answer this for me, Rob, and please tell me the truth."

Robert didn't let himself glance at the time. He knew it was getting late, and that Meridina and Lucy were waiting for him. But he wasn't going to make Angel feel rushed. He answered her with a nod, indicating he was ready for her question.

"If it came down to this training or being together with me, which would you choose?", Angel asked.

At that Robert's mouth went dry. It was a question he had pondered over the last several months, when it became clear that the training was driving a wedge between them. What, ultimately, was more important to him? These abilities, and mastering them? Or his relationship with Angel?

The answer should have been easy. He should have said "You". He knew he should have said it. He loved her. No matter how many times they had broken up, they kept getting back together because of that affection they had, and the sheer stubbornness on trying to keep it. How could he pick anything over that?

He found that the answer to that was… yes, he could, if it was a matter of survival, of life and death for all of them. He had seen the glimpses of the future. He knew that these powers were going to be a part of that future. That they might be his only hope, their only hope, of surviving what was coming.

Robert could feel that sense right now. That if he picked Angel over his training, over his abilities, then the result would be their deaths and the loss of everything.

He didn't need to say it. The way Angel's eyes shifted, the pain that grew in her expression… it was clear that she could sense what his answer would be. And it wasn't a question of understanding it. Of seeing that he had to do this or they would all die. He knew that, for Angel, it was a realization that no matter how much they loved each other, he would always pick this path.

Her voice was hoarse when she said, "You should get going. They're waiting for you."

"We'll talk later," he promised.

"Yeah. Later." Angel walked away from him and to a chair. Robert felt how much it was hurting her and wished he could say something, say anything, to make that better.

But there was nothing he could say or do that would work. She would know he was lying, and he would know it. After these months, all of their attempts to avoid that truth - that his training was more important, in the long run, than their relationship was - had failed. The truth was there, in front of them, and it couldn't be avoided any longer.

And as was often said, the truth hurt.




Lucy arrived at the appropriate holodeck and found Meridina had already set up their training program. She was standing in the middle of the outside space, in a circular covered pavilion of Gersallian architecture. Lucy could feel turmoil inside of Meridina as she stared at the holographic recreation of the Great Temple of the Order of Swenya. "Maybe we should change the program," Lucy said.

Meridina turned. The tears on her cheeks were real, as raw as the hurt inside of her being. Months ago, Meridina would never have allowed anyone to see her like this. She would have taken the time to re-assert emotional control and show the stoic face of resolve to the world.

It warmed Lucy to realize just what this meant. Meridina didn't just see her as a student now. She saw her as a close, personal friend, someone she could be vulnerable with. Someone she could share her hurt with. And Lucy knew how much Meridina hurt. Her own people had given her the stark choice - her place in the Order, or continuing the work that she felt was vital for their future. She chose the work, her beliefs, and walked out of the Order that had defined her life since she was a child. It had not been a happy parting.

"Perhaps we will," Meridina said. Her voice wavered a little. "But for now, we must focus on Robert."

"Yeah." Lucy sighed. "He should have set one of us up with that fight."

"He undoubtedly feared that the Clans would not respect the Alliance in such an occasion. He feels it must be him. And so we must do what we can to make sure he has the best chance of victory in this fight."

"Against a behemoth like this Khan Osis guy? He looks more like an alien than a Human." Lucy shook her head. "I mean, either of us could put him down, but Robert's strength…"

"...is not in the combat arts, true." Meridina nodded. "But I believe he does have the potential to apply his swevyra enough to defeat Khan Osis."

"I just hope he's doing the right thing…"

Before Lucy could finish that thought, the door to the holodeck opened. Robert walked in wearing his training outfit. "Alright," he said. "The Wolves sent a signal. They've set our fight for 0900 sharp the day after tomorrow. We've got tonight and tomorrow to see if I can avoid getting squashed by that Human bulldozer."

Meridina nodded. "Clear your mind, then. Feel the energy of life around you, the Flow of Life connecting you to the universe…"




Robert awoke the next morning and, after enjoying a quick breakfast and a shower, reported back to the holodeck for more training.

Meridina had spent months showing him the finer points of control and focus, with the sword practice being his only training in martial use of his powers. That training had made it clear that he didn't have the same set of talents that Lucy did. He would never be the type to, as he had once put it after meeting Meridina, "bring a sword to a gunfight and win".

But now his life depended on fighting with his abilities.

A holo-opponent had been created for practicing on. Meridina had made a fair approximation of his opponent in mass and size. Then she and Lucy had taken turns tossing the opponent around with their abilities. "The key, Robert, is to let the energy flow through you and energize your body," Meridina explained. "Again."

The holographic giant stomped toward her with great speed. Meridina ducked one blow, sidestepped the next, and thrust her hand forward. Sheer energy came from within her and slammed into the hologram, sending it flying by nearly twenty meters.

Robert nodded and looked toward a second copy of said foe. "Begin," he said. The holo-foe charged at him. He moved around the blows, letting his feelings, the instinct of his life tied to the universe as a whole, guide him around the blows.

Summoning his strength, Robert threw his hand forward and felt his power surge out.

The result was the foe did get thrown back. But only by about eight meters.

"Well, if you knock Osis out of the circle…" Lucy looked over the fallen figure. "Maybe that's enough?"

"I have a feeling Osis won't give me that kind of opening," Robert sighed. He shook his head. "Maybe there's another way to approach this. I don't have the raw power you two enjoy."

"You may be more powerful than you imagine, Robert, Meridina insisted. "You must not doubt."

"Because doubt is the enemy." Robert nodded. "I know that. But I'm just not sure this will work."

"Well, maybe there's another way," Lucy said. "Give me a few minutes, I'm going to see about getting some help."




When Lucy returned, she wasn't alone.

Julia walked into the holodeck wearing her martial arts gi, with black belt, and with her long blond hair pulled back into a bun. "So, Lucy tells me Rob may need an alternative approach to fighting that giant."

"It may be necessary, yes."

Robert could already see where this is going. "You're thinking of t'ai chi, right?"

"Got it in one," Julia answered, grinning. "And it's good for you to know."

Robert shook his head and chuckled. "You've been trying to get me to do this stuff for years."

"Yep." The grin on Julia's face widened. "And all it took was you provoking a fight with a genetically-engineered super-warrior with muscles the size of your head." She finished walking up to him. "So, let's get started."

"This stuff really works even with these powers?"

"It does," Lucy said. She grinned as well. "It's what helped me beat Goras."

Memories of that fight made Robert's arm flare up with a shadow pain. "Right," he said. "Okay. Then I guess I'm learning t'ai chi."

"Damn right you are," replied Julia. "Now, let me show you the first form…"




Angel stood her morning watch at tactical without incident, with Jarod and Locarno alternating in command the entire shift depending on who was on duty while Julia was, it was said, off training Robert as well.

It was just as well nothing happened as Angel kept letting the previous night's conversation go through her head. She should have been happy to finally get the truth from Robert. That his training had really become that important to him. And a part of her had the thought that she should be more accepting of this. If he felt that way, he had to have a damned good reason. And she had been there, hadn't she? To hear them talk about that old prophecy or whatever it was, a prophecy that seemed to tie into things Robert learned back in the Darglan Facility on Gamma Piratus.

And yet… she still felt like her heart was breaking. To think that they had actually managed a year as a couple. A whole year. And now… were they really going to end that over this?

When Angel's bridge shift ended she went to her quarters to eat a meal. She would likely assume another watch later, this time a command watch, given how the others were busy. For now Angel would have time to herself. Time to think of her failing relationship.

She couldn't stop the tears forming in her eyes.

Angel's door chime sounded. "Come in," she said gruffly.

Caterina stepped in. She was in her uniform, with skirt instead of pants, and seemed to be glowing. Then again, she had been like that since returning from the European trip that Violeta had taken her on. "Angel?", she asked. "I was coming by to offer lunch…" When she saw the tears on Angel's face she stopped. Cat's eyes fell. "Did he…"

"No. At least, not…" Angel shook her head. Cat walked over and sat beside her on the couch. "He just made the truth clear."

"And that is…?"

Angel sniffled. "His, uh… that his training in the life force stuff is more important than his relationship with me."

Cat stared in wonderment and disbelief. "What?!", she cried, and with some anger.

"He didn't… he didn't say it. But when I asked him which he would pick, the training or our relationship, he… he just froze up and I could see it in his eyes. I saw it, Cat. He thinks the training is more important."

Cat's eyes widened. "That… that bastard."

Angel stared at her sister in shock. Did she just call someone a bastard?, was the thought that went through Angel's head.

"He just… how could he…?"

"It's… it's this prophecy thing from Gersal. And something he got from Gamma Piratus. Some message about Darkness. And supposedly some super-powerful race known as the Darkness once existed and the Darglan had to fight them and… it was all really crazy, but Rob believes it. And he's picking this stuff over me." Angel sniffled and shook her head. "And… it's funny… I understand that. In my head, I mean. If this is all true, this is something really dangerous, and his having these… life force abilities or whatever they are might be what saves us. I can see this is important. So why can't I accept it? Why can't I just make things work?"

Caterina remained silent for a minute. She was busy trying to think of what to say, or if she could say anything. Generally speaking, her older sister had far more relationship experience than she did. It felt odd to be in the position to give her advice.

"Like I said, Violeta and I have this…" Cat shook her head. "I'm trying to think of how to… we have an arrangement." She looked at Angel to make sure she hadn't lost her sister's attention. "I mean, I'm new to this relationship stuff. And Violeta isn't. So we had a talk, and she told me that it would only work if we were both happy. We both have to be comfortable with things. That's why she has me take the lead on stuff. I've never done this before and she wants me to be comfortable with something before we try it. And I know that sounds like something completely different from your problem, so…" Cat stopped for a moment, as if looking for the words. She knew she had to say the right thing. "...it's like, you and Robert only work together when you're both happy. If you're not happy, then you try to fix it. And if fixing it doesn't work, well… I'm not sure what else you can do? I know you don't want to end things with him again. Or have him end things with you. That always really hurts you and, y'know, I'm supposed to be the sister who cries about things, so…" Cat stopped. She blushed in embarrassment at realizing her little tease might have sounded wrong. "But if you're not happy, and he can't make you happy… then it's not really a loving relationship anymore, I think. It's just holding on to something that hurts you."

The response she got from Angel was a thoughtful look followed by a small grin. "Well well, look at you," Angel said softly. She wiped at her tear-streaked cheek. "Giving relationship advice to your big sis."

"It wasn't really good advice, I know."

"No, it wasn't really good. It was the best." Angel reached across the couch and pulled her sister into a hug. "You are growing up, little sis."

"Not enough to have curves," Cat sighed wistfully.

"You're beautiful as you are, Cat, and if anyone says otherwise…"

"You'll punch them?"

"No." Angel laughed. "I'll start by punching them. Then it'll get more painful."

The two sisters started giggling at the thought.




Julia and Lucy remained standing to the side while Meridina looked over Robert. He was standing still, his arms and legs in a ready position to fight. "Do you feel it?", she asked.

He nodded.

"Good. Focus on that energy. Feel it fill your body."

Robert didn't bother remarking that he had done this before. This part of the training wasn't new; it was to learn how to use this power to augment his natural physical abilities. Lucy and Meridina had been showing this to him for months. It was how they could run fast, or how they could be fast enough to use blades to deflect fire from guns.

"Remember that this is beyond standard muscle control. Let your swevyra, the force within you, guide your movements."

Meridina stopped in front of him and assumed a similar position, facing a holographic figure. She breathed in, focused, and Robert felt her power swell and shift with that focus.

When she finally started moving, She nearly became a blur. Her arms and legs changed position instantly. The computer couldn't keep up; within seconds her foe, struck repeatedly and caught entirely off guard, went down. After a few moments she stopped. "Now, do so. Let go of physical control. Let the life within you, the life around you, be your guide."

Robert let out a breath and felt that warm energy inside him begin to shift and buzz. His arms moved, more quickly than he would have managed, catching one blow from the large foe he was facing and deflecting it away. His foot popped up in a kicking motion that slipped into the enemy's defenses. The reaction of hitting that much mass made his leg feel like it was going to vibrate. But the kick had power behind it, not just muscle power but that of the energy of life, and it transferred into a blow that sent the massive holographic foe flying back.

Robert sighed and nodded. At this point he was feeling tired and stiff. They had been working out virtually all day.

"Wow," Julia said. She smiled at him. "I suppose Angel and I can't just invite you into the ring anymore, you actually could beat us."

"I don't think so," he answered. "I'm not a fighter like you or Angel."

"If you can move that fast, I don't think you'd need to be."

"You'd be surprised," Lucy remarked. "But he's actually showing some improvement."

"In about twelve hours I have to fight a two and a half meter tall, muscle-bound giant who wants to crush my skull," Robert sighed. "Let's just say I'm motivated."

"I sure as hell would be," Julia said. She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You have to understand that I'm just trying to give you some inspiration. The forms aren't something you pick up right away. This life force 'let the energy guide your body' thing is going to be the thing that saves you. But hopefully you can keep some of the things I said in mind while you're fighting."

"Yes. The whole thing of meeting hardness with softness, sticking or yielding to strikes…"

"And watching your breath, your energy. T'ai chi is about energy. It's why I started to focus more on it." Julia smirked. "Especially after I ended up as your second in command on a big starship with two thousand people aboard."

"And it is why I feel Lucy's choice of bringing Julia to help you was inspired," Meridina said. "The practice of swevyra is about energy, sensing the Flow of Life and opening yourself to it. To win tomorrow, you will need that energy."

"But not as brute force." Now Lucy was talking. "You can't brute force this guy, Rob. Hit him when you get an opening. Get him when he's weak."

"I feel like I'm in one of those kung-fu movies we watched as kids," Robert confessed to Julia. "And with this thing of augmenting myself with my life energy, it's like… what was that comic book Zack always liked to tease you with. 'Steel Fist'? 'Iron Fist'?" Before she could say anything he shook his head. "Sorry, I'm just… maybe I'm a little nervous."

"You probably should be." Lucy shook her head. "I could probably bat Lincoln Osis across the room with my swevyra and I'd be feeling nervous. With that much muscle? If he knows how to use it, all he'll need is one punch, and any of us would go down."

"Which is why you must be focused and in tune with your swevyra," Meridina said.

"I got that part."

"I would hope so." Meridina smiled slightly. "It would be very embarrassing if one of my students fell victim to a clumsy punch."

Lucy giggled at that. Robert and Julia gave the stoic Gersallian a bewildered look.

Meridina's only reply was to that same small, bemused smile.




After the day of training and a small late meal, Robert laid in his bed and hoped he could sleep given what was to come in less than eleven hours. And while he was at it, he hoped that he would be able to sleep without the interruption of dreams.

He got the first wish.

The images were some of those he'd seen before, in a rapid fire succession of scenes and sounds. He watched a city burn and was surprised to see that it was flying the banners of the Clans, while in the distance particle weapons of some kind carved deadly red light through buildings and screaming people.

Then an explosion engulfed a richly-dressed middle-aged woman at a podium. Her face was familiar.

A second face, with the same blond hair and blue eyes, flashed across his vision, cold and calculating and oh so hungry.

He made the connection. Princess Katherine. Then the woman that was blown up…

Before he could let that thought finish things changed further. He was in a room. A man with a glowing, cybernetic eye and with a flowing robe stepped up to a figure on a throne and bowed. Robert caught only one word - "Master" - as the scene dissolved.

And then it was the unknown figure again, in shadow, and a woman's voice. "Bad Wolf", said the woman, and his hearing was so garbled he couldn't make out the particulars of her voice - age, accent, et cetera.

"What do you mean? What does 'Bad Wolf' mean?"

"Your choice," was her response. "Bad Wolf."

The next thing Robert knew, he was awake. He blinked and stirred groggily in bed before looking around in his dark room. His clock displayed 0553. Robert groaned lowly at the thought of the near hour of sleep he'd lost by waking up this early. He certainly wouldn't be getting back to sleep in time for it to be worth laying back down.

He showered first. The entire time he was dwelling on the thought of what was to come. He had no doubt Lincoln Osis would kill him if the Jaguar Khan had the opening. He wondered if it had been the smart play, calling Osis out and challenging him to a fight.

No. Don't doubt it now that I've done it. What I'm doing won't work if I dwell on doubts. He forced that thought into his head as he got out of the shower and dried off. He put on a bathrobe for the moment and went to his work desk in his quarters. A thought was coming to mind. Of things he should say. Things he might not get a chance to say.

"Computer, set up to record a video message," he said. "The message is to be delivered in case of my recorded death today."

Within a second, the female voice of the computer responded. "Working. Please specify recipient."

"Angela Delgado."

"Recipient logged. System ready."

Robert drew in a breath and looked to the screen. "Angel, if you're seeing this…" He stopped for a moment. It was hard, thinking of how to say this, and knowing the circumstances she'd be hearing this in. "...Angel, I'm sorry. I hurt you the other night. I… didn't mean to. You mean a lot to me. And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, that I haven't been the man you wanted to have in your life. All of this life force stuff and training, it got so big and involved… and now that I know more about what's been going on, all I could think of was that I had to stick with it. That our lives could be depending on me having these abilities, and knowing how to use them." He lowered his eyes and shook his head. "But I never wanted to hurt you. And I'm sorry… I'm sorry I couldn't say that you were more important than the training. I just don't want to be the one to get everyone killed. I… we're out here because of me. Because these are things I wanted to do. Something I wanted to live for, to serve with. And I've dragged you and everyone else along for it."

He stopped there. Did that sound right? He was starting to think it didn't, that it sounded arrogant. That he was turning Angel and Julie and Zack and Cat into nothing more than followers. People without an existence aside from their relation with him. "I mean… I know you like what we're doing too. And I know you believe in stopping the bad guys. But you wouldn't be in danger if I hadn't found that Facility. If I hadn't insisted on using it like we did. Maybe it's arrogant of me to think so, but I feel responsible for you being out here. And if anything happens to you, to any of us… I feel like that would be my fault in some way."

"Maybe I'm just being the White Knight again, or I'm being brash or overconfident in calling for this duel. If you're hearing this, it means…" he swallowed and shook his head. "...it means I was being stupid. I'm dead because of it. And I know you're probably looking at this and not knowing whether you're angry with me or what's happened…" Robert stopped speaking again. He imagined the scene; Angel's tears of grief and rage pouring down her cheeks, her hands balled into fists, and possibly the temptation to go down and kill Lincoln Osis with her own two hands. "I'm sorry, Angel. I'm not sure what else I can say but that. I'm sorry I'm not here for you now, and I'm sorry that I wasn't what I should have been for you. All I can ask if that you forgive me. I hope that, in time, you find someone who can give you the happiness you deserve." He leaned in toward the monitor. "I love you, Angel." He forced a smile that he hoped wasn't too sad to form on his face. "Goodbye."

With a tap of his finger, he ended the recording. "Message logged. Terms for delivery confirmed."

For several minutes Robert sat there. Saying everything he had said… it made him wonder about what life would be like if they had walked away after losing the Facility. If they had moved to New Liberty and focused on building a life there. He imagined that he and Angel might still have gotten together. And maybe… they would have been happy.

Or maybe not. He knew that in her own way, Angel loved it out here too. She loved her job. She loved "kicking the bad guys' asses". She wouldn't have been as happy on New Liberty Colony, he thought.

But maybe…

A tone interrupted his thoughts. "Andreys to Dale."

"Dale here," he answered.

"It's past 0700, Rob. You should get to the Lookout and get some breakfast. Hargert's made you a good luck meal. And you'll need the energy."

"Yeah," he murmured. "I probably will."

 

[Big Steve]

Julia left Robert to eat his pre-fight meal. She had something to do before they went down.

Which is why she was drawing in a breath before hitting the chime on Angel's door. "Angel?", she called out.

After a few moments, the muffled reply of "Come in" came from inside. Julia moved her hand to the door again and it slid open.

Angel's quarters were a tad messier than Julia's. Nothing terribly messy, but there were a few digital notepads on one table scattered haphazardly, energy drink cans that had been left beside the chair, and a few other things that gave the quarters a lived in look, and lived in by someone not afraid of having a little clutter. Amateur fighting plaques and trophies were along one wall, a reminder of Angel's own sports hobbies in their former, definitely non-space-age lives. Discarded exercise clothes were in one corner beside a portable washing machine tied to a water filtration device. Angel did the usual job of feeding her clothes for replicator-based cleaning - basically being disassembled and re-assembled by the replicators to remove sweat and skin cells and the like - but there were some old gym shirts and such that Angel wouldn't want to commit to the replicators.

Angel was sitting quietly on her couch half-dressed. Her uniform trousers were beside her on the couch, leaving her muscled legs fully visible from the thigh down, and a sleeveless uniform undershirt of gray color was still visible with her uniform jacket hanging on her shoulders.

"So, you want to come down?"

Julia's question went unanswered for a moment before Angel finally seemed to stir. She looked up and blew out a frustrated sigh. "I don't know," she admitted.

Without a word Julia sat in the chair across from the couch. Both were standard-issue furnishings, nothing special to them in terms of appearance or, as the grumbles sometimes went, comfort. "I have to admit, I'd rather you stay up here," said Julia. "The last thing we need is for you to decide to jump in."

Angel chuckled harshly at that. "Yeah, I figured that."

"But if you want to come, I'm sure Robert will appreciate you being supportive."

"He would, yeah." Angel laid her head back.

Julia had been around the two long enough to know what was going on with Angel at the moment. "It's happening again, I guess?"

"Hrm? Oh, yeah." Angel didn't bother to look at Julia. "Yeah, it is."

"Right." Julia sighed. "Yeah, my relationships have usually gone meltdown on me, so I can't give much advice on that. But if you want to talk…"

"I've talked enough." Angel shook her head. "It's one of those sacrifice things. You know, how people have to sacrifice for a relationship to work? Well, I've been sacrificing, and it's not working for me. Not that it's permanent now."

"I understand."

"So now I'm twisted up inside. I'm wondering what I want to do."

Julia shook her head. "I can't really help you there. If you ask me, this is something you and Rob should talk out between each other. After the fight, of course."

"Right." Angel shook her head. "I used to blame you."

"Pardon me?"

"For our break-ups. Every time Rob and I broke up, I blamed you at least a little."

Julia would have to admit she wasn't shocked by that revelation. "I figured you might."

"It's not your fault. The two of you have just been together for so long… I mean, even when we were doing good, he'd still come to you to talk about things."

"Yeah. Well, yeah, that's what it's always like for us. Even when we were little, if we needed anything, we always had each other."

"Am I kidding myself, Julia?", Angel asked. "Were we ever in love?"

"I think so." Julia nodded. "But sometimes… maybe it's not enough to simply be in love. Love can be tricky, I mean. Look at me." Julia sighed. "I once thought I was in love with Phil Duffy of all people." She laughed weakly. "I guess I dodged the bullet there. The important thing, I guess, is if you're happy. And I know you're not. And Rob isn't either."

"But one of us, I mean… it's also supposed to be sacrifice. You sacrifice something for the one you love, to make them happy."

"Yeah."

"And we're not doing that. I'm not…"

"Sometimes… maybe the problem is that we try to force something that doesn't work in the end," Julia said. "I think it's better to be honest about yourself, and with the other side of the relationship. If one side won't or can't sacrifice, and the other side has to sacrifice something that's too big, maybe it's best to just admit the relationship isn't working and to end it before it becomes too painful. I mean… forcing a broken relationship to work usually just makes both sides miserable, and for a lot longer than a breakup." Julia checked her omnitool. "We don't have a lot of time left. Do you want to go down with us?"

For a long moment Angel thought about it. She finally nodded. "Yes. Let me finish getting ready."




When the time came, the team going down was assembling in Transporter Station 1. Meridina had escorted Morgan Kell to the room when Robert arrived. "Good luck," said the old mercenary.

"Thank you sir," he replied politely.

The door slid open as they went to the pad. Julia and Angel stepped in. "I hope you don't mind," Angel said. "Despite everything, I want to be there for you."

Robert found he was happy to hear that. "Thank you for coming," he said, with genuine warmth and gratitude in his voice.

She smiled thinly at him and promptly stepped up beside him on the pad.




Their arrival was in the same place, but this time they were met by Natasha Kerensky. "You've got guts," she said to Robert. "I like that. Actually, a lot of us like it, and even the Crusaders appreciate courage. If you win this, it'll go a long way to establishing respect for your Alliance among the warrior caste."

"I notice you are speaking with contractions," Meridina stated. "I thought this was inappropriate for your people?"

The famed Black Widow's expression shifted to show a nasty grin. "It is. And I've killed more than a few warriors in the Circle of Equals who thought they should challenge me for my behavior. I've always held that slavish adherence to ritual is a sign people don't have anything better to think about." She gestured. "This way, kid. We've got the trial arena set up for you."




The trial arena made Robert feel like he was going to a sporting match, not a fight possibly to the death. Rows of seats were available on all sides, enough to seat hundreds, if not thousands, of people. The attending Khans were all in seats at the top of the initial rows, seats clearly made for the purpose of VIPs. The same monitors from the council chamber were now present for those Khans in the Clan homeworlds.

Not only were the Khans attending, but so were their retinues, with Clansmen in various uniforms from all of the Invading Clans taking up the seating.

The front row on the north side had a section reserved for him and the others. On the south side, the Jaguar Khans sat with their retinue.

In the middle of the arena was the battle space. It wasn't even a ring or a raised platform. It was just a section of hard floor with a white circle drawn around it. Robert figured it was at least twenty meters in diameter.

Once everyone was seated, Robert checked the omnitool's time stamp. It was 0858. Two minutes. He briefly wondered if the nervousness he felt was similar to what professional boxers and MMA fighters felt before their matches. Without the prospect of death, of course.

In deliberate steps Ulric Kerensky stepped up into the circle of the ring. "Greetings, trothkin near and far. I stand as the Oathmaster in this affair of honor. Let the combatants approach."

Robert stood and walked up and into the ring. Across from him, Lincoln Osis did the same. Without his helmet on, Robert could see the man's features. Dark eyes, dark skin, and a buzzed mohawk haircut - Lincoln was bald save for a strip of buzzed blond hair running across the top of his head.

"Are you, Captain Robert of the Alliance, upholding your challenge?"

Robert nodded. "I am."

"And do you, Khan Lincoln Osis of the Smoke Jaguars, still accept it?"

"I do," the giant man rumbled.

"This is a matter of honor between you. Under the rules of this Trial, let it remain such. For the benefit of the outsiders in our number, I will remind the warriors here that to step outside of the circle will be an admission of defeat."

"I understand," Robert said.

Lincoln Osis pulled off his uniform and handed it to a waiting aide. Underneath hie was wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt. As if I needed reminding that some of his muscles are the size of my head. Robert undid his own uniform jacket. By the time he was ready to hand it off, Julia had stepped up to the edge of the circle. He handed it to her.

"Good luck," she whispered to him.

"Take care of Angel, please," he answered.

Julia nodded wordlessly. Robert was down to his plain-colored, short-sleeved undershirt. While he was not like Osis, he did have some visible muscle on his arms, and it was clear Robert kept himself in shape. But in a direct physical fight, it likely wouldn't be nearly enough.

Once this was done, Ulric Kerensky walked back to the perimeter of the circle. He held up a hand.

Silence filled the arena.

Moments of tension later, the hand came down.

Lincoln Osis charged.

Robert sensed it coming. He even felt where it was going to go. His body was moving in conjunction with that instinct, tied to the powers and abilities he had learned, to evade.

But the startling part was how fast Osis had been. For all his size, he moved with a speed Robert could hardly believe. He was a mere half-second from a blow that would have sent Robert flying out of the circle.

Robert had an opening of a second and used it to throw a punch upward. The uppercut hit Osis in the chin. Pain surged through Robert's knuckles and made his hand ache and throb. It felt like he had punched a wall, not flesh and bone.

Every instinct in his body surged. His muscles went into instinctive action and turned and ducked, barely avoiding an attempt by Osis to punch him. This time there was no opening to exploit as Osis was already bringing his other arm up. Robert rolled away and got himself a couple of meters off open space. He concentrated with his energy, the life-based force energy that Meridina still called swevyra, and threw it out in an invisible burst. Months ago, such a burst had sent Nazi troopers flying.

Lincoln Osis stumbled backward a couple of meters, toward the edge of the circle. But he didn't fall down, and he didn't fall out. He regained his balance and brought his arms up in a defensive position, as if to absorb blows.

Robert focused and sent another burst of unseen energy at Lincoln Osis. The energy slammed into the Jaguar Khan. It pushed him back another step.

There was clear disbelief on Lincoln Osis' face now. Whatever rumors or reports he had heard of life force abilities or the like, it was clear Osis had been skeptical about them.

He wasn't skeptical anymore.

Robert knew he had to act fast, and immediate. Throwing more bursts wouldn't work. They were tiring and Osis was adjusting to the sudden force throwing his weight off. He needed to hit him with something else.

Robert made his decision as Lincoln charged again. This time he took a tactic he'd seen Mastrash Goras use against Angel in their battle. He reached out and gripped Osis' ankle. He could feel the physical force through the link and had to put a lot of energy into it.

The result was what he wanted. The sudden immobility of his foot caused Osis' balance to fail. The giant infantryman stumbled and fell short of Robert. Robert used the chance to get distance and move nearer one edge of the circle. If he could get the angles right, one solid pull with his power, or a push depending on angle, would send Osis outside of the line. And that would be that; he'd have won.

While he hadn't done much damage to Osis physically, he'd certainly stoked the massive man's temper. Osis howled in rage and stormed at Robert again. The lunge was side-stepped.

And that was how the fight was clearly going to go. Osis would charge and Robert would evade and counterattack with his abilities. They did this a few times, much to the frustration of the crowd. It was clear most warriors present considered Robert to be cheating in some way. The fight wasn't what they expected nor wanted.

And yet, it couldn't keep going like this. Eventually Robert knew that he would tire or Osis would, and he was laying odds on Osis not tiring before he did. He needed to end this.

So he took a gamble. Robert intentionally moved back toward the east side of the circle. Very close. And he wanted for Osis to charge.

Osis was so mad at this point that he did so. He wanted Robert dead. And…

Robert's senses screamed warnings at him as it happened. His body began to shift to accommodate the instinctive warning as Osis, starting to feel the grip of Robert's life energy on his foot, immediately jumped. The change in his attack pattern, the power of the jump, broke Robert's concentration. He lost his grip on Osis' foot and the Jaguar Khan was free to leap into the air.

And it was quite a leap. A carefully calculated one that would keep Osis inside the circle… and which swiftly carried him into an arm's'-length range of Robert. Robert ducked to avoid the first punch and began to swivel to the side, to get position to throw Osis out of the ring…

But Lincoln Osis had planned on him to make that move. And Robert sensed this at the last moment.

A moment too late.

Osis' massive leg came up in a snap kick that hit Robert right in the torso. Ribs cracked under the force of the blow. Momentarily stunned by the pain of broken ribs, Robert failed to respond to the next surge of instinctive warning.

He had been punched before. He had been hit before. Julia and Angel had both given him a lot of trouble during their various attempts to train him in fighting during their lives. He'd been punched in school. He'd even been tackled by a 270 pound seventeen year-old linebacker destined to play in the NFL.

But this was levels beyond that. This was a big, massive fist, larger than any Human's fist should be, coming down like the wrath of God on his face, a quarter of an inch too high to break his jaw.

Robert's head spun and his vision swam. He barely felt himself hit the surface of the fighting circle. He could barely think for the pain. His body refused to move, no matter how much he wanted it to. It seemed a shock that he was still conscious.

With groggy confusion he looked up. He was facing Julia and the others. Their horror was plain on their faces, in their emotions, and he could just about sense them. What's going on? He tried to think. His head was still ringing from something and he couldn't concentrate.

A voice rumbled behind him. "Your powers, whatever they come from, have made you arrogant, freebirth."

That term. He didn't recognize it. What did that… oh. Right. Clan terminology. He was fighting a Clan leader, wasn't he?

"Arrogance, yes!" Osis' voice rose with anger. "You thought you could face me as an equal. Me! The product of generations of the warrior caste breeding program and the strongest bloodlines of our Clan. Now look at you. A broken fool reliant on bizarre sorcery, not true strength."

As he spoke, Robert's mind began to recover. His head was aching, his face was full of pain, and his ribs throbbed. Worse, he could feel something wrong inside of him. When he choked, blood came up.

"This is what we are, people of the Alliance. We are the Clans. We are the finest warriors to exist. And now I will make that point clear to your people."

In a moment of truth, Robert could sense the imminent future. The feeling of Osis' powerful hands gripping his head and throat. The sudden, sharp application of force. His own neck snapped like a twig and the stillness of death.

And that would be it. The Clans would lose any concern they might have for fighting the Alliance. War would be the result. The Alliance and the Inner Sphere would fight the renewed Clan invasion. And the real enemy, the Nazi Reich, would gain a breathing space that they would undoubtedly use to terrifying advantage.

And his friends… his cousin Beth… they would be left to grieve.

This realization forced his mind to focus. It forced that focus on his entire body, his entire essence. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let that come about. He had to act.

There was resistance to it. The blow to his head was like none he'd taken. His brain seemed to resist his demand for commands to be sent out to his body. But Robert persisted. He had to. He had to save himself.

He heard the foot come down near him. Osis was looming above him. His arms were starting to reach down for Robert's neck.

But Robert acted first.

He didn't look up. He didn't have time to do anything but move his leg… and concentrate. He pressed his power into the muscles and joints of his hip and knee, into the bottom of his foot. All of his power, all that he could muster, into one last desperate strike. He breathed in and let that leg kick out.

There was a crunching sound. And a loud, surprised scream of pain.

Robert turned as Osis toppled over onto his now broken knee. His arms wheeled away from Robert's head as he lost balance. Robert felt his head spin while he got back to his feet. Osis' right leg had failed him. The knee had been utterly shattered by the force of the blow.

Osis growled at him and tried to lunge. His bad leg kept him from the speed he needed to hit. Robert moved around until he could get the shot he wanted. Again he focused everything he had on his leg and kicked out, this time at Osis' left knee.

This wasn't a straight-on hit. It took Osis' knee from the side. There was still an audible crack when Robert's kick landed home. Osis' knee was broken out of joint with the limb now curved unnaturally from the side. Another howl of pain came and the colossal man toppled onto the ground, both of his legs out of action.

His arms were still dangerous though, so Robert immediately backed away from him. He sucked in a painful breath - his broken ribs were happy to remind him of the fact they had been broken - and focused his power again. This time it wasn't a wide burst but small, rapid ones. Every movement of his hands drove another blast of invisible force into Lincoln Osis'. And he could feel Osis begin to slip into unconsciousness from all of the pain he was in.

Robert stopped for a moment. He looked over the assembled crowds. He could see Meridina's stoic, solid expression. The fierce glee on Angel's face. The worried, yet happy, expression on Julia's. He looked over the Khans of the Grand Council and the myriad of expressions they had, from rage to disbelief to reserved interest. A thin smile was on the face of Khan Crichell - clearly ideological affiliation was not enough for the Jade Falcon leader to sympathize with Osis in his imminent defeat - and a slight one had arrived on Ulric's face. Natasha Kerensky didn't bother hiding her glee, smirking with her arms crossed. Phelan Kell Ward, seated beside her, had a smug grin on his face.

Robert's eyes focused back on the other Khans. One of them, in the uniform of the Nova Cats, was looking at him intently.

The other warriors were too. Each was interested in what he would do. Would he kill Lincoln Osis? Throw him out of the circle? Knock him unconscious? What kind of power would he display?

He thought about those options. Killing a man who was down was not a thing Robert could ever do, not in his heart. But how should he finish off Osis? Which choice would make the biggest splash? How could he use this to give the Alliance sufficient respect that the Clans would keep Ulric and the Truce?

That thought made Robert think of the ilKhan himself. He glanced toward Ulric again. He could sense a word in Ulric's mind. A concept. Something Ulric was thinking he would do in Robert's situation.

His mind flashed back to the materials on the Clans that Focht and the others had written. He recognized the word in Ulric's mind from that. What the word meant.

And he knew what he had to do.

If only the side of my face wasn't swelling up, this might actually look impressive.

Robert calmly turned back to Lincoln Osis. The Jaguar Khan's knees were worse than Robert's face. He was on his side. Dark eyes glared up at Robert from a face that was turning purple and blue as well. He could feel Osis' rage and sheer defiance. He was almost daring Robert to kill him or otherwise finish him off.

"Khan Lincoln Osis." Robert met his glare. "You have given me the fight of my life. You fought with courage and skill against an enemy capable of things you never thought possible. In that spirit, I offer you hegira."

The entire arena turned its attention to Lincoln Osis amid a ripple of surprise and intense interest from those assembled.

Robert, for his part, never took his eyes off Lincoln Osis' eyes. I beat you fair and square, and you're not going to forget that, he thought. You're not going to forget that things have changed irrevocably in your universe. I'm offering you a way to survive those changes. Take it, Khan.

He could sense the defiance in Osis start to give way. Lincoln Osis knew he had lost the fight. But Robert sensed he hadn't expected this gesture of respect. He had just been given the means to accept his defeat with dignity.

"You know something of our ways," Lincoln observed. "Tell me, Captain. Do you truly believe you can hold off the Crusade forever? That the day will not come when the Clans resume the march on Holy Terra?"

"The future is the future," Robert answered. "Maybe you will resume that march one day, and maybe we will fight against you when you do. But the future is not set in stone. Your Clan, all of the Clans, may find themselves changing in ways they never imagined now that your universe has been introduced to the wider Multiverse. For the present, it's enough that your people and mine have enough respect to face the enemy we should hold in common. My people fight an enemy as evil and vicious as any the Human species has ever produced. We have done so even as allies have abandoned us to follow their own agendas. Every day our people bleed and die to stop the Nazi Reich." Robert was still looking at Osis, but none could mistake the fact he was speaking to the entire audience. "I know your ways are different from the ones I grew up with. But I think even your people may understand one of my deeply-held beliefs, whatever they may feel about its truths. I believe in might for right. I believe that power must have purpose."

"Your society has forged a great war machine. Now you bicker and argue among yourselves about how it should be used. You are debating throwing away a truce that you negotiated in good faith because you fear that your warriors will waste away without a foe to face. You have power, but you are still hunting for your purpose, and you may even destroy yourselves in that pursuit."

Robert swallowed. The pain in his chest was getting worse. He darkly suspected that Osis' kick might have caused some internal bleeding. He needed to finish this up.

"I am offering you a different way, Khan Osis. I am offering you that purpose." Robert knelt down onto one knee, although he was still remaining out of swipe range of Osis' arms. "Let the future attend to itself, Khan Osis, and for now, join our cause, and see your Clan's honor grow in battle against the Nazi Reich."

There was silence from the large man. A long silence, full of weight for Robert. He kept himself from swallowing or, as he desperately wanted to do, slumping over.

And then Lincoln Osis spoke again.

"I accept."

Robert breathed out in relief at those words.

For the benefit of the audience, Osis repeated his words in a louder voice. "I accept your offer of hegira."

The answer to Osis was a nod. "Then the battle is over," Robert replied.

"Aff." Osis looked to Ulric and nodded.

Ulric replied with a half-nod. "Trothkin near and far, this Trial is concluded," he announced. "Honor has been satisfied."

That seemed to be the signal for Osis' people to move forward. Robert's entourage did the same. Julia had her omnitool active by the time she reached Robert and was running a scan. The programming of the omnitool would simplify the scan results to allow even a non-medically trained operator to see clear problems. "Christ, Rob, you're going to be in medbay for…" Her brow furrowed. "Dammit, it looks like you've got internal bleeding." She tapped a hard-light key on the display. "Andreys to Aurora. I need a medical team on my location, ASAP. Alert Doctor Gillam that internal injuries are involved."

"Understood."

Meridina was already pressing her hand against Robert's chest. "I cannot heal you entirely," she said. "But I can keep you stable until help arrives."

"Thanks." Robert looked at Angel. "I didn't get a chance to say it before, but thank you for coming."

"Yeah." Angel nodded.

By this time two Jaguar Elemental soldiers had helped Osis to his feet. He held up his hand to them and they stopped moving him away. He looked to Robert intently. "When the Grand Council votes on your proposal, you will have the voice of the Jaguars on your side," he said simply. "But I warn you, Captain, that my people will not be so easily diverted from the Crusade. It may fall to my offspring, or their offspring, to do the task. But the day will come when the Clans rebuild the true and proper Star League. I hope that when this day comes the Alliance will recognize the rightness of our cause. If not, then we will yet meet on the field of battle."

"If that day comes, I hope both of our peoples acquit themselves with courage and honor," Robert replied, taking the statement in stride. "Because if we decide your people are in the wrong, we will fight against you."

"Spoken like a warrior," Osis remarked. "As I would expect." He smiled. "Bargained well and done, Captain.

With that Lincoln Osis motioned to his men and they resumed carrying him off.




Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 7 July 2642. Captain Robert Dale reporting. I am grateful to report that I have been released from Doctor Gillam's care. He has ordered me on light duty for the next couple of days due to the severity of my injuries sustained in my fight with Khan Osis. With some customary protest, he has agreed to my attending the Clan Grand Council meeting being held today.


Robert had beamed down again, this time with Julia, Jarod, and Zack, with Grand Duke Kell joining as expected. They were seated as observers and guests when the Grand Council reconvened. Robert looked to the Jaguars' table where Osis was seated. He had limped in favoring the leg that Robert had inflicted the most damage on. It was clear, however, that he would be a force to be reckoned with.

Ulric called the Council to order. The business of the day was the genocide charge against him. Elias Crichell, the Jade Falcon Khan, rose and began a long-winded and utterly preposterous speech about the issue, accusing Ulric of being part of a grand Inner Sphere conspiracy that would, among other things, subjugate the Clans. He brought up the connection of Victor to Omi Kurita and added to it claims of other marriage alliances, including one for Kai Allard-Liao who was, to Robert's knowledge, already happily married.

"There's no way he really believes this," Jarod whispered.

"Right. It's just an excuse."

Phelan gave the defense. It called out Crichell's ludicrous claims as just that, pointed out Ulric's combat successes, and then reminded the others that with the existence of the Alliance and the Multiverse, plunging forward into an invasion facing foes they still had little understanding of was ludicrous.

Now it only remained to be seen if the diehard Crusaders would ignore everything, even the prior day's fight.

The votes by Clan commenced. It was immediately apparent that the Crusader cause was going to face an uphill battle with the Smoke Jaguars voting against the conviction. Other Clans began to weigh in, one by one, and by the end of it only the Jade Falcons, Ice Hellions, and a number of other Clans or Crusader Khans supported Ulric's conviction and an abrogation of the Truce of Tukkayid. The majority sided with Ulric.

At that, Robert breathed a sigh of relief. His mission had succeeded.

And all it took was me getting punched by a genetically-engineered super-soldier.

"The charges against the ilKhan are dismissed," announced the cybernetic old man, Kael Pershaw. He looked to the assembled, as if expecting someone to declare themselves ready to resist the finding with a combat. But none did.

"With this matter settled, I see it is time to present the proposal we have before us." Ulric nodded to Robert and the others. "The Grand Council must now decide whether the Clans shall respond to the Alliance mission sent to us. With the Grand Council's support, I shall negotiate with an Alliance representative on the entrance of the Clans into the war with the Nazi German Reich of the universe they call S4W8."

This time the vote was nowhere near close. Most of the Clans who voted to convict Ulric nevertheless voted to join the war. Robert suspected that for the Home Clans, this was their best opportunity to get involved in territorial expansion, and all the Clans wanted a chance to try their troops.

Of course, this wasn't the end of things. This arrangement still had to be negotiated. Robert would have to send to President Morgan for actual military and diplomatic negotiators to make the final arrangements. But the Grand Council's vote would be a strong starting point.

"Well, we did it," Julia said after Ulric adjourned the meeting. "We stopped the resumption of the Invasion."

"And we gained more allies."

"Allies who might give us some trouble," Robert said. He felt warm senses of familial joy and pride and glanced to see Morgan Kell with his son and a woman in Wolf Clan uniform, with short-cut almost-white blond hair.

"Hey, hardhead."

Robert glanced to the direction of the voice. Natasha Kerensky was smirking at him. "Me?", he asked.

"You took a punch from Osis and didn't go completely out? Yeah, you." She gestured. "The ilKhan wants to see you and your people. I'll show you to his office."

There was something refreshing with the way the rough old Clanswoman spoke in a way none of the other Clanspeople did. "We're on your heel, Khan Kerensky."

"Just be thankful that's not literal, or my foot would be up your ass," she retorted.

She led them through the halls of the Wolf Clan headquarters until they arrived in an office. The furnishings were decent although not quite what one would expect from a Head of State. Robert could sense Jarod's thoughts on that, namely, that the Clans weren't exactly a standard "state" by any definition of the term.

Ulric was already seated behind a desk. Natasha took a seat to the side and lounged back in the chair. Ulric, however, stood and nodded. His hand moved up. "I believe this is the customary gesture among your people?"

Robert nodded and accepted Ulric's hand for a handshake. "Thank you, ilKhan. You had something you wanted to discuss?"

"I wanted to extend my congratulations to you. Not only on your victory, but on the way you handled it. If you had simply knocked Osis unconscious or thrown him from the Circle, he would have never forgiven the humiliation. The Jaguars would have voted against the Truce. Instead, he respects your people, even as freebirths, for your conduct."

"I was inspired in that moment," Robert said quietly.

"Of course." Ulric nodded. "Now, your people must understand it will take some time for us to become fully involved. The Grand Council will have to debate the size of our contribution to your conflict, whether or not every Clan will be permitted to participate, and there will be the bidding for which Clan will fight in which region."

"We understand that," Robert said. "As soon as your Clans are ready to contribute, we'll be ready to provide our end of the arrangement. And President Morgan should have representatives out to you within a week or two that can begin the process."

"Of course. Hopefully he chooses well. I am myself curious about the reports I have heard on your Alliance including non-Human beings…"

"We do."

"I wouldn't be surprised if there are a couple of Dorei in any delegation," Julia added. "Some of the Dorei nations have their own warrior and honor codes. They may understand your people more than some of our Humans do."

Ulric smiled thoughtfully at that. "That would be quite an interesting experience. To see aliens more familiar with our people than our fellow Humans." He nodded at them. "I will not keep you any longer, Captain. We all have duties to attend to, after all."

"Yeah." Robert nodded. "We do."

They went to leave. Just as he approached the door, Robert turned back. "IlKhan, may I ask a question?"

"Certainly."

"What was your plan if we had not come?", Robert asked. "I mean, if you had faced the vote on those charges without the Alliance here offering alternatives?"

Ulric nodded and grinned. "I did have my plans, yes." He glanced to Natasha. "And while I doubt he would agree, Khan Crichell should be thankful that you arrived."

Robert wasn't looking into their thoughts, but given the wolfish grin that came to Natasha Kerensky, not to mention Ulric's own grin, it wasn't hard to imagine what would have happened. Ulric might have gone down, and the Warden cause may have failed, but he would have taken a lot of Crusaders with him. And likely those with an affinity for green plumage.

"Speaking of Crichell," Robert said, "I get the feeling he was goading Osis into fighting me."

"Of course he was." Natasha snorted. "Either way, he wins. Either Osis kills you and the Crusaders ignore your Alliance and go ahead with the repudiation of the Truce, or you beat Osis, humiliating him and giving Crichell greater influence in the Crusader movement."

"Elias is undoubtedly unhappy with your offering of hegira to Lincoln Osis." Ulric seemed pleased at this. "You undermined his effort to assume greater authority."

"It looks like politics aren't just for democracies," Julia remarked.

"Our advantage, Commander, is that we allow one to challenge the politicians to a combat trial," Ulric noted. "I would recommend it to your people. It would improve the quality of your politicians."

Robert smiled in reply, thinking of Hawthorne and Davies, although he recognized the same might be applied to President Morgan. "Have a good day, ilKhan."

"The same to you, Captain."

 

[Big Steve]

It was toward the end of the day and Robert was in his quarters, finalizing his reports on the Grand Council vote. The ache in his chest hadn't gone away. No more fighting seven foot tall super soldiers for me…

The sound of his door chime drew him from his thoughts. "Come in," he called out. He looked up in time to see Angel stepping in. She was in her uniform and was likely just off a bridge shift. Her expression was solid and quiet. It was clear to him that Angel was here to say something, and it was something she had thought about. "Angel," he said. "Did you want some dinner or…?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm… not hungry at the moment."

Robert felt the welcoming grin he had started to form disappear from his face. That didn't sound good.

"I've… I've been doing a lot of thinking, Rob," she said. Angel swallowed and let out a long breath as she took a seat by his work desk. "About us."

"I see."

"You and I… we've been doing this since we were sixteen," Angel said. "This relationship has had… it's been fun. And it's been heart-breaking."

"It has," he agreed. "And I know I've never been the best boyfriend."

"And I've never been the model girlfriend." A small smile appeared on her face. "Most high school football players don't have girlfriends who can beat them up, after all."

"Well, I've been close friends with Julie since we were little, so I was used to it," Robert replied with humor in his voice.

"Yeah. Julie." Angel nodded. "Listen, I know that we've, well, we were making a good run of it, weren't we? After we hooked up again last year?"

"I thought so."

"There were times I was frustrated," Angel admitted. "But for the most part… it worked."

"Until my training began."

"Yeah." Angel nodded. She gave him a sad look. "Robert, I'm… well, I've tried. I… I've tried as hard as I can to accept… this. This burden you've got now that you know how to levitate things with your life energy or whatever. But the truth is… this doesn't work for me."

Robert let out a breath. "I know."

"And seeing you yesterday… I know you're not going to stop this training, Rob. I know it's important to you, that you think this is a path you've got to take to, I don't know, save the Multiverse or whatever." Warm tears were now flowing down her cheeks. "I'm not asking you to stop. I'm honestly starting to think you shouldn't. But… I also…" She shook her head. "I can't… this relationship doesn't work anymore. For me. I can't make this work."

Robert felt his mouth go dry. An old, familiar pain started to overwhelm the ache in his ribs. "So… so that's it, I guess?"

"Yeah," Angel said, tears flowing. "Yeah, I think that's it."

"Is there anything I can try?", Robert asked, really pleaded, even as he knew the answer already.

"I wish you could," was Angel's admission. "But I think we both know what you can or can't give up. And you won't give this up. It… it's just not meant to be now. I guess."

Robert subconsciously reached for his chest. The fingers of his right hand started to rub the skin on top of his heart, as if they could assuage the pain growing there. "I… well, I was hoping that this time…"

"...yeah." Angel nodded. She briefly sniffled. "I… I don't want this to be more painful than it has to be. So maybe… for now… I mean, we work together, so we'll see each other on the bridge or in staff meetings or whatever, but we should probably…"

"...maintain some space," Robert finished for her. His voice was dull with pain. He'd been expecting this, of course, but he hadn't imagined this would happen now. And he had hoped that maybe adjustments could be made.

It had been a silly hope, perhaps, now that he could consider it in retrospect. But it had been there.

"So… I'm going to get the last few things of mine in here. And I'll see you on the bridge tomorrow morning."

"Yeah," was all he could manage.




Angel left. Tears flowed for a while, at least until the pain in Robert's heart could subside. He had seen this coming, hadn't he? With how unhappy she was after he started the training, and then to find out it didn't have a definite end…

It really felt like it was going to work this time, was the thought that went through his head, over and over.

A tone from the ship's comm system took him out of this loop. "Captain, incoming transmission from Tukkayid."

"Put them on." Robert looked to the screen. He didn't think it'd be Maran or Morgan - he'd reported to them already - and so wasn't surprised when Prince Victor appeared on the screen. "You're the talk of Tukkayid right now, Captain," said Victor. "I'm still shocked you walked into a fight with Lincoln Osis and came out again in one piece."

"Well, one piece outside of some of my ribs," Robert answered. He forced a grin to his face. "I hope everyone's taken it well?"

"We have. Although there are some dissenting voices, the leaders of the Inner Sphere have decided to endorse the Alliance's plan to let the Clans join the war. If anything, we hope it will give their warriors something to do for the rest of the Truce."

Robert thought about what Lincoln Osis had said. "I think you might manage to the end of the Truce, at least," he finally said.

"And we have you to thank for that."

"I haven't been able to keep up with all of the things being decided in the conference," Robert admitted. "Has anything else been decided?"

Victor nodded. "Well, we have spent most of the time determining our strategy against the Clans. Now that the threat is minimized, I think we can focus more on the war with the Reich. I'm told Theodore Kurita has already signed a military and technological aid deal with President Morgan. I can't say anything officially, of course, but I expect some of the elite Combine regiments will soon be joining our armies in S4W8."

"They'll be welcome," Robert said.

"Sun-Tzu is still keeping the Capellans out," Victor continued. "But probably not for long. He's not as stupid as he acts, and Chancellor Liao won't want his nation to be the ones left out to dry on all of the new technologies entering the Inner Sphere. He might only send mercenaries, but I think he'll sign up, and so will the Canopians and Taurians. I, on the other hand, had to ask President Morgan for an additional liaison staff."

Robert gave him a curious look. "Oh? Why?"

"My sister insists," Victor said. His expression darkened slightly. "She's pointed out to all of the upset editorials about our alliance, and how it seems to be run exclusively by House Davion. So I asked for another liaison staff, and diplomatic personnel, to be sent to Tharkad to establish Alliance relations with the Lyran half of the Commonwealth."

"Ah, politics." Robert nodded. "Well, I can't see that causing too much damage…" Even as he said it, Robert realized how wrong he was. All he could think of for a moment was that deep rapacious hunger he'd felt in Katherine. If she could turn something, anything, into an advantage for pushing the expansion of her personal power, she probably would do it.

Before Victor could say anything else, he was distracted by something off-screen. "I'm afraid I must go, Jerry and Curaitis insist on whisking me off to some meeting. Take care, Captain, and thank you."

"Have a pleasant evening, Prince."




The Wolves had, as a matter of course, set up spaces for the entourages of all of the assembled Khans of the Invading Clans. One such set of buildings bore the standard of the Nova Cats.

On the roof of this structure, with the sun setting in the distance and the stars emerging, Khans Severen Leroux and Lucian Carns were being met by the wizened old Oathmaster of their Clan. Biccon Winters looked to them. "Is this what you were expecting, Oathmaster?" Carns asked.

"Yes," Winters replied. "It is."

"Then your visions…"

"You do not doubt me again, do you, my Khan?"

The question was put with quiet and reserve. It had an edge to it, but the edge was in the history of these three leaders of this specific Clan.

"Tukkayid taught me the harsh lesson in that regard, Oathmaster," Lucian Carns answered. "I do not doubt your vision. It is just… the scope of it…"

"I understand. I too was frightened. But let it be recorded in the Remembrance nevertheless. Our future hangs in the balance." Winters nodded. "I grieve for the loss our Clan, that all Clans, will endure when the veil is breached. But I have seen it too often in my visions of late to believe it is nothing but dreams." A distant look came over her face. "A great darkness is coming. If the Clans are to survive, we must find and support the dawn."

"The Alliance Captain… his ship is named for the dawn. This can be no coincidence," Leroux remarked. "And he showed great vision and power when he faced Lincoln Osis. He… they… may be the ones we seek."

"Then we must remain alert," said Winters. "Let the Clan bid for the war with the Nazi Reich. They are an evil that we must extinguish. But our vigilance will lie elsewhere. The vessel Aurora and the crew of that ship may be the key to our survival. We must remain ready to do whatever it takes to protect them."

The two Khans nodded. "Seyla," they said in unison, signifying their agreement.




The quarters on the Aurora were quiet and dim, save for the quiet tapping of fingers to a control keyboard. A portable battery pack, appropriately shielded, provided the power that suddenly surged into the transmitter. The figure applying this was in a plain yellow robe with the maarkings of an Acolyte of ComStar, one of many that Precentor-Martial Focht had send with Morgan Kell.

The man who appeared on the screen was clad in a red robe. His tan, cocoa-colored complexion had begun to pale from his current living habits. Gray covered his head and the right side of his face, the gray of his extensive cybernetic implants. A red laser sight had replaced his right eye.

The simply-clad figure looking at the image in the dim light bowed their head. "Precentor."

"The shielding worked." It was not a question.

"Yes. Their systems did not detect my transceiver."

"Do you have anything to report?"

"The Clans will uphold the Truce. It was as you said, Precentor. The captain of the Aurora faced and defeated the Khan of the Jaguars in one-on-one combat."

"Then the Clans will join the war?"

"It seems likely."

"Very well. Then all is as we anticipated. Our test is a success. But there is no point in testing fate. From this point, maintain radio silence. Finalize all reports for delivery to the courier when you return to Tukkayid." The figure nodded gently. "The Master will be pleased with your performance, Acolyte."

"I am proud to have served, Precentor."

"The time of your ascension is nigh. Keep this in your thoughts. Apollyon out."

The transmission ended.




ComStar had provided all of the visiting leaders of the Inner Sphere with facilities, including temporary offices. The annex allowed for the Commonwealth housed both Davion and Lyran contingents, with Victor getting the largest office spaces for himself and his aides.

This annoyed Katrina Steiner-Davion. It annoyed her greatly.

The time on Tukkayid was still early enough in the evening that she could expect company. For now she was going over the reports from Tamar. Katrina's feelings were profoundly mixed on the outcome. Certainly it was good that she would not have to face the Clans any time soon. On the other hand, her brother was certain to draw more of her troops into his extrauniversal crusade, and the less-intimidating the Clans were, the harder it was for Katrina to make her brother look worse to the Lyran people.

And then there was the matter that the victor on Tamar was clearly on her brother's side. Katrina could tell that when they met. And whatever hopes she had on perhaps winning an ally in Captain Dale's executive officer seemed unlikely, not in the face of the information she'd seen on them. Turning Julia Andreys into her ally would require persistent, frequent discussion and contact, contact that had to occur naturally from their positions. That did not seem likely.

Katrina's musings were interrupted by a knock on her door. She banished the thoughtful frown and instructed her secretary to let their visitor in.

The arrival was an Allied Systems military officer. A naval one, too, with a rank insignia of one star on both collars. The cuffs of her uniform - black with silver trim to delineate a staff officer - had one thick gold band and one thin one. The woman was at least a decade older than Katrina, with a light bronze complexion that you just never saw on Tharkad, striking dark brown eyes, and dark hair pulled back into a severe and professional bun. Katrina could see from the way the woman carried herself that this was one of those "rigorous professional" types. Normally she might find such boring, but they had their uses.

"Greetings," Katrina said. "I am Princess Katrina Steiner-Davion, the Regent on Tharkad."

"I know, Highness," the woman replied. Her accent almost made Katrina think of a Latin speaker from Skye. "I am Rear Admiral Benedita Soveral. The Alliance Defense Ministry has assigned me to be our liaison officer to the government on Tharkad. I wished to introduce myself to you without delay."

Katrina beamed at that. At least her brother wouldn't be monopolizing contact with the Alliance now. "Thank you for your prompt attention, Admiral. I look forward to working with you."

"And I with you, Highness. My appointment was hastened by Minister Hawthorne himself due to various… concerns. As a staff officer I hope to give you the same benefits I gave to Admiral Davies, my former immediate superior."

"Your Vice Chief of Naval Operations? I see." Katrina thought on that. She recalled something in the reports, on the politics in the Alliance. Davies had been involved in thwarting the attack on the Alliance Senate. "I hate to think I have deprived a man with such an important position of a good officer."

"Oh, there is no problem with that, Highness." Soveral grinned slightly. "Admiral Davies proposed my assignment himself, and arranged for my immediate arrival. He and Minister Hawthorne place great stock into securing our relations with both halves of your Commonwealth."

Katrina's senses picked up on that. There was opportunity here… "Do they indeed?" she asked, keeping her voice from giving the purr of satisfaction she felt within. "Well, I am gratified to hear that. And I hope that through you, I might work closely with them and the rest of your great Alliance in the coming years…"



Tag



In the bowels of the Starship Aurora's drive section, the cry of near-triumph resounded.

Shortly thereafter, the call came. It came just before Robert could sit down to a lonely breakfast in the Lookout. He eyed his breakfast ham and eggs longingly before the message appeared again on his omnitool's display.

Get down to Machine Shop B now.-Lucy

He picked up the plate and put it back on the bar on his way out. By the time he made it to the turbolift, he decided he was ready to smack Lucy on the head for interrupting his breakfast.

Is that me talking, or the part of me angry about getting dumped? thought Robert as the lift moved along. He couldn't decide which.

By the time he actually made it there, he was met by Meridina. "Just you?" asked Robert.

"It appears so." Meridina nodded to the door. "Let us see what Lucy has summoned us over."

Inside the machine shop one shift was settling in. Lucy had a bank of fabricators and other tools all to herself. She was waiting patiently, or not so patiently, for them, with a bleariness in her eyes that told Robert she might have been up all night. "Well?" he asked.

Meridina smiled slightly. "Have you done it, Lucy?"

Lucy grinned widely at them. She reached back to the table and held up a round, cylindrical object. It might have been a flashlight if it ended with the right tip.

Robert's heart fluttered. Had she really…?

Lucy's finger stroked a button on the object. Pale blue light erupted from the end with an electronic snap and hiss. She waved it around for a moment, creating a buzz in the air as she did. "I made it work!" she declared. "I mean, I made one that works! It functions…"

There was a surge of sparks from the base of the pale blue light-blade. It cut out a moment later, replaced by a puff of flame and smoke that left the upper end of the weapon blackened.

"...as well as it can," Lucy sighed. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "But as you can see, even though I can make it work, I've still got a big problem."

"It would appear your weapon… cannot remain on?", Meridina inquired.

"The focusing crystals can't handle the power demand," Lucy lamented. She threw the dead item back on the table. "Not a single crystal I've tried actually works. It's so frustrating too…"

"But if you had crystals that could handle it, this would work?" Robert pointed his hand to the broken device. "You could make a weapon just like Swenya's Blade?"

"Well, not quite like it. The power source won't last thousands of years, that's for certain." Lucy finally nodded. "But yeah. I could do it."

Meridina put a hand on her student's upper arm. "Marvelous, Lucy. I see your hard work has paid off."

"If we can find the right crystals…"

"Have faith that we will," Meridina said. "And until then, we will continue to rely upon our lakeshes."

Lucy's expression became visually distraught. "But, you don't have one, right? Goras broke yours. And the Order would never let you build another. I mean, that would make you an outlaw on Gersal, right?"

"True. The Order would be most displeased if I built a lakesh without their authorization." Meridina grinned. "Fortunately, I already had an extra. It is still in my room awaiting some… final touches."

"Wait." Robert blinked. "You're allowed to have extras?"

"Yes, and no," Meridina said. "This was the lakesh I took from Dralan Olati on Jarod's home Earth. I have made some alterations to remove what I believe were insignia that identified himself to other swevyra'kse, to other dark-users. But the blade is functional." She turned her head to face Robert. "Hopefully your training will continue to progress, Robert. The Order will be less upset if you were to receive a lakesh." She gave a gentle look to Lucy, full of understanding and encouragement. "Although perhaps we should wait to see if Lucy succeeds in finding the right crystal for her weapon."

"What are you going to call it, anyway?", Robert asked Lucy. "A laser sword? Beamblade?"

She chuckled. "Tom asked me the same thing." She looked back to the busted device she'd spent hours putting together and testing. Her mind went through all of Tom Barnes' proposals.

And she decided that one sounded… just right, after all.

"Lightsaber," Lucy said. "I think we'll call it a lightsaber."




The gymnasium on the Aurora was modestly filled with about two dozen officers and crew doing their workouts. Most were on machines or on the running track, while Chief Harlan Lewis was giving boxing lessons to a half-dozen younger personnel.

Angel remained to herself, wearing her usual olive sports bra and exercise shorts, throwing punches at a bag. It wasn't really a proper workout. She wasn't using good form, she wasn't maintaining the right stance. She was just punching something because, in her mood, Angel needed something to punch.

"So, you did it."

Angel looked over to see Julia walk up. She was in her white martial arts gi. "Did what?" Angel asked.

"You broke up with Rob," Julia said.

"Oh." Angel drew in a breath and then gave a brisk nod. "Yeah. I broke up with him."

"And you feel like you want to punch something."

"Yeah." Angel turned back to her punching bag. "And that's all I want to do, Julia, so no t'ai chi or mok'bara or whatever. Not right now."

"I wasn't thinking of that."

Angel turned back in time to see Julia shedding the gi. Underneath it she was wearing the same thing as Angel, just with black and red coloring, her visible arms, belly, and legs showing lean, athletic muscle compared to Angel's thicker, fighting muscle. "Best of three?", Julia asked.

Angel gave her a look. "I'm in my 'punch something' mood, Julia. Are you sure about this?"

Julia nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure." She didn't have to say the obvious. That Angel was her friend, and Angel needed someone to help her work out her frustrations.

Indeed, that was Angel's thought, and the smile that slowly formed on her face showed that she knew this. "Best of three, then," she agreed. "And I'll even help you get to the medbay when I'm through with you."

Julia made a fake, playful wince at that. "Oh, don't make me start to regret this…"

That caused Angel to laugh all the way to the nearest vacant fighting ring.

 

[Big Steve]

For those following along, I consider this episode, 2-11, to be one of the best in the series. It's another Leo episode to boot.


Teaser

Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 17 July 2642 AST. Captain Robert Dale recording. We are currently in orbit of the major colony world New Brittany, to provide medical support and protection to the newly-liberated colony. New Brittany was the site of the Reich's concentration camps and prisoner of war facilities in this sector. The need for medical assistance to the victims our forces liberated in these camps has necessitated that Doctor Gillam and most of his physicians beam down to the various hospitals to assist.


Robert was halfway through the day's paperwork when the tone sounded at his door. "Come in," he said.

As he expected, Julia stepped in. She had no digital reader for him this time. Her face was drawn and pale. Robert could sense why even before he asked, "What did you see?"

Julia nearly dropped into the seat in front of him. "More of the same. Just seeing those prisoners down there, how much they've suffered, what the Nazis did to them…" Julia clenched her fists. "We read about these things in school, but I never thought I'd see it in person like that."

"It's not pretty," Robert sighed in agreement. "And every hour, more of the weakest of them die unless we get them the attention they need. I'm hoping Leo and the others can make a dent in that." The look on his face spoke of his quiet frustration and the idea that, if things had been different, they could have gotten to this planet earlier, to the camp earlier, and ended the suffering without more deaths.

"We both know he'll try." Julia clearly had a desire to change the subject. That subject change was one Robert expected. "So… you're single again."

"I'm single again," Robert said. "And probably will be for the foreseeable future."

"I'm sorry it didn't work out in the end."

"So am I." Deciding turnabout was fair play, he gave Julia his best, innocent look. "So, have you accepted Admiral Maran's offer?"

The look on Julia's face said she didn't buy a word of that. "With all of the people asking about that, it almost feels like you want me to leave."

"No, I don't." Robert smiled at her. "What I want is for you to be happy, and to get the recognition you deserve. Taking command of the Enterprise when she's ready? You'd instantly have the most prestigious command in the fleet."

"And what about you and the others?", Julia asked.

"We would make do." Robert leaned forward in his chair. "We knew this could happen one day. We wouldn't get to serve together forever."

"Yeah." Julia nodded. "I know."

"And I think I knew that Angel and I were… not going to work out," Robert admitted. "In the end, we never do." He sighed. "I think it… I think we just don't have the long-term compatibility we always hope to get. In the end, maybe it's for the best."

"Well, you know where I am if you need to talk," Julia said. "I'd better get back to the bridge."

"I'll be along shortly," Robert promised.




Field Hospital Charlie had been established beside what had been the Retzoff KZ. It was predominantly a labor camp where the Reich imprisoned the sector's political dissidents or those who were in the sector "illegally": having violated the Reich's rigorous controls of which ethnic groups and nationalities were permitted to dwell in which sectors.

Given the number of war refugees that had fled the combat zones, this figure had grown quite high in the months leading up to Alliance forces taking New Brittany.

Although New Brittany was technically under the authority of the nominally-independent National Republic of Brittany back on Earth, they were still part of the Reich as a subordinated state, and they had been compelled to let the Reich build the camp on their soil. Indeed, near their planetary capital of New Rennes.

Naturally, once the war began, the SS had eventually moved in further and opened a prisoner-of-war camp beside the rapidly-expanding labor camp, and in many cases had relegated the prisoners therein to said camp.

Now Field Hospital Charlie tended to the former prisoners of both facilities in addition to combat casualties. It was already full to capacity and its medical staff undermanned to deal with all of the cases of malnutrition and abuse.

Leo looked over the occupants of one ward. Virtually all were down to living skeletons. It was a sight familiar to any medical officer involved in the war and, for him, it would never lose its power. These people were the living embodiment of everything that was cruel and evil about the Reich and the ideology it espoused.

The key word there is 'living', Leo thought. There are even more dead embodiments than I could ever count.

Nasri stepped up behind him. "We've secured the supplies. Doctor Singh is already up to her elbows in cases in the trauma unit."

"While here…" Leo's mouth was dry. "God, Nasri… look at this. How can people live like…" He stopped and gave her a sad look. Given what she had lived through in Darfur, he felt like he had just stuck his finger into an old wound. "Sorry."

Nasri smiled sympathetically. "It is fine, Doctor. That is your compassion showing."

"Doctor Gillam?"

The female voice was one Leo had heard before. He showed some surprise when he turned his head and faced another doctor already making rounds in the ward. Like his own uniform, her uniform was primarily black, with blue on the shoulders, but while his lab coat was white hers was the same blue as her uniform's shoulder area. She was middle-aged, but her hair was still completely red without a tinge of gray.

Leo nodded. "Doctor Crusher. I wasn't aware you were here."

Doctor Beverly Crusher, the former Chief Medical Officer of the destroyed Federation Starship Enterprise, nodded. "Yes, well, I was initially assigned by Doctor K'lei'tana to Hospital Bravo, but there was a change in the rosters." Crusher stepped up to him and offered her hand, which he shook. "It's good to see you, Doctor Gillam. We need every doctor we can get."

"I'm happy to help," Leo assured her. "How about I get one row?"

"You do that, and I think we'll be done in no time," Crusher answered, showing a small, relieved grin.




Like any local resident in similar straits, Andre Faqin had gone to the new occupiers to find work. This was a choice fraught with danger. Even if it meant extra money that could buy food beyond bland replicator rations, or which might one day get a ticket off the planet and out of the war zone, every New Breton who took even the slightest job with the occupation force would face the wrath of the Nazi Reich should the planet fall back under their control. It was, all things considered, quite the deterrent.

Faqin, however, had his own insurance against that possibility.

After a day of sweeping floors and bringing food to decrepit camp survivors, Faqin returned home from Field Hospital Charlie. His home, such as it was, was a rented basement apartment in the urban areas of the capital. He went into his own subbasement in his unit and went to the corner. The floorboards pried away easily where he had left the loosened nook. Underneath was the shielded box he desired. He opened it and reached inside.

The communication set had a portable power source. It was powerful enough to open a secured, encrypted channel through a transmitter in the city, and from there to where it was needed to go. Faqin did that just now.

He waited, patiently, until his screen showed as room, although with the chair in the picture turned away from the screen the only face Faqin could see was that on the large portrait of the First Führer behind it. "You risk much opening such a channel," the man in the chair warned in German.

"I may have seen one of those you said you were seeking." Faqin removed a data chip from the small phone unit he had with him and placed it in his transmitter.

The man accessed another device in his hand and looked over the arriving photographs. Faqin could tell his hidden elation from the tremor in his voice. "They are at New Brittany, then?"

"I don't know," Faqin admitted. "But that man is. And I know I heard his ship was still in orbit."

"Well… you have done well, agent. You will be well-rewarded when the Reich reclaims your world. Maintain a constant watch and report to me any changes."

"Then… you are confident you are returning?"

The man turned in his chair and smiled, which was not something Faqin was used to seeing on the face of a man like Standartenführer Erik Fassbinder. "Oh, yes," cooed the SS officer. "With the Aurora and her crew present, I can promise you we will be returning to New Brittany very soon indeed…"

Undiscovered Frontier
"Under Fire"​

With his bridge watch done for the day, and with it most of his paperwork, Robert went to his other daily obligation.

Which is why he was holding a wooden blade and waiting patiently for Lieutenant Lucy Lucero to strike at him with her own.

Fencing had never been his thing. But he knew enough of it to know that fencing involved reading your opponent's body language and trying to guess when and where their strikes would land.

This was even more elaborate than that. He and Lucy had what the the Gersallians called "connected swevyra". He preferred the term "life force" even if it wasn't entirely accurate to cover what the Gersallian term meant. It was one thing to say someone had life in them, but the Gersallian concept of the swevyra, of life bound to the other life of Creation and the Universe as a whole in a great "Flow of Life", went to a whole different level.

Because of this particular talent, Robert and Lucy could do… things. They could manipulate the energy they felt within themselves to move things with their will, to sense the thoughts of others, to move faster and hit harder than their muscle mass would normally permit, it even permitted instinctive understanding of things like, oh, where a bad guy was about to shoot, allowing them to evade or deflect such attacks. Robert thought of it as "the ability to go into a gunfight with a sword and win". And it took training to perfect.

And sacrificing a working romantic relationship, as it turned out.

When Lucy struck Robert was already moving into a defensive block position. He caught her blow with his wooden blade. The next swipe also resulted in the clack of a wood-on-wood collision, as did the next. After a fourth and final failed attempt to overcome Robert's defense, Lucy backed off. It was his turn.

After several seconds he started to move. First he tried to switch from a high strike to a low to catch Lucy off-balance, but she had her weapon ready for that. A second go, high, was stopped. And a third.

For the fourth blow, Robert decided to mix things up. After drawing Lucy's attention with a cut at her waist, Robert pulled at the energy within him and used it to push forward. Immediately he…

…lost his balance as Lucy, sensing the move, broke off contact and left him to push with force against nothing. Before he could recover she struck his blade with hers, rotated the weapon and wrenched his from his hand, and promptly knocked him to the floor with a burst of energy.

All in less than five seconds.

"Robert Dale, Human pin cushion, loses again," he sighed while sprawled on the floor.

"You are improving," Lucy assured him. She looked to her side. "Don't you agree?"

Commander Meridina nodded. "Yes." She gave Robert a direct look. The Gersallian woman's blue eyes glittered with quiet pride. She had given up much to continue training them; to see Robert and Lucy continuing to improve was therefore something she could take real joy in.

Robert had always been struck by how alike Gersallians were to Humans. Sure, on the inside Gersallian organs were laid out differently, but externally, they looked just like Humans. Skin, hair, even a bit of the smell, all looked like just Human equivalents. "I think you're both well ahead of me," he said. "Although I can't complain too much. I was able to beat Lincoln Osis even with my abilities being so weak compared to yours."

"That is a good attitude to take, Robert," Meridina agreed. "But you must have recognized the potential strengths of your swevyra off the battlefield?"

"You mean the freakly dreams and the future-sensing."

"Indeed. Certainly you have felt a change in them."

He had. He still had the nightmares of course, and how they might be visions of possible futures, but now they were less-frequent. He was getting better rest than he had before. And sometimes the dreams were… happier.

Dreams of his family. Dreams of a family, flowing waves of golden-colored grain on some quiet world, children with his green eyes and Angel's dark hair and brown skin running and giggling and playing in those golden waves.

Although that last one had only been a few times. And it was clear that wouldn't be coming about now.

But above all were the dreams that wound up with the shadowy figure of a woman and those two confusing, vexing words. "Bad Wolf." What did it mean?

"I've been meaning to talk to you about that, Meridina," Robert said. "I've been hearing these two words in my dreams. 'Bad Wolf'. I'm not sure what they mean. Something about a choice."

"It is best not to dwell too strongly on such a matter. Whatever your connection to Creation is telling you, you must also recall you are in the present, and the present has its own matters to attend to." Meridina stepped up and placed a sympathetic hand on his arm. "You will figure this out, Robert. In due time. For now, though, we should continue to train and refine your control and connection."

Robert nodded. "I don't have much else to do as it is. What do you have for us next."

From the faint grin on her face, Robert knew he wouldn't like the answer. Yay, more standing on my hands trying to levitate things…




Once their work in the ward was done, Leo joined Doctor Crusher in heading for the hospital mess. "I'm surprised to see you here, Doctor," Leo said to her. "Not that I'm complaining. Our medical services are overstretched by the war as it is."

"So I've heard." Crusher nodded. "And since I was waiting for a new posting, I joined Admiral McCoy's volunteer detachment."

"He's quite the character, isn't he?"

Crusher looked at Leo. "You've met him?"

"I did," Leo admitted. "And he's every bit the legend that Scotty promised he'd be."

Crusher answered that with a grin. "And what about you? I read your paper on dealing with terminal stage leukemia patients."

Leo felt a surge of pain in his heart. He remembered a smiling preteen boy who should have had the rest of his life ahead of him. "I hope it will be of use to other physicians in saving lives. The information came at a high price. Too high."

"The Joshua Marik case." Crusher took his arm. "Doctor, I'm not sure any of us could have saved his life. HIs condition was too advanced."

"You're probably right." Leo nodded. He couldn't keep the haunted look off his face. "But it doesn't change how I feel. That boy had such a future, if only we'd had more time…"

"It's not easy losing a patient like that," Crusher agreed.

The conversation quieted once they entered the mess. Federation-style replicators were set up on one wall while an older-style mess line was on the other, serving fresh non-replicated food. Leo could see a diversity of species and organizations represented in the medical suits and uniforms of the doctors, surgeons, and nurses present. He recognized the medical jumpsuits of personnel from M4P2, Minbari healer robes, Earth Alliance medical jumpsuits from E5B1, Alliance medical uniforms, and Starfleet ones as well. There was even a Klingon physician in one corner, scowling at a plate, while a group of physicians in ComStar robes were at another table discussing the day's work. "It looks like every medical organization in the known Multiverse is pitching in," Leo observed.

"I know. Sometimes it feels like I'm at a medical symposium more than a field hospital." Crusher went over to the replicator. She tapped the key to activate it and said, "Crusher 3."

The system responded and a tray materialized. The plate on it contained with a chicken sandwich sided by a bowl of salad and a glass of what looked like grape or cranberry juice.

Leo tapped the key next. "Computer, cold turkey sandwich, lettuce and onions included, and a side of french-cut fried potatoes."

The replicator quickly provided the specified meal.

"Adding some starch to your diet?" Crusher asked as they walked into the tables.

"For lunch, anyway," Leo said. "Tonight I'll probably see about a good salad before I beam back up to the Aurora."

They found one table with a few occupants. Leo was surprised to recognize one. "Doctor Franklin?"

"Doctor Gillam." Doctor Stephen Franklin extended his hand over his plate, now mostly finished. Leo accepted it. "I heard your ship was coming with new supplies." Franklin had a bowl of what looked like a beef soup in front of him. His suit was recognizable as the standard pale blue medical coats used in the Earth Alliance.

"We got here this morning." Leo gave him a questioning look. "What is the Earth Alliance Director of Xenobiological Research doing in a field hospital on the front?"

"I'm on an inspection tour," Franklin said. "There are drawbacks to being the least senior among the various medical directors back at Bethesda Dome. Instead of drawing straws it was easier to rush through the paperwork assigning the entire thing to me." A bemused smirk appeared on Franklin's face. "But it's given me a chance to study some of the new species that Multiversal contact has opened up. So I probably can't complain too much."

"I'm not sure I could stand going back to Starfleet Medical," Crusher said.

"Tell me about it. Half the reason I came out here was to get away from the office politics," said another, deeper voice. The woman now sitting across from Crusher and beside Franklin was also in a Starfleet medical uniform, with curly blond hair graying softly at the temples. She seemed a little older than Crusher, further into middle-age, with some wrinkling on her face. "Doctor…" She extended a hand across the table toward Leo. "...Gillam, was it? As in Doctor Leonard Gillam of the Aurora?"

"Yes."

"Doctor Katherine Pulaski, Starfleet Medical," the woman replied. "Formerly on the Repulse." She nodded to Crusher. "I even served on the Enterprise for a year, while Doctor Crusher was serving her sentence at Starfleet Medical."

Leo recognized the name. "I remember reading your paper on the health challenges on the Reymond Colony. The parasitical fungus that kept infecting the colonists. I thought your solution was brilliant."

"Thank you, Doctor Gillam. I rather enjoyed the paper you wrote on extracting those parasites in the R4A1 universe. That was a risky surgery."

"It wasn't the operating theater I had in mind, true."

"I still think some of you people are spoiled for space." Another woman, with an English accent, spoke up from beside Pulaski. Her hair, neck-length if shorter than Crusher's, was gray, and she had green eyes. She was in a Systems Alliance jumpsuit, Navy-issued. "Doctor Karin Chakwas," she said by way of introduction, extending a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Doctor Gillam."

"The same." Leo accepted Chawkas' hand for a quick handshake before he settled into his seat. "A lot of medical talent here today. And all necessary."

"Very," Franklin agreed. "Part of my job here is to reassure Earthdome that the requested medical supplies are necessary. Once they see the recordings I have…"

"I never thought I would see something like this outside of a holodeck recreation," Crusher admitted. "These cases, and the casual brutality…"

"There's a reason most of our cultures remember this movement, even after centuries." Chakwas picked at a pasta salad. "We lost two more in the Intensive Care ward this morning. I'm frankly surprised we've saved as many as we have."

Crusher's face and the brief lowering of her eyes showed how she took that news. "We've got enough of our moderate cases stabilized that we're sending them off-world today."

"Speaking of leaving…" Pulaski looked to the wall and a timer. "I'm beaming up to the Jonas Salk in a couple of hours, so I need to brief my replacement."

Crusher looked at Pulaski and asked, "Anyone we know?"

"That new Asari doctor that arrived yesterday," Pulaski replied. "T'Perro."

"Doctor Lexi T'Perro," Franklin clarified. "I interviewed her last night. Brilliant doctor and a fellow xenobiologist." He smirked. "From the other side of the equation, of course."

"An Asari doctor, huh." Leo raised his eyebrows. "Given how old the Asari can get, she could have more doctorates and experience than the rest of us put together."

"She does. Her file puts her age, in Human years, at about 273, give or take a year," Franklin answered.

"Where are you off to?" Chakwas asked Pulaski

"I'm due on New Austria and Starfleet Medical's main hospital in this universe. Admiral McCoy's asking me to relieve Doctor T'Pela so she can attend to a family affair on Vulcan."

"You'll be missed," Chakwas said. "Hopefully we can catch up to each other soon and share a drink. Have you ever tried Serrice Ice Brandy?"

"No, I have not." Pulaski grinned. "Sounds interesting."

"And worth every credit."

The others gave their goodbyes to Pulaski as she left, emptied food plate and tray in hand. "I think it's only going to get worse as we get closer to Earth in this Universe," Leo said.

"Yeah." Franklin's expression went blank as he let that thought sink in. "Hopefully the war won't last much longer."

"Half of the known Multiverse is either fighting the Reich or helping the Coalition fight them." Crusher took a quick bite and, after a couple of seconds of chewing, swallowed it. "They can't hold out against that kind of opposition, can they?"

"When you've got fanatics like that SS man Fassbinder around?" Leo shook his head. "They'll fight as long as they have means."

"It sounds like you've learned that the hard way."

"We did. Fassbinder was the SS officer on Captain Lamper's cruiser during our first contact." Leo frowned. "And he oversaw the mission at Gamma Piratus. He nearly killed some of my friends and colleagues. As much as it sounds inappropriate to say as a physician…" Leo's expression darkened. "...I'm thankful he's no longer among the living."

"Strong words," Chakwas said. "But I can see they're earned."

Leo nodded in response. It was the only reaction he could properly give.




The planet Himmlerwelt was one of the first thirty planets settled by the Reich. From the beginning the planet had been selected to be the preserve of the Schutzstaffel. Only SS members and their families were permitted to own land on the planet, and only pure Aryan-blooded Germans were permitted to live and work on the world. This had kept the planet from getting the population of other colony worlds settled in the same timeframe, as even today it had a population of only a hundred million spread out across the world.

This suited the SS, of course. This was their center of power outside of Germany itself. The planet's economy was entirely geared toward providing for the needs of the SS across the entire, beleaguered interstellar empire that Hitler's Thousand Year Reich had been building for over four centuries. The Wehrmacht had nothing like it, and if the SS had their way, the regular national forces would never accomplish such a thing.

For Standartenführer Erik Fassbinder, it was his homeworld, physically and spiritually. It was natural that he had been called back to Himmlerwelt to recover from his grievous injury suffered in the system the Alliance called Gamma Piratus. On this world he was able to recuperate.

And more importantly, he was able to plan.

With practiced and firm steps, Fassbinder stepped into the office of Oberst-Gruppenführer Hans Kranefuss and raised his arm in salute. "Heil Sauckel!", he declared.

"Heil der Führer." Kranefuss returned the salute. The senior officer's head of blond hair had begun to gray at the temples, with lines forming on his face from age and work. His uniform was, as Fassbinder thought it should, immaculate and well-kept. He had the wide and strong shoulders that Fassbinder enjoyed as well, the common fruits of the SS' gene-engineering programs to enhance their bloodlines and widen the gulf of superiority they enjoyed over others.

Kranefuss had an office fit for his high rank in the organization, with medals and commendations displayed on the walls, holos of family going down to a newborn great-grandchild, and the fine furnishings one would expect for the Head of Special Operations. Behind Kranefuss an open window showed the marble spires arrayed around the Heinrich-Himmler-Platz and the wide avenues of the Hitlerstraße.

"How is your shoulder, Standartenführer?", Kranefuss asked.

"It has healed, sir," Fassbinder insisted. "I am ready to return to the field. Indeed, I already have a proposal…"

"So I have heard." Kranefuss eyed him warily. He had clearly read Fassbinder's report made this morning. "I admit I am concerned. Eicke's obsession with that vessel led him to his downfall. Now you too seem to place great stock with the Aurora. We have already diverted material to this chase..."

"We came close to catching them in the trap. Had the Heydrich and her battlegroup arrived just minutes earlier…"

"I am aware." Kranefuss nodded. "And I am aware of the real gains to be had if we were to capture the vessel or cause its destruction. The morale loss to our enemies would be noticeable. And the gains to be had from interrogating the command crew are well worth a dedicated effort. But you must understand my concern for your motives. The Reich cannot afford for you to turn this into a personal vendetta, Fassbinder. Eicke forgot his duty, and it destroyed him."

"If I may, Oberst-Gruppenführer, I am not Eicke," Fassbinder insisted. "Though I sympathize with his anger at being denied his prize. I have no such motives. I wish for the ship and the crew to be our prisoners, nothing more or less. Even just one or two taken could be of great advantage."

Kranefuss considered that. "The Raumkriegsmarine is already gathered for a counter-attack in that sector, but they intend to bypass New Brittany entirely. Are you certain you can bring enough force to secure the world?"

"Give me ten divisions and the Schirach Battle Group, Oberst-Gruppenführer. We can be at New Brittany behind the counter-offensive."

It was clear Kranefuss was still wavering. But he had to admit the prospects seemed good. The counterattack of the naval elements would draw off ships and forces from the planet. Reclaiming New Brittany was a prize worthy of this thought even without issue of the Aurora. So it was that after nearly ten seconds of consideration Kranefuss nodded. "I will send the orders. Attack only if the RKM's offensive is succeeding."

"Jawohl." Fassbinder nodded. "You will have no cause to regret this choice."

"See that I do not," was Kranefuss' reply. "You are dismissed."

Fassbinder stepped out of the office. The grin on his face widened. Although he would lack the rank to actually command the Schirach or the force being sent, with Kranefuss' orders in hand he could direct their efforts.

Those were his thoughts in the minutes that passed from the time he stepped out of Kranefuss' office to stepping into a lift. Once inside his hand reached into his pocket. When it came out, a 25 Reichpfenning coin was in his palm. He looked over the silver-sheened disc. The face side bore the visage of Führer Joachim Seickert, the seventh Führer, who had overseen the economic plans that made the conquest of the United States possible. The tail side displayed the courtyard of Hitler's Victory Memorial, with the monuments that incorporated the broken remnants of the statues from Trafalgar Square.

He held his palm up to his eyes and focused on the coin. He reached within himself and felt a surge of spiritual strength, the strength to dominate, to control, to rule, as was his birthright.

The coin lifted from his palm. It began to rotate in mid-air while sweat appeared on the brow of the SS officer.

Content in his test, Fassbinder put the coin away just as the lift doors opened. He gave a customary "Sieg Heil" to the two junior officers that they properly returned. And he walked on.

He had an attack to plan.




It had been a rough couple of days for Leo.

In those two days, he'd seen just about every kind of case he had never wanted to see in his career. It had become clear why Field Hospital Charlie had such a concentration of medical know-how given the quantity and difficulty of cases, not to mention the sheer number of them.

The need to care for the survivors of the planet's concentration and POW camps were further complicated by the situation for New Brittany's population. The Reich had essentially taken over the planet's economy and had ruthlessly seized the majority of the planet's food production to divert to the military and to German-inhabited colony worlds. The result was sad and utterly predictable. As a result, malnutrition and starvation were sending more people to the Hospital's remaining beds while occupation authorities struggled to get food supplies to needed levels.

Today Leo was in the most grueling ward of them all.

The Child Ward.

The KZ camps had child barracks, and the Nazis had proven no better at handling children than adults. All around Leo were sick, weak little stick figures passing for living children, struck by malnutrition and reduced to skin and bones in many cases.

Some of the children could barely get out of bed. Leo was busy with the sickest cases. Diseases, medical conditions aggravated by abuse, the abuse itself…

He looked down at a little boy who looked no older than six. Tears were streaming down the sobbing boy's face, gaunt and pale as it was. "I want my mummy!" The boy's accent was distinctly English.

"Well, I can look and see if she's here," Leo proposed. "I'll need a name."

"Her name is Mummy."

Leo smiled gently. "Well, I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, I need you to tell me where it hurts."

His examination confirmed the various maladies that the boy's battered little body was suffering from, including an unhealed broken rib from getting kicked by an SS guard. Leo gave him what medications he could, made sure the child's next meal was scheduled to include the nutrients he most needed, and walked on. Nasri kept step behind him. "Where did all of these children come from?", Leo muttered. "Christ…"

"The records say that the Reich imprisoned war refugees in the camps as well," Nasri replied. "If they come from nationalities not allowed in this sector." She reached for his arm. "Doctor, are you okay?"

Leo looked at her and couldn't keep the pain from his face. These were children. Children who should have been spared the horrors of what Humanity could do to itself. Instead they had been forced to endure it.

But what was even worse was his thought on the last time he'd had a child-patient. Whenever he looked into these emaciated little faces… he kept seeing the face of another young boy, in a body wracked by terminal leukemia. The boy he could not save.

Nasri's expression softened to one of sympathy. "I should have asked them not to send you here."

"It's fine. Someone has to do it." Leo shook his head. "And I was going to have to care for children again some time." He sighed. "I guess I should have remembered the lollipops."

Nasri smiled at that. "I think the others might have disapproved. Given the nutritional problems."

"Maybe." Leo looked around the ward. "But given all of the misery here… sometimes you have to accept that happiness is a category of health on its own."

"Well, perhaps we shall have to go replicate some…"

Before any more could be said, a loud tone took their attention. They looked toward one of the beds in another line and ran toward it.

Before they could get there, a Minbari was already at the bed checking vitals. "She is going into shock," the Minbari woman announced.

"Let's get her elevated." Leo helped do this task while scan results were compiled. "Anything?"

"I don't know where to begin." Nasri looked over the girl. She looked to be around twelve, which meant she could be as old as fourteen, with a pale coloration that was just tinted enough that Leo suspected she was at least partly non-Caucasian. "Multiple organ problems, injuries…"

"Okay, we need…"




Two hours later Leo was done with the emergency case and the rounds in the Child Ward. Crusher and the Asari doctor, T'Perro, had taken over the girl's care after Leo and the Minbari, Kannel, had stabilized her condition, and the teenager or near-teen was now in Intensive Care. Efforts were being made to determine if her family was among the living.

He sat quietly in the mess hall with a mostly-uneaten plate of salad in front of him, joined by a cold half-finished bowl of sausage stew.

The maker of that stew now sat across from him. Hargert noticed Leo's failure to fully take his meal. "It is terrible here," Hargert agreed.

Leo nodded. As he got a good look at the Aurora crew lounge's cook and steward, he could see the dark circles under his eyes. The lines and wrinkles on his face were deeper than usual and betrayed the fatigue in the old man. "You should take a break," Leo said. "You look like you're running yourself ragged."

"My staff and I have been cooking for the last fifty-two hours," Hargert confessed. "Food for the medical staff and for the patients here. Especially the children."

"It's what they need," Leo agreed. He sighed. Hargert had clearly not intended it, but he was making Leo feel incredibly guilty. "And I guess I should respect your efforts by finishing what you worked so hard to make."

"I understand if this work has cost you your appetite," Hargert said. "But it's not just that, is it?"

Leo sighed and shook his head. "No," he admitted. "Seeing the children makes me think of Joshua Marik."

"Of course." Hargert nodded. "That is a wound you will always carry."

"Tell me about it." Leo put a spoonful of cool sausage stew into his mouth. The lack of warmth made the taste less-appetizing than usual, but it wasn't bad by any standard, and he savored the taste a little before swallowing. "I've seen a lot of things out here that I know will always haunt me."

"Yes." Hargert resumed eating his own meal.

Given the time that flashed on his omnitool, Leo did the same. He had another set of rounds due soon. He didn't want to be making them with a grumbling stomach.

 

[Big Steve]

Robert and Julia were on the bridge when notification came of a ship locking onto their drive. "Put them on, Lieutenant," Robert said to Jupap, the Alakin ops officer manning that station.

The holo-viewscreen activated and showed orbital space ahead. A vortex of green energy formed ahead of them. The vessel that came out was of Federation design, a large saucer with a drive section, nacelles slung below said section, and a triangular pod section above the saucer. Unlike the Galaxy-class ships this vessel, clearly of similar design, was compact, with few empty spaces within the dimensions of the ship.

Ensign al-Rashad spoke up at the Sensors/Science station. "The vessel is a Starfleet Nebula-class starship. Identification code reads her as Starship Lexington."

"We are being hailed."

Robert nodded. "Put them on."

Initially the screen was taken up by a man of African complexion. "This is Captain Gilaad Ben Zoma, commanding the Federation Starship Lexington." Robert thought there was a hint of Hebrew in the incoming captain's accent.

"Captain Robert Dale, Alliance Starship Aurora," Robert answered. "We were informed a Federation ship would be jumping in. I'm a little surprised myself. The front is just a few parsecs away and I've never heard of Federation ships coming this far into the liberated systems."

Ben Zoma nodded. "President Jaresh-Inyo personally authorized this mission on behalf of Starfleet Medical. We're carrying an expert to provide a technical solution to the need for medical personnel here." Ben Zoma nodded to someone off-screen.

The man who stepped into the field beside Ben Zoma was a Caucasian man, with a balding head and the look of a middle-aged man. He had the gold of engineering and operations on the shoulders of his Starfleet uniform and, peculiarly, no rank insignia pips. "This is Doctor Lewis Zimmerman. I am the Director of Holographic Imaging and Programming for Starfleet's Jupiter Station. With the permission of Starfleet Medical and your Alliance's Health and Medical Review Office, I'm here to install hardware for emergency medical holograms in the field hospitals. Now, I'll need your best technical personnel to report to my command."

Robert and Julia exchanged looks. "I wasn't made aware of this, Doctor…"

"I'm sure you'll find the order was transmitted this morning, after I finished speaking with Health Secretary Keneerk," Zimmerman said, interrupting Robert with maximum bluntness. "In the meantime, Captain, I am on a tight schedule and can't be delayed."

Julia was already looking at the log of command-level messages at her station. She highlighted one and read it. Robert knew what it likely said even before she turned to him and breathed a sigh. "It's here," she said. "Right from Admiral Maran."

"Right." Robert nodded. "Well, I'll have my Engineering and Operations staff put together a team to join you."

"Excellent. I expect to see them when I beam down in an hour. Zimmerman out."

The look on Ben Zoma's face was almost apologetic after Zimmerman stepped out of the viewer's range. "I'll have my people inform you when Doctor Zimmerman and his current team transport down. Which of your hospitals could use the help first?"

"Field Hospital Charlie," Julia said. "They have the highest patient load."

"Relay the coordinates and I'll send down additional supplies as well," Ben Zoma said. "I'm going to keep my ship at Yellow Alert for the duration of our time here."

"I don't blame you," Robert said. "We're at our highest non-combat alert as well. And I doubt Nazi warships will be picky about targets if they show up."

"I didn't think so. Lexington out." Ben Zoma's face disappeared from the screen.

Robert sat in his chair and keyed the intercom. "Jarod, Scotty, you've got an hour to put together a technical team to beam down and work with some Federation muckety-muck."

"I'll put together some people and beam down with them," Jarod volunteered.

"Aye, I'll have Tom set it up."

"Don't forget, everyone goes down with sidearms and field action uniforms," Julia said. "We're close enough to the front that I don't want anyone taking any chances."

Jarod answered, "I'll pass it on."

When the connection cut Robert gave Julia a bemused look. "And you wonder why they call you a mother hen. Are you going to be this way to your crew when you become a captain?"

That won him a playful glare.




Night was falling outside of Field Hospital Charlie. Only a thin sliver of light remained on the western horizon, obscured toward the southwest by a distant chain of mountains. Within the Hospital lights came on, bright white in their quality, while the ongoing work of tending to the sick and injured continued.

It was Leo's turn to be on watch in the Intensive Care ward. These were the worst cases, where starvation, malnutrition, and injury from accident and abuse and neglect had brought the occupants to the brink of death.

Leo found himself, after his first rounds, standing in the section for the fourteen year old girl who had been transferred the prior day. Her vitals were weak. He looked over the readout from the biobed and noted all of the failing organs, the damaged flesh and injuries, and felt a chill go down his spine at the thought of what she had suffered at the hands of other Human beings.

He stepped past the drapes and sat down in the chair beside the bed. "I don't know what your name is," he murmured. "But I want you to know… I'll do whatever I can so that you can live. So you can… get better from this, and have the future you deserve." Leo blinked back a tear as his mind wandered yet again, focusing on the future that had died in the Aurora medbay's OR.

There was, of course, no reaction. The girl was comatose.

There was movement that disturbed the cream-colored drapes. Leo looked up to see the interloper. Doctor Franklin was now standing where he'd been standing before. "Hey," said the older physician.

"Hey," Leo answered.

"I thought you'd be here," Franklin said. He looked to the girl and a clear, deep sadness came to his eyes. "We received a positive genetic match for the patient."

"Oh?" Leo felt his stomach churn. It was clear the news wasn't good.

"Four matches." Franklin shook his head. "All from the remains unearthed in the Retzoff mass grave."

"Matches already?", Leo asked. "Then they must have been at the top of the grave."

"They were. I checked the reports… the sample numbers matched with the newest remains. Probably some of those executed before your troops could secure the camp." Franklin shook his head. "It's… hard to imagine that we, as a species, can leave our homeworld, settle countless planets in the galaxy… and still treat one another like this."

"We're dealing with the most evil Human ideology to ever exist," said Leo. He swallowed. "Seeing things like this… I honestly hope I never have any of those SS men in my medbay."

"Because you don't want to treat them?"

"Because I'm afraid I wouldn't." Leo sighed. "I'm afraid I would break every oath and promise I've made as a physician."

"Right." Franklin nodded. "And we don't want to become anything like them."

"Any luck finding her name?", Leo asked.

Franklin shook his head. "Nothing yet. Judging by the reports she was one of the few survivors from the barracks they assigned her too. And the SS records were corrupted by a data virus."

"Intentional." Leo sighed.

"You know…" Franklin began. "I've had my share of cases that went bad. People who might have lived who didn't. Sometimes it was just chance, sometimes they did something they shouldn't have…" The images of an entire section of Babylon-5 filled with dead Markab came to him. "...but my greatest failure was a child patient I had during my first year on B5. He was from a species that was just making contact with the galaxy. He had a… condition that was killing him that I could heal with a surgical operation." The details were clearly vague, and Leo understood that he would have said it in just about as many words to maintain confidential details.

Leo noticed the old pain on Franklin's face. "What happened?" he asked gently.

"Well, his people had a cultural taboo against the cutting of the body," Franklin answered. "They were willing to let him die because they believed that if I cut open the body, he would lose his soul."

"And they kept you from saving him?" Leo asked.

Franklin shook his head. And Leo immediately understood what happened. A clear sympathy appeared in his expression. "You did what you thought was right," Leo said. But he knew that wouldn't be enough.

"I violated the Code of Ethics," Franklin answered. "And for nothing."

"It seems they violated something more when they murdered their own son."

Franklin didn't put much energy into his nod of acknowledgement. "To their minds he wasn't their son anymore. Just a soulless husk that thought it was alive."

"Still…" Leo shook his head.

They remained silent for several seconds. Once it was clear that neither had anything to say on the conversation material, Leo asked, "I figured you would be moving on by now. I know you're here to inspect things for Earthdome, but that should only be a day or two of your time, right?"

"True. And I'm due on Harris Station next week for a conference with all of the various medical organizations to go over the distribution of medical supplies. However, Earthdome wants me to stay until Dr. Zimmerman gets his holographic system ready." Franklin made a wistful shake of his head. "It seems some people at Earthdome are interested in Starfleet's emergency medical hologram technology."

"I've heard those things have terrible bedside manners."

"Just one of the many things I'll have to evaluate." Franklin checked his watch. "I've got a meeting to go to with the Field Hospitals' Administration. I'll see you for lunch tomorrow?"

Leo nodded. "Yeah. Have a good evening." He sat and waited some time after Franklin walked away. He finally stood up and moved on, ready to begin another set of rounds.




Dreams are tricky things. Typically, people start forgetting them as they wake up, which could be an advantage when you're dealing with nightmares.

But for Leo, the nightmares that came that night refused to fade away once he was awake. He was back in the Intensive Care ward with that nameless fourteen year old survivor from the camp. Her vitals had started dropping and everything he did, no matter how medically sound, no matter how much it should have worked, failed.

And then, as the monitors let off the loud tone warning of a stopped heart, her eyes snapped open and looked at him with anger. "You let me die," the girl said, in an indeterminate accent. "Just as you let Joshua Marik die."

That part of the nightmare stuck with Leo the strongest. He stepped out of his shower and looked to his fogged up mirror. A hand wiped away the film of moisture and revealed his reflection. His brown eyes betrayed how tired he felt. Remnant water from the shower slowly dripped its way down his skin, little reflective dots on the dark surface.

He stared at his reflection as the nightmare again ran its course through his mind and his heart. Slowly, quietly, his hand moved toward the toothbrush. Only after gripping it did he re-focus his mind on the immediate needs of his hygiene. He had morning rounds in one of the normal care wards coming; he would need breakfast before going down.

Breakfast, and a good cup of coffee.




Andre Faqin was also sitting down to a nice breakfast, better than some of his fellow citizens were eating.

It was partway through this meal that he heard the tone and went to his basement. The comm device was flashing. His heart was hammering as he hit the accept key.

The face that appeared was Standartenführer Fassbinder. "Ah, Faqin," he said. "As you have served the Reich well, I wanted to give you proper warning. I suggest you not arrive at work today. Remain in your basement."

Faqin immediately knew what that meant. "So you are coming?"

"The attack will commence soon, yes. And I would hate for you to be trapped in it."

"Thank you, Herr Standartenführer."




When Leo arrived at Transporter Station 2, medical kit in hand and his white doctor's lab coat over his black-with-blue-trim uniform, he was met by Jarod, Tom, and Lucy. "Good morning," he said to them. "Coming down too?"

"We're heading back to Field Hospital Charlie today," Jarod answered for them. "Zimmerman's going to be at Alpha today setting up there, but he wants us to finish installing all of the holo-emitters in the wards of Charlie."

"All of the wards?" asked Leo. "Even the Intensive and Critical ones?"

"I'm going to be the one in Critical, so yeah," Lucy said, arms crossed. Leo noted that the three were in their field action uniforms, not standard duty uniforms, and with pulse pistols in holsters on their hips. Lucy additionally carried the hilt to a lakesh on the other hip.

"And who authorized him to do this? We can't have technical personnel stomping around all day among our most vulnerable patients."

"Apparently he's got every big medical bigwig you can find signing off on him doing this." Jarod shook his head. "I'll handle Intensive Care, though, so you don't need to worry about that."

Leo sighed. At least Jarod, who knew something of medicine given his multiple talents, would know how to accommodate the needs of the Intensive Care ward. "Alright. I can see you don't have a choice in this." Leo went up to the transporter pad. "Let's get to work," he said, with little enthusiasm.




The day was getting past the equivalent of noon locally - roughly two hours ahead of noon for the Aurora crew's clock - when Leo reported to the transfer ward. Doctors Chakwas and T'Perro were already at work, going over the patient files and giving them final checkups before the orderlies moved them on toward the transporter station. Leo activated the medical omnitool and pulled the hand scanner out of his pocket. He started work on his first patient, a man in his thirties, and quickly verified the patient was ready for transfer to a dedicated facility elsewhere. With a nod an orderly started pushing the man's stretcher bed away.

"How much longer are you going to be here, Doctor Gillam?", Chakwas asked.

"Until the Aurora is called away, I imagine," Leo replied. "Maybe in a few days at the pace we're going. You?"

"I'm on my way back to Grodni 3 with this load," she answered. "The Systems Alliance has recalled me to testify before Parliament on the conditions here. And I have preparations to make for my new posting."

"So you're going to be the senior attending physician for the trip back on the Lumwe."

"It'll keep me busy. It's a two week trip back to Alliance space, after all."

"Right." Leo scanned his next patient, a twenty year old male. He noted, with concern, signs of organ failure. An extra look verified that the case had yet to be serious. This put Leo in the position of making a judgment on whether to keep the man here, in the hopes of further stabilizing him, or sending him on to the ship for transfer to the full facilities at the Grodni 3 Medical Complex. After a quick check on the patient's vitals, Leo made his decision and flagged the patient for special care on the Lumwe.

For a moment he was struck by how just that little decision could yet make a huge difference. If he was wrong, he increased the man's risk of dying while in transit. The Lumwe was a state of the art Alliance hospital ship, true, but hospital ships could carry only so much medical gear or staff. It was the difference between a point five percent chance of death and a one percent chance - still low, low enough to be considered safe, but double his chance of dying compared to the Field Hospital with its greater number of medical support staff (not counting Zimmerman's impending holographic doctors).

On the other hand, if he kept the man needlessly and the planet was subjected to an attack…

"It is going to be interesting, being posted to a vessel again," Chakwas said, taking Leo out of his thoughts. He looked over at the older woman as she examined a sixteen year old boy. Another orderly was already bringing up Leo's next patient, a twenty-five year old female.

"Oh? What kind?"

"A new frigate," Chakwas replied. "It's from a joint project with the Turians. The Normandy."

"From what I've heard, your frigates are just as spartan as our attack ships," Leo noted.

"Yes, but it will still come with the best medical gear we can equip it with." Chakwas smiled. "And the crew is going to be rather small. Just a few dozen people. I won't have much of a staff, maybe a nurse and an orderly, but I'll get to know the crew more easily."

That drew a nod of agreement from Leo as he finished the last scan on his current patient, the twenty-something woman. Her paled skin had a brown tint to it, and her features made Leo think she was Latin American mestizo, or perhaps straight up Native American. Healed internal injuries, lingering malnutrition… and something Leo hadn't expected to see. "Doctor Chakwas, what do you make of this?" WIth a tap on his omnitool Leo projected the data over to hers.

Chakwas looked down at the amber hard-light surrounding her left forearm, a contrast to the blue used for the Alliance's new omnitools, and examined the readings he sent. Her expression changed to one of shock. "How was that missed…?"

The girl looked up and asked something. It wasn't in English, but Leo's translator device kicked in and gave him the proper translation: "What is it?"

"You're pregnant," Leo answered.

His patient's eyes widened in shock.

"It looks like she's about six to eight weeks along," Chakwas confirmed. "That would put the time of conception somewhere between three to five weeks before the camp was liberated."

It was clear that the woman had no idea of her condition. She stared off into space with a resigned look. As if the universe, or multiverse, was out to hurt her personally.

Leo had a sick, terrible feeling in his stomach. For form's sake, he asked a question he was sure had an unhappy answer. "Do you know where the father is? Do you want us to find him?"

The answer was a single word that confirmed Leo's suspicions. "No."

Leo looked back to Chakwas. "With her physical condition, pregnancy is dangerous."

"I know. But I can't justify leaving her here." Chakwas walked over and took the girl's hand. "I'll see to it that her condition is noted and I will assume control of her treatment. She'll be fine, Doctor Gillam."

Leo could see Chakwas was convinced. He nodded. "Okay." He cleared the patient for transfer to the Lumwe and went on to the next. "I wonder how we missed that?"

"The first medical teams examining the Retzoff survivors were exhausted by the time I got here two weeks ago," Chakwas pointed out. "I'll have to look on her chart, but I suspect we'll find that one of the younger physicians was responsible. He or she was exhausted, sleep-deprived…"

"It's easy to make a mistake then," Leo agreed. "Especially with emotions as they'd be, seeing that camp for the first time. And maybe, if it was one of the non-Human doctors, they might have not recognized the earliest stage of Human pregnancy."

"Also possible." Chakwas was already at work on her next patient. "Practicing medicine inevitably leads to moments that can leave a physician emotionally compromised. Practicing medicine in this situation, seeing these people…" Chakwas shook her head. A grim look crossed her face, drawn and tired as it looked. "I can't help but wonder what went through the minds of the camp's medical staff. We know they had one. How could a doctor taught to heal accept such widespread abuse?"

"No one is ever the villain in their own eyes," Leo said. He was already scanning the next patient. This one, a male of somewhere between sixteen and twenty, had a thousand yard stare and an expression that bordered on catatonia. Leo touched the young man's shoulder and said, "You're doing just fine. And you're never coming back to this place." Once an orderly moved the patient on, Leo continued to speak to Chakwas. "As far as those SS doctors are concerned, their obligation to medicine begins and ends with what the SS and its leaders says it is."

"Those men aren't real doctors," Chakwas hissed.

"We know that, but they think they are." Leo shook his head. "There's the scary thing about this kind of thing, about Nazism and all of the other systems like theirs. They twist and corrupt everything, every institution, every occupation, to accept their cruelty. Doctors aren't immune to it. Nobody is. It's why we have to win this war."

They finished their current pair of patients. While the ward wasn't empty, it was clear they had reduced the population of the ward by a significant amount.

"I'd better get my bags," Chakwas said. She extended a hand toward Leo. "Take care, Doctor Gillam. I look forward to seeing you again sometime."

"Good luck on your new posting, Doctor Chakwas," Leo answered.




Jarod, Lucy, and Tom Barnes gathered in the Standard Care Ward for the test. "I hope this is worth all of the time and work we put into it," Barnes muttered.

"Hold on, it's Zimmerman." Jarod keyed his omnitool. Zimmerman appeared on the screen it was projecting, clearly back on the Lexington. "Doctor?"

"I've completed the testing at the other sites," said Zimmerman. "How is your progress?"

"I was just about to turn it on," Jarod said.

"Then, by all means, do so."

Hiding his slight irritation at Zimmerman's ego, Jarod looked up. "Computer, activate Emergency Medical Hologram program."

A holographic figure formed from nothingness, clad in a Starfleet uniform with medical blue on the shoulders. Jarod was not the least bit surprised to see that the figure was the striking image of Zimmerman himself. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," the hologram stated.

"This is a hardware test," Lucy said.

"Ah. Of course." Much to the surprise of the others there was a hint of impatience and irritation at this fact in the hologram's voice. "And how, precisely, did you intend to test me?"

"Let's start with a standard medical scan," Zimmerman said.

"Okay, start with me," said Lucy.

The EMH picked up a Starfleet medical tricorder from a nearby rack. He pulled the scanner piece from the end of it and ran it over Lucy, from head to stomach, while looking at the display. "No medical issues detected. All organs functioning properly. Body mass is well into acceptable levels. Congratulations, young lady, you are the picture of health. Although I am noticing an above-normal level of stress indicators."

"I've been in a hospital full of concentration camp survivors for two days," Lucy replied. A frown crossed her face.

"Ah. And there are some peculiarities in your body's bio-electric levels. I recommend you get a full workup to identify the cause of the issue."

"Let's see one more scan," Zimmerman said. "And allow the EMH to select his subject."

"Right."

The EMH nodded to Zimmerman and Jarod and looked between him and Barnes. The latter crossed his arms and frowned when the EMH turned his tricorder toward him.

"Well. Hrm. I'm reading glucose levels above recommended levels, and quite a few chemicals in your digestive system… what precisely have you been imbibing?"

"Soda," Barnes answered. He held up his canteen. "Pop."

The EMH scanned the canteen. An expression of disgust came to his face. "Sir, I must recommend you get rid of that substance immediately. Remove it from your diet."

"Leo's been on me for years to cut back on soda, and it didn't work for him either," Barnes retorted. "So why don't you go frak…" He stopped at seeing Jarod's intent look. "Right, a test."

"Well, if you want to go on poisoning yourself, that's fine by me."

Lucy shook her head. "Okay, this thing is way too acerbic. Are we really going to inflict its personality on these people? They've suffered enough."

"I may make some tweaks to the personality algorithms," Zimmerman conceded.

"What about the ethics programming, Doctor?" Jarod was looking at the screen with concern. "This thing had no problems blurting out medical information about Lieutenant Lucero and Lieutenant Barnes. That's not ethical in medicine."

Zimmerman fidgeted. "Yes, well, that may be an artifact of the testing mode. He has to demonstrate his knowledge and ability as a medical doctor, and that means speaking about what he is examining."

"Sounds like a pretty damned bad bug if you ask me," Barnes grumbled. "I wouldn't want to be treated by this thing."

"I'll have you know that I am composed from the medical knowledge of Starfleet's finest doctors," the EMH protested. "My ability to make accurate medical judgements is unequaled."

"And that might be the only thing you're good for, you frakking…"

"Okay, the test is done," Jarod said, interrupting them. "Computer, disengage EMH."

The holographic counterpart of Zimmerman faded away into thin air.

"I'll get to work on final coding updates," Zimmerman said. "I should have them for you before the Lexington departs tomorrow."

"Thank you. Jarod out."

"Well, at least we're done with that," Barnes sighed. "I just want to get back to my real job."

"You said it," Lucy sighed.

There was something in her voice that told Jarod she was being the most affected by what they were dealing with. With her abilities, Jarod wasn't surprised. She could sense the misery and fear and loss from the camp survivors directly. He wondered, briefly, if she felt such things like they actually belonged to her in the first place?

"Well, we'd better finish up down here," said Jarod. "Let's run some more equipment tests before we call it a day."




Robert was finishing up daily paperwork in his office when he got the call. Admiral Drelini appeared. The Dorei woman, one of the Alliance's best field admirals and commander of the 9th Fleet, went right to business. "The Reich has launched a counter-offensive adjacent to your current sector. They appear to be attempting to retake the Pleiades Cluster and their major colonies on Alpina and New Westphalia."

Robert nodded. It explained some of his nervousness lately, the feeling of something being about to happen, which was common enough when you were on the front of a war. "Do you need anything from the Aurora?"

"We need to make sure all civilian vessels are gone from the area of New Brittany. Issue an immediate Level One evacuation order. All non-combat ships are to jump to safety elsewhere, regardless of previously-planned destination. As soon as this operation is complete I want you to withdraw the Aurora to rendezvous with the Epaminondas Battle Group at Delta Korva. We'll need every available combat ship for the counter-attack."

"We'll get on that immediately, Admiral. Dale out." Robert immediately hit the intercom key on his desk. "Bridge, we just received an evacuation order from Command. I want all medical personnel and patients evacuated from the Field Hospitals immediately. Bring all transporters online and have Koenig launch to assist the evacuation. Launch our runabouts too if you must."

"Acknowledged, Captain," Jupap replied.

Robert got up from his seat and went out to the bridge. "Go to Code Yellow and standby for shields," he ordered, and the officers present went to work on it. Julia, Angel, and Cat were the only senior officers on the bridge given all of the officers sent down to New Brittany or off-duty. Julia moved over to her chair while Robert assumed his. "Put the fighters on standby."

"Is it bad?" asked Julia.

"The Nazis are striking toward Pleiades," Robert replied. "Drelini wants an evacuation of non-combat personnel from New Brittany."

"Incoming signal from the Lexington," said Jupap.

"Put Ben Zoma on."

The Starfleet captain appeared on the screen. "We've heard of your evacuation order, Captain," Ben Zoma stated. "I've ordered my transporter crews to assist. We'll take on as many patients and medical staff as we can."

"Thank you, Captain." Robert nodded. "Your help is apprec-".

Before he could finish, Caterina spoke up. "Captain, I've got warp signatures on long range sensors," she said. "They're consistent with anti-matter pulse drives."

Robert turned away from Ben Zoma's image to face Cat. Julia did the same. "What's their course, Lieutenant?"

Cat was already making that determination. And the answer was easy to guess given the look on her face. "They're on their way here. They'll be in range in about forty minutes."

"They must be racing in at maximum warp to get here that fast," Julia observed.

Robert was already turning back to Ben Zoma. "Did you get that, Captain?"

"Yes," he answered. "We have already commenced the evacuation."

"We're doing the same. I want to get you and the hospital ships out of here before the enemy enters range."

"Have your science officers keep a close eye on their short-range sensors," Julia added. "They might have sent cloaked attack ships ahead of their main force."

"We're already running regular sensor sweeps. I will keep you informed if we find anything."

Robert returned to his seat. By the time he did so Ben Zoma's image was gone from the holo-viewscreen. "We'll need to do the same. Jupap, set the jump drive for…" He considered his options for a moment. "...Charing Station, C502. We'll start jumping hospital ships out if we need to."

"Doing so now."

"The evacuation?" he asked Julia.

She nodded back after checking her station. "Already underway."

That was it for the moment. All they could do was watch and wait.




The short timetable being given for the evacuation had made one thing abundantly clear: they were not going to get everyone out.

Leo hated that thought. If the planet fell to the enemy, the hospital patients would go right back to the inhumane conditions the Nazis had kept them in, if they weren't murdered out of hand. But they just didn't have the time to get everyone out. Especially Critical and Intensive Care patients, who were in delicate, even fragile, conditions that defied the use of transporters or shuttle flights. They were left with no choice at the moment but to focus on getting the more-stable patients to safety.

The chaos in the Standard Care Ward was barely contained as patients were secured to their beds and rolled out. A babble of frightened and uncertain voices threatened to overwhelm the necessary verbal communication between doctors and orderlies that kept the evacuation going. Leo finished securing straps to keep a middle-aged woman secure on her bed even as she weakly resisted. "No," she pleaded. "Please."

"This is for your own safety," Leo assured her. "They'll come off as soon as you're on a ship."

"No… I don't want to be tied down," continued the protest.

"I promise you, it's just to keep you from falling off, they will come off once you're safely on a ship." Leo could say no more as an orderly, a Tellarite volunteer, came along and began pushing the bed away. He moved on to his next patient.

"How is it going?" Leo looked to his left. Franklin was now standing beside him.

"I think we can clear the Standard Ward," Leo answered. "Where's Doctor Jankowski?"

"He's already on the Halwell. I'm going up to the Renari with the next evacuation load."

Leo frowned. "Who's staying behind to watch the patients we can't get out?"

"T'Perro and Crusher have volunteered." Franklin had a guilty look on his face. The unspoken fact is that he would have done the same if he could, but he was undoubtedly operating under orders from Earthdome to vacate the front if he was at risk of death or capture. "With a small staff."

"I'll stay too," Leo said.

"Are you sure about that? Two doctors will be…"

"...not nearly enough, and you know that," Leo pointed out. He nodded to an orderly to move his next patient onward.

And Franklin did know it. Just as Leo knew that this was dangerous, one of the most dangerous decisions he'd ever made. There were only so many friendly troops on the planet, there was no telling how many enemy troops would be landing, and no telling when, or if, the Alliance could return in force. His own survival was much more likely if he agreed to evacuate.

But that was something Leo simply couldn't do. Even thinking about it brought that poor fourteen year old in Intensive Care back to his mind. She, and many others, would live or die based on his decisions in the coming hour.

"Okay," Franklin said. "I'll inform the others."




"He's going to what?!"

Leo's decision, relayed by Jarod, made Robert want to beam down and knock sense into his friend. "He does know there's no telling when we can get back to get him out, right?"

"He knows," Jarod replied.

"Don't tell me you're all staying with him," Julia sighed.

"Of course not. You need us up there. We're preparing to beam back up as soon as the last evac shuttle launches."

Once the channel cut Robert shook his head. "He's being stubborn," he grumbled.

Julia replied with a nod. "I know. And at the same time, he's doing something he is convinced is right."

"Yeah."

"Cat, status on those Nazi ships coming in?"

"Eighteen minutes out," Cat answered. I've been analyzing the warp signatures' power source. It's not good news."

"How many ships?"

"Somewhere between eight to ten." She looked at him with clear worry on her face. "And one of them is a dreadnought."

"If that's true, we'll need the Epaminondas and her battle group to retake the planet," Julia said.

"Assuming that's where Relini wants us."




"I'm staying too."

Jarod and Barnes looked at Lucy as she said those words. Neither sighed or reacted negatively to her announcement. Both understood it. "Keep an eye on Leo's back then?" Jarod asked.

"Of course," she said. "I'll keep an eye on him. If we can get out on our own, we will. If not…"

"We'll be back for you," insisted Barnes.

"Only five minutes until those Nazi ships make orbit." Jarod's hand movements brought the blue light of his omnitool to life. He tapped the hard-light key for his comms. "Jarod to Aurora, two to beam up. Lieutenant Lucero is staying."

"Understood, Commander. Transport is imminent."

Lucy nodded and swallowed. She had the feeling she needed to be here, to help Leo and the others survive, but that didn't mean she was eager to be stuck on a planet full of Nazis. If Meridina had beamed down, she would feel a whole lot better about this…

This won't be the first time you've been in a fight without her, Lucy reminded herself. You can do this. You did this on Gamma Piratus, and you're even better now.

That was the thought she kept in her head even as Jarod and Barnes were pulled away by twin columns of light.




The minutes continued on. One by one the various civilian ships in orbit - cargo ships and hospital ships - made the jump to warp. Some of the planetary elite fled in interstellar-capable yachts, clearly hoping to escape the fighting and any Nazi revenge should the planet fall back to their hands.

Jarod stepped onto the bridge. "Tom's already on his way to the Koenig," he said, making a beeline for Ops. Jupap immediately relinquished the post and went to his backup post along the starboard side of the bridge at Communications. Nick Locarno had already reported to the helm, meaning the entire bridge crew was now gathered.

"Where's Lucy?" Julia asked.

"She decided to stay with Leo and watch his back," Jarod answered. "So did Nasri."

"I hope General Chaganam has his troops ready to protect that hospital," Robert murmured.

Julia looked over at a data screen. "It looks like he's got the Turians' 8th Regiment and a division of Dorei troops in the area. A regiment of the Free Worlds Legionnaires is going to hold New Rennes. A hundred or so freelance mercenaries." A slight smirk crossed Julia's face. "I wonder if Massani is down there."

Before Robert could ask who she was talking about, Cat spoke up. "Enemy ships coming out of warp."

As she spoke, the holographic tactical map by Julia lit up. The planet dominated the picture while eight angry red markers now blipped into existence. Robert frowned. The enemy had come out of warp in a position to try and pin them against New Brittany. Whomever it was, they didn't want the Aurora and the other ships to escape.

"Not just any Reich ships," Julia murmured, now looking at the holo-viewscreen. Robert did the same thing and frowned, recognizing the familiar dark coloring adorning the Reich warships instead of the customary gunmetal gray.

"The SS," he said. As he did so, his mind went back over two months to 452TD and the Nazi trap during the failed raid operation. SS ships showed up at the end to try and trap us too. He felt a sudden suspicion that the timing of that attack had not been a matter of luck.

"The dreadnought's IFF code is reading as the Baldur von Schirach," Jarod said. "It was one of the ships heavily damaged at the Battle of New Pommern three months ago."

Before Robert could inquire further, a voice came from the bridge speakers. "This is Captain Gilaad Ben Zoma of the Federation Starship Lexington to Reich warships. As the Federation is militarily neutral in this conflict and my ship is here for medical and humanitarian operations only, I must formerly request that you…"

The Nazis, unsurprisingly, didn't even let the Starfleet captain finish his pro forma request. Robert suspected even Ben Zoma knew they wouldn't, but went through the motions to leave no doubt in the Federation as to what occurred.

The Schirach fired its bow super-disruptor assembly into the Nebula-class ship's shields. The large green energy beams slammed savagely into the blue energy shields protecting the Federation starship. The Lexington's shields bore the blast without failing. "Their shields are down to thirty-two percent," Jarod said.

"Link us with Ben Zoma. We're going for the weak spot in their formation." Robert looked to Julia. "Combat launch the Koenig."

Julia nodded. She knew how he thought, that he hadn't wanted to risk the Koenig being crippled if he could avoid it, but the situation would require the extra firepower to make sure they all got out. "Koenig is combat launching," she confirmed. Although no one could see it directly, everyone could image the sight of the attack ship forcefully decoupling itself from the airlock and flying backward from its protective dock in the back of the primary hull. "The other ships are signaling readiness to follow our lead."

Robert was already looking over his tactical display. The Aurora and Lexington were joined by a Dorei starbird, two Colonial Confederation destroyers, and a wing of Turian frigates supporting their ground troops. "Hold the Colonial and Turian ships back to protect the remaining civilians as best as they can. I want that starbird with us to blow away that Nazi cruiser." He identified a Nazi ship anchoring the enemy formation over the North Pole of New Brittany. "Let's go!"

Even by this point shots were being exchanged with the Nazi ships. The fire grew furiously as the Aurora and her ad hoc formation plunged toward the enemy. The enemy superdreadnought fired again, this time skimming the shields of the Aurora near one of her nacelles. Indeed, it quickly became obvious that the bulk of enemy fire wasn't at the helpless civilian ships or their lighter protectors, it was at the Aurora. We're the target, Robert realized. They're after us. Maybe this whole operation is after us.

At Angel's command, azure and amber energy lashed out at their foes, joined by the furious amber energy pulses coming from the Koenig's pulse phaser cannons. The enemy cruiser ahead took the hits on the shields and kept firing back. The Lexington joined in on the attack with her phasers and a barrage of photon torpedoes. The Dorei starbird beside them fired purple-hued plasma cannons into the enemy light cruiser adjacent to their main target, causing red shields to flare while silver-white solar torpedoes from the Alliance-affiliated ships smashed against both targets.

The range grew close, and Robert was afraid the enemy cruiser might very well ram them to stop them, but as they approached the last kilometer Angel's fire found its mark. Thick pulses of sapphire energy from the Aurora's pulse plasma cannon battery hammered down the shields of the enemy Sedan-class cruiser and began blasting into the armored hull. As a spread of solar torpedoes threatened to break the enemy ship in half, the phasers and photon torpedoes on the Lexington found their targets in the enemy ship's drive section. The SS cruiser was reduced to flaming debris as the Aurora and the other ships flew past.

They didn't get away unscathed. Missiles from the other enemy ships converged on one of the Colonial Confederation destroyers until its shields nearly disappeared. A thick emerald beam from a second enemy heavy cruiser moving up behind them speared the rear engine section and blew the destroyer apart. "Missiles inbound on the Serene Care," Jarod said. "She's trying to evade but…"

Robert could only watch in horror as missile after missile found the hospital ship, carrying thousands of sick and wounded patients and medical staff with her crew. Her shields took the hits with bursts of blue light. But with more shots incoming there was no way they could get to warp before taking a deadly blow. One missile hit finally found hull, blowing debris from the rear of the ship. Another missile came in, looking very much like a kill shot…

....and struck the Turian frigate that threw itself in front of the beleaguered hospital ship. The mass effect shields, backed by deflector shielding, absorbed the first missile and then another.

But they couldn't absorb the super-disruptor blast from the enemy superdreadnought. The thick emerald beam speared the Turian ship and blew it apart. The same beam grazed the hospital ship, sending more flame and debris from its wounded hull.

"Serene Calm reports that their warp systems are damaged, they're not sure they can make it to warp."

"We're on it," Zack's voice said. The Koenig swept in above the hospital ship. A ribbon of blue light emerged from the ventral hull of the attack vessel and gripped the bow of the Serene Calm. "We've got them in tow. IU jump in three, two, one…"

The Koenig created a swirling green vortex of light in front of it and pulled the larger Serene Calm into the vortex as more fire converged on their location. They were gone mere seconds before another disruptor shot struck the vortex wall with enough energy to violently collapse the jump point.

One by one, the remaining friendly ships jumped to warp speed. The Aurora and Lexington waited until they were all gone before they did the same. "Any sign of pursuit?" Julia asked.

Caterina took a moment to respond. "No. I'm not reading them going to warp. It looks like they know they can't catch us."

"They could catch the hospital ships," Jarod pointed out. He turned in his chair and looked at Robert and Julia with a furrowed brow. "But not us."

"And we're the ones they're after," Robert said. "452TD, now this… That has to be the reason."

"We'll report this to Maran." Julia couldn't keep the worry off her face for another reason. "And hopefully, we'll be going back soon to get Leo, Nasri, and Lucy back."

"Hopefully," Robert agreed.




On the bridge of the von Schirach, Fassbinder watched with irritation as the Aurora successfully escaped into warp.

"The enemy ships are out of range." The report was from one of the bridge officers.

"Did the enemy abandon their ground troops?" asked Oberführer Wolfgang Schiller, the dreadnought's commander.

"Ja. I am reading troop concentrations around New Rennes and Renardville. The enemy is generating a theater shield covering both sites."

"They will not endure our firepower for long. Prepare for orbital bombardment."

Fassbinder felt a wave of irritation at that. Schiller was being impatient. He spoke up immediately. "Herr Oberführer, with all respect, our orders are to preserve the planet."

"Why? The Bretons aren't Aryans anyway." Schiller's expression showed his frustration. "We need our troops for other worlds."

"Our orders came directly from Oberst-Gruppenführer Kranefuss. The planet must be taken intact. The Reich needs its food supplies untouched."

Schiller's face briefly twisted into anger before he restored control of himself. "I do not recall asking for your 'advice', Standartenführer. I do not need you to tell me how to run my ship!"

Fassbinder bristled at having his place questioned. But he could not afford a fight with Schiller. "My apologies, Oberführer, I overstepped my bounds."

Mollified, Schiller returned his gaze back to the screen. "If not for the illustrious Oberst-Gruppenführer, I would already be bombing this wretched planet to rubble. But I am aware of them and will follow them. Comms, inform Gruppenführer Fischer that we are ready to deploy his troops."

"Jawohl."

Fassbinder waited for another moment before saying, with great care, "With your permission, Oberführer, I will leave to join our landing forces."

"Very well. Make sure I am kept informed."

"Jawohl."

"You are dismissed."

With that permission, Fassbinder left the bridge to find transport down to the planet.

 

[Big Steve]

Between his education and interaction with other people, Leo had become familiar with various sayings. "Crossing the Rubicon", "Past the point of no return", and such. The idea of taking an action that cannot be reversed and committing yourself until the very end.

He knew that was what he had done when he decided to stay on New Brittany regardless of the danger. And it gave him a feeling of peace now that the point of no return had been passed.

If anything undermined that, it was that his staying meant Nasri and Lucy had as well, and if anything happened to them he would have played a part in that.

But there was no time for that now. Right now the Field Hospital had to be set up to receive wounded in addition to its remaining patients. The Critical and Intensive cases that couldn't be evacuated still needed their usual care. In short, he was going to be busy busy busy, and that kept Leo's mind occupied.

Currently he was overseeing the Critical Care Ward, doing rounds. "Doctor Gillam." T'Perro approached him from the door. "Doctor Crusher asked me to find you and see if you know the access codes to the supply locker."

Leo shook his head. "I was a visiting physician only and they never told me. They didn't tell you?"

"I'm afraid not," the Asari answered. The translation programs rendered her voice into an accent that sounded like refined English. "Jankowski was supposed to relay the codes to Crusher before leaving."

"But he didn't." Leo activated his omnitool and used it to connect to Lucy. "Gillam to Lucero."

"Lucero here."

"How busy are you?"

"Doctor Crusher asked me to double-check the security systems for the hospital. In case we get attacked."

"There was a mix-up and nobody provided the access codes for the secure storage room. We've got vital medicines and equipment in there we're going to need access to."

"Great. Well, I can try to hack it. These new engineering omnitools have direct accessing abilities even our best multidevices never enjoyed."

"If you have to break the door down, go ahead. But please don't do anything to damage what's inside."

"Understood. I'll let you know when I'm done. Lucero out."

"Thank you, Doctor Gillam," T'Perro said.

"You're welcome. Although Lucy's the one who will deserve the thanks." Leo signed off on his current patient's status and left the sleeping man to continue resting. "How are the preparations going?"

"The military doctors will handle the triage cases for their soldiers. The Standard Care Ward should be ready to receive new patients soon."

"Let me know when they start coming in."

"Of course." With nothing else to say, T'Perro walked away.




Fassbinder was cleared to transport down several hours after the first landings. Gruppenführer Hermann Fischer, head of the 34th SS Panzer Army, had made his invasion HQ the town hall of a rural village called Grinouville-sur-Crissons. Fassbinder entered this HQ and brought up his arm in a salute and a bellowed "Heil Sauckel".

"Heil Sauckel," echoed Fischer, before he turned back to the holographic display of the area. Grinouville-sur-Crissons was along the Crissons itself, a small river flowing down to the sea near New Rennes. They were still in the upper reaches of said river. The ten landed divisions of SS troops, a mix of infantry, power-armored Panzergrenadiers, and armored fighting vehicles, had already secured their foothold in a fifty mile radius around the original landing point, about four miles from Grinouville-sur-Crissons. Fassbinder looked with approval upon the tactical plots showing that the enemy was in retreat.

"Standartenführer, welcome," said Fischer. "Oberst-Gruppenführer Kranefuss will be pleased with the speed at which we are securing our hold on this world. We have identified enemy forces of several origins. Alliance alien troops, those of the Turians, and those with the large walking tanks they call 'BattleMechs'."

"Are they enough to hold us from the city?"

"It may be a difficult fight, but we have the force to punch through," Fischer assured him. "Is there anything in particular that Oberst-Gruppenführer Kranefuss wanted from your presence?"

"I must get to one of their field hospitals," Fassbinder explained. "There are subjects of interest to the SS-Reichführer that I must recover."

Fischer seemed to consider that. "Which hospital? We have identified four on the planet. Possibly five."

"The one near New Rennes."

"There are two in the vicinity of New Rennes." Fischer indicated the map. One of his subordinates helpfully highlighted the structures.

Fassbinder remained quiet as he thought about it. Not just thought, but felt. He could feel a cool thrum within him that clarified his vision. It granted him an insight he would have otherwise not felt.

And it confirmed what he suspected.

Fassbinder indicated one of the hospitals that, coincidentally, was located beside what had been the Retzoff KZ on New Brittany. "There," he said. "That is where my subjects will be. It fits their mentality to be tending to the untermensch and insubordinate that are kept in the camps."

"I will dispatch a division to force their way through," Fischer said. "But no more. I cannot afford to let my troops be cut off from each other without further support, Standartenführer "

"Very well. And while your troops prepare the way for my detachment, I will arrange for an agent to provide further intelligence," Fassbinder offered. "I will need a secure communication station."

With the help of one of Fischer's junior officers, an Untersturmführer, Fassbinder was directed to a comm set that could send and receive transmissions from SS operative comm units. Once Fassbinder had control he was quickly able to send the signal out.

Several minutes passed, during which Fassbinder was becoming irritated, before Andre Faqin's face appeared. "Yes, Standartenführer?"

"Where have you been?" Fassbinder demanded. The last thing he needed was for Faqin to have compromised anything.

"I was away from the house when I received your signal. My landlord required assistance." Faqin smirked. "He wanted to burn his Alliance credits for fear that he would be discovered with them when the SS reclaimed the city."

Fassbinder's irritation declined slightly. "And did he?"

"Yes. But I recorded it with the set you provided."

"Good, agent. But I have another task for you. I would like you to return to work."

Faqin showed his confusion. "Sir? Are you sure? I would not want to be seen as a collaborator…"

"Do not worry. I will ensure your true loyalties are honored," Fassbinder assured him. "But I need an agent inside the hospital to confirm who is present and where they typically are."

"Very well, Standartenführer. I will contact you when I can."

"Good. I will speak to you later, agent. Fassbinder out."

While around him the staff of Gruppenführer Fischer continued their work of organizing and overseeing the attack, Fassbinder was left with nothing to do. Nothing but waiting.

Waiting… and preparing, which he started by taking out another Reichpfenning coin.




The mess hall felt empty given the activity it had shown when Leo arrived. A few orderlies and a couple of the nurses getting late lunches were the only people in evidence.

The real surprise came when Leo stepped up to the food line and found something he hadn't expected. A steaming large pot was filled with a familiar substance for him: sausage stew.

"Ah, Doctor Gillam." Hargert stepped up on the other side of the food bar. He put on an even fresher pot of the same stew. "I was hoping to see you. You must keep your strength up."

"Hargert, what are you doing here?" Leo asked.

"Keeping the staff well fed, of course," Hargert said. "Albert will be attending things on the ship until they return for us."

"But… if they don't…"

"Then I will probably be killed by the SS." Hargert shrugged. "So be it. 'Nie weider', Leonard. It means more to me than not becoming a Nazi myself. It means I, and Germans like me, will never again allow these evil men to scare us away from doing the right thing. You and your colleagues and patients need good food, and I am here to provide it."

Leo could only nod in reply. "Thanks, Hargert."

"Now, stew alone does not a meal make," Hargert said. "I have some roast beef sandwiches for you as well, and more strudel baking."

Considering what Leo expected soon, he asked, "Have you been given any stores for our Turian friends? They can't eat our food."

"No, they cannot. But dextro-based foods can still be cooked, and I have found a number of effective recipes for Turian foodstuffs that your patients will, I think, enjoy," Hargert said. "Now please excuse me, I must check on the chicken soup for the little ones."

Hargert left Leo to gather his food. He looked to the tables and found an empty spot, one of many, that he claimed to begin eating.

A short time later he was joined by T'Perro. The Asari doctor looked over the stew thoughtfully before trying it. "This is quite good," she said after a second spoonful. "The cook is your ship's cook, isn't he?"

"He is," Leo said after gulping down a bite of roast beef sandwich. "And he is very good at his job."

"A good meal is important in these occupations." For a moment T'Perro looked around the hall. "Doctor Crusher and I have considered seeing about hiring on more local help. Perhaps even physicians."

"Good luck with that. The locals know what will happen if the Nazis retake the planet and they're identified as working for us." Leo sighed. "It feels like the calm before the storm around here."

"It is."

"So, why did you volunteer to stay behind?" Leo asked.

"Why did you? From what I know, if captured by the enemy you will be shot out of hand simply due to your ethnic background."

"And you'll be shot for being an alien," Leo pointed out. "So it seems we're both screwed if our soldiers don't hold them off."

"Indeed. Peculiar that Doctor Crusher is the only one they would likely not kill out of hand." T'Perro swirled her spoon around in a bowl of stew. "If you must know, I am here to get a taste of field medicine. It may be relevant to an enterprise I am committed to."

"Oh?"

"You have heard of the Andromeda Initiative?"

Leo had to think about it for several seconds before nodding. "Yeah. Some woman from M4P2 Earth, I forget her name, was interviewed about it by one of the Alliance news networks."

"Doctor Jien Garson. A charismatic, bright woman. She is funding a large expedition that intends to colonize the Andromeda Galaxy with sleeper arks."

Leo blinked. "Wow, that's… ambitious."

"It is." T'Perro took another bite before continuing. "I have joined the Initiative with a Human colleague of mine. We're due to leave by the end of the decade."

"So… you're just going to leave the galaxy behind," Leo said. "Like that? Just head off to an unknown galaxy."

"Yes. I expect it will be quite interesting. And certainly final. Over six centuries in cryo-sleep to get there. Most of my contemporaries will be in the matriarch stage by the time we arrive." T'Perro grinned thinly at that. "I suppose it is something to walk away from everything you've ever known in life to embark on a bold new future in the unknown."

Leo returned the grin. "I know something about that actually. Although what I did wasn't quite as final as taking a centuries-long cryo-sleep trip to another galaxy."

"A good point."

"So this is getting you experience for the kind of field medicine you might have to practice in the colonies your Initiative will be forming."

"Yes." T'Perro nodded. "And I am evaluating multiversal sources of medical technology to see if we should include them before we leave. Your cortical stimulators, for instance, and some of your medications. Certainly some of the gene treatments may come in use. And the Initiative will probably be buying replicators before we leave."

"I would imagine so."

Leo took another bite after saying so. Other questions formed in his mind concerning this sort of operation, the kind of intensive planning it required, as he chewed and swallowed.

Before he could ask, an Asari nurse appeared at the mess hall doorway. "We have casualties coming in!" she shouted. "The first medevac shuttles are three minutes out."

T'Perro reacted by quickly downing what was left of a roast beef sandwich while Leo got as big a spoonful of the sausage stew as he could. "A pity", she said after gulping. "I hope our host will keep the stew warm."

"Knowing Hargert, he'll have it ready for us when we get back," Leo said. He took one last spoonful, so rushed he only filled half the spoon, and gulped it down. With a final drink of his coffee, he went off to join T'Perro and the nurses and orderlies rushing from the room.




The staff had barely gotten their Triage Ward ready in time before the medevac shuttles started arriving. Turians and Humans alike came through the doors as both medics and patients, the former declaring the injuries and status of the latter for the benefit of the physicians.

Leo's first case was a male Turian soldier with blackened and charred personal armor. "Vitals are low but stable. Wound consistent with a disruptor shot." Leo saw the nurse was a Bolian. "Get the dextro supplies and provide standard disruptor wound care for Turian physiology. He should be fine."

"Yes, Doctor."

The next case was another male Turian. Leo scanned him while a male Turian medic looked on with concern. Leo could see why. "Direct disruptor wound, energy penetration of the armor and shielding, internal damage extensive but treatable. Send him on to Doctor T'Perro for stabilizing until we can operate."

"Yes Doctor," answered the medic.

The roar of another arriving shuttle told Leo this was just beginning. He returned his attention to the next stretcher. Turian female, soldier, missing left leg and left arm and torso perforated with shrapnel and plasma burns. This was a borderline call, but her vital readings - still strong - decided it for Leo. He had her sent on to the nurses for wound care and assignment to Critical Care. A quick glance up told him that Doctor Crusher was still tending to another of the patients he had cleared for further care. They'd already worked through the first batch.

All but one, it turned out, as another stretcher came in bearing a Turian male who looked like he'd been put through a blender. Blue blood coated what was left of his personal armor and several remaining wounds. Leo could see the Turian was alive and, more importantly, in excruciating pain. The mandibles of the Turian's mouth were halfway open and a low moan was coming from his throat. His eyes were focused, with great pain, on one of the medics and then on Leo.

For a moment Leo felt immense frustration. The military had insisted they would handle first stage triage to lessen the strain on the Field Hospitals. Now it was Leo who had to make that painful decision, the decision no doctor ever wanted to make but could be forced into during a critical resource situation: the decision that a patient had to be left to die. But it was clear that heroic efforts would be needed to save this soldier, efforts that would take away from the treatment of several more casualties that would likely be saved.

Leo glanced at the medic, who was looking intently at the patient. "You know each other?" he asked.

There was a catch in the throat of the medic before he answered, "Yes." There was a shade of guilt in the reddish-brown eyes of the Turian medic that told Leo everything he needed to know about why this case was brought to him. He knew this was a waste, but whatever the soldier was to him, the medic hadn't been able to accept the judgement of the Turian military doctor at their mobile hospital.

Leo sighed. With a touch of his omnitool he updated the soldier's record with a literal mark of death that would tell the triage nurses to leave him alone, that he was too far gone.

A part of Leo protested this. That part screamed I can save this man! But the rest of him knew the price of that, the lives that would be lost because he was too busy saving one.

The intensity of the soldier's agony-filled eyes bored into Leo. Almost as if he knew Leo's choice, as if asking him You fought for Joshua Marik, why not for me? Leo forced that thought out and reached over to the nearby medicine tray. A bundle of hyposprays were ready with their contents marked. He found the one with dextro-compatible morphine and picked it up. Leo pressed the device to an intact section of the Turian's carapace-covered flesh, right on the part of the neck where the Turian equivalent of the carotid artery was located, and gave him a dose that no living patient would ever be given outside of extremely special circumstances.

Within seconds the intense look in the Turian soldier's eyes went away. The moan stopped. A contented little sigh of relief was the soldier's last sound before his eyes, now free of pain and, with it, much coherent thought, closed quietly.

"Put your friend in the far corner," Leo instructed the medic. "He's not in pain anymore. That's the best I can do."

"Yes, Doctor," was the medic's response. There was gratitude in it. "Thank you for that, and I apologize. I acted inappropriately."

For a moment Leo nearly spoke to give emotional support to the grieving alien. But he knew Turians took a strong view of duty, and shirking it for personal reasons was shameful in their culture. Trying to comfort could too easily backfire. So he said nothing more to the medic.

Leo might have taken the time to further consider the harsh necessities of battlefield medicine, and indeed he knew he would later, as he always did when these situations were over. But right now he had more patients coming in, with the roar of VTOL engines telling him that the Inner Sphere wounded were now coming in as well.

"No rest for the weary," Leo murmured.




Fortunately for Leo and his two remaining compatriots, reinforcements came during the evening. Field Hospital Bravo was deemed too vulnerable to enemy attack and had been evacuated completely, with all patients and medical personnel pulled back to Charlie. Four doctors came from Bravo: a Turian physician, a physician from the Free Worlds League, an Alakin, and another Alliance Human like Leo, Dr. Ocasio. With their arrival, Leo was able to get out of the Triage Ward after eight grueling hours of dealing with incoming casualties and another two hours in the OR. It was nearly midnight by his internal clock.

Nevertheless Hargert came through for him, waking up from a nap to get fresh stew and freshly-baked garlic baguettes that sated Leo's growling stomach. A cup of rich black coffee helped jolt him to wakefulness.

"Are you sure about that?" Crusher eyed his coffee. "You're due for sleep soon."

Leo shook his head. "No, actually, I told Doctor Ocasio I'd cover his overnight watch in the Critical and Intensive Wards. The man's been up the better part of thirty-six hours and needs his sleep."

"So do you, Doctor," Crusher reminded him pointedly. She took a bite of a pasta dish Hargert had prepared for the dinner meal. Stress was increasing lines on her face.

"We all do, frankly." Leo sighed. "Do you know the part I always hate?"

"The part of what?"

"Triage." Leo frowned. "I hate having to put the 'no' mark on patients because they're too wounded to be stabilized quickly. I hate having to leave them to die."

"Every doctor in this job feels that way," Crusher said. "I've always asked myself if I could have saved those patients with just a little time. In the end, though, it's an unavoidable part of our work. And we have to live with the choices we made."

"Agreed."

"As for the overnight watch, how about we split it? I'll take from 2400 to 0400, you come on at 0400?"

Leo almost said no. Crusher was clearly exhausted as well. It was when he looked into her tired face, and the concerned look there, that he knew she would never accept "no" for an answer. He sighed and nodded. "Sure."



When the time came, Leo arrived at the doctors' station between the Intensive and Critical Care Wards at 0356 with a mug of black coffee and a breakfast ham and cheese omelette fresh from Hargert's kitchen. He found Doctor Crusher making final notations on a digital reader. "Someone did us all a favor and replicated a couple of nice double-sized beds for the quiet room," he told her.

"I'll take it," she said.

"Any cases come up?"

"The fourteen year old Jane Doe in Intensive showed an increase in her white blood cell count," Crusher revealed. "I would almost think she had a systemic infection, but I've found no signs of one in the scan."

"She may have an autoimmune condition, then." Leo accepted the reader and looked over it. "We can't know anything for sure until she comes out of that coma."

"No sign of any neurological change." Crusher stood. "But for now, one of those beds sounds just about right."

"I'll see you in the morning," Leo said, watching her leave.

His routine went off regularly. He looked over Crusher's notes for the last four hours, as well as Ocasio's notes from the previous shift, while finishing his breakfast. By 0430 he was making his rounds in both wards, dealing with patients who were asleep, or at least mostly so.

Due to the planet's rotation period the sun was already well into the sky by 0545, when Leo sat back down to log his findings for the last round and catch a cup of coffee. He was partly through it when Lucy stepped into the door looking refreshed. "Good morning," Leo said to her.

"Good morning," Lucy replied. "Did you actually sleep? Or did I go to the trouble of getting those beds for nothing?"

Leo smiled at her. "No. I made use of one. And I'll have it again later today, I hope."

"Good." Lucy slipped into a chair and started nibbling on what looked like a breakfast burrito. When she swallowed she said, "So, I've triple-checked all of your gear, all of your equipment, and I put an override into that storage vault so you and the others can get in there whenever you need. The system will recognize your retinas and your DNA to let you in."

"Great news." Leo folded his hands together. "What about the holographics? We could use the extra hands."

"Are you sure?" Lucy frowned. "That thing's got atrocious bedside manners. I don't know if I'd have him treat camp survivors or wounded soldiers."

"Maybe not," Leo agreed, "but we need more hands. It has the medical skill and knowledge to treat Standard patients at least."

There was no arguing with that logic. Lucy drew in a sigh. "We were pretty much done. Zimmerman just had some final coding he wanted to do relating to the system's personality, to make it less acerbic and, frankly, give it more respect for confidential patient information. During testing the program had no problem blurting out medical information."

"I guess confidentiality and testing the program's competence didn't go together," Leo mumbled. He didn't like the thought of the program just blurting out information that might be best kept private. His mind wandered to the girl that he and Chakwas had found the other day to be pregnant, and the thought of how the EMH might have handled that delicate situation if it had been programmed the way it was.. "Is there an easy way to program the system to follow confidentiality ethics?"

"Jarod might have managed it, but Zimmerman's coding is… it's really complex, and I honestly don't want to fiddle with a single line of it."

"Right. So, any suggestions?"

Lucy started thinking on the problem. "I could alter the access permissions, I guess. Give you command authority that would let you give the EMH orders. Then you can just tell him not to divulge information loudly or whatever other tweaks he needs. He'll probably still be acerbic though, and he may even resent the commands."

"That's fine, I'd rather he resent me than spew out to strangers that some poor girl they brought in is pregnant. Or was." Leo glanced at his monitors. Everything was running smoothly. "How long until this is done?"

"How many of the doctors do you want to give this access to?"

"All of them."

Lucy's omnitool came to life. Using the two handed-controls - joint keypads generated, one on her forearm by the tool proper and the other a series of keys generated under her left hand. She started tapping away while a holo-secreen showed lines of code. After several seconds she nodded. "Okay. Try it out. I've given you all permissions to turn the EMH emitters on and off, and to issue binding commands."

"Computer, activate the Emergency Medical Hologram in my office," Leo requested.

The EMH shimmed into view. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"Too many to count," Leo muttered. He cleared his throat. "From this point on, you are to exercise discretion when discussing the medical information of a patient to ensure patient confidentiality. There isn't a lot of privacy in the wards, so outside of time-critical information necessary to a patient's health and life, I want medical conditions and issues relayed to the physicians on-staff by electronic notification, not verbal remark."

The EMH actually looked annoyed at that. "You're aware that my testing protocols are only temporary, yes?"

"I am. But your creator isn't here to shut them down right." Leo smiled softly. "And because of how sophisticated your program is, we don't want to risk problems trying to do any modifications ourselves, including removing those protocols. This is the best fix we have."

The way Leo had put it mollified the EMH. "I see your point. Very well. Command input logged and implemented."

"Go ahead and make the rounds in Critical Care," Leo continued. "I'm going to talk to…"

There was a tone from Leo's omnitool. "T'Perro to Gillam."

Leo tapped the blinking blue light to accept the transmission. "Gillam here."

"Can you meet me in pharmaceutical storage? We may have a major problem."




Leo and Lucy found T'Perro with Doctor Amelia Lang, a middle-aged woman with graying chestnut hair and dusky brown skin from the Regulan Free States in the Free Worlds League, and Doctor Niria Gaterius, an older Turian physician. They were standing in the middle of the storage room for the hospital's many medications.

Immediately Leo could tell there was a problem. One area was very low, dangerously so, on stock. "What's wrong?" he asked. "What's missing?"

"Not so much missing as used up," Lang noted. Her English was touched by an accent that made her sound as if she were from British India. Her Anglo-Indian descent was easily noticed after a few moments of observation, with a hint of African ancestry in her cheekbones. "We are nearly out of dextro-compatible medications."

Which explained the sour look on Galerius' face. Leo swallowed and shook his head. Without those medications, treating Turian patients would be impossible. "We'll need to replicate more of what we can," he said.

"The replicator can't manufacture everything," Galerius pointed out. "It seems that the Humans from F1S1 messed up our evac from Bravo. They were supposed to clear out the pharmacy and reserve storage of all remaining medications. They did not do so."

"The 2nd Legionnaires did all they could," Lang protested, sensing the rebuke in the Turian's words.

"Which is why our medical supplies got left…"

"We can't afford to fuss like this," Leo insisted. He looked to Galerius. "Doctor, can we ask the 8th Regiment for their stores?"

"They're running low already," Galerius insisted. "Hospital Delta never carried more than a few emergency dextro-compatible supplies. And Able is already under shelling. We need what's left at Bravo."

"Which the Nazis took last night?" asked Lucy.

"Unfortunately, yes," Lang said. "So getting to those supplies will be impossible."

Lucy was already letting some ideas run through her head. "Maybe not entirely impossible. I can rig up a short-term stealth or cloaking device to a shuttle and fly it in. Give me enough backup and I can get in and out before the Nazis know what hit them."

"That sounds far too dangerous," Leo protested.

"It is dangerous." Lucy nodded in agreement. "But if we don't, some Turians are going to die, right?"

"We'll run out of some of our most important treatments before the day is over," Galerius revealed. "Every Turian in the Intensive Ward will be dead by tomorrow if we don't get re-supplied."

"Then we don't have much choice," Lucy pointed out. "Let me speak to the general in charge."

"The human general from the League, Chaganam, could help," Galerius said. "General Lukasian might even be able to get you a Platoon in support. I can connect you to him."

Lucy nodded. "Make the call."

"Good luck, Lucy," Leo said to her. "Make sure you come back." He turned his head to the others. "I'll head over to the pharmaceutical replicators and make whatever dextro-compatible medications I can to tide us over."

"I'll inform Crusher and Gureep," said Lang, just before she walked out.




Andre Faqin was welcomed with no questioning when he stepped into the main entrance of the Field Hospital. He wasn't the only one, as the more hopeful, or those genuinely supportive of the medical efforts, were also heading back to work as janitors, orderlies, food staff, and other support jobs for the off-world medical personnel. Faqin shook his head and allowed himself a partial thought at these fools, who had earned themselves an execution as soon as the SS retook New Rennes.

It wasn't that he was particularly loyal to the Reich. Nobody could accuse Faqin of being loyal to anyone but himself. But he knew full well how powerful the Reich, especially the SS, were, and even now he found the idea that they would lose the war laughable. It simply wasn't possible. As far as he was concerned, the Reich was intentionally letting the enemy win to uncover secret dissidents in the far colonies so that they could destroy them all when the inevitable counterattack swept through. And isn't that what was happening even now?

The New Breton man accepted his work ID at the main security station from one of those grotesque aliens, a purple-complexioned female with blue face markings and little tentacles in a crest instead of actual hair. You should have stayed in your home universe, he thought. Fassbinder's troops would kill her without a moment's hesitation.

But now was not the time for that thinking. He had to get to work, sweeping and mopping, and confirm who was still here for his employer.

Fools. Poor fools, he thought. You should have all stayed out of this universe.

As Faqin stepped around a corner he nearly ran into a young woman in an Alliance uniform, her light brown complexion enough to tell him she would be another of Fassbinder's victims soon enough. He frowned and started to speak when she turned to face him and he stopped. He forced thoughts from his head at seeing the bewildered look on her, the intensity in her blue eyes, and for a moment he felt like she was in his head.

"You'll be needed in the machine shop," she said to him, more than a little irritation in her voice. "And you might want to watch where you're going for now on."

Faqin nodded and said nothing. His mind raced with recognition, though. This was one of them, one of the images Fassbinder had shown him. A member of the Aurora crew. He would have to get a message out, definitely.

But first, he had to continue his round of the hospital. Fassbinder would not be happy if he didn't provide an accurate accounting of them all.




Lucy remained deep in thought on what she was planning while she walked on from her run-in with the local sweeper. She'd cobbled together a rough emissions cloaker from some of the communications hardware, but it wouldn't have the cloaking capability she had hoped for. There weren't parts for that. So we won't be invisible, just hard to detect on sensors. Well, we can work with that.

Her omnitool activated. A Turian man in field uniform armor appeared on the screen generated by the device. "Lieutenant Lucero?" he inquired.

"Yes," she answered.

"Doctor Galerius informed me of your problem. I can get you a team that can slip behind enemy lines and hit the Bravo hospital. But your window of opportunity is very short and you need to meet them immediately."

"Have them land on the hospital roof." Lucy started moving that way. "And I'll need a few minutes to get the dampening generator hooked into the shuttle's system."

"You'll have them."

While working her way up the stairs leading to the VTOL landing pad roof - currently unoccupied - Lucy felt her heart begin to beat faster. At first she thought it was simple anticipation of the mission, and the dangerous insertion behind enemy lines. But as she thought about it, or rather as she came into tune with that energy that resonated within her, Lucy realized it was something more. Something was going on.

Something about that local man. The way he'd moved. The flicker of recognition that had gone through his features and the sense that he was wary in a way that didn't fit with a normal situation.

Lucy tapped her omnitool's comm key and said, "Lucero to Gillam."

After a few moments Leo responded. "Gillam here."

"There's something wrong, Leo," she said. "I can feel it."

"Can you be more specific?"

"There's a man working as a janitor. Brown hair, light complexion, stocky but not overweight. I ran into him earlier and it felt like he was up to something. I mean, as if there's something going on with him."

"I see. I'll alert building security and ask them about this."

"Just be careful until I get back."

"The same to you, Lucy. Gillam out."

By this point Lucy was hearing the high-pitched roar of a mass effect propulsion engine. She looked up in time to see a small assault shuttle fly in and come to a stop on the landing pad. It didn't look like she thought it should, lacking the sharp angles and look of Turian ships.

The explanation came when it opened, and a female figure with purple skin and reddish facial markings stepped down. The Asari was carrying a mass effect rifle affixed to her back and a pistol on her hip. Brilliant blue-gray eyes focused on her. "Fallina," she said. "I'm Fallina Leysi, of the Armali Watch. General Lukasian already briefed us."

"I'll need a few minutes to get this dampener fixed to your systems," Lucy said, holding up the device. "And then we'll be ready to go."

"Right." Leysi showed her in. The cargo area had another six Asari, all armed and looking ready for a fight. "Ever fight with Asari commandos?" she asked.

"No."

"Well, just remember, if we run into trouble, stay back and let us deal with it." Fallina smirked. "These crazy humans never know what hits them when they run into biotics."

Lucy smirked at that. "They never see me coming either. I'm trained in the Gersallian art of swevyra." She got on her knees in the rear, at the engine access panel showing on her omnitool display. "Between your biotics and my power, I would almost feel sorry for the SS assholes we run into. But first things first. I need to get this installed."

"We'll lift off as soon as you're ready."




Faqin's first round was in the Standard Care Ward. The majority of the patients were wounded soldiers who were too busy resting or exchanging stories to notice him. He ran his sweeper up one aisle and down the next while trying to maintain the alertness he needed.

He was disappointed by the first white coat he saw. The woman was clearly not one of those he was on the lookout for. She looked over Faqin with momentary curiosity before getting to work on her patients. He paid her no further heed and continued on.




With the other physicians busy or resting, Doctor Crusher was the only one Leo could get in touch with before he got to the small security office for the Hospital. "Are you certain about this?" Crusher asked over the comm from her current position in triage. "Lieutenant Lucero is under pressure like the rest of us. She could have a case of anxiety that is causing paranoia."

"Not Lucy," he answered. "If she says there's a problem, she means it. I'm about to check with the security staff about this guy to see who he is. If it's nothing, it's nothing, but if this guy is up to no good we need to be ready."

There was only a moment of silence on the line before Crusher responded. "Let me know how it goes. I'll be expecting you in Triage. Crusher out."

Leo lowered his forearm and continued on his way.

The Field Hospital's security staff had been provided by the military. It was mostly made up of mercenaries, in truth, private contractors hired from a myriad number of sources who by their presence freed up military personnel for other duties. It was easy duty for them given the patients were either walking skeletons or wounded soldiers, with little chance of a merc getting caught up with an unwanted situation of having to restrain someone.

Even the chief of security was one such mercenary. Roger Taylor was a former FedStars Marine, of African-American background like Leo. He kept his head bald. "Can you describe this fellow?" he asked Leo after an initial explanation.

"Brown hair, Caucasian, supposedly stocky."

"Hrm." Taylor brought up his forearm and tapped a key on a multidevice. Leo found it interesting that he hadn't updated to omnitools yet. "Looking at the records, we've got a couple of locals that fit that description. Do you know what he does?"

"Janitor duties, I think."

"Hrm." Taylor went over the list. "Looks like I've got a match. Andre Faqin is the name given." Taylor looked to Leo. "Is there a problem with the man?"

"Lieutenant Lucero reported he was acting suspiciously earlier."

"Suspicious in what way?"

"She didn't explain. But I trust her judgement."

Taylor considered that. "He's a local," the man finally said. "No telling how many locals might have been in bed with the damned Nazis. Probably how some of these poor bastards survived for centuries." Taylor tapped a key on his multidevice and began typing on the resulting hard-light keyboard it projected in front of him, allowing him to use both hands to type with a speed Leo associated with professional secretaries. "I'm putting out an alert to my people to keep a discreet eye on the man. I can't afford the manpower to shadow him completely, you understand. Not without stronger evidence."

"I understand," Leo said. "And I appreciate…"

His omnitool lit up around his left forearm. The voice that spoke was Crusher. "Doctor Gillam, you're needed in the ICW right away."

Leo could waste no time. He knew precisely what that meant. "Sorry," he said to Taylor, an apology for having to cut their meeting short.

"No need, Doctor," the older man said as Leo rushed from the door.




Leo arrived in the Intensive Care Ward and met with Doctor Crusher and Nasri, who were already at the adolescent/early-teen Jane Doe. He walked up and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Steady drop in blood pressure began two minutes ago," Crusher answered. "Scans show her heart is failing. Brain activity is unchanged."

Leo nodded and moved to the other side of the bed. "Our earlier scans showed organ damage at the cellular level." He checked the latest scan results. "We may not have a choice," he said to Crusher. "We might have to replace her heart."

"I agree." Crusher was frowning. "But with all of her other organ problems, her heart may not be the only one she needs replacing. And our raw biomatter stock for the replicators is already running low. This may be a triage situation."

Leo shook his head. "That's not for certain. And I'm not leaving a child to die because she might be unsaveable." He looked over at Nasri. "Get an OR prepped. Tell Dr. Ocasio what to expect."

"Right away, Doctor."

Leo looked to Crusher next. He was trying not to be aggressive, but the challenge he was laying at her doorstep was clear. He was making a call to save the Jane Doe even if it meant defying triage procedure. And it would be up to Crusher to object and seek to overrule him.

Crusher nodded to him. Her hand revealed a hypospray, which she used on the patient. "I'm giving her a stabilizer, it may help."

"Thank you."

There was nothing more to say. The two physicians went back to work trying to save their patient.




Faqin was starting to lose patience. And what's more, he was starting to become paranoid. He couldn't help but feel like everyone was starting to watch him.

This meant he had to be even more careful. Not so much because he believed he had been compromised, but because fear and paranoia could cause him to make sloppy mistakes.

Still, it was better to make sure of things. He needed to confirm if any of the other Aurora personnel were here. The most likely candidate for that was the doctor he had seen before. He thought he remembered the name. Now he just had to have a way to ask about it.

He took his chance at seeing an orderly, another Human. "Have you seen Doctor Gillam?" he asked. His English was atrocious and he was relying on French, suitably translated by whatever means others had. "He had asked me to do extra mopping in the Child Ward, and I need to see if it was covered."

"I'm not sure where he is, but you should probably see to that mopping," the woman answered. "Some of the little tykes are still sick, you see. Poor things can have trouble keeping down food, even half-starving as they are."

"Poor things, yes." Excited, Faqin stepped away. He kept sweeping until he had an opening to slip into a closet. He pulled out his communicator from his belt and opened the line. "There are at least two still here, Standartenführer," he informed Fassbinder.

"Good. Be prepared. I will not take long."

With that the call ended. Faqin's job had been done. It was time to leave. He opened the door to the closet to walk out.

He never saw the blow that sent him into quiet blackness.




The OR was ready when Leo and Crusher arrived with their stricken patient. Doctor Ocasio met them at the door in OR scrubs. The Hispanic gentleman, with dark bronze complexion and silvery hair still flecked with black strands, helped them move the patient to a surgical bed. "The replicator is building the new heart now," he informed the other two doctors. He said nothing about the issue of triage, much to Leo's gratitude.

"Blood pressure is still falling."

"Get changed."

Leo and Crusher left the entryway and went to the nearby station to switch into operating suits. Ocasio pulled the bed with their patient into the actual operating theater. The protective energy field that helped keep the inside sterile yielded to him and the stretcher in question.

"We don't have a lot of time for this," Crusher said while pulling on the surgical bodysuit. Its pale blue color matched the general coloring of the OR theater and area. "She's a borderline case."

"I know." Leo pulled on his own. "I can manage this with Ocasio and Nasri, if you're worried about the rest of the facility."

"If this is going to be done, I'm going to be there," Crusher insisted. "I want that girl to live as much as you do. But I also want to know that you can make the call if you have to."

Leo met her eyes and said nothing for several seconds, time he spent finishing the securing of his bodysuit. Once it was done, and he was covered head-to-toe in the pale blue material, he finally nodded. "I understand that. And if I have to, I'll make the call."

Crusher nodded, showing her satisfaction. "Let's go, then. We have a lot to do in order to stabilize her."




The Asari combat shuttle penetrated enemy lines in the company of Turian fighters and a supporting wing of Dorei aerospace fighters. The sector was one at the line where the Turian defenses met those of the Free Worlds League's troops, giving Lucy a view of the ten-to-thirty-meter tall BattleMechs stomping along the front, exchanging fire with SS armored vehicles. Tanks from the League rumbled along their taller cousins to provide further fire support.

"We're landing in two minutes," Fallina informed her commandos. The battlesuit-clad Asari all commenced a final check on their firearms. One, a particularly tall Asari, was carrying what Lucy figured to be a full fire assault rifle, and was loaded down with tactical webbing full of specialized containers to carry medical vials securely. Another had a sniper rifle, and the others had smaller weapons, presumably submachine guns and pistols. Fallina had a gun fixed to the small of her back, where Commander Shepard had often carried her shotgun.

Lucy patted at her right hip, where her lakesh was clipped to her field action uniform belt beside the holster carrying her pulse pistol. She drew in a breath and focused. The tension cleared from her mind slowly and allowed her senses to focus, through her power, at the site they were coming in toward.

Even before the side of the shuttle opened up to allow them to jump out, Lucy knew what they were going to find. Bravo had been two-thirds the size of Charlie, but the Field Hospital had still been a sizable prefab structure with multiple entrances. The shuttle had landed them in one of the emergency entrances, for troops being brought in for treatment. "T'Sana, T'Lira, on point," Fallina ordered as the commando team exited the shuttle. Lucy stepped out beside Fallina. "Karina, find your spot."

"Take me up," the Asari with the sniper rifle ordered the pilot. The shuttle pulled away, leaving the rest of the team at the entrance.

The two lead Asari, one holding up a pistol and the other already generating a biotic field around herself, entered the door first. The rest of the team followed. Lucy looked around. There wasn't much in the way of damage to the site. But the emptiness was unsettling. It made her think of zombie movies or other post-apocalyptic films, where the structures of everyday life were made sinister by the lack of life within them.

"No sign of life in the building," the Asari named T'Sana said. She had her omnitool up and active. "It looks abandoned."

"Let's hope they haven't broken into the medicine vault." Lucy nodded to Fallina. "Lead the way."

Fallina made a hand movement and they began to walk through the corridors of the building. They were nearing one of the ward entrances when the stench hit them for the first time. Lucy almost gagged and wished she'd never learned just what it was she was smelling. "Someone must have been left behind," she said to Fallina.

"And the enemy executed them." A hard look crossed the Asari commando leader's face. "Savages."

The stench felt like it was getting more powerful as they drew nearer to their final destination. The door to the secure pharmacy vault was not very different from the other doors. And it certainly wasn't built to resist things like a bank vault's door was. Lucy figured the biotics could blow the door off easily. She probably could force it open with her own abilities.

But at the same time, anything violent might cause damage on the other side of the door. So instead of that choice, Lucy stepped up to it and brought her omnitool online. "This won't take long," she assured the Asari. "I just need a few minutes…"

 

[Big Steve]

The operating room was not a place for idle talk. Even though modern medical science had eliminated the need for cutting into a body and all of the delicate work that required, manipulating the inside of any body - whatever the species - was delicate work and would always be so. One wrong move, just one, could cause severe or fatal damage to the patient.

Leo was grateful to feel the cool sponge pressed to his brow to clear off the sweat. His hand remained in precise place, holding the director wand over the chest of the comatose young girl while his other hand utilized the controls that directed the system in what he was doing. They had made four incisions in the chest to accommodate the need for an external pump to circulate blood while this critical part of the operation occurred. With the wand and the attached system Leo was finishing the last cut, removing the sickly, dying heart completely from the girl's overtaxed body.

"Inferior vena cava is now cut," he announced. "Moving on to the superior."

Ocasio was standing nearby, checking the measurements of what Leo was doing against the fresh human heart inside of the replication chamber. With their patient's blood type and cells the heart had been crafted specifically for her body, easing the transplant process and reducing the risk of any sort of rejection. Crusher was across from him monitoring vitals. "Pulse rate is remaining steady," she said.

"Beginning final severance." Using the holo-display projected by the wand, Leo ran the instrument along the superior vena cava. Micro-transporters removed cells and organic matter, effectively cutting the massive blood vessel. Leo kept his movement slow and deliberate, cutting away only as much as he needed to. "Superior vena cava is cut away," he said.

"Activating organ transporter." Crusher pressed a key on a control panel beside her, then several more in sequence. The Jane Doe's heart appeared in a flash of white light in a nearby receptacle. "Preparing to transport replacement. All vitals are still holding steady."

"Transplant is ready," Ocasio said. "All measurements match."

Leo allowed his arm to relax for the moment. Now was the hard part; putting the heart back in and getting it started. He looked to Nasri who ran the sponge on his forehead again, clearing away the sweat again.

"Transporting."

Crusher's gloved finger hit the appropriate key. The systems lined up the new heart and beamed it in, every vessel lining up as was necessary. Leo brought the wand back up and began using the regenerator function. It was the dermal regenerator writ large, carefully calibrated so that the regenerator field was precisely small. The cells of the superior vena cava began to link up to the cells of the heart transplant, reforming the vital vein.

Slowly, precisely, the work continued.




In the abandoned husk of Field Hospital Bravo, Lucy's omnitool whirled around her left hand, hovering over the access control for the pharmaceutical storage vault. One last character, in Latin alphanumerics, was displaying on her omnitool screen. "Here we go…"

A "Y" appeared and the omnitool blinked green on its display. The door slid open.

"Excellent work," said Fallina.

With two exceptions, the Asari commandos followed Lucy into the room. The pharmaceuticals had been only partially removed. Lucy pondered that fact as she examined shelves full of hypospray-compatible vials and pill bottles. "It looks like at least half of the stocks weren't pulled out," she said. "That's a little odd. I know it was an emergency evacuation, but Bravo had time to pull out all of the patients. Why so little of the pharmaceuticals?"

"Miscommunication," proposed one of the other Asari. "Evacuations can be chaotic."

"Yeah." Lucy thought of evacuations and remembered the Facility and the evacuation caused by the Daleks. Everyone had gotten out, but she was sure they'd left behind more than a few things. "But something feels off about this…"

"I think I know why the dextro-meds weren't taken in the evac," Fallina said. Everyone looked to her and to shelving marked with both Latin and Turian alphabetic characters.

The shelves were empty.

"What the hell?" Lucy walked up and scanned the area with her omnitool. "This doesn't make sense. Where did they go?"

"Nowhere, according to the Hospital inventory." The computer expert of Fallina's team was operating one of the computer terminals. Lucy thought she remembered the name Niara for the Asari. "They're supposed to be there."

"Then where…" Lucy continued scanning and looking. "Maybe they got misplaced."

"All of them?" Fallina's skepticism was evident in her voice.

"I know, it doesn't seem likely." Lucy smirked. "But you would be surprised what people can misplace when they're not thinking." A thought crossed Lucy's mind. "Niara, isn't it?"

"Niata," corrected the computer expert commando. "Yes?"

"Niata, do you have the inventory codes for the dextro-meds?"

After a moment of checking Niata answered, "I do."

"Transmit them to our omnitools," Lucy said. "Then we'll just scan through the room until we find a hit."

A small grin came to the Asari's face. "I wish I'd thought of that first." The tones of Niata working away on the hardlight keyboard sounded for a few moments. "There we go, I just transmitted the data."

Lucy activated the scanner function on her omnitool and started waving her forearm around. Fallina and the others were copying the same. "Wait," said Fallina. "I think I have something."

Lucy looked to the Asari and followed her scan returns to some of the shelving further in. They converged on it with the others. Lucy read the characters along the shelving side and frowned. "This shelf is for the Dorei-specific medications," she said.

Fallina picked up a vial and scanned it. "This is an antibiotic, dextro-compatible," she said.

"They're all dextro," another of the Asari said, running her omnitool over the entire shelf.

"But look at the labeling," Lucy said. She held one up and read the Latin characters. "This is Turian medication, but it's listed as Dorei."

"That's not right." Fallina was frowning. "The Dorei aren't dextro-compatible, right?"

"No," Lucy said. "They're levo-compatible, just like us."

"Then if this medication had been given to them…"

"...it would either be entirely non-effective, or fatal," another of the Asari said.

Lucy swallowed. No wonder she had felt something was wrong. "This isn't just an accidental mis-shelving," she said. "This is sabotage. Someone was trying to sabotage us from the inside. I mean, think about it. Dorei dying because someone replaced their meds with Turian meds? The Turians would be accusing our people of incompetence, and we'd probably claim the same on their end."

"Reich agents must have gotten in here."

"Maybe." Something about that didn't seem right either. Would the Reich have cared about something so small? Then again, a small-time operative might have just been looking for minor sabotage. "Anyway, we need to get going."

"Selmissima." Fallina looked to the tall Asari with the assault rifle and medical containers. "Let's get these things packed up."

"We'll let the pharmacists back at Charlie sort through them and figure out which medication is which," Lucy said. She sniffed. "Is it just me, or is that smell worse in here?"

Now that they'd found their objective, the stench of dead flesh was something they were noticing more easily. Fallina nodded and agreed. "You can join Niata in looking for the source, if you want." She was already accepting one container from Selmissima. "We'll get the Turian meds secured, and any other meds from the doctors' list we can find."

Lucy nodded and walked back to the computer desk, where Niata was already standing up. The two started exploring further into the vault, toward the rear shelves. "Cold storage is back this way," Niata noted.

"Anything we need from there?"

"There might be a couple meds, but the critical items on our list wasn't listed for cold storage," Niata noted.

"Still…" Lucy felt a tremor within her being, like if she was a living metal detector and cold storage was a piece of metal she was coming into contact with. She followed that sense until they arrived at the heavy metal door. "Is it just me," Lucy began, "or is the smell coming from inside?"

"That wouldn't make sense," Niata said. "The cold storage vault is supposed to be…"

"...sealed." Lucy pointed to the area near the door handle, where there was a clear gap in the frame. "But it's not."

"That… that looks like damage." Niata showed bewilderment. "But that's not from a weapon. It's like something strong gripped so hard that it warped the seal."

That worried Lucy. "I don't see how anyone could have done that. Not with this material."

"Maybe a Krogan," Niata said. "Maybe."

More curious than ever, Lucy grabbed the lever lock and pulled it. Niata opened the door.

The stench was almost physical in its intensity. That horrible smell of rotting flesh and waste from a dead body, something Lucy was all too familiar with when raiding nasty places in multiple worlds back in the Facility days, directed them into the cold storage room. The air still had a hint of cold to it, but it was obvious that the cold had been turned off.

"Someone must have shut down the locker during the evacuation," Niata said.

"Or the generator was taken. The vault door's battery backup must have maintained the security system and internal computers, but wasn't enough for the cold storage air conditioning." Lucy activated her omnitool's scanner. Immediately she got a result. "No point in picking up these meds, the lack of cold will have spoiled them. But there's something this way…"

They walked through the dry room, past the shelves of ruined medication, and thus toward the back of the cold storage vault. The smell grew in intensity and rankness as they walked. Lucy wished she had a breather unit, anything to get away from this horrid stench.

The body was in the last row. There was no telling who it, or rather she, had been, just the remains of what looked like a standard medical jumpsuit. Someone had smashed the dead woman's face in with such raw fury that there were no facial features, no jaw or dental remains, that could identify her. There was no hair left either. "Somebody didn't want this woman identified," Niata said.

"At least not quickly." Lucy knelt down beside her. "We need an empty vial. Something to collect biological samples from for DNA analysis." She activated her omnitool's scanning function again and looked to see if it could read the DNA. But her engineering-specialist omnitool had no such function, nor any way to help secure samples.

Niata leaned over with what looked like silk in her hand. She dabbed the cloth in the dried blood of the woman's ruined face. But it wouldn't take. Not to be deterred, Niata took her combat knife from her waist and began scraping at the blood. The scrapings she put in the silk cloth before tying it into a bag. Seeing Lucy's look, Niata smiled. "I had a lover who's in C-Sec. He told me a few stories about evidence collection on the sly."

Lucy, meanwhile, had her own idea. She took a tool from her belt, a powered bolt wrench, and scraped the edge along the visible flesh of the dead woman's arm. Dead skin cells, pale bronze in coloration, flaked off under the strength of the scraping. Lucy made sure to collect an ample amount of dead skin before she stood up. Too bad I don't have an evidence bag or something, she thought to herself.

Just as the two emerged from the cold storage part of the vault, Fallina's omnitool activated. "What is it?" she asked. "Given your faces, whatever you found wasn't good news."

"Nothing from cold storage. The climate control was off." Lucy frowned. "And we found a dead woman in there who had her face turned to hamburger."

Fallina frowned and shook her head. "It may be linked to our medical saboteur."

"That's it," said Selmissima. She stood up with the last container and thrust it into Niata's hands. "We have everything we can carry."

"It's time for extraction." Fallina gestured to the door while triggering her omnitool. "Karina, Casari, we're ready to get out."

"We're clear of enemy forces here, ma'am, but I suggest you hurry."

"Why?" Fallina asked.

"Because we just got word from General Lukasian. The enemy's just launched a new attack." The sniper's voice remained matter-of-fact. "It looks like they're trying to pound their way through to New Rennes. And Hospital Charlie is right on their line of advance."

"We're on our way." Fallina gestured forward. "Come on, huntresses, double time! You too, Lieutenant Lucero, and I hope you can keep up."

Lucy, despite the situation, grinned at that. "Funny," she said, "I was about to suggest the same to you."

And she began running with them, keeping pace with almost contemptuous ease.




Leo had made it through to the last attachment, the aorta itself, when the machines began beeping.

"Her vitals just dropped. Respiration rate and O2 levels are lowering."

"I've almost got it." Leo continued running the wand along, directing the tissue regenerator to bind the new heart to the Jane Doe's aorta. "Just another minute."

"She may not have a minute."

Leo nodded at Crusher. Sweat dripped dangerously close to his eye. "Sponge," he said, and Nasri immediately tended to him.

"I'm setting the oxygenation rate of her blood higher." Crusher was back at work. "But it looks like her lungs may be failing."

"Do we have any dizaproregene ready?"

Crusher gave him a harsh look. "With how weak her body is, dizaproregene is enormously dangerous."

"A measure of last resort," Leo said, even as he focused on reconnecting the aorta.

There was no reply from Crusher about that. Leo wasn't surprised. He knew that if he was turning to dizap, the girl was already likely to die. But doing anything less seemed criminal.

"Honestly, if you get to that point, we're facing the triage question."

Leo refused to look her way. He wanted to. He wanted to look into Crusher's eyes and see if there was pain there, or resolve, or guilt. "You think we'd be wasting it?"

"In our resource situation? Yes, Doctor, if you use dizaproregene on this patient, it will be a waste. Her survival chances are already going too low to justify it."

"She'll stabilize as soon as we get this heart pumping." Leo remained focused on that task. Almost there…

A very low tone came from their omnitools. Ocasio was the only one who could safely check his. "There's an emergency alert," he said. "Doctor Galerius needs us in Triage within the next ten minutes."

"We'll be done by then," Leo said. "One way or another."

"What's the alert?" Crusher asked.

Leo couldn't afford to turn and look at Ocasio. He couldn't see the grim look on the Hispanic doctor's face. "The enemy has thrown more troops into the battle," Ocasio said. "They may be advancing on the hospital."

The gulp nearly finished forming in Leo's throat. But he wouldn't let it. One crisis at a time. That's all he could deal with.




Fallina was the last to jump into the shuttle on the hospital roof. In the distance Lucy could see small forms moving toward the hospital. Forms too large, at this distance, to be ordinary soldiers. "Looks like we just missed a fight with Panzergrenadiers."

"They make a mess inside of those suits if you hit them with the right biotic combination," one of the Asari - T'Sani? - said.

Lucy was already feeling sick from smelling the dead bodies in the hospital. That mental image was something she wasn't eager to contemplate, not even for Nazis. She glared at the Asari in question.

Fallina was already on comms, reporting their success and issuing a security alert. "We need to find everyone who handled logistics in the Bravo Hospital," she was saying to the images of General Lukasian and General Chaganam on the wall of the shuttle's passenger compartment. The Turian general had joined Chaganam, in the field uniform of a Free Worlds League officer, at the main HQ for the Coalition forces on New Brittany. "Someone labeled the dextro meds with labels as Dorei-specific medications."

Both commanders gave her an uncomfortable look. "I am no physician, but wouldn't that be poisonous to the Dorei troops?" Chaganam asked.

"It would," Lukasian confirmed. The Turian's concern was clear. "Either poisonous or completely ineffective. Either way, dozens of Dorei soldiers might have died if Bravo hadn't been evacuated."

"Someone might be attempting to interfere with our alliance." Lucy stepped up beside Fallina. "Someone trying to turn us against each other."

"The Nazis having agents in the planetary population is the most likely cause."

Chaganam had made a good point. But something about this felt familiar to Lucy. Something was nagging at her about this.

"That's a priority for later." Lukasian raised a three-fingered hand and gestured as if to move away the issue. "Right now you're needed back at Hospital Charlie. A fresh enemy division is moving into the area."

"The 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Legionnaires is in position to counter-attack them on that front. But we may not be able to keep them out of the hospital grounds. And there's not nearly enough time for an evacuation."

Lucy didn't need Chaganam to say more. The SS, if they got into the Hospital, would start killing patients and medical staff left and right. There would be no mercy. Leo, Nasri, Hargert, they're all in the line of fire.

"We'll do what we can to protect the patients, General," Fallina pledged.

"Spirits go with you. HQ out." Lukasian cut the line.

"You all heard that," said Fallina. "As soon as we get back to that hospital, we'll find a defensive position and coordinate with hospital security."

Lucy found herself nodding with the others. Now she really regretted not wearing her body armor.




Leo felt a surge of misplaced relief when the last strands of regenerated tissue finished linking the Jane Doe's aorta to her new heart. "Okay. Let's begin cardio stimulation and get this heart going."

"Her O2 levels are still in decline."

Leo nodded to accept that while Doctor Ocasio manned the cardial stimulation device. Using remote, wireless receivers placed into the transplanted heart, the machine began to jolt the muscles in the replicated organ to bring it into operation.

Of course, this was the trickiest moment of the operation. There was no one hundred percent guarantee the new heart would function. Anything from a flaw at the cellular level to too much energy through the stimulator could keep the heart from starting to beat. And if that happened, the patient would die, pure and simple.

"Beginning stimulation," Ocasio said. "Cutting power flow… no response."

"Again."

"Respiratory rate is in decline." Crusher shook her head. "It looks like cellular damage to the lung has shut down several bronchi clusters."

Leo couldn't hide his frustration at that. Whatever had been done to this girl, the cellular damage was clearly the worst in terms of her ability to live. How did they manage this? Was this a new Nazi weapon?

"Still no response to cardial stimulation."

"Again," Leo said simply. They had a few more tries left, certainly. But once he was past the sixth… no, no, that wouldn't happen. This wouldn't be for nothing.

"EEG readings are declining."

"Push the oxylin."

"20ccs." Crusher did so.

"Third pulse. Still no autonomous heartbeat."

"Again."

"Even if her new heart starts beating, her lungs may not last," Crusher warned.

"5ccs of dizaproregene will deal with that."

There was disapproval in Crusher's eyes. "That's too much. Her system won't handle it."

"Anything less and she won't regain enough lung function."

"Then call it," Crusher said.

"Fourth pulse. Still no response."

Ocasio's report was met with an immediate "Again". Leo didn't take his eyes off Crusher's. There was challenge in them. She could overrule him. She could assert her seniority as a physician, as a medical officer, and order Ocasio to give up. Ocasio could make the same call, although as a civilian volunteer physician with little surgical experience, his authority over them was more uncertain.

But she didn't.

There was silence as they waited to hear from Ocasio on whether this worked. If it didn't, Crusher would be right. A sixth attempt might work, but at this point, if the heart wouldn't start… Leo knew it would be the end. And Galerius, Lang, and the others needed them out in Triage. Especially with combat casualties coming in.

If there was no response, Leo would have to give up. He would have to let another child die.

And it was clear that Crusher could see how much pain that thought was causing him.

"Fifth pulse." Ocasio's voice made clear the result.

Leo let out a breath. His heart began to ache.

"Wait." Now Ocasio's voice picked up. "I am getting a response. The heart is beating. 70 beats per second."

This time Leo's exhalation was one of relief. Relief that was not entirely earned.

"The O2 count still isn't stabilizing," Crusher said. "The damage to the lungs is too extensive."

"Do you have the 5ccs of dizaproregene?" Leo's question hung in the air for a moment, even as the machines toned away in relation to the dying girl on the bed. "It may be our last chance."

Crusher looked at him intently. "You could kill her."

"She's dying already."

Crusher clearly went to say something but stopped herself. Her mouth moved as she played out the conversation to come. Leo could see she was not convinced this was the best way to deal with the situation. Every minute they were fighting to save a girl who might never wake up was a minute they weren't saving the lives of soldiers and civilians coming into their hospital. Leo knew that if she made the decision to withhold the medication, it was medically justified. It was perhaps one even he would make one day.

Crusher, in the end, did not assert seniority. She simply reached over to a medical tray, pulled the appropriate vial out, and after a moment placed the hypospray over the girl's neck on the jugular vein. A very slight, virtually inaudible hiss sounded and the vial emptied its contents right into the Jane Doe's body.

For several seconds there was no response. The only sound in the OR was the machine reading the patient's heart beat and neural activity. Leo felt almost numb with tension. Possibilities raced through his head. Had he done everything right? Had he made the right calls? Had he wasted time and resources on someone who simply couldn't be saved? Was he, even now, causing deaths by not giving this up?

Dear God, please, he pleaded in his mind and in his heart. Please, I've done everything I can. He put his hand on the girl's shoulder, as if to wake her. Please.

"Doctor Gillam." The sound of Crusher's voice led him to look her way. Her eyes had a gentle look to them now, and the same was true with her voice. "There's nothing more we can do. It's out of our hands now. We should go."

"Doctor Crusher is right." Ocasio spoke up next. "I will stay and monitor her condition, but you are needed in Triage."

Leo closed his eyes. He needed to. They felt so heavy. His heart felt like a heavy lump in his chest. All he could think about was if he did something wrong, if he missed something, if he had failed to save this girl…

"Right," he breathed. "I'm sorry."

"I know. We're all tired."

Leo drew in a breath and nodded to Crusher and to Ocasio. "Let's go."




The assault shuttle was flying in low and fast, a dark shape with low-slung engine nacelles against the debris of the countryside outside New Rennes. From his place of prominence in the cockpit behind the co-pilot, Fassbinder observed with appreciation the burning remains of enemy war machines and soldiers. One of the F1S1 "BattleMechs" was a broken mess zooming by on his right, undoubtedly victim to SS Panzers.

They were arranged ahead, those same machines. Tracked with anti-grav backup mobility, large disruptor cannons mounted on turrets much like the old chem-propelled tank guns of Hitler's panzers, the same panzers that had conquered wide swaths of Eurasia and Africa for the banner of the Hakenkreuz. SS lighting bolts and that same Hakenkreuz were displayed proudly on the turrets of the war machines, as they were on the great armored Panzergrenadier soldiers fighting alongside them.

Ahead of the shuttle, SS aerospace bombers already blasting enemy troops. One of the bombers blew apart after taking a mass effect-propelled anti-air shell from one of the Turian AA emplacements. Said gun blew up seconds later from another bomber's attack.

"Gruppenführer Fischer has a new alert, sir," the co-pilot said. "Orbital visuals confirm that an enemy force is moving to counter-attack. Our troops may not make it to the target."

"Then we will make do." Fassbinder looked back to his men, a squad of four Panzergrenadiers and two squads of light combat-armored Stosstruppen from the Waffen SS. "Remember the briefing. Our primary objective are those individuals. They must not be killed."

"And the untermenschen?" asked a Unterscharführer.

"Consider them a secondary target of opportunity." Fassbinder smirked. The hospital loomed ahead. "If we must, we'll leave some alive in order to secure the targets. If we have the chance… exterminate them."




Leo and Nasri were working together as the combat casualties came in. A Free Worlds League MechWarrior was the next to be brought up. Leo looked over the woman's plentiful cuts and lacerations, creating angry red splotches of blood on dark skin, and immediately ordered Nasri to administer a painkiller while he examined the scan. "Injuries consistent with a partial canopy collision. Blood loss is severe but not critical, no critical damage to organs… but it looks like the toxic coolant in her cooling vest got into her bloodstream. Mark yes and send her to Doctor Lang for priority chelation and synthblood transfusion."

The next patient was a Turian trooper with disruptor burns. Leo was in the middle of marking her to be treated when the first explosion sounded outside.

The Triage Ward entrance was controlled chaos at the best of times. But clear panic was coming as some of the orderlies, heading out with medics to bring in more cases, returned screaming. "We're under attack!" one voice shouted, then another.

Galerius straightened up from where she was treating another Turian. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

"Enemy assault craft, they're landing outside of the hospital!"

As she demanded to know how many, Leo thought back to what Lucy had said. That she'd been worried about something. His finger went for his omnitool's comm key. "Gillam to Security, I need defense teams to Triage Ward, now! They're attacking the hospital!"

"Teams already on their way."

"Evacuate the Triage Ward, now!" Crusher was in motion as well. Orderlies and nurses, including Nasri, began to grab beds and push them toward the door.

Leo ran over to join her. He took the bed of the MechWarrior he'd examined barely a minute before and pushed her to the door, where a Turian medic took her and moved her on. He turned back into the Triage Ward as, from the far hall, armed security troopers appeared at the door and moved on toward the exit leading to the main entrance.

They barely got there when an explosion blasted through the wall and sent them flying. German-accented voices screamed, "Stop! Stop or you will be shot!" Leo watched as a hulking set of powered armor, one of the Panzergrenadiers, stomped into the Triage Ward beside men in combat armor.

A hand grabbed him and pulled him into cover behind an overturned bed. Crusher and Nasri were in cover with him, as was a League soldier with a tourniquet around his wounded leg. From behind cover Leo heard more shouts and weapons fire. He turned his head in time to see a disruptor beam shoot a fleeing Turian medic in the back. He was vaporized instantly.

"Cease fire and you will not be harmed!" a voice cried out.

Leo felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He couldn't keep the shock off his face. "I know that voice," he murmured.

"What?" Crusher looked at him.

"It's him." Leo was still having trouble believing it. "Fassbinder. He's alive."

"Attention," the voice continued. Now it was booming over the hospital PA system. "I am Standartenführer Fassbinder of the Schutzstaffel. I am here to collect several noted enemies of the German Reich. That is my only purpose, and if my mission succeeds, I will leave you without further harm."

Leo felt his throat go dry. He already had a feeling who Fassbinder was after. It would explain the spy, after all.

"I am aware that among you are members of the crew of the Alliance vessel Aurora," Fassbinder continued. "In particular, I seek two officers. Doctor Leonard Gillam and Lieutenant Lucilla Lucero. Upon their surrender I will leave and the SS will spare the remaining staff and patients of this facility. For every minute that I am defied, my troops will execute one of your people."

Leo swallowed. Lucy wasn't here. She was still out with those Asari commandos. Fassbinder would never be satisfied with that. He was about to kill innocent people.

Nasri looked to Leo and frowned. "Don't," she urged.

"I can't let him kill anyone," Leo said. "Maybe he'll be satisfied with me."

"You don't know that." Crusher shook her head. "He might kill you instead."

"No." Leo shook his head. "No, I think he wants us alive. He wants me alive." Leo activated his omnitool and started operating the comm channel. "Without a ship in orbit we're limited by comm range, but I'm hoping Lucy will pick this up."

"Unterscharführer, execute a prisoner."

"Jawohl."

Leo immediately rose above the bed and shouted, "Wait!"

One of the infantryman had been about to shoot a Turian medic in the head. But he didn't. All eyes turned toward Leo.

Leo, in turn, was looking right at Fassbinder. The SS man smirked. "Ah, Doctor Gillam," he said. "It has been a while."

"Not nearly long enough for me," Leo grumbled. "I guess you survived your fall at Gamma Piratus."

"Transporter enhancers are useful, ja?" Fassbinder looked around the room. "Where is Lucero?"

"Not here."

"No?" Fassbinder's smug smirk became more of a smug grin. "My agent saw her earlier today."

"Andre Faqin."

The name drew no response from Fassbinder. "Where is she, Herr Doktor?"

"Like I said, she's not here," Leo said. "She went out into the field."

"Really?" Fassbinder made a show of looking at his timepiece. "You know, your minute is almost up."

"I can prove she's not here," Leo said. "The hospital logs will show her leaving."

"Logs are so easily doctored, though. And I'm afraid I don't have the means at hand to discern real records from fake." Fassbinder looked to his watch. "Five… four… three…"

The far door opened again. Leo looked that way and shook his head. No…

Fassbinder looked to the door. A brief smirk turned into a scowl. "The gelding," he grumbled.

Hargert walked into the Triage Ward still wearing his cooking apron. The old man had a faint, deceptively-welcoming grin on his face as he took another step into the Ward. "The monster," he retorted.

"What are you doing here, old fool?"

"You demanded my presence, did you not?" Hargert stopped walking. "I am a crewmember of the Aurora, the same as the good Doktor."

Fassbinder laughed at that. "You are a pitiful old gelding, a failure to your Race, a mere cook."

Hargert put a hand to his heart. "Oh, such an insult. I am no mere cook."

"No." Leo felt a warmth in his voice that matched the warmth in his heart. A warmth only equaled by his fear. "He's not."

Fassbinder drew a disruptor pistol from his belt holster. "Where is Lucero?" He held the gun up to Hargert.

"She is not here."

"I will shoot you, traitor."

"Then shoot." Hargert shook his head. "Do you think I am afraid of you, monster? No. I meant what I said before, SS man. Nie weider. We will never be afraid of you and your filth again. And we will not stop fighting until the German people of this universe are free of you, just as we have been for centuries."

Hargert said nothing further. Leo looked from him to Fassbinder. He was tense with anger and hate and the look in his eye told Leo he wanted to shoot Hargert right then and there. "Just wait!" Leo shouted. "She'll be back soon!"

Fassbinder didn't react immediately. Slowly, with visible surprise to his subordinates, he lowered the gun and returned it to his holster. Leo breathed a sigh of relief, even as he wondered why the SS man had stopped.

That relief turned to outright confusion a moment later when the smirk reappeared on Fassbinder's face.

The SS man brought up his gloved right hand and held it toward Hargert. His fingers looked like he was trying to grip a wire between his thumb and his index and middle finger. His blue eyes locked onto Hargert with an intensity that seemed bizarre for the moment.

A hacking, choking sound came from the old cook. Leo turned and watched in shock as Hargert's hands went up to his throat. He slouched over, as if about to fall to his knees, sharp wheezes and choking sounds coming from his throat. Finally he went down to his knees.

A low, satisfied chuckle came from Fassbinder's throat. "I will enjoy this," he rasped.




Leo wasn't the only one watching Fassbinder.

Inside the Asari-crewed shuttle, Lucy stared at the screen in shock. "That's… oh God," she gasped.

Fallina was watching with her own sense of profound surprise. "How is he doing that?" she asked Lucy. "That's not biotics."

"He's using life energy like I do," she answered. "But wrong. Twisted and dark." Lucy brought up her forearm and began entering commands into her omnitool as it came to life. "And if he sees us coming we're screwed. I need to distract him."

"With what?" Selmissima asked.

"Something unexpected," Lucy replied.




"Herr Standartenführer?" one of the SS field men asked, showing utter confusion.

"How is he doing that?" Crusher asked from behind the bed.

"Stop!" Leo cried out.

"This is the power you deny," rasped Fassbinder. Sweat was pouring down his forehead and toward his eyes. His face was turning red from sheer effort. "Do you not feel death coming, gelding? Don't you fear it? The pitch dark that you belong in, traitor? You and your kind… you false Germans… I will cast you all into that endless void! You deserve only oblivion!" A trickle of blood started to flow down from Fassbinder's nostrils.

Hargert went down to all fours. His lips were turning blue.

Leo tensed up. He wondered if he could break the choke hold by knocking Hargert away. He didn't think he could make it to Fassbinder before his men opened fire. "Please don't kill him," Leo pleaded. "Whatever you want us for, you can use him for too."

Fassbinder didn't seem to care. He kept his death grip up. Leo watched as his eyes seemed to flash from blue to gold for a moment, just a moment. And it seemed certain that Fassbinder would keep that grip until Hargert was dead.

And that there was nothing Leo could do about it.

Several meters away, a humanoid form coalesced into existence. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency," asked the EMH. The hologram looked around with befuddlement.

Fassbinder's head whipped around to face the sudden newcomer. His concentration slipped and with it his grip on Hargert. "What is this?" Fassbinder demanded while Hargert began to breathe again.

"I could ask the same." The EMH looked over the invaders. "Bringing firearms into the triage ward is strictly prohibited outside of security personnel."

One of the SS troopers held up a scanner. "Herr Standartenführer, this is a hologram."

Fassbinder opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted as another ripple in mid-air coalesced into a second EMH. "What is the nature of the medical…" The second EMH looked at the first, his identical twin. "This is not appropriate use of my program," the second EMH complained.

Leo fought to keep a grin off his face. Lucy was the thought that went through his head.

"Destroy them!" Fassbinder shouted. At that command disruptor beams struck both holograms. Their forms were distorted by the blasts until they faded away.

After a moment, both promptly reappeared. "That really isn't necessary," one stated.

Fassbinder clenched a fist and drew his gun.

That was when the wall exploded.




The commando shuttle flew right up to the side of the Hospital before Fallina and her team jumped from the side. In cooperation with each other, the Asari commando unit generated a massive biotic pulse that blew the first floor wall down completely.

In that moment of surprise, Lucy raced forward. Her lakesh extended to its full length with a sharp metallic shriek. She cleared the fallen wall and the dust, and even as they started to react, she was on top of the SS troopers. Her blade cut cleanly through the arms of one, causing him to cry out as his dismembered limbs, and the gun they carried, hit the ground. She twisted and slashed out again, a cut that found the neck of a second foe, and a third swipe took the legs of the next.

Sensing the intentions of the nearest armored Panzergrenadier, Lucy twisted slightly and avoided a kill-shot from the machine's arm-mounted disruptor. A fourth SS trooper disappeared in a surge of green energy that consumed him, a victim of that miss. She reached out with a hand and let the power within her reach out as well. Her power gripped the armored trooper and sent him flying into a second armored trooper. Both went to the floor.

The third and fourth of the enemy armored troops might have gotten her, but they were already facing a new problem, made clear by the dark matter energy that had formed around them, locking them in place. Two of Fallina's Asari maintained the stasis fields while Selmissima, the tall one with the assault rifle, was sending the light combat-suited infantry scurrying for cover. The two stunned armored troops were left sitting ducks to Niata, who was already ripping the weapons off of one with biotic fields.

Lucy at last turned to Fassbinder. Hearing his voice over the comms, seeing him in the visual channel, that had been enough of a shock. But sensing him, feeling the malevolent cold of his active power, was worse. The idea that the Reich was starting to look for these powers and to train their own, especially SS, in their use… that was a threat that made her stomach churn. The things that these evil men could do with that power, the ease with which darkness could corrupt them...

Fassbinder started to level his gun toward Hargert. "I'll kill the old…"

Fassbinder's threat against Hargert's life stopped abruptly when Lucy thrust an open palm toward him. The power of the energy within her followed her will. Invisible force slammed into the SS man and sent him flying into the nearest wall.

"Lucy, look out!"

Leo's warning coincided with the sense of danger Lucy felt within. She swung to her right with her lakesh and caught the disruptor beam before it could vaporize her. The beam reflected off her lakesh and hit one of the SS troopers. He was blasted back and hit the ground, unmoving.

The trooper who fired never fired again. Fallina crashed into him in a flash of dark blue energy. The biotics-powered charge sent the SS soldier flying into the nearest wall, where he fell and stopped moving.

Fallina turned and faced one of the Panzergrenadiers currently aiming toward her soldiers. The shotgun in her hands went off and blew a massive hole through the torso plate of the enemy powered armor suit. It collapsed to the ground. Fallina turned and fired a shot that caused an SS infantryman's torso to explode in a messy way.

The loss of the fourth and last of the Panzergrenadiers was to the combined biotics of two of the Asari commandos. Intense dark matter forces rippled and coiled over the armored suit until it began to tear away. The weapons went down, and defenses, and soon the entire suit was in tatters and the pilot within exposed. A single gunshot from one of the Asari put him down.

The remaining SS forces, deprived of their heavy support, retreated from the Triage Ward. Fallina spoke into her comm. "What's our status?"

"They're retreating for their shuttle," her pilot replied.

Lucy almost celebrated until she felt the change in the atmosphere. Or, more accurately, the lack of presence. She turned to where she had thrown Fassbinder, just to find that he was gone. "Did anyone see where their commander went?" she asked.

"I thought I saw him run toward the interior of the hospital." The reply was from one of the orderlies in the room. "But I can't be sure."

Lucy frowned and tried to focus on her senses, on her energy, to feel his presence. Given the malevolent nature of it, it would stick out like a sore thumb.

"I think he's this way," she said to the others. "This way."

"T'Sani, Niata, with us, the rest of you, stay and help with wounded." Fallina hefted her shotgun and followed Lucy into the hospital.




Fassbinder felt shame and rage burn inside of him as he ran further into the hospital. Months of training, of pushing his limits, all of his work… and he was still weak compared to Lucero. He would be the laughing stock of the SS for this defeat.

Perhaps not all is in vain, he thought. Perhaps I can hold out until our main force arrives. He knew that was a long shot at best, but he would not give up. Not on this. He was so close to getting what he needed. His plan was all laid out. And he would find his destiny with it

Fassbinder was so busy he didn't see the closet door nearby slide open. As he walked past it his senses came alive with warning. Curious and concerned, he turned toward the door with a hand going to his pistol.

That was when the force hit him, full strength, and sent him into unconsciousness.




The sense of malevolence went away. Lucy stopped where she was and looked around. "Oh come on," she muttered before concentrating. He had to be out there.

But try as she might, Lucy felt nothing.

"Dammit," she grumbled.

"What is it?" Fallina and her team approached.

"I lost him. It's… where could he have gone?" Lucy began looking around again. "We'll need to put up a watch. He's too dangerous to be ignored."

"I'll get in contact with Security," said Fallina. "But if you ask me, I think he took off to the nearest exit. He knows he's a dead man if we find him."

"True." But something about that didn't sit right. Lucy had a feeling that Fassbinder, whatever had happened, was somewhere else, or had some other plan.

And she already knew this would not be the last they'd seen of the SS man, whatever happened.

 

[Big Steve]

It was starting to get dark outside when Leo finally had a moment to step away from the Triage Ward. Even with Alpha getting most of the casualties during their difficulties, enough had come in from the nearby fighting to keep all of the doctors busy while the mess from the attack still had to be cleaned up.

He knew Lucy and Hargert were waiting for him in the mess, but he had another stop to make first. He returned to the Intensive Care Ward.

An Asari nurse met him at the door. "Jane Doe #3," he said. "The adolescent girl. Is she here?" As he said the words his heart pounded with fear. Despite all of the excitement of the SS attack he hadn't forgotten about his biggest effort of the day. He hadn't stopped wondering if she had recovered, or if all of his work had been for nothing.

As those thoughts went through his head, the Asari nurse was looking over the list. "I'm not seeing a Jane Doe #3…"

Leo's heart plunged into his stomach.

"Wait… oh, there she is. Zahra Mercier."

That brought Leo to stare in shock. "Wait, we have her name?" he asked. "How…?"

"She's awake, Doctor," the Asari answered. "She woke up about two hours ago."

With his heart hammering in surprise and joy, Leo thanked the Asari and ventured into the ward.

The young girl with the new heart looked asleep when Leo stepped up beside her bed, in the curtain-covered alcove assigned to her. It was only when he sat down that she moved. Her eyes opened slightly, enough to show their deep brown color. "Monsieur Docteur," she said, and Leo's auto-translator rendered it into "Mister Doctor" accordingly.

Leo thought his mouth was going to go dry when he asked, "How are you feeling?"

Zahra blinked and tried to move an arm. She managed it just enough that her hand came off the bed. Leo took it. "Weak," she finally said.

"That's not surprising. Your body took a lot of damage. We gave you a new heart earlier today."

That was answered with a weak nod. "I thought I was to die. The… the blast… wave… I do not know the word?"

For a moment Leo considered telling her to stop speaking, to conserve her strength. But he stopped himself. She needed to speak, it seemed. Needed to share what had happened. "If you want to tell me what happened, I'm ready," Leo said.

"Can I have a drink first? I am thirsty."

Leo stood and reached for the tray the nurses had thoughtfully left, with a plastic cup and an insulated pitcher of cool water. He poured her enough for a drink and brought the cup up to her lips. Her arm tried to intercept the cup to take the drink for herself, but the limb - horrifying in its bone-thinness - flopped onto her belly. Leo was left to pour the water carefully into her waiting lips, giving her time to swallow each sip until she nodded and he pulled the cup away. "How is that?"

"Better." Zahra licked at her lips. It was painful to see a girl her age in the shape she was in, bone-thin and nearly a living skeleton. Even after days of seeing these patients, it still hurt Leo to think of the suffering that went with such a condition. "The Boche… they did something. There was a… a thing in the barracks. On the ceiling. It lit up."

Leo nodded. "Okay. Do you mind if I share this with others, Zahra? If you do, I won't. I'm your doctor, anything you tell me stays between us unless you tell me to share it."

"Please do. Please tell everyone," Zahra insisted, with as much heat as her voice could manage. "Something in the ceiling. I saw it light up. Mama… Mama pushed me to the door. She screamed for me to get out. I ran. I was the first to run. I remember a loud noise, like a thunderclap, and I looked back…" Zahra's eyes opened more, and it was clear it was from horror at the memory. "There was a… wave… a blast… energy… it hit people and they fell. I kept running. I didn't want it to hit me."

She went silent for a moment. Leo took her hand and waited patiently for her to continue.

"And then I had… pain. In my belly. My heart. It hurt so much." Tears formed in her eyes. "I tried to scream but nothing would move. I just fell over. I… I thought I was going to die. And then I felt nothing. And I woke up here."

"I'm sorry."

"My parents, my uncle and cousin… they are dead?" The way she said it, it was clear Zahra was already certain of it.

Leo sighed and nodded. "Yes, I think. We found four remains in the mass grave with genetic relation to you. You may be the only survivor of that barracks. I'm sorry."

The look on Zahra's face didn't change for a moment. Tears formed in her eyes as the impact of the confirmation hit home for her. Her face twisted into visible pain a moment before she began to weep softly.

There were all sorts of things Leo could have said. He could have expressed further condolences. He could have promised that he would help her (and he would, to the best of his ability). He could have encouraged her to live for her slain family.

He said nothing. All he did was hold her hand. Because, for that moment, he knew it was the only right thing he could do.




After Zahra cried herself to sleep and Leo saw to her further treatments for the evening, he went to the mess hall. He barely had time to sit before Hargert was at his side, bearing a bowl of sausage stew and a plate of salad. Seeing (and smelling) the fine food made Leo realize how long it had been since he ate, and his stomach growled in anticipation. Leo took to both in alternating bites.

Lucy joined them a moment later. "There you are," she said, putting down her half-finished bowl of sausage stew.

"How is your patient?" asked Hargert.

Leo swallowed a bite of salad. "Alive. Grief-stricken. Her name is Zahra Mercier."

"Poor girl." Hargert nodded. He looked none the worse for wear given the day's events.

"What you did today, Hargert…" Leo put his utensils down and looked directly at the man. "...he would have killed you. Hell, I think he hates you the most of all."

Hargert answered that with a thin smile. "I knew he might kill me. I simply had faith that the rest of you might stop him." He directed the smile at Lucy, who smiled back. "Thank you, Fraulein."

"You don't have to, Hargert," Lucy said. "It's what I'm here for." She frowned. "What worries me is that he was using powers like ours. The Gersallian swevyra, I mean."

"After seeing you and Rob and Meridina using it, he must have gotten some ideas."

Lucy nodded at Leo's suggestion. "And because of what he is… he's already being corrupted by it. He's falling into darkness. That's going to make him all the more dangerous."

"Assuming the SS does not punish him for failing today," Hargert said. "We have beaten him twice now."

A sick feeling was swirling in Lucy's gut at that. "Did we?" she asked.

"What?"

"Did we stop him, Hargert?" Lucy looked to him. "I… if I remember SS rank structure right from our intel briefings, his new rank is higher than his older one. He's been promoted since Gamma Piratus. Why would they promote him when we beat him?"

Hargert's smiled vanished. So did Leo's. "We need to tell Rob and the others," Leo said. "And Admiral Maran. You don't think he could have taken anything from the Facility, do you?"

"I don't know," Lucy said. "I mean, from what I remember, none of his teams actually secured the computer cores, and they didn't get the control room. Not entirely. But maybe they got something…"

"I would think so too." Hargert was frowning now. "How else has he been promoted?"

"Dammit." Lucy rubbed at her forehead. "And then there's the other thing."

"What?"

"The issue with the Turian meds," Lucy said. "Someone at Hospital Bravo put them in containers labeled as Dorei-specific meds."

The news shocked Leo. "They did what? But… the Dorei are levo-compatible like us, giving them Turian meds…"

"Yeah." Lucy brought a container out. "And what's more, there was a murder at Bravo. Some poor woman got her face pummelled into bloody goo."

The news rocked Leo to his core. Sabotage and murder? "An SS agent?"

"Maybe? I don't know. We know they had them. But it just feels… off." She opened the container. Inside was her bolt wrench. Little clumps of dead skin cells were still visible on the inner rim. She reached further in and pulled out a silk cloth to lay flat on the table. Clumps of dried blood were visible on it. "We got genetic samples from the body. I mean, these will work right?"

"They might." Leo lifted his left arm and activated his omnitool. "I'll see if my scanner can get a good gene print off of them." At a touch of a key the scanner activated. Waves of blue light ran over both samples. The omnitool screen appeared and showed a partial genetic profile forming. "The blood's degraded, but with the skin cells to confirm…" A nearly-complete helix formed on his screen. "There it is. An intact genetic profile." He used his hands to manipulate a hard-light control that emerged from the omnitool in mid-air under his hands. "I'm accessing our database now. Let's see if we can…"

A result popped up. Leo's jaw dropped open in utter shock.

Lucy moved up beside him and read the result.

Profile Match: Doctor Amelia Indira Lang, Force Commander, FWLM.

Leo's finger was already hitting his comm key. "Gillam to Security! This is an emergency, find and detain Doctor Lang now! She's an imposter!"




There were people that Specialist Kevin Lewis wanted to shoot. At least sometimes. The annoying neighbor who ratted him out on his stash of porn vids when he was growing up. The kid at school who punched his lights out. The asshole recruiter who told him that the mercenary life was far more exciting than normal military service in the AFFC.

That's how a kid from a medium-sized city on Grosvenor, a boring planet in the Federated Commonwealth's Crucis March where there was nothing of interest to the Inner Sphere or the Multiverse as a whole, wound up in Rawling's Raiders, a small-time merc outfit that was supposed to specialize in anti-pirate defense for the Periphery. Lewis had imagined seeing amazing Periphery locales, exotic lovers, and all the other things the frontier was supposed to be.

But instead, his first assignment was to the contract with the Free Worlds League to work in Universe S4W8, protecting Coalition facilities in League-held areas. That meant fighting Nazis, who were even more terrifying than the Clans with their hulking power-armored troops, and being bored in damned field hospitals. He was responsible for the locals' "civilian" exit overlooking their vehicle park and mass transit pick-up location, checking IDs and making sure only authorized locals were coming in.

A moment of excitement came when Mister Taylor, in charge of security for the hospital, had called for a security alert. They were ordered to detain Doctor Lang, if found, as a suspected imposter. Maybe, if he was lucky, Lang would try to get through his door, and Lewis would get to do something useful! And maybe even get a bonus from the capture to boot!

Instead, all he saw that night was a beautiful nurse walk up to him. She was Caucasian, with beautiful blue eyes and long dark hair and a body to die for. Lewis was certain she couldn't be a local.

She wasn't alone though. She was pushing a bed. The man on it was one Lewis knew he'd seen before, a local. He was unconscious, or maybe just sleeping.

She smiled at him. "I'm just taking Mister Faqin out to his vehicle. He had a bad day. I'll bring the bed back later."

Lewis almost agreed, but he knew he'd be in deep shit if he did. "We're on the lookout for someone, ma'am, I'm afraid I have to have the bed examined."

"I already had it secured by a doctor," she answered. "The holographic one. Here, let me." She looked to the side. "Computer, please activate Emergency Medical Hologram."

The bald-headed man in the Starfleet uniform appeared beside her. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency."

"I need to get this poor man to his vehicle, we need the bed," the nurse said sweetly. "And you already scanned him. But the guard didn't see it."

The EMH rolled his eyes. "What is it with you people and calling me for… never mind." He let out a frustrated breath before activating a specialized omnitool that formed over his hand, integrated by Zimmerman into the EMH program. "It looks like this fellow exhausted himself by working too hard. Wake him up and send him home. I recommend he be relieved of duty for at least twenty-four hours." The EMH glared at her and then Lewis. "There, is that it? Or do you have another mundane, decidedly non-emergency task for me to handle?"

"Uh, no Doc," Lewis said. "Nothing at all."

"Fine. Thank you and have a wonderful evening."

"Disengage hologram," the nurse said. The EMH vanished.

"Alright ma'am." Lewis nodded. "You're good to go."

The nurse smiled at him and pushed the bed out.

But contrary to what she said, it didn't come back. Nor did she.



It was late when Leo finally saw Doctor Crusher again, in the doctors' watch station between the Standard and Critical Care Wards. "Well, it's been a busy day."

Leo nodded. Before he could speak a distant thunderclap sounded. The fighting was still roaring on close by. "A very busy day."

"I saw that our patient woke up."

"Yeah." Leo nodded. "Her name is Zahra Mercier."

For a moment, there was silence between the two physicians.

"It's odd," Leo said, breaking the silence. He gave a thoughtful look toward Crusher. "Medical ethics, I mean. I was in the wrong, but I was right."

"Oh?"

A dull thump of a headache caused Leo to press his forefinger and thumb against his temples and massage his forehead. "You were right about that surgery. By every principle of triage, I should have quit. Zahra's survival was a one in five shot at best. Her system barely handled even five ccs of the dizaproregene and that didn't even fully heal her lungs. All of that effort would have been wasted. While we were needed on the Triage floor. And when we don't even know when, or if, we'll get re-supplied." Leo shook his head. "I made the wrong decision."

"Maybe from a triage stand-point," Crusher said. "But the fact is that if I'd ordered you to stop, our patient would be dead right now." There was something in her voice, a measure of realization, and pain to go with it.

"We were both wrong. And both right. But maybe you were more right than I was." Leo tapped his finger on the desk. "All of that time we were in the OR, saving someone who was likely to die, there were how many patients coming into Triage? Those are people who may have died because help didn't get to them in time. All because we were busy saving one life."

"The life of a child."

"I know. But under medical ethics, is that more important than the lives of adults?"

"I…" Crusher stopped. "I suppose some people would say yes. That children are the future. But I don't want to go down that road of deciding whose life is more important."

"Me neither."

There was another few moments of contemplative silence between the two. "Maybe the important thing is that we don't know these answers," Leo said. "We have to know that we might be wrong. If we start thinking everything we do is right, well…"

He let the sentence hang so Crusher could complete the thought. "...we lose sight of our limitations. And we start thinking we have the right to make tough choices without thinking about them."

"Yeah." Leo rubbed at his eyes. After all of this he just wanted to get some sleep.

His omnitool flashed into existence, at least in part, forming the light around his wrist and the back of his hand. With curiosity he pressed the light to open the channel.

"Attention all Hospital personnel, prepare for immediate evacuation. I repeat, prepare for evacuation."

"What?" Crusher stood. "Evacuation? To where?"

Leo's omnitool registered a second communication coming in, and the voice he heard brought a smile to his face.

"Aurora to Gillam," said Jarod. "Hold tight. We're on our way."




The Aurora dropped out of warp nearly within weapons range of the Baldur von Schirach and her battlegroup of warships. In the seconds afterward, a number of other ships dropped out of warp around her. Four Predator-class destroyers, a Scorpio-class attack cruiser, and two Trigger-class attack ships led by the Koenig came in with the first wave.

"Enemy warships are responding to our arrival." Caterina kept her eyes on sensors. "They're getting ready to fire."

"Hit first," Robert ordered.

Angel answered with a gleeful "Yes sir" even as she triggered the forward weapons.

The Aurora and her fellow ships launched into an immediate attack that pummeled the nearest enemy ships. The Sedan-class cruiser Angel targeted retorted with disruptor fire that drained their shields even as their weapons pummeled away at the enemy cruiser. Solar torpedoes blasted the swastika insignia on its bow, turning it into debris and wreckage.

The Koenig, leading the formation of Trigger-class ships that resembled her so closely, went in phasers blazing. Multiple heavy phaser cannon shots took down the shields of the enemy cruiser and allowed the attack ships' torpedoes to gut the ship.

The arrival of the Aurora attracted the attention of the Schirach. The SS-crewed dreadnought was already turning to bring its terrible battery of spinal mount super-disruptors to bear.

Which is exactly what Robert and the others planned. "Send the signal to the others," Julia ordered, while Robert waited in quiet patience. This was one part of this return mission that couldn't be left to chance.

Thankfully, it hadn't been.

Within moments of the signal, another surge of radiation flooded the sensors of every ship in the system. And Robert and the others watched in satisfaction as the Starship Lexington dropped out of warp.

And like them, she hadn't come alone.

Not even a moment later two Excelsior-class starships, marked as the Charleston and the Lakota, came out of warp beside the Lexington. Not to be outdone, a pair of Saber-class ships also arrived, as well as an older Miranda-class and a new Intrepid-class called the Stargazer. And, last but definitely not least, two large Galaxy-class starships warped in.

"This is Captain Higginbotham," said a voice, coming from the Galaxy-class Madison. "Focus fire on the enemy dreadnought."

"Let's do the same, Angel," Robert said.

The first super-disruptor shot was already firing, hitting the Aurora directly. Jarod quickly checked their shield effectiveness status. "Shields down to sixty-eight percent."

The Schirach had gotten in the hit, but it was soon evident that she was in trouble. Not only was the Aurora's powerful bow array of pulse plasma cannons and phaser weapons tearing away at her, but the entire Starfleet task force that Captain Ben Zoma had called in were coming right for the SS dreadnought. Amber beams of phaser fire from the various ships all struck against the crimson shields protecting the giant ship. The combined firepower of the several Federation starships got the shields down low enough that the SS ship's hull took several direct impacts from photon torpedoes.

Disruptor shots retaliated against the Federation strike group, both from the Schirach and from her escorts, under fire from Aurora's escorting ships. The space around New Brittany was lit up with the amber and emerald streaks of phaser and disruptor fire, accentuated by the powerful pulses of azure energy that erupted from Aurora's main battery and the main battery on the Scorpio-class cruiser, even now savagely tearing into a burning Dresden-class Nazi cruiser.

A missile from the Schirach blasted the nacelle off of one of the Saber-class ships. Another caused hull and system damage to one of the Alliance Predator-class destroyers. Much of the Schirach's fury was still bent on the Aurora, which took another super-disruptor hit. "Shields down to forty percent."

"I'm maintaining evasive maneuvers," Locarno added.

The dreadnought didn't get a chance to fire its spinal mounts at the Aurora again, as Locarno's maneuvering put it out of the firing arc. The Koenig and two of the other attack ships came in on the bow of the enemy dreadnought with phasers and torpedoes blazing. With the Idaho - one of the two Galaxy-class ships - blazing away with phasers and disrupting the dreadnought's forward shields, the Koenig and her cousins were able to batter through them enough for their solar torpedoes to make direct impact on the emitters before they could fire again. An explosion consumed the open ports in the bow of the great enemy dreadnought.

"I'm picking up power surges," Cat said. "I think they're going to warp."

A moment later that prediction was confirmed. The Schirach, and the three surviving ships with her battle group, disappeared in flashes of bright light.

"Stand down from combat, running status Code Yellow."

"I've already received the confirmation from General Chaganam," Julia added. "They're getting ready to evacuate."

"Signal the other ships. Use light fire, keep the enemy pinned down so their troops can disengage. Jarod?"

"I've already sent the signal," Jarod confirmed. Moments later interuniversal jump points began to form on the screen. DropShips from Universe F1S1, troop transports of Alliance build, and a Turian regimental-sized troop carrier emerged from the points. Another series of points brought in a series of hospital ships and passenger vessels converted to provide the same. "Leo's signalling."

"Put him on."

Leo appeared on the holo-viewer. He was sitting at a doctor's watch station. "Hey," he said. "Nice timing."

"You're welcome."

"I've got news. Some of it bad. Even scary. But what's this about an evacuation?"

"We're doing this on a tight timetable," Robert replied. "The Reich's sending reinforcements to take and hold New Brittany. We don't have the ships or manpower to hold this planet and the others. The Coalition Command decided to write New Brittany off, but they let us bring in ships to evac the troops and hospitals. The Epaminondas and her battle group are following us in to cover the withdrawal."

"And what about the people? Rob, some of these folks worked with us, if the SS get wind of it…"

"General Chaganam is already sending out a public signal, anyone who worked with our occupation forces is getting a free ticket off-world," Robert answered. He was frowning a little. "It's the best we can do. Maybe when we start getting Inner Sphere ships ready for this war, or we get the Clans participating, we can come back. But right now…"

"Yeah. I get it. Triage." Leo sighed.

"You said you had news," Julia said. "What did you mean?"

"Some things have happened while you were away. Lucy and I will share them with you when we get back to the Aurora, but right now I'm going to join Doctor Crusher in getting our patients ready for the evacuation. I'll see you when I get back up there. Gillam out."

After Leo disappeared, Julia gave Robert a concerned look. "What do you think he meant by that?"

Robert didn't immediately reply. But there was no denying the sick feeling he had that something was going on, something bad. "I don't know," he said. "But we'll just have to find out. Go ahead and secure us for evacuation work. Cat?"

Caterina already knew what he would be asking about. "We've got the Reich force on long range probes. At their current warp velocity I think we have about ten, eleven hours."

"The Epaminondas is still thirty minutes out, but we should be able to complete the evacuation within ten hours with their help," Jarod added.

"Alright. Let's get this evacuation going, then. And this time, we're not leaving anyone behind."



Tag

Leo and Lucy delivered their news to the others. They added the recorded visuals from the hospital. The response was complete quiet.

"I don't believe it," Robert mumbled, looking at the image on the conference room holotable. "Fassbinder's alive."

"Are you sure this isn't a clone?" Julia asked.

"He looked like the original to me."

"And moved like him," Lucy added. "And that's not the worst part."

"He has swevyra," Robert mumbled. "Probably learned how to access it by watching us."

"Given his behavior before, and his ideology, he will certainly fall." Meridina shook her head in disbelief. "Reich swevyra'kse. They will be far more dangerous if this becomes widespread."

"That's still not the worst part," Lucy insisted. "He's not an Obersturm-whatever-it-was anymore. He's something called a 'Standartenführer.' That's the highest rank we've seen him have. He didn't even have that on Gamma Piratus."

"Wait. That doesn't make sense," Angel said. "We beat him. We kicked his ass out of the Facility after killing all of his guys. Why the hell would the Nazis promote that piece of crap?"

"Unless th' scunners got somethin' from th' Facility," Scotty suggested.

"I suppose it's possible." Jarod shook his head. "Maybe they got some data from the general system."

"Whatever it was, this is big news, and we need to report it to Maran immediately." Robert tried to hold back the sick feeling in his stomach. "Was that all?"

"I'm afraid not." With a nod from Leo, Lucy brought up the information from the dead body in Bravo. "Someone attempted to pass off Turian dextro-compatible medications as Dorei-specific. And they murdered Dr. Lang in the process."

"The evacuation is still on, but there's been no sign of the imposter Lang for hours," added Leo. "So whoever it was got away."

"Well, it's probable the SS had agents from the local population infiltrate the hospitals."

"I'm… I don't feel like that's the answer," Lucy said to Jarod. "There's something more to it than that. A local Nazi spy killing just one doctor and swapping medical labels? I mean, maybe, but it feels like they would do something bigger if they were moving toward active sabotage. Something that hurts us immediately and directly. Faking a pharmaceutical mix-up would cause strain in the Coalition, yeah, but hardly worth the effort if you're an SS or military intel agent."

"Yet it is sabotage that might be done without being directly detected, if done right," Meridina pointed out. "At a low enough risk to the agent, it becomes worthwhile."

"Maybe… but I still don't buy it. It doesn't… I don't feel like that's the answer here. It's just too subtle and it lacks the immediate payoff."

"Nazi spy or not, why did they leave Lang's body in Hospital Bravo?" Julia asked. "If Bravo hadn't been evacuated, the body would have been found."

"I think I have the answer to that," said Leo. "Lang was responsible for moving the pharmaceuticals. She would have realized the switch happened. Given her authority and access to records, she might have even figured out who. Killing her buys time for the saboteur, and by replacing her the saboteur got a chance to try something else. They probably figured the Nazis would sweep the vault and deal with the remains. And maybe they figured we would never risk sending anyone back."

"Either way, that's another matter for Admiral Maran to take up." Robert stood. "The evacuation of New Brittany will be complete within the next four hours. We'll be getting out of here with an hour to spare before the Reich reinforcements show up. Let's keep everyone on alert for now… with two exceptions." He looked to Leo and Lucy. "You two need a break. I'm relieving you of duty for the next 48 hours."

"You won't get any complaints from me," Lucy answered.

"If you don't mind, Rob, I have a couple things to check on in the medbay," Leo said. "But I'll stay off-duty while I'm at it."

"Excellent." Robert smiled and nodded. "Enjoy your two days off."

"Or we shall be forced to take drastic measures, I suspect," Meridina added, giving Lucy a bemused look.

"Oh? As in?"

"We'll sic Julia on you," Robert clarified.

"Like I'm not even in the room…"

After Julia's sotto voce remark, the assembled filed out of the room. All except Robert, who looked back down at the planet.

"I sense your discomfort," said Meridina, who was now standing beside him. "It is Fassbinder, isn't it?"

"I've seen him in my dreams, Meridina," Robert admitted. "I've seen him with golden eyes and vicious power. And now… now it turns out he is alive, and that he's learning how to use it."

"Yes. I am worried. But not too worried." Meridina looked at him. "Without a being to guide him in learning how to connect to his swevyra, his efforts will be… like a child left to learn how to walk, how to feel and speak, without any guidance. He will not pose a horrible threat."

"I hope you're right." Robert looked down at the planet. "I just wish I could sense where he was. What he was doing here, and why he has the SS after the Aurora."

"Give it time…"

Meridina left him to his thoughts at that point, and Robert spent the time looking out the window again. Questions assailed his mind. What was Fassbinder up to? How did he get promoted for failing to take the Facility on Gamma Piratus?

What is going on here?

As there was no answer forthcoming, Robert eventually left the conference room.




Fassbinder woke up in a locale he found familiar. He had seen it in video images for a few weeks now: the basement of Andre Faqin's home. The SS officer sat up in confusion. Faqin remained asleep, and utterly still, across from him.

"Congratulations," a woman's voice said. "The Alliance and its allies are withdrawing. Your people have reclaimed the planet."

Fassbinder turned and faced the woman in question. She was wearing a sleeveless blouse and slacks that made her look very casual and hid none of her physical beauty. At first Fassbinder didn't know who she was save the familiarity of her face, but as he considered the face and made the appropriate changes, he let out a growl of anger. "You!" And he lunged for her.

But he never reached her. The dark-haired woman reached up and out her hand and gripped him with... literally nothing. "You're rather ungrateful," said the woman. "I'm the only reason you got out of that Field Hospital alive. If I hadn't reprogrammed their holographic doctor to ignore you and slipped you out with Faqin, you would have been found."

Fassbinder spat out curses in German. "You little untermensch! Brown bitch! Did you think you would go unrecognized by lightening your skin?! I remember you, Lucero!"

The blue-eyed, dark-haired woman who, aside from flawless Caucasian skin tone, resembled Lucy Lucero completely cracked a grin. "I am not Lucero. Surely you can sense that, even with your poor grasp of your potential."

Fassbinder forced himself to calm down for the moment. As he did, he could sense what she was saying and that it was, surprisingly, true. While she looked like Lucero, she didn't feel like Lucero.

"Go ahead and put our new friend down," a new voice said.

The fake-Lucy did so. And then she stepped away and toward the nearby stairs, where a second female was stepping down. Fassbinder focused on her. She had pale blue eyes, long golden blond hair, and a body that was both beautiful and sensually displayed by the low-cut and tight red dress. "And that is what we are here to be, Fassbinder," the woman cooed. "Friends."

Fassbinder looked at them intently. "Who, what are you?"

"As I said. Friends."

"Friends with mutual enemies," the fake Lucy added.

Fassbinder considered that. He sensed the truth from the power growing within him. "You are enemies of the Alliance?"

"Very much so," the gorgeous blonde said. "And it's taken us a lot of effort to get into position to approach you. And I do mean you, Standartenführer Fassbinder."

"You have the Gift. The power of God. The means to further God's Plan."

Fassbinder continued to look at each in turn. "And what does that mean. What do you want?"

"To help you fulfill your potential, Herr Standartenführer," the fake Lucero said. "To train you to use your power to the fullest potential."

"And to help you face our common foe," added the blonde. "The Alliance. And the crew of the Starship Aurora. They are impediments to the Plan."

"And the keys to your future destiny."

"Yes." Fassbinder nodded. "They are. They are all that." He thought on it a moment "And you wish to help me against them?"

"As I said, they are our enemies. You are their enemies. So you should be our friends." The blond stepped forward and offered her hand. "We are the Cylons, and we offer you and your Reich our assistance in defeating the Alliance, the Aurora, and any who stand opposed to God's Plan."

Fassbinder considered it for a moment. Slowly, a grin formed on his face.

He extended his hand as well. "Your offer is accepted," he said. "Let our enemies tremble."




When Leo arrived in the medbay he went to his office. It was only when he got into his chair that Doctor Singh appeared, a disapproving scowl on the New Punjabi woman's face. "You should be resting," she said. "You've done enough."

Leo smiled at her and held up a hand in surrender. "I'm not here to run a shift or make rounds, I'm just going to check a few things before I go to my quarters for the night."

Singh gave him a look that spoke of her disbelief. "If you're not out of the medbay in an hour, I'm going to personally drag you out," she threatened jokingly, or rather half-jokingly.

"That won't be necessary, I promise." Leo pointed to the clock on the wall. "But just to be clear, I'm not counting the hour as starting until we're done here."

Singh shook her head and walked out.

With that done, Leo patched into the Aurora's communications system and sent a hail through the Coalition network to a colleague. After several seconds Doctor Crusher appeared on the screen, sitting at a desk of her own. "I see they hauled you up too," he remarked.

"Admiral McCoy's orders," Crusher answered. "I'm on the Lexington right now. Captain Ben Zoma and Captain Amundsen of the Charleston were crew on the old Stargazer with my late husband, so we're going to do some catching up."

"Sounds good to me." Leo nodded. "It's been a hell of a week, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has," she agreed. "Have you settled back in?"

"I've been ordered off-duty for the next two days and they're threatening to toss me out of medbay if I stay too long," Leo answered, chuckling afterward. "So yeah, I am."

"That's good to hear." After a moment Crusher nodded at him, an appreciative gesture. "It was good working with you, Doctor Gillam. Hopefully we can meet again in a less stressful environment. Perhaps the Second Multiversal Medical Symposium that's going to be held on Betazed in four months?"

"Sounds interesting," Leo admitted. "I'll see if I can make it."

"I look forward to introducing you to some of my Starfleet colleagues. In the meantime, I wish you and the Aurora the best of luck. Crusher out."

"Good luck to you too," Leo managed, just before Crusher ended the call. He sighed and took a look at the backlog of paperwork. The sight made him wince. He was going to be spending a lot of time clearing that backlog.

But not tonight. Tonight he had once last stop before he let Singh chase him from the medbay. He left his office and went to the urgent care area, where some of the cases from Charlie were being kept.

Zahra Mercier was in a bed looking very surprised, and thrilled, at the advanced technology of the Aurora. He walked up to her bed. "Hey."

"Hello." Zahra looked at him. "I am getting better?"

"Slowly but surely. You'll be heading to a survivor hospital until you're strong enough for outpatient care." Leo pulled up a chair and sat beside her. "You may still need a surgery or two to deal with the problems inside of your body. And you'll definitely need weeks of monitored food intake to recover from your near-starvation."

"I think I understand." Zahra frowned. "But where will I go? My family is dead. I can never go back home…"

"I've already marked a contact in your file. Doctor Pierre N'Djehoya. He's a friend of mine from New Liberty, and when the hospital doctors say you're fit to leave, he'll be contacted to bring you home." Leo took her hand. "On New Liberty you'll meet kids your age, from all sorts of ethnic and national groups. You'll get an education."

"And then your people, your State, will decide what I will do?"

"No." Leo shook his head. "You decide what you'll do with your life. You'll decide who you marry, or even if you'll marry. If you have kids. What you'll do. That's all for you."

Zahra nodded. A distant, sad look filled her eyes. "But I'll still be alone. My family is gone."

"That's the thing about New Liberty," Leo answered. "A lot of people there are like you. They lost loved ones to the Nazis, or people like them. They know what it feels like. And they'll be there for you. And your family…" Leo tapped his heart. "They're still there. They're with you right now. You'll remember them. And that means they'll never be truly gone. That's something the Nazis will never take from you."

For a moment she didn't respond. And Leo didn't blame her. He knew the pain she was in. The shock of loss. And the suffering of what the Reich had done to her and those she loved. He just hoped she would recognize what he was saying was true.

And given the small smile that appeared on her face, it looked like she did.

And that, for Leo, made everything they had gone through worthwhile.

 

[Big Steve]

Teaser

Ship's Log: ASV Koenig; 10 August 2642. Commander Zachary Carrey recording. We've been detached from the Aurora to take part in a joint training exercise with members of the Citadel Council races' special forces. We're currently on our way to the rendezvous point to meet with the ships carrying the strike teams we'll be hosting aboard for the duration of the exercise.

Given that we have already embarked Commander Kane and a team of his Marines from the Aurora, my little ship is approaching standing-room-only in available living space. But we'll make do.

The mess hall on the Koenig was now split in half, much to the irritation of the crew of the attack ship. Wall partitions set up by engineering crews from the Aurora had turned half of the space once used by the crew for communal eating into a bunk room for the incoming special forces troops.

Zack finished a grilled chicken sandwich at one of the remaining tables. Across from him, Tom Barnes and Magda Navaez, both Lieutenants and serving as his Chief Engineer and Operations Officer respectively, were sharing complaints about the situation. "Hot-bunking, I mean… it's bad enough that the sleeping spaces are like frakking closets." Barnes was frowning intently. "Now we'll have people sleeping in our bunks when we're on duty."

"You think you have it tough? Do you have any idea what all of these extra people are doing to the life support systems?" Magda asked before taking a bite of chicken soup.

"Uh, yeah, actually, I do," Barnes retorted. "I had to spend half a day installing additional life support tanks to ensure we have the capacity we need." After a moment of considering his grilled chicken sub, he added, "And why are we all eating chicken anyway?"

"Habit?" Zack proposed. He finished another bite and said, "I'm not really a tuna guy, and if you ask me, the replicators never get pork or beef right. But they're good with chicken."

"I just want to get these exercises over with." Magda gave him a look. "Why did you volunteer us for this again?"

"Okay, one?" Zack held up a finger. "I didn't volunteer us. Robert and Admiral Maran did. I just didn't object. Two…" He brought up another finger. "...I think we could use the practice. Most of our operations lately have been simple combat support. We could use a week of prolonged operations to get the new crewmembers situated. Finally, three…"

Just as Zack lifted his third finger, Barnes chimed in with, "...we don't have to get sucked into whatever diplomatic niceties the others are going to go through with the frakking Batarians."

Zack nodded in Barnes' direction. "I hate that damned dress uniform. Plus, let's face it, our first contact with the Batarians consisted of this ship shooting them in the face."

"After they raided Yamalia for slaves," Magda reminded him. Her expression darkened.

"Pretty much." Zack wolfed down the last bit of his sandwich. "Anyway, I think my point is made."

"It is. I just…"

"Bridge to Commander Carrey." The voice was that of Ensign Jean Hajar, the navigation/engineering dual-specialty officer who was one of the sixteen or so actual officers or officer-candidates on the ship. A former Starfleet officer, she was relatively new to the crew herself. "Sir, we've arrived at the rendezvous point. The Tokyo and Ravelicus are already here and waiting to commence transport."

"I'm on my way to the transporter station," Zack said. "Go ahead and let Kane know to meet me there."

"Yes sir."

"You two enjoy the rest of your lunch," Zack said. "It's time for me to go meet the guests."




Commander Kane met Zack at the Transporter Station. It was located on Deck 1 just aft of the central lift station that would take them to the bridge deck if they wanted. A teal-complexioned, blue-spotted Dorei man was at the controls, with the rank insignia of a technical officer. "We are ready to commence transport, sir."

"Begin."

The first five arrivals appeared in bright columns of white light joined by a loud buzz.

From the briefing Zack already recognized the Turian officer in charge for the entire effort. "General Victus." He extended a hand. "Welcome to the Koenig."

General Adrien Victus extended his own hand, with its two main fingers and an opposable thumb making Zack think of birds or dinosaurs. "Thank you, Commander. Allow me to introduce Guard Captain Vidinos." He extended his other hand to the second Turian with him. "He's in charge of our special forces team."

"Commander." Vidinos remained still, spine ramrod straight. It was clear he wasn't about to shake hands.

"Captain."

"This is Nisia B'Rani," Victus continued, indicating a serene-looking Asari woman in a plain, functional green bodysuit clearly made as a uniform. "She is the commander of Talein's Daughters, the Asari Commando unit for this operation."

"Commander." Nisia accepted Zack's hand. "A pleasure. My unit has worked with Humans before. I'm looking forward to continuing that with you."

"Of course." Zack nodded. "Welcome aboard."

Next was a Salarian male, wearing a blue-and-white suit of basic Salarian design. "Major Jato Lediks, Salarian Special Task Group 2nd Regiment," he said, beating Victus to the introduction. "It will be interesting to see your vessel in operation. It appears to have some distinctive characteristics that are not part of the standard Alliance Trigger-class design."

"The Koenig is one of a kind," Zack boasted.

That left the final figure. And given the smile that appeared on Kane's face, Zack was pretty sure of who the tan-skinned, red-headed woman in the Systems Alliance Navy uniform was. "Commander Shepard," he said, extending his hand as she stepped down from the transporter. "Welcome aboard."

Shepard accepted his hand with a grin. "Glad to be here."




Four hours and a mass relay jump later, the Koenig was already underway and in interstellar space. Zack was in the conference room, the only one for his ship, with Victus and the others in attendance, along with Commander Kane. "I hope you enjoyed the tour, sir," he said after sitting down.

"Thank you for providing it, Commander." Victus sat in the chair opposite from Zack. "Your ship is the perfect vehicle for this training operation with its cloaking device and stealth capability."

"I trust your teams are getting situated?" Zack asked the assembled commanders.

The others confirmed quickly. Vidinos went beyond a mere affirmation or nod. "I'm pleasantly surprised, actually. From my experience, Allied System ships are far too soft. It undermines discipline."

Zack tried to keep his smile from becoming a smirk. "There's a lot of variation between species, I guess."

Kane chimed in at that point. "I have it on good authority the Klingons sleep on wooden planks."

Whatever point Vidinos had been trying to score hadn't come through. The Turian captain settled back in his seat. From her seat, Shepard gave Zack and Kane a slight grin.

"The exercises will take place on a number of planets in this cluster," Victus continued. "The goal will be to test infiltration, assault, and recovery missions on a number of targets guarded by Citadel-aligned security units. Each team will be assigned a specific sector and related mission. While you will operate independently, your efforts will be in support of one another. The Koenig will participate through provision of tactical data to ground teams and evading detection by opposing space forces. Are there any questions?"

"How realistic is this going to be?" asked Zack. "Are we talking live fire, dummy rounds or simulated?"

"It will be non-damaging fire," Victus confirmed. "Our simulation computers are still being upgraded to take into account the various capabilities of your ships. We can't have an accurate simulated fire exercise."

"Understood, General."

"Now, tactical assignments will…"

Before Victus could finish his sentence, a tone went off over the ship's comm system. "Bridge to Commander Carrey." This time the voice was Lieutenant Creighton Apley, Zack's First Officer. "Sir, we just picked up an automated distress signal from a nearby star system. It's from a ship IDed as the Nartalis, and it says they're under attack."

Zack nodded and stood up. "Set an intercept course at maximum warp, Lieutenant, and engage. Go to Code Red. I'll be on the bridge shortly."

"Aye sir." As Apley finished speaking, a deep electronic klaxon sounded over the speakers in the conference room. Even here the sound of a few pairs of running feet could be heard outside, as off-duty Koenig crew raced to their battlestations.

"Sorry, General, but I'm needed on my bridge."

"We'll join you," Victus said as he stood up. "I'd like to see what's going on for myself. This could present a security risk for our exercises."

Zack nodded. "Understood, General. If you'll follow me…?"

Undiscovered Frontier
"Common Ground"​

The Koenig was still at warp when Zack stepped onto the bridge, followed by General Victus, Shepard, and all of the others. They took up unused standing positions near the rear of the bridge while Zack went for his command chair. Apley replaced Hajar at the helm. Hajar, in turn, manned the engineering control station. "Report," Zack said.

"We're still about two minutes out at current speed," Apley said.

At the tactical station, Lieutenant April Sherlily said, "Phasers on standby, solar torpedoes loading."

"Cloaking device is already engaged." Magda was settling in at Ops, having arrived just ahead of Zack and the others. "Long range sensors confirms the presence of at least one vessel, unknown configuration and power signature, and what looks like a Turian-built personal scout ship. But I've never seen this design before."

"It may be an older model in service to a private contractor," Victus said. "Some of the mercenary and local government organizations in this region buy our surplus and modify our equipment to fit their needs."

Zack nodded in appreciation of the answer.

"There's more to it," Magda said. "The distress call is going out in Citadel standard, but the underlying communications protocols and language standard aren't in the system."

"Let me see." Vidinos stepped up to Magda's station. Magda gave Zack an uncomfortable look, and he nodded in reply. Magda indicated her monitor with the data on the distress call on it.

Zack was already getting a feeling Vidinos was something of an ass, but he was still shocked to hear the dismissive chuckle that came from the Turian commander. "Commander, this is a waste of time. Don't bother answering the distress signal," Vidinos announced.

Zack looked at him with surprise. So, indeed, did others on the bridge. "What do you mean?"

"The signal's not from any of the proper Citadel species," Vidinos announced. "It's Quarian. They're probably running from whomever they've stolen from lately. We've got more urgent matters to deal with."

A very fragile, very tense quiet settled onto the bridge. Zack stood from his chair and faced Vidinos. "Captain Vidinos," he began quietly, moving within a few inches of the Turian's green eyes, "I don't know about how you handle things in your command, but on my ship, we answer distress calls, no matter who's sending them. That is, in fact, one of our standing orders and required by the regulations of the Alliance Stellar Navy. And I bet it's standing orders for the Turian military too."

"You would be correct, Commander," General Victus said with firm approval in his voice. That approval turned to disapproval when he spoke again. "Captain Vidinos, I will speak with you when this is over. For now, step away from the station and let Commander Carrey and his crew do their jobs."

"Yes, General." Vidinos stepped over to the General and remained silent, but nothing suggested he was apologetic for what he had said.

By the time Zack returned to his seat, Apley was already beginning to speak. "We're coming up on the source of the distress signal now. Dropping us out of warp."

The hull thrummed as the warp engines disengaged. The cloaked attack ship slowed to sublight velocity toward a patch of asteroid belt in a G-sequence star system.

The holo-viewer came on and showed a brown-tinted ship slightly larger than the Koenig weaving around one asteroid. A much smaller craft was doing the same, clearly trying to avoid the larger ship.

"The ship matches a common profile for Batarian raiders," Magda said. "But the power readings are all off. She's definitely not standard."

"Bring us in on an attack run vector," Zack said. But even as he prepared to give the order to decloak and fire, he stopped himself. With the diplomatic talks due to start, I can't afford to cause an incident. We still don't know what's going on here. "Prepare to hail the Batarian ship as soon as we decloak."

"Sir?" Magda looked back at him. "We're giving up the element of surprise?"

"I can't afford to command an unprovoked attack on a Batarian ship right now, not with these talks going on," he insisted, even though Zack didn't quite believe in what he was doing. "April, standby to fire when I give the order."

"Aye sir."

"Magda…. disengage cloaking device. Open a general channel." After hearing her console give the confirming tone, Zack immediately said, "Attention Batarian vessel, this is the Alliance Starship Koenig. We are invest-"

Before he could finish the Batarian ship violently spun about to face them, showing more maneuverability than any M4P2 ship Zack had seen before. "Wait, that's not possible," Apley insisted. "The Batarians…"

A moment later the Koenig shuddered violently while yellow-orangish energy beams slammed against its shields.

Zack felt the tremor through the ship that resulted from the hit. "What the hell… evasive maneuvers! Return fire when able!"

The Koenig corkscrewed to avoid another barrage of energy beams from the Batarian ship. Her own powerful pulse phaser cannons opened up with their furious amber light. They quickly crossed the space between the ships…

...and were stopped by a crackle of yellow energy.

Another barrage of energy shots hit the Koenig. "Shields at ninety percent." Magda was shaking her head. "That energy signature… they're firing Ferengi weapons. And they have standard deflectors."

"What?" Zack stared at her in a moment of surprise.

"They're coming in, full speed," Apley warned.

"They might have shields, but we've got pulse phaser cannons, and I'm willing to bet a ship that size can't power shields enough to stop our best hits." Zack focused his attention back on the viewer. "Attack Plan Romeo. Now!"

The Koenig turned and maneuvered sharply as more energy beams sought it out in space. Occasional hits drained the shields of the attack ship further. But Apley was a great pilot, and Zack's chosen maneuver was meant to take advantage of the Koenig's superior agility as a space vehicle. At the end of the wide corkscrew maneuver Apley pulled the ship into, the ship flipped "downward" and, in the process, brought the main phaser battery back into alignment with the enemy ship.

This time Sherlily fired everything she could. A full-powered phaser barrage battered at the other ship. Her shields started to compensate.

But the barrage continued, focused on the same area of the enemy ship's shields thanks to Apley's piloting and Sherlily's aim. From the forward launchers a pair of solar torpedoes raced out, and then another. The four projectiles, wreathed in white-blue light that made them look like energy projectiles, struck the Batarian ship's shields.

Save the last one. It hit bare hull.

An explosion blasted a large chunk from the enemy ship. At first there was no immediate sign of further damage and a parting shot from the Koenig's dorsal phaser array hit the shields. But after several seconds the Batarian ship suddenly lost power, as was confirmed by Magda. "I'm picking up severe power fluctuations. I think the hits to the shields and the hull overwhelmed the ability of their systems to handle the strain. Their main power systems have failed completely and I'm detecting feedback damage to their sublight drives. I'd say they're crippled."

"What's the status on that other ship?"

Magda was already checking her instruments. "I'm reading severe damage to the entire craft. I think it might have an eezo leak somewhere. I'd recommend we evacuate the occupants to our infirmary."

"Transport them immediately, and inform Doctor Opani she's getting guests."

"Yes sir." Magda sent the relevant commands.

"And what about the Batarian vessel?" asked Victus. It was clear from his tone of voice that it was just simply a question, but Zack knew that his decision here would be scrutinized regardless.

"We don't have the capacity for holding a lot of prisoners." Zack took a moment to consider things. "General, we can beam over some of your people to take over the ship. If you don't mind throwing off our training schedule we could even see about towing them, or waiting until a friendly ship can come and take over."

"Given the circumstances, I think a diversion is in order. Carry on."

Zack nodded. "Magda, please inform Systems Alliance command of our current status. We're closest to their space here. Inform them we'd like a cruiser to come out and take over for us."

"Sending transmission."

"Commander Kane." Zack turned his chair to face Kane. "Would you mind taking over that ship for me?"

"I'll assemble my team. Commander Shepard?"

"I'll get mine," she said. "We'll gear up and meet you at the Transporter Station."

"I would like to see this vessel for myself," Major Lediks said. "I will join your team."

Zack nodded. "Of course. And let us know if we need to scrounge up another watchman or two."

Kane, Shepard, and Lediks left the bridge. Zack shifted in his chair to try and get comfortable. But he was having trouble doing it. The weapons used, the technology… it was disconcerting to say the least.

"The Batarians have been embargoed by the Citadel for years," Victus said. "The fact that they possess technology from other universes means they've found a way around that. It is vital we learn what we can."

"We'll take the next step when they've secured the ship. In the meantime, I'm going to write my report." Zack stood. "Ap, you have the bridge, I'll be in my office."

"Yes sir."

"Commander." Hajar stood. "They may need an engineering officer to help secure the ship and examine whatever they find over there. I'd like to volunteer."

Zack considered it. Lediks was going to provide that… but he was clearly doing it for his own purposes, or rather, Salarian purposes. Having an Alliance officer to report on what the Batarians had on the ship? He didn't want to pass that up. "Alright. Go report to Commander Kane."

"I'll send up Ensign Driik while I'm at it." Hajar's offer would permit Apley to take the center chair once Zack was gone.

"You do that, Ensign."

Hajar nodded and walked off the bridge. Zack watched her go and looked back at the viewer image of the Batarian ship and the crippled little Turian, or rather Quarian, ship. So where are the Batarians getting this technology? he wondered.

"Opani to Bridge," came the accented voice of Doctor Roliri Opani, the young Dorei physician serving as the Koenig's medical officer.

"Go ahead," Zack said.

"I've gone over our patients in the infirmary. One is in pretty bad shape, but I think I can stabilize him. The other is doing well and should be awake in an hour or so."

"Let me know when I can talk to at least one of them."

"Yes sir."

With nothing more to do, Zack left the bridge. He gave the ship one last glance and let himself think of what it might mean for what the others were dealing with.

Sorry Rob, Julia, but we may have just made your jobs far more complicated.




The Mass Relay System had shaped space exploration and settlement in the M4P2 Universe's Milky Way. The various star-faring civilizations had galactic-scale reach due to the mass relays, but despite this they took up barely 1% of the galaxy's volume. The nature of mass effect-derived FTL meant that ships had difficulties traveling at FTL velocities beyond relatively-short interstellar distances.

Gradually, Multiversal Contact would change this, as warp drive and other FTL systems like F1S1's Kearny-Fuchida hyperdrive were providing for greater range beyond the mass relays. But for the time being, with the exception of the Allied Systems' colonial zone in the Skyllian Verge, all space settlement and indeed activity happened within only a few parsecs of a mass relay.

This was why the Aurora could be a quarter of the galaxy away from the Koenig - a distance that would take years to travel at the highest warp speeds even the Aurora could manage - waiting near a mass relay in the Attican Traverse just one mass relay jump away from the lawless, anarchic Terminus Systems.

She wasn't alone. Nearby a Batarian dreadnought had already arrived via the mass relay. It was launching one of its craft while both sides maintained a tense civility. No shields, no kinetic barriers, and no weapons were active… for now.

As the Marines still on Aurora stood to attention, and the bizarre, somber, and brassily-strong tones of an alien anthem started playing rhythmically over the hanger bay PA, Robert Dale looked over his dress whites and decided he wanted to hate Zack for taking the easy job. Living on the Koenig for a week plus and dealing with ground exercises and simulated combat sounded a lot better than what he and the others were about to go through.

The importance of the occasion was easily confirmed, as Foreign Secretary Onaran was already aboard and waiting with Robert and Julia. Due to cultural reasons it was deemed essential that all ceremonial and protocol elements for receiving foreign diplomatic delegations be upheld.

The craft that landed in the bay was a squat, ugly gray craft with mass effect-derived drives. It came to a virtually perfect landing at the assigned spot, barely twenty feet from Robert. After a number of seconds the doors opened and armored infantry stepped out, holding guns at what looked like a variation of parade rest.

The armored infantry were in helmets, so their faces weren't visible. The same couldn't be said for the delegation that stepped out. It was the first time Robert had seen a Batarian in the flesh before. Their heads had a bisecting ridge of cartilage that went over the top and presumably back down the back of the head, with no visible nose but rather nostrils embedded directly into the front of the face. Fine hair covered parts of the front of the face, giving parts of the pale brown skin a fuzzy look. Four dark, iris-less eyes looked about, taking in all of the sights with care.

Finally the Batarian man stepped forward. "I am Captain Robert Dale," Robert said, "Commanding Officer of the Alliance Starship Aurora. This is my First Officer, Commander Julia Andreys. And joining me is Foreign Secretary Lentiro Onaran."

For a moment there was no response. When the Batarian finally spoke, it was with a deep voice with a guttural element that was clearly not in other humanoid voices Robert knew. "I am Tahrad am Rimhar, Minister of Diplomatic Exchange for the Batarian Hegemony." By opening his mouth Tahrad had shown that Batarian teeth were pointed and sharp. "My people welcome this chance to settle our misunderstandings with the United Alliance of Systems."

Robert refrained from speaking the thought in his head. The thought that the Batarian idea of "misunderstanding" actually meant repeated raids by Batarian-backed slavers and pirates against Alliance colonies across the Skyllian Verge. The attacks had petered off during the course of the year, true, but that seemed to be due to the increased presence of Systems Alliance and Stellar Navy fleet units, and the improving defenses on colonies and other Alliance installations that made raids ineffective.

Onaran was the height of diplomacy, however, avoiding that blunt truth by stating, "The Alliance welcomes the Batarian government's diplomatic initiative. We hope that a permanent settlement can end the strife between our governments and pave the way for further ties with the Batarian people."

Robert could sense the immense bemusement Tahrad had at that statement, mixed with contempt as he tilted his head slightly to the right. Onaran sounded naive but he imagined that was the intent. The Dorei was drawing the Batarian out to test his reaction. If he felt any of what Robert was feeling, he would know that his sentiment was useless. Tahrad may be here to negotiate an agreement, but it wasn't going to any paving of the way for a closer future sort of thing. The Batarians, for whatever reason, thought they could get more out of diplomacy than upping the ante with their support of the slaver and pirate raiders.

Something about that worried him. But Robert wasn't sure what it was. He focused on his duties for the moment. "We're still waiting for the arrival of the Citadel Council's delegate to the talks," he said. "But until then, we have refreshments ready in Conference Room 1. Commander Andreys and Commander Meridina will escort you and your entourage."

Meridina showed no reaction to that, but Julia gave him a slightly sardonic look before she gave a diplomatic nod to the Minister and led him, and his bodyguards and aides, on their way.

Robert and Onaran followed enough to get out of earshot of the guards who stayed behind at the Minister's shuttle. "This is not going to be easy, is it?" Robert asked.

"Certainly not," Onaran lamented. "The Batarians are merely taking their conflict with us to another theater. I have no doubt that their proposals will be unacceptable and their threats violent if we fail to give them everything they want."

"So why are we doing this again?"

"Optimism from President Morgan. Perhaps the right mix of acceptable concessions will provide us with relief from the Batarians' criminal proxies." Onaran sighed. "And it will appease Senator Pensley's peace faction, of course."

Robert matched the sigh. "Of course." As they walked out of the landing deck to head for Conference Room 1, Robert found himself wishing he had joined Zack on the Koenig for those training ops. Even a bunk to sleep in sounds preferable to this diplomatic wheeling and dealing. And whatever's going on with that, Zack has to be having an easier time than we are.




Zack had just about finished up his report when the ship's comm system activated. "Opani to Carrey. Our patient is awake."

"I'm on my way." He stood up from his desk and left his mostly-finished report to be completed later. He ventured to the lift and down to Deck 2. It was not a long walk to get to the infirmary.

The Koenig's infirmary was hardly the expansive, state-of-the-art medical facilities that Leo oversaw on the Aurora, complete with a team of trained physicians and surgeons. It was a small unit with about twelve beds overall, two of them set up for immediate intensive care, and in the far corner an emergency surgical theater. As Opani had frequently told him, the Koenig's infirmary wasn't made for heavier casualties. There just wasn't enough space.

Opani had two nurses from the crew on staff. As with many crew, they were cross-trained in other specialties. Right now both were on duty attending to the Quarians they'd picked up. The unconscious one was in a white and red-hued suit, with a nurse obediently checking on him.

Doctor Opani was standing beside the other Quarian. Her dark teal complexion, one of the darkest teals in the spectrum of Dorei skin colors, was contrasted with the light purple of the spots running around the rim of her face and down her neck. Her dark purple hair was pulled into a ponytail at the back of her head.

Zack knew that not every species had the same division of sexual characteristics as Humans and other Human-like species did. The Alakin and the Turians immediately came to mind on that point. The Quarians, however, did not, as the Quarian sitting on the biobed had very clear feminine traits. Which, he supposed, could be something entirely different for another species - Tom Barnes had often joked about the idea of finding a species where the males had the natural busts - but he figured this wasn't the case. Or would at least he would find out shortly. "Doctor, how is our patient?"

"Alive and healthy. Unlike her poor friend. His suit had a number of breaches that I had to patch up with the help of our replicator," Opani said. "She was of great assistance in the matter."

"Suit repair is something every Quarian learns early on," the female Quarian said. Her suit was dark blue and light violet in coloration with a band over the right shoulder and under the left arm. "For us, it can be a matter of life and death." Her accented voice was distorted electronically by the helmet of her environmental suit, with a light flashing as she spoke. Twin eyes shined through the dark color of the helmet face. "And I'm worried that he might still get an infection."

"Their immune systems are terribly weak," Opani said. "So I'm going to be working hard to keep our other patient from dying."

"Good, do what you can" he said to Opani before looking to the Quarian girl. "So, welcome, you're aboard the Alliance Starship Koenig. I'm Commander Zachary Carrey, the Commanding Officer. I'm pleased to meet you." He offered his hand.

After a moment's uncertainty and hesitation, the Quarian girl took the hand and let him have a brief handshake. "Thank you, Commander, for saving us from the Batarians. And I have some information you'll want to see. It may be why they attacked us."

"I'll be happy to look at it, Miss…"

"Oh." The Quarian made a disapproving sound. "I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."




Conference Room 1 on the Aurora was no stranger to diplomatic negotiations. Robert considered how many they had already held in the spacious room located toward the rear of the primary hull, on Deck 14. Back in the day, before they knew for sure the Alliance would be formed, Carlton Farmer had included the conference and briefing rooms in the Aurora because it was to be the Facility's flagship, their standard-bearer, and that would require it to fulfill many roles that a normal starship might not be as equipped to perform.

And it was certainly a benefit to have it here, now, for these talks with the Batarians.

The surprise was that, as diplomatic negotiations went, this one was surprisingly quiet while being completely ineffectual. That was new: usually quiet meant general mutual agreement and respect, with dispassionate quibbling over minor details, while ineffectual talks tended to be full of passion and vitriol.

Tahrad am Rimhar looked almost bored as the preliminary discussions continued. The arrival of the Citadel Council's appointed representative and mediator would be the herald for full talks to begin, of course, but that hadn't stopped Onaran from trying to lay the groundwork while they waited. "It is not the purpose of the Alliance to block off any avenue of Batarian expansion. There are still other systems in the region where the Hegemony can easily assert a claim and presence."

"You miss the point, Minister Onaran." Rimhar kept his hands separate on the table. "The Batarian Hegemony has had legitimate territorial claims in the Skyllian Verge for centuries. If anyone determines who may settle which system, it should be us. Your people have already taken over several star systems we intended to colonize in the coming years."

"We found no indications of such intentions," Onaran answered. "You left no claim markers. No buoys. No outposts. Nothing to indicate to anyone that the system had been claimed. Our settlements were made in good faith."

"Good faith is irrelevant. You have taken worlds that the Batarian people have greater rights to. And we insist that you withdraw from those worlds."

"It would seem that we have one another's starting negotiating positions in mind now."

Robert lifted a hand as a motion he wanted to speak. When both ministers glanced his way, he leaned forward. "The territorial issues aside, what I would like to know is if you can guarantee that our people will never be subjected to slavery in your territories, and if the Hegemony will assist in suppressing the illegal trade in sentient beings."

A thin smile crossed the four-eyed alien's face. "I see you share the obsessions of the Citadel Council in this matter. I will tell you what we have long told them. What you call slavery is a respected and honored practice in our culture. The obligation of labor from those of lower status to those of higher status. We will not dismantle millennia of our heritage to satisfy alien hypocrisy."

Julia was quick to response. "Hypocrisy?"

"Your species all complain about slavery, but you all indulge in it. You simply refer to it as other names. Surely you have heard of the Asari-run planet Illum? They call it indentured servitude, but it is slavery. Beyond Illum, the Terminus Systems are full of members of the Citadel's species, and slavery is just as common there as it is in the Hegemony." Taraht clearly thought he was on a roll, and before anyone could object he continued. "Your own societies recognize this principle. Those of higher status force the rest to work for them. You compel labor from your criminals just as we do."

"Even convicted criminals still have basic rights," Robert answered. "And that includes not having an implant forced into your head to take away control of your own body."

"That simply means that you compound your hypocrisy with weakness."

Robert felt a surge of anger at the callous remark, and the tone behind it. But the way Tahrad seemed almost bored by the discussion held him back.

"As for your people being taken, the Hegemony does not condone slave-raiding into worlds with organized governments," Tahrad continued. "There are certain laws and rules that regulate the addition of new slaves to the Hegemony's economy. Of course, your worlds fall into a gray area due to our pre-existing claims upon them, and I cannot guarantee that overzealous agents of the Hegemony will refrain from deciding your presence on our worlds is sufficient justification for enslavement. It is clear from the first contact of our civilizations that criminals are willing to take the chance."

The reference to the attack on the Dorei colony of Yamalia was hardly the most subtle threat on the issue. Tahrad was being wordy and legalistic with that threat, but he had still issued it: withdraw from worlds we want or we'll continue to raid your worlds for slaves.

Julia once again spoke in reply, and there was no mistaking the smirk on her face. "Yes, they did take that chance. But I wonder how many decided not to bother anymore after what happened to those first raiders."

There was a slight slip in Tahrad's smile. Robert could feel the irritation the Batarian felt at being reminded of what happened when the Koenig, under Julia's command, had stopped the slave-raiders with the help of the SSV Tokyo.

Before any further conversation could be continued, a beep filled the room courtesy of the ship's communications system. Nick Locarno's voice came over the speaker a second later. "Bridge to Captain Dale."

Robert noticed most of the sets of eyes in the room focus on him. He definitely had the room's attention. He tapped the blinking blue light his omnitool was displaying over the back of his hand. "Dale here. Go ahead, Commander Locarno."

"An Asari personal yacht just came through the mass relay. They're requesting permission to dock."

"How big of a personal yacht? Can they go in the main shuttlebay?"

"She looks like she'll fit into the support ship dock."

"Well, with the Koenig gone, we're not using it for anything else. Go ahead and permit them docking clearance. Tell them I'll be there shortly to escort the Matriarch aboard."

"Doing so now."

With the call ended Robert stood up. "Excuse me, everyone. I'm going to bring in our mediator."

No protests were made and he left. Robert made his way aft to the docking port for the Aurora's support ship dock, the Koenig's usual place. By the time he arrived the Asari ship was already docked. It was colored a deep purple and looked far too small for the dock's space, but was still large enough that it would never have fit in the shuttle bay or the fighters' hanger bay. Something of the shape reminded him almost of a manta ray.

His arrival coincided with an honor guard and the presence of Commander Meridina. All was ready when the dock door slid open.

A few Asari figures filed out, most wearing fancy, beautifully-colored jumpsuits. They were arrayed around a central Asari, a blue-skinned woman in a fancy black suit, one that was as inelegant as it was moderately immodest, with a cut-out part on the chest displaying part of her cleavage.

Beside her was the one sight Robert didn't expect. A Turian was with the company. He was of a striking gray complexion and wearing a suit that looked more like combat armor than formal wear. He looked at Robert with ice-blue eyes and an intent behind them…

There was something about him. Something Robert was sure he'd seen before. But he couldn't think of what it was.

If he had been given time to dig into his memories, then an identification might have been made, but he caught himself. Protocol was going to be critical here. "I'm Captain Robert Dale of the Alliance Starship Aurora." He smiled diplomatically and nodded. "Matriarch Benezia?"

"Indeed, Captain." The Asari's voice had a husky timbre to it, and the translation systems were treating it as a refined accent. "I received word that you have already received the Batarian delegation?"

"Yes, ma'am. We haven't started negotiations proper yet. Secretary Onaran and Minister am Rimhar are doing some preliminary discussions on our governments' current positions."

In an instant Robert knew that was not going over well. He could sense the instinctive distrust from the Turian. Benezia was a blank slate in that regard. "I expected you would do such," Benezia said. "This is your government's first proper diplomatic contact with the Batarians. But I hope you realize the Citadel Council may find this suspicious behavior. There are those who would argue that you could be looking to make your own deal."

"It is what I would expect, honestly," the Turian said. "Humans have always been an aggressive, impatient species."

"We've been logging the discussions to reassure you of the contrary, Madame Matriarch." Robert had to keep the smile on his face, but he couldn't help but feel that Onaran had miscalculated with his choices.

"I'm certain there has been no harm."

For a moment Robert considered asking to be introduced to her entourage, if only to learn more about the Turian. But they already had unnecessary tension. Making it worse didn't seem like the right thing to do. I'll have to see if we have his image on record.

"If you'll follow me, Madame Matriarch, I'll escort you to Conference Room 1." With her nod of assent, he took a step back before turning and leading them into his ship.




Zack escorted Tali to the conference room on the Koenig. General Victus was already waiting with Nisia and Barnes. Shepard's voice was coming over the speaker. "The crew's being more than a little uncooperative. And they were actively sabotaging the ship before we secured it."

"In what way?" asked Victus.

"It looks like they were trying to destroy specific parts with explosives. And Ensign Hajar's already written off the computer cores from how thoroughly they wiped them."

"Although the wipe itself can be seen as evidence," Hajar added through her own omnitool's communications function. "The way that they wiped their computers was more than a simple deletion. There are a number of ways to thoroughly annihilate the data in a system, some being more thorough than others, some being quicker. I've seen this wiping method before."

"Where, Ensign?" Zack asked.

"When I was on the Tanzania back in Starfleet. It's a method I found in use when we were trying to recover computer data from a ship abandoned by Breen privateers."

"Ferengi, now Breen." Zack took his seat. "Any luck on identifying the shields?"

"Not S5T3, I can say that much. The generator layout is all wrong. I would almost say they're Salehi Defense Corps Mark IIIs..."

Zack blinked. He recognized that company name. "As in D3R1?"

"Yes. These generators are a lot like the models found on numerous ships built in the Colonial Confederation. But the emitter wavelength variance is off."

Barnes let out a sigh. "Hajar, was the variance setting closer to ten cycles per minute?"

"Eleven point one."

That caused Barnes to wince. "Damn. Arcturan knockoffs."

"Tom?" Zack looked at him. "What are you getting at?"

"Back before they launched the Aurora, I spent some time doing the rounds of various outposts and stuff. I visited Abdis D3R1. And l hate that damned planet to this day." The aside was clearly not appreciated by the others, but Zack thankfully didn't feel it necessary to say anything as Barnes kept going. "Well, we had a ship come in with major power failures that nearly caused it to crash. It turns out the ship was from the Arcturus Free States or Freeholds or whatever they call themselves and that the captain bought knockoffs of Salehi Corps' shield generators from a source there. Of course, said knockoffs were pieces of crap and caused the failures when the captain's first mate tried some routine shield tests. Well, the head engineer I was working with knew this stuff already, and he told me how to look for these kinds of knockoffs. The uniform thing you find is an abnormally low variance rate. It allows the shields to look more powerful, but it makes them way more vulnerable to frequency matching firing algorithms."

"This could explain their power failures during the fight," Zack said.

"How could your defense technology have wound up in Batarian hands?" asked Nisia.

"That's the problem. It's not really ours." Barnes shook his head. "I mean, the Arcturans are… they're like Space Somalia, I guess? Or maybe some other… I dunno, anarchy-central, that's what the place is."

"The Arcturan Freeholds, or Free States, are basically a collection of settlements with almost no civil government and with residents uniformly devoted to keeping it that way," Zack added to clarify what Barnes had said. "The only reason the place isn't a pirate haven is that the pirates are too organized and controlling for their liking, and because the Arcturans know that they'd get stomped by their neighbors if they let the pirates in. Everybody has a gun and you don't live long if you don't know how to use it."

"It's like the Wild West, but with spaceships," Barnes said.

"Wild… West?" asked Tali, in a moment of curiosity that drew the attention of the assembled.

"It's the kind of world you would find in the Terminus Systems," Zack said, improving on Barnes' failed analogy. "And it's no surprise that Arcturan-built gear could wind up anywhere, even here." He looked to Tali. "Anyway, now that we have an idea on some of the new capabilities the Batarians are trying to field, our friend here has some information to share."

Tali seemed uncomfortable and for a moment Zack wondered if he had been wrong to put her "on the spot" like that. But after that clear moment of discomfort Tali brought her arm up and her omnitool activated. "My friend Kon'Fanim and I were on a scouting mission for the Migrant Fleet. We're leaving on Pilgrimage soon and this is part of our training on being away from home." Above the omnitool a series of figures and numbers flashed by. "We were just supposed to scout some empty systems in this cluster and report back. But when we were scouting this star system…"

Zack looked at the one Tali had indicated. "The Hylakos System," he said.

"...we found signs of mining that weren't in the latest reports on the extranet." Tali lowered her hand. "We landed and took readings of the mined sites. It was confusing. Whoever did it took a lot of effort, but there was no sign of element zero. And I can't think of anything that would be valuable enough for the effort."

"What did you find?" Victus asked.

"Basic minerals. Cadmium, lithium, and something like mercury. A liquid-state mineral, I mean, but it doesn't match mercury's atomic composition."

"Did you get a scan of it?" Barnes leaned forward. "I might be able to identify it."

"I can say I've never heard of this metal." Tali's large fingers tapped her omnitool and brought up a model of the substance. Barnes accepted it and displayed it on his omnitool. When his eyes widened, Tali asked, "What? You know this?"

"Yeah. Oh frakking yeah."

"What is it?", Zack asked his friend.

Barnes looked at him. "It's latinum," he said. "Almost pure latinum."

"Wait, what?" Zack sat up.

"What is this 'latinum'?" asked Nisia.

"It's a liquid metal that you can find in certain asteroids and moons," Barnes answered. "In societies with matter-replication technology, it can end up being used as currency because its atomic structure is too complex and delicate for a replicator to assemble. I mean, it's like gold and silver in older economies, or eezo in yours. You simply replicate some non-reactive mineral like gold to act as a binding agent and poof, you've got usable currency. And it sometimes gets added to other alloys for stuff. Latinum can be a protective material when alloyed with steel and some other minerals, mostly smaller things like household objects and appliances. You won't find it in starships or anything like that."

"And if the Batarians are finding latinum out here, then that gives them a ready cash source to go buying things on the Multiversal black market." Zack looked to Tali. "I'm guessing that's when the Batarians attacked you?"

"They came out of FTL almost on top of us. If Kon wasn't such a great pilot, they would have killed us with the first shot. I started transmitting the distress signal right away."

"And so here we are." Zack nodded to Tali. "Thank you, Miss… is it nar Rayya or Zorah?"

"Zorah is my family name. I am from the ship Rayya."

"Well, Miss Zorah, thank you again. I'm afraid we don't have any space for quartering, but Doctor Opani can put you in a bed in the infirmary, and our mess hall replicators are available for you if you need something to eat or drink."

"Since you have Turians on board, your food is dextro-compatible?"

"It is." Zack nod.

"Then thank you, Commander. If you need anything, let me know. As long as I'm on your ship, it's only right that I help keep the ship working."

Zack nodded. Barnes smirked and nodded as well. "If I need the extra hands for something, I'll keep it in mind, kid."

After she left Zack looked to the others. "General, I'm going to issue a report on this to Alliance Defense Command."

"I'll inform Palaven and the Citadel. Although I expect there will be few, if any, consequences to the Hegemony. The Batarians always insist that pirates and slavers are 'criminal elements', and the Citadel has never gotten convincing, undeniable proof to the contrary."

"Right. I know how that goes." Zack stood. "Hopefully Commander Shepard and the others can find something over there. I'd like to know where these ships are based."

"I think we would all like to know that, Commander," Victus answered. He stood as well. "Please keep me informed."

"Of course, sir."

 

[Big Steve]

For Kane and the others, moving around the wrecked Batarian ship was a struggle in more than one way. Some corridors were blocked by debris or remnant fires. The lifts couldn't work half of the time, even with the backup power sources brought from the Koenig's relatively-meager stores. And the Batarians themselves were not helpful captives.

After an inspection of the team looking through what was left of the engineering area, Kane walked back toward the bow of the raiding ship. Wediks and Shepard were still there with two other officers: Ensign Hajar and one of Shepard's people, a dark-haired officer she'd introduced as Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko. "Have you found anything yet?" Kane asked.

Hajar spoke first from a computer panel. "I'm still trying this data reconstruction program, but I don't hold out much hope. Their data wiping program is thorough to the point of physical data removal."

"I am hoping to find something in the access memory buffers," said Wediks from another station, which he was working on with his omnitool.

"And what about the ship itself?"

Hajar shook her head. "The ship's a total loss. That power overload and the resulting secondary explosions caused too much structural damage. We would need a cruiser-scale structural integrity field to risk any sort of sublight or FTL velocities."

"But I might be able to do something with the communications gear." Alenko was operating one of the consoles. Like Shepard he was in Systems Alliance standard issue battle armor, but without the white N7 designation present. "It looks like it was also damaged in the fight. But that's worked in our favor."

"Oh?" Shepard asked. "In what way?"

"Because the power overload fried out the connection between the comm system memory and the main computers. When they ran their data wipe process, it didn't carry into the memory."

Shepard walked over to him. "But wouldn't that mean that the overload also fried the system memory?"

"Only partly." Shepard and Kane could see Alenko visibly sorting through data sectors, some functional and some corrupted. "The wiring burned out first. So there's still some data left in the system memory I can use. Maybe some comm activity…" One of the icons on his omnitool display flashed green. "There. I've got something. It looks like an audio transmission that hadn't been cleared from memory yet."

"Can you put it on?" Kane asked.

"Let me see…" Alenko started pressing more keys. "Here."

The guttural tones of Batarian speech started crackling over the bridge speakers. After a moment the auto-translators kicked in. "...targets in this side of the cluster. Allow me to move closer to the Humans' trade lanes! The prizes…"

"The prizes do not merit the risk. At this juncture we cannot afford to alienate our trading partners by drawing attention, and we certainly cannot jeopardize the upcoming talks with the Multiversal Alliance. The Minister will have our eyes ripped from our heads if we ruin his plan."

"But my men are restless. We haven't claimed prizes for over a month."

"They will have to wait. If things go as planned, many prizes will come to them, and their portions from our contributions to the slave markets back home will be great enough that we'll all move up in caste. Your only worry at this point is to protect the latinum deposits. Let us worry ab-…" The voice dissolved into static-laden gibberish for a moment before the file ceased running.

"Well, that certainly sounds ominous," Shepard said. She looked toward Kane. "A plan involving the negotiations with your Alliance."

"I'll report it to the Koenig immediately." Kane was frowning. "But I have another problem."

"How are they going to react when this ship doesn't check in?" Shepard nodded. "From the way it sounds, they might assume the captain decided to take matters into his own hands and move closer to the major trading lanes in this cluster. That won't make them happy."

Kane nodded. "Which means they'll be sending searchers when check-ins don't come on time." Kane pressed a hand to the side of his combat helmet. "Kane to Koenig. We've got some updates for you, and some bad news."




With the meetings over Barnes headed back to his preserve in Engineering. With Hajar over on the Batarian ship his second, Lieutenant (j.g.) Ana Poniatowski, was working her off-shift time. The slight Polish girl with honey-colored hair didn't show any fatigue while covering the scant battle damage they had incurred. "The shield generators passed the post-battle inspection," she said while Barnes was tapping keys at the Engineering Master Systems Display. "I am a little worried about what looks like some stress damage on the port impulsor's power conduit."

Barnes brought up the relevant section. "Go ahead and assign a DC team to look it. And send Lang and Zeroll to check up on the starboard aft torpedo launcher. Our last diagnostic put up some warning flags I want them to look into."

"Yes sir." As Poniatowski said that she looked up with some confusion. "What is…?"

Barnes turned his head to follow what Poniatowski was looking at. The starboard-side entrance to main engineering had opened, and the Quarian girl they'd picked up was already stepping through the door. Barnes let out a little groan of frustration before making his way over to where she was leaning over to inspect one of the control surfaces. "Hey!" he called out. "You, over there, Tali-whatever it was!"

The Quarian turned to face him. "Tali'Zorah," she corrected.

"Yes, whatever." Barnes stepped up to just outside of her personal space. "This is Main Engineering. I can't just have you wandering around here on a grand tour, I've got a ship to run."

"I know, and I'm here to help," she said. "I'm an engineer too."

"Really? A fully trained engineer?" Barnes couldn't quite keep the skepticism out of his voice. "And in what fields? With what systems? Do you know how to keep a naqia reactor operating? Have you trained with plasma coolant lines? Do you know how warp drives work?"

"I've seen the diagrams on the extranet…"

"Yeah, I figured." Barnes shook his head. "I get it, I mean, you're fascinated with engineering, always reading stuff online about reactors and engines and vehicles. But I don't care how many net pages you've studied, kid, you don't have the education or training to work in here, and I've got enough work to do without you getting in the way."

"I have training, you ignorant…" Even with her face obscured by the glassy plate covering it, it wasn't hard for Barnes to imagine a generic humanoid face twisted with irritation and frustration. "My people live with this every day! I've learned how to run starships since I was a child!"

"There's a difference between patching up a bulkhead and fixing a plasma feed or a power conduit, kid." Barnes got closer. "Now, I'm busy, so I need you to go. Get up to the mess hall, get yourself some grub, go check up on your buddy, whatever. Just stay out of trouble."

Tali's body tensed with frustration. She let it out with a sharp, "Bosh'tet!" and a string of Quarian curses as she turned and left Main Engineering.

Barnes made sure she was out the door before walking away, causing the door to close as he did. Poniatowski looked up from where she had finished delegating the engineering and damage-control teams. "Maybe you were a little harsh?" she asked.

"Maybe," he admitted. "But you've got to be that way with kids who think they know more than they actually do. Give them an inch and they take the mile."

"'Inch'? 'Mile'?"

"Centimeter and kilometer." Barnes shook his head. "Anyway, let's get back to it."




Victus entered Zack's office with measured steps. The Turian general nodded to him. "Commander, you had something to report?"

"Yes sir." Zack motioned to a chair, one he'd replicated to be easier for Turians to sit in. "General, have you heard anything from your superiors?"

"The Citadel Council hasn't responded to my report. Palaven Command has. But my instructions are merely to be ready to support whatever course of action is decided upon by the other authorities. The Hierarchy has few interests in this region of space. Our presence is at the request of the Council."

"So you've got no new directives?"

"I do not. And I haven't received any news on a ship being sent out to take custody of the pirate vessel."

Zack nodded. "I haven't heard anything either," he said. "I even relayed Kane's last report. I sent it straight to Admiral Maran. But all I get back from Defense Command is to support whatever decisions the Citadel and the M4P2 governments decide upon."

"It would appear our superiors are uncertain of how they want to handle this information." Victus turned thoughtful. "It makes sense. Everyone wants the negotiations with the Hegemony to succeed. Your Alliance, the Citadel, Palaven… nobody will want to risk ruining that with an incursion into Batarian-held territory."

"But we're still quite a distance from the recognized Batarian claims in the Verge," Zack noted. "Even if these pirates are working for the Hegemony, or Hegemony officials, I can't see how dealing with them will undermine the talks."

"The Batarians are sensitive and prickly, Commander. It's easy to offend them."

"They're also slavers, and that offends me," Zack said. He was frowning. "So, General, what should we do? Like I said, I'm following your lead on this. We can't just sit here. Sooner or later, someone in this gang is going to be looking for their ship. They'll have to, if that signal was accurate."

"I'm in agreement."

"We don't have room for prisoners," Zack continued. "We can't kill them…"

"Technically, Commander, we can," Victus said in correction. "As pirates and raiders, they are subject to execution in the field if caught in the act."

Zack's jaw clenched at that. His head lowered for a moment. The thought within him was if he could do such a thing. Just… kill people out of hand. Not in a combat situation, not when it was killing an enemy before they could kill him, or those he was responsible for. It would be the cold-blooded execution of helpless prisoners.

A dark thought quickly echoed in his head, with his voice. As if they'd think twice about killing you after you surrendered. They'd only spare you to put a chip in your head and sell you as a slave.

"I'm not saying we should," Victus said. "But we may have to. If the Batarians realize their ship was taken by our forces, they'll move to avoid further compromising their operations."

"And they may also rush whatever plan they've got involving the talks." A sick feeling came to Zack. "Could they be planning an attack on the Aurora? If they've refitted ships with this technology…"

"I think that might be too brazen an act. The Batarians know how everyone else would see it." Victus shook his head. "Although if you can send a warning to them, go ahead."

"I've already sent them a message with the recovered audio file. I also sent it to Maran's with Kane's report." Zack put his hands together on the desk. "But that still leaves us with a big problem. That ship. We either have to destroy it and make it look like an accident…"

"...or we have to hide it."

"Hide it," repeated Zack. After another moment of thinking on it, he reached to a button on his desk. "Carrey to bridge."

"Bridge here, sir," answered an Alakin voice. Ensign Driik had clearly assumed a bridge watch to give Apley some time off-shift.

"Call all senior officers to the conference room, we're having an emergency meeting in fifteen minutes' time."

"I'll inform them right away, sir."




Experience on the Koenig so far had been frustrating for Tali. Every instinct she had demanded that she be doing something for the ship, something to ensure it was going to keep working. It was the impulse of a lifetime that she could not easily ignore. Laying on her assigned bed in the infirmary, Tali let Barnes' words stew in her mind. That smug bosh'tet. How can people with so much technology be so small-minded?!

True, she knew little about the actual mechanics of warp drive flight, and the electro-plasma system used for the primary power conduits was not the kind of thing you'd find on a Quarian ship, but the underlying mechanics of the latter were still easy to understand, and for the former… well, she could grasp enough, couldn't she? And she wasn't even asking to work on the warp FTL drive either! Just something to do, something she could do and was trained to do.

"Well, I can see someone is frustrated," an accented voice remarked. Tali turned and faced Doctor Opani through the purple hue of her face plate. Internal systems adjusted to let Tali see the actual color of what was around her. The dark teal complexion, the dark purple hair, the purple spots… the Dorei were unlike any other species she'd seen before, on the extranet or in person. "How are you?"

"I am better than Kon." Tali looked at her friend, still unconscious on the nearby biobed. "Has he gotten an infection?"

"I believe so, going by his body's internal reactions. And I've consulted with Citadel medical databases on Quarian treatment . I think my regimen of medicines and anti-bacterials will control the infection and keep it from spreading." Opani settled onto the bed opposite from Tali. "I am fascinated by your species," she admitted. "But I'm also quite sad for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Your immune systems forcing you to live your lives in those suits. The way this galaxy treats your people." Opani shook her head. "It saddens me that your people cannot enjoy the simple pleasures I have known my whole life."

"Maybe if we could find a homeworld…" Tali lifted her legs up onto the bed and rested her elbows near her knees. "We do what we have to in order to survive."

"I can understand that." Opani curled her legs under her. "So, what is bothering you? It's not hard to see you are frustrated."

"It's that fire-headed jerk you have running Engineering," Tali spat. "I went to him to help and he he threw me out. He treated me like I knew nothing about how to keep a ship running, like I was some inexperienced child."

"Maybe he's worried that you don't know enough about our technology?" Opani suggested. "I am certainly a physician, and I have surgical training, but I would never fail to step aside in a matter that demanded a medical specialist. That would be irresponsible of me."

"I am willing to learn."

"Learning takes time."

"I know! But…" Tali sighed. "You must understand, Doctor, that I grew up on a ship. Quarian children are taught from the time we are young to do what we can to help keep our ships working. We get taught how to fix bulkheads, replace air filters, rewire power systems and equipment, anything that might be necessary for us to know in a ship-wide emergency." Opani was now studying Tali's face plate intently, as if to discern the expression hidden beneath the plate. "Every instinct I have is urging me to help maintain this ship."

Opani contented herself with a single nod of her head. Some Humans might have responded by setting their hand on Tali's arm or shoulder. Opani had been around Humans enough to contemplate it, although most Dorei cultures had more intricate rules about physical contact between people in such contexts due to their contact-based psionics.

"I'm not stupid," Tali protested. "I know there are systems on this ship I could not work on without learning more about them. But I'm a trained engineer and there are plenty of things I could easily help with, if only that arrogant engineer would let me."

"You're referring to Lieutenant Barnes?"

"The one with the red hair? Yes."

Opani nodded. "To be honest, I'm not sure if even Lieutenant Derbely, our usual Chief Engineer, would have accepted your help. She is just as protective of the ship as Barnes is."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Tali demanded. "Everything I've been raised to do is telling me to find work on this ship while I am here. I'm not supposed to sit around like a small child!"

"I understand it is frustrating, Tali'Zorah. Perhaps if you took the time to read more about our tech…"

The tone of the ship's intercom stopped her, with an Alakin voice speaking afterward. "All senior officers please report to the conference room. Commander Carrey has called an emergency meeting. I repeat…"

"I must go," Opani said, sliding off the bed to her feet. Sensing Tali was not appeased by the reading suggestion, she added, "I will speak with Lieutenant Barnes about this. Maybe he has work that he feels is safe for you, work you can do that will make him trust you."

"That is all you can do, I suppose," Tali lamented. "Thank you, Doctor Opani."

Opani nodded once before walking to the infirmary exit.




The senior officers of the Koenig, General Victis, Captain Vidinos, and Nisia gathered on time in the small conference room on the ship, with Kane, Shepard, and the others visible on a holo-monitor from the battered bridge of the Batarian ship. "There's absolutely no chance we can tow this ship," Hajar said. "There's too much structural damage."

Barnes shook his head. "Even if there wasn't, I'd be against it. Our tractor beam can tow a mass that size for maybe an hour or two before we burn it out."

"Wouldn't that be enough?" Sherlily leaned forward. "We can tow it into interstellar space, maybe drop a specialized beacon so we know where we left it? Another ship can pick it up once someone decides what to do."

"Maybe." Magda looked from her colleague to Zack. "But let's be clear here. We have no idea what the capabilities of these Batarian ships are. They've gotten shield technology, weapon technology, and computer programming from other universes. The sensors on this ship looked standard, but that doesn't mean the sensors used on other ships in this group are. And most M4P2 sensor suites could possibly track the remnant radiation of a warp trail, especially one influenced by an operating tractor beam."

"In other words, we could give away that the ship was taken," Zack said.

"Exactly. At this point I don't think we can take anything for granted about these people. Unless we can find out for certain what they've been getting off the black market..."

"We've tried everything with the prisoners, but nobody's talking." Commander Shepard crossed her arms. "And they act more like military personnel than pirates."

"That's not a surprise, Commander Shepard. Many of these Batarian criminal organizations use Batarians trained by their government for military service," Victus said, looking at the screen.

"That's convenient," Kane remarked. "The Hegemony must have a lot of veterans they can talk into becoming pirates on their behalf."

Victus answered, "It's long been suspected, but we have no proof, and we're not likely to get any."

"We could destroy the vessel," Lediks proposed. "The anti-matter reactor core they installed has numerous flaws we could exploit."

"And what would we do with the crew?" Apley asked.

"We have no room for them on your ship, Lieutenant. The obvious solution is to leave them on their vessel."

"You mean blow up helpless prisoners." Opani glared daggers at the Salarian on the screen. "That is monstrous!"

"No, Doctor, it's expedient," Vidinos retorted. "And advisable. They're pirates and slavers and by interstellar law they can be executed in the field for those crimes, if necessary."

Opani opened her mouth to continue her argument, but she stopped. A strained, haunted look came to her face.

"Maybe there's an alternative," Sherlily said. "What if we tractored them deeper into the asteroid field?"

Magda shook her head. "Without knowing how sophisticated their sensor systems are, I can't tell you if they'd pick up trace gravitons or not. Or traces of our impulsor drives. Even if they couldn't find the other ship, they'd know it was tractored away. Unless we can cloak and hope the cloaking field absorbs the trace radiation…"

"Cloaking and running the tractor beam? Nope, not happening," Barnes said, shaking his head. "The gravitons will mess up the cloaking field. I might be able to buffer the drive for a bit, keep it from leaving as strong a trail, but that's all I can promise you."

"I don't like killing prisoners who surrendered," Shepard said. "We're better than that."

"Isn't Human history full of occasions when Humans did that to each other?" The question was from Vidinos. "And I know what your people did on Torfan, Shepard. Don't try to climb on any moral high ground, because Humans don't have it."

"I wasn't on Torfan," Shepard retorted. "And it doesn't change the fact that killing prisoners goes against interstellar law."

"You are in error, Commander." Lediks was speaking again. "The interstellar law under Council rules clearly stipulates that pirates and slavers are subject to summary field execution."

"Hostis universalis," Zack murmured. When a few people looked his way, he clarified, "It's a legal term I heard during a command officer conference a couple of months ago. We were being reminded that under existing interstellar law in most universes, pirates and slavers can be considered hostis universalis, 'enemies of all', and we have no legal obligations toward them. We can leave them to die in their broken ships if taking them would risk our crews." Zack frowned. "A few captains and legal experts even made the argument that we could just shoot them, if we wanted."

"Then it's clear all of our governments are in agreement. Let's stop wasting time."

"Before we render a decision, I want to know more about what we have recovered." Victus looked to the screen.

This time it was Kaiden Alenko who spoke. "Ensign Hajar helped me recover more data from their comm systems' access memory. I think that I might be able to provide coordinate data on where some of the transmissions were being directed."

"Then we could possibly find one of their bases," Zack said, pleased. "Maybe even their main base."

"That was my thought as well. We're still running data reconstruction over here…"

Alenko was interrupted by a tone over the Koenig's intercom. "Bridge to Conference Room," chirped Ensign Driik.

Zack tapped a button on the plain gray plastic table they were seated at. "Carrey here."

"Sir, we have a ship approaching on long range sensors. It's using a warp drive field, approximately Warp 5 in velocity. Power signature and readings are not in the database. But it could be a Batarian ship. The mass readings, if accurate, indicate the vessel is of cruiser capability."

That caused Zack to frown. "Damn," he said. "What's their ETA?"

"Fifty minutes."

"Keep me informed and have the transporter station prepare to evacuate the ship of our personnel. Carrey out." He looked to the others. "We're out of time."

"I'll have our people prep for immediate extraction," Shepard said. "Ensign Hajar is going to standby to enact any plans you have in their engineering sections. Signing off."

The team on the enemy vessel disappeared from the screen. The conference room went quiet. "It appears we have a decision to make, Commander," Victus said.

Zack nodded. They did have a decision to make. And it was the kind of decision he never wanted to face.




Personal Log: Commander Zachary Carrey, 10 August 2642. I have twenty minutes left. Twenty minutes in which I have to decide whether to condemn the prisoners we've taken to prevent their compatriots from knowing we're onto them.

I never expected to make these kinds of decisions. I never wanted to. I wish Victus would order us to blow up the Batarian ship and be done with it. But he's leaving me that decision. I think he's testing me to see what I'll do. If I'll do the "right thing" or not.

What is the right thing? I mean, these people aren't innocent. They're pirates. Worse, they're slavers. They would put control implants into every member of my crew if they got the chance. I shouldn't give a damn if they die. I'm not sure I actually do, in fact.

But… killing them for expediency, blowing them up after they surrendered… I don't know. It's one thing if their ship blew up while we were fighting. But this is an execution. And it feels…

...it feels like murder.

The sound of his door chime sounded as Zack finished his log. "Enter."

He had hoped it would be General Victus, coming to give him an order. But instead it was Doctor Opani who stepped in. "Commander."

"Doctor." He nodded. "What can I do for you?"

"Our Quarian guest, Tali'Zorah. She deeply wants to help the engineering crew. It's… cultural."

Zack nodded. "Well, she can go to Tom, I'm sure he'll…"

"He turned her down," Opani said. The expression on her face showed how unsettled she was at the moment. "And since you are friends I am certain you knew how he would respond."

"Yeah. The truth is, Doctor, this isn't the best time." He frowned. "And you know it."

Opani remained silent for a moment. Her blue eyes lowered for a moment before she focused on him.

"You seemed to give up on arguing against the 'kill them all' option," Zack noted. "I expected you to fight longer."

"Maybe I should have. But…" Opani shook her head. "I don't want to be merciful to the likes of those slavers. They've caused too much suffering."

"Including to you."

Opani's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry," Zack said. "But your file mentions it. I… I can't imagine what it was like."

"It was Hell," Opani rasped. Old pain showed on her face, the pain and horror of what had once been done to her. "I was trapped in pure Hell."

"And yet you are against blowing these people up," Zack said.

"I don't know… I am, but I know what they do, and so I'm…" Opani's eyes teared up. She flopped into one of the open chairs across from his desk. "I am a healer. I am supposed to support continued life, not death. But what they do to people, slavery, it is a death, a living death… oh Deity, what am I supposed to do?"

"Nothing," Zack murmured, even as he thought on what she said. "It's my decision. I have to make it." He looked at his reflection. The thought of what was going on weighed him down. He looked to Opani again.

He had no gifts. He couldn't read minds, sense feelings, or whatever it was that Meridina was teaching Lucy and Robert. But he didn't need those to understand what her experiences had done to Opani. "A living death," he murmured.

For a moment he envisaged not doing anything. He saw the Batarian raiders find that they'd been discovered. They would run, reorganize, abandon one base to take up another… and then they would eventually attack, with who knew what kind of weapons and technology. Some people would die, and others would be dragged off to Batarian space to be turned into slaves. To go through what Opani had suffered, or what he'd seen on the faces of slaves from C1P2 back in the day.

He couldn't know that would be the result. But the thought of it, the risk, was too much.

It didn't make it any easier for Zack when he reached for his omnitool. "Carrey to Hajar."

After a moment Hajar responded. "Hajar here. Sir…"

"Get it done. Now. We're almost out of time."

There was a short pause. "Say again, sir?"

Zack knew what she meant. Hajar didn't like the decision. She was undoubtedly hoping he would specify something else. "Set off their reactor, Hajar. Blow up the ship. That is a direct order."

For several seconds there was a pause. A very subdued "Yes sir" replied. "Hajar out."

Zack looked at Opani. She was returning the look. "Do you think you did the right thing?" Opani asked.

His silence was answer enough.




Zack stepped onto the bridge a few minutes later. Apley moved to the helm to let Zack take his chair. Victus was already present and standing with Lediks, Vidinos, and Shepard near the chair. "Commander." Victus nodded. "I see you made the decision. Thank you for not making me force the issue."

"You're welcome, General." Zack's reply was flat, emotionless. He tapped the key on his command chair to activate communications. "Carrey to Hajar. Are you done?"

"I just finished. One flaw in their system is in the deuterium injectors for their reaction chamber, they can't handle an increased reaction rate that the system is safely rated for. They'll blow in a couple of minutes, at best, which will lead to a build-up of anti-deuterium in the reaction chamber until containment is overloaded. It should cause the near-vaporization of much of the ship and it should look like a mechanical accident, engineer negligence."

"Confirm that everything's going according to plan, then?"

"So far so good. Reaction material levels are increasing. I'm already seeing signs of the deuterium injectors overstraining." For a moment there was nothing. "Okay, injector 1 just failed. And the only reason I know that is from my own scans… the Batarians' safety systems are completely inadequate and I need beamout now. Now now!"

"Magda!"

"Transporter Station has her, Commander. She's beaming over now," Magda confirmed.

Zack sighed with relief.

The holo-viewer lit up a moment later as the Batarian ship was destroyed from within, the victim of the out-of-control antimatter reaction caused by their sabotage.

"Hajar cut that too close," Shepard muttered.

"She underestimated how badly the Batarian ship's systems would react," Lediks added. "This should help support the ruse."

"I've already cloaked the ship," Magda said. "The Batarian ship is still nearly ten minutes out at their current warp speed. I can't tell you if they detected the explosion."

"Will it work?" Zack asked. "What we did?"

"I'm scanning what's left now. I don't think there's any debris big enough to confirm they were hit by weapons. Maybe they'll identify weapons hits if they recover the right piece of debris and subject it to close analysis in a metallurgical lab."

"Not likely," Sherlily remarked.

"No." Magda turned in her seat to face Zack. "I recommend that the helm keep us a safe distance away to make sure that stray micro-asteroids don't give away our presence."

"Ap?"

"Already moving."

Zack said nothing more while his ship changed position. He was too busy with his own thoughts, his feelings, and the awful spectacle he had just witnessed. I just killed prisoners. I left those men to die.

"Commander."

Zack turned his head and looked to General Victus. "General?"

"I know it asked a lot of you. But you did what you had to do. Our situation demanded it."

I did what I had to do flashed through Zack's mind. It was a nice phrase, he guessed. If only it hadn't felt so wrong. He still wasn't sure it was necessary. And it felt so callous, so plain… who knew how people could apply the phrase to something terrible and wrong.

"It was duty, Commander," Victus continued. "I appreciate the cost for you."

"Thank you," was all Zack could say.

Silence filled the bridge until the appointed time came. The ship that dropped out of warp was at least four hundred meters long and twenty meters from top to bottom. The rear of the ship looked like it had been completely rebuilt, which explained the two warp nacelles in the rear section. The pylons lifted the nacelles just above the dorsal hull of the gray and dark red ship.

"The sensor traces I'm getting are definitely not from M4P2 systems," Magda said. "And this one is also using impulsor drives. For the weapon emplacements I'd say they're also of Ferengi origin."

Zack watched the ship remain near the cloud of fine debris left by the destruction of the first ship. "Anything else?"

"They're still just scanning." Magda kept examining her instruments. "They're being thorough. But I'm not seeing anything that would give up what's happened. They're not taking samples. Wait… now I'm detecting a transmission."

"Intercept it," Zack ordered immediately.

"I'm doing so now. Apley, I'll transmit coordinates to you, move us to that spot so I can get a better fix."

"Maneuvering us now."

Apley's hands moved over the controls with precision. Koenig followed her unsuspecting quarry with the care of a hunting cat slipping through high grass. Asteroids big enough to be noticed if deflected off their invisible hull were avoided as much as possible and their speed tightly regulated.

Magda's focus was entirely on her screens. Colored light from her displays danced over her brown eyes as she used the Koenig's sensors and communications systems to pluck the offending signal from subspace.

The bridge remained completely quiet while these two did their work. Zack noted it and approved, and he could see that Victus did too.

Magda's attention shifted to another of her screens. "I'm getting an energy spike. They're engaging their warp drive."

With a flash of light the Batarian ship elongated and vanished.

"Did you get enough?" he asked Magda.

"I'm not sure. I can give you a general vicinity. But it's not in the direction they're going."

Lediks was the first to respond. "They may be resuming a prior patrol."

"I've still got them on sensors, Warp 5.5." Apley looked back. "Sir, I can catch up to them."

"No. No, I think tracking the signal is the better bet." Zack looked to Magda. "Anything?"

"I can give you a general vicinity," she said. "I'm already running calculations to narrow the field."

"Relay heading and coordinates to the helm. Apley, take us out when you're ready."

"Aye sir" came from two sources. Moments later, the Koenig went to warp.




There was no change in the atmosphere of the Aurora conference room. Robert couldn't quite believe it, either, given how the only thing that could be agreed upon was that neither side had given up anything of substance.

"The Batarian claim to the space around the Ren'kharam Relay is two centuries old," am Rimhar insisted. "Your new colonies have directly infringed upon that space."

"There were no indications of any prior claim when those colonies were established," Onaran replied. "Is it not general practice in M4P2 to place beacons outlining such claims?"

"The Ren'kharam Relay only connects to Batarian relays. Our claim was self-evident. You cannot hold it against us that we did not anticipate the use of non-relay travel capable of reaching the region."

"Nor can you blame our people for settling worlds where no prior use was evident." Onaran was remaining reserved, but it was clear he was tired of the fruitless back-and-forth with the obstructive Batarian diplomat. "We acted in good faith."

"If someone plants a house on your land and insists he saw no sign of it being owned, would you simply hand it over?" asked am Rimhar.

"If I could be sure of his good faith, I would work with him on a solution beyond base demands…"

Onaran never finished, as he was interrupted by Benezia. "The hour has grown late." She looked over the two. "It is best if we retired for the day. The session can resume tomorrow. We shall reconvene in fourteen hours."

"Agreed, Matriarch," Onaran said.

"Agreed." Minister am Rimhar stood up. "We shall return to our vessel."

"Of course, Minister." Robert didn't bring up the security escort that was ready to follow him. He simply nodded and watched the Batarians walk out. Once they were gone he turned to Onaran. The Dorei man had clearly been drained of any energy or enthusiasm by the long, fruitless session. "This doesn't seem like any negotiation."

"It is a tactic, I expect. They have started with maximum conditions to posture." Onaran shook his head. "It is frustrating. But I have faith it will improve."

Robert looked back to the door that am Rimhar had left from. He didn't have the same feeling. For all of his bluster, am Rimhar didn't feel like he was posturing. Robert got the sense that he was planning more than was evident. "I'm not sure," he said to Onaran. "I think am Rimhar has another agenda."

"Is that with the benefit of your Gift, Captain?"

Had another person, especially a Human, asked that, Robert would have been inclined to consider it as sarcasm. But Onaran wasn't being sarcastic. The Dorei included people like him, people who could exercise the "life force" powers that Meridina had taught him in, and accepted the uses of said abilities.

So he nodded. "I'm sure of it. There's something going on here that isn't obvious."

"If this entire negotiation is a Batarian intrigue, it will have to be something worth the cost they will incur once their deception is revealed."

An electronic tone sounded and a blue light started to flash above Robert's left hand. Jarod's voice came over the comms. "Jarod to Dale."

Robert touched the light and brought the blue-colored omnitool to life, assuming the form of the familiar multidevices they had stopped using so recently. "Dale here," he said in reply.

"We've received a transmission from the Koenig. You're going to want to see this."

"Where?"

"The Bridge Conference Room. And you might want to bring Secretary Onaran."

Onaran heard that. His head tilted slightly.

"We're on our way," Robert answered.




The entire senior staff had assembled in the bridge-side Conference Room by the time Robert and Onaran had finished going over the latest reports from the Koenig. Robert sat back in his chair for a moment and considered the implications.

Julia spoke first on them. "The Batarians have links to the Multiversal black market now. There's no telling what sort of technology they can buy through it."

"And since the buyers are officially 'pirates', the Hegemony will deny all knowledge of what's happened. They'll play up the new technology as seized from the pirates." Robert sighed loudly. "I knew am Rimhar had something up his sleeve."

"Do you think he knows?" asked Onaran.

"He's one of the higher ups in the Hegemony, isn't he? What are the odds he doesn't know something." Robert shook his head. "The only question is how much he knows, and how these talks figure into the Batarians' actual plans. For all we know he might even be the Minister mentioned by the pirates."

Julia said, "Whatever they're doing, it's going to happen soon given the way they talked about it."

"It's got to be something more than a new wave of pirate attacks." Locarno looked from her to Robert and then to Jarod. "Even with new technology, the Batarians are still at a disadvantage."

"What is Commander Carrey doing now?" Onaran asked.

Jarod was the first to answer. "According to his last update, they're still tracking down the source of Batarian transmissions in that area. General Victus is considering attempting an attack, if the target is soft enough."

"Given their location in the galaxy, could Zack call in reinforcements by jump drive?"

"The spatial aspect isn't good. Maybe some ships on outer frontiers. But they're at the far end of the Verge, in the heart of Beta Quadrant. They can't call in any heavy fleet units."

"Still, at least he has that possibility." Robert tapped his hands on the table. "Okay, we know they're up to something, we don't know what they're doing or how. I want everyone on the ship to be on the lookout. Discretely. We can't let this spook the Batarians."

"I'll start going over their comm activity," Jarod said.

"And I will make sure Security is alert to anything further out of the ordinary," added Meridina.

"Good. With that done… let's call it a night, everyone." Robert rubbed at his tired eyes. "Whatever happens, we're going to be busy tomorrow."

 

[Big Steve]

Doctor Opani checked in one last time on the infirmary before signing off for the day. The Gamma Shift nurse was fully briefed on the condition of the unconscious Quarian patient and possible special needs. She checked on Tali, asleep on the biobed she'd picked and with no issues showing on the biobed scanners.

Tired and hungry, Opani went to the mess hall, or rather the half that hadn't been turned into a sleeping area for the special forces troops they were carrying. She replicated a kipatiran, a warm baked pastry with a vegetable and cheese filling, and a cup of cool fruit juice. An empty table was easily found, even in this reduced space, and she went to work on her food.

She was mostly done when Barnes sat down with a late snack of a pastry she had heard him call a "hot pocket". A replicated "soft drink" still fizzed in a plastic cup. "Hey Doc," he said.

"Hello."

"So, Zack said something about us talking?" Barnes asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong, exactly. But I think that you may have been rude to our guest."

Barnes took a sip of his drink, which might have been an explanation for his sudden sour look. Or it may not have been. Opani waited patiently for him to respond. "Look, I'm acerbic sometimes, yeah, and I can be a jerk. But that doesn't change the fact that she has no training or experience with our technology and equipment. I don't care how good an engineer she thinks she is."

"She seems bright. Eager. This work is part of who she is."

"Sure it is." Barnes bit into his food and frowned. "Ugh. Christ, these replicators make anything and everything taste like ass."

"They always have," Opani pointed out. "Don't change the subject."

That prompted him to look at her, hard. "There isn't a damn subject, Opani. She's a kid and she's not working in my engineering department."

"Why are you so resistant to it?"

"For the same reason you wouldn't want some kid around who thought helping her daddy with bandages makes her capable of performing surgery," he retorted, and there was real heat in his voice. "In fact, that analogy works perfectly, because that's basically what you're asking me to do."

Opani was quiet for a moment, allowing Barnes to take another bite. She felt there was something about the way he was opposed to this, something more than the objections he was listing. "Why won't you give her a chance? You don't need her to run the reactor, just give her a task. Pair her with an engineer and…"

"No. That's final."

"Why are you being so obstinate…"

Barnes responded by standing up and grabbing his unfinished meal. He tossed it into the replicator and hit the reclaim button. Opani jumped up to do the same and followed him as he stamped out of the mess. "This is none of your damn business," Barnes barked back at her, already knowing she was behind him.

"This is personal," Opani shot back. "It has to be. What has that sweet girl done to you? Certainly you're not listening to the poison from the others about thievery?"

"No, no I'm not," he replied.

"Then why won't you work with her? Find her something to do? She can't be that much younger than you were when you started this. If you could imagine being in her place…"

Barnes whirled around so quickly that Opani nearly walked into him. "That's the problem," he said, his tone reflective of his broken patience. "Because I can imagine being in her place. Because I was in her place."

Opani looked at him with confusion. "What?"

"I've wanted to put together machines since I was a kid," Barnes said. Some of the anger had gone out of his face, replaced by the look of someone dredging through old memories. "I've always wanted to be an engineer. Like my parents. And I always thought of myself as one from the moment I passed my first engineering prep class in high school. And then everything with the Darglan Facility happened, and soon I was running ships and seeing myself as the engineer. But I didn't know jack crap about it, not really. I was still just the kid with a big head and ego ready to fry my brain out if it meant learning more about machines."

Opani remained silent.

"Then I met Scotty." Barnes smiled a little. "And I realized I didn't know jack crap. I still wouldn't know jack crap if he hadn't seen something in me and taught me what I was missing. Me being an engineer is because of him. It took a lot of time, training, and work to be able to do this job. So yeah, I get the girl's position because I've been there. I've been her. And I made enough mistakes back then to know what can go wrong if I let that girl work our most critical systems." He let out a sigh. "So yeah, I get where she's coming from. And that's why I don't want her in Engineering. The kid shouldn't have even been out here, dammit. She sounds college age, not fully grown up. She should be taking classes, not flying scouting missions."

"Her people don't have your ways, or mine. Keep that in mind."

"Then whatever it is they do for higher education. But my point stands."

"I see." Opani rubbed at her forehead. "Thank you for your honesty, and sleep well."

Barnes nodded and walked on to his quarters.




Zack retired to his room. It was the only quarters on the ship that had been fitted to have only one occupant, and that had been at the insistence of Scotty and of Captain Farmer back in the day. "The ship's commander needs his or her sleep" was their argument, and their recommendation was accepted.

It was only times like now that Zack realized why the two Starfleet men had said that.

He sat at his desk in his white uniform undershirt and boxers. Zack's face reflected his sleeplessness and state of mind, how upset he was at what had transpired. In his mind he kept flashing back to the Batarian ship exploding on the viewscreen. Several dozen Batarians had been vaporized in that explosion.

They were pirates, slavers, and in a straight battle he wouldn't have thought twice about their deaths. But this was different. He kept wondering about it. Wondering if he could have found a solution. A way to keep them safely contained on the Koenig, anything that might have seen them live. Anything that would spare him the knowledge that he had left those beings to die. That he had given the order.

His hand crept to his desk's computer control panel. He hit a key to activate his message recorder. "Computer, log this message, deliver when I give the word."

"Please list recipient."

Zack swallowed. "Clara Lydia Davis, currently residing on New Caprica, assigned to New Liberty Volunteer Corps as a nurse."

"Recipient logged. Ready to commence message recording."

"Begin." After a moment to compose his thoughts, Zack started speaking. He told her how much he loved her. He told her he missed her. As he did so, he thought about what he was saying, about his feelings.

He didn't want to hurt Clara, so he never told her about some of those feelings. About the occasional dreams where Clara wasn't the one in his arms. The flashbacks to the virtual world his mind had once been pulled into, where Julia Andreys had become Julia Carrey as he had fantasized about so often. He felt ashamed of the fact that a part of him would always be in love with Julia, no matter how much Clara deserved every bit of his love. It made him feel unworthy of both.

Soon he got into the purpose of the message. It was nothing less than a confession, as if she could forgive him for it and grant him absolution. "I've killed in battle, I mean," he said. "I haven't counted how many ships the Koenig has destroyed. I've got no idea how many people have died fighting my ship. But this wasn't that. I left those Batarians to die. To get blown up. Not in a fight, but as an execution. I… I keep thinking I could have saved them. I should have saved them, should have done something… I just don't know what."

Zack went silent as he thought on that. That he had no alternatives save tipping off the Batarians to the loss of their ship, and risking that whatever plan they had in mind would be put into action. He was tormenting himself over a decision that was a lose/lose situation. As Victus had put it, he did what he had to do. And he would have to live with that.

He felt a quiet urge. An urge that ashamed him, even as he imagined the fiery sensation of his father's tequila pouring down that throat. He shook his head to get the thought, the desire, out of it.

"I made the decision," he said quietly. "Now I have to live with it." He stared off into space, and into the corners of his own mind, and dwelled for a moment on his thoughts. "I can live with it," he decided. "It wouldn't be the only bad thing I have to live with." He drew in a breath before shaking his head. "Computer, delete that entire message."

"Message deleted. Would you like to try again?"

"No." Zack shook his head. "No, I don't think so." And with no further remarks, he slid into bed, wondering if he would be seeing that ship explode again in his dreams.



It was one of those nights again.

It had been weeks since Robert had dealt with the dreams that came to him, offering what he and Meridina believed were possible hints to the future. Now they were back and with a vengeance. He had glimpses of Fassbinder, the SS man thought dead on Gamma Piratus but recently determined to still be alive. The "Aryan ideal" German man's eyes went from deep blue to bright gold and yellow, darkness clinging to him and a sinister smile of triumph crossing his face.

Then it was the girl in red and gold again, crying out as her amber eyes shined with ethereal energy that sent power rippling over Robert. Nearby Julia was on one knee, stripped down to a sleeveless white undershirt and shorts, her face full of determination.

They were gone the next moment. Robert looked around at the Presidium of the Citadel, now beset by fires and smoking rubble. People cried out around him as, to his horror, shadowy figures with singular shining eyes impaled them on strange devices.

The Citadel Council chambers appeared around him. Broken metal forms were scattered before the platform leading to the guest podium. At the podium was a single figure, a Turian, covered in cybernetic enhancements and pieces. Robert had seen this image before. But never had he seemed so familiar.

"Our only hope to survive is to prove ourselves," the Turian said. "Servitude is preferable to extinction."

"We can fight them, we can win!" a Human voice urged. Robert briefly thought it was his, as it was a sentiment he felt within, but despite the haze of the dream he realized it was a woman speaking. And it was a familiar voice. "Can't you see? It's taken you over!"

Robert turned his head to face the direction of the voice. He felt surprise at recognizing the face. Shepard?

And then he was alone, in the middle of rubble and debris, his side hurting, and above him was a massive metal monstrosity with a glowing red eye staring down at him. It made a noise, as if the Devil was playing a trumpet through a synthesizer.

Maybe it was that noise that woke him up. Or maybe a part of Robert's mind was tired of the frightening imagery. Either way, he found himself sitting up in his bed. He quickly checked to make sure he hadn't woken up Angel, the instinct firing before his memory reminded him that she wasn't here now.

After the moment passed he found the dream was coming to mind again. The image of the cybernetic Turian was stuck in his head. He felt like he should recognize the figure. But the image blurred as he awakened, the dream distorted by that very waking.

When his omnitool display flashed the numbers 0402 at him, Robert sighed and laid back on the bed, turning to his side as he sought to get comfortable enough to sleep again.




In her life, Tali had slept on far less-comfortable things than the biobed in the infirmary, and her sleep had been quite restful. She woke up to find that only a single nurse was on duty, checking Kon's life signs. Tali did the same and confirmed for the nurse that he was still stable, or that his suit's sensors considered him stable, at least.

With her grumbling stomach in mind, Tali went to the mess hall and the replicator within. Only a few people were present in the room, mostly Humans wearing different uniforms from the ones she had seen Opani, Barnes, and the other ship personnel wearing. She remained clear of them and went to the replicator. She tapped the controls to see a list of dextro-compatible foods loaded into the system. The choices were as varied as she imagined they would be, and she selected a morning meal within seconds.

It was one thing to order the food, however, and another to endure it. She'd tasted replicator food before and knew that it never quite managed to taste proper, but this was utterly atrocious. "Forget it," Tali muttered to herself. She knew just what to do.

Nobody said anything when she returned to the replicator. First she had it reclaim her uneaten meal. But instead of walking away she activated her omnitool and interfaced it with the replicator. This let her run a diagnostic scan on the software and hardware. Seeing the latter made her grumble. She got onto her knees and pulled away the covering for the replicator's internals, revealing the various wires and cords that made up the device's guts. She went to work immediately on it.

Tali became so intent on her work that she was surprised when a voice said, "Are you sure you should be down there?" She swung her head over and up. Two humans, a woman and a man, were standing nearby. "I'm not sure Barnes will appreciate you messing with the replicator," the man said.

"I'm just fixing it," Tali answered. "The matter re-constitution system needs to be re-calibrated, it's completely off."

"Is that why everything's been tasting like crap?" asked the woman. There was something about the redhead with darker-toned bronze skin that Tali thought was interesting. She seemed to stand out compared to other Humans she'd met since arriving on the ship. "Because I've had replicated food before, this is something even worse."

"That's what I was thinking, so I was adjusting the internal systems and recalibrating the system. I think too many unrefined elements were being added. It would explain the taste."

"Well, don't let us interrupt you." The man nodded. "Your name was Tali'Zorah, right?"

Tali nodded. "It is."

"Commander Carter Kane, Allied Systems Marines." Kane offered his hand. Tali looked for a moment before carefully accepting.

"Commander Shepard, Systems Alliance."

Tali accepted Shepard's hand too. "I'm sure you want to eat. I'll be done in a minute."

As she went back to work, Kane said, "If Barnes finds out you're doing this, he's going to go on the warpath."

"I offered to help him keep his ship running well. He chose to ignore me. Well, he can, but I'm not eating terrible food because he and his crew can't be bothered to do a little maintenance on the replicators."

"Oohrah to that," Kane said. "I want my Marines to have edible grub, replicated or not. And they wouldn't let me bring a big store of MREs since we're all cramped in here."

"I just need to double-check this power line… connection to the computer switch looks good…"

After a few moments Tali slid away from the replicator. "Now try."

"Two mugs of coffee, black."

The requested items appeared in brilliant white light. Kane took one and handed it to Tali, taking one for himself. "Mmm. What do you think?" Kane asked after trying his.

"I'm almost convinced this is real coffee," Shepard answered. "Nice job," she said to Tali.

"Thank you. It was a simple repair." She stood up and put the panel back on. "Now I can enjoy my meal too."




Given how badly the mess hall replicator was acting Zack had opted for eating in his quarters with the replicator unit there. As always replicators didn't quite get the oatmeal and buttered toast right, and the milk tasted bland, but it was at least filling.

He was done with the toast and mostly done with the oatmeal. He eyed the closet full of uniforms, which he would be pulling on next, and turned his attention back to his report. He'd had a pleasant enough sleep given the events yesterday and time to internalize what had happened. He wondered if he would have been even more bothered had he been forced to look at the Batarians before they died. If he could have seen their fear.

Zack chose to ignore that for the moment and focus on what he saw on his digital pad. Hajar had been running the night shift and provided meticulous reports. Long range sensors had detected another Batarian ship that was on a different course. Analysis of its course had further refined Magda's calculated point of origin for the transmissions to and from the now-destroyed Batarian raider. Whatever they were looking for was going to be easier to find.

The question would be raised soon: what would they do when they found it? Attempt an attack, a covert landing of troops? Should he try to torpedo enemy ships still in their dock spaces, should it be that kind of facility (he suspected it was)? He really wanted to get Victus' special forces groups into the place to see if they could get their hands on any further information about the Batarians' plans and goals. But risking his ship unnecessarily was not something he could do.

As his final bite of oatmeal went into his mouth, a tone sounded on the ship's speakers. "Bridge to Carrey," said the voice of Lieutenant Apley.

"I'm here, Ap," Zack answered.

"We've got something on sensors. You're going to want to see this. I think we've found the Batarian base."

"Be right up."




Zack arrived on the bridge in time to find his command crew taking their proper positions. He went for his chair. "What do you have for me?"

"It's definitely a base," Magda answered. She gave her screen a close inspection. "I won't be able to determine how many ships are there until we get closer, but I'd say there are definitely a few ships, maybe as many as ten."

"Mass sizes?"

"Mostly raider-size. Maybe one or two cruiser-sized ones. I can't give you more accurate counts until we get within sublight sensor range."

"How long?"

"Two hours, twenty minutes," Apley answered.

"Okay." Zack nodded. "Status of our cloaking device?"

"Still operating within normal parameters," Magda said.

"Any sign of a graviton net? Tachyon detection grid?"

"Nothing. I'd be surprised if they could get something like that, even off the black market."

"Sometimes, Magda, I don't think anything would surprise me." Zack settled into his seat and, as he often had to, waited until they were in range.




Barnes ate breakfast in his quarters and double-checked the day's scheduling. Provided there were no alerts - and he expected there would be -- someone would finally be getting to the mess hall replicator by about 1200 to fix it. It was the earliest he could get a repair tech to the job given the niggling little fixes needed from the fire they'd taken the prior day.

Ensign Ling arrived by the time breakfast was done. The Gamma Shift officer was that shift's Engineering Officer; now Ling would sleep in here due to the need for hotbunking. "Ling," Barnes said. "So, how's the husband?"

"He's fine. Our daughter starts school in a month." Ling sighed. He was mostly East Asian in appearance, but the darker tone to his complexion and the shape of his cheeks was from an African grandparent "I had hoped to go get some leave time, but in this line of work, with a war?" He chuckled and hid his obvious sadness. "Unless we're sent somewhere near Sirian space, it's not happening."

"Woh, sorry to hear that," Barnes answered. "The replicator's edible in here by the way. I'm hoping to get the mess hall unit fixed sometime today."

Ling blinked. "What do you mean by that? It's been fixed. I don't think it's ever been better."

Barnes had been turning away from Ling. That made him turn back. "What? What do you mean it's fixed, there was no scheduled…" He frowned.

"Everyone's saying that Quarian survivor we took aboard did it this morning. And I'm telling you, sir, the food's never tasted better. It made my noodles taste more like noodles than liquid polymer, and… sir?" Ling watched as Barnes literally stormed out of his quarters. He might have gone after him to find out what was going on, but with everything going on and knowing that at any time he might be called back to his post, Ling decided to climb into bed instead.




Tali couldn't be too surprised that word swiftly spread on the small ship of her fixing of the mess hall replicator.

What she hadn't expected was the number of people coming to her to fix small things.

"How did you get your omnitool memory so full in the first place?" she asked the Human crewmember sitting in front of her in the mess. Tali looked over the results of the scans she'd had to run on the offending omnitool. "It looks like you were trying to load half of the ship's data into it."

"Our multidevices used to have two hundred megaquad storage capacity," the girl protested. "This thing locked up at just a quarter of that."

"An omnitool shouldn't be storing that much data," Tali said. "It's built with wide-frequency range data-streaming capability. Aside from vital programs and applications, everything you load onto it should be remotely accessed from dedicated data servers."

"Well… I'm still getting used to that," was the sheepish response.

Tali sighed and shook her head. "Never mind. I remember one of my friends, Mela, he once overloaded his omnitool trying to generate a welding flame. We had to spend a day fixing it. This…" She tapped a few more keys. The screen on the young crewwoman's omnitool unfroze. "...just needs a hard reboot cycle. There, your memory buffer is clear."

"Thank you. It might have taken all day for me to get it fixed by the tool shop," the girl said, her voice warm with gratitude.

Tali watched the girl leave and felt content. While she had wanted to help maintain the ship more directly, helping a ship's crew with repairs was at least a decent activity for her. Her father would be far happier than he would with the thought that she was doing nothing of use.

It looked for the moment like no one else was coming to ask her anything. Tali began to relax.

She stopped relaxing when the door slid open and Barnes entered. His eyes focused on her with clear frustration and anger in them. "You!" He stomped up. "What the hell were you doing?!"

"Excuse me?" Tali asked.

"Oh, don't give me that. I've heard all about the mess hall replicator. You're a guest on this damn ship, you do not open up equipment and start fiddling with it to see how it works!" Barnes slammed his hand on the table. "One thing wrong and you could cause food poisoning, or worse, to anyone who…"

Tali stood up. She wasn't as tall as Barnes, but she didn't have to incline her head so far to face him directly. "Listen, I've had enough of you thinking I'm that incompetent. I know replicator technology too! Lan'Durah taught almost everyone on the Rayya about them when he brought the technology back from his Pilgrimage."

"Oh, really. Alright, let's play this game." Barnes activated his omnitool and went over to the replicator. "Let's see… matter stream regulators… within proper limits. Control systems… responding normally." Barnes' voice started to lose its angry energy as, bit by bit, his diagnostic showed green fields for every part of the machine. "...matter re-constitution matrix… calibrated correctly." He started to mumble. "Damn, like it's fresh off the…" He cleared his throat. "Computer, Barnes Order Number 4."

The replicator obeyed and a cup of hot cocoa with a marshmallow appeared. He took the marshmallow and dropped it into the frothy brown drink. After giving it a moment to melt he sipped the hot fluid. And there was no mistaking the look of shock on his face.

It tasted… good. Better than normal for a replicator, almost like the real thing. "Last time I tried this it was so hot I almost burnt my tongue off," he mumbled lowly. He took another drink and savored the warm, chocolate flavor on his taste buds, touched with the creamy remains of the marshmellow. Slowly he glanced toward Tali. She had crossed her arms. And he was certain there was a satisfied look under that featureless faceplate of hers.

"Well." Barnes coughed and set the cocoa down on the replicator. With a tap of the key the system reclaimed the beverage. "Um… crap." He rubbed at his forehead and couldn't help but notice everyone was looking at him. "Yeah, I've got nothing. I'm the asshole here. That's… hell, that's work worthy of my best, of Scotty's best. Recalibrating the matter re-constitution system to that level… it's brilliant. I'd love to…"

"Quarian!"

All eyes turned to the entrance to the mess hall. Three Turians entered, Guard Captain Vidinos in the lead. All focused directly on Tali. "Where'd you put it?"

"Put what?" Tali asked, confused.

"The auto-spanner that went missing from the toolkit of my squad's gunsmith," Vidinos answered. "Where did you take it, Quarian?"

"An auto-spanner? Why would I need an auto-spanner, why would I take yours?" Tali stood her ground as Vidinos and the men with him walked up to her. They spread out enough that they were clearly cutting off any avenue of escape. One of the Turians activated their omnitool and began to scan her.

"It's a new model, just issued by Palaven Command," Vidinos said. "The kind of new technology you Quarians just love to get your hands on. So, I'm going to ask again… where is it?"

"I don't have it, I wouldn't want it."

"I'm not reading it, sir," the Turian with the scanner said.

"Any interference?" Vidinos looked to his man. "It wouldn't surprise me if her suit is shielded to prevent people from finding things. It's how Quarians would operate." As he spoke, Vidinos seemed oblivious, or perhaps simply uncaring, about the looks he was getting from the others in the mess hall. Barnes was staring at him in near disbelief.

"There's no null spots, sir, nothing to show shielding. She's clean."

"There, you see?" Tali said, her voice laced with irritation. "I don't know what problem you have with my people, but you can't just accuse me of being a thief…"

"I've been around enough Quarians to know what you people are like, always looking for new tech to take home, not caring who it belongs to," Vidinos retorted. He nodded to one of his men. "We'll find where you hid it. I'm sure you'll tell us after time in the brig."

By this point one of the other Turians grabbed Tali by the arm. "Hey!" she cried. "Let go!" A second Turian grabbed her other arm. "You can't do this! I didn't take anything!"

"Of course you didn't. That's what your kind always say." Vidinos turned around. When he stepped, his men stepped, and they began to pull Tali with them despite her struggling.

Vidinos only managed three steps before Barnes moved in his way. "Hey, Vidinos, I don't know who the frak you think you are, but you're damn well not a senior officer of this crew, and you don't have authority to put anyone in the brig without our say-so."

"Stand aside, Lieutenant, I'm the superior officer and you're out of order."

Barnes got into his face, scowling with fury. "Hey, asshole, I'm a frakking senior officer on this ship. I'm the Goddamned Chief Engineer. I don't have to do jack crap if you say it. Fact is you don't have jack crap for authority on this ship, I do, and I'm frakking tell you to let her go."

Vidinos may have noticed the gathering personnel, or he may not have. His soldiers certainly did see as the other half dozen Alliance crewmembers and Marines in the room started to move toward Barnes. But all Vidinos did was glare into Barnes' eyes. "I don't know why you care about this suit rat" - and the emphasis made it clear Vidinos intended to fullest meaning in the slur - "but I've got three of the best special forces soldiers that the Turian Hierarchy has to offer, and I'm not letting the Quarian get away with stealing from us. We're taking her into custody, either in your brig or in our barracks. If you've got a problem, take it up with Victus."

"I'm not letting you take her anywhere."

"Who's going to stop us? You?"

"How about me?" another voice declared.

Shepard stepped up beside Barnes. She directed a glare of her own at Vidinos. "Lieutenant Barnes is right, Vidinos," she said to him. "On this ship, he's got the authority, not me and not you. So do what he says before he has you dragged to the brig."

Vidinos' mandibles twitched. If his face had the same muscles as a Human's, he would be scowling, and Barnes and Shepard were both certain of that. "I want that auto-spanner found," he said. "It's property of the Turian Hierarchy."

"I'll have my people look for it when they can," Barnes said. "Now move on, you're causing a disruption."

"Let the Quarian go, men," Vidinos ordered. His troops obeyed. "I'm sure these Humans will learn the same hard lessons we did about the Quarians, right around the time the Quarian strips their ship bare."

With that parting remark Vidinos and his men stepped past Shepard and Barnes. They moved on to the exit door.

Kane stepped in before they could leave. The faint semblance of a smile crossed his face. "Hey, Guard Captain," he said. He brought up his right hand. It was gripping a tool that looked like a ratchet wrench with a small specialized motor assembly embedded in it. "A member of the Koenig crew found this and gave it to me. It looks like someone left some fancy new auto-spanner in the armory over the course of the night. I thought the mark looked Turian, so…" When Vidinos moved his hand toward it Kane held it out and let him take it. "It's not bad either. Not as good as our latest, I mean. Ours has an auto-adjustment setting so we don't have to change the spanner socket out. One size fits all. Maybe your people should look into buying some from us."

Vidinos turned away to walk past Kane. He stomped out of the mess hall with his men just behind.

"That guy is an ass," Barnes grumbled.

"A bigoted one." Kane nodded to him. "It's a good thing one of your people found this. Guys like that can cause a lot of trouble."

"Did that asshole really think he'd get away with attacking us?" Barnes asked Shepard.

"Maybe. Sad thing is, Vidinos is a damn good spec forces officer," Shepard said. "It would be a lot easier to hate his guts if he were an incompetent idiot too."

"Life would be a lot easier if all the assholes were incompetent too."

"Yeah. If only." Barnes turned to Tali, who was now seated. His face was turning red from shame and embarrassment. "Hey, kid… Tali, right?"

"Yes," she answered.

Barnes drew in a breath and walked up to her. He slid onto the bench for the next table, facing her instead of said table. "Your work on the replicator was great. I mean, it showed real ingenuity, a bit of creativity…"

Tali remained silent. But the way she kept her arms crossed was anything but silent.

"Aw, hell… I was an idiot, okay?" Barnes said. "A big dumb idiot asshole who assumed and didn't check things out. You still want to work in Engineering while you're here?"

"I would. I'm a Quarian engineer, and it feels wrong for me to not help maintain a ship I'm staying on."

"Fair enough." Barnes extended a hand. "Let's get down to Main Engineering. Poniatowski and I will see where we can put you."

Tali's posture relaxed slightly. "Thank you," she said, in clear relief.




The quiet on the Koenig bridge ended in the final minutes before their arrival. "I'm getting short-range scans of the system. Passive only." Magda went to work at her Ops station.

Zack turned in his chair to face her. "What do we have?"

"It looks like an A1-grade star," Magda said. "Reading four planets and a thin asteroid belt between the first and second. Three of the planets are gas giants, the innermost planet looks like it's a D-grade barren world, no atmosphere." After another few seconds Magda's attention clearly focused on one of her screens. "I'm detecting a faint power signature near one of the moons around the third planet."

"Just one signature?" Zack asked.

"With passive-only sensors, I wouldn't necessarily pick up ships in standby mode," Magda said. "Until we get closer I can't tell you anything more."

"How much closer?"

"Sublight range."

Zack thought on that. The Koenig's Darglan-designed cloaking device was just as good as something the Romulans could field, if not better, but there were still plenty of ways to give themselves away depending on what the Batarians might have with them. "What's the fourth gas giant like?"

"It's an ice giant-type. Methane, ammonia, water, and sulfur are the primary components of the atmosphere, various other elements. The magnetic field is on the higher end for ice giants, though, approaching small Saturn-type gas giant level. I think there might be a higher quantity of ferrous minerals in the convecting parts of the giant, but we'd need better sensors, or a probe, to confirm."

"Not really what we're here for." Zack thought of that. "Could we use the fourth planet to hide ourselves more effectively?"

"Let me examine the four moons first. Their orbital pattern and magnetic fields are…" Magda let the sentence hang. "Wow. It looks like one of the moons is actually conducting its own small mass effect field. I'm guessing a high concentration of eezo being subjected to electrical activity from other minerals. Maybe even a naqia deposit… yes." Magda looked to Zack and nodded. "I'll relay the coordinates to Apley, but if we stay in that section we should be hidden from any scans they can throw at us."

"And our scans?"

"Well, active scans might still get picked up." Magda went to work. "But maybe… I might be able to make a few light scans and make them look like routine electromagnetic activity from the fourth planet's system."

"If you can."

Things went quiet again until the thrum of the warp drive disengaging filled the ship. Apley's hands moved over the sublight controls. "We've dropped out of warp at the north pole of the ice giant. I'm moving us to the point that Lieutenant Navaez specified."

"Sensors are showing an artificial structure in orbit over the third planet's outermost moon," Magda said.

"On screen."

The holo-viewscreen activated and showed the image of a squat structure with a crater-studded moon framing the bottom of the image. The white light of the system's star was currently coming from the side of the image, illuminating half of the gray and brown-hulled station in pale sunlight. Several arms were erected from the middle of the central structure downward, making Zack think of a jellyfish crossed with an umbrella. Ships were visibly attached to most of these arms, but the central arm continued all the way down to the moon. "Is that a tether to keep them attached to the moon?"

"I'm getting heat sources from that central shaft," replied Magda. "It's a lift system. Actually, I'm starting to wonder if the base is actually on the moon. Even if it isn't, I'm betting they're mining the moon as well."

"Could pirates build something like this?" asked Sherlily. "I mean, it's easy to build a station, relatively speaking. But tethering one to a moon? Where do you get the resources for this?"

"It's not hard to guess," Zack murmured. "But proving it is another matter." Zack looked over the image. "You know, this place looks like it could have a lot more ships."

"Maybe they're protecting other assets in the area?"

"Maybe." Zack thought of that. "Or maybe there's more to this than we think. I mean, you don't build a base this big unless you've got enough ships to make it worthwhile. There's what, five there?"

"Four. And what looks like a partially-completed ship on one of the berths." Magda shook her head. "In fact, it looks like some of those docks might be construction docks. This might actually be a shipyard."

"If they're getting a lot of technology from other universes, that makes sense," Zack noted. "It gives them somewhere to build new ships using that technology." His eyes remained focused on the base. "Can we get life sign scans from here?"

"Not enough to say what's in there, just that there are living things aboard," Magda said. "We'll need to get closer, or use active sensors, to get more information."

"Not right now." Zack shook his head. "I don't want to give away our presence. Continue what scans you get, I want every bit of knowledge we can find about this place without giving ourselves away." Zack tapped his comm control on his chair. "Bridge to General Victus."

Only a moment passed before the Turian general replied, "Victus here."

"General, we've found something, a space facility of some sort. We're taking scans now, and we should have something for you and the other commanders in an hour or so."

"Very well. I'll have the team commanders in your conference room in ninety minutes. Victus out."

"Ninety minutes, Magda," Zack said. "No pressure, right?"

"No, sir," she breathed, ignoring the fact that there was, indeed, pressure. "No pressure…"