Lighting the Path

By Michael Weyer

Lessons in Transit

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Kara stared at the brown-haired man hovering before her in shock at his words. "Earth?" she whispered. "You…you're from Earth?"

"Wait a minute," a red-skinned woman in the crowd blurted. "She has no idea what the Corps is but she's heard of that backwater planet?"

The man landed on his feet before Kara. "That's right, I'm from Earth. That means something to you?"

"Something?" Kara blurted. "It means everything! My people…we've been searching for you for years! The 13th tribe of Kobol!"

Hal frowned. "Kobol? Never heard of it."

Kara's astonishment grew. "You…but you must have! You're the descendants of humanity, you must know of the other 12 Tribes."

"First I've heard of it," Hal said. "Hmm….I think we need to talk more."

"Take a number, Jordan!" Kilowog snapped as he got to his feet. "Girle is gonna be my personal example to the recruits for the next…century!"

"Bring it on, ugly!" Kara snapped, hoisting her ring hand up. "I could use more practice with this thing!"

"Okay, take it easy," Kyle said, quickly moving in. He nodded to Kara. "Kyle Rayner. Me and Guy Gardner here are also from Earth."

Kara looked at the red-haired man with a frown. "But you don't know of Kobol? The other twelve tribes?"

Hal looked at her then to Kilowog. "I'm going to find out about this from her. I'll have her back soon."

Kilowog growled but finally nodded. "Fine." He turned slowly to glare at the Lanterns around him. "In that case…I'm gonna have a whole lot of aggression at work out!"

Expressions ranging from nervousness to outright terror broke out among the crowd as Kara realized she was the recipient of some rather ugly glares. Oddly, it actually made her feel at home.

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"And so we've been searching for Earth ever since," Kara finally finished her history of the conflict with the Cylons and the adventures of the Galactica. Hal, Kyle and Guy were sitting with her in a small garden, all enthralled by her amazing tale. Kyle and Hal had sympathetic expressions while Guy was quiet, his usual smugness pushed aside by the talk of mass genocide.

"And the ring found you," Hal nodded. He took a deep breath. "Well, ah, Captain Thrace…"

"Starbuck," Kara replied. "If you want to be nice about it."

Hal smiled at that. "Starbuck. I might as well be frank about this. We've never heard of Kobol or the other colonies of man."

"Yeah, only in the last few years we've been aware of life outside our solar system," Kyle added.

Kara frowned. "But you must know of the exodus from Kobol to settle on Earth."

"Lady, history was never my best subject," Guy inserted. "But I think I'd remember something like that."

"Plus," Hal said with a somber expression. "We've got clear evidence that life on Earth goes back millions upon millions of years. You said this exodus happened less than 3000 years ago?" At Kara's nod, Hal took a deep breath. "There are records of human civilizations on Earth that go back ten times that long."

At Kara's shocked expression, Hal felt sorry for her. This wasn't the first time he'd seen an alien discovering some of the tenets of their history and religion were proven wrong. The woman had already lost so much, Hal hated to have to throw this on top of it all but felt she should know off the bat.

Kara felt herself sitting down, her mind reeling. She'd never been a particularly religious purpose but like most everyone else, she believed in the history taught to every colonial since childhood. She'd also believed whole-heartedly that Earth was their salvation but now was learning it could destroy the very fabric of the colonial civilization.

"Frack," she muttered, rubbing her face. "This…isn't what I expected."

"The Corps usually isn't," Guy shrugged. "But hey, fun ride, specially for a great face like you."

Starbuck glared at him. "I will kick your ass if you leer at me one more time."

Kyle looked to Hal. "Listen, Hal, maybe her history's skewered. But she knows about Earth, somehow her civilization knows about it. Not to mention these are about 40,000 humans who've seen their entire civilization wiped out and need help."

"Forgetting these Cylon things, Kyle," Guy pointed out. "We help these guys out, we could be bringing a whole batch of murdering psycho robots down on us."

"Might be worth the risk," Kyle replied. "Come on, Guy, I just went through the Rann-Thangar War, I don't want to see any more innocent people die if I can help it."

"So, what, we just find this fleet of hers and lead him right to Earth on our own?" Guy scoffed. "Come on, the Guardians might not go along with it and let's not forget the UN will probably have a say in things."

Kyle paused. "You're right." He turned to Hal. "Me and Guy are still Oa-bound but you're the Lantern of the sector. It should be you who makes the decision."

Hal's brow furrowed in thought and Kara stood up. "Listen…I didn't ask for this, any of it." She held up her ring. "This found me, not the other way around. But if this can get me to Earth…well, the hell with all of you, I'll go back to the fleet and lead them to it."

"Whoa, whoa, firecracker," Guy quickly said, holding up his hands. "You may have gotten a good control on the ring for Kilowog but you're still a rookie, don't have your badge or anything. You even know where your fleet is right now?" At Kara's frown, he went on. "Trust me, hon, you bring a couple dozen ships into Earth orbit without any warning and it ain't gonna be pretty for either side."

Hal stepped to Kara. "Listen…give me a chance to talk to the Guardians. I can get you a probationary badge to come with me to Earth, you can present your case there. Just give me time, ok?" He put a hand on Kara's shoulder. "You can trust me."

Oddly, Kara instantly decided she could as the man had a confidence to his voice that would put either Adama to shame. She nodded as Hal backed up. "Okay. In the meantime, I think Kyle and Guy can help you out with the ring training, give Kilowog time to cool off." A green nimbus covered his body as he lifted upward and flew toward one of the large buildings of the area.

Kara watched him go and then looked to the other two men. "So…where do we start?"

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The sun was starting to set on the horizon as Kara finally sat back on the bench, taking a deep breath. It had been a long time since she'd been pushed to the physical limit like that but it felt worth it. Kyle and Guy had been spending the last few hours teaching her more of the ring, emphasizing how concentration and willpower were key to it all. They'd both seemed impressed at how quickly Kara was handling it but were able to point out some improvements she could make.

"Ya can't just make the shield right in front of you," Guy said as he pressed a beam of energy on the shield Kara was creating. The beam suddenly turned into a wave of tentacles that wrapped around the shield and covered a startled Kara. "I know the bubbles look dumb but they work."

"You want to do details on the creations, you can," Kyle said as he sat back, his ring flowing energy outward. Kara was busy blocking the attacks of a pair of horse-like creatures, each with solid horns at the center of their foreheads. "But don't go overboard with them. It's easier to just have the shape of an axe, you don't have to add on runes or patterns on the handle."

Kara sniffed. "You seem to throw that in."

Kyle shrugged. "I'm an artist, just comes naturally to me. That can help with the ring but I know it's tough making it work in battle."

"Me, I'm more about the brute power," Guy said and that came as no surprise to Kara. "You already know the ring can drain ya fast so a lot of times simpler is better."

Kara smiled as she held it to her face. "So much power…it's still a lot to take in."

"Don't let it overwhelm you," Kyle quickly said. "It's happened before and…it hasn't been good." He seemed to grow sad, hinting some dark past that Kara noticed.

"Yeah, Jordan can tell you that." The three turned to see a group of Lanterns nearby. The one who had spoken, a dark-skinned figure with black eyes and a horned forehead glared at the humans. "Or haven't you gotten to telling her that yet?"

"Watch it," Kyle said.

"Oh, you'd stick up for him, wouldn't you?" the alien scoffed. "That figures, you Parallax types would be on the same team."

"All right, that's it!" Guy snarled as he stepped forward and pointed at the group. "The next one of ya who makes a crack about two guys who are worth any ten of ya gets a month of science-cell patrol duty! And I'll make sure it's in Sinestro's wing!"

That seemed to quiet the group down, a few actually showing looks of utter fear at the mention of the word "Sinestro." They headed off, muttering among themselves as Kara turned to the men with a frown. "The hell was that about?"

Guy and Kyle looked at each other, obviously reluctant to speak. They were spared when Hal flew from above to land next to them. "Hey, I just spoke to the Guardians."

"And?" Kara quickly asked.

Hal moved to her. "They've agreed to let you accompany me to Earth. Consider it a training mission of sorts even though you're not yet a full Lantern."

"Sounds good," Guy nodded. He glanced to Kara. "You're in good hands, Thrace, Jordan's one of the best." He grinned. "Course, I'm the best…" Kyle just rolled his eyes at that.

Hal smiled before going on. "Maybe seeing it in person can help your decisions, not to mention we can bring the Cylon threat up to the appropriate parties."

"The League?" Kyle asked.

Hal nodded. "They'd be the first to see the threat anyway and they can help deal with the world leaders."

"Leaders?" Kara frowned. "Um…shouldn't you just tell the leader of the central government and they can figure it out?"

The three men looked at her with bemusement and then at each other. "You've got a lot to lean about Earth, Starbuck," Kyle said in a tone that made Kara more than a little nervous.

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For the second time in as many days, Kara was flying through space without a Viper. This time, however, she was able to enjoy the experience more. It felt amazing to fly around with only the green nimbus protecting her. She held her arms forward, knowing it seemed odd to be aerodynamic when there was no air but it felt right nonetheless.

Hal was flying next to her with his own arms outstretched and spread out a bit. He looked to her with that reassuring smile. "You okay?" he said, his voice carrying a bit of an echo as it was transmitted through the twin force fields into Kara's ears.

"It's….a rush," she confessed.

Hal laughed. "I know how you feel. First thing I did when I got the ring was immediately start clocking air time."

Kara looked to him. "You're a pilot too?"

"United States Air Force," Hal answered with pride. Kara remembered his mentioning how the U.S. of A. was one of the major nations of Earth. "I was actually retired, a test pilot when a Lantern named Abin Sur crashed his ship on Earth. He was dying, sent the ring out to find a worthy candidate, it got me."

Kara was quiet for a moment before looking over to him. "On Oa…I heard some guys mentioning something about you." She saw Hal tense and knew he knew what was coming. "You and something called…Parallax."

Hal was quiet before sighing. "It's a long story."

Kara shrugged. "Hey, we've got a few light years to cover. Besides, you're my guide on Earth, might as well get to know you."

Silence reigned for a few moments before Hal took a breath. "I guess it all starts with Sinestro." Kara remembered the name Guy had mentioned. "He was one of the greatest Green Lanterns ever, a friend of Abin Sur's. He kept his sector perfectly ordered but wasn't afraid to challenge the Guardians from time to time. He helped in my training and seemed a good teacher." Hal's expression darkened. "That was until he took me on a tour of his home world and I discovered the truth."

"Truth?"

"The reason Sinestro's sector was so orderly was because he'd turned himself into the absolute dictator of his home planet. He was so obsessed with keeping control that he became the exact sort of threat we're supposed to be fighting. The Guardians stripped him of his ring and rank and expelled him." He sighed. "Naturally, Sinestro blamed me for it all as he, of course, couldn't possibly be at fault. He managed to get hold of a yellow power ring of his own to get revenge. We fought for years on and off and at one point they imprisoned him inside the Central Power Battery on Oa." His face darkened. "And that's when he met Parallax."

"Wait…was it a person or a thing?" Kara asked.

Hal bit his lip. "A bit of both." On Kara's stare he went on. "Parallax was a yellow creature who was the embodiment of pure fear. It rampaged the universe millennia ago before the Guardians managed to capture it and imprison it inside the Battery. It was because of that fear inside that the rings used to have an impurity that wouldn't let them work against yellow." A flash of anger came across his features even the mask couldn't hide. "Of course, it's not like the Guardians bothered to tell anyone that at any point over three million years. They figured it wouldn't be a bother to anyone at any point and just buried their secret."

Kara snorted. "That figures. No matter what species they are or how old, superiors can always be assholes."

That got a chuckle out of Hal. "Too true." He sobered. "Anyway, Sinestro found Parallax inside the Battery and figured out what it was. Somehow, they managed to broker some deal for their mutual benefit. Sinestro got revenge on the Corps and Parallax was set free."

"How?"

"To deal with a major attack on Oa, I entered the Battery to absorb its power," Hal explained. "I had no idea that Parallax managed to attach itself to me. It was more a force of energy at that point so it could hide inside me without detection. There were signs I should have noticed like the hair at my temples suddenly going gray." He brushed at them self-consciously. "But for the most part, it was just business as usual until…" His voice drifted off.

Kara moved herself closer to him as they flew. "Until?"

Hal's eyes were dark as he steeled himself to go on. "An alien warlord called Mongul came to Earth, working with a psychotic cyborg who was once astronaut Hank Henshaw. Together, they destroyed my hometown of Coast City. Eight million people wiped off the face of the Earth in less than a minute."

While it had happened some time ago, the pain was still evident on Hal's face. "I'm sorry," Kara softly said. "I know how you feel." Hal glanced at her, realizing she really did know how he felt given her own history. He gave a soft smile in reply before going on.

"In the shock of it all, I felt true fear and that let Parallax take over totally. It warped my mind, made me obsessed with trying to 'fix' everything. When the Guardians tried to stop me, I attacked them. I went on a rampage, leaving members of the Corps in space, stealing their rings. I…killed some friends, I thought I killed Sinestro. I went into the Central Battery and absorbed its power totally, leaving the entire Corps dead. Only one ring survived and made its way to Kyle who took over. Because he knew fear and with Parallax gone from the Battery, he could work his ring on yellow."

"And…you?" Kara carefully asked.

Hal forced himself to go on. "I still had no idea what really happened of course. I thought it was all me, even took the name Parallax for myself. I…tried to warp time itself, to make things right but it ended in disaster. I was turning my back on my legacy, seeming to destroy it all. But when this creature tried to eat Earth's sun….I guess it was enough to let my spirit overcome the fear and I sacrificed myself to relight the sun."

Kara blinked in confusion. "Wait…you're telling me…you…"

"Died?" Hal smirked. "You're going to find that to people like us, death isn't quite as permanent as it's supposed to be. My soul went to purgatory but when Earth was threatened by a rebellion in Hell, I managed to become the new host for the Spectre, that's the spirit of God's vengeance and…"

He realized Kara was no longer flying with him but hovering in space a few feet behind staring at him as if he had a second head. Hal paused his flight to look back at her and put on a warm smile. "I know, I know, I can't really believe it all myself. Okay, long story short…"

"Too late," Kara couldn't help muttering.

"I managed to come back alive and have been rebuilding the Corps ever since."

"And…Parallax?"

Hal's smile faded. "It was captured but escaped again. Sinestro managed to gain control and used it to infect Kyle. It was finally exorcised and spread out so it's not a threat anymore." He sighed. "I just wish it was so easy to erase what I did under its power."

Starbuck looked at him, trying to reconcile the image of the man before her with the idea of a power-mad killer and just couldn't do it. She'd learned the hard way how people had to change massively in times of stress of their own free will so could hardly begrudge Hal for what he'd done under influence. "We…better get going."

Hal nodded as they took off flying again. They remained silent for a while as they swept past solar systems, Kara taking it all in, shaken out of her reverie by her ring. "Ring strength at 77.6%."

She looked to Hal. "How much power do I have left?"

"Used to be you had to charge it every 24 hours," Hal told her. "It varies now depending on the wearer and how much you use. It should last a while though, I'll show you how when we reach Earth."

"How much further?"

Hal nodded to the cold and small sphere they passed. "That's Pluto, we're at the outermost edge of the system now."

"Moon or planet?"

"That's a good debate going on." They swept past other planets, Kara unable to resist flying through a ring of rocks surrounding one large globe. They raced over the edge of a large red planet and then…

"Oh my Gods," she whispered as she saw the large body before her. Somehow, she knew instantly what it was. It looked a lot like Caprica from above, Caprica as it had been before the attacks. The amount of ocean surprised her but the white clouds shone with the sun and she could make out the continents below, white caps at the northern and southern ends. Even the slew of satellites orbiting the globe could not mar the beauty of it. Kara actually felt tears form in her eyes behind the mask as she took in what every person in the fleet had been dreaming of for so long.

"Kara Thrace," Hal said with a broad smile. "Welcome to Earth."

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