Disclaimer: Wes, Jen, Eric, Kimberly, Alice, Alex, Nadira, Lucas, Katie, Trip and Captain Rob Logan don't belong to me. They're borrowed from BVE without permission, but no harm, no foul, no money made. Eric's back story, Director Nechev, Marissa Detourney, Arachna, Biocon and all his aliases do belong to me and while you're welcome to borrow, asking me first would be nice.

With very grateful thanks to Gamine, Irina, Ekat and Vanessa -- a tireless cheer squad, sounding board and general lifeline to my sanity when bits of this weren't working. Also to Selma who kept me hard at it with sundry threats and bribes. Ladies, thank you.

Hold on to your hats, folks -- this one's a biggie...

~*~

Max Force -- Truth and Consequences

"What are you planning on telling Wes?"

Jen glanced in Eric's direction as she pulled out of the hospital's parking lot once more. "About what?" she asked.

"This," he replied, tapping the cast that was now encasing his left hand. "And last night."

Jen smiled faintly. "It's up to you."

"Huh?"

Jen pulled onto the San Marco road. "What am I going to say? You attacked me? Hardly -- I know damn well you were asleep. I know that's no consolation to you and I know you feel that's no excuse but if I'm even part right with what you were dreaming about..."

"What do you know about that?"

Jen could hear the tension in Eric's voice and she picked her next words very, very carefully. "I don't know anything about it," she replied, stressing the word know, hoping he would realise she was guessing -- that no-one had betrayed any confidences. "No-one has told me anything about 'it' -- whatever 'it' is..."

"But you're from the future. Can't you just..."

"Look people and places up?" Jen suggested. "If it was that simple, Alex would have looked up where Biocon touched down and end of problem."

"Good point," Eric mumbled sheepishly.

Jen smiled again. "There are rules about how much detail knowledge a Time Force officer can know about any given time. We tend to get the big events, the things that would have a bearing on a mission, but beyond that... We're certainly not allowed to look up individuals just to see why they act like they do." Jen snickered. "No matter how tempting it might be -- or how irritatingly taciturn the individual is."

"I guess I asked for that, huh?"

"You did," Jen agreed lightly.

"So...if you don't know..."

Jen sighed and glanced in Eric's direction. "Some things are universal," she replied quietly. "You were repeating your name, rank and ID number."

"Oh." The word was softly spoken and Jen got the impression that Eric was quietly steeling himself to explain.

"Uh-uh. You don't need to tell me. In fact," Jen admitted, "I'd rather you didn't."

"That's a first."

Jen gave a careful shrug. "I'm a cop at the end of the day. I've got a pretty good idea of just how cruel human beings can be to one another, and," she added quietly, "don't forget that I know about the scars."

There was silence from the passenger seat. Jen risked a glance at Eric to see that he'd paled at the mention.

"Sorry..."

"You know, don't you." Eric's words were flat, transforming what should have been a question into a statement.

"I don't know -- but I can guess all too easily."

Silence hung heavily on the air as they drove into San Marco. Jen couldn't help but shudder as she digested the unspoken admissions from Eric. Suddenly a lot of things about him were making sense. It was terrible and shocking -- and saddening -- but it made sense. Pity reared its head and she forced that back. Roles reversed, she knew the last thing she would want would be pity. Besides, she respected him too much to pity him.

"So, did you figure out how you're going to do your surveillance?" Eric asked.

It was a blatant, unashamed subject change. "Yeah, actually." Jen let it pass. "There's a deli next door to N'Tek's headquarters."

Eric choked. It sounded suspiciously like laughter.

"What?"

"You're planning on sitting in a deli?" He was laughing.

She knew it! She should have been offended -- but given the last twelve hours, Jen was willing to allow him some fun at her expense. Besides, she thought with an internal smirk, I'm about to spoil his fun. "Nope."

The laughter abruptly stopped. "Nope?"

"Nope."

"Care to let me in on this, then?"

Jen relented. "They had a sign in the window for delivery staff, specifying office delivery."

There was a long moment. Then Eric started to laugh again.

"What?" Jen was now feeling more than somewhat aggravated as she pulled into Vista Del Oro's drive way.

"Sorry," Eric apologised. "I was just thinking that you really seem to have a real lucky streak. You ran into Wes the first time you came here -- now you land the perfect cover job..." He shook his head and laughed again.

Jen found herself smiling. "Yeah -- guess it is kinda lucky. Although I didn't think bumping into Wes was all that lucky the first time I met him."

"So I heard."

Jen parked the SUV. "What did he tell you?"

Eric shrugged. "Not much, really -- just enough for me to get the basic idea...and to explain who that je...um...who Alex was."

Jen smirked. "Jerk?" she suggested.

"He made me sound like a reasonable guy -- and I was being a jerk," Eric muttered defensively.

Jen smiled. "Not by then you weren't. Stubborn, yes. Arrogant, yes. A jerk, no -- Conwing took care of that." Jen started to climb out of the SUV, then realised that Eric was staring at her. "What?"

"You're kidding!" He sounded stunned.

Jen tried hard not to look surprised, although it was a struggle. His words from the journey north came back to her: When you're used to people lying to you on a daily basis, it gets hard to believe it when people are honest with you. "No, I'm not," she replied quietly, willing him to believe her.

It took a few moments, then he nodded -- and looked a little sheepish. "Sorry."

Jen offered him a smile. "It's OK." He started climb out of the SUV. "C'mon -- we have things to do."

"We do?" Eric echoed, dubiously.

"We do," Jen confirmed. "There are groceries to unpack and I need to try and speak to Alex."

~*~

Wes yawned widely as he slowly rolled down Gull Street.

It hadn't been the complete and utter bust he'd expected the night before, but it hadn't been terribly productive either. From the looks of what he'd found at the warehouse, Biocon and Taylor had been there. The burned out time warper device had proved that -- and Wes didn't want to know how he knew that's what the charred lump of metal was. But there were no signs of either criminal now.

He was now just double-checking his findings in daylight, partly in the hopes of finding people hanging around the area who might have seen something.

"Hey, man -- y'lost?"

The voice was loud enough to be heard over the bike's engine. Wes pulled to a halt and looked around for the source. Standing in front of a nearby warehouse was a scruffy looking youth.

"Nope -- just lookin' 'round."

The youth grinned. "You're the third guy this month who's said that to me."

Wes stared. "Third?"

The youth grinned again and nodded. "Yeah."

Wes cut the engine and climbed off the bike. "These other two guys...what where they like?"

The youth shrugged. "What's it worth to ya to know?"

Wes sighed inwardly. "Depends on how much information you've got, now, doesn't it?"

The youth snickered. "Good answer, man. I like you." Wes wondered what that meant. "You're better than those other two geeks."

Wes headed across the street to the youth, pulling of his helmet. "What did these other guys look like?" The youth held his hand out, rubbing his thumb across his fingers in the age-old gesture for 'pay up'. Wes pulled his wallet out and produced a twenty-dollar bill. The youth reached for it, but Wes held it just out of his reach. "Ah-ah. What did these guys look like?"

The youth gave Wes an appraising look. "Make it forty and I'll tell you what they said."

"Twenty now, twenty when you're done."

The youth sighed. "Man, you drive a hard bargain -- this must be real important to ya."

Wes smiled. "Maybe. Now, how about you tell me what these guys looked like?"

The youth sighed again. "All right, all right. They were real hard to forget. One of the guys was...like...dressed like one of those Arab guys."

Wes frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well...like...he was wearing this real long robe..." The youth suddenly clicked his fingers. "Like...y'know Obi Wan Kenobi."

Wes nodded. He had a nasty suspicion that was what the youth had meant, but he had to be sure. Biocon all right. "What about the other guy?"

The youth shrugged. "He was weird. Into white leather in a big way -- which is kinda kinky."

If Wes had any doubts about who the two other guys were, that confirmed it. "You're sure about that?"

The youth nodded vigorously. "I swear it."

Wes handed over the twenty. "You want to earn another?"

The youth nodded. "Sure thing, man."

"Do you know where they went?"

"Ya looking for them?"

Wes smiled faintly. "You could say that, yeah."

The youth grinned. "I guessed. As for where they went: North. Don't know where, exactly...but Jedi Guy said something about 'right time, wrong place' and Leather Dude said something about 'it's further north.'"

Which figures. "You've got no idea what 'it' was?"

The youth shook his head. "Nu-uh. I didn't get that close to them. Jedi guy was cree-pee."

Wes sighed and nodded. "OK. One last question -- when was this?"

For a second, Wes thought the youth was going to demand another twenty. "New Year's Day."

Exactly three weeks ago, Wes realised. "You're sure about that?"

Another vigorous nod. "Yeah, man -- at first I thought it was cuz of what I'd drunk the night before...man what a party!"

"You thought what was?" Wes asked.

"There was, like, this big flash of light...then Jedi Guy and Leather Dude appeared. Wasn't until they started talking in English that I knew they were real."

Murmuring thanks, and handing over the second twenty, Wes headed back across the street to where he'd parked his bike. Three weeks...they could have gotten a long way in three weeks. There was something else that nagged at him about the timing as he rode away from Gull Street but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Maybe Eric will know when I contact them...

~*~

Eric perched on the stool watching Jen bustle around the kitchen. He'd offered to help her with whatever it was she was doing but she'd pointedly told him to 'sit! You're supposed to be keeping that arm up not putting groceries away or setting up a holoscreen.' So, instead, Eric sat on the stool and watched.

"This," she explained, producing a leather pouch, "is a holoscreen."

"No it isn't," Eric objected, "it's a leather pouch."

"Ha-ha." She took out two three-inch long metal cylinders. She stood them up on the work surface and extended them both, rather like radio antenna, until they were roughly twelve inches long. From the pouch, she produced something else that looked akin to a garage door opener and pressed it.

The holoscreen flared into life.

Eric couldn't help but stare at the image that formed. Aside from the black hair and the obviously strained expression, it could have been Wes. "Jen!"

"Captain Scotts reporting as ordered, sir" Jen replied.

Alex -- that was who it had to be -- smiled faintly. "It's OK, Jen, you can drop the formalities." Alex peered. "You must be Eric," he added.

"Sir." There was something about Alex that set Eric's teeth on edge -- and it wasn't just the disconcerting similarity between Alex and Wes. Jen's head whipped round and looked him. Eric offered her a shrug. Alex, too, seemed a little surprised by the abruptness in his tone of voice. "Sorry -- painkillers haven't quite kicked in," he added, gesturing to the sling with his right hand.

Alex's eyes widened. "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not," Jen decided, in a tone of voice that suggested to Eric he was probably going to be in trouble with her when she'd finished talking to Alex.

"What can I do for you, Jen?" Alex asked.

"Just checking in," Jen answered. "Wanted to let you know that we're all set for the surveillance."

Alex nodded. "Good." There was a momentary pause. "I'm actually about to hold a meeting here," he admitted. "To discuss...developments."

Oh boy -- and I thought the military had a good turn of euphemism. Eric rolled his eyes.

"I may well have some new information for you in about an hour or so," Alex added.

"We'll be here," Jen promised. Alex smiled and the holoscreen picture fizzled out. Sure enough, the second the connection vanished, Jen rounded on Eric. "What was that all about?"

Eric shrugged as best he could, given the sling. "I don't know." The answer was short, but it had the merit of also being honest.

"You really don't like the guy, do you," Jen observed.

He shrugged again. "I don't know the guy."

"But you don't like him."

Eric sighed. "There's something not scanning right with him. I don't know...maybe it's just because he looks so much like Wes without being Wes." Eric knew full well that wasn't the reason, but Jen seemed to accept it.

"It is disconcerting," she agreed.

There was a momentary silence. "So what now?" Eric asked.

Jen sighed. "I guess we've now got a chance to go over the surveillance targets."

Eric smirked faintly. "That could be a good idea," he agreed, sliding off the stool. "Where're the notes?"

Jen looked faintly surprised. "You're offering to get them?"

"Any reason I shouldn't? It's only my hand in plaster -- not anything else. Besides," he added, heading out of the kitchen, "that stool's uncomfortable."

Jen giggled and shook her head. "Sorry. Be my guest -- the notes are in my bag...which is in the living room."

Eric nodded, and wandered through into the living room. There was Jen's duffle bag lying on the couch. He opened it and retrieved the sheaf of paper notes and the datapad from it and was about to head back to the kitchen when something else caught his eye.

~*~

Alex watched as the holoscreen connection faded.

"Alex -- why didn't you say I was here?" Katie asked.

He gave a long sigh. "It wasn't germane."

For a second, he thought Katie was going to lunge across his desk and strangle him. "You don't trust her!" she exclaimed.

Alex put his head in his hands. "Right now -- with what I know, and what you know... Katie, if my suspicions are even half right..." He slowly looked back at Katie, feeling old and tired far beyond his years. "I want to be wrong. I so want to be wrong about this."

Marissa appeared in the doorway. "Sir? Everyone's here."

Alex nodded, masking his despair. "Show them in, Marissa -- let's get this show on the road."

~*~

Eric stared at the small, stuffed toy.

His first reaction had been to laugh but that reaction was stilled. A stuffed toy was incongruous -- but this one especially so. He didn't claim to be a soft toy expert by any stretch of the imagination, but exposure to Alice had increased his knowledge -- and he would swear that the lop-eared dog he was looking at was a Beanie Baby, and a well-loved one at that.

"Eric?" Eric looked up to find Jen standing in the doorway, looking at him, bemused. "What's up?"

"Just..." He sighed. "Nothing."

Jen looked sceptical. "Nothing?"

"Just...struck me I'll need to get some college stuff ready for class on Monday." You're a lousy liar, Myers.

Jen gave him a look that clearly told him, 'yeah, right'. "If you say so," was all she actually said.

"So...these surveillance targets..."

They headed back into the kitchen so that the notes could be spread across the table. Eric did his best to concentrate on the task at hand, but at the back of his mind he was wondering about the toy.

Why on earth would Jen have a Beanie Baby, well loved or otherwise?

~*~

Alex surveyed the occupants of his office. Conditions were more than slightly cramped, and everyone looked tense -- with the exception of Director Nechev, who looked as stern and forbidding as ever.

"Alex?" she said. "You called us here -- what's this about?"

Alex gave a nod. "Thank you all for coming -- I know it was short notice for some of you," he looked at Rob Logan, then Nechev, then Nadira, offering them all a silent apology. "I thought it was time we all knew where we stand. Rob -- I'll fill you in on the details later. The cliff notes version is we've got a major plot on our hands. And I do mean major. Director -- would you be so kind as to explain what you found as regards the Shendraville survivor?"

Nechev smiled faintly and inclined her head. "Certainly. Succinctly put, there was no survivor at Shendraville. The child was a victim of a Time Storm, pulled from her native time into this one."

Alex nodded. "And we're almost certain that Biocon did this deliberately. The 'survivor' was recommended for Memory Adaptation...and mysteriously," Alex added, "that's where the trail of records ceases. We have no clue as to who the 'survivor' is -- she would be twenty-six now -- or where she went after the Memory Adaptation...or even what the MA actually did. It is more than likely," he concluded, "that the 'survivor' is another of Biocon's biological weapons, just waiting to be unleashed."

In the silence that followed Alex scanned the room. Nadira, Marissa, Lucas and Trip looked openly shocked. Rob was more adept at hiding his surprise -- but it was there. Nechev had known the revelation was coming. Katie looked pale.

"As if that wasn't bad enough," Alex continued, breaking the silence, "there's three other problems. First and foremost, Biocon is now back. Reports of his death, apparently, were greatly exaggerated. Secondly, Biocon appears to have had some kind of long term plan -- possibly a blackmail or extortion plot. Thirdly, Biocon's whereabouts. We know a great deal about the first. In fact, the first problem has been sickeningly easy to piece together, which makes me very, very nervous about the second. For all this to have been covered up, either Time Force have been extremely stupid over the last twenty years, or there are some high powered players involved. What hard evidence we have of or for the second problem is minimal, but, and this is where TF Crime comes in, Rob, we do now have a source." Alex glanced at Nadira.

"Arachna," she supplied quietly.

"You want me to pull her in?" Rob asked.

Alex nodded. "Yes. And the quicker the better."

"You've got it."

~*~

After having checked the other potential hit in San Diego -- which proved to be a total bust -- Wes had headed back to the motel he was staying in.

The original plan had been for him to head up to Del Oro Bay on Tuesday -- but that had assumed he'd found something worth investigating for longer. The trail was colder than the arctic here. Wherever Biocon and Taylor were, it was north of here, and given all the other intelligence 'hits' were well towards San Francisco, Wes was willing to bet his morpher that there was nothing left here to find.

So with that in mind, he'd swiftly repacked his backpack, checked out and hit the road.

He didn't know quite why, but he suddenly had the strongest urge to be with Jen.

In the same way as he had instinctively known to stick around Silverhills' central area on the day he first met Jen and the other rangers; in the same way as he had known that Jen was in trouble before she walked into the clock tower after Steelix had taken her morpher; he just knew he had to get to Del Oro Bay.

Bakersfield was looming. That was the half way point and it was still only late afternoon. At this rate, he'd be in Del Oro Bay -- and at the house in San Marco -- by ten pm.

He made a decision and took the next exit. He'd be no good to anyone if he crashed because of tiredness.

Half an hour, then I'm on my way again.

~*~

The meeting was over.

Alex sat back and looked at Katie. She looked totally shaken.

"You think..." she began.

Alex gave a tired shrug. "I don't know what to think. But if you were in my position, you'd be taking care." Reluctantly, Katie nodded. "So for the time being, she doesn't know about your recommission."

Katie nodded. "Yes, sir."

Alex offered her a faint smile and pressed call on his holoscreen. Moments later and an image of Jen formed. "Hello again," he said.

"Alex." She offered a tight smile. In the background, Alex could see Eric frowning.

Join the list of people who hate me, Alex thought morosely. Aloud, he just said, "I don't have anything new for you just yet, but we do have a break through. I'll keep you posted."

"OK, thank you, sir."

"Good luck with the surveillance."

"Thank you, sir."

Alex cut the connection and looked back at Katie. "Am I doing the right thing?"

~*~

Jen glanced at Eric.

"You're right," she said. "There is something wrong."

"If this investigation's as big as you say," Eric replied, "he's probably just strung out from chasing his own tail."

Jen studied Eric's expression. He was a horrible liar -- and there were none of the signs that he was lying this time. "You're probably right." She shelved the issue for the time being. "Now -- about Laura Chan..."

~*~

Two squads of Time Force officers quietly surrounded the building Nadira had indicated as being Arachna's lair. Once they were in position, Captain Logan gave her a nod.

Nervously, Nadira approached the building. Her task was simple. Enter Arachna's lair, discharge a flashbomb and let the Time Force officers do the rest. But if it was so simple, why did she feel so scared?

You can do this.

She reached the darkened doorway.

"Arachna!"

"I thought I told you to go home, little girlie," came Arachna's response.

"I have a business proposition for you," Nadira replied, hoping her voice was steady. "There's a big reward in it for you."

"Reward? I don't need a reward."

She's not buying this! "You do need this one."

Before Nadira could do anything else, a pair of hands materialised out of the gloom and dragged her into the black room.

"What reward could you possibly have that I could possibly want?" Arachna hissed. Nadira was petrified. She wanted to scream and couldn't. "Hm? You have nothing I want."

"But I do have this."

From somewhere Nadira found the courage to detonate the flashbomb. Arachna screamed in complete agony as the harsh light attacked her sensitive, mis-matched eyes. Nadira knew her own sight was temporarily gone thanks to the flash, but she could hear the Time Force officers rushing into the building now, even as she felt Arachna reel away from her. The bustle around her was almost as frightening as the master spy's grip had been.

"Arachna, you're under arrest!" That was Captain Logan's voice -- that cut through the fear. It meant that Arachna was captured now.

"Nadira?" That was Trip's voice -- and she could hear pride in it. "You did it."

Nadira realised she was shaking. "I did it?" she echoed.

And to her surprise, she felt someone's lips brush against her temple. "You did it," Trip confirmed.

Suddenly, Nadira didn't feel scared any more.

~*~

Kimberly heard the knock on the door as she was attempting to sort herself out, ready to go to work.

"I got it!" Alice called.

"Alice, honey -- don't..." It was too late; Kimberly heard the front door open.

Then she heard Alice scream.

Kimberly dashed out of her bedroom and stopped dead.

"You didn't think you'd escaped from me, did you?"

TO BE CONTINUED...