Author's Notes: The theme song for this chapter will be, "Faith of the Heart" by Rod Stewart. It was the theme song from Star Trek Enterprise. It just fit this chapter somehow.

This is a non-profit work of fanfiction meant only for entertainment.

Destiny
by Lerris Smith

-«Chapter Twelve»-

Hermione frowned briefly when she was awoken early by Lacus, then she smiled and glanced at the relatively thick journal that was in her hands.

Lacus said quietly, "This has runes on it that are keyed to you. Only you will be able to read it." Hermione nodded, now very curious. Lacus gave her the book and then gave her a warm hug before saying, "Thank you very much for all your help." She then walked out.

Hermione opened the book and read. It said, "Hermione, I give this to you. I do not know what the future may bring. I leave the knowledge herein to use at your own discretion. I have written nothing down that I thought could do more harm than good, but one can never know how knowledge will be used in the future. Sometimes it is better to wait for some things."

"Should you not wish this role and should I be lost either today or in the future, then I ask that you break the runes and see that Prince Charles or Princess Diana get this book. I am considering giving them a copy of some of this information, but your edition has more in it. I believe they can be trusted although I do not know them, as I do you. Enclosed is an address that should still get through to the prince. You could also simply copy pages and then apparate to a mail box and mail them, should you wish to do things that way. Again, I leave it all to your discretion, although I caution against further action until after the Tri-Wizard tournament is over. My thanks again and my apologies for leaving this burden to you."

Hermione turned the page and read the summary of the first invention. It discussed how to formulate light emitting diodes that were orders of magnitude more efficient than what currently existed. It even gave very precise chemical formula as well as the recommended methods of fabrication. It spent more than thirty pages on this one item and even discussed how to build very efficient power supplies to power them. Some of it was typed, while the figures were hand drawn in Lacus's own precise hand. What really surprised her was her analyses of the impact of them. They would last nearly forever and reduce the cost of electricity for lighting to a tiny fraction of what it was now. The information here was priceless and she had just given it to her to do what she wanted with it. If the books thickness was any indication there must be dozens of things in here of a similar value all explained in detail. She carefully locked the precious book in her trunk and then activated its ward scheme before getting ready for breakfast. The second task would start soon.

-«oOo»-

Harry grinned as he got Tonks, Fred, George, and Hermione to touch his back and send him power. It felt incredible. He used all of that power to strengthen the magical shield around his wife's womb that would be needed to protect their child today. When they were done the others were tired, while he had already mostly recovered.

After she caught her breath, Tonks said , "Just to let you know Harry. We aren't your personal battery! It's for the kid."

Harry smiled and waved his thanks. They were ready.

-«oOo»-

Harry smiled as they walked up the road to Hogwarts to be with the other champions. All the teams were now wearing form fitting one piece uniforms. They were Fleur's idea and her and her teams creation. The guys had deep blue long sleeve one piece uniforms that had to be closed and opened with magic, while the girls had the same except they were a much lighter blue color, similar to the color of Beauxbaton's uniforms. The girls uniforms were also form fitting, yet retained modesty. All in all Harry quite liked them.

They uniforms also had a silver triangle pointing upward in the middle of each persons chest with the coat of arms of the school they represented at the top of the triangle and the other two schools at the bottom. Their helpers were out there as well, with Luna and Neville proudly representing Beauxbatons for the day. The old wizard who was Victor's assistant was the only exception. He wore formal black robes.

Harry looked around. He was standing in front of the portable stairs used to board their craft that Lacus had recently named Akatsuki. It meant dawn in Japanese. It seemed fitting somehow. As they stood there, he thought he saw Hermione glance over at Fleur. They had become better friends than he would have expected in so little time. Perhaps it was fitting. Both, barely knew anyone at Hogwarts, yet they had become friends.

-«oOo»-

Albus Dumbledore wore his best regalia as he stood on the judges platform. The platform was above even the bleachers they had moved to the tops of all four main towers at Hogwarts. All four towers were filled to capacity. Omnioculars were seen ready to use by most.

He walked up to the microphone that the twins had setup. No one was sure if the electronics would survive on top of Hogwarts, but this equipment was said to be simple and well shielded, whatever that meant. He spared a look at what they called a generator that was sitting atop one of the smaller towers. It had been surrounded by silencing charms so it was thankfully quiet, even if he could smell a puff of pungent smoke from time to time.

If this gadget worked it should be a great help since otherwise he would have to repeat himself for at least three different directions. He tapped the microphone and was surprised at the thuds that were heard. He casually pocketed his hand and pretended not to be responsible as he took the final step to the microphone.

He said, "Good morning ladies and gentlemen." The audience too seemed surprised at his amplified voice coming from more than one direction. He said, "I now present to you the second task of the Tri-Wizard tournament! Our contestants have worked hard to prepare for this task. The Hogwarts team designed, built, and tested a very impressive cart using both muggle science and our best magic!"

That brought surprised looks from the people as they stared down at the curiously nearly triangular thing that the team was getting into. It had a large clear canopy where one side flipped up to let people in.

Albus said, "The Beauxbatons team as you can see, or perhaps you can't has harnessed the mighty power of thestrals. Unless you are directly touching one, they can only be seen by those who have witnessed death."

The crowd watched. Many of them saw the team seemingly sitting in air after they had levitated each other on top of the animals. An aura of surprise an anticipation began to build in the crowd as those who could see described the black nearly skeletal creatures to those who could not.

Albus said, "The Durmstrang team has created what would no doubt qualify as a master work. They have crafted sets of wooden armor that snap around their arms, back, and legs that together somehow allow one to fly. It is probably similar to how a broom works, but as it is not a broom, it easily qualifies for this tournament."

The crowd looked down at the Durmstrang team with curiosity. It didn't look impressive, but then neither did a broom.

Albus said, "The race will be for one hour. Whoever is in the lead at the end of an hour will be declared the winner. The contestants must clear several markers for every lap around the perimeter of the Hogwarts grounds, but are allowed to go further out if they choose to do so."

The audience was now leaning down in their seats as a whining noise began to drift up from team Hogwarts odd contraption.

-«oOo»-

Harry said, "Are the modified silencing wards working?"

Lacus said, "They are. When they are active only the inside of the craft will be isolated from jet noise."

Harry grinned, even as a walkie-talkie on the dash said in a twins voice, "All is ready. If anything happens out of the ordinary we will let you know."

Harry picked the device off of its clip and said, "Thanks again guys."

Lacus said, "Beginning accelerated launch sequence. Air pressure is stable. Fuel is full and fuel pressure is nominal. Central rear engine is spinning up. I'm leaving the other two off, since they have no purpose at these speeds."

Harry saw the other teams already in motion and ahead of them. He was particularly interested in Victor's armor. If you could wear that under your clothing.. It wasn't as fast as a Firebolt, but it was impressive. So were Fleur's thestrals for that matter. The thestrals were actually easily outpacing Victor's team.

Two minutes later Lacus said, "Levitation engines are up to ignition speed. Beginning fuel flow." The roar outside picked up in noise as the craft slowly began to move up in the air. Akatsuki quickly rose to five hundred feet in the air then just seemed to hang there. The middle jet engine on the rear roared to life and they took off.

-«oOo»-

In the stands Draco Malfoy sat with his father. Draco said, "Just wait. You won't believe how fast that thing moves when they get it going."

"Must they make it so loud?" Lucius asked.

Draco said, "It was quiet inside. Hey, they only turned one of the engines in the back on. That sucks."

His father asked, "Why would they only use the one?"

Draco shrugged. He said, "I doubt they need more than one for this."

His father returned to staring at the oddly shaped craft.

-«oOo»-

The craft quickly caught up with the others who were flying much lower. Seconds later they had passed and were still accelerating even as Harry let their course drift wider. Harry had no intention of following the precise outlines of the immediate Hogwarts grounds like the others. Instead he would follow a course nearly triple the size and try to cruise at just under the speed of sound. One engine could manage that, if barely. The course should have gradual enough turns to be safe for his wife and unborn baby.

-«oOo»-

The crowed went wild. The Hogwarts colored jet was easy to see as it roared past the other contestants and then went on to the next. You could see the heads of people in the crowd twist as they followed it with their omnioculars.

Albus said, "Would you look at that? Team Hogwarts has already done three far bigger laps while the Beauxbatons team just finished their first. Team Durmstrang is in third place at only half a lap. I'd bet they won't mind too much though, once they get orders for their new invention! It could make quidditch a whole new game." The crowd cheered even louder.

The youngest Weasley brought a folded message to him that he quickly read. He paled as he grabbed his own omnioculars and stared off in the direction of Hagrid's hut.

-«oOo»-

The walkie-talky in front of Harry said, "Harry, there is a problem. We were hoping you could do something. If not, you need to get to safety."

Lacus grabbed the device from its clip in front of Harry, leaving Harry to fly. She said, "What is it Hermione?"

Hermione said, "A full grown nundu has been spotted near Hagrid's cabin. They can kill whole cities and it is headed towards Hogwarts."

Cedric cursed.

Harry asked, "Will our weapons kill it? I know we haven't done much testing."

Hermione's voice said, "They would probably kill it, but that is not enough. If you don't have a really hot fire toxins will become airborne. George already sent a note off with Ginny to the headmaster, so the professors should hopefully protect the audience at least, even if they are still bound by those stupid oaths."

-«oOo»-

Albus grabbed the microphone and said, "Listen carefully. It is necessary for everyone's safety for them to follow me down into the great hall. There I will put Hogwarts into lock down."

One random witch shouted, "Why would we do that? This is just getting good."

Albus said, "Remain calm and begin your journey to the great hall. A full grown nundu has been sighted near the forbidden forest heading towards Hogwarts. We will be safe inside the great hall."

Panic erupted as one after another struggled to be the first down the staircase. Their were broken bones and injuries but thankfully no one died. Albus noted that the elder Malfoy had sat quite close to the staircase in the first place and was one of the first to go down, along with his son.

-«oOo»-

Harry saw the top of the castle in the process of being evacuated. He said, "We need to get the others."

Cedric asked, "Will this craft protect us from a nundu?"

Lacus said hesitantly, "I believe so. The canopy automatically seals and part of the runic array acts like a bubblehead charm to keep the air fresh."

Cedric said, "Good enough."

Akatsuki floated in front of Fleur's team.

Fleur's team paused, saved for the wingbeats keeping them in air. Fleur asked, "Is something wrong?"

Harry said, "There is no time. A nundu has been sighted." Even as Harry spoke Lacus grabbed Harry's hand and quickly levitated the whole Beauxbatons team into the cockpit. Fleur remained mostly calm, while the other two yelled in fright, before calming down once they were seated. The thestrals quickly took off in the direction of their herd.

Akatsuki quickly moved in front of Victor's team and opened the cockpit. Fleur waved them in and they floated in on their own power. The canopy settled back in place just as a half dozen bursts of green light splashed over the front of the ship, but seemingly doing no damage. Harry said, "Cedric, get the weapons ready. Some people are going to die."

The others faces grew grim as Cedric looked over the controls in front of him. They only had the two weapons, yet they were both effective, in theory.

Lacus gently laid her right hand over Harry's arm. She said softly, "Please do not kill them."

Harry looked pained at her words. They had just tried to kill them all, including his wife and their unborn child. If his wife hadn't been so paranoid and added the killing curse warding scheme to their craft they would be dead right now. He had to act, but he could not disappoint her. Harry said, "Fine. Use Fred's gummy goo gun."

The jet quickly eat up the ground to where the half dozen wizards were hiding just outside of the quidditch pitch. He maneuvered the craft in front of them. When they were close Harry yelled, "Fire!"

A thick stream of pink goo splashed over them and disrupted the bubblehead charms they were maintaining. It quickly expanded trapping the would be killers in a ball of goo with only their heads sticking out.

Cedric said, "Nice! How long is that supposed to last?"

Lacus said absently, "It should last days without the counter potion. The gum probably won't work on the nundu though. If it starts giving off poison it will drift on the wind. It could easily enter Hogwarts."

Harry said, "Cedric, I'm going to spin around the nundu. You don't need to get it with the gum, but I want you to try to create a pen for it with the gum. Then we will switch weapons."

Cedric said, "I'm ready." As Harry begun to spin the craft around the vile creature, a line of gum formed a rough circle around. It was roughly twenty feet in diameter and quickly grew to be ten feet tall.

Harry said, "Okay start spraying it with the fuel potion mix, but don't light it up yet!"

Cedric did so as they made several more passes saturating the area with the mix of kerosene and a rather volatile potion.

Fleur said, "It is beginning to give off poison!" as she watched the virulent green mist begin to appear.

Harry said, "Light it up." Suddenly the line of liquid became a line of fire as the whole thing started to go up in flames.

Lacus yelled, "It is not enough! You can see the glow of the poison in the smoke!" It was drifting away from them and from Hogwarts for now, but that wasn't guaranteed to last. Cedric let the fire trail off.

Harry asked, "Does anyone know the fiendfyre spell? I've only read about it once, but I'll try it unless someone else has a better idea."

Victor said, "I know it. I'll do it. Fiendfyre is not a spell to be taken lightly. It probably won't even get me kicked out of Durmstrang, but I doubt Hogwarts would be so forgiving."

Lacus looked worried before the expression vanished. She said, "Can someone do bubblehead charms? Fleur quickly shot one on Harry and Lacus, even as Cedric did his own and the others did their own, with only Aimee needing help."

Harry, with some help from Cedric's control of the braking charms, maneuvered the craft to give Victor a clear shot and opened the canopy. Victor cast the spell. It flew wildly out of his wand even as he gestured with his other hand to close the canopy.

Victor seemed to be fighting to hold onto his own wand. He gripped it with both hands yet it didn't seem to help. The magic seemed to be nearly out of his control. The sentient fire refused to attack the nundu. Lacus said, "Everyone, help Victor control the spell. Just touch him, or someone touching him and will energy and control to him. With the fire to incinerate the nundu and its poison." They did so. First the Beauxbatons girls laid hands on his left arm, then his own crew mates grabbed his right. Magic began to flow and the fire grew hotter still, yet more stable and it now descended on the burning monster.

Harry went back to slowly circling the monster. More kerosene and potion mix saturated the area making the fire burn even hotter. Minutes passed as it all continued to burn. Lacus turned in her seat and cast Scourgify over and over, first on the people and then on the insides of the craft. The smoke had faded as the funeral pyre for the monster grew white hot. Finally the Fiendfyre exhausted itself followed quickly by Cedric running of the fuel potion mixture for the weapons. The regular fire continued to burn. Lacus turned a valve and pure kerosene was now expelled from the weapon, once again making the fire hotter, if not nearly as hot as before.

-«oOo»-

The great hall ceiling had been changed to show the events that were going on now, and was currently focused on the death of the Nundu. Albus had already apologized for again being bound by the same magical promise that prevented him from interfering in the first tournament task.

They had however informed the ministry who was preparing an assault force for the nundu. The force would take time to assemble to even begin to have a chance against the only creature in the world that earned a category five rating. Charles knew from his own briefings that they could easily kill whole villages with their poison. MI-5 had standing orders to eliminate with extreme prejudice any that were sighted.

He was down in the great hall with everyone else when the head of his security team here came up to him. This was not how this day was supposed to go. The wizard handed him a small folded message. It read, "Potter's team has captured the attackers and eliminated the nundu. It is unclear how contaminated the grounds are, but we think they destroyed most of the poison. The wizards have received at least a partial dose of nundu poison. We do not know if it will be fatal as they were mostly upwind."

Charles said quietly, "Avoid notice. Extract one if possible. Cancel the others. Make it look like the poison. Use your discretion, but handle it."

The wizard said just as softly, "I understand sir."

-«oOo»-

Outside in Akatsuki Harry resumed their flight around the course. There was no hurry now, but they also could not completely abandon the task, since their magic was on the line. The others were just content for the ride, since no one wanted outside after a nundu had released poison.

Inside, Albus stood up in front of the great Hall and said, "Attention. The crises is over, yet the grounds may still be contaminated with nundu poison so I will have to ask you all to stay here at least till tomorrow, for your own safety. I also state as the head of the Wizengamot, the Head of Hogwarts, and as the chief warlock of the international confederation of Wizards that Victor's use of the dark spell Fiendfyre is pardoned and ask the ministry itself to do the same. Finally, now that I am told the hour is up, I can at least do one small thing. Fawkes!"

Fawkes appeared in a burst of fire in front of him. A long gnarled black staff was gripped in the birds talons that Albus quickly retrieved from him. Charles glanced up and noted that the ceiling was again back to its normal display of the sky outside.

Albus said, "I toyed with the design of staffs in my youth. I never could get even close to the ones from Merlin's time. I made dozens of them, but only saved a few. This is much like the ones the Durmstrang team made, save it doesn't stun. It was for something much flashier than that."

He held the staff up high in both his hands as a solid beam of white magic shot forth into the fake sky. The old wizard sustained the bar of power. The other teachers look on with worry, even as the potions professor made his way up to him. The magic must have poured from his old frame for more than a minute before all his strength seemed to leave him. He almost fell, but was quickly helped back to his seat by the potions professor.

Somehow Charles knew that beam affected the real sky. Seconds passed and clouds began to rapidly form until the sky was a solid mass of clouds that quickly changed to pouring rain and lightning. He could see in the ceiling's view of the sky Harry's group quickly landing before they got low enough to be ignored by the view. Minutes later the lockdown was released and the champions were let in the hall, even as a couple of his own people snuck out to get to work.

Charles mused that the old wizard sure knew how to impress when he tried, even if the spell seemed to take a lot out of him. The rain would dilute any toxins remaining, which was probably the best they could hope for.

One hour later he got a report that the healthiest one was in the bag and had already implicated Lucius Malfoy, while the others sadly died of nundu poisoning. Were they being witty? It didn't matter. He was just glad that he had talked Diana out of coming. His argument was that she was far more apt to be recognized than he was, which was true, although he had been prepared to lie if it kept her safe.

Charles was then quite surprised when he saw a brunette that had to be Diana with what he hoped was temporary hair coloring. How had she gotten here? Sure she had as much authority as he had technically, but he had never seen her actually use it. The minx.

Charles was doubly surprised to see the woman he had come to question come up to him, as if she had never been in battle nor a rainstorm, and ask if they had any place to stay. His expression was one of surprise that he quickly covered. He said, "No, young lady. No, we do not. I find I must thank you for handling that monster though." Harry came up beside his wife, seemingly curious.

She said, "Well, we would be glad to share our rooms with you." She then led a bemused Harry, Meer, and the rest to their rooms.

Lacus said, "We only have the three rooms, but if you are here I think we need to talk. Does your grace the prince and Lady Diana mind stepping into our bedroom to do so?"

The prince looked to his remaining guards. Three were wizards and one was a witch. None seemed to have any problem with it. He also looked at his wife. She was also okay with it. He said, "No, lead the way." The young woman named Meer started to follow, but stopped at a serious look from Lacus and a bemused one from Harry.

After the door closed one of the guards said with a smirk, "If we have to stay out, then so do you." Tonks huffed and then called Dobby to see about some food and drinks for everyone.

-«oOo»-

They entered the room to an unmade bed and Harry's clothes scattered across the room.

Harry said, "Um, I'm sorry about that. I know I was the last up, but I was kind of busy, and not really expecting guests." He then reached down and started picking up his mess while the bed appeared to make itself.

The prince turned to Lacus. He said, "That is an interesting ability, particularly considering you were born without magic. Tell me, how did you come by it?"

Lacus looked surprised, but quickly recovered. Harry looked like he was going to quickly become angry.

Lacus said, "I will not answer that question. I could wish you did not know so much, but I will not answer that. What Harry has given me is precious beyond belief, but I will not open that door. I fear too much sadness lays beyond it." Harry stepped behind her to comfort her even as he glared at the prince.

Diana said, "Husband, you are being rude." She turned to them and asked, "Will you not tell us a little of your story though? You can skip over any parts you are uncomfortable with."

Harry's expression softened at the princess's words. Dobby appeared and handed a letter to Harry. Dobby asked, "Would peoples need anything?"

Lacus turned to Dobby and asked him for a small assortment of food and drinks. She then grabbed hold of her husbands arm before using her wand to shift the large bed into two sofas with a large coffee table between them. Dobby left to get food.

Lacus asked, "What was the letter about?"

Harry said, "Oh, it's just Dumbledore passing along a message. He thanked us for dealing with that monster. It seems Karkaroff complained about how much muggle material we must have used and how Victor saved them all. Dumbledore disagreed. Madame Maxine pointed out that Fleur's team also helped stabilize the dark spell. They settled on calling the outcome of this task a three way tie." Harry shrugged and handed her the letter. She dropped it on the table, only for Diana to pick it up.

Charles sat down on the right of the couch facing the Potters. He said, "I suppose it is not surprising that you care little for winning this tournament, but then why bother building a very impressive jet? I doubt you knew about the nundu beforehand."

Harry said, "It showed what was possible when our two worlds work together. That was the goal. The tournament was our excuse to do so."

Charles said cautiously, "Informing our world of yours is not a good idea, at least not yet."

Lacus said, "After we eat something, would you like to take a trip in it? We could even drop you off somewhere if you want."

Diana said, "I'm in!"

Charles said, "Now wait just a second. That is not a properly tested aircraft. It can't be in so little time. Sure, I've no doubt she did her best. Besides, what about the poison?"

Diana frowned. Lacus said, "The aircraft is safe enough. I would not fly in it with a child on the way if it was not. The poison is no doubt gone by now. We scourgified the inside and outside of the craft and our bodies multiple times and the rain would have removed anything else. It should be safe enough."

Diana smiled and embraced the younger woman. She said, "Congratulations."

Diana turned and said, "Ah come on Charles. You never let me have any fun, and you know they wouldn't ever let me in a military jet."

Charles could see that her expression didn't quite match her playful tone. She was quite serious and intent on getting her way. She was definitely taking advantage of him being in the doghouse. He approved. A Queen should fight for what she wanted. He had asked for her help to lead their people and she was intent on doing so. Yes, he very much approved, even if she never forgave him. Perhaps the letter had put things in perspective for her as it had for him. He asked, "Can our guard at least come?"

Harry said, "I don't see why not."

-«oOo»-

Voldemort's mutated child form laid in his makeshift bed in the muggle manor they had stolen and warded. He said, "Dolohov your report!"

Antonin said, "Almost everything goes according to plan. No one has a clue that our comrades in Azkaban are fakes. Killing people under polyjuice then raising them as inferi was an excellent plan. It could be years before anyone notices."

Voldemort said, "Good, now what has not gone according to plan?"

Antonin said, "Sire, Lucius is missing. I know you said not to contact him, as he was too obvious and better left as a decoy. Sire, he released a nundu at the second task. Dumbledore protected the crowd by taking them all inside Hogwarts and locking it down. The Potters and the other champions killed it with the Durmstrang champion using Fiendfyre to help finish it off."

Voldemort said, "The Potters killed a nundu? How?"

Antonin said, "The flying machine they built first trapped it by creating some kind of wall around it. Then they burned it with a flammable potion that streamed out of the machine. Fiendfyre and more potion finished it off."

Voldemort said, "Interesting, but unimportant. Harry's increase in fame will make his final defeat and death sweeter. It is a pity about Lucius though. It would have been better if he lasted longer. He must really fear the Potters influence if he took such a risk. Let me know if you find what happened to him, although no special effort is required. We must keep focused on our goal."

Antonin said, "The invitations have all gone out. Your resurrection should be well attended."

Voldemort said, "And the preparations?

Antonin said, "Everything goes well. Nothing will interrupt your moment of triumph!"

Voldemort said, "Yes, nothing will stop me now."

-«oOo»-

At a nuclear reactor in France a technician was inspecting one of the readings. He said, "That's not right."

His colleague asked, "What's not right?"

"The number three reactor is running about ten percent hotter than it should be."

"Really? Let me take a look." He inspects the panel and then says, "Your right." He then hit the button marked SCRAM.

Alarms begin to sound. Automated calls were made to inform people in the government of the unplanned SCRAM of the reactor.

"Crap, your shutting it down? You could have just inserted the rods a bit more. You do know how much of France that will black out. We don't have enough spare capacity to handle the load."

"Can't be helped. A ten percent increase in reactor power without an explanation is an emergency."

The red phone rang. He picked it up and listened. He said, "There was a ten percent increase in reactor power output from reactor three without any apparent explanation. A full scram is required by the book."

He listened more. "I understand the difficulties, but I have no choice. If you can get a few of the factories to shutdown and people to conserve we should have the capacity to handle it." He listened more. "Again sir, I really have no choice. Until the cause of the unexplained surge is identified and addressed number three reactor will not be restored to service."

The technician looked at the readout again. The system was still producing almost eleven percent of its nominal power output. That was several percent higher than it should be. If he had to, he could inject neutron poison right into the cooling water, but he'd rather not if there was no need. It would make it a lot harder to restart the reactor later. Minutes passed. The needle appeared to still be stuck a little above ten percent. It wasn't dangerous, unless they lost cooling, and there was no reason to suspect that. They could even produce a little power at that level. What was troubling was that a scram should have lowered it more. He glanced at one of the backup sensors and sure enough it was also reading the same. What could cause the reaction to work differently today than it had in the last two years since the fuel had been changed? When his supervisor took over, he resolved to head down and visually confirm that all of the rods had been dropped. Somehow he doubted that the answer was that simple though. At least the other reactors seemed okay.

Author's Notes: Thanks again for the reviews.

There will be one or two more chapters before the final task. This simply got too long for one chapter, and I didn't want to release another one that big without reason. I have an additional seventeen thousand words in draft form, so another chapter may be released in a few days, possibly this weekend, or I may wait and release it all as one chapter.

Currently I have more reviews asking for a book two than not, although not all that many asking in total. I'm leaning to just extending this a few chapters to have a better ending.

In the next chapter or possibly the one following it, depending on where the cutoff is Lacus may find a partial answer to one of her goals. Events are beginning to come together. The day of the third task should be interesting.