Chapter 26

Eli stopped dead in his tracks and dropped the bags of supplies he was carrying and stared at Franklin. Franklin stood there his hands clasped together and looked passively at Eli. Eli shook his head and looked to the floor. Then he looked up and exploded.

"This was all you wasn't it?" he shouted at Franklin. "And don't tell me it wasn't"

He marched towards Franklin. Franklin didn't move but carried on staring at Eli. As Eli got closer Franklin held up his hands.

"I can explain everything" He said calmly.

Eli still barrelled towards him and as he reached him Franklin disappeared. Eli swung round and looked for Franklin and then faced where Franklin suddenly reappeared.

"You can't avoid me that easily. Who do you think you are manipulating me in such a way as my life is on the line? How dare you!" Eli ranted. "Do you know something this almost like being with Rush again!"

"Eli, I had no other choice. I wasn't allowed to intervene Eli. I needed your help" Franklin replied.

"You could have asked. It's not that hard to do! I thought I could at least trust you. But no. Because you're like them you think you have some sort of God like existence. I'm not a puppet and I won't be played for one!" Eli ranted

"I'm sorry you feel like that Eli. Please let me explain" Franklin pleaded.

"It's a bit late now isn't it? I feel so used. Why did I ever think I could trust you?" Eli sneered.

"Eli!" Admonished a shocked Franklin "There is no need to be so hostile!"

"Oh really" Eli shrugged his rucksack off his shoulders and threw it to the ground "How about I was nearly killed! Or maybe I came close to never being able to return to Destiny or how about I could have become a prisoner on a strange world, with no chance of seeing home again!" Eli bent down and retrieved his bag. "I'm going to see if my pod is ok and how long I have left to sleep and I hope to God you put Destiny back where it belongs"

Eli began to leave the Gate room and Franklin followed him. Franklin knew he had to save this situation and fast.

"Leave me alone!" Eli shouted without ever looking back and carried on storming towards the life pod room. Franklin stopped in his tracks unsure of what to do. Eli's feet punched the floor. He had never been so angry in all his life. How dare Franklin use him in that way? He banged the controls on the doors and waited impatiently for them to open before storming through and making his way to what was hopefully a peaceful rest. He continued berating Franklin as he went. He reached the corridor leading to the pod room and banged on the control. This corridor had been inaccessible before he left. The door opened and Eli made his way down the corridor. He opened the pod room door and walked towards his pod. As he did he checked Rush was still in his pod and then looked in on Colonel Young.

Eli suddenly stood stock still. 'Hold on a minute' He thought to himself He began to think back. What had all the security been for? Why had the corridor been sealed off? What the hell was going on? Eli retrieved his hand held out of his ruck sack and threw the rucksack back on the floor and made his way out of the pod room. He decided he needed to head to the main bridge. That's where he found most of his answers.

He made his way down the corridors thinking about what had gone on for the last couple of days, and, it was days though it felt like weeks. He wondered what Franklin was up to. He had almost made his way to the bridge and went past Franklin's room. The door was open again and almost on auto pilot he reached his hand out to close the door. Then he saw Franklin in there and Eli marched in. He looked squarely into Franklins face.

"Ok out with it. What's been going on here? Why did you bring us to this planet? Why did I have to go crawling round a maintenance corridor? Why did I have to risk my life down there?" Eli demanded.

"Well I couldn't help the girl myself. They would have noticed and I would have been punished and the girl will serve a very important part in what goes on in the galaxy and it will be like ripples on a pond. It's too big a story for you to understand. I'm sorry I didn't warn you but I couldn't" Explained Franklin.

"Nope not buying it. There was something more and you had better tell me or so help me, I don't know what I will be capable of!" Eli was getting more and more frustrated. Franklin was sending him round in circles and he was getting nowhere. He continued to stare at Franklin. But Franklin couldn't hold the stare and looked down at the ground. After a few seconds he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, almost composing himself.

"There was something, but it's been sorted and taken care of. I think" said Franklin "I had a problem, hence the corridor being shut down" He held his hands out as he spoke almost pleading with Eli.

"And what was the something?" Eli asked.

"I can't tell you." Franklin was adamant that he wasn't going to tell.

"If you don't tell me, I will find out one way or the other. I would rather hear it from you first though" Eli wasn't going to let him off the hook.

Exasperated Franklin began to pace the room. He wrung his hands. He had a decision to make and by the look of things to Eli, this was going to be a biggy. Eventually Franklin stopped pacing and looked at Eli.

"I let it go" Franklin said simply.

"Why are you being so cryptical? Let what go?" Eli was now rapidly losing patience with Franklin. He could feel his temper rising and in a few moments he was going to blow. But he tried to keep his voice steady.

Franklin bit his lip. This person Eli was looking at was far removed from the confident ascended being he had met a while ago. He hadn't a clue what Franklin was talking about. Franklin looked at Eli again. He looked unsure of what to say and Eli could see Franklins mind working overtime to explain.

"While you were asleep…" Began Franklin.

"Yes" Eli answered.

"I investigated some of the ship… Well I entered some of the store rooms knowing what was in them from Destiny's data banks" Continued Franklin.

"Ok" That was something Eli needed to know about, he thought to himself. There might be supplies the crew could need.

"I entered one store room not knowing what I might find. So I decided to investigate. That's when it happened" Franklin stopped.

"What happened? "Asked Eli. Still trying to keep his voice even and calm but slowly this façade was breaking.

"Well what I didn't know, was that some of the storage boxes were actually pods. Not sophisticated like yours but basic ones to store specimens. And I let one go… by accident" Franklin explained to Eli.

"So let me get this right. You went exploring…Ok. Without knowing what was in the storage boxes. Surely these pods had some sort of lock on them to stop them being opened by accident?" Eli questioned.

"Well yes but I opened it any way. That's when it got out and created havoc in the ship. It got into Destiny's systems and tampered with them. It was the fairy that took us to this planet and that's when your emergency cut in and triggered. There was nothing I could do. So I sort of pushed you in the right direction to do some of the saving of lives I couldn't. While I dealt with the problem" Explained Franklin.

"I'm still no nearer knowing what you are talking about" Eli stated.

Franklin rubbed his ear and then pulled his hand through his hair.

"It was a fairy" Franklin said simply.

"A fairy… A little being with wings, lots of glitter, magic wand and flies?" Asked Eli sarcastically. "You will have to do better than that"

"Fairy is the only name I can give it. It's the only thing you can equate it to" Franklin continued.

Now it was Elis turn to run his hands through his hair. "A Fairy?" He asked.

Franklin just nodded. "I can show you" Volunteered Franklin.

"Be my guest" Replied Eli bowing and pointing his hands towards the door "Show me the way"

Eli followed Franklin through the door and followed him along some corridors he hadn't been to before and then he did recognise something. They were near the Captain's cabin. Eli now had an idea of where he was. Franklin finally stopped before a store room door and proceeded to open it.

It was like some of the other store rooms Eli had investigated. There were some boxes piled one on top of another. Others stood alone and then Eli saw one that was open. Franklin looked at the same box horrified.

"Nooo." He wailed

"What?" Asked Eli. A ball of fear began to grow in his gut. He didn't have a very good feeling about this.

"She's out again!" Franklin exclaimed. "I've only just got her back in and she's got out again!"

The hairs on Eli's neck began to rise and he shuddered. "How bad is it that this fairy has escaped?" He asked. Knowing from Franklin's reaction this must be really bad and to be honest he didn't want to hear it.

"Look, when she got out last time she brought us here. She thought she was helping. Everything was so mixed up. She knew that this girl on the planet was something important but I didn't think she would bring us here; I'm sure I can get us back on course and hope the Elders don't notice. Anyway, I'd just managed to get her back in her pod as you were coming back. I was trying to figure a way to get us back to where we started but I couldn't find a star chart that Destiny could recognise, to plot a course home. I don't want to use my powers because it will be noted. But it's all gone wrong Eli. Now she's out again. "Franklin looked around not knowing where to look or what to do.

"And what is this 'fairy' like?" Asked Eli

Franklin looked thoroughly defeated. "She's not nice for starters." He ran his hand through his hair "She's not evil or nasty or anything like that but she only has her own interests at heart. To her we are a … a… We are like an annoying mosquito that buzzes around your ear. To her we are insignificant and she thinks that humans are an infestation in the ship. I had to seal off the corridor to deflect her to go somewhere else. It's a nightmare Eli" Franklin admitted. "I'm new to all this and I haven't a clue. I've made a real mess of things"

Eli stared at Franklin not knowing how to answer him. He realised that the ship was somewhere no one knew, not even Franklin. He'd gone down to the planet and for all he knew, this fairy thing, whatever it was, could have left him marooned there.

"So why did you let me go down to the planet?" Eli raged.

"I had no choice Eli." Franklin replied. "As I explained she has her own interests at heart. If I hadn't let you go down there I honestly don't know what she would have done to me or you or Destiny for that matter. She seems more interested in seeing how she can manipulate everyone and everything and she's getting some sort of malevolent pleasure out of seeing what unfolds"

Suddenly they felt Destiny moving under their feet but she wasn't in FTL. The air around them roared. Franklin looked horrified and Eli had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Franklin groaned.

"She's at it again!" He shouted.

"We need to get to the bridge!" Shouted Eli over the noise. "We need to see what's going on!"

"I can get us there quicker. Hold on Eli"

Before he knew it Eli suddenly found himself on the bridge of Destiny. It was empty and dark. Not even Franklin was there. The shield was still over the viewing window and Eli made his way to the console on the chair and tapped the control to open the window. The roar was getting louder and louder and it was slowly turning into a scream. Eli tried covering his ears but the noise just got louder and louder. It felt like it was inside his head. Eli's eyes began to water and he cried out in pain. The shield slowly began to open and Eli saw and amazing panorama in front of him. He could see space passing them amazingly fast. The amazing colours Eli loved to see no longer undulated past the ship. They flew past so quickly Eli had trouble watching it. Every now and again sparkles appeared and seemed to fly into Destiny.

Eli didn't think he could take anymore. He thought his head was going to burst with the noise. The roaring was now an ear piercing scream and Eli realised he was losing consciousness. He cried out one more time and he fell to the floor. Destiny continued hurtling through space. Eli was totally unaware of anything around him.

In the darkness at the corners of the bridge, a small figure moved. It remained in the darkness but made its way over to Eli. Slowly a small, delicate hand with slightly elongated fingers touched Eli's brow. Then was gone. The bridge was lit only from the light from the viewing window and the scream filled the whole ship…