The base was abuzz, pulsating with organised chaos as the herd worked tirelessly to escape. Hudson, even with his eyes glued to a computer screen, his claws extended so he could type - clumsily - on the keyboard, could hear all the radio communications the herd was making floating through the air. He smiled slightly, suddenly questioning how good Claire's idea was of linking all their radios to the command centre; whilst in theory it enabled the whole herd to talk and listen to all that was going on, in reality it just gave them a cacophony of noise in which they had to work. Grumbling in frustration as he came across new codes, blocks and restrictions in the system, he permitted himself to listen in on the stream of voices that filled the air.

"No, Terry! Don't put it in there! That's a power coupling, you idiot..."

"Ok...so the rock didn't work on its own, but what if we..."

"I spy with my little eye, something beginning with..."

"I think we got it!"

Hudson perked up, realising that the last sentence - in Sam's voice - had to have emanated from the room he was in. He swerved in his chair, looking intently for her amongst the mass of wires and circuits that lay scattered across the floor. As he scanned the deconstructed command centre, he eventually spotted her legs protruding from inside one of the computer terminals on the other side of the room. He sat up in his chair, craning to see if he could make eye contact.

"Well let's hope so!" he replied. "What did you do?"

"Honestly? I don't know, but given our predicament it's worth trying," She said mutedly before mumbling to herself, "So if I cross these wires, and bypass this circuit board...there! Any change up there?"

Immediately, a light flashed on the screen behind Hudson,

"Warning," The computer's voice droned. "Safety protocol ninety-two alpha disabled."

Hudson grinned.

"Let's hope that's our lucky number!" he muttered.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Diego shifted in his seat uncomfortably, murmuring to himself as he recited all the basic controls to the truck that Frank had told him. Even though he had driven it dozens of times already within the last three hours, he still felt awkward at the wheel. Yet running them through his mind gave him something to do, and was a welcome distraction from the game he was playing with Buck. Even though they were both sick to death of the game, they continued; it was infinitely better than sitting in silence, pondering the prospects of them failing. He tapped his paws on the steering wheel, looking around at the weasel who sat next to him. Buck sighed,

"I spy, with my little eye," He mumbled flatly, heaving another bored sigh, "Something beginning with b..."

"Base," Diego said quickly, his tone equally unenthused. He scanned around, "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with..." Failing to spot anything he hadn't already mentioned, he tensed up. "This is getting ridiculous."

He yanked the radio off of its stand, pressing it close to his mouth.

"Hudson! Can we give it another try yet?"

As he turned up the volume, a wall of noise filled the otherwise silent cabin. Amongst all the other voices they could suddenly hear, Hudson's voice seemed almost distant,

"Hudson to Diego, we've managed to get something up here. You're clear for another run."

Diego and Buck shared a relieved glance. The sabre grinned broadly.

"Finally!" he muttered. He looked over at the weasel and smirked. "Let's hope it works this time!"

"'ere goes nothin'," Buck replied.

With that, Diego slammed his foot onto the accelerator, the truck lurching forward into life.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Hudson, Claire and Sam all stood, watching the truck expectantly as it juddered forwards. Sam glanced up at the ceiling pleadingly.

"Please God, let this work," she whispered.

"This will work," Hudson said, his tone more certain than he felt. Claire cast a wearied glance at him.

"You've said that the last dozen times we've tried this too," she replied quietly. She glanced at her watch briefly. "We've only got two hours left."

The truck sped faster, whizzing out of the north gate and out of view. As Sam and Claire resumed their positions, Hudson looked down briefly in thought.

"Godspeed, gentlemen," he mumbled.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Manny, Ellie, Sid and all the others with them stopped what they were doing to watch. They saw the truck fly out of the base at great speed, coming rapidly towards them. Manny glanced back at the mass of rocks, wood and tools they had been using to wedge a hole into the bubble, knowing full well it was futile. He returned his attention back to the truck, willing them to succeed that time, hoping against hope they would make it out. Whilst still in thought, the car flung past them and into the bubble. Once more, a brief, blinding flash of light filled Manny's vision. Even before blinking away the echo, he sighed; as his sight returned to normal, he couldn't see the truck anywhere.

"Well that's just great," he grumbled. "Yet another successful attempt at failing."

Sid shrugged, putting on a smile.

"You never know," he reasoned. "They might do it next time."

Manny shook his head forcefully.

"We've been at this for two hours, and how far have we gotten?" he pressed. "Nowhere! This is pointless."

Ellie shot him an annoyed look.

"So what should we do?" she asked. "We have to keep trying."

He glanced back at the pile they had left and grunted.

"We don't have to keep trying this," he contended, pointing his trunk at their feeble attempts. "We'd be more useful back at the base."

Ellie and Sid shared a gaze, eventually slumping in admission.

"Yeah, i guess so," Ellie mumbled quietly. She glanced over at Ben and Mark forlornly, "Come on guys, lets head back."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The mood was subdued in the command centre. Claire, Sam and Hudson watched stonily as they saw Manny and his group re-enter the base. Hudson watched absentmindedly, his thoughts starting to reel out of control as the reality of their situation hit him. Just minutes before Manny declared their return, they had found out that Max, Sid and the sabres had to return to infirmary to be treated for their hangovers. As their options started narrowing Hudson, for the first time that day, seriously pondered the prospect that they really couldn't escape.

No! His mind protested, This isn't how it ends!

He turned to the two women beside him, seeing the same resigned look on their faces. With all his will he put on a firm expression.

"We still have one and a half hours people!" he announced, making sure everyone could hear him on their radios. "Let's make them count."

Sam and Claire nodded, rushing back to work, leaving Hudson alone on his console with his thoughts. As he had done a thousand times before, he cast his mind back to his own time, picturing the people, the places, and Sam as she gave him the mission he had given the last six years of his life for. Yet it was only now that her parting words to him began to make sense;

I warn you though, things might not turn out the way you're expecting.

The wolf chuckled harshly, ruminating on the words.

"You got that right, Sammy," he muttered under his breath. "You sure did get that right..." He grabbed his radio. "Frank, how's it going down there?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Frank ignored the radio, focussing intently on an exposed panel of circuitry in front of him.

"Frank? Are you there?"

He closed his eyes, letting out an irritated sigh. He let the tools in his hands intentionally fall to the floor with a crash and yanked the radio from its spot on the keyboard he had often frequented.

"In case you haven't noticed James, our overall situation hasn't much improved," he said brusquely. "Which would suggest to any sane individual that we haven't gotten far. If we make a breakthrough, I'm sure you will be the first to know. Frank, over and out."

With that, he slammed the radio back onto the keyboard and picked up his tools. Terry shot him a bemused glance through the mass of wires between them.

"All he asked is how we were getting on, boss," he said gruffly. "That ain't a reason to get all huffy."

Frank glared at him. Feeling suddenly uncomfortable at the truth of Terry's statement, he broke eye contact, plunging a spanner into the machine forcefully.

"It is if you are working against the clock," Frank muttered. "Every second is essential at this point; we are trying to do in a matter of hours what is only really possible to be done in days," He stopped working, looking directly at Terry. "We're trying to do the impossible."

Terry grunted.

"Then why are we even trying, boss?" he said sarcastically. "Seems to me that you've already given up hope."

Frank retracted slightly in sheer disgust: not at Terry's statement, but at the fact he had called Frank out. He knew deep down they were on the losing side of a fight that they had only known they were in as the knockout punch started to fall. Deeply perturbed, he allowed none of his thoughts or feelings to show on his face, affecting an almost stony gaze.

"We're trying," He said as he reached back into the machine. "Because we have to make this work."

Frank left off the end of his sentence, keeping it safely locked in his thoughts;

because the alternative is death.

Terry stood up and stretched, pulling a cigarette packet out of his jacket pocket. As he lit up a cigarette, Frank turned back to him, following his eye line up to a frayed and tatty flag that hung limply in the centre of the hangar above their heads. Frank briefly scanned the flag, his heart sinking a little further; he recognised the blue background and the twelve golden stars of the European Union, but it had become little more than a frame for a globe pierced through with a sword. He glanced down for a moment, reflecting on the harsh irony of a symbol of peace being merged with that of war. Terry looked over, his cigarette hanging from his mouth.

"What if we don't do it?" he asked, his voice muffled. "What if we fail?"

Frank and Terry shared a look, both already knowing the answer to that question. Nigel and Charlie, till then working away quietly, stopped suddenly, intrigued by the answer to the question. Frank stood up slowly, moving alongside Terry.

"If we don't make it, then this happens," he said plainly, pointing at the flag above them at first, but moving his arm into a gesture that encompassed the entire base. "If we fail, then it's not just us who dies, but everything and everyone that has ever lived."

Terry finished his cigarette. He chuckled sardonically as he chucked the butt away.

"And all this 'cause we can't figure out what they've done to your time machine," he muttered. He cast a rueful glance over at Frank. "Good job there, boss."

Frank grew irate, briefly considering punching him in the face, but thought better of it as he remembered how much stronger Terry was in comparison to him. He opted, wisely, to fight back in words.

"How dare you!" he spat. "I'm not responsible for this! I am not the 'man who killed time'! And besides, what do you know? You're just a brainless mountain of muscle who's only reason for being here was because my sister insisted on you two being a package deal!"

Terry glared at him.

"Oh yeah? Well I ain't the one who built all this crap, boss," he countered fiercely. "And you don't even know how to switch the goddamn thing off! Some brainiac you are!"

Frank laughed mirthlessly out of sheer exasperation.

"You really are as dumb as you look," he retorted. He pointed at the machine behind him, a hateful gaze locked solely onto Terry. "This version of the machine is one hundred and thirty years more advanced than the one I built. I made the equivalent of the Model T Ford, with this monstrosity being its distant ancestor." He drew close to Terry, not breaking eye contact. "The very fact I understand any of this is only because it is still the same basic machine underneath, but only just, and so it's a little more than hard to find their subroutine, you scatterbrained, idiotic gun-for-hire..." he trailed off, seeing Terry's fists clenching in the corners of his eyes. He quickly swerved on his heels, determined to not let Terry see how intimidated of him he was. "Now get back to work, Colonel Daniels; we've just wasted time we don't have."

Terry took several deep breaths before moving back towards his position.

"Sure thing, Captain," he muttered spitefully.

Frank paused, regretting most of the insults he had just uttered. He knew he wasn't angry at Terry; he was angry at himself. As he plunged his spanner back into the machine, he pondered the fact that everything Terry had accused him of was running through his mind.

Deep down, he really did hold himself responsible.

Slowly, awkwardly, he turned about.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't mean what I said...it's just that...this situation is really getting to me."

Terry looked coolly at him, unfazed by Frank's lacklustre apology. Undeterred, Frank continued.

"You're right...this is technology I helped create, and so this is my fault...but I didn't have any choice; if I didn't go through with this, they would have probably killed me and my family..."

Terry perked up in confusion, opening his mouth to ask more questions. But before he could get a word in edgeways, Frank carried on.

"I know it might not mean much, but I'm glad you're with us," he said. "If we do fail, I can't think of a better person I'd want to help me protect my family..."

Terry smiled slightly, giving Frank a nod.

"Thanks, boss," he said appreciatively. "But I still think you're an idiot."

Frank laughed once more, but with sincerity.

"As long as you're shooting with me and not against me when the time comes, I think I can live with that," he said, smiling.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Manny slowed to standstill as he came into the middle of the courtyard, scanning his surroundings. The base, for all the rush and anxiety, seemed oddly serene, even eerily so. His eyes tracked upwards, staring at the bullet riddled concrete that framed the mess hall's shattered window, his eyes moving left along the wall, eventually focussing on the large protrusion that he now knew was the command centre of the base. He let out a heavy sigh as he permitted thoughts to float to his mind that he had consistently suppressed for several days. Everything else seemed more important enough for him to keep quiet till that moment; now he wanted to know.

He knew from what he heard over the radio, that they had just over an hour left before the machine activated. With that in mind, he turned around and walked towards the hangar bay, determined to get the answer to his question.

Just in case I don't survive to ask it later, he added morbidly in his head.

As he passed through the hangar bay doors and weaved through the trucks, Manny focussed on Frank.

"Hey, Frank!" he said loudly, his voice echoing through the cavernous space.

Caught off guard by the call, Frank jerked around, accidentally dropped his spanner into the machine as he did so. In that brief moment, all he could do was stare blankly, completely unsure what would happen. He gulped as he heard a wild hum emanate from the machine's innards.

"Oh shi-" Frank began to say.

Before he could even finish, the circuits in front of him overloaded, exploding into fire. By the sheer force of the blast, he was thrown backwards, crashing hard into the side of one of the trucks. Nigel rushed to Franks side, whilst Terry and Charlie grabbed fire extinguishers in an attempt to put the fire out before it damaged the machine even further. Manny stood perfectly still, suddenly feeling very awkward at the scene he just caused. Slowly, he moved around the last trucks and stood still, uncomfortable as he looked down at Frank, wincing as he saw the dent in the car door that the human had crashed into.

"Erm...I'm sorry for that..." Manny said falteringly. Frank looked up in sheer annoyance and tried to stand but collapsed back down to the floor, letting out a yelp of pain as he did so. Nigel put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Try to remain still," he said gently. Before Frank could object, Nigel began pressing his hands against his ribs. "Tell me if this hurts."

After the third gentle press, Frank winced. Nigel stopped, looking pensive.

"Hmm...I thought so," he muttered. "You have a cracked rib at least, Frank."

Frank looked up angrily at Manny.

"Thank you for that," he said sullenly. He turned back to Nigel. "Can you give me something to numb the pain? I have to get back to work."

Nigel shook his head slightly.

"That's only a temporary solution," he protested gently. "We need to get you to the medical bay."

"Can the machines up there fix me in an hour?" Frank shot back. Nigel visibly deflated.

"No," he admitted.

"Then give me a painkiller and let me get back to work," Frank replied sternly.

Nigel sighed as he pulled his first aid kit off of his back, doing as Frank requested. Slowly, gallingly, Frank eased himself back onto his feet. As the human limped over towards the machine, cradling his cracked rib with his left arm, Manny stood still, suddenly unsure if his desire to understand was worth the pain and awkwardness of the situation he had found himself in. He looked down slightly as Frank turned aimed an icy stare at him.

"This will only work for a few hours," Nigel said softly. "And I still hold to my opinion that you need to go to the medical bay."

"If we're alive in three hours, I'll take you up on that," Frank replied. He turned back to Manny,

"So, Manny," He said flatly. "What was so important that you had to give me the joys of a cracked rib?"

"I, uh..." Manny began, suddenly feeling foolish. "You know what, it can wait..."

Frank snorted.

"Well it's a little late for that, Manny," he replied sarcastically. "So please, by all means, at least give me a reason for why I am now battered and bruised."

Manny shuffled his feet slightly, scratching his head with his trunk; he felt like an idiot.

"I, uh...I was wondering if...uh..." he said jarringly, his mind undecided whether to state what he was really wanting to know or just make something up. As he looked up at Frank's stern stare he sighed. "I was wondering if you could tell us what really got you to come here. To this time."

Frank blinked. His face hardened.

"That's the reason," he growled flatly. "Seriously? We're trying to escape a death trap, and you want to know that!"

Suddenly, everything went silent; even the radio chatter that had become the background noise for the last few hours went quiet. Frank chuckled harshly, wincing at the pain it caused him.

"Oh I see, so you all want to know?" he said loudly, intended for everyone to hear it.

Terry shrugged.

"Well, yeah actually, boss," he stated.

"We're a mite bit curious up here too, Frank," Hudson's voice said as it blurted out of the radio.

"Us too," Diego's voice added.

Frank closed his eyes, rubbing them in sheer frustration. He looked up, raising his hands in seeming surrender.

"Fine then," he huffed. "The reason this entire expedition happened was because..."

"WOAH, WOAH, WOAH!" Hudson shouted. "What in God's name!"

Manny and everyone else present in the hanger bay jumped back slightly as the time machine whirred into life. Manny stepped back in fear a little more as the sounds of devices whirring and whining into life filled the hanger. He glanced over at Frank, both of them sharing a look of panic. Frank grabbed the radio.

"Hudson, what's going on?" he demanded.

"The machine is beginning pre-launch start up," The wolf's voice replied. "But...dammit...Frank, we're being locked out of everything!"

Frank's eyes widened. He limped as fast as he could to the nearest computer console, his hands suddenly a whir as he pounded the keyboard.

"NO!" he yelled. "Hudson, I've been locked out! Try and shut it down!"

"It's too late," Hudson replied dejectedly. "We've been completely shut out. We can't access anything...huh?"

Manny looked around in confusion as every screen in the hangar, both on the time machine itself and on all the trucks that stood around him, suddenly started displaying the same image. He recognised the image as words - so many were around the base he forced himself to ask about them the night before. Frank looked at his computer screen in utter incomprehension,

"What the hell?" he muttered.

Curious and bemused, Manny walked up to Frank and stared at the screen, even though he knew he wouldn't know what it said.

"What is it?" he asked. Frank glanced back at him with confusion.

"It looks like a poem," he replied.

Manny cocked his head in bewilderment.

"A poem?" he exclaimed. Even though he he couldn't write - no animal could - he was familiar with the concept of poetry. "What does it say?"

Frank turned back to the screen.

"It says," he began. "'Through forces unseen, your wits now have been, decidedly put to shame. Let all time be appalled, as its guards go uncalled, for the..." The human paused, his face darkening into further confusion. "...for the remnant shall rise again.'"

Terry snorted, throwing the tools in his hands to the floor in derision.

"Goddammit," he muttered. "The sons of'a bitches weren't just happy with killin' us, so they decided to tell us they killed us through crap poetry!" he spat derisively. "Well goddamn them to hell!"

Chills went down Manny's spine. Though he didn't know who the 'guards' were - or who the 'remnant' were, for that matter - it still spooked him.

"What does it mean?" he asked nervously.

Frank didn't reply. He remained motionless, save for his shoulders slumping.

"It means we've lost," Frank mussitated. He slowly turned around, looking up at Manny forlornly. "We've been locked out of the system, so nothing we can do can stop it now."

Manny almost choked on the words. Eyes wide in panic, he tried to formulate words that conveyed his anger and frustration at Frank giving up so easily, but he stopped himself. He cast his mind to Claire, Ben, Sam, his beloved Peaches and Ellie as he scanned the faces, both distraught and angry, that were in the hangar bay with him. He knew they all had everything to lose, but he and Frank more so; unlike the others, they were the only fathers here, and their offspring were with them. His eyes softened, placing his trunk gently on Frank's shoulder.

"Fine," he said softly. "If we can't run, then we'll have to get ready. There's still a chance we can save our families."

"How can we," Frank replied dejectedly. "Our only chance of escape has just been slammed shut on our faces."

"We're still alive," Manny said forcefully. "And that means we can still fight our way out."

Frank perked up, a hopeful glint in his eye. After a moment he smiled.

"Let's give 'em hell," he said.

Manny smiled, both of them sharing a nod. The mammoth spun around, pointing his trunk squarely at Terry.

"Terry, go get the sabres out of the infirmary and grab as many weapons as you can get and bring them here," Manny stated. Terry grinned.

"On it, boss," he said. He spun round and began to jog, his voice echoing through the base as he used his radio. "Max, get your pack's collective asses out of the infirmary and meet me at the command centre."

Manny turned to the other humans.

"The rest of you, come with me," he said. "We're gonna round up the others and get as much food and medicine into here as we can," He moved the end of his trunk where the radio was attached up to his mouth. "James, how long do we have?"

"Fifty seven minutes," Hudson replied.

Manny smirked.

"More than enough time. Everyone who's not with Terry, meet me where the food's kept."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Manny, it's Terry. We've got as much as we can get out of the weapon stores; we're on our way back. How long do we have before all hell breaks loose, boss? Over."

"Terry, we've got thirty minutes. We're on our way back as well with what I reckon is enough food. We'll meet you there."

"Roger that, boss. Over and out."

Sam listened unwillingly as she sat alone in a sparsely decorated room. She had found it the night before after Sid and Crash's fight spilled out over into it and, if she were honest, she was glad they did or else she'd have had no where to turn for solitude. She sat there silently, staring up at a small wooden cross that was the room's only decoration, clutching the only book that she could find there, occasionally opening it to read some of its lines; given the circumstances she would have wanted a Bible, but she was still glad to have found a book of prayers. She longed, and prayed, to find some solace in their situation. In truth, she was searching desperately for some meaning to what they were facing, disturbed at the seeming meaninglessness behind their actions. Even as tears streaked down her face, mouthing words in prayer silently, she could hear - and smell - that someone had entered the room. To her senses, it smelt of wolf.

"Come to join me James?" She said, quickly wiping away the tears on her face before she turned round and affected a smile. The wolf looked at her softly.

"This isn't the end, Sam," he said gently. "We'll get through this."

Her smile enforced happiness slowly mixed with sadness.

"I know it's not," she replied quietly. "Though it's currently hard to believe that we'll still be on this side of eternity in a few hours time."

Hudson smiled slightly, pawing the ground in thought.

"It's funny," he muttered. "You've been the secretary-general of the UNTC for longer than I can remember, and my friend for at least four years if not more...and yet here we are, in a situation that seems to make my memories seem like a pipe dream." He walked slowly up beside her, sitting down on his hind legs. "But then, as you used to always say at the most irritating times, 'sometimes you have to have a little...faith'."

Sam glanced up at the cross, before turning back to Hudson.

"Faith in what, though..." she replied falteringly.

Hudson smiled slightly.

"In this case? Faith in the fact that we as a herd are stronger than the bastards who planned this trap," he said firmly. "And that we can and will beat them. Dying here was never a part of our destiny...and it never will be."

Sam chuckled slightly, her eyes turning once more to the cross.

"Amen to that..." she murmured.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The command centre seemed eerily silent to Frank. He picked his way through the mass of cables, circuits and discarded panels, making his way towards the row of consoles that lined the farthest wall. He paused, staring out at Manny, Ellie and Sid below, knowing from the radio chatter a minute before that they had in their paws and tusks the last batch of food they deemed as necessary. He sighed, scanning the instruments ahead of him casually. He knew they had twenty minutes left before the machine finished its start up cycle. He didn't want to believe it, but he knew it was going to happen all the same. Slowly, he drifted through the entangled mess towards the commander's office, taking one last chance to see it. He stared silently at the pictures, the books...all the things he suspected, deep down, he would never see again. His eyes eventually drifted to the wall behind the desk, and the sword hanging from it. He walked across the room, carefully stepping over the remains of the commander, still laying where Frank had put him a seeming eternity, or just days, before. Inwardly, he winced,

Damn, he thought, I forgot to bury him.

He moved on from the remains, finally reaching the wall. Gently, he lifted the sword from its hooks, strapping it quickly to his belt and leg. He paused for a moment, feeling its weight and its presence beside him and smiled slightly; he knew it probably wouldn't do him much good, but at least he felt a little stronger, securer...

safer.

"Hey Frank."

He jolted round, unsheathing the sword as he did so. He immediately relaxed as he saw Diego.

"Jesus Christ," he exclaimed. "You shouldn't startle me like that!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you! Manny sent me up here to get you," Diego replied. His eyes glanced down at the sword with interest. "What is that?" he asked.

Frank smiled slightly, realising that Diego had never seen a sword before. He hefted it in his hands, moving it so that the light gleamed off of it.

"It's a piece of good old fashioned weaponry," he replied. He shot a smirk at Diego. "It's called a sword, but an older term for it was a sabre."

Diego grinned.

"It's a good name for a weapon!" he said enthusiastically, but quickly he trailed off, looking down thoughtfully.

The silence hung for a moment in the air as Frank sheathed his sword back into its scabbard. He knew Diego well enough by that point to know he wanted to ask a question, and he knew full well what it was. He let out a sigh, intentionally switching on his radio so that all of them could hear it.

And so I don't have to repeat this ever again, He added mentally.

"I know what you want to ask me," he said slowly, looking intently at Diego. "And I know you all want to hear it, so here goes..."

He took a deep breath, suppressing the fear he always felt whenever the memories drifted to the surface. He knew they couldn't hunt him down anymore; as far as history told him, they were all dead.

Here goes nothing.

"The only reason this expedition exists is because I was betrayed..."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The whole hangar bay fell silent, listening intently to the radio.

"Betrayed!" Manny sputtered. "By who..."

"Shh!" the entire room hissed, silencing him immediately. Once more the radio emitted Frank's voice.

"...I got worried about how many people started declaring how time travel could be used as a weapon, or as a means to more resources...so I turned to the only world organisation I thought I could trust; I turned to the United Nations..."

"United Nations?" Diego's voice could be heard to ask. "What's that?"

Terry picked up his radio.

"It's a council of every human tribe on earth," he stated. "Intended to keep the peace when it first came about."

"Thanks Terry," Frank said. "So yeah, I went to meet with representatives of the most powerful tribes, called the Security Council...except, when I got there, I discovered they wanted to use the technology in every way I was arguing against. At first, I decided to not hand over the technology in an attempt to stop them, but they had already stolen the plans to build their own."

Manny gasped, exchanging surprised and shocked looks with everyone in the room. For months he had been partly suspicious of Frank's motives, a fact brought to light painfully just days before. Suddenly, all of that began to change in his mind, and he started to see Frank in a new light; betrayed by his own people. He tried to picture mammoths betraying him: the thought left him cold.

"What happened?" Manny asked aloud, hoping Frank would explain.

"They stated they would use the technology as they saw fit in order to 'preserve the stability and progress of the human race,'" Frank stated bitterly. "And so I argued with them, pleaded even, not to go through with it. I explained the dangers and pitfalls of it, and eventually they decided on a test..."

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Sam and Hudson shared a surprised glance.

"So that's why the expedition came here," Sam whispered.

Hudson nodded slightly, clearly bemused.

"Your UN sounds much more vicious than the one I know and serve," he mumbled.

"True, James," Frank's voice stated, much to both his and Sam's surprise. "But then yours didn't have the Troubles to deal with; any civilisation that lives through times when a third of all world governments collapsed and tens of millions die is bound to be a little more...vicious...but anyway, the test they decided upon would be a civilian trial to assess the impact of time travel on the timeline. For the sake of appearances, they told me they would bankroll everything and make it seem like a voluntary - and safe - mission for the good of all mankind...but if I dared tell anyone the truth, me and my family would be killed and they would go through with their plans as if my argument with them had never happened... and if I said no to them there and then they probably would also have killed me and my family anyway...I had no choice. I'm sorry, to all of you...this is all my fault. If only I hadn't built the damn thing..."

"I'm not sure 'ow you came to that conclusion, mate," Buck's voice chimed in.

Sam nodded in agreement. Just the thought of knowing her nephew, her brother and her sister-in-law could have been killed for something as small as Frank letting slip enraged her. Burning with anger at leaders she no longer considered human, but monsters, who would willingly have a child killed, the thought of going back and shooting them herself crossed her mind.

"He's right, Frank. I don't think it's your fault."

Hudson frowned slightly, showing as much displeasure at the thought as she did.

"Hear, hear," he said.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Diego could tell by the look on the human's face that he wasn't as convinced as the others had seemed to be. Wearily, he lifted up the radio.

"Thanks guys," he said quietly. " Diego and I are back on our way hangar now."

"We're going to start heading back too," Sam's voice stated.

"Make it quick," Manny's voice said. "We don't have much time left."

"Roger," Frank said quietly. "Over and out."

He switched off the radio and immediately slumped into the seat, carefully sliding the sword through a gap beneath the arm rest. Diego looked at him empathetically; he had turned against - and fought - Soto to save a herd he had been charged with leading to their deaths. But Soto was one sabre; the thought of the leaders of every tribe on earth forcing Frank into such a situation sent Diego's mind reeling.

He tried to find something to say: some meaningful phrases or wise words, but nothing came. Diego sat down on his hind legs, opting to stay silent. Moments passed as he watched Frank scribble something onto a piece of paper, fold it, and place it into his inner jacket pocket. Eventually, Diego's eyes drifted aside, focussing on the skeletal corpse that still lay beside the desk. He glanced up in curiosity.

"I've been in here several times, and I always forgot to ask; who's the dead guy?" he asked plainly.

Frank spun his chair, looking down at the corpse with a neutral expression.

"That would be the base's former commander," he murmured. "Who decided to shoot himself rather than see this disaster unfold..." he trailed off, his eyes glazing over. "Lucky bastard."

Diego shot Frank a puzzled look. "Lucky?" he quizzed. His expression turned to worry, realising how many weapons were on or near Frank. "You're not thinking of doing the same, are you?"

"What?" Frank said in surprise, spinning around to give Diego a puzzled look. He smiled slightly as he realised what he had implied. "Oh...no, I'm not."

"Then why is he lucky?" Diego pressed.

"He's lucky because he got to choose his own fate," Frank said quietly. He eased himself out of his chair, clutching his cracked rib. "Something we've been denied...something I've been denied for the last three years..."

Diego nodded in understanding.

"Our fate hasn't been decided yet," he said earnestly.

Frank smiled mirthlessly,

"Perhaps..." he murmured. "Perhaps..."

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"Sixty seconds," Terry said mutedly.

The words echoed in the hanger forebodingly. Even though there were all gathered together, no one spoke; no words seemed appropriate. Manny clutched Ellie and Peaches tightly. He thought he had known fear before; he had seen off countless threats and disasters. But at that moment, waiting for the countdown to run out, it felt to him as if all those things were unworthy of the word 'fear'; he at least knew what he was dealing with then, could see it, touch it, defeat it. Being unable to do anything about it and not knowing what 'it' even was struck fear into the very depths of his soul.

Frank looked over wearily at the countdown, letting out a heavy sigh as he did so.

"Twenty seconds left," he muttered.

The herd huddled together, all of them genuinely worried. Manny held his family tightly and closed his eyes. Diego shared one last glance at Buck, Terry and Frank. In all honesty, he wasn't sure if it's meaning was 'see you on the other side' or 'goodbye'.

"Ten seconds!" Frank shouted over the noise of the machine whirring and whining into life. "Get ready!"

Moments later, flash of bright light filled the hangar. Within an instant it disappeared, revealing an empty hangar. The base, suddenly abandoned, fell silent.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

End of Chapter 29
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And so the herd are off to face their fears...what will happen next? That's for me to know and you to find out once chapter 30 has returned to me in all its wonderful beta'd goodness!

Oh yes...I forgot to mention...if you are reading this, then congratulations! You have officially read the equivalent of a short novel...and now there are only 5 chapters left of this story. ALMOST THERE! :D

Please do review, and I hope you all have a great few weeks!

Till chapter 30,

Trev