"Lt. Madison?" The voice had the accent of a Thermian, though not an individual that Gwen recognized. "We would like your assistance, please."
Looking away from Angel, she glanced at the worried man at the door. His uniform proclaimed him to be another lieutenant, and he had what she remembered as the expression of a very worried Thermian with minimal human contact. "What precisely is the problem?"
She started towards the doorway, one hand catching Angel's wrist to tug him after her. Even if the whole idea of him, being able to lose his soul was strange and frightening, she felt a bit better with him there. And he had normal facial expressions.
"We are trying to locate the pirates, and are encountering some… computer difficulties." He glanced away, something that she recognized as similar to blushing. "The whole planet is… too large of an area for a landing party to search through."
"Of course it is." She smiled, imagining the idea of finding one particular group of people over the whole planet, with over six billion humans and God only knew how many demons and vampires… Her smile became a shudder. Demons. Vampires. Aliens. How had her life become so complicated?
"I'd suggest starting to check in or near Los Angeles." Angel's voice was thoughtful, and he glanced towards her. "That's where the pig-thing was, and where the rock monster showed up. Since that had to have come from the aliens, then shouldn't they be relatively close?"
"That does seem reasonable." Gwen smiled, feeling as if she could sink into his eyes and just drown. No, now wasn't the time for that sort of thing. Save the world, the galaxy from the bad guys, then indulge in fantasies about Angel.
Angel followed her, his hand wrapped around hers as she made her way to one of the communication rooms. Several of them were scattered through the ship, enabling rapid scanning and communication. She wasn't certain, but there was a suspicion that something about the scattered rooms helped with the necessary equipment.
Taking a deep breath, Gwen settled into the soft, bowl shaped chair. "Computer, bring up an image of the surface topography of the planet below us." Reaching out, she traced her finger in a roughly circular shape around California. "Zoom in on this area."
Glancing at Angel, she offered a small smile. It was a bit harder to reference on a map that had no labels, but she could find Los Angeles. Encircling a swath of land containing the city ad it's suburbs, she spoke again. "Computer, scan for Thermian life forms in this area. Indicate on the map any detected."
"Scanning. Please wait." The computer's voice rang into the air, and little bars of light and markings that she assumed were Thermian letters began flashing in the bottom corner of the screen.
Eventually, a glowing purple dot appeared on the map, somewhere inside Los Angeles. Gwen leaned closer, a smile hovering at her lips. "Computer, zoom in on the Thermian life signs. I want to be able to determine their precise location, and if possible get a detailed report on their surroundings."
"The indicated location contains three Thermians. Sensors also detect one Dominionite, and a Sigma class engine." The computers voice remained calm, even as the map zoomed inwards. It ended up showing the area, some buildings recognizable, others only identified by their signs. "The location is below the surface of the streets."
"Underground." Angel sighed, leaning on the chair. "That section has good sized tunnels in addition to the sewer system. I think there were a couple larger areas that had been used for pipe storage during the expansions… They'd make ideal lairs for individuals who wouldn't want to be seen."
"Can you draw up a map?" Gwen asked, and then looked over at the young-seeming communications Lieutenant. "Can you find him some paper and something to write with?"
"Of course, it shall be done at once." With a sort of bowing motion, he ducked out of the room, the doors whooshing shut behind him.
"It won't be perfect, and I don't know if it will be complete. There might be tunnels, connections, maybe even entire chambers that I don't know about. And it's possible that they could have added to what they found." Angel cautioned.
"But it can't hurt. Every bit you can give us will be more than we have now. Then we might be able to come up with a plan to do something about them." Realizing that her shoulders were tense, Gwen tried to relax. "They're counting on us to help save them. How can I not do everything that I can?"
"I know." Angel reached out, his fingertips brushing against her cheek. "But you aren't doing it alone."
End 22.
Cordelia sighed, a bit worried by the intrigued sounding 'ahhh's and 'hmmm's that the doctor and nurse had been making as they used a little silver device to scan her brain. Something about delta readings and activity levels… It was as if they were only speaking half of their sentences out loud.
A little to the left, there was a small room where some smiling security personnel had dragged Jason. Apparently, Willow had mentioned his knee still being messed up from the Fangor beast and they had sent security to drag him up and be repaired. Literally. They'd sedated him and had him up on a table before he'd had time to do more than object once.
"It would be easier if we knew what happened during one of these precognitive episodes." The nurse spoke, one cool hand affixing a cold metal disk to Cordelia's temple. "If we knew how it altered your brain waves and neural chemistry, we might be able to devise a more specific treatment."
"So, what does the disk do?" Cordelia reached up, not quite touching the thing that was now stuck to her temple.
"It will monitor your neural activity. That way, when you have your next precognitive experience, we will have a record of it's effects on your brain, and then we can analyze that to devise a specific medication." There was a brief pause, and the small noises of things being put away. "Do you have any medical allergies?"
"Not that I know of, though I do get a rash if I eat too much shellfish." Cordelia replied, part of her mind caught up in the idea of being able to take a little pill to make the vision-headache go right away.
"Are the visions hereditary?" The nurse asked, glancing at Cordelia with questions spinning in her dark eyes.
"No. It's more complicated than that. My actions…" Cordelia tried to think of a way to explain how she'd got the visions without having to go into too much detail. "I ended up fighting against well, Forces of darkness and evil, if that doesn't sound too melodramatic. Because of those actions, I sort of inherited the visions from another Seer."
"Did the position as Princess come with the visions?" The question was soft, as if the nurse was aware that she was prying.
"That came a bit later. There are multiple Seers, but there… It was a combination of factors that led to me becoming a Princess. Now really isn't the time to go into all of that." Cordelia sighed, wishing that she really was a Princess, with a palace and servants.
A short while later, Cordelia sat at a table in the galley, picking at a salad. She'd been examined, had a sample of blood drawn to be analyzed and stored in case of emergency, and had more medical pictures taken… They'd probably be able to practically rebuild her. She'd been released in a remarkably soft feeling outfit that looked almost like the ship uniforms, still wearing the little disk on her temple to monitor for her next vision.
Idly, she wondered if anybody was working on an attack strategy yet. Did they know where the aliens were hiding? What sort of minions and defenses they would have? How many and how powerful the weapons would be?
Frowning at her thoughts, she sipped at the coffee provided by the meal-making machine. The taste was flat and almost muddy. No wonder Fred had brought his own with him… ughh. She took another swallow anyhow. What was going on between herself and Jason? Would the whole Angel's a vampire and he hadn't been told thing be the end of the dating relationship? Did they have any sort of strength to the relationship, or was it just great kisses and the two of them looking good at public appearances?
She didn't know. His kisses were great, and left her feeling excited and breathless, but there had to be more than that in a relationship. There had to be common interests, or compatibilities. Goals, hopes… communication. But she didn't think there was much of that happening right now. He didn't want to talk about his past before he became 'Commander Taggert', didn't want to talk about where he saw himself in ten years. They seemed to only exist in the now. It had been pretty fun, up to this, but…
Fred and Laliari came in, the Thermian woman half cuddled against him as he smiled. They ended up sitting at one of the other tables, their trays in front of them, and Cordelia noticed that he'd ended up with a glass of some pale yellow-orange liquid instead of the coffee. They were making things work, and it actually made her jealous. A quiet guy and an alien woman could make it work, but she couldn't make something with one human actor?
Maybe she was having this internal crisis too soon. Maybe they would be able to salvage something, some sort of future… She rubbed at her temple, carefully avoiding the metal sensor disk. She wasn't going about this the right way. She shouldn't be sitting here having what-if moments of worry. Instead, she should sit her and figure out a different question – did she want a continuing relationship with Jason Nesmith? Not just the pride issue of not wanting dumped, but did she want a future with him? Could she see them together in five years? What about careers or children?
End part 23.
Alex reminded himself to stay calm as he observed the repairs for Jason's knee. Most of the people here believed that he was a doctor; that he would be used to seeing things like this – he didn't want to shatter their beliefs. Not so much that he wanted them to think that he was a doctor, but they believed that the group of people from Earth could help them. If that confidence was shattered, it could cause the whole mission to fail.
It was sort of fascinating, in a bleeding, exposed bone and tendons sort of way. They were repairing his knee, undoing the damage left by the Fangor beast, and they had some way to put his knee back together without any new scars when they were done. With a repressed shudder, he decided that some sort of vegetables would be the best bet for his next meal.
Glancing across the gathering, he could see Willow. She was carefully out of the way, observing everything with what he recognized as 'trying to keep a blank face'. Was she feeling dismayed by the open knee? Resisting the urge to ask a dozen questions? He tried to smile at her, uncertain of his success.
Knowing that she was here with him gave him a good feeling. He wasn't lost in the strangeness this time around, even if the aliens part was new to Willow. She was used to the idea that the fate of the world – or more, in this case – rested on your actions. The idea was staggering at first, and it felt better to have someone who understood, someone who could still smile about life in the middle of a crisis.
Eventually, the surgery was completed, aided by the use of strange looking devices that delicately realigned the tendons and worked carefully to remove the scar tissue. Jason's knee was closed up again, the skin encouraged by another device to close up, as if it had never been parted. Still asleep, Jason was placed on one of the outer beds to recover, and allow the sedative to wear off.
Silently, Alex offered up a prayer that he hadn't been expected to perform the surgery. He wasn't any sort of real doctor, and for all he knew, he might have done something to permanently cripple Jason.
"Don't brood, that's Angel's job." Willow's voice held a trace of amusement. She was smiling as they walked out of the infirmary.
"Really?" Alex considered the dark haired vampire for a moment. "He doesn't seem to do very much of that around Gwen."
"No, he doesn't. But most of the time, he broods, and sits in the dark, although he might be able to see in it anyhow… I'll have to ask him about that sometime. He broods, and lurks, and goes about saving people… Cordelia actually came up with the little theme – we help the hopeless." Willow had a thoughtful twinkle in her eyes, and a small smile. At some point, she'd changed her clothing, now wearing a ship's uniform without the insignia. "Do you suppose the Thermians qualify?"
"Technically, they aren't quite hopeless. Their hope is… " Alex paused, realizing that their hope was the Galaxy Quest television series. Shuddering, he contemplated trying to run his life based on that, and looked at Willow. "Actually, they might qualify. Their hope rests in us."
"Yikes, way to feel the pressure there." She chuckled, and looked at him. "Maybe we should try to figure out just what sort of weapons the bad guys have?"
"For that, we'll need to talk to Malthesar again. Perhaps we should start with a discussion of the normal procedure for dealing with a small, hostile force on a planetary surface?" Alex paused, remembering a time when he had allowed himself to start forgetting all of the details of the episodes of the original series. He'd thought that they would never again be relevant to his life, but as it had turned out…
"Does that happen often?" She glanced over, pausing to allow a group of people to go through the hall, escorting a large and complicated thing on a float-pallet.
"Hmmm… I can recall a good handful of occasions on the original…" With a pause to glance around, he amended his description. "broadcasts, and the procedure seems to follow a standard pattern. Commander Taggert will go to the planet's surface with a security detail, occasionally with myself accompanying them. Unfortunately, the security detail… I wonder if they've grabbed Guy?"
"Guy?" Willow blinked, and offered a half questioning comment. "He was a security guy before?"
"Yes. And when they came to earth the first time, he was with us." Alex smiled, remembering the moment of near panic that Guy had experienced. He'd claimed that he was just a security guy, just one of the expendable people who died as soon as they were digitized onto the planet. It certainly hadn't been funny at the time, but in retrospect… "I think he got along well with the crew."
"So, is he a semi-regular on the… umm, now?" Willow asked. "Does he have any idea about strategy and weapons?"
"He has some familiarity with a couple martial arts styles, and a lot more with stunt work. I seem to recall that he planned to learn how to shoot after the last Thermian encounter." Alex touched his temple, itching under the Lazarus-cap.
"So then, on to find Malthesar?" Willow held out her arm.
"Yes, that sounds good. We need a bit more information before we can make our final plans." He placed her arm on his, and they went towards the office that he guessed Malthesar was the most likely to be using.
End part 24.
Looking away from Angel, she glanced at the worried man at the door. His uniform proclaimed him to be another lieutenant, and he had what she remembered as the expression of a very worried Thermian with minimal human contact. "What precisely is the problem?"
She started towards the doorway, one hand catching Angel's wrist to tug him after her. Even if the whole idea of him, being able to lose his soul was strange and frightening, she felt a bit better with him there. And he had normal facial expressions.
"We are trying to locate the pirates, and are encountering some… computer difficulties." He glanced away, something that she recognized as similar to blushing. "The whole planet is… too large of an area for a landing party to search through."
"Of course it is." She smiled, imagining the idea of finding one particular group of people over the whole planet, with over six billion humans and God only knew how many demons and vampires… Her smile became a shudder. Demons. Vampires. Aliens. How had her life become so complicated?
"I'd suggest starting to check in or near Los Angeles." Angel's voice was thoughtful, and he glanced towards her. "That's where the pig-thing was, and where the rock monster showed up. Since that had to have come from the aliens, then shouldn't they be relatively close?"
"That does seem reasonable." Gwen smiled, feeling as if she could sink into his eyes and just drown. No, now wasn't the time for that sort of thing. Save the world, the galaxy from the bad guys, then indulge in fantasies about Angel.
Angel followed her, his hand wrapped around hers as she made her way to one of the communication rooms. Several of them were scattered through the ship, enabling rapid scanning and communication. She wasn't certain, but there was a suspicion that something about the scattered rooms helped with the necessary equipment.
Taking a deep breath, Gwen settled into the soft, bowl shaped chair. "Computer, bring up an image of the surface topography of the planet below us." Reaching out, she traced her finger in a roughly circular shape around California. "Zoom in on this area."
Glancing at Angel, she offered a small smile. It was a bit harder to reference on a map that had no labels, but she could find Los Angeles. Encircling a swath of land containing the city ad it's suburbs, she spoke again. "Computer, scan for Thermian life forms in this area. Indicate on the map any detected."
"Scanning. Please wait." The computer's voice rang into the air, and little bars of light and markings that she assumed were Thermian letters began flashing in the bottom corner of the screen.
Eventually, a glowing purple dot appeared on the map, somewhere inside Los Angeles. Gwen leaned closer, a smile hovering at her lips. "Computer, zoom in on the Thermian life signs. I want to be able to determine their precise location, and if possible get a detailed report on their surroundings."
"The indicated location contains three Thermians. Sensors also detect one Dominionite, and a Sigma class engine." The computers voice remained calm, even as the map zoomed inwards. It ended up showing the area, some buildings recognizable, others only identified by their signs. "The location is below the surface of the streets."
"Underground." Angel sighed, leaning on the chair. "That section has good sized tunnels in addition to the sewer system. I think there were a couple larger areas that had been used for pipe storage during the expansions… They'd make ideal lairs for individuals who wouldn't want to be seen."
"Can you draw up a map?" Gwen asked, and then looked over at the young-seeming communications Lieutenant. "Can you find him some paper and something to write with?"
"Of course, it shall be done at once." With a sort of bowing motion, he ducked out of the room, the doors whooshing shut behind him.
"It won't be perfect, and I don't know if it will be complete. There might be tunnels, connections, maybe even entire chambers that I don't know about. And it's possible that they could have added to what they found." Angel cautioned.
"But it can't hurt. Every bit you can give us will be more than we have now. Then we might be able to come up with a plan to do something about them." Realizing that her shoulders were tense, Gwen tried to relax. "They're counting on us to help save them. How can I not do everything that I can?"
"I know." Angel reached out, his fingertips brushing against her cheek. "But you aren't doing it alone."
End 22.
Cordelia sighed, a bit worried by the intrigued sounding 'ahhh's and 'hmmm's that the doctor and nurse had been making as they used a little silver device to scan her brain. Something about delta readings and activity levels… It was as if they were only speaking half of their sentences out loud.
A little to the left, there was a small room where some smiling security personnel had dragged Jason. Apparently, Willow had mentioned his knee still being messed up from the Fangor beast and they had sent security to drag him up and be repaired. Literally. They'd sedated him and had him up on a table before he'd had time to do more than object once.
"It would be easier if we knew what happened during one of these precognitive episodes." The nurse spoke, one cool hand affixing a cold metal disk to Cordelia's temple. "If we knew how it altered your brain waves and neural chemistry, we might be able to devise a more specific treatment."
"So, what does the disk do?" Cordelia reached up, not quite touching the thing that was now stuck to her temple.
"It will monitor your neural activity. That way, when you have your next precognitive experience, we will have a record of it's effects on your brain, and then we can analyze that to devise a specific medication." There was a brief pause, and the small noises of things being put away. "Do you have any medical allergies?"
"Not that I know of, though I do get a rash if I eat too much shellfish." Cordelia replied, part of her mind caught up in the idea of being able to take a little pill to make the vision-headache go right away.
"Are the visions hereditary?" The nurse asked, glancing at Cordelia with questions spinning in her dark eyes.
"No. It's more complicated than that. My actions…" Cordelia tried to think of a way to explain how she'd got the visions without having to go into too much detail. "I ended up fighting against well, Forces of darkness and evil, if that doesn't sound too melodramatic. Because of those actions, I sort of inherited the visions from another Seer."
"Did the position as Princess come with the visions?" The question was soft, as if the nurse was aware that she was prying.
"That came a bit later. There are multiple Seers, but there… It was a combination of factors that led to me becoming a Princess. Now really isn't the time to go into all of that." Cordelia sighed, wishing that she really was a Princess, with a palace and servants.
A short while later, Cordelia sat at a table in the galley, picking at a salad. She'd been examined, had a sample of blood drawn to be analyzed and stored in case of emergency, and had more medical pictures taken… They'd probably be able to practically rebuild her. She'd been released in a remarkably soft feeling outfit that looked almost like the ship uniforms, still wearing the little disk on her temple to monitor for her next vision.
Idly, she wondered if anybody was working on an attack strategy yet. Did they know where the aliens were hiding? What sort of minions and defenses they would have? How many and how powerful the weapons would be?
Frowning at her thoughts, she sipped at the coffee provided by the meal-making machine. The taste was flat and almost muddy. No wonder Fred had brought his own with him… ughh. She took another swallow anyhow. What was going on between herself and Jason? Would the whole Angel's a vampire and he hadn't been told thing be the end of the dating relationship? Did they have any sort of strength to the relationship, or was it just great kisses and the two of them looking good at public appearances?
She didn't know. His kisses were great, and left her feeling excited and breathless, but there had to be more than that in a relationship. There had to be common interests, or compatibilities. Goals, hopes… communication. But she didn't think there was much of that happening right now. He didn't want to talk about his past before he became 'Commander Taggert', didn't want to talk about where he saw himself in ten years. They seemed to only exist in the now. It had been pretty fun, up to this, but…
Fred and Laliari came in, the Thermian woman half cuddled against him as he smiled. They ended up sitting at one of the other tables, their trays in front of them, and Cordelia noticed that he'd ended up with a glass of some pale yellow-orange liquid instead of the coffee. They were making things work, and it actually made her jealous. A quiet guy and an alien woman could make it work, but she couldn't make something with one human actor?
Maybe she was having this internal crisis too soon. Maybe they would be able to salvage something, some sort of future… She rubbed at her temple, carefully avoiding the metal sensor disk. She wasn't going about this the right way. She shouldn't be sitting here having what-if moments of worry. Instead, she should sit her and figure out a different question – did she want a continuing relationship with Jason Nesmith? Not just the pride issue of not wanting dumped, but did she want a future with him? Could she see them together in five years? What about careers or children?
End part 23.
Alex reminded himself to stay calm as he observed the repairs for Jason's knee. Most of the people here believed that he was a doctor; that he would be used to seeing things like this – he didn't want to shatter their beliefs. Not so much that he wanted them to think that he was a doctor, but they believed that the group of people from Earth could help them. If that confidence was shattered, it could cause the whole mission to fail.
It was sort of fascinating, in a bleeding, exposed bone and tendons sort of way. They were repairing his knee, undoing the damage left by the Fangor beast, and they had some way to put his knee back together without any new scars when they were done. With a repressed shudder, he decided that some sort of vegetables would be the best bet for his next meal.
Glancing across the gathering, he could see Willow. She was carefully out of the way, observing everything with what he recognized as 'trying to keep a blank face'. Was she feeling dismayed by the open knee? Resisting the urge to ask a dozen questions? He tried to smile at her, uncertain of his success.
Knowing that she was here with him gave him a good feeling. He wasn't lost in the strangeness this time around, even if the aliens part was new to Willow. She was used to the idea that the fate of the world – or more, in this case – rested on your actions. The idea was staggering at first, and it felt better to have someone who understood, someone who could still smile about life in the middle of a crisis.
Eventually, the surgery was completed, aided by the use of strange looking devices that delicately realigned the tendons and worked carefully to remove the scar tissue. Jason's knee was closed up again, the skin encouraged by another device to close up, as if it had never been parted. Still asleep, Jason was placed on one of the outer beds to recover, and allow the sedative to wear off.
Silently, Alex offered up a prayer that he hadn't been expected to perform the surgery. He wasn't any sort of real doctor, and for all he knew, he might have done something to permanently cripple Jason.
"Don't brood, that's Angel's job." Willow's voice held a trace of amusement. She was smiling as they walked out of the infirmary.
"Really?" Alex considered the dark haired vampire for a moment. "He doesn't seem to do very much of that around Gwen."
"No, he doesn't. But most of the time, he broods, and sits in the dark, although he might be able to see in it anyhow… I'll have to ask him about that sometime. He broods, and lurks, and goes about saving people… Cordelia actually came up with the little theme – we help the hopeless." Willow had a thoughtful twinkle in her eyes, and a small smile. At some point, she'd changed her clothing, now wearing a ship's uniform without the insignia. "Do you suppose the Thermians qualify?"
"Technically, they aren't quite hopeless. Their hope is… " Alex paused, realizing that their hope was the Galaxy Quest television series. Shuddering, he contemplated trying to run his life based on that, and looked at Willow. "Actually, they might qualify. Their hope rests in us."
"Yikes, way to feel the pressure there." She chuckled, and looked at him. "Maybe we should try to figure out just what sort of weapons the bad guys have?"
"For that, we'll need to talk to Malthesar again. Perhaps we should start with a discussion of the normal procedure for dealing with a small, hostile force on a planetary surface?" Alex paused, remembering a time when he had allowed himself to start forgetting all of the details of the episodes of the original series. He'd thought that they would never again be relevant to his life, but as it had turned out…
"Does that happen often?" She glanced over, pausing to allow a group of people to go through the hall, escorting a large and complicated thing on a float-pallet.
"Hmmm… I can recall a good handful of occasions on the original…" With a pause to glance around, he amended his description. "broadcasts, and the procedure seems to follow a standard pattern. Commander Taggert will go to the planet's surface with a security detail, occasionally with myself accompanying them. Unfortunately, the security detail… I wonder if they've grabbed Guy?"
"Guy?" Willow blinked, and offered a half questioning comment. "He was a security guy before?"
"Yes. And when they came to earth the first time, he was with us." Alex smiled, remembering the moment of near panic that Guy had experienced. He'd claimed that he was just a security guy, just one of the expendable people who died as soon as they were digitized onto the planet. It certainly hadn't been funny at the time, but in retrospect… "I think he got along well with the crew."
"So, is he a semi-regular on the… umm, now?" Willow asked. "Does he have any idea about strategy and weapons?"
"He has some familiarity with a couple martial arts styles, and a lot more with stunt work. I seem to recall that he planned to learn how to shoot after the last Thermian encounter." Alex touched his temple, itching under the Lazarus-cap.
"So then, on to find Malthesar?" Willow held out her arm.
"Yes, that sounds good. We need a bit more information before we can make our final plans." He placed her arm on his, and they went towards the office that he guessed Malthesar was the most likely to be using.
End part 24.