Note to my readers - please do not panic – Dee is NOT going to turn into a Mary Sue. If you haven't figured it out by now, Reaper is the hero of this story.

Dee was, yet again, not a happy woman. First, her well ordered life was being screwed around with by some corporate hired gun which meant she had to ride her normally efficient, though personality challenged crew, to do things "by the book" until said corporate shmuck was gone. Second, she had been forced to pacify an agitated Dr. Kalif after he was informed that his drill was not going to be ready for operation by oh nine hundred hours. After which she had had to scramble to find parts to fix one of the cooling monitors after Malcolm, the latest tech pawned off on her by the powers that be, thinking he was some kind of new, undiscovered genius, had bypassed the current interrupter and wired the capacitor straight to the terminal, ultimately resulting in a blowout when the pressure in the lines had exceeded the safe limits and the interrupter had not kicked in. Which was the fancy way of saying there was a shit-load of coolant all over the HVAC room and the guys in the power plant were seriously pissed off because they had no air-conditioning at the moment. However, the final straw had been when she had received the call from Dr. Rosenblatt, one of Dr. Betruger's top men, demanding that she bring her team, with a remote sentry to the Alpha-Omega lab IMMEADIATELY. As if she didn't have anything else to do, but wait around for his call. On top of which she had still not had a chance to secure her latest shipment of goods.

She stalked down the hallway followed by two of her top techs – Helldiver and Ironworks. They were both horribly amused by her current mood. They knew she found the research staff to be nothing by a serious annoyance and she really hated to have her tightly scheduled routine disrupted.

"So did Dr. Rosie say what was so urgent?" Helldiver asked.

"Of course not," Dee spat, "White coats never have to explain themselves to the help."

"Probably has something to do with that new toy Dr. B found hun?" Ironworks speculated.

Dee glared at him over her shoulder, "Dr. B does NOT have a new toy remember?"

Ironworks just shrugged. They had all been told to keep their mouths shut about everything that went on in the labs. Especially during the corporate suit's visit. "Sorry, I meant, it must have something to do with nothing."

Without pause Dee stormed into the Omega labs security center only to find herself confronted by a line of Marines. But not base Marines. No, these guys were all dressed in black and looked completely out of place. Nobody had uniforms that crisp and clean after a few weeks at Enyo.

"Who the hell are you?" Demanded the biggest Marine in the group. Hell, he might be one of the biggest Marines Dee had ever seen. His face was a mess of scars, but it was more than that which commanded her attention. There was something about him that told her this man was always in charge of any situation he entered and that he would accept nothing less than total submission by both his enemies and subordinates.

Unfortunately for him Dee was not one of his subordinates, "DeeDee Dawn. I'm a Senior Operations Manager. I'm here on orders from Dr. Roseblatt. Now, who the hell are you?"

The Marine was clearly taken aback by her demeanor. She sensed he was not used to being challenged, especially not by a civilian. Tough. This was HER turf, not his.

"Lieutenant Palani, RRTS Special Operations." He shot back at her, straightening out to his full height as he approached her. "My orders are to ensure the safety of Counselor Swann and to enforce any and all directives issued by the UAC Board of Directors. I need to see your badges now!"

Dee could not believe his nerve. Who the hell did he think he was? He wasn't in charge of base security. She glanced over at Buddy and Wilson. They both seemed to be cowering in fear behind the security desk. Clearly they were not going to argue the issue.

Disgusted she looked back at the man now towering over her, holding his hand out.

"Since when has RRTS taken over security guard duty?" She sneered, hoping to hit a nerve. She made no move to get her badge.

To his credit he barely flinched, but his eyes blazed with the fury of a volcano. He took another step forward so that he stood a hand's width from her, forcing her to tilt her head far back to maintain eye contact with him.

"You will give me your badge or I will have you escorted to a holding cell where you can explain your insubordination to your superior." He stated with a soft growl.

Dee clenched her teeth together. Her superior would not be pleased to get a call about her being in a holding cell. Especially not after he warned her to make sure everyone was on their best behavior during the counselor's visit.

She wanted to find a reason not to give this bully her badge, but short of making a big scene there really was no way around it. Harshly she slapped her badge into his waiting hand.

Immediately he relaxed. She could tell he was pleased to be back in charge of the situation. In fact, she had the feeling he was on the verge of smiling.

"Thank you…"He looked down at her badge, "Sr. Operations Manager Dawn. Your cooperation is appreciated."

Dee simply glared at him as he collected her men's badges as well. He walked over to the security desk where Buddy and Wilson could not get out of his way fast enough. He scanned their badges into the system and then he glanced over at Buddy.

"Please inform Dr. Rosenblatt that Sr. Operations Manager Dawn has arrived and will be joining him shortly." He then moved around the desk and re-approached her. He held out her badge to her. "I apologize for any inconvenience that I may have caused you, but I take my orders very seriously. I cannot and will not allow any harm to come to the counselor."

Dee's eyes narrowed slightly. All the anger was gone from his eyes and his voice no longer held any tone of contempt or condescension. She nodded once, to acknowledge she had heard him. Although she could respect his dedication to his job she was still burning about his threat to have her locked up.

"About damn time!" She heard Dr. Rosenblatt's voice over the intercom. "Send her down immediately and tell her to stop dawdling."

Dee looked at the lieutenant, waiting for him to step out of her way. After a brief moment he did so.

Without another word she and her men entered the Omega labs section.

"What a arrogant bastard!" Ironworks blurted out the moment the door closed behind them.

"Someone ought to give him a tour of the waste treatment facility,' Helldiver snarled, "Let him get up close and personal with the plasma processor."

Dee almost smiled. Her guys might be seriously rough around the edges, but they looked out for her. "Maybe we can invite him to do just that. You know, like make a peace offering."

The guys laughed, hearing the sarcasm in her voice.

"Absolutely," Ironworks drawled, "Just to show him there's no hard feelings or anything."

"Bet a lug-head like him would eat that kind of shit up." Helldiver shook his head in disgust. "A man like that thinks the whole world should be bowing down at his feet."

"Well what took you so long?" Demanded Dr. Rosenblatt as they entered the main lab. "I called nearly twenty minutes ago!"

Normally Dee would have been quick with a reply, but at that moment she could barely think, much less formulate a response.

It was true. They had found new alien technology. Not only that, but all the rumors about Dr. Betruger trying to secretly harness the technology were apparently also true. Before them was what could only be described as a wall of energy. Blazing bright like some kind of miniature sun. A furnace without the heat.

"Well, we haven't got all day," She heard Dr. Rosenblatt's annoyed voice speaking to her from what seemed like a long distance away, though he only stood feet from her, "Get the sentry ready. I want to know what is on the other side of that gateway."

Dee looked at the doctor and wondered what kind of madness lurked about in his mind. He looked like a child just before opening a present.

If Dee could have started her day over she would have called in sick.