Chapter 9 of The Phoenix and The Wolverine

XLIX

The Basestar; CIC...

Cavil watched calmly as the first nuclear bombs were released; he was still standing in the same spot when 3 visibly upset female cylons walked into the CIC.

"Cavil; you son of a bitch; what the frak are you playing at ? Do you have any idea who is down there ?" D'anna's voice had grown in volume as she walked up to the Number One; by the time she got to the last word she was practically yelling.

The male cylon looked calmly at her. "Your pilot must have been very good to get you here so fast."

"That's because I 'jumped' the raider from the planet's atmosphere to co-ordinates just outside the basestar you idiot," said Caprica coldly " you could have killed us!"

"That is not the only issue here," said D'anna in a normal but steely tone " two members of the thirteenth tribe are down there and you've ordered an orbital bombarbment on them! Are you trying to start a war with them as well ?"

Cavil sighed. "In case you haven't noticed; we are at war with the humans; what's one more tribe to add to the tally ?"

Boomer stared at him in shock.

"When we started the search for Earth; our aim was to find it and settle there with our ancestors; not destroy it!"

The Number One glared at her. " And these so called 'ancestors' that you have laid eyes on are human; are they not ?"

The three women shared an uneasy look.

"They look human...but something is...different about them," said Caprica Six.

Cavil stared at her for a few moments. "Ah well; if they are as advanced and as different as you make them out to be; then this bombarbment should be a sufficient test don't you think ?"

D'anna felt her blood boil at his smug tone. "Please enligthen me."

He brushed off the acid tone. "You told me that some members of the thirteenth tribe left with the colonials. I have stopped the jamming of communications and pulled back all the centurions.

Now any one with half a brain or even a certain cylon turncoat will realize this means an orbital nuclear bombarbment will commence soon; they will rush to their ships," Cavil walked to a nearby monitor and began to press some symbols "my specially adapted raiders will attack; miss on purpose and also fire off the TROY devices we recently completed."

The 3 female cylons drew nearer to the monitor to see 3 red dots which appeared to be leaving the surface of the planet as the bombarbment continued.

"One of those ships has the members of the thirteenth tribe...where they go we can follow and thus complete two objectives in one move," concluded Cavil.

D'anna found herself nodding in reluctant approval. "That's pretty smart."

Caprica was not so impressed. "What objectives are we talking about ?"

"Find the way to Earth and destroy the remaining colonials; what else would I be talking about ?" said Cavil with a sneer.

L

Ander's could feel his heart hammering against his chest as the raptors lifted off too slowly from the planet's surface. His monitors were informing him that the bombs were dropping closer to his position.

May the Gods of Kobol damn those cylons to Hades! This was like Caprica and New Caprica all over again !

He just hoped and prayed that Kara and the others were okay.

Anders reached for his ship to ship radio."Alright boys and girls ! Once we hit the atmosphere we jump to original co-ordinates when we entered the system and then we jump from there till we get to the fleet."

"A jump in the atmosphere ? Are you frakking insane ?" shouted Ensign Billy 'Buck' Rogers ; one of the surviving viper pilots who was acting as his ECO.

Ander's last ECO had been one of the first to die when the centurions jumped them; while Bill's viper had been blown up in the surprise attack.

"Yes I am Bill; because going the 'usual' slow route will have us too close to the planet's surface; then when the nukes reach us; we'll all be dead !"

There was silence for a few seconds.

"It sounds like a good idea," said Billy in a subdued voice.

"Glad you approve," snapped Anders before he switched to the incom system.

"Everyone; buckle up because it's about to get turbulent !"

In the passenger area; Laura and Q looked at each other before unseen G-forces pushed them to the back of their seats as Anders executed a 'jump'.

The other raptor and few remaining vipers were not far behind.

LI

Kara looked around; the small craft was new; very different and very clean; she also realised something else. It seemed like they were hardly moving until she saw the viewscreen.

Somehow ; they had reached the outer stratosphere for she could already see the stars.

"How fast are we going ?" she whispered.

"Fast enough to outrun nukes," answered Logan without turning round.

Kara stared at his back. How the frak had he heard her ?

"We have people down there; we need to warn them..." started Sharon.

Jean turned to her. "I think Kara's message got through; because a number of ships are lifting off at the same time as us."

"How do you know that?" asked Hotshot.

The doctor looked at him. "The ship's monitors are pretty sensitive despite the EMP from the sun and the interference from the planet's atmosphere..."

A low moan of pain escaped from Cally's lip. Jean turned to her.

She quickly unstrapped herself and was beside her before anyone could say a word.

"Is she okay?" asked Kara; Cally looked very pale and had beads of sweat on her forehad. Jean checked the tourniquet; it was soaked with blood.

"This doesn't look good; we need to get her to our sick-bay soon. Logan pass me a ship communicator."

The colonials watched as the man opened a small cabinet and removed a small device that he flung over his left shoulder. Jean reached up in the air and caught the object before snapping it open; it looked like a handheld flip mobile phone.

Jean pressed on the device and spoke. "Xavier; do you read ? Laura...Q junior please come in."

There was silence as she waited. " Logan; could you try..."

"Dr Grey; do you require assistance ?"

LII

The Xavier...

The ship Q Junior built had led the heavy and light raiders on a chase.

It had let them get close enough to almost touching distance then dropped behind them suddenly before rapidly speeding off in the opposite direction.

In summary it had played 'tag' with them and that had infuriated the machines.

After getting tired of failing to catch it; the cylon ships started firing whenever they got close enough.

This also failed to work as the shields Q Junior had installed on the ship were second to none and thus the barrage from the raiders barely drained the shield generator's energy.

What Xavier did not do; was retaliate.

Not because it was not smart enough; but because there was really no need to.

However on another chase within the orbit of the planet; it had picked up Dr Grey's hail and the Xavier decided it was time to power up its weapons.

Just in case it had to protect its crew of cause.

"Dr Grey; do you require assistance ?"

LIII

Sharon had been watching Jean and Logan when the new voice answered her transmission. When they first met two members of the thirteenth tribe; she was sure they were a couple. They worked as a team and looked good together.

However something about the new voice had her concerned; it sounded too...calm.

"Xavier! Thank God; we need you to teleport us to the ship now; we need the medical bay."

Sharon saw the other colonials; even the barely conscious Cally give the woman a very suspicious look.

There were very few Monothetists in the fleet and even they kept secret what religion they followed. But the time on New Caprica had showed that the Cylons also believed in a Single Diety and hearing this stranger mention 'thank God' was enough cause for worry.

Even if she and her captain had just saved their lives.

"The interference from the sun will still disrupt the transporters but I can come and get you if speed is what you require."

Logan nodded. "Then come get us Xavier."

High above the planet; the basestar monitors picked up the approach of the strange ship as it sped away from half a dozen raiders; it seemed to descend rapidly to the surface of the planet that was been bombarded.

"What are they up to ?" asked Cavil with a puzzled frown on his face.

The Xavier dived head first into the atmosphere at top speed; it quickly identified the small shuttle racing towards it and without slowing down; it rapidly turned the ship so that by the time the shuttle reached ; it was facing the hanger doors of shuttle bay three.

Logan saw the doors approaching and quickly reduced his speed as the bigger ship used the tractor beam to pull the smaller ship in.

Kara felt her jaw drop as she saw how quickly the bigger ship moved; whoever was flying it was someone she wanted to meet.

The hanger doors shut close after the shuttle was safely within the bay.

"Xavier! Get us out of this system now!" ordered Logan.

"Yes Captain,"said the ship before it turned and went to warp; to the stunned cylons watching; it had disappeared in a flash of light.

The colonials in their raptors and vipers were too busy jumping out of the system and thus missed the whole show

The whole operation had lasted 3 minutes and 55 seconds.

And the Xavier had not fired a single shot; because there was no need to.

In the CIC of the basestar; Caprica Six turned to Cavil.

"Congratulations Cavil; on starting a war with a tribe who appears to be stronger and more advanced than we are," she left him and the others as the planet beneath them was been systematically destroyed.

LIV

The Xavier; Shuttle Bay 3; Deck 3...

Kara watched Jean turn to Logan.

"Great flying captain."

He smiled tiredly. " Thanks; let's get Cally to the medical bay and find out what the kids were up to when we were gone."

Kara shared a look with Hotdog. There were children aboard this ship ?

The captain was the first person out of the ship; Sharon and Hotdog helped Cally out next. Kara looked around her as she stepped out; taking note of cleanliness of the bay and the shiny boxed cargo.

Where was the rest of the crew ?

She saw the way the captain was looking around the bay and felt he was asking the same question as well.

The man looked at the ceiling. "Xavier; where's Junior and Laura ? Where's the other shuttle ?"

A smooth electronic voice answered. "Are they not with you ? They left to look for you and Dr Grey."

Kara felt herself go cold. They had an AI!

She looked at Hotdog and Sergent Charles 'Nails' Brenan; the same thought was mirrored in their eyes.

Cylons.

"What did you say ?" asked Logan in a shocked voice. Jean had left Cally with Sharon and came to stand beside him. She looked distracted.

"They...Logan we have to go back! I can't sense them."

Those final words did it for Kara; these two were frakking cylons and they almost had her fooled. She; Hotdog and Nails brought up their guns to fire; they did not notice the shocked looks on Sharon and Cally's faces.

However before they could pull the triggers; Jean quickly looked at them with eyes as black as pure midnight.

"Sleep."

And that was the last image Kara and the others saw before they lost consciousness.

LV

Logan heard the bodies slump behind him and turned just in time to see Jean prevent Cally's unconsious form from hitting the floor.

"What happened ?" he asked carefully.

Jean looked at him with her normal eyes. "Kara; and her friends thought we were cylons; their enemy and were just about to fill us with bullets."

Logan glared at the unconsious leader of the 5 people before them.

"Did she now? What gave them that stupid idea ?"

Jean continued looking at the 5 people before her. "Apparently they have something against AIs; I can ask them what this is all about when they wake up but we have more important things to worry about. We need to go back for the children."

Logan nodded. "I agree because when I find those kids; I'm killing them myself !"

Jean sighed and looked at the ceiling. " Xavier; please transport myself and these five to sickbay."

"Yes Dr Grey."

Logan started walking to the bridge once the doctor and her unconscious patients disappeared. "Reverse our course back to that planet; and in sleath mode."

"Yes Captain."

"And Xavier; thanks for the rescue; that was pretty slick flying."

"You're welcome sir."

Logan was not sure but for a moment the computer sounded pleased.

LVI

Anders came out of the jump just in time to see Sharon's raptor disappear in a 'jump'. Apparently there were ahead of Ander's small group of ships.

"Damn; they are definitely in a hurry to get back to the fleet; the others must be with them," he muttered to himself as he quickly checked the DRADIS and saw the other raptor had made it as well as the 4 remaining vipers.

"Billy; how long until we can jump to the fleet ?"

"We need 20 minutes for the engines to get enough juice for the next jump; those last two stunts we pulled almost tore the engine apart!"

Anders grinned at the new ECO's glare. " But; it worked; didn't it ?"

The young viper pilot just stared at him. "Yeah; it worked; by the by what did you mean by 'the others must be with them' ?"

Anders smiled lazily. "Nothing much; just concerned about my wife you know."

Bill had an unconvinced expression on his face. "Does this have to do with the two kids we picked up on that planet ?" then his face went pale "are they the thirteenth...?"

Anders dropped the easy smile. "Don't say the word; I don't know who they are...but we really need to get them back to the fleet."

Bill was not listening to him. "But Lieutenant Thrace's transmission was about the thirteenth tribe...did we just let their homeworld get nuked by those..."

"ENSIGN BILLY BUCK ROGERS!" shouted Anders.

The young man finally shut up at the look of anger on the pilot's face.

"Look, " began Anders in a calmer tone "I don't know who Kara has got with her; those two in our ship...saved my butt and told me they were looking for their crew members. That world we went to...is not the home of the Thirteenth Tribe...it can't be because I'm pretty sure the Thirteenth have weapons capable of kicking the cylons' collective arses."

Bill stared at him. " How sure are you of this ?"

Anders could still see clearly how Q Junior easily dispatched the centurions with a small hand held weapon and Laura's gleaming claws which were thankfully absent at the moment.

"Oh, I'm very sure...I think."

Before the ECO could say a word the in-com radio came on.

"Ensign Anders; this is Sergeant Tyler; the young boy is asking for permission to treat our wounded. How would you like us to proceed ?"

Anders looked at the radio for several moments. "Allow him ...but watch him closely," Laura's claws came to mind again "and take care not to threaten him or the girl."

On the other end; Tyler looked at his handheld communicator oddly. Why would he threaten two kids ?

"Acknowledged Ensign."

He walked back to the two teens who everyone was watching closely.

"Alright kid; you've got permission."

Laura watched Q Junior roll his eyes at the word 'kid'. She wondered if he knew how dangerous the situation was. Once they had escaped from the planet's surface and stopped moving; the other passengers had turned their attention on the two teens.

She saw suspicion and worry in most of their faces; but what concerned her more was the faint glimmer of hope she saw in a few faces.

Laura had an idea from the little she had learnt from Q Junior of how important finding Earth was to them; but it was the stunned expression on Ensign's Anders face that had clinched it for her.

The way to Earth was these people's Holy Grail.

And that was a little worrying; because she was unsure of how they would react when they found out where she and Q were from.

Or what they really were.

She started unstrapping her seat belt as Q Junior stood up; he turned with a quizzical expression on his face.

"You're going to need some assistance Q," she said as she stood up as well " besides what equipment did you pack besides the phase thingy ?"

Q Junior raised an eyebrow at the way she described the phase pistol until he saw how openly attentive Sergent Tyler was to their conversation.

"One hypospray with 200 doses of analgesia ; one mini-subdermal replicator and one orthopaedic replicator and my tricorder which also doubles as a medical scanner. Why do you ask ?"

Laura nodded towards the silent listening sergeant.

"He'll want to know what the equipment does exactly and do mention in detail what the hypospray is for before you use it."

"Fine," said Q Junior through gritted teeth as he carefully explained to Tyler what his equipment was for.

The huge sergent looked at the teenager and was wondering what in Hades these two were doing on that cursed planet. He had heard the crew mutterings about 'The Thirteenth Tribe' but as far as he was concerned it was all a big myth.

Right now he was more concerned about his injured comrades in arms.

"If you're a medic; then get to work."

The boy swallowed a bit nervously. "Okay; who are your most injured ?"

Tyler went on to show the boy a young woman who had been shot in both legs. Laura followed closely; keeping both hands free and loose in-case she needed them.

"Sara was badly hit when the tincans hit us; if we don't get to the fleet soon she may die." The woman he pointed to had reddish brown hair; she appeared to be in a lot of pain; she had bandages over both calves and they were heavily soaked with blood.

Q Junior turned pale when he saw the state of her trousers; but he calmly knelt beside her and introduced himself.

"I'm a medic; I need to assess the damage; I can give you something for the pain..."the woman grabbed his right hand.

"No! Please don't take my legs! I'm begging you please don't take them off! Just get me to Doc! He'll fix them! I swear!"

When Sara grabbed his hand; Laura was an inch away from producing her claws but Q Junior had raised his left hand to stop her without turning.

Tyler noticed the silent communication and frowned.

"Sara," said Q Junior soothingly " I just need to look and maybe I can get you back to your Doctor in one piece; let me give you something for the pain."

The frightened woman looked frantically between him and Tyler. "Sarge! I don't want to sleep! I want to be awake; I don't want to wake and find my legs gone!" She broke down and started crying.

The Sergent looked at her with sadness in his eyes. "Corporal Sara; let him take a look and do what he can; please."

The shaking shattered woman nodded slowly.

Q slowly produced the hypospray from his side pocket of his trousers; he was acutely aware of the other passengers coming closer to observe.

"Just one dose will take the pain away and make you a bit sleepy."

There was a low hiss and Sara relaxed almost at once.

"We need to cut her trousers off from just above the knees," said Q softly.

He was stunned when a silent Tyler passed him a hunting knife; Laura took it from him almost immediately.

Everyone watched as Laura helped Q cut the cloth away to reveal the damage.

Already he could see bone sticking out of the middle of the right calf; he heard one of the marines curse; Q took out his tricorder and scanned from the feet to the knees. Corporal Sara had an open right compound comminuted fracture of the right tibia and fibula.

Translation:the two long bones just above the right ankle had been broken in several places and had also pierced the skin.

For the left leg; she had only a displaced fracture of both the tibia and fibula; however the skin was not broken. Q Junior was wishing he had the Xavier medical bay ; it would be so much quicker.

"Remarkably the blood and nerve supply is not too compromised; but we need to work quickly," said Q Junior.

Tyler looked at the teen; he had not frozen when faced with such a severe injury and he sounded like he knew what he was doing. "What do you need ?"

The male teen looked at him. " First; we need to straighten out her legs; the fractures need to be put in as normal as a position as possible; then I need to use the bone replicator."

"I'll set the right leg," said Laura soft as she moved into position.

Q Junior nodded. " I'll act as the ballast while you pull; we need to do it before she wakes up."

The passengers moved back as they watched the two teens at work; Tyler helped Q junior with Sara's left leg; then the teen went down on his knees and used a second device to pass several times over her legs from the knees down to the feet and back upwards again.

1 minute passed before anyone saw the effects of what he was doing; even Tyler felt his heart rate pick up.

Right before their eyes; they could see damaged tissue healing at a rate which was nigh miraculous. Laura kept one eye on the passengers and the other on Q's back.

The hologram or not-hologram was oblivious to what was going on around him.

8 minutes later he stopped. "That's the most I can do for now; I'm afraid I don't have bigger equipment. What she needs now is a good meal; a firm cast; crutches and non-weight bearing for the next 4 weeks until calculi form. If I get to perform one more treatment like that in the next week; she may recover even sooner."

Q stood up and the crew were looking at him as if he had grown 2 feet taller.

"Where's your next patient ?"

Anders was in the middle of an argument with Bill on whether to tell the passengers that the two children may be of the thirteenth tribe when the in-com radio activated.

"Ensign Anders...the kids have done all they can and have returned to their seats."

The two pilots looked at each other and then at the radio; Tyler sounded ...stunned.

"What did they do?" asked Anders carefully. Laura's claws came to mind for the umpteenth time.

"The boy; Q Junior; kind of an odd name...he practically healed all the injured with his devices; the other one...Laura just assisted him...Anders are they of the thirteenth tribe ?"

The last words were said in a whisper; which seemed filled with hope.

Bill looked at Anders. " Our marines are not stupid Anders," he whispered.

Anders glared at him before reaching for the radio. "Sarge; I'm not sure...that's why I'm taking them to the Admiral; tell the rest of the crew to strap in. We're jumping for the fleet in 45 seconds."

LVII

The Xavier; Medical Bay; Deck 1...

Jean appeared in the medical bay as each of her unconscious patients were assigned to different beds.

"Xavier; please run a scan of all patients; relieve them of their weapons and keep the locked within a force field please."

"Understood."

She quickened replaced her brown leather jacket with a white lab coat. As she folded up the jacket; she felt a bulge in the left pocket and pulled out the tricorder she had used in the ruins. She frowned at the portable device; she wondered what was so important about what she and Logan had seen.

And what the Colonials and 'Cylons' were prepared to do to get it.

"Xavier; upload the information on this tricorder and please translate it as well."

"Where would you like it stored ?"

"My personal files; if that's okay."

"Translation will take 3 minutes 42 seconds and the weapons of our guests have been secured ; their bio-data is available on your personal PADD and a force-field had been erected around their bio-beds."

Jean nodded her thanks as she picked up the slim touch-screen e-notepad.

As she suspected; Cally's injuries were the worst and if nothing was done soon she could die of blood loss; the others had mild scrapes and bruises that could heal with time. Jean looked at the unconscious specialist; she was currently on a bed beside the asian woman who was also asleep.

She could treat her while unconscious but her instincts told her that would be the wrong thing to do.

"Wake up."

Kara was in a dreamless sleep; the first she's had in months when she heard a female voice ordering her to awaken. For a few moments; she was unsure of where she was; then her memory returned and she sat up quickly.

She was on some sort of soft white bed; on her left was Nails who was also waking up; on the other side of the marine was Hotdog.

On Kara's right was Sharon and Cally; all of them were now awake and their attention was on the person standing less than 4 feet away from them.

Dr Jean Grey; gone was the brown leather jacket; in its place was a white lab coat . The doctor stared at them with her hands folded.

Kara reached for a gun that was not there. She cursed as she stood up and walked forward; her intent was on using her fists to get some answers from the cylon bitch.

Then she walked into an invisible wall.

"Where are we?"

Jean did not answer simply staring at her until the other 3 colonials who could stand were beside Starbuck.

"You're on board the Xavier; our ship. I need to treat Cally while she's awake."

"No frakking way ! I'm not letting you near me !" said the specialist.

Kara pointed a finger at the doctor. "Stay away from her; we don't need your help!"

Sharon stared at the pilot; anyone could see that Cally was seriosuly hurt.

Jean frowned at the colonials. "You would rather let her die then let me treat her ?"

Kara was about to respond but hesitated as she glanced hurridly at the specialist.

"Just let us go..."began Hotdog.

"Then what ? You die because you refused assistance? Look let's not waste any time," Jean turned to Cally "Specialist Tyrol; you've got two options.

One; I treat you while you are conscious with your colleges looking on and assisting me or two; I treat you unconscious with you friends also asleep. Which is it going to be ?"

The five exchanged uneasy glances as they remembered that they had lost unconsciousness recently.

But how; was it a sleeping gas ? Thought Sharon.

As if Jean could read her mind ; she was shaking her head. "No; it was not a gas; It was me; with my mind. Now tell me if any cylons can do that ?"

Kara looked at Jean as if she had lost her sanity.

"Are you saying you used your mind to ...make us fall asleep ? That's insane !"

Jean smiled coldly at her. "Would you like a demonstration ?"

Something about how she said it; made Sharon take her seriously.

"I don't think that will be necessary, Dr Grey," said the cylon hastily.

The doctor stared at her for a few moments before turning back to Cally.

"Specialist Tyrol; I'm waiting; what's it going to be? Awake or asleep ?"

Cally looked at her with fear on her face.

LVIII

The Bridge; Deck 1...

Logan watched the viewscreen as the ship came out of warp; to his immense relief and worry; the cylons were gone.

He used the sensors as the ship went down to the surface.

As Xavier predicted; the ship's sensors were finding it dfficult to detect any living thing on the surface; due to the EMP from the sun and the radioactive fallout from the recent bombarbment.

Logan felt sorry for the unlucky feline creatures who had the misfortune to be caught in the nuclear attack.

"How close to the ground can we get in order to do a visual search ;without damaging the ship ?"

" 100 metres would give us adequate visualization and also enable most of the sensors to work. Shall I proceed ?"

"Please do."

Logan watched in grim silence as he saw the scorched surface of the planet that he and Jean had visited a short while ago.

Why had the cylons ordered orbital bombarbment on the planet in the first place.?

"Captain; I detected the Delta Flyer Alpha."

Logan felt hopeful. "Anyone inside?"

"There are no life signs detected within the shuttle; it also appears undamaged and it's shield is active."

Logan frowned. Someone must have activated it before leaving the shuttle.

"Beam it aboard, Xavier. Maybe we might find some answers inside."

The captain headed for the turbolift.

LIX

Medical bay...

There was silence in the bay as Jean activated a metal bar which began to pass over Cally's still form.

"This is a bio-scanner; it does not hurt or harm and tells me in detail your injuries." Her attentive audience of five were silent; wide awake and definitely not making any threatening motions.

Because Jean had stressed she would put them under the moment she felt they wanted to attack her. Something in her expression made them think twice about it and also all their weapons had been taken away from them.

"Specialist Tyrol; you have extensive soft tissue damage to your right quad muscles...that is muscles in the right thigh and also a undisplaced right femoral fracture. Its a wonder you're were able to mobilise on it."

"So what are you planning to do?" asked Cally; her pale face was beaded with sweat due to the severe pain.

Jean looked at her. " You're going to need something for the pain..."

"You promised no sleep!" complained Cally.

"Indeed I did; what I'm talking about is analgesia; not a sedative."

Cally looked at the doctor then back at her throbbing right leg. "Okay; I'll have some."

"Good," said Jean as she extended her right hand towards the nearby counter. There were gasps of astonishment as a small device flew towards her; she ignored them and continued with her work.

"What did you just do ?" asked Sharon as the doctor administered a short burst of analgesic spray to Cally's neck.

"Telekinesis; I used my mind to move the device," answered Jean without turning.

"Bulls..."the rest of the expletive trailed off when Jean gave Kara the look.

"What she means, is that...what you just did...must have some other explanation," hastily added Hotdog.

"The cylons and their centurions were tossed like nine pins...was that you ?" asked Nails in a stunned voice.

Jean returned the first device the same way she retrieved it and collected another one. "Yes; now pay attention. I am currently using the ortho-dermal replicator to fix the right femur and will proceed with the dermal replicator.

And Kara; these are not weapons."

The other 4 colonials looked at the viper pilot who was looked pole-axed as Jean said what she was thinking.

"How did you..?"

"My mind remember?" said Jean without turning round.

Sharon stared at the doctor's back then really looked around the white gleaming lab with its very strange devices. She was not sure of the others but the cylon felt strongly that Jean Grey and Logan were not cylons.

She failed to see the small smile that appeared briefly on Jean's face.

Finally one of them was seeing reason.

"Specialist Tyrol; after this is done; you need to eat and take fluids. Here are trousers to replace the ones you have.

You also need to take it easy; no heavy lifting or strenous running for at least a week."

Despite the situation; Cally could not help but share a wry glance with her fellow colonials; this lady had no idea what type of life they lived. The remnants of their people were always on the run.

"Yes ma'am," said the specialist calmly.

Jean frowned at her. "I'm a doctor; not military." The devices she was using floated back to table next to Cally.

The specialist eye's followed the silent flight of the devices. "What ever you say ma'am."

"Jean; this is Logan speaking; you okay ?"

Everyone looked up at the ceiling.

"Yes Captain; our guests are awake and okay as well."

In the cargo bay; Logan closed his eyes and cursed. Why the hell had she woken those psychos up ?

"Good to hear; I need to see you in deck three."

Jean frowned; she could tell in his voice that something was wrong.

"I'll be there as soon as I can." She turned to the five colonials.

"The forcefield will erect once I leave; don't attempt to leave it." She turned to go.

"Are we prisoners ?" asked Kara harshly.

Jean looked at her. "Lieutenant Kara Thrace; while I was healing your specialist; you were thinking of waiting until I left so that you and the others could explore the medical bay; find weapons; break out of this area and also proceed to take over this ship even if it meant killing Logan or me."

Sharon stared at the red expression on the pilot's face.

"So tell me honestly that if our roles were reversed that you would not be throwing Logan and I into a brig to await interrogation ?"

Jean's voice had been calm throughout but each word had Kara sinking within her self and at the end the pilot had nothing to say.

The doctor sighed. "You will come to no harm and we will get you back to your people as soon as we find ours; you have my word."

"You mean your children ?" Sharon found herself saying.

Jean looked at her for a few moments; for a brief moment the cylon saw the worry in the young doctor's eyes.

"Yes, I'll see you soon." She turned and left the medical bay through automatic sliding doors.

There was silence for several minutes; then Cally tried to sit up.

"Someone help me up," Sharon was beside her and assisted the young mechanic. Cally did not hesitate to take the cylon's hand and even thanked her for the help.

Meanwhile; Hotdog had taken several steps forward and ran into the forcefield.

"Shit; this stuff is real," muttered the male pilot.

"Yeah; but it's so hard to believe," said Nails who was also testing out the other side. Kara still silently stood there with her arms around the upper half of her body.

"So...we're with...who exactly ?" asked Cally outloud.

She looked around her. "Are they a new form of cylons?"

Sharon was already shaking her head. "No."

"How can you be so sure ?" the question this time came from Kara.

Sharon waved her arms around her. " Look around you; this is technology beyond Colonials and Cylons! These healing devices have done in minutes what usually takes weeks or months ! Besides they got us off the planet's surface when they had the chance to leave us there.

Believe me when I say this; if Cavil had this type of technology in his hands; he would have done something a lot more destructive with it!"

"What about the way those devices flew...?"started Nails.

"Must be some kind of technological device to make it fly," interrupted Cally.

"Like how the centurions and cylons went flying ?" asked Hotdog incredulously " please!"

"Maybe she used her mind," said Kara in a subduced voice that everyone heard.

"What..." started Cally.

"Because everything she said I was thinking of doing...that was true."

Her words were met with complete silence.

"I don't buy it," said Nails " there's got to be some other kind of explanation."

Sharon crossed her arms. " Would you care for a demonstration ?"

The marine's face paled; he opened his mouth and shut it hurridly.

"What about the fact that they use an AI ?" asked the sceptical Cally " that means networked computers which we cannot ignore."

No one argued with that; it was the existence of networked computers for the defense of the 12 Colonies that had led to death of more than 20 billion lives.

"What's to stop the Thirteenth from having AIs?" Everyone looked at Hotdog.

"The Thirteenth Tribe has been separated from us for over two thousand years," he paused " which would explain them been vastly advanced from us and maybe they didn't make the same mistake we did."

Sharon's face was very grave; she knew what he meant.

"Such as ?" asked Kara.

Hotdog looked at her. "Treating the cylons like slaves and not expecting a rebellion.

However one thing is clear; we better find out how to relate to these people without pissing them off; because if they really are the Thirteenth Tribe then they are our only hope."

Kara glared at him. " Way to go telling them we're desperate ! You do realize they are probably listening in !"

Cally decided to butt in before the female pilot strangled Hotdog. "Even if we decide to ...talk to these people; how do we get in touch with the fleet ? By the time the others get back ...or not; the Admiral would have moved our people somewhere else."

There was solemn silence for a bit.

"Then I guess it will be up to our hosts to show us how advanced they are in tracking the fleet," said Kara quietly.

Deck 3; the shuttle bay...

Once Jean left the medical bay; she asked Xavier to beam her to the shuttle bay. She had not wanted to scare the Colonials too much; she had already frightened them with a demonstration of her telekinesis and telephathy.

And out of 5 of them only one person thought it was real.

She shook her head as she wondered what she had to do to show them she was a real telepath.

As she materalised in the shuttle bay; she noticed the Delta Flyer Alpha was now in its usual place.

She could also sense worry and anger coming off Logan in waves. Whatever he had found it was not good.

With her heart pounding she called out. "Logan ?"

The captain poked his head out of the front door. "In here."

"What news ?" she asked anxiously as she hurried into the shuttle.

"A lot and it's driving me up the wall; by the way how secure are our...guests?"

"Very secure; Xavier erected a forcefield as I left."

Logan nodded. "Good; anyway vid records from the bridge before Junior and Laura decided to go on a rescue mission for us. I rerouted the vid to the shuttle for you to see."

Jean felt her heart rate pick up. "What happened ?"

"You better watch this." Logan pressed on buttons on the command console.

A holographic video came on; showing Q Junior and Laura running into the bridge and finding out 2 hostile groups had entered the solar system. It went on to show the argument between the two teens about whether or not to fire on the 'cylons'.

Jean's lips tightened as she watched the teens head for the shuttle and fly to earth.

"There's more," said Logan in a grim tone as the video continued to show the two teens in the shuttle. The doctor's eyes widened as she heard Q Junior explain he already knew of the cylons before now. She glanced at Logan to see the fury in his eyes. The last scenes was of the shuttle landing and Laura running out of the shuttle while Q Junior shouted at her to wait.

"I am so going to kill them," said Logan angrily.

Jean was in shock.

"Now, now; don't act so surprised; you knew he was different didn't you," chided the Phoenix.

"What do you mean ?" demanded Jean.

"The ship and I have searched the surface and we can't find the kids; Xavier said he can track all the ships that left this planet but it could take a while..."

"Xavier; how does the CMS work?" interrupted Jean as she looked at the ceiling.

Logan looked at her in horror. " Jean you do not have to use that..."

She turned to him. "I do Logan; something here is not right...we need to find the children."

"The Cerebra Monitoring System can be accessed from any part; all you need is a chair and physical and mental contact with the neural interface of the ship."

"Will it hurt ?" asked Logan in a worried sharp tone.

"Due to the modifications; it might cause slight discomfort for a short period of 4.3 seconds."

"Jean; you're not doing this..."

"Yes I am!," Jean stared a him. "This is my decision; I'm ready and the Phoenix agrees." Something in her expression had him backing down.

"Xavier; please get me a seat."

2 minutes later; Jean was sitting close to the wall with her right hand against the side of the shuttle bay as an anxious Logan paced up and down infront of her like an expectant father.

She closed her eyes and for one brief moment almost panicked as she realized she had no way of how to start using the system.

"Will you relax already ? Just breathe and...let go."

Jean listened to the Phoenix gentle scolding and followed her advice. At once she had a slight headache which lasted a brief moment; then she felt herself leaving her body but seeing all the minds on the ship.

Logan; anxious; scared and...in love with her.

Lieutenant Kara Thrace; worried and still thinking of taking over the ship.

Lieutenant Sharon Agathon, not over the death of her child...concerned her child may still be alive and with the enemy; scared she would never see her husband...and she was a cylon!

Specialist Cally...hate for the cylons burned like a flame; but part of her was in the process of changing that attitude towards...Sharon.

Nails...scared of the ship...scared of her...Jean Grey; wondered if she was a cylon.

Hotdog...who actually though Dr Grey was kind of hot!

"Enough eavesdropping other me; we have work to do." Said the Phoenix with amusement in its voice.

Jean sped away from the ship at a dizzying speed as she sort Laura Kinney's mind and almost instantly she found it; surrounded by many other minds; she tried looking for Q Junior.

"Oh no you don't...try looking through the minds of those around Laura," advised the Phoenix in a slightly anxious tone.

Jean complied and saw the ship emerge from a 'jump' to find a large group of ships with many minds worried about cylons; reliving the destruction of their homeworlds.

Jean had only peeked briefly at the minds of Kara and her people; she did not want to intrude but those brief glances had shown fear, horror and loathing.

Something terrible had happened to these people and for some reason they hated AIs.

Why ?

"This is no time to be squemish;you need to dig deeper."

Something in the Phoenix voice had her complying as she looked into one man's particular mind; his name was Saul Tigh.

Logan watched her anxiously; her eyes were closed and she looked asleep.

She had been like that for 6 minutes and he was half tempted to remove her hand from the wall; but even he was unsure of what damage may occur.

Then all of a sudden she was awake and gasping for air; Logan rushed to hold her as she almost fell off the chair.

"Jean! Are you okay ?" he almost shouted for Q Junior to come and assess her; then remembered that the EMEH was missing.

"What happened ?"

Jean had her eyes open and looked sick and terrified.

"That does it; you're not using that thing again !"

"No! Listen to me; the CMS works perfectly! I found them and the fleet they were taken to..I had to...had to read someone's mind to find out why they hated AIs so much!"

Logan frowned. "What are you saying ? You're not making sense."

Jean took deep breathes to calm herself. " Kara Thrace and her people are Colonials...there are other Colonials out there; about 40,000 of them. They have Laura and Q Junior."

"Then we ask Kara where they are and go get them..."

"You don't understand!" yelled Jean. Logan stopped talking; something had scared her the telepath badly.

"The cylons were the slaves to the Colonials; then they rebelled...about 2 years ago the Cylons nuked the 12 Colonies and killed more than 20 billion humans."

Logan felt his lower jaw drop.

"The Colonials hate everything cylon or even AIs; apparently the Cylons were able to destroy their planets by using human looking cylons and shutting down their networked defense system.

If...when the Colonials discover Laura has adamantium bonded to her bones and that Q Junior is a mobile hologram; they will try and kill them! We need to get there asap !"

Wolverine was speechless as he helped her stand up.

"How do we do that ?"

Jean looked at him; gone was the fear; in its place was now fierce determination. " We have the CMS and I now have the co-ordinates; we don't have anytime to waste."

Hi everyone; hope your weekend was awesome; thanks so much for your reviews and I hope you like this one as well. I will try and update soon; please read and review ! Cheerio !