CHAPTER 11 of The Phoenix and the Wolverine.
LXIX
The Galactica, Detention Block 22...
Ensign Anders entered the cell first to show the still angry strange young male teenager that it was safe. He also quickly looked to check there were blankets for the two prisoners; then he left the cell.
Q glared at him for a few moments before entering the cell; Anders had to look away because personally the pilot felt he had betrayed the two young people.
He had practically asked them to trust him with their lives and he had led them straight to an airlock; the fact that they were not dead was a miracle.
But the sound of laboured breathing from the young girl was worrying.
"Q; please let me get a doctor to look at her..."
"That will be all Ensign Anders," said Q Junior dismissing the colonial pilot with a cold look on his face.
Anders stood still for several moments; then turned to go, but he felt he had to say something.
"I'm sorry."
Q did not acknowledge his apology; he had turned his back on the pilot and was gently putting Laura on the nearest bed. He put blankets round her and proceeded to examine her face. His sharp intake of breath told Anders that what he was looking at was unexpected.
Anders wisely kept his distance and backtracked out of the cell. The door slid shut as he left.
He looked at the 8 marines who had positioned themselves outside the cell door; Anders knew that if Q decided to break out; no one would have a chance of stopping him.
What in the name of Hades was he?
LXX
Pain; so much pain.
When Laura knelt before the door; she had not known what to expect. Something in Q Junior's eyes had made her trust him again; so when the door that separated her from the cold hard vaccum of space slid opened; she stuck her hand and feet claws into the metal floor.
She instantly closed her eyes tightly as the sudden rush of air tried to push her towards the coldness of space; she did not notice Q running through the wall to confront the colonials.
For at that moment; her body was sustaining serious damage.
First to go was her hearing; her eardrums ruptured due to the deafening roar of escaping air.
Next was her eye sight as tiny blood vessels in her eyes haemorrhaged.
Then her chest as the high external pressure caused her nigh-indestructible adamantium bond ribs to flex and bend inwards thus badly bruising and causing contusions on her lungs.
She was finding it increasingly impossible to breathe while experiencing the excruciating pain.
The skin on her arms and neck also sustained substantial burns due to the extreme friction of the rushing cold air.
Strangely enough; her intra-abdominal organs suffered the least damage.
She was so close to closing consciousness that she barely realized her claws had stopped her been sucked into the vastness of space.
She did not hear the door open; but as her mutant healing factor kicked in; her eardrums were the first to be repaired.
Then she heard Q's voice.
Her ribs struggled to realign themselves to their original positions but she was in so much pain; she struggled to pull her hands and feet claws from the metal floor. It took too much effort to breathe or even move.
She retracted the claws and tried to crawl slowly towards the familiar voice; it sounded safe. She barely felt the strong arms that dragged her out of the room and carried her. Then her head was on a solid warm object and she heard more voices.
That was when she surrendered completely to the darkness.
LXXI
Anders was heading towards the CIC via the main flight deck; it was the shortest route because he needed to be debriefed asap.
Then he heard voices shouting his name; he turned to see two men running towards him.
Newly promoted Captain Karl 'Helo' Agathon and Senior Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol.
Though different in looks and height; their expressions of worry were identical.
Behind them was a viper which Anders recognized as the one Karl usually flew; it seemed the two officers had been stationed on one of the other Colonial ships.
Anders' heart sank as he wondered how he was going to tell these men that their own wives were also missing.
"Anders; what's going on? Where Cally and Sharon ?" asked Galen as soon as he got close enough.
The ensign opened his mouth to tell them he had to get to the CIC; but the look on their faces made him say something else. "I...don't know...Kara is also missing."
The two men before him looked at him in shock.
"Missing?! They only went to collect algae! " said Karl surprise "what happened ?"
Galen narrowed his eyes when Anders winced. "Was is cylons ? was this mission just more than 'collecting supplies'?"
When Anders didn't reply; the chief swore. He should have known.
Cally had seemed so anxious that morning when she was picked for the mission; she had hugged him so tight...almost like she was telling him goodbye for the last time.
"You need to tell us what happened; we have to go back and find..." started Karl anxiously.
"Ensign Samuel Anders?"
All three turned to see two solemn looking marines watching them.
"Your presence is requested by the Admiral."
Anders swallowed nervously and nodded. He looked at Galen and Karl before leaving. "I promise; I will see you guys later."
The two could only watch as he left escorted by the two marines.
LXXII
The CIC...
Anders was silent as he walked into the CIC; he was aware of several glances in his direction. The two teenagers he brought back had been seen by many in the flight bay; and in addition to the soldiers Q treated; people must be talking about them already.
He could bet in the next few minutes; the gossip would be fuelled by the airlock incident; even if all the marines present had been sworn to secrecy.
The colonial pilot was directed to a room within the CIC.
His eyes slightly widened when he saw who was present.
Laura Roslin, the president of the Colonies behind her was Tory Foster; her personal aide.
Beside the president was Tom Zarek, her VP, Admiral Adama and his son Commander Lee Adama, Lieutenant Junior Grade Felix Gaeta, who looked extremely nervous and most surprising of all was the XO, Saul Tigh.
Anders had prayed that after recent events he would not see the old alcoholic for a long time; he should have prayed harder.
The ensign stood ramrod straight. "Madam, Sirs, Ensign Anders as you requested."
The strong brown eyes of Admiral Adama looked at him for a few moments. "Have a seat ensign," he ordered in a soft gravelly voice.
"Yes sir," Anders pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Report," stated Laura simply.
The ensign looked at the Admiral first who nodded; then the pilot composed his features and began to brief them on what happened.
No one spoke as he related how they reached the planet to discover a strange ship in orbit; the arrival of the cylons, the race to get to the ruins, Starbuck's orders to separate the group and the ambush by the centurions.
They still kept silent when he mentioned meeting Q and Laura and heard where they were from and who they were looking for.
He paused for a few seconds; before describing how the two teenagers decimated the group of centurions; Starbuck's frantic incomplete warning about the orbital bombarbment and the thirteenth tribe .
And the race to leave the planet as nukes exploded around them.
He noticed the president winced slightly when he mentioned nukes.
Anders continued his narrative of how they fled to the solar system; the delay the two jumps caused before they reached the Galactica and the treatment Q and Laura gave to the injured.
Then he stopped talking.
There was silence for several moments as the Admiral looked at him.
"Ensign Anders; what happened when you communicated to the fleet on your return ?"
The ensign was aware of the glare in his direction from the XO; he took a deep breath before answering.
"I got a reply from the Executive Officer Colonel Saul Tigh; I was ordered to land the raptor then I received a second transmission from Commander Lee Adama to expect the XO and to prepare for the remainder of the fleet to jump.
On disembarking from the raptor; the XO was waiting with Vice President Zarek and I was ordered to bring the two teenagers for questioning. Ensign Bill Rogers accompanied me at my request."
Anders looked briefly at Saul Tigh who frowned at the last part of the sentence. Both knew Bill had just decided to tag along and thus got caught up in the following events.
"I was unaware of our final destination until the XO stopped infront of an airlock and commanded the marines to push the two teenagers into the airlock.
Ensign Rogers and I protested at the treatment; Rogers got his left arm busted and I got a gun put to my head while the XO questioned the teenagers before attempting to space them !" Anders had tried to keep his voice level and calm but he could feel his control on his anger slipping.
The Admiral's eyes narrowed he could see the effort it took the ensign to keep calm. "Anders, you have 5 seconds of silence."
The ensign nodded stiffly and looked at the surface of the table where his hands rested. When the count was up he looked up and continued in a calmer tone.
"The airlock was activated...then Q came through the wall," he saw and felt the disbelief on the faces of the Admiral, the President, Lee , Tory and Felix. They glanced at Saul and Zarek who both looked very uneasy.
"He disarmed 5 marines in less than 30 seconds and also took the XO hostage; before demanding we release Laura from the airlock."
He looked at each of them. " I complied with his demands.
At this point; Laura had been in the chamber for possibly just over a minute...she survived the experience. That was when Commander Adama showed up."
Silence reigned while everyone tried to understand what had just occurred.
"Why?"
Anders looked at the president. "Why what madame?" he asked respectively.
"Why bring them back to the Galactica?"
"They saved my life and the planet was been bombarded by the cylons; I could not leave them there."
She nodded. "They also said they were from Earth; however I hear the girl has 'surgically attached metal claws'. How do we know this is not some cylon trick?"
Anders could not help sighing in frustration. "Personally ma'am I don't think they are cylons."
"So now you're the expert in detecting cylons ?" asked Saul with a sneer.
The pilot's glare could have cut glass. "Q went through the wall like a ghost sir! Then he disarmed 5 men and you without killing them after he took 3 bullets at point blank in the chest without slowing down ! "
Anders turned his gaze on the others. "If you don't believe me; ask the marines; watch the surveillance cameras ma'am and sirs."
Laura looked ready to say something but the Admiral got there first.
"So that's your evidence of them not been cylons?"
"Sir...with all due respect; you were not there when Q used a small hand held weapon to blow up centurions or when Laura...used her claws to cut the centurions to pieces...or when they healed the crew with these," Anders removed the contents of his right left pocket.
Everyone including Saul leaned forward to look at the 3 sleek looking metallic and plastic objects.
"That's his hand held weapon and the others...can't recall their names but Q used these two to treat our wounded soldiers."
The Admiral fixed a deadly look on Anders. " You let them use these on our people."
Despite his convictions, Anders felt anxious under that look.
"Yes sir ; I did."
"I checked in on the wounded before coming here sir." Everyone's attention went to Commander Adama. " Dr Cottle stated they are doing very well...considering the injuries they sustained. He's still assessing them. The soldiers however have been telling anyone who will listen that they were healed by members of the Thirteenth Tribe."
The atmosphere changed with that statement.
"Fantastic! That story is going to spread like a wildfire," said Zarek with a scorn.
"We still need to limit its circulation," stated Laura.
Good luck with that thought Anders.
"Where are the prisoners now? And are they secure?" asked the President.
"In one of the detention cells," replied Anders "as for been secure it will depend on Q...he can move through walls Ma'am."
She nodded though she clearly didn't believe what he said.
"However we need to examine the girl thoroughly," she turned to the Admiral "have Dr Cottle drug them both with ...maybe a gas and assess her risk; we may need to surgically remove the blades."
Anders looked at the President in horror; had she not been listening?
"That will be suicide Mrs President." Everyone looked at him.
"Ensign Anders..." began Commander Adama in a disapproving voice.
Anders ignored him. " Q went ballistic when she was been spaced; the only reason he backed down was when she was safe and with him. He refused to let any of us touch her even though she had been seriously injured; if you do this he will break out and only the Gods know what he is really capable of...for Kobol's sake he survived an airlock depressurization and been shot without any obvious damage; you think a sedative gas is going to affect him ?!"
"Ensign Anders; you will stand down," said Lee with a growl.
The viper pilot visibly tried to rein in his temper. "I apologise Mrs President for my attitude," he saw the people before him relax "but we need them to find our people, Lieutenant Thrace and the others," he continued stubbornly.
To his surprise he saw a small smile appear briefly on the Admiral's face while the others stared at him in frustration and annoyance.
"Your views will be taken into consideration."
The president turned a blank look onto the Admiral who glanced at her briefly before continuing. "Since you have interacted with them; you will also assist in obtaining information from them. Try and reason with Q about letting Dr Cottle treat her...I have never heard of anyone surviving extensive depressurization injuries. "
He watched Anders go pale.
"Sir; I doubt they trust me any longer sir," he refused to look at a stone faced Saul Tigh.
The Admiral nodded understandably. "Then you need to work on that...you may tell only Captain Agathon and Chief Tyrol what you know about their wives."
"What?" asked Zarek in disbelief. Adama ignored him.
"Leave the recovery of our people to us; prepare a more detailed report in the next 8hours and submit it to Commander Adama...also you have now been promoted to Junior Lieutenant. Dismissed."
Ander joined everyone in staring at the Admiral in shock. Though still stunned; his military training took over as he stood up; clicked his heels in salute and made to leave the room.
"Wait" called the President. The Admiral frowned at her.
"Congratulations are in...order Junior Lieutenant; however my PA Tory Foster will be assisting you in your interrogation of the prisoners. That will be all."
Anders looked nervously at Admiral Adama who nodded slowly.
"Yes, President," said the newly promoted officer before he left the room.
LXXIII
Everyone waited until the pilot left before questions started flying.
"Admiral Adama; are you insane ? He brought them here and you're leaving him in charge of the interrogation as well as promoting him !?" started Zadek.
"My ship, my command vice president, remember ?" replied Adama coldly.
"Apart from that; allowing him to tell Agathan and Tyrol about their wives is not acceptable," started Laura.
"So what do you propose ? That he lie? Those men are smart and will wait as long as we don't hide any information from them; we do that and we could have more problems," said Commander Adama.
"I still think those two are cylons," muttered Saul loudly.
The Admiral turned a blank look on his old friend. " All the cylons we have spaced; could not walk through walls; did not have retractable claws and did not survive an airlock been blown or 3 point blank shots to the chest.
These two are something else...I do not know what; but what if they are the Thirteenth Tribe?"
Laura stared at him in disbelief. "You are actually considering that?"
"They were on the planet as the scrolls said."
"Not in the temple," countered the president.
"Where Racetrack last saw Kara and the others heading before the bombarbment; what if the other members of the tribe were in the temple?" asked Commander Adama.
"Are you saying they have been there for the past 2000 years ?" asked Zarek with an incredulous tone in his voice.
"We don't know that...but from what Racetrack and Anders have said; the temple is probably destroyed; with whoever or whatever was inside it," said the Admiral gravelly.
The effect of his grim announcement was stunned silence.
"So what happens now, sir?" asked Lieutenant Gaeta in a slightly nervous voice.
The Admiral stood up. " We continue; move on and widen the search," he turned to the President "Ma'am I have a raptor ready to take you and Zarek back to Colonial One. Commander Adama and Lieutenant Gaeta; update our jump co-ordinates , Ms Foster I guess you have other places to be.
Colonel Saul Tigh please stay behind."
Roslin looked at him uncertainly for a moment; she could tell he wanted them all except for Saul gone.
"Fine; I will contact you later," she walked out with a silent Tory and Zadek who gave the Admiral hard look. The other two officers were not far behind.
Adama waited for several moments before turning to his old friend.
"Saul; what the frak happened in that airlock."
The XO fixed his solitary eye on his commanding officer.
"I was trying to assess a threat sir..."
"Do not bullshit me Saul ! This is me Bill; your old friend. I asked you to watch over things not space everyone you suspected!"
Saul said nothing for a long time.
"Is this about the Circle Bill? Are you judging me for what those collaborators deserved?!"
"NO!" roared the Admiral ; then he counted to five to rein in his temper "you don't see it do you? I know all about the Circle and I am so glad it's over because what you were participating in was tantamount to a secret mutiny!
You put two strangers in an airlock! You may be right; they may be cylons, but what if they aren't? What if we end up in another war with another race!?"
The XO looked around. "Not if they don't find out."
The Admiral felt his lower jaw drop at the implications of the XO's words."If we go down that path; then we are no better than the cylons."
That statement finally got through to Saul ; his face twitched as he tried to control the reaction those words caused.
"Am I relieved from duty sir ?"
William Adama stared at his old friend. Nothing he was saying was getting through to him; he could already smell the alcohol on the XO's breath.
"No; you are not...Saul, you need to stop drinking. Ellen is dead; nothing can bring her back."
The XO blinked after a few seconds; his single eye red as he held back tears. "Bill ; I have nothing to live for."
Adama watched his old friend leave; there was nothing more he could say.
LXXIV
Q Junior was anxiously pacing up and down the cell as he waited for Laura to wake. When Anders led them into the cell; he had noticed her breathing was less laboured but she was so still. He had not yet looked at her face; he was so scared of the damage she had sustained.
For the umpteenth time he wished he had his Q powers so that he could turn the XO into toad!
Q had ignored the Ensign's apology because on drawing back Laura's long hair; he saw the skin around her eyes was rapidly repairing itself and the blisters that had formed on her face were almost gone. He had gasped in relief and joy.
Her mutant healing factor had saved her life. Now if she would only wake up.
"You're gonna wear a hole in the floor."
He stopped in mid-stride and saw she was awake and trying to sit up.
"Laura! You're awake!" his voice sounded so shrill and high that she gave him an odd look.
"Knock it down a couple of decibels; my new eardrums hurt and itch at the moment."
"Oops ! sorry," said Q in a lower voice as he walked up to her bed and leaned in close.
Laura froze. "What are you doing?"
"Unbelievable!" said Q junior in an awed voice as he took in the perfectly healed facial skin "You healed pretty fast ! I wasn't sure the outer door would get shut in time."
Laura's eyes narrowed as the memory came flooding back.
"Yeah about that," she said darkly "what the hell happened?"
Q Junior's face lost its smile and he sat down cross legged on the floor; he told her quickly what had happened after Saul Tigh tried to 'space' them.
Laura said nothing for a long time.
"You didn't let them examine me," she asked in a blank tone.
Q looked shocked. "Of cause not, I..."
"Good," she cut him off as she took in their surroundings. The room was roughly 10 feet by 12 feet; with two small cots; with thin mattresses and a toilet and sink at one end. The door appeared to be a sliding one with the upper part been transparent.
"Thinking of breaking out ?"
Laura whipped her head round to stare at Q Junior in surprise. He had just spoken in Japanese.
"Yes. So you speak Japanese."
"As well as 230 other languages, so what's the plan?"
Laura's eyes were widening with surprise.
"You're actually encouraging me to break out?"
The not-hologram features darkened. "After what happened; I'm all for leaving this place."
Laura was silent for a long time; her mind going over what had led to this place. Her refusal to listen to Q after she found out he had with-held a lot from her and the others had a lot to do with their present situation.
She knew if they had gone back to the shuttle; they might have found Logan and Jean and not ended up almost spaced.
She narrowed her eyes; she had gotten hurt because she had not been in possession of all the facts. That was going to change.
"Laura; you okay?"
"Q...it's time we had that talk."
His eyes widened. "You want to know now...is this the right...?"
"Yes; it is, we are in this situation because we did not have all the facts."
The other thing she did not want to tell him was that though she had healed; she was very tired. The first thing she had learnt while growing up in the weapons facility was that one must never show any sign of weakness.
Q stared at her for several moments.
"Yes, I'll tell you everything."
LXXV
In the observation booth attached to the cell; Lieutenant Ann Lackey sat up straighter when the two prisoners began to speak. Her specialty was languages and linguistics. She had got an emergency call to come down from CIC and observe the two new prisoners. She was to report to CAG Adama if anything remarkably odd was noticed.
She was curious as to what they had done; to her they looked liked civies. Probably they stole something; that was the most common crime in the fleet of refugees.
Then they began to speak in a different language. It sounded...very odd but graceful.
One thing was clear; she had no idea what they were saying.
LXXVI
Q looked at the floor for a long time as he tried to put in words what he was about to say. Eventually he looked up to face an expressionless Laura Kinney.
" I am a member of the Q Continuum; we live in an extradimensional plane...which is inaccessible to anyone not of our race. We have the ability to manipulate; time; matter; space and energy...well I used to have that ability.
The Q are not born; they simply exist...as they have done so since the 'Big Bang.' However I am one of only two Q who were 'born' since then."
Laura raised an eyebrow. Q could not help but smile.
"How like a Vulcan you look...anyway I digress. When I was born in 2373; it was to end the Q Civil war...I was to bring balance to the Force that connects us.
Instead, I almost brought chaos. Once I was old enough to appreciate things around me; I...caused a lot of problems.
I started a war on a planet between two large tribes who had been living in peace; I tampered with primodial gene pools and tore holes in the fabric of space and time and why did I do this?"
He looked at her.
"Because I was bored and because I could."
Laura said nothing.
"My own mother disowned me; the Q continuum issued an ultimatum...behave or we will turn you into an amoeba! My dad got desperate and took me to my human godmother, Captain Kathleen Janeway of the USS Voyager."
The girl before him sat up straighter at the names mentioned; she could not hide her surprise.
"Yes; a human Starfleet officer is my godmother...for she was the one who was instrumental in my being born. She reconciled my parents during the civil war and I was the result of that.
She tried her best with me; even made me an Ensign in Stafleet.
But I refused to conform so my father took away my abilities and made me completely human."
Laura could hear the bitterness in his voice.
"Without my powers I finally realized I was in a very precarious position so I decided to conform but by then it was too late. My father judged my progress inadequate and stated I was to remain human, a few steps above been an amoeba.
I was devastated; but I pretended to carry on as usual then I panicked and stole a shuttle with the only friend I had made , Icheb on board. He kept telling me to turn back. I refused and warped to a section with a belligerent alien race; the Chokuzan who used a neural weapon on Icheb...it incapacitated him...he was dying.
I fled back to Voyaer; but the Doctor could not devise a cure. My father appeared and he refused to help stating I needed to take responsibility for my actions; then he left.
The captain and I went to Chokuzan to ask about the neural weapon so that we could study it and treat Icheb. They refused to help us until the adult responsible was punished.
My godmother offered to take the punishment as she was responsible for the crew; I argued with her infront of the Chokuzan that I must bear the responsibility even if it was death.
Then the Chokuzan disappeared and in their place was my dad...he had orchestrated the whole thing to teach me a lesson which he felt I had now learnt.
With power comes responsibility; with actions come consequences.
However ; it didn't end there; my father approached the Continuum with news of my progress; they decided it was not sufficient and stated I was to remain human. My father bargained with them and I was eventually granted my powers.
Q looked at Laura. "The bargain was eternal custody of myself to my parents."
He took a deep breath.
"Thus; everywhere my father goes; so did I. It was okay for a while; then 2 years ago we felt a huge shift in the lifesource."
His eyes were very solemn.
"When that happens; it means many lives have been terminated violently and suddenly and not by a natural disaster like a supernova or planet in the path of a black hole.
My father went to investigate and we went back in time to see the destruction of the 12 Colonies; the deaths of 20 billion sentient beings."
Laura felt her jaw drop. "Why didn't you try to stop it?"
Q shook his head wearily."I asked my dad the same thing and he said...do you think we hadn't tried something before now? Three times we tried to intervene and three times we were ignored. They brought this on themselves."
"Naturally...I was curious and asked him to tell me more of the Colonies of Kobol. My dad took me to the past ; showed me their home planet; when they split and when they settled on the 12 colonies. We watched all this from afar."
He looked around. "Believe it or not; this is the first time I have been in a Battlestar."
"Anyway; I tried to find out what was happening with the survivors of the nuclear holocaust; they are roughly 40,000 plus in number. I think my father was aware of what I wanted to do.
He started dropping hints stating that since an intervention had been tried three times; I could not help directly...unless by indirect means...helping a different group entirely."
Laura caught on immediately. "You mean us."
Q looked sheepish as he answered. "I went to your Earth...for you humans are very similar to the Colonials in temperment. However when I went through your recorded history I realized there were very few references to anything concerning the colonials apart from the Deities they worship.
The Pantheon of Ancient Greece.
"Hold on a sec! That's impossible! You're talking about..."
Q's smile was without humour. "The father of the Gods; his jealous wife; the son who had 12 tasks to do and so on and so forth.
I would appreciate you not mentioning their names."
Q tapped his right ear significantly; Laura simply nodded.
"...anyway I looked through the years for other people who not only needed help but who could use the tools given them to help the survivors of the Colonies."
"So you chose us."
He scratched the back of his head."Well; I picked Jean and Logan first; they were in the middle of a battle...and about to kill each other."
Laura felt her lower jaw drop as she started connecting the dots.
"My dad saw you and asked if I would like to include you,"Q turned beet red " so I did...and here we are."
She stared at him for what seemed an eternity.
"Okay."
Q gaped at her. "Okay!? Is that all you can say?" he looked worried "you actually believe me? You're furious aren't you?"
She tilted her head to one side. "I believe you...and I'm not really angry...maybe a bit. Don't get me wrong; at first I was planning on tearing you apart for lying to me." She watched him swallow nervously.
He wisely kept silent; not bothering to state the obvious fact that she could not fight him.
"But it looks like you were trying to help...not the best way to go about it...but the thought counts. If you are so powerful why didn't you bend time or whatever to get us out of this mess."
Q began to look everywhere but her face. She had a sinking feeling that more bad news was to follow.
"Q Junior!"
"I got into trouble again, one of the Qs: General Q was...upset I was allowed to carry out this intervention and reduced my abilities drastically...so now I'm just a hologram with a few unheard of powers."
He demonstrated by phasing his hand through the metal floor.
Unbeknownst to them; this action made Lieutenant Lackey almost choke on water she was drinking.
"What the frak?" she grabbed the personal comms device "Lackey to CIC: please patch me to Commander Adama, priority one !"
Q continued talking.
"Not only that...he said he put the radio transmitter on the planet so that the Xavier would detect it."
Laura gave him a puzzled look. "Why; if he's so against the intervention?"
"Time...he wants to speed up things so that I can get judged again. He does not intend to send you back to your time but he had stated he will do so if all of you want things to return as they are. That is as long as you make that decision before you get to Earth.
He's not concerned about getting the Colonials to your Earth."
"That's the second time you have said that...your Earth... is there more than one?"
Q gave her a wry look. "In this dimension; there are two...yours and the Earth that was the home of the Thirteenth Tribe."
Laura was getting more confused; the more Q told her the more questions that needed to be answered. The main question was how much did she believe?
"I have one question..."
Q laughed. "Only one?" She glared at him which did not faze him in the slightest.
"What...what would happen if we three decided to go back ?"
The smile disappeared from his face; replaced by a solemn look which made Laura dread his answer.
"You will be returned to the exact time and place you had been before; with no memory of what took place in this timeline."
Memories of the experiments; the severe pain during the adamantium bonding; the humiliating punishments and the faces of all the people she had killed. Her mother and sensei were at the top of that long list.
"I'm not going back," she said in a whisper; for once sounding like a frightened child. Q Junior leaned in close and tentatively put his right hand over her left hand. "I will do my best to prevent that."
Then he moved away from her.
"Anymore questions?" he switched back to Japanese.
Laura was silent for a while before answering; when she looked at him. Gone was the indecision; now replaced by a determined expression.
"I've got plenty; but I guess the best place to answer all this will be back on the Xavier."
Q nodded silently.
"What we have to do is...?"Her voice trailed off "Jean?"
"Laura; are you and Q okay?"
She felt her lower jaw drop."How did you find us?" Q junior stared at her in surprise as Laura seemed to be talking to herself.
"I used the CMS...what's happened? You seem so ...tired."
Laura rapidly shut down the memories of the airlock incident; she had no idea how Jean or the Phoenix would react if they saw that.
"A lot happened, but Q and I are okay; we're thinking of blowing this joint."
"Don't! The cylons are somehow on your tail, stay where you are; it's safer."
Laura frowned. " You know of the cylons?"
"Yeah; on the planet we picked up a few Colonials who told us a little about them despite being... a bit difficult."
"I wonder why," thought Laura dryly "so what's the plan ?"
"We're coming for you, so stay cool; try not to kill anyone and look after each other. Send my regards to Q."
"Fine; we'll wait." She felt Jean leave her mind. Laura turned to see Q looking at her with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Jean used the CMS didn't she?" Laura nodded.
His face broke into a smile. " I knew it! They are okay."
"Change of plans; we're to stay cool; not kill anyone and to look out for each other...she also sends her regards to you."
Q nodded. "Well; if Saul Tigh comes in here; I might forget the second bit of advice."
Laura grinned fiercely at him. "You'll have to get in line bud."
LXXVII
Lackey was still tapping her right foot nervously when the door opened and the CAG came in. She stood up quickly.
"Sir!"
"At ease; report."
She quickly told him what happened as a puzzled look appeared on his face. Lee stared at her for a few moments; then sniffed the contents of her mug. Lackey felt her face heat up but she said nothing.
Once he was satisfied that the fluid was only water; he turned to the lieutenant.
"Rewind the recording."
"Yes sir," she did so until she got to the part when the impossible occurred.
"Stop!" ordered Lee; he had seen it as well.
She did as she was told and let it resume play.
There was stunned silence when the boy's hand went through the floor as if it was water; then remerged.
Lackey felt ill when she saw the blood drain from the CAG's face.
"Lieutenant Lackey." His voice sounded deadly serious.
"You are not to discuss this with anyone or approach the subjects; is that understood?"
She nodded rapidly; the CAG turned to go.
"Sir," he looked at her "what are they?"
Commander Lee was silent for a while. "Keep observing Lieutenant."
Lackey was left standing looking at the door long after it was shut.
Hi everyone; the Olympics is really shaping up to be something else; hope you're all enjoying the moment. Have a nice week everyone !
