Chapter 28 of the Phoenix and the Wolverine.

In the space between dimensions...

It had been several Q minutes since the wormhole incident.

And the three Q were still no clearer on what had actually happened.

First they retraced General Q's cosmic steps as he searched for Lady Q and Q; then they realized that it was only pure luck which had caused him to stumble unto the couple's last location.

One thing was clear however.

Someone or something powerful had distracted General Q and prevented him from closing the anomaly in it's infantile stage. That presence had then sent him on a wild goose chase

That same presence had been 'dulling' General Q's senses.

"Whoever did this deserves a medal," said Q in reluctant admiration. Then he looked up to see his wife and General Q giving him cold looks.

"You gotta admit; he or she has got some style," he said with a wide grin.

"That still doesn't tell us who it was," said Lady Q through gritted teeth, she sighed loudly and pushed her hair back with both hands.

"We're missing something here people."

"Like what?" asked the Q dressed in the butternut Confederates uniform with the rank of a three star General. He also looked quite irritated.

Lady Q sighed loudly. "I don't know...just something does not feel right."

Her husband snorted. "The whole thing does not feel right."

Lady Q was silent for moments. "We need to take a step back and rest our minds for a bit...I think I will just check on Junior to see how he's..."

"No," said the two male Qs at once.

Lady Q blinked in amazement and stared at them.

"Okayyyy...I was just going to have a look; not speak to him."

"No is no Lady Q, you don't have to check on him," said General Q.

"Yeah, listen to him dear," said her husband in an absent minded tone.

Lady Q had a puzzled frown on her face. "Hang on; did you two just agree with each other...?" her voice trailed off as the puzzled look was now replaced by one of suspicion.

"You were saying..."started her husband only to be hushed by his wife's upheld hand as she started looking around the void-bubble they floated in.

Q and General Q gave each other puzzled looks as she began to move around the void seemingly ignoring them.

"Lady Q are you alright...?" started the General only to be shocked when she suddenly released a blast of energy towards him.

General Q barely heard a shout of 'get down!' as Q quickly dragged him out of the way.

Both male Q readied mental and physical defences as they began to suspect Lady Q of losing her mind until she shouted.

"Look!"

Both men turned to stare at the area she hit and for one brief moment a large humanoid shape was outlined by the cosmic net that Lady Q had flung.

However before the three Q could comprehend what they were staring at; the shape broke the 'web' and disappeared with a roar of anger.

All three Q sank to the cosmic floor as they covered their ears.

Mere Q seconds passed before the Qs realized they were suddenly alone.

"What in the name of all the Universe was that?" asked General Q in a slightly nervous tone. The other male Q also looked a bit rattled.

Lady Q stood up a bit unsteadily; the look on her face was that of extreme rage.

"That gentlemen was the cause of wormhole; the presence that dulled your senses General and that thing also had the guts to interfere with me checking up on my son!"

Both male Q shared a worried look; never get between mama bear and her cub was one of Earth's wiser sayings.

"I apologize for the shot; but it was aimed at a point over your shoulder. You were never in any danger," Lady Q's anger had abated just a tiny bit and both male Q were well aware of that.

That cosmic shot had been fuelled by anger and fear; both males were never going to mention that while she was still in the mood to fire more.

General Q swallowed nervously before nodding. "No need to apologize; I'm just concerned that I could not sense that it was here in the void with us."

"Maybe we need to get the other Q involved," said the other male Q.

He was surprised to see his wife shake her head. "I don't think that will be wise. It fooled us almost perfectly the first time; this second time we caught on to it quicker.

I think we might be becoming immune to it's attempts at subterfuge but if we get the other Q involved, then it could get really creative...I know this sounds odd; but getting more Q involved now feels like a very bad idea."

General Q frowned at her. "You're sure it's not making you think that now."

Lady Q was already shaking her head. "Oh no, It's not here now."

"I think Lady Q has a point," said her husband with a thoughtful look on his face "think about it; we, the Qs are masters of interference and mischief..."

"Speak for yourself, I do not indulge in mischief," said General Q stiffly.

"Keep telling yourself that," said Q airily as he continued " however, my point is this, like it or not...this entity beat us at our own game. Imagine the kind of chaos that would ensure if we recruited more Q into this investigation."

Several moments passed; then General Q nodded reluctantly.

"I see the reasoning behind your advice...however maybe it's high time we found out what Q Junior has been up to since this entity was trying to prevent us from just doing that," he saw the worried looks on their faces.

"And don't worry; I definitely do not think this was his fault."

The parents of Q Junior looked relieved at that statement.

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It did not take long for them to find the Xavier and soon enough they spotted the colonials and a certain female Starfleet officer.

"Apparently we have missed a lot," said General Q after they watched Kara Thrace question Ensign Kadretti about the wormhole incident.

"We need to see what led up to this," said Lady Q in a grave tone.

The General complied and he began to turn back time to reveal what had gone before.

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The Xavier, Ten Forward...

To say Oma was shocked was the understatement of the year.

She could hardly believe what she was hearing.

20 billion humans dead and at the hand of their own creation.

All that remained of the colonies was less than 41,000 souls and they had the cylons chasing them on their way to Earth.

This was beyond bad; even if the cylons and the colonials were centuries behind in technology.

That lower level of technology did not reduce the risk the colonials and the cylons could bring to the Alpha Quadrant especially if the enemy was ready to die for their cause.

Starfleet military history had shown that having more advanced technology did not always guarantee winning a war.

As was seen during the Dominion War and past encounters with the Borg.

Both enemies had been far advanced in technology and had vast numbers and the Federation had been obviously behind in manpower and weapons.

However what the Federation Alliance lacked in technology they had more than made up for it with the determination and a significant sacrifice of its military and non-military citizens.

The Dominion War had taken the combined forces of the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Empire and the Federation before they could be stopped and that had only been achieved by a controversial peace treaty with the Dominion.

As for the Borg, analysts had been heard to say the past encounters may have been scouting parties so only God knew when the Borg would decide to invade the Alpha Quadrant.

And Oma was afraid that if it should happen soon; no one would be ready for it.

Oma shook her head and tried to focus on the current situation.

"What you just told me...is terrible. I can't even begin to understand the loss you must have experienced."

Kara waved her words away impatiently " fine, fine...what I am curious about is if you know where Earth is exactly."

The look of concern on Oma's face changed to surprise than anger.

"Lieutenant Thrace, I can see your people have suffered a great deal, but bear in mind that Earth is my homeworld as well and you have your enemy tracking your fleet.

I am certainly not going to give you Earth's co-ordinates!"

To her surprise Thrace shrugged. "Well I had to try; guess you are a smart cookie to have graduated from Earth Academy so young."

"It's Starfleet Academy," said Oma a bit frostily.

Kara raised her eyebrows. By the Gods this one had a backbone alright; if this was the kind of cadets Earth was producing than maybe it might be worth a visit.

Kara had to laugh at that thought, who was she kidding?

This suicide mission they were going on could be a one way ticket.

Oma and the others frowned at her.

"Why are you laughing?" asked Rogers with a frown on his face.

Kara tried to control herself. "Aw nothing; just thinking that it will be a miracle if I ever get to Earth."

Oma got more nervous as the female pilot continued laughing; to her the laughter had a hysterical tone to it. She glanced around quickly and could see concern in the faces of the other colonials.

However, before anyone could say a word; the door to the mess hall hissed forward. Kara stopped laughing at once and all turned to watch Laura and Q Junior walk in.

Oma noticed straight away that the girl's top had been changed to a dark green top; she seemed quite calm while Q Junior looked as if he was struggling to control his emotions.

In fact he looked ticked off.

"Where have you been?" Anders asked the question everyone had on their minds.

"The captain and I had a brief discussion on what I can contribute to the recon mission. I passed so I'm in. Any more questions?"

Oma felt her lower jaw drop; she sure hoped she had heard her incorrectly.

"Y...you're too young!" blurted out Starbuck without thinking.

Laura turned a cold look in her direction. "My first official 'assignment' was at the age of 7 years and 6 months; my first kill had been 6 months earlier."

A panicked look appeared on Q Junior's face as he put himself between her and the stunned colonials and one gaping Starfleet ensign.

"Laura...you don't have to tell them, you're already part of the recon; alright?"

She looked at the pleading look on his face for several silent moments then shrugged.

"Whatever dude," she walked casually to the replicator ignoring the horrified stunned looks from the others.

Sharon turned to Q Junior. "Is it true? Did she...?"

Q Junior had a pained expression on his face. "Please don't ask me anymore...it's classified."

Sharon stared at him for a long time then nodded slowly as she swallowed nervously.

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Kara found herself watching the captain's daughter closely as she replicated a fruit drink and leaned against the bar to sip it.

The pilot's mind was reeling from what she had just heard.

First kill at 7 years old; first 'official assignment' 6 months later?

That sounded like human kills; which means Laura and her father must have been part of a black ops endeavour.

No wonder Logan seemed so uptight and suspicious all the time; the military of his kind had experimented on him and his daughter.

That was enough to make him suspect any military he came across.

Then the question that bothered her was why would he allow Laura to join this highly dangerous mission ?

As if summoned by her disturbing thoughts; the doors slid open once more to reveal the captain in question. He had also changed his shirt to a grey t-shirt and he also looked a bit irritated.

"People; we're taking this meeting to a conference room where it would be easier to design a plan," his eyes moved to Oma who stood up quickly.

"Have you had something to eat Ensign?"

"No sir..." she answered in startled voice.

"Then grab some grub now; cause you're going to need it," without another word he turned round and left the room. Laura was the only one with an odd smile on her face as she followed her father out of the mess hall.

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Jean was cleaning up the medical bay and was trying not to think of the conversation she was yet to have with the sulking presence in her mind.

Finally after putting the final pieces of medical equipment away she sighed deeply.

"Alright Phoenix...you were right and I was wrong. I apologize for ignoring your advice."

There was silence in her mind for a long time.

You're really sorry? Asked the Phoenix in a grumpy mental tone.

Jean tried hard not to smile at the entity's attitude.

"Yes, I am really sorry. You were right...but I still don't think Laura should be on this mission."

You know what would happen if anyone tried to stop her, right? Trust me when I say her going with Logan is the much better option!

Jean still felt uncertain about that.

Have I ever been wrong mini-me? Asked the Phoenix calmly.

The telepath sighed. "No, you have never been wrong...just evasive and conniving at times," added Jean with a smile.

She was relieved to hear the Phoenix laugh in her mind.

Life would be boring otherwise Jean...by the by; since you have finished up here, it may be best if you joined the others in the conference room by the research lab.

Jean was suddenly alert. "Why? What's wrong?!"

Chill, no need to fret but your presence may be calming to those present.

Jean did not wait for Phoenix to finish, she was already running out of the medical bay.

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Kara was confused and worried.

The mission was already classified as high risk and now the captain was including his teenage daughter ?!

That was unacceptable; even if the child had been on black op missions more than 300 years ago; she doubted it had been against cylons on a frakking basestar!

Kara found herself walking over to Captain Logan once they reached the conference room.

"Captain, permission to speak freely?"

Logan gave her an odd look. "I might as well hear what's eating you."

"This mission is going to be very dangerous, it's not the place for a child sir."

Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Laura had turned to watch them as well as the others.

There was complete silence as everyone waited for Logan's answer.

He gave Kara a very unnerving look before answering. "The question you should be asking is how she convinced me to include her on the team.

The answer to that is we ran a simulation together and she killed more centurions then I did. I believe the score was 20 to 14 in her favour."

Kara was stunned by his answer. "A...a simulation? What type of simulation are you talking about?"

The captain of the Xavier shared a silent smile with Q Junior before answering.

"Ensign Q Junior will introduce you to it later; you will certainly need to use it for this mission," he paused " it is Laura's programme which I am sure she will be happy to share with the rest of us."

Logan turned to give his daughter a steely smile; the girl's face reddened slightly but she did not break eye contact as she answered.

"Yes captain." Each word was chipped.

Logan nodded and turned back to Kara. "So please reserve any questions you have of the simulation until you experience it."

"I...sure," said a more confounded Kara; it was after the captain moved away that she realized he had smoothly deflected her question.

She frowned and opened her mouth to ask another question.

"What have I missed?" asked Dr Grey as she walked rapidly into the conference room.

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Logan turned as the doctor entered the conference room; he was surprised to see her. After their little terse talk she had left for the medical bay to clean it up.

He had thought she needed time to herself and decided not to include her in the next round of meetings. Logan's eyes noticed the red flush of her cheeks and how she tried to control her breathing.

Jean had run all the way to the conference room.

Why?

Calm down, just wanted to be here in case anyone got too excited.

Logan tried not to frown as Jean tried to reassure him through telepathy.

However he kept quiet as the doctor turned to a startled Starbuck and began to ask her questions.

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Oma had settled for a hasty energy and protein drink before leaving for the conference room.

She was still stunned that Laura was joining them for this mission; surely the girl was too young but her instincts warned her not to confront the captain about this decision.

The Xavier was his ship after all.

Oma was surprised when Lieutenant Thrace confronted him on adding Laura to the mission and was even more stunned with the captain's answer.

As Captain Logan 'ordered' his daughter to show the others her programme, several pieces began to fit.

He had to be talking of a holodeck programme and suddenly she realized where she had heard the term 'danger-room'.

In the book ' Children of the Evolution' Erik Lensherr had described an effective training programme called 'Cerebro' which Professor X had used to locate mutants and train the Xmen.

The training had been done in the 'danger-room'.

Oma suddenly felt her heart rate increase in excitement; part of the Cerebro technology had been the basis for the holodeck tech.

She wondered what sort of training programmes the Xmen had.

"You alright?"

Oma almost jumped at the question; she frowned and turned to face a slightly nervous looking Ensign Rogers.

"Yes, I'm fine...how are your shields holding up?"

The reddening of his cheeks told her enough.

"You dropped them, didn't you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Just a bit; they are back up again though."

Oma looked at him silently for a few moments. "How long have you known of your ability?"

Rogers appeared uncomfortable with the question. "Long enough."

The Starfleet ensign bit her lower lip. "I apologize; I did not mean to pry. It is none of my business."

Rogers opened his mouth to reply.

"Eh guys, maybe you could do this chat later, because it looks like we're about to start planning for real," said Anders in a soft tone that carried only to the two ensigns.

Both ensigns gave him a grateful look then shared a quick embarrassed glance before concentrating on the captain.

However they missed the small amused smile on Anders face.

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Logan decided to just accept Jean's presence and get on with this meeting which had been delayed once too often.

"Q Junior, at our current speed what's our ETA with the cylon's location ?"

"13 hours 55 minutes and 12 seconds, captain."

Logan nodded at the crisp reply. "Then we need to get a move on," he looked at each of the people gathered.

"The Xavier has met the cylons three times and each time we scanned their ships." Logan walked to the large rectangular conference table with it's transparent top.

He touched the surface lightly and it lit up to the amazement of the colonials.

Oma already knew what it was; it acted as a computer and holo-projector.

Standard equipment for Starfleet research labs.

Logan began to touch symbols that appeared.

"From the information we have gathered so far; this is your basic basestar."

A ship shaped like two Ys joined in the middle appeared at the centre of the table. Kara's lower jaw dropped as a sizable 4 dimensional holo-image of the star-like ship was formed floating above the table.

"We already know the vulnerable parts of a basestar to missiles; but what we need to know right now is where is the heart of this ship?

Where is it's main computer...because we need serious intel."

Logan turned to Sharon. "Your turn."

The cylon swallowed nervously and stepped up to the table; she pointed at the where the two Ys were joined.

"The Hybrid will be right here."

Laura smiled slowly. "Right in the middle."

"What's a hybrid?" the question came from Dr Grey.

Sharon hesitated a bit before answering. "The Hybrid is the heart of the basestar, It's part biological and part mechanical...and not completely sentient but there have been arguments about that."

Jean shared a frown with Logan but both kept silent as the cylon continued.

" A hybrid is housed in an immersion tank and attached to the mechanical parts of the basestar with umbilicals. She..."

Q Junior had a stunned look on his face when he interrupted her. "The hybrid is female?"

Sharon appeared uncomfortable at his question. "Well...yes; she controls the the life support; navigation, FTL jumps you name it. The Hybrid is the basestar."

"What happens if you kill the Hybrid?" it was no surprise that the question came from Laura.

Sharon closed her eyes briefly while Kara gave the female teen an approving nod.

"You destroy the basestar if you do that," said Sharon.

Laura looked very thoughtful while Q Junior looked a bit worried.

"We can't do that," everyone looked at the hologram "especially not when we're still on the ship," he pointed at the middle of one of the arms.

"From the scan, your child could be right here," he pointed at the middle of one the arms of the 'Y'.

Sharon went very pale. "One of the medical bays is in that area," she whispered anxiously.

Jean and Logan shared a puzzled look.

"One of the medical bays?" asked the doctor.

Sharon nodded absently as she kept looking at the hologram.

"Each basestar has 10 medical bays; some obviously smaller than the rest," she paused " why is she in the medical bay?"

The question did not seem to be directed to anyone but Logan answered.

"We'll find out when we get there. The next question is how do we get the intel we need?" he looked around as if for suggestions.

"Beam the child out and hack the computer for the info."

Everyone turned to face Oma.

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When the table projected the holo-image of the basestar, Oma found her feet taking her closer to the table.

She had never seen a ship like this.

Oma loved to fly ships and had almost memorised the entire Starfleet ship manual which not only identified ships of the Federation but also ships of the Klingon and Romulan Empire.

She had answered automatically when the captain asked for suggestions.

Logan looked at her and suddenly she wished she had kept silent.

"A good idea...however the question is what risks are associated with that plan?"

Oma was puzzled by his answer.

Logan turned to Q Junior and nodded at him.

"The cylons seemed quite fond of hacking into ships and taking over it's systems.

They have tried it with the Xavier more than once and failed each time," the male ensign paused " I can use the ship's computer to hack into their system but there is the risk of the cylon's becoming more ...familiar with the Xavier's interface and thus..."

"Making it easier for them to hack your ship's computer later" completed Sharon, she looked at Oma " Ensign Q Junior is right...my people learn very fast if you give them the chance and believe me they would love to take over this ship."

Oma stared at them in shock. "So you want us to board an enemy vessel just to check it's computers and rescue a child?

Excuse me sir; but it is going to be hard and dangerous. Hacking their computer systems may be the best way since our tech is more advanced..."

"That didn't stop Starfleet from hacking the Borg cubes who if you recall have more advanced computer programmes," interrupted Q Junior calmly without looking at her " also may I add the recent Dominion War when the Starfleet Alliance had the same problems with the Breen and the Dominion...but were still able to defeat them?"

Kara and Sharon looked at each other at the odd names.

Borg, Breen, Dominion?

Just how many wars had Earth been in lately?!

"Your point?" asked a flushed Oma between clenched teeth.

Q Junior now looked at her. "My point comrade is that we cannot afford to make the same mistake the Borg , the Breen and the Dominion made.

Just because we have advanced tech does not give us the luxury to underestimate the enemy especially when we are yet to know exactly what we're dealing with."

The hologram and the female ensign maintained eye contact for a long moment.

A slight cough broke the stand-off. They both turned to face an amused captain.

"Ensigns...you're both right. We can't afford to let the Xavier get hacked and

Ms Kadretti, this is definitely going to be a hard and dangerous mission and there is the high risk that we could get captured in the process."

There were uncomfortable looks at his words.

"But they don't know we're coming," added Logan

"Surprise may not be enough sir," Oma mentioned tentatively.

"It does give you an extra edge if we're fast and efficient," added Laura in a calm voice. Oma stared at her in disbelief.

"Which is why we will have a standby shuttle in case we need to fly in or beam in at close quarters. Ensign Kadretti will be piloting."

Sharon raised a hand. "There might be another issue with the...beaming tech."

Q Junior looked at her. "Like what Lieutenant." Asked the hologram politely.

"When you use the...beam, does it give off an energy reading?"

Q Junior had a puzzled expression on her face. "Yes, it does."

Sharon sighed. "I'm not entirely sure...but the basestar internal sensors may notice the energy readings and they will certainly send centurions or cylons to investigate."

"I guess that rules the transporters out then," said Jean in a resigned tone.

Logan frowned but said nothing for a while.

"We'll come up with something," he tried to sound confident. Logan leaned on the table as he looked at the rotating basestar.

"Lieutenant Agathon, talk me through the basestar and what we could expect."

Sharon nodded and everyone kept silent as she started speaking.

"This current carrier model was designed and built about 6 years ago. Its 1034 metres by 268metres.

There are 240 turret launchers mounted throughout the arms and central axis," she touched the holographic arms and was a bit stunned when the section enlarged to show the launchers. She recovered quickly and continued.

"Raider launch slots number 890...and those are light and heavy raiders which are ready to be deployed apart from those undergoing repairs and re-programming."

Laura looked a bit startled while Q Junior and Oma appeared a bit pale.

Dr Grey was holding her jaw thoughtfully, Logan's face was blank.

"Crew is divided into cylons and centurions.

Any basestar can have cylons in numbers from 100 to 450, centurions usually number around 1400."

One could hear a pin drop in the silence.

"Now that...is interesting," said Logan with a grave tone.

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Oma felt herself going dizzy with what she just heard.

890 Raiders...which had to be small ships from what she could see flying out of the holographic basestar.

450 cylons and 1400 centurions?!

This recon was a suicide mission.

She looked at the colonials closet to her and was just in time to catch Rogers staring at her. He bit his lower lip and turned away.

Then she realized that he was frightened as well, she turned her gaze on the others.

Lieutenant Thrace had a grim look on her face, Sharon's husband Helo looked very worried while Ander's expression was identical to that of his wife's.

He noticed Oma looking at him and he gave her a sad smile and nodded slowly.

Oma turned back to the table as Sharon continued speaking.

"There is definitely more than one basestar but I have no idea how many because such info was considered need-to-know in case we were captured," she paused " Captain...you were able to destroy one basestar with one missile."

"Only because they didn't have shields," pointed out Logan as he continued to stare at the basestar "this time we will be entering into it. It's going to be a completely different ball-game." He looked at Q Junior.

"Any ideas on how to maximise the chances of all of us coming back in one piece Q?"

The hologram nodded slowly. " I have an idea," he looked at Sharon.

"What type of weapons should we expect?"

"The centurions we saw on Hera's planet are of the model 005. They can modify their hands into 4 bladed claws and also into 3-barrel submachine guns. Best way to bring them down is with penetrating explosive rounds," the answer came from Kara.

Everyone looked at her.

"Exactly how long are their claws?" asked Laura "are they like mine?"

Snikt! All stared at the two metallic claws protruding from her right hand.

Kara found her hand going for a weapon and realized she had removed it in the medical bay while having her assessment done after being beamed from the weapon. Laura noticed the move and smiled evilly.

"Laura, thank you," said Logan in a stern voice.

"You're welcome captain," said Laura in a pleasant voice before she retracted them.

Kara forced herself to calm down, she looked at her fellow colonials and all except Anders and Rogers appeared stunned.

They had heard the girl had metal bound to her bones like her father but seeing it was something else entirely.

"Em...yes, they are slightly shorter...it takes a lot to bring one of those things down," she paused and forced herself to say it " we're almost out of armour-penetrating bullets."

Q Junior's frown deepened. "What type of ammo do they use and what other weapons are available to them?"

Kara continued. "Usually normal bullets to kill us; it's only when we put on body armour...which is scare as well... that's when they upgrade to armour piercing bullets.

Then when they want to get really creative, they bring out rocket launchers...at that point if you're not under cover...you're fr...I mean toast."

Kara was about to use the 'frak' word but an odd firm voice in her heard advised her not to, she turned slightly to see Jean giving her a stern look.

The colonial pilot tried not to pee in her pants.

Dr Grey was one very odd oracle.

"Thanks for the info Lieutenant Thrace...I think we will need bullet proof suits or armour and I can replicate weapons with hollow point bullets for the colonials."

Kara stared at the hologram in shock.

"You're giving us weapons?" asked Anders as if he could read her mind.

Logan nodded. "Weapons very similar to what you currently use."

Kara's stunned look changed to a frown. "Surely you can spare a few laser weapons for us to use."

Logan gave a small smile. "Prime directive and I say otherwise," he turned to the others.

"If no one else has anything else to contribute to this meeting then we..." his voice trailed off when he saw Helo had his hand in the air.

"Yes, captain Agathon."

"Sir...I wish to be included in this mission."

Logan nodded, he should have expected this.

"You are already part of it...Dr Grey, you and Ensign Rogers are our back up plan in case things really go South," he paused " beside I already have one couple in this team..."

He had the satisfaction of seeing Kara and Anders looked embarrassed.

"...having a second anxious couple will certainly complicate matters."

Helo glared at the captain. "With all due respect sir, I..."

"You need to stay on board the Xavier," cut in Logan a bit sharply then he softened his tone "Mr Agathon, we're already 6 going on this mission which is in my view a very large number.

Adding one more person will increase the risk to each of us...including your daughter."

The colonial captain stared at Logan for a long time in silence.

"I understand sir...I will comply."

Logan nodded and the tension in the room seemed to reduce.

"I...have a question."

Logan gave Jean a sharp look, her tone sounded...reluctant.

Please do not get upset.

She glanced at him before turning to face someone in particular.

"Junior Lieutenant Anders."

The colonial officer tensed as the doctor called his name.

"Yes ma'am," his voice sounded steady but Jean could already tell he was very nervous.

"You said you have never been on a basestar before...is there anyone here apart from Sharon ...who has been on any other basestar in the past?"

Logan frowned but the extremely pale expression on Kara's face told him that there was a point to Jean's supposedly random question.

Jean's gaze slid from the stunned Anders and seemed to pin Starbuck in place.

The female pilot nervously ran her hand through her hair. "I have been on a basestar before...a much older model," she added hastily when she was the thunder on Logan's face.

"Those models were over 40 years old, I think there are none left now," added Sharon.

Logan looked at her for a moment then turned back to Kara.

"You didn't feel that was important enough for us to know?" his voice was soft but it chilled Kara's bones.

"Sir...as there are many things you cannot tell me, there are certain things I cannot share with you. I was not given authorization to do so."

Logan held her gaze for a long time and she dropped her's eventually.

"Good answer," said the man to everyone's surprise.

"However that does not mean I like being left in the dark. We are working together, I will not ask you to betray your people but with-holding intel that could endanger my crew is not going to improve diplomatic relations.

You dig?"

Kara looked at his hard blue-grey eyes and made a mental note to remind herself that this man was not to be pissed off under any circumstances.

"I dig sir."

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Laura was smiling to herself when Jean neatly cornered the female pilot into revealing something that she should have mentioned.

The female teenager could count on one hand the people she trusted.

Jean, Q Junior and Logan.

As for the new recruit Oma, she was yet to know who she was and what she could do.

As for the colonials, it was going to take a lot before she could trust them even a little. She still thought having them on board was a bad idea but it wasn't like they had a choice.

Laura found her mind returning to Oma. Was she a mutant?

That had to be impossible because mutant human hybrids were supposed to be oh-so-rare. She had not been updated on how the girl survived the journey through the wormhole.

She turned to glance at Q Junior who was keeping a wary eye on both the colonials and the still angry Logan.

Laura found herself smiling at how angry he had been over her use of the holodeck without safety protocols.

She found his concern a bit...endearing.

As if he read her thoughts; he looked at her and his frown deepened before he turned away.

Great, he's still mad thought Laura with an internal sigh.

She wished he could give him time to get over it but there were questions about Oma she had to ask him.

Laura glanced at the female Starfleet ensign, her attention was sorely on Logan and Dr Grey. There was an expression that seemed like part awe part fear on her face.

Just brilliant we have got a fan girl thought Laura acidly.

Let's see how fast that hero-worship attitude fades.

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Logan looked at the people around him.

"Now that we have confirmed once again who is coming for this mission, let's come up with a plan on how to get into the basestar. Q you mentioned something about an idea."

The hologram nodded then spoke carefully.

"Since we're flying in...we need to look the part. What I mean is a holo projection from devices placed on the hull of one of the shuttles to look like a heavy cylon raider."

Sharon blinked several times at his words, while Kara and the others gave him stunned looks.

"You...you can do that?" asked Helo in disbelief.

Q nodded thoughtfully as he touched a smaller holographic ship which had come out of the basestar.

"This is a heavy raider yes?"

Kara nodded warily. "Yeah and?"

"Dimensions are almost similar to that of the Starfleet Delta shuttle design. Also once we get on board we need to appear...similar to the crew of the basestar."

Laura's mild laughter startled the colonials and Oma who were standing close to her.

"Oh, I love where this is going."

Q Junior just glared at her and continued.

"I have to admit, Laura takes the credit because I got the idea from her simulation."

Laura gave him a two finger salute.

Q Junior removed the circular device on his shoulder and began to use a stylus to press some buttons on it.

"So devices such as mine will make us appear as centurions, please do be alarmed. It will still be me."

Before anyone could say a word, he returned the device to his shoulder.

It had hardly been reattached before Q Junior disappeared and what stood in his place was an 8 foot centurion.

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Anders heard an alarmed yell and realized later that it came from him, even Sharon looked spooked and Helo and Kara appeared as if they were about to pass out.

Poor Rogers looked as white as a sheet.

Ensign Kadretti looked alarmed , then curious.

Captain Logan and Jean stared in surprise at the centurion that stood next to the captain while Laura was laughing and clapping her hands.

"Excellent idea Q! This is going to be fun!"

The 'centurion' turned to her then his voice seemed to come from around it.

"I'm glad you approve," it turned back to face the scared looking colonials "from your expressions...it is identical to the real thing?"

"Y...yes," said Kara faintly "just change back please."

The image of the centurion looked at her for a brief moment and it long metal arm reached up and touched the left shoulder as if digging out a an object.

Once the circular disc appeared; Q Junior was back in his red and black Starfleet uniform.

"Going in as centurions...that's going to be very dangerous," said Jean in a worried voice.

"It's not just that...making your shuttle look like a raider is not enough to get it inside a base star. It needs a designation and codes which I am not up to date on," said Sharon cautiously.

Q Junior now had a frown on his face.

"Where we're going is bound to have patrols...we grab a raider, get it's codes and hey presto we're it's identical twin."

Everyone looked at Laura.

"This plan is way too uncertain," complained Helo.

"It could work." Rogers felt the attention turned to him.

"The Gods tell you that Rogers?" asked Kara tentatively.

The ensign flushed. "I don't claim to speak for them Lieutenant...I just feel...it could work."

Kara's face fell, then she looked at him with a frown on her face.

"I...I'm new to this Lieutenant. I can't predict that far ahead...I'm not even sure I could...it's just my gut feeling."

Kara stared at him. "You knew what I was going to say...didn't you?"

Rogers' face reddened even more. "The question was on your face ma'am."

"People...we have come up with a plan which is a big step. However what we need to do now is make preparations.

Is there anyone here who is yet to have their medicals?"

Helo and Anders gave each other an uneasy look.

"Mr Agathon and Mr Anders have been delayed due to current circumstances, I can get the medicals done quickly," said Jean calmly.

Logan looked at her and nodded while he decided to ignore the anxious looks on the faces of the two men.

"Fine, once the medicals are done please report to Q Junior for body armour measurements and weapons. After that Laura will take you on a short tour of her simulation," he glanced at his daughter "which will have the safety protocols in place as usual."

Laura rolled her eyes while the colonials gave each other worried looks.

"Yes captain," she answered finally.

"Captain," called Q Junior "I would work a lot faster if Lieutenant Thrace and Lieutenant Agathon assisted me."

Logan gave the two female colonials an inquiring look.

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea," said Sharon a bit eagerly. Starbuck's expression of worry had been replaced by curiosity.

She was probably still hoping she could get to try out some Starfleet weapons.

Not on Logan's watch.

"Ensign Kadretti and Ensign Rogers can accompany me to the medical bay," said Jean to the ensigns' surprise.

"Eh...sure Dr Grey," said Oma a bit uncertainly.

"We have 3 hours to get this all done, and then the team going for the recon will rest for 4 hours. I'm heading to the bridge..."

"I'm coming with you captain," interrupted Laura smoothly.

Logan gave her an odd look, she had something up her sleeve.

"Alright, let's get moving people," he said in a firm voice.

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Logan and Laura walked silently down the corridor to the bridge.

The female teen looked around her before turning to her 'father'.

"What do we know about Ensign Kadretti?"

Logan gave Laura a wry smile.

"Ah...curious about how she got here are you?"

Laura narrowed her eyes. "By her shuttle...or is there something else? " she was clearly impatient.

Logan's dry smile widened even more which seemed to infuriate her further.

"She's a mutant...she had the ability to magnetize metal."

The girl beside him looked a bit stunned. "You sure about this?"

Logan knew Laura was also surprised at the fact of the rare possibility of a human-hybrid having an ability.

"Ensign Kadretti was able to lift me off the floor without touching me."

Laura's face darkened with an expression which worried Logan.

"She's no threat to us Laura."

She stared at Logan.

"How can you be so sure?" her tone was hard " we barely know her."

Logan was quiet for a while as they walked. "Jean assures me everything she has told us has been the truth...however she may have been hiding the fact that she had an ability."

Laura looked both puzzled and suspicious at the same time. "Why would she do that? I thought everything was all roses and pearls in this current time."

Logan nodded at her sarcastic tone. "So did I...but then I guess she has a good reason...I would also appreciate it if you did not try to beat it out of her."

Laura almost faltered in her stride.

"I look that obvious to you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Logan returned the stare. "Oh yeah, you so do."

The female teenager was silent for a while. "Fine, I won't stress her...are we going to tell her everything?"

Logan proceeded to inform Laura what had already been revealed to Ensign Kadretti.

Laura sighed wearily. "I'm astonished that you have not already told her of the complete holographic message we got from the temple or even about the CMS!"

"You think we told her too much?" said Logan idly.

The two had reached the bridge at this point.

Laura waited until they got inside.

"Duh yeah! What if she spills it to the colonials?"

Logan shook his head firmly. "She won't."

"Oh please enlighten me as to how sure you are of that!" Laura was very irritated.

"She's a sticker for doing things by the book and she will not break Starfleet regulations," said Logan confidently.

Laura stared at him for a long time as he took his seat on the bridge.

"We better not regret this pops. Any thing else I should know?"

Logan thought for a moment. "We tried to contact the USS Dunkirk to inform them of what has happened, but we were unable to reach them so we sent a message to Ensign Kadretti's parents instead."

Logan watched his daughter's mouth form an 'O' in shock.

"What?! You told her parents!?" Her voice could only be described as being shrill.

The captain closed his eyes briefly. It seemed like according to Laura he was could never do anything right.

"Her father is the second in command of a Starfleet Galaxy class ship, definitely someone who is senior enough to contact Starfleet headquarters to tell them what is going on...as well as informing him and his wife that their only child is still alive."

Laura opened her mouth to say something, then shut it quickly.

Awkward silence passed before she could trust herself to speak again.

"Oh...I guess that's okay then."

Logan stared at her in shock, he had expected an argument.

"Well, since I now know what you know...I will head on back to the research lab and watch Q's back while he's working with our guests. That okay?"

The captain nodded while trying to hide his relief. "Yeah, that's fine."

Laura nodded a bit quickly and left the bridge.

Logan sighed once she was gone, he had an idea why she had quickly run away again.

He could bet that Laura had never run away from a fight before but show her what a family meant and she took to her heels. Jean had advised him to be patient with her.

He barely knew her and Laura seemed to know a bit about him but had never said what it was exactly.

Logan did not like dwelling in the past and he had accepted almost from the beginning of this weird risky adventure that Laura was his family, his responsibility but at times he was left feeling he was handling the entire situation badly.

Even though Laura's creation had only been possible through others, Logan still felt what happened to Laura had been his fault.

Logan took several deep calming breathes as anger threatened to overwhelm him; this was not the time or place to lose his cool.

He had to focus on the mission.

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Laura was pensive and silent as she walked back to the research lab, there were so many emotions running through her.

What did it feel like to have parents who were concerned about you? Who watched you grow up?

For a long moment she envied Ensign Kadretti, the girl had to be a teenager but she seemed so sure of herself.

Laura shook her head minutely and tried to focus on the task ahead.

She had competed against Logan to get herself on this mission, pondering on 'what ifs' was not in her best interest.

Laura took a deep breath and walked into the research lab.

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The three people bent over the table-projector looked up when she walked in.

Q Junior had seemed a bit glad to see her before he remembered he was supposed to be upset with her for a very good reason.

Laura hid a smile as she walked up to the table.

"So, where we at?"

Kara and Sharon looked a bit puzzled at her question.

Q Junior however understood.

"Just designing the body armour we're going to be wearing...it will be according to colonial standards please," the last bit was said as he gave Kara a stern look.

"Let me guess, she wanted something from the Starfleet line?" said Laura in a dry tone.

Kara raised her hands in annoyance. "We're going up against cylons inside their basestar! We need to be prepared !"

"She does have a point," added Sharon calmly.

Laura looked at Q Junior, it concerned her that he looked worried.

"What can we do within the Directive Q ?"

He gave her a thoughtful look. "There is something we can do," he paused "your weapons are almost similar to 21st century Earth weapons.

Replicating that will not be a problem...I might as well consider body armour from that era as well."

"You want us geared up in stuff that is 300 years out of date?!" asked Kara in a loud angry voice.

Q Junior was not in one bit intimidated by her anger, he was yet to meet anyone who could scare him like his mum or Aunt Janeway.

"Yes," was his simple answer as he walked to a large replicator in the centre of the lab.

Kara released a hiss of frustration and turned to find Laura had a wry look on her face. It appeared that the captain's daughter was amused by the pilot's childish behaviour.

The pilot tried not to lose her temper as she turned and went after the hologram with purposeful steps.

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Sharon was not fooled by the smile on Laura's face.

This girl was here to protect Q Junior from them.

The slightest sign of an intent to harm and Sharon had no doubt in her mind that the girl before her would not hesitate to terminate their lives.

As if Laura read her mind, she turned her head slowly in Sharon's direction and after a while; slowly nodded.

The female cylon swallowed nervously and went after her friend and colleague.

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Kara felt like she was hitting her head against a brick wall, what was wrong with these people?

They needed superior weapons to go against the cylons, not pea-shooters!

She opened her mouth to argue her case once again when the hologram began to press buttons on what had to be a bigger replicator.

"What are you doing?" asked the colonial pilot as curiosity worn over anger.

"Making a weapon," said Q Junior in a serious tone.

Before Kara could say a word, there was the sound of the replicator going on, then in a few seconds she could see something forming.

Kara hardly acknowledged the presence of Sharon as she too came to observe what Q Junior was doing.

After a few more seconds, Q Junior was removing something that the two colonials were both familiar and not familiar with.

"This is a Belgian Fabrique Nationale P90 submachine gun. Created in the year 1991.

Weighs 2.6kg, 50.5cm in length, barrel length 26.4cm, width 5.5cm, height 21cm.

Action; straight blowback and closed bolt.

Rate of fire 900RPM..."

Kara had to whistle at that, Q kept talking.

"Muzzle velocity 715m/s, armour piercing with an effective range of 200metres, max range 1,800metres..."

Sharon mouthed oh my Gods

"Feed system 50-round detachable box magazine," Q removed the clip with ease showed it to the two colonials and put it back in.

"Sights are tritium-illuminated reflex with back up iron sights," the hologram demonstrated with the weapon as he lifted it easily and carefully aimed at a random area away from the colonials and Laura.

He lowered the weapon making sure the safety was on, then pointed it to the floor before presenting it to Starbuck.

"Will this be sufficient?"

The female colonial pilot took the weapon from him as if it was a rare treasure, it was black, light, sleek and deadly.

If this was what they had 300 years ago, then Earth was definitely not to be frakked with.

"Heck yeah, this will be sufficient alright."

She missed the troubled look on Q Junior's face.

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Sharon saw the deadly weapon that was somewhat similar to the colonial S49s and also very different.

It was lighter, shorter, with a 50 percent increase on the rate of fire, 40 percent increase in effective and maximum range and had more rounds per magazine.

It was years if not decades ahead of what the colonials currently had.

She had been quick to catch the worried look on the hologram's face when Kara had practically drooled all over the weapon.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Sharon without thinking. The hologram looked at her and for a moment she thought he was more than just a program but that feeling passed too quickly before she could dwell on it further.

"Yes...according to Starfleet regulations, supplying weapons to a civilization that is not as technically advanced as the supplier is not allowed.

That is why I have tried to supply something on your current level of weapons...but now I am afraid that even what I have picked may be too advanced."

At his words, a panicked look appeared on Kara's face, she hugged the weapon to her chest. "No ! This is alright...I mean it's kinda what we used against the cylons!"

Laura's eyes narrowed, something did not smell right.

"She's partly right," said Sharon carefully, then sighed as she decided she had to let them know now "...however we have weapons like this called the S49s, they are not as light or have as an effective range as your FNP90s."

Kara glared at Sharon. "Athena!"

The cylon gave her an apologetic look while Laura seemed startled by Sharon's honesty.

Q Junior had a thoughtful look on his face as he stared at the weapon in Kara's arms.

Then he sighed and looked at Laura. "What do you think?"

Laura stared at Kara and Sharon for a long time. While the Starfleet regulations were useful; they were also a pain in the neck.

The cylons seemed better equipped than the colonials and only a suicidal fool would infiltrate their basestar without being properly armed.

For one's choice of weapon may be all that stood before the bearer and the oblivion of death.

"Learn how to use it properly and safely; you're going to need it."

Kara almost collapsed with relief. "Eh...yeah," she tried to compose herself as she tried to forget a 13 year old girl had just spoken to her like a drill sergeant.

"So what else have you got for us?" Kara tried to ask in a calm tone.

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Sharon watched as the hologram replicated a small handgun and explain it's specifics.

He called it a FN Five –Seven

Weight was 610g empty and 744g loaded, length 208mm, barrel length 122mm, width 36mm, height 137mm.

Action was delayed blowback, rate of fire ,semi-automatic.

Muzzle velocity 650m/s, armour piercing, effective range of 50m, max range of 1510m. Extended magazine of 30 rounds in each. Sight was a three-dot adjustable design.

Once again it was years ahead what colonials had.

The boys were going to be so thrilled when they saw the new toys Q Junior had made. Sharon could hardly wait to see what would be their body armour.

Then she heard Kara ask a question.

"Q Junior, I just need to know...is Earth's armed forces made up of holograms?" asked Kara tentatively.

Q Junior shocked her by laughing.

"Oh no ! Do you realize the risk that would entail if someone was able to hack into the system and take control of the holograms?"

Kara smiled wryly. "I see so your brass has got some functioning brain cells...so what exactly do holograms of your sort do?"

Q Junior smiled back at her. "Sorry, can't tell you," he didn't sound sorry at all " need to know and all that."

"Of course," said Kara sarcastically.

"What's next?" asked Laura who had gradually drifted closer as Q made more weapons.

"Body armour," said the hologram cheerfully.

"Ah my favourite, I get to test them out," said Laura with a small smile on her face.

Sharon tried not to dwell on the image of the blades in the girl's arms.

"Okay," started Q Junior as he began to pull up and visualize holographic images of different body armours of 21st century Earth.

"If you would be so kind as to point out which ones you like, we can go over the pros and cons of each."

Later when Kara thought back on what he had done, she realized it was similar to going to a shopping mall with friends and picking out clothes.

Except in this case, it was 'outfits' designed to protect the wearer from bullets and only the Gods-knew-what-else.

Some of the armours she, Sharon and even Laura rejected outright even before he had finished describing them.

Then after they had looked at what had to be dozens, he pulled up one that made the three females sit up and take notice.

"This is a...modified version of an x-man body armour," Laura gave him a sharp glance, Sharon's and Kara glanced at each other at the name of the outfit.

"It's total weight is 10.8kg," the three stared at him in surprise.

Sharon knew of colonial body armour that weighed twice what he just said.

Q continued. "Thus improving mobility and accessibility as well as speed on the battle field. It consists of the a neck throat and collar protection that merges with the chest and abdominal tactical vest and the sleeves. The material is triple reinforced specially treated Kevlar.

This same material is part of the upper and lower legs'protectors which are also reinforced with soft Kevlar multi-jointed greaves over thigh high combat boots."

He paused. "It of course comes in various sizes for both males and females."

Kara was silent as she observed the floating holographic outfit before her.

It was black, sleek streamlined and did not look bulky as that of the colonial armour."

"What of head gear?" asked Laura.

Q looked at her in surprise and she sighed.

"Captain Logan and I won't need it but they will." She pointed at Kara and Sharon.

Q flushed. "You're got a point...I can come up with something fast." He began to search the data base.

"Ensign Q, you said this used to be an x-man uniform...what's an x-man?" asked Sharon carefully.

Laura and the hologram shared a silent look.

"Never mind, I guess you can't tell me..."

"It was the captain's former team before he was...put into stasis," said Laura.

Kara and Sharon stared at her in shock, they had not expected that.

"Piece of advice? Don't ask him about it," said Laura as she calmly met their stunned gazes. She turned to Q Junior thus effectively ending that conversation.

"So, you found some suitable headgear?"

"Hmmm...maybe," said Q Junior as he brought up the image of a 21st Earth Century Mich style military training helmet.

"No, no no," protested Kara "I need to see where I'm going and what I'm shooting at. Besides helmets as part of body armour are only effective if one has trained with it for months...and we only have a few hours."

"It could be the only thing between you and a bullet Lieutenant," said Laura calmly.

Kara looked at her. "You have got a point but I may just be as dead if my peripheral vision is lost due to that thing being on my head."

Q Junior sighed. "Let's just keep it by the side and try it later...is everyone satisfied with the current body armour ?"

The three females looked at each other and nodded slowly.

"Excellent, now let's replicate some and try them out, shall we?" said Q Junior as he rubbed his hands with nervous glee.

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Medical bay...

Oma had been wondering why Dr Grey asked her to accompany the colonials to the medical bay but once they got there she realized why.

Dr Grey put her to work as soon as they got there and she gave epads to Oma and asked her to assign Junior Lieutenant Anders and Captain Agathon to bio-beds.

Straight away she picked up on Ander's anxiety, it was so obvious, on his face and in his body language. She wondered if he was worried about the 'alien' medical equipment...or if he was worried about something else.

Oma also found herself trying to keep an eye on Rogers as well.

He looked a bit better but was still a bit pale and tired looking; she sure hoped he was practicing holding his mental shields in place.

Dr Grey watched Oma as she set in the parameters for the medical, then the doctor stepped up and began to speak to an increasingly anxious looking Mr Anders.

"Junior Lieutenant Anders, are you alright?"

There was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Em...I'm fine ma'am...just a bit nervous around hospitals."

Jean seemed to look at him for a long time, then nodded. "I understand...you were present when Ensign Rogers was reviewed. He was not harmed at all."

Anders opened his mouth to say something and quickly shut it.

Jean raised an eyebrow. "You wish to say something?" her voice was soft and encouraging.

"I know Rogers was not harmed...but why does he look so pale?"

Everyone turned to the ensign who gave them a wan smile.

"Not their fault sir, I'm just not very good at this shielding mind stuff...if you don't mind me saying sir...your anxiety is contributing to the headache I'm having at the moment."

Anders gaped at him. "I...I had no idea..."

"Let's just do this so that your anxiety levels go down, can I proceed?" interrupted Jean softly.

He looked at her for several moments then nodded hastily as if he was about to lose his nerves.

Oma stood back and moved to Captain Agathon's bio-bed as the doctor took a quick medical history. She did not linger so as not to eavesdrop, Anders may have some personal info he didn't want to share with anyone.

"Hi," said Helo in a friendly manner as she walked up to him.

"Hi," she responded a bit timidly. She was not sure how to speak to the captain, he and his wife seemed different from the others.

When Kara and Anders stared at her, it was like they were seeing something they never thought existed. With part excitement and part fear.

It was their fear that Oma was worried about, because there was a thin line between fear and hatred of the unknown and the different.

Rogers stared at her with...an expression that she was finding very hard to classify. It was not fear but some sort of expectation.

As for Helo and Sharon, the couple seemed to regard her with a look of wonder.

Oma felt deep down that Helo had to be a really special guy to love and marry a female cylon; after all that decision must have raised all sorts of hell among the colonial refugees.

She wondered what type of resistance and aggression they had to deal with.

"You alright?" asked Helo as he interrupted her thoughts.

Oma smiled nervously. "Eh...yeah, just miles away. Sorry about that."

She input some data into his bio-bed computer.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Oma looked at his earnest curious face, she found herself saying.

"Sure."

Helo seemed to colour slightly but continued with his question. "Your parents, where are they from...if you don't mind me asking?"

Oma stared at him for several moments.

"My father Trey Kadretti is from the United States of Africa on Earth, my mother Nadia is part human and part klingon. Our home is Earth."

Helo's eyes widened in surprise.

Here it comes, he's going to say something negative thought Oma.

"Earth accepted you," it was not a question " will they accept a half-cylon child?"

Oma realized the second part was the real question, she looked at the fragile hope in his eyes and she knew he and his wife must have had it rough among the colonials.

But how the hell had the child ended up with the cylons?

"Earth and the Federation accepts all, human, non-human, mutants, non-mutants. That is why I am a member of Starfleet."

Oma was stunned to see his eyes become suspiciously bright, the older man blinked several times and tried to speak in a normal voice.

"That...that is very good to hear. I pray Sharon...Hera and I get to stand on Earth some day."

Oma smiled reassuringly at him. "You will."

A slight cough behind her had them turning to face Rogers who had an odd expression on his face.

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Helo took one look at Ensign Roger's face and sighed inwardly.

The junior officer was looking at him with a clear message on his face.

Back off.

Helo tried not to smile, he had not even been remotely flirting with the female Starfleet officer. Ever since he realized she was part human and part...klingon he had found it very hard to believe.

Humans and aliens living together and having families?

He knew of many religious nut jobs who would have massive coronary events at the thought of such occurring on the Thirteenth Colony. He could not wait to see how the brass reacted.

Helo compressed his lips at the still look on Roger's face and decided to speak before the ensign tried to slug him.

"I was asking Ensign Kadretti about her parents and Earth...it sounds like the sort of place I would like to settle on with Sharon and Hera."

Rogers' expression seemed to soften a bit while Oma stared at him with a puzzled look.

"You alright Ensign Rogers?"

The colonial ensign reddened at her question. "Yes...just wanted to em...take part in the conversation."

Helo had to struggle not to laugh at the boy's inane reply.

Anders and Kara had been right, the boy was taken with Ensign Kadretti.

The funny thing is that she did not have a clue as to what was going on.

In spite of the fact that they were all heading towards possible doom and destruction, the scene before him was priceless and it was taking all his willpower not to laugh.

As if sensing his hidden amusement, Rogers shot him a quick murderous glare.

That almost set Helo off.

What stopped him from laughing was when Dr Grey walked over with a relieved looking Anders.

"I'm okay," said Anders cheerfully.

"So...you're not a mutant," said Rogers with a dry smile.

Anders seemed embarrassed, it occurred to Helo that the thought of being a mutant may have been what was making him so jumpy earlier.

"Captain Agathon, it's your turn," said Dr Grey calmly.

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Helo was calm as he answered the female doctor's questions, his two male colleagues were chatting with Ensign Kadretti nearby.

Or rather Anders was doing most of the talking while Rogers gazed at an oblivious Ihuoma Kadretti.

Helo stood up when it was time for the body scan and he had to admit to himself that using all this high tech medical equipment was a bit un-nerving.

He bet if Dr Cottle had been in here , he would have been doing cart-wheels in a second.

"Captain Agathon, just a couple of questions ? Did any of your ancestors have any...special abilities?"

Helo froze at her question.

"I...eh...I was adopted as a baby. I have no idea who were my biological parents were."

Jean stared at him in surprise then she recovered quickly and made notes on her epadd. "I see."

Helo was now getting nervous. "Is...is something wrong?"

Jean stared at him for a while. "Nothing is wrong, it's just that you have the mutant gene."

Helo felt his knees turn to jelly and almost fell but a gentle but unseen firm force seemed to guide him to the bio-bed to sit down.

He was unaware of the nearby chatter ceasing and the approach of two colonials and one Starfleet officer.

"W...what?"

Jean gave him a reassuring smile. "You have the gene however in you it's dormant."

"Hey Helo, you alright?" called Anders with an anxious look on his face.

Helo turned to him slowly with a stunned expression on his face.

"I...I have the mutant gene."

The three people watching him stared at him in shock.

"That's ...that's impossible," said Anders as his face went very pale.

"What does it mean?" asked Rogers "you said it was dormant?"

Jean looked at him then turned to Ensign Kadretti.

"Ensign, would you care to explain?"

The female ensign nodded. "It means you don't have an ability.

However an ancestor of yours may have had ability and...also that your descendants may have abilities."

She hesitated before continuing. "I know of a number of people who had the active mutant gene skip a generation and thus it manifests in the offspring."

"Excuse me but I still find this very hard to believe," interrupted Anders "why haven't our own doctors picked this up before?"

Jean looked at him. "May be they haven't because they didn't know what to look for.

On Earth the mutant genome was discovered in the early 1980s, some suspect it was discovered much earlier but was mis-labelled as an aberrant insignificant anomaly."

The doctor turned back to Helo. "Having the gene does not change who you are, you're still the same man before I did the scan. The only difference now is that you know a bit more about your genome."

"Captain," Helo turned to see a wry look on Roger's face. "if I may say so...welcome to the family."

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Helo felt numb as he left the medical bay with the others.

Dr Grey had explained the rest of his medical but it had gone over his head because the only thing he could register was that he had the mutant gene.

After a while; she realized Dr Grey was no longer talking but giving him a knowing sad smile.

"Captain Agathon...you have a lot to think about.

Come see me when you have some questions, okay?"

He had nodded silently and stood up from the bio-bed.

Dr Grey at that point had turned to Ensign Kadretti and told her to take the colonials back to the research lab to see Laura and Q Junior.

Helo tried not to stumble over his feet as he followed the others outside, he was barely aware of Anders hanging back to speak to him.

"Karl, you alright?"

The captain turned his head at the urgent whisper from the Junior Lieutenant.

Anders looked very worried.

Helo shook his head and looked ahead to see that Rogers and Ensign Kadretti were walking ahead and talking.

"Yeah...it's just that...I'm finding this hard to believe."

Anders laughed a bit nervously. "Well...you're not shooting ray beams outta your eyes so I guess that's okay."

Helo tried to smile. "She did say my gene was dormant."

Anders' smile disappeared. "You do realize...that your daughter may have this gene ?"

Helo was silent for a long time as a wave of anxiety hit him.

"Anders, do me a favour and don't say anything to Sharon. I need to tell her myself."

The other pilot looked at the two ensigns in front of him.

"You don't have to worry about me bro."

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Helo was still trying to think of what to say when they got to the research lab.

Then he saw two familiar figures in the middle of the lab and the thought of his gene disappeared immediately.

Two centurions stood in the middle of the lab facing Laura and Q Junior, they turned as the doors opened.

Helo found himself trying to draw his pistol which he had stupidly left in his viper.

Beside him Anders cursed and pushed Kadretti and Rogers behind him quickly as if to shield them.

"Hey,what do you think?"

The voice was Kara's but seemed to come from one of the centurions!

"What the f...?" began a very scared Anders.

"Relax," said Q Junior calmly as he stood on his toes to touch the right shoulder of one of the centurions, immediately the figure changed to show Kara Thrace.

The second centurion used it's left hand to touch it's right shoulder and it changed to show Sharon.

"If this is how you're reacting on seeing the holograms then it works beautifully," said Q Junior with a satisfied expression on his face.

"A little more warning next time may be sufficient," said Anders absently as he was trying not to gape at what his wife was wearing.

Helo and Rogers had a similar expression.

Sharon and Starbuck were wearing black figure-hugging body armour with neck guards, rein-forced gauntlets and greaves with thigh high combat boots.

The ensemble looked like something out of a sci-fi vid.

"What...is this for real?" asked Rogers in disbelief.

Oma was frowning. "I have seen this before."

Laura looked at her. "It's a modified 21st century x-man uniform."

The Starfleet ensign went still as her eyes grew wide with excitement. "We each get one right?"

Laura looked at her with some amusement. "I believe we do."

"Outstanding," said Oma with barely suppressed joy.

For some reason, that made Laura smile.

"Kara...is that Earth body armour?" asked Anders with a very dry mouth.

The colonial pilot did a little twirl. "I know, it looks like something out of a sci-fi vid right, but this baby is a lot tougher than it looks and it is so unbelievably light! You have got to try it!"

Anders was trying to keep his face straight because putting on the armour was the last thing on his mind.

The armour was very close fitting on Kara and seemed to enhance her feminine features.

He almost wanted to tell Rogers and Helo to stop looking at Kara, then a quick glance showed that Rogers had actually turned away to look at something else while Helo was still staring at Sharon.

"Captain Agathon, Junior Lieutenant Anders," they both turned to see Laura with a wry look on her face "your uniforms are also ready. Would you like to see them?"

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Jean walked silently down the corridor. It had been at least an hour since the colonials and Ensign Kadretti had left for the research lab.

By now they must be exploring the simulation that Laura had created.

Jean had checked with Xavier and to her relief the girl had put the safety protocols back on.

As for Q Junior, he was still hard at work on the body armour and weapons.

Jean felt a bit uneasy about providing weapons to the colonials but she saw the need.

She just did not have to like it.

Once again the thought of Laura , Oma and Q Junior going on this mission disturbed her a lot. They were just children for crying out loud.

But Jean knew to turn back now was not an option.

She just prayed they were successful and came back safe.

Within minutes she reached the bridge.

Her keen sense of smell picked up a mild trace of tobacco.

She sighed wearily as she looked at the culprit in the captain's chair.

"I swear if I find Laura smoking one of those things that I will make you wear your hair in pink bow ties for a long time."

Logan raised an eyebrow at the calmly delivered threat as Jean sat down beside him.

"Duly noted, I will be careful but I needed that smoke."

Jean leaned back. "You're just lucky your body repairs itself so fast, if not by now you would have the oh-so-wonderful symptoms of emphysema with lung cancer around the corner."

Logan narrowed his eyes as he noticed her tired expression. "Anyone in particular giving you grief?"

Jean was quiet for a long time.

"We need to discuss the results of the medical reviews I have done on the colonials."

Logan sat up straighter, now giving her his full undivided attention.

"Please continue."

Jean pulled out her epadd and handed it to him.

"Anders is definitely not your typical human."

Logan frowned at her.

"He's not a mutant either.

I compared his genetic structure to that of Sharon...it's not identical but there are startling similarities.

Sharon has cybernectic micro-components in her brain and specific parts of her spine. It makes up 2.8 percent of her biological structure.

As for Anders, he has the same components in the exact same places but they make up 10.3 percent of his biological structure."

Logan froze in his chair. "You're telling me he's more of a cyborg than she is?"

Jean sighed again. "Cyborg is not the tem I would use...but he had a lot more components. I do not know if it's because he's male or...just a different type of cylon altogether."

"What do you mean?"

Jean was silent for a while. "Logan...the Phoenix had a peek while I was doing the bio-scan.

He does not know he is a cylon...he believes firmly that he is a colonial officer first and second. I do feel he is not a threat to us."

Logan's eyes narrowed , he was not completely convinced. "Could he be extremely deep undercover?"

Jean was already shaking her head. "This...this is much worse. The Phoenix was a bit upset...she said it was as if some part of his memory is missing and he does not know about it...as if someone violently wiped his memory."

Logan's frown deepened. This sounded too close to what had happened to him.

Jean touched his right hand gently and that simple act calmed him down a lot.

"What do we do?"

Logan stared at the viewscreen for a long time.

"We say nothing until we get this stuff done, maybe we might find some answers on the basestar."

Jean nodded. "Oh one more thing...Helo has the mutant gene and it's dormant."

Logan raised both eyebrows. "It sure doesn't just rain does it?"

Jean laughed softly. "Isn't that how it is with us all the time ?"

Logan nodded but kept silent.

"So you keeping an eye on Laura and the gang?" asked Jean with a small smile.

The captain of the Xavier snorted. "You better believe it, she agreed to it surprisingly and after a few startled reactions the colonials are behaving themselves in the holodeck."

"That's a relief," said Jean.

Logan looked at her hand on his and turned his so that he could gently clasp her smaller hand.

Jean looked at their entwined fingers with a sad smile before turning back to the viewscreen.

Both mutants stayed silent as they simply held each other's hand and stared at the view-screen for just a few minutes longer.

The two former x-men knew that these few minutes of peace may be the last they would have for a long time.

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USS Dunkirk, the bridge...

Lieutenant Commander Shran checked the repaired sensors, 97 percent of them were back online and their long distance sub-space communication arrays had also been fully replicated.

"About bloody time," muttered Shran as he used an Earth swear word that he was quite fond of.

He had gone to the medical bay earlier in search of the captain because he had some disturbing news about the Tal-Shiar Solius.

Shran had arrived just in time to see the captain hurrying out of the medical bay, apparently an urgent message had arrived from Starfleet command.

The andorian had quickly checked on his injured colleagues before returning to the bridge.

To everyone's relief, Lieutenant Commander Atavi was out of coma and slowly improving but no one had informed her of the missing ensign.

The doctors were worried such news may worsen her already fragile state.

As for Commander Klaus, he was now lucid and demanding to be allowed to return to work but the medics were having none of it.

There were rumours that one of them had threatened him with sedation if he kept trying to climb out of his bio-bed.

Shran's combadge went off, he pressed it to answer.

'Shran here."

"Lieutenant Commander, if you could please come to the ready room?"

"Yes sir, will be there in a moment."

Shran turned from his console to see Commander Bishop also heading in the same direction.

It's most likely got something to do with the Romulans.

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Both male officers nodded at each other as they walked to the captain's ready room.

They found him standing and facing the window.

He turned when they came in.

"Gentlemen, I received a high level communiqué from Admiral Hoshiru at Starfleet command," he paused " another Starfleet Galaxy class ship has been assigned to...assist us in the investigation."

The tactical officer and second in command shared a worried look; they could tell something about the message had upset their captain.

They did not have long to wait for the rest of the message.

"The ship is the USS Prometheus, it's captain is..."

"Brenia E'Kalez," said Shran in a hushed voice filled with both wonder and a bit of anxiety.

"The Archangel?" asked Bishop in surprise.

Singh frowned. "I see her reputation precedes her."

Shran stared at him. "Captain, the klingons wrote songs and poems about her. Very few Starfleet officers can claim that."

"Even the Cardassians had to give her a name," said Bishop with some sort of grim humour.

Singh nodded, apparently the men before him knew of the Xenadian IV retreat.

Xenadian IV had been a klingon agricultural outpost which had the misfortune of being in the part of a joint Cardassian-Jem'adar fleet in the first year of the war.

The Klingon Empire had been warned repeatedly that the 15,500 inhabitants of the small outpost were in danger.

But the Empire stalled in evacuating the inhabitants who had been mostly civilians, this was due to a combination of honour, pride and the firm belief of never backing down from a fight or yielding the field.

It had taken the combined effort of several senior Starfleet officers and Federation officials before the Klingon Empire finally agreed to accept aid in evacuating the inhabitants.

However at that point; it was almost too late.

The nearest ships had been 3 Starfleet star ships and 4 klingon warbirds.

This small group of Starfleet and Klingon warbirds tried to remove everyone but during the evacuation the Dominion fleet appeared.

In the end, several personnel from Starfleet ships and Klingon ships had beamed down while their ships were under fire to help protect the civilians as they fled.

But unfortunately, there was not enough room for everyone on the crammed Starfleet and Klingon ships.

So a certain Starfleet chief security officer had made the decision to stay behind with the mostly 200 able bodied civilian klingons who had sent their elderly and very young ahead of them.

That officer had been Brenia E'Kalez, a small army of Starfleet officers and klingon officers had also stayed back.

They had been 49 officers in number.

At first they had been disorganised because on landing the most senior klingon officer had been killed in an ambush, the casualties would have been higher if Brenia had not immediately taken command of the situation.

She combined the Starfleet and Klingon officers into a fighting unit, utilizing the 'abilities' of the mutant Starfleet officers to the fullest.

Then followed 4 weeks of almost constant guerrilla warfare upon the Dominion forces which numbered in their thousands but that did not stop Brenia and her force from wrecking untold havoc.

Starfleet cadets were taught not to depend solely on their physical abilities but to use their brains as well, however those with 'abilities' were advised to use them if one's back was to the wall.

And Brenia and the Starfleet officers with mutant abilities did so to the max.

The official reports had stated that the female mutant had led every guerrilla attack and used her teleporting and flight capability as a devastating weapon.

There were even rumours that when her phaser weapons lost power she made an old-fashioned mace and used it very effectively.

Maybe it was due to the fact that this resistance force was fighting to protect the civilians, however as the days passed; the civilians became a part of this guerrilla force.

And they made the Dominion pay for each metre of land with blood and death.

The klingons had given her a klingon title which loosely translated into 'Warrior Angel'.

Starfleet officers had called her 'the Archangel' in memory of one of Earth's fallen mutant heroes during the Eugenics War.

But the cardassians had nicknamed her the 'Angel of Death' in their language.

Brenia's lost people, officers and civilians, but nowhere close to the level of those on the opposing side.

Some of the surviving klingon officers had been heard to swear that for each fighter their leader lost, she made sure the enemy lost 30 to 40 fighters .

Commander Brenia's report did not claim such figures but other independent reports stated that the destruction she and her fighters were able to wreck on the enemy had boosted morale among the Starfleet and klingon fighters and improved relationships with some senior klingon officers and leaders.

By the time the USS Prometheus had returned with a bigger combined Starfleet and Klingon force to retake the small colony, Brenia had lost 19 officers and 37 civilians.

Captain Steinberg of the USS Prometheus had put her down for recommendations, while it was said several offers of marriage came from quite a number of klingon officers who had seen or heard of her prowess in battle.

Brenia had even been offered a captain's post soon after Xenadian IV, but she turned it down wishing to remain on the USS Prometheus.

Singh let his mind return to the present.

"Well gents, do you know who her second in command is? Commander Trey Kadretti."

Both male officers stared at him in shock.

"And yes he is related to Ensign Kadretti, he's her father."

Bishop barely held back a curse.

"Oh, it gets even better," said Singh with a bitter smile.

"It appears that in 2359, Commander Kadretti was an ensign stationed on a science vessel; the USS Petersberg.

This ship disappeared close to the Romulan Neutral border and was feared lost with all hands.

Then more than 5 months later, a single survivor was brought back to the Federation by a Klingon merchant ship.

His name was Trey Kadretti."

Shran felt more was coming and that he was not going to like it.

"Looking at his official records, whatever happened to him in those 5 months is heavily blanked out...however when I spoke to Starfleet Command a few minutes ago," he paused " they informed me that there were strong rumours that the Romulans had something to do with the disappearance of the USS Petersberg."

Bishop felt his lower jaw drop.

"He thinks the Romulans have her," said Shran faintly.

"This has just become personal," warned Singh "I feel Captain E'Kalez may be aware of what really happened to the Petersberg...she was one of Ensign Kadretti's references for getting into the academy."

Bishop had a troubled look on his face.

"Is...is it possible that the Romulans have Ensign Kadretti ?"

Singh was silent for a while. "I...I personally don't think so.

Once Mr Klaus appeared with the Tal Shiar on the bridge, I was the first to approach the romulan and his mental guards were completely down.

He turned to me and said... 'she sacrificed herself for us...she's a mutant.'

I felt utter shock and sadness from Mr Solius...I don't think he knew she was a mutant and besides from the reports only Ensign O'Reilly could have been fast enough to beam anyone out of the shuttle.

The romulans were too far away and the shuttle still had some kind of force-field around it before it went into the wormhole."

"She did remove the white tentacles that almost drew us in," said Bishop thoughfully.

"I know this is all speculation...however one good thing is that none of the warbirds have left the area.

If they had her ...surely one would have been halfway back to Romulus by now," added the andorian tactical officer.

Singh sighed loudly. "However we look at it...it's going to be one hell of a mess by the time the Prometheus gets here."

"Why would Command assign the Prometheus? Surely they must know her father will be on that ship and will not be objective in this investigation.

I know if it were me, I would not be reasonable!" protested Bishop.

Shran had an uncomfortable look on his face. "Sirs...I also found some info about Major Solius."

The two senior officers looked at him.

"There is a possibility that Major Solius is related to the Emperor of Romulus."

Singh suddenly looked a bit weary. " No wonder S'Tokkr was...listening to him a lot. If he had died on the Infinity..."

The captain did not have to say anything more.

The three officers had now realised how close they may have come to worsening the already strained relationships with Romulus.

"Mr Shran, I want our surveillance of their communications doubled and tripled if possible and also send a secure package to the USS Prometheus informing them of all that has happened here.

Mr Bishop keep hailing all the Romulan Warbirds until one of them answers and keep asking for Major Solius."

"And if we get proof that they have Ensign Kadretti, what then sir?" asked Shran with worried look on his face.

Singh looked at him solemnly. "Then we get her back."

Both officers nodded with grim satisfaction and left the room.

The Starfleet commanding officer was still for a long time, he closed his eyes briefly as he said a short prayer then he straightened his impeccably neat top of his uniform and returned to the bridge.

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USS Prometheus, Astrophysic's lab...

It had been 2hours since they got the detailed report from USS Dunkirk and Nadia was finding it very hard to concentrate.

First she had attended one of the meetings with the captain, the second-in-command and the chief of security

The contents of the report would have had her excited normally but now it filled her with dread.

Her child may have disappeared into an evolving wormhole that could have led to anywhere.

The disappearance made her think of the USS Voyager that had been catapulted 75 light years to the Delta Quadrant.

It had taken that ship 7 years to return to the Alpha Quadrant and it had been through hard work, sacrifice and a lot of good luck.

Nadia was praying so hard that Oma was safe, she did not want to believe she had disappeared down a worm-hole but the alternative was much worse.

A prisoner of the Romulans was not a fate she would wish on her worst enemy.

"Nadia," the soft voice of Dr Julian Locke had her returning to the present.

"Julian...I..."

The Betazoid gave her a sad smile. "You're troubled and not focusing on what we have to do right now."

Nadia licked her dry lips. "I...I am okay. I just need to have a drink of coffee and I will be fine..."

Julian was already shaking his head. "You are this close," he put his thumb and second finger together " to collapsing."

"You need to rest, you have been without sleep for too many hours."

"I don't need sleep!" snapped Nadia.

Julian remained calm. "Yes you do! If you collapse, then Trey will have to worry about you as well as figure out a way to look for Oma.

Is that what you wish on him as well?!"

Nadia glared at her friend, then she sighed. "You always know the right thing to say don't you?"

Julian shrugged. "I'm a betazoid, remember?"

Nadia shook her head and walked towards a couch that was in the corner of the lab.

The betazoid frowned. "Wait...what are you doing? I meant for you to go to your quarters to rest!"

The female astro-physicist raised an eyebrow. "I am quite capable of getting rest right here, be happy with that...just don't get upset if I'm not able to sleep."

Julian sighed wearily then turned to go and noticed Nadia's epadd.

"Well if you need something to make you sleep, why don't you look at this?"

Nadia stopped as the betazoid walked up to her and gave her the epadd.

"Why?"

Julian tapped the top of the pad. "Let's see; that red blinking light says you have an urgent message..."

Nadia groaned and made to throw the pad away.

"Ah ah! Read the messages so that you can fall asleep , then when you wake up we can dissect the reports from the USS Dunkirk. Deal?"

The female scientist glared at Julian.

"Fine, deal," she agreed tiredly before lying down on the couch.

Nadia was tempted to put the pad down but began to scroll down the numerous messages and deleted most without reading.

At some point her eyes began to grown heavy but something kept her awake...as if she had to read one more message.

Then she saw a name which cleared the sleep from her eyes.

She sat up slowly as her heart pounded away in her chest.

Nadia re-read the name of the sender, the date and the time several times.

Julian heard a noise and turned to see the female scientist was on her feet. He was about to scold her when he saw the extremely pale frightened look on her face. It was as if she had seen a ghost.

Julian had known Nadia for years and he had never seen her look scared.

"Nadia, what is it?" he asked in an anxious tone.

Eyes filled with tears looked at him and she answered in a voice filled with disbelief and fragile hope.

"It's...it's a message...from Oma."

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Hi everyone, sorry for the long wait, flu and stress has not been kind to moi!

By the by, I made the weapons of the colonials S49s and used the Belgian FNP90 and the FN Five- Seven as from Earth only ( 21st century earth).

Thank God for wikipedia ! Without it I have no idea how I could have got all the details.

I listened to Assassin's Creed 3 OST and Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation OST when I got better enough to write.

Wish me luck in the next chapter as Logan does what he does best! Which is not always nice!

Have a great weekend people! Please read and enjoy!