Earth 1, Star City/Space/Greenworld

Lyla had had to make some tough decisions in her time, but what Felicity had discovered had done had shocked her.

''They knew most of the science - the technology - already'' Felicity had pointed out. ''What they found in the 'Lady Midnight' files - just filled in one or two gaps.''

''And it's on board the Time Master ship, now.'' Lyla wondered if the 'negotiations' team knew exactly what they were taking to Mars. It was their death sentence too.

''Yes''

The two women looked at each other. It took Lyla only seconds to decide.

''Here's what you need to do -'' she began.

X

The ship was in solar orbit, curving round the system's sun on the way to its rendezvous with Mars. The unspeakably named A.I. was doing most of the work, so Rip had plenty of time to sit and look at the heavens. This was a new experience for him in this timeline, so he should have been enjoying it, despite the constant presence of a guard whenever he was outside his own room. He rather suspected they would have locked him up if they hadn't been slightly distrustful of the A.I.

He felt the lightest of nudges - in his head.

Say you need the john.

He did so - being followed as far as the door, predictably.

''I'm there.

The information that boiled into his head made him need to sit down - quickly. If it was true everyone on Mars - and on this ship - would die. And it wouldn't be quick.

Are you sure?

That's what they were planning. If it is on board, it's going to be fairly big.

I get it.

X

It was night and he was locked into his room - apparently confined until morning. Apparently being the operative word. He'd been a Time Master - still was in a way - and he knew there were safeguards - hidden protocols built into every A.I. He'd left those strictly alone when he had been reprogramming the onboard systems. They should still work.

Now he would find out for sure.

He pressed his flat of his hand onto an apparently smooth section of wall, precisely five inches above his bed. There was a warm sensation under his palm as the concealed circuitry read his DNA.

''Hunter, Michael, known as Rip'' a soft voice said. ''Captain of Waverider.''

He thanked his stars that Frazier's ship was operating it's fail safes according to the original timeline. Otherwise, they would all be frozen corpses in less than a week.

''Time Master Protocol 8178240 - override internal security systems with regard to me. Do not record my movements on internal cameras.''

There was silence at first - he was beginning to worry when the A.I. chipped in.

''Confirmed.''

His room door opened to his touch, and he eased out into a corridor where the lights had been adjusted to dusk levels. He hadn't reckoned on that, but it was something covered by standard operations - he would just have to hope that no one else was up late, out and about in the near darkness.

It was a good size - so where would they have stashed it? The cargo holds were a good bet, so he made his cautious way aft. The forward hold was filled with boxes of supplies - dried and tinned food packs and so on. Evidently the rest of the crew preferred not to rely on food from alien sources such as the A.I. Most of the crates and other containers were so small that thy could safely be ignored. He found a crowbar and prised the lids off three of the bigger ones. Nothing was out of place.

So, it was the aft hangar - probably. And that turned out to hold just one item - a large sturdy surface rover, designed for uneven, rocky, terrain such as that on Mars. He wondered for a moment, if his companions really thought the aliens would allow them to explore the planet.

He checked the interior thoroughly and found nothing. Which left only one place before he had to rethink his search plan- he opened the hatch of the engine cover. He stared blankly for a moment at the contents. The complicated-looking object firmly bolted to the interior was something he'd never seen before. It definitely wasn't a surface rover engine.

Help! Looks like I've found it.

You don't have to scream. I've been monitoring you. Look at it.

There was silence in his head for perhaps two minutes.

OK, Ray says that's it. Get rid of it.

X

There was no way that the A.I. was going to silence the alarm linked to the Purge Operation. He watched through the window in the inner hatch as the contents of the aft hold were sucked out into space. The outer hatch had closed again when the first of the other travellers reached him.

Talbot stared through the window for a moment in pure shock. Then he turned and punched the presumed saboteur - hard.

The next thing Rip was aware of was waking up in the brig.