Once again my thanks go to bjlu0900 for beta-reading this story. And thanks to all the people commenting and reading this thing.

Chapter 12

To err is human

''SHITSHITSHITSHIT!"

''AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

''THIS WASN'T PART OF THE PLAN! THIS WAS MOST DEFINITELY NOT A PART OF THE PLAN!"

As the three figures stormed through the dark corridors of the abandoned battlecruiser, they all shared the same problem. And that problem was made out of tentacles, claws and teeth.

Especially teeth.

A lot of teeth.

"KERRIGAN!" the voice of the creature formerly known as Stukov howled through the corridors. "Raynor and Zeratul cannot help you now!"

"WHAT IS THAT THING TALKING ABOUT?!" Dan screamed while he was right behind Sirella. Unsurprisingly it was Paula who was in front. She sure as hell could run fast if she wanted to.

"I TELL YOU SHOULD WE NOT GET EATEN BY IT!" Sirella screamed back. "ALSO: I'M NOT ZERATUL! I'M NOT EVEN MALE!"

"UP AHEAD!" Paula shouted. "A JUNCTION! WE HAVE TO GO LEFT!" And when they reached mentioned junction, Paula did indeed turn left and looked over her shoulder...

...only to see how both Sirella and Dan turned right and ran into the opposite direction. When the young woman realized that this wasn't a mistake, her left eyelid started to twitch.

"I HATE YOU GUYS!"

"WE HATE YOU EVEN MORE!" Dan and Sirella screamed at the exact same time. And so Paula started to curse like a sailor and ran after them. Suddenly she was dead last. Which meant...

"KERRIGAN!" Behind her a wall made out of tentacles, claws and teeth rolled through the empty corridors. It was relentless, ageless, and driven by a rage that it didn't even understand anymore. It seemed that not only Stukov's body but also his mind had degenerated quite drastically in all those centuries down here.

"OKAY, I ADMIT IT!" Paula squealed. "MY PLAN LOOKED BETTER ON PAPER!"

"WAIT, YOU PLANNED FOR THIS SHIT-SHOW?!" Dan screamed as he looked over his shoulder.

"THAT'S A LIE!" Sirella, who was now leading the pack yelled. "PAULA IS PHYSICALLY INCAPABLE OF PLANNING SOMETHING!"

"I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!" the young woman whined. "YOU ARE HURTING MY FEELINGS!"

"I'M GOING TO HURT SO MUCH MORE OF YOU SHOULD WE SURVIVE THIS!" Sirella replied. Before they could continue with their all-out yelling-contest, Dan pointed at something up ahead.

"THERE! THAT'S A BLAST-DOOR! SIRELLA!" he shouted.

"I SEE IT!" And when the two were past the blast-door, Sirella grabbed the two ends of the blast-door and started to pull while Dan ripped off a plate right next to the door and pulled the handle of the emergency hydraulic release. Some things hadn't changed in thousands of years. And while most emergency door-overrides were no longer operating hydraulic-based systems in current-generation vessels, the principle was the same:

Pull the yellow handle and watch the magic.

"WAIT FOR MEEEEEEEEEEE!" Paula screamed in terror when she realized what these two were up to. They would wait for her, right? They wouldn't just leave her behind with Stukov, or what was left of him. She was a young and beautiful woman. And he was a monster made mostly of tentacles. It didn't take a genius to know what would happen next! And that's when she heard...

"Faster, Marshal! Faster! If he gets Paula, then we can buy us some time!" Sirella gasped.

"I'm on it, but this thing isn't working!" Dan replied before he decided to give up on that plan and hurried over to Sirella in order to help her to close the door with brute strength. At first the door wouldn't even move one millimeter, but just when Paula finally reached them and jumped through the door (performing a completely pointless header), the heavy metal of the blast-door finally moved and whatever pressure was still inside the hydraulic system caused it to shut within fractions of a second.

"AND SHE SCORES!" Paula screeched when she landed on her belly. The tip of a tentacle made it through the door as well, but when the ancient emergency system actually kicked in, the door snapped shut and the tentacle was cut off. A furious roar came from the other side of the now closed door. Something heavy slammed into the door and both Sirella and Dan jumped back.

Bang.

Bang!

BANG!

BANG!

They watched in horror how the door started to bulge. And then...

...nothing.

Silence reigned supreme. All that was audible were the labored breaths of Dan and Paula. The Marshal looked to the side and mustered Sirella for any signs of fear. He still didn't know much about Protoss, but the fact that her eyes were almost as big as his head right now kinda told him that she too was visibly shaken by all of this. As for Paula, however...

"Phew...that was a close call!" the young woman groaned and rolled on her back. "Nice timing, by the way. I actually thought for a second that you wanted to leave me in the tentacles of that guy. Could have warned me, though." When Dan and Sirella heard that, they exchanged knowing looks and decided to stay quiet.

"Eh...he...he...ehhhhh..." Paula panted. "Phew, so much excitement for one day! I think I'm gonna take a nap now. Can someone please turn-"

"WHAT IN DAMNATION WAS THAT THING!" Dan screamed in rage and stomped over to the young woman. He grabbed her arm and pulled Paula back to her feet before staring her straight into the eyes. "Enough stupid jokes! What is this? What is going on here?!" he demanded to know.

"Huh...explaining everything to you could be somewhat complicated." Paula muttered. "Sirella, can you help me with this one?"

"Sure." the tall Protoss chirped and pointed her finger at her friend. "It's all Paula's fault."

"Wha-?!" Paula protested.

"Sounds completely reasonable." Dan cut her short. As he stared into Paula's eyes, she had to admit that the Marshal could be pretty intimidating if he wanted to be.

And right now?

Right now, he was very intimidating.

And so...

"...itallstartedroughlyonethousandyearsagowhenmyparentsmetandtheydefeatedanancientandallpowerfulaliendark-godbythenameofamonwhohappenedtobeaxelnagatrappedwithinthevoidthankstomymotherwhowastherulerofthezergswarm-backthenthezergterransandprotosswereabletodefeatamonafterwhichmyparentswerefinallyfreeanddecidedtohaveafamily-wellnotimmediatelyfirsttheyhadtofigureoutsomestuffaboutthemselvestheyhadhelpfrommyauntizshaandmyunclesjoeand-karaxohandmastertessonwhoselikethecoolestprotosseverbutdonttellartanisthatisaidthatotherwhisehewillbeangrysinceialready-calledhimtheheroofmyyouthatonepointmyparentsgotinrealtroubleanditwastheghostofaprotossnamedzeratulwhosavedtheir-buttsandnowihavecomeherebecauseiwanttosearchforhimandbringhimbackhomethecreatureyousawisactuallyaguy-namedstukovwhogotinfestedanddeinfestedsomanytimesthatitisntevenfunnyanymoreiguessthathemutatedquiteabiteversince-thehyperioncrashedhereandnowhethinksthatimmymotherandthatmymumisstilltheruleroftheswarmwhichisnttrueanymore..."

Meet Paula Kerrigan, the talking machine-gun. "...but yeah, that's the story in a nutshell."

…

…

…

…

There was a long and awkward moment of silence, and when Dan opened his mouth...

"Your mother ruled the Swarm?" he muttered and Paula's eyes widened in surprise.

"And your parents defeated a space-god one thousand years ago? And you don't want me to tell Artanis that Tesson is cooler?"

"Wow..." Paula gasped. "...you are good!"

"So this creature...Stukov. It was human?" Dan wanted to know.

"Yeah. Born and raised on Earth. Came to the Koprulu-Sector ages ago in order to bring it back under Earth's control. Bit off more than he could chew. Ended up being turned into a guinea pig. And then some more boring details I have forgotten about."

"Details you have forgotten about..." Dan mumbled. "Insignificant details. Like a huge TENTACLE-MONSTER THAT WANTS TO EAT US!"

"You don't have to yell, you know." Paula mumbled. "My ears do work fine."

"It's not the ears that I'm worried about!" he hissed. "It's the thing between your ears that has me in doubt!"

"Now you're just rude..." Paula said with a surprisingly whiny tone in her voice.

"Did you know?" Dan asked and looked at Sirella.

"I have learned not to ask for details a long time ago." the Protoss sighed. "Now you know why."

"Indeed..." the Marshal growled, which earned him a chuckle from Paula.

"Hey, funny that you say that, that's exactly what Zeratul used to..." But then she noticed the withering glare of the other two and bit on her lip. "...I think I'm quiet now."

"That would be a first." Dan growled and then he leaned against the wall and pressed his hands against his face. "This is a dream. A bad dream. Maybe a trip? Someone gave me drugs and now I'm hallucinating. It has to be. I'm probably lying in my tent right now, drooling in my sleep while grunting like some sort of animal."

"I'm afraid that this isn't a dream." Sirella sighed again. "But if it is any comfort to you: I was exactly in the same position as you a couple of years ago."

"Oh, really? You were once chased by a tentacle-monster through an abandoned ship?" Dan griped.

"A demented Zerg-broodmother who mistook me for a Tal'darim." Sirella explained. "And it wasn't an abandoned ship but the ruins of an ancient space station build by giant space gods."

"I shouldn't have asked." Dan mumbled.

"You can't blame Niadra for that." Paula mumbled. "I told you that she's bad at remembering people." But before Dan could ask Paula just what the hell she was talking about, he suddenly felt a strange sense of vertigo and almost fell flat on his face.

"Oh damn..." he mumbled and gritted his teeth when a sharp pain ravaged his brain.

"Marshal? Are you okay?" Sirella asked. "You don't look so good."

"Funny that you mention it, I don't feel so good either." he mumbled and had to lean against the wall. "Think I hurt my head pretty hard. Maybe a concu-HBUAAARG!" Suddenly his stomach took over command and decided to perform what could be considered an "explosive decompression".

"Sure looks like a concussion." Paula mumbled while Sirella watched both in disgust and with curiosity how Dan spat some hot bile on the cold metal floor.

"Maybe you should sit down for a moment." Sirella offered, but Dan just shook his head.

"No. We need to get topside. Warn the others. Call the military, whatever. We have to...agh..." However, now that the immediate danger was gone, all that adrenaline that had kept Dan on his feet was starting to fade away. And with it, Dan could feel how his strength started to wane as well.

"Dan? Are you okay?" Paula asked. "You look kinda, well...green."

"Is' fine..." he groaned and groaned when something inside his body seemed to shift and move in a most unnatural way. "...gotta keep going andooohn..." Dan wasn't able to finish that sentence when suddenly that sense of vertigo turned into a full-blown sense of "Oh hell!"

"Marshal!" Sirella gasped and hurried over to him in order to catch him before he would fall flat on the ground. The Protoss put him down and watched in horror how the man started to writhe in pain and agony. Something was wrong, very wrong.

"Paula, what's-" Sirella started while Dan groaned out loud once more. He pressed his hands on his belly and gritted his teeth. Paula walked over to them and knelt down right next to Dan.

"God...what...what is this?!" the Marshal hissed and pulled his shirt up. And when he looked down...

...he could see how something pushed against the skin of his stomach.

From the inside.

"Well..." Paula muttered when she saw that. "...crap."

Paula Izsha Kerrigan! the thundering voice echoed through the empty ruins of what once had been known as the cradle of life, though nowadays no one called it like that anymore. When she heard her own name, Paula realized that she was in deep trouble. More than usual. There was no way out of this, she was aware of it. But that didn't mean that she would just come out of her hiding place.

"Paula, come out!" another voice yelled. It didn't sound so powerful, so intimidating. But it was equally worried. "Everything is fine, let us talk!" That was a lie. Nothing was fine. Not after what she had done. Not after doing what they had expressively forbidden her to do.

To quote her father: She was screwed.

Royally screwed.

Paula had found a small hole in which she was currently hiding. The dark walls that surrounded her reacted to her psionics every now and then and started to emit a green light. She knew this place well, even though she rarely came here. Too dangerous, that's what her parents usually were telling her. Too complicated, that's what her uncle Karax usually was telling her. Too mundane and beneath her, that's what her aunt Izsha was telling her.

Awesome, that's what her other uncle Joe was telling her.

She so shouldn't have listened to him.

Paula stared at the walls of her small hiding place and bit on her lip. The green light was giving away her position. All it took was for someone to walk past that small hole in the wall to see that something was wrong. That there was a small girl hiding inside that hole, too scared to face those she had disappointed.

"Paula! Come out! It's okay, you don't have to hide! Let's talk! Joseph is fine, really!" The voice was getting closer. It belonged to her father. He sounded worried. However, that didn't put Paula at ease, not at all. She could hear footsteps and kept her breath. Making even the slightest sounds could mean that she would give away her position. She pulled her short legs up to her chin and slung her arms around them, making herself as small as possible.

Right now, she wished to be anywhere else but here. This place was scary. It was dark and sometimes it tried to speak to her, yet she couldn't understand those voices. Her mother once had told her that it was the same for her and that she didn't like it either. That's why she hadn't been sad when Uncle Joe had wrecked it all those ages ago. Uncle Karax was still mad at him, though.

This place once had been known by the name of Ulnar, homeworld of the Xel'Naga. Though "homeworld" was already a description that was inadequate to describe what it was. Or had been. A point in space where the universe and the Void were connected. A place of secrets, wrapped in even more secrets. Most of these secrets were forever lost. They vanished the moment the last Xel'Naga had perished. What remained behind was a husk, scattered across the planet Paula considered her home.

In order to keep Ulnar away from those who might want to use it to their own advantage the heir to the Xel'naga's power had decided to permanently relocate it in order to make sure that no one would be able to uncover its secrets without her permission. That plan had worked flawlessly...for exactly five minutes.

It had taken that long for Uncle Joe to smash Ulnar into a planet and turn it into the biggest puzzle of all times.

Paula loved that story, she always asked him to tell her about it. From all the stories he had told her over the years, that one was one of her favorites. The only story she liked more was how her parents had met. And how the mighty Zeratul had saved her parents once upon a time. She never got tired of hearing that story, preferably from her father.

Speaking of which...

"Paula! If you can hear me: Please say something!" He was close. A part of Paula wanted to say something. Another part wanted to crawl out of her hiding place and run over to her father, hug him and tell him how sorry she was. But the fear kept her hidden. She knew that she had disappointed them. All of them. How many times had they told her to be more careful? It wasn't just her parents. Tesson would be disappointed as well. He had found her first when she had tried to undo the damage she had done. It had been him who had stopped her, who had alarmed the others. Paula knew that he had done the right thing and she was ashamed that she had just given in to her first instinct and decided to run away instead of staying.

Golden tears streamed down Paula's face and when she heard those footsteps, she looked up with wide open eyes, afraid that she had been caught.

She recognized those footsteps. She could tell who was approaching just by the sound they were making. Two feet. That was already a piece of important information since Niadra had more than one pair of feet and Izsha had no feet at all. There were more details, however. The footsteps weren't elegant, so that ruled out the one person she didn't want to see right now. They weren't over-the-top heavy either, so it couldn't be Karax. Tesson was no option either. Even though he was a Protoss and therefore a lot heavier than your average human, Tesson was a former Nerazim. Meaning that you didn't hear him coming.

No, those footsteps belonged to the only other person Paula didn't want to face right now.

She watched in horror how two feet stopped right in front of the hole she was hiding in. The walls surrounding her started to pulse, mimicking her racing heartbeat. There were so many cracks and holes in the ruins of Ulnar, so the chances that he had found her own private hiding hole were close to zero.

"Paula?" her father's voice reached out to her. "Hey, Cupcake, you can come out. Uncle Joe is fine. Please, we are worried about you. I promise that we won't yell at you."

Paula found that hard to believe, considering what she had done. Her parents had never yelled at her. But even she knew that everyone could screw up so hard that yelling was a perfectly fine reaction. And to make matters worse...

"Did you find her?" her father asked and she could see how his feet turned around. A bright, golden light suddenly appeared. When the warm rays fell into Paula's little hole, she tried to crawl back, afraid of being touched by it.

No. I can sense her, but I can't say where she is. That voice belonged to her mother...

"Seriously?" her father groaned. "Are you absolutely certain?" There was a hint of desperation in his voice.

Yes, Jim. I am certain. It's this...place. Ulnar. Or what's left of it. It is like a goddamn prism, fracturing my powers. I can sense her but can't locate her. She has to be nearby, though. When Paula heard that, her heart began to beat even faster, and the walls around her reacted by pulsing in a rapid fashion. Stupid Ulnar! What good was a hiding hole if it sent out Morse code of your goddamn location to the world?

"Guess that means we have to continue the old-fashioned way." her father sighed.

Ugh, I was afraid you'd say that. Just so you know...her mother's voice when suddenly the golden light faded away and two slender feet appeared right next to those of her father. "...she got that kind of behavior from you."

"Noted. We can argue which bad traits she got from whom once we find her." Paula's father replied. "We should start in the south again."

"We already checked that place, Jim."

"Then we will check it again. Paula can be quite elusive if she wants to. Something she got from you."

"Do I hear sarcasm in your voice?"

"What? Sarcasm? Me? Pfffffff..." her father replied. "No, never. Come on, let's go find our daughter." Paula could see how the feet of her father walked away. Yet those of her mother remained where they were.

"Jim..." she mumbled. "...did you think I overreacted?" Paula could hear how her father suddenly stopped.

"What?" he asked.

"About Paula, about not telling her. About not teaching her more so she could have avoided this." Paula bit her lip when she heard the guilt and doubts in her mother's voice. Great, another thing to add to the guilty-list: Making her own mother doubt herself. Quite the achievement for someone of her age.

"Come on, this isn't the right time to play the old blame-game, Sarah. We have to find her." Paula's father insisted.

"I should have been stricter with her, Jim." her mother continued. "This is my fault. She's getting older and as she grows, so do her powers."

"Yeah, so? We knew that this would happen one day."

"But it's happening too fast, Jim. This happened because she has no control over her power. Not like I do."

"She will. Eventually. She got you as a teacher. And Tesson." Paula's father tried to reason with his lover. "Besides, you said it yourself: No matter what's going to happen, you would never do to her what they did to you. You would allow Paula to learn this stuff her own way. Are you telling me that you were wrong about-" But he didn't get much further.

"Don't you even dare to finish that sentence, Mister!" Paula's mother hissed. "I would rather cut my own head off than do to my own child what the Confederacy did to me! And you know that!"

"Then I suggest we keep this conversation for another occasion and search for Paula. A storm is approaching, I don't want her to be out here. Come on, let's find the others and coordinate our search efforts." Paula's father sighed and walked away. She didn't dare to move as she stared on the feet of her mother. She was so close. So close! It was hard to believe that even someone so powerful like her mother wasn't able to find her although she was so close. Then again, if there was one person who possessed the ability (and audacity) to hide from the most powerful Ghost in all of existence, then it had to be her very own offspring.

"Just so you know: Once we find her, she's grounded for life!" her mother snarled when she followed Paula's father.

"She doesn't age, you know that, right?"

"Shut up and walk!"

Paula didn't know how much time had passed. Sitting inside her hiding place sure wasn't the most exciting thing to do, but if you are really scared, then silence and boredom can be your best friends. The distant sound of winds howling through the ruins of Ulnar was an eerie sound, yet Paula didn't care. On the contrary, the sound of wind meant that her mother wasn't nearby. She hated bad weather and if the wind would stop blowing it usually could only mean two things: Either the weather was getting better or her mother was nearby. And since storms on this world usually lasted for days Paula knew that she was safe as long as the storm kept raging.

"Paula..." someone shouted her name. It was barely audible and Paula couldn't even say who it was that was yelling. "Paula, where are you? Please, come out! We are worried!"

But Paula was too scared.

And then the wind started to go away. And she heard footsteps. A lot of footsteps.

"Nothing?" someone asked. It was her father.

"Nothing." That voice belonged to Tesson, her teacher. "I am not sure wherever I should be worried or impressed. Paula managed to hide her tracks well. Guess it was not so smart to teach her the arts of the Nerazim."

"No, seriously?" her mother asked. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I swear, you and I will have a long talk once this is over, Tesson." Great. Paula managed to not whimper when she heard that. So she had done it again. Thanks to her actions her mother was now angry at Tesson. Good job!

"Sarah, can't you find hear? Seriously, you can bend the weather to your will, yet not even find our daughter?" Paula's father mumbled.

"Don't you think I would if I could?" her mother barked. "I can sense her...but these damn ruins keep messing with my senses. I told you that I don't like to come here. It's like being inside a house of mirrors." That's when another voice joined them.

"Your Majesty, I have informed Niadra of the situation." Izsha explained. "She has her brood searching for Paula as we speak."

"Thanks, Izsha." Sarah mumbled. "Perhaps you should go and see Joe. I think he needs you right now more than-"

"Joseph is safe right now. He will recover." Izsha cut Paula's mother short. "He already made a joke, which means that he will survive. Our daughters are with him. Paula, however, is in danger." When Paula heard that, she bit on her lip. He was safe? Uncle Joe was safe? Her happiness was cut short when the guilt took over. Yes, he was safe. But she had almost killed him. And why? Because she had used her powers like a toy.

"Very well. Let's continue the search then." her father sighed. "She has to be somewhere. Come on, people. She's just a kid. She's out there, alone. Scared." When Paula heard those words, she only wanted to crawl out of her hole and tell them how sorry she was. But she couldn't. She just couldn't.

"I'm...sorry..." she whispered and a whimper escaped her lips.

"What was that?" Tesson asked and Paula immediately gasped in shock when she realized that she had given away her position. She pressed her hands against her mouth and could feel how more tears started to stream down her face. Tears made out of pure gold...

"It came from over there." Izsha explained and that's when something big blocked the entrance to Paula's little hideout. Her eyes widened in fear when she saw how something moved down. Something big and scaly. And then...

...she could see directly into Izsha's eyes.

And Izsha was looking right at her.

Paula was too scared and ashamed to say anything. She could only shake her head. And then...

"Izsha? Is that Paula?" she could hear the hopeful voice of her father.

Please...don't tell them...Paula thought. She wasn't even trying to reach out to her mother's closest friend. Using her psionics when her mum was nearby would have been a bad idea. And yet...

"No." Izsha simply said as she looked at Paula. "Paula isn't here. It looks like this is just the nest of a Kriecher." And then the huge snakelike lady turned away. Paula felt a surge of relief and could feel how her whole body started to tremble.

"Kriecher, huh?" her father mused. "Hey, maybe we should get Moby. What if she can track Paula?"

"My sense of smell is far superior to that of your pet kriecher, James." Izsha explained with an undignified tone in her voice.

"Uhm...how? You don't have a nose." Jim mumbled.

"That you know of." Izsha simply replied. "Come, follow me. I think I know a place where she could be hiding." And then Paula listened how Izsha led the others away. Until she was finally alone again.

Alone...

When she was certain that no one was around anymore, Paula started to weep. She cried and cried and cried until she was too exhausted to go on anymore.

Perhaps that was the reason why she didn't notice how someone was approaching her little hiding hole. Until...

"Paula?" a tired and exhausted voice asked. Paula's whole body tensed up when she recognized that voice. She didn't dare to answer to that.

"Paula, I know you're in there. Izsha told me." The voice belonged to a man. A man that had been in horrible pain a while ago because of her. She didn't dare to say anything, though.

"The silent treatment, huh? Fine by me." he said and she could hear how he sat down just outside her little hiding place. "Listen, kiddo...for whatever it's worth: I'm sorry." Sorry? He was sorry? Paula was young, yes. But she wasn't stupid. She had screwed up, not him. She had tried to control Zergs, just like her mother had in all those stories they had told her. And she had failed horribly, resulting in her uncle to nearly biting the bullet.

"I know that you're probably scared right now and think that everyone's mad at you, but it wasn't your fault." her uncle continued. "If anything, then I'm to blame. I shouldn't have made those stupid jokes all the time. And I shouldn't have told you about all that Queen of Blades-stuff. It was like asking for a disaster to happen." her uncle told her. "My point is: If we adults make mistakes, then we can't expect you to be perfect." And then there was a moment of silence until...

"Wanna come out?"

"No..." Paula whispered.

"Eh', you're probably right. The weather's horrible out here. Mind if I come in?" her uncle asked.

"Actually-"

"Great! Make some room, will ya'? It's not like I'm fat or anything." Before Paula could protest, she saw how a man knelt down in front of the hole and squeezed himself through the narrow path that led to her little hideout. And he finally reached her...

"Phew. Guess I should be more careful. My innards still feel a bit wonky. But hey, at least they don't try to escape through my navel anymore." Joseph Brent said and tried to get back up, only to smash his head against the ceiling. "Agh! Son of a..." But then he bit on his lip and looked around. "Huh. Pretty nice place you got there, kiddo. Some paint on the walls, maybe a carpet. It's almost like a cave. I like people that live in caves." He then tried to sit down, even though this place wasn't made for someone of his size.

"Did you...tell my parents?" Paula whispered.

"Where you are?" Uncle Joe asked and she nodded. "No. They are currently still searching for you. Kudos, kiddo. I never thought it was possible for anyone to hide from your Mum. Or Tesson. You really know how to keep a low profile."

"I was just scared after...what I did." She looked at her uncle with wide open eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you." And her uncle? He only smiled.

"I know. I know, Paula." He raised his hand and wiped a golden tear off his niece's cheek. Maybe they weren't related by blood, but that didn't matter. They were family. Period. The weirdest family of all times, granted. But family nonetheless.

"It wasn't your fault." he told her.

"I didn't think it would end like this." Paula whined. "I thought I had it under control. I felt the larva, and it was doing exactly what I wanted it to do. And then it just suddenly...I don't know what happened. It just..."

"Saw me and thought that I looked delicious." her uncle sighed. "Yeah, Zerg dig me. Ask Izsha. Guess that was a good reminder that just because we have a crazy broodmother in the neighborhood, doesn't mean that we can do whatever we want to. Like fooling around with her larvae."

"I just wanted it to do something. I don't know what. I just..."

"You wanted to do something that your mother once did." her uncle sighed. "Something that comes up as a topic all the time, even though your mother expressively told us to keep our mouths shut. So I guess this is what you call "karma". Did I ever mention that I hate karma?"

"What is...*sniff*...what is karma?" Paula asked.

"Something that good people don't have to worry about, kiddo. So don't mind this old fart ranting about the mistakes he did." Uncle Joe sighed.

"But I hurt you." she whimpered and a warm yet exhausted smile appeared on Joe's face.

"People end up hurting people all the time. It's part of life, Paula. The real question is: Why are people doing such things. Sometimes we hurt those who are closest to us because we aren't even are of the consequences of our actions. Or because we have to hurt them in order to help them. Only if you decide to hurt someone because it makes you feel better...that's the moment when people should be mad at you." her uncle explained.

"But I hurt you..." Paula simply repeated those words like a mantra.

"And how do you feel about it? Bad? Guilty?" her uncle wanted to know.

"Yes..." Paula whispered.

"Good. That means that next time your stupid uncle tries to talk you into something, what is it you're gonna say?"

"No?"

"Good girl." Joe replied. "Paula, I want you to remember one thing: You will make mistakes. Many, many mistakes. It's what makes us people. So don't be ashamed for screwing up. Besides, you should ask your parents about that. These two are the king and queen of royally screwing things up. And I'm not even exaggerating." And then he took a deep breath. "All you should keep in mind is that if you ever encounter a situation where you screw up, or whenever you don't know what to do anymore...just ask for help."

"Okay..." the young girl whispered.

"Hey, Paula. Look at me." her uncle said and she did as she was told. "Everything will be okay. There's no reason to stay hidden."

"I'm scared." Paula whimpered.

"Of what your parents will say to you?" Joe asked and she nodded. "Well, I know as a matter of fact that they are scared as well. Scared about you. And you don't want them to be scared, right?"

"Yes..."

"So, I guess it would be a good idea to go see them. Then they wouldn't be scared anymore, right?"

"But then they will yell at me." When Joe heard that, he sighed.

"Paula, I'm pretty certain that won't happen. But tell you what, kiddo: I will go see them with you. That way we both will get yelled at. You can even hide behind me. We're in this together, yes?" There was a long moment of silence until...

"...okay."

"Good girl." her uncle said. "Now come on, let's go back home. I'm freezing my ba...toes off."

"That's not what you wanted to say, Uncle Joe."

"No, it wasn't. Ugh, I hate Thursdays. Mark my words, kiddo: Bad things only happen on Thursdays."

Even though Ulnar had been reduced to rubble a long time ago, most pieces were still so massive that they were bigger than whole mountain ranges. It was hard to really describe what Ulnar was. Or had been. Then again, it probably spoke volume that it had survived for eons until one idiot had decided to bring the saying "We break for nobody!" to a whole new level.

And that idiot was none other than Joseph Brent.

As he walked through the ruins, he had a whistle on his lips while holding Paula's hand. His niece was still visibly shaken. What he had told her was the truth: Even though she had screwed up, he was to blame. And so he swore to himself to not make the same mistake ever again.

If there was one good thing about this whole situation...

...then that Paula Kerrigan would make for a lousy Queen of Blades 2.0. Joseph was certain that a lot of people would be happy to hear that. Even though everyone who remembered the Queen of Blades was already dead...

As they were approaching a huge crack in the wall, Joe could see the beautiful sky again.

"Ah, sure nice to get out of this damn crypt. Should have smashed it even harder. But don't tell Karax that I said that, I-" That's when Paula suddenly froze and Joe looked down. "Huh? What's the matter, kiddo?" But then he saw his niece's wide-open eyes and the look of fear on her face.

"Paula, what's the matter? Are you-" That's when Paula cut him short.

"She's coming..." she whispered. "...and she's angry!" The young girl wanted to run away, yet Joe didn't allow it. He kept her hand in his grip.

"Paula! Don't be scared. Everything will be fine, you just-"

PAULA!

A bright light appeared right above them and even though Joe knew what was going on, it still had caught him off guard. Surprised, he let go of Paula's small hand, who stumbled and fell on her butt.

"Sarah, listen-" Joe started and looked away. The light was just too bright and painful to look at. However, before he could even finish his sentence an even brighter bolt of light dashed past him and engulfed the screaming kid.

"SARAH, DON'T-" he tried to reason with her. But that's when...

"You stupid, stupid girl!" the woman that was suddenly right next to him wept. She slung her arms around the scared child and pressed her against her chest. "We were worried sick! Are you hurt? Why didn't you answer when we called out for you?" Joe sighed in relief as he watched how those two looked at each other. And a tires smile appeared on his face when he noticed the look Paula's face. Apparently, there were still some tears left.

"Mommy! I'm so sorry!" she whined and pressed her face against her mother's chest. And her mother?

All Sarah Louise Kerrigan did was to hold her little girl close to her heart. As she looked up, her eyes met Joseph's.

"Thank you..." was all she said.

"Don't mention it. I guess my work here is done." And when he left, he looked over his shoulder once more, only to watch how those two were still hugging and crying.

"Heh, almost like a normal family." Joe chuckled. "Just remember kiddo: People screw up. And should you ever find yourself in trouble, don't be too ashamed to ask for help."

"What is this?!" Sirella gasped as she looked at how the skin of Bowski's belly rippled. "Is this a human thing?"

"No." Paula whispered. "No, it isn't." Dan, who was in excruciating pain, looked down. And what he saw was his own personal nightmare. Now it finally had turned into a true horror movie. It was as if his innards had developed a will of its own. Something pushed against the skin of his stomach. From the inside.

"Oh God! OH GOD! WHAT IS THIS?!" he screamed in terror.

"Seems like Stukov left a little something inside your guts without you noticing it." Paula mused.

"Wha-what are you UHNNNN...what are you...talking about?" Dan groaned. The young woman looked straight into his eyes and suddenly he saw something that he hadn't seen before...

...he saw a dead-serious Paula Kerrigan.

"You've been infested." she told him.

"In-infested? With...with what?"

"We got no time for that. Sirella! Help him back up! We have to hurry." The huge Protoss hesitated when she heard that.

"Are you sure? Perhaps we should get out of here and then-"

"No time! We have to hurry. Come on, you help Dan back up. We have to get to the lab." Paula explained.

"Lab? Paula, we don't have time to look for this. Zeratul has to wait! And besides-" Sirella started.

"AGH!" Dan gargled when something inside him started to shift and move inside his body in the most unnatural way possible.

"No more time to discuss this, Sirella! The lab, now!" Paula ordered.

"We have to help him!" her friend squealed.

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do." the young woman explained.

"How?!" Sirella asked and then she saw that determined look on Paula's face.

"By asking for help, just like my uncle once has told me." Paula told her friend.

"And who would that be?"

Before Dan lost his consciousness due to the horrible pain, he could hear one more thing.

"The one person that knows more about Zerg than anyone else. I'm gonna ask Mum for help." Paula declared.