Robert's efforts at meditation were not working out as he wanted. The anger would not fade, nor the temptations of the power within it. The pain in his head from his efforts to shield Julia, to protect her mind from whatever device or being was attacking it, was making it harder to focus. And with the pain he sensed her in, pain he could only partially absorb for her, a deep, desperate need to get to her side now filled him, in defiance of all other considerations.

With that desperate need came the dark thoughts again. Against Fassbinder and his troops, and his Cylon allies, they would need a lot of power to prevail. Even now he felt the sense that Fassbinder was preparing for them. A trap was being laid, a trap that they had no choice but to spring if they were to get Julia back. To deal with all of that, he needed to be at his best. He needed the power to break them down and…

He cried out in frustration, at the situation and himself. He knew what that power was, why he should never touch it. How corrupting it was. He thought of how he'd described it to Zara Tam and Husn Maina and the other Psi Corps children on Tau Atrea, about how corruptive and toxic it was to the spirit. What good would it do for Julia if he stopped being who he was? How much would he hurt her and the others if he abandoned what they believed in?

Again a small treacherous voice, laced with fear and need, whispered in his being as the sensation of electrical shock gnawed at him. That harm is nothing compared to what she suffers now.

Slowly he realized the door chime was going off, repeatedly and insistently. His first impression was that Meridina was coming back to scold him, or otherwise try to deal with him. Maybe even to put him to sleep, to save him from these dark thoughts before they tempted him over a line he couldn't return from. But after a moment he could sense it wasn't her. It was another.

The door slid open without him authorizing it. Robert looked up, surprise and some anger on his expression, and he watched Leo walk in, wearing his blue-trimmed medical uniform with a white lab coat over it. Leo's dark skin softly reflected the lighting of Robert's quarters. There was a hint of stubble on his chin. Robert could guess Leo was just finished dealing with the casualties from the General Iroh that the Aurora medbay was asked to handle.

"I didn't actually invite you in," Robert pointed out.

"No. But given my scan of your vitals showed elevated pain indicators, I consider my medical override justified," Leo said. He sat down on the simple couch beside where Robert was seated on the floor and looked down at his friend. His eyes reflected what Robert sensed in Leo's being: compassion, worry, the need to heal that was integral to Leo's heart and soul. "Everyone's worried about you."

"So this is the first step in an intervention?" Robert asked.

"More like I'm the only one who's not busy with something related to getting Julia back," Leo answered. "So it falls on me to help you."

Robert said nothing. A grimace came to his face as he felt the pain escalate.

"Well, that's something I never thought I'd see," Leo said, glancing at his medical omnitool's scan display. "Your body's showing signs of responding to, I don't know, some kind of electrical discharge." A sour look came to his face. "It's how they're torturing her, I guess?"

"Yeah," answered Robert, his voice hollow. "It is."

Leo took in a breath and nodded. "Yeah. I've seen the results of SS handiwork before." He leaned over in the seat and pressed a hand to Robert's shoulder. "It's bad enough that you're already in torment from the worry over her. Having to feel that, to know for certain how they're treating her…"

"It's not just that. I'm… I'm using our connection to shield her," he said. "To try and alleviate the pain." His fists clenched. The charge was being increased on the other end, and through his connection Robert was feeling it acutely. He groaned lowly before continuing. "I owe it to her to help her, Leo. I'm the reason she's there," Robert said. "I could've gone to her on New Liberty. I could've helped her get away."

"And left Beth to die instead?"

"She wouldn't have. Colin and Max would've saved her, just as they did with me there," Robert said.

"Are you so sure of that?" Leo asked patiently, keeping a nervous eye on Robert's vitals. He didn't pretend to understand this metaphysical stuff, but everything on his instruments told him Robert was being subjected to painful electrical shock. "Fassbinder's people probably kept in contact with him. And I know your metaphysical abilities let you sense each other. If he'd sensed you going after her instead of coming to him, do you really think he'd have waited that long?"

Leo's question brought silence from Robert. He thought the answer over and found only a vexing uncertainty.

"Rob, Julia knows how to take care of herself. Beth, well, she does to an extent as well, but you knew she needed that help. That without you coming, she would have died. Julia had a chance to get away. It didn't work out for her. But that's not your fault."

"I've had dreams for two years," Robert said. "Dreams of New Liberty burning. Of Julia being held as a prisoner. I… I had them the night before we launched the 33LA mission, Leo. The mistake I made… this wouldn't have happened if I…"

"That's all the past. Might-have-beens. I have them myself, you know."

Robert nodded, sensing in Leo the memory of a frail, leukemia-stricken boy of barely ten years of age. "Joshua Marik."

"Yeah."

"But it's not just a might-have-been. I should have realized something was wrong," Robert insisted. "I should have seen this coming!"

"And you think that your dreams would be proof enough to get the Alliance to mobilize?" Leo asked. "You really think even Maran could force that through?"

Robert shook his head. He winced again from the pain sensations filling him.

"Listen, I get it," Leo continued. "This… this power you've got. It makes you feel responsible. Makes you think there's something more you could, you should, do. But you're still just Human, Rob. There are some things you can't see coming. Things you can't stop. And dwelling over it, that's not going to help Julia, man."

Leo was right. Of course he was. Robert knew it, he accepted it, but it didn't change the hurt. Not just the torture he sensed and tried to divert, but the hurt inside. The fear. "I can't lose her," he said. "God help me, I can't. She's… she's been a part of my life, a part of me, I can't lose her too." As he spoke he felt the pain recede. He breathed out in relief and wiped at the sweat coating his forehead and face.

"Your vitals are improving," Leo said. "The pain indicators are gone. They stopped."

"For now." Robert swallowed. "Whatever happens, Leo, we have to save her. I don't think I can endure it if she..."

"We'll get that shot," Leo assured him, his answer keeping Robert from considering the alternative. "Just get your head straight first. She can't lose you either, you know."

Robert's reaction was a laugh choked by a sniffle. "Leo, I love her."

"On the 'No Duh' scale, that's an 11 out of 10," Leo responded. "I always find it funny that the two of you seem determined not to hook up."

"We don't want romance to interfere," Robert replied. "All of the emotions that come from it."

"I think I get it." Leo nodded and clapped him on the shoulder.

"I'm scared. Oh God, I'm scared. For her. For what Fassbinder's doing to her. He's killing her inch by inch, drawing it out just to make her suffer."

"That's the kind of man he is, for lack of a better term," said Leo.

"What if he takes her away before we get there?" Robert asked openly. "What… what if he kills her instead of letting us rescue her…?"

"What if he doesn't, and we get her back safe and sound?" Leo shook his head. "Don't let it beat you up on the inside, Rob. Just do what you can, and we'll do the same, and God willing, Julia'll be back in her ready office clucking away like the mother hen she is."

Despite everything, Robert chuckled at that. Tears still flowed down his face. "Yeah. She does have to be the mother hen. Look out for us."

"We look out for each other. It's how it's always been."

As Robert nodded in wordless reply, Leo's words soothed his spirit. He felt the fear and attendant anger recede away gently, replaced by a cautious confidence. With it went the temptation to tap the dark power within that anger. "Thanks, Leo," he said quietly. "For looking out for me."

"You're welcome," Leo replied. "Now, as your physician, I recommend you get a hearty meal from the Lookout. Whatever this is you're doing to help Julia, your body needs the calories to keep it up."

Upon return to her cell, a return she knew would likely be short, Julia laid still on the ground, looking into the opposite cell. Miko sat up and looked at her, despair in the young woman's face. Fatigue set in and Julia's brain, desperately in need of sleep, pulled her into that sleep.

It didn't last, not with the way she felt. When Julia opened her eyes again, Miko was no longer facing her, but rather facing to the side, sitting in a meditative pose like before with her eyes closed and a concentrated look on her face.

Before Julia could speak, blue light formed around Miko. It formed from her, like a fog, and flowed away. A short distance from her it coalesced into a human figure, seated similarly to Miko with legs folded. This time it was a woman with dark brown skin and brown hair. She was in a sleeveless suit of light blue color with white trim lines, a brown animal skin wrapped around the waist of a pair of baggy blue trousers. Blue eyes focused on Miko on the face of someone just on the cusp of middle age, not old, but with the energy of youth tempered by years of hard-earned experience. With her skin color, and the thick muscle of her bared arms, the woman reminded Julia of Angel. There was a gentle softness in the voice that spoke. "Hello, Miko."

"Avatar Korra," said Miko. Her eyes opened. "I… I need your advice."

"Of course." The holographic figure nodded.

"I've talked to Avatar Komin, and he was helpful, but you… you've actually faced this too," Miko said. Her voice cracked and tears formed in her eyes. "I've been taken prisoner. They've made it so I can't bend without hurting myself, and… and I don't know what's going to happen." Miko sniffled. "And… and they've hurt me… and I'm scared. I'm scared I won't be strong enough to get away. I won't see my family and friends again."

The image nodded. "I know what that's like," said Korra. "It's okay to be scared."

"But… but how do I fight it?" Miko asked, almost pleading. "I've never been so scared in my life, but if I'm going to get away, if I'm going to help our world fight this new enemy, I have to be stronger than this. I have to get away!"

"Yes. And to do that, you have to accept your fear. Don't try to hold it down or avoid it. Face it, and then let it go. Do that, and you'll be ready to act when your time comes."

"But without my bending…"

Korra smiled thinly. "I've been there too. It's scary, I know. Without it, it makes you feel helpless. After all, it's part of who we are as the Avatar. When I thought I'd lost my bending, it felt like the whole world was ending." The look in her eyes hardened. "And while it was hard, I accepted it. It helped me, in the end. Your situation isn't the same as mine, but what hasn't changed is that bending doesn't actually make us what we are. It's something deeper than that. You can still fight back, Miko, and find a way out." The image's head turned toward her, and Julia got the sense that whatever this being was, she was not unnoticed. "For you and your friend."

Miko glanced Julia's way. Noticing she was awake, Miko sighed with relief.

"You're not alone in this, Miko," Korra continued. "You've got a friend here, and those who care about you will be coming to help you. Don't hold onto the fear. Face it and let it pass. Believe in yourself, pick your moment to strike, and you'll get home." The gentle smile returned. "Good luck to you both."

The image dissipated back into fog, which thinned until there was nothing left.

"What was that?" Julia asked. "Who?"

"Avatar Korra," replied Miko. "My past life, two lifetimes ago."

"So you really reincarnate…?"

"Yes and no. It's… complicated. We're all bound together by Raava, a powerful Spirit of Light. When one Avatar dies, Raava joins with another in the next nation in the chain, and the connection links us to those past lives. But we're not the same individual each time. Each life is different."

The entire idea was both strange and, in a true use of the word, wonderful. Julia found it astounding even considering all of the other strange and "out there" things she'd seen since the opening of the Multiverse.

"I'm trying to be strong," said Miko. "But I still don't know how we'll get out of this. I can't bend, and with everything they've done to you, you can't even stand. How are we going to fight back?"

"We'll make it work. Trust me on that," Julia urged. "Just be patient and wait for our moment."

Miko almost asked what she meant, but held back at the familiar distant sound of approaching steps. She gave Julia a knowing look as the two guards returned. One opened Julia's cell and the other reached in to force her to her feet.

A little flicker of anticipation built in Miko as she watched Julia's aquamarine eyes. While her face showed weariness and misery, her eyes were busy examining her guards. As Julia was carried off, Miko thought back and realized that was how Julia's eyes always seemed to look.

And despite everything, that thought brought a small smile to Miko's face.

Everyone on the Koenig was ready for action when Jean Hajar disengaged the attack ship's warp drives. From her station, newly-minted Lieutenant Commander Magda Navaez, the Colombian-born operations officer and First Officer of the ship, checked the sensor readings. "SS vessels are in orbit over the fourth planet of the solar system," she said aloud. "It looks like a garden world, Class E, just inside the outer limit of the habitable band."

Zack nodded. "What else can you tell me?"

"Not much from here. An exotic power signature indicates a settlement or base of some sort on the surface of the planet, northern hemisphere. I'm detecting transporter activity between the two."

"What kind?" he asked.

Magda checked and double-checked before answering, "Outgoing. Almost entirely outgoing."

Zack gripped the arms of his chair tightly. "They're evacuating," he said.

"It appears so."

"Get the Aurora on the tight-beam," he said. "They need to hear and see this."

In the conference lounge of the Aurora, everyone looked at the holo-image above the center of their table. The Koenig's systems actively relayed to them the sight of SS ships in orbit. Innsbruck and Calypso-class vessels were the only visible types.

The same image, courtesy of the omnitools of Talara and Lucy, was also displayed on the vidmonitor in the wardroom of the General Iroh, where Ursa and the Iroh's official commander, Captain Saizen, were seated with their officers and Komin Beifong. "This energy trace you are seeing," Ursa was saying. "It is more of the teleportation technology?"

"It is," Cat said. "Definite beaming activity. Not too heavy, but constant."

"And it's all going one way," noted Zack over the line. "They're evacuating."

"Then we're out of time," Angel said. "We need to attack now."

"Admiral Maran's response fleet has yet to completely gather," Meridina said. "He requires another ten hours, minimum."

"We don't have ten hours," Zack insisted. "We may not even have ten minutes! If we're getting Julia back, we have to strike now."

"We do have some time," Robert murmured, his face pale and flushed. Sweat glistened on his brow and he looked very much distracted.

"How do… right." Cat stopped herself and swallowed. "They're… torturing her?"

Robert nodded quietly. "Yeah. I can feel it, and I'm shielding her from it as much as I can. Fassbinder's not pulling out right now if he's busy hurting her."

The others gave him looks that ranged from incredulous to worried. The same went for their new allies.

"I don't think he's taken Miko either. I don't feel like he has," Lucy added. "We still have some time."

"This feels like a trap," Locarno said. "They have to know we're coming. Maybe we should wait for reinforcements."

Robert and Lucy nodded in agreement. Lucy said, "It's definitely a trap."

"We have not heard from Yeshe yet about whether she's gotten help," Komin said. "So we can't promise any."

"Maran may not agree to committing what he has without knowing the extent of the enemy force," Meridina said.

"What if we were to send in the Jayhawk and Gonzales?" asked Major Anders. "Use Marine teams to infiltrate and sabotage their base and retrieve the prisoners."

"We don't know what kind of systems they may have monitoring the planet," Lucy said. "If they pick up either or both ships trying to slip into the atmosphere, we'll be sitting ducks without the big ships to cover us. And we have to enter the system anyway, the Jayhawk's warp drive is still offline due to our damage at Toutaine."

"Not that it would matter. They have to see us on their long range sensors by now, so if we stop outside of the system they'll suspect we're sending in insertion teams," Jarod added.

"So let's spring the trap first," Robert suggested, distracted as he was. "Then when we can see what they've got in reserve, we call in reinforcements or withdraw if they're too much for what Maran has ready."

"And if their forces are too strong for the reinforcements you would summon?" asked Ursa. "The enemy's evacuation could be accelerated after we withdrew. They will take your friend and my daughter..."

"That's why we use the arrival and withdrawal to sneak the teams in," Robert said. His voice was hoarse from effort, a wince almost permanent on his face. "While their attention is diverted to the Aurora and General Iroh."

"I will be joining you," Ursa said. "Captain Saizen will command the Iroh."

"Of course," Robert said. "We'll go in with our best. Myself, you, Lucy, Gina" - he glanced to her, Gina nodding in acknowledgement from her corner seat - "Talara, Komin, Yeshe if she's awake, and one of Major Anders' Marine platoons. If you want some of your Marines too, we'll bring them along."

"What do you suggest, we beam straight to the secondary shuttle bay upon arrival?" Lucy asked.

"Exactly. We take both ships in and we get our people out. Anders, your platoon will cover our mission by going for their command center. There could be valuable intel we could gain if we take control of their systems."

"Understood," said Anders.

"We have a plan," Meridina noted. "Let us enact it, and trust in the Light to aid us."

After everyone was gone, Robert and Meridina were left alone. She gave him a sympathetic look. "I am reminded of our mission to the DMZ, in the hunt for the Mayala."

Robert nodded. "When you sensed the torturing of those Maquis by Gul Evek and his Obsidian Order lackey."

"And you offered to link minds with me. To share my discomfort."

"And we ended up broadcasting it across this ship and to the Enterprise."

"Yes." Meridina nodded. "It was then that I knew what you could be. And now here you are, sensing the pain and suffering just as I did, and trying to alleviate it."

Robert nodded. Inside he felt pain in his head. Much of his attention was diverted to Julia, to maintaining the construct around her mind to shield it. But he had enough presence of thought to say, "I'm sorry for the harsh things I said earlier. I know this can't be easy on you. Having to focus on duty and not giving time for your grief. I'm so sorry about Gersal."

"Thank you." Meridina nodded gently. "Although your words were harsh, they were not untrue. I was not facing my feelings."

"I've been letting myself stew in mine, and in the darkness of it all." Robert shook his head. "I… I could feel myself slipping to that. A little voice in my head telling me that I needed to wield those dark powers if I was going to save Julia. I still feel it a bit. It's so easy with that power."

"Indeed. Which is why we must never use it. It is too easy. And it does nothing but destroy."

"Yeah. I'll hold it back. For Julie's sake as much as my own. She'd… never accept me if I turned into someone or something like that."

Meridina nodded in acknowledgement and agreement. "I am hopeful of her recovery. Being a captain of a vessel is not a thing I have ever considered as an outcome for my life. I am not certain I wish it. Truthfully, there are times I would prefer being Chief of Security. The role is closer to what I wish to do."

"And you miss being on the away missions," Robert noted. He inclined his head toward her. "I'm not surprised." His left hand went to his forehead unconsciously, as if to banish the pain he felt there from his shielding of Julia. "I miss it. Sometimes," he admitted to Meridina. "Being Captain, I mean. But this was what Julia was meant to do this entire time. She probably should've been the Captain of the Aurora from the first day."

"She is quite capable. Among our many personal reasons, this makes it vitally important that we rescue her."

"That's the plan." Robert checked the time. "I have things to get done before we launch. It's going to be hard enough with…" The wince on his face finished that thought for him.

"Of course," said Meridina.

"And I've got a stop first, something that I need done before we leave."

Meridina wondered just what he meant. Then she picked up on the thought with his intention and smiled gently in recognition. "Yes, of course. Let me know if you need assistance."

"I will."

Once again in the Aurora Chair, Julia felt her mind slip deep into memories, the pain sloughing away and becoming, for lack of a better term, bearable. She was back on the Aurora in the first months of their time on the ship, before encountering the Nazis' home universe, before all of this started.

Those memories led her further on to before the war.. To the day they saved the Tikvah. She was in the ready room office beside the bridge, still just the First Officer, arguing with Robert for his dangerous decision to risk the ship to save everyone. She told him to save the ship even if it meant leaving her behind.

"If that day ever comes, Robby... if you ever have to leave me behind to save everyone else, and the bad guys take me and... start hurting me." She swallowed and closed her eyes. "I want you to forgive yourself."

"I won't be able to.".

"Let me finish. Forgive yourself. Focus on your job. Because I won't give them a thing. And no matter what they do to me, I'll know one thing." Julia pulled him into a hug and talked directly into his ear. "I'll know you're coming for me, okay? That you're going to save me. Just as I'd save you. Because we'd all do that for each other."

Although in her state she didn't see or hear it, the conversation played out over the chair's viewer. Fassbinder observed with mounting frustration. He thought he could sense something in her, something shielding her mind from the pain and the machine itself. This aggravation was infuriating.

That same feeling prompted him to have the chair shut down again. He leaned in and frowned into Julia's aquamarine eyes. "You believe he is coming for you? That he will get to you and bring you away from this place? I look forward, then, to showing you his final moments. To destroying him and everyone else you love. And I will make you watch."

For a brief moment Julia considered taunting him. But she reconsidered. This eventuality was why Maran sent them for training back in the time before the Alliance finished forming. Engaging with her captor would violate that training. "Andreys, Julia Megan," she said. "Captain. Serial Number…" She stopped speaking when Fassbinder's hand smacked her on the mouth. Once his hand was away, she continued, "Bravo Zero Zero Zero Three One Zero One Hotel One Echo Four."

Fassbinder scowled at her. He recognized her defiance for what it was, pitting their wills against one another's, and he was not about to accept defeat on the matter.

"When your friends are here, I will bring you here to watch them die, and enjoy the torment that will bring." He looked to her guards. "Return her to the cell!"

The guards took her away. Julia said nothing, gave no resistance, as she was again taken back to the cells. When they arrived her eyes remained on them.

One of the guards responded by punching her in the stomach. Julia went down with a groan, doubling over until the two threw her into her cell. They exchanged remarks in German while stomping away, leaving Julia and Miko alone again.

Miko glared at them as they went. When they were gone, she looked across to where Julia was laying on the ground. "Are you okay?" she asked, more out of habit than expecting any positive answer.

Julia looked up at her. A satisfied smile came to her face. "Better," she said. "Be ready."

Miko almost asked what for, but the look on Julia's face was answer enough to that.