Chapter 6- Power Outage

Matt pressed his palms against the cold glass that separated him from the vast darkness of space in utter awe and disbelief. The blonde kid that led them up here had said that this was the cafeteria and offered him food, but although he was hungry he was drawn to the large bay window that made the entire wall. He was quickly joined by the others and together they observed in silence.

Chekov hung back, setting up a file in his PADD in order to allow them a moment to adjust. He had been on the ship for a few years now, but it had never become routine to him. The wonder was never lost and even still he found himself at the very same window on nights that he couldn't sleep to look for answers among the points of light in the darkness. He squinted when the instructions from Spock came through. He read it again and shook his head, but followed his orders. "Excuse me," he interrupted quietly, "I vill need to ask your names for the ship's registry and assign quarters to you."

"Ando Masahashi" The Asian man stated turning away from the window.

Chekov nodded and spelled the man's last name as best he could guess. "And….your… ability?" He asked timidly. He had no idea what Spock meant by that, but he knew he had better get the information or else come up with a damn good excuse for why he didn't.

Ando laughed, noting the discomfort of the young man in the gold shirt. "I can supercharge the abilities of others. And I can shoot the energy from my hands if I have to."

Chekov tried to keep a straight face as he dutifully typed in Ando's response not having a clue what it all meant.

"He doesn't believe you." Matt chuckled. "He thinks you are friggin' nuts." Chekov looked up sharply from his PADD. "Matt Parkman. I can read minds." Matt laughed again and said, "No, really, I can. Who's Sulu?"

Chekov nearly dropped his PADD.

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"This isn't right." McCoy grumbled looking down at Sylar's prone body in the isolation room. The nurses had removed his wet, bloody clothing and dressed him in plain white cotton pajamas. The knife had been removed and in its place was a steady drip of a powerful drug at a dose that would kill the average human.

Noah removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. "I'm not telling you how to do your job, Doc."

"Well, thanks for that." McCoy growled.

"But I will say this," He went on completely undeterred, "if the flow of that neuroanesthetic stops and he wakes up, prepare for Hell to be unleashed. He can rip this entire ship to shreds if he wanted to. Now Peter has some of the same powers that Sylar does, but we would prefer to avoid a show down in a confined space. As long as the drug keeps him under you can go to town."

McCoy looked across the man's body at Noah in disgust. "I can't just use him like a lab rat without his consent!" He hissed. "He may be some kind of a criminal, but he still has rights."

Noah nodded. "I would normally agree with you, but we need your advanced capabilities to save them. I do not know how Nathan is doing it, but somehow he has figured out a way to neutralize their powers and kill them. If I can't understand how their powers work, I can't save them. If you can crack the mystery with him- the one who is the most evolved- then we have a chance."

McCoy hung his head. This went against everything he stood for as a doctor. He had taken an oath to do no harm, but what was the greater disservice: ignoring the rights of one or condemning an entire race of people? He looked down at the dark features of his patient. Bennet had said he had killed many times, often in cruel and inhumane ways. Even when he was defenseless he looked menacing, so it wasn't so hard to believe.

"I have talked with Peter and he has agreed to also be studied." Noah went on. "With Sylar out, you won't be able to get much data on his powers in action, although at least one works without his volition." He removed his gun from his holster and fired one round directly into Sylar's chest. Sylar reflexively jumped and coughed a spray of bright red blood that covered his lips and chin.

"What…" McCoy yelled, ears still ringing from the gun blast. "Have you lost your mind?!"

Noah ripped the hole in the shirt open wide and said, "Pull yourself together and watch or we will have to do it again." McCoy watched in amazement as the man's body rejected the spent projectile and the wound closed, not leaving so much as a scar. "I know these people better than they know themselves," Noah stated in a low voice, "I know what they can and cannot do. I am telling you that Peter and Sylar are the strongest of them and they can take whatever you got. I brought a geneticist who is familiar with them as well. Hopefully he can be of assistance."

McCoy wiped away the blood from Sylar's mouth and placed the slug in a specimen jar. "So what is it you do?" He asked with a squint. "What is your power?"

"I don't have one." Noah admitted sliding the gun back into its shoulder holster.

"Then why get involved?" The doctor continued. "Why do you care if their species dies out?"

Noah looked McCoy directly in the eye and with utter conviction answered, "Because my daughter is one of them. She is the reason both Peter and Sylar have the ability to rapidly heal."

McCoy noted the raw emotion in his voice and asked, "Were you able to bring her aboard?"

"No." Noah sighed placing his hands on his hips. "She is still back…then… I guess. I tried to contact her, but I was unsuccessful."

McCoy placed the specimen jar on a nearby tray and took a deep breath. "I have a little girl myself," he admitted, "and if I thought for one second that she was in danger there is no corner of Hell I wouldn't scour to get her back."

It seemed that this kind of honesty wasn't normal for the salty doctor, which made it all the more real. Noah had planned on going back once everyone was safe, but he could tell that Hiro needed to rest. He had already asked too much of him as it was. The men took leave of Sylar and McCoy personally instructed the charge nurse to not let anyone near him unless it was to replace the IV drip. They joined Spock, Peter, and Jim in McCoy's office.

"Believe me now, Bones?" Jim gently ribbed.

"If I may make a suggestion," Spock interjected, "it may be premature to advise Starfleet of our guest's arrival. I think it would be best for all if we delayed notification until we can better ascertain the situation."

"I agree." McCoy sighed. "I think we should wait. If Starfleet knew what they could do, they may want to take them back to the Academy. I think they should stay here where we…" he glanced up at Peter and noted his dismayed expression, "…they can have more control over what they participate in."

"Ok." Jim nodded folding his arms across his chest. "That makes sense. I won't breathe a word to Starfleet until we have some definitive data. In the meantime, I will have my staff show you to your quarters and get you started on our databases tomorrow to try to figure out what happened."

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Hiro wandered the brightly lit, slightly curved hallways aimlessly in search of the cafeteria. Peter had told him that was where everyone was waiting, including his friend Ando. He would have thought that there would be signs posted along the way to direct him, but so far the only thing he had noticed were a few people dressed like the two men in the bar. His face lit up when he noted another Asian face- the first he had seen since his arrival.

Sulu had spent most of his day prepping the ship for its eventual take-off. It was tedious work, a checklist really, and he was glad to be done with it. Things had actually been rolling along until his friend Chekov had been called away for some other duty in the transporter room and he was left to finish the job by himself. He made a mental note to ask Chekov what was so important over dinner when he came upon an unfamiliar face. "Are you lost?" He asked curiously as it was obvious the man had no idea where he was.

"Kon'nichi wa" Hiro greeted with a deep bow befitting someone he had never met before. "I am looking for cafeteria." He carefully annunciated.

Sulu smiled and gave a slight bow in return. He hadn't observed that particular custom in ages and he wondered where the odd man had come from. "Yeah, 10 forward. I am going there myself, you can follow me if you want." He replied slowly. It was apparent that English was not the man's first language and that was strange given how close to Earth they were. "I'm Sulu." He added.

"Hiro Nakamura." The man said with another bow as they walked. "It is very nice to meet you."

As they waited for a turbolift, Sulu tried to make small talk. "So, Hiro, what brings you to the Enterprise?"

"I came with other special people. Our time is not safe. Jim Kirk let us stay." The man replied pushing his glasses up on his face.

"Okaaay." Sulu sighed looking straight ahead. It would just figure that Jim would have his hands in some strange event. "So, special, huh?"

"Yes. I can bend time and space." He replied with confidence. He could tell by the way Sulu looked to the side and pursed his lips as he nodded that he didn't believe him. "I will show you." Hiro placed his hand on Sulu's shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut tight, but nothing happened. He tried again, but when he opened his eyes, Sulu was looking at him in complete confusion. He tried once more, but this time a sharp pain in his head sent him to his knees and he could feel blood flowing from his nose in a steady stream.

"Hiro?" Sulu called kneeling beside him. "Are you ok? Hiro?" He sounded so far away. "Sulu to Medical. I need assistance on deck 8 by the lift."