Chapter 17- Eureka!
Peter started his quest in the only place that made sense to him: his apartment in New York. He stopped off for a shower and a change of clothes primarily, but his intent was to try to track down Claire and the sensible thing to do was to start by calling her. As he dried his hair, he checked his answering machine and was surprised that between it and his voicemail for his cell phone he had missed a total of 13 calls- overwhelmingly from Nathan of all people.
One of Nathan's last messages gave him pause. "Pete, I haven't seen you in awhile and I thought we might spend some time together. Why don't you see if you can get some time off and we can go to the cabin by the lake. Let me know. Bye."
To a casual listener, it sounded like a nice invitation from a close brother, but to Peter it set off alarm bells. That was code speak from Nathan that translated to "Run!" The cabin he was referring to was an actual place that his family owned, but he used to play hide and seek with Nathan there growing up and it was considered a safe place. In this case, Nathan was telling him to seek safety in a metaphorical sense.
Peter cautiously glanced out the windows, but didn't notice anything strange. But then again, what passed for strange in his neighborhood set the bar pretty high. Still, he hurried to finish dressing while he dialed Nathan's number. "Hello?" Came a woman's voice that caught Peter off guard.
"Uh….I'm sorry." He stammered slowly. "I think I have the wrong number."
"Peter?!" The voice cried with joy. "Is that you?"
A smile crept across his face when the voice registered. "Hey, Claire."
"Pete?!" Came Nathan's voice. The abrupt change startled him as well as the urgency it contained. "Pete, where are you?"
"New York." He answered trying to balance the phone with his shoulder as he put on his shoes. He still didn't trust his brother enough to give him anything but a vague description of his location.
"Jesus, Pete! You have to get out of there! Your apartment is under surveillance and it is only a matter of time before they find you!" Nathan hissed as though he should have known all along. Peter wanted to curtly tell him that he had spent the last few days far in the future onboard a starship, so he hadn't really been keeping up with the news lately. "You can't let them get you. Remember your class trip your junior year? Wouldn't it be nice to do it all again?" He asked cryptically.
Peter thought about it and hesitantly replied, "I guess." The truth was that his junior trip was the worst he had ever experienced. He had contracted malaria in a zone where it wasn't supposed to exist in Mexico. It was the sickest he had ever been in his life and Nathan had to come and get him to take him home after almost 10 days alone writing in pain in what passed for a hospital. Having a fever in 100 degree heat was his conceptualization of Hell and it was a miracle that the unsanitary conditions didn't get him before the malaria did. When he was released into Nathan's custody (after a sizable donation for 'care' that he didn't actually receive) he was 22 pounds lighter and pale, but glad for it all to be over. No, he really didn't want to do it all again but at least this time he wouldn't be taken down by a stupid mosquito- his regenerative ability would see to that.
"Great. Well, we will have to meet up sometime." Nathan said cheerily.
It amazed Peter how well Nathan could pretend in the most stressful of circumstances. He for one didn't have the desire or the talent required and that was why he was a paramedic and Nathan was a politician. "Yeah. See you around." Peter said quickly as he noticed the sound of many footsteps shuffling up the staircase in the hallway. He hung up and had just enough time to grab his coat and disappear when men dressed in black busted down his door, weapons drawn.
Spock and McCoy stopped by Mohinder's lab when they noticed a light had been left on. They found the obviously exhausted and disheveled scientist staring blankly at the PADD Chekov had given him.
"Even doctors need rest once in awhile." McCoy said grimly leaning against a counter. It was completely hypocritical of him, but it was almost an inside joke between all doctors.
"Yes, I know." Mohinder laughed as he snapped to attention and rubbed his eyes. "I was hoping that in the future there would be supercharged caffeine readily available."
"Sorry to disappoint you." McCoy smirked. "Any luck yet?"
"The crew upstairs had apparently found a connection between a secret project that is related to our disappearance, but I can't see how that could be. All of this information is just standard genetic mapping. If there is a smoking gun among this data, I am failing to see it." He sighed despondently.
"May I?" Spock asked politely gesturing to the PADD.
"Knock yourself out." Mohinder replied handing it to him.
"Your euphemisms are a never ending source of amusement, but I hope it will not come to that." He mused looking over the diagrams.
"Don't pay him any mind." McCoy growled rolling his eyes. "Trying to joke with him is like complimenting a computer. He can't help it he is missing the gene for humor. Damn Vulcan."
"On the contrary, Doctor. I do understand your 'jokes' as you call them. The problem lies not with my comprehension, but with your inability to make them comical in the first place." Spock retorted calmly.
Mohinder thought it impolite to laugh, but he was amazed when he realized that Spock may not have been entirely human. Despite his different appearance, most notably his pointed ears, he didn't even consider the possibility of such evolved life forms on other planets. It just seemed like another branch in the evolutionary tree to have pointed eared humans if evolved humans existed. "You are from another planet, Mr. Spock?" He asked in awe. "Forgive me, but that is an incredible step for science. It would be unthinkable in my time."
"Indeed." Spock agreed. He saw no need to elaborate since he felt his response covered both of Mohinder's statements. "Human genetics are slightly different than those of Vulcans…"
"That is an understatement." McCoy scoffed. "I still have no idea how in the hell you are put together."
"However," Spock continued without the slightest acknowledgement of McCoy's grievance, "it would appear that the diagram and accompanying materials focus on one particular region of the X chromosome. Is there any significance to this region?"
Mohinder took back the PADD and looked over the diagram again. "Well, in general terms it is the pseudoautosomal region. It is found on both the X and Y chromosomes. It is thought that it is responsible for normal development and it resistant to x-inactivation in the case of females where two X chromosomes are present." As soon as the words left his lips it all began to make sense. "That's it!" He cried excitedly. "The pseudoautosomal region of the X chromosome. X-PAR!"
McCoy raised his eyebrows in appreciation, but Spock remained stoic as usual even though the scientist in him was jumping for joy as well. "And what is the implication of this discovery in light of evolved humans?" He inquired.
"Well, I am not certain, but if I were to guess I would say that this area was being targeted because every human has at least 1 X chromosome from the mother which eliminates sex-linked contamination. If this region is responsible for normal human development, then that is likely where I will find the mutation I am looking for! Perhaps the project was to somehow disrupt this mutation or change the sequence, but either way it would be an ingenious way to neutralize an ability. If you can change the genetic code at the cellular level, you can change an entire person." His voice trailed off in wonder at the possibilities.
Hiro and Ando wandered the halls of the Enterprise looking for Peter. His behavior at dinner was worrisome and Hiro thought the polite thing to do was to check on him one last time to ensure that he was not in need of any assistance before turning in for the night.
"He said he was just tired." Ando sighed. "I think he just wants to be left alone."
"And I will- after I know he is ok." Hiro persisted.
"He is fine." Ando countered. "He can heal, remember? He can't be sick and being sleepy never killed anyone."
"It is the honorable thing to do." His friend replied in the flat tone that clearly indicated that the conversation was now over. Ando rolled his eyes because it was hopeless and he knew it.
The two stood outside of Peter's door, but got no answer. Hiro furrowed his brow and Ando took the opportunity to point out the obvious. "Maybe he is in the bathroom. Or maybe he is sleeping!"
"No. Something is not right." Hiro observed. "I just know it."
"Did he teach you to read minds?" Ando taunted.
The conversation quickly died, however, when Sylar emerged from his room with a dark expression on his face. He gave only a passing glance at the two men until Hiro called, "Do you know where Peter is?"
Sylar stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to face the odd little man. "How the hell should I know?" He asked bitterly. "Am I his keeper or something?"
"No." Hiro stammered. "I just thought you may know." He gestured to the proximity of their rooms as an explanation.
Sylar followed and quickly added "Well I don't, nor do I care."
When he was out of sight Ando whispered, "We need to find Peter."
Luckily, a friendlier face appeared from around the corner. Jim looked over his shoulder in the direction Sylar had gone and shook his head. He still thought this might be the biggest mistake of his career and if he thought the last meeting with Starfleet brass was bad, he could just imagine what being called on the carpet for this would be like.
"Mr. Kirk!" Hiro called cheerily.
Jim put his hands on his hips and sighed deeply. "It's Jim." He reminded. Why was that so hard for people to understand? It wasn't like 'Jim' was a particularly hard name to remember.
"Do you know where Peter is?" Ando asked cutting to the chase.
"Not off hand." Jim admitted with a frown. "But we can ask the computer." The men followed him to a black panel in the wall and watched with glee as he asked in an authoritative voice, "Computer, what is the location of Peter Petrelli?"
"Peter Petrelli left the ship at 1822." The computer replied in a pleasant voice.
"Left? Where did he go?" Hiro asked worried.
"Unless he knows how to fly a shuttlecraft, probably back to get Noah's daughter." Jim shrugged.
Ando and Hiro looked at each other in sheer horror.
Sulu walked with Uhura and Chekov to the rec room where they could blow off some steam before calling it a night. "God that was stressful." Sulu sighed strapping on his fencing equipment. "I was sure that he could read my thoughts every time he looked at me. I spent dinner thinking about ponies, rainbows and flowers. If he was reading my thoughts he probably thinks I am a fruitcake."
"Better that than knowing what will happen to him, or could happen, or…" Uhura trailed off. "The whole time travel thing sure messes with your head, doesn't it? Just because something can happen, does it mean it will?"
"Vhat do you mean?" Chekov asked twirling his fencing sword.
"I mean if he somehow does go back, is his fate set in stone? What if one small thing happens like he waits to cross the street and by doing so avoids his brother by a fraction of a second? Will he just die some other way immediately or will he live for years?" She clarified as she stretched in preparation for a bout of kickboxing with a punching bag.
"I do not know, but if you remember Mr. Spock said that our lives had changed because of the Narada moving in time. Ve do not know in vhat vay they changed, but they did. It makes sense that the evolved humans coming has also changed them again, but ve vill never know how." Chekov shrugged.
"That kind of sucks." Sulu observed with a frown. "What if I made some awesome discovery and changed the field of botany but because they came that future no longer exists?"
"Or what if you were killed in an accident two days from now, but they prevented it?" Uhura countered. "We can't be upset about a future we will never know. They may be able to see the future, but we can't. We just have to live our lives one day at a time."
"Sounds good to me." Chekov smiled.
"You always agree with her!" Sulu laughed. "Probably because you know she can kick your ass."
"She vould have to catch me first and I can run wery fast for a wery long time." He replied as he prepared to face off with his friend.
"You have to sleep sometime." Uhura warned with a smile landing a hard punch on her bag.