CHAPTER 63 – OMMISSIONS

She stood, waiting for the others to leave the meeting. The weapon was almost ready and would be tested tomorrow morning on the mainland, deciding to go straight for the larger rift as this was the only place that humans appeared to have been successful in getting through. They had discussed taking Carlie with them, in case she was required to activate the portal in some way and while Gina had registered instant opposition, she was immediately shut down by Sam with a stern look. The girl was an integral part of their plan and like it or not, she would be a part of the solution.

John remained seated and she knew that he had somehow discovered what she had chosen to keep hidden for now. He pushed roughly out of his seat now and prowled toward her like a panther, eyes menacing, posture tense. She told herself that she was not afraid of him, that he would never hurt her, not really... but the look in his eyes had her backing up against the wall until he stood directly in front of her.

Instinctively her hand reached down to cradle her stomach and his eyes followed the movement.

"John..." she began, and her eyes pleaded with him to understand.

"Dont. Make. Excuses." He ground it out and she knew that he was holding himself in check as she saw his fist curl automatically. He wanted to hit out at something, but knew instinctively that it would not be her. Not John. Especially not after what she had already been through with one man.

He saw the shift in her eyes as she registered his curled fist and saw the flicker of fear that she thought she had controlled and felt shame. Immediately. Hot and intense. How dare he make this woman feel threatened by him physically. After what that bastard had done to her? How dare he make that look come into her eyes. Never again.

He stood back from her, putting distance between the two of them and dropped his head, raking his hand through his hair. He debated simply leaving the room. Dealing with this another time when he had had time to process it. But couldn't.

She remained silent. Waiting for him to speak again, once he had control of himself.

"How long have you known?" There was less anger in his voice now and for that she was grateful.

"Since we found Carlie. Carson found out when he ran the tests after he brought me back from the mainland. I chose not to say anything, against the better judgement of Carson and Sam I might add. This is on me alone John."

"Two weeks – you've carried this around on your own for two weeks? Damn it Gina – this is my baby, you've been going through all sorts of other crap and you chose to do this one alone? Why?"

"I wanted to sort things out with Carlie first. I didn't want anything hanging over … this..." Again she rubbed her stomach gently and this time, fascinated, he stepped up and placed his own hand there and brought his eyes up to hers.

"Our baby... a miracle baby. Born of two parents from different times. This is what Carlie's people want. They know, don't they?"

"Oh John, you'll figure it all out, just like I have... This baby has already happened in their dimension. Carlie is this baby. They've learnt to shift both time and dimension. They sent Carlie into to this dimension, forward in time to bring herself back. You see John... ripples from your trip back to 1962, even in their dimension. You are not the father of the Carlie who lies in the infirmary now. In their dimension, in their time – another has fathered Carlie. Sam and I? We've been throwing ideas around this past week. And it was this theory that made the most sense."

"Gina... you're doing my head in. Who is the father? And why is their timeline different to ours?"

"The father does not hold the ancient gene, neither do I. By Carlie's admission, their society does not possess the ancient gene. Your jaunt back to 1962 changed that. By going back when you did, you pushed him out of the picture... and brought me back here. This child..." she rubbed her stomach, his hand still placed firmly over hers, "... now has the gene of one strong ancient as well as an ascended being. This is what they want."

She moved her hands up to frame his face, looking into the hazel eyes that held so much confusion now.

"John, their dimension is essential similar to ours, only small subtle differences. Some in technology – obviously they are more advanced in some areas, and not as advanced in others. The main difference is the lack of ancient gene, bred out over the centuries. This lack of ancient gene has caused some of the events to happen differently. There is no ascended being there recalculating every event to make sure that things stay on a straight path. They have had to rely on whatever happens here, to filter through the rifts to their dimension. The small rifts, where only tiny phsyical things can get through – changes to timelines – ripples, can filter through these rifts. So what is affected here, is affected there... but in a different way. Do you follow?"

He moved his hands up to lightly grip her wrists and brought her hands back down to rest on her stomach.

"I'm with you, but tell me – who is the father of Carlie in their world? I need to understand how that all fits in."

"Obviously I still came to the Pegasus galaxy, or I wouldn't be Carlie's mother. That much filtered through. But for some reason you and I didn't connect – or we did connect, and something changed... I'm thinking the latter. Pull Carlie's face up in your mind. Who does she remind you of? Whose features, other than mine – do you see?"

"Terrence... crap... how?"

"Yep, that's my theory anyway. And how? Oh, I guess the usual way. Man and woman meet..."

He bumped his forehead against hers softly. "You know what I mean... in their dimension, how can you have connected with him...oh..." His voice trailed off... "your other self didn't get pregnant that first time, you and I, because we didn't make love that night, did we?... but after I left and Terrence was released from jail, you met him didn't you?"

"Not me John... don't get the two women confused. We are not the same... but yes, your theory fits. I became pregnant with Terrence's child and came here not knowing this.. after that, well it's their story, not ours. Ours travelled a different path. And that path is the one they want. They know that having you as the father of Carlie will create a child with an extremely strong ancient gene, one who will seed their own genetic pool. But they sacrifice their Carlie to achieve this."

"How can Carlie bring herself back? Doesn't work like that..."

"She wouldn't go back – she would stay here, in this dimension and this time line – sort of what Rodney had to do. Balanced."

"All this Gina? All of this, because the ancients sent me back to 1962? Did they know about this? The dimensional rift... was that part of their plan also?"

"Yes... I needed to be the bridge between ideas. Between Rodney's initial work and Sam's eventual plan to close the rift. I had to connect the dots, show that time travel and dimensional travel co-exist in one portal. Rodney could never have made the connection – it was never intended that he be in this time line long enough. Up to this point John, we have all been carefully placed. Now? We fly blind. This is as far as they take us. We're on our own, finally – to make our own mistakes, and create our own problems. Callandra's role on earth has been to reconfigure and recalculate every little shift in time to make sure unwanted paradoxes to do occur. To keep the path straight and even – filling up the holes as they were created. It is an immense task , of epic proportions and unimaginable responsibility."

He pulled her into his arms now and felt the tiny flutters in her stomach as it rested gently against him. Life begets life.