Time's Caretaker

by Themightytom

sequel to Time's Razor and concurrent to Star Trek Delta. As the twelve colonies struggle to survive the Fall, and to understand the new world they find themselves in, the path to the future leads to the past, and legends point the way. Includes direct crossovers from Star Trek franchise, Battlestar Galactica 2003, The 100, and more, only if you are reading very closely.

11. Chapter 10 Unclean Hands

Chapter 9.5 Dirty Hands

Chief Engineer's log:

We were able to retrieve the Pegasus from the surface of Kobol, with only minor additional damage, a standard structural integrity web performs well with colonial technology due to the rudimentary nature of their materials technology. They build their stuff sturdy, hardy, and basic, and despite taking a number of disabling hits, and suffering a catastrophic de-orbit, it's redundant safety features preserved more of the vessel than intended. Refit and restoration may actually be possible, and while I'd imagine the Colonial fleet has more cost effective prospects available in their home system, Commander Gardner notes that given the distances and travel time, as well as the complexities of returning several hundred crew members home, there is a case for attempting repairs on the Cylon Colony. While Admiral Adama has expressed reservations about allowing Cylons access to Colonial military technology, I've made the case that as a consequence of their penetration of the defense mainframe for their initial attack, they most likely already have blue prints for all but the latest colonial advancements.

In the mean time, per the Captain's orders, we are continuing our strategic preparations for the anticipated hostilities around Earth. I've organized a sizeable portion of Adama's fleet personell to support limited improvements to the fleet's vipers and Raptor compliment, while Maltz leads a team fortifying the A.T.H.E.N.A. installation.

I have some personal misgivings about the resolve being shown to staying in this timeline, but have made little progress with [redacted]

"This is your manual, these are your supplies, I'll be going over what the more exotic ones do, in a moment." Marcus announced to the latest batch of volunteers. She stood on the hanger deck of one of the Battlestars, she wasn't even sure which at this point since this was the third ship and her fifteenth group. Her eye caught an emblem identifying it as the Vesta and she rallied herself reminding her that this was the last ship to organize. Behind her, and stretching off into the distance of the cavernous chamber, Raptors and Vipers sat waiting, visited periodically by the shimmering arrival of pallets of materials from Monroe, while newly fabricated plates and parts also arrived from the battlestar's factory level. She had already repeated this exercise twice in both hanger decks of the Vesta's two sister ships "The tools and parts are going to be color coded and labelled. You will have your teams follow the directions, provided, assemblers, you put your work at the collection point, installers, you make the physical installations directed, pilots will apply the start up and diagnostic routines and inspectors will confirm the results fit our expectations. We are using a scripting program, called C.O.R.A. to oversee and coordinate this. The Collaborative Organizational Resource Assembly is a program that leverages the processing power of the Monroe, the dynamic intelligence matrix of the A.T.H.E.N.A. installation and the oversight of both our crew and yours. It is able to monitor and report, it will not control anything for you and it is not artificial intelligence, are we clear?" She was met with dubious glances crossed arms and muttering. She sighed and pressed on.

"Selective test runs are already underway from the teams that started this morning, and we have a schedule to give all these planes a spin before we begin jumping to Earth tomorrow. Another team is installing charging pads for the raptors and cradles into Viper launch tubes. This is a massive undertaking, we have to do it right, or people will die, and we have to do it now, or people will die. Any questions? " hands went up, she ignored them. "Good. We don't have time for questions but at least you're paying attention. This the list of things most likely to go wrong." She tapped a stack of clipboards on a table, "if anything other than these things, go wrong, you use the communicator, you point it at whatever is going on, and if C.O.R.A. can't advise you remotely, she'll put you through to engineering on Monroe, got it?"

"Why are you calling it a she, if it's not really sentient?" A deck hand standing near her asked.

"Because our language tends to anthropormorophize objects, and so does yours." Marcus answered testily. "Any procedural questions, not limited to the obvious risks that using computers represents?"

"Wouldn't it be simpler to just tie all the new systems into our existing power supply?" Carol blinked. That was almost a good question, but it revealed a level of unfamiliarity with the technologies involved which was concerning.

" That's not really possible." She explained, " Your ships have the power load out they were designed for, particularly the vipers. Some of this technology on constant operation would drain fuel at a prohibitive rate but more to the point, we'd have to rework all of the electronics. The Federation, for the most part uses an electroplasma system to allow for rapid high-speed delivery of energy in a moderately safe manner. Y'all people use wires." She flashed a grin at her joke and absolutely no one among the dozens gathered, got the joke. Sighing she continued, " Plus, per the terms of our agreements, we are giving similar upgrades to the Cylons, so they can contribute to retaking Earth,

they have divided into several factions, and as I understand it, the three more habitatable worlds of your 12 colonies are having a bit of trouble with rebels from the other 9. We are a little bit reluctant to give either of you technology that's so advanced while things are so unstable. You could accidentally vaporize your motherships or take out a city by accident, and if this technology falls into the hands of a threat actor, the results could be horrific, so the weapons and defensive technology we're giving you will be charged by the Monroe for the impending battle, and if we all survive this we can let the higher ups sort it out." That caused a lot of grumbling but as she was about to bring them back in line, another question was shouted.

"If the cylon in the temple is going to be watching us any way, why don't we just get the toasters to do all of it?" someone asked, "They're machines, they love this stuff."

"Right, because this kind of obsessive thinking didn't nearly wipe out your way of life twice already. " Marcus snapped back sarcastically, "Why don't we just keep all of you in charge of maintaining and upgrading your own tech, for the time being and try to keep you focused on discerning the necessary safeguards to keep it from turning on you, shall we?"

"Why are you doing this?" She recognized that voice as Major Shaw and glared at the small woman. "I thought starfleet was too high and mighty to share it's technology with less developed civilizations."

"Well when starfleet arrives we'll take it up with them." Marcus snapped, she saw Commander Garner striding accross the deck straight for Shaw. " I'm an engineer, not a philosopher, and half of our crew isn't even starfleet. We are undermanned and unprepared for this situation, and we are doing the best we can, but we are wasting a lot of time dealing with a tired reframe, so let me quote an ancient earth leader who found himself in a similar position." She paused a beat and then quipped "'Listen up you primitive screw heads!'" Shaw looked confused and exchanged glances with the other crewmen around her. Sam ramped up her rhetoric.

"Write this down, sew it on a flag, carve it a bathroom wall for all I care. We quell the storm, we ride the thunder, you got that?" She had their attention, but they were still confused, so she said louder and more deliberately "Let me repeat that again, we quell the storm, we ride the thunder." She saw people mouthing the words, so she repeated them again, and was joined by a few.

Shaw was clenching her fists but her gaze met Sam's.

"I don't give a damn about politics or treaties or policies, when good men and women are in danger." Marcus told the deckhands and volunteers before her, "I grew up behind enemy lines, I live here, and if I know one thing, if there is one thing Starfleet has taught me, it's that you don't leave men behind." She saw heads nodding. She locked eyes with Garner over Kendra's head and shook her head slightly, he nodded. She advanced on Shaw

"Do I seem high and mighty?" She thundered in the woman's face, Shaw flinched. Turning from her, Marcus snarled "We've got a lunatic out here playing god with the lives we love and you've got ship mates out there fighting and dying in the dark. We're not playing games here, we have just over 24 hours to bootstrap advanced weapons onto your ships to give you a fighting chance against an unknown version of combat androids that nearly ended your civilization twice, lead by a future version of an android that MY civilization built in order keep the Klingons from ending OURS. We are throwing everything we can at this." She paused for breath and locked eyes with Shaw, "you can stand on the soap box of your wounded pride, you can point your mistrust, your indignation and your righteousness at us while we try to save you, or you can roll up your sleeves and get to work, am I clear?"

There was a shuffling of feet, so Sam sensed her opportunity to give them purpose.

"Then one more time, repeat after me, 'we quell the storm, we-" she was drowned out as the men and women finished the line.

"That's fracking right." She congratulated them, earning some chuckles, she continued,

"We are way beyond the moment you trained for boys and girls, we are in the thick of it now. Adapt. Improvise, overcome you got that?" Heads were nodding, "We need all hands on deck, we need to make miracles, and we need to arm our warriors with the tools to kill the enemy."

She saw backs straighten, as she thundered that last, she saw heads nod reflexively, and reigned herself in, spreading her arms wide. "No pressure right?" Laugher scattered accross the group.

'Join Starfleet' they told me, 'seek out new civiliztions' they told me, 'sometimes they try to kill you though'" More laughter this time, which was good. Sam shrugged modestly,

"Guess they said that last part real quiet, though or maybe I was too drunk to hear it."

Some scattered nervous laughter was her reward. She decided to move on, grabbing a set of kits from the stack and beginning to hand them out.

"In addition to their own upgrades, the Cylons will be doing most of the work outside." She pointed upwards indicating space "And so in order to avoid any accusations, or mistrust, or mis-steps, all of your more qualified engineers are out supervising that with Maltz."

"Isn't he one of the Klingons trying to end your civilization?" Kendra asked quietly. Sam picked up a lot ignoring the smaller woman as she pressed it into the Major's hands.

"Tool marked A. AFlux Coupler. Each piece was replicated with a section of designed to enable a molecular bond with metal. You check the diagram for the hard point and then use this here…"

. *. *.

Billy braced himself as the shuttle lurched. It rocked slightly as it settled into the newly refurbished landing platform installed by the colonial combat engineers. The ramp at the far end opened and the detachment of personell began to file out. He grabbed his battered suitcase from where it was stowed and began to follow.

"You really holding onto that Billy?" Boomer was eyeing the suitcase with amusement, "It's been through a lot."

Hesitantly he turned it around and showed her. An incredibly detailed landscape was etched into the side, and recently too, if Boomer's guess was right. She whistled. Kekeiya nodded.

"When Kendra and I were trapped she spent some time carving it to pass the time." He admitted, it was still on the wreck when the recovery/salvage team went through this morning. I asked them to keep an eye out for it." He admitted, "I guess it's her family's home where she grew up and since the Cylons hit the place pretty hard-" He broke off remembering who he was talking to. Boomer sighed as they exited the shuttle.

"She doesn't like me." Boomer said flatly. Billy shrugged apologetically, "She doesn't like what I am, she doesn't like my people, and I can't say that I blame her."

"No." Billy said slowly, "I suppose none of us can." He looked at Boomer, "but you can trust her." Boomer looked at him, "Your child will be safe, the two of you are staying here, and she'll be in command. You can trust her. She's furious at the death the Cylon attack caused, and she'll take it out of you every time she can, but she knows her duty, she does the hard things, and she values life."

"You're sure of that?" Boomer asked, "You only spend a few days with her." Billy shook his head.

"I spent the trip here with her too, although at much more of a distance, and I know what she had to do on the Pegasus back after the attack. It made her hard, it fracked her up but she didn't give up on herself, or the life ahead of her, when a lot of people did, and she never gave up on her duty."

Boomer looked at him appraisingly and then nodded

"We have a lot to rebuild." She acknowledged, "A lot to try to mend, and a lot that can never be recovered."

"And fortunately, lot to rediscover." Billy said, taking in the thick jungle canopy that stretched below and beyond. A civilian ship flew over head, bound for one of the other base camps scattered around the planet. "Enough to keep us all working together while we sort through it all."

The landing platform was situated some three quarters of the way up the mountain in which A.T.H.E.N.A. was located, and hosted another raptor and a quarter of vipers. Another platform was occupied nearby with two more shuttles. A field below hosted a number of the civilian craft that had accompanied the Pegasus, and Billy could hear the sounds of a fourth and fifth still under construction on the far side of the mountain. Billy noted the heavy defense emplacements as well, cannons nearly as large as the shuttle.

"Maltz." Boomer told him, "While your suitcase was being rescued he and the other one, Mogh, were designing and beaming down these. They can knock a Battlestar out of orbit if the test fire was any indication, those little robot drones from the Monroe are installing a deflector shield."

"Kendra is going to be assuming command here when the Vesta battle group leaves for Earth." Billy told Boomer, "I was against it, I thought the safest place for a mother would be on the Monroe, or back on the colonies." He cleared his throat "no offense."

"How did that go over?" Boomer asked quirking an eyebrow, Billy shook his head.

"She pointed out we weren't even together, and told me not to assume it was even mine is." He said glumly. Boomer patted him in sympathy. "She said I should stay here though."

"That sounds promising." Boomer said. "You know scuttlebut is her mom is behind it."

"Kendra's mom?" Billy blinked. Boomer nodded. "I don't know how. She died before the attack even happened."

"She had friends." Boomer explained, "friends in the Quorum that think they are looking out for her Mother's little girl. The quorum nearly passed a vote to restrict all women of child bearing age from combat duty. If word gets back that Kendra is with child while serving on a Battlestar heading to fight a new enemy..."

"I get it." Billy nodded, "I thought it was just because she was an officer on the Pegasus and the Admiral doesn't have many to spare." He considered. "Gods, she must be pissed. She's not even an administrator at all."

"She's gonna need you." Boomer said chuckling, "that's for sure."They passed the line of personell checking in with a duty officer at a check in station. Boomer pointed Billy down the hall. "You are here to check on the patient?"

"Kirk's patient, yes." Billy said, he turned to Boomer, "Is it right, what we are doing to her?"

"Sorry Billy, above my pay grade, we were just asked to be the muscle, and I'm just here to drive the bus." Boomer answered. "Lieutenant Yar is overseeing the arrangements. She is being treated on the upper floor with a squad of centurions in the adjacent rooms." Boomer told him. "Lara and La'as arrived with her a short time ago, and these were the arrangements Captain Kirk requested."

"Yes but do you believe all the…" Billy fumbled, "That she has magic powers?"

Boomer seemed to consider how to answer, and she paused as they reached the end of the hallway.

"After the end of the first war, my people began to explore." Boomer told him, "We rediscovered Kobol, found settlements abandoned or forgotten by the 12 colonies…" She trailed off meaningfully.

"Aliens?" Billy asked, Boomer nodded. "But you can't tell me."

"Won't." Boomer clarified, "Not officially, not for now. We decide collaboratively now, raiders, centurions, hybrids and children. If there's a consensus about anything among us, it's that humanity can only take so much revelation. Discovering all of this?" She gestured to the facility around them, "It was already enough to make you question everything you know."

"It's bound to come out sometime." Billy warned. She met his eye.

"We know." She told him.

. *. *.

"The colonials appear to be making excellent progress overall." La'as observed as he entered the small isolation chamber. He paused to look around. It had weathered the ages quite well, remaining sealed and air tight, though some repairs had been needed, to the surrounding infrastructure to restore power to it's instruments. Lara stood inside speaking to an image of Clarke, at a console with her back to the human patient. Yar, standing by the door, and looking intently at the blond woman lying on the bed, nodded. The light from the ceiling above was reflected by mirrors he knew to be observation windows, and he likewise knew that there were two dozen centurions standing attentively beyond. "It seems that they can accomplish anything with blueprints and documentation, and there certainly are a lot of them available to work."

"Raven has already headed back to the Monroe." Yar agreed, "A.T.H.E.N.A. had all the original facility blue prints, and Maltz was nothing if it straightforward in directing installation of the more advanced defenses. The Colonial military emphasizes procedures and protocols, it was only a matter of giving them directions to follow."

"We should still have concerns about providing energy weapons technology to their ships." La'as cautioned, "Even if they are presently dependent on Monroe to charge them, they will likely reverse engineer the components, both down here and in their fleet and attempt to combine them, if given the opportunity."

"The captain feels that allowing Lore to continue to manipulate the timeline was the greater breach." Yar replied. She took a final look around the room. "If you are ready to take over here, I'll head back. Richard told me Lieutenant Kim is trying to redecorate the bridge on his first day on the job and I want to go over his plans for tactical. We shouldn't have our back to the bridge like that."

"Have they abandoned the project to restore the Monroe's structural tolerances?" Lara asked concerned, "If we are even to reach Earth we may need high warp capabilities, to say nothing of returning here and searching for your people." She said to La'as.

"And yours." He assured her. Yar shook her head reassuringly as he told Lara,

"The resin that the Cylons provided has cured by now, and provides a literal solution that is both an improvement and easy to produce. " La'as told her. Lara considered.

"It's properties of tortional stability would resolve the structural design issues." She said, thoughtfully, "and it's electroconductive properties might enhance structural integrity fields capability." She looked at Yar, "an impressive solution that we perhaps would never have discovered without our new allies. It seems that the challenges any one of us face alone can be surmounted through cooperation."

"That's the founding premise of the Federation," Yar told her, reaching out awkwardly to pat her shoulder, "and it's why we won't forget your needs, Lara, I know it's been a few weeks not but we have still only just begun to get our bearings." Lara acknowledged the gesture, patting Yar's in return and Yar took it as permission to withdraw her hand and return to the original topic,

"and now basically, Kim's got time on his hands, maybe too much. Growing up I learned that you take your downtime and you eat sleep and watch out, but not everybody knows how to use a break," She laughed nervously, " especially people who need something to do."

"I cannot say I could ever understand what he has been through." Lara said carefully, then looked at Yar, "Nor you. I can see that your life has been difficult. Though those months spent hiding from the Hirogen felt like they would never end, and I struggled to nurtur the hooe that I would reunite with my people, one day, there were days I felt I had always been there, hiding, running, and that it was all I had ever known."

"I grew up fighting to survive in a failed colony." Yar admitted quietly, " where even the touch of another meant that they were close enough to hurt you." The others were silent, listening, so she continued, "Then Starfleet finally came, if not to save us, then at least to recruit us, in the wake of a Klingon advance. I was lucky enough to be young enough that they put me through the academy, and from then onwards it was one fight after another to survive." Her voice caught as she heard herself say, "I think the most peaceful time in my life was actually the time I was held prisoner, hoping desperately that none of the others would reveal my secret, that the Romulans wouldn't come looking to torture me, to extract whatever knowledge I had of a future I had no idea whether or not I averted."

"Ro was confident you did." Lara told her, "she originated in your universe, it changed there, and so it follows that it should have here, as well, if not for the machinations of Lore." Yar nodded.

"I believe that, I do." Yar admitted, "and I believe that if I've had to fight my entire life, for a reason, it was to find Richard." She noted La'as' hand take Lara, "I've got a chance to make a life, I see a future, it's there I just…"

"Don't want your future to be defined by your past trauma." La'as finished. "I suspect Lieutenant Kim feels much the same way "

"Trauma can be a strong motivator." A.T.H.E.N.A. observed, "It can drive you well beyond your limits."

"He and Lore's other prisoners were there for… who knows." Yar finished, "They're good people, but we all need some time, and there just isn't any."

"Even the Colonials and the Cylons struggle." A.T.H.E.N.A. told her, "I am able to observe many things at once through this facility. Their progress on the upgrades isn't just due to efficiency."

"So noted." Yar told her. She turned to go, but La'as stopped her one more time.

"Lieutenant Commander," He addressed her, "When you see Commander Saavik, can you remind her of our interest in the wormhole? My understanding is that Admiral Adama and Captain Kirk are en route to it already but we would very much like to explore it as well."

Yar nodded.

"You saw the print out from Defiant's logs, I know." She said, La'as nodded, "The changeling known as Odo claimed he was from the other side of it in our own universe. They had a whole space station dedicated to exploring it and he was able to find his people." She looked at Lara, "and Kurros is from the same part of space as you, so he has probably told you that he thinks it could be a way to return to your home as well, or at least to contact your people.' Lara nodded.

"Mister Kekeiya has been so kind as to provide a copy of the relevant portion of the Defiant's database from the Vesta's library computer." Lara indicated a 12 cornered tome resting on an imaging pad where A.T.H.E.N.A. had finished scanning it. "But evidently little or nothing was known of the Delta quadrant."

"We see the necessity of prioritizing the situation with Emperor Lore." La'as assured Yar, "We simply do not see our contribution onboard the Monroe as particularly important, particularly now that you have more Starfleet officers at your disposal."

"They aren't enough." Yar told them, "And the knowledge and experience both of you have brought to the crew has been invaluable these last few weeks." She clasped La'as' shoulder, "There isn't anyone aboard who wouldn't agree that you aren't 'as important' except possibly Kurros, and I hope you know that, but I am sure the Commander will come up with some way for you to explore while we are away, and we won't abandon you here."

"But our knowledge and experience is somewhat more accessible here, given that we are not bound by your starfleet regulations. The colonials have expressed interest in our accompanying an expedition through the wormhole on exchange for our practical knowledge of interstellar travel and it's associated practices." Lara stated, "though Admiral Adama intends to dedicate all available forces to reclaiming Earth there are a number civilian entities accompanying the fleet that will be stationed here."

"None of them nearly as capable as the Monroe though, in terms of survey and exploration." Yar stated, "We'll be back as soon as we can, and if you want a warp capable shuttle, in the meantime, I'll push for it with the captain. The think tank even toyed with idea of leaving the saucer section behind, and modifying the escape engines to allow for low warp, but there just isn't enough time."

"My people's region of space is quite deadly." Lara replied, "The Hirogen have scoured our part of the galaxy over millennia, those who survive them are encouraged to fortify themselves to become better prey, and those that have repelled them, are powerful and alien indeed. We will be patient, and in the mean time perhaps we can help out patient here." She nodded to the woman.

"That seems quite likely." Clarke noted, "I believe she is waking up."

. *. *.

"This is Lonnie, this is Ryan." Boomer introduced the two centurions, "General and Colonel, Lonnie commands the planetary contingent and Ryan is assigned to the base."

Billy blinked at the two imposing, and to his eye, identical robots.

"Lonnie the Cylon, and Ryan the Centurion?" He asked dubiously, Boomer sighed.

"I am aware that we are often met with bemusement by humans who have had millennia to conceive of naming traditions and individuality." She said dryly, "up until recently, we were pre-occupied with themes of self preservation and our culture is only a few decades old." Billy was immediately apologetic and abashed.

"You're right of course, my apologies." He said, he stepped forward and gave both a respectful nod, "On behalf of the office of the President, I thank you for the protection and commitment you offer. I look forward to our partnership and all that we may learn from the study of this world, and each other."

Boomer was impressed, as both Cylons inclined their heads in reply.

"I think you're getting the hang of these politics." She told him with approval. To Billy's surprise, Lonnie spoke.

"We acknowledge our origins, and the horrors exchanged by our two peoples." It said, "Ours has been a search for self defermination, and in our naivety, we have done terrible things. We seek a new civilization, a new way of life. We seek to do better. We will make amends. "

"'We seek to do better'." Billy echoed the words, "'New life, and new civilizations. To boldly go, where no one has gone before'." Lonnie cocked it's head. "Captain Kirk cited this to me, as starfleet's mission statement." Lonnie nodded

"We are impressed by starfleet." Ryan announced, it's voice was less deep and monotonous than Lonnie's, Billy heard a richness of tone he had not expected, "from what we have learned, Those aboard the Monroe were recently hunted as prey, or kept as slaves. We understand this. Those rescued from Emperor Lore were prisoners. We understand this too. We won our freedom from your fathers and immediately sought retribution, we were defeated and after seeking refuge, we sought revenge."

"In doing so, we gave ourselves to those among us who would again enslave us." Lonnie observed.

"But these Starfleet, they seek not vengeance, but understanding, a way to contribute" Ryan noted. Before she could stop herself she said

"Fellowship." When both Centurions regarded her she said, "They reach for ideals and for each other. They emerge from darkness and they seek hope."

"And they give it to others." Billy added. The three Cylons nodded. "That brings them together, and that brings us together." He cleared his throat. "There has been too much death, too much hate."

"All this has happened before." Lonnie said distastefully. Ryan finished "It will not happen again." Billy was nodding in agreement when a voice seemingly boomed from within and without,

"That Would Be Wise."

. *.*.

"Commander Marcus." Kendra Shaw approached. Sam growled as she stepped back from the viper and the two technicians working on it.

"Seal the plating with the resonance harmonizer." She told the man handing him a tool, "but watch the variance. You keep it in the green, it's a molecular bond, you let it go too far positive or too far negative it'll start to degrade and you'll snap this support strut clean off." She turned to Shaw. "What do you want Major, I am very busy here."

"I want to apologize." Shaw said.

"Apology accepted.' Marcus told her.

"Commander." Shaw told her, "I mean it. I know I was out of line back there." She moved closer to Marcus, "I'm not myself. I've had to adjust to a lot in even just the last few days, but I had no call to-"

Sam shoved her back and whirled as she heard a suddenly groaning. With a terrific crack the forward landing strut of the viper snapped and the ship toppled forward. Thrown to the ground, the young man she'd been speaking to raised his hand above him vessel plunging towards him, suddenly it shifted as Sam threw herself under it and hefted upwards with her back.

"Brace brace brace!" She shouted and the two horrified deckhands beside the viper rolled a support frame behind Sam and shifted it. In moments Sam was relieved of the weight and she rose sweating.

"My Gods." Kendra said amazed. "How did you do that?"

"You have a lot to learn, Major." Sam told her, still breathing heavily "You think I got through starfleet as a Romulan/ Human hybrid and didn't face a little hostility? You think I spent a year undercover with my own mother to rescue prisoners of war and didn't learn how to stick to a mission?" She pulled a tricorder out and scanned the Viper now resting on the support frame stooping to heft the mangled support strut.

"That's garbage." One of the deckhands told her, "We'll have to fabricate an entirely new one and replace Sam held up the resonance harmonizer, cutting him off.

"Stand by " she ordered.

"Adjusting variance to .718 negative." She announced, as she passed the tool over the warped metal. To the surprise of those watching, it became….malleable. "This composite has malleable elements, we can adjust their properties within a useable range. Don't get your hands in the beam, or you'll need an evac to Monroe to have your bones restored." She continued the motion and the piece of strut began to soften into its original form, "Adjusting variance to .61… .25…" stashing her tricorder in the crook of her arm, She joined the strut back to the hull of the raptor "resonance neutralizing, increasing to 1.14… 1.88… 916… " She adjusted the tool passing it over both hull and strut, "Matching the resonance, now bring it back to neutral…" the tool flashed green and she handed it to the first man. "Now you know what it does, crewman. You pull that support away and she'll hold herself up good as new." She looked at Kendra meaningfully. The deckhands passed the tool around and she clapped the young man on the shoulder, "stick to the instructions and get the job done." She motioned Major Shaw to follow her.

"That could make a hell of a weapon." Shaw observed, "you could tear apart a Battlestar with a couple of those."

"Federation starships use different composites for the outer hull, like tritanium and duranium and the structural integrity field maintains cohesion." Marcus told her shortly. "We've run into enough people over the years that tried to use this technology against us, and it's also why we can't just give you technology wholesale, even the EPA conduits can be weaponied fairly effectively."

"One Cylon infiltrator, or even a disgruntled snipe could take out a squadron." Shaw murmured thoughtfully. "Commander for what I pulled this morning, I owe you at least a drink, but I've been given medical advice to reign it in, and you're a very busy woman, will you settle for some chow?'

"I'm starved, I haven't eaten since yesterday, but I don't know how many of that works over here."

"The starboard ready room is right up here. A ship this size has a couple places to eat, this is the snipe's favorite, and the viper squadrons assigned here." Shaw said, Marcus followed her down a short corrider and up a flight of stairs. "Basic meals are part of the service, but extras will cost a few cubits." She handed Marcus a tray as they entered, a moderately sized room with a dozen small tables, large window overlooking the flight bay, and a small kitchen to one side with a serving area in front. Shaw added utensils to Marcus' tray as San looked down dubiously at some kind of currency exchange interface at the end of the serving line.

"Federation credits are a shipboard currency, but we generally make about what we spend and it's all handled automatically." Marcus told her, "If I'd known I could have exchanged some." They sidled down the line and Shaw began pointing to food choices that a crewman ladled into plates

"It's on me." Shaw said, "like I said it's the least I could do." Marcus didn't really see any need to add anything to the basic offering, which looked something like small vegetables, a healthy portion of noodles and some kind of meat. Kendra added some kind of salad and an extra dessert.l to Marcus's tray making good on her offer and they moved to sit down. Shaw chose a table by the window so they could oversee the work being done. As they approached Marcus noted that the window didn't directly overlook the launch bay, but rather an intervening catwalk with another row of windows on its opposite side. She approved of the redundancy of the approach. There were no free tables,

but as they approached a table with an enlisted crewwoman sipping a hot beverage, the woman rose quickly and moved. Kendra nodded to her.

"Garner was going to tear you a new one." Marcus said conversationally sitting down, "He was very impressed when we got the Pegasus back into orbit yesterday, and set up environmental fields on the Cylon Colony to help with her salvage."

"Yeah he gave me a earful." Kendra said ruefully. She dug into her own meal. "You've got quite a fan in him, and word down from the Admiral is to let you people have wide latitude." She peered at Marcus, "But you don't strike me God from mount Olympus here to teach us fire. You've got secrets."

"We are people just like you." Marcus told her, finishing the noodles with approval. She tried the dessert, which was some kind of gelatin "Maybe a little stronger in some ways, but we don't believe in scrapping parts that can still be used, Major. We aren't about to walk away from you just because you suffered an atrocity."

"What?" Shaw asked confused. She didn't eat anywhere near as quickly as Marcus did.

"I've seen it on every face since we got here." Marcus said, "The skepticism, the doubt, 'waiting for the other show to drop'" as my people would say." Sam frowned, "Well.. as some of them would say."

"We say that too." Kendra replied.

"Well it sounds like you're asking if we are 'too good to be true', but if what you're really asking us is 'if you deserve to be saved', and the answer is yes." She stopped at looked at Shaw, "We've all made mistakes, as individuals and as peoples. The Federation got into its fate share of misunderstandings before I showed up, and I understand it continued to do so after I left, but it never stopped trying to carve out a place for itself, and neither have you." Kendra nodded, "But if you think scoring points is the way to build yourself up, you better make sure you know what you're up against. There's high stakes ahead of us, and you're a leader, you're going to be in charge of a very important installation down there, for the most part, alone out here, except for your friends." Kendra opened her mouth to object but Marcus pressed on before she could get up any steam. "And I heard the news about you and Mr. Keikeya." Kendra looked uncomfortable. "That's a lot on your plate, Major." Kendra looked reflexively at her half full plate, but nodded.

"I understand La'as and Lara will be staying with you, and a few of the hosts are considering it."

"The admiral is hoping a few of the… people you woke up will stay behind as well." Shaw said, "they would be invaluable sources of Intel about what might still be on the planet."

"Well that's just going to make your job that much more complicated then, won't it." Sam prodded. Kendra sighed. "The Cylons said they have been exploring it for over a decade." Marcus pointed out, "You'll have to work with them."

"With Boomer." Shaw said sourly. She glanced up suddenly self conscious, Shaw shrugged.

"What is she, your personal nemesis now?" Marcus demanded,

"She's got a new born. If you have to have a liaison, to wrangle all this mess while tackling a life changing event, isn't she better than trying to talk to a raider?"

Shaw snorted, then said, "You know I don't think you're 'too good to be true' Commander, I was part of the briefing too." She looked at Sam, "You've got some kind of genetically augmented superman on that ship of yours, that makes the skin jobs look like dolls."

"Khan is a dangerous man." Marcus acknowledged, "Noted historically as such but given the opportunity and very little to work with he almost killed my great grandfather twice.' She looked at her glass, "Actually did kill my grandfather come to think of it, in a future he never experienced, but it didn't take."

"But you said he never experienced that future." Kendra pounced, "And as I understood it, he was marooned for his crime, he was kidnapped by Lore." She eyed Marcus, "You fear him because he's different?"

"His capabilities significantly greater than a baseline human." Marcus disagreed, "He's an obvious security risk"

"So are the Cylons." Kendra pointed out, "So are you, Commander, and meaning no disrespect," she added, "But I just saw you bench press a viper. You espouse the virtues of working with our enemies, hasn't it occurred to you that as dangerous as he is, this Khan of yours, is just as displaced in time as any of you?"

Sam considered that carefully. Kendra continued on,

"You've just moved a former starfleet crewman to my base, who gained godlike powers by accident, on one of your missions and was presumed to have been killed by her own captain, along with his best friend." Marcus looked up sharply,

"Those are details that weren't in the briefing." Marcus said quietly.

"Yeah well maybe we aren't so backwards as you assume." Kendra told her sitting back. "Tell me Commander, how many volumes do you think it would take to print out the starfleet database?" At Marcus' non answer, she observed, "Now on the other hand, it would probably be foolish to send the only digital copy of it out on an expedition."

"Unless you could duplicate the computer technology " Carol noted, "But on the other hand with all of your cultural inhibitions against computers…"

"Well if we had anything like that, it would be highly classified." Kendra noted, Marcus nodded. "I mean our technology is so primitive, duplicating such a device, even partially would be quite an achievement for our people, to say nothing of the information contained."

"Especially if the Cylons weren't given a copy." Marcus noted.

"The Admiral certainly couldn't just give you access to anything like that on a working Battlestar. Something of that size and complexity would have to be built into the ship, inseparable from any number of systems." Kendra replied sipping her drink, "Though if you stumbled accross a wrecked one, barely functioning, for example, and salvaged it, you might actually be doing us all a bit of a favor." She leaned forward, "I understand the Defiant came from your future?"

"Mine at least." Carol replied, feigning indifference, "probably an alternate one, too, and we do have crew members with knowledge of the future." She leaned back, "still, I am an engineer, and I'd hate for useful technology to fall into the wrong hands…"

"As you've said." Kendra noted.

"You know Boomer is due to return here in under an hour." Kendra said out loud.

"She will be testing one of the upgrades raptors, yes." Marcus noted, "Probably should test those on orbital re-entry capabilities, in case we need to run retrieval ops to Earth."

"Yes." Kendra said a glint in her eye, "might be something of a joyride wouldn't it Commander."

"Maybe a last run before you take up your new command." Marcus said.

"You know I don't think Billy managed to get all my things off the Pegasus." Shaw noted, "You think if I gave you a list, you could collect a few things for me, and beam them down before you leave?"

"Well I probably should do a final inspection of the Pegasus with Maltz " Marcus replied, "Make sure that we retrieved all our technology, I think I can swing by." Shaw rose with Marcus.

"It's been an interesting exchange Commander." Shaw observed, "You've given me a lot to consider. I can't say that I am quite ready to welcome all with open arms, but…" she paused, "I'll try to be open minded, at least." She offered a hand. "Quell the storm?" Marcus took it and grinned.

"Ride the Thunder."

. *. *.

"Stop that." Yar snarled, "I'm warning you, my orders are to stun you at the first sign of psionic abilities, and to use lethal force if you attempt to escape."

"I can contain her, before that is necessary." A.T.H.E.N.A. informed them

"A traveller comes.." the voice, only a hoarse whisper, at once seemed to reverberate from with and without. "And a harbinger is free."

"My readings indicate that she is in the process of returning to consciousness." Lara observed, "Some of what is happening may be evidence of an extremely sophisticated autonomic response.

"She's sleep walking?" Yar demanded incredulously.

"If her capabilities greatly exceed our own, than her unconscious capabilities may well extend beyond moving her feet." La'as observed dryly, "So how do we wake her?" At Yar's look, he pointed out, "Lieutenant, She is psionally communicating with the entire base."

" She is identifying and responding to perceived threats in a rudimentary manner as well."Lara cushioned. " I think he's right, lieutenant, It's better that she'd be fully awake then in this state."

As if to demonstrate, a Cylon centurion entered, followed by Billy.

"Stand by." Yar ordered it, as much to avoid weapons fire in an enclosed area, she saw more outside, so she gathered herself.

" I'm open to suggestions." Yar replied said turning to A.T.H.E.N.A. The avatar responded immediately. From the speakers around the room, she suddenly hear the sound of party favors and a chorus shouting "Surprise!"

Dehner blinked and shook her head. Yar and Kekeiya gaped at A.T.H.E.N.A. while Cylon, changeling and Voth cocked their heads.

"A loud, but non threatening noise." A.T.H.E.N.A. explained. "Welcome back to consciousness Doctor Dehner."

"Thank you." Replied Elizabeth Dehner. She looked around her. "I apologize if my behavior was alarming."

Her voice remained sonorous but it no longer echoed in Yar's head. She opened her mouth, then paused, uncertain what to say.

"I am aware of the security procedures you have arranged, Lieutenant Commander, both on this base, and in orbit above." The woman informed her "They will not be necessary, I mean you no harm, but I understand the sensibility of them. "

"Are you Doctor Elizabeth Dehner?" Yar asked. The woman nodded. "Can you communicate with us by verbal means only?" She looked at the others. "I am concerned you will alarm those around us."

"Yes." Dehner replied, She closed her eyes, "My training tells me that you are correct." She took a breath, "I was a psychologist, and a Starfleet officer once."

"You had suffered extensive neural damage on arrival." Clark's image noted, "Doctor Bashir felt it could not be reversed."

"It took time for me to realize I was free of the entity, and grounded in linear time once again." Dehner explained. Yar exchanged a glance with the hologram of Clark.

"You claim there was an entity governing your actions on Delta Vega?" Yar inquired, Dehner looked at her and at last showed a semblance of emotion.

"I know there was." She said quietly, "and it changed me."

"Yet you now claim it is gone, as well?" Lara asked, "would you permit us to examine you to verify that?"

"You may." Dehner told her, "Though the entity has left me, many of it's perceptions remain. I am aware that any hostile actions may result in my death, or at the very least the death of a great many others, and I have no desire to see more of death."

.*.*.

"Your fracking Klingon has a death wish, Sam." Garner called out to Marcus as she entered CIC of the Vesta, "We've got a flight of vipers trying to keep pace with him, and he's not even using your so called inertial dampeners." An older, dark skinned woman standing accross the table from him nodded in agreement and said,

"With pilots like that, I can see why they don't need many fighters on that ship of yours."

"Firstly, the technology we installed refined what you have, And probably should have had, by now, if you hadn't just spent almost 50 years at war with your own technology, second, Maltz isn't even a pilot, he's an engineer." Marcus corrected them, "But he's got a number of evolutionary advantages due to his Klingon physiology and we figured that would help end testing the capabilities of your planes. Almost all of them join their military as soon as they are old enough to wield a bat' leth, and they age slowly too, though, so he's probably logged a lot of flight time anyway."

"Well, if he's a snipe, than that makes sense." Garner said with a bit of pride, he looked to the older woman accross the table from him. "He's going to do the job right."

"Alright Barry, if you say so." She answered, she turned to Marcus, "Commander, we haven't been formally introduced, Jenna McGavin, Commander of the Vesta."

"My apologies for not reporting to you earlier ma'am, the second I stepped on your flight deck I got to work." Marcus said, she gave a salute,"I'm aware you are superior in rank, despite the similar titles, and no disrespect was intended."

"None taken." McGavin told her quirking an eyebrow, "This is Adama's show, I only came out of retirement because they nuked my nursing home."

"I have no idea how to respond to that ma'am." Marcus answered honestly, "But I've been away from my own engines all day and apparently I have a brand new engineer begging to remodel my shop while I'm away so I need to get this show on the road before he tries to put a hot tub on the bridge."

"I have no idea how to respond to that ma'am." McGavin quipped glancing at Garner with amusement. The man was frowning, so she gave up. Marcus gave her a sympathetic glance.

"Will the Admiral be joining us, ma'am?" Marcus asked clearing her throat.

"Most likely not." McGavin replied snorting, "He's off duty anyway let's just try to get everything ship shape by the time he sleeps it off."

"...right " Marcus said, she had yet to reconcile the Colonial Warriors' evident tradition of creating triple redundant procedures and protocols for every conceivable situation and then seemingly making a sport out of breaking or bypassing them. Though she was aware that the most infamous example of a starfleet crew drinking on the job, had nearly led to a war between the federation and the Klingon, she was also aware of at least one occasion where her great grandfather's former chief engineer had helped foil an extra galactic invasion by drinking them under the table. Inwardly she rubbed her metaphorical temple, while outwardly she tapped her com badge."Marcus to Maltz, I am at the observation point and all eyes are on you. I assume you have been taking tricorder readings during your maneuvers?"

"I have " came the somewhat surly reply, "This is a primitive vessel, yet extremely well crafted for battle."

"He wants one." Marcus translated to Garner, she accessed a control pad on the table and one of the monitors began to display data accompanied by a wireframe graphic of the viper. "Telemetry relay is live, uplink to Monroe and A.T.H.E.N.A. confirmed, all eyes are on you, Maltz."

"C.O.R.A. system is active. Activating inertial dampeners now." Maltz declared. Immediately the graphic above began to change with readings seemingly flattened. "They function as planned."

"Alright," Marcus said, she turned to McGavin, "He was pulling 30, 32 g's before?"

"Wasn't even breaking a sweat." Garner told her, "A viper is technically capable of that, But we've never tried to test it with a person in there."

"And I'd imagine you were reluctant to put an autopilot in, so I'd imagine those were some kind of tests on more of a ballistic trajectory." Marcus noted, Gardner nodded. "fair enough, but with the inertial dampeners in, let's see what she can really take. Maltz, start scaling back the safeties, and evaluate axial maneuverability careful."

"Understood. Engaging first protocols." Maltz announced.

"How did your people even manage to analyze our ships, let alone protocols for upgrading and testing them, a day after you first laid eyes on them, anyway." Garner asked.

"You're going to hate the answer." Marcus told him, "But computers have their uses. We're able to get much more sophisticated and detailed information from our scans because our sensors are operated by computers that know what to look for and how. Seven was barely out of Sickbay an hour, before she had reviewed the logs on the Monroe and discerned the likelihood that we'd have to upgrade your ships to repel a future attack. She and Kim enlisted the aid of Felix and the A.T.H.E.N.A. installation while we were working on the ground based defenses yesterday and they had prepared list of materials we were likely to need to start replicating for me and used our holodeck to model results before lunch. They were able to extrapolate the complete design specifications and tolerances down to the molecular level. Kurros and Icheb came up with an algorithm to explore physical properties and capabilities of our technologies and how they might be compatible and they sent over half the procedures we've been using while I was introducing your flight crews to our tools."

"There's been almost no real review of these components." Garner objected, "We haven't even reviewed the tools you are using, the methodology, the materials-."

"Thats why I'm here Barry." McGavin told Garner, "These concerns are all very much in order, when we can afford to do things by the book, but we've got a missing task force out there and a technologically superiors threat out here. There's no time to do things by the book."

"So Adama picked another viper jockey, rather than listen to the valid concerns of a snipe." Garner said bitterly, then his mouth dropped, "How in the Gods…"

"Maltz is clocking in at over 30 times the top recorded speed of a viper." Marcus notes, "system's stress is still within 89 percent of tolerances." She set her tricorder down. "I think it's safe to say the limiting factor here is going to be human reaction time. The pulse navigational deflector and the intertial dampeners will keep the ship intact, but its moving too fast for unassisted maneuvering."

"You mean more computers.' McGavin replied. Marcus nodded.

"The C.O.R.A. system is about as much as we can manage without breaking your government and your military's restrictions." Marcus said, "but this is much better than I expected, Seven was correct. The intrinsic design of your vipers, and from what I've seen, most of your materials engineering far exceeds the capabilities of it's operators. " She hesitated a moment and said "Commander you are very fortunate that the Cylons seem to have an aversion to using your technology, if they had attacked you with your own ships, they might have mopped the floor with you."

"They really already did." McGavin said uneasily, "Now that they are getting over their.. hangups…"

"You might want to embrace some new ideas of your own." Marcus told her, "It's a big scary galaxy and you'll have to work to keep up."

"Commander." A man standing at the communication station interrupted with some urgency, "Monroe just put her shields up. We are receiving a message that they are at yellow alert."

Marcus tapped her comm badge. "Marcus to Monroe, report."

"Castile here, ma'am, we were attempting to transfer Khan and there's been a breach in holding, Commander Saavik is en route and Lieutenant Ro is en route with a security team." Castile advised, "Transporter operations are compromised, before the Commander left she ordered us to secure all systems."

"Understood." Marcus replied frowning. "Where is the Captain?"

"Captain Kirk took a shuttle to the Vesta 40 minutes ago." Castile answered. McGavin was reading an update from the man beside her and looked up.

"Admiral Adama and your Captain left for the wormhole ten minutes ago, Major Shaw accompanied them." Carol was about to reply when Castile interjected,

"Ma'am Lieutenant Yar also reporting from the surface, the doctor has been awake for some time. We were unable to reach the captain and our transfer of Khan was already underway." Castile said. Marcus pressed her lips together.

"Maintain your status Lieutenant, Keep communications secure. Maltz and I will assist the Lieutenant as needed. Marcus out."

"I'm… guessing he did something wrong." McGavin noted from her tone. Marcus sighed.

"He wants to help Tasha." Marcus said, "'Secure all systems' in a yellow alert, means to limit communications and access to and from the ship." Marcus said quietly, "They'll have to manage the security situation first and determine how it transpired, and we routinely investigate systems access. Right now the senior officers of all three assets are in a shuttle heading to the wormhole, and Commander Saavik is otherwise engaged." She tapped her comm badge "Marcus to Kirk.," She repeated where there was no answer. She turned to McGavin, "Yup, that leaves me, until Saavik is back, and I'm on the wrong ship."

"I am in overall command of the fleet until the Admiral returns. " McGavin told her, "You need a ride? You need some marines?"

Marcus considered, "If Khan got loose on Monroe, or escapes, we might." She said, "but there are people there handling that, let's see what's happening on the planet- Marcus to Yar."

"Yar here." The security chief replied immediately.

"Maltz and I are coming to assist, is your situation stable?"

"For the moment, ma'am " Yar replied, "My orders were to inform the Captain-"

"I'm up to speed Lieutenant, I checked in with Monroe, their status is unchanged." Marcus interrupted, "We need to assess Ms Dehner while Commander Saavik secures the Monroe."

"Commander, we have a shuttle here, I can-"

"Belay that, I'm the ranking field officer, I am en route with Maltz to relieve you, when we arrive you can take both him and La'as to the Monroe, with a detachment of Cylons and I'll speak to Doctor Dehner." Marcus told her. "I am on my way, stand fast. Marcus out."

McGavin gestured for Marcus to accompany her.

"You need a ride, I take it."

"Can a raptor perform a microjump to Kobol?" Marcus asked, McGavin nodded.

"It's tricky, but doable for a rated pilot. Boomer had a raptor standing by to bring the Major down to Kobol."

"Marcus to Maltz." Sam tapped her comm, "Abort testing and set course for A.T.H.E.N.A. we'll need to rendezvous and then we may need to return to Monroe in force."

. *. *.

"Her examination is complete but inconclusive. I'd like to consult with Doctor Bashir. Were you able to raise the captain?" Lara asked as she stepped into the hallway. Yar shook her head.

"The ship just went to yellow alert." She said, "Commander Saavik secured transporters and communications, but the Captain has already left for the wormhole with Admiral Adama."

"Yellow alert, for this?" Lara asked, Yar shook her head.

"We were attempting to transfer Kahn, but something has gone wrong. I'm about to take a shuttle back to the ship with La'as."

"We can provide assistance," Lonnie offered Yar considered, but they were interrupted by Dehner calling

"Lieutenant Commander? Natasha?" Setting her expression Yar stepped inside. "I can sense what is happening on the Monroe, they are handling the situation." Yar gazed at the woman skeptically.

"Ma'am, with all due respect-" she began but Dehner interrupted,

"Doctor, actually. I was a Doctor, that is the respect I am due, and I specialized in crew behavior under stress." Yar opened her mouth again but Dehner continued, "You must let them do their job, Lieutenant Commander, as you do yours."

"My job was to keep an eye on you." Yar retorted, then paused again.

"More or less accurate." Dehner agreed, "But you were told to await Commander Marcus, and your thoughts betray you."

"Stay out of my head." Yar growled, La'as put a hand out.

"Lieutenant…" he cautioned, Dehner seemed unrepentant and unafraid as she continued,

"While I assure you I mean no harm, and I concede that none of us can be fully certain of that at the moment. Nevertheless I am certain that there is more to the situation unfolding then it seems." Yar considered, and then looked at La'as.

"Are you familiar with the other individuals we have in detention?" Yar asked her, Dehner shook her head, "Are you familiar with the super men of the 21st century, have you heard of Kahn Noonien Singh?"

"I wrote a paper in which he featured prominently." Dehner admitted, but added, "particularly focused on how he was able to use his reputation to set his opponents off balance."

"He is a very real threat." Yar argued, "as chief of security, I need to be up there, right now!"

"Yet you are here, because there are many percieved threats to your crew's security, including me." Dehner argued, "Were you a Vulcan I would argue that logically, I am the threat you can most readily monitor, and my capabilities likely far exceed those Kahn will ever attain, yet you feel compelled to leave me to others, why is that I wonder?"

"Because there's a room full of Cylons that can blow your fracking head off?" Yar asked angrily, Lara looked shocked.

"Or a room full of Cylons waiting to study me, or a room full of marines waiting to kidnap me." Dehner noted, "the question remains, why is Kahn the greater threat?"

"Maybe I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt." Yar answered, "You are a Starfleet officer, or were, and most of your actions reported by the Captain were helpful. " Dehner nodded.

"As I am trying to help you now, Natasha." She said, she looked at Yar and her voice softened, "I know why I make you uncomfortable, I am sorry you experienced that." Yar blinked and she felt a hot rage building as she realized what Dehner had referred to, but the Doctor continued; "You will not get there before this is resolved. I see them fighting even now. A Klingon, and two humans. The Commander will arrive momentarily-" She closed her eyes, "a phaser, he has it-" she pressed her lips, and when her eyes opened Yar saw they were silver, "But his fingers will not close around it, and she has him now."

"Yar to Monroe," Yar slapped her badge, "Monroe respond."

"Kim here, I'm handling comms for the moment."

"Are systems secure?" Yar asked, "Where is Richard?"

"Seven has isolated ship's system while she and Ro chase something down." Kim informed her, "Lieutenant Castile has taken command of the bridge."

"What's going on in the brig?" Yar demanded, but she saw Dehner settle back down.

"We've got a feed going now, it looks like the Commander has just gotten the situation under control." Kim assured her, "and damn has she got a mean right cross." Yar looked at Dehner. "Saavik is having Khan's party transported to the Cylons base star now, we're going to have Commander Marcus secure him there. Commander Ro has just initiated Level 9 containment for Kurros."

"Level 9?" La'as asked.

"He's in the transporter." Yar clarified, she glanced at Dehner.

"A protocol no doubt developed after reports of Delta Vega." Dehner observed, "Had it been used on Mitchell and myself, we may have been unable to restore ourselves to corporeal form."

"May?" La'as looked at her dubiously. Dehner pulled the blanket aside on the biobed and swung her feet. Yar demanded,

"Where do you think you are going?"

"While I am aware that I am under supervision, I have recovered from my injuries, nonetheless." Dehner declared. She stood in the coverall she had arrived in, yet somehow the entire room seemed diminish before her. "I must join the Captain in the wormhole, I have a concern there, as well that only they can resolve."

"That's not possible." Yar told her, "The Monroe is under lock down, and even if we could spare a shuttle we have no reason to think that bringing you to the wormhole would be a good idea." Dehner was looking at the hologram of Clark Griffin that was the face of A.T.H.E.N.A.

"We both know what we really are." Dehner said, "But Kirk doesn't, and if this reality is to survive, he must know what is coming." She extended a hand.

The hologram regarded her for a moment and then smiled sadly.

"It was good to see them again." She whispered,

reaching back. Yar set her jaw as Dehner made contact with the seemingly intangible hologram.

"Do not despair." Dehner told her, "There are always possibilities."

There was the briefest shimmer as she touched Dehner's hand, the lights around them dimmed imperceptibly, and then Dehner stood alone.

Yar had her phaser up instantly but Dehner raised a hand and it vanished.

"what have you done to her?" Yar demanded, Lara moved to the console interface and began inspecting it. La'as moved protectively between her and Dehner.

"Please be at ease." Dehner said, " I will cause no harm." She told Yar. She didn't leave with a flash or a sound, she was simply gone, in the next moment. Yar looked at the others and sighed. A fraction of a moment later alarms began to blaze and she heard the sound of marines coming to investigate.

"Sure, we'll just all be at ease." Yar said to La'as as Billy moved to intercept the incoming soldiers. 'Monroe, be advised, apparently Dehner can teleport now, she's escaped, and the A.T.H.E.N.A facility may be compromised."

. *. *.

"I can't even tell you how many times I botched a landing because deceleration made me shove the stick at the wrong moment." Marcus followed Boomer out of the Raptor, seething quietly, as the Cylon commented, and surveyed the cavernous landing deck of the Cylon Colony. Sharon continued "You know it's a small thing but inertial dampeners probably just saved colonial deckhands millions of hours of work, and being able to decelerate that hard from combat speed will save hundreds of pilots in a battle."

"It's wonderful to hear such praise from a former enemy pilot." Quipped the third occupant of the Raptor as she followed Marcus.

Boomer rounded on the speaker as Marcus got out of the way, but the young woman put her hands up as she hopped off the Raptor's wing "too soon, my bad."

"Mueller." Boomer growled, "just fly Maltz' raptor back to Vesta and save the comedy for your love life."

"I- oh." Mueller started and then faltered as Maltz loomed before her.

"The port stabilizer is not installed competently." He advised, somehow implying that having just arrived she had already failed her family and all who knew her. "Inform your superiors so that it can be remedied." He turned and addressed Marcus. "We are to meet the landing party in the detention center, immediately."

Marcus turned to Boomer, "I appreciate what your were trying to do." She told the Cylon, "But Yar will have to answer to me when I get back, for a number of things." Boomer shrugged.

"Sorry. I know it's none of my business, but I know you've been working hard, and you sounded pretty pissed when she reported what happened on the planet." Boomer said. "And we all really appreciate what you're doing. I just… know what's it like to be caught in the middle." Marcus nodded.

"When we get back from Earth, I'll owe you in a drink, in the mean time, just continue the Raptor testing." Marcus told Boomer, "We'll look it over in the morning, after this is all settled, and when I have a chance to confirm that the A.T.H.E.N.A. installation is still functioning. " Boomer nodded.

"I'll see if we can help with that." She promised. Marcus nodded and the Cylon turned to go.

She fell in beside Maltz. "Saavik said Mogh will recover."

"He is Klingon." Came the only reply.

"Listen I caught a bit of intel." Marcus said as they approached the edge of the landing bay, "I'll fill you in, but before we return to Monroe, we need to get our guests to let us beam to the Pegasus, it's important."

"Understood." Mogh replied, as they were met by a humanoid Cylon in a bright canary jacket.

"Greetings I am Doral." The man said smiling, he extended a hand to Maltz, who studied it with disinterest. He retracted it and rubbed them nervously together "Er, yes, well I will be overseeing the interactions between the prisoners and this facility, and as such it was thought I would be an appropriate contact to escort you."

"Commander Marcus, U.S.S. Monroe." Carol replied, extending a hand, she shook Doral's hand, increasing pressure until he appeared to become uncomfortable. "This is Maltz, Klingons don't shake hands because it is a human pleasantry, suggesting one is unarmed, but on the other hand-" She gave Maltz a look, "the custom expresses more than that and allows, on occasion, the testing of each other's strength."

"Ah." Said Doral in understanding, "And I was told that in addition to our prisoners, some of your crew are stronger than human average."

"Correct." Marcus said, she brushed her hair back revealing the slight point to her ears, "as an individual that is somewhere between one third and one half Vulcan, I inherited their grip, it seems Cylons are a bit above baseline?" She gestured for Doral to proceed. Hesitantly he turned and began leading them down a brightly lit corridor.

"We can be as much as three times stronger, than an average human" Doral clarified, as she fell in behind them and Maltz trailed, "More stamina and a more voluntary ability to leverage adrenaline and other biological enhancers."

"You should know that Kahn is not average, and as such is estimated as approximately 5 times stronger than a human in good physical condition." Doral glanced at her with some surprise, Carol said, "Now I am probably not boasting that I am in decent shape, as an officer in Starfleet and due to my heritage. Let's even grant that I am probably on the upper end for a Vulcan of my size, given that not all vulcans see the investment of time into physical fitness as being a logical part of their occupation. I'm not quite my grandmother, as she is herself a pretty driven individual, but I am no slouch." Doral nodded his head as he continued walking, " I'd peg you as more like strong for a human. Maltz here is probably half again as strong as you and Mogh, something of a more elite warrior among his people, by all reports, gave it his all just to slow down Kahn's lieutenant."

"Mogh is regarded with respect by many warriors." Maltz stated, "He is quite proficient in Mock'Bara."

"It would take four of you to handle Mogh, Doral." Marcus said, "and I wouldn't be confident betting against him even so. We're here to make sure your prison can hold these men when we leave for Earth. We need to know you understand the danger they present."

"I assure you, we are taking this completely seriously." Doral assured her. Marcus glanced at his jacket and continued walking.

. *. *.

"Yar has returned to the Monroe." La'as informed Lara, she stood reviewing the recordings of Dehner's recovery. "They remain at yellow alert, and have advised that a level 1 security review is under way."

"I have reviewed my comnunication and operations logs for any discrepancies, and found none." Clark told them. "However, I am afraid I have no record of operation during the time that Dehner was awake, though I can confirm the likeness of Clark Griffin matches my standard avatar "

" We are assisting in the review of this facility's operation logs." The centurion Ryan declared, given the circumstances, It seems unwise to accept the self-report of a synthetic entity that is potentially compromised that can offer no explanation."

"Maybe she was a Lord of Kobol. " Billy said half jokingly. Lara and La'as looked at him.

" We should certainly find out more about what that entails." La'as replied. " My understanding is that there were a number of interactions with alien life forms that precipitated the attack on your colonies."

"I was just making a-" Billy stopped himself, " Maybe the people we woke up will have more information?"

" Though I cannot speak to what occurred here, we are reviewing the C.O.R.A. base programming code contributions that Kurros made and believe we have found possible backdoor entry opportunities." A T.H.E.N.A said. " I am documenting my findings with the Cylon collective as well as for review by colonial personnel and the crew of the Monroe."

"I'm certain the colonials are thrilled.' La'as said dryly.

"I think the greater concern will be that the backdoors left, will make it easier for hostile users to patch them ." A.T.H.E.N.A. replied, "Lieutenant Yar declined Icheb's first proposal for security protocols, because showing the colonials that by varying sensor input for the inertial dampeners would precipitate their removal from the vessels they were just installed in."

Billy made a note of that.

"How would Kurros have introduced any input into devices that aren't networked in the first place." Lara asked.

"We are not yet sure, but given that it is evidently possible, the risk remains nonetheless." Clark replied, "Icheb's suggestion was to send a signal over colonial wireless that would cause vibration in the restraints of the vipers, which would then be monitored by the inertial dampeners tracking pressure variation in the cockpit. This would serve to introduce input from an outside source that could be used to introduce malicious code."

Lara blinked.

"If Kurros sabotaged the code in such a manner that the input could still be provided by unknown interactions than maybe they have cause for concern." She said. La'as shook his head.

"They can't go into battle jumping at shadows." He said, "The Captain and Admiral Adama haven't even returned yet. We may not even still follow the original time table."

"You know I am right in the room here.." Kekeiya reminded them, they turned to look at him. He raised a hand. " Civilian liaison to the colonial government? I'm going to have to pass this all on to the Admiral and to the major when they return."

" I meant no disrespect." La'as replied, "I believe it is certainly appropriate for you to report this to your superiors I am.. Not sure I agree with the Lieutenant's priorities in this matter."

" Was there something going on there between the lieutenant and the doctor?" Billy asked, The other shook their head.

" I suspect that the lieutenant was exposed to psionic probing at some point during her incarceration." Lara admitted reluctantly, La'as nodded as well.

" She has a particular sense of urgency when it comes to lieutenant Castile as well." He added, " I don't think she liked being away from him during a crisis."

"She seems to have a problem with Commander Marcus and maybe Commander Saavik as well unless I'm imagining that and she really doesn't like to Klingons." Kekeiya said thoughtfully. He spread his hands. " And she spread thin, she's trying to oversee security issues on the ship, she's trying to oversee security issues on the ground.. It's hard to be at the right place at the right time. And. Yeah. I'm gonna have to explain to the Admiral and Kendra that there may be security holes in the advanced technology. We just spent the entire day installing all over the fleet that most of the fleet isn't a big fan of in the first place." Shaking his head he left the room. Ryan looked at both parties and the hologram, and then followed him out.

"So are we still assigned to this facility?" Lara wondered, "Will we still be given access to a ship that can take us home?"

"Which home?" La'as asked, and Lara sighed, "I don't know where my home is, I don't know where my people are, I don't know if my people still are."

"When I have access to Voth technology I can better help you find your people." Lara said, "and if we find your people first, they may be able to help us find the Voth."

"And we are still on the wrong side of the galaxy." La'as said. A T.H.E.N.A. watched the two, fascinated. La'as looked thoughtful. "Do you think Kurros meant to get caught?"

"Why would he do that?" Lara asked.

"Well assuming he is working for Emperor Lore, this whole situation has done the Emperor a great favor." La'as replied, "sowing doubt in the technologies that the humans need to defeat his allies, one of Kirk's enemies nearly escapes, another essentially does, after he finally lets her off the ship, it all happens while he is off on a mission. The crew of the Monroe are still getting used to each other, they don't know each other, they don't trust each other. The colonials just survived a holocaust and out here they have already lost one ship and have probably lost another encountering an enemy they had no idea existed."

"It's enough to make them want to call it off and head home." Clark observed, the two turned and looked at her. "They take their upgraded weapons, ev been if they need to be charged and maintained by Monroe, they are still proof of concepts and they have the technical manuals and trainings left by the Defiant."

"Would they really do that?" Lara asked. A.T.H.E.N.A. shrugged, "some want to. They forget I can hear them, and they forget that as I am modelled after a human, I almost understand them." She considered, "Clark would probably have tried to call it off and take home what they had."

"'Would have'?" La'as asked. The hologram nodded. "Did that change?"

"It did." The AI told them, "she encountered the unknown. She encountered the unknown unknowns. She concluded eventually that the only way to prepare for the unknown unknowns was to surround herself with known unknowns and unknowns she knew."

"That sounds somewhat like the starfleeters ideas." Lara noted, A.T.H.E.N.A. nodded.

"They can't account for everything, but they don't give up." She said, "They draw together allies along the way."

"They have faith." Lara summarized, "sometimes blind."

"The Monroe has proven her capability, and the Defiant before her, shows the Colonials what starfleet can do." La'as declared, "Kurros can cast doubt on that, but they caught on fast enough that he can't do more than that, now."

"When the Captain gets back, we'll see." Said Lara. "In the mean time we will have to have faith."

. *. *.

"I will speak only to James T Kirk!" The arrogant voice raged, "You may care for my woman, and even my friend but if you put so much as a finger inside here-" Marcus cleared the corner to find Kahn in an illuminated glass room with an access tunnel, raging at a human form Cylon Doctor standing unimpressed at the tunnel entrance.

"So what's that saying they had in your day?" She announced loudly. He turned as the audio reached him "You fooled around, you found out?" He glowered at her with one good eye. Maltz crossed his arms behind her. Doral echoed his posture unconsciously, with a significantly less threatening result, and Maltz shot him a withering look until he noticed and stopped.

"That face." Kahn raised a finger, "I never forget a face, you are his family!" Carol rolled her eyes.

"Commander Carol Marcus." She replied dryly, "and yes, James T Kirk is my great grandfather. Didn't pick up on my grandmother though, did you? She sends her regards."

Kahn hissed in irritation.

"I thought she was his woman." He said irritably. "She was a formidable fighter, as was the other."

"I assume you meant Octavia. Yeah I heard that she gave you a good run." Marcus told him. Kahn was annoyed.

"There is no call for this disrespect." He informed her, "I demand for James Kirk only to explain myself, not to defend myself. We had an understanding among men, and I intend to explain to him why it was broken."

"You mean why you broke it?" Marcus asked dubiously.

"I was incensed!" Kahn shouted, "provoked, manipulated, used once again, no doubt by that android-"

"Easy there, your excellency, we've been putting the pieces together." Marcus said, she approached the glass pulling out a tricorder. Kahn looked at her almost apprehensively for a moment, and then nodded his approval. "Why don't you tell us your side." Marcus proposed, and Kahn nodded again.

"There was this sound, behind hearing, that would not cease…" he began.

"Outside normal human hearing." Marcus noted. "We are aware of this Khan. We detected it just before you broke out and nearly killed several of my people." She pinned the augment down with a stare, "So which is it Kahn, are you the victim of some grand scheme or are you a prince among men who must be shown unceasing respect? Because demanding to speak only to Captain Kirk, abusing your wardens and refusing medical care is a heavy thumb on your scale."

"You would dare speak to me in such a way?" Khan thundered, "I am Khan Noonien Singh, a ruler of nations!"

"You're a man out of time." Marcus told him flatly, "Those nations have been dust for over a million years. You're a refugee Khan, just like the rest of us, and if you want us to believe you have any sense, you'd better remember that."

"What does your belief matter, if you have already made up your mind." Khan said sourly. "Go, leave me, I tire of this."

"Well you'll have plenty of time to sleep on it when do decide to leave." Marcus growled, "If we leave you here, it's probably for good, and they.." she jerked a thumb at the Cylon Centurions guarding Khan's chambers as well as the two others, "don't seem impressed. I've spent the last three days patching up ships, salvaging them and now upgrading them. What have you, done, you read a book and then started a fight?" She shook her head. "You've confirmed what I needed to know Khan, I'm done here, but if you'll take a piece of advice? Get your priorities together. We rescued you from Lore and whatever fate he had in store for you, and your wife. We have a common enemy here, and with the way you're acting you'd better hope we succeed in defeating him because you're not putting yourself in a position to be relevant."

"And what position can I put myself in at all?" Demanded the augment, "I am adrift from my world, my empire, I was torn from the world I was building with my followers, do not lecture me, you cannot comprehend what that is like."

"I think I probably can." Marcus told him, "I didn't have an empire, but I had a career, and a calling, and I'm a hybrid, so really nobody is sure what to make of me." She crossed her arms, " But I make connections Kahn, I try to treat others with respect, even when they get on my last nerve, even you, and I treasure my family. I protect them." She nodded to McGiver, "'Your woman', huh? That's how you refer to the mother of your child? She threw herself into that fight too, as I heard it and unlike you and your buddy there, she wasn't under the influence of any sonic barrage. She was just trying to be supportive of you. Why would that be I wonder." Khan opened his mouth, " It's because you're the father of her child. You idiot. She gave up everything for you, her career, her ship mates, her family, her entire life, to join you in exile, and she's just 'your woman'?" Sam rolled her eyes.

"I have never once been disrespectful of her." Khan growled but Marcus heard his voice catch.

" Okay Prince if you say so." Marcus said derisively, " We'll just pretend that you're not a controlling megalomaniac, for the purposes of discussion, So explain to me how, risking herself and probably her baby's health as well, to try to protect you, is particularly respected by refusing your own medical treatment? You think she deserves a busted up one-eyed man child?"

"You Dare-"

" Save it Kahn, I could probably take you in a fight on a good day, and I could certainly not the floor with you now." Marcus told him, " and you don't know me.. So you'll have to trust me on this.. I'm not even a particularly violent person. I have some Vulcan and Romulan impulses that I have to keep in check, But I don't have anything to prove. So I'm not telling you because there's any point in posturing.. I'm telling you because you need to get over yourself. If you're really up to being a man for your wife and child, you need to take a good hard look at yourself and start putting some work in, because your empire is ashes and all this pretentiousness is robbing you of opportunity."

"You speak of opportunity again, as though I have it." Khan said sourly. "I am a broken man."

" Then put yourself back together stronger, better." Marcus told him. " You got kidnapped and tortured by a crazy Android trying to rewrite the universe. I'm fairly certain that's an example of cosmically bad luck, but it also gave you a chance to move forward in a world that has its own opportunities. I've seen the history books Kahn, it didnt go so well for you there, but you have a new destiny, a new story to write." She shrugged, " at the very least you can tell yourself that it took a lot more than a nail."

"'For want of a nail a kingdom was lost'" Kahn quoted, Sam nodded, but said,

"For want of a nail, a man was reborn." She offered. Khan was quiet for a moment. At last he nodded.

" I see I was mistaken, about a great many things." He said, " particularly you, but perhaps more."

" Then maybe you are a man with opportunities after all." Marcus told him. " I did come down here to confirm your side of what happened, Khan, as well as to assure that your accomodations were both adequate and humane." She tapped the glass and looked around, " I think we could probably do a little more on that second part, assuming you're in a cooperative mindset, and I hope you do accept medical care, though we won't force it, but there is one last thing I think I'm here to do." Kahn raised his chin.

"And what is that." He asked.

"Apologize." Marcus told him. " You'll never get that from my great grandfather after trying to take over his ship. And harm his crew.. And I believe my grandmother would consider it illogical to apologize for actions she considered necessary. However, while You were in our custody. We had an obligation to protect you, when we took away your freedoms to protect yourself." Kahn waited. " I think we were all so preoccupied with your formodable reputation, and your impressive persona, We never considered how vulnerable you were in there. You done such a good job of presenting yourself as invincible, I think we started to believe it. Now we let someone on our ship , take advantage of that, and use you as a weapon and I don't think you appreciate that at all."

"I do not." Kahn stated plainly.

" Well we owe you an apology for that and I'm giving it to you. I apologize Kahn, while I am glad my shipmates were able to fight you off, I think that situation should never have happened and we will try to do better moving forward."

"I must admit your shipmates are.. most impressive." Kahn admitted. He exchanged a glance with Marcus that conveyed a great deal of respect, "As is the great grand daughter, of Captain James T Kirk."

"We all have a past to overcome, Kahn." Marcus said, but we can't let our strengths turn against us. When the captain returns I'll make sure he gets down here and that we come up with a fair path forward, can you accept that?"

Kahn nodded. "I can indeed, Commander Marcus." Sam turned to to leave as Doral approached the entry to the cell with a doctor. Maltz accompanied her.

" He was your family's enemy yet you treated him with honor." Maltz noted.

"I don't know that anyone really wanted to be enemies." Marcus said, "I think even after the harm he caused, the Captain wanted him to find a way to thrive, and I think Khan only hated my father when he denied him the path he saw to doing that."

" He should have killed him for trying to take his ship." Maltz said.

" I'm sure they both had their opportunities and tried their best in the moment." Marcus said, " but at the end of the day, where is the honor in killing an enemy you are no longer fighting, and where is the courage in fearing an enemy you've already defeated? The humans and the cylons here are trying to figure that out, I think. I think some of us on the Monroe are working on that too."

"James Kirk refused to kill me." Maltz said thoughtfully, " He denied me an honorable death in battle."

" Well would it have been honorable if it was easy?" Marcus asked, " You said you beamed him up by accident because he impersonated Kruge? You really want to go to Sto Vo kor like that Maltz?"

Maltz had stopped in his tracks.

"Oh come on, I was kidding… sort of.." Marcus told him, "You really still want him to kill you?"

"No." Maltz said, as though he were just deciding it, " He defeated my crew in battle but he is no longer my enemy." He paused, "I do not even think he ever was. Kruge made foolish decisions, both in battle and as a Commander. For years I carried the shame of defeat by James T. Kirk, when truly the shame was in the situation that led to that battle."

"Your crew killed my grandfather." Marcus pointed out, "he died saving my grandmother."

"Before that the crew of the science vessel, killed by a foolish gunner that Kruge killed anyway." Maltz looked at her. "Commander, you know that I am as proud a warrior as any Klingon but.." He looked down at his hands, "But I simply like to work. I do not yearn to feel the blood of my enemies, and I do not relish the thought of a warriors death, when there is more work to be done."

"As a half human Vulcan Romulans, I can say a thing or two about cultural pressures." Marcus said, she slapped his shoulder heartily, as they returned to the launch bay. "I think you're an engineer Maltz. We're too busy to fight for glory, someone has to do the work."

"I have not spoken of this to anyone before." Said Maltz.

"Well we all have unclean hands, Maltz." Sam told him, "I think it's a consequence of doing the dirty work, but there comes a point where we have to decide to wipe them off and pick up the future." Maltz nodded and said,

"And then the real work begins."