I'm sorry, I missed that last part. I'm going to have to run that back. I thought.
Star Ocean-
I walk out of the captain's quarters to see Callen waiting for me. Callen turned his back to me as he asked. "Who did you pay, and how much?"
"School kid, twenty bucks." I said and gave Callen a low five.
"Huh." Callen said.
"What?" I asked.
"I have this feeling of Déjà vu." Callen said.
"Yeah, same here." Kensi said.
"We can discuss that later." I said.
"Putting that aside, welcome back Deeks." Callen said.
"What gave it away?" Kensi asked.
Uh…huh…What gave it away? It was you name: Max Gentry." Callen said.
"Okay." I said.
"You used that alias when you were undercover working that case with the waitress." Callen said.
"Monica." Kensi said.
"Are you okay, or is there going to be a reappearance of the little green monster?" I asked.
"Nope." Kensi said.
"Good because you never gave him a fair shake for doing his job." Callen said.
"What? I was a disappointed that Deeks wasn't open about that relationship." Kensi said.
"A relationship that Grainger forced him into, or did you forget about that." Callen said.
"This is a nice stroll down amnesia lane, but I think we got bigger fish to fry." I said.
"Did we really just redo a conversation that we had like two minutes ago?" Callen asked.
"What are you saying?" Kensi asked.
"I really feel like we had this conversation, and then we redid the whole thing because information was missed." Callen said.
"Talk about braking the fourth wall." Kensi said.
"What makes you think we haven't broken the fourth wall before?" I asked.
"Huh?" Kensi and Callen asked.
"What makes you think there aren't people reading this interaction as a story…"
"Deeks not now." Kensi said cutting me off.
"Now we have broken the fourth wall." Callen said, shaking his head.
"Fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break, That's…sixteen walls." I said delightfully.
"That sounds like a quote from a movie." Callen said.
"It was. Deeks literally just quoted the first Deadpool movie, and now we're going to move on to the bigger fish that we need to fry." Kensi said.
At that moment, we felt the ship lurch forward and we could hear the hyperspace engine engaging. Sam picked this opportune time to join us.
"What's with the group meeting in the hall?" Sam asked.
"Not much Teddy; we were discussing old topics that the team has already talked about." I said.
Sam gave me a dirty look, and then gave Callen a sideways glance.
"Max knew about it already. Kensi." Callen said, asking for Kensi to back him up.
"The man who almost died of Dysentery twice." I said.
"Oh God." Kensi said.
"Oh God indeed." Callen said.
Sam starts to feel like this conversation has already been discussed.
"Yes, it has." Kensi said.
"You most definitely been party to this conversation already." Callen said.
"Déjà vu." Sam said.
"Just to clarify, a clown with colitis is like your worst nightmare?" I said, repeating the conversation we had in the bullpen the morning when Callen and Sam were trapped in a submersible.
"Shut up De—" Sam cut himself off when he who I was.
"Say it. Say…it." I said, forcefully.
"Shut up Deeks!" Sam said, almost shouting.
There was a moment of silence that dragged on for at least ten minutes before anybody spoke.
"We were both tortured when Michelle was working undercover with Issac Sidorov." I said, jogging Sam's memory even more.
There was a moment of silence as everything finally clicked in Sam's brain.
"So that's who you are." Sam said.
"Blame Hetty. It was her call." I said.
"We need to get to the Gozen system in order to have that conversation." Vera said, as Turk and her joined the group.
"Now that's out of the way, what's next?" Turk asked.
"Catch up to Hetty and find an Alpha Prime computer location. As well as an Omega level clearance passcode." I said.
"What? And what?" Everybody asked.
"Questions for Hetty." I said.
We all walked over to the mess hall to continue the conversation and get a bite to eat.
"How do you about Alpha Prime, and Omega level clearance?" Turk asked.
"Hetty told me herself after my brain was transferred into this body, at least she told me about the Alpha Prime part. The Omega level clearance I found out later. What do you know about the Gozen system?" I asked.
"Very little, other than that is where all of the scientific advancements have been coming from." Turk said.
"Bet that's where you got that body." Sam said.
"Most likely." I said.
"There was a rumor that someone or something that caused the A.I. revolt of 22nd century that came from the Gozen system as well." Vera said.
"That new to us." Callen said.
"That's a rumor I've heard as well, but I have a few points of interest that I've wanted to investigate as well, but Hetty sent me on that wild goose chase into the Unknown Regions." I said.
"Have you seen this symbol?" Vera asked, producing a piece of paper with a symbol that I have seen before.
"Yes, I have. What does it symbolize, or is it the logo of a company of significance?" Kensi said.
"It's the company logo for Valkyr, and they were—"
"Still." I said cutting Vera off.
"Still the leading company in the fields of both medicine and robotics." Vera said.
"Actually, the location for Valkyr in the Gozen is a satellite location." Kensi said.
"Where is HQ located?" Turk asked.
"That's most likely a question for Hetty." I said.
"More question than answers, but I willing to bet that, after further investigation, we could a lead on an Alpha prime location, and perhaps an Omega clearance code as well." Callen said.
"Only one way to find out." I said.
"We passing through the Menook system. It'll be another fifteen hours before we get to the Gozen system." Turk said.
"Do we have to worry about interdiction?" I asked.
"Inter—what?" Sam asked.
"Interdiction." Vera said.
"That was finished?" Callen asked.
"Yeah." Turk said.
"What does it do?" Kensi asked.
"It's the ability to pull ships out of hyperspace. And on the space lane we are in now, yes, we do have to worry about it." Turk said.
"Great." Sam said.
"I'm guessing this corridor is controlled by the Empire, or is controlled by the Dukedom?" Callen asked.
"At the moment, the Dukedom, but that could change at any moment." I said.
"Have you check the scanners since we entered the system?" Sam asked.
"No, but I'm heading there now." Turk said, and then got up from his chair running for the cockpit.
"Why should we be worried?" Kensi asked.
"Seriously?" Versa asked.
"We'll take care of this; you go help Turk." Callen said.
"Why should we be worried?" Kensi asked, as Vera got up and left the mess hall.
"About half a millennia ago, there was a war between the Dukedom and the Empire. It was pretty brutal, and long winded, but when it was finally over there was an uneasy truce that rarely lasts." Callen said.
"The problem is that most of the fighters for the Dukedom used ships out of the Vergnis system." I said, getting to the point.
"I can see how that would be a serious wrinkle." Sam said.
"You folks might want to find a seat to strap into, and do it post haste." Turk said over the intercom.
"You heard the man, hop to it." Callen said, as the four of us jumped out of our chairs and ran for the cockpit.
By the time we were stepping into the cockpit, Turk brought us out of hyperspace.
"What's the word?" I asked, as I was sliding into the chair behind Turk.
"The sensor had been tripped, but we avoided their interdiction measures." Turk said.
"Their initial measures." Vera said.
"Let me at the sensors." I said.
"Why?" Vera asked.
"You want to get out of this in one piece? Let me see the sensors." I said.
"Holo-scanner to your left." Turk said, pointing to my immediate left.
"Give me a moment." I said, and then unstrapped myself and jumped into the chair at the sonar station.
"Work your magic." Kensi said.
"On it." I said.
Sam, Callen, and Kensi all looked at me as I was working on a map that did not fit the computer I was working at. Kensi watched in a mazement as my hands started to move at inhuman speed, and she could see the map reset numerous times.
The sensor went off, and the other five people could see the ship outside the viewport move to intercept us.
"Uh, anytime Deeks." Turk said.
"Rerouting." I said.
"What? Rerouting what? Oh, that's knew." Vera said, looking over her shoulder at me.
Everybody looked over at me and saw that my hands were moving faster than their eyes could register.
"Got it!" I said.
"Got what?" Turk asked.
Turk watched as a course was uploaded into the nav computer, as well as coordinates into the hyperspace engine.
"You do realize this is suicide." Turk said as I was climbing out back into my chair behind him.
"This is the best I could on short notice, but you will soon realize this is our best course of action." I said, strapping back into my chair.
"Hold onto your butts." Turk said, and then proceeded to follow the course that I entered.
At that moment, a new course was charted for us to follow, and then I saw something flashing on my H.U.D. that I had a new message.
I read the message really quickly, and then responded. "Turk follow the new course."
"That's suicide." Vera said.
"It's a gamble we have to take." I said.
"What does Hetty have?" Turk asked.
"Location to the Omega clearance code." I said.
Turk put his ship on the course that was charted and gunned the engine. It was a good thirty minutes before we were on the ground, and when we were I sent a message to "Hetty" that we were on the ground.
"Where are we meeting Hetty?" Sam asked.
"Here," I said, bring up the holo-map of the city. "But I don't think we're dealing with Hetty." I said.
"Why?" Vera asked.
"Because Hetty called me by my name." I said.
"So." Vera said.
"You obviously never meet the woman we're talking about." Sam said.
"Want to shock me with the truth." Vera said.
"Hetty only calls people that are associated with her Mr., or Miss, and using there last name." Turk said.
"I can say that whoever we're looking for is an associate of ours." I said, and then walked away.
"I still don't understand." Versa said.
"There are some who enough money to own more than one body." Sam said.
"Okay." Vera said.
"It's most likely someone we know from Earth, masquerading in Hetty's body." Callen said.
There was a moment of silence as we walked to our location looking for Hetty. "To what end?" Vera asked.
"We don't know." I said.
We walked in silence as we contemplated our next move. In the distance I could see the building in question, but I was stopped when I heard. "Psst."
I stopped for a moment and listened again. I looked around, and then I heard. "Deeks."
"Shush." I said.
I turned to see Hetty, who was only two feet from me. "Took you long enough, Shaggy." Hetty said.
"Shaggy." Vera said.
"Let's go Velma." I said.
"That was fast." Kensi said.
"Everybody, surround Hetty, and pray that we don't get accosted as we make our exit." I said.
"Hetty would never call Deeks by the name Shaggy, so we'll skip over that part. What do you have for us?" Callen asked.
"I'll tell you that when we get back to the ship. Deeks follow this path." She said, and then I on my H.U.D. I saw the path I was supposed to follow. It was out of the way, but it avoided the security check point; it was also possible that mercs could be waiting for us on our way back.
That's a chance we're going to have to take. I thought.
Twenty minutes later, we were approaching the a backdoor entrance to the hanger, but there were interlopers waiting for us.
"Didn't you take us this way to avoid a situation like this?" Vera asked in whispered tones.
"This is a minor setback, and Deeks is already working out a plan." Turk said.
There was a moment of silence as I was looking at the blueprint of the surrounding area.
"What do you have Deeks?" Sam asked.
"Five tango, but one has heavy armor." I said.
"What's the play?" Kensi asked.
"That's what I—"
"Shush!" Turk silenced us as a siren started wailing.
Everybody looked all over for the source of the noise, and then Kensi motioned for everybody to look at me and Hetty. We were shut down, but another siren went off. Four of the five guards had left to go check on the disturbance.
"And now there was one. Hey Deeks! Wait!" Callen said.
I sprinted from my position, and as I was approaching the guard, he turned around to look at me. I drew my arm back and let loose with enough force to destroy the person's helmet. I stared the person in the face and was in shock when I saw that the person was in fact a woman. A portion of her face was damaged beyond repair, but with my visor I knew who it was. Although she has no idea who I am, my heart breaks for a moment, and then I pull out a gun, point it at her face, and then pull the trigger. I watched as her brain and the hardware was blown out onto the concrete.
"Let's go!" I exclaim.
I was about to run, but something on her body caught my attention. I reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a few pieces of paper. One with Hetty's picture on it, and the other was orders from a name I wasn't able to place, but I know I've seen and heard before.
We get to Turk's ship, and get off world without any issues, but I realized the issue at hand. We all gathered in the living quarters to discuss our next course of action.
"Now that we have Hetty, we can finally go to the Gozen district." Turk said.
"We can't." I said.
"Why?" Callen asked.
"We have to go to the snowy moon of Septum IV and handle some business there." I said.
"No, we don't." Vera said.
"You two don't, but we do." I said.
"Seriously?" Callen asked.
I showed him the picture of the man from the papers I took off the dead woman. "So what?" Callen said.
"How about this?" I asked, showing him the man's name.
"Oh, we need to handle this." Callen said.
Sam saw a fire in Callen's eyes that he hadn't seen in a long time. Vera was about to protest, but Sam cut her off by holding up his hand.
"See that look. That's look of a man who is determined to kill whoever is in his way. Take us back to our ship. We'll meet you in the Gozen system after we take care of business." Sam said.
"All right. I'll head up to the cockpit and set a course for the Paldean system. Come on Vera." Turk said, heading back to the cockpit.
"Want to tell us what's so important that we're flying the opposite direction of our mission?" Kensi asked.
"The reason for that is the reason we had to pick her up." I said, pointing at Hetty.
"Who is that?" Callen asked.
I nodded at Hetty.
"It's me, Nell." Hetty said.
"Why is Nell in Hetty's body?" Kensi asked.
"Hetty has what—sixty aliases?" I asked.
"Give or take." Nell said.
"She has a body for each alias." Sam said.
"This is the reason for picking Nell up and heading to the Septum system." I said, putting a picture on the display to my left.
It was a picture of a nondescript man.
"Okay, what about him?" Sam asked.
"What if I told you that this was the man we were really after." I said, and then brought up a picture everybody would remember. It was the German spook that we chase on Earth about three thousand years ago.
I think it was three thousand years ago. I thought.
"Mattias Draeger." Kensi said.
"You know, I think we better detour to the Septum system, and kill this man for good." Sam said, and then walked away out of the living quarters.
Star Ocean-
Paldean system-
"Good hunting. Let us know if need any help on this." Turk said, on the screen.
"This is a fight we have to handle on our own. Just keep everything in order until we get back. Until we meet up in Gozen, stay frosty out there." Sam said.
"Same to you." Turk said, and the screen went blank.
"How long until the Septum system?" Kensi asked.
Callen looked at the nav computer and said. "Fifteen hours, and thirty minutes."
"Get some rest. We have no idea what is going to happen the moment we touch down on the planet." Sam said.
"All right." I said, and then exited the cockpit.
"You got it." Kensi said and followed me out.
"Deeks." Nell said.
"Yeah." I said.
"I need a word in private." Nell said.
"I'll catch up." I told Kensi.
Kensi nodded her head, and then headed to the living quarters.