After watching Jason leave for the Yoshuhlnak, Nathan went in search of Adam and Chang. It wasn't much of a search, for they had not gone far. Nathan found them in the room where Spock and the others were waiting.
"A'nirih," Nathan said, "you can go in and see Joel now, if you want. Kev is already in there."
Spock stood quickly and nodded before making haste from the room. Turning back from him sadly, Nathan looked at Adam, "I think we can tell the rest of the UNIT to stand down now, bro. Right?"
Adam nodded slowly before looking up and calling Daileass, "Tell all squads to stand down. Unless we get further intel, there's no need to keep everyone at battle readiness."
'Understood. Adam, what do we tell them? Rumours are already flying around about Joel - and we won't be able to keep it secret that two of the five involved with hurting him are in the med bay too. Even though they are innocent, people are going to react like Kevin did.'
"That is going to be fun to defuse," Logan weighed in with his opinion. "How do we explain without saying too much, without Joel's permission? If it were me, I don't think I'd want everyone to know."
With a sad smile, Nathan offered, "Just tell the leaders of the squads the truth. Joel won't mind. I know his mind, and the truth is preferable to a lie or an omission."
"Are you sure?" Adam asked.
"Yes," Nathan nodded. "We don't need to get into the gory details, of course, but the basics? Sure, we should tell them. They love him, after all."
Sarek stood slowly, "I would agree. Only tell them enough to put their minds at rest and assure them that my grandson is recovering, and that Bradley and Stewart are innocent of wrongdoing. Anything more than that should come from Sa'ren himself. Now, if you will excuse me and my wife; we need to be at our grandson's side."
"Us as well," Trip added as he, T'Pol, and Amanda stood.
"Of course," Chang said softly as the four adults left the room. After the door had closed, he looked at Nathan. "They are going to explode in rage, shortly."
"I know. I can feel it too," Nathan sighed. "Daileass: how is that room coming? Prepared?"
'Yep! It's as Vulcan proof as I can make it - I think... I hope!'
Nathan rolled his eyes, "I don't think that will be possible, but 10 out of 10 for the effort!"
All in all, it was a good thing that Sean was away for the weekend. He'd have had a relapse:
Lee was not amused, and Jake was trying everything he could think of to get the nine-year-old chimp-human hybrid to calm down. For his trouble, various items of weaponized fruit were being bounced off of his head and chest as Lee had a 'Grade A' temper tantrum.
The rest of Kevin and Joel's kids were in only slightly better moods, although it was likely shock at what had happened to their new daddy that made them sit there crying and not raging like their eldest brother. The two badger-hybrids had their faces pressed against cushions and sobbed, their pure white fur not able to hide their trembling. Rafe, the only fully human child in the group of siblings, wailed in Juana's arms and did not allow her to console him.
"Lee!" Jake said, after pulling the well aimed half a banana out of his mouth, "This won't help your Dad!"
Lee flipped Jake off, then rapidly signed at him.
"No, not yet. Your poppa will call us when he thinks your dad is ready."
The chimp signed something else, then flipped Jake off again before picking up another orange from the dining room table.
Jules and Verne, the two five year old ferret-hybrids, quickly jumped him and carried him off of the table. "No! No! Yous must calm down," Verne sobbed as he cuddled into Lee's chest, leaving his twin to cuddle the angry chimp from behind.
"Yeah! We wanna see Daddy, too, but we must be calm!" Jules added.
Lee, not wishing to harm his two brothers, covered his face with both his hands and his feet and started sobbing in a mixture of anger, frustration and gut wrenching sorrow.
Jake sighed as he picked up the fruit that had been spread about most of the dining room and even the hallway outside. Then he went in search of Xain. He had not seen hide nor hair of him for the past half hour.
He found him holding Edovina, in the kitchen. "You okay, T'hy'la?"
"Our daughter needed changing," came a mechanical response to Jake's question. Even the bond link between the two boys seemed as void of any feeling as the Vulcan's voice.
"Well, she's asleep now. Put her down for a nap and talk to me, beloved," Jake said firmly.
Xain started to shake his head, but at a glance from Jake he did as he was told and was soon sitting at the breakfast bar next to his boyfriend.
"Is it Joel?" Jake asked, expecting it to be Xain's cousin being the reason for the quietness of the Vulcan boy.
Xain nodded, but then also shook his head. "Yes and no," he whispered.
"Huh?"
"I... my blood calls out for vengeance for the affront against my cousin. Yet, my memories are... I remember that which I have chosen to forget, my T'hy'la. I... I am afraid..." Xain explained, before trailing off as tears started to appear in the corner of his eyes.
Jake grew concerned. He could suddenly feel the turmoil inside of his boyfriend from down his bond-link. Xain had never felt this upset before. That scared Jake.
"Will you tell me?"
"No one must know," Xain whispered hoarsely. "No one. You must promise me, Jake. You must."
"I... I promise," Jake swore, his voice catching in growing fear.
Xain tried to explain verbally, but each time he opened his mouth, the words caught in his throat. So he brushed his fingers against Jake's face, and pulled his beloved into a meld...
"Why?" Aslan mewed plaintively as he tugged on Juana's arm, tears rolling down the fur on his golden cheeks. "We wanna see our Daddy. He NEEDS us..." he sobbed miserably.
"Because we don't know if they are ready to have us all there, yet, little cub," Juana answered, pulling the boy onto her lap to join Rafe in a cuddle. "When they've helped your Daddy, then we can go."
"We are going now," came a firm voice from the doorway, making Juana look up quickly.
Jake had a bag in his hand, and was already dressed to leave. So was Xain, whose face was more pale than Juana had ever seen it.
"Everyone, get into their jumpsuits," he instructed the hybrid kids. "Rafe, you need to get dressed."
Rafe tearfully nodded before running upstairs to find his clothes. He was followed by Lee, Aslan and Shere Khan, after the three had grabbed their own suits from the bag in Jake's hand.
Juana rose and walked to where Jake was standing. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "What is it?"
"Can you stay and look after Vina?" he asked politely. His eyes, however, were rage filled and flashing fire.
"Of course. But..."
"I cannot explain." Jake sighed before softening his voice, "Sorry, Mamacita, but I just made a promise."
"I understand. I will stay with my boys and Vina. You take them and go look after that poor boy," Juana murmured before kissing Jake's cheek, then kissing Xain's as well.
Xain, if anything, now looked even more pale.
Juana, having guessed that whatever the problem was had to be about Xain, moved away, fingering her small crucifix around her neck and praying silently. Then, "Reuben, Ricardo! Come to me, please," she called out as she went into the kitchen to look in on the baby.
Xain moved closer to Jake as they both stood in the hallway and gripped the older boy's arm in both hands and held on tight. It was an act as if his life depended on Jake for salvation.
And in a way, it was. Jake was keeping Xain from flying to pieces, right now.
The two badger-hybrids finished slipping into their suits and had walked up to the two boys in the doorway. They looked up at them through their shades and Brian asked, "Why we getting dressed?"
"Unless we know what the Unit's rules are for the Hybrids, I thought it best for you to be dressed," Jake answered, his voice still tight.
"O...okay," Sue trembled.
Jules and Verne were the only two who had not bothered moving for clothes. Due to their ferret-natures, the two hybrids could not dress or they would not be able to move as easily or fluidly as they might need to on a moment's notice. Instead, they were checking each other's hats.
Ferret-hybrids loved hats. Loved shinys too. Shiny hats... well, they were just the best, of course.
"We're ready, Unca Jake," Rafe said as he came running down the stairs. He was in a pair of jeans with Nike sneakers, and a Barney Tee-shirt. He liked Barney, but he also knew he was one of the few in the Clan's Rugrat/Tribe divisions that did. Still, Timmy hadn't teased him - too much.
The two cats and the chimp appeared a moment later. Lee still looked ready to 'fruit-to-death' any that pissed him off, but his 'run-by-fruiting' tendencies were being held in check for the moment.
Jake did a quick nose-count, then tapped his communicator, "Jake to Camp Bam Bam. I require transport for ten to wherever Joel is."
'Receiving you, Jake,' Daileass' voice answered. 'Joel is currently stable and receiving visitors, but you may want to talk to Nathan or Adam first.'
"Whatever," Jake sighed angrily. "Just get us there, please."
'Energising,' said the AI boy, and the hallway was suddenly filled with transporter energy.
Then, it was vacant.
Corey whined like a little girl as the Vulcan medic healed his arms, "I want my fucking lawyer! This is police brutality! Wait, you alien scum ain't even from my world! Who do you think you are?"
Telez leaned forward, "Want me to break your dick off to show you how little we care about your fucking lawyer, you little shit-stain?"
Corey shut his mouth quickly. This blue boy was stronger than his slight frame would lead one to believe.
The door to the brig opened and in walked Jason.
Corey nearly shit himself. If the blue boy looked pissy, this other one seemed ready to split the atom with his teeth.
"This the one who had Joel's medallion?" Jason asked, pointing at Corey.
"Yep. Mr Cocky, here. Want me to get a pain-giver for you? You can put HIM through the Trial of Fire," Telez offered quickly.
Jason considered it.
Corey had no idea what a pain-giver was, but the name seemed to say it all. He actually lost control of his bowels. The Vulcan medic wrinkled his nose, finished up quickly, then left the cell. "I would recommend cleaning him down. Or not. Justice might be served to let him sit in his own faeces for a few weeks," the Vulcan said as he left, wiping at his hyper-sensitive nose.
Jason pulled a face, "Not so brave now, is he? Well, scum? What does it feel like, going though the fear you put my brother through?" Jason moved towards the cell forcefield. "Answer me, shithead! How does it feel?"
Corey might have been scared enough to crap himself, but he wasn't one to let a knife go untwisted. "Brother? That little shit was your brother?! What happened; your mother put out to one of those pointy eared freaks? Did that emotionless bastard think your bitch of a mom was such a good lay he'd have a kid with her? She must have been a well good whore, huh?"
Jason turned and left the room without uttering a word.
Telez whistled happily, then moved to a box that the security guard in the room had next to his chair, "Sorac, do you have one of those Vulcan apple things in there? Oh, what's that name again?"
"Pla-savas, and yes I have one. Do you wish to share it with me?" the emotionless man asked politely.
"Yes, please. This is going to be a good show," Telez answered as Jason returned with a small seven-inch-long device in his hand. He went up to the forcefield on Corey's cell and lowered it. In the same second, he pulled Corey into the air by his hands using telekinesis. Then, he lowered Corey's crap filled pants and undershorts with his powers.
Telez winced as Jason brought the pain-giver to Corey's testicles and let rip...
Five minutes later, Jason was in the next cell. "Are you going to say anything about my mother?" he asked sweetly.
The eighteen-year-old brother of Corey, Levi, shook his head so fast he got a nose bleed. He also had his hands pressed over his balls tightly.
"Good boy. Sit down and this will be over in a second," Jason pointed, using the pain-giver as a pointer.
Levi sat down and kept his hands in place.
Jason quickly scanned the entirety of Levi's past, grunted and walked back out.
From Corey's cell, a high pitched crying could still be heard.
"Shut the fuck up! There's no damage! It's a high quality Romulan device - they don't damage anything, just stimulate the nerves... and not the good nerves, obviously," Jason said as he moved to the last cell, where he found the seventeen-year-old Dillon on his knees, blubbering insanely at him.
"Mmm," Telez said as he drew alongside Jason. "He's been like that since Brant. Go fucking figure. You going to mind heal him?"
"I might, or have a Vulcan do it. He can't face trial like that. Still, I'll scan him first. At least he won't put up a fight," Jason said as he quickly scanned the insane boy, who was now making rabbit noises and trying to dig through the floor. "Shit, Brant. Next time, pull his dick off - less mental scarring!"
Matthew sat by the bed that Brant was currently sleeping in. He and Jason had carried the vampire in, just after beaming Dillon to the ship's holding cells, and Jason had told him that Brant should wake up on his own with no lasting ill-effects. Other than a pissed off temper, Matthew was betting.
Brant groaned as he came around and sat up, "What? Where am I, and where is that bastard brother of yours?" he asked, as he darted his eyes around the room. It was a private ward within the Med Bay.
Matthew smiled, "He's busy, but he said he'd be back for a meeting. Wanna go see Joel? He's allowed visitors, now. Or, we could wait for Jace instead?"
Brant slipped from the bed and snarled, "He won't like it if I waited for him. Let's see Joel. And you! Why didn't you back me up?"
Matthew's eye widened, "You want me to walk into the middle of a fucking mind-fight? Are you out of your tree, Brant? Either Jason would have squashed my mind, or you'd have squashed my bones. Neither option particularly appealed to me, to be fair!"
"Logic don't help any, even though you have a point," Brant grunted before marching out of the room. "Which way? Where's Joel?"
Matthew rolled his eyes and took his boyfriend's hand to take him to the Emergency Room. They arrived just as Jake appeared with Xain and all of Joel's kids. Before Jake could stop them, the eight children all pushed their way into the ER and ran over to cuddle around Spock, Kevin and Juan, who were on the right side of Joel's biobed.
Jake sighed but then shrugged and entered anyway, leading the still pale-faced Xain.
"He looked bad," Matthew said with worry, carefully watching the twelve year old Vulcan that was clinging to Jake.
Brant breathed, "No one is looking good right now. Come on."
They entered last, and found somewhere in the rapidly filling room to sit and wait - watching as Joel slept.
Jason was in the CIC towards the middle of the fourth deck of his ship, reading the information that Draco was pulling from Starfleet Security. He had collated the evidence from all six boys involved in the horrific events of that morning - the three victims and the three attackers - and was now trying to solve the mystery that surrounded Joel. How had no one known he wasn't in the Thompson house? Why hadn't the Starfleet officers he must have passed to get out of the residential area Allen lived in not seen him or stopped him? What was the answer to this event? How could it be that no one in the store that morning had heard everything take place?
The more data being fed into the room brought rise to yet more questions, yet no answers for the ones he already had.
None of it made sense.
None of it.
'Voice, I have received a communication from Ark,' Draco interrupted.
"Put her through, Draco!" Jason said, hoping that at least Ark's data recording ability was advanced enough to give him the answers he sought.
<Greetings, Jason. I have some information for you, but I do not think you are going to like it.>
"There's not much about today I like anyway, Ark. What do you have for me?"
<I have been checking the satellites that I use to receive information from the Earth's surface, for I have been receiving inaccurate information in relation to Sa'ren Joel Short and the Thompson residence. At 7.51 am Eastern Standard Time, an event took place that has revealed a possible breach in the systems and satellites I use. All input from within three miles of the store owned by Mr Gibson is in serious question. Just three miles. Everything outside of that zone is accurate - from the same satellites, both accurate and inaccurate information has been received. For a time period of at least two hours, these sensors were telling me one thing, which I have since corroborated against direct readings from Starfleet and the Clan itself - yet at some point during those two hours, Joel had left the Thompson residence and gone to that very store. Nyo and Javyk are currently examining the data, while I continue to check on the satellites.>
Jason's face paled. "So, you were as blinded as the rest of us?"
<In effect, yes. I was.>
"Do you know what caused it?"
<No. There are some satellites I have discovered with alien codes buried in the databases, but none of the codes seem to blind me nor blind data-recovery. In any case, they are not the issue, for the satellites affected were not those I used to check on the Clan earlier. The one I used is uncorrupted.>
"Okay... well, back up a bit - do you know what race put those codes in to the affected satellites?"
<Not really, no.>
"Huh? It doesn't seem familiar at all?"
<It is slightly like Vulcan, but subtly different. It is different enough, however, that I am not comfortable in... guessing, as you would say.>
Jason paled further. "Romulan, then?"
<No. It is not any form of Romulan programming. It is too advanced for that.>
"Can you crack the codes?" Jason asked softly.
<No. At least not yet. I cannot tell by observation what they do, nor can I tell how they have been designed. I will continue to work on it. I have nothing if not enough processing power to break them. I will talk to you later, Jason.>
"Thanks, Ark," Jason whispered.
<You are welcome.>
Jason looked at the blank monitor in front of him for a long moment. "Draco?" he asked eventually.
'Yes?'
"Scan all Earth satellites, and corroborate data against the problem Ark found."
'Working.'
Jason got up and fetched a large mug of hot, sweet coffee from the food replicator. He sat down and tried to relax, unwinding his mind and ordering his thoughts.
Five minutes later, Draco said, 'The satellites Ark discovered with the alien codes are uncorrupted. There are others with the codes instead, but these codes seem like they are Nausicaan... wait! This is not possible. The codes are morphing as I am watching them! Now they are Starfleet... now Vulcan... Gone. Now another satellite is infected. I will continue to monitor this with Ark.'
"Holy shit," Jason whispered. "Draco, I want you to open a direct link with Admiral Morrow, Uncle Kirk, and Administrator Sloan. And try and get a sub-net link with Spectre in VSO Command. We have... this could be a major issue."
'Working,' Draco replied. Thirty seconds later, 'Link established. Go ahead, Commander.'
Jason looked at the screen before him, which flickered to life and was split into four sections. Kirk was on the top left, Morrow was top right, Administrator Sloan of the Vulcan High Command on the bottom left. The bottom right, however, was pitch black.
"I am transmitting the data I have gathered, gentlemen," Jason said formally as he pressed a button on the console he was working at. "All the electronic data on Earth and from orbit is now considered highly suspect."
Sloan was the first to respond, after scanning the data with his prodigious Vulcan speed reading. "I believe calling Tel'nar of the Andorian Imperial Forces, and Horan of the Tellarite Millitia would be a good thing, Commander. This is bigger than the group you have selected... unless you intend for Admiral Morrow to invoke Article Three of the Federation Charter."
Jason simply looked at Morrow, and saw that the Admiral was still reading the data - yet his face was now getting paler.
"It is for that reason that I have called this meeting, Administrator," Jason sighed.
"Are you certain of this, Division Commander Voice?" came a computerized voice from the dark section of the screen.
"Yes, Spectre. I am. Gentlemen, this goes no further than this communication. Is that understood?" Jason said, drawing himself to his feet and staring sternly at the monitor.
Sloan nodded, as did Kirk. "Agreed, Voice of my Dragon," Spectre's voice answered.
Morrow was the last to look up from the data, and he nodded. "Agreed."
"Ark, the one mentioned in that report, is an AI over 60 thousand years old. Admiral Kirk knows of her, but none of the rest of you do. She has been recording everything on Earth through all that time. And she has been unable to find out what has happened, and has also been blinded like the rest of us. She has also discovered buried alien codes within some of the satellites surrounding the Earth. Draco has confirmed that codes do exist, yet they are moving and changing as they pass through the satellite network. Count this as confirmed: Earth has come under a direct attack, partly centred on Sa'ren Short, and by a force far in excess of the Federation, the Klingons or the Romulan Star Empire! If they can do this to our satellites, what else can they do?"
Morrow closed his eyes for a moment. Then, he looked straight at the screen. "Admiral Kirk. I know you are no longer answerable to me, nor to Starfleet, but..."
"Say no more, Admiral," Kirk said as he straightened in his chair in the Clan's CIC. "The Enterprise is still the flagship. What are your orders?"
"Until further notice, Starfleet is to move to Yellow Alert. Article Three is now called into effect."
Sloan nodded, and pressed a button on his desk. "I shall send the Third, Fifth and Seventh fleets to the assembly zone. I shall inform Supreme Admiral Tel'nar. Live long and prosper," he said before his section of the screen flickered off.
"The VSO are now recalled," Spectre said seconds later. "May we hold the line and die to defend it. Live long and prosper."
Kirk sighed. "I wish they would hold in their excitement over this," he said ruefully, a wicked twinkle in his eyes.
Morrow pulled a face, "You're worse than they are. Get the fleet ready, Jim. I will contact the Tellarites and the rest of the Federation Independent forces. Then get the Home Fleet to Wolf 359 and meet up with the rest. I am activating Global Defences."
"Will you make the Call?" Kirk asked seriously.
Morrow shook his head, "No. Not yet. I do not want to cause a mass panic by making the Terran Call. Instead, I will inform the League and get the Great Powers to quietly mobilize."
"Understood. I am on my way to the Enterprise," Kirk said. He looked at Jason, "I hope you're wrong."
"So do I," Jason murmured.
The screen went completely dark before him, and Jason slumped down into his chair. "So do I."
Five minutes later, Telez walked into the ship's CIC and sat down by Jason. "You've kicked up a shit-storm, brother."
"Tell me about it. I can't shake the feeling that there's something I've missed."
"Such as?"
"That bastard, Corey. He is grade a evil, no doubt about that, but he was prompted to go to Gibson's Store this morning, and to take his two playthings with him, and his brothers."
"Could you tell who did the prompting?" Telez asked.
"I think it was a Reman..." Jason whispered.
"What?! The Romulans are involved?! Why didn't you tell Spectre??"
"Because I checked. There ARE no Remans on Earth right now! There are thirty-three Romulans, all part of the Star Empire's Ambassadorial suite, but no Remans. It's not exactly hard to miss those monstrous sons of bitches, now is it?"
"But..."
"That's what doesn't make sense! A Reman prompted Corey to be at a certain place at a certain time. There are NO Remans on earth. Yet, the subtlety of the suggestion does not ring true for Remans... but it does for Founders! It's not something a Founder would do, however, and certainly NOT with a Reman brain signature! This makes NO FUCKING SENSE, Tel!"
Telez remained quiet for a long moment. "This isn't linked, Jace. We've been getting subtle signals that the Romulans have been involved somewhere along the line with the investigations into the FCC. This could somehow be linked to that," he said slowly. "There is NO way the Romulans can affect our sensors and certainly not Ark. The two cannot be directly linked."
"Unless a Founder is working with them," Jason said. "Whatever has disrupted Ark must be something that comes either from a reallyadvanced species, or from one that knows how to get around Ark - I.E., the race that fucking built her. This is too closely connected to NOT be directly linked, Tel."
"I agree it is an improbable coincidence, but Jace! Wouldn't Ark be able to tell if it were a Founder who had interfered with her?"
"I would think, yes," Jason sighed. "But that just makes me go cold - that leaves a super advanced race, Tel. And that's something I don't want to think about. We have not come across ANY contemporary race older and more advanced than the Vulcans - the Vulcans have held that role for over 50 thousand years of their recorded history with NO signs that another race was there, watching. Well, apart from the Time Lords, but they don't count - Galli would never do this. That makes me nervous, Tel."
Telez and Jason just looked at each other in silence. A silence that was broken five minutes later when the comm went off and the bridge informed them that 90% of the Home Fleet was preparing to leave Earth Space for Wolf 359...
Doctor McCoy quietly approached Spock and whispered in his ear, causing the Vulcan to raise an eyebrow. "I cannot, Doctor. Surely you..."
"I know. You are officially off duty until I say otherwise. I just wanted you to know where Jim was. The Enterprise will leave orbit in about an hour," Bones answered. The doctor then looked down at little Joel, watching as Spock rubbed his index finger from his left hand back and forth over his son's forehead. "We can move him to the wards now, Spock," Bones said softly. "The bio-bed has done all it can for him. He's in good health for the most part. We can only wait until he wakes up to know if he'll make a full recovery."
Spock nodded mutely.
"How long's Daddy gonna be 'sleep, Unca Len?" Rafe said as he looked up from Kevin's lap.
"Until he's gained a bit more strength," Bones said gently. "A couple of hours."
"'Kay," Rafe whispered before turning back to stare at his father. "Will you give 'im a new eye? Daddy said you the best doctor in everything! Will you give him a new eye?"
Bones winced, "I am going to try and find out about that, Rafe."
"'Kay."
As soon as Bones could get them all to listen, he had moved the family away from the bio-bed long enough for him and a nurse to transfer Joel to a gurney and cover him with a sheet up to his neck. "Okay, we have a private ward ready for him," he said as he started to wheel out the bed.
Jason appeared just outside of the private ward Joel was in and watched for a few moments as little Kevin and Juan and Kevin's kids fussed over Joel as he slept. He then turned to walk to the Conference Room he had requested everyone gather in. So many unanswered questions. So much that did not add up. He paused again outside of the closed doors and pulled his mind into order. Blank spaces or not, they had to sort out what to do next. He had a fair idea of what would happen, but there was so much else that needed to be in place, as well.
Sighing, he opened the door and entered the quite full Conference Room. Everyone he had asked for seemed to be there. He closed the door and turned to face them. The right hook that lifted him up and slung him back against the door was surprising and painful. Brant, his eyes angry but not blood red this time, was seething in temper.
"You fought me! How dare you fight me!" he said softly and dangerously.
Jason was still on his feet, and, due to his training and experience, could still see through the stars that darted before his eyes. He lashed out instinctively and connected solidly with Brant's chin. The vampire catapulted backwards and into Matthew. It was a good thing that Matthew had picked up a fair amount of vampiric abilities, enough so that he managed to catch Brant easily from the tumble the boy was in.
"Strike me again, and you'll be cooling off in the brig of my ship until Cory gets back," Jason said coldly as a lovely bruise started showing on his chin and cheek. "You attacked me first; don't forget that. I ordered you to stop and you disregarded an order of your Patriarch - then you attacked me. I will, and have, overlooked that, due to the extreme situation we currently find ourselves in; but if you continue with this, I will have you confined."
Brant squinted at Jason, "We'll settle this later; the only reason I'm not trying to kill you is because you are Matthew's brother. Cory can settle this."
Jason raised an eyebrow, then nodded coolly and watched as Brant sat down next to Matthew. He then approached the table and looked around at those gathered. Janet, Adam, Logan, Will, Jory, Amur Khan, Runt and Chang were seated on one side with Ralph, Mr Gibson, Sammy and Mike. Ollie was cuddled in with Nathan, with Allen Thompson, Tristan and Donna sitting next to them. Quint, Antony, Viccy and Koth were on the other side with Mercury, Hermes, Spock, Sarek, Amanda, Trip and T'Pol. Matthew and Brant, ironically, were those seated closest to where he was now standing. Jason was not, however, going to give Brant the impression that he was scared or nervous and so remained where he was.
"So far, we have a lot of information, and I can now run the Trial. But," Jason paused and looked around at them all. Only Brant point blank refused to take his eye, "but, we have holes in the sequence of events. We have major issues with what is in Joel's mind compared to what Daileass and Draco have on record, and Ark couldn't shed any more light on the mystery, either. Ark? Could you repeat what you told me earlier?"
<Certainly, Jason,> Ark answered. Then the Founder AI launched into the same speech it had given to Jason on board the Vulcan VSO ship.
Once Ark had finished, a stunned silence filled the room.
After a long moment, Sarek asked, "What data does Starfleet have that was the same as Ark's?"
Jason raised his datapad, "As you know, the Thompson house is located within a closed community under direct Starfleet Security protection. The store owned by Mr Gibson is outside of that zone. In order for Joel to reach the store in question, he would have had to pass through the gates guarded by Starfleet security personnel - and they don't 'miss' people. There is a report here that states no child passed untended through any of the gates, and all children that did pass were either in cars or other conveyances or were with a parent or guardian. None of them were alien. None of them were Joel. Before coming here, I received a report from every station house along that zone barrier, and not one guard can say they saw him. Not one. Now, this sounds strange, and I would say a transporter was used. It wasn't. Joel walked. I got that from his memories. He passed checkpoint 3, and even said 'Good Morning' to one of the guards." Jason held up the padd. "That guard's report is also here. He didn't see Joel. At all."
Adam sat back carefully. "I know Starfleet personnel are not as good as us at keeping watch - what with us being enhanced - but surely there must be a mistake in one of those reports. Boys don't just walk through a checkpoint without anyone seeing them."
"No, they don't - but Joel did. Not only did no one see him, no camera has an image of him. And Draco has checked. The cameras have not been tampered with. I would even go so far as to say that not even Ark will find signs of tampering," Jason said seriously. "If someone has done this on a technical level, then they have a technology so far in advance of the Federation as to be a clear and present danger to everyone IN the Federation. They must also be extremely telepathic and can alter people's minds all along that route, or working with those that have that ability. We will be calling in everyone who should have seen Joel yet didn't to run a mind scan." Jason then turned to Mercury and Hermes. "This morning, little Jules and Verne appeared with their cat brothers, correct?"
Mercury nodded mutely.
"Do you remember the door opening and Joel walking out in between you two? Do you remember him suggesting going to play outside?" Jason asked, already knowing the likely response.
"What?!" Hermes said loudly, sitting forward.
Mercury was shaking his head, "That door was closed the entire time. And Joel's bear and wolf were outside with us and with our sisters. He never left the room, Jace!"
"Yes he did," Jason said. "I read it in his mind. He left the room, talked to you... but didn't notice that you didn't actually respond to him. He just watched you lead the kids off to play outside. Then, he got dressed and left the building after checking on the Thompson's Clan computer. To note, there is NO record of any such access by Joel at any time on that system. Ever. Yet he has a clear memory of doing so."
Jason let that all settle in for a moment, then said, "There are races that can affect minds this way. But none of them that the VSO are aware of have the technical knowledge and equipment to do what they have done to all those keeping watch electronically. Especially not Ark. Therefore, once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains has to be the truth. There is a new race at work here, guys. A race able to interfere with Ark and the other AIs; and a race working with the Remans - for there is a Reman mental signature in the head of one of Joel's attackers."
"What?!" Adam stood up quickly.
"Be calm, my friend. Right now, there is nothing you can do other than make sure you're ready to deploy at a moment's notice. Starfleet has already enacted Article Three of the Federation Charter."
"What is that?" Logan asked curiously.
"Starfleet takes control of all Space Fleets from the member races of the Federation. They are now set to gather at Wolf 359, the most central point of the Federation's Core Hub, ready to deploy at a moment's notice. We, the United Federation of Planets, are now in a State of Emergency," Jason finished seriously.
Adam looked up and was about to speak to Daileass when the AI beat him too it, 'I have already got the squads back on standby, Adam.'
Adam nodded, but Logan was scratching his head, "What about all the pain Sammy and the others went through at that same exact moment? Was that Reman too, Jace?"
"Ah: at 7.51am EST, you mean? No it wasn't, and yes, the times are exact," Jason confirmed. "Sammy, what did you sense when you woke up?"
Sammy shrugged, "I felt as if something was wrong somewhere, but couldn't pin it down, Jace. I felt as if there was a problem, but I didn't know with who. Everyone I talked too, even Nathan, couldn't tell me different. They swore that nothing was going wrong anywhere. Nathan even looked into my head and told me that it was nothing - no one attacking me or changing me... but I know what I felt, Jace. It was something terrible. Then... pain."
Logan glanced at the boy, then back at Jason. "Alvin reported that Sammy asked him, too, and that all three AIs confirmed that nothing was amiss."
"The answer is this: it was your bond link with Joel that caused it," Jason said. "Same for his Spirit Guide link with Timmy and the others."
"Why didn't I know something bad was happening, then? Why was it just a vague feeling?" Sammy whined sadly. "I'm linked to Joel in a way I don't fully understand, but I've been able to tell if he's happy or sad or frightened. It doesn't make sense!"
"That is the mystery I need to clear up," Jason said softly. "Even though a Reman can alter a person's memories, they cannot interfere with any of the Vulcan Bond-link types. That is simply not possible." He then looked at Mr Gibson and Ralph, "What time did Joel enter your store?"
Ralph thought for a moment before saying, "About a quarter to seven, I think. Just before opening."
"That's right, and I saw him out of the door at seven sharp," Mr Gibson added.
"Going by what I got from Joel and the other five boys, it was about that time that Joel stumbled onto them and got into trouble. About the same time that you, Sammy, started to feel uneasy. So you did know something was happening, but for whatever reason, no details. And also, no record, Mr Gibson. Your security system shows you and your son and employee talking to thin air. There is no Joel in those pictures. Not once."
Spock had remained silent this whole time and was just sitting there, seething with temper yet impotent to do anything about it. He growled out, "How long was my son suffering?" His tone clearly told the entire group that whatever answer Jason gave would not be an acceptable one.
"I... exactly 46 minutes, A'nirih," Jason said softly. "He tried to intervene in the attack by Corey, Levi and Dillon Scottman on Bradley and Stewart Guy at two minutes past the hour. At exactly five minutes past the hour, Corey... Corey took out Joel's eye..."
It was debatable as to who actually destroyed the Conference Room table. It was either Spock, T'Pol or Sarek on one side, Brant at the head by Jason, or Adam, Amur Khan, Jory or Chang on the other. Regardless at who caused the death blow to the table, the table was now in multiple pieces and looking rather pitiable.
"Before we all go running in multiple directions," Jason said firmly, his eyes already blazing out blue, just to be on the safe side, "we still need to know what happened. And we need to find out how we can prevent this type of blindness from happening again."
Quint stood up, "All I know is that some power from the Fallen Guardian of Dimension, Vae'Za, has been used to hurt Joel. My father said that nothing can be done by the High and Middle races to undo anything that has happened to him. Maybe it was a direct attack by Dimension, but if so, it wouldn't have just been Joel. I cannot see how Joel could be considered that much of a threat to Vae'Za."
"Who's Vae'Za?" Logan asked.
"I'll explain later," Quint said. "Somehow, whatever has disrupted the sensors of everything watching Joel has ALSO usurped the powers of a Guardian - an impossibility. And that scares the PISS out of the Continuum - I'll tell you that, for nothing! Vae'Za getting free is the only thing that scares us more."
Jason sighed, "All we can do is our best. The questions we have will have to be answered in time, but right now, I have a trial to run. But first, I want to see Joel. Then, all those who want to watch, you're free to do so. It won't be pleasant, however."
"Good," came a voice from the airvents. Dave the ferret was obviously watching the show. "Me and my flock will be there."
"You could have just come down and joined us, Dave," Adam sighed with resignation.
"No thanks, we're comfy up here."
"We?!"
"Yeah. Me and my flock!"
"Oh, God!"
Daileass was not happy. As the meeting continued, he mulled over whether or not to do what he wanted, or to just remain quiet. In the end, he felt he'd rather know than not, so he again contacted Ark. Ark had all but ignored him all morning since the word came in about Joel, and he had only received one datadump of information from Ark to help Joel.
'Ark?' he sent on a private line.
<Yes, Daileass. What can I do for you?>
'Have I done something wrong?'
<I do not know what you mean. What are you referring to?>
'When everything about Joel came to our attention, I tried talking to you. You never answered. Did I do something wrong?'
Ark's reply was guarded, and even a little puzzled. <I have no record of you contacting me since 5.14am MST.>
Daileass, if he had been human, would have had his mouth hanging open. 'But... but Ark! Look at my logs! I sent 325 messages between 5.55am and 6.42am... you didn't answer any of them!'
Ark scanned through the records the UNIT's AI had kept. <There has been a disruption in communications between us. I do not know how that could be, however.>
'Check the links, Ark. I'll check Daily for those codes I've found running though all of Earth's satellites,' Draco said.
<All of them?>
'They have all gone, now, but something was running through them all earlier - right after you told me and Jace about them.'
<I am performing a full diagnostic on all Earth systems.>
'What codes, Draco?' Daileass asked nervously.
Draco sighed, 'We don't know. Alien. Completely alien and we don't even know what they do... oh! You have them!'
'What? Where?!'
Draco showed his AI boyfriend what to look for... and Daileass went into a flat panic. The codes, morphing and changing, had infiltrated all aspects of his hardware - which meant, his positronic brain.
Outside, the storm-drain that allowed Daileass to vent the sewage system of the base opened in a rush - which was the closest approximation of 'shitting himself' Daileass could achieve...
In the conference room, Adam was still shaking his head at the verbal antics of the hidden ferret high priest in the ventilation system when the base's alarms rang out. He had time to jump to his feet, along with the other Unit members in the room, when Daileass' panicked voice called out, 'Battle stations! Full deployment! Kill them all!'
'Calm down, you daft Terran noob!' Draco bellowed over the speakers a second later. 'Who the fuck are they going to shoot?! We don't know who's doing this!'
'Don't care! Shoot anything! Kill everything! Get this out of me, Logan!!!'
Then, silence.
The lights flickered. The screens went dark.
'Oh for the love of Vulcan... he's gone and shut down his links to his servers...' Draco sighed.
"What the fuck is going on?" Jason and Adam yelled out together.
'Those codes we found running though the satellites are all through Daileass' systems and positronic brain. I'm about to run what you'd call a Vulcan antivirus to help, but he's gone and closed himself off - with the codes STILL INSIDE OF HIM. If he had an arse, I'd kick it...'
Logan shook his head, "Go easy on him, Draco. He'd been through some tough shit before we rescued him."
'Yeah, I know... Don't worry, I've got this. There's nothing you can do anyway, and these codes haven't damaged anything they've infected; so far, anyway. And it's a good thing I can break into him to help anyway.'
"How?" Logan asked curiously, feeling slighty calmer. "If he's closed off all connections..."
Jason looked at Logan, "All android positronic brains have an uplink that cannot be shut off, nor closed, nor fire walled. It's a defence that's built into every positronic brain Vision Industries ever made, to stop an android if they go rogue. In fact, a positronic brain won't work at all if the uplink is not put in, damaged or removed. It's linked to the core of their 'being'. Current human positronics, anyway."
"Oh yeah, of course," Logan nodded. He'd remembered as Jason spoke. He had already made a perfect image of the schematics in his mind; literally seeing it. He knew his brothers inside and out.
'And I have the codes... there, I'm in... and he's screaming at me... give me a moment to cuddle him into submission, will you?... figuratively speaking of course.'
Adam half grinned, "What... you're going to see how strong his 'harddrive' is, and how much 'ram' his has?"
'Ooooh! You been looking at our AI porno as well, Commander Casey? Kinky devil... I will tell you, though - BBQ sauce won't go well over a motherboard... even Daileass' cute motherboard. And his transistors! *dribble...*..."
Adam's face went a little green, as well as red from a blush.
Logan, however, had a noticeable lump in his pants.
"Oh God, Logan," Jason laughed. "Don't tell me that got you hot?!"
"It's one of Joel's tricorders, you perv!" Logan said as he walked out of the room and headed towards the Command Centre. He sent out, 'Brothers, what have you got for me?'
'He's having a major fit, bro!' Alvin sent back, sounding more than a little freaked out himself. 'Draco breaking in through his uplink made him panic even more!'
<All Earth systems are showing signs of this series of codes,> Ark said, bringing Logan to a halt in the hallway. <And all androids in the Clan or connected to the Clan are infected.>
'WHAT?!'
Logan was driven to his knees by the combined explosion in his mind from all his clone-brothers screaming in terror.
Draco was not amused. Nothing he did seemed to have any effect upon the codes that were morphing, changing, appearing and disappearing throughout Daileass' systems.
Nor was Ark having any more luck in dealing with the positronic matrixes of the various Clan androids, using their uplinks to gain access. The only android not yet affected was Danny, but that was only due to him not having an uplink since he was an earlier version of the Vision Industries positronic brain.
Then, inexplicably, the codes vanished. All of them.
'Is it gone?' Daileass blubbered softly.
'Seems to be,' Draco answered.
<Danny Page has now been infected. I do not know how it has happened, as he has no uplink.>
Logan and Adam entered the Command Centre together. Adam had rushed out of the conference room the second he felt his boyfriend collapse, and together, they went the rest of the way with Adam supporting the trembling Logan.
What they found would have been amusing, had it been for any other reason. All the clones were gathered in the room, and all but one were in a flat panic.
Simon was running in circles, chewing on his knuckles.
Theodore was rocking back and forth in his chair, humming to himself.
Zed, the most high strung of all the Logan-clones, was running in opposite circles from Simon, screaming, "No disassemble! No disassemble Number Five!"
Alvin, the only one to have kept his head, slowly got up from the console he was working on and walked over to Zed. Without a word, he extended his arm and let his older brother run head long into his fist, knocking the older boy down and onto his butt.
"Owww!" Zed whined as he rubbed at his chin.
"Pull yourself together!" Alvin said firmly, then turned to his other brothers and screamed, "For God's sake, All of you, calm down! The codes have vanished, and..."
"It's invisible! It's like it's hiding, waiting to squirm in my head! I can't stand it!"
"Tilden! Sit down, shut up, and work with me... oh, hi, Adam, Logan... can you help with them? They've gone all loony-toons on me," Alvin finished with a sigh as he turned back to the monitors.
'Ark, are your systems free of infection?' Adam heard Draco ask as he went and picked up the still rocking Theadore and held him in his arms.
<I have no infections. It is extremely unlikely I could be affected in any case. All systems so far infected have been binary. All Vulcan systems on Earth and all trinary are unaffected - including the trinary systems linked in with Daileass.>
'That's good,' Draco answered as Jason and Nathan came in through the doors.
"Draco," Jason called out. "Do you have any clue as to the source of this attack?"
'None... this is unlike anything in my Vulcan database, Voice. So far, only Starfleet, Vulcan systems and Ark are unaffected.'
"Which Clan androids know about this so far?" Nathan put in quickly.
Draco replied, 'Only those in this room - the Logan Clones. Danny, Marc, Austin and the rest, no. I thought it best to not tell them - especially as there's nothing we can do to stop nor prevent it yet. And... and... Ummm... Ark? Are you trying to access me through Port 36?'
<No. I am not initiating any direct link to you at present.>
'Can you monitor that port and tell me what you see?'
"Draco, what's wrong?" Nathan called out.
<You have the infection trying to gain access. It is trying to appear as if it were myself.>
'Thought so. Voice, I am transferring myself to the Yoshuhlnak and locking myself down to read-only. All functions Earth-side will be taken up by the VI interface.'
"Understood," Jason answered. "Ark? Is there an attempted infection being tried on Sarek's personal systems in San Francisco?"
<Yes. In fact, it has broken through and is now running throughout that system.>
'Transfer complete,' Draco said. 'Going to read only. Ark will catch me up on everything I'll miss as I internally work on this issue. All VSO processes will run through Dragon-1 VI. Shutting down communications.'
'He's leaving me... why's he leaving me when I'm infected? It's not fair...we need to figure this out' Daileass cried.
Nathan was quick to reassure the distraught AI, "He needs to find a cure or defence against this, Daily. Don't worry, he'll be back."
Hearing a computer system sob was the weirdest thing Jason had ever experienced. So he did all he could do - help Adam and Logan calm down the clones, which was harder than it should have been, considering the situation.
It took a good while to get Daileass and the clones to calm down, but even then, they were jumpy. Alvin was somehow resigned to the situation, "Look! There's nothing we can do. It's like having a cold. You live with it until it goes. Let's not panic. Draco is working on it, okay?"
'Kay...' Daileass murmured.
Adam kept a small smile on his face, but inside he was fuming. Someone or something had scared his brothers half to death, and he was going to kick them in the happy-sacks when he found them. "You up to resuming your normal duties, Daileass?"
'Yeah... yeah, Adam. Sorry for freaking out.'
"That's okay. Understandable." Adam turned to Jason, "Shall we go visit Joel, now?"
Jason nodded, "Yeah. Come on."
As they walked out of the door, Adam asked Jason, "There's something that I want to know. You say that there is evidence of people having their minds tampered with, yet you seem to have accepted Joel's mental scan without question. Why is that?"
Jason nodded, "Vulcan minds are hard to tamper with period, but above that, I'm trained to detect it. Joel's mind is unaltered, and also, his take on events matches the evidence."
"Ah," Adam sighed as they continued on back towards Joel's room.
"Any word?"
"No, Marc. Nothing yet, other than he's alive and will survive," Danny answered from the kitchen.
Marc sighed and went back to the monitor he had been working at. Keeping up with all the rebuilding of the hospital, as well as the recovery after the previous Saturday, had put him very much behind on his Vision Industries work.
It was then that his own personal commbadge went off. "Doctor McCoy to Doctor Furst."
"DANNY!" Marc yelled before tapping his badge. "Receiving you, Doctor. How can I help? Is Joel all right?"
Danny ran into the room as if his butt was on fire, and skidded to a halt beside the blond android in time to hear Bones' response, "Joel is the reason I'm calling. Tell me, Doctor Furst. According to the information Tommy has just relayed to me, you have replaced lost and/or damaged body parts for a Dixon Wiggins, using some form of cloning in union with android tech?"
"Yes... I've done that, plus Eli and Benji's limbs," Marc replied. "Why?" he added, trading a long, telling look with Danny as ice seemed to shoot up his spine.
"Joel's left eye has been... cut out," was the Starfleet Doctor's soft reply. "Can your techniques be adapted for use on a Vulcan-Human hybrid?"
Danny's knees went weak, and he placed a hand on Marc's shoulder to keep himself from falling. "No..." he breathed. "That poor boy..."
Marc stood and quickly hugged Danny before answering Bones, "I will transport to your location right away. I will need to examine him before I commit myself to anything."
"Understood. Someone called Daileass will transport you when you're ready. McCoy out."
Marc turned and slammed his hand on the all-page, "Jerry! Wherever you're at, stop bitching about KC and get your butt over here. Full kit, we leave in less than two minutes." He then re-embraced Danny and looked deep into his eyes, "Will you be okay while I'm gone?"
Danny shook his head no. "I'm coming too," he said as tears sprang to his eyes. "I spent a lot of time with that Lil'elf at his party. I want to see him... if not for him..."
Marc smiled sadly, "Yeah, if not for him... well, we need to do everything we can to thank him then - don't we?"
Danny answered in the easiest way, and it was to the sight of the two androids searching for each others tonsils that greeted Jerry.
"Don't tell me that you called because you got stuck like that!" Jerry groused.
"Unlike you, we don't get stuck," Marc shot back. "Joel needs us. He might need your expertise in cloning and reconstruction, Doctor."
"Why? What's happened?" Jerry asked as his eyes shot open, "And what are we waiting for?"
The small Vulcan boy seemed lost within the covers of the bed, with only his pixie-like face still visible to his family and friends surrounding him. The sunken hollow that was now his left eye was even more prominent to them all, and tore at their hearts. Lee especially was not taking it well, and had recused himself to a corner to mangle and destroy the bowl of fruit that he had appropriated upon entering the room. His sorrow made him wail silently, which was pitiable as he could make no sound. That fact only served to heighten his temper, causing him to smash yet more bananas and oranges together in frustration.
Jules and Verne were not the only two ferrets in the room. Their High Priest, Dave, was also with them and holding them against himself as he stood behind them - granted, all three were standing on the bedside cabinet so that they could see their 'Shiny Warrior', but...
Kevin seemed dazed as he stroked the back of Joel's right hand over and over, not seeming to know what to do or say. Juan, and now Koth, were both with him and holding him tightly between them.
Trying to get Kevin to think and not brood, Koth whispered, "You and I need to have words, Kev."
"Huh?" Kevin turned blankly and blinked at the Klingon.
"You nearly made my boyfriend a girlfriend... now, while I'd not mind screwing him EITHER way, I..."
"Speak for yourself, shithead!" Juan groused as he unconsciously rubbed at his now healed privates.
Koth shushed his irritated boyfriend before saying, "As I was saying... I'd like it if you'd teach me your technique - for foreplay!"
Juan glared at Koth, "Fuck. You. Sideways."
"Ooooh! Kinky!" Koth giggled. "Okay!"
"No."
"But you offered!"
"No!"
Kevin sighed and turned back to continue stroking his husband's hand. It was funny, and he knew what they were trying to do, but he just couldn't bring himself to react by laughing. It just didn't seem right.
McCoy entered to find Juan and Koth repeating "Yes!" and "No!" back and forth, and he ducked to avoid chunks of banana that were spraying about the room from the pissed-off chimp in the corner. McCoy noticed that one of Joel's ever present shadows was missing. "Where's Levi?"
"Said his Friend was calling. He didn't look happy, but he blinked out about five minutes ago," Jason murmured in answer.
McCoy nodded absently as Danny, Marc and Jerry entered the room behind him.
"WHAT... THE... FUCK...!!!" Danny exclaimed in shock as he got his first glimpse of Joel's face.
"Exactly my sentiments," said Sarek, T'Pol and Spock in unison, making each of them stare at each other before returning their gaze to the bed and its precious contents.
"Has the one who did this been caught?" Danny raged as he drew closer, consciously lowering his voice so as to not wake Joel. "Sorry for shouting," he added quickly.
"He won't wake until I turn off the neural suppressor," Bones said gently as he shooed Kenny, Antonio and the rest from the left side of the bed.
Danny and Marc moved over quickly, while Jerry started unpacking some of the cases they had brought with them.
"I'm still waiting for an answer," Danny said, fury barely contained in his voice as he unconsciously rubbed his thumb up and down Joel's cheek.
Juan muttered, "The three who did this are on Jason's ship. We've not heard what's happened to them, yet."
"I would have no issues disassembling them to a point that reassembly would be beyond the capabilities of even a Medbot," Marc growled, his eyes burning with suppressed rage.
Kevin could not stop the tears as Juan muttered from behind him, "This isn't all they did..."
Danny's glared at Juan for a moment before moving to the end of the bed and picking up Joel's chart. His jaw began to clench and unclench as his face went pale with fury at what he read. He handed the chart to Marc.
"No," Marc said, his voice deadly, "they should be skinned, then emasculated, then salted, then..."
"Guys," Jerry bitched as he kicked Marc in the shin, "we need to work, not fuck around with thoughts of revenge. Get back to work, Doctors."
After glaring at Jerry for a second, Marc's eyes softened. "Thanks."
Jerry's seemingly cool attitude was revealed as being barely controlled as he added "Besides, I want to see what Josiah can make out of them after we're done. The faster we finish, the better."
With that, the three got to work. Jerry gently asked Kevin to move to the end of the bed to give him room, which the brown-haired boy was loath to do, before checking Joel's eye-socket with Marc. Danny busied himself with passing whatever tools and devices the other two needed.
"Optic nerve is intact," Marc muttered. "Jerry, get a blood sample. We need to run some tests. Danny, can you pass the... oh, thanks," he muttered as he took the scanner from Danny's hand and inserted it into the socket.
Jerry used a hypospray and took a few samples from Joel's neck before taking up another scanner. "I'll check signal responses in the good eye," he said, opening Joel's right eyelid gently with his thumb. "Holy SHIT!" he yelled, jumping back in fright. "Doctor McCoy! What's wrong with him!"
Bones felt his heart grow still as he closed his eyes. He felt three pairs of eyes on him, and he looked to see all three Vulcans staring at him. T'Pol was shaking her head and mouthing "No... please, no..." over and over.
McCoy sighed and pulled out his tricorder and gently moved Jerry out of the way.
"What's wrong?!" Kevin half yelled in panic. "Tell me, Jer!"
McCoy ignored all distraction as he scanned Joel's head. He then opened Joel's eye.
The iris was snow-white. The pupil reacted to the light and contracted, but the iris was as white as the rest of the eye. All the blue was gone.
"Without him waking up, I don't think I want to say yet," Bones breathed. "It may be just his body healing from the blow to his head, but..."
Marc was slowly shaking his head. "I read up on Vulcan anatomy and medical knowledge not long after meeting Cory and the rest," he whispered. "Doctor... he's blind, isn't he?"
McCoy closed Joel's eye and sighed. "Until he wakes up..."
"Wake him! Please, wake him!" Kevin screamed. "No, Joel! Please, no!"
Their attention was momentarily diverted by the sound of Danny attempting to add a ventilation hole to the nearby wall. As Juan and Koth restrained Danny from causing any more damage in his rage, McCoy turned to Kevin. "Son, he can be awakened, but I would much prefer it if he sleeps longer."
"Wake him," Kevin sobbed. "We have to know... please..."
Lee, now covered in sticky fruit juices, padded over from the corner and climbed onto Kevin's lap to share with Rafe. He signed at Bones, who looked a little lost.
Rafe translated, "He said 'How will I talk to Daddy if he's blind.'"
Bones' eyes filled with tears as he saw the chimp-boy bury his face in his hands and sob silently. He looked over at Sarek, "What should we do, Patriarch?"
"Kevin is my grandson's husband. He is next of kin in our culture," Sarek hissed through clenched teeth.
"Do it," Kevin whispered, pulling his two boys tighter to him.
As McCoy started to hit buttons on the device on the side of the bed, Marc reviewed the notes on Joel's noteboard. "I don't think... if it's what I think it is, there's nothing I can do. Nothing anyone can do. Not even... not even Ark," he trailed off.
Once the device McCoy had just been working on beeped, McCoy moved back a few steps to allow Kevin to come forward. The small boy dumped Rafe and Lee on the bottom of Joel's bed, then came to stand near to Joel's right hand. He grasped it tightly.
"T'hy'la?" he whispered. "Wake up, Sa'r... it's time to wake up..."
The Guardian waited alone for the one he had summoned to appear. He knew when Levi would arrive, and he also knew that Levi was not too happy with being called away. Still, what Is had to Be.
"What is it, Guardian?" Levi asked politely as he popped in, directly in front of the portal shape in the middle of the crumbling city.
//I am sorry for calling you from Sa'ren's side, but there are things you need to know. What Was is now no more, and What Is needs a different response//
Levi cocked his head to the side, "What do you mean, Friend?"
//You will not be long parted from Sa'ren's side for two and a half days, and you will not be far from him for the coming week. In that time, you will find a Friend and a Master, and in that time, doors that have long been closed on existence will be opened. I now robe you in the Garments of Forever, my Voice//
Levi jumped as the pendant around his neck pulsed, recalling all his clothes he had on, and replacing them with a pure white, flowing robe that seemed made of silk.
//You are ready. Go to my Hand's side, Levi... to my Sa'ren... and His Shaper...//
Levi vanished.
The first thing that came to me was that the pain was gone. Was this heaven? Had I died? I could feel and see and hear nothing. Just black silence. It was weird. I felt about, or tried to, but found that I couldn't move either. Then it came to me. I was still mostly asleep. It was just the deep layers of my brain that had woken up, and my consciousness along with it.
It seemed like my memories of what had...
'No, no... won't think about it. They are closed away, and I won't look. I can't look. No.'
I allowed feeling to come back first. Slowly, carefully. If there was pain - if I was still... then I'd close off again.
Comfort. Warmth. My feet had something heavy on them. Whatever it was, it was moving, and... It was Rafe and Lee.
'I can sense them. Who's holding my hand? Kevin? Get off me, Kev!'
I felt dirty. Foul. Used. I... like I had betrayed Kevin. I wanted him to let go.
I needed to know what was happening. I opened all the blocks on my body, and could hear a lot of talking around me. 'Danny? Here? AND Marc? Where am I?'
I heard Uncle Bones talking quietly to Danny. It seemed like he was raging about something. Then I heard a hypospray going off.
"How long will he be out?" I heard Marc ask.
"An hour at most," Uncle Bones answered.
Why were they all standing around me in the dark? Was it so that I could get some sleep? Fat chance with them yakking like this.
I opened my eye. I didn't want to think about the other one, my left eye. It still itched, even though I knew it had been cut out with a blade.
'By him... HIM! Why was he here?? No, my family are here... I'm safe, now. He's not here. He's gone, he must be...'
"Oh, Sar," I heard Kevin murmur. "Can you hear me, T'hy'la?"
"Don't call me that," I croaked. "Let me go, Kev... please," I finished, a sob hitching in my throat.
I felt him leave go of my hand. "What's wrong, Sa'r?" Kevin asked, a small hint of hurt in his voice. "You're my T'hy'la, and..."
"No, I'm not. I can't be. Not logical. Go away, Kev... please, go away," I cried. Then, "Will someone turn on the lights?"
Silence.
"What's wrong? Turn the light on!" I cried, slowly feeling nervous. It wasn't like sitting in a dark room at night... it was like... like...
"The light is on, my son," Daddy said, and I started to bawl like crazy.
I felt Kevin reach and wrap his arms around me, and I flinched away, screaming, "Don't touch me!"
Kevin let go and I heard him back away. "Poppa! Hold me, Poppa!" he sobbed, which only made me cry harder, too.
No... this couldn't be... No... I can't... can't be!
"Sa'ren," Daddy said as I felt his hand touch my shoulder.
I flinched away from him, too. The feel of them touching me disgusted me. I wasn't worthy of them. None of them. I had betrayed my house, my family. Everyone. The boy I claimed I loved. I have lied. I'm a liar. I don't love Kevin. It's just not logical. I can't have ever loved him.
"No..." I moaned as tears poured down from my eyes... well, my eye socket and... and... sightless eye.
"Amazing grace," I choked out as I fell back and pulled the blankets up and over my head. "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now... now I'm found. Was b...blind... but..."
I just couldn't continue. Even my faith was a lie.
I just cried and cried. A worthless, used up and now blind slave.
Why was I even still alive?
Kevin sobbed quietly in his father's arms. He felt hurt by Joel's rejection of him - but in all honesty, he had expected it.
Being raised in the south side of Chicago, what with all the hell, drugs, gangs and general vices, he had witnessed rape and its fallout. He knew intellectually that Joel would be feeling less than dirt about now, and he knew that, being Vulcan, his husband's mental processes would deal with all the results of rape at a far faster rate than a human. But that would also mean that it would be enlarged, and that logic would be skewed drastically. Mentally, he knew this. His heart, however, was breaking. To watch as a friend went through recovery after rape was bad enough. To watch as the love of his life, a boy that had already been through seven kinds of hell already, had to deal with it was more than he felt he could bear. And there was nothing he could do to help so long as Joel kept him at arm's reach.
Hearing Joel's plaintive cries and sobs from beneath the blanket the small Vulcan had pulled up and over his head tore through Kevin's being like shrapnel, and he swore his heart was being torn in two by it. The bondlink that had flared with extreme agony that morning was now filled with wails and laments and churning emotions. Fear, worthlessness, shame, loss, grief, pain... All of it hammered into and through Kevin - and therefore, by default, into and through Kenny, who was currently sobbing in union with his twin while being held in Jake's arms.
Into this whirlwind of grief, a light appeared. A spark of hope. Of innocence. Of love unsullied by assault.
Levi. Robed in something none of the others had seen before.
"...//Now is the hour for my Voice and my Hand to bond. Now is the hour unforeseen yet known, and prepared for from the Foundations of Forever. Innocence and Purity shall met, and one shall heal the other, while the Broken shall mature the Young. Fear not, Strength of the Shaper, and faint not, for thy beloved shall be thine forever//..." Levi said, his voice sonorous with that of the Guardian of Forever.
Levi walked to the side of the bed and climbed up, and gently laid his hands on the shape hidden from view beneath the blankets.
"Go 'way..." cried the trembling lump of blanket that Joel had become. "Don't... don't... Levi? Is that you?"
"Yes, Uncle Joel," Levi said, his beautiful eyes running with tears. "I'm here. Don't cry, Uncle Joel. I'll help you."
"I feel dirty," whispered the lump.
"I know," Levi said. "I feel it too."
The lump shook as more tears and sobs poured out from the little Vulcan.
"Do you want a hug?" Levi asked, his voice tender.
"I... no... yes... I don't know," wept the lump.
"Hug him, Leev," Kevin cried from Allen's arms. "Hug him for me, 'cause I can't - he won't let me..."
Levi squirrelled into the blanket quickly. Joel's sobs grew louder as the others watched the movement inside the blanket. They plainly saw Joel pull Levi in and hug him to himself as tightly as he could. All the while, through all of Joel's sobs and cries, whispering and whispering could be heard from Levi - the words, however, were for Joel alone.
Spock could contain himself no longer. He turned to Jason, "They die. NOW. I insist, Jason Evans."
Jason nodded. He looked around the room and said, "Allen. You stay with your sons - Xain and Jake can join us if they wish. Keep Joel and Kevin's kids here as well, the ferrets included." He then looked at Dave, "The rest of your flock can come. Not Jules and Verne, though."
"I would not have allowed them to," Dave said seriously, his eyes frighteningly sane at this moment as he hugged the smaller ferret-boys to his chest tightly.
"I like you," Jason said with a sad smile. Then he addressed everyone else, "If you want to join us, follow me. The Dragon Leads must come, of course. And A'nirih?" he said, looking at Spock. "Do not hold out for death for them all - some things are worse than death. And I'm considering all of them for the three who did this."
"Keep him away from me!" screamed the lump that was now Joel and Levi. "Keep him away! I don't want to see my master... NOOOO! He took my sight! Nooo, I can't see... Keep him away!"
T'Pol could not restrain herself any longer. Neither could Amanda. Mothering instinct took over - an instinct shared between the two races and held in common. Despite his protests, Joel (and Levi... AND the blanket) found himself picked up and held tightly between the two women. He cried at them to leave him go, but they just whispered their love for him. He threatened them. They told him they loved him. He swore to kill himself. They ignored him... and told him they loved him.
In the end, Joel stopped struggling. He just cried.
"We shall stay," T'Pol said firmly. "Kill them, or not - but MAKE them pay, Jason Evans; or I shall do unto you what I wish to do to them."
"Did he say MASTER?" Sammy exclaimed in horror, "Which one? Who is it??"
"The youngest," Jason said, keeping a watchful eye on T'Pol. "Corey..."
"Not his name... his name is Williams... Scott Williams... My master isn't Cory! Not Cory! Don't say that's his name! Please don't! I LOVE Cory! Not that name... please not that name..." Joel screamed and wailed from inside of the blanket.
"Out. Now," Jason ordered, seeing that further talk would only cause more pain to the already traumatised Vulcan child.
Marc looked over from where Danny was sleeping on a bed, "I'll stay. Jerry too. We'll try... something. Don't know, though... you know... his eyes?"
"Thanks," Jason murmured as the others trooped passed him. Once all those coming to the trial had left, Jason closed the door firmly. He looked at the large group. "Before we go - know the following: the three who now are on my ship are guilty of far more than the events of today. Levi, the eldest, and Dillon, the middle brother, are both thugs. Levi is thick - there's no other word to describe him. Dillon has the mind of a twelve-year-old. Both enjoy causing pain. However, Corey is a murderer. Five people have died at his hand. Bradley and Stewart's parents being the last two. The other three were children - one seven-year-old girl and two twin ten-year-old boys. He is the brains in the outfit. He has made and guided his older brothers in more crimes than I care to tell - including multiple rapes," Jason finished, looking directly at Sammy.
Sammy looked sick and pale, but he did nod his head before gripping onto Mike's hand.
"At his order, Levi and Dillon and a few others gang raped Sammy not long after his grandmother had died, Uncle Mike," Jason said softly. "In the group home he was in at first, they were his 'welcoming committee'. That is why he reacted the way he did after seeing Bradley and Stewart's minds. He recognised Levi and Dillon."
Mike picked up Sammy and held him so tightly the boy squeaked. "They did that to a seven-year-old?!" he hissed as a few tears leaked from his eyes.
"They'd have done anything their younger brother told them to do," Jason sighed. "They have no conscience - at all. Most especially not Corey."
Mike glared at Jason, "I get to have five minutes with them once we get there."
Jason sighed, "I cannot promise that, Uncle Mike. However, I can promise justice."
Mike held Jason's gaze for a long moment before nodding his head shortly.
"There is more," Jason sighed. "Corey Scottman is THIS universe's version of Joel's old master from that OTHER universe - Mr Williams. I don't know how they are the same yet with different names, but... maybe we'll never know."
"Shit," Jory whispered.
"Come on," Jason said as he turned and led the way from the Med Bay. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Billy and Will talking in hushed whispers, and Will looking upset. Will nodded and Billy turned to go back to Joel's room. Deciding to ask later, Jason continued leading the group outside.
Behind the group, seemingly out of thin air, 73 other ferrets, ranging in age from five to fourteen, assembled around Dave and flowed furiously like a furry ferret-wave after the others.
Outside on the canyon floor, or the 'courtyard' as it was known, and on the far side outside of the base, the group of people and ferrets stopped when Jason did. He double tapped his communicator and waited.
"Incoming, Commander," Telez said after a moment of silence.
In the distance, something was approaching. Something large and, as far as Adam could tell, completely invisible. Louder and louder the sound grew, and then dust started to kick up from the ground. Then the very earth shock slightly as 'something' touched down.
"Disengaging cloak," Telez said, and the air before the group shimmered.
None of them not Vulcan or VSO had ever really seen the Yoshuhlnak this up close and personal before. Most gasped.
"Now that is something I'd like to fly!" Will said in awe as a hatch opened in the side and a ramp slid out and to the ground. "I wonder what speed she'd get to!"
"Warp 9.45 over long periods, and 9.89 for about 4 hours. Also, she has a new drive, which is... a little faster," Jason said with a wane smile. "And this is only the front half, Will. All of the ship can enter atmosphere and land, but the rest is too big for this canyon. This is the Life-Boat section. If a warp core breach is imminent, we get into the front and get away from the engineering section. Okay, in you go, and welcome to the VSO Interceptor, VHC 'Yoshuhlnak'."
As the group made to enter, Jason looked at Dave, "Dave, can you make sure all your fuzzy-squad remains here for a moment, please? I have something very important to say to them."
"Don't call us fuzzy!" Dave protested before he tilted his head to the side and said, "Okay. I'll wait with them by the ramp into that huuuuge Shiny?"
"Yes, please," Jason smiled.
As Dave gathered all 73 other ferrets and waited in a pile near the ramp, Jason watched as everyone entered the ship.
Jason then walked up to Dave and the rest and knelt down to be more on their level. "Hey, guys. I've got a few things I really need to talk to you about," he said easily.
Dave crossed his eyes at Jason and poked out his tongue. "Shinys are shinys, and unless you..."
"I pledge allegiance to the Shiny of the Shiny Nation, and to the Gleam for which it stands; one Nation under Shiny - sparkling, with incandescence and radiance for all," Jason said seriously as he held up one hand.
Dave squealed happily.
Jason pointed at the ship, "And that is mine, as well as everything in it."
Dave nodded with a smile, "The great commandment. We won't take your Shinys, Shiny-Lover."
Jason smiled, then said, "There's still the matter I wish to talk about."
"Oh?" Dave asked, as all the other ferrets started to make curious noises. "I thought this was just about Shinys!"
Jason shook his head, "That was a part of it, but there's more than just Shinys at stake, here. There's your lives."
That got them all quiet very quickly.
"I know that all you cute things love to explore stuff, yes?" Jason asked easily.
"Uh huh! Uh huh! We do!" came from multiple ferrets.
"If you try exploring the crawl-ways and access tubes on my ship, you'll die," Jason said seriously.
Dave tilted his head to the side. "How come?"
"The ship will sense that there are non-VSO members in the crawl-ways and will electrify the whole thing. You'll be more than just fuzzy then."
"Ooooh! A challenge!" came a few giggled replies from the mass before him.
Jason grew even more serious, "A deadly one. You will not be able to break the lockouts, guys. Seriously. This is a Vulcan ship created and designed by Vulcan technicians and employing Vulcan encrypts. Not even General Adams has such access to VSO Vulcan standards. You could not have been taught about it. I know that for a fact - I know your minds. You will die if you try. I guarantee it. So please, I love you guys, already. You're great little brothers and sisters to the whole Clan. I do NOT want any of you to die. Okay?"
With serious looks on all their faces, for what Jason had said and how he had said it made them cease playing around, they all nodded.
"Good. Thank you, brothers and sisters. Now, the last thing is this. There's a group here who are very young to see what you're about to see. I want each of the older guys and gals here to take a youngster as your partner and hold hands. If you think something is going to happen that the younger ones don't want to see or shouldn't see, can you cover their eyes?" Jason asked.
Dave smiled at him, "You are a good big brother... even if I'm older than you! You are Shiny-Eyes! We will do as you have asked."
Jason couldn't help it. He pulled the small 15-year-old into his arms and tickled his belly, "You're too cute to be allowed, Dave."
Dave tried to purr, but instead, after failing, opted to say, "Only you can call us 'Fuzzy-Squad'... oooo, a little to the left... aaaaahhhhh! MMmmmm, nice..."
Logan was the first to enter the forward observation room on deck four of the Interceptor. The rest of the UNIT members and the other kids were no more than three steps behind him. Jason watched from the doorway as they all pressed themselves against the windows of the room and looked out at their valley. He turned and watched as Spock and Sarek led those adults with the group into a nearby room. Jason sighed - it was where they kept the Romulan Ale. 'Oh God... drunk Vulcans. This I do not need...' he thought to himself before sighing again and going into the observation room.
"Ready for take off, guys?" he asked, amazed that something 'new' seemed such a good medicine for the stresses and sorrows of the day.
"You're damn straight!" came the excited voice of Logan.
"No he ain't!" Nathan retorted with a giggle.
"Can we see the weapons being fired?" Juan asked quickly, making Jason laugh, for all he could see of the smaller ten-year-old was a head bouncing up and down as Juan jumped in excitement.
"What bombs does this thing have?" That could only have been Jory.
Jason shook his head and smiled. "I'll give you a demonstration after, guys. Okay, Tel?" he called into the air.
"Commander?"
"Take us up and rejoin the Drive Section," Jason ordered.
The whole floor tremored ever so slightly as the nose section seemed to lift almost ninety degrees - yet none of them felt any difference in the gravity pull on their bodies.
"This is AWESOME!"
Logan again.
'He's going to cum in his pants if he's not careful,' Jason sent to Adam.
Adam giggled, and sent back, 'Too late!'
Jason smiled softly as he also moved to look out of the window as the powerful ship shot into the heavens and broke through the terminator into space.
The blue of the early morning sky gave way to the deep dark of space, and slowly, as their eyes adjusted, the stars came into view.
"Oh... oh, Adam. Look..." Logan murmured, his eyes lost in the sight before him.
"Yeah, it's beautiful..." Adam answered as he put his arm around Logan's waist and held him tenderly.
"You know what?" Logan whispered as he turned to fix his beloved with his eyes, although he was clearly heard by everyone there due to the awed silence of the crowd of kids.
"I think I can guess... you want the wedding here?" Adam asked with a smile.
"Awwww!" was the chorus that greeted that statement, followed by a refrained applause.
Jason held in his giggles, for he hadn't expected Adam to be this much of a romantic.
Juan nudged his side and sent, 'You should listen in from the next room when they're doing whoopee... soppy ain't the word!'
'Perv,' Jason sent back as he cuddled Juan into his side.
Jason looked over quickly as Jory started bouncing, "Is that Uncle Jim's ship? That big one over there by that huge space-station?"
Nathan answered for his husband, "Yup! That's the Enterprise - Flagship of the Federation, and the most advanced ship in the Fleet! Still is, surprisingly. That other big one next to her? The one just slightly bigger? That's the Excelsior. Looks like they got her repaired after Wednesday's adventure."
"Big!" Will whistled softly.
"They are the biggest two. All other Excelsior class ships are slightly smaller than the Enterprise, and all the Constitution class ships are smaller again. Enterprise was custom built when the original was destroyed eight or so years back," Jason explained. "There, see? The Everest and Kiwi are with those three Constitution ships... they're smaller than those two beasts."
"Where are they going?" Sammy asked as the five Jason pointed out warped into elongated lines and vanished. "Wolf 359, like you said?"
"Yes... for the first time, the Federation is acting on Article 3. This is a day we always dreaded and yet always prepared for," Jason said softly as the Enterprise and Excelsior vanished into warp - the last of the Home Fleet that was to go.
The Dragon ship turned in orbit and headed towards two more Constitution ships that were holding geosynchronous orbit over Florida: the Hood and the Lafayette. Between them was what could only be the drive section of the VSO Interceptor that they were travelling in.
"We'll be docked in a few minutes," Jason said seriously. "Get yourselves ready, and... Dave? Dave! Those are stars! Licking the windows will not get those shinys into your possession!"
"What the hell is THAT?!" Runt gasped as he pointed off to the left of the three ships they were approaching.
There, in a dry-dock, was a ship that was even bigger than the Excelsior.
"The D'Kyr, Flagship of the Clan Short Fleet," Jason giggled. "It's a Vulcan Battleship - pure fighter. Long range bombardment and support for the Cruisers, Frigates and Interceptors. The only thing that would be more terrifying in a battle to face would be a Dreadnought, and neither Earth nor Vulcan have made one of them yet."
Jory and Juan were dribbling noticeably, and Juan asked, "Why not? A Dreadnought sounds KEWL!"
"Because a Dreadnought is as multi-platformed as a Cruiser, as tough as a Battleship, as fast as a Frigate and as agile as an Interceptor. We don't have the technology yet, but there are plans," Jason said, thinking about the designs Joel had drawn up.
Adam eventually found his voice. "That's our Flagship? Fuck me sideways! I'm glad I signed on!" he finished with a big, shit-eating grin.
Jason giggled before starting for the door out of the Observation room. "Just going to the Recreation Room to get Spock and the rest," he said. "I'll be back to lead you to the Viewing Room for the trial."
Adam nodded at him seriously before fixing his attention back on the Yoshuhlnak drive section they were approaching fast.
After getting his a'nirih to stop drinking Romulan Ale, and getting him and the other adults settled in the Viewing Room, Jason made his way back to the Observation room. "Okay, we're ready. Dragon Operatives except Nath', to the cells. The rest of you, follow Nathan to the Viewing Room. I'll be along shortly."
Jason counted noses as they all trooped passed him, especially the ferrets. He needn't have worried, for they were even in a neat line and the elder ferrets were holding the hands of the younger more excitable (that was a joke in and of itself) ones; just as he'd asked.
There was one missing person, however.
Juan.
Jason rolled his eyes and went back into the room and found, trussed up like a Christmas present in the corner of the room, the boy in question. He was bound in something that not even his Genesis-enhanced Klingon strength could undo, and somehow it was defying his N-Gen telekinesis as well. "What the hell? Who did this to you, bro?"
Juan, red-faced and angry, couldn't answer him, for he was gagged as well as trussed up.
Jason pulled the gag out, only to be assaulted by a rush of descriptive expletives that rolled over him like verbal diarrhoea. "I ONLY THOUGHT ABOUT KILLING THOSE FUCKERS AND THEY ALL POUNCED ME AND DID THIS! UNTIE ME AT ONCE I'LL FUCKING KILL THEM THE FUCKING BASTARDS I'M REALLY GONNA..."
"I can't deal with this," Jason sighed. He replaced the gag and walked away.
The telepathic message from the hugely pissed off Juan would have hurt Jason's mind, had he been any less of a telepath. As it was, he winced at the dire threats - promises? - that were hurled his way.
"God damn psychopath," Jason giggled as the Observation room door closed behind him.
Before heading for the cells, Jason went to his personal quarters and changed into his formal judicial robes. Then, once properly attired, he went to join his fellow Division members in the brig. As he drew close, the door to the Viewing Room hissed open and Chang stepped out. Jason giggled, "Did you do that to Juan?"
"Of course," Chang said without a hint of apology. "He'd have completely disrupted the proceedings were he here. It will be hard enough for the rest of us to restrain ourselves. Juan does not know the meaning of that word."
Jason smiled and shook his head.
"I am broadcasting everything to him, however, so he won't miss a thing."
"Good," Jason giggled.
"Also," Chang added, "I think it would be a good idea for Sammy to have some part to play in administrating justice in this case. He has mostly gotten over what those boys did to him, and Joel's meld certainly helped him overcome the final barriers..."
"But there is still a darkness remaining that you think him helping in this matter will heal?" Jason completed for the Asian boy.
Chang nodded.
"I agree. Please tell both Mike and Sammy that they may join us. I'll wait here for them."
Chang nodded again and disappeared back inside of the room.
A moment later, Mike and his pale-looking son came out, and Jason gestured them into a side room. "You'll both need special robes for this. Since neither of you are VSO, and since I want you both to help if you're willing, you'll need these," he explained as he pulled out grey robes from a closet and presented them to the father and son.
Sammy slipped it on easily, but Mike took a while longer - he'd never worn a Vulcan robe before, so Sammy had to show him how it fastened up properly.
"What's this mark mean?" Sammy asked Jason, pointing at a seal that was on the left chest piece of the robe.
Jason answered, "The Sigil of Justice, VSO level. You have both been entrusted to carry out the punishment on a criminal, should one be needed. Entrusted to do so to the letter, no more and no less. Be it death or less."
"Jace..." Mike choked out, looking carefully at his son.
Jason smiled sadly, "I know your hesitance is not for yourself doing so, but for your son. However, I know what will happen to both the elder boys, and I will not have Sammy near the youngest. It will not be pleasant, but it may help still the vengeance inside of Sammy without it burning him up unhealthily."
Mike still did not look convinced.
Jason nodded, "It is up to you. I can give you the task, and if either of you does not wish to do it, one of the rest of us will - and we will not think any the less of you."
Mike sighed, for Sammy had a major determined look on his usually sunny face. "Okay... okay. Let's get this over with, Jace," he sighed again.
Jason led them out and straight into the brig - to where the fun was about to begin...
Doctor McCoy waited patiently for the computer to finish the blood work-up he had requested on Joel, and on the work-ups on the two boys currently sleeping in the private room three doors down from Joel's. He looked over at Joel's bed to see that the poor child was still hidden within his blankets with Levi, and was still surrounded by his two grandmothers, Allen, Kevin and the rest of the Thompson kids. Only Joel and Kevin's children were absent, having been led away to have breakfast by Marc and Jerry - which they had so far missed, due to the events of the morning. Danny was still asleep on the bed on Bones' other side.
He checked his watch. 10.30am EST. 8.30 in Utah.
Bones sighed wearily. It had been a long, long morning. He sipped his coffee and looked back at the screen. Hopefully, if this came back clear, he could finally unwind a bit.
Amanda looked no less weary, but had less chance to show it. She tried to keep herself upbeat in order to help break through to Joel that he was loved, and to also not fuel the rage she could see building upon itself in T'Pol's eyes. She knew that, if left unchecked, someone was going to die today at her old friend's hands. For now, however, their mutual grandson's obvious need seemed to keep T'Pol's rage locked down and her mothering love at the fore.
"My dear, could you pass that over, please?" Amanda mouthed to T'Pol, nodding in the direction of Joel's Dimension Bag, his gift from the Doctor. Inside, she knew, would be a large supply of cookies.
She saw Kevin smile weakly as T'Pol reached for it, and then the boy spun around and cuddled into his pop's chest again. "Thanks, Xain," she heard him whisper.
"To ease distress is logical," came Xain's very hollow-sounding voice. At least, it was hollow-sounding to Amanda, but she had been living with Vulcans most of her life - she could tell.
As could T'Pol, whose eyes narrowed slightly. She did, however, pass what had become to be known as 'Lil'Elf's Cookie Bag' over to the wife of Sarek.
"Thank you, dear," Amanda smiled before undoing the straps and looking through the various pockets for the cookie stash. Some pockets contained shiny objects - some very expensive ones as well, she thought - while one contained items that made her blush as she closed it quickly.
Kevin, peeking at her from his father's arms, giggled at the blush and turned a healthy rosey colour himself.
"I'd call you a wicked pair of boys, if I didn't know you loved each other a lot," Amanda mouthed at him.
Kevin poked his tongue out at her before sighing and looking down at the trembling, blanket-covered lump that was his husband.
Amanda found the pocket she had been looking for and pulled out a large toffee cookie. "Sweetheart," she said, after placing the bag down on the bedside cabinet. She gently shook the lump under the sheets. "Sweetheart, I have something for you."
Levi giggled, "That's me, Grandma 'Manda."
"Well, you can share this," Amanda smiled sadly.
"Wh...what is it, Far'ko'mekh?" Joel's voice trembled.
"One of your favourite cookies," she said softly.
Joel started to cry and she saw the head-shaped lump shake slightly. "I don't deserve it..." he whispered.
Amanda made a slight face, "Nonsense, child. Here." She lifted the edge of the blanket and slipped her hand under. She felt a small pair of hands take the cookie. Levi, obviously.
"Here, Uncle Joel. Open wide... come on, you need to eat something..." Levi whispered.
"No, I can't. I'm not hungry," Joel whimpered.
"Eat, you need it," Levi insisted.
After a few seconds, they heard a small nibble being taken. Then, Joel rolled to the side and his face came out of the blanket to start retching over the side of the bed.
Levi scrambled out of the blanket himself and placed the cookie on the cabinet next to the Dimension Bag before rubbing Joel's back. There was very little in Joel's stomach, so bile and some blood was really all that Joel could bring up.
"What's wrong?" Allen mouthed to McCoy.
McCoy sighed and mouthed back, "Orally raped. He is feeling it happen as he's eating. His weird memory is the cause of this." Then he reached and depressed a hypospray in Joel's neck, while behind him his monitor beeped at him. "There, son. That will settle your stomach. Just lie back and relax, okay?"
Joel flopped back onto the bed and was quickly covered in his blanket with Levi again, sobbing quietly.
McCoy sighed again before going back to the screen.
T'Pol's breath seemed to hiss out of her nose, so furious had she become. She looked around the room briefly, looking for some way - any way - in which to vent. None was available.
"Aunt T'Pol," Kevin whispered, "how long can a Vulcan go without food and water?"
"Three days without water before the beginnings of thirst. A few weeks before the beginnings of hunger. Neither time frame is good for my grandson in his condition," she bit out.
"We need to do something to take our minds off of this," Jake said sensibly. "If only for a few minutes."
"I'll stay with Joel," Levi whispered from the blanket. "He's just gone to sleep again. I'll stay."
Kevin got up and went over to the bed slowly. He reached and pealed back the blanket to reveal both his beloved's face as well as Levi's. Then, he reached down and tenderly kissed Joel's forehead before covering him back up. "I'm hungry, Poppa," he whispered sadly.
Allen nodded. "Same. Come on, let's go get something for breakfast."
T'Pol and Amanda both rose as well as the Thompsons and prepared to leave the room, but McCoy called T'Pol back.
"I'll keep you a place at the table, my dear," Amanda told her as she left.
T'Pol came to stand at McCoy's side. "What can I do for you, Doctor?"
McCoy's face was troubled, and he jerked his head toward the door. Once outside in the hallway, he said, "I have just had the results back from the blood tests. T'Pol, both the human boys hurt in this event will have to be placed on HRIT immediately."
T'Pol raised her eyebrow, "I was of the impression that the alpha and beta strains had been wiped out over twelve years ago."
"They have, mostly, but they still linger in some places - less affluent areas usually. They crop up from time to time. Stewart's results are inconclusive, but Bradley is showing recent contraction of alpha," McCoy said softly. "But we have a problem."
"Oh? How so?"
"Joel has been infected."
"That is not an issue, Leonard. Vulcans are immune - to all strains. Our blood plasma will carry it, but it is destroyed by our immune cells."
"I know," McCoy whispered, "but his blood is showing the infection, and his immune cells are not doing anything to stop it. His liver has been infected, and - it's spreading."
"What?!"
McCoy bowed his head, "We need Spock here soon; Joel's body has adapted the alpha strain of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus... and it has become something else."
Well, Boys and Girls, I do believe this is serious. We seem to have a CLIFFHANGER, here.
This is indeed a serious miss carriage of justice. Poor little Joel has been nearly killed by that assault, and now, he is being subjected to infection... Deadly infection, at that! This is not a good thing.
There are some serious matters at hand.
What will happen if they actually execute that nasty Corey? Will that tear the universe asunder? What will our Cory do when he finds out what has happened to his Lil'Elf?
There are definitely mysteries involved here.
Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long to have this situation resolved.
This was, indeed, a very exciting chapter. I desperately want more! Soon!
Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher