chapter = 30

author = Dwparsnip

dedicate = Whoever has been waiting to read it.

Rating = AP15

Type = Angst

fanfic =

Alrighty then. Here is the next chapter. First, let me apologize for how long it took to get this done. Sorry.

Now I must once again offer my sincere thanks to Adena, my ever ready and awesome beta. She’s responsible for more of this than even she realizes. Thank you my dear friend.

Thank you too, to all of you who have asked for, begged for and demanded an update (there were even a couple of light-hearted threats). It does the heart good to be wanted.;) And thank you to everyone who reviewed.

End of speech.

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Angie woke up and raised her arms above her head to stretch out the kinks in her muscles. It had been three days since she had made sense of all the clues that led to her discovery of Lisa Hunter’s delicate state.

Three days since the inner turmoil that had been plaguing her had been shunted aside by her decision to do everything she could to help Lisa and her unborn baby.

Three nights where she had been able to sleep without the guilt causing her to have nightmares about Rick, Lisa, Roy or the unborn child Lisa was carrying. Not that the guilt had totally vanished…it never would. There would always be the souls of four REF pilots crying for vengeance, but Angie figured they might at least partially forgive her if she managed to save Lisa Hunter and her child.

She had been apprehensive the day before when Gleason first informed her of her that her time aboard the Hermes was finished. For a while, she felt dread at the prospect of returning to the SDF-3; sadness at seeing Rick Hunter and anxiety, and fear, at seeing Sue Graham.

It took her some time to realize that it was for the best.

Angie sat up in her comfortable bed, not that it had been uncomfortable before. It hadn't changed one bit, but with the weighty albatross that was her guilt no longer crushing her soul, everything felt better to Angie. As she took a deep breath and slowly released it, she once again went over what she had to do.

The first thing Angie had to do was call Sue and let her know that her temporary reassignment to the Hermes was over. In a matter of hours she would be back aboard the SDF-3; back where Admiral Rick Hunter grieved so needlessly and Sue needed to know that Angie planned to tell Rick everything. Deep down within Angie in a place untouched by time and the current circumstances, lived a small part of her soul that still believed that Sue deserved something from her.

The rest of her soul, the huge portion that had been tainted by their deeds, knew that it was a risk for her and possibly the Hunters. But that tiny piece of her that remained so well protected demanded the courtesy.

Angie snorted to herself at the thought. Anyone looking at this from the outside wouldn’t understand why she felt that Sue deserved the courtesy…she wasn’t sure she understood it herself anymore, especially knowing that Sue wouldn’t go down without some sort of response, but Angie would just have to deal with it when it came. Besides, what could she do to prepare?

Angie let her feet slide to the edge of the bed and then fall to the floor. After slipping on her slippers and a robe she walked to the washroom and looked in the mirror. The wrinkles that had taken up unwanted residence around her eyes had lessened with her decision to tell Rick about Lisa, though they never totally receded. She wasn't sure if they would be a permanent souvenir of her dreadful actions, or if they stayed there as a reminder should she lose her resolve. It had also been days since she saw eyes other than her own in her reflection. Simply her own chestnut brown eyes, not the deep blue eyes of Rick Hunter, nor the emerald green eyes of his wife.

Angie tucked her red hair behind her ears. She had let it grow a little longer over the past few weeks, probably as an attempt to change her appearance enough to wash away the taint she felt over everything. She laughed internally as she thought, ‘I never used to be so introspective.’

She straightened herself and looked at her reflection seriously. "It's amazing what a little clarity and positive soul searching can do, isn’t it?" she asked her reflection. She laughed at herself as she took a step towards the toilet.

A few moments later Angie sat down in front of the communications unit in her quarters. She contacted the bridge and requested a secure line for transmitting a message to the SDF-3, and when she was informed that the link had been established she began. "Hey Sue…"

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Beep…beep…beep.

A loud groan from the bed was the only indication that Sue Graham heard the comm. unit letting her know that there was a message waiting for her.

‘Figures’, she thought bitterly, ‘the first decent night's sleep I've had in God knows how long and I get a message.’

Sue slowly opened her eyes and saw that it was still only 0710 hours. She closed her eyes tight again and stifled the curse that began to work its way out of her mouth.

Beep…beep…beep.

Sue let go another groan, followed in short order by a hearty sigh. As she rolled over to get out of bed she muttered, "This better be damned important."

Beep…beep…beep.

"I'm coming already!" she shouted at the console. She never even bothered to put on a robe or her slippers; instead she walked barefoot across her bedroom to the communications console and flipped the switch.

After going through the security protocols the message played, and as soon as she heard whose voice was speaking she smiled.

'Hey Sue', came the crisp voice of Angela Marques. 'My assignment aboard the Hermes is finished. I catch the next shuttle out of here, which will be later today…I'm not sure of the exact time.'

There was a hesitation in the message and Sue's smile faltered. She was ecstatic that Angie was coming home, but in the two second lull in the message, Sue realized that something wasn't right.

'Anyway, Sue', continued Angie's voice through the speakers, 'I'll see you later today or tonight sometime. We'll talk then.'

A double tone indicated the end of the message, and so too had ended Sue's smile. In fact a scowl replaced the smile. The tone and deliberateness of Angie's message was more than telling. Something had happened to her aboard the Hermes…something had changed.

Gone from Angie's voice was the doubt that Sue had heard in the last week. Absent from her voice was the guilt that could easily be sensed by someone who knew her as well as Sue did. No longer present was the fear of being caught that Sue heard recently.

No, Angie had come to some sort of decision. Sue had no illusions that Angie had accepted what they had done; she never could, despite her best intentions and initial willingness to do so. Angie's apparent newfound comfort meant that Angie had decided to confess and tell Rick that his precious little wife was alive and kicking. Sue winced at the double entendre and her hand automatically went to her lip, remembering all too well how a kick from Lisa Hunter had caused her so much grief.

Sue walked away from the comm. unit to her dresser. Without hesitation she opened the top drawer and removed the box that held her sidearm. It was still loaded and ready to fire, ready to defend her and ready to protect her secret.

Sue took the weapon out of the box and held it sideways against her chest. She closed her eyes for a moment and prayed that she wouldn't have to use the weapon, but when she opened her eyes, they were hardened with the knowledge that she most likely would have to, and that she was willing and able to.

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The night duty officer in the Situation Room came to attention and saluted when he walked in. He’d come here in search of Rick, after finding that his friend wasn’t in his quarters. The shuttle explosion and the loss of Tim Woods was another blow for them all. The fact that Rick’s quarters appeared to have been vacant for the whole night worried Max.

Max half-heartedly returned the young woman's salute and glanced around the massive room. Not for the first time since Rick promoted him, Max realized what Rick had been talking about all those years about feeling uncomfortable when people saluted him. Max always laughed and told Rick to get used to it, that he deserved it and it was the way things were. Being on the receiving end of some salutes though, had given Max a new understanding of Rick's discomfort, and with that understanding a new sympathy for him.

The woman, Lieutenant Francis, must have known what Max was looking for. She coughed softly, and when Max looked to her, she raised her eyebrows and tilted her head towards Rick's office.

"How long has he been in there?" asked Max quietly.

Francis sighed and her lips turned downward with worry. "Pretty much all night, sir. He called out once to get an update from the infirmary, but other than that we haven't heard a peep from him."

"Thanks, Lieutenant.”

She smiled in response and headed back into the deeper recesses of the Sit. Room.

Max rubbed the back of his neck as he watched her go. He should have known Rick wouldn’t have gone home, that he would have been here all night to wait for news about the shuttle and the victims. Max hoped that the most seriously wounded victim of the explosion, the young woman who Woods saved at the cost of his own life, would pull through.

Max took a deep breath and walked slowly over to Rick's door. As with Rick's quarters, Max never knocked on his office door…he simply opened the door and stepped inside. When he closed the door Max looked across the spacious office to Rick, or more specifically, Rick's back. He was standing at the large viewport off to the left of his desk with his hands clasped behind his back.

“What the hell is going on around here, Max?” asked the Admiral without preamble. Rick continued to gaze out the large window as he continued. “First Lisa and the others, now this.”

Max managed to push through his alarm to ask, “Do you think the two incidents are related, Rick?”

Rick turned around and picked up a folder from his desk. He held in the air between them for a moment, then tossed the folder to Max. When Max successfully caught the item, Rick turned around and once again folded his hands behind his back and looked to the stars.

“The Chief and his team went over the hangar deck with a fine-tooth comb,” said Rick without any emotion at all, which was very disconcerting for Max. “They found nothing substantial. An examination of the wreckage confirmed what the flight crew member said before they sedated her, that a loaded weapons trolley impacted the shuttle.”

Max looked up from the report. He had been reading along with Rick, who had been reciting what was in the report verbatim. “How is she?”

“Alive,” responded Rick calmly. “She has some serious burns, but Pullman’s quick response and expert treatment probably saved her life. Jean expects her to have a full recovery, though it will be a while.”

Max closed the report and held it in his hand. “How did they do this so fast, Rick? It should have taken them at least…”

“I told them I wanted answers,” interrupted Rick. “They worked all night. I’ve only had that report for an hour or so.” Rick turned around and sat down in his chair. When he looked to Max he went on. “From what the Chief could see, it was a deliberate act.” Rick gave Max a moment to absorb that information. “The evidence and technical details are in the report, but he has no doubt. It was not an accident.”

Max collapsed into the nearest chair and decided to play devil’s advocate, though he didn’t believe a word of what he was about to say. “But that doesn’t mean that they are related.”

Rick’s smile told Max that Rick was unto him. “You don’t believe that for a second, Max.” Rick shook his head and sighed. “No…she was aiming for the person who was in charge of the investigation: Tim. She knew what she was doing.”

“She?” asked Max.

“What?”

Max leaned forward. “You said ‘she’ was aiming for Woods; that ‘she’ knew what ‘she’ was doing.”

Rick looked confused. “I did?”

Max nodded his head. “You know something I don’t?”

Rick shook his head, slightly unsure as to why he said what he said. “No. It just…it just came out that way. At any rate, now we know that one of us did this, and if they are related, then an REF officer killed Lisa.”

“I thought you might have meant,” he hesitated for a moment before saying, “someone in particular.”

Rick narrowed his eyes, but it wasn’t in a suspicious or curious manner, thought Max. It looked to him as though Rick was hoping he’d say something; mention a name, perhaps to verify his own thoughts.

And for a second, Max was tempted to mention Sue’s name. But he had no proof, and though he knew Rick would understand that it was a hunch, Max couldn’t justify it without some sort of solid evidence.

Max leaned back in his chair with his mind racing over the details. He had always suspected that it had been an insider who was responsible… as had Woods. For a brief moment, Max wondered if telling Rick about that sooner would have prevented Woods’ death. The thought was thrust aside when it occurred to him to ask, “What was Woods doing on the flight deck anyway?”

Rick sighed, though Max couldn’t tell if it was in frustration or disappointment, then nodded as though he was expecting that question. “I’m not sure. One of his senior officers, Dora Baxter, says that he went to Tirol yesterday to meet with the head of Tirolian Intelligence…”

“Zolan?” asked a wide-eyed Max.

Rick nodded in affirmation. “Baxter says Zolan called Woods day before yesterday, and then Tim went immediately to the planet to see him. Woods told Baxter that the Tirolians had a lead in the shuttle explosion that killed…,” Rick swallowed hard and only just managed to whisper, “…that killed Lisa.”

Max gave Rick a second to recover and then asked, “What kind of lead?”

Rick shrugged his shoulders. “Tim didn’t tell her. I’ve placed several calls to Tirol, but Zolan is personally overseeing some high level operations and won’t be available for a couple of days.”

Max could hear the frustration in Rick’s voice…it matched the frustration he was feeling as well. He sighed heavily to ease the annoyance and asked, “Anything else?”

Rick nodded and reached over to pick up an object off his desk that Max hadn’t even noticed. It was charred, blackened by what must have been a severe heat.

“It’s a Tirolian data screen,” explained Rick, “though you wouldn’t know by looking at it.” Rick handed the ruined device to his friend and leaned back in his chair. “There were several found in the vicinity of…well, where Tim was found. As you can probably guess, it’s useless. Whatever data was on it is irretrievable. The others were in even worse shape.”

Max studied the device in his hand, and then placed it on Rick’s desk. After wiping his hands in a tissue he took from Rick’s desk, he looked at his friend. Rick looked completely drawn. The lines around his eyes and mouth had become even more pronounced than they had been the previous day, and the gray hair around his temples was spreading. ‘It’s aging him like nothing else has before,’ thought Max worriedly. Never before, no matter what Rick had been through, had he changed so much.

To Rick he said, “So what have we got?”

Rick took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We have very little, until we can find out what it was that Tim found out.” He crossed his arms across his chest. “Tim was close to the answer, Max…I’m sure of it. We have to wait for Zolan.”

Max nodded his head and sat back. “With Woods gone, who’s in charge of Fleet Intelligence?”

“The next senior officer, which would be Baxter,” replied Rick.

“Good,” said Max with a little more relief than he meant to show, and to his consternation it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Rick.

“Something wrong, Max?”

Max hesitated, caught between telling Rick the truth and trying to keep him calm. In the end, the truth won out. “I’m glad Sue isn’t in command. I don’t trust her.”

Something flashed in Rick’s eyes at the mention of Sue’s name, but he only nodded his agreement with that statement, and Max pressed on. “I also have a little confession to make. We, that is myself, Vince and Woods, suspected that REF officers sabotaged Lisa’s shuttle.” Max had to stop and try to wet his throat, as the look Rick was giving him could have withered a cactus. “We didn’t want to tell you…”

“Because you weren’t sure I’d be able to handle it,” finished Rick in a low voice.

To Max’s surprise, and relief, there was no anger in Rick’s voice. Just understanding.

Rick smiled a half smile and said, “Why don’t you tell me everything you know, Max?”

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Sue entered her office and sat down at her computer. After typing in her password and instituting an encryption program, she brought up the file containing the virus that would shut down the ship.

She went over the details one last time to ensure that she had anticipated every possible contingency. She had to be thorough. It was coming to an end, she knew, and the only way for her to succeed was to be totally sure she knew what would happen and when it would happen.

She leaned back in her chair and watched the flashing prompt in her screen.

“Do you wish to enable program? Type ‘y’ for yes or ‘n’ for no,” she read aloud.

She had very little choice now, didn’t she? It would not take long for Sterling or Grant to find out that Woods had gone to Tirol to follow up on a lead. That Zolan was incommunicado was fortunate, but temporary. She could not afford to count on his being indisposed for long. She didn’t know what Zolan had discovered, but she had been able to find out that Vidam had been taken into custody. It was very possible that that little weasel had something to tell the Tirolians, especially if it meant saving his own slimy skin. She was fairly certain that he hadn’t figured out her identity, but she could no longer afford to make that assumption.

Besides all of that, she had a more pressing matter. Angie would be returning in a few hours, and Sue had no illusions as to Angie’s intentions. She knew Angie was coming back with a new insight, and that new insight included going to Rick and blabbing to him about her plan.

It would end soon, and she would have what she wanted from Rick or she would not be alive to face her failure.

‘Either way,’ she thought with a vicious smile, ‘Lisa will not have him again.’

She leaned down to pick up the bag she had deposited next to her chair when she sat down. She opened the bag and removed a small bottle with several pills inside. She opened the bottle, took out one of the tiny pills and put it in her mouth and swallowed it. It could very well be the last of the pills she would be able to take, which gave her a three day window; just seventy-two hours to make it happen. She replaced the bottle, then looked at the bag and sighed.

Also inside was her sidearm, which she took out and checked. She verified that it was loaded and ready for firing, and then replaced the weapon inside. She patted the bag appreciatively and then gently set it down on the floor next to her.

She leaned back and closed her eyes, running over the schematic of the ship that she had committed to memory, where the emergency bulkheads were and remembering their override codes, and remembering where she had placed certain items should she need them. In her mind she traced the routes to the areas of the ship she would need to get to, and in her mind’s eye she could see herself running through the ship, opening the bulkheads with her codes and escaping from the ship. The only drawback was that she couldn’t reseal the bulkheads behind her. They would be able to track her and follow her, but she would deal with that when the time came.

Crippling the ship would be enough, she figured. But in the event that it wasn’t, there was still Andrea on Tirol. Her services may or may not be needed, but the program would trigger an automatic message to Andrea telling her to get ready, just in case.

Sue opened her eyes and studied the programming in front of her for one more minute before reaching over, and with a slender index finger hit the key that would seal the fate of Lisa Hunter, and fulfill her greatest desire.

Her communicator buzzed and she picked up the receiver. “Commander Graham.”

‘Lieutenant Cartwright, ma’am,’ said the male voice on the other end. ‘You asked to be informed when the shuttle from the Hermes was on approach. The pilot confirms arrival in thirty-two minutes.’

Sue took a deep breath and let it out as she said, “Thank you, Lieutenant.”

‘Yes, ma’am,’ was the response before the line went dead. Sue replaced the receiver and licked her lip. It hadn’t even so much as twinged until now.

Sue turned off her computer then checked on the time. Half an hour until Angie was back, until everything came to a head and she would be that much closer to what she had wanted for so very long.

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“That’s a lot of speculation, Max,” said Rick as he poured two cups of coffee. He handed one to Max then placed his own on his desk. After sitting down, he looked to his best friend. “With no facts to back it up, I can see why you wouldn’t tell me.”

Max took a sip of coffee and then set his mug down on Rick’s desk. “I have to admit, Boss, that I didn’t think you’d see it that way.”

Rick smiled. “I know you and Vince were concerned about me, Max. And I appreciate it.” Rick’s smile disappeared and his face became serious. “But from now on you need to tell me everything. We need to figure this out, old friend. All of us. Together.”

Max nodded gravely. “You got it Rick.”

Satisfied that Max understood what he was saying, Rick nodded once and stood up. “Let’s go get some breakfast, then we’ll get everything together and see what we can figure out.” Rick smiled as he waited by the door for his friend. “And somewhere along the way we’ll keep this ship in running order.”

It was amazing what a sense of purpose could do to help a person, pondered Max as Rick informed the senior officer that he was leaving. It was all part of the norm recently, Rick going from a man who looked like he lost the world and was struggling to go on, then getting his second wind and looking like the Rick of old. Yesterday and now were prime examples. Only twenty-four hours earlier Max had to force Rick to eat some breakfast and he appeared to be in the grips of depression. Now, with a new threat to his crew and the death of a friend, Rick appeared to have shaken off that depression and seemed to have some sense of purpose again.

The trip to the Mess was silent, save for their footfalls and the occasional return greeting to a passing crew member. When they made it to the Mess, they got their food and looked around. When they saw a lone figure sat at one of the far tables, near the view port, they looked to each other and then moved to sit with her.

“Mind if we have a seat, Doctor?” asked Rick.

Jean looked up and a smile came to her lips. “Of course not,” she responded, indicating the empty chairs at her table. “Vince had some things to take care of, and I could use the company.”

Rick and Max took their seats, Rick to Jean’s left and Max to her right. After a moment Rick spoke up.

“I’m glad I found you actually,” said Rick to Jean. “I wanted to commend you on some wonderful work yesterday.” Rick smiled slightly at her. “You saved lives yesterday.”

“I didn’t save everyone though,” Jean said quietly.

Rick glanced at Max and saw sympathy shining through his eyes. “You did everything you could, Jean. You did more than most could or would.” Rick reached over and covered her small hand with his. “You ran headlong into an area of the ship that had just experienced an explosion in an attempt to help people. Make no mistake, Doctor, you did help them.” He gave Jean’s hand a reassuring squeeze. “You should be very proud of what you did yesterday, Jean, you and Dr. Pullman.”

Jean smiled weakly as Rick removed his hand from hers. “Thank you, Rick. I needed to hear that.” She took a small sip of juice and sat back in her chair. “And I’ll give Alistair your compliments when he comes back.”

“Back?” asked Rick.

Jean nodded. “I gave him some time off. He’s had a bit of a stressful time lately, and with Angie coming back today, I thought it would be a good time for him to take a couple of days. He left this morning to go to Tirol.” Jean smiled wryly. “Apparently someone has set up a pretty decent golf course around Base Epsilon.”

“Golf course?” Rick shook his head, then the rest of Jean’s sentence registered in his mind. “Angie is coming home today?” asked Rick excitedly.

Realization dawned on Jean as she realized that Rick hadn’t known. “Yes! She should be her within an hour or two. I thought you knew.”

Rick shook his head and felt the smile erupt on his face before he even thought about doing it. “That’s nice. I was beginning to worry that Gleason or Rosario had convinced her to stay aboard the Hermes.”

Jean chuckled at that. “Gleason made a compelling argument about keeping her, even going so far as to beg a little, but I told her we need Angie here.” Jean smirked as she added, “I just hope Angie wants to come back.”

“With you as a boss, why wouldn’t she want to come back?” said Max.

Jean laughed softly and said, “Flatterer.”

“Suck up is more like it,” piped up Rick as he took a sip of coffee.

“Hello pot,” said Max without missing a beat, “my name is kettle.”

All three friends stopped what they were doing and then looked at each other. A moment later, their laughter filled the Mess.

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Angie’s anxiousness manifested itself outwardly by tapping her right foot against the deck of the shuttle. She had never really been prone to such acts when nervous or excited, but then again this was hardly something as ordinary as an academy exam or going into a war zone. This was something else all together.

Internally, her stomach was roiling at the thought of what was about to happen. Facing Sue and telling her that it was over was going to be the hardest thing she had ever had to do in her life. Telling Rick Hunter about it all would most likely be worse, but first she had to concentrate on getting through to Sue.

And earlier that day she thought she had made her peace with her decision.

“Buckle up, Lieutenant,” came the voice of the co-pilot from the cockpit. “We’re on final approach and should be on the deck in twenty minutes.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Angie. She reached down to fasten her safety belt, only to find that in her preoccupation with her personal situation she hadn’t even undone it in the first place.

Angie shook her head at herself and closed her eyes, wishing with ever increasing futility that her life would be simpler.

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Lisa slowly opened her eyes, and even before her eyes began the booting up process and focused on anything, her right hand shot to her stomach and gently caressed it.

And then, despite the realization that she was still in this cursed cave and not in Rick’s arms as she had just been dreaming about, she smiled.

The realization that she was pregnant was just the thing she needed to grab onto to get her through this ordeal; just the life preserver she needed to keep her mind focused on staying as healthy and ready as possible.

More than that, however, along with that realization came the feeling, the sense that her time alone would soon be coming to an end. She didn’t know if that intuition was brought on by the fact that she now knew she wasn’t by herself literally, that a life was growing within her, or by some sort of premonition telling her that her rescue was at hand.

She reached over and opened a bottle of water, took several sips and put the cover back on. A quick head count told her that there was still a fair amount of full bottles remaining. The same was true of the ration packs. She wouldn’t starve to death or die of dehydration for quite some time.

The only thing that truly worried her now, besides what Sue was planning for Rick and Roy, was how her current situation would affect her unborn baby. Jean had impressed upon her some time ago that getting pregnant at her age could be complicated, though not impossible. In fact, Jean stressed that with the proper conditions and monitoring, Lisa would be perfectly capable of carrying and delivering a perfectly healthy baby.

And therein lay the problem. She was hardly in a position to receive monitoring, and she was fairly certain that the cave and ration packs didn’t fall under the category of ‘proper conditions’.

She sighed looked at the ceiling of the cave, though in her mind and heart she was looking well beyond the confines of her rock prison, beyond the atmosphere that surrounded this all but dead moon, and far into the reaches of space, and gazing into the heart of the man she knew would come to her rescue, and the rescue of their son or daughter.

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Angie stepped onto the flight deck of the SDF-3 and walked towards the main exit of the bay. So intent was she on her goal of leaving the flight deck that she would have walked straight into a line of security tape surrounding a damaged shuttle if not for the verbal warning issued to her by a security guard who was guarding the area.

She stopped and looked up at the officer, then to the shuttle. Her eyes opened wide in awe of the destruction that had been visited upon the shuttle. “What happened?”

Even before the guard responded she knew that it must have been the accident to which Gleason had referred the previous day.

“Shuttle exploded, ma’am,” replied the guard needlessly. That the shuttle exploded was more than obvious.

She looked over at him, then back to the shuttle. It was black and torn to pieces. How could anyone have survived?

“I was told there was only one fatality. Do you know who it was?” she asked without halting her survey of the damage.

“Yes, ma’am. It was Major Woods, from Fleet Intelligence.”

Angie coughed in surprise and her head turned rapidly towards the guard. “Major Woods?”

The guard nodded. “Yes, ma’am. He was just getting off when the explosion happened. He saved a crew member who was beginning to service the shuttle, but he didn’t make it.”

Angie opened her mouth to ask something, but for a moment she couldn’t remember what the question was. Too much was going through her mind. After several moments she managed to sift through everything else and ask, “What caused the explosion?”

The guard cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably in his place. “I’m not at liberty to say, ma’am. The investigation is still officially ongoing.”

She looked back and forth between the shuttle and the security officer a couple of times before finding her voice to say, “That’s quite all right. Thank you.”

The guard nodded in response and Angie began to walk around the perimeter in the direction of the door. Now that she no longer needed to focus on conversation, her mind shifted to thoughts of Sue, and what she would gain from the death of the lead investigator into the death of Admiral Lisa Hunter.

With Woods gone the investigation would stall, if only for a short time. ‘Could Sue be capable...?’she laughed to herself before she finished the question. Of course she could be capable of killing Woods; look at what she had done so far. But what Sue had apparently failed to realize that every new death, every new immoral act, dragged Angie’s soul that much farther into hell.

Angie walked off the deck with one last glance at the ruined shuttle.

‘This ends…now,’ Angie thought resolutely. She had one thing to do first however.

She wasn’t that naïve. She realized that if Sue truly went off the deep end, and that was a very real possibility, there would be no one else to help Lisa, save for Andrea Grace, but she wasn’t even aboard the ship. Add to that that her involvement was less than Angie’s meant that Grace would be less inclined to betray Sue.

That left one other option: leave a message. She would write an e-mail and instruct her computer terminal to send it to someone at a certain time. That way, should something happen to her, someone would still know about Lisa and where she was.

She went into her quarters, dropped her bag next to the door and walked to her computer terminal. She opened the e-mail program and set the parameters the computer was to use for sending the message, specifically that the message should be sent to its intended recipient at 1900 hours unless she stopped it.

The cursor blinked in the address box, waiting for a command to enter a recipient. It didn’t take long for Angie to decide who to send the message to, so she entered the appropriate name.

She read aloud as she typed.

“Dr. Grant. If you have received this letter…”

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“Anyway,” said Rick as he dropped his napkin onto his empty plate, “it’s time I got back to work.”

Jean pushed her own plate away from her. “Me too. I was just about to start the crew evaluations yesterday when the emergency call came in.” She sighed and shook her head. “I hate doing them, but the longer I wait the worse it will be. Plus I have to keep a close eye on my patients.”

Max smiled at Jean then looked to Rick. “I’ll walk with you, Boss, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, Max,” Rick said as he stood. “Let’s go. See you later, Jean.”

Jean stood up as well. “Yes, sir.”

They all walked to the door together, and turned to go their separate ways when Rick spoke. “Jean.” When she turned to face him he added, “I meant what I said. Good work.”

Jean smiled. “Thanks, Rick.”

Rick nodded at his friend and turned to walk to the Sit. Room and a moment later Max fell into step beside him.

Again the walk was silent until Rick asked, “What’s going on with the Shadow fighters, Max?”

Max smiled to himself. The fact that Rick was curious about the fighters was another very good sign concerning his improving mental state. “Good. The prototype in the secondary bay is fully functional. The pre-flight checks are all green and the test flights begin in a couple of days.”

“Good,” replied Rick. “What about security?”

“Guards inside and outside the bay. The locks are computerized, but Miriya and I decided to put them on a separate system than the other secure locks, which limits access. Only the tech crew, you, me and Miriya can get in. We haven’t even secured access for the pilot yet.”

Rick nodded. “With everything going on, that’s a good idea.” Rick slowed as they approached an intersection, and instead of turning right to go to the Sit. Room he turned left.

Max was caught by surprise, but caught up quick enough. “Where are we headed, Boss?”

“Hangar deck,” replied Rick. “I want to see the shuttle again.”

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Angie walked up to Sue Graham’s door and looked at it as though it were about open up and swallow her. She had gone to Fleet Intelligence only to discover that Sue had left her office only minutes before she got there to go home. Angie swallowed hard; it was easy to see that Sue wanted to have this discussion in private.

Not that that was a bad thing for Angie. The less that others heard of this, the better. In the meantime, Angie knew that once the whole thing became public, there would be keeping nothing secret.

Still, she was grateful to be able to confront Sue without an audience.

She was about to announce her presence when the door flew open and Sue grabbed her in a very tight hug, putting her senses on alert and shocking her senseless at the same time.

“It’s great to see you, Angie!” Sue exclaimed excitedly. “I’ve missed you so much!”

Angie fought for a breath as Sue squeezed her even tighter. “Sue…Sue…I can’t breathe.” She gulped in some air. “SUE!”

Sue released her and pulled her inside without another word and pushed her onto the couch. Angie grimaced and tucked her hair behind her ears and looked to Sue, who had taken up residence in the chair across from her.

Angie narrowed her eyes as she studied Sue for a second. She appeared to be very happy to see her and her lip seemed to be healing. The way Sue had her hands on her knees as she leaned forward in her chair suggested she was genuinely excited.

But Angie knew that appearances could be deceiving, even more so where Sue was concerned.

“I’ve really missed you, Angie,” said Sue with a large smile.

Angie sighed, totally unable to read whether or not the person she thought she knew so well was being truthful or not. No longer able to watch what was real affection in the eyes of her friend or the greatest acting performance of all time, Angie averted her eyes and looked to the floor.

“How was the Hermes?” asked Sue. “Any good looking men over there?”

In another time and place, Angie would have laughed at that. As it was, that simple and ordinary question told Angie something. Sue was trying hard, too hard, to show Angie that everything was normal between them; that the fact that they had killed several of their crew mates, kidnapped their Admiral and killed the head of Fleet Intelligence was unimportant to them and their friendship. Her constant smiles and dancing eyes; the laughter in her voice and the fact that she hadn’t once mentioned anything about their crimes or the status of Lisa Hunter were glaring signs of diversion from the real issue.

“It’s over, Sue,” announced Angie bluntly, and before her eyes the smile on Sue’s face disappeared, her eyes losing her fake mirth.

It was a perfect representation of what had happened to Sue since that night in the Sit. Room, of how unhinged she had become. Before that fateful event, Sue had been a true friend, happy and content, but after she felt Rick’s lips on hers and threw herself into her obsession with him, their friendship had suffered. Sue became fixated on one thing and one thing only, Rick, and heaven help anyone who tried to stop her.

“Over, Angie?” asked Sue, her voice now devoid of all emotion. She sat back in her chair and shook her head quickly, sending her raven locks flying about her face.

For a moment, Angie thought she saw and heard lightning and thunder swirl around Sue’s head. It was her imagination she realized, adding the special effects to add more drama to the scene. As if it needed more drama.

“I’ve…WE’VE come too far to stop now, Angie,” added Sue. “And you know it.” Sue stood up and faced Angie with her hands on her hips. “What do you want to do? Go to Rick and tell him Lisa is alive?” Sue shook her head and snorted derisively. “If he believes you and after he gets over the shock, he’ll ask you how you,” Sue pointed her finger at Angie, “know that.” Sue lowered her hand and continued on with a sardonic smile. “You’ll have to admit to him that you were involved in a plot to kidnap his wife. He’ll be flabbergasted and will ask you what you mean. You will be forced by your newfound conscience to declare that you,” again Sue pointed her finger directly at Angie’s chest, “were involved, eventually admitting that you set the bomb that killed four people.” Sue folded her arms across her chest and lifted her right hand up to her mouth, tapping her index finger against her lips as if deep in thought. “I think right about then he’d become speechless, which would be just about the time where you would blame the whole thing on me; telling him that you didn’t want to do it and that I forced…”

“Enough, Sue!” exclaimed Angie angrily. “I’m well aware of the role I played in this and that I did it willingly.” Her voice lowered and she had to fight to keep tears from her eyes. “It’s been haunting me ever since we did it.”

Sue threw her arms up over her head in frustration. “You knew the plan, Angie! It was laid out for us all to see.”

“I don’t remember killing the head of Fleet Intelligence being part of the plan!” snapped Angie and for a fleeting moment, Angie saw a spark of regret in Sue’s eyes. She calmed herself and added with her voice low, “I know, Sue. I thought it was the right thing to do for you.” Angie found Sue’s eyes and tried to convey in the look just how much this was hurting her. “But it isn’t the right thing, Sue. For you, for me…for anyone. Rick is in a state of despair that he may never come out of. I’m haunted by the specters of the people I killed- I killed, Sue- and you…”

Sue took a step towards Angie. “What about me?”

Angie reflexively swallowed. “You’re not the same person you used to be, Sue. You’re so cold and unfeeling.” Angie stood up and faced her friend. “This has to end.”

“No matter the consequences?” asked Sue with eyes narrowed in disbelief.

Angie nodded resignedly. “No matter the consequences.”

The way Sue looked back and forth between Angie, the floor and the ceiling told Angie that Sue couldn’t grasp the simple truth that she was laying before her.

“I just don’t get it, Angie!” she said with exasperation. “What changed? What happened to you on that ship to make you want to turn against me?”

‘She really thinks this is ALL about her,’ Angie thought. “It isn’t about only you anymore, Sue. It started out that way, helping you to get something that you wanted.”

“It still is, Angie!” exclaimed Sue as she took a quick step towards Angie. “I still want him! I still need him!”

“You will never have him, Sue,” replied Angie calmly. “He loves her and no one else.”

Sue whirled around in disgust and walked away from Angie. Angie watched her carefully, looking for any signs that would tell her how it was going to end, but Sue gave away nothing except that she was angry.

That much was obvious.

Sue walked over to her table and leaned forward, bracing her hands on the table and supporting her weight with her arms. Angie could hear her deep breathing. She watched for another moment then made a decision, one that she hoped would help her friend come to grips with reality.

“She’s pregnant, Sue,” Angie announced a little more loudly than she had intended “Lisa Hunter is pregnant.”

Almost in slow motion, Sue lifted her head then slowly stood up and turned to face Angie with a gleam in her hazel eyes that sent chills down Angie’s spinal column.

“What?” asked Sue. Her voice dripped with contempt, though Angie wasn’t sure if it was directed at her for suggesting such a thing or at Lisa for being pregnant.

Angie nodded and forced her voice to remain even and as soothing as she could manage. “She’s pregnant, Sue. I know she is.” Angie took a breath looked to Sue. “A baby. We can’t let anything happen to an innocent little baby.” Angie gave Sue a moment to process the information and then stood up. “We have to let Rick know that he’s going to be a father again… that his wife and their unborn child are alive.” She took several steps toward Sue, stopping a few feet from her friend, unwilling to get any closer until she could gauge Sue’s state of mind.

“A baby?” Sue whispered. She looked into Angie’s eyes as though she could see the truth.

Angie nodded but said nothing for several moments. “Sue,” she said as she edged closer to her friend. “We have to go see Rick.” She moved her left hand up slowly, carefully, and gently placed it on Sue’s shoulder. “Now, Sue.”

Sue shook her head slowly and mumbled, “Can’t be pregnant.” She steadied herself and looked sadly at Angie. “Are you sure?”

Angie nodded again. “There’s no doubt in my mind. We can’t do it, Sue. We can’t kill a child, an innocent little boy or girl.”

Sue blinked her eyes as if to try to focus her eyes on something, and Angie hoped that that something was the truth.

“Give me a, ah,” Sue began. She stopped and took a couple of breaths and tried again. “Give me a couple of minutes, Angie. I need to…I need to…”

“Go ahead,” Angie said with a gentle squeeze of Sue’s shoulder. “I’ll wait right here.”

Sue nodded and went into her room and shut the door behind her. Angie narrowed her eyes at the door, and then crept silently toward it. When she reached the door, she turned her head and leaned toward it.

And listened.

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Sue shut the door and made it to her dresser before her emotions forced her to lash out at something. In this case, the something happened to be a small jewelry box on her dresser. With a decisive and angry swipe of her right hand she sent the little decorative box flying across her room as her mouth betrayed her and shouted, “No!”

She breathed deeply in and out, then walked over to her bed and plopped down onto it with an anger she had never felt before. There was no reason to believe that Angie was lying. In fact, Sue could tell that Angie was not lying, that she sincerely believed what she was saying.

‘Pregnant!’ screamed Sue to herself. It didn’t change her mind, of course, it simply infuriated her that the universe would be so cruel as to mock her by allowing Lisa to get pregnant with Rick’s child. The rage that welled up inside her at the thought of Lisa Hunter carrying a piece of Rick inside her now, at this time when she was so close to getting what she wanted, was all consuming.

But she had to control it. Angie was outside her bedroom door; waiting for her to come out to go and tell Rick what they had done.

‘Right!’ thought Sue with an internal snort. Instead she reached down to the floor by the foot of her bed, and felt inside her bag for her sidearm. She pulled the weapon out and made sure the safety was disengaged. With that, Sue took a deep breath and stood up. She hid the weapon in her hand behind her back and walked to the door.

She reached forward with her free hand and opened the door as she said, “All right, Angie. Let’s go find…” She looked all around her quarters, only to find them empty.

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Angie walked along the corridors of the SDF-3 in search of Admiral Rick Hunter. She hoped with all of her heart that Sue would see reason and understand and accept what had to be done, but Angie knew the second she heard the crash emanate from Sue’s room that her anger was in control…not her mind. It left her with no alternative but to leave and find Rick herself and tell him the truth.

It didn’t take long for her to reach Rick’s quarters. She knocked on the door and waited for him to come to her so that she could right the wrong she had perpetrated. After several moments with no response from within, she knocked again, and again their was no response.

‘Sit. Room,’ she realized. It was late morning and he should be at work. She sighed and began to journey to Rick Hunter’s domain. To her surprise, she felt calm, at peace with what she was about to do. She thought she would have been shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, but she wasn’t.

So it was that she was smiling as she entered the Sit. Room, just in time to hear one of the officers within to tell another that Admiral Hunter was on the flight deck inspecting the shuttle that had exploded. Angie turned on her heel and exited the Sit. Room before the doors had even finished closing.

Her steps echoed the peace she felt within herself; sure and steady, confident with the knowledge that she was finally doing the right thing. She walked until the hangar deck doors parted for her and she entered the main flight deck of the SDF-3.

She only had to step across the threshold in order to see Rick. He was standing just on the inside of the barrier tape that had been erected around the ruined shuttle, talking with Max Sterling and another person she didn’t recognize.

She took a deep breath, not to summon strength or calm herself, but more out of reflex. She strode toward the Admiral, almost smiling when he looked toward her and smiled. He waved her over and she kept walking towards him, her guilt edging upward when she realized that he was truly happy to see her.

When she reached him, he surprised her with a tender hug, which she returned as warmly as she could.

“I’m glad you’re home, Angie,” he whispered, then stepped back so he could look at her. “I hope Captain Rosario and Dr. Gleason didn’t try to bribe you into staying.”

“No, sir,” replied Angie. “They didn’t.” She stopped and looked at him for a moment. He had aged a little since she’d last seen him, with more gray hair and wrinkle lines on his face. She hoped that she could help with that. “Admiral, I have something very important to tell you, sir.” He looked at her inquisitively. “About your wife, sir.”

He opened his mouth to speak but said nothing for a moment, until he managed to whisper her name. “Lisa?”

Angie nodded. “Yes, sir.” Angie stood up as straight as she was able and looked Rick Hunter dead in the eyes. “Sir, Admiral Lisa Hunter is…”

It was at that point that she felt a blistering pain in her back and she had no choice but to stop what she was saying and gasp. She felt her eyes open wide, then saw a look of pure horror on the face of Rick Hunter. Everything seemed to blur in her eyes as though she were suddenly in a bubble and unable to hear anything, even though she knew that noises were sounding around her. For example, she knew that people were shouting, especially Max Sterling as he moved to stand protectively in front of Rick.

The image of Max protecting Rick worked for a moment to stave off the intense feeling of cold that had begun to invade her body. The part of her that was always a medic realized that the coldness was part of the onset of shock, and she knew it had to do with the mystery pain in her back.

The last thing she saw before closing her eyes was Rick shoving Max aside so he could step forward to catch her as she fell towards the cold hard deck.

State = Continuará/To Be Continue

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