DISCLAIMER: Earth:
Final Conflict and all of Earth:
Final characters in this story are property of Tribune Entertainment. No infringement of rights is intended. All SeaQuest DVS characters belong to Amblin
Entertainment. No infringement of
rights is intended. Agent Sira Jayson
is a creation of my own. Please do not
use her without asking my permission first.
AUTHOR'S
NOTE: This is an Earth: Final Conflict/SeaQuest DSV crossover that takes place
in the EFC universe about mid-second season.
What happens when a couple of SeaQuest DSV characters are dropped into
the EFC universe? Chaos, that is
what! Words in ** are thoughts, words
in < > are flashbacks or conversations in a person’s mind, and words in [
] are dreams.
RATING: PG
DESTINY
By Roguemoon
“So this is who I am,
And this is all I know,
And I must choose to live,
For all that I can give,
The spark that makes the
power grow...
Fulfill your destiny...”
Celine Dion—Immortality
A pair of dark eyes narrowed and as
their owner stared over his sunglasses.
*Aliens *, he thought with a shiver that had nothing to do with the
nippy New York air. Aliens were the
reason he was where he was and not in his proper dimension, or even his proper
time. Somewhere in the back of his mind
he wondered what the version of himself would have been doing now in Miami—that
is if he would have wondered if he had not already found out that the 13 year
old he would have been in this time had died in a sailing accident at age 10.
He thought it strange that the sea
he loved had clamed his life in this dimension. Then again, maybe it wasn’t strange, but some kind of sick joke
fate had played on his other self. Of
course, since he would never see the Quest or her crew or his friends, again,
maybe the joke was on him and not his other self.
Miguel shook his head and redirected
his attention to the Taelon who was speaking at the podium. The Taelons were quite different than the
aliens that he had known in his world, but then again he felt that the Taelons
had as much of an ulterior motive for humanity as the Hyperions had had for the
SeaQuest.
Miguel sighed and pulled his jacket
tighter around himself. He wondered why
fate had decided to drop him here of all places. It was almost as if something was going to happen—something he
was supposed to be a part of—something he wanted no part of.
He pushed his sunglasses back up and
started to turn to walk away. He wanted
no past of some fate destiny had planned for him. Miguel had taken only a few steps when someone moved to block his
path. He looked at the man with an
annoyed look on his face.
“Is there something I can help you
with?” Miguel asked.
“I think so, Chief Ortiz,” the man
started.
Miguel looked over the top of his
sunglasses at the man, “Excuse me?”
The man smirked, “Senior Chief Petty
Officer Miguel Ortiz, that is you, correct?”
Miguel looked shocked a moment and
then stated, “What makes you think that is my name?”
“Because,” the dark haired man said
smugly, “the only other person who has your fingerprints was born on March 3rd
1992 and would be 13 if he were still alive.”
Miguel sighed, “So I would have to
be him. Care to explain how you know my
rank?”
The man shook his head,” I have my
ways as do my bosses, and they wish to speak to you.”
Miguel’s eyes narrowed, “Who are
your bosses?”
The man looked hard at him, “Does
that really matter?”
“Yes,” Miguel replied, “it
does. I’d like to know who you are
too.”
“I am FBI Agent Ronald
Sandoval. I am also in charge of
security for Zo’or, the head of the Taelon synod,” the dark haired man
stated. “He wants to talk to you.”
Miguel looked around suddenly
nervous, “And if I just decided to walk away from you?”
Sandoval smiled slightly, “I
wouldn’t recommend that, unless, of course, you would like to cause a scene and
let everyone know who you are and where you are from.”
Miguel swallowed. He knew he was being forced into a trap, but
he also had a feeling he was dead if he refused.
He looked at the FBI Agent and tried
to put on his trademark “no-worries” face, “All right, then lets go talk to
your boss...”
Miguel watched the Taelon as hard as
the Taelon was watching him. Idly, at
the back of his mind, the part of him that was still an officer wondered if he
should salute him...her...whatever it, was as the FBI Agent had. He decided against it, though. After all, a salute showed respect and the
evil feeling he got from this being made him feel no respect for it.
Silently, Miguel sighed in relief as the Taelon’s
gaze moved from him to the FBI Agent who had brought him there. He found it interesting that even though
Agent Sandoval seemed to be the Taelon's servant, there was an obvious tension
between the two if them. After a few
moments, the Taelon shifted his attention back to him and finally spoke.
“I am pleased to see you chose to
come here without putting up a fight,” the Taelon stated.
Miguel glanced briefly at Sandoval
and then returned his eyes to the Taelon.
Zo’or, he remember Sandoval saying its name was.
“It wasn’t like I had much of a
choice,” he said in a flat voice.
Zo’or smirked, “No, I needed to
speak with you about your ‘home.’”
A sarcastic remark entered Miguel’s
mind, but he fought it back knowing that this was not the time or place to be
“smart.”
“Why is my ‘home’ so important to
you? How did you find out that my
‘home’ is not this time or dimension?”
The Taelon’s eyes narrowed. He obviously did not like to be
questioned. Still, Miguel felt he had a
right to know what was going on before he answered any questions.
The Taelon stared at him for a long
moment and then nodded toward Sandoval who left the room only to return a few
minutes later followed by a woman...
Miguel’s face went pale when he saw
who it was. For a moment he couldn’t
speak—couldn’t believe what he was seeing with his own eyes...
‘Wendy?” He gasped finally.
She nodded and smiled slightly. Miguel noticed that her smile didn't make it
to her eyes and fought the urge to shiver.
Something was really wrong with her.
“I wouldn’t say there was anything
wrong with me. I have only adapted to
living in this time,” she laughed bitterly.
“Of course, I have been here for almost 10 years now.”
“Ten years?” He said in a low voice. He had only been there for one. It couldn’t be possible could it? He looked her over and for the first time
noticed that she had a few gray hairs mixed in with hair that was normally
brown.
“From what I figure,” she answered,
“somehow when the SeaQuest was attacked we ended up being thrust through space
and time. It wasn’t a specific thing
obviously of else we would have ended up in the same time instead of different
ones.”
* Obviously, * he thought to himself
sarcastically. He was about to ask
another question when he felt a light presence touch his mind.
“Stop that!” He said angrily, “You have no right to read
my mind without my permission.”
Something that could only be called
a smirk crossed Wendy’s face, “Sorry, I didn’t realize that you are so
‘sensitive’ about psychic abilities.”
Miguel didn’t reply. The Wendy he knew would never had used her
abilities without a person’s permission.
His feeling of wrongness increased.
“Wendy, what is going on? You never forced you abilities on any of us
before,” he stated.
Wendy shrugged, “The Taelons need information from
you. You can give it to them or I can
pull it from you mind. It’s your
choice.”
“‘Or you can pull it from my mind?’ You sound like you work for them or
something. What do I know that is so
important to them?” Miguel’s voice was
tinged with anger.
“She does,” Sandoval stated. “She was implanted a few months ago. Psychics are a valuable ‘commodity’ to the
Taelons.”
“‘Commodity?’” Miguel ran his hands through his dark hair
and then stated in a tense voice, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.”
“Denial is not like you Miguel. Perhaps you are still suffering after
effects of your transport here,” Wendy stated.
Miguel’s eyes narrowed and then
angered as he felt Wendy touch his mind again.
Unconsciously, he threw a wall up against her probes.
Wendy’s eyes opened in surprise, “How did
you...? You aren’t...”
Miguel just fixed her with a stare
and didn't answer. When Tim first
realized he was developing psychic abilities, he had come to his best friend
about it. Over time they had realized
that not only did Tim have psychic abilities, but Miguel himself also had a psi
talent. Of course, he wasn’t about to
let Wendy know that even though it was likely that neither he nor she would
ever see the Tim O’Neill they knew again.
“Dr. Smith, is there a
problem?” Zo’or asked.
Wendy looked from Miguel to Zo’or,
“It seems that Mr. Ortiz has developed a psi ability I was not aware of.”
“Is this going to be a
problem?” The Taelon asked.
Miguel glared at them both as they
continued to talk as if he were not there.
“No,” Wendy stated. “He has no training. If he refuses to cooperate, I can easily
break through his shields.”
“Wendy! Did you forget I as standing right here? I thought we were friends or at least
colleagues,” Miguel said angrily.
Wendy looked at him a moment and
Miguel got the feeling she was looking straight through him; “The Taelons come
first. After all, the SeaQuest is no
longer our future. The Taelons are our
future. You should feel honored that
they feel you so important.”
“Dios,” Miguel swore under his
breath, “Wendy you sound like you have been brain washed.”
Wendy shook her head, “No, Miguel,
not at all. I have been freed. I have been given a place in this world
where I belong. They can do that for
you too. They can help you if you only
help them.”
“I don’t think I want their kind of
help,” Miguel stated.
“ I take that as meaning you are not
going to help us,” Zo’or stated.
Miguel turned to the Taelon, “No way
in he** am I going to tell you anything!”
Zo’or fixed Miguel with a stare and
then turned to Wendy, “He is now your responsibly Doctor. Do not fail me.”
Miguel started to turn to Wendy, but
before he could say anything he felt her attack his mind. He tried to fight back with the defenses
that he and Tim had figured out, but in the end he was no match for her
training and was soon forced unconscious.
After Miguel had collapsed to the
floor, Wendy turned to Sandoval, “Have someone take him to my examining
room.” Sandoval nodded and left the
room. Wendy then turned to Zo’or,
“Don’t worry. I will get all the
information you require. Ortiz maybe
stubborn, but he is no match for me.”
Zo’or nodded, “You may do whatever
you need to, to get the information. He
is of no use to us once we have gathered the information we need.”
A cruel smirk crossed Wendy’s face,
“Good, because when I am done with him, he may not have much of a mind left...”
She watched as he threw his head
back against the table in pain. His
whole body was tense with the effort he was putting into blocking the probes
Wendy was throwing at him.
Unfortunately, she knew—he probably knew as well—that nothing he could
do would keep her from taking the information she wanted just as she had done
over the last few days. Agent Sira
Jayson had, had the ‘privilege’ of watching Wendy work because she was
eventually supposed to learn to do the same.
Sira laughed. If only they knew.
* What would they do if they found
out who I really was? I only came here
to learn to control my abilities more thoroughly—and to keep them from hunting
me down and killing me. * Sira
sighed. * Things have changed,
though. I never thought it would happen
again, but it seems to have. When I was
pulled here, I thought it was a quark of fate.
Now I am no longer alone. Having
others around to understand is something I dreamed of happening, but... *
Sira brought her head up as her
thoughts were interrupted by a cry of pain from the man in the examining
room. Sira reached out and touched the
glass that separated him from her. Of
course, he could not see her through it, as she could see him, but that didn't
mean he couldn’t feel her.
Sira reached out and soothed his
mind—a mind that had been torn, twisted, and broken in order to get whatever it
was he was supposed to know out of him.
She wasn’t supposed to be doing this—helping him, but she knew that she
had enough skill that no one would know it was her unless she let them
know. She may have come here for
training, but that didn't mean she was completely untrained. No one with a psi ability would have lasted
a day in her world if they didn’t know how to hide themselves from others.
Wendy’s face wrinkled when she hit
the wall that Sira had erected around the man’s mind. Sira felt her trying and failing to find the source of the new
protection. Finally, Wendy gave up and
angrily left the room.
As soon as she was gone, Sira watched the man go
limp and almost immediately fall into an exhausted sleep. She was about to sever the link between
their minds when he started to dream.
The dream was centered around the information Wendy had been trying so
hard to pull from his mind—the name of the person who had taught him about his
psi abilities. Sira realized bitterly
that not only was Wendy trying to pull the information the Taelons wanted out
of his head, she was also fulfilling a private agenda.
Sira sighed.
She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on his dream, but she also realized
that she needed the information if she was going to be able to get him out of
there. So, instead of severing the link
as she had intended to do, she let herself be pulled into his dream...
The pillow flew by his head, and he laughed; “Now we
all know why you work in Communications.
You couldn’t hit a barn if you were standing two inches in front of it!”
The brown haired man who had thrown the pillow at
him narrowed his eyes behind his glasses, “Ortiz, I think you should remember
that I out rank you. It would be a
shame if I were forced to report your behavior to Captain Bridger.”
A mock look of fear crossed Miguel’s face, “Oh
no! What am I going to do? Timmy’s pulling rank on me.”
“Don’t call me...” O’Neill was cut off as Miguel
launched the pillow back at him and hit him directly in the face.
“Hu? What’d
you say Tim? I couldn’t make out that
last word through the mouthful of pillow you were chewing on,” Miguel
snickered.
Tim looked over the top of his glasses at Miguel,
“Are you through now?”
Miguel sighed at the tone of Tim’s voice and dropped
down onto the couch where he had been sitting, “I still don't see why this is
so important. You’re the one picking up
on others’ thoughts, not me.”
Tim shook his head, “The whole point is that you
might start and if you do, you will need to know what to do. I’m your friend, Mig. I’m just trying to make it easier on you.”
“I know, I know.
I guess I just want to take the easy way out for once. Call me lazy, but sometimes I wish things
were a little less weird. I could do
without being possessed by ghosts if you know what I mean,” Miguel stated.
Tim smiled, “I understand. I could go without having my best friend try to cut me in half
with a machete.”
Miguel laughed and shook his head; “You got to admit
though, once the ladies aboard realized I wasn’t possessed anymore, they
couldn’t wait to go on a date with me.”
Tim rolled his eyes at Miguel and then calmly stood
up, walked over to him, and began to beat him with the pillow...
Sira smiled as Miguel drifted deeper into his
dream. She carefully broke the link
between them, as so not to disturb him, and then left the observation
room. She had walked only a few feet
from the room when her global went off.
She opened it and then smiled at the person on the other end.
“Hello Major Kincaid.”
“How are things going, Sira?” Kincaid asked.
“Good,” Sira replied. “He is holding out. Is
everything almost ready?”
Liam nodded, “They will be ready
shortly. Do what you have to, to make
sure the Taelons don't find out whatever it is they are trying to get out of
him.”
“Will do, Major,” Sira replied and
shut her global. For a moment afterward,
she shut her eyes. What she hadn’t told
Liam, was exactly how damaged Miguel’s mind was. She had been so sure that her empathic healing abilities would be
able to bring him back around once they got him away from the Taelons, but what
if she couldn’t? After all, she was
only partially trained. Her mind
drifted back to his dream. She wouldn’t
fail him—she couldn’t, because if she did, she would not only be failing him,
she would be failing the man who in her world had been her father—Miguel’s best
friend—Timothy O’Neill...
When Miguel opened his eyes, he was confused. The place he was in was unfamiliar to him and that didn’t bode
well. It seemed that every time that
Wendy had decided to alter her attack on his mind, he had woke up in a different
place.
*Well, woke
up might be the wrong term, * Miguel thought to himself as he looked around
himself at the rocky, smoke hazed landscape.
* After all, I haven’t been truly awake anywhere but in my mind since
Wendy started her attacks. * Miguel sighed as he walked toward a rock and
then sat down in front of it. Once
sitting, he put his head in his hands.
* I don’t know why I don’t just give up, * Miguel
thought and then laughed. * Yes I
do. That old Ortiz pride gets me in
trouble all the time. Oh, I wish... *
He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed the lump that suddenly blocked his
throat. * I wish Tim were here. He’d know what to do. He always knew how to get me out of the
trouble I was so good at getting myself into.
*
“ You’re too hard on yourself,” a soft voice said.
Miguel tensed up as he raised his head, expecting
Wendy to be starting some kind of attack.
He was surprised when he saw that the speaker was not Wendy, but a
younger woman with mousy brown hair.
She was tall and thin, with smoky gray eyes. For a moment, he thought he could see...
He laughed bitterly, “Funny Wendy,
very funny. Create a woman who looks
like Tim and you think I will spill my guts to her?” Miguel stood up angrily.
‘Well you are wrong! I am not
going to tell you anything!”
Sira’s face saddened. Wendy had hurt him even more than she had
guessed she had. But that didn’t
matter. Now that the Resistance had managed
to get him away from the Taelons, Sira had to get him to trust them. It was the only way to stop what was
happening.
Miguel turned to walk away from her, even as his
heart told him that something was different—that he should stay, listen to
her. He shook his head and ignored his
heart. After all, if Wendy could
control everything else about this place, perhaps she could control his
feelings as well—couldn’t she?
Sira watched
him go. It wasn’t like she couldn’t
find him again, and he needed time.
Perhaps if she didn’t go after him, as Wendy would have, then he would
start to wonder and maybe to trust.
Sira left Miguel’s mind. When she opened her eyes in the physical
world, she realized that she was not alone.
Liam was watching her.
“Make any progress/” He asked.
Sira shook her head; “He’s scared
Liam. Scared and alone. I can’t push him or else he will shut down
on us completely.”
Liam sighed, “I don't want to seem pushy, but we
need to know what is going on.”
Sira glared at him; “Don't you think
I know that? But it is going to take
time. I could just pull the information
form his mind for you, but then I would be as bad a Wendy wouldn’t I?”
“That’s not what I meant!” Liam stated. “You know how important this is.
You know what is resting on it.”
“No, I don’t! None of us do!” Sira sad angrily. “If we
did...”
Liam held up his hand, “Sira, I’m
sorry. I know that this is harder on
you than the rest of us...”
“Yes, Liam it is,” Sira's voice was suddenly tense
with pain. “Don’t forget that. We may be able to stop this and save your
dimension, but those of us who have been pulled here will never see our
dimensions again no matter what happens.”
“I know,” Liam stated softly and
turned to leave.
Sira watched him walk out and then
turned back to the still form lying on the bed in front of her. After a moment, she leaned forward and
gently brushed his dark, curly hair off his forehead.
“Help us, Mig,” She whispered. “Please, help us...”
Sira stood and watch him. If he was aware that she was in his mind, he
showed no sign of it. Instead he seemed
to be reliving parts of his memories.
This worried her slightly because it meant that he was hiding from the
present and what Wendy had done to him instead of facing it. She knew that she should call him back to
the present, but she was also curious to see what type of man he had been in
his dimension. How much of the Miguel
Ortiz she had known was in this version?
If she could learn more about how much this man reflected the one she
knew, perhaps she could use that to help him face the present again...
< Miami, Fl, 1999. New Year’s Eve. A 7-year-old Miguel tagged along after his three older brothers
to the New Year’s celebration. The mood
was festive except for the four of them.
Miguel knew that his brothers resented having to babysit him on the turn
of the Millennium. They would have much
rather been free to do whatever they wanted—drink, party. Instead they had to behave because the baby
was with them.
“Miguel come on!” Michael reached back and grabbed Miguel’s
arm. “We have places to be and if you
don’t keep up we are going to leave you.”
“Why don't one of you just carry
him?” Raul, his oldest brother,
asked. “He’s small enough.”
Miguel glared at him. Raul knew how much he hated being so small,
but he picked on him anyway.
Miguel pulled his arm away from Michael
and stopped walking, “I can walk myself!”
“Then do it bro!” Luis gave him a push from behind to start
him walking again.
Miguel stumbled a few steps and then
turned around and pushed Luis back. Not
that his 20 year old brother moved. He
just glared down at him.
“Just leave him, Lou!” Raul yelled back at them. “He’ll follow just like he always does.”
“Are you coming?” Luis asked.
Miguel just stared at him and didn't
reply.
Luis shrugged and started to walk
away, “Suit yourself!”
Miguel shut his eyes a moment to
hold back his tears. He couldn’t help
it that their parents wanted to spend the night alone. It also wasn’t his fault that he was so much
younger than they were. Why couldn’t
they leave him alone?
Alone... Miguel’s eyes flew open and he looked around for any sign of his
brothers. Unfortunately, there was
none. Fear filled his heart, but he
buried it. Who cared if they had left
him? He would go home—he could find the
way and once he got there he could tell mom and dad what had happened.
Miguel started toward home, but
hadn’t gone far when a man grabbed a hold of his arm. Miguel looked up at him in fear, but the man only smiled at him.
“What’s a little guy like you doing
out here all alone?” The man asked.
Miguel looked straight up at him and
tried to look brave even though he was really scared. Something about this man was wrong—he could feel it.
“I’m going home. Will you let me go now? Please?”
He asked.
The man smiled again, a smile that
never reached his eyes, “Of course, youngin’.”
The man let him go and Miguel took
off running down the street. After a
few blocks he stopped to catch his breath.
As he stood there, he wrapped his arms around himself. He could still feel the man’s touch on his
arm—could still feel the evil that had surrounded him. After a minute, Miguel laughed at
himself. What a chicken he was
being. He looked down the street to
where his house was and smiled, then started to skip toward it. He never made it home... >
Sira shut her eyes. She had hoped that this Miguel had not had
to go through this. Unfortunately, it
looked like he had. After being
abandoned by his brothers, her version of Miguel had started home only to be
caught and molested by a man—one who they never caught. As this Miguel’s memory of that night
progressed, sadness filled her soul. A
child should never have to go through such things. The abuse this Miguel had suffered had actually been worse than
what she knew her version had suffered.
She pulled herself together and forced herself to open her eyes only to
see that the scene and memory had changed...
< Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
2012. Now 20 years old, Miguel shyly
looked over the building that would be his home for the next few years. When he had gotten the letter saying he’d
been accepted, he was thrilled. Now he
wasn't so sure. So many strangers, no
one he knew or trusted.
* Oh stop that Miguel! * He scolded himself. * When are you going to learn to trust
again? You can’t go through life
second-guessing everything. *
Miguel sighed and looked down at the
paper in his hand. * Room 325, bunkmate
O’Neill, Timothy. I hope this guy knows
when to leave a guy alone... * Miguel thought as he entered the building,
checked in, and then walked toward his room.
When he got there he was happy to see that it was empty. Unfortunately, it looked like O’Neill had
already moved in, so Miguel doubted he would be gone long. He sighed and started to unpack his
stuff. Once he was done, he crashed
into a chair and stared at his new roomie’s desk. It was piled high with books and notebooks.
Miguel chuckled as he stood up and walked to desk, *
My roomie’s a librarian. I should have
guessed. Hey, what do we have
here? The Legend of Atlantis. Hmm, I don’t think I have read this
one. I wonder where he got it... * >
Sira laughed as she watched the
scene unfold. While this particular
memory hadn’t been that much like what the Miguel form her dimension had
experienced, she could guess what was going to happen next. Sure enough, Tim walked in on Miguel reading
his book and they had been friends ever since.
Even though neither Tim would ever take credit for it, they had had a
big part in getting both versions of Miguel to come out of the shell he had
been in ever since the attack.
As Sira watched, the memory suddenly
shifted again, this time to one she didn't recognize at all except for the
setting...
< The SeaQuest, 2022. One week before the ship was taken to
Hyperion. Miguel sat at the edge of the
moon pool and just stared at the water as it moved. For the past few nights he had been plagued by nightmares he
couldn’t remember and a growing feeling of dread that he couldn’t shake no
matter what he did. Something big was
going to happen and the results wouldn’t be good. It frustrated him that he couldn’t either place the feelings or
make himself forget them.
Miguel sighed and absentmindedly
splashed his hand in the water. He was
surprised a few seconds later when Darwin swam up. Miguel smiled at the dolphin and reached for the control that let
Darwin speak.
“Ortiz, sad.” The dolphin stated once Miguel had turned to
control on.
“Yeah, I guess I am,” Miguel
replied.
“Why?” Darwin asked bobbing his head slightly.
Miguel shrugged his shoulders, “I’m
not sure, buddy. I just have a feeling
something bad is going to happen.”
Darwin bobbed his head harder,
“Feeling bad. Darwin have too.”
Miguel gently stroked the top of the
dolphin’s head to calm him; “Can you describe it?”
Darwin seemed to shake his head,
“No. Feeling vague. Friends hurt, missing.”
Miguel sighed, “That doesn’t help
cause it is the same thing I am feeling.”
Darwin raised his head slightly and
seemed to look Ortiz in the eyes. For a
moment, Miguel felt as if he was being pulled into a different time, different
place. He was shook out of it when
Darwin suddenly let out a loud clicking sound and swam away. As he watched the dolphin go, Miguel fought
down the urge to shiver... >
Sira did shiver as she felt his
fear. How hard it must have been for
him to know something was going to happen and not be able to do anything about
it. And then to end up in a strange
world, alone, afraid—it had to have almost destroyed him. Then on top of everything, to be betrayed by
one of his friends. Sira wondered how
he had survived at all.
“Probably the same way Wendy did,” a
soft voice made Sira turn around in surprise.
“By hoping there was a way to go back, no matter how impossible it
seemed.”
She looked at the shadowed form that
was Miguel. How could she tell him that
there was no way? That technically, the
dimensions they had come from no longer existed? He was still hurting from Wendy’s abuse—she could tell that from
the fact he would not appear in his true form to her (the man she was facing
was not the Miguel who lay on the bed, but Miguel as he had looked at age
20).
“But there is no way to go back is
there?” Miguel stated after the silence
had become uncomfortable.
“No,” Sira whispered. “There is no way to go back.”
Miguel sighed and turned his back to
her. After a few moments she realized
he was crying. Slowly she walked over
to him and touched his shoulder; “ I know how you feel. It is what I felt when I realized I would
never be able to go home either.”
He looked at her, the surprise in
his eyes being replaced with a sudden understanding, “You were...”
Sira nodded, “I was pulled here
too. My world was different than this
one. More similar to yours.” Sira suddenly smiled, “You know, there is a
reason I look so familiar to you.”
For a moment, he just stared at her,
“You are related to Tim?”
Sira nodded, “You could say
that. I am his daughter...”
“So, are you going to tell me about
your dimension and yourself or do I have to guess?” Miguel asked with a joking tone in his voice.
Sira smiled. It was good to see that he was relaxing in
her presence. She had hoped that
knowing she was his bestfriend’s daughter would put him more at ease—even if
her father was an alternate version of his friend. Apparently, though, that didn’t make much difference to
Miguel. Not only was his voice more
relaxed, but he was now speaking to her in his fully adult form. Even the mindscape they were walking in—no
longer shadowed and threatening—reflected his new comfort level.
“Well,” Sira began, “my dimension is
very much like yours from what I can tell.
The Miguel I knew grew up very much like you did. My father also grew up in a similar way to
the way that the Tim you knew did.
There were some minor differences, but the real difference came after
the first SeaQuest was destroyed. In
your dimension, you and Tim signed back on when the SeaQuest when she was
rebuilt, right?”
Miguel nodded, “We never gave it a
second thought.”
Sira stopped walking, “In my world
you did. As a matter of fact, you and
Tim...my father, didn't go back.
Instead you two ended up working in UEO headquarters until...”
“Until what?” Miguel asked when she paused.
She looked at the ground, “You and
my father always had a psychic link. I
assume because you are a psychic now that you and he did in your dimension
too. Anyway, after being off the
SeaQuest for about six months, my father’s abilities started to get
stronger. Pretty soon, his abilities
and the link between you two caught the attention of the people running the Psi
Division of the UEO, but there is something you have to understand about my
dimension. Everyone was scared of
people with psi abilities. Those with
psi abilities did their best to hide them because all too often the
psi-talented that were discovered disappeared or ended up dead.”
“So what did they do?” Miguel asked.
“My father and your double went
underground like a lot of other psis
did. My father met my mother there, and
I was born there...” her face suddenly saddened. “Mom died there too.”
“Sira...” Miguel started.
She shook her head, “She died at
birth... I never knew her. It almost killed dad though. He never would have made it without your
double. They got very close...”
Miguel looked up quickly, “You
mean...”
Sira nodded, “Yeah, they raised me
and kept each other going. Then one
day, about 20 years later, our headquarters was discovered. Actually, now that I think about it, someone
must have given them the location, but that doesn't matter. Everyone was...”
Miguel watched the tears enter her
eyes, and he could guess what she was going to say, “Everyone was killed.”
She nodded and swallowed, “Except
me. The last thing I remember is being
locked in battle with another psi—I was losing. Just when I thought it was over, I saw a flash and woke up here.”
Miguel looked down at the ground for
a moment in thought, “It seems like we were all about to die when we were
brought here.”
Sira nodded, “Yeah, I guess.”
Miguel looked up and gently touched her arm when he
saw how upset she was, “I’m sorry.
I...”
Sira shook her head, “It doesn’t
matter. Our dimensions no longer exist
for us.”
“But it still hurts,” Miguel stated.
“Yes,” Sira whispered. “It still hurts.”
Silence stretched between them. Miguel wanted to say something, but he
didn’t know what he could say to make her feel better. It was hard enough for him to accept what
she had told him, let alone know what
to say to make her feel better. He
watched her for a few moments, and was about to try and say something when she
looked up and dried her eyes.
“Enough of this,” she said in a
slightly shaky voice. “We have more
important things to figure out.”
Miguel smiled sadly, knowing that
she would need a lot of time to get over what had happened. * Heck, * he thought to himself, * I am
going to need more time to get over everything. That is if we live though this.
*
Miguel sighed and then looked Sira
in the eye, “What to we need to do?”
Sira smiled suddenly, “Well, the
first thing you need to do is wake up.
You think you can handle that now?”
Miguel laughed, “Yeah, I think I can
do that.”
[ Miguel looked around at the hazy
landscape. As he did, fear rose in his
throat and made it hard to breathe. For
several long moments, he thought that some how Wendy had managed to slip passed
the defenses that he and Sira had set up in his mind. Then someone spoke to him.
“You have nothing to fear here my
son. No one will hurt you. This you know deep in your soul.”
Miguel spun around and, for a
moment, just stared at the glowing figure, then he smiled, “Dad.”
The figure held out his arms, “My
son.”
For a moment they embraced, then the
glowing figure motioned to a bench, “Come and sit with me Mig’guel’len.”
They sat in silence for a few
moments and then Miguel spoke, “I, I thought I would never see you again. When the dreams stopped after what
happened... I thought I had done
something wrong.”
The glowing figure gently pulled
Miguel’s head up so he was looking at him, “What happened to you was not your
fault. If I could have stopped it I
would have. Unfortunately, I was
forbidden to interfering with your life after that. That is why your dreams stopped.
The council thought my visits may have put you in danger.”
Miguel nodded, “Do you know why I am
here? What is going on?”
The glowing figure stood and started to walk,
motioning for Miguel to follow him, “Yes, I know. All of the Kimera from your dimension—from any
dimension—know. It is something we set
in motion to try and save as many dimensions as we could.”
Miguel shook his head, “I don’t
understand.”
His father turned to face him, “Long
ago the Kimera, on their journey to record the history of all species, came
across one species that was so self-centered that we knew they would cause
danger to all other species. When we
learned of their plans to wipe out all species not meeting their approval not
only in our dimension, but all dimensions, we
had to act. Of course, our laws
stated that we could not interfere, but we could not just stand by and watch
countless versions of species destroyed, so we were forced to act. As a result, the Kimera took their knowledge
and reached out to any species they felt had a chance to defeat these
villains. We came across only one race
with the potential to do that.”
“Humanity,” Miguel whispered.
His father nodded, “Yes, as a
result, we contacted every alternate version of the Kimera we could to warn
them of the upcoming destruction and what they could do to possibly stop
it. Then we focused on doing what we
could to protect our own dimension.”
“You came to Earth and breed with
the human population,” Miguel stated when his father paused.
“Yes, had it been our choice, there would have been
more than one child created, but we learned from other versions of ourselves
that perished that more than one child acted like a magnet that pulled the Key
person to the dimension before the child was ready to defend itself. Extended contact with another Kimerian did
the same thing,” his father stated.
“Which is why you left me,” Miguel
whispered.
“Yes, and that is also why the true
knowledge of who and what you are was hidden from you. We had to do all we could to protect our
dimension. Do you realize that there
are only three dimensions left? Ours,
the one you currently are living in, and one other we have little knowledge
of. It seems though, that all of the
remaining Kimera children have been brought to the dimension that you are
currently inhabiting. We do not know
why this is,” his father stated.
Miguel looked shocked, “I’m not
alone?”
His father’s face softened, “Of
course you are not. You already know of
one person who is from another dimension besides your own. I have a feeling that she is the Kimera child
from her dimension.”
“Sira,” Miguel whispered.
His father smiled, “Is that her
name? It is a pretty name.”
Miguel nodded absentmindedly, “So
what do I have to do?”
His father gently touched his son’s
chest, “In here you know what you must do.
You know who the Key person is.
You must destroy that person before they destroy this dimension and all
hope that there is left for millions of races.”
Miguel nodded, “I understand. Can you tell me who the Kimera child is in
this dimension?”
His father smiled, “You already
know. You Kimera-brother has been
watching over you since you were taken by the Taelons.”
Miguel’s face looked surprised.
His father nodded, “Yes, you
know. Are you surprised?”
Miguel thought for a minute and then
shook his head, “ I should have guessed.
I felt a connection every time I saw him and Sira as well, now that I
think about it.”
His father nodded and then his face
saddened.
“Father, what is it?” Miguel asked.
He gazed at his son a moment and
then stated, “I must go now.”
Miguel’s face saddened, “No... I has
so much yet to tell you...to ask...”
His father shook his head, “No, you
have asked about all I can tell you. I
love you my son. Do not forget that.”
“I’m not going to see you again, am
I?” Miguel asked.
His father’s head lowered and Miguel
could see his distress by the rapid changing of colors in his form.
“Ha’gel?” Miguel asked.
His father walked over to him and
gently took his hands, “It is too hard to communicate across dimensions like
this. As much as I hate the idea, there
is nothing I can do about it.”
Miguel nodded sadly, “I love you,
father.”
“And I you, my son,” Ha’gel said
softly. “Now I must go. But before I go, I have a gift for you.”
Miguel looked at him about to ask
what, when a glow drew his eyes to their joined hands.
“What...” Miguel started to say, but
was cut off as a sudden jolt went through his body.
“I love you son,” Miguel heard his
father repeat again, and then everything went black... ]
Miguel shot upright in bed gasping
for breath. He went to bring his hands
to his forehead to wipe away the sweat that was dripping down his face, but
stopped when he saw that they were glowing faintly. The glow came from a slight red mark on each of his palms that
had not been there before the dream.
* ...I have a gift for you... * His
father’s words came back to him as clear as when they had first been spoken,
and Miguel smiled slightly. He closed
his hands and the glow faded. After it
had, he was about to lay down again when he felt someone watching him. He rolled his eyes up not half surprised to
see Liam standing in the doorway.
Their eyes met and the shock slowly
vanished from Liam’s face.
Miguel smiled, “I suppose we have a
lot to talk about, brother.”
Liam just nodded.
“Do you realize how crazy this
sounds?” Liam asked Miguel and
Sira. “There is no way I would believe
it if the proof wasn’t staring me in the face.”
Miguel shrugged, “Don’t you think it
is weird for us too?”
Sira smiled slightly, “It is weird
for all of us. Right now we have more
important things to argue about. Like
figuring out who the Key person is so we can stop the Hyperions’ plan.”
Liam nodded, “Just one question. Why
didn’t you guys grow up like I did, and what pulled you here?”
“That’s two,” Miguel laughed under
his breath.
Liam tossed an annoyed look his way
and then laughed, “So sue me.”
“Well, all of the Kimera children
were different. I guess our fathers
just did something so that we would grow up slower,” Sira stated and then
looked at Liam. “As for the second
question, I am afraid out of all of us, you would be the one to know, so if you
don't well then we are out of luck.”
Liam nodded and thought for a moment, letting his
thoughts be pulled inward as he searched for any information that might have
been connected what his version of the Kimera knew about the Hyperions.
Sira watched him and worried. The various emotions that crossed his face
didn’t help her feel better. Finally,
he came out of it.
Well?” Sira asked.
Liam shrugged his shoulders, “I’m
not sure, but I think somehow my Kimera set it up so that when the Key person
entered this dimension all of the surviving Kimera children would be drawn here
to protect this dimension.”
“Nice of them to bring us to fight
their battles and “forget” our own,” Sira said with a sigh.
Liam nodded sadly, “Yes, I agree, but
we can’t change it now. We can only
fight to see that their and your sacrifice wasn’t for nothing.”
Sira sighed and looked over at
Miguel who had gotten very quite. She
was worried when she saw his eyes were closed.
“Mig, are you okay?”
He slowly opened his eyes and looked
at them, “You realize, I know who the Key person is.”
Liam looked surprised, “You do?
How?”
“Because,” Miguel said quietly,
“Because she’s been watching me ever since I got here”
Sira went pale for a moment,
“Wendy.”
Liam stood up and began to walk to
the other side of the room, “Of course!
It makes perfect sense. She…”
“No,” Miguel’s soft voice cut him
off. “Not Wendy.”
Liam stopped mid-step and looked at
him, “What?”
Sira stood up as Liam spoke and
looked at Miguel, “Miguel, what do you mean no? It all makes sense. She
was trying to get information out of you and didn’t care if she killed you in
the process.”
Miguel glared at Sira; “It’s not
Wendy. It couldn’t be. She was pulled here at the same moment as
me. There is no way she could have been
the Key person and pulled us here with her arrival if she was pulled here at
the same time as me. Don’t you
see? She is only a pawn.”
Liam looked at Miguel a moment, deep
in thought, “You’re right. Da**, but
that leaves us back at square one.”
“No,” Miguel said and looked at Sira
who had taken several steps away from them.
Liam looked from Miguel to Sira in
shock, but said nothing as Miguel stood up and walked toward her.
Sira became more pale, “Miguel, what
are you… I can’t be what you are
thinking? I am a Kimera child,
remember? I helped you…”
Miguel nodded, “Yes, a nice
cover…very smart of the Hyperions to think of it.”
“But I helped you…” she repeated
weakly.
“Sure you did. And in doing that you gained access to all
of my memories including who I thought the other Kimera children were!”
Miguel’s voice raised. “After all, the
Key person cannot sense Kimera children. They have to wait for the child to
reveal itself. Working with us gave you
a chance to get us all together and destroy us all at once as opposed to one at
a time.”
Liam was now the pale one. He didn’t know who to believe, “Sira?”
She looked at him, her face desperate, “Liam, Wendy
must have control of his mind again.
Stop him before he hurts me!”
Liam started to take a step toward
Miguel, but then stopped, as a cold shiver passed over him.
Liam looked at Sira, “No.”
Sira's eyes turned pleading,” Liam. Please. He is nuts…
Maybe, maybe he’s the Key person, and he is trying to separate us. Please Kimera-Brother, help me!”
Liam shook his head, “Something is
wrong here. I don’t know what it is,
but I can feel it.”
“It’s her,” Miguel said lowly. “We all have a warning built into our
genes. Up until now, my mind has been
too messed up to recognize it, and you were probably just ignoring it. A lot of our kind do, but we can’t now, not
when it is staring us in the face.”
Sira’s face suddenly hardened, “You think you are so
smart,” she hissed. “You won’t
win. I will find him, and kill him and
then you will be next.”
Liam took a step toward her, “Why
don’t we talk about this? There has…”
“We have nothing to say to each
other,” Sira spat at him. “Be prepared
Kimera children. The next time we meet,
you will die.” There was a sudden flash and when Miguel and Liam could see
again, Sira was gone.
Liam collapsed into a chair, “Oh
he**. Now what do we do?”
Miguel looked at him; “We have to find the third
Kimera child.”
“But how do we do that, and how do
we know that we can trust whoever it is?
We trusted her, and it almost got us killed,” Liam stated.
Miguel sat on the arm of another
chair, “She was using us, we can’t change that. Now we have to find him before she does.”
“And just were do we start
genius? Since I take it you know who
this person is,” Liam asked.
Miguel nodded “Where else? His home town…”
“Sira?” Wendy called out to the empty air. She didn’t understand why the girl wanted to meet here of all
places, but she had come. After all,
Sira had claimed that she knew where Miguel was and if she had any chance of
getting home, Wendy knew it lay in what Miguel knew.
Wendy sighed and rubbed her hands
together to try and warm them. She was
about to call out to Sira again when a vice like pressure clamped down around
her mind. She let out a cry and tired
to fight it even as she felt her body go numb and her knees give out.
She hit the pavement hard, the
pressure increasing with every second it lasted. Wendy knew that if she didn’t break the hold quickly, her mind
would be collapse under the pressure and be destroyed. She fought with all her strength and all her
fear.
Sira watched, emotionless, as Wendy
cried out once more and then fell motionless on the pavement. After a few moments, she slowly walked over
to the still form and kicked it with her foot.
It was a shame to waste a talent like hers, but she was of no more use
to her. Seconds passed, and Sira just
watched as the blood that seeped from Wendy’s ear collected beneath her
head. Then she turned and walked away
knowing that even if the woman’s body was found soon, it wouldn’t really
matter. After all, she was an implant
and CVI breakdowns were terrible and deadly things. No one would ever know that the CVI breakdown had not caused her
death…
Timothy O’Neill trudged up the
sidewalk to his house swearing in Arabic under his breath. He could handle the dreams he had been
having ever since he had been dumped in this dimension a little over a year
ago, but the feeling of real danger that had been growing inside of him was
making him feel like he was going crazy.
Not to mention that the dreams had suddenly changed so that they were no
longer about his Miguel, but about another who he didn’t know any better than
he knew anyone in this dimension.
Tim reached the door only to have it
swing open before he could touch it. He
froze as a voice called out to him.
“Hello, Dad…”
Liam drove the car around the corner
and tired to ignore the nervous fidgeting coming from the man sitting next to
him. Miguel was anxiously looking out
the window for anything that would give him a clue to where the third Kimera
child, and alternate version of his best friend, was. He knew he was in this area—the link between them told him that.
Liam looked over at Miguel for a
second and then looked back at the street and slammed on the breaks just fast
enough to avoid hitting the form that was blown by some type of blast right
into their path.
Tim managed to keep his head from hitting the
pavement by some miracle, but he realized bitterly that that didn’t matter
since it looked like a car was going to flatten him anyway. He shut his eyes, but reopened them as the
car screeched to a halt mere inches from him.
Another curse slipped from his lips, this one in French, as he tried to
get to his feet. A pair of strong arms
helped him to his feet, and he turned to thank the person only to again freeze.
A mischievous grin crossed Miguel’s
face, “Nice to see you again too.”
Tim paled, “Mig?”
Liam walked up to the two of them
and hissed, “Explain later Ortiz!
Unless you really want to just stand here and let Sira take pop shots at
us!”
Miguel looked over at the house and
watched Sira slowly walk out of it. The
look on her face filled him with fear with its blankness. He grabbed Tim’s arm and drug him to the
car.
Sira laughed as they drove
away. Let them think they were
escaping, she knew she was only letting them go. It didn’t matter when or where she took them out. It didn’t matter at all. Let them think they were safe. She knew otherwise…
Miguel laughed and ran his hands
though his hair, “Geez, what is this?
Am I gay in all those alternate dimensions or what?”
Tim laughed lightly and smiled,
“Well what you, I mean, he told me was it was because if the attack. Actually, he said I was the first and only
person he trusted at all. Of course,
since he was blinded in the attack it would have been harder for him to trust
again than it would have been for you.”
Miguel nodded and accepted the drink
that Liam handed him. Liam then walked
to the TV and turned it on. Miguel was
about to ask Tim another question when Liam gasped.
Miguel turned to him and began to
ask what was wrong, but fell silent as the anchor answered his question for
him.
“To recap,” the anchor stated, “The
body of Companion Agent Wendy Smith was found in an alley early this
morning. It is not clear what the Agent
was doing there. What is clear is that
the cause of death seems to be CVI failure.
When asked about the safety of the CVI’s, Agent Sandoval stated that
they were perfectly safe and said that they were looking into what caused Agent
Smith’s to kill her. More as it
develops…”
Liam reached up to turn off the TV
only to have Miguel angrily flip the switch off with his psychic abilities
before Liam got to it.
“CVI failure my a**,” Miguel swore.
Liam nodded, “Sira.”
Tim looked at them both, “You knew
her?”
Miguel nodded, “She was accidentally
pulled here when I was.”
“I’m sorry,” Tim said softly.
Miguel nodded, “It’s okay. We can’t
change it now. We need to focus on
stopping Sira.”
“And just how are we going to do
that?” Liam asked. “After all, each of us have trillions of
lives depending on our survival.”
Tim sat his glass down and looked at
both of them, “I think that is where I come in…”
Miguel looked around the dark
warily. He didn’t like being a target,
but it had to be done. It was the best,
maybe only way, that they would have a chance of fighting Sira on their turf.
* Not that our turf is all that
comforting. * He looked around at the
area in front of the empty warehouse.
Crates, trucks, and all kinds of other pieces of rusted abandoned parts
lay around. On one hand, it gave Tim
and Liam plenty of hiding places. On
the other hand, it also gave plenty of hiding spaces to Sira.
Miguel double checked his mental shields. He wasn’t about to end up the same way Wendy
had. Just as he finished the check, an
unnatural wind whipped through the area and sent the ends of his jacket
flapping around him. A dark chill ran
down his spine as he turned to face the wind.
Sira started back at him with dead
eyes.
Miguel swallowed and involuntarily took a step
back. Then, to cover his fear, he
forced out a laugh, “I assume a date is out of the question?”
Sira’s looked didn’t change as she
took a step toward him, “Sure we can have a date, but I am afraid you have a
date with Death first.”
“Charmed, I’m sure,” he whispered
under his breath. “I don’t suppose
Death is cute, is she?”
Sira smiled evilly, “How about you
tell me when you meet her?”
Miguel winced, “How about I take
your word for it?”
The smile vanished from her
face. Miguel waited for her reply, but
realized he was going to get none when he sensed her powers reach out behind
him. He hit the pavement just fast
enough to avoid being hit from behind by some rusted piece of metal.
He scrambled to his feet and began
to back away from her, “Now that wasn’t nice.
I thought we were ‘friends.’”
“Fight or talk, I doesn’t matter to
me. You will die either way Kimera
child,” Sira said coldly.
‘Die, die, die. Is that all anyone talks about here?” Miguel asked looking behind himself briefly
to see that he was not going to trip over anything. He looked back in time to get hit in the face with a psychic
blast that sent him to the ground with his head spinning.
“Miguel!” He faintly heard Tim yell.
* Da**it he thought to himself as he tried and
failed to focus enough to psychically contact Tim and tell him to stay
hidden. He saw a shape move past him
toward Sira. It was only when he saw
that shape frozen in a psychic hold, that he was able to pull himself up.
Before he could do anything, a laser blast hit Sira
in the back knocking her and Tim to the ground. Miguel pulled Tim toward himself and then set up a psychic shield
around the two of them. The one thing
Tim had known that he and Liam hadn’t, was that each of them had psychic powers
focused in one area. Liam’s psychic
powers were good for defense—creating shields etc.—his powers were good for
healing, and Tim’s forte was attacks—powerful attacks meant to destroy whatever
they were focused at. They had hoped
they would be able to stop Sira with one of those blasts, but now that Tim was
unconscious, Miguel didn’t know what they were going to do.
“In coming!”
Miguel opened the shield as Liam ducked into it. Liam dropped to his knees once inside and
fought for his breath. Then he turned
to Miguel, “How is he?”
Miguel shrugged, “Can’t tell for sure. Holding this shield is all I can focus on
now. You know I’m not good at that.”
Liam nodded and took over control of the shield,
strengthening it, and just in time too.
Sira unleashed a blast against the shield that would have collapsed it
only moments before.
Miguel looked to make sure Liam was handling the
extra strain on the shield okay and then focused his psychic abilities into the
link that he and Tim shared…
< Miguel looked around at the swirling darkness
that filled Tim’s mind. It didn’t bode
well for the condition of his mind.
Could Sira have really hurt him that badly in only a few seconds?
“Tim!”
Miguel shouted out as he gave up trying to find him visually. He strained to hear a response, any
response.
“Miguel over here,” a weak voice replied just as
Miguel got ready to call out again.
Miguel cautiously moved toward the voice and then froze when he saw
Tim. The man was barely holding onto
the edge of what looked to be a bottomless ravine. Miguel knew, though, that it was more than it seemed. If Tim were allowed to fall into the ravine,
his mind would be destroyed, and he would die.
Miguel knelt down and took a hold of his friend’s
hands, “The trouble you get yourself into.” He mumbled.
Tim glared at him, “Look who’s talking! Just get me out of here. I’m sure Liam could use our help.”
Miguel nodded and began to pull him up. Suddenly a grinding filled the air as the
ravine started to close—controlled by some outside force.
“Sira,” Miguel hissed as he rearranged his grip on
Tim’s arm and got ready to wrench his friend out in one pull.
“This is going to hurt,” He warned
Tim and then pulled with all his strength—physical and psychic. The both went flying as a result… >
Liam had been watching them with
concern—not only for them, but also for the fact he wasn’t going to be able to
hold the shield against Sira much longer.
He waited for them come out of it and in no way expecting what happened.
Miguel wasn’t expecting it either,
but the combination of his physical and psychic pulling sent he and Tim back to
the physical plain, but also sent him flying out of the safety of Liam’s shield
to land at Sira’s feet.
Sira looked down at him as she
pulled his head up to look at her.
“Oh sh**,” he whispered knowing he
didn’t have the strength to protect himself from her.
“Sira!” An angry voice called out.
Sira looked up, but didn’t let go of
Miguel, “Are you so eager to die ‘Daddy?’”
Tim just stared at her. Miguel wished he could see what was going
on, but he could barely move. Suddenly
a shield slammed down around Miguel, and he knew exactly what was going
on. He felt the psychic attack that slammed
into Sira and torn her away from him.
She went flying, but never hit the pavement, because there was nothing
left of her to hit the pavement.
Miguel just stared at where Sira had
been, his mind not registering that it was all over—finally, they were safe.
Liam dissolved the shield he had formed over Miguel,
and walked over to help him up.
“You okay, Ortiz?” He asked.
Miguel nodded his head; “It’s
over. We won.”
Tim hit him in the back, “Yeah, next
time just try not to be quite so eager to be the martyr okay?”
Miguel nodded, “So now what do we
do?”
Liam looked the both of them in the
eye and then laughed, “Well, if you are so eager for more action, the
Resistance could always use your help...”