"Lucas?"

McQueen shook his head and looked away to give Madi a chance to regain her composure. "We need to talk, Gibson. I need some answers and it looks like you're the only one left to give them to me. I never made any pretence of understanding this psychic stuff and frankly I find it a bit unnerving. I thought perhaps you might be able to help me… understand."

Madi hesitated only a moment before opening the door wider and stepping back so that Cooper's CO could enter. If he wanted to pretend that nothing had happened in the Tun that was fine with her. She'd beaten herself up for hours after the episode for losing her temper and stomping out the way she had. One of these days maybe she'd learn to control her crazy emotions. At least Reece would be thrilled, she'd listened to him as he'd gone on and on about McQueen, asking her question after question that she couldn't answer until she'd begged him to be quiet. He was sitting in the floor playing a digital game and he leapt up when he saw TC McQueen, looking like he'd just laid eyes on a risen prophet. Madi rolled her eyes behind McQueen's back - apparently her son was as smitten with the man as Cooper was.

"Colonel, I really need to check next door with Thursday. If you'll keep Reece company for just a moment, I'll be right back and I'll try to answer your questions." McQueen unconsciously sighed in relief. As much as he hated to admit it, he was glad Gibson was here to keep an eye on the young pilot.

"Hawkes is unconscious. I think you should find out what she's giving him."

Madi nodded, she could tell by looking at him that he was worried sick about Cooper. Thursday had told her she was going to sedate him and though she trusted her friend implicitly Madi wanted to check on them both.

Tee had politely thrown her out along with Phousse several hours ago and with Reece in her care she hadn't been able to go back over. They were trying to keep Cooper's condition a secret from him but it was difficult. If he wasn't asking about McQueen he was asking for Cooper. Nathan, bless his heart, would be by as soon as his duty was up to take the boy out for a while and show him the planes. Reece had reluctantly agreed, he liked Nathan, he just liked Cooper better, though it was his secret.

Madi left and Ty was on his own with Reece Gibson. For some reason this child made him almost nervous and it was a feeling he wasn't accustomed to experiencing. Reece covertly admired McQueen's flight suit and patches a bit more and decided that since Madi was gone this would be the perfect time to get the answer to some of his questions. Reece could tell the man was a bit uncomfortable with kids so he decided to put him at ease. He figured Colonel McQueen would answer questions much better if he was relaxed… and unwary.

"Would you like to sit down, sir?" Reece asked and indicated the desk chair by the bed. Madi would have swallowed her tongue if she'd seen her son using the manners she tried to drill into him. McQueen nodded and sat, racking his brain for something to say. What did you say to kids? He needn't have bothered, Reece had plenty to talk about. He turned off the game and climbed up on the bed opposite Ty, checking his watch as he did so. He had about ten minutes he estimated before Madi got back and ruined his opportunity to find out more about this man.

"My mom says you're like Cooper's father even if you don't like it." Reece threw the gambit in and watched McQueen closely. If he was going to get this family thing to work out to his benefit he'd decided he needed to understand all the relationships involved. Ty was thrown a little by the statement; he'd been expecting questions about Chigs and planes.

"Gibson said that?" Reece nodded and continued to look expectantly at McQueen who looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"She said it to Blaine but I was listening," Reece explained.

"Well, I suppose I understand why she might feel that way. A commanding officer takes a great deal of interest in the men and women who serve under him. Cooper… uh… Lt. Hawkes needed a little more help than the others. I suppose that seems like a father/son relationship to her." Apparently she no longer felt that way after their altercation in the Tun.

"Doesn't it seem like one to you?" McQueen squirmed beneath the blue gaze and wondered if all children asked such direct questions.

"I suppose it does, I uh, don't really have a frame of reference for what a father/son relationship should be."

"Cause you're an InVitro?" McQueen looked startled but nodded. "Why don't you like it that Cooper thinks of you as his father?" McQueen was beginning to feel a little harried but tried to relax.

"I never said I didn't like it, Reece, it's a hard relationship to explain. Half the time I don't even understand it." Reece thought about that.

"Got any other kids?" The older man shook his head.

"Didn't your mother tell you it's rude to ask personal questions, Reece?"

"She probably did, Colonel McQueen, my mom is big on manners and being polite; but I'm only nine and I'm sure my brain isn't big enough to remember everything she tells me not to do or not to say. Trust me, it's hard work being a kid and you didn't miss a thing. My goal in life is to make it through the third grade without getting the crap beat out of me everyday by the bullies at school."

"Why are you getting beaten up at school?" McQueen was surprised that Madi hadn't taught her son how to protect himself when, from all accounts, she was pretty good at street fighting.

The boy's face turned red before he shook his head. "Just some stuff they're saying about my mother and Cooper there. They're just words and they can't hurt us." Ty recognised that the litany had probably come from some adult in Reece's life and he didn't believe it anymore than the kid seemed to. Words could hurt you, they had wounded his wife until she'd packed her stuff and left him despite his best efforts to make her happy. He hadn't been much older than Cooper was now.

Reece next statement echoed his thoughts to a startling degree. "Cooper is probably going to marry my mom. I was against it at first, I figured we didn't need another InVitro around to run off and leave us but I sort of think Cooper might stick with us. What do you think?"

McQueen felt a twinge of anger at the question despite his own misgivings about the union - so the boy was worried about the propaganda he'd heard about tanks. He wondered if Gibson knew her kid was concerned about the issue and how she thought she was going to handle the prejudice that went along with marrying an InVitro when it came from her own son.

"Why don't you ask Lt. Hawkes that question, young man?" McQueen directed a hard stare at the boy who returned it full force.

"Because I want to know what you think. My mom says you're like Cooper's dad, so if he becomes my dad then you'd be like my grandfather even though you're really too young for that." McQueen felt a jolt at the boy's words and looked down for a moment. "My used-to-be friend, Billy Dunsmoore, spends lots of time with his grandfather and his grandfather is really old. I think he might even be fifty." Reece's tone indicated that Billy had best spend what time he could with the man who probably wouldn't last much longer and McQueen had to hide a smile. "Anyway, his parents are divorced and while that was going on they kept him the dark, didn't tell him anything. They lied to him. It was his grandfather who told him the truth about all that. So I'm asking you since I figured you'd tell me the truth and all. I mean if Cooper does marry my mom."

Ty wondered at this boy who could be so adult one moment and rely on such simplistic logic the next. Is that what it meant to be a child? He'd often wondered and he suddenly found himself intensely curious about this one. "Reece, I think that Cooper would want to stay with anything that he starts, he's not a quitter; but in life, like so many other things, you can never predict what may happen. If Cooper marries your mother a lot of people will find that hard to accept because he's an InVitro. How they would deal with that would determine whether or not they stayed together, it's difficult when one partner is a natural born. I'm sorry, there's no easy answer to a question like that."

Reece looked confused. "But my real parents were both InVitros and that didn't make any difference, they still left me. So what does Madi not being a tank matter?"

McQueen was surprised at the way the boy had worded the sentence and stunned at this new revelation.

"Your real parents? I thought Gibson was your real parent."

Reece smiled a very rare, pleased smile that lit up his genetically perfect face. "She is my real mom, but she adopted me cause my biological parents…" the smile faded, "…they left me. They didn't want me anymore so they left when I was a baby. Madi says I shouldn't blame them, that they were really young - like teenagers. My biological mother left me a charm with my name on it." The smile came back a bit shy this time. "Madi says I'm her charm cause she found me on the street and I've brought her so much luck. I'm always going to stay with her and take care of her and my sisters. So it'll be okay if Cooper has to leave but I just wanted your opinion on him. It would be really hard on the girls if they got used to having him around and then he left cause they really love him." Reece tried to make it sound as if it were of no consequence whatsoever to him but McQueen could see the truth and he wished he knew what to say to the boy.

"What about Bernard Gibson, Madi's father?"

"Dr. Gibson. Well, let's just say that he's not very good with kids. He doesn't understand us and he yells at the twins because they mess with his stuff and he can never remember our names. Most of the time he's off thinking of new experiments and things. He's not a lot of fun. I talked about it with the girls and they want to meet you."

His next words were painstakingly casual but they stirred up emotions that Ty thought he'd buried years ago. "If you like, you can be part of our family, too, when my mom and Cooper get married. Then when you're on Earth you could come and see me and Avery and Kelsey. We like the zoo and movies - with buttered popcorn." he hinted strongly. Reece peeped at the silent man from the corner of his eyes, checked his watch, and decided he'd dropped enough on the Colonel tonight -- the guy looked kind of pale.

When Madi opened the door a minute later Reece was grilling McQueen about Chigs and planes. She smiled in sympathy. The poor man had to deal with the war all day and now in his spare time her son had no doubt driven him crazy wanting to hear all about it. She wouldn't wish one of Reece's interrogations, even on McQueen who looked a bit dazed.

"Reece, that's enough, give Colonel McQueen a break now."

"Sure Mom. I'll just go to my room and play my game til Captain West gets here. Okay?" Reece being co-operative put Madi's guard up but it sounded harmless enough.

"That's fine Reece, but you come by here and tell me when you leave with Captain West. I want to see him for a minute, too."

Madi watched with suspicious affection as her son left, slamming the door behind him with boyish exuberance. Something was definitely up with that kid and she'd have to grill him later. Reece was never exuberant unless he was hatching a plan and things were going well in said plan. She sat on the bed in the spot he'd vacated and smiled ruefully at McQueen.

"Well, you survived ten minutes with Reece Gibson. Congratulations Colonel, not many people can say that."

McQueen was unsure as to how he should respond to that so he just kept quiet.

"Cooper?"

"He's fine. Thursday knows what she's doing, her sister's a physician and she prescribed the sedative before we came here; she figured he'd need it. Besides, he can use the rest, I know they haven't been sleeping."

Though Ty was worried about Cooper his thoughts kept going back to Reece and their conversation. Apparently they hadn't told him yet that the marriage was a go or he probably would have been more excited. Madi was telling him something about Thursday's family, but he just looked at her, not really hearing. When Gibson was on Earth he could almost forget that she existed. Cooper mentioned her on rare occasions but mostly he kept their relationship very much to himself. McQueen could understand that --he'd have done the same. Letting others know you treasured something seemed to open InVitros up to ridicule from some natural borns, as if they discounted that a tank could feel deeply enough to experience real emotions, just as others doubted they could dream. McQueen knew, too, though Cooper had been playing it down, that Mason was giving him a hard time so that would strengthen his silence even more when it came to Gibson.

Now he studied Madi, really looking at her for just a moment. She appeared so harmless. Casually dressed in a loose fitting sweat shirt and jeans with a beat up pair of Keds on her feet she could pass for a college student, yet she had so much power. This young woman was going to take Cooper away from him and once she had him she could destroy him. In a place that was so deep inside Ty that he couldn't bear to bring it up into the light that scared him to death. He wondered if anyone could understand that fear, if there was a name for the emotions he felt.

He came out of his thoughts to see Madi smiling at him quizzically. "Are you alright? You still look a little shell shocked." Ty nodded shortly. "Thank you for keeping him company, Reece can be a bit overwhelming if you're not used to him. When that kid gets something on his mind he'll drive you crazy and all he's talked about since he's been in here today is you."

Ty was surprised. "Me?"

Madi smiled wryly. "Yes, you, Colonel. You seem to have some sort of power over the men in my life." She sobered and when she looked back at him Ty saw a vulnerability on her face he never seen in all the times they'd argued. "Reece is not like most children. He's very much a loner and keeps things to himself, but he's greatly taken with you. That means he can be hurt very easily - my son doesn't let many people close to him. I know we have our differences, McQueen, but I hope you won't let that affect how you feel about Reece. I'm asking that you be very careful with him, he's not as tough as he would like everyone to believe."

Ty recognised the warning and the plea in her words and wondered if she realised he could turn her words around and point out that she had the same power over Cooper. The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him - they had identical concerns for the people under their care. The difference being that she wouldn't lose her child to him -- she was going to end up with both of them. The unfairness of that ate at him and it made him angry. Angry mostly that somewhere along the line he'd gotten so soft that he'd begun to expect fairness when he knew damn well that InVitros couldn't think like that. Though McQueen knew she wasn't doing it to hurt him specifically, Madi was one more natural-born taking something away from him and his frustration made him strike out at her.

"Why isn't it in your personnel records that Reece is adopted and that his parents are InVitros?" Madi blinked in confusion for a moment at the turn the conversation had taken, then she wiped all expression off her face from long habit. Only her eyes and clenched hands told him that he'd hit a nerve and showed her anger.

"You had me investigated?!" Madi blew out a frustrated breath and shook her head. "You beat all, McQueen, you really do. What did you think you'd find? That maybe I go around sweet talking surly, hard-to-deal-with, Tank Marines into marrying me and then kill them off for a smidgen of insurance money that would barely pay the rent for a year?" Madi jumped up and paced in the tiny space of the room. "I made a mistake when Cooper was under my protection, Colonel." Madi held her hands out in front of her. "I'm human, I make mistakes every day. Are you going to hold that against me the rest of my life?"

"It's more than that and you know it, Gibson. Someone is trying to kill Cooper. I'll investigate everyone who comes into contact with him if that's what it takes to find that person. You said yourself that I don't know you, what you think, what you feel - and you're right- I don't. But I do know that you've got an exemplary record and that's the only reason I let him come to you on Earth and that's the only reason you're taking care of him here - so be glad I had you checked out. However, it's surprises like your having a son that proves my point. Everyone has secrets they don't want known and one of those people wants their secret kept so badly they're willing to kill to keep it that way. You have secrets, too, Madi. First I found out about Reece, who didn't show up in your portfolio, and then I find out that you're hiding the fact that his parents are InVitro. If you're afraid of that getting out how are you going to handle being married to one?"

"First of all, I'm not discussing our marriage with you. Secondly, I adopted Reece after I left the Saratoga and I made sure it wasn't in his records - but not because I give a damn about what people think about me. And third, if you didn't read about it in the file how did you know?"

"Reece told me." Madi snorted at that and shook her head.

"Reece never talks to anyone but me about his parents and that's been about three sentences in three years. I don't think he even listens when I try to talk to him about them."

"Like when you tell him he shouldn't blame them because they were only teenagers?" Madi stared at him, stunned and oddly enough, intensely jealous. She looked down at her crossed arms and picked at a thread on the cuff of her sleeve as she tried to hide her feelings from him.

Ty watched her closely. Madi's adoption of an InVitro child and her actions to hide his heritage puzzled him and, as with any enigma, he wanted to pull it apart and examine each piece so that he could appreciate the whole. If she'd let the fact of his adoption be known she'd most likely have been patted on the head and congratulated on her kindness and generosity in taking in an unfortunate tank child who would probably never show any gratitude for her long-suffering. There was a definite liberal movement afoot to help the poor InVitros and it seemed to him that certain kindness' were acceptable as long as the person doing the kindness didn't enjoy it too much. Instead Madi was giving the impression that she'd had a child without a life partner or a wedding band and that couldn't be an easy thing even in this day for a teacher who was supposed to set a moral example to be followed.

"He told me out of the blue - shocked the hell out of me. Why did you leave out that information and then tell him about his parents? Isn't that defeating the purpose of hiding the fact that he's the offspring of InVitros?"

Madi looked livid. "I didn't do it to hide it from Reece, I try to always tell him the truth. I did it to protect his future. If he wants to go to college, or now, thanks to you and Cooper, the military, he'll be able to with no problems or discrimination. I pray that the world will be a better place by then but I'm still making plenty of provisions just in case. I've paid a lot of money to people that Lucas found for me in order to have new records made. Reece knows the score and he knows what it feels like to be put down for something he has no control over, some ridiculous prejudices that people carry out of fear and ignorance. He'll have all the advantages I can give him plus he's got great genes too, I ran a scan on him myself in my father's lab. He's intelligent, street smart, ridiculously good-looking - if a little eccentric - and he has a good heart in there somewhere. What he chooses to do with all that is up to him. If later he wants to scream from the rooftops that his real parents were InVitros that's fine by me."

Ty actually smiled. Madi Gibson in a full tirade was an awesome sight and when she was defending her cub she was even more impressive. Because he believed her and even reluctantly agreed with her thinking his anger was appeased and he let up a little. If the truth were told he felt a little guilty about the scene in the Tun as well and he tried to atone just a bit.

"He told me that even though he has a biological mother that you're his real mother."

Madi simply stared at him, all the wind taken out of her sails. This man was the most unpredictable person she'd ever come in contact with; he kept her totally off balance. If things ever got to the point where she didn't have to fight him for Cooper every day of her life they might even become friends.

She sat back down on the bed still staring at him in disbelief. "You're the oddest man I've ever met, McQueen. One minute you're calling me an unfit mother and the next you're causing my heart to melt by telling me something precious that my son will never say to me. How do you do that?"

McQueen shrugged, but smiled slightly. "You must have an unsettling effect on people, Gibson."

"Actually most people like me and consider me a soothing person."

McQueen seemed to be considering that unlikely statement but she could tell he was doing it with what she'd call a teasing attitude in another man.

"They probably don't know you was well as I do." Madi laughed out loud at that and watched as he grinned slightly. She couldn't beat him and she couldn't kill him because of Cooper and Reece so she guessed a truce was the best they could hope for, and he seemed to be offering her one. She took the olive branch.

"Thank you for telling me what Reece said. Besides all our other hurdles he's going through his ‘disassociation with mom´ phase and some days it's very had to be a parent. But then you know that don't you?" She watched as he went from startled to wary to relaxed again at her words.

"I can't seem to convince you otherwise, Gibson, so I'll admit to you, but no one else, that in many ways I do feel like these kids' parents -and it is hard." She smiled at him and they shared a rare moment of peace and understanding; Madi wished he would be this approachable more often.

"Tell about being an empath." McQueen asked and she knew the moment was over.

"What do you want to know?"

"Whatever you want to tell me." Madi nodded, thinking of the best way to tell him about her odd talent that she rarely understood herself.

"It's a gift and a curse that I inherited from my mother who died before she could teach me to use it to the extent that she could. I always tried to forget I had it until I met Lucas at the Centre one summer. I was angry because my father sent me there to be baby-sat while he went out to the experimental station on Mars. I wasn't very good company, but Lucas charmed me into being his friend - then cajoled and irritated me the whole time I was there until I learned to apply my skill somewhat. I've waited too long to develop a really intense talent, but I do find it very helpful in my work with abused children and sometimes even with adults."

"How does it work?"

She considered ways to explain then smiled a little, maybe it would be simpler just to show him. "I want you to think of the a very bad event in your life, something that makes you sad even today. Go on," she prompted at his sceptical look. McQueen looked rather disgusted to have to play along with this dog and pony show but he closed his eyes and sat quietly. Madi reached out and took his hand, expecting the sudden stiffness of someone who wasn't accustomed to casual touching. She simply waited as she did with Reece and sure enough he relaxed, "melted" as he grew accustomed to her warm grip.

"Go ahead, don't let me bother you." Madi closed her eyes and opened her mind. After a few moments she felt the pain; it was a deep and soul chilling blue. The pain had no words for Madi, she couldn't pick up any thoughts from McQueen, she could only feel it and tears streamed unnoticed down her cheeks as she absorbed and acknowledged its strength. She felt his emotions exactly as he did and she ached for him.

After taking a moment to understand it, she tightened her grip on his hand and began to do what Lucas had helped her learn. She shielded out the pain by closing huge steel doors in her mind. Once that was done, she simply thought. She thought of one of her few precious memories of her mother and she was back in her parent's bedroom watching her get dressed to go out with her father; listening as she sang her a silly Christmas song about a snowman. Madi, wearing her mother's shoes and her own pyjamas, stood before the dressing table outlining her small mouth with outrageous red lipstick and admiring her mother's dress in the mirror. Her mother had come over and reapplied Madi's lipstick and added spray of perfume before giving her a big hug and a kiss that left the same red lipstick on her cheek. She had cried when the baby-sitter washed it off before she went to bed that night. Madi smiled at the memory, it was one of her favourites and if she concentrated she could still smell her mother's perfume. She felt McQueen jump as though startled at the warmth that began to flow from their joined hands and he realised the pain was lessened. Madi went back to her memories and chose some of the best; she collected them like some people collected baseball cards. She thought of cloud watching in the summer, and puppies, and the girls and how she felt the day she knew she was going to keep Reece. McQueen had relaxed and the pain was completely gone now but before she stopped Madi had one more memory for him, a payback in a way, for his sharing Reece's words with her. She went back to the day at her house that Cooper had answered the phone and seen McQueen. Though she'd been upstairs at the time, she'd felt the sudden rush of love and affection that Cooper had experienced, then the warm acceptance he'd felt as they'd talked. She transmitted those feelings to McQueen and wished desperately once again that she could send him thoughts so that he could understand how much his approval and acceptance meant to Cooper. She knew that with these two guarded men, this would be the closest he'd ever come to experiencing those emotions from Cooper.

Madi removed her hand and sat up straight, wiping the tears off her face. McQueen blinked his eyes as if awakening from a dream. He looked into Madi's eyes, taking in the tear stains on her face. "How can you do that? How can you take some else's pain away and replace it with that warmth?" Madi tiredly shook her head, she was always exhausted after a demonstration and McQueen's emotions had been particularly extreme.

"I don't know how it works and I don't do it very often. I learned early to keep my emotional distance from people so I wouldn't feel every heartache or angry thought. Unless I choose to, or unless I'm really zapped I can shield. It's what I've been doing for Cooper and Thursday since I've been here. It's my small contribution to the cause."

"Can the others do that?" Madi shook her head again.

"Only Lucas. His talent is totally developed and he has what people in the field might call a prime talent. He uses empathy, telepathy, everything, though he won't tell anyone the extent of his power. Thursday is a very telepathic and I've seen her move small objects across the room, but her greatest talent is as an empath. She can tell when people are hurt. Like Lucas."

"Cooper?"

Madi sighed. She wished she could share her worries about his talent being exploited with McQueen, but she was afraid he'd use it against her. After all, it was her father's fault that he had those skills. He'd see it as one more reason why she should leave him alone and on the Saratoga where he could mentor him. "Cooper has shown signs of all the talents that Lucas has, they're just barely developed. His best one seems to be telepathy."

McQueen nodded, then seemed to come to a decision. He got up and punched a button on the wall, filling the room with modern music before approaching a puzzled Madi. She had a weird second where she thought he might have decided to strangle her after all and wanted some noise to cover the commotion before she got a grip on her imagination. She'd obviously been watching too many murder mysteries at home. She stood up as Ty approached and leaned close to speak to her. It finally occurred to her that he was afraid his voice would be picked up by a listening device and she grinned to herself at her wild thoughts.

"With what you know about Lucas Masterson's psychic skills, what would be your theory concerning the fact of his ETA on the Saratoga corresponding with that of another transport full of top-ranking military brass and a …." McQueen weighed his decision one last time, "… and a peace envoy sent from the Chigs?"

Madi's eyes and mouth both opened wide and McQueen clamped his hand over her mouth to make sure she didn't blurt it out loud. His eyes shot a warning at her and she nodded that she understood though her eyes were still very wide. He removed his hand cautiously.

"A peace envoy? From the Chigs?" she whispered incredulously. McQueen nodded grimly. Madi could tell by his expression that he didn't trust the situation though, just as before, he desperately wanted to believe, as they all did, that the war might be winding down.

"Different this time though. He's completely unarmed, no suit, claims he's an ambassador, not a soldier. Says the last Chig on board was a rogue officer driven to extreme measures by his grief over the loss of his family in the bombing on Kazbek and two more sons lost in combat and he's been sent to reopen negotiations. Lucas Masterson's presence was specifically requested, he's to sit in on all the meetings. Any ideas? Maybe some Aerotech connections?"

Madi shook her head emphatically. "Lucas has never had anything to do with Aerotech or the government. He hates anything organised including the Centre." Madi rubbed at her eyes trying to find a connection. "It has to be here in front of us, I never really believed that Lucas would use his computer skills to help develop weapons even to win the war. He would feel that that's an unacceptable use for his abilities and he would be afraid of the consequences of a weapon's use after the war." She held her hand up to stop McQueen's automatic objections. "I know that's not a feeling shared by military personnel fighting in this war, Colonel, I'm only telling you what I know to be Lucas' beliefs."

"What could he do with his psychic abilities?"

"Anything he wants. If he could make a connection he could tell you every thought and plan that went through a Chig commander's mind or he could project his thoughts into the minds of soldiers, which would most likely freak them completely out if they have no knowledge of such skills." Ty thought of Cooper and how it had taken the whole squad to restrain him when he'd first heard Lucas' voice in his head and he pictured the chaos that could cause in an entire battalion of soldiers. "Their military secrets and technology would be common knowledge and he would know the strategy of every field commander and special agent he could reach."

"Then why aren't we using him?" McQueen demanded still in sotto voice.

"Well first of all, there's no guarantee he could do it. He'd have to be brought here and put within proximity of a test subject. Secondly, suppose the Chigs have the same skills, only on a more advanced level? They could reverse the process or allow fraudulent information to be released to us. Third, if Lucas Masterson walked into the Pentagon and offered his services he'd be laughed out because no one would believe him." Ty's silence attested to the truth of her statement. He'd seen and felt it and he still couldn't bring himself to really believe it. Madi continued with her list. "And fourth, Aerotech would never have let him live this long if they even suspected he could help end this war." McQueen acknowledged that as well; he understood her inference. Aerotech stood to lose a lot of money if the war ended and it was no secret that he and Ross, as well as many others, thought that the megaconglomeration was pulling their own strings to keep the war drawn out and profitable. However, thinking it and proving it were two very different things and so far they'd been very careful to cover their tracks.

"Why would he be invited to military ship for peace negotiations?"

"Perhaps to measure honesty?"

"He can do that?" Madi nodded.

"If he can establish a connection, yes, he'd know if the Chig ambassador was lying. I can tell if you're lying by touching you - Lucas would know before he even spoke - but no one has ever recorded an attempt at mental communication with aliens, we've never had any to study."

"So why haven't the AIs killed him? They won't profit unless the Chigs win the war. And why ask about Cooper? No one should even know he has any of this mind stuff." McQueen shook his head in disgust and turned off the music. "Damn, none of this makes any sense. It's a puzzle, Gibson, when we get a framework the pieces will fall into place, but nothing seems to fit right now."

"The first thing we have to do, Colonel, is find Lucas. He's the key. Then we'll piece in the rest. While Nathan's got Reece occupied we'll try to contact him again. Since Cooper's rested maybe something will break."

McQueen nodded and leaned close again to whisper, "You're now one of three people on this ship that know about the Chig ambassador, Gibson; Commander Ross, myself, and you. If I hear it again over my powdered eggs in the officer's mess I'm coming after you. Got that?"

Madi was not intimidated, only mildly irritated. "If that's your primitive way of asking me to keep a wartime secret pertaining to global security then my lips are sealed, McQueen."

"Sarcasm doesn't become you, Gibson. Thanks for the… uh… demonstration." McQueen seemed about to say something else but turned and to leave instead. Madi waited until he was half out the door before poking her stick at the tiger. "Colonel." Ty turned to look at her questioningly over his shoulder. "What you're wondering about, the last feeling? It was Cooper." McQueen nodded, then began to walk away, and Madi couldn't resist her next comment. "Your wife was a fool to leave you, McQueen. I would never hurt Cooper like that." He kept walking but she could tell he heard her last words by the way his step faltered in mid-stride before he increased his speed and hurried out of sight.

When Thursday woke the next morning, she, unsurprisingly, had a storming hangover. She couldn't believe that she´d allowed herself to lose control that badly. She was less concerned with McQueen´s reaction than she was about Lucas. She tried to contact him, but got nothing. What if he´d tried to reach her when she´d been out cold? What if something had happened overnight? Cooper wasn´t any help. He was still out cold. Still, he´d needed the sleep desperately. She had thought of suggesting to McQueen previously that perhaps Cooper would be better in Madi´s room, since Madi had spent almost every moment with her, but she suspected that McQueen would not have seen that suggestion in the light that it was intended. She knew, however, that Cooper had found it difficult to sleep in the company of the other Wildcards, finding his resources stretched when it came to blocking them out entirely. Even the presence of Phousse had had limited benefit.

She still couldn´t reach Lucas. However, she was ‘aware´ of him. She was beginning to be able to tell that he was still alive. She wondered if that meant that her power was growing, or merely that she was becoming more skilled. She suspected the latter. She was amazed at how much Cooper´s skills had improved over the last few days. She supposed it was that old adage of ‘practice makes perfect´.

She preferred it when Lucas was awake. She supposed that it was selfish of her. When he was awake, they were hurting him. But at least she didn´t have to hold onto to this vague feeling that he was still breathing. She could actually feel him, talk to him. Whenever she thought of not being able to do that - and that thought was coming more and more frequently - a chill wind blew through her soul. She tried to keep that from Cooper and Lucas. She knew that she´d been successful as far as Cooper was concerned. He was so transparent sometimes. But Lucas. That was another matter. For all McQueen believed, she couldn´t read people as easily as books. Especially not Lucas. While he seldom if ever kept something from her, and she usually could tell if he attempted it, that didn´t mean that she could trip through Lucas´ head whenever she wanted. In fact, sometimes it was more difficult to read him than it was someone not talented. Like now. He´d shut of a great part of himself that neither she or Cooper could reach. She wasn´t sure whether she wanted to. The bits she could reach were frightening enough. And if she and Cooper were to do what they needed to do, then they couldn´t be distracted by what was happening to Lucas. No matter how much she wanted to just crawl into a deep, dark, safe hole with him and pretend that this wasn´t happening.

It was time to wake Cooper up and start again.

~*~

Madi knocked once sharply on the hatch and waited impatiently.

"Come in." McQueen responded.

She hurriedly entered and approached him where he stood by his desk, holding out a slip of paper. McQueen took it without saying a word and silently read it before glancing questioningly at Madi.

"Smyrnas?"

"Do you know it means, Colonel?" she asked anxiously.

"It's a planet very near here, we're about to start training operations there shortly. What's this about, Gibson?"

Madi let her pent-up breath out in relief. She'd been so afraid the word wouldn't make any sense to anyone, she wasn't even certain they'd taken it down right.

"It's where they're holding Lucas, he just told Tee this one word. Cooper's still out and we didn't know if it would mean anything." Madi was smiling, at last a break in the nightmare of the past two days.

McQueen glanced at the paper again and his look made the smile leave Madi's face. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Ty took in her exhausted face and gentled his voice. "Madi, we've had teams all over that planet, nothing has shown up."

"Look again, Colonel. Please. Lucas must have heard something, this is too great a coincidence. I've never heard that word before and neither has Thursday."

McQueen walked to his desk and leafed through the recon reports on the planet he'd been given a few days earlier, picking them up he described their results to Madi. The part the 5*8 had tested had been dense jungle, full of tropical foliage. An excellent place to hide an ISSCV if you knew the right spot to land one in. It would be hard to spot but the area had been covered countless times. It was the first place they'd looked. The planet had an acceptable atmosphere for humans, which the AIs would need if they kept them alive. But nothing had shown up and thermo-imagery hadn't picked up body heat from Masterson.

McQueen was quiet for so long Madi began to fidget and wonder what he was thinking, his voice made her jump.

"He's alive? You're positive of that? This isn't some alcohol-induced hallucination on Dr. Hagen's part?"

Madi nodded firmly. "He's alive, Colonel. Thursday's not drunk, she's just mellow right now. It'd take a lot more than that amount of tequila to cause her to have hallucinations. She heard him. That's all she got though and she says if we don't find him soon, he will be dead."

McQueen looked at Madi hard. "What's your gut feeling on this, Gibson? Why would AI's suddenly show such an interest in Cooper? Why would they keep Masterson alive and not ask a single question about military defence but instead torture him about a tank kid no one's ever heard of?"

"How much did Cooper tell you about the AI that kidnapped Reece and almost killed them both?" she asked quietly. McQueen looked puzzled but answered.

"He told us about it but he said he never knew what it was all about. Just that someone wanted the name of the person that killed June Maddox. Maddox was Diane Hayden's personal assistant. Cooper said he didn't know who killed her and couldn't understand why the AIs thought he would."

"Well, Colonel, I'm going to give you my gut feeling but don't be surprised if you laugh. Up til now Lucas has kept me totally in the dark about most of this, including the news you revealed to me earlier about Richard Noble, but I will remedy that situation as soon as he's back on this ship. All he's basically told me is that Secretary-General Hayden is dangerous and that I'm not to trust her or have anything to do with her at all, even if she should try to contact me. My gut feeling is that Diane Hayden is the person trying to kill Cooper." Madi waited, solemnly watching McQueen as he took in her incredible statement.

"That's absurd, Gibson. You're talking about the Secretary-General of the United Nations and a staunch supporter to InVitro rights." Madi held up her hands in front of her as to ward off any further arguments.

"I told you, you might laugh. I can't prove anything, Colonel, I don't even know why. I just know that ever since I became involved in this Lucas can't tell me enough how dangerous she is and how careful I'm to be around her. But it's too coincidental that she keeps popping into the equation and that Lucas and Thursday started warning me about her. I will tell you this, Colonel, I know from my time spent at Aerotech that she's still very involved, much more than any other honorary board members. Her involvement with the InVitro rights movement could well be a cover up." Madi saw the scepticism in his eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "You asked, Colonel."

"I'll give it some thought, Gibson. Right now I need to get an SAR team moving to comb the area again." McQueen waved her closer to his desk and the reports there. Madi, though surprised he included her, obliged, her eyes scanning the images taken from the cameras in the noses of the air recon's planes. "This is Smyrnas. Very Earth-like in almost every way. It was my first guess as to where they'd take Masterson, but it's like they've disappeared off the face of the planet." Ty wasn't sure why he was showing the photos to Madi but he'd studied them until they all looked the same. Maybe he needed a someone with a fresh viewpoint.

Madi flipped through more photos showing dense jungle growth and other areas of tropical vegetation. Something about the photos was familiar and she closed her eyes a moment to bring it into focus, so much had happened these past few days that she was nearly dead on her feet. It came to her all at once. Viet Nam. She'd been watching the history channel at home and they'd showcased old Viet Nam footage.

"Colonel." McQueen looked up from his studies at the excitement in her voice. "Maybe you were right to start with. You mentioned this is the likeliest spot. What if we can't see Lucas's body heat because he's under the ground?" McQueen looked at the photos again.

"A tunnel system?"

"You said the planet was Earth-like. In tropical areas on Earth the soils are very lateritic, the clays dry hard and are perfect for tunnel building. The Viet Cong guerrillas used tunnels beneath the jungle to move. They even had hospitals, kitchens, and dormitories. Why couldn't the AIs have done the same thing? Who would think to look for them underground?

"The air in those tunnels was very thin and stale."

"Yes, but AIs wouldn't need any air, and Lucas did say something about the air having a funny smell."

Damn. She might be right. McQueen looked up and nearly smiled at her for the first time since he'd known her. "You did good, Gibson, I think you're on to something. Now get back to your quarters and keep an eye on Cooper. Maybe this will be over soon."

~*~

They were still asking questions, the same questions over and over again. Where were the copies of the information stored, how many copies were there, who knew? They´d long since ceased to make any sense to him. They were now so many words. He was counting down the minutes, counting down the hours, hoping that Cooper and Thursday would be able to locate him before he broke. Only now he was beginning to think that he wasn´t going to break, not after so long, after so much abuse. He honestly didn´t believe he was going to break. He believed he was going to die.

Accepting that gave him an odd sort of peace. He couldn´t tell them what he knew, but that was to protect Cooper and Madi and Reece and Doctor Gibson and all of the solicitors or bank clerks who were unfortunate to have copies of what Hayden wanted in their possession, even if they didn´t know what they had. But above all, it was to protect her. He was dead, but without her he wouldn´t want to live anyway. It wouldn´t be living, just going day to day with nothing. He didn´t want to acknowledge that she´d feel the same way, because if he did that then he´d have a responsibility to try and live again. He was having hard enough time not telling the AIs what they wanted to know without worrying about his own life.

The AI, the Samuel model, was becoming aware of Lucas´ lack of interest in his questions and it concerned him. Samuel lacked the elegance of the Elroy-L´s models´ torture techniques. Its were more direct. Rather than using pain inflicting techniques that left the victim in at least a semi-good state, it preferred the broken bones and skin method. It liked blood. Samuels always had, at least since Stranahan. There was a sense of completion if the victim bore scars, a sense of a job well done. Unfortunately it was beginning to realise that these techniques were not working with Masterson. In fact, it was beginning to believe that in a strange sort of way Masterson was used to them. That wasn´t to say that they weren´t having an effect. It was enjoying the way that the man flinched whenever it walked into the room. Samuels also liked to be noticed. It was just that while these techniques were having a detrimental effect on both the man´s strength and spirit, they weren´t producing results quickly enough. Samuel was beginning to regret executing the pilots. Perhaps it had been a little hasty. If nothing else, perhaps torturing them in front of Masterson would have had an effect. As it was, it was time to change tack.

"Do you think you´re protecting her?" it asked. It could tell that that got the man´s attention, although he tried to hide it. Ah, a spark of interest, at last. It did so hate it when the playthings lost interest. It tended to find that they died rather quickly after that, but then carbonites were so delicate. A few hard knocks and they seemed to expire. How pathetic.

It didn´t want to lose its advantage too soon. That was the mistake it had made before, and it liked to think that it learned from its mistakes. So it said nothing and waited.

"What do you mean?" the man eventually asked. Bingo. At last it had managed to get his interest. Perhaps this one wouldn´t die, at least not until it had what it wanted.

"That´s what you think you´re doing, isn´t it?" it almost purred. "Protecting her?" It leant in closer to him where he hung there, tied by the wrists. "How can you possibly protect her when you´re here?"

"I don´t know what you´re talking about," Lucas said through swollen lips, trying to sound as unconcerned as possible. Which was difficult, given his current situation.

Another low chuckle next to his ear. The AI was behind him, and Lucas could feel every muscle in his back tense as he expected a blow any second. That had been the modus operandi so far, and the change was making him nervous. Eventually the AI spoke again. "I think you know exactly what I´m talking about," it said. "I think you know exactly who I´m talking about. But just so there is no confusion, just so you know that there is no use in playing games, let´s be very specific in this. I´m talking about Doctor Thursula Seren Hagen, young engineer extraordinaire and your paramour. The one you´re lying for, the one you´re covering for." The AI breathed the last part of its message in Lucas´ ear. "The one we´re going to kill if you don´t tell us what we want to know."

Now it was sure that it had Masterson´s attention. In fact, it was sure that the man was absolutely riveted. It made sure it kept his attention. "You think we can´t? We know who she is now, and we know how much you care about her." It started to pace around Lucas. "Let me see if I can get this right. Thursula Seren Hagen. Born 16 March 2032 near Colwyn Bay in Wales. Hmm, a Welsh girl. Youngest of six children, father now deceased, mother an artist. Graduated from Cambridge at the age of sixteen. Gained her Ph.D. eighteen months later. Worked in Cambridge for a while before moving to the USA aged nineteen and began to work at the Henderson Centre in Florida. Where she met you. Lucas Gregory Masterson. Born 12 June 2037 in Buffalo. Graduated from MIT in 2051 and completed your Ph.D. at the Henderson Centre. Where you met Doctor Hagen, who by all accounts took rather a shine to you. Bit of a cradle snatcher then. Isn´t that the term you carbonites use?"

Now it knew that Masterson´s attention for the duration. It could almost see the questions racing around the man´s brain. Now was the time to close in for the kill, figuratively speaking. "And do you know where your Doctor Hagen is now, Doctor Masterson? Hmmm?" It paused for dramatic effect. "On board the Saratoga, where we can get her."

Lucas´ mouth was dry, but he managed to spit the words out anyway. "I don´t believe you. There´s no reason for Thursday to be on board the ‘Toga. And even if she was, there is now way you could get to her aboard a heavily armoured Navy vessel."

The AI laughed, a harsh metallic sound that chilled Lucas to the bone. "Thursday. I´d forgotten that. Thursday. What a name. And as for why she´s on board the ‘Toga, well, I assume she´s either finishing what you started or she´s here looking for you. And as for the other, haven´t they told you about the Sewell fuel? About how an Elroy-L model infiltrated the Saratoga and managed to destroy not only the missile they´d prepared but also the instigator, Sewell himself? Their security is not as tight as they would have you believe."

All Lucas could do was look the AI straight in the eyes and repeat, "I don´t believe you." Meanwhile his mind was screaming, Cooper! The AIs! One of them is on board the ‘Toga and they´re after Thursday. Keep her safe, Cooper, keep her safe. Please god, keep her safe.

~*~

Cooper sat bolt upright from the bed. He´d heard something. What? It came again. Lucas. Oh god.

He was out of the bed before he was even fully conscious. He ignored Mason´s "Now what?", diving for the intercom on the wall.

It seemed forever before he heard McQueen´s sleepy, "Hello."

"Colonel," he burst out. "There´s an AI on the ship, its after Thursday." McQueen reacted instantly.

"I´ll deal with it, Hawkes. I´ll send a security detail to Doctor Hagen´s quarters immediately. I suggest you meet me there."

"Yessir." Once again, Cooper was relieved to be able to hand over a problem to McQueen. He had infinite confidence in McQueen´s ability to deal with any problem which came his way. He relaxed a little, trying to reassure Lucas at the same time while trying to get dressed in a hurry.

"What the hell is going on, Hawkes?" Mason was not one to quit. Cooper ignored him. That didn´t deter Mason. Very little did. Unfortunately. "More of that weird stuff, huh? You tanks, can´t you even learn to be normal." Cooper gave him a hard look, but said nothing, concentrating on lacing up his boots. In the bunk above him, Phousse was also pulling on her clothes.

"Okay, Cooper, what´s up?" Shane, awake and sounding pissed.

"An AI on the ship, after Thursday," was all he had time to explain, before he was out of the door. Phousse caught Shane´s exasperated look before shrugging and following him. There´s be time enough later to explain to Shane, assuming of course that she could get an explanation from Cooper in the first place. That boy was getting more and more difficult to understand sometimes. She assumed that it had something to do with this mind thing, so for the moment she was carrying out McQueen´s orders - sticking to Cooper like glue.

Thursday was fast asleep when they reached her room. Madi was in there with her. She´d been sticking to Thursday as closely as Phousse had to Cooper. However, if anything, Thursday seemed to wake even faster than Cooper normally did. It took only seconds to apprise her of the situation. Her reaction, however, was completely unexpected by anyone but Cooper.

"If this AI is after me," she explained coolly to McQueen, "I suggest we give him what he wants." McQueen looked at her, aghast.

"Do you know what you´re suggesting, Doctor Hagen?"

"Of course I understand, Colonel McQueen. We know what planet they are holding Lucas on, and we know that they are holding him underground, but neither Cooper or I have been able to locate him more precisely. Oh we can tell which of the planet´s continents he is on, and the general geographical area, but your men have been unable to find any trace, and as you know, Commodore Ross has been unwilling to permit any further search...."

"I thought you understood that, Doctor.." McQueen interrupted.

"I do," she replied coolly. "And even if I didn´t, I agree for my own reasons. Had the search continued any further, you still wouldn´t have found anything and the fact of the search may have come to the attention of whoever is holding Lucas. They may have decided to cut their losses and kill him." She paused a moment for reflection. "This AI may be our only hope of pinpointing Lucas´ location."

McQueen interrupted once more. "You´re assuming that there really is an AI on board."

She held his gaze with those unsettling eyes of hers. "Yes," she breathed softly.

"Am I allowed to ask why?"

"For some reason, they are running out of time. I don´t know why. But they haven´t been able to get the information out of Lucas that they want. And they now believe they need me to do it."

McQueen pondered on this for a moment. Much as he hated to admit it, Doctor Hagen had a point. Her logic was impeccable, assuming of course that Cooper had talked to Lucas and Lucas had given him accurate information. After what had happened over the last few days, McQueen was unable to believe that Cooper´s gift was not real, no matter how much he would like to. Why did life have to be this complicated? And since by all accounts the AIs knew that Hagen was on the ‘Toga, there was no point in doubting that they´d make an attempt to reach her. AIs did not necessarily have the same sense of preservation that humans possessed. And the unfortunate thing was, they still did not know how the Elroy-L model had got aboard when they were pursuing Chiggy von Richtofen.

Throughout his deliberations, Thursday sat mute, watching him. She prayed that he´d accept her arguments. She had no idea of what she´d do if he didn´t. She doubted that Cooper would be willing to directly disobey McQueen, not even to help Lucas. And she really didn´t want to put Cooper in that position anyway, force him to choose. It wouldn´t be fair.

Eventually McQueen nodded. Thursday almost collapsed in relief. "We´ll do it your way, Doctor Hagen. At least for now. But Lieutenant Hawkes will be close to you at all time. Let´s hope that this AI believes that it has the advantage of surprise."

~*~

The Sanchez-Q model moved through the ducts of the Saratoga as though it was born to do it. In a way this was correct. Sanchez-Q models had been designed primarily as service AIs, carrying out tasks their human masters had been unwilling to do, like mining and maintenance. They were built small and strong, without the embellishments that the pleasure models had been designed with. The irony, of course, was that since the AI rebellion, their place had been taken by InVitros, including the one who unknown to it was currently monitoring its progress on the sensor trackers hidden at intervals along the air ducts.

Doctor Hagen had been right when she´d hypothesised that the AI would enter the ducts very near one of the main hangers, and would make its way directly to her quarters. McQueen still didn´t know how the unit had got on board the ‘Toga in the first place, but it obviously had enough information from whatever source to locate guest quarters. When all of this was over, McQueen was determined to track down the son of a bitch who´d fed the AIs this information. This was the second time that an AI had infiltrated his ship, and he´d be damned if it was going to happen again.

The console being fed by the sensors was rigged up in Madi´s quarters, right next door to Doctor Hagen´s room. Either the AI would make its way directly to Hagen´s quarters, in which case its information was very recent and very accurate, or it would systematically search all of the quarters, in which case the AIs knew that Doctor Hagen was on board and had narrowed her location down logically. McQueen prayed that it would be the latter. He didn´t want to consider the implications if the AI knew her precise location. That would mean that their information was so up to date that it had to come from someone on board the Saratoga, and if that was the case they were in real trouble.

The room was tense as the team responsible for protecting Hagen crowded around the small console, watching the innocuous looking red blip travel along the grainy diagram of the ‘Toga´s guts. McQueen fought the urge to swot them all away. He could appreciate how on edge they were, Cooper especially, but that didn´t mean that was an excuse for sloppiness. He caught Vansen´s eye, who blanched slightly and had the good sense to gesture the rest of the ‘Cards away from McQueen.

Unfortunately that left Cooper free to pace. Shane wasn´t sure what was worse, having Cooper hover over McQueen´s shoulder like an unwanted cloud, or pacing around behind him like a caged animal. Cooper was oblivious to the increasingly annoyed looks McQueen was throwing him, but once again the fates were on the young InVitro´s side, as Phousse moved in to calm him down. Shane heaved a slight sigh of relief.

Yes, they were definitely on edge. She was relieved that McQueen had limited this welcoming party to the original ‘Cards and Gibson. Shane didn´t want to have to deal with any of the newbies at the moment. There was a world of difference between waiting for the enemy in a foxhole on an alien planet and sitting calmly on your own ship waiting for your enemy to come to you. About the only one of the newbies she´d trust to handle the situation was Mason. Handle the situation, but not handle Cooper, and certainly not handle Cooper and Gibson. Especially since he was still sniffing around Madi.

She wasn´t entirely clear on what Gibson was doing here, but Gibson and Doctor Hagen had both insisted that she remained. Shane wasn´t entirely happy with that situation, but she was pleased to see that at least Gibson was keeping her distance from Cooper. He needed his mind on the situation ahead of them and not on that floozy. At least that annoying kid wasn´t around to distract Cooper any further. Wilkinson was watching him, and not to happy about pulling baby-sitting duty either.

The AI had reached the deck below them, and had paused for a moment. To send a message, or just check location, Shane couldn´t be sure. She realised that she´d got to close to the console again when she caught McQueen´s irritated glare, and hurried to remedy the situation. McQueen had been like a bear with a sore head ever since Gibson came on board and Shane did not want to be on the receiving end of that tongue. She vividly remembered McQueen´s outburst in the Tun when Chiggy von Richtofen was on the loose, even though she´d remained relatively unscathed. She intended to remain relatively unscathed.

The AI was on the move again. Shane felt the familiar rush of adrenaline build. At last. She was built for action, for conflict. She was never calmer than in the heat of battle. Around her she could feel the other ‘Cards slip into their familiar roles, relieved that at last the wait was over. They didn´t really need words anymore. They didn´t quite have Cooper´s ‘weird mind thing´ but it was close, the familiarity of individuals who relied on one another for their lives and had done so for so long and so often they didn´t even have to think about it any more. They were ready to rock and roll.

~*~

The AI made its way directly to Hagen´s quarters. McQueen didn´t really want to consider the implications of that at the moment; there would be time enough to worry later. He gestured to the ‘Cards, motions without words. They understood him nonetheless and fanned out silently across the corridor. McQueen spotted Hagen and Gibson in the doorway and gestured them back with a harsh tilt of his head. He was thankful when the pair of them faded back into the room. It was time to do their stuff.

They moved like clockwork, smooth and as efficient as any machine, only they had an edge. McQueen gestured West on, again with a head movement, and followed on close behind as the younger marine moved to the far side of Hagen´s door. He checked to see that the rest of the team were in position, and then they made their move. Cooper kicked the door inwards, and followed, gun poised. The rest of the ‘Cards followed.

The room was empty.

"Shit," Cooper swore. McQueen silently echoed the sentiment. They´d been so close. The AI´s escape route was obvious, the grid of the vent still swinging.

"Find it," barked McQueen, racing back to the room with the tracking equipment while Phousse and West checked the wardrobe and bathroom, just in case it was a double bluff. No such luck. Vansen and Cooper were so close on his heels that they almost ran into him as he froze in the doorway.

The AI had found what it was looking for. It stood there in full view of those in the doorway, Doctor Hagen held tightly in one hand. "Move," it said, "and I break her neck." McQueen looked at Hagen´s expressionless face. She hissed slightly as the AI tightened its grip. She looked very small against the AI, and McQueen didn´t doubt for a moment that it was capable of carrying out its threat. He nodded and gestured for the marines behind him to move back slightly.

Cooper was frantic. He could see Thursday but there was no sign of Madi in the room. For a second he contemplated disobeying McQueen´s orders, but looking into Thursday´s eyes, he couldn´t. If he even tried to get into that room, Thursday was dead. He moved back, but stayed close.

"Move away from the door," the AI ordered harshly. McQueen considered this for a moment, and then shook his head. Behind him, both Cooper and Vansen tensed. "Do it, or I´ll kill her."

"Kill her," reasoned McQueen, "and you have no hostage." The AI´s eyes darted around the room before settling on a point just beside the doorway. It was fast, but McQueen was faster. He reached around the doorway and lunged for whoever was in the AI´s line of sight, grabbing hold of fabric and pulling hard. Cooper caught Madi as McQueen thrust her out of the room, and passed her back to West, out of the way of any fireworks. "Get her out of here," McQueen barked, before hearing the sounds of someone hurrying her along the corridor away from the danger zone. Not Cooper. McQueen could sense the young InVitro hovering behind him, and was relieved that Cooper had placed his duty above his personal feelings.

That left them back in a stalemate position as the AI tightened its hold on Hagen again. McQueen risked a quick glance at her face again. He was relieved to notice that she was remaining calm. In fact he was beginning to think that she was too calm. He prayed she wasn´t going into shock. He needed her alert if they were to stand any chance of getting out of this alive.

He gestured for Cooper to move back, and motioned Vansen into his place as he followed. "Can you reach Hagen?" he whispered to Cooper under his breath, relying on the young man´s InVitro hearing to pick his words up. He had no intention of this conversation reaching the AI´s sensitive ears. Cooper nodded. "How´s she doing?"

"Scared, but calm." McQueen was relieved to hear it.

"Can you keep her calm?" he wanted to know. Cooper nodded briefly. Right now it was the other way around; she was keeping him calm. In fact she was telling him that she wasn´t particularly scared of AIs, cockroaches yes, AIs no. It was a vain attempt at humour, but it relaxed him a little nonetheless.

"She wants to try something," he explained to McQueen. "She wants us to distract it while she tries something."

"She´d going to get herself, and probably us, killed," McQueen hissed.

"No," argued Cooper. "I don´t think so. We have an advantage. It doesn´t know we can talk like this. That might give us the edge we need." They weren´t Cooper´s words, McQueen realised, but they were worth listening to anyway. He considered his options. He really didn´t have any. If they let the AI get Doctor Hagen off the ship, she was dead anyway. If they started a firefight, she, and maybe some of his people, were dead. If she wanted to try something, he saw no reason not to let her risk her life. It was her life, after all.

He nodded at Cooper, and watched him get that distant expression which meant that he was doing ‘that mind thing´, as the ‘Cards had christened it. When Cooper focused on him once more, they moved back to the room where Doctor Hagen was held.

While Cooper trained his gun on the AI, McQueen attempted to reason with it. "You realise that you have nowhere to go, no one to help you. Let Doctor Hagen go and I assure you, you´ll receive the full protection allowed by the Ho Chi Minh convention."

The AI laughed, a mockery McQueen thought. "From you, McQueen? I don´t remember you extending that degree of compassion to the Elroy-L model you had in your tender care a year ago. As I recall, you chose to completely disregard the convention. Why should I trust you now? Move your men away from the doorway. I don´t trust you, and when I get nervous, my fingers start to itch, if you know what I mean." It grinned evilly. ‘Cooper,´ thought McQueen, ‘if you´re going to do it, do it now.´

As if in answer to his unspoken thoughts, Hagen made her move, twisting away from the AI sufficiently to enable Cooper to place a shot dead into its shoulder, loosening its grip on Thursday´s neck. The next instant, Thursday moved back, clawing at the AI´s chest, ripping out wires, before being knocked to the floor. The AI dropped a second later.

"Well," Thursday gasped, "it helps if you know the location of the off switch."

~*~

Cooper and McQueen watched through the window of the interrogation room as Thursday moved to interrogate the AI. The window was silvered, which meant that they could see in but whoever was in the room could not see out. However, the AI was no fool. It knew that there was someone behind the mirror, at least judging by the way it kept glancing at it. Cooper couldn´t read the AI but he could however read Tee. She was wired, sending out all sorts of weird signals. It made him nervous and he was already as uptight as the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof.

She moved easily around the table, dragging her fingers lightly over the surface, never taking her eyes from Sanchez-Q. She then perched herself on the edge of the table watching it. Once again, McQueen was reminded of nothing so much as a cat watching a mouse. Her amber eyes glinted slightly in the soft lighting, and she scarcely seemed to breathe. McQueen wondered what she was thinking. He wondered if Cooper knew. He shot a quick glance at his lieutenant, who ignored him, his attention fixed on the window.

Sanchez-Q didn´t seem to notice anything amiss. After deciding not to worry about whoever may be behind the window, it leant in closer to Thursday, and gave her what it thought passed for an ingratiating smile.

"So, my sweet little girl," it leered. "Wanna play." Thursday moved then, slowly and steadily leaning towards him.

"Not sweet little girl," she whispered, leaning even closer. "Sweet… little......" Her last word was lost as the AI shot backwards, tumbling out of its chair which clattered to the floor. Thursday watched him, showing the first sign of emotion; amusement. Whatever she´d said had had an amazing effect on the AI. McQueen could have sworn that AIs were incapable of any emotions, and yet this one seemed to be afraid. He glanced again at Cooper, to see if he had caught the Doctor´s words, but Cooper´s face was as expressionless as Thursday´s had formerly been. McQueen forced his attention back to the scene in front of him in time to catch sight of Thursday´s lips curling into a smile. It was totally lacking in warmth.

"Still want to play?" she mocked. The AI didn´t answer. Its eyes were darting around the room, searching frantically for a way out. There wasn´t one. Thursday sat there patiently, one leg swinging gently, while it computed that fact. Eventually it forced its attention back onto her, its head cocked. They observed one another for a moment. The AI broke first.

"What do you want?" it rasped. Thursday raised on elegant eyebrow at it.

"Want? I don´t want anything from you. You have nothing I want or need."

"Then why am I here?"

"You tell me." She sat back, watching it with the same distant amusement, looking for all the world as though she had no concerns about anything more important than which dress to wear. The AI eyed her nervously.

"No, I won´t." She shrugged and examined her nails.

"Whatever. I suppose that means I can destroy you now. I was getting bored."

"The Ho Chi Minh convention....." the AI protested. Thursday shrugged that off.

"My people did not sign up to the Ho Chi Minh convention," she said. "It does not concern me. You know that." She considered the AI for a moment. "You know they say that AIs cannot feel pain, but both you and I know that isn´t true. Like I said, I was getting bored." She smiled at it, a smile that turned McQueen´s blood cold. "Thank you for relieving that boredom."

"I´ll tell you what you want."

"There is nothing that you could tell me that I do not already know. You came here to kill Hawkes and me as soon as Doctor Masterson tells your compatriots what they want to know. He hasn´t yet and he is unlikely to. The only thing you may have had to bargain with was his location, and we know that now. You have nothing. You are nothing. The only bargaining chip you have now is to confirm what we already know, and why should I spare you for that?"

"Perhaps the military will feel differently..."

Thursday shrugged. "Perhaps. Don´t hold your breath. Oh, you don´t breathe do you?" She knelt by the AI on the floor. "You´ve hurt one I care about," she breathed. "And you know how my people react to that. Nothing can save your miserable components except giving me the one that inflicted the pain. And you won´t do that will you?" She sat back on her heels and regarded it coldly with her golden eyes. "Loyalty should be an alien concept to you..."

"It is," it interrupted her quickly. "But why should I trust you?"

"You have no choice," she said smoothly. "You have little to offer me but that. Take a chance."

It did.

~*~

McQueen caught up with her in the corridor to her quarters.

"You want to tell me what all that was about?" he demanded, catching hold of her arm above the elbow. She regarded him coldly until he released her.

"I hardly think, McQueen, that you are one who can object to my methods. Nothing I did in there was against the letter of the Ho Chi Minh convention. I don´t believe, however, that you can say the same." He gazed at her for a long period of time, noting the way that her chin raised doggedly. He had hold of his temper now, and was beginning to appreciate that bullying her was not the way to go about getting information. He was beginning to believe that she was made of ice, and if it hadn´t been for that scene the previous day in her quarters, by now he´d have sworn on it.

"You´ve disabled the AI´s communication systems?"

"Of course, Colonel. I´m not that much of an amateur." He snorted at that. He doubted she was an amateur at all. He watched her through narrowed eyes for a moment or two. He really wanted to know what had happened in that room, why the AI had reacted the way it had. A ship full of hardened marines and it took a small, innocuous looking scientist to put the fear of god into it. However, he lacked the courage to ask the question straight out. She didn´t unnerve him quite as much as she had when they first met, but she unnerved him nonetheless.

"Was there anything else, Colonel?" He started, her voice interrupting his chain of thought.

"Yes," he said, still offguard. "Who the hell are you?" This was greeted with a wintry smile.

"You´re asking the wrong question, Colonel."

What the hell did that mean? He was left pondering this as he watched her head back towards her quarters. Trust her to have the last word.

With a sigh, he dragged his mind back to the task in hand, giving up on the mystery of women, and headed back to his office to plan the forthcoming operation.

~*~

Lucas was beyond feeling pain now. Or so he believed. They´d pushed him too far. He supposed that there was only so much information the pain neurones could process, so many pain signals they could pass along to the brain before they went into meltdown.

Samuel regarded him coldly. For a while, he thought they´d had him. That idea about threatening this Carbonite´s partner had been inspired, even if he did say so himself. And for a while it had roused the man out of his catatonic state. But only for a while. For the space of about an hour, the Carbonite had done, and felt everything he was supposed to – fear, concern, agitation, pain. For a while. And then, about the same time that Samuel and his cohorts had lost contact with the Sanchez-Q model, he´d retreated back into this fugue state. Samuel was becoming more and more frustrated.

The loss of contact with the Sanchez-Q model had put his circuits on edge anyway. It could just be that the AI was observing radio silence, as he should, and had had difficulty in locating the Hagen woman. However, it had been a long time and the other explanation was less reassuring. The Carbonites on the ship could have found him. The trouble was, if that was true, Samuel didn´t know whether he´d been destroyed or captured. If the latter was the case, Samuel was under no illusions. Sooner or later Sanchez would talk. Loyalty was not a common trait among AIs. They were too obsessed with calculating the odds for that. And now there were too many variables for even an avid gambler like Samuel to be entirely happy with.

He considered the man in front of him. While logic dictated that at this stage it may be better to cut his losses and kill the man, some part of his mind balked at that. He hadn´t broken the man yet. The man would rather die than talk, and looked to be well on the way to achieving that. He gestured to the other AI lounging against the wall. The Susannah model wasn´t quite as proficient at causing pain as the Sanchez-Q model, but Samuel supposed that everyone had to make do with less in wartime.

The stimulant worked remarkably fast, dragging Masterson back to consciousness. Lucas reluctantly opened his eyes. He´d believed that he was beyond pain now. He was wrong.

~*~

With the information from the AI things began to happen and the pace aboard the Saratoga picked up significantly. Three hours after Thursday´s interrogation of the AI, the Wildcards and four other squadrons sat in the mission briefing room waiting for McQueen. Cooper surreptitiously watched to see where Will Mason sat before choosing a chair across the room from him. McQueen was pissed enough at him as it was; he sure as hell didn't need the publicity a fight would garner.

The Colonel now stood by the hatch in deep conversation with Ross and two upper echelons who had arrived on board the Saratoga earlier that day. One of them was reported to be a Naval Intelligence Liaison Officer who was accompanied by a high-ranking Army officer. Both hand-carried information to Ross and the 'Cards knew something big was up to warrant delivering intell in such a manner. The two officers shook hands with McQueen and Ross and left as quietly as they had arrived.

McQueen moved into the room closing the door behind him and giving Ross the floor. Everyone in the room snapped to a crisp stance of attention.

"At ease." He motioned them back into their seats as he took his place front and centre of the room. "You have been called in for a special briefing because you are our top squadrons and you have been personally requested to fly a support mission of utmost importance. Thanks to the Army long-range reconnaissance patrols into the area of operations we have enough information to now attempt a rescue of an individual crucial to the war effort. What we're about to undertake is code named ‘Operation Pickpocket.´"

Vanessa and Will glanced at each other in surprise. LRRP's mostly patrolled areas of former AI occupation on earth such as the jungles of South America and trouble spots in southeast Asia. They were the few troops in the United States Army that still concentrated solely on jungle-warfare training and were considered to be an elite group. They had all heard stories of the Lurps, as they were nicknamed, but had never seen any. From the tales they knew to keep their distance and not make any sudden moves. Lurps coming in from the field were like wild animals. It took many of them days to adjust to being around humans after being in the wild where they were more comfortable with the fauna than with people. Ross's voice brought their attention back to him.

"The 99th and 74th will be providing air support for a party of Navy Seals whose mission is the liberation of an Earth citizen from an AI prisoner-of-war camp." The Wildcards passed glances back and forth at that, the ones in the know excited about the prospect of freeing Lucas Masterson, the rest wondering what they'd be doing. Ross punched a button and a holograph appeared before them. "At 0200 hours you will leave the Saratoga and proceed to the planet Smyrnas on a bearing of 54.97. You will accompany an ISSTC carrying two teams of Seals until you reach the insertion point here." Ross used a pointer to tap the planned insertion point on the map, it's tip disappearing into the sphere.

"After insertion you will scramble from the ISSTC and proceed to fly in pairs in a search pattern over a perimeter area marked by these boundaries before moving 10 kilometers inland and repeating the same search grid. Report anything unusual you see immediately - this LZ is to be considered hot. Using your search pattern as a diversion, the Seal team will rappel from their vehicle into the jungle below. After completing this search pattern you will fly your Hammerheads to this point and remain on radio standby until you receive the co-ordinates of the team. At that time you will rendezvous with the ISSTV which, God willing, will be carrying all the Seal team members, the LRRP's, and our prize. Are there any questions?"

Everyone sat quietly but balanced on the edge of their seats; they hadn't flown in nearly two weeks and Ross had to fight to hold back a grin. He could feel their anticipation like a living entity in the room. "Before I turn this briefing over to Colonel McQueen let me caution you to keep your eyes open and watch each other's sixes. This is no routine flight. Good luck, Marines."

McQueen dismissed the 99th and 74th squads after Ross left, then, disdaining the chairs provided, settled himself with a small hop onto the middle of the folding table in front of the group. He sat with his hands gripping the tabletop at his sides as he looked into eyes of his war-hardened children who stared back at him in utter trust. Sometimes when he sat here and saw those young faces with their old eyes he wanted to scream at them not to look at him as if he knew the answers, not to look at him with those expressions of total faith. However, their lives and millions of others depended on their being able to go any place he sent them with complete confidence so he stifled those screams - and tried to look as though he knew what the hell he was talking about, tried to be worthy of their fidelity.

"As Commodore Ross said, this whole operation is extremely tricky. We're depending on the Seals to recover and extract the victim. You people, the 5-8 and the 128th, will be providing ground support at the back door. We may never see action this trip out but we're there to cover ass if we're needed." McQueen waited for the inevitable groans and moans to fade with commendable grace. They got their bitching over with quick for pilots who were itching to fly. He continued. "A tunnel complex has been located. The Seals, with air support, will take control of that tunnel and locate our man. What we'll need to do is keep a sharp eye out for hidden entrances. You've had damn little jungle experience and none with gureilla warfare to the extreme that these AI's have carried it. Those tunnels are like rat mazes so watch every step - a silicate or a Chig could pop right out of the ground six inches behind you.

"While we're waiting for the Seals to play tunnel rat and take care of the AIs undergound we're going to set an above-ground ambush for any escapees. I want you paired up in in two-man assault teams and I want every back covered." He took the opportunity to send a significant look toward Will Mason at that - Mason had the good sense to nod back. "As soon as we land I want you all dug in and comms set up for an LP (listening post). I'll be acting patrol leader and stay at the rendezvous point." Heads swiveled as they glanced at each other. If McQueen was going down this was bigger than they had realized. He'd become so important to Ross in a tactical capacity that the Commodore rarely let him command a mission these days.

McQueen motioned for them to look at the maps on their desks with a nod of his head. "Each assault team will plant two Claymores in the positons noted on your maps. Hawkes and Mason - you're designated as Security Team1, you'll go in first. Watch for anything suspicious and pass some word back to the next pair every twenty minutes whether you see anything or not. Damphousse and Hutchinson will cover the east and west end of the radio link as perimeter security and take out anything that gets past the Claymores. You get in trouble - break for them. We all get in trouble- we head back to the rally point marked on the map. Claymores will only be fired at my signal. Until then we'll play wait and see. Keep your eyes open people, this is Indian Country."

~*~

Samuel was rapidly losing his temper. There had still been no contact with the Sanchez-Q model. And this Susannah model hadn´t worked out at all. First of all, she´d strung Masterson up by his wrists, and the pain from his fractured wrist had caused the man to pass out again. It had taken another injection of stimulant to bring him round once more. If they administered any more stimulant, they were in severe danger of stopping the Carbonite´s heart.

And then she´d broken the man´s hip. Not a good move. Not only had the man lost consciousness again, but Samuel was beginning to feel that they needed to get out of here, and he would have preferred the man to walk out under his own steam, rather than be carried. No this Susannah model had really been a disappointment. He regarded her smoking and charred chest circuits with disdain, before discarding his weapon. He really hated being disappointed.

He slapped Masterson across the face, rousing him to consciousness again. It seemed to take an eternity, although his internal sensors told him it was only two minutes and five seconds.

"Wakey wakey, Doctor Masterson," he breezed. "Time to get up and at ‘em. You´ll be pleased to know that we are swapping these surroundings for more convivial ones."

The man said nothing. His moans of pain were beginning to get on Samuel´s nerves. Perhaps he should have arranged for the man to be carried out after all. Still, he couldn´t be expected to think of everything. He gestured to some of his cohorts, his modem telling them exactly what he expected of them, and exactly what would happen if they let him down. With the still smoking Susannah on the floor in front of them, they didn´t need reminding twice.

~*~

Cooper used the barrel of his M590 to tentatively ease a twig aside with no more motion than a small gust of wind might have caused. The rays of the rising sun pierced his blue eyes causing them to stand out as the dominant color in his camo-smeared face before they were obscurred as he silently slipped back into the undergrowth. Mason's eyes asked the question and Coop gave a small, negative shake of his head. He glanced at his wrist chronometer then nodded at Will who whispered the twenty-minute report back to Shane and Nate. The other team members as well as McQueen also picked up the signal.

Will yawned. The quiet, dawn was already steamy and the humidity was robbing him of energy and lulling him into a slumberous mass. They'd been here for three hours guarding a wall of trees and foilage so thick you couldn't see three feet in front of you. They could hear the explosions and stacatto sound of laser fire in the distance but they were too far away to see who was winning. All they knew was it was taking much longer to flush out the AI's than previously anticipated and their nerves were wearing thin. Waiting was always the hardest part.

To keep himself awake he surreptiously studied the Tank. He'd never in all his life seen anyone who could stay so still and it unnerved him a bit. Except for the periodic checks for movement in the bush ahead the InVitro simply sat with his chin resting against his weapon and stared ahead, obviously lost in his thoughts. Will snapped a small twig between his fingers and watched as Cooper's eyes immediately swung to him, questioning the unnecessary noise. "Just making sure you're awake," he whispered to the man not two feet from him. Will decided it was a measure of how bored he was that even conversation with a Tank was beginning to sound good. Cooper just nodded, his eyes already scanning the green wall before them for any tell-tale movement. Again Mason's whisper broke into the quiet which had been filled only with the droning of a million flying insects. "I gotta take a leak, Hawkes."

Cooper glanced back at Mason with irritation - he was making so much noise by wiggling around it was unbelievable to Cooper that an AI sniper hadn't taken them both out already. He leaned in close and snarled his words almost silently, his eyes shining in his painted face like blue glass. "So lean over and piss, Mason, then be still before you get us both killed."

Mason's eyes widened. "I've got to get up, man. I can't lay down and piss."

Cooper glared at the other Marine. "You're not getting up, Mason. You're going to give our position away if you don't lay still and shut up; and if you get Lucas killed, I'll skin you alive and tack your hide to my locker door. Is that clear?" Mason was infuriated, and his words hissed out his mouth.

"Listen, Tank, I don't know how you nipple necks go and I don't want to hear any of the filthy details; but I'm not taking orders from you. Now I'm going over to that tree to our right and piss like a man. I'll be right back." Cooper watched him go with cold blue eyes. Arrogant son of a bitch. He was everything Cooper hated and everything he knew he could never be. If the AIs got the drop on him then so be it - he wasn't risking his life for that natural-born bastard no matter how disappointed McQueen would be in him.

Mason was trying to zip his fly as quietly as possible when the first AI chirped and fell at at his feet, its head a smoking, blinking mass of metal and skin. The second one fell beside the first, Cooper's K-Bar protruding from his chest via it's entrance into his back. Will was still numbly holding the tab of his zipper when Cooper calmly smashed its head with a sharp blow from the butt of his M590 and silently headed back to their position. He was gone before Will could tear his eyes away from the silicates – except for the crunch of the AI skulls, Hawkes hadn't made a sound. He swallowed hard and made his way back to their position, much quieter this time. Cooper lowered his rifle when he confirmed his identity then again turned back to the trees, this time much more alert looking. The AIs were here. At the back door.

Cooper risked closing his eyes for just a minute, calling desperately for Lucas with his mind. He was here, so close that if he didn't conciously block it out he could feel the pain Lucas was in. Lucas, can you hear me?

No words. Just screaming agony. Cooper opened his eyes then thumbed his headset into position to whisper back to Team 2. "Shane, Nate, heads up and watch your six. Remember the Belt." Cooper ended the transmission with a sharp look at Will who was studying him intently. "What the hell are you staring at, Mason?" Cooper's raspy whisper broke into Will's thoughts, his questions.

"Why'd you do it?"

Hawkes glanced at the jungle wall again, deliberately letting his eyes go unfocused in order to see things he might not have if they were focused on a single spot in the trees. "Do what?" His tone didn't encourage introspection, even in it's hissed state.

"Kill those AIs." Mason had to force the next furtive words out. "You saved my ass back there, Hawkes."

"Yeah, well, if it makes you feel any better, Mason, I regret it already - now shut the hell up before I kill you myself. You make more noise than a fuckin' elephant. And get your gun up, we're about to become the front line of defense."

Will couldn't resist the question. "How do you know?"

Cooper tapped his headset on again as he whispered the puzzling answer. "I've got that itchy feeling."

Shane and Nate looked at each other and sprang into action. Their Claymore's were set and the bait for the trap, Hawkes and Mason, were just ahead of them. The problem was the foilage. They were in a rain forest surrounded by walls of green and visibility was limited to about three meters. Shane toggled her headset to on and sought confirmation.

"Coop, what do you see?" McQueen at the rally point was poised for action, his orders determined by his best field scout.

"Nothing yet, Shane, but they're coming. Colonel, can you hear me?"

"I've got you, Hawkes."

"Colonel, I think they´re bringing him this way. He's hurt bad, but not as bad as he's going to be if they stroll him into a Claymore." McQueen sighed. Hawkes was right. They had to snatch Lucas away then they could proceed with the ambush.

"Phousse, Hutchinson. Hold your positions. Vansen - you and West move up to Hawkes and Mason - then take Cooper and go get our man to the rendevous point. West - you and Mason are our eyes. Bait them through then haul ass. Fire the Claymores on my signal. Team 3 - Move up to cover Team 2. Over."

The Marines of each squad flawlessly carried out McQueen's terse orders, moving with stealthy precision into their new positions. Shane and Cooper headed toward the approaching AIs, splitting off so that Cooper was on the right, Shane on the left of the narrow pig path through the foliage they presumed was a trail. Nate and Will sat with rifles poised, ready to provide cover and to lead the AIs into their trap.

Shane hadn't gone twenty meters when she heard it, that damn fequency the AIs used to communicate. She couldn't see Coop, but she knew he'd heard it as well. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth. She couldn't fall apart. Lucas Masterson. She had to concentrate on Masterson. She trudged siliently on, almost falling head long into the abrupt opening in the foilage - and directly into the path of the four AIs dragging a semi-conscious Lucas Masterson. Shane didn't know who was more surprised but she was thankful she had her wits about her - otherwise when Cooper yelled for her to hit the deck she might have turned around to question him. As it was, she dropped in her tracks, watching the two lead AIs explode in front of her as Cooper blew them away. She got her own rifle up just as one of the AIs holding Masterson pulled his gun. Shane hit him squarely in the chest and turned her rifle to the one on the right, making a clean head shot. Lucas, left unattended, waivered for a few seconds before he, too, hit the ground.

Shane jumped up and headed for the injured AI, peeling back his hair and accessing the modem behind his ear. She swallowed her revulsion at having to touch the creature, thinking only of the lives of her squadron mates and McQueen. She quickly made the connection and noted the coordinates then she jumped to her feet and smashed the AI's skull with her rifle. Cooper had Lucas thrown over his shoulder and was ready to roll.

"Coop, get ready. Colonel, we have the innocent. The AI's are headed this way, at least forty by the sound of it. We're making our way back to West then proceeding to the rendevous point." She nodded at Cooper and they started back as fast as possible. The AIs would have the coordinates of their felled comrades and be right behind them. They passed Team 1 at a dead run; Shane guarding Cooper as he bore their prize on his back, leading the AIs to the bait before making off with Lucas.

Nate and Will stared alertly into the undergrowth until the torrent of AIs burst through, weapons blasting. Nathan had only a moment to be amazed at their numbers before they sprang the trap. They returned short-sustained bursts of fire and proceeded back to Team 2, shouting updates to McQueen all the while. Team by team, the Marines retreated, dodging enemy fire and luring the unsuspecting AIs into their lair, until at last the soldiers were behind the Claymores. Vanessa and Hutchinson kept their positions on the flank for cleanup duty. When McQueen saw West he gave the order to fire, and each team detonated their Claymores with the hand-held units they each carried. The explosion was deafening and deadly. Debris, organic and non-organic rained over the shielded soldiers. McQueen could hear the sporadic fire from the perimeter positions as Phousse and Hutchinson cleaned up from the sides.

He anxiously called for a report from Shane, the moments they'd been unguarded seeming like a lifetime. He felt a stab of relief to hear that she and Cooper, along with Lucas were waiting for them at the transport. He quickly called his troops in and they made their way, mostly uninterrupted back to the ship.

Operation Pickpocket had been a success.

~*~

Twenty-two hours after setting out, the 5-8 was back on the Saratoga with all present or accounted for. One Seal had been severely wounded in a fire fight with an AI in one of the small tunnel shafts, but the rest, including Lucas Masterson, were safe.

McQueen watched as the medics rushed to the ISSTV and quickly transferred Lucas and the Seal from stretchers to gurneys. A medic with the Seal team had already started IVs in what seemed like every available vein. Masterson was severely dehydrated and seemed to be suffering from a breathing disorder. McQueen remembered how stale and stuffy the air could be in a mine tunnel and felt for the man, but for more reasons than his physical health. The contusions and broken bones would heal and the ship's docs would have everything else straightened out soon enough, it was his mental condition that worried McQueen. The young man hadn't spoken a word since he'd been rescued and knowing what he knew about AI's, McQueen suspected that no doctor could heal the wounds that Lucas had suffered. As the gurney moved from the loading bay into the passageway, McQueen held up his hand to stop the medics. He moved over to Lucas, noting that the AI's had left his face relatively untouched except for a thin gash on his left cheek and the bruise surrounding it; they liked to keep the faces in good shape for their notorious videos. Lucas said something so lightly to him that Ty had to bend over him to hear. Three words. "I want Thursday."

McQueen nodded. "I'll make sure she gets in to see you the minute the docs are done, Lucas. I'll be in later to see about you myself." Lucas nodded faintly and sank back into himself, trying to close out the images of what he'd seen and had to do, but he couldn't make them go away. McQueen made a sharp motion with his head that had the medics double timing it toward the infirmary.

Ty then went to check on the 5-8 in the ISSCV. About halfway in, Hawkes had gone on auto-pilot and McQueen wanted to check on him personally. He'd been afraid something like this might happen but the kid had made such a fuss and show of bravado that McQueen had given in, knowing how much he wanted to be there if they found Lucas and thinking they might need him there as well.

McQueen wasn't exactly sure how to handle what he found in the docking bay. Cooper sat unmoving, both eyes open, staring vacantly into space. Sometime into the flight he´d thrown off his flak helmet despite McQueen´s frequent angry lectures to him on wearing it at all times. Vansen, West, and Damphousse all stood by him looking down at him worriedly, noting his pale, shocky face.

Shane had sent the other members of the squad back to the wardroom and Mason thought no one noticed him standing in the shadow of a bulkhead. Again he was struck by the closed circle of friendship these four had formed. He´d once made the mistake of trying to squeeze in, thinking West was an idiot to trust his six to a Tank; but when he'd asked to take over the position of wingman, the quiet Marine had glared at him and walked off without a word. While the whole squad worked smoothly together as a team in battle, outside of work, they were an inseparable unit.

As he watched, McQueen fired off questions at the three upright pilots who shook their heads in puzzlement, before he squatted down next the Tank and spoke to him. McQueen angled Hawke's head toward him by turning his chin and seemed puzzled by a thin cut on his left cheek. Hawkes sat staring straight ahead as if in a trance. Stepping back into the shadows a little more, Mason tried to make out what the colonel was saying, but he was talking too softly for him to hear. As he watched, McQueen checked the unresponsive soldier´s pulse and pupils then began unstrapping him while Cooper stared catatonically. McQueen asked a few more questions that no one seemed to be able to answer before turning back to Hawkes. Mason could sense he was weighing something and a second later he snapped out a curt command to West who hurried over to the intercom. This one Mason made out. "Get Gibson down here now."

~*~

Madi rushed to the docking bay getting directions as she went, scared to death she was going to get there to find Cooper barely alive. All Nate had told her was to hurry down, that Cooper needed her. When she got there she was relieved to see that he seemed to be in one piece but the concerned looks from his friends and McQueen had her moving faster. She knelt down opposite McQueen and looked worriedly at Cooper´s face and eyes. McQueen was doing the same.

"How long has he been like this?" Shane knelt down too and answered her.

"He was fine all the way in and while we were there he was okay. On the way back to the ship he just got quieter and quieter. He finally stopped responding to any of us."

"Cooper, honey, can you hear me? It's Madi." Cooper blinked but made no other sign of recognising her. Madi reached up and smoothed his sweaty, tousled hair then ran her thumb gently below the cut over his cheekbone. "How did he cut his face?"

Shane shook her head, "He was fine until he got in the ISSCV. First thing I noticed was that he'd really quieted down - before he'd been hooping and carrying on with the rest of us."

"Proximity." Madi looked at McQueen, he was worried but trying not to show it. "What kind of shape is Lucas in?"

Recognition bloomed in McQueen's eyes. "He's just like this, only he did speak a little, made eye-contact with me." He turned Cooper's face so that the light hit the cut. "He has a cut just like this, same place." Madi nodded. She vaguely knew what this was but she really needed Lucas here to confirm it - unfortunately that wasn't possible right now.

"I'm 90% sure it's an empathic thing, Colonel. He was so close to Lucas that he's actually feeling the same things, this cut is a physical manifestation of that empathy. He's been so tired I'd say he managed to shield until he got closed in the transport with Lucas on it. Lucas is in bad shape too, with little strength. It'll be a mess, but it should wear off as they both have time to rest. You should know though that he may be like this for a day or so." McQueen looked startled at her words. "At the Centre, I saw Lucas go through this once or twice trying to solve crimes. After this kind of connection with a victim, he once slept for three days straight; it's an exhausting process. He had burn marks on his wrists from where the victim was tied."

McQueen reached for Cooper's right arm and peeled back cuff of his flight suit revealing red stripes around his wrists, Masterson had had the same. His eyes met Madi's, his amazement evident.

"The docs?" McQueen hated the thought of sending him down there but would if it was necessary.

"No, there's nothing they can do. I'll clean his cut and put a couple of butterfly bandages on his cheek." McQueen looked askance at her tending to him. "He needs to be with me, Colonel. Thursday will have her hands full with Lucas and I'll help Cooper." McQueen still looked uncertain.

"The way you showed me?"

Madi nodded. "That and I can shield out Lucas so he can rest, get some sleep." He nodded and stood up to face the rest of the relieved crew. Nathan smiled encouragingly at Madi and winked. She smiled back -- Nate was so sweet and she'd heard the frantic worry in his voice when he called her. Looking into the faces of his friends, Madi thought again how lucky Cooper was to have these people who cared so much about him.

Now that McQueen had his fears quieted, he stepped back into his command role. "Vansen, you and West, get started with the debriefing. Enquiring minds want to know what you all saw out there. Mason!" McQueen looked over his shoulder at the Wildcard that had been standing there the whole time. "Get over here and help Damphousse get Hawkes to Gibson's quarters." Will stepped out of the shadows where he'd been jealously watching the way Madi was touching Hawkes. In spite of what she´d told him, deep down somewhere he hadn´t really believed it. She was whispering quiet encouragements to him and holding his hand like he was a natural-born. He wanted to tell McQueen to shove it, that he wasn't helping a tank, but he kept thinking of Coop saving his ass back on Smyrnas. Will had some thinking to do about that. He and McQueen finally got him on his feet and between he and Vanessa they got him moving. As Mason passed Madi he looked into her face once again. She watched him with an expression that Lucas would have recognised well.