Saratoga Sickbay September 17, 2064- 0700 hours:

“How are you feeling this morning, Major McKendrick?” Dr. Kirkwood checked over the notes the night nurse had left.

“How marvelous, a lady doctor,” the Major smiled. “I’m doing much better since you and the nice Commander got that nasty shell out of me, though you took quite a chance.”

“I hope it wasn’t too painful,” Jenny checked his bandaged thigh. “I’m sorry, I know I started working before the pain block took full effect.”

“Never you mind that, it was something that needed to be done, and quickly,” McKendrick patted her hand. “After I was hit, I tried to tell the young Marines that I shouldn’t be brought aboard the shuttle, let alone the Saratoga! They were quite insistent. I’ve met them before, they’re always very insistent!”

“I think that would be an accurate description,” the Doctor smiled. “They had a good teacher.”

“I want to thank you,” the Major turned serious. “What you and your nurse did was one of the bravest things I’ve ever seen.”

“Brave!” Jenny shook her head. “Not brave, a bit desperate maybe, but not brave. I don’t think I’ve ever been as afraid in my life as I was when I realized what you were saying about the round in your leg. I’m surprised my hands didn’t shake so much I set the darn thing off before I could get it out of you.”

“To have not been afraid, would have been foolish,” he spoke kindly. “The actions one takes when most afraid are the ones that determine if one is brave or not.”

“Not everyone shares your opinion, Major,” the memory of Ty’s public tongue lashing stung.

“You’re speaking about the angry Colonel McQueen?” The Major remembered his last run-in with the Marine, “he can be a tough bastard when he wants to be, but he knows a lot about bravery, too.” The Major had seen what Jenny had missed: the expression of fear on McQueen’s face when the doors first opened.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, McKendrick,” both the Doctor and the Major looked up to see McQueen leaning against the hatchway.

“Colonel, a bit early aren’t you?” Jenny moved between McQueen and her patient. She wondered how much of the conversation he had overheard. “We aren’t through with morning rounds. If you will excuse us, please!” She moved toward the open hatch to close him out.

“And good-morning to you too, Jen,” the Colonel smiled at her as his eyes looked her over from head to toe.

For one moment Jenny’s breath caught in her throat, she felt nailed to the deck by the way he was looking at her. “Out, McQueen,” her voice rumbled as she tried to push the hatch closed on him.

“Commodore Ross and I’ll be back in about an hour, Major,” he spoke to the Major, but his eyes never left the Doctor’s face. “I’ll see you later too, Jen.”

“Well, well, it looks as if the tough Colonel has warmed up a bit since the last time I met him,” the Major grinned at the Doctor.

Jenny stomped out of McKendrick’s bay, the morning wasn’t starting out at all well. She decided that at the first sign of Ross and McQueen she was going to make herself scarce. She didn’t think her nervous system could take much more of Ty’s games. What was he trying to pull, making it look as if ... as if they were ...? Jen bit her lip to keep her mind away from the look in his eyes. She wondered briefly, if they would Court Marshall her, if she killed him. After all, what was one irritating Colonel more or less. The Marines had plenty of them to spare!

---

O830 McKendrick’s Bay:

“Major, what is about to be discussed here today, is classified and compartmentalized,” Commodore Ross looked at the serious faces of the people in the room. “You already know Colonel McQueen. This is Captain Fisher, and I believe you’ve met Lieutenant Connelly.”

“Commodore, it is a pleasure to meet all of you,” McKendrick smiled at his visitors, his eyes resting on McQueen for just a moment. “It’s wonderful, you Yanks, seem to have so many lovely women on board,” the man grinned as he watched the Colonel’s eyes freeze over.

The five people spent the next hour going over all the information McKendrick could add to what was already know about the AI virus. If what the Major was telling them was correct, the AI’s were being wiped out one group at a time.

“What I still don’t understand is how the virus was transmitted?” Connelly looked through the print-outs that McKendrick had transcribed.

“I think it was originally placed on Minerva,” the Major thought back over all he had discovered in the last year. “I believe that planet was to be a testing ground to see if it really worked.

“I do know that once the virus was recognized, there were nothing but income transmissions. As if the AI’s on Minerva realized the disease could be spread, if they contacted their main network. Check through the records you have from 2063Y, I think, you’ll find there is only one outgoing message sent from Minerva, after the beginning of April and it was sent by your squadron, Col. McQueen.”

“The last time we were on Minerva,” McQueen could picture Shane helping Paul by retrieving the information he wanted so badly. “We tried to download information from the AI mainframe. The Elroy model we used, had the virus, but was dying from wounds received in battle.”

“That would be enough to spread the virus, if the mainframe accepted the message you sent, it would become contaminated. Anything that was sent from the hub would also contain the virus.” Fisher dug through the information she had, trying to find a reference to Minerva, “yes, here it is, April 20, 2064, though the content of the message was deleted.”

“The mainframe has always had defense mechanisms on it, that’s why we’ve never been able to find it.” Connelly had studied the AI’s and the mainframe that was their central hub, when in school. “When the AI’s left Earth, they recreated a hub somewhere in space.”

“That explains how the virus was spread off Minerva,” Fisher shrugged. She hadn’t missed the look that had passed between McQueen and Ross, they knew more than they were saying. She was glad this was a need to know assignment. There were some things she never wanted to learn about and who had accidentally spread the virus was one of them.

“Commodore, Colonel, may I have a moment alone with you,” McKendrick nodded toward Fisher and Connelly as they left the room. “There is one other thing you should know, but it is of a delicate nature,” McKendrick cleared his throat. “As you probably know, I was with Supply before the massacre on Minerva. Most people don’t know this, but every message that is sent anywhere off Earth has a scrambled code unique to the sender embedded in the body of the message. I know about it because I did some sensitive work long before I was sent to rot at the supply hub on Io.”

“Are you telling us you know who planted the virus?” Ross was interested in knowing, but he didn’t see the problem. Someone from Earth was using biological warfare against the AI’s. Not exactly ethical, but AI’s only played by the rules when it suited them. “Yes, but more importantly, the same people sent out information about a huge Earth offensive in late August. I believe it was called ...”

“Operation Roundhammer?” Ross and McQueen finished for him.

“Yes! That’s the one. After almost no communication from the AI’s, all of the sudden, messages started coming in very fast,” the Major remembered sitting up nights trying to decode the transmissions. “And the AI’s on Minerva would send messages to the Chigs.”

“Do you know whose code was being used to give this information to the enemy?” McQueen whispered, his mouth going dry as he thought of Savage’s accusations about Stryker and Hayden.

“Carleton Stryker sent the virus and Diane Hayden sent the information about Operation Roundhammer,” McKendrick whispered as if the walls had ears. “Both of them sent numerous messages to Minerva. One of the earliest ones I found requested an AI infiltration of the Saratoga back in early February.”

“The Elroy that blew up the Sewell Fuel,” Ross whispered as McQueen nodded in agreement. “It doesn’t make sense, why would they help the Chigs with battle information, at the same time they’re creating a virus to kill AI’s? Is there any way these codes can be faked?” Ross needed to be very sure of his information.

“No, if the codes are tampered with, a shadow is left behind, a finger print of the person who does the tampering, so to speak,” McKendrick had helped develop that part of the code and knew without a doubt that the tracking system was reliable. “It was developed during the AI war, to prevent them from raiding our component supplies and computer information. It wasn’t common knowledge and only those on a need to know basis were allowed access. I can only assume that the safeguard was left in place after the AI’s were driven off Earth to help prevent their return.”

“Did Aerotech know about the codes?” McQueen couldn’t believe Hayden and Stryker could have made an error of this magnitude.

“It would be very unlikely,” McKendrick cleared his throat as he decided how much more he was willing to say. “Actually the code is early Geek-Squad work.”

“The M5 Computer Black-Ops unit?” Ross felt a chill run down his spine. “I didn’t think they really existed.”

“I assure you, Commodore, they are very real,” the Major smiled.

Ross reassessed the mild fatherly looking man sitting in the hospital bed across from him. Anyone who believed in the Brit’s CBO, spoke about them with the greatest of respect, often generated by fear. The term Geek-Squad was only used by those on the inside.

“I was an early drop-out, but my ... interesting knowledge, shall we say, made me perfect for a supply hub on Io in the last years of the AI rebellion. You’re right to think of them with respect. I wouldn’t play their game and they saw to it most of my career was spent doing drudgery. I know where enough bodies are buried, figuratively speaking, to assure you that you needn’t concern yourself about them.” The Major’s eyes turned hard and cold, “they’ll play ball on this one, it’s too big to let slide.”

---

Saratoga Rec Room, September 17, 1600 hours:

McQueen sat at a computer terminal, staring at the face of a dead woman. He hadn’t been able to let go of his dream about Butts the night before. Was this woman, this Victoria Elizabeth Henning, Ph.D. the woman Butts had been talking about? He remembered doing a thorough background check on Butts a year ago when the other man had commandeered the 58th. Had he seen this woman’s picture when looking through the files on Karakoroum and invented the dream from last night?

Laughter from the corner of the room made the Colonel look up and smile. The two new members of the Wildcards were fitting in well. Paul’s death was still felt, but since the addition of Del Mar and Connelly, they had lost the shell shocked look that had been in their eyes when they had first gotten back.

“Ask her what her full name is,” Connelly laughed. “Go ahead, I dare you!”

“Okay, what’s your full name, Maria?” Coop looked a bit confused at the way Connelly was teasing Del Mar.

“It’s no big deal really,” she rolled her eyes and grinned at Hawkes. “He just thinks it’s funny. The attorney here doesn’t understand tradition. My full name is Maria Carlotta O'Brien Del Mar.”

“O'Brien?” Shane laughed. “It doesn’t fit. You don’t look a bit Irish,” she shook her head at the beautiful dark haired, dark eyed woman.

“My Grandfather, the one who captured the heart of the original Maria Carlotta, while he was lost in the mountains of Mexico, had red hair and freckles,” Maria laughed. “I am told that the Irish comes out in my temper.”

“I guess we’ve been warned,” Nathan looked around the table.

“How about a game of darts?” Connelly was enjoying some down time, since McKendrick had begun working with the team he and Fisher had assembled, he was back to being a Marine pilot.

“Jenny’s springing ‘Phousse from Sickbay,” Shane pulled back her chair. “The four of us are getting together for the afternoon.”

“Jenny and ‘Phousse, too?” Coop thought that sounded like a better way to spend the afternoon. “I’ll come with you guys.”

“Sorry, Hawkes, it’s just the girls this afternoon, but Lady-Doc gave ‘Phousse the okay to go out tonight, and she promised she’d join us. We’ll meet you guys in the Tun this evening.” Maria shook her head at the young man, “I doubt you’d enjoy this afternoon much, anyway.”

“Aaahh.” He nodded in understanding, “girl stuff?”

“Yup,” Shane laughed as the two woman headed toward the door.

“We really liked the red nail polish,” West snickered at the retreating backs of his female comrades.

“Like we’d do it for you guys?” Maria glared over her shoulder and Vansen gave him a nasty look.

“The last time Damphousse, and Vansen got together with Jen the three of them ended up in tears,” McQueen gave Hawkes a bemused expression. “There was a large quantity of wine consumed at the time, so that may have had something to do with it,” he smiled as he remembered the women’s expressions when they discovered him at their door. “The good Doctor may have let them get drunk in her quarters then, but I doubt she’ll allow it now, at least until Vanessa is back to active duty.”

“Were they all right? I can’t think of anything bad enough to make all three of them cry at once,” Hawkes couldn’t picture what the Colonel had described, but from the expression on the older man’s face, he was being serious.

“According to Jen, they were having a good time.”

“They were probably watching one of those sloppy chick-flicks,” Nathan spoke with the voice of experience. “Kylen loved to do that. She’d sit there with tears rolling down her face, smiling like crazy and saying ‘wasn’t that beautiful!’ The first time it happened, it scared me to death,” Nathan grimaced. “It’s hard to imagine those three like that, though I’d rather face a squad of Chigs bare-handed then Jenny in tears again.”

“What do you mean, West?” McQueen tried to look casual, but he knew his face had frozen over.

“The night of the peace talks,” when Nathan had to talk about that night, that was how he described it. In his heart he thought of it as the night it all ended: his waiting for Kylen; life as he had known it with the 58th; Paul’s life; even the Colonel had changed. “It was late, and Hawkes and I were in our quarters trying to convince ourselves that it was all just a nightmare, when Jenny came in. Well, Sir, I’ve never seen anyone cry like that. She begged us not to make her leave. She was terrified of being left alone,” the memory still had the power to shake him. “We held onto her until she cried herself to sleep, then we put her to bed in Winslow’s old bunk.”

“That night was rough on everyone,” Coop felt the need to make excuses. “Women cry. Guys like to tear someone’s guts out.”

“Yeah, but who’d of figured it, Lady-Doc? She’s always ... there. I guess I forget she’s a woman,” Nathan shivered at the memory.

“They want it that way, most of the time,” Mitch thought about the women of the 58th. “They’d bust us in the chops if we treated them as anything but one of the guys.”

“Connelly’s right,” McQueen needed time to examine what West said about Jen. “They regroup in private and will be stronger for it.”

“Women, who can figure’em!” Hawkes shook his head in disgust.

“You know what I’d like to know?” Connelly looked around the table at Nathan and Coop, “I’d like to know what Dr. Kirkwood said to Ross to make him change his mind about us going after Vansen and Damphousse? We’d already tried to talk him into it. He wouldn’t hear of it. Then bingo! The next thing we know, we’re headed off to that strange little planet and Lady-Doc is packing a k-bar and an M-590.”

“I’m sure if the Commodore wanted you to know, he would have told you,” McQueen looked one last time at the woman on the computer screen, before he turned it off to head back to his quarters. The true story about her was forever buried in Ali Bhutto Pass, but he had a story that still needed an ending. Had West just handed him the key?

---

September 17, 2000 hours Ross’s quarters:

“What a day!” Ross looked across his desk at McQueen. “And this is only the beginning. Once McKendrick begins working on those files full time, who knows what we’ll find. Given his background he is an unimpeachable source. Just the bits and pieces he has added to the information Fisher and Connelly have, make it look like we’ve got one hell of a tiger by the tail!”

“Did you get the information off to Savage?” The Colonel took a drink of scotch, the ramifications of the information McKendrick had unearthed still making him reel.

“Not yet, the Saratoga is running under radio silence until we’re across the Von Braun Line,” Ross wondered how many encrypted messages he had sent, could be traced back to him. “I always wondered why Savage sent anything important by messenger. All this time I thought he was just old fashioned.”

“You think he knew about the encoding?” McQueen looked into the amber liquid in his glass. “I wondered why it was so important to him, that the information I brought you a few days ago be brought in person.”

“Frank’s an old warhorse, I think the habit of sending vital information by messenger became ingrained during the AI war, and he was never able to let go of it,” Ross shrugged, then grinned. “Besides I think he thought there was someone who needed you out here.”

“He told me he wanted you to have someone you could trust,” McQueen grinned, refusing to be baited by his friend. “I guess that’s me.”

The two men sat in silence for a moment as Ross worried over another subject, “what are we going to tell Vansen?” He had been shaken by the irony of Shane being the one to bring down the AI’s. “This is going to get out eventually and she will know she’s the one to have sent the message. She should hear it from one of us before that.”

“I’ll tell her,” the Colonel leaned forward as he held up his glass of scotch and inhaled the fragrance. “Shane has hated AI’s since they killed her parents. That hate has been part of what’s driven her through this war. If you fuel a life on hate, you’ll burn yourself out. She deserves better than that.”

“You realize that if it were common knowledge, she’d probably get a medal.”

“I’m not sure it’s a medal she’d be very proud of. No matter how much she hated them, genocide is genocide even if it is AI’s.” McQueen got up to watch the stars from the view port, “I want to thank you for protecting Paul in this matter, Sir.”

“Ty, the boy is up for the Congressional Medal Of Honor, I wouldn’t do anything that would ruin his chances at that. He deserves it. He gave his life for the Homeward Bound mission,” Ross sighed. “Besides, the Suits back there, the World back there, wouldn’t be able to understand what he went through. It’s not something that can be read about, it has to be felt.”

“Yeah,” McQueen put his glass down as he turned back toward the Commodore. “I’d like your permission to get Dr. Kirkwood in on the loop regarding Vansen.”

“That’s a good idea, though the whole thing is classified, at the moment. She already knows about the virus, the little bit you’d need to tell her wouldn’t really matter,” Ross’ eyes glittered as he looked at his friend.

“I’ll talk with her about it soon.”

“One other thing, Ty. Voss talked to me the when you first got back on board. Dr. Turek from the Clara, believes with the transient state that exists in the medical units of the carriers during the war, I should assign you a permanent physician,” Ross looked as serious as he could as he watched his friend’s eyes ice over.

“Voss was applying for the job?”

“No,” Ross laughed, unable to tease the man any longer. “He suggested Dr. Kirkwood. He seems to feel she has the most luck getting you to cooperate in sickbay.”

“That would mean she’d spend the duration out here?” McQueen turned back to watch the stars.

“Or until you were transferred back to Earth. I know it’s not ideal, but it’s the best we can do to assure her safety, and yours,” Ross got up and joined his friend at the port hole. “Once Savage gets this information it’s still going to be a while before it’s all sorted out and we have no guarantee that it’ll come out as we want it to.”

“She could die out here,” the truth cut at McQueen.

“We all could,” Ross gave his friend’s shoulder a supportive squeeze. “She could die anywhere in some freak accident, war or no war.”

“I know that, but it doesn’t make it any easier,” the Colonel finished his drink and thought for a moment.

“I can’t leave her with the Wildcards much longer, that story is growing a bit thin.” Ross searched for the words to free his friend to do what they both knew he wanted to do, “this would take her out of your chain of command, except for the fact that you rank her.”

“Oh?” The Colonel looked at Ross, his eyes cool, refusing to show the relief he felt. “Why would you need to do that?” He knew he was being handed a gift. Honor was making it hard for him to accept it.

“McQueen, I can think of a number of times in the last year when she has countermanded a direct order given her by her commanding officer. Granted all those occasions have been in his best interest, because he doesn’t know shit about taking care of himself, but this keeps her out of the brig, if some wise ass doctor in Command wants to cause trouble,” Glen raised his eyebrows daring his friend to challenge him on the issue.

“Well in that case,” Ty shrugged, knowing full well that Jen didn’t give a damn about chain of command. She’d boss an Admiral around if she thought it was in his best medical interest. “I guess you’ll have to see if she’s interested in the job.”

“I noticed she’s been avoiding you,” Ross raised his eyebrow. “What’d you do to piss her off?”

“You so sure it was my fault?” McQueen asked with a half smile.

“Yup,” Ross laughed at his friend.

“You’re right,” the other man sighed.

“What happened?

“She’s being stubborn and I was my usual diplomatic self,” McQueen didn’t like how complicated his life had become all of the sudden.

Half an hour later Ross walked into the Tun Tavern. The Juke Box was playing another of the snappy World War Two songs that had become so popular during this modern war with the Chigs. Ross could only catch a few of the words, something about ‘not sitting under an apple tree with anyone else but me.’

Things looked normal to the Commodore. The bar was about half full, and some of the younger Sailors and Marines were trying to Swing dance along with the old-fashioned music. The Wildcards were at their usual table playing poker. He wasn’t sure how McQueen had pulled it off, but the Colonel had Jenny wedged between himself and Hawkes. The young lieutenant was crowding the doctor every chance he got, until she was brushing shoulders with the stern looking Colonel. A shot glass of scotch sat between the couple.

Ross hadn’t been in the room more then two minutes when he saw the Doctor reach for the scotch while examining her cards. The glass was half way to her nose when she stopped, turned toward an innocent looking McQueen and shoved his glass back toward him.

Hawkes tried to raise the pot higher then table stakes, Mitch Connelly shook his head, “No, you can’t do that, according to ...” the young Lieutenant was cut off mid-sentence, as five voices groaned in unison.

“... Hoyle!” The others finished his sentence for him.

“Now you know where he got his call sign,” Del Mar giggled as she explained to all present.

“And here I thought it was a reference to my legal instincts. You know, always playing by the book?” Connelly laughed along with his friends.

“Yeah right?” Damphousse rolled her eyes as she tossed in her cards. Deciding not to fight it out with Vansen. She was so happy to be out and about, her lack of a good poker hand didn’t bother her in the least.

“Deal me out,” McQueen slid his scotch in front of Jenny, then went to join Ross at the bar.

“Will they throw me in the brig if I dump it on him?” Jen fumed as she pointed to the shot glass. “And you ... move over,” she gave Coop a shove.

“Hey, I’m a big guy,” Hawkes tried to look hurt as he moved slightly away from the angry doctor.

“I’m out, too,” she took her unfinished wine and moved to an empty table in the corner. Her shoulder still warm from where it had been plastered against Ty’s. As she sat down, the thought that McQueen had put Hawkes up to his little pushing game ran through her mind, but she dismissed it as quickly as it surfaced. No, she thought. Ty, would never do that.

“We’re on it,” Shane nodded to ‘Phousse and Maria, as she got up, indicating they should join Jenny. “She hasn’t been herself since the night ‘Phousse and I were lost.”

“Wait a sec, guys,” Hawkes looked the lovely dark haired Captain in the eyes. “How do we know this isn’t the real her?”

“Are you saying we shouldn’t check on her?” Vansen watched as the lone woman sent a big Marine on his way, rather then let him join her.

“No,” Hawkes shook his head. “That night of the explosion, everything changed for her. She may still be called Lady-Doc on the Saratoga, but on the inside she’s Angel-Doc, again. That’s got to mean something!”

“You’re right, Coop,” Shane remembered Jenny telling her Angel-Doc had died the night the Angry Angels did. Wondering what caused the resurrection only made the younger woman worry more. “We can’t leave her there alone. She’s being hit on by every stray guy that comes along. We’ll use a light touch, come on guys.”

Hawkes just smiled at Shane. From his seat, he could see Ross and McQueen at the bar. The Colonel wasn’t taking his eyes off Jenny sitting in the corner. He watched the Colonel stiffen. Ice blue eyes making the older man’s face fierce, as the Doctor sent another man on his way. I’d hate to see Jenny caught in a bar fight again, Coop thought. The Colonel had shown more restraint then he would have, had it been Shane sitting there alone.

“I think you just pissed her off more,” Ross commented to his friend as he watched Jenny alone at a table.

“She’ll get over it, I hope,” McQueen smiled as he watched the women of the 58th go and join Jenny.

Ross and McQueen stood in companionable silence as they watched people moving around the Tun. Hawkes, West, and Connelly had been joined by Chico Voss. The addition of the fourth, causing the card game to heat up again.

Joan Brill, who had come in with Chico, pulled up a chair at the already crowded table with the women. They all seemed to be talking at once, hands gesturing and patting one another on the shoulder, in the timeless way of women talking about things that really concern them. The conversations that men shrugged off as ‘girl-talk’, but never realized the support the women got from it or the impact in could have on the men’s lives.

“I’d like to be a fly on the wall and hear what they’re saying,” McQueen pointed toward Jen’s table as another male Marine approached the woman, only to be turned away.

“No you wouldn’t, from the expression on the Doctor’s face, they’re tearing someone limb from limb.” As another man walked up to Jenny and whispered in her ear, Ross could feel his friend stiffen, “you’re not planning on hitting anybody tonight are you?” Ross looked at the table with the women, then at his friend. A fight was the last thing he wanted to get involved in tonight, but he would back McQueen just as the Colonel would back him in a similar situation. “That’s the third guy whose asked her to dance since she left the other table.”

“Forth,” Ty relaxed against the bar, as the Marine walked away.

“What?” Ross wasn’t sure what McQueen was talking about.

“The forth guy, not the third,” he straightened and watched as Jenny spoke quickly to Shane, causing the younger woman to laugh. “But you’re right, something needs to be done.”

Ross watched, puzzled as McQueen walked over to the Juke Box and spent some time looking through the selection. When the Colonel returned, his friend looked at him with approval.

“Battle tactics,” McQueen smiled, putting aside the beer he had ordered when he joined Ross at the bar. Anything that happened tonight was going to happen with a clear head. “Wait and see.”

A few minutes later the sounds of a slow haunting melody from the 1940’s, rang through the Tun. “I’m going in fangs out,” McQueen gave Ross a thumbs up, as he moved toward the table where Jenny had suddenly stopped talking. She had turned and watched with wide eyes as the Colonel moved toward her.

Jenny knew she had been saying something to her friends, but with the first notes of the old song, her mind went blank. “Harbor Lights,” she whispered as she shook her head trying to get rid of the image of the day she and McQueen had found the old music box in an antique store in a small community in Southern California, known for it’s abundance of antique shops.

Looking up, she saw him moving toward her. “Help me, Joan!” Jenny whispered. Gray eyes locked on clear blue ones as the man in a soft black shirt and pants came closer and closer.

“Sorry honey,” the older woman smiled at McQueen hoping he knew he had her support. “This has been too long in coming. It’s time you dealt with it.”

“Jenny?” ‘Phousse looked at her worriedly, until she looked over her shoulder and saw who her friend was staring at. “Oh!” ‘Phousse grinned and poked Shane in the side, shaking her head as if to say ‘I told you so.’

“Dance with me, Jen?” The silver haired man whispered, holding out his hand to her. The other occupants of the small table seemed to hold their breath, until Jenny laid her hand in his and moved to the dance floor with him.

“Well I’ll be damned, he did it!” Ross smiled as he raised his glass in a toast as the couple moved to the music. In all the years he had known McQueen he had never seen his friend dance. Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures, he thought. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the women move back to the table to join the rest of their squad. Deciding if McQueen was going to have time to mend his fences with Jenny, it was his job to keep the 58th occupied.

“Ty, it wasn’t me,” Jenny looked into very blue eyes. “I wasn’t the one who played that song.”

“I know,” he smiled and pulled her closer. “I did.”

“Why are you doing this?” She looked up at him, every instinct telling her to bolt, while she still could.

“Because I was wrong,” he felt her muscles tighten and knew that if he didn’t do something quickly, she would be gone.

“Don’t play games with me,” to her frustration she could feel her eyes begin to tear. “You were right the other day, I am a coward.”

“No,” he shook his head at her and held her closer. “You’re one of the bravest people I’ve ever met. McKendrick was right.”

“You heard what he said this morning?”

“I was standing in the hatch, remember,” they danced slowly as other couples joined them on the dance floor. “I’ll never hurt you again,” he promised, adding silently, neither would anyone else. His eyes doing a quick check of the room, but no one except the Wildcards appeared to be paying any attention to them.

“You wouldn’t mean to, but....” Jen sniffed. “This can only end badly for me.”

“Never,” he whispered. “I’ve always been proud to be with you. I haven’t done a very good job of letting you know that. My fear for your safety has always gotten in the way. That’s going to change, but more importantly, you need to know, you’re not alone, anymore.”

“Ty?” She looked up, her eyes full of questions. “How did you know?”

“Shhhhh, Jen.” He leaned his cheek against her hair, enjoying holding her in public. “We’ll dance, then we’ll talk.”

She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. If she was asleep, she hoped she didn’t wake up for a long time, but the song ended too soon. It was replaced by another of the wild swing tunes that everyone seemed to love to dance to. McQueen took Jen by the hand and led her out of the swinging doors of the Tun.

Next : Chapter Six - Part Six

Previous : Chapter Six - Part Four

Back : Space: AAB General Fiction