| "Oh shit!" B'Elanna says softly, looking up at the aghast Leela.
This doesn't sound good at all!
In the ship of Xoanon.....
Sigin
"LIES!" Xoanon, sounding singular....but no less insane, shouts to the
world at large through the, "You said I'd have release.....release!!!"
Xoanon then goes on a rant about needing release....and shall get release
in one form or another.
I rather have a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach over that one,
but right now I'm busy helping the Doctor to a more comfortable position.
Just before now his body had jack knifed and the helmet connecting him
to Xoanon fallen to his side, severing his connection.
"The Jester would have to chose this time to make life spicy,"
Gilmuriel sighs in exasperation, a native phrase of his coming to the fore
to express the utter exasperation.
"I think that this is about the time that Leela, if she was here, would
ask about that flashing light," Betty says quietly, pointing at a red flashing
light on one of the control panels.
"Not long ago I'd ask the same question," I say, remembering his recent
lessons in high technology, "I cannot say that I'm reassured in
knowing what it means, now."
Inquirer, muttering something about something not being right, pulls
a small tricorder (a tool that had become a near favorite to the Time Lord....almost
as much as his sonic screwdriver) from the Doctor's coat and makes a "scanning"
gesture up towards where Xoanon's computer core is reputed to be located.
She looks at the small tool's screen and mutters a ripe, round curse, and
then turns and looks bleakly at us.
"He's cracked in more than one way now," she says in a low voice, "The
struggle between the Doctor and Xoanon appears to have been very fierce
before the computer gave in, from what I gather. Damaged the data core
and....that's not good for a machine intelligence's sanity."
"Shit," Betty and Ragan mutter, looking disgusted.
Looks like it's the time for SCV, Inquirer sighs mentally, And
I'd hoped that it wouldn't come down to this.... So very tired of causing
death.....
On more than one occasion she'd mentioned how weary she'd grown of fighting
in the Enemy/Alliance war. She went on to say how annoying it had been
that some benighted denizen's of some worlds she'd visited over her lifetime
(before becoming a Golem) felt that because she and those in the Military
automatically looked forward to fighting (the reverse was actually true....considering
that they were the one's who'd probably be the first to die....being
in harms way and all).
That aside, I also, in addition to remembering that, remember how doubtful
she'd been of SCV being able to neutralize Xoanon before he blew the ship's
reactor's, taking half of the planet, himself, and everyone else on it
in the process. Oh, she'd admitted it was possible.....SCV (Scott Chen
Virus, retrieved carefully from the secured files of one starship
Voyager) in it's current form (even without Scott's chaos energy....the
mysterious energy that made strange things happen to him and those around
him) could do it.....would even take out the Borg Collective all over again
if need be.....the chances of it doing it fast enough.....
Anyway, SCV was something like a doomsday weapon on the Net (only stoppable
by cutting all links to the effective area while it burned every circuit
in that area)....and should and would destroy even this powerful "stand
alone" computer. It was just a question of time.
And besides the fact that she'd had questions about time, as she'd said
before she'd rather not have to cause the death of a sentient being.....especially
when it couldn't help it's actions due to insanity. No problems with those
who'd endanger others.....but this was a bit different.....
The truly ironic thing about all this is that we "Champions" all shall
return, even if our bodies are vaporized by the explosion. Can't say the
same for the others, however. That'll be the hard thing about life as a
Champion for me. I'll remember the one's that I failed to be able to save
despite my best efforts. Lived with a similar problem before due to a long
life span all dragons have in relation to other races....especially human
beings.....so it's not much of a change (but no less hurtful). There had
been crew members in the past on my old ship....
The Doctor then shudders halfway awake for a moment.
"Crystal.....use the......" the Time Lord mutters softly and then sighs,
unconscious again.
Betty looked at Ragan. Both looked surprised...and suddenly with a hope.
"Boy won't the spiders be pissed," Betty giggles nervously.
But the properties should be able to.....hopefully.... she added,
mentally to the others.
Ragan pulls out a large blue crystal that I'd heard mention of off and
on recently. I'd been meaning to ask more about that....but it kept slipping
my mind as other things came up....
It did have ways of clearing the mind.... Ragan says to the other's
minds, nodding and remembering that one episode, Hope it works on Xoanon,
though... That is the big question.
"Care to share something, friends?" Gilmuriel says, glancing over at
the flashing red light.
And so Betty and Ragan did....quickly. It involved Sigin, and thanks
to the Doctor's suggestion....
Out in the sea near Nantucket, the silvery dome that is the Time Barrier
disappears, taking with it the false sky that Xoanon had been projecting
there inside.....revealing an alien blue sky to a landscape from another
world....from another universe....
-
 Leela and
E'eysha cheer, seeing something good has come and it looks all is well,
but something slightly unplanned has occured as the Champions back in the
ship are standing in the dark with a glittering blue crystal...
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