The GateWorld Cantina Chronicles

[AtlantisRules!!!]

Benson sat in his office, deciding what his next move was. Something had happened on Earth, but Dray had come back to speak with him. Perhaps he would head there. Politicians had to get around.

As he stood and headed for his personall shuttle his datapad vibrated. He pulled it out and looked at the multitude of messages he had. He deleted a few and set the rest on "Read Later". There was a strange looking one from some merchant ship, he gave it the benefit of the doubt and didn't delete it.

Benson slipped the datapad away and kept walking.

[Vampyr]

With a slight smile on his face, Ben headed down the corridor towards the landing pads and his shuttle. “Shadow,” he whispered, holding the control bracelet up near his mouth, addressing the Shadow of Departure's rudimentary controlling persona, “have the interior lights turned on for when I get to your location.”

After a minute of trekking through the enclosed hab structures, Ben reached the landing pad that his shuttle was currently occupying. Once inside, Ben grabbed a hip holster off the shuttle's small weapons rack, along with a piezo-electric combat knife and a hand-held maser pistol. Careless not to have been armed, but he hadn't wanted to scare CJ or any of her clientele. But if he was going to be staying in her company any length of time, he'd want to be armed, if the time he'd spent at Todeko Station had taught him anything. Once he'd properly armed himself, Ben rifled through his clothes storage, picking out various items of clothing and shoved them into two duffel bags.

When Ben had collected everything he'd come to the Shadow for, he spoke into his bracelet, “Shadow, need you to go into hibernation mode for a while, don't know when I'm going to be back. Keep yourself safe, alright?” With that taken care of, Ben headed back to CJ's Cantina, closing a five year long chapter in his life, hopefully for good.

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

((mappy?))

She could see through the dark, but so could he. He lay on the couch, but slid over one side of it, pulling the blanket up and over him in the mild chill of the chamber. Her eyes widened. He was so...normal.

'It's just that I'm a lil' thirsty...'

No immediate response.

'....As in a drink would be nice...'

She finally blinked.

'...Oh nevermind,' he sighed, tightened the blanket around him and started to sway a little. Not in a crazy-man-in-a-padded-room way, but more in wow-I'm-naked-this-is-awkward way 'So, nice place you got here.'

'It's not my place...' She finally crept out from under her shell 'My place was destroyed when you crashed.'

He tutted and nodded, and then stopped and looked kind of confused.

'Wait, what do you mean when I crashed?'

'Your ship smacked right through and completely flattened one the residential blocks. That's where my place was. Your ship tore its roof off before it ricocheted off the others and slammed into the observation tower,' she said, and then realised that she was speaking a lot slower than usual 'I take it you still have a concussion?'

'...A cushion?'

'Concussion,' she continued 'What can you remember?'

He looked up, as if he was consulting his brain. Seconds later he shrugged.

'...It's a little hazy,' he confessed 'There's like...a spiral of stars, like turning in front, like a wheel of them, spinning round and round, getting quicker.'

'O-kay...' she struggled to comprehend what he was trying to describe.

'And then BANG! Big white flash! Small blue planet! God oh god I'm going to die!' He recalled vaguely 'That sort of thing.'

'Do you remember 'Hide Me'?' she asked, leaning forward slightly.

'...Hide me?'

'I got into your ship, and found you, and you told me to hide you.' Elle explained, slightly satisfied with the conclusion her mind had just leapt to 'So you're on the run?'

He felt his head shaking, but stopped it. He didn't understand why he immediate reaction was to deny that.

'I...Dunno, maybe?' He shrugged again.

'From the Triangle?'

'...The what?'

'The Triangle.'

'...Is that like...an actual triangle?'

'No, it's an empire.'

'...Shaped like a triangle?'

'The name is derived from the idea that it's an imperial system across three galaxies, aka. three 'angles' to the empire, aka. the Triangle.' She sighed once more, resting her chin on her hand.

'....Is it like....the Square?' he said, and she was surprised at how eager he seemed to mock the concept. Actually she was surprised most of all by how surprised he was that an empire would go by such a title, or even that an empire under such a title and spanning three galaxies could exist at all.

'What else do you remember?' She pushed him onwards 'I want to know everything...'

He took a long and hard moment to think.

'...I guess I did crash on that blue planet, huh?'

'This is Earth.'

'....As in...the ground?'

'Stop that.'

'Look, I remember waking up to alarms, to steam flying out of the walls, to the ship I was on spinning out of control and then plummetting down through your atmosphere, and before I know it I wake up again. This time here, with you,' he explained briefly, glancing around the dark.

'Okay so what about before that? What caused the crash? Where were you coming from? One of the core worlds? New Gallifrey?' Elle commanded, eager to know of his identity and quickly.

'Before?' he stared long and hard at the word '...I can't remember.'

'What's your name?'

He shrugged.

'You don't know your own name?'

'What's yours?' He broke her line of questioning, much to her dismay 'Am I your prisoner?'

Her eyes said what?

'...Funny,' he found himself looking around again 'This doesn't look like a prison. You wouldn't have cushions in a prison.'

'...You're not in a prison! This is a friend-of-mine's house! He's a doctor!'

'Oh...Well...I guess that explains the cushions.'

'Can't you tell me anything useful?' she complained, jumped up and hurried over to his belongings spread across the desk. He curiously followed like a sheep to the shepherd 'Look at this stuff.'

She held up a small metal device as the lights flickered. The power was slowly being restored.

'Looks like a lighter,' He said, admiring a stranger's reflection in it.

'It's a radio!' she said quietly, even if she wanted to yell it into his thick skull 'And this?'

She held up another device, this one larger with a screen of numbers and control panel fixed on.

'Looks like a calculator,' he smiled and nodded, certain that he had her this time 'a big calculator.'

'Why would a fugitive have a big calculator?!' She finally yelled.

'...Could it be something to do with the Square?' he mumbled, unsure now. Maybe it wasn't a big calculator after all.

'WHAT?' She turned, retreated and fell back into her seat. How can he be so frakkin' stupid? WHAT THE HELL 'NO, it's called the Triangle!'

'Oh,' he said, and picked up another object. His revolver 'whoa, it's a gun!'

He dropped it and stepped away.

'...It's your gun,' she surrendered. He gasped.

'...I hope I didn't use it to shoot anyone,' he seriously considered.

Elle facepalmed.

'Hey, what about this?' He slipped a folded piece of paper off the desk and unravelled it. She couldn't care less now. This was why she had risked everything to get him here? He's useless! No wonder he crashed! He's an idiot!

He ran his eyes over the content of the note, and his heart sank. It reminded him of something, something from before, something distant from years ago...There were seven symbols, but just one point of origin.

He wrapped it back up and pushed it back on the table, beneath the revolver.

'What was it?' she asked, suspicious at his silence.

'Something I couldn't translate.'

'What a surprise.'

He sat back down and the two proceeded to stare at each other again.

'You're an idiot.'

'Apparently,' he nodded, and shrugged one last time.

[Draygon]

Draygon paced to and fro in the office. Los watched her quizzically.

"How will I stop him?" she burst out finally, rounding on Los. "The....arrogance of that...thing is absolutely appalling!"

"You should have seen the arrogance of the..." Los began, but Draygon's glare hardened. "Never mind. The point is, is that he thinks he's right, and we're wrong."

"Then what shall I do?"

"Appeal to his sense of reason. Bring him down that way. Your screwdriver will do absolutely nothing except make war." Los said bluntly.

Draygon nodded.

"Good advice. You are excused." Dray said, dismissing him. Los rose, nodded, then turned away.

***

Los read through his tablet that carried all of his missed messages.

The toilets are fixed! Los rejoiced in his mind. No more water damage, no more defecation or urination all over that bloody floor to clean up..... Los smelt some food cooking. Adaris was in the kitchen, making...something. It better be good.... Los thought. He opened the next file.

It read:

--To the Attention of whom it may Concern--

Ka'gah, Stepha, and Kioa have fallen to the Rebellion. Government forces slaughtered. Tachyon Seven Tear.

It wasn't signed. Los read the message over carefully. All three were relatively small planets, used for commerce alone. Still....Tachyon Seven Tear. A coded message.

A request for sterilization.

(Dray)

Los waited until after he had had something to eat before going to Dray's chambers once more to inquire about the sterilization order. He had barely raised his hand to knock before Dray opened the door.

"I thought Benson would be coming round to start round two of 'negotiations' so I was listening out telepathically for people," she explained, waving him inside.

"I take it you've calmed down again now?" asked Los, sitting on the sofa. He noticed broken glass on the floor and followed the wall up to the smashed mirror. Looking back to Dray questioningly he saw the bandage around her right hand. "Have an argument with the mirror? What happened? It didn't tell you that you're the fairest of them all?"

"I've never held such delusions of grandeur," she laughed, taking a seat in the chair opposite him. "Ever heard the human phrase 'the eyes are the windows of the soul'?"

"I have."

"Well I dislike to be reminded that all I am is a wraith in a timelord's body," she replied, her tone suddenly much colder.

"And so you punched the mirror because you have yellow eyes?" Los's attempt to lighten the mood succeeded as Dray laughed out loud again.

"When you put it like that it does seem remarkable foolish. Now what did you want to see me about?"

"These sterilisation orders for-"

"Yes, the rebellion leaders on those planets need to be neutralized and in such a way as to appear natural."

"Assassination isn't a natural cause Dray."

"It is when you're a leader," she replied. "Have other members of the rebellion framed so we don't receive any backlash from it. Then when they're done fighting we can install our own government there that will be more responsive to us."

Los nodded at Dray's plan. It was feasible, but would also need careful handling, not one of Draygon's fortes. But Benson wasn't the only one who could manipulate her.

"You know Dray," he said, "all this business with the rebellion and Besnon... it's not being beneficial to your health." He gave a meaningful glance to her bandaged hand. "You know you can trust me to see this done, you already have by giving the orders to me. What you need is a break, away from New Gallifrey. You did say earlier that you needed to get out more."

"I'm not sure Los..."

"It also gives you the perfect alibi, if I give these sterilisation orders after you've departed. That way the people who would be blamed would be the Triangle senate, which also includes...."

"Benson," Dray finished with an evil smile. She looked at Los with delight. "Perhaps a holiday would be good for me."

"I'll have the necessary arrangements made," Los said, standing up. He casually picked up one of the bloodied mirror fragments. "And get someone to clean up this glass."

"What would I do without you?" laughed Dray again as she opened the door for him.

"You'd be dead," he replied truthfully, but Dray merely laughed again and bade him goodnight. Los made his way back to his room, puzzling over the blood on the mirror fragment he still held. The blood was fresh still, and only just beginning to dry. That meant Dray had smashed the mirror in a fit of fury mere moments before he arrived. And yet she was quite lucid when they had talked. She was unstable. That much was clear to anyone. He'd have to keep a closer watch on her, and have her monitored during her respite away from New Gallifrey.

For now though, he had the political game to play.

[aretood2]

CJ smiled sadly. "Yeah i know. I'm just a bit of a drama queen I suppose." She laughed and let Ben step into her room. "Sorry about the mess.... I got a little carried away. I tend to do so... I've always had a temper."

Ben laughed uncomfortably, astounded by just how much she had wrecked the place. "You certainly did a number on the place."

CJ nodded, hands on her hips as she inspected the mess. "Yeah, I'm good at ruining things."

She picked up the broken frame that held the picture of the crew. She dusted off the frame and smiled. "Its been nine years since I woke up, five since I started to get my memories back. My mind is a little unstable, to be honest."

Ben nodded, "You don't need to make excuses, I understand." He smiled "you're a woman."

CJ laughed, her laughter piercing the awkward atmosphere with an air of openness. She smiled kindly at Ben. "Thank you, for coming in here and talking to me. I need people to keep me in check... and to be honest I think that Jacen and WP are afraid of me, because of my outbursts."

Ben smiled at CJ, trying to relieve her pain through friendly comfort.

CJ shrugged, "No matter... " She sighed tiredly and yawned. "I'm really quit tired. I thank you for your presence, but it's past me bedtime... I need to open up early tomorrow. Always someone coming in looking to get drunk before noon."

Ben nodded and said good night. Leaving CJ alone. CJ smiled and crawled into bed, hoping that if she did sleep, that when she awoke to the new day, someone would be waiting for her.

The Night on Midna passed slowly for Jacen, he does not sleep. During the first few years of his life as a machine he struggled with the idea of not sleeping. In the past working as a admiral for the fleet whose name no longer matters, he always felt that sleep was the enemy. Now that he finds himself perpetually awake with the lights turned off...all he wants to do is sleep. But alas, he does not sleep. He can't sleep, even if he turned himself off or powered down it would not work. It would be no different for him than that of a human closing his eyes and opening them again within a second.

To think that he went from an Admiral fighting for freedom, for democracy back in his galaxy to a droid hanging around someone who is hiding from her life. His home is countless of light years away that numbering them would be meaningless. He came from a long forgotten past through that timebridge.

"I wasn't supposed to be on a warship with a Loyal crew trying to clear my name. I Wasn't supposed to leave the Galaxy for good getting trapped in that time bridge," He said to himself.

As the night rolled away and the morning began to gain ground, Jacen stood up and fixed some breakfast for CJ. He heard what she told Ben, that for the past few years she was alone. But this was not true, he thought to himself, She lives in the right time. She lives in the right galaxy, all her hopes and dreams are not lost like mine.

Jacen made his way to CJ's room, it was some time after she normally gets up in the mornings. He rang the bell that signals that someone is at the door. He heard movement coming from within her room and after a moment the door opened. CJ looked at Jacen with some surprise

"What? what's going on?" She asked Jacen.

"I brought you some breakfast this morning, you had a hard day."

"Thanks, but I'm not that hungry right now" CJ still felt troubled over the past, over what has just happened. Jacen put the food on a table nearby the door that survived CJ's "Remodeling."

"It's Okay, I'll just leave it here for later." After taking a moment he continued to speak, "I overheard Ben said to you last night while he was still outside in the corridor, that you are not alone." Before CJ could do or say anything else Jacen stared right into her eyes, sad eyes that betrayed any of CJ's attempts to hide her true emotions. "Unlike me, you still have a chance to be with those you love. You have what it takes, you have the strength. You just need to find it, I know that somewhere you know this as well. Don't give up CJ."

[susanne]

Spoiler:

She could see through the dark, but so could he. He lay on the couch, but slid over one side of it, pulling the blanket up and over him in the mild chill of the chamber. Her eyes widened. He was so...normal.

'It's just that I'm a lil' thirsty...'

No immediate response.

'....As in a drink would be nice...'

She finally blinked.

'...Oh nevermind,' he sighed, tightened the blanket around him and started to sway a little. Not in a crazy-man-in-a-padded-room way, but more in wow-I'm-naked-this-is-awkward way 'So, nice place you got here.'

'It's not my place...' She finally crept out from under her shell 'My place was destroyed when you crashed.'

He tutted and nodded, and then stopped and looked kind of confused.

'Wait, what do you mean when I crashed?'

'Your ship smacked right through and completely flattened one the residential blocks. That's where my place was. Your ship tore its roof off before it ricocheted off the others and slammed into the observation tower,' she said, and then realised that she was speaking a lot slower than usual 'I take it you still have a concussion?'

'...A cushion?'

'Concussion,' she continued 'What can you remember?'

He looked up, as if he was consulting his brain. Seconds later he shrugged.

'...It's a little hazy,' he confessed 'There's like...a spiral of stars, like turning in front, like a wheel of them, spinning round and round, getting quicker.'

'O-kay...' she struggled to comprehend what he was trying to describe.

'And then BANG! Big white flash! Small blue planet! God oh god I'm going to die!' He recalled vaguely 'That sort of thing.'

'Do you remember 'Hide Me'?' she asked, leaning forward slightly.

'...Hide me?'

'I got into your ship, and found you, and you told me to hide you.' Elle explained, slightly satisfied with the conclusion her mind had just leapt to 'So you're on the run?'

He felt his head shaking, but stopped it. He didn't understand why he immediate reaction was to deny that.

'I...Dunno, maybe?' He shrugged again.

'From the Triangle?'

'...The what?'

'The Triangle.'

'...Is that like...an actual triangle?'

'No, it's an empire.'

'...Shaped like a triangle?'

'The name is derived from the idea that it's an imperial system across three galaxies, aka. three 'angles' to the empire, aka. the Triangle.' She sighed once more, resting her chin on her hand.

'....Is it like....the Square?' he said, and she was surprised at how eager he seemed to mock the concept. Actually she was surprised most of all by how surprised he was that an empire would go by such a title, or even that an empire under such a title and spanning three galaxies could exist at all.

'What else do you remember?' She pushed him onwards 'I want to know everything...'

He took a long and hard moment to think.

'...I guess I did crash on that blue planet, huh?'

'This is Earth.'

'....As in...the ground?'

'Stop that.'

'Look, I remember waking up to alarms, to steam flying out of the walls, to the ship I was on spinning out of control and then plummetting down through your atmosphere, and before I know it I wake up again. This time here, with you,' he explained briefly, glancing around the dark.

'Okay so what about before that? What caused the crash? Where were you coming from? One of the core worlds? New Gallifrey?' Elle commanded, eager to know of his identity and quickly.

'Before?' he stared long and hard at the word '...I can't remember.'

'What's your name?'

He shrugged.

'You don't know your own name?'

'What's yours?' He broke her line of questioning, much to her dismay 'Am I your prisoner?'

Her eyes said what?

'...Funny,' he found himself looking around again 'This doesn't look like a prison. You wouldn't have cushions in a prison.'

'...You're not in a prison! This is a friend-of-mine's house! He's a doctor!'

'Oh...Well...I guess that explains the cushions.'

'Can't you tell me anything useful?' she complained, jumped up and hurried over to his belongings spread across the desk. He curiously followed like a sheep to the shepherd 'Look at this stuff.'

She held up a small metal device as the lights flickered. The power was slowly being restored.

'Looks like a lighter,' He said, admiring a stranger's reflection in it.

'It's a radio!' she said quietly, even if she wanted to yell it into his thick skull 'And this?'

She held up another device, this one larger with a screen of numbers and control panel fixed on.

'Looks like a calculator,' he smiled and nodded, certain that he had her this time 'a big calculator.'

'Why would a fugitive have a big calculator?!' She finally yelled.

'...Could it be something to do with the Square?' he mumbled, unsure now. Maybe it wasn't a big calculator after all.

'WHAT?' She turned, retreated and fell back into her seat. How can he be so frakkin' stupid? WHAT THE HELL 'NO, it's called the Triangle!'

'Oh,' he said, and picked up another object. His revolver 'whoa, it's a gun!'

He dropped it and stepped away.

'...It's your gun,' she surrendered. He gasped.

'...I hope I didn't use it to shoot anyone,' he seriously considered.

Elle facepalmed.

'Hey, what about this?' He slipped a folded piece of paper off the desk and unravelled it. She couldn't care less now. This was why she had risked everything to get him here? He's useless! No wonder he crashed! He's an idiot!

He ran his eyes over the content of the note, and his heart sank. It reminded him of something, something from before, something distant from years ago...There were seven symbols, but just one point of origin.

He wrapped it back up and pushed it back on the table, beneath the revolver.

'What was it?' she asked, suspicious at his silence.

'Something I couldn't translate.'

'What a surprise.'

He sat back down and the two proceeded to stare at each other again.

'You're an idiot.'

'Apparently,' he nodded, and shrugged one last time.

Elle slumped back down in her chair, dejected. Hope of finding out what had happened to this stranger, or the images they shared when she touched him had faded. Leaving only bitterness. She shifted in her chair and looked down at the bottle of water.

"Here." She threw him the bottle bitterly and put a hand over her eyes, as though she could shield herself. Damn im such a soft touch. She spat to herself. 'Help me' is the magic word. Say it and ill do it. She lowered it in time to see him greedily polishing off the water. He drained the bottle and lowered it, staring at something far off.

Another awkward silence descended between them as the man began to carefully twist the bottle in mid-air. Elle was wide awake now, fuelled on the fumes of adrenaline. How could he not remember asking for her help? Perhaps it was the concussion. He certainly didnt recognise any of the things they'd found on him. In fact hed seemed pretty freaked to see the gun.

"You never told me your name."

Elle blinked.

"What?"

The man looked up at her, his eyes were dark and brooding.

"I said you never did tell me your name."

"Its Elle."

She turned and looked towards the window. "And do you do this all the time?"

"What?" She turned back to him to find him grinning impishly at her.

"You know. Walk around in skimpy towels with strange men in the room?" Elle turned white, and then red. He'd clearly touched some sort of nerve.

"How dare you! I saved your life and you accuse me of being a whore?!"

"Woah woah woah! it was a joke!" He held his hands up in surrender.

"Hrmph. And what am i going to call you then huh? Man with no name?"

He looked down at his scruffy jeans for a minute before looking up at her.

"George."

"George? Pfft fine, George dont make assumptions about people you dont know."

She stood up and stared at him. The man, squirmed.

"What are you looking at?"

"Your about a what? 32"

"What?" He stared at her perplexed, unsure of what she was planning.

"Hmm little skinnier...ah well."

She moved towards a closed door as the man stood up.

"Hey! Whatre you doing?"

She turned to him and smirked.

"You've got to have better clothes than those scruffy things to fit in around here."

ATCCU

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

She began rooting through the cupboard but soon realised that he hadn't approached to help out. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him massaging his temple with his eyes suddenly shut, fending off a head ache.

'What's up?' She said.

He covered his face for a moment, and then shook off the pain and the ambiguity that had spilled into his head.

'...S-Something,' he stuttered under the pressure 'Hey, what's Midna?'

She stopped and slowly returned to her seat as she thought on it. The name rung a bell.

'It's a planet I think, or a moon. Why?' she asked and folded her arms 'Is that where you're from? Midna?'

'...I dunno,' he whispered, as if he was scared that someone else could hear him 'But there's a stargate there.'

'No,' she whispered back 'There are only a few stargates in the galaxies, they were made by the Triangle and they mapped them around the place. I know of all of their addresses, but I don't recall seeing Midna on that list.'

He buried his head in his hands, trying to make sense of things.

'Look, you obviously didn't come from Midna in a stargate. You crashed, remember?'

'Sorry,' he sighed 'Yeah, you're right. So where did you see these addresses?'

'Duh, I came to Earth...'

He stared at her.

'...Through the stargate?' she continued 'It was established as a direct link from New Gallifrey. That's why there was no immediate defence when you crashed. Space traffic is rare in this solar system. When it happens it's considered illegal. Spice transports and stuff. Only the Triangle fleet is allowed to fly here. All refugees come through the gate. It's like a spaceport, or an airport. You see a list of possible destinations up on the board before you depart. Midna...Just wasn't one of them.'

He nodded.

'Heh...My mistake...'

[susanne]

"Yeah. Sorry."

He sat there, on the couch looking so pathetic her heart lurched for a moment. This man had no idea who he was, where he came from or why he crashed here. Was she being too tough on him? He is having a bad time.

"Look i know this must be hard and all..." He looked up at her and she could see the deepness of his eyes, horrors he'd never spoken of and probably never would, if he knew them. They were the same kind of eyes Elle saw staring out at her from a mirror every day. "But you've gotta understand that this is all wrong. Everything about this and you stinks!"

"I resent that." He paused for a second before leaning down and sniffing under his armpit. "....Maybe your right about the last one."

Elle gave a quiet laugh and pointed towards the bathroom. Without a word he stood up and moved towards the door.

--

She'd left clothes outside the bathroom door for him and located a large shirt for herself. It would do for tonight. What am i going to do now? I have no home, i left the quarentine and i have a strange guy with me who has absolutely no idea about the universe. She needed answers and maybe, somewhere in that twisted mind he had them. Yes. It had nothing to do with those horrific eyes that only whispered to Elle that he was someone like her. A surivior.

"Hey."

"Crap!"

She jumped, tangling herself in the flimsy blanket she had lain over her crouched knees.

"Sorry. Didnt mean to scare you."

She looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. For looking so plain the man certainly cleaned up well. With the new shirt half-buttoned and a towel around his shoulders.

"Its alright."

She turned back to staring out of the window as he sat down on the couch. The air thickened with thoughts.

"So why did you rescue me then?"

"Huh?"

She drew herself away from the spotlights still roaming the clouds around the accident site.

"You rescued me. Why? Im thinking you could have rescued anyone."

"I dunno. I guess because you asked for it."

ATCCU

[AtlantisRules!!!]

Benson stepped off of his Shuttle and looked around. He could almost make out the crashsite in the distance.

A officer walked up to him. "Senator... we were not expecting you."

"I only just decided to come. I heard Dray just returned to New Gallifrey without a reason. I figured someone had to be here" Benson replied.

"That is Lady Draygon." The Officer said, how dare this man spoke about her without respect!

Benson waved him off. "Yes, yes. Take me to whoever is the leader here."

"Yes sir." The Officer turned sharply and walked off, Benson following.

***

The Officer knocked on the door, then announced, "Senator Benson here to see you, sir."

"Thank you, Captain. You may go."

Benson walked in and sat down as the Captain hurried off.

"So.. what are you doing here Senator?" The man said.

"I'm here to oversee the operations here. Since Draygon just left. You are...?"

"General Armel." The man stated.

"Ah. Well then, General, if its not too much trouble, I would like ot have a look around."

Armel replied, "go ahead"

[lordofseas]

Los waited until after he had had something to eat before going to Dray's chambers once more to inquire about the sterilization order. He had barely raised his hand to knock before Dray opened the door.

"I thought Benson would be coming round to start round two of 'negotiations' so I was listening out telepathically for people," she explained, waving him inside.

"I take it you've calmed down again now?" asked Los, sitting on the sofa. He noticed broken glass on the floor and followed the wall up to the smashed mirror. Looking back to Dray questioningly he saw the bandage around her right hand. "Have an argument with the mirror? What happened? It didn't tell you that you're the fairest of them all?"

"I've never held such delusions of grandeur," she laughed, taking a seat in the chair opposite him. "Ever heard the human phrase 'the eyes are the windows of the soul'?"

"I have."

"Well I dislike to be reminded that all I am is a wraith in a timelord's body," she replied, her tone suddenly much colder.

"And so you punched the mirror because you have yellow eyes?" Los's attempt to lighten the mood succeeded as Dray laughed out loud again.

"When you put it like that it does seem remarkable foolish. Now what did you want to see me about?"

"These sterilisation orders for-"

"Yes, the rebellion leaders on those planets need to be neutralized and in such a way as to appear natural."

"Assassination isn't a natural cause Dray."

"It is when you're a leader," she replied. "Have other members of the rebellion framed so we don't receive any backlash from it. Then when they're done fighting we can install our own government there that will be more responsive to us."

Los nodded at Dray's plan. It was feasible, but would also need careful handling, not one of Draygon's fortes. But Benson wasn't the only one who could manipulate her.

"You know Dray," he said, "all this business with the rebellion and Besnon... it's not being beneficial to your health." He gave a meaningful glance to her bandaged hand. "You know you can trust me to see this done, you already have by giving the orders to me. What you need is a break, away from New Gallifrey. You did say earlier that you needed to get out more."

"I'm not sure Los..."

"It also gives you the perfect alibi, if I give these sterilisation orders after you've departed. That way the people who would be blamed would be the Triangle senate, which also includes...."

"Benson," Dray finished with an evil smile. She looked at Los with delight. "Perhaps a holiday would be good for me."

"I'll have the necessary arrangements made," Los said, standing up. He casually picked up one of the bloodied mirror fragments. "And get someone to clean up this glass."

"What would I do without you?" laughed Dray again as she opened the door for him.

"You'd be dead," he replied truthfully, but Dray merely laughed again and bade him goodnight. Los made his way back to his room, puzzling over the blood on the mirror fragment he still held. The blood was fresh still, and only just beginning to dry. That meant Dray had smashed the mirror in a fit of fury mere moments before he arrived. And yet she was quite lucid when they had talked. She was unstable. That much was clear to anyone. He'd have to keep a closer watch on her, and have her monitored during her respite away from New Gallifrey.

For now though, he had the political game to play.

Los watched as Draygon's ship left the spaceport. She was waving happily out of her window as she left. Los waved for a few seconds, then turned and left as well. A bodyguard was with Dray, who would keep her in his sights every moment.

And tell Los everything.

He walked with purpose, through the halls. People came up to him with tablets, but he ignored them, walking right up to Draygon's door. She had left him the Key, so she wouldn't lose it at La'ta'ma, some expensive spa planet. Los opened the door, and began to look around. He had entered through the guise of cleaning, which should excuse anything in the records, or anything that Draygon would or could ask, if anything was out of place.

The entire room was oppressive. Los observed the mirror shards on the ground, and side stepped them. He opened drawers, and examined objects in her room. Nothing pointed to anything unordinary....except, a small object on the corner of her desk was out of place. It was....a model of a Dalek? Los smirked. Unusual thing for a Time Lord to have. Then again, I do... Los picked up the miniature. It beeped, "EXTERMINATE". Los laughed quietly to himself, then heard a THUD. Los whipped around, and, startled, fell backward, onto the desk. He slowly got up.

A giant rectanglular...box..stood upright. A door faced Los, but he decided not to open it. On the ground, a small, unmarked book lay. Los flipped through the book. It was covered with scribbling. Los took a quick look. It seemed to be experiments with the box itself. But to what end....Los turned another page. This time, it had an annotation. It read.

Experiment successful! More must be read into this. Controlled Multiverse Travel possible!

Los' eyes shot wide with horror. Insanity! She can travel the multiverse all she wants, but she'll rip the fabric that holds them together, along with the Web of Time! And the only people that could allow the destruction of this atrocity were the Lords of Time.

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

Susie

He leant on the desk, studying her as she continued dressing.

'But there's more to it than that, isn't there?' he shared his thoughts 'Elle; it's Latin for 'honourable'...'

'I don't think my parents knew that when they chose it,' she sat on the couch and rolled up a fresh pair of socks 'It just sounded pretty for a baby girl.'

'But there's a sign in meanings,' he smiled 'and you've certainly proven yourself to be 'honourable', at least you have to me.'

'Doesn't mean a thing.'

'Why?' He asked.

'You're reading too much into it. There are no hidden meanings here,' she shook her head 'but what about you?'

'Me?'

'George used to mean 'farmer' in French.' She continued to mock his ideas. That was when the headaches drummed in his head again, he felt dizzy and covered his face as before 'What's wrong?'

'My head...is killing me!' He felt his brain throb under the pressure and fell back onto the couch. She jumped over quickly and held him in place, checking his pulse and temperature as he breathed faster and more desperately.

'George? George!' She said, watching his eyes fall as a blank as his memory 'Tell me what's happening!'

A strange scenario suddenly drove into his mind with indescribable force. He saw a young man sweeping up silver leaves before a small hut in a large plain under a red sky. Years the later the man was approached by several hooded figures of religious importance. He defied whatever they offered him, but before he could run they had dragged him to the Temple of Time. He was punished like a prisoner of primordal inquisition, tossed in a cold dark cell for 50 long years...Escaped only on the last day of the Time War itself, escaped on the Cantina.

He squeezed his eyes shut before he shot them open again, grabbed her and pulled her close as if possessed.

'HIDE ME!'

His head dropped back with a soft thud on the cushion, and he was asleep again. Elle felt herself fall back, her body shaken but her own thoughts stirring.

Because she saw it too. Like before, when she touched him on his ship, the things she saw, the alien worlds, the ship he travelled on, the view of an older, healthier Earth...and the Gauntlett.

She took in a slow and deep breath, realising that she had momentarily been inside his mind with him, shared his loneliness but his strange determination.

'Mapp,' she felt a headache set in 'Your name is Mapp...'

---

Hours passed.

Rahim chose not to disturb Elle has she lay on the opposite couch to the stranger's. He had acquired a blood sample from him, presuming him to still be in a coma from the crash. He ran it under the scope before using the short-range scan to monitor his strange heart rhythm.

'Hmmmmm,' he mumbled to himself 'That's too odd.'

'What?' Elle yawned as she emerged behind him 'More tests?'

She felt the urge to explain what had happened the previous night to the doctor, but didn't. It was information she felt was safer in her own mind.

'Indeed, just running over a heart scan.' He nodded.

'And?'

'Well, I mentioned he wasn't entirely human, but most of the foriegn traces have, well...Well, they've gone, Elle. Everything shows normal bloodwork, normal thought pattern although he has a vulnerability to migraines (not uncommon in humans, I should add) but its only his heart which is now giving off strange readings,' he explained, and she didn't really follow.

'What's it doing?'

'...Well nothing completely peculiar, and it doesn't seem to be showing any kind of current danger....'

'...But?'

'But there's too much stress on it. Its like it's doing a job made for two, its beating more rapidly than yours or mine and its getting quicker, but if he's not waking up it's because his body is too busy pumping energy everywhere else. His body is reading like it's awake, not like it's asleep,' he added.

'I've read similar things in other coma patients...'

'Yes, well, very much so, indeed.' He smiled, impressed by her knowledge 'But a system shock wouldn't cause this much bodily disruption. I would argue as a physician that our guest has been exposed to something rather disturbing and alien recently, and if you ask me, it's probably the reason he crashed his ship. The man simply lost control of his space vehicle and got frighteningly lucky.'

She wasn't surprised by the find. Either because of what she had seen last night, or simply because her own brain was having trouble comprehending current events. The world was so surreal now, and he wasn't the only one on the run. Then she thought that maybe she was far too tired to bother thinking about it.

She nodded, headed back over to the couch and slipped off into another nap. Rahim shrugged and continued on with his observations. He did frequently glance over to the stranger, wondering what fruitful secrets lay buried in his subconscious...

---

I ... I was tricked... Had I known they were planning this, I would've never helped them..

Familiar voices...

You'll live the life of the humans you like so much. A Time Lord you are no more. To prevent you from still causing trouble, you'll be sent into the relative future of the universe.

Hidden inside...

We shall allow you to retain your memories. Naturally some of your more advanced knowledge will have to be removed in order to accommodate your inferior brain capacity.

Whispers goading me out of the dark...

Lord Mappalazarou. You have been found guilty on all the charges put forward to you…..

……The punishment for these charges, as decided by The Lord President of Gallifrey is to have your DNA reconfigured to that of a lesser know race, and your mind whipped of all technical knowledge of your TARDIS capsule, while your TARDIS itself will be prevented from travelling through time without Timelord knowledge and express permission.

They took it all away.

---

'Hide me...' He mumbled in his sleep 'Hide...'

[susanne]

((Epic mapp ))

Elle slipped into an exhausted sleep easily. But even here her memories invaded her dreams.

'Its been seen near here'........'Boost the shielding?'.........'Protect the children!'.......'Oh god! Oh my god!'........'Sheilds failing! Its breaking in!'.......'Its after us! We have sinned! God has prepared our rapture!'.......'Elle! Elle run now!'

She whimpered as the voices of long dead people erupting into a horrifying dream.

-

Her footsteps echoed on the metal floor, the walls are rusted and old, but they were always like that. now they're shaking. shaking so violently it feels like an earthquake.

"Hello? Anyone? Whats going on?"

There was no answer. She moved towards a door and opened it to find her own room, neatly organised but filled with mechanics parts and plans. Her room? She was in the residential area? Where was everyone? Her ornaments and papers vibrated around the room as the shaking grew in intensity.

Against the roar of the shaking she hears something else. Footsteps. Someone....someone was here! She dashed to her door and into the corridor to find the shape of a man approaching through the flickering lights. She was so confused!

"Hey! Hey whats going on?"

The figure didnt speak, but continued to move until by the darkened lights she could realise who it was.

"Anath? Thank god! Look i cant find....Why have you got a gun?"

The engineer, Anath, stopped a few feet down the corridor, holding in his hands a deadly looking shotgun. It gleamed in the sparse light. Overhead the intercoms began to crackle with spine-chilling laughter.

"lItTle huMaNs hIdiNg! OOOOOOOOoooooooh sO muCh fUn! I wiLl fInD yOu HuManS!"

Elle looked up at the speakers then back down at Anath in fear.

"What was that? What is that thing going on about?"

The man snarled and his hands tightened on the gun.

"Its the rapture stupid girl. Cant you see that? God has deemed us unworthy and he has sent this demon to do his bidding!"

Elle took a step back, all this crazyness was too much for her.

"Your starting to scare me Anath....Where is everyone?"

The man glared at her before lifting the shotgun. Elle screamed and turned to run as he took aim. She knew she would never get far but she had no choice. As he motioned to fire a door burst open and two bloody and crazed people jumped him. Elle didnt care. She ran as fast as she could down the corridor.....her heart weeping.

"I wILl fiNd yOu lITtLe huMaNs!!".......

At the end of the corridor, stood another man, one she had never seen in this dream before. He looked like the man...Mapp... He turns and moves into another room....she followed....

-

Elle lay on the chair, drenched in sweat. Ocasionally she would twitch or give a small cry, but the Doc payed no attention to her. This was normal Elle. His attention was focused fully on the other tests he had done, looking for descrepancies.....

ATCCU

[Draygon]

Los watched as Draygon's ship left the spaceport. She was waving happily out of her window as she left. Los waved for a few seconds, then turned and left as well. A bodyguard was with Dray, who would keep her in his sights every moment.

And tell Los everything.

He walked with purpose, through the halls. People came up to him with tablets, but he ignored them, walking right up to Draygon's door. She had left him the Key, so she wouldn't lose it at La'ta'ma, some expensive spa planet. Los opened the door, and began to look around. He had entered through the guise of cleaning, which should excuse anything in the records, or anything that Draygon would or could ask, if anything was out of place.

The entire room was oppressive. Los observed the mirror shards on the ground, and side stepped them. He opened drawers, and examined objects in her room. Nothing pointed to anything unordinary....except, a small object on the corner of her desk was out of place. It was....a model of a Dalek? Los smirked. Unusual thing for a Time Lord to have. Then again, I do... Los picked up the miniature. It beeped, "EXTERMINATE". Los laughed quietly to himself, then heard a THUD. Los whipped around, and, startled, fell backward, onto the desk. He slowly got up.

A giant rectanglular...box..stood upright. A door faced Los, but he decided not to open it. On the ground, a small, unmarked book lay. Los flipped through the book. It was covered with scribbling. Los took a quick look. It seemed to be experiments with the box itself. But to what end....Los turned another page. This time, it had an annotation. It read.

Experiment successful! More must be read into this. Controlled Multiverse Travel possible!

Los' eyes shot wide with horror. Insanity! She can travel the multiverse all she wants, but she'll rip the fabric that holds them together, along with the Web of Time! And the only people that could allow the destruction of this atrocity were the Lords of Time.

Draygon lay back on the spa bed and attempted to relax. She should relax, she was in one of the most exclusive spa worlds in the Empire, was getting pampered by the best the facility had to offer and yet she still felt as tense as ever. What was she afraid of happening? Assassination? She had survived the attempts to the point where people had given up trying to kill her, for now at least. Los had still insisted on the bodyguard though.

Allowing the warm sun of La'ta'ma to wash over her and attempted to organize her thoughts. They fell into two main categories.

Benson and his rebellion. Mapp and the Timelords.

Benson... if Los was able to enact her orders then his rebellion would soon be fighting amongst themselves leaving her free to place a government of her choosing on those planets, ones that would respect her and remain loyal. Benson himself would be a different matter. He was far too cunning to be so easily tricked and would continue to try and undermine her. However, having him killed wouldn't resolve matters because he was well liked by many worlds, enough to give him plenty of power in the Triangle senate. He would need to be killed publicly, and with her there as a witness and to remove her from immediate speculation. It would require careful planning.

The Timelords... well, those that didn't know she was a metacrisis treated her well enough, though she rarely had any dealings with them at all. Many saw her as part of Greg's power group and therefore offered her respect. Perhaps they deluded themselves that she would put in a good word for them. As if she would be listened to. P-90 she could get along with amicably, just. But Greg, and Laplace as well, frightened her. But did they accept her? P-90 had called her "contaminated" with her wraith genetics which is why they hadn't told her their plan about Mapp.

Mapp.

She felt her insides boil and a growl threaten to escape her lips. She had followed Greg's orders, allowed him to escape. The universe might have it's justice but she didn't. It was Mapp that had caused the metacrisis between them, changing her forever. She had never got any justice from him for ruining her life. Her mind was a mess, she had no idea who Draygon was anymore. She looked down on wraith, her kinfolk but was shunned by timelords as somehow tainted and treated like a child. She felt an outcast to both sides of her heritage and it was all his fault.

And she would see him pay for that. No matter what the Lord President Gregorious had in mind.

Dray closed her eyes and let the sun continue to sooth her, while fire and blood filled her mind.

[Admiral Mappalazarou]

She sat up, leant forward and wiped away the sweat from under her eyes. She hated it when her past came tumbling down on her out of nowhere and tried to think about something else. Hours had gone by since she fell asleep, and the sun was shining intensely through the curtains. Evening.

There was a soft patter of rain too, but she didn't approach the glass. Elle wanted to stay hidden. She glared over to Rahim, working furiously on his computer now.

'Any news?' She said 'Regarding...anything?'

'Oh, you're awake again!' He yawned himself and scratched his head 'It's only been a day since your escape from the crash site. They're not looking for you really. You're probably presumed dead, to be honest.'

'I'm not too sure how to take that, doc.'

'I'd take it as opportunity. When life gives you lemons, etc.' He said happily.

'...Not so sure that particular analogy works here.'

'Well whatever,' he shrugged, keeping his focus on his monitor 'Hmmm...'

'Anything else on the bloodwork?' she asked blandly.

'Not really, just that latest development. Any reaction from our patient?'

'Not really.'

'...I see. Well bugger. We're not getting anywhere with this.' He sighed and finally launched a glare of frustration over his shoulder 'It's getting late.'

She consulted the clock on the wall.

'It's only half-three, doc.'

'And now because of your quarantine there's a curfew about the Citadel. Everything closes up at four-ish, and I have shopping to do!' he said, stood and threw on his coat 'I don't think you were the only one to break out of the ruins, Elle. There are rumours of others who made it too!'

'You're not going out to shop,' she smiled 'you're going out to find them.'

'That's what I like about you.' He smiled back, watched the doors slide themselves open after they recognised his scan and he passed through and disappeared out into the street.

Elle stared back at Mapp, who had turned slightly in his sleep. She rolled over and did the same. Her nerves kept her muscles exhausted from the crash, even though it was a day or so ago. She wasn't so concerned about being found by the Triangle, but the idea of being caught whilst hiding a fugitive wouldn't go well in her defence...Especially not one who was responsible for the deaths of countless refugees.

Before she could control it, she was remembering the horrors of Terra again and that cold, merciless voice which tore her family apart.

The engines of the shuttle exploded to life, launching her up out of orbit of the small moon and using the gravity of the gas giant to carry herself away. She gleamed back at Terra, now a shrinking metal spot on the colourless surface of the moon, hoping to see others rising up with her.

Just fourteen years old, with blood in her eyes and tears in her heart. She listened the hum of the ship's engine core, focusing on that over the sound of her own breathing as she kept her eyes fixed on her home.

The ship rumbled. Terra exploded. The engines rattled and cried.

And soon enough the shuttle spiralled into a drift...

It would last for four days.

She forced herself awake again, this time having brought some of those past tears into the present. She wiped them away. Not that anyone would notice in the dark. Night. She took in a deep breath as before, shook slightly and glanced to other couch...

Then her senses snapped.

'Mapp?'

She sat up.

'MAPP?'

She looked around.

'MAPP?!'

She stood, poked her head into the bathroom.

'George?'

Everything became frantic and desperate.

'MAPP, where are you?!'

She finally approached the window, glancing out into the empty street. Nothing. She looked back around the room as her feet carried her over to the desk.

Most of his belongings had been taken, along with his revolver and his old clothes. She glanced over to Rahim's computer. Mapp's new clothes had been piled scraggily on them and as she noticed, her fingers felt along the deck and stopped on a folded peice of paper.

She looked down, brought it up and unravelled it.

7 Symbols. One point of origin.

A gate address?

And then she immediately knew where he was headed.

The old starport near the central spire. Mapp's headed through the gate!

She put the note in her pocket and rushed over to the doors, which slid open automatically.

Then she hesitated.

Wait...What am I doing?

This was her new home. She was finally free of the rough streets of New Gallifrey, on a world where she could start a new beginning and keep the past behind her.

But...he knows about the Gauntlett...

Was it enough a reason for her to follow? Would she stop now, stop chasing after answers she could never find? What would it matter? She couldn't change the past...

But...I can.

She remembered something...A word, a phrase from his memory, something she had heard in the myths of the Triangle before, back when a ship called the GateWorld Cantina was rumoured to bring down the Triangle...Back when she was fourteen.

TARDIS.

Two seconds later, she was running down the street at a speed she had never experienced before.

[susanne]

Rahim was right, everything was closed, it had to be very early in the morning as she raced to the gate. The wind brought her flesh up in goosebumps but she ignored it. She needed to catch up to him. How much of a head start did he have on her? The clothes she had felt werent warm which meant he had to be at least 10 minutes in front of her, if not more.

The streets were eerily empty in the pale moonlight when, normally, they would be bustling with people going about their business. There was sielnce but the echoes of her shoes against the rough concrete. How could she have been so dense? How could she have not recognised the symbols? God i should be blonde instead! She thought vehemently as she skidded around the last corner, and, there......was a bunch of guards standing outside the cordoned off complex sharing a cigarette.

She dived behind a covering wall and risked looking out at the scene. They thankfully hadnt noticed her in the dark. Frak. How was she going to follow him now? Thats why she hadnt seen any patrols on the streets! they were all here....investigating a break in. Would they have thought to cover the back entrance?

slowly she began to move around the building, towards the back alleys. Making it to the back entrance she found they had posted a guard there. Whatever happened to stupid guards? She thought bitterly. Ill never catch him at this rate. There was something she could try.

Slowly she picked up a stone and counted her hopes before flinging it across the alley where it landed in the gloom. The man jumped and drew his gun.

"Whos there? Im an authorised Triangle representative i hope you know!"

Elle stayed back, holding her breath as he moved further away from the doors. She couldnt believe her luck, he'd fell for it and wandered into the gloom. She slipped from the wall and stealthily moved towards the door. Jiggling the handle she was dismayed to find it locked. Mapp must have gone in through the front. Ah well. She knew a trick.

taking certain metal objects from the clothing of her anatomy she began to fiddle with the keyhole. His footsteps were returning and she began to move faster. He would almost certainly spot her soon if she didnt open this frakking door!

Click

Without a second thought she twisted the handle viciously and dived into the darkness, shutting it behind her. Leaning against the door she listened carefully for any sounds her presence had been known....it hadnt.

Now....where am i? Ah....a corridor.....

ATCCU