Back to the Series & Stories Page · Back to the Omega Home Page

Previous Issue	SEEKERS	Next Issue
Previous in Crossover		Next in Crossover

by Matt Dempster

Wes leaned back and scrubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

What a fiasco. Yeah, sure we managed to get rid of Shiva. Barely. But we had all sorts of injuries, Tempest is lost, maybe dead, and some little town in Siberia has been royally screwed.This did not add up to a check in the win column for Wes.

There were more problems now than there were before. Brenda was supremely pissed that the Seekers had not managed to haul Hauptmann nee Blume and Ms. Benson in. The two of them had beaten the hell out of his team and taken off. Carter was missing, definitely in the fugitives care, possibly dead. Brenda also wasn't happy about the delay on Wes' report of the whole situation with the Colony. But he had given his word to Danny, and he was going to make sure of his promise.

Last but not least, not by a long shot, was the fact that someone was screwing his team over, cutting them out of the information loop. Someone was keeping secrets and Wes didn't like it. Finding out what Owen knew and doing something about it was number two on his priority list. Number one was about seventy-nine consecutive hours of sleep. Interfacing with the alien computer had taken a lot out of him. The code was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It certainly wasn't binary. It almost seemed to be a base three code; a form of Trinary. He had grabbed a couple of programs and chunks of code as he skimmed through Shiva's computer, and he would analyze them later. But that could wait. Z's took priority. Wes crawled into bed and dropped into slumberland almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Alert: illegal entr..: 3333333

02020111110122212210120200

Chris, Andrea, and Jay sat in the cafeteria after a late night snack. The three were discussing the recent crisis.

"Ok, so there we were, me and Michelle, standing in the middle of Times Square when out of nowhere, WHAM! Tempest and Kali do a nosedive straight into the ground. My Omega sense went totally berserk. I don't know what else he was, but i do know that Tempest was absolutely the strongest Omega that I have ever seen. I couldn't even come close to the guy."

"Yeah, so, what happened next?" pressed Chris.

"Well, Kali pounded Tempest into the pavement and then Michelle tried to stop her in full armor mode. She got swatted like a Ping Pong ball. Anyway, Tempest got up and melted Kali. Then he took off, faster than even I could see, and he never came back."

Andrea whistled. "Do you think he's dead?"

Jay thought for a moment. "Well, all the telepaths say he is. But I know that that man was stronger than anything we have ever seen. I think there's a shot he might have survived. Call me crazy, but it's possible."

Chris looked doubtful. "His brother said that he was dead. he would know. After all, he's a pretty powerful telepath. Besides, if he weren't dead, wouldn't he have come home by now?"

"Who knows? He could be hurt, or lost. Could be any number of things."

"Do you think we'll ever see him again?" asked Andrea.

"I don't know."

As Chris opened his mouth to say something, the commpanel on the wall flashed to life. Terry's face appeared on the screen. "Chris, Andrea, Jay, come to Conference Room D immediately. Don's got something for us."

The screen faded to black. Andrea said, "Let's roll," and the trio headed off for the conference room.

Don stood before the assembled Seekers team and grinned. "Ok folks, I know I'm not Wes. Unfortunately our illustrious leader is taking a nappie." Muted chuckles ran around the table. "I'm going to be filling in for him while he is catching up on his rest. Ok, here's the situation."

As Don spoke, a screen came to life behind him. A graphic representation of Ireland came up, with glowing red dots all over it. "We got troubles with the Irish today kids. The IRA has been reasonably quiet for a while. Now that the treaty has been signed, bombings are pretty much a thing of the past. Unfortunately, the treaty never said anything about Omegas."

Bill looked up from the display before him. "The IRA is recruiting Omega talent?"

"Oh, it gets better. Not one, but two, count 'em, two Omegas."

"The first one's name is Finn. He's got black hair, blue eyes, and one hell of an attitude. He's between 35 and 40. His apparent powers include enhanced strength, resistance to injury, enhanced speed, and the ability to commune with animals. I looked up the name Finn in the computer database. Finn was the name of a Celtic hero who supposedly had pretty much the same attributes as our boy.

"The other IRA agent is named Seamus O'Donnell. He was captured just after an IRA bombing, and sent to prison. While he was there, his Omega triggered. He can become invisible at will, by some sort of telepathic manipulation. You don't see him, you don't hear him, you never know he's there. At least not till he hits you with the second part of his power. Apparently, he can totally disrupt one's nervous system by touch alone. He sneaks up on you, and BANG! you're dead."

"Boy, sounds like a fun bunch." muttered Jay.

"Oh yeah. O'Donnell has been linked to two killings of Parliament officials in the last six months. Finn has been making life miserable for the ULF as well as the Brits."

Bill grinned. "And so they wanna send in the A team eh?"

"Pretty much. We got a call from our attache over in London. They received a request for our assistance in tracking and neutralizing these two. SIRECOM has graciously decided to send us to help."

"So who's going?" asked Chris.

Don gestured to the screen. "So far I have this mission assigned to myself, as team leader; Andrea, Jay, and Michelle, along with two new members." As he spoke, a picture of each member, along with vital stats about them appeared on screen. Don reached over and touched a button on his control panel. "Agent Bailey, you can come on in."

The door opened, and in walked a young white male, dressed in SIRECOM fatigues. He had the Seekers emblem on his right shoulder. He sat down at the far end of the table.

"Boys and girls, I would like you all to meet Phillip Bailey, codename Trace. Phillip is a clairsentient. His enhanced senses include the basic five, plus some I can't even begin to describe. He's been with the program fro about two years now, out at our Arizona base, and he's just been reassigned to the DC facility."

Greetings were exchanged, and Phil relaxed into his chair.

"So who is the other team member?" Jay asked.

"The final member will be meeting us in London. He is the Omega assigned to the London base, and he has in depth knowledge of the IRA's tactics and strategies. His name is Michael Miller, codename Reflex. He's psychokinetic. He absorbs KE and converts it to strength. We still haven't figured out his limits. He'll be..."

As Don spoke, the screen flashed red, cutting him off. Brenda Washington's face came on.

"Don, this is Brenda. Change of plans. Air Force Intel has just picked up an unidentifed object entering our atmosphere. It's gonna hit off the coast of Maryland. They've requested you, along with three Seekers, to go and investigate. I'm detailing Sonic, Trax, and Ricochet to you. Get out there ASAP."

Don opened his mouth to reply, but the screen had already gone blank. He turned back to the team. "All right kids. You heard the lady. Chris, Jay, Bill you're with me. The Irish mission is still go. Andrea, Michelle, Phillip, you three along with Phase. Your flight leaves Andrews Air Force base at 0900 tomorrow. Michelle, you're team leader on this mission. All right kids, let's roll."

Michelle sat aboard the Lear bound for the British Isles, reviewing her plans for the capture of the rogue Omegas. Her team would land at Heathrow Airport, and they would link up with the SIRECOM assets in the area, including Miller, who would brief her team on the latest attacks. The would travel to the site, and Phillip would try to get a fix on their targets.

She shut the computer down, and slumped in her seat. This wasn't her thing. Terry should be leading the squad, not her. Why Don had assigned her as team leader was beyond her. As Michelle examined her doubts, Phase sat down next to her. He smiled and said, "Nervous?"

Michelle looked at him. "What gives you thet ahdea?"

He leaned back in his seat and said, "I know I would be if I was leading this mission. However, I'm not you. I have no talent for leadership. You do."

"Aw, go on..."

"No, I'm serious. Remember our last training session? You, me, and Chris versus Bill, Andi, and Jay? Well, there is no way that we would have won if you hadn't come up with such great strategy. You knew what to do, and how to do it at the right time, which is what makes the leader of a good team. Trust me. You'll do fine."

"Ya think?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Thanks. Ah needed the pep talk."

"Don't mention it. Helpful is my middle name."

"Ah meant ta ask you about thet... how come your name ain't in the files?"

"That would be because I don't know it. You see, SIRECOM picked me up about a year and a half ago. Apparently, I was flipping in and out, scaring the living daylights out of the players during a Rams-Falcons game. I appeared right in front of the receiver, and then blinked out before he hit me. Well, they called SIRECOM, figuring I was an Omega or a ghost, and either way the police wern't equipped to handle me."

"What happened?"

"Don shut me down. I blinked in, and collapsed. They took me to the hospital, and pumped me with glucose. Apparently, I hadn't eaten in quite a while. That's why my powers were fluctuating. One of the Seekers program's resident telepaths probed me, and found everything personal about me wiped clean. All of my skills and personality was there, but my name, my birthday, everything like that, zip, bang, gone. My Omega triggered off, and I got stuck in intraspace, which is what the physicists who are trying to figure out how I do what I do are calling the place I blink to. I spent a couple of days there, and somehow the trauma erased my memories. Then I started blinking, and the first thing I remember was Wes sitting at my bedside watching me, and grinning when he saw me come to. The program named me Phase, and I just kept that name. Doesn't really seem right to take another one."

"What about your relatives? Don't you have a family?"

"I don't know. No one has claimed me as a cousin or son yet. I try mot to think about it. I figure, this is my home, these are my family, why worry about it otherwise? I can't get the memories back...they're gone for good. I figure just ease back and go with the flow."

"Y'all are quite a guy, Phase."

"I try. You need anything else, another talking to, you call, OK?"

"You got it."

Phase got up and wandered back to the rear of the plane. Michelle closed her eyes. May as well catch some Z's. Still another 7 hours to go..

As the Seekers disembarked from the Lear, two men came forth to meet them. The shorter one was dressed in the familiar black fatigues or the Seekers squad. On his left shoulder was a patch indicating he was attached to the European branch of SIRECOM. The taller man wore a double-breasted charcoal gray suit, and looked like he had just stepped out of GQ magazine. Michelle disliked him immediately.

The Seekers agent stepped up and shook Michelle's hand. "Hello there. I'm Mike Miller. This here is.."

"Brian Abercrombie. At your service." The man seized Michelle's hand, and brought it to his mouth as if he were going ot kiss it. Michelle used a touch of her power and yanked her hand away with a bit more force than necessary.

"I see." said Brian, a bit discomfited. "And you must be Michelle Thomas. Well, if you'll step this way, we have a car waiting for your team. We'll head for the branch office, and Mike can fill you in on the situation."

"Very good, Mr. Abercrombie. Lead the way."

Miller pointed the the map of Ireland on the wall. He said, "Here's where our boys have been last causing trouble. Right here in Londonderry. They were part of an IRA insurrection. Finn was hurling things around, and O'Donnell, well he was killing as many troops as he could before they had to leave. This is where we'll begin our search.

"We know that the two of them work together. Usually they do large scale things like this riot. But there have been two assassinations of Parliament men, both with O'Donnell's unique signature. Those are hit and run type things. Finn and a group of IRA soldiers attack a building where the man is. O'Donnell slips in unnoticed, kills the poor bloke, and is gone before anyone sees anything. Bloody effective."

Mike sat down, and Michelle stood. "Ok. Heah's what we're gonna do. We go to Londonderry. Trace, you'll try and pick up the trail. We hunt 'em down. In the meantime, Abercrombie, Ah want your office to set up a list of places where officials are outside of tightly secure areas. Any building that isn't rigged head to toe with security, Ah want to know about it."

"We'll get right on it." "All right, folks. Let's move like we got a purpose."

Trace knelt down and stared at the floor.

"Anything?" Michelle asked.

"Oh yes, they were here. O'Donnell came in the right entrance, slipped past three people and stood here as he killed the fellow. Then he took off through the other door."

"How can you tell all that?" asked Andrea skeptically.

"I look at the room, I see things you don't. I see psychic energy trails. I see and feel indentations in the floor where people have walked. I can still see the faintest residue from O'Donnell's Omega along a certain indentation path. Therefore, I can follow the path. But this isn't what's confusing me."

Michelle looked at him. "What's that, Phillip?"

"Finn's trail. Come outside and I'll show you."

Phillip led the group outside and over to a chunk of pavement that had hit the wall of the building they had been inside a moment ago. "There is something very strange about Finn's trail here. Michael, if you please, could you pick this up, and place it over there?"

Mike shrugged, and walked over to the rock. As he lifted, a sparkle flowed about his body. The stone lifted like a feather, and he placed it where Phillip had indicated. Mike grinned. "I'm gonna need to charge up soon. That actually required some effort." Phillip knelt and examined the rock. "That's what I thought. Ok here's the problem. Mike is a little shorter than this man Finn. His hands are probably smaller. To lift this rock, he would have used about as much strength and pressure as Finn would have. The impressions of their hands in the rock would be about the same."

"Your point, Phillip?"

"My point is this; Finn's hands are much smaller. Too much smaller. They are not the hands of a 6'3 man. There's also an extra energy signature on here. I can't define it. It isn't TK based, but I can't tell what it is. Not yet. Maybe with a little more time. But not yet."

Michelle said, "Is there any way you can tell where they are now?"

"Possibly. Let me see... the trails extend eastward. Hold on, let me try and focus in on them...."

Phillip sank to the ground in a cross legged postion, head tilted as if he were listening for something. As he sank into his trance, Michelle drew Mike aside, and asked quietly, "What do you think?"

Mike replied, "I think we have very little else to go on. We could track them, but I'll bet that what we'll find at the next stop is a safehouse, and from there a long and twisty track indeed. Brian has come up with his list but there are too many buildings and not enough agents to cover them all. Security has been tightened up, but that won't stop O'Donnell. He.."

At that moment, Phillip stirred and said, "They're in London. A safehouse. Near Big Ben. I caught the number 10. That's all I could see."

"10?" mused Mike. "That's couldn't mean... the bastards couldn't be that bold could they?"

"Mike?" Michelle said. "What are you talking about?"

Phillip nodded at Mike wearily. "I think so."

Andrea looked from Mike to Phillip and said, "Would someone please tell me what you're talking about?"

Mike looked at her with wide eyes. "They're going to try and assassinate the bloody Prime Minister."

O'Donnell slammed the folder shut and threw it down on the table. "I canna believe they brought the bloody Seekers in! And that damned fool Miller wi' em. I knew I should've killed him when I had the chance."

Finn sat across the table from O'Donnell. "So what do we do now, Seamus?"

"We do what we always do. We'll go ahead with our plans. After all, they canna know what we're doing, now can they, boyo?"

Finn nodded and got up from the table. "I think I need some rest. I wanna be fresh for tomorrow."

"Aye. Go on, get some rest my friend. Tomorrow, we strike our strongest blow!"

Finn walked up the stairs of the safehouse and entered one of the bedrooms. He shut and locked the door, sat upon the bed and stared at the mirror. He rubbed his bearded chin and sighed. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when they opened again, a totally new face appeared in the glass; that of a young girl, still of high school age.

Finn stood and walked over to her suitcase. Opening it, she rummaged about the top pockets for her most prized possession. Finding the picture, she threw herself back onto the bed. She whispered to the photo, "I do these things for you! Mom, dad, I love ye, I miss ye. I swear, I'm makin 'em pay for what they did to ye. I'll make 'em pay."

Twin tears dropped onto the picture of Finn's parents, as she brought it to her face to kiss it. She reached over, snapped off the lights, and, with the picture clasped tightly to her chest, dropped off into a fitful sleep.

Sleep was the farthest thing from O'Donnell's mind right then.

Miller. That bloody ass Miller. O'Donnell had wanted to kill him for a long time. When Miller was part of the same IRA cell as he was, he hadn't trusted him. When he urged the cell leader to go on the mission that got him killed and the rest of them bloody well tossed in the slammer, he hadn't trusted him. And when Miller had turned in his cell to the police, he had tried to kill him. Unfortunately, Miller had been wearing a vest, and had survived. The ass was an Omega now, liason to Scotland Yard concering IRA incidents. And O'Donnell still wanted to kill him.

He lifted his hand to the light, and grinned. And now he had the power to do it.

He sat back at the table, and went back to staring at the plans of the new security system on the Prime Minister's home of 10 Downing Street.

Michelle looked over the security systems on the office again. "Do you think this is going to work?"

Phase stood next to her. "No. But then again, these aren't really supposed to stop him are they. That's our job."

The pair walked to the middle of the room where Mike was talking to Andrea and Phillip. Michelle said, "OK. Let's hear it, folks. What's the plan?"

"Reflex and I take on Finn and the IRA baddies." replied Andrea.

"You, Phase, and I all wait in here for O'Donnell to show up." said Phillip. "I show you where he is, and you two take him down."

Phase said, "Then it's mop up time."

"Excellent, kids. Now let's get set up. Trace, any clue on an ETA?"

"Not yet Armor. I'll let you know as soon as I...wait a second...I hear...Finn?...they're on their way. I give them 15 minutes."

Armor smiled grimly. "Rock and roll, folks."

The van halted a couple of blocks away, and the IRA soldiers poured out of the back. Finn and O'Donnell had brought some good old fashioned firepower to help in their endeavors. Three RPG's, a lot of Kalishnikovs and a few other nice toys completed the equipment list of the men who moved toward the residence of the Prime Minister.

Within a block of the house, O'Donnell phased out, and moved ahead. He'd never get used to how he could pass by people, holding enough weaponry to invade a country, and never be noticed. Omega powers were the best thing that had ever happened to him. He looked back and saw Finn breathing deeply, preparing for his attack. Such useful cannon fodder. Strong, loyal, and unquestioning, Finn made the perfect IRA terrorist. O'Donnell could have used a few more like him. Besides, the people rallied around him. He was like a figure born from legend, an actual embodiment of the legend of Finn MacCoul. It added yards of support for the movement.

There were the bloody Brit police and government troops. Time to go to work, eh boyo?

The first shots came from a Kalishnikov, followed by the thump of a guardsman hitting the pavement. After that, it was impossible to tell what was happening. Finn began throwing heavy objects at the walls of the house, doing major damage. He turned to lift a nearby car, but as he did, a hand gripped him by the shoulder.

"I don't think you want to be doin' that." said Reflex as he hoisted Finn and threw him across the street. He ran over to him in time to receive a tremendous punch to the jaw that might have made Overman take a step back. Mike just smiled. "Thanks, lad. I needed that."

A quick uppercut knocked Finn into and through a nearby truck. He got up on his hands and knees, and growled as he brought his hand to his mouth. He bit down upon his thumb, and then got to his feet with a nasty grin on his face.

Reflex watched as the road behind Finn grew dark with moving bodies. Cats. Hundreds of them. All coming at Mike. The first couple jumped on him, scratching and biting, and as Mike peeled them off, more and more attacked him, swarming like ants. Losing his footing, Mike fell to the ground. The cats weren't really hurting him, but he had to get up to stop Finn!

Mike tried to get up again, but he kept slipping to the earth. He watched Finn move towards the house, and as he watched, a bolt of energy struck him, again and again. Flux closed with Finn, firing blast after blast at him. Finn threw one punch. That was all it took. His fist slid right through Flux's energy-state body and the power feedback stunned him. The cats almost immediately began to move to greener pastures, and Mike sat up. "The human troops?"

"Took care of it. Few shots to the rifles, and when they discovered they couldn't shoot me, they tried running for it. I stunned 'em all...they won't be moving for a couple of days. We had two guards killed, four wounded. The others retreated inside the house to help the others."

"Good show, Ms. McCall. I'm going in to see if I can help. Keep Finn down until we get back. All right?"

"Yes sir."

While Finn engaged the troops outside, O'Donnell had entered the house, and was heading for the office. Turning the corner, he saw the new security grid added to the office walls and door. Optic beams and infrared scanners. O'Donnell snorted. They thought this would keep him out?

His mind reached out and found the occupants of the room. He blocked their awareness of him and the alarms he triggered easily, and then proceeded to walk through the doorway casually, which set off every alarm in the building, none of which the room occupants could hear. There were four guards in the room, armed with machine pistols, plus two more people dressed in black uniforms which he didn't recognize. Government troops no doubt. Dismissing them from his mind, he concentrated on the last mind in the room, that of the Prime Minister. He was sitting with his back to the door. Closer and closer drew O'Donnell, his hand stretching out slowly, reaching, contact! The power flowed...into a manniquin.

"WHAT!!!???" yelled O'Donnell, and in that instant he looked at the guard he was standing next to, and saw a blank metal visage.

:Trace to Armor, he's next to the dummy, 9:00!:

Armor swung backhand, delivering a glancing blow to O'Donnell's head, enough to send him to the floor, and disrupt his concentration for a minute. Suddenly, he sprang into view, and the noise of the alarms filled the air. Armor moved forward to grab him, but he quickly gathered himself and faded from view. Trace touched a control on the desk and a metal door came slamming down on the office door, locking them all inside. Shutters closed on the windows, and O'Donnell was trapped.

But he wasn't done. He reached for Armor, and sent the full force of his power into her. Nothing happened. Armor spun and tried to land a hit on him, but he danced out of the way, and circled her. How in the hell had she resisted his power? It must be that bloody metal suit. And how the hell had she known he was there in the first place? Not the guards at the doors. The other guy in black? Maybe.... O'Donnell moved towards Trace slowly. Trace moved away, speaking into a microphone softly. Probably telling the woman where I am. I'll show her where I am... He leaped towards Trace, hands outstretched.

Miller heard the scream from the other side of the door. Oh Christ... he thought, and proceeded to grip the inch thick reinforced steel door by it's sides. With one huge shrug he ripped the door from it's moorings and cast it aside (destroying the opposite wall in the process) and burst through the oaken door leading to the Prime Minister's office.

O'Donnell looked up from the prone form of Trace to see Reflex burst into the room. "Miller!" he breathed, and moved towards his hated enemy.

Phase had seen everything from his post at the far wall. In intraspace, he was immune to O'Donnell's telepathic tricks. To Phase, he looked like the same sort of dimensional ripple that everybody else did. He had moved forward to help out when Armor had had him down, but hadn't blinked in, because then O'Donnell would have been invisible to him too. Besides Trace was guiding Armor, and he wasn't really necessary. But then O'Donnell had attacked Trace, before Phase could do anything, and now he was aiming for Reflex.

Phase moved forward quickly, and launched himself into the "air" of intraspace. He blinked in, and his foot connected solidly with an invisible man. O'Donnell rolled to his feet, visible for the moment, and whirled to see Phase disappearing again. He lunged for the attack, but passed through the area Phase had occupied a second ago. Snarling, he faded from view.

Reflex watched the strange battle amazedly. Phase would appear and attack empty air, which would turn into O'Donnell, which in turn tried to attack Phase, who had disappeared already. The invisible combatants danced and dodged, and finally O'Donnell appeared unconscious on the floor, with Phase standing over him. Reflex knelt to check O'Donnell. "He's still breathing."

"What about Phillip?" asked Phase.

The two turned to see Armor kneeling next to a very groggy Phillip Bailey. Phase stared and said, "Don't take this the wrong way, but why the hell are you still alive!?"

Phillip smiled weakly, and pulled open his shirt. Underneath lay SIRECOM kevlar armor. "O'Donnell hit the armor and transmitted the shock to me. Not enough to kill me though. Unfortunately, I was using my full Omega at the time, so all of my senses were at maximum intensity. It felt much worse than it was."

Mike scratched his head. "At least you aren't dead. And we nailed these two scums. Not too shabby."

The team walked out of the office, and down to the street where Flux was keeping Finn under control. Mike asked, "Any problems?"

Flux smiled (as much as a human shaped mass of energy can, anyway) and replied, "Nah, I just jolt him when he starts squirming too much."

Phillip was staring at Finn. "There's something not right here...."

Michelle asked, "What do you mean?"

"This isn't a man. That's not right. I see a man, but that's not a man. That is a woman."

Phase looked closely at the prone form. "Are you sure, Phillip? Looks pretty masculine to me."

"Trust me. This is a young girl. In fact that would explain the other energy trail I was picking up. It's some form of illusion. It fools most of my senses. But not all. I have no idea how to counter the illusion. Why it hasn't dropped now that she's unconscious is beyond me."

Mike sighed. "Well now isn't this a pretty pickle. We can't send her to an adult prison...she's underage. But we can't let the lass go. She's party to at least three murders. I say we slap a psi inhibitor on her and O'Donnell and we give 'em to the police. That's all we can do. SIRECOM's authority is really vague here."

Michelle frowned. Her armor had receded to the gloves, belt and boots that she usually wore. "Ah gotta agree. We have no real authority heah. Ah guess we turn 'em in. But Ah'm puttin' in a recommendation foah psychiatric treatment foah the girl. Ah don't like the ahdea of her sittin' in prison foah bein a screwed up kid with moah power than she knew what ta do with."

With that, Michelle radioed for a pickup, and for a SIRECOM cleanup crew. In short order, both arrived, and the team left for the branch office.

Phase shook hands with Miller. "It's been a pleasure working with you."

"Likewise, I'm sure. Good luck to you in the States."

As Phase climbed on board the waiting plane, Mike turned to Michelle. "Not too bad for your first time out, eh?"

Michelle nodded. "Yeah. Believe me, better than Ah hoped."

"Say, my next rotation brings me stateside again in six months. I think I know who's team I want to join active. Think you'll need an extra hand by then?"

"Me? Nah, Don's next in line. Besides, we only have a couple more operatives, and..."

"Trust me, lass. You'll have a team before you know it. And I'd be proud to serve with you."

Michelle blushed and looked down at her feet. "Thanks, Mike. Ah appreciate the sentiment. Believe me, y'all will be the first person Ah call if Ah get a command. Y'all look me up when you get stateside, huh?"

Mike smiled. "You bet. Take care, lass."

"You too."

Wes awoke with a headache, and memories of some of the strangest dreams he had ever had. He swung out of bed, and stretched for the ceiling. Pulling on a bathrobe, he padded over to the bathroom, and drank a cup of water. He studied his reflection in the mirror. "God, I look worse now than when I went to sleep!"

He wandered back out into the bedroom and sat down on his bed. He accessed his internal chronometer. 52 hours he'd been asleep!! My god! Computer: access: team reports and directives past 2 days.

Mission: Alien form crashed Atl. Ocean. Team dispatched to investigate./Mission: IRA terrorism/Omegas. Team dispatched to capture and neutralize. Mission reports unforwarded.

200102202

What the hell?

Computer: repeat last message?

Mission: Alie

Following message?

???: No message.

20000222121222122000

What WAS that?

As the strange numbers passed through Wes's mind, his left arm started to twitch. "What the.." As Wes watched dumbfounded, his arm lifted slightly off his lap, and then fell with a thud back down.

20020200100012021111200210202000