View source for Endgame-Part I

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<h2>Pawns</h2>
<h3>by LJC</h3> 
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<p><br />Niko tapped the table impatiently with her fingertips, trying to resist the urge<br />to check her wrist chrono again. It would only tell her that she had just<br />checked it two minutes earlier. Of course he was late. He was always late. No,<br />not always, she reluctantly admitted, brushing a few strands of russet hair from<br />her cheek and tucking them behind one ear. Finishing her last mouthful of tea,<br />she was about to rise and get another from the food dispenser when she saw Goose<br />striding across the commissary towards her table. She glared at him.<br /> "Sorry I'm late," he apologized as he settled into the booth. She<br />continued to frown at him. "Again," he added.<br /> Shane Gooseman. One lock of blond hair threatened to slip over one of his<br />startlingly green eyes. Niko felt her expression soften against her will. She<br />could never stay angry at him for long, not that she didn't try. But he was just<br />too.... Shane. There was no other way to explain it. They had been working<br />together for over two years, and never even got past the first name stage.<br /> That wasn't really the truth. Shane had always been protective toward her. <br />In fact, though neither of them were aware of it, their particular closeness had<br />become a running joke among the tech crews who serviced Ranger I and Goose's<br />interceptor. It had been said that Shane Gooseman had a harem, with such<br />prestigious members as Annie O, a savvy cowgirl, Maya, blond amazon Princess from<br />the anti-techno world of Tarkon, even Daisy O'Mega, Irish outlaw leader. Most<br />simply believed that it was only a matter of time before Niko joined their ranks,<br />especially since they had been paired for missions more often of late.<br /> Siobhan Flynn, head of the maintenance crew for bay seven, headed up a pool<br />as to which member of the brass was playing cupid, and how soon the arrows would<br />strike. Flynn personally thought it might be Commander Walsh himself, as he was<br />practically a father to Gooseman, and the team's strongest supporter. Siobhan<br />hadn't been the only one who had seen the change that had come over the two S5<br />Rangers since a series of incidents involving someone the council had dubbed "The<br />Scarecrow". The first time, Niko had come back with a blaster wound in the<br />shoulder, half on the mend and obviously shaken, and Gooseman hadn't left her<br />side for days.<br /> And then the second... Apparently there had been some more than friendly<br />competition between Maya of Tarkon and the lovely S5. And of course, Gooseman,<br />being a man, hadn't noticed a thing. Or at least professed not to have. One<br />could never tell with him. No one could accuse the brass of playing matchmaker<br />when the General snatched Captain Foxx, Doc, and the two ambassadors, leaving<br />Rangers Niko and Gooseman to go to the tower alone to the rescue. That had just<br />been divine providence, owing much to the General's fascination with Gooseman and<br />metamorphs in general.<br /> She continued to glare at him over the rim of her teacup in a playful sort<br />of way, silently demanding explanation.<br /> "Commander Walsh wants us to charge up, then meet the him in his office for<br />a new assignment."<br /> "What sort? Why just us?" She was intrigued.<br /> "He wouldn't say over the comm." He shrugged, and they slipped out of the<br />booth and headed for the lab.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>"Rangers Niko and Gooseman reporting as ordered." Niko smiled at the man<br />behind the desk as they entered the familiar office.<br /> Walsh would never forget the first time he had seen Niko. Sixteen years<br />old, with more than a hint the old-fashioned about her, her application for BETA<br />had council members shaking their heads for days. No surname, a planet of origin<br />that wasn't even on their maps and a psi rating off the scales. They hadn't known<br />what to make of her. He hadn't known what to make of her.<br /> Later, he had received a visitation by a tiny, wizened figure (she must<br />have been sixty-five even then) with hair white as snow and pince-nez glasses<br />perched precariously on her nose, her blue eyes flashing impossibly bright as she<br />unfolded Niko's story for the dumbstruck Walsh.<br /> Apparently, Xanadu wasn't on their maps because it had no business being<br />on their intergalactic maps, and was hidden from prying eyes for a very good<br />reason. A haven and training ground for people of power from all races, the<br />inhabitants `adopted' children showing promise and trained them in the use of<br />their gifts. Niko had been five years old when her parents lifeless cruiser<br />drifted into their space, drawn by the gravity of the cloaked planet. The child<br />had been given the only lifepod, and her parents had perished when the<br />lifesupport systems in the cabin had given out. Ariel herself had raised the<br />girl, and Niko was her best student. Again and again she told Walsh that the<br />only reason she had allowed Niko to petition to join the newly formed BETA was<br />to broaden her horizons and answer some of the girl's persistent questions about<br />the people and planet of her origin.<br /> Walsh had the girl accepted immediately. Her scores on the applicant's<br />test were perfect anyway, as were her blaster range tests. He was pleased to<br />find she had a passion for archaeology, and had seen to it that she was enrolled<br />in some classes. All of this was done without the girl's knowledge, of course. <br />It wasn't proper for an incoming ensign to be known as a favorite of the brass,<br />after all. He had suffered enough from acting as Gooseman's mentor during the<br />failed Supertrooper project. Walsh still blamed himself for the boy's change<br />from a sensitive young man into bitter, dedicated adult. That whole project had<br />been doomed from the start, the council had told him, and wanted Shane to be put<br />under observation immediately least he show any "abnormal tendencies".<br /> Walsh had been forced to bury his anger, and turn the council's own red<br />tape and bureaucracy against them. Shane was forever on the "waiting list" of<br />the medical staff, and in the meantime, Walsh had him admitted on a trial basis<br />to the Ranger program. With the advent of the Andorian drive and the opening of<br />diplomatic relations with Andor, Kirwin and others, thanks to his new friends<br />Waldo and Zozo, he would need men like Gooseman and women like Niko. The council<br />may have been blind as to the real state of affairs in the universe, but Walsh<br />certainly wasn't going to be caught napping. He also had his eye on a promising<br />young tech in Q-Ball's burgeoning computers lab, and career officer Zachary Foxx<br />was up for a promotion as well....<br /> Walsh permitted himself a small smile at the memories. This team was his<br />baby, and everyone knew it. Five years in the making, tested mission after<br />mission, the S5 Rangers were the very best. And he was, despite popular belief,<br />perfectly aware of Flynn's pool in bay seven. Personally, he had the smart money<br />on Ariel herself. That old woman had been meddling with official business for<br />years.... He wouldn't put anything past her.<br /> "Rishawn was only discovered and classified five years ago, and though it<br />has no indigenous sentient lifeforms, it is covered with very sophisticated ruins<br />and structures, and has therefore been of interest to historians and<br />archaeologists all over the universe. Until recently, it was closed off by the<br />Council until it could be studied and so forth. Two months ago it was opened to<br />archaeologists, who had been monitored carefully by BETA since their work began." <br />Walsh paused for effect. "Three weeks ago, their check-ins stopped. They entire<br />team appears to have disappeared."<br /> "But that was a dig team of 37 people!" Niko exclaimed.<br /> "I am sending you and Ranger Gooseman in to find out the source, if you<br />can, of the disappearances. A satellite in orbit has shown no craft landed other<br />than the workers, no intruder, no attempt at a distress call. I have chosen you,<br />Niko, for your knowledge of the planet and the dig. Gooseman shall be escort and<br />guard. I would send all of you, but the council thinks the risk too great." So<br />they send the girl with no past and the Supertrooper. Nice. Shane kept this<br />ironic little thought to himself, though he knew the same thing had crossed<br />Commander Walsh's mind as well. What could they do? You can't fight city hall.<br /> Niko, however, was oblivious of any of the Council of Leaders darker<br />motives, mind whirling with the opportunity to study Rishawn first hand. She had<br />been following its exploration for years in the journals. It took a hell of a<br />lot to get clearance to dig there. She knew. She had tried to apply two months<br />ago when the news that they were opening up security filtered through. She had<br />been denied, though she knew twelve of the men and women who were chosen.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>They landed the two-seater interceptor without any problems, setting her<br />down next to the archaeologist's ships. Kind of like a intergalactic parking<br />lot, Goose thought to himself as they hopped out of the cabin. No two ships were<br />alike, and there were about fifteen of them in all. Most were small freighters<br />or personal shuttles. One or two bore the names of influential colleges and<br />museums. Niko had stopped before one of the freighters, a boxy little number<br />with just about enough room for three or four people, provided two or three sat<br />in the hold with the cargo. She was running a hand along the inscription, lost<br />in thought.<br /> "This is Professor Ford's ship. I attended a lecture course of his once. <br />He tried to get me included as part of his team on this dig." She sighed. "I<br />refuse to get depressed. I have work to do, and am too excited."<br /> "You're excited?" He raised a brow, taking in the apparently vast<br />wasteland before them.<br /> "Think of the place you would most like to be in the Universe. Now imagine<br />you tried to get there, but were told you couldn't go. Than, miraculously,<br />someone hands you a ticket and there you are. That's me."<br /> "It's just a pile of rocks to me."<br /> "You are impossible." She frowned at him. "Don't you understand what an<br />amazing archaeological find this world is?"<br /> "I guess so."<br /> "You guess so." She sighed. "We'd best set up the signal beacon." Walsh<br />had given them specific instructions. Once they arrived, set up the beacon. The<br />satellite in orbit would monitor the signal. Should one or either of them<br />disappear, or require assistance, the beacon, set to home in on their wristcoms,<br />would stop transmitting, and they would know to come and investigate. At least<br />that was the plan. It hadn't exactly been tested before this.<br /> "You are annoyed," Goose observed.<br /> "Of course not, don't be silly."<br /> "You are, you're annoyed with me."<br /> "You just never try and understand."<br /> "You're right, I don't understand why you would want to spend so much time<br />in holes in the ground, looking for things that people left behind centuries<br />before you were born."<br /> "Ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to know where I came from, what<br />Earth was like, and once I studied all I could about the present, I wanted to<br />know it's past. I guess that spread to every world, not just Earth."<br /> "I just don't understand why you spent so much time with dead times and<br />worlds and people, when there's so much else you're missing."<br /> "What, you mean instead of hanging out with other cadets and drinking<br />myself into a stupor and joyriding to the orbital stations every weekend?" Niko<br />thought back to her academy days with a rueful grin. "I made some really good<br />friends in those seminars and digs."<br /> "I bet you never dated," Goose shot back, with a grin.<br /> "I did too!" she protested.<br /> They worked quickly, as they only had an hour of daylight left. Rishawn was<br />in its "winter", and though it could reach temperatures of 40 Celsius during the<br />day, at night it dropped below freezing. They set up the small camp, consisting<br />of a tent, two thermal blankets/bedrolls and a cookstove. Niko had hoped to take<br />a look around before dinner, but there was virtually no dusk, more like night<br />suddenly descended. One minute they were laying out the bedrolls, the next they<br />were plunged into darkness, alleviated a little by a powerpack lantern, and the<br />temperatures were plummeting. The dig site would have to wait until dawn.<br /> "Did you date?" Goose asked as they laid out their bedrolls.<br /> "Occasionally. I'm sure not nearly as often as say... you."<br /> "Oh no, not the harem jokes again."<br /> "Flynn gets around. She's quite in awe of you." She laughed, and he shook<br />his head.<br /> "She's nosy."<br /> As they got under their blankets, Niko realised something important.<br /> "I'm freezing. I don't think Q-ball realised just how cold Rishawn gets."<br /> "It'd be warmer if you had two," he informed her.<br /> "But we don't....Oh." She suddenly took his meaning. "I'll be okay." She<br />rolled back over and tried to keep her teeth from chattering. After about five<br />minutes of this, she heard him get up, kept her eyes tightly shut as he draped<br />his blanket over hers, and crawled in beside her. She could feel a blush rising<br />in her cheeks as she felt the warmth of his arms and chest against her back.<br /> "Better?" He asked, and she started, for his mouth was right next to her<br />ear, his breath stirring her hair.<br /> "Mmmhmm." She managed an affirmative sound, wondering how the hell am I<br />going to sleep like this? and she thought she heard him laugh. She remained stiff<br />for a moment, then relaxed a little bit as the warmth began to spread, and she<br />was no longer shivering. Finally she heard his regular breathing, and knew he<br />must be asleep, and then she closed her eyes and tried to join him.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Goose woke first, rather slowly, opening his eyes without moving anything<br />else so we would not wake her as well. In sleep, she had turned to face him,<br />nestling her head in the crook of his arm, cheek against his chest. He had his<br />arms around her, just for warmth, he kept reminding himself, though he realized<br />it was rather nice waking this way, just watching her sleep, the steady rise and<br />fall of her chest, her breath warm against his neck. He wondered what it would<br />be like to wake this way every day, and then as he realized where that thought<br />was going, he clamped down hard on it. After all, this was Niko, the woman he'd<br />worked with for two years, fought alongside, joked with, ate with. These sort<br />of thoughts could ruin a perfectly good friendship, he decided as Niko stirred<br />against him, her hair brushing his chin, leg against his as she sought a more<br />comfortable position.<br /> This... this is not good.<br /> His arm tightened around her reflexively as she stirred again, and he<br />wondered what Rishawn had to offer in the way of cold showers. Maybe I should<br />get up and start breakfast. She stirred again, eyes opening slowly, and she made<br />some small morning type sound. Then she realised where she was, who she was<br />with, and exactly how close they were. She blushed.<br /> "Good morning," he offered, still not moving, smiling a bit at her flaming<br />cheeks. She took a deep breath, and he felt the pulse beneath his hand, could<br />see it in the hollow of her throat. Beautiful long white throat... he wondered<br />if her skin would be as soft as it looked beneath.... Stop it, Gooseman. You'll<br />just get in trouble thinking things like that. Suddenly she was out of his arms,<br />and getting the food packets out of her pack. He felt a quick stab of loss once<br />her warm body was gone, and quelled it with a thought, leaning down to pull his<br />boots back on, fold the blankets. Either they found extras, or he was going to<br />be driven crazy for the next three days.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>The temperature rose quickly, once the sun was up, and as sweat began to<br />dampen the back of her uniform and run into her eyes so she had to mop her<br />forehead every few seconds, Niko wondered how she had ever been cold enough the<br />night before to do what she had. Not that anything had really happened. Only<br />something had, she was sure of it. It was all very confusing. She wanted to<br />shake the cobwebs out, get herself back on track. It didn't help that the object<br />of her thoughts was right in front of her, a constant reminder.<br /> They descended into the dig site, using a hastily constructed railing<br />consisting of a piece of rope strung through metal hoops driven into the rock<br />face the team had been digging into, and she smiled at the memories such a site<br />dredged up. She hadn't been on a dig in a long time. Maybe next time she got<br />leave, she would get together with the guys she had studied with and plan<br />something.<br /> At the bottom of the quarry-like site, remains of several old buildings had<br />been unearthed. She waved the scanner around, looking for life signs of any<br />kind, hoping but not really surprised when nothing turned up. The crates for<br />packing artifacts were still littered around, as were tools, instruments, the<br />remains of meals. It was like something had just reached down and scooped the<br />team up. Like they were on a break, and would be back any minute.<br /> "Hey, I think I found something!" Shane called her over to one corner of<br />the site. There was a wide crack in the rock face, and she could just make out<br />the shape of columns cut into the stone, almost invisible unless you were really<br />looking for them. She waved the scanner in front of the opening, looking for any<br />sort of barrier, trap, anything. The scanner didn't even read it as there. She<br />frowned, and then decided to take a more direct approach. The gizmo went back<br />into its case, and she touch the stone with one hand, her badge the other.<br /> As the charge was activated, she felt the familiar world rushing away,<br />steeled herself for the vision that was to come. She saw the site as it must<br />have been weeks before, men, women and 'droids rushing about, talking, laughing,<br />arguing. She saw Professor Ford discover the opening, and then suddenly it was<br />like a curtain had been dropped over the entire scene, grey blocking out<br />everything as an undeniable presence of some kind reached out to draw one cold<br />finger along her spine. She stiffened, unable to move, speak, even breath as<br />something probed her mind and body, spreading a stone-like cold through her<br />limbs... She wanted to scream, cry out, something-<br /> Shane saw her features slacken, the pulse beating wildly at her temple, her<br />cheeks grown paler and paler as all the blood rushed away. He swore, and tried<br />to wrench her hand away from the stone, but it was as if she was carved of the<br />very rock itself, immobile. Suddenly she collapsed, like a puppet whose strings<br />were cut. He caught her up, resting her head against his arm, feeling her cold<br />hand, looking for a pulse. Her heart had stopped for a moment, he was frantic. <br />She lay as if dead. Suddenly her color returned, and she sucked in air, taking<br />a breath like someone who had been drowning, and her limbs convulsed. He called<br />her name, held her until the spasm passed, and she blinked, then looked at him. <br />She sat up, still gulping in air, cheeks flushed now.<br /> "There was something there...Something," she repeated, hand to her head as<br />if it would fall off.<br /> "Something that almost killed you," he remarked, not letting go just yet. <br />Not till he was sure she was okay. It was a good thing too, because she knew she<br />wouldn't have been able to stand without support anyway. Suddenly the scream of<br />engines blocked out all other noise as a small craft, like an interceptor, but<br />sleeker, commercial as it had no weapons or defenses, streaked overhead and<br />turned to land next to the site.<br /> Was Shane really all that surprised when he saw Karen Walsh skipping down<br />the incline towards them? Hell no. He had almost been expecting it from the<br />start.<br /> "What are you doing here, young lady?" Goose replaced his gun in his<br />holster, frowning. He knew she must have gotten the coordinates from the<br />computer at BETA, but how she could have gotten clearance, past the defenses and<br />the satellite, he had no idea. Karen was always full of surprises.<br /> "I have good news and I have bad news," she chirped, ignoring the fact that<br />Niko looked about ready to fall over, and was leaning against Goose as if she<br />would never leave his side. "The good news is, Uncle Joe sent me."<br /> "And the bad?" Niko had a feeling she knew what was coming.<br /> "The bad news is I lied about the good news, and by the way, someone kicked<br />the communications satellite out of orbit."<br /> "That's impossible! It would have notified BETA, and this place would be<br />crawling with interceptors."<br /> "Not so, intrepid explorers. The signal is still being transmitted and<br />picked up by sensors back on Earth. However, the satellite that is supposed to<br />be transmitting that signal is not, because it is not in orbit any longer. The<br />signal is coming from the planet."<br /> "There is something here, I felt it. It could be transmitting." Niko<br />tried to call back the memory of the presence, match it against something<br />familiar, classify it somehow. "It was what must have gotten the team. I saw<br />them, and then everything went grey." She tried to put it into words, not very<br />successfully either. She frowned. "How did you get here?"<br /> "I flew. That handy little pleasure ship over there was my graduation<br />present from Uncle Joe. It has an Andorian Drive, and everything. It was<br />shipped from Frisco last week. My mechanic, Skeeter, couldn't get it running<br />until then. Some problem with the fuel."<br /> "I mean how did you get off Base? Moreover, why? Why did you follow?"<br /> "I just knew you guys would need help. I've got a sixth sense for<br />trouble."<br /> "That's because it follows you wherever you go," Goose quipped, and Karen<br />glared at him.<br /> "You shouldn't have come. Commander Walsh will kill us." Niko sighed.<br /> "No he won't. He doesn't even know I'm gone. I told him I was taking in<br />a lecture course on New Jersey. I signed up, paid for it out of my own pocket. <br />He'll never know."<br /> "Great. This is just great!" Goose was a bit exasperated. "Are you<br />crazy? You don't `tag along' on a search and rescue mission. You're not even<br />authorized to be on this planet!" But Karen wasn't listening to him, nor even<br />looking at him. She was staring, dark eyes wide, at something above them, out<br />of the crater and to the left.<br /> "I think I just saw a fifty foot tall Egyptian guy walk by." She said it<br />so calmly the two S5's just stared at her as if she had gone mad. "Yeah, I<br />definitely saw a fifty foot tall Egyptian guy walk by. I think he's heading for<br />the camp." She nodded, and as if in answer, they felt the ground jump a bit<br />beneath their feet, as if in time to the step of a fifty foot tall Egyptian<br />guy. They dashed up out of the site in time to see exactly what Karen had<br />described, a sandstone giant with the head of a pharaoh lumbering toward the<br />"parking lot".<br /> "No!" All three cried out as it's foot coming crashing down on the nose<br />of the two-seater crushing it like a bug, destroying an entire line of freighters<br />and cruisers as it headed off into the west. They just stood there, shaking<br />their heads in disbelief as if disappeared into the distance.<br /> "What the hell was that?" Karen finally managed, putting words to the dark<br />look on Goose's face.<br /> "I think it was King-" Niko began, but they never heard the name, because<br />she was suddenly gone, as if a hand from the sky had plucked her out of their<br />midst. Shane swore again, just as the desert terrain of the dig disappeared, and<br />a forest sprang up around them.<br /> "Somebody's messing with the reality machine." Karen whistled, touching<br />one of the trees to make sure it was solid. She turned back to Shane, and gasped<br />when she realized he was wearing not the familiar blue and white uniform, but a<br />shirt of mail, trews and had a longsword belted at his side. "Who are you<br />supposed to be? Sir Lancelot?"<br /> "Take a good look at yourself." Shane swung the sword, testing the<br />balance.<br /> "Cripes, I'm Robin Hood!" She took in the green outfit, and stupid cap<br />perched on her short dark hair. She took it off, inspecting the feather tucked<br />in the brim, and threw it over her shoulder in disgust. Instead of a sword, she<br />was delighted to find a longbow and a quiver of arrows strapped to her back. <br />"Thank heaven I can use these!"<br /> "I wonder what kind of game we are meant to play?" Goose touched the<br />blade, seeing how sharp it was.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Niko surveyed her surroundings carefully, feeling along the smooth grey<br />walls for any sort of crack or opening. She was in a dimly lit room, though she<br />could not find the source of the light to save her life, and her uniform and<br />badge were nowhere to be found. She was instead in a dark green dress of some<br />kind, perhaps thirteenth century France or England, trimmed with gold ribbon and<br />piping, looking nothing so much as like a princess in a fairy tale. And she was<br />furious.<br /> "What have you done with my friends?" She yelled to the ceiling. No<br />response. Just like the last four times she had yelled the question. "Where am<br />I?" She began to pace, shoving at the walls every now and again, hoping they<br />might give, let her out. Suddenly she stiffened, aware of the same presence that<br />had probed her the last time. "Who are you?" She whispered, sure that it heard<br />her. Suddenly the grey walls around her vanished, replaced by the stones of a<br />tower room. She could look out the window, and saw a dense forest bellow. That<br />had been rock and desert only moments before, she had been sure of it. And the<br />ruins were gone. Even the contours of the land had changed.<br /> "Who I am is not relevant," a disembodied voice answered, and she almost<br />jumped.<br /> "What is relevant?" she asked, eyes narrowing.<br /> "The experiment."<br /> "What experiment? Is this-" She fingered the skirt of the dress "part of<br />the experiment?"<br /> "Affirmative," the voice responded.<br /> "What is the purpose of this `experiment?'"<br /> "I am programmed, as you would say, to study and understand the behavior<br />of humans. For this purpose, you and your companions are to be held here. I<br />have reconstructed a mating ritual of your people, having discerned from your<br />actions that you and the male of the species have displayed such tendencies as<br />described in the chivalric code and all related psychological texts-"<br /> "What nonsense are you talking about, mating rituals, chivalric code-"<br /> "I have scanned your memory banks and found-"<br /> "We are flesh and blood beings. We do not have `memory banks'," Niko<br />snapped.<br /> "This is not true. You are not entirely flesh and blood beings. Two of<br />you have computer implants in your brains. Thus I must study you further." She<br />realized it was talking about the S5 implants, and her jaw dropped.<br /> "And the thirty seven other flesh and blood beings you studied? What of<br />them?"<br /> "They could not pass the tests I had devised for them, nor withstand the<br />study. They were terminated."<br /> "And so if we do not pass your tests, are we to be destroyed as well?"<br /> "I cannot say without further input."<br /> "What tendencies did you observe in us that you chose this `ritual' to<br />reconstruct?"<br /> "Upon arrival, the male and a female of the species first argued, then ate<br />together, then shared the same dwelling. By monitoring the physiological<br />responses of the male and female, I discerned that the pulse rate, body<br />temperature and nerve ending responses were higher when together in close<br />proximity than when separated, thus I concluded that there was definite `physical<br />attraction' between the male and the female, as it is referred to in all related<br />psychological texts. According to my programming, I must study this phenomena<br />further, and have chosen this scenario as the most common among humans and most<br />likely to produce the desired results."<br /> "Are you telling me that while I'm up here in this tower playing Fairy<br />Princess, Shane is down there somewhere slaying dragons?"<br /> "Affirmative."<br /> "That's barbaric!" She exploded. "What did you take your research from,<br />B-movies? Where is my badge?"<br /> "I have confiscated the alien pieces of circuitry for further study."<br /> "What about Karen?"<br /> "The human without the neural implant had been left as an assistant to the<br />male specimen in this scenario." And then the presence was gone, probably<br />conjuring up knights for Shane to defeat so it could study his reactions. Niko<br />fumed, pacing the smaller confines of the tower room, and finally sat on the<br />window ledge. It must have been over five stories up. If she could activate her<br />charge to shield her, the jump would have been no problem. As it was, she<br />thought if she make a rope of some kind, to lower herself part of the way, maybe<br />then she could clear the distance without broken bones.<br /> She tried to tear the skirt of the dress into strips, but the fabric<br />wouldn't give. It wasn't organic, that much she could discern. The presence,<br />which she was beginning to think of as a computer of some kind, could reproduce<br />objects by sight, but could not understand the actual material of them. For<br />example, the stones of the wall were perfect down to the last detail, except that<br />they were not true stone, and the tower had no scent of any kind. No damp<br />stones, as a real tower would smell. The room seemed to be made of plastic or<br />metal of some kind. Perhaps a hybrid of both. And it was completely clean,<br />antiseptic in its rendering. She wondered if it really had gotten its research<br />from Sword and Sorcery movies.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>"What now, boss?"<br /> "I'm guessing that's our destination." He gestured to the tower that<br />seemed to have sprung out of nothing while their backs were turned. Karen<br />blushed, feeling stupid, then fell in step behind Gooseman.<br /> "What the hell is going on? Is Niko there?" She grimaced. "Sorry, stupid<br />question. Just shoot me. It would be so much less painful." Suddenly she<br />stopped in her tracks, straining to hear something...<br /> "What is it?"<br /> "Something... Like wings..." The sun seemed to disappear for a moment, and<br />they looked up to see a long dark shape blocking its light. "Holy shi--" It<br />swooped down, and they dove to hug the ground as the air above them sizzled.<br /> "A dragon! I don't believe it!" Karen cried as she watched it wing away,<br />but Shane knew it was coming by for another pass, and drew the sword. "Are you<br />mad? You don't even have a shield."<br /> "Shut up and do whatever it is you're supposed to do with that damned bow<br />and arrow."<br /> "I could always play cupid." She smirked, but readied herself for another<br />pass. When the `dragon' was in sight, red scales glistening in the light, yellow<br />eyes glowing, she aimed for one of the glowing orbs just as Shane swung the blade<br />for the underbelly.<br /> Karen loosed, dodging a blast of flame, and Goose heard black blood sizzle<br />like acid as it hit the forest floor. The beast let out an ear shattering scream,<br />and another burst of flame almost singed Karen's eyebrows. She let lose another<br />shaft, and this one found it's mark. The wyrm went down, and Goose was on top<br />of it in a trice, drawing the sword across its throat, shooing Karen out of the<br />path of deadly burning ichor.<br /> "So much for trial number one." She kicked the corpse contemptuously.<br /> "Not a bit like Fitzmorris," he remarked.<br /> "Fitzwho?"<br /> "Never mind. Let's just get going." The castle looked to be perhaps two<br />clicks away, hopefully less. Time for a short hike.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>"You are not human." The presence had returned. Niko was sitting indian<br />style in the centre of the tower room, and did not even bother to look up.<br /> "Of course I am." Stay calm. You have to just stay calm.<br /> "The male specimen is not. His genetic codes differ from yours and the<br />standard human norm."<br /> "He is a Supertrooper." She raised a brow. Make sense of that, you bloody-<br /> "If he is not the standard human norm, the parameters of the experiment<br />mush be changed." Her blood suddenly ran cold. Surely it did not mean to<br />terminate-<br /> "How changed? You have his badge. He is no more than human without it."<br /> "The parameters of the experiment must change." And then it was gone<br />again, leaving her to fume in silence.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>"Is it just me, or does that thing get farther and farther away with every<br />step we take?" Karen frowned.<br /> "Whoever's running this show isn't playing by the rules."<br /> "This game has rules?"<br /> "Quiet." He scanned the undergrowth, which was getting denser by the<br />second. Something just wasn't right. Besides the fact that their ship had been<br />stepped on by a stone giant, he was dressed like Prince Valiant, and they'd been<br />attacked by fire breathing dragons. And the tower seemed no closer than when<br />they'd started their hike. Something else was wrong. Something more immediate-<br /> "Hey!" Karen yelped as a vine disengaged itself from a tree and wrapped<br />itself around her forearm. Shane chopped it off with his sword, and found the<br />entire forest had come to life around them. He started hacking away at the<br />branches that reached out to grab them like something out of a child's nightmare,<br />while Karen dodged and backflipped away from dancing vines.<br /> She was a bit too slow, and one snaked around her throat, trying to<br />throttle her. She tore at it with frantic fingers, and Goose chopped at the<br />branch wrapped around his thigh. He freed himself and severed the tendril at the<br />root. The plant gave a squeal of protest and he grabbed Karen and ran for the<br />edge of the forest.<br /> They broke free of the line of trees, and found the tower directly in front<br />of them. Behind it the landscape was Rishawn as they had first seen it, and they<br />could make out the edge of the "parking Lot" in the distance.<br /> "Think it's real?"<br /> "Hope so. You head for the ships. See if any of them are left in one<br />piece. And keep an eye out for traps."<br /> "Is it wise to split up like this?"<br /> "Only one way to tell. I'm going in. Whatever happens, do not leave the<br />parking lot. Promise me."<br /> "I swear, I swear. Get in there and get out as quick as you can."<br /> "Aye-aye ma'am." He saluted, and they headed off their separate ways.<br /> Karen set off for the line of ships at a dead run, and halfway across the<br />field, her clothing changed back. She stopped, looked back and saw the Tower had<br />disappeared as well. She swore, and continued in towards the remains of the<br />cruisers. Whatever was going to happen, the rangers were going to have to deal<br />with it on their own. Something didn't want her around any longer...</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Gooseman saw Karen disappear, and was about to go after her when he ran<br />straight into an invisible wall.<br /> "Okay. You've got my attention," he muttered beneath his breath, and<br />headed back toward the tower. He craned his neck, trying to see in the window<br />half a kilometer up. He stepped back, until he could just make out the ledge.<br /> "Niko!" He called through cupped hands. No answer. He looked around for<br />a way inside. There was no door at its base. He swore, then shouted her name<br />again.<br /> In the tower room, Niko continued to pace, furious. She stopped for a<br />moment, listened, then resumed her pacing. Then she heard her name, clearly this<br />time. She ran to the window, leaned out.<br /> "Goose!" She saw the tiny figure below, could just make out his frown. <br />"Are you all right?"<br /> "I was just about to ask you the same thing."<br /> "There's some kind of computer running this show," she called back down. <br />"This is all part of an experiment." As if on cue, a door appeared in the wall<br />of the tower.<br /> "Great. I'm coming up."<br /> "Shane wait-" But he had disappeared. She swore. Where was Karen?</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Stairs. Stairs and more stairs. However, no more dragons. At least<br />something was in his favor. Goose cleared them three at a time, and still they<br />stretched into seeming infinity.<br /> "Why do you continue?" The disembodied voice stopped him cold.<br /> "Who are you? What do you want?"<br /> "Why do you continue? To what purpose?"<br /> "You are holding my friend against her will."<br /> "She has not been harmed."<br /> "Yet."<br /> "Leave this planet. I give you leave. Your ship is outside, intact. Leave<br />now, and I will not kill you."<br /> "Not without my comrade."<br /> "You would die for her?"<br /> "Yes," he answered without hesitating.<br /> "You are a strange species." A door suddenly appeared in front of him. <br />He tried the knob hesitantly.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Niko saw the door appear. Her jaw dropped when it opened, revealing<br />Gooseman.<br /> "Shane!" He smiled at her, stepping into the room and she rushed to meet<br />him. "What are you wearing?" She took in the shirt of mail, and bright tunic.<br /> "Appropriate to rescue the damsel in distress, don't you think?" He was<br />still smiling, but did not move away from the door.<br /> "Hardly. This isn't funny, so you just wipe that grin off your face.<br />Where's Karen?"<br /> "I'm not grinning at the situation. I'm smiling at you. Nice dress."<br /> "Stop it." She playfully punched him on the shoulder, more relieved than<br />she could imagine at his reappearing whole, unhurt and in such good spirits. <br />Suddenly he caught her hand, pulling her close.<br /> "What the hell-" And then he was kissing her.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Goose slammed into the door and was rewarded by a groan as the wood split<br />and he stumbled into the tower room. Niko sprang up, smiling, and he was glad<br />to see she was no worse for wear, though he couldn't help but notice how the deep<br />green gown was cut remarkably low, and clung to her hips in a most un-regulation<br />fashion. She blushed, looking down at the dress, and folded her arms over her<br />chest, tossing her hair.<br /> "Took you long enough."<br /> "That's what I get for playing hero." He reached over to grasp her hand,<br />and headed for gaping hole that used to be the door, when she suddenly stopped<br />short. He turned back puzzled.<br /> "For being my hero." She suddenly got up on her tiptoes and planted her<br />lips firmly on his.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>At first she was so shocked she could hardly believe it, and then when his<br />arms tightened around her, she felt herself responding to the pressure of his<br />lips, the sudden hunger that was building up inside her. But something about the<br />way his hand strayed lower and lower, his lips' hard demand, it wasn't right...<br />Why were they doing this when the entire place could fall in on them any minute<br />and where was Karen? She tried to break out of his embrace and found she was<br />held fast.<br /> "Let me go! You're not Shane." She struggled, and the not-Gooseman did<br />not answer, only squeeze tighter.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>To have a warm, willing, and surprisingly passionate Niko suddenly thrown<br />into his arms was a bit too much for Goose. For a moment the world rushed away<br />from him as she locked her arms around his neck, and he found his own were around<br />her waist. She strained against him, and he wondered what exactly was going on<br />as she turned her head to kiss him more deeply, hands playing with the hair on<br />his neck.<br /> He shook himself out of the reverie. No matter how pleasant it may be,<br />there was a time and a place for this sort of thing, and a make-believe tower run<br />by a mad computer that might un-form beneath their very feet was definitely not<br />the right place. He tried to uncoil her arms from about his neck, but she clung<br />to him like ivy on a wall.<br /> "We have to get out of here. Karen is outside trying to free up one of the<br />ships in the parking lot."<br /> "We don't have to stop," she whispered against his mouth. "We can stay<br />here forever, and be perfectly safe. Don't you want me?" He stared at her in<br />disbelief, and saw a strange fire in her eyes, dilated till there was barely a<br />rim of blue-green halo-ing the enormous black pupils. Her breath was coming fast<br />and was sweet as honey on his cheek. He frowned. Something was just too ripe<br />about this whole thing. He shook her off, and she was still panting, looking for<br />all the world like she wanted him to tumble her right there on the stone floor.<br /> This was not the Niko he knew.<br /> This was not Niko at all.<br /> The world went grey.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>It was as if the walls began to melt. Niko could sense the presence,<br />furious as a computer could apparently become, even as she felt the construct<br />tighten its hold on her, cutting off her air supply. She swore she could see<br />someone through the swirling curtain of grey, and tried every move she knew to<br />break free of the hold before she passed out from lack of oxygen.<br /> The world was spinning, and she wasn't sure if it was her or the computer<br />dissolving the illusion. She caught a glimpse of the figures again, and realised<br />as the veil parted around them that it appeared to be Shane and her locked in a<br />passionate embrace. She struggled again, feeling for all the world as if her<br />lungs would burst, and saw Goose toss aside the copy of herself suddenly. She<br />opened her mouth to cry out, and could not make a sound.<br /> Is this how you mean to terminate us? she cried out with her mind. Is this<br />how you mean to end the experiment? She felt the answering shock of anger ripple<br />through her manifested as a squeeze from the construct, and she swore she heard<br />ribs snapping.<br /> Goose saw the construct of Niko hit the floor, or what should have been the<br />floor had the floor not dissolved a few seconds before. That was when he saw his<br />double with what appeared to be the real Niko, and it looked as if she wasn't<br />going to last much longer. He leapt across the odd grey distance between them,<br />trying to land a blow on some likely part of the construct doppelganger so that<br />it might release her before she snapped in two.<br /> Suddenly the Niko-construct leapt on his back, arms around his neck, trying<br />to crush his wind pipe. He flipped it over his head, pleased to see it landed<br />on the copy of him. The small group went down in a sprawl, and he could hear<br />Niko's short cry as she was finally able to drawn in her first tortured breath. <br />She dragged herself away from the two constructs, now struggling to get up, found<br />the real Goose at her elbow.<br /> They looked at each other, not having the time to be embarrassed, but<br />feeling it anyway, as well as an eerie sort of disgust as the two copies of them<br />got to their feet. They braced themselves for a fight when the grey landscape<br />was suddenly replaced by the dig site.<br /> They blinked in the sudden bright sunlight, saw their uniforms, most<br />noticeably their badges, were back. They looked at each other, just for a second<br />to see if it really was their fellow ranger next to them, and not another<br />construct. When neither of them made a move to strangle and/or kiss the other,<br />they sighed in relief.<br /> That was when the planet began to shake. It lurched beneath their feet,<br />and they struggled for balance as the ground broke, stones pushing themselves out<br />of crevices, rock raining from the sides of the site. They dashed for the<br />stairs, ducking falling debris.<br /> "It's getting angry," Niko remarked as they reached level ground, seeing<br />the effect magnified in the parking lot. Dozens of ships, including Karen's<br />little interceptor, lay on their sides in crevices, crushed or just flipped over<br />by all the sudden seismic activity. They scanned the yard for any sign of Karen,<br />stumbling again as the ground leapt beneath their feet. Niko grasped Shane's<br />forearm in an effort to stay upright, and their eyes met, if only for a moment. <br />Damn, but they were going to have a lot to talk about later...<br /> Scream of engines made them look up to see one boxy freighter, Professor<br />Ford's no less, struggling to lift off. They made for it, found the hatch open,<br />Karen in the pilot seat.<br /> "Where the hell have you two been?" she yelled, jerking her head towards<br />the hatch to the cargo bay. "Get in."<br /> "I'm driving." Shane frowned.<br /> "The hell you are. My dad used to have one of these old T-40s. It's been<br />a while, but at least I know how not to blow us up." The planet shook again, and<br />Niko could feel the presence looking for them, angry and confused. It must be<br />overloading, she decided, wishing Doc were there to confirm or deny her<br />diagnosis. It had drawn all of its power back into itself, all the constructs,<br />in an effort to find them and destroy them. So much for the passive observer. <br />This experiment was over. They climbed into the back, hearing the door hiss<br />behind them over the death throes of Rishawn's guardian. Shane was almost<br />amused. It figures, that thing shorting out trying to make sense of our<br />relationship.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Back in the hold, Niko and Goose didn't look at each other. Niko, for one,<br />was too confused and embarrassed by the events of the past day, and needed a few<br />hours just to figure out what exactly had happened, and how much of it was real,<br />or manipulated by Rishawn's presence. Goose was also hard at thought and had<br />opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off by Karen.<br /> "You guys belted in back there?" Karen's voice floated back from the tiny<br />bridge of the freighter.<br /> "What?" Niko began, but suddenly Karen gunned the engine, and the little<br />ship leap forward, throwing her off balance and against Shane, who held tight to<br />her until they levelled off.<br /> She kept her eyes screwed shut, fully aware that her cheek was pressed<br />against his chest, the badge affixed to his uniform beneath her jaw. She could<br />hear his heart. Feel it beating so fast next to her ear. She moved to<br />straighten up, sure he could see the pulse beating wildly in her throat, but his<br />arms remained locked around her. She looked up to find him staring at her in<br />complete wonder, green eyes dancing. She felt a flush rise in her cheeks, wanted<br />to break away but couldn't move.<br /> They stood there in the dark corner of the cabin, suddenly awkward. This<br />was real, not a part of some experiment. He was going to kiss her. They both<br />knew it even before he bent his head to hers, brushing her lips with his own.<br /> "Hope I didn't scare you guys." Karen's voice shocked them out of the<br />moment. She had found the intercom, and the speaker was right next to their<br />ears. "I'm gonna engage the drive in a minute. We should be home in less than<br />an hour. You two rest easy, okay? Rishawn is just shaking itself to pieces down<br />there, and it looks like we're home free." There was laughter in the girl's<br />voice as she cut off the channel. Niko rested her forehead against Shane's<br />chest, sighing at the cadet's timing, and Goose rested his chin on the top of her<br />head, chuckling. They parted, finally.<br /> She didn't look at him, not right away. She had no idea what to say, first<br />of all. She sat on the padded metal bench, feeling along the seat for the safety<br />belt, cheeks still burning as she held it, not buckling it around her, just<br />feeling the weight of the clasp in her hand. She knew he was still standing<br />there, watching her. She could feel his eyes, knew the halfsmile that was sure<br />to be playing with the corner of his mouth. Well, girlfriend? She could almost<br />hear Karen's voice. Where's all your confidence now? Finally she raised her<br />eyes.<br /> Goose had been waiting for this. He had never realised it before, but he<br />had been waiting for something like this for over a year. It was more than just<br />the whole mess with the constructs. That was certainly part of it, but all it<br />had done was point something out to him that he had always known, but never<br />really acknowledged. His blood burned with the memory of her in his arms that<br />morning, the intensity surprising him a bit, though not much. The feel of her<br />hair, like silk beneath his fingers, the warmth of her breath against his cheek,<br />he couldn't escape it. And here she was, staring at him with those eyes that<br />were neither green nor blue, but somewhere in-between. Waiting.<br /> Always she was there, at his shoulder, to warn him, help, cover his back. <br />Ever since the very beginning. He had called it comradeship, friendship, a<br />million other names though he had known the truth. From the moment they had met<br />there had always been the promise of more than just friendship, but both of them<br />had been afraid to cross the line. He had worked side by side with her for two<br />years, teasing, laughing, sometimes just watching her. He had never been able<br />to figure out how someone so young could be so poised, and elegant at the same<br />time, somehow timeless. Yet now, she seemed painfully young, and he realised how<br />honest she had always tried to be with him, and with herself. So many hundreds<br />of little things, all spelling it out, and he not able to read a word of it.<br /> So there they were. The inevitable had happened, and he had no idea what<br />to say, what words would fit the thoughts running through his head. So he decided<br />to trust his instincts.<br /> "Shane?"<br /> He pushed himself away from the wall, and closed the distance between them<br />in an instant. She just followed him with her eyes, gaze never wavering as he<br />took her by the hand, pulled her up, took her face in his hands and gave her the<br />kiss he had meant to before they were interrupted.<br /> Her eyes went wide, and then she relaxed against him, felt his hands moving<br />on her shoulders, reaching up to trace the line of her jaw with one callused<br />thumb. She felt the muscles of his arm move beneath her hand as he sought to<br />hold her even closer, and she was breathless with it. Consumed by it, the sheer<br />humanness of it, the emotions coursing through her, the warmth that flooded her<br />cheeks, every inch of her as she arched against him, feeling the heat of his arms<br />through the material of her uniform, his hand at the small of her back. His lips<br />moving against hers. He held her as if he never meant to let her go, and she<br />didn't think she ever wanted him to. They never even felt the ship jump into<br />hyperspace.<br /> She made some small sound against his mouth, and he pulled back to look at<br />her, to see the high color in her cheeks, the brightness in her eyes. She was<br />against the wall of the hold, looking as if it and Shane were the only things<br />holding her up, and he knew she would have fallen had he not held her so tight.<br /> Feeling a bit wobbly himself, he was beginning to think he would like to<br />make to love to her on the floor of the cabin, would have most certainly had they<br />been alone. The only sound he could hear was her soft breathing, the only other<br />person in the universe the girl in his arms. And he wanted to tell her, wanted<br />to shout it to the stars, while at the same time he wanted to hold it a secret<br />next to his heart, share her with no one.<br /> "Shane..." she whispered softly, so softly that he almost wouldn't have<br />believed she had made the sound at all had he not seen her lips move as she<br />formed the name. He brushed loose strands of hair from her cheek, left his hand<br />there to caress her, feel the lips move beneath his hand. She sighed at his lips<br />on her neck, her eyes, her temple. "I have wanted to do that for the longest<br />time." She laughed softly, touching his forehead, running a finger along his jaw.<br /> "I know, babe." He was whispering in her ear, and she touched his fair<br />hair, pulled him back to her mouth.<br /> "You two are awfully quiet back there." Karen's voice over the intercom<br />a few minutes later. "Everything okay?"<br /> "Everything is fine." Niko held her finger to the button, trying not to<br />giggle as Goose began to nuzzle her neck, and bit her ear, nibble the tender<br />flesh there. "You just fly the ship. Trust me, we're fine."<br /> "Whatever you say, boss. ETA is twenty-five minutes and counting."<br /> "Good." Shane clicked off the `com, and drew the laughing woman down on<br />the bench beside him, growling menacingly.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Flynn and her crew didn't even bat an eyelash when the boxy little T-40<br />freighter slid into Bay Seven. They merely did their jobs, keeping a close eye<br />on the three passengers that emerged from the cabin. Siobhan and her techs<br />shared bemused glances at the looks the two Rangers were sharing when they<br />thought no one else was looking and they were being discreet. She waited until<br />they had entered the lift at the end of the bay, and then casually approached<br />Joanse, the tech who worked the comnet.<br /> "Pay up." She tapped her palm, smiling like the cheshire cat, and the big<br />Alpha Centauri male dropped the credit disks into her palm, sighing as a week's<br />pay went into Flynn's pocket.<br /> "How long till the rumor mill starts grinding?" He asked her, and she<br />winked, flipping her light brown braid over her shoulder.<br /> "Soon, I'd say. Looks like those two can't keep their hands off each<br />other."<br /> "Women's intuition?"<br /> "Nope. Just common sense."</p>

----
<hr>
* [[Endgame|Endgame:Prologue - Karen]]
* [[Endgame-Part I|Endgame-Part I: Pawns ]]
* [[Endgame-Part II|Endgame-Part II: Interlude]]
* [[Endgame-Part III|Endgame-Part III: Shattered]]
* [[Endgame-Part IV|Endgame-Part IV: Rain]]
* [[Endgame-Part V|Endgame-Part V: Dreams]]
* [[Endgame-Part VI|Endgame-Part VI: Epilogue - Sweet Reconciliations]]

[[Category:GRCD1]]
[[Category:Fanfic-Unrated]]
[[Category:Fanfic-LJC]]
[[Category:Fanfic]]