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This is a list of characters who are referenced and appear in this story.
Billy, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Omega, Title: , Speciality: , Description: 3rd generation Augment. Grand-son of Grendel, a British augment. He was captured by Colonel Green and his men, along with his son Connor, and tortured. He carries a lot of trauma from his experiences during WWII. His sister, Anthea, is a distant ancestor of John Watson. In a long distance relationship with Chin Singh.
Chin Singh, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Alpha, Title: , Speciality: , Description: Pretended to Soo-lin Yao onboard the Bakerstreet for reasons. Has a pleasant Alpha scent. Works for the 23rd Alignment of the Breen.
Connor, Race: Human Augment, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Omega, Title: , Speciality: , Description: 4th generation Augment. Great-grandson of Grendel. British augment. Has traumatic memories of his time while held by Colonel Green.
Euros, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Title: , Speciality: , Description: Sherlock's sister. A powerful telepath with genetic material from multiple telepathic races.
Grendel, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Alpha, Title: , Speciality: , Description: 1st generation augment. Created by the British government.
Jim Moriarty, Race: Changeling, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Title: Ensign, Speciality: , Description: The less said the better.
John Watson, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Omega, Title: Cadet, Doctor, Civilian, Captain, Speciality: Medicine, Description: One of our main characters. Child of a theater family. Can trace his augmentations to 3 nation states: British, India, and America. Wants to be a doctor as a result of childhood illnesses and his father's stories about problems in the colony worlds. Same stories influenced his desire to join Starfleet. Has a naturally attractive scent. Is married to Sherlock.
Julian, Race: Emergency Medical Hologram, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Title: None, Speciality: Medicine, Description: Hologram modeled on Doctor Julian Bashir. Was provided with additional memory in the Pegasus Chimera ships to supplement medical staff given shortages of doctors after Wolf 359. Intended to last until John Watson finishes his medical training. Updated by Violet Hunter when she was practically omniscient to have increased curiosity, the ability to delete everyday minutiae (to save on memory), and improved compression. In a long term relationship Violet Hunter.
Killander, Race: Human, Normal, male, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Title: Captain, Speciality: Section 31, Description: Member of the Star Fleet's secret intelligence organization, and a thorn in everyones side.
Kitty Winter, Race: Human, Beta, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Title: Ensign, Speciality: Helm, Description: New Helm after Violet Smith transfers off the Bakerstreet at the end of the first 5 year mission.
Lucy Hebron, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Omega, Title: Cadet, Ensign, Lieutenant, Speciality: Biology, Description: Botanist. Friend of John Watson's since the academy. She's passionate about Augment rights. Can trace Her background to 2 augment nation states: South Africa (Himba tribe) and British. Wears otjize, a type of skin clay worn by the Himba tribe (where the South African nation state got most of the human DNA for the super soldier program) as sunscreen, skin care, and cosmetic. When into heat during the polywater incident and had a child, Eva, with Freddy Washington.
Martha Hudson, Race: Betazed, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Title: Lt. Cmdr, 1st officer, Speciality: Mechanical Eng, Description: Plays up being sweet old thing, but actually quite dangerous. Was an instructor at Starfleet Academy and was pulled back into active service after the Borg/Wolf 359. Formerly a Section 31 agent, but retired to non active status after she went through the Betazed change of life.
Meiying, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Alpha, Title: Khan, Speciality: , Description: 1st generation augment. Created by the American government. Former Khan. Also styled herself Empress of the Americas. Plays musical instruments. Did wetwork as a super soldier for the American government in the 80s.
Mycroft, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Alpha, Title: , Speciality: , Description: Sherlock's older sibling. Has a pleasantly appealing Alpha scent and a slight greenish tinge to his skin.
Noonian Singh, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Alpha, Title: Khan, Speciality: , Description: 1st generation augment. Created by the Indian government. The first Khan, and the reason they use that name, to rise up and seize power.
Owen Tregennis, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Omega, Title: Crewperson, Speciality: Engineering, Description: In his early 30s at the start of the series. Left a job working for starliners (cruise ships in space) to join Starfleet when admissions opened up as a result of the casualties at Wolf 359. Talks a lot. Sometimes funny. Some malapropisms. Can trace his augmentation to 1 nation state: Britain.
Sally Donovan, Race: Human, Beta, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Title: Chief Security Officer, Ltd, Speciality: Security, Description: Previously posted on the USS Bozeman and caught in a timeloop for 80 years. Has a family history with Britannus. Her father was Thomas Harewood, who betrayed Starfleet/Section 31 in exchange for a cure for an illness his infant daughter (Sally) was suffering from. Sally's mother changed their names and moved them after everything went down with Britannus. Sally has come to an irascible respect for Sherlock.
Sebastian Wilkes, Race: Human, Beta, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Title: , Speciality: , Description: Was at the Academy with Sherlock and washed out. Believes it was due to Augments getting special treatment.
Smith Culverton, Race: Human, Beta / and..., Sex&Gender: He/Him, Title: , Speciality: , Description:
Sun Liu, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Omega, Title: Crewman third class, Speciality: Astro-Physics, Description: Shy. Dedicated. Nervous around Sherlock. Can trace Her augmentation to 1 nation state: China.
Violet Hunter, Race: Human, Beta, Sex&Gender: She/Her, Title: Ensign, Lieutenant, Speciality: Pilot, Description: Hikes, jogs, plays tennis, loves history. Was an Ensign in her first year on a ship not at Wolf 359 when the Borg invaded. Chose to state on the Bakerstreet to continue her long term relationship with Julian, the holographic doctor.
William Scott Sherlock Holmes, Race: Human, Augment, Sex&Gender: He/Him, Alpha, Title: Professor, Lt. Cmdr, Cmdr, Speciality: ExoBiology, Space based species, Engineer, really all the things, Description: One of our main characters. Mysterious background. Claims to be from Taurus IV, which suffered a disaster that destroyed their computer infrastructure. Says he can trace his augmentation to 3 nation states: British, Indian, and America. Has a pleasantly appealing Alpha scent. Can trace his augmentation to 3 nation states: British, Indian, and America given he's the son of the 3 remaining Khans. How 3? Science! Has a pleasantly appealing Alpha scent. Married to John Watson.
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Sebastian Wilkes sneezed. The ruined city was full of dust and debris. That and the celebrium radiation, which Doctor Culverton assured him was not an issue given their shielding. But it was going to prove to everyone what Sebastian knew down in his bones.When he published, he was going to be respected. Social credits were going to rain down. Just like they always should have.He should be captain by now. On his way to admiral. Instead he'd been pushed aside to make way for new races. He'd heard they let Klingons into Starfleet these days, which was ridiculous. Starfleet should be for the founding races, which since the Vulcans had let their planet get destroyed, the Tellerites were just a bunch of dirt grubbers, and the Andorians were dickless wonders who couldn't get it up to keep their species going, that left Humans. Real Humans.Not Augments. What was so augmented about having cat DNA. Cats had cat DNA and they shouldn't be running starships. All they'd do was scratch up the walls and piss in corners. Augments should know their place.It was why he'd joined this expedition. There was parallel evolution all over the galaxy. Humanoid evolution. Human evolution. Galaxy trying over and over to make Humans.Look at the old mural he'd uncovered the week before. Human faces. Oh, Doctor Jackson kept claiming that the script used in the machinery was a form of proto-Breen. But he was a linguist. What the fuck did he know?Even if the Breen had moved in later, they were a scavenger race. Trying to take things that other races had built. Humans had built."Mr. Wilkes," said Doctor Culverton."I'm working," said Sebastian, continuing to type up his findings. His correlations. He was going to open everyone's eyes."I think you'll want to see this," said Culverton, which since he was a medical doctor, Sebastian had no idea what he thought could be so important.But he did look pretty excited. If they'd managed to crack the databases that could be something. Sebastian wanted more than faded murals. He needed images of the natives. Information on their genetics.Culverton guided him down curving corridors full of those spiraling double helix designs the natives had been obsessed with. A disturbingly organic architecture. Everything was rounded and curved. It was the only thing that put off Sebastian about this site. There wasn't a straight clean line in the place. It was as if the natives had grown the city out of sea shells and stone trees. But it didn't matter if he could prove his theories here. They came to an area Sebastian had never been to before. Was outside the area covered by the expedition's shielding."Oh, it's perfectly safe," said Culverton airily. "Well, relatively speaking. It's worth any danger when you see what I've found."Sebastian didn't understand immediately, but when Culverton explained what some of the symbols meant, he had to ask, "Is this real? This…""Is the answer to what you've always wanted, but…" Culverton smiled, "if I help you, I'll want a little favor later."In that moment, Sebastian would have given his right kidney for the equipment to be real. To really do what Culverton said it could.He laughed as he realized, that he'd be giving away both kidneys to a certain way of thinking.
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Billy set the plates down on the table and listened to Connor chatter happily about his day at school. He and the other children had gone on a field trip with their holographic teacher to view a lesson on Humans first contact with the Vulcans on the holodeck.A lifetime away from the closed expression he'd worn when they'd first arrived in the future. Hardly speaking. Always in Billy's shadow.Not that Billy hadn't felt a stab of fear every time Connor was out of sight. Reliving the day that Colonel Green's men had broken down the door to their windowless attic room above that old department store.Their quarters were equally windowless on the Bakerstreet.Connor had grown so much since they'd arrive in the future. Made friends. Blossomed in ways Billy never would have even hoped once upon a time.Billy's mind, if not his not his body given his healing abilities, currently ached with the training that Hudson was currently giving him. There were all sorts of scenarios she had him running in the holodeck. How to escape dangerous situations. Teaching him when to fight and when to run. It was kind of her.For his upcoming trip, he couldn't decide if she actually had gotten word her niece was visiting Beta Aurigae, and wanted to visit her, or if she was being kind yet again.Certainly, that gentle tone of she'd taken as she'd pointed all the things he didn't know about Chin Singh had been more than kind. Although, when he'd asked if she thought he should stay away, her smile had been wicked and she'd said, "That was never my choice when a lover came calling," and she'd winked at him, which only made him blush and her laugh.It was hard to imagine being on a planet again. All around them, the Bakerstreet hummed with the sound of the ship's engines. Chin had taken the time to explain their function once upon a time. Now their relationship was full of stolen moments. Another stolen moment ahead of him with a choice at the end of it.When Connor wound down from his story, Billy said, "The holodeck is very nice, but I think it's time we visited a real planet again. I've been thinking about taking a trip to Beta Aurigae."Connor's expression closed down. "You mean to meet with Chin Singh. Soo-Lin. Whatever her name is for another um… booty call.""Connor! I am your mother," Billy was genuinely shocked. Connor had never spoken to him like that. "Whatever you may think of Chin, you're not allowed to talk about my relationships that way.""Yes, Mum," mumbled Connor in what was probably the precursor to his teen years, which put its own bolt of fear through Billy for what Connor might go through.Billy suppressed the feeling and said, "I didn't hear you.""Yes, Mum," said Connor louder."Ms. Hudson and Doctor Watson will be going as well. The largest and oldest colony of Augments is on Beta Aurigae. There are more Augments living there than anywhere other than on Earth.""Why is that?" asked Connor. "Did they all move there because the Normal Humans were mistreating them? Ms. Hebron says there's still some anti-Augment prejudice on Earth, but we can't hide from what we are. Be out, be loud, be Augment proud." Connor sounded just like Lucy when he said that. Sometimes Billy envied Lucy and how sure she was. How free she felt to be fierce. But Connor kept going. "Did the Augments move there right after we discovered warp flight when things were really bad? But that doesn't make sense. It's really far away from Earth. It's not even really inside Federation space. We were studying warp drives the other day and they showed us a model for how fast the first warp drives went, and they were really slow. It could have been after Khan Brittanus crashed that ship into London. Ms. Hebron told us things got kind of bad then too, but then it couldn't the oldest. Doctor Watson's mum's family immigrated off Earth with a bunch of Augments back then and they moved to Typhon IV.""I…" Billy had no idea. He had done all sorts of research on Beta Aurigae, but it had been to find a place to stay. Things to do there with Chin and Connor. Get a visa from the governor's office.Hudson might have done more research. While John was keeping his word about searching for information about their common genetics. About the trait that could turn Connor's teen years into a spiraling horror. Billy could remember Anthea pleading with him to be careful. All the times, Billy had run away from his latest safe place. Miscarriages on a filthy bed with only Anthea to help him. Then Connor that last time.It was going to be fine. John was going to figure this out. The Head of Genetics at a Beta Aurigae university had reached out to him in response to John's genetics study. Not that Billy had discussed the results of John's initial research with Connor. He didn't want to worry his son over something that might never be.Connor had already pulled up a tablet. His fingers were flying over the surface calling up details on Beta Aurigae. "That's funny. There's no date when it was founded. It's just… as if it were always there. Hmm…" He flicked his fingers on the screen and the monitor in their quarters updated with a map of the colony city on Beta Aurigae. "Ms. Khel says you can tell a lot about the history of a place and when it was founded and why by looking at the city planning.""Ms. Khel is very knowledgeable about architecture," said Billy faintly. She was also relentlessly passionate about the subject and willing to talk at length about it. Billy thought he'd heard the same lecture at least once. He felt foolish now for not making the connection between what Connor was saying and when he'd looked at the colony map for a hotel."Mum, this wasn't established by anyone from the Federation." Billy pointed to the curving lines of the streets that looked more like tangled vines, something that had grown organically, than any sort of grid. "That's not how the Federation builds colonies. Even before mass production from replicators became a thing in the last hundred years, the Federation likes to build really modular colonies with straight streets. The center of every Federation colony looks exactly the same. They may change and grow out from that, but where's the center square? The judicial district? The university in sub-grid? The solar farm and sewage treatment plants?"Billy looked closer. "I don't know Connor. Maybe because they moved there so early, they didn't build it like that. Maybe it was before the Federation.""It's too far to be pre-Federation. It would have taken years to get here." Another flick of Connor's fingers and a star map displayed. "At the speeds warp used to go, it would have taken almost twenty years to reach this area of space. Why would they settle way out there so close to Ferengi and Breen space, when there were other places they could have settled?""I… don't know." Billy could almost hear Hudson telling him that he should always review all the information about the layout of a location before going there. He'd run the scenarios, but he hadn't applied the knowledge. But there was still time."Did Chin suggest this location? Or did you?" Connor's expression said he'd be like a dog with a bone if Billy gave the real answer.In the face of that expression, Billy lied. "I suggested it. We haven't a visited a planet since we arrived on the ship. I thought one with so many Augments would be nice. Also, Ms. Hudson and John are going. You were paying attention when I mentioned that, right?"Connor flushed. "Yeah."Billy looked up at the star map. "Okay, let's research some more about the planet together. Show me that city map again."Connor pulled up the city map, and they learned what there was to know about Beta Aurigae, which as it turned out wasn't much. There wasn't much about its history in Federation databases.
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John came groggily awake. There were stabbing pains behind his left eyeball. Dry mouth. The feeling that a tribble had taken up residence in his stomach and a cold metal floor beneath his cheek.Bar?No.He'd been on the 221C listening to Connor tell Hudson an impressive number of facts about their destination Beta Aurigae. Meanwhile the Bakerstreet had gotten a distress signal from an archeological expedition on a planet just outside of Breen space. He'd considered turning the shuttle around, but they'd already been several hours out. Now, groggy and in pain, he was reassessing that decision.John pushed himself slowly, growing aware of a numb patch all along his left side that was an indication that he'd been shot by some form of nerve disruptor. Although the dry mouth said phaser stun. Perhaps both.More memories coyly peeled peeked out from the depths. An unidentified Starfleet Courier ship approaching their shuttlepod. At first he'd been relieved, since his first thought had been that they were the pirates that the Bakerstreet was out in this sector to discourage from bothering local shipping. Then they'd fired on 221C's engines. So, not friendlies.The boarding party had been led by Humans in Section 31 Starfleet uniforms. His own phaser had fallen from nerveless fingers as a blast took him from the side. A familiar voice had said, "Careful, we need to question them."Everything after that was a blank."Ngh," said Billy."Mum? What happened?" whispered Connor."I don't know, but…" Billy's hand pressed against his chest, "They took my communicator."John forced himself to stagger over to the small metal sink at the far side of the room. Splashed some water in his face. Cupped some sips of the stuff into the palm of his hand. The slight coppery tang to the water that made him want to vomit, but he swallowed it down anyway. "Hydrate." It was like speaking through cotton balls, but he forced the words out. "We need to hydrate. We were all stunned."Hudson lay quietly on a bunk. He went to check her vitals. Her heartbeat was thready. She whispered, "I suppose this is why field work is left to younger agents. I'm not as young as I used to be.""Can you open your eyes?" She nodded. There was some pupil dilation. Stun shock. Given her age, she was more vulnerable to heart issues at even the lowest stun setting. Nerve disruption was another world of medical issues. He patted her shoulder. "You'll be fine. Let me get you some water." There were no cups, so he used his hands to bring her what he could.His blurry vision was clearing out of his left eye, which was a relief.He examined the ten by ten room. Some form of a cell. Toilet unit to one side next to the sink. Sonic shower unit embedded into the opposite side. A couple bunks on opposite sides of the room. Messages in at least a dozen languages scratched into the metal walls meant that he didn't have to be Sherlock to know meant there had been many occupants of this cell before them. A lot of occupants."What is going on?" rasped John into a small com unit by the door. There was no answer. He whispered again, "Buggery fuck!"He kept repeating it until a very irritated voice said, "Quiet." A tray shivered into shape by the door. There were four cups full of blue liquid and what looked like red jello. "Drink the medicine. Eat the nutrient mix. Stay hydrated.""I'm a doctor," said John. "We're not consuming anything until I know what you're giving us."There was a loud sigh over the com. "You will be questioned in the morning.""Why have you taken us?" asked John. "We are Federation citizens heading to Beta Aurigae. When we don't arrive, they'll send word for the USS Bakerstreet to search for us.""Two of you are citizens. Two of you are not. The adult male omega's ID was good, but not good enough.""I was afraid of that," said Hudson, still not moving from where she was lying on her bunk. "I don't have the resources I once did.""We knew what we were looking for. Two traitors to the Federation and two enemy agents.""I'm not a traitor or an agent," said Connor in an aggrieved tone. "I'm twelve."John spoke quickly to take focus back off Connor. "You should let us go. There are people who'll be looking for us.""They will find an exploded shuttle and organic material matching your general mass. Now drink the medicine or I'll cut the lights and the air.""Mum," said Connor. "What's happening?""It's okay. We've survived worse. We'll survive this." Billy's expression was shuttered."That's right, Connor. We'll be fine." John licked his lips. Tentatively drank the blue liquid. Sweet. Salty. Viscous. Which was the end of what he could tell based on taste. He washed it down with four cups of water. He didn't keel over. The jello had a protein base. Whatever it was. He gave Hudson her cups. She levered herself up slowly to drink them."Where are we?" asked Connor in a paper thin voice."We're on a ship that is about to be in a lot of trouble when Sherlock finds it," said John succinctly.Connor nodded firmly. The world as he knew it taking shape. "Because Captain Holmes is going to make them regret taking us."John sat next to him and put his arm around the kid. Gave him a quick squeeze. "That's right. Can you imagine a universe where Sherlock doesn't look for us? Doesn't find us? Because I can't."Connor nodded. Swallowed. Clutched the flimsy plastic cup, crumpling the material."This is my fault," said Billy.John said heartily, "It's not your fault and we're going to get out of this."There was an aggrieved sigh over the com. "That's what you think." Which really didn't help.John rubbed the numb spot on his left leg and reminded himself that by now they should have arrived on Beta Aurigae. The planetary authorities would contact the Bakerstreet.By now, Sherlock would already be on their trail.He'd better get there soon, or John was going to do some damage to whoever was on the other end of that com.
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Sherlock became aware of multiple things as he came awake.
A strong sedative had been administered. There were force bonds holding him down on a bio-bed. He had regained conscious within a body that was not his own. Beta. Human. Male. Average strength. Difficult to test reflexes given the bonds. Unusual to say the least.
Julian was arguing with Doctor Culverton from the archeological expedition on Camus II– forties, Human, male – about a course of medical treatment for Sebastian Wilkes."You're nothing but an emergency hologram," said Culverton.
He'd gone down to Camus II as part of a landing party in response to a distress signal from the archeological site there and encountered Sebastian Wilkes, who claimed to know him from the academy. Separated from his party – John wasn't there for Sherlock to show off that he was married to an amazing doctor. He was headed Beta Aurigae. Sherlock had almost gone to get him when the distress signal came in, but his research could change so many lives. Now he was regretting that he hadn't.
"Doctor Culverton, I have access to the entire Starfleet medical database and my own experience since being activated. Mr. Wilkes' symptoms are consistent with celebium poisoning. You yourself said the other personnel from your expedition died of celebrium exposure.""Oh, ho, you won't twist me around like that. I said that there was a high degree of celebrium radiation, but that we had more than adequate shields over the archeological site," said the Culverton with a tilt of his head. "If you treat Mr. Wilkes for celebrium poisoning and he is actually suffering from Varosian flu, as I believe, then you could actively degrade his bodies' ability to fight the illness.""And if you give him a shot of antigen for Varosian flu and he does have celebrium poisoning, then valuable time will be lost as his nervous system continues to degrade," said Julian."Oh, but the first rule of doctoring is do no harm. You would know that if you were a real doctor."The sickbay doors opened and his body walked in the door. It said in a cheerful tone, "How is our patient? Still alive? Great to see. Just great."
At least six indicators that whoever was inhabiting his body did not consider this to be great. Interesting. In closer proximity, Sherlock's ability to think improved. Indicating some level of cognitive capacity based on proximity to his body.
Theory, his consciousness had been transferred to another body, but the transference was not complete. Julian said, "Captain Holmes, why aren't you on the bridge managing the search?"
Search? Too many possibilities to speculate.
Sebastian had been angry that Sherlock hadn't remembered him. While Sherlock had been struck by the realization that he was standing in the ruins of an old Breen colony world. Weapons used in one of their many internal conflicts being the reason for the radiation.
There had been a device grown out of the stone. Tearing pain. Confusion. Reaching out as someone with Sherlock's body and voice accused Sherlock of trying to attack him. Being tackled by Donovan. Darkness.
His memory really was functioning better in proximity to his own body.
"I am the Captain. I have a responsibility to check on our guest." Sherlock's body, Wilkes, came closer.
Good.
Behind him, Doctor Culverton winked at Sherlock. "Right you are Captain Holmes. Too right. Good of you to check in. Perhaps, you could settle a dispute with your medical hologram. A final authority as it were."
The wink was familiar. Perhaps if his body came closer he might be able to remember where.
Sherlock cleared his borrowed throat. "I would like some water and…" he glanced down at the glowing bonds, "to sit up.""Oh, I know your tricks Wilkes. You want to attack the good captain here," said Culverton.Wilkes said, "He was quite violent before. Tried to kill me just because I didn't remember him from the academy. Seemed to think that Starfleet's policies unfairly privilege Augments. Gives them jobs they don't deserve while leaving real Humans behind in the mud.""Your spittle is showing," said Sherlock, as another idea occurred to him. "Julian. I'm Sherlock. Wilkes switched bodies with me. I didn't start calling you Julian until,""Emergency hologram off," screamed Wilkes. Julian winked out of view. He watched himself pace.Culverton said, with a wrinkle of his nose, "Delete the last ten minutes of memory. In fact, delete the program. He was annoying anyway."His body pointed at Sherlock. "Kill him. Kill him now.""Now, now," said Culverton. "That's not how it works. You wanted to be captain and I made you a captain. I know you want someone to do the dastardly for you, but you need to wait."
Dastardly. The wink. Sherlock needed his body to get closer. He needed to understand.
"Sebastian, you don't have the courage to kill me," said Sherlock. "Just as you didn't have the intelligence to graduate from the academy. I remember you now. Begging for my help with basic courses. Pathetic."His body surged forward. An open faced slap across his cheek. An explosion of pain. An unstable mind unused to operating an unfamiliar body. Unaware of its own strength. Beta humans underestimated just how much tinkering those scientists had done. Also, unaware of the changes made to Julian's program. Julian reappeared pulling his body away from Sherlock. "I've already forwarded the recording of the last several minutes to security.""Oh, ho," said Culverton. "Someone's been making some changes to your program since last I was onboard ship. Well, technically the last time was a bit of a flyby. When I was a resident then."Donovan and Washington came into sickbay with their phasers drawn. "What is going on here?"Culverton pointed at Julian. "He's gone rogue."His body struggled in Julian's arms. "Mutiny. He's attacked his own captain. Creating lies about me."Sherlock drew in a breath to bring up events only he would know. Culverton pressed a hypospray to his neck. "That's enough out of you."
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In the morning, Billy's initial panic had given way to white terror that crackled at his nerves.The door to their cell opened, and for a moment, just a moment, Billy expected to see one of Colonel Green's goons, or the Colonel himself, perhaps one of the Doctors who had experimented on Billy's healing abilities and pain responses. The Colonel had enjoyed watching the experiments.Instead it was a stranger wearing a black on grey Starfleet uniform and insignia that Billy didn't recognize."Fucking Killander, crawled out from your Section 31 rock." John moved to stand between them and where Billy and Connor were sitting. "I told you before, I've got nothing to tell you. I healed because of an anomaly. Khan is fucking dead as dust.""Oh, he's very much not dead and I have your study to thank for being able to prove it." Billy shifted to look around John. He needed to fix the face of his enemy in his mind. Whoever Killander was, he wasn't Green. Billy couldn't let his memories overwhelm him. He needed to stay focused on the now. "None of the remains matched the SNPs that you provided. Not that I was able to prove it to my immediate superiors, but Section 31 has many divisions." Self-satisfaction dripped from Killander. The way he was standing. His voice. Green would already have been torturing Connor to get to Billy by then."The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing," said Hudson tiredly. "If you had ever bothered to contact me, I would have read you in on my observations of the people on the Bakerstreet, and the potential benefits of leaving things as they are." Hudson pushed herself up. She did not look well. "Instead you blunder about like a Gorn in a dilithium crystal shop."Killander held up Billy's chain. The gold communicator twisted in the air. "Blunder nothing. This is Breen manufacture. I was hoping that when you finally played your hand by sending a vessel to Beta Aurigae, a planet with a suspiciously high Augment population given its remote location and lack of planetary resources, that I would be able to net Khan himself. But, his agent from the past isn't bad.""I'm not an agent!" said Connor. "I keep saying I'm only twelve.""Quiet, Connor," said Billy sharply. He didn't want this Killander's attention on Connor at all. He needed time to think.But Connor, who had been through the same things Billy had, but taken such entirely different lesson from them, said, "No, Mum, calling us agents doesn't make any sense. And if someone is listening to this room, they need to know that."John said, "Connor's just a kid.""Old enough to be a child soldier on many worlds," said Killander. "Isn't that right, Ms. Hudson? Or do you prefer not to think of your work with the children on Calindrea Prime?"Hudson sighed. "So, you actually have read my record and have decided to ignore the experience it implies.""I'm ignoring a traitor in order to save Earth from one of our oldest monsters. One we created, who is getting help from a new enemy."Monster. Another echo of Colonel Green. But Green was dead. Whoever Killander was, he was not Green.Hudson sighed. "You are not saving anything by your current actions. Instead you are destabilizing a possible… opportunity."Killander sneered and gestured to one of his security goons. "We'll question the child first.""No, question me," said Billy quickly. He moved around John. "I'll tell you whatever you need to know." He was taken to a solitary room with a table. That was it. A metal table bolted to the floor. A low backed chair. A force band that they shoved his arms through. He burst out laughing. It was nothing like his imagination had conjured. Surgical arrays. Acid vats. Super heated steam. Below zero glycol. So many experiments. That wasn't even counting the ones on his reproductive system, which… Killander wasn't Green."That was not the reaction I would have expected," said Killander sitting opposite him. "Tell me the truth. Where are you from?"If Hudson had emphasized anything, it was to make an enemy work for information. "I'm from Beta Aurigae. Faela quarter. Above the Tondas Bakery." Recently absorbed facts spilled out of Billy. He didn't know much about how or why Beta Aurigae had come to be, but he'd spent a considerable amount of time staring at street camera views of the largest city.Killander slammed his hands down flat on the table top. "Stop lying to me." He tapped his com. Another man came in with a sheet of thin cloth and a pitcher of water.Billy laughed again. If a little hysterically that was fine. It was fine. They were going to torture him psychologically. Make him think he was drowning. Since he'd actually been dropped in a vat of water by Green's Doctors, he was happy to see the cloth. He'd laughed the same way when Hudson warned him that anyone could be broken. He knew that. He'd given up several safe houses within a week of being taken by Colonel Green. He'd have said anything to make the stop. To keep them away from Connor. He made up safe houses. He agreed to any allegation. He'd been a terrible liar."You're going to tell me the truth," said Killander.Billy said, quite honestly, "I don't know anything." His only hope was that when he broke down, they'd believe him because they'd had to work at it.They didn't even when he told them every detail about how he got to the future from the past.Killander dropped the communicator with its gold chain on the top of the metal table with a clang.Billy, breathing carefully through his mouth to remind himself that he could breathe, looked at it dully."Your story leaves out some details.""My girlfriend gave that to me. Chin Singh works for the Breen. That's where she got it. Her employers." He squeezed his eyes to squeeze at the water clinging to the edges. "Shouldn't she have taken it from them?""Again," said Killander.Billy was pressed back, thinking gratefully that they hadn't even thought to hurt Connor yet. Also, he couldn't help thinking about something Hudson had said. "When people question you, they give information away." They wanted to know about Chin's connection to the Breen.
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When he was finally taken to be questioned, John said, "They're from Beta Aurigae. We're just giving them a ride home.""He told us the truth thirty minutes ago," said Killander."And what truth did he tell you to escape from being tortured. Because it's not as if there haven't been centuries of data on how people will tell you anything under torture to get you to stop." John would have liked to have leaned back in his chair, but the force bonds made that a little hard. "I'm a doctor. I could send you some great journal articles on the subject."Killander gave him a somewhat tangled summation of the facts. Details about the Breen that… John was pretty sure Billy knew nothing about. But it did include that Billy had come from in the past. Even that he was dating Chin Singh, who was Soo Lin, which was news to John. The dating part. He was well aware that Chin Singh had pretended to be Soo-Lin Yao to gain access to the Bakerstreet, but since Killander didn't ask John's main question, which was given Chin Singh had the same extremely rare sectoral heterochromia that Sherlock had, the mutation that was the reason Sherlock's eyes appeared to change color depending on the light, why had she concealed it and altered her face? Also, why was she working for the Breen? Why did Mycroft work for the Breen? Why did the Breen need anyone working for them? They were generally well known to be aggressive, bad-tempered bad-asses that even the Klingons respected, and best left to fight amongst themselves.Actually, he had quite a few questions come to think of it."Why are you so obsessed with Khan?" Worth asking. He had to admit that Killander, who leaked information like a sieve for an intelligence officer, made a fairly compelling argument for Khan as alive and well, and off somewhere not bothering Earth."He's a loose thread that hates Earth and Humans, and I am a Human," said Killander."Augments," smiled John pleasantly, "are Humans.""You're a bi-product of an experiment," said Killander, and wasn't that just a lovely way of eliminating John's humanity."At least, unlike you, I'm sentient," said John with a wide smile. Maybe the wink was too much. That earned a short experiment from a Section 31 doctor, if they could still call themselves medical professionals, to determine if John had the same level of healing as Billy, which was a thought John didn't like to think about. That they'd done an experiment to test Billy's healing levels.At least it was a clean cut.But that wouldn't help John escape. He tested his information leaking interrogator. "Classified ship. Courier class. Older model Peregrine. I'm not the ship expert that our navigator is. Not much in the way of shielding and weapons. Capable of taking out a shuttlepod, but that's about it. Carries, what? A compliment of maybe ten to fifteen crew?" Killander twitched at fifteen. "You got a sponsor, but not one with enough resources to get you a real ship. What do you think'll happen when you don't turn up Khan?"Killander said defensively, "I've already uncovered an Augment from the past."John glanced at the guards flanking Killander. There was always an audience for every performance. "There's millions of Augments on Earth. Yeah, Billy's has a fairly high healing factor, but as a Doctor I can tell you it's not that strange for Augments. It's not like we couldn't reverse engineer that sort of thing. Is that what you're looking to do? Modify Section 31 agents to be like Augments?"The guard on the left shifted uncomfortably."Tomorrow, we'll find out what the child knows. I'll give you the night to think about that," said Killander in what he probably thought was an intimidating tone.John was returned to the cell.Billy was huddled on a bunk with Connor tucked under his arm like a mama bird.There was another round of nutrients and liquid.A good deal of polite looking away while using the toilet.The lights were left on full lumens, which was against the Khitomer Accords, but what was one more war crime for a covert organization.John took apart one of the cups. He might not be Sherlock, but he could recognize an old door lock that had been repaired a few times when he saw one. Not to mention a door camera that could shift its focus. That meant, its lens couldn't take in even a room as small as this one all at once.John knelt next to Connor as if to check on his condition. He whispered, "Think you could throw a tantrum for me?"Connor nodded quietly. As John stepped away, Connor burst into loud sobs.Billy kept up a steady murmur of comfort. Hudson went to sit on the other side, giving the boy a steady stream of, "I'm sure they would never hurt a child, dear. Not if they're not monsters."While the door camera focused on them, John staged blankets on a bunk on the far side of the room to provide the illusion of a couple of fake people trying to sleep, and crawled to the door. Getting the door panel off was the easy part. Sliding the plastic between the door circuits was harder, given the softness of the plastic. Eventually, there was a slight sigh from the door's power unit as the door unlocked.It took another nerve grinding million years more or less to quietly turn the door crank to open the door wide enough to slide out. Billy's reassurances timed to the creakier point on the upswing of the crank.John gestured palm down. Connor's sobs subsided. He looked exhausted. As he slumped to one side, Hudson said. "Billy, I'll watch him. You take the other bunk with John."Billy nodded wearily and stepped out of the camera's angle of vision. He moved fast. Faster than John would have thought he could through the open door. They waited for a few moments, but the night-shift didn't notice anything amiss with the mass of blankets.Starfleet ship.There were no convenient batleths or daggers hanging on the dingy walls of the ship. John led the way. Glad to have attended a few of Hunter's brown bags talks on ship layouts over the years. At the time, he'd thought the Klingon birds-of-prey had been more useful.He walked down dimmed hallways until he came to control room of some sort. A Starfleet crew person was watching an entertainment vid on one monitor and the brig with the other.John looked around the room and spotted an emergency kit. After a very long set of seconds, he found what he was looking for. A defribulator. He took three quick steps towards the officer and applied the paddles to his back. The crew person jerked and slumped to the side. "One down. Fourteen more.""How do you know how many crew they have?" asked Billy pulling a hypo out of the medkit."Don't use that hypo on anyone but you or me," said John. "It's adrenaline. And I know because Killander should never play poker. He confirmed it when I asked.""I did notice he gave a lot away with his questions," said Billy.The crewman didn't have any weapons, but he did have a belt. John tied him up with it and jammed a sock in his mouth while he was at it. Between them, they shoved him in the toilet and closed the door. It wouldn't hold anyone for more than a moment, but sometimes that was all it took.After some thought, John took the hypo and gave the medkit's case to Billy. "If anyone comes at us, hit them with this."Billy nodded. "Hudson's been showing me how to use ordinary items to…" his expression darkened, "defend myself.""Good." John was also aware that Hudson had only been at it for three months.He needn't have worried.Billy clocked the next crew they came across and netted them a tricorder. Not a phaser, but at least when they came on the bridge, John had something to overload when he tossed it out the open turbolift door.The ship lurched, which really wasn't the reaction he'd expected. Tricorders generally didn't do that when he blew them up. Still, no time to think as they went through the doors and into the smoky bridge. Billy slammed the medkit into the head of the night shift pilot, just as John registered what was on the ship's main monitor.Two Ferengi ships sending a signal that the ship should surrender or be destroyed. No ship's registry.Pirates.John couldn't help, but laugh. Cutoff as the bridge was boarded by three Ferengi, and he was stunned, or he would have been if he hadn't given himself a shot adrenaline. Not that it really helped long term. It wasn't as if he could lock out the ship functions, or do much more than lurch at them.But it did mean he was awake when Killander stormed onto the bridge demanding, "What's the meaning of this?"The answer was another stunner blast.
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Sherlock woke in a darkened sickbay. His mind felt opaque. His memory palace was missing rooms. Wings. The river flowing below the palace was dry.There was a movement from across the room. Donovan sat in a chair in the dark. She said, "Good you're awake."His bonds had been turned off. He sat slowly up. Feeling weak. Disoriented. Impossible to tell if it was related to this body, the radiation poisoning, or the multiple times that he'd been sedated. "I'm Sherlock Holmes," he said."No fucking shit, Holmes," said Donovan. "The only way that you would leave a search for Watson to someone else was if you were dead or not you. And I'm not really discounting the dead part.""John? He's missing?" Stupid. Obvious. The mental capacity of this body was limited. It limited him. He put his feet, trembling and unstable, onto the ground."Yeah, a few things have happened since you went down to the planet and got body swapped. We got word that the 221C hadn't arrived on Beta Aurigae. We went to investigate, but found nothing but debris." Donovan helped him to his feet."Organic material?" asked Sherlock."Yeah, but missing some components. Obvious fakes, which surprised the dick walking around in your body let me tell you."He leaned heavily on Donovan's shoulder as they made their way to the door. Sherlock paused. "And you noticed?"She pinched him. "I'd give you the bowfinger, but I need my hands to keep your sorry arse from falling over." They crossed into the hallway and three doors down to the lift. He tried to keep his eyes open. To track where they were going. But his eyelids felt like they were made of granite.Donovan wrestled him through a door. The holosuite. They walked into a simulation of sickbay. Julian was waiting. "Yeah," said Donovan. "Dick also didn't know just how many places we've set up for to turn Julian on." She pointed at Julian. "No fucking jokes.""I do have algorithms that prevent that kind of humor," said Julian. They helped Sherlock onto a biobed. So much struggle to end up where he'd begun.No.There was a difference.Here Julian lowered a device onto his chest. There was a tingling sensation deep inside him.He swallowed. Attempting to form words. "Where's John? How is the search going?""Yeah, there's our captain," said Donovan. "Not well. Dick in your body has us scanning and rescanning the wreckage.""Not a coincidence," said Sherlock. "Hudson and John off ship.""I've been awake a few more hours than you have," said Donovan glaring at a point on the wall. "So yeah, I don't figure it was a coincidence that our psychic and your husband are out of the picture when this went down."Donovan's com beeped. His own voice said, "Donovan! The lunatic has escaped sickbay. Find him.""Yes, sir. Donovan out." Donovan took off her communicator and turned it off. "I was hoping I'd have more time before he checked on you again.""No time," said Sherlock. "Culverton implied after… time… permanent.""Buggery fuck," said Donovan. "We need to retake the ship and get you both back to Camus II.""Retake ship, yes," said Sherlock glaring at the device on his chest. "Find John. Get me scans from the wreckage."Donovan pursed her lips. "Right. I'll sound out the rest of the crew. By now, rumors are pretty much non-stop. Half the crew thinks you've finally lost it from grief and the other half thinks you're a changeling. Washington's ready to put a hex on you."Which was when Sherlock knew what that wink and the phrase "do the dastardly" meant and damn this body for its inadequate brain. "Culverton is Moriarty.""Well, fuck me sideways," said Donovan."No," said Sherlock, pushing at the device wanting to sit up."Stop that," said Julian. "We need to keep the body that you are in healthy and to do that we need to treat your celebrium poisoning."Sherlock glared at him, but Julian was unmoved. It was slightly better when Sherlock was able to manifest a monitor above him and review the scans. But Sherlock wouldn't be satisfied until John was found.
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John was getting tired of waking up groggy and dry mouthed. He blinked at the pounding in his head. The restraints around his feet and hands weren't great either. For that matter the queasy realization that he was wearing a linen toga. He hadn't been wearing a toga when he'd been knocked out.He looked across the rather larger holding cell than he'd woken up in last time. More metal bunks. No blankets. Multiple cameras from each wall.Killander was also wearing a toga, which was a sight he could have done without.He levered himself up. "Hudson?""Here," she said. "Just as glad not to have been stunned again. But I am just an elderly old woman with a child." Billy thrashed on a bunk next to John. Hudson said, "Billy calm down. Connor is on the bunk with me. He's fine.""I'm fine, Mum," said Connor. "They just tagged us. They didn't hurt us or anything."Killander groaned and sat up. "What happened?""You got caught with your pants down," said John, who was happy to realize he was still wearing pants at least. "It's not so nice when you're the one getting stunned, is it?"The door opened. A Ferengi in daimon's insignia came in flanked by a down on his luck Klingon and a Ferengi with a disruptor "Get up. We are at our destination.""Which is where?" asked John.Killander sat up. "I demand that you release myself and my crew. We are Starfleet officers. Attacking our vessel is an act of aggression against Starfleet.""That's what I said," said John. "Sort of."The daimon touched a device on their wrist. There was a crackling sound and Killander thrashed on his bunk, his eyes rolling back in his head. John had been shackled with this type of restraint a fair number of times over the years. Unfortunately, it looked as if the daimon had invested in a fairly secure model. They also hurt like anything when an electric shock was triggered. The daimon said, "That's a warning. If any of you try to escape, the restraints will incapacitate you. As it is, you are in luck.""How do you figure?" asked John amiably. Friendly smile. No place to shove his hands, because togas didn't have pockets. But putting on all the body language of "Who me? I wouldn't try anything."The daimon said, "I was paid to destroy a shuttlepod and ensure everyone on it was dead. A contract I would have fulfilled. Instead I found that this lovely gently used Starfleet vessel had already destroyed the shuttlepod and faked everyone's deaths. Now while my contract did specify that I should ensure a Betazed and a Human Omega of your general descriptions were dead, I wouldn't want to presume that any of you are necessarily those individuals. That would be presumptuous. After all I'm not being paid to murder every elderly Betazed and blond Omega I come across.""That is fortunate," said Hudson gravely. "No profit there.""I'm glad you agree. Which means that since my contract has already been fulfilled, I'm free to take this ship and everyone on it to sell for the best price possible and as it happens I have a standing buyer anytime I come across Human Augments.""Excellent resale value," said the other Ferengi grinning over his disrupter. "Especially two adult omegas and one adolescent. The others are barely worth anything but mine labor, but Augments always get top latinum from this particular buyer. These days there's no point in selling to anyone else. Disgusting biology, but worth the effort.""It is the first haul worthy of our time in this sector," said the Klingon. "Now on your feet."John managed a grunt and a stumble. At least the sandals he'd been strapped into didn't have high heels. That had happened a few times. Then again, spikes made good weapons. These things would like hitting someone with a piece of paper.John put on a smile that he hoped looked real. Maybe it did. "Let's go."As long as they were kept together, there was hope. There might still be an opportunity to escape. Although, with three guards pointing nerve disrupters, the fairly effective restraints given the way Killander had thrashed around, and his head feeling like a tribble lived in it, he didn't see it.Yet.As a space walker holds onto a tether, he held onto the thought that somewhere Sherlock was stopping at nothing to find them. That somewhere someone was going to make a mistake.They were led through the ship. Ferengi ship his memory supplied. His mind still fuzzy, he couldn't tell which way was what.Hardly mattered. Too soon they were out of a hatch into a rounded space of a space dock that looked almost as if it had been grown rather than built. No straight lines, but curving ridges that made him think of ribs. He wasn't Khel to recognize architecture on sight, but given the number of armored Breen walking between docking pads, he had to think they were on a Breen station.A mixed blessing. He wondered if shouting he knew Mycroft Holmes or Chin Singh would help or get him knocked out again. He'd heard that the Breen used slave labor on some of their mining installations. Although, by treaty that couldn't happen in Federation space. But they weren't in Federation space.He did his best to be just a small meek omega. Nothing to see. Nothing threatening. Kept in front. Behind him, Hudson kept up a steady stream of piffle.The big bad Section 31 agents tried to escape three times.Which slowed down their progress considerably as they thrashed on the ground.Still they reached a holding area. There were dozens of roughly dressed beings of a dozen races pushing equally ragged looking folks in restraints toward Breen scattered throughout the room. "Here we must part," said the daimon. "And thank you for allowing me to doubly profit from the venture.""So happy we made your day," said John in what he thought was a reasonable voice. He reflected that after all the times someone had attempted to kidnap and sell him, he'd finally run out of luck.Until he escaped.Because that was happening.The Ferengi briefly bickered with a Breen in black armor, who said, "You know our prices. They are not negotiable and already top of the market. You may pick up fresh restraints on level three if you wish to do further business with us."The daimon took a small object from the Breen and left with his flunkies trailing behind.The Breen directed them out of the chamber into a long corridor with many doors. As entered the corridor, another Breen in black armor scanned them.A screen flashed an identification for Hudson on the wall. "Betazoid. Psychic Scale 13. Class C."The Breen said, "Green door."She smiled at them, still looking worn out and grey faced. "Don't worry about me, dears. I've been in worse situations." She dimpled a smile and went through the green door.Killander and the rest of his Section 31 crew were each scanned and got the same result. "Human. Class M." Through the green door they went.John's scan lit the monitor up like a Duvali celebration. "Augment Inferior. 23rd-Drift 13 – KB1 and KB19." There was almost a grinding sound and the monitor lit up again. "Positive Match. Priority Green. Project Concordia." The Breen conferred with three other Breen in trilling sounds and wide hand gestures. They rechecked their results twice.Finally, one of them made a final sharp trill and injected John with something from a hypospray.A number glowed on his wrist. "Great. What I always wanted. A glowing tattoo.""It is also a subcutaneous tracker," said the Breen in a mechanical voice. Billy held Connor's hand. He said, "It'll be fine. Your grandmother had a number just like that.""I know, Mum." Connor looked up at the Breen. "This is wrong. You should let us go."The Breen did not respond. They simply scanned Billy.If John's monitor had glowed brilliant white, Billy's scan turned the monitor bright orange. "Augment Superior. 23rd – Drift 2- KB19."Once again the Breen seemed as surprised as people in armor could be, and rechecked their results. That didn't stop them from injecting Billy and Connor, whose scan was similar to Billy's. "Augment Superior. 23rd – Drift 3- KB19 and Ru-Unknown."Billy's grip on Connor's hand was white knuckled.One of the Breen said in that high electronic voice, "You need not be concerned."Which was just great advice from someone tagging them like animals.They were shoved through a red door into another wide room.Around them, there were a least a hundred people gathered there. Each looked just as terrified as Connor. Many far the worse for wear than John. They were all Augments. A mix of alphas and omegas. John didn't recognize them.John said mostly just to be saying something, anything, "Don't worry. Sherlock will find us."Which got a watery smile from Connor at least.Billy whispered. "I'm not waiting." Which was the right attitude. Although, John hoped he'd figured out how to choose his moment. That had taken John a few times to pick up.The doors opened and people were herded off in small groups. Two Breen in red armor approached. One said, "9002, 9003, and 9004, come with me."John did not quip that he was a person and not a number, but it was a near thing.Billy let out a fragmented sigh. "We're staying together.""Just too right," said John. The Breen removed their restraints, which was a good sign. Course, the Breen were wearing walking tanks. Could be useful if there was a clear spot to pull a runner. They were taken to a turbolift that looked like something out of a wild eighteen hundreds fantasy with ribbed gates and pulsing blue walls. It smelled faintly of vanilla and bread. Billy put himself between the Breen and Connor and as the doors to the lift opened, exploded into motion attacking the nearest Breen, sweeping its feet out from under it, and wrenching a neural disrupter off one of their gauntlets.John did his best to back Billy's play and smashed the Breen closest to him back against a wall.The Breen warbled at each other from the ground and didn't fire as they took off running out of the lift. Three corridors later and John still didn't quite know where they were. Billy tossed John the disruptor. "Will this disrupt the tracker?"John sighed. "I think so. But it's not going to be fun." He set it to a low setting and tried on his own arm first. The glowing numbers faded. He also couldn't feel his right arm. Fortunately, he was left handed. He did the same to Billy and Connor.Billy looked around. "We can't stay in the corridors. We need a place to hide.""Or," said an unfamiliar voice, "You could follow me." John turned to see a tall handsome silver haired alpha in his early sixties. He was blinking tears back from his blue eyes. "I never thought I would be so fortunate as to be reunited with three grandchildren in one day. I never thought to see one of my sweet Dora's children and his son.""Grandfather?" said Billy, standing stock still. "But… you're… you… how?""How?" said the alpha, tears streaming down his face. "Fate has never been kind before." He walked up to Billy and reached out tentatively. Their fingers touched. "You look just like my little girl. My adorable Dorabell. What happened to her? Or your uncles and aunts. Oh, but why am I asking about them? Tragedy in the face of this wonderful conclusion. When I have you here." He dashed a hand over a high cheekbone. His scent was similar to Sherlock and Chin's. It had that same strong aromatic scent designed to be as pleasing as his appearance, which made sense if he was who Billy thought he was. "That through all the centuries that we would find ourselves face to face.""What the buggery fuck is going on?" asked John in a tone reasonable for someone who'd been stunned twice and run through the ringer once in the last few days."My apologies. I am your ancestor. Grendel. One of Khan Brittanus' people. But this is the not the place for this conversation," said Grendel. John hung back a bit as the alpha tapped a control on a door and it opened up on a sort of eighteen hundreds silk explosion of a room. "Come in. Let's be comfortable while we get to know each other."Billy didn't hesitate, but then he had heard first hand stories about ancient grandpa. Not so ancient for Billy.John held onto the disruptor.Grendel looked at it wryly. "If it makes you feel better my son of a later age, hold onto that."The door opened and Chin Singh, Soo-Lin Yao, whatever her name was, came in. Her face was still altered. Her eyes that same changeable blue-grey-yellow as Sherlock's. "I came back from my search as soon as I heard. Billy," she smiled softly, "this is who I wanted you to meet.""You saved him and didn't kill him," said Billy. "But that doesn't make any sense. He should be in his twenties if you'd just pulled him out of cryo sleep a few years ago."John said, "I'll repeat. What the buggery fuck is going on?"
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Julian's treatments were debilitating. This body was debilitating. Its eyes leaked water while he tried to stare at the screen for clues as to John's and the others' location. He was forced to close them repeatedly in an effort to gain control of himself."You're pushing yourself too hard," said Julian."Not hard enough," said Sherlock opening his eyes.The door opened slightly and Hunter slipped inside. "Julian, Donovan got all of the original crew in the cargo bay for what's fake Holmes is calling a memorial for the 221C even though the words out that the remains aren't quite right. But we need the Captain so we can prove that he's who he says he is.""He's not ready," said Julian. "He needs at least another several hours of treatment.""He's ready," said Sherlock, pushing the device on his chest off. He took that he could do even that to be a sign that that this body's health was increasing.Julian said, "Violet, take this." He handed her a patch. "If he reports any numbness, give him two ccs of this."Hunter took the patch gingerly. "Will do." They brushed fingers and expressed various sentiments to each other that didn't interest Sherlock. What interested him was getting to his feet.They went to galley. There were images of John, Hudson, Billy, and Connor, on the walls.Lucy was holding an inconsolable Eva, who was crying raggedly. Not important. None of them were dead.What was important was an intruder was talking with his voice in his body. "It's good of you to gather here. To stand in the solidarity of grief with me, your captain, Sherlock Holmes. My husband was a fine man. Handsome if you're into that sort of thing."Khatri whispered to Washington. "What is wrong with him? He sounds nothing like himself.""What's wrong is that an intruder has taken over my body," said Sherlock pitching his voice. "And given he didn't bother to analyze the purity of the organic components from the wreckage, that should be obvious to an idiot.""Crap!" said Cho pulling out her phaser."Arrest this man," said Wilkes, who had actually replicated a podium to stand behind. "He's a dangerous criminal. I have reason to believe that he's responsible for the deaths of fifteen archeologists on Camus II."Washington had also pulled his phaser. He looked at Donovan, who shook her head slightly.Sherlock hobbled several steps forward. "Washington, don't be an idiot, which is what I called you on our first away mission for ignoring basic protocols and exposing yourself to the polywater infection."Sherlock leaned on Hunter's shoulder. His mind was not up for deductions. His memories were faded. Lacking the sharpness of focus. But he'd had some time to discuss what to say. "Trelane has kidnapped the crew on three separate occasions and always finds a way to completely change our clothes. Donovan is not a merry woman."Cho snorted."Liar! Madman," said Wilkes. "The ravings of a lunatic.""Uh… he sounds pretty convincing," said Washington. There were murmurs from the rest of the crew."Treason! Mutiny!" shouted Wilkes. "I'll have anyone who joins with this man executed.""That isn't swaying me to your point of view," said Khatri.Wilkes launched himself at Sherlock, who felt a burst of adrenaline as he tried to move closer. For a moment, just a moment, he was in his old body again. He stepped back breathing air as it was meant to breathed. Scents and impression blooming all around him.In the next moment, he found himself lying on the floor gasping for breath along with the rest of the crew. "This has gone on long enough," said Moriarty, still wearing his Culverton face. He pressed the phaser into his belly and his flesh opened and merged around the weapon. "Oh, get up." He kicked Wilkes. "You could take a blast three times that setting. I've had a chance to look at the design specs for that body and I've definitely given you an upgrade with this switch."Wilkes lurched to his feet. Overcompensating, Sherlock was pleased to note, and nearly fell again. "I'll kill them all. Space them right now. As the captain of this ship, I can do that."Moriarty smiled genially. Falsely. "I know you're rightly upset. Rightly. But maybe we should wait until we reach Bencia. An explosive accident at a drunken wake on a moonlit beach will be a bit more likely than everyone on the ship died of being spaced except the two of us. Or you don't you want to keep your nice new ship. The nice new trade up of a body.""Fine," grumbled Wilkes. "When I have a new crew everything will be exactly as it was always meant to be.""Sure it will be," said Moriarty pushing Washington's prone body out of his way. "I'll need you to do one or two things eventually. In any case, we need to keep your old body as comfortable as possible so it can be healthy until the switch is complete."
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Connor said, "But we've been studying the Breen in school. They've been in space for a thousand years. They traded the Ferengi warp technology for their moons. Why would they care about Augments?"Grendel, Billy's grandfather and by extension some sort of distant relative of John's, said, "That's a later conversation. For now, it's enough to know that the Breen freed us from our respective tombs. The ones floating in space. The one under Federation control. Made a place for us among them as a 23rd Alignment. As every alignment is self-governing, it's a small place. Out of the thousands of our kind created by various governments, there were not quite three hundred of us who managed to escape on three ships. Flung from Earth like seeds. Never expecting to reach fertile soil. All of us having left people precious to us on Earth.""Then maybe, you should have taken them with you," said Billy, crossing his arms.Grendel shook his head. "The odds were too great.""They weren't much better on Earth," said Billy stubbornly. "Mum died in the streets. Connor and I were taken to a death camp.""And yet, here you are. Crossing the centuries so we could meet."John had his own question, "Chin, why did you come onboard the Bakerstreet? It wasn't to kill Khan. He'd been free for… forty years before you showed up."Chin said softly, "I…" she looked at Billy. "Should talk to Sherlock first. A conversation that is long overdue.""Your Highness," said Grendel, "You know your parents orders on this matter."Billy made a small noise that sounded a bit like a kettle getting ready to blow. What squeaked out was, "More secrets."Chin tried to simultaneously toss a pleading look at Billy and a glare at Grendel. "Lord Grendel, you cried because you met a grandson from a daughter you abandoned. While I… am tired of being caught between competing ambitions."John rubbed the side of his head and asked the baseline version of what he wanted to ask. "Chin, are you and Sherlock are related?""Your Highness!" said Grendel. "I'll remind you of your promise of secrecy.""Yes," said Chin. "But how did you know?"John tapped next to his eyes to indicate her eye color. "You changed your eye color while on board, which was smart. You changed your face. I've looked at pictures of the real Soo-Lin Yao. You look nothing like her. So if you didn't change your face to look like her, what's left is you changed it to not look like yourself. Which fine, that last bit was Sherlock ranting at me after all I told him about the differences in your appearance. After he heard you went to the other bird of prey on Ligos VII, but didn't take off your helmet when talking to us. Not that Mycroft was any help explaining things.""He wouldn't be," said Chin with a level of disgust that was all the confirmation that John needed for a very unlikely idea.He was after all a brother. He had a sister. He knew that tone of voice. He didn't ask. There was something else he wanted to clear up. "So, Killander was right. Khan Brittanus, and the other two Khans who escaped Earth are alive." Then he threw in an, "Your Highness, or do in-laws not call each other that?" for good measure.A flush crept up her cheeks. "You know.""Sherlock may like to call me an idiot – and trust me that I'll be having a chat with him when I see him – but I'm not actually one.""I thought even with the changes to my face, he would recognize my scent, but he didn't." Chin looked down. "I don't know why.""Not really time for this discussion. We were brought here with a friend and some enemies. I'd like my friend back. You can keep the enemies. Betazed. Mid-sixties. Commander Martha Hudson. May already be charming her way to escape."Chin said tiredly, "Any non-Augments are immediately moved off-site. We can't endanger this location.""Right, Your Highness," said John, slathering sarcasm like he was applying a cement patch on a Horta."We only need you," said Gendel. "The others are irrelevant. The other Alignments' problem.""It's wrong to take people without asking," said Connor quietly. Firmly.Billy said very softly, "Connor's right." He held up his arm and rubbed the numb spot. It was just above his tattoo of a flower smelling monster. "You kidnap your own people?""While you carry my mark," said Gendel. He held out his own arm to show them a variation of the same tattoo, far older, faded by years, but still clear.Chin said, slowly, heavily, as if reciting something. "The Augments Superior want to be reunited with their families. We want to honor the ones who were left behind. Who died murdered by mobs. We need your genetic diversity. Your numbers. Your strength.""By taking them from their families," said Billy. "I've met John's mother. His cousins. My cousins. That's how family should meet.""Fuck this," said John. "This is wrong and you know it or you'd be talking with more conviction than a limp noodle. Or is this how Augment… what do you call yourselves Augment Superiors, is this how you get all your spouses. Buncha Sabine brides.""We don't make anyone do anything that they don't want to," said Chin. "Billy, believe me. You don't have to do anything you don't want to.""I want to leave," said Billy, putting his hands on Connor's shoulders."Except," Chin sighed, "that. Now that you know, you need to stay. But any Augments that are brought here are being returned to their families. We free the Augment Inferior from the shackles of a society that doesn't trust them. Arrests them without provocation. Holds them back.""By kidnapping them," said Connor flatly with all the scorn that at a twelve year old could muster, which was a lot. "Enslaving them. Calling them Inferior. Not to mention any of the ones that aren't from England, North America, or Brittan aren't being returned to their families. If my friend my Eva had been on that shuttle, where would you have taken her? I was what… a KB19. Khan Brittanus. She's from South Africa. Would you have put a number on her arm?""There's a place for all of you," said Grendel leaning back in his ridiculous overstuffed gold velvet chair. "The potential of your genomic wealth belongs to us. Who else should it belong to? We suffered for it. Freed ourselves so you could exist. The Breen set aside a world for you to get used to the idea. How you live your lives, it's up to you. But most decide eventually that this is a better life." He smiled softly. "You'll see. I know better than you do.""But," John was getting more than a bit frustrated with many times great gramps here. "You don't need us. Obviously, if Mycroft, who admittedly is a clone, but Chin, Sherlock, and God forbid, Euros, exist, then you don't need Augments from Earth for our genes. I'd always heard that first generation Augments couldn't reproduce together, but whatever. More power to you. You figured it out. You could do just fine growing your population the old fashioned way. Especially given whatever upgrade your… Khan Brittanus… which… not the in-law I was expecting… but fine, the upgrade KB gave Sherlock's um… sperm," because suddenly a thirty year old doctor felt awkward saying sperm, but ancient grandpa was staring at him. "Shouldn't take too long before you have pretty good sized population.""What?" Chin looked as disturbed as John felt.Before the conversation could go further in that direction, Billy said, slowly, as if placing heavy stones, "The large Augment population on Beta Augurae, on the planet far away from Earth with its architecture that owes nothing to the Federation, is that where the Khans ended up? That and the descendants they decide have enough level of augmentation to hold onto? And who else? I've seen the images of the cities. Either millions of Augments have been kidnapped or… what is going on?""It's complicated," said Chin weakly."Uncomplicated it," said Billy. "Uncomplicated it for me.""Nothing I've told you about how I feel was a lie." Chin took Billy's hands. "I simply, I can't tell you more than this. Not yet." "Fate brought us together," said Grendel. His expression was pleading. "The odds that I would make it to the sleeper ship ahead of the bombs being dropped were astronomical. So many Augment Superior didn't. I survived the cryo chambers. Many didn't. Be rescued as I was. By who I was. That you should travel forward in time. It could be nothing, but fate.""Oh, please!" said Connor, crossing his arms. "It was kidnapping, not fate. You're…" he frowned, "a giant arse. Tit. Prick."John reminded himself that this man had been part of a brutal dictatorship. Was most likely responsible for the deaths of millions in the twenty-first century, and had kidnapped them. At the moment, Grendel looked gobsmacked by Connor's swearing.John said, "Chin your choice is pretty simple. You can help us go back to the Bakerstreet, and maybe consider that asking Augments to immigrate to Beta Aurigae rather than grabbing us is the right thing to do. Or Sherlock is going to show up and most likely this entire station will be blown up, and that'll explode any hope you might have of every having any sort of relationship with him, which… not the obvious answer, but I'm guessing that's why came to the Bakerstreet.""Let me go, or forget any sort of relationship with me," said Billy with crossed arms."Or me," said Connor with an identical expression and body language.The long silence that followed was broken by a chirp from a communication device. Grendel listened into it. He pursed his lips. "I have a somewhat tangential question," said Grendel. His expression was thoughtful. "John, why were you on the shuttle? I have heard Princess Chin speak at length about her hope that Billy would arrive as he'd promised. But there was no mention that you would be coming as well."John looked at ancient gramps carefully. "I was invited by the head of Genetics at the Beta Aurigae University to share genetic information for a study I'm conducting on a rare phenotypic trait for juvenile heat.""Impossible," said Grendel flatly. "They would never had reached out outside the planet. You neither requested nor were given a visa. Not that we'd have denied you one if you'd asked, but there's no record of your request. I would have been informed I assure you.""Ms. Hudson got word that her niece was going to be on Beta Aurigae," said Billy. "Although, I wasn't sure if she made that up so she could come with me.""All visitors to Beta Aurigae are carefully monitored. I am in charge of monitoring them and all communications. If she pretended her niece was on world, then it was a kindness I shall see if I can repay. However, given that Prince William," Chin coughed, "Prince Sherlock has not responded in person to our communication that Billy's shuttle did not arrive, given that John was lured to get on the shuttle, and given what my people learned from the Ferengi that bought you in, that makes it likely there something is very amiss on the Bakerstreet.""Which means?" asked John, because that was all the situation needed. For Sherlock to have gotten into trouble as well."You don't think that…" Chin glanced at Billy, "our new ally has perhaps misunderstood my parents' objectives.""Willfully, perhaps," said Grendel. He muttered under his breath, "As soon get in bed with a snake." Then louder, "It means that despite the other Alignments very strong request that you remain here, we can reach a separate compromise.""What do the Breen want with me?" asked Billy.Grendel smiled kindly. "They want nothing with you, my child. Only I long to know what became of my children. To know my grandchild. No," he shifted his gaze to John with familiar blue eyes, must be where mum's family got them from, "having identified one John Watson based on it would seem a very specific genetic template, which has me wondering why they were looking for it, the other alignments wish him to remain." He shrugged. "No matter. I am not privy to the plans of Khans. But under the circumstances, perhaps it's for the best if you make a daring escape on my fastest ship." There was a crinkle to his smile that John did not want to find charming. "You will, of course, be kidnapping me to achieve this." He reached over to a table and pulled out a small device, which he tossed to John. "Please use this rather than the disrupter you're clutching.It was sort of stun device."Please," said Chin, "kidnap me too."John held up the stunner. "What do you say, Billy? Connor?""We're kidnapping them both," said Billy firmly."But they should know it's still wrong to kidnap people," said Connor."Great," John didn't have time to argue semantics. "Let's go rescue Sherlock."
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Whatever drug cocktail that Moriarty was giving him, it did not allow for sleep. Which was fortunate. It gave Sherlock time to think, slow as he was.Celebium radiation poisoning affected the nervous system.Moriarty had consistently given Sherlock drugs that affected his nervous system.He had resisted treatment for Sherlock's condition, which meant that treatment must lead to a result that Moriarty did not want.When Sherlock experienced an adrenalin spike during Wilkes' attack, he was able to reclaim with his body.Therefore, Sherlock simply needed to experience another adrenalin spike. He also needed to do it before the change became permanent.Somewhat less simple given that Moriarty continued to dose him."Why?" Sherlock managed to force out once from his lips."You might get the impression that I'm hands on," said Moriarty picking his way through the crew lying prone on the floor. "But nothing could be farther from the truth. But I made a new acquaintance and she pointed me to some very interesting allies. Very interesting. They told to keep my hands off you, which just made me want to put my hands all over you." He shrugged. "Now my friend said you needed a playmate. Someone to provide a challenge for you. For little old me. I do have so much fun playing with you."Moriarty sat down next to Sherlock's head. Sherlock let the silence stretch.Moriarty burst out. "It's all so boring. So dull. Solids sit in their dull solid little ships can't even imagine how grand the universe is. How full of possibilities. Even my friend with all her gifts just wants to fly around in that living ship of hers listening to stars singing."He pushed back a strand of Sherlock's hair. "Still she did point me at the old Breen outpost. Interesting people the Breen. Spend their lives inside armor, but completely comfortable swapping bodies back in the day so they could steal each other's most precious possession. As if solid bodies are all that interesting." As he spoke, Moriarty kept dragging his fingers through Sherlock's hair.Since Sherlock did know, Sherlock focused on certain key points of this discussion. "She?" asked Sherlock. Then he knew. "Euros.""That's right. For a solid, your sister has really interesting ideas. Thinks we should be playmates." His lips stretched. "Pals.""But," he shrugged, "I've given you three whole chances to break the switch, and you missed all of them.""News about John. Attack on Camus. Attack here," said Sherlock wanting to move. To shift this body away from Moriarty's fingers combing through his hair. Not his hair. Wilke's hair. He managed to shift his foot. A centimeter. Not far at all. Twist it into a painful angle."Righto," said Moriarty. "Missed your chance to slip into the old meat suit, so you're just going to have to be stuck with this one." He shrugged, "Until Sebastian kills you. Maybe that'll bring your sis out to play."Pain was good. It meant the analgesic was wearing off.Across the room, Donovan groaned. The phaser emerged from the tip of Moriarty's fingers. A pulse of light, and Donovan twitched."Too bad there's no doctor on board to see if that was too high a setting, but," he wrinkled his nose, "I blew the other doctor up." He giggled and held up his hands. "I was even hands off on dealing with Doctor Watson."Sherlock blinked at Moriarty."I don't think you believe me," said Moriarty. Then he shrugged. "We'll see if Wilkes was up to the task." He leaned forward. "Not that I'll need to deal with him long." He winked at Sherlock.A red light flashed and a clarion went off. Moriarty sighed. "Suppose I'd better see to that. Wilkes is useless. Now don't move."Moriarty left the room. Julian didn't appear. No further crew came into the room. Wilkes didn't come in either. Eventually, the alert stopped. Only to be followed by music softly playing from the loudspeakers. Violin music. Sherlock's Watson concerto.A yellow alert came on.Julian might have been shut out of the holo emitters, but he was still on.Sherlock pushed himself in Donovan's direction. With one foot. Slowly. Twisting around his crew.Donovan groaned again. Her metabolic state had been altered by Mummy's blood. She healed faster than any normal Beta. Something that wasn't in any logs. He finally reached her and said something that he knew she'd been wanting to do for years. "Choke me."She blinked at him. Fingers slightly twitching."Adrenaline. Switch back."She bared her teeth and slowly pulled her arms up. She had a phaser in her right hand. "Better idea."Whatever setting she used, it was enormously painful. He was able to say, "Thank you," before opening his eyes in his own body."This ship really has gotten temperamental over the last few years," said Moriarty tapping controls on the bridge. Sherlock had a nerve disruptor attached to his belt. It took less than a second to fire on Moriarty. The green-gold light flashed over his back and seemingly melting him into a puddle on the floor."Computer, turn on the emergency hologram back on based on my code located in Nine Alpha Five Zulu Charlie Pound Foxtrot Three Three Five Bravo Sierra Whiskey Tango, and to be left on barring a repeat of that same code." "Yes, sir," said the computer.Julian appeared, just as the stimulus stopped having an effect, and Sherlock ended up back in Wilke's body.He'd vomited while he'd been gone. He was still shaking when Julian appeared. "Sally, what did you do?""Shot the freak," mumbled Sally.Sherlock arched an eyebrow angrily. About the only thing he could do given his current state.""Captain tranquilized your body with enough tranquilizer to take down thirty Gorn," said Julian. He pulled a med kit down from the wall administered stimulants to the crew. At least he was starting with the security and engineering staff, Sherlock was happy to see.Donovan took her shot and ran out of the room. Sherlock hoped his body was still on the bridge.By the time he got his shot and reached the bridge, Wilkes was in restraints and tied to one of the stations. But there was a hole in the floor where Moriarty had been."Some form of corrosive acid," said Hunter. "Looks a bit like the sort of thing a Horta produces."Wilkes laughed. "We'll retake the ship yet."Donovan shoved a piece of fabric in his mouth. "Always wanted to do that."Hunter said, "I'm plotting a course for Camus II. We can still reverse this.""Belay that. We need to find John," said Sherlock. "Based on my analysis of the wreckage, the 221C was attacked by a Starfleet courier. We will still be able to follow the decay rate of the warp field for the next six hours, but after that the trail will go cold."Wilkes mumbled something, which was probably a threat or a taunt.It didn't matter. The most important thing was finding John.Sherlock would gladly spend the rest of his life in a body not his own if it meant finding John. For that matter, Hudson, Billy, and Connor were part of his crew. Part of his life on the Bakerstreet.They'd been following the warp signature for two hours when they were hailed by a Breen ship.John smiled at him from the other side of the screen. For whatever reason Second Father was standing next to him.Sherlock blinked and reality came into focus.A mistake in identity he blamed on his current body's inferior brain. Second Father was not Sherlock's age and there were several significant differences. Eye color. Curve of the mouth more like First Father's. Several things clicked into place. Soo-Lin Yao. Chin Singh. Singh. Noonien Singh.He really had to wonder just how many additional siblings his parents had failed to mention.He stared. Surprised. In a sudden jolt, he found himself back in his own body. Bound and with a gag in his mouth.Wilkes laughed. "Hey, there honey. Great to see you. Had my body snatched, but trust me I'm really Sherlock. Really, really Sherlock."Sherlock struggled against his bonds and shouted into the gag.Chin said, "I know this face must be a shock to you, but what you are observing is the truth.""That's um… nice," said Wilkes.John said, "Sherlock, what are the names of the pirates in your basement sea?""What kind of fucking question is that?" Wilkes said sharply."That's not Sherlock," said John.Donovan said, "Oh, for fuck's sake," and stunned Wilkes.She removed the gag from Sherlock's mouth. He spat out the lint and said, "Britannus' blood does amazing thing. Bloody Hands, Redbeard, and Yellowbeard.""You don't even know," said Chin Singh. "You don't even realize." Which was irrelevant, because in moments, Sherlock was released and John had beamed on to the bridge. His lips found his husband's, and they were tasting each other and breathing the air from each other's lungs and everything was perfect.
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After the first dozen jubilant kisses, Donovan had suggested that they get a room, which since Sherlock had a ready room right there, they'd retreated to it.But since really quite a lot had happened, involved less kissing and more catching up.Sherlock looked at John worriedly. "Are you angry?" He had that brain racing to avoid consequences look."That you didn't tell me my in-laws are..." John wasn't sure how quite to sum up the sum of what they were."Mass murderers. War criminals. Dictators. Would be kings. But…" A smile spread across Sherlock's face. "You're not angry. I can tell. You're not… and… I thought you'd be angry. That you'd want to leave me if you knew.""Why?" John was genuinely puzzled. "It's not your fault that your parents are," he waved a hand to encompass everything."But the way you reacted to the news about your father. What he'd done." Sherlock looked genuinely confused. His normal people confuse me look, which John did find adorable when it crossed Sherlock's face. So he couldn't resist kissing Sherlock.When he pulled back, he said, "That's my parents and my trauma. It's a lot easier to not care when it's someone else's family. But I can see where you'd think I would be upset." John did not ask if there was anything else Sherlock had hidden. Because John wasn't quite ready to talk about the big box full of biology he had in his office in sickbay. After all, it just wasn't the time to bring up kids. Better to shift to safer ground. He quirked a grin. "So, um… Prince Sherlock?"Sherlock huffed and looked aggrieved. "Please, an idiotic conceit.""I don't know. I'm thinking it's been awhile since we've done the scenario where King Sherlock fuck's his favorite concubine on the throne in front of the royal court." It felt good to tease Sherlock. Simple. Easy.Sherlock replied primly, "I prefer the scenario where Emperor John agrees to save Prince Sherlock's people if he surrenders his virtue to the emperor's passions, and together they find love.""We can trade off." John held the humor and the happiness for a moment. But there were a few things that had to be dealt with. "Found out something else though. The Khans are kidnapping Augments, which isn't the sex trafficking reason I generally imagined. More crazy ancient grandpas and grandmas deciding they want to connect and I guess build some population growth. So, sort of sex trafficking. Sort of."Sherlock looked thoughtful. "There were sometimes Augment…" he glanced at John, "Inferiors,""Ta.""with my parents when they visited me in the… place where I grew up. They appeared to be there willingly, but they could have carefully screened individuals before allowing them to visit where I was kept.""Stockholm syndrome," mused John. He looked at Sherlock. "Holmes syndrome. Not sure how we report this. If we report that the Khans are running around, at this point, all I'm certain we'll get is more dicks like Killander coming out of the woodwork, or," he waved in the general direction of the bridge, "fucking tits like this Wilkes character. Fact is, Normal Human's can be as fucked up as they want, but one Khan is proof we're all out to murder everyone.""Describe the size of the operation that you saw," said Sherlock.John repeated what he'd seen. Sherlock asked him questions before saying, "Given what you saw, the Federation must be aware that Augments are being kidnapped at a statistically high rate. There are less clandestine organizations that Section 31 that examine statistics from all over the Federation.""Great they know and they're doing nothing about it." John rubbed his face. This line of thinking was not helping his post adventure mood.Sherlock looked back out the window at the Breen ship floating off their port side.Donovan came in. "Oh, thank fucking God. You're not fucking.""Then why did you come in?" asked Sherlock sharply, before saying, "Ah, you have not been able to find Moriarty.""Yeah, and Hudson just flew up on a Breen shuttle wearing Breen armor." Donovan frowned. "Seems she thinks we should have a party down on Bencia to celebrate everyone saving themselves."John laughed, suddenly feeling lighter. "I could use a party." He shot Donovan a look. "But maybe have Khatri arrange it.""Any one is fucking better than me," muttered Donovan as she left the room.
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A good portion of the crew beamed down to Bencia. No wanted to have a party in the cargo bay. Khatri did most of the organizing.They settled down on a nice little island above a beautiful beach.Billy asked Hudson, "What should I do?""What do you want to do, dear?"Billy puffed his cheeks and thought. "I want everything to be simple for once.""I'll remind you that I had to escape a Breen holding cell this morning, which was not easy," said Hudson. "Although, it certainly became easier when your grandfather sent word I should be released and given a shuttle. And just think, we know so much more now than we did a few days ago. So, as unpleasant as the trip was, it was certainly worth it. Now," she tapped her chin, "if only I knew what these old Augments were up to with the Breen."Billy flushed. "They're kidnapping Augments!""I…" Hudson sipped her drink with its paper umbrella and slices of fruit. "yes, that is true, and I do have some ideas about doing something about that. But dear, is that all they're doing? The Breen have been expanding mining operations in Federation space rather aggressively in the last forty years. Think what else the Breen did forty years ago." She took another sip of her drink.Billy looked out at the blue waves crashing in on the white sand. At the crew of the Bakerstreet chatting and laughing by a giant bonfire. Connor was waving his hands wildly and talking to his bemused looking great-grandfather."Billy, you've already decided." Hudson's tone was gentle. She knew. Of course she knew.He looked back at her. "Yeah, I have. What grandfather is doing, what they're all doing is wrong. I don't know if I can convince them of that, but I certainly can't do it from the Bakerstreet, and I have to do something. But what about Connor's treatment? What if John finds something out?"She held out a small gold device. "Then keep in touch. And you should know that home is where when you have to go there, they have to take you in. The Bakerstreet will always have a place for you. Well, for as long as friends in various places can keep convincing Starfleet from deciding that our girl isn't past her fly by date. She was only rated for ten years, but," she twinkled a smile, "I at least know how to keep friendships alive."He took the communicator and went to speak to his grandfather and his son.
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With his worst secret revealed, Sherlock almost asked John to stay at his side when he met with Chin. After all, the Breen secret's weren't his. But the distraction of the anomaly of their evolution, which by now they'd encountered forty-one parallel Earths, and so it could only be a distraction. .It was possible she might be more free with her information with only him present.Since they could not very well meet on each other's ships, Sherlock and Chin met at the party on Benecia. Withdrew from the bonfires on the shore up to a further place on the beach.
The sound of the waves were a comfort. A reminder of his inland sea. The one John had given him. Replacing the memories of four children in the snow. Yet, for all he'd not heard Redbeard's howl in years, now it echoed through his mind palace.
Chin straightened in a posture that reminded him achingly of First Father. "Perhaps you thought I was dead, but I survived the Feradon attack and the fall into the crevice. For years, I thought you were dead. Our parents lied to me. I only learned when I went on the run of the ancestors, and your name was not among the fallen. But by then you'd already left the home our parents created for you and I had no idea where you'd gone until much later."Sherlock did not like not understanding references. Clues that didn't bring clarity without context. Simpler to state the essential truth. "I have no memory of the first nine years of my life." Sherlock added for good measure, "I don't remember you at all." He waved at her appearance. "I deduce our relationship from your phenotypic information. From your mannerisms, which you did well to conceal when you were onboard the Bakerstreet.""Not at all. I thought…when you didn't know me immediately that I had…" Chin trailed off into a useless silence.Sherlock prompted her by saying, "Euros gave me rather extensive brain damage. Possibly during the events that you are about to tell me about. In detail.""You remember Euros, and not me?" said Chin in a fair echo of their first father's tone of voice when crossed. "After what she did to us?"Not the direction he wanted the conversation to go. "I got a visit from her as an adult. Not long before you joined our crew. She attempted to induce me into going off to play with her."It took no great powers of observation to notice Chin's expression darkening further at that last statement. She was much more emotional now that she wasn't guarding her every expression from his notice. "She's free?" Chin snarled just like Mummy and paced a step away. Glared at the wide pale moons rising over the dark sea that rippled twin paths with their light. She rapidly turned back around scattering soft pale sand with her footsteps. "Our parents swore to me that she was in cryo sleep after what she'd done to us. That she would remain there for all time." She plucked a rock from the sand and flung it into the waves. "When I was old enough, Mycroft convinced me not to seek her out and kill her in revenge. He was lying to me again. Lying to me for Mummy.""Not that I in any way wish to be fair to Mycroft," they exchanged a look, "but she'd only been free for few months before I encountered her nine years ago. She was a child," he thought about the little girl he'd encountered, "she'd be in her late teens by now. How old was she when she was frozen? How old were we? What happened? I have nothing to examine but myself and now you.""Ah, yes." She breathed out. "I wanted to tell you before. When I found out where you were after the Borg invasion. But Mummy made me swear not to reveal who I was." She rolled her eyes. "Mycroft suggested it might be useful if I kept a clandestine eye on you.""He would. But details." Sherlock could feel every cell in his body straining to absorb what Chin might say next.What she said was a disappointment. "I don't really know much. She was kept separate from us most of the time. From anyone really. She could read minds just by being near you. Euros was about a year older than us. Mummy mixed in genetics from a variety of psychic races to create her. She was the only one of hundreds of attempts that survived gestation. But then," she glanced at Sherlock, "so were we. Even Mycroft took several dozen tries.""Yes, yes, what happened when we were children?" Sherlock was going to explode like the bonfire down the beach in frustration."We were at the Meiosis of Alignments on the Breen home world, the old one. We were playing pirates for some reason. I was Bloody Hands. You were Yellowbeard. Victor was Redbeard."
A distant howl of a Vulcan sehlat. A mournful whimper. Red fur beneath his hands. Cold hands around his neck.
No. John had replaced all that.
Canvas sails slapped tall masts on bold ships sailing in the sea below his memory palace. A merry adventure with John that would never end. A fresh wind in his face.
Actually, that was from over the waves."Victor?" Sherlock did not like this sensation of standing on uneven ground.She looked away. The darkness casting her face in shadows. Sherlock understood the feeling."Who is Victor?" He had a suspicion, but he needed confirmation."Our brother." She licked dry lips. "Euros killed him."The situation took shape. "I look like Mummy. You take after Second Father. And Victor…""Looked more like Father Noonien. We're the symbol of our parent's alliance. Although, only you look just like Mummy, because," she sighed, "Mummy is Mummy. But Victor was the best of us. The bravest. The strongest. I always thought he'd be the one they'd pick to rule after them. Although," she said wryly, "you were always Mummy's favorite.""How unfortunate our psychic sister gave me brain damage, which you have yet to explain. In any case," Sherlock found himself wanting to argue with his parents in absentia. "They want to pick someone to rule a vast empire of a few hundred Augments and whomever you can manage to kidnap," said Sherlock sarcastically. "How jolly.""It's a bit more than that," said Chin slowly."Yes, yes, if Mummy can solve the Breen's self-inflicted problem, they'll have a great deal of influence.""No," said Chin slowly. "I know you weren't… raised in the center of things, but Mummy already has a good deal of influence. Much more than Father Noonian and Father Meiying. I don't know why." She straightened her shoulders, "But that doesn't answer your question. Euros got in our heads. She made us turn on each other. It's all kind blurry, but we went out into the snow. I was attacked by a Feradon. A massive creature with poison fangs. I fell. It felt like it took forever. I broke… many bones. Then I healed… wrong. I couldn't get out of the crevice, until a stranger saved me." She shook her head. "Euros killed Victor and I thought killed you. She must have wiped your mind so you wouldn't remember what she'd done."Sherlock wasn't entirely pleased with this level of information. There were too many unknowns and suppositions based on old grievances."Why did our parents lead us to believe that we were both dead?" It was a rhetorical question. They had concealed the information because they concealed everything useful. He offered, "You could run away.""Not all of us get to have that option," said Chin wryly. Neither of them suggested Mycroft. The son of one Khan, he would never be accepted by the other two. She said, "I'm not the bravest or the favorite, but I will do what needs to be done. You should come back with me. Bring John. It's not safe where you are.""Neither John nor I want to live safe lives." Although, he supposed it was worth asking, "What is Mummy planning? Why isn't it safe?"She frowned unhappily. "Come home and Mummy will tell you.""Really?" He let scorn drip from his tone in a manner he liked to suppose poison dripped from a Feradon's fangs. "You think Mummy will give me an honest answer."They stared at each other a long time, before they both said, "No."Chin shook her head. "As long as you're in Starfleet and with the Federation then you're not with us."Sherlock tried another tack. "Has Mummy allied with a shapeshifter from the Gamma quadrant?"Sherlock had had good reason to examine the micro expressions of their parents growing up.He didn't know why he said what he said next. "Be careful. You knew Moriarty on the Bakerstreet. You know how much trouble he caused. He thinks solid lifeforms are beneath him. He's not to be trusted."Chin's expression didn't change. "I'll tell our parents. But they didn't listen to be me before either." She said hesitantly, "Anything else?"There were many things Sherlock could have said. Many feelings he didn't quite know how to process without John standing next to him. He looked over Chin's shoulder to where Grendel was smiling at Billy. Where John was standing. He said, "We should rejoin the party." As Chin turned around, Sherlock said, "Good luck. When John agreed to marry me, it was the most fortunate moment of my life."Chin's expression finally shifted from worry to a dimpled smile. "I know. I was Mycroft's plus one at your wedding."On that bit of news, they returned to the festivities and to whatever the future would bring.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
He must take it as an honor that Mummy has sent him to as their representative to the hasty meeting of the Alignments. Outside of the usual festivities of the Meiosis. While they had a conversation with their new ally about the meaning of the term, "Hands off."He must take it as an honor.He must.Therefore he did, as he did most things in which he had no choice. Forever chasing some indication of praise that didn't echo the first Mycroft. The one of which he was a copy.As might be expected Veema of the 1st Alignment, said, "We should trust in fate. After all, we didn't create the one we were looking for and even if we hadn't looked for them, they would have existed.Pavan of the 5th Alignment, Veema's sometimes ally at the Meiosis of Alignments, snorted. "Please, if we hadn't taken a hand in fate, we wouldn't have a 23rd Alignment. We should follow the Bakerstreet and take possession of them both. Finding the last variable was why we've supported the 23rd in their ridiculous method for growing their numbers rather than insisting they trade with us."An idea that went over like a lead balloon tied to a neutron star and dropped off in the proximity of a black hole with the Khans, Mummy most definitely included.Terellhoo of the 22nd Alignment opened their mouth and Karak of the 9th said, "None of your heretical 22nd Alignment ideas."Terellhoo said calmly, unruffled as they always were, "I was merely going to relate the parable of the crèche that trusted in fate when their life support failed rather than making their own using the help of the Ferengi, the Klingons, or another crèche.""Yeah, yeah," said Karak. "We've all heard the parable. And then they had no descendants to wonder why they hadn't taken the opportunities fate sent them.""Actually, I was going to say it means there's always three paths," which earned Terellhoo groans.It was times like these that Mycroft reflected it was fortunate that none of the Khans were particularly interested in these gatherings. Preferring to grow power within their own Alignment. Certain that what Mummy had told them about the Alignment's genetics issues was true and one best left up to Mummy to solve. Their wars in Earth's twenty-first century affecting their behavior as much as any ghosts of a previous Mycroft affected his own behavior. Nevertheless this had gone on long enough. "We have been aware of John Watson's location for some time.""Interesting that he's married to…" Pavan leaned over to one of their aides and whispered for a moment. "Prince William. Captain Sherlock. The Alpha. When you lost track of him that was a serious blow."Mycroft hummed. To lie before such an audience was to give something away inevitably. To speak the truth, disastrous. To imply perfect control of all variables was the best course. After all, Mycroft was still unclear if Mummy's objective in the dilithium mine gambit had been to learn strategic information about the various empires, or to get a positive identification on John Watson when they'd scanned him in the mine. Mummy's own hum had not particularly filled in the gaps.Mycroft smiled.He let his parallel representatives fill in their own ideas.Finally he said, "We did send Princess Chin to report on the progress of their blossoming relationship." By send, he meant she'd insisted and had never reported anything about the two of them at all.However, several Alignment representative's sighed happily. Dreamily. Coming to their own conclusions."We will trust in fate," said Veema."I don't like it," said Pavan."We've already taken the chance fate sent us. Now it's left up to randomization. Meiosis of fate," said Terellhoo.That was that. Which was for the best. Mycroft hadn't wanted to tell them that based on previous observation, trying to hold on too tightly might see everything fall apart.