[snip]

Daniel gave a curt nod and entered. Addressing the Captain first, he said. “..Captain Glen it is good to see your crew has found a means to stem the anomalies that effected you. I also have on my way here noted two other of your NE’s falling similarly victim, they are currently on their way to your Sickbay. Hopefully your medical doctor can offer them a similar stop gap measure as yourself..” He stated.

Glen had not been aware that anyone else was affected and was shocked. Of course, there were other crew on those missions through time, other crew had visited the Ancient’s planet, and had been in contact with Elder technology. It made no sense that the Captain was the single person affected.

Turning then to address Tia, “..I have finalized all preparations for running the device at you and Captain Glen’s order. We have also reached a safe distance in space where nothing should interfere. When do you wish to start?” he said, finalizing his question to both.

Glen waited for Tia to answer. He wasn’t sure if she wanted anymore tests run first, not that he thought that the simulations could ever replicate the real world exactly. He thought that he had convinced Tia of why they must run the machine and correct the wayward temporal streams, he just needed to convince himself that it was right too.

Not realizing he had the same doubts as her, she nodded and sighed. “I guess we better get this started.” She rose up and waved to the Captain. “You should stay here. You’re comfortable and have coffee. And to be honest, I doubt there is anything you can do from the bridge once he throws the switch.” She smiled. “I’ll have Kord get up and go to the bridge while we begin the checklist.” She nodded to Daniel. “I’ll be out in a moment. Will you please pull up the procedure on console 5 Echo. It’s closest to the core and will be easier to monitor from there. Once it’s up, you can go to the cargo bay and use the console in the bay to run it from ground zero so to speak. I’ll monitor from up here.” She nodded to Daniel once more.

”..Of course Lieutenant, I’ll get things prepared..” He said simply taking his leave

Once he was gone she looked to the Captain. “Please, Sir… stay here. I can give you my desk console if you want, but I’d rather have you close to me with that contraption,” she nodded to the bag. “Once Daniel is gone, I’ll have you join me out there. Then I can monitor you to be sure I can cut the power if it looks like the bag is failing and we are losing you.” She smiled. “I don’t think Kord would look kindly on me losing the Captain because the time to relay problems from the Bridge took too long.” She smiled. “Agreed?” She crossed her arms with that look of stubborn determination on her face. But her eyes were also filled with concern. She wouldn’t be happy to lose him, either.

While she waited for the answer, she tapped her badge. =^=Tia to Kord… can you come to engineering immediately, please?=^=

It was only a few minutes and Kord entered Engineering.

“I guess it’s time.” Kord said looking at the device and at Daniel.

Kord still had his suspicions but the ship and crew were committed. It was do or die and Kord hoped it wouldn’t be the former.

Before the Captain could speak up, Tia smiled and nodded to the coffee. “Grab a cup. I need to ask if you can take the bridge while I keep the Captain down here?” She glanced at the Captain and smiled. “No, not talking about you like you aren’t here. But I think we need to agree that with that,” she nodded to his backpack, “you’re better off where we can monitor you.” She looked to the Captain with pleading eyes. “Please, Sir…”

Tia’s insistence paid off. How could John not tell her ‘yes’! “Okay, Okay!” Glen said to Tia and Kord. “I get it! You don’t want to see me disappear in a puff of blue smoke, or create my doppelganger from out of the ether. I’ll remain here and monitor from Main Engineering while you press the starter button.”

[O]Bridge to Captain Glen and Commander Kord, we have arrived and are prepared to begin[O]

“Guess that’s our queue.” She touched Kord’s arm as she passed him. “If I show up on the bridge and try and kiss you, you better say no.” She laughed and headed to see Daniel. “Captain, I’ll set a space up for you by a nearby console out there so you can monitor it while we monitor you.” She winked. “You two make it quick. I want this over with…” she sighed and shook her head realize the ominous tone the desire had.

Leaving her office she met Daniel at the main console. “All right, so everything is ready. If everything here checks out, let’s get this rolling. I’m sure you want to go home as well.” She tapped a few commands to bring up the sequence.

After she took a deep breath, she turned to Daniel. “If this works, my guess if you will fade with everything else. I can’t say I’ll be sorry to see you go. But I can say, despite my misgivings, I believe your heart is in the right place. And for that, thank you.” She smiled a little, just enough to let him know she was sincere.

Next to Daniel, Tia had the most knowledge of the machine of anyone else aboard the ship, Kord would take the bridge as requested even though he could take full control of the ship from the very spot he stood on. Not something he cared to make common knowledge.

“And you couldn’t have told me that I was needed on the bridge over comms?” Kord said with a quirky smile.

Glen had to stop himself from laughing out loud at this first lover’s tiff, as it would be quite unprofessional, but why had she called him down here only to send him away again?

Kord turned and left engineering.

Glen took a seat next to the console in Main Engineering. He took off the pack from his back and placed it on the ground between his legs. “I guess I’ll see you all on the other side then,” he said.

• Glen,CO