Interlude       "Any luck?" asked Captain José. "None whatsoever." returned Commander Xanatos. "Ever since we brought them back from Mars, all they do is sit in that cell." "Have they said anything?" asked José. "If they talk - and that's a big if - its in that funny language." Xanatos stepped from the security console, clearly frustrated with the two individuals in question. "We have no idea what language their speaking. We've compared it to everything on record in the Normandy mainframe. It matches nothing. Not ancient Greek, not even pig Latin." "So in other words you're desperate." concluded José. "You wouldn't happen to have a mindscanner laying around, would you?" "Don't think I haven't looked into that." returned Xanatos. "But equipment like that isn't exactly standard issue in the fleet. And don't even get me started on the ethical issues involved." "Desperate." said JosČ. "Really desperate." corrected Xanatos. "You think it will work?" asked JosČ "I don't know. All I'm really hoping is that it will get them talking, in language we can understand." He walked back over to the console and pressed a button. "Send them in." * * *       Wright paced about the holding cell, agitated as usual. '(What is taking her so long?)' Sterling was lounging on one of the cell's bunks. '(Maybe she stopped to use the bathroom.)' Ellen stopped in her tracks. '(You're joking? At a time like this?)' Sterling sat up and shrugged. '(Why not? There's nothing else we can do. We just have to sit and wait. And as waiting areas go, at least this one is warm with three square meals a day.)' "Uh, I don't believe you!" stammered Ellen. '(Watch it, Eltorian only remember?)' '(I remember.)' hissed Ellen. Sterling eyed her a second then asked, '( You never did mention how you can speak this language.)' '(I learned it. Know thy enemy and all that.)' Sterling nodded. There was some motion beyond the bars, people moving toward them by the sound of it. Ellen crossed her arms and stared out the cell. Sterling went back to lounging on his bunk. A small group of people stopped in front of the cell. Sterling recognized a few faces. One was the doctor that helped Shanita, Rhodes was her name. Another was the man he masqueraded as, the others he didn't really know. The doctor stepped forward. "Do you remember me?" she asked. Ellen remained silent. '(Yes I do, doctor.)' replied Sterling. "What the hell did he just say?" asked one of them. Sterling glanced at him, apparently intrigued by his odd-looking white eyes. "Ten to one says he just insulted our mothers." stated the one with his arm in a sling. He stepped forward and looked at Ellen. "Don't you have anything to say to me?" A vicious sort of smirk crept onto Ellen's face. "One of your little chippy's hurt you, Dagger?" Dagger's eyes narrowed. "I dislocated my shoulder when you decompressed that shuttle bay." '(Poor baby.)' replied Ellen. She turned from him and walked to the back of the cell. "Now that was an insult. I'm sure of it." said Dagger. Sterling noted one of them was staring intently at him. "You say this is the one that was invisible?" he asked. Dr. Rhodes answered him. "He's the one that came to my office, Mengele. So it has to be him. He called himself Sterling." "The red-headed witch identified herself as Ellen Wright." added Dagger.       Crow Mengele talked slowly, as if to someone who couldn't speak English. "Do, you, know, the, prob-lems, you, caused, on, this, ship?" "They speak English doofus." commented the women on his left. "No one asked for your opinion, Montgomery." "I'm sorry, but they're never going to want to talk to us if they think we're a bunch of blooming idiots." Ellen chuckled under her breath. Montgomery pointed toward her. "Ya see? What'd I tell you?" "Quite joking around!" snapped Dagger. "Well, well, look who's mister serious all of a sudden." quipped Montgomery. "I'm pretty surprised you're not. One of them did shoot you down. Or did you forget your little space walk?" pointed out Crow. Ellen stifled another laugh. Sterling's face seemed to be struggling to stay serious as well. "It was you wasn't it?" asked Montgomery. Ellen looked shocked as she pointed to herself and said, '(Who me? I'd never dream of shooting down an overconfident exojockey blowhard like yourself.)' "It was her!" shouted Montgomery. "Of course it was her!" yelled Dagger. "She had the jumparmor, doofus!" Montgomery's face reddened. Crow rolled his eyes as he and the doctor took a few steps back. * * *       José and Xanatos continued to observe the unfolding events. "Are you sure this was a good idea?" asked José. "In theory it seemed solid." offered Xanatos. He observed as Dagger and Montgomery began pushing at each other. Lt. Elan Morin Tedronai stepped between them in an attempt to break it up. "In practice, well, I'm wondering if I made a huge mistake." * * *       "Break it up!" Elan planted a hand on Dagger and Montgomery's respective shoulders. "I said break it up! That's an order!" The two separated, albeit reluctantly. "Groundpounding idiot." snapped Montgomery. "Uppity exojockey." hissed Dagger. "Say that to my face!" taunted Montgomery. "Which one?" asked Dagger. Montgomery lost it, throwing the first punch. Elan, with only the best intentions at heart, stepped in to stop it. He caught it right on the nose. He stumbled backward cupping his face in his hands. "Ow! I bink yoz boke my hose." Montgomery covered her mouth with her hand, while she began to apologize. "Elan, I'm so sorry!" Dagger, of course, burst out laughing. "Nice one, Nikki!" Montgomery reacted instinctively, slapping Dagger's bad shoulder. "Argh!" yelled Dagger. Montgomery jumped back as Dagger spun on his heel delivering a backhand to someone no longer there. Unfortunately Elan was and he hit the deckplates covering his now splattered nose. "Wuz is wong wit yoz people?" he sputtered. Crow finally stepped in, pushing Dagger to the opposite corner of the room as Dr. Rhodes helped Elan. "Let me see." she told him. She gave his nose a quick look over. "Come on, let's get you to sick bay." They all stopped, suddenly aware of something they hadn't noticed before. The two prisoners were laughing at them. Not a gentle chuckle, mind you. But a full blown laughing fit. Wright was couched near the wall laughing so hard tears rolled down her face. Sterling was doubled over on his bunk, unable to contain his amusement. Rhodes dismissed them as she helped Elan out of the room. "What's so funny?" asked Montgomery, trying just a little too hard to act tough. Ellen and Sterling stopped, looked at her, then at each other. Sterling couldn't help it, he cracked. Wright soon followed and the two went into another laughing fit. "Well, I'm glad we could brighten your day." commented Crow. "Dagger, Montgomery, let's go." "What?" said Dagger. "We can't leave, we didn't get anything out of them yet." Crow shook his head, "Not true, we got laughter out of them. And thanks to you two that's all we're going to get. Now move." Montgomery and Dagger slowly trudged from the room, like school children called in too early from recess. Crow remained a moment longer. By this time Wright and Sterling had composed themselves. Crow looked at them a moment, then outside the cell where the craziness had started. He shook his head, smiled, and stared up into the security camera. "I don't suppose I could get a copy of that, could I?" The intercom switched on, carrying the voice of Captain José. "No." Crow shrugged, "Just thought I'd ask." He headed for the door, feeling more than a bit amused by what had just happened. * * *       "Okay, now what?" asked José. "I'm not really sure." replied Xanatos. "Commander Xanatos?" He pushed a button on the console in front of him. "Go ahead." "We've just received word from an inbound shuttle. By order of Admiral Winfield, a Professor Algernon is supposed to interview and evaluated two of our prisoners." "Understood, let me know when the shuttle arrives." "Sir, the shuttle will be here in fifteen minutes." Xanatos looked to José. "They don't waste any time do they?" noted José. "Apparently not." replied Xanatos. "Understood, I'll meet the Professor when he gets here. Xanatos out." "Looks like its out of our hands now." said José. "And good riddance too." added Xanatos. * * *       Xanatos stood in the hanger next to José. The shuttle had just touched down and the passengers were disembarking. It looked as if the Professor had brought a full security team with him. "Looks like they plan on taking our friends with them." noted José. Xanatos nodded. It looked that way indeed, which was fine with him. If Algernon was half as brilliant as his reputation made him out to be, then he was the only one who could ever get anything out of the duo in the brig. The gangly scientist made his way over to them. "Who am I supposed to talk to?" he asked. "That would be me." answered Xanatos. "I'm-" "Probably wasting my valuable time." finished the Professor. "I told the Admiral this isn't in my field, but what do I know? I'm only a genius." José shot Xanatos a glance. Xanatos knew what he was thinking. But stuffing the little guy out an airlock - no matter how satisfying it might prove to be - would accomplish nothing. "Right this way, Professor." * * *       Sterling raised an eyebrow at the sight of Professor Algernon. Wright looked to him, as if to ask 'is this bad?' "They seem to recognize you." stated Xanatos. "Really?" asked Algernon. "I can't imagine from where." He stared at them a moment. "Well? What is it I'm supposed to see here?" "Right now our number one concern is trying to figure out what language they are speaking." Algernon gave him a quirky look. "I'm a physicist, not an interpreter." Xanatos cleared his throat. "Yes, well, they've also been seen using technology far in advance of anything in the Exofleet." Algernon glanced at the two of them. "You can't be serious. My research represents the very peak of exotechnology. Where is this technology?" "Well, we don't exactly have it." explained Xanatos. "Clarify, if you would." demanded Algernon. "Well we have what's left of it. But your more than welcome to take a look at it." Algernon brushed past them. "Yes, take me to it." "Yes, sir, your highness." whispered José. Xanatos shot him a glance and he fell silent. "Right away, Professor."       They left the room, allowing Sterling and Wright to converse. '(We could be in serious trouble here.)' began Sterling. '(I thought you said they'd never figure out that tech.)' returned Ellen. '(They couldn't, but another Algernon probably can.)' '(So what do we do?)' asked Wright. '(I don't know.)' said Sterling. * * *       "Fascinating." whispered Algernon. "Um, don't you even want to look at the jumparmor?" asked José. "Perhaps later. For now the real prize is this device." He held the remains of Wright's holoprojection unit in one hand and a magnifying lens in the other. "And you say they could look like other people using this?" "That's what our witnesses say." answered Xanatos. Algernon placed the shattered remains back on the examination table. "I'll need to get everything you have back to my lab immediately. Package it for transport." "What about our guests?" asked Xanatos. Algernon looked annoyed, as if bothered by the fact that they'd pester him with such petty details. "Have my security team collect them. I suppose they might prove useful, but I doubt it." Xanatos turned to José, "You heard the man." * * *       '(You're clear on the plan then?)' asked Sterling. '(Yeah. Wait until they get us out of the security wing, then jump the guards and head for the hanger.)' People could be heard approaching. They quickly went into a casual stance as a security team stopped in front of their cell. Algernon was with them. "Let's go." One of the guards opened the cell door and entered. He placed binders on both Wright and Sterling. The security team surrounded them on all sides and escorted them from the cell. Algernon strode alongside them, eventually settling next to Sterling. "I expect to be reimbursed for this." He said casually. Sterling gave him an odd glance, then faced forward. "I have a lecture tour coming up on Earth next month, 8 weeks long, you'll go in my place. Then I'll call it even." Sterling's head whipped toward Algernon. He stared back at him. "You know I've never been much of a field operative." He pointed a finger at him. "Count yourself lucky that I value your expertise." Sterling smiled. "Very slick, Professor." "I thought so. The security team came with me, by the way. Just shut your mouth, act defeated, and we'll not only be out of here but we'll take every scrap of evidence of your presence with us." Sterling glanced back at Wright. She looked absolutely stunned that the scientist could pull off such a simple and elegant plan.       The journey from the security wing to the hanger took about fifteen minutes. The security team loaded Sterling and Wright onto the shuttle as Algernon spoke with Commander Xanatos. "Is everything on board?" asked Algernon. "As ordered." replied Xanatos. "Will we ever find out what the story is with those two?" Algernon shrugged. "You will have to talk to fleet security about that. Its not my field." "In others words, no." stated Xanatos. "Have a nice trip, Professor." "Oh, I'm sure I shall. I have much to occupy me. Like the design of the computer chips in that device, have you ever seen..." Algernon began to drone on and on about the design. Xanatos walked away a few seconds into it, having had his fill of the scientist. "Well, I never. How rude." muttered Algernon. He turned on his heal and boarded his shuttle. In minutes it was free of the hanger and headed into deep space. * * *       "I just don't believe it." said Ellen. "Seeing is believing. Nice work, Professor." "Lecture tour, Earth, 8 weeks." said Algernon. "Professor-" began Sterling. "Lecture tour, Earth, 8 weeks." repeated Algernon. "Okay! Okay! I'll do it." Algernon smiled, "Excellent." He motioned to one of the security guards. "We should be out of their sensor range. You can power up the ring system." It was set up in the cargo hold. As the guard set to work, Sterling asked, "What about this ship and the equipment on it?" "I thought we'd open the rift, set the self destruct, go through, and let it be vaporized." "Works for me." said Ellen. "Professor?" called the guard. "We're ready when you are." Algernon worked at the controls and soon the way home opened before them. "Self destruct activated!" announced another security guard. "I've set the mechanism to shut down in thirty seconds." announced Algernon. "Everyone through the rift!" ordered Sterling. The crew of the shuttle disappeared into the blinding white light followed by Algernon, Sterling, and Wright. Seconds past and the ring system shut down. Minutes past and the ship detonated, vaporizing all of its contents and erasing any and all proof of their existence. On to Chapter 7