With the rest of the lights more or less working, it become clear just how vast the hangar is. There are no signs of glass-bug infestation immediately visible, but there are huge chunks of equipment littering the floor in no particular order. There are elevator platforms connected to the scaffolding above, but none of them are actually at floor level. This means the belly of the Bellerophon is still a good thirty feet in the air.

The scaffolding itself is decorated and stylized, as are the walls of the hangar, showing the distinctive artistic touches of the various Expedition races that built it. Support beams are made in the likenesses of humans and Karnors, holding up the roof, which is itself painted in a gigantic mural of clouds at the edges fading into space and then a bright galactic arm at the center. The Bellerophon itself has almost no sharp edges, with only the vast 'nostrils' of its engine nacelles breaking the streamlined surface.

With the lights now on, Layth goes about examining the scaffolding for a location he could climb to reach the ship. "I wonder why this was all abandoned," he remarks.

"Maybe there weren't enough supplies to support a whole community, or else the joint forces decided to gather on Abaddon for support," Tasha suggests. The woman is currently walking around the titan, trying to tell if it's intact, despite her claims that she wasn't at all interested in it. "We may need it," she insisted earlier.

"There weren't many of us left up here," Zerachiel notes. "Maybe a hundred. Once the Fenris didn't return, there'd have been no reason to stay. It looks like they took a shuttle and probably headed for Abaddon."

There doesn't seem to be any way to get to the scaffolding manually. No cables dangle down within reach, and the elevator platforms are all secured above.

Layth decides to go see if the titan itself is climbable and close enough to jump to scaffolding from…

Gabriel is framing a shot of Bellerophon with the surviving camera, and otherwise staying quiet. The pounding from Blammo has stopped as well, but the Titanian hasn't shown up yet.

There are plenty of rungs to get to the cockpit of the Titan, and kneeling down puts its head maybe twenty-five feet off of the ground… but the scaffolding is seventy feet up, and it isn't close enough to the belly of the scout ship in its current position.

"Any luck with the scaffolding? I don't think the titan is damaged, but I also don't know how it works, so I might be wrong," the Vartan asks. She pauses by one leg, then follows its gaze up to the Bellerophon. "You know, this ship is really beautiful despite the damage. Both of them are."

"No. You will have to fly up there and lower something," Layth remarks.

"I forget the name of the designer," Gabriel says quietly. "He was a famous architect on Terra, but… I don't know that I can recall any of his buildings or bridges or space stations now. I never really payed attention to such things back then."

Tasha nods to Layth, then waves him down. "I don't like the idea of us splitting up," she admits, glancing across the party with a slight frown, "but it should be safe for me to fly up there. While you're down here, why not see if there's anything to use? Oh, and tell me if you spot a Silent-One titan, or another Themis-Skoll!" The woman smiles, then kneels down to dust her wings across the floor before leaping into the air!

Layth almost reminds Tasha to be careful, then just shrugs. He stretches a few times, then takes off in a brisk jog to survey the hangar and what might be usable.

The scaffolding isn't far at all for someone with wings. Aside from a guardrail, the top is a good landing area – wide enough to drive some of the vehicles on, even, since a few have actually been abandoned there.

The Vartan glances at Gabriel as she hears his comment, the frown on her face increasing, although only Layth is close enough to make it out as she passes by. In about a minute she's up top, her hooves clanging against the metal scaffold as she lands. "There are vehicles up here," she reports. Taking a few steps farther in, she adds, "I'm going to try and operate the elevator, stand clear!"

As for the Titans – those that are intact are strapped into their bays, and a few have been partially disassembled. They are all slightly different, but keep to the armored humanoid form. None have the giant engines or wings that Themis-Skoll sported though. These Titans are strictly ground-bound.

"No other flying Titans!" Layth calls back, then heads back towards the others.

Zerachiel quickly puts a ridiculous amount of space between himself and the yellow-striped elevator area.

"That's disappointing," Tasha yells back. She searches around until she locates the docked elevator, then walks up and leans forward to eye the controls.

The controls for the elevator seem simple enough. There's a big switch for power, and buttons for 'up' and 'down' on a console next to it. A similar combination of controls are part of another console that's attached to the elevator guard rails.

"Hmm." Tasha knows enough about electronics now to have a vague idea of how the machine works, and with her expanded vocabulary from Nora, her ability to read has increased considerably as well. The woman had dreaded admitting to anyone she could barely read, but with the Silent-One language downloaded into her brain came the full translation, and with that: literacy. She flicks the power switch, then pokes the 'down' button.

Bright swirling lights start flashing and spinning while an annoying alarm blares out, just before the platform lurches and starts to descend.

"Look Layth, more loud noises!" Tasha holds on to the guard rail, waving as she descends slowly.

"You are the light of my life," Layth retorts from where he's trying to cover his ears. "Remind me to kick you when you get down here!"

Gabriel covers a grin by aiming the camera at the descending Vartan. "I can see up your skirt!" he calls out, even though Tasha is wearing ballistic-armored pants like the rest of them.

"Don't blame me! It didn't have a 'warning, loud noises' sign on it," insists Tasha. "I think it's all for safety. Captain Eyeshine would do the same thing, only it was more, 'ey move your as-'" The woman sputters, her thought completely derailed by Gabriel's remark. She reaches down to cover herself up, blinks when she remembers she's wearing pants, then she's yelling, "HEY!" and adding to the noise.

Even Eli snickers a bit, but does so when his back is turned to Tasha, of course. It takes a little more than a minute before the platform touches the floor, landing on rubber cushioned feet which immediately explode into dust on contact. Tasha finishes yelling things by the time the elevator hits the floor. When the elevator touches down, she says, "See, nothing bro-" … and then the rubber disintegrates. The teeth-jarring inch or so drop makes her ears flatten. She pauses, looks down, waits a moment, then says, "See, the elevator didn't break." And then she pokes the railing button.

"I have a bit of a concern," Layth remarks after the dust and noise settle. "Why were all of the transports raised up? Surely one would have been down unless they were all drawn up for safety. That ship could be full of corpses… "

The railing folds down out of the way on one side, so the platform can be loaded. It's large, a good fifteen feet on a side, and presumably strong enough to carry those tender vehicles.

"Let's not be morbid, Layth," Tasha insists, shooting the man a raised brow look, before glancing at the Karnors meaningfully. "We will have to check the hibernation machines, like before, but Eli said everyone left, so … Anyway, hop on!"

"We do not know everyone left, that is an assumption," Layth points out as he heads over, then boards the ancient elevator. "I am merely telling you to be ready for the worst case."

"Someone could have done it from the master control shack," Zerachiel explains, pointing to a cluster of windows at the far back and top of the hangar wall.

"I'm trying to be positive, but that doesn't mean I haven't considered the negative, Layth," insists Tasha, who frowns a little. She steps aside so the others can board, then asks, "Where's Blammo, anyway? I appreciate the Titanian's help, but I can't make myself trust them completely."

"Have you encountered piles of corpses before?" Gabriel has to ask the Lapi… quietly.

There's still no sign of the giant lupine – but then, nobody really told him to follow the orange line to get here before, either.

"Yes, but why?" Layth points out, "It serves no purpose other than to isolate the systems above." To Gabriel he nods, "A few times while traveling with a caravan. Remains of raids along the trade route."

"Well, maybe the glass-bugs had invaded before they left, and they wanted to make sure they couldn't get up to the ship," Zerachiel rationalizes.

"They may have secured the area before leaving, there were still concerns of factional breakdown and … Well, maybe even fear of Titanian raiders." Tasha glances towards the entryway as she mentions the raiders, frowning even more. "Someone should get Blammo. Titanians aren't a Joint Expeditionary Force species, and the ship may not like Blammo."

"All right. I will go look for him," Layth says and exits the elevator. "Will you wait for me?"

"Of course. Don't go too far either. If Blammo isn't nearby come back and we'll all look. I'll reset the elevator if we leave, too," the young woman agrees. "This will give me a moment to talk to the Doctor, too; I need to review some things."

"We'll load the gear, and see what else might be useful," Gabriel says to Layth. "There must be a toolbox somewhere… "

"If I'm not back in half an hour, assume something bad happened and move on without me. There is no point in risking others," Layth remarks as he checks his armor and then weapon to ensure it is loaded. The Lapi offers a slight wave, then heads back the way they came.

Tasha smiles widely at the mention of toolbox, in that broad-toothed way she does when she's thinking of something less than pure. "I'm sure there is."

Tasha's smile then collapses at Layth's remark, and then she's sighing. "Why do all the men in my life talk about their existence as if they weren't worth anything?" The woman glares at Layth, shaking her head. "How about this: we don't leave you behind and make every effort to find you both? Now go, shoo! Before I tell you to stay!"

The Vartan woman stares at Layth's back as he leaves, and at the door after he's gone. "My leadership instincts are telling me this is a bad idea," she admits after a moment. "Eli, Gabriel, will you follow him? I'm going to reset the elevator and join you. I don't like this."

"The mission is to recover the ship and restore the memory things. That cannot happen if you're dead. Priorities, Tasha," Layth calls back from somewhere down the hall now.

"I'll follow him," Gabriel offers, since he knows how to use his sidearm. The wolf sprints to the door to catch up with the Lapi.

The Vartan blinks as Gabriel sprints off, and then she throws her hands in the air! "Why do they do that?! Why do they all do that!?" Showing her Karnor half, Tasha growls all the way over to the controls. She waits for Eli to stop off before stabbing the up button with a finger.

Eli waits on the ground until the platform has finished rising back to the scaffolding.

Once the elevator is moving, Tasha jumps off and lands with a flap of her wings. "Eli, I'm going to cook you something delicious for being a level headed and responsible man. Let's go," she says, and then she's off hurrying after her friends.

"Right," Zerachiel says, and decides not to mention that he's the only one without a weapon.

It doesn't take long for everyone to regroup back in the engineering section. The lights are on in here now as well, revealing the massive machines and cooling systems. There isn't any sign of Blammo though – although Layth can hear something in the distance, towards the front of the giant ship.

Layth nods ahead. "Forward section, movement. Cannot confirm it is Blammo," he remarks tersely to the others then slinks onward, his weapon now drawn. "Just remember this may be dangerous," he adds as he goes.

"Layth says it may be dangerous," Tasha mock-whispers to the wolves beside her. "Possibly more dangerous than men with no sense of self-preservation," she adds. The woman draws her sidearm and readies it, angling the barrel down as she was taught; she follows behind and to the left of Layth.

"Tasha, I grew up being a guard," Layth points out. "It is my job to take the risks so that the cargo, in this case you and the crystals, do not have to."

"I grew up on an airship, I should be loading cargo on to the Bellerophon; instead I have chosen to travel across two planets and a moon to make the past my future, and am leading an expedition. Don't try and be suicidal-clever with me, magic bunny," retorts the woman. For better or worse, it seems Tasha's taking the 'sound more like Nora' suggestion seriously!

It takes some time, since the corridor is long and packed full of heavy machinery. Soon enough though, the others can hear sound too… a sort of whine. Before it can be really located though, the entire chamber starts banging and thumping as machines and pumps start up.

Layth almost shoots a pipe that groans loudly to life near his head. Thankfully he catches himself in time and just whacks it with the back of his hand instead. "Hush, you," he tells it. After one more glance to the pipe, he calls out, "Blammo, is that you ahead?" There's a howl in reply, and the whining sound comes a little closer. At least now it's clearly coming from above, somewhere beyond a giant pipe.

"Worrisome," Layth remarks. He continues forward slowly and now looks up, searching for the canid.

"Were you often attacked by angry pipes in the desert, Layth?" Despite her remark, Tasha has also targeted the pipes, but like Layth didn't add new ventilation. She follows after the sound, then pauses when she hears the howl. Tilting her head up, looking and sniffing. "Is he stuck in a machine?"

It takes some maneuvering, but finally they can see that there's a catwalk atop the big pipe… and then something goes zooming past on it, with a long drawn out howl!

Layth sighs, "He may be in trouble." The buck rolls his eyes and looks for a way to quick-hop up to the catwalk!

A ways further up, around the bulk of a towering thingamabob, is an access ladder going up to the catwalk!

"I'm heading up," Layth tells the others, then darts towards the ladder!

Tasha stares at where the zooming object had been, then just shakes her head. "Well, let's see if we can help then. I wish Nora could have put her engineering skill in my brain, because relying on Blammo is going to make my fur fall out." As she said, she begins looking for a way up. Not needing a ladder, she just takes flight towards the catwalk.

The catwalk may not be as high as the hangar scaffolding, but the crowded space makes it trickier. Tasha has to really concentrate on where her wings are, but manages to keep them clear. Then, just before she can land on the catwalk, a pressure valve opens behind her and gives a boost of cold vapor right up her tail.

The Vartan yelps, soaring higher than she intended from the pressure blast and landing with her hands on her rump. The catwalk rings with the sound of her hoofed impact. "I'm never letting Blammo walk off alone again," she growls, rubbing her rear.

Of course, Layth shows up right as Tasha is rubbing her bum, with Gabriel close behind on the ladder.

"Graceful, fearless leader," Layth quips, amused, to the downed Vartan as he stops briefly to help her up. "Blammo!" he then shouts in the direction the howl went.

"Technology is trying to get me again," Tasha says with a whimper. "Did this ever happen to Nora? Please say yes." The woman walks with the others, moving to stand beside Gabriel and walking a little funny.

"Blammo!" echoes a wolfish bark from further down. The whining sound increases, and something is now coming back along the catwalk towards them, obscured by clouds of condensation.

"I promised never to tell that story," Gabriel claims.

Layth abruptly stops and takes aim at the approaching cloud, lest it not be Blammo. "Blammo, if that is you, stop… " he says.

"That makes me feel a little better," Tasha tells Gabriel, giving him a pained smile. She pauses at the cloud, and asks, "Gabriel, does the Orpheus have friendly clouds that want to help us?"

There's a stuttering squeaky sound as the object slows down. Eventually it comes to a stop a dozen feet away: it's Blammo, sitting in some sort of six-wheeled motorized cart. Someone had painted flames along it's otherwise bland gray side at some point, and a big Naga face on the front.

"Hi!" the Titanian barks, waving a giant hand. "Wanna ride?"

"By the Star, I remember that cart," Zerachiel whispers once he looks out from behind Akkers.

Layth groans and puts away the gun. "Blammo, what is wrong with you?" the Lapi asks. "Why are you riding that thing and scaring all of us?"

"I'm going back to the Bellerophon now," says the Vartan, who's now rubbing the bridge of her muzzle. At Zerachiel's comment, though, she glances at him curiously.

"While the Fenris was being fitted out, some of the engineers souped up a few of the utility carts and raced them," Zerachiel notes, looking sheepish.

"Fun!" Blammo replies to Layth, and then steps out and offers the Lapi the seat.

"Did you help?" Layth asks the doctor. And even though he knows better, he heads towards the cart and gets in.

"I may have painted on the flames," Eli mutters.

"I'm glad they had fun," Tasha says in a tone of a person who isn't having much fun at all. "We do need to reach the Bellerophon and makes plans, though, so I'm going to head back now. And, I'm going to find the brush for my tail."

The cart has a cargo bed, a seat, and a joystick, with nothing else beyond a power switch.

"Everyone, get in. We will ride this thing back. We may have use of it for bringing salvageable equipment to the ship," Layth points out. He also pokes the joystick lightly to see what happens.

"C'mon, Blammo," Gabriel tells the Titanian. "You'd better come with us… and hope none of the systems you've started up explode."

The buggy jumps forward a foot when the joystick is nudged forward.

"Yeek!" goes Layth. "Okay, poke in direction and it goes. Right."

"Are you sure you can drive that thing? You know, I crashed the Themis-Skoll more times than I can count," says Tasha, who walks over and takes a place on the cart – she lays on her side, not on her butt.

"Poke stick, it moves," Layth says, "Simple enough."

"Oh, this doesn't fly," Zerachiel says. "Even I wasn't able to crash one, although… well, slowing down can be tricky, since it goes faster than it was designed too. When in doubt, let go of the stick."

"You land on butt?" Blammo asks Tasha, as he climbs into the cargo bed.

The two Karnors climb in and find something to hold onto. "I remember a ramp back towards the hangar door… maybe a little past it," Zerachiel tells Layth, and helpfully points down the catwalk. "That's a lot easier than a thousand buttons, switches, and screens!" Tasha glances at Blammo, replying, "No, the ship goosed me, Blammo." She then grins at Eli and tries to rub his head, while asking him, "Oh, Eli, if I can use the Themis-Skoll's PNI system and the PersoCom, does that mean I have a Karnor brain?"

"This mission is alternately scary and ridiculous," the buck remarks. And of course he then slams the stick in the direction back towards the hangar!

The high-torque, over-amped electric motors of the buggy make it jump forward and race down the catwalk at speed. Maybe not as fast as a ground-car, but given the poor visibility and lack of a fully straight path, it's fast enough!

Layth's ears make a flapflapflap sound and the cart zips along! "Okay, he was right, this is fun!" the buck admits.

Tasha leans forward, letting her tongue loll out as the wind blows against her face, "Now you know what it's like to fly," she says. Glancing back, she asks Eli, "Are you worried I'll be mad about your answer, or is Layth's driving making speech impossible?"

"Well, of course you have a… " Eli starts to tell Tasha, until everyone has to hang on as the buggy swerves and lifts up on just the right side wheels. There's a bump as the raised ones hit the guardrail of the ramp… and that's how they descend, three wheels on the rail and three on the ramp, until they reach the bottom and run out of rail.

"This reminds me of a wagon run on a mountain road!" Layth calls back as the card descends the ramp at almost a forty-five degree angle. "Hang on… " he adds as he tries to wrestle the controls and get the buggy back on course.

"Ahhh!" Tasha doesn't scream often, at least not for matters of terror, but today she does. It may help that she landed on her recently steamed tail, which also makes her look rather steamed, herself. The woman falls over against Gabriel, grabbing her rear again, and using her spare hand to hold on to a rail.

There is much bouncing, but the Lapi figures out how to get the cart to stop before it runs into anything. Nobody falls out, but everyone is certainly a bit shaken (except for Blammo, who is laughing like mad). And lo, there is the Orange Line that leads to the hangar…

"Well, that was an adventure," Layth says with infuriating calmness. "And look, the way back to the hangar. Everyone just relax, I'll get us back," he claims. This time he pushes the controls lightly.

Head in Gabriel's lap, hair in face, wings akimbo and tail clutched in her hand, Tasha inquires with strained calm, "What were you saying then, Eli?"

"Err, uh… brain… Karnor… probably," the scientist stutters. At least the trip back into the hangar is at a more controlled and sedate pace, right up until Blammo launches himself from the buggy to run up and hug the leg of the kneeling Titan.

"I hope you weren't attached to the Titan, Tasha. I think Blammo is in love," Layth calls into the back. "Well, now at least we have a way to collect useful salvage. Doctor, will you ride around with me and note things worth collecting for the ship above?"

"That's good to kn-" Tasha's conversation with the Doctor is abruptly ended when she spots the Titanian run for the Titan. "Blammo! NO!" The woman is out of the cart in a flash, starting for the machine before just throwing her hands in the air again. "I'm never letting another Titanian into this facility, or any ship, or anything, ever again." After a sigh, Tasha says, "I'm going to get the elevator – Blammo is not allowed on the Bellerophon."

"Yes he is. How else will he get home?" Layth points out.

"The Dainty-Whatsit is arriving in a few days to pick us all up," Tasha replies as she heads for the elevator. "We don't even know if the Bellerophon can fly again, but if it can, no Titanians."

"Just make sure he doesn't look up," Gabriel says, and goes to help Tasha. Zerachiel regains some of his composure, and asks Layth, "Have you ever driven anything before? And… oh, yes, there could be some useful stuff out there… "

"I have never driven anything. Remarkable we are intact, really," Layth admits. "What do you think we may need for the ship? Is its power system likely offline? Do we need to find something portable to power it until its heart is beating again? Something I think you called a battery?" When Gabriel catches up, Tasha whispers to him, "I'm concerned, Gabriel. Blammo seems to have some skill, but I'm worried about trusting him with anything – especially our lives and the legacy of the Expedition. Maybe the others don't see how serious this is, but this place is important. I won't be able to live with myself if something should happen to it, and I'm starting to get a headache from worrying about it."

"You want to lock him up somewhere?" Gabriel asks.

"I'm worried that's plain mean," Tasha says, exasperated. "I don't want to hurt Blammo, and definitely don't want to anger the Titanians, but I also don't trust them enough to be here. If they see this place, what will they do? To them, it's fun and parts. To me – to us? – it's the future and an important legacy. I won't fail or have it taken." "Then give him a task to keep him busy for now," Gabriel suggests. "Maybe he can get that Titan working. I doubt he's noticed anything else in here since he saw it."

"I love your mind, Gabriel. That's a good idea; I see why you're a captain," Tasha says with a smile. "Let me get the switch, then I'll come back down and we can talk more." After giving the man a kiss, Tasha leaps into the air and soars up to the lift, pushing the button. The sirens blare and the lights flash, and soon Tasha is descending again.

Layth ponders something. "Doctor … did this flying city have a library?" he asks.

Zerachiel guides Layth to one of the partially stripped Titans. "It looks like they were recovering motivators for… a library? Well, yes, but not the sort with printed books… "

"Should we locate it? Tasha keeps talking about a legacy … and would not the contents of the library be the most worthwhile thing to recover? This is all old … but knowledge could make new," Layth suggests.

"The Expedition did lose a lot of knowledge that we brought with us," Zerachiel notes, nodding. "That's why the Disc of Eras thing was so important to them. We can try to pull the memory modules from the main computers… " "Then we should try to find it. Do not tell Tasha until we have it. I do not want to get her hopes up and have us find it ruined," Layth tells the doctor. "You know how to recover it, yes?"

"Well, I know where to look for it, I think," Zerachiel notes. "I'm not too familiar with the Orpheus, but I can think of where to look."

"And it is not as if she would be able to sneak up while we searched. That woman has a way of making a lot of noise, no matter what she does," Layth complains when the sirens scream again. "I half expect some day she will hire a band to follow her around and announce her arrival."

Soon enough, the elevator is down and Layth and Zerachiel have collected some things that might be useful – including a toolbox.

Once the lift has returned to the ground, Tasha walks over to Gabriel and says, "I've been thinking a lot lately, about what Nora asked of me, and about all of this," she says, gesturing to the hangar. "And about you, Gabriel. You said once you came here to explore a new world, so … Have you ever thought of starting the Expedition again? I mean, the original? Would that be something you'd want?"

"To just go exploring, you mean?" Akkers asks, looking surprised. "Yes, I want to see the worlds accessible through the Gateway, now that I know it's possible."

"To go exploring, and complete the mission of the Expedition. We may not belong, but at least we belong together – and we're both a part of this place. You from your time, and me knowing too much, and being a hybrid. We could work with the Abaddonian Expedition, maybe even the other groups, and try to get the Bellerophon working again. The Joint Expedition Force doesn't need to be forgotten, and the sacrifices needn't be in vain. Maybe it's late, but I still think we can do it." Tasha steps aside so Gabriel can get on the platform, and adds, "It's something I want, too."

"I don't know how much cooperation we can salvage," Gabriel admits, rubbing the back of his neck. "They created the Knights Templar on Abaddon as a cooperative force, but in the end they didn't support them. And frankly, New Zion and the others don't have the resources for it. If there's going to be a new Expedition, it won't be based on Abaddon. Sinai has the resources, I think. We don't need spaceships and computers – they've been making progress without them. Even that weird unicorn girl knew more about the Sifras than we ever found out."

"Spaceships and computers are what we have, though. But you're right – and I didn't know that about the Knights Templar. That explains a lot." Tasha purses her muzzle, then looks up at the Bellerophon. "We do have the Orpheus, maybe we could start it here? Sinai, magic … I don't know. I suppose we'll answer those questions when the time comes; for now we have a lot of work to do," the woman tells her love. In a louder voice, she calls out, "Unless you're staying down here, come on! Blammo! You, um, fix that Titan and don't leave or break anything!"

"Go ahead, I want to look for something first," Layth calls back. "I'll be up in a bit. Just send the elevator back down for us."

"Hokay!" the Titanian barks, but doesn't seem inclined to stop hugging the machine yet.

"Alright, be careful Layth. Are you coming Doctor?" Tasha glances at the scientist, questioningly.

"I should help Layth," Zerachiel says. "It's not like I'll be needed until you actually get the Bellerophon opened… "

"That may be soon. Be careful," Tasha tells the doctor. She leans over and pushes the button, and as the lift begins to rise, she whispers to Gabriel. "I have an idea: we can use MOTHER to manipulate the Sifran crystal triad, we thought that, but I've been wondering at more. If we can use those crystals like the other MOTHER did, maybe we can draw power off them? Or, even stop the SPM field around the Bellerophon's engines?"

"I don't know how much of the ship we cannibalized to refit the Fenris for its mission," Akkers notes. "Getting MOTHER running and recovering the mission data is the first priority."

"Come on, Doctor, we have a library to recover," Layth tells the Karnor as he puts the odd vehicle in motion again. "Just give me directions. I promise to not drive fast this time."

"Yes, that's right. I've been keeping that in mind, but there's some problems with that too," the Vartan tells Gabriel. "MOTHER has a 'Directive 0,' if I remember right, which will cause it to consider the artifacts as more important than our lives and our mission. After thinking, I remembered what MOTHER said, that only a few Silent-Ones could get past that. There's also the … " the woman glances at the man's face beside her, ears laying back, "… matter of the crew. Nora told me to find something called a 'cloning' area. And there's all these questions about doing it, I'm not as certain as I was."

"I'm not sure that the cloning system is what you think it is," Gabriel notes. "And I have no idea if any of the medical systems on Orpheus or Bellerophon even work yet. We'll have to find out before making plans."

Down on the floor of the hangar, the little buggy goes scooting off again with Layth and Zerachiel.

"So many questions," Tasha agrees. The lift stops with a thump, the two talking as they disembark. "But, what is the cloning system? Isn't is something to bring the crew back? If it's not, why have I been risking our lives, besides the mission data?"

"It can create a new body, but not an adult body," Gabriel explains. "And not quickly." He walks towards the cradle holding the ship, and notes, "We'll probably have the best luck trying to open the cargo doors for the upper bay."

"Where the Themis-Skoll would have launched from? That makes sense." Tasha walks to the railing, then pauses as the cart zips on out of the hangar. "Dagh's tail, where are they go- … Nevermind, I'll just have to trust them." She shakes her head, suggesting 'have' isn't nearly the same as 'want to,' and makes her way down to the point across from the hangar doors. "So, Gabriel, what you're saying is that we'd have … children of the crew, maybe with incomplete memories? Why would Nora ask me to do that?"

Gabriel is quiet for most of the walk, then, "Because you're like her, when she was younger. She wanted children, someday. And probably to motivate you." He pauses here, and says, "Because if there was no chance of bringing her back, you might have let her PersoCom overwrite your own mind back on the Fenris, if I'm guessing right."

Tasha starts to climb the rails, but she pauses when Gabriel speaks up suddenly. By the time he's finished, she's lowered herself back to the scaffolding floor. It's the Vartan's turn to be silent, her hands clutching the rail tightly enough to make the skin under her fur whiten. When her eyes close and her head drops, she releases the rail and reaches to rub her eyes. "Oh, Nora."

Slowly, Tasha looks back at Gabriel, and he can see her eyes glinting in the sterile light. "And here I am, wanting to be like her. I had been following what she asked of me, without thinking about what it meant – and because I wouldn't have understood if someone had told me, until recently. I wanted so badly to undo the wrongs done to her and the crew, to honor their memory, to make it so what they did didn't have to end in the mountains of Amazonia and … " the woman's ears wilt, her tail tucking as she nods a little, "You're right. I would have let her kill me so she could live – because she deserved it more than I did."

"And that would have killed her, again, if it happened," Gabriel says, taking Tasha's shoulders in his hands. "If that damned crystal can bring them back enough to think about their situation, then it will be up to them. It isn't our place to decide for them, Tasha. We might be able to give them a voice, but… they are dead, and have been for a very very long time. But those crystals have the information on them that they gave their lives for. It's worth recovering."

The woman's head hangs; the man can feel how little she's resisting him, as if she could barely muster the energy to keep herself standing in the face of such haunting revelations. "She would have died, wouldn't she … " she whispers, numbly. Blinking in a haze, the young woman forces herself to look at the man in front of her, unaware of the tear streaks that dampen her face. "I … I had thought of that. I w-was going to activate the PersoCom and … and ask them each individually, s-so you wouldn't have to … to have to suffer that and … " Voice trailing off, Tasha's ears flatten against the side of her head as she stares at Gabriel, unable to say more.

"I'm in there too, you know," Gabriel says, pulling Tasha into a hug. "And Eli, and Remiel. We're alive, but our PersoComs are in that case along with the rest. I do want to see Nora again, to… to say goodbye, I admit. Her PersoCom or ghost or whatever may not even remember how she felt about me, though. I'm dreading finding out."

Tasha lets herself be pulled into the embrace, burying her head against Gabriel's chest. "She hugged me too," the woman admits, shaking her head against the man she loves. "I hugged her when she made me do those things, and I told her I'd bury her; she was happy about that." The woman looks up, her face masked by hair and damp with tear stains, "I think she loved you with all her heart, Gabriel. If we're alike, then I know she did."

The taller man kisses Tasha on the forehead, and says, "I don't know if that will make it any easier, to be honest. But who said love was easy, right?" He grins, and says, "Now let's go crack open Belle's ass and see what's left of her guts, okay?"

Despite herself, Tasha has to laugh. Gabriel, she thinks, must know her very well to make her laugh despite her misery. "You have such a way with words, Gabriel. Alright." She leans back, then smiles up at the Karnor. "Love really is trouble, isn't it? But it's beautiful too … " She steps back, then rolls her shoulders and wipes her face. "If we can't bring her back, then we can honor her memory and her desires. You're right; let's open the Bellerophon together."