Mirror Wears My Face V

 Episode Name:  Mirror Wears My Face V

   Written By:  Spider

         Cast:  Edwards, Hurley, Spider, Takamura, Tera, 
                Thorne and Valentine.

  Produced By:  Starfleet

  Directed By:  Spider

     Aired On:  Wed Aug 18 07:23:10 2004

     Stardate:  54321.8

Time: Tue Aug 17 21:25:08 2004

Stardate: 54320.8

In the eating area, Edwards closes his book and sets it on the table he and Valentine are seated at. "I've read that thing about five times. If I don't have the gist of it now..." he comments.

Valentine blinks a bit, coming out of her reverie. "What thing about it, sir?"

"What? The book. The sign language." Edwards motions to the book. "I think I vaguely remember some of the signs." He shrugs. "Hope we don't need to find out for sure if it's worked in the middle of a firefight..."

Valentine ohs, and shakes her head. "You seemed to be doing pretty well with Thea the other night. And, all due respect, Commander, there's a big difference between reading a book on it and being taught by properly trained instructors. You can't put too much burden on yourself if you don't learn it picture-perfect in four days."

A slender, solemn-faced woman passes through the doorway and maneuvers toward what passes for a kitchen, hands folded into the pockets of her cardigan-style tunic. Tera appears lost in her own thoughts for the moment, intent and intense.

"I can do anything, damnit." Sure he can. Edwards glances off toward the entrance when he hears it open and watches Turtledove curiously, abruptly falling silent as he does.

Valentine smiles at the answer, tossing off an old-time salute. "Yes, /sir/." Her gaze following his, she tilts her head, curious, and drops her voice volume. "Who's that?" The englneer glances back toward her superior, and arches an eyebrow at his reaction to the woman.

Tera opens a sealed container and draws out a chunk of dry, rather flat bread, tearing off a piece of it and dropping it back into container before sealing it up again. She turns back and glances at Valentine, blinks twice, and then bites off a chunk of bread, chewing it thoughtfully and blinking between Edwards and Valentine.

. o O Valentine thinks "Huh. Obviously she knows /me/. The otherme anyhow. Wish I could say the same."

"Tera Turtledove." Edwards remarks, both as a greeting and reply. "Hi." He offers her a wave and a smile.

Valentine considers, then nods after a moment and murmurs, "Name's vaguely familiar. I think Hiro's mentioned it." She summons up a pleasant smile, nodding courteously toward the woman. Watching Edwards in her peripheral vision, she gestures in a beckoning motion. "Join us?"

"I am," she solemnly intones, blinking again at Valentine and nodding once. Tera slides into a chair next to Edwards with a loose, subdued sort of grace; on her way across the room, she stops, leans over, and plucks a bottle from a shelf hidden under a tablecloth (such as they are). The bottle's set on the table, and pushed forward a little. "All right."

Isn't this... fun? Edwards looks between the two ladies, and finds himself at a loss for words. He shifts in his chair some. "Come here often?" he suddenly blurts out, glancing sidelong at Tera.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Turtledove." Tara blinks, leaning forward to peer at the bottle. "Ooh, what do we have here?" She glances toward her Commander with a look for that oh-so-smooth line.

. o O Valentine thinks "Did I replicate his hat a few sizes too small?"

"I believe it's a variant on Terran whiskey. I don't know, Nathan made it. I don't drink the stuff," Tera replies, waving a hand. "But from what I've heard, maybe you'd like some." Blink. "Nice to meet you, too, Miss Valentine." And in exact opposite order, she finishes out the questions. "I live here. For now."

"Well now that we've established that I should keep quiet..." Edwards slumps in his chair, and quiets, just watching the ladies for the moment.

Valentine blinks, then abruptly grins. "/Very/ nice to meet you, Miss Turtledove!" She tosses back the rest of her water and reaches for the bottle to fill her cup. "Would you like some, Commander?" The engineer sits back again, raising her cup in salute to Tera. "Dare I ask what else you've heard?" A slight peering toward Edwards, before she sips carefully at the whiskey.

. o O Valentine thinks "What /is/ his problem?"

Tera replies solemnly, "Mostly bickering," before settling back in her chair loosely, hands laced together over her stomach. "I'd like to reassure you that this is mostly par for the course, but unfortunately I'm unable to do that at this time."

. o O Tera thinks "Since that would be a lie."

"No, I try not to drink in strange realities." Edwards looks to Tera. "No offense." And back to Valentine. "You can go ahead." He remains slouching, but doesn't stay withdrawn. "You don't run across people from other realities often?"

Valentine clears her throat slightly at the bickering comment, her face reddening an eensy teensy bit. "Thanks, Commander, I will." Still, it's rather small sips that she's taking. Lots of them, but small ones.

. o O Valentine thinks "Buddy, just try to take this stuff from me right now. I dare ya."

"Every Tuesday," Tera shoots back at Edwards, her smile brief and sly before she returns to her previous reserved demeanor. "Precisely at noon."

"Tuesdays must be fun around here." Edwards remarks, not skipping a beat. "Our day is Sunday." He nods matter-of-factly. "So, you know a Tara Valentine over here?"

Valentine hastily hides her grin at Tera's words behind her cup, then chuckles at her Commander's comeback. Curiosity worms its way into her expression at his question, though, and Tara glances toward Tera.

. o O Valentine thinks "Boy, that's gonna be fun during the firefight. "Tara!" "What!" "What!""

"Knew," Tera confirms, glancing at Valentine and shrugging her shoulders. It's not really sympathetic, but it's about the best it seems she can manage, given the circumstances. "She's been missing for about six months. She was part of another cell." A finger idly draws in a drop of spilled whiskey. "Speaking of which, when 'Rana and her people arrive, Tara, you might want to... well. Be prepared."

"She worked with them?" Edwards inquires, trying to clear this up. "And just who are her people? Just out of curiosity."

Valentine goes very still, except for the cup in her hand, which rattles against the table before she suppresses it. After a moment, she clears her throat and pushes the cup firmly away. "Why?" she inquires calmly, and her gaze flickers toward Edwards, then back to Turtledove.

. o O Valentine thinks "And presumably she's the Valentine that's /good/ at this. I am /so/ dead."

"She was part of that cell," Tera repeats, glancing across at Edwards. "It's a little more than just working with someone." She turns her eyes across the table to Valentine, then, and tilts her head a little to the side. "I'm sure if you think about it, you'll understand. There have been other people here who have been... discomfited... by members of your... group."

"Understandable." Edwards comments. "Some of us were dead, some of us never existed, and some..." He shrugs and doesn't go any further. "We'd rather get out of your hair. All you have to do is send us back."

Valentine blinks, then tries to stifle a groan, and reaches to top off her whiskey.

. o O Valentine thinks "Oh God, what have I done? Her. What has /she/ done?"

Takamura steps into the dining area, covering a slight yawn. As he stretches, he glances around at the other people gathered. Seeing Valentine, he meanders over in her direction.

"Yes." Tera doesn't push the subject on which Edwards stops, just lets it drop. She watches Valentine for a moment, and then leans across the table a little bit. "She was captured by the Alliance during a raid, from what I understand. One of our locations got compromised. She stayed behind to make sure that everyone had gotten out. She was supposed to take the shuttle and meet them at a rendezvous point later on. She never showed." A pause. "She was single, at least at the time, had no children, and was very closely-knit in with her cell. People cared about her. A lot. So be prepared for some... surprise."

Edwards has nothing to say to that. He just nods quietly to Takamura and looks to Valentine, considering her after Tera's words.

"Hoo boy." Tara downs her cupful in one shot. "Okay, the staying behind thing... that's cool." Her mouth twitches into a grim smile. "Close-knit with Minos Evanginor. Yup, it's definitely going to be interesting. Thank you," she adds sincerely with a nod to Tera. Movement catching the corner of her eye, she looks up, and looks awfully glad when she spots Tak.

. o O Valentine glances toward Edwards. "That joke he made about being Evanginor's concubine... EEEEWWWW!"

Takamura sits down next to Valentine, smiling at her as he does so. He then nods to Edwards as he looks around for the drinks. One of his hands slide across the table to rest on top of hers.

. o O Takamura feels concerned for Tara as he notes her expression and the topic of conversation.

Tera raises an eyebrow slightly, replying, "There's something wrong with Minos?" A pause. "You're welcome."

"In our universe, Minos Evanginor is what you could call... well, the scum of the earth." Edwards helpfully explains for Tera. "He's a criminal. Slave trader. Stuff like that."

Valentine opens her mouth, then nods at Edwards' explanation. "He and I had one run-in that was... less than pleasant." She scoots her chair so she can lean into Tak slightly, reaching out to refill her cup and tilting the bottle inquiringly with a glance toward Hiro.

. o O Valentine thinks "And you should have seen how much I scrubbed out the Shoemaker when it got back from that little run-in too."

Takamura smirks with a slight snort at the explanation of Minos. When Valentine scoots closer, he wraps his arm around her. Nodding, he says, "Yes, please."

"How... bizarre. Here... well. He used to be a devoted husband, but now he's just a devoted father. He's frankly one of the most valuable people in the Resistance. If he weren't running guns for us... " Tera shrugs slightly, and leaves it at that.

"It's bizarre all right." Edwards agrees. "Kinda like how some of our friends back home are your worst enemies around here."

Valentine reaches to fill another cup, and slides it across the table toward Tak, the whiskey sloshing slightly. "Even the cute ones," she mourns as an addendum to the Commander's comment.

"Thank you." Takamura says as he lifts up his glass of whiskey, taking a sip. He then just sits quietly listening to the conversation and looking tired.

Tera eyes Valentine for a moment before turning back to Edwards. "I'm not certain that I even want to know," she admits, "but my curiosity will likely be the death of me. So tell me."

Edwards considers Tera a moment. He did already tell someone, so, "Like your prisoner, for instance." he informs her. "Jiasha. She's a friend. Back on the space station where we live, she has a clothing shop. Hell, she owes me a game of basketball after cleaning my clock at poker."

. o O Takamura thinks "Oh boy. He brought up Jiasha. I wonder what they would think if I told them that she and I had a son together?"

"Dakin is /very/ cute. Back home." Tara hiccups slightly, slumping comfortably into Tak's side. Either that hootch is stronger than she's used to, or... well. It's having an effect.

Hurley peeks in the room from the corridor, opts that it's safe and slowly, quietly, steps in. She doesn't make a grand entrance. Not this time.

Tera stares at Edwards, quietly disbelieving. She doesn't have to say a word. It's all on her face. Valentine's words barely register, at least not yet.

Takamura quirks a brow, tilting his head at Valentine's comment. "Oh really?" He asks with a smirk. Taking another sip of whiskey, he rubs her arm.

Edwards leans closer to Tera and confides, "Between you and me? She's mine this time. I've been playing basketball all my life and she didn't even know what it was until I told her." He gives her a confident nod and sits back.

Valentine nods a little to Tak, continuing to drink. "Yeah. But he's Morgan's, so, I didn't chase him."

. o O Hurley thinks "Ah, good. Tara's drinking and Tak has his arm around her. I'm safe."

Hurley steps into the room with her typically bright, confident smile.

"Neither do I," Tera replies, still looking more than a little discomfited by the idea of someone playing basketball with the assistant to the Governor's Grand Inquisitor. "Know what it is. And I'm not sure I care to do so."

Takamura grins at Tara. "Thanks. That means a lot." He says with a little sarcasm. Looking at her glass, he asks, "How many drinks have you had?"

. o O Takamura thinks "Am I going to have to nurse her all night now that she's drunk?"

"It's a game. Earth game. Centuries old." Edwards doesn't bother to explain it more than that. "And Jiasha... let's see. She has two children, a girl and boy. Ah, used to have an old hand injury she got fixed a while back."

Thorne arrives from another part of the resistance compound.

Thorne has arrived.

. o O Takamura thinks "Edwards please don't mention who the father of her son is."

Valentine peers into her cup, tilting it slightly. "Two. Three. Something like that. And that was before you, Hiro. He don't hold a candle to my Hiro." She nods a little at Edwards' statement.

Hurley picks up on the conversation and asks, offhand, "Have you told her about Lieutenant Havaris yet?" She does offer her bright, cheerful smile at Tera, though it's likely not going to help her here. "Our Havaris Kusto is actually a wonderful man."

Thorne appears from elsewhere in the compound, wiping grease off his hands with a rag. Such a dedicated little engineer he is.

Tera is sitting at a table with all the Normal People, looking from one to the other with a mildly horrified look on her face that grows less mild with each passing second. She smoothes out her expression, though, and tries to just listed. It's like a car crash: she can't look away.

Takamura starts to look uncomfortable at the turn of the conversation. He gives Edwards a look, shaking his head. He then turns to Valentine with some concern. "Maybe should lay off it for now."

"Is this bothering you?" Edwards inquires of Tera sincerely enough.

Valentine looks up to smile in a wobbly fashion at Hurley. "Hi Chrissy!" She nods at Tak's suggestion, pushes her cup away, and crawls into his lap.

Hurley watches Tera quietly for a moment, still smiling to the woman, but her attention is suddenly drawn to the rather intoxicated Valentine. She blinks, then lets out a small giggle. "When I said I'd explain about Ian over some good wine, I meant that /I/ had to be drinking it - not just you." To Tak, "What is she even drinking and where's the rest?"

"It's disturbingly fascinating," Tera admits after a moment, rising to her feet and gesturing Randal over. "Come here, please, Randal. I'm... receiving quite an education."

. o O Tera is tired, lonely, and very sad. She's glad for Thorne's presence. The cell seems incomplete, and this bothers her.

"I don't know if I like the sound of that," Randal replies slowly as he wanders over, raising both of his eyebrows. "I got the chrono-static positron generator working, by the way." And that's enough to make him grin just a little bit.

Takamura takes his arm that was around Tara's shoulder and wraps it around her waist. Sliding her glass to Hurley, he says, "Whiskey. And you can have the rest of hers. Here, you can have the bottle too." He then slides that over too.

Edwards asks, "The who-what generator?" He peers at Randal as he comes on over. "We were just telling Tera here about some of our friends back home, like the Havaris's."

. o O Hurley thinks "What's the whiskey Grandfather likes? Is it this?"

Valentine giggles at Hurley. "Then drink!" She waves a vague hand toward bottle and cups. "The chrono-static pos-i-tron generator." The engineer frowns. "Time stabilizin'?"

Hurley, the other geek in the room, looks at Thorne with widened eyes, the whiskey forgotten for the moment. "I didn't even realize you needed one... Did you make it yourself? Out of what? How did you develop the plans for it?" Poor Thorne doesn't even have a chance to relax, such is the life of those assaulted by Christine Hurley.

Tera blinks at Thorne after Edwards's words. "Really." No. Really. Their friends. The Havarisa.

Thorne looks like he might throw up for a moment. "How... nice?" he finally manages to grit out.

Takamura grins, shaking his head at the drunken Valentine in his lap and the desperately-trying-to-be-polite Mirrorwolders. Sighing, he just takes yet another sip of whiskey.

"Just as nice as you hanging out with Minos Evanginor." Edwards says, just a little defensively. "The man did try to turn my wife into one of his sex slaves. Among other things." He pauses. "Anyway, they're good people where we're from. Here, yeah, not so good."

"It's possible," Hurley begins, looking at Edwards to try to give her theory, "that they have simply.." she stops, looking at Tera, Thorne, then Takamura before she says a little resigned, "Yeah. Not so good here."

"Comparatively speaking, here, turning someone into a sex slave is rather tame," Tera informs Edwards quietly. "They all have their concubines, the Right Hand." A shrug. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Have a good evening, all."

Thorne turns to face Hurley. "No, I didn't make it. I think we scrounged it out of some Alliance garbage scow," he offers in reply, still looking ill. "I can accept that they're good people in your universe... I guess."

. o O Thorne thinks "When I grow a spoon in the middle of my forehead."

Valentine snuggles into Tak, muttering something about Barana Nabrun. "Hey. What is that? The Right Hand, I mean."

"It kind of irritated me." Edwards says simply on the matter of concubines. "You know, we're friends back home too." he tells Tera. "Sorry if you didn't really wanna hear this stuff."

"The Right Hand? They're Churas' handpicked death squad." Thorne pauses for dramatic effect, then adds in a rather dry tone, "You know... no one important."

Hurley's gaze turns to Thorne and her smile flickers into a grin. "I should tell you all about our Randal Thorne sometime. He's.. mischevious." That's probably the most diplomatic way to describe Randal Thorne. "And not an engineer. Some of the things you say keep amazing me because it's difficult to remember you're not who I'm expecting. At least right away. I mean I /know/, but.." she pauses, blushes and clears her throat, letting the subject change take her away from her rambling. "I assume Havaris, then, is part of The Right Hand? Any other notable figures you can think of?"

Valentine's nose wrinkles. "Concubine to a death squad commando. Lovely." She blinks, and snuggles into Tak harder.

. o O Valentine thinks "Hiro ain't death squad. Not notnotnotnotnot."

Takamura comforts Tara as she snuggles into him. The discussion of The Right hand definitely has his attention. Afterall, it is always good to know your enemy. Softly, he says to Valentine. "You will be fine, Tara."

"I kind of picked up on that," Turtledove tells Edwards, looking down at her hands before looking over at him again. "It's all right. Under different circumstances, I would probably find this legitimately fascinating." She straightens her cardigan and looks aside at Hurley. "Dakin Rann, Havaris Kusto, and Vor'mak, Son of Mo'daq. You could call them her goon squad, but... they're more intelligent than that. They've killed... a lot of our friends."

Thorne wrinkles up his nose as he settles into a chair. "Too many... but they'll get theirs in the end."

"Course I will," Tara mumbles. "Commander said so." She opens her eyes to peer around, her gaze finding Thorne after a moment. "How many cells're there?"

"Enough," Tera replies, her tone indicating that this is the sort of question no one asks.

. o O Tera thinks "You drunken idiot."

Hurley considers for a long moment, then finally meets Tera with a steady gaze. "Why are they called The Right Hand?"

Edwards glances toward Valentine and remarks, "I doubt they even know. It's not the sort of thing you count."

. o O Tera thinks "If I tell you, then you know. And you were so horrified that we had Barana... what kind of arsenal do you think they have?"

"It's a better name than the 'Fist of Doom'?" Thorne supplies rather flippantly.

Hurley moves her gaze from Tera to Thorne and to her hands, folded neatly in front of her. She separates them and holds up her right hand, flexing the fingers in and out of the palm, then finally asks, "Who are the other two, then?"

Takamura nods slowly as he listens to Tera's explanation. He then looks down at Valentine, shaking his head.

"Okie dokie." Tara accepts those answers... and probably forgets the question that inspired them in the first place.

Tera looks at Hurley for a moment, raises an eyebrow, and then shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe there are only three. She /is/ a Klingon. Their metaphors aren't... always... mm. Exact." She steps away from the table and brushes down the front of her shirt.

Thorne clears his throat. "G'night, Tera." He looks... uncomfortable.

. o O Thorne thinks "We don't talk about -them-."

. o O Tera thinks "He's so superstitious."

Edwards stands up from his chair and gathers his book from the table. "I think I'm gonna go get some rest." he remarks. "You all stay out of trouble." That said, he turns to wander on out.

Hurley hmms to herself at Tera's explanation and lowers her hand back to her side. She pulls a chair out, plops into it and smiles back to the departing woman and Edwards, "Good night! Sweet dreams."

Tera glances aside at Thorne, one eyebrow rising slowly. "Good night, Randal." She tilts her head a little to the side, and nods it slightly. "Good night, all." She gestures for Edwards to go first, and then follows him out of the room, at which point she turns in the opposite direction.

"Nitey nite," Valentine murmurs after the pair. "Don't do anything I'd wanna watch."

Takamura nods to Tera and Edwards. "Good night." He then looks down at Valentine, smiling softly.

Thorne swipes the whiskey and a cup, pouring himself some. "I see you broke into Nathan's homebrew."

Hurley just... peers.. at Valentine. But, at least this time she isn't outright staring. She must be getting used to the other woman. Smiling to Thorne, she offers, "You really are quite different than our Randal Thorne, but it seems quite similar, too."

Valentine offers, shifting slightly in trying to stop her phaser from digging into her side, "Tera said she heard I might like it. The brew, I mean. She got it out."

"Maybe I'm just cut from good fabric in every universe," Randal replies to Hurley with a grin before he turns his attention to Valentine. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that you do like it."

Takamura grins as he shakes his head at Tara's commentary. "I'd say you liked it too much."

Hurley leans forward and whispers to Thorne rather loudly, "Be very careful about talking to Tara about what she likes. She may actually share her interest list with you."

Valentine mhmmms. "Like it." Then she shakes her head at Tak's comment. "Only had a couple."

Thorne smirks. "A couple too many, maybe." He shakes his head.

Takamura nods his agreement with Thorne's assessment. "That's why she's cut off." He then teases her by taking another sip from his own cup.

Hurley watches the couple for a moment, still smiling, then reaches for Tara's abandoned glass. She tilts the glass, takes a sip and makes a horrified expression. "Yeah, I can see why she likes it," she coughs out before finishing what Tara'd left.

Valentine shakes her head firmly. Well, she tries, anyhow. The gesture is sort of semi-solid. "Just shoulda ate something first." She pushes against Tak's chest to help her sit up, peering toward him. "Cut off? Izzat so?"

Thorne just settles back in his seat, shaking his head. "So... tell me about your grandfather," he says to Hurley.

Takamura finishes off his whiskey, setting the cup back on the table. "Yes. That is so. You need to stay sober."

Hurley smirks into her newly acquired whiskey glass and reaches over to pour a little more. Conversation of Rob Harris calls for serious drinking. "Well, he's about 114 years old, married to a woman a couple of years younger than me and is the best pilot in our universe." She lifts the now-filled glass of whiskey to her lips and adds, through the glass, "And that's just the surface."

"Too late," Tara points out, but she's more than willing to just fold herself back into snuggling against big Tak chest again.

Thorne raises both of his eyebrows. "And you say that I'm friends with him?"

. o O Thorne has a hard time believing that... especially the centenarian married to a woman younger than the one in front of him. The pictures in his head are not pleasant.

"Obviously." Takamura replies to Valentine. "But, I'm not going to allow you to get drunker." As Hurley reaches for a refill, he gives her a look to the same effect.

Hurley nods, setting the glass back on the table. "He's not really 114, you see. He actually was caught in a chrono-temporal shift of some sort 80something years ago and ended up stuck in our timeline. He was.. quite the loner for awhile, which explains why he and Randal get along so well." She lifts the glass again, takes a sip and glances side-long to the couple before her gaze resettles on Thorne. "It also helps that they're both very cocky."

"Can't stop me," Valentine mumbles without moving.

Thorne smirks. "Me? Cocky? I can't begin to imagine it."

Takamura sighs heavily as he shakes his head at Valentine. "Tara. We have to stay sober because we never know when we might be discovered by the Alliance. Hopefully, never. But we have to be ready."

Hurley laughs, then nods. "But, very kind. He wasn't even mad at me when I wasn't much help to him when he challenged Grandfather in shuttle battle on the Holodeck. People don't realize it, and I hear a lot of officers get quite.. angry.. with him, but Randal is.. great. Really." She considers for a moment and takes another sip. "If Grandfather trusts him alone with me, I know I can trust him to the ends of the universe, at least personally."

Valentine blinks. "Oh." Pause. "Good point." Tears well. "Didn't /mean/ t' get drunk, Hiro, I promise."

Takamura holds her tighter, brushing at her hair. "Don't cry. I forgive you." He glances over to Hurley as she describes the other Randall.

. o O Takamura thinks "What she fails to mention is that our Randal sided with Maquis terrorists and killed many Starfleet officers."

A grin finds Randal's face. "Well, then. I must be a good guy." He pauses for a moment, then shakes his head wryly.

. o O Thorne thinks "Glad to know at least someone's on my... er.. his... er... our side."

"Which is why the phaser in the face thing caught me off-guard," Hurley says rather flatly, but still smiling. She takes another sip of the horrid whiskey, then continues on. "But, that's ok. Forgiven, even. I met Grandfather on my cadet cruise.. it was a fluke, really, but we shared letters and such after he returned to his station and I requestd assignment there to hopefully get to know him better. And, I have been getting to know him better. It's like I have my Father back, only ... not quite as strict as Father."

Valentine smiles happily and wipes her face. "Okie dokie." She turns her head to peer at Hurley. "Father back?"

. o O Valentine thinks "What's the fun in having a daddy that ain't strict?"

Thorne raises both of his eyebrows. "Your father's gone?"

Hurley nods to Valentine, having had just enough whiskey to keep herself from tearing up on the subject. Nevertheless, she takes another sip before explaining, "His ship was lost along the RNZ when I was a child. Just like his father - Grandfather was caught in the chrono-temporal shift along the RNZ. And... here I sit, in another universe... along the RNZ. Family tradition, you see."

. o O Thorne thinks "What's an RNZ?"

A confused, yet compassionate look settles on Randal's face. "I'm sorry."

"Grandfather was returned," Chrissy says, a little more cheerfully than before, "And we'll return, which means, eventually I'll be back to beating my Grandfather in racquetball again. Or maybe we'll finally get a dinner out that we've been trying to do but have both been too busy."

Takamura nods solemnly. "Sounds like my family. Both my father and grandfather died in the line of duty during sneak attacks by foreign powers. Hopefully I will not meet the same fate as my ancestors."

Valentine murmurs something that sounds sympathetic.

"My parents died in a dilithium mine on Caldos IV," Randal offers after a moment of silence.

. o O Valentine thinks "S'pose this'd be a bad time to mention my parents are alive and happy."

Hurley looks towards the Tak with Tara growth, then Randal, and falls silent herself. After a long, very quiet moment, she lifts her glass and offers a little solemnly, "To life and freedom."

Thorne lifts his glass in the air as well. "Hear, hear."

Takamura pours himself a little more so that he can join in the toast. "To life and freedom."

Valentine sits up slightly and looks around for a glass to join in, then shakes her head. "Life and freedom," she murmurs softly. It's the thought that counts.

Hurley clinkies with the boys, smiles to Valentine, and takes another long sip. "You know, Grandfather was not terribly impressed with the prank we pulled on Captain Balin," she notes after a pause, "but I think that's because I got caught."

Thorne drains his glass before settling back in his chair. The conversation has just moved over his head.

Valentine shifts again to sit so she can lean back against Tak's chest. "You was /s'posed/ to tell 'em it was all my fault so you wouldn't get in trouble." For Thorne's benefit, she says, "Chris made Balin sound like an insane squirrel on amp... fam... am-phet-a-mines whenever 'e used the station comsys."

Takamura clinks his glass with the others and also drains it. He then glances between Valentine and Hurley, shaking his head. He adjusts his posture to get more comfortable with Tara leaning against him.

Hurley eyes Valentine for a moment, then grins to herself, muttering under her breath, "And it worked, though the timing could've been a little better - and the data alteration could've been a /LOT/ better." Sighing, she grins again, then says to Thorne, "It's always amusing spending time with Grandfather. His response to the prank was that he needs to teach me how to do pranks better." After a brief chuckle, she drains her glass and leans back in her chair. "Robert Harris is the greatest guy across any universes."

Thorne just shakes his head after a moment. "Hopefully we'll get you back to him soon."

Valentine nods at Thorne's comment. Valentine whispers to Takamura, "Need a little fresh air."

Takamura nods to Valentine. Takamura whispers to Valentine, "Would you like me to come with you?"

Hurley glances to the other two, then back to Thorne. "I have faith in you. Though, I've been wondering.. you guys obviously already know how to jump universes... you did it once /and/ returned here with our shuttlecraft and us. Why can't we do what you did to get home?"

"..." Tara says, her movements a bit urgent as she folds her way into falling out of Tak's lap, hitting the ground running.

Valentine heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Valentine has left.

"I'd guess you can -- it's just that Commander Edwards said you'd help, that's all." Randal grins sheepishly. "I didn't design the transporter equipment -- it's a little out of my league."

Hurley eyes Randal, still sitting back in her seat. "Are you suggesting that you guys could've taken us home anytime you wanted?"

Takamura looks after Tara, quite worried. He jumps out of his seat to follow after her.

Takamura heads into another area of the resistance compound.

Takamura has left.

Thorne shrugs. "I don't know. It's out of my league. You just press the button and it works -- that's what I know about it."

Hurley purses her lips, considers for a moment, then asks, "Michael Cross?"

"He's the guy I'd ask, yeah," Thorne replies as he dubiously eyes the whiskey.

Hurley nods a couple of times, her gaze wandering to the door where Tara and Tak disappeared to, worried as well, but she remains in her seat. "I thought so. I've yet to actually have a chance to speak with this elusive Michael Cross. He keeps disappearing anytime I'm nearby."

"He's not the most... social... person," Randal replies as he pushes himself to his feet.

"Really?" Christine asks, looking up at Randal. "He is in our universe. We're.. good friends."

Thorne is silent for a few moments, then grins. "Welcome to our side of the looking glass."