As they arrived at the citadel, Dave was becoming increasingly certain that he'd been here before. Dammit, man, think! he told himself but there was something missing that he just couldn't place. He looked at his wife.
:::How are you doing?:::
:::We're fine. Both of us::: she referred to their child, as yet unborn but with only another six months to go. Dave smiled as he thought about it. When he had lived another existence as the cosmic avatarr of neutrality - a fundamental aspect of the universe he had met Jo and had given it all up to live a mortal life with her. However one of the bonds placed on him was the fact they could not have children. Yet after Dave had died in the sentinel attack on C&C as part of Zero Tolerance and had been resurrected by White Tiger, with a little cosmic guidance, he had notice several changes in his genetic structure. He had meant to get a complete analysis done of himself regarding his powers, but he had never guessed that he'd regained that aspect of mortal life as well. It was only after Dave and Jo's wedding a month and a half ago, when she'd told him she was pregnant, had he realised the extent to which he had changed. But had he forfeited his powers in the process? Whatever the price, he'd pay it. This child meant more to him than anyone could guess. In fact he had a proposition for Jo when they had a minute and now seemed a good time to put it into affect. But that could wait, and they arrived at the main gate of the citadel, one of the group shouted "Incoming!" and all but Jo and Dave ducked for cover.
"What the hell is happening here?" asked Dave as he saw a number of what looked like missiles - but none like he'd ever seen before - and he grabbed Jo and pulled her down. The missiles got to within a certain distance and exploded. Jo looked at Dave and he looked at her.
"The shield held once again" the guard said. He turned to Dave and Jo to explain. "We're involved in a war at the moment. Actually the war has been raging for millennia and recently we've been taking substantial losses. In the citadel, I'll take you to LadyQueen Sapphire." He regrouped his troops and knocked on the gate.
"I knew a Sapphire once," said Dave. "She was my commanding officer when I became a lieutenant and C&C." Commander de Silva was the best commanding officer there had been at C&C. Her powers made it that way. She had the ability to turn invisible and intangible, which came from her mother's side and she had developed her own abilities to be undetectable by any means, including psionic. She gave off no apparent heat and was invisible on all forms of radar - including heightened and other super powered senses. Her scent was masked so the even thebest tracking mutants could not find her. Silent and deadly, you never knew if she was about watching your every move which gave you an incentive to your job correctly. He was so caught in his reminiscing he nearly didn't hear Jo speaking to him.
"Sapphire de Silva? She died several years ago in the sentinel attack that killed my mother, didn't she?" Jo's gaze was hard as she said it. Dave noticed it and it brought his attention back.
"Yes, when she died I moved up to lieutenant commander. I'd not been a lieutenant long but we took so many casualties that day, I was one of the few left." He held Jo's hand and squeezed it tightly. It was painful for her to remember that attack, and Dave didn't like to remind her. He thought back to that attack. Commander de Silva had been on duty the night of the attack and she had assembled all of C&C's defensive staff and troops to defend the then government and military installation. He'd been on a deep space mission when the attack had begun and it was virtually impossible for him to get back in time. He had been on a survey mission checking the various beacons that they used to monitor the universe in case of any threats that could be aimed at the Earth. In his own ship - the Storm Hawk - Dave had set course back to Earth but even then he knew he couldn't reach them in time - he only knew about the attack thanks to the beacons. He had needed to find a way to return home and he figured on a plan that would either work or kill him if he failed. He summoned up every iota of his power that he could and used it to teleport the metal ship and everything in it back to Earth. It worked but it left Dave and the Storm Hawk completely drained of energy and when it appeared over C&C it went straight in to a nose-dive and Dave did not have the strength to prevent it.
Dave was interrupted in his train of thought when they approached the royal throne room of the citadel. The doors opened to reveal a massive command centre for the whole place.
"It's not what I expected," said Jo as they made their way in.
"The citadel is one giant military installation, based on our LadyQueen's own designs. The throne room has been turned in to what is referred to as a bridge."
"I suppose there's an engineering, a sick bay and a transporter room as well," suggested Dave, suppressing a grin and he winked at Jo.
"As a matter of fact, we do. The technology we employ is in itself a lot more advanced than some of the other citadels we have. However the enemy has been creating a lot more powerful pieces of technology."
"Star Trek eat your heart out," whispered Jo to Dave who failed to suppress his chuckle this time. The guard just looked at him.
"This way," he said and he pressed the chime on the door next to him.
"Enter," said a voice from the other side. The door opened and in they went.
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