Jigsaw

Portions of this chapter were written or co written by Dark Star, by Roland, and by Iluvantir, for whose help we are grateful. For events during the Funeral, a list of those contributing is appended to "When the Children Cry. We have not attempted to retell any substantial part of the funeral, simply to highlight a few of our characters' reactions.

---

At dinner, Tuesday evening, Farmington, ME

"And you boys were actually adopted into the House of Sarek?" Francis was incredulous at what Pen and Doug had told him over dinner at The Granary. "That's like being adopted into the English Royal Family!"

"Oh, we were adopted into that too!" Pen said, and giggled as Francis's jaw dropped. "Queen Elizabeth was at the guys' wedding, and crowned them Princes, and offered to extend the same to any of their Clan brothers that wanted it."

Their commbadges going off interrupted any further discussion along those lines. Doug punched his badge. "Murdock here."

"Doug? This is Harry. Pen there with you?"

"Yeah, he is. Actually, we're at dinner in Farmington, and Mr. Throxton and his guest are listening to this call and looking at us real curious right now."

Oh, sorry. Listen, we have a little situation we need to meet with you and the other guys about. It's just Yonkur-wuh level.

Harry's attempt to alert Doug and Pen to the importance of the call while making it sound like nothing serious to listeners failed, as both boys tensed up and looked serious. Mr. Throxton spoke up. "Harry? Pen's father here. From the way my boys reacted, this is something quite urgent that you're calling about, that you don't need spread around a restaurant. We'll get the check right now and head back for Arkham. Where do you plan to meet?"

"We hadn't figured that out – we just got briefed in Jonas's mom's living room, but we can't fit everyone in here, I don't think."

"Why don't you have everyone come on up to the mansion? I've got a board room there that's soundproof and should be large enough for you."

"We couldn't impose on you like that... Harry began.

"Nonsense, boy!" the older Throxton interrupted. "Pen's a part of your group; it's his home, and we have the facilities." He paused, then continued a bit embarrassedly. "But one thing: ask your mother if she'd be willing to join you and help me and Francis with refreshments – I just lost Beulah Newton this afternoon, and haven't replaced her yet."

Abbie's voice came over the commbadge. "Be glad to help out, Pen. I can just imagine what would happen if I left you loose in that kitchen without somebody who knows what they're doing around a stove! Francis was chuckling silently as he motioned for the check.

"All right, see you there!" Pen senior said, and motioned to Doug to end the call.

---

Franklin County Sheriff's Office – Kevin Carlson's Perspective

“Now you boys behave while I’m talking to the Sheriff, all right?” Dad said sternly to us as we just smiled at him.

“Come on, Dad, we’re always good,” Danny said with his innocent look on in full.

I started to worry as Dad began choking, but a couple of slaps on the back by the Sheriff as he asked if Dad was all right seemed to do the trick.

As he stood back up he glared at Danny, who just asked “What?”

“B-E G-O-O-D!” he said again very slowly while looking at all of us, before turning and following the laughing sheriff into his office.

The last thing I heard was the Sheriff saying, “I’m sure they’ll be fine,” as Dad replied, “I wouldn’t count on it.”

“Hmmmff, it’s not like we were trouble or anything, now, are we?”

“He makes it sound as if we’re bad,” Randy mumbled.

“I don’t know why,” Danny said into the silence.

“Yeah, parents, go figure,” I replied as I turned to look around the office.

“Hey, let's go see what he’s doing,” I said to the others as I saw a deputy working at a desk across the room.

“Cool,” they said as we walked over.

“Hey, whatcha doing?” I asked as we got up to him.

He was an older man like way older than Dad.

“Working” he almost growled.

“What on?” Randy asked him.

“Police work,” he replied after making a sighing noise.

“Duh,” Danny giggled, earning a look from the man.

“We kinda figured that,” I said.

“What’s your name?” Danny asked him next.

“Deputy Randall,” he told us.

“My name is Randy too, and these are my brothers Danny and Kevin,” Randy said.

He looked at Randy and us before saying, “That’s my last name, not my first.”

“Oh, so what’s your first name, then?” Danny asked him.

“Deputy, as far as you’re concerned,” he replied.

“Okay, Dep, whatcha working on?” I asked again, grinning.

“Look, don’t you three have something to do?” he asked.

“Nope,” Randy said, grinning now.

He looked down for a moment before looking back up at us and saying, “Look, I have work to do, so why don’t you find something?”

“Don’t know what to do, so we thought we’d keep you company,” I said.

“I don’t need company; I need to work, in peace!” he said.

“Oh well, go on then; we’ll just watch,” Randy said, as I quickly added “Quietly.”

“Do any of you even know what that word means, much less how to do it?” he asked.

“Well, of course,” I replied.

“Well, at least sometimes,” Randy added, followed by Danny saying, “Once in a while.”

“That’s what I thought,” he growled before yelling, “Thomas, get in here!”

We looked as a younger man came running in, saying, “Uh…Yes sir.”

“I have a job for you. Entertain these children so I can get some work done.”

“Ah…yes sir,” he replied.

“Hi” I said.

“Hi yourself, my name’s Tommy, come on,” he said, motioning us to follow him.

“See ya later,” I said to the glaring man as we went with Tommy, who led us back into the building more.

“So what are you three doing here?” Tommy asked us as we walked along.

“Our dad is visiting with the Sheriff and told us to have fun while we were waiting,” I said as both my brothers looked at me.

*Well, that’s what he meant, I’m sure,* I sent.

*Yeah, right!* Danny pathed back.

*Hey, what dad wouldn’t want his kids to have fun?* Randy asked as we all giggled, which earned us looks from Tommy and being asked, “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” we all said at once.

“So what should I do to entertain you all?” Tommy asked and we all looked at each other, not believing he’d asked that.

“Something that won’t get me or you in any trouble,” he added, seeing our smiles.

“Oh well, that spoils most everything I can think of,” Randy said.

“Yeah, what’s left?” Danny asked.

Tommy just shook his head. “My mama used to say I was bad, but I don’t think she ever met you three.”

“Well, we can go visit her,” I said smiling sweetly.

“That’s okay, if she wasn’t dead already, I’d say you all might just kill her off,” he said laughing.

“Hey!” I told him.

“Hey yourself,” he replied, still laughing.

I think I like this guy.

(Yes, I know the poor guy should be worried to death, but he couldn’t hear the thought so…)

“So what should we do?” he asked again.

“How 'bout looking around in town some?” I said.

“Okay, I think I can handle that,” Tommy replied, grinning as he led us down the hallway and to a door which he opened, taking us through it to the outside.

As we walked out, I saw we were on the edge of town. Off around the corner of the building I could see the exercise yard for the jail, and the garage where the sheriff's patrol units were stored and serviced. Out toward the main road there was a sportsman's outfitter's shop across the highway, and a big ol' gas station with diesel fuel, that looked like it handled trucks as well as cars, that we were sort of seeing the back of. Over across from us straight ahead, though, was the butt end of a city street, with a driveway one way leading into the back of the gas station and one the other way that looked like it went to the sheriff's office garage.

Thomas led us down that way, and pretty quick we were walking down a street. The houses were all older ones, some of them pretty nice and some of them not so nice, mostly with shingles or painted wood outside. Off on a side street we saw what looked for all the world like an old English cottage sitting back on a big tree-shaded lawn.

"What's that?" Randy asked.

"Oh, that's the town library," Thomas answered. "Somebody rich built that and gave it to the town a hundred years back. We were supposed to learn the history of it when I was a kid, but I never did."

"Yeah, teachers always want you to learn stuff like that," Danny said.

Then we walked by a boarded up store. "I used to buy Popsicles here when I was a kid," Thomas said. "It closed down a few years ago when the old man that was running it died." We walked on another block or two and there was a couple more stores mixed in with the houses.

We were just walking down the street when suddenly I heard a cry, or more like a scream.

We all came to a dead stop as we looked around, trying to find where it had come from, and at the same time began to extend our new senses outward as Jace had taught us, but quite quickly we were saved the hassle as a boy came stumbling, almost falling, out of a door from some type of store not far from us.

“Come on!” I said, but before we could move Thomas said, “Oh, don’t worry, guys; that’s just old man Jessup’s grandson, looks like he got it again.”

I turned and looked at the deputy, whose smile quickly faded at seeing my face as well as those of my brothers, before we turned and took off running.

“WAIT!” he called, but we didn’t listen as our eyes were on the little kid trying to get up off the steps where he’d ended up landing.

Before we could get to him, though, an old man came out and stood there, staring at the boy, and the look on his face wasn’t real nice.

“Teach you, boy! Getting into stuff when I told you to stay out of anything,” the man said as Danny reached the kid first and began helping him up.

“Leave him be, boy!” he said as we got there and surrounded the both of them.

“No,” I said, facing him.

“Guys, calm down now,” I heard and looked over to see Thomas had finally made it.

“Who’d they belong to?” the man asked Thomas now, as I replied “To ourselves.”

“Hmmmph,” the man snorted.

“Are you okay?” I heard Danny ask the boy as the grandfather yelled, “He’s just fine now. Butt outta our business, kid.”

I turned and looked at the kid, and asked again “Are you okay?”

“You deaf or something?” I heard the man ask, as Randy said, “No sir, we hear just fine, but it is our business when we see a kid being hurt.”

“Why, you little…” the man said as I turned back around to find him turning red and glaring at Randy.

“Are you?” Danny asked the boy again, as a small whisper was heard, “It hurts.”

“You shut the hell up,” the man yelled at the kid, as I turned back around and walked forward, while telling Danny in my mind to see what was wrong.

“No, he won’t shut up,” I said, stopping in front of the man now with Randy at my side.

“Thomas, you better get ahold of these little brats 'fore I fix em good now,” he told Thomas.

“Look boys, it’s really nothing; sometimes little Brandon needs a whack or two; I’m sure you understand,” Thomas said.

“That was more than a little whack, as you put it, and it’s against the law,” Randy said, cold fury in his voice.

“I’ve heard enough of this crap,” the old man said, moving forward towards his grandson.

“No, you’re going to stay away from him,” I said.

“Get the hell outta my way, you little whelp,” he snarled.

I pushed the cloak back and my hand found the gun there as Randy matched my move.

“BACK OFF!” I said loudly as he came to a stop.

“You expect me to believe those are real?” Jessup said laughing, while Thomas looked white and began stammering, “Boys, now, let’s not get all riled up here,” he said, trying to calm us down, but we weren’t in the mood for calming.

“I don’t really care what you believe, but if you don’t back the fuck off, you’ll find out,” I said as Danny sent *He’s banged up real good and maybe has something broken but I don’t know.*

*Has it happened before?* I sent back.

*Yes,* he replied.

“Thomas, are you going to do something?” Danny asked, turning to the deputy, who just muttered, “Ah…well…umm.…”

“That is a good question, Deputy. Are you going to do something?” Randy asked as I watched.

“Look, boys, I don’t think you want to be in trouble with your dad, so why don’t you just come on back to the station, and I’m sure Mr. Jessup will be willing to forget this whole thing,” he finally said.

“I don’t think you understand. I wasn’t talking about us; I was talking about an adult who is clearly abusing a child, and in your presence too,” I said.

“Abuse! That ain’t abuse, boy; that’s just correcting him. Him and his brother are nothing but trouble, and they need plenty of discipline,” Jessup said angrily.

*Brother?* echoed between all three of us as Danny added *On it*

“Look, boys, I’m sure to you it looked worse than it was, but trust me, little Brandon here is a might handful; Mr. Jessup would never abuse his boys,” Thomas said.

“He just did!” Danny said

“Are you going to arrest him?” I asked calmly.

“Of course not” Thomas replied.

“Arrest me? You little brats, getta outta my way!” Jessup said, moving forward towards us, and just as quick, those guns by our hands became in them, as we raised them and pointed them squarely at Mr. Jessup.

That brought him to a stop, and fast. Just as quickly Danny had his weapon out and pointed at Thomas, who had reached for his own gun.

“I really wouldn’t,” I said, smiling now.

“I told ya those ain’t real,” Jessup said, only this time he didn’t sound so sure of himself.

“Wanna find out?” I asked sweetly.

“What do you think you’re playing at?” Jessup asked then.

“Oh, it’s not playing. We saw what you did to Brandon, and that the local cops think it’s cool. We don’t,” I said.

“Just who the hell do you think you are?” he asked next, and I heard the whispering that made me realize that we had drawn a crowd too.

“I’m Kevin Carlson, and these are my brothers Randy and Danny. We’re the head of intelligence for the North American Division of Clan Short of Vulcan,” I told him.

“And that’s supposed to mean something to me?” he snarled.

“Well, what it means is that if we see or find out that a kid is being abused, and the local authorities aren’t or won’t do nothing about it, then we step in and protect the kid,” I replied.

“In this case we saw you hurting him, and the police here won’t do anything, so we are,” Randy said.

*Kev, his little brother is at home and didn’t come, 'cause he got it before they left. I think he’s hurt good* Danny suddenly sent.

*Shit!* I replied before sending *DAD! WE NEED YOU HERE NOW AT THE STORE*, and felt him jump before heading our way.

“So you think you’re gonna take my boy, eh?” Jessup said.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of this Clan, and they don’t need to be coming in and messing with normal folk just raising their kids,” another voice from the crowd called out.

“This isn’t about messing with normal folk; it’s about protecting kids,” I said before reaching down and pulling my communicator out.

“Alvin, I need a med team and backup like yesterday,” I said softly into it before hearing “Coming up.”

“What’s going on here?” I heard and looked up to see the Sheriff and Dad coming and trying to get through the crowd.

“Oliver, thank God you’re here! These little shits got guns on me and your deputy here, and they’re saying I abused Brandon,” Jessup said.

The Sheriff looked at me while dad didn’t look at all happy.

“Need some help here?” I heard, and looked to see the Unit's Strike Team Foxtrot, the "Tiny Terrors," there along with Chang.

“Yeah, you could say that. Danny’s got a boy that’s hurt, and there’s another at his house that’s in pretty bad shape too” I said as Chang moved to Brandon and began looking him over.

“You’re gonna get it now, boy,” Jessup said angrily, glaring at the terrified child with Danny.

“Not anymore, he’s not,” I said as the Unit guys quietly formed a perimeter around us, all armed to the teeth.

“You’ve gotta leave sometime,” Jessup said smiling.

“Oh, we’re leaving, don’t worry, but Brandon and his brother aren’t going to be staying with you, and you’re heading for jail,” I told him.

At that he started laughing like crazy as Dad walked up and looked at him.

“And who the hell are you?” he asked when he’d stopped.

“Eric Carlson, and these are my children,” he told him.

“You need to teach them some respect for their elders,” Jessup told him, and Dad just looked at him like you would something nasty on the ground.

“They have plenty of respect for those who are deserving of it,” Dad replied.

I used this to raise the communicator to my lips again and quietly said, “Carlson to McConnaghay. We got kind of a mess in town; you better get down here.”

I heard Jonas say they’d be right down, as Jessup snarled, “Sure don’t seem like it to me”

“Kevin, I am returning with the boy to our base for treatment, and Sgt. Turner is currently assessing Andrew and will be joining us,” Chang interrupted. I drew a deep breath of relief, as did my brothers; Bryce Turner was one of the Unit's medical officers, and as good as anyone we'd get other than Chang and Mama Janet.

“Okay and thanks. Both boys are under Clan protection as of now,” I said.

“Understood,” he replied before contacting the base, and then both of them disappeared.

“Where the hell did you take my grandson?” Jessup said angrily.

“He’s being taken to a medical facility for treatment of his injuries,” I replied.

“Sheriff, do something; they just kidnapped my grandson,” Jessup demanded.

There were angry calls from the crowd as I turned and faced them.

“Listen to me please,” I asked, and slowly they quieted down.

“The Clan doesn’t want to be in your homes. The Clan doesn’t want to meddle in your business. The Clan doesn’t want to take your children away. The Clan would be really happy to just be kids and not have to see the stuff we do. The thing is that if you don’t take care of your kids, if you hurt them, if you don’t give them someplace safe to be, then the Clan will do all those things. That’s what we’re here for. We have the power to do these things granted by the government and the Federation. If I felt the need, I could have Starfleet here in minutes with a simple call. That’s what we’re about, saving kids. We don’t want to have to do this, but too many times you, the adults who are supposed to be protecting us, don’t. When you don’t, like today, then we will. It’s that simple. You do it or we will,” I said

“Bunch of upstart brats if you ask me,” Jessup said, as a voice could be heard saying, “No one did,” and I turned to see Jonas walking up with Harry at his side along with a nervous looking Philip and the little redheaded twins.

"What's the story here?" Jonas asked.

"After we left the diner, we went to the Sheriff's Office, so Dad and Sheriff Winfield could talk. We hung out in the office talkinwith a deputy, but he didn't want us around so we went for a walk with Deputy Thomas here. We came across old man Jessup here beating on his grandson Brandon, after having done the same thing with his other grandson at home. We asked Deputy Thomas to enforce the law and he refused and wanted to take us away, so we stepped in," I said, drawing a breath after.

Dad's and Jonas's eyes both focused on the Sheriff. "Well, Oliver," Dad said, "I guess we can't wait for Thursday morning – the fox already got in the henhouse."

"The rule is," Jonas said, "let local law enforcement do its job if it's ready to do it." He was interrupted by Danny saying, "They didn't; we asked." Jonas went on, "So the only question is, do you do it, or do we?"

"Thomas," the Sheriff said, "have you been watching the news? Did you see the Governor's Proclamation I posted on the patrol bulletin board with a note 'Read this'?"

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with this? These kids just got bent all out of shape at old man Jessup disciplining his grandson, just like always. I don't see how that has anything to do with Vulcan law. And the sheriff said not to get involved in any claims that a kid's being abused. He said half the time it's a kid getting pissed off because he got a whompin' and crying 'abuse'."

"Thomas," Sheriff Winfield said with an icy calm, "there's a reason Roscoe Burton isn't sheriff any more. You're a Deputy Sheriff... at the moment, anyway. Who's the sheriff here?"

"Well, um, you are," Thomas said, looking a little nervous now.

"Other than scheduling reassignments and bringing Randall in to see if he'll make a good desk sergeant, I've posted one order – and it was two words long," the Sheriff said. From the look on his face, I was glad I wasn't in Thomas's shoes right then. "I just quoted it to you. Did you comply with it?"

"Um, uh..." he looked confused. "'Read this.' was the order, I think," I said to help him out. "Yeah, I read that proclamation," he said.

"Okay, then you saw the part where he issued an Executive Order directing all state and local officials to cooperate with and comply with the lawful instructions of Federation and Clan Short of Vulcan personnel, right?" Winfield's voice had the tone I remembered Mrs. Harper using in school when she was leading someone a little slow to get the right answer by himself. I giggled at the memory.

"Yeah, so?" Thomas was baffled now.

"Well, much as it might be interesting to decide whether you'd look better in the unemployment line or behind bars, I'll give you one more chance. Jonas?"

Jonas had been quick to follow what the Sheriff was doing. "Did you give him any instructions, Kev?" he asked me.

"Me? Yeah," I said, feeling on the spot.

"Okay, and you identified yourself?" Jonas asked. Randy said "Yeah" quickly.

"Okay, repeat your instructions," he said.

Gulp! I looked at Thomas and said, calmly, "I told you to arrest old man Jessup for child abuse..."

"In violation of Articles 11 and 12 of the Safe Haven Act..." Jonas interjected

"...And at least two counts of failure to provide adequate care..." Tyler Morse of the Terrors interjected, one hand to the earbud that he was getting directions from Alvin through.

"...and sections to be determined of the State of Maine Child Abuse Prevention Act," the Sheriff added.

Thomas's head had been swiveling back and forth "Your choice, Tommy," the Sheriff said. "I'm sure these people would like to see the law enforced by one of their own, not by people coming in from outside. But my oath, and yours, is to see the law enforced. Do it, or you're done in the department … and in law enforcement."

"Do it, and I'll sue!" Jessup spat out.

"Add one count of threatening a law enforcement officer carrying out his orders," the Sheriff said.

I watched Thomas's expression change as what he was being told sunk in. He gulped, and turned to Jessup to begin the process of arresting him.

Jessup yanked away from him. Harry, who hadn't as yet said a word, immediately had his phaser out and stunned him. "Cuff him," Harry said. "It's only a five-minute stun; you can read him his rights when he comes to."

The crowd was getting restive again, and Dad turned to them. "Nobody's saying you can't exercise discipline on a child that needs it. I've had my hands full with these three," he said. We all put on our innocent expression, but I could tell from the crowd that nobody was buying it. "It's a matter of proportion. What Jessup was doing couldn't be called healthy discipline by anyone but a sadist. Ground your kid, take away privileges, spank 'im if you need to, the law will back you. Beat on him like Jessup did, and it's child abuse. These kids have been through it..." his hand swept across the Tiny Terrors and then Philip and the twins "...and they're resolved that nobody else has to, ever."

Danny had been focused on Thomas through all this. "Like your Pa," he said quietly to him. Thomas winced.

That turned the crowd around. Apparently whatever Thomas's Pa had done to him was an open secret. *What?* I pathed Danny, but he sent back, *Only if he says it's okay to tell you.* I nodded; that was fair.

Jonas spoke up then. "These guys," he said, pointing to us, "are just visiting Sheriff Winfield along with their father, but we live here. Most of you know me or my mom. I’m Jonas McConnaghay. I live here, up in Arkham, and I am the head of Clan Short's Northeast Division. I’ll be here when they go home, and it’s just as much my job as it is Harry’s and the other members of my family here to make sure all our kids are safe and have a good place to live."

As the crowd dispersed, I nodded at Jeremy, who was commanding the Terrors, and he told Alvin they were ready to come back.

The Sheriff and Deputy Thomas were hefting Jessup to load him into the Sheriff's patrol vehicle. He turned to Dad and said, "I'll get a vehicle over here to give you and your boys a ride back."

Jonas interrupted, "We need them at a meeting; we were getting ready to call them when they called us."

"Meeting?" I asked.

"Yeah," Peter agreed, and poofed us out.

---

Board Room, Throxton Mansion

When we appeared this time, we were in big room with a big table that looked like a business or something.

First thing Randy, Danny and I noticed was Pen, Doug, Phillip and the cuteys were all there standing around talking.

That, and they didn’t seem worried about nothing, so we pushed the cloaks back and Randy said “Hey!”

"Hey, guys!" Jonas said, smiling. "With what Philip and the twins found out and shared with Justy and the Double J's, I figured we needed to get everybody together to sort out how to react -- and since you guys are up here, it makes sense for us to host the meeting, so to speak."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" I asked looking at all of them.

Harry interrupted. "We need to brief them, but don't you think Justy and the Double J's need to be in on this as well?"

Good thought," Jonas said. Peter grinned and popped out, returning with the three Dodds boys.

"Okay, what we've got at the moment," Jonas explained, "is some evidence, which I guess is from Philip, that says that there was corruption in Starfleet Engineering and Ordnance -- and that somehow the FCC was involved."

"Actually, that's the least of it," Justy said. "What Philip said went along with stuff we'd unearthed in Orlando, to show that guys working under Commander Doncaster, Captain Matlock's chief of staff, were systematically robbing Starfleet of material for resale. And they took payoffs from guys we think are FCC to hire some people whose psych profiles would have been rejected under Starfleet's hiring policies."

"But," he went on, "Jason and his son Ollie had some other information they passed to us after we talked. Maybe we ought to bring him in?"

Randy looked up at that and said “Umm, Jonas, don’t you think we should get Cory then, and maybe SamSam too?”

Jamie got an abstracted look, then said, "Well, uh, it's Sean and Cory's wedding night.  They're kind of tied up." He grinned, then paused. "Um, SamSam is doing something important right now with Jason, too.  Want me to call for Ollie instead?"

“Which one is the one tied up this time?” Danny asked grinning as we all busted out laughing.

"I bet it's Sean!" Drew said with a big grin.

"Not literally tied up -- I don't think!" Harry said.  "If he is, I don't want to know."

"But we do!" Danny answered as Dad cried "Daniel Carlson!"

I just knew Danny was going to say “What,” but before he could, a long, drawn out screech was heard coming from the wall behind them all. They turned to see a young eagle appear, as if Folding out of the wall itself. Right behind the bird, two children Folded out of the wall: an eight year old boy with brown hair and Indian War Paint seen on his face, and a ten year old red haired girl.

Both children were in pitch black uniforms, and their black Vulcan robes were open, showing that both were armed.

"Greetings," the boy said formally, raising his hand in the Vulcan salute. He then grinned, "The Clan Short Patriarch is currently trying to get his son out of the freezer; seems like Timmy is after more ice cream."

The Arkham boys gaped. "Um, who are you and what are you doing here?" Pen asked in a puzzled voice.

We all giggled; even if we didn't know who they were, we recognized Jace's VSO uniform on the two kids, so we knew they were all right.

"I am Oliver Evans, code-name 'Fire Eagle'. This is my cousin, Donna Parnell, code name 'Red'. We're in charge of the Psy-Corps investigation into the FCC for the Dragon Division," Ollie said with a smile.

*SCREECH!*

"Oh," Ollie giggled, "And this is Iori. He's my companion; an Animal Spirit." Ollie's War Paint then faded from his face as he grinned at them all.

"O - o - o -kay" Jonas said. "Pleased to meet you." He turned to Jamie, "I suppose this is your doing?" Jamie just did an innocent-angel imitation.

Donna sighed and rolled her eyes. "Some dude called John said we were needed, and then he snapped his fingers and I had my lunch damn near come up and say hello when I just got squished out of that bloody wall."

We all laughed at what she said while Jonas still looked shocked; she was definitely related to Jace.

"Another Mikyvis?" Philip asked?

"Not this time," Peter answered.  "And don't ask -- it's confidential."

"But confidential stuff ain't no fun unless we know what it is," Randy said grinning.

"You'll find out soon," Ollie smiled.

"Oh boy!" dad mumbled. “Now I know why Mike says that so much”

"Come on, Jonas," Donna said as she sat down, pulling Ollie onto her lap. "It's your show, and I ain't getting no prettier without me beauty sleep."

"So you two are standing in for Jason," Jonas said with a tone that things were definitely getting out of control. "Well, we're Jonas McConnaghay, Harry....."

Randy interrupted, giggling. "They know who we are, Jonas. They're telepathic too."

Donna smiled. She tapped the side of her head. "Maaaagic," she added mysteriously.

*Screech* Iori said as he settled down on Ollie's shoulder.

"Typical Clan Short meeting," Harry said "-- crazy as a basketball bat, but we manage to get things done anyway. Speaking of which...."

"Not in public, Harry," Oliver giggled. "I know what you're thinkin'!"

"That's not what I meant!" Harry sputtered.

Donna nodded at him seriously, not believing a single word.

We all broke out laughing again at hearing that.

Philip was looking baffled and a little stunned by all the sudden appearances and repartee.

I noticed this and said, "Ya get used to this," and Randy added, "Eventually," while dad muttered "You do?" which caused us to giggle again.

"Don't worry, dad; in a few years this will all seem perfectly normal," Randy seriously told dad but I could tell how hard he was trying not to lose it.

Dad just stared at us.

"Are you three picking on your father again?" Abbie said as she walked in with a tray of snacks, followed by Francis carrying a cooler of sodas.

We all looked at each other and tried to put on our best innocent look as we all said together "No, we'd never do that," before giggling like crazy.

"Ms Johnson? Could I have a mug of coffee, please? I need something with more kick," Donna asked politely.

"Yes please," Ollie added.

Donna started shaking her head, "No, Ollie. You know what coffee does to you."

"Yeah... good point. Llyw ain't here to play with," he surrendered with a giggle.

"We can't have any frustrated young boys, now," Abbie said unflappably.

Donna agreed, wholeheartedly.

"Oh, I'm sure that one of these cute boys would help me... Llyw wouldn't mind!" Ollie giggled wickedly.

"That sounds like fun," Danny said, giggling too now.

"Yeah, we got to help our brothers, ya know," I said.

Harry was meanwhile looking mortified at his mother. She noticed and said, "Hey, I washed your socks -- even the ones stiff enough to stand on their own. Don't be giving me any grief, Harry Bertram!"

"BUSTED!" Jamie and Jacob crowed out.

Harry turned bright red. "Um, getting down to business here..." he said in an effort to change the subject.

"Getting down to something," Donna said, under her breath but we still heard her.

"Lotion and towels, dude!" Justy whispered loud enough for all to hear.

"Hey, if he gets to, then come on, Ollie," Danny said.

Ollie looked over, sizing up Danny. "Mmm... see me later. I can have Llyw beam over to play too. Now, back to this FCC stuff. Harry. You were saying, my good fellow?"

"Okay, we're not having an orgy here, guys, so settle down," Dad said, and I knew he couldn't believe what he'd been hearing but he should've.

"Why not, you might learn something by watching!" Justy giggled.

"One to the kids, adults nil?" Donna pondered.

"Young man, I have three boys in my house and another who might as well live there. I seriously doubt that," Dad said as we all turned red at that.

Jamie and Jacob just grinned as they sent Eric pictures of things they'd seen; faces hidden to protect the identities.

"Oh my GOD!" Dad moaned holding his head in his hands. "Oh God, I stand corrected," he said as we looked at the Double J's, who wouldn't do more than grin.

Harry meanwhile was looking like he was trying to find a reason to leave.  Jonas took pity.  "Philip, you want to start this off?" he asked.

"Well, Mikey said I needed to remember the stuff that happened while I was still living with Pa Eccles," Philip said. "And he was channeling money to a Commander Doncaster in Starfleet.  Randy took the account number and sent it down to Orlando."

"Well, what my li'l bros and I found out," Justy said, "is that there was a good-sized group in Starfleet Engineering falsifying inventories and selling off supposedly defective equipment, and pocketing the money. Two lieutenants, three ensigns, about a dozen petty officers, and about 20 civilian employees."

"But that's not all," he continued.  "One of the Ensigns was the Human Resources officer, and he took payoffs from a man we believe to be part of the FCC to hire five civilians who were apparently FCC infiltrators."

"This ties into what came out after Vincent asked those questions on the Yorktown a couple weeks ago," Jamie added.

Jacob piped up, "Unless someone did some memory tampering, we are pretty sure those five men sent out the plans, and a couple parts not available on the open market, for transporter units, and about 60 supposedly defective phasers were listed as disposed of but not destroyed. That's almost certainly where they got the phasers they used against the Clan in Montana last Saturday."

"And here too," Harry interjected.

"In Australia too." Jamie added.

Ollie shifted about on Donna's lap briefly as he made himself comfortable, and nearly spilling her coffee in the process.

"Good thing I love you, imp," she muttered as she moved her mug further from the grinning boy on her lap.

"I know," he replied. He then looked up at the others. "We, the VSO, have been investigating the FCC since Saturday, and when Dad told me about what you guys had found out, we hopped over to San Francisco. We joined up with Section 31, the human version of the VSO, and started going through what you'd told us. We're still going through the leads, but we can confirm that the FCC did infiltrate Starfleet, and even tried with in-roads into the Tellarite Fleet."

Donna took over, "There are some things that don't match up with classic FCC stuff, and it is probably what's most troubling. The FCC ain't a cat's paws for anyone, yet there are hints that someone 'else', behind the scenes, was pulling strings here and there."

"And," Ollie added seriously, "some of those strings have Romulan written all over them. That is something we can deal with, however. What YOU guys need to do is put this list to use." Oliver handed a Vulcan Data Pad over towards Jonas. "It has the complete list of all those involved in Starfleet that have a direct link with Saturday."

"We're also," Donna finished, "making a complete list of Cell groups. And I mean world wide. That will take time. Our target is the head of the organization. Cut of the links, the head and the command structure, and then weeding the rest becomes easier."

"We need to go after the FCC!" Drew said in a bloodthirsty tone.

"We are, little guy," my brother Randy said. "We are. That's what this meeting is for, I think," as we all nodded

"That's true, but it'll take time," Justy said consideringly. "I suggest that we focus here on what happened with Starfleet, and decide how to handle that. I can alert Grandfather Sarek so Vulcan is aware and will back us."

"Great Gramps is already aware, Cuz," Ollie said seriously. "But if you can relay this meeting to him, then it allows Dad to concentrate on other matters with the VSO. And Justy's right, guys: this is no easy task. A terrorist group, especially an intelligent one like the FCC, cannot be beaten easily. But they will be beaten."

"As long as they pay for what they did," I said coldly "As long as they pay."

"They will, cute stuff," Donna said with a smile.

"Trist ain't gonna be happy, you eyeing Kevin up and down that way, Donna!" Oliver giggled.

"He can live with my window shopping. That boy is just pure sex on legs," Donna said with a shrug, still looking at Kevin, who was now blushing brightly.

"I get him first with Llyw, Donna!" Ollie said jokingly, "him and his two bros!"

"They will, cute stuff," Donna said with a smile.

'Oh my God, she did not just say that!' I thought as Jacob added giggling "You should see him without clothes!" Jacob giggled.

"Jace sent me the mental picture. I have!" Donna replied, STILL staring at Kevin, and now licking her lips.

“He didn’t, please tell me he didn’t! You’re like…like a girl,” I said in disbelief then to Jacob, “And you ain’t helping any.”

“Dad, do something” Danny whined as we all cried “Yeah, do something.”

“Oh no, I’m having way too much fun seeing you three get some for a change, way too much fun,” he said laughing.

“You’re mean” Danny said while dad just kept laughing.

“He really showed you…showed you, oh man” I said, burying my very red face into my hands.

"You slept in the nest with Viccy Sunday night, guys," Donna laughed. "I'm built the same way, you know!"

“Yeah but that was Vic, she’s not really like well you know a girl girl” Randy said still as red as the rest of us.

Oliver started laughing. "Then what is she?" he managed as he fell off Donna's lap.

“She’s…well…she’s…” Danny started as Randy said “She’s, it’s just she’s…” and I shrugged my shoulders and added “She’s just Viccy.”

Donna giggled. "Okay. Well, you'll see me as 'just Donna' soon, guys. And I have a boyfriend already... I was just teasing you."

“You are really pretty,” Randy said, blushing some more.

"But, I wasn’t teasing," Ollie giggled as he stood up and wiggled his eyebrows at the Trinity.

"Okay," Jonas said laughing. "The next question is, do we dispose of the FCC before or after the group sex?"

"What about before AND after?" Ollie shot back, giggling.

I looked at my brothers and then to Ollie, and together we said, “That works for us,” giggling now with him.

"Who should notify Starfleet?" Pen asked.

"For something this big," Justy answered, "Grandfather Sarek should probably be the one to give them the evidence. Ollie, VSO will relay this to Section 31, right?"

"Yup," Ollie said, sizing up the Trinity.

Donna stood up, and pulled Ollie close to her side, "Uncle Eric?"

"Yes sweetie," dad answered.

"Is it okay for the Trinity to come visit Wales for a while? I think Ollie really wants to play a bit, and I know Llyw will want to meet some new brothers," she asked, winking at the man.

We all got big grins hearing what she said and when she finished we all in one voice yelled out as loud as we could "YEEHAA!"

We looked at dad now waiting to see what he was going to say as we put on our best puppy dog look and Danny asked “Please daddy, please?”

That usually worked.

“I suppose there is absolutely no point saying no now, is there; just don’t wear poor Ollie out, I do know you guys, after all,” dad finally said after staring at us for so long we thought he was going to say no.

The problem was this wasn’t what we expected him to say, and as he finished I knew my face felt hotter than a chili pepper as we all cried “Daaaaaaaaaaad!”

“Do you really want me to tell them what you did to poor Sammy that one time?” he asked with a smirk.

“NO!” we all screamed as one.

“Didn’t think so” he said laughing at us.

“You’re mean” Danny whined again to him.

“Oh not yet, brat, but give me a few minutes,” Dad said, smiling evilly at us.

“Oh God, Ollie, let’s go NOW!” I yelled turning to him.

"Sounds interesting, Uncle Eric," Ollie smiled as he moved and joined the group of three almost identical boys. "And I do know what you did to Sammy. What you need to know, though... I'm battle trained VSO. So take your best shot."

"Challenges?! We like Challenges!" I said grinning at the cutey in front of us.

"Draco?" Ollie called out with a giggle, tapping his comm.

'Yes, master horndog?'

"Four to beam to the Nest... and tell Llyw we're having a party!"

'Oh, be still my beating processor! Transporting...'

End Kevin's Perspective

Eric could see the boy Phillip looking on in complete wide eyed shock at all of this, while Donna looked on as the transporter beam took her friends out of existence, then giggled at the shocked looks from the rest of the room. "Playing is fine, as long as those with partners all agree on limits. Llyw and Ollie... well... I'm not going to spoil it, Uncle Eric, but we all believe a 'No' means 'No'. Most of us have had r...rape issues, and those that haven't know to respect that for all. The Trinity won't be forced to do anything."

She then looked at the rest of the guys, "I need to get back as well. Trist has a surprise planned for me too. If you need anything, tap your comms and call out 'Wisdom'. Telez will help you with whatever you need. Live long and prosper."

She then called for transport as well, and vanished, taking Iori with her.

“You’ll get used to it, eventually” Eric couldn’t help telling the still stunned teen 

"Mr. Carlson, did you want to go back to the Unit complex, or to Orlando?" Peter asked.

"Orlando when we're finished here and after I get a hug from someone," Eric said, smiling at the little angel before him.

Peter jumped up into his arms and gave him a big hug. Then he looked over his shoulder at Justy and his brothers. "You guys ready to go back, too?"

"I guess so," Jamie responded after glancing at his brothers.

"Okay, here goes," Peter said, and vanished with all four of them, still in Eric's arms.

Philip looked over at Jonas and Harry. "That was completely insane!" he said.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, typically Clan – they love having fun while getting serious work done. But notice that we came out of it with a plan of action, to get Vulcan and Starfleet mobilized against those who attacked us."

"And I've seen Jason in action," Jonas added. "Don't let the age fool you – he and his crew, including Ollie, can bring a lot of resources to bear on things, including finding out what people are hiding." He paused, looking at the group. "Let's make it a point to feed through to Justy or Jason or the Double J's anything else you come up with, including anything more you remember, Philip. This is our chance to be an integral part of something bigger than little old Arkham – let's make the most of it!"

---

Principal's Office, Franklin County High School, Wednesday morning

Sarah Kilbride cocked an eye at Jonas. "So you're saying I release ten students early, simply on your say-so?"

"Not exactly," Jonas responded, "but that's what it comes down to. Listen, you just did the morning announcements, and included that bit about afternoon classes being cancelled – that everyone is to report to the Auditorium to watch the funeral service being broadcast from Charleston?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"Well, the first part of it is a march, a solemn procession, from the heart of town to Patriot's Point. The people marching are members of Clan Short. The people you're dismissing are members of Clan Short who will be in that march. Adam – Commander Casey – contacted me last night, and I'm scheduled to speak. That's going to be my other request: I want some time with Mrs. Westcott this morning to help me smooth out my speech. To be frank, I'm scared, uh, spitless of speaking in front of a Federation-wide TV audience." Jonas paused. "But fourth period ends at 11:40, right?"

"And you want the members of your Clan to be released then? That doesn't give you much time to get to South Carolina," Mrs. Kilbride said.

"No problem there; we have access to instantaneous transportation." Jonas paused again. "Actually, I could either directly order you to release us, as Division Director for Clan Short, under Maine's adoption of Safe Haven status, or make the request of my Clan Patriarch, who asks Ambassador Sarek, who contacts the Governor, who tells you to release us. I thought it would be better to come make the request directly to you, preserve your authority. When I'm not acting as Division Director, I'm under your authority, as a student in a school you're the Principal of. Once in a blue moon, though, I'll need to act officially, and I figured that having a good working relationship with you when that needs to happen is the right thing to do. And the time to start that is now: I formally request dismissal of members of Clan Short to participate in the memorial service this afternoon." He spoke the last sentence formally, with Vulcan mannerism fully in place.

"And I hear and approve your request," Mrs. Kilbride said, smiling. "Jonas, I'm pleasantly surprised at how you handled that, especially avoiding making it the typical teenage confrontation of authority. Thank you for that."

"We've all had some bitter lessons in what happens when people exceed their authority, ma'am," Jonas answered. "There's a couple of other things you need to know about: the Judge will be speaking to you about some special students coming in next week. They're abused kids we rescued and will be fostering. And the other thing is that some of us – me and Harry at a minimum – will be going down to Augusta with him to meet with Ms. Longueville at State Children's Services. I'm not sure when he's got that planned for, but we'll be out that day too, in our official capacity."

"Heard and understood, Jonas. I'm glad you're working with me on this sort of thing." Abruptly the Principal primly picked up the phone, and punched in a code. "Jane? Sarah here. I've got Jonas McConnaghay in my office. What's your free period? – Fifth? That won't work. Grab Paul to take your second period class, and meet Jonas here at the school office instead. – Why? Because he's scheduled to speak at that event in Charleston this afternoon, and he wants your help with the speech, that's why." She clicked off the phone. "Meet Mrs. Westcott here at the start of second period – I'll cover all necessary excuses. Now, tell me about these new kids."

Smiling, Jonas explained about the rescues from the Free Holy Republic timeline.

---

Offices of Middlesex General Contractors, West Amboy, NJ

Jack Wilde was pensive as he walked into his office. His boss Harold's latest projections showed that they could keep their labor force in place for three weeks at full pay, or five weeks at 60% pay, unless they could land more contracts – a prospect that was looking bleaker by the day. Alternatively he could lay off 40% of the men, and keep the remainder at full pay for five weeks in hope of a turnaround. After that, the company would probably have to fold, after 50 years of successful business. Jack was concerned for his own future, but he was the sort of man who looked out for his employees as much as for himself, and he and Marsha did have a nest egg of sorts – though he knew that wouldn't last forever, either.

Janice, his secretary, had tech support on the speakerphone, trying to get her computer to do something. From the sounds, the tech support guy knew what he was talking about, but English was not his native language, and he and Janice were trying to figure out what menu was acting up for her.

Then there was home. After the bizarre events of Monday, with people disappearing like some fantasy movie or a Starfleet documentary, Brett had become sullen and moody. Jack resolved to take the kid somewhere that weekend, and find out what was going on in his young mind. His own father had been a distant sort, and he knew that at Brett's age, having a father he could talk things out with could be important. Apparently his friendship with Danny was deeper than Jack had realized, and Danny being gone had hit him harder than Jack had thought it would.

"And just what is a 'palal poort'?" Janice asked the tech exasperatedly. Jack shook his head , walked into his office, and closed the door. A quick scan of the morning's bid offerings on the Internet was no help. The repainting of Outerbridge was 'wired' – though placed for public bid as required by law, the specialist contractor on Staten Island was supposed to get the contract, and Harold had agreed with them ten years before not to compete with their bridgework bids, in exchange for their promise not to compete with his then-lucrative sandblasting and repointing of stone buildings in New Jersey. The other item, a highway refinishing job in Burlington County, would no doubt go to Pat's business down in Camden; he could underbid Middlesex and still make money. Jack began roughing out an estimate for his bid, just in case, but held out no hopes it would win the contract.

His intercom beeped. "Mr. Wilde?" Janice said. Using his surname meant there was someone with her, someone she felt was important for him to see. "Two gentlemen here to speak with you – and a little boy!"

"Send them in," Jack replied.

The two men who entered were both brown-haired and both dressed in three-piece suits. One appeared to be about fifty, graying at the temples; the other in his mid twenties. With them was a nine-year-old boy in jeans and a T-shirt. Both men seemed slightly uneasy.

"Mr. Wilde," the older of the two said, "this is going to sound a bit bizarre, but we have a business proposition for you." A pause. "But let me introduce us. I am Josiah Brewster, the Family Court Judge of Franklin County, Maine. This is George Wentworth, Jr., our Assistant State's Attorney. And the young man here is Peter Lambert, whom my fiancee and I are adopting."

George picked up the explanation. "Earlier this month, a very crooked businessman was arrested in our home town. He owned and operated a general contracting firm in our home town, which ended up in receivership. Thanks to an interesting twist of contract law, the title to his business went to the estate of Peter's grandfather, and he is the sole heir."

"We ran some figures, and it appears that his business could legally run quite successfully, although many of his deals were, um, pretty shady." George continued, "At the suggestion of a young man who has met you and thinks highly of you, with Peter's agreement, we wanted to offer the business to you to run." Briefly he ran through the ideas they had devised, of salary, part ownership, profit sharing – a nice package. Jack listened intently.

"This sounds quite intriguing," he said, "and somehow you seem to have gathered I'd be interested. But I do really need to talk to my wife and son about it. I'm not sure how they'll react to relocating – and I owe Harold, my boss, to discuss with him how it will impact him as well. He made me what I am professionally, and I owe him a great deal."

"You're not startled at a couple of people approaching you out of the blue to offer a job?" George was surprised.

"A little, yes," Jack allowed. "But if you know as much as you appear to about me, you know that Middlesex is barely keeping the wolf from the door. My son nearly got killed Monday trying to protect his best friend. And the story behind that, you would not believe!" Jack paused and looked more closely at Peter, who grinned and giggled. "Aren't you...?"

"I met you Monday, Mr. Wilde," Peter said between giggles, "when we came down to rescue Danny."

"I don't understand why they brought along a little fellow like you," Jack said with a smile.

"No, I brought them. It's one of the things I can do now that I'm better."

Jack's expression was amused skepticism.

---

Franklin County High School

"So, what came to mind when you read Berryman's translation of 'The Legend of Syvak and T'Ruti'?" Mrs. Winslow asked to begin second period English class.

"How close a parallel it was to Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'," Rachel answered after being called on.

"I don't see it," Larry spoke up.

"Both are stories of two young lovers from houses at odds with each other," Rachel went on.

"But there's a big difference," Harry volunteered. Mrs. Winslow gestured for him to continue. "Vulcan never invented fiction," Harry explained. "The Legend of Syvak and T'Ruti is something straight out of Vulcan legendary history. And after T'Ruti was killed by Syvak's own cousin, instead of killing himself, Syvak went on to become a disciple of Surak and T'Klass – helping bring an end to the warfare of Vulcan against Vulcan. And that is, more or less, fact."

"More or less?" Butch questioned.

"The story is legend, not detailed history – but Syvak was quite real. There are Vulcans alive today who can trace their ancestry to him." Harry drew a breath. "Mrs. Winslow, what I got out of this is that it was an object lesson, how the negative emotions of anger and revenge between Houses were allowed to drive the young lovers apart, and that is why the Way of Surak is right."

"Very good, Harry!" Mrs. Winslow replied. "That is exactly what the original of Syvak's last speech focuses on. Berryman's translation doesn't do it justice." She read the English passage, then began haltingly to read the original. Harry picked it up and fluently quoted the High Vulcan.

"You can read those henscratches?" Larry asked, surprised.

"Not well," Harry answered. "It's like piecing out something in Greek. But I can speak High Vulcan, so when I figured out the words, it came clear."

"Why're we reading this stuff?" Heather asked. "It's not even in English, except in translation."

"Well, to begin with, Berryman's work is considered some of the best 20th century writing," Mrs. Winslow replied. "But in addition, English is not merely language studies, but it's supposed to be giving you exposure to literature, both in English and in other languages. And this is one of the Vulcan classics."

"I don't see how this fits," Larry said. "Vulcan's a whole different planet, nothing like Earth and they don't have emotions any more, right?"

"Wrong!" Tanya had been quiet up until now, as had been her custom in the past. Showing off in class didn't fit the femme fatale image she'd been cultivating. "I can't read Vulcan, but what I got from the assignment is precisely the point. When jealousy and hatred are allowed free rein, it hurts romance, it hurts family, it hurts what matters in the world." Most of the class was startled at her outburst. "I learned that the hard way, the last couple of days. Harry, you get it; tell them!"

"Huh?" Harry was puzzled.

"You guys saved Aunt Kelly and Danny – and it ties right back to this story! The Way of Surak – it makes sense now. Tell 'em!"

A light dawned for Harry. He glanced at Mrs. Winslow, who nodded for him to go ahead. He drew a breath. "Okay, you guys know what's coming after lunch, right?"

"Yeah, some sort of assembly, to watch some politicians make speeches about those guys killed out West," Heather was nonchalant.

"Those guys were and are my brothers," Harry said with a little vehemence. "And if it weren't for the luck of the Irish – literally – Jonas and I, and six other people, would be among the dead people they're honoring. As for politicians, yeah, there'll be a few of those. But most of the speeches will be made by people our age – in fact, Jonas is going to be one of them." Tanya and Rachel both looked startled at that news. "As for how it ties together, what Tanya was driving at, T'Ruti was killed, and Syvak became T'Klass's disciple, because Vulcan realized that it could not go on allowing hatred and division to tear them apart and cause the kind of violence it does."

"Saturday, Earth got that same lesson. Over a thousand people were killed thanks to hatred and the violence it leads to. Over a hundred of them were people our age or younger, stepping up to defend others who were attacked. Pastor Friendly and his congregation tried to kill us, right here in Franklin County. And old man Eccles and his wife kidnapped and beat Tanya's cousin on Monday. Jonas and I and a couple of our brothers rescued him from that."

"It's all part of the same picture," Tanya put in heatedly. "I see it now. I thought I was in love with Jonas – when what it was, was getting a good-looking guy to impress people. But I saw what love really is, when he and Harry risked their lives for my little cousin. And what they did, they did in the name of Surak – just the same as in the story."

"Earth needs to learn the same lesson Vulcan learned," Harry added. "'Man kills what he does not understand,' as somebody said. We draw lines, us versus them, and they're automatically the bad guys. We dwell on what divides us and not on what unites us. It nearly destroyed Vulcan before they learned the lesson. They found out how to get beyond it, to use love and logic to bring together. And that's what Earth needs to learn."

---

"All right, Jonas, tell me what you want to do." Jane Westcott was not quite clear why she'd been asked to pass off her second period class and instead work with Jonas, but she was a professional, and she'd give him the best she had.

"Well, Mrs. Westcott, you know about the funeral service in Charleston this afternoon?"

"Yes, for the kids killed out West somewhere. It was all over the news over the weekend. It's tragic, of course, but I'm not quite clear how those kids got in the middle of a firefight. Or how you connect to it, Jonas."

"Okay, first, those kids are my brothers and sisters – we're all sworn to the House of Surak. What happened is a long story, but I'll try to make it fast. You know about the Reynolds trial, right?"

"That deputy sheriff that adopted some boys, and social workers were claiming molested them? Yes, that was on the news the week before last. How's that connect?" Jane was confused.

"Well, you probably know Mike Reynolds took his boys, and the Sheriff's sons, to Russia to keep them from being put in 'protective custody' – and he was vindicated in the trial. On his way back, he was called to the help of the son of one of the men he'd been in Special Forces with before he left the Army. That boy's father had been killed and the boy put in the system, from which he was rescued by the Unit." Jonas was trying to cover a lot of ground quickly.

"Okay, I'm following you."

"Well, they spent a week helping the Unit and getting to know them, then he invited them up to his place for R&R. When he got home, he was ambushed by a small team sent in to assassinate him and his boys. The group behind the accusations got a black eye from the trial, and wanted revenge. What that group didn't know was that Clan Short had been monitoring the Reynolds family, or that the Unit was due to be flying in. They called for reinforcements, and it turned into a pitched battle before it was over. They shot down a helicopter full of little kids with a missile, for starters."

"Go on."

"At the same time, there were attacks on other Clan outposts – in Australia, in South Carolina, and at my home, all masterminded by the same group, the F.C.C."

"The Federal Communications Commission?"

"No, the Fundamentalist Church of Christ. Over a hundred kids and a few adults were killed in the attacks; probably nearly as many were injured to the point that near-miraculous medical intervention was all that kept them from dying. Two of those kids, Jamie Dodds and Adam Short, were up here for the Templeton funeral back on the sixth. And Phil Wentworth killed Pastor Friendly and Ben Powell, defending his father and brothers alongside Harry and me, and nearly died himself.

"I find all this really hard to believe."

"Frankly, Mrs. Westcott, I don't care whether you believe it or not. It happened. It won't happen again. That's what today is all about. And I need to deliver that message."

"You? Why you?"

"Each of us who's a Division leader in the Clan will be speaking, along with some famous people. I know what my message needs to be – that it wasn't just a one-time one-place event, that the sorts of abuse that led to all this happen every day, everywhere, and it needs to be ended. That's what I've got to say, today. And I need your help to bring it across right."

"All right, Jonas. Let's get to work on it. First, you need to give some examples. You'll make your point best if you can show specific things. Here, run an Internet search...."

---

Drew and Randy came scampering into the high school office, followed by Philip and Harry. "Thanks for the call, Miz Kilbride," Harry said. "I can't believe they wouldn't release the boys to their big brother without you going to bat."

"The regulations we have to work under are intended for kids' protection, Harry," the Principal answered. "But why didn't you just use your Clan ID and order them to?"

"To be honest, I didn't think of it!" he answered sheepishly.

"Like I said earlier," Jonas interjected, "we're supposed to work within the system when it's working right – our powers are just to be used when the rules are resulting in injustice. So calling you for the OK was better in the long run."

Peter and Skipper popped in just then. "Farmington Rescue is on standby," Skipper told Bobby. "Everybody here?" Jonas scanned the group and nodded to Peter.

"Okay, Patriots Point Fire Station, next stop!" Peter said, and the group vanished."

---

Carrying a ceremonial rifle, Philip was awash in unfamiliar emotions. The Arkham's group at the fire station had been followed by a stressed-out Unit officer lining them up in the march, with instructions on what to do when given hurriedly. Their being 'out of uniform' was quickly rectified by Peter, and Philip was surprised to see himself, his beloved twin brothers, and all his new friends dressed in the Clan uniform, complete with cape (now thrown back and hanging down their backs. Drew and Randy seemed unfased by the outfit, but he could see Harry, Doug, and Pen stand straighter and hold their heads up.

As the marchers rounded the corner and were saluted by veterans and Scouts, and then all suddenly broke into the "Ballad of the Green Berets," Philip slowly felt an unfamiliar emotion. He looked at his two little brothers, marching alongside him in their uniforms carrying each a picture of one of the fallen, taking the job very seriously. And being part of the march, the words of the song, the growing realization that what he was gradually remembering from the nightmare years with Pa Eccles were key to avenging the fallen – slowly, inexorably, Philip began to feel a sense of pride.

Pride and something else: camaraderie, brotherhood, with all these boys, girls, men, women who had been through it, like him, somewhere else and at someone else's hands, but still, had lived through what he had lived through, had survived, and had found a way to fight back.

Philip looked again at his brothers, realized that he, he alone, had made sure they didn't get the worst of the beatings – by taking them on himself – and for the first time in his life felt good about himself, about who he was and what he was on Earth to do. He smiled at Randy, who was obviously monitoring him and smiled back, held his head up, and continued to march – but now a part of something bigger than himself, something he could take pride in being part of. It was a good feeling.

---

As Jonas saw the enormous amphitheatre and the dignitaries present, the butterflies in his stomach began to, figuratively, start marching in a picket line through his belly. Then his eyes were caught by the hazel eyes of a preteen boy with sandy brown hair, whose expression was the same one he'd felt on his own face when he met Grandfather Sarek (who was himself sitting impassively on the stage). And he felt a surge of confidence radiated from the boy – Galen. Beside him, Peter, smiling broadly at being able to march alongside his big brother-to-be and carrying a picture, caught the change in Jonas's mood, and locked eyes with the boy. Jonas felt a sense of warmth and compassion, and strength, come from the young Mikyvis to help him, and knew it to be in part the gift of the boy he'd seen. He patted his pocket, where a copy of the speech he'd prepared was secreted in case his memory failed, but he knew himself to be ready – if still a bit nervous. He glanced over at Harry, beyond Peter and the little girl carrying her brother's picture, with Harry's hand firm on her shoulder lending her strength, and recognized once again just how lucky he was.

---

The service of remembrance had begun. Aaron had sung, Xain and Joel had done what Jonas privately thought of as the "Vulcan invocation" – and, while his Clan-transferred knowledge of Ceremonial Vulcan was adequate to understand most of what Joel had ended with, he knew it was unplanned and ancient. Gov. Jacobs and Gen. Larkin had spoken – then Queen Elizabeth and Pres. Bush – and Jonas was taken aback at how strongly what had happened on Saturday had impacted so many famous people. Now Grandfather Sarek was speaking, and he knew it would shortly be his turn – starting the Division heads' speeches, after the world dignitaries had had their say.

He felt a twinge of worry that what he'd planned, of pointing out that smaller, less dramatic but no less evil things were perpetrated everywhere daily, was out of place at the funeral. Then he saw Sebastian, looking directly at him. He thought back over the Sunday he'd met Sebastian, the day he hand Harry had come back from their Clan training to find that an intervention was needed locally and immediately, and what he'd learned of how the Clan came to be in the first place, in response to what Sebastian and his brother Sammy had been put through. Sebastian 'said' nothing to him in telepathic words, but showered him with assurance that he was doing the right thing, that what he had to say was a needed component of what the day's events should say to the world.

Sternly and implacably, Sarek completed his remarks: "Stand against them, and you shall stand against Vulcan. So says the Vulcan High Council, High Command, The Federation High Council and the League of Nations." He turned and strode back to his seat without another word.

And then Sammy Reynolds was stepping forward, to introduce him, Jonas. Mouth suddenly dry, he gulped and listened to the introduction.

"The next person today is someone who I only met a little while ago, but my brothers have been spending some time up with him, and they say he's really nice, as is the rest of his family. While those people were attacking us in Montana on Saturday, they were also attacking some other kids and adults too in Maine. They were left to fight them off by themselves because the Clan was tied up with saving us, and didn't have anyone else to send to help. In spite of that they stood up and fought back, and the people who wanted to hurt them didn't win there either. Today they are one of the newest divisions of Clan Short, and Jonas is the new head of that division. It was two of his family who helped Brian when he was hurt and alone after being brought to the hospital, and I gotta say thanks to Jed and CJ for that, 'cause Brian is real special to me," Sammy said. He glanced over at another boy, apparently Brian, with obvious affection.

"Anyway the Terrors have told me how cool they are, and what a wonderful cook Harry's mom is, so y'all need to get up there and eat real soon," I said to giggles from a bunch of the kids

"Seriously though, from what they told me, I think they're a great addition to the Clan, and I look forward to getting to know them a lot better. So here is Jonas McConnaghay, head of the North Eastern Division of Clan Short of Vulcan, and one of my new brothers"

Jonas stood and stepped slowly forward, his stage fright momentarily trying to overpower him. He drew a deep breath and drew on his inner resolution to do this right.

"My name is Jonas McConnaghay," he began, "son of Maureen McConnaghay, and grandson of Sarek, Patriarch of the Family of Sarek in the House of Surak of Vulcan, and a member of Clan Short in that Family and House."

"Today is the service of remembrance for one hundred fourteen kids and adults who gave the last full measure of devotion in the defense of their fellow man. Nearly all of them were killed outside Missoula, Montana. And I would say nothing today to detract from that commemoration."

"But I want you all to realize that this was not one isolated incident, that the talking heads on television can term 'tragic' and 'regrettable' and then go on to the next item of news. Last Saturday, the day they died, there were attacks on people elsewhere in America. An overweight boy was pummeled in Fresno, a teen was driven to suicide in Baton Rouge. A pregnant girl was ostracized by her church in Oklahoma. And in my home town, the local parish of the Fundamentalist Church of Christ tried to kill me, my mother, my stepfather-to-be, my life partner, and our local D.A. and the three abused boys he had adopted, who were at our home." Jonas glanced out to where Harry, Philip, Doug, Pen, Skipper, Bobby, and the twins were sitting – Bobby and the twins' expressions cheering him on.

"We survived that fight and defeated them, and then were arrested by our Sheriff for having defended ourselves, because my life partner had gotten the Sheriff's nephew arrested at our school for a bullying assault."

"This sort of thing goes on at schools all across America. The sort of abuse the D.A.'s new sons went through happens in homes all across America. There were sixty-one boys and girls in the Clan Short Special Forces Unit who died Saturday. It's my understanding that nearly every one of them was the victim of the same kind of bullying and abuse. Some were runaways, some rescued from group homes, some were the victims of a secret military experiment. The Cadets, the adults who died, all committed themselves to protect and defend their fellow man, and were called on to give their lives to do so, all too soon."

"My mother is a reporter, her boss an editor. I know all too well what makes news. And of all the things I've done in my life, good or bad, the only time I've ever been in a news story was when I made a touchdown in J.V. football last year. We have a friend named Rachel. She's a brilliant girl, a straight A student, hoping to go into medical research. And she is the one who saved me from the biggest mistake of my life -- that's the kind of kind, caring person she is. But nobody anywhere has ever seen her name in print, heard about her on TV or radio, seen a blog that mentioned her. She didn't do anything 'newsworthy', you see."

"You all know these names..." And Jonas named off a pro football quarterback, a home run hitter, a basketball center, who had come up in the research he'd done that morning. "What they have in common, besides all being in pro sports, is that each of them draws more in salary and benefits each year than the total annual budget for the school district where I go to school, or than the annual budget for the entire child protection bureau in Portland. I looked the numbers up on the Internet; you can find them there too."

"Think about that: we're saying that one sports star is more valuable to us than a whole school system, or than making sure children are taken care of in a whole good-sized city. A kid today has two ways to become famous: be a sports star, or commit a crime. Otherwise the world gives every evidence of not caring whether he existed."

"So my challenge to you people who are listening is this: Make a change. You adults, tell your legislators to put your money where your heart is. If you really want children taught right and protected, it's in your hands. Your Congressmen, your state legislators are your representatives. They'll pass laws and fund what's important to you. Tell them what that really is."

"You news media people, give recognition to people who are doing right. Especially kids. An Eagle Scout's community service project makes a great feature story. If the kids in your town raise a quarter million dollars to help people in Africa, make that a story. My stepfather has a friend who's been working for our state to help children for twenty years. I checked Google: in that twenty years, there was one story focused on her work. She's not corrupt, she's not controversial, so she's not news. And maybe she should be."

"And you kids, thinking you can't make a change? My life partner was a shy kid when he was younger -- except for me and Rachel, he didn't have any close friends. You can make a difference: befriend a shy kid. If you see someone getting bullied, step up to his defense. Sure it'll be him and you against a group of bigger stronger bullies for a moment -- but your friends will step up to join you. Kids you don't know that believe in doing the right thing will step up and join you. And together you'll back down the bullies. But what it takes to get that started is one kid with the courage to stand up and be counted. Be that kid."

"And if we all do that -- if even some of us do that -- then we'll never have another day like last Saturday, when kids get killed for defending other kids. Sure, what people have planned for putting up a concrete and stone memorial to them is great. But build the real memorial to them in your hearts. Resolve that what happened Saturday will never happen again, and Make a Change."

"Thank you."

He turned and went back to his seat, feeling an odd combination of satisfied, exhilarated, and drained.

---

The service went on. As the Trinity stepped forward with Alvin Hayes and crisply, militarily completed the folding of the Unit Crest flag that had been on Dennis North's casket, Bobby noticed a stir where they had been sitting. He glanced over and was startled to recognize two boys.

He nudged Skipper. "Look!" he whispered, gesturing. "Isn't that Brandon and Andy Jessup over there?"

Skipper followed his gesture. "It sure looks like them," he whispered back. "And what's with the bandages? We'd better connect up with them afterwards, and find out what's going on."

Bobby nodded. "Something's not right. Why are they with the Unit?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out," Skipper responded.

---

At long last, the service of remembrance was over. Deeply moved by the 21-gun salute and the montage as 114 faces faded, Harry listened entranced to Delta's closing song.

Find your guiding inspiration
In a place where dreams are made
With a lifetime's preparation
It's no time to be afraid
Put our differences behind us
While we shine like a star
See what we've all become
Together we are one

See what we've all become
Together we are one

He stood, and Jonas stood alongside him, as slowly everyone filed back along the half mile from the amphitheatre to the surrounding parklands and city blocks. They watched as Teri, Cory, and Sean, then Sky and Cody, then Aaron and David, Will and Billy, then Pastor Mills with Paul, Pauly, and Wacko, walked slowly away. Levi flicked into existence and nodded to them – 'It's time' was implicit in his expression. Nearly everyone had left; a few stragglers were up ahead of them, and behind them remained Adam and Logan, saying a final farewell to their brothers. Jonas reached out his hand to Harry, and hand in hand they began the walk back to the fire station. Behind them they sensed Adam and Logan walking together, the last two off the island.

---

Harry and Jonas were quiet, lost in their own thoughts, as they walked the half mile back – as apparently were the couple following them. Harry and Jonas walked into the fire station, followed by Adam and Logan. As the latter two cleared the doors, Harry heard Adam turn to Logan and say, "Ummm... Love... I think I need to sit down for a second..." and that was all it took. The emotional strain of the last week, topped off with not having slept for the last three had finally caught up with him, and Adam collapsed.

When they heard what Adam said, they both spun around and saw Adam’s eyes roll up into his head. As one, they darted to Adam's side, and together with Logan, they helped him to the ground.

"Migod, what's wrong!?" Harry exclaimed.

"I.. I think he just collapsed." Logan had his head on Adam’s neck, and sighed with relief when he felt a strong pulse. Logan looked around and didn’t see any of the medical personnel around, so he made a snap decision. "Can you guys help me get him back to the base, and into bed. He hasn’t slept since Saturday night. I think he just needs to sleep."

Amur Khan ran in with a few others, many having felt Adam’s collapse. He got there just in time to hear what Logan said. He saw Chang bend down and start to check him out. Kahn got a funny look on his face, and spun towards the way the came, and stood there listening for a moment. Finally he nodded and turned back to see what else was going on here.

All eyes were on Chang as he ran through his check on Adam. Finally he looked up to Logan and smiled a small smile. "He should be fine. You may wish to take him back to your room, and let him get some sleep."

Jonas met eyes with first Harry and then Logan. "We've got it covered, bro," he said with a smile at Chang, who nodded solemnly.

"Thanks." Logan said and the three of them picked up Adam. Once they got him set up between the three of them. Logan called out to Daileass who, as always, was monitoring what was going on. "Daileass... could you transport us right to our room?" The next thing they knew, they were standing in Adam and Logan’s room.

---

To be continued....

 

Authors' Notes: Well, here's the next installment, bringing us mostly through Wednesday the 27th. Portions of this chapter were written by or co-written with DarkStar, Iluvantir, and Roland, whose help is gratefully appreciated, and whose sense of fun made it at the same time a serious but more light-hearted chapter than some recent ones have been. While we did not retell the Funeral scene, we both thought it wise to show its effect on a couple of our characters. The closing scene will also show up in Camp Bam Bam chapter 5 and lead into events in the next chapter of Jigsaw (no surprise there!). Feedback, to d-and-b@cornercafe.us or in our forum at www.jeffsfortboard.com, will be welcomed. We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we did writing it!