Well... That Didn't Go As Planned

[Jack Ryder]

Jack came crawling out of a box and stretched as he stood up. "Ladies. Oh, we have a new one." he cocked his head. "This cell is going to get cramped soon, given we have how many bloody levels to this Starbase?" gesturing to the box. "El'Aurian tech, taps into a little bit of phase dimensional shifting. So far it's only big enough to turn that box into something about the size of my old dorm room at Oxford. So... 'not much bigger on the inside'" he winked at Ashley. "Remind me to show you my time pod, the Brit in you will get a kick out of it. Now if my wife and kids managed to figure out my instructions, you'll see it eventually, of course that's factoring in that space around us doesn't shift..."

"Jack... you're going to melt the poor girl's brain. Livvy Sandoval. Apparently Aimee actually has a kid in the future and names her after your sister." Kirby said with a smile.

"Ah, then you're family too." Jack said as he extended his hand to her. "And I knew about you and your brother. Nice to see you follow in the family business as it were." he squinted. "Looks like damage to your optic nerves in your eye. Might need to fabricate you a contact lens. Or clone you a new eye. Eyes are easy."

[Ashley Walker]

"We could clone the eye," Ashley said thoughtfully. "But, I don't see a surgical bay around here. And I don't think either of us are surgeons."

"I'll be fine. Not much I can do about it now. But, Dominus should know one thing: revenge is a dish best served cold."

Ashley patted the other woman on the shoulder, "Jack we better get going. Our first batch of clones should be waking up today."

[Jack Ryder]

"Quite right." Jack said as he reached inside the box and pulled out a thermos of tea and his lab coat. "Let's get a move on." he reached into the pocket of his coat and flipped Livvy a small disk. "Keep this safe, it's a micro communicator I've been working on out of scrap, more or less for local communication between us. Anyone screws with you, comm me."

[Livvy Sandoval]

" Fascinating," She said. The engineer in her wanted to tear it apart to figure out how it worked. "This appears to be a first generation communicator that is fleet wide."

'knowing Jack he did put it into production," Ashley said with a prideful grin. "I think I've gotten to know him by now. I'm surprised the hasn't made a full suit of battle armor that shoots lasers out of the hands and flies just to bust us out of here."

[Jack Ryder]

"That was my uncle." Jack said with a laugh and saluted her. "Although a suit of armor only really works for one of us and Intend to get us all out of here and then some." he flexed his hand and gestured in the air. "That's what we do, we save people. Especially our own." he pointed to Walker. "That also includes you too. Although I do wonder if my wife will get jealous... I quite enjoy having you as a lab partner, you actually work on my level."

[Ashley Walker]

"Not really. You could use it to clear a path to the shuttle bay," Ashley suggested. "The rest of us follow you out." She shrugged, "Just a fantasy. Come on. We got work to do, and plenty more things to make your wife jealous. I am a fox after all." Ashley grinned and winked at Sandoval.

[Jack Ryder]

"I'll second that." Kirby said with a wink.

"My wife is a fox too... no offense to you Ashley, but if you see her, you'll see why I'm still head over heels for her. That and I'm a bloody loyal husband, I don't screw up over a decade and change together for anyone." Jack said firmly and laughed as he poked his head out the door. "Someday ladies, this will only be a memory that'll fade like a bad order of sushi. Sucks for a while, but it goes away."

[Ashley Walker]

Ashley sighed at him when they were in the corridor. "Jack, you can't save everyone. Even me. What will happen if Kerby, or myself are killed in the escape? Is that going to eat at you?"

[Jack Ryder]

"Seeing my sister in law alive... was a shock. I made my peace losing her once. We all had to." Jack said and sighed heavily. "I save even one of us, I'll consider it a good thing. Won't deny I would miss you. But my father told me one thing when I was growing up and it's stuck with me. Hope for the best, cope with the rest. Positive thinking Leftenant Walker. Granted the negative energy here is greater than the positive, but it only needs a spark. Would you rather spend your final days worrying about the end or doing something you can be proud of." he said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Granted what we're doing in the lab is entirely unethical but with alternate realities and other clones running about, what's a few more? I did tell you that my wife is currently inhabiting a clone body? She was killed on Xenex, took a shot meant for one of the leaders. I buried her, 'cast her body to the desert winds'. Then I find her alive and well on Earth, apparently the Imperium had some kind of 'soul' transfer device. Only way I could describe it. Transferred everything that was MY Kinsey into the left over clone body of her own alternate K'n'zy. Has all her original memories, feelings, reflexes. Then... of course as is our bloody horrid luck, her alternate was killed and with her inhabiting the only remaining of her clone bodies, had K'n'zy's engrams intruding into her own. Took the better part of a year to sort that out." he explained as they walked to the lab. Opening the door he looked at the glowing tanks, each with a fully formed clone inside. "Things are not much less confusing or weird or dangerous out there either. But better than trying to remain here. I have this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, the Alliance is going to go to war here. And I would much rather be back on Terra Alpha than here when the torpedoes start flying."

[Ashley Walker]

"Well, I would bloody just as well be anywhere but here old chap, but, here were are." She walked over to one of the monitoring station. With a sigh, "Okay which one first?"