AU, although it's more of what WOULD be an AU were it to happen.*g*
Disclaimer: They aren't mine, but who knows, if the world ends tomorrow, I may get them after all.
Notes: This story originally appeared in the zine The Sentinel In Space. This version is a bit different as I -- being the eternal beta -- found several oopsies that I corrected after the zine went to press. Word of warning: The holes in the story are there on purpose. When I originally wrote the story, I was on a time constraint, and I didn't feel I had the time necessary to do it justice. There are SO many places I can take this, I made sure I had the opening to go wherever it took me.
EagleEye
Blair stood and stared out the window in wonder as the first rays of dawn began to clear the horizon. He sighed at a sight he never dreamed he'd live to see. So caught up in the beauty before him, the arm that wrapped around his back and its accompanying hand that clasped his shoulder started him from his reverie, and he jumped. He dragged his eyes away from the majestic view unfolding in front of him and looked up into the smiling eyes of his sentinel.
"Sorry, Chief, I didn't mean to startle you," the big man said with an apologetic grin and then turned to look out the window. Jim whistled. "Whoa, that's..."
Blair chuckled at his partner's loss of words.
"Yeah, Big Guy, I've come up with probably a dozen words... gorgeous, majestic, incredible... But none seem to fit as well as the silence, ya know?" Blair leaned into his friend's arm. "So, how are the others?" He asked and turned back to watch the dawn.
"As well as can be expected I guess. This actually came off easier than I'd figured it would. The last couple of days have been crazy, but everyone is finally settling in. Rafe, Brown, and Joel have been sharing sleep space. As have Megan and Serena. You and I may even get used to bunking with Simon and Daryl before..."
"How is he, by the way?" the younger man interrupted. "How is Daryl taking things? I heard him tossing and turning for most of the night last night. He couldn't have gotten much sleep." Blair sighed. "It's not easy to lose your mother and get uprooted from everything you've ever known all in the span of a couple of days." He shrugged. "I'm feeling a bit... overwhelmed myself."
Jim nodded. "Yeah, he's a bit shell shocked, I think. Simon is doing what he can, and staying close for when it all hits the fan. He's a good kid, strong like his dad, and he has all of us. I think he'll be okay. We'll make sure he's okay."
Blair grinned.
"Ever the Sentinel of the Great City, huh?"
"Somehow, Chief, I don't think this is what Incacha meant when he said that."
"You never know." The Guide turned to his Sentinel. "You protect your tribe. These people are your tribe, old and new alike, regardless of where they reside. Where the tribe is, you are." Blair placed a hand on Jim's chest. "That isn't gonna change, man. We may not be in Cascade anymore, but wherever we end up, you will still have a tribe to protect. Maybe more now then before."
Jim shrugged and squeezed Blair's shoulder.
"And what about you, oh, Shaman of The Great City? How are you faring? You've lost 'your' mother and everything you've ever known in the span of a couple days," he asked, concern showing in his eyes and evident in his voice.
A brief sadness passed over Blair's face, then was gone.
"Whither thou goest, I will go, man. I'm processing." He smiled and turned back to the window. The rays of the new morning reflected in his eyes. "It will be easier for me. I'm accustomed to picking up and leaving everything, I've done it before."
"Maybe so, Chief, but not on this scale. Everything we'd planned for, all the plotting we did, we NEVER figured this into the mix. We had contingency plans for governments and Lee Bracketts and even a serial killer or evil dictator or two... but not this." Jim sighed and turned back to the window, sadness overshadowing the blue of his eyes, changing the timbre of his voice. "Never did we plan for this. I never imagined this," he finished in a whisper.
The younger man looked up at his friend. "And what about you? huh?" he asked, poking Jim with an elbow. "You've been running around looking after everyone else... how are YOU doing?"
A mask settled over the sentinel's face and all traces of emotion vanished.
"Don't even give me the 'I'm fine, Chief' speech," Blair interrupted before Jim could even open his mouth. "You left family behind too, and you zoned the other day. DO you know how long it's been since that happened? I realize these are extenuating circumstances, but I SO don't want a repeat of THAT tomorrow. You scared the hell out of me."
Jim sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "I really don't know what happened, Chief. One minute I was there... and then I wasn't."
"Okay, Jim, we can figure this out, man." The Guide turned and took his Sentinel's shoulders in his hands, rubbing in soothing circles. "Start at the beginning. Take a deep breath and go back. We strapped in... you checked the others out with your senses... and then...."
Jim did as his Guide instructed. He closed his eyes and took a calming breath, leaning back against the window.
"Everyone was fine. Their heartbeats were a little fast, but considering the circumstances I would have been surprised if they weren't." His brow furrowed as he tried to grasp the elusive sensual memories. "I dialed up a bit, Joel was whispering something... a prayer. I was listening to the words and then...." The detective broke off and grabbed his head, wrapping both hands protectively over his ears.
"Whoa, Jim, it's okay, man." Blair put his hands over Jim's. "It's okay, buddy, you're here with me," he whispered as he gently eased one hand away. "Come on, focus on me now, Jim. You're here, it's okay." The younger man continued to quietly croon, trying to guide his friend out of the memory and into the here and now.
Jim slowly lowered his hands and opened his clenched eyes. He looked at his partner, a sheepish expression on his face. "Um, that's when the boosters fired. I had my hearing dialed up trying to listen to Joel and my ears got blasted."
"Jim...."
He held up a hand, "I know, Sandburg, it was stupid."
"Yeah it was, but go on," Blair prodded. "Your ears got blasted, then what happened?" Blair let go of the hand he still held and rested his back against the observation window, being sure to keep one shoulder in contact with his friend's body.
Jim turned inward again. "I quickly dialed my hearing down to almost zero, but then I smelled the fuel. It was so strong I could taste it. So I tried to turn the smell dial too..." He paused and looked to Blair. "That's really all I can remember. I tried to dial down smell and lost the dials on everything. I couldn't breathe; it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. And my skin was on fire, you know... like when all the hair on your arms stands up. I remember thinking that I was going to throw up, and knew that wasn't a good idea. Then nothing... until you." Jim shook his head, then looked at Blair. "The next thing I remember is you standing over me after we'd docked."
He nodded, "Yeah, I hadn't even realized you'd zoned until I looked over and saw the vacant look on your face." Blair sighed and began to pace. "I was talking to Daryl, he was a little freaked about everything. I was trying to talk him down a bit so he didn't hyperventilate before we'd even lifted off. He asked me a question about the ship. I turned to ask you..." Blair shook his head. "You were so gone, man. Your face was totally blank. I tried talking to you but you weren't responding. I guess Simon realized what had happened because I heard him start talking to Daryl, grabbing his attention so I could concentrate mine on you." The young man stopped, looked at Jim and then resumed his frenetic pacing.
Jim watched for a minute as his partner strode about the room muttering quietly to himself. Jim frowned as he dialed up his hearing and caught the words the younger man was mumbling.
"Stupid, Sandburg, argh, how could you be so stupid. Of course he's going to zone. All the extensive outer stimuli... All the sounds and smells he's never been exposed to. How could you be so stupid... letting him zone. Some Guide you are, letting... ooof" Blair's words were cut off as he ran into the chest that suddenly appeared in his path. Two strong hands wrapped around his arms and steadied him when he would have fallen. He grabbed onto the arms attached and looked up into the face of his Sentinel. A face that looked slightly ticked off.
"I think that's enough, Chief. All of this is new to the both of us, you couldn't have known what my reaction to take-off would be," he said crossly.
"That's just it, Jim. I'm your Guide. I should have. Your zone took me completely by surprise. That can't happen. It's my job to watch for stuff like that." Blair exhaled sharply and ran both hands through his hair. "There are just too many unknowns. We're going to be facing too many 'new' things every day for me to be caught unaware so easily. I need to be thinking about your reactions."
Jim laid both hands on the younger man's shoulders and responded to the uncertainty in his Guide's voice.
"Chief... Blair," he said softly and waited for his partner to meet his eyes. "You've never let me down, buddy. I trust you with my life. If... when we run into problems I know we'll find the answers. Trust yourself; I do."
Blair sighed and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, then let it out and met his partner's eyes, seeing and accepting the trust there.
"Okay, we can't let you zone on lift-off tomorrow. We're going to have to...."
"James Ellison, please report to Habitat Bay Three. James Ellison, please report to Habitat Bay Three."
Blair groaned. "Jim, why is it that whenever I'm about to mention the word test, we get interrupted?"
Jim smirked. "Someone up there likes me?"
Blair frowned at the smirk. "Don't think this is over, Big Guy. We WILL continue this conversation later."
"I'm sure we will, Chief. But right now I've got somewhere I need to be," Jim called over his shoulder as he turned to go.
"Good, it will give me some time to think about this," Blair retorted and Jim stopped for a moment, hearing the evil glee in his partner's voice, then resumed his trek out of the room.
As Jim left the room, Daryl entered and they waved a hello to one another as they passed. The young man shuffled his way over to Blair, who greeted him with a smile.
"Hey, Daryl, what's up?" Blair asked, hoping to get the teen to open up a bit.
"Not much, man. I was getting a little stir crazy, so I thought I'd take a walk... look around a bit." He turned toward the window and looked out as the rays of the sun began to bathe the earth with light.
Sensing his need for quiet, Blair turned and resumed his watch. He tiredly leaned his head against the glass and let his mind wander. He'd been too busy, too caught up in the act of survival to really dwell on the events of the last few days. The peace of the observation room was such a stark contrast to the fast paced fury he'd been living in and it afforded his mind the time to regroup and 'think' about all that had happened. He was torn; part of him sad for those left behind while the rest was immensely curious as to what the future would bring.
"I guess we owe our lives to Mr. Ellison, huh?" Daryl asked and his words, barely above a whisper, brought Blair out of his reflective state.
Blair turned from the window and nodded.
"Yes, to him and Jack Kelso." The confused look on the younger man's face urged Blair to continue.
"Jack Kelso is, by nature, a very paranoid person. He spends what free time he has conducting what he considers "watchdog" activities." Blair grinned, "He hacks into everything and anything. No database is safe. The FBI, CIA, MI6 the Pentagon... you name it he's hacked into it or regularly talks to someone who does."
Blair paused and took a breath. "About four months ago he was surfing around when he discovered some drawings. He didn't understand what they were, so he sent them to a few of his 'contacts'. They were the blueprints for the stations and Hope's Haven. Never one to let a mystery sit idle, Jack continued digging until he uncovered the information about the storm and the effects it would have on the Earth. A little more searching uncovered the plans for the evacuation of the Earth, and the shuttles that would be used to do it. Information in hand, he went to the one person he knew had both the power, the money, and the motivation to get all of us on those shuttles... William Ellison. William Ellison pulled every string he had and used most of his considerable fortune, and got us a place on the shuttle, and a place at the Haven. They were sworn to secrecy, until five days ago when they came to me, and we went to your dad and Jim."
The teenager's face was the picture of astonishment.
"It's a lot to process, Daryl, isn't it?"
The younger man nodded.
"But why?"
"He wanted his son on that shuttle, moved heaven and earth and waded through a lot of political bullshit to do it. He also knew that he didn't have a prayer of getting Jim to go for it unless we were all included in the deal. He...."
"No," he interrupted, "I mean why did Mr. Kelso go to Mr. Ellison? Why didn't he come to you or Jim? Wouldn't that have been faster?"
Blair looked at Daryl, then turned back to the window. He gazed out at the Earth, trying to gather his thoughts and present them in a way the confused young man would understand.
"Daryl," he started and turned to look at the youth. "What would your dad do if the two of you were in a building with a lot of other people and he found out it was on fire?"
The younger Banks paused a moment before answering.
"He'd make sure I was safe, then get everyone else out of the building," the teen answered with all the assuredness and pride a young man has for his father.
Blair nodded, a small smile on his face.
"That's because your dad is a 'protector', as is Jim. But you've seen what happens sometimes when a person hears the word fire. Mass panic and confusion can result and cause many lives to be lost. Jack Kelso is a very smart man, and he knows people. He also knows Jim Ellison and the type of man he is. Jack knew that if he went directly to Jim with this, his first reaction would be to refuse. His second would be to get the word out and tell as many people as he could about the coming disaster. He, like your dad, would try and save as many people as he possibly could."
Blair sighed and wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders.
"Unfortunately, in this case, that would have been a bad move. One of the key things needed for the plan to work was secrecy. If word had gotten out, panic and chaos would have likely resulted. People would've died or killed to get a place on one of the shuttles. It's tragic and it's sad, but there is no way to fit nine billion people on these stations or the moon. Hope's Haven can only support five and a half million people. That means the rest would have to stay. Do you think you dad could condemn several billion innocent people to death?"
Daryl shook his head. He knew his dad couldn't stand the loss of a single innocent life, much less several billion.
"And neither could Jim. Jack knew that the only way for this to work was to go to an interested third party... William Ellison. While Jack had the information, William had the strings to pull and the markers to call in. When that failed, he had the money to back it up. Where Jim and your dad would have been worried about saving the lives of millions of people, William Ellison was concerned with saving the life of only one person. That single-minded determination was what Jack needed to make it happen. THAT is why we're here today."
"But..." The teenager took a breath and Blair knew they were getting to the heart of the matter. "...what about my mom? Why couldn't they save her?"
"We tried, Daryl. Your dad left messages all over for her. With her secretary, her answering service, even with your grandparents, she never returned any of them. It was the same with my mom and Brown's wife. We just couldn't find them. We tried everything we could. In the end it was just bad luck... a cruel twist of fate. We had two days to gather everything we'd need and get to the launch site. Forty-eight hours in which to gather a lifetime of memories and possessions and anything we thought would help us to survive the next decade." Blair sighed. "It was a question of time, man. We didn't have any."
"But I didn't even get to say goodbye to anyone."
"There just wasn't time, Daryl. Had there been the time, how would you have done it? How do you turn to the guy you're playing a little one-on-one with and tell him he's going to die in a couple of days?" Blair asked quietly.
He turned and took Daryl's face in his hands. "How do you tell the woman who babysat you when you were four, and who now has kids of her own, that in forty-eight hours a 'space storm' is going to rip across the earth and obliterate her, her family and every trace of the human race from face of the planet? How do you explain why you get to go and they have to stay? What words do you use to tell them about the resulting dust cloud that will remain in the Earth's atmosphere, blocking out all sunlight for years and make their planet unlivable for at least a decade? How do you convey all of that with words, Daryl?"
Daryl pulled his face from Blair's grip and stalked across the room.
"I don't know. I don't know, Blair, but... I wanted to try, DAMNIT! I wanted to try." The last word ended on a sob and Blair moved across the room and took the broken hearted young man into his arms. They slid down the wall and landed on the floor with a thump. Daryl turned into the embrace and wrapped both arms around Blair as he cried out his release.
Wetness gathered in Blair's eyes and began to run down his face. Both young men sat there and several days of uncertainty, anger and fear was let go in the form of tears. It wasn't much, but maybe now the healing could begin. They hugged each other for several long minutes as the tears flowed, then remained close once they'd cried themselves out. Side by side with their shoulders touching, the young men sat in silence and stared out the observation lounge's large window. Each lost in a sea of thought, they welcomed the silence.
"So, why didn't Mr. Ellison and Jim's brother come with us?" Daryl asked quietly, breaking the silence.
Blair sighed, "Well, Mr. Ellison isn't a young man. He isn't old, but he's not our age either. He's built his life and made his fortune already. He's been married and divorced, raised two children...." Blair turned to look at his friend. "I asked him the same thing. He told me that he's too tired to start again from the bottom, that he'd leave the rebuilding of our world to us." Blair shrugged, "I think a part of it is that he didn't want to leave Sally, either."
"Sally?"
"Yeah, Sally is Mr. Ellison's housekeeper. They've been together for a long time. She practically raised Jim and Steven after their mother left. But, she isn't a healthy woman. No amount of money would've gotten her on board one of these shuttles, and I don't think he could've left her."
Daryl took a moment to digest Blair's words. "Okay, but what about Jim's brother? He's younger than Jim is, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he is." Blair shifted, his position on the floor putting his butt to sleep. "But, Steven's reasons are harder to explain because I think it's a combination of several." Blair answered as he shifted again. He pulled his knee up and wrapped both arms around it. "I didn't talk to Steven much, but I think that a lot of the reason he stayed is because he didn't want his father and Sally to be alone. Jim's dad was pissed when he heard."
Seeing Daryl's confusion he explained. "The deal had been for both of his sons, and Steven wasn't following the plan." Blair blew out a breath. "He's also his father's son in a lot of ways. Something else you've got to understand is Steven is alone. He had friends and girlfriends, but no one he was really close to. He isn't married and he doesn't have anybody depending on him. He'd forsaken a lot of that to get ahead in his business. Now that the end was near, he really couldn't find a reason to come with us. He didn't really have any skills that would help us rebuild. Where Jim, your dad and the others have skills they can use at the Haven, and beyond, Steven doesn't. You've got to understand, a major motivating factor in his life has been to please his father. He entered business, strived to get ahead, even alienated Jim, just to please his dad."
Blair shrugged. "I guess in the end, he figured he had nothing to look forward to so he just did what he had always done... he made the move that he thought would make his father happy."
Silence reigned once again as both men, lost in thought, looked out the observation window.
"Do you think there's any chance my mom made it?" Daryl asked in a small voice that sounded every bit the scared teenager he was.
Blair sighed and once again wrapped an arm around his young friend.
"Daryl, I wish I could tell you there was... but I just don't know. We couldn't reach your mom, mine, or Brown's wife. But their names and descriptions were given to people at all the launch sites. If they finally got our messages, and if they made it there..."
"That's an awful lot of ifs, isn't it?"
"Yeah, man, it is. But who knows. There are four stations like this one and, although slim, there is a chance they made it onto one of them." Blair sighed. "And if they didn't, your dad is here, and he loves you. And you have me and Jim and the rest of the crew, and we'll all be here for you, man. We're going to be okay," Blair said with more assurance then he felt.
"And you have Jim," Daryl added, sensing his friend's own need for assurances.
"Yeah," Blair smiled. "And I have Jim."
Blair gave Daryl a shake. "So, are you ready to head back to our quarters?"
"Nah, man, not just yet. Can we just sit here and look out at the stars for a little longer? I'm not ready to be back in there yet," Daryl asked as he shifted around, trying to find a more comfortable position against the wall.
"Sure, Jim knows where we are. He'll tell your dad, should he go looking."
They sat back, neither ready to go back to their quarters and the reality of the situation. It had been a rough few days, and could only get rougher yet. Each lost in thought, the hypnotic hum of the station and their emotional turmoil conspired against them, and the young men fell asleep gazing out at the stars.
Jim Ellison made his way through the station's bustling corridors and back to the observation room. He had a feeling that his partner would still be there looking out at the stars. He hadn't meant to be gone as long as he had, but going over the itinerary with the chief for tomorrow's launch had taken a lot longer than he'd expected it to. Still he was glad not to be going in blind as he had been with their launch from Earth.
The Sentinel strode through the whooshing doors to the observation room and stopped. There, in the corner where the wall met the window, were his Guide and his captain's son. They sat, reclined against the wall, asleep, shoulders touching and their bodies resting upon one another.
Jim smiled, amazed at the years that fell away from his friend's face with his slumber. Asleep like that, his partner looked no older than Simon's teenage son. Jim crossed the room to their side and squatted in front of the two young men. He knew it wouldn't take long for his partner to wake, Blair had an uncanny way of knowing when someone was watching him. The thought had no sooner crossed his mind than his partner showed the first signs of waking. Jim sat back on his haunches and smiled as Blair opened his eyes, squinting at the light. One hand came up and rubbed at an eye. Jim chuckled-the gesture making his friend look all of six years old.
"Jim?" Blair inquired, his eyes finally staying open.
The big man smiled. "Yeah, Chief, it's me. I'm sorry, I hadn't expected to be gone this long."
"No problem, man." Blair yawned. "So how did it go with the chief? Were there any other anal retentive, control freaks present during your questioning?" he asked with a smile.
Jim frowned. "Yes." Blair's eyes widened. "I took Simon with me."
"OH, so you brought backup in case he took exception to your line of questioning," he added with a knowing smirk.
"Very funny, Sandburg. He actually had no problem with explaining tomorrow's launch to me when I asked," Jim huffed. "He even took us on a tour of the station. That's what took me so long." Jim shrugged. "I just feel more comfortable knowing what's going to happen. I don't like to go into situations blind. That could be part of the reason I zoned when we launched from Earth."
"Yeah, I've been thinking about that." He stretched and rolled his neck, trying to work out the kinks but not wake Daryl, who was still leaned against him in sleep. "I think we should tell the others about the Sentinel stuff." He saw Jim's jaw start to clench.
He laid a hand on his partner's arm and gave it a squeeze, then continued. "Jim, I'm going to need the help. I just can't do this all by myself anymore. When you zoned the other day, if the others had known about your abilities, they could've watched for it too and we might have been able to stop it before you'd zoned. But more than that, we're all going to need to depend on one another to survive. I know, that's nothing we don't do every day, but this is going to be in closer quarters. We will all be together most all of the day, every day.
Blair sighed. "The benefits of them knowing totally outweigh the cons. Besides, you know how hard it's been keeping it a secret from everyone up to now, when we get to the Haven it will be 100 times harder, if not impossible. You... we're going to need the extra eyes." Blair paused. He looked down into his lap and stared at his finger as it pulled at a thread on his jean before continuing. "We need to be realistic, Jim. When we get to the moon, we'll each be put in the area where we can do the most good for the Hope's Haven. The chances of the best place for you and the best place for me being the same place..."
He gave Jim's arm another squeeze. "Let's just say it's not very likely. But there is a good chance that you, Simon, Joel and the others will work together. If something happens, there needs to be someone else who will know what to do, or at least know to get in touch with me. It wasn't a problem before, we only had to tell Simon and we could obfuscate our way around anyone else. But now..." The young man looked up and into his partner's eyes. "Things have changed, man, and will continue to change. We can't safely keep this to ourselves any more."
They stared at each other for a few long minutes, then the older man looked away and out the window. He shook his head. So many changes... He sighed and turned back to his partner.
"Yeah, Chief, you're right, we need to tell the others. It's just not worth using energy we might not have to try and keep it a secret from them any longer."
Blair moved his hand to Jim's knee. "It can only help us in the long run, Big Guy."
Jim nodded and sighed. "I know, but that doesn't make it any easier."
"Yeah," Blair agreed, "but they're family."
Jim smiled. "Yeah, they are. We'll talk to them tomorrow before the launch, okay."
A loud groan made both men jump.
"I wish you two would talk a little quieter now, I was having the most rad dream." Daryl groaned again and stretched his arms above his head. "Man, the babe was unbelievable, she was just about to...."
The doors to the observation room swished open and Simon Banks stomped through, an unlit cigar clenched between his teeth.
"I would like to thank you, Ellison," the big man growled. "First you drag me on your little tour of the station, then you leave me high and dry listening to that little man prattle on about the wonders of 'his' station." He sighed. "I swear, he was still going on as I snuck out of the room. I'm not even sure he realized I'd left."
"Oh, come on, Simon," Jim chuckled, "the chief wasn't that bad."
"GO ahead and laugh," the bigger man groused, "not all of us can turn our hearing off and on at will. I know you..." Simon's eyes widened as they fell to Daryl's still groggy form on the floor. "Jim, I'm sorry, I..."
"It's okay, Simon," Jim assured his friend, "we've decided to tell everyone in the morning. It won't be just the four of us knowing anymore. You, Blair, and Megan will have some backup."
Blair got to his feet and then reached down and hauled Daryl up as well. "Yeah, Simon, we realized that we're going to be facing too many unknowns. We really can't afford to have secrets between us."
The captain nodded.
"I agree with that. I was wondering just how we were going to explain things anyway." Simon huffed a quick breath. "That zone the other day will have them all wondering anyway. They might have believed it was shock from everything that had happened then, but getting them to buy that a second time.... You're talking about former detectives. That would just be wishful thinking."
Daryl yawned and stretched his arms over his head. "Would one of you please tell me what you're all talking about?"
Simon walked over to his son and wrapped one arm around his neck in a headlock. "Nope, we're not going to go through this twice, so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning. You'll find out when everyone else does."
"Awww, Dad. Man, let me go," the teen whined as he struggled to escape his father's clutches. "Blair said the sunrise was cool. It should be setting now and I want to see it."
Jim threw an arm around Blair's shoulders. "Cool, Chief?" he asked with a smile.
Blair jabbed his friend in the side with an elbow. "If I remember correctly, my exact words were 'sunrise was incredible', and I want to see the sun set as well."
The captain released his son and the four friends turned and looked out the window as the sun began to set on the earth. For several long minutes no one spoke, each caught up in the beauty before them.
"Wow," Daryl whispered reverently, breaking the silence. "That's totally awesome."
Blair laid a hand on the teenager's shoulder. "I bet that's something you never imagined you'd see in your lifetime, huh, man?"
"Yeah," he agreed. "I wish my mom could see it," he added quietly, the desolation in the words ringing through the room.
Simon pulled his son in close for a hug. "So do I, son. So do I."
The Sentinel and Guide moved a few steps away to give them a little privacy.
"Ten years, Chief." Jim sighed as he looked out at what remained of his planet. "It will be at least ten years before we can come back."
"Yeah, man, and that's with good conditions." Blair leaned against his friend. "But we made it, Jim, and most of the people we care about made it too." He tilted his head so he could look the taller man in the eye. "We're alive, man, and most of the people we care about... consider family, are with us." He paused and looked out at the earth before continuing. "Where there is life, there is hope, Big Guy. In ten years or so we'll be back to start over. Think about it, man, we're going to help remake the world. How many people can say they've done that."
Simon and Daryl rejoined them, leaning heavily against one another. Blair glanced at them, then back at his Sentinel.
"We're alive and together and we will have a hand in starting fresh. That's a blessing, and I can't wait to get started."
Jim looked up and met Simon's eyes over Blair's head. The captain nodded and said, "Together."
The Sentinel nodded and then turned back to the window. They stood there quietly, the sounds of the station around them, sad for those left in yesterday, yet anticipating the journey into tomorrow.
The End