Space Camp Session 2

Princess Guard - The New Era 2016/01/12 	 Titan Wolf Jet Tali Unix Artemis Nohrbor 46

Room 1206 Quinn Tower.
Room 1206, is a conference Room on the 12th floor of Quinn Tower. Today it is the location for a briefing by NASA for the participants of the 72nd annual Space Camp. The walls of the room have photographs and illustration of previous Space Camps. Pride of place in the center of the room is a scale model of the latest NASA Shuttle which will be the transport for the Space Camp. The resemblance of the model to a slightly over sized Quinn Jet is discreetly not mentioned.

On one side of the room is a well stocked buffet with a varied selection of foods, snacks, and drinks.

--

Commander Iverson next points to the up to now quiet young girl in the back row of chairs.

Tali looks round to see who's being pointed at.

The girl looks nervous as she introduces herself, "I'm Sibyl Meecham. I'm 16 years old and a student at the Bayside Academy here in Colonial Bay. I won this year's Heinlein Prize for creative writing which gained me a place in Space Camp. My ambition to to be a writer."

Tali grins. Nice to see someone's got in through talent, rather than wealth!

Commander Iverson smiles, "I look forward to reading your account of our Camp, Miss Meecham." he says. Then his finger points to the boy stood beside her.

Artemis studies Cadet May a little longer with a sympathetic smile, then reaches back for her buffet plate and picks it up, resuming snacking.

Titan waits off to the side, listening quietly.

Wolf's pointy fuzzy ears flicker and swivel toward the back of the room and come to rest on Sibyl as she introduces herself. He half-turns with a slow pivot about his back paws, to better be able to see down the aisle. He listens thoughtfully, whiskers ruffling, to the introductions being made.

This boy, a couple of years younger than the girl, seems confident as he speaks up. "Robert O'Reily, Commander. I'm often called Sparks though. I'm 14 years old and a student at MIT. Studying electronics."

Commander Iverson nods, "Would you be the Robert O'Reily who designed the advanced noise filtering system NASA is introducting for long range communications?" he asks. It's likely from his tone he knows the answer.

The Stranger merely listens on, realizing he would have gotten a more detailed experieience if he had assumed the form of a 'larval hoo-man'. He almost preens himself out of habit, but stops himself in time. He manages to divert the motion into the smoothing of a strand behind his right ear.

He notes that these larval hoomans are quite adroit in the human arts and sciences. He doubts very much that he would be able to pull that off himself without using his GodFlora powers and abilities.

The boy nods, "Yes, Commander." he confirms.

Tali thinks. o O (Huh. Guess there are a lot of talented people here!)

The Commander's finger moves on to another girl. He smiles, "Hello, Amenda. Can you introduce yourself, please." he says.

The girl nods, "I'm Amanda Oakly. I'm 16 years old and attend Nashville Technical School. I'm hoping to be follow my father's footsteps." she says.

Commander Iverson nods, "I'm sure you will Amanda. Commander Oakly is one of the finest Captains we have. Our schedule overlaps. His ship will be in Mars Port when we arrive there. You'll get a chance to catch up, and I hope you'll be able to convince Scott to allow our Camp companions a tour of his vessel."

Wolf's ears swivel from Commander Iverson to his interviewees and back again, as each one is pointed out by turn. Wolf notes with silent appreciation how the Commander is using this "verbal spotlight" to simultaneously introduce, build up, and assess both each individual child and also the group of camp attendees as a whole, while also building up connections within the fleet, as with Commander Oakly. Trusting, thereby, that this Pack Leader knows what they're doing, Wolf concentrates on learning to recognize each of the children's voices, face unseen, and on monitoring the children's' reactions to one another as each is introduced, learning the basics of the pre-existing social dynamic of the pack of space-bound kids.

Commander Iverson moves on, gesturing to include the six children of your group, "Quick Introductions please."

One by one the kids speak up. They have probably been told to keep it short on detail, as they state just name and age.

Ann-Maria Phillips, age 12, and Maria-Ann Phillips, also aged 12. A pair of identical red headed twins.

Graham Sparks, aged 12. A young boy with unruly hair sticking out in all directions Peter Thomson, aged 14. A slightly pale studious looking boy with old fashioned glasses.

Tali thinks. o O (Another 'Sparks'! Might get confusing.) Patrica Doi, aged 12, and Mark Quinn, aged 12. They have a family resemblance despite the different surnames. Surnames that indicate a connection with Doi Heavy Industries and Quinn Industries. Two of the largest high tech corporations on Earth.

Tali thinks. o O (And there are the snoots....)

Wolf listens intently, holding still, as "the 6" make their own personal introductions to the balance of the Space Camp attendees. He listens, perhaps, not so much to the words of the children he already knows well, but for tonal cues, emotional state, and the reactions of the -other- space-bound children to the "6" as they all stand and speak.

And finally Iverson's finger points to Titan. "As well as the Space Camp companions we'll have some special individuals this year. I've been informed that six spaces have been reserved for your team. If you could make introductions, as far as feasible, please."

Wolf can tell some, heck, most, of the older kids are wondering how the 'brats' made the cut for Space Camp.

The Stranger eyes his Bloodbound while the children introduce themselves. A sly smirk rolls across his face as he realizes she still has not noticed him. He puts his hands together in a steeple and listens as the children continue their rolecall. Then the 'special individuals'- a term he finds equally amusing. He wonders how Althea became a 'special individual' amongst the Mortals.

Titan smiles and raises a hand, waving to the group. "Johnathan Vasilikos. Also known as Titan."

There as some gasps and startled looks as Titan introduces himself.

Wolf gathers himself up to all fours, *shakes* out his fur, and canters over to stand next to Titan, taking up station just outside of Titan's left knee. Absent an approp. speech, of which he is incapable, this is the clearest way he knows to communicate his intent. He stands with head held aloft and tail wagging, an open and friendly expression on his fuzzy angular face.

Titan motions to Wolf with a smile, "And this is Wolf. Who...quite obviously, cannot introduce himself."

Unix puts down her stuff, might as well volunteer. Worst case she would be rejected. Standing she raises her hand. "Unix, new caped hero in town. I've had some space training and managed to stop a plane from crashing, i'm sure my skills will be helpful..."

The mysterious man clad in black and red in the back merely looks on, watching a moment more before readjusting his badge that shows him as a member of the staff- though not necessarily part of the flight team. Likely 'borrowed' from the man who's face he's wearing currently.

Titan motions to Artemis, "And this is Artemis." . o O (Reminds me of my original delusions. Huh.) Commander Iverson nods, "Short of your alloted spaces. But I doubt you'll encounter any concerns during the Camp. Despite rumors there are no space pirates." he says.

Unix thinks. o O (I could be a space pirate... arr...)

Tali thinks. o O (Space pirates would be cool, though! I wonder if they should have space parrots....)

Captain Susan Hibson hands Titan a printout sheet. It's Quiet's resume. Which Quiet handed to Susan at the start before the briefing officially started. "If you're short this might be of interest." she says.

Artemis is in mid-bite of a fried shrimp when she hears the callname Cryostatic gave her to hide her identity. She swallows and sets her plate aside as she's called to introduce herself. She rises up, leaving her plate on the chair beside her, and walks over to Titan to take up a position there and face the recruits.

She offers a bright smile, still unaware her bloodhound brother-in-arms is hidden among the crowd. "Greetings, Younglings! I've worked alongside Earth's Guardians in Colonial Bay. Fear not! There are no H'eshan Reavers to flay your flesh or Gladiator recruiting bands to kidnap you in these parts of space. This should be a most interesting and relaxing trip," she assures them jovially with closed hands on her hips. Well, SHE thinks she's being reassuring.

Tali blinks. She goes and looks at the resume, has a quick read, sits down, thinks about it, writes up a resume herself in careful beautiful handwriting, puts it into Titan's hand as well and sits down before she's missed.

Titan grins, "I...feel relaxed already. Well done." He takes a look at the paper handed to him. "And this..." He motions to Lien, "...is Lien van den Brand."

Titan takes a look at Tali's sheet for a moment, "And Talitha May."

Tali gives a little waves.

The Stranger thinks as his Sister is introduced, .o0(Artemis? Huh- an interesting name... I'm certain it carries meaning for these Hoo-mans.) In his mind, it brings thoughts of their own hierarchy of Messengers and Dieties. He isn't sure why, but plans on finding out- that line of thought is stilled by Althea's mention of H'eshan Reavers- something that brings a chill down his spine. He shakes it off and listens as the other Guardians are named and given place among the protector of the younglings. He finds this strange- in his time wandering the Earth, he has yet to meet a bunch of kids in need of such protection or supervision. He of course has never met these children.

Titan considers speaking quietly to Artemis, but he isn't sure she has an 'inside voice', so he holds off for the time being. There will be time to chat later.

Commander Iverson nods, "And that completes our formal briefing. There are itinerary sheets by the door. Please take one when you leave. We'll be gathering in the TransMat Center in Tallahassee this Thursday. A NASA coach will take you to the Cape. You'll spend a day being fitted for space suits and taught how to use those suits and other equipment. Then liftoff will be at dawn on Saturday." he says. "Please stay as long as you wish here and get to know your companions."

Tali is grinning in delight. She didn't think her job-application stunt had much chance of success! Sybil and Amanda make a beeline for Titan. They seem no different from any other teenage fans as they try to make conversation with the famous film star and heart-throb.

That could be a very correct assessment. Artemis is at least silent as she takes the time to study the children like she would a military lineup. Some of these younglings look a bit frail. They should eat more meat.

And while she's studying the children, Artemis is still fooled by Nohrbor's disguise.

Unix was curious how many of them besides her could withstand the vaccum of space without a suit...

Titan is happy to take the time to sign things for the kids and have photos taken with them.

Jet nods after receiving his rejection. (I didn't expect much anyways) He decides to take this extra time to observe the others.

The kids seem to stay in their respective groups, with little cross-over or chatting between the two groups.

Tali tries to act cool, like she was always going to be going, and heads over toward the elder group, who are her apparent age. "Hey."

Wolf *points* his nose in a respectful salute to Commander Iverson, in thanks and gratitude, and then turns about on all fours to watch the rest of the PG team, some of whom he does not (yet) know! He waits patiently on the periphery, hanging out with the kids, as the social dynamic sorts itself out.

Jackson May, the cadet who nearly got kicked off, smiles to Tali and dramatically wipes his forehead with an arm. "Close call." he says. "Yeah, I deserved it. But I have to wonder. How come those kids are in Space Camp at their age?"

Tali shrugs. "I'm without. But hey, seems like most people here have hidden talents! Guess maybe they do too?"

Wolf, seeing the two groups of kids mostly keeping to themselves, slowly plots out the course that an informal, impromptu and boisterous game of pre-spaceflight "Tag" might take, to get the kids introduced to, and more comfortable with, one other. Yelling while running around in circles is not to be underestimated in the "making new friends" department. . . and burning some of the energy off from the reserves of the younger children should also help take the edge off things.

Artemis starts to move away from the hero gathering as she seems to hone in on Jackson May. Just as he questions the young kids again, she tries to clap a hand on his shoulder a little more firmly than intended. Not enough to knock him about, but it may give him a little jolt of surprise as she restrains her strength. "Worry you not, Lad. Smaller beings than they have traversed space unaccosted," she says in her British accented, jovial voice. "Especially with a Cadet to keep them safe and lead by example," she adds encouragingly to remind Jackson he should be a role model.

The mysterious man known as 'Stanton Fairchild' stands and thanks the captain. "I look forward to the flight. The boys back in the office aren't going to believe this manifest." He notes with an excited smile before shuffling out the room with some of the other personnel.

Cadet May staggers a bit from Artemis' clap on the shoulder. "Yeah. I guess it's up to us to look after them." he says. Mostly to Tali.

Tali comments to the teens. "Wow, globally 2D ro speech any?"

Tali rather hopes they'll get that and Artemis won't.

The kids chuckle at Tali's comment.

Artemis has dealt with Cryostatic's slang enough to understand some of it. "Interstellar 2D speech, pup. You'll learn it when you grow up, I'm told." Unless you're Cryostatic.

Wolf returns to the fold of PG Heroes after having lead the "6" on a diplomatic mission to make friends with the other children via a spate of chaos, chasing, and yelling and screaming whilst running about in circles. It's a game called "Tag," and has been working wonders in terms of making friends among canines, humans, and the twain combined for. . . well, nigh on millennia now.

Wolf, panting slightly, settles back down onto his haunches as the kids also return to the fold.

Tali grins. "Ok, you snag. Nice boomerang."

Artemis smiles back. "Just enjoy the trip with your fellows. I am sure the journey will be prime." She turns and heads back to another gathering as she picks up her sheet.

The gathering continues, with gradual departures and inroads being made into the buffet and drinks. There's great anticipation and excitement among the younger companions, and possible among some of the older ones too, as the week passes. Finally it's time to start the grand adventure. From various locations the selected individuals make their way to Tallahassee TransMat Terminal. On arrival a NASA driver is waiting with a sign held up, 'Space Camp 2067.'

Tali can't wait to get started. (Indeed, she warped time a bit to hurry things along!) She's there in perfect time. Her personal-items allowance mostly alloted to drawing materials.

'Stanton Fairchild' arrives wearing a perfectly pressed business suit. His personal effects fewer than most. He must be a minimalist or something. Eitherway- he looks to be in fine spirits and looking forward to the coming days. He also plans on striking up a conversation with 'Artemis' to see what glories her year has brought her.

Wolf is also early. . . He's early by habit. But also by preference! This could be a Grand Adventure, to be sure. Settling down on all fours with his shaggy muzzle laid atop his forepaws and his tail tidily tucked about him, he waits quietly. . . observing the arrival and comportment of the others. Instinctively, he listens and watches for subtle signs of distress or other potential trouble, especially where the kids might be concerned. (( Empathy ))

The kids, all of them, are in high spirits.

Artemis flies in on time with a duffle bag provided by her host. Joseph Newhouse did some of the packing, and it's barebones for the trip. Some garments, and a sharpening stone for her sword, and of course some polish for the armor, but that's about it. She lands outside lightly and readjusts the strap of her duffle bag as her eyes scan around. Spotting the sign, she walks that way with a swashbuckling sway in her step, cap swishing back and forth.

Titan shows up on time, with little fanfare. He ends up having to sign a few autographs as he moves through his transit, but he's only recognized by a few people.

The older kids arrive in ones and twos. Your group arrives as a group, accompanied by Lord Markham and Jessica Steel.

Jessica Steel gives the younger kids a last minute talking to, reminding them they aren't supposed to use any of their special abilities on the trip.

Unix arrived on time as well, almost to the second. Although she wasn't carrying any personal baggage. How strange. However she DID have a small cage, some food and water for a bird, which was sitting on her shoulder as she entered...

The bird generates interest from the kids. Especially from the younger kids. Unix gets swamped by kids asking about the bird... if they can stroke it.. etc..

The NASA driver waits patiently for everyone to turn up and get organised.

And with everyone there the driver leads you all out to a NASA coach. "Welcome. I'm Tim Leroy, your driver. It's a fair drive. A couple of hours. So you may want to get settles down and relax." he says.

Tali comments to the other teens, "Parrots and wolves - wasn't there some puzzle about crossing a river something like that?"

Titan raises a brow as he sees the bird. . o O ( I suspect that is going to freak out in low G's.) He waits until the kids board the bus before getting on himself.

The Stranger boards, disguised as 'Stanton Fairchild', smiling at the heroes and children along the way. He sits and buckles in. His eyes watch Unix's bird with muted interest as their paths cross.

The journey is indeed long. Despite the coach travelling at almost 200 miles per hour under auto-drive time stretches out. It doesn't help that the weather is poor. The weather front coming in from the Gulf is not quite a tropical storm but it's close. Heavy rain, mist, dark looming clouds.

Wolf waits his turn to board the NASA bus, tail swishing idly as he lightly inhales the scents of hot tires and fuel residue from the tarmac. Lightly, of course, as those refined hydrocarbons can sure make your head swim if you breathe too many. He settles into the underseat storage area in the children's row, once it's his turn to board. It's a bit cramped, but, it's also a very secure and stable "seat" and there's no possible better place from which to keep an eye on the kids. Well, their shoes, anyway. Yawning elaborately, he tucks in his tail and paws so as not to get stepped on too much, and settles in for the long haul. He listens to the drumbeats of the rain upon the windows.

Tali chats with the teens to while the time away - and to get to know them better.

"Arch! Mr Parrot Pretty! Arch!". Mr Parrot was moving this way and that and loving the attention, seemed he was more interesting than even the canine who was nearby. Unix kept an eye and let each of the kids pet him one at a time gently, showing them how to give him attention. At the first hint Mr Parrot had enough she called it quits to let him recover. Mr Parrot could get so full of himself he could explode afterall! Well... maybe?

Still, the long journey is almost over... when a large hover truck goes past at a speed well above that permissible under auto-drive. The wind of its passage rocks the coach as the truck vanishes from sight into a thick band of fog drifting across the road ahead. And a few seconds later Peter cries out in pain.

Artemis gazes out the window in idle boredom at the trip. "I had forgotten how slow Earth vehicles could be," she yawns. As the car rocks from the wake of the passing hover truck, she pays no mind until she hears the cry of pain. Her head cranes around towards the cry. "What is it, youngling?"

Peter is holding his head with both hands. "Stop!" he shouts. He moans, "So many people hurt." He then says. "Stop the coach."

Tali mutters something to herself, and climbs out an open window of the bus to go ahead and see what the heck's up with that truck....

Tali cannot can't see much because of the heavy fog but what she can see is the trailing edge of a multi-vehicle pile-up.

Unix "Hmmm.. Mr Parrot i need you to stay here and not fly away, alright?" - 'Arch! Stay here. Arch! Parrot want a pizza!' - "Later..." Unix gives him a few scritches before putting him where he was comfortable and high enough. Guess it was time to look at what was likely an accident.

'Stanton Fairchild' turns his head rapidly towards Peter and his prophetic warning. He unbuckles and stands, gripping the seat in front of him as he does so- looking in that direction as if he could see it himself. He can't so his eyes return to Peter.

Tali is back in her seat. "Big pileup with lots of vehicles! They need help!

The driver turns to look back at Peter. As do the older kids. Cadet May is starting to stand to go to Peter even as he asks, "What's wrong with you?" in a reasonably sympathetic voice.

Tali then vanishes again, notieably this time.

Titan takes Peter's warning seriously and says to the driver, "I suggest stopping. I think there are people that need help outside."

The driver brings the coach to as speedy a halt as he can, with passengers and luggage getting tossed about.

"Pileup?" It takes a moment for Artemis to understand, but she's already rising from her seat and stepping into the aisle. "Very well, once this bus is out of the way, we'll lend assistance immediately." She turns towards the front of the bus and starts walking towards the doors, then stops and holds onto one of the handles to prepare for the stop. She looks back to Titan. "The younglings need to be watched. Will the bus pilot be able to warn us if something happens here?"

Everyone on board 'feels' a knocking on their mind, a 'request' for mental admittance.

Unix moves to the back of the bus where the emergency exit is, hand on the mechenism to open it, but waits for the bus to slow down or stop first. As some of the luggage threatens to land and fall down her scythes come out to push the luggage back into place within her reach, possibly scaring a few kids now that they were exposed. With the bus at a stop she opens the back door stepping out and begins a sprint to where she could last identify where the truck had been, using all her senses to try and track it down.

Wolf's ears instantly perk up and swivel toward Peter at the sound of his cry of pain. Knowing Peter and his ability, Wolf rapidly puts two and two together. He his own mind. . . to Peter's mind, both to help the pain and also to help Peter work out what has happened up ahead.

Titan allows the mental connection, since it's coming from Peter. He nods to Artemis, "I suspect so."

Artemis is used to mental knocks, but only from her long lost brother. She holds her breath a moment and opens her mind in the hopes that it's him.

Tali allows entrance to her mind even as she rushes about seeing what she can do to help the accident victims.

'Stanton Fairchild' allows connection- relying on his ability to change in both body and mind to keep hs secrets safe. Even if he's 'exposed', Althea can speak for him and his intention is to help no matter what.

To all those who allowed mental entry... visibility is poor, no more than a few feet through the thick drifting fog covering the accident site... but somehow the entire area is suddenly known to you as clear as crystal. Every vehicle. Every trapped and injured person. How severe the injuries are to each. The leaking fuel dripping from a crushed and ruptured tank.

Titan looks ahead, "There's a nasty pileup. we're going to work on freeing folks and dealing with a leaking tanker."

The Phillips twins are the first to ask of course. "Can we help?" Ann-Maria asks urgently.

Tali goes to deal with the potentially dangerous leaking fuel - the worst-injured being trapped under too much weight for her to be able to help quickly.

Titan looks to the kids and says quietly, "You have a cover to keep. We'll let you know if you're needed, okay?"

Titan heads outside into the weather, heading to deal with the trapped folks.

The Phillips twins pout but nod. Graham and the Patrica/Mark pair are trying to comfort Peter.

Unix runs and/or leaps using her senses to guide and guess how far away the pileup is...

Tali uses a simple cup found in one of the cars to collect the fuel as it escapes and carrying it away and separate it. It's painstaking work, but she can collect the fuel at the exact rate it leaks.

Wolf his own thoughts, into the already established. As they cross the boundary from Animal Mind to Human, the direct images and sensory impressions from Wolf's memories become Stories -- which is how humans remember things:

The metal beast which sped ahead has fallen and now burns. . . And many people now lie hurt up where this road next turns. ..

If those two can be rescued from their twisted metal cage, A few of us could stand out back to thus this threat presage:

For those that follow on this trail may blindly speed ahead, And crash into this bus' back, and raise the count of dead.

As the heroes depart, The Stranger/'Stanton Fairchild' waits for the other heroes to leave before he makes his way to the front of the vehicle. He stops and says to the driver, "I'll go and make sure they make it back to the land-craft." Then he turns and makes his way out the door.

He makes his way in the general direction of the vehicle, and then turns to make sure he's out of sight.

As soon as he is, he assumes the shape of a driver he noticed as they first departed and left the city. Then he takes to the sky- flying on towards the accident. His target? The people trapped nearest the fuel.

Once there, he rips the car doors off to better inspect the situation. He note's Peter's prescience is phenominal- even by Do'jon standards. He of course says none of this as he brigns his fingers to his mind and shreds the seatbelts trapping a pair of passengers inside.

Artemis piles out of the bus and takes to the air, flying towards the accident as fast as she can. She lands next to one of the badly crumpled cars and leans down towards the broken wind and those trapped inside. "Worry not. I'll have you free of there. The physicians should be on their way," she says reassuringly. Her eyes look to the steering wheel pinning the driver, and the crumpled doors preventing the person from getting free. She moves with care to peel the door off without jostling the vehicle, then slips her hand in delicately push the steering wheel inwards to make space and free the driver.

"There. That didn't take long, did it?" she asks as she unbuckles the seatbelt and offers a hand to the woman inside with a smile. For someone so boisterous, she is at least capable of treating injured humans like delicate eggs.

Unix would be using casual strength to straight cars from their sides to upright and out of the way, looking for serious cases, in those cases trying to open the door before ripping them off to carry up to four people away from the scene as neccesary.

Titan gets to the trapped folks just after the other heroes, "Nicely done." He says to the disguised Stranger, "Whoever you are." He goes about checking for other injuries and moving vehicles out of the way.

The older kids are initially stunned as some of them have allowed the mental entry and are 'seeing' the crash more clearly than seems possible. Cadet May turns to the driver, "Do you have a first aid kit on board?" he asks. Then to the other older kids, "Let's get the seats reclined. The worse injured can be brought in out of the rain. And the kids get to work, young and old, following Cadet May's suggestion.

The Stranger carefully lifts his passengers out with his telekinesis- being sure to keep them still as Titan lands nearby. "Just a concerned citizen, sir. Thank you, Guardian." They seem to be ok, so he flies them out of the immediate area threatened by the explosion of the tanker and dives back into the midst of the pileup to find more injured.

Tali looks for things with which she might plug the fuel leak as she carries the fuel away by the cupful.

Somehow each allowing the mental entry is aware of what others are doing making co-ordination easy. The last to be rescued from the wreckage is an man in his late fifties at a guess. His eyes are glowing brightly. "Tell," he says in a strained voice, "the young man who's mind strength I borrowed his aid was essential. He should be proud of himself." With that he faints... and the mental clarity ends.

Inside the coach Peter faints.

Wolf keeps the to the established mindlink  as long as possible to coordinate with Peter, and through Peter, while also helping to absorb some of the second-hand pain that Peter is himself experiencing. Wolf knows, very well, what that's like. Once the wounded start to trickle in and the car(s) behind them have been warned and stopped, Wolf sets to work healing the injured, moving with a quiet gentle efficiency from one case to the next.

Artemis eases the woman from the car and gingerly lifts her up in her arms in a gentle cradling position, then flies her towards the gathering of the wounded to get her tended to. She lands lightly and drops to a knee, setting the woman on the ground. Standing up, she looks back towards the pileup. "Was that all of them?"

Tali finally finds something in the wreckage on one trip the right size and malleability - a rubber crocodile toy - and stuffs it into the gash. She packs mud around the outside and ages it into a sort of sunbaked clay to make sure of a good seal.

Between the efforts of Wolf and Tali, by the time police and paramedics start arriving on the scene the injured have been healed.

Unix seeing everyone who needed attention have been attended to makes sure her scythes are put away long before the police and parametics arrive.

The Stranger lands near 'Artemis', disguised as ever. "Thank goodness you all were nearby." He says simply before taking off into the sky- shifting back into a crow once he's out of sight again and making his way back towards a spot behind the bus to resume the form of 'Stanton Fairchild'. He climbs on the bus and says, "Wow guys- If I didn't see it myself, I wouldn't have beleived it. I'm glad we were nearby. Your Guardians are quite adroit." He says before retaking his seat. "They'll be along soon I suspect." He says.

Meanwhile now the accident is dealt with and the injured treated, the older kids are looking with curiousity at the heroes. And the younger kids. They haven't said anything but it's clear what they are wondering. What about the younger kids warrants a full meta team as escort?

Tali sits and catches her breath, once everyone has been saved. She's revealed herself to the whole group, she realises, but it couldn't be helped. If she'd hesitated who knows how many might have died?

Artemis gives the stranger landing beside her a nod. "A fortuitous path brought us to where we were needed," she says before the stranger takes off. She looks back to the others as the injured are taken care of. She glances up and notices the kids watching them. She really doesn't understand what they're wondering at all, so she just waves to them cheerfully. "All is well, Younglings. None have perished this day!"

Tali goes over to the older kids once she has her breath back and shrugs casually. "Like I said - hidden talents."

Titan smiles slightly, though he's soaking wet as he gets back on board the coach. "Looks like it worked out...reasonably well. We'll be underway again shortly."

After Wolf finishes helping Tali heal the physically wounded motorists, he rushes back into the bus to help Peter with his "second-hand" wounds. Wolf settles in quietly, curled up at Peter's feet. He the pain that Peter has just gone through, absorbing the shock of it and to Peter a silvery-golden live-line of psionic strength:

In darkness now, you yearn for sleep not even daring tears Grey silence came, with tortured shapes made sharp by gnawing fears

Your shoulders knot and tighten, clenched one hand you cannot raise. Your eyes drooped down and sightless, strare; you cannot lift your gaze. ..

But my Mind sings out of the world that's more than twisted pain!  this strength, come back to us, Awake! and Breathe again!