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2593-16

Eric was seated at his desk, the new one in his room, cradling a sleeping Trevor, when the message appeared in his field of vision.

'He's coming.' Robert

Eric brought his son back to his crib and gently deposited him there. The infant tiger mewed and wriggled around, and for a moment Eric thought he would start crying, but then he settled and went back to sleep.

Eric had the desk installed specifically for the purpose of being able to spend more time with his children, and now it was where he did most of the work that didn't require others. The induction field had been lowering its effect since they'd left the station, two weeks ago, and now it only helped his sons fall asleep if they were tired, which meant that loud voices could wake them.

He sat back down and accessed the camera feeds in the array. He found Robert quickly. He had removed a panel on the wall of the main corridor and he was doing something in there Eric couldn't see. He went through other feeds until he found William, walking along closer to the ship/array connector.

William liked to walk through the array every few days, both as chance to make sure the life support system there was in good order and, since leaving Titan, as a way of being away from everyone else. The atmosphere was still tense when he was in a room with any of the rest of the crew, except Gerald.

He followed the wolf, from one camera to the other, as he walked by Robert, offered greetings and continued for a step. He paused, then turned.

"What are you doing?" William asked.

"Just checking something out." Robert replied, not stopping what he was doing."

"What are you checking out? Those conduits you're handling contain toxic gases."

Robert looked at the wolf, annoyance in his eyes. "Really? And what? You think I don't know that? I'm the cargo master. I know how everything works in here. It wasn't enough you tried to kill me, now you're going to go around telling me how to do my job?"

William closed his eyes at the accusation, but he didn't move. He also didn't show any of the pain he'd shone at previous time the accusation was thrown at him.

"Robert, just what part of the work you're doing requires that you unlock the oxy line?"

The hyena sighed. "I know what I'm doing. I need it unlocked to I can move the cable out of my way."

William studied Robert for a moment, then came to a decision. He placed a hand on the hyena's shoulder and pull on him, but Robert jerked out of the grip.

"There's nothing behind the oxy line, Robert. There's no reason for you to unlock it. What are you doing."

"What I'm doing is none of your business, now get out of here."

"No."

"Will," Robert growled.

"Come on Robert, the only reason for you to unlock it is if you plan on connecting it to one of those other lines. That can't be safe."

Robert sighed in exasperation. "You think I care about safe?" he reached into a small tool bag Eric hadn't noticed until. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at the wolf. "Safe? Who the fuck kept me safe from the case? Who fucking kept me from losing half my leg? And almost suffocating in that suit? What? You though I didn't know Eric barely managed to keep me alive? Or that I don't remember how hardly being able to breath feels like? Yeah? Well, we'll see how he feels about it when he can't pull in one breath."

William took a step back and started to raise his hands, but stop halfway. "Robert, you can't be serious, put the gun down."

"No, I'm not letting you stop me. He's got to pay for what happened to me."

The wolf took a breath. "Robert, Eric had nothing to do with this, it was my fault, not his. If that's what it takes, shoot me, but lock the oxy line down first."

Robert's ears straightened in surprise. "You'd let me shoot you?"

William nodded and opened his mouth. "No." The words seemed to surprise him. He sighed. "I can't let you hurt me, I'm part of the crew."

"I knew it!" Robert reached within the open panel, and William lunged for the gun. He wrapped a hand around the barrel and pulled it away from the hyena.

William took a step away and pointed the gun at Robert. "Step away from the panel."

Robert rolled his eyes. "You can't hurt me, I'm part of the crew too."

"You willing to risk it? From what I'm seeing, you're planning on hurting everyone, that isn't what one of the crew would do. Now, move away."

Robert looked from William to the open panel.

"Damn it, Robert, move away, I don't want to have to shoot you."

Robert's shoulders sagged and he stepped away from the wall.

"Move to the other side Robert, please don't try anything."

William went to the panel, reached in, when he was done he quickly looked inside. "Gerald, can you come check the open panel near the connector to pod E43976?"

Eric couldn't hear the other side of the conversation.

"No, it isn't urgent, and I don't think anything's wrong, I'd just like you to check to be sure." He motioned for Robert to start walked. "I won't be here, but you can't miss it, it's already open."

A text window appeared in Eric's field of vision.

'Eric, I need to discuss something with you, can we meet at your office?' William.

'Yes, I'll be there.' Eric.

Eric was surprised William had used text instead of voice. He wondered why he didn't want Robert to know. He walked to his office, sat and waited for them. It took almost ten minutes before they entered his office. William indicated for Robert to sit in the furthest chair.

"I caught him playing with some lines in the array, it looked like he was going to connect one of the cooling or heating gas line to the oxy. If he'd done it, we could have all been poisoned, him included."

"I know," Eric replied.

William frowned. "What do you mean, you know."

"I was watching him do it."

"You were watching him?" he looked from the tiger to hyena. "Why didn't you warn me? Or send one of the mules?" He narrowed his eyes, then took the power pack out of the gun. It had no energy in it.

"It was a test," William whispered. He glared at Eric. "A test! You fucking son of a bitch!" The wolf lobbed the guy at Eric, who caught it. "You do that to my head, and then what? You don't trust the work the doctor did? You have to check that I'm going to obey you're fucking programing?"

"It wasn't Eric that tested you," Robert said.

William spun and now glared at the hyena. "You? Why the fuck would you-" He straightened. "How come I was angry at you?" William asked Eric.

"You felt betrayed?" Eric volunteered. "I expect anyone would be angry after this."

The wolf waved that away. "That's not what I mean. How come I can be angry at you?"

"Why couldn't you be angry at me? I believe I can be quite exasperating at times." Eric found it amusing William didn't seem to remember his anger in the hospital.

"Yeah, but can't that cause you problem? What are you going to do if I'm pissed at you and storm off?"

Eric shrugged. "The same thing I'd do any other time. I'd give you time to cool off, and then we'd discuss the situation. If needed I'd let you fuck your anger out on me." The tiger watched William for a moment. "You're not a robot Will. You're exactly the same person you were before you went into the hospital, except for a few safeguards."

William nodded, then turned to Robert. "So why did you feel the need to test me? Wasn't the demonstration enough?"

"I had to be sure," the hyena answered. "Yes, I saw Eric could order you around, but that didn't mean the rest was there."

"You didn't trust the captain?"

"He wasn't there for the procedure. How did we know you hadn't found a way to get to the doctor? I figured that how you'd react if you caught me tampering with the ship would be telling."

"And you went along with that?"

Eric shrugged again. "I knew what was going to happen, so I didn't see a problem with doing it. In fact, I figure that if this appeased Robert's fears, it'll go a way to making the rest of the crew more at ease around you."

William sat in the other chair. "What if I'd believed him? Like he said, he's the cargo master. For all I knew, he was doing what he was supposed to."

"If you hadn't had any doubt about it, you'd have walked on by."

"So what? I decide if there's a danger to the crew?"

Eric nodded. "There's no way to program you, or anything, with all the possible way we could be endangered. If you feel something is wrong, you can't just walk by."

"So, it's all about my perception then. If I can convince myself that Robert isn't part of the crew, I can hurt him."

"Yeah, but you'd have to reach all the way to your subconscious. Belief is a tricky thing."

William nodded. "What happens if you fire me? Somehow I don't think I can just walk into another hospital and get all this undone."

"Well, if you don't work for me, I'm not going to be around to give you orders, so that isn't going to be a problem. But you still won't be able to do anything that could hurt Orr Corp. Unless you decide to work for Vanguard, I doubt that would be a problem."

"It isn't like I have a choice about it anyway."

"Have you been talking with one of the psychologist program?"

William snorted. "I don't see how it'll help, but yeah I have."

"Good. Robert, are you satisfied that the safeguards are in place?"

The hyena nodded. "I won't have to worry about William doing anything to hurt us while I sleep."

"Good, if this is resolved, how is your leg? I noticed you limped while walking." Eric had removed the casing before they connected to the array, and had instructed Robert to wear a brace while the muscles regained their strength. The hyena rarely did.

"It's fine. Still a little weak, but I'm spending more time exercising it."

"Don't overdo it." Eric stood. "Unless there's anything else, I have files to go over, and children to look after."

* * * * *

Robert looked up from the report Titan's repair company had sent him in regard to the damages on the array they left there. Well, the report was sent to headquarter, but as an Orr, and being closer, when the message crossed them, the ship copied it. Elliot was going to be livid. Still, five weeks out and no emergency.

Well, not with the ship at least, Eric told himself, as one of his sons started crying. He went to the cribs and the display at the foot of Tucker's read 'change me'.

Eric gently picked him up. "Alright, big boy, let's get you out of these." Tucker was growing faster than his brothers, already weighting one kilo more than Tony. If this kept going, those two would tower over everyone else.

As he lay the infant on the table he received a message about a file waiting in quarantine for him to inspect. He called up the information on it, undoing the diaper, hands moving on their own. It was a very large file. A software update? No, those came with all the proper identifiers for the ship to accept them automatically.

"Oh, dear God," Eric exclaimed, backing up. "Tuck, I'm going to have to mark you as a biological hazard."

In response, his son giggled.

Taking a deep breath, he lifted the still giggling infant and threw the diaper in the sterilizer, surprised the thing didn't blow up. He quickly, but carefully washed Tucker before breathing again. He could still smell the diaper.

He eyes his son. "I Certainly hope you're not planning on doing that every time. There's only so much the sterilizer can take." He put another diaper on Tucker and held him, going to sit.

Tucker played with Eric's finger while he went back to the file. Not an update, so what else might it be? It couldn't be a document, even the library of laws wasn't that large. He was able to look at the raw code, which perplexed him for a moment, then he thought he had it. He still double checked the provenance, and that the transmission code were authentic, then had the ship incorporate the file.

Eric wasn't surprise when a tiger in a gray cardigan and black slacks appeared before him.

"Uncle," Eric greeted him.

"Eric, how are-" The projection ohhed and moved around the desk to peer at the baby. "This has to be Tucker. He's such a handsome fellow."

Tucker gazed at the new face and then reached for it with a hand, giggling when it passed through the image. He continued trying to grasp it until Uncle stepped away.

"We've been receiving the pictures, but they don't do him justice. He's going to be a charmer, I can tell."

Eric smiled and stood, bringing Tucker to his crib. "Can you transfer yourself to the conference room? I'll meet you there."

"Can't I look at the new additions to the family first?" the tiger leaned over each crib, smiling and greeting each of them in a soft voice.

While he did that, Eric sent Marc a message asking him to look after the children while he was in a conference. The monkey agreed whole heartedly. For all the difficulty he'd had with the idea of children on the ship before, Marc loved looking after them.

By the time he reached the last crib, Trevor's Uncle was now whispering baby talk. Eric rolled his eyes and left the room. When he entered the conference room, Uncle was already there, a wide smile on his face.

"You know, uncle, the way you act around children, you must have been a great father when you were alive."

"I have no idea if I had kids, but I love to watch each generation arrive. They are always amazing. Of course, I'm not the one who has to raise them, so I don't have the endure the tantrums."

"Right, I have that to look forward to. So, does Elliot know you sent yourself here?"

"Oh no, he'd never let me do that, but I figured you didn't want to have him overhear this conversation."

"What is it about?"

"William. I question the wisdom of having him adjusted."

"How did you know? I haven't sent any report about it."

"Eric, please. I'm a computer, unlike the operators, I see everything that happens, including a rather large payment to Titan Hospital. It was simple enough for me to query them about it."

Eric sat with a sigh. "What are your objections?"

"He already cost the corporation-"

"Don't quote me the number, I read it, I still have nightmare about it."

"Then why did you spend even more money on him? And for what? So he can't cause us more problem? Incarceration would do the same, for a fraction of the cost."

Eric nodded. "Uncle, do you understand the concept of loyalty?"

"Of course, he can't do anything that would hurt you or us."

"But do you understand my loyalty to him?"

The projection froze for a moment. "No, I don't," Uncle said after a moment. "He's an employee."

"He's my friend. Hell, he's more than that, he's my family."

"You already have a family, Eric."

"I know, that's not what I mean. Will's been with me since my first voyage as captain. He's the only one left of the first group of guys I hired. That's close to two decades now. I don't mean that I'm not happy with our family, but I've been spending years living with each of my crew in this box. Those who've managed to last more than one back and forth have become special, a second family of sort."

Eric leaned back his chair. "Sure, we've had problem, and there have been issues I couldn't ignore, like Yonto and Xavier. Xavier was easy to fire, by the time We got back I couldn't wait to throw him off. Yonto a bit tougher, but still he was so set in his way I couldn't see how I could keep him on."

"What is different about William? While you haven't said it in any of your reports, it's clear he is the one who sabotaged the array."

"But he didn't mean to do it, Uncle. He was used by Xavier, who I'm pretty sure was put up to it by Vanguard. He and Xavier were great friends, but Xav told Will a twisted version of what was happening, so that when I fired Xavier, he thought I was dumping him for no reason. When Xavier approached him to help him make my life difficult, Will figured I deserved it. He didn't know he was causing sabotage."

"I'm guessing you only have his word for that."

"Uncle, he gave me full access to his personality. That isn't the act of someone malicious. He was torn apart by the damage he caused and because he hurt Robert. He would have gone along with anything we decided to do to him."

"So, you decided to go easy on him?"

Eric laughed. "You think I went easy?"

"You only hardwired loyalty in him, I don't see how that is anything else."

"I'm forcing him to confront the people he betrayed and hurt every day. Do you have any idea how tough that is? Too see mistrust in the eyes of those you used to fuck with on a daily basis? As far as I know me and Gerald are the only ones who'll have sex with him."

"You think that's sufficient?"

"I think it's better than if we'd locked him away. He's a great engineer, and this way he's still adding value to the corporation."

"That sounds very much like you're trying to justify your decision. As far as I can see, you did this because you don't want to lose his friendship."

"So? Is that wrong?"

The image froze again. "I don't know," Uncle finally said. "I know Elliot will want your hide for this."

"He won't do anything, I have kids to look after and he knows it."

"Don't think that will prevent him from letting you have it. He could ground you."

Eric straightened. "He wouldn't."

"You know he would."

"He can't, I'm not just some employee, I'm family."

"He's the head of the corporation, he can do anything he wants."

Eric cursed. "Fine, then all I have to do is erase this copy of you and I'll be able to tell him anything I want."

Uncle fixed him with his gaze. "Do you really want to go up against your brother without me in your corner?"

"Are you?"

"I haven't decided, but the odds are much better if I have all the information then if you show up and I'm ignorant. By the time I'll have brought myself up to date Elliot could have made his decision."

Eric cursed. "Look Uncle, there are things more important than the bottom line."

Uncle tilted an ear. "The bottom line is needed if we're going to look after our citizens. We can't just throw money away."

"Damn it, I'm not saying we should do that, but William is important to me and my crew."

The holographic tiger studied Eric for a moment. "I don't recall ever seeing you this emotional about something."

"I told you, William is important."

"Alright. Give me all the information, I'll go over everything, see if I can add anything to it. I'll advise security to look for Xavier."

"Won't Elliot notice that?"

"I have contacts within the security department, they'll be discreet. I want Xavier questioned, if only to get an official version for the reason why he did this."

Eric norted. "I wouldn't trust anything that guy says when it comes to us, based on what William told me, he twisted everything that happened on the ship to seem like I was in love with him."

"Still, any detail will help us talk Elliot down."

"Are you going to wait until I'm back to give him the information?"

"Yes, we'll approach him together."

"Okay." He gathered all the files he'd compiled and gave them to Uncle. The image froze while the tiger incorporated them to his program.

"I'm ready to be sent back." The image disappeared, and a moment later the ship's system informed Eric there was a new file waiting. He encrypted it, then sent it. He wasn't worried about SolGov intercepting this file. If they did, and decrypted it, This version of Uncle would have an easy enough time navigating their system to make it back to Headquarter.

Eric received a message indicating Thomas was hungry. He smiled and went back to be a father.