Days of Future and Past<BR>
by Zaxxon<BR><BR></CENTER>
Part 7

NOTE/WARNING:

     It should be obvious from now on that I'm using an alternate
X-Men Universe for this story. In fact, this X-Men Universe is a
modified verse of Tracy Morris's X-Men/Forever Knight Universe began
in "Burning Dreams" and continued in "Problems With Mutants."
Permission has been asked and given from Tracy Morris for my use of 
her concept of Natalie "Inferno" Lambert. The concept of Nick "Crusader"
Knight is mine. Nick Knight, Natalie Lambert, and company are the 
propety of TriStar. No copyright infrigment is meant. Just trying 
to tell a story that would not otherwise be told.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

[=== From Part 6 ===]

     Bester took a close look at Garibali's X.S.E. uniform and said
smiling, "I knew, we make a great team."
     "Well, you're no 'Elizabeth Frost'," Garibaldi said.
     "I'm hurt," Bester said in a mock-hurt voice. In a playful voice, 
he said, "Besides, I'm better."
     Sheridan just shook is his an thought, // Who's Elizabeth 
Frost? //

[=== End of Part 6 ===]

     There was a flash of light. It was strange in that one moment it
was there, the next it was gone. Most of the populace on Earth knew
nothing about it since it did not register on any instrument,
earth-based or in space. Even the small object that appeared a little
while after the flash went unnoticed. One person did take notice but
her own reaction was to smile.
     The small object, when the sunlight finally touched it, became
a shuttle. Inside the shuttle, its four passengers sat in their
various places in comfort that seemed to contradict the sleek design of
the shuttle. As the shuttle entered Earth's atmosphere, it looked more
like one of the birds than the busky Earth Alliance atmospheric shuttle
that four were used to. A silence had descended on the crew after
leaving Graymalkin.
     "Are we in the correct time frame?" Ivanova asked.
     "Yes, each universes and timelines has a feel to them. The feeling I
got from this one is the same as your universe only four hundred years
less," Nathan replied.
     "So what's the plan?" Garibaldi asked.
     "Yeah. I mean we can't simply go up to each person and say, 'gee,
the Shadows are going to kill you. We can protect you.' Why should they
belive us?" Ivanova added.
     "I've thought about that," Nathan said. "What we need is some
undisputable proof we're from their future. As well as a way to see
Xavier."
     "Xavier!" Garibaldi said. "Until now it didn't seem real. To meet
the First Ones... that wore the 'X'."
     "Why doesn't Xavier simply scan us?" Bester asked. "I mean,
Xavier's the first publically acknowledged telepath and he's, at least,
a P10, if the history books from this time can be trusted."
     Ivanova looked worried for a moment until Nathan answered Bester
with, "For several reasons... First and for most, a psi-scan can only
tell if a person thinks he or she is telling the truth. Second, there's
a risk involved in doing a psi-scan. The scannie has to open his or her
mind to do a scan, so the scannie and the scanner are open to a
psi-attack then. And finally, do we want, even someone as responsible
as Xavier, to know the future?"
     Both Garibaldi and Ivanova shook the heads. Bester was slower but
he too agreed that they should keep as much of the future a secret.
     "Getting back to the subject on hand, so what's the plan?" Ivanova
asked.
     "We're being scanned," Bester interrupted.
     "I detect no scan," Garibaldi said after checking his monitors.
     "No, you won't. It's a psi-scan," Bester said evenly.
     "But there is nothing in our line of sight," Ivanova put in.
     "True. A Psi Corp member can only use his or her psi-ability in a 
line of sight situtation, but we are dealing with the X-Men, so anything
possible," Bester said with a touch of awe in his voice.
     "Then we better land then," Nathan said.
     
     After disembarking from the shuttle, the four made their way to
the building they could see in the east.
     "Where are we?" Garibaldi asked. "This doesn't look like the
Institute I rememeber from my X.S.E. training."
     "It's not," Bester said in a small voice. "We're at the Academy.
Or what will become the Psi Corp Academy after its formed."
     "So this is what that's like?" Ivanova asked curiously.
     "What?" Bester asked absently. "No. Well sort of. Five years after
the Psi Corp took it over, they walled it up. Weather control and the
like. Still... it's home."
     As the group appoached the Academy, they noticed that there were
people waiting for them. The group awaiting them consisted of three
adults and four children. The children, teenagers actually, were of a
varity of backgrounds. Three of the teenagers were girls. One was blonde
and tanned as if she spent most of her time in the sun, another had 
black hair and a dark-colored skin, and the third girl was obviously of
oriental descent. The two boys, one dark-colored and the other hispanic
in origin, were dressed like the girls in a black and yellow uniform
with an 'X' on them and all the teenagers looked ready for a fight,
especially at the sight on Garibaldi and Nathan's guns. The adults
looked less enthusiatic about the fight than their young companions,
but stood ready none the less. In the middle of the adults, Banshee, 
Sean Cassidy, stood in his green and yellow 'uniform'.  To his right was 
the White Queen, Emma Frost, wore a mini-skirt, tight fitting blouse, 
and knee-high boots, all in white, a conservative outfit for her.
     To Banshee's left, Nathan was surpised to find Jean Grey, Phoenix.
Phoenix looked slightly out of place in her red body suit with an
emblazed yellow phoenix on the front. Like Emma and unlike the other,
Jean didn't have an 'X' on her outfit. Upon seeing Nathan, Banshee,
White Queen, and the Generation X teenagers tensed up. Only Jean seem to
relax. A silence fell over the group.
     The silence was broken after a few moments by Jean saying, "Nice to
see you again, Cable."
     "Same here, Phoenix," Nathan answered.
     Both Garibaldi and Bester looked surprised and confused at Nathan's
answering to 'Cable,' only Ivanova seemed to expect it. Ivanova instead
was giving Phoenix the 'once over.'
     The teenagers had moved behind the adults after Jean's welcome and
began to whisper behind the adults' back. They were silenced by a quick
look from the White Queen.
     "What do you want?" the White Queen asked.
     Both Garibaldi and Ivanova looked sharply at her as if looking for
something.
     "We need to see Professor Xavier," Bester answered her. He did not
understand why the question prompted such interest from Garibaldi and
Ivanova but he did trust Garibaldi's instincts.
     "An' why woul' ya nee to see the Professor?" Banshee asked.
     "Because his life is in danger," both Bester and Garibaldi
stated.
     "And how do we you're not the danger?" the White Queen asked.
     "If they were the 'danger' as you put it," Phoenix said to the
White Queen. "They would have made up a different story. Why lose the 
element of surprise?" Phoenix turned to Cable and said, "You can come
to the mansion with me. There's room in the Blackbird."
     "Okay," Cable replied for the group. "Just let me send the
shuttle back since we won't need it at the moment."
     "I'd parked the Blackbird over there," Phoenix said while
pointing to the side of the Academy.
     
     Phoenix lead the group to the Blackbird. Banshee and the White
Queen brought up the rear. Both Bester and Garibaldi were looking
around with Bester pointing out what would be where in the Future.
Ivanova was trying to covertly observe Phoenix as she was talking with
Nathan.
     The White Queen whispered to Banshee, "Jean agreed to Cable and
the others' story too fast, I'm going to go to keep an eye on them."
     "You think one of the strangers is a telepath powerful enough to
influence *Phoenix*?" Banshee asked incredulously.
     The White Queen quickly looked at Phoenix and back as she said,
"Phoenix is *NOT* a godess. She *IS* human. Anything is possible...
And the one called 'Bester,' the one with the greek letter psi, has
very strong mental shields. So he's, at least, a telepath and a strong
one to boot. The same, or less, class as I am. And with Cable
involved...."
     Banshee looked skeptical but said, "Fine. I'll take the children
back to class."
     What was left unsaid was the uneasiness between Phoenix and the 
White Queen. Up until three years ago, Emma Frost, the White Queen of 
the Hellfire Club, was one of the X-Men's greatest enemies. It was
common when the Inner Circle of the Hellfire Club fought the X-Men
that the White Queen and Phoenix would oppose one another since they
were both telepaths. Only Phoenix always won the match despite new
techniques that the White Queen had come up with specifically to
combat her. 
     Most of the X-Men had accepted Emma into their ranks, culminating
in Xavier and Magnus deciding to make her co-teacher for the next 
generation of X-Men, Generation X, only Robert Drake, the Iceman, and 
Jean Grey, Phoenix, continued to mistrust her.
     After Phoenix powered up the Blackbird, she showed Garibaldi,
Ivanova, and Bester the passenger seats along the left wall. She
then showed Cable  the co-pilot's seat on the right, taking the left,
pilot's seat for herself. The White Qeen took the flight engineer's
seat behind the pilot's seat.
     The lack of trust between Phoenix and the White Queen became
obvious when the White Queen detected the high-speed, low-energy
encrypted telepathic communication between Phoenix and someone else.
Who the second half of the conversion was, Emma didn't know. It was
not Bester since he was talking outloud with Garibaldi and Ivanova and
did not posses the ability to talk outloud and telepathic at the same
time. It was possible Jean was talking to Xavier but it should not
have lasted this long. The only other person was Cable but most X-Men
thought his x-factor was not psionic in nature like Jean's. No one
was positive, since Cerebro can not seem to scan Cable. There seemed to
be some kind of interference surrounding Cable. Emma could not think
what Jean could possibly be telling Cable.
     ## So, Bobby freezes the ice cream solid, ## Jean told Nathan 
telepathically. 
     ## And then.... ## Nathan asked back with a mental smile.

[=== End of Part 7 ===]