76.

Cindy stood very still while staring out of a view port down by the far end of the ship's right wing. Jasmine had been looking for Cindy for a little while by this point. Having been to the medical bay and to Cindy's quarters, it was just by chance that Jasmine had come by the right wing area and had noticed her friend alone down the other end of the walk way.

'There you are, I was worried about you' says Jasmine as she approaches Cindy.

Cindy does not respond or even react in any way to Jasmine's arrival. She just kept looking out at the shuttlecrafts which were still gathering outside.

'Hey Cindy, are you OK?'

Jasmine places a hand on Cindy's left shoulder and that startles Cindy, making her jump.

'Hey, hey, it is only me, nothing to be frightened of.'

Jasmine held both her hands up in the air as she spoke. Cindy turns towards her friend and needs to take a moment for it is like she's coming out of a daze or some sort of trance and after a few seconds she hugs Jasmine.

'How are you doing? How are you feeling?'

'Strange, I feel strange. Don't ask me how or why, but I think having lost my baby has something to do with all this.'

'That cannot be possible, what has happened to you is just part of life, no one is at fault, no one is to blame.'

The Pathfinder begins to move and after a couple of seconds of looking back outside so too does Cindy.

'Hey ... wait, where are you going?' calls out Jasmine as she would also begin to move and follow Cindy.

Cindy quickly walks right all the way to then into the command center and comes to a halt without acknowledging anyone else including her own mother. Jasmine follows and holds her own hands up once more while also looking over at Maria as if to say that she does not know what is going on with Cindy.

A flash of white light turns everyone's attention to the viewport though which Cindy has already been looking out almost anticipating what is to come. The Pathfinder itself now comes to a halt and what appears in front of the ship could not possibly be what it seems to be, though with its arrival being questioned it would appear to be something that The Pathfinder has come across once before.

'That cannot be ... can it?' asks Leo.

'It may be improbable but not impossible as we all are aware' responds Maria.

What it is that faces them is the space station that they had come across once before, only this time it was most definitely not powered down. It would appear that the flash of light was responsible for its re-appearance. The place this time, is full of life, some of which is about to become known to the crew of The Pathfinder.

'We have an incoming transmission' speaks Mandy, 'something else I should have already informed you of is that I also have Robert Stanford transmitting to my earpiece.'

Maria pauses for a couple of seconds to take in what Mandy had said.

'What? ... Let's hear the incoming transmission first.'

'This is Cindy Flores speaking from the Earth 2 space station ...'

Leo and Mandy look toward Maria, Maria looks toward her daughter who is still standing a few feet away from her and staring out the viewport.

'... We here on the space station are from approximately twenty-two of your years in your future. These shuttles you see surrounding us are from further into the future. As you are aware or may be aware, there have been time fractures, fractures in time and space. There are those from the future who have used these fractures to return to the past, your present, in an attempt to use that to their advantage ...'

Maria turns to Mandy.

'Can we broadcast to the space station?'

'Yes.'

Mandy taps a few keys on her console then nods to Maria.

'This is Maria Flores on The Pathfinder,' that felt so strange for her to say given the circumstances, 'what if anything can we do about all this?'

'Mother, it is so good to talk to you' speaks the voice from the space station.

'As it is you though this is somewhat disorientating' responded Maria.

At this particular moment Samar aids Simon into the command center. Simon is wearing dark sunglasses and Samar helps Simon to make his way to the second piloting station. Samar couldn't help but stare at Mandy; this made her feel slightly uneasy as for one thing at this moment in time Mandy has no idea as to who this young man is but there us something about him.

Sixteen-year-old Cindy would turn and look at Jasmine just as her counterpart would speak once again. Listening to her friend's voice speak without seeing her lips move seriously unnerves Jasmine. Indeed, it's Cindy's alternate doing the speaking.

'We need you to return through the wormhole and send back an energy pulse, transmitting the relevant information electronically to you now. Combined energy pulses in theory will close these time fractures resetting the balance of time. The sooner the better you can get through that wormhole.'

'Information received' speaks Mandy.

'Alright space station, preparing to head through now' Maria spoke as she nodded towards Leo.

Leo taps at his controls and The Pathfinder begins to move.

'Great' says the older Cindy, 'and mom, please be safe.'

'Sure thing ...' Maria says as she looks over at her daughter who is still only just a few feet away from her and looking as if she were back in a similar trance as to when she was when Jasmine had found her. Is there something untoward in Maria's future? If so, will current actions alter that?

Mandy moves over to Simon, hands her earpiece to him and smiles. Simon looks at Mandy quizzically before putting the piece to his right ear. As Simon does this Mandy glances up at the man next to Simon then moves back to the position she had only just come from.

'Hello' speaks Simon not being sure what to expect.

'Simon my good friend, how the hell are you?'

'Robert? What the hell? Where are you? When are you?'

'Long story buddy, just know that I am well as is both Jeff and Dan though I think that you may already know that all is well.'

'I do indeed, though it is good to hear you ...'

'Thirty seconds until entry into the wormhole' speaks Leo.

'Robert ...'

'I know my friend, just get through that wormhole and close these fractures. Take care of yourself and your lady friend, OK? And don't worry, she will be fine.'

'Fifteen seconds ...' continues Leo.

'Will do, goodbye my friend and be safe.'

Simon wants to ask about the don't worry part of what Robert had said but time is running out. Samar puts a hand on one of Simon's shoulders as Simon throws the earpiece back over to Mandy. She catches it with her right hand and smiles.

The return trip through the wormhole is most definitely nowhere near as smooth as the first trip through. It interferes with ships power and lighting dims briefly. Twenty seconds pass and the question is raised. Where is Mandy?

Mandy Anand is no longer within the command center, and no one had seen her leave. She had come to the command center with Sheila Ryan and Sylvia Thompson both of whom have taken an observational position within the center.

'Did anyone see where Mandy went?' asks Maria.

She looks around the room until she sees Sheila and Sylvia, both of whom look eager to say something. No answers come. Simon wants to do something though he is still recovering from a transformation and with a bit of turbulence he stays seated. The journey continues through the wormhole and once out the other side, the wrong side as far as The Pathfinder is concerned with as far as finding a new home goes, it can clearly be seen that Mandy is back in the position she was in before the wormhole had been entered.

The Pathfinder comes to a halt. Mandy looks towards Sheila and Sylvia, then looks to Simon and the fellow standing next to him and then looks towards Maria.

'We cannot fire that pulse, not yet ...' Mandy says.

'What? ... Why not? ... and where the hell were you a few seconds ago?' asks Maria.

'I was back on Earth ...'

'What?'

'It's happening' Sheila tells Sylvia, everyone else looks bewildered, even Simon and Samar.