Somewhere over 
Onboard a modified Boeing 767
“I hate this,” Casey grumped as the 767 pulled out of its dive. He settled back to the deck, gravity having returned once more.
“Why?” Sarah asked. “This is fun!”
“Well, first of all, I hate flying,” he said. “Secondly, this is making me nauseous.”
“Five seconds to dive, folks,” came the voice over the intercom.
“Get ready!” Sarah said gleefully.
Casey rolled his eyes, and then the 767 pitched over and started diving toward the earth once more.
As Casey lifted off the floor, something else started to lift off as well, and he felt it.
“Oh God,” Casey grunted. “Oh God, this is not good.”
“What?” Sarah asked, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“Uh, I had a big pastrami sandwich for lunch… and uh…”
“Oh my God.”
Sarah used her hands to push her along the wall to the intercom. “Casey’s about to blow pastrami all over me,” she said sharply. “Could we come out of the dive please?”
As quickly as she said it, the 767 leveled out. Casey drifted to the ground, and crawled to the bulkhead. Grabbing a barf bag, he stuck his face in it.
“Oh, that’s disgusting,” Sarah said, wrinkling her nose.
Bryce Larkin blasted onto I-210 at a rate of speed that would’ve gotten him arrested by any CHP officer worth his badge. He had found the device that Fulcrum used, and he had to get to a certain location by a certain time for it to work properly.
A Fulcrum man was tied up in the backseat. “You’re coming with me, jackass,” Bryce had said as he tased him for about the sixth time thirty minutes prior.
Now Bryce was headed for the
As Bryce blasted through La Crescenta, the guy in the back started mumbling something. Bryce turned around, and ripped the piece of duct tape off his mouth. “What?” he yelled.
“You’re never gonna find Bartowski, loser. He’s go-“
His words were cut off by Bryce’s fist to his mouth.
“I’ll find Chuck,” Bryce said. “I’ll find him.
After the 767 had landed back at Lackland Air Force Base, Sarah turned her cell phone back on – and discovered she had a message. Dialing her voicemail, she was surprised to hear the voice of Ellie Bartowski.
“Sarah… it’s Ellie,” she said. “Listen, I know you’re out of town for the holidays… but I needed to let you know… Chuck’s been in a horrible accident. He’s in the hospital… he’s been unconscious for three days now. If you get this, please call me back right away. Thanks.”
Sarah hung up the phone and bowed her head. The pain in Ellie’s voice was almost palpable, and the knowledge that she herself was contributing to Ellie’s pain was a horrible burden to bear.
Casey walked up and tapped her on the shoulder. “Everything okay?” he asked.
She turned around and looked at him with a renewed intensity. “We’ve got to find Chuck,” she said. “We’ve got to do it soon.”
“Believe me, I know,” Casey said. “I swear to God, I get one more call from Morgan Grimes, I’m gonna break my phone.”
“I got a call from Ellie Bartowski,” Sarah replied. “She sounds like she’s on the edge of falling apart.”
Casey sighed. “You know…” He stopped.
“What?” Sarah asked.
Casey kept silent for a moment more. Then: “The sensors went off when his phone rang. I listened to the call. I didn’t tail him, because I figured he’d be safe. I also didn’t trace the call. If I had, it would’ve come up with a number that’s listed as a known Fulcrum number in our database.”
He stopped again. Sarah shook her head. “Casey, this is not your fault. You had no way of knowing that Chuck was going to be in danger on what looked like a routine work call.”
Casey looked at her, a dangerous look in his eyes. “Protecting Chuck Bartowski was my assignment. I failed in that assignment. I failed miserably.”
But he was just getting ramped up. “But you know what else? None of this ever would’ve happened if that shit Larkin –“
“Watch your mouth,” Sarah warned.
“– hadn’t sent Chuck that goddamn Intersect database. If he’d just destroyed it and then gone after Fulcrum, this never would’ve happened. Chuck wouldn’t have been in danger, you and I wouldn’t be training to go into the nether reaches of time to chase him down. This is all Larkin’s fault. I would give anything for five minutes alone with that little bast-“
Sarah’s open left hand cut him off as she slapped Casey with all the force she could muster.
Casey stood in shock, just looking at Sarah. He rubbed his face briefly, and then spoke.
“Thanks,” he said. “I needed that.”
“Yeah, no shit,” Sarah replied, with an edge to her voice. “This is not your fault. This is not Bryce’s fault. This is not Chuck’s fault. This is Fulcrum’s fault, and believe me, they’re gonna pay. I’ve already killed one of their men over this –“
“Really? Me too,” Casey interjected.
“– and I’m sure we’ll both be killing more. But for right now, our mission – yours, mine – is getting onboard the Enterprise, finding Chuck, and bringing him home. Now, are you gonna be able to handle that, or are you gonna keep having episodes like you just had?”
Casey steeled his spine, almost coming to attention. “I believe we need to go kick some interstellar ass.”
Bryce set the device up by the side of the road. Activating it, he set it to the same calibration that it had been at on Christmas Eve.
He backed his Trans Am up a quarter mile. He revved the engine as he waited for the portal to activate.
When he saw it come into glowing existence down the road, he hit the gas. As he did so, the Fulcrum guy in back woke up. Sitting up, his eyes grew wide, and he started making frantic noises.
“Shut up and lie back down,” Bryce snapped. “You’re comin’ with me, bitch.”
Bryce hit the portal at 70 mph. When he came through on the other side, he realized he was in a gigantic hangar. He slammed on both the brake and the clutch, and stopped just a few inches from what looked like some sort of… space-hopper?
Almost immediately, his Trans Am was surrounded by a dozen troops. “Step out of the vehicle with your hands in the air!” one shouted.
Bryce complied, and the one who had yelled ran up to him and handcuffed him.
“You are under arrest for trespassing on the Alliance cruiser Columbia,” the soldier informed him. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you choose to waive these rights?”
Bryce looked him in the eye. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Alright,” the soldier said, giving another soldier a nod.
Bryce felt something hit the back of his head – and then everything was black.
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