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//"What do you have to say for yourself, Commander?" asked Anderson woodenly as Mark stood to attention in front of him. It had been barely a few hours since they had finally defeated the wasp-like mecha that Zoltar had unleashed against the Earth. And only a few hours since Mark had seen through Zoltar's subterfuge to disguise himself as his friend Cronus, and almost succeed in trapping G-Force for good. Anderson had warned him, but Mark had thought he knew better. Now he had to answer to the Chief. But even that paled in significance when he thought of Cronus, probably now dead on Riga. He looked at Anderson. "I'm sorry, Chief. I didn't think..." "Yes I gathered that. You showed great insubordination, Mark, but also great irresponsibility!" Anderson's words flew over Mark's head. His only thought was Cronus. Lost in the battle against Spectra. He wanted to be alone, to bury his face in his hands and cry. But he was not allowed to do so. Not yet. "Yes, Chief," was all he could say. Anderson was silent for a moment. He knew the stress Mark was under, and he shared his grief for Cronus. "Dismissed," he said curtly, and looked at his papers again. Mark was brought back to the present with a jolt. That was all? No reprimand, no detention? "Chief, I..." he started. Anderson rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Go, Mark. Go find the others. Be with your team." Mark started towards the door, but then turned back. "And who will you be with, Chief?" he asked gently. Anderson had not given any thought to the fact that he also needed company at this hour. He was so used to being alone in all the crises that the Federation faced, it became second nature to disregard his own feelings. "I've got stuff to do," he said gruffly, shuffling some papers. "No, Chief. Come with us. Let's go have a drink in Cronus's honour." Mark waited by the door, holding it open. He took Anderson by the shoulder as they walked out.//

DT: That's extra kind of Mark given the Chief's lying to him about his dad all that time.

Originally posted by ChrisW DT: That's extra kind of Mark given the Chief's lying to him about his dad all that time.

Seriously! I can totally see Mark doing this though.

So this is all messed up in canon (they said Cronus was dead, then later in the series he's suddenly alive) but it is my understanding that at this point Mark doesn't know Cronus is his father.

You're right, TJ! When I first watched the show, it was with the "Sandy Frank running order", and I remember making a note (I wrote "transcripts" of each ep after the show -- these were the days before videotapes, just in case there is someone from a younger generation here) that, in another ep, Cronus appears alive again. But still, "The attack of the alien wasp" was one of my favourites.

Originally posted by Redbird

Originally posted by ChrisW DT: That's extra kind of Mark given the Chief's lying to him about his dad all that time.

Seriously! I can totally see Mark doing this though.

He's being the mature one in G-Force

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Mylari: Oh boy, Keyop is so dead meat!

LOLOL, at least those kids will sleep well at naptime, not that Jason will appreciate it

ROTFL. Poor Jason! He'll look like a molting Condor when the kids are done with him. Keyop is gonna be in for it for sure!

This gets better and better! Jason in feathers and now Jason in feathers with kids all around him. Poor, poor Keyop...

Daniella -- I like your approach to keeping track of the episodes! I tended to treat them as separate entities and never really thought about sequence. I guess I just took it for granted that they were all out of order. Mylari -- Oh dear, oh dear -- this is gonna take more than a clean bathroom to get Keyop out of Jason's crosshairs!

There -- now caught up again! *** "How did she look when she told you about this surprise?" he asked. Jun shrugged.  "Like she always does.  A little embarrassed, maybe."  Jun frowned as she thought back.  "A little flustered." "As though she were acting, or flustered because she was afraid?" "Well, she was afraid that you would find out that she told me.  She said so herself." "Go back and tell me the entire conversation, as word for word as you can." Jun felt her cheeks heat up, especially as she recalled the beginning part of what Madge had said to her.  Still, she saw his point in needing to know everything the woman said in order to see the context of how she told Jun about this so-called surprise.  Now was not the time for subterfuge. Jun took a deep breath and rattled off the entire exchange as she remembered it.  When she finished, Red Impulse said nothing, but the scowl on his face said that he was clearly unhappy with this turn of events. "Did she say anything about when you were to get this surprise?" he finally asked. Jun shook her head.  "All she said was exactly what I just told you.  Why?  What are you thinking?  You honestly think that she's," Jun lowered her voice, "a part of them?  Or Galactor?" "No, I don't think she is, but I'm not willing to rule her out just yet, either." Jun nodded; she knew only too well from hard experience that Galactor agents were fond of concealing themselves in even the most  innocent-looking of things and people. "So now what?" "Now we wait and see what happens next.  In the meantime, we'll still move forward but unfortunately, it won't be as fast as I would have liked." "Were Masaki and Oniishi able to finish?" she asked, remembering the call Red Impulse had taken. Now he was the one to shake his head. "Unfortunately, no.  Reading Industries has made their computer system virtually hack-proof, so it's taking Masaki a little longer than usual to get in." "But if it's hack-proof ...." "Virtually isn't completely," Red Impulse said distractedly as he began to pace the length of the room.  The room's one window was closed, the curtains drawn.  Jun noticed that the bedsheets had been turned down at one corner and the throw pillows had been carefully piled onto a small footstool tucked into the corner. That meant that they had turned down her room, too, she thought as she looked over at the door leading to the bathroom and her own room. "So we still have to wait then?" Jun asked, cringing inwardly at the thought of another day of tours through old buildings. "The problem is, I'm not sure we have the time to wait now," Red Impulse said.  "If someone is close enough to recognizing us from our encounter in the city in this place, and had long enough to arrange something like this 'surprise', then we may have well just run out of time." "Maybe Madge made a mistake," Jun said, trying to think of every angle, every possibility.  "There's another girl here, maybe the surprise was really for her." "Possible, but not likely.  Especially if Madge made it a point to 'accidentally' tell  you about it." "You think she was lying?" "I told you. Right now, everyone is suspicious until we find out exactly what we're dealing with.  For now though, I think it best if we stay together instead of separate rooms.  Since they seem to be targeting you, get your things and come in here." Jun moved towards the door to go back out through the hallway when Red Impulse stopped her. "Not that way," he said, tipping his head towards the bathroom door.  "That way.  I don't want anyone to be able to see you coming and going from here.  Let them think you're in your room or, at the very least, guess where you might be." "But I locked the bathroom door from the other side," Jun said.  Red Impulse blew out a breath and stalked over to the bathroom door and opened it.  By the time Jun walked in behind him, he was down on one knee, a slender metal pick no longer than a credit card in his hand.  He rattled the knob a few times and, like magic, it unclicked. "You know how to pick locks?" "One of my many talents," he answered, slipping the tool back into his pocket. "Can you show me how to do that?" she asked, as she turned the knob and opened the door. "We'll see," he said and Jun bit back a smile at the fact that his words echoed Mandy's mother's.  She wondered if she would have any better luck than Mandy, but she doubted it.  Jun took one step into her room when she froze, pulled up short by the sight that met her in her room.  Red Impulse was instantly behind her. "So much for waiting," he said, his tone sarcastic. "Now what?" "I'm not sure," he admitted as he squeezed by Jun and went into the room. As she suspected, her room had been turned down, like Red Impulse's, but there, in the middle of her bed, was a prettily wrapped square box in shiny red, green and silver striped paper and topped with a big, fluffy bow of iridescent red.  It was a sparkly, irresistible gift, begging to be opened.  Red Impulse walked up to the edge of the bed and stared down at the package as though staring down an enemy.  Jun took a step in and Red Impulse immediately put out a hand in her direction. "Don't!" he barked.  "Stay where you are until I know what we're dealing with here." Jun ignored him and walked in anyway, though she did not go quite as close to the bed, and the package, as he was. "Are you sure you didn't send me a gift?" Jun asked and Red Impulse gave her a stern look.  "Could it have been Masaki or Oniishi?" she suggested.  "You know, instead of picking up things at the drop-off point, maybe they thought it would be easier to make it look like a present."  But Red Impulse shook his head. "They wouldn't do something like this," he instantly replied.  "Not without giving me a head's up first.  Besides, they just told me that they're not done yet, so there's nothing for them to get to us yet." "So you're thinking Parnell or one of his cronies?" Red Impulse did not immediate reply; he just stared at the present the way a bird would stare at a snake, almost mesmerized into being unable to move. "I didn't want to say anything to you before," he said softly, "because I didn't want to alarm you, but when I was downstairs, I thought I recognized one of the delivery men that came through.  He wasn't carrying anything when I saw him, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have brought this in before that.  I'm almost positive he was one of the men who were in our room back in the city." His words were like ice and Jun shivered at the implications.  "So they found us and know we're looking around?" "This is probably meant to be a warning," Red Impulse said, pinching his chin between his thumb and forefinger in thought.  "They've probably already put the pieces together that we were the same ones they found at the Reading property and this village is the closest to it.  Where else would we go?" "But how would they know we're the same people?" Red Impulse looked at her.  "We haven't exactly been keeping a low profile.  Some times, being out in plain view can work for you and some times it can't.  In this case, it didn't.  So now we simply have to readjust our plans, but in the meantime, we have to deal with this." "What do you suggest?" "I was going to ask you the same thing." His candor took her by surprise.  Jun looked at the box and considered the possibilities.

Daniella- that was sweet...and very mature of Mark to think of the Chief during this time... Mylari- LOL! Keyop is in deep trouble! And I had the same thought as KT...those kids are going to sleep well! RIgirl- I'm very curious about that box! Who is it from? Could it be one of those "Christmas Presents of Death?" j/k

RIGirl: Uh oh, the plot thickens! Springie: Aw, poor Jun!

RIgirl looks like things are about to get real for the pair! Springie Hee hee hee, love it! Seems Ken's mind is always on the job, just not the 'job' Jun wishes, eh?

RIgirl -- looking forward to seeing what Jun will come up with! Springie -- LOL LOL and LOL!

RiGirl: Oooh Mystery Box! Got me wondering what the heck is in it... Springie: Poor Jun! (I'm sure Joe would be even worse! LOL)

Springie -- This is so true! Men and women definitely have different ideas as to what's romantic! (Although I'm fairly certain there are a number of ladies who would take Ken up on his offer even without the dinner!)

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KT: Uh oh

He gets around!