Dinah left Marc to his DNA samples and settled herself comfortably on the couch, a cup of coffee in her hand.  She focused inwardly, inside of her mind, on the places that had changed when she'd been made Mac's heir.  There, in the center of them was the pool of memories.  She'd never done more than skirt around the edges of them since she'd discovered what they were.  Now she steeled herself, shutting her emotions off into a side place and touched the surface of the pool with her awareness. 

An instant later she was inside of them, inside of Mac's life, seeing herself as he saw her, all in an instant, reliving every moment of it.  Then her own memories were there, mingling with his and she was moving deeper into the pool, plunging downward into the blackness.   She could feel her heart start racing, the blood pounding at her temples and the sigil on her palm flared and flamed upward, burning like a torch, the only light in the darkness and the only warmth she could find.  She wanted to huddle around it, letting it take the chill away, and still the trembling.  But she couldn't. 

The memories kept unfolding, and she followed them like tracing the path of a maze that went on and on.  And all around her were the scents of them, and the colors, the sounds of the different places, only now she was seeing as the dragons saw.  She was flying with them and it was her flying, folding space and time, seeing the dimensions as paths she could follow and she did, entranced, enthralled, never looking back.

Marc was in the lab, entranced himself. DNA spun in front of his eyes catching the light, reflecting the light in his eyes.  Fireflies. Possibilities. Dreams. Fears. Hopes. Doubts. Confusion.

He teased out the details, the small sections of strands and spun them separately. He stared at them. He reached for a scotch and, having been distracted for a moment when Dinah had reacted badly to something, fell back into his revere when the bond settled down and told him she was lost in her own thoughts.

Dragons, McGee, Zaf, Dinah's new DNA.  He added Tabitha's and finally pulled up the kids' DNAs, all of it dancing before his eyes, Lastly he pulled up that from the First Ones.

All of them. All of them shared one vital bit of strand. Identical. But what did that really mean?  Was it merely coincidence?  He reached for Reno's DNA and put it to spinning too. No, not there, even though Reno's had been altered for the House. Not there.

He frowned.

Dinah wasn't frowning as she slipped through the intersections of the memories, moving from dragon to dragon, era to era, always further back in time, traveling faster and faster towards the beginning of time.  It was headier than anything she'd ever known and as terrifying in its limitlessness, the breadth and scope of what was there to learn and know, the experiences of others becoming hers, changing her, changing everything.  And it was that that caught her up short, made her want to slow the descent. 

She sought for purchase, something to hold on to, that she could use as a brake and couldn't find anything.  Nor could she change direction.  It sent a trill of panic through her and made the sigil blaze like an explosion, shooting sparks into the room, onto the couch and the carpet.  And the aroma of smoke emerged, slight at first and then stronger, bringing with it the crackling of flames being born and reproducing and Dinah was too far away to know or even care.  Even when the sparks flared on her clothes and sank into her hair.

Dinah was oblivious to everything but finding a way out, a connection to a memory of her own, a thread of something familiar that she could grab onto and there was nothing.  She tried to retreat, reaching for the bond.  She touched it, tried to grasp it and couldn't, her hand sliding off it like it wasn't there...it slipped away, slipping further and further into the distance, receding away, moving faster than she was until it was gone, disappearing into the future while she screamed.

They were the same... Marc reminded himself. As weird as that was, as confusing as the idea was, there was something similar in each of the DNAs. Tabitha, McGee, the First Ones, the Dragons, the Star Lords. He took a deep breath and pulled up his own and Dinah's. He let out a breath as he spun the DNA and found that yes, his and Dinah's had the telltale sequence too. What the hell?

That was as far as he got. The bond to Dinah suddenly flared brightly and just as quickly faded. It wasn't right. He was on his feet and racing to their quarters in an instant. He threw open the door and stared. She wasn't there. And the place was smoldering. Aaru was already putting out what was left of the fire, angry and hurt. He soothed her even as he reached, terrified, for the bond. He thrummed it a bit, and felt the connection still in place, if weak. What the hell?

"What the hell?" Laz demanded from behind him. 

"Dinah should be here," Marc said.

"The fire drove her out?"

"No.  She's not on Aaru. And I'm not sure where she is." Marc's look was grim.

"You're not sure..." Laz repeated, startled.  "But the bond between you two, you should know exactly."

"Yeah, I know. I can sense her, she's ...okay physically, but the connection is .. attenuated. She's nowhere near. I'm going to have to go after her."

"Go after her where?" Laz asked.  "You said you didn't know where she was."

"I'm going to follow the bond. I think with Cola and Quinn I can follow it. But I need to think about what it all means first. And I think I need two more people to go with me."

Laz squinted at him.  "Because Quinn's got a bond to her too?"

"More than that," Marc explained. "She was looking into the memories she got from Mach'Maelcom. The dragons know more about that than they're telling. And I'll drag 'em along with coercion if they give me one bit of lip."

"And the other two people?  I don't know who you have in mind but I'm not letting you go alone."

"McGee and Zaf. I've been looking at their DNA.  Somehow they're tied into this."

Laz's stare turned hard.  "For sure I'm not letting you go alone now."

"You should stay here, Laz. Seriously. I've no idea what I'm in for. No idea if I'll even get back here."

He shook his head.  "She'd saute my balls if I did that and something happened to you.  We'll meet you on the dragon deck," he said.

"Grrr," Marc muttered to Laz's retreating back. "I could make you stay here!"

"You could try," Laz called back to him cheerfully.  "But you know I'm right."

An hour later Marc walked down to the dragon deck, carrying a backpack. A weapon none of them had seen before was slung over his shoulder. "I see..." he said, eying Laz, Anja, Paul and Lev.  "My strike team?"

Laz shrugged.  "You'll be glad we're along," he said. 

"Right," Marc said walking over to look at Kalie, Cola and Quinn. "I need to find Dinah. You coming with or not?"

"Of course we are," Quinn told him. The other two nodded their heads. 

Marc's knees went weak with relief. "I need Zaf and McGee to come along," he explained.  "They're involved in this, aren't they?"

Kalie nodded. 

"Will they agree to come with us?  Can you dragons help?" Marc asked her.

"I don't know what they'll do," Kalie said, smiling slightly.  "We have already said we'll help."

"Yes, I know. I mean with McGee and Zaf. Or do I have to, you know, abscond with them."

"I'd try asking first," Laz suggested.  "They might surprise you and absconding with them does not bode well for their willingness to be helpful later, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, very true. But if they say no... " Marc let that fade and zapped himself to Ther'lin.

McGee looked up from the book he was reading as Marc appeared.  "Well, how unexpected," he drawled, marking his place and setting the book aside.

"Something's happened to Dinah. I'm going to try to get her back and I'd like it if you and Zaf would help," Marc stated without preamble.

"Why do you need us?" McGee asked.  "Where is she?"

"She was looking into the memories she got as the heir. And something the dragons said the other day convinced me this has to do with them, and you have to do with them, so I think you should come along."

"Where is it you think she is?" McGee asked.

"I don't know. I can feel her though the bond, and wherever it is I'll find her."

"So you don't really know.  And you think we should come along."  McGee lifted his eyebrow slowly.  "But what the hell.  I haven't anything planned this week."

"Good. Where's Zaf?" Marc asked.

"Right here," came a voice from behind him.

"Will you please come too?" Marc asked.

Zaf looked a question at McGee.

McGee shrugged.  "It's up to you what you do."

Zaf shrugged. "Usually he tells me to get lost. Sure, I'll go. I like the lady."

"Thank you, both of you. If you can join us on the dragon deck aboard Aaru as soon as you're ready I'd appreciate it."  With that Marc zapped out.

"Now isn't that an interesting turn of events," Zaf commented with a raised eyebrow.

"Isn't it though," McGee said.  "My advice is pack light."