1-18 Opening
Teaser
There was silence in the Conference Room beside the Aurora bridge. Outside the window the streaks of warped space continued to stream by. All eyes were on Commander Elizabeth King, the commander of the Sladen. Even her own officers were stunned by her admission: she was spying on the Aurora crew on behalf of Admiral Davies, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. The same man who had tried to take the Aurora away from them.
"The Admiral will be incensed with me for explaining this," she began. Her English accent was polished and refined. "But you deserve to know."
"This reason that justifies spying on my crew?", Robert asked pointedly.
"Yes." King put her hands behind her back. "Tell me, Captain. Have you ever thought about the inquiry after what happened at 33LA?"
"Thought about what in particular? The way your patron tried to railroad us and went digging into our past to attack us with it?" Robert leaned forward in his chair. "Or how he tried to turn my best friend against us?"
"Admiral Davies believes Commander Carrey to have great potential. He didn't want Carrey disgraced with the rest of you. But that is not relevant to the issue at hand." King had returned to her seat. Now she tapped her hand to the table. "Despite everything, you were let off with a reprimand. No matter how many policies you had violated, you were let off lightly. Haven't you ever wondered why?"
In truth, Robert had. He had decided it represented the President's influence, that Morgan had made backroom deals and arrangements to stop Hawthorne. "I imagined it was politics. That our supporters outmaneuvered the others."
King shook her head. "I saw Davies' records of the first votes. The initial vote was not in favor of your censure, Captain. It was in favor of your removal and court-martial. Further court-martial proceedings were to be voted on for your fellow officers."
"Obviously that didn't happen," Julia said., "So if you're telling the truth, the Committee changed its mind before it called us in."
"It did not," King answered. "It was compelled to change its vote."
"Compelled by the President?"
King shook her head. "No. If you want to know whom…" King's head turned. "...why don't you ask this mind-reader?"
Meridina met King's eyes with some confusion. "Commander?"
"I know full well you can read minds, 'Commander'," King stated harshly. "And are you going to play innocent and insist you did not know what happened?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Meridina insisted.
"Hrm." King looked to the others. "The reason you are still aboard this vessel is because, after the initial vote, the Gersallian Interdependency informed the Committee and the President that it would withdraw from the Alliance if you were removed from your ship."
"…What?" Robert was incredulous.
"Indeed. They threatened to withdraw from the Alliance. The Dorei joined them. And then the Sirians, and the Colonial Confederation…" King's gaze was hard. "The Gersallians would have ripped the Alliance apart. They would have walked out with over a third of the Alliance. And we believe they would have made an attempt to seize the Aurora from spacedock."
Everyone stared at King in bewilderment. "You can't be serious," Leo said.
"I am," King answered. "I have the minutes." She hit several keys on her multidevice and began displaying them on the holo-projector for everyone to read. The undoubtedly fierce arguments had been reduced to written, official form. Councilman Pensley's harsh invective seemed to leak bile from the projection in his demands for the Committee to stand fast and throw Robert and the others into the stockade. Almost equally harsh was Councilman Zoral's demands for Pensley's censure and declaration that he would try to get Hawthorne ejected from the Defense Ministry by a Council vote. Senator Sriroj and Councilman Palas, a Gersallian, had exchanged harsh words as well after Palas had informed the Committee of his government's overnight instructions. Word started coming in of all the governments backing the Gersallian demarche, including Zoral's.
"And I thought they were harsh on us," Angel muttered, reading the rancor that had erupted within the Committee.
In the end, President Morgan himself had called in to confirm to the Committee of what was going on. Robert's admiration for the man could only increase at his response to the crisis. He could have reminded everyone of the Nazis and used that as a scare tactic, but instead he had emphasized the need for compromise to save the Alliance. In the end, Robert's censure had been agreed upon, and a couple of votes had shifted to against the removal and court-martial.
"So the Gersallians led the people backing us," Angel said. "So what? Isn't this politics?"
"No, Lieutenant, it is not," King declared coldly. "It was nothing less than an ultimatum. The Defense Committee was compelled by threats to reverse its vote."
Suddenly Davies' sullen words after that hearing had made sense. Undoubtedly the same rancor seen here had come up after the war started. All of those nations that had threatened to leave if pressed for more ships and troops… had they been the other nations that hadn't sided with the Gersallians? It would make Davies' charge that their victory in the Committee had come at "a cost" all the more true.
King, meanwhile, continued on. "Afterward, Admiral Davies initiated an investigation into the Gersallian actions with Naval Intelligence."
"Davies is using the military to spy on an Alliance member?!", Julia asked with an outraged tone. "That's…"
"...necessary, Commander," King insisted. "Made necessary because of her kind." Again King was glaring at Meridina.
"Commander, I do not know why you evince such hostility toward me. If it is fear of my power, I would never use it against others. Taking the mind of another is an act of terrible darkness."
"Then do you deny that your Order is responsible for the Gersallian government nearly tearing the Alliance apart? Because that is exactly what was done. The Council of your organization directly advised the Gersallian government to threaten withdrawal. I have seen the evidence, Commander." King looked to the others. "It was what the Admiral used to convince me of the scope of the threat."
Meridina remained in stunned silence.
"I can go on. I will." She looked again to Meridina. "Your people, your 'knights' or whatever you call yourselves, you never join militaries. You work with them, yes. But none have fully joined a service before. Accepted a military rank. Not until you. And you are immediately assigned by another Gersallian to the most advanced ship in the Alliance, with a young and inexperienced crew. You, a telepath with those 'life force' powers that enhance your powers."
Julia realized where this is going. "You think Meridina's been invading our minds. Mind-controlling us."
"To take control of the Aurora, yes," King charged. "The Gersallian government seems enthralled to the Order, after all. Now they undoubtedly look to expand their power."
"Commander." Meridina shook her head. "If this is what you and Admiral Davies believe, it shows only your ignorance of my people. Our culture, our beliefs, you understand nothing of us."
At that, King nodded. "You're right. I don't. And Admiral Davies has only begun to understand. So, understand what it looks like to us. You break your Order's precedent on serving in military organizations. You accept a rank. You request assignment to the Aurora, not for a temporary mission but permanent assignment. It is suspicious behavior, Commander."
"It's paranoid bullcrap," Lucy retorted. "It's xenophobia."
"It's reasonable precautions, Lieutenant," King countered. She sighed. "The damnedest thing is, I do actually believe you are telling the truth. Admiral Davies won't be happy with me for that. The Admiral is convinced that the Gersallian Order of Swenya is trying to subvert the Alliance government. And he has Hawthorne convinced of the same."
"Which explains the questions they gave me in the committee," Meridina stated quietly. Her expression betrayed intense sadness.
Robert let out a sigh. Having it all explained didn't make it feel any better in the end. And the revelation of how fragile the Alliance still was had not been pleasant.
That wasn't the only thing. There were more questions. Not just contemplating how many supporters for their removal were still out there, but wondering why the Gersallians had considered them worth ripping the Alliance apart. What is going on?
And now we need to figure out what to do with King.
King appraised them for another moment before speaking again. "I understand if you no longer wish to work with me. But I do not believe you are in any situation to do otherwise. I give my word that I will cease my activities for the duration of this operation."
"I think you'll understand if we don't take your word on that," Angel grumbled.
"You do not have much choice, Lieutenant."
"No. We don't," Julia said.
"Her mind is quite disciplined and resistant to my power," Meridina stated. "But I sense no falsehood from her emotionally. I believe the Commander is honest when she says she will suspend her spying."
"I'd rather throw her in the brig and then march her back to Davies in cuffs," Angel growled.
"I suspect, Lieutenant, that I will not come to great inconvenience for this," King stated matter-of-factly. "The Admiral may not be pleased with my discovery, nor that I have not given him the concrete evidence he wished to show the Committee, but he will not allow me to be punished for acting on his own authority. Otherwise that authority would be undermined."
"The President might remove him for this," Julia pointed out.
At that, King smiled thinly. "Come, Commander. You know as well as I that Davies has his own allies in the Council. And Defense Minister Hawthorne, of course. President Morgan's administration cannot survive a major scandal, especially if Hawthorne and Davies are accusing the Gersallians of mentally influencing him and others. So long as the war proceeds satisfactorily, I'm afraid Davies' position is quite secure."
Jarod sighed and nodded. "That's probably right. The last thing anyone needs is political upheaval in Portland. We're still at war."
It was Julia who now stood up and addressed them. "Well, we've gotten this all out now," she said. "The issue with the communications has been decided and we can be sure it wasn't another Changeling. Now that we've got that, we need to focus on the task at hand. We're about twenty-four hours out from Gamma Piratus. So let's get ready for it."
There was genuine appreciation in King's countenance. "Agreed, Commander. Captain…?"
Robert drew in a breath. "Right. You're right, Commander," he said to Julia. "We've come this far. We need to be ready for what comes next so we can finish this. You're all dismissed."
Undiscovered Frontier
"Guarding the Future"
Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 15 October 2641. Captain Robert Dale recording. We're less than a day out from Gamma Piratus now. Currently we are moving at maximum warp to arrive at the planet where the Darglan left their Facility in S4W8. Alliance and Klingon vessels are already reporting engagements with enemy ships in the area, giving us a solid opening to either take the Facility or, if we need to, destroy it.
For the moment there is no sign of pursuit from Reich ships. Our greatest issue seems to be internal with this revelation about Commander King working for Admiral Davies to spy on us. Our relationship with the Commander had always been proper and professional. Now the distrust is such that I'm worried we won't work well when the shooting starts.
My nightmares of late are also concerning me. These are clearly more potential futures my… 'gift'... enables me to see. I have a decision coming, and the choice I make may spell the difference between victory or defeat for us.
No, not just for us. For the Alliance. For everyone. A Third Reich with Darglan technology and interuniversal drive would be a nightmare. We have to stop them.
A cooling lunch was on the table in front of Robert. It was only partially eaten, however. He was simply too absorbed in his thoughts.
"Are you alright?"
He looked up and over to Julia, who slid into the chair opposite him with her own lunch. Since Hargert had no support staff with him, simply the crew assigned to the galley, there were no waiters or such available. Instead Hargert and the galley cooks were keeping a buffet bar open, refilling it with comfort foods for the crew to eat as they came through.
"Thinking," he admitted. "Is everything still going smoothly?"
"Scotty says the drives are holding together. We may need a week or two in spacedock after this is all over, though. The constant warp jumps and moving along at high warp have left several components showing warning indicators. Scotty's talking about doing a complete drive overhaul."
"It would give everyone a break," Robert pointed out. "So it might be for the best."
Julia nodded before continuing. "As for the Nazi ships in the area, Cat's been watching them on long-range sensors. They've dropped their search routes and formed up near their frontier to face the force Maran sent after them. Councillor Kurn should be attacking them by the end of the day. No matter what happens there… those ships won't be coming after us in time to stop us."
"Any sign of the Eichmann and Reich's Glory?"
Julia frowned and shook her head. "No. Given how long of a head start they had, they could have covered a lot of ground before we left New Austria. I've got Cat scanning on long range for them, but there's no sign of them yet."
"What about the long-range probes? Aren't they still out here?"
"Command shifted them out of the area to assist in the planning of the New Austria attack."
"So we're going in blind." Robert sighed. "Damn."
"You think the Eichmann will come after us at Gamma Piratus, don't you?"
Robert nodded. "I've… well… half the ship probably knows by now about what I've got. What I've… developed."
"You mean how you have the same powers Meridina is teaching Lucy in using?", Julia asked. Her tone was a careful one.
"Yeah." Robert picked at the potatoes on his plate. "Meridina says my nightmares come from this thing. This gift. I'm seeing glimpses of a possible future. Just as I did before 33LA."
"Which is why you did what you did then." Julia leaned forward in her seat. "You're having these dreams now? About this mission?"
He nodded. "Yes. And they're not pretty. I feel like there's a decision I'm going to make that will literally be the difference between us succeeding or getting killed."
"I see. I suppose that makes sense." Seeing that Robert was still struggling with his thoughts, Julia reached her right hand over the table and set it on his. "Robert. I trust you. We all do. That's the reason we agreed that you would take charge on this. When the time comes and you have to make a decision, we'll support it. You'll feel better if you trust your decisions as much as we do."
"It's hard given the stakes. And the nightmares. God, 33LA is still on my mind, even after everything that's been said about it." He swallowed. "I feel like… I'm being tested by the most horrible teacher ever. I'm being shown results without being told how they came about."
"Trust your instincts, Robert. That's all you can do. Please."
There was something in Julia's voice. Her confidence in him, born of a lifetime spent in each other's company, was not something Robert could just ignore. After several moments he breathed in and nodded. "Right. Right." He decided to take a bite of his food. It was cold, distorting the taste it should have had. His cheeks curled as he made a face showing the displeasure his tongue was reporting. "Dammit. Excuse me." He stood up with his plate to go and get fresh, warm food.
Julia couldn't help herself at that point. She started to giggle. An amused smile crossed her face as she dug her spoon into her own lunch plate to resume eating.
There was a crash of wood against wood in the holodeck. The chamber had been changed to reflect an open courtyard under a blue sky. Lucy recognized the infrastructure as that of the Gersalllian Order of Swenya's Temple near the Gersallian capital on their homeworld, evidently the kind of place where such training duels might be waged.
For the moment she was more wrapped up in dealing with Meridina's powerful attacks. It took Lucy everything she had to avoid blows, to re-direct the energy Meridina would throw at her, and in short to do what she could to avoid being defeated. Her own gift gave her insight into how Meridina would react to any situation, much as Meridina's gift did toward her, and the result was a combat where each partner could generally see the other fighter's move as or before they were doing it.
These fights nevertheless usually went the same way; Lucy would inevitably think intently on a planned attack and Meridina would parry it with enough force or technique to disarm Lucy. And she would lose. If she wanted to win, she needed to do something else. To fight without thinking, not in a mindless berserker kind of way but by calling on her life force, on her connection to the wider universe, and letting it guide her as it guided Meridina.
It needn't be said that this was much easier a thing to say than to actually do.
Meridina wasn't holding back at this point. Strike after strike came Lucy's way. She seemed to spend more time evading and parrying than fighting. All the while she tried to attain that feeling, that state where she was truly accessing her power in everything.
And then she sensed it. A strike, coming it at an angle. She never had the chance to really think about it though. Her arms moved almost of their own accord to parry the blow.
For that split second, Lucy would have an advantage in footing. She let the instincts inside of her, inside of her very life force, take control of her legs and knees. She bent her legs and lowered her center of gravity. Her left leg slid out from under her and hooked around Meridina's ankles. The Gersallian woman yelped in involuntary surprise as her legs were pulled out from under her. Lucy quickly pinned Meridina's sword arm with her foot and brought the tip of her blade to her throat. "Do you yield?"
The surprise on Meridina's face gave way to satisfaction and pride. "Yes," she said. "I yield."
Lucy was beaming with satisfaction when she pulled her blade back. "About time. I was beginning to think I'd never win."
"And yet you continued to try. Such are the wages of perseverance." Meridina accepted Lucy's hand in getting off the floor.
"Well, yeah. I've got to learn how to stay strong and controlled and all that, right? Especially if we get into a fight." Lucy set the training sword aside and picked up a towel to run over her sweat-covered skin.
She was untying the belt around her training robe to get at the skin underneath when Meridina stepped up beside her. "There is some extra training I wish to undergo today with you, student."
"Oh?" Lucy re-tied the robe and turned to face her instructor. "What is…?"
She stopped speaking at the sight of the finely-carved wooden box in Meridina's hands. Lucy hadn't noticed it in the room, but Meridina had gotten here before her and had left it to the side, perhaps even hidden by the holoprojectors initially. She took a moment to admire the craftsmanship. The wood was fine and smooth to the touch. The false sunlight off the holodeck shined brilliantly from the surface. Brass plates on the cover of the box were engraved with the fine curved symbols of Gersallian, flowing into each other not unlike how Latin alphabet letters might be written finely.
While Meridina held the box toward her, Lucy opened it. Within the box, in a velvet cushion area cut away specifically for something of that size, was a single metal object. Lucy's eyes widened at recognizing it. Her mouth went dry as she gently used her fingers to pull it free of its place. She wrapped her fingers, her entire right hand, around the object upon pulling it free. She examined it closely for a moment. Could it be…?
Her thumb found the switch upon it, embedded in the hilt just below the guard. She held it away as she triggered it.
A sharp sound filled the air. Gray fluid erupted from the hilt within an electromagnetic field. It assumed the shape of a blade before the memory metal, following its programming, hardened and became solid.
A lakesh.
She held the weapon in her hand for a moment. It was rather light. Almost impossibly so. But she knew from experience that it could cut, and cut well. She held it up and gave Meridina a disbelieving look. "Is this…"
"It is yours, Lucy Lucero," Meridina said.
Lucy looked back to the weapon. She gave it a few practice swings to test it. Very light indeed. Easy to control. A faint blue over it showed the presence of the latent EM field that could deflect energy weapons, maybe even bullets, if used defensively. "But…" Lucy shook her head. "I haven't joined your Order. I said no. You're not supposed to…"
"...our rules are quite clear," Meridina stated. "We must not show those outside the Order the secret of how we craft these blades. I have done no such thing. I simply gave one to you. A student in the Order would craft their own upon their admission into the swevyra'se."
"But… that's semantics, isn't it?", Lucy pointed out.
"Perhaps. But it is the right thing. You will have need of this for what is to come." Meridina gestured toward the fighting circle they had trained in. "Computer, please access dueling partner Meridina-1, difficulty 1."
The computer generated a single figure, a light-skinned Gersallian with cyan-shaded training robes on. The figure raised a lakesh.
"So I'm sparring against the computer?", Lucy asked while approaching the figure. She brought her her lakesh and held it with both hands.
"Yes. To get used to your new weapon. Later I will bring up the training simulation for deflecting enemy fire."
"Oh, that will be fun…", Lucy murmured. Once she was in position and had her weapon in ready stance the program activated. The holographic duelist moved forward and made several basic attacks. Lucy met them, parrying and deflecting while looking for the openings to make her own. The lakesh was even lighter than their wooden practice swords. She had to be more careful with it.
Meridina sat and observed. Or rather, she started to, but she ended up looking over the box. Old memories kindled within her of when she had been given the box, a holding box for a lakesh.
Her fingers traced the engraved inscription. She felt an old ache in her heart ,as she read it.
To my child, both of the Order and of my blood.
I am proud of you, daughter.
Go and stay true to your heart, knowing that your father loves you always.
Karesl
Meridina considered the inscription and felt it all the more bittersweet when she thought about the state of her relations with her father now. An avowed enemy to her mentor, Mastrash Ledosh, Karesl was part of the group in the Order arguing against support of the Alliance and everything else she believed in.
And yet… she could only hope that the inscription had stayed true. And that despite everything, her father still loved her.
The last pre-op meeting between Kane, Shepard, and Worf had ended. The Marine commander was off to finish his day, in preparation for what was to come tomorrow. That left Shepard and Worf in the room. Shepard looked over to the alien, who in his own way looked more Human than every alien species back in her home galaxy, and nodded. "So. Tomorrow."
"Yes."
"We see if all the training we put these people through worked or not." Shepard crossed her arms and leaned against the nearby wall. "And if not, we probably get killed."
"Most likely," Worf answered, in his own laconic way. "But a Klingon does not fear a death in battle."
"Oh?"
"To die a warrior's death," Worf explained, "is to join Kahless and our ancestors in Sto'Vo'Kor."
"Ah." Shepard nodded. "How very Viking of you."
Worf let out a low, rumbling chuckle. "I have always felt that the ancient Norse were Humans who would understand Klingons best."
"I don't know. They were more the raiding and piracy types. So, this Kahless, he's what… a god of war, or more of a Christ figure?"
"He is neither. He is the greatest warrior of our history. The leader who overthrew the dishonorable reign of Molor the Tyrant." Worf smirked. "We Klingons do not have gods. An ancient warrior slew them long ago. They were far more trouble than they were worth."
Shepard had only one reaction to that. Worf was quite surprised to see it was to start laughing. Hard. It took her several moments to recover enough to stop. "Wow. That is some interesting theology you people have." She ceased leaning against the wall. "See you tomorrow?"
Worf answered with a nod. "Yes."
"And when it comes to death in battle…" Shepard turned away and started walking to the doorway out. "...I prefer to let the other guys do the dying. It's easier to win that way."
It was Worf's turn to laugh hard.
It was getting late. Caterina knew she needed to be getting to bed soon given the day she had ahead of her.
First, though, she wanted to check on things, so she was ending her day in Science Lab 1. As she had expected, Data was present, working his own console. "Is it ready?", she asked.
"I have configured the ship's systems to interface the Aurora's tertiary auxiliary computer core directly with the Facility once we have established a communication line. This should allow us to access critical data immediately and keep backups should the Facility require destruction."
"Good idea." Cat took a seat and checked some displays. "And the remaining tertiary computer cores can provide us a lot of space for that data." Something on the screen prompted Cat's expression to shift to confusion. "Say, have you see this? Who's running this high level diagnostic?"
"Lieutenant Lucero. She believes there may be an unknown issue with the computer core."
"Huh. I hope not." Cat went over the results so far. "I mean, it's been behaving well. It's worked like a charm before. I'm not seeing anything different on the results. Maybe that Cylon virus caused a few bugs while it was being deleted. It might explain the weirdness."
"Perhaps. I will continue monitoring before we depart in the morning."
"Are you sure you don't want some sleep? Or rest or something like that?"
"In ordinary circumstances I would spend my off-shift hours fulfilling hobbies and practicing sleep in order to dream."
"You can dream?" Cat looked at Data with surprise.
"Yes. My creator, Dr. Noonian Soong, gave me the capacity to begin dreaming when I put myself into a sleep mode."
"That's… really cool." Caterina was smiling when she turned back to inspecting the display in front of her. The smile faded as she fought back a yawn. "I think I need to get some sleep myself. We're going to have a big day tomorrow."
"Indeed. I shall see you in the morning." Data turned back to his work as Cat departed the room.
That night, the dream returned to Robert. With even greater ferocity. More images of the others going down, a desperate fight with Reich forces that resulted in defeat. Cat's execution at their hands. The Aurora bridge in ruins, a gap opening to space, Julia screaming his name as she was sucked out into space.
He cried out to her… and then he was in space beside her. Agony and horror were frozen to her features. Her body did not move.
Below them, he watched the shapes of black-hulled Reich warships pouring fire into the broken, battered remnants of his ship… until it exploded.
And then… New Liberty in flames. Portland in L2M1, the Alliance capital, being bombarded into ruins from orbit. Swarms of Reich warships blasting Babylon-5 to pieces, the emerald of their disruptors replaced with the sapphire color of Darglan weapons technology.
Whole planets burned.
This was a possible future. A future where they failed tomorrow. Where the Reich got their hands on the Facility and all of the technology found within.
As the planets burned, he felt like he was zooming out, flying away from the systems, from the galaxy, until the Milky Way was below him.
The stars started to go out. One after another. A wave of pure darkness spreading out until it had engulfed the galaxy.
And then it reached beyond the galaxy. Every galaxy in his vision, every one a Milky Way, suffered the same fate, the same wave of darkness flowing over them. Until nothing was left.
Nothing but darkness. Pure, unbroken, absolute darkness.
And then it appeared in his vision. The orange disc in the gold frame. The item handed to him by the Consort Sha'ira during his visit to the Citadel, which she insisted he would need in the near future and the far. The object neither of them knew the origin of.
When the image ended Robert found himself in his bed. There was warmth pressed against him. Angel's breath brushed against his neck, her head resting on his left shoulder. The warmth of her skin against his own reminded him of the pleasure it had brought, the intimacy they shared, and how much it made this work bearable.
He shifted out from under her and got out of the bed. Warp space was still visible outside of the window. That was a comfort in a small way. Nobody would be looking in the window and noticing that he wasn't wearing anything, even in the dim light.
Ordinarily he might have picked up shorts or a bathrobe to put on, for modesty's sake, but Robert's mind was still dwelling on the images. The deaths the dreams had shown him, the loss of everything he loved. More than ever he felt like he was at a decision point that would determine how the future would go.
His eyes fell on the orange disc from the dream. He reached his hand for it and felt the gentle buzz from it. Like an electric wire with a current running through it. It seemed preposterous as Cat had confirmed that it had no technology in it. It should not be feeling like this.
He set a hand on it. Just for a few moments. He couldn't make out the images he sensed in his head. He could feel what they meant though. A feeling he had.
And that was when he made his decision about the next day.
Two arms wrapped around his chest. They were strong, muscled. He felt Angel behind him. "Another dream?"
"Yeah.," he said. "Bad one."
"Dammit." Angel kissed him on the back of the head. "There's got to be a way to stop this stuff. The crazy life force stuff Meridina went on about, I mean."
"I don't think there is," Robert noted quietly. He picked up the orange disc and held it in his hand. He wasn't getting the same sense of visions from it anymore. But he still had the feeling, raw and internal, that his thoughts were right. That he had to do this.
"Angel…?"
"Yes?", she asked.
Robert turned and faced her. They pulled closer together. "I've made up my mind," he said. "I'm going down there, tomorrow."
Angel drew in a breath. "What? Why? You can't…"
"I have to. I… I think I'm seeing the future if I don't. A future where Cat and the others die because I'm not down there. The Nazis take the Facility. The Aurora gets destroyed."
"It's just a dream, Rob," Angel insisted. "That's all it is. You don't have to…
"I do," he insisted. "And I will. For you, for Cat, for everyone. I can't let those dreams come true."
"Don't be a hero," she insisted. "Please."
"It's not about that. Don't worry, I'm not looking to die." He looked down at her. Like him, she hadn't bothered to pull a robe on. It would be pretty embarrassing if someone walked into his quarters at that moment. But it did give him a look at her, a familiar one of course. Her body, while not rippling with muscle like a bodybuilder, had the strong muscle tone that mirrored her physical attitude. It fit the image of what Angel was in his head; strong, powerful, a fighter. And he knew from experience she would fight for everything she loved.
Ever since they had gotten back together, for what seemed like the tenth time (it was actually less than that, admittedly, but it always felt like they'd broken up more often than they had), he had wondered if it would hold. When it would end. What would come between them and push them apart again.
But right here, right now, that didn't matter.
"I love you, Angela," he confessed. "Please, understand that I need to go down there. To guard what we have together and could have together."
Her hazel eyes burned with frustration. "If you think you need to…"
"I know I need to. For all of us."
"...fine." She nodded.
There were no more words to say. He pulled her close and locked his lips to her lips. They shared a deep kiss.
It was Angel who would pull them back into bed. They needed to sleep, after all.
Not that they went straight to sleep.
There was silence in the Conference Room beside the Aurora bridge. Outside the window the streaks of warped space continued to stream by. All eyes were on Commander Elizabeth King, the commander of the Sladen. Even her own officers were stunned by her admission: she was spying on the Aurora crew on behalf of Admiral Davies, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations. The same man who had tried to take the Aurora away from them.
"The Admiral will be incensed with me for explaining this," she began. Her English accent was polished and refined. "But you deserve to know."
"This reason that justifies spying on my crew?", Robert asked pointedly.
"Yes." King put her hands behind her back. "Tell me, Captain. Have you ever thought about the inquiry after what happened at 33LA?"
"Thought about what in particular? The way your patron tried to railroad us and went digging into our past to attack us with it?" Robert leaned forward in his chair. "Or how he tried to turn my best friend against us?"
"Admiral Davies believes Commander Carrey to have great potential. He didn't want Carrey disgraced with the rest of you. But that is not relevant to the issue at hand." King had returned to her seat. Now she tapped her hand to the table. "Despite everything, you were let off with a reprimand. No matter how many policies you had violated, you were let off lightly. Haven't you ever wondered why?"
In truth, Robert had. He had decided it represented the President's influence, that Morgan had made backroom deals and arrangements to stop Hawthorne. "I imagined it was politics. That our supporters outmaneuvered the others."
King shook her head. "I saw Davies' records of the first votes. The initial vote was not in favor of your censure, Captain. It was in favor of your removal and court-martial. Further court-martial proceedings were to be voted on for your fellow officers."
"Obviously that didn't happen," Julia said., "So if you're telling the truth, the Committee changed its mind before it called us in."
"It did not," King answered. "It was compelled to change its vote."
"Compelled by the President?"
King shook her head. "No. If you want to know whom…" King's head turned. "...why don't you ask this mind-reader?"
Meridina met King's eyes with some confusion. "Commander?"
"I know full well you can read minds, 'Commander'," King stated harshly. "And are you going to play innocent and insist you did not know what happened?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about," Meridina insisted.
"Hrm." King looked to the others. "The reason you are still aboard this vessel is because, after the initial vote, the Gersallian Interdependency informed the Committee and the President that it would withdraw from the Alliance if you were removed from your ship."
"…What?" Robert was incredulous.
"Indeed. They threatened to withdraw from the Alliance. The Dorei joined them. And then the Sirians, and the Colonial Confederation…" King's gaze was hard. "The Gersallians would have ripped the Alliance apart. They would have walked out with over a third of the Alliance. And we believe they would have made an attempt to seize the Aurora from spacedock."
Everyone stared at King in bewilderment. "You can't be serious," Leo said.
"I am," King answered. "I have the minutes." She hit several keys on her multidevice and began displaying them on the holo-projector for everyone to read. The undoubtedly fierce arguments had been reduced to written, official form. Councilman Pensley's harsh invective seemed to leak bile from the projection in his demands for the Committee to stand fast and throw Robert and the others into the stockade. Almost equally harsh was Councilman Zoral's demands for Pensley's censure and declaration that he would try to get Hawthorne ejected from the Defense Ministry by a Council vote. Senator Sriroj and Councilman Palas, a Gersallian, had exchanged harsh words as well after Palas had informed the Committee of his government's overnight instructions. Word started coming in of all the governments backing the Gersallian demarche, including Zoral's.
"And I thought they were harsh on us," Angel muttered, reading the rancor that had erupted within the Committee.
In the end, President Morgan himself had called in to confirm to the Committee of what was going on. Robert's admiration for the man could only increase at his response to the crisis. He could have reminded everyone of the Nazis and used that as a scare tactic, but instead he had emphasized the need for compromise to save the Alliance. In the end, Robert's censure had been agreed upon, and a couple of votes had shifted to against the removal and court-martial.
"So the Gersallians led the people backing us," Angel said. "So what? Isn't this politics?"
"No, Lieutenant, it is not," King declared coldly. "It was nothing less than an ultimatum. The Defense Committee was compelled by threats to reverse its vote."
Suddenly Davies' sullen words after that hearing had made sense. Undoubtedly the same rancor seen here had come up after the war started. All of those nations that had threatened to leave if pressed for more ships and troops… had they been the other nations that hadn't sided with the Gersallians? It would make Davies' charge that their victory in the Committee had come at "a cost" all the more true.
King, meanwhile, continued on. "Afterward, Admiral Davies initiated an investigation into the Gersallian actions with Naval Intelligence."
"Davies is using the military to spy on an Alliance member?!", Julia asked with an outraged tone. "That's…"
"...necessary, Commander," King insisted. "Made necessary because of her kind." Again King was glaring at Meridina.
"Commander, I do not know why you evince such hostility toward me. If it is fear of my power, I would never use it against others. Taking the mind of another is an act of terrible darkness."
"Then do you deny that your Order is responsible for the Gersallian government nearly tearing the Alliance apart? Because that is exactly what was done. The Council of your organization directly advised the Gersallian government to threaten withdrawal. I have seen the evidence, Commander." King looked to the others. "It was what the Admiral used to convince me of the scope of the threat."
Meridina remained in stunned silence.
"I can go on. I will." She looked again to Meridina. "Your people, your 'knights' or whatever you call yourselves, you never join militaries. You work with them, yes. But none have fully joined a service before. Accepted a military rank. Not until you. And you are immediately assigned by another Gersallian to the most advanced ship in the Alliance, with a young and inexperienced crew. You, a telepath with those 'life force' powers that enhance your powers."
Julia realized where this is going. "You think Meridina's been invading our minds. Mind-controlling us."
"To take control of the Aurora, yes," King charged. "The Gersallian government seems enthralled to the Order, after all. Now they undoubtedly look to expand their power."
"Commander." Meridina shook her head. "If this is what you and Admiral Davies believe, it shows only your ignorance of my people. Our culture, our beliefs, you understand nothing of us."
At that, King nodded. "You're right. I don't. And Admiral Davies has only begun to understand. So, understand what it looks like to us. You break your Order's precedent on serving in military organizations. You accept a rank. You request assignment to the Aurora, not for a temporary mission but permanent assignment. It is suspicious behavior, Commander."
"It's paranoid bullcrap," Lucy retorted. "It's xenophobia."
"It's reasonable precautions, Lieutenant," King countered. She sighed. "The damnedest thing is, I do actually believe you are telling the truth. Admiral Davies won't be happy with me for that. The Admiral is convinced that the Gersallian Order of Swenya is trying to subvert the Alliance government. And he has Hawthorne convinced of the same."
"Which explains the questions they gave me in the committee," Meridina stated quietly. Her expression betrayed intense sadness.
Robert let out a sigh. Having it all explained didn't make it feel any better in the end. And the revelation of how fragile the Alliance still was had not been pleasant.
That wasn't the only thing. There were more questions. Not just contemplating how many supporters for their removal were still out there, but wondering why the Gersallians had considered them worth ripping the Alliance apart. What is going on?
And now we need to figure out what to do with King.
King appraised them for another moment before speaking again. "I understand if you no longer wish to work with me. But I do not believe you are in any situation to do otherwise. I give my word that I will cease my activities for the duration of this operation."
"I think you'll understand if we don't take your word on that," Angel grumbled.
"You do not have much choice, Lieutenant."
"No. We don't," Julia said.
"Her mind is quite disciplined and resistant to my power," Meridina stated. "But I sense no falsehood from her emotionally. I believe the Commander is honest when she says she will suspend her spying."
"I'd rather throw her in the brig and then march her back to Davies in cuffs," Angel growled.
"I suspect, Lieutenant, that I will not come to great inconvenience for this," King stated matter-of-factly. "The Admiral may not be pleased with my discovery, nor that I have not given him the concrete evidence he wished to show the Committee, but he will not allow me to be punished for acting on his own authority. Otherwise that authority would be undermined."
"The President might remove him for this," Julia pointed out.
At that, King smiled thinly. "Come, Commander. You know as well as I that Davies has his own allies in the Council. And Defense Minister Hawthorne, of course. President Morgan's administration cannot survive a major scandal, especially if Hawthorne and Davies are accusing the Gersallians of mentally influencing him and others. So long as the war proceeds satisfactorily, I'm afraid Davies' position is quite secure."
Jarod sighed and nodded. "That's probably right. The last thing anyone needs is political upheaval in Portland. We're still at war."
It was Julia who now stood up and addressed them. "Well, we've gotten this all out now," she said. "The issue with the communications has been decided and we can be sure it wasn't another Changeling. Now that we've got that, we need to focus on the task at hand. We're about twenty-four hours out from Gamma Piratus. So let's get ready for it."
There was genuine appreciation in King's countenance. "Agreed, Commander. Captain…?"
Robert drew in a breath. "Right. You're right, Commander," he said to Julia. "We've come this far. We need to be ready for what comes next so we can finish this. You're all dismissed."
Undiscovered Frontier
"Guarding the Future"
Ship's Log: ASV Aurora; 15 October 2641. Captain Robert Dale recording. We're less than a day out from Gamma Piratus now. Currently we are moving at maximum warp to arrive at the planet where the Darglan left their Facility in S4W8. Alliance and Klingon vessels are already reporting engagements with enemy ships in the area, giving us a solid opening to either take the Facility or, if we need to, destroy it.
For the moment there is no sign of pursuit from Reich ships. Our greatest issue seems to be internal with this revelation about Commander King working for Admiral Davies to spy on us. Our relationship with the Commander had always been proper and professional. Now the distrust is such that I'm worried we won't work well when the shooting starts.
My nightmares of late are also concerning me. These are clearly more potential futures my… 'gift'... enables me to see. I have a decision coming, and the choice I make may spell the difference between victory or defeat for us.
No, not just for us. For the Alliance. For everyone. A Third Reich with Darglan technology and interuniversal drive would be a nightmare. We have to stop them.
A cooling lunch was on the table in front of Robert. It was only partially eaten, however. He was simply too absorbed in his thoughts.
"Are you alright?"
He looked up and over to Julia, who slid into the chair opposite him with her own lunch. Since Hargert had no support staff with him, simply the crew assigned to the galley, there were no waiters or such available. Instead Hargert and the galley cooks were keeping a buffet bar open, refilling it with comfort foods for the crew to eat as they came through.
"Thinking," he admitted. "Is everything still going smoothly?"
"Scotty says the drives are holding together. We may need a week or two in spacedock after this is all over, though. The constant warp jumps and moving along at high warp have left several components showing warning indicators. Scotty's talking about doing a complete drive overhaul."
"It would give everyone a break," Robert pointed out. "So it might be for the best."
Julia nodded before continuing. "As for the Nazi ships in the area, Cat's been watching them on long-range sensors. They've dropped their search routes and formed up near their frontier to face the force Maran sent after them. Councillor Kurn should be attacking them by the end of the day. No matter what happens there… those ships won't be coming after us in time to stop us."
"Any sign of the Eichmann and Reich's Glory?"
Julia frowned and shook her head. "No. Given how long of a head start they had, they could have covered a lot of ground before we left New Austria. I've got Cat scanning on long range for them, but there's no sign of them yet."
"What about the long-range probes? Aren't they still out here?"
"Command shifted them out of the area to assist in the planning of the New Austria attack."
"So we're going in blind." Robert sighed. "Damn."
"You think the Eichmann will come after us at Gamma Piratus, don't you?"
Robert nodded. "I've… well… half the ship probably knows by now about what I've got. What I've… developed."
"You mean how you have the same powers Meridina is teaching Lucy in using?", Julia asked. Her tone was a careful one.
"Yeah." Robert picked at the potatoes on his plate. "Meridina says my nightmares come from this thing. This gift. I'm seeing glimpses of a possible future. Just as I did before 33LA."
"Which is why you did what you did then." Julia leaned forward in her seat. "You're having these dreams now? About this mission?"
He nodded. "Yes. And they're not pretty. I feel like there's a decision I'm going to make that will literally be the difference between us succeeding or getting killed."
"I see. I suppose that makes sense." Seeing that Robert was still struggling with his thoughts, Julia reached her right hand over the table and set it on his. "Robert. I trust you. We all do. That's the reason we agreed that you would take charge on this. When the time comes and you have to make a decision, we'll support it. You'll feel better if you trust your decisions as much as we do."
"It's hard given the stakes. And the nightmares. God, 33LA is still on my mind, even after everything that's been said about it." He swallowed. "I feel like… I'm being tested by the most horrible teacher ever. I'm being shown results without being told how they came about."
"Trust your instincts, Robert. That's all you can do. Please."
There was something in Julia's voice. Her confidence in him, born of a lifetime spent in each other's company, was not something Robert could just ignore. After several moments he breathed in and nodded. "Right. Right." He decided to take a bite of his food. It was cold, distorting the taste it should have had. His cheeks curled as he made a face showing the displeasure his tongue was reporting. "Dammit. Excuse me." He stood up with his plate to go and get fresh, warm food.
Julia couldn't help herself at that point. She started to giggle. An amused smile crossed her face as she dug her spoon into her own lunch plate to resume eating.
There was a crash of wood against wood in the holodeck. The chamber had been changed to reflect an open courtyard under a blue sky. Lucy recognized the infrastructure as that of the Gersalllian Order of Swenya's Temple near the Gersallian capital on their homeworld, evidently the kind of place where such training duels might be waged.
For the moment she was more wrapped up in dealing with Meridina's powerful attacks. It took Lucy everything she had to avoid blows, to re-direct the energy Meridina would throw at her, and in short to do what she could to avoid being defeated. Her own gift gave her insight into how Meridina would react to any situation, much as Meridina's gift did toward her, and the result was a combat where each partner could generally see the other fighter's move as or before they were doing it.
These fights nevertheless usually went the same way; Lucy would inevitably think intently on a planned attack and Meridina would parry it with enough force or technique to disarm Lucy. And she would lose. If she wanted to win, she needed to do something else. To fight without thinking, not in a mindless berserker kind of way but by calling on her life force, on her connection to the wider universe, and letting it guide her as it guided Meridina.
It needn't be said that this was much easier a thing to say than to actually do.
Meridina wasn't holding back at this point. Strike after strike came Lucy's way. She seemed to spend more time evading and parrying than fighting. All the while she tried to attain that feeling, that state where she was truly accessing her power in everything.
And then she sensed it. A strike, coming it at an angle. She never had the chance to really think about it though. Her arms moved almost of their own accord to parry the blow.
For that split second, Lucy would have an advantage in footing. She let the instincts inside of her, inside of her very life force, take control of her legs and knees. She bent her legs and lowered her center of gravity. Her left leg slid out from under her and hooked around Meridina's ankles. The Gersallian woman yelped in involuntary surprise as her legs were pulled out from under her. Lucy quickly pinned Meridina's sword arm with her foot and brought the tip of her blade to her throat. "Do you yield?"
The surprise on Meridina's face gave way to satisfaction and pride. "Yes," she said. "I yield."
Lucy was beaming with satisfaction when she pulled her blade back. "About time. I was beginning to think I'd never win."
"And yet you continued to try. Such are the wages of perseverance." Meridina accepted Lucy's hand in getting off the floor.
"Well, yeah. I've got to learn how to stay strong and controlled and all that, right? Especially if we get into a fight." Lucy set the training sword aside and picked up a towel to run over her sweat-covered skin.
She was untying the belt around her training robe to get at the skin underneath when Meridina stepped up beside her. "There is some extra training I wish to undergo today with you, student."
"Oh?" Lucy re-tied the robe and turned to face her instructor. "What is…?"
She stopped speaking at the sight of the finely-carved wooden box in Meridina's hands. Lucy hadn't noticed it in the room, but Meridina had gotten here before her and had left it to the side, perhaps even hidden by the holoprojectors initially. She took a moment to admire the craftsmanship. The wood was fine and smooth to the touch. The false sunlight off the holodeck shined brilliantly from the surface. Brass plates on the cover of the box were engraved with the fine curved symbols of Gersallian, flowing into each other not unlike how Latin alphabet letters might be written finely.
While Meridina held the box toward her, Lucy opened it. Within the box, in a velvet cushion area cut away specifically for something of that size, was a single metal object. Lucy's eyes widened at recognizing it. Her mouth went dry as she gently used her fingers to pull it free of its place. She wrapped her fingers, her entire right hand, around the object upon pulling it free. She examined it closely for a moment. Could it be…?
Her thumb found the switch upon it, embedded in the hilt just below the guard. She held it away as she triggered it.
A sharp sound filled the air. Gray fluid erupted from the hilt within an electromagnetic field. It assumed the shape of a blade before the memory metal, following its programming, hardened and became solid.
A lakesh.
She held the weapon in her hand for a moment. It was rather light. Almost impossibly so. But she knew from experience that it could cut, and cut well. She held it up and gave Meridina a disbelieving look. "Is this…"
"It is yours, Lucy Lucero," Meridina said.
Lucy looked back to the weapon. She gave it a few practice swings to test it. Very light indeed. Easy to control. A faint blue over it showed the presence of the latent EM field that could deflect energy weapons, maybe even bullets, if used defensively. "But…" Lucy shook her head. "I haven't joined your Order. I said no. You're not supposed to…"
"...our rules are quite clear," Meridina stated. "We must not show those outside the Order the secret of how we craft these blades. I have done no such thing. I simply gave one to you. A student in the Order would craft their own upon their admission into the swevyra'se."
"But… that's semantics, isn't it?", Lucy pointed out.
"Perhaps. But it is the right thing. You will have need of this for what is to come." Meridina gestured toward the fighting circle they had trained in. "Computer, please access dueling partner Meridina-1, difficulty 1."
The computer generated a single figure, a light-skinned Gersallian with cyan-shaded training robes on. The figure raised a lakesh.
"So I'm sparring against the computer?", Lucy asked while approaching the figure. She brought her her lakesh and held it with both hands.
"Yes. To get used to your new weapon. Later I will bring up the training simulation for deflecting enemy fire."
"Oh, that will be fun…", Lucy murmured. Once she was in position and had her weapon in ready stance the program activated. The holographic duelist moved forward and made several basic attacks. Lucy met them, parrying and deflecting while looking for the openings to make her own. The lakesh was even lighter than their wooden practice swords. She had to be more careful with it.
Meridina sat and observed. Or rather, she started to, but she ended up looking over the box. Old memories kindled within her of when she had been given the box, a holding box for a lakesh.
Her fingers traced the engraved inscription. She felt an old ache in her heart ,as she read it.
To my child, both of the Order and of my blood.
I am proud of you, daughter.
Go and stay true to your heart, knowing that your father loves you always.
Karesl
Meridina considered the inscription and felt it all the more bittersweet when she thought about the state of her relations with her father now. An avowed enemy to her mentor, Mastrash Ledosh, Karesl was part of the group in the Order arguing against support of the Alliance and everything else she believed in.
And yet… she could only hope that the inscription had stayed true. And that despite everything, her father still loved her.
The last pre-op meeting between Kane, Shepard, and Worf had ended. The Marine commander was off to finish his day, in preparation for what was to come tomorrow. That left Shepard and Worf in the room. Shepard looked over to the alien, who in his own way looked more Human than every alien species back in her home galaxy, and nodded. "So. Tomorrow."
"Yes."
"We see if all the training we put these people through worked or not." Shepard crossed her arms and leaned against the nearby wall. "And if not, we probably get killed."
"Most likely," Worf answered, in his own laconic way. "But a Klingon does not fear a death in battle."
"Oh?"
"To die a warrior's death," Worf explained, "is to join Kahless and our ancestors in Sto'Vo'Kor."
"Ah." Shepard nodded. "How very Viking of you."
Worf let out a low, rumbling chuckle. "I have always felt that the ancient Norse were Humans who would understand Klingons best."
"I don't know. They were more the raiding and piracy types. So, this Kahless, he's what… a god of war, or more of a Christ figure?"
"He is neither. He is the greatest warrior of our history. The leader who overthrew the dishonorable reign of Molor the Tyrant." Worf smirked. "We Klingons do not have gods. An ancient warrior slew them long ago. They were far more trouble than they were worth."
Shepard had only one reaction to that. Worf was quite surprised to see it was to start laughing. Hard. It took her several moments to recover enough to stop. "Wow. That is some interesting theology you people have." She ceased leaning against the wall. "See you tomorrow?"
Worf answered with a nod. "Yes."
"And when it comes to death in battle…" Shepard turned away and started walking to the doorway out. "...I prefer to let the other guys do the dying. It's easier to win that way."
It was Worf's turn to laugh hard.
It was getting late. Caterina knew she needed to be getting to bed soon given the day she had ahead of her.
First, though, she wanted to check on things, so she was ending her day in Science Lab 1. As she had expected, Data was present, working his own console. "Is it ready?", she asked.
"I have configured the ship's systems to interface the Aurora's tertiary auxiliary computer core directly with the Facility once we have established a communication line. This should allow us to access critical data immediately and keep backups should the Facility require destruction."
"Good idea." Cat took a seat and checked some displays. "And the remaining tertiary computer cores can provide us a lot of space for that data." Something on the screen prompted Cat's expression to shift to confusion. "Say, have you see this? Who's running this high level diagnostic?"
"Lieutenant Lucero. She believes there may be an unknown issue with the computer core."
"Huh. I hope not." Cat went over the results so far. "I mean, it's been behaving well. It's worked like a charm before. I'm not seeing anything different on the results. Maybe that Cylon virus caused a few bugs while it was being deleted. It might explain the weirdness."
"Perhaps. I will continue monitoring before we depart in the morning."
"Are you sure you don't want some sleep? Or rest or something like that?"
"In ordinary circumstances I would spend my off-shift hours fulfilling hobbies and practicing sleep in order to dream."
"You can dream?" Cat looked at Data with surprise.
"Yes. My creator, Dr. Noonian Soong, gave me the capacity to begin dreaming when I put myself into a sleep mode."
"That's… really cool." Caterina was smiling when she turned back to inspecting the display in front of her. The smile faded as she fought back a yawn. "I think I need to get some sleep myself. We're going to have a big day tomorrow."
"Indeed. I shall see you in the morning." Data turned back to his work as Cat departed the room.
That night, the dream returned to Robert. With even greater ferocity. More images of the others going down, a desperate fight with Reich forces that resulted in defeat. Cat's execution at their hands. The Aurora bridge in ruins, a gap opening to space, Julia screaming his name as she was sucked out into space.
He cried out to her… and then he was in space beside her. Agony and horror were frozen to her features. Her body did not move.
Below them, he watched the shapes of black-hulled Reich warships pouring fire into the broken, battered remnants of his ship… until it exploded.
And then… New Liberty in flames. Portland in L2M1, the Alliance capital, being bombarded into ruins from orbit. Swarms of Reich warships blasting Babylon-5 to pieces, the emerald of their disruptors replaced with the sapphire color of Darglan weapons technology.
Whole planets burned.
This was a possible future. A future where they failed tomorrow. Where the Reich got their hands on the Facility and all of the technology found within.
As the planets burned, he felt like he was zooming out, flying away from the systems, from the galaxy, until the Milky Way was below him.
The stars started to go out. One after another. A wave of pure darkness spreading out until it had engulfed the galaxy.
And then it reached beyond the galaxy. Every galaxy in his vision, every one a Milky Way, suffered the same fate, the same wave of darkness flowing over them. Until nothing was left.
Nothing but darkness. Pure, unbroken, absolute darkness.
And then it appeared in his vision. The orange disc in the gold frame. The item handed to him by the Consort Sha'ira during his visit to the Citadel, which she insisted he would need in the near future and the far. The object neither of them knew the origin of.
When the image ended Robert found himself in his bed. There was warmth pressed against him. Angel's breath brushed against his neck, her head resting on his left shoulder. The warmth of her skin against his own reminded him of the pleasure it had brought, the intimacy they shared, and how much it made this work bearable.
He shifted out from under her and got out of the bed. Warp space was still visible outside of the window. That was a comfort in a small way. Nobody would be looking in the window and noticing that he wasn't wearing anything, even in the dim light.
Ordinarily he might have picked up shorts or a bathrobe to put on, for modesty's sake, but Robert's mind was still dwelling on the images. The deaths the dreams had shown him, the loss of everything he loved. More than ever he felt like he was at a decision point that would determine how the future would go.
His eyes fell on the orange disc from the dream. He reached his hand for it and felt the gentle buzz from it. Like an electric wire with a current running through it. It seemed preposterous as Cat had confirmed that it had no technology in it. It should not be feeling like this.
He set a hand on it. Just for a few moments. He couldn't make out the images he sensed in his head. He could feel what they meant though. A feeling he had.
And that was when he made his decision about the next day.
Two arms wrapped around his chest. They were strong, muscled. He felt Angel behind him. "Another dream?"
"Yeah.," he said. "Bad one."
"Dammit." Angel kissed him on the back of the head. "There's got to be a way to stop this stuff. The crazy life force stuff Meridina went on about, I mean."
"I don't think there is," Robert noted quietly. He picked up the orange disc and held it in his hand. He wasn't getting the same sense of visions from it anymore. But he still had the feeling, raw and internal, that his thoughts were right. That he had to do this.
"Angel…?"
"Yes?", she asked.
Robert turned and faced her. They pulled closer together. "I've made up my mind," he said. "I'm going down there, tomorrow."
Angel drew in a breath. "What? Why? You can't…"
"I have to. I… I think I'm seeing the future if I don't. A future where Cat and the others die because I'm not down there. The Nazis take the Facility. The Aurora gets destroyed."
"It's just a dream, Rob," Angel insisted. "That's all it is. You don't have to…
"I do," he insisted. "And I will. For you, for Cat, for everyone. I can't let those dreams come true."
"Don't be a hero," she insisted. "Please."
"It's not about that. Don't worry, I'm not looking to die." He looked down at her. Like him, she hadn't bothered to pull a robe on. It would be pretty embarrassing if someone walked into his quarters at that moment. But it did give him a look at her, a familiar one of course. Her body, while not rippling with muscle like a bodybuilder, had the strong muscle tone that mirrored her physical attitude. It fit the image of what Angel was in his head; strong, powerful, a fighter. And he knew from experience she would fight for everything she loved.
Ever since they had gotten back together, for what seemed like the tenth time (it was actually less than that, admittedly, but it always felt like they'd broken up more often than they had), he had wondered if it would hold. When it would end. What would come between them and push them apart again.
But right here, right now, that didn't matter.
"I love you, Angela," he confessed. "Please, understand that I need to go down there. To guard what we have together and could have together."
Her hazel eyes burned with frustration. "If you think you need to…"
"I know I need to. For all of us."
"...fine." She nodded.
There were no more words to say. He pulled her close and locked his lips to her lips. They shared a deep kiss.
It was Angel who would pull them back into bed. They needed to sleep, after all.
Not that they went straight to sleep.