Teaser
Golden wheat swayed softly in the summer winds. Sunlight bathed the bedroom until the occupants of the bed awoke from it. For Robert Dale, another evening of quiet sleep without dreams left him feeling refreshed and ready for the day.
Warmth pressed against his back. A pair of lips caressed his ear. "Good morning," said his wife. Julia rested her head beside his. "Do we have to get out of bed yet?"
"Spring planting's done, so maybe not," he said. "But don't you have places to be today? That t'ai chi class in town?"
"I'll get there, don't you worry." She was ready to plant a deep, full kiss on his mouth when he turned onto his back. "But I want to start the day off right."
"Ahhh…" He smiled at her. "Well, I think I can help with that…"
They kissed again.
The smell of sausage and eggs had made it upstairs by the time the couple emerged into the house proper. When they arrived downstairs Robert found Little Robby seated in his chair looking at a book. He was just old enough that he no longer required a high chair or booster seat. He looked on his parents with the eyes of his mother and said, "Good Morning… Goooten Morgen."
"Guten Morgen," corrected a wizened voice from the kitchen. Robert's Grandma Anna emerged with a plate of sausage links and scrambled eggs, which she set before the boy. He smiled his happy child's smile at his great-grandmother giving him a peck of a kiss on the cheek. "But very close, my little one," she added with her German-accented English.
"Thank you Great-Grandma." Robert Junior turned his head and smiled at his parents again.
"It sounds like someone's German is improving," Julia remarked before taking a seat beside him. Robert took the next seat over.
"He's doing better than I did at that age," Robert agreed.
"You almost missed breakfast," Robby said reproachfully, or rather with a reproachful tone borrowed from his great grandparents. "Why?"
"Oh, we just… slept in a little," Robert said, taking Julia's left hand with his right and grinning at her.
The phrasing worked on a child, but the adults weren't so easy to fool. Allen Dale, who had been quiet in his corner chair, had a mischievous twinkle in his brown eyes. "What they were doing was trying to make you a new baby sibling, Robby."
"Grandpa Allen!" chided Julia.
The boy's eyes widened with glee. "Make it a baby sister!" he insisted. "I want a baby sister!"
"We'll, uh, we'll see what we can do," Robert assured his son.
"How are you gonna make her?" Robby wanted to know.
That brought a hoot of laughter from the Dale patriarch across the table. "It's chemistry," he said. "You see, they mix this stuff together, and it has to be the right mix, and poof, you've got a baby. And then you have to put the baby into the momma's tummy, y'see."
"Is that how you made me, Mommy?"
"Grandpa is teasing you," she answered, giving him a sarcastic look.
"Can I see the chemistry set?" asked the boy, still earnest.
"Allen, what are you filling our little kleiner's head with?" Anna demanded to know, bringing out more plates of breakfast.
"Grandma, you didn't have to cook," Robert said, accepting the offered plate anyway. "You should take it easy."
"I like to cook," she retorted. "Now Robert Allen, don't you dare go treating me like a…" She started to scold him in German, much to the bemusement of Julia and Grandpa Allen. Robby listened intently, clearly interested in picking up more German.
The tirade, mild as it was, was interrupted by the opening of the door. "We're back," said Michael Dale. Robert's parents and sister stepped in, holding bags of groceries from the nearest country store.
"Ah, there you are. Did they have everything?"
"Yes, Mutter," Michael said, showing the contents of the bag. "Old Rudd's been good about keeping the stock up."
"Good. Now, take seats, breakfast is ready."
As they did so, Robert eyed the table and tried to keep the tears from his eyes. Four generations of his family, together for breakfast. It made him feel warm and happy.
Why do I feel like this every morning? he wondered. They'd had family breakfasts like this for years. Why did it seem so special now?
Robert looked into the cup of coffee that Anne brought in from the kitchen. His eyes met the swirling dark surface of the coffee, almost reflective. And yet, it didn't seem to reflect him. Instead it seemed focused on some science fictiony-looking place, with consoles covered in colorful keys and figures seated at them. A dark-haired man and another with lighter, almost auburn-toned hair were in the forward seats, wearing black uniforms with beige trim on one and red on the other. Behind them, in the middle chairs, sat two more figures, both with the black uniforms trimmed in red. He blinked at the image.
It was him. He and Julia were sitting in those chairs, wearing those uniforms.
And it felt right. That was the weird part. It didn't feel like a dream of any kind, or an idle fancy. It felt… real.
But that was silly. Utterly silly. Why would it…?
"Hey, Rob, what's so interesting in that coffee?" asked his mother.
He glanced upward and noticed everyone was looking at him. He shook his head and blinked. "Sorry, I just… I suppose I spaced out." He picked up the mug and took a big drink, allowing the coffee to begin jolting him to wakefulness. When he set it back down, the surface of the drink reflected nothing. "There. I'm awake now." He smiled at them. "I'm ready to start another day."
The Earth of Universe L2M1 had one of the largest fleet facilities in existence orbiting over it. Built to be the fleet base of the Federated Stars, it now served as the primary fleet base for the United Alliance of Systems, a union of multiple interstellar nations and species from over a dozen universes now in one body. Tubes protected the transport lifts that flitted between different segments of the colossal facility, allowing civilian and Alliance Stellar Navy personnel to move between the great structures on whatever tasks they had.
Julia Megan Andreys had been waiting for this day for months. Her thoughts dwelled on it as the lift carried her from the central terminal structure to the dock structure where the largest starships were being built. She watched Earth while it was visible. It was always a sight to see the planet of her birth from orbit (or rather a copy of it, as she hailed from Earth H1E4). It reminded her of the incredible luck and fortune that had brought her to this place and these wonders.
From the lift it was a short journey down carpeted corridors to the dock lounge for Docks 20 and 21. She stopped to straighten her uniform appropriately and make sure her rank tab was properly aligned with her collar. The tab had four slanted stripes of gold color on them, the insignia of a Captain in the Alliance Stellar Navy.
The lounge was already full when she arrived. Bartenders were serving drinks to the assembled and a table of various finger foods had been arranged. Her eyes swept over the gathering. Most of those present were Stellar Navy officers and Alliance officials. The members of the Defense Committee were present. Dockyard officials were obviously attending too, as were various officers and even some diplomatic staff from other governments. She recognized Federation Ambassador Yal Nuren, a Bolian woman identifiable by her blue skin and the ridge of flesh along the midpoint of her bald head down her face to her neck, discussing the current conflict her government had with the Klingon Empire with Ambassador Jasina Sallina of the Asari Republics, who was a similar shade of blue but with the crest of head pieces that Tom Barnes still called "tentacles", although they were hardly long enough to warrant it. The Turian ambassador was discussing the war with the Nazi German Reich in Universe S4W8 with the white-and-purple clad ambassador from the Free Worlds League of F1S1 and the white-and-orange-uniformed ambassador of the Federated Commonwealth of the same universe. An eight foot tall, muscular woman in tight leathers stood by herself. Do the Clans even do Ambassadors? Julia pondered at seeing the bored genetically-engineered infantrywoman.
"Do pardon me," an electronic voice trilled. Julia looked to her right and downward to see a Gl'mulli looking up at her. The green-toned alien was a gelatinous being who could only converse with the help of the electronic translator bonded by a bio-molecular material to her outermost membrane. The translator didn't just translate language, but sight as well, allowing a Gl'mulli to sense her surroundings visually instead of through the electromagnetic sensations the species typically used. Even the thought of referring to a Gl'mulli by a gendered pronoun was flawed, as the species didn't have genders in the way many others did.
"My apologies," Julia answered. She moved out of the way so that the Gl'mulli could continue on to a purple-skinned, silver-horned Dre'kari that was talking with Councilman Zoral of the Alliance Defense Committee.
An electronic tone sounded in the room, silencing all conversation. Heads turned toward the front of the lounge, where two windows looked out upon the docks the lounge was built between. The ships beyond were of a familiar shape to Julia. She'd seen them both before, and even if she hadn't, she'd recognize the shape. It was the same as the ship she had spent so much time on, the Starship Aurora, first by supporting Aurora's construction back in the pre-Alliance days of the Facility, and then by serving on her as First Officer with the ship's captain, her dearest friend Robert Dale.
Thinking of him was painful. She stopped for the moment.
A figure in an Alliance Stellar Navy uniform stepped to the front of the lounge, between the two docks. Admiral Maran looked Human, like all of his people did, and you had to have a bio-scanner or knowledge of accents to recognize him as a Gersallian. His gray beard and hair still retained some dark hairs, more than one might think for someone directing a war effort that had already cost the Alliance nearly two thousand starships and a few million lives.
"Good afternoon, everyone," he said to the assembled. "I welcome you to this formal commissioning party for two of the Alliance's finest new starships. To begin with, I would like to introduce you to the captains of these new vessels, who I am confident will live up to the expectations that the Alliance and her allies have placed in them. Fellow beings, I present to you the new commanding officer of the Starship Excalibur." Maran nodded to a woman in the group. "Captain Elizabeth King."
From the crowd, a woman in her late thirties emerged. She was solidly built, with brown hair pulled into a regulation bun. Sharp brown eyes surveyed the assembled when she joined Maran. Her uniform had the branch color of red for its trim, with four gold slanted strips on the rank insignia tab on her collar.
There was polite applause. Julia joined them.
King took a place beside Maran. "I am grateful for the honor, Admiral," King said, her accent the same as ever, a prim, almost aristocratic English accent. "I will serve the Alliance to the best of my ability and expect the same from my crew."
"Of course. And now, the new commanding officer of the Starship Enterprise..."
Maran's eyes met Julia's as his head turned to look over the assembled. She didn't react at the nod he made. This was the moment that had been planned for, the moment he'd wanted her present for since the prior May.
And then he spoke the name.
"Captain Ariel Shaham."
From a few feet away, the former leader of the surviving Jews of Universe S4W8 stepped through the crowd. The gray in his hair had expanded just a little in the rough year and a half since Julia had last seen him. He was built solidly, if not with size, his skin faintly tanned. When he stepped up beside Maran his brown eyes looked into the crowd. For a moment they met Julia's. She saw his face briefly twist into a look of guilt before he remembered himself. "Admiral Maran, I accept this posting with gratitude," he said. "I look forward to serving this Alliance that has sheltered my people and given us new lives."
There was applause. Julia joined them despite the knotted feeling she felt within. A part of her couldn't help but think That's supposed to be my ship. She was supposed to be the Captain of the Enterprise.
She watched as Maran directed the two Captains to slots in the walls facing the docks. He gestured to a box and they each removed a bottle of fine champagne. Together they placed the bottles into the slots and hit the keys beside said slots. There were a pair of whoosh sounds and the bottles were shot out of compressed air launchers. Holo-viewscreens showed their motions until they slammed into their respective hulls within a second of each other. Glass shards rocketed away from the points of impact with a spray of champagne into the zero G construction docks.
There was more applause at that point. When it was over Maran silently made his way to Julia. "Hello, Captain," he said formally.
"Admiral, sir." Julia nodded. "Given you said you wanted me here, I couldn't pass this up."
"You didn't have to come, not with the changed circumstances." Maran's expression betrayed his unease. "I'm aware that command of a ship named Enterprise is a great deal for people from your culture. I'm sorry you have been denied that privilege."
"I'm sorry too. Although there's a part of me that believes my place was always meant to be on the Aurora."
"The repairs are nearly complete, I've heard."
Julia nodded. "Mister Scott tells me it'll be a week before we're at full readiness. We do have warp power ready and shields, but some of the power systems are finishing their rebuilds and the teams are still finishing some work on the new plasma emitters that Fleet Operations installed in place of our old phasers."
Maran replied with his own nod. "And Robert?"
Julia shook her head. "No change."
"You may wish to consider transferring him to the Fleet Hospital."
"If he's still in the coma when we're ready to leave, I'll ask Leo to do so."
"Very well."
King and Shaham emerged from the crowd to join them. "Captains," Julia said. "My congratulations."
"I suppose it would be out of place for me to extend the same, given the circumstances," King said. "Still, it's good to see that fourth strip on your rank tab, Captain Andreys. You'll do the service well."
"Thank you, Captain King." She looked to Shaham, who evinced some slight discomfort. "Congratulations again, Captain Shaham. Although I was surprised to hear you signed up for the fleet. I thought you would be sitting on the Council on New Liberty."
Shaham made a face. "I'm not a politician," he protested. "Now that we are not running for our lives from the Nazi, our people are rediscovering the full range of politics. The other Jews on New Liberty have helped with that."
"In a good way or bad?" Julia asked.
"Both," Shaham sighed. "EIther way, I was going mad. And since Yoni is commanding the Eagle quite well, I had no wish to take it from him. I told Admiral Maran I wished to be a Captain in the Alliance. He put me through tests and told me I would get a Star Cruiser." Shaham shook his head. "I just never imagined it would be the Enterprise. I feel like I have stolen her from you."
"It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault, except maybe the Daleks and Cybermen," Julia replied. "Just treat her well and make the rest of us proud. I'll be doing the same on the Aurora."
"That's very magnanimous of you, Captain," King observed. "I'm sure others might not have been so kind about losing a chance to command the Enterprise." It was clear King could see that it did bother Julia, at least a little.
"Maybe not. But the Aurora is also my ship. Being in command of her is more than enough to make up for it." Julia smiled slightly. "Given what might have happened, these consequences are something I can live with."
Ship's Log: 7 January 2643; ASV Aurora. Captain Julia Andreys recording. Nothing has happened today. The ship is still finishing its repairs. Part of the command crew is still off on leave or other assignment. Robert is still in a coma.
And I find myself getting impatient over it all. Over the coma, over the repairs, over everything. It's been eleven weeks since the battle over Earth W8R4 and despite everything, I feel like I've been spinning wheels in the mud. Perhaps it's just eagerness to get back out into service. The war is still raging in S4W8, and there's tension in S5T3 over the Maquis and the Federation-Klingon conflict regarding Archanis. The Alliance needs us completing missions, not sitting in spacedock.
But maybe… maybe I'm just avoiding the matter. The fact that Robert hasn't woken up yet. And with each passing day my fear grows. Maybe… he never will.
Julia decided to have dinner in the Lookout. It wasn't as busy as it would ordinarily be, given how much of the surviving crew was either on leave or reassigned. Only three or four other people were present when she walked in just past 2000 hours.
It was little surprise for her to see Hargert present. He brought out a piece of pot roast and assorted sides for her with a soda drink. "It's still quiet around here, I see," Julia said.
"Yes, it is." Hargert drew in a sad little sigh. "It seems so many of the others are gone, still."
"Caterina's still off at that Vulcan Science Academy conference in the Federation with Ensign Arterria. Jarod's visiting his family on New Liberty. Nick's still off training pilots at the Phobos Flight Academy. Meridina and Lucy are on Gersal, and Angel is… hell, I don't have a clue. She just wanted to 'get away', as she said, and it's a big Multiverse." Julia nursed the soda. "I'm not sure I like how empty the ship feels."
"It has been quiet, yes. But I do not think it will remain so. The others are all due to return soon, yes? For when the ship departs."
"Yeah. And if Robert's not awake by then, we have to leave him behind."
The starboard-side door to the Lookout swished opened and admitted Leo. Doctor Leonard Gillam was in a normal uniform, blue for the branch color on the trim, and had ditched his usual white lab coat. Julia nodded at him; he had a strong, rounded face, and now a beard of black hair was showing on his chin and jawline, giving a darker shade surrounded by already-dark skin. He walked up to them and asked, "Mind if I take this seat?" His brown eyes looked from Hargert to Julia.
Julia shrugged and Hargert, obviously, had no quarrel with the idea. Leo slipped into a seat while Hargert went off to get him something to eat. "You look like you've had a sour day."
"I haven't had a day. Not a real one. Even the paperwork load is light."
"What's our crew situation like?"
"Well, 1,400 survivors of the Daleks and Cybermen, roughly, and about half have been promoted or transferred, especially the wounded." Julia tapped her spoon against her plate, ignoring for the moment the yellow corn at that corner. "Outside of the engineering crew and some of the ops officers, most of the rest are doing other temp assignments with fleet HQ or they're on leave." She crossed her arms. "When we get back out there, over half of the crew is going to be new."
"Ah." Leo put his hands together on the table. "And how are you holding up? You have the look of someone very displeased with the world in general."
"Is this another of those attempts to get me back for all the times I was trying to make you more cheerful?"
Leo pretended to think on it for a moment. "I have to consider that one… yes. Yes it is. So, do you want to tell me what's bugging you?"
Julia considered deflecting the question. At the last moment she didn't. "I've known since the first of the year that I'm the full captain of the Aurora now but it still feels like, on some level, I'm not supposed to be here." She rested her head on her hand. "And then when I think about it… Maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm supposed to be on the Enterprise. Maybe I'm supposed to be dead from blowing the ship up to stop the Daleks and that 'Darkness' that was going to come out of the rift they formed. Because Rob should be here." She gave him a knowing look.
"No change," Leo answered. "I'm sorry."
Julia sighed. She hadn't dared to think there would be one. "Any luck with the telepaths?"
Leo shook his head. "There's no response from his mind."
That caused Julia to swallow. "So he's, what, brain-dead?"
"No. His brain's functioning just fine," Leo insisted. "Hell, I'd almost think he was awake with the EEG readings. But he's just not awake. Whatever that TARDIS thing did to him…"
"Right." She frowned. "Maybe we should ask Cat if there's a way to reach the Doctor."
"The Doctor made it clear he didn't have any idea what would happen," Leo pointed out. "Honestly, Julia, I think we just have to wait and see. I've seen reports of people remaining comatose for decades and then waking up like nothing happened."
Leo quickly regretted proposing that possibility given the look of sheer pain that appeared on Julia's face. "We're going to have to leave him behind, you know," she said.
"I figured. Doctor McPherson left me a message today on scheduling his transfer to the long-term treatment wing."
Hargert returned at that moment, carrying the same meal for Leo and a glass of Leo's favored tea. He smiled at them quietly before departing, leaving them to their conversation.
Julia waited for Leo to take his first bite before saying, "Beth's talking about transferring him to the Colony Hospital."
"I can understand that," Leo said. "But it's probably for the best that he remain here. At least until we understand his condition more."
"Right." Julia took another bite of her rapidly cooling meal. The subject matter was killing her appetite, but if she didn't eat, her stomach would be grumbling when she tried to get some sleep.
Sensing that she needed a change of subject, Leo asked, "Have you heard anything about Zack?"
"Zack?" Julia finished swallowing. "The Koenig is still with the 10th Attack Squadron based out of Eta Leckie."
"I heard they have him escorting transports and hospital ships," Leo said. "I imagine he's bored out of his skull."
Julia shrugged. "I'm sure he's staying busy."
Bright white energy streaked across the void, launched from a ship that was even now fading from view. The torpedoes were on course to hit a single vessel, a transport ship with large cargo pods laid out on both sides of the central spine of its structure. One pod had already been opened to space by a hit through shields that had long since failed. Now these torpedoes would possibly add to that loss or, if on target, destroy the entire ship.
They didn't get the chance. Another ship intercepted them. Their electronic systems attempted to evade, but the maneuver of the intercepting ship hadn't made it possible for the torpedoes to do so. They slammed into the ship's shields and detonated. The shaped anti-matter charges pierced the shields of the ASV Koenig and scorched the ship's azure hull along the ventral side.
On the bridge of the Koenig the vessel rocked from the direct hit. "We took bleedthrough damage to Deck 4," reported Lieutenant Magda Navaez, operations officer for the ship. The Colombian-born woman looked over her sensor screen from her seat on the port side of the bridge, her console facing outward like the others along the sides. "They've already recloaked."
"I couldn't get a lock before they did," said Lieutenant April Sherlily, the tactical officer one station astern of Magda's.
Commander Zachary Carrey was seated alone in the center of the bridge. In front of him, the sole bow-facing station was the helm, where his First Officer Lieutenant Creighton Apley was seated. The two were roughly of the same build, but Zack's brown hair contrasted with the lighter brown hair of Apley. Zack's thoroughly 20th-21st Century Midwestern accent, the product of an upbringing in Kansas, was also quite different from Apley's Midwestern accent that had developed in the future timeframe of Universe D3R1's Earth. "Status on the Rochester Comet?" he asked Magda.
"Their shields are still down and they've got structural damage, if they take another hit it could destroy the entire ship," was Magda's answer.
"Damn." Zack frowned. "If they couldn't keep up with the convoy they shouldn't have left Eta Leckie Base." He would have to file a very negative report on Captain Kelton, presuming they both survived this. "And we can't keep this up forever…"
"We need distance," insisted Sherlily. "Then I can get a shot when they try to decloak."
"But then we'll be out of position to stop incoming fire," Apley pointed out. "The transport won't survive the hit."
Zack considered the problem quietly. A solution was forming in his mind as he considered the likely attack vector of the Reich attack ship, and said ship's situation. The Nazi attack ships weren't made to fight like his ship were, after all; they were made to decloak, fire torpedoes, and then recloak and run if they had to.
He tapped a key on his chair. "Bridge to Engineering."
"Engineering here," replied Lieutenant Karen Derbely, the ship's Chief Engineer.
"Karen, do you think our tractor beam could be set up to push the Rochester Comet out of the way?"
"For a few seconds, perhaps. It's at just the right size that our tractor beam could pull or push it for that long."
"Then make the necessary preparations," he ordered.
"Standby… done."
"Magda, use the tractor beam to repel the transport the moment that Nazi decloaks. Apley, put us above them and to starboard, and I want the tractor beam emitters lined up to face the ship. April, I want a spread of solar torpedoes set to detonate automatically when they reach a certain distance."
Apley nodded and maneuvered the ship. Magda confirmed her readiness as well.
All that was left was to wait. That was the worst part since Zack couldn't be sure this is what the enemy ship would do. He was trying to guess what this commander would do. Would he recognize this was a trap and attack from somewhere else? There was no way to know. All he could do was wait and see what happened.
The Reich attack ship decloaked after another thirty seconds had passed. The captain had placed his ship below and to the port of the Rochester Comet. Just as Zack hoped he would.
Even as the torpedoes launched from the squat, shark-like ship's forward section, the tractor beam on the Koenig flashed to life. A ribbon of blue energy linked Koenig to the transport she was protecting and sent it flying sideways through space. From the bow of the Koenig a spread of solar torpedoes launched and turned toward the enemy attack ship, even now cloaking.
Its shots missed, and the dorsal phaser array dispensed with them before they could turn back.
Meanwhile the solar torpedoes reached their programmed distance and detonated. There was a sudden flicker in space. The Nazi attack ship reappeared, debris and atmosphere flowing from a sudden wound in its side.
The Koenig orientated on the enemy ship under Apley's control. Sherlily triggered the forward pulse phasers as soon as she had a lock. Amber energy burst from the forward emitters. The Reich attack ship's shields snapped into place. But the firepower they were facing was beyond the shields' endurance, especially with the damage the ship had taken from the torpedo blast wave. They failed under the Koenig's barrage, allowing the final shots from the barrage to smash into unshielded hull. There were more bursts of flame and gas and debris from the enemy ship followed by an intense white fireball that all who saw it recognized as the result of a anti-matter losing containment. When the blast receded, there was nothing but small pieces of debris to mark the defeated foe.
"Ha!" shouted Zack, and the others cheered as well. "Magda, get Kelton for me," he said. "Find out how long before his warp drive is back online."
"Yes sir," she said, plainly happy. And for a good reason.
"And let him know I'll send our engineers over if we have to in order to get him moving," Zack added. "I'm not letting this jerk and his crappy ship keep us from getting our leave time."
"A week of leave and then back to the Aurora," Sherlily said with a little sigh. "I can taste Hargert's sausage stew already."
"It sounds like you are looking forward to that more than your leave," Magda said.
"Oh, don't get me wrong. Roliri, Karen, and I have five days of kayaking on the Ulysses River on New Appalachia coming up," Sherlily announced. "What about you?"
"I'm going home to New Liberty to visit my family," was Magda's reply.
"I'm heading home myself," said Apley.
"And I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves," said Zack, smiling.
"While you're off on New Caprica visiting your girlfriend," Magda said.
"Yes," he said, feeling palpable eagerness to make the trip. "If only we can get this idiot in gear. If this takes much longer I'll make Kelton get out and push his damn ship back to Eta Leckie."
That mental image made everyone chuckle.
The Vulcan lecture hall reminded Caterina somewhat of a high school auditorium, at least in basic structure, with a wide range of seats facing a central stage with a podium and a number of monitors. Currently a Vulcan scientist, Suvel, was standing and giving a lecture on the interaction of subspace with the other forms of faster-than-light travel discovered since Multiversal Contact for the Federation. Cat was seated five rows back and toward the speaker's left. On one side she had Violeta at the row's end-seat, who looked like she was falling asleep. On the other side the seat was an Efrosian woman in a Starfleet science uniform. Beyond the Efrosian was an Asari, a Brakiri, a Hermat, and another Human; a Turian and a Minbari were behind her.
"...testing on Stardate 49538.4 demonstrated the correlation between the Mass Relays of M4P2 and the theorized possibility of subspace tunnels," Suvel was saying. "With this discovery the possibility of new avenues into subspace-based transportation…"
Caterina glanced over to Violeta, who now seemed completely asleep. For the moment Cat tuned out the Vulcan professor to look at Violeta and feel very guilty about bringing her to this. I had a leave that we could have used to do anything, and I insist on coming to this conference. And it's not even a good one. Some of the things these people are saying are…
She stopped herself. It wasn't fair to think those thoughts, not to these scientists. They hadn't had the opportunity to see other things that she had enjoyed. They hadn't seen time and space in the company of a being like the Doctor.
The Doctor! To actually have met the being listed in the Darglan databases was one thing, but getting to travel with him? That had been the kind of experience Cat had never dared dream of, even after they found the Facility. From her perspective they had spent a year traveling across time and space in his universe, hunting for a breach in the fifth dimensional barrier he could use to contact Rose Tyler or, perhaps, even bring her back. In the end the best they'd managed was an indication of a breach several months after the Battle of Canary Wharf, and a supernova that could be used to fuel a communication via the TARDIS through said breach. With the ostensible reason for her presence on the TARDIS over, the Doctor had brought Caterina home to within minutes of when they left. Since then she'd had to re-adjust to the old routines, and make up for her lost time with Violeta and Angel.
Suvel's presentation finished. Caterina was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had forgotten she was next. It wasn't until Professor T'Rya, the presenter of the conference, called her name that Caterina remembered herself. She blinked before standing up. Violeta stirred as well and stood with her, giving Cat a kiss on the cheek for good luck. Cat responded with a smile and walked down the aisle stairway toward the central stage. She activated her omnitool and linked it to the presentation projector to load her presentation to the conference.
Seeing the crowd made her swallow with apprehension. But it was with a clear voice, and no sign of the shy stutter she once might have suffered, that Caterina introduced herself. "Greetings to my esteemed colleagues," she said, looking at a crowd that was composed of scientists from across the Multiverse. "I am Lieutenant Caterina Delgado of the Alliance Stellar Navy, Science Officer of the Starship Aurora." She noted the bottled water and gratefully picked one up to wet her throat. "And I'm here to present new research into the nature of subspace's interactions with hyperspatial domains. Since the Multiversal Era began…"
As Caterina began her presentation, she felt a pang of regret. She was here, speaking to a crowd without a moment's stutter, and her girlfriend was watching happily…
...but her sister was nowhere to be seen.
I wish you were here was one thought that came to her. As she activated a display showing the E5B1 universe's preferred layer of hyperspace, a second thought crossed her mind.
Where are you anyway, Angel?
One common concept for space-faring species and nations was the idea of the permanent frontier. Unlike a pre-spaceflight species stuck on one world, there was no innate, finite amount of territory that could be settled. The frontier had no limit. Certainly a world could grow to the point it was no longer on the frontier, but there was always another star, another planet, just beyond the metaphorical horizon, waiting for someone to settle upon them. And so the frontier would move onward.
The thing about frontiers, of course, is that they tend to be unkind places. Which was certainly a fair way to describe the colonial town of Hendonville, on the planet designated Corwin.
The roar of the crowd in the grungy backroom washed over Angela Delgado and brought back old memories, memories of amateur fights in gyms throughout Kansas and into neighboring states. Her current location might have passed for such, in fact, if not for darker lights, the money changing hands among those in attendance, and the cage.
And the lack of safety equipment. That was another telling factor.
The fact that the cage was electrified was a rather unnecessary detail at that point.
Angel slipped off her jacket, revealing the black sports bra she was wearing underneath, as well as the rippling, defined muscle on her arms, shoulders, stomach, and much of her back not covered by the fabric of her top. Had she been wearing shorts and not sweatpants the muscular definition of her legs would have been on display as well. Her skin was one of the darker shades in the room, a brown that had regained color in the prior weeks since her return to living under suns.
She stepped through the cage door and heard the click of the lock behind her. A very low buzz came seconds later as the electrical current for the cage was turned on.
Standing across the way was the current champion. He was six feet tall and shirtless, showing off the muscular build on his lightly tanned skin. A scar ran down the side of his left cheek. Brown eyes glinted with malice as a sneer formed across the man's face. "Well ain't that precious?" he asked rhetorically, although he didn't sound like the kind of person to understand what that meant. "Cute little girl muscles."
The crowd laughed.
Angel considered a retort and decided anything would be wasted on her opponent, and probably on the crowd. Instead her hazel eyes smoldered with disgust and contempt for him. She finished flexing her arms as a warmup and tilted her head to either side, loosening the muscles in her neck. A quick check confirmed the dirtied white bandages around her knuckles and fingers were intact. It was the best she'd get instead of proper gloves.
The bell rang. Her opponent charged. His fist flew in for her face. She caught the blow with her forearms. A second blow she dodged by ducking slightly. He snarled and tried to kick her, but Angel side-stepped that blow
For several seconds he wailed at her and Angel deflected or avoided the blows. It wasn't her usual fighting style to be sure. Every fiber of her being burned to retaliate, but she wasn't going to do that. Not just yet. She wanted to get a feel for this fellow and how he fought.
Perhaps it was her unfamiliarity with defensive stances that finally gave the champion his opening. Or he moved faster than anticipated. Either way, there was a sudden impact and rush of pain on the left side of her face. Raw force drove Angel back into the cage. Electricity surged from the metal and into her body, causing her to cry out until she fell away from it. Angel dropped to hands and knees. Some of her muscles spasmed in pain and she knew that she'd have a bruise on her face tomorrow. Blood trickled around her nose and mouth.
"Aww, does the girlie have a boo-boo?" her opponent asked mockingly. The crowd laughed.
Angel wiped the blood from her face and smiled.
Fight long enough, and you can get a feel for opponents. Specifically, you can tell the real ones from the fakes. Angel had been in enough fights to learn this herself.
Which is how she knew her opponent wasn't the real thing.
A real fighter, even a showboat, would have put her down first. He certainly wouldn't have turned his back to raise his arms to the crowd. But this guy wasn't that. Local top of the heap, maybe, but ultimately just a guy with muscles and a barroom brawl-level knowledge of fighting.
That could be dangerous, of course. Angel had met some damn good brawlers in her time. But they'd put this guy in his place just as easy as she intended to.
She stood up. Her opponent turned toward her and smirked, but that didn't match the mocking smile on her face. Angel flexed an arm, assumed a stance, and made a "Come get me" wave with the four fingers on her left hand.
He came at her again. His fist was raised for another punch. Nor he and the crowd saw it coming.
Suddenly her hand was flat and smacking his throat. His eyes widened in shock and pain. He stumbled, trying to regain breath, and Angel whirled about and kicked him in the jaw. Blood and a tooth flew free from his mouth. He fell over in shock.
Angel could have gone for the submission hold. But she held back. This fight wasn't over until she decided it was, and so she waited patiently for the champion to stand back up. He was livid with rage and didn't bother with anything but a furious charge.
This time Angel side-stepped him entirely. Before he could recover, she delivered a kick to his back that sent him on into the cage wall. His body spasmed upon contact with the electrical current running through the metal. He stumbled back and fell, landing onto his back and rear on the mat.
Angel let him recover. Pure rage burned in his eyes now, mixed with a fear not present before. He realized he was fighting someone beyond his usual foes. Angel wasn't someone he could intimidate or easily overpower. He avoided a heedless charge and brought his arms up into a defensive stance. "I can take whatever you dish out, bitch!"
That made Angel grin. She wiped a bit of the blood still trickling from her mouth and nose away before charging at him. Her attack started with a couple of jabs and kicks at him to test his defensive stance and let him block those without giving him any openings.
This led him into a false sense of security as well, which was just what she hoped would happen before she cut loose.
For the crowd, the site was astonishing. Their scar-faced champion was suddenly reeling. Punches too fast for him to catch pummeled his face, then a kick took him in the belly. He flailed back toward the edge of the cage and caught himself just shy of it.
Angel dropped low and threw a punch she'd been holding back for the right moment. Said punch struck her opponent between the legs with the full force her arm permitted.
The crowd's reaction was a mix of surprise, anger, and cheering.
The champion, on the other hand, squeaked a cry of sheer pain and doubled over before dropping to all fours. The strike left him stunned and on all fours.
Angel knelt down beside him and put him in a headlock. "That was for the girls," she hissed at him in a voice low enough that only he could hear her.
"What?" he squeaked back.
"I know what you are, Mr. Talbot. They told me what you did to them. If you don't want me to pummel the ever-living shit out of you, stay down."
"Bitch!" was the response, and a wild punch that nausea and disorientation made far too wild to connect. It did extend his arm enough for Angel to grab it. She twisted it out of place and, with an extra twist, bent and twisted it enough to dislocate his shoulder. He shrieked in pain.
Angel threw a punch across his face that nearly broke her knuckles. It did break his nose as a side-effect to knocking him out.
As the crowd cheered and booed, the organizer outside of the ring started counting down. With her adrenaline pumping Angel couldn't be too sure of the count's accuracy, but she suspected that it was slower than it should have been, with ten seconds being more like fifteen or twenty. But Talbot remained unconscious the entire time.
After reaching a very reluctant ten, the fight MC shut down the electricity on the cage and unlocked it. He stepped in and went up to Angel. She didn't resist him gripping her right wrist and lifting her arm up in triumph. She gave the crowd a triumphant grin and raised her left arm over her head as well. "Ladies and gentlemen, your new champion, the Angry Angel!"
Applause, boos, and some wolf whistles came from the dozens in the crowd.
Angel left the cage. One of the other staff for the ring walked up and handed her a wad of bills, representing her prize for the fight. She could feel malevolent gazes on her as she walked toward the exit. Talbot had clearly been the favorite of many, and more importantly, the one they'd bet on. She had just cost a lot of angry people money.
Angel was just shy of the door leading out when a familiar voice said, "Nice fight." She turned and faced a man who looked in his mid to late thirties, dark-haired, in a dark brown jacket, trousers, and gray shirt. "We might want to get some ice on your face, though."
"Jarod?" Angel asked, incredulous.
Her friend and comrade from the Aurora, the Operations Officer compared to her role as Chief Tactical Officer, answered that with a grin and a nod. "So, where are you staying?" Jarod indicated the sullen, angry faces still in the crowd. "Because we might want to leave before your new fans come looking for you."
Angel sighed and nodded. "Follow me," she said. "I wasn't going to use the shower here anyway."
The trip into town went as it usually did for Robert and Julia. She went off for her t'ai chi class and he visited the contractors the family farm worked with.
After a day of checking on them, Robert was waiting outside of Julia's training studio when he noticed the shadow loom beside him. He turned his head to face the newcomer. The black and purple-striped jacket with dark trousers and a proper matching shirt spoke of someone with specific taste. The tall man's brown eyes focused on him and a friendly smile crossed his face. "Hello there," he said in a cheery voice, one with a clear English accent. "You're Robert Dale, right? The new Chairman of the Family Farm Association?"
"I am," answered Robert. He extended a hand and the Englishman accepted it. "I've never seen you around before."
"Oh, I just moved in. I'm the new doctor in town. Honestly that's what people usually just call me. 'The Doctor'."
"Just that?" Robert chuckled. "Don't you have another na-..."
Suddenly a sharp pain stabbed Robert in the forehead. He cried out and fell into the Doctor's arms before everything went black.
Golden wheat swayed softly in the summer winds. Sunlight bathed the bedroom until the occupants of the bed awoke from it. For Robert Dale, another evening of quiet sleep without dreams left him feeling refreshed and ready for the day.
Warmth pressed against his back. A pair of lips caressed his ear. "Good morning," said his wife. Julia rested her head beside his. "Do we have to get out of bed yet?"
"Spring planting's done, so maybe not," he said. "But don't you have places to be today? That t'ai chi class in town?"
"I'll get there, don't you worry." She was ready to plant a deep, full kiss on his mouth when he turned onto his back. "But I want to start the day off right."
"Ahhh…" He smiled at her. "Well, I think I can help with that…"
They kissed again.
The smell of sausage and eggs had made it upstairs by the time the couple emerged into the house proper. When they arrived downstairs Robert found Little Robby seated in his chair looking at a book. He was just old enough that he no longer required a high chair or booster seat. He looked on his parents with the eyes of his mother and said, "Good Morning… Goooten Morgen."
"Guten Morgen," corrected a wizened voice from the kitchen. Robert's Grandma Anna emerged with a plate of sausage links and scrambled eggs, which she set before the boy. He smiled his happy child's smile at his great-grandmother giving him a peck of a kiss on the cheek. "But very close, my little one," she added with her German-accented English.
"Thank you Great-Grandma." Robert Junior turned his head and smiled at his parents again.
"It sounds like someone's German is improving," Julia remarked before taking a seat beside him. Robert took the next seat over.
"He's doing better than I did at that age," Robert agreed.
"You almost missed breakfast," Robby said reproachfully, or rather with a reproachful tone borrowed from his great grandparents. "Why?"
"Oh, we just… slept in a little," Robert said, taking Julia's left hand with his right and grinning at her.
The phrasing worked on a child, but the adults weren't so easy to fool. Allen Dale, who had been quiet in his corner chair, had a mischievous twinkle in his brown eyes. "What they were doing was trying to make you a new baby sibling, Robby."
"Grandpa Allen!" chided Julia.
The boy's eyes widened with glee. "Make it a baby sister!" he insisted. "I want a baby sister!"
"We'll, uh, we'll see what we can do," Robert assured his son.
"How are you gonna make her?" Robby wanted to know.
That brought a hoot of laughter from the Dale patriarch across the table. "It's chemistry," he said. "You see, they mix this stuff together, and it has to be the right mix, and poof, you've got a baby. And then you have to put the baby into the momma's tummy, y'see."
"Is that how you made me, Mommy?"
"Grandpa is teasing you," she answered, giving him a sarcastic look.
"Can I see the chemistry set?" asked the boy, still earnest.
"Allen, what are you filling our little kleiner's head with?" Anna demanded to know, bringing out more plates of breakfast.
"Grandma, you didn't have to cook," Robert said, accepting the offered plate anyway. "You should take it easy."
"I like to cook," she retorted. "Now Robert Allen, don't you dare go treating me like a…" She started to scold him in German, much to the bemusement of Julia and Grandpa Allen. Robby listened intently, clearly interested in picking up more German.
The tirade, mild as it was, was interrupted by the opening of the door. "We're back," said Michael Dale. Robert's parents and sister stepped in, holding bags of groceries from the nearest country store.
"Ah, there you are. Did they have everything?"
"Yes, Mutter," Michael said, showing the contents of the bag. "Old Rudd's been good about keeping the stock up."
"Good. Now, take seats, breakfast is ready."
As they did so, Robert eyed the table and tried to keep the tears from his eyes. Four generations of his family, together for breakfast. It made him feel warm and happy.
Why do I feel like this every morning? he wondered. They'd had family breakfasts like this for years. Why did it seem so special now?
Robert looked into the cup of coffee that Anne brought in from the kitchen. His eyes met the swirling dark surface of the coffee, almost reflective. And yet, it didn't seem to reflect him. Instead it seemed focused on some science fictiony-looking place, with consoles covered in colorful keys and figures seated at them. A dark-haired man and another with lighter, almost auburn-toned hair were in the forward seats, wearing black uniforms with beige trim on one and red on the other. Behind them, in the middle chairs, sat two more figures, both with the black uniforms trimmed in red. He blinked at the image.
It was him. He and Julia were sitting in those chairs, wearing those uniforms.
And it felt right. That was the weird part. It didn't feel like a dream of any kind, or an idle fancy. It felt… real.
But that was silly. Utterly silly. Why would it…?
"Hey, Rob, what's so interesting in that coffee?" asked his mother.
He glanced upward and noticed everyone was looking at him. He shook his head and blinked. "Sorry, I just… I suppose I spaced out." He picked up the mug and took a big drink, allowing the coffee to begin jolting him to wakefulness. When he set it back down, the surface of the drink reflected nothing. "There. I'm awake now." He smiled at them. "I'm ready to start another day."
The Earth of Universe L2M1 had one of the largest fleet facilities in existence orbiting over it. Built to be the fleet base of the Federated Stars, it now served as the primary fleet base for the United Alliance of Systems, a union of multiple interstellar nations and species from over a dozen universes now in one body. Tubes protected the transport lifts that flitted between different segments of the colossal facility, allowing civilian and Alliance Stellar Navy personnel to move between the great structures on whatever tasks they had.
Julia Megan Andreys had been waiting for this day for months. Her thoughts dwelled on it as the lift carried her from the central terminal structure to the dock structure where the largest starships were being built. She watched Earth while it was visible. It was always a sight to see the planet of her birth from orbit (or rather a copy of it, as she hailed from Earth H1E4). It reminded her of the incredible luck and fortune that had brought her to this place and these wonders.
From the lift it was a short journey down carpeted corridors to the dock lounge for Docks 20 and 21. She stopped to straighten her uniform appropriately and make sure her rank tab was properly aligned with her collar. The tab had four slanted stripes of gold color on them, the insignia of a Captain in the Alliance Stellar Navy.
The lounge was already full when she arrived. Bartenders were serving drinks to the assembled and a table of various finger foods had been arranged. Her eyes swept over the gathering. Most of those present were Stellar Navy officers and Alliance officials. The members of the Defense Committee were present. Dockyard officials were obviously attending too, as were various officers and even some diplomatic staff from other governments. She recognized Federation Ambassador Yal Nuren, a Bolian woman identifiable by her blue skin and the ridge of flesh along the midpoint of her bald head down her face to her neck, discussing the current conflict her government had with the Klingon Empire with Ambassador Jasina Sallina of the Asari Republics, who was a similar shade of blue but with the crest of head pieces that Tom Barnes still called "tentacles", although they were hardly long enough to warrant it. The Turian ambassador was discussing the war with the Nazi German Reich in Universe S4W8 with the white-and-purple clad ambassador from the Free Worlds League of F1S1 and the white-and-orange-uniformed ambassador of the Federated Commonwealth of the same universe. An eight foot tall, muscular woman in tight leathers stood by herself. Do the Clans even do Ambassadors? Julia pondered at seeing the bored genetically-engineered infantrywoman.
"Do pardon me," an electronic voice trilled. Julia looked to her right and downward to see a Gl'mulli looking up at her. The green-toned alien was a gelatinous being who could only converse with the help of the electronic translator bonded by a bio-molecular material to her outermost membrane. The translator didn't just translate language, but sight as well, allowing a Gl'mulli to sense her surroundings visually instead of through the electromagnetic sensations the species typically used. Even the thought of referring to a Gl'mulli by a gendered pronoun was flawed, as the species didn't have genders in the way many others did.
"My apologies," Julia answered. She moved out of the way so that the Gl'mulli could continue on to a purple-skinned, silver-horned Dre'kari that was talking with Councilman Zoral of the Alliance Defense Committee.
An electronic tone sounded in the room, silencing all conversation. Heads turned toward the front of the lounge, where two windows looked out upon the docks the lounge was built between. The ships beyond were of a familiar shape to Julia. She'd seen them both before, and even if she hadn't, she'd recognize the shape. It was the same as the ship she had spent so much time on, the Starship Aurora, first by supporting Aurora's construction back in the pre-Alliance days of the Facility, and then by serving on her as First Officer with the ship's captain, her dearest friend Robert Dale.
Thinking of him was painful. She stopped for the moment.
A figure in an Alliance Stellar Navy uniform stepped to the front of the lounge, between the two docks. Admiral Maran looked Human, like all of his people did, and you had to have a bio-scanner or knowledge of accents to recognize him as a Gersallian. His gray beard and hair still retained some dark hairs, more than one might think for someone directing a war effort that had already cost the Alliance nearly two thousand starships and a few million lives.
"Good afternoon, everyone," he said to the assembled. "I welcome you to this formal commissioning party for two of the Alliance's finest new starships. To begin with, I would like to introduce you to the captains of these new vessels, who I am confident will live up to the expectations that the Alliance and her allies have placed in them. Fellow beings, I present to you the new commanding officer of the Starship Excalibur." Maran nodded to a woman in the group. "Captain Elizabeth King."
From the crowd, a woman in her late thirties emerged. She was solidly built, with brown hair pulled into a regulation bun. Sharp brown eyes surveyed the assembled when she joined Maran. Her uniform had the branch color of red for its trim, with four gold slanted strips on the rank insignia tab on her collar.
There was polite applause. Julia joined them.
King took a place beside Maran. "I am grateful for the honor, Admiral," King said, her accent the same as ever, a prim, almost aristocratic English accent. "I will serve the Alliance to the best of my ability and expect the same from my crew."
"Of course. And now, the new commanding officer of the Starship Enterprise..."
Maran's eyes met Julia's as his head turned to look over the assembled. She didn't react at the nod he made. This was the moment that had been planned for, the moment he'd wanted her present for since the prior May.
And then he spoke the name.
"Captain Ariel Shaham."
From a few feet away, the former leader of the surviving Jews of Universe S4W8 stepped through the crowd. The gray in his hair had expanded just a little in the rough year and a half since Julia had last seen him. He was built solidly, if not with size, his skin faintly tanned. When he stepped up beside Maran his brown eyes looked into the crowd. For a moment they met Julia's. She saw his face briefly twist into a look of guilt before he remembered himself. "Admiral Maran, I accept this posting with gratitude," he said. "I look forward to serving this Alliance that has sheltered my people and given us new lives."
There was applause. Julia joined them despite the knotted feeling she felt within. A part of her couldn't help but think That's supposed to be my ship. She was supposed to be the Captain of the Enterprise.
She watched as Maran directed the two Captains to slots in the walls facing the docks. He gestured to a box and they each removed a bottle of fine champagne. Together they placed the bottles into the slots and hit the keys beside said slots. There were a pair of whoosh sounds and the bottles were shot out of compressed air launchers. Holo-viewscreens showed their motions until they slammed into their respective hulls within a second of each other. Glass shards rocketed away from the points of impact with a spray of champagne into the zero G construction docks.
There was more applause at that point. When it was over Maran silently made his way to Julia. "Hello, Captain," he said formally.
"Admiral, sir." Julia nodded. "Given you said you wanted me here, I couldn't pass this up."
"You didn't have to come, not with the changed circumstances." Maran's expression betrayed his unease. "I'm aware that command of a ship named Enterprise is a great deal for people from your culture. I'm sorry you have been denied that privilege."
"I'm sorry too. Although there's a part of me that believes my place was always meant to be on the Aurora."
"The repairs are nearly complete, I've heard."
Julia nodded. "Mister Scott tells me it'll be a week before we're at full readiness. We do have warp power ready and shields, but some of the power systems are finishing their rebuilds and the teams are still finishing some work on the new plasma emitters that Fleet Operations installed in place of our old phasers."
Maran replied with his own nod. "And Robert?"
Julia shook her head. "No change."
"You may wish to consider transferring him to the Fleet Hospital."
"If he's still in the coma when we're ready to leave, I'll ask Leo to do so."
"Very well."
King and Shaham emerged from the crowd to join them. "Captains," Julia said. "My congratulations."
"I suppose it would be out of place for me to extend the same, given the circumstances," King said. "Still, it's good to see that fourth strip on your rank tab, Captain Andreys. You'll do the service well."
"Thank you, Captain King." She looked to Shaham, who evinced some slight discomfort. "Congratulations again, Captain Shaham. Although I was surprised to hear you signed up for the fleet. I thought you would be sitting on the Council on New Liberty."
Shaham made a face. "I'm not a politician," he protested. "Now that we are not running for our lives from the Nazi, our people are rediscovering the full range of politics. The other Jews on New Liberty have helped with that."
"In a good way or bad?" Julia asked.
"Both," Shaham sighed. "EIther way, I was going mad. And since Yoni is commanding the Eagle quite well, I had no wish to take it from him. I told Admiral Maran I wished to be a Captain in the Alliance. He put me through tests and told me I would get a Star Cruiser." Shaham shook his head. "I just never imagined it would be the Enterprise. I feel like I have stolen her from you."
"It's not your fault. It's nobody's fault, except maybe the Daleks and Cybermen," Julia replied. "Just treat her well and make the rest of us proud. I'll be doing the same on the Aurora."
"That's very magnanimous of you, Captain," King observed. "I'm sure others might not have been so kind about losing a chance to command the Enterprise." It was clear King could see that it did bother Julia, at least a little.
"Maybe not. But the Aurora is also my ship. Being in command of her is more than enough to make up for it." Julia smiled slightly. "Given what might have happened, these consequences are something I can live with."
Undiscovered Frontier
"Consequences"
"Consequences"
Ship's Log: 7 January 2643; ASV Aurora. Captain Julia Andreys recording. Nothing has happened today. The ship is still finishing its repairs. Part of the command crew is still off on leave or other assignment. Robert is still in a coma.
And I find myself getting impatient over it all. Over the coma, over the repairs, over everything. It's been eleven weeks since the battle over Earth W8R4 and despite everything, I feel like I've been spinning wheels in the mud. Perhaps it's just eagerness to get back out into service. The war is still raging in S4W8, and there's tension in S5T3 over the Maquis and the Federation-Klingon conflict regarding Archanis. The Alliance needs us completing missions, not sitting in spacedock.
But maybe… maybe I'm just avoiding the matter. The fact that Robert hasn't woken up yet. And with each passing day my fear grows. Maybe… he never will.
Julia decided to have dinner in the Lookout. It wasn't as busy as it would ordinarily be, given how much of the surviving crew was either on leave or reassigned. Only three or four other people were present when she walked in just past 2000 hours.
It was little surprise for her to see Hargert present. He brought out a piece of pot roast and assorted sides for her with a soda drink. "It's still quiet around here, I see," Julia said.
"Yes, it is." Hargert drew in a sad little sigh. "It seems so many of the others are gone, still."
"Caterina's still off at that Vulcan Science Academy conference in the Federation with Ensign Arterria. Jarod's visiting his family on New Liberty. Nick's still off training pilots at the Phobos Flight Academy. Meridina and Lucy are on Gersal, and Angel is… hell, I don't have a clue. She just wanted to 'get away', as she said, and it's a big Multiverse." Julia nursed the soda. "I'm not sure I like how empty the ship feels."
"It has been quiet, yes. But I do not think it will remain so. The others are all due to return soon, yes? For when the ship departs."
"Yeah. And if Robert's not awake by then, we have to leave him behind."
The starboard-side door to the Lookout swished opened and admitted Leo. Doctor Leonard Gillam was in a normal uniform, blue for the branch color on the trim, and had ditched his usual white lab coat. Julia nodded at him; he had a strong, rounded face, and now a beard of black hair was showing on his chin and jawline, giving a darker shade surrounded by already-dark skin. He walked up to them and asked, "Mind if I take this seat?" His brown eyes looked from Hargert to Julia.
Julia shrugged and Hargert, obviously, had no quarrel with the idea. Leo slipped into a seat while Hargert went off to get him something to eat. "You look like you've had a sour day."
"I haven't had a day. Not a real one. Even the paperwork load is light."
"What's our crew situation like?"
"Well, 1,400 survivors of the Daleks and Cybermen, roughly, and about half have been promoted or transferred, especially the wounded." Julia tapped her spoon against her plate, ignoring for the moment the yellow corn at that corner. "Outside of the engineering crew and some of the ops officers, most of the rest are doing other temp assignments with fleet HQ or they're on leave." She crossed her arms. "When we get back out there, over half of the crew is going to be new."
"Ah." Leo put his hands together on the table. "And how are you holding up? You have the look of someone very displeased with the world in general."
"Is this another of those attempts to get me back for all the times I was trying to make you more cheerful?"
Leo pretended to think on it for a moment. "I have to consider that one… yes. Yes it is. So, do you want to tell me what's bugging you?"
Julia considered deflecting the question. At the last moment she didn't. "I've known since the first of the year that I'm the full captain of the Aurora now but it still feels like, on some level, I'm not supposed to be here." She rested her head on her hand. "And then when I think about it… Maybe I'm not. Maybe I'm supposed to be on the Enterprise. Maybe I'm supposed to be dead from blowing the ship up to stop the Daleks and that 'Darkness' that was going to come out of the rift they formed. Because Rob should be here." She gave him a knowing look.
"No change," Leo answered. "I'm sorry."
Julia sighed. She hadn't dared to think there would be one. "Any luck with the telepaths?"
Leo shook his head. "There's no response from his mind."
That caused Julia to swallow. "So he's, what, brain-dead?"
"No. His brain's functioning just fine," Leo insisted. "Hell, I'd almost think he was awake with the EEG readings. But he's just not awake. Whatever that TARDIS thing did to him…"
"Right." She frowned. "Maybe we should ask Cat if there's a way to reach the Doctor."
"The Doctor made it clear he didn't have any idea what would happen," Leo pointed out. "Honestly, Julia, I think we just have to wait and see. I've seen reports of people remaining comatose for decades and then waking up like nothing happened."
Leo quickly regretted proposing that possibility given the look of sheer pain that appeared on Julia's face. "We're going to have to leave him behind, you know," she said.
"I figured. Doctor McPherson left me a message today on scheduling his transfer to the long-term treatment wing."
Hargert returned at that moment, carrying the same meal for Leo and a glass of Leo's favored tea. He smiled at them quietly before departing, leaving them to their conversation.
Julia waited for Leo to take his first bite before saying, "Beth's talking about transferring him to the Colony Hospital."
"I can understand that," Leo said. "But it's probably for the best that he remain here. At least until we understand his condition more."
"Right." Julia took another bite of her rapidly cooling meal. The subject matter was killing her appetite, but if she didn't eat, her stomach would be grumbling when she tried to get some sleep.
Sensing that she needed a change of subject, Leo asked, "Have you heard anything about Zack?"
"Zack?" Julia finished swallowing. "The Koenig is still with the 10th Attack Squadron based out of Eta Leckie."
"I heard they have him escorting transports and hospital ships," Leo said. "I imagine he's bored out of his skull."
Julia shrugged. "I'm sure he's staying busy."
Bright white energy streaked across the void, launched from a ship that was even now fading from view. The torpedoes were on course to hit a single vessel, a transport ship with large cargo pods laid out on both sides of the central spine of its structure. One pod had already been opened to space by a hit through shields that had long since failed. Now these torpedoes would possibly add to that loss or, if on target, destroy the entire ship.
They didn't get the chance. Another ship intercepted them. Their electronic systems attempted to evade, but the maneuver of the intercepting ship hadn't made it possible for the torpedoes to do so. They slammed into the ship's shields and detonated. The shaped anti-matter charges pierced the shields of the ASV Koenig and scorched the ship's azure hull along the ventral side.
On the bridge of the Koenig the vessel rocked from the direct hit. "We took bleedthrough damage to Deck 4," reported Lieutenant Magda Navaez, operations officer for the ship. The Colombian-born woman looked over her sensor screen from her seat on the port side of the bridge, her console facing outward like the others along the sides. "They've already recloaked."
"I couldn't get a lock before they did," said Lieutenant April Sherlily, the tactical officer one station astern of Magda's.
Commander Zachary Carrey was seated alone in the center of the bridge. In front of him, the sole bow-facing station was the helm, where his First Officer Lieutenant Creighton Apley was seated. The two were roughly of the same build, but Zack's brown hair contrasted with the lighter brown hair of Apley. Zack's thoroughly 20th-21st Century Midwestern accent, the product of an upbringing in Kansas, was also quite different from Apley's Midwestern accent that had developed in the future timeframe of Universe D3R1's Earth. "Status on the Rochester Comet?" he asked Magda.
"Their shields are still down and they've got structural damage, if they take another hit it could destroy the entire ship," was Magda's answer.
"Damn." Zack frowned. "If they couldn't keep up with the convoy they shouldn't have left Eta Leckie Base." He would have to file a very negative report on Captain Kelton, presuming they both survived this. "And we can't keep this up forever…"
"We need distance," insisted Sherlily. "Then I can get a shot when they try to decloak."
"But then we'll be out of position to stop incoming fire," Apley pointed out. "The transport won't survive the hit."
Zack considered the problem quietly. A solution was forming in his mind as he considered the likely attack vector of the Reich attack ship, and said ship's situation. The Nazi attack ships weren't made to fight like his ship were, after all; they were made to decloak, fire torpedoes, and then recloak and run if they had to.
He tapped a key on his chair. "Bridge to Engineering."
"Engineering here," replied Lieutenant Karen Derbely, the ship's Chief Engineer.
"Karen, do you think our tractor beam could be set up to push the Rochester Comet out of the way?"
"For a few seconds, perhaps. It's at just the right size that our tractor beam could pull or push it for that long."
"Then make the necessary preparations," he ordered.
"Standby… done."
"Magda, use the tractor beam to repel the transport the moment that Nazi decloaks. Apley, put us above them and to starboard, and I want the tractor beam emitters lined up to face the ship. April, I want a spread of solar torpedoes set to detonate automatically when they reach a certain distance."
Apley nodded and maneuvered the ship. Magda confirmed her readiness as well.
All that was left was to wait. That was the worst part since Zack couldn't be sure this is what the enemy ship would do. He was trying to guess what this commander would do. Would he recognize this was a trap and attack from somewhere else? There was no way to know. All he could do was wait and see what happened.
The Reich attack ship decloaked after another thirty seconds had passed. The captain had placed his ship below and to the port of the Rochester Comet. Just as Zack hoped he would.
Even as the torpedoes launched from the squat, shark-like ship's forward section, the tractor beam on the Koenig flashed to life. A ribbon of blue energy linked Koenig to the transport she was protecting and sent it flying sideways through space. From the bow of the Koenig a spread of solar torpedoes launched and turned toward the enemy attack ship, even now cloaking.
Its shots missed, and the dorsal phaser array dispensed with them before they could turn back.
Meanwhile the solar torpedoes reached their programmed distance and detonated. There was a sudden flicker in space. The Nazi attack ship reappeared, debris and atmosphere flowing from a sudden wound in its side.
The Koenig orientated on the enemy ship under Apley's control. Sherlily triggered the forward pulse phasers as soon as she had a lock. Amber energy burst from the forward emitters. The Reich attack ship's shields snapped into place. But the firepower they were facing was beyond the shields' endurance, especially with the damage the ship had taken from the torpedo blast wave. They failed under the Koenig's barrage, allowing the final shots from the barrage to smash into unshielded hull. There were more bursts of flame and gas and debris from the enemy ship followed by an intense white fireball that all who saw it recognized as the result of a anti-matter losing containment. When the blast receded, there was nothing but small pieces of debris to mark the defeated foe.
"Ha!" shouted Zack, and the others cheered as well. "Magda, get Kelton for me," he said. "Find out how long before his warp drive is back online."
"Yes sir," she said, plainly happy. And for a good reason.
"And let him know I'll send our engineers over if we have to in order to get him moving," Zack added. "I'm not letting this jerk and his crappy ship keep us from getting our leave time."
"A week of leave and then back to the Aurora," Sherlily said with a little sigh. "I can taste Hargert's sausage stew already."
"It sounds like you are looking forward to that more than your leave," Magda said.
"Oh, don't get me wrong. Roliri, Karen, and I have five days of kayaking on the Ulysses River on New Appalachia coming up," Sherlily announced. "What about you?"
"I'm going home to New Liberty to visit my family," was Magda's reply.
"I'm heading home myself," said Apley.
"And I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves," said Zack, smiling.
"While you're off on New Caprica visiting your girlfriend," Magda said.
"Yes," he said, feeling palpable eagerness to make the trip. "If only we can get this idiot in gear. If this takes much longer I'll make Kelton get out and push his damn ship back to Eta Leckie."
That mental image made everyone chuckle.
The Vulcan lecture hall reminded Caterina somewhat of a high school auditorium, at least in basic structure, with a wide range of seats facing a central stage with a podium and a number of monitors. Currently a Vulcan scientist, Suvel, was standing and giving a lecture on the interaction of subspace with the other forms of faster-than-light travel discovered since Multiversal Contact for the Federation. Cat was seated five rows back and toward the speaker's left. On one side she had Violeta at the row's end-seat, who looked like she was falling asleep. On the other side the seat was an Efrosian woman in a Starfleet science uniform. Beyond the Efrosian was an Asari, a Brakiri, a Hermat, and another Human; a Turian and a Minbari were behind her.
"...testing on Stardate 49538.4 demonstrated the correlation between the Mass Relays of M4P2 and the theorized possibility of subspace tunnels," Suvel was saying. "With this discovery the possibility of new avenues into subspace-based transportation…"
Caterina glanced over to Violeta, who now seemed completely asleep. For the moment Cat tuned out the Vulcan professor to look at Violeta and feel very guilty about bringing her to this. I had a leave that we could have used to do anything, and I insist on coming to this conference. And it's not even a good one. Some of the things these people are saying are…
She stopped herself. It wasn't fair to think those thoughts, not to these scientists. They hadn't had the opportunity to see other things that she had enjoyed. They hadn't seen time and space in the company of a being like the Doctor.
The Doctor! To actually have met the being listed in the Darglan databases was one thing, but getting to travel with him? That had been the kind of experience Cat had never dared dream of, even after they found the Facility. From her perspective they had spent a year traveling across time and space in his universe, hunting for a breach in the fifth dimensional barrier he could use to contact Rose Tyler or, perhaps, even bring her back. In the end the best they'd managed was an indication of a breach several months after the Battle of Canary Wharf, and a supernova that could be used to fuel a communication via the TARDIS through said breach. With the ostensible reason for her presence on the TARDIS over, the Doctor had brought Caterina home to within minutes of when they left. Since then she'd had to re-adjust to the old routines, and make up for her lost time with Violeta and Angel.
Suvel's presentation finished. Caterina was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she had forgotten she was next. It wasn't until Professor T'Rya, the presenter of the conference, called her name that Caterina remembered herself. She blinked before standing up. Violeta stirred as well and stood with her, giving Cat a kiss on the cheek for good luck. Cat responded with a smile and walked down the aisle stairway toward the central stage. She activated her omnitool and linked it to the presentation projector to load her presentation to the conference.
Seeing the crowd made her swallow with apprehension. But it was with a clear voice, and no sign of the shy stutter she once might have suffered, that Caterina introduced herself. "Greetings to my esteemed colleagues," she said, looking at a crowd that was composed of scientists from across the Multiverse. "I am Lieutenant Caterina Delgado of the Alliance Stellar Navy, Science Officer of the Starship Aurora." She noted the bottled water and gratefully picked one up to wet her throat. "And I'm here to present new research into the nature of subspace's interactions with hyperspatial domains. Since the Multiversal Era began…"
As Caterina began her presentation, she felt a pang of regret. She was here, speaking to a crowd without a moment's stutter, and her girlfriend was watching happily…
...but her sister was nowhere to be seen.
I wish you were here was one thought that came to her. As she activated a display showing the E5B1 universe's preferred layer of hyperspace, a second thought crossed her mind.
Where are you anyway, Angel?
One common concept for space-faring species and nations was the idea of the permanent frontier. Unlike a pre-spaceflight species stuck on one world, there was no innate, finite amount of territory that could be settled. The frontier had no limit. Certainly a world could grow to the point it was no longer on the frontier, but there was always another star, another planet, just beyond the metaphorical horizon, waiting for someone to settle upon them. And so the frontier would move onward.
The thing about frontiers, of course, is that they tend to be unkind places. Which was certainly a fair way to describe the colonial town of Hendonville, on the planet designated Corwin.
The roar of the crowd in the grungy backroom washed over Angela Delgado and brought back old memories, memories of amateur fights in gyms throughout Kansas and into neighboring states. Her current location might have passed for such, in fact, if not for darker lights, the money changing hands among those in attendance, and the cage.
And the lack of safety equipment. That was another telling factor.
The fact that the cage was electrified was a rather unnecessary detail at that point.
Angel slipped off her jacket, revealing the black sports bra she was wearing underneath, as well as the rippling, defined muscle on her arms, shoulders, stomach, and much of her back not covered by the fabric of her top. Had she been wearing shorts and not sweatpants the muscular definition of her legs would have been on display as well. Her skin was one of the darker shades in the room, a brown that had regained color in the prior weeks since her return to living under suns.
She stepped through the cage door and heard the click of the lock behind her. A very low buzz came seconds later as the electrical current for the cage was turned on.
Standing across the way was the current champion. He was six feet tall and shirtless, showing off the muscular build on his lightly tanned skin. A scar ran down the side of his left cheek. Brown eyes glinted with malice as a sneer formed across the man's face. "Well ain't that precious?" he asked rhetorically, although he didn't sound like the kind of person to understand what that meant. "Cute little girl muscles."
The crowd laughed.
Angel considered a retort and decided anything would be wasted on her opponent, and probably on the crowd. Instead her hazel eyes smoldered with disgust and contempt for him. She finished flexing her arms as a warmup and tilted her head to either side, loosening the muscles in her neck. A quick check confirmed the dirtied white bandages around her knuckles and fingers were intact. It was the best she'd get instead of proper gloves.
The bell rang. Her opponent charged. His fist flew in for her face. She caught the blow with her forearms. A second blow she dodged by ducking slightly. He snarled and tried to kick her, but Angel side-stepped that blow
For several seconds he wailed at her and Angel deflected or avoided the blows. It wasn't her usual fighting style to be sure. Every fiber of her being burned to retaliate, but she wasn't going to do that. Not just yet. She wanted to get a feel for this fellow and how he fought.
Perhaps it was her unfamiliarity with defensive stances that finally gave the champion his opening. Or he moved faster than anticipated. Either way, there was a sudden impact and rush of pain on the left side of her face. Raw force drove Angel back into the cage. Electricity surged from the metal and into her body, causing her to cry out until she fell away from it. Angel dropped to hands and knees. Some of her muscles spasmed in pain and she knew that she'd have a bruise on her face tomorrow. Blood trickled around her nose and mouth.
"Aww, does the girlie have a boo-boo?" her opponent asked mockingly. The crowd laughed.
Angel wiped the blood from her face and smiled.
Fight long enough, and you can get a feel for opponents. Specifically, you can tell the real ones from the fakes. Angel had been in enough fights to learn this herself.
Which is how she knew her opponent wasn't the real thing.
A real fighter, even a showboat, would have put her down first. He certainly wouldn't have turned his back to raise his arms to the crowd. But this guy wasn't that. Local top of the heap, maybe, but ultimately just a guy with muscles and a barroom brawl-level knowledge of fighting.
That could be dangerous, of course. Angel had met some damn good brawlers in her time. But they'd put this guy in his place just as easy as she intended to.
She stood up. Her opponent turned toward her and smirked, but that didn't match the mocking smile on her face. Angel flexed an arm, assumed a stance, and made a "Come get me" wave with the four fingers on her left hand.
He came at her again. His fist was raised for another punch. Nor he and the crowd saw it coming.
Suddenly her hand was flat and smacking his throat. His eyes widened in shock and pain. He stumbled, trying to regain breath, and Angel whirled about and kicked him in the jaw. Blood and a tooth flew free from his mouth. He fell over in shock.
Angel could have gone for the submission hold. But she held back. This fight wasn't over until she decided it was, and so she waited patiently for the champion to stand back up. He was livid with rage and didn't bother with anything but a furious charge.
This time Angel side-stepped him entirely. Before he could recover, she delivered a kick to his back that sent him on into the cage wall. His body spasmed upon contact with the electrical current running through the metal. He stumbled back and fell, landing onto his back and rear on the mat.
Angel let him recover. Pure rage burned in his eyes now, mixed with a fear not present before. He realized he was fighting someone beyond his usual foes. Angel wasn't someone he could intimidate or easily overpower. He avoided a heedless charge and brought his arms up into a defensive stance. "I can take whatever you dish out, bitch!"
That made Angel grin. She wiped a bit of the blood still trickling from her mouth and nose away before charging at him. Her attack started with a couple of jabs and kicks at him to test his defensive stance and let him block those without giving him any openings.
This led him into a false sense of security as well, which was just what she hoped would happen before she cut loose.
For the crowd, the site was astonishing. Their scar-faced champion was suddenly reeling. Punches too fast for him to catch pummeled his face, then a kick took him in the belly. He flailed back toward the edge of the cage and caught himself just shy of it.
Angel dropped low and threw a punch she'd been holding back for the right moment. Said punch struck her opponent between the legs with the full force her arm permitted.
The crowd's reaction was a mix of surprise, anger, and cheering.
The champion, on the other hand, squeaked a cry of sheer pain and doubled over before dropping to all fours. The strike left him stunned and on all fours.
Angel knelt down beside him and put him in a headlock. "That was for the girls," she hissed at him in a voice low enough that only he could hear her.
"What?" he squeaked back.
"I know what you are, Mr. Talbot. They told me what you did to them. If you don't want me to pummel the ever-living shit out of you, stay down."
"Bitch!" was the response, and a wild punch that nausea and disorientation made far too wild to connect. It did extend his arm enough for Angel to grab it. She twisted it out of place and, with an extra twist, bent and twisted it enough to dislocate his shoulder. He shrieked in pain.
Angel threw a punch across his face that nearly broke her knuckles. It did break his nose as a side-effect to knocking him out.
As the crowd cheered and booed, the organizer outside of the ring started counting down. With her adrenaline pumping Angel couldn't be too sure of the count's accuracy, but she suspected that it was slower than it should have been, with ten seconds being more like fifteen or twenty. But Talbot remained unconscious the entire time.
After reaching a very reluctant ten, the fight MC shut down the electricity on the cage and unlocked it. He stepped in and went up to Angel. She didn't resist him gripping her right wrist and lifting her arm up in triumph. She gave the crowd a triumphant grin and raised her left arm over her head as well. "Ladies and gentlemen, your new champion, the Angry Angel!"
Applause, boos, and some wolf whistles came from the dozens in the crowd.
Angel left the cage. One of the other staff for the ring walked up and handed her a wad of bills, representing her prize for the fight. She could feel malevolent gazes on her as she walked toward the exit. Talbot had clearly been the favorite of many, and more importantly, the one they'd bet on. She had just cost a lot of angry people money.
Angel was just shy of the door leading out when a familiar voice said, "Nice fight." She turned and faced a man who looked in his mid to late thirties, dark-haired, in a dark brown jacket, trousers, and gray shirt. "We might want to get some ice on your face, though."
"Jarod?" Angel asked, incredulous.
Her friend and comrade from the Aurora, the Operations Officer compared to her role as Chief Tactical Officer, answered that with a grin and a nod. "So, where are you staying?" Jarod indicated the sullen, angry faces still in the crowd. "Because we might want to leave before your new fans come looking for you."
Angel sighed and nodded. "Follow me," she said. "I wasn't going to use the shower here anyway."
The trip into town went as it usually did for Robert and Julia. She went off for her t'ai chi class and he visited the contractors the family farm worked with.
After a day of checking on them, Robert was waiting outside of Julia's training studio when he noticed the shadow loom beside him. He turned his head to face the newcomer. The black and purple-striped jacket with dark trousers and a proper matching shirt spoke of someone with specific taste. The tall man's brown eyes focused on him and a friendly smile crossed his face. "Hello there," he said in a cheery voice, one with a clear English accent. "You're Robert Dale, right? The new Chairman of the Family Farm Association?"
"I am," answered Robert. He extended a hand and the Englishman accepted it. "I've never seen you around before."
"Oh, I just moved in. I'm the new doctor in town. Honestly that's what people usually just call me. 'The Doctor'."
"Just that?" Robert chuckled. "Don't you have another na-..."
Suddenly a sharp pain stabbed Robert in the forehead. He cried out and fell into the Doctor's arms before everything went black.