FOREWORD

The second book in the Sands of Time Series. This is a journey into science fiction – mainly Star Trek. But being based on A. Bertram Chandlers "Rim Runners" where the fabric of the universe is thin and other realities intrude, so many other themes end up meeting. Strange things happen out on the rim. Not necessarily in any order they are: Alien, Warhammer 40K, GURPS, Battlestar Galactica, the MTG multiverse, Babylon 5, and Andromeda. This story is based in the 39th century, after the fall of the Alpha quadrant. Each chapter is named after a song. The chapter's theme is ether from the song name, the lyrics, or the band.

IANAL & YMMV

Star Trek is a property of Paramount

Alien is a property of 20th Century Fox

Space 1999 is a property of Gerry Anderson

Warhammer is a property of Games Workshop

GURPS is a property of Steve Jackson Games

Battlestar Galactica is a property of Universal (et al.)

Magic the Gathering is a property of Wizards of the Coast

Babylon 5 is a property of Warner / Turner

Song Artist

1. Angels Fall First Nightwish

2. Enola Gay O.M.D.

3. Little Lies Fleetwood Mac

4. All Along the Watchtower Jimi Hendrix

5. Spaceship Superstar Prism

6. Riders on the Storm the Doors

7. On a Good Day Oceanlab

8. Rooster Alice in Chains

9. Stealing Time Above & Beyond

10. No Quarter Led Zeppelin

11. Let Go the Line Max Webster

12. Mental Anguish Easily Embarrassed

13. Back in Black AC-DC

14. Cry Little Sister Gerard McMann

15. In the Air Tonight Phil Collins

16. Crazy Train Ozzy Osborne

17. Doomsday Machine KADAVAR

1: ANGELS FALL FIRST

It was a dreary and rainy evening, but then it's always dreary and mostly raining on Eptell III. And it's always evening. The faintness from the K class star means that little light reaches the surface of the cloud-shrouded planet. The planet would be a frozen wasteland except for the high concentration of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses. The barely breathable atmosphere and low axial tilt mean that the entire surface of the planet is at a comfortable temperature, and the high concentration of water vapour, another greenhouse gas, guaranties the cloud and rain. The only reason people eek out a living on this godforsaken rock is the massive amounts of hydrocarbons still used for making polymers. Oh, and smuggling.

The spaceport bar was typical of such seedy establishments. Two humans and a cloaked humanoid entered the bar. It was only moderately busy, and shared the gloominess of the planet. A surly Klingon was tending bar.

The person we were looking for should stick out like a sore thumb, and he did. Two scantily clad human females flanked the Vulcan, in the large booth they occupied.

"Identical twins?" Teysa asked.

"Acropolite clones. They work for Ta'lon. And are the second-most dangerous people in here," I replied.

"And who is the most dangerous?"

"Me, of course," I replied.

We sat ourselves down in the booth. The clones glared at us for our insolence.

"Pivlic," I said.

Pivlic reached up and pulled back his hood. The girls actually gasped. They never expected to actually be sitting across the table form a living demon! I placed my tricorder on the table and activated one of its features.

"We can talk freely, now," I stated.

"When you said I would never forget your entrance I see you mean it," the Vulcan replied. "You seem to be taking unusually strong precautions, for buying some rather legal pieces of equipment. The pair of 100GW thermal taps is not on anybody's restricted list."

"Let's just say that we expect trouble," Teysa answered.

"From whom? Lets just say that I dine here because of my typical business, and the fact that since I own this bar, it's the safest one on this planet."

"Romulans," I stated.

"Romulans? Way out here? They aren't the threat they once were, during the past," Ta'lon questioned.

"This particular one is. Relar has control of an Aeh'lla class scout cruiser," I answered.

"Is this the ship you have detailed construction blueprints for?" Ta'lon asked?

"Yes it is."

"And the cloaking device?"

"Intact and operational," Teysa answered.

"How do you know that? Did you board the ship and steal it?" Ta'lon sounded sceptical.

"Copied it actually," Teysa replied. "On Ravnica there are few secrets that the Orzhov are unable to obtain. We have a working copy here."

Ta'lon raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating. Is that the bonus you spoke of earlier?"

"Yes it is," Pivlic interjected. The girls were surprised at the softness of his voice.

Ta'lon rescanned his establishment. "Then this Romulan may be after you. In fact, I think they are already here. The hooded gentleman at the bar is carrying a late model Romulan disruptor."

"Then we might as well get this over with," I said while shutting down my tricorder. I pressed a button on my wrist while I was putting my tricorder away.

"Live long and prosper," Ta'lon saluted us in the traditional Vulcan fashion. A quick check of the bar, and indeed, almost everyone in the establishment had acknowledged Ta'lon's signal.

I turned to Teysa and said, "I think I'll have one for the road, and then we will retire. Would you like anything?"

"A glass of red wine would be nice," Teysa replied.

I sauntered up to the bar, and passing the hooded figure, I had my phaser out and stuck it in his back. The bartender turned around and had a disruptor rifle pointed squarely at the Romulan's chest. I removed his disruptor from his belt and put it on the bar. Then I pulled back his hood.

"Commander Relar. So you decided to come in person. Can't rely on your centurions? Or do you expect them to come back all sliced and diced?" I asked.

Relar winced. He still remembered the incident on Gamma Eldebron all those years ago. "I thought you perished in a weapons accident."

"Nope, I wasn't in the Tavern at that-"

"Now what would you know about that?" Pivlic was in Relar's face.

"And who are you?" Relar had regained his composure.

"Pivlic of the Orzhov syndicate," Pivlic replied.

Relar had spent enough time on Ravnica that Pivlic's appearance didn't bother him. "Well, Pivlic. I know exactly what my scanners tell me. Three Klingon Z-17 assault shuttles were coming in to land at the Utvara spaceport when one of them fired a photon missile into the nearby town. That's all I know."

"Bullshit!" Teysa has been hanging around me too long too, I thought. "I know that you brought those three Z-17's to Ravnica." Teysa snapped her fingers, and a figure left the darkness at the other end of the bar. That winged individual grabbed Relar by the hair and put a rather nasty looking long sword up to his neck.

Relar looked at me.

"Don't look at me," I stated. "I'm just the taxi driver."

"The what?" Relar asked.

"The star ship driver. I just work for my boss," I replied.

"And who would that be?" Relar asked.

"She just walked in the door," I answered.

Relar was allowed to turn to see Razia walking up to the bar. "Ah Relar, so we finally meet in person. It figures that you would be here drinking. That explains all those unconscious Romulans scattered around town." She gave me a kiss and sat down at the bar beside me. "At this time the Boros Legion is not at war with the Romulans. This show belongs to Teysa."

"Who?" Relar was actually turning green!

"Teysa of the Orzhov syndicate," Razia answered while pointing at Teysa. "The Orzhov just made a deal with the Boros for transportation. That's it for our involvement here. Teysa's the one you want to 'deal' with."

I was pretty sure that Relar did not expect both turns of events. Teysa was busy drawing a circle around a chair that she reserved for someone. Then she turned to me, "Can you get your machine?"

"Certainly," I replied. A quick communication and a strange device materialized in the bar.

"What is that?" Relar asked.

"A mana generator. It's a unique creation from the Boros Legion," I explained. "By the way, that's not a Boros angel who has that sword at your throat," I explained

Relar turned to look into his captor's eyes. What he saw frightened him. The two-winged angel that held him firm had uniform dark grey eyes, with no detail. It gave Relar a soul-penetrating stare. "Who are you?" Relar stammered.

"I am an Angel of Despair. I serve the Orzhov," the angel replied. Her voice was dark, and very unlike Razia or Sara's.

"Like I said, it's not our show." I then ordered a drink for Razia and myself, while remembering to get a glass of red wine for Teysa. I handed Teysa her drink with a flourish.

I started drinking my drink, a V & T, while Razia sipped on her Singapore Sling. We both ignored Relar as Teysa's angel dragged him across the bar and placed him in the chair. "Don't burst out laughing," I reminded Razia.

She gave me a quick hug and said, "I wouldn't miss this for the world…"

"And we get to see if that mana generator actually works here," I mentioned. "It is untested…"

Razia leaned over and whispered in my ear, "But you were in the Imp's Wing when it was attacked..." Apparently, Razia overheard my statement earlier.

I whispered back, "I got lucky. They used Z-17's, which were from my time, and have a peculiar whine to their engines. I grabbed Pivlic and ordered a beam-out. So I actually didn't lie. When the photon missile hit, we both were on board the Parhelion II."

Razia was still whispering, "I'm sorry you lost your 'house' in Utvara."

"I'm sorry for all those who were needlessly killed," I replied.

"But they weren't…" Razia started with, and then continued, "Yes, that is tragic. Perhaps I should talk with Teysa about setting up a Boros garrison in Utvara. I'm sure we could help…"

"That's up to you two," I replied, using my full voice. "I just drive the ship, remember…"

Razia jabbed me in the ribs. But our conversation was over as we listened in on Teysa's questioning of Relar. Considering the answers, the mana generator was working as Relar struggled, ineffectively, to hide his involvement in the bombing of Utvara.

Teysa was still interrogating Relar about his involvement in the Utvara 'bombing'. She apparently, didn't like the answers she received from Relar. He was definitely 'at fault' s far as Teysa was concerned. And she came up with 'a deal that he couldn't refuse'. Literally. With an angel of despair holding a sword at his throat, and an Advocate who listed all the costs he had inflicted upon Utvara, Relar had no choice but to acquiesce to Teysa's demands. A few minutes later and Relar disappeared from view, carried away by a transporter.

"OK, what just happened?" I asked.

"I have reached a deal with Relar," Teysa stated. "He will be repairing the damage done in my county, as well as giving me all the materials on those Z-17's as he has. He will also be leaving this sector and returning to Ravnica, and leaving us alone to complete this mission. Apparently he doesn't know anything about what we know. He was following you, trying to gain some intelligence."

"That wouldn't be the first time he's done that. Same result though," Razia, stated.

Ta'lon came over to us. "Fascinating. How accurate is that method of interrogation?"

"Absolutely accurate," Teysa replied. "Most humanoids can not resist the Verity Circle. That includes angels," Teysa stated while waving a hand towards Razia and her own Angel of Despair.

Razia was about to say something when I put a hand on her arm.

"Yes, fascinating. Humanoid angels… But what would it take for you to give me the technology of your Verity Circle?" Ta'lon asked.

"First, you need to be born in a mana-filled universe. No one from this universe, including our friendly starship driver, can make use of mana. Sorry," Teysa replied.

"I'm sorry too. However, our first deal still needs to be settled. May I see the cloaking device?" Ta'lon asked.

Teysa looked at me. I nodded. "Certainly. By the way if you wish to hire out such services, you can call into Ravnica. Thanks to the Boros Legion there is a subspace relay to our planet. You should visit if you want to experience all of what mana can do…"

We were leaving orbit with all of the components for two 100 GW geothermal taps. Once Ta'lon saw the Parhelion II de-cloak in front of him, he knew we had a cloaking device that was working. After we concluded the deal and had the taps, we installed the second cloaking device where the first one had been. We were happy, Ta'lon was happy, while Relar was elsewhere. We cloaked and headed for the shipyards of Wa-Lu. Our contract with Teysa wasn't over. She was ship shopping as well.

After a long slog through our galaxy, we arrived at the shipyards of Wa-Lu. Sara was bringing the Parhelion II in to dock, while Teysa was with K'Tee, talking to the shipyard master and the port master. Teysa was looking for a warship for the Orzhov syndicate, as well as a freighter or two.

Again we were merely spectators. This was Teysa's show and it was her coin that was paying for it. Her entourage was doing all the wheeling and dealing. We just took the down time to have the Parhelion II given an once-over, and any needed maintenance.

Razia, Sara and I were also taking some down time and were simply enjoying each other's company. We booked a hotel planet side, near the Equatorial Cataphracts, and neglected to turn on our communicators for a few days. We eventually returned to the ship for some much needed rest.

Then it was back to Ravnica.

We cloaked when we reached a parsec from the stable rift.

"So do we tip the Romulans off that we have a copy of their cloak?" I asked.

"No," Razia answered. "Let's keep that a secret for now."

We crossed the rift, changed course and headed to another distant point in Ravi's system. We then de-cloaked, and headed home, parking our ship in its usual perch on top of Sunhome. As we passed over Utvara, Razia had a snicker as she watched Romulan engineers working to restore the town.

After we landed she read the newssheets. The Romulan friends of Ravnica were helping to recover from an off-world mistake. Got to hand it to Relar, he managed to get some positive PR out of the deal.

We were in for a surprise when we got back. The guild mages had met us at the base of the ship. The runabout Newton was there to take Teysa and Pivlic back to Utvara. As they left, the guild mages had a message for us.

"We have a couple of visitors…" Calrea stated.

"What visitors," Razia demanded.

"Angelic visitors," Calrea replied. We have put them up in Feather's office temporarily…"

Razia looked at me. I just shrugged my shoulders. Then she looked at Sara. Even Sara didn't know what was going on.

"All right. Let's see our two guests," Razia ordered.

We all headed into Sunhome. When we reached Feather's office, there were two male two-winged angels there.

"Who are you?" Razia asked.

"I am Kenidiern, and this is my son Xantcha," The taller angel stated.

Toki scanned the two angels. "They are Serra angels," Toki stated.

"How do you know that?" Razia asked.

"I have scans of both Sara and Reya," Toki replied. "The scans, except for gender, almost match Reya's."

"Reya and Elspeth were the ones that brought us here," Kenidierm interjected.

"Figures," I said.

"Shush," Razia admonished. "Go on…"

"Reya told us to go to Ravnica and join the Boros Legion. She said we would find what we were looking for. Then she had Elspeth transport us here," Kenidierm stated.

"So, what are you looking for?" Razia asked.

"Let me begin at the beginning. I had been incarnated, like Reya, in Serra's Realm. I fell in love with a human, Sosinna. We eventually became a pair, with Serra's blessing. During the collapse of that plane we both escaped with Urza, and had a son, Xantcha," Kenidierm beamed while holding his son.

"But Sosinna grew old and died…"

"Why didn't you life-link with her?" I asked.

"Nobody thought of that ability at the time. If I knew it would give her semi-immortality, I would have. I should have…" you could see the sadness on his face as he realized his mistake.

"I'm sorry. I thought…" I trailed off.

"Go on," Razia interjected.

"After her death, the two of us wandered through the mana-verse, just like Reya. Eventually we met up, a while ago. But we parted ways. It wasn't until recently, that Reya sought us out, with her companion, Elspeth. Reya informed us of a Battlegrace angel, Alejo, and his joining the Boros Legion on Ravnica. Reya suggested we do the same and had Elspeth transport us here," Kenidierm concluded.

That would be Reya and Elspeth, trying to help out wherever they could, I thought. Then a thought clicked into my head.

"Razia, I need to return to the Parhelion II," I requested.

Razia knew what I was thinking. "Go ahead. I think we can conclude this event here."

I had returned to the ship. I had called K'Tee, Toki, Alejo, and Necia to the briefing room.

Once they all had arrived I announced, "I have a radical idea."

All four of them had sheepish grins. Then K'Tee spoke up, "If you are thinking of life-links we have beaten you to it. The four of us have already life linked!" So much for my radical ideas…

I returned to Feather's office, just as Razia was welcoming Kenidierm and Xancha into the Boros Legion. Now there were a few female members of my crew that could use a good life linking to an angel …

Razia had a chuckle when I told her that the four had beaten me to my 'radical idea'. "Both Ellen and Rebecca could use mates. I'll try to play matchmaker, if you can keep out of this."

"Hey, I'm still a newbie in angelic affairs. There was no auto teacher lesson on this," I stated.

Razia gave me a long smooch in front of the angels. I think she was making a point, but I didn't mind regardless.

Sure enough, Razia's matchmaking had succeeded. Kenidierm had joined up with Ellen, and Xancha had bonded with Rebecca. Thus there was no mortal on board the Parhelion II who did not have a life link with an angel, with the exception of Nergat. The living rock has a lifespan of 50 millennia anyways and even with our life-links I expect him to outlive us all!

I didn't know what to say, as the entire crew was bonded and would live as long as they could, barring our destruction. I think that thought just made me more paranoid than ever…

We still had a job to do. There were still an alphabet's worth of threats to Ravnica, and the Boros Legion. As the 'heads' we were on the hook for those threats. But we actually had the firepower to deal with whatever was thrown at us. The Parhelion II was a complete 9th generation star ship, with a lot of firepower. She had 4 large and 6 small phaser collimator rings, as well as two forward multi-fire torpedo tubes. She also sported 4 pulse phaser cannons (which first appeared on the Defiant), as well as the type 3 phaser cannon, which gave her a lot of forward firepower. She also had dual shields (first appearing on the Sovereign) so she would still have 50% shields while cloaked. And add a Romulan 9th generation cloaking device to the mix and the Parhelion II was a kick ass star ship!

Razia had cornered me in the hangar bay. "I have heard about Sara's experiment…"

Oh no, I thought. I'm still afraid of heights…

That didn't matter to Razia. She undressed me and took me on a flight up to the top of the shuttle bay. It might have started out in desperation, but when we finished, we were floating comfortably above the deck. Razia was satisfied, however, and I was allowed to leave under my own power. That took some doing, as I was still weak in the knees, but wow! Was that an experience!

I had a new mission. This one was in my own mana-less universe. Teysa had hired us again to transport a crew to the Wa-Lu shipyards to pick up her new warship. Teysa was in our holodeck, going through simulations when I entered.

"Hmmm. An Orion design," I interrupted.

"You can tell that from looking around the bridge?" Teysa sounded incredulous.

"Every race has its unique design style. Then again, having Orion Navy symbols stamped into the doors makes it a dead giveaway," I confessed.

Teysa turned to look at the doors. "Right. Mine is actually going to have Orzhov symbols there. The simulator is stock…"

Teysa's bridge crew seemed to be her two Angels of Despair, and half a dozen Orzhov guild mages. Apparently she inherited the angels from her 'Uncle'. They were absolutely loyal … to Teysa of course.

"When will we arrive back at Wa-Lu?" Teysa asked.

"Three days," I replied.

"Then we better return to training." Teysa had just dismissed me. I left the holodeck and headed down to engineering.

"Computer," I ordered. "Make a copy of the program currently running on the holodeck, and run a level-1 diagnostic on it."

"That requires command authorization," the computer replied.

"Command authorization Gabriel-1."

"The program is copied and undergoing a level-1 diagnostic," the computer stated.

"Good. Keep repeating the diagnostic until further notice – my voice command only."

"Acknowledged," the computer concluded.

We had arrived at Wa-Lu. Teysa's 'pocket dreadnought' was awaiting her crew. She bid us farewell, as her people transferred to that ship. Our job was done. Teysa would return to Ravnica under her own power. As we left her I gave her a salute. When she queried me I replied, "It is the honour of a star ship's crew to greet another star ship's crew that way. As we expect to be mostly on the same side, basically in defence of Ravnica, I salute you. May your journeys be successful and your skies be clear," I concluded.

"Thank you! You have been civil to us and may our further 'deals' be beneficial to both of us," Teysa concluded with. That's just about high praise coming from the Orzhov.

As we left the system I returned to the engineering section of the Parhelion II.

"Computer, cease diagnostics and store program in my personal dataset," I commanded.

"That requires command authorization," the computer replied.

"Command authorization Gabriel-1."

"Program successfully copied into Stephen's personal dataset," the computer concluded.

I now had the full sim package on Teysa's new warship, including all its specs. Oops, that was unexpected! Razia didn't know yet, so I decided to keep this a secret. Hopefully we won't ever need to use that data. The level-1 diagnostic prevented the copy from being erased, when Teysa scrubbed the programs from our computers. Chalk it up to my typical paranoia.

I awoke with Razia's arms around me. "You're terrible at keeping secrets from me," she announced upon my return to consciousness.

"What secrets?" I asked rather sheepishly.

"Oh, just the one about copying Teysa's program. You were practically broadcasting it all night!" Razia started the day with a smooch. Definitely a good day to be alive…

Our return to Ravnica was uneventful. The Parhelion II returned to its parking spot on the roof of Sunhome. Teysa already had a berth in her spaceport for her ship, which arrived later the same week.