Chapter 2: The Chess Equation
Usual Disclaimers apply. I own less than nothing. Blah! Blah! Blah! If you notice any mistakes please let me know. Now on with the story.
Three weeks after Voyager left Deep Space 9
You are going down.
That's right you heard me.
You. Are. Going. Down.
Dead in a ditch, going down.
Okay, you get the picture.
Sorry for my slightly homicidal thought process. I'm playing chess with my Grandmother. Let's just say, I really, really, really want to win. I mean I'm not competitive or anything, much. But Grandma is a chess champion and I really want to beat her, just once.
"Hurry up, Kiera" Grandma said.
"I'm thinking," I said.
"Think faster, you've been staring at that board for two and half minutes."
I guess it I should explain, Grandma and I, kind of play fast version of chess. Usually our matches only last about ten minutes max.
"I've got it," I said slowly, "I'll win in eight moves." Grandma laughed.
"Really? I'll win in five."
"What? How?" I said in disbelief
Grandma smiled and demonstrated the rest of the moves her endgame.
"Damn."
"It was close this time," Grandma smiled.
I huffed and sat back in my chair.
"How is it that I can beat everyone at school, including my teachers, but I can't beat you?" I said exasperated.
"I gotta keep you on your toes. No one else manages it." Grandma said simply.
"True." I sighed and looked at the old antique clock that Grandma had insisted I learn to read. Why I'll never know. No one uses clocks or timepieces like that anymore. Mom was late for her end of mission call.
"She'll call." Grandma said, startling me for a second. "She always does."
"When?"
"When she's dealt with the bureaucracy, probably," Grandma paused.
"You haven't told me about your day at school yet. That should pass the time until she calls."
"I passed my trig test today," I said completely board already.
"What did you get?" Grandma said trying to get me told hold a conversation. I looked her over as if she were mad.
"A hundred Percent . What else would I get?"
I always get a hundred percent. I'm seriously not exaggerating. Any test in any subject I will inevitably get a hundred percent.
Again I should explain, I have a photographic memory and an IQ higher than Olympus Mons.
Tony Bristle who is in my trig class calls me a human calculator. I think he's being sarcastic, but then again he's not actually wrong. Still can't beat Grandma at chess though.
"Silly me for even asking," Grandma said.
Beep! Beep! Beep! The com line went.
"See I told you she'd call," Grandma said smiling knowingly. I grinned back an raced for the com button and pressed.
It wasn't Mom.
Admiral Owen Paris' face appeared on the screen. He didn't look happy. He smiled at me but the light didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Hello, Kiera. How are you? How's school?" The Admiral said as way of a greeting.
"Hello Admiral. I'm fine. What-" before I could ask my question the admiral cut me off.
"Is your Grandmother there, Kiera?" I sighed. I hated it when adults treated me like a child. I know I am one but still.
"What is it, Kiera?"
"Its –"
"Ah, there you are Gretchen." Again with the interrupting. "Could I speak to you alone please, Gretchen."
"What's going on Owen?" Grandma said in her no nonsense tone.
"Alone. Please, Gretchen," Admiral Paris said, almost pleading.
Grandma looked at me her grey eyes, so like Mom's, piercing mine. I shrugged and left the room closing the office door behind me.
I didn't leave. Something had happened. I just didn't know what. I pressed my ear up against the crack in the door.
"…lost."
"How are they lost, Owen?" Grandma said, dangerously. Lost? I didn't understand. Who was they? The Admiral couldn't mean…
"Voyager was supposed to dock at DS9 three days ago," The Admiral sounded like he was trying not to cry.
No!
"There's no sign of them on sensors. The Maquis ship they were chasing as gone too."
"Gone? You mean…"
"Vanished. Both of them. Vanished. No comm link. No debris. No one claiming responsibility. Nothing."
"You mean…" Grandmas voice had gotten small, fragile. I'd never heard it like that before. She was always strong, unmoveable but now…
"There is a strong possibility that Voyager was destroyed in the Badlands."
"I thought you said there was no debris," Grandma said choking back tears.
I couldn't move. Voyager, Mom couldn't be. I mean, I would know if she… wouldn't I?
"Gretchen…Tom was on Voyager too…What if he's gone and I didn't …"
"Oh Owen…I'm so sorry."
"I hate that I have to tell you this, Gretchen. I'm-I'm sorry."
"You'll let me know if…" Grandma trailed off.
"if we find anything? Of course I will. You'll be the first to know."
I slide down the wall next to the door, sitting down on the old wooden floor.
I didn't believe it. It wasn't true. It couldn't be. My Mom wasn't…dead. No! I couldn't think like that. She was alive! She had to be. She was Mom. The Starfleet Captain. She just couldn't be.
The door to the office opened, Grandma stepped out wiping her eyes.
"Kiera what are you- How much did you hear?" I tried to speak but somehow I couldn't seem to make any noise.
"Kiera? Kiera?" Grandma touched my shoulder. I stood up quickly and brushed her off.
"No!" I yelled finding my voice at last. "She's not gone! She's not!"
Grandma tried to pull me into a hug. But I dodged her and ran. I ran through the kitchen and out into the corn fields.
I kept running until I could run no further.
The chess game lay forgotten on the kitchen table.
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RedBobin