*10
They were crowded into a small ship, and docked with the Defiant. And then there was another round of processing for Lili and the Xindi and the remainder of the alien line.
There was a wand passed over her, and the clerk holding it yelled, "Twenty-one!"
Two guards grabbed her until yet another part-Asian teenaged boy came over, "That one's a Calafan, you idiots," he had said, "The silver ones are from the other side of the pond. The copper ones are from here. By definition, she's on the twenty-one centimeter radiation band. You don't scan the Calafans because we allow them to shuttle back and forth. Just the others."
"Yes, Lefty," Had said one of the clerks, as the guards dropped her arms. She looked behind her and the Xindi sloth woman was scanned, and found to be a twenty-one as well. She wasn't so lucky, and was shot by a guard at close range. Without so much as a shriek, she collapsed and died in a matter of milliseconds.
Lili turned away.
"Name," Another clerk demanded.
"Uh, Yilben," she said.
"Age."
"Sixty-nine," Well, not quite. Not even close – she was really fifty-two, but with her hair and the sinuous false calloo tattoos on her arms, she could definitely pass for an older Calafan.
"We have any open bunks?" asked a clerk.
"Yes. Teacher doesn't have a roommate. You better not mind rooming with an alky," it was Lefty again.
"N-no, sir."
"B deck, room 116," said the clerk, and she was permitted onto the ship.
=/\=
Doug was also scanned – for him, it was his second time.
"Twenty," said the clerk on his line, which was shorter, "Pass."
"These are amazing," Another clerk said, turning the wand over in his hands, "Just three settings. Twenty for anyone who belongs here, twenty-one for anyone from the other side, and twenty and a half for the cross-breeds the Empress adopted over ten years ago. It's Stoney's great invention."
"Cross-breeds?" Doug asked.
"Three more kids. You don't pay attention to the news enough, Major. Their exploits are in the rags every day, it seems. Empy's all over the fashion pages, Joss's batting average, that kinda thing," said the clerk.
"Oh. I pay attention to my recruits," Doug said.
"You'd better. You'll be bunking with them. Barracks are on C deck."
"Understood."
He walked along and cringed a little, remembering how much he had hated the
Defiant, and how the starship hallways were a source of paranoia. There was always someone out to knife you. As a Major, he wasn't as attractive a target as when he'd been a Lieutenant Commander. And for Lili, he knew that no one would be out to knife a slave. But she wasn't out of the woods – he knew that anyone could, potentially, want to molest her. And he wasn't exactly safe as a kitten, either.
"Hayes!"
He turned around, and there she was.
Older, to be sure. Forty-nine, and the years had not been kind, but over two decades of despotic rule – not to mention five pregnancies in rapid succession – will do that to a gal, even one as captivating as Empress Hoshi Sato, "How the hell did you escape death?" She had a phase pistol pointed at him.
"Empress?" Play dumb, he said to himself, "My, my name is Jay Hayes. And we haven't met before. I haven't had the, the honor and the privilege. Until now."
"Oh?" she asked. She came closer, "Very interesting. A little greyer, a lower rank, yes. But otherwise, I could swear you were Doug Hayes. And I don't exactly have fond memories of him."
"I, oh, Empress. That was, that must have been my, my cousin. People say I look a little like him. But I don't see it. He died a good twenty years ago. More, I think."
"He took out this ship's Transporter Room at the same time. Killed one of my security officers, too."
"Se-security officer?" Doug knew about the Transporter Room. When you set off the kinds of charges he had set off when departing, a room like that was bound to be destroyed. But a security officer? The room had been abandoned, so far as he had known. He had not intended to kill anyone by leaving – just disable the Transporter Room, and keep the Empress and her lackeys from following him, Tucker and Cutler out. He harbored no love for the Empress but murder had not been on his mind – not that time.
"Haddon. I said her name was Haddon," The Empress snarled.
"Oh. Well, that's unfortunate. And with so few women on board," he had not meant to cause Haddon's death. She'd saved his own life not one week earlier. But it had been done. He'd deal with how that made him feel some other time. Deb Haddon.
"You interested in any women aside from me?" she asked, phase pistol now pointed lower.
"N-no. Of course not. Just they are good for, for babysitting purposes and the like."
"I see," she sheathed the weapon, "I got someone for that already."
"Oh, good," he said, wedding ring flashing very slightly when he moved his hand.
"Married?" she asked, "I don't allow married men on the ship."
"Widowed, Empress," he said.
"Good," she looked him up and down, "Maybe I can test you out. I test out all the ... equipment."
"Uh, yes, Empress," he said, gulping.
=/\=
Lili found the room. At least she'd only have one roommate, but it was a tiny place. Rooms had been divided and then subdivided again, in order to cram in the maximum number of people onto the ship. There was a woman in there. She was clearly a lot closer to the age Lili had claimed to be than Lili really was. Dull grey tightly kinked hair was going white, and duller brown eyes were rheumy and had lost their fire. She had the slightest of gaps between her front teeth and her skin, which had probably been a gorgeous mahogany color at one point, was going ashy. The years had not been kind to her, either. She had a bottle of synthale in her hand and offered it to Lili as a gesture of friendship. Lili waved it away so the woman took a quick pull off the bottle before speaking.
"I'm Susan Cheshire," she slurred, "Kids' teacher and resident drunk."
"Yi-Yilben," Lili said, "I cook. They told me I could sleep here."
"Sure," Susan said, "Over there. You cook, uh? They'll have me taste it first. Make sure it's not poisoned. Don't poison me."
"Of course not," Lili said, "Can you take me to the kitchen?"
"Sure," Susan pulled on the bottle one last time, and they left the room.
=/\=
Doug found his own place, and then set out to find Lili. The galley – that would be the best place to look. He didn't really have a plan in his head yet, but he figured he had two things to do – find her and find the kids. Batting average, fashion pages – well, at least they were being treated all right. Maybe.
He got himself into a different hallway when he saw the two of them walking together. That made him pause.
Lili looked up when she saw him, but so did Susan.
"Soldier boy," Susan said, swaying a little.
"Ma'am?" he asked.
"You. Soldier boy," she said again, "You're him. You left me."
"Uh, ma'am, I don't know what you're, you're talking about," he said. He glanced over at Lili who looked back blankly. She had no idea.
But he knew. It had been in 2135. Titania. And she had been a schoolteacher, then, too. And an alcoholic, already, but she had had it a lot more together. And she was right about one thing – he had been the one to do the leaving.
"Susan!" Lili said brightly, "Let's go to the galley. We can go back to B deck later, yes?"
"Uh, sure," Susan said, "Soldier boy, it was a long time ago."
"Ma'am, you might mean my cousin. People say I look like him, but I don't see it."
"Like you said, it was a long time ago," Lili said, steering Susan away.
Doug saw a recruit. This would be a good opportunity. He said, loud enough for Lili to hear, "I hear the barracks are on C deck."
"Yes, sir. I'll show you."
=/\=
The galley kitchen was crowded and messy, the most disorganized kitchen that Lili had ever seen. When Susan dropped her off and slithered away, she was able to look around. There was a Xindi humanoid woman and two Calafans. The Xindi approached her, "I am Rellie," she said, "Start by loading the sanitizer."
A brown shape ran by, tiny, a blur of fur, and brushed against Lili's foot. She jumped a bit.
"Mice," said Rellie.
The Calafans approached, a silver man and a copper woman. The woman came over, "You are not Calafan," she said quietly, "False calloo does not fool us. Are you a saboteur?"
"N-no. I am a Calafan. Yilben. I am a cook," Lili brushed her mouth with her hand to gesture for quiet.
"Nice try," said the copper Calafan, "You even know a word or a gesture or two."
The silver man came over and flicked his finger twice at her, "Human," he said softly, "You want what we want?"
"And, and what would that be?" Lili asked.
"What all slaves want, and what all Calafans want. You are a twenty-one, I bet," he said, "Nice cover, pretending to be one of us. They are too stupid, they will not check."
"Right now I am here to cook," Lili said, "For athletes. And for the Empress."
"And her brats," said the copper woman, "All ten of them."
"Nine," Corrected the man, "The slight one was not adopted. Runt of the litter," he sniffed, "I am Aliwev. You are not named Yilben, I am sure. But say what you wish."
"Polloria," said the copper woman.
Lili knew the name but said nothing. If it was who she thought it was – Polloria had conspired to hurt her, back in the day. Polloria had wanted her dead, and Yimar's mother and probably anyone else who had stood in her way. But it was all turned upside-down anyway. Maybe, just maybe, it was someone else?
"Yes, delicate serving girl of Lo," said Aliwev, translating her name, "Never thought you'd really be a serving girl, eh?"
"Better than when I was a prisoner," Polloria replied, "And then there's you, oh master of music. The music of the pots and pans, and the tea kettle. Tell me, what kinds of symphonies can you play with a whisk while you dodge the mice?"
Another little packet of fur raced by. This time, it was a greyish white one. Lili shuddered, "Those mice will have to go. Isn't there a way of exterminating them?"
"Controlling their population, yes," Aliwev said, "Go to Sick Bay and bring back the snake."
=/\=
Lili headed out to Sick Bay.
The doctor was in there, mixing up something or other, "I have no treatments for slaves," he said. A patch on his arm said Morgan.
"Sir, I, I come from the galley. I was told I could borrow the snake to get rid of the mice."
"Ah. Well, first, you must do something for me," he looked her over, "Huh. Not that. Here," he put her in front of the animals' cages, "Clean these out."
"Sir, I must handle food. This would not be sanitary."
"It'll probably make it taste better," he said, "Now clean."
=/\=
The slop they had to feed the common folk with was awful. They put it together as well as they could, but there was really nothing that anyone could do with slop. Vats of it were set up in the Mess Hall and everyone could feed themselves. At least it was hot.
The Empress and her family, of course, ate better. Soldiers came in – not Doug, Lili was disappointed to see – and they had stacks and stacks of slaughtered linfep. The four of them skinned the linfep and set aside whatever fat they could get off the tiny bodies. The meat was thrown into a stewpot and salted water was added. The fat was added to the squeezings from vegetable paste tubes and fried up, then mixed in with the stew. It wasn't gourmet, but it would probably work.
"You three will serve tonight. Show the new girl," said Rellie. She'd heard what the Calafans had said to Lili but kept quiet. She wanted the same thing that they did – to get away, and be anywhere but where they were. But at least, in the meantime, her plan was to not be beaten for serving a bad meal. This meal was a risky one as the new cook was completely unknown. She'd hang back and might avoid the Empress's wrath if things were not edible.
They took the food to the Observation Lounge. There were chairs for fifteen people. The Empress was already seated, with her five sons. Lili saw Tom – he had to be Tommy Madden, she figured. But he didn't recognize her. Better that way, perhaps, as a reunion in front of the Empress would be a very bad idea. Chip Masterson was seated near one of the boys, who resembled him. Lefty – that one had to be one of Chip's kids. Then on either side of the Empress, were Aidan MacKenzie and Travis Mayweather. Travis was next to a boy who was half-Asian and half-African – Izo, his name was Izo, she recalled. And Aidan was next to a tall kid. She hadn't caught his name but he was obviously Aidan's own. In the back was Susan, in an obvious place of dishonor. Four empty spaces – the three other kids, she hoped – Joss, Marie Patrice and someone else, plus the Empress's daughter.
A slight, blonde boy came in, with bad posture and a certain degree of fear in his eyes. She looked at him as she set the table. He was smaller than the others, even smaller than Tom, and didn't look like anyone. He found himself a seat near the back, next to Susan. One of the kids – Arashi, she thought, said to him, "Get outta my face, DR."
Then came the two girls. They were easy to spot, as all the boys looked up, even DR. A half-Asian girl, with hair so long she could sit on it, held back with a jeweled brooch. The tiniest of grey miniskirts and a wide black patent leather belt – the lower part of the skirt just barely hit below the underside of the belt, and it all hit at high-thigh. Almost meeting the skirt were opaque black stockings with a lacy gripping band at the top of each and then just a hint of flesh just above. Completing the ensemble were high-heeled Mary Jane shoes and a tiny, midriff-baring white sailor blouse. The whole outfit was
an exaggeration of a schoolgirl's outfit as imagined by a pedophile.
The other had blonde curly hair and blue eyes – no, bluish-greenish-greyish eyes – and was a little shorter than the other. She, too, was in a mini, but her stockings were leopard print and her blouse was fire engine red. Lili couldn't help but to stare, and the boy she was standing near finally pushed her to get her to continue setting the table, "Empy!" yelled the tall kid next to MacKenzie, "Come sit here."
Empy looked over and smiled just a tiny bit, then shook her head, and sat down next to the eldest of the Empress's sons, "Jun," she said, smiling at him.
So that's what you've done to my daughter, Lili thought.
"Slave, serve," The Empress commanded.
"There's an empty seat, Empress."
"We won't wait for the big athlete. Serve. Now."
"Yes, Empress."
"Empress, we have the exhibition game tomorrow," Chip ventured.
"We'll be playing the Ganymede Hunters," said the tall kid.
"No, no, serve the teacher first," The Empress commanded.
"Oh, sorry," Lili ladled out stew for Susan and everyone turned to watch Susan taste it.
"It's pretty good," Susan said, more sober than she'd been before, "Better than the usual," she whispered to Lili, "Serve the Empress next."
Lili bowed her head and did as she was told, serving them all in what she figured was probably rank order – the Empress, Mayweather, then Chip, but she was corrected, and started serving the children next, in age order. First the Empress's own children, then the adopted ones. Then she was ordered away from DR and to serve Chip, then Aidan. Finally, she served DR, last. He quietly thanked her. None of the others had. The last place – Joss's, obviously – remained unfilled throughout the meal.
"So the Hunters are going to be an interesting matchup," Chip said, "We should have good viewership on the broadcast."
"Bets are coming in," Arashi said, between spoonfuls, "No one wants to bet against us, the Conquistadors, of course, so the interesting thing is the point spread."
"We can get extra security detail on the collections," Jun pointed out, "Seconds," he said.
"Yes, yes, of course, sir," Lili complied.
"Tell me about today's, heh, volunteers," The Empress said, "I saw someone I thought I knew. But, too young."
"There are always recruits pouring in," said Lefty, "Looks like we got a Major to take the place of the old Drill Sergeant that the recruits offed last week."
"Plus the new cook," Izo said, "Seconds."
"Yes, sir."
"Empress, permission to borrow the new cook for the training table foods," Chip said, "Keep this one off slop detail."
"We'll try that out," The Empress said, "Travis, take the men out hunting again. Bring back something bigger than this. I don't want stew twice in a row."
"Empress, if I may," Lili ventured, "On Lafa XII, there are perrazin. They are good game, taste a bit like a cross between beef and pork. Or there is elekai here on Lafa II, but they are large and would require several men to be brought down."
"Which one is which planet?" Aidan asked, "The numbering system is all confused."
"Usually, a planet's number is the number of planets it is from a star system's sun," Susan said, "Such as our planet would be called Terra III if it were an alien world."
"It's just Terra," Travis said.
"Yes, of course, sir. Well, here, because there are four suns, the planets are all over the place. They, there is one, Lafa I, which is within the orbits of the three smaller stars. But Lafa II, which is what we are orbiting, is outside all four stellar orbits. So the numbers stand for the size of the planets, in order from largest to smallest. It goes up to twelve," Susan explained.
"This is what you get when you ask for an astronomy lesson," Izo whined, "Will that be on the test?"
"No," Susan said, "The test will just be history."
"It's our own history that's most interesting," Tom said, "Why can't we study that?"
"Because you already know it," Susan said.
"Eleven and a half years ago," The Empress said, "We went in and you came out. Drawn here for some reason – probably your twenty and a half band made you do it, I dunno. Science bores me. Three more heirs for me," she smiled.
"And DR," Arashi said.
"Someone's got to be the court jester," Jun said, "After all, look at Aidan."
He'd stayed quiet through most of the meal, "I am here to look after you, Jun. After all of you," Aidan said quietly.
"And pretty soon we won't need you. And then where will you go, you old goat?" Takara asked, "And quit leering at me and Empy. I know you do, so don't even try to deny it."
"Oh, honestly, Aidan!" The Empress said, "Lemme give you something else to think about. Travis, c'mon. Aidan, yes, you. Get up. Now."
The three of them left, and the girls giggled.
"Which end do you think Aidan'll get?" Izo asked.
"Whadda you think?" Lefty asked, and they laughed, "Hey, we'll be eighteen tomorrow, Takara," he said.
"Yep," she smiled, "You better have a cake for us, slave."
"Yes, of course," Lili said, clearing the plates. That would be tougher to fake than a stew.
=/\=
She left with a cart of dirty dishes while Polloria and Aliwev cleaned up some more.
"Just walk, don't turn," it was Doug's voice, walking next to her.
"They have a game tomorrow. And a birthday party. I'll be busy, and they'll send hunters out to get perrazin and elekai. When can I see you?"
"Not tonight," he said, "Too many people watching. Tomorrow. After the birthday party. There's a lab on E deck. No one seems to be using it; it's dusty in there. If anyone sees us going in there, scream and cringe like I'm hurting you."
Lili gulped.
"And make my men more meat, slave," he said louder, as troops filed by.
"Yes, sir," she said, looking down, "I saw Marie Patrice and Tommy," she said quietly, "The other kid, too, his name is DR and they don't treat him well at all. He's a little thing, maybe fifteen. He's very awkward – like the one thing that doesn't belong with the set."
"What about Joss?" he asked, "And make it taste better!" he commanded more loudly.
"Yes, sir," she said. She dropped the volume of her voice considerably, "I haven't seen Joss. He didn't show up for dinner."
"He's almost twenty by now, I think. Maybe he has his own money, and goes out, or sees a girl," Doug offered, "He plays baseball. Pro, maybe. Someone said his batting average is a news story."
"It might just be because he's the Empress's own. You know, like the exploits of any heir to the throne would be newsworthy," she said.
"Here," Doug said, opening the door to the galley.
Lili glanced around, "The coast is clear," he shut the door and they kissed, "This place is awful," she said.
"Better with you here," he said, "But the faster we get out, the better. You can see what it can do to the kids. It's very easy to fall into that mode."
Rellie was coming over.
"You'd better leave," Lili said, "See you tomorrow."
"I love you," he whispered. She nodded slightly.
"My former master," she explained to Rellie, "He wants me to launder his uniform."
"Oh. I take it the meal was acceptable."
"Apparently so. I need to make a cake," Lili said.
"A cake?" Rellie asked.
"Yes. Where is the flour?"
"Here."
"Eggs?"
Rellie gave her packages of powdered eggs.
"Shortening?"
"Just meat drippings."
"Hmm. That'll have to do. Where is the sugar?"
"There is none."
"Honey?"
"None."
"What about jam?" Lili asked.
Rellie pointed to a dusty collection of jars, "I have to clean up. Find the remainder yourself."
Lili took the jars off the shelf and dusted them off. She about jumped out of her skin when she saw that one of them was an unopened jar of
Fortnum & Mason orange marmalade.
"You ransacked my house," she said to herself softly, and preheated the oven.
*11
He kissed her again, and she kissed back, but then pushed him back a little.
"Huh?" he asked.
"Look, Chip, I'm glad she's not bothering you tonight, for once," said Lucy, "but I gotta tell you. Something's happening and it's making me nervous."
"Oh? Tell old Doc Masterson what's the matter."
"I can tell that the passageway is closing. The membrane that bridges both sides of the pond, it's shrinking."
He gulped, "You're right to be nervous. That is not good. She's gonna blame us for that."
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
"What do you wanna do about it?" he asked. Desire gone, they had to deal with this problem first.
"I was thinking – we can shoot another dark matter stream in. Maybe tomorrow after your big game, Coach."
"Heh. That's been taking a lot of my time, and I'm sorry about that. It's taken time away from us."
"Well, I can't complain too much – at least she stays away when she thinks you're really working hard. It's important to her."
"Well, she wants Joss to be the big man. Kira, too."
"Kirin," Lucy corrected him.
"The giraffe – dumb to call yourself after an extinct animal. But, yeah, she wants them to be big there. I think she's coming to the conclusion that they can't all run things after she's gone. Or maybe, well, she probably just wants to control every aspect of our lives. Our sex lives, our diets, our sports, our wars, our money, and our missions. You name the pie; she's got her fingers in it," Chip sighed.
"She's not in our thoughts, or in our dreams."
"If she can figure out how to be, she will."
=/\=
Malcolm saw, it, too, the closing up of the septum, "Commander Ramirez?" he buzzed from his Ready Room.
"Yes?" Jennifer answered.
"Come in here a moment."
She was prompt, as always. Truly exemplary – pity it was under such vile circumstances, "Have you been monitoring the gap on Lafa II? The one where passage between our universe and the mirror one is possible?"
"Yes, of course. It's closing – and the rate seems to be accelerating."
"How long until it's completely closed up?" he asked, fingering the cuff.
"By tomorrow, I think," she said.
"Thank you."
=/\=
"So we're in agreement?" he asked.
"Yes. Once the game's over, I'll fire off another shot. We'll tell her our story. She should agree to that. You wanna call her, or should I?"
"I'll do it," Chip said, "But stay here. Fix your hair a little. We'll pretend like we've been working."
She complied, "Ready."
"All right. Masterson to Empress Sato."
It took a few tries, but they got her. The visual was what he'd expected – Aidan on one side, the Empress in the middle, and Travis on the other. A lamp had been knocked over, but at least she was covering herself, "What the hell do you want?" she demanded as her greeting.
"Empress!" Lucy said chirpily, "We've done some calculations."
"Can't this wait? Science is so dull."
"Yes, understood. But we're seeing that there is an excellent opportunity to, to send another dark matter pulse beam through," Chip said quickly.
"Which will do what?" The Empress demanded, "And be quick about it. I got a couple of jobs ... heh ... to do."
"Yes, yes, of course!" Lucy said. Act positive, act positive, she kept saying to herself, "We feel that the pulse could propel us to, to 2378. Which would hit the time period for the
Defiant rather neatly."
"We could get more ships like the
Defiant," Travis said.
"Travis, I am working!" The Empress seethed.
"Our thought was, uh, spare parts, spare ships and spare troops," Chip said, "Plus they'll be thrilled to see us, I'm sure. I have no doubt that you are, uh, will be, a legendary Empress throughout time,"
Okay, don't lay it on too thick and heavy, Masterson, he said to himself.
"You sure it'll work?" Aidan asked, and then started nuzzling the Empress's neck.
"Please ... oooohhh, lower ... I'm ... working," Mumbled the Empress.
"In the – highly unlikely – event of not, uh, not being propelled forward," Lucy said, "it would force the passageway open much more permanently. Currently, it has the ability to fluctuate, and often does."
"And of course we could send more troops in," Chip offered, "Maybe even an entire ship if we were so inclined. Currently, our people have had to commandeer ships on the other side of the pond. What if we could send one of our own? Not the
Defiant, of course. Something expendable."
"Uhhhhh...," said Hoshi. Now Travis was nuzzling the other side.
Lucy didn't want to think about what was probably going on under the sheets over there, "We would do this after tomorrow's game. The Conquistadors will win, of course. The team will hit the showers. We'll celebrate with the twins' birthday party. And then go ahead with the shot."
"I like that," Hoshi said, smiling, "And I like your plan as well. Now don't bother us again tonight if you know what's good for you."
The connection closed.
"Think we can pull it off?" Chip asked.
"Of course not," Lucy replied, "But at least we can get the shot off. She'll be tired, and then busy. It won't be 2378, for sure. But I think she'll be all right with another invasion. And if it gets really bad, we can blame T'Pau and Kefris."
"Vulcan slaves. Useful scapegoats," Chip said, "Come here. Let's do this."
=/\=
Captain Reed looked out the window of his Ready Room on the USS Bluebird. The bluebird of happiness – he had named the ship himself. Starfleet had thought the name silly, unthreatening. Not a good name for a heavily-armed warship. But he had insisted – there had to be some end to this state of continual strife, eventually. And she had always loved blue.
He rolled back his left sleeve to really look at the dull grey metal cuff. He'd worn it for, what? Two decades? No, not quite. A bit less than nineteen years. But still, it had been a long time, and it was a part of him, and he could no more take it off than he would take off his right hand. The complicated scrollwork was reminiscent of the tattoos snaking up and down her arms and legs. There was a part where it was softened and faded, where thousands of Calafan hands had touched it, in respect or worship or benediction, down through centuries, perhaps millennia.
She'd given it to him the first time she'd told him that she loved him. And he had thought, long and hard, about what to give her in return, and had hit upon the key for its dual meaning. Well, another meaning as well, if he really wanted to think of earthier things. A cuff, a key – the symbolism was obvious, but it was more than physical what they had had between them.
"I hope that it's not closing up for good, Lili-Flower," he said to himself quietly, "Don't be trapped there. I know he'll look after you. But please, don't be gone completely. Answer me tomorrow. Please, please answer. I want so very much to continue to believe."
=/\=
The following morning, Lili got up. Susan was passed out, an alcoholic's blackout rather than actual sleep. Lili knew she'd be undisturbed for a while. She switched on Susan's PADD.
She typed in Search: Baseball Rules.
According to the PADD, the rules were as follows:
Teams have twelve members and there are five bases. Positions are: first base, second base, third base, fourth base, left-side catcher, right-side catcher, right field, center field, shortstop, left field, left-side pitcher and right-side pitcher. The bases are laid out in a pentagonal shape with the full field often being shaped like a hand-held fan although some variations are possible and are legal per the rules.
There are two pitchers' mounds and two batters' boxes.
Two batters hit at the same time so, for practical reasons, a lefty pitcher is always paired with a righty hitter and vice versa. Hence, standing in the batters' boxes and viewed from the perspective of the home plate umpires, there is a lefty hitter on the left (who is being pitched to by a right-handed pitcher) and a righty hitter on the right (who is being pitched to by a left-handed pitcher). Pitches need not be simultaneous although it is better defensive strategy for the pitchers to toss at the same time so as to minimize all of the running around in the outfield if both hitters connect. Anyone can field the two balls in play, and anyone can make an out, even if the righty hitter is tagged out with the ball hit by the lefty hitter.
There are five outs per side per inning.
Huh?
The most recent championship teams are the South American Pistoleros (2175), and the Ganymede Hunters (2176 and 2177).
The record for the most home runs is held by retired Pistolero catcher Ty Janeway. The record for the most steals is held by retired player (played on several teams) shortstop Lefty Robinson. The record for the most wins by a pitcher is held by retired Hunters left-handed pitcher Amanda Cole. Currently, the wins record is being challenged by Hunter right-handed pitcher Alan Foster.
What?
Susan was stirring, so she turned off the PADD and hustled herself to the galley.
=/\=
"We need vegetables," she told the other three workers after they'd served a breakfast of, of course, more slop, "We can pick them on Lafa II."
"They won't just let us go out," Rellie said.
"Will they let us go out under armed escort?"
"Probably," said Aliwev.
"We can get tofflin leaves, sticks and sap," Lili said.
"And olowa fruit," Polloria said.
"And olowa
leaves," Lili said, although she was well aware that that part of the plant was toxic.
"Ah," Aliwev said. He knew, "We can set those aside for some special occasion. Do you have one in mind?"
"Not yet," Lili said. But this would be a good opportunity, if they could swing it.
They were allowed to go, so they took baskets and began gathering as soon as a shuttle landed them on the surface. Bored, Jun and Izo guarded them.
=/\=
"We will be on guard during the game," Doug announced to his troops, "I don't need to remind you that this is an important occasion to the Empress. You will be on your best, most disciplined behavior, and in full dress uniforms. I don't want to see any horsing around."
There was silence.
"Did you get that?" he yelled.
"Sir, yes, sir!" they were thunderous, responding as one.
"That's better. Before the game starts, we will present colors and then turn face right to look at fourth base. We will fire off phase rifles in the air, at a forty-five degree angle. This is not the time to take out the guy you don't like. Just aim up and fire and everyone better be set on stun. Is that clear?"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Once we are done with the salute, we will file out and gather behind the backstop. Then I will have alternate men march to opposite bleachers. You will stand behind the bleachers and await instructions as necessary. Snipers will take up positions with clear lines of sight to each base and position, but you will not fire unless under my express orders. Is that clear?"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
=/\=
It was a big haul, and the hunts were successful as well. There was enough meat, and there were enough fruits and vegetables, for a few meals, if they played their cards right. Lili ground up the perrazin meat and made meat loaves out of it, garnishing the sides with varying colored strips of olowa fruit. The tofflin sap was blended with water to make a kind of juice.
As before, she and Aliwev served the Empress's family. This time, Chip didn't show up, but Joss did. He saw her and colored very slightly. She looked down as she served, keeping away from his gaze. When she got to serving DR, he looked up a bit more than he had the prior evening, and she saw his eyes, a light blue. She smiled at him slightly but he didn't seem to see that and he looked away but, again, he thanked her quietly.
Once she was done, she served up the juice, "This is a performance enhancer," she explained, "It is called tofflin juice. It will make you faster."
When she was done, she stood in the back with Aliwev and waited for them to be done. He said to her quietly, "It'll keep them awake but it won't make anyone faster."
She brushed her hand over her mouth, "They just have to believe that it works."
*12
"It's a beautiful day for baseball here on Lafa II!" exclaimed the announcer on the widescreen, "I'm Ted Trinneer and alongside me, as always, is Color Commentator Jeff Blalock. Jeff, let's start by talking about today's conditions."
"Sure thing, Ted. We're on the second-largest planet in the system, which is referred to as Lafa II. It's twenty degrees Celsius with the wind coming out of the West at approximately twenty-four kilometers per hour. The temporary bleachers have been set up close to a rise that the natives call Point Abic but the Empress has renamed it Mount Arashi. For anyone who's been living under a rock for the past decade and a half or so, Arashi is the third-born, and will turn eighteen in a few months."
"Yes, that's right. Arashi is the financial wizard in the Empress's family. For anyone who has placed bets on today's game, you know it's all going to Arashi, but it'll be collected by Takeo. Now, let's talk about the lineup for the Ganymede Hunters."
Lili watched from the game room on the Defiant, between serving and cleaning up. She and the rest of the galley crew didn't have anything like hot dogs to serve, but there was plenty of synthbeer, plus more vegetable paste tube squeezings pressed together with slices of olowa. These had been deep-fried in elekai fat as a reasonable approximation of potato chips.
Chips fell all over the floor, and synthbeer spilled nearly constantly, so they were kept busy and she mainly heard, rather than saw, anything.
"And now it's time for the salute to the Empress. All rise," Ted announced.
They even rose in the game room, although no one on the field could see them.
Lili saw Doug standing at the front of his unit, straight and tall, at attention. He yelled something, probably 'Ten hut!' or the like, and they turned as one. They aimed up, shot twice, and marched off the field.
The camera shot then shifted to the Empress, in a box behind home plate, sitting with Aidan. She smiled her approval and it was time to begin.
"And now let's meet the starting lineup for the Conquistadors!" yelled Jeff, "Since almost everyone's got the same last name, you'll see the first names on the back of their uniforms. Pitching for the left side is Coach Chip Masterson. Pitching for the right side is Takeo – you might know him as Lefty," Lefty waved and doffed his cap, "Takara's defending at first. Shortstop is DR," There were some discreet boos, "Second base is defended by Empy, who designed the uniforms," she blew a kiss to her fans; "First-born Jun is at third base. Fourth base is defended by Kira – excuse me, Kirin. Left-side catcher is Charlie," Charlie was a blond boy who Lili hadn't seen before, clearly unrelated to the Empress's family and not one of the Four, "And right-side catcher is Joss!" The two catchers took off their masks and waved, then put their masks back on.
There were huge cheers for Joss. She couldn't help being a bit proud herself. He looked exactly like Doug must have looked at that age, a few months shy of twenty.
"First up for the Hunters are center fielder Jimmy Scott and right-side pitcher Alan Foster. Here are the windups ..."
=/\=
On the ground, Doug watched warily. He had his snipers positioned, and watched from the back. It would be so easy, he said to himself. He had a charged phase rifle and a clear line of sight tothe back of the Empress's head. But he also knew he'd never get out of the bleachers area alive. He cared enough about his own self-preservation to hold back, but figured if someone took a shot at her he wasn't about to conduct himself in any sort of a heroic manner.
He clicked open his Communicator, "Over on the right field line. Watch the guy in the red cap. Nothing yet, just watch him," he commanded a cadet. The cadet answered in the affirmative and changed positions slightly. Whoever the guy in the red cap was, he was a little too close to Tommy for Doug's comfort. Maybe it was nothing, but he didn't want his younger son to be in any unnecessary peril.
=/\=
"All right and we're back," Announced Jeff.
"More synthbeer," Slurred José Torres to Lili.
"Yes, sir."
"The Conquistadors are still up. Now, Hunters pitcher Alan Foster has a chance to continue his march toward the record today, Ted."
"Ha, I don't think so. There's no score yet but you'd be a fool to bet against the Conquistadors. Have we got the link set up with Arashi? Good. Arashi, what's the point spread today?" asked Ted.
"Arashi, can you hear us?" asked Jeff.
"Yeah," he said.
"So tell us about the spread," Jeff said.
"Ah. Today it's four runs. So we're running good odds on the Conquistadors beating the Hunters by four or more runs. If our final score is ten and the Hunters' score if five, we've beaten the spread, because the differential is more than four runs."
"It's too bad about you striking out the first time up."
"Well, at least Empy's on base," Arashi said, "I dunno how she'll slide in that skirt, though. Anyway, gotta get back to the game."
=/\=
No kidding, thought Lili. The skirt was as high as yesterday's number. At least her daughter had on some sort of tights. The boys, in contrast, wore more traditional types of uniforms.
Joss and Tommy were up, and Joss connected. The crack was loud; possibly there was some sort of microphone in the barrel of the bat. The ball sailed far but not far enough. Ah, well. Then it was Kirin and Takeo's turn, and Takeo struck out, and Empy was tagged.
"And now for a word from ..."
=/\=
"Ensign Pike, how soon until we are within transporter range of Lafa II?" he asked.
"About ten minutes, Captain Reed," she said.
"Keep me posted. Thank you," he sat back in the Captain's chair, a place that was uncomfortable, and not just because of his physical condition. He just felt strange in command, particularly with as much authority as he'd been given in the past few years. He'd been thrown into the fire, or the deep end of the pool – either metaphor would do – and was flailing half the time. Anyone else would call him brilliant and improvisational, but he felt he was pedaling as fast as he could or fighting to dance in front of an angry audience as the scenery behind him came crashing down.
"Message coming in for you, sir."
"I'll take it in the Ready Room. Just a moment," he got up – that was usually better than sitting – and walked stiffly to his Ready Room, fingering the cuff as he went. Almost there, he said to himself. Almost.
=/\=
"And the Conquistadors are up again," Jeff said, "Now, this time we've got Joss and Kirin, apowerful one-two punch. If Foster's gonna march toward his record, he could really do some damage here."
"And what's this?" Ted asked, "It's, look, outta the dugout, the Hunters' dugout, is that Trent McCoy?"
"Yes, it is, it's'Miracle Worker'McCoy! Looks like Coach Robinson is about to take out Foster."
"Foster doesn't like it and he's got the dagger out," Ted said.
Doug saw, and alerted his men, just in case.
"Oh! Foster didn't see that coming. Knifed in the back by McCoy. Looks like Foster's out for the season. Oh, no, wait, looks like Foster's out permanently. We'll go to commercial while the grounds crew clears the body off the field."
=/\=
Lili continued clearing dishes even as Torres grabbed a handful of her bottom.
Aliwev saw and came over, "More synthbeer, sir?"
"Gimme that," Slurred Torres, "More."
=/\=
"All right now, while we were on break, lemme see if we can punch this up on the screen," Ted said, getting the playback up, "Here. Watch, folks."
"Now while the pitching change was occurring," Jeff said, "there was a bit of an incident at first base. As everyone knows, the Empress's daughter Takara plays that position. And as you can see, Jimmy Scott's on base. It all happened rather fast so we'll slow it down and bring up the Telestrator."
"Yeah, so, while she's standing there, Scott yanks her hair. This snaps her head back and then he gets the dagger to her jugular, here," Ted illustrated by drawing in white on the screen, messily circling the dagger in Scott's hand.
"But from the bleachers, you remember the salute to the Empress? Yeah, it's those troops," Jeff said, drawing a messy white arrow on the screen, "Out from this side comes the phase rifle shot. The sniper was perfect, absolutely on the money, and gets Scott. Now, I know you're all disappointed, but the phase rifle was set to stun, so Scott will be back for the next game. However, for this infraction, the umpires did toss him from the game. He's been replaced by Yarin."
The camera then shifted to a reaction shot of the Empress applauding the work of the sniper before going back to the game itself.
=/\=
Lili shuddered a little. That could have been her daughter who was almost knifed.
"More chips, slave," it was a Security crewman. The patch on his arm said G. Hodgkins.
"Yes, sir."
"Who made these?" asked the crewman, stuffing a fistful into his mouth.
"Uh, I did, sir."
"How'd you know how to make them?"
"I had a human mistress until recently, when she died," Lili said, "More synthbeer, sir?"
"No. You're a twenty-one Calafan, right?"
"Uh, all of us silver ones are, sir."
"Who was your mistress?"
"Uh, Charlotte O'Day, sir."
He checked on a PADD, "There are only two Charlotte O'Days listed. One died in 2120 of natural causes and the other was a child who died in 2118. Hmm, there was a news story about that one.
Four members of a family were killed in ahouse fireon, let's see, it was Titan. Parents were Peter and Marie Helêne, and the children were Declan and, yeah, there's Charlotte Lilienne," he pulled up a picture, "Hmm. Blonde hair and blue eyes, like yourself."
"Sir, all silver Calafans have blue eyes. And we
get blonde hair when we get older," Lili swallowed hard. He had pulled up a news story about the death of her counterpart.
"Name?"
"Yilben."
He checked, "Well, look at that. Date of birth is in 2109. And so is this little girl in the picture. How very interesting."
"Sir, as we age, we Calafans sprout hair and our calloo – the arm and leg markings – fades. We become more, well, more human-appearing. But I am not a human," she paused, "Uh, sir."
"I don't know about that. It's rather convenient that we look like them, and they look like us. A human twenty-one could easily – with a little tattooing and the right body colorings – blend in as a Calafan. A saboteur could come in and might not be detected until it was too late. Let's take a little walk," he said.
"Sir, I am required to continue serving and cleaning up."
"You will do this instead."
Polloria came over, and then backed off, "Sir, we need the fourth server," she said.
"You will make do with three," he grabbed Lili's arm and they left.
=/\=
"Lioness, it's good to see you," Malcolm said.
"Good to see you, too. It's been too long. So, tonight, we'll head over to the site of the old house?"
"Yes."
=/\=
The brig was cold and small. Lili paced.
She finally brought her wedding ring and the key out from their hiding place in her top. She touched the ring and whispered Doug's name. Then she touched the key and turned it over in her hands, "Hmm," she said softly.
She hadn't noticed that before. It was the tiniest of clasps. Malcolm hadn't mentioned that – it had been some sort of a surprise for her to find at some later date. She wedged her pinkie nail under the clasp and it opened.
There was a four-line poem. She read it carefully in the dim light of the brig, then kissed every word, lingering the longest on the last word.