The Unexpected
"We've almost reached New Earth, sir. Thought I'd call you to the bridge. Kept your seat warm too."
"Thanks Rilas."
Again, Kiké and Naea had done an excellent job in evading the dangerous anomalies that tore up space and Kero was satisfied with the girls' performance. During the trip he and Stith had frequently felt the ship drop out of warp. Traveling was no longer a straight line and unexpected slowdowns had become a necessity to avoid clusters of volatile ruptures in space forming right in their path. The Son of the Empire was equipped with powerful deflector fields just like the ship she was escorting. The Yzenthii's Captain had his helmsman coordinate his efforts with Naea and with success. After each set of evasive maneuvers the ships had been able to continue their heading without much delay. In the meantime Kero's thoughts were with the Yzenthii's carefully selected crew. There had been more volunteers than spots on the ship and so a selection was made and there were people he knew aboard the vessel. People he served with in his early days with the Guard. And now they were prepared to give up anything for the success of this mission. It did make his thoughts fly back to his academic days for just a mere second. Just a second, until the sensor array warned his spotter that an anomaly popped up in their way. The two girls responded quickly and accurately, Naea by reducing speed and coordinating with the Yzenthii's helmsman and her sister Kiké by calculating the new optimal course corrections and relaying them to her sister.
"I can't get around it at warp. Dropping back to impulse. Sis, I need those coordinates."
"Got it."
"Thanks."
As the ship dropped back to sub-light speeds, the anomaly, or actually a cluster of several ones, popped up on the main viewer, moving to the lower edge of the screen as Naea pulled the Son of the Empire up to go over the field.
"Stith, deflector status?"
"Still looking good, sir. Holding steady at seventy-six percent. We took some hits on the way but it's holding."
They watched the Yzenthii take the lead, her sub-light engines glowing brightly in their view, the filters keeping the light from burning their eyes. The ship shook as the ventral deflector shield took a beating from a wave of anomalic space. Naea recovered quickly from the initial shock and went on the evasive.
"It's expanding!"
"Divert more power to the engines."
"Aye sir."
A strange ominous kind of noise sent the chills down Kero's spine as the ship pushed her engines beyond the maximum in an attempt to break free of the distorted space that seemed to have grabbed hold of the ship's tail. Sparks showered down on the deck as Stith shifted most of the deflector field's power to the aft to keep the violent disruptions from devouring the aft engines.
"Almost!"
The ship broke free like a cork erupting from a bottle of champagne. Steering clear of the anomalic mass, Naea reduced the ship's rapidly gained momentum and caught up next to the Yzenthii, her Captain hailing.
"That was close, Captain. Have you suffered any damage? We seem to be unharmed."
"Glad to hear that. Damage reports everyone."
"Lower decks are reporting loss of structural integrity and micro fractures in outer hull but nothing serious," Stith reported. "It won't threaten our ability to go to warp."
"Warp engines are still online, sir. Port aft impulse engine power is fluctuating though. I better take it offline until engineering's taken a look."
"Do it. Rilas, connect me to deck seven please."
"Aye sir."
"Naea, resume heading when you're ready. Kero to Zayli, are you and the class all right?"
"Yes Captain. Some of the children were a little scared but we're all okay."
"Good. Hold on, we're almost there. Kero out."
There was a slight bump as the ship jumped back to warp, the Yzenthii following swiftly. Without further delays, Earth was less than a standard hour away. Hopefully this reunion would last longer than the one before since it was quite a while since they sat down and had a good time together with their human friends.
It was also quite a while ago when the Son of the Empire last visited Earth's airspace, which was quite literally a spherical safe haven around the planet with the Anomaly Hunters keeping the bad stuff at bay with their concentrated anti-graviton pulses and with normal activity going on around the planet within their barrier. As soon as new anomalies popped up and threatened to cross their line of defense, the closest device moved to this new location to eradicate them. When the ship dropped out of warp and prepared to cross the invisible line separating the safe space from the wasteland beyond they received an automatic warning about the devices and the way they carried out their programmed jobs to prevent them and passing ships from interfering with each other. Thanks for the warning. The two Imperial warships continued at cruising speed toward the docks. As usual they were hailed and greeted and even granted a dock after he explained that they had taken some damage on the way. Again Kero was pleasantly surprised by the humans' hospitality and gratefully accepted their offer. To him, it didn't feel as weakness to accept help and he knew there were some Captains who didn't share his opinion on that matter.
"All right, everyone. Power down all but vital systems and put me on ship-wide." One by one his officers powered down the systems and at the end locked their stations to prevent unauthorized access just in case. The lights on the bridge dimmed and most monitors powered down. A moment later he also flicked an ear at the sound of the main reactor going into standby mode. After his ops officer confirmed that he could talk to the entire ship he cleared his throat. "All hands this is the Captain. I've trusted the hands of the humans with this ship quite a few times before so there's no taking turns regarding shore leave. Anyone who wishes to leave the ship is free to do so. You'll be notified should anything change so stay on alert. Command might have other plans for us but I don't expect any trouble. That's all. Have a good time."
Scratching behind an ear he rose on his massive legs and stretched a little, making himself even taller than he already was. Groaning a little through gritted teeth, he lashed his tail back and forth a few times and turned to face Stith. Rilas crossed his arms and smiled. It was if he was reading his thoughts.
"You got plans, sir? Hope you don't mind me asking."
"You bet, Rilas. Time to see some old friends."
"Mind if I tag along?"
"Of course not."
He punched his First on his meaty shoulder.
"Less talk, more action," Stith grumbled, giving her console a last tap before directing her look at them and nodding toward the turbolift.
Rilas grinned.
"Yes ma'am. Guess someone's eager."
"Daddy!"
"Mommy!"
Apparently Jalla and Nalu just finished classes and instead of waiting for their parents to come and get them they had come to the bridge all by themselves.
"Hey, are you guys all right?"
"Sure. We weren't scared," Jalla said mockingly, crossing her arms.
"Are we going to see uncle Cale and aunt Akima now?"
Their father laughed.
"You bet."
"Unless you guys are gonna stay here and chat all day."
Stith was already standing in the turbolift, a rather gruff expression dominating her face. Kero shrugged and joined followed by his kids and Rilas.
"C'mon Stith, what's the rush?"
"Nothing. It's just... been a while."
"Do you really think they'll like this? I don't think any Mantrin has ever seen a single flake of snow fall on their own homeworld. Other than that, they'll probably think it's way too cold to be having fun."
Cale watched his and Akima's breath condense in the cold air blowing over the crystal white hills of the simulated mountainside they stood on. It was amazing what the city's holodecks were capable of. This particular one simulated a fairly large ski-resort, complete with après ski cabins, a trio of restaurants and of course lots of challenging hills and glaciers for practitioners of famous Earth winter sports, like skiing and snowboarding and even a sled course for the younger ones. Though fairly new the ski-resort was already a popular program, enjoyed by humans and aliens alike, though species with a natural dislike for cold would obviously steer clear of this program and exchange the winter setting for something warmer.
"I just want 'em to see this. I wonder how they'll react. Better give 'em warmer clothes before we enter though. There they are!"
She tapped a button on her chiming wristcom to accept the call and asked the holodeck computer for an exit.
"Hey Akima, we're here! Where are you? Wanna go for a drink first?"
"Hey Stith. That's great. But there's something I wanna show you guys first, if you don't mind." Sending her friend the coordinates of a location close to the holodeck she and Cale were exiting right now she awaited Stith's response.
"Shall we meet here? You'll need warm clothes for this."
"Uh, all right," Stith replied hesitatingly.
It was obvious she left them completely almost completely in the dark there. She and Cale were fully dressed for the cold. Thick snow boots, colorful ski-jackets and matching pants, warm gloves, a sporty hat and even ski-glasses to protect their eyes against even the simulated and blinding glittering of the sun in the tiny particles of ice and snow. Since the program was so popular, these special clothes and equipment were even sold close by and those first try-ers even had the option to rent. They even sold sets specifically to fit the physical forms of several species, including Mantrins. When their alien friends, including Rilas, Kero's First Officer let their eyes fall on them, a few mouths fell open. Even Jalla and Nalu who were always happy to see them flattened and ear and tried to figure out if it were really their 'aunt' and 'uncle' standing there with those thick clothes on.
"What's this?" their mother asked, the look on her face literally asking them if they were out of their mind.
Akima laughed though and pulled off her gloves and removed the hat from her head, her hair messed up a bit. Cale did the same and also took off the glasses he still wore.
"Hey guys. How are ya?"
"Uncle Cale?"
The family of aliens approached them, all with questioning looks on their faces.
"You're gonna take us to a place so cold we're gonna need stuff like that too?"
"I told you they wouldn't like this," Cale whispered via the corner of his mouth.
But Akima acted like she didn't hear it and tried to sound full of enthusiasm.
"C'mon, it'll be fun! This program became popular since the first week it was put into action. You guys wanna take a look?"
"Well if you insist so badly," Stith replied with a shrug.
"C'mon Kero. Big strong fella like you isn't scared of a little cold eh?"
He laughed and carefully scratched behind an ear with on claw.
"I'm not a Logri but I'll give it a try, whatever it is you have in store for us."
"Don't think I'll stay behind," Rilas added.
After a little awkward re-acquaintance both Cale and Akima received the big warm hugs they always got from their alien friends. Akima softly patted her friend on the back as she tried to keep breathing in her strong embrace. For a slight moment, barely noticeable to the others around her there was a strange look in Stith's eyes. As if she felt caught, it vanished as if it was never there. She wondered what it meant. As if they hadn't seen each other in a long time. She didn't even have time to ask what it was because her son wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight. Jalla hugged Cale too.
"You guys always look bigger every time we meet."
"Do we have to wear these thick clothes too?" Nalu asked, feeling the soft material of her ski-jacket.
Mantrins and coats were two things that rarely met and if they did it certainly wouldn't be on their own world. Akima smiled, rubbing between the boy's ears which he seemed to like judging by his purrs.
"It'll be a little cold without, sweetheart."
"Well, all right. Let's get this over with and see what all the fuss is about," Stith grumbled.
She had to admit, it looked a bit odd. Jalla and Nalu looked okay and actually kind of cute with those colorful ski-jackets, thick leg warmers and hats to keep their ears warm. The gloves were nice too though they had to keep their claws retracted to prevent them from punching five little holes in the finger tops. Specialized boots kept their large feet warm too. Especially for Mantrins and other long-snouted species they even sold beak warmers though they wouldn't be needing those as they wouldn't stay that long. The scarf they all wore around their necks would be enough. As sweet as the clothes looked on their children, it made Kero, Stith and Rilas stand out odd. It had an increasing effect on their already drastic size and they both had their doubts about it. Stith frowned, her ear shifting under the red hat she wore.
"Shall we go now? I'm heating up in here."
For a moment Akima looked at her, then she chuckled with laughter. Her friend didn't share the amusement however.
"What?" she snarled.
"Nothing. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. But let's go. The sooner you'll be out of those clothes."
Stith grumbled something inaudibly under her breath but the two males didn't seem to mind that much. Kero smiled proudly at his kids when they looked at him. Still wondering what this was all about, the family of Mantrins and Rilas followed their human friends to find out.
And surprised they were. Of course they had seen snow and ice on other worlds. Sogowa Prime and most worlds with a heavy population of Mantrins didn't have any or very little as they naturally preferred warmth over cold but to see it being used so extensively for sports and entertainment was a new concept to them. All those sporters, and not just humans, racing down off the face of a mountain with little more than streamlined planks under their feet. It sure was cold, not in extreme ways but for a moment they felt glad about the clothes.
"I can see my breath," Nalu said, breathing out against his hand.
"This is funny," his sister said curiously, grabbing a hand of snow and bringing it closer to her face to study the tiny white particles.
Of course the simulated snow was perfect for anything.
"Well, what do you think?"
Stith snorted.
"Hmm, I can vaguely remember you telling me something about this once but I never imagined it to be like this. You used to have mountains and snow like this on Earth, right?"
Akima shook her head.
"I've never seen it for myself. A long time ago, Earth used to have many ski-resorts in various parts of the world. There were only very few left by the time it was destroyed. I've seen lots of pictures though and some of the older ones used to tell us about it sometimes. Quite possibly, it were those same old stories and the enthusiasm of a few of us that inspired this program."
And they all agreed that it looked and felt so real.
"I don't think we'll be able to glide like that," Kero said disappointedly, tracing the skiers and snowboarders down the hill as they zigzagged, jumped and sped down at amazing speeds.
"Looks awesome though," Rilas said, kicking the snow under his boot-protected foot.
There were a couple of disadvantages about having Mantrin legs. However this wasn't one of them.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Akima said, tapping Kero's arm to get his attention and pointing at a member of his own species racing down hill on a set of special skis.
Whoever he or she was, he or she was quite good at it too. Obviously the Mantrin noticed them as he or she changed direction and sped toward them at considerable speed before slowing down and slipping to a halt, creating a wave of snow that hit them against the legs. They could barely see any part of his face but he was a male and he wore both glasses and a beak warmer. However he removed both, a big grin dominating his face which wore a couple of scars.
"Hi. You guys eager to give it a try?"
The three adult Mantrins looked at each other before Kero replied.
"Another time perhaps. I've got the feeling that it's not as easy as it looks."
"Can we try daddy?" Jalla asked hopefully.
"It'll take practice and you can take lessons. It's not that hard to learn. A good balance is the key factor. The name's Kairoo by the way. I..." A flash of recognition struck his face as his eyes met the looks of all three of them. It couldn't be coincidence. Before Stith or Kero could do something, his head was bowed down and they were convinced that if his feet hadn't been tied to his skis, his knee would've hit the snow. "It's an honor, Prince Kero, Princess Stith."
"It's all right. Please stand."
Kairoo nodded and stood, a smile playing along the edges of his beak.
"If you've got time, I can recommend it."
"Depends on how much time we have and to be honest I'm not quite sure. Me and my crew are not just here for fun you know."
"Again, it was an honor meeting you, sir." Kairoo bowed his head down in respect and saluted. "I'll be heading up again."
And off he was. Instead of a good old-fashioned ski lift, a set of transporter pads downhill brought the skiers and snowboarders up to the top of the mountain again, thereby annihilating most of the waiting time involved when using a lift.
"Shall we try it tomorrow guys? What do you-" The moment he turned his head to face his children, Kero was hit full in the face by a pair of snowballs, carefully thrown by the hands of his son and daughter. They screamed with laugher as their father removed a glove and wiped the melting white out of his eyes. They caught him completely off guard. "It's cold!" he snorted.
Even Stith laughed until a pocket of snow hit the side of her head too, this time thrown by no one other than Cale. She growled but not in anger, her eyes, narrowed to slits, locked on Cale. "
A good shot, Tucker. But now you're dead!"
"No no, sorry Stith. Don't!" She laughed mischievously, her hands which were quite a bit larger than those of the average human, busy creating a snowball about the size of Cale's head. As soon as the human noticed, he tried to make a run for it but slipped on the thin layer of ice underneath the snow. He almost fell but eventually did when he was hit in the back at full force by that massive ball. "God, she almost killed me with that thing!" he groaned, recovering from the attack.
"I was aiming for your head!" she said triumphantly.
Not long thereafter the innocent snowball fight developed into a full-scale war. Everyone had lots of fun though and instead of leaving the holodeck they eventually decided to enter one of the restaurants on the simulated site to "get out of those warm clothes" and for Akima to treat everyone to a big cup of hot chocolate and warm apple pie.
"Bet you guys have never tasted something like this before," she grinned.
She didn't even have to ask. The odor of sweet warm apple mixed with a chocolate that was even sweeter made everyone's mouth water. She barely got a reply, merely a grunt of affirmation, as they immediately dug in. It tasted extremely good indeed, there was no denying it. Of course Jalla and Nalu claimed it was the best thing they'd ever eaten. However they moaned disappointedly when they heard it wasn't very healthy to eat and drink like this every day. After all who wouldn't want that? Of course they all thanked Akima and Cale for the good time afterwards but their Mantrin friends weren't gone straight away. Instead the conversation got a more serious tone as they felt the need to discuss the current situation and the reason they were here.
"So this was just a quick escort mission."
Kero nodded.
"Hmm hmm, the Yzenthii will be our part of the taskforce. Her crew's been selected out of thousands of volunteers. She's a good ship. Stith and I decided against going with them because we've got these two to take care of. It wouldn't be wise."
He rubbed between Jalla- and Nalu's ears in a lovely way, making them purr softly.
"Yeah, we've decided against it too," Akima said. "It's too dangerous to take young children on a mission like that. And we're not gonna leave Samantha in the hands of somebody else for God knows how long it'll take. Doesn't seem to bother Ayko and Preed that much though."
"What?" Stith said with a frown and a flattened ear.
"Yeah, you heard that right," Cale said. "They got two kids too."
"You don't say. Never mind, don't tell me anything. By the way where's that sweet girl of yours?"
"Samantha's at daycare but we're gonna pick her up in about half an hour. We can't take her to an environment like this. Way too cold for a little baby girl." They all thought it was good that they agreed on one thing. The well-being of the children was the most important thing above all else. As parents they couldn't take that risk. For those without a family to take care of, it was a different story. "Korso and Brian are going though."
"Serious?" Stith said immediately. "Good old Korso is gonna take the risk?"
"That's what he's doing. Can't talk those two out of it anymore. They're busy preparing for the first test. In two days they're gonna find out if it's at least doable."
"They better hurry up with equipping the Yzenthii then," Kero remarked.
"They've got experience with this sorta thing. The Akrennian ship is almost done too, or so I heard."
"Akrennian ship," Stith scoffed.
"Amazing, isn't it?"
"The Akrennians risking their necks for someone else? Yeah, that makes you doubt the sanity of the universe. That might even be worth a galactic news broadcast."
"It's Ayko's ship."
Stith crossed her arms.
"That changes the whole thing a bit. But she's one of the few of her race."
A moment of silence followed and in that silence Kero though about sharing the last piece of information with the humans. After all it was an internal matter of the Empire and he doubted they would go to full alert since there was no direct threat yet but still he was in doubt. However it wouldn't hurt to tell their friends about the mirror universe. If something happened, and he didn't really want to think about the possible scenarios, at least a few outside people would know.
"There's something else I… we need to tell you guys." Looking suspiciously over his shoulder, half expecting a Mantrin wearing a golden emblem on his chest sitting close with an ear perked up, he lowered the sound of his voice a little and bowed a little over the hard wooden table to keep the conversation between those surrounding it. By placing his arms on the table, which started to creak a little he took up a lot of space. Fortunately the table was large enough. "It's like this. Yesterday a group of Mantrins suddenly arrived aboard a fleet of warships unlike any we've ever seen. We have more than enough reason to believe they're from a universe parallel to ours."
Cale and Akima didn't respond right away. This was some story, though with all the holes in space it wasn't exactly that surprising and in this case more than believable.
"A-All right," Cale said carefully. "What do these guys want?"
"That's what we are still trying to find out," Stith answered his question.
Kero shook his head and grinded his teeth for a second.
"They came to us with a weird story and I still don't know if their intentions are good. They want my father to temporarily take control of their Empire until their Emperor is ready to sit on the throne."
"That doesn't sound so bad."
"You don't understand. That universe is weird and I don't feel comfortable around those people. Their leader… their Emperor looks exactly like my brother. He's a perfect copy of Rajah in every aspect. Only his behavior and way of speaking betray him."
And he did more than just that. Just the fact that he looked so much like Rajah freaked him out a little, let alone his brother himself. Other than that he didn't like the way he talked about certain racial matters at all and there were was the fact that he, Stith and his own brother didn't trust him.
"That's quite a reason for concern," Akima said, not really sure what else to say. "What do you plan to do now?"
Kero sighed, one ear sagging a bit.
"I'm not sure. I hope my mom and dad won't fall for his tricks and especially my dad."
After the conversation they decided to finally leave the simulated world of snow and ice and return to the more comfortable warmth of the city. It was time for Cale and Akima to pick up Samantha. Their friends thanked them again for the good time and a good conversation. Of course they would stay for a little while so it wasn't goodbye for the long term yet. But just before they left Stith asked Akima for a private moment.
"Can I talk to you alone for a second?"
Akima hesitated, wondering what this was about.
"Cale and I have to pick up Samantha. We're a little late already. I promised I would pick her up at two-thirty."
"It'll only take a minute, okay?"
She insisted. The tone of her voice was mildly covered with it. It was extremely rare for her tough Mantrin friend to use a pleading tone but it was close this time. She knew better than to ignore it though.
"Cale, can you pick her up at the daycare center alone? I'll meet you there in a sec."
"That's okay."
He left with the rest of the group without any further words. Akima and Stith slowly followed in their direction until they hit a quiet spot between two restaurants. The city was always like the inside of a beehive; it never slept but quiet corners were there for those who knew how to find them.
"What is it, Stith?" She still hadn't said a word since they left the others alone. Her friend grumbled something inaudible under her breath, the tip of her tail hitting the metal wall behind her with little taps as she leaned back. This was one of those moments when she felt like a tiny little human next to her alien friend. "Stith, are you mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you!" Akima did a step back and even she was a little shocked by the way that came out. "Sorry. It's just… we rarely ever talk anymore. Before that mission we hadn't seen each other in months."
"Well, communication is difficult these da-"
"And when we do meet, you seem to avoid me."
"I'm not avoiding you."
"Sure doesn't look like it."
Stith snorted and crossed her muscular arms.
"I'm sorry if I offended you but we both got things to take care of."
"Yeah well, I gave it some thought. Maybe it's because we're now both leading the life we've always wanted. A home, a family and all the happiness we can swallow. Maybe that's why we're growing apart."
"No!" Two pairs of eyes locked together, both burning, but not with anger or any negative feelings for that matter. It was the fire of a powerful friendship brought back to life again from its smoldering remains by a tiny spark of renewal. "I made you a promise. That we'll stay friends until the very end." Her voice softened. "I hope you didn't forget."
Finally Stith uncrossed her arms, the edges of her beak curving into a faint smile.
"No. Come here you." For a moment they locked into a hug. Actually Stith hugged and Akima let it happen as hugging back was a little difficult but it was appreciated nonetheless. "I'm sorry I doubted our friendship," Stith said guiltily. "You left so quickly last time we met. Damn, I almost thought you were leaving me in the lurch but by Kirliya I've missed you."
She let go.
"I'm sorry for letting you feel that way. Friends?"
"Don't doubt it," Stith replied with a laugh that sounded like a bark.
She squeezed her cheek in a friendly way… At least, that was the idea.
"Aow! Hey! It always hurts when you do that!"
"Humans are way too soft," she laughed. "C'mon."
Akima shook her head and followed, after Stith messed up the rest of her hair that hadn't been messed up by the ski hat by rubbing her head. She's just being friendly.
It was evening on the Heliopolis' side of the human homeworld and though Kero hadn't synchronized the Son of the Empire with Earth's timetable, taking a little nap was perhaps not such a bad idea. He settled into the comfortable chair in his ready room, all alone and very quiet, with the back of the chair turned toward the desk. Before him, the surface of the human world was currently turned out of the sun, like a dark veil had fallen over it. It was the night that had fallen where the rays of the Andali sun couldn't reach. The longer he looked at the slow turning of the planet through the panoramic windows, the more trouble he had with keeping his eyes open. He was fighting a battle he couldn't win and without realizing he had almost fallen asleep until a private transmission decided to disturb what could've been a good nap.
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered to himself as he swiveled back to his desk, rather slowly at first, until he saw who it was from. Dad. He accepted quickly. "Father, what a surprise. Is everything okay? How's mom? Have you noticed anything suspicious?"
Zahn replied on an easing tone.
"I'm fine, son. We're all fine. I take it you've arrived safely?"
"We ran into some trouble on the way but nothing we couldn't handle."
Kero noticed that his father turned his look down. He wasn't directly looking at him and suddenly and unexpectedly he was struck by a very uneasy feeling. It was born in his stomach and crawled up to his throat. He was hesitant to ask as he was afraid of the answer.
"Kero, there's something I need to tell you."
"No dad."
"I've decided to accept Rajah's proposal."
"Father please, don't do it. I don't trust him. Nobody trusts a word he's saying so why are you?"
"Kero!"
"Forgive me, father."
Zahn was no longer looking down but straight at him.
"I understand your concern. I'll be careful. I still don't fully trust them either but they're members of our race and I cannot ignore a call for help from our brethren. I'll be using my own ship with escort and my own personal guard while crossing over to the other universe in two days. I need to do this for him. Then they can leave and it'll be over. Do you understand?"
"Yes father."
"I love you my son. And send my love to Stith and the children too."
"I will, father."
Zahn smiled briefly for a moment. A smile his son answered with one of his own.
"Goodbye dad. Be careful."
"I'll be all right son. I'll see you again soon. Zahn out."
