While Pike focused on the appearance of the Red Angel, Galen and Nessa raced to Vaya's side, even as Bryce undid his helmet. He removed it, and stared at the illegible scribbling on the wall.
"What in the name of Seven Blessed Sisters am I supposed to do with this insanity?" Bryce asked. The Red Angel, having skipped on to her next assignment to sabotage the Enterprise, answered him not.
"Put your helmet on before you get hypoxic. Then take pictures; the ship is gonna blow sooner rather than later. That's what I'd do," Nessa suggested helpfully. "When you're done, you can help us move the big guy here."
"Archon, can you transport us out?" Galen requested.
"Locking on from the bridge. We have five life signs, so I'm suggesting that you stand really close to one another," the Archon informed him. "In five… four… three… now."
They had a rough transport and they landed hard.
There was a great deal of anguished screaming as they rematerialized; apparently once again, Christopher Pike was guilty of accidentally stepping on Nessa. Or it might have been Galen, who had decided it was the perfect time to vomit copiously. However, Chris put the blame squarely on Vaya and Bryce. The Tolerians had probably wiped out Nessa when they had collapsed on the transporter pad.
"We need to get belted in," Bryce announced as he pulled Vaya off the floor. Chris pretended not to notice how Bryce was busy cursing out Vaya. Yes, it was in Tolerian, but cursing is universal. "Once the transporter area is evacuated, she's probably planning on hitting warp before those salvage engines blow. If there are any accelerated tachyons in the area when they blow, and we're in the immediate vicinity, between the two warps engines, those accelerated particles and those damn salvage engines, we may have another Ba'Kai."
Galen then assisted Bryce in carrying a weakened Vaya.
"No," Vaya stated weakly. "We won't just blow up a solar system, we may rip... a hole... in the space time continuum."
Pike picked up a whimpering Nessa easily, carefully so as not to jar her tail, or her foot, but he still had to ask, "You blew up a solar system?"
Good God, no wonder the Federation didn't want you to join.
Hi, we're the new guys! We like blowing up solar systems for shit and giggles!
"If the Breen had gained control of that solar system, they would have overrun our people. They would have enslaved the youngest and killed everyone else. So yes, yes, we blew up a solar system to keep our people fighting for another day. Now… can we move?" Bryce snapped.
The room was next to the transporter bay, and there was a medical pod in which Vaya was placed. There were also sufficient seats and belts for them all. Nessa decided to sit as far away as possible from Chris; he could still hear her sobbing off color mutterings about self-absorbed, tall pink people who stepped repeatedly and uncaringly on innocent, little blue doctors. Chris noticed that Galen and Bryce sat between the two of them to keep them separated.
"We're belted in," Bryce informed the Archon. "Vaya is in a medical pod and his vitals are stabilizing."
"Be prepared to go warp momentarily," was her response. "All crews have been advised to shelter in place."
"Please don't throw up, Galen," Bryce requested playfully, then he turned serious. "Don't worry, Chris and Nessa. She's the best Captain I know, that's why she was selected to be the Archon. She'll get us out."
"If anyone can, she will," Galen agreed. He then softly asked, "Nessa? Are you ok?"
"I think s-s-s-ssomeone broke my tail," a weeping Nessa protested. "Again. My tail will be permanently crooked. And no one will ever love me with a c-c-crooked tail. I'll spend the rest of my life alone, all by myself, because I'm an orphan and I don't have any family. Plus, someone s-s-s-stepped on my foot…. And …. it's c-c-crrushed. So I'll limp for the rest of my life, too and who could ever love someone who limps and has a crooked tail? I'm just so… t-t-t-tired… of mean people who just step on m-m-me…. Like… I d-d-don't exist. Do you think… s-s-ssomeone… would like it if I stepped on his foot? I'm…. j-j-just…so…t-t-tired…of b-being b-b-blue… and s-s-stepped on."
Wisely, Chris decided not to mention that Nessa had, in fact, dislocated his shoulder.
"He wouldn't feel it," Galen admitted as he reached for her tiny hand. He grasped it securely with one hand, while with the other, he jabbed her upper arm with a hypospray. Nessa didn't even make a blue comment about further betrayal; instead she continued to sob little blue tears as though her heart and soul (and foot) were shattered.
And yes, while Chris refused to accept blame for the latest Nessa-related maiming, he felt very guilty.
"Count back from one hundred," Galen ordered brusquely, even as the ship began to shake.
"One… hundred….. ninety….." and then she was out.
Cold.
There were little cooing noises heard as her chest rose and fell.
"Is that…. Nessa?" Chris softly questioned.
"Yes," Galen admitted easily even as he adjusted her straps carefully. "She's absolutely exhausted. Physically, mentally and spiritually. She's been using stimulants to stay on her feet, one of which I'm afraid to say, is broken. She's off duty for the next three cycles, even if I have to tie her to the bed myself. I wish hadn't needed to take her onto that damn ship; seeing all those bodies again just… overwhelmed her. She's been compartmentalizing her grief, so she could function. Unfortunately, her walls are now down."
"You seem quite comfortable sedating people," Pike stated. Galen "Quick Draw McGraw" tranq'd people with such enthusiasm that even Phil Boyce would have been alarmed.
"Well, in the short time that I've known your crew, it seems that everyone on the Janus has required sedation at least once, I'm afraid."
Chris remembered how Singh had always been there, always one step ahead of him, the first on the scene of their many disasters during their time on the Janus. He had even joked about it.
"Singh, Ylsa, you're off duty until oh eight hundred tomorrow. Go have fun, go on a date, do something. Just understand the only reason I will see you before then is if Tinker Bell decides to wake up Captain Bligh." At their looks of utter confusion, he shook his head, "I'm mixing my metaphors. Both of you have been doing twenty hours plus a day since I showed up. Enough. Go. Bye."
Nessa was on stimulants because she'd been the only doctor on the ship. Singh and Ylsa had been putting in an obscene number of hours… you should have guessed how they were able to endure that workload. Where the HELL was your brain, Pike?
Oh yes, having sex with Tilly.
"And Ylsa? Is she on the stims also?" Pike asked. "Is there anyone else I need to know about?"
"Ylsa was using them, T'Seng was on them but it seems she had an adverse reaction so they took her off them in a rapid detox. I also think that Martin, Uchendo, Gral have been utilizing them but their blood chemistry says that they're clean. They're all clean, blood chemistry wise, except for Nessa and Singh. If you know where to look, however, there's been some minor changes in their pineal glands."
"Good thing you're not familiar with their physical makeup so you don't know where to look," Bryce inserted.
"Such a true shame that I didn't check that during their exams," Galen easily admitted. "By the time we get to Federation territory, their pineal glands should be recovered."
"Is she addicted?" Chris asked.
"No, not yet. I need to find out where she's been getting the stims, because she and Singh have abused them."
"Thank you for keeping it off their records. Sometimes, it is best not to put everything down," Pike slowly admitted.
Galen tilted his head and inhaled. He was silent for a moment then he asked, "You agree that it's sometimes best to do that?"
"If it's on their medical records, it may destroy their careers, so yes, the better part of valor is discretion, so we can get them the help they need," Chris explained.
Galen made a symbolic gesture with his one hand, "And so we are agreed. It makes my soul rest easy to know that we agree that some things can be left off a medical record for the greater good."
Tolerians. Blowing up solar systems; tattooed and pierced with a strong code of their own ethics, and making absolutely no sense to him for the last thirty odd days.
"What was the scribbling on the wall?" Chris asked.
"Hypoxic ramblings of which I can't make any sense," admitted Bryce.
Galen reached for Bryce's hand even as the ship's engines began to whine in protest. The Healer still held Nessa's hand in his. "Poor lonely, little Nessa. I think we need to bring her into the family; she'll be appreciated and spoiled as the marvel she is. We can show her she's wrong and she can be loved even with a limp and a crooked tail. Not that she will have either; I'll make sure of that as I take pride in my work. And no one will dare step on her ever, ever again."
"It's been discussed; the Archon and Mikkos agreed," Bryce admitted. "Vaya grew exceedingly fond of Nessa."
"And I wasn't asked for my opinion when the Seniors discussed it?"
"Well, she IS prettier than you," was the retort. It seemed to be a long-standing jibe as Galen snorted in response. "We wanted you to suggest it as you're the most sensitive of the Senior Ranked."
"Your engines don't sound very happy," Chris stated loudly, as much as he hated breaking up the matchmaking session. Between the ship shaking and the hum of the engine, he hoped that they wouldn't explode. Not after they'd come so far.
"They're not. She's pushing them past their safe maximum to get as far away as possible from the explosion," Bryce advised him.
"I hear that people have visions when the space time continuum is disturbed," Galen mentioned that a bit too casually. "Any idea who might show up?"
"No idea. I'd hate to have explain to my Dead how I was the Prime in charge of this fiasco," Bryce confessed. "I just want to blow things up. That's all I ever wanted to do. I never wanted to be Prime."
They hit warp with a shudder and then time began to slow and condense around them.
"One…. Two…. Three….. Four….. Five…" Chris counted mentally.
Sylvia Tilly, secured thoroughly, waited for the time tsunami to hit the ship. Somehow putting time in front of everything did not, in fact, make things cooler, but made them much, much scarier. Especially when she was carrying a very fragile cargo.
I know your Papa's fine. I love you baby girl.
The ship groaned piteously when the time shockwave crashed over it.
Chris hallucinated.
That was the only explanation for experiencing a scared little girl with a mass of curly black hair who clambered into his lap and held tightly onto him.
It will be ok, it will be ok, he assured her.
Real time returned with an audible snap and Chris exhaled gratefully. Fortunately, the little girl had toddled off to parts unknown with nary a wave goodbye. She would have been extremely hard to explain as she had violated every known StarFleet Protocol and had blatantly refused to give him her name, rank and serial number.
Or any explanation as to who she was or why she had decided to visit him.
Instead, she had just clung to him.
"Everyone still here?" he asked, and he was glad to hear two affirmative responses. "I don't want to go through that again."
Galen then unbuckled himself and tapped on the med pod to start the extrication process.
"Is he stable?" Bryce questioned.
"You three need to get to the bridge. Trust me," Galen informed them. "I saw… permutations… upon permutations and … no one else saw them?"
"I saw Tye, He said to say, 'hello' to everyone and that he loves and misses us," offered Bryce. "Chris?"
Fortunately, he was prevented from answering as their presence was requested on the bridge.
"Go, I'll take Nessa to Sick Bay. I'll fix her up and then, unless I'm needed, I'm going off duty," the Healer instructed them.
The halls were still empty so the three were not impeded on the way to the bridge. There were amber lights flashing, which Bryce mentioned meant that the ship was on high alert status.
"We just experienced a significant time dilation, based on the quantum frame of reference," Vaya explained to Bryce. His color was significantly better than it had been on the Janus, and he was able to walk briskly under own power so he must have been in the medical pod for several hours at least. "We need to find our beacons and compare ship time to see when we are. And where we are? Is Tilly available, Chris? I think we'll need her brains on this."
"I'll request her, Prime," Bryce offered.
Vaya ceased his forward movement in the hallway, and glared.
"I'm pretty sure the High Council has already voted you back in as Prime as your proper punishment for abandoning the position to take a walkabout. In other words, you got us into this mess, you better get us out. Unless the drums are out; you'll have musical accompaniment while you're spaced," offered Bryce.
"She would do it, too," Vaya admitted proudly. "Mother Space, the Archon is just amazing, isn't she?"
Pike had stopped also and he decided to look at the stars. They appeared familiar to him, in a very not good way.
"Gentlemen?" He interrupted. "Look at the stars. I think we're in Federation territory now, deep into Federation territory."
"How far in?" Vaya asked. "If we just arrived, we have only a short time before they send a warship after us."
Chris mentioned a number, and the Tolerians grimaced.
"That far in, and unannounced? They'll consider it an act of war; a definite provocation and we've got the damn High Council on the ship. Do you have any connections that might be able to prevent this from blowing up into an all-out war?" Vaya asked.
"I know some people," Pike admitted.
Knowing some people meant Commodore Robert April, Ambassador at Large and General Pain in the Ass to Star Fleet Flag Officers everywhere.
"Chris!" He bellowed in his basso profundo. "What in the name of the Sam Hell is goin' on? Your friends have the entire Federation Council all worked up and pitching hissy fits. They blew past the Federation border at Warp 15.7, trailing tachyons behind them like double-struck lightning. They've ignored any and all communication attempts and now you're reaching out?"
"How fast?" Pike questioned. "Did you say… fifteen dot seven?"
"You heard me, 15.7."
"The incursion was unintentional. We were hoping to meet up with the Discovery at the site of the Janus, but … we seemed to have triggered some sort of unstable transwarp vortex so we ended up here," Pike explained.
"An unstable transwarp vortex?" Bob barked.
"Plus, we're missing about seventy three hours according to the clocks," Pike added.
Bob added the tally and came up with the result.
"Stay there. Tell the Tolerians to put their ship in park. Half the fleet is assembling, so I need to get the Discovery there first. Not plum but pert near, it's the best I can do from here. Now… Chris… I spoke with Kat… are you serious about what you are planning?"
Chris nodded his head, and Bob exhaled. "I can't help you, Chris. I would if I could, but I don't have the pull."
"I understand, Sir."
Meanwhile on the Discovery, there was a ripple and then the screen went blank.
"Commander Saru?" Cornwell requested. "What just happened?"
It took several minutes for Saru to compile a report.
"Our internal chronometers are reporting that they are approximately seventy-three hours, fourteen minutes, twenty-two seconds behind the Federation chronometers. I have confirmed their readings with six other Federation chronometers. Shall I update?" Saru requested.
She nodded her head in affirmation.
"We lost three days?" Cornwell stated. "What about the Janus? What about the Tolerians? Are they still here?"
"The temporal distortion is making it difficult to scan, however there appears to be a significant amount of debris. The field is large enough to be the remnants of at least one space ship."
"Keep scanning and see if you can confirm which ship blew," Kat instructed. "What else happened in the last three days?"
"Admiral, we had multiple communication attempts during our outage," Lt. Rhys announced.
"Who attempted to contact us?" Cornwell asked.
There were several significant names on the list but Commodore Robert April's name caught her attention. He had reached out to them no less than seventeen times which meant that he was both worried and pissed. That was a bad combination for Bob. Hopefully, Sarah was calming him down.
"Send Bob's messages to the ready room. Commander Saru, you have the chair. Please determine what ship or ships are making up that debris field."
She steeled herself mentally to prepare for her conversation with Bob. She might be the ranking officer, but Bob had overseen her Command Training, so it was easy for him to slip back into being senior.
"Kat, you need to turn that Goddamn ship around and meet up with the Tolerians who are waiting for you to escort them to Starbase 32 even as we speak. I have granted them safe passage, but I want you to escort them. Once you meet up with them, you are to take Captain Pike and immediately place him under arrest. I want you to do it, so you can figure out how the hell to save Chris from himself. Is that understood?"
"Yes," she agreed. "Bob? We're arresting him? I know he had mentioned it in passing… but…"
"He's insisting on it. He demanded the full Board of Inquiry, which is why you're coming here. I will be overseeing it, so I cannot assist you in saving Chris. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Bob."
Christopher Pike had just finished his last recommendation on the final Janus crew member, Mai T'Seng. He had suggested that she be placed in a nice, safe stellar cartography post where she could be mentored. And if by chance, Captain Dhar had an opening on his roster, so much the better. Ravi would take her under his literal wing and keep an eye on her.
Every recommendation completed. Every evaluation finalized, combined with a dash of suggested medals to be awarded after review of his crew's action. Though in a touch of whimsy he had deliberately suggested that Dr. Nessa be nominated for the StarFleet Medal of Honor. She certainly deserved it and well, it was blue.
"Captain Pike?"
Inwardly, Pike groaned. He was beyond tired and he desired nothing more than to be alone. Plus, the fact that Tilly was wearing a significantly oversized Federation uniform was just a painful reminder of how everything was just screwed.
Completely and utterly screwed.
"Yes?" He answered and prayed to any deity listening that for once in her life, Tilly would be succinct. The Tolerians' Mother Space owed him a favor or three, but it seemed that she had left no forwarding contact information when she had skipped out the solar system, so he was out of luck.
"About yesterday, Sir? Or what's yesterday for us because of the time rift," Tilly looked at the floor and bit her lip. She had both arms crossed in front of her breasts as though the oversized jacket wasn't sufficient camouflage to shield them from him.
Christ, he was too tired to throw her against the wall and have his way with her.
"Ensign, I'm really not up to hearing you detail my sexual shortfalls at the moment," he tried to convey that he didn't wish to discuss yesterday, or whatever the hell day it was ever again, with a disarming smile. "Perhaps, we could schedule an hour tomorrow? Or if you require additional time, we can break it up into multiple sessions."
He was bone weary and he grieved deeply for the Janus' dead… and he was distinctly mawkish. What he would do for Phil Boyce to meander in right about now, kick his ass and give him a medicinal cocktail,wasn't legal in thirteen solar systems.
She looked up at him, and her blue eyes were wide. "No, no…" she protested.
He interrupted her. "Sylvia, I'm sorry. I wanted our sex to be really good for you. I'm sorry if it wasn't. If you'd told me that you weren't happy or my technique wasn't satisfying you, I would have done anything to make it better. You were my sanity during our time on the Janus. I wanted you to be happy. And that's not the Tolerian Chris talking; it was the real Chris who wanted that. I'm deeply sorry this old man disappointed you."
"Sir, I wanted to apologize," Tilly explained. "When you said that you needed drugs… it really hurt me. And I said what I said because I wanted to hurt you."
You certainly scored.
Pike exhaled. "Myexplanation came out … wrong… I meant…"
"Now, I know what you meant. That if you had remembered who you were and the rank you hold, you wouldn't have touched me. It's just… when I was involved with …. the fake Chris, he was the longest relationship I've ever had. I really cared for him…"
Shit, she was struggling not to cry.
"And for the first time ever, people were jealous of me. Like, how the hell did Sylvia Tilly land such a Silver Fox? He was also the first person who didn't want to improve me. Since I was a little girl, I've always been told that I talk too much, that I should do something with my hair, or I should work on my weight. Fake Chris never told me any of that, so when you mentioned the drugs…. I just wanted to hurt you because… for the first time… I had … trusted someone… with the real me. Not that it was the real me, it was the Fake me, but I'm pretty sure that the Real me was in her… somewhere… and the real me was so angry at myself for trusting him. For foolishly believing that for once in my life, I could have a boyfriend who… wanted me for me. And for thinking that I deserved a boyfriend who was such a wizard between the sheets. Because, the sex was… fucking… fantastic. It's all my fault, not yours, because I knew I didn't deserve my relationship with that Chris… I knew that there had been some sort of mistake… and I didn't listen to myself because… I wanted to be wrong. I wanted to be wrong so badly, and I was angry at myself, not you, when I said those horrible, horrible things."
Tilly paused, and then she exhaled a quick, "Ohmygod, did that make any fucking sense?"
"It made absolutely perfect sense," he agreed after he had spent several minutes diagraming her sentences mentally. Finally, he had decided it was a lost cause. "So, we good?"
"I can't forgive myself for saying that to you," she softly admitted. "I shouldn't have lashed out at you. I just can't forgive myself."
"I can, and I have." It was the truth as he knew Tilly's issues with her self-esteem.
Tilly then roughly wiped her eyes and whispered her thanks.
"There's something so wrong with me," she whispered.
"Come here," he requested. He held out his arms and motioned for her to come closer. Like a frightened animal, she wouldn't so he walked over to her to embrace her. "Come on."
Chris hugged her gently, so she could pull away if she wanted. To his surprise, she decided to embrace him.
"Listen to me; you are a beautiful woman, physically, mentally and spiritually. You have a loving, open hearted soul. If I was only… twenty years younger… if things were different, I would never let you go."
It was the god's honest truth because… she always made him smile. Because she lived her life with such enthusiasm … and… he had to stop that train of thought because it wasn't ever gonna happen.
Tilly wept then. He held her until her crying ceased.
"I've gotten your jacket all wet," she apologized.
"Don't apologize. After all we've been through, a wet jacket is the least of my concerns. You kept me sane on the Janus. You were my rock and my support. No matter what happens, no matter what is said, you will always have my utmost respect, Sylvia."
He gave her a final squeeze and then they broke apart.
"You're amazing. Don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise," he instructed her.
Sylvia Tilly returned to her bed in sickbay. Galen shook his head in disapproval at her escape and commented that her doors would now be secured so she couldn't leave again. On the positive side, she also had a roomie now, as Nessa had been brought in. The doctor was sound asleep, complete with a cute little cooing noise. Her left foot was in a little blue brace and her side of the room was filled with blue flowers of varying hues.
While Sylvia's side had several nice flower displays, they weren't various shades of blue. There were also significantly fewer, but Tilly had a hunch about the discrepancy. There were several drawings of little blue people with tails that been done by less than capable while enthusiastic artists so it seemed Nessa had been adopted.
Oh, and the children had also drawn something for her, though she didn't think her hair was THAT shade.
"I hope I don't wake you up with my snoring," Sylvia whispered. She crawled into bed, and carefully rolled on her side.
To her horror, there was a smiling face beaming down at her.
Hi! You don't snore, Stilly! We're almost back on the Discovery, it will be you and me! Just like old times! May insisted. I can't wait!
There was a knock on the door and Christopher Pike gave them permission to enter. Singh walked in, as did Ylsa, T'seng and Vaya. While Chris was pretty sure that Vaya was now back to being the Tolerian Prime, he wore the simple mechanics jumpsuit now. The same jumpsuit that he first worn on the Janus.
"Sir…" Singh began. His voice shook, and he protested, "I can't do this. I know why you're doing this… but I can't… "
There had been a long discussion regarding what had to be done and why. Singh had hesitantly agreed but now that the moment of truth had arrived, he had severe doubts.
"You actually don't have to," Vaya explained. "I'm still his Executive Officer, so I'll do this. Better it's not on your record. We ready, Chris?"
Christopher Pike inhaled and nodded his head. "Thank you."
His removal had to be done before Cornwell stormed the gates. No doubt she was pushing the Discovery to its limits until she hit the border. Then she'd spore drive here. Thank God the other Tolerians (Yoshi) had decided to escort the Discovery to the border; she couldn't reveal the spore drive until after their escort disappeared.
"First, we have to open Commander Emerson's last bottle and toast," Singh inserted. "We're in Federation territory and you got us here, Sir."
Chris nodded.
"Please open it, Sir," Singh requested as he handed over the Dingle Triple Distilled Irish Whiskey. "We'll drink it straight, like Emerson did."
The whisky was poured, and they all stood for a moment. Ylsa then held up her glass and announced, "To Tanaka."
There was silence while the whiskery was savored and then sipped. Slowly. Deliberately. It was full-bodied, creamy and spicy, with notes of sweet vanilla, dried apricots and sultanas. It was a truly excellent last drink.
"He knew his whisky," Pike finally stated, just to break the silence. There was a ripple of agreement from his crew and then he put the glass down.
That done, he held out his hands. Vaya stepped up him and expertly restrained his hands.
"I couldn't let Singh do this, he's been through too much," Vaya whispered.
In a louder voice, he announced, "As of this time, as the Executive Officer of the USS Janus, I am releasing you from command and removing you from duty due to multiple violations of StarFleet regulations. I charge you with the deaths due to negligence of Commander DelRosso, Ensigns Devins, Hanley and Matai among others. I also charge you with repeated sexual contact with a victim who was unable to properly consent due being under the influence of drugs. Also, you are charged with causing the deliberate injury of Dr. Nessa. There are additional charges of which you will be informed once you have counsel."
"At this time, I relinquish the command of the USS Janus to Lt. Singh," Pike announced. In a shaky voice, he reminded Singh of a conversation that they had held on the Janus a very long time ago.
Think of it, promoted to Lieutenant and now you're the XO in two days. Who says there isn't advancement potential in StarFleet, hmm?
"Take care of my crew," Pike instructed Singh. "Get them home."