Chapter 36

By now they would realize what he was doing. But it didn't matter anymore. He was on his way. Sweat poured down his forehead inside his helmet. The reading inside the suit showed it was properly pressurized, and he would have enough air for 45 minutes. He did not expect that he would be in space for that long, but it was some comfort nonetheless. He looked down at his suit. It was a simple spacesuit. No propulsion mechanism to speak of. It was an unfortunate complication, but one it was too late to avoid. He heard the security personnel shouting at him, and there appeared to be a last ditch attempt to open the inner airlock door. He had always generally questioned the intelligence of security personnel; but this made his estimation fall even lower.

He slammed a control on the side of the outer door. The airlock was now bathed in red light. "Warning. Compartmental Depressurization in 20 seconds," warned the computer. The screaming of the guards intensified, but now they would know they could not stop him. Not without killing themselves in the process. Harrow moved closer to the outer airlock door and sunk down to the floor, hugging his knees to his chest tightly. He wasn't certain which position would be the best to achieve maximum velocity, so he settled for folding himself up as small as possible.

The countdown from ten began, and he said a silent goodbye to the only person he had cared about on this ship. "Be safe, Beverly," he said shakily. His voice sounded strange and hollow inside his suit. He was finally alone again, and a stomach churning fear closed in around him.

He closed his eyes, and then forced them open again as the hatch opened quickly. He was blown outward, somersaulting over and over. His breathing was rapid and sounded too fast to be coming from his own chest. He vomited inside his helmet as the relentless spinning continued without pause. He shut his eyes from the glare of the sun but could feel the light felt the skin on his face and body burn instantly from the radiation, and he knew if he survived, the remainder of his life would not be pleasant. The impact of hitting something hard reverberated through his body, and he blacked out.

"He's suicidal," Riker whispered. Picard stood silently by his side, his posture rigid, as they both stared at the forward screen.

"No," said Troi, walking to join them. "He's determined to live, if only for a little while longer." She stared wide-eyed at the screen waiting with the rest of them for something to happen.

"Shields are at sixty percent, Captain," Data reported.

"Warning," reported the ship's computer. "Gamma radiation levels are now hazardous. Human exposure must be minimized immediately."

Allen Harrow awoke with a start, but because his head felt like it was 100 pounds, he could not lift it. His body ached, and he knew he had at a minimum, severe radiation poisoning. With some effort he rolled onto his back and squinted at the purplish lights above him. He blinked, once, twice and realized that he was on the Eve; inside the forward airlock. Claudia must have grabbed him with the tractor beam and brought him in. He remembered very little prior to leaving the Enterprise, and considered that this was probably a good thing. He smiled with sunburnt lips, and struggled to get to his feet. He stumbled to the inner airlock, and hit the button. An alarm sounded briefly and the door hissed open. Stepping out into the corridor, the door shut behind him and he reached up to unhook his helmet, pulling it off with a hiss. He staggered forward toward the bridge.

There was a hiss, and Claudia's now completely reptilian form emerged from the wall. She scampered toward him on four legs and then with some effort rose up on two legs to face him. She moved her head back and forth and her tongue flicked out briefly, testing the air. Allen stood still. "Have you come to try and kill me again, Allen?" Her voice was gravelly, almost unrecognizable. She looked down at his hand. "You have no weapons."

He shook his head. "No. I've come to take you home," he said, taking a chance, by walking by her. He needed to reach the bridge.

"Home?" behind him her voice sounded full of hope. "We'll go together?"

"Yes," he said, slipping behind the helm. He began to punch in coordinates.

Claudia's eyes narrowed moving behind him. "Is this another trick?"

"No, it's no trick, Claudia," he assured her quietly.

"How do you know the way?" Her reptilian eyes blinked quickly.

"I just realized it," he said, turning around to face her. He stood up. "Claudia, I am so sorry. For everything."

She trembled and reached out to him. "You are burnt…from the sun's radiation. You are dying," she said.

He nodded. "It doesn't matter anymore. We'll be home soon. Do you want to go?"

"Yes, but only if we can be as one," she said and reached out to embrace him. He closed his eyes but didn't move away from her. The effect was not as painful as he expected, perhaps because he was already in so much pain. He opened his eyes, and his vision seemed different, somehow segmented into shades of grey and green. He looked down between him and could no longer see a difference between their bodies. His arms appeared to shimmer with green scales, as they disappeared into her body. The last thing he truly felt was the jerking forward of the ship and then the sensation of free-falling.

"Mr. LaForge…now would be a good time," said Picard.

"Stand by," came the reply.

"LaForge!"

"Got it, sir! Warp in five, four, three, two, one…."

Just before the screen turned bright from the warp field distortion, just before the engines kicked in, Picard watched as the Eve's engines powered up sending the small ship barreling into the sun. He gripped the back of Data's chair as the warp engines took them out of danger.

"We have warped safely away, Captain," Data announced. "Sensors report the star is finalizing its collapse. The core reaction should occur within minutes, sir."

Shaking his head, almost unable to believe what he had just seen, he walked slowly back to his command chair and sat down. "Keep the same course and heading and increase speed to warp eight," he said. "No looking back," he said.

****************** The End **********************