Chapter 4
Talon's red, bleary eyes flew open quickly at the sound of the hospital room door opening. He had been sitting in the chair next to his aunt Zelda ever since his father had left. He knew that these incarnations of the two were physically at least ten years younger than himself, but they were identical to the aunt and father he had known as a boy and carried their same souls. He could not think of them in any other way. And the aging king was gravely worried about them both, not as much for their physical bodies. Those would eventually wear out. That was the nature of life, and a mortal could only fight the god of shadow for so long before you either ascended or had to return to the shadows with him.
No, he was more concerned with Zelda's and Link's immortal souls. Would they remain immortal? The thought of a world without his Lady and his hero father was unbearable to him. He would give anything in their service, his kingdom (which rightfully belonged to them in his opinion), his power, his own mortal life, even sacrificing his own eternity to ensure theirs.
His glance went to the open door where two men, one only slightly older than the other, who could have been younger, blonder, clean shaven versions of himself entered. Both were wearing the gray dress uniform of high ranking members of the Royal Hyrule Military Guard, positions they had won by their distinction in service and outstanding courage in in the line of duty, and not because of their family connections.
"Your majesty," they both said at once, coming to attention with a full salute upon seeing him sitting in the chair. Talon waved them both out of that formal nonsense with his hand. "There will be none of that right now in this room, boys." He had always called them "boys" since they had been younger boys, especially when they were in private like this. He would have named them princes and royal heirs after they had been born, but his Lady and father wouldn't permit it. They wanted that title to pass to his own descendants, which it had. His son, Crown Prince John the Second, would be overseeing the responsibilities of government while he was with his "family."
Daphnes, the older man glanced towards his mother's closed eyes with a panicked expression and asked, "is she...?"
"Sleeping." Talon answered quietly, so as not to wake her. "The healers gave her a sedative so she could rest."
"Where is father?" Gaepora, the younger, asked, not having seen the old rancher anywhere in the hospital. "Why isn't he here?" He couldn't imagine his father being anywhere except in the chair next to his mother with her like this. Talon understood that sentiment from his eyes and agreed with it.
"He has gone to find someone who can help my Lady." Talon answered. "An old friend of both of ours."
The two men came to stand next to their mother's bed, opposite their king, neither taking the empty chair that had been vacated by Link when he left. "Healer Kelli said there was nothing which could be done for her; not even the red water would keep the cancer from overwhelming her." Daphnes said. "Father knows of someone who has a cure?"
"In a manner of speaking." Talon answered them cryptically, debating on how much to explain to them. They were both more like his father than he was. They were men of action and courage, intelligent and cunning, but not necessarily spiritually minded. And right now, he didn't want them going and chasing after their father, either to drag him back or to try and help him. This was a quest he needed to accomplish on his own, for his own sake as much as for his Lady's. The real question was how much not to say in order to keep them from following him.
"Well, where is this person?" Gaepora asked. "We can go and help him for mother."
"He is out of our reach, but not your father's. I will not tell you where. Neither of you will do any good trying to follow him, and in any event I have left instructions that would make it impossible for either of you to do so without incredible loss of life, possibly yours." Talon told them in a grave, matter of fact tone. "Don't attempt it, for your parents' sake, especially my Lady's. With our father gone," he used the word "our" to emphasize that they were his family too, "she needs you, both of you, here right now."
He had in fact instructed the guardsmen at the Sacred Grove to forbid entry to the both of them and to arrest them and detain them if they attempted to force their way through, something which, like their father, he knew they were fully capable of. Mr. Impaz was also alerted to stop them from gaining access to the temple library if they made it into the temple at all. He would not be so foolish as to underestimate the progeny of the Hero of Hyrule and the Princess Zelda. There was a reason why they had both made the rank of R.H.M.G. General by the age of forty.
They were both visibly taken aback, and somewhat angered by his decisive tone and wording, but then both of them nodded, acquiescing to the wisdom of their sovereign king. "As you wish, your majesty." Daphnes finally said.
Satisfied that they would not attempt to follow him, Talon sought to explain a little further and hoped they would be receptive to what he had to say. "You are right. There is no cure for her physical body. In three weeks, the red water will no longer help and she will die."
Both of the men looked like he had just physically struck them across the face. "No." Gaepora whispered, tears coming to his eyes. "But I thought father was going to find someone who could help her?"
"He is, Gaepora. You know my Lady's considerable history, and why to this day I still refer to her as 'my Lady?'" Talon asked, folding his hands together, his fingers interlaced with one another.
"We've been told those stories all of our lives, your majesty, but this isn't some mythical goddess from the ancient history books we're talking about. This is our real, flesh and blood mother lying here dying of cancer!" Daphnes responded, his temper beginning to get the better of him.
"Watch yourself with me, General." Talon said, his tone warning the man not to push it with him and trying to check the man's temper before he said or did something he would regret. "And yes, she is your real flesh and blood mother right here and right now. But understand me clearly, she was my aunt, my princess, and my very real goddess two hundred and fifty years before you were born. This woman, your mother, has lived and died and been reborn century after century for ten thousand years. I know because I have watched it myself for the last three hundred years. Her body is dying, but her soul... That is what we are in very real danger of losing here if she is unable to return to the realm of the gods."
"I don't believe this." Daphnes returned, not as chastened as Talon had hoped his younger half brother would be. "Father should be here right now with her, and instead he's off on some wild goose chase and you're spouting religious nonsense about a woman who hasn't left our family's ranch for forty five years."
"This woman should have been queen in my place, and I will not have you disrespecting her in my presence, General." Talon fired back. "Your father went to find a person who can help them both return to their proper places in the heavens."
"Why wouldn't the other gods help her if that were true?" Gaepora asked, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder and trying to step in and mediate between his king and his superior officer; both men his brothers.
"I'm not certain." Talon said, taking a deep breath and exhaling allowing his own tension to leave him somewhat at the question. "They aren't responding to any of us, and neither of your parents are able to remember how to ascend on their own. It appears to be blocked for them. Even your grandmothers are silent to any of us."
"Our grandmothers?" Gaepora asked.
"Nayru and Farore." Talon said. "That cannot be new information to you."
"No, I suppose it isn't. Father told us the stories as we were growing up, and of course you hear it all the time from the Sages and the religious folks, but... but I just never really, I mean..." The man was trying to find the words to say.
"I assure you, our father's stories are very real." Talon told the man, again emphasizing the word "our." "He told my brother John and I many of the same stories before he died in our time long ago too, just as he gave us our first swords and taught us how to use them when we were barely out of diapers. I lived through many of the stories I'm sure he told you."
Daphnes appear unconvinced, but he said, "I'm sorry. I just want my mother to be alright, your majesty."
"As do I, Daphnes. As do I." Talon responded. "Please, sit here with us. I could use the company even if she is sleeping and she will be happy to see you when she wakes. Do your own families know yet what has happened?"
"Gilli and the girls are coming to the hospital tomorrow," Gaepora told him.
"Maddie, Sara, and Russell are too." Daphnes responded.
"Malona is watching your parents' livestock for now, but she and her family will need to come out as well. We need to make arrangements for them." Talon told them. "You both are on indefinite, paid family leave as of six hours ago on my orders in case you weren't informed."
"Yes, your majesty, thank you." Daphnes responded.
"Don't. Just be here with me for my Lady." Talon told him. "I'm not going anywhere either. John has the reins of power for the moment while I am here."
"Of course, your majesty." Daphnes responded. He liked and respected the crown prince, who was, like himself, a military man who had only taken a more active role in his father's government after himself serving with distinction in the R.H.M.G. as a field officer. "If anyone can keep parliament and the ministries under control in your absence it would be his highness."
They all chuckled at that, knowing the crown prince's refusal to put up with political nonsense, and the anger and tension which had been in the air finally broke.
The stars shone unblinking out the forward viewport as Link continued to watch the traffic to and from the space station. He hadn't had a view like this for a long time. The last time had been aboard the Hammond where he, Colonel Shepherd, and Shepherd's team had gone to liberate a human village from Ori soldiers and free some scientists who had been trapped there. That had been two hundred and seventy years ago or so. It was a beautiful sight watching the blue globe of Terra against the black, star filled background of space.
The space station Link was observing from his vantage point in a stationary orbit over Terra in the gateship was enormous. It was shaped like a child's spinning top with a great disk at one end and a kind of spike at the other. He had been watching for the past half of an hour as large intersteller ships appeared and disappeared, coming and going into the great, man made space structure. He had learned from listening to the communications traffic while cloaked that it was called "Starbase One," and also "Spacedock." The ships which came and went from it looked nothing like the picture of the Hammond on which he had once ridden with his old friend. These all looked like they had been built around the idea of a central disk with their long, thin, cylindrical engines jutting out from various points, and they had been called names like Yorktown, Excelsior, Constellation, and Enterprise by the station's traffic controllers.
He had covered the entire surface of the oceans of Terra in the past several hours looking for Atlantis's unique signature which the gateship should have been able to detect whether the city was cloaked or not, but there was nothing. Either the city had been moved off of Earth in the last three hundred years, or it had been destroyed.
After scanning the oceans, he took the gateship back to the last known position of the Lantean base at the frozen southern pole of this world. According to the sensor equipment, it too had been abandoned being buried under a mile of ice, and there was no trace of the original stargate which had once stood there.
Terra had changed drastically from the time he had known his friends from this world. As he had covered the planet looking for a stargate, he saw the technological and scientific progress the humans had made and it was beginning to rival his own original people's once upon a time. He could also see that it was no longer just the second evolution of humans who populated this world, but there were significant minority populations of other species and races as well, interacting and cooperating with each other more or less peacefully. It was a very different world from the one which John Shepherd had described to him long ago. This people wouldn't find the idea of the stargate or other intelligent peoples threatening at all. Indeed, from the communications he had listened to through the gateship's translator, they seemed to welcome the infinite combinations of diversity. Link could land and walk amongst them freely and no one would bat an eye he was pretty certain.
"Well, what do I do now?" He asked himself. He didn't know where the nearest stargate to Terra was in this galaxy. That information would have been in the database of the outpost in the southern polar base, which was now buried under the ice.
He began to try and remember any other places that John Shepherd had spoken of on Earth related to his government's use of the stargate system. He had told him, many centuries ago, that his government hadn't told the rest of its population about the stargate, or any of the technologies that had been procured or discovered because of it. There were only a handful of sites on the planet that dealt with anything related to it. They had been too afraid of mass panic on the part of their people. After seeing the sights of this world now, Link wondered what they had all been afraid of. It looked like they had adjusted just fine to the existence of a broader understanding of the galaxy and their place in it.
His stomach began to rumble, reminding him that it was time for breakfast. He tried to remember how long he had been awake for and then realized that he hadn't actually slept since he had woken up back in his own bed on his property in Ordon next to Zelda. He hadn't eaten since the quick meal of pumpkin soup at the hospital while waiting for Zelda's tests to complete.
"It's not going to do Zelda any good if I kill myself from exhaustion or hunger." He said, trying to talk sense into himself. "Daniel's just not here yet, and I have no idea where another stargate is. The question is, where can I set down to get some sleep and something to eat?" He needed more information on this world and this time period too.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart." He said to the gold locket he had pulled out of his forest green shirt. It had been a gift to him from Zelda for their fifth wedding anniversary, and he had worn it ever since, never taking it off. He had opened it to look at the much younger picture of his wife on the one side of it. The opposite side held photos of his three children when they were barely out of diapers. "But this is going to take a lot longer than I had hoped. Just hang in there for me until I can get back." He stared at it for a few more minutes, wishing more than anything that he could just return and be by her side and everything would be alright.
He patted the pocket of his coat where the linking book still felt solid and safe next to him. It was his only way of returning home, and he would protect it at all costs for his wife's sake. He closed the locket and replaced it beneath his shirt. "Well, I guess now I learn how welcoming these people really are. No better place to start than knocking on the front door."
Link placed his palm on the control panel and focused on dropping the cloak. Within minutes he received a hail from a professional but friendly female voice, "Unidentified vessel, please state your designation and flight plan."
Link reached deep within his memories to remember how to sound formal and official like he had when he was with the Lantean security forces, "Starbase One, this is the shuttle Vaganda. I am requesting permission to dock for rest and food." He made up the name for the gateship from the Lantean word for "wanderer." The traffic controller wouldn't know the difference.
"And can I have your name as the pilot or captain of this shuttle, and your planet of origin?" The traffic controller asked.
"Link Faroson. Planet of origin, Hyrule." He told the controller.
"Hyrule?" The controller responded. "That world isn't in our database."
"I'm sure it isn't, control." Link responded. "It's a long story. I'm not here to cause trouble, I just want to get something to eat, and get some sleep for a few hours." He then added on a sudden inspiration, "If at all possible, I'd like to get some more information on Earth and its historical sites as well." There, now she would think he was a tourist from out of town, which was essentially the truth.
After about a minute of silence, the traffic controller responded again, "Permission granted, Vaganda. Please follow these coordinates I am sending you now to shuttlebay three. The shuttlebay will engage its tractor beam to bring you in for parking once you are within one kilometer. Welcome to Starbase One and Earth, sir. As a reminder, all personal weapons are to be kept secured in your vessel while you are on the station. I have you assigned to guest quarters, and there will be a member of Starfleet personnel to show you where they are and how to use our food replicators and other facilities."
"Understood. This old man thanks you very much, control." Link responded. "Vaganda out."
Link nudged the gateship forward towards the station slowly, following the coordinates which had been transmitted to him. The great station grew in his viewport until it filled it and surpassed it with its smooth gray and black surfaces. The gate ship came around to an opening which looked at first like it exposed the internal bay to the vacuum of space until Link caught the blue shimmer of an energy shield across the opening.
When he came to within a kilometer of the opening, he felt a slight jolt as a beam of energy locked itself onto the vessel and began to guide it in. Link powered down and retracted the side nacelle thrusters, surrendering control to the operators of the tractor beam who must have done this hundreds of times before, he figured. They brought the gateship into the hanger and set it down as gently as if they were parking a snowflake.
As agreed, he took his weapons belt off, and tucked it into a compartment behind his pilot's chair. As he stood up, every muscle in his body complained with stiffness and soreness. He yawned, and his stomach complained again. "I'm really getting too old for this." He said to no one but himself. Then he remembered again why he was there, "But Zelda needs me." He said.
He headed to the rear of the craft where he placed his hand on the hatch panel and opened the only doorway to the vehicle. As the door opened, there was a young man, maybe in his mid twenties, with reddish brown hair and light colored skin, in a reddish brown, military style dress jacket, black dress slacks, and a bright red colored turtleneck peaking out from underneath the jacket.
"Greetings, sir." The man said in what sounded like fluent Hylian. "My name is Ensign Carter. I've been assigned as your guest escort. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me."
"How is it that you're speaking my language?" Link asked in surprise from the door opening. "I didn't think anyone here knew it."
"It's a universal translator device which is tied into the station's main computers. It must recognize your language as being related to one or more languages in its database, sir." The younger man answered.
One question had just occurred to his tired mind which the traffic controller hadn't mentioned. "Do you know how long I'll be able to park here?"
"Normally, the docking privileges are extended for seventy two hours, or three periods of Earth's rotation. They can be extended upon request on a case by case basis depending on traffic and availability." Ensign Carter responded.
"Good enough." Link responded as he stepped out of the gateship, turning around to place his hand on the exterior door panel in order to close and seal the access door. "Hopefully, I won't need that long."
"Of course, sir." The man replied. "If you'll follow me, I can show you to your quarters, the guest lounges, information centers, and eateries if you'd like."
"Lead on, sir." Link responded.
"Right this way, then." The ensign said, and began walking. Link followed him obediently, only realizing he was barely paying attention to anything that the man told him when he found himself in what looked like the inside of a spacious one bedroom apartment. He had no idea what route he had taken through the station in order to get there.
"If there won't be anything else, sir?" Ensign Carter asked as he stood near the doorway.
Link looked around at the room. Against the far wall there were large windows through which he could see the bright blue planet with its green and gold landmasses and white clouds. He could see screens, computer monitors, set up around the room, stylish, comfortable looking furniture, and some kind of device set into a wall. What the device did, he had no idea.
"Uh, what does that do?" Link ask, pointing to the small alcove with the computer monitor over it.
"That is the food replicator, sir. I can demonstrate it if you'd like." The ensign said, a trace of humor in his voice. He walked over to the alcove and spoke to it. "Computer." He said, and the black faced monitor lit up with text that Link couldn't read. "Ready." The computer responded with a friendly female voice. The ensign then ordered, "Coffee, hot, with cream and sugar."
Instantly, a cup of light brown, steaming hot liquid appeared in the alcove. The younger man took the cup by the handle and took a sip. "I hope you don't mind, sir. I've had a long day."
"You and me both, son." Link responded wearily. "What else can it make besides 'coffee?'"
"It's programmed with samples of hundreds of dishes and beverage from all the worlds within the Federation." He responded.
What did John call cuccos? He tried to remember. Oh, right. "What about, uh... chicken? Can it do fried chicken?" He wasn't sure if he could really stomach fried chicken just then, but it was the only thing he could think of that would be even remotely similar to something he knew.
"Why don't you come over here and ask it, sir?" The ensign invited sincerely, gesturing to the device. Link came over, feeling a little foolish, but his hunger overrode his pride. "Alright, uh... Computer." He said. "Ready." Came the response. "Fried Chicken, unbreaded." He said.
Immediately, a plate of food appeared within the alcove. It appeared to be a leg and a breast of fried cucco with some seasoning and a side of mashed potatoes with some kind of gravy. A knife and fork appeared on the side of the plate as well. It smelled wonderful. "Thank you." Link said.
Ensign Carter smiled and said, "Of course, sir. When you're done, just place the whole plate and silverware in the replicator recycler here." He gestured to another opening near the replicator. "The computer will take care of the rest."
"Thank you, again." Link said, taking a bite of the potatoes, and then removing himself and his dinner plate to a nearby table and chair where he began to tear into it.
"My shift ends in a few hours, sir, but there will be someone else to help you if you need it." The ensign said, and then left the "guest quarters."
Link polished off the replicated plate of fried cucco and potatoes with gravy, and then deposited the plate and silverware as he had been instructed. He then wandered into the bedroom of the small apartment to find a bed already made and waiting for him. He was just able to get his boots and socks off before his eyes closed on their own. He was dreaming before his head hit the pillow out of his control.