Author's Note: Chapters 1 - 5 have been redone. This was to fix the problem of when I get to the TNG. After all every predecessor of Picard's and Crusher's had access to Buffy and Dawn's Starfleet files. It didn't make sense that Picard and Crusher at least wouldn't. That said to protect their own past they won't tell Picard and crew about the events surrounding First Contact. Lastly I now know how this story will end. It will book end itself. It started with First Contact, it will end with First Contact, showing things from the view of the future Buffy and Dawn as the first telling of those events showed the events of Past Buffy and Dawn. After I complete the arc I am working on. I intend to go into Space Seed, then Mirror, Mirror, then Wrath of Khan, then the launch of Enterprise B shown in Generations before finally going into TNG and as I already said eventually book ending with First Contact again. Right now I don't know which episodes I will add for TNG though. I had debated trying to adapt something of the Mirror Universe for TNG but unless I write something totally new there is very little to adapt as the only thing set in the mirror universe during TNG is the novel Dark Mirror, which contradicts what was said in the episodes of DS9. So sadly after Mirror, Mirror I doubt I will return to the Mirror Universe.
Chapter 23: Dirt
The Enterprise lay within the system's Oort cloud, the band of debris left over from the formation of the star and its planets. The debris orbited far beyond the outermost world; at intervals some random chunk of primordial detritus would follow a long, elliptical path near enough to the star to blaze into a comet.
The concentration of matter was measurably greater here than in space between the system's planets, but "measurably greater" and "visually perceptible" were two very different things. The cloud contained a large amount of debris, but it contained more nothingness by high orders of magnitude.
The routine operation of moving the comet debris into the ship made even more noise than Dawn had expected. The tractor beams set up a nearly subsonic hum, the heavily filtered ventilators moaned, the mashed rock crashed onto the deck, and the rattling carried through the deck plates.
Dawn descended a companion way that led to the repair bays. "Ame?" she called out.
"We're down here—number six." Eerie sounds reverberated along the walls and deck plates.
Lukarian patted Athene and whispered to calm her. Sweat slicked the creature's shoulders and flanks as she shifted nervously.
Dawn leaned on the rail that fenced off the number six repair bay from the access tunnel. "Is everything all right?"
"The trouble is," Lukarian said, "that when a horse gets scared, her instinct is to run.
"And she can't," Dawn said. "So, she gets more scared. To tell the truth I am glad my empathy is limited to humans."
It was then that the noise ceases, the thrumming of tractor beams faded and died. Athene snorted and fluttered her wings at the change, but after that she acted calmer.
"Tell Jim, thanks," Lukarian said. "For doing this. Dawn, about earlier. Stephen is, um, kind of flamboyant. A lot of performers are. We like to show off. I'm sorry that he scared Jim."
"You and I know it wasn't the matter of being scared," Dawn said. "To him the Enterprise and its crew is a big responsibility."
"Yes," she said. "I know." Athene nuzzled Lukarian's side. She gave the equiraptor a protein pellet.
"Did Willow pass down her magic?" Dawn wondered.
"Closely guarded secret," Lukarian said. "Even from the rest of the family. Only mother knows. And eventually I will have to teach my daughter. The magic that started with Great Grandma Willow has been passed down from mother to daughter for generations. I'm sorry the secret was kept from you and Buffy. I think Great Grandma Willow's daughter might have been afraid of yours and Buffy's reaction given what happened to Great Grandma Willow. It's why I am the magician in the group."
"To hide in plain sight," Dawn said. "No one would expect a magician would have access to real magic. You know when we get to Starbase 13, I would like to see your performance."
"The company would perform for the Enterprise, if anybody asked," Lukarian said.
Dawn smiled and walked over to an intercom and hit it. "Shuttle bay to Bridge, Captain Kirk. I have a request. I believe for ship's morale we could use a performance from Ame's troup."
"She can do the performance."
Dawn nodded as she switched off the intercom. She then came to attention. "Commander Dawn Summers, Ship's Counselor of the starship Enterprise on behalf of Captain James T. Kirk, invites Amelinda Lukarian and the Warp-Speed Classic Vaudeville Company to entertain they crew." She dropped the formal pose and laughed. "Let me know what you need, Ame."
Lukarian finished rubbing the equiraptor down and patted her on the flank. Athene's hooves rustled in the straw; she retreated to a corner and her rope net of protein pellets. She hitched herself up on the rail.
"We'll need a theater with a backstage ..." Within a few minutes she had outlined the necessities of putting on a vaudeville show.
"About the same as what your father did," Dawn said with a nod. "I'll see to it."
At the other end of the corridor, the door slid open and closed again.
"Ame, hey!" Stephen said.
"Down here." Lukarian called back.
Stephen strolled toward them. Ilya balanced on his right
shoulder, steady despite his perilous perch.
"It looks like everything's nearly ready," Stephen said.
Lukarian smiled at him and took his hand.
Dawn called the bridge. Uhura reported the deck repressurized, the temperature nearly normal.
"I can let her out?" Lukarian said.
"Any time."
Lukarian slid off the railing into Athene's stall. The equiraptor sensed her joy and excitement. She trembled, every muscle tense, her wings quivering at her sides. Lukarian put one hand on her nose and one on the crest of her neck.
"Okay," she said. "Open the door."
Lukarian let Athene into the dirt-carpeted shuttlecraft deck.
Athene walked gingerly, placing each foot lightly, her wings spread; she walked like a tightrope artist. Her hooves crunched on the fine-ground comet debris. She snorted.
"That's better, isn't it, sweetie?" Lukarian said. One hand twined in her mane, she urged Athene into a jog. She led Athene back over her own path, inspecting it to be sure she did not dig all the way through to the deck. "Now or never." She let go of Athene's mane and stepped away.
Athene stood still for a moment, head up, ears pricked forward. Her wings opened, closed, opened. Then she flattened her wings against her sides and sprang forward.
She galloped so fast it appeared she would crash into the far bulkhead. But at the last second, she slid to a dirtspraying, spraddle-legged stop, spreading her wings wide as if she were coming in to land. Then she squealed and spun and galloped in the other direction, straight toward Lukarian.
When Athene reached her, Lukarian grabbed her mane, swung up, and straddled her. She slipped her legs beneath Athene's wings and rode her across the deck, laughing, her arms spread wide.
Athene bounced to a halt, flung up her head, and snorted. Sweat covered her shoulders and flanks. The scarlet lining of her nostrils flared as she breathed.
Lukarian stroked her neck, then urged her forward. Mane and tail flying, wings open, Athene trotted down the center of the deck, hesitating for a split second before she put each hoof to the ground. The pause made her float between each step, almost as if she really were flying.
Lukarian looked up. Members of the Enterprise crew filled the observation tunnels and crowded onto the catwalk above.
Athene circled the deck in her floating trot. Lukarian waved at everyone as she passed. Dawn saw McCoy and Sulu, Uhura and Jim, Yeoman Rand, and even, there in the corner, Spock.
"She's really something, isn't she?" Stephen said as Jim came up alongside him and Dawn.
"Yes," Jim said. "She really is."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Dawn tossed in the bunk she shared with Buffy. She sat up in the darkness and squinted at the chronometer.
"What is it?" Buffy asked having been awoken by the tossing.
"Jim's emotions about our entering the Phalanx as we approach Starbase 13," Dawn said. "He knows there have been no Klingon attacks in the Phalanx since the completion of Starbase 13. That said he is questioning himself on whether or not he should have the Enterprise on the ready, just in case. He's heading for the bridge; I think I will check in on him."
Dawn got dressed and left their quarters. She on the dim and quiet bridge. The glow of screens provided an eerie light; the pulse of gossiping machines provided the only sound.
A single ensign stood low watch, ready to recall the full staff at any unusual occurrence. The ensign glanced back when Dawn stepped from the lift.
"Commander!" The ensign vacated the captain's seat.
"Good morning, Ensign Bailey," Dawn said. "I'm just waiting on the Captain."
It was then that Jim exited the turbolift. "Commander?"
"I was waiting for you," Dawn said. "Your emotions were keeping me awake."
"Sorry," Jim said as he settled into the Captain's chair. He noticed the ensign took the navigator's position.
Dawn moved beside Jim who inspected the tactical display on the viewscreen. The Enterprise headed straight into the concentric circles that led down the perspective of the Phalanx.
"What's our ETA into the Phalanx, Ensign-?"
"Bailey," Dawn whispered.
"Ensign Bailey," Jim said.
"That depends, captain. Display is most misleading, sir. Starfleet Command, Federation Survey, Klingon Empire—all choose different borders."
"Starfleet borders will serve our purpose."
"Yes, sir. Starfleet borders overlap Imperial claim; territory is in dispute. ETA 0619. Ten minutes."
"Thank you, Mr. Bailey."
The bridge doors slid open. Commander Spock paused.
"Morning, Spock," Dawn said.
"Good morning, Counselor," Spock returned, "Captain." He took his place. Screens lit up around him.
"What are you working on, Mr. Spock?" Dawn wondered.
"Nothing specific, Counselor."
"Are you ready to run the gauntlet?" Jim asked.
"We are unlikely to encounter harrying, Captain; the local bandits prefer easier targets."
"Five minutes, captain," Bailey said.
Dawn watched Jim for a moment longer than she moved to the helm and sat down.
"Entering the Phalanx, sir."
Even Spock turned his attention from his console.
But nothing happened.
The Enterprise flew on, as peacefully as if it traveled in the Federation's heart instead of on the farthest fringes.
Jim laughed at himself, amused by his own feeling of relief: the Phalanx grew more dangerous along its length, not less.
Dawn sighed. She would have to set up a session with the Captain. He was worrying needlessly.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Ship's news announced the special performance of the Warp-Speed Classic Vaudeville Company. Soon all the places for the evening's two shows had been spoken for and the standing room was going fast.
Dawn strolled to the shuttlecraft hangar, along the catwalk, to the companionway. She smiled at what she saw, a gauzy emerald sheen covered the gently rolling landscape; new grass grew on what had been part of a barren astronomical body the day before. Three gnarled pines twisted together in one corner, and a huge stone, jagged and broken on one side, meteor-pitted on the other, rose from among their roots. The shuttlecraft had been lined up along one bulkhead, close together, and partitioned off from the pasture so Athene would not become trapped between them. The sprouting grass shimmered against their skids.
It smelled like spring.
Lukarian ran across the field. Athene sprinted after her, bucking, nipping at her heels, playing. She bounced to a stop; her wings half spread. Lukarian petted her and tsked to her. Athene began trotting in a circle around her, controlled by her voice. Lindy chirruped; Athene broke into a canter and widened the circle. When she spread her wings, she looked as if any instant she could leap from the ground and fly.
Lukarian saw Dawn. She waved and Dawn joined her.
"Hi, Dawn. What do you think?"
"I'm impressed," Dawb said. "I didn't know the Enterprise carried ADG seed—planting accelerated desert grass was a good idea."
"I never heard of it before. Hikaru said it's descended from desert plants that grow after rainstorms," Lukarian said. In the time since entering the Phalank, Cockspur had recruited Sulu to help in his performance. "So, we threw a few kilos around, and, voilà! You've got a ton of it—why does a starship carry grass seed?"
"I believe it's used for terraforming," Dawn said. "Not my area of expertise, Ame. You know that, though."
"Yes, I know," Lukarian said. "Let's see if I remember this right; your first area, was engineering. The second area was communications, your third area is psychiatry and medical. Anyways we brought the big rock in with the dirt, and we borrowed the trees from botany." Shey smiled. "Athene loves it. But ... she still can't fly. Dawn, will you change the gravity?"
"Isn't the ceiling too low?"
"The deck isn't perfect. Obviously, I'd rather have a ninety-nine percent earth environment with one-tenth gravity. Whatever we do, she probably won't get off the ground. More likely she'll just be able to float along for a few steps. But it might make her think she's flying. It might be enough."
"Let me check with Scotty." Dawn contacted Engineering and posed the question to Mr. Scott.
"Tenth g, just on the shuttlecraft deck? I dinna ken, Counselor, 'twould be complex. The structural stress—"
"Mr. Scott, before I became a counselor my first studies were in engineering. I was actually an engineer on a starship before," Dawn said. She looked at Lukarian. "Well Assistant Chief Engineer, anyways." She turned back to the intercom. "So tell me again if its possible or not."
"Aye, Counselor, 'tis possible to change the gravity."
"When?"
"A few hours, Counselor."
"Very well. Keep Ms. Lukarian informed so she can be here when you make the change."
"Aye, Counselor."
Dawn cut off the connection.
"Dawn, thanks," Lindy said. "I'm afraid this isn't making Mr. Scott very happy ..."
"He doesn't know who I am," Dawn said. "Or he would not try and … well. Anyways, guess what, it's standing room only at tonight's performances."
"SRO? Already?" With a whoop of triumph, Lukarian raised her arms, her fists clenched, and spun once around.
"We should see about getting it set up to do two shows a day that way everyone has a chance to see it before we reach Starbase 13," Dawn suggested.
"Agreed." Lukarian whistled and Athene trotted to her side. "Want to ride her, Dawn."
"You know its been a while, Ame," Dawn said. "But I would love to."
"I'll give you a leg up. Just slide your knees under her wings." Lukarian laced her fingers together, cupped her hands where a stirrup would be if Athene were wearing a saddle, and tossed Dawn easily onto Athene's back.
Dawn felt the muscles of the equiraptor tense beneath her; she thought for a moment Athene might bolt, but Lukarian laid one hand lightly on her neck and urged her into a walk.
Athene had a lively, rolling, bouncy gait. Instead of getting in the way, Athene's wings acted like the kneepads of a jumping saddle. Dawn was glad of something to brace against, for Athene's balance was completely different from any horse she had ever been on.
The equiraptor jogged in a circle around Lukarian. Dawn held on with her knees and touched her heel to Athene's side. She leaped into a canter, nearly unseating Dawn. Dawn grabbed for her mane. Athene slid to a stop and Dawn nearly pitched over her head.
"That's okay—try it again. Subtle, remember."
Dawn squeezed her legs gently against her sides: walk, jog, canter. Growing more comfortable, Dawn relaxed into her gait.
"You look wonderful!" Lukarian said. "If I hadn't known you had been born in Los Angeles instead of on a farm, I would have thought you had been born to the saddle."