Chapter 18

"So, so, so I says to their ambassador, 'I bet you'd make a great juggler!'" Mamao'lani started laughing uncontrollably, banging his hand on the console.

North blinked, his face creased in confusion. "W-what?"

Mamao'lani looked at him like the punchline was obvious. "He was Edosian!" The ambassador burst into another hearty guffaw. North now snickered along.

The whisky was starting to have an effect. Both men had removed their jackets, and North his tie, the top buttons of their shirts undone, as they casually shared a drink.

"I haven't had a good laugh like this in... ever!" North said.

"Well, you had t-to wait til the end of the world to let your hair down!" Mamao'lani admonished him with a wagging finger. "I always said you needed to loosen up."

"Nothing like imminent death to help- to make you focus your p-priorities." North held up his cup, as if in another toast, and knocked back more of the amber nectar.

Mamao'lani was gazing out the windows at the starlit sky. "You know..." he said more soberly, "I was just starting to get used to this place."

"I know what you mean," North said, equally serious.

There was a beeping from the communications console.

"What now?" said Mamao'lani. "Plague? Locusts? We're out of cheese and crackers?"

North, with some difficulty, made his way over to the console. "Incoming hail," he read. "Putting it on speakers." He had no desire for anyone to see him in such an unkempt state, so kept the call audio-only.

"Independence to Starbase One. Is there anyone there?" came the voice of Captain Dibiasky, the cruiser's CO.

"They can save us!" Mamao'lani said enthusiastically.

North shushed him and opened the channel. "Independence, this is Commodore North on Starbase One. Only myself and Ambassador Mamao'lani remain. What is your position?"

There was a pause, Dibiasky no doubt surprised anyone was left. "Commodore, we're still at the fifth planet. Once we clear the gravity well, we can initiate a short warp-jump, and beam you and the Ambassador directly aboard once we arrive in orbit."

Mamao'lani was elated. "I've never used a transporter before!"

"Captain, what's your ETA?" North asked.

Another pause. "We'll need to limit ourselves to warp factor one, sir, to be safe," she replied. "Should take us about fifteen minutes to get to you."

North and Mamao'lani both looked up at the countdown clock - there were seventeen minutes remaining until impact - then to each other. It would be close.

"No rush, Independence," North said calmly. "We're not going anywhere."

Caeldon had gathered her clan on the mountainside. Some from other clans had joined them as well - others of their kind that she would never have met if not for the Humans.

Almost all the Redscales had accepted their fate now, and that there was nothing the Human Clan could have done to prevent it. They lamented that their story would end, and that their young would never create their own, but rejoiced in knowing that tomorrow's generation were safe. And that of a whole new race too.

She craned her long, aching neck around to take in the sight, her eyes allowing her to see in the dark (albeit not as well as they used to). Never had so many congregated like this, all silently awaiting the inevitable. It was fitting that they would meet their end together - as one clan.

They turned their heads upward, to gaze at the new star in the sky.

The one come to end their story.

The storm was starting to pass, at last. The outer edges were just trailing the emergency habitats, but still interfering with some systems, as well as wailing against the outer walls.

Everyone had crowded into the communal areas to watch the clock. There was nothing any of them could do now except wait for time to run out until what had been their home for almost a year was destroyed by nature's fury.

McQueen thought of the Draco and all the other creatures on Berengaria VII that would cease to exist in just a few minutes. She tried to tell herself that a whole new biosphere would thrive because of the comet and the lifeform within, but it did not alleviate the grief.

She clutched Artie close. All of his class had found their parents, they just had to comfort themselves now.

Looking around, McQueen saw others seeking such comfort. Lieutenant Vaughn held his fiancée, probably mourning the life they had planned to start together on the seventh planet. Colonel Kostopoulos, and others of various faiths, were in one corner praying or observing some other religious rite. Sal was now giving away food and drink for free, no longer seeking to profit from the situation.

She even saw Captain Thorpe and Commander Patel, standing side-by-side, subtly hold each other's hands. It seemed purely platonic - neither of them had anyone else to go to in this moment - but still a breakthrough in their formerly antagonistic relationship.

Nearby, Dr. T'Ling was kneeling on the floor, her eyes shut, trying to meditate again.

"I'll be right back," McQueen whispered to Artie. She gently made her way over to the doctor and knelt beside her. "Are you trying to contact the lifeform in the comet again?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

T'Ling opened her eyes and nodded, responding with equal softness. "I am not experiencing any success, however. It is as if the creature has closed off her mind."

McQueen screwed up her face, trying not to cry, wondering if she had caused the creature to mentally retreat. "I wish I could have gotten through to her. To help her understand there was another way. To save lives."

T'Ling put her hand on McQueen's, silently expressing empathy, as the science officer shed a tear.

"The comet is approaching the point of no return," North relayed from a sensor readout. Once the comet passed this imaginary line in space, destroying it or moving it would be futile. Fragments would still strike the surface of the planet in sufficient quantities to cause significant devastation. "The Independence is still ten minutes away."

Circumstances had caused the whisky's effects to quickly evaporate from them, leaving them deadly serious again.

Mamao'lani, sitting beside him, let out a sigh. "I've had a good life." He smiled, and it was genuine. "I've aided territorial agreements with the Kaferians, brokered peace on Ktaris, survived the Romulan occupation of Denobula Prime, and even made friends with dragons!"

"Yes," said North. "I suppose we have our achievements behind us."

"Professionally, anyway."

North frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, neither of us is a young buck anymore, Commodore, let's face it. And, while we both have great careers, what personal achievements do we have? Neither of us is married, or has a family, or a permanent home."

North shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Not... Not everyone wants those things."

"True." Mamao'lani leaned towards him. "But did you never think that it might be nice to have someone to share in your successes? And your failures? Your dreams? Someone... to come home to?"

They stared into each other's eyes a moment. North had never really thought about what Mamao'lani was suggesting, but now he found himself wondering if that's what had really been missing from his life. And now it was too late to do something about it.

Or was it?

A beeping sound made both men jump.

That whisky must still have a hold on them, North told himself. Embarrassed, he hastily made his way over to the source of the sound - the science console. Probably just an alert that the comet had passed the point of no return.

He couldn't believe what he saw. There must be a fault in the sensors (or his senses). But he checked all the satellites, and they each confirmed the same thing.

"What is it?" Mamao'lani asked.

"The comet..." North said in disbelief. "It's moving. Away from us!"

Mamao'lani was by his side in an instant, checking the readouts over his shoulder. "What?! Moving where?"

"Its new trajectory points it towards the eighth planet. Where we were trying to relocate it."

"The creature!" Mamao'lani shouted ecstatically, grabbing North by the shoulders. "It must have changed its mind, or something! It's sparing us!"

North couldn't help crying out in joy as well, also grabbing Mamao'lani, both of them giddy. "It's a bloody miracle!" he shouted.

He then quickly composed himself, releasing Mamao'lani and smoothing down his shirt, resuming a respectable mien. There was still a lot of work to do. He would first confirm the comet's new course with the ships in the system, and, once sure the creature was sticking to its new destination, they could then start to arrange for the return of all personnel and residents to the base.

If all went well, this would be the second time in his life that he'd avoided death at the last minute. As before, he vowed not to take it for granted.

He again pondered on Mamao'lani's words about having someone to share in one's success.

Cheers sounded throughout the habitat.

With the storm more distant, communications had been getting through, and Commodore North himself called to report that, against all odds, the comet was moving away from Berengaria VII, apparently at the creature's own whim.

The Draco were saved. The base was saved. They could all go home again.

Everyone was hugging and crying and laughing. Artie had practically spun McQueen off her feet. She now made her way through the celebratory crowd to T'Ling. Naturally, the Vulcan doctor remained perfectly stoic.

"Doctor, do you think I managed to reach the lifeform?" she asked over the hubbub around them. "That maybe it heard me a few minutes ago?"

"That would be seem extremely illogical to me," T'Ling said. She raised an eyebrow. "But then, as you said before, Commander, I am not as 'dumb' as you or the creature."

McQueen smiled and gave the doctor a big, unwanted hug.