Chapter 1
Its name is Vea. Was Vea.
To the people who had been born under her
warm caress, her name meant "Lifegiver." But the Leokau people were gone now,
spirited away by a Federation mercy mission to save them from a dying star system.
All that lay behind were six small planets, swiftly growing cold in the absence
of Vea's light.
Vea was sick, dying a star's death. Deep inside her, something
broke. She was no longer able to be the beautiful red-yellow Lifegiver that
she had been. Fusion had slowed down in her core, and slowly Vea the Lifegiver
became Vea the Brown Dwarf.
It had taken a hundred years for the star to die. Her people,
the Leokau, were now thriving once again on a colony world a few star systems
over. Life had gone on for them.
To the planets left behind, their bleak future consisted of
the inevitable. Slowly Vea's grip on them would loosen enough for the planets
to slip out of her gravitational pull. When that happened, her six children
would spin off into the unknown oblivion of deep space.
=/\=
The Starship Isis orbited Vea at an altitude of nine
thousand kilometers. She shone faintly, spattered in the sick red light of Vea.
Light that bore disturbing similarity to the color of drying blood.
A massive vessel, the Isis was part of a new breed of
long-range exploratory vessels. At over a kilometer in length, and covered in
silvery hull plating, she effervesced in the dark red light. Her shields shimmered
in a kaleidoscopic dance as masses of X-rays from Vea's death throes impacted
on them.
Like Vea, Isis had her own children to take care of.
"Captain."
"Yes?" Kendi asked from her command chair. She pulled her gaze
from the viewscreen –from the image of the dying star – long enough to glance
over at her tactical officer.
The Cardassian officer met her gaze. "We have
an incoming ship on intercept," he said in formal tone. His gray skin and grayer
personality had come to mean a lot to Kendi over the years she had served with
Ekhem.
"One of ours?" the captain asked.
"Yes ma'am, Vulcan design and registry."
About time, Kendi Ahkileez thought. "Signal her, Lieutenant.
Inform her that she has permission to come aboard. Where do we have the most
space, Ruiz?"
The human navigator looked up from her station. "To accommodate
a ship that size? Shuttlebay Three, Captain."
"Thank you, Lieutenant. Ekhem, direct her to Shuttlebay Three.
I'm going to meet that ship."
Her Vulcan first officer watched her without comment she rose
to leave. She flashed him a disarming smile and pat him on the shoulder reassuringly.
"You have the bridge, Commander."
Kendi fled the bridge with controlled haste and quickly stepped
in to the turbolift, directing it to the shuttlebay. On a selfish whim, she
locked the lift so that it would get to its destination without stopping to
pick up any more passengers. She wasn't in the mood for company.
She rode in silence, ticking off the seconds in her mind as
the lift car rocketed through the bowels of the ship toward the aft section.
With her head bowed, her shoulder cropped hair fanned out like raven wings to
hide her face from view.
Ice-blue eyes stared at her shoes.
The lift stopped and pinged at her to make
its point. She took an extra moment to compose herself before unlocking the
door and advancing in to the shuttlebay.
All around her, crew –her crew- were hard at work, maintaining
the ship's small fleet of support craft. As the smallest of the shuttlebays,
Bay Three was used mainly as a repair facility and auxiliary storage, so it
always had plenty of extra space. Until now.
What a copper monstrosity the T'Sel was. With color like
that of rust, and angular features that seemed to protrude for the pure purpose
of sticking some poor Cyclops in his one good eye, the T'Sel insulted
the smooth lines of the Starfleet shuttles around her.
It is functional, she was sure she would be told;
it does not have to be attractive.
Curious eyes followed her progress toward the ship. The ship
coming in was enough of a curiosity, but then the captain herself coming to
meet it…
Kendi stood a respectable distance from the hatch and watched
as it irised open and the gantry slid down to meet the deck with a soft thump.
A pair of robed figures appeared in the hatchway, shrouded in shadow from the
light behind them. With little hesitation, the shorter of the two advanced down
the gantry and into the light of the bay.
With a will of their own, Kendi's feet carried her toward her
sister.
The hood of Zavvia's robe fell back when Kendi hugged her. "I'm
so glad you're here. What took you so long, Zavvia? And who's this? Tarik? Come
here, nephew," said Kendi in one long breath.
"Kendi, please. Your crew," Zavvia admonished. Kendi let her
sister go quickly, blushing.
"Are they looking?" Kendi asked, still looking
at her sister. Zavvia nodded. "Watch this." A conspiratory smile crossed Captain
Ahkileez's lips before she turned to look at the crew who had been looking at
her.
As if by magic, dozens of eyes found something more interesting
to look at. A shuttle window, the floor, the ceiling, a broken tool. Anything
but the captain.
"Now you are showing off," Zavvia said, deadpan.
"Yeah, I know." She was smiling still, but it widened as her
nephew stepped around Zavvia and came in to view. She hugged Tarik too, just
as fiercely as she had his mother. The Isis kept her out of the core
systems so much that her family grew around her without her ever knowing.
Tarik was a much lighter shade of brown than his mother and
did not have her burgundy eyes. Instead, he stared back at her with the soft
brown eyes of his father. Tuven had died a few years after Tarik was born, and
he had grown up with only Zavvia as company. He went everywhere his mother went
and she seemed to like it that way. Kendi thought that Zavvia thought of Tarik
as a substitute for the husband she lost.
It was a sad thing. But Kendi had her fill of sad things now,
so she smiled at him; knowing he wouldn't smile back. "Welcome aboard the Isis,
Tarik."
"Thank you, Aunt. It is an impressive ship. I surveyed it as
we approached."
"Well, if you're good, I'll arrange a tour for you." She frowned
after she said it. She had caught it after, realizing that she was talking to
him like a child. The last time she had seen him he was just fifteen. So young.
Now he was twenty.
Shrugging, she turned back to Zavvia.
"I would like to see him," Zavvia answered, unasked.
"Of course."
=/\=
Kendi led the procession of sister and nephew back out of the
shuttlebay and in to the lift. Unsought, the cold wet cling of despair descended
on the trio during the ride. They rode in dread silence. It was oppressive.
Stifling.
Zavvia, the eldest of the Ahkileez children. She stood, stiff
and cold, like a woman-shaped statue carved from brown Vulcan marble. What she
wore was no surprise to Kendi. Typical, for scientists from Vulcan. The robes
were modestly adorned and functional, a dark and not quite blue color that soothed
the eye. Outside the robe, well, she had not changed much there either. She
still kept her hair cut short. Somehow, Zavvia's haircut and her upswept eyebrows
made her burgundy stare more severe. There was something… Kendi couldn't pin
it down.
"How is he?" she asked finally. Kendi glanced over at her sister,
surprised by the utterance.
"He's about as well as you'd expect," she answered somberly,
"which isn't very well at all."
Kendi took a deep breath, cupping her hands
behind her. "It took some doing to get him from the old house. He didn't want
to leave. Well that's what he told me anyway." She closed her eyes, squeezing
back a tear before going on. "I had to get special dispensation to use the Isis.
However, since we were off rotation and just due for resupply, it wasn't too
hard to get the request though. In the end, I had to get Uncle Randy to talk
some sense in to him."
Her voice started to choke up and she squeezed her eyes shut
again.
Mercifully, she didn't have to speak again. They had arrived.
The procession exited the lift and head down the corridor to
the VIP quarters. Tarik lagged a little behind them, curious about the things
around him. They didn't bother to wait on him. He knew better than to let them
get too far out of sight. He could find them easy enough if he needed to. He
could just ask the computer for directions.
The two women made their way down the corridor in long strides.
It was nearly impossible to peg them as sisters. Whereas, Zavvia bore most of
the features of their father's first wife, Kendi looked more like his second.
She had her mother's blue eyes, and the vestigial Klingon ridges on her forehead.
Her skin was a lighter shade of brown than Zavvia's, closer to Tarik's, and
her frame was smooth and slight – an image of quiet power. Her facial features
were an unusual mix, but seemed to merge almost as they had been meant to be.
Soft Klingon forehead ridges flowed into smaller ones at the bridge of her nose
– another gift from her mother. The most prominent feature from her father's
genes was the eyebrows like Zavvia's, and the pointed elfin ears.
A forced smile appeared on Kendi's lips as she perked up and
put on a mask of levity. Two Bajoran members of her security team stood as volunteer
honor guards alongside the doors to the VIP quarters.
"Sel," she said, approaching the door and nodding to the both
of them, "Deril. Open the door please. I have some guests for the admiral."
Sel returned her nod curtly and stepped to the side. His partner
did the same. Then he tapped in a simple three-stroke code into the door lock
and they hissed open.
Before stepping in, she gestured to Zavvia. "Boys, my nephew
is exploring a bit and has lagged behind us. He's wearing robes similar to my
sister's here, so please let him when he arrives." The two men nodded again
in response. "Come on, Zavvia."
The two women entered the lavishly equipped quarters, reserved
for ambassadors and people of high-note. There were few accoutrements that it
did not have. What it did have was too numerous to mention.
The Isis was equipped with six such apartments, and more
than twice as many lesser ones for support staff and functionaries of visiting
elite. All of the six were equally equipped, but decked out in different color
schemes. Some species were very sensitive to colors. This one was wore shades
of blue and accommodating colors. There was no reason for it. Kendi just liked
blue and she had picked the quarters.
The first thing they noticed was the low lighting. It didn't
bother either of them, since they both had reasonably sharp lowlight vision.
Nevertheless, it wasn't expected.
"Oh no…" Kendi picked up a sound. So did Zavvia, but she wasn't
immediately sure. Kendi was.
The two women quick-walked across the expansive apartment toward
the bedrooms. Their feet didn't seem to touch the blue-gray carpeting since
Kendi set the pace. And it was a quick one. Kendi was muttering under her breath,
and Zavvia: quiet but following easily.
David, a little small for his five years, and Saschel, a very
precocious three, was climbing over the mountain of a man that was their grandfather.
"What are you doing?" Kendi asked, staring down her children.
David froze in place. Saschel, well, she kept going. "Saschel, get off him.
Now, please. You too David."
The two got off their grandfather and sat on the bed flanking
him.
"How did you two get in here?" Kendi gave
them the withering glare she had learned from her mother. She had lots of experience
with it. It had been used often enough on herself and siblings.
David was tightlipped, so she turned her attention to Saschel.
"Daddy brought us," she bubbled enthusiastically. She liked being helpful. Mama's
little snitch. Kendi smiled.
"Yes, well I'll talk to your father about this later." She took
them both by the hand and helped them off the bed. Turning to Zavvia, she saw
a solution standing right behind her. "David, Saschel, this is Tarik, your cousin.
He's going to look after you for a while. He's going to play with you too, right
Tarik?"
The young man who had just walked in seemed somewhat taken aback
by the impromptu pronouncement. One of his slanted brows lifted in momentary
confusion, but he quickly adapted. "As you wish, Aunt."
Both Kendi and Zavvia watched the children walk out with Tarik;
tugging on his hands in different directions. He would be fine.
Behind them, their grandfather was watching too. Zavvia turned
to him first.
"Are you well Father?" she asked, stepping over to him. Her
robe billowed out around her a bit as she crouched to eye level with him. Their
father was a tall man, so she didn't have to crouch far.
Identical eyes looked back at Zavvia's, glancing occasionally
at Kendi as well. Unlike Zavvia's, though, Jyg'Lo Ahkileez's eyes were bloodshot.
Light emerald strands of vessels radiated from the burgundy iris. Kendi wasn't
sure when her father had last slept.
"I'm all right, Zavvia," he croaked out, and then returned his
gaze to Kendi. "You didn't have to make them leave. I was enjoying their company."
"They're so young. So full of life." Their father started to
drift off again. He'd been in and out of a cycle of depression ever since they
left Earth.
"Dad," Kendi said softly, moving to sit beside him. "Are you
really okay? You haven't been eating. Or sleeping. You're a mess, Dad." Jyg'Lo
didn't answer. He just sat there; eyes closed, head bowed, shoulders slumped.
Zavvia hadn't moved so much as a millimeter. Her eyes were rived
to the same spot, even though Jyg'Lo's eyes were no longer there. This close,
it was easy for Kendi to feel Zavvia's probe.
This close, it was even easier for Kendi to feel her father's
rebuke. He threw Zavvia out of his mind with dangerous ease. "Not now, Zavvia.
Damn it, not now." His words were quiet, but hard and unmistakable. He didn't
bother to look up, or even open his eyes.
Growing up had been a difficult experience for Zavvia, who followed
the ways of C'thia. She had never achieved Kolinahr – the epitome of emotion
suppression – but she had become a fine Vulcan in her own way. Even so, she
was more prone to subtle emotional response, since she had such an emotional
family.
Zavvia's eyes widened a little from the pain of her father's
rebuke. But the mental pain was easy enough to ignore. The emotional pain cut
deeper and left a colder scar.
Kendi frowned at her sister and slipped closer to Jyg'Lo, placing
a hand on his broad back, rubbing it tenderly. "Dad, look, you need to get out
of this funk. I'm hurting too. Zavvia's hurting. But you can't stay like this."
Jyg'Lo was shaking his head now.
Kendi started to grasp at straws. "We could have dinner together,
just you, me, and Zavvy. That'll be good, right Dad? That'll make you feel better."
"No. No. No—"
"Dad…"
"No! No, Kendi, No! She's gone! What's going to make that right?
What could possibly make me feel 'better' ever again?" He was shouting. He probably
didn't even realize. His eyes were glistening with tears that refused to fall.
He shrugged off her hand angrily and rose to his feet, almost
bowling Zavvia over. Luckily, she got out of his way in time. Fuming, he stormed
out away from the bed and door adjoining the study beyond. If he had had a door
to slam, he would have broken it off the hinges. Without that luxury, he simply
locked the door.
Kendi watched him go, feeling helpless.
Her ire was still nice and stoked, however.
"You could have helped me, you know," Kendi seethed at her sister.
"I was trying to get him out of that funk and you just stood there." Zavvia
turned her calm visage on Kendi.
"What could I have said?"
"Anything, Zavvia, anything. But instead you choose silence,
like that's going to help."
"There was nothing I could have done to assist you. Moreover,
adding my argument would just have angered him further. It was most logical
to–"
"Shut up! Shut up about Logic, I don't want to hear that,"
Kendi bit back. She suddenly felt exhausted. "I sometimes wonder if you really
can feel anything anymore, you know?"
Sighing tiredly, Kendi got to her feet, wiping her eyes on her
sleeve. She began quietly, "Dad's probably in there breaking something right
now, and we're out here arguing."
"Mom's dead, Zavvia. She's not coming back."
Kendi stepped around Zavvia, heading for the door. "You know,"
she muttered, hesitating a little without looking back. "I kind of hope you
can't feel what I feel. You're better off."
She disappeared through the door for parts unknown – just in
time to miss the tears rolling down Zavvia's face.