Star Trek: Anachronisms, Chapter Two

STAR TREK: ANACRONISMS

By Tigris Euphrates,

and Sapph Blackstone

This is a crossover story is based on the Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry and the Gargoyles universe created by Greg Wiseman and Michael Reeves. All vessels and characters that have appeared in Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Star Trek Voyager and related movies are registered trademarks of Paramount Pictures. Gargoyles and related characters are registered trademarks of Buena Vista Pictures and Walt Disney Studios. The stories and characters not described above are original creations of T'Layna MacMathain, Tigris Euphrates, Sapph Blackstone and Poison Thorns Productions. Copyright (c) 2000 All rights reserved.

Chapter Two

The Guardians of Stone

San Francisco is one of the few cities on earth where you can still get a feel of what earth was like long before the human race gained the reach of the stars. Some even say that Zefrem Cochrane had friends in the city and he spent a lot of his life there before the third world war. The streets are narrow and lined with rows of tall houses built right up next to one another, some of them over four hundred fifty years old. Its streets are filled with trolleys and cable cars - like some living museum to the history of public transit. On its horizon are the great glass buildings of the Starfleet Academy. The sunlight glinted from those massive structures in beams, filling the city with rainbows.

Aria watched with a distant frown. As she watched her home loom larger and larger before her eyes, her heart was troubled. There was a rush of air as the shuttle's pilot landed her just outside of Starfleet Academy, and the passengers, mostly students, some professors, and any number of civilians began to disembark. Gathering her satchel over her shoulder, she followed suit, stepping into the sunlight. She tossed her raven colored hair with blue highlights in the breeze.

"Aria!" A familiar voice shouted. She looked up to see a young man in a red uniform running to her. Aria smiled for a moment - relived a little, but the feeling was short lived when the memory of what she had learned flooded back over her.

"Hi Jack." She tried to muster a smile, but only succeeded in about half of what she wanted.

The young man, while having before been all smiles, read the look in her eyes, and his smile faded. "What's wrong?" he inquired.

"Oh nothing..." She started to say, but added; "I just learned something that will screw up my thesis."

"Wait a minute! You never even told what your thesis was!" he protested, smiling again. They turned, walking toward the academy.

"Twentieth century earth - that it was the pivotal point in history that changed the destiny of the human race." She explained.

"What did you find?"

"I'll show you later. Let's not talk about it in the open."

He stopped, and gave her a long look. "You're serious."

"Oh now, don't dramatize Jack. This is just a minor setback. I'll have everything ready for term."

"I always knew you would." The young man said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and drawing her close, wanting to touch her light creamy chestnut colored skin. Aria, however, became uncomfortable and pushed him away.

"I've got to go..." she complained, turning and hurrying away into the evening's setting sun.

Jack stood back, dumbfounded.

, , ,

The chronometer on the wall read "02:00", as Aria realized she was getting absolutely no sleep. There was a red light on the comm panel that was blinking, indicating that Jack had left her a message - several perhaps. She simply couldn't think about Jack right now. There was something eating at her that was so shocking she couldn't sleep a wink.

She turned back to the PADD by her bed that held her thesis paper. She went back to it again.

"Just before the outbreak of the Third World War, what was once bitterly referred to as the 'Second Eugenics War,' a world-renowned chemical biologist by the name of Anton Sevarius helped the government of Mordred - what was once the urban cultural center of Saudi Arabia before Colonel Thomas Green's coup - design several races of warriors superior to the average human in many aspects. These biological constructs consisted of the ultra-durable mutate hordes, the dog packs, the Nessan wave-riders, and even the fearsome vat-grown cybernetic Wyverns. The mutates, genetic mixtures of human, various jungle cat strains, vampire bat and electric eel DNA, were the ultimate terror-soldier; as smart as any man, loyal to Green's new world order, fast, able to fly, and stronger than the average human.

"The dog packs were a different matter. To make them, Sevarius and his subordinates took the typical canine and infused it with a human's genetic structure, thus making a beast with a canine's strength and vicious brutality, while giving it the ability to wield weapons like vibro-blades, edged weapons, and even simple firearms. Clustered in packs of five or more dogs, depending on the situation, they were controlled by a single human leader. Used efficiently, the dog-packs were renowned for their patrolling and anti-rebellion abilities, making it near impossible for resistance cells to form.

"The Nessan wave-riders were the sea-borne destroyers of Green's armada. Quick lightly armored, difficult to hit, and loaded for all manners of bear, these submergible creatures received their slang names from the ancient legend of Loch Ness of Scotland. Equipped with numerous torpedo launchers, rail-gun technology, a crew of ten, and it's own natural attributes, these destroyers ripped through the fleets of the Alliance.

"The genetically-created, cybernetically altered Wyverns of Green's personal armies were, by far, the most frightening of any of Sevarius' creations, however. Nearly half the size of a Defiant-class starship and with natural armor tougher than titanium, alone these creatures were formidable as airborne assault platforms. However, when armed with energy lances and blades larger than the typical Andorian and sharper than a Klingon bat'leth, they would be nigh invulnerable. To make these flying lizards even more dangerous, they were cybernetically enhanced with adrenal stimulants, bionic implants and a virtual arsenal of weaponry. Their weaponry consisted of hand-to-hand weapons; rail guns built into their bone structures, claws half the size of a human laced with titanium, lasers built into their arms, machineguns. They also carried a nearly limitless amount of ammunition.

"Thankfully, all of these genetic monstrosities were expensive to produce, and Green still had to rely heavily on the typical human armed forces. However, these monsters have become synonymous reminders of a past the human race has tried so hard to forget.

"While the Eastern Coalition was undoubtedly the most abusive and territorial of the two sides, the World Alliance was hardly morally perfect. There are documented cases inside various members of the World Alliance of apparently vat-grown creatures comparable in size, ferocity, appearance, and fighting skill to the mutates of the Coalition. But, where the mutates were cold, merciless murderers heedless of all life, the genetic constructs of the Alliance fought with honor, trading their lives for the humans they protected whenever it was required. The Japanese ascribed them to the demi-god guardians of old Shintoism, the British and Americans to angels sent from Heaven. However, there is significantly less evidence that these 'angels' existed, than there is that Sevarius' constructs existed.

"In fact, it has been rumored that Sevarius created the Alliance's angelic defenders, for twice the price that he created the Coalition's Wyverns. It is further rumored that Sevarius' unscrupulous nature led him to design genetic terrors such as viruses, more creatures of legend and the like for private interests, such as self-serving corporate entities and the exceedingly wealthy.

"However, both the Coalition and Alliance discovered Sevarius' treachery and had him terminated by government assassins in relatively short order. However, the repercussions of his work up to that point were well-seen; for the first time since the Romans, Britain was invaded. The United States was wiped off the face of the map by the Wyvern Corps in it's entirety. The Wyvern Corps was obliterated in and of itself in the States' last-ditch attempt to defend itself, by detonating fifty-plus thermonuclear devices at the same time all across the landscape. The countries of the former USSR fell to Green's war machine, as did northern Africa, all the way down to Uganda, Rwanda and Zaire. It was shortly after these events that the Alliance simply gave up and bathed as much of the Coalition's holdings as was possible in nuclear fire. The Coalition, shortly before it was obliterated, launched it's own nuclear cache at the Alliance's holdings, as will be investigated further into this thesis.

"In summation, because of events set in motion by Sevarius' creations, six-hundred million people were swallowed in nuclear fire."

She put down the PADD for a moment, thinking, and then continued.

"If not for this one man's lust for money, the entire confrontation might not have occurred, and humanity might never have really awoken to what it was doing to itself for centuries to come. A background check on this individual reveals very little, but when reviewing some of the news broadcasts of the period, one discovers...."

...and this was where she had ended it. Once more she turned the bedside monitor towards her, and watched the video reel once again.

"This is Travis Marshall reporting to you live from Times Square which appears to have been besieged by... MONSTERS! This shocking footage was shot only moments ago!"

Engrossed, she watched as a shaky amateur photographer caught - for a split second - the strangest sight she had ever seen: a series of large animals with bat-like wings making a beeline out of sight.

She had ordered the computer to replay it several times. However, she stopped now - and turned to the LCARS system. "Computer, how many mentions are there of these creatures in known records for that period of time?"

"Specify time parameters. There is a steady trickle of reports throughout known history until a few years after the initial formation of the Earth Star Alliance."

She stared at the ceiling, holding her arms behind her head. "Speculation - why did the reports stop? People still claim to see the Loch Ness Monster or alligators in the sewers to this very day."

"Unknown."

"That is so strange." She muttered to herself, staring up at the ceiling. Outside her window in the dark she could see the moon, sparkling with the light of millions its millions of inhabitants.

, , ,

Cadet Jack Canmore looked around a little before entering the holodeck. It was dark. There was a little moon overhead - to which he was grateful for as the door closed and vanished behind him. As he looked around, he realized he could hear Aria's voice.

"Can you enhance the image any more?"

"Insufficient visual information." The computer complained in a monotone way.

"Okay... let's assume this thing is as tall as me, that's a good place to start."

Jack walked toward the sound. The floor was black, but in the moonlight he could make out a shape ahead of him. It was like a shadow given form, but he could not determine it's shape.

"Hi Jack." Aria's voice said.

"What did you learn in Paris?"

"Not much." She said, appearing in the moonlight in front of him from what appeared to be fog. Jack rubbed his arms - it was cold in here. "It's what I didn't learn that bothers me the most."

"Why?"

"Anton Sevarius. I went through every historical record, text and video I could find at Federation Headquarters, and do you know how much I found? Dick. He is a name without a past."

Jack was catching her drift. "You'd think a figure like that from our history would be more researched."

"That is why he made the perfect term paper, but there is nothing - NOTHING." She emphasized, waving her hands about.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, nodding to the holodeck.

"I may not have learned anything about Dr. Sevarius, but I found news broadcasts from reputable news organizations claiming large demon-like creatures were living in big cities - even helping people."

"That's ludicrous nonsense."

"Is it? Similar reports go all the way back to the beginning of recorded time. There are mentions from New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Paris, London, the list goes on and on. Mass hysteria about the same thing?"

"But that doesn't happen today." Jack retorted.

"That's what is so weird. It all stopped suddenly sometime around the formation of the Earth Star Alliance, after all these thousands of years!"

Jack smiled at her, looking down at the ghostly form that the computer had generated before them. "Looks mean. I'd sure hate to meet one without a phaser."

"They may not be all bad."

"How can you say that? Look at that..."

The young woman looked down at a PADD, and started quoting numbers. "145 people saved from a hotel fire in 2003 in front of a crowd of at least fifty witnesses. A banquet hall full of some 500 people was rescued from a hostage situation when a hostile organization threatened a group that supported these creatures. There is a story of a small city in Japan where the law enforcement was composed of the creatures, and had a nil crime rate in a country which had an enormous crime wave during the years before Japan was sunk into the sea until modern times. They even tell stories of them protecting police officers, capturing criminals..."

Jack was laughing. "All right Aria, but how are you going to prove it?"

"I can't." She said. "Without some solid evidence."

Jack approached her and kissed her forehead once before leaving. He was smiling, but she could tell he didn't believe her. She turned back to the computer-generated apparition. "Shut it off, computer." All at once the familiar lines of the holodeck grin were seen, and Aria sighed in the sense of familiarity it gave her.

"Computer - what is the most recent dated sighting of these things?"

"The last sighting of the creatures known as Gargoyles occurred outside New Sacramento, California heading towards the mountains."

Aria raised and eyebrow. "Which mountains?"

, , ,

With a pair of regulation hiking boots and a small satchel of things on her belt, she hiked up a poorly my trail, following a set of readings on her tricorder. In this century earth was practically paradise - there weren't many places here you had to worry about being hurt, but this was badlands country. She was a little afraid. What student in their right mind would go this far for their thesis? She was willing to bet that very few of the other Starfleet officers went through this much to graduate. Aria stopped and wondered what on earth pushed her inside to become such on over achiever - probably just stubborn. Cursing herself for being out of her mind, her tricorder registered a cave opening along the path she was walking. Amazing, isn't it? This whole land at one time was bathed in nuclear fire, and now it's peaceful and covered with green.

She approached the cave and without a moment's hesitation let herself in. With a handlamp, she searched the walls. Her intuition was screaming there was something here. There HAD to be. She desperately wanted some answers.

Her tricorder was spitting out an analysis of the cave, which consisted of mostly igneous rock - molten magma that had poured out of the San Andreas Fault when the old Sacramento was laid waste with nuclear bombardment. People avoided this area for that reason, although the radioactivity had long since been neutralized - it wasn't exactly picnic ground. The tricorder was also registering signs of recent habitation - THAT puzzled her. She began following these traces. Several hundred meters below her was an underground river and a large network of caves. There were residual radioactivity traces in here, but well below the danger level. There was one firm life sign in here, but it was too vague to attempt...

The ground gave out beneath her. Dust filled the air, and suddenly Aria was flying through space...

, , ,

Water was being poured on her face when she dizzily found herself propped up against one wall. Every possible muscle and bone in her body ached. She was dizzy and it was too dark for her to see anything. The only part of her body that did not hurt was her ears - they worked quite well, all things considered. She could hear something... or someone... moving around in the cave. She felt the person moving her leg, wrapping cloth around it - whoever it was, they were trying to help her.

"Who are you?" she inquired in a shaky voice.

"You're awake - good." A deep masculine voice replied. "It was getting just a little lonely down here."

"Why?" Aria asked, incredulously. "Are you all alone down here?"

"Yes, until you found your way down here."

"Why are you here?"

"I've been basically sealed in here. My grandparents parents sealed us in here, but the radioactivity made them all sterile, and so we've been slowly dying out."

Aria groaned, trying in vain to find a more comfortable position to rest. "I got .to get back to the academy - to sickbay."

"Not while I'm about - you're too bruised up to move and have a broken leg. Coming here was very, very stupid, Cadet."

She snorted. "So I hit a cave-in, big deal. I'll still find what I was looking for if that means coming by later."

The other seemed caught off guard by this, and paused for a moment before saying, "What exactly were you looking for?"

"I'm doing some research on some unexplained phenomena of twenty first century. I want to get to the heart of the matter -it'll look great on my final paper."

The other sighed. "Well, I guess you found something."

All at once her arrogant demeanor vanished. "What... what do you mean?" She felt around for her handlamp, and found that it had been returned to the small satchel at her side.

She turned it on. Her eyes widened. She screamed in terror.

Before her was the most terrifying apparition she had ever seen. It had horns, fangs, claws, and bat-like wings and tail. It's every joint had a barb on it. It took several minutes before she controlled her fear enough to begin to arrest the desire to scream. She had her light trained on his face, and he was shielding his eyes with one paw. She covered her mouth with her hand to suppress the desire to scream any longer, as she drank in his features. Beyond his terrifying exterior he appeared strangely... human. The longer she looked at him, the more human he became. His skin was tinted slightly blue, but otherwise he seemed light medium built man of about her age with sharp elven features and with ears longer and more pointed than a Vulcan. He wore a pair of leather breeches, which were well worn but well washed also. There was a thick belt around his waist with a small cloth satchel on it.

She stumbled a little on her broken leg. Suddenly, the other reached out in concern. "Here, you shouldn't be trying to walk on that." He carefully helped her back down against the wall.

Aria groaned a little. "You're one of those creatures from the news report in 1998."

"News report?"

"May, 1998 - creatures attacked the police tower and an old cathedral in downtown Manhattan. I read the reports."

"I am... related to those involved. That was five generations ago. Only they did not attack, the humans attacked us."

Aria stopped. Reaching into her satchel, she pressed a button on her tricorder.

"Why did they attack you?"

For the next hour and a half, she interviewed her... unusual witness. Part of what he told her was personal experience, and part of it was family history. Eventually, the two were sitting side by side talking like old school buddies.

"After the humans and the aliens created their great alliance, we became afraid of being annihilated without any offspring to carry on our species, and went into hiding. They all died slowly, and then I was alone. I've been alone for many years now. My kind dies with me." Finally, the creature sighed deeply and looked at her leg. He was changing the subject. "I don't know how long I can keep you here."

"Well, I intend to catch the evening shuttle back to the bay."

He looked at her. "It's the middle of the night now."

"Oh." she sighed. "I guess I'll have to use a transporter credit."

"These walls are many meters thick, and even I can't dig out the pile of rubble which I pulled you out of."

"You've never seen a transporter beam have you?" she laughed.

He did not laugh, but fingered something hanging on a leather strip around his neck. "You can take me out of here?"

She pressed her comm badge. "San Francisco control, medical emergency! Transport two immediately to San Francisco general!" She then reached out her hand and grabbed his paw as the world began to swirl and turn blue. She whispered to him in a buddy-buddy way. "...That way I don't have to use a transporter credit."

Out of the swirls came a shriek, and Aria realized that one of the nurses could see her companion. When the materialization sequence ended about two seconds later, she put up a hand. "It's okay! He's my friend!"

They were in a transporter room attached to the hospital emergency wing. Aria was offered a stretcher, but declined, choosing instead to lean on her winged compatriot. In the bright hospital light, Aria wondered at his distinctly light blue shaded leathery skin. He was wincing at the bright light.

The nurse who had screamed relaxed. "Now I've seen just about everything."

"What happened, Cadet?" the duty nurse inquired.

"Took a fall mountain climbing." It was a half-truth, but her friend said nothing. "Luckily he found me. I think my leg is broken."

The doctor took a device and began to clean and seal the abrasions in her skin. "What's your names?" Aria was laid on a table in the center of the office.

"Cadet Aria Maza, sir." She replied automatically. "Doing some field research for my thesis." The duty nurse turned to the other.

"My kind have no names." He replied sternly.

The nurse nodded, understanding. "What's your thesis, Cadet?"

She smiled conspiratorially at the creature. "Him."

The nurse nodded again. "Good topic. I'd like to read it when you're finished."

"No problem."

"What planet are you from, sir?" The duty officer inquired.

He looked at the nurse inquiringly for a moment. "Here." He winked at Aria.

"I've never heard of anything like your people. It's my job to be trained in many race's medicine."

"I'm not surprised. There aren't many of us." He replied automatically. "We have a problem with infertility."

"Mind if the nurses take a look? We might have a few things for infertility here in San Francisco that your people might not have." Aria suggested.

"Yeah, not a problem." The duty nurse nodded. "When I've got the cadet all patched up. Do you know what caused it?"

He shifted uncomfortably for a moment. "Radiation exposure."

She smiled. "Yep, we can help with that."

"If I may, you humans are very different from the ones my mother told me about." He said conversationally, as the doctor was scanning Aria's leg.

"Hairline fracture of the femur." She reported, changing laser tools.

"Humans have changed a lot since Vulcans first landed here." Aria said. "Humans have learned to get along better with one another, and in harmony with hundreds of other alien races."

One of the other nurses - the one that had screamed - noted; "Once you hear a reassuring voice, it's easier to adapt to someone new."

He nodded.

"Good as new." The duty nurse smiled. "Be a little generous about putting weight on that leg for a few days and be a little more careful next time."

"Yes sir." Aria nodded.

The nurse turned to the blue colored male next to her. "Be so good as to let her lean on you for a while, alright?"

He nodded again. "My pleasure."

The nurse leaned over her patient once more, and looked at Aria, and licked her lips, indicating at the creature with her eyes. Aria blinked once or twice, and giggled like a little girl.

The doctor motioned for him to sit on an adjacent bed against the wall. He seemed nervous, but relaxed as the doctor punched away at her tricorder. She looked at it, puzzled for several minutes.

"What is it?" Aria asked, standing by the bed, sparing her leg.

"His DNA, internal organs, even reproductive system... very similar to humans. A few introns have been activated, but your DNA profile could almost pass for a human male." She paused. Aria and her friend's eyes met. The nurse continued. "Yep, you've been irradiated, but it's not life threatening. Nurse, Hydronolin, 350 cc's. Looks like you were pretty young when this happened."

"I was the youngest it affected. I was the last one conceived."

The doctor touched the spray to his shoulder. "Not if I can help it." She said, determinably. "I'm going to give you a month's supply of this, and I want you to use one of these every night before you go to bed."

"What is it?"

"Hydronolin blocks radioactive residue in your cells and rebuilds your genetic code. You'll be able to impregnate any of your own kind with a few weeks, but I'm keeping you on it for a month to be safe. I want to see you again after that for a checkup. I'd suggest staying away from..." she glanced momentarily at Aria, but tried to hide it. However, he followed the glance. "Interspecies relationships for a few years yet. If you do decide to pursue a relationship of that kind, I suggest you consider artificial insemination. Many I take a genetic sample for my own records?"

He looked Aria, his cheeks flushing a little bit violet colored. "Ummm... perhaps later."

The nurse nodded, and assembled his prescription.

"That's it?" he asked, incredulous.

"Well," the nurse smiled. "I can't provide the female - that's your job. Other than that, you're done here."

Aria laughed. The creature blushed even more. "Lay off a bit, sir - I don't think he's had even a friend in... a long time." She winked at him.

, , ,

Once outside the hospital, he was looking up at the moon in awe.

"Kinda trashy, eh? I mean, last I heard twelve million people live up there."

"I was born in those caves, I've never seen the moon before."

"But you know what a moon is." She deduced.

"Oh yes, my clan taught me science, language - anything they could get their paws on."

"What are your people called?"

"Gargoyles."

"Inaccurate." Aria stated flatly.

"What?"

"A Gargoyle is a rainspout, the more appropriate term in Gothic architecture would be a 'grotesque'. But... if that's the name your people choose, I won't argue. Would you mind if I gave YOU a name?"

"Why?" he asked, puzzled.

"It's a gift." She explained.

He nodded his approval. "What name? My kind normally do not use names."

"I got to have something. What name do you want?" she asked, baffled. For the life of her, she could not think of a single name for a Gargoyle.

"I know nothing about names." He protested. "Names are a human tradition."

Aria was silent, unable to think of a reply. They walked through the city streets under the moonlight. The streetlights lit the streets in a pleasant glow.

Finally, she changed the subject. "How long have Gargoyles lived on earth?"

"We were created in the beginning to protect the humans. I was taught that as a hatchling. That was... ten thousand years ago."

She nodded. "Wow. The doctor said you're almost human."

"We too are Terrans, but as brothers we have not learned to get along well through our histories. That is why my people fled during the coming of the aliens."

Aria paused in mid-step. "I've always wondered why only one race evolved from humanity... If what you say is true, revealing you to the world could change the course of human history..."

He nodded. "We have tried over and over to make friends with you humans, but have successively failed."

"Then how can you trust me?" she asked, baffled.

"What other choice have I? I am the last of my kind. Sevarius saw to that four hundred years ago. Without me, my people die. I pray the Goddess placed you in my lap with wisdom."

Aria was stunned. Her jaw fell slightly, as she looked slightly up into his eyes. In the streetlights, she could see his eyes... they were a deep green. The Gargoyle touched her chin with one talon, gently brushing away a lock of her hair.

"Why did that doctor smile at me so?" he inquired.

She found herself laughing a little. "Once she adjusted to seeing you, found you attractive. I can't say I blame her."

They resumed walking. "Do not humans find us terrifying?"

"Some do." She shrugged. "Then we get used to you, and you start seeing the beauty."

The Gargoyle nodded. "Humanity has definitely matured then."

It was Aria's turn to blush. "I can't speak for all humanity..."

Her comment was cut off, and she felt the Gargoyle paused, tugging gently on her sleeve as he did. She stopped and turned to him. She looked at him with a curious look on her features. Slowly, he reached down and kissed her.

Aria was stunned, closed her eyes, hardly daring to move. His lips were so... warm.

He broke after a moment, and smiled.

"Ah... Adam." She barely breathed.

"What?"

"I'll name you Adam." She explained, a little dizzy.

He smiled at this. "I have adjusted to you too, Aria."

"Uh..." she stammered, startled. "Thanks... I think."

"Will you help me?" he asked, softly, taking her hands in his paws.

She took a long breath. "I've never denied anyone who asked me for help."

"Will you help me?" he asked again, slower.

"I just said I would."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She smiled, turning to lead him down the streets.

Her dorm was in a well-kept flat on the outskirts of San Francisco in a three-level house on a block of homes built together like vertical pancakes. "Who is it?" a voice inquired.

"It's Aria."

The door clicked, and she opened it. "That was the computer. It's okay, everyone else is in bed. My family were able to get me this flat before moving to New Tokyo, and so everyone else kinda looks to me as the one in charge of this place."

"Your parents are wealthy?"

"Money doesn't exist anymore, Adam." She explained. "The land belongs to the city of San Francisco, and the building belongs to the Historical District Housing Commission. It's a kinda bureaucratic system, but it sure got rid of poverty. The Federation has plenty of assets to pay for most everything it needs, is democratic in its structure, and exists to serve the people. My parents are just better at dealing with the paperwork than others."

He nodded. "Then who owns me?"

"No one. You're a sentient being. Starfleet is based here in San Francisco because it's the seat of the idea of rights for all sentient beings. The concept was based here about a hundred years ago when the Klingon Empire was on its knees. There are busts on United Nations Plaza of such people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosalyne Montgomery, Spock of Vulcan, and Chancellor Gorkon of Q'onos. They were immortalized because of their roles in establishing the idea that all sentient, reasoning beings deserve respect and justice regardless of ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation, or world of origin (respectively)."

"I knew of Dr. King, but once again I am amazed at the progress humans have made."

"Anyhow, I have most of the passwords for this place. I can lock the door to my room and people won't bother you - You did mention you slept days. (I have class tomorrow at 07:00). No one will disturb you."

Touching the key to turn on the light as they entered her room.

"Good. I am very... vulnerable by day. I thank you for the forethought," he paused for a moment, looking at her. She closed the door and locked it. "Are you sure you would help me?"

"Look Adam, there on the table."

There was a medal sitting there in a transparent aluminum case, with her name on the bottom - 'Aria Maza - honorable mention in Sentient Rights'.

"I won that from the Federation council on Sentient Rights for starting my own campaign to collect personal items and volunteers to help out the Bajorans when the Cardassians withdrew from Bajor. I even spent two years there as a volunteer myself. We rebuilt cities, and gave medical help to small beaten children..." she paused, sniffling. Adam noted tears welling up in her eyes. It took a few moments for her to collect herself. "The Galaxy still needs heroes, Adam."

"You are a protector - like myself."

She smiled. "Yes. I would give my life for others."

The Gargoyle noted her serious tone, and considered her for a long moment. He touched her eye to brush away a stray tear that had escaped her attention. She looked directly at him.

"I wish I were like you." She added.

"But... why?" he asked, puzzled.

"I saw the way you picked me up, and the videos from the 1990s, your kind are very strong. You have wings, claws, and fangs... If I were a Gargoyle I'd live to protect and defend people that aren't fortunate to live on a paradise like Earth. It's the least I can do to give back to life which was so kind to me in the first place."

Sighing heavily, he reached into the small satchel on his belt, and withdrew a small object.

"What's that?"

"You gave me two gifts, a name and your oath of help giving life to my kind, it is all I can do in return."

Gently, he placed the object around her neck. It glimmered brightly, seemingly casting a soft green glow. It tingled against her skin.

"Know this, Cadet Aria Maza, and see that you never forget this one thing if you hear nothing else I have said. Gargoyles live to protect - any Gargoyle who does not is corrupt. It is our purpose, our nature."

She nodded. "I will."

This time, it was her that initiated the kiss.

, , ,

She was awoken by the sound of someone ringing her at the door. "Aria? You awake?"

She moaned. "Yeah?"

"We missed you in class today. Having trouble with your thesis?"

She blinked. "No, I was in class yesterday."

"I know, I'm talking about today sweetheart. Did you sleep in?"

She sighed, and sat up. Her whole body felt strange. Managing to pry her eyelids open, she caught a look at chronometer - it was 20:35 hours the late afternoon. She turned to look out the window - the sun was just setting in the west out in the Pacific Ocean. "SHIT! I sure did!" she replied.

Her roommate laughed. "The computer said you brought someone home last night. A man?"

She closed her eyes, and replied in an annoyed tone. "What business is it of yours?"

"Sorry." The voice giggled. "We're having dinner soon, if you feel up to it. I also heard you'd injured yourself last night, so I told the administrators you were staying home for a day to recuperate. They said you were stressed after getting back from Paris, and to make sure you relaxed."

She smiled. "Thanks - you're a real friend Melissa."

"Don't mention it - what are friends for?" The line shut off.

Well, that was enough lounging around, she'd decided. She didn't know why she'd slept for so long, but was certain she'd have to see the nurse at SF General about this weird feeling she was having. He skin felt tingly somehow, she was having trouble feeling one of her finger, and was having strange sensations up and down her back. Maybe it was that fall she took yesterday...or the sex. Yeah, she decided - it was probably the sex. Adam wasn't half bad... for a former virgin - he was slow and gentle...

Without bothering to turn on the light, she stumbled gracelessly to her feet, nearly tripping over herself several times, finally making it to the sink. She pressed the water button on, began to splash water over her face a few times, and then turned the water off again. She began to walk towards the shower, but found herself getting so dizzy she had to close her eyes and lean against the wall for support. She pressed herself into the shower out of pure habit, and start the cycle. She peeled away her torn clothing as the gentle hum of the sonic energy filled her body. The nurse had untied the bandages from her hurt leg the night before, so she felt the need to lean down and caress her thigh, her lower leg, her fetlocks...

Her brain suddenly halted dead in its tracks. Her eyes shot open. Since WHEN did she have fetlocks?

She looked down at her whole body. For the second time in twenty-four hours, she screamed.

"ARIA!!! ARIA!!! ARIA!!! WHAT'S WRONG?!!! WHAT'S GOING ON?!!! ARIA!!! ARIA!!!" her concerned roommates began to ring at her door.

There was a hiss as the manual override was released, and the cadets who shared the building with her strained to pull the door open on her own. The girl who made it inside first, rushed through the room, searching. When she found Aria in the shower, she too screamed.

Melissa, hearing the two girls making such ear-piercing noise, ran in after them. There, laying atop a heap of torn clothes, was... Aria... wasn't it?

"Oh my God..." she muttered.

She was deep lavender from head to toe, with the same dark black hair and blue highlights. Small two horns jutted from either side of her brow, her ears long and pointed. Her elbows and knees also sported barbed joints. Melissa leaned past the other girl for a closer look. Her eyes were still baby blue, and had those soft eye ridges and Native American features, but she had slanted eyes and bat-like wings with a black velvety lining on the back and three little fingers at their tips. She a long gecko-like tail, her hands were only four fingered, and sharply pointed like talons, same with her toes, except instead of a big toe, she had sharp fetlocks attached to the back of her ankle. She looked frightening, but Aria's face and voice were still there.

In addition, for the second time in twenty-four hours, Aria reappeared in the transporter room at SF general with a blanket thrown over her. Melissa was holding her down was covered in sets of three parallel cuts, most of which were bleeding. The triage nurse from the night before was rushed in and recognized her. The necklace was ripped off, and tossed aside as she was placed under and examining unit and sedated - it no longer shimmered, by was nothing more than a piece of black glass.

"Her genetic code itself has been slightly altered. No sign of contaminant... foreign organism... nothing!" the nurse was saying. "I might be able to reverse it if..."

, , ,

The hospital room was shrouded by darkness. It was a click at the window the roused Aria from her tears. A shadow stood before her, the moonlight providing a backlight.

"Thank God I found you." It was Adam's voice.

"Adam!" she cried softly. "What's happened to me?"

He gently approached her bed, shushed her and placed a paw in hers. "It's all right. I'm here now."

"The doctors tried everything, but they can't reverse it - let alone explain it! Did you do something?"

He sighed. "I may have, and seeing this has happened, therefore I feel a little responsible. I gave you a necklace, remember?" she nodded. "It was a gift-giving stone. It's designed to grant you your greatest desire when you put it on. I had saved it for an emergency, but when I last used that stone nothing happened. I had wished for companionship in my loneliness one night when I was very desperate and depressed. I was crushed when it did not work right away, but then you came, and I figured that I needed to give it to you."

She nodded. "I wanted it more than anything last night. What kind of technology is that?"

"It's magic."

Her jaw opened slightly.

"My family taught me magic as a hatchling, but unfortunately I cannot undo this, magic itself prevents me from doing so. Magic is like a living being, it has a will to survive. You gave it the design, it created the pattern, and now it will prevent anything - science or sorcery - from breaking that pattern." He sighed in explanation.

"I cut Melissa thirty nine times because I would hold onto her too tight as she tried to help me... because my finger are so... sharp." She said in a wallowing, self-loathing tone.

"I'm so sorry." He apologized.

Aria was silent for a moment, looking at her four fingered paws, feeling the movement of them. "It's not your fault, you were trying your best to make a friend and weren't thinking. I understand. I was trying so hard to find out what was going on for my thesis I didn't even think about the dangers that might be involved. At least I'm still alive, I'm not permanently disabled or have to use prosthetic limbs." She sighed, looking up at Adam. "It's my fault too. Besides, life just happens this way sometimes. I'll adapt."

He leaned forward and kissed her. "You truly are a remarkable... woman."

She snorted. "This isn't a fairy tale, Adam, I've got to find a way to tell my parents, my professors at Starfleet Academy, my friends... They're not going to like magic as an answer."

"Then I will claim responsibility for this."

"That won't be necessary, Adam, but I would appreciate your help."

He nodded in affirmation. "So be it, but we must leave here before dawn."

"Why?"

"At dawn, you will see. I suspect you have seen it once already but have not known it."

"What are you talking about?" she asked incredulously.

The male Gargoyle climbed up on a table, to the window he had somehow manually opened. "I know this is asking for a lot after what has happened, but please trust me. I may save your life if you listen to me."

"Okay, if it's that serious, but this room is seventeen stories up."

"This I know." Without flinching, Adam walked out onto the stone ledge astride her window.

Cautiously, Aria swung her legs out of the bed, wrapping a hospital gown around her, but underneath her new wings, tying the two top ends together around her. On the ledge, Adam flared his bat-like wings, and began to explain.

"First you must learn to glide. This is a skill they do not teach you at the academy."

She was very intensely interested now.

"First of all, a Gargoyle cannot fly - we glide. There is not enough strength in our wings to fight the air currents, therefore you must use them."

"Like an old sailing ship." She nodded.

Adam nodded. "Second, your entire body is an instrument for feeling the movement of the air currents."

"I don't have a coat. San Francisco is a cold city, after all."

"Are you cold?"

"Not right now."

"Nor will you. Your body is different, and can withstand great extremes of temperature. Thirdly, you must be careful before you attempt to land. Your chest is now separated by one large bone, which the wing muscles attach to. It is called your keel bone. Your heart is among these muscles, and if you break your keel bone, your risk tearing your heart open."

"Now you tell me all the drawbacks." She sighed.

Adam paused. "There are many more drawbacks, but it is a life that can be rewarding - if you are strong enough of will."

"Do I have any choice now?" she asked.

"Yes, you have one alternative. You can give up."

"I don't accept that."

"Then I will jump first and you follow. If you stay behind and go back into the hospital, then you will have given up."

Adam leapt, sunk below her line of sight, and then spun up again on an unseen current of air. "Your turn."

She leapt... and fell like a stone. She screamed in terror.

"Look up at me!" he told her.

She did, craning her neck. The rest of her invariably followed, and she found herself leveling off. Adam joined her. "You have passed your two gliding lessons. The second was a level glide, the first was having the courage to jump in the first place."

"I never used to scream so much as I have in the last few days. My throat is getting hoarse."

"You've had much reason to be afraid. I cannot blame you. I too am learning here - I learned to glide in caves and ravines, this is much different."

"The flat is that way."

"Turn your head and your body will follow. You have natural instincts to do the rest. Trust yourself."

Aria's eyes were wide. "I'm flying. I'm not using a single thruster, levitator, or shuttle. I'm gliding on my wings..." Adam smiled a little, listening to her talk to herself. "This is so weird..."

"You get used to the weirdness."

She gave him a look. "How would you know?"

"Here is the flat."

It took several circles around the flat before she gathered the courage.

"It's like diving into water. Do it feet first, your body will do the rest."

She took a deep breath, and flared her wings, placing her feet in front of her. The ground came rushing upon her, and suddenly her body registered the impact, but was startled to discover she was still on her feet. Like a spring, the muscles in her legs had taken all the energy from the landing. Aria was elated but stunned. "I DID IT!" she exclaimed.

"Shhhh... your friends are asleep. Yes, you did it perfectly. Your body already knows how, all you needed was to trust those instincts."

Aria smiled largely, and opened the window by her room. There were some plants on the roof that Aria kept, and the sliding window was nice for getting on to the roof. Adam closed the window behind them, finding Aria at the mirror. She had closed the door just in time so that he could not watch, removed the hospital gown, and looked at her new form in the mirror.

Adam took off the panel by the door and began to fiddle with it. With his immense strength, he took a large piece of duranium running track for the door air's glide system, and bent it backward. When a light appeared on the panel that read "ERROR: Mechanism jammed", he smiled in satisfaction. He then did the same at the window. When finished, he smiled at his work.

Aria ran her tongue around the sharp fangs on the top and bottom of her jaw, felt the stiff cartilage of the long Vulcan ears. She touched the large membranes of skin that had carried her atop the wind from the hospital to her flat. She moved her tail from side to side and even touched it's tip to her waist, watching it move like a snake slithering through the air. She wiggled the three toes that she walked with on each of her changed feet, and contemplated how her paws felt like her pinkie finger was somehow attached to her ring finger to create one.

Adam waited on the bed, trying to hide his anxiety level.

Aria slid her paws through several different changes of clothes in her closet. Nothing looked promising. Dressing for wings and a tail was a difficult proposition. Sighing, she looked down at the hospital gown she had shed. A thought crossed her mind. 'That gown had been too large and cumbersome. I can't wear that if I'm going to have to glide again,' she found herself reasoning. 'I can't wear my uniform, obviously, so why not make a compromise?'

"Computer?" Aria inquired. "Do I have credit for a new uniform to replace the one that was lost?"

"Affirmative."

"That was fast. Okay, a few changes - first I need something adjusted for these... changes. My sizes are going to be different." She was thinking aloud now. "I need something that won't interfere with my body's ability to feel the air currents and designed for best airflow. Can you create something like that?"

The computer made a few sounds, and then in the replicator by the sink appeared two articles. She picked them up. The first was a Starfleet style halter-top like she would wear on warm days to play tennis at the academy where uniforms were required at all times. The other was a pair of tight fitting pants that ended just above her barbed knees. Smiling, she pulled the on happily. "Perfect, computer."

Adam was a little startled (to say the least) when Aria reappeared out of the other half of the room dressed in what appeared to be a Starfleet uniform cut for a Gargoyle. He was nodded in approval. "Impressive. Not too difficult to get hold of, I hope?"

"The replicators can bring me just about anything I need instantly. That's another way in which poverty in this world was eliminated. There's more than enough energy collected from the sun every day to feed the people of earth many times over."

"I am again amazed." He nodded approvingly. "Most impressive."

Aria went to the bench next to her bed with her LCARS monitor and the PADD containing her thesis. Her Comm badge was sitting there too, and she placed it on the left breast of her top. "There, I feel like a Starfleet Cadet again."

Adam did not comment on this and quickly changed the subject. "Feeling tired yet?"

"No, actually, and I usually sleep nights."

"You too are now nocturnal as I am. Listen carefully, for time is short." She nodded, biting her lip. "During the daylight we are vulnerable. You and I will sleep upon the rising of the sun, and awaken with the setting of the sun. Gargoyles were created to protect humans from creatures of the night, so we sleep by day. We were supposed to be protected by the humans during daylight, but it never worked out that way. You must always be prepared for the day, someplace safe from..."

He never finished speaking, or Aria never heard the rest. Aria suddenly felt a pleasant, warm sensation flooding throughout her body. She flared her wings, and in one fleeting instant she realized why they were called Gargoyles. Then her world went dark, as her consciousness left her.

She had turned to stone.

, , ,

Aria felt the urge to scream again, but this time it was not the scream of fear and terror, but one of joy and exultation. Suddenly awake again, she stretched her wings and arms, and from her lips came a cry like a panther. She was a little startled by this last part, touching her mouth for a moment in surprise.

Taking stock, of herself, she noted it was now sunset - the chronometer read 20:34. 'Now where the hell did the day go?' she thought to herself. She also discovered she was covered in dust. She took stock of herself. Yep, she was still a Gargoyle. However, she discovered little bits of rock on the floor around where she stood. She crouched down and studied a piece.

Then it all came back to her. SHE had turned to stone. She had felt her body changing to stone - it had felt warm and pleasant - like sleeping. She felt warm and refreshed. Her new clothes were still intact and appeared unchanged - a bit dusty perhaps, but that was quickly remedied.

"Now you understand." Came Adam's voice.

She barely glanced at her Gargoyle companion. "I guess. A Gargoyle is vulnerable during their in-force sleep cycle. At least I don't have to worry about getting a good night's sleep anymore. Well, day sleep..."

"Don't think too hard about it." Adam smiled. "You must always be careful to find a safe place during..."

He was unable to finish his words of wisdom, as the door was suddenly blown inward. Aria shouted, grabbed Adam, and dived to side. As the smoke cleared, Federation troops began to fill her bedroom. Aria was on her feet faster than Adam this time, but found there was little to do but not make any threatening moves.

"What's the meaning of this?" Aria asked, trying to seem as non-threatening as she could in this alien body.

"We're in Admiral, they're both here."

"Take them down, corporal."

Aria did not like where this was going. She suddenly realized that the Federation was no longer on her side, and the idea was the most frightening thing she had ever felt.

, , ,

This time she found herself in a prison. There were duranium walls and a force field. Adam was already awake and pacing the room. When she made signs of stirring, Adam was there to help her up.

"What happened?"

"They stunned us and then I awoke here."

Aria walked to the field. There was one guard in a dark room and someone sitting behind a desk. The only light was the bright one on the ceiling in their cell. "Don't I have the right to find out the charges I'm being held on?" she asked them.

"The force field isn't there to keep you in, but to protect you from the rest of the world. It was so much easier when your kind was hidden for us to protect you from annihilation, but now that you've chosen to re-expose yourself to the world we had to take steps. Gargoyles are too precious a resource to loose."

"Protecting us? From who?" Aria replied.

"Come now, Cadet. You should know the answer to that. I read the thesis you were working on." The officer said, holding up a PADD. He stood, and walked around the room beyond the cell, scrolling through whatever data was on it. "You found every instance of Gargoyles back to the start of recorded time, and documented them. You spent at least three pages on the Angels of the allied forced during the final conflicts before the nuclear holocaust. You have a copy of all the news reports, statistics of lives they saved protecting humans... Let me ask you something." He looked up at them. "What progress did Gargoyles make?"

Adam's brow furrowed. "None. They never accepted us. We died alongside their people, and it was us who were forced into hiding when the Vulcans came - not humans." Adam was becoming angry now.

"Exactly. Ironic - the protectors being protected by those they once protected?"

"This isn't protection." Aria cut in. "This is imprisonment. All sentient beings have the right to..."

"To survive. If you can't survive, none of the rest matters. Besides, the Federation Council has already decided on this one - you are simply going to be relocated elsewhere."

"I'D RATHER DIE THAN LIVE A PRISONER!" Aria suddenly shouted at the officer.

"The matter is closed." He said conclusively, returning to his seat.

In frustration, Aria punched the wall with her fist, leaving a dent. Her jailer's console began to complain with an alarm. The energy cells the generated the imprisoning force field flickered slightly in brightness. Gratified with these results, she bunched her fists together and smacked the wall there again. The energy cells flickered more this time. There was a small crackling sound somewhere in the cell. Adam was keenly interested in this. Aria was totally enraged, as though something had snapped inside her. Her eyes changed color to a red, which shone throughout the cell. She hit it again. The main EPS power tap was under that wall that powered the cell's force field - she'd learned that in the academy. She hit it again and again, like a thing gone wild. The two men outside knew the power tap was in there too, and that if she kept this up their cell would be compromised. They both took phaser rifles, and took up a stance outside the cell. Unabated, she continued to use her intense strength to bend the thick duranium plating inward. The cell lights flickered and went out. Adam crouched like an animal ready to spring, his eyes also shone - only his were white. Somewhere in the back of Aria's mind she noted it in a cold, scientific way, wondering if this were a sexually dimorphic phenotype of Gargoyles. However, the rest of her was too far-gone to think about it, she was angry and it controlled her.

Suddenly the cells that generated the field began to give off a shower of sparks, the skin of subspace energy which had trapped them vanished, and some of the cells overheated and exploded in a shower of glass and sparks. The Gargoyles were as one, using their wings to deflect the showers of white - hot sparks, they sprung. The room was dark to the two federation men, and never saw them coming, but their eyes were different. Aria raced forward, and spun herself by the two humans, and felt her tail snap the two men off their feet. Each one took a rifle from them. It was Aria who stopped and set it to a higher power level, opened a panel in the back of jailer's console, and opened fire. The controls exploded in a fireball as the two escaped out the door that Adam had just manually opened.

"Where are we?" was the first voice of sentience out of their lips, and the words belonged to Adam.

"I recognize this place." Aria contributed. "It's Starfleet." She paused, and touched a panel on the wall, which lit up at her touch. "Show me the way to a transporter room." She commanded it. A series of lights appeared, pointing the direction. From a doorway someone stepped out with a phaser, but was pounded to the ground by two very angry balls of pure adrenaline before he could fire off a shot. Aria had not specified which transporter room, so the computer pointed to the first one in it's map of the building. The floors were marble, and aside from computer consoles, were hung with pictures and knickknacks from history. The transporter room was a cargo bay. The door was again locked on them. This time it was Aria who peeled the console off the wall, pulled the manual release and tore the locking bar out by sheer strength.

Adam watched her with a moment's fascination. She felt the whole world was against her - she was running from desperation. Adam knew how she felt. Together, both Gargoyles pulled the doors manually open. Phaser fire erupted from within. Someone had known they would try the transporter room. Aria was unabated. They ducked for cover behind metal boxes of things, on either side of the aisle, Aria poked her head up for a split second, and saw the position of the lights. She used her phaser to shoot them out. Light was the human's key weakness in here, and they used it. Plunged into the darkness of night, the two creatures swung around the outer perimeter of the cargo bay, and took them from the sides - quickly separating each man from his weapon. Two of them even ran in terror.

Without stopping to take their weapons, Aria handled the controls while Adam stood guard.

"What are you doing."

"Computers were always my strongpoint. I can't get into the transporter directly, but I can setup a complex algorithm to confuse the computer." Aria then moved to the back of the controller, pulled out the panel and dropped it on the floor. Several isolinear chips later, and the pads on the transporter came online. "Ten seconds!" she shouted, and both Gargoyles leapt up onto the pads.

In the doorway to the cargo bay, their unarmed jailer appeared, covered with burns, chasing them. "Cadet! What are you doing?!!!" he shouted.

As the blue swirls arouse around her and Adam, she shouted in reply. "Everything about the Federation was a lie!!!"

...and within two point five seconds the transport cycle completed.

"Status, Admiral Falcone."

"They're gone. It'll take some time to determine exactly where - God only knows what she planted in the computer." The security man said, looking at the confused display on the transporter controller. "This cadet of yours got an A for repeated semesters in computer science and technology."

"No need, I have a feeling we'll find out soon enough. That's why I only wanted the standard two guards on their cell. Proceed with the next stage of the plan."

"That may be a little hard at this stage - we're not exactly her heroes anymore."

"Oh, she'll go along with us. She'll have to."

, , ,

Aria was cursing to herself. Her things were scattered around the room - they had left no stone unturned. "I am not their enemy! Human or Gargoyle, I'm a sentient being - I have rights!" She tore her commbadge from her left breast, threw it on the floor, and stomped on it. It sparked once and died.

"Agreed." Adam sighed. "But this Starfleet of yours is determined to deny us those rights."

"Bastards! I grew up in the Federation - I have never been so betrayed!"

"Perhaps this is not the time, Aria - but doesn't this whole situation seem a little bit... odd to you?"

She looked at him. "Explain."

"Why only two guards? For two full grown Gargoyles? They MUST have known how dangerous an adult Gargoyle can be." He suggested.

Aria sat down on her ruined bed. "I never stopped to think about it."

"I know you are angry, and I understand that. However, I can't help but point out how... tidy it all is."

"We were set up all along." She whispered, stunned. "I was so angry. I was an animal."

"Yes, you were angry. An angry Gargoyle can be a dangerous thing. Your instincts kicked in. With a little training you'll make a great Gargoyle warrior."

A strangely sad look crossed the lavender girl's features. She reached down and picked up the crushed remains of her comm badge. "Starfleet was my dream. I worked for it all my life. I wanted to fly a starship someday."

A tear found it's way out of her eye, trickling down her cheek. Adam took her shoulder in his arms. "You will always fly, but I know it's not a starship. This is all my fault." He turned her face to his. "You have not exactly inherited a great lineage. We have tried to get humanity to accept us for thousands of years. You could be locked up for study, imprisoned, hunted, gawked at... that's not the kind of life I want for you."

"What are we going to do?" she asked, more tears starting to roll from her eyes now.

For some reason, despite the lavender color Aria's skin had turned, no matter which part of the galaxy you visit, a woman's lips are always the red of roses. Their lips touched gently, and stayed there for a long minute until Aria had stopped blinking tears.

"I have an idea." Aria smiled, and evil grin suddenly brightening her features. "I want to get the word out about us."

, , ,

If you've never been to the academy, there are a lot of small classes and lots of different professors, that way most of the students and teachers are on a first-name basis with their teachers. There are less than twenty students in each particular hour.

Likewise, Cadet Aria Maza was on a first name basis with most of her professors. Some of the students had already taken their seats when the door slid open and Aria walked in. She was still dressed in halter top and short, but she had another PADD under her arm. All chatter in the room suddenly stopped.

No one said anything, but there were definitely a few stares. Melissa's jaw had slackened as she saw Aria walk in. "What are you doing at night classes?"

"I've suddenly had to adopt a nocturnal sleeping pattern."

"Cadet Maza?" the female professor asked, startled.

"Yessir." Aria replied.

"When I heard your voice, I recognized you. Looks like you've been to hell! I'd heard from Ms. Bluestone here that you'd been to the hospital. Sounds like you had one rough weekend." She said in a sociable tone.

"I wouldn't say I've been to hell, but I imagine I look it, sir." She smiled.

"No, really you don't look that bad. They couldn't reverse this... mutation?"

"No sir, it's not something they can explain. It hasn't hampered my ability to do anything, though... except wrought havoc with all my perfectly defined makeup shades." Aria was laughing.

"How is your thesis coming in the days you've been gone from my day class, Cadet?"

"I have changed my topic, sir - I've sort of run into it."

The professor smiled, tossing her red hair. "I look forward to reading it. How is it you're back in class?"

"Are we Starfleet or not, sir? No disrespect sir, but if I came to class with no legs or arms shouldn't make any difference, I'm still a sentient being deserving of your respect. A tail and wings shouldn't make a difference."

"Agreed, Cadet - I'll defend you on that. Which world is this race from?" she asked, referring to Aria's current body.

"Sir, that was the reason for the change in my thesis. These beings evolved on Earth. I found they had fought in the last Eugenics War and discovered they were in hiding. I interviewed one of their descendants."

The professor looked at her with a stony expression. "Please tell me you are joking..."

"No sir, they were Anton Sevarius's model for some of his super-warriors in the First Eugenics War. They saved the lives of RAF pilots in the Second World War. They fought alongside the Scots against the Vikings. I was told that the primary advisor to the great Scottish king Macbeth was one. They're almost as old as humanity itself, but despite their outward strength, they have a multitude of vulnerabilities and have barely clung to life for the last thousand or so years. Humans used to hunt down and kill them in their sleep."

"You have evidence to back up this testimony?"

"Plenty, sir. I have a... personal interest in the topic."

"Nice threads, Aria." One of her male classmates put in.

"Gargoyles are not very affected by temperature for some reason. They also rely on their skin's ability to feel air currents when they glide." She quickly summarized.

"You can really fly?" Melissa asked in a giddy tone.

Aria nodded, grinning. "I flew home from General."

The teacher at this point called the class to order and was ready to give her history lecture.

However, the instructor did not get far before they were interrupted by more of the Federation's shock troopers barraging in the door to the room. Aria inwardly groaned, but true to her word, the instructor defended her.

"May I help you, gentlemen?" she asked in a militaristic tone.

"They're here for me." Aria admitted.

"Why?" Melissa asked, shocked. "What did she do wrong?"

"They want me because I'm different. They want to lock me up for the rest of my life." Aria put in.

"Is that true?" the teacher asked the troopers, who did not reply.

"The Federation Council voted on it in closed session, they want me in jail for the rest of my life. They say it's for my own protection." Aria looked at the floor, anger filling her again. She clenched her fist, and her eyes glowed.

"That's wrong!" Melissa exploded. Her, the classmates and the instructor interposed themselves between the troopers and Aria. The room was tense, and she was very afraid the troopers would open fire on the unarmed cadets. The instructor, while a very large woman, was not a match for them. If there was a fight, it would be bloody.

The troopers were stunned at the reaction and lowered their weapons and shields.

"Sir, we have a problem." One of the troopers reported in.

"Withdraw."

The shock troopers withdrew, but there were two admirals that came into the room in their place. Aria recognized one of them as the jailer from earlier that night. The troopers were right behind them.

"Move aside, all of you, or you risk, being vaporized on the spot." One of them threatened.

"What -- ?!!!" the instructor was shocked.

"You would kill unarmed cadets to imprison an innocent alien? What kind of Starfleet values are these?" Melissa asked in total bewilderment.

"Melissa..." Aria's paw appeared on the girl's shoulder. "Do it."

"But Aria it's not right..."

Aria pressed her way forward, as her shocked companions fell aside.

"You're forgetting one thing." Aria explained. "I now have the blood of a Gargoyle, and so I have to protect the ones I care about." She stared the admirals in the eyes. "It's who I am, or have become - however you choose to look at it."

Aria interposed herself between her class and the two admirals, who were holding phase-compression rifles at her. "Fine - you win." She told them. "Do whatever you have to with me, but don't hurt them. I surrender."

"ARIA!!!" Melissa screamed in fright at her. "Don't!"

"If I keep fighting like this, someone is going to die, and I don't want that on my conscience. My life is to protect the ones I care about. I understand that now." Aria said, a sudden call filling her eyes, her mind suddenly filled with a sense of purpose she'd never felt before.

The admirals lifted their weapons to her. Aria did not oppose them, arms down by her sides.

The weapons discharged, and Aria felt it hit her. Strangely... nothing happened. Aria didn't feel any pain, any dizziness... nothing...

The admirals smiled.

"Congratulations, Ensign. You passed."

, , ,

One of the Admirals, the one called Falcone, handed Aria a commbadge and a rank pip.

"PASSED?" Aria nearly shouted, breaking her calm. "This was all a TEST?" Her jaw fell, as Admirals Falcone pinned the pip on her collar.

"We had to know if you would follow the Gargoyle traditions that were imprinted in your makeup. Besides, after all your years working with charity groups, you never became the object of prejudice or warfare - there were always people on your side." He explained.

"Your psychological profile showed your greatest fear was being in a situation where the whole world was against you. For a few moments you faced that fear head-on, and succeeded in overcoming it." The other admiral explained.

Aria was speechless. "You knew I was going to be transformed into a Gargoyle?"

"No we didn't, but we suspected something might happen when you found the other Gargoyle."

"How is it you knew about him...?" Aria asked in bafflement.

"I told them." Came Adam's voice.

Aria's jaw fell when Adam entered the classroom in similar Starfleet regalia to what she wore, only with a slightly higher rank than she. His top was cut a little more for a male's chest, but cut much the same as hers to expose the skin to the air as the Gargoyle glides.

"Adam...!"

"I told them to come get you from your apartment after you awoke from being changed to make sure you didn't harm yourself."

"We told Adam we had to know if you too would be a protector, and you demonstrated you were willing to do so to the point of laying down your life." The other admiral stated.

"They found my family in those caves long before you found me, and they covered up our existence until a way could be found to repopulate the species. When you changed, that changed everything. They couldn't hide me anymore, because now they had a known Cadet who was also a Gargoyle." Adam explained.

Admiral Falcone took one of her paws in his hand. "Aria Maza, do you swear as a Starfleet Officer to uphold the standards and culture of the Gargoyle race you have joined, so long as you live?"

Adam looked at the two expectantly.

Aria looked at Adam and the admiral for a moment, silently cursing the wish she had made that had gotten her into this. "I swear."

Then Melissa was at Aria's side - Aria felt her hand touch her wing. Melissa seemed pale as a ghost from what had almost happened. Aria threw her arms around her friend, and for some reason the two found themselves laughing.

Aria paused while putting her various knickknacks into the small case of things she was taking with her. The dorm was being left to Melissa who still had a year in the academy. She stopped and considered the award from the Sentient Rights Council for a long moment. She had suddenly become a key figure and an activist without really wanting to. She thought about everything that had happened since she had discovered Adam, and gently placed the transparent aluminum case in among her things.

Adam was just landing on the roof outside her window when she finished. The Lieutenant j/g. of the clan of Goliath (that was his real name) had taken the name "Adam" legally in her honor. They had a special relationship now, and the two of them were shipping out together.

"All ready?" he asked.

"All set." She replied.

"What did your parents say?" he inquired.

"The admirals had already filled them in out of an old favor. They were still a little surprised when they saw me, but everything went great. My mother said I had always been a rebel without a cause when I was younger, and that I'd make a great Gargoyle."

"A news bulletin was released about us this morning. We're going to have to hurry if we want to avoid the press."

Aria laughed. "The more things change, the more they stay the same."

They spread their wings, and dove off into the night.