Science! meet daughter of old Time thou art

Who alterest all things with thy peering eyes!

Why prey'st thou upon the poet's heart,

Vulture! whose wings are dull realities!

How should he love thee--or how deem thee wise

Who wouldn't not leave him, in his wandering,

To seek for treasure in the jewell'd skies

Albeit, he soar with an undaunted wing?

"Sonnet -- To Science" Edgar Allan Poe

01 . The Ambassador's Daughter

Three Weeks Later

Transport Vessel Constantine…

Aliah Somerset studied her handheld computer once more, her lips pursing in thought as she went over the layout of the Constantine. Three hours early she had been awakened along with the other hundred or so passengers on board what she not-so-affectionately referred to as the cryo-yacht. Naturally the Captain was trying to keep relative calm among all the passengers while maintaining his dead seriousness of the situation to his subordinates. Luckily for Aliah she had a keen ear and a way to be in the position to overhear important information.

Her father, Sir Elias Somerset, was a high ranking Ambassador on his way to the Space Station Polaris. Of course, when this newest oddity arose he felt it was his job, no, perhaps his right to poke his nose in it, demanding he know exactly what was transpiring. They had been awakened weeks in advance with thousands upon thousands left to travel to reach their destination. With the right kind of prodding (the kind that involved the invocation of many political leaders names that all happened to be "very close friends") Captain Crenshaw broke down and told Elias what happened.

Being a diplomat had it's advantages, but it also had it's disadvantages. To the seventeen year old many times the two seemed to hold the exact same traits and depended solely on who's hands they were in whether they were good or bad. Her father was one of those gifted with the power of manipulation. He could get anything he wanted - - and usually he didn't have the most honorable or moral aims.

This was something Aliah could not stand about her only living genetic donor. She did not understand why he did some of the things he did. Of course, it mostly came down to profit and the idea of progress. Manifest Destiny. She hated how people were so overconfident in believing that progress came only in the making in money instead of the progress of the heart and soul, the uplifting of the human condition. It angered Aliah that instead of trying to offer the fallen man a hand of assistance people seemed to be more interested in kicking him while he was down, even if it meant permanently crippling him.

The universe seemed to have no integrity left - - if it ever had any at all. Humans never learned, even when mountains and mountains of history spoke endlessly about how greed and pride had always brought those in power down. She didn't suppose it mattered much. She had come to the conclusion that life had no meaning to anyone anymore. They were all doomed to suffer in the eternal metaphorical fires of Hell. Aliah personally took up reasoning that she would probably reside in the ever flowing river of woe. Perfectly logical considering her cynical, hopeless nature.

With a sigh she turned the corner, only to have her face harden even further with the sight that confronted her eyes. Without realizing it she emitted a low sound of contempt. Before her stood the one and only Kristoff Tobias, her father's right hand man and head of his personal guard. The twenty-one-year-old made Aliah sick. He was deceitful and sly; everything he did, whether it seemed heartily self-sacrificing, held his own fraudulent motives.

He was also a hypocrite. The thing Aliah abhorred more than lying was hypocrisy, especially when the certain hypocrite was trying to tell her how to run her own life. Bastard. She couldn't believe her father wanted her to marry this asshole.

"Good morning, Princess." Kristoff greeted with his cunning, sickening smile. She felt her stomach turn, and not in a pleasant way.

"Don't call me Princess." Aliah growled between gritted teeth. With as much power as she could handle she forced herself to return to being cordial. "Where is my father?"

Earlier she had heard the Captain tell her father about a meeting that was to be held at this time about the situation at hand. Although Aliah was supposed to be safely stowed away in their private quarters, completely oblivious to the possible dangers that awaited them, she had opted for Choice B, which was crashing the meeting and making them let her sit in on it. She had more than a few tactics she could use to force her father to let her stay. She would use them all if need be.

"He is in with Captain Crenshaw right now," the brunette informed, nodding towards the door at his side, "and asked that they not be disturbed."

Aliah frowned. "Not to be disturbed, my ass." She bit, trying to shove past him, but Kristoff held out a navy-clad arm.

"He specifically asked me to not allow you in. Sorry, your highness."

"Go fuck yourself, Tobias." Aliah said, pushing his arm away from her. "I can go in if I like. It's not your decision, it's my fathers. He has last say. Now MOVE!"

He smiled at her and shrugged. "Can't do that. I have my orders. I can't break them, even for one I love as much as you." His fingers slid down her cheek and she jerked away, shivering. He touched her!

"Cut that crap, we both know you don't really love me. I loathe charades." Her eyes were like ice daggers. "And never touch me again." She shuddered for a second time. Just the thought of… it was enough to vomit.

"Come on, now, Aliah," Kristoff said, "of all people I'd think you would love charades." That's when he leaned in and forced his lips on her. Disgusted, revolted, she pushed him back, gasping for the breath he had stolen. The fires of rages raced through her veins, quickly shattering the well placed ice, leading to a violent reaction.

She rammed her knee into his groin, reveling in the cry of shock, albeit strangled, that escaped his throat. "Bastard!" She shrieked, backing up a few steps from the man who was then crumpled against the wall in agony. She wiped the back of her hand across her lips. "How dare you!"

Seconds later the door beside Kristoff's prone form opened, revealing Ambassador Somerset, Captain Crenshaw, a few advisor's, and the captains best men and technicians. "What is going on out here?" the Ambassador demanded, noticing Kristoff on the floor. When his eyes fell on his daughter they turned considerably colder. "Aliah. You are supposed to be in our cabin. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to go for a walk." Aliah drawled sarcastically, not bothering to hide her disrespect or anger.

Ambassador Somerset ignored her tone; he was too used to it for it to truly bother him anymore. "All right, then tell me why the head of my personal guard is now a pathetic mess on the floor?"

"The head of your personal guard," she spat, eyes narrowing down at the subject of their discussion, "was harassing me. He kissed me." That should have been enough of an explanation for her father she decided. Everyone knew Aliah hated to be kissed, and to have it forced upon her in such a sudden manner should have been a good reason. Yet…

"Aliah!" Her father boomed, "must you always be so damned ridiculous!?"

Her eyes widened.

"Go back to our quarters."

"No." Aliah said. "I want to know what's going on. I have a right to know."

"I said go now." Ambassador Somerset ordered. He didn't like Aliah back talking him in front of the others.

"I said no." Aliah repeated. "You let me come in or you can expect me to become quite a bit more ridiculous." She regarded him with a air of threat. He knew she would do it.

"One word and you're out." The Ambassador spat. Aliah smiled and followed them inside the room. She threw one last glance at Kristoff before disappearing.

Mateo Christiano peeked down the long briefing table, his dark eyes settling on the slender figure of Aliah Somerset. He recalled the first time he had seen the teenager. He was still training to be a pilot then, a rookie in all aspects. He goofed around when he should have been working and worked when he should have been goofing around. Needless to say (but we'll say it anyway) he had few friends.

Ambassador Somerset was visiting one of the Generals that was residing on the base Mateo was stationed on, and along with him came his daughter. Even then, at the tender age of fourteen, she was a pistol. When some airmen mistook her for some random little tart wandering around the compound she corrected them; to make a long story short most of them had bruises by he end and all of them learned some respect for the fairer sex.

Even Mateo, who up until that point had had only a small degree of consideration for women, was charmed and impressed by her. He made sure not to underestimate her when they finally did meet personally. It was a few days later and she was the only one occupying the mess hall at his lunch time. Back then Aliah had no qualms about showing her interest in things. Her curiosity had led her over to the quiet Sergeant and she began a conversation. By the end of the day they had both seemed to find someone to talk to.

Since then they had become pretty close friends. Well, as close as one could be to Aliah. She was hard to get through to and had even less friends than Mateo. Of course, she liked it that way. The more people who knew her personal business were more that could screw up her life. Those that did scratch her protective barrier still found it very difficult to decipher her strange actions and beliefs.

However, it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened out there in the hall between her and Kristoff Tobias. Mateo, like Aliah, couldn't stand the upstart. He kept hoping that someone in charge would finally see Kristoff for what he was: a lying bastard. So far that hadn't happened and those who could see it had to live with the prick. Mateo knew Kristoff had a thing for Aliah; hell, everyone knew he had a thing for Aliah. Only Aliah couldn't stand Kristoff, and that frustrated the guard to no end for he was a stickler for getting what he wanted when he wanted it.

Mateo found it unfortunate that Aliah's father was pushing her to marry the jerk; she deserved so much more than that. She needed someone who could understand her ways, respect her idiosyncrasies. Perhaps even someone who could keep her in line. Aliah always liked a good challenge, but being an Ambassador's daughter didn't allow for much of that.

Aliah desperately needed a friend-type companion instead of the over-romanticized image of the knight on his white stead, instead of the man who would bring roses and champagne on a whim. She wasn't the wine and roses kind of girl. In fact she'd just assume kick your ass than kiss you. So far the type of guy Aliah wanted, needed had not surfaced. He didn't seem to exist anymore. Honorable. Strong. Respectful. Confident. Humorous. A bad-ass, but also an intellectual of sorts. Last but not least: the ability to take Aliah's constant shit.

"Good luck on that one Li." Mateo had said once. If she ever did find someone like that he hoped she wouldn't call him - - he'd have a heart attack and die. Men like that just weren't around…

Elsewhere in space…

An irritated yowl rang through the corridors, making more than a few heads turn the direction the sound originated. Following that came a string of curses that everyone thought was amusing.

Everyone, that is, but Re'han. The yautja warrior paced the length of his quarters throwing angry glances at the device sitting on his worktable. He didn't know how long he had been working on perfecting it, modifying it to his liking, but that piece of information didn't quite matter considering that it was going too slow. Every time he seemed to be getting close it would slip away.

"Still tinkering away with that thing?" came an amused voice from the doorway. Serenti; the closest thing to a friend to Re'han.

"I am not 'tinkering,' tinkering implies that there is no proposed direction. I have a direction."

"It's just not going that way. Keeps running the other way, huh? Maybe you need to throw a net over it." A laugh.

"Very funny, Serenti." said Re'han humorlessly. He took his work seriously, even if no one else did.

"I think so. You know what would be better? Get rid of that. It's a waste of time."

Re'han shook his head. No way he was getting rid of what he was working on. After possibly months of devotion to this project he was not going to forsake it. That would be a waste.

"What is it anyway?" Serenti leaned forward, suddenly taking an interest in the object.

"A prototype for an extension to our computers. It will in theory expand efficiency and productivity. More power, less space. I am also adding features onto it."

"Those would be?" Serenti looked skeptical. As always.

"None of your business. For right now at least." Re'han gazed at the extension pack thoughtfully. He gave it one last dirty look before turning back to Serenti. "What are you doing here?" The sudden question both surprised Serenti and jogged his memory.

"Oh, yeah. That. We're at our destination, but there's a problem."

"Yes?"

"Oomans are here, too."

"Yes." Re'han said impatiently, "it is a ooman colony."

"No. I a ship and there's something wrong on the planet. All life has vanished… save one life form." Serenti paused, and Re'han was getting a bad feeling. "Hard meat."

"What?"

Aliah crossed the room for what had to be the thousandth time. "I don't see how this could have happened." She was saying, her hands flying madly along with her words. "I mean, Terra was specifically designed to avoid this problem."

The meeting had ended and the two friends had snuck away before the Ambassador had a chance to reprimand his daughter once again. Aliah had learned some very interesting things about the situation at hand. The first was the fact that all communications to the colony had somehow been disrupted or destroyed. That seemed an impossibility to the young woman, who spent much of her time poking about the odd technological item and studying schematics and technical systems of places. One of the planets that stuck out in her mind was Terra due to the fact that it was designed so perfectly that something could not happen to it. At least not the system.

"Well, even the mighty Titanic sank." Mateo pointed out, leaning back in his chair.

"Still, this is wrong." Aliah dropped down beside him in a listless manner. The second part of the problem was that a steady distress beacon was being emitted from below. The two put together spelled sure trouble for whoever was left down there, perhaps to those on the Constantine.

"Well, I don't see why it should be your concern." Mateo said, "I understand you are worried for those on the planet, but whatever happened has happened. The best we can do is send down a party and see exactly what is going on. You'll see. I'm sure everything is going to be fine. Probably some kind of malfunction and they're all fine." Yeah right. Mateo thought to himself. Even he didn't believe that bull shit.

Tell me what you think. I'm new to this so I'd appreciate some helpful feedback. If I get enough positivity then I'll start working on the next chapter.

-- Apocalyptic Muse