Chapter 12
An Unusual Place For A Reunion
On board the Freedom
January 29, 2271
11pm
"My god! It worked, " said President Garrison Hollifield.
Gertalma was once a barren rock with barely an atmosphere, but, within
an hour, it was a lush world of trees and oceans and grassy lands.
Earlier, Queen Starsha had asked for everyone to visualize the world as
living, and, once the machine was done, the world was vastly different
than it was before.
Captain Twanissa Hudson had her lips puckered, looking at the new world with the potential for life. "So what do we do now?"
Hollifield closed his eyes and blew out his breath, then said, "We leave this world to the Minbari. For now, we have to prep for the voyage back to Earth."
Hudson got a call on her link. "Hudson, go."
"Captain, we just received word that the Excalibur has just jumped into the system, as well as two other ships. One is similar to Wildstar, and the other is of a similar design. They're call signs are Hercules and Enterprise-E. Orders?"
"Set a course to intercept. We'll meet them out there. Gideon has some explaining to do. Hudson out."
Hollifield was still looking out at the new world as she gave her orders, but now he turned to her and issued orders of his own, "Tell the Titans to meet us out there as well. Yamato's still monitoring Gertalma, and she won't be ready to head for Earth for a couple of days. Also, get in touch with the Wildstar and ask them to meet us out there as well."
Hudson replied with a brisk, "Yes, sir," then began to head out the office, but she stopped at it and turned around. "Sir, if I may, it seems like we haven't had a chance to sit down and get to know each other since you came aboard a year ago and made this your home. Would you like dinner tonight?"
Hollifield blinked and looked at her, then said, "I'd be delighted. I'll see you tonight."
For the first time since he came on board, she smiled, then she turned and left the room.
"Cute, isn't she? I think she's interested in you!"
"Gee, Alwyn, you'd almost think I wasn't a telepath from the way you said that. I've known for a little while that she's been interested in me. Which is surprising considering the way we've been at each other's throats on several occasions since I came on board."
Alwyn laughed, "Ahh, sexual tension."
The door opened and Dan Tanner came in. "Mr. President, the Joint Chiefs will be calling in at midnight. I thought I would let you know. Here are the latest military briefs."
"Thanks Dan. We'll be meeting up with a couple of new ships before then and I'll want you to go over with Captain Hudson. Tell them that I'll be over once I am done with the Joint Chiefs, and who knows when I'll be done after telling them about all of this."
Tanner snorted and asked, "Which ships are we meeting?"
"Excalibur is escorting a couple of ships that came through the rift in Sector 14. One's named Hercules and the other's called Enterprise-E. Sheridan tells me that they have the ability to transport people and materials over through some sort of energy beam, but I'm not trusting it... you ok, Dan?"
Dan's face shifted into shock, "Did you say Enterprise-E?"
Alwyn looked up, "You know this ship?"
Dan said, "Yeah, I know it all right."
On board USS Hercules
January 30, 2271
12:15am
Captain William Riker and his wife, Counselor Deanna Troi, were waiting by the shuttle bay for the shuttles from the Titans and Freedom, curious at the designs of the two ships that were sending the delegations over. They were to meet with Captains Susan Ivanova and Twanissa Hudson, as well as Dan Tanner, a representative of the President of the Earth Alliance. There were other officers coming over, but the main parties would be Riker, Troi, Ivanova, Hudson, Tanner, and the man who just entered the shuttle bay.
"Interesting designs, aren't they Captain," said Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise-E.
Riker nodded, "Rather primitive, in a way. They look like old Earth craft from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries."
The shuttles maneuvered themselves into the bay and landed, and the space doors closed. After a few minutes, ramps came down and several officers came down them from the two ships. The two leading the pack were similar: female, tall, striking, but one had jet-black hair and the other had dark red hair.
The shorter of the two, the one with dark red hair, came up to them and introduced herself. "I'm Captain Susan Ivanova of the Titans and this is Captain Twanissa Hudson of the Freedom. " She thrust her hand forward at Riker.
Riker smiled and said, "I'm Captain William Riker, and this is my ship's counselor, Deanna Troi. This is also Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Enterprise-E. It's good to have you aboard."
Hudson spoke up and said, in her Australian accent, "Thank you. On behalf of the Earth Alliance, as well as the Interstellar Alliance, I welcome you to this universe. The President sends his regards, but he is in a meeting with the Joint Chiefs and will shuttle over when he's done. His senior advisor, Dan Tanner, will be here in a moment. He's getting some reports for the President, so he should be here shortly."
Dan Tanner came down the ramp and walked up to them, and the collective jaws of Picard, Riker, and Troi dropped. Hudson, oblivious to all of this, made the introduction, "Captain Picard, Captain Riker, Counselor Troi, this is Da..."
Troi spoke out, "Data?"
The EarthForce officers looked around in confusion, but Dan Tanner looked stoic, finally saying. "Hello, old friends."
Briefing Room aboard USS Hercules
6:30am
President Hollifield and Alwyn were seated next to Dan Tanner (formerly known as Data), with Picard, Riker, and Troi sitting opposite.
Picard spoke up, "Last time I saw you, Data, you were beaming me out of Shinzon's ship and preparing to blow it up. So why are you here?"
Tanner stood up and spoke, putting his hands in his pockets, "When I came to, I was in drifting in space. My power was draining and I thought I was about to die, but then Alwyn came and picked me up in his craft."
Alwyn then took it from there. "I recovered Data about twenty-five years ago, back when Hollifield was a simple captain of the guard for President Elizabeth Levy. I helped train Date to become Dan Tanner, and Hollifield and I helped create a persona for him. When the war was over and Hollifield left the military, Dan Tanner became a trusted associate and went to work for him. I taught him how to interact with Humans as well as aliens and to behave like he was Human. And, so far, it's worked."
Hollifield took over from there, "I've known about Dan's true history from the start, and I vowed to keep it secret. He's been a valuable asset to the Earth Alliance as well as the Interstellar Alliance and me. Back when I was heading up President Santiago's Babylon Project, Dan helped me investigate the sabotage the first three stations, as well as what happened to the fourth. When I was deputy foreign secretary to the president, Dan was with me on every foreign trip. When I was chief of staff, he was my deputy."
Hollifield stood up and walked over to the window. "Then Santiago was assassinated at the orders of his successor, William Clark. I was sent to Minbar to become deputy ambassador there, and Dan came along with me. They thought it was just a way to get rid of me and smear me with the same brush they were using for Ambassador Sinclair, but we managed to find out the truth about what was going on and we helped the Minbari resurrect the Rangers, which led the fight not only to free Earth but to beat the Shadows..."
Picard raised a hand, "Wait, who are these Shadows?"
Hollifield leaned against the wall and replied, "There are beings in the universe billions of years older than any of our races. They walked among the stars like giants, vast, timeless. They created great empires, taught the new races, explored beyond the rim. The oldest of the ancients are the Shadows. We have no other name for them."