Rendezvous

Shildy stretched her arms over her head with a groan, then her eyes shot open and she sat upright when she realized where she was...

She was sitting on a bed, in a dimly-lit room, with no idea how she got there. I've NEVER let my guard down that far before – she realized – why do I feel comfortable enough to do it here?

She slid her feet off the bed – the lights brightened the moment her feet touched the floor. Once her eyes adjusted, she realized that she was still in her uniform, although her boots were on the floor beside her. She slipped them on, and walked towards the closed door... which slid open as she neared it.

She saw Marcus sitting on the cushions – cross-legged, with wrists touching knees – with his eyes closed. He opened them as she stepped through the doorway. "You're awake," he said, "that's good. I hope you slept well?"

"I did – thank you," she said to him, "But I don't understand how I got there. The last thing I remember, I was listening to you making music with that thing of yours..."

"The lyrat," Marcus said to her with a nod. "You fell asleep while I was playing, so I carried you to the bed. Don't worry," he said when she gave him an surprised look, "I didn't do anything to you while you were asleep – I just took your boots off and made you comfortable."

"Well, thank you," she said to him. "And yes, I did sleep well." She didn't have a timepiece, so she asked, "How long?"

"We're about an hour away from our destination," Marcus replied. "That gives you enough time to straighten up before we get there." Looking down at herself, she noticed how wrinkled her uniform was. "I'm a mess," she muttered.

"Not at all," Marcus reassured her. "There's a shower through the other door there," he explained, "Simply place your clothes in the closet, and they'll be automatically cleaned for you."

No wait-times for the ship's laundry? - Shildy thought – Wonder of wonders. "I'll be back shortly," she said, as she walked towards the doorway Marcus had indicated. With the door closed and – hopefully! - locked, she proceeded to remove her uniform and place it where Marcus had instructed. She stepped past a raised section of the floor, and warm water cascaded down from above. Expecting to be shocked by cold, she became mildly surprised to discover that the water temperature was exactly what she wanted. She ran her hands through her hair with a smile, scrubbing out all the kinks while absentmindedly humming the melody that Marcus had played for her.

Shortly, she rejoined Marcus in the main room – her hair neat and clean, her uniform pressed, feeling like she was ready for an inspection. It even polished my boots – she thought – amazing. "You're right," she sighed, "that shower DID feel good." She lifted her hands behind her head and stretched, pulling her hair into a halo behind her. As her hands went higher, her hair fell in a cascade behind her, a few strands falling in front of her right shoulder.

Marcus smiled. "That's a nice look for you," he said, causing her to avert her eyes and blush slightly. "Thank you," she muttered softly as she brushed the strands behind her head again.

"Anyway – we're getting close to our transit to normal space, so we should get to the control room. Shall we?" he said as he gestured towards the doorway.

"All right," Shildy agreed, and stepped through the door. Looking in both directions, she realized that she was not familiar with this corridor. "Ummm... how do we get...?" she started to ask.

Before she could finish her question, the corners of the corridor became alit with lights moving in a sequence. "The ship is showing you which way to go," Marcus explained to her. "All you have to do is follow the lights, and you'll get to wherever you want to go."

"Nice," Shildy remarked, impressed. "But why didn't it do that when Spea and I were looking for the control room a few days ago?"

"You mean – when you boarded the ship uninvited, and took me away?" Marcus quipped.

"Point taken," Shildy admitted. She looked down at the floor, and said, "The lights are moving in the direction we need to go, right?"

"Right," Marcus nodded. Side by side, they followed the moving lights, and it didn't take long before they were walking through parts of the ship that Shildy found familiar. They turned a corner, and found Catty and Amy leaning against the wall.

"We got here early," Catty explained, "but the ship wouldn't let us in."

"It must have been making more changes," Marcus said. "The door should open now."

"O-o-o-ohhhhhh."

The four turned to find the source of the low groan, and saw Spea leaning against the corridor wall, rubbing her stomach. "Are you all right?" Shildy asked.

"I think I ate too much," Spea admitted. "Everything was so good, I just couldn't stop myself."

Catty and Amy giggled at her response. Shildy shook her head to hide her grin.

"There's anti-distress medication in the control room," Marcus told her. He stood in front of the door, and it slid open for him.

Shildy's jaw dropped when she saw the changes that had been made. The last time she was in this room, there was only one chair with a control desk – four more desks and chairs had been added, each one sized to fit the four of them. "Your ship anticipates well," she said.

"Your compliment is appreciated," responded the ship, causing Catty and Amy to jump in surprise. "Destination in ten minutes. Preparing for transit to normal space."

"Take a seat, ladies," Marcus said to them as he settled into his. As each of them took their individual places, straps wrapped around their waists and looped over their shoulders. A small hatch slid open in front of Spea, and a glass of white liquid popped up. Spea looked at it curiously, then drank it all in one swallow. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief as she replaced the glass, which slid down into the desk with a click.

Marcus closed his eyes, and a large image of coloured streaks appeared in front of them. "Nullifier disengaging in 3... 2... 1..." the ship announced, and the rainbow lightning of Lightspeed travel settled into the distant pinpoints of normal space.

"Where are we?" Catty asked. "I don't see anything out there but stars..."

"Beacon identified," the ship stated. "Adjusting course." The starfield shifted as the ship changed direction. When the motion in the image stopped, the girls still saw nothing but stars.

"Are the sensors broken?" Spea ventured, "Because I don't see..."

Before she could complete the question, Amy gasped loudly. "Where did the stars go?" she cried.

Shildy looked up, and saw that the projection was solid black. She was about to ask Marcus about this, but the ship shook with a loud THUD before she could speak.

Marcus stood up, his straps disconnecting and retracting into his seat as he did. "We've arrived," he said. "There's a landing lift at the lowest deck – come with me." He walked towards the door, stopping to look back at the four girls as the door opened.

Catty, Amy, and Spea looked at Shildy, unease in their eyes. She nodded and stood up. "I trust him," she said, "Let's go." Following her lead, the others caught up to Marcus as he walked down the corridor.

It didn't take long to reach the bottom of the ship. When they got there, Marcus directed them to stand in the middle of the room they had entered. The floor they were standing on shook, and started to move beneath them. Amy grabbed Shildy's arm as they descended into the blackness. As the lift stopped, the darkness became filled with light, and they found themselves within an immense landing bay, larger than any of them had ever seen before.

I've GOT to stop being surprised by things like this – Shildy thought to herself.

Marcus started walking towards the wall, expecting them to follow. By the time they got over their amazement, the girls had to jog in order to catch up with him. They grew confused when they realized that they couldn't see a doorway nearby – so where was he taking them? He placed his hand against the wall, and a section simply opened up. Shildy didn't see any seams, and it didn't slide away like any other door. It simply... FOLDED open to admit them into another corridor. Marcus looked back and smiled at them. "Follow me," he said, "You're perfectly safe here."

Exchanging glances for a moment, they followed him into a room that appeared to be laid out in a similar manner to the lounge on Marcus' ship. Shildy let the others go first, so that she could keep an eye on them. Once she stepped through, the opening folded back upon itself and closed the wall silently. She ran her hand over the wall, but could feel no seam. She looked at Marcus, her mind filled with questions...

"Greetings," boomed a voice from everywhere in the room. "Welcome to Waystation 3215. I am the keeper of the station. You may address me as Sentinel."

"Hello, Sentinel," Marcus replied to the voice. "I'm the sole survivor of the Macarian system, which was destroyed by..."

"I am aware," Sentinel replied before Marcus could finish. "My sensors detected an energy surge from that system, but did not know the cause. It has been a long time since I have had visitors."

"You're about to get more," Marcus explained. "There are two fleets of ships following us – they are from the races directly responsible for the carnage. When they arrive, we need to prevent them from shooting at each other long enough for me to broker a peace agreement."

"That is possible," Sentinel answered. "Tractor fields can immobilize the ships, and intrusion into their data systems can prevent weapons fire."

"You can DO that?" Amy asked.

"Easily," Sentinel said to her. "However, such action requires command-level authorization."

"In that case," Marcus said, "As the last surviving Solnarian in this region, I hereby exert Chain-of-Command Override, and authorize you to perform the actions previously described."

"Cee-Oh-Cee Override recognized," Sentinel responded. "Neuri-Link Sequencing Patterns recognized. All station systems now under your command. Estimated time to encounter – two hours."

"That gives us plenty of time to make preparations," Marcus said. "We should have everything ready to go in about ninety minutes." He looked at his four companions.

"Let's go..."